Deadly Fate [Book 1 of the Teadai Prophecies]

by Dana Davis

  The Gypsy floated a single orb just above her head for light and pointed to the nearest bench. “Sit there.”

  Despite the light scent of water and herbs, the bathhouse didn’t seem inviting. The stone bench was cold now that the baths had been drained for the night and there was no steam to heat the building. The bench felt unusually hard.

  “You know you’re not supposed to be out this late without permission.”

  “Yes, Mother Haranda.” Saldia fought the urge to tuck her feet under her skirts and wished the stone floor wasn’t so frigid.

  “Then you know I have to punish you.”

  “Yes, Mother Haranda.” Bloody nightmares! If she had slept soundly, none of this would be happening.

  “Very well. But first, I want to know how long you’ve been dreaming of that poor girl in Makrilon.”

  Saldia hadn’t expected the discussion to turn to the Netherworld. Haranda must have found her there. Or worse, those bloody nightmares had showed themselves to her clan mother. Now what? The last thing she wanted was for others to know about her disturbing dreams, but she couldn’t lie to a Gypsy. They always seemed to recognize a youngling’s untruths.

  “I’m waiting for an answer.”

  While at Mistress Lane’s farmhouse, Haranda had wept about the murdered woman. Though Makrilonians often harassed the guiltless, they hadn’t been wrong in their accusations that harvest a year prior to Haranda finding Saldia. That woman had been a youngling and Haranda unable to save her. The Gypsy must have been devastated at the loss. Saldia had witnessed the murder too, but neither had made more than a mention of it. Until now.

  “I’m sorry about what happened to her, Mother Haranda. That you couldn’t get her away from there.”

  A tiny frown touched Haranda’s lips but it was brief. “Thank you for your concern.” Then she sat and Saldia studied her features beneath the orb. Haranda’s brow furrowed. “The dreams. Tell me about them.”

  Dark eyes burrowed into Saldia’s head when she hesitated. “I’ve had them ever since that harvest festival when she was killed. The cottage seemed too warm when I woke tonight and I had to get out.”

  Haranda sighed and cocked her head. “I understand. I couldn’t get that one out of Makrilon without exposing the rest of us. I didn’t locate her until they had her bound in the streets.”

  Haranda must have been in that very crowd, watching, feeling much the way she did at the horrific murder. But that was a full year before Haranda came for her at the tavern, a year before the approaching calling revealed Saldia to the Gypsy’s senses. “How did they know she was a youngling?” Middlings couldn’t sense a Gypsy any more than a Gypsy could touch the moon.

  “They didn’t. She hadn’t been through the calling. Those villagers simply found her convenient. She was probably new, alone, or just different than most in Makrilon. She would’ve been a Gypsy sister, not very strong but one of us nonetheless.”

  Her voice wavered and Saldia studied her. “Are you all right, Mother Haranda?”

  “It’s difficult when we lose any kin. Especially like that.”

  Saldia nodded. “But you got me out. They would’ve done the same to me if you hadn’t come.” That thought terrified her more than any other. The calling would have taken her no matter where she lived. That strangeness would’ve been enough cause for any Makrilonian to cry Gypsy.

  Haranda placed an arm around Saldia’s shoulders. “Yes, I did save you, my little shadow. And you’ve done well these past moons. Though, after that last incident with Kal and Cass, I thought perhaps your punishment days were at an end.” Her dark eyes hardened beneath her orb.

  Seeing Kal do a tavern dance on the table was worth the punishments they had received. Except for Adelsik. As much as that one grated on Saldia’s nerves, she felt remorse that the poor girl had been hauled to Ved’nuri.

  “Did I come to you in my dreams, the way Cass came to Adelsik?”

  “Yes. That’s why I went to see if you were all right. When I found your bed empty, I decided to wait for you. Tomorrow we’ll take a walk in your dreams and rid you of those disturbing images. Wren and Predula will need to be present, as well. As for your going out after curfew, I can take care of that now.”

  Saldia swallowed hard and pulled away from her clan mother. Why was she frightened? Haranda never disciplined out of malice the way some tavern keepers had done. “I was only trying to make myself sleepy again.”

  “I realize that. But you know the rules. If I break one for you then I may as well break them all. And what kind of Gypsy mother would I be if my younglings became wild and untrained?”

  “What’s my punishment to be?” Though she already had a good idea. Scrubbing privies and shoveling goat dung seemed the punishments of choice here in the Land of the Goddess.

  “I think three days doing laundry should be sufficient. You didn’t take in the Energy and you put no one in danger.”

  Saldia sighed. She hated the bloody laundry too. Stirring clothes in a hot, soapy vat made her arms sore and her eyes sting, not at all like the milder soaps used in the kitchens. The only consolation was that laundry got rinsed in the beautiful lake. She loved the lake. But three days?

  Haranda smiled warmly. “Laundry will give you time to think about our rules.” She smoothed her hair but her orb remained steady. “It pleases me that you’re becoming such a fine Gypsy. You’ve come a very long way from that tattered, bawdy girl I hauled from the tavern. Though your tongue can wag a curse to make a man blush, your other teachers have told me you attend studies with eagerness and patience. Both of which are fine Gypsy traits.”

  Saldia’s face heated at the woman’s compliments. “Thank you, Mother Haranda.” As for curses, well, Saldia had grown up around tavern language and rattling off a few every now and then made her feel better. Eletha, Cass and Kal understood that.

  Haranda stood. “You may want to hold that thanks until after your laundry duties.”

  “Perhaps I’ll take my thanks back altogether?” Saldia received a rewarding snicker from her clan mother.

  Haranda hooked an arm in hers and pulled her to her feet then led her out of the bathhouse and back to her door. “Come to my cottage in the morning.”

  “Yes, Mother Haranda.”

  “Sleep well, youngling.” And she left.

  Saldia pushed the number of steps she had just counted from her mind, went inside, washed her feet and got straight into bed. Neither of her clan sisters had awakened, for which she was grateful, and she fell asleep soon after her head touched her pillow.

  * * * *

  When she awoke, dim morning light streamed in through the curtains of the triple windows. She silently thanked the Goddess for not giving her any more nightmares after her talk with Haranda last night. Cass was already in her youngling dress. What hideous material Gypsies coveted. Bel’keive still slept, and Saldia pulled herself quietly from her covers. She nodded a good-morning to Cass, washed and dressed, and slipped out to the cold bathhouse to relieve herself.

  Haranda stood outside her door talking to Wren when Saldia arrived at the woman’s cottage, and the two ushered her inside. Her heart raced at the thought of going into the nightmare again, and she wondered whether this was a grave mistake. She looked around and began to do inventory of Haranda’s cottage. A wash basin for feet, two towels, a pitcher and basin for face and hands, four wall lanterns, a table lantern, one table, three chairs, a single bed large enough for two, one large tapestry rug, a trunk with Haranda’s needlepoint on top, and one wardrobe.

  “We’ll begin as soon as Predula arrives, youngling.” Haranda smiled. “Then we’ll have morning meal here. I requested a private day with you. You’ll report to the laundry servants afterwards.”

  Saldia nodded as she drew her eyes and her mind from counting. “Yes, Mother Haranda.” Perhaps the woman would teach her how to control her dreams. Unlikely, since Saldia didn’t have slumbering Energy, but she could hope. Then again, did she really want to
go into those awful dreams again? No. She found herself fidgeting with her skirts and forced her hands still.

  The three had tea, while waiting for Predula to arrive. The tea was bitter and Saldia added honey to make it more palatable. Her heart fell when the small healer entered with Adelsik.

  “I thought you would take care of my nightmares, Mother Haranda.” Saldia didn’t hide her anger that one of her own clan sisters had arrived as witness. And Adelsik at that. Though she had changed a bit since her visit to the dome, the bloody girl still looked down on many, especially Saldia.

  “Adelsik needs to learn more about her slumbering Energy,” Wren said. “You will allow this. Do you understand, youngling?”

  She bit off a curse. “Yes, Mother Wren.” Gypsy rules or no, she didn’t think she could open herself to Adelsik. The girl always gave her snobbish looks whenever the mothers were occupied. Unease crept even faster into Saldia’s body and knotted her stomach. The urge to count rose again.

  Wren stood near her. “Don’t look so sour, youngling. We won’t allow anything to happen to you. Larger numbers are better in the Netherworld right now.”

  Saldia’s heart jumped at mention of the attacks. She wanted to run out the door, but her eyes felt heavy and she yawned instead. Finally, she focused somewhat sleepily on Haranda. “Are you certain you want to do this, Mother Haranda?” Perhaps she could engage the Gypsy’s emotions about the murdered youngling and keep this nightmare to herself a while longer.

  Haranda smiled. “Thank you for your concern, my little shadow. But Ved’nuri will be observing. So there’s no need to be frightened.”

  That’s what you think. This is a very bad idea. Saldia tried desperately to keep her eyes open.

  “No use fighting my tea, youngling.” Haranda ushered Saldia to her bed. “You’ll sleep long enough for us to do what we must.”

  Saldia’s head rested on Haranda’s pillow only a heartbeat before she stood in the streets of Makrilon. Three glowing figures stood nearby, joined by a fourth, a taller woman who stood off to one side. “Ved’nuri?” But who were the other three. She should know them.

  “Yes, youngling.” The crowned woman nodded. “I’m here. And so are Gypsies Haranda and Wren and the youngling Adelsik. You remember them?”

  Saldia nodded. They were distant in her mind but she knew them nonetheless.

  Ved’nuri folded her hands in front of her glowing body and nodded to Haranda.

  The Gypsy stepped toward Saldia. “Take us to the woman.”

  Saldia shook her head. “I would rather not.”

  “You must, youngling. We need to see the dream to help you.”

  A scream found Saldia’s ears and she pushed through the crowd to watch a kneeling woman with bloodstains on her clothes. She knew what would come next and turned away as bile filled her throat.

  “Saldia. You can free her.” Who was this dark-eyed woman who now spoke to her? “I’m your clan mother, Saldia. You can free her. Go ahead.”

  Clan mother? Haranda. “They’ll kill me.”

  “No, they don’t have that power here.”

  The kneeling woman screamed as her wrists and ankles were bound and she was stretched between four horses. The riders mounted.

  “You must, Saldia. This dream will haunt you, otherwise. Go ahead. We’re right here.”

  “No. I don’t want to see this.” But Saldia watched in horror as the woman was ripped apart. She dropped a chicken leg that she’ d been eating and emptied her stomach on the streets.

  “Again, Haranda. She must take control of this memory.”

  “I know, Wren. I know.”

  Saldia studied the glowing women. Who were they? Why were they here? They didn’t belong. They were different. Didn’t they know the people of Makrilon would tear them apart just like the other one? Just for being different? The mob turned on the four glowing women and started after them.

  The white-haired woman took hold of Saldia’s arm. “No, youngling. You won’t change the dream this way.” Her looped braids shook with her head movement. “Take us back to before the woman was killed.”

  Saldia tried to pull away but the grip was like a vice on her arm and terror flooded her. “Let me go. They’ll kill me too, if they think we’re together.” Again, she pulled, with no results. Suddenly the crowd stood at the far end of the street.

  The white-haired woman smiled. “You can’t change me, Saldia. I’m a slumberer, remember? You are not. You can’t harm me here and you can’t run away. You must face this.”

  Saldia glanced at the tallest woman, who wore a golden wreath on her head, and got an encouraging smile. A woman screamed, pulling her attention and her feet toward the crowd. The white-haired woman allowed her to move but stayed close.

  What’s her name? Wren? Yes. A Gypsy.

  Her attention was drawn to a young woman who knelt in the center of the angry mob. Some threw stones, causing the young woman to bleed. Children chanted foul words about Gypsies. Four horses were led near the struggling woman and she was stretched between them. They’re going to pull her apart!

  “You can stop this, Saldia.” A dark-eyed woman stood nearby, chestnut hair flowing to her waist. “This is your clan mother speaking to you, youngling.”

  The voice was commanding and Saldia suddenly remembered. “Mother Haranda?”

  “Yes. Now do as I tell you and stop this.” One glowing arm pointed to the screaming woman.

  Saldia backed away and shook her head. No. She didn’t want to be here. Was this a dream? Why couldn’t she wake? The young woman went eerily silent as her body was torn apart. Saldia vomited then bolted for the tavern.

  But she didn’t get far. Three glowing women stepped in her path and another stood nearby. Suddenly she was a child, only as tall as their waists. A woman screamed from behind her and a crowd gathered in the streets. “Please. No. Not again. Please.”

  The tall, dark-eyed woman crouched and took Saldia’s face in her large hands. You can’t allow these images to haunt you. You’re not a child. You must take control. Do you hear me, youngling?”

  Something in the voice made her heart race. Saldia grew until she reached adulthood again.

  The woman stood and faced her. “That’s better. You have the power to free that girl. We’ve allowed you to alter the memory. You are a Gypsy-child, Saldia. Stay strong.”

  A woman screamed behind her. “I can’t.” Blood oozed from between the cobblestones to cover her boots and she screamed.

  She sat up as sweat rolled down her temples and screamed in silence, until someone put hands on her face.

  “Saldia?” Wren said. “Youngling? Are you all right?” What were they asking her to do? She sobbed and Wren stroked her back until she stopped crying.

  Someone caressed her feet. Predula. Haranda sat near her and she realized the woman had been asleep beside her on the bed. Adelsik sat on the rug near the fireplace, silent, those large eyes focused on Saldia.

  She swiped an arm across her wet face. “I don’t want to do that again. I don’t bloody want to do that ever again!” She started up but Wren caught her by the arm.

  “I know this is difficult. But you need to take control of this dream. It will haunt you otherwise. Interfere with your Gypsy duties.”

  “Son of a stinger bush! I don’t care. I don’t bloody care if I never sleep again!” She pulled away but didn’t get far.

  Haranda was off the bed now and in front of her. Dark, penetrating eyes burrowed into Saldia’s clothes, revealing her nakedness, then pushed into her skin until she shivered. “I don’t want to frighten you to get your cooperation, Saldia. You’ve had enough fright. But this dream keeps you up at night, interferes with much needed rest. We can’t allow that.” Hands went to her hips. “If you think you can get past me, you’d better think again.”

  Saldia didn’t care now. All she wanted was to run to the lake and dive in, wash away the blood, the filth, the memory, disappear. That’s it! She could walk in the sha
de. Others could see her when she ran, but she might be able to get away. In a heartbeat, she took in the Energy and made herself invisible to them. Without hesitation, she flung open the door and bolted toward the lake. Her body flickered between shadow and light and anyone looking in her direction would see her, but she didn’t care. She only wanted to get away from the awful things that haunted her dreams. Many were at the tables for morning meal so she had little trouble getting past the cottages and women’s bathhouse without notice.

  Haranda, Wren and Predula called out behind her. Others would follow. She froze near a tree when Greges Nee’horn and another hunter walked toward her. They were talking and didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong. Until they heard the Gypsies. Blazes!

  I must get to the lake! She could hide in the water. Maybe stay near the forbidden waterfall. She had already broken rules. What was one more? The water’s movement might help her remain unseen, and she would try desperately to keep the Gypsies from sensing her. Anything was better than going back into that bloody nightmare.

  Her heart raced as Greges stepped closer, but the hunter was a servant not a Gypsy and couldn’t sense her. As long as she remained still, he wouldn’t see her, either. The hunters bolted to the approaching Gypsies, and Saldia took the opportunity to dash between trees until she made it to the lake’s edge. She ran along the bank and ducked between the taller bushes, too frantic to count anything just now. Morning light glimmered off the water and she squinted.

  They ran behind her, the Gypsies, and Saldia’s heart pounded in her head, her breath frantic. Stay unseen. They can’t see you. They can’t sense you.

  She took in more Energy, so much that her body pulsed with power and almost intoxicated her senses. She hoped it was enough. Blazes! She should have run to the doorway, to the Means. Perhaps there she could have gone through to the outside world, run far enough so Haranda couldn’t find her even in her dreams.