Woman of Silk and Stone (11 page)

"The
Ilati
have
surely blessed you, Honey. You seem to have an advantage that no
Halqu I can recall has ever possessed." Ninna watched me
thoughtfully, and I almost opened my mouth to tell her about my
other little quirks, but something stopped me. Glancing along the
table, I noticed Efrim watching me avidly, clearly able to hear our
conversation despite being several seats away. Deciding that
Jafar's evil twin probably didn't need to know about my new and
exciting healing abilities and killer right hook, I just smiled and
nodded.

"I have been very lucky," I agreed. "The
other term Tam used...
Ka Harsog
. What is
that?"

Tam spoke up again, his voice sounding more
adult this time. "
Zagmi
Tilmun, perhaps
you would be the best one to explain
Ka
Harsog
to our new
Halqu
." He
addressed one of the advisors on the left, a rotund,
amiable-looking fellow with shoulder-length light-blue tinted hair
and intelligent, sparkling eyes of iridescent gold. I liked him
immediately.

"I will be happy to, Bright One." He nodded
his head respectfully at Tam and smiled kindly at me.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't quite understand.
What is
Zagmi
?" I asked, receiving a happy
smile in return.

"
Zagmi
is the title
of the head priest, the servant of the
Ilati
. I study the ways of the gods and bring some
small measure of their power to the people of Solis." Tilmun patted
his round stomach cheerfully. "And I am greatly rewarded for my
troubles."

Startled, I laughed out loud for the first
time since landing on Edin.

"As you should be, Tilmun," Zinna said,
smiling gently at the chuckling priest, who was reminding me
forcefully of a blend between Winnie the Pooh and Friar Tuck.

"Yes, well." He cleared his throat and his
expression grew more serious. "To answer your earlier question,
Honey, Ka Harsog is the gate in the sky that leads to other worlds.
Halqu always appear through Ka Harsog, and a few blessed ones have
disappeared through the gate to venture to other worlds where the
Ilati
see fit."

I absorbed this bit of news with some
difficulty. It was so hard to wrap my mind around all of this. I
was never the most fanciful child; my parents told me the truth
about Santa Claus when I was three, not wanting their offspring to
waste time or energy on a commercialized fairy tale; or, more
likely, they didn't want to have to remember to buy me presents. I
was never particularly drawn to the paranormal or science fiction;
and as far as wormholes went, even having gone through what must
have been one, I had a hard time believing they existed. To hear
everyone referring to the
Ilati
, or gods,
so casually, to hear Tilmun mention in all seriousness a gateway to
other worlds was nearly incomprehensible to someone like me.

And then his words registered.

"Wait, people leave here too? Go to other
worlds? Maybe my world?" I asked incredulously, wondering if all
those stories about aliens building the pyramids might have some
base in reality.

"Yes. Not often you understand, at least
from what we know. It is possible some are taken without our
knowledge, but people don't go missing very often in Solis, so we
have some idea how many have traveled the gates." He hesitated and
then spoke more gently, reaching out to place a chubby hand on
mine. "Honey, please do not for a moment think there is way to
return for you."

I sputtered and then narrowed my eyes at the
puffy little man. "Why? If people from here go through the gate,
why can't I just pop back? Not that I don't love it here, but..." I
added quickly, with an apologetic glance at Tam's worried
expression.

"Honey, you must not even consider it! Only
one Halqu has ever tried to journey back and he...he did not fare
well," Tam warned, nearly leaping out of his seat, his expressive
young face pinched in distress.

Ninna patted his hand and he subsided, still
looking at me anxiously, as though I might simply disappear into
thin air. "Settle, Tam. It is not seemly for you to become so
agitated," she chastised, even as she gave him a warm smile and
squeezed his hand.

Turning to me, Ninna gave me a sympathetic
look. "Tam is right, Honey. Long ago, the first Halqu tried to
return to his world. His name was Ralf, and he was very powerful,
blessed by the
Ilati
with the ability to
see the gates and to work their magic. He traveled to each realm
and told of his homeland and the will of the
Ilati
to foster the
Halqu
to
come, and all of Edin blossomed into a new era of learning and
innovation. After many years, he grew tired and wished to return
home to his own world, and so Ralf gathered the rulers of each
realm, and his friends from the Horde who first found him, and all
went to the gate to bid him farewell."

Ninna paused, looking over at Tilmun in
entreaty. I could guess the story got kind of unpleasant from here
on.

Tilmun nodded and turned to me, taking in my
avid expression with a wry smile. "I don't wish to upset you on
your first night in the Golden City, but you must understand that
to attempt the crossing again is impossible. Ralf was confident
that because of his mastery of magic, he would be able to move
through
Ka Harsag
at will, but he was
wrong. The
Ilati
sent him here, as they do
every
Halqu
, and they did not intend for
the gate to work both ways."

Ready to scream in frustration at all the
stalling tactics, I forced my face into an expression of pleasant
curiosity and gestured for Tilmun to continue. "Please, what
happened to him?"

With a beleaguered sigh, Tilmun gave in and
continued. "Very well. Ralf called on the
Ilati
and with his magic forced the gate to open. All
who were present were nearly blinded by the brilliant light that
poured from the gate, and then there was a terrible roaring noise,
like the sound of a thousand
Idimmu
, and
Ralf was raised into the air, his very skin peeling from his bones.
He begged the
Ilati
to relieve him, to
close the gates, but they were silent and he was stripped of all
his flesh until only his spirit hung below the gate, still crying
out for mercy."

My mouth had dropped open and a sick feeling
roiled in my gut. Somehow in the back of my mind, I was still
holding out hope that I could get back, that I could do whatever I
was here to do and then as a reward, I'd get shipped back home.

But getting all my flesh stripped from my
bones didn't sound like much of a reward.

Tilmun gave me a pitying look and finished
his gruesome tale. "For seven days and seven nights, his spirit
remained, calling out for help, begging to return home, to be
released. Finally, as dawn approached on the eighth morning, he
quieted and called the rulers closer. He told them that his spirit
was about to be released and that he had a message from the
Ilati
.

"All the rulers of Edin gathered beneath the
gate and watched as it finally closed, leaving Ralf's spirit still
suspended in the air. His voice was no longer wracked with pain,
and he was able to speak clearly. Ralf told the rulers that the
Ilati
would send
Halqu
through
Ka Harsag
when
they were needed, and that they were to be treated as treasured
gifts, blessings from the
Ilati
. But the
Halqu
must make Edin their home, and must
never try to return again, or the balance between worlds would be
destroyed and devastation would come to Edin. At last, Ralf's
spirit dissolved and he was free from the destruction of
Ka Harsag
. And so since his death, all
Halqu
have been treated as blessings and
given every chance to make a happy life on Edin, but none have
attempted to return through the gates."

Tilmun finished and leaned back in his
chair, his previously jolly smile gone and his features drawn with
grief. The entire table was silent for a long moment while I
processed all that he'd told me, confused about the idea of Ralf's
spirit hanging around and passing on messages from the gods; but
then again, this wasn't my world, and the rules I knew didn't apply
here. What I took away from the story was that there was no return
ticket home, I was stuck here for good, and I needed to suck it up
and deal.

After several long moments, I realized
everyone was waiting for me to speak. Tam watched me anxiously, his
violet eyes wide with distress, so I gave him a reassuring smile.
"I understand. Thank you for telling me. I...I won't try to return
now, I promise."

Everyone let out a breath and I realized
belatedly that they had been worried about me; maybe they expected
me to burst into tears or run screaming from the hall, but I knew
when I was beaten. Something deep in my chest settled, a knot of
tension I hadn't been aware of, and I accepted that my life was
beginning anew.

"You will not regret it, Honey. We will care
for you as a blessing from the Ilati. You will want for nothing,"
Tam promised me earnestly, his young face shining with promise. I
reached out and grasped his hand, giving it a squeeze. I caught
Ninna's eye as she watched our interaction intently and she gave me
a gentle smile, her eyes glittering with unshed tears.

I was home.

I woke with a start, my heart pounding
violently.

Reaching out with my senses, I tried to
determine what woke me, why I had the feeling I was not alone in my
room. From the safety of my bed, I peered out into the gloom, the
shadows only interrupted by the soft glow of the embers in the
fireplace. I could neither hear nor see anything to alarm me, but
the sense of intrusion remained.

Cautiously, I shifted the heavy blanket from
my legs and moved to stand up. A hand slammed into my chest,
shoving me back down, knocking all the air out of my lungs. Before
I could catch my breath, hands wrapped around my throat and a heavy
body pinned me down, immobilizing me completely.

Even as black spots filled my vision, I
reacted like a wild animal, clawing ineffectually at the hands
crushing my throat, trying desperately to gain some room, some air
so that I could think straight. The hands squeezed harder and a
dark, male voice muttered incoherently above me.

Now frantic for air, in a last attempt to
free myself, I grasped one of the hairy arms pressing against my
chest and dug in my fingernails, surprised when the flesh gave way
and something cracked beneath my touch, like a twig snapping under
pressure.

A guttural scream roared above me and the
hands fell away at last. Sweet, beautiful, life-giving air flowed
past my bruised throat and into my lungs. For a moment I did
nothing but breathe, recognizing from the pain in my neck and
burning in my chest that I had been on the cusp of total
strangulation.

With the return of air came a spike of
awareness, and I pushed the hefty, writhing body off of me and
flipped over to straddle it. In the dim light, I couldn't see much,
but was able to make out a pair of blazing yellow eyes wide with
agony, and blurry masculine features. Realizing that I must have
crushed the man's arm with the newly discovered strength in my
right hand, I wrapped it around his throat and started
squeezing.

Immediately the man on the bed tried to
lurch out of my grip, and we wrestled for position, him trying to
pin me again while I just grimly tightened my hold, praying that he
choked before he could do any more damage. Alarm filled his
pain-glazed eyes as he realized he couldn't shake my hold and I
tightened it yet again to demonstrate the fragility of his
position.

I grunted in pain as the man slammed one
meaty fist into my kidney, and my grip loosened enough for him to
pull free and land another gut shot. Abruptly, the fire blazed,
bathing the room in light, startling my attacker. Taking advantage,
wheezing in agony, I formed a fist with my powerful hand and
slammed it into his temple, watching in satisfaction as he crumpled
to the floor unconscious.

For a moment, I just lay there, breathing
through the splinters of pain in my throat and gut, trying to think
past the grateful realization that I was still alive. The heat in
the room seemed almost unbearable to me, though whether that had to
do with the sudden surge of the flames or my own raging adrenaline,
I wasn't sure. At last, my mind caught up to the situation and I
carefully pulled myself to my feet, wincing at the deep ache in my
back.

The man who tried to kill me lay silent and
still on the stone floor, his eyes staring up unseeing. I didn't
recognize him, but he looked like most of the Solisians I'd come
into contact with thus far; darkly tanned skin, tall, and well
built. His eyes were a strange yellow color I normally associated
with reptiles, but apart from that he appeared like any other man,
from either world.

His left arm was clearly broken, the
shattered bone poking up against the skin in a completely unnatural
way. His throat was bright red, and I could see the impression of
my fingers clearly highlighted even against his dark skin.

But the thing that made me fall to my knees,
that made me stop breathing, was his head.

The side my fist had struck was completely
caved in, a concave mess that encompassed half of his face. My
hands shook as I realized the implications.

I killed him. With one blow.

I don't know how long I sat there in shock,
just staring at the crushed skull, tears streaming down my face,
but eventually it dawned on me that no one could know how I killed
him. If I explained how I caved in his skull with one blow, all
sorts of questions to which I wasn't sure I wanted to give answers
would arise. Considering that a complete stranger had just tried to
kill me in my sleep, I thought keeping my new defensive
capabilities a secret might just save my life again.