Idris smiled.

  CHAPTER 95

  17 Jorlaff, 1353

  ‘Where’d you hide this boat?’ Asmara asked Bo. She was sitting next to him today, silent Gabor on her lap. She still hadn’t coaxed him into talking.

  ‘We pulled it ashore and Julietta hid it with magic. She said I’d be able to see it though. We won’t be able to take the wagon right up to the boat, but it’s only a short walk from the road.’ Bo pointed north-west. ‘The beach is that way.’

  The road they travelled took them north across low hills and through scattered houses and forest. The land wasn’t farmed as intensively as near Port Eliach. If the land had been flat, the coast would have been visible. It was hidden by the low, rolling hills and the patchy trees.

  ‘There’s a smaller road off the main one that will bring us closer, then it’s down a bit of a hill. It’s a little steep, but not too bad. We’ll turn west soon I think.’

  ‘I hope you’re not lost.’ Asmara said, with a small smile. Bo was glad to see a bit of cheer from her.

  ‘Me, lost? In my homeland? I don’t think so!’

  ‘When did you ever read a map, anyway?’

  ‘Don’t need to read a map, it’s up here.’ and he tapped his head.

  ‘I hope so.’

  They’d stopped at Farah’s town two days ago for supplies. They’d spent the last of their money and bought enough to last them perhaps two weeks at what must have been a discounted price. It was a lot to carry, but they didn’t know when they’d find another safe place to stop. They’d heard that Julietta and Dorian were a few days ahead of them. On their horses they were travelling faster than Bo and Asmara with the wagon.

  ‘Gabor, what about you? Do you think Bo’s lost?’

  The tiny child didn’t respond.

  ‘I think he is!’ a voice piped up from behind. Asmara and Bo both glanced back.

  Ukrit was standing up and wobbling in the wagon. ‘He’s making it up, like the humorans!’ he said with a smile curving his lips. At least Bo thought he was smiling. He’d thrown back his hood, but Bo still needed to squint to make out his features.

  ‘Hear that? Ukkie thinks you’re a liar.’

  Bo sighed dramatically. ‘I’ve been called many things in my life, but never a liar.’

  ‘Oh, no! I’m sorry!’ Ukrit replied in genuine regret.

  ‘See what you did!’ Lahela scolded.

  The other children watched silently, tiny shapes obscured by shadows and hoods.

  Bo laughed. ‘Oh, I’m just teasing you.’

  ‘Too much time using shadow magic, not enough time actually talking to people.’ Asmara said.

  A little while later they pulled off the main road and onto a narrow dirt track winding west. They went up and down hills. When they reached the top of a hill they suddenly spotted the sprawling blue ocean.

  The children responded with cries of delight. They’d never seen an ocean with their own eyes.

  Eventually, they came to the end of the road.

  ‘It’s just a five minute walk through that forest.’ Bo said.

  ‘That’s not a forest.’ Asmara said. ‘You need at least three trees to make a forest.’

  ‘There’s one...’ Bo pointed, ‘and another...’

  ‘There’s heaps of trees!’ Ukrit said.

  ‘Lots!’ Lahela agreed.

  ‘Their sense of humour is somewhat like Julietta’s.’ Bo said ruefully.

  ‘You mean non-existant?’ Asmara shot back.

  ‘Oh, she has one, it’s just a little... it’s like your mother’s.’

  ‘And you think my mother has a sense of humour?’

  Bo chuckled. ‘I’m sure you were a very easy daughter to raise.’

  ‘My father thought so.’ she said mournfully. ‘Mother can be so...’

  ‘Pick a nice word.’

  ‘I was going to say serious.’

  ‘I’m sure you were. Anyway, we’ll have to walk. It’s not far.’

  ‘Do we have to?’ Lahela asked.

  ‘I like it here.’ Urkit said.

  ‘You like it in the wagon?’ Asmara said. ‘I know you can all walk. Even you Gabor. Come on, it’s not far.’

  The children didn’t grumble and assembled in eerie silence. Gabor didn’t speak, but when Asmara put him on the ground and took his hand he shuffled along with her.

  ‘Let’s all go have a look, and then I’ll carry the supplies over.’ Bo said.

  The five children and two adults set off. Asmara held Gabor and Lahela’s hand, while Bo held onto Ukrit and Amina. Little Palmira was on his shoulders, clinging to his hair for dear life.

  ‘Why does Palmira not have to walk?’ Ukrit asked.

  ‘We’ll switch.’ Bo said, ‘I’ll give you a ride later.’

  ‘You can’t come up here.’ Palmira spoke finally, in a soft voice. ‘It’s too high.’

  ‘We’ll switch. Come on little mages, let’s go.’

  They walked up the round dome of the hill. At the top the thickening forest briefly hid the beach from view, though beyond they could see the ocean. They headed down again. Flashes of yellow sand came into view between the trees.

  The forest was quiet. After the initial bout of conversation, the group did not speak.

  A long beach slowly unfurled before them. The trees gave way to long grasses, then sand and finally water.

  ‘Get down.’ Asmara ordered in a whisper.

  Bo did not need to be told twice. He dropped to his knees, bringing the children with him. His and Asmara’s eyes were firmly fixed on the blackened hulk of the no longer invisible boat.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Ukrit asked.

  ‘Shh...softly...’ Asmara whispered. ‘I don’t suppose that could have been natural...?’

  ‘Julietta magicked it...’ Bo said.

  ‘Do you think the people who did this are still here?’

  ‘We can-’ Lahela began.

  ‘No. Bo, stay with the kids.’ Asmara ordered.

  ‘Asmara-’

  ‘I’m smaller and quieter.’ She slowly got to her feet, her sword in hand. She looked around warily. The forest was not so dense that it provided a good hiding place, and the beach was a long curve, she could see all the way along it in either direction.

  The attackers must have magic if they spotted Julietta’s boat. Maybe that was what drew them here. They could be hiding in plain sight and none of us would know... She thought in despair, if only she hadn’t alienated Dorian...

  She crept through the forest, taking one step and then another away from the children. She heard the arrow first, a thunk as it burrowed into the tree trunk next to her. She slipped behind a tree as more arrows sailed through the air. Suddenly, she could hear the men attacking them, and a second later she could see them. At least seven men materialized within the trees, surrounding them.

  ‘Bo, they’re here!’ Asmara called, no time now for stealth. They’d probably been spotted the moment they entered the forest. They’d just waited until she was away from the shadow mages; they were too valuable to risk injuring.

  There was no time to plan now. She had to kill them before the children used their magic.

  She quickly scanned the trees. They were outnumbered, seven to two. At least they weren’t out on the road. She chose a target and crouched down and ran.

  She saw the archer draw back his bow. She didn’t see the arrow. She didn’t need to. She held her sword before her and murmured under her breath. The sword flashed with sudden light, forming a shield. An arrow bounced off it. She reached the archer, raised her sword. The archer fumbled for a knife and then-

  ‘No!’ Asmara let out a cry as the archer collapsed, her sword still in the air.

  ‘No!’ she wailed. She spun around. The children lay collapsed on the ground. She let out another scream, mixed with anger and pain.

  ‘Stop!’

  Then she turned and ran.

  Bo carried the children back to the wagon in groups of two and left the others alone in the woods. He had no doubt they could protect themselves if anyone else was left in the woods. They had no time to wait for them to wake up and walk themselves back to the wagon.

  Asmara still had not returned by the time Bo’d got the children back into the wagon. He was alone. He looked back at the still forms of the children suddenly feeling very old.

  ‘Let’s move.’

  He was startled by Asmara’s voice.

  He turned and saw her standing behind him. ‘Asme, are you ok?’

  She shook her head. Her face was tear-streaked. ‘I can feel them- they’re... it’s pulling on me.’ she choked. ‘I can’t leave you alone with them.’ she shuddered. ‘I need to stay.’

  ‘Asmara...’ he said. ‘Perhaps you should go on ahead and leave the children to me. It can’t be good for you-’

  ‘What does it matter now?’ she said, with sudden hopelessness. ‘They’ve wrecked me. Jacques, the King, they made me use it and now-’

  ‘It’s not over.’ Bo replied fiercely. ‘You haven’t used it since we left Arcos.’

  The day was bright and he could not trick himself into thinking the shadows on her face came from anything but her magic. They were deepest and darkest at the eyes and spread from there. He could still see her eyes though. She wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the children.

  ‘That’s true.’ she admitted. ‘You have no idea how hard it is.’ and she twisted around to cast a look of anger and sorrow at the children. ‘Come back...’

  The children lay among the bags of supplies. Bo had covered them in blankets, lest they catch a chill while away from their bodies.

  ‘We need to get moving.’ she said. ‘None of those men had candles, Bo, they weren’t from Arcos. Whoevers in charge back there must have got the word out. We’re going to be fighting our way all through Lakasha. You go, I’ll walk along side.’

  Bo didn’t argue and set the horses to moving.

  ‘Those men were in uniform, they probably belonged to the local lord. The Emperor must have all his men looking for signs of us. A magic boat not far from Arcos was a dead give away...’

  ‘Asme,’ Bo said in a low voice, ‘even if we had Dorian and Julietta we couldn’t make it through Lakasha with the whole empire looking for us.’

  ‘We need to get away, Bo. We need to get out of Lakasha as fast as possible. We need to find a boat and get out of here.’

  ‘What do you want to do?’

  ‘We’re on the coast, let’s just steal someone’s boat.’

  Bo didn’t say it was probably going to be a lot harder than it sounded.

  ‘If we don’t, those kids will just keep using their magic, Bo. And what happens when they finally send candles after us?’

  They trundled along the dirt road. Bo’s back prickled as he scanned the horizon for any signs of pursuers.

  ‘Let’s find somewhere to hide the wagon.’ he said.

  ‘I’ll go look for a boat.’

  ‘You know what a sea-worthy boat looks like, Asme? Besides, you’re obviously a foreigner. I know it’s hard but...’

  Bo kept the horses at a steady walk while Asmara powered along beside him. She kept her gaze resolutely forward and did not look back towards the children.

  ‘Once they wake up, it’ll be easier.’ she said. ‘Once they wake up...’

  Asmara had her head in her hands. She’d given up trying to shake the child awake.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Bo asked heavily. It was night. They were hidden in a strip of forest, not far from the coast.

  ‘We’re sure.’ the children said.

  ‘Not all at once!’ Asmara yelled. She stumbled to her feet.

  ‘Asmara-’ Bo said.

  ‘Her body is still alive.’

  ‘She’s gone-’ the children said.

  ‘Not all at once. Her body is alive. We look after her until her body’s gone. She has a chance as long her body lives. And no more shadow magic! Even if you don’t care about yourselves, it hurts me.’

  Asmara, her hands trembling, forced drips of water down Lahela’s throat. Bo made soup, and then helped her feed Lahela and the other children.

  When they were done, the children lay around in awkward poses. They didn’t look like they could possibly be comfortable. Watching them, Bo wondered, were they just feigning sleep? Did they simply not feel how unnaturally they had positioned themselves?

  Asmara sat with her head in her hands.

  ‘Asmara, tomorrow before first light I’ll go out looking for a boat.’ he said gently.

  Asmara nodded. ‘I’ll stay here.’

  ‘We can find you a boat.’ three flat voices said.

  ‘No, you can’t.’ Asmara snapped. ‘Please. Give us a chance first.’

  The children subsided.

  ‘Bo...’ Asmara asked, ‘do we have enough food? We weren’t expecting to take a boat from here.’

  ‘True, but we...’ he didn’t say they had one less mouth to feed. Perhaps she’d still wake up. ‘We’ll manage. It might get a bit tight. I’ll see what I can find. If we get a bit low we can always try fishing.’

  CHAPTER 96

  18 Jorlaff, 1353

  The next morning Bo awoke before dawn to find Asmara going through her exercises.

  When she was done she came and sat next to him.

  ‘I’ll go looking for a boat today.’ Bo said. ‘I’ll leave while it’s still dark.’

  She nodded.

  ‘You ok?’ Even as he asked it he knew it was a silly question.

  Instead of answering Asmara laid her sword out on her knees, inspecting the inscribings.

  ‘I thought about getting a new sword.’

  ‘A new one?’

  She sighed. ‘His inscribings are still there. I guess he doesn’t have to redo them every day like in Sontmor. It would have been silly to replace it, his magic was helpful back there... if the children hadn’t... anyway, it was a silly reason to want to throw away a perfectly good sword.’

  Bo decided against probing that wound. Instead he said lightheartedly, ‘Perhaps he’s just improved. Julietta’s been itching to teach him.’

  ‘He let her teach him?’ she said, surprised.

  ‘No, of course not.’ Bo laughed.

  Asmara looked away again. ‘You must be mad at me too.’ she said, her voice hollow.

  ‘I’m not mad at you, though if you don’t let me help you, that’ll change.’ he softened his words with a smile.

  ‘You don’t know me.’ she said. ‘I met you... after...’

  ‘Not quite after. During.’

  ‘I wasn’t in the best state then either.’ she snapped.

  ‘I don’t know, seem just as moody to me.’ he replied, raising an eyebrow and trying to draw a smile out of her. She didn’t take the bait.

  ‘I don’t know any of you... I don’t know anyone... ’

  ‘That’s not true. I’ve heard you talk about Dorian and Julietta... you remember them.’

  Asmara shook her head. ‘It’s all so confused in my head. Everything I was supposed to feel all those years came back in one moment. Even now I feel... I feel like I barely know which way is up. I feel everything, and I don’t understand it. I don’t know what I feel now...’

  ‘Just give yourself time. Asmara, I’m not mad at you. Julietta’s not mad at you. If anything, she just wants to interrogate you and take notes..’

  He got a short bark of laughter at that.

  ‘..and Dorian,’ he sighed, ‘perhaps it’s best for the both of you he went his own way. Don’t worry about us.’

  Asmara looked up. Her eyes were dry. ‘You better get going.’ she said. ‘Can’t let my relationship problems get in the way of our amazing escape from Lakasha.’ and she forced a smile.

  ‘You’ll be ok on your own?’ he asked as he stood up.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘I think I’ll leave my sword here. Even if I’m only average looking in Laskaha... as opposed to incredibly handsome back in MJ-’ he was interrupted by the sound of Asmara’s laughter.

  ‘Oh, Asmara, you don’t understand the appeal of an older man-’

  Asmara rocked back and forth, overcome with uncontrollable giggles.

  ‘Well, despite my averageness here, my sword is another matter. It’ll attract notice. I’ll make do with a dagger.’

  Asmara nodded, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

  ‘Women my age value a sense of humour.’ he shook his head in mock offense.

  ‘That’s probably for the best.’ she shot back, unable to keep her face straight.

  ‘Off I go, before you injure my poor pride anymore.’

  As he was heading away Asmara called, ‘Bo!’

  ‘I’m not sure I can bear another conversation with you, Asme! What is it?’

  ‘Thanks.’ she said quietly.

  Bo just nodded in acknowledgement.

  Once the sun rose Asmara made the children get up. She fed Lahela. The child’s breathing was slow, her face bloodless.

  ‘I took a while to come back.’ Asmara whispered. ‘The first time.’ she smoothed back the girl’s hair. ‘I must have been about your age...you still have time.’ I didn’t take this long though...

  ‘Where did Bo go?’ Ukrit asked.

  ‘Boat stealing.’ Asmara said. ‘Come on, you’re not going to sit around all day. We’re going wandering.’

  ‘Is that safe? Maybe we should keep an eye on him.’

  ‘No shadow magic.’ she said tiredly. ‘Please. Please try.’

  Ukrit subsided.

  ‘Now, we’re going wandering.’

  Asmara kept the children moving all day. They moved slowly and didn’t attempt to move far from the camp. That made things easier for Asmara; she didn’t have to worry about them wandering too far and getting lost. She ranged further, checking the surroundings. Whoever had sent those men yesterday would be missing them. They’d moved on from that particular beach, but they were not that far from it. Someone else might come looking.

  ‘We don’t even have any money left.’ She murmured to herself, when she was alone. It was the middle of winter, and the sea breeze was cool. ‘How are we supposed to leave?’