Tests of Blood - 26. Chapter 26

The worst part about his plan was that Dalen didn’t know exactly when it would go into motion. Certain things were always difficult to predict, and if he’d made the plan too complicated, then it would never work. At least that’s what the Heralds kept telling him during that week whenever he’d discussed things with them.

His first concern had been to make sure that the confined Heralds would be able to perform their part, and they were not only capable but ready. Then he had to get a message out to the right people, and for that he couldn’t use the network of mage lights and heaters to pass his messages. Those had to be done in a more conventional way. As he’d expected, his apartments were cleaned by Haighlei and the food was brought in by them as well. He was allowed no contact with any Valdemaran except his mother and the mages that they had ‘processed’.

“The Heartstone chamber is dusty.” Dalen had complained the second day of his captivity when Diers had come to check on him. As he’d planned, the stone had experienced a ‘hiccup’ and Diers was summoning him to fix the problem. He’d waited until after he had fixed the hiccup, and set his signal to be transmitted later before making the comment.

“No one can enter to clean it.” Diers had remarked.

“Send me two Valdemarans that I can trust to clean the room.” Dalen said with a sigh and a shake of his head. “I will give them access for a set period of time after I am sure that they are not ensorcelled in any way.”

“I will see what I can do.” Diers had replied before escorting Dalen back to his apartments. It took two more days and another ‘hiccup’ for Diers to respond and Dalen had gotten his two cleaners, but he was closely monitored in what he was allowed to do with them. Certainly the fact that both of them volunteered helped, and when he checked their minds they were clear of any foreign magic or mind-magic traps. They couldn’t be given instructions, but both of them were good, loyal Valdemarans and Dalen had little doubt they’d cooperate.

Sure enough the packet of orders he’d left was gone the next day, and he was fairly certain they were intelligent enough to get them past whatever search had been done. This time there had been a real problem with the Heartstone and he had to adjust the spells monitoring power flow to the mage-lights and heaters. His initial spells had not accounted for certain things, like people adjusting the heaters for different temperatures. Fortunately, they were ‘tested’ before he’d managed his escape or he’d have had to sneak back into Haven to fix the problem later.

When the time came, he was as surprised as anyone else in the Palace. Certainly he had expected everything to take longer than ten days in total. In fact, he’d expected a gradual buildup to critical mass, and was caught slightly unprepared when his mother entered his apartments with a harried expression. It was early in the morning, and he’d dressed in the set of Whites that begun appearing in his closet the day after his arrival.

“You look odd in those.” His mother said with a frown as she entered. “Are you even supposed to be wearing Whites or are you supposed to be in Gray first?”

“The Heralds I worked with down south said I could wear Whites.” Dalen answered her with a short frown. His mother was wearing a rather plain dress of deep Valdemar blue with white lacework around the cuffs and neckline that was very close to her throat.

“That’s good.” She said with a frown. “I have a feeling that you weren’t the only one to enter Haven when you came here.”

‘Why is that, mother?” Dalen asked her and her frown deepened.

“There is a rumor circulating in the city that you are being held prisoner here in the Palace.” She answered his question with a grimace of distaste.

“Funny that.” Dalen said with a slight grin. “Sometimes rumors are true.”

“Don’t be insolent.” She snapped at him. “The Haighlei are not amused and they are questioning those two servants that cleaned the Heartstone chamber. I am afraid if they did help you, that their secrets will be revealed sometime soon, and there will be hell to pay for them and for you.”

“Pity that good Valdemarans are being tortured by foreigners and their Regent lets it happen.” Dalen retorted and for a moment he felt unworthy of his uniform since he’d done nothing to protect those two.

“Pity that someone supposed to be protecting them puts them in danger.” His mother retorted and Dalen again felt guilt for a second.

“Are we done verbally sparring?” Dalen asked her with a raised eyebrow.

“The people of Haven have risen up.” She replied with a great deal of sarcasm in her voice. “It seems they do not like the fact that a member of the Royal Family is being held hostage, and Shalacman is quite worried that his Truthsayers were nearly murdered by an angry mob when they tried to tie you to the plot to kill King Rothar.”

“He must have been quite upset.” Dalen mused with a very slight smile on his face. That little bit he’d set in motion even before speaking to the man, and it was Healer Bladric that was spreading the truth.

“It seems that a key witness to the explosion has been telling people that he has proof that Diers and the Truthsayers were lying when they said it was a bomb.” She said with a frown. “He has, of course, been arrested and held in confinement for the last twelve hours. As I understand it, he is the only man who can enter Dellinar’s room because of the shields you put on it. Dell may well die of thirst before the Healer is released.”

“So you will let the Haighlei kill the heir to the throne?” Dalen asked her.

“He will die because of the shield you put up.” She shrugged. “If he is truly awake as you claim, he could be placed instead with the other Heralds, or in confinement like you.”

“Why are you here, mother?” Dalen asked with a sigh.

“You will speak to the crowds.” His mother said. “They are massing at the gates to the Palace complex. A team of handpicked Guards will take you to the top of the wall above the gates where you will speak to the crowd. You will tell them that you are working with me on resolving our differences and that you are not a prisoner. When you are done calming them down, you will return here without revealing anything that you should not. I do not believe it must be spelled out for you.”

“No, I won’t.” Dalen answered without delay even though that was exactly what he wanted.

“The alternative is that the Haighlei will handle the mob like they would one back in their kingdom.” His mother said. “As I understand it, the methods are quite brutal and were developed when the plague required them to keep people from assembling. This whole city will be locked down for a month until people have calmed down. Shalacman tells me that fewer than five thousand will die before they calm down.”

“How many people are out there?” Dalen asked in real surprise.

“The crowd stretches all the way through the Inner City.” His mother said with a wry little grin on her face. “It seems you are very popular, my son.”

“They think they really know us, don’t they?” Dalen asked her and her shoulders slumped with relief. Only for a moment though, and her stiff posture was back in place after a blink of his eyes.

“Don’t they?” His mother asked and Dalen sighed.

“It would seem so.” He said.

“There are Guards waiting outside to take you directly to the walls.” She said formally and Dalen gave her a brief bow before heading to the door. When he got close to her, she grabbed his arm and leaned in on her tip-toes. “Whatever you are planning to do with this opportunity, Shalacman is waiting with his mages and his soldiers for one little misstep. The moment you do anything to rile the crowd up, he will start killing them.”

“I won’t lead them to a bloodbath, mother.” Dalen promised in a whisper and she relaxed ever so slightly before kissing his cheek.

“Never forget I love you.” She whispered.

“I love you, mother, and I respect you.” Dalen admitted. He couldn’t say proud, but he did respect her, and the softening of her face showed him that it was enough for her. She stood there as he left his apartments, looking every inch the Royal Princess that she was, and he realized that he would miss her in the days to come. As he left the apartments, he secured the regal image of her in his mind even as he sent the pre-arranged signal through his secret relay.

“We are here to escort you to the walls, my lord.” A burly man in the uniform of a Guard Sergeant said and Dalen nodded at him. These men, and they were all men he noticed, did not look friendly or supportive. Rather they were very wary and Dalen sighed with regret. As they moved through the halls, he could feel Diers following at a distance, keeping an eye on him.

Their path was well planned, and Dalen smiled when they crossed the section of paths that led between Healer’s Hall and the Palace. This was the point closest to Healer’s Hall that they would reach and he stopped abruptly. The men around him frowned and the Sergeant turned to face him. From here the dull roar of the crowd outside was quite audible.

“Sir, you must come with us.” The man said firmly. “We have orders.”

“I am Herald-Mage Dalen Valdemar Ashkevron.” Dalen said simply. “You have three choices at this point. You will obey the oaths you swore and follow me. If you cannot do that, lay down your arms and step aside. If you resist me, I will kill you.”

“What is going on here?” Diers asked as he stepped forward from where he’d been hiding. Dalen hated this part of his plan but he knew there was no other choice. Diers never expected the attack as the raw power of Haven Heartstone flowed through Dalen and flash-fried Diers through his overloaded shields. The smoking body of Dalen’s one-time friend fell to the ground before the Guards had recovered from the bright flash of light caused by the blast. His plan was in motion, and Dalen had no more time for the niceties.

“You have three seconds to make your choices.” Dalen said and all the Guards looked at him with wild eyes before their weapons clattered to the ground and they turned to run on the spot. Dalen let them go and bent over to pick up two of the wheel-lock pistols that had been dropped as well as the sword belt. A quick inspection showed it was a good, serviceable longsword and he strapped it on before putting the pistols into the belt. There was a lot of commotion as four Haighlei soldiers and one of their mages appeared from the hallways of the Palace.

It took less energy to fry them with blasts of power from the Heartstone than it would have to fight them off, and so that was what he did. Diers could not make a choice, and the man that had been his friend was long dead. Ending the life of the body that was left behind had not been too difficult. He would not have killed the Valdemarans if he didn’t have to, and fortunately they chose not to fight. The Haighlei he had no compunction about killing.

Healer’s Hall was in chaos as he strode through the hallways. The crowd had apparently realized that Healer’s Hall was a way to get into the Palace grounds and a team of Valdemaran guards were doing their best to keep the crowd from overrunning the place. Dalen hoped none of their injuries would be life-threatening, but that was a risk he’d judged and accepted before setting this in motion.

“There you are.” Blake said as Dalen came around the corner to the hallway that led to Dellinar’s room. Seeing Blake there, in his Grays, holding a pistol in one hand and long knife in the other brought a smile to Dalen’s face.

Jadev? Dalen asked mentally and was relieved as he could feel his Companion nearby.

It is about damn time you idiot. Jadev replied. You should have asked for me as soon as you started. That little display you sent up has everyone bubbling. It’s not easy turning thirty-thousand people around before the Haighlei slaughter them all.

We knew it was a risk. Blake added in Dalen’s defense. The blond Trainee had a broad smile on his face as he looked at Dalen, and Dalen realized he was smiling back at Blake.

We’ll get them turned around, brother. Radev’s voice joined the conversation. Loishia and Thomas have brought down the barrier over the Field.

“Where’s everyone else?” Dalen asked Blake.

“They’re getting the new King’s Own and we heard the Healer that helped you has been locked up so we’re getting him.” Blake answered. “There’s a team of our Guards and Healers holding the other end of this hallway.”

“Let’s go get Dell.” Dalen said grimly and Blake nodded. The room was easy to find and this time Dalen used one of the pistols at the same time Blake fired to kill the waiting Haighlei guards that stood outside. Both men went down before they’d done more than start to reach for their weapons. In another moment, Dalen was taking down his own shields.

“It’s about damn time.” Dellinar growled as they entered. He was still gaunt, and looked very weak, but he was sitting in his bed instead of lying there. “That damn Healer hasn’t been in here since yesterday and I thought you were going to…”

“Can you stand?” Dalen cut him off.

“You look good in Whites, and no I can’t stand.” Dellinar growled angrily. “How the hell I’m going to ride out of here I have no idea.”

“You’re not riding.” Dalen snorted. “If you noticed, this room is fully stocked and there’s a wheeled chair over in that corner. Blake is going to take you to the evacuation point and the rest of the Heralds are going to get you out of here. Mavren should be resetting the Gate now to that area.”

“Mavren?” Dellinar said in surprise. “Since when is a Journeyman able to make a Gate?”

“She isn’t making a gate.” Dalen said as he helped Blake move Dellinar from the bed to the chair with wheels. Dell grunted at the move, but didn’t protest at the help he was being given. “There is now a Permanent Gate at Burnham.”

“How the hell did you do that and how do you stay so far from it?” Dell asked him in surprise as Blake got a blanket from the bed and put it in Dell’s lap. Dalen took the remaining pistol out of his belt and put it on top of the blanket. He was right and Dell grasped it firmly with a determined look on his face.

“It’s tied to the nodes beneath Burnham and not me.” Dalen said. “I’ll tell you the full story when we have time, but let’s just say the last few weeks haven’t been wasted.”

“Okay.” Dell said with a grunt.

The hallways of Healer’s Hall were emptying out as they moved through them. As they moved they picked up a few escorts in Valdemaran Guard uniforms. None of them had come through the Gate from Burnham. All of them had probably been assigned here in Haven. Almost, Dalen told them to return to their duties here, but he knew instinctively they had been through enough here and would be better off with his own people. They straightened up in pride at his nod of acceptance and formed up around them.

The Bards have been successful. Jadev informed him as they neared the exit that would lead to the evacuation point. The wheeled chair could not go very fast, and Dalen was growing more nervous with every passing moment.

What are the Haighlei doing? Dalen asked.

They are pulling back towards the evacuation point. Jadev answered. Those mages are not doing anything that I can feel.

Shalacman knows better. Dalen answered.

Who? Jadev asked and Dalen winced. He’d automatically assumed his Companion knew everything he knew.

The leader of the Haighlei. Dalen answered. He is a very powerful mage capable of ruining this plan.

Then why is he still alive? Jadev asked.

I haven’t had a chance to kill him yet you bloody-minded beast. Dalen retorted and was happy to hear the mental laughter of his Companion again. He’d never thought he’d feel lonely like he had the last few days, but the loneliness he felt was like a black, gaping hole without Jadev there in his thoughts.

I am not a beast. Came the familiar retort.

The yard was a mess of boiling activity as they entered that section of the complex that had once been an indoor salle for weapons training. Dalen’s hope that there would be no wounded in the escape was dashed as he saw Healers moving among several forms sitting or standing on the grass field that ended in a large double-door entry that would eventually lead to the Palace proper. There was the terminus of the Burnham Gate already up where the large double-doors were normally, and Dalen saw a few dozen Companions making their orderly way through the Gate and into the Burnham Vale.

He just hoped that they’d gotten the shields extended further out than the domes of the Vale or it was going to be very cramped soon. There was a ring of about two hundred Guards around the perimeter of the yard, and another few dozen Heralds standing behind them with an assortment of weapons at the ready. Above them a shield glimmered in the early afternoon sunlight, and Dalen himself breathed a sigh of relief as two familiar Heralds came up.

“We decided to join you here.” Herald Nevin said as he and Herald Thorn came up to where Dalen was trying to help Blake with getting the chair onto the grass. It wasn’t going to work though.

“Here, let me take him.” Herald Thorn said as he leaned down and took a protesting Dellinar over his shoulder and carried him towards the Gate. A cheer went up from the Guards on the perimeter and Dalen turned to see twelve Companions thundering into the yard, each of them carrying an exhausted Bard. Dalen was surprised to see Carl on Jadev’s back.

Where did you find him? Dalen asked Jadev who trotted up to him before stopping and letting the Bard off of his back. Bard Louisa was a familiar sight as well, since she was one of the younger Bards that had been part of the planning of this day’s events. Jadev’s head was resting on Dalen’s shoulder a moment later.

In the middle of the crowd, calming them down with his gift. Jadev snorted into Dalen’s hair and then turned to trot off without saying another word. All the Companions had to get out of here.

“It’s not easy getting a crowd all riled up and then letting them down.” Louisa said tiredly as she rested on the grass. Carl opened his eyes from where he also rested leaning against her and studied Dalen for a moment.

“Love the hair.” Carl commented wryly and Dalen laughed at him.

“You look tired.” He told Carl.

“I am tired.” Carl laughed again. “When I heard this hair-brained plan, I thought it was doomed from the start, but I’ll be damned if we didn’t pull it off.”

“All the Bards coming with us?” Dalen asked Nevin who nodded.

“We’ve got enough room to keep everyone until we can make another gate back to Prince’s Retreat.” Nevin told him.

“Only half the Bards got involved with this.” Louisa said. “We’re not happy about printing the lies from the Haighlei, but we still need people here.”

“I still agree with that.” Dalen said flatly. “It’s not Bards they’re really concerned about anyway.”

“Still, anyone with the Gift is leaving.” Carl added. “You got Prince Dellinar?”

“Yes, we did.” Dalen assured him.

“Damn, then this was a success.” Carl said just as a hollow booming shook the shield above them and a flash of light blinded them momentarily. Dalen threw his hands up towards the sky and drew deeply on the Heartstone as he cast another shield below the one that was now under assault. Moments later there was another boom, and a muted flash. Three Heralds collapsed from where they stood as their shield also fell, but Dalen’s was in place, and holding. Instead of one major assault, the next set of blows were several smaller ones, all blazing with power.

“I think they figured out we’re just leaving.” Dalen grunted as he tried to reinforce a shield that was being eaten at in several different spots. Instead of gathering all their energy together and using it in one big blast, Shalacman was now having a dozen powerful mages assault his stronger shield in a dozen locations. They were each using different attacks, and Dalen began sweating as he proceeded to layer shields on top of shields for when the outer one broke. Each shield would specialize in defending against the different types of attack, and instead of collapsing when breached, he segmented each one like a honeycomb so an attack that beat one shield would not destroy it entirely, just that area. It was not something he’d ever heard about another mage doing, and he wondered if it would work.

“We better get going.” He heard Blake say urgently. “Jadev says he’s concentrating so hard that we are better off hurrying up the evacuation. He didn’t go through the Gate yet so he’ll come back here. Radev and I will stay with him until then.”

“Trainee, you don’t…” Nevin started to say something but Dalen interrupted him.

“Do what he says.” He said through gritted teeth and the senior Herald looked at him for a long moment before turning and bellowing out orders to speed things up. His first hasty shield collapsed under the severe attacks and a grim smile lit his face as he imagined the dismay of the opposing mages when they saw the shields underneath. Dalen kept on spinning those shields even as they renewed their attacks and imagined their surprise when they broke the first only to find it didn’t completely collapse.

Power flowed through him at a level that slightly surprised him. It wasn’t so much the amount that he was holding at any one time as that never changed from before he was stuck in the other plane with Windfire, but his body was able to handle the power flow from the Heartstone without any breaks like he’d once needed. It was like the difference between a sprinter who could race very fast for short distances and was now able to run league after league without slowing down.

The retreat had been planned as much as possible, but it had never actually been practiced. That was why it was taking three times longer than they had expected. Another thing they had not quite expected was that the Companions far outnumbered the Heralds being evacuated. It seemed like there were three or four Companions for every Herald in the yard, and so it was that the first two layers of shields had holes in them before the last of the Companions went through the Gate.

Jadev was standing behind Dalen, his head planted firmly in Dalen’s back, supporting him. Without even thinking about it, Dalen stepped to the side and back while Jadev moved forward, making it easier to mount. With his Companion there, a rock steady presence bolstering him, Dalen settled in for the long haul, raising more and more shields for every shield that was broken through. His honeycombing worked for the most part, except he hadn’t realized the sections that were broken would create a weakness in the neighboring sections, making them easier to break.

Still, he had the support of his Companion and was catching his second breath when the able-bodied Heralds began carrying their wounded through the Gate. It was a mixture of injuries and malnourishment that kept all the Heralds from crossing the Gate on the their own legs, and Dalen did his best to not think about them, or react even when he saw a familiar blond head carried through the Gate on a stretcher. His attention was focused on keeping them protected.

“Okay, it’s just the Guards left now and they’re falling back.” Blake said aloud as Jadev began walking backwards towards the Gate. As they moved with the Guards assembling in a loose formation around him, Dalen knew the enemy was pressing his attacks even harder. They were gaining ground into the temple and he was beginning to grow tired. Already more power had flowed through him than most Adepts handled in all their lives, and even the prodigious Heartstone was weakening. If he drained it much further, he would risk draining it below the safety limit. Doing that would cause the spells he had set in it to fail.

“Faster!” Blake called out to the Guards. “Fall back faster!”

They picked up the pace, but now the restriction was the Gate itself. This end was slightly smaller than the other end in Burnham and so not as many people were fitting through at once. He had shown Thomas, Loishia and Mavren how to physically move the Gate into the largest dome in the Vale to facilitate the withdrawal, but even that space was limited and he had no problem imagining the press of people on the other side. If they weren’t careful they’d back up and then they’d be stuck on this side waiting for room to form on the other side of the Gate.

What was worse was that they couldn’t move the destination of the Gate. A Permanent Gate didn’t have to have another Permanent Gate on the other side. All it had to have was a three-sided structure similar to its own frame. What it couldn’t do though was create both an entrance and an exit at two separate locations. You either had to go through it to another place or from another place through it to the Gate’s physical location.

It would have been so much easier if he could have set one end of the Gate to be Prince’s Retreat where they had more room instead of the middle of Haighlei-occupied Burnham. Even before he’d gone to Haven there were more and more Haighlei pouring into that town, most likely in preparation for an attempt to take the Vale. Dalen was all but certain that after today that would be a top priority on the Haighlei agenda, along with finding and killing him.

There was no mistaking the fury of the attacks on his shrinking shields. The flow of Guards through the Gate was steady, hinting that the other side was being kept free as much as possible. Even as he pulled back the perimeter of the shields, he knew he was going to have to stop shielding altogether very soon. On the other side of the shield were hundreds of Haighlei, striking the shield physically with their spears and their curved swords even as a half-dozen mages continued their attack. As amazed as he was with the power he was handling, Dalen was even more amazed that they were still on their feet.

“Just a few more minutes, Dalen.” Blake’s voice was right at his ear as their Companions stopped backing up. Dalen could feel the Gate at his back, but he didn’t dare retreat through it yet. There were fifty more Guards that were pressed around them, each waiting their turn to go through the gate four at a time. Half their number was through when Dalen noticed that all the mages but one had stopped their attacks, and he noticed the Haighlei soldiers were now just standing, watching them through the shield as Shalacman stumbled tiredly to the front of their ranks. Dalen had only two layers of shields left at that point, and was ready to pass out as well, but he looked at Shalacman with respect as the older Adept studied him. The last of the Guards were through the Gate, and Dalen was left alone on the field.

He realized with a jolt that for the first time since the rein of King Valdemar himself, he and Blake were the only Heralds left in Haven. When they went through, an era would end and for the first time in their kingdom’s history, there would be no Heralds in the capitol. It was almost enough for him to choose to stay, but the look in the Haighlei ambassador’s eyes told him the futility of that.

Shalacman’s gaze promised death the next time they met.

Giving the man a tired bow from where he sat on Jadev, Dalen let all but the last and thinnest of his shields fade while he set the final round of spells deep in the Heartstone. It needed time to recharge, even as he did. A mental signal was all it took for Jadev to turn and with one last neigh, he and Radev took their Chosen through the waiting Gate.

As the Gate faded away along with the last shield, Shalacman was left standing in the empty field, staring at the double doors and wondering when the bell tolling from Companion’s Field had started ringing.

Days later he would wonder when it was going to stop.