Coldmarch. Daniel Cohen A.

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      She grabbed the lantern, holding it at arm’s length as she traipsed down the passageway, forcing back shadows.

      Cam wiped his single tear from his cheek and held it out towards the Coldmaker, his excitement dipping. ‘I wish you could use it to make Ice. One day the Crier will forgive me.’

      I had no idea what to say to such a thing.

      ‘Maybe one day,’ Cam said again with a hopeful shrug. ‘Maybe I can be chosen, too. A Jadan, like you both.’

      Even the finest Inventor in the World Cried couldn’t tinker with someone’s blood, but still I said: ‘I’m sure.’

      Shilah kept quiet, but I could see what she burned to say.

      ‘Come on,’ I said. ‘We have to hurry.’

      Cam took both the supply bags, the dirty clothes and the basket of figs, not seeming to mind the burden, leaving me to carry only the Coldmaker, which I clutched dearly against my hip.

      Shilah led us through the tunnel and I followed last in line, my head swarming with visions and possibilities.

      ‘The Coldmarch,’ Shilah said, only loud enough for me to get a trace of her words, ‘is a web of stops, stretches, and people along the path North. It’s a journey, not necessarily a place. There were hidden chambers like these run by Jadans and Noble sympathizers all across the Khatdom, set up so they could usher people in secret. Obviously no one could dig out a tunnel all the way from Paphos to Langria, as that would take all the Builders in the world thousands of lifetimes.’ She looked back with a wink. ‘I thought you were smarter than that, Spout.’

      The way she said it, playful and wry, didn’t seem to connect, and I had no joke in response. I wasn’t in the mood to joke anyway.

      ‘Some brilliant Inventor could have come up with a digging machine to do all that work,’ Cam said. ‘I’ve seen some pretty impressive things in the tinkershop.’ He looked back over his shoulder, beaming. ‘That your next invention idea, Spout? I have to say, you’ll need something rather big to follow up’ – he gestured with his elbow to my bag – ‘a miracle.’

      ‘Flight,’ I said without pause. I expected a pang to strike my heart like a battering ram, but nothing shook. I thought back to my time under Thoth’s wool hat. I wondered what Matty might say if he could see me now, protecting something that could change the world, walking through the dark veins of myth. ‘Flight is next.’

      Cam smirked. ‘If anyone can do it, I’d bet my Cold on you.’

      ‘What Cold?’ Shilah whispered with a scoff. ‘You don’t have any claim to the Abbs.’

      ‘I brought you the Frost!’ he said.

      ‘You mean the one that your father stole from the hardworking Patch Jadans?’

      ‘Wait.’ Cam suddenly stopped short, and I nearly crashed into his back. ‘This is wrong.’

      I looked from side to side for talons or teeth. A drunken Levi had once assured our barracks that hounds’ eyes glowed red before the beasts pounced.

      Cam shook his head, pressing himself flat against the side of the cave wall. ‘You go in the middle of us, Spout.’

      ‘Why?’

      ‘Just do it. You deserve to be in front of me.’

      ‘No, it’s okay, I can—’

      ‘Just. Please,’ Cam insisted, pressing himself harder, his face squished against the cool rock.

      ‘Why?’ I asked.

      Shilah sighed from up front. ‘Boys. Hounds.’

      ‘And maybe worse,’ I said under my breath.

      Cam tried to angle his way behind me, sliding along the smooth walls, his loose shirt and bags dragging. I tried to stop him and we did an awkward dance, both of us shimmying backwards.

      ‘What are you doing?’ I asked.

      ‘You’re the most valuable of us,’ Cam said, not meeting my eyes. ‘You stay in the middle. Just in case.’

      All of a sudden the Coldmaker felt very heavy.

      I didn’t say anything, letting Cam filter around in front of me. He was still balancing the basket of figs in one hand, and I snatched one, shoving it in my mouth and biting down hard, hoping some food might help me feel more normal.

      ‘Let me at least take the bag of dirty clothes,’ I said between bites.

      ‘I need to carry them.’ Cam craned his neck so he could see Shilah. ‘This is also for you, you know.’

      Shilah kept walking, her back straight as the edge of a knife. ‘Drop the dirty clothes, Camlish. Mama Jana just needed them out of the shop.’

      I was surprised how authoritative Shilah could sound. Cam gave a conceding shrug and did as commanded, tossing the bag aside and giving it a frustrated kick as he passed it.

      We followed the corridor around a bend and found that the ceiling sloped lower and the walls pinched closer. I’d never had a problem with tight spaces before, but something about being underground made the musty air – cool as it may have been – feel as if it was going to suffocate us. My chest felt tight, and I dug my thumbs into my ribs, trying to loosen the knot.

      Shilah didn’t seem to mind, and she picked up the pace, guiding us deeper into the dark.

      ‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘the Coldmarch has been kept extremely secret for obvious reasons. No mention of it in writing, and everyone involved kept about as tight-lipped as they could. The March supposedly only let a handful of Jadans North every year, most always young girls. It was shut down a while back, apparently ten years, but I don’t know why.’

      ‘But why would they shut down something like this?’ I asked. ‘Every Jadan should have known. No. Every Jadan should have gone.’

      I drew my fingers along the wall. Feeling the stone, the damp texture and tiny imperfections, I understood the importance of such a place as this. That didn’t mean I wasn’t detached. I was walking through a secret that could have started a revolution, a place that proved us chosen, or at the very least worthy, and I should have been struck with something powerful. Awe perhaps. Disbelief maybe. Flames of righteous indignation. Something that infused life back into my soul.

      But all I could feel was the stone.

      My father was gone.

      Shilah shrugged, urging us onwards. ‘Maybe the Khat found out. Maybe something changed. I imagine the whole situation was delicate to begin with.’

      ‘If the Khat found out about it,’ Cam said, all of a sudden looking very pale. ‘That means we might be walking right into their hands.’

      Shilah picked up the pace. ‘Yes. It’s possible.’

      Cam СКАЧАТЬ