Treasure Revealed

by A. S. Etaski

  Jaunda’s intelligent, rust-red eyes narrowed as her mouth warped a wry angle. “Some other time, novice. If you’re so excited to know, she’s alive. Sent outside Sivaraus now, like you were. Might make it back in a couple cycles or a span.”

  I nodded, perhaps with too much eagerness as I reached for my cloak. “Different direction?”

  “No, the same, I think. Prime was worn out from watching the tests.” She winked. “She let the Elders pick, and I think they want to give the wrung-out ‘cruit half a chance. Come on.”

  “Yes, Lead,” Gaelan said, cutting me off as I drew breath, warning me to stop talking before she and Reishel joined the others.

  I held still for a moment, watching them file out the door. I didn’t like the sinking sense of foreboding in my middle.

  Same direction as my trial?

  If the Elders wanted to give Jael a chance, they had made a mistake, but the newest novice convincing either of them might be like reversing a cave-in.

  I might need a little magical help.

  My eyes drifted to the desk and the unsecured, hastily-cleaned Feldeu, and I took it, secured the weapon at the small of my back as I rushed to catch up.

  Jaunda had given me all the leniency I could nibble out of her for the moment. I was separated from Gaelan and Reishel and sent to do some physical work on a newly transported arrival of supplies sitting in the lizard stables. I would be restocking, resupplying, and reorganizing throughout the Cloister’s various stockrooms for the immediate future.

  At first, I was anxious, trying to think of a way out of it, but I was surrounded by a few too many less-friendly Sisters upon whom I had to keep an eye out. It gave me time to think, I supposed, at least up until the moment I could run into a Sister looking for entertainment. Then, as always, I would decide if I would fight or accept. This time, I knew, I would fight fang and claw.

  As I worked on various tasks, I noticed I was becoming preoccupied, easier to take by surprise, and I worked harder, quicker, trying to focus and get things done as soon as possible. I was so deep in thought that I bumped into Berayla once, my hand accidentally brushing her backside. I was lucky; she chuckled and leaned to kiss me as she moved on to her own project.

  “Wake up, sweetlips,” she said, her hips swaying in red leather, “unless you mean it.”

  I’d smiled a bit but got back to work.

  Wake up, indeed.

  What condition would Jael be in if she woke up in the same water chamber that I had? Not filled with divine lust, I’d wager; perhaps more like Reishel had been—weakened, bludgeoned inside, barely well enough to move. Would she search around the same cavern I had? Would she find a blade from her former House? She would have to take the same path out as well, there had been no other way. She would be heading in the same direction, following the deep pulse of the city.

  If I hadn’t been simply hallucinating as I’d been fucking Gaelan’s slit raw, the idea that there could be more Tragar between Jael and Sivaraus than there had been for me bothered me deeply. She wouldn’t have a splinter of a chance unless she ran and didn’t stop. Seeing her fight, on multiple occasions, knowing how she bristled at forceful obstacles, I knew she wouldn’t retreat at the first hostile sighted. It wasn’t her way.

  I hadn’t, either. I’d been too hungry to leave. There’s no telling how much strength the Prime took out of her before they abandoned her out there.

  I had been measuring travel rations from one crate into smaller pouches easily carried on belts or in packs when I looked up to see Panagan standing in the doorway to one of the pantries. She had not gone out of her way to harass me ever since our supervised fight under the Prime and Rausery, where I’d won by forcing a Feldeu covered in burning ointment into her throat. Sure, she had jumped on me in the sluicers after Thena and others had me softened up and submissive, but there’d been no initiative of her own. She usually watched me with a cold, unreadable expression if I passed by, while Moria might scowl but made it clear she would also not act unless someone else did first.

  There was more reason for it beyond that one fight, I knew. Whatever had occurred between the Prime and them after our sparring might be one, if the eldest recalled their disappointing performance at any point. There was also the fact that I’d begun building reputation using my new tricks from Rausery judiciously, unpredictably—sometimes I took the fuck, and sometimes I didn’t. To some, I was still considered Jaunda’s newest playmate, which held some weight as well.

  Panagan now stood watching me with intent. None of her usual group stood behind her and I heard none coming. Even if they had been, I’d show no fear.

  “Are you going to supervise or help?” I asked dryly.

  She didn’t pause long before stepping forward to take a spare measuring cup from the wall and a few pouches. She straddled the bench on which I sat, facing me and within reach to scoop into the large bag of journey mix. We prepared a few pouches in silence as I wondered whether to wait her out or think of something to say.

  My older Sister watched me with some intensity as we finished half the bag in silence, the soft rattle of dried meat, fish, mushrooms, mosses, lichens, and hard salt cheese. Very nutritious for us and with a long shelf-life, if a little bland compared to the specialty foods of the Houses.

  “Elder Rausery wants this one,” Panagan said quietly.

  I raised one brow. I already knew that. Still I sighed, “She wants one what?”

  “Aurenthietti,” she said. “I saw you watching her. Talking with her low-born House Guardsvrin on the battlefield.”

  I stopped scooping and rested an elbow on my thigh, offering an amused look. “So?”

  Panagan had an excellent stare when she cared to use it; her red eyes tried to stick any exposed nerves her opponent might have with needles. I took note.

  “Agalia mentioned you were there at her Collection,” she said. “It wasn’t planned, you convinced Qivni somehow.”

  But you don’t know how. Jealous of your Lead?

  I smirked. It seemed I wasn’t the only one nudging superiors for tidbits about Jael.

  “Are you poking around on behalf of the Sorceress?” Panagan continued. “Does she want to sabotage Elder Rausery’s pick?”

  I allowed a slight frown of confusion to show on my face, guessing Panagan hadn’t directed an interrogation on her own before. Compared to Jaunda or D’Shea alone, never mind with them both in the same room, this was as subtle as breaking off a stalactite and bellowing for answers as she swung it overhead.

  I shrugged, answered her question without needing that threat. “No.”

  Panagan pursed her lips. “Which one?”

  “Either. Or both.” I couldn’t help smiling at her sour expression, waggling my brows. “Why would this matter to you?”

  “I’m being sent out to watch for her, as Gaelan was for you,” she told me. “And, I’m guessing, so are you, since D’Shea sent the recruit into an area you so recently explored.”

  “So forthright, Pani,” I commented, filling another pouch and tying it off.

  Now my thoughts rapidly shifted. Panagan was going out. That made two Davrin who wouldn’t know about the Tragar, if they were there, and this one thought the Elders were competing, that D’Shea would tilt the scale to see Aurenthietti fail and die.

  Would she do that?

  Would Rausery have done something similar if she felt more dislike for me? If it was true, was it a mistake to confront them both about…?

  About what I remember. What Kain knew.

  D’Shea had already been caught off guard once in Rausery’s timing. I knew how she hated it.

  I lifted my head and grinned at my Sister. “How about making the suggestion first? Recommend to Elder Rausery that I go with you for that exact reason: I’ve explored the area recently. You can keep an eye on me and make sure I don’t sabotage her chances.”

  I noticed Panagan’s hand squeezed the handle of her scoo
p before she consciously relaxed it. She narrowed her eyes at me, suspicious that I was being as direct as her. She shook her head once in refusal. “You are a trickster like D’Shea. I’ll wait on our superiors.”

  I groaned inside. No, don’t wait! I was being truthful!

  “Well, I’ve been given no order to sabotage anything,” I said, my frustration apparent as I tried to explain. “Whatever you’re thinking is speculation, and you’re wrong assuming I have instructions to watch for Aurenthietti even by the Sivaraus borders, much less that far out beyond them.”

  “Spider shit,” she stated, standing up to leave.

  “Panagan!” I growled in protest, but she swept out, red cloak billowing.

  While I heard her boots stride away, I thought about what had happened with Gaelan, how that rise in consciousness occurred. That seamless immersion where Kain’s most primal impulses had formed some sort of intuitive reason. And a voice. It had been my voice, and yet there was no way I had been talking as I was thinking. I hadn’t known any of that before.

  One of the Tragar had not returned to their stronghold. He would be presumed dead, but he’d left sign for them to follow. More would return to the area to mine it, and Jael had been dropped in the same place, naked, bleeding, and vulnerable. Her intended Elders had no idea.

  Would Rausery choose a different place if she knew this, to give the cait a more realistic chance to succeed? She might. What about D’Shea? Well, all I had to do was look at how hard she’d worked to keep Reishel.

  They both want… need… new Red Sisters. They wouldn’t have chosen this if they’d known.

  I scooped the last of the journey mix into their pouches and hurried to leave, to find someone with enough pull whom I could persuade. Jaunda was the first I saw, and I practically jumped in front of my Lead to gain her attention.

  “I have an important report for Elder D’Shea,” I blurted. “Or Elder Rausery. It doesn’t matter, but I must see them.”

  Jaunda tilted her head. “Regarding the initiate or a mission?”

  “Both,” I answered in truth, straining to keep my shoulders square.

  My Lead looked me over. “Don’t normally see you vibrating like this. Must be something exciting.”

  “You could say that,” I said. “Get me their ears, and you’ll be the first I tell after the Elders hear it. Agreed?”

  The strong warrior shrugged one shoulder, and she appraised me a bit differently than before. “I always hear what I need to. How about a spar instead? Time and place is my choosing.”

  I thought that offer was a step-down. “What do you mean, your choosing?”

  “Training you need anyway. Cross-terrain. You try to reach a given point before I catch you. When I catch you, you play with me until you’re as raw as the first time we fucked.”

  She is truly not curious what information I have?

  “And if I reach the given point first?” I asked cautiously.

  “I don’t touch you.” A familiar, smoldering look. “For that cycle, anyway.”

  I stared at her. “You want a chase?”

  Jaunda’s face broke into a grin. “You got it, sweetmeat. Call it envy, since you get to go first. It’s been decades for me.”

  I did a doubletake. “I go first?”

  “Yep.” Wicked, red eyes glimmered with silent laughter. “I can pull you in early to see the Elders. Get you their ears.” She paused. “Yes or no, novice?”

  You grease-spitting twat.

  I may as well have been calling myself names, as I knew very well that it had been my obvious desire and single-mindedness that led to this in the first place. If I’d been more subtle, I’d have figured why she wasn’t curious what I had to report without the sex trade.

  Yet Panagan had been so blatant and ill-informed…

  I sighed. It could be so much worse.

  “Yes,” I answered. “Take me early to the Elders and pick a time later to chase me. I’ll give my all.”

  Jaunda nodded. “You’d better. Follow me.”

  She took me to the strategy room where the Sisterhood often gathered, a place I might have expected to go except that it was warded and locked. Jaunda was able to undo both in just a short pause, then strut in as if taking a stroll in her favorite sex room.

  Elder Rausery was there talking with Qivni. Unlike times before, there were no maps or objects spread around the table upon the platform, though I did notice a chalk drawing traced in a deliberate and complicated design on the floor a few paces from them. They both fell silent as we entered, and when Qivni noticed me, and her expression edged toward full-frown annoyance. I was too late to see anything of interest in Rausery’s face; she seemed to be only waiting.

  “Yes, Jaunda?” Rausery said calmly; like always, she seemed to have a lot on her mind.

  “Sirana has information you need about Aurenthietti,” Jaunda said simply and stepped slightly to the side so I wasn’t directly behind her. The Elder could see me head-to-toe.

  “We were going to call her,” Qivni said.

  “I know. Let me call my Elder instead. Save some time.”

  Jaunda stood at ease but lifted a message pellet where we all could see it, pausing a moment before snapping it between her gloved fingers. Her eyes entered a thousand-pace stare as she sent a message, and perhaps received an answer. Rausery showed some actual surprise; she and scowling Qivni stared at me with such arrow point-focus that I resisted an outright squirm, wishing Jaunda would tone down the dramatics.

  “Is she coming?” Qivni asked when Jaunda was back with us.

  “Yep. Soon.”

  I grimaced. D’Shea will be thrilled being last in again. Joy.

  Rausery caught my expression. “Worried you’re wasting that time, novice?”

  “No, Elder!” I replied immediately, folding my hands behind my back, underneath my cloak. I was doubly-sure when I found the Feldeu.

  Gaelan’s. The one I stole. Have to explain that, too. Shit.

  Elder D’Shea arrived like a rockslide, her face set like stone as she stopped at my elbow. “Qivni, Jaunda, both of you wait outside the door. We’ll call you back in.”

  Qivni hesitated, but Rausery nodded once, and then she complied. When I was alone with both Elders in the spacious room, D’Shea took my elbow as I’d been expecting, but instead of a dressing-down, she silently steered me onto the platform closer to Rausery. The Elder General watched us expectantly, betrayed no impatience, just an unspoken order to get on with it. The Sorceress was equally determined to understand.

  “Why did Jaunda call me early?” she asked us both.

  “She said Sirana has information we need on Aurenthietti,” Rausery filled in. “That’s all I know. I’m guessing you’re the one starting ahead this time, Varessa.”

  I’d noticed they dropped the formalities around each other; I didn’t know if that applied to me, but I picked the most grounded way I could think to open the discussion when they turned to me in unison.

  “I presume Jael wasn’t taken to the wilderness by cart, but by jump circle?”

  They nodded.

  “And I heard it was the same place you took me.”

  “Yes,” D’Shea said shortly.

  I exhaled. “Then there’s probably Tragar entrenched between her and Sivaraus. Many more than the one I ran into.”

  Rausery stared at me. “You met a Tragar alone?”

  “A psion,” D’Shea supplied, confirming her prior knowledge.

  “And she survived?” the General remarked.

  “I’m alive,” I pointed out.

  “Not without paying a price.” The Sorceress had a cunning smile. “What have you discovered, Sirana? Have you been exploring?”

  I nodded my confession. “Gaelan…”

  “Yes?”

  “I wore her Feldeu. Used it on her. As she asked. And… memories came back.”

  Like you wanted with Lelinahdara, but it did
n’t work.

  My Elder’s eyes glinted with suggestion. “Whose memories?”

  Heart pounding, I glanced at Rausery and back. “Kain’s. He left signs for others to follow. He was a mining scout. They’d follow the sign whether he returned or not. It hasn’t even been a full turn yet, but he found something. So, if they found it in turn… they could still be there, digging for it.”

  “What did he find, Sirana?”

  I shook my head. “I-I don’t know. A type of gem or ore they value. It resonates with the mind mages. They use it in weapons. I don’t know what it looks like.”

  “You’ll recognize it, perhaps,” D’Shea said, her mind crackling behind her gaze while Rausery rubbed at her eyes as if she was already tired.

  “Short version, novice.” She looked at me. “What happened? And why weren’t we told?”

  Abruptly, the helplessness under a Priestess’s influence returned; I felt the urge to weep in frustration trying again to describe it. I swallowed, blinked, and made no sound; I would not allow any tear form large enough to fall.

  “The Priestess’ breeding urge was too strong,” D’Shea spoke for me. “Sirana was snared into a life or death struggle with a Dwarf to satiate that urge.”

  “Ew,” Rausery remarked, though she showed her surprise.

  D’Shea briefly looked at the ceiling. “It was not just the spell of the Threshold she fought, but the Tragar’s mindlink. It’s caused some kind of… hmm, wound. An impression of the Dwarf in her mind.”

  “She said, ‘Kain’?”

  “Yes. You weren’t told because she buried it. Even I didn’t hear it in her interrogation. I recently uncovered it after Reishel became aware again.”

  Rausery narrowed her eyes. “That happened while Sirana was tending her, wasn’t it? In the infirmary.”

  “I didn’t do anything to her!” I blurted.

  “Quiet,” the General said, and she looked at the tabletop like she was thinking this new game over. “Hm. You knew this, Varessa, but still suggested Jael be tested from the same place?”

  The Sorceress nodded without apology. “I was going to send Sirana farther out to watch her, as I knew you would send Panagan. I wanted to test if any memories surfaced in her from returning to that area. However, it happened far earlier, with Gaelan as the conduit and a magic cock as the focus.”