Gateway to Fourline (The Fourline Trilogy Book 1) (6 page)

They walked into a dark, cramped room that smelled faintly of pine. The humming sound grew louder. Estos leaned toward another door and spoke again into a screen. The door clicked, and they proceeded up a set of enclosed metal stairs, which led to a high narrow walkway made of metal grates. Snow melted off of Nat’s shoes and dripped between the slats. She looked over the railing and stopped. The tips of thick evergreens touched the edge of the walkway. Half of the warehouse was filled with towering trees. Skinny, faceless blue dummies floated above them, suspended from the ceiling of the warehouse. At the other end of the building, she saw a small greenhouse and neat rows of plants. Fiber-optic cables coiled down from the ceiling to the roof of the shed. A patch of dirt was adjacent to the garden and greenhouse. Long spears, swords, clubs, and other weapons lined the wall in the corner.

“Come on, Natalie,” Estos beckoned from farther down the walkway.

“What is this place?” She reached out and touched the tip of a pine tree, rolling a needle between her fingers.

“Think of it as one big movie set.” Estos grinned in the wan light. An open door greeted them at the end of the walkway. Estos closed the door and moved swiftly past Nat down another set of stairs, his boots thudding against the metal. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she realized she was on the other side of the second carved door Andris had come through earlier in the evening.

After a few more steps, they entered a galley-style kitchen. Oberfisk and the tall, muscular man named Kroner sat at a long wooden table next to Barba. Cairn was hunched over a sink, steam encircling his long arms. Pots, pans, and dried herbs hung from ceiling racks above the table. Oberfisk stood quickly, knocking over his stool and barely missing bashing his head on a low-hanging pot.

“Bit foolish going out in the weather without letting us know, Estos,” he chided as he took Nat by the elbow. He pulled out a chair. Nat sat directly across from Barba.

“I let Andris know,” Estos replied coolly.

“Cairn, would you get the girl a plate? She looks like a starved, wet rat.” Oberfisk accepted a plate from Cairn and plopped it in front of Nat. “No offense meant.” He smiled down at her, the kitchen lights reflecting off his bald head.

“None taken.” Nat inhaled the rich smell of roast beef and mashed potatoes covered in gravy.

“You can get your own.” Oberfisk pointed to Estos and then sat down with a thud. Estos loaded his plate, and he and Cairn joined the four already sitting at the table. Barba leaned forward slightly with her arms crossed. Her eyes never left Estos. Nat glanced at him as he shoved a forkful of potatoes into his mouth. No one said a word.

After a few minutes of silence, Nat said, “Thank you for the dinner, Professor Gate, Mrs. Gate. I don’t mean to impose on you like this.” She twisted her napkin underneath the table.

“Don’t give it a thought,” Oberfisk answered. “It’s our fault we kept you late during such a bad storm. We were just a bit busy back here and forgot all about the store. Guess that’s why we hired you, isn’t it?” He chuckled, looked at Barba, and clammed up.

They continued to eat in silence until Estos got up for a second serving. Nat wondered if Oberfisk was the one person in the group designated to speak until Barba suddenly spoke up.

“Estos, show Natalie to the spare room upstairs. She’s exhausted, and we all have matters that we must attend to.” Barba gave Nat a gentle smile, which disappeared when she turned to Estos.

“Please don’t.” Nat held up her hand. She’d broken some strange taboo by merely sitting at the table with this group. “I can walk downtown and catch a ride up to campus.” She stood and slung her sopping wet bag over her shoulder. “Estos, if you would just show me out, I’ll be on my way.”

Barba rounded the table. In one fluid movement, she took Nat’s bag off her shoulder. “Don’t be ridiculous, come with me.”

Nat looked back at Estos, unsure what to do. He nodded encouragingly toward Barba. Nat reluctantly followed her out of the kitchen. Wisps of red hair had come loose from the tight bun high on Barba’s head. Nat thought she looked like a petite lion. They walked through the room where Andris had yelled at Nat.

“I have seen too many students in my time not to recognize when you’re about to fall down from exhaustion,” Barba said as they reached the base of a staircase. Nat thought Barba didn’t know the half of it but nodded in quiet agreement. The stairs creaked slightly underfoot. She doubted she would be able to sneak back down without anyone hearing.

“Sleep here tonight,” Barba said as she flicked on the light in the last room at the end of the long hallway. The room contained a dark-blue chair, an ottoman, a small daybed covered in a down comforter, and a tall wardrobe. On the wall next to the single window hung a painting of hills swathed in golden-yellow flowers.

“The bathroom is across the hall.” She placed Nat’s bag by the door. “Estos will come get you in the morning. Have open dreams, Natalie.”

“Thank you.” The door clicked shut. Nat kicked off her wet shoes and lay on the bed, staring at the painting. Her eyelids drooped, and she was soon asleep, dreaming of golden fields.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“It was premature to have brought her here, Estos,” Barba scolded the young man. Oberfisk and Kroner stomped down the hallway in front of them.

“Tell me when the time would be right, Sister? We’re running out of options. You’ve been assessing her for more than a year. How much longer do you need to watch her? She’s mentally strong, physically capable, and meets all your other criteria,” Estos replied, his tone full of exasperation.

Oberfisk and Kroner halted in front of a door emblazoned with carvings of a vine, sword, bird, and sun.

“She can be on her way tomorrow knowing nothing if you prefer.” Estos tilted his head, listening to the muffled voices on the other side of the door. “When did they get back?” he asked.

“Shortly after you left to get Natalie,” Oberfisk replied. “Couldn’t really mention it with her in the room.” He and Kroner grabbed the door handles. “After you.” They bowed slightly as Estos stepped across the threshold into Ethet’s laboratory.

“Two weeks, and you couldn’t deliver a simple message?” Andris was stomping back and forth in front of an opening to a rough limestone corridor in the corner of the bright room. Ethet and Annin were bent over Riler, who lay on a narrow table opposite Andris, moaning in pain.

“They were tracking me, you dolt,” Annin said. “What did you want me to do, lead them straight to your brother and the rebels? They knew Riler was through, too.” She pointed at Riler, and the blue skin on her arm rippled under the light. “They’re tracking all of us.” Annin’s wild hair flew in all directions. She stopped when she saw Estos. He brought his hand to her cheek.

“It’s good to see you,” Estos said. A look of relief washed over his face. Her blue eye glittered like shattered glass. The patch over her other eye hung crookedly.

“I tried, Estos. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. At least you’re back safe,” Estos said. Oberfisk cleared his throat, and Estos dropped his hand.

“How were you able to stay two weeks, yet Riler was attacked after just half a day?” Andris stepped in front of Estos. Spittle from his mouth landed on Annin’s cheek. She wiped it away and gave him a murderous look.

“I assume it’s because I am, as you’re always reminding me, a ‘duozi.’ We’re harder to track than you.” She shoved him slightly aside and grabbed a glass-stoppered vial from a high wooden rack.

“The Nala and Mudug’s men have been a day behind me ever since I crossed over. I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to find your brother or the Northern Warrior Sisters. Get out of my way.” She pushed past Andris again and stood next to Ethet. Andris clenched his fists, and Estos moved protectively between him and Annin.

Ethet dropped the scissors and pulled layers of blood-stained fabric away from Riler’s thigh. She inspected the long gash and took the now unstoppered vial from Annin’s hand. The wound sizzled slightly as the clear liquid fell from the vial onto Riler’s ragged piece of skin. He arched his back and groaned.

Ethet leaned over the wound and sniffed. “It’s clean.” His body relaxed, and everyone in the room except her and Annin let out a collective breath.

“Annin, mallow salve and threaded needle. Have the bandages ready.” Ethet gently inspected the rest of Riler.

Estos pulled up a stool while Ethet irrigated, then sutured the wound. “Tell us what happened,” he said calmly. He laid a hand on Riler. “Annin, you first.”

“I waited in the portal before I crossed over. Nothing was in the forest when I made it through.” She had an odd look in her human eye.

Barba interrupted. “Did the membrane push back?”

“Not when I was leaving. I was caught coming back. I had Riler past the barrier, but it took me more than a minute to pull myself through.” Annin turned her attention to Riler’s thigh. Ethet brought the curved needle up in tight, efficient strokes, securing and cutting each suture before starting another.

“Did anyone see you?” Estos asked.

“No.” Annin kept her head down, swabbing the wound lightly as Ethet worked. “At least I don’t think so.” Her voice held some hesitation.

“Go back to the beginning,” Barba demanded.

“I traveled northeast out of the forest along the edge of the Meldon Plain.”

“In the opposite direction of where we told you to go.” Andris looked up at the ceiling and pulled his beard. “Why didn’t you go straight to Benedict’s house?” His face was a shade redder than normal. Estos looked at his friend and held up a cautioning hand.

“You told me to go to the Hermit’s house, Andris—no one else did,” Annin shot back as she scowled at the soldier. “I’d never go near that rat traitor. He’d turn me over to the Nala faster than Mudug’s men.”

“You and your imaginary conspiracies cost us time and almost cost us Riler.” Andris placed one hand on the rough limestone archway and gestured to Riler with the other. “He went in to find you and do the job you should have done weeks ago,” he said accusingly, narrowing his eyes and twisting his mouth.

“The rebellion will not hold if they think Estos is dead. It’s been almost a year since Oberfisk delivered the last message for Benedict, and we don’t even know if that made it to the right hands. I knew from the beginning it was a mistake to send in a duozi. No one would have believed a word you said, even if you had managed to pass the message on. We’ve wasted all this time!” Andris kicked a small waste bin. The metal clanged as it hit the limestone.

“Enough!” Estos shouted. The room fell silent. “Annin, you said they were tracking us. What do you mean?”

Ignoring Estos’ question, Annin ripped the patch from her face. An eye like a faceted silver disc focused on Andris. He instinctively stepped back.

“Annin,” Estos said, impatiently.

Annin glared at Andris a moment longer, then responded to Estos, “Do you remember when Oberfisk tried to go through about nine months ago?”

“Do I!” Oberfisk exclaimed from the corner. “Nearly got my head pinioned to a tree by Mudug’s lackeys when I came out on the Meldon Plain.” He patted the side of his head.

Annin nodded. “And Barba and Kroner, similar thing. When they tried last year, they were attacked by the Nala.” Barba and Kroner nodded, looking grave.

“We all know this,” Andris said grimly. He addressed Estos. “Just let me go in, Estos. I can find my brother and ensure the rebels are ready for your return.”

“You’d be dead before you reached Daub Town, not that it would be much of a loss in your case.” Annin’s voice was vicious.

Andris opened his mouth to speak.

“Let her finish,” Estos said, again holding up his hand.

“Two days after I passed through, I knew someone was following me. At first I suspected it was the Nala, but then I had a run-in with one of Mudug’s men when I was traveling north looking for any fringe Sisters.” She paused and glanced at Barba. “He ambushed me, but he was alone and easy enough to take down.”

Andris scoffed.

“You forget what happens when I’m in Fourline. I don’t need her potions to keep me strong.” She gestured to Ethet.

“Annin, what happened after the attack?” Barba asked.

“I did a dream-speak and learned he was tracking me, receiving messages about my movements. He was under orders to kill me, to kill all of us.”

Silence settled over the room.

Barba and Ethet exchanged glances. “Did you see any signs of the Sisters, Annin? Any healers?” Ethet asked.

“No,” Annin replied softly. “Perhaps they are afraid to openly help but are healing in other ways.”

“We must touch to heal.” Ethet sighed, finished her last suture, and cut the thread. “No, they are either dead or so frightened that they refuse to use what they know. Healing House was never known for its courage or strength like the Warrior House. I’m afraid the Sisters and their knowledge have faded over the years we’ve been here.”

“Did you find the rebels?” Oberfisk asked, turning the topic away from Ethet’s sad musings.

“Just a ragged band of sixteen men living north of the mines. I dream-spoke one of them from a distance.” Annin smiled broadly.

“Really? How far away?” Estos asked, leaning in to listen to his friend.

“Far enough not to spook their horses. The band was planning an attack on a small section of a mine in a few days’ time. Mudug was mining something odd—not copper, something else. The men were trying to stop the mine’s operations. I couldn’t confirm if the men were with Andris’ brother Gennes, but I sensed they were. The one I dream-spoke was well trained, and it took all I could do to get him to open up about their plans. I left him with the impression you were well, Estos.”

“That should take care of it,” Andris scoffed. “I’m sure my brother will find great comfort in a grunt telling him he knows that King Estos is alive because some duozi told him in a dream-speak.”

Annin gripped the edge of the table.

“Andris, no more interruptions,” Estos said in a calm but commanding tone. He gestured for Annin to continue.

“I moved south, trying to outpace whatever was tracking me,” Annin said. “But Mudug’s men caught up with me between Rustbrook and Daub Town. Barba, do you remember where we saw the meeting between Mudug’s emissary and the Nala?”

“It’s a night not to forget, Annin.”

“I fell asleep on the hill above that farmer’s house and woke early. A pack of Nala and Mudug’s men were riding past the farm. I could barely make out the riders, but I sensed at least five Nala. I took off toward the Meldon Plain and stopped after a few miles near the edge of it to keep watch, then I made my way back to the portal by following the last section of the path. That’s when I found Riler and two of Mudug’s men.”

Riler turned his head to the right. Bits of dried leaf still clung to his beard. He took up the story.

“I stayed in the portal for a bit and came out right as the sun was coming up.” Ethet taped a gauze pad over his wound. Riler winced. “I could hear the birds and figured that was as good a sign as any that none of the Nala were around. I never saw any Nala, but I got ambushed about halfway to the Hermit’s house by two of Mudug’s guards.”

“You let two of them take you down?” Oberfisk’s face soured.

“I’m not proud of it, Oberfisk,” Riler replied sharply. “But I did break one guard’s arm and left a nasty gash on the other’s face. I thought at first they meant to do me in right there, but they argued with one another about bringing me back to the capital. They even knew my name. One kept referring to me as ‘the traitor Riler’ while he trussed my arms.”

Ethet gently pushed Riler back down on the cot. “Settle down, Riler, you’ll undo all my work,” she said.

Riler let out a slow breath. “I heard Annin’s birdcall when they were leading me to the edge of the forest. So I pretended to trip, and she fell out of the tree and knocked out one of them. I managed a good kick to the one with a broken arm, and he went down like a sack of bricks. Passed out cold.” Riler smiled.

“We pulled them off the path.” Annin resumed the story. “I dream-spoke the one with a broken arm. He knew each and every one of us. But they knew Riler and I were near the Meldon Plain.”

“How is that possible?” Andris asked. Estos shook his head and let the interruption pass.

“It was the same with Mudug’s other guard. They were receiving messages about our location somehow.” Annin paused for a moment and looked down the tunnel beyond the limestone archway. “They knew a general region to look, but not a specific place. I guess that’s one thing to be thankful for.” She glanced at Riler. He gave her an uncomfortable look. “What?” she asked.

“Nothing.” He turned away. “All right, it’s the eye. Gives me the shivers. Could you cover it up?”

Annin pulled the patch over her disc of an eye. “Don’t worry, Riler, I don’t bite like the Nala.” She smiled.

“Annin, that’s enough,” Ethet scolded her apprentice.

Annin shrugged and continued. “Anyway, I tried to confuse both soldiers so they’d forget what had happened. Riler and I traveled as quickly as we could down the path and waited just long enough to know we weren’t being watched before we came back through.” She sat back on the stool, leaning against the long table behind her.

Other than a slight pulsating hum, the room was quiet. Barba and Estos walked to the entrance of the tunnel and stood next to Andris.

“We have a problem,” Barba said as she stared into the grayness.

“I expected a little less of an understatement coming from a Wisdom Sister.” Andris leaned against the limestone and crossed his arms.

“Don’t be so derisive, Andris.” She pointed a finger at his chest, then turned quickly to Annin. “What about Cairn, do they know him?” she asked.

“They do. They know all of us who have come through or been over,” Annin said without emotion.

Everyone in the room watched Barba pace. Finally Estos spoke up.

“Barba, I know you’re thinking the same thing I am. We tried our theory with Annin, and it didn’t work. We need to see if she’ll go in for us.” He spoke directly to Barba as if no one else were in the room, but everyone looked at them quizzically.

“It’s too soon.” Barba walked to the door with a concerned look on her face. “What if she . . .”

“We don’t have a choice. Not only do we now need to get a message to Benedict that I am—that we all are—indeed alive, but we need to find out how Mudug is tracking all of us.”

“What if it has something to do with the passage, what if they pick up on her, too?” Barba challenged the young king.

“If that were the case, they would have been on Annin and Riler immediately. No.” Estos shook his head and ignored the bewildered stares of the others. “It has to be something else. She’s the only one we can use,” he said. His eyes held a look of certainty.

“What lure do you suggest?” she asked, conceding to his decision.

“She’ll do it for money,” Estos said.

“Who in the blazes are you talking about?” Oberfisk turned around with his arms open wide. Annin spoke up.

“Natalie. He’s talking about Natalie.”

Everyone erupted into argument, drowning out Estos’ words, but Barba made them out well enough.

“She’ll do it for money,” he repeated to the Sister.