My stomach turned.This man’s predicament was our fault.Had some of our companions from beyond the Stormwall ended up here too?Within these walls?
The brief and no doubt hopeless urge to search the other cells arose in me, though I tried to push it aside.If I made it out of here alone and alive, that would be a miracle.I had no time for daring rescues.
Still, the thought lingered, shifting towardsHartand the Uknaras.
“What are you talking about?”a guard demanded in Mereish.
“Her power, its limits, and so forth,” Maren bit back.“Do not interrupt me again.”
The guard spat on the floor—I frowned at him in disgust—but he fell silent.
I risked asking, “Were there others taken?Otherghiseau?Perhaps some recently, from my ship?”
Maren nodded.“A handful ofghiseauwere brought in at the same time as I.If there have been more, I have not seen them.”
“Do you know who they are?”
“No.They have since been… dispersed elsewhere.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“It is.Mages andghiseau, particularly foreign ones, any who cannot be trusted to use their powers, are instead used for blood and bone and experimentation.And that is very much as dark as it sounds, Ms.Firth.”
Crimson droplets trailed down the side of the vial and gathered slowly at the bottom, emphasizing his words.
“So you have not heard of any newghiseau?An Usti couple?”
Maren shook his head and silence stretched.
“I’m sorry this happened to you, because of us,” I said quietly, though the weight on my shoulders was not just for him.It was for the namelessghiseau, whether comrades or enemies, who had come with us back over the Stormwall and been snatched away from thelives they tried to reclaim.It was for the Uknaras, wherever they might be.
Maren’s smile was stilted and dry.“It was only a matter of time.I knew I walked a blade in Hesten.I spoke too freely, sold too many talismans.But until recently,thesepeople, they were mostly just spies and meddlers.”He dropped his voice.“Then Faucher took control, bringing his research and his wealth and the support of the king.Now, their advances are world-changing.I went from a loose thread to an asset to be reclaimed.”
I lowered my voice, trying to obscure the name from the guard’s listening ears.“Is he related to Jessin Faucher?”
Maren emitted a barely perceptible sigh.“He is his father.Which is the only reason why the son is still alive and free, considering his allegiances.He is a Separatist, those who believe the Usti should not hold the power that they do.”
My mind flipped back to when we had encountered Jessin, the words he and Sam had exchanged and the papers he had given us.Could Jessin be working against his own father?Outright undermining the Mereish’s relationship with Usti?
Too many connections and questions, not enough energy to unravel them.
“Jessin Faucher and the entirety of the Mereish Fleet are gathering in Ostchen,” Maren admitted, raising grave eyes to mine.
“This is the Navy’s main anchorage… Isn’t it normal for them to gather here?”
“I speak of thefleetentire, Ms.Firth.Nearly every seaworthy vessel has been launched or recalled, all that can be without raising suspicion.They are preparing to invade Aeadine on next month’s Black Tide.Surely you have seen the floodwaters?Next month it will be even greater, and the fleet will sail over the Aeadine Anchorage and straight up the swollen River Whall into Jurry.They will land their army, and Aeadine will be Mereish by the end of the year.”
I felt myself pale, my cheeks going cold.I had never seen the Anchorage but knew it to be a long crescent of islets and hidden reefs that acted as a bulwark between Aeadine and Mereish waters.“Aeadine doesn’t know about the tides.They won’t be prepared for any of this.”
“Precisely.”Maren corked his vial.“We may see an end to war upon the Winter Sea, Ms.Firth.Only two powers will remain: the Usti, and the Mereish.The Capesh already follow the Mereish lead.Otherwise, they would have no source of ghistings, do you know this?”
I nodded distantly.An end to the war.Those words should have been full of hope, peace and brightness and the cessation of strife.It meant mothers and fathers and children and lovers finally being able to return home.
But not this way.Not with my people downtrodden, our Wolds harvested and our mages reaped.
“We need to warn Aeadine,” I said, echoing the sentiments that had driven us down the road to Ostchen with our pockets full of stolen talismans and magecrafted shot.
His gaze flicked up.It was an unguarded moment, round-eyed, shocked, and more than a little uncertain.“We?”
