“Just call me Ella,” she said, then pursed her lips as she considered his question. “I don’t know... my faith in the gods, perhaps. When there is no obvious answer, I do what the gods tell me.”
That sounds like a personal mantra. Interesting. “A wise policy.”
She glanced at Dyara, who smiled faintly, before looking at him again. “Though the gods never told me to do anything until recently,” she told him, “I always gave them a chance to - before sorting out my messes myself.”
He chuckled. “They appreciated that, I’m sure. Not that I’m suggesting you’re going to make any messes now.” He looked at Dyara. “You have plenty of experienced helpers to call upon.”
“Yes. Including yourself. Dyara tells me you have spies all over Ithania.”
“Spies?” Danjin laughed. “Hardly spies, just people I know in courts and old trading friends.”
“Tell me about them.”
Taking another sip of water, Danjin leaned back in his chair and began to regale her with stories of the people he knew, in both high and low places, as well as how they had helped him in the past and could do so again. She appeared to be genuinely amused at the more humorous of his anecdotes. That was a good sign. Her sense of humor was a good counterbalance to the almost unnerving confidence she exuded.
She’ll make a good White, he decided. Let’s hope she lasts a little longer than Auraya did.
3
Auraya had glimpsed the waterfalls in the distance the few times she had flown to the North River tribe village. Now, as the young Siyee guide descended toward them, she saw that there were several falls, each plunging over a step in the land into a pool from which a shallow river flowed to the next fall.
Tyve swooped down to land beside one of the falls and Auraya dropped down beside him. The air hissed with the sound of falling water as Auraya looked around. It was a pretty place. She saw no sign of the landwalker woman.
Tyve gestured to the cascade. “She lives in there, behind the water. You can get in from the side.”
Auraya nodded. “Thank you, Tyve. You’d better go home. If I need anything I’ll drop in to your village.”
He nodded, ran lightly across the exposed rocks at the river’s edge, up onto a boulder, and leapt into the air. Watching him glide away, Auraya remembered something about the boy.
He wanted to become a Dreamweaver. She’d read it from his mind back when she had been helping Mirar treat his village. Mirar hadn’t said he would teach the boy, but he hadn’t refused either.
His dreams would have been dashed when Mirar fled Si. Still, it’s for the best. If he turned from the gods to become a Dreamweaver his soul would be lost when he died.
The idea of Siyee becoming Dreamweavers disturbed her. It was ironic that while she had been setting up the hospice in Jarime - which might ultimately reduce numbers of Dreamweavers by drawing prospective students to the priesthood - a Siyee had been on his way to becoming a Dreamweaver.
It was almost a relief to no longer be responsible for the hospice. Juran had reported good progress. It was nice to know it continued to benefit the people of the city while improving Circlian healing knowledge. But she had never been comfortable knowing that, even though it saved souls by encouraging those who might have joined the Dreamweavers to join the Circlians instead, she had been working toward the demise of the Dreamweavers.
The Siyee were her only concern now. Putting all thoughts of the hospice out of her mind, she started toward the waterfall.
The rock face behind the fall formed an overhang, and she found that she could slip behind the water into a cave. While the water allowed enough light through to illuminate the front of the cave, the back was shrouded in darkness. She drew magic and created a light, revealing a tunnel, then started forward. A light appeared ahead leading her on, around a corner, to a larger cave. Pots and jars stood by one wall and some rudimentary furniture was arranged in the middle.
A woman was sitting on one of two rough beds with her back to Auraya. Her clothing was plain, but the hair that spilled over her shoulders was a rich red. Her arms moved at some hidden task.
“Are you Jade Dancer?” Auraya asked, using the Siyee language. The woman must be able to communicate with the sky people in order to send Auraya a message.
The woman looked up from her task, but didn’t turn.
“Yes. Come in. I am making some hot maita. We have much to discuss.”
“Do we?” Auraya moved forward.
The woman chuckled. “Yes.”
Something about this place made Auraya uneasy. She felt vulnerable, though she could see nothing threatening in the room. Stopping, she drew magic and created a barrier about herself.
The woman turned to look at Auraya curiously. “Why so wary? I do not mean you any harm.”
Auraya stared back, looking for clues in the woman’s expression. She had a beautiful face, but lines around the eyes and mouth indicated she was well into her middle years. They were lines of humor, but also of grief or bitterness.
“Why am I not convinced of that?”
Jade’s eyes narrowed and she regarded Auraya thoughtfully. Then she beckoned. “Come a few steps closer.”
Auraya hesitated, then obeyed. As she did her barrier faltered. She reached for more magic, but none came to her.
As she realized what her senses had been telling her all along, she felt a rush of terror. There was no magic around her. She was as vulnerable as any Giftless mortal. She backed away and found herself surrounded by magic again.
“What you are sensing is a void. It is only a few steps deep. See?” The woman waved a hand carelessly and a spark of light appeared before her. “You can gather some magic first to protect yourself as you cross it.”
Auraya considered the woman. If she wanted to take advantage of my moment of vulnerability she would have done so. Drawing magic, she created another barrier and fed magic into it as she walked across the room. Now that her attention had been drawn to the void it was easy to sense. Still, she did not feel at ease until she was out of it again.
Jade regarded her with a knowing smile and gestured toward the other bed.
“Have a seat.”
Auraya sat down. Between the beds was a large rock with a smooth, round hole carved into it, filled with boiling water. Jade ladled out the water into a bowl. The grains in the bowl dissolved to make a dark red liquid, and the distinct smell of maita reached Auraya. The woman poured it into two small cups and handed one to Auraya.
“Mirar slept on that bed last year,” she said.
Auraya nodded slowly. “So you’re the friend. I suspected as much.”
“That was before you tried to kill him,” Jade continued, ignoring Auraya’s comment. “But you couldn’t do it.” Her eyes narrowed. “Why not?”
“I had my reasons.”
The woman’s gaze was direct. “He opened his mind to you, and showed you the truth. That’s why. He risked a lot in order for you to know it.”
“Or simply to save himself.”
Jade’s eyebrows rose. “Is that what you think? Did you not consider he did it for love?”
Auraya met the woman’s stare. “Love had nothing to do with it. He wanted me to know the truth, but he would not have revealed it if I hadn’t been about to kill him. He would have continued deceiving me.”
The woman nodded. “But you must know he loves you. Do you love him?”
Auraya felt conflicting feelings returning and pushed them aside. Why was Jade asking these questions? Why did she want to know if Auraya loved Mirar? Was she jealous, or just a protective friend? Auraya considered different answers and how Jade might react to them. A denial might anger her, and Auraya did not want to risk that. An affirmation might be tested, however.
“I don’t know,” she replied honestly. “I doubt it, since I don’t really know him - or rather, I know only a part of him. Do you love him?”
“As a friend.”
“You helped him regain
his identity.”
“Yes.” Jade looked down at her cup and frowned. “I brought him here after the battle. He was quite a mess. Wasn’t sure who he was. Leiard one moment, Mirar the next.” She grimaced. “He eventually sorted himself out. I thought he’d be safe here in Si, but he has a talent for getting himself in trouble. First you nearly kill him, then he narrowly avoided the White in Sennon, and now...” She shook her head.
Auraya looked at Jade skeptically. “Since you so obviously want me to ask: where is he now?”
The woman’s eyes flashed with amusement. “Do I? But I can’t tell you, or the gods will read it from your mind when you leave the void.”
“When I leave...?” Auraya frowned and looked around the cave, though she didn’t expect to see any visible clue to confirm her suspicions.
“The void surrounds us on all sides. The gods are beings of magic, so they can’t reach us here.”
Auraya considered this news. If Jade told her where Mirar was... but if Jade knew then the gods could take the information from her mind when she left the void anyway. Unless... unless Jade could hide her thoughts, as Mirar could. Auraya resisted the urge to stare at the woman. How powerful is she? Could she be another immortal?
“When I leave they will know you are here,” she observed. “They will read that from my mind, too.”
Jade spread her hands. “Yes. But why would that concern them? I am just an old curer with dubious friends.”
“If Mirar feared revealing your existence, then you have reason to fear it.”
Jade’s eyebrows rose. “So you’re not stupid. That’s good.”
“How do you plan to stop me leaving?”
“By making you an offer too good to refuse.”
“And if I refuse it and leave?”
“You will never see me again.”
The woman sounded confident. If she is an immortal, she has managed to evade the gods’ notice for over a hundred years. Keeping away from me shouldn’t be hard for her.
“What is your offer?”
Jade smiled. “To teach you how to hide your thoughts from the gods.”
So I was right. She can hide her mind. After all, she must be able to do it to be able to teach it.
“Why?”
“Why would I teach you or why would you agree to learn it?”
“Both.”
Jade leaned forward. “What if I told you Mirar was in trouble? That he needed your help? What would you say to that?”
“I would tell you I cannot help him,” Auraya replied without hesitation. Huan’s voice repeated in her mind: If you set yourself against us or the White, or if you ally yourself with our enemies, you will be regarded as our enemy. “What sort of trouble is he in?”
“Mortal danger.”
Auraya’s heart began to race. Was this woman testing her, or was he truly facing death? What if he is? She couldn’t - wouldn’t - help him if it meant making an enemy of the gods. Refusing to kill him had already cost her so much.
Abruptly, Jade stood up and moved away, walking to the pots by the wall.
“I’m glad I don’t have such a choice to make,” she said. “Though I never had a choice offered to me. I’ve always been despised by the gods.” She picked up a jar and turned to smile at Auraya. “Mirar is in Mur, in a little seaside town called Bria, where Dreamweavers are accepted by the locals for all their skills. He is in no danger.”
Auraya sighed with relief, but suspicion quickly returned. “You’re lying, at least about his location. You wouldn’t have told me where he was until I had agreed to learn to hide my thoughts.”
Jade unplugged the jar and sniffed the contents.
“Wouldn’t I?” She set the jar down again. “Are you willing to risk that it’s true, and be the cause of his demise?”
Auraya shook her head. “You haven’t answered my questions. Why do you want me to learn this?”
“Mirar asked me to teach it to you. He believes you are in danger and I fear he will come here himself if I don’t do it.”
“You risked exposing yourself on a whim of his?”
Jade’s expression became serious. “Not a whim, I’m afraid.” She walked back to the beds. “You are in danger.”
“How so?”
“From the gods, you silly girl. You defied them. You are too powerful. The only reason they didn’t kill you when you resigned was because you were still useful to them. Now that the Siyee are well they’ll be looking for any excuse to get rid of you.”
Auraya thought of the conversation between the gods that she’d overheard after she’d announced her intention to resign.
:Give her what she wants, Saru had said. Then we can get rid of her.
:Only if she turns against us, Chaia had replied.
“Any excuse?” she said, standing up. “Like learning to hide my thoughts from them. Like associating with yet another Wild.” She stepped around Jade and started toward the cave entrance. “Tell Mirar the best he can do to protect me is stay away and stop meddling in my affairs.”
She heard Jade’s footsteps behind her.
“Mirar is a besotted fool. That’s why he taught you to heal, even though he knew you would eventually work out that it is the same Gift that makes us immortal. He gave you an escape route.”
Auraya caught her breath and slowed to a stop. If what Jade was telling her was true, Mirar had deliberately taught her something that could lead to her becoming immortal. No wonder the gods had forbidden Circlians to learn magical healing. Yet the gods had let her learn it...
“He saw the potential in you - and so did the gods,” Jade continued. “Why do you think they gave you such impossible choices? They know your weaknesses. They manipulated you neatly into leaving the White, leaving their followers believing you sacrificed all for the Siyee. Now you can tragically die and nobody will question it.”
Auraya turned to stare at the woman. She shook her head. “You’re lying.” She must be lying.
Jade laughed. “If only I was. Can you take that risk?”
Chaia’s face rose in Auraya’s memory. Even if Jade was right, she was only partly right. Not all of the gods want me dead.
If she refused Jade’s help she risked that Huan and her allies would kill her, despite Chaia’s opposition.
If she accepted she risked losing Chaia’s support - if she still had it.
Auraya turned away. As she started toward the cave entrance again she expected Jade to follow. Instead the woman called after her.
“You’re a Wild, Auraya. The gods know it. They’re just waiting for the right moment to kill you.”
“I’m not immortal yet,” Auraya tossed over her shoulder. She sensed she was approaching the void and drew magic to maintain her barrier. “I don’t have to become immortal, even if I have the potential to.”
“You don’t have to hide your thoughts either. But if you know how, then if Mirar’s concerns prove valid you may find the Gift useful.”
Auraya slowed and stopped within the void, turned, then stepped back inside the barrier. Jade regarded her soberly.
If there is no crime in having knowledge that can lead to immortality, then there is no crime in knowing how to hide my thoughts, she thought. And if Mirar returns because I refused to learn from Jade, it will cause all manner of trouble.
“How long will it take?” she asked.
Jade’s expression softened. “A few weeks. Less, if you’re a fast learner.”
“The Siyee will come looking for me.”
“We’ll tell them you’re staying only until you’re sure I’m well.”
“Ah, yes. The mythical illness.” Auraya strode toward the woman. “Expect to heal quickly, Jade Dancer, as I don’t intend to be here any longer than necessary.”
The woman snorted. “I assure you, neither do I.”
No matter how many times Reivan rode in a litter, she could never get used to the movement, especially when the carriers were jogging. Or was it the fact that the fo
ur slaves had her dignity and well being in their hands which made her uneasy? Like all slaves they were criminals, but these had been chosen for this task by the Servants of the Gods for their reliability, coordination and willing cooperation.
But whoever chose them probably assumed any Servant riding a litter has Skills to call upon if they ever need to defend themselves, or the slaves dropped the litter. She didn’t even have enough Skill to stir up the still, hot air to cool herself. Usually one could only become a Servant if one had Skills, but she had been an exception. Being ordained as a Servant of the Gods had been Reivan’s reward for saving the Pentadrian army from becoming lost in the mines of Sennon... was it really less than a year ago?
She sighed and tried not to look at the sweat running down the backs of the slaves. The signs of their discomfort only made her more uncomfortable. And these black Servant robes don’t help, she added, plucking at the neckline.
The slaves turned onto the Parade and wound their way through the crowd toward the Sanctuary. The sprawl of buildings that made up the main Pentadrian Temple looked like a giant staircase. Imenja had ordered Reivan to return as quickly as possible, and the thought of ascending up through most of the Sanctuary to reach her wasn’t a welcoming one.
At the wide stairs of the building, the slaves set the litter down. Reivan paused to nod in thanks to the slave master, then started her journey upward.
A wide, arched façade welcomed visitors to the largest Pentadrian building in all Ithania. Stepping through one of the openings, she entered a large, breezy hall. Servants hovered around, ready to greet visitors. Beyond the hall there was a courtyard, which she skirted so she could stay in the cool shadows.
A wide corridor followed, taking her through the Lower Sanctuary. Servants were everywhere, their black robes like ink stains against the white walls. The corridor split several times as it branched out into the Middle Sanctuary. As she hurried along the route to the Upper Sanctuary, Servants stepped out of her way and nodded politely.
Their respect roused a smug satisfaction within her. They’ve been like this since Imenja and I returned from negotiating the agreement with the Elai. There had been no protest when Imenja had made Reivan her Companion. Even so, I can’t help looking for signs that the Servants’ acceptance of me is wearing off.
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