Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series, page 16
‘The poor old man performance was quite good,’ she conceded. ‘Spilling your soup may have overdone it a little.’
Taseen’s roar of laughter gave the final lie to the notion that he was a decrepit old creature close to death. He patted his knee.
‘Perhaps it was beautiful one. Tell me your name and help me clean up the mess – it was fish soup.’
Leaf trilled a laugh, removing her cloak and tossing it onto a bench. The three mages grew still, feasting their eyes on the gijan. She tilted her head to one side, then the other, returning their scrutiny. At last Taseen sighed, his hand stroking down Khosa’s back.
‘I must beg your pardon for making you endure that ridiculous meal. I rarely leave the Palace except to go to my lands outside the City, so it would be a source of great interest should I suddenly decide to visit this temple. It is not quite so worthy of gossip that I dine with Hariko.’ He smiled. ‘And who knows how long I’ll stay talking with him tonight?’
‘If Vorna’s interested in knowing where you are, it wouldn’t take her a great deal of effort to find out,’ Sheoma retorted. She walked across the room. ‘You are very beautiful. Does Hariko know that you are gijan – he said nothing to us?’ Sheoma couldn’t hide her surprise when Ren raised his eyes to hers.
‘Hariko knows Leaf is gijan. He has seen her siblings and one of the great Dragons,’ he told her.
‘Great Dragons are here too?’ Taseen’s unruly eyebrows quivered.
‘Close by,’ Maressa replied before Leaf could say too much.
Tavri had been quietly handing round bowls of tea and now found himself close to Leaf. He lightly touched the glossy blue black feathers.
‘You are truly beautiful.’ He smiled down at her.
Leaf returned his smile, revealing her tiny pointed teeth. Then she twirled away, wings unfurling and rippling. She ended up beside Taseen’s chair.
‘Do you like my trousers? No one could see them at Hariko’s horrid house.’
Taseen solemnly regarded the black trousers, the delicate embroidery, the exposed dappled skin of Leaf’s belly and arms.
‘I have never seen such a work of art,’ he said gravely. ‘And those socks are the finishing touch.’
Leaf raised her leg and tugged off a sock. ‘They are, aren’t they,’ she agreed.
Taseen caught her hand. ‘I think you are very young little Leaf. Are you newly come to your wings?’
‘Oh yes. Do you want to hear how it happened?’
Khosa, busily washing Taseen’s beard, replied on his behalf.
‘Well of course he does. And everything else as well I expect.’
Chapter Thirteen
The Mage Councillors listened attentively while first Leaf, then Maressa, Gan and finally Ren, recounted the events of the last year. Less than a full year in fact, Gan reflected. Taseen smiled.
‘I understand that you must reach Namolos, but you have chosen a tricky time for sea travel. I would like to hear more of the City in the desert: the Kertiss you spoke of worries me. What may be happening in your land Ren worries me. What Vorna is attempting to do worries me. In short, I am a very worried man.’
Maressa curled her feet under her on the couch. ‘Should we know what Vorna is up to?’
Sheoma nodded. ‘I think they should be warned Taseen. We could never have foreseen gijan or Dragons appearing in Harbour City just as Vorna’s schemes show signs of success.’
For a moment Taseen looked down at Leaf. She lay on her side asleep before the fire, one wing folded tight to her back, the other half open, covering her like a magnificent blanket.
‘She is so young and immeasurably precious,’ he murmured almost to himself. He sighed. ‘Vorna became obsessed with the Ancient Elders while in her training. Hariko may have mentioned that I served this land during the last War of the Elders?’
Navan interrupted. ‘If gijan and Dragons are Elder Races, what are these Wars we hear of? Did humans battle them, or did they battle each other? I find it difficult to believe when clearly the memory of both Dragons and gijan are still greatly revered.’
‘There were Ancient Elders in this world in the Time Before. They ruled these lands from the beginnings of humanity. For millennia they ruled kindly and well, letting humans grow at their natural pace.’
Taseen fell silent and Tavri took up the tale. ‘The first War of the Elders began it is said because one Elder lusted after a human female. Congress between Elder and human was forbidden by the first Law. The Elder would heed none of his brethren and fled with the female to distant lands. The Elders discovered the pair had produced four monstrous children, to whom their father had passed much knowledge – again, a forbidden act.
‘There were about a hundred Elders in those days – we would call them gods and goddesses now I guess. Several of them sought out the one who had flouted two of their primary laws.’
He glanced at Taseen. ‘The monstrous children killed their father as soon as they overtook him in power. They killed many Elders who came seeking them. The children were warped, twisted, personifying the very worst of both human and Elder natures. As a desperate recourse, the Elders caused the great desert to come into being. They hoped it would keep the children away from these lands long enough for Elders to construct a means of destroying them.’
Maressa sounded sceptical. ‘Four children could so frighten many Elders?’
‘The Ancient Elders were never warlike or violent. Their teachings of harmony and balance are instilled in the very bones of most of our people to this day,’ Sheoma explained. ‘Remember, these were no ordinary children.’
‘The children rampaged through the northern lands and beyond, gaining in strength all the time,’ Tavri went on. ‘The Elders instigated a plan to teach humans some of their powers. It involved breeding certain families who showed an innate aptitude and forcing their mind development. The Elders grieved that they had to break a primary law themselves to combat the children. Briefly, the Wars that followed cost the lives eventually of all the Ancient Elders and huge numbers of mages.’
Taseen grunted. ‘By the time I was involved, no Elders survived but we had devised a plan to imprison the children.’ He gazed into the fire. ‘Three thousand mages died in that last battle – just outside this City where now farmland flourishes. Three thousand brilliant minds, male and female, to imprison two of those Ancient children.’
‘You have not given their names,’ Olam said softly.
‘No.’ Sheoma’s voice was sharp. ‘I will write their names for you but they must not be spoken aloud, especially now.’
‘Now?’ Gan queried.
Taseen looked suddenly tired. ‘Vorna believes imprisoning the children was a mistake. She thinks there was much to learn from their hybrid minds. She has been trying to release one of them.’
Sheoma had been scribbling on a paper. Now she passed it to Maressa. ‘The one I have circled is the one Vorna is concentrating on. We believe, although we do not know for sure, that two of them are destroyed.’
Maressa read the four names. Valesh. Qwah. Taffez. Sekira. The first name was circled.
‘Never say those names aloud,’ Sheoma repeated. ‘They are awake and stirring again.’
‘That last battle was long ago?’ Sket ventured.
Taseen nodded. ‘A thousand years or more. And still I have not regained my full powers. I have to rely on information from others rather than expend what small strength remains to me.’
Tavri stood up, glancing at the dark windows. ‘We should return to the Palace. I will let it be known that you are confined to your bed again.’
Sheoma groaned. ‘I have a class to tutor this morning. I fear I may not be as brilliant as usual.’ She stooped to kiss Taseen’s cheek. ‘Sleep for a while old man, you’ll be worse than useless if you exhaust yourself too soon.’
While Sheoma spoke to Taseen, Tavri had moved close to Gan. ‘Guard him well for me. He is as precious as the Elders to me.’
Gan nodded, recognising the same protective love in Tavri’s eyes that he’d seen so often in Sket’s.
‘We should all get some sleep,’ Maressa said through a yawn.
She fetched quilts and pillows from one of the bedrooms and offered them to Taseen.
‘Thank you my dear. If it is not an inconvenience I will stay here with you for a day or two. I often take to my bed for days at a time.’
Maressa grinned. ‘I thought spilling soup in your beard rather effective actually.’
Taseen chuckled and settled himself in the chair, planning to spend what was left of the night thinking, very hard. Sket curled up on one of the couches.
‘Is there no bed for you?’ Taseen asked.
‘I stay near Leaf sir. I’ll not disturb you.’
Grand Harbour Master Chevra strode into the Debating Chamber high in the Xantip Palace. A purple faced General Koolis had just left his presence, having been thoroughly shouted down by the Grand Master. Chevra held a fond but unfounded belief in his prowess as a military tactician and had ordered all border patrols to return to the City forthwith. General Koolis was now even more infuriated by his inability to see the old mage Taseen. He fumed and muttered on being turned away from Taseen’s quarters. The General munched on his long moustaches while he considered who else might possibly intercede and mitigate Chevra’s commands.
The Grand Master did some more shouting when he discovered Taseen, Tavri and Vorna were all absent. Bajal conveyed Vorna’s regrets – she had gone to her estates beyond the west of the City to deal with pressing business matters. With Vorna missing, Bajal was subdued, making few contributions to the discussions. But then, no one did really, once Chevra was in full flow.
Chevra had even abandoned his courtesans in favour of the excitement of planning a war. He was annoying everyone in the Palace by turning up unannounced, in the most unexpected places such as the kitchens, asking obscure questions and leaving the staff with their nerves in shreds. Sheoma managed to insert an innocent query when Chevra paused for breath, on the state of the Towers of Aneira, two leagues north east of the City limits.
Chevra demanded the plans of the Towers of Aneira be brought for his inspection. Then he complained of the worn condition of the plans, until Sheoma pointed out that probably no one had looked at them for the last eighty years at least. At last Chevra left the Chamber, stating his intention to inspect the Towers for himself. Clutching the plans under his arm, he shouted for his son to be readied to accompany him. Guards discreetly closed the Chamber doors again and the remaining Councillors slumped in their chairs.
‘He is even more dreadful when Taseen or Vorna aren’t here,’ Fental muttered.
‘He tries.’ Lessna as usual tried to be fair. ‘He was a splendid merchant. It was a bad error of judgement that he accepted Lady Eorlas’s offer of marriage. Inheriting the Grand Mastership once her father died put him completely out of his depth.’
‘She didn’t stay around to help him much though did she?’ Bajal sneered. ‘Three years of playing the fashionable married couple, seven more as wife of a Grand Master and she decamps for her estates. Has anyone seen her in the last year or two?’
‘The poor woman was pregnant every year of those ten years; she probably yearned for a rest,’ Lessna defended the absent Lady Eorlas, a woman she had utterly loathed. ‘And only three children live. To go through carrying those babies only for six to die within days of birth must have been quite terrible.’
‘We have more important things to consider than the unfortunate Lady Eorlas,’ Fental snapped. ‘How do we persuade Chevra that we must keep some outposts garrisoned in the north? I have my doubts about the whole idea of Wendla deciding to wage war on us.’
‘Four of our trading ships were attacked Fental, and two taken,’ Sheoma pointed out.
Fental shrugged. ‘There have been occasions before when pirates developed grand ideas. This could be another situation like that.’
‘The surviving shipmen described Wendlan warships,’ Sheoma persisted.
Fental scowled. ‘What about those weird dreams you said some of the students have been reporting Bajal? Of a revolutionary nature I think you said. Have they been overdoing it with the hallucinogens again?’
‘No they have not,’ retorted Bajal. ‘They all say that suggestions are put to them along the lines of how marvellously advantageous friendship with Wendla would be and how restrictive and small minded are the ways of our land.’ He flushed when Fental hooted derisively.
‘Corruption by dreams. Hardly likely I think and definitely not successful. I think we should try and delay any of Chevra’s wilder plans until Vorna or Taseen return to the council. Suggesting he inspects the Towers of Aneira was very good Sheoma,’ he admitted grudgingly. ‘Surely we can come up with other similar suggestions to waste his time for a few days.’ He stood, brushing non existent specks from his elegantly cut jacket. ‘At least the Towers will occupy him for the rest of today and with luck, all of tomorrow. Let’s just hope Vorna’s back by then.’
Fental departed, followed after a moment by a disgruntled Bajal. Lessna looked across the table at Sheoma.
‘You look tired Sheo. Why don’t we get some food, the common room should be clear by now.’
They walked along the corridors to one of the lesser staircases and descended to the bustle of the administration sector. Eventually they reached the main common room where a handful of students and teacher mages lingered over the midday meal.
‘I was busy last night.’ Sheoma forestalled any more questions. ‘I’ve had an idea for a series of new lectures and I began to work out a plan for them. It was nearly dawn before I realised how long I’d been working – you know how it is.’
Lessna nodded, her mouth full of cheese. ‘I know. I still have problems remembering my schedule times. Poor little Merkas,’ she added inconsequentially.
Sheoma raised her brows. ‘Poor little Merkas?’
‘Only seven years old and Chevra’s dragged him off to look round those derelict Towers. You know how he hates change – he’ll howl all the way there and all the way back and Chevra will shout at him to be more manly. Poor child.’
Sheoma shook her head. ‘Lessna, just listen to yourself! Poor little boy – you loathe children!’
‘I loathe them in proximity. I can sympathise in the abstract.’
Taza took the men to see the water front and docks in the morning, Pallin only going under protest. Sket remained with Leaf and Maressa. Sket was intrigued by the interaction between the young gijan and the ancient mage. Taseen told her tales and riddles, and even sang silly nonsense songs. It wasn’t until Leaf suddenly joined in with one such rhyme that Sket saw Taseen was gently testing the gijan’s memories. Sket went to make some midmorning tea and returned to find Leaf by her window attended by a crowd of small birds again. Taseen sat watching her while Khosa buzzed on his knee.
‘Did you know the gijan long ago sir?’ asked Sket, squatting beside the mage’s chair.
‘Only a few Sket, and they were very old. The remaining young ones had been sent away to the swamp lands in the hope they would find safety there. The old ones died with the mages outside this City.’
‘And the Dragons?’
Taseen shook his head. ‘They were beaten back beyond the great desert in the fourth War, long before. The gijan told us they still communicated with them but the Dragons had suffered as severely as the gijan.’
Sket stared at the mage, the tea bowl in his hand forgotten. ‘Beaten back?’ he whispered in horror. He tried to imagine what forces, what weapons, could beat back creatures like Brin, Fenj, Seela or Kija, and he trembled.
Taseen laid a hand on Sket’s shoulder. ‘Indeed. They were forced to flee the strength of one child. The second name on Sheoma’s list.’
They sat in silence, watching Leaf talking to the birds on the window sill.
‘Lady Sheoma said you thought two were destroyed.’
‘I fear we may have been mistaken. I have pondered on what Ren told us last night. Grek turned up later too and from his account of Ren’s land, I am very much afraid one of the children is influencing events there. And we are not called Lady or sir Sket – our names suffice.’
‘How are these children imprisoned – in great hidden strongholds somewhere?’
Taseen frowned. ‘It is difficult to explain. We created spaces in the very rocks and then bound each child with layer upon layer of spells. Over time I think perhaps some of those spells could have lost their potency, enabling the Bound One to work on that weakness.’
‘You spoke of a mage – Vorna – who believes your people could learn from these children. If I’d been shut up in a rock for a thousand years or more, I would not be in a mood for a friendly discussion.’
Taseen gave a bark of laughter and the birds on the window sill disappeared. Leaf turned a reproachful look in his direction.
‘Sorry my dear. Of course you are exactly right Sket, but Vorna dismisses that suggestion out of hand. She places enormous faith in her own powers of conviction and believes bad temper would never control such advanced minds as the children clearly possessed.’
Sket stared at him. ‘They seem to have been foul tempered since their births if your accounts were true.’
‘Quite so, Sket, quite so.’
‘Should we go to this Namolos sir?’
‘My name is Taseen.’ The old mage smiled then grew serious again. ‘I cannot advise you. Grek told me much more last night and I regret that I didn’t investigate the stories of Namolos years ago. He may have a part to play in these troubled times but then – who knows if he would consent to do so? The first rumours of him began around the time of the last battle. I was unconscious for three years afterwards and it was far longer before I began to take note of the affairs of the country again.
‘I confess that the problems that have arisen – all over this world as I now learn – do seem to be connected rather than random events.’
‘Whereabouts did you put the children?’ Sket sounded subdued.
