by Janet Woods
‘Who are you?’ Laek whispered, hardly daring to ask.
‘Lord Kavan of Cabrillan. I am your blood father. Azarine wanted a true-blood warrior to be born, one who would have the leadership and skills to strengthen hers when she faces Cynan to take her revenge. From now on I will be with you always.’
‘Am I supposed to be grateful?’ Laek said, and harshly, for he’d been shocked to discover Cynan was definitely not the father of his blood. ‘A man needs to act on his own decisions, not rely on some dead father he’s never known.’
Lord Kavan gave a great booming laugh. ‘You’re as arrogant as I was, Laek, my blood son. You will not even know I’m there. Kneel before your father for your blessing.’
‘I will kneel before no man.’
‘Do it,’ Tighe said.
Laek dug in his heels and glowered. ‘Let the apparition kneel before me.’
‘Look into the reflection of the moon on water, Laek.’
Despite his resolve not to, his gaze was drawn to the reflection. He saw Jynx standing there. Her figure was now womanly, though it was still slight. Suddenly, a jagged streak of black lightning speared across the moon and struck at her.
Flames licked around her. ‘Release her,’ he shouted, his heart pounding.
‘Kneel.’
Instead, Laek drew out his sword. ‘Release her, I said!’
The weapon spun from his hand into Lord Kavan’s. When the warrior lord gave a big booming laugh thunder rumbled in the distance. ‘You would take me on, mortal, and with this sword? It wouldn’t cut through a candle wick.’
Which wasn’t exactly true, Laek thought.
Tighe’s voice intruded into his mind, weak and from a distance. Stop trying to prove yourself, Laek. You can’t beat him because he has no substance, and you’re killing me ... trust me ... trust him. Do as he says, and Jynx will be all right. I’m bleeding energy trying to keep her safe as well as you.’
Laek fell to his knees. Now was not the time to lose two friends he loved. Kavan was in front of him then. His flight pawed at the lake and made soft snuffling sounds. A hand came down on each of Laek’s shoulders. ‘Good, Kavan said. ‘You’re no coward if you were willing to take me on, but you listen to sense when it’s offered. Laek’s body grew in strength, and his mind in resolve as Kavan’s hold strengthened on his shoulder.
A woman’s laughter tinkled and he opened his eyes and saw Jynx in the moon’s reflection. Arms outstretched, she had a single black flame on her palm, and tossed it back and forth between her hands. She was with a man, strong and lean of body. His eyes said nothing, but the smile he gave Jynx was intimate as he took the flame from her and threw it into the sky. Laek didn’t know his face, yet he seemed familiar. When the flame changed into a star Jynx clapped her hands.
Laek heaved a sigh of relief that she was safe, and gazed up at the warrior lord. ‘You’ve spared her, and for that I thank you.’
‘It was a trick, nothing more. She didn’t feel a thing. Why would I want to harm the maid, when she’s descended from the fair Tiana, a woman I loved beyond life? Besides, she has a powerful protection around her.’
Laek felt foolish when Kavan smiled and leaped astride his flight. The spirit’s image began to fade. ‘Walk in my memory son of my blood. I have left you a gift, a sword tempered in the fire of the gods. It’s the sword of justice, and will serve you as long as you serve it.’
‘Wait! There’s much I want to ask you.’
‘There is nothing I can tell you. Fate made Azarine chose me from the gene bank for a reason. You must forge the path destiny has made for you. Now, see to your mystic. He’s exhausted himself and can no longer lift himself from the water.’
‘Tighe!’ Laek saw his friend floating face down. He dropped into the water, slid an arm under Tighe’s shoulder and swam back to shore with him. Laying him on his back he applied pressure to expel the water from his body.
Throwing him over his shoulders Laek then climbed up to the cave, and laid him on his mattress. He placed his palm against Tighe’s heart, gradually encouraging his ragged heartbeat towards normality before gently slapping his face.
Tighe groaned and opened his eyes. ‘That was close.’
There was no sign of Lord Kavan but Laek felt his strength inside him. That a man should have such a splendid blood father ... his mother had chosen the best. Pride bubbled up inside him like water in a well. He grinned, wondering if the man could read his thoughts. He’d meant, of course, that a father should be proud to have a son such as himself.
His legs shot out from under him and he found himself flat on his back. He picked himself up. ‘You have no sense of humor, Lord Kavan.’
Tighe began to cough up water and Laek turned him on his side. ‘I don’t know how many frogs you’ve swallowed, but it would be best if you coughed them all up Tighe.’
Laek gave a little bird-like call, and Jon and Iago appeared to climb up to the cave. They gazed down at Tighe, concern in their eyes. ‘Is he all right?’
‘He’s exhausted now, but he will be.’ Stripping Tighe of his wet clothes, he wrapped him in a heat-retaining blanket. ‘Sleep till morning, mystic, I’ll take your watch as well as my own.’
Jon handed him his sword belt. ‘I found this on the way up. Something odd has happened to it.’
Laek drew it from the belt. The sword blade now had a streak of dark lightning shining on the surfaces of the blade. Minute flecks of red, jade and gold sparked up and down it, as though crystals were caught in the dark depths. They were almost too fast for the eye to follow, like reflections of light buried in black ice. He gently rubbed his thumb along the zigg-zagging blackness and it began to ring.
Thank you, Kavan. It’s a wonderful gift from a father to son. I will look after it, and wear it with pride, he thought.
And in turn, he knew the sword would look after him. He remembered Jynx and smiled, but he wondered ... who was the man protecting her?
Chapter Eight
Within a few days Hal and his party reached Karshal.
Even though he’d never been there before the place seemed familiar to him. There was an air of tension about the place and the road into the city smelled strongly of death and bat droppings. Bones were piled high.
Remy observed, ‘Karshal is not the magnificent city we’d been led to believe it to be. We were told that the buildings shone in the sun, the people were prosperous, and there was music and dancing in the streets.’
Jynx felt sick as they passed through the evidence of carnage and clung tightly to Remy’s hand. ‘It’s so sad and uneasy here. Has there been a war?’
‘Not recently. One of Cynan’s commanders runs the city in his name, I think.’
The once prosperous-looking houses were decayed. Plaster crumbled from the walls and a sea of mold spores crept up from the foundations. Beyond the windows an uneasy interior darkness was filled with scurrying noises. There was a watchful silence about the dim spaces that made the nerves in her back prickle.
‘I don’t like it here, I’m glad I disguised my hair because it draws attention to me,’ she whispered, for it wasn’t a place where you could talk loudly and feel comfortable about it. Wulf must have sensed her unease. He pressed against her knee and licked her palm, releasing a faint blue light. Immediately she felt a little better.
Hal offered her a glimmer of a smile. She liked Hal. There was something mysterious about him. He was a graceful in the way he moved, and his mind seemed to have a need to soak up everything. He also picked up her thoughts sometimes, like now, when he asked Orish, who was seated on the cart, ‘Who’s in charge of the city?’
‘Servish. He and his troops are the very dregs of Cynan’s army. It’s not safe to be outside at night.’
With dusk already falling that wouldn’t be long. Jynx tugged at the old man’s cloak. ‘Do we have somewhere to stay?’
Orish smiled at her. ‘Don’t worry, little Jynx. We’ll find somewhere suitable.’
�
��What if Servish’s troopers see us?’
‘They won’t. Even if they did, you must remember you’re Yegan Colban’s children.’
‘But our brother, Emrys, is tracking us, so Servish will soon know we are to be executed.’ She remembered the poles outside the city, and the pile of bones. She shuddered and moved closer to Wulf’s warm reassuring body.
A ripple ran along the ridges that traversed Uffo’s back and he took a right turn into a steep lane that led them towards a steeper hill that wound into a mist-shrouded summit. The tops of two towers poked out through the top.
‘Are we going to the tower?’ Remy asked.
Orish patted her brother gently on the shoulder. ‘We are. There we can stay unobserved, as long as we are careful coming and going.’
Jynx couldn’t see how they could stay there without being seen, but didn’t question it. She’d learned that if Orish said anything was so, it invariably was. He knew everything. She yawned. ‘It’s a long way up.’
Hal clasped her around the waist and lifted her on to Uffo’s back. She was conscious of him, of the warm body brushing against hers – of the eyes she could never quite see into the depths of.
He grinned when she blushed, said, ‘Lay down, close your eyes, and rest.’
‘Why do you keep smiling at me?’ she asked, crossly, as she did as she was told.
‘You make me feel happy. When I’m happy, I smile.’
It was something she had no answer for, since she felt the same happiness and warmth when she was with him. Her feelings towards Hal were alien. She didn’t understand them. It was as if something inside her was being awakened, and she felt uncomfortable but excited about it. It was as though she had to cross a bridge over dangerous rapids – one strewn with obstacles. When she reached the other side she’d be changed.
While she wondered whether to tell Hal of her feelings, or not, she gazed at his dark head and felt the need to kiss him. Then the moment was lost when he gazed up at her. He had a firmly shaped mouth with a soft curve. There was the place a kiss belonged, she thought, but she wouldn’t dare. It was annoying that she felt so in awe of him, and shy in his presence.
He’d looped the leading rein around her so she wouldn’t fall off and said, ‘There, my lady with the moonlight hair, that should keep you safe from harm.’ Hidden from the others, he gently kissed her mouth.
Gentle or not, his kiss sent a flood of heat pulsing through her. Her eyes flew open when Wulf gave a soft snarl and pushed between them, forcing Hal to take a step back. ‘Your protector takes his job too seriously,’ he grumbled.
‘You shouldn’t have kissed me, Hal.’
‘So it seems. Haven’t you been kissed before? Sleep now ... have sweet dreams.’
As if she could sleep after such a caress. It had left her wanting more ... but more of what? She didn’t know. Although she’d enjoyed the kiss, it didn’t feel quite right with Hal ... as though he’d kissed many women without feeling it in his soul. Her fingertips found the stubs where Uffo’s wings would have grown if they’d been allowed to. He loved being stroked there, and rumbled deeply inside himself with the pleasure he felt at her touch. The noise against her ear made her feel sleepy and relaxed. Wulf’s eyes gleamed silver as they watched over her.
* * * *
When Jynx woke it was morning and she was lying in a bed in a small room. It was not luxurious, but adequate and clean. The walls were whitewashed. A chair, and a basket in which to store things stood to one side. A table containing a jug of water and a bowl were the only other furniture she could see. White breeches and a tunic were folded tidily over the back of the chair.
The door opened and Jynx pulled the sheet up over her naked body when a woman came in. She wore the drab brown robe of the followers. ‘I’m Sybilla.’
Jynx eyed her, quickly deciding she looked harmless. ‘Where are my clothes?’
‘Being washed, as you will be before your break your fast.’
Jynx dug in her heels. ‘I’m not dirty. I bathed in the last stream we came to.
‘You smell unpleasant, child, like that animal you came to our door on. Come, rise from the bed and I’ll take you to the bathing chamber.’
‘Uffo can’t help smelling like that. Landflights never used to smell before their wings were removed. They used their glands to oil their wings with, and when they fanned them the smell dissipated and alerted other flights to their presence.’
‘And how did you learn such a thing?’
‘Oh ... I don’t know ... where does anyone learn anything?’
She did know. Since they were small, and able to go out alone, she and Remy had made secret visits to a strange cave, which they’d found in the deep woods. It had been uncovered by a rumbling quake in the earth and the stones were tumbled everywhere. It was not far from the High Place.
They thought it might have been a temple, or a palace, for they’d squeezed through a small fissure, and had discovered that the place was filled with books and statues of ancient warriors. As was everything in the deep woods, it was forbidden to be there.
The powerful magic of the place only revealed its wonders to the chosen few. Saire had told them it was the Truarc Temple. They’d been unable to gain entry to the chambers beyond the inner door.
However, there were many wonders to explore. There was a crystal that came up from a fountain, and it had told them to ask for what they wished. Both she and Remy had wished to be able to read the books, and that wish had been granted.
The place had been forbidden for such a long time that nobody but Saire and themselves knew of its existence. Jynx wasn’t about to inform anyone. She and Remy would guard that particular secret.
Still clutching the bed sheet to her she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. ‘I’m not going anywhere until I know where Remy, Hal and Orish are.’
‘They’re not here. They’ll be in the men’s hostelry.’
Alarm speared though her. ‘How did I get here?’
‘The men in your party brought you. Orish said you’re a healer. Where else would they have left you for safe-keeping but with the sisters of the order of the followers?’
‘They left me here ... how could they? Look where being a healer got me. Our parents have ordered my brother and I to be put to death because of it. What’s worse, they’ve sent our eldest brother, Emrys, to find us and to carry out the deed. He’s the best tracker in Cynan’s army. All that to find favor with Cynan.’ Worry filled her to the depth of her being. ‘Remy must be careful. He’s such a gentle soul.’
Sybilla’s voice softened. ‘I’m sure your brother is aware of the danger, Jynx. He has strong magic inside him.’
‘Where’s Wulf?’
‘Outside your door; he won’t let anyone go past him.’
A grin spread across her face. ‘How did you get in, then?’
‘I practised the ancient art of mesmer on him and he rolled on his back and allowed me to tickle his stomach.’
Jynx giggled, and Sybilla smiled. ‘Follow me, child.’
‘I’m no longer a child.’
‘No, I don’t suppose you think you are, but you’re certainly not a woman yet ... though your body has awareness towards a man. Hal would make you his own if he could, but you must resist him. He’s not for you and will break your heart if you encourage him.’
Jynx hid her blush with her hands. ‘You must not say such things.’
‘Physical love is nothing to be ashamed of. That’s how we’re meant to be. Better a man you love and respect than one that you don’t. I had a man like that once.’
‘What happened to him?’
‘Oh, it was a long time ago, before the rift was formed.’
A gasp tore from Jynx’s mouth. ‘You must be one of the ancients?’
Sybilla nodded. My mortal was kind and gentle, and when he died my heart shattered into a thousand shards. I vowed never to love another mortal.’
‘Will you tell me a story of th
e time before the rift. What was it like then?’
‘Oh ... it was much like today, except the planet halves circled each other and would certainly have disintegrated if Lord Kavan had not brought them safely together. As it was, there was a great loss of life. The fires are still burning, the lava still flowing. The rift is impassible, so we don’t know what has happened on the other side. It’s said that the fires will burn until the end of time itself. Now, let’s go and wash that stink off you.’
Shame coursed through her. ‘Do I really stink?’
A pair of brown eyes gazed into hers. ‘Can’t you smell it?’
‘I thought it was Wulf.’
Outside the door the wolf lay on his back with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. He seemed to be grinning.
Jynx’s giggle at the sight brought a smile to Sybilla’s mouth. When she clicked her fingers Wulf stood, staggering a little. His eyes sharpened when they lit on Sybilla, his hackles bristled and he gave a rattling growl.
Jynx chastised him. ‘Sybilla is a friend, as are all the followers. Just the same, should she attempt to mesmerize you again, avoid her eyes.’ She grinned at the woman. ‘No offence meant, Sybilla, but Wulf thinks he’s my protector and he won’t be able to protect me if he’s in a trance. I don’t want him to think he failed me.’
Wulf gave her a sheepish look and huffed. His defenses subsiding, he shook himself all over and nuzzled Jynx’s hand.
The bathing ritual turned out to be pleasant. The room was on the next level down. Warm water gushed from several waterspouts into a natural basin.
Leaving her sheet behind, Jynx stepped down into it. The water was as soft as liquid silk and wonderfully relaxing. Sybilla held out a bottle of opaque liquid. ‘Here, wash yourself all over with this, including your hair.’