She found that when she could persuade folk to slow down and then listen to their phrasing, it was not all that different from her own tongue. To help her progress, she asked Rael to refrain from using “Old Kelanni” when talking to her. She also practised on Meira whenever she could persuade the fussy housekeeper to stand still for a moment.
Each morning she would rise and gaze out of the window of her room on the first floor of the sumptuous house adjoining the observatory. Beyond the large black metal front gate, the covering of snow stretched away over the fields, dazzling in the bright sunlight. “Is there always snow here?” she had asked Rael.
“We’re coming into winter now, Shann,” Rael said. “When spring comes, the snow will disappear in the lowlands where we are, and the hills will be covered with flowers. In the mountains though, the snow always remains.”
Would she still be here come spring? I mustn’t get too comfortable here, she reminded herself. Still, she had to admit that she was enjoying the peaceful, undemanding lifestyle.
Tallia, the local physician, had stopped by to examine her as Hannath had promised. A kindly middle-aged woman with a small mouth and a ready smile, she poked and prodded the girl in a gentle form of torture, chatting to her in Old Kelanni all the while. Finally, she pronounced that aside from being somewhat malnourished, Shann was in good health. The physician swept up her jumble of oddly shaped instruments into a capacious canvass bag and strode off, presumably to report her findings to Hannath.
Since the meeting when she had been reunited with Boxx, Shann had seen hardly anything of the old man, which suited her just fine. Rael, on the other hand, was a daily visitor. Sometimes he would invite her to accompany him on his various duties. He tried to explain what he was doing and why, but she had to admit that most of it was completely over her head. Nevertheless, she made a point of listening and showing interest. In a sense, Rael was her only real ally in this world, so it was vital that she maintain the relationship.
After the first couple of days, Shann had complained to Rael that although the drach were gone, she still felt something of a prisoner. So Rael had asked if she would like to take a walk in the grounds. After that it became a tradition that every other afternoon, when Rael had finished his work for the day, he would accompany her on a stroll outside. They would don fur boots, fur coats and the odd fur hats that seemed to be the fashion here in Kelanni-Skell, and venture forth out into the snow.
She could not get used to the fact that despite the bright sunshine, it was so cold here. Still, she felt comfortably warm and snug inside her fur coverings, and she enjoyed the feel of the cold, crisp air in her lungs and watching her breath condense in clouds in front of her face. Rael grew more relaxed in her presence as the days slipped by, so that his stammer was almost gone.
It was on the second of their strolls that Shann was suddenly confronted by another marvel of this strange world. They had just passed through the imposing gate, the sound of snow crunching under their boots. Shann glanced behind at the footprints now sullying the otherwise unbroken blanket of snow and felt an odd pang of guilt. Then she caught up to Rael. He was standing, looking down at the town of Kieroth spread out beneath them.
“Those globes, lining the streets–why are they kept on at night?” she asked.
Rael looked at her oddly. “Well, it’s unsafe to stumble around in the dark. And it also keeps the predators in the hills at bay.”
“But surely it must use a tremendous amount of oil.”
Rael laughed. He had a quiet, almost private way of laughing. “They don’t use oil, they use electricity.”
“Electricity?”
“It’s a form of power.” He paused. “You don’t use electricity in Kelanni-Drann?”
“No, I never heard of it,” she said. “Is that how those other machines work?”
“What machines?”
“You know–the ones in Hannath’s study.”
Rael raised his eyebrows, “Oh you mean the timepieces. No, they are just mechanical.”
“Time…pieces,” Shann repeated.
“Yes, they measure time.”
Shann looked puzzled. “How do you mean”
Rael smiled and reached into his inside jacket pocket. He opened his palm, and one of the small round instruments was laying in it. “Each day is divided into ten ornahs, and each ornah into a hundred dahns.” He pointed, using the index finger on his other hand. “This lever counts ornahs, and this one, dahns. Right now it’s…thirty-seven past six, see?”
She gazed at the delicate silver and bronze coloured workings. “It’s beautiful.”
There was a sudden droning noise from somewhere high above. Shann glanced upward, shading her eyes against the bright sunshine and her jaw fell open. A bird. No, not a bird–a machine. A silver flying machine. It was slim, light glinting from it as it hovered a short way off, supported by what looked like two huge fans on either of its sides. As she watched, the pitch of its engines rose and it suddenly moved off, sweeping down the snowclad hillside leading from the observatory toward the town of Kieroth below.
She glanced at Rael, who was watching her with an amused expression. “It’s called an ‘avionic’,” he said, responding to her astonished expression. “It’s the main method of travel here in Kelanni-Skell.”
“I…I thought you people travelled in those…those carriage things.”
“You mean phaetons,” Rael said. “I heard you were found hiding in one.”
“I was not hiding, I was…sleeping.”
A smile played about his lips. “Of course you were. Anyway, phaetons are used for local transit. However, the lodestone tracks only extend to a few locations outside the town, like this observatory for instance. If we want to travel to the next town or for any distance, then we take an avionic.”
“Are those things…safe?” Shann felt foolish as soon as she asked the question.
“They’re pretty reliable. I’ve never heard of a serious accident involving one.”
“Don’t you use roads?”
Rael extended one of his long arms, taking in the surrounding vista. The valley in which the town of Kieroth nestled was bounded to the west and south by jagged peaks and sharp ridges–forbidding grey stone poking through the covering of snow like the helmets and axes of an army of giants. “Roads would be difficult to build in terrain such as ours, and impossible to keep clear in winter. Not to mention the fact that there are dangerous and aggressive creatures in the hills.”
“I know,” Shann said. “I came across some of them on my way here.”
It was Rael’s turn to look shocked. “You did?”
Shann nodded. “Large beasts, about half my size–grey fur, with horns.”
“Valthar…you encountered valthar?”
“A pack of them, yes.”
“And you fought them off?”
“I was forced to kill one of them. The rest fled.”
Rael shook his head. “Remarkable. Are all of the women in Kelanni-Drann fighters like you?”
Shann laughed. “Of course not. I have had a little training in the flying cloak and the staff. And at the time, it was a question of survival, so I did what I had to do.”
Rael looked thoughtful. “Your flying cloak is a fascinating piece of equipment. I would love to take a look at it some time.”
Shann was not about to entrust this boy with the last thing of value that she possessed in the entire world. However, she didn’t want to appear rude, so she diverted the request. “I can’t imagine why a people with flying machines would be interested in my cloak.”
“Because it’s an application of lodestone technology we never considered,” he explained. “You also mentioned devices that allow you to communicate instantly over long distances.”
“There are the Speaker Rings, as well as Vision Spheres,” she confirmed.
Rael’s faraway look reminded her of Hannath. “I would love to know how they work.”
“Well, I can’t
help you there. Those devices are used exclusively by the Keltar. Keris is one–if we find her, I’m sure she could explain them to you.”
They walked on in companionable silence for a while, broken only by the sound of their boots trudging through the snow. They were an odd pair–the tall boy with gangly limbs, and the slight girl half his height. Birds cawed and chittered in the rolling white fields. Dark bulbous clouds appeared over the peaks to the west, a presage of late afternoon or early evening snow. By morning, their footprints would be obliterated by fresh snowfalls, with nothing to indicate that they had ever passed this way.
It was Shann who finally broke the silence. “Hannath said that the two halves of Kelanni–yours and mine–were once united.”
“Before the Goratha–the dark time–yes, we believe so.”
“Then how is it that everything is so different here? How is it that you have so many things that we do not?”
“Separate parallel development,” Rael said, looking down at her frowning face and smiling. He seemed to enjoy confounding her with odd words, a trait of his that Shann found mildly irritating. “Imagine twins who were separated at birth,” he continued. “What would happen to them?”
She stopped and faced him. “How do you mean?”
“Well, if they grew up in different places, they would have different experiences–different ideas–wouldn’t they? They would no doubt develop in different ways. We have machines that fly through the air; you have ships that can traverse the sea. We have devices that measure time; you have ones that can communicate with people far away. But when the twins finally met…”
“They could share all of that knowledge,” Shann completed the thought.
There was a gleam in Rael’s eye. “I know. Exciting, isn’t it?”
~
It was ten days later when Rael asked Shann if she would like to accompany him to the launch site.
Shann’s heart leapt. She had scarcely ventured beyond the observatory grounds since she had arrived with Boxx some fifteen days ago. Then she had been in the company of Byrdach, and under drach guard; now she was free and unsupervised most of the time. The servants and officials who visited from time to time hardly noticed her. In fifteen days, she had gone from being the centre of attention to being invisible. Escape would have been a simple matter–if she had had anywhere to go.
There had been no news of Lyall and the others. Shann could not shake the nagging dread that they had perished in the storms. At night she had dreamed she was back aboard the Reach. Lyall, clad in a flying cloak, was yelling at her from the forecastle. Wind and rain scrabbled at his words with long bony fingers and tossed them away. She ran and climbed the ladder, but when she reached him, he was no longer Lyall, but Roanol, the boy she had met in the compound at Gort. She awoke bathed in sweat and confusion.
Now she stood in the middle of the guest room that had become her home, savouring the prospect of a trip that would take her away from these four walls and the feelings of grief and loss that were threatening to overwhelm her, even if only for a few ornahs. Then she remembered. “But…Hannath said I wasn’t allowed to go there.”
Rael raised his eyebrows. “Well, that’s true. But he only said that because the Scientific Directorate has insisted the Master keep the diametric drive a secret for now. However…since it turns out that you already know the principle behind the drive, there seems little point in barring you from the site. The master doesn’t like to travel, so it’s a part of my job to monitor the progress of the work there and report back. With everything that’s been happening of late, I haven’t been out to the site in days. I am also responsible for looking after you, but I can’t be in two places at once, so…I think you should come with me.”
Shann was not at all convinced that Hannath would agree with that fine piece of reasoning, and she had no desire to see Rael, her only friend in this world, get into trouble. However, she desperately needed a release from this place. Before she realised it, she heard herself say, “Thanks, I’d love to.”
A short while later, she was standing next to Rael at the outside gate, watching a phaeton drifting up the snowy hill toward the observatory. The carriage came to a stop next to them and settled gently to the ground. A young face poked out of the window. It split into a cheery grin. “Hello, Rael. Where to today?”
“Hello, Solvi. The avionics field, please.”
Rael boarded the carriage, followed by Shann. Solvi seemed to notice her for the first time. “Nice…very nice. Hey, it looks like excellent flying weather today. A great idea, taking your young lady up for a spin.”
“She’s not my…”
Shann looked over at Rael. He was staring into his lap, looking distinctly uncomfortable in the plush leather seat. Solvi’s smile was unapologetic. “Hold on now.” Shann felt the carriage rise smoothly into the air and start down the hill. The countryside filed past, and soon they were entering the outskirts of the town.
It was the district she had travelled through before, lined with artisans’ shops and strange machines. She wanted to ask Rael what they were exactly, but there was a more urgent question; one that had been dominating her thoughts since her first meeting with Hannath, but that she had repeatedly thrust away because she was afraid to face the possible implications. Yet there it was, like a persistent gundir, yelping and snapping at the fringes of her consciousness. Whatever the outcome, she had to know the truth. She addressed him in hushed tones. “Rael, I need to ask you something.”
Rael looked as if he has just been bashed on the head. She pressed on. “I wanted to ask you about the war.”
Rael’s expression morphed from shock, to relief, to confusion. “The war?”
“Yes,” she said. The war between you and the Chandara.”
“The Chandara?”
“Hannath said there are two intelligent races in this world, and that the Chandara originated first. He also said there was a war on your side, after which the Chandara disappeared.”
Rael shook his head. “I think you must have misunderstood, Shann.”
“You mean there wasn’t a war?”
“No, there was a war, but it wasn’t with the Chandara. It was with the Unan-Chinneroth.”
Shann’s eyes widened. She had not mentioned the name of the Prophet since she had arrived here. How could he possibly know it? “At least,” he continued, “that was the name given them in ancient. They have another name in their tongue…
“Hu-man.”
<><><><><>
Chapter 6
The stately stone edifices of the town of Kieroth slid past the windows of the phaeton. It was still early in the morning, and the fur-clad townsfolk hurried about their business, paying little attention to their carriage as it sailed through the wide streets. Shann looked without seeing as she listened to the boy sitting next to her.
“It was thirty-six turns ago. The hu-mans came to our world in three great vessels. At first they offered friendship. However, it soon became clear that what they really wanted was power over the lodestone…and us. There was a war. It lasted only a short while, but at the end, the hu-mans surrendered. Their ships had been destroyed in the conflict, so they could not return to where they had come from. So an agreement was reached.
“There’s an island in the Erigone Sea called Helice. It lies over 200 met-ryns off the mainland–far beyond the range of avionics. The island was given over to them on the condition that they not venture from there. The hu-mans left in vessels they had constructed.”
Shann struggled to take it all in. “That seems overly generous to me.”
“There were women and children in their camp,” Rael continued. “It was highly doubtful that they could be integrated peacefully into Kelanni society, and we were not prepared to just slaughter them. So segregation was the only viable option.
“Since that time, there has been no contact between us and the hu-mans. We do not even know if they made it to Helice.”
It felt like the
re was a stone in the pit of Shann’s stomach. “They made it,” she said quietly.
Rael looked at her strangely. “How could you possibly–”
“Because they have come to my side–the side of the world that you call Kelanni-Drann.” Shann caught Solvi glancing at them from the driver’s seat. He thinks we’re having some sort of lover’s tiff. Let him.
“I don’t think that’s possible, Shann,” he replied.
“Look, I’m not lying. The Unan-Chinneroth–the Prophet–rules my side of the world. Thanks to you, he’s enslaving people and building a weapon to destroy the Kelanni.”
She took a deep breath. It didn’t make sense for her to be angry at this boy. His people may have been short-sighted and naïve, but the decision was made long before he was born.
He looked as if she had just slapped him in the face. “I…I don’t understand how one of them could reach your side. Besides, the peace treaty specifically forbids them to leave Helice. If they have done so…” His voice trailed away as the full implication hit.
Shann saw the terrified look in the boy’s eyes and felt a twinge of sympathy. “…It would mean war,” she said.
~
Their phaeton arrived at the avionics field, and Rael and Shann disembarked in silence. Solvi gave a brief wave before turning the carriage back toward town.
The field was a circular flat area covered with close-cropped yellow grass, which poked through the overlaying snow. At its centre, a low grey building with smooth sides spewed forth a series of long tenticular tubes. The sleek machines were parked haphazardly, like a collection of discarded child’s playthings, some connected to the tubes. A few individuals moved purposefully between them, but they took no notice of Rael and Shann. Rael walked unhesitatingly to a machine near the edge of the field. It looked identical to the others–a slim pencil shape, flanked by bulges set with large fans beneath an open cockpit.
The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) Page 39
