The Inner Circle: Holy Spirit (16 page)

‘
You are as arrogant
as they say.’ Harundor laughed. ‘I accept!’ He shook Far-a-mael’s
hand. ‘Even I shall come along on this great and unparalleled
adventure.’

‘
Really?’ Far-a-mael
could not help but show his surprise. Convincing the king to
abandon his kingdom had been all too easy. Perhaps it was a
trick.

‘
Of course.’ The king
laughed. ‘We have the Holy Spirit of Maker by our side. With His
blessing, we cannot fail. He is here to protect us, guide us, and
bring us salvation. The victory over Old World is already ours. We
need only reach out and take it.’

‘
I should very much
like to meet this Holy Spirit of yours.’ Far-a-mael chuckled at the
man’s foolishness, while he remained more than willing to benefit
from it. ‘He sounds like an interesting fellow.’

‘
Oh, He is,’ the king
said mysteriously. ‘You’ll see that for yourself. He’s been caught
up with some unpleasant business, but shouldn’t be too much
longer.’

‘
Very well.’
Far-a-mael analysed the delicious foods before him, but resisted
filling a plate. He hadn’t had a bowel movement in two weeks and
suspected that if he partook, the food might remain in him
forever.

‘
Are you all right?’
Harundor leaned in close to sniff the air surrounding
Far-a-mael.

‘
Get a hold of
yourself,’ Far-a-mael snapped, but the king had already leapt
excitedly to his feet.

‘
Here He is.’
Harundor clapped his hands together, causing the grease coating his
hands to flick into Far-a-mael’s beard.

‘
The child?’
Far-a-mael squinted through blurred vision as a red-headed girl
entered regally. She was holding something, but Far-a-mael couldn’t
make out what.

‘
Of course not the
child,’ the king replied distractedly. ‘Holy Spirit.’ The old man
waved his hand about like an excited school boy. ‘I’ve arranged you
a place beside mine.’

‘
Beside yours?’
Far-a-mael muttered. There were no other chairs available. The
table beside the king was decorated only by a goblet of red wine
and a covered platter. ‘Where’s he supposed to sit--on the table?’
Far-a-mael enquired.

‘
Of course,’ Harundor
replied as Far-a-mael turned to find the girl standing before them.
His eyes travelled down the length of her arm and over a golden
glove on which a very familiar figure was perched.

‘
You must be joking.’
Far-a-mael couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘This is your Holy
Spirit?’

‘
Yes
.’ Seeol bobbed his head. ‘I’m
this Holy Spirit.’

‘
I can see that,’
Far-a-mael wheezed out before bursting into a fit of laughter. He
paused momentarily upon the sound of something snapping in his
chest, but then continued as before.

‘
Is something the
matter?’ Harundor narrowed his eyes at Far-a-mael’s soggy green
flesh.

‘
No,’ Far-a-mael
wheezed out, his laughter escaping in uncontrollable bursts. ‘I’m
fine,’ he choked out, wiping brown tears from his eyes.

‘
What’s happened to
yours face?’ Seeol tilted his head in curiosity, before shaking it
in frustration and changing the topic before Far-a-mael could even
open his mouth. ‘There’s no time,’ Seeol urged. ‘Seteal won’t wake
up.’

‘
Seteal’s here?’
Far-a-mael stood up from the table.

‘
Following me.’ Seeol
fluttered across the room.

*

‘
What happened?’
Far-a-mael burst into the dark chamber and located El-i-miir
immediately. ‘You! What have you done this time, you stupid
child?’

‘
I don’t know,’
El-i-miir gaped disbelievingly. ‘We were attacked in the woods. I
was blindfolded, which made it near impossible to see what I was
doing. I tried sending out affiliation several times, but I
couldn’t properly link to the men’s auras. I think Seteal must have
projected.’

‘
And she hasn’t
returned,’ Far-a-mael stated gloomily.

‘
No,’ El-i-miir said.
‘Her aura’s gone, so I know she’s not just unconsciousness. Gil’rei
Far-a-mael,’ El-i-miir bit her lip, recognising her mistake in
addressing him as such. ‘She can sever people from the
Ways.’

‘
Maker only knows
what her limits might be.’ Far-a-mael shook his head.

El-i-miir peered through the dark.
‘What happened to you?’

‘
It’s not important.’
Far-a-mael waved his hand dismissively, his thumbnail flying off as
he did so. ‘We have to focus on drawing Seteal back into her body
before she is permanently lost.’

‘
Please help her.’
Seeol paced anxiously back and forth across the carpet.

‘
What a lovely little
reunion,’ Far-a-mael murmured as he delved into the Ways. ‘Since
we’re having a party, where’s the demon?’

‘
It’s gone.’
El-i-miir felt a lump forming in her throat. ‘I came to my senses
and killed it.’

‘
You really must take
me for a fool, child,’ Far-a-mael chuckled. ‘It doesn’t matter what
lies you concoct. You will never be allowed back home, especially
since you’ve disgraced your parents for failing to die honourably
in Vish’el’Tei.’

‘
Please,’ El-i-miir
said shakily. ‘I have nothing left. Ilgrin will never come back,
not after what I said to him.’

‘
That’s not my
problem,’ Far-a-mael snorted. ‘Now shut up and let me focus on one
silly little girl at a time. What have you done, Seteal?’ His voice
became strangely empathetic. It was a tone El-i-miir hadn’t been
used to hearing from Far-a-mael. ‘Where is it?’

El-i-miir remained silent, but she knew
what Far-a-mael was looking for. She too had searched for it.
Seteal’s aura was gone. That much was obvious, but there should
have been a slight residue remaining, something by which she could
be dragged back. El-i-miir had found nothing, which made no sense
as long as Seteal continued to breathe.

‘
There,’ Far-a-mael
whispered. El-i-miir admired the old man’s skill when he quickly
located a slender strand of Seteal’s being. It was buried in
shadow, but still there. ‘My Maker,’ Far-a-mael gasped.

Seeol looked up. ‘What is it, my
child?’

‘
Not you,’ Far-a-mael
grumbled, his eyes focused on the slithering strands of energy that
flowed confusingly about the room. ‘She’s frayed worse than
anything I’ve seen before … and there’s two of her. No . . . I mean
she’s . . . did you know about this?’ Far-a-mael turned sharply
toward El-i-miir. ‘She’s pregnant.’

‘
I know.’ El-i-miir
squirmed beneath his glare. ‘But that doesn’t explain why she’s so
badly frayed?’

‘
What a mess,’
Far-a-mael grumbled, leaning over Seteal. ‘She no longer wishes to
be here. Whether she acknowledges it or not, Seteal herself is the
only reason she cannot return. She has lost the will to live. She
is rejecting the Ways and as a result the Ways are releasing
her.’

‘
But plenty of people
lose their will to live.’ El-i-miir frowned. ‘They don’t just
die.’

‘
That’s different,’
Far-a-mael lectured. ‘Regular people are bound here by their
bodies. Without one, Seteal’s only connection to the Ways is her
will to remain amongst them.’

‘
What can we do?’
El-i-miir put a hand to her mouth, refusing to accept that Seteal
might be lost forever.

‘
I’ve knotted what
remains as tightly as I dare,’ Far-a-mael said grimly. ‘That should
slow the process, but unless Seteal can find a reason to fight, it
will not keep her here for long. Tell me, is she here
now?’

‘
No.’ El-i-miir shook
her head. ‘I mean to say, I cannot feel her presence.’

‘
If you do,’
Far-a-mael replied. ‘I advise you to remind her of her reasons to
live. Other than that, I’m afraid there is little we can
do.’

*

Silt corpses decorated in dark blue
uniforms hung from the trees or were sprawled out in the dirt. The
moon was high and the night was black. A bird pecked at one of the
corpse’s flesh, enjoying the freely available feast.

She had murdered them all. Her body was
somewhere. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter. Cold white memories
plunged her into insanity. Seteal had been a child . . . just a
child. Torn across the world, her innocence had been stolen, her
confidence shattered. She’d tried for some time to re-enter the
body. It’d been impossible. She no longer felt her own heartbeat.
The body belonged to someone else, somewhere else, far away waiting
to die. What was that? Something touched the cheek.

Twisting sideways, Seteal vanished
through space, coming to exist within a dark chamber. Lanterns cast
eerie shadows across the walls. It was late and the chamber was
empty, but for the silently breathing body that’d once belonged to
her with an elf owl perched atop its pillow. Again Seeol touched
the woman’s cheek as he replicated a sound resembling a kiss.

‘
Is my friend,’ the
little bird whispered in her ear. ‘Is my best friendly and I love
you because you are fun and played with me and cuddled me. Is going
to live and have fun days with lots of friends. Yes, you is going
to have a little baby and I will help you be friends with it. I
will help teach that silly baby to read and to talk with you. Oh,
we’ll have such fun.’ The bird’s eyes remained expressionless, but
his overall demeanour revealed deep concern. ‘I need you, Seteal.’
Seeol’s voice softened. ‘This one needs you too.’ He glanced at her
swollen belly. ‘Is always reasons to stay. Please . . . please
don’t die. If there’s nothing else, I will always be your bestest
friend.’

Seteal’s soul quivered with emotion. Of
course, Seeol didn’t know what he was saying. He was only a little
bird. He couldn’t possibly feel such depth of emotion.
Nevertheless, what he’d said about Seteal’s unborn child formed a
solid lump of will within.

She cringed as she watched the Ways’
warm golden meshwork wriggling invitingly. Frayed strands that hung
partially detached snaked toward the canvas to bury themselves like
worms into wet soil. They knotted themselves together, reattaching
Seteal to reality. She opened her eyes, bitter with regret as she
basked beneath the suffocating stench of a poisoned body that she
hated.

‘
Seteal!’ Seeol’s
exited voice filled her ears.

She sat up. When had she started
crying? ‘Seeol,’ she replied. ‘Thank you.’

Seeol’s golden eyes bored into
Seteal’s. ‘You stay forever.’ His voice was flat, but purposeful.
‘Don’t leave me all alone.’

‘
I won’t.’ Seteal
rested a hand on her stomach. ‘I won’t leave you,’ she whispered to
the child within.

El-i-miir burst into the room. ‘You’re
back! Oh, thank Maker.’ She raced over to hug Seteal. ‘Oh . . .
Seeol. I need to talk to Seteal for a minute.’

‘
Okay.’ Seeol nodded,
but didn’t move.

‘
Alone.’ El-i-miir
raised her eyebrows.

‘
Yes.’ Seeol bobbed
his head, but again remained in place.

‘
She’s asking you to
leave,’ Seteal said gently.

‘
Oh,’ Seeol replied
dejectedly before buzzing out of the room.

‘
Sit down.’ Seteal
patted the bed spread invitingly, but once she had done so she
simply stared at the wall. ‘I know what you did.’

‘
What?’

‘
Ilgrin.’

‘
Oh that,’ El-i-miir
stifled a sob. ‘I don’t want to talk about it. I’m just glad you’re
okay.’

‘
I’m just a little
confused.’ Seteal shrugged. ‘I thought you said that making him
hate you wouldn’t work.’

‘
I don’t know
anymore.’ El-i-miir sighed. ‘I had to try something, didn’t I? If
he’s going to die for me, the best thing I can do for him is to
keep him as far away from me as possible.’

‘
I guess.’ Seteal
frowned.

‘
Far-a-mael is here,’
El-i-miir said after a moment’s hesitation.

‘
I know,’ Seteal
murmured. ‘I saw him while projecting.’

‘
We should get out of
here.’

‘
No,’ Seteal said,
barely above a whisper. ‘I’ve been given a chance. I’m going to
take it.’

‘
Surely you weren’t
serious when you said you were going to kill Far-a-mael,’ El-i-miir
stated with wide eyes. ‘There’s been enough killing,
Seteal.’

‘
He did this to me,’
she hissed. ‘All of this is because of him.’

‘
I hope you’ll
reconsider.’ El-i-miir sniffed. ‘What you’re suggesting isn’t
killing in the heat of battle. It’s planned. It’s
murder.’

‘
I know.’

‘
Seteal!’ El-i-miir
snapped. ‘He’s too strong. You cannot defeat him.’

‘
I’ll wait,’ Seteal
replied. ‘Sooner or later, he’ll let his guard down and I’ll
strike.’

‘
Stop it!’ El-i-miir
cried. ‘Just stop it! You’re not a murderer.’

‘
You don’t know what
I’m capable of.’ Seteal’s voice was eerily calm.

‘
Far-a-mael doesn’t
want to hurt you, Seteal,’ El-i-miir pleaded. ‘He lied to get you
to the Frozen Lands and he’s done plenty of horrible things, but
that’s only to accomplish his goals. He never meant you any
deliberate harm. If you need someone to blame, blame life and
circumstance. Blame Master Fasil--but wait, you can’t blame him
because he’s dead. Far-a-mael killed him for you.
Remember?’