Her friends were all picking themselves up off the floor, coughing as she was. Alaric, nearest her, sat up and said, “Is everyone all right? Sienne?”
“I’m fine,” Sienne said.
“I think we are unharmed,” Perrin said. “Jenani is gone.”
Sienne scanned the room, though she already knew it was hopeless. “It took my spellbook.”
Dianthe ran through the door only to come up short a few steps down the hallway. “It’s caved in,” she said. “The way is completely blocked.”
Kalanath went to join her, prodding the wreckage with his staff. “There is most of the temple roof fallen,” he said. “We cannot escape this way.”
“Is there magic on it, Sienne?” Alaric asked.
Sienne went to look. “No. Just rubble.”
“So I can’t break through the way I did with that keep last year.” Alaric put his shoulder to the mass. It shifted, and a rumble went through the room. “I think that’s a bad idea,” he said, stepping back. “Damn it.”
“It did not kill us,” Vaishant said, “as it promised. I am not sure whether this is not a more terrible fate.”
“We’re alive, and that’s what matters,” Alaric said. “We’ve been in worse situations.”
“Really? I can’t think of any,” Dianthe said.
“Neither can I. I was building morale again.” Alaric leaned against the wall and ran his fingers through his hair, which was dark with dust. “Any ideas?”
“Everything I can think of requires my spellbook.” Sienne crossed the room and put her arms around him, felt him return her embrace. “I’m sorry. This is my fault. If I hadn’t insisted on freeing it… and I think Averran tried to warn me…”
“There is no blame in wanting to do the right thing,” Perrin said. “And Averran warned me as well. I simply did not understand. I thought his words about loosing a great power referred to the effects of the blessing, but…” He sighed. “I should have paid closer attention.”
“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Alaric said. “Sienne, what can you do without your spellbook?”
“We’ve already seen that moving the blockage will bring the roof down on us, so even if my invisible fingers were strong enough, they wouldn’t help. I can’t make the building invulnerable and stop it caving in because it’s too big. I can keep the lights burning so we can see how hopeless it is.”
“I have a feeling Averran will not respond to any further petitions of mine,” Perrin said. “He seemed rather more irritable than usual, possibly because I ignored his warnings.”
“But Vaishant may pray,” Kalanath said.
“I cannot imagine…no.” Vaishant stopped himself mid-sentence and held up a finger for silence as he closed his eyes in thought. After a few seconds, he said, “There is a thing I may try. It is dangerous, and may have no effect on us now. But it is permitted the divines to attempt to see as God sees.”
“I have done that in the past,” Perrin said. “You are correct, it is dangerous.”
“More dangerous than staying here and doing nothing, and dying?” Kalanath said. “I think you should try.”
Vaishant smiled. “I appreciate that you have faith in me,” he said, and Kalanath ducked his head. “You will stop me if I am overwhelmed?”
“You trust me to know that?” Kalanath’s head came up in surprise.
“I do,” Vaishant said.
The two men looked at each other for several moments. Then Kalanath nodded. “I will,” he said.
Vaishant took off his outer robe and rolled it up for a pillow. He lay on the dirty floor in his sleeveless black shirt and loose trousers with his hands clasped loosely on his stomach. “I may not remember what I see,” he said, “so it is for you to listen.”
“That is how it worked for me,” Perrin said. “We are prepared.”
Kalanath took a position near Vaishant’s head. The others gathered around, not too close. Vaishant closed his eyes and let out a long, slow breath, then inhaled, equally slowly. Sienne found herself breathing in rhythm with him. It relaxed her, drew the tension out of her shoulders and back.
Nothing happened. Vaishant continued to breathe deeply. Sienne shifted her weight and Alaric’s arm went around her waist. His warm bulk comforted her further even as she cringed inside, remembering Jenani’s face as it threatened her. How could she have been so stupid? Then again, not one of them had suspected treachery. It had been so helpful, so friendly, right up until it wasn’t. She felt stupid, and angry, and sad—sad that it wasn’t who she’d thought it was. And, running beneath those feelings like a subterranean stream, she felt fear. What was Jenani capable of now that it was free? And if it hated humanity for what a few men and women had done to it, what did it plan to do to the innocents in its path?
“I see,” Vaishant said in Meiric. “So many things—some are past, some are future, some are now. There I am, as a young man, and Manisha—” He smiled, and shook his head. “Kalanath as a baby, and as an old man, and everything in between—but that is an indulgence. O God, hear my prayer, and guide my eye. Show me how we may escape.”
Sienne realized she was holding her breath. She’d seen Perrin do this once, but Vaishant’s face was so still and tight, as if he were exerting himself to a great feat of endurance, his communion felt far more serious. Or maybe it was just that their lives were at stake. She let out her breath and took Alaric’s hand.
Vaishant’s face clouded over, and his lips went thin as if something disturbed him. “I see Chirantan in flames,” he said. “The divines flee. The harbor is a sheet of fire. Horses with horns, racing across a valley. A man with glowing yellow eyes. We sit in a circle beneath the dome, in a card game I don’t recognize. Sienne, screaming in terrible pain.” He licked his lips. “The images come faster now. I have—no, that can’t be—blood, streaming down my hands—the ashwar choking Alaric in the throne room—Dianthe wading through a sea of white—”
His eyes flew open. Blood trickled from the corners like tears. “God have mercy,” he cried, “I can see everything—She is near—”
With a swift movement, Kalanath whipped his staff around and cracked the divine across the skull. Vaishant cried out again and lay still. Kalanath flung down his staff and knelt beside Vaishant, taking his wrist and feeling for a pulse. “I think I am in time,” he said.
Perrin offered Kalanath a handkerchief, and Kalanath blotted the blood from Vaishant’s face. Ghrita knelt on the divine’s other side. “He’s still breathing,” she said.
Vaishant’s eyelids fluttered, and he looked up at the faces surrounding him. “I remember blood,” he said. “Chirantan in flames. That does not seem useful.”
“There were other things,” Kalanath said. “Some were in the past. I think you saw a creature we fought once.”
“And unicorns,” Sienne said, glancing at Alaric. They’d been open about his quest, but had said nothing about his true race or that his other self was a unicorn. Alaric made a tiny motion with his head. Now was not the time for that discussion.
“You saw me in pain, and yourself with bloody hands,” Sienne went on. “Dianthe in a white sea. All of us playing cards—oh!” She patted her sides and felt, with relief, the hard, angular shape of the hazard deck. “I forgot I had this.”
“A hazard deck?” Ghrita said, her brow furrowed. “You want us to play cards?”
“It’s magical. Once a day, the cards, if you draw them the right way, do things. Make you smarter, or maybe stronger…I can’t remember all the effects, not that anyone knows most of them. But it’s possible their magic can do something to get us out of here.”
“Show me,” Vaishant said, pushing himself up on his elbows. Kalanath put an arm behind him for support. Sienne opened the box and tipped the hazard deck into her hand, extending it to Vaishant. With a look for permission, he touched the cards, fanning them slightly. “It is familiar, but I do not remember the details of what I saw.”
“It’s worth a try,”
Alaric said.
“Should we all draw cards, or just one of us?” Sienne asked.
“I think we want as much help as we can get.” Alaric turned up the front card, which displayed the three of crowns. “How does it work?”
Sienne directed everyone to sit in a circle near the blackened spot beneath the dome. “This could be dangerous. Some of the cards are supposed to have negative effects.”
“The alternative is dying in here,” Alaric said. “Show us what to do.”
Sienne split the deck and shuffled, somewhat awkwardly. “Three times,” she said. “Then you cut the deck like this.” She made three stacks, then put the center one on the left-hand pile and both of those atop the right-hand one. “Then you just…draw the top card.” She hesitated, said a silent prayer, and lifted the card.
Dianthe drew in a breath. Sienne’s hand shook. A bone-white skull stared back at her, its eye sockets faintly glowing against a dark background. “The Skull,” she said. “That can’t be—”
A whoosh of air rattled the card in her hand, bringing with it the smell of decay. Alaric was instantly on his feet, scanning the room for danger, with Kalanath and Dianthe close behind. Sienne glanced at the card again, then took a longer look. “It’s changing,” she exclaimed.
The image on the card bulged as if something were emerging from it, stretching out in a translucent blur. Sienne held it at arm’s length, obscurely fearing what might happen if she let go. Or was it worse to be in contact with it? She opened her fingers, but the card stuck to them, even when she waved her hand vigorously to detach it.
“Don’t touch it,” she said when Dianthe moved to help. “If we’re both stuck to it—”
The bulge had turned into a miniature skull, the size of Sienne’s two fists together, and it was solid, no longer a translucent image. It stayed fast attached to the card no matter how Sienne shook it. “Mortal,” a deep, mournful voice intoned, “speak your—stop shaking me! Stop it!”
Sienne held the card where it was level with her eyes. “Did you…say something?”
“I did. Really, it’s beneath my dignity to have to endure such treatment. I am a powerful, omniscient spirit, and you are but a mortal, fleeting and impermanent upon this world. Speak your question, and let me be.”
“Question?” Sienne looked at her friends. “Any question?”
“You don’t have one in mind? I can offer suggestions. Wealth, that’s a popular one. I can direct you to any treasure you care to name. Or if it’s love you’re interested in, I can tell you the name of your soulmate, or the location of the nearest brothel—it’s all in the asking. I can find anything, speak with your beloved ancestors, guide you places. But I hate waiting around, so if you wouldn’t mind hurrying it up a bit…”
“How do we get out of here?” Sienne said.
“How do we get out of here,” the spirit repeated thoughtfully. “Give me a minute to look around.” Its eye sockets, which gleamed with a faint blue light, dimmed to almost nothing. Sienne watched it avidly, afraid to say anything that might interrupt its search.
The light brightened. “You just have to go through the door,” the spirit said. “Good luck.” The skull sagged and began to melt back into the card.
“Wait!” Sienne exclaimed. “The door is blocked. How can we go through it?”
“One question,” the spirit said, its voice fainter. “One answer. Use your head.” The skull disappeared entirely, leaving Sienne holding a hazard card by one corner.
Sienne let her hand fall. The card slipped from her fingers. “That was worse than unhelpful,” she said. “We can’t use the door.”
Alaric held out his hand for the deck. “My turn,” he said. “We’ll go around the circle.”
He shuffled, cut, and drew a card. “The Key,” he said, examining it closely. The card shimmered, and a key fell from it to land with a chiming clatter on the tiled floor. Alaric picked up the iron key and turned it over. It looked dainty in his huge hand. “If we had a door, this might be helpful.” He tucked the key into his belt pouch, then gathered the cards and handed the deck to Dianthe.
Dianthe drew the four of staves. Four little staffs ornamented with crystals, looking more like magical artifacts than Kalanath’s weapon, glimmered from the card. Dianthe furrowed her brow. “I don’t see anything,” she began, then gasped.
“What? What’s wrong?” Alaric said.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Dianthe said, her eyes narrowed. “It’s just that everything makes so much more sense now. I can remember things I thought I’d forgotten. Ask me something I don’t know. Something mathematical.”
“Um…what’s the square root of 2,569?” Sienne said.
“It’s about 50.6853. See?”
“I’m terrible at math. I don’t know if it’s right.”
Dianthe smiled. “I promise it is. I feel so much more…it’s like everything is sharper.”
“The wizard who investigated the deck said staves is the suit associated with intelligence,” Sienne said. “I remember now I drew a staves card and it made me a lot smarter for a while.”
“Well, I don’t know how useful this will be,” Dianthe said, her face radiant, “but it feels amazing.” She handed the deck to Ghrita. “Your turn.”
Ghrita drew the four of coins, and had to duck as a shower of gold rained down on her. “Ow!” she exclaimed. “Gold is heavy!”
“I do not recognize this coin,” Kalanath said, retrieving one where it had rolled next to his foot and holding it up to the light. “It looks new.”
“They were minted during the reign of Zysztad III, also known as Zysztad the Capricious,” Dianthe said, looking at another coin. “The stad, as it was called, was worth about a quarter of a larus because the currency was debased with other metals.”
“How do you know that?” Alaric said.
“I have no idea.” Dianthe handed the coin to Ghrita. “I’d like to say you could get a bundle for those from the right collector, but I don’t know that anyone will believe those coins are three hundred and twenty years old.”
“For all we know, they’ll disappear in a few hours,” Ghrita said, but tucked the handful of coins away in her robes somewhere.
Perrin took the deck with no hesitation, shuffling and cutting expertly. “I was particularly skilled at the card game Sovereign States,” he said to their obvious surprise, “though I am not as good at hazard as Dianthe, whom I would suspect of cheating were she anyone else.” He closed his eyes and murmured, “O Lord, we are in a bind, so if you would see fit to influence this deck, it will be much appreciated.” He flipped over the top card. The perky blond image of the duke of crowns smiled up at them.
Sienne leaned over to look at it, not touching the card. She didn’t think touching someone else’s draw influenced the outcome, but after the morning she’d had, she didn’t feel like taking chances. “I wonder,” she said, looking up at Perrin, and the words died on her lips. Perrin was looking back at her, one eyebrow slightly raised. She took in his well-defined cheekbones, his soft, dark eyes, his shapely lips, and her breath caught. She’d never realized how attractive he was.
“Kitane help me,” Dianthe said. She, too, stared at Perrin as if she’d never seen him before. “I think I know what the card does.”
“What?” Alaric said. He glanced at Perrin, then at Dianthe. “I don’t see anything different.”
“You probably wouldn’t,” Ghrita said. She rested her hand on Perrin’s knee and leaned toward him. “At least, I hope you don’t.” She swept his hair away from his face with her other hand and leaned in closer, her mouth drawing up for a kiss.
Perrin shot backward, out of her reach. “Ghrita, what are you doing?” he said, his voice breaking in the middle.
“Just what we’re all thinking,” Ghrita purred. She crawled toward him, a slow, sensual movement.
Sienne felt a flash of jealousy, followed almost immediately by the sensation of being dashed in the face with icy water. “Gh
rita, stop, it’s the card!” she exclaimed.
Ghrita sat up and shook her head as if she’d been doused in water too. “I—” she said, then sat back on her haunches. “I apologize,” she said to Perrin, scooting backward. “You were suddenly intensely attractive, and I forgot myself. It is nothing they weren’t thinking as well,” she added somewhat defensively, swiping her arm toward Sienne and Dianthe.
“Yes, but we didn’t act on it,” Sienne said, feeling smug. She looked at Perrin, whose face was a mask of astonishment, and wondered what it would feel like to kiss those amazing lips. She closed her eyes and gripped Alaric’s knee. “But I hope it wears off soon.” If it was powerful enough to make her consider attacking Perrin with Alaric sitting right there, no wonder Ghrita hadn’t been able to resist.
“I think I should sit over here,” Ghrita said, moving to a spot behind Sienne.
Sienne tried not to feel uncomfortable at Ghrita’s nearness and focused on Kalanath, who now took his turn with the deck. He looked as uncomfortable as she felt. Carefully, he turned over the top card. “The Eclipse,” he said.
The card showed a man and a woman looking up into a dark sun with a bright corona. “They don’t look happy,” she said, turning to face Kalanath, and gasped. A pale film covered Kalanath’s dark eyes. He blinked, and blinked again. The film grew brighter and less translucent.
“The lights are dimming,” he said. “Sienne, should you make more?”
Sienne’s hand closed hard on Alaric’s knee. “It’s not the lights,” she said, feeling faint.
Kalanath swallowed. His eyes were solid white. “I see nothing,” he said.
20
Dianthe leaned across the circle and waved her hand in Kalanath’s face. He didn’t react except to lean back slightly. “I feel air on my face,” he said, “and I think it is a hand waving, but I cannot see it.”
Sands of Memory Page 23
