Freamhaigh

by Donald D. Allan

  My herbal room was my escape. Here I could pretend to be Will Arbor, the orphan, living off the land. I could roam the fields and streams outside Jaipers and only worry about whether or not I could make enough thick clothes to survive the winter. I could sit with Daukyns and talk about the Word and pretend to understand what he said. Here in this room I could set aside my worries.

  Nadine and I had not spoken of having children since the other night. The attempt on Edward and the execution of the two men had consumed all activity throughout the farm. At the moment, Steve and Franky were off on their own making plans. They were angry and felt betrayed. I could sense emotions from them wherever they were on the farm. I had asked them to calm themselves and that had made them angrier. My draoi avoided them when they could. Meanwhile, Edward buried himself in his journals. His aura was in turmoil. He ranged from anger, pure and hot, to fear, cold and shivering, and everything in between. Writing seemed to calm him and so we left him to it.

  Nadine concerned herself with the draoi making their way throughout the land. Some had found themselves welcomed freely. Others had met with anger. Every possible confrontation seemed to be happening, but for the most part my draoi were being welcomed. They reported just how bad it was in the villages and towns. The haunted look in the eyes of the people said it all. News of the battle at the Crossroads had spread far and wide but nothing of the results. No one knew what it had been about or why it had happened. Families feared their sons and daughters would be called upon to fight a war outside their ken. Others yelled politics to whoever could hear their position. The land was divided, and it was not getting better. Despite it all the draoi continued to use their powers to restore harmony. We fought a war no one could see or understand.

  We were eager to get our draoi up to Cala. Last month we had all felt something terrible happen there. The villages repeated rumours of a slaughter beyond imagining. Most people blamed the military and said it was a sign of more trouble to follow. The draoi only knew something had happened that had caused a massive shift in the harmony of the Realm. It concerned me that Cala was the area where Katherine and Dog had disappeared, and I knew they were related. I hoped Katherine and Dog had not met the cause of the shift and perished before it. The draoi headed there were warned to be cautious. Nadine worried for them and spoke with them constantly.

  Most of the talk in the villages was about the President letting a foreign army into the land. He had sided with the enemy. Rumours of the Baron were widespread and depending on whether you were talking to someone in a village in North Belkin or someone in a village in South Belkin, you heard two different tales. The Baron was a hero, or a monster. All agreed he had shown poor character in Jergen. But none knew the facts.

  Happily, word of the draoi was spreading. The Church was trying to quell those rumours and many Church representatives met with my draoi in town and demanded they leave. But a quick demonstration of powers usually won my draoi a place in town.

  Nadine was having a grand time. She seemed to have forgotten her earlier arguments with me about exposing the draoi. She hummed about the farm and discussed tactics and approaches with the draoi. They were setting up healing centres and working closely with the wordsmiths and church representatives who agreed to help. In most places, the people swarmed to see the magic of the draoi. Many left with their injuries healed and they in turn spread news of the wonderful draoi to all who would listen. It seemed we were making a positive difference.

  But I found myself spending more and more time in my small room at the back of the house. A sturdy workbench had been built for me and already it was showing signs of wear. The surface was stained a deep green. Shelves carried every size of jar imaginable. Small clay pots, waxes, oils, mortars and other wonderful tools lay within reach of my hand. I had small scales with weights and I was cataloguing all my work at Edward’s request. It gave me focus and often I would emerge from what Franky called my little hole and my thoughts were clearer and choices easier to make. My hands were stained green, and I loved it. Oft times I spoke to Daukyns as if he were there beside me. Sometimes I cried at the pain of missing him. Edward said it was therapeutic and healed the soul. He said illness was more than just physical; it was mental, too.

  James, Heather and Martin had left on horseback three days ago. Heather reported all was well except for Martin. He could not ride a horse and was suffering for it. James, she said, was overbearing and not listening to her, but otherwise they were fine and making good speed to the Crossroads.

  Thoughts of them broke me from my concentration and I stopped what I was doing and placed my hands on the table. As soon as I relaxed the outside world invaded my little hole. I looked about the room and glanced to the window, covered with a thick layer of ice. I needed to get away; I knew at once. I thought of Jergen and knew I had to leave.

  It’s time, I thought. Brent needs to know what’s happening from someone other than our draoi placed there. Plus, I sent his best-friend to the worst place possible. I owe him an explanation.

  I felt a burden lift. My thoughts cleared, and I looked back to the work at hand. I had decided to look at Life Salt a little closer. Dempster thought of it as nothing more than a culinary treat. The Sect had used it for something other than salting their food. Edward had told me that he had read old texts in the Chirurgeons Library in Portsmouth that it had been used to treat mental illness. Everyone had a use for it. The draoi could see the magic it contained. It was unknown in this world and I was determined to figure out what it was exactly.

  I had asked Gaea about it once. She had looked sad and told me not to worry about it. I pressed her, and she had disappeared. Next time I spoke to her she asked me not to bring it up again. If she wasn't going to tell me what it was I was determined to figure it out for myself.

  I had poured a small measure of Life Salt onto a glass plate and stared at it. Without my sight it looked like any salt, but with a rich purple colour to it. I opened my sight and looked again. Sparks of light snapped off the surface of the salt and floated freely into the air. It looked like a fire burned inside the salt. Rich purple light poured from the crystal and I could see it illuminate all the surrounding surfaces. I switched off my sight and looked again at the plain salt. It lay on the plate like any fine ground salt. A mystery, I thought.

  I opened my sight, and this time expanded my view. I gazed about at the massive crystals. They were cubes with smaller cube shapes shattered and missing from the sides and corners. Cubes built on cubes. The purple colour was infused deep within. A perfect uniform colour. I realised the light from the cubes was not unlike an aura. I had mistaken it for light, but up close I could see it was just like an aura. This stopped me, and I glanced around at the crystals. Only life emits an aura. I smiled to myself. Life Salt is aptly named if it's true. But it can't be alive, can it?

  I expanded my view further. The crystal in front of me enlarged past my field of view and I approached the surface. I saw only more cubes, smaller and smaller. Stacked and joined. Millions of them with each crystal having its own aura, or inner light. As I watched a small cube in front of me moved. It shifted position across a space with a click and moved to join with other cubes. It startled me, and I moved back. After a time, I saw that the cubes shifting was routine and random. I watched the massive wall of Life Salt shift and move for a long time and then suddenly two cubes moved at the same time and collided. One of the cubes flew free and floated up and away. The aura within it pulsed and pulsed and I lost sight of it high up in the air.

  I expanded my view once more and closed in on a cube that had just shifted until it grew to the size of a large shipping crate. Up close I could see it was perfect in construction and smooth all over and the purple aura was a constant light. It neither varied, nor lost its strength. I grew even closer and then felt the crystal shiver at my nearness. I saw the surfaces connected to other cubes separate a little and realised the cube was attracted to me somehow. I exerted my power and felt the cub
e respond.

  I stopped. My power could only affect life. I reached out and immediately felt the salt respond to me. I felt an attraction. It wanted to join with me. I felt an urge to absorb it. It was a hunger. I stared at the cube in awe. What is this stuff? I peered closer at the surface and squinted at the brightness. Somehow, I used my power to filter my vision. The brightness fled, and I found myself looking at a pure white crystal. It fought to free itself and join me and I pushed harder to keep it in place. Other cubes around it also struggled to break free, and I held several cubes in place. It was a mental challenge, and I enjoyed it. I was a towering person standing next to a small plate of salt. Whatever the attraction was, it did not frighten me. It took but a little will power to exert my will.

  I laughed at the pun. Then I saw the marks on the cube. At the lower right corner of the side of the cube facing me I spied marks etched into the surface. I moved closer and examined them. It was writing and a symbol: writing I did not recognise but it seemed close to my own language. I stared in surprise at the cube in front of me and looked at the other cubes and saw the same symbol and words over and over. Words were written on a cube that Edward would say was at the molecular level. Words written by someone.

  A few hours later, I met with Nadine and Edward in the kitchen. It was late, and the house and farm were quiet. I had sketched the words and symbol I had seen on the cubes into my journal as best I could. Edward was examining my notes and Nadine and I sat together and held hands. A nice herbal tea scent filled the air and Nadine leaned forward and poured tea into waiting cups from the pot.

  We watched Edward reach out without looking and take his cup. He sipped and set it down but kept reading without stopping. Nadine gave me a wry look, and I smiled and shook my head. Nadine and I were worried. Whatever Life Salt was, it was not what we expected. It was beyond understanding, and yet Edward was determined to try.

  Nadine had pledged to get Gaea to explain it, or else. I had no idea what an 'or else' would be to a being who defied anything normal, but I allowed Nadine her small pleasures. She loved having a challenge. She had spent hours today trying to contact Gaea. We felt her presence, but it was distant and diffuse. She didn’t respond.

  After a moment, Nadine shifted and glanced at me. “We both see the same thing. The same words and symbol. Each cube has it. It's been made, right? It’s not natural. Not salt. And somehow Life Salt is alive.”

  I nodded. Edward continued to ignore us and was looking through his own journals. He had worked with Life Salt once in his past and taken notes. He was determined to find it. He said what I had discovered might explain some things, but he hadn't elaborated.

  “Yes,” I replied to Nadine. “It’s not unlike the motes. The Gaea and Erebus motes.”

  Edward looked up at me at these words. “You never said that. Unlike, or the same?”

  “Unlike. The Gaea and Erebus motes are complicated. Complex. Larger even.”

  “Have you ever seen writing on the motes?”

  I blinked. “No, but I have never looked either.”

  Edward looked at me and said nothing.

  “Oh, you want me to check now?”

  Edward nodded. “If it wouldn’t be too much bother?”

  I shook my head and drew in my sight and dove into the body of Edward. He had both motes in abundance. It took my only a moment to find a Gaea mote. The difference between Gaea and Erebus was not physical. They were identical for what I could see. It was their power that was different. How I knew that or could sense that I could not explain. But Nadine and the other draoi could sense the difference as well.

  I spied a mote and circled it looking for anything like writing. The motes were massive, and I was too far away. I would have to expand my view to the same one as with the salt. I drew in power and closed the mote and stopped in surprise. The mote was not made of cubes. It was one large structure that looked organic. Strange tendrils writhed on the surface and it swam. I found an Erebus mote and soon confirmed it was the same as the Gaea one. The motes seemed foreign to me at that moment. I pulled back until I found myself in the kitchen.

  I looked at Nadine and Edward.

  “You’re back, that didn’t take long,” said Edward. “Well?”

  “The motes of Gaea and Erebus are the same, we knew that already, but they are not made of the same material as the Life Salt. They are one large thing. They don't seem natural to me. I can't explain why.” I exchanged a glance with Nadine. She frowned at me.

  “Huh,” said Edward. He spun a book around toward me and pointed at a paragraph. “Read this. I copied it from an ancient scroll in Portsmouth. The guild only allowed me access after I did something spectacular for them.”

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry about it. When I’m King, I’ll deal with it. Just read.”

  Edward was becoming more authoritative every day. I felt amusement from Nadine at his words and covered my desire to smile by pulling the journal over to me. I glanced down at the small tight writing of Edward and deciphered the words.

  The best-known history of treating blood sickness reveals that at one time doctors used a tool—now long gone from our knowledge—that was highly effective. We also know that doctors worked closely with industry, a word for the manufacturing of goods, and in particular a company called Simon Thorn Ink.

  I looked up at Edward. “What’s a doctor?”

  “An ancient word for a chirurgeon, we believe. When I say we I mean me, of course. The guild never believed me.”

  “And what is this industry?”

  “No idea. It hints at manufacturing. But what’s important here is the name of the company. Simon Thorn Ink.”

  “A company? What, like a military company?”

  “Perhaps. It seems likely. But look at the name.”

  “Yes, I see it. What of it?”

  “This is my writing. It was not how the writing was in the scroll. It was a difficult language, similar to our own, but the spelling and the shape of letters were very different. This is how I remember Simon Thorn to be spelt and shaped.”

  Edward slid a piece of paper over to me he had just written on. It was the same as the words on the cube. Nadine gasped and looked back and forth at the words. I traced the words with a finger.

  “And the symbol?”

  “I suspect a military symbol of some kind. Representing his company.”

  “And do you know who Simon Thorn is?”

  “No, it is the only mention of him that I ever came across. I only wrote the passage down because of the reference to blood sickness. I was investigating cures that targeted the blood. If you remember, your confirmation of small organisms in the blood reaffirmed…”

  I interrupted him. “Yes, I remember.”

  “Well, the passage caught my eye, and I copied it. I wouldn’t be able to see the scrolls again. I knew that. So. I copied anything remotely of interest that supported my research.”

  “And there may me more references, hidden elsewhere?”

  “Yes, I suppose.”

  I looked at Nadine. We both spoke at the same time. “The Jergen Library.”

  Edward insisted he travel with me to Jergen. He felt he was the only one that could find the references he needed. I could sense he was overly excited. The lure of the library pulled him more than anything. Nadine and I discussed it and felt we could easily make Jergen and remain undetected by more would-be assassins. Steve and Franky made me take some of his crew with me and I elected to bring three draoi who could guard Edward for a full day with rest. We left the next morning and made it to Jergen by late afternoon.

  We headed straight to the library and Edward and the draoi disappeared inside. The crew took positions outside and settled in. I was soon no longer required and left for the barracks. I had informed the sergeant at the gate who we were, and a messenger had been sent to Brent. I told my horse where to go and soon we were plodding along the streets.

  The last time I
had been here I had met Nadine. The city looked the same except maybe dirtier with the wet of winter. Slush was pushed up to the side of the roads and the stink of urine and faeces lay thick in the air. The lack of a breeze had my eyes watering, and I urged the horse to hurry. He agreed, and we picked up our pace.

  As I approached a park, I saw two figures on horseback standing still and looking back at me. I beamed a smile and shouted out to one of them. “Brent! Well met, sir!”

  Brent laughed and urged his horse toward me. The other rider, a woman in a Navy uniform, fell in behind him. I sensed a variety of emotions from the woman but only one from Brent. He was very pleased to see me. “Welcome back to Jergen, Will. I couldn’t believe it when the messenger showed up at my door. I convinced what’s-her-name here…”

  “Lieutenant Emily Barkhouse,” said the woman.

  “… to join me. She’s my aide. Follows me everywhere.”

  I smiled at her. “Hello, Emily. Very pleased to meet you.”

  Emily looked me over like I was for sale. I could sense disapproval from her. I warred with her sense of propriety. I was dressed simply in a grey robe tied around the waist with a cord I had found one day in the barn. My feet were bare. I should be freezing cold, but I drew power to keep warm. She nodded her head to me. I sensed her curiosity.

  Brent laughed. “She has no idea who, or what you are, Will. She’s in for a surprise. Come. I’ve called a meeting of the council. They wait for you. Shall we go?”

  “No time like the present. Let’s be about it.”

  By the time we stabled the horses and I took the time to clean myself up a little, an hour had passed. Brent led the way through the busy barracks. Everywhere we passed men and women in uniform leapt to attention and saluted him. Brent waved at everyone and called them by name. I sensed more disapproval from Emily but sensed the true joy from the soldiers at seeing Brent. We climbed two sets of stairs and then burst through a set of double doors into a room with a large table central to it. All around the table were men in uniform and people who looked very important to me. The man at the head of the table stood up, and the others stood with him. He moved forward and shook my hand. I sensed foreboding from him and bad news. It had been months since we had seen each other.