Ross had to give them one concession: Quinn could make a good soup. Lack of meat aside, they probably wouldn’t have starved on the road, although their diet would have been distinctly dull. Night was drawing in now, and the fire wasn’t overworked, keeping them nice and warm without lighting up the camp for the entire plains to see.
Quinn had hunkered down into a bedroll, frustrated that Ross wouldn’t talk about Eden and overcome with weariness. Maertn stuck close by both of them, and Ross thought the lad wanted to say something, but didn’t have the courage. Instead, they sat in a tense silence, listening to the crackle of the fire. Quinn had her back to them and she wasn’t asleep.
He was making them feel safe, if only for a short time. It reminded Ross of some of the fires he used to share with friends before battles, though this wasn’t nearly as edgy, and the songs nowhere near as rude.
“So Quinn, are you going to make some decisions about your future before we talk about what you’ve left in the past?”
She rolled over, not getting out of the bedroll. She was curled up. Protecting herself, Ross thought.
“I’ve always known I wanted to do. I need to find out who I am.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Sammah told me my father was Nerren, and most people either know or believe that he was responsible for the last wars. Then he said that he didn’t know who my parents are. So, firstly, you can tell me the truth. You were there. Was an empath responsible for the wars?”
“Yes. Nerren was responsible for the wars, Quinn. He used his abilities to manipulate people into taking up arms, and by the time the council realised what he was doing, it was far too late to stop. But I don’t know if he was your father.”
“Is it likely that either of my parents had to be an empath me to have these abilities?”
Ross shook his head. “I don’t know. You’re asking the wrong man.”
Quinn bristled. “I thought you knew about Sha’sek? I thought you meant to be able to help us?”
“Steady on, Quinn. I know about the islands, and I know about the guilds. I can tell you about the council and the safe places you can go. I don’t know about your abilities. I can’t help you there. What I can do is introduce you to people that can help.”
“And are those people dangerous? The ones you’d prefer I avoid?”
“Now that is an interesting question, which I can answer. They are deceitful people. Men who would slit your throat in your sleep rather than see you grow to become a rival. That being said, there are very few people they fear more than empaths.”
“Who would they fear more than an empath?”
Ross met Quinn’s gaze across the fire. “The only kind of person just as rare; apaths.”
“Is that why they sent Sammah away? They were frightened of him?”
“Now that, I know somewhat more about. Sammah was taking an opportunity where he saw it, and his brother took an opening to get rid of unwanted thorn in his side. Sammah has ambition, but he doesn’t have the birthright to match it. He’s not an eldest son, and he’s never going to inherit. What he is though, is clever. He has a tactical mind and the bloody desire to match it. He, like those before them in his line, is an apath. Everyone was surprised when his elder brother wasn’t the one with the abilities. Sure, he might be something that we don’t know about, but it’s nothing useful. An apath is worse than an empath. They don’t feel everything; they feel nothing. That detached dispassion is the sole reason Sammah’s house rose to a seat on the council in the first place. They are the people with power. It was seen as a sucker punch by many, that the youngest son of his house was the one born with the apath ability.”
“So he doesn’t feel emotion. Why does that make him such a threat?”
“Because he is completely detached from reason.”
“Surely that’s wrong? Emotion and reason aren’t inexorably linked. You can have one without the other?”
“You might think that, but you don’t know the history of the islands like I do, and you haven’t watched the career of Baron Sammah from close-up. Like I mentioned, he’s an ambitious man, and he’s not going to stop at spending his life rotting in country estate on a Sha’sek Island when he thinks he can get the throne of Everfell.
“Sammah reasons that, because he was the one born with the power, he deserves more than he stands to inherit. When the wars ended and there was an opportunity to send someone to Everfell as a courtesan and diplomat. He had the links and the right name, so it was easy for Sammah’s brother to send him away. Baron Sammah made everyone nervous and sure, they didn’t want him around. But, critically, it allowed the Sha’sek council to put a man with abilities into Vance’s court. Think about it, how would anyone know what Sammah was unless he volunteered the information? It’s just the same as you, Quinn. No one would know about you, not when you have control of your abilities. So it’s up to you what you become in Sha’sek. You’re not the girl that used to faint in the Great Hall anymore.”
“How many empaths have there been?”
“I have no idea, but I think it’s safe to say that, when they’re discovered, they don’t get to stay hidden.”
“So it’s likely that I have empaths in my bloodline, but no one knows where I come from. The last known empath was Nerren, and he caused the wars. There could be others, but they are hidden. No one knows about their abilities, and that can only be because they’re hidden away.”
“That’s about the short and long of it, Quinn.”
Quinn shuffled out of her bedroll and sat up, cross-legged. She stared into the fire. Her face was unreadable. “Well, whether my father was or wasn’t a maniac, it’s possible I still have family out there. Like you say, empaths don’t really get to hide away, so all I need to do is ask the right questions. I find out how many empaths there have been recently in Sha’sek, and which islands they came from. Someone, somewhere, will have information I can use to start tracking down some truths.”
“You make it sound so simple. Aside from the fact you don’t have a basic requirement to start asking complicated questions—gold—in which part of that plan are you not going to die?”
“I thought you said empaths were valued?”
“Valuable, yes. That also means, something that can be sold for a high price, not just someone who is highly regarded. I know Sammah was coveting your power, and he thinks you can be one of the strongest empaths who has ever lived.
“You definitely can’t let anyone know that. In fact, I’d play stupid with everything you know about your powers. Quinn, you haven’t actually been taught anything, and I don’t know how you’ve got as far as you have without a master, but I’ve watched you grow up. Sammah was right. Someone more experienced than me might recognise that.”
“But I can tell them the truth can’t I? I wouldn’t be here without Maertn. He saved my life. I was already halfway into the sea on the Beach of Bones before you brought me back.”
Ross’s shocked eyes shot to Maertn, who hunched over, trying to make himself look smaller. “You didn’t tell me that.”
Maertn looked over to Quinn, shuddering at the memory of that horrible afternoon. When Sammah had forced him to heal Quinn, he had never expected to end up on the fabled Beach of Bones, the crossing place between life and death. Quinn had already been knee-deep in the sea, like she said, but unlike the waters of their shores, the waters that lapped the Beach of Bones ran red. If Quinn had fully submerged in those waters, she would have been lost forever. Instead, with his abilities, Maertn had been able to bring her back. It had been an exhausting experience for both of them, and neither of them wanted to relive those desperate moments when Maertn had saved her.
What seemed odd though, was that every time Maertn healed her using his abilities, Quinn’s abilities became stronger. No one could explain this, and so far he hadn’t been able to find anything in Sammah’s books that reflected what they were seeing.
“So, where do I need to start?”
“Honestly, I think the best way for you to not get into trouble, is for us to go straight to Farn, and Sammah’s own household. They know what he’s like, and you might find some sympathy there. They probably knew that he was collecting children with abilities, but they need to know the extent of his collection. Perhaps they can give us some more advice on what to do with you, too.”
“That’s not much of a plan, is it?”
Ross clucked disapprovingly. “It’s more than you had before.”