Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One (52 page)

Roscien moved towards Brant as
though meaning to attack him.
“You liar!
You traitor!”
He roared.

Brant’s eyes were as big as
Moma’s pies used to be. “No, I swear, it was not me! I swear!”
 

Snarling Dyrrendrel flanked the
Skell and they were moving closer to us. Alathaya sat down with a thunk behind
me.

Some of the Skell had what
looked like fishnets, except they shone and sparkled in some unseen light. One
was moving towards
Tas
who started to back up, but as
quick as a viper, the Skell struck out with the net and unbelievably, it seemed
to contain him.

Another Skell was walking slowly
towards me. He had an arrow nocked and drawn. The bow and arrow were both as
black as the blades I had seen them use previously. He smiled sardonically
showing his pinpoint teeth. “The Master shall be best pleased with me.” He
crooned in that gravelly voice they all had.

The moment he let the arrow fly,
Brant screamed, “No!” He jumped in front of me and the arrow hit him square in
the chest. He fell with a thud at my feet.

 
Horrified, I crouched down. Blood was running
from the corner of his mouth and his eyes were already dulling.

“Did… not… betray… you.” He
released one final breath.

The Skell who had shot him was
still smiling and had another arrow nocked. He drew and let go.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

I had to
stop myself from shaking her. At her house, she had come out of it naturally so
I tried to wait patiently. Suddenly she took a deep, rasping breath.

She gripped me by the arms to
the point of pain. “We cannot go. They are waiting for us. We will all die if
we go. Even
Tas
and Roscien. They are waiting.” She
took a few deep breaths.

I took the moment to talk to
her. “Calm down. It is okay, we are okay. No one has left yet, so just take
your time and tell me what happened.”

She took a few more shuddering
breaths and started recounting the story. “You leapt in front of me and shouted
for me to come back and give warning. I was so afraid that I nearly was not
able to find the focus I needed to do it.
 
I heard for a moment Brant swearing that it was not him, but after that,
I do not know what happened. Then I came back to awareness here.” She was still
shivering.

I called for Markai and Trissa.
“Help Alathaya to bed.
Give her a hot drink and make her eat
something. She will need lots of rest.” Trissa nodded and led her away.

I feared for her, she would be
sick for days, of that I was sure.

Once Trissa and Alathaya were
gone, I told Markai what would have happened had we gone to meet Brant. When I
finished she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So, what do you think?”
She looked at me intently.

“About
Brant?”
I asked, knowing that was what she meant. “I do not fully know,” I
continued. “She said she heard him plead his innocence, but then that could
have been a ploy. He knows of Thaya’s Talent, he knew she would come back and
warn us, so perhaps he simply saw that they were not going to be able to kill
her in time to keep her from warning us.”

She looked at me a long moment.
“Is that what you truly believe, or what your cautious side is telling you to
believe?”

I ran a hand through my hair in
frustration. “Argh, it is all in such a muddle. Now I still do not know if I
should trust him or not. What do you think?”

She paced back and forth,
whipping her tail with a swishing sound. “We must be as cautious as if it has
been confirmed that he is against us. But, for all that, I do not think he is.
If he had told them of your Talents, specifically Alathaya’s Talent, they would
have simply hidden at a distance and have an archer shoot her first. As you
said, she cannot come back and warn us if she is dead. That suggests to me,
that they did not know what she is capable of.”

I nodded; that made sense.
"We cannot risk Tas or Roscien tonight either. They certainly were
prepared for their Talent. Besides, if Brant had not been in on the ambush it
means that they suspect he is not truly theirs. They must have followed him to
see what he would lead them to. We would be risking exposing him as well if
someone met him."

She swished her tail.
"Agreed.
I think it best to ask Roscien and
Tas
to instead go back to the castle. We need more
information there. We know now that they can be caught, but they still have the
best chance at getting us more vital information."

They were busy preparing for the
meeting when I found them. "Change of plans."

They looked up at me with
surprise clear on their faces.

Tas
recovered first, and asked, "She came back then to warn us? It is a
trap."

I told them what Alathaya had
reported and what Markai and I had been discussing.

Roscien wore a deep frown.
"They still knew of our Talents. They were prepared for that. He must have
told them something."

I had been thinking the same.
"Possibly, but then maybe someone had spotted you in the castle. We do not
know anything for sure. That is why we are going to go about things with the
utmost of care. You now know the risk this poses to you, but that in itself is
an advantage we have gained from this experience."

They agreed to do another search
of the castle, but part of the excitement from before was replaced with, what
was in my opinion, much more sensible fear.

I walked back to check on
Alathaya. I knew we had to start our assault in a matter of days. We dared not
risk waiting any longer. I found her lying on her bedroll. She was curled up
under two blankets, but she was still shivering. I touched her forehead; she
was burning with fever. Trissa sat looking at her with such concern in her eyes
that it made my stomach clench. What if she did not recover this time? I should
never have let her come along. Part of me knew that such a sentiment was pure
foolishness, not least for the fact that Markai,
Tas
and Roscien and I would all have been captured or killed had she not come
along. It did not make seeing her this way any easier.

"Has she slept since you
lay her down here?" I asked.

Trissa shook her head miserably.
"Yes, but this is more than sleep. I tried waking her to get her to eat
some more porridge, but she did not wake. She mutters occasionally and that is
a good sign, I think, but none of it makes sense. She had some water before she
fell asleep and a couple of mouthfuls of porridge, but not much."

I nearly jumped when Markai
spoke behind my shoulder. "Her energy feels wrong. This is not good. You
should speak to the Jerieghen. They are renowned for their knowledge of
healing."

Surely, they must have seen that
Alathaya was unwell. They should have come to help if they were able. I bit
back the words though and simply nodded. Markai of course, had a sense of the
unsaid words. "The Jerieghen have many customs, many of which may seem
peculiar to you. They do not interfere where they have not been invited.
Even if it is a case of life and death."

That seemed ridiculous to me,
but I clenched my teeth and stood up. I found Laskia and Wulik together. They
were busily grinding down some roots and seeds and some sort of flower by the
look of it.

They stopped their activity
immediately when they saw me looking. "May we assist you with
anything?"

I cleared my throat.
"Alathaya is not well. She had to come back from our meeting with Brant to
warn us not to go. Now she has a fever and I am concerned for her recovery.
Markai tells me you are highly skilled in healing?"

They exchanged a meaningful
look, although what that meaning might have been went right over my head.
"We are not the healers from our 'towns'," the word sounded foreign
on his lips and I wondered what they called them, "
nevertheless,
our skill most likely outstrips your best healer's. May we see her?"

Irritation and gratitude boiled
up in me, but I tried to show only the latter. “Please.” I led them back to
her.

They both knelt down beside her.
For a long moment, they simply looked at her. I did not know what they were
looking for or whether they found it, but at the exact same moment, they both
started their physical examination. They pulled the blankets off her to her
muttered protests and feeble resistance. I had to force myself not to pass
comment on that. They poked and prodded her in all sorts of unlikely areas. For
a moment, it seemed as though Wulik was looking for fleas. He combed through
her hair inspecting what seemed every inch of her skull. Then he moved on to
her mouth, forcing it open and peering in as though trying to see the contents
of her stomach. Laskia was prodding at her stomach and then putting an ear to
it and listening for the stars knew what. He then picked up her hand and looked
underneath her fingernails, smelling and even licking one or two of them. He
did the same with her toenails.

At the same moment, they looked
up from her and nodded at each other. “Some
bluegoose
grass and vine sweet.”

Laskia nodded.
“
Rindle
root and
sero
herbs.”

Wulik thought on this a moment,
and then shook his head. “Not
sero
herbs; roil salt.”

A slow smile spread across
Laskia’s
face. “Of course, yes much better.”

As one, they stood up and
without another word to me walked off. I hurriedly pulled her blankets back
over her, gave her feverish head a quick kiss before dashing off after them.

Laskia was building a small fire
while Wulik was digging through his bag. He muttered to himself while pulling
out several strange looking plants and herbs. Once he seemingly had all he
needed he set to cutting them all up into minute slices. Laskia put a kettle of
water on the fire and as soon as the water boiled, they added all the diced up
ingredients. For several minutes, they sat silently stirring the mixture,
occasionally taking a delicate sniff of the steam, but never tasting it. Laskia
opened a small pouch and pinched out a tiny amount of a white substance, which
he then carefully added to the kettle. He stirred several more times before
slowly pouring the brew through a strainer into an empty water skin.

Still steaming, they carried it
over to where she lay. They waited a few minutes for the tea to cool. Laskia
started gently shaking her shoulder. When she did not respond, he shook her
harder.

Wulik produced another water
skin and casually opened it and from a small distance above her head, started
pouring the water onto her face.

“What are you doing? She is not
being obstinate, she is sick!” I asked in outrage.

My only answer was a doleful
look from Wulik. She started gasping and her eyes fluttered.

“Open your eyes Alathaya. You
must not give in to this illness or you shall never wake up. Now open your
eyes,” Laskia spoke in a smooth yet commanding tone.

I could see her trying to force
herself to wake up. With visible effort, she opened her eyes. They were blood
red and she appeared drunk, swaying as she sat, even though Wulik was
supporting her. “Alathaya, you have to drink this tea. Your life depends on it.
You must not spit any of it out. Do you understand, Alathaya?” He held her head
steady while speaking to her.

She gave a small nod and he
started to press her cheeks to force her mouth open. Laskia stood over her and
held the water skin to her lips. The first two sips she seemed to take
willingly, but after that it became a struggle. She was moaning and trying to
fight them off with feeble arms that did not seem to do what she wanted.
  

Wulik visibly had to force her
mouth open for every sip and then shut her mouth to prevent her from spitting
it out. It was very hard to sit back and watch her being treated like that, but
I trusted that they knew what they were doing and that they were trying to help
her. She started pleading with them to stop. She was sobbing in between each
sip and twice nearly made herself choke. When it was all finally done, they let
her go and she sagged back onto her bed. She was retching and Laskia and Wulik
watched with concern in their eyes. “We can make her take it in, but keeping it
in… ”
he
shook his head. “We can only hope her body
accepts it.”

I knew he had said it for my
benefit, but I only pushed past him and sat down next to her. I felt so
helpless. I sat stroking her hair, and she finally fell into a fitful
sleep.
 

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Markai
came over to me while I was sitting by the fire. “How is she?”

I shrugged.
“Sleeping.”

“We cannot delay much more.
Beratus
reports that the influx of forces to the enemy’s
camp is slowing to a trickle. Any day Rakadamon can decide it is time to send
his army out and that would be catastrophic.”