Dark Realm: Book 5 Circles of Light series (37 page)

‘Gossamer said your
teeth are blue. Are they?’

Drengle List smiled
shyly, revealing his pale blue fangs.

‘That’s a very good
colour,’ Shea said admiringly. ‘I met someone recently who has
purple teeth.’

Drengle came all the
way downstairs. ‘Purple would look good,’ he agreed. ‘I like
purple.’

‘I can tell,’ Shea
nodded.

‘How’d you get here? Is
Gossamer back?’

‘I’m afraid not. Snail
told us where you live.’

‘Oh. What you want
then?’

‘Just to talk to the
ghosts, unless you’d like to show us the way into the
Citadel?’

Drengle’s eyes widened
in alarm and he put a foot back on the stairs. ‘You’re mad,’ he
said with conviction. ‘Who’d want to go there, now? I’m too busy
anyway.’ He retreated another step.

‘I understand. But do
you mind if we chat to the ghosts?’

‘Chat all you like.
They don’t never chat back.’ Drengle turned and climbed the rest of
the stairs, clearly wanting nothing more to do with
them.

Drengle was proved
right in that the ghosts didn’t seem able to communicate beyond
nodding or shaking their heads. Sket, sitting on the kitchen table,
finally suggested, almost casually, if Tika could reach the ghosts
using mind speech. Tika used one of Sergeant Essa’s favourite words
and Daylith looked shocked. A moment later Tika was
grinning.

‘I can reach some of
them,’ she announced. ‘Some are too – faded.’

She kept the
conversation, such as it was, between herself and the ghosts, and
was glad she did when one gave her graphic details of Mellia’s
suicide. The ghost had once been employed in the Citadel, waiting
at tables, and later he was appointed to the staff serving the
Imperatrix’s daughters. Three years ago, soon after Ternik’s
appointment as tutor to the girls, he had incurred Ternik’s
displeasure. His heart had simply stopped as he carried dishes from
the dining room to the scullery.

He often visited those
apartments though, because he had a great compassion for the girls.
This was the ghost who had watched Shea reading in the library at
night. He told Tika there had been whispers that Ternik was a mage
from the day she’d arrived. But no one had guessed what power she
had. Despite Veranta’s purges of those with talent, a fair few
still lived in the City and helped people where they could with
minor magics.

In the past half year,
Ternik had changed. The ghosts saw a blackness both around her and
within her, and had seen thin black tendrils creeping ever more
extensively through the Citadel. The ghost told Tika of a strange
outbreak of violence among the staff and officials of late. Maids
beaten for the slightest mistakes, officials thrown in the cells,
good friends suddenly becoming implacable foes.

Tika was grateful to
have made contact with one who had made serious observations of the
situation, and she asked him to wait while she relayed the gist of
his information to her friends. Daylith paced between the back door
and the table.

‘It is far too high a
risk,’ he said. ‘This mage grows in strength.’ He met Tika’s gaze.
‘That strength is coming from the Crazed One, you must realise
that.’

Tika’s chin came up and
Sket smiled. ‘We get Kerris,’ she said, her tone flatly
uncompromising.

Daylith’s lips
compressed to a thin line. He expelled a long breath from his nose
and turned abruptly to Shea. ‘Your sister will be in the apartments
now?’ he asked.

Shea nodded. ‘If it is
a usual day, she will be in the school room with Ternik. But as
Mellia has died. .’

One of the ghosts
pressed close, between Sket and Tika. Tika felt an odd pressure and
realised the ghost was trying to initiate mind speech. She
listened. Then the ghost was gone, several others rushing in its
wake.

‘He said he will check.
He also said that if there are a lot of them – the ghosts –
together, they can make the air sort of thicker, enough to upset
people trying to walk through them.’

Daylith eyed her
warily.

‘If he tells us exactly
where Kerris is, you make a gateway, for that particular point. He
says he will take as many ghosts as he can gather up. They will
ring the room, which may slow down anyone trying to approach or
enter. Whether they would have any effect at all against the mage
they don’t know. I would guess very little.’

Daylith nodded
agreement. ‘Very well. I will do this. The gateway will open for
thirty heartbeats – at the most – then I open another back to the
Mountains.’

Tika considered then
agreed. The ghosts swirled into the kitchen and Tika opened her
mind to the leading ghost.

‘He says Kerris is in
her bedroom.’ Tika frowned. ‘He says she saw him. Did you know
Kerris could see ghosts?’

Shea turned away. ‘We
didn’t talk. Not about anything.’

Briefly, Tika tried to
imagine what sort of life Shea and her sisters must have endured
and decided that her own upbringing as a slave sounded far better.
Tika took Shea’s hand.

‘Picture the rooms in
which you lived, the view from Kerris’s bedroom window and I will
show it to Daylith.’

Daylith concentrated
intently on the scenes Tika showed him from Shea’s mind. Finally he
nodded. ‘I have it as clearly as possible. I hope.’

Before more could be
said, ghosts boiled around them. Tika focused on the vaporous mass.
‘We’ll have to wait,’ she told the others. ‘There are some
ceremonies taking place this morning and Kerris is in
attendance.’

Sket sighed and went to
poke through some cupboards on the wall. He was astonished to find
them well stocked and neatly arranged. He soon found which storage
jars contained tea and then realised there was no cook stove. He
muttered under his breath and headed outside. ‘Be quicker to make a
camp fire,’ he called back to Tika.

She rolled her eyes.
‘I’ve never understood why he has to have tea – water’s fine with
me.’

Daylith managed his
first smile since they’d left the Karmazen Palace. ‘There are a lot
like him among my people,’ he admitted. ‘I can only drink it to be
courteous.’

‘You’re lucky to be
able to drink it at all,’ a voice said behind them.

Tika looked at Drengle
List standing in the doorway. She smiled at him. ‘You must have
lots of visitors – all that food in your cupboards.’

Morosely Drengle
regarded the cupboards that Sket had investigated and then left
open. ‘Don’t have no visitors. Gossamer cooks things every now and
then. We like the smell.’

Shea dived out of the
back door in search of Sket.

‘I see.’ Tika wondered
what more to say. Snail was absolutely right in her assessment of
Drengle List’s mental prowess.

‘Where is she
then?’

The yellow circles on
Drengle’s chest had become smeared, Tika noted absently. ‘She went
with Seola,’ she began.

‘Huh. I told her not
to. All that Dark Realm nonsense. That Seola woman’s trouble. I
told her I did. But there’s none so deaf as those that can’t
see.’

‘Erm,
exactly.’

Daylith abruptly left
the kitchen, leaving Tika to cope with a suddenly talkative Drengle
List.

After some time, Sket
came to fetch bowls for the tea and resolutely ignored Tika’s
pleading look. On the contrary, he brought her tea and put it in
front of her with a very broad smile. Then he went off again. By
the time Tika had heard all about Drengle’s childhood, his various,
and many, attempts at careers, and was about to hear of his murder,
the sun had reached beyond midday. She was so grateful for the
arrival of a flurry of ghosts, she could have kissed each one.
Daylith appeared, Sket and Shea at his heels.

‘Kerris has said she’s
tired and feels feverish. She’s in her room.’

‘Is she really ill?’
Shea asked anxiously.

Tika listened to the
ghost. ‘No, just needs to be on her own.’

‘Then we can go
now?’

Tika raised a brow at
Daylith. ‘Right,’ he said. ‘If we end up in a nasty mess, please
remember this was not my idea.’

The four drew closer
together, Daylith murmured a short sentence and they vanished.
Drengle blinked.

‘Rude,’ he said, to the
few ghost who still lingered in his kitchen. ‘Very rude. Like that
woman. People don’t learn no manners these days. Very
rude.’

They reappeared in
Shea’s bedroom which she’d shared with Kerris. Kerris was propped
on her bed, holding a book. Shea dashed towards her, snatching the
book away.

‘Kerris, will you come
with us, this minute? I’m so sorry I left you behind.’

Kerris’s grey eyes
brimmed with tears and she hurled her arms round Shea’s neck. Sket
reached for both girls, pulling them close. Then he glanced at Tika
in alarm. Her skin was white as milk and her eyes rolling back in
her head.

‘Now,’ he hissed at
Daylith. ‘Get us out now.’

Plunged into the
dreadful darkness, Sket could only hold on to Tika’s body. As he
began to feel queasy, he realised with relief that her body was
relaxing, leaning more naturally against him. Then brightness
blinded him and he screwed his eyes against it, still hanging on to
Tika. He slid helplessly to the ground and heard Tika’s
voice.

‘Let go Sket. Just sit
quiet for a while. I’m fine.’

He groaned and lay
back. He kept his eyes closed, thinking of exactly what he’d like
to do to whatever fool had invented these gateways. Tika looked at
Shea. She held her sister in her arms. But the younger girl wasn’t
crying. She was staring about her in wonder. She met Tika’s
brilliant green and silvered eyes and her mouth formed a circle.
Shea noticed, and released her sister.

‘This is my friend,
Tika,’ she said with a hint of pride.

Kerris bobbed a curtsey
and Tika laughed. She started to speak and was flattened by an
excited silver blue Dragon. Shea slid an arm across Kerris’s
shoulders.

‘That is Farn. He and
Tika are sort of brother and sister. He’s my friend
too.’

Kerris tilted her head
back to look at Shea. ‘You look different,’ she said shyly. ‘You’re
not pretending anymore.’

Shea bumped her
forehead against Kerris’s. ‘I’m sorry, but I didn’t dare let even
you know that I wasn’t as stupid as they all thought. I was too
scared you might say something by accident.’

Kerris nodded. ‘Do you
know about Mellia?’

Shea tightened her arm.
‘Yes. But you must tell me all of it later.’

Farn had allowed Tika
to get to her feet. He had checked Sket’s recumbent body and been
swatted on the nose, and now he paced towards Shea. He lowered his
head and gently touched his brow to hers.

‘I am glad you are
safe.’

Kerris gasped as she
heard the voice inside her head and Farn’s prismed sapphire eyes
studied her.

‘This is my sister,
Kerris,’ Shea said aloud.

‘Another girl!’ Farn
sounded delighted and he butted his head against Kerris’s
chest.

A smile appeared on
Kerris’s face, and widened to a tremendous grin. Then, an enormous
woman appeared behind Farn and looked carefully at the two girls.
She hunkered down so that she was a little nearer their
heights.

‘You all right then?’
she asked casually.

‘Essa!’ Shea reached to
give the Sergeant a hug and missed the look of astonishment on the
broad face. Then Essa frowned, her brows making one thick bar above
her light blue eyes. But Kerris knew that Shea would never, ever,
have shown such affection to someone she didn’t trust
completely.

Chapter
Twenty-One

Daylith had returned
them to a pasture just south of the main Bear village. Looking
towards the buildings he saw a young boy racing within the boundary
walls. He turned his face up to the late afternoon sun and saw Brin
and Storm spiralling down towards them. He wondered where the
golden Dragon was but then saw Shield Master Garrol hurrying across
the grass.

‘Shall we go up to the
village?’ he suggested to Tika.

She nodded and walked
beside Kerris who kept tripping over the hem of her long ornate
dress. Finally Kerris stopped and grabbed handfuls of her skirt,
hauling it up to knee level. She glared enviously at Tika’s
trousers.

‘Can I have trousers
like you and Shea?’ she asked. ‘Soon?’

Tika laughed and Farn,
pacing beside them, peered over Tika’s head at the much smaller
girl.

‘I don’t understand
these covers you wear,’ he confessed in mind speech. ‘Why do you
need them even when the weather is warm?’

Kerris stared up at
him, dropped her skirts and struggled to reach the top buttons at
the back. Sergeant Essa halted behind her.

‘Let me.’

Such huge fingers were
surprisingly deft and the long row of buttons was quickly undone.
Kerris tugged at the cuffs and peeled herself out of the despised
garment. She beamed at Essa, standing in a short sleeved vest and
drawers that reached halfway to her knees. Essa picked up the dress
and held a hand out to Kerris, who took it and hopped along beside
her. Shea glanced back from where she walked with Sket and looked
slightly surprised to see her sister in her underwear.