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CHAPTER FOUR

The Third Faith

M.

Anne managed TO CrawL out onto the deck before being sick again. She even made it to the steerboard rail, and there her whole body spasmed and she vomited until she thought her breast would tear apart. Then she slid trembling to the deck and puddled there, weeping.

It was night, and if the ship wasn't still, the wind was. She heard a sailor laugh briefly and another hush him. She didn't care. She didn't care about anything.

She wished she could just die and have it over with. She deserved it.

She had killed Sir Neil, as certainly as if she had pushed him into the ocean herself. He had traveled across half the world and saved her'saved all of them'and all she had been able to do was watch the sea close over his head.

If she lived forever, she would never forget the look of betrayal in his eyes.

She took a deep, shuddering breath. It was better out here in the air. When she went below to the tiny cabin she shared with Austra, everything spun around. Two days now like that. She couldn't keep any food down at all, and wine just made it worse, even when it was mixed with water.

The Chabnel Prince

She rolled over onto her back and looked up at the stars.

The stars stared back at her. So did an orange half-moon that seemed somehow far too bright.

She was starting to feel sick again.

She fixed her eye on the moon, trying to make the motion go away, to focus beyond it. She picked out features from the dark splotches, remembered maps, and noticed strange patterns that signified nothing she had ever seen, but nevertheless seemed to have meaning.

The motion of the ship gradually faded, and the light of the Moon went from orange to yellow to'as she hung directly overhead' shining silver.

With a soft movement, the ship was gone altogether. Anne looked around, only half surprised this time to find herself in a forest still bathed in moonlight.

She gathered her feet under her and stood up shakily. 'Hello?' she said.

There was no answer.

She had twice been to this place. The first time she had been forced'drawn from her sister's birthday party by a strange masked woman. The second, she had come herself, somehow, trying to escape the darkness of the cave where she had been confined by the sisters of the coven Saint Cer.

This time she wasn't sure if she had been called or come or something in between. But it was nighttime, where before it had always been bright. And there was no one here'no strange masked women making obscure statements about how she had to be queen, or the whole world was going to end.

Maybe they didn't know she was here.

A cloud passed across the moon, and the shadows in the trees deepened, seemed to slink toward her.

That was when she remembered that there were no shadows in this place, not under the sun, at least. Then why should they be here when it was night?

She was starting to think she wasn't in the same place at all.

And it dawned upon her that she had been wrong about another The Third Faith

thing. There was someone there, someone her eye kept avoiding, would not let her stare straight at. She tried harder, but each time she turned one way, she found herself looking another, so the tall shadow was always at the corner of her eye.

A soft laugh touched her ears. A man. 'What is this,' a voice said. 'Is this a queen, come to see me?'

Anne realized she was trembling. He moved, and she gritted her teeth as her head turned in response, so as not to see him. 'I'm not a queen,' she said.

'Not a queen?' he asked. 'Nonsense. I see the crown on your head and the scepter in your hand. Didn't the Faiths tell you?'

'I don't know who you're talking about,' Anne said. 'I don't know any Faiths.'

But she knew she was lying. The women she had met here before had never named themselves, but that name seemed very right, somehow.

He knew, too. 'Perhaps you do not know them by name,' the voice purred, echoing her thoughts. The shadows drew closer. 'They are known by many. Hagautsin, Vhateis, Suesori, Hedgewights'the Shadowless. It doesn't matter what they're called. They are meddlesome witches with not nearly the wisdom or power they pretend to.'

'And you? Who are you?' Anne tried to sound confident.

'Someone they fear. Someone they think you can protect them from. But you cannot.'

'I don't understand,' Anne said. 'I just want to go home.'

'So you can be crowned? So you can become what the Faiths predicted?'

'I don't want to be queen,' Anne replied truthfully, continuing to edge away.

Her fear was a bright cord around her heart, but she reached for the power she had unleashed in z'Espino. She felt it quivering there, ready, but when she reached toward the shadow, there was no flesh, no blood, no beating heart.

Nothing to work upon.

And yet there was something, and that something came suddenly, racing across the green from not one direction, but from all of them, a noose of darkness yanking tight. She balled her fists, trembling, and turned her face to the moon, the only place her flesh would let her look.

Light flashed through her, then, and the thing in her turned altogether different and she felt like marble, like luminescent stone, and the darkness was a wave of chill water that passed around her and was gone.

'Ah,' the voice said, fading. 'You continue to learn. But so do I. Do not hold your life too dear, Anne Dare. It will not belong to you for long.'

Then the shadows were gone, and the glade was filled with perfect moonlight.

'He's right,' a woman's voice said. 'You do learn. There are more diverse powers in the moon than darkness.'

Anne turned, but it wasn't one of the women she had seen before. This one had hair as silvery as the lunar light and skin as pale. She wore a black gown that flashed here and there with jewels and a mask of black ivory that left her mouth uncovered.

'How many of you are there?' Anne asked.

'There are four,' the woman replied. 'You have met two of my sisters.'

'The Faiths.'

'He named to you but a few of our names.'

'I've never heard of you by any names until now.'

'It has been long since we moved in the world. Most have forgotten us.'

'Who was that? Who was he?'

'He is the enemy,' she said.

'The Briar King?'

She shook her head. 'The Briar King is not the enemy, though many of you will die by his hand. The Briar King is a part of the way things were and the way things are. The one you just spoke to is not.'

'Then who was he?'

'A mortal, still. A thing of flesh and blood, but becoming more. Like the world, he is changing. If he finishes changing, then everything we know will be swept aside.'

'But who is he?' Anne persisted.

'We do not know his mortal name. But the possibility of him has been arriving for millennia.'

The Third Faith

Anne closed her eyes, anger welling in her breast. 'You're as useless as your sisters.'

'We're trying to help, but by our nature we are restricted.'

'Yes, your sister explained that, at least,' Anne replied. 'But I found it just as unhelpful as anything else any of you have told me.'

'Everything has its seasons, Anne. The moon goes through its cycle each month, and each year brings spring, summer, autumn, winter. But the world has larger seasons, stronger tides. Flowers that bloom in Prismen are dormant in Novmen. It has been so since the world was young.

'And yet the last time this season came around, the cycle itself was nearly broken, a balance was lost. The wheel creaks on a splintered axle, and possibilities exist that never did before. One of those possibilities is him.

Not a person, at first, just a place, a throne if you will, never sat before but waiting to be filled. And now someone has come along to fill it. But we do not yet know him'we see only what you saw, his shadow.'

'Is he the one behind the murder of my sisters and father? Did he send the knights to the coven?'

'Ultimately, perhaps. He certainly wants you dead.'

'But why?'

'He does not want you to be queen.'

'Why?' Anne repeated. 'What threat am I to him?'

'Because there are two new thrones,' the Faith said, softly. 'Two.'

Anne woke on the deck of the ship. Someone had slipped a blanket over her. She lay there a moment, fearing that if she straightened, the wave-sickness would return, but after a moment she realized that she felt well.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. It was morning, the sun just peeking over the marine horizon. Austra was at the railing a few yards away, conversing in low tones with Cazio. She was smiling, and when Cazio reached to touch her hand, she went all rosy.

Silly girl, Anne thought angrily. Can't she see there's no sincere love in him?

He's just a boy, playing games.

But why should Austra's foolishness bother her? After all, if he was focused on Austra, perhaps he'd leave her alone. That certainly would be for the best.

Still, Austra was her friend, and she had to watch out for her. So she pulled herself to her feet using the rail. There was no renewal of her nausea. She felt well, at least physically.

'Ah, she's alive after all,' Cazio said, glancing in her direction. Austra jumped guiltily, and her blush deepened. Anne suddenly wondered if things had gone farther than a bit of hand-touching. While she was sick and asleep, perhaps?

She wouldn't have to ask. Austra would volunteer any information eventually.

Or'maybe not. There had been a time when they shared everything, but they had grown apart. Anne knew it was her own fault, for hiding things from Austra.

Perhaps Austra was getting

her revenge.

'Do you feel better?' Austra asked. 'You were missing from your bed, and I couldn't find you at all. I thought you had fallen overboard. Finally I saw you sleeping here, and brought a blanket to keep you warm.'

'That was kind of you,' Anne said. 'I felt less sick out here. And altogether better now.'

'That's good,' Cazio said. 'You've been a bit of a bore.'

'Which makes our company perfectly matched,' Anne replied.

Cazio opened his mouth to answer, but something behind her got his attention, and his brow furrowed. She turned to see what it was.

When she saw it was Captain Malconio, her jaw tightened.

'Well,' he said. 'You seem to be feeling better. The dead have risen.'

'Not all of them,' Anne said coldly. 'Some remain quite dead.' Malconio's eyes flashed something that might have been anger or chagrin, it was hard to tell.

'Casnara, I'm sorry that you lost a friend back there. But I was never hired to fight a battle, only to give you passage.' He leveled his gaze at Cazio, and her uncertainty about his mood vanished. Malconio was angry, and he had been before she ever said anything.

The Third Faith

'In fact,' the captain went on, 'I was never let in on the fact that there was danger of any sort involved.'

'Of course not,' Cazio retorted. 'I know better than to rely upon either honor or bravery from you, Malconio.'

Malconio snorted. 'And I know as well not to rely on sense, judgment, or gratitude from you. Or from your friends, I see. If we had delayed casting off another instant, my ship would have been overrun. Even if we hadn't all been killed, we would have been trapped in dock for twice ninedays, settling the legalities. As far as I can see, I've saved all your lives, and now I'm wondering why I shouldn't throw you overboard.'

'Because,' Cazio said, 'If you try, I will acquaint Caspator with your gullet.'

'You're making my decision easier, Cazio.'

'Ah, by Diuvo stop it, you two,' z'Acatto rasped, limping around the base of the mainsail. 'Neither of you could lay a hand on the other, and you know it, so spare us all your childish threats.'

Malconio nodded his head toward the swordmaster. 'How have you put up with him all of these years?'

'By staying drunk,' z'Acatto grunted. 'But if I'd had the both of you around, I'd have had to find stronger drink. Which reminds me'is there any of that Gallean stuff left?'

'You already know each other?' Austra asked, her gaze switching from z'Acatto to the captain to Cazio.

'Hardly,' z'Acatto said. 'But they are brothers.'

'Brothers?' Austra gasped.

Austra's surprise mirrored Anne's own, but she could see the resemblance now.

'No brother of mine would abandon the family honor,' Cazio said evenly.

'In what way have I abandoned the family honor?' Malconio asked. 'By leaving that rotting hulk of a house to you?'

'You sold off the country estate to buy a ship,' Cazio said. 'Land that's been in our family since the Hegemony held sway. You sold it for this.' He flapped the back of his hand at the ship.

'There was no profit to be gained in the land, Cazio, nor had there been in a generation. I had no mind to laze around Avella and pick swordfights for a living, either'that role you most adequately filled. I've done well as a merchant. I own four vessels, and soon enough I'll have my own estates, built by my own hands. You cling to the Chiovattio past, brother. I represent our future.'

'That's a pretty speech,' Cazio allowed. 'Do you practice it in front of a looking glass?'

Malconio started to reply, rolled his eyes, placed his hands on his hips, and smiled sardonically at Anne.

'Marry him and make his life miserable, won't you?' he said.

Anne drew herself up. 'You presume far too much,' she said, 'even in jest. You are like your brother in that, if in nothing else.'

'Thank Diuvo that's the extent of it.'

'You should be so lucky as to be like your brother,' Austra exploded. 'He's a valiant fighter. We would be dead ten times over if it weren't for him.'

'And if it weren't for me,' Malconio said,' you would be dead only one time, which, I think, would suffice.'

Cazio lifted his finger and seemed about to add something, but his brother waved him off,

'Z'Acatto's right'this is useless. I should have known better than to take my brother on ship, much less his friends, but now I have. What's done is done, so, to the heart of the matter'who were those men that were pursuing you?'

'I thought your business with us was limited to our passage,' Anne said. 'Why this sudden curiosity about our enemies?'

'For two reasons, casnara. The first is that I am now connected in their minds with you. I have an enemy I never sought to offend. The second is that we are presently being followed by a rather fast ship, and I very much suspect that it contains your friends from the docks at z'Espino.'