The Core

‘Honoured husband, Rojer asu Jessum am’Inn am’Hollow.’ Amanvah’s voice carried unnaturally far. ‘Rojer of the Half Grip, disciple of Arrick of the Sweetest Song, let our sacrifice summon a seraph to guide you on the lonely path to Everam, where you shall sup at His table until there is need for your spirit to return to Ala once more.’

Leesha walked beside Amanvah as they entered the Corelings’ Graveyard. Sikvah and Kendall were two steps behind them, followed by Tender Jona and Cutters bearing Rojer to the pyre.

The Straw Gatherers had done their work well. Rojer’s handsome face was serene, showing nothing of the violence of his death. He was clad in bright silk motley and looked as if he might leap to his feet at any moment and begin playing a reel.

He lay on a bed of axe handles crossed over the broad shoulders of Gared, Wonda, and half a dozen hand-picked Hollowers. Dug and Merrem Butcher. Smitt. Darsy. Jow and Evin Cutter.

Folk filled the Graveyard, packing the cobbles before the pyre and stretching down the road in every direction. All roads in Cutter’s Hollow led here, to the centre of the greatward.

The pyre had been built in front of the bandshell that had been Rojer’s place of power. Gared and Wonda were weeping openly as they laid Rojer on the great platform over the pile of kindling.

Amanvah, Sikvah, and Kendall fell to their knees on the stage, wailing and sobbing with dramatic flair as young Krasian girls scraped the tears from their cheeks into tiny bottles of warded glass.

Leesha wanted to weep. She had often sought solace in tears, and wept over Rojer many times in private over the last few weeks. But now, before all the gathered people of the Hollow, she felt as if she had nothing left to give. Thamos, dead. Arlen gone, and Ahmann’s fate uncertain. And now Rojer. Would it be her fate to bury every man she loved?

After a time, Amanvah recovered herself and got to her feet, looking out over the crowd as she activated her choker. ‘I am Amanvah vah Rojer vah Ahmann am’Inn am’Hollow, First Wife to Rojer asu Jessum am’Inn am’Hollow. My husband was son-in-law to Shar’Dama Ka, but there was no denying that he, too, was touched by Everam. We burn his body according to your custom, but in Krasia, sharik hora, the bones of heroes, are honoured above all others. My honoured husband’s bones will be taken from the remains, lacquered, and encased in warded glass to consecrate the new temple to the Creator here on the sacred ground of the Corelings’ Graveyard.’

Kendall began a slow, mournful song, and Amanvah began to sing. Sikvah joined her, the trio wrapping the crowd in their music as easily as they charmed corelings.

As she sang, Amanvah produced the tiny skull of a flame demon and pointed it at the pyre, fingers sliding across the wards to activate the magic. A blast of flame shot from the jaws, setting the wood beneath the pyre alight. The Straw Gatherers had filled the body with chemics and sawdust, and it blazed quickly, shining over the crowd as they stood entranced by the Krasian funeral song.

When it was over, Leesha took the stage, clearing her throat. She did not have a choker like the princess, but there was magic in the bandshell as well, carrying her words far into the night.

Still Leesha’s tears would not come, and no doubt the mourners were wondering at the sight. Why isn’t she crying? Didn’t she love him? Doesn’t she care?

She took a deep breath. ‘Rojer made me promise that if this day ever came, I’d have singing and dancing, and toss the speeches in the flames with him.’

There was scattered laughter.

‘It’s honest word.’ Leesha produced a folded paper. ‘He even wrote it down.’ She opened the paper, reading.

Leesha, I plan to live long enough to dazzle my great-grandchildren with magic tricks, but we both know life doesn’t always go according to plan. If I should die, I’m counting on you to make sure my funeral isn’t some boring, depressing affair. Tell everyone I was great, sing a sad song while you light the pyre, then tell Hary to spin a reel and order folk to shut up and dance.

Leesha folded the paper, slipping it into a pocket of her dress. ‘I wouldn’t be here if not for Rojer Halfgrip. I dare say many of us wouldn’t. More than once, his music was the last line of the Hollow’s defence, giving us time to regroup, to find our feet, to catch our breath.

‘When Arlen Bales fell from the sky at new moon, it was Rojer’s fiddle that lured the coreling hordes into ambush after ambush, allowing us to hold the night.

‘But that’s not how I remember him best,’ Leesha went on. ‘Rojer was the one who was always ready with a joke when I was sad, or an ear when I needed one. He could be my conscience one moment, and turn a backflip the next. When problems mounted and everything seemed too much to bear, Rojer could just take out his fiddle and soothe it all away.

‘That was his magic. Not drawing wards or throwing lightning. Not seeing the future or healing wounds. Rojer Inn saw into hearts, human and demon, and spoke to them with his music. I’ve never known anyone like him, and I don’t expect I shall again.

‘Rojer was great.’ She choked, putting a hand to her mouth, and suddenly found her tears. Amanvah herself rushed forward, catching the drops before they fell from her cheek.

Leesha took a moment to compose herself, then turned to the leader of the Jongleurs in the bandshell. ‘Hary, it’s time for that reel.’

Elissa drank and danced with the Hollowers all night. Ragen swung Elissa about like he hadn’t since they courted, and even Briar took a turn – the boy surprisingly light on his feet and quick to pick up the steps. The three of them laughed until their faces hurt, feeling safe and joyful for the first time in Creator only knew how long.

As the night wore on, Jongleurs broke off, luring revellers back to their own boroughs just as Halfgrip once lured the corelings, and there was cheer and laughter throughout the Hollow.

There were groans throughout the taproom of Smitt’s Inn as dawn light filtered in the windows. There were trays piled high with eggs, bacon, and bread, pitchers of water, and a bucket at the end of every table for retching. One patron was not quick enough, emptying his stomach onto the floor. The sight of it made Elissa’s own stomach roil, but she took deep breaths, focusing on the water pitcher until the room stopped spinning.

Stefny, the innkeeper’s wife, was there before the man finished with a damp cloth to wipe his mouth and a mop to shove in his hands when he was clean. The man wisely set to cleaning his mess.

‘You all right?’ Stefny asked Elissa. ‘I know the look. See one lose it and others are quick to follow.’

‘I’ll manage,’ Elissa said, sipping at her water.

Stefny nodded. ‘Ent much business getting done today. Mistress Leesha sent word she’ll receive you on the morrow.’ She sniffed, eyes flicking to Briar. ‘Time enough to rest up and have a proper bath before going to court.’

Briar frowned. The boy, bless him, had the resilience of youth, and looked fitter than the rest of them. He’d finished two helpings of breakfast and now got to his feet. ‘Come find you tomorrow morning.’

‘There’s room—’ Stefny began.

‘Don’t like walls,’ Briar cut in. ‘Got a briarpatch in the Gatherers’ Wood.’ Without another word, he was out the door.

The water had long since cooled, but Elissa was still soaking in the bath when Ragen returned to the room the next morning.

‘Turns out Smitt’s the local banker, as well,’ Ragen said. ‘Once he sobered a bit, our name was enough to get a line of credit to fund our journey back to Miln. Be a few weeks before we can hire hands and get supply, but things should go smoothly from here.’

‘From your lips to the Creator’s ear,’ Elissa said. ‘I was beginning to think the children would be grown by the time we returned.’

‘Hard to plan for an invasion,’ Ragen said. ‘If there’s a Creator, I’d say He’s done His part just seeing us through.’

As promised, Briar was waiting on the porch when they had readied themselves. He still smelled of hogroot, but the dirt was gone, at least. Elissa had seen him swim in freezing ponds and streams without so much as a shiver, but it saddened her nevertheless to see him this way. Ragen had hoped to take the boy back home with them, and Elissa dreamed of teaching him the pleasures of a bath and a clean set of clothes, but both of them knew now it was only a fantasy. Briar was Briar, and that wasn’t going to change. The path that made him who he was could not be unwalked.

There were guards everywhere in the countess’s keep, a surprising number of them female, though no less armoured and intimidating than the men. Milnese were tall, but Hollowers tended to be broad, as well. Their fine clothes walked them past the outer security, but surprisingly it was Briar that got them into the inner chambers.

‘Briar!’ There was a shout, and all three of them spun to see the Baron of Cutter’s Hollow looming over them. Briar tensed, but he accepted the hand the giant man stuck out at him. The baron yanked, pulling him into a great bear hug.

Briar scrambled back out of reach when he let go, and the man turned to Ragen and Elissa, staring open-mouthed at the scene. ‘Boy saved my life. Night, lost count of the lives he’s saved.’

‘You’da killed that corie,’ Briar said.

The baron shrugged. ‘Ay, maybe, but it would’ve taken a chunk of me with it.’

‘For a boy that lives in the woods, he seems to make a lot of powerful friends.’ Ragen put out a hand, and he and Gared clasped forearms. ‘Ragen, Warders’ Guildmaster of Fort Miln.’ He swept a hand next to him. ‘This is my wife, Mother Elissa, daughter of Countess Tresha of Morning County in Miln, and head of the Milnese Warding Exchange.’

Elissa couldn’t remember the last time she’d needed to curtsy, but the move was ingrained still. ‘A pleasure to meet you, Baron.’

‘Lord Arther’s got his hands full today,’ Gared said. ‘Sent me to fetch ya for Mistress Leesha.’ He led them through a series of halls, past the formal receiving rooms, and into a residential wing. ‘Mistress had a babe this past week. Likes to keep it close.’

‘I’m surprised she’s seeing us at all, if it’s been just a week,’ Elissa said.

‘Briar says yur important, so yur important,’ Gared said as they came up to a door guarded by one of the biggest women Elissa had ever seen. Even indoors, she had a bow over her shoulder and a small quiver of arrows on her hip.

‘’Scuse me a minute. Need to make sure she ent …’ His face reddened. ‘Feedin’ or anythin’.’

Elissa swallowed her smile. Men could face demons and Krasians and everything else the world could throw at them, but a suckling babe was still too much for many of them to bear witness to.

He spoke to the guard, and she slipped inside, returning a moment later with permission to enter. The office was spacious, with great windows, their heavy curtains thrown back to let in the morning sun. The Mistress of the Hollow was seated on a throne behind a gigantic desk of carved and polished goldwood, but she rose as they entered, coming around to embrace Briar, heedless of his dirty clothes and ever-present smell. She held him a long time, kissing the top of his head, and Elissa knew then this was a woman she could trust.

Briar looked up as they parted, seeing the cradle in the back corner of the room behind the desk. ‘That …?’

‘Olive,’ the countess said. ‘My daughter.’

A wide smile broke out on Briar’s face. ‘Can I …?’

‘Of course,’ the countess said. ‘But quietly now. I’ve only just got her to sleep.’ She turned to the others as Briar crept over, silent as a cat.

‘Welcome to the Hollow, Mother, Guildmaster. Will you take tea?’

‘Thank you, my lady,’ Elissa said, reaching for her skirts.

The countess waved dismissively as she led them to couches around a tea table. ‘Please, call me Leesha. Briar’s told me what you’ve done for the Laktonians. There’s no need for formality here.’

‘We did what any in our position would have,’ Ragen said, ‘for all the good it did.’

‘Most in your position would have fled home, not spent the better part of the year helping refugees and the resistance,’ Leesha said as a servant poured the tea. ‘And I think the folk building the borough of New Lakton would say you did quite a bit of good.’

‘You’ve done your research, mistress,’ Elissa said.

‘I like to be informed,’ Leesha said.

‘Our condolences for your loss,’ Ragen said. ‘Halfgrip’s fame extended to Miln and beyond. The power your people held in the night with his songs was … staggering.’

‘We would like to take the music back to Miln,’ Elissa said. ‘It could safeguard travellers, caravans …’

Leesha nodded. ‘Of course. Nothing would honour Rojer’s memory more than spreading his music far and wide. We’ll send written music back with you for your Jongleurs.’

Elissa bowed. ‘Thank you, mistress. That is most gracious.’

‘It’s the least we can do, considering our friend in common,’ Leesha said.

Elissa raised an eyebrow. ‘Briar?’

Leesha shook her head. ‘The boy Ragen found on the road many years ago, and you raised as your own. Arlen Bales.’

Gared dropped his teacup, and it shattered on the floor.

‘Do you think he’s still alive?’ Elissa asked.

‘Course he is,’ Baron Cutter said. ‘Deliverer, ent he?’

‘No one in all the world loves Arlen Bales more than I,’ Elissa said. ‘He was a brilliant boy, and he grew into an amazing man. But I’ve dried his tears and cleaned his sick. Argued when he was stubborn and seen him err. Saw the hurts he carried and how he blamed himself for them. I don’t know if I can ever see him as the Deliverer.’

‘It’s irrelevant in any event,’ Leesha said. ‘Deliverer or no, he’s set the world on a path we all need to walk.’

‘That ent the Deliverer’s job, dunno what is,’ Wonda said. ‘I’ll eat my bow and the quiver besides, he ent alive. Folk seen him on the road, helping those fleeing Lakton.’

‘No one saw his face,’ Leesha said. ‘That could as easily have been Renna.’

‘Arlen’s wife,’ Elissa said. There were many regrets in her life, but missing the wedding cut deep. If any man deserved a bit of happiness in his life, it was Arlen Bales.

‘Night, that’s right,’ Ragen said. ‘Didn’t think any woman could settle that boy down. What’s she like?’

A pained look flickered over Leesha’s face, and Elissa gave him a subtle kick. Arlen had spoken of Leesha and what they shared – a spark doused by fear and panic.

Ragen lacked subtlety, but he wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t the first time Arlen Bales had fled a woman offering something too joyful for his tortured soul to bear. What kind of woman had finally reached him?

‘Renna Bales saved my life,’ Gared said. ‘Saved us all, when the Deliverer fell.’

‘Fell?’ Ragen asked. ‘Over the cliff with the demon of the desert?’

The baron shook his head. ‘’Fore that. When the minds came for the Hollow on new moon. Went out with Rojer and Renna to scout, and we found a world of trouble. Mind demons were digging greatwards of their own.’

‘Night,’ Ragen said. ‘Corelings can ward?’

‘Only the minds, it seems,’ Leesha said, ‘but their warding makes ours look like a child’s scrawl.’

‘Fought like mad, but there were too many of ’em,’ the baron went on. ‘Only made it back slung over Renna’s shoulder. Rojer told Mr Bales what we saw and he jumped into the sky.’

‘What?’ Elissa asked.

‘Took off like a bird,’ Wonda said. ‘Thousands saw him, floating in the sky, throwin’ lightning at the demons like the Creator Himself.’

Ragen looked to Elissa. ‘How’s that possible?’

‘He was Drawing off the greatward,’ Leesha said. ‘Pulling massive amounts of power and throwing it at the demon wards before they could activate fully. But even a greatward has limits.’

‘One moment he was glowin’ like the sun, then …’ Wonda blew a breath. ‘Out like a candle. Fell and cracked like an egg on the cobbles.’

Elissa gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

‘Thought everythin’ was lost then,’ Gared said. ‘No one was givin’ up, but there wern’t much hope. But then Renna Bales stepped up. Held the last line when every defence was broke. Held it until Mr Bales came back to us. Two o’ them held hands as the tide came in, and threw it back into the night.’

‘Ent dead,’ Wonda said. ‘Man who can walk away from that …’

Leesha pursed her lips, then nodded to herself, getting to her feet. ‘Bar the door, Gar. Wonda, the curtains.’

Ragen, Elissa, and Briar watched in confusion as they were locked into the room and cloaked in darkness. Leesha unlocked a drawer in her desk, producing what looked like a large piece of obsidian, but they could well guess what it was, even before she fitted it into a slot on the wall and a wardnet sprang up around them. It circled the room and crisscrossed the ceiling and floor, casting them all in gentle wardlight.

‘No sound will escape the room.’ Leesha returned to her seat, taking her teacup and sipping thoughtfully. ‘What I say here must never be repeated.’

‘Swear by the sun,’ Gared said.

‘Course, mistress,’ Wonda added. Briar grunted his agreement.

Ragen took Elissa’s hand. ‘You have our word.’

‘Renna Bales came to me the night we learned the Krasians attacked Lakton,’ Leesha said. ‘She told me Arlen is alive.’

‘Knew it!’ Wonda burst, even as Gared roared a laugh, bringing his hands together in a resounding smack.

‘Creator be praised,’ Ragen whispered, but Elissa said nothing, knowing there was more.

‘She also told me they would not come again,’ Leesha said. ‘They’d become too powerful, and were drawing the minds’ attention to the Hollow, just as Ahmann was doing in Krasia. We needed time to grow our defences, and so he left to give us that.’

‘Said it himself,’ Gared said. ‘Told Jardir he was the last piece of business before he took the fight to the Core.’

‘What does that mean?’ Ragen asked.

‘Arlen can mist as the demons do,’ Leesha said. ‘Renna, too, the last time I saw her. He told me he could hear the Core calling to him, could slip down into it like a coreling at dawn.’ She shook her head sadly. ‘But he didn’t seem to think much of his chances if he tried.’

‘Better chance’n any of us,’ Gared said.

Ragen kept his composure, but he was squeezing Elissa’s hand so hard it hurt. She laid her other hand gently atop his, and his tension eased. ‘Gared’s right. How many times has Arlen cheated death? He’ll turn up again, just when we’ve given up, and start the worry afresh.’

Ragen laughed. ‘Ay, that’s my boy.’

‘In the meantime, we need to do as he asked, and grow strong,’ Leesha said. ‘Not something we can do if we’re more concerned with killing one another than the corelings.’

‘We didn’t bring that fight, mistress,’ Ragen said. ‘The Krasians believe Sharak Ka is coming, and the Evejah tells them the only hope mankind has to survive is for all the world to kneel before the Skull Throne.’

‘They brought the fight,’ Leesha agreed, ‘but it’s been brewing for years. Euchor didn’t build his flamework weapons and train men in their use overnight.’

‘No,’ Ragen agreed. ‘He’s long had his eye on subjugating the ivy throne and reuniting Thesa under his rule, but he would never have struck first.’

‘The question then,’ Leesha said, ‘is will he be content to stop at Angiers now that he has it, or will he use the Krasians as an excuse to press south and claim all the Free Cities as his own?’

Elissa exchanged another look with Ragen. ‘He will press. And expect you to follow and thank him for the privilege. The Hollow is too powerful for him to suffer at his doorstep when Angiers gives him a claim to it.’

‘Gettin’ tired of folk who ent ever bled for the Hollow marchin’ in and expecting us to bow and scrape,’ Gared said.

‘You won’t have to,’ Leesha said. ‘Euchor’s weapons won’t work as well here as he thinks.’

‘Because of you,’ Elissa said. ‘Because of your magic.’

Leesha nodded. ‘I have wardings that can render their chemics inert. Flamework weapons are not welcome in my lands.’

‘Will you teach us something of this bone magic, and how the hora is preserved?’ Elissa asked.

Gared and Wonda looked to their mistress, but Leesha did not hesitate. ‘Of course. After all, who do you think taught me?’

She looked to Ragen. ‘I know you have retired as a Royal Messenger, Guildmaster, but I beg you take one last commission and act as my voice in Miln before His Grace, Duke Euchor.’

Ragen bowed. ‘I would be honoured, mistress. His Grace will be expecting a full report from us upon our return. You have my word I will hold secrets given me in confidence, and negotiate in good faith on your behalf.’

Leesha bowed in return. ‘The honour is mine. We can discuss details in the coming days. For now, I invite the three of you to transfer your belongings here to my keep.’

‘Thank you, mistress,’ Elissa said. ‘We gladly accept.’

‘S’fine,’ Briar said. ‘Got a briarpatch in Gatherers’ Wood.’

Leesha looked up at that. ‘You’re sleeping in my wood?’

‘Ay,’ Briar said.

‘Do you know my Painted Children?’ Leesha asked.

Briar nodded. ‘Seen ’em lots of times. Live in the night like me. Brave, but …’ He searched for a word. ‘Angry.’

‘Will you look in on them for me tonight?’ Leesha asked. ‘I’ve been away some time, and would like to know what I can expect when I visit them.’

Briar nodded. ‘Ay.’

5

The Pack

334 AR

Briar padded on bare feet through the Gatherers’ Wood. The soft leather boots he wore out of respect for Mistress Leesha’s carpets were laced together and slung over his shoulder under his father’s battered shield.

Bare feet told much that boots could not. Where footing was sure and silent. The residual warmth where prey had been. The rush of nearby water. The thrum of hurried feet. Things that made you part of the night, instead of something clumsily passing through it. Things that could mean your life.

Briar loved the Gatherers’ Wood. Too vast to conform to magic’s shape, it was one of the few places in Hollow County not protected by a greatward. After dark, wood demons roamed the boughs and prowled the forest bed. Water demons swam its ponds. Wind demons skimmed the wider paths and circled above the clearings.

But even amid the wild nature, Briar could see how Mistress Leesha was shaping the wood from within. Some changes, like warded crete walkways and posts, were obvious to all, safe as sunlight. Others, their power shaped by natural features and cultivated plants, were so subtle the unwary might never know they were under the mistress’ protection.

It was why Briar trusted Mistress Leesha so implicitly. She had taken the time to understand the cories. How a certain slick moss on the branches could make wood demons avoid a copse of trees, or a patch of dry ground limit how far a bog demon might range. How fruit and nut trees drew cories in search of prey, and other plants urged them away.