The Caller Read Free Page A

get on with things, and that’s what I plan to do. As you know, Neryn and I witnessed the last midsummer Gathering. We saw Keldec’s rule in action, saw it in acts of twisted violence that should have sickened the most hardened person in all Alban. We saw a crowd of ordinary folk stand by and let it happen without a word of protest, because every one of them knew speaking out against the king’s authority is not only a death sentence for the person brave enough to do it, but can also bring down disaster on that person’s entire family. It was thanks to Flint that we got away from Summerfort; him and another of the Enforcers. We don’t know if that man is Flint’s ally, or whether he’s just somewhat less brutal than most of the king’s men. All in all, the Gathering was a vile experience.’ She glanced at me.
    ‘It was sickening,’ I said. The cruel events of the Gathering were burned on my memory; such monstrous acts must not be allowed to happen again. ‘If neither of us has talked much about it, it’s because we couldn’t bear to. You all know what Keldec’s capable of. This was a display of his authority at its very worst.’
    ‘And Flint, as you know, was the prize performance of the day, singled out for particular attention,’ said Tali. ‘But we don’t believe he’s been exposed as one of us. If that was his crime, he’d have faced a far worse punishment than being required to carry out a public enthralment. The fact that I was chosen as the victim must have been coincidence.’
    ‘If the king had known he was a rebel spy, he’d have made sure Flint didn’t survive that day. We saw two of the king’s men forced to fight to the death.’
    ‘I’m sure Flint didn’t know I’d been taken prisoner until they dragged me out for the enthralment,’ Tali said. ‘He was shocked. Though, as you’d expect, he concealed it well.’
    ‘It surprises me that you were taken prisoner at all,’ said Brasal. ‘I’d have thought you capable of tackling a whole troop of Enforcers.’
    Tali grimaced. ‘I wouldn’t be such a fool as to attempt that unless the alternative was certain death.’
    ‘Tali let the Enforcers capture her because putting up a fight might have drawn their attention to my presence as her companion on the road,’ I said. ‘It’s fortunate that Flint was the one chosen to carry out her punishment, and that the two of them had the presence of mind to fake an enthralment.’ A shiver ran through me as I remembered it, the pretence that the enthralment had gone terribly wrong, with Tali so convincing that even I had believed her a damaged, witless remnant of her true self. Afterwards, the queen had demanded that she be disposed of, and Flint and his companion had taken us up into the woods, where they’d simply let us go.
    ‘We were lucky,’ Tali said soberly. ‘Unfortunately I was seen by the entire crowd that day. The king and queen and their court; every single troop of Enforcers; a large number of ordinary people who travelled to Summerfort for the so-called games. And because my appearance is a little out of the ordinary,’ she glanced down at the elaborate tattoos that circled her arms, spirals and swirls and flying birds to match the ones around her neck, ‘those people would all recognise me again. That means I won’t be able to leave Shadowfell until it’s time for the final confrontation.’ She looked over at Fingal. ‘The same goes for you.’ Her brother’s body markings were almost identical to hers.
    ‘What about Neryn?’ asked Andra. ‘She’ll have to travel.’
    ‘I was in the crowd,’ I said. ‘People did see me, but not with Tali apart from when they were dragging her out of the open area and I elbowed my way through to follow them. We did meet some folk when we were travelling toward Summerfort, of course. But I don’t stand out as Tali does. Besides, as you say, I have to go; I’m only halfway through my training. I still have the White Lady and