Alchymist (23 page)

'How
is it. . .?' he looked from Tiaan to his sister.

'Vithis
ordered me to guard her,' said Thyzzea.

Kalle
flushed the colour of his hair. 'But . . . Oh! Oh!' He could not look at Tiaan.
'We are dishonoured. What are you going to say to Father?'

'He
hasn't come back from the battle . . .' Seeing the anxious look in her
brother's eye, she amended hastily, 'yet.'

Kalle
struggled to control himself. 'But he'll be all right, won't he?' His voice was
shaky.

'Of
course he will,' Thyzzea said in reassuring tones. 'You'd better get back to
your studies.'

Kalle
began to turn the pages of his book, but his eyes were fixed on the open flap
of the tent.

Thyzzea
picked up a basket in her free hand. 'Shall we sit under the tree again? It's
cooler outside. This is a hot world.' For me too,' said Tiaan.

'You
come from the other side of Lauralin, don't you? The city of Tiksi, on the west
coast?'

'You
know a lot about me,' said Tiaan.

'You
saved us. You're in our Histories.'

'But.
. .'

'Yes?'
Thyzzea said politely.

'I
don't wish to intrude on you. You must be anxious about your father.'

'I
am,' she said, 'but that's a private matter and I've a duty to watch over you.
Let's talk no more about it. In truth, you're a welcome distraction from
worries I can do nothing about.'

'It
still seems a bit. . , casual,' said Tiaan.

'What
do you mean?'

'Sitting
here, talking, while the war rages only a league away.' She waved one hand in
the direction of the battlefield.

'The
battle ended some hours ago and the enemy are retreating west.'

'Did
we win, then?' Having been underground for so long, Tiaan had no idea how the
struggle had gone.

'No,
but nor did we lose.' Thyzzea explained about the unexpected destruction of the
node, and the fleet of air-floaters turning the tide of battle at the critical
moment. 'The enemy are withdrawing, as they must, because Snizort is on fire.
But since there's no field, we can't move our constructs. Until that problem is
solved, we young ones have little to do.'

'Why
did Vithis leave me with you? I thought I would be imprisoned.'

'You
made the gate that brought us to Santhenar, Tiaan. And you learned how to make
the construct fly, a secret we've been searching for since the Way between the
Worlds was opened. Vithis may be our leader, but the other clans will not
follow him into dishonour. You'll be treated with the respect you've earned, in
our house.'

'Thank
you,' said Tiaan, a little uncomfortable with such praise. 'But I don't
understand. Am I a prisoner or a guest?'

Thyzzea
looked embarrassed. 'The situation is an awkward one, Tiaan. You are Vithis's
prisoner, but my guest.’

Tiaan
found this difficult to take in. 'But why you? I mean no insult,' she said
hastily, 'but surely, for such an important captive . . .?'

Thyzzea
smiled. 'I'm skilled in all manner of arts — few of my age more so. Even were
you not handicapped, you could not escape me. But that's not why I was chosen.'

'Why
then?'

'To
humiliate my father and degrade me. I'm firstborn, my father's heir, and he is the
leader of Clan Elienor. That I should do guard duty for a prisoner who is not
our own kind . . .' she coloured, '. . , and now it is I who mean no insult — demeans
us both.'

'I
don't understand.'

'Clan
Inthis has always hated Clan Elienor and tried to do us down. Now Inthis has
been reduced to two men, and Vithis is sterile, while Elienor has a higher
place than before. It's bile to him.'

They
returned to the tree, where Thyzzea unpacked the basket. 'I'm sorry there's no
wine to offer you.' She handed Tiaan a mug of water. 'Our supplies are low.'

'I
rarely drink wine,' said Tiaan. 'It makes my head spin.'

'We
used to take it at every meal, on our own world, though that was the weak wine,
not the strong. Strong wine is for adults, except on special occasions, and
then only sparingly.'

'I
thought you were an adult.'

Thyzzea
unpacked hard bread, which was brown with a purple tinge, a variety of dried
and smoked fruits of kinds that Tiaan did not recognise, a glass flask of red
oil and a string of stubby sausages. With each item she apologised for the
lack. Carving slices from the bread and the hard sausages, she drizzled them
with red oil and handed the platter to Tiaan.

'In
your years I would be about seventeen,’ said Thyzzea. We mature slowly compared
to old humankind. I am a woman, but not of adult age.'

Tiaan
found it strange to be referred to as an old human. She just thought of herself
as human, and the Aachim did not seem that different, though clearly they
considered themselves to be a distinct human species. Perhaps that was
connected to their obsession with their clans. 'Then we're not far apart. The
day you came through the gate was my twenty-first birthday.' She took a piece
of bread but laid it down again. I hope you find it edible,' Thyzzea said anxiously.
'I enjoyed the food Malien gave me in Tirthrax.' Tiaan tasted the sausage. It
was heavily spiced, burning the tip of her tongue and making her eyes water.
'Delicious,' she said, taking a sip from her mug, 'though rather hotter than
I'm used to.'

'I'm
sorry,' said Thyzzea. 'If it's . . .' 'I'll just take a little at a time,'
Tiaan said hoarsely. Hearing a high-pitched whine from their left, Thyzzea
stood up. 'It's a construct. The field must be working again.'

'I
don't see how it could be,' said Tiaan though, lacking her amplimet, she had no
way of telling. Shortly a construct floated by, whining furiously yet moving
slowly, towing another seven with stout cables. The blond-haired giant stood at
the controls, looking pleased with himself. He waved to Thyzzea and Tiaan as he
passed.

'That's
Ghaenis.' Thyzzea rose to watch him go by. She sighed, her breast heaved.
'Doesn't he look magnificent?'

'He
carried me from the battlefield. He seemed like a decent fellow.'

'He's
a brilliant young man, even cleverer than his mother. He's brave and
honourable, and modest too. If anyone can get us out of here, it will be him.'
Another sigh. 'But. . , of course,' she added, now speaking about herself, 'it
can never be.' 'Why not?' said Tiaan.

'He's
spoken for by the beautiful Rannilt. And even if he were not, his mother is
Tirior of Clan Nataz, and she hates my father even more than Vithis does.'

Tiaan
did not ask why. Deep currents ran between the clans.

Thyzzea
wrinkled her brow. 'It one construct can go, why not the others?'

'Vithis
gave Ghaenis my amplimet, and it's powerful enough to draw from a distant
field.' Tiaan wondered how long it would take to move the thousands of
constructs stranded here. Weeks, surely.

Thyzzea
had gone pale. 'He's using the amplimet? Hasn't anyone told him? But of course,
Clan Nataz have always desired it.. .'

'It'll
be all right if he takes it slowly,' said Tiaan.

'You
don't understand. We can't use —’

A few
hundred paces away, the leading construct screeched to a stop and thumped down.
The seven towed machines thudded after it, shaking the ground.

'He
must have lost the field,' said Tiaan.

Ghaenis
threw himself over the side and landed hard, rolling across the dry soil in
little puffs of dust. He stood up, looking back at his construct as if he
expected it to explode. A cloud passed in front of the sun and momentarily
Tiaan felt icy cold.

'Something's
wrong, Tiaan.' Thyzzea's eyes were huge.

'He'll
be safe if he's lost the field.'

'You
don't understand,' Thyzzea wailed 'He shouldn't have gone near it. We Aachim —’

'He
begged Vithis for it,' said Tiaan.

'But
Vithis has always been against using this deadly crystal.'

'Ghaenis
was most persuasive —’

Scarlet
rays streamed out of Ghaenis's torso. The air seemed to shimmer.

'Tiaan!'
Thyzzea cried. 'You know the amplimet best — can't you do something?'

'I
don't know what the matter is.' Yes, she did. The chill ran all the way down
Tiaan's back. 'Power must still be flowing from the field.' She pulled herself
up by the trunk of the tree, pricking her hands on the red thorns. 'It's
hurting him. Carry me across, quickly.'

Before
Thyzzea had taken a step, Tiaan could feel the power — and something else, a
brittle, inanimate crystal rage. The treacherous amplimet had refused to be cut
off, and it was directing all that power into Ghaenis.

'Can
you stop it?' gasped Thyzzea, running as hard as she could.

'If I
can get near enough.'

Ghaenis
was staggering about with his hands tightly pressed to his ears. The Aachim
from the other machines ran towards him, including a striking young woman,
presumably Rannilt, whose wavy black hair streamed out half a span behind her.

'Ghaenis,
love!' she cried. 'What's the matter?' When Thyzzea and Tiaan were still a
hundred paces away, Ghaenis collapsed. Steam or smoke wisped up from his mouth.
He arched his back, drummed his heels on the ground then, to the horror of
everyone there, burst into flame. Ghaenis screamed but once. Aachim raced up
with buckets of precious water but it made no difference. He was burning from
the inside out.

Thyzzea
stopped dead. Ghaenis arched up in a semicircle, just his heels and
outstretched hands touching the ground. His body was grotesquely swollen, his
nostrils emitting rings of black smoke. Then he exploded. The legs and head
fell back but the rest of Ghaenis was gone. It was the most hideous sight Tiaan
had ever seen.

Thyzzea
clutched Tiaan hard, making incoherent sounds in her throat. Rannilt screamed
so shrilly that the flask of oil under the tree cracked. Two Aachim carried her
away from the dreadful scene, still shrieking, and thankfully someone cast a
cloak over the smouldering remains.

Thyzzea
just stood there, choking. Tiaan wished she were a thousand leagues away. 'Take
me back, please. We can't do anything now.’

Thyzzea
stumbled back to the tree, gasping for air. Putting Tiaan down, she fell to her
knees and began to weep into her hands. Tiaan reached out, drawing Thyzzea to
her and folding her arms around the younger woman. She said nothing. Words had
no value whatsoever.

Finally
Thyzzea disengaged herself and drew away. With a visible effort, she
internalised her grief. The Aachim seemed able to do that — or perhaps they
preferred not to show emotion in the presence of strangers. 'Rannilt will go
out of her mind' she said hoarsely. 'Why, why did Vithis let him have the
amplimet?'

Tiaan
could not answer that. 'Once anthracism starts, there's no stopping it. But at
least it was quick.'

'Ghaenis
was a wonderful man. Everyone loved him. What will his mother -?'

Tirior,
recognisable from a distance by the black curling hair, came flying across the
dirt. Several Aachim tried to stop her from passing through the circle but she
knocked them out of the way and pushed through. A great shuddering cry rent the
air.

Vithis
appeared from the other direction, robes flapping. No one hindered his passage.
The crowd separated behind him, before moving away hastily. Vithis converged on
Tirior, who was standing by the smoking remains. She turned, ground out
something that Tiaan did not hear, then struck Vithis down with a vicious blow
to the midriff.

Laying
her cloak over the other cloak, she knelt by her son's remains, head bowed.

Vithis
picked himself up and retrieved the amplimet from the construct, keeping the
platinum sheet between it and his hand at all times. After wrapping it
carefully, he stalked towards Tiaan's tree, waving an attendant across. 'Bring
her!'

The
attendant picked Tiaan up.

'Where
are you taking Tiaan?' said Thyzzea with desperate dignity, determined to
preserve her clan's honour no matter how far Vithis outmatched her.

Vithis
did not deign to reply.

'I
must insist on knowing' she said stoutly.

"How
dare you question me, child of an outcast clan!'

'You
required me to take Tiaan into my house, and so I have. She has guest right.'

"The
Eleven Clans do not recognise guest right for aliens.'

'Clan
Elienor does,' Thyzzea said, 'and your actions are a deliberate insult to my
father, our clan, and myself.' A red spot had appeared high on each cheek; one
knee shook as she faced him. 'And to Tiaan, whom our Histories honour, despite
your insulting behaviour.'

'You
have not reached your majority and cannot offer guest right. How dare you
lecture me!'