When she realised it was him, she began to struggle again. She sent a thought piercing whatever shrouded her: find Lerran! Please, find Lerran.
An army cot had been set up near the fire at one end of the Lesser Council hall. Two nights had passed since Tika collapsed and it was now mid morning yet again. Despite his sincere concern, Jemin had decided to continue hunting down the monstrous creatures in his City. They found the creatures suddenly much easier prey. They appeared vague, disorientated, easily confused and enticed into narrow yards and streets, where they were destroyed.
But those who had chosen to serve Tika, stayed in the hall, taking turns to sit by the cot and watch over her. To Cyrek’s immense relief, there had been no physical deformation of Tika’s face or body, but she had lost so much weight she was skeletal. Cyrek had tried to explain to Konya and to Sket what had happened to her, but it was clear they only saw Tika growing more and more wraithlike with each heartbeat.
At least Konya felt she was of some use when she’d found the burn between Tika’s breasts. The salves she brought were the most efficient Sket had seen, and already the angry redness around the burn was paling although yet again the centre was seriously deep. Dog sat on the floor, her back against the wall, her eyes only on Tika. Gossamer sat on a chair at a little distance, watching not only Tika but the faces of all who came to ask how she was, their voices hushed.
Shivan too had stayed close, his face full of concern. The Bear had been shocked, then angry and had gone out on every patrol that left the Citadel. He left Lemos to wait with Sket and Shea. For the first time for three days, a finger of sunlight poked in the large windows, but still the hall felt cold. Shea had explained that it always felt cold in the Citadel despite the fires now blazing in both the hearths within this hall. General Beslow came at regular intervals to stand by the cot, looking down in sorrow at the tiny figure, more skin and bone now, lying motionless beneath the covers.
Sket, grey with worry and tiredness, suddenly looked round for Cyrek.
‘What is it Sket?’ The Dark Lord hurried to his side. ‘Is there a change?’
Sket shook his head. ‘Stars forgive me but I’d forgotten Farn. Do you know if he knows she’s like this?’
Cyrek bowed his head then sighed. ‘I went through a gateway yesterday my friend, to speak to the Dragons. They were much distressed but I calmed them I hope. I’ve told them Tika sleeps now and Farn said that she often needed long sleeps after she’d used a great amount of power but then she woke up all right.’ Gold eyes met Sket’s squarely. ‘I did not lie Sket, but Dark forgive me, I didn’t tell them all the truth either.’
Sket thought for only a few moments then he offered Cyrek a weary smile.
‘You did right I think. Imagine those four turning up in a panic. This poor City couldn’t stand many more shocks.’ He turned back to the cot and lifted Tika’s hand, carefully curling his fingers between hers.
Cyrek began to move across to the window, trying to convince himself that his blurred vision was merely due to the dirty glass, when he heard a hiss behind him. He whirled, striding back to the cot. Incredibly long black eyelashes fluttered, showing a brief glimpse of green between the lids. Tika groaned, moved slightly and winced. Her eyes opened and she saw Sket’s familiar face looming over her. He bent close as her lips twitched. Then he straightened. He looked at Lord Cyrek, a huge smile dissolving the tiredness from his face.
‘She says she is really, really hungry.’
Chapter Thirty-Two
In the days that followed Tika’s descent into the Dark, Jemin’s men cleared the entire City of the hideous beasts. He had proclamations called by official messengers as well as notices placed in the numerous news sheets that were distributed through the City and the Confederacies. The Inner Council was summoned and unanimously endorsed Jemin as Imperator of Kelshan. Cyrek had quietly presented Jemin with several items he’d removed from Veranta’s body, including two rings, one the ring of State, and the other the great seal.
Things slowly resumed some normality and rooms were assigned to Jemin’s allies. Tika was carried to a much smaller set of rooms on the same level as the Lesser Council hall. The rooms were scantily furnished but were more private and also warmer. The three Kelshan guards with Onion and Darrick made the small entrance chamber their quarters and all of them cheerfully took turns cooking in the tiny adjacent kitchen. The meals they produced were of wildly varying quality but Tika ate everything that was presented to her. Tika’s cot was placed in the next room where a blazing fire fought the chill of the Citadel day and night.
Once Shea was assured Tika would recover, she had disappeared to accompany Lemos and The Bear as they explored the City. The Dark Realm’s tribes rarely possessed or used money: they bartered between themselves and with the farming communities in the lower central plains. Discovering that they needed small discs of metal to obtain goods that took their eye, Shea begged money from Jemin. He roared with laughter when she explained her problem and then instructed General Beslow to give her a good understanding of the value of each different coin. She departed laden with several pouches to share with The Bear and Lemos, and the fascinating information divulged by Gossamer about asking for bills to be sent to the Citadel’s accounting offices.
Tika’s room filled rapidly with weird and wonderful items purchased by a triumphant Shea. Tika was highly entertained by the diversity of the things that attracted Shea and The Bear, all of which were stashed away in her room. Occasionally Tika was either irritable or tearful, impatient at her continuing physical weakness. She’d been shocked when she’d realised how thin and frail she’d become in such a short time, staring at the sticks that had been normal legs in horror when Konya and Gossamer helped her bathe.
Even through the nights they brought food to her and although she was convinced she couldn’t manage another single bite, she ate it all. One night, as Sket lay curled asleep on a pile of blankets on the floor in front of the fire, and Dog sat dozing beside her, a breeze riffled through Tika’s room. Dog’s eyes snapped open but Sket didn’t stir. Dog drew a thin blade from her boot and inched closer to Tika.
The beautiful red haired woman looked at Dog, a faint smile curving her lips. Ferag moved soundlessly to perch on Tika’s cot. The backs of long cool fingers stroked down Tika’s cheek and oddly, Tika didn’t flinch – there was comfort in the gesture. Then she knew why Ferag was here. Ferag’s exquisite eyes held sympathy, an emotion Tika would have thought unknown to the Mistress of Death.
‘Gan Jal Sarl sends you his heart,’ Ferag murmured. ‘But he can stand no more of the half death, neither of this world nor of mine. It is hard Tika, which is why it is a choice offered so rarely.’
‘Where is he now?’ Tika whispered.
‘He chose to merge with Mother Dark. He said he was so proud of you and of the fact that you were family.’
Tears began to roll unnoticed down Tika’s face. ‘I knew, when I was in the Dark,’ she said. ‘I heard his voice but I couldn’t make our his words.’
Ferag’s fingers smoothed the tears from beneath Tika’s lashes.
‘I have other news.’
Tika stiffened but Ferag shook her head, dark red hair swinging over one shoulder. ‘No, not bad. I do not usually speak of these things, but I told Gan Jal Sarl and he was very pleased. He asked me to tell you.Iska is reborn.’
Tika stared at Ferag in bewilderment, until understanding dawned. Iska, her first teacher in the ways of the power, kidnapped by Rhaki, and who offered her life to give warning of the dangers lying in wait for Tika at that time. Iska reborn!
Ferag’s fingers continued to caress Tika’s face. ‘It will take her years to grow of course, but her memories remain within her. She was born to this world ten days ago.’
‘Where?’
For the first time Ferag hesitated to speak. ‘In the Dark Realm, but more than that you must not know.’
‘Thank you.’ Tika caught the chill fingers that touched her
face. ‘I am grateful you’ve told me. Can you also tell me how to summon Simert, or others like him?’
The fingers were snatched away and Ferag’s hair began to curl at the ends.
‘Well really darling. Here we are having a cosy time, I thought, and you want to pick my mind.’
‘No.’
Tika winced as she tried to push herself higher on her pillows. ‘We were, I mean we are, and I am so glad to know you can be such a kind friend. It’s just, well, I don’t even know how to summon you.’
Ferag stared down her nose. ‘My dear, I am not summoned. You can call, and if I’m not overly occupied, I may respond.’
She regarded Tika for a moment then got to her feet. She bent low over the cot and murmured into Tika’s ear. Then she’d gone.
Dog replaced her knife and settled back. ‘Did she tell you then?’ she asked curiously.
The green silvered eyes glinted in the firelight. ‘She said I just had to call their names, just that.’
Dog pondered. ‘But everyone here says Simert’s name a dozen times a day. He doesn’t turn up, does he?’ She rubbed her leg, which still ached on occasion. ‘We never mention her name in the Dark Realm. Just as well if she could pop up like she does.’
The door clicked open and Kazbeck, the younger Kelshan brother, crept in, a tray in his hands. Tika groaned but Dog helped her sit forward while she jammed more pillows at her back and Kazbeck put the tray on Tika’s lap.
‘Thank you,’ Tika managed a smile.
‘Tea is being made.’ Kazbeck beamed back, then left her to eat.
In the firelight Tika couldn’t see exactly what was heaped on the plate but decided it really didn’t matter. It was food, and her body craved it.
When Cyrek visited her next afternoon, he perched on a stool beside her, a slightly stunned expression on his face. Tika raised a brow in question. Cyrek glanced back at the door.
‘Shea is playing snap-the-rat. Apparently it is a game the tribes play in our Realm but is unknown here.’ He paused and Tika nodded encouragement.
Cyrek lowered his voice. ‘They are wagering Kelshan coins.’
Again Tika waited.
‘Shea is winning but I suspect she changes the rules every other round.’
Tika bit the inside of her cheek. Poor Cyrek actually looked rather shocked. ‘I expect she wants to try to pay Jemin back. He’s given her money to spend in the City.’
Gossamer Tewk snorted some distance behind Cyrek but her expression was bland when he looked round at her. Cyrek decided not to pursue the subject, instead speaking of Chindar and Corman. At once Tika grew serious.
‘Chindar says all the reports he’s gathered give credence to our supposition that the Crazed One has retreated for now. The only disturbances are near the west coast of Drogoyan lands, far to the north.’
‘And that’s due to Namolos and Cho Petak,’ agreed Tika.
Cyrek nodded. ‘We still do not know enough of Cho Petak to be able to tell if he is directly connected to the Splintered Kingdom. There are those in Karmazen who believe he is, and others who believe just as strongly that he is not.’
‘And Namolos himself. The Ship called Star Singer, told of a war which caused Namolos to flee with many others and somehow they ended up here. But why here Cyrek? Why do so many different people come here?’
Cyrek leaned his elbows on his knees. ‘This has been a pleasant world for thousands of years of existence. It has been so since first we awoke.’
‘Awoke? What do you mean? Please tell me you don’t come from another world too?’ Tika was much disturbed by the very thought.
Cyrek shook his head. ‘No. Our oldest legends and stories say Mother Dark chose this world to be the place where she would bear her children. Those of the Dark were her firstborn. The second born were those who demanded Light. The third born live in Shadow.’
‘So,’ Tika thought carefully. ‘Everyone here on this world, except the Asatarians and Namolos’s people, are from the same root?’
Cyrek nodded, intrigued to see where her mind led her.
‘But they all chose different ways of living. Did they join forces the first time the Splintered Kingdom approached?’
‘No.’ Cyrek’s reply was short. ‘We asked to confer with both Light and Shadow. Light refused and Shadow never even answered our request. Those born to the Light scoffed at our talk of a Splintered Kingdom. They said it was a ruse for our Dark blood to gain control of them and their lands.’
‘But surely – I’ve heard of a great battle, in Malesh, where thousands of mages died and races such as the gijan were nearly wiped out. They are all of the Light aren’t they?’
‘The mages of those lands were trained by Dark Ones. We were, even then, the only ones to know the correct ways to wield power.’
‘The Crazed One has attacked these lands – I mean Kelshan and the Dark Realm together?’
‘Once.’
‘He has attacked in Malesh and is probably involved in some degree in Drogoya’s recent troubles.’ Tika was almost talking to herself and Cyrek sat quietly, content to listen. ‘He hasn’t actually touched your Realm, has he, not recently if at all?’
‘No. Since we withdrew from the world over a thousand years ago, we have had no direct contact with the Splintered Kingdom. May I ask you something? That pendant, it seemed to assist you, boost your own power when you were plunged into danger. But it burned you badly – why would it try to help you, yet injure you in doing so?’
Tika laughed. ‘No one, least of all me, has any idea about it.’
She lifted the pendant from where it lay beside her pillow. It was dormant, just an unusual trinket. Egg shaped and egg sized, the back was of a smooth red gold, the front filled with what looked like amber. Inside, a tiny fleck, a casual glance might suggest an insect had been trapped there. Tika let it swing from its gold chain, offering it to Cyrek for inspection. He looked at it carefully, but returned it with no comment.
Tika heard Iska’s voice in her memory: look with your mind, child. And she had. And she’d seen the tiny perfect Dragon move within the amber. Had Cyrek seen it, she wondered? She didn’t think so. These Dark Ones had great abilities and mage powers, not least the transformation of their physical shapes from human to Dragon and back. They did not use mind speech though. The power they used, from the very little Tika had gleaned was directed through ritual or incantation.
Konya arrived and Cyrek moved aside to let the healer closer to her patient. Tika grimaced at him.
‘Another practice walk,’ she explained. ‘We did the first one earlier, and I cannot believe how wobbly I am. I’ve been eating for days and still my strength is less than an infant’s.’
While Sket and Konya supported Tika’s shaky steps across the room, Cyrek took his leave. He wanted to speak with Shivan who was to stay with Tika and those who chose to remain with her. He had not identified the tiny speck in her pendant and gave it little thought, but there were other things he wished Shivan to take particular note of.
By the evening, Tika was surprised how improved she was. She still seemed hungry all the time, but at last the quantities of food she consumed seemed to be returning some strength to her limbs. An argument raged at the moment, between Cyrek and Gossamer, and Tika, bored, intervened.
‘If Drengle List won’t come here, then we’ll go to him,’ she said firmly.
‘You are not fit to walk the length of the corridor,’ Cyrek retorted. ‘Let alone half across the City.’
‘If she says we go, then we go.’ Sket didn’t raise his voice but there was an unmistakeable tone of finality in his words.
Cyrek visibly held back his irritation, inclining his head submissively before stalking out of the room.
‘But we’ve got all this stuff,’ Shea gestured at the things stacked around the room.
Mirrors, beads, strange pencils that held different colours inside, some very bizarre items of clothing, cloak clasps and brooches, a small carved wooden b
ox which held rings, pots of creams, perfumes and salves.
‘No difficulties there,’ The Bear rumbled from his perch on a window ledge. ‘Sorted into packs for everyone – simple.’
Shea didn’t look entirely convinced but kept quiet.
‘We’ll go tomorrow then,’ Tika decided, and hoped she really would be capable of walking to Gossamer Tewk’s house.
Shivan waited until the room had nearly emptied. He looked very young indeed, Tika thought, studying the narrow face with the high cheekbones that jutted under bright gold eyes.
‘Do you mind my coming?’ he asked. ‘I should very much like to spend some time with you and the Dragons. I’ve only seen them flying over the Palace.’
Tika shrugged. ‘I think we will be moving on soon – is that what you mean? Would you be allowed to go to yet other lands? And what about your eyes?’
He grinned. ‘I can disguise my eyes, but Corman and father say you can’t change yours.’
Tika scowled. ‘I keep asking how it’s done, but no one gets round to telling me.
Soon after daybreak they reached Gossamer’s house in the Artisan Quarter. No one commented but all were aware of Tika’s exhaustion. It had been an effort to walk this far, but other than Gossamer’s arm through hers, she had refused any other offer of help. Tika sat thankfully on the back doorstep and left Gossamer and Shea to convince Drengle List and Snail to join them in the Dark Realm.
The healer Konya brought tea out to her and joined her on the doorstep. They sat watching the ghosts who drifted around the old fruit trees for a time.
‘Why have you chosen to come with us?’ Tika asked eventually.
Konya gave a soft laugh. ‘I’m getting old, but the idea of travelling with you, perhaps learning a little of healing from you,’ she blushed slightly. ‘I’ve spent nearly all my life in the Citadel and the City. The last years I’ve been confined only to the infirmary within the Citadel. My talents were not to be wasted on ordinary folk you understand, according to the rules laid down by our unlamented Imperatrix.’
Dark Realm: Book 5 Circles of Light series Page 41
