of the Far West have always sought out her counsel, believing her to possess wisdom and insight far beyond the most sage of scholars. For this reason she has long secluded herself in various refuges, moving on when they inevitably crumble under the weight of time. The High Temple is merely the most recent. It lies deep in the northern mountains of the Venerable Kingdom and is not an easy place to get to. I should know, I travelled there twice. But, however arduous, there are those who continue to come in search of her wisdom. Perhaps Sherin did too.”
He paused, eyeing Vaelin carefully. “I can see what you’re thinking, my friend,” he said. “And I urge you: don’t.”
Vaelin’s thoughts returned to Kerran’s dining room and Lohren’s vision. Last night I dreamt of a wolf. “I’m not sure I have a choice,” he said. “If she’s in danger . . .”
“How do you know she would even welcome your help?” Erlin cut in. “After what you did?”
Playing his fingers through her hair, placing her in Ahm Lin’s arms, watching the ship take her away . . . Betrayal is always the worst sin. “I don’t,” Vaelin said. “But welcome it or not, I can’t just linger here, not now. Also, the way the Messenger spoke of the Stahlhast, he made it clear there is a greater threat here than merely the rampaging of an obscure horse tribe, a threat Queen Lyrna may need to be warned against.”
“They lay far across the ocean. What threat could they pose here?”
“Any ocean can be crossed, as our queen demonstrated and the Volarians discovered to their cost. They imagined themselves safe from us. They were wrong.”
“The lands of the Merchant Kings are not the Realm. Nor are they Alpira or Volaria. In the Far West they were printing books and plotting the course of the stars whilst we were still working out which end of a spear to poke a deer with. There you have no legend. There you will be no more than a barbarian foreigner, little more than a savage in their eyes.”
Vaelin grimaced and nodded at the kettle. “It’s boiling.”
Erlin let out a sigh and lifted the kettle from the hob. “Always the same with you. Never content. Never able to settle, not when there’s another calamity to embroil yourself in. Haven’t you travelled far enough? Haven’t you seen enough blood?”
“I have, and if fortune smiles, I’ll see no more however far I travel. But I am resolved on this, Erlin. And I need your help. I need to know all you can tell me about the Far West. And I need a map to guide me to the High Temple and the Jade Princess.”
“I can’t teach you what you need to know in mere days.” Erlin’s shoulders sagged a little as he sprinkled fresh leaves into his teapot, his next words emerging in a weary sigh. “I’ll have to come with you. You’ve always been a bit lost without me, anyway.”
“No.” Vaelin’s voice was firm. “I’ll not ask this of you.”
“Why not? Because I’m old now, and getting older by the day?” Erlin’s gaze took on an amused twinkle. “Rest assured, I’m spry as ever when I need to be. And a map won’t be of any use to you without me to guide you clear of the Merchant King’s soldiers.” He stirred the leaves with a long-handled spoon and placed the lid on the teapot. “So, when do we leave?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
So, his cousin spoke the true word after all, Vaelin mused, watching Alum ascend the gangplank to the deck of the Sea Wasp. The ship sat low in the waters of the North Tower harbour, her holds filled with a mixed cargo of Cumbraelin wine, Asraelin iron ore and Alpiran spices. She had been built during the Liberation War and her martial heritage was clear in the clean lines of her hull and the old scars marring the timber of her rails and masts.
“The fastest vessel owned by the Honoured Trading House of Al Verin,” Kerran assured Vaelin as they stood together on the quayside. “Every year I award a bonus to any ship that makes the fastest crossing of the Arathean. The Sea Wasp has won for the last four years in a row.”
At Lord Orven’s insistence, two dozen North Guard were arrayed in ranks nearby as a farewell honour guard, adding a sense of ceremony to this occasion that Vaelin could well have done without. The morning