Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold [48]
“You are right about the Roknari, though,” she said. “Single spies, or small groups in disguise, might penetrate this far south unseen. But nothing strong enough to overcome our well-armed company, in any case. Even Foix is not out of the muster.”
“True,” he allowed.
Ista bit her lip, looking around to be quite sure the young man had gone out of earshot back to the camp. “What about Foix, Learned? For a moment, I saw—it was as if I saw the bear’s spirit. It was more riddled and decayed than its body, writhing in an agony of putrefaction. Will Foix . . . ?”
“His danger is real, but not imminent.” Dy Cabon’s voice firmed on this surer ground, and his white-clad bulk straightened. “What he has gained by accident, some sinful or shortsighted or desperate men actually seek by design. To capture a demon, and feed it slowly on themselves in exchange for its aid—so men turn sorcerers. For a time. Quite a long time, some of them, if they are clever or careful.”
“Who ends up in charge, then?”
He cleared his throat. “Almost always the demon. Eventually. But with this young elemental, Foix would be master at first, if he made the attempt. I do not mean to discuss this with him, or plant the suggestion, and I beg you will be careful, too, Royina. The more . . . intertwined they become, the harder they will be to separate.”
He added lowly, “But where are they coming from? What rip in hell is leaking them back into the world in such sudden numbers? My order is called to be guardians upon that march, as surely as troops of the Son’s or the Daughter’s Orders ride out in the sun armed with swords and shields against more material evil. The fifth god’s servants walk singly in the darkness, armed with our wits.” He heaved a disconsolate sigh. “I could wish for a better weapon, just now.”
“Sleep will sharpen all our wits, we must hope,” said Ista. “Perhaps the morning will bring some better counsel.”
“I pray it may be so, Royina.”
He walked her back through the brush to her bower. Ista forbore to wish him pleasant dreams. Or any dreams at all.
THE ANXIOUS FERDA ROUSED EVERYONE AT DAWN EXCEPT HIS brother. Only when breakfast was ready to be served did he squat beside that bedroll and carefully touch the heavy sleeping form upon the shoulder. Liss, passing by Ista lugging a saddle, paused and watched this worried tenderness, and her lips pinched with distress.
They wasted little time eating, breaking camp, and taking again to the stony, winding track. The irregular hills discouraged speed, but Ferda led at a steady pace that ate the miles nonetheless. The morning and the road slowly fell behind them.
The company was largely silent, pushing along lost in who-knew-what sober reflections. Ista could not decide which development she liked least, Foix’s acquisition or dy Cabon’s dreams. Foix’s bear-demon might be mischance, if chance it was. Dy Cabon’s dreams were plain warnings, perhaps deceptive to heed, but perilous to ignore.
The concatenation of the uncanny beginning to swirl about Ista set her neck hairs standing and her teeth on edge. She felt a disturbing sense of having stepped into a pattern not yet perceived. Yes. We turn for home at Maradi.
Her silent decision brought no relief; the tension remained, like a cable strained to snapping. Like the breathless pressure that had shot her out the postern gate and down the road in court mourning and silk slippers, that morning in Valenda. I must move. I cannot be still.
Where? Why?
The hill country here was even drier than farther south, though the streams still ran full from the spring melt, above. The gnarled pines grew smaller and more scattered, and long bony washes almost devoid of vegetation became more frequent. When they topped a rise, dy Cabon glanced back over their track. He pulled his mule up abruptly. “What’s that?”
Ista twisted in her saddle. Just coming over the distant crest of the descending ridge behind them was a rider—no, riders.
Foix called, “Ferda? You have the better eyes.”
Ferda wheeled his horse and squinted in the bright light;