Soldier Song (The Teralin Sword Book 6) Read online

  “More than most.”

  “That’s all you intend to give me?”

  “What more should I give you?” Endric asked.

  “If you know more about teralin, I was hopeful you would share it. We know the metal is unique in some of its properties, but there is much that we have yet to understand.”

  “Even if you were to understand, I’m not sure I want to share it with you.”

  “But you shared it with your father.”

  Endric stared at her. “Have I?”

  Elizabeth watched him for a moment before turning and continuing down the tunnel. “You are an interesting individual, Endric. Do you realize that when you first befriended my son, I worried about him?”

  “I would have been surprised had you not.”

  “Most thought that unnecessary. You were the son of the general of the Denraen, but I had heard rumors about you, rumors that warned that you might not be quite as mature as your brother.”

  Endric laughed softly. The sound barely carried down the tunnel. The air around him carried the hint of teralin, a scent that he had always considered bitter, though it felt strange to consider a smell bitter. “I think most within the Denraen would have concurred with you at the time.”

  “Yet I made a point of observing you,” she said, glancing over at him. “And do you know what I saw?”

  Endric shook his head. “Someone who drank too much? Or maybe someone who caused too much trouble, getting into fights.”

  “Ah. There was that. You absolutely did manage to do that far more often than you should have. I overheard Listain grumbling about you many times.”

  “Listain was often asked to pull me out of whatever cell I had managed to get myself into.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “Listain was the one who offered to pull you out of whatever cell you had gotten yourself into. He knew you could be more. He was the one who continued to caution your father about giving up on you too early.”

  Endric frowned at the revelation. All the years he had known Listain, Endric had despised the man, hating the spymaster for the judgmental way he had always seemed to look at him. It was earned. Endric had never done anything to deserve anything but scorn before he began to change his ways, but that didn’t change the fact that he had never gotten along well with Listain.

  It was a shame he had died before Endric had an opportunity to work more closely with him. It was a shame that he had never had a chance to really understand Listain. How much could he have learned from him?

  Then again, he had learned quite a bit about Listain since his death. He recognized that the man was calculating, and it didn’t surprise Endric that Listain would be the one to caution his father about giving up on him too early. Listain would have seen Endric as an asset and would have wanted his father to have every opportunity to utilize that asset.

  “You still haven’t told me what you saw.”

  Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder at him. “I saw a man whose friends were incredibly devoted to him. The people who knew him best were willing to do anything for him. They could have given up on you, but they saw something in you. It didn’t take long for me to see the same.”

  “And what is that?”

  “The same traits I’m sure your father wants to leverage for you to lead the Denraen.”

  Endric wondered if she might tell him more, but she didn’t.

  He continued to follow Elizabeth as they made the way through the tunnels. At one point, they paused at the end of one and turned, taking a path he would not have expected. He thought they should have continued going down the length of the tunnel, but Elizabeth guided him into a narrow side tunnel.

  As they went, it was clear that they were now in one of the older mines. From here, they would be able to go in dozens of directions, but all of them would lead deeper into the mountain.

  Or up.

  Endric had followed the mines and had managed to make his way to the first terrace and to the Magi, so he knew that there was somewhere else that this would take him.

  She veered off to the side at the next intersection and continued to guide them through the tunnels. Endric realized there was a gentle slope here, and the longer they traveled, the steeper it became.

  “Why aren’t we traveling outside?”

  “That would only open more questions,” she said.

  Endric frowned. “What kind of questions?”

  They had reached the end of this tunnel. There wasn’t much light here, just enough for him to see that there was something like a doorway. She tapped on it, and it sounded solid. Not of stone, but of wood.

  It was a door.

  “The kind of questions we don’t need.” She found the handle and pushed the door open.

  Endric blinked, realizing she had guided him up to the barracks level, and not only that, but she had guided him to a hidden entrance to the officer’s quarters.

  “Did Urik know this was here?”

  “This hasn’t always been here. After the city was attacked, your father wanted a way of connecting the terraces.”

  “Dendril wanted this?”

  “It has taken much time, and it has involved only the master miners, those who could be trusted, but we have managed to connect them.”

  Endric had known there was a connection to the first terrace from the main level, but wouldn’t have expected a connection to the barracks. Then again, why wouldn’t there be? His father had no reason to fear the scholars from the university, and there was some benefit in navigating between the various levels without anyone knowing. Traveling this way, it was even possible to leave the mountain without anyone seeing.

  “I believe from here, you should be the guide?”

  “I’m not sure that it matters.”

  “I have rarely—if ever—come this way. Your father has made it quite clear that doing so is dangerous. We need to maintain appearances.”

  “Such as the level of separation between the Denraen and the university?”

  “There is value in such appearances,” she said.

  “I will admit I’m not exactly certain why, but I trust you, and my father have your reasons.”

  “We do,” she said.

  Endric looked along the hallway and glanced back to see Elizabeth closing the door. He was surprised to realize that the door looked like nothing more than a section of wall. Had he not known that a door was there, he never would have known it opened up to the tunnels beneath the city.

  The miners who had been responsible for burrowing that out would have been incredibly skilled.

  Endric guided her to his father’s office and paused to knock.

  When Dendril’s gruff voice came from the other side, Endric paused for a moment before pulling the door open. On the other side, his father was staring down at his desk. He worked on taking notes on a sheet of paper and didn’t glance up as Endric entered.

  “It will be only a moment, Endric.”

  “Don’t mind him,” Elizabeth said, pushing past Endric.

  Dendril set down his pen and placed his hands on either side of his desk. “Elizabeth. What is this about?”

  “You already know what it’s about.”

  “No. I know you intend to take my son out of the city. You understand that we need to maintain the succession planning.”

  “And you somehow believe that my asking your son to escort me outside of Vasha will interfere with that?”

  Dendril looked over at Endric, holding him with a focused gaze. “My son and I have already been dealing with something.”

  “I’m well aware of what you and Endric have been dealing with. You want him to assume command, and I can tell that he is either not ready or perhaps has no interest at all.”

  Endric frowned. “It doesn’t seem as if the two of you need me here.”

  “On the contrary,” Elizabeth said. “We require your presence. Much like I require your presence as you guide my party to the north.”

  “T
hat’s what this is about? I’ve already told him that he could accompany you, but I thought your concern was with the level of communication coming out of the guild out of the south.”

  “It is out of the south that I worry. For us to find what I need, we first need to go north.”

  “Why north?”

  “You know why, Dendril.”

  She said his name with a certain familiarity, and Endric watched her. He had thought that she was a part of the Conclave, having seen the ring on her finger, but he didn’t know with certainty whether she was or not. And if she wasn’t, then why would she speak like that to his father?

  “You can’t be serious, Elizabeth.”

  “I am incredibly serious.”

  “What you’re asking—”

  “I’m aware of what I’m asking,” she said. “Just like I’m aware of the potential consequences if this fails.”

  “You know how he feels about these things.”

  “Which is why he needs to be involved.”

  “What are you two talking about?” Endric demanded.

  He thought that Elizabeth might be the one to explain, but instead, his father turned toward him. “She wants to go north because she’s looking for Novan. And she intends to use him, though I’m still not certain what she thinks to accomplish in doing so. Knowing Novan, he’ll probably see you coming.”

  “Probably,” Elizabeth agreed.

  “Which means that he will have already determined a different plan.”

  “Probably,” Elizabeth said.

  “And that’s why you need Endric.”

  She smiled tightly. “Endric already knew all of this, didn’t you, Endric?”

  “I knew you intended to use me to reach the guild.”

  “No. It’s more than that. You knew that we needed to reach Novan. And you knew that for us to do so, we would need your assistance. I believe Senda has spoken to you about such things.”

  Endric frowned at her. How was she aware of what he had spoken to Senda about? Could she have been there? Could she have been listening?

  He didn’t think so, but what if she had?

  She certainly had ways through the city that he didn’t. It was possible Elizabeth was able to navigate through those tunnels, and maybe she was as much a spymaster as Listain, and now Senda.

  “She warned me you might intend to use me to get to Novan.”

  “And knowing that is my intention, what is your plan?” she asked.

  Endric only shook his head. “I’ve already told you that I will go. Whether we reach Novan is a different matter entirely.”

  7

  The northern winds gusted upon him, and Endric pulled his cloak tight around his shoulders. He was accustomed to the wind and the cold but preferred the comfort of his cloak wrapped around him for warmth. He didn’t need to suffer from it, not as he once would have. With not knowing how long they would be out of the city, he preferred to maintain his comfort as long and as much as possible.

  They kept their party small intentionally. They were able to travel more swiftly, and it wouldn’t draw attention as they traveled, not the same way a larger party of Denraen would. Elizabeth had asked that Senda accompany them, and his father had allowed for her to do so, though Endric could tell Dendril was displeased at the fact she was leaving the city yet again. Losing his Keeper of Secrets put him at a disadvantage, though not so much that he wouldn’t allow her to go. It was more that Elizabeth had promised the journey would be brief, though Endric still wondered how she could be so confident in that.

  Find Novan.

  That was the first order of business, and it was Endric’s experience that finding Novan was not something one simply did. Most of the time, the historian was the one who found others. He would only allow himself to be found when he wanted to be, not the other way around.

  And knowing Novan, even though Endric couldn’t claim to know him nearly as well as his father or others within the Conclave, Endric couldn’t help but shake the feeling that he would be angry at such pursuit.

  Then again, maybe he wouldn’t be. Novan was a difficult man to read, and it was possible it wasn’t the pursuit he would be angered by but the fact that they intended to use him to infiltrate the historian guild.

  “How much farther are we traveling?” he asked Elizabeth. She had some way of finding Novan, though he wasn’t confident what that might be.

  She sat atop a compact mare, riding with more confidence than Endric would have expected out of her. It surprised him that she was as comfortable on horseback as she was, especially because as far as he knew, she had been within the city the entirety of her life.

  “We are making our way toward Boastin,” she said.

  “And when we reach it?”

  “When we reach it, then we will continue onward,” she said.

  “Onward. North of that is the mountains.”

  “Yes.”

  There was a look of almost smug satisfaction the way that she said it. She had something in mind, and he didn’t care for what it was, especially knowing that beyond the mountains would be the Antrilii. Could she have intended this to force his hand, intending to get the information about the Antrilii that she wanted?

  “You understand that I’m not taking you to the Antrilii lands,” he said.

  “And if that is where Novan will be found?”

  “If that’s were Novan will be found, so be it, but I have no intention of taking you there.”

  “Your father agreed—”

  Endric laughed. “My father may have agreed, but my father isn’t on this journey with us. I am the one here, and I am the one who will decide how far I’m willing to guide you.”

  Senda rode on his other side, and she glanced over, watching him. She said nothing, but her mouth was pinched into the kind of frown he knew meant she was irritated. He had seen that frown often enough to know he didn’t want to be the source of her irritation for too long.

  “For this to succeed, we need Novan.”

  “Why?” Endric asked. He glanced over at her before turning his attention back to the path in front of him. They were crossing the northern plains, and the edge of the western mountain range was just now visible. They’d been on the road for the last week and had ridden steadily north before angling their way west. From here, reaching Boastin would take them traversing a narrow pass that would guide them through the two different mountain ranges, leading to the outer coast.

  It was not a way that he had often traveled. Then again, Boastin rarely needed patrols. Gomald was strictly run, and the king ensured everyone in his holdings was held to a strict regimen.

  “I know you feel that Novan is somehow key to whatever it is you’re planning, but so far, you’ve not shared much about that, and it’s time that you do. I deserve to know just what it is that you intend when we reach Novan.”

  “We need Novan to gain entry to the guild.”

  “I don’t dispute that, but you’re after something else. And I’m not entirely certain what that is.” He glanced over at Senda. “And I’m curious why you felt the need to require Senda to accompany us.”

  “Senda is here more for your benefit than for mine.”

  “Somehow, I find that difficult to believe,” Endric said.

  “Believe what you want. I’ve seen the calming influence she has on you.”

  Senda laughed. “I’m not sure that I get credit for calming him. Most of the time, I struggle to keep him on task, and try as I might, he still gets it in his head to do whatever he wants.”

  Endric shot her a look of annoyance that she completely ignored. It seemed to please her more than anything else.

  “If she’s here for me, why did you request Pendin accompany us?”

  He thought that he knew and thought Elizabeth’s intention was more for her benefit, but he wanted Pendin to hear it. He had been quiet ever since they’d left the city, and as they camped at night, Pendin had not spoken much. It wasn’t that he sulked, but he
certainly wasn’t his usual self.

  “I thought I could have an opportunity to reconnect with my son.” She looked over at Pendin, but he made a point of ignoring her.

  It was too bad. Endric thought Pendin needed to have a chance to reconnect with his mother. Maybe it would help him, and perhaps that would give him some answers that he had been lacking.

  “I’m here because of Endric,” Pendin said.

  “Of course you are,” Elizabeth said.

  Three other Denraen had accompanied them, all lower-ranking soldiers, but two of them were men Endric had been working with over the last year, trying to elevate their level of skill, and the third was a young woman Senda was grooming, intending to raise her to assist the Keeper of Secrets.

  Seven, and six of them soldiers. It was possible they would encounter trouble along the way, but they would be better served avoiding it altogether. They didn’t have the numbers to fight and defend themselves if it came to it.

  There had been no signs of raiders like the ones they had confronted before returning to the city. Denraen patrols still swept through the north on Endric’s orders, and he half expected to come into contact with some of them, but hadn’t.

  When dusk fell, he signaled for them to stop. They found a place along a shallow stream, though it had enough water for the horses and they were able to refill their water skins. The two younger Denraen began to start a fire. Brock was heavyset and with a solid build, but had a surprising quickness which made him a deceptive swordsman. Rory had a shock of red hair, was slender, and had shown some skill with the sword. They spoke softly to each other as they built a fire, and Endric stood off to the side, watching.

  “We’ve been gone a week, and we still haven’t found the historian,” Pendin said, approaching Endric. He spoke softly, pitching his voice so that Elizabeth wouldn’t hear.

  “I’m not sure we will find him,” Endric said.

  “Then what’s the purpose of this?”

  “I think your mother knew we wouldn’t find him. That’s not how the historian operates.”

  Pendin glared over at his mother. “I don’t like being used in this way.”