The Lesser Kindred (ttolk-2) (27 page)

"We come, Father," he replied immediately. "Sherok is enjoying his treat, a flight in the dark to visit grandfather Shikrar. Brave soul, my son!"

I waited.

"We will be there very shortly, Eldest," said Mirazhe, her mind voice amazingly clear and calm. I took heart from hearing her. "Sherok and I will await you in Lord Akhor's old chambers by the Great Hall. It seems fitting somehow," she said, "for I would guess that we will see Varien Kantri-akhorfar sooner than we had thought to."

"There is nothing more likely, dearest daughter," I replied, and could not resist the ghost of an amused hiss. "He may be ever so slightly surprised."

"It will be good for him," said Kedra. "He has hardly spoken with us since he left. If we are a surprise to him, so much the better, it will serve him right."

"May all the Gedri be as eager to see us, though I fear they will not be."

"Ah, but we have the Lady Lanen to speak for us," said Kedra.

"She is one voice among thousands, and herself declared that she was of no particular note among her people," I said. "Do you think that those who must be persuaded will hear her, courageous as she is?"

"Father, I crave your pardon, but you have forgotten," replied Kedra, undaunted. "This child of the Gedri, of no particular note, managed to talk the Kantrishakrim, assembled in Council, out of killing her and into accepting her as the mate of our king. Name of the Winds, this is a soul that could rule the world."

I could not help myself. Faced as I was with change and the end of my life as I had known it, still I laughed at the truth behind my son's words. "Bless you, Kedra, you dreadful kit!" I said. "Solemnity now would undo me. Where are you now?"

"Mirazhe and Sherok are safe in Akhor's chambers, with a fire lit. I come," he said. He was with me almost as his thought ended.

"Welcome, most welcome, dear my son," I said as he came into the Chamber of Souls. We embraced, and I held him to my heart, my wings wrapped about him, just as I had when he was but a youngling. "Ah, Kedra, my dear," I said, and suddenly I could say no more. My throat tightened and I choked on my words. He had been born in that place, my beloved Yrais had died there, the very walls were hallowed with memories and life, and I knew I would never spend another night there. I remained in my generous son's embrace with bowed head and my heart caught in the depths of my despair, when I felt a terrible thing.

We are creatures of fire. We produce fire when we are pleased, when we are angry, when we are deeply moved, as the Gedri produce the salt water they call tears. Few know it, but we also weep, in the last extremity of soul's darkness.

I felt a tear hiss its way down my faceplate.

Kedra saw and did nothing, just held me. I knew deep in my soul that he was remembering the night Yrais died, for then it was he who had wept. I had held him then, been his strength when my own heart was shattered and dead, and now that strength held me up.

Has ever father had such a son?

Blessed be the Winds, but such times are short. I touched his soulgem with my own, that intimacy that only parents and children share, and was again myself.

"Thank you," I said simply.

"I am thirsty, Father. Let us drink before we begin," he said, embarrassed I think.

It is often difficult even for such a one as Kedra to admit to great strength.

We went the few steps out the door of my chambers and both drank deeply of the stream that ran close by. The simple feel of the water, the taste of it on my tongue that I had not noticed for years, the smell of the slow-approaching spring beneath the earth were suddenly precious beyond words. The thought "you will never do that again" threatened me, but I turned from it. Time enough to grieve later.

Water. Fire. The island alight—no, there could be no mourning until we were safely gone.

With a heart weighted down with sorrow we turned back into my chamber. I had lit a fire in the main chamber both to hallow our actions and to aid us in our task.

We scraped together great handfuls of khaadish from the corner where I slept and began to make several deep bowls, breathing fire to melt and smooth the surface and to ease the shaping of them. When they were complete I sent Kedra out to gather moss while I made flat plates about the size of the bowls, bent them slightly that they might act as coverings, and laid them aside. I used the moss to line the bottom and sides of the bowls.

I could delay no longer. As we stood at the opening of the inner chamber, the wall facing us was covered in khaadish with the soulgems of our Ancestors set deep in the soft metal. I bowed to the gathered Ancestors of our people, reached up to the highest and oldest and with a careful talon dug it out of its setting. As I placed it gently in the vessel I felt my sorrow as a physical pain, but I could bear it. I had to.

"Kedra, of your kindness make a covering for the cask that holds the soulgems of the Lost," I said.

Poor things, borne here ages ago when first they were torn from their owners, and now forced to return to the place where it had happened.

Alas for us all.

It started again that night, of course. I should have known that even so simple a thing as a day of joy has its price.

When we returned to the inn I was tired and I went up to my room to rest. I found my clean, dry clothes folded neatly on the bed and all but danced a jig. I turned my pack inside out, brushed it clean, then turned it back and put my treasures carefully back in, swearing to myself this time to save one change of underwear and one clean shirt against the next time I was truly filthy. When I straightened it hit me, as before, like a dagger had plunged into my belly. I blessed true-speech and yelled for Varien to bring Rella as I crawled to the bed. They were with me in moments. Rella took one look, started swearing and left. She was back soon with a basin of hot water, some cloths, and the assurance that a different Healer had been sent for.

Varien said nothing aloud. He sat beside me, his back to Rella and her ministrations, his eyes gazing gently into mine. Instead of the whispering voices I now heard only his own glorious voice in my mind. There were no words, exactly, but I could feel the strength and love he was sending me surrounding me like a blanket.

"I went looking for a Mage for you, girl, but we're out of luck," said Rella quietly. "Of the three who live here, two are out of town and the third is a bone-setter." She winked at me over Varien's shoulder. "You wouldn't care to break a leg, would you? We could find out how good he is."

I managed to smile back, for the pain had lessened for the moment. "Thanks, Rella, you're a true friend, but I wouldn't dream of depriving you. Just come up here where I can reach you and I'll help you break your own leg, then you can find out."

A man walked in at that moment, someone I'd never seen before. He was middle-aged, of middle height, and he frowned at me. "And what's troubling you, young woman?" he asked, his voice and bearing the very portrait of self-importance. He walked towards me, pushing back his sleeves and starting to glow blue.

"A strange man just walked into my room and started asking me questions," I snarled. Something about him made me want to bite. "Maybe if he said who the devil he was I'd feel better."

"I am the Healer Kidleth. I was sent for," he replied, not bothered in the slightest.

"What happened to the woman who came yesterday?" I asked, as a distraction and to alert Rella. I bespoke Varien as fast as I could. "Akor, there's something terribly wrong with him. Can you see it? Am I crazy? I don't want him to touch me!"

Kidleth muttered something and Varien stepped forward and offered his hand. Kidleth took it for an instant, but no more, for Varien dropped it as fast as he could. I could nearly hear him hiss.

"You serve the Rakshasa!" he growled. He was breathing strangely. "Remember you can't breathe fire anymore," I told him swiftly. I heard his breathing change as he stepped forward, towering over the man and forcing him to move away from me and back towards the door. "How dare you come here reeking of the filth!"

The man tried to hold his ground for a moment. "I am the prime Healer with the House of Gundar in Kaibar, young man, you will not address me that way!"

"I am Varien of the line of Loriakeris," growled Varien fervently, "and I will kill you if you do not leave this place immediately."

I shivered. Varien was become Akor again, and saw the evil in this man's soul as deserving instant death, as would be the case on the Dragon Isle. His voice was the same kind of cold I had once heard from Jamie, when he was speaking with a man he was about to kill.

"Leave this instant, you idiot. Can't you see he means it?" snarled Rella. Her hand was on the hilt of her dagger.

The Healer turned and ran without another word. Rella picked up my boots and threw them to me. "I don't care how much it hurts, girl. Get dressed now. We're leaving. I'll go tell Jamie."

"Why?" I demanded.

"Have you forgotten, or didn't you hear for the pain?" she asked me as she swiftly gathered my belongings and tied up my pack. "House of Gundar! I told you when we were on the Dragon Isle—Marik's got demon callers in nearly every branch of his Merchant House, most of them Healers he's turned bad, and this idiot was one of them. If Marik or Berys seek us, they will know where we are within the hour. We have to go. Get dressed and meet me in the common room as fast as you can."

I gritted my teeth, dressed as quickly as I could and we hurried downstairs, but Rella was there before us. "Jamie's out saddling the horses," she said, smiling, calmly paying the innkeeper and chatting about the weather. We followed her outside. The twilight was fading and true dark setting in.

Jamie met us at the door with the horses, who were fractious at being saddled and turned out of their warm barn at such a peculiar hour. As we mounted, Rella said only, "Follow me."

We did. The pain was just bearable, for the moment, and Rella seemed to know what she was doing. I could see Jamie shrug in the light from the inn and turn his horse to follow hers.

We turned from well-lit streets with many houses to an altogether darker part of the town. Barely one house in three was occupied. Many had broken shutters, doors hung off their hinges, and there seemed to be far too many dogs about. The horses were as nervous as I was, and when Jamie's Blaze snorted and backed from a narrow lane Jamie risked speaking. "You do know where you're going, do you?" he called to Rella.

She answered quietly from just ahead of Jamie. "I know they don't like it. Not far now."

We followed, down a short cobbled lane only just wide enough for the horses to enter single file. There was a high gated wall at the end of the street, with a door in it as wide as the lane itself. The door was closed and the gate was dark.

When we were all stood in a line before the door, Rella whistled a series of peculiar notes. Immediately a light was revealed halfway up the wall and the door opened wide. She rode in ahead of us, still whistling, and we came out into a large grassy courtyard covered by a high roof on long poles. How so much room could lurk behind so narrow a street I could not imagine, but I was new to cities and there was much I did not understand. For example, I had no idea where we were, but Jamie looked around and laughed. It wasn't a pleasant sound.

I'd heard of the Silent Service all my life and I'd known more than a few of their members, but I'd never dared to hope I'd see the inside of one of their Strongholds. In fact I'd begun to wonder if they were no more than tales. As I glanced around I realised where and why the stories about them had started.

From cobbled lane to grass—so their members would disappear at me end of that impossible road, or appear silently from nowhere and be able to ride hell for leather from a standing start. And the high roof must be designed to fool the eye from above—anyone looking down from a high tower would see only more roofs. It was ingenious and I longed for a little more light, but instead we were approached by three people wearing hoods, who gestured us down from our horses.

Rella, who had dismounted, said, "Don't worry, Jamie. You're not allowed to see any more than you've seen. All of you, please, you'll need to be hooded for a moment or two."

"And you?" asked Varien, sounding none too pleased.

"I work here," said Rella, laughing. "Come, there's no harm in it. I need to talk to my Master fast and this was the only way to do it. If you don't wear the hoods they'll have to knock you facedown on the ground and sit on you. Hoods are easier."

Lanen laughed. "Pass it over, then. I can't see worth spit in this light anyway so I might as well have an excuse." She placed the hood over her own head without a qualm.

We didn't really have any choice so we all did as Rella asked. "I'll be right back," she said. As she left we heard her calling on someone to bring us food and wine. In moments I had a fresh bread roll in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. Couldn't fault their hospitality, and at least there was plenty of room under the hood to allow us to eat and drink.

If you think I'm going to give away any secrets, think again.

When I reached the Master of Kaibar we had a swift conversation, most of which any bystander would have found impossible to understand. Many of the lesser agents would also be confused, and I am not about to break silence now. However, if we had been speaking normally the mundane parts of the conversation would have gone something like this.

"I assume, Mistress Relleda, that you have a truly fine reason for bringing three Bricks into this Sanctuary?"

"You assume correctly. The idiot innkeeper at the Three Kings sent for one of Berys's twisted creatures when I wanted a Healer."

"I heard you were after healing. You don't look any worse than usual."

"It's for a client."

"A client!" he snorted. "And now you're going to tell me your client is in the courtyard."

"You guess well."

He sat back and glared at me. "Three Bricks in the Sanctuary, Rella. This had better be good."