Kitai"s feet did not break the surface, though it sank slightly beneath her weight, and slowly restored itself to its original shape after she had pa.s.sed. She took a dozen steps, body crouched, her bright eyes watching the forest, and returned to Tavi"s side.
"Your turn," she whispered.
Tavi eyed her. But then he rose and tested the surface of the croach croach beneath his shoes, glad that he had opted for the lighter pair rather than his heavy, hob-nailed infantry boots. The surface of the beneath his shoes, glad that he had opted for the lighter pair rather than his heavy, hob-nailed infantry boots. The surface of the croach croach had a bit of give to it, and almost seemed to push up against his feet as he stepped away from it, something like a furycrafted causeway did, if far more weakly. Tavi signaled Max and Durias to come forward, and the two men did. Max, like Tavi, had worn lighter riding boots, but Durias had nothing but his infantry footwear. He grimaced and began taking them off, and stepped out onto the had a bit of give to it, and almost seemed to push up against his feet as he stepped away from it, something like a furycrafted causeway did, if far more weakly. Tavi signaled Max and Durias to come forward, and the two men did. Max, like Tavi, had worn lighter riding boots, but Durias had nothing but his infantry footwear. He grimaced and began taking them off, and stepped out onto the croach croach in his bare feet a moment later. in his bare feet a moment later.
"Well," Durias murmured, looking around warily. "At least it"s warm."
"So far so good," Tavi murmured. "Time to test the Canim"s new shoes."
Varg was the first to approach. As the largest of the Canim, he would be the most likely to break the surface of the croach croach and attract the presence of the wax spiders who maintained and repaired it. The big Cane approached with exaggerated steps, a peculiar tilt to his ears that Tavi had never quite seen before on one of the wolf-warriors. Broad discs, almost like dishes, really, of green-black Vord chitin were secured to each of his feet. and attract the presence of the wax spiders who maintained and repaired it. The big Cane approached with exaggerated steps, a peculiar tilt to his ears that Tavi had never quite seen before on one of the wolf-warriors. Broad discs, almost like dishes, really, of green-black Vord chitin were secured to each of his feet.
"These . . ." he switched to Aleran for the word, "shoes." He shook his head. "I cannot move well in them."
"They"ll distribute your weight," Tavi told him. "I hope enough that you can walk the croach croach without breaking it." without breaking it."
"Who taught you the use of these things, Tavar?"
"Some of my people use something like them to move more easily over deep snow," Tavi replied. "Though the original design was made of wood and leather. I thought the chitin was more logical."
"Perhaps if it does break the croach croach, it will not sense the presence of Vord hide as an outside attacker," Varg growled.
"Worth a try," Tavi said. He waited a beat, then added. "Anytime now."
Varg eyed him without amus.e.m.e.nt. Then he swept his red-eyed gaze around the nearby forest and took a slow, cautious step onto the croach croach.
The shoes worked. They held him up.
Varg growled, a satisfied sound, and gestured once at the other Canim. Anag and the three Hunters prowled forward onto the glowing croach croach, almost comically cautious about where they placed their chitin-shod feet.
Tavi nodded at them once. Then he turned to Kitai, who flashed him a feral grin and started through the forest in deliberate silence, as scout and pathfinder.
The rest of them followed her, into the glowing green night, and toward the architect and epicenter of that eerie new world.
CHAPTER 31
"The less you say, the better," Rook said. "The less I know about why you"re here, the less harm I can do you should the information be taken from me."
Which is precisely why I did not inform you of Bernard"s presence, Amara thought. Amara thought.
They had stepped from the slavers" tunnel into one of its adjoining chambers. There was a heady odor coming from a number of tightly fitted barrels against the far wall. Amara recognized the smell of preprocessed hollybells, the flowers from which the drug aphrodin was made. The slavers, it seemed, had used the tunnels as an entry point for smugglers as well as for moving their own merchandise in and out of the city. Doubtless, they had demanded their own extortionate piece of the lucrative enterprise.
"That"s a risk I need to take," Amara told her calmly in reply. "You can tell almost as much about my intentions from the questions I ask as from anything I say. If I can"t ask you questions, whatever you tell me is going to be of limited use."
Rook smiled grimly. "Believe me, Countess. I think I can make a fair guess at all of your questions."
"Then you must already know what I"m doing here."
"I suspect," Rook said, raising a finger to the collar and shuddering. "I do not know know. There is a difference."
Amara studied the other woman for a long moment before she shook her head. "How do I know that you aren"t feeding me misinformation?"
Rook considered the question seriously for a moment before answering. "Countess, the First Lord himself came to me on the steadholt where my daughter and I were living. It was seventy-four miles south of here."
Amara had to suppress a shiver. The past tense was certainly appropriate if the steadholt they had seen earlier that very day was any indication. The region that far south of Ceres had certainly been overrun by the Vord.
"He told me what was happening. He told me that if I served him on this mission, he would see to it that my daughter was taken to safety-to anywhere in Alera that I chose. And that if I returned from it, I could join her."
Amara could not suppress the curse that slipped from between her lips. Gaius had given Rook no choice at all: Do what he wished, or perish with her daughter before the oncoming menace. "Rook, I don"t know why you-"
Rook held up her hand for silence. Then said, simply, "I sent her to Calderon."
For a moment, Amara couldn"t find a response. "Why Calderon?" she finally asked.
Rook shrugged a shoulder and gave her a weary smile. "I wanted her as far from the Vord as possible. With the most capable, forewarned, and best-prepared people I knew. I know that Count Bernard has been trying to warn folk of the Vord for years. I a.s.sumed that he would begin preparing his own home to resist them. If I betray you, Countess, my daughter has no one to protect her. I would rather die screaming with blood running from my nose and ears than that."
Amara bowed her head. It was an accurate description of the kind of death that awaited anyone who defied a discipline collar too severely or for too long, or should anyone try to remove the collar save whoever had put it there. The locking mechanism on the collars was fiendishly complex, but Amara had no doubt that Rook could bypa.s.s it whenever she chose, given the proper tools.
It would, of course, kill her to remove it.
Rook had defied High Lords and Ladies-and the First Lord himself, in her effort to secure her child when she had been held prisoner against Rook"s loyalty by the late High Lord Kalarus. Amara had no doubt whatsoever that the woman would sacrifice her life without hesitation if she thought that by doing so she could protect Masha.
"Very well," Amara said. "What can you tell me?" "Very well," Amara said. "What can you tell me?" "Little," Rook said. She made a frustrated gesture at the collar. "Orders. But I can show you." "Little," Rook said. She made a frustrated gesture at the collar. "Orders. But I can show you." Amara nodded once. Amara nodded once. Rook turned back to the tunnel and beckoned her. "Follow me." Rook turned back to the tunnel and beckoned her. "Follow me."
Veiled to the utmost of her ability, Amara crouched on a blackened rooftop beside Rook, overlooking the city"s former Slave Market, the Vord"s "recruitment" area.
She"d seen merrier slaughterhouses.
There were several dozen Vord, the low-slung garimlike versions, a.s.sembled in the courtyard, waiting in patient coils of gleaming black exoskeleton next to every entrance to and from the place, and Amara suspected that she would see similar sentries at every crossroads and gateway within the city.
Besides the Vord, several hundred Alerans filled the Slave Market. The majority of them were imprisoned in the various different cages required to hold strongly gifted furycrafters. Firecrafters were those imprisoned beneath the steady rain-shower trickle of water that poured down from pipes overhead. Earthcrafters were being held in cages suspended several feet from the ground. The windcrafters, as Amara well knew, would be inside the low brick cubes of solid stone, with no access to air but for what could come in through a few holes no larger across than Amara"s thumb. A metal cage sufficed for woodcrafters, though they were placed far opposite the courtyard from the heavy wooden beams that restrained the metalcrafters inside.
Most interesting were the cages that had to take multiple layers of precautions to contain their prisoners-doubtless the captured Citizenry. One metal cage that swung high off the ground and was simultaneously drizzled with water and fine black dirt caught Amara"s eye, particularly. The cage held a number of damp, mud-spattered figures, only two of them armored men captured during the battle. The other four were women, probably taken when the Vord overran their homes to the south. All of them-and most of the prisoners Amara could see, for that matter-lay in the loose-limbed stupor of the aphrodin addict.
Amara watched as a pair of silver-collared guards dragged a drug-disoriented prisoner from one of the stone windcrafter pens, a young man in shattered armor. They dragged him across the courtyard to the stage where the auctions were held, and up onto it. They slammed him down hard onto the surface of the stage, though the young man-a boy, really-hardly seemed to be in any condition to stand upright, let alone offer resistance.
A pair of extremely attractive young women on the stage, wearing little more than sc.r.a.ps of cloth and gleaming silver collars, approached him. One of them silently began unknotting the thong of a necklace or amulet the young man wore on his neck and took it away, drawing the first feeble stir of protest from him that Amara had seen.
The second girl knelt and caressed his hair and face for a moment, before sliding a slender-necked bottle to his lips. Amara saw the girl"s lips urging him to drink. The young man did, his eyes still dazed, and a moment later slumped even more wearily to the floor of the stage-more drugs.
And then Kalarus Brencis Minoris mounted the steps and walked over to him, his movements brisk.
Amara shivered, staring at the son of High Lord Kalarus, the young man whom she had last seen weeping and running for his life on the slopes of some fury-forsaken mountain near his former home, stumbling over the corpses of hundreds of recently deceased elite soldiers. Brencis was dressed in fine silks of pure white, unsoiled by any mud or blood. His long dark hair curled gorgeously, as if freshly touched by hot curlers and a brush. His fingers were crusted with rings, and chains lay in looping ranks upon his chest.
They didn"t conceal the silver collar around his throat. They didn"t conceal the silver collar around his throat. Fascinated and repelled, Amara gestured, willing Cirrus to carry the words on the stage, dozens of yards distant, to her ears. Fascinated and repelled, Amara gestured, willing Cirrus to carry the words on the stage, dozens of yards distant, to her ears. "My lord," said one of the scantily clad girls. Her words were slurred with wine or aphrodin or both. "He is ready, my lord." "My lord," said one of the scantily clad girls. Her words were slurred with wine or aphrodin or both. "He is ready, my lord."
"I can see that," Brencis said testily. He reached into an open chest that lay on the stage and drew out a handful of slavers" collars, shaking them in careless irritation until only one remained in his grasp. He settled in front of the dazed soldier, slipped the collar around his neck, drew a knife, and cut his thumb with it. He shoved his bloodied thumb viciously against the catch of the collar, drawing a choking gasp from the young man.
Amara shivered.
She watched as the collar went to work on him. She was familiar with the basic theory behind the device. It used multiple furycrafted disciplines to flood the targets" senses with ecstatic euphoria at first, pacifying them completely. Not that the collar needed much help in the case of the young soldier, dazed and drugged as he was. Even so, there was a visible arching of his body, and his eyes rolled, then fluttered closed.
That would go on for a while, Amara knew. Long enough that when the sensation ceased, it would almost seem like pain, all on its own. When the brutal agony the collars were capable of inflicting at their owner"s will set in, it would seem that much worse by comparison.
"This is the truth, soldier," Brencis said, wiping his bloodied thumb on the man"s tunic. "You serve the Vord queen now, or her highest representative. Which means that for the moment, you serve me, and anyone I choose to place over you. Take any action you know is against your new loyalty"s interests, and you"ll hurt. Serve and obey, and you will be rewarded."
By way of demonstration, Brencis idly shoved one of the half-naked girls across the soldier. She made a purring sound and nuzzled her mouth against his throat, sliding one of her thighs over his.
"Listen to her," Brencis spat, contempt in his voice. "Everything she says is true."
The girl pressed her mouth against the young man"s ear and began whispering. Amara couldn"t make out much of what she was saying, beyond the words "serve" and "obey." But it seemed simple enough to work out-the girl was emphasizing what Brencis had already told the soldier, reinforcing the commands while his mind was being bent out of shape by the collar and the drugs.
"b.l.o.o.d.y crows," Amara whispered, feeling sick. She"d known that the collars had been developed for the control of even the most violent criminals-and she"d heard it argued many times that the potential for abuse in the collars was far greater than most of the Realm realized, but she"d never seen it before. Whatever was going on down there, it must have its roots in the techniques High Lord Kalare had used to create his psychotic Immortals.
And, Amara thought, it gave them control of previously free Alerans. It worked. Or at least it worked often enough to give the Vord queen an Aleran honor guard. Those who had never really been motivated by anything higher than self-interest, it seemed, were easily turned, if the men accompanying Rook were any kind of measure.
"Brencis!" came a croaking cry from one of the cages. "Brencis, please!"
Amara focused on the source of the voice-a young woman in the Citizens" cage, probably attractive, though it was difficult to tell through the mud.
Brencis sorted through various collars in the chest.
"Brencis! Can"t you hear me?"
"I hear you, Flora," Brencis said. "I just don"t care care."
The young woman sobbed. "Please. Please, just let me go. We were betrothed betrothed , Brencis." , Brencis."
"It"s funny, life"s little twists and turns," Brencis said conversationally. He glanced up at the cage. "You always did like to play with aphrodin, Flora. You and your sister." His mouth twisted into a bitter sneer. "A pity there are no Antillans around to complete the evening for you."
The young woman started sobbing, a broken little sound. "But we were . . . we were . . ."
"That was in a different world, Flora," Brencis said. "That"s done now. In a few more weeks, there won"t be anything but Vord. You should be glad. You get to be a part of the winning side." He paused to run an idly admiring hand over the flank of the whispering young woman lying atop the dazed soldier behind him. "Even if you wind up with too little mind to do anything but help soothe the new recruits. The process does that to some of them, which is just as well. So we clean them up into little aphrodin dream boys and girls and let them whisper."
Flora wept harder.
"Don"t worry, Flora." He directed a venomous gaze at the cage. "I"ll make sure you have a pretty boy to keep you company when it"s your turn. You"ll enjoy the process. Most of them do. Volunteer to go through it again, usually." He looked at a pair of the collared guards nearby, and said, "What are you two standing around for? Get the next one."
Amara crept slowly back from the edge of the building and settled down next to Rook. Then she turned and descended to the relative safety of the building, which had been a prosperous tailor"s residence, before the Vord came. Rook followed her.
Amara sat for a moment, simply absorbing the horrific, machinelike pace of the way the captured Alerans" very humanity was being destroyed.
"I know you aren"t supposed to speak of it," Amara said quietly. "But I need you to try." "I know you aren"t supposed to speak of it," Amara said quietly. "But I need you to try." Rook swallowed. She lifted her fingers to the collar at her throat, her face pale, and nodded. Rook swallowed. She lifted her fingers to the collar at her throat, her face pale, and nodded. "How many have been taken?" Amara asked. "How many have been taken?" Amara asked.
"Several h-" Rook began. She sucked in a breath, squeezing her eyes shut, and her face beaded with sweat. "Seven or eight hundred at least. Maybe a hundred who didn"t need to be . . ." Her face twisted into a grimace. ". . . coerced. Of the rest, only a little more than half of them come out of it . . . functional. The rest get used to help recruit more or are given to the Vord."
"As slaves?" Amara asked. "As slaves?" Amara asked. "As food, Countess." "As food, Countess." Amara shivered. "There were hundreds of people up there." Amara shivered. "There were hundreds of people up there."
Rook nodded, her breath coming in steady, consciously regulated timing. "Yes. Any strongly gifted crafter captured by the Vord is brought here now."
"Where are the collars coming from?"
Rook let out a bitter, pained laugh, and withdrew what must have been half a dozen slender silver collars from a pouch on her belt, tossing them aside like refuse. "Dead slaves, Countess. They litter the ground in this place."
Amara bent over and picked up one of the collars and stared at it. It didn"t feel like anything other than metal, slightly cool, and smooth underneath her fingertips. "How is it done?" she asked Rook. "The collars, the drug. It isn"t enough to do that that."
"You"d be surprised, Countess," Rook said, shuddering. "But there"s more to it, as well. Brencis does something to each collar as he attaches-" She jerked in pain, and blood suddenly ran from one of her nostrils. "As he attaches it," she gasped. "His father knew how and taught him. He won"t t-tell anyone how. It p-protects his life, as long as the V-Vord want more crafters to s-serve them."
She clenched her teeth over a scream and pressed one hand to her mouth to m.u.f.fle the sound, the other to the center of her forehead, as she crumpled slowly to the floor.
Amara had to look away from the woman. "Enough," she said gently. "Enough, Rook."
Rook rocked back and forth on her knees, falling silent, her breath coming in gasps. She nodded once to Amara, and slurred, "Be "llright. Minute."
Amara touched her shoulder gently, then rose to stare out the window at the courtyard without through a window that had been broken, its jagged edges stained with drying blood. The cages were packed. Amara began to count the number of prisoners, and shook her head. Hundreds of Alerans waited there to be taken into the service of the Vord.
Brencis had just put the collar around the throat of a woman in a fine, soaking-wet silk gown. She writhed on the platform while he stood over her, an expression of revulsion and hunger and something Amara could not put a name to on his beautiful face.
"You"d better report in," she said quietly. "Do your best not to give anything away."
Rook had recovered somewhat. She held a cloth to her face, cleaning the blood from her mouth and chin. "I"ll die first, Countess," she whispered.
"Go."
Rook departed without a further word. Amara watched as she entered the courtyard a few moments later, walking briskly toward Brencis. Again, she beckoned, and Cirrus brought the sound to her.
Brencis looked up at Rook as she approached.
Rook"s stance and bearing had changed completely. There was a liquid, sensual grace to her movements, her hips shifting with a noticeable, swaying rhythm as she walked.
"Rook," Brencis spat, his voice irritated. "What took you so long?" "Rook," Brencis spat, his voice irritated. "What took you so long?" "Incompetence," Rook replied in a throaty purr. She pressed her body full-length against Brencis"s and kissed him. "Incompetence," Rook replied in a throaty purr. She pressed her body full-length against Brencis"s and kissed him. The young slaver returned the kiss with ardor, and Amara"s stomach twisted in revulsion. The young slaver returned the kiss with ardor, and Amara"s stomach twisted in revulsion. "Where are the two I sent with you?" he growled. "Where are the two I sent with you?" he growled.
"When they realized I was going to tell you what they"d done, they thought they"d leave my body somewhere dark and quiet. After they"d raped me." She kissed his throat. "I objected. I"m afraid they"re the worse for wear. Should I go recover their collars, my lord?"
"Tell me?" Brencis said. The anger had faded from his voice, a different kind of heat replacing it. "Tell me what?"
"The fools questioned the Cursors too hard," Rook said. "I told you we should have recruited them."