Vengeance

Rix swam across. Tobry had his arms around Tali from behind. He put his knotted fists in under her ribcage, thrust hard, and water and mucus dribbled down her chest. Tobry thrust again but nothing more came up.

‘Let me …’ began Rix.

‘Piss off, Rix.’

Tobry, the most even-tempered man Rix knew, was angrier than he had ever seen him. Treading water furiously, Tobry raised himself out to the waist and tipped Tali upside down, holding her back to his chest. He pushed under her ribcage again, water gushed from her mouth and nose and she took a shuddering breath.

He turned her the right way up and sank down, panting. ‘Better now?’

Tali clung to him like a raft in the middle of the ocean. ‘ Hat!’ she croaked.

Rix collected her floating hat and put it on her head. Her ragged breathing steadied.

‘They’re heading around both sides of the lake,’ he said, watching the men on the shore. ‘It’s a long trek but they could still beat us to the outlet. I’d better take — ’

‘No!’ Tali cried.

‘I think it’s best if I get her across, don’t you?’ said Tobry pointedly.

Rix did not need to be told twice. Cursing himself, the enemy and Tobry in turns, he swam for the outlet, churning through the water for ten minutes before discovering that he had left Tali and Tobry a hundred yards behind. If they got into trouble he would be too far away to help them. Grow up, you fool. It’ll be a long time before you’re ready to be Lord Ricinus.

He swam back slowly, conserving his strength. Tobry had tied a piece of cord around Tali’s waist and the other end around his own, and was swimming steadily, stopping to check on her every minute.

Rix pushed himself higher in the water to watch the running enemy. Because of the meandering track they had to travel many times the distance, but they appeared to be halfway, perhaps more. They were winning the race.

‘We’ve got to pick up the pace, Tobe, or they’ll be waiting when we get to the outlet.’

‘Can’t swim any faster,’ said Tobry. ‘That dart has left me weaker than I’d thought. Tali, go with Rix.’

‘No!’ She clung to Tobry.

Her voice was still hoarse, as if it hurt to talk. Rix had heard that drowning was a painful way to die.

‘If we can’t beat them to the outlet, we all die,’ said Rix.

Again, that little tilt of her chin. She swallowed, then something shifted in her eyes. Was it the slave’s habit of obedience, or the determination that had taken her where no other Pale had ever gone? Whatever it was, he had to admire it.

‘Then of course I must go with … him.’

Tobry handed Rix the cord. He tied it to his waist and Tali gripped his belt. She looked like a convicted felon being led to the blood gallows above the gates of Palace Ricinus.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said quietly. ‘Sometimes I forget that other people aren’t like me.’

She stared at him, unblinking. ‘ I certainly wouldn’t want to be like you.’

‘I’ll be swimming as fast as I can,’ he said. ‘If you lose hold, shout. Ready?’

‘I don’t make the same mistake twice.’ Her teeth chattered; she clamped her jaw.

‘Neither do I.’

He swam slowly at first, accelerating once he was confident that she was secure, and revelling in his strength and endurance. But also, if he could admit it to himself, putting on a display, to both of them, that no one else could have equalled.

Tobry came up beside him, blowing hard, going all out. Rix, even wearing his sword and towing Tali, had a bit in reserve.

‘We’re gaining,’ Tobry said. ‘Another ten minutes should do it.’

‘We’ve got to beat them by more than a bowshot. A lot more.’

Rix accelerated away. As he approached the outfall, and the racing enemy coming along either side of the lake resolved into separate figures, he knew that he and Tali would make it with minutes to spare. The seven Cythonians on the left were half a mile off, at least five minutes in this rough country, while the nine approaching from the right were a little further back.

But Tobry was a couple of minutes behind and flagging badly. Rix swam into the shallows and stood up, feeling mud beneath his feet. He felt no triumph now. The urge to trump his friend had vanished a quarter of a mile back.

‘Hurry, Tobe,’ he said softly.

Tali waded ashore, holding her hat on. Her lips moved; her eyes yearned towards Tobry. Come on.

Rix emptied the water from his boots and sword sheath and scrambled up a rocky beach to the far bank of the outflow from the lake. It was about ten yards wide and three or four deep, a sinuous cataract that ran fast for a mile or two before emptying into the next, lower lake. He climbed a little mound and went up on tiptoes, trying to see what lay ahead.

There were three cascades, at least. Even had he been on his own they would have been perilous to negotiate, but the cataract was their only chance of escaping.

He walked downstream for a hundred yards, working out how best to tackle it. When he came back, Tobry was staggering from the water, breathing like a stranded dolphin.

‘What’s it like?’ he gasped.

‘Ugly,’ said Rix.

CHAPTER 51

‘I’m never going in the water again,’ said Tali, trembling all over. She hugged the gown around her but the morning wind blew right through it.

If they escaped, found Rannilt and made it through the war zone to Caulderon, she might never see Rix and Tobry again. Or if Rix was killed … it felt callous, but she had to find out what he knew about her mother’s murder.

‘Ready?’ said Rix.

Tobry bent double, slipped to his knees and stayed down. ‘Only if you can tow me too.’

Tali ran across. ‘Lean on me.’

He rose, holding onto her slender shoulders and breathing hard. Tobry was heavier than she had expected but she had borne greater burdens.

‘Why do you keep staring at me, Rix?’ said Tobry.

‘Just concerned for you.’

To Tali’s mind, his reply was unconvincing. What was Rix worried about?

‘Getting a bit old for this adventuring lark,’ said Tobry, letting go. ‘A maiden should be bathing my feet by a hearty fire while I sip — ’

‘They’re nearly within bowshot,’ Rix said curtly, and moved to the edge of the channel. ‘Ready?’

‘Give me one more minute.’

The cataract looked far more dangerous than the placid lake. The water had burnt all the way down into her lungs and without Tobry she would have drowned. Tali never wanted to feel that helpless again.

‘Ready, Tali?’ said Rix.

She shook her head. ‘I can’t go back in the water.’

‘Don’t you trust me to get you through?’

She took a sharp breath. She had to raise it now, while he was off-guard, and hope he would be shocked enough to give something away.

She met his eyes. ‘The last person I trusted was my mother …’

‘And?’ said Rix, when she did not go on.

‘She was murdered when I was eight.’

‘I’m sorry,’ he said politely.