The Shifter Part 28

Leaving Geveg would hurt, but it was better than being the Duke's secret weapon. Saea willing, it wouldn't come to that. Lanelle might be talking, but she didn't know my real name, and in all the confusion, the stories were bound to sound far-fetched. Someone who was immune to flashed pain? It was crazy. Maybe no one would even believe them.

No. I was done with maybes. Someone would would take it seriously, and eventually the Duke or the Consortium would come looking for me. I had to prepare for it. Cut my hair, dye it. Tali would have to disguise herself as well. She'd always wanted red hair like Aylin's, so it wouldn't be too hard to convince her. take it seriously, and eventually the Duke or the Consortium would come looking for me. I had to prepare for it. Cut my hair, dye it. Tali would have to disguise herself as well. She'd always wanted red hair like Aylin's, so it wouldn't be too hard to convince her.

We'd be okay until everyone forgot about the s.h.i.+fter, and she turned back into a myth the wards and apprentices told one another after cla.s.s. Then Tali and I could get our lives back. Better lives even. Well, better for me. Tali had had a future as a Healer, and probably a good one, but no more. I'd saved her life, but had I sacrificed that future? What would happen to the League now? To us? Had I sentenced her to a life of hiding?

The last rays of sunset wrapped the city in dark gold as we walked to the final house. More soldiers were on the streets now, squas.h.i.+ng the last of the trouble the Luminary's lies had caused. People were still angry, still fighting, but many had gone home after the apprentices started talking. Though after everything that had happened over the last two days, it was impossible to quell the rumors. "No pynvium" was on everyone's lips, followed by gossip about an attack on the League.

I knocked on the door to a small farmhouse on a tiny farming isle. Neat fields of sweet potato vines spread out behind it.

A woman answered, neat as her fields. "Yes?" Caution in her eyes, but she didn't look scared or grieving.

"We're here to heal your daughters."

Her fingers went to her mouth, covering a grateful cry. "Oh my, they're this way, Saints praise you and keep you safe, thank you so much!" She turned and dashed inside, calling out names. She left the door wide open.

"I guess we go in?" Aylin said, poking her head inside.

"Hard to heal from out here." Tali entered and followed the woman into the back. With a shrug, I went inside as well.

A simple house welcomed us. Old furniture, though well cared for, polished to a deep s.h.i.+ne. Full cus.h.i.+ons, none faded except those under the windows. Clean curtains and rugs, both thin, but doing their jobs.

"Nice house," said Danello, a wistful look in his eyes. Aylin had it too.

Seven hooks with matching dustcoats hung by the door. Seven chairs at the table. Only three bedrooms, so they must share. Family farmers, working their small patch of island and making enough to keep this inviting house. No, not house. Home Home.

I remembered them well, the last two women I'd s.h.i.+fted into before I'd run from Zertanik's. Three sons and their father had gone to help at the ferry accident and gotten hurt themselves, caught up in some wreckage and battered against the docks. Four men who couldn't work to help keep the family farm with harvest a week away. Four men with sisters and daughters willing to take the pain to keep the family afloat.

My s.h.i.+fting hadn't saved their lives, since none of them had been in danger of dying. But it had saved their livelihood, their home. It let them stay together and be a family. Geveg had so few of those left, and we needed them to remind us and give us hope.

Danello wandered around the room, smiling. "See what you saved?"

A family. A Geveg Geveg family. I'd done harm, but I'd also done some good. family. I'd done harm, but I'd also done some good.

I wasn't just a weapon. I was just the one who had to make the tough choices. Like Mama. Like Grannyma.

My chest grew tight, and it was suddenly hard to breathe. "I'll be outside," I mumbled, heading for the door. I plopped down on a vegetable crate.

Danello came out and sat next to me. "You know," he began, rubbing the back of his neck, "I feel like this is all my fault."

"How could any of this be your fault?"

"If I hadn't asked you to heal my da, you might not have been talked into healing the others. I feel like maybe I pushed you down that slope."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I just stared at him for a while. The bruises he'd gotten in the riot were turning green now. They'd be purple by morning. He was still cute, even without the moonlight. "It's not your fault," I said at last. "Your da would have died. And Tali and the apprentices too. We only knew about them because of Tali. If I hadn't done the s.h.i.+fts, everyone would have died and Zertanik and the Luminary would have made off with our Slab. We'd probably have the Duke's soldiers on our borders right now, ready to burn us out."

"Yeah, you're probably right, but..." He sighed.

I sighed too, tired to the bone. Guilt and fear really took a lot out of a girl. "It isn't anyone's fault. All you can do is pluck the chickens in front of you and worry about the geese later."

Danello laughed, and I gave him a small grin. "Grannyma?" he asked.

"Yeah. I miss her." Mama and Papa too, plus a whole lot of other things I'd never get back. But I could start new.

"Well," he said, "it feels like someone someone should be punished for all this." should be punished for all this."

I knew how he felt. Wanting to blame someone, but not knowing who. Though, honestly...the rioters were right, this was was the Duke's fault. He was the one who stole our pynvium, our livelihoods, our lives. The Luminary wouldn't have stuffed people full of pain if the Duke hadn't told Vinnot to hurt people to find unusual Takers. the Duke's fault. He was the one who stole our pynvium, our livelihoods, our lives. The Luminary wouldn't have stuffed people full of pain if the Duke hadn't told Vinnot to hurt people to find unusual Takers.

Saints! If he told Vinnot that, he sure as sugar told other Elders. How many Healers' Leagues had someone like Vinnot testing apprentices on the Duke's behalf?

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"Stop him," I blurted. Like so many choices in my life, it was made before I had a chance to think it over.

Danello paused, his mouth hanging open a few heartbeats before he snapped it shut. "Stop who?"

"The Duke. He's probably hurting apprentices all over the Territories, trying to force new Taker abilities to surface. But he isn't using unusual Takers in his armies, or we would have heard the rumors. So what is he using them for?"

"Nothing good, I bet."

"I have to find out. I have to stop him." Even if that meant going to Baseer itself.

"Nya, taking on the Duke isn't like taking on the League. The Duke has entire armies with pynvium-enchanted weapons."

"They can flash me all they want. Won't stop me."

"A rapier in the gut will." He winced and rubbed his stomach. "So would six soldiers with subduing nets. They'd tie you up and carry you to Baseer."

"He'll do that anyway if he finds me."

Aylin stepped outside before Danello could argue further. "What's going on?"

"Nya's declaring war on the Duke," he said.

"I thought we already did that."

"She thinks she can find out what he's doing with unusual Takers and stop him." He looked smug, like he knew Aylin would agree and back him up.

"Why can't she?"

Danello gaped again. If he kept this up, he'd start attracting flies. "One person can't take on an entire army."

"She isn't taking on his army, she's taking on him."

"You're insane. It can't be done."

Aylin leaned against the house. "You underestimate Nya. Kione told her she was insane for taking on the League, and look what happened."

I winced. I was trying very hard not not to look at the crumbling remains of what had happened. to look at the crumbling remains of what had happened.

"That was different," he said. "She wasn't trying to fight him-she was only trying to rescue people from him."

"But the Luminary didn't want them, so she was really really rescuing them from the Duke all along." Aylin harrumphed and squeezed herself onto the crate next to me, shoving me against Danello. "She just got to them first." rescuing them from the Duke all along." Aylin harrumphed and squeezed herself onto the crate next to me, shoving me against Danello. "She just got to them first."

He argued with her, but their words flowed over me like excited bubbles. I had had gotten there first, so why not keep doing it? Tali knew who the apprentices were. Aylin knew just about everyone else. We could find them, hide them until we knew what the Duke was up to and how to stop him. gotten there first, so why not keep doing it? Tali knew who the apprentices were. Aylin knew just about everyone else. We could find them, hide them until we knew what the Duke was up to and how to stop him.

Grannyma always said the Saints hide your fate in their pockets. What if my fate wasn't to heal, but to protect? To speak up when others were silent? To do what everyone said couldn't be done?

Like s.h.i.+ft pain. Survive flas.h.i.+ng. Empty pynvium.

Take on the Duke.

"That's what I'm going to do," I said, standing. "I'm going to find them first. I'm going to protect any Taker who wants protection."

Danello stared at me as if I'd just grown gills, but Aylin beamed.

"You mean we," she said, standing beside me.

"What? No, I don't want to risk anyone else."

"You can't do it alone. You needed our help to stop the Luminary, and you'll need our help to stop the Duke."

I wanted to say no, keep her safe, but she was right. I had had needed them, and even though I didn't ask, they'd come anyway. I hugged her. needed them, and even though I didn't ask, they'd come anyway. I hugged her.

"Thank you."

Danello closed his eyes for a moment. "This is crazy."

I grinned at Aylin, and she grinned back. We both crossed our arms at the same time. "We know."

"Lanelle is bound to tell one of the Duke's spies about you. He'll come after you," he said.

"I know, but he'll have a hard time finding me. And if he does, it would sure be handy to have someone around who knew how to use a rapier."

Danello sighed and stubbed his boot in the dirt. "I'm not agreeing to anything, but what would you do? You're not going to storm Baseer or anything, right?"

"Don't be silly. We'll look for Takers. Tali and Soek can probably tell us who Lanelle was focusing on in the spire room, so we'll start with them."

"The Governor-General will be looking for you too," Danello said. "Plenty of League guards know you were there when-" He glanced away. "You know, the Luminary..." He waved a hand.

I gulped and refused to look at the League. "I'll hide, and disguise myself when I go outside."

Danello still looked dubious. "How are you going to eat? You won't be able to work if you're hiding from soldiers and searching for Takers."

Aylin pulled a small silk pouch out of a pocket and dangled it in front of me. "I think I have that covered."

"What's that?"

She dropped it into my hand. I looked inside, and my mouth fell open. "Aylin! Where did you get these?" I spilled two emerald rings, a ruby necklace, and three sapphire pins into my palm.

"On the front table at Zertanik's. I figured he owed you."

I grinned wide as the lake at sunset. "This will buy a lot of dinners."

Aylin nodded. "And you and Tali can stay with me for now, until we find a bigger room. The show house pays well, so between that and these, we should be okay for a while."

Selling them would be the hardest part, but I knew a boy who knew a girl who "found" things for Baseeri aristocrats-for a price. She could find us a buyer.

"So," I asked Danello, "will you help us?"

He stared at the jewels, then gazed across the lake to a smoldering Geveg. He watched the smoke curl over the city so long, I was worried he was about to tell us no, we were on our own. I'd always been used to that, but now that I'd seen how much easier things were with help, I wanted his.

"Even when they stop the riots, the anger won't go away, will it?" he said unexpectedly. "People will stay mad, and they'll start talking about independence again."

"May-" Aylin began.

"Probably," I finished. No more maybes.

"So sooner or later, I'll have to fight anyway," he said. "We all will. Just like our parents did."

"Probably."

He sighed and thought it over some more, tossing a rock back and forth between his hands. "Okay, I'm in. The Duke can send only so many soldiers at once, right?"

"It's a small island," said Aylin. Danello chuckled.

"Yeah, but it's our our island." island."

I shook my head, feeling strangely better about the future, dangerous as it was bound to be. "No, it's our home." home."

And we were going to fight for it.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

There are tons of folks to thank for helping this dream-come-true book thing actually come come true. Let's do the mushy stuff first: Thanks to my hubby, Tom, who put up with me and didn't mind that I was too scared to let him read a single word until I sold it. To my family, who listened to me ramble endlessly about plots and conflicts and other writerly things that bore nonwriters to the brink of coma. My best bud, Juliette, who had the crazy idea to run off to Surrey for the writers' conference that made "so true. Let's do the mushy stuff first: Thanks to my hubby, Tom, who put up with me and didn't mind that I was too scared to let him read a single word until I sold it. To my family, who listened to me ramble endlessly about plots and conflicts and other writerly things that bore nonwriters to the brink of coma. My best bud, Juliette, who had the crazy idea to run off to Surrey for the writers' conference that made "so that's that's how you do it!" lightbulbs go off like crazy. Who also spent hours on the phone with me talking about the story, as well as reading it with her razor-sharp brown pen. Thanks to Bonnie, whose critique comments were as hysterically funny as they were helpful; to Ann, who never let me slack off saying what something looked like; and to Birgitte, who stealth-crit on the sly. The not-so-mushy thanks go to Glo, Melody, and the rest of the gang at FYN, who read and ripped apart the first draft with great gusto and insight. Thanks also go to the Bloodies-Dario, Traci, Aliette, and Keyan-for their keen eyes and dead-on advice that helped my "I thought it was polished, honest" draft really s.h.i.+ne. Much screaming-with-joy thanks goes to my agent, Kristin, and my editor, Donna, who are both way too fabulous for mere words to describe. They really taught me what a red pencil is for, and the book is astonis.h.i.+ngly better because of them. I'd be remiss if I didn't give a quick thanks to Sara and Ruta, the a.s.sistants who did all the important behind-the-scenes work they probably thought no one noticed. And finally, I'd be beaten to death (lovingly so) if I didn't mention my niece, Elise, who is a constant source of inspiration and delight. how you do it!" lightbulbs go off like crazy. Who also spent hours on the phone with me talking about the story, as well as reading it with her razor-sharp brown pen. Thanks to Bonnie, whose critique comments were as hysterically funny as they were helpful; to Ann, who never let me slack off saying what something looked like; and to Birgitte, who stealth-crit on the sly. The not-so-mushy thanks go to Glo, Melody, and the rest of the gang at FYN, who read and ripped apart the first draft with great gusto and insight. Thanks also go to the Bloodies-Dario, Traci, Aliette, and Keyan-for their keen eyes and dead-on advice that helped my "I thought it was polished, honest" draft really s.h.i.+ne. Much screaming-with-joy thanks goes to my agent, Kristin, and my editor, Donna, who are both way too fabulous for mere words to describe. They really taught me what a red pencil is for, and the book is astonis.h.i.+ngly better because of them. I'd be remiss if I didn't give a quick thanks to Sara and Ruta, the a.s.sistants who did all the important behind-the-scenes work they probably thought no one noticed. And finally, I'd be beaten to death (lovingly so) if I didn't mention my niece, Elise, who is a constant source of inspiration and delight.

Thanks all-you're the best.