‘And you think he doesn’t understand why, or blames you, or something?’
‘Lyanna was his daughter too,’ whispered Erienne. And there it was still. The dread feeling of loss that dragged at her soul. It would never go. But at least it didn’t threaten to swamp her now.
‘Erienne, you’ve been through something entirely and tragically unique. Don’t add guilt to everything else you’re forced to endure.’
‘I can’t help it.’ Erienne shrugged.
‘But you know he’s forgiven your every action. Never blamed you in the first place. We all feel the same.’
‘I know.’ Erienne gazed at The Unknown in the firelight and recollected her surprise at the sensitivity that existed beneath those hard features. But those eyes that gazed back brimming with compassion and understanding could be so cold.
He was the most brutally effective warrior she’d ever seen. Had been. The smashed hip that had forced him to hang up his trademark two-handed sword must have reduced his effectiveness. On the other hand, looking at the power in his arms and shoulders, she thought he’d compensated. It was easy to see why his enemies feared him and equally easy to know why she and everyone else he cared for loved and trusted him without question.
‘I hated the lot of you for forcing me out here. Away from Lyanna.’
Another chuckle. ‘Right though, weren’t we?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Erienne. ‘I can’t shift the longing for her. I don’t want to.’
She stopped and looked around the quiet campsite - at Denser, Hirad and Ilkar sleeping in hammocks above the teeming life that dredged the forest floor - and she understood again what being with these men meant.
‘But you’re all with me now, aren’t you? All of you.’
‘We never left,’ said The Unknown.
‘I can see when I’m with you,’ she said, trying to explain herself.
‘That’s why you had to leave that place. We were there too but you wouldn’t see us.’
‘She was my life,’ said Erienne.
‘And she would have been your death too,’ he said.
The words stung but she knew he was right. But they were words she wouldn’t have taken from Denser.
‘I will never forget her.’
‘No one is expecting you to, Erienne,’ he said, and turned and covered her hands with his. ‘None of us ever will. But you had to get away from Herendeneth. You had to stop fuelling your grief.’
‘And that’s why I’m here?’ Erienne was taken aback, not quite understanding what he was saying.
‘No,’ said The Unknown. ‘Not really. You’re here because you’re Raven and Ilkar needs you. The Raven needs you. But no one is denying the fortunate circumstance.’
Erienne laughed. ‘Fortunate? Is that what you call it? Think I’d have entertained this if I’d known I’d be sleeping above snakes?’
‘Think you’d have made that comment ten days ago?’
‘No,’ said Erienne. ‘Gods, what is it about you?’
The Unknown squeezed her hands. ‘Simple. We love you. We wouldn’t see you come to harm and you were coming to harm on Herendeneth. We understand your pain and we understand you are greater than it. And we all know what you carry inside you.’
Erienne looked into the fire, unable to speak.
‘At the risk of sounding like Hirad, this is what The Raven is about,’ said The Unknown. ‘No one has what we have. You can’t explain it but it’s why I’ll leave my wife and child to do what I must with The Raven, and it’s why Diera understands. I hate to sound superior but we are unique. And you’re hurting at the moment so you should use us. We expect it. We want it.’
Erienne flung her arms around The Unknown’s neck and sobbed into his shoulder. She felt his arms crush her to him even as within her she felt release. She held on for a while, unwilling to leave the security of his embrace.
‘Thank you,’ she said.
‘You don’t have to keep it burning inside you.’ The Unknown moved her back so he could look into her eyes. ‘Let us take some of the weight.’
She nodded, but in her gratitude was the lonely realisation that they couldn’t take any of the burden of the One.
‘Now I think you should sleep, if that headache will let you. Your stamina reserves are low, aren’t they?’
‘It’ll be a problem before long,’ she admitted.
She kissed his cheek and stood up, brushing herself down. Above them, the rain was beginning to fall again. She barely noticed.
‘Erienne?’
‘Yes?’
‘You’ll have to let them in, you know. The One isn’t going to remain dormant. Only the Al-Drechar can help you with it. Talk to Denser again, all right?’
It was like he saw straight into her mind, finding in there the thing that worried her the most. She gave a tired smile. ‘I’ll think about it.’
‘That’s all I ask.’
‘Good night, Unknown.’
‘Sleep well.’
The rain fell for hours until just before dawn but by the time The Raven had eaten a light meal of wild mushrooms and hard bread, they were as dry as the humid conditions would ever allow. Hirad walked at the head of the line on the third morning with The Unknown, just behind Rebraal and Ilkar. The brothers had clearly had another disagreement. The set of both their bodies spoke volumes and Rebraal repeatedly failed to hold branches aside for Ilkar as they moved through an area of forest far more dense than anything they’d encountered so far.
In the trees above them, monkeys called and hooted and birds sang, the songs of a myriad throats mixing to a magical crescendo.
‘No one’s going to hear us coming, at least,’ said Hirad.
‘That’s why elves don’t rely on their ears here,’ said Ilkar, who was just ahead at the time. ‘If there are elves nearby, chances are they know about us already.’
‘And what does Rebraal think?’ asked The Unknown.
‘He’s suddenly decided that we shouldn’t have come and that he and the Al-Arynaar are able to handle everything perfectly well on their own.’
‘That’s not what I asked.’
Ilkar shrugged but he didn’t look round. They’d all learned that looking at who you were talking to was the easiest way of sustaining a graze or falling over a root.
‘So?’ prompted Hirad.
‘So, he says the forest has a bad taste to it, that the harmony is damaged and he can’t feel what he should. He’s not sure what we’ll find at the temple and he doesn’t know if more Al-Arynaar are close,’ said Ilkar.
‘And doesn’t he think some of his people might not have retaken the temple already?’ asked Hirad.
‘Apparently the forest wouldn’t feel this way if they had,’ said Ilkar.
‘He’s scared, isn’t he?’ said The Unknown.
Ilkar said nothing but Hirad saw his head nod.
‘Then give him some room,’ said the big warrior. ‘This is his land far more than it is yours. We need him on our side as far as possible.’
Ilkar tensed across the shoulders. ‘Thanks for your input, Unknown, but I think I understand my own brother.’
‘You are not behaving as if you do.’
The Julatsan didn’t respond and The Raven walked on in silence. The large insect bites on the back of Hirad’s knees itched and chafed and the constant sweat down his arms wasn’t helping the healing of the blisters he still had from his first day rowing. Not enough to worry him if it came to a fight but uncomfortable nonetheless.
After something like two hours of walking, Rebraal brought them to a sudden halt and beckoned them to group around him.
‘Close,’ he said, pointing forwards. ‘Quiet now.’
‘Talkative soul, isn’t he?’ said Hirad.
‘Just a little rusty,’ responded Ilkar. ‘He hasn’t had to speak Balaian for three times longer than you’ve been alive.’