Spellslinger (Spellslinger #1)(40)

‘I’m fine,’ I said.

She ran a finger along the hollow of my left eye the way she always did when I got hurt. I still had a cut there. When she seemed satisfied I wasn’t dying she said, ‘Couldn’t you see how weak Shalla was?’

I went to sit down on the reading chair next to my sister’s bed. The events of the previous day started to replay themselves in my mind. ‘She said she had a cold.’

‘Well, it’s not a cold.’

‘Bene’maat,’ my father said from the doorway. It was rare for him to use my mother’s name in front of us.

‘Don’t try to gentle me like some barnyard animal, Ke’heops,’ she said, her tone a warning that I recognised. ‘Our daughter could have been killed, or worse.’

My father put his hands in front of him. ‘I’m not, but Shalla was the instigator of this nonsense. Children her age have been sneaking onto the Path of Spirits trying to find their power animals since long before you or I were born, and none has ever come back with anything worse than a headache and the sniffles.’ He paused and looked over at me with something like pride on his face. ‘Kellen did everything he could to protect his sister.’

‘Those men—’

‘We’ll find the Mahdek who attacked her.’

Something about that bothered me. ‘I don’t think they were Mahdek, Father. I think they were ordinary men sent by Ra’meth.’

‘Ra’meth and his sons already submitted to interrogation by the lords magi. We used silk magic to discern the truth of their words. They were neither there nor had any knowledge of or involvement in the attack.’

What was it Ferius had said the other night? That if there’s a spell for everything then there’s probably a spell to counter it. ‘Maybe they found a way around the interrogation.’

‘Oh?’ my father said, his expression suddenly irritated. ‘And what exactly is your expertise in these matters?’

I closed my eyes, thinking back to the way the men who’d attacked us had been dressed, the way they talked. ‘Maybe the masks had something to do with it? Besides, the Mahdek were supposed to be wizards. Why didn’t these men use any spells?’

‘The Mahdek are deceivers,’ my mother said. ‘They use tricks and traps and, yes, dark magics to do their will. But magic can be traced. These Mahdek wanted to hurt us without being tracked down.’

I wasn’t sure I was convinced, but I let it drop. ‘What’s wrong with Shalla?’ I asked. ‘You said it wasn’t a cold but—’

‘We’re not sure,’ my father replied. ‘But her magic’s been weakening steadily for the past three days.’

Three days? Why three days? Unless … ‘She fought me three days ago. In the oasis.’

I looked over to my father and saw his steady gaze. He nodded, but there was something else … something he wasn’t telling me. Then I remembered that Tennat was sick too. ‘Spirits of our ancestors … Osia’phest was right. They’re going to blame me.’

‘Who is going to blame you, Kellen?’ my mother asked. ‘And blame you for what?’

‘Tennat duelled me and he got sick. Shalla fought me next and now she’s sick too. People are going to think I poisoned them or that I’m diseased and they got sick because of me.’

‘No,’ said my father.

‘I’m going to be exiled. Ra’meth will convince the council to—’

‘No,’ he repeated. ‘I will deal with the council and I will deal with Ra’meth. Whatever has happened is either coincidence or, more likely, caused by the presence of the Mahdek and their nekhek servants nearby.’

‘But I told you, when the nekhek showed up those men ran.’

‘They were running from your mother and myself, not from their own servant.’

‘But they—’

‘Enough, Kellen. You’ve brought us a lifetime’s worth of foolishness these past few days. Now you will obey your parents. You will do what your mother and I tell you to do and say what we tell you to say.’ He came over to where I sat and knelt down so we were eye to eye. ‘Later today you will accompany me to the oasis. Our people need to see the nekhek and be reassured that there is no danger. If anyone asks you, you will tell them that the creature was in service to the Mahdek raiders who attacked your sister. Do you understand?’

‘I …’ what was I supposed to say? This was my father. The head of my family. I was his son and my duty was to obey. Besides, even if this particular nekhek wasn’t working for these particular Mahdek, it was still a creature of deceit and darkness, as my father had said. It had torn that little dog’s throat out without a second thought. As much as my people had feared the Mahdek, we probably feared the nekhek more.

So why has this one come to me?

At my father’s insistence I accompanied him to the oasis, so that no one could accuse him of hiding the one person who’d seen everything that had happened. Hiding, though, was exactly what I most wanted to do. The crowd was densely packed, the smell of sweat and fear and anticipation so thick that I found it hard to breathe. The hum and buzz of muttering was like a swarm threatening to envelop the city. A lesser man than my father would have found it impossible to speak over it.