The High Priest and the Idol

by Jane Fletcher

  “Why?”

  “I’m fond of horses.” Tevi gave him a shove. “No questions. Just show me the way.”

  Over half the stalls in the stable were empty. Jemeryl was surprised, given the overcrowding in Kradja. Had so many guests fled already? Two more were making ready to depart as they entered.

  Tevi, in the lead, had already seen them and was homing in. “Hey, you!”

  The two guests were a man and a woman, both in early middle age and dressed in soft leather travelling gear. Jemeryl guessed they were well-off traders. The horses were healthy, clean-limbed animals, and not cheap. A third pack mount was nearby, loaded with supplies.

  The man looked around, his expression somewhere between irritation and alarm. “What?”

  “I want to buy your horses.”

  “You can’t afford them.” The assumption was not surprising, given Tevi’s shabby appearance.

  “Name your price.”

  “They’re not for sale.”

  “I think they are.”

  Jemeryl slipped to the side of the stable, where she could watch everyone, without getting in the way. The trader’s eyes brushed over her briefly and then moved on to the innkeeper, who was wavering by the entrance. “Master Kastani. Who is this person and what’s she doing here? I don’t expect this sort of thing in your inn.”

  “She’s not—”

  Tevi cut in. “I’m not someone you should mess about with. I want your horses, but I’m ready to pay. So name your price.”

  “No.” The woman trader now spoke. “I know why you want them. The gods have forsaken Kradja. The power to work magic has returned and the Coven are on their way to destroy the town. Of course you want our horses. Everyone wants to get away. But you can’t have them. The High Priest was nothing to do with us, and we’re not going to stay here and be killed.”

  “Then I’ve got some very good news for you.” Jemeryl could not see Tevi’s face, but she could hear the smile in her voice. “I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Coven sorcerers aren’t on their way here and they aren’t going to kill anyone. You can sit in this nice inn, take it easy, and wait for all the fuss to die down. But I’ve to get somewhere fast, so I need horses. Yours will do fine.”

  “You can’t have them.”

  “Don’t make me take them by force.”

  “You’re a thief.” The woman backed away, while her gaze shifted to the innkeeper. “Kastani, where are your people? I thought you had guards.”

  “I’ve already dealt with them. They’re currently bandaging their cuts and bruises. Luckily for them, the healers are in business again.” Tevi stepped forward and grabbed the reins of the nearest horse. “Jem. Take the other one and let’s go.”

  The metallic ring of a sword being drawn sliced through the stable. Tevi jerked around and faced the male trader, who now had a curved scimitar in his hand. In an instant, the woman had also pulled out a pair of long knives. She flourished them dramatically, diverting Jemeryl’s attention so that she missed the man’s attack. Fortunately, Tevi was more alert. The first Jemeryl was aware of it was the sudden burst of movement when Tevi dodged the thrust, and ripped out her own sword.

  Jemeryl watch in dismay. What should she do? Would Tevi be able to defeat the two opponents at once? Jemeryl pressed her hand to her mouth, torn. She would not stand by and see Tevi injured, but the two traders were guilty of nothing. Supposing Tevi hurt them?

  The woman was circling, clearly intending to get Tevi caught between her and her partner so they could attack from both sides simultaneously. However, Tevi was not about to let that happen. In a move so quick that it caught the traders, and Jemeryl, by surprise, she dropped onto her hands, twisted, and rolled. Tevi’s legs swung in a wide arc, hitting the woman on her ankles and knocking her feet from under her. The woman landed heavily on the floor, her head hitting the ground hard enough for Jemeryl to hear the crack.

  Meanwhile Tevi had risen in a fluid action and before the man had time to react, she was surging forward. At the last moment, the trader brought his scimitar across to parry. The two blades met. With a normal opponent, he might have done well enough, but not against Tevi’s strength. The scimitar was stripped from his hand and he was spun around by the impact. Tevi’s follow-up kick sent him flying face first into the wall.

  At the other side of the stable, the woman was struggling to get back up, but was no further than her knees. Tevi charged back across the stable and stood over her, raising her sword for a downward swing. The women looked up, her dazed expression turning to hopeless panic. She had no time to mount a defence.

  “Stop.”

  Jemeryl would watch no more. She reached through the sixth dimension, grabbed a knot of tensors, and ripped it loose. The released energy erupted in harsh light, etching the scene starkly in raw black and white. Cries rang out from those dazzled. Jemeryl released the tensors and then diverted the flow, sucking heat from metal. Tevi and the trader dropped the weapons that had turned to ice in their hands. The man was on his knees, fumbling for his scimitar. He also jerked back.

  “Enough.” Jemeryl looked at the traders. “Don’t worry. We won’t steal your horses.”

  Shocked silence filled the stable, broken only by the woman scuttling crablike to her partner’s side. Not until she was behind him did she get the nerve to stand fully upright. She put her hand on his shoulder, shaking visibly. The fear on her face when Tevi had stood over her was as nothing compared to the dread written there now.

  The man was equally cowed. “I’m sorry. We didn’t know.”

  “It’s all right. We don’t—” Jemeryl did not get to finish.

  “Please. You can take the horses.”

  “They’re yours.” Neither trader was listening to her.

  Tevi bent down and retrieved her sword, using a fold of her robe to shield her hand from the cold. “You heard them, Jem. Let’s go.”

  Jemeryl stood still. She had intervened, and her magic had been used to deprive innocent traders of their rightful property. Anger boiled up at Tevi for putting her in that position. Jemeryl had known the hunt for Sefriall would cause only harm.

  Tevi was already mounted on one of the horses. “Jem, are you coming?”

  Jemeryl was tempted to say no, but she knew she would regret it. Within a few hours she would have changed her mind and be chasing after Tevi. Why make her life more difficult than need be?

  Before they rode out, Tevi took a purse from her belt and threw it to the traders who were still huddled in a corner. It landed on the straw by their feet. “Here. That’s about five times what the horses are worth. Buy yourself some new ones when everyone stops acting crazy.”

  Jemeryl waited until they were clear of the stable before giving vent to her feelings. “Are you pleased with what you did?”

  “Yes. We know where Sefriall is, and nobody got badly hurt.”

  “Only because I was there.” Jemeryl’s outrage overflowed. “You nearly murdered them.”

  “They started the fighting.”

  “Aren’t they allowed to defend themselves from thieves?”

  “I wasn’t trying to steal.”

  “What do you call taking something when the owner says no?”

  “You’re angry at me.”

  “Aren’t you angry at yourself?”

  Tevi did not answer for a while. They were riding side by side. Jemeryl turned her head to look at Tevi’s face in profile. Tevi was staring ahead, frowning, while her jaw worked. Was this the first hint that Tevi might be having doubts? Even so, she was clearly not yet ready to change course.

  “We didn’t have any option. You saw the market. We wouldn’t be able to buy any horses there, and the traders don’t need to get away. We know the Coven isn’t going to attack Kradja.”

  “We did have an option. We could have stayed here.”

  “We have to find Sefriall.”

  “There’s no have to about it. We could let it go.”

  “I
can’t.” Tevi’s expression wavered briefly. “I know you feel differently. Do you want to go back and wait in Kradja for me?”

  “Yes.” Jemeryl hung her head. It was good they so rarely disagreed, because she was just as stubborn as Tevi. “But I’m not going to.”

  *

  Although its overall direction continued due south, the gorge twisted and turned, rarely allowing them to see more than a furlong ahead. All the while, the bottom dropped and the walls on either side rose higher. Tevi would have been happier with more advance warning of what lay ahead, but as Parrash had said, there was little chance of getting lost.

  The dust-filled air was stifling in the midafternoon heat. Tevi could feel sweat trickling down her back. The horse was a local animal, bred for the desert conditions, but its head was drooping. Tevi considered stopping for a break, but Qualeisi Oasis had to be very close. Once they had dealt with Sefriall, they could rest by the water.

  Tevi’s hopes were confirmed when they turned the next bend. The first hint of green showed in tufts of grass. Another half mile and the huge cacti had been replaced by palm trees and spindly shoulder high bushes.

  “Tevi,” Jemeryl said.

  “What?”

  Since leaving Kradja, their conversation had been limited to the trivial—the practicalities of food and sleep, observations on the scenery and wildlife, the state of Jemeryl’s leg and gossip about people they knew. Nothing had been said of their destination, or Tevi’s plans for when they got there.

  “We’re being watched.”

  “How many?”

  “Five.”

  “Are they doing anything?”

  “Just tracking us.”

  Tevi looked around. Whoever it was knew their business. “They’re well hidden.”

  “Not in the fifth dimension.”

  “Parrash said Sefriall only had three sentinels with her.”

  “He must have lied.”

  “Or they’re somebody else.”

  “Who?”

  Jemeryl’s question was answered when they turned the next bend. The valley floor was filled with vegetation. At the heart of it, open water glinted between the trunks of palm trees. They had reached the oasis. Still there were no humans in sight, but a herd of piebald goats foraged nearby.

  Tevi reined in her horse. “Looks like I might not get to kill Sefriall after all. If the nomads have captured her they’ll have beaten me to it. Would that make you happy?”

  “No. Relieved, maybe.” Jemeryl’s voice was tight. “What do you want to do?”

  “We might as well go and find out for sure if she was here. And the horses need a rest. This will be better than out in the desert.” Tevi glanced around. “Plus it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let them know who we are.” She urged her horse forward.

  As they approached, armed figures emerged from concealment amid the greenery. Tevi stopped her horse a dozen yards from the old woman standing prominently in the middle and walked the final distance on foot.

  “Who are you?” The elder issued the challenge in a thick nomad accent.

  “A friend.”

  “Whose friend?”

  “A lot of people. At the moment I’m here for Darjain. I want to avenge his death.” A stir rippled among the listeners as several translated Tevi’s words.

  “I didn’t know he had died. I’m sorry. He was a true servant of Yalaish.”

  “He was a good man.”

  “You say his death calls for avenging?”

  “Yes. Sefriall murdered him.”

  The nomad elder nodded. “Then I’m even more grateful Yalaish delivered her into my hands here.”

  “You’ve killed Sefriall?”

  “Not yet.”

  “I want to talk to her.”

  “No. We’re dealing with the blasphemer. You should go.”

  “Our horses need rest. And I want to see her.” Tevi was happy for the nomads to take their revenge. They had also respected Darjain, and had suffered their own loses at Sefriall’s hands, but she had to be sure. She had to look on her enemy.

  “You can stay here and rest. We’ll bring water for your horses. Then you must go.”

  “I’ll go after I’ve talked to Sefriall.”

  The warriors on either side tensed. Weapons that had been lowered were raised again. The elder waited a few seconds before speaking—a pause possibly intended to give Tevi time to assess the situation. “We do not allow that.”

  “I bear you no ill will. But I will see her.”

  Tevi stepped forward, knowing that Jemeryl would back her up. She was grateful there was no longer a reason for conflict between them. Had she been on her way to kill Sefriall she could not have taken her lover so much for granted. Of course, Jemeryl would still have protected her, but at a cost to the mutual trust between them.

  A bowstring twanged. An instant later, Tevi heard a snap and the crackle of flame. She did not bother to turn her head. She was now within arm’s reach of the elder, but the woman was no longer looking at her. Her eyes were fixed over Tevi’s shoulder at where Jemeryl was standing. Blue and green light played over the nomad’s weathered face. Tevi guessed Jemeryl was indulging in a few daytime pyrotechnics—harmless, but effective at getting the point across. Surprised cries came from the warriors.

  Tevi tilted her head. “You have numbers on your side. We have magic.” She walked past.

  The nomads exchanged hissed comments among themselves, but no one challenged Tevi as she followed the narrow winding track through the shoulder-high grass. Presumably Sefriall would be held somewhere near the centre of the oasis. Footsteps and the play of coloured light on the leaves let Tevi know that Jemeryl was following close behind.

  A bird took off as she passed beneath, its wings whirring loudly. The only other sounds were the soft lapping of water from ahead and the buzz of insects. Then Tevi heard a bestial growl, guttural, soft and low. She pushed through the last clump of sprouting fronds and emerged onto a sandy tract leading down to the waterside.

  More nomads were here, twenty or thirty in number. Those who were standing nearest backed away, revealing a black shape spreadeagled on the ground. The outline was humanoid, but it was lacking in detail and seemed to ripple. Tevi approached, even as her suspicions grew.

  The body had to be Sefriall. Tevi reached the conclusion by deduction rather than recognition. Who else would the nomads treat this way? Three red-clad corpses hung from nearby trees. These would be the sentinel guards, summarily dealt with. The High Priest herself had been stripped and staked to the ground. Tevi guessed that honey or some similar attraction had been smeared over her. Huge desert ants now covered her in a living blanket, dissecting her bite by bite. A dark moving trail led off and disappeared under the bushes. That way must lie their nest.

  “Oh that’s…that’s…” Jemeryl’s voice at her shoulder was sick with disgust.

  Tevi reached out and took her hand.

  The sand beneath Sefriall was stained red. More glimpses of raw flesh peeked through ebbs in the flowing black mass. Tevi also saw white on her fingers where the ants had already eaten down to the bone.

  A larger movement shuddered through the form and again Tevi heard the guttural, inhuman moan. Sefriall was not yet dead—not quite, but she no longer had the strength to scream. Tevi’s guts twisted in a spasm and Jemeryl’s grip tightened painfully. Carefully, Tevi extricated her fingers and advanced to Sefriall’s side. Ants ran over Tevi’s feet, but with the feast on offer, they paid no more attention than if she had been a rock.

  In a swift motion, Tevi pulled her sword from its scabbard and held it, point down over Sefriall’s chest.

  “Tevi. You don’t need to do that. She’ll be dead soon. There’s no hope for her.”

  “I know, but no one deserves to die like this. Not even her.”

  Tevi plunged the sword down into Sefriall’s heart. The air was forced from the priest’s lungs in a final gasp. Tension in her arms and legs was released and her body
sank lifeless on the sand. The ants carried on with their scavenging, unabated. Tevi pulled her sword free and turned around.

  The elder had followed them and now stood, surrounded by her followers. “She defiled Yalaish si liarajali. She poisoned the holy water of the first tear shed by Yalaish. It was fitting that she should die here, by the last.”

  “I hope your god is pleased with you.”

  Tevi doubted whether the bitter irony in her words would get through, but she did not have the stomach to stay and say more. She pushed by the cluster of nomads, returning to her horse. The animal would have to go a little further before she could let it rest. She would make it up to the horse somehow, but Tevi would not stay by the oasis a moment longer.

  After all the deaths Sefriall had instigated, after all the misery she had caused, after scheming to impose her dogma on the world, it made a mockery of her victims’ suffering that she should be killed for the damage she had inflicted on water.

  *

  “Damned silver balls. I’m a magpie, not a stupid budgie.” Klara’s voice was even more scornful than normal.

  “Magpies are supposed to collect shiny things. I’m sure Thaldo thought you’d like them.” Jemeryl stroked the magpie’s back. It was good to be in contact with her familiar. She had summoned Klara to meet her as soon as she was close enough to do it in safety.

  “He thought I was going to play with them. Don’t know what sort of game he had in mind.”

  “Football?”

  “Do I look like a magpie who’d be daft enough to kick something made of metal?”

  “He meant well.”

  “They’re the worst sort.”

  Jemeryl leaned back in her chair and turned her head. Outside, autumn rain was falling on the streets of Lyremouth. Through the tavern window, she watched porters pushing handcarts, their collars turned up against the drizzle, and children splashing through the puddles. Friends were calling to each other from the shelter of awnings, while a pair of new lovers, immune to the elements, stood kissing on the street corner. The scene was so safe and ordinary, and one random act might set off a chain of events that could destroy it.