Risen

3

‘So?’ Luna demanded. ‘What did they say?’

We were in the Hollow, side by side on a fallen tree. I was sitting facing the grass, while Luna was straddling the trunk, leaning in towards me. Through my magesight, I could see the silver-grey mist of her curse twisting around her body, just barely out of range. The blurry, half-real sun of the shadow realm was above the treetops, its rays barely catching us as the afternoon faded into evening.

‘Oh, they had plenty to say,’ I said. ‘They argued for hours.’

‘Okay, let me rephrase. I don’t actually care what they said. What about Vari?’

‘Barely mentioned,’ I said. ‘But I did pick up on a couple of things. You remember Ares?’

Luna shook her head.

‘Council Keeper of the Order of the Shield. Fire mage. Tried to kill me on that trip to Syria.’

‘And?’

‘He was found dead at his home this morning,’ I said. ‘Someone tore through all his wards, destroyed his bodyguard constructs, and engaged him in a fight. There wasn’t much left. Apparently once he figured out he was losing, he blew himself up and most of the house as well.’

‘So one more out of all the people who’ve tried to kill you is dead. Why does this matter?’

‘It matters,’ I said, ‘because the previous time he took a shot at me, he got Anne instead. It was nasty.’

‘And what, you think this was payback?’

‘Not payback,’ I said. ‘Recruitment.’ I leant back on the tree. ‘I’ve been thinking back over the past ten years, counting up all the people Anne would have a good reason to hold a grudge against. Ares – burned her. Zilean and Lightbringer – had her tortured. Sal Sarque and Levistus – gave the orders to have her tortured. Solace and Barrayar – they were the aides to Sal Sarque and Levistus. Caldera – beat her down and captured her. Crystal – mind-controlled me into hurting her. There are plenty more. Sagash. Sagash’s apprentices. Jagadev and Jagadev’s men. They’re nearly all dead. And the ones that aren’t dead, Anne’s captured.’

‘So?’

‘The marid can summon greater jinn to possess human hosts,’ I said. ‘We were already pretty sure that was what Anne was doing. But she doesn’t want random people off the street. She wants people who matter to her, that she’s got a connection to. She’s tracking down her best friends and worst enemies, and turning them into jinn-possessed slaves.’ I was silent for a moment. ‘I think, in a way . . . she’s trying to replace us. The way she sees it, we betrayed her by not taking her side. So she’s creating herself some new companions, ones who’ll never betray her because they’re mind-controlled so that they can’t.’

Luna made a face. ‘When you put it like that, it sounds even creepier. Do you . . . You think she’s done that to Vari?’

‘Anne captured Caldera and Barrayar two days ago, and they were fighting on her side today,’ I said. ‘Vari was captured yesterday, so . . . I’d say it’s a good bet. Richard said it takes a while to do the summoning and binding, but it’s going to be easier now she’s got a base.’ I looked at Luna. ‘She didn’t pick that spot at random, either. Dark Anne was born in that shadow realm. Not a coincidence that when she needed a fortress, that was where she went. Pretty safe bet that we’ll find Vari there, too.’

Luna looked down at the grass.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.

‘When you say “we”, you mean the Council as well,’ Luna said. ‘Don’t you?’

‘It’s going to be a full-on invasion, yeah.’

‘And the Council aren’t going there to rescue Vari.’

‘They say they’d prefer to banish any jinn they find rather than killing their hosts.’

Luna just looked at me. There was no need to say what we both were thinking. The Council would place some value on Variam’s life – he was a Keeper, after all – but if he got between the Council forces and Anne, they’d kill him without a second thought. And ‘between the Council forces and Anne’ was exactly where Anne would put him.

‘I shouldn’t have let it get this far,’ Luna said.

‘What happened yesterday wasn’t your fault.’

Luna shook her head. ‘Before that. When she came to the shop. The way she talked . . . She looked like Anne, but it was like watching someone walking around in her skin. Like there was hardly anything of her left. I knew something was going to happen.’ Luna exhaled. ‘I just didn’t want to admit she was gone.’

I looked down. Luna wasn’t the only one who’d made that mistake.

We stayed silent for a minute, then Luna looked up. ‘All right. You said they’d prefer to banish the jinn. That must mean they know some way to do it.’

‘Kind of, but there’s a catch,’ I said. ‘Remember that anti-jinn weapon we heard about last week? The one the Council was working on as a secret project?’

‘Oh yeah, the one—’ Luna stopped. ‘Wait. Didn’t Richard steal that?’

‘Yep.’

Luna threw up her hands. ‘Oh, come on!’

‘Which he was using as a bargaining chip in the negotiations, by the way.’

‘You’ve got to be kidding!’ Luna said. ‘Wait, wait, wait, let me see if I’m getting this right. First Richard steals Suleiman’s ring, the one with the marid, out of the Vault. Then he manipulates Anne into picking it up. Then he uses Anne and that marid to start a war against the Council. Then when they make an anti-jinn weapon to try and stop her, he steals that. And now, after he’s finally lost control of Anne and that jinn, he’s asking for an alliance. Did I miss anything?’

‘You missed the fact that when he came to see us yesterday he blamed the whole thing on me,’ I said. ‘For smashing his dreamstone and letting Anne loose.’

‘Jesus. Is there even a word for that?’

‘“Chutzpah”.’

‘Okay, he’s a chutzpah.’ Luna shook her head. ‘I can’t stand the Council and he’s making me want to take their side.’

‘You can see why they weren’t keen on a truce,’ I said. ‘The Council had already decided to go after Anne, before they even walked into that meeting. And that meant putting their war with Richard on hold whether they liked it or not. Working with him, though . . . that’s something else. Richard told them that they’d have to, or he wouldn’t share the details on the marid’s ritual. Druss told him they didn’t need the details: they could just go in and kill everyone. Richard said they wouldn’t be able to get into Sagash’s shadow realm without him. Alma said they’d find a way. Richard said that if they didn’t involve him then they could kiss goodbye to their special weapon. I’m giving you the short version; the whole thing took hours.’

‘Yeah, that’s why I’m never getting into politics. So?’

‘They hammered out a compromise,’ I said. ‘Richard and the Council are going to attack the shadow realm separately. Multiple simultaneous gates, multiple points of entry. They were cagey about committing to anything, but my read is there are going to be four groups. First two are going to be Council-led, third is going to be Richard’s cabal. Fourth group is me.’

‘And me,’ Luna said without hesitation.

‘And you.’

‘When?’

‘The Council has the ritual pegged to go off between seventy-two and ninety-six hours starting from 8 a.m. today,’ I said. ‘So somewhere between Sunday morning, and the early hours of Monday. They’re planning to go in tomorrow, Friday evening. That gives them the Friday night and all of Saturday to work with in case something goes wrong.’

Luna gave me a sharp look. ‘You think it will?’

I was silent for a long while. ‘I’m not sure,’ I said at last. I rose to my feet. ‘There’s one more thing I’m going to try. I’ll keep in touch.’

I stepped out of the gate and into the warmth and quiet of an English summer evening. Trees rose up around me, with the tops of buildings just visible over their branches. From outside the park, the sounds of London filtered through, quiet and muffled. The sun had disappeared behind the trees, but its rays still reflected from the buildings above.

‘Sorry about the wait,’ I told Ji-yeong. ‘You ready to go?’

The Dark life mage was sitting in the shadows, leaning against a tree with her head tilted back. ‘I suppose.’

I nodded. ‘Head to the park’s south gate, that way. There’s a cab waiting that’ll take you to a hotel. There’s a reservation under your name. Take a shower, get some rest. There’ll be someone coming with some new clothes, so pick something out. Oh, and ask at reception and they’ll give you a phone. The contact number in its memory will put you in touch with someone who should be able to handle anything you need.’

Ji-yeong gave me an odd look. ‘What?’

‘We’re pretty much done here,’ I said. ‘You came out of Sagash’s shadow realm without a phone or bank cards, and I know you don’t have a base here in London, so I figured you could use a place to stay. The Council will probably want to interrogate you tomorrow about the wards on the shadow realm, so don’t be surprised if they track you down, but they shouldn’t be too pushy about it. If there are any problems, give me a call.’

‘How did . . . ? Wait.’ Ji-yeong got to her feet. ‘When did you have the time to do all this?’

‘Can’t expect me to tell you all my secrets.’

‘Okay . . .’ Ji-yeong said. ‘Then why?’

‘Tell you secrets?’

‘Why are you helping me?’

‘Why not?’

‘That’s not an answer.’

‘Yes, it is. It’s just not the one you expected.’

‘No one does favours for nothing.’

‘We had a deal, and you held up your end,’ I said. ‘I don’t have any further obligations towards you, but I’ve got the ability to make the rest of your day much less unpleasant, and all it’ll cost me is some money, which, in my current position, isn’t something I much care about. So, again –’ I shrugged. ‘– why not?’

‘And that’s it?’ Ji-yeong asked. ‘I just walk away?’

‘That’s right.’

Ji-yeong stared at me for a long moment. ‘I don’t understand you,’ she said at last.

‘You don’t need to,’ I said. ‘Goodbye. I doubt we’ll meet again.’

I travelled a little way east, to Canonbury. There, on an ordinary-looking street, I found a place under an ordinary-looking tree, opposite from an ordinary-looking house. I leant against the tree and waited.

When I’d talked to Luna about everyone Anne might carry a grudge against, I’d listed people from the magical world. But Anne had had a life before becoming a mage. The house opposite me right now was the home of the foster family with whom she’d spent most of her childhood, and deep down, she probably hated them as much as everyone else on that list put together.

I stood under the tree as the light faded and the sun sank below the horizon. Above me, the sky faded from cyan to royal blue to deep purple. Around me, the sounds of traffic rose and fell, carried on the breeze. I let the sounds of the city wrap around me, trying to take what calm from it I could. And somewhere beyond, through another sense, I watched the shifting futures.

The phone in my pocket buzzed, breaking me out of my trance. I glanced at who it was, then reached out through the dreamstone. November?

Oh good, you’re there. November’s thoughts feel different from those of a human: smoother, more precise, like blocks of machined glass. I hope I’m not distracting you.

It’s fine. How did everything go?

Your new acquaintance checked in at reception one hour and thirteen minutes ago, November said. Since then, she’s activated her new phone, made two calls to mobile numbers in South Korea, picked out three sets of clothes from those made available to her, had a shower, and called for room service. Twice.

Sounds like she’s doing fine. Any news?

The Council net is highly active, November said. All the data I can intercept is consistent with preparations for a major military strike.

At least they’re taking it seriously.

It certainly appears so, November said. And I gather from your location that you are . . . waiting.

Yes.

It seems highly improbable that Anne Walker would choose to visit her family home under these circumstances, November said. If detected by the Council, she would face a significant risk of being traced and overwhelmed. All tactical considerations would push her toward remaining in her new shadow realm.

You see the future through probability distributions, I told November. I see that too, but I also see choice. And Anne’s been thinking about coming here all evening.

What’s the probability that she will?

It’s not that simple, I said across the link. I’ve been watching the futures for hours, and they keep shifting. If it was just her making up her mind, it wouldn’t look like this. Something’s affecting her ability to make the decision.

But her arrival is still a possibility?

Yes.

Then you really should not be standing there, November said bluntly. If Anne Walker gates to your vicinity, you will be in extreme danger. Even were I to immediately raise the alarm, it would take a minimum of three to five minutes before any reinforcements could reach your position. The probability of your capture or death would be high.

Sounds accurate.

Then forgive me for asking, but why are you exposing yourself like this?

I sighed, resting my head against the tree. Because it feels like this might be my last chance to talk to her.

That isn’t a very good answer.

I suppose it isn’t.

Given Anne Walker’s recent history, any attempt at negotiation would be highly dangerous without access to close and overwhelming force in the event of an attack. I strongly advise that you bring in support.

If I bring in other mages, Anne will spot them a mile off and won’t come anywhere near.

It seems to me that her not coming anywhere near would be altogether the best outcome.

I was silent. I didn’t have a comeback, and I wasn’t willing to leave.

Well, November said at last. If you insist on staying, I’ll monitor as well as I can. But I must once again urge you to reconsider.

Thanks.

I stayed there as the sky above faded from purple to black. The futures shifted and jumped, but the ones in which Anne arrived kept shrinking, the possibilities dwindling and petering out until the futures in which she appeared on the street were only a blank void.

I stared across the street. The lights in the house were on, on both the ground and first floors. Anne and I had gone there for dinner a couple of months ago. It had been my first time meeting her family, and once had been enough. If Anne hadn’t been struggling with the after-effects of a childhood like that . . .

A wave of anger rose up inside me. I thought about crossing that street, kicking the door down, and picking up those foster parents and slamming them into a wall so that I could shout into their faces do you know what you’ve done? It was more tempting than it should have been. Who was going to stop me?

Anne’s foster family hadn’t been dark tyrants like Richard, or sadistic monsters like Vihaela, or cold manipulators like Levistus. They’d just been selfish and petty. But having to grow up in a family like that, being treated for years and years as though she didn’t matter, had damaged Anne just as surely as any of the enemies we’d fought, and it had been a kind of damage her magic couldn’t heal. It had left cracks in her mind, cracks into which Sagash and Jagadev and Richard had driven wedges, splitting her personality into light and dark. And it had been that split that the marid had taken advantage of to possess her.

The people in that house really did deserve to pay for that.

I let out a long breath, taking my anger and resentment and setting it aside. Going after Anne’s foster family wouldn’t do anyone any good, not now. Still, a thought lingered. Anne had considered coming here – probably would have, if something hadn’t stopped her. She’d wanted to go back to her beginnings. Maybe I needed to do the same.

The futures were silent and still. I turned and left.

‘. . . throughout the realm’s boundaries,’ Karyos said. ‘The creatures of the Hollow will warn me the moment Anne sets foot in this shadow realm. But that may be too late.’

‘You can’t figure out any way to deactivate Anne’s key specifically?’ I asked.

Karyos shook her head. ‘My magic is of growth and life. I have little understanding of the wards you and your friends created. I could pull them down, but . . .’

‘But then Anne could just walk in anyway,’ I finished. ‘Along with anyone else.’

Night had fallen in the Hollow, and Karyos and I were standing in the doorway to my cottage. Karyos was barely visible, a slight, starlit figure blending in with the trees and grass. In the shadows, the hamadryad’s golden skin and bark-like hair were hidden to the point that you could have mistaken her for a young girl.

‘I am sorry I cannot do more,’ Karyos said.

‘Not your fault,’ I said. ‘We spent weeks setting up these wards. Can’t expect to find a way to shut her out this fast.’

‘Will she come again?’

‘Not in any of the futures I can see,’ I said. ‘Her number one reason for coming here was Luna, and we’ve moved Luna out. Also, right now, she’s probably got as many prisoners as she can handle.’ I paused, looking at Karyos. ‘But if she does come back, I’ll be ready. I won’t let her walk in here like that again.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Can you do me a favour?’ I asked. ‘That meditation technique you use, calling back old memories? Could you try to remember everything you can about jinn? Especially anything that might tally with what Richard said in the negotiations.’

Karyos nodded. ‘Very well.’

I stepped into my cottage and shut the door.

I walked to my desk, then carefully slipped the copper headband up over my hair and laid it down on the wooden surface, well away from everything else. I could feel the item’s spirit, restless and swirling; it didn’t want to be put down. I stood there for a few minutes, maintaining the connection, harmonising it until the item had quieted, before I finally took my hands away. Next I removed my armour, the plate-and-mesh coming off my limbs and body one piece at a time. It’s heavier these days than it used to be. The armour’s been damaged many times over the years, and each time the broken plates and material have grown back thicker. My armour’s more willing than the headband to be taken off, but I still had to take some time reassuring it that I wouldn’t be in danger overnight. Once I was done, I glanced at the sovnya leaning in the corner. The polearm was the easiest of the three to put down, but the hardest to wield – it wanted to kill, and every second that it was in my hands, I could feel its bloodlust. Karyos had told me to take it out of her shadow realm, but I didn’t have anywhere else to put it and I didn’t trust it to be out of my sight. For now at least, it seemed stable.

Imbued items are dangerous. Wielding one is less like using a tool, and more like riding a very powerful, half-trained animal – you can influence the item, but it can influence you right back. Most mages will only use imbued items when they absolutely have to. Wielding two at once is much harder than using one – the items fight with both their wielder and each other, pulling in different directions. I’d been using three.

It was only the dreamstone and Arachne’s training that let me do it. With my experience of Elsewhere, I could stabilise the links between myself and the items, riding the waves of their desires. The armour pushed me to be guarded and safe; the headband wanted to be high up and watchful and always on the move; the sovnya wanted to attack and kill. Instead of fighting the urges, I’d cycled between them, allowing each of the items free rein when the time was right, and playing them off against each other when it wasn’t. But keeping it up was a strain, and right now I felt like I’d been carrying heavy weights all day.

There were other weights, though, that I couldn’t put down.

The Hollow was still and quiet. Karyos had retreated back to her tree, and to her strange dryad form of sleep. Luna was far away, hiding in a place where Anne couldn’t find her. The night was mine alone. I stepped out of my cottage and closed the door.

Out in the night, under the stars, I could breathe more easily. I’ve always liked the darkness, ever since I was a child. In the shadows, when all is empty and quiet, life seems to slow down to a calmer pace. There’s time to think.

I walked the paths of the Hollow, slipping between the trees. The birds in the branches above were sleeping, heads tucked beneath their wings. The only movement was the rustle of the leaves in the breeze, and the occasional skitter of a night-time creature. As I drew closer to the Hollow’s north side, I came to a small rise, rocks and grassy earth forming a hillock ten feet tall. A pair of amber eyes gleamed from above.

‘Hey, Hermes,’ I said. I climbed the hillock, my steps quick and sure. The blink fox had been sprawled on a flat patch of rock at the top of the rise, lying on his side with his chin hanging over the edge. As I climbed up next to him, he rolled onto his belly and looked up at me.

‘How are you doing?’ I said.

Blink.

With a sigh I sat down next to the fox. ‘So how was your day?’

Hermes yawned, shutting his mouth with a snap of teeth.

‘Wish I could trade.’ I looked past Hermes into the darkness. ‘We’re going to be launching an invasion tomorrow. Sagash’s shadow realm. Well, I guess we should call it Anne’s shadow realm now. Same place I met you, come to think of it.’

Hermes tilted his head.

‘I’m not sure how many people are going to be coming back. Anne and the jinn are one thing. But then there’s the Council to worry about as well, and Richard’s cabal. All three of those groups hate each other. It’s pretty much a guarantee that things are going to go wrong.’

Hermes seemed to consider that, then gave what could have been a shrug.

‘I know, not your problem. But it is mine. I have to somehow figure out all of the ways in which this can go to hell, and stop them from happening, and also hold everything together long enough to make this work. And if I don’t, then it’s all going to fall apart, because there isn’t anyone else. All the people I’ve got on my side, they’re good at what they do, but there’s no one else who can do what I can.’

Hermes blinked.

‘It was never like this before,’ I said. ‘There always used to be someone above me. First it was Richard, then it was Helikaon. Then for the longest time it was Arachne. I mean, I had people depending on me. But if it was ever too much, I had someone I could go to. I can’t do that any more. There’s no one above me, not even the Council. I make a mistake, it’s just me.’ I was silent for a moment. ‘You know, when I was dealing with Ji-yeong today, I was acting a role. But it’s starting to feel like I have to do the same with everyone. If Luna and Karyos have problems, they expect me to have answers and sound like I know what I’m doing. Because if I don’t, they’ll think “Oh crap, if he’s worried things must be really bad.” I wonder if that was how it was for Arachne? She was so powerful, but always alone. And when I’d come to see her, it’d usually be because I needed her help.’ I smiled as I remembered those visits, sitting amid the sofas and the rolls of silk. ‘God, I must have been so annoying. Every couple of months, I’d be bringing her some new problem. Usually something that was my own fault, too. And I’d expect her to be wise and patient and tell me how to fix it. And she would.’ I stared into the darkness, my smile fading. ‘She never talked about her own problems. Even right at the end, when she knew what was coming. I used to wonder why. I think I understand a little better now. She didn’t talk about herself because she really didn’t have anyone she could talk to. And now it’s the same for me.’

Hermes yawned again.

I laughed and looked down. ‘Except you. I can lay all this stuff on you and it won’t bother you at all, because you really don’t care. Because you’re a fox.’

Hermes blinked.

‘Today was her birthday,’ I said. ‘September seventh. She just turned twenty-seven. Remember the party we did for her last year? Me and you and Luna and Vari? The war was heating up so we couldn’t do much. Still made her happy. Didn’t realise it was going to be the last time.’ I was silent for a moment. ‘I thought about leaving her a birthday card. Even planned out how I’d do it. Put it in an envelope, leave it with a beacon marker somewhere in the castle courtyard so she’d find it once we were gone. Was a stupid idea. Would have had to fight through those jann to get there, then fight my way out again. Risking my life for nothing. But a bit of me still wishes I’d done it.’

Hermes looked up at me, then reached across and touched his nose to my left hand. I glanced at him and smiled, then scratched his head. We sat there for a while under the stars.

I slept badly that night. Strange currents tugged at my dreams, making me twist and turn. I felt as though a voice was calling to me, but every time I’d start half-awake and listen, I’d hear only silence.

It felt as though someone was seeking me in Elsewhere. I slipped into a dreamshard and extended my awareness, searching for the brush of another consciousness against mine. I waited like that for a long time, but nothing came. I was alone.

At last I gave up and slipped back into normal sleep. The voices didn’t come again.