was shut fast, locked from the other side. Furiously, she called on her power and blasted the door out of her way, only to discover her way blocked by a wall of fire. She remembered now, what that smell was. Oil. Whoever had set this trap had soaked the building in it, hoping to send her to a fiery death.
R'shiel took a step back from the roaring flames. If this fire spread, here in the warehouse district, it would destroy the city. Even if it only spread a little way, all their supplies, all the food they had stored to see them through the coming siege would be destroyed. Without thinking, she drew even deeper on the Harshini power, pulling as much as she could handle and sent it outwards from the cellar. The blast of air shook the surrounding buildings and almost brought the roof of the cellar down on top of her. But the flames were blown out like candles in a strong draft.
Panting with the effort of her exertions, she clambered through the debris until she reached the ground floor. The building was flattened, its roof gone, the walls blown out and laying flat on the ground. The warehouses on either side were in no better shape, and beyond them she could see the broken windows and fractured walls of the other buildings that had been in range. There were shouts in the distance and voices yelling orders. The Defenders come to investigate the source of the explosion, no doubt. She looked around at the devastation she had caused with a sigh. She had simply meant to blow out the flames. She hadn't expected to level everything in sight.
It was Brak who reached the scene first. She was still standing there, dazed and bewildered as he leapt over the rubble to get to her.
When he reached her, Brak helped her sit down, his expression a mixture of anger and concern. “What, in the name of the gods, do you think you're doing?”
“It was a trap,” she told him dully.
“No kidding.”
“I didn't mean to...” she said, looking around her at what was left of the warehouse district.
“You never do, R'shiel. That's what makes you so bloody dangerous.”
“You're mad at me, aren't you?”
“Yes.”
R'shiel took a deep breath and held out her hand to see if it had stopped trembling, then looked up and smiled wanly at Brak.
“I'm sorry.”
“You and I need to have a little talk about restraint,” he said with a frown. “You can't go drawing on that much power every time you want to do something. There is such a thing as overkill, you know.”
“But I had to put out the fire. I didn't know how much it would take.” For that matter, even if she had known, she still lacked the finesse to limit what she drew on, but she decided not to remind Brak of that.
“I feel exhausted, but somehow more aware. Isn't that odd?”
“What do you mean?”
“I'm not sure. It's as if I can feel everything more clearly. I can even feel Sanctuary like it was right here.”
“That will be with you wherever you go, R'shiel.”
“I know. I've felt it ever since I left the place, but this is different. It's stronger somehow... I don't know... clearer... Brak?”
She blanched at the expression on his face. Suddenly, he wasn't listening to her. He rose to his feet slowly and turned to stare blankly towards the west, reaching out with his senses, rather than his eyes. R'shiel struggled to her feet and stood beside him, following his gaze, seeing nothing but the flattened buildings and the Defenders coming towards them, demanding to know what had happened.
“What is it? What's wrong?”
“I can feel it too.”
“Sanctuary?”
He nodded.
“But why is it so strong? Normally it's just like a vague impression in the back of my mind that I hardly even notice any more.”
“That's because normally, Sanctuary is hidden out of time.”
“Then it's back? Why would Korandellan do that?”
“He wouldn't. Not willingly.”
He glanced at her grimly and she suddenly realised what he meant. Korandellan had brought Sanctuary into real time because he was no longer capable of holding it back. R'shiel stared around her with horror. She had drawn on the magic of the Harshini with no thought to the amount that she was consuming.
It was her fault the Harshini were no longer hidden.
“Oh Founders, Brak,” she said with quiet desperation. “What have I done?”
By mid morning the last of the Kariens, as well as the civilians who did not want to stay in the Citadel, had filed through the gates and they were closed against the army outside. The Defenders had dutifully searched the crowd for Loclon's familiar face, but they paid no attention to the huge, simple-looking man hauling a handcart through the gate piled with old blankets, or notice the thin, sharp-eyed old woman who walked beside him. Nor did they inspect the cart. The rugs smelled old and the woman openly wore the symbol of Xaphista on a chain around her neck. Another fanatic leaving and good riddance to all of them, they decided. The Defenders turned their attention to the crowd, scanning the faces for Loclon's distinctive scar.
The huge man with his handcart, the beautiful young boy and the old woman left the Citadel unmolested.
CHAPTER 46
“What happened at the warehouse district?” Tarja asked as soon as R'shiel appeared in the doorway of the First Sister's office. He was alone with Garet Warner and a young woman that she did not recognise at first. The woman had long blonde hair and was dressed in homespun trousers and a rough linen shirt, with a Defender's cloak, of all things, thrown carelessly back over one shoulder. The fire burned brightly in the hearth and the room was almost uncomfortably warm. For a fleeting, gut-wrenching moment, R'shiel remembered this office, so hot and stuffy, when Joyhinia had ruled here. She shook off the feeling impatiently. Joyhinia was dead.
“There was a bit of an altercation,” she shrugged as she stepped into the office with Brak on her heels. The woman with Tarja turned as she spoke and studied R'shiel curiously.
“Hello, R'shiel. Hello, Brak.”
“Mandah!”
“You sound surprised to see me, demon child.”
“Don't call me that,” she snapped automatically. “What are you doing here?”
“What I've been doing since long before I met you, R'shiel. Helping my people.”
Her people, R'shiel knew, were the pagan rebels. “I didn't expect to see you here. You were supposed to be heading into Hythria with the Defenders.”
“I chose to stay and help Tarja,” Mandah told her with a smile in Tarja's direction. R'shiel recognised the look and felt an unexpected spear of jealousy pierce her chest.
“How convenient for you that the new Lord Defender is someone sympathetic to your cause.”
“There's nothing convenient about it, R'shiel,” Garet remarked, looking up from the map spread out over the desk. “It's one of the reasons Tarja got the job. What exactly do you mean by an
“Someone tried to set fire to the warehouses. I... caused a bit of damage, but the fire is out.”
“Did you find Loclon?” Tarja asked.
