Eyes of the Alchemist

by Janet Woods

  “The lake is forbidden, it’s a sacred place.”

  Tiana pulled her cowl back over her head and gathered up her things when she saw a trooper heading their way. “The waters are curative. Find some courage and bring Santo after darkness has fallen. I will meet you there.”

  There were tears in the woman’s eyes when she looked at the boy. “What will become of him? My man will discard him if he cannot earn his keep.”

  The last thing Tiana needed was a child to care for, but she could not abandon Santo until his limbs were strong enough to carry him. “If all else fails, you must bring him to me at the lake. I shall find a way to care for him.”

  The woman brushed the hair back from the boy’s forehead. “See how the pain has gone from his face. For that alone I bless you, Lady. How can I repay you for your kindness to him?”

  The trooper had stopped to talk to a fat man, who was gesticulating excitedly in their direction. “A little fruit, perhaps,” she murmured, poised to run, for she recognized the trooper from the temple raid.

  Before she had to ask, her sack was half-filled with fruit, and a round, crusty loaf was added. The woman placed a blue garment on top. “It’s warmer, and less conspicuous than yours, Lady of Light,” she whispered, and knelt to kiss Tiana’s hand.

  Both the trooper and the fat man were looking her way. Recognition came into the trooper’s eyes and he withdrew his sword from its scabbard.

  “I must go,” she said, and, jerking her hand away she headed for the lane-way at a run.

  “Hey, you . . . be you Lord Kavan’s lady?” the trooper shouted out. “Come back here, else my Lord will be angry with you.”

  She tossed him a scornful laugh and kept running.

  Chapter Five

  As Tiana suspected would happen, Santo was placed under her guardianship. Thank Assinti his arms are strong, she thought as they struggled together up the slope to the High Place.

  Out of breath, she sat and rested at the top. They exchanged a glance, smiled, and a message silently passed between them.

  My soul your soul our souls

  Are twined in the essence of life.

  Sybilla had once told her of the rare phenomenon called soul twining but she hadn’t expected to experience it, especially with this crippled child. It was a joining of exquisite depth, of priceless beauty. As she absorbed Santo’s spirit and gave of her own, tears of joy poured down both their cheeks.

  When they were done she took Santo’s hands in hers and kissed him on each cheek. “We are joined, our spirits are twined,” she said, and set about making them both comfortable.

  She just got settled when the image of Kavan appeared. He looked to be out of countenance. Santo didn’t appear surprised by the manifestation, confirming her suspicion that such things were not entirely unfamiliar to him. With his high sense fairly advanced, he would have create such images to make his own life bearable, as she had done as a temple novice.

  “One of my troopers said he saw you in the market place today.”

  Tiana avoided Kavan’s inquiring glance. “He must have been mistaken. I was teaching myself to dance.”

  “Then how did you come across your companion?”

  Tiana smiled at Santo, who gazed back at her in adoration. Undeserving of his regard she turned away, embarrassed. “Santo was left with me to heal.”

  “Hmmm, my troopers are not usually so lack-sighted.”

  Tiana shrugged. “Are they not?”

  Kavan hunched into his frame and brooded. “The lad’s a runt. If he was a hound – ”

  “Like the hound of misery that sniffs at your heels,” she hissed, thanking Assinti that Kavan’s voice was too low to carry to Santo. “To insult him is unworthy of someone who holds such high office. He’s fully aware of his disability and you can afford to be charitable to those less fortunate. Think on it. It might enhance any leadership qualities you imagine you possess.”

  He clicked his tongue impatiently at the reprimand. “If you’d allow me to finish . . . I was about to say that I’d feed him up to put meat on his bones and strength in his limbs.”

  Shame filled her but she was not inclined to apologize. “Santo is not your concern. We are soul twined.”

  His eyes sharpened. “All my subjects are my concern. If I had the stall-holder tortured she would soon admit the truth.”

  She threw a scornful glance at his image. “Anyone would tell you what you wanted to hear under torture.”

  “Even you?”

  “It would depend on what it was.”

  His hands went to his hips and he gazed fiercely at her. “I would demand that you accept me as your lord and master.”

  “Hah!” she spat out, “Now we come to the true purpose of your visit. My independence has tweaked the pride of the mighty Kavan. You come here to posture and growl in a show of false menace.”

  His eyes glittered. “Only a fool would regard my menace as false, woman.”

  “And only a fool would expend energy on hurling empty threats when he has no substance to back it up. If force be needed to gain such an admittance from me, you could only be sure such a statement was untrue.”

  Kavan’s grin suddenly embraced her, throwing her off balance. “Take care, lady. Torture comes in many forms. Force can be exerted with such subtlety the danger of it is lost in the pleasure until surrender is complete. Satisfy my curiosity and tell me about the boy, I beg of you.”

  She chuckled. “You would beg for nothing, Kavan, but I admit you have a way with you. The cryptic journey you take me on is more pleasing than your threats and blustering. The child’s name is Santo. His destiny is in the hands of the gods, but his body has been entrusted to me for healing.”

  Kavan shook his head. “The gods forgot to inform me of Santo’s great destiny,” he grumbled.

  “Perhaps they consider your worth less than the value you place on yourself.”

  “And perhaps I’ll lay you over my knee and peel the skin from your backside with the blade of my dagger.” His image began to disintegrate. “I could have both you and Santo put to death for trespassing on forbidden ground. ”

  “First, you would have to set foot here yourself. It would please my Pitilan no end to bite your murderous Cabrilan head off.”

  “Lady, one day you will push me too far,” she heard him roar as he faded from her sight.

  A familiar cackle came from the rock and the alchemist stepped out of it. His body was shaking with glee. “What a mate for Kavan you’ll make. I haven’t had so much fun in three thousand years.”

  She awarded him her darkest look. “If that’s all you’ve got to say for yourself you can go back to sleep. I’ve got no use for such cock-eyed counsel.”

  Folding his arms across his chest he assumed an air of injured pride. “I offer you none. I come to help Santo.”

  She slanted him a glance, trying to penetrate the opaline surface of his eyes. Why did she always get the feeling he wasn’t genuine in his concern? “The thread between Santo and myself is strong. Had I been blessed with a brother, the feeling would be as such between us. Fate has brought us together at this time, and there is some purpose behind it.”

  “Perhaps that purpose was that he be brought to me.”

  “You can make him strong?”

  “Strong enough to walk and run, but he’ll never grow in stature.”

  She and Santo exchanged a smile, for they’d not deemed it necessary to discuss his lack of size, they just understood it to be a fact. “The lack of physical status does not make any man less a man.”

  “Of course it doesn’t. My intention was not to insult.” The surface of his eyes disguised an underlying red glow. When their eyes met, the surface cleared for just a moment, revealing blood-colored eyes without conscience. Dizziness attacked her, but when her head cleared she couldn’t remember what had scared her.

  His smile charmed, and Tiana wondered why Kavan had feared she might upset the spirit, when he was being a perfect
gentleman in every way. She’d done him an injustice by suspecting his motives. “You do Santo great honor, ancient of ancients.”

  “One likes to keep one’s hand in,” he said with surprising modesty.

  Santo gazed from one to the other with such expectancy on his face that Tiana couldn’t help but tease him. “Perhaps Santo doesn’t want to walk and run when there is a woman to carry him on her back.”

  Santo’s eyes rounded with indignation. “I beg you, mistress, let the apparition help. In return I will become his slave. I will be his arms and legs, his mouthpiece, the very vessel for his thoughts.”

  “You know not what you say, lad,” the alchemist replied with such puffed-up pride it made Tiana grin. “My thoughts are too powerful for ordinary mortals, let alone a whistling-chick like you.”

  “His brain is highly receptive for one so young,” she murmured. “He also has an extraordinary degree of high sense for one his age – undeveloped of course, but still . . . ?”

  “Hmmm.” The alchemist thoughtfully stroked his beard, setting the bells tinkling. “I recall there was some portend of a companion and assistant for me, but that was many ages ago and I paid it no heed.”

  Santo sat up without thinking and pressed his palm against his chest. “I must be the one foretold. I feel my difference inside here, a bubble of wondrous excitement.”

  Such a simple way of explaining the unexplainable, she thought.

  “Look at me, Santo,” the alchemist said. His eyes were as fearsome as she’d seen before but they no longer scared her. The soul did not shine through, as if they were the eyes of the dead. Santo gazed steadily into them.

  Tiana’s neck prickled with tension as a force of some sort gathered around them. Closing her eyes she abandoned herself to it and was drawn towards the rock face. She expected a collision, so was surprised when everything melted around them. Every movement was made slowly, and with great effort – noise seemed to come from a distance.

  When the syrupy motion ceased, she opened her eyes to gaze around her in astonishment. The three of them stood high on a rock, overlooking a valley of rich lushness. In the distance was a castle, the like of which she’d seen described in ancient fairy tales in the temple library.

  She forgot the dead eyes.

  “Alas, it’s all an illusion,” the alchemist said when she gasped at the beauty of it. “The chimeric worlds are a strange place. They can change with your mood, becoming unpredictable or dangerous if one low in spirit or of bad intent enters.”

  Santo took a step forward, then looked down at his legs. “Your magic has cured me. I can walk.”

  “To achieve something that appears out of reach, quite often, all that’s needed is to have enough faith in your own ability to overcome obstacles,” she said. “You just do it.”

  “It was mostly magic that cured you, lad,” the alchemist argued, giving her words a different slant and claiming the credit. “I gave your ability a helping hand, and whilst you stay with me you’ll grow stronger each day. If you cannot climb like a rock goat, or dance like a gibber monkey drunk on fermented fruit then you’re of no use to me.”

  When several small creatures made their way up a twisted path, Tiana’s eyes widened. They were tiny men and women with enormous dark eyes and a rapid, bouncing gait.

  One took Santo by the hand and another touched his hair. “You have brought your apprentice, master. Will he stay?”

  “It’s his choice. He can serve Tiana or commit himself to me.”

  Unease filled her heart when she realized they were being manipulated.

  Santo looked from one to the other; his eyes appealed to her. “What shall I do, Lady? I don’t even understand where we are.”

  “We’re inside the world of the alchemist’s mind,” she warned him, “And although we’re not totally in his power it would not take much to place us there. What lies ahead of you in the chimeric realm is for him to decide. You understand you’ll be without a will of your own until your high sense develops considerably? It’s not a place I would care to live.”

  The alchemist snorted impatiently when Santo’s eyes hooded in thought. “You won’t get a second chance.”

  “It will not be forever,” Santo said.

  Silently she applauded his courage. “Do what your heart dictates, Santo.”

  A smile touched the alchemist’s mouth and he manipulated a little bit more. “I will not seek to influence you in any way.”

  Santo took only a moment longer to reach his decision and Tiana prayed it was the right one. “I will always love you, mistress, but our paths do not travel in the same direction. The wise one can teach me much and put me in touch with my own power. I must place my trust in him.”

  She stooped to embrace him. “I hope we will meet again, Santo.”

  His dark eyes were liquid with tears. “You have a powerful magic about you, lady. When you need me call and I’ll come.”

  “Will you permit this?” she said to the ancient, trying to hide her misgivings.

  “Yes, yes.” he said with a show of impatience, “If only to reassure you all is well . . . granddaughter.” His bony finger jabbed at her badge.” Just remember you wear my insignia. You must never question my integrity again.”

  She swallowed her annoyance at being brought to task. Blind obedience had never been part of her nature and she doubted it ever would be.

  She didn’t answer, and closing her eyes wished herself gone. She returned in the same the way she’d come. As she stood on The High Place alone, she wondered if she’d ever see either the alchemist or Santo again.

  The sun had gone down with its usual suddenness. The air was colder than she’d ever known it. Changing into the warmer, blue gown she’d been given, she pulled Kavan’s cloak over her shoulders and gazed around her for Atarta. He’d gone without waiting for her command.

  She found it hard to sleep. The ground beneath her was cold and she was unable to elevate herself. Her body felt heavy, as if it was being pulled into the rock. Frost crept over her, numbing her hands and feet. She pulled the box containing the wishing dish towards her, tempted almost beyond endurance. She needn’t ask for much; a roof over her head and a warm bed perhaps. A fire roaring up the chimney would be nice, and a steaming bowl of broth. The small house of her first thoughts progressed to a manor like Kavan’s. Sleepily, she wondered what he was doing just at that moment.

  There was a soft shuffling sound close by – so very close she could smell something breathing at her shoulder. She jerked round to find the lord of her thoughts astride a beast that resembled a gleaming black charger in the Truarc temple history books. The ancient Truarc ancestors had ridden into battle on the beasts’ backs before they had been gifted with the wisdom of peace – something the Cabrilans had yet to learn.

  Kavan looked splendid in a black cloak and silver tunic. His hair was pulled back from his temples and into silver rings at the top of his head, from where it cascaded in a gleaming fall to his shoulders. Posing as if to impress her with his magnificence, he regarded her with grave intensity for a moment then held out his hand. “Step upon my foot and I will help you to mount.”

  Smothering her smile, because the moment of posing had reminded her of his endearing arrogance, she took his hand. Seconds later she was settled before him on the saddle. Seated sideways, her bottom was securely wedged in a warm, vee shaped space and her legs were hooked over one of his thighs for support. She wondered if passengers were always carried in such an intimate manner.

  He grinned at her when she blushed, and as if he’d read her mind, said. “You would not be able to straddle the breadth of Shazah’s back. You can hook your knee around one of the pommels if you prefer, but I doubt you’d find it as comfortable.”

  She stayed where she was. Her heart was beating fast with the excitement of him and she was beginning to want to be with him. She hastily denied it to herself. No! She must keep things in perspective. She brought Kavan’s image because she needed t
o learn Cabrilan ways.

  She stroked the gleaming fall of neck hair the creature they were astride grew. It resembled Kavan’s. When she imagined his hair running like oiled silk through her fingers they twitched and tingled. She brought some discipline into her thinking. “The beast is magnificent, but surely this is only a dream. These animals are long extinct.”

  His breath stirred gently through her hair. “Not on Cabrilan. They’re from the far north and are bred specially for the troopers. The chargers rarely tire. They are big enough to carry up to four men and strong enough to carry heavy packs. They’re able to carry us vast distances in darkness and with very little effort or noise. I will make this one available to you. She is called Shazah and you need only to whisper her name.”

  “Shazah. Such a lovely name, but I do not think I’ll need her, for I command no troops and my pack is easily carried on my own back.” Shazah turned her head to stare reproachfully through velvety eyes at her.

  “I beg your pardon, Shazah,” she said. “You do not look like a beast of burden and my intent was not to insult you.”

  Shazah gave a soft trill deep in her throat.

  Kavan laughed. “My Shazah will give you wings so you can fly from your perch, little bird. And from this time forth my troopers will be instructed they are yours to command.”

  She realized there was a different quality to this dream, everything seemed more solid. “Is this a dream, Kavan, or a trick to get me down from the High Place?”

  “I promised you seven dawns, and my word is sacrosanct.” His arms tightened around her and he brought his mouth close to her ear. “My Lady, I have no need for tricks. When the rocks beneath the fall become sand, then you will come to me.”

  “Hah!” she said, but not quite emphatic enough to convince herself.

  “Will you visit the place of my dreaming with me? It’s in the mountains.”

  “The mountains are too far.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Shazah spread wide a leathery pair of wings and launched into the night sky. Jolted against Kavan’s body, Tiana slid her arms around him to keep herself there. “You caught me unprepared,” she said, in case he imagined she wanted to hug him.