Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series (45 page)

Tika had to admit there
was some sense, and kindness, in Kasheen’s proposal.

‘He would appreciate
that I’m sure.’ She saluted Kasheen again. ‘Perhaps we may meet in
happier days Emperor.’ She turned on her heel and left the
chamber.

‘Navan!’ Kasheen
called, holding out a bundle of parchments. ‘Copies of the maps we
looked at – they may be of use.’

‘Thank you sir Emperor.
I think they probably will.’

‘Good luck
Navan.’

Navan met the Emperor’s
dark eyes with some surprise. ‘And good luck to you and your people
sir. May the stars guide your paths and guard your
hearts.’

Navan saluted and
hurried after the others. He found them gathering their few
belongings and making their farewells to the Empress. Ren was
talking rapidly to Mistress Oniko whose face was alight with
excitement.

‘I will go to House
Jade at once and ask Hiramo to come to Green Shade with me,’ she
was saying as Navan drew level with them.

An Imperial Blossom
loomed behind them. ‘Mistress Oniko, the Mighty One offers you
passage to Green Shade on a patrol boat. It would reduce your
travel time by half he suggests. I am to escort you to House Jade
to collect anything you might need and then to the
boat.’

Oniko began to bow to
Ren but he caught her shoulders and kissed her cheek. ‘Look after
the old man when you get there,’ he told her.

Navan smiled at her and
she hurried to Tika and Gan to say goodbye.

The Empress pressed a
ring into Tika’s hand. It was set with diamonds and garnets and had
the Imperial plumes engraved on the gold mounting.

‘A small token,’ she
said, folding Tika’s fingers over the ring. ‘Any Wendlan will give
aid should you require it if you show this ring. Sell it in Malesh
if you need coin.’ She laughed and produced a dark brown bag. Tika
started to smile in return.

‘Thank you,’ she said.
‘Akomi will surely travel comfortably in this. And thank you for
your hospitality.’

‘I do hope we meet
again my dear, in calmer times.’

Jakri arrived panting
for breath. He wore dark green trousers and shirt instead of a
robe, and carried a shoulder pack.

‘I feared I would delay
you,’ he gasped.

Tika was already on
Farn’s back with Khosa in her sack. Ren had persuaded a rather
dubious Akomi into his own sack and cradled him in his arm upon
Seela. He held out his free hand to Jakri.

‘You’re with us,’ he
grinned.

Jakri suddenly realised
the enormity of what he was doing and swallowed hard. But he caught
Ren’s hand and found himself astride the purple scaled back. The
Imperial Blossom stepped forward hesitantly.

‘The Great One
commanded me to travel with you,’ he said to Gan.

Gan stared into the
rather pale face. ‘Chimchoo isn’t it? I think Brin can take you as
well.’

‘Of course I can,’ Brin
retorted. ‘You and Sket are mere feathers on my back: another will
make no difference.’

Navan was already on
Storm and the gijan enfolded the Empress Sariko in their
wings.

‘I wish I was coming
with you,’ she cried when the gijan lifted into the air.

Brin rose first of the
Dragons, Sket and Gan waving down to the Empress, the Imperial
Blossom behind Sket rigidly upright with eyes firmly closed. Seela
was next, then Storm and Farn, rising to the open sky far above the
Empress’s courtyard garden. When Farn cleared the surrounding
palace walls, Tika looked back, focusing her vision. The Empress
still waved, her cheeks shining with tears, and then Farn was
wheeling to the north and the courtyard vanished from
view.

Sket felt the Imperial
Blossom behind him slowly relax as Brin set a fast but steady pace
which ate up the leagues from Bracca. The gijan snatched occasional
rests on Brin or Seela while Akomi risked a cautious peek from his
sack. They passed over all the farmlands, settling well after dark
at the southernmost edge of the great forest.

Having lived all his
life within the imperial palace, Akomi was nervous of the space in
which he now found himself. He went hunting with Khosa but
reluctantly, and returned to their camp with obvious relief to curl
up and sleep on Tika’s lap. Khosa sat beside her. Tika stroked the
old cat gently.

‘Will he be all right
Khosa? I think he may be old for adventuring – like
Taseen.’

‘He will manage; I will
make sure of it.’ Khosa climbed onto Tika’s knees as well and
curled round Akomi.

The Imperial Blossom
found it unsettling that no one seemed to use titles or rank in
conversation: Tika had already scolded him half a dozen times for
calling her “Mistress”. Chimchoo appeared least alarmed by Sket who
had now involved him in a complicated discussion of weaponry. Storm
and Farn slept, leaning against each other.

‘There will be great
trouble in Malesh,’ Seela suddenly spoke in their minds.

‘There will indeed,’
Ren agreed, reaching to stroke her face above him. ‘It might be
wiser if you stayed at a distance my dear, while we see what must
be done.’

Seela rattled her
wings. ‘I will be with you,’ she snapped, moving her head out of
Ren’s reach. ‘But I have a bad feeling whenever I think of
Malesh.’

‘I can’t say I feel
good about it either.’ Grek was present in their minds.

Tika eased the
surprising weight of Akomi and Khosa from her thighs. ‘What did you
mean Grek, when you said Namolos was engaged with Cho
Petak?’

‘I could speak with him
only briefly: he could not spare me much time. He lies in a room,
guarded by his students and followers but he far travels nearly all
the time.’ A note of awed admiration tinged Grek’s tone. ‘He far
travels distances beyond belief and in ways I do not begin to
comprehend.’

The company were on
their way again well before first light and by the time the sun set
they landed in front of the house at Green Shade. Maressa came
running to meet them and exclaimed at sight of the Imperial Blossom
Chimchoo. Tika managed to choke back a laugh when Pallin marched
from the side of the house followed by a squad of variously sized
children, but Farn’s tact was an erratic matter.

‘Would you like me to
inspect your armsmen Pallin?’ he asked, eyes whirring with
glee.

Pallin spun round,
clearly unaware that his trainee armsmen were behind him. He gave
them a ferocious scowl.

‘Why aren’t you abed?
Fighters take rest when they can to be fit for whatever the morrow
might bring,’ he roared.

The children fled
precipitously as Sefri hurried towards the companions.

‘A crow brought a
message but you’re back sooner than I’d expected,’ she exclaimed
when she’d extricated herself from the gijan’s embraces.

Maressa shook her head
slightly at Tika – so, she had not passed on Grek’s reports to
Sefri as yet. Tika returned Sefri’s hug.

‘We must rest and
tomorrow the Dragons must hunt and sleep. We will tell you our news
then.’

‘Welcome,’ called a
hoarse voice and the Imperial Blossom Chimchoo paused in mid salute
to Sefri.

She smiled up at him.
‘It is many long years since we have seen an Imperial Blossom in
Green Shade,’ she said. ‘But I think Star Flower wishes to welcome
you all before you sleep.’

They gathered beneath
the verandah next morning near the Ship, Star Flower. Tika was
alarmed by the way Taseen’s fragility had increased in the few days
since she’d seen him and was glad that Mistress Oniko was on her
way to keep the ancient mage company. Jakri was fascinated to meet
one who had somehow survived the final battle of the Elder Races.
Pallin took over from Sket in putting the Imperial Blossom more at
ease with involved talk on the subject of military tactics. By
midday the general mood was sombre, Sefri, Taseen and Star Flower
having been brought up to date on the situation in
Malesh.

Sefri offered a small
piece of comfort.

‘Star Flower has
reinstated some of her transmitter networks and has communicated
with some of the Ships in orbit.’

Blank faces met this
news.

‘I do not pretend to
understand your talk of Bound Ones and the havoc you fear they
might wreak, but if absolutely necessary the Ships in orbit have
weapons of great power.’

Blank faces brightened
into hopeful smiles but Sefri raised her hands.

‘The power of our
technological weapons is indescribable. I would only recommend
their use as a last desperate resort.’ She sighed. ‘They can be
targeted very specifically but in a close battle situation, they
would probably destroy as many of your men as your
enemy’s.’

Taseen shook his head.
‘It may come to that Captain Sefri. If an armsman has an infected
hand, the only way to save his life may be to remove the whole
arm.’

‘Like Jal.’ Farn’s mind
tone still reflected the horror he’d felt when he realised Jal had
only one arm.

Sket rubbed Farn’s
chest. ‘Jal would be dead now Farn, but he lives and no doubt he’s
a great help to young Mim in the Stronghold.’

It was obvious that
Farn was not reassured but he made no further comment.

‘We will stay here one
more full day,’ Tika announced. ‘The Dragons have three more people
to carry and so they must feed well and be rested before I will let
them face the risk of flying across the sea.’ She glanced at
Chimchoo. ‘Do you know how long a patrol boat will take to get to
the inlet below?’

He shook his
head.

‘We will probably have
left by the time Mistress Oniko gets here then.’

She knelt by Taseen’s
chair. ‘She brings one of Jakri’s apprentices.’

‘Hiramo,’ Taseen
agreed. ‘He has told me of her. She may even be able to far speak
you in Malesh.’

Jakri cleared his
throat. ‘My mother Oniko is the one to do that.’

Tika remembered Oniko’s
words in the Empress’s garden. ‘We should definitely be able to
stay in contact then. Maressa and Brin will be able to meet either
of their minds halfway I’d guess.’

Pallin stood to
attention, his scowl a thin disguise for discomfort.

‘Lady Tika, Olam and
Riff are still with Kasmi. The Emperor sent help with the repairs
on Spiral Star. I know Olam will want to stay with the star damned
floating boxes.’

He stopped and Tika
helped him out.

‘Your place must be
with Olam of course.’

Pallin sighed in
relief. ‘Seboth would skin me if I let anything happen to the
boy.’

Tika considered the boy
– Olam. He was at least thirty cycles old: boy indeed! But perhaps
to one of Pallin’s advanced age, Olam was still a mere
boy.

‘To be honest Pallin, I
have been worried by the numbers of us the Dragons would have to
carry, so three less is a help really.’

By the time Tika and
her companions, who now included a Wendlan Mage who was also the
Head of a major House left Green Shade, Grek had reported a rapid
deterioration in western Malesh and intense fighting in the
northern farming communities. Then he departed for destinations
unrevealed and the Dragons increased their speed of flight across
the sea.

In Harbour City Chevra
had ordered his wife and two daughters to return to the Xantip
palace. He sent a full squad of armsmen to ensure that Eorlas
understood his order was not to be ignored. He had evicted several
disgruntled courtesans from his apartments and closeted himself at
all hours with his cousin and spymaster Harrip. Piles of ancient
tomes and several maps purloined from the archives were now
scattered around his study.

Councillor Vorna had
not remained long in the palace; had dismissed out of hand the talk
of a war with Wendla as trivial and of no concern to her. She had
taken Bajal with her this time, since when Fental had secluded
himself in his rooms. That left Sheoma, Tavri and Lessna – three
out of his seven Mage Councillors. Chevra still had doubts as to
Lessna’s loyalties but could not exclude her from discussions
without alerting Vorna to his suspicions – if Lessna was in fact
allied to her. Harrip had found no evidence either way, but
inclined to the worst, citing Tavri’s wariness of
Lessna.

This afternoon low
clouds rolled in from the sea, blanketing Harbour City in a humid
dampness unnoticed by Chevra and Harrip as they finalised the
movement of three thousand armsmen towards Vorna’s
estates.

‘You would do better to
be totally honest with your College of Mages.’ Grek was suddenly
inside their heads.

Chevra was still
unsettled by the comings and goings of the unbodied entity: Harrip
longed to recruit him into his spy network.

‘Why can you do
nothing?’ Chevra sounded peevish.

‘I cannot.’ The
admission was made quietly but added enormously to the two
Maleshans’ worry. ‘I was never what you would call a trained mage.
Vorna would be aware of my presence at once. I have warned you, she
has a system of defensive wardings the like of which I’ve never
come across before. After much thought, and debate with Taseen, we
conclude it will take several mages to dismantle her wardings
before getting near her. And once the wardings are gone, Vorna
herself is probably the single most powerful mage in this land at
least.’