The Executioner's Cane by Anne Brooke Read Free Book Online

breath, tries to glean courage
of a sort from the waiting air but it offers none.
    No matter. Ralph steps forward into the
passageway’s dankness, winter webs brushing his face. It shames him
to know he is shaking. Thank the stars nobody knows this. For there
is none here to note weaknesses, not any more. Now, he hunches down
– the height of this corridor is only big enough for a tall child
and the damage caused by the war has made it that much more
unstable. As he passes along, the great stones above creak and
tremble. And all the time, he is running his fingers along the wall
until he gets to the shelves he remembers. When he finds the small
pouch he is seeking, Ralph’s knees suddenly weaken and he leans
against the dangerous walls for respite. It is here, it is here
then. But why should it not be here? This place of relative safety
is where he stored the emeralds on his return, and he has not
sought them since. Ralph could not bear to keep them with him then,
and now he finds he cannot bear to be apart from them.
    He opens the bag. He should not be able to
see the jewels; there is no light in this star-forsaken place. But
nevertheless they glitter. Ralph’s eye picks out the soft green
glow and the smoothness of their shape. Perfect orbs, all. Not as
many as there should be – only four instead of the original seven –
but enough for him to need them. Enough to hope that one day he
will access their full power. If he does, then Ralph will use it to
restore the land he has ruined, with as much determination as it is
possible to have.
    He wonders if Simon has brought the remainder
of the emeralds with him, the ones Ralph left behind in that
far-off city. And he wonders too if they now belong to him at all,
or if they have become more truly Simon’s. He carries the mind-cane
with him, and that has more power than anything Ralph or the land
have ever known. It has the power of life, death, and the place
that is neither.
    Sometimes Ralph thinks that in-between
unknowable place is truly where he is this day-cycle. There the
fault is not the cane’s.
    But if the mind-cane is here to punish
Ralph’s people further, he will … he will … what exactly? He does
not know. But if he did, then something in him speaks of the hope
these small jewels could offer.
    He shakes his head. He cannot afford the time
to speculate on any future-cycle, so he closes up the pouch and
fastens it to his belt. Something of the emeralds’ green glow
clings to Ralph’s hand and lights the way back to his bedroom.
    When he reaches it, the will to act has left
him, but he takes solace from the feel of the emeralds at his side.
He notices the faint glow on his skin has faded. All he can do is
wait until he is strong again.
    But when, by the gods, will that time be?
     
     
    Second Gathandrian
Interlude
     
    Annyeke
     
    The elders were back. It was of course
exactly what Annyeke had been hoping – and indeed praying – for but
it wasn’t entirely welcome. Especially as she’d only just been
joined with her bonding partner. Still, Gathandrian women always
dealt well with the unexpected. She was not going to let down her
womenfolk.
    It can’t be helped. You know we have to deal
with whatever the gods give to us.
    Annyeke nodded her agreement. The depths of
Johan’s faith would never be hers, but she understood the
sentiment.
    “What will you do?” he asked her, this time
aloud.
    She realised both her menfolk were gazing at
her. She straightened her shoulders.
    “I will go and talk with them,” she said.
    Grabbing the nearest cloak – which she
suspected was Johan’s – she walked outside with as much dignity as
she could muster. Bearing in mind the state of her hair, that
probably wasn’t much, but no matter. She had more important things
to face than her appearance. In the chill morning air, she wrapped
her cloak more tightly around herself and was glad of its
comforting warmth. Glad also of the presence of Johan and Talus
behind