Drogoya: Book 3 Circles of Light series (22 page)

Thryssa nodded. ‘Very
well.’

The residents of the
Stronghold were astir early as usual and Mim announced that he and
Dessi would be taking Thryssa, Lashek and Babach into the Domain of
Asat. As Delvers reckoned distance it was half a “walk”, so by mid
morning, they had reached a narrow side tunnel. It was a mere slit
in the mountain wall rather than a tunnel and Mim cast an amused
glance over Lashek’s portly person.

‘We will not leave you
stuck, Speaker Lashek.’

He lifted a glow lamp
from a hook, handing it to Dessi and took another for himself,
leading them into the narrow space. Within moments Thryssa and
Lashek lost all sense of direction as the passage twisted back on
itself then turned yet again. Even Babach confessed to being
completely disorientated by the time they reached what seemed to be
a dead end of seamless rock.

Dessi squeezed past
Lashek, placing her lamp on the floor beside Mim’s. The Dragon Lord
faced the wall of rock and lifted a taloned finger. The wall slid
silently aside and light blazed out from the chamber thus revealed.
Mim stood aside, letting the three visitors move closer. They
stared in awe at the small round chamber, its floor completely
filled with a mosaic circle set with crystal, gold and jet. But the
light came from hundreds upon hundreds of small niches set all
around the chamber. In nearly every niche sat an oval shape and
each oval pulsed with light.

In silence, Mim moved
onto the circle, paused a moment and then went without hesitation
to one of the niches. The oval felt warm when he placed it gently
in Thryssa’s hand. Twice more he went unerringly to a particular
niche and returned with an oval, first for Lashek, and lastly for
an astonished Dessi. Still in silence, they stared a little while
longer into the chamber. Then Mim stepped back and the rock slid
across the entrance. Mim slipped a pack off his shoulder and sat
down on the floor.

‘We can rest here for a
while before we start back. I did not think you would be much
inclined to be sociable right now, but we can walk on a little
further and ask hospitality from the Delvers if you
wish?’

‘No,’ Thryssa replied
at once. ‘You are quite right. I would far sooner rest here, just
us, and consider these marvellous gifts you have given to us.’ She
sat cross legged next to Mim.

Their eyes took time to
adjust to the dimness of the glow lamps after the radiance of the
chamber but they all sat patiently, Mim handing round dried fruit
and cheese.

Lashek turned the egg
in his hands, bending towards the lamps. It was backed in dark
garnet and filled with a smoky topaz. A tiny shape flickered
within, light softly pulsing from it. Lashek placed the silver
chain around his neck and stared at Mim.

‘Why did you give these
to us Mim?’

Mim smiled. ‘Gremara
told me that you would have need of them,’ he said
simply.

Dessi had already
looped the gold chain over her head and was gazing at the pendant
in her hand. Hers had turquoise backing and a pale honey front.
Dessi could only stare at it wordlessly.

Thryssa suddenly leaned
sideways and kissed Mim’s cheek.

‘Gremara suggested we
have these, but you are the one who gave them to us. It is
something I shall never forget.’ In an odd gesture, she handed the
oval back to the Dragon Lord. He took it, studying the jade
shelling and olive filled front as though he had not really seen it
before. Then, with his sweet smile, he lifted the silver chain over
Thryssa’s head and kissed her cheek in turn.

‘I wonder what your
Gremara means when she says that we will have need of these?’
Lashek sounded thoughtful.

Mim shrugged. ‘When
Kadi and you Babach, were so badly hurt, one of these eggs was
placed nearby. Tika wears one, she was wearing hers when she healed
Farn. Clearly there must be a link – they help the healing, or help
focus the healer? But I believe they are much more than aids to
healing. Gremara knows, I think, but has not seen fit to tell me
more yet.’

Mim regarded Dessi with
affection. ‘Have you nothing to say Dessi?’

The tiny Delver tore
her gaze from her pendant to look at the others sitting on the
floor of the narrow passage. She shook her head and went back to
staring at the oval in her hands.

‘I know how she feels,’
Babach murmured, lifting his own pendant from his chest. ‘We
believe we have been given treasures beyond price.’

‘Again, I thank you
Mim.’ Thryssa slipped her pendant inside her shirt and climbed to
her feet.

Mim heaved Lashek
upright and Thryssa gave her hand to Observer Babach. His silvered
eyes glittered in the faint light of the glow lamps.

‘I believe you have the
right of it, Lashek,’ he said. ‘Let us pray that we prove worthy of
our treasures.’

Mim noticed that all
the pendants, including his own, had vanished beneath clothing, yet
there had been no charge of secrecy put on them. Gremara had never
suggested that they were to be kept hidden, but it appeared almost
instinctive that the wearers of the strange oval pendants keep them
hidden. Or keep them directly in contact with the skin? Mim
pondered the question as an unusually quiet group retraced their
steps back to the Stronghold.

The chamberlain Yoral
had surpassed himself in galvanising the cooks into preparing a
magnificent feast for the High Speaker of Vagrantia’s farewell meal
in the Dragon Lord’s Stronghold.

‘Where he has found
eggs, I just dare not imagine,’ Kera whispered to
Thryssa.

The High Speaker
swallowed the wrong way and was pounded vigorously on the back by
Lorak. He had just offered her a new flask of his restorative, as a
parting gift, so he was best placed to offer his assistance.
Several Guards rose to toast their Vagrantian allies and friends,
and Kera promised herself she would make a definite point of
investigating the exact extent of Lorak’s increased brewing
activities.

At last Thryssa stood
up. Cheers rang round the hall and Lorak avoided meeting Kera’s
eyes by the simple expedient of retreating to sit with
Fenj.

‘I thank you all for
your good wishes. I and my companions have been truly touched by
your kind treatment of us on this, our first visit to a world that
we forsook over fifteen hundred cycles past. I am sure you all
understand there are dark troubles not too far away from us. Know
that you can call upon Vagrantia for whatever aid we may be able to
supply.’

She bowed to rapturous
applause, whistles and booted feet stamping on the stone
floor.

It appeared that
everyone intended to see the visitors on their way until they
reached the guarded Chamber where lay the circle. Only a few were
allowed inside and Kera shut the door behind Daro with a
groan.

‘I promise Lorak will
be taken severely to task tomorrow. What has he been
brewing?’

Kwanzi laughed. ‘An
occasional party -’

Kera snorted in
disgust.

‘An occasional party
can be most beneficial. You must take my word Lady Kera – I speak
as a healer!’

Thryssa clung to Elyssa
briefly then stepped onto the circle. Lashek kissed everyone he
could reach.

‘We made our farewells
to the Dragons earlier,’ he said. ‘But oh, I do hope to be back
with you soon.’

Chakar handed him a
napkin full of pastries which cheered him a little as he followed
Kwanzi and Imshish onto the circle.

A soft implosion of
air, and the circle was empty. Kera turned to Jal and
Nesh.

‘Let’s get back down to
the hall and make sure it is still intact.’

She turned on her heel
and strode from the Chamber. Nesh and Jal exchanged glances and
trotted after Discipline Senior Lady Kera, trying to wipe the grins
off their faces. Mim caught Babach’s arm.

‘A word before we sleep
old friend.’

Babach sank into the
armchair, watching Mim poke at the fire until it began to
brighten.

‘I had intended to
speak to you tomorrow anyway,’ said the Observer.

Mim laughed and Babach
noted the Dragon Lord’s side teeth had lengthened. He wondered
absently how far the physical changes to the Nagum body would
go.

‘About the Orders of
Sedka and Myata?’ Mim raised his brows. ‘I noticed that you changed
the subject rather suddenly. All that fussing for paper and pens,
and busily scribbling your letters.’

Babach nodded. ‘Quite
so. But I needed to think you see, as it had only just occurred to
me.’

Mim sighed. ‘You told
us that Sedka was an ordinary word, not really a name, and that it
meant plantation. Then you said that Dalena meant a glen, but was
still used as a name for country girls. Then you changed the
subject.’

Babach rested his
recently unbandaged left hand on his egg pendant. It was scarred
far worse than his right hand had been, but he noticed that the
scars faded much more rapidly if he kept contact with the pendant.
Now, he smiled at the Dragon Lord.

‘Do you recall asking
me if I had heard singing?’

Mim frowned. ‘Yes. You
said you had not. But then you asked if I could smell
mint.’

Babach’s smile widened.
‘Well Dragon Lord, Myata in the old tongue, simply means
mint.’

Chapter
Fourteen

Pajar was crawling into
his bed when a scribe knocked at his door to inform him of the High
Speaker’s arrival. He scrambled back into his clothes and reached
Thryssa’s study at the same moment as Thryssa herself. Lashek
immediately offered him a rather squashed pastry, which Pajar took
without noticing.

Thryssa sat at her
table with a sigh of relief. ‘It is good to be home, but the things
we have seen Pajar! We will bore you to tears with our
tales.’

She studied her new
first councillor’s anxious face.

‘Should I hear your
reports now, or can they wait till the morning?’

Pajar saw the weariness
etched round the High Speaker’s eyes and shook his head.

‘I came only to welcome
you back. It can all wait until tomorrow.’

Kwanzi smiled
approvingly from behind Thryssa’s chair. Pajar turned to go back to
bed, absently biting into the pastry he discovered in his hand. He
stopped.

‘Where did you get this
Speaker Lashek? It is amazing!’ he mumbled through the
pastry.

‘Ah hah,’ Lashek
beamed. ‘A wonderful lady in what was once Valsheba. And – I have
the recipe.’

Pajar waited next
morning until a scribe came to tell him that the High Speaker was
now in her study. Entering, he saw papers he had worked on neatly
stacked to her left. So she must either have worked last night
after all, or before breakfast today. He had an enormous respect
for the High Speaker’s capacity for work. She worked far harder
than most people would have believed, overseeing every
administrative detail of Vagrantian life.

‘Good morning Pajar. I
am most impressed with your efficiency in my absence. You dealt
with that dispute in Kedara’s main market very well indeed.’ She
smiled at the young man. ‘And you have been most discreet regarding
my last wishes.’

Pajar blushed, his red
face clashing abysmally with his flaming hair. ‘I was most worried
High Speaker. But Speaker Orsim was here and he spoke kindly and
wisely to me of my fears.’

Thryssa nodded. ‘I am
glad that you were sensible enough to discuss your concerns with
him. I do not approve of secrecy between the Circles and especially
not between the Speakers or Councillors. But this worries me
greatly.’

She tapped the
documents before her. Pajar knew at once that she referred to Fira
Circle and Kallema’s arbitrary closing of all access to that
Circle.

‘The gates to Parima
and Kedara were blocked the day you left, but the reports I
received from Chornay regarding Fira’s treatment of its residents
came a few days later.’ Pajar frowned. ‘There is no way of knowing
how long Kallema has authorised this “culling” of her people –
which is what it amounts to.’

Thryssa shuffled
through the papers to find the one she wanted. ‘The three young
ones who I ordered to be brought here. They refer by name to
several who are on the census lists. As they are apparently no
longer in Fira Circle, and there is no record of them residing here
or in either of the other Circles, what is your
conclusion?’

Pajar did not hesitate.
‘They have been murdered and disposed of,’ he replied.

Thryssa nodded. ‘There
can be no doubt of it,’ she agreed. ‘The question remains, how long
has this been happening? These children mention names of students
two and three cycles in advance of them. Has it only been happening
for three cycles, or will we find it began much
earlier?’

‘Kallema has been
Speaker for nearly twenty cycles. But I have made some enquires.
There was nothing out of the ordinary until about seven cycles
ago.’

Thryssa raised a brow.
‘Is there a significance there?’