The Deathless. Peter Newman

trapped her in the Rebirthing Chamber. I think she’s still there.’

      His fingers pressed ever so gently deeper. ‘You think?’

      ‘I mean she is. She’s there. She’s definitely there. We sealed her in. There’s no way out and … and her body is old. It might even be dead by now.’

      Vasin glanced at Yi, who nodded.

      At some point, he’d pushed hard enough that Dil had gone on tiptoes to escape the pressure. Vasin took a breath. To navigate these waters he would need to master his emotions, be more like Gada.

      ‘And if she isn’t dead?’

      ‘I-I could denounce her!’ exclaimed Dil.

      Yi gave a slight shake of her head, mirroring Vasin’s own. ‘Your word is wind against a member of the Crystal Dynasties.’ She turned to Vasin. ‘For it to hold, his accusation would have to be unchallenged. We would need proof of her betrayal.’

      ‘Her presence in our lands was secret, yes?’

      ‘Yes,’ Yi replied. ‘The official word is that she has withdrawn to her castle to recuperate after a mysterious illness.’

      Vasin nodded, a plan forming in his mind. ‘Who else can access the Rebirthing Chamber?’

      ‘Only the Bringers of Endless Order and High Lord Sapphire himself,’ replied Dil, tilting his head up in order to speak. ‘I have the only other key, my lord.’

      ‘Then we go there, now, before the High Lord does. We must find out what she knows. And how she knew!’

      ‘I will make her talk, my lord,’ said Dil.

      Vasin did not like the look in the man’s eye, he turned his hand ever so slightly, snuffing out Dil’s disgusting enthusiasm. ‘You will do as I command, nothing more.’ His lip curled as Dil capitulated.

      ‘Trespasser or not, Lady Pari deserves our respect. I will speak with her and learn the truth behind her involvement. When I am satisfied, we will pay a visit to her home, in order to prove she is not in residence. At that point, Dil will denounce her in the name of his murdered lord. The Tanzanite will protest, naturally, and there will be an investigation, but when they find her body in the Rebirthing Chamber at Lord Rochant’s castle, all further doubt will be erased. With luck she will be tried and condemned before her rebirth, privately and without disgrace.’ He leaned close to Dil’s face and gestured towards where Rochant was being held. ‘Do not cross the threshold of that room ever again, do you understand?’

      ‘Yes, my lord.’

      He withdrew his hand. ‘Prepare yourself for travel, we leave within the hour.’

      Dil’s eyes lingered briefly on the door, but then he straightened, saluted and left. Vasin and Yi shared a look, neither needing to express their misgivings with words.

      ‘Look after our prisoner while I’m gone,’ he instructed. ‘Keep him secure, but if you can, make him …’ he struggled for the right word. ‘Comfortable.’

      Did Yi’s eyebrows twitch as she bowed? No matter, unlike Dil, she could be trusted to follow his orders to the letter.

      He returned to his room, so busy lamenting the fact that he could not return to the feast, that he didn’t spot Gada pacing by the window until he spoke.

      ‘Where have you been?’

      His brother was in his finery, tightly bound silk on his limbs, and a river of the same fabric flowing from his shoulders. A scent like air on a cold morning wafted from his face. His cheeks were darker than usual and the formal make-up was exaggerating his scowl.

      ‘Well? I have been searching high and low for you.’

      ‘What’s wrong, brother?’

      ‘The High Lord is on his way here, now. And he is most displeased.’ He paused to peer at Vasin more closely. ‘Are you yourself? Tell me you haven’t been smoking that filth again.’

      Vasin did not meet his stare. ‘I’m fine.’

      ‘You’d better be. We must be ready to weather the storm of the High Lord’s anger.’ Gada turned his attention to the rest of him. ‘You must refresh yourself, change, and help me with the preparations. There is to be a gathering of the Sapphire.’

      ‘Here?’ replied Vasin weakly. ‘With so little warning? There can’t be.’

      Gada’s smile was weaker still. ‘There can. The whole family. Here. Tomorrow.’

      A rough jolt of the wagon woke Chandni up. It took her a few moments to work out where she was and how she’d come to be buried under several layers of heavy cloth.

      When it all came back, what little relaxation she’d gained from sleep flowed out of her.

      But we’re still moving, she told herself. So they haven’t caught us. We’re safe, at least for now.

      She began to consider her next move. The best thing to do would be to go to another family stronghold. There was an aunt in the north she could trust. If Chandni could find refuge with her she could request an audience with the Sapphire High Lord. An attack of this nature was surely an act of war. What if Lord Rochant’s line was only the first targeted? Or worse, what if it wasn’t? What if other Sapphire lines have already fallen?

      Her lips were dry and her throat was worse. She needed a drink and something to eat. The best plans were made with a cool head and a quiet stomach.

      She lifted Satyendra, still fast asleep, and saw a line of drool linking his lips to the clasp of her cloak. Chandni smiled and rested his head on her shoulder, before shuffling to the front of the wagon on her knees.

      ‘Is it safe?’ she whispered.

      ‘We’re well away,’ Varg replied. ‘You can come out here if you like.’

      It was getting dark, the red suns Vexation and Wrath’s Tear already below the horizon, with Fortune’s Eye not far behind. She’d expected to find them on the Godroad, part of a network of crystal pathways that linked the Sapphire strongholds to those of the other great houses. Given a choice, everyone used the Godroads. Not only were they untarnished by the passage of time and quick to travel on, they kept the denizens of the Wild at bay.

      But instead of pulsing crystal running smoothly beneath their wheels, she saw a path of broken stones, rough and overgrown.

      ‘What kind of excuse for a road is this?’

      ‘A quiet one,’ replied Varg. ‘I’m hoping they don’t have eyes on it.’

      ‘And where is it taking us?’

      ‘Somewhere safe. Now how about you tell me what kind of shi—’ he saw her hand raise and corrected himself, ‘trouble I’ve got myself into.’

      He offered her a flask of fruit-touched water, and Chandni had a long drink before recounting events as best she could remember them. She was just coming to the part where she had to flee the castle when the words fell away.

      ‘Something wrong?’

      ‘How is it the suns are going down already?’

      He gave a shrug of his broad shoulders. ‘That’s what they do.’

      ‘But it was only just morning when we left!’

      ‘That was a long while ago, believe me. I’ve been driving Glider as fast as I can, only taking short breaks. And we’ve made bloody good time if I do say so myself.’

      ‘And I’ve been asleep all day?’

      ‘Yep, you slept like the dead. Reckon the baby did too. Never heard a peep from either of you.’

      Fresh sweat broke out on her forehead. ‘Oh no,’ she said. ‘Oh no, no, no.’

      ‘Something