Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series, page 14
Hariko stood before Leaf and bowed deeply. ‘Words fail me when I long to express my feeling at witnessing your presence here sacred Elder. My life is yours.’
When Hariko Vos Nornay had gone, Zada invited them to follow her to the upper rooms. They found apartments there, spacious but with an air of neglect. The rooms were clean and neat but felt as though a long time had passed since they were regularly occupied. Zada smiled sadly.
‘Fewer and fewer come to our temples now, even though we are still the only order to offer free shelter and food. There were twelve temples of the Elder Races but in my lifetime, five have been abandoned and the rest of us struggle to go on.’
Maressa opened a window and leaned out, sniffing the twilight air. ‘A garden.’ She sounded surprised.
‘All the temples had gardens.’ Zada joined the air mage at the window. ‘There are also City gardens. Business men are always seeking to overturn Xantip the Second’s decree that gardens must be maintained for all the people to enjoy forever. Traders begrudge the waste of ground as they term it. Xantip the Second’s edict was engraved on stone blocks and a block is displayed in each of the gardens. No ruler since has agreed to set Xantip’s order aside.’ Zada turned away.
‘I will fetch food for you. Please settle yourselves. No one can enter this section of the upper temple without a priest’s knowledge and consent.’
‘Are you a priest?’ Navan asked.
‘I am, as is my husband. One of our daughters also. Excuse me.’
Pallin had already discovered a small kitchen with a fire ready laid. While the others tested beds and began sorting out their packs, Sket attended to Leaf’s feet. He wrapped cloth gently round them after he’d dabbed Lorak’s salve over the burst blisters. Leaf inspected the result.
‘You are kind Sket. I don’t think I can wear boots again though.’
‘Hey, this is the way to the roof,’ Riff called from along a passageway.
Gan, Navan and Olam went to check the roof and to find the means of escape Hariko had spoken of. The roof was flat for perhaps six paces round a low dome which clearly covered the round chamber they’d entered below. A waist high parapet edged the roof and at first the four men could see no way down. Then Navan noticed a stone box below the parapet. He went to it and pushed the heavy lid to one side.
‘Here we are – a ladder!’
The others peered into the box and saw sturdy ropes stacked with metal rungs knotted in them. They tugged the slab back into place and leaned over the parapet. Anyone leaving this way would descend into the temple garden at the rear of the building. They could see two doors set in the high walls enclosing the garden but where they might lead they couldn’t guess. The buildings immediately adjacent were lower than the temple but in every direction walls and roofs met their gaze. They walked round to the front of the temple and saw the street outside was as thronged as it had been when they’d arrived.
The first stars glimmered overhead and a flash of light caught their attention, directly ahead.
‘The sea,’ said Gan.
‘How far do you think?’ Olam squinted against the sudden glare where the westering sun reflected off the distant line of water.
‘A league, maybe,’ Riff grunted. ‘I reckon we’d be lost in five heartbeats down there on our own.’ He grinned at the other three men. ‘So if we have to make a run for it, stars send us someone who knows their way through that tangle!’
By the time they’d climbed down the narrow stairs from the roof to the inner passages the smell of food reminded them how long it was since they’d broken their fast. Zada offered them fish or meat stew, cold meats, bowls of salad greens and platters of cheese, butter and pickles.
‘Taza attends evening ritual,’ Zada explained. ‘I will show you where our quarters are, should you need us. One priest is always present in the circle chamber and tonight it is Taza’s turn.’
‘Do your children live here?’ enquired Maressa.
‘No, all are married now and live away. Three sons are ship men; they have their own homes in the eastern sector, nearer the docks. Our daughter, who is also a priest, lives two streets away. She is a talented embroideress which fortunately brings her good coin with which to keep her and her children. Her husband was killed three years ago – he was an armsman, on patrol in the north.’
Zada’s voice faded. ‘Our other daughter died.’
In the silence that followed she offered no further comment, merely gathering the used dishes and stacking them on a large tray. Pallin insisted on carrying it for her so she opened the door to let him through, turning back as she did so.
‘I will show Pallin how to reach our quarters. I wish you a good night.’
Next morning a tired looking Taza arrived with an armful of books.
‘These are some of the histories of our temple,’ he explained. ‘I thought they may interest some of you. I will sleep until midday but my wife will stay if you wish.’
Ren and Maressa were already reaching for the books.
‘Taza, it is an imposition I know, but might you lend me a tin penny?’ Gan asked.
Taza, looking a trifle bemused, dug in a pocket and gave Gan a handful of different coloured metal coins.
‘No, no. I need one tin penny to repay a boy.’
Taza stared at him then poked a finger among the coins. ‘This is a tin penny. This a copper, worth six tin pennies.’
Gan held up a hand to stop the instruction. ‘I only need one tin penny thank you.’
Taza shook his head in bewilderment and pocketed the coins Gan returned and left, presumably to his bed. Gan turned to Zada.
‘Could you guide us to the gate through which we entered – we passed through Dolphin Square I think?’
Zada smiled. ‘Of course. It is jewellers’ market day in the Square. We can look at some of the stalls if you wish.’
Gan suspected jewellers’ stalls might hold considerably more interest for Zada than they would for him but he amiably agreed.
‘I’ll come,’ Olam stood up followed by Navan and Riff again.
Gan raised a questioning brow towards Pallin and Sket. Both shook their heads.
‘I’ll check my weapons thank you sir, and good luck to you in that dreadful squash of folk out there.’ Pallin scowled his disapproval.
The room was very quiet when the four men had departed with Zada. There was the faintest whisper from Pallin’s rag where he rubbed and oiled his knives and sword. Maressa and Ren sat at a small table, engrossed in books, and Sket was sitting near Leaf, quietly sorting through his bag of remedies. Leaf sat on a high stool by an open window, her feet swishing in a large bowl of warm salt water. Although they could hear a buzz from the teeming masses in the City outside, it was pleasantly hushed within this room.
Ren glanced up, about to comment to Maressa on something he’d just read, and paused before he spoke. He followed her gaze to Leaf, noting that Pallin and Sket also sat still and silent, their eyes on the gijan. Leaf’s feet still dabbled in the long cold bowl of water. Her left elbow rested on the windowsill, her chin cupped in her hand. Along the sill were several tiny birds. Ren had been vaguely aware of Leaf’s trilling voice and imagined she was singing to herself but clearly, she had an audience.
As Ren watched, Leaf’s free hand moved towards a minute, blue feathered dumpling of a bird. It hopped onto her finger and warbled softly when Leaf fell silent. Leaf trilled again and a slightly larger brown bird perched on her thumb. Its scarlet throat swelled as it twittered a complicated melody. Birds were coming and going, some content to stay on the outer sill, others perching confidently on Leaf’s hand and arm.
The sound of voices and feet in the passage outside caused every small bird to vanish and Leaf turned away from the window as the door opened.
‘Zada led us to the gate easily but I still don’t think I could find it myself.’ Navan slumped into the nearest chair. ‘But then she took us to Dolphin Square.’ He closed his eyes.
‘She said there are probably over two hundred such Squares throughout this City,’ Olam added with a groan. ‘Even with a map, it must be impossible.’
‘It can’t be that impossible,’ Gan pointed out reasonably enough. ‘The people who live here have no trouble finding their way about.’
Ren had moved closer to Leaf, watching Sket pat the gijan’s feet dry again. She tilted her head at him.
‘The birds know everywhere in this City, but they have different names for various places.’
‘You were talking to the birds?’ Ren asked.
Leaf frowned. ‘They are my cousins. Do you not speak with your cousins?’
‘I have no cousins,’ Ren answered without thinking.
Leaf’s frown deepened. ‘But we are all related to each other somehow. I would call the Dragon Kindred my uncles or aunts perhaps; so the birds are my cousins.’
‘And Kephis?’ Ren was curious.
Leaf smiled. ‘Also cousins – of a sort.’
‘I have spoken with Namolos again.’
Water swirled around in the bowl below Leaf’s feet.
‘He knows of the troubles Hariko mentioned last night.’
‘How does Namolos know these things Grek? He is leagues to the west! The island of – Wendla was it? – is leagues to the east. Is he truly so full of power?’ asked Maressa.
‘He has power in a way I have not seen before.’ Grek spoke slowly, weighing his words. ‘He becomes the air, the soil, a current in the deepest seas. I don’t know how he came by this skill. But he spoke of Wendla. A Ship such as Star Dancer landed there, much damaged in the landing. The Captain survived for about forty years. Her son was also on the Ship. He married a Wendlan woman. Namolos told me the descendants of the Captain’s son live longer than you would count usual but not by much. So the Survivor now is many generations distant from the Captain.’
‘The blood link then is much diluted,’ Ren commented.
‘Namolos said the Captain unbodied: her mind survives.’
Gan sat up straighter. ‘Her mind survives you say – can she manipulate events – is that what Namolos believes or knows?’
‘All those with the blood of the outworlders in their veins speak with the Captain still. They know who she is and thus in part what, and who, they are. Wendlan tradition was always for the mystical, the ascendancy of mental processes. The unbodied Captain does not seem strange to them.’
‘Is this Captain then organising the attacks Hariko spoke of – on the trading ships?’
Olam scratched at his side by habit, and snatched his hand away guiltily as Pallin glared at him.
‘Namolos says no. But he thinks too many outside the direct bloodline have learnt to use the same mental powers. He says the Captain – her name is Sefri – would never have any part in an attack on merchant ships.’
‘What is the name of the Ship – is it still alive?’ asked Maressa.
‘Namolos said Sefri dwells mostly within the Ship – Star Flower. He has touched their minds occasionally and found them sad but still devoted to each other.’
The company considered Grek’s words in silence until Pallin began to bang dishes about in the kitchen and suggested they come and eat the breakfast leftovers.
Later Gan examined Leaf’s feet at Sket’s request. He cut away the loose flaps of skin, his long fingers surprisingly deft and gentle. ‘One of us will have to carry you if we need to move from here before these are healed,’ he told her.
Ren watched, wincing when Gan parted the toes to reveal more fat blisters as yet unburst.
‘I wish I was skilled at healing,’ he confessed.
‘Me too,’ Maressa agreed. ‘We could make more salves though – Pallin and I collected quite a lot of plants beside that lake. I’m afraid I’d forgotten.’
She went off to find her pack and disappeared with Pallin into the kitchen.
‘Grek?’ Ren enquired. But there was no answer.
‘Where does he go all the time?’ Olam wondered aloud.
‘He watches everything around us,’ Khosa replied. ‘He takes his promise to Gremara very seriously.’
Light slowly faded beyond the windows and Taza and his wife arrived with more food.
‘Are you sure you can spare all this food?’ Maressa asked anxiously.
‘We still have followers who give coin offerings at each ten day ritual. We put it by so we may provide food or clothing to any who seek sanctuary.’ Zada unfolded a pair of trousers she’d held tucked under her arm. ‘If the sacred one would accept these?’
Leaf tilted her head. Zada held up trousers, dark blue with pale blue flowers embroidered round the bottom of each leg. The gijan smiled, taking the trousers and holding them close to her cheek.
‘These are not clothes you keep in a box for needy guests.’ Uptilted dark eyes studied Zada steadily. ‘Thank your daughter for her beautiful work Zada. One day she will be repaid.’
Zada flushed. Leaf turned her back on the room, her wings hiding her body. When she turned back she wore her new trousers with obvious delight.
‘Sacred one, Salma is making another pair for you. She is at the evening ritual now.’
Leaf trilled her laugh. ‘Then you must bring her to meet me, so that I may thank her properly.’
‘Really?’ Zada looked at the faces watching her. ‘We have only told Salma I swear. She will speak of your presence to none other. I will fetch her.’
Ren and Maressa began to question Taza on points they’d found difficult to decipher in the books he’d lent them but the others watched Leaf. She lifted each foot and studied the fine stitching at the bottom of each trouser leg; she stretched her legs out before her, smiling at seeing the trousers reached below her fragile ankles. Khosa leaned against Gan’s thigh and, for the first time for very many days, began her low buzzing croon as she too watched the gijan.
‘Is she preening, Khosa?’ Gan whispered.
‘Indeed.’ Khosa crooned louder. ‘So pretty she is.’
Zada reappeared tugging her daughter Salma by the hand. Hariko was behind them, clearly confused. The young woman kept her head low, not daring to look at anyone. Maressa went to her, putting an arm across her shoulders and guiding her towards the gijan.
‘Come Salma dear. Leaf is so thrilled with the fine trousers you’ve made her.’
But Salma had glimpsed the ragged feet and gasped in sympathy. Her gaze moved slowly up, up until she stared open mouthed. Leaf’s wings were half opened revealing the delicate pink beneath the blue black top feathers.
‘These are the prettiest clothes I’ve ever had,’ Leaf told her with a trill of laughter.
Salma appeared speechless so it was as well that Khosa spoke, stalking towards the door.
‘We will all go to the roof now. Sket will carry Leaf.’
Sket looked mystified, then suddenly grinned. Leaf furled her wings close to her back and Sket carefully lifted her into his arms and followed Khosa. Maressa chivvied Salma and her parents after them and soon everyone was on the rooftop. A few stars showed in the dark sky but high clouds were racing in from the direction of the coast.
Leaf gave a high peal of pleasure, holding out her arms. Willow and Piper landed silently beside Sket, enfolding him too as they embraced their sister. Gan saw the faces of the three priests and the scholar Hariko and knew this was a moment they would remember until they passed from this life.
There was a flurry of heavier wings and Farn settled precariously on the edge of the roof, his eyes whirring in delight. Tika slid from his back and bowed to the priests and the scholar.
Chapter Twelve
Hariko took one pace forward, trembling violently. ‘You spoke in my mind last night,’ he blurted.
Tika’s lips smiled but her eyes remained icy. ‘We did but warn you that we will always be close enough to protect our friends.’
Her eyes softened when she studied the three Harbour City priests. ‘The Kindred honour you for keeping the Way of the Elders so faithfully and for so long in their absence.’
Farn’s long face loomed over her head. He pressed his brow to Taza’s, then to Zada’s and lastly Salma.
‘More girls,’ he remarked, to the confusion of the priests.
Tika ignored the comment as she moved to the gijan. Sket grinned at her.
‘You’ll have to have a serious talk with him Lady Tika,’ he murmured. ‘One of those “girls” is fifty cycles at least.’
Tika gave a snort of laughter before Maressa hugged her tight.
‘You are well Tika? I miss your company.’
Tika hugged her back, looking round Maressa’s shoulder at the rest of her friends.
‘I apologise for my weakness in the forest,’ she said in a small voice. ‘I beg you to forgive my desertion.’
Her apology was met with smiles and Maressa hugged her again. ‘There is no forgiveness to grant you child. We love you,’ she said simply.
Tika blinked and then bent to lift Leaf’s feet higher over Sket’s arm. Gan was the only one to think of bringing a lamp when they’d climbed to the roof. Now he held it above Leaf’s lower legs. Farn inched cautiously along the roof until he was closer to his soul bond, peering down to watch. Tika studied Leaf’s feet: they were severely torn. If she was left to heal naturally it could be days before new skin toughened sufficiently to walk on for any length of time. Part of her mind was aware of the scholar, Hariko Vos Nornay, watching her closely.
She detached herself, holding one delicate high arched foot between her hands. She sent tendrils of healing to the gijan, speeding the natural processes and strengthening the fibres of new skin as they formed. Hariko’s breath hissed through his teeth. The blisters between Leaf’s toes shrank, the pale lavender sores around the heel slowly disappeared under new skin dappled green and gold. Gently, Tika lifted the other foot and repeated the process. She was astonished how easy it seemed.
