by K S Nikakis
‘The angels who came to The Wheel called themselves Angellus. They coupled with human caste to create Daimon. The Daimon coupled with human caste to create Du-Daimon, which is what I am. But the Angellus departed many zadicans ago. Many of us wish to join our forebears in, I’m presuming, the fold they came from.’
‘Is that why you asked the shekinah to show you a rift?’
‘Yes. I hoped it would take me to the Angellus, and maybe it has, if you called yourselves the Angellus. The words are similar.’
‘I can’t answer your question or aid your search beyond directing you to those who explore the Bokos. Prime-archae Serith is the wisest, although Ky’s wisdom might surpass his, though he’s yet to realise it.’
‘And then Kydane will enter the Archae,’ said Baraghan lightly.
‘He should have already done so. White plumage is a marker of ascension, while full white marks transcendence.’ Ashdane smiled. ‘You wonder why I remain a lowly Dane? So do I, and why Kydane isn’t Kyquar-archae. I wonder too why Thris’s wings remain black, given all he’s endured. But mostly I wonder what became of my predecessor and his friends, and if we three will suffer the same fate.’
‘You make it sound as if someone or something controls these things. Isn’t it up to you what happens?’
‘Perhaps, or perhaps not. Why does a rift admit one angel and refuse the next? Exit into one fold, one moment, and then another? Why do the rifts allow angel caste the freedom to transit the Rynth, but not other castes?’
‘I came here,’ said Baraghan.
‘Yes, but you can’t go back.’
Baraghan stiffened. ‘Why not?’ he demanded.
‘The time differences make it too risky. You’re still where you were before you entered the rift. The shekinah can’t return to her original fold either.’
‘I’m used to taking risks.’
‘I don’t want to be responsible for your death.’
Baraghan grinned. ‘Violet Iris Vacia was also concerned, but things turned out well, as they usually do for me. Just show me a rift that will take me back, preferably close to when I left, and I’ll take responsibility for the rest.’
Chapter 5
Tormis was in the yard when Ataghan rode in with Sehereden and Drasen, and clearly wanted speech alone. More ill news, suspected Ataghan, and the burn of his body deepened. ‘Tormis will stable Fara and Jal,’ he said to Sehereden. ‘I’ll join you inside.’
Tormis waited until Sehereden and Drasen had disappeared into the building before he spoke. ‘I’ve secured the elddra in the feed-store, Syld, after she sought escape from Fariye’s room. She believes Fariye’s at Stelin Ridge. She requests speech with you.’
Ataghan nodded, and swung the stable door open to let the big stallion enter, while Tormis saw to Sehereden and Drasen’s mounts. Drasen had proved surprisingly useful, as had his kin who kept compounds in Esh-accom and setts in the surrounding vals. Their compounds and setts had lost children to Waradi and Ascadi knives and they’d needed to know nothing more than a child’s life was at stake to send out word and set watchers. Others had drawn on their networks of urrut herders and wrights because the Scinta-ril’s Syld requested it.
Some of these men had ridden Soaich Spine with him, and others shared the hard gallop to Esh-telin. They’d make their home with him at the Scinta-ril, after he and Quen en-Sar-ril had cleared the Perin-ril’s filth.
As for those who’d taken Fariye—he could do no more for the present, if his daughter were to keep her life, but those who’d had the smallest part in her abduction, would lose theirs. His blood fumed and he fingered his knife, but Tormis loitered.
‘The elddra has food, Syld, and a blanket and lamp. Ithreya spoke to her too. She has all she needs.’
Tormis had confused him with Sehereden if he thought he cared about the elddra’s welfare. ‘We’ll speak further inside, Tormis,’ he said briefly, and waited for Tormis’s boots to grit away. Taris moved restlessly, sensing Ataghan’s turmoil, and Ataghan reassured him but remained where he was. He was in no mood for banter with the elddra. He was surprised she hadn’t beat on the door and shouted, as she’d done when they’d left. Perhaps her anger at being thwarted had ebbed enough for her to sleep, except she only slept when she’d been hurt. Ataghan grimaced.
He wrenched back the bolts. The room was empty. The lamp had burned low but there was enough light to see the untouched food and neatly folded blanket. Her jacket lay next to the food and he felt its pockets and pulled out the Waradi tryst-bracelet, chain, tribute-charm, and gold amè casque Sehereden had traded for her. It seemed ominous she’d left the jacket behind along with everything else she valued, or maybe she valued nothing!
The most obvious explanation was Ithreya had freed her, but the elddra created a dangerous complication. The icestone country at Stelin Ridge would make a good hiding place for Fariye, but so would a dozen other places and the traders had ensured their accomplices had travelled different directions over the last few days.
The lamp-light caught something on the floor and he picked it up. A glossy feather of unusual softness, and the same colour as her hair. It even held her scent and he thrust into his pocket, bolted the feed-store doors, and strode inside.
Ithreya was with Sehereden, Drasen, and Tormis in the hall and he tossed the elddra’s jacket on a chair and deposited the jewellery on the table. ‘The elddra’s gone but she’s left her possessions behind.’
Ithreya gasped as she took in the amè. ‘Gone?’ said Tormis. ‘But that’s impossible.’
‘Not if she were released. Ithreya?’
‘I understood the reasons for your orders, Syld, and respected them,’ she said steadily. ‘I spoke to Viv from outside the feed-store, that’s all.’
‘She’s gone to Stelin Ridge, and she doesn’t expect to return,’ said Sehereden, his gaze on the amè.
‘If Fariye’s there, neither will return,’ spat Ataghan.
‘Why Stelin Ridge?’ asked Drasen.
‘She said she’d been there with Baraghan and they’d heard trader voices,’ said Tormis.
‘When?’ asked Ataghan sharply.
‘I think it was the night of Fariye’s disappearance,’ said Ithreya. ‘She’d come from there this morning.’
‘They couldn’t have got Fariye to Stelin Ridge in that time,’ said Drasen.
‘The traders’ would have prepared a hiding-place first,’ said Sehereden quickly. ‘It fits.’
‘But why was Viv at Stelin Ridge?’ asked Drasen.
Ataghan’s lip curled but Sehereden spoke first. ‘She told me a few days ago she’d made a bargain with Baraghan en-Esh-accom and might be absent for a time.’
‘What kind of bargain?’ asked Drasen.
‘Baraghan arranged the release of one of the trader’s entertainments, who Viv confirmed this morning was Thrisdane,’ said Sehereden. ‘Baraghan’s good deeds always come at a price.’
‘Galian said it was a winged-man,’ said Drasen. ‘Is Thrisdane Angellus, Sehereden?’
‘She refused to say, but it seems so.’
‘None of this is relevant,’ interrupted Ataghan. ‘What did you discuss with her, Ithreya?’
‘Nothing relevant.’
‘I’ll be the judge of that.’
‘I asked her whether she was all right,’ said Ithreya reluctantly.
‘And?’
‘She said her lein was going to be murdered and her lein’s father had locked her up, so things were just fine.’
‘What else?’
‘She said I wasn’t to blame myself for anything that had happened or that might happen in the future. And then we discussed Sehereden,’ said Ithreya, and dropped her gaze to the table.
‘Go on.’
‘When I said Sehereden wanted her, she said there was a gap between what he thought she was, and what she really was, and that there was no gap with me, and that Seherden would see it in the end. I asked whether she’d lied to Sehereden and she said she c
ouldn’t lie, but there were things she couldn’t tell him. She said she wasn’t a good person.’
‘And what did you say, Ithreya?’ asked Sehereden softly.
Ithreya raised her eyes to his. ‘That she was a good person.’ There was a pause. ‘I think she prepared me for her not being here and she believes she’s going to die.’
‘And she will, and Fariye too, if the traders are at Stelin Ridge, and she tackles them on her own!’ exclaimed Ataghan.
‘How much of a start does she have?’ asked Drasen.
‘Not much, but she has a strange ability to get to places quicker than it takes a horse,’ said Ataghan. ‘The issue is whether she was seen leaving in the direction of Stelin Ridge, and if we follow, how we’re to disguise it. When the traders’ spies see us head that way, they’ll try to warn Fariye’s captors.’
‘And will they succeed?’ asked Drasen.
‘They have the advantage of having their spies in place first. If they know we’re coming, they’ll kill Fariye and leave. And even if we reach them undetected, they’ll cut her throat before we can cut theirs.’
Ithreya brushed away tears and Sehereden’s hand closed over hers. ‘Viv told me she heard voices at Stelin Ridge, and told Tormis they were traders’ voices,’ he said. ‘The time-frame fits too, so we must assume she’s gone to Stelin Ridge to aid Fariye. What we do depends on whether we think Viv’s truthful, and correct about Fariye’s whereabouts.
‘If we believe she’s lied about everything since she learned of Fariye’s abduction—and probably before—we wait as planned. If we believe Fariye is being held at Stelin Ridge, and that Viv’s gone there, we must take action, for Fariye’s sake, if not for hers.’
‘Easier said than done,’ snapped Ataghan, prowling around the hall.
‘Do you think Fariye is at Stelin Ridge, Syld?’ asked Drasen.
Ataghan stopped and there was a tingling silence. ‘It’s likely.’
‘And that Viv’s lied?’
‘Yes, given what she’s told Ithreya. Omitting things is as deceitful as outright falsehoods.’
‘If we believe Fariye’s there and Viv’s gone there too, we must take action,’ repeated Sehereden.
‘The traders’ disguised the direction of their movement around the time of Fariye’s abduction, not their actual movement,’ said Drasen. ‘We could do the same.’
Ataghan swung back to him. ‘Send horsemen out from all four gates?’
Drasen nodded. ‘Not at the same time, or in the same numbers, or with the same urgency. Let the traders’ think we’ve heard something, but make it unclear what. We’d confuse them more if we disguised who went where. They’d been keen to know where you headed, Syld, and in the dark, would judge it more by your mount than your face.’
‘And by my companions, particularly if one had his arm in a sling.’
‘I must be in the party that goes to Stelin Ridge,’ said Sehereden urgently.
‘But won’t be,’ said Ataghan. ‘I need men with two throwing hands.’
‘At …’
‘Your injured shoulder could mean the difference between Fariye’s life and death, or yours, or the elddra’s. Trust me in this, lein,’ he added softly.
‘If we are going, we need to make a start,’ said Drasen.
‘Yes,’ said Ataghan. ‘The zadic has passed and even the route I envisage makes it hard to reach Stelin Ridge before dawn.’
Viv slowed her descent to search for landmarks, listen for voices, and sense for smoke. Esh-telin had taught her how hard it was to match the view from the air with the view from the ground, and she’d taken a lot of care on her approach. She was sure she was in the place she’d visited with Baraghan and Caibel, but time would tell whether it was right place to rescue Poss.
The tree-tops were close enough to touch but she couldn’t hear anything, except the pound of her heart. It was so loud she feared the traders would hear it too—if they were there. The thump echoed the throb in her lip, but she hadn’t needed the arsehole’s violence to know her time in the fold was up.
There was no way Thris would return here, if he’d escaped, and it was time to leave Sehereden behind too. Being with him meant being with the arsehole and Viv had no intention of being in his company again. There were things she loved about this fold, but she’d trade them all for Poss’s safety. Lady Luck doesn’t do bargains, Vivi.
She approached as close as she dared to where she’d heard the voices and managed to land in a tree, but her wings made such a racket in the foliage. she had to force herself not to take off again. She crouched shaking, but there were no sound of anyone clambering up after her, or the smell of smoke.
It was late and the night mild. The traders might have eaten, quenched their fire, and gone to bed, or not be here at all. Looking like a fool was the least of her worries. Tormis should have passed on her message by now, if the arsehole and Sehereden had come back. Shit! She hadn’t considered the possibility they might spend the night elsewhere, and even if they didn’t, he might dismiss her message as lies.
The arsehole had hated her from the moment he’d clapped eyes on her. It had been about the Waradi then but about something else since. Maybe he didn’t want to share his lein, or he’d had a run-in with an elddra. Maybe he simply hated red hair. She’d come across that one before: carrot-top; ranga; blood-nut; rust-knob: none of them complimentary. Few people had red hair at home and it seemed to be the same here; the old minority thing at work again.
Forget it, Viv. Find some effing smoke! Or some voices! She felt safe in the trees but staying in the trees wasn’t going to save Poss. She pulled her wings close and started her descent but they still snagged and she had to bed them. Viv bit her lip. Unbedding her wings was quick, but not as quick as a knife throw.
She dropped to the ground, unbedded her wings, and crouched in the shadows. Not even an owl’s cry broke the silence and she suddenly longed to hear one. Before ya die, eh, Vivi? How sweet and sad.
She swore under her breath. She needed to think only of how to find Poss and get her away. At least she was close to where she’d been with Baraghan. She started up the slope, mindful of hidden shafts. The night remained quiet, and smokeless, and she came to the grove where Baraghan had transited and Anetherey, but there was no tell-tale hum. It had been a comfort to know that if all else failed, she could escape down a rift, but what if there weren’t any? The caves were typical of where she’d found rifts in the past, so there was sure to be at least one here, and if she had to take Poss with her to keep her alive, she’d do it.
Chapter 6
Ataghan rode hard with Drasen, and Brithergen, but their speed was restricted by using strange mounts. Taris and Fara had left earlier by Esh-accom’s sunwise gate, Sehereden on Taris and Fara ridden by one of Ataghan’s band members, his arm in a sling. Galian had gone with them too, using his own mount. Drasen and Brithergen’s horses would leave by the same gate, as if their riders were reinforcements and, just to add to the confusion, more band members would leave at dawn from the nightwise gate.
Ataghan’s hope lay in speed, presuming Fariye was at Stelin Ridge, and confusion bought time. He’d cut across the ridge’s far side to avoid the Ristaval forests, a longer but quicker route, and if needs be, cross it on foot. It was too treacherous for horses and even men on foot risked broken necks.
They reached the starwise sprawl of the icestone country and galloped on, Ataghan hoping his mount was as agile as Taris. Then, as the stars dulled, he smelled smoke. He raised his hand and signaled Drasen and Brithergen to halt.
The smoke was spicy and his thoughts swung to the sidari stands. He’d camped there when he’d first come to Esh-accom but he’d not forgotten them or the tunnels they edged. He signaled to dismount and shared his thoughts, then instructing their horses to remain, they set off on foot. They used sticks to probe the ground where bushes grew but the main risk was alerting any traders to their presence. If Fariye were here, they’d need to kill the trade
rs fast, before they killed her.
Heat boiled in his veins and he forced his attention to speed and stealth. He’d fought with Brithergen many times and Drasen had since proved himself as skilled as Sehereden. He’d need to be. Ataghan had no idea how many traders they’d confront.
No smoke issued from the shafts they passed and Ataghan hoped the traders’ fire was in the open, and Fariye not hidden deep in a tunnel. It would be even better if the traders had saved themselves the trouble of hauling firewood and set camp near the sidari stands.
Viv smelled the smoke too and crept on, fear keeping her wings clamped to her back. Dawn was close and her tension ratcheted up. Daylight increased the risk of being brought down by a dart if she was forced to fly. The shafts she passed told her nothing. If she’d had Thris’s sensitivity, she might have sensed Poss’s presence, and she daren’t risk calling her name. There might be a trader close by, and even if there weren’t, the stone carried sound.
The ridge fell away in front and her caution increased. The growing light meant she could see the smoke now, but still couldn’t hear voices. Those near the fire might be sleeping but they’d have set a guard, not because Poss posed a risk, but because the arsehole did.
Viv forced her feet forward. There was a shaft to her left large enough to fly into, if she were careful, and it wasn’t far from what looked like the end of the ridge. The shaft might even open into the tunnel that led to Poss.
That simple, ya reckon, Vivi? In ya dreams. She dropped to her knees and crawled forward, every nerve trembling, and peered over the edge. The fire was below but her view was blocked by a shelf of rock. Directly in front, a sweep of silvery grass ended at stand of dark trees that looked like pines. God in Heaven! There was someone in the trees! Viv froze, but it wasn’t a trader collecting firewood, it was someone intent on staying hidden. One of arsehole’s men!
