Vaelin’s mind reeled. Two Aspects slain, it seemed so utterly incredible. He remembered Aspect Corlin Al Sentis well from his Test of Knowledge, the solemn, grave faced man who had pressed him on the events in the forest. It was strange to think of him torn by daggers and poison. His chain of thought led him to an inevitable concern. “Aspect Arlyn?”
“ He’s alive and well. They sent three men for him. They tunnelled into the vaults where they were met by Master Grealin. It’s always a mistake to underestimate a fat man in a fight.” It was the closest thing to a compliment Sollis had ever voiced about Master Grealin.
“ Is he injured?”
“ A few bruises only. Although he was sorely grieved he couldn’t keep one of them alive to provide some answers.”
“ My brothers?”
“ They’re all well. Brother Nortah managed to get himself expelled from the Second Order after only two days. As for the others, Brother Caenis distinguished himself by killing the assassin who had knifed Aspect Hendrahl and the others appear to have been sleeping off a vatful of ale when Aspect Montish met his end. Half the novice brothers of the Sixth Order lolling about the House of the Fourth Order and assassins slit the Aspect’s throat and get away before anyone had noticed. Severe punishment was warranted.”
Vaelin sank back into his mattress, suddenly overwhelmed by tiredness. “Forgive me master,” he said. “For not taking one of them alive. The poison dulled my wits somewhat…” He drifted away seeing Master Sollis’s lean, inexpressive face fade into shadow.
Barkus raged, Dentos joked, Nortah laughed and Caenis said little. Vaelin realised he had missed them all terribly.
“ It’s just so bloody daft,” Barkus said, bafflement creasing his brows. “I mean what is going on?”
“ Clearly there are enemies among us, brother,” Caenis said. “We must be wary.”
“ But why though? Why kill the Aspects?”
Vaelin was tired, the cut on his arm had darkened into a bluish scar and the agony instilled by the Joffril root had faded into a dull ache that lingered in his limbs. Throughout the morning he had had several visitors, Master Harin awkwardly complimenting him and forcing a booming laugh or two. Vaelin could tell the big man was gratified by his survival and saddened by Henna’s betrayal. She had been something of a favourite in his group. Brother Sellin stayed for over an hour, gnarled hands clutching his wooden club and talking of how he would have used it on the assassins if he’d but had the chance. Vaelin had a brief vision of an elderly brother lying in a gate house with his throat cut but said, “They were wise indeed to give you a wide berth, brother.” The old man seemed happy enough with this and said he would come back the next day with a healing broth of his own recipe. There had been other visitors but Sister Sherin had been conspicuous by her absence and he worried about any embarrassing ramblings he may have uttered in his sleep.
“ How’s Frentis?” he asked.
“ Angry,” Nortah said. “Doesn’t know what to do with it, we’ve had to drag him out of three fights already. He begged the Aspect to let him come with us but got a day in the stables for his pains.”
“ Keep an eye on him when you get back. I don’t like him being around Master Rensial on his own. Tell him I’m well, I’ll be back soon. And tell him to make sure he visits Scratch every day.”
Nortah nodded. It was unspoken but acknowledged that he would lead whilst Vaelin recovered. “They said you killed four of them,” he said. “Impressive.”
“ Three. There was a girl, she had pretended to be a sister here for years. She killed herself when she failed to kill me.”
“ A girl?” A faintly wicked smile played on Nortah’s lips as he glanced at the scar on Vaelin’s arm. “How close did you let her get, brother?”
“ Too close.” A lesson I won’t forget.
“ Brother Nillin had been at the Fourth Order for over twelve years,” Caenis said. “He was one of their most respected scholars, author of three books on linguistics, teacher of languages to the novice brothers, and all the time he was waiting to kill Aspect Dendrahl.”
“ The fat bastard’s got you to thank he’s still with us,” Nortah said. “How did you reckon it out anyway?”
“ I didn’t. I was returning a book the Aspect had lent me. I kicked the door in when I heard him screaming.” He paused, his sombre mood deepening visibly. “Brother Nillin put up a fair fight for a man in his forty-seventh year.”
“ What’d you do him with?” Dentos asked.
“ I didn’t have a weapon, couldn’t see the point of carrying one around the Fourth Order. I had to use my hands.”
“ Couldn’t have been easy,” Barkus commented. “Facing off unarmed against a man with a knife.”
“ The man was skilled but…” Caenis shrugged.
“ He wasn’t one of us,” Vaelin finished.
Caenis nodded. “Which begs the question why wait until the Orders are full of boys from the Sixth Order before making their move.”
“ Nothing about this makes sense,” Nortah said, yawning. “Although I can understand someone wanting the Aspect of the Second Order dead. One more minute of the boring old fool’s twaddle and I’d’ve strangled him myself.”
“ Is that why you were expelled?” Vaelin asked.
Dentos snickered and Nortah’s smile for once seemed to have some genuine humour in it. “There was a misunderstanding with one of the sisters. Apparently relaxation massage has certain limitations. At least I think that’s what she said before she slapped me and ran off.”
Vaelin let them laugh for a few seconds before cutting in, raising his gaze to meet each of their eyes in turn. “I don’t know what happened here, brothers. I don’t understand it any better than you do. I do know that we live in perilous times, that the only trust we can have is in each other. Heed Master Sollis, obey the Aspect and, above all, guard each other well.”
The door opened and Sister Sherin entered with a bowl of steaming water, the first time he had seen her all day. “Out!” she commanded. “Time for Brother Vaelin’s wash and you lot have been here long enough.”
“ A wash eh?” Nortah raised an eyebrow, leaning close to Sherin as she placed the bowl on the table, Vaelin noting how his gaze scanned her from head to toe. “I trust you’ll be very thorough, Sister.”
Sherin gave Nortah the same wearied, uninterested glance he recognised from her encounters with amorous drunks in the treatment room. “Don’t you have to go and play with your sword somewhere, brother?”
Laughing wryly Nortah followed the others from the room.
“ Your friend could do with a lesson in manners,” Sherin observed, placing the bowl on the small table beside the bed. “His demeanour is unseemly for a brother.”
“ My order has many different brothers within its ranks, some of them more seemly than others.”
She raised an eyebrow but said nothing, dipping her cloth into the bowl and making to pull back the covers. “I’m strong enough now to wash myself, Sister,” he told her, gently but firmly holding on to the blankets.
She gave him a bemused look. “Trust me when I say, brother, you have nothing I haven’t seen before. Who do you think washed you when you were unconscious?”
Vaelin drove the uncomfortable thought to the back of his mind and kept hold of the bed clothes. “Even so. I’m stronger now.”
“ As you wish.” She dropped the cloth into the bowl and moved back. “Since you’re so much stronger you can meet with the Aspect today. She’s been asking for you. In the gardens at noon. I’ll help you, if you can stand to accept my help that is.”
She left the room without a backward glance. It took Vaelin a moment to realise he had actually hurt her feelings.
The Gardens of the Fifth Order were extensive, covering several acres of rich soil where brothers and sisters tended the myriad variety of herbs and medicinal plants that played such an important role in their work. For the most part the gardens consisted of a series of rectangles, a monotonous chequer board of green and brown but here and there were islands of colour, clusters of flowers and cherry blossoms.
“ We have gardens in our Order,” Vaelin told Sherin as she helped him along one of the gravel pathways between the allotments. His legs and chest still ached a good deal and he leant on her shoulder more heavily than
