Bridge of Dreams (56 page)

“My mother.”

“She’s hurting for her children. As a leader, I think she recognizes that her people might be harboring a deadly enemy—and that must be a terrible and frightening realization. And as a woman, I think she’s hoping that, by being cut free of their people, Zhahar and her sisters will find the heart magic that has been eluding the Tryad for so many years.”

“If Zhahar does find it, the Tryad who were merged or forced to sacrifice siblings because of some archaic law will be bitter, maybe even destructive.”
Especially if some part of them answered to the Dark.

“Yes. I don’t envy the a Zephyra Tryad.”

“Nor do I.” Glorianna hesitated, struggling to say the words. “Do you mind that I have two aspects?”

“Aspects.” Nadia smiled. “We have a way to describe it now, don’t we? No, I don’t mind, and even if I did…” She shrugged. “Your life, your journey, your choice.”

She felt the currents of Light become a little stronger, so she laughed and said, “How long are you going to wait before you give Lee one of the young keets as a housewarming present?”

“He doesn’t want a keet.”

“He didn’t want a keet. Now I think having one would be good for him.”

Nadia said nothing. Then, “The youngsters I have now will be leaving for their new homes in a few days, but Jeb is building a couple of cages that might suit Lee’s new residence.”

“So he should be settled in well enough by the time you’re looking for homes for the next brood?”

“Exactly.”

Laughing, the two women walked back to the house.

T
hey didn’t sleep that night. They simply stared at the big traveling bag that would hold everything they could take with them.

Twice Zhahar pulled out the Three Faces and the Third Eye, the spiritual symbols of her people, intending to leave them behind. But it wasn’t the spirit of her people that had failed her; it was the people themselves. So she tucked the Three Faces carefully into the bag, then studied the three-eyed goddess. One eye to see intentions, one to witness actions, and one to see the heart.

“Watch over us,” she whispered as she tucked that into the bag too.

=It’s almost time,= Zeela whispered.

*Where is Sholeh?* Zhahar asked. *She needs to be with us when this happens.*

=Let her rest a little while longer.=

*She won’t have much of a life in a dark place.*

=Probably not. But we’ll do what we can for all of us.=

A tapping on the guest room door. When Zhahar answered it, Nadia stood on the other side.

“Ready?” Nadia asked kindly.

No.
“Yes, we’re ready.” Zhahar hefted the bag, grunting a little at its weight. *I hope we don’t have to lug this very far.*

Zeela didn’t answer.

“You already have plenty to carry, but I made up a pack that has water and enough food to last you for a day or two.” Nadia handed her the pack and briefly touched Zhahar’s cheek. “Travel lightly.”

=She says that and then weighs us down a little more,= Zeela grumbled.

Or maybe it was an attempt at humor, since Zhahar could feel Sholeh’s presence now.

“The others are waiting outside to say good-bye,” Nadia said.

She didn’t want to see them, but it occurred to her that people fated to receive Heart’s Justice usually didn’t get a send-off. So she thanked Nadia for the food and walked outside.

Michael and Yoshani were waiting just outside the door. Michael held up another pack. This one was big enough to hold the food pack and more. When he slipped the food pack into it, she heard the clink of coins.

“Yoshani and I were doing a little weeding last night and unearthed this stash of coins. We thought having a bit of gold would smooth the way once you get to where you’re going.”

“Be well, Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar,” Yoshani said. “I hope we meet again.”

She blinked back tears and walked over to where Lynnea and Sebastian waited.

“Here,” Lynnea said, holding out a book. “I know you can’t carry much, but this is my favorite book of stories. I thought Sholeh would enjoy them.”

“Glorianna is waiting for you at the edge of the road,” Sebastian said. “I’ll walk you up there.”

He took her elbow before she could decline the offer. As soon as they rounded the corner of the house and were out of sight of the others, he stopped and slipped a small cloth bag into the pack.

“One-shot bridge to the Den,” he said. “Heart’s Justice is supposed to take you where you’re meant to be, so you’re supposed to handle whatever hardships come your way. But if you’re in danger, Zhahar, if your lives are
at risk, Sholeh or Zeela can use the bridge to cross over, and we’ll deal with the consequences.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. “All of you.”

He kissed her cheek, then led her halfway to where Glorianna waited.

She walked the rest of the way alone—and not alone. One who was three. Three who were one.

There were a lot of things she wanted to say to Lee’s sister, but none of them were appropriate—and probably didn’t matter now.

Our life, our journey, our choice.

“Let your heart travel lightly,” Glorianna Belladonna said. “Because what you bring with you becomes part of the landscape.”

*What do we want to bring with us?* Zhahar asked her sisters.

::Hope,:: Sholeh whispered.

=Courage,= Zeela said.

*Heart,* Zhahar added. Then she said to the Guide of the Heart, “We’re ready.”

Glorianna smiled. “Yes, you are. Ephemera, hear me.”

The wind blew over her skin, under her skin. The ground felt soft, fluid. The world faded and became a white sheet where images flashed by almost too fast for them to see. A dark lake and two huge black stones rising out of the water. A desert of rust-colored sand. A harbor town that made them uneasy. Another harbor town that looked bright and happy. A valley full of fog. Bobbing lights and music.

Images pulled at one or the other of them, but not all of them. And then…

Zhahar felt something snag her as the ground became so fluid it disappeared. She screamed—and heard Sholeh and Zeela scream too.

She stumbled and almost stepped on a dead, bloated cat, scattering the rats that had come for a meal.

Zeela came into view, steadying them as they walked out of the alley and looked around.

=Late afternoon, if I can trust the position of the sun and the feel of the day,= she said.

*Then we’re nowhere near Aurora,* Zhahar said. *But it has the cool feel of autumn here too. Sholeh? Are you all right?*

::Yes.::

Zeela wasn’t sure of that, but being the one in view, she had to pay attention to where they were and leave Sholeh to Zhahar.

A dark place. She could feel it. It looked like a poorer section of town, but that wouldn’t have made it dark. Sometimes the fanciest parts of a town were also the darkest. This felt more like a shadow street that had gone septic.

*Shadow street?* Zhahar asked.

=Couldn’t be.=
But it feels like one.
Blowing out a breath, Zeela headed for a group of men working around an empty lot in the middle of the block, then veered toward the women who were watching the workers from across the street.

“What happened?” she asked a middle-aged woman.

“Strangers took over a house a while back,” the woman replied. “Nasty pieces of work, every one of them. Then one night they disappeared—and the house with them. Pipes were ripped open and we had water and sewage filling up the house’s cellar and pouring out into the street. Was worth a demon’s ransom to get the city workers to come out here and begin fixing things. Had to petition a Shaman before we got any help, and had to hire the Knife Guild to protect the workers, because some bad things had happened on this street. Wasn’t like that before the strangers arrived, even if it was a shadow street.”

Zeela swayed and wished she’d taken time for a sip of water and a bite of food. Not that she would have taken either in that stinking alley, but…

Shaman. Knife. Shadow street.

“What is this place?” she asked. When the woman, who had sounded friendly enough, gave her a less-than-friendly look, she added hurriedly, “I just arrived. Was left here, actually, and wasn’t told the name of the town.”

The woman bobbed her head once. After a minute during which they both watched the workers, she said, “This is part of the city of Vision. You’ve heard of Vision?”

Zeela nodded, not sure if her heart was pounding so hard because of her feelings or because of her sisters. “In the city of Vision, you can find only what you can see.”

“That’s right.” The woman looked her over. “There’s lodgings at the end of the street. Not the cleanest place, but it won’t cost you much to stay there.”

“Appreciate the information. I’ll go down and see if they have any rooms available.” She narrowed her eyes and studied the man who didn’t look like he was doing anything useful, but his eyes never stopped scanning the street. He wasn’t the Knife who had helped them get out of Vision, but having that much of an introduction couldn’t hurt. “But first I need to talk to a man about a job.”

L
ee settled the island a few steps away from the cottage he now called home, picked up the cloth-covered bundle that contained his new roommate, hurried off the island, and rushed to get inside.

But he still wasn’t quick enough.

“Lee?” Danyal called from the large screened patio that connected their cottages.

Sighing, Lee changed directions and joined Danyal on the patio. It was too chilly to sit outside for pleasure, so Danyal must have been waiting for him to return.

“We’re going to have to get a hook for that door.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the patio door and tried to ignore Danyal’s palpable curiosity. Then he sighed again, set the bundle on the table, and removed the cloth covering partway.

The lavender and white keet began a muttering scold—the same sound he’d been making since Nadia put the traveling cage on the island and left.

“Watch him, will you?” Lee said. “I have to get the other cage.”

“There’s more than one keet?” Danyal asked.

“No, but Jeb made him a big cage to live in. That one is a traveling cage
so that, in warmer weather, he can come with me when I’m spending the day at the playground station. That will give him a chance to socialize.” He rolled his eyes—a wasted movement, since he was wearing the dark glasses and no one would see it.

He went back to the island, gathered up his pack and the big cage, and took those into his cottage. Then he returned to the patio. Since Danyal seemed interested in the bird, it was tempting to say the keet had been intended for the Shaman, but he could picture sitting down to dinner at his mother’s and having
that
little tidbit slip out during a conversation. And now that a stationary bridge linked their school to Aurora, Danyal was a frequent guest at Nadia’s home—and Sebastian’s—so it was bound to come up.

“I have his food, his dishes, his toys, and things for him to chew,” Lee said, knowing he sounded a little more sour than he felt. “And once he settles in to his new home, he’ll be able to play with his favorite toy.”

“What is that?” Danyal asked.

“People.”

Danyal laughed. “What is his name?”

“Haven’t come up with one. My mother doesn’t name the babies that are going to be given away, because she says the names should be chosen by the new families.”

“That makes sense. So you have no thoughts?”

“One.” Lee leaned close to the cage and said, “Featherhead.”

He regretted it as soon as his eardrums started vibrating. How could something that small be so loud?

When the keet went to the back of the cage and resumed muttering, Danyal said with a straight face, “I don’t think he likes that name.” He gave Lee a puzzled look. “If you didn’t want him, why did you take him?”

“My mother presented me with the cage and the keet and told me it was time for me to have one. My sister, along with Caitlin and Lynnea, agreed.” And a man who had lived with Landscapers his whole life didn’t argue when three of them said it was time. Especially when one of those Landscapers was a Guide of the Heart.

“Perhaps I can help you with the name,” Danyal said. “Maybe something more traditional to this part of the world?”

Lee studied the Shaman, who was also a Guide. “Thanks.”

“I was waiting for you because the Apothecary dropped these off.” Danyal picked up a small case from the woven table beside his chair.

Lee took the case and opened it.

“Try them,” Danyal said.

Slipping the dark glasses into his shirt pocket, he carefully removed the other glasses and put them on. Then he took the book Danyal held out and opened it to a random page.

“They work,” he said after a moment. “I can read again.”

“Good,” Danyal said, smiling.

Over the past few weeks, his eyesight had continued to improve, thanks to the more potent eyedrops the Apothecary had made. His eyes weren’t as good as they used to be, but he could see again. And now, after a visit to the eyeglass maker’s booth at the bazaar to have a special pair of glasses made, he could read again.

He removed the glasses and put them in their case.

“What are you going to do now?”

Lee listened to the muttering in the cage that sounded more unhappy now than bitchy. He sighed—but he also smiled because the keet was a living reminder of home and the people who loved him. “I’m going to figure out the best place for his big cage—and then I’m going to make him some toast.”

Z
hahar sat at the wobbly kitchen table, rolling a glass of firewater between her hands. The cheap, rough-tasting alcohol didn’t appeal to her, but lately Zeela always had a bottle stashed in a bottom cupboard behind the pots and pans that weren’t often used.

The seasons were changing. The autumn days still held some warmth, but the night air had the crisp scent of winter. She had to find warm clothes—mostly garments appropriate for Zeela, but also garments she and Sholeh could wear. And tomorrow she would have to face the market and the increasingly suspicious looks from the vendors and the people in her neighborhood.