Darksong

by Isobelle Carmody

  ‘What is it?’ Glynn heard the Draaka ask with a touch of impatience.

  ‘The … the beast’s eyes changed! They burned yellow at me!’ Kalide had backed away in his agitation and Glynn saw that the Draaka was seated behind him on a low setting of couches surrounded by the Prime, Mingus, Silash, Leta and Gif.

  ‘Come, Sirrah, you were speaking of matters of great import to us both,’ the Draaka said sharply. ‘Let us not be distracted by an animal.’

  ‘I want the beast,’ Kalide snarled, and there were flecks of foam on his lips. ‘Gift me with it as a signal of your goodwill.’

  ‘I fear that we cannot part with the beast at this time,’ the Draaka said after a pause that seemed an eternity. ‘I require the animal for the rituals we will use to consecrate the new haven here. And indeed we have chosen the place from the maps your mother so generously sent to us.’

  ‘I do not care about that,’ Kalide snapped petulantly. ‘I want the beast, I tell you.’

  ‘And so you shall have it, after the ceremony,’ the Draaka continued suavely.

  ‘I want it now,’ Kalide said, but there was a sulky quality in his voice.

  ‘All of us desire things that are not possible, my dear Kalide,’ the Draaka said silkily. ‘I, for example, would like to be able to leave these rooms and walk about the palace in freedom.’

  ‘My mother is working on it. This very afternoon there was an important hall and she reproached Tarsin for his failure to invite you.’

  ‘And what did our esteemed Holder have to say to that?’ the Prime asked with her usual chilly directness.

  Kalide frowned at her. ‘I do not like your tone. Remember whom it is that you address.’

  ‘You must forgive my faithful Prime, Kalide,’ the Draaka said smoothly. ‘She is concerned about the insult inherent in a hostess failing to greet her invited guest.’ There was steel under the lovely voice and Kalide seemed to feel it for he shifted uncomfortably.

  ‘I told my, mother that it would not be as easy as she thought,’ he snapped, then flushed. ‘I mean, my mother has always had a tendency to look on the positive side of a thing, while I have been less … optimistic and therefore more wise in my expectations.’

  ‘An admirable quality,’ Leta fawned.

  Kalide ignored her. ‘In addition, when she invited you, my mother did not know that this visionweaver in whom my brother reposes such interest, would vanish. Distress has rendered Tarsin unusually intractable.’

  ‘So you have said, but what has this to do with your mother’s failure to attend her guests?’

  ‘As I explained to your Prime, if my mother were to see you before Tarsin did, it might be suggested that there was an alliance between you.’

  ‘Does not your mother’s invitation suggest that?’ Mingus asked.

  ‘It is evidence merely of a lively mind that is curious about your cult. If you will recall, her invitation spoke of the desire to hear the Draaka clarify her opinions and attitudes to the satisfaction of Tarsin.’

  ‘I see that it was carefully composed,’ Mingus said.

  ‘As carefully composed as your own chits,’ Kalide said. ‘And speaking of them, indeed it is they that are proving a stumbling block for, while fascinating and amusingly provoking, they have been sometimes received with … confusion by the palace. Some call them treasonous.’

  ‘If Tarsin regarded them in this way, he would have acted against us by now,’ Mingus said calmly.

  ‘He may have done so, if he were not distracted,’ Kalide snapped.

  The Draaka said coolly, ‘Once Tarsin hears me speak, he will know that I practise no treason against him. In any case my scholars are even now preparing a chit that will clarify the position we take regarding Tarsin and the Darkfall hags. You can rest assured that, after reading it, Tarsin will understand that we are supportive of his rule and regime.’

  ‘Perhaps reading such a chit will make Tarsin more receptive,’ Kalide said. ‘But until he receives you, I must serve as your emissary to my mother.’

  ‘A pity, for I have brought certain gifts which can only be given direct to your mother,’ the Draaka countered. She waved a languid hand at something which Glynn could not see through the feinna’s eyes.

  ‘Callstones?’ Kalide asked greedily.

  ‘Those, of course, but also a number of darklinstones.’

  The Iridomi licked his lips and it seemed to Glynn, who was the feinna, that his scent changed. ‘Darklinstones … a desirable gift indeed.’

  ‘I hope these will be the first of many tokens of friendship,’ the Draaka said dismissively. ‘Now let us look at the map and I will indicate for you where we have chosen to situate our Ramidani haven, so that your mother can arrange the commencement of its construction. In fact it will not be too troublesome for I have chosen a building that can simply be modified.’

  Kalide glanced at the map indifferently and nodded, his eyes flickering back to the casket which must contain the darklinstones. ‘I will tell my mother the things that you have said.’

  ‘I eagerly await her response,’ the Draaka rejoined and made a gesture. Silash closed the casket with a thud. ‘Now let us return for a moment to the perplexing matter of this visionweaver. You say that Tarsin will not see us until she is found? Why not recall the infamous soulweaver who is said to have aided the assassin, and have her questioned?’

  ‘Tarsin is not receptive to advice at this time,’ Kalide said shortly. He rose abruptly. ‘I must leave now, but I will return again soon.’ He cast a final searing look at the cage and, for once, the feinna part of Glynn flinched while the human part of her wanted to attack. ‘I will remember your promise about the animal,’ he told the Draaka.

  ‘Of course,’ she said lightly.

  When Kalide had gone, the smile slid from the Draaka’s lips. ‘See that the chit is completed and distributed as soon as possible and have Aluade question these hoards that she claims cannot wait to announce themselves acolytes of our master. I want to know more about this wretched visionweaver. And find out if Coralyn does have her people begin work on the haven. That will tell us if her words are merely syrup.’

  ‘There is something wrong with Kalide,’ Leta said softly.

  ‘Of course,’ the Draaka said. ‘He is one of our master’s pets and such a position has its price.’ Glynn seemed to hear the dry clicking and chittering that she had heard behind the woman’s voice at their last meeting and her mouth dried. ‘Also have Aluade ask about this illness that the mermod suffers.’

  ‘It may not be true that he is ill. The drone reported it, after all.’ This was Mingus.

  ‘Yes. It was enterprising of her to overhear as much as she did. She seems a strange contradiction. Intelligent and resourceful on one level and yet a clumsy halfwit on another level.’ The Draaka sounded thoughtful. ‘Tomorrow, I want her sent into the citadel.’

  Glynn’s heart leapt.

  ‘What!’ Mingus cried. ‘The clumsy aspi has not even managed to do the one task so far asked of her, after two attempts. What would you have her do there?’

  Glynn saw the Draaka turn to Mingus, who paled to bone at whatever he saw in her face. ‘It is the drone’s failures that convince me she is as innocent of guile as she appears. If she had performed too perfectly, I would have felt she needed further watching. But her combination of incompetence and accidental success reveals that she is no more than the blundering lucky pawn our master showed to me. If her own actions are to bring us the Unraveller, we must allow her to act.’

  ‘She cannot function if parted more than a short distance from the beast. You remember how it was with Bayard,’ the Prime warned.

  The Draaka frowned. ‘Very well, have someone take the creature to the citadel, too.’

  ‘We must be careful,’ Leta said. ‘Remember how she fought.’

  ‘Aluade will accompany the drone with a knife at the throat of the beast,’ Mingus said.

  ‘What if she encounters the Unraveller?’ Leta obj
ected.

  The Draaka gave her an impatient look. ‘It is highly unlikely that she will encounter the Unraveller the first moment she steps outside the palace. This will merely be the first of a number of errands. She must be watched at all times for she must not be permitted to escape.’

  There was a little silence, then the Prime suggested that the health of the feinna might suffer if it was taken in a carriage.

  Mingus snorted. ‘The creature is healed enough to snarl and hiss at Kalide.’

  The Draaka said coldly, ‘You said yourself, Wykka, that the animal will not now die from its wounds, so if some damage is done to it by this expedition tomorrow, it is no matter.’

  ‘The girl will wonder why you do not simply send Aluade alone to serve your needs,’ Gif said.

  ‘I doubt she will wonder anything, with a knife held at the throat of her precious feinna. And if she does wonder, then let her, for all the good it will do her,’ Mingus sneered.

  ‘Nevertheless it might be wise to offer her a plausible reason for her errand,’ the Prime said judiciously. ‘Why not send her to some nightshelter known to be frequented by those who support Darkfall with instructions to learn what she can about this missing Fomhikan. The girl will find it perfectly reasonable for you to send one who resembles a myrmidon to spy on those who favour the hags. Better still, instruct her to listen for word about the whereabouts of this missing visionweaver. If she learns anything you can gift it to the Holder.’

  ‘I have heard it said more than once from servitors that Tarsin is less and less himself,’ Leta murmured.

  ‘At least with Tarsin, we know what we deal with,’ Mingus opined. ‘Let us pray that Coralyn does not win her desire at this time, for if the mermod ascends the Holder’s throne there will be no permission to open a haven and we will be sent away.’

  Mingus smiled. ‘I doubt the mermod would survive long enough to take the throne. More likely it will be the pretty Iridomi, and he could be manipulated. Did you see his eyes when he beheld the darklins? I wonder if his mother will be as pleased by them?’

  ‘How goes the chit?’ the Draaka asked with a sudden impatience.

  ‘There are some difficulties as you know. Great finesse is required for we cannot be seen to be retracting,’ Gif said.

  ‘If you had been less clever and intellectual to begin with the matter would be simpler,’ Silash sneered.

  ‘But we did not create the chits to convince simpletons,’ Gif answered pleasantly.

  ‘Do you call me a simpleton?’ Silash lurched to his feet.

  ‘Enough,’ the Draaka said. ‘I want that chit finished by the morrow. It is taking too long. And Mingus, prepare one of the darklins to be sent to Tarsin. I will scribe a personal note to accompany it, sympathising with the loss of the visionweaver who saved his life and offering our aid in finding her.’

  ‘He will not use the darklin. It is said that he has never touched them since he saw Alene soulweaver with Argon white cloak in a darklin dream.’

  ‘I know this, but a darklin is no small gift and he will be aware of that. I will suggest in my chit that my master, the Void guardian, could enable me to locate his precious visionweaver. I want it to go tonight.’

  ‘Why not send the drone with it,’ Leta suggested.

  ‘I gave instructions for her to be worked until she dropped,’ the Prime said indifferently. ‘I will send for her when the chit is prepared.’

  The Draaka nodded absently as if her mind was now elsewhere.

  Glynn forced herself to release control of the feinna’s body and mind, realising how dangerously seductive it would be just to go on and on eavesdropping. To her dismay, the feinna had withdrawn to deep unconsciousness, severed as it had been from all contact with the outside world. Stricken, she returned to her own form, which lay sprawled uncomfortably on one numb arm on the cold floor, and sat up, groaning. Once again she had the distinct sensation that she was being watched. She tried to rise and found that her legs would not support her. Sitting in the passage panting, she hoped no one would come upon her like that, because it might alter their decision to send her to the citadel.

  She struggled to her feet at last, and made her way unsteadily to her own room. It struck her as an irony that she had spent her life training her body for its own sake only to realise that it was merely a vessel to contain that much greater thing, her mind and will. This was what Wind had really wanted her to understand, she knew now. Hadn’t it lain underneath everything he had said?

  Once in her room, she lay down gratefully, deciding she had better rest before she was summoned. Fortunately scrubbing the bathing room had been her last appointed task so she could not be blamed for stopping. The thought of facing the Holder, about whom she had heard so much, made her feel apprehensive, and yet she felt sure that the Draaka would not risk her precious trakkerbeast if there was any possibility that Tarsin would harm her. She was more concerned with the expedition into the city the following day. If only the Draaka had meant it, it was surely the very opportunity that she had prayed for, since both she and the feinna would be leaving the palace together. Admittedly the feinna was obviously going to be well guarded, and it would not be easy to escape, but Glynn felt confident that she could manage it. Whatever Aluade was, she was no warrior. One moment of inattention and she would snatch the feinna and flee.

  If she had been fresh, she might have tried to reach Solen’s mind and ask for his help, but she had been weakened by her visioning of him, and her ability to control the reaching was very limited, for all she had the feeling that given time she could master the power. She dismissed the wish as pointless and impossible. For the time being she was on her own; she would make contact with Solen when she and the feinna were free. The feinna part of her mind suddenly evoked Solen as she had just seen him lying in his bath and, this time, instead of blushing, she let her eyes rove over him with longing …

  She was drowsing on the edge of deeper sleep when a draakira came to fetch her. Glynn sluiced her face and hands and knees, watched by the woman, and was startled when she was ordered to sit on the edge of the bed while her face was painted and a green scarf fastened about her hair. It was not until she caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror as they traversed the passages that she realised the shape of her eyes had been given an Acanthan tilt, while the hair showing around the scarf had been dusted brown. Obviously the draakira had been instructed to make her look less myrmidonish.

  ‘You will go to the Holder’s apartment,’ the Prime instructed. The Draaka had obviously retired. ‘You will inquire as to its whereabouts once you are well away from the Iridomi enclave. I do not want this message or gift intercepted by Kalide.’

  Glynn nodded as she took the lovely little casket proffered, and its key, sealed in a small glass bottle stopped with a blob of wax.

  ‘The gift and the message are to be handed to Tarsin’s own body servitors.’ The Prime went on to explain all of the formalities she would have to observe. ‘Deliver the message and return, and this time, do not fail or your punishment will be something worse than an afternoon of scrubbing and cleaning.’

  23

  Lanalor was a man of great power and many secrets,

  but still, he was only a man

  SONGS OF DANAE

  Glynn was relieved to find two new green legionnaires stationed outside the door to the apartment, and she made a slight bow to them, which was barely acknowledged, before hurrying along the corridor towards the entrance to the Iridomi enclave. She went right out of the enclave and almost to the front hall of the palace before asking directions to the Holder’s apartment of a frightened-looking servitor in drab brown.

  The Holder’s apartment turned out to be at the very end of the same level as the Iridomi enclave, and the servitor had told her timidly that it overlooked water, city and the best part of the garden level. After a little, Glynn found herself walking along a wide passage open on one side and offering a panoramic view of the sea and the sky that alm
ost exceeded the beauty of the view she had seen from the Songcavern on Acantha. There were no casual walkers here and she supposed that she must be drawing nearer to the Holder’s apartment although, from her vantage point, the city proper was not visible yet, nor the gardens. Indeed, with the sea stretched out before her and dark blue clouds scudding across the sky, Glynn began to feel as if she were actually on a ship deck walking towards the prow. The impression was strengthened by the unmistakable citrus-like smell of the Keltan ocean, wafted to her on the breeze. The only thing missing was the pitch of the waves under the hull. She stopped and drank in the view for a moment, wondering how Kerd could possibly prefer the archives and tangles of court life on Ramidan to the clean emptiness of the sea. Feeling oddly strengthened, Glynn wondered if she imagined that she seemed to derive energy from such sights as this? And was there an inverse? Would ugliness now weaken her in the same way that wildness and beauty seemed to give her strength? Or had it always been this way, and the feinna part of her had only made her aware of it?

  Glynn shook her head and went on, chiding herself for drifting into philosophic daydreams. She must keep her mind on her errand, though it was little more than a delivery that she was making. She had been more relieved than disappointed to learn that she was not to see the Holder. Surely nothing could go wrong this time. It was less the unspoken threat in the Prime’s eyes that made her dread failure, than the knowledge that the Draaka might change her mind about the expedition to the citadel. If she had disarmed the Draaka’s suspicions with her failure to acquire a pelflyt, the woman was nevertheless unlikely to appreciate someone who was unable to complete any task she was given.

  To discipline her mind, Glynn followed the remainder of the servitor’s directions mechanically, repeating the words she had been told to say to Tarsin’s servitor. First she was to announce her name and say that she was Fomhikan, then she was to present the casket containing the gift with the compliments and felicitations of her mistress. But she was not to name the Draaka nor her sept nor affiliations, and if asked about this as the Prime seemed to think she might be, she was to say that she had been bidden to say that the name of her mistress was within the chit. Obviously the Draaka feared that the legionnaires might simply decline to accept the gift without even taking it to Tarsin once they knew who had sent it. But if Glynn refused to speak, they would either have to turn her away without having any idea of who had sent her and what they might have rejected, or they would have to take her gift, and deliver it to their master. They would not dare to open it themselves in case they learned something that the Holder would not want them to know, the Prime had concluded.