Part 7 (2/2)

Kallye ignored them. Still holding the queen with one arm, Relys pulled a dagger from a belt sheath with her free hand. Kallye took it and held it up to the children's lips, but no mist appeared.

”No breathing?” she murmured.

And no heartbeat, either, she found. But every instinct she possessed told her that Ayya and Vill were not dead.

”I do not understand,” she said at last. ”They live ...but .. .”

Helwych was a dark presence in the dark room. ”Sorcery,” he said. He folded his arms inside his sleeves. ”A palpable attack.”

Relys looked up. ”Why would Vaylle strike in this manner? It has shown itself able to command magics that can raze a city.”

Helwych smiled thinly. ”Vaylle is subtle, captain. Very subtle.” He allowed his words to hang meaningfully for a moment, then turned to the soldiers. ”Take the midwife away. She is useless.” He might have been ordering them to discard a piece of burnt wood.

Seena freed herself from Relys's arms and stood over her children, stricken, hands pressed to her mouth. Knowing her feelings, Kallye reached out to her, but Dryyim interposed himself. ”Come on,” he said, taking the midwife's arm. ”You are going home.”

”But-”

”Now. We have had enough of your interference.”

”Interference!”

Relys eyed him coldly. ”Captain Dryyim,” she said, ”I would suggest that you use our midwife with more respect. She has cared for the king's household for many months.”

”Then, Relys,” said Helwych. ”I would suggest that you take Kallye home yourself.''

Relys was unruffled. ”My duty is to my queen,” she said calmly.

Helwych's eyebrows lifted. ”Seena?”

The queen was distraught. ”Do what he says, Relys,” she whispered, lifting and cradling the still body of her infant son. ”Helwych knows best. Go. Go, both of you.”

Relys seemed shocked at Seena's acquiescence, and Kallye herself wanted to protest, but she had lived long enough in a male-dominated society to know both a woman's limits and the dangers inherent in exceeding them. In the room were over a dozen strong men. The odor of intimated threat was in the air. She caught Relys's eye, shook her head.

Relys turned, stared at the queen. ”Seena, I-”

Seena was sobbing. ”Do what Helwych says.”

”Yes, Relys,” said Helwych. ”Do what I say.”

Jaw clenched, Relys bowed to Seena, walked across the room, and held the door open for Kallye. ”This way, my lady,” she said. Reluctance and anger were thick in her voice.

But as they left the room, Helwych turned to Seena. ”I think I can say with certainty, Seena,” he said, ”that if you wish to save your children, you will have to do exactly as I say.”

Relys was halfway through the door, but she paused at the words, and Kallye saw that she was on the verge of plunging back into the room. The midwife laid a hand on her arm. ”Come, captain. You can do no more here.”

”Vipers and eels,” muttered Relys. ”Kingsbury is infested with them.”

Kallye was moved by the captain's loyalty, but heroics would accomplish little at present. She took Relys's arm. ”Come, captain. You have your duty.” Relys muttered. Kallye tightened her grip meaningfully. ”Woman,” she whispered seriously, ”you are in peril.”

Her tone finally penetrated Relys's anger. ”Aye,” said the captain after a long moment, and then she guided Kallye down the corridor and out of the Hall. ”I picked my battlefield weeks ago,” she said when they were away from the palisade. ”And so I suppose I must be satisfied with it. But I wish Timbrin were here.”

Relys's loyalty had touched Kallye deeply, and the fact that the captain was a woman-despite her mannish trappings-had gained her sympathy. ”Your lieutenant?” said the midwife.

Relys spoke cautiously, but there was a weight of worry in her voice. ”Aye. She has been missing now for days. No one knows anything of her. I ...” Her voice caught. ”I fear the worst.”

The worst, Kallye thought, had already happened. If Helwych was correct about sorcery, then Gryylth had been struck at its very heart. Relys, perhaps, was too new to her womanhood to know the grief and helplessness that Seena was feeling, but then . . .

Kallye took the captain's hand as she might take the hand of a grieving mother and Relys did not appear to resent the gesture.

. . : but then again, maybe she knew exactly. The captain had no children, but she had a missing, lieutenant and a country that she obviously felt was in danger.

' 'I am sorry, captain,'' Kallye said softly.

”I am helpless, midwife. Helwych rules the queen now, and I have no more power in the matter than a prost.i.tute on the block in Bandon.” Relys turned to her suddenly. ”I have watched you with Seena, my lady. You are wise, and so I ask you: What power does a woman have? If there is any to be had in my s.e.x, I need it now, for I am no longer a man, and therefore am I now mocked and disregarded by the very men I am supposed to command. Do I simply give up? Do I have nothing?''

They entered the market square. About them, women from neighboring towns, awake and on the road since before sunrise, were setting out their cottage-work and the early produce of a warm and clement summer. Kallye had caught the babies of many of them, and knew by name a great many more. She nodded greetings while she considered her answer.

' 'If you ask me what a woman's power is,'' she said at last, ”I would have to speak as a midwife, and I would have to say that, from what I have seen, a woman's power lies in change, and in patience, and in endurance.”

Relys frowned, her fists clenched. -'I would I could act.”

Kallye shrugged. ”Sometimes even a man cannot act.”

Relys turned her head away abruptly. Kallye realized that she might as well have slapped her. She squeezed Relys's hand. ”Forgive my stupid words, captain. Do you understand, though, what I am saying?”

”Aye ... aye ...” Relys looked back up the street. Hall Kingsbury was silhouetted against the bright sky, its solid, peaceful exterior giving no clue that there was anguish contained within.

About them, dogs barked, chickens squawked, bolts of cloth shone with bright colors. The market-men or no men-was open, but a woman was approaching the midwife. ”Kallye,” she said. ”May I speak with you?”

Kallye stopped and bobbed her head by way of a bow in the new fas.h.i.+on. ”Of course, Paia. Is something wrong?”

Paia looked worried, and Kallye began to fear that the affliction of Seena's children had been repeated elsewhere. But Paia-round and maternal-had her full compliment of toddlers clinging to her skirts. ”I am not certain,” she said. ”The other day, my boys found a woman wondering in the forest near our steading. They thought her mad, and so they did not approach her, but they told me of her. What with Nedyyc off with the king and all, I was almost afraid to go and look; but we all seem to be playing the man these days, and so at last I went.” She glanced at Relys, caught her breath, and paused uncertainly.

But Relys shook her head. ”Pray continue.”

”I found her as they told me,” said Paia with an attempt at resolution. ”Truly, she is deranged, but she was hungry, and she had no home, so I took her in. My older girls are keeping watch over her today, but I do not know what to do with her.”

”Is she a country woman?” said Kallye. ”What does she look like?”

”She is small and slight,” said Paia, ”but dark as a fisher's daughter.''

Relys stiffened.

Paia paused, blinked at the captain, went on. ”Her hair is thick and curly-”

”What is her name?” Relys demanded suddenly. ”How was she dressed?”

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