Read When the Heavens Fall Online
Authors: Marc Turner
When the Heavens Fall (83 page)
Brushing dirt from his hands, Luker retrieved his master's sword from a puddle. He looked round the clearing. After his duel with Kanon, the undead had moved on to leave nothing but a sodden patch of torn and trampled earth. The Guardian scratched his scar. His master deserved better than an unmarked grave in this Shroud-cursed backwater. Perhaps one day Luker would return here to collect his bones and take them to their proper resting place in the grounds of the Sacrosanct.
He heard a rustle of leaves behind.
“I didn't get an opportunity before,” Jenna said. “To say I was sorry for your loss.”
Luker did not turn round. He plunged Kanon's sword into the ground at the head of the grave and leaned on the pommel until only the hilt and a handspan of the blade were visible. Then he stepped back. It seemed he should say something in Kanon's memory, but he'd never been good with words, and his master had always preferred silence in any case.
“Pity you never got to meet him,” he said to Jenna. “I reckon I knew Kanon as well as anyone, but still not as well as I would have liked. We spent years traveling together, first when I was his apprentice, then later when I came back from beyond the White Mountains. Even then, he kept to himself. Must have said more before our fight than he'd said in years.” He heard Jenna take a step forward, felt her hand rest briefly on his shoulder.
“Does he have family?” she said.
“Not that he ever spoke of. Guardians were probably the closest thing he had.” Luker's expression tightened. “Kanon spent his life serving an ideal his commanders couldn't live up to. I think he came to see that before the end, but his honor kept him from walking out.”
“How did you meet him?”
Luker watched the wind ripple the surface of a puddle. A part of him was surprised he'd never told Jenna the story before, but more of Kanon had rubbed off on him than just the Will, he supposed. “He saved my life. Edge of the Waste, not far from Ontepâthat abandoned slaver town we passed through. I was seven. My father had been drinking. Don't think he even saw the sandclaw till it was on him. Kanon arrived to spit the creature before it could turn on me. Reckon he felt guilty for not getting there in time to save us both. Maybe that's why he made me his apprentice.” Or maybe, as Luker liked to think, it was because Kanon had seen something in him that he approved of, for after Luker's father had fallen Luker hadn't simply waited to die, but instead snatched up a spear and advanced on the sandclaw.
“He never told you why he took you on?”
“I never asked.” Luker saw again the closing moments of their duel. “He let me kill him, you know. At the end. Even smiled as the blow landed.”
“He was already dead. You didn't kill him.”
“Maybe not. Feels like it, though.”
“He knew you came after him. You got a chance to tell him that, at least.”
Luker nodded. “Aye, there's some blessing in that, I suppose.” He turned to face Jenna. The assassin glowed with health. Her hair shone, her freckled cheeks were blushed with color, and even the crisscrossing scars from the attack in Arkarbour had disappeared. “How are you feeling?”
“Strange. My mind hasn't caught up to the fact my body has been healed.” Jenna held up her left hand and studied it. “I keep looking at my arm expecting to see a stump.”
“Give it time.”
The assassin smiled her crooked smile. “I'm not complaining.”
Water was pooling round Luker's boots, and he retreated to drier ground, Jenna following him. His horse was nosing through the muck, searching in vain for some grass to crop. He caught Jenna's eye. “Did you find the others? Merin? The boy?”
“Chamery was where we left himâdead. His wrists were chafed, but whether his struggles came before or after he died, I couldn't tell. As for Merin, I didn't find his body.” The assassin watched Luker for a reaction before adding, “You don't seem surprised.”
The Guardian shook his head. “Tough old bastard.”
“Will you go after him?”
“Maybe.”
“He betrayed you.”
“Did he? Can't betray someone who's not on your side. We both knew the way it was.”
Jenna frowned. “If he lives to tell the story of what happened here⦔
She had a point. Luker had no intention of going back to Erin Elal, but there was something to be said for not giving the Breakers another reason to come looking for him. “I'll think about it.”
Jenna stared at him for a few heartbeats before reaching into a pocket in her cloak and withdrawing a hip flask. In response to Luker's questioning look she said, “From one of the Sartorian soldiersâthe one who survived. Want some?”
“What is it?”
The assassin unscrewed the cap and took a swallow. “Not bad. Like juripa spirits, but stronger.” She offered the flask to Luker, and he accepted it. “So if we're not following Merin, where are we heading?”
The Guardian grunted.
We?
“Not sure. Said I'd take first watch on Aliana.”
Jenna's eyes twinkled. “Never had you down as a nursemaid.”
“I said I'd look in on her. Nothing more.”
“And that's all you feel you owe her? Parolla, I mean.”
Luker studied the assassin, then looked away. “Shroud said he'd get word to us when the kid's born. Until then, I've got a few ideas of how we could pass the time.”
“Care to share them with me?”
Luker's lips quirked. “Maybe Mercerie. Maybe we'll go find that rooftop for some shooting practice. It's been three years, right? Peledin Kan must've forgotten about you by now.”
“Well I haven't. Forgotten, that is. In the dome, you admitted I'm the better shot.”
“Must've taken a blow to the head. Amazing the stuff people come out with when the world's spinning.”
Jenna searched his eyes. “You'd take it all back, then? The things you said?”
Luker kept her waiting while he took a sip from the flask. “No,” he replied at last, holding her gaze. “No, I wouldn't.”
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Erin Elalese
Luker Essendar,
a Guardian
Gill Treller,
First Guardian
Kanon,
a member of the Guardian Council
Avallon Delamar,
emperor of Erin Elal
Merin Gray,
member of the Emperor's Circle, formerly commander of the Seventh Army
Don Chamery Pelk,
a mage of the Black Tower
Mayot Mencada,
a mage of the Black Tower
Sekh Rakaal,
commander of the Breakers
Jenna Amary,
an assassin
Gol,
Jenna's minder
Galitians
Ebon Calidar,
prince of Galitia
Vale Gorven,
Ebon's bodyguard
Mottle,
an air-mage
Isanovir Calidar,
king of Galitia, Ebon's father
Rosel Calidar,
queen of Galitia, Ebon's mother
Rendale Calidar,
prince of Galitia, Ebon's brother
Domen Janir Calidar,
Isanovir's brother
Tamarin,
chancellor to the King
General Reynes,
commander of the Pantheon Guard
Lamella Dewhand,
Ebon's companion
Captain Hitch,
a soldier of the Pantheon Guard
Sergeant Grimes,
a soldier of the Pantheon Guard
Corporal Ellea,
a soldier of the Pantheon Guard
Bettle,
a soldier of the Pantheon Guard
Sergeant Seffes,
a former soldier of the Pantheon Guard
Sartorians
Consel Garat Hallon,
de facto ruler of Sartor
Ambolina Alavist,
the consel's sorceress
Falin Hallon,
the consel's brother
Pellar Hargin,
the consel's first adviser
Gen Sulin,
commander of the Consel's Guard
Others
Romany Elivar,
a high priestess of the Spider
The Spider,
a goddess
Danel,
servant to Romany
Parolla Morivan,
a necromancer of unknown origins
Aliana Morivan,
Parolla's mother
Tumbal Qerivan,
a Gorlem wanderer
Shroud,
Lord of the Dead
Lorigan Teele,
a commander of the Belliskan Order of Knights and a disciple of Shroud
The Widowmaker,
a disciple of Shroud
Andara Kell,
a disciple of Shroud
Kestor ben Kayma,
a disciple of Shroud
The Lord of the Hunt,
the Antlered God
Ceriso di Monata,
a novitiate of the Antlered God
Olakim,
a follower of a dead god
Mezaqin,
demon lord of the Shades, third of the Nine Hells
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MARC TURNER
was born in Toronto, Canada, but grew up in England.
When the Heavens Fall
is his first novel. You can sign up for email updates
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