Nine

C H A P T E R N I N E

es jerked awake at a snapping sound. The fire was burning down, and he wondered if perhaps he only heard the fire beginning to fade. When he looked up, he saw Indra sitting in front of the fire,

watching him.

Fes rubbed the sleep from his eyes. It was late enough that the moon wasn't visible, leaving only stars shining overhead. Theole snored nearby, resting near the wagon, one hand on one of the wheels. Did he think that Fes would try to steal the wagon while they were sleeping?

"Who are you?" Indra asked softly. "I'm someone passing through."

"You're more than that. Why are you out here? Father said he saw you in the city, and that you stopped a thief, and that's good enough, but that doesn't explain why you're out here."

"I took a job that brought me here," Fes said, sitting up and crossing his legs. He shifted so that he kept the daggers from digging into his side.

"What kind of job?"

"The kind of job that's worth a lot of money." "How much money?"

Fes shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"It must be an awful lot of money if you're willing to come all the way out here. How long did it take you to get here?"

Fes shrugged. "A week and a half. Maybe a bit less."

"We've been at this for two weeks." She looked over at her father, watching him for a moment. "Father thinks that we can make it to Toulen again, but the stories out of the city made it seem like that might not be possible."

"What kind of stories?" "Stories of the rebellion."

He hadn't heard enough stories—nothing concrete enough to act on. "They're just that—stories. The empire has enough soldiers to ensure safety within its borders." The words sounded hollow to him after seeing the empire troops cut down while trying to save the Bayars.

"The rebellion moves along all the borders. At least, that's what my father tells me," she said. "We came through it on the way here, but we nearly didn't make it. Father had to move more quickly than he wanted to, and we didn't take many breaks. We lost one of the horses " Her gaze drifted over to the line of tied-off horses. "And we didn't make nearly as much in the Great Market as we had hoped."

"Why is that?"

"I don't know. I haven't been to the Great Market before, but Father says that sales weren't as good as they had been before. Maybe the people of the empire no longer care for Toulen carvings."

Fes reached into his pocket and pulled out the carving that Theole had given him. He set it on his lap, looking at it.

Indra gasped softly. "Where did you get that?"

"Your father gave it to me. When I stopped the shoplifter, he thought that I might like this. It's quite an interesting figurine—or totem. I'm still not sure I know the difference."

"In Toulen, a figurine is designed to be decorative while a totem is a call for a blessing."

"What kind of blessing?"

"With that? That is a blessing for power."

Fes looked at the figurine. There seemed to be a strange sense of movement to it, though maybe it was nothing more than the firelight dancing along it. The carving seemed to twist, the body spiraling with the arms splayed out similar to another figurine that he'd seen. "Well, your father gave this to me after I stopped the thief."

"Father shouldn't just give those away, especially not that one." "Why?"

"That's a powerful blessing. It has to be given to the right person." "What if I am the right person?"

Indra stared at him for a moment, seeming to try to determine whether he was or not. "I don't know. Maybe you are, but he still shouldn't have given it to you. Blessings are difficult to create, and that one particularly."

Fes looked over at the knife and the hunk of wood that was lying near her. "Is that what you're making? Are those totems?"

Indra glanced down and picked up the hunk of wood and the knife. She ran her thumb along the carving, almost a loving gesture. "These aren't totems. I'm not skilled enough yet to make them. My father and my mother are the ones who have the necessary ability."

"Then what do you make?" "Figurines," she said, smiling at him.

She stood and went over to the wagon, pulling open a door and rifling through it for a moment before returning. When she did, she set three figurines on her lap. Each of them was incredibly detailed, depictions of people and something that looked like a wolf. They were almost lifelike, and in the fading, flickering flames of the fire, the shadows danced around them, practically bringing them to life.

"You made these?" Fes asked, looking across the fire at her.

"Once I demonstrate the necessary skill with these, I can progress to work on even more intricate work. Eventually, father says I will be able to make totems."

"Why is there such skill needed to make totems?" "I've already told you. Totems are blessings." "And by blessings, you mean "

She smiled. "We have many different blessings in Toulen. The ability to imbue totems with power is but one."

Fes looked down at the totem. It seemed to be made of stone rather than wood and very detailed though, surprisingly enough, not nearly as detailed as what he saw resting on Indra's lap. The figurines that she had carved were even more detailed than the totem that Theole had given him.

Power. That was what she had said. "What kind of power?"

"When we make totems, we put a part of ourselves into the creation.

That helps to grant the blessing and gives it strength."

She said nothing more, and Fes had the sense that she wouldn't. "Why does this one seemed to be less intricate than yours?"

"Because it is," Indra said. "Part of the blessing takes away the detail.

It blurs it. Otherwise, the blessing would be too powerful." "I don't understand."

Indra stared at the totem for a moment before shaking her head. "That answer is for those of Toulen."

Would any in the empire know? Azithan might. When he returned, he would have to ask about the totems. They couldn't be that powerful if they were willing to sell them at the Great Market. "Am I in any danger carrying this with me?" he asked, smiling.

She gave him a look of disgust. "It's a great honor to be given a blessing, especially one like that."

"But your father was selling others like this."

"He wasn't selling them, not in a traditional sense."

Fes started to laugh but realized that she wasn't joking. "If he wasn't selling them in a traditional sense, how was he selling them in a

nontraditional sense?"

"They were meant to be traded." "Traded for what?"

She looked over at her sleeping father. He was breathing heavily, snoring occasionally, and had a firm grip on the wagon wheel. "For things that we can't acquire in Toulen."

"What kind of things?" "Things."

Fes waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't. He only shrugged. "If you want it back "

Indra shook her head. "If he gave it to you, then he meant for you to have the blessing. I was just surprised that he would, especially as he doesn't know you."

"And he has to know me to give me a totem?"

"In order to find the right totem, he would need to know you." "He wouldn't know others coming to the Great Market."

"Not at first, but that's why we stayed as long as we did."

Fes held up the totem, running his finger along it. There was something smooth that reminded him of his dagger, though it was probably the stone. The totem itself was cool, though not unpleasantly so.

He stuck it back into his pocket, careful not to break it. "Can I use the blessing?"

"You don't get to choose. The blessing will decide when—and if—it will work for you."

Fes smiled. "It sounds like there's something magical to the totem." "Because there is," she said, motioning around them.

He looked around and saw for the first time that there were similar totems set all around the campsite. "Why are they there?"

"To protect us. We can't travel through here by ourselves safely.

Father thought that setting the totems around would protect us." "Is it to ward off others?"

"It prevents them from seeing us." "But I saw you."

"And you shouldn't have been able to. I think it's because you had one of our totems that you were able to see us. Otherwise "

Interesting. Could they be useful for in other ways?

He could think of plenty of ways to use something that would mask his presence. Would it work with the soldiers? But for him to do so, he'd need to take the totems from Indra and her father, and considering what they went through, he didn't want to do that. They needed to get to Toulen, and with soldiers along the road, it might be dangerous.

Fes rolled over, needing to get back to sleep. In the daylight, he could go looking for Alison and the priest. Hopefully, he could find

them before the soldiers. He didn't want to embrace the rage again, though he already knew that he would if it came to that.

The rest of the night passed with an interrupted sort of sleep. Fes awoke a few times and each time that he did, he thought that he saw Indra watching him. She didn't trust him, but why would she be the one to sit up through the night to hold watch? Why not Theole?

He had dreams, though they were faint and in the back of his mind, and they left him troubled, feeling as if he were missing something. In those dreams, he saw rings of smoke and flashes of color, but nothing that made sense. When he awoke an hour or so before dawn, he sat up with a cold sweat. Indra was asleep, but Theole was up.

"You don't need to be awake on my behalf," Theole said.

Theole sat with his back against the wagon. He was running his thumb across something, and it took Fes a moment to realize that he was using a piece of stone, almost as if he were smoothing it with his thumb. The air nearly had an energy to it, like lightning following a storm.

"Indra told me about the totem," he said.

Theole paused and flicked his gaze toward him for a moment before looking back down. "Did she? I wonder what she told you."

"She told me that the totems carried blessings and that the one you gave me represented power."

"I gave you a totem that represented what was in your heart," he said. He continued to press on the stone, and every so often, Fes noticed a crackle, almost of insects but seeming to come from the stone.

"How do you know what was in my heart?"

"It doesn't take long to know a man, especially one who carries around a dragonglass dagger."

Fes breathed out. "How did you know?"

"I can feel it. There is a certain heat to it. You didn't need a blessing to be blessed, but I thought that perhaps having the blessing might help you augment what you already possess."

"And what is that?"

"That is the power that burns within your heart. I can't see it, not clearly, but I can feel it."

Burns. Like the anger he'd always tried to suppress. "I don't know what you're feeling."

Theole pressed on the totem, which emitted a soft rumbling. "Perhaps it is nothing. I have been at this for so long that it becomes difficult for me to fully understand sometimes."

"Why did you give me the totem?" "Because you needed it."

"I didn't need it. I wasn't at your tent to purchase anything."

Theole studied him a long moment. As he did, the friendliness on his face faded, if only briefly. Darkness replaced it and then was gone. "There may come a time when you will have need of that blessing, when you will have need of that totem."

Fes looked over at Indra. "She said she is only able to carve figurines for now."

With this, Theole looked upon Indra with a loving gaze. "She will be more talented than me. She has such exquisite control at her age, and in time, that will only get better."

"If the totems have power, why do you sell them?" It was the same question that he had asked of Indra, but he hadn't gotten much of an answer from her.

"Did I sell it?" Theole smiled and turned his attention back to his work. "There are plenty of other items that I had for sale, but the totems are unique. They are not meant for most people."

"Why have them there?"

Theole continued to stare at Indra and didn't answer.

Fes looked around. In the growing dawn, it was easier to see the totems that were arranged around the campsite. They were almost an equal distance apart, forming a circle around them. They were different, each of them unique, and he wondered if that was important.

"Do they really work? She said they help you avoid detection." Theole nodded to Indra. "We will see. If we make it back to Toulen,

then they have worked. For now, they help her relax. Otherwise, I don't think she could sleep."

He pressed on the stone again, and this time Fes felt a distinct rumbling. He looked up to see thick storm clouds rolling in out of the east. Thunder rumbled again, though it was distinct from what he had just heard, almost as if whatever it was that Theole was doing to his totem had elicited the thunder.

"You may stay with us if you would like," Theole said. "I need to get back to my job."

"But you're alone," Theole said.

"I hadn't been, but with the soldiers " "I see. You offered yourself up."

It had been something other than that. He had no intention of sacrificing himself. "I didn't offer myself, but I was willing to try to draw them away."

"And it worked," Theole said, nodding knowingly. "You see? It doesn't take long to know what's in a man's heart."

"Others remain. I did everything I could to try and limit the damage, but I wasn't able to stop all of them."

"And that's what you intend to do?" Theole got up and began to collect the totems around the campsite, putting them into a pouch that he carried on his waist. "You will complete your task with these soldiers?"

"I don't know if I can stop them," he said. "And yet, you stopped the others."

"Only by " He shook his head. It didn't matter how he had stopped the mercenaries, only that he had. "They did something. They harmed others."

"Perhaps they are mercenaries and not soldiers at all. Or perhaps they are the rebellion. There is danger in these lands."

"There's danger everywhere."

"Perhaps," Theole said. He stopped in front of Fes and handed him something. Fes frowned as he realized that it was another totem. "This may help you on your journey."

This was a figure that appeared to be kneeling, almost as if bowing in prayer. The features were soft, smooth, and he couldn't imagine that Theole had created them with only his fingers, but he hadn't seen him carving with anything else. What else could he have used?

"Use it carefully, Fes. You have power within you. I could sense that when I first met you. But there is something else that longs for freedom you keep bottled up."

Fes stared at him. Did he know about the rage that threatened to erupt? "There's nothing in me."

"More than you allow. And like all things, it will reveal itself in time. Take this."

"I don't know that I should. Indra said they were powerful."

"All totems are power. That is how they were made. They are blessings, and shouldn't a blessing carry with it a certain sense of power?"

"What kind of power does this have?"

"The kind that will help you on your journey."

Fes took it and stuck it in his pocket with the other. He looked down at Indra while she was sleeping, looking peaceful. A girl like that didn't deserve to be put into danger on the road. "Be careful," Fes said. "If the northern pass is too dangerous, turn back. Don't risk the rebellion simply to force your way back home. There are other ways."

"There are always ways home," Theole said, "only some are more difficult to find than others."

"If we meet again, I'll do whatever I can to help you."

Theole studied him. "If we meet again, I would ask only that you protect Indra."

Fes glanced at the girl. "I will. I promise."

He grabbed his horse, climbed in the saddle, and nodded to Theole. As he left, he glanced back, struggling with how he was feeling. Theole had been kind to him twice. Both times had been unnecessary, and even after the last year spent with Azithan, not knowing the same hardship of his youth, that was something strange. He patted his pocket, feeling the heaviness of the totems within. They served as a reminder that perhaps there was some good in the world.