A Voice That Thunders (Voice that Thunders #1)

by Cully Mack

  ‘You are right,’ Dara said. ‘But what else can we do other than fret all day over things we can’t control?’

  A loud roar reverberated around the chamber. Neviah leaned her head out the opening. ‘What do you think they are? They look like a mixture of animals, like a lion, a bird and some kind of spikey thing not one kind or the other.’

  ‘I’m not sure but we are far from home and I’m positive they won’t be the last strange thing we encounter,’ Mirah answered.

  ‘I don’t think anything could be stranger than Shemyaza,’ Abela said. ‘He is both ugly and beautiful at the same time which I can’t quite understand.’

  Out of all of them, Abela was the last person Mirah expected to make a comment about Shemyaza. She often avoided stressful topics and kept her own council for fear of the Shaaph taking hold of her or relied on Ayla to make her wishes known.

  As usual Ayla intervened and changed the topic. ‘My feet are sweltering. Do you mind if I soak them in your water pool? I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the soaring temperature here.

  ‘Of course not,’ Dara said. ‘I’ll join you.’

  Before long they all had pulled their garments past their knees and sat with their feet dipped in the pool.

  ‘This reminds me of home,’ Ayla said, ‘paddling in the rock pools.’

  Mirah remembered when they used to sit on the edge of the rock pool sharing their secrets. The lads in the clan ran and jumped off a ledge into the deeper end of the pool and they’d sit and watch dreaming about who they’d one day marry.

  Dara being older had been promised to the blacksmith’s son, Liron. She hadn’t been brave enough to ask Dara if she had seen his battered body by the pyre. Abela and Ayla both liked Gabe and even though he was a year older, he was still young and foolish and no one had stolen his heart.

  Every one of them had their favourite, except Mirah. Her clan expected her to one day marry Eran. He often arrived on the pretence of meeting Gabe, only to hover around her Ma’s herb garden. As much as she’d wanted to relax around him, she’d always kept her guard up for fear of leading him along. She wondered if she’d somehow missed seeing his butchered body and if that was an act of grace.

  Before her mind wandered into the place of death remembered she changed her focus and a whispered, ‘What do you think of this place?’

  No one spoke for a while.

  ‘For what it’s worth, the Azu seem to care for the people. When we were there yesterday, a child arrived with an injured ankle, they fixed him up and didn’t even ask for a payment,’ Ayla said.

  There was a knock on the door and then light footsteps.

  ‘I thought you’d all been foolish enough to attempt an escape,’ Sumer said. She chuckled. ‘What on earth are you doing?’

  ‘We’re cooling our feet. Would you like to join us?’ Dara asked.

  ‘Well, that is tempting but no, I’ve brought your food.’

  Sumer darted away and they heard her giving instructions from the tunnel. When they returned to Dara’s chamber an array of fresh fruit, cheeses and flatbreads lay on the table.

  ‘I’ll be back later to ensure you are ready for the celebration,’ Sumer said, turning to leave.

  Another roar erupted from the plateau beneath them.

  ‘What are those beasts?’ Neviah asked.

  Sumer pivoted. ‘I suggest you don’t go near them. They are Shemyaza’s personal guards.’

  ❊

  Later that evening, Mirah traded the silver garment for a radiant jade fabric embroidered with little green birds. This one had a woven green band stitched under the breast and needed no bodice. She wrapped a darker green shawl over her shoulders.

  ‘Sumer, what did you mean this morning when you said Nate wouldn’t let me come to any harm?’

  Sumer gave her such a look of remorse, Mirah felt a sob rise in her throat.

  ‘I heard about what happened at your home, not from Nate, I doubt he’d ever speak of such an atrocity to me. I raised him as my own, along with my son Zeev. They are like brothers and never separated for long. Nate is a good man. I don’t understand what happened, but I’m positive someone forced his hand. I have my suspicions concerning who but of that I will never speak. He’s my son and mothers see things their sons do not. Come we need to collect the others. The celebration will begin soon.’

  The sound of timbrels, lyres and harps carried down the tunnel as they made their way to the celebration. Mirah watched Sumer’s skirt swishing against her strides and wondered what it was she’d seen. She’d been adamant Nate was a good man but how much of her affirmation was blinkered by a mother’s love.

  ‘You’re quiet,’ Neviah said.

  ‘What? Oh, I was just thinking about what’s to come.’

  If the throne room had been a representation of night, this chamber represented day. Lustrous gold lacquered the walls with tapestries draped all around depicting gardens and water scenes.

  In the centre people and giants were dancing. A rainbow of colours spiralled and swirled as women were guided around. Watching giants dancing seemed strange. They smiled and trod with such feline grace that it was difficult to picture their ferocity.

  A raised dais at the far end hosted two life-sized golden replicas of the beasts in the arena beneath her room. In-between them sat Shemyaza with Bishnor seated to his right and Nate to his left.

  ‘Go,’ Sumer said. ‘This is all for you.’ She dropped her hands from her hips, walked off into the room and disappeared in the crowd.

  ‘What should we do?’ Ayla asked.

  ‘Well, I for one will not stand here looking like a tangerine, ripe and ready for picking.’ Neviah said. ‘Let’s get lost in the crowd.’

  They meandered through the room and Mirah spotted some of the Azu, dressed in their garments of green, amulets glistening in the light. She considered going over to thank them for assisting Abela but they weren’t interacting with anyone. She decided to wait for another opportunity.

  Some men in the same raven black uniform as Nate’s, ogled at the women. She recognised the one Nate had called Zeev from the day before and as soon as she saw his eyes she knew he was Sumer’s son. He chuckled and sipped on beer, his wavy, acorn brown hair framing his handsome face.

  Mirah glanced over to find Nate watching her. She wondered if he wasn’t allowed to leave the dais. Some of the tithes who’d travelled with them were already dancing, and to Mirah’s surprise even laughing.

  ‘Will you dance?’ a soft spoken man asked Dara. She hesitated, and he reached out his hand. ‘Please?’

  Relenting, she permitted him to lead her to the floor. She stumbled at first but soon slipped into his guidance with graceful ease. Mirah studied her beautiful lilac swirls as she danced. A giant, a head shorter than the others clasped hold of Ayla’s hand and before Mirah could do anything they were dancing. Neviah snorted in disgust.

  ‘Maybe they’re too unsure to decline,’ Mirah offered.

  She noted Abela dip her head to one of the Azu who showed a hint of recognition but nothing more. Only Neviah and Mirah had not danced. Neviah glared at anyone who dared approached her and she was never asked.

  The music lowered and Shemyaza came to the edge of the dais. ‘It’s time for the testing. Whatever I decide shall not be altered.’

  Sumer arrived and arranged the girls into their groups of six.

  Mirah’s group was the second to approach the platform. As they were waiting, she spied a group of women standing to the side of the dais, wearing silhouette-black leather pants and deep blue silk shirts. The shirt’s fabric crossed over across their chests and wrapped around their bodies. They were strong and foreboding and nothing passed by their discerning eyes.

  The first group of six stepped forward. One by one the girls stood before Shemyaza. He held out his hand over their bowed heads and without touching them recited words she didn’t understand and the girls were led off.

  ‘What is he doing?’ Abela asked Ayla.


  ‘He said it was a test.’

  With her eyes fixed on the dais, Neviah said, ‘It doesn’t look like any kind of test I’ve ever seen. I thought we would have to do something. What is he even saying?’

  Mirah leant her chin over Neviah’s shoulder. ‘Well, at least it doesn’t appear painful. Shall I go first?’

  ‘I’ll go,’ Neviah offered. ‘It’s not like there’s a way out of this, is there?’

  When the first six had been tested, Neviah clasped her hands together and walked up and stood before Shemyaza.

  ‘Taphas,’ Shemyaza said.

  A woman with long, henna-dyed hair, standing by the dais, dressed in the silhouette-black pants and deep blue shirt gestured for Neviah to come to her. Ayla stepped forward next followed by Abela.

  ‘Azu’ he said over them each in turn.

  At least that was something Mirah recognised and she began to get a picture of what he was testing. Gifts. Somehow he could see beyond into the essence of a person.

  Dara advanced next and when Shemyaza declared, Chashmalim audible gasps echoed around the room. Shemyaza’s skin gleamed, and she was led off.

  As Mirah approached, Nate leaned forward in his seat. His face became a picture of anxiety. Shemyaza held out his hand, and she waited.

  ‘Taphas,’ Shemyaza announced.

  Nate’s eyes widened. Whatever Taphas meant, Nate didn’t like it. Mirah retreated and stood with Neviah. She surveyed the Taphas women and had the suspicion she wouldn’t like it either.

  Shemyaza completed his testing, retired from the chamber and the music returned.

  The henna-haired Taphas woman announced, ‘Soon you will be summoned and your training will begin.’

  Mirah looked up to find Nate had left the dais and the Taphas women turned and left as well.

  ‘What do you think Taphas means?’ she asked Neviah.

  She glanced around for Nate but couldn’t see him anywhere.

  ‘I don’t know but they look deadly,’ Neviah said, watching the Taphas leave.

  After Shemyaza had retired, the celebrations shifted up a notch. The music tempo increased, and the dancing became more sensual. Mirah had not seen such provocation. She felt torn between intrigue and wanting to leave.

  She focused on Ayla and Abela who were busy talking to some of the Azu. A sense of rejection overwhelmed the appreciation she’d experienced before. Not that it was their fault, but she’d been sure Shemyaza would have recognised her skills in healing. What did he see in her?

  Neviah scoffed, and she turned to see attendees drifting past, their indiscreet glances falling on the mystery that was Dara.

  Mirah left them and circled around the edge of the room to find a quieter area. She stopped to observe the detailed stitching of a lake surrounded by conifer trees in a tapestry. She followed the patterns of its weave and wondered how it had been made. She didn’t hear Nate as he came up behind her.

  ‘Walk with me.’

  ‘What about the others?’

  ‘It’s all right, they’ll be fine. Sumer will escort them back soon.’

  She hurried to keep up with his pace through the winding and bending tunnels.

  ‘Sumer told me you’re her son.’

  ‘She was my nursemaid and the closest person I have to a mother.’

  ‘She said the girl paired with us has been removed. Do you know where?’

  He stopped mid-stride and glanced down both ends of the tunnels. ‘Before I brought her here, she prepared fish, so I found work for her in the kitchens.’

  ‘Why did she have to leave?’

  ‘She’s in the safest place I could think of.’

  It wasn’t the answer she was looking for but he picked up his pace with a look which told her not to press for more.

  They emerged on a veranda hanging over the side of the mountain. Nate leaned against a grand, ornamental wooden balustrade, its parapets carved into peacocks with trailing feathers fanning out and touching the adjoining parapets. He silently studied the darkness.

  She came and stood beside him. ‘You could have warned me about your stepfather.’

  He gave her a sidelong glance. ‘I told you he was a god. What more could I say.’

  The sky flecked with stars and it reminded her of when they’d watched them on the rise and swell of the ocean. There was no swell here, no rocking motion, Nate stood stone still, whatever was eating away inside him threatened to unleash. She’d seen that look before, once when he’d tore her from her Ma’s arms and after Huldah. She wondered if she had done something wrong.

  His eyes intent and weighty beheld hers and in a voice filled with determination he said, ‘Tomorrow before you begin training with the Taphas, I want you to meet me an hour before dawn.’

  She ignored his gaze as it roamed over her body, there was nothing sensual there. It was like he was assessing her, taking in every detail, before giving her an order.

  ‘What for?’

  ‘You’re not strong enough,’ he said flatly. ‘You will need extra training.’

  The hair on her arms rose, and she tightened her shawl across her shoulders. ‘Not strong enough for what?’

  ‘Taphas—they’re Wielders. They go to the front lines.’

  Even though she dreaded the answer, she asked, ‘Wielders of what?’

  In the second he took to reply the whole world stilled, the stars didn’t twinkle, the trees gave up their sway, even the river went silent and seemed to hold its watery breath.

  ‘Some wield one element and others another. That doesn’t matter.’ He sighed, confirming she was resigned to a fate she didn’t understand. ‘Magic, Mirah. I’m talking about magic and I don’t trust it. I’ve seen it fail. Do you understand what I’m saying? It means you’re going to have to learn how to defend yourself.’

  ‘You’re scaring me.’

  ‘You don’t need to be afraid. If it comes to it, I’ll be standing by your side.’

  ‘What about Nev?’

  Nate let out a low groan. ‘I’d rather not. She’s too hot headed.’

  ‘Well, I’m not going if she doesn’t.’

  He didn’t answer. She waited, trying to reassemble what he’d told her into something she could understand. The Azu made some sense, they were healers and that she could grasp. Although the shapes of their cone heads were revolting.

  ‘What will happen to Ayla and Abela’s heads?’

  Nate rolled back his head and laughed, his tension dissipating in his bellow. She couldn’t be sure if it was a reflection of starlight or actual light in his eyes but whatever it was, it released the sound of the river flow and she relaxed a little.

  He held onto the balustrade and leaned backwards. ‘They won’t turn them into cone heads, if that’s what you’re thinking. Although I suppose they could. The Azu were once chosen at birth and their heads were strapped to boards to encourage that shape.’

  Seeing a bench covered in deep pink cushions perched against the mountainside, she went and sat down. ‘Why would they do such a terrible thing?’

  He turned, leaning on his elbow. ‘The practice was ordained by the old gods. So they could retain more knowledge and wisdom. It’s not necessary anymore.’

  ‘What will happen to Dara?’

  ‘Tomorrow Dara will journey into the desert to the fortress of the Chashmalim. You don’t need to worry about her. She will learn to draw power from the fiery pillars on which the world rests and become stronger than any of us. Except for my stepfather of course.’

  The thought of Dara being taken away overwhelmed her. ‘I’d like to return, to say goodbye if she’s leaving.’

  ‘Of course, I’ll take you back.’

  Nate traversed along a maze of tunnels. As she grew closer to her chamber, some of the tunnels were becoming familiar.

  ‘Will you help Nev?’

  He exhaled a long heavy breath. ‘Fine. As long as you tell her she is to keep her mouth shut. I’ll arrange for Sumer to fetch you both
in the morning.’

  On nearing the tunnel entrance which led to their rooms she mustered up the courage to ask, ‘Why are you helping me?’

  ‘Because if there’s one bright star in the darkness it would be a shame not to see her light shine.’

  ❊　8　❊

  Mirah was up and ready before Sumer arrived. She came into the room soon after and appraised her.

  ‘You’ll not be wearing that,’ she said. ‘Quick change into these.’ She passed Mirah black leather pants and a loose fitting deep blue tunic, the same as the Taphas had worn. ‘Hurry. Nate’s not good at waiting.’

  Neviah was rushing around in her room when they arrived.

  As they crept down the tunnel, Mirah heard movement coming from Dara’s room. When she’d returned the night before, the girls had congregated in her room and she’d told them everything she’d learned. Dara had studied her in somber silence until Mirah hugged her and promised that whatever happened they would see each other again.

  Abela and Ayla mirrored each other’s movements, rubbing their hands together, keen to meet with the Azu. They reasoned by becoming healers they could at least make a difference to others who needed help. Mirah understood and a tinge of regret overcame her at the thought of what she was leaving behind.

  Neviah had said if Nate was foolish enough to teach her any skills which she could use against them, then she’d savour the opportunity and one day use it to kill them all.

  Mirah believed her. She knew in her heart she could never bring herself to cause intentional harm but she had no justifiable reason not to learn how to defend herself.

  Mirah and Neviah followed Sumer as she led them towards the shaft which would take them to the courtyard of sparring warriors. When they emerged from the mountain, in the murky light, no warriors were in sight. Nate paced back and forth and Zeev stood nearby. Sumer had left them at the top of the wooden platform saying she didn’t have time to descend and come straight back up again.

  As they approached, Mirah ran her fingers through her hair, letting it fall over her shoulders.

  Nate stopped pacing. ‘This is Zeev,’ he said, gesturing his hand towards him. ‘He’s my second.’