Perilous Shadows: Book 6 Circles of Light (35 page)

‘Simert!’ she screamed.
‘Simert! I need you.’

Smoke writhed on the
floor behind Tika and her companions who were nearest backed away
hurriedly. The smoke rose in a conical cloud, which vanished to
reveal a short stout gentleman. Tika hadn’t turned and Simert
stepped close to her side.

‘Oh dear, another
one.’

Tika leaned her head on
a metal bar and sighed. ‘Did you take Mena?’ she asked.

‘I’m afraid not. A man
called me and seemed much distressed over both of those children.
I’m afraid I lied. I have to quite often, but it’s kinder you
know.’

Tika turned to him. ‘So
you didn’t take them?’

‘I took the boy,’
Simert corrected. ‘I managed to find his family among my lot so
he’s settled in quite well.’

‘And Mena?’ Tika
persisted.

Simert frowned. ‘She
went to Shadow. I thought he’d been gone for even longer than
me.’

‘Simert, this is really
important to me. Is Shadow evil?’

‘Oh pooh – evil, good –
you do fuss so over trivialities, you humans. It’s all a matter of
perspective.’

‘Simert,
please?’

‘This one’s gone to
Shadow too.’ Simert regarded Tika and his irritation faded. ‘Shadow
was always the gentlest,’ he told her softly. ‘I grieved when I
believed him lost. Oh yes, even I, Simert, grieve
sometimes.’

As if regretting his
admission, he cocked his head, listening. ‘Duty calls.’

And
vanished.

‘Someone open this door
for me please.’

Kemti took the keys
from Kran and after a couple of false tries, he found the key which
unlocked the cell. Tika walked inside and knelt by Soran’s body,
Rhaki beside her. It was Rhaki’s hand, again, which reached to the
dead face, smoothing his palm over the dome of the
skull.

‘There are no marks,’
he said quietly. ‘No lines on the skin, as on the child’s. And the
skin is thinner, more supple.’

Tika leaned against
Rhaki for a moment. ‘Emla was right. I showed her Mena and she said
how sad and beautiful the child seemed. She was right,’ she
repeated. ‘Because their faces look so different from ours, we
assumed it was an unpleasant difference. And anyone so strangely
odd must be bad. What did he say – that it’s a matter of
perspective.’

She sat back on her
heels, suddenly aware of quite a lot of people, both in the cell
and watching from outside. A hand on her shoulder made her look up.
She found Emla there and accepted the Lady’s hand to get to her
feet. As they left the silent cell, Tika stopped in front of
Kran.

‘Let no one mock him or
hurt him now. With the Lady’s agreement, he will be laid to rest
with all honours restored and with dignity.’

Kran’s right fist
crossed his chest to rest on the golden blossom insignia in salute.
Emla nodded her confirmation.

‘As Lady Tika commands,
Captain.’

Once out in the fresh
morning air, Lady Emla and Kemti found themselves encircled by
Tika’s company and borne rapidly out towards the gardens. When the
company reached one of Emla’s many ornamental pools, they decided
they were secluded enough. Tika’s guards moved to the several paths
radiating from the pool to ensure her privacy. Tika buried her face
in Sket’s chest for a moment then perched on the low wall around
the pool. Shea immediately sat next to her, and pressed
close.

Emla cleared her
throat. ‘What do you want done with Soran’s body?’ she asked.
‘There is the burning ground in the Asataria.’

Tika shook her head,
glancing at Essa. ‘Volk made a stack of stones over Mena. We could
have asked the Dragons for fire as was done for two of my men. But
Volk seemed to know what was the right thing for them.’

‘My people, as Volk’s I
would guess, live in mountains where burial is impractical. We make
cairns, or leave the dead in high caves where the cold often
preserves the bodies amazingly. Some choose to be left exposed, to
provide food for the birds and animals who share our mountains.’
Essa dabbled a hand in the water and several fat fish rushed to
nibble hopefully at her fingers. ‘I don’t think Soran should be
buried under earth Tika, but on stone and under stone.’

A large horse ambled up
a path, ignoring Geffal as she passed him. Large dark eyes surveyed
the group then Daisy made for the pool where she enjoyed a nice
slurping drink. A moment later, Volk strode into sight. He was
somewhat shamefaced when he reached Tika.

‘I’m sorry about
yesterday my lady, and I ask your indulgence.’

‘I suggest you indulge
less thoroughly with anything Grib offers you,’ Emla retorted
before Tika could speak.

‘Hmm. Yes, well. I went
to the House to find you, and I saw that poor fellow.’

‘We were discussing his
last rites Volk. Essa thinks he should be laid on stone, under
stone.’

Volk nodded, then
winced, very slightly.

‘Perhaps you and Essa
could find a suitable place for him?’

‘I’ll come too.’ Shea
trotted between Volk and the towering Sergeant as they left the
secluded pool.

‘And I really would
like to know who that man was who appeared in the cells.’ Emla
frowned. ‘What did you call him? Oh yes, Sim - ’

The Lady Emla’s green
eyes bulged in astonishment as several hands clamped over her
mouth. From tears Tika found herself near giggles.

‘I’m sorry Emla. But we
call him the gentleman. He is the God of Death, and if you speak
his name, he has a worrying habit of popping up. He is not always
in the best of tempers so it is wise to be cautious.’

Slowly, hands were
removed and Emla glared indignantly at Dog, Konya and Shivan, who
owned the offending hands.

‘I do see your point my
dear, but perhaps another time an explanation would be more
suitable than trying to suffocate me?’

Konya and Shivan
offered profuse apologies but Tika noted that Dog merely folded her
arms and wandered round the pool.

‘What did he mean,
Tika?’ Sket was the one who asked the question she had been
considering herself. ‘Was Soran taken by Shadow, or by the Crazed
One? I couldn’t work that out.’

‘He was used by Shadow
I believe, but he was trying to tell us that Shadow is weakened,
damaged, and so the Crazed One is able to use a human who has been
touched by Shadow for his own purposes.’

She began to pace
between the paths. ‘Soran may have been Shadow touched long ago,
but only recently perhaps has the Crazed One discovered how to
trace such people. Could it be that if someone is called by Shadow,
they become vulnerable – half human and half – whatever Soran and
Mena became? I am also much concerned that the First Daughter’s
physical form took on the same appearance. At first I thought it a
threat, a danger. Now I wonder if Shadow was trying to help her,
spending his own strength to support her.’

She paused when Dromi
lifted a hand. ‘I would agree with you Lady Tika. I was interested
that the poor man in there, used his failing strength to emphasise
the Prince of Shadow is a son of Mother Dark. I suggest that is a
strong hint that Shadow resists the Crazed One.’

Shivan nodded. ‘Those
words rang in my mind,’ he agreed. ‘But the – um – gentleman said
he thought Shadow was long gone from the world. You know that I’ve
asked Corman about it and he knows nothing.’

‘Emla, is there
anything in your archives on the gods of these lands? Do you
remember when we heard of the Delvers, and the Snow Dragons? Kemti
found references to them in an old book of children’s tales. I
don’t know enough yet to attempt the Splintered Kingdom, but I’m
beginning to think time is of increasing importance. The Dark Ones
told me that the Crazed One needed to recover after one of his
failed attacks, yet the attacks grow more frequent now, rather than
less.’

Kemti got to his feet.
‘I’ll get onto that now. I can set students to work in the Asataria
while we work here in Emla’s library.’

He headed off, Dromi
accompanying him.

Tika hadn’t noticed
Khosa’s presence but now the little orange cat jumped onto the wall
around the pool and crouched to observe the fat fish
below.

‘I am glad the gijan
aren’t here,’ she remarked generally.

Navan grunted. ‘Their
behaviour became – difficult, so we sent them to Mim.’

Tika grinned. ‘How very
kind of you. Did the gijan Elders turn up here?’

‘Only one. Very
unpleasant character.’

‘And?’

Navan grinned back. ‘We
suggested that the Plavats might be able to help her search for the
gijan.’

But a thought had
occurred to Tika at talk of the gijan. ‘Do you remember the gijan’s
skin, when their wings came through?’ she asked Sket and
Navan.

Both men
frowned.

‘The lines of patterns,
like on Mena.’ Sket nodded. ‘And that Wind Sister on the ship to
Wendla. You mentioned it at the time, remember?’

Tika moved out of the
shelter of the shrubs around the pool, peering into the sky and the
trees further away.

‘Emla, do the Merigs
still visit you? Carry messages?’

Emla nodded in some
puzzlement.

‘Can you call one
now?’

Emla’s eyes unfocused
momentarily then a harsh croak sounded overhead. A dusty black
feathered bird landed on the grass near Emla. It shuffled its
feathers into a semblance of neatness and plodded towards the Lady.
Tika was surprised at how small the crow, or Merig as they called
themselves, was, compared to Hag. She sat on the grass by Emla’s
feet, remembering Merigs used only mind speech.

‘Merig, did you by any
chance meet the Raven, Hag, when she visited this
place?’

The bird cocked its
head and clattered its heavy beak. ‘I remember you,’ it said, to
all their minds. ‘I don’t suppose you remember me. You humans seem
to think we all look the same.’

There was a peevishness
in the mind tone which made Dog snort.

‘I’m afraid I don’t
recall meeting you, no,’ Tika admitted. ‘I apologise. But did you
see the Raven?’

The Merig stretched a
wing to one side. ‘I did.’

‘Did you know who she
was?’

‘Mother
Anfled.’

Tika closed her mouth
after a while. ‘Why do you call her Mother Anfled?’ she asked
carefully.

The Merig’s beak
clattered briefly again. ‘She is our Mother.’

Tika nodded. ‘Your
Mother,’ she repeated.

‘Yes, yes. Mother
Anfled of Shadow. We thought she was lost.’ There was excitement in
the bird’s words now. ‘For generations we have heard nothing and
then – she is suddenly here!’

‘I understand how
pleased you must be, but have you seen her in the last day or so? I
am – um – a friend of hers, and would like to meet her again very
soon.’

The Merig contemplated
its toes, wiggling slightly among the short stalks of
grass.

‘She was upset. And
angry. And she didn’t like the gijan being here before – we didn’t
like them either. Mother told us they were wrong but we didn’t
understand what she meant by that.’

The tattered feathers
were readjusted once more and the Merig looked from Tika to Lady
Emla.

‘I’ll tell Mother you
asked about her if I see her. If you have no messages, I must go.
Busy just now you understand. Nest building.’

With laborious wing
beats, the Merig rose and made off towards the House.

‘Oh stars, I do hope
Kemti keeps the windows shut,’ Emla muttered.

She realised Tika’s
friends were regarding her a little oddly.

‘Last year,’ she
explained hastily. ‘One particularly persistent female Merig
thought that my library would be an ideal nesting place. Well,
obviously one can’t have that. But she spent a lot of time, sitting
on various window sills, shouting at me.’

She got to her feet.
‘I’ll have to go. I’ll rejoin you shortly, but I really can’t face
nests in my library.’

Sket chuckled watching
Lady Emla race down the path. ‘I swear, Tika, dear Lady Emla is
scattier than ever!’

Tika was indignant.
‘What do you mean? It’s perfectly reasonable, not wanting nests in
your library.’

Sket held his hand up
in surrender.

‘I remember she kept
owls in a wardrobe once,’ Rhaki commented. ‘Unfortunately, it
wasn’t her wardrobe, it was our mother’s. And she wasn’t
appreciative.’

Tika gave him a
reluctant smile. ‘Do you have any plans for today? I’m going to the
library to help Kemti.’

‘I’ll come if I may,’
Shivan chimed in.

‘And me,’ agreed
Rhaki.

‘I’ll come if I’d be of
any help, but Senior Doochay invited me - ’

Tika smiled at Konya.
‘That’s fine. You go and find Doochay. Navan, do you still have the
maps you got from Star Flower? Could you go through them with Sket?
I’d like to know if there’s another large island, like
Wendla.’