Dark Realm: Book 5 Circles of Light series (4 page)

When the messenger
returned to the Imperatrix and described the state of Advisor
Pule’s health, she had questioned him closely. It was clear though,
that the messenger was truthfully describing a very sick man.
Veranta dismissed the messenger and sat in thought for a while. She
was not a woman gifted with much intelligence but she had a devious
and cunning mind. Deciding she needed Ternik’s thoughts on the
matter of Waxin Pule she left her study. She told the scribes and
messengers in the anteroom that she could be found in the
schoolroom if her presence was required in the next
hour.

One of her personal
guards swung into step two paces behind her as she strode through
the upper Citadel. The guard noted, as always, her rather odd gait:
she took small steps as though she was a smaller woman than in fact
she was. Her hips were wide, wider than her shoulders, which were
always slightly hunched – perhaps to disguise the overlarge breasts
she’d developed after the birth of her first child.

They reached a dark
green wooden double door heavily braced with scrolling bands of
both iron and bronze before which stood two guards. They came
smartly to attention at Veranta’s approach and reached for the ring
handles to swing open the doors. Her personal guard remained
outside while the Imperatrix went on into her daughters’
quarters.

She found Mellia
leaning in a window seat in the sitting room, gazing down at the
City and harbour.

‘No lessons today?’ she
asked acidly.

Mellia half fell from
the seat and managed a clumsy bob in her mother’s
direction.

‘I finished my work
early my lady.’

Mellia’s wispy voice
certainly suited her wispy appearance thought Veranta.

‘Surely you can find
something more worthwhile to do with your time than to stare out of
a window.’

Without waiting for an
answer Veranta went on along a hallway to the schoolroom. She
opened a door on her right and found her other two daughters at
their desks. Shea, nearly twelve, grinned vacantly at her mother
but ten-year-old Kerris kept her head down.

‘Go to the sitting room
for a while,’ Veranta ordered. ‘I need a word with your
tutor.’

Kerris slid from her
chair, bobbed a curtsey and fled, but Shea looked
mournful.

‘I’ve nearly started
this picture mother.’

Veranta rolled her
eyes. ‘Very well, but be quiet.’

Veranta crossed the
room to stand at the furthest window and the tutor, Ternik, moved
down to join her. Both women glanced briefly back at Shea but the
girl was singing nonsense to herself quite happily.

‘The messenger
described Pule.’ Veranta spoke softly but with no particular
concern at Shea overhearing her. ‘He thinks the Advisor could be
close to death.’

‘Someone used mage
powers in his rooms yesterday.’ Ternik was adamant.

‘The only people there
were his apprentice Grent, that old herb woman from the lower City
and, later in the day, a woman from the Artisan Quarter who no one
seemed to know. Presumably one of the many who go to the old fool
for free advice. This morning there is a servant from Pule’s estate
bringing him the season’s accounts.’ Veranta scowled.

Both women stared
unseeing out of the window. Shea, now silent, concentrated on her
painting behind them.

‘Could it be Pule
himself?’ asked Veranta.

Ternik chewed her lower
lip then shook her head. ‘I have observed him too closely for too
long. He would have slipped up before now. I did wonder about
Molesiffer Brak – they seemed close friends. But I checked my lady:
he was at the auction house all day yesterday in the Merchant
District.’

‘Well there’s no more
to be done now. The army will be ready to leave within ten days,
and Pule could well be dead by then. No one could get a warning to
this mysterious Realm, I’m positive.’

Veranta turned to leave
and missed Ternik’s dubious glance. Ternik escorted the Imperatrix
out of the schoolroom and Shea turned slowly to stare at the closed
door.

When she was a very
small girl, she used to muddle up her words. They were all straight
inside her head but she was in such a hurry to get them out of her
mouth they got jumbled. Very quickly she learned people thought she
was stupid and took no notice of what she tried to say. To begin
with, she’d been upset, desperate for someone, anyone, to realise
she wasn’t stupid. Then she realised she could learn a lot. People
took far less care talking to each other if she was around than
they did with her sisters. Shea knew more of the intricacies and
plots within her mother’s government than most of the officials or
courtiers did.

She stared down at her
painting. She had met Waxin Pule many times. First, at the few
ceremonial occasions she and her sisters had to attend, then later,
when he’d come to the schoolroom to instruct Mellia on treaties and
covenants and other such things. Mellia thought it was all boring
and Master Pule the most boring of all, but Shea was fascinated.
Several times when Ternik had returned to the schoolroom, Shea had
escorted Master Pule from their quarters. She had spoken quite
plainly to him and he had seemed to understand immediately the game
she played with everyone else.

The last few times she
had seen him he had told her he was in danger from someone within
her mother’s court, and maybe he would not be able to see her many
more times. Today, minutes ago, she had realised Ternik was the
danger to Master Pule – her friend. She knew where his rooms were,
he’d pointed out his tower from one of the schoolroom windows once.
Could she get there? She was allowed to wander in the upper Citadel
where her sisters were not. That was because her mother thought she
would be of no use in the future through marriages – who would
marry an idiot? So it wouldn’t matter if an accident befell her.
She went to the window and checked where the north tower was. Not
too far, she thought. And if she stayed on the inner corridors she
could keep her destination in sight. Shea opened the schoolroom
door.

Voices from the sitting
room: Mellia and Kerris. Ternik was probably in her own room, she
didn’t spend nearly as much time with the girls as she allowed
their mother to believe. Shea turned right, away from the sitting
room and main entrance. The servants had another entry – a flight
of stairs leading down to kitchens. Cautiously Shea crept down.
There was no chatter or sound of pots crashing. She paused at the
corner. Of course. It was fruit market day. She darted across the
kitchen and through a door and she was out, into the servants’
corridor on the lower level.

She had to stand on
tiptoe to peer out of a window to get her bearings then she trotted
off, her usual vacant expression giving no hint of her real
intelligence.

Nenat had gone out to
the lower City again, to leave messages she said, leaving Seola to
keep Waxin Pule company while Grent sought out Gossamer Tewk. Those
two arrived in an icy silence which set Pule wheezing again and
puzzled Seola. Before she could decide what was wrong, the door
flew open and Nenat appeared with a young girl. The girl saw Waxin
Pule and rushed to embrace him. Pule seemed genuinely
astonished.

‘But how do you come to
be here child? Whatever’s the matter?’

‘Master Pule, they said
you were dying but they didn’t care because there’s nothing you can
do even if you’re the mage they’ve been hunting.’

Shea looked nervously
round at the people staring at her.

‘Who is this child
Waxin and of what does she speak?’

It was the slender lady
with the dark curly hair, pale face and tired eyes. The lady
managed a smile.

‘I’m sorry child. My
name is Seola. The worse my headache gets the quicker I forget my
manners.’

Pule raised his hand.
‘This my friends is Lady Shea, second daughter of the Imperatrix.’
He smiled at the girl. ‘Now, who said I was dying?’

‘Mother and
Ternik.’

‘Ternik?’

‘Yes, she’s a mage but
I don’t think many people know.’

‘So how do you know my
dear?’

‘Some of the things in
her room – books and stuff.’ Shea smiled at Advisor Pule. ‘You know
no one thinks I can read?’

He smiled back. ‘But I
know you can. Now, it must be near lunchtime. Grent, see if you and
Lady Shea can find something to eat.’

‘Oh. Right. This way –
um – my lady.’

Shea followed Grent to
the kitchen giggling. ‘You don’t have to call me “lady” Grent. Most
people call me “idiot”.’

Gossamer blinked as the
door closed. ‘I’d always heard that child was daft – seems bright
enough to me.’

Seola and Nenat stared
at Pule.

‘She’ll have to come
with us, I know,’ he said softly.

Gossamer looked
alarmed. ‘Kidnap a daughter of the Imperatrix?’

The others ignored
her.

‘We have no time left.
Grent!’ Pule struggled to his feet and caught the straps of a large
pack.

Grent hurried out of
the kitchen, Shea at his heels with a large chunk of bread and
cheese in one hand. Grent collected a much bigger pack and hauled
it close to his feet.

‘Come here child.’
Waxin held his hand out to Shea who took it and stood close to his
side. He bent to look in her eyes. ‘You understand we have to leave
Kelshan?’ She nodded. ‘Do you choose to come with us or to
stay?’

‘Where are we
going?’

‘On quite a long
journey but I promise there is no danger to you.’

‘Oh I’ll come please. I
don’t really mind about danger.’

Gossamer Tewk wondered
if she should revise her opinion of the child’s intelligence. The
six stood in a close group. Seola raised her hands level with her
chest, palms not quite touching. She spoke words in a language
unfamiliar to Grent, Gossamer and Shea and brought her palms
together.

Pule gripped Shea’s
hand tightly as the room vanished and they were plunged into total
blackness. It seemed hours passed while they tumbled, head over
heels, on and on, through the dark. Then, with no warning, light
flashed in their eyes. They stumbled, finding themselves standing
on soft grass under a clear blue sky. Seola groaned and slumped at
their feet.

Chapter
Three

Shea was missed sooner
than might have been hoped. She enjoyed her food and was usually
the first to the dining room at meal times. Ternik sent Kerris to
find Shea but Kerris returned to say Shea was nowhere in their
quarters.

‘Nonsense,’ Ternik
snapped, tossing her napkin on the table. She marched off to find
the wilful child herself but came back to the dining room in
moments, a frown making two deep furrows between her brows. A
servant appeared in answer to Ternik’s call.

‘Ask for a messenger
from the guards, quickly,’ Ternik ordered. ‘Did Shea give any idea,
to either of you girls about any mischief she might have
planned?’

Mellia sniffed. ‘She
couldn’t make plans – she’s too stupid.’

Ternik looked to Kerris
but the youngest sister’s face was expressionless. She shook her
head as her reply. The servant reappeared.

‘The messenger waits,
lady.’

Ternik swept out to the
main doors and spoke briefly to the messenger before returning to
the dining room. ‘Well, don’t waste good food girls, get on with
your meal.’

Mellia obeyed, tucking
in with a good appetite as usual. Kerris ate little, mostly
rearranging the food on her plate.

Kerris still shared a
bedroom with Shea, Mellia having graduated to her own suite a year
ago. While Kerris and Shea could hardly be considered close, Kerris
knew Shea was not the simpleton everyone else thought her. Shea
often slipped out of bed at night and Kerris had often followed
her. Shea crept to the small library in their quarters, took a book
from a shelf and curled up in a corner behind one of the heavy
chairs. The faintest glimmer of a candle flame was all that
betrayed her presence.

Kerris tiptoed back to
bed but had several times looked along the shelves the next day to
find which book Shea had taken. Kerris discovered it was nearly
always history books that seemed to fascinate Shea and when she
looked inside the books she found them quite difficult to read. But
it was absolutely clear to Kerris that Shea was reading them: there
were only a few maps, no real pictures, in any of them. So if Shea
could read but chose not to tell, how much more was she hiding
behind that vacant face?

Kerris would have loved
to be able to talk to Shea and be proper friends, but she was
afraid. Their mother was unpredictable at best and all three girls
knew it was safer to be quiet, still, and instantly obedient in her
presence. Their nurses stayed only half a year at the longest –
Veranta said it did great harm if children grew dependent on
servants. Ternik was frightening in a different way. Without it
being specifically mentioned, it was known that she was a mage, and
the children tried never to attract her attention onto
themselves.