hands, or face. His exposed skin had turned blue. Xanthus was little better. If they didn’t find shelter soon, they would perish. Too weak to stay in his saddle, the prince finally fell from his horse.
Tristan crashed to the snow and lay like the dead. Shadow immediately stopped to walk stiffly back to his master. Nudging Tristan with his nose, the stallion let go a loud whinny.
Xanthus stopped. Seeing the prince lying in the snow, he went back. He jumped down from his horse to examine him. TheJin’Sai was dying.
Xanthus looked around. There was no shelter for as far as he could see. Looking across the valley, the gap in the mountains seemed no closer.
There was only one thing left to do. The measure was drastic. It would keep them alive a little longer, but would also lessen their overall chances.
Finally deciding, Xanthus reached down and drew Tristan’s dreggan from its scabbard. His hands were so useless that he could barely hold the heavy sword.
He lowered his head for a moment. Then he raised the shiny blade high over his head. With all his remaining strength, he lashed out.
The dreggan’s razor-sharp blade came around in a perfect arc, catching Xanthus’ horse unaware. The blade sliced the stallion’s throat easily, nearly severing his head from his body. Blood erupted from the open wound to fall red onto the snow. Letting go a tortured scream, the horse fell dead to the ground.
Rushing to the horse’s carcass, Xanthus used the dreggan to slice open its belly. Steam filled the air as the horse’s innards slid out onto the snowy ground. Working quickly, he found the major artery leading from the horse’s heart, then slit it open with one of Tristan’s knives. Carefully squeezing the artery, he emptied as much warm blood into his canteen as he could.
Then he cut out the heart. Slicing its base, he pumped it between his hands, also squeezing its blood into the canteen. Xanthus then cut the heart into pieces.
Rushing back to Tristan, he dragged the prince’s body near the dead horse. Xanthus sat in the snow beside Tristan. Propping Tristan’s head in his lap, he poured the warm blood into the prince’s mouth.
His eyes still closed, Tristan instinctively sensed the warmth. Soon he was drinking eagerly. Xanthus saved some for himself, then also drank.
Taking up Tristan’s knife, Xanthus finished gutting the horse, then shoved the steaming innards to one side. He had no worry about wasting the organs or meat, for they would soon freeze. Grabbing Tristan’s useless hands, he thrust them into the horse’s still-warm body cavity. Placing the heart pieces into his duster, he saved them for later. Then he slid his hands into the horse’s abdomen alongside Tristan’s.
Soon Xanthus’ hands came alive again. The life-giving heat was like a welcome drug surging through his system. He removed his hands, then positioned Tristan’s body lengthwise along the horse’s wound and shoved the prince as far back into it as he could. Knowing that there was nothing else he could do, Xanthus leaned back against the dead horse to wait.
TheJin’Saiwill either live or die, he thought. But he must live-live to meet my masters. But even as he hovers near death, there remains so much I cannot tell him. Things he deserves to know but might never learn.
Looking toward the distant mountain range, Xanthus’ heart fell. TheJin’Sai was right. They could never travel that far-especially with one horse gone. If Tristan regained consciousness they would take some horse meat with them. But Xanthus feared that death was just around the corner.
Xanthus looked down into Tristan’s face. No Jin’Saihas ever come this far, he thought. Is this where our journey will end?
Just then another blast of whirling snow sliced its razor-sharp coldness through the Darkling. Pulling his duster closer, Xanthus waited.
CHAPTER XXVII
“I KNOW THAT THIS WAS MY IDEA,” SHAILIHA SAID TOWigg as they walked down the Redoubt hallway. “But looking back on it, it’s impossible to know how Nathan will react. Mallory has already been through so much!”
“We gave her the option,” Wigg answered. “She has chosen, and we must honor her decision. Martha told me about it, just after Traax’s return to the palace. But when Mallory meets with her father, there is one condition on which I must insist. I want this done in strictest privacy. There is no reason for the other endowed girls or boys to see what the consuls have become. I believe Mallory is the only one mature enough to cope with the experience.”
Shailiha agreed with the First Wizard’s requirement. She also agreed with his assessment of Mallory. The Fledgling’s behavior at the prison had impressed everyone. She could have killed the abusive guard, but she hadn’t. Instead she’d found her own solution, and it had been a clever one. Looking up, Shailiha saw that Caprice was still flying along overhead.
After walking another quarter hour they stopped before large twin doors. Just above the doors, Old Eutracian words were elegantly carved into the wall. Shailiha couldn’t read Old Eutracian, but she knew about the room’s importance. Opening the doors, they walked into the Consuls’ Nursery. Caprice fluttered in behind them.
The word “nursery” was a misnomer, and everyone familiar with the Redoubt knew it. “School for the Gifted” would have been a more proper phrase. The princess enjoyed coming here, for this place always buoyed her spirits. The craft’s future practitioners were being taught in these rooms. In some ways she always felt a bit jealous when visiting, because like Tristan, she was eager to start her training. As Wigg accompanied her toward the floor’s center, she looked around.
Twenty-one boys and eight Fledgling House girls were being schooled here. Each child was the handpicked son or daughter of a consul. The princess fervently hoped that the students’ numbers would grow. But with the remaining consuls under the Vagaries’ influence and Fledgling House abandoned, the nursery’s fate was anyone’s guess. At least we have this many we can guide, she thought.
Shailiha saw several red-robed acolytes among the youth. First Sister Adrian was not here, having returned to the coast to finish the sisters’ training to empower the Black Ships. But Martha was happily scurrying about, tending to the children’s needs. Shailiha smiled. The nursery was a secret, self-contained world all its own.
Shailiha watched a group of boys and girls practice some lesser craft arts. An acolyte stood before them, monitoring their progress. The boys wore dark trousers and shoes. Like the girls’ blouses, the boys’ white doublets carried a red embroidered image of the Paragon directly over their hearts. Then Shailiha thought about Mallory. The acolyte would surely be eager to finish her early training and take her sisterhood vows. Here among so many children, she probably felt ancient.
The nursery’s main room was spacious. Adjoining rooms for instruction and play led off from it. Unlike the other Redoubt chambers, the nursery walls were paneled in wood and painted with bright, playful colors. A visage board took up one wall, its surface covered with azure writing and complex formulas. Scrolls, texts, and instructional charts were in abundance. All in all, the atmosphere was lively and inventive. Shailiha loved the sounds coming from happy children, and there was no shortage of them here.
Looking around, Shailiha searched for Shawna the Short. At Shailiha’s order, Shawna had started bringing Morganna to the nursery each afternoon so that the toddler could interact with other endowed children. Shawna had enthusiastically agreed.
“Shawna,” the princess called out. “We’re over here!”
On seeing the princess, Shawna waved. She looked back down at Morganna, who was sitting on the floor and batting at some toys. The gnome picked her up and walked over to the princess. When Morganna saw her mother, the toddler’s eyes lit up. Shailiha took her in her arms.
Wigg smiled. “She seems to like this place,” he said.
“That she does!” Shawna answered. “The princess’s idea was a good one. But I must keep Shannon and his awful corncob pipe and ale jug out of here! He loves Morganna so much that he follows us everywhere we go! But he also knows that if he walks through that door, I’ll brain him good!”
Shailiha laughed. She knew how protective Shawna was of Morganna. Whenever the child was in Shawna’s care, the princess never worried. She also knew how Shawna ruled the roost over her henpecked husband. One afternoon in the palace kitchens, the princess had seen Shawna try to take a frying pan to Shannon’s skull, simply
