by Shannah Jay
The hunters had walked quietly, men used to the forest, but it had still been easy for both her and Quinna to hear them coming. Their Kindred weren’t forest-trained and some of them would have made a lot more noise than the hunters. When she listened, however, she could only hear natural sounds, the same sounds as had echoed through her solitary childhood with her grandfather in the High Alder - the fluting calls of the birds, the almost subliminal humming of a myriad insects and the soft whispering noises of foliage rustling in the breeze.
She felt no sense of danger from the wildlife. In the Twelve Claims there were no predators to threatened people. The largest creatures of the forest in the High Alder were lenrils, and they only attacked people who provoked them. Danger on her world came from the other humans, not from the wildlife.
There were a few dangerous plants, but most of them had been eradicated over the long centuries of settlement.
‘I think we’d better make some sort of camp,’ Quinna said as the sky darkened and the first of the three moons winked down at them through a light cloud cover. ‘And we’ll need to find something proper to eat as well. My guts think I’ve wrung them out and hung them up to dry.’
Katia found some nuts and fruit, which wasn’t Quinna’s idea of a real meal. The swordswoman usually ate hugely to fuel her large body, and relished the meat Katia never touched. Quinna didn’t grumble at the meagre fare, but she did eat every scrap that was left with an apologetic grimace. ‘Got to feed my muscles,’
she said, flexing her biceps. ‘Never know when you might need to defend yourself in strange territory.’
An hour later, they settled down to sleep in the cave, with fronds and large leaves to keep them warm and soften the hard ground. As the hours passed, they huddled together for warmth, because although Katia could control her body temperature, the others had only minimal skills. This must be somewhere up in the high reaches, she decided as she watched through the cave entrance the setting of the second moon.
It didn’t get as cool as this at night in the foothills and on the plains.
They were all awake by the time dawnlight gilded the water of the pool and they rose at once. Washing was no problem, but Katia grimaced as she put her damp underclothes back on. ‘We’re very short of the necessities of life here. We could have tried to catch some fish, but I’ve nothing with which to make a line or hook. It’ll have to be nuts and fruit again, Quinna, I’m afraid.’
‘It’s not your fault. How about we go in the direction those men took yesterday? We can see how big their town is and we might even be able to pick up one or two useful items.’ She flashed a broad grin at Katia as she said that.
‘I don’t approve of stealing.’
‘Needs must, if it’s for our survival.’
‘It’ll take a while for the deleff to find us,’ said Erlic. ‘We shall have to be careful until then.’
Both women stopped in their tracks and stared at him.
‘What deleff?’ demanded Quinna.
‘The ones that are coming to get us.’
Katia felt a shiver run down her spine. This was one of the times when her son felt very alien. ‘How do you know that, Erlic?’
He shrugged. ‘I just do. They’re coming through the wildwoods, but it’ll take them a few days to reach us because there aren’t any portals near here. This is quite a new region, only settled recently.’
Katia stared at him. ‘We must be in one of the far northern claims, then. Which one?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’
Quinna shook her head. ‘Damned if I can understand those deleff of yours, lad.’
Erlic gave her one of his enigmatic smiles and began walking again.
Quinna exchanged glances with Katia and rolled her eyes in exasperation. No one really understood the deleff. Herra talked of the huge older deleff being ‘in alignment’ with the planet and speculated about whether they were alive or dead, but even the Elder Sister didn’t really understand them, or the SS’Habi, the large spider-creatures who served them so devotedly.
Katia couldn’t help wondering what was happening to all her companions now. And Davred, especially Davred. It’d been such a struggle for them all to get back from the Lands of Nowhere to the Twelve Claims. Now, if everyone was scattered across the land, how would they continue with their quest? Hard enough with twelve of them, so much harder with only two or three.
‘You know, lad,’ Quinna said, when Erlic kept obstinately silent, ‘I don’t know how those deleff of yours expect us to find a way to defeat Those of the Serpent if they won’t even help us to stay together.’
But even that got no response from him, so she stopped trying to get more information.
The three of them followed the hunters’ tracks, with Nim criss-crossing their trail, vanishing in and out of the forest on business of her own. Where the woodland thinned, they found a small town, which sprawled across some flat land near a small river.
‘Damn me, I’d not like to live in such a crowded place!’ exclaimed Quinna, who’d lived a semi-nomadic existence before she met the Kindred. ‘How do people keep track of what’s happening? How do they defend themselves in such an open place?’
‘They don’t,’ said Katia. ‘How can they? Until recently, there was nothing to defend themselves against.
We’ve had many centuries of peace in the Twelve Claims.’
‘No wonder Those of the Serpent were able to do what they wanted, then,’ Quinna shook her head, muttering to herself in amazement at the sight of the small town. ‘You’d grown soft.’
That was what Herra said, Katia thought. The Elder Sister now believed you had to fight back against evil, not just avoid it, a huge change in behaviour for the Kindred. She stared at the town. It wasn’t a large place, but there were more houses than she could count, and others must be hidden among the trees, for smoke was rising in the distance as well as from the central cluster of dwellings. The place bore every sign of being a prosperous trade centre, with a broad, well-travelled track leading into it and no visible defences.
Unfortunately for them, the town also contained a very prominent Shrine of the Serpent, with its huge black and silver flags waving above the rooftops on their tall poles.
‘I thought you said the shrine in Tenebrak had black and gold flags.’ Quinna had a quick eye for details.
‘It does. It’s the main shrine of the claim. The others have silver and black.’ Katia shivered. ‘We can’t go into that town! Look at the size of that Shrine. It’s a really big one for such a small place. There must be a lot of very devout Serpent worshippers living here.’ Her face twisted suddenly into a grimace of pain and she gasped aloud.
‘What’s the matter?’ demanded Quinna immediately. ‘Aren’t you feeling well?’
Katia struggled to keep her breathing even. ‘It’s not me. There’s a child in that town, a very sick child.’
All healers developed this ability to sense severe pain and need for their services from a distance. Only with a few healers, like Herra, did that ability extend to sensing the presence of human life in general. Still, it was unusual to feel the pain so strongly from so far away. It must be a child with promise to cast waves of anguish so far.
‘You must go and heal the child, Mother,’ said Erlic, whose face was also drawn with pain. ‘You can’t leave it in such agony.’
‘Can you feel it, too?’ demanded Quinna, looking from one to the other.
‘Oh, yes. I can always feel pain.’ His silver eyes had shadowed into dark grey and his lips were a thin line of control, but his whole body was radiating tension and distress.
‘Well, I’m damned if I can feel anything!’ She stared at the town in bafflement. ‘And I don’t care how sick that child is. We can’t afford to do any healings. You told me yourself, Katia, that Those of the Serpent kill Sister Healers on sight.’
‘I’m not a proper Sister Healer. I’m just starting to develop my healing skills.’ The continuing emanations o
f pain made Katia catch her breath again. ‘And I can’t walk away and leave a child to die when it could be saved - a gifted child at that. I just can’t, Quinna.’
‘But you’ll be running head first into danger.’ Quinna glared at Katia, wondering whether she should try to drag the younger woman away by force.
‘Maybe I can pretend to heal the child with herbs.’ But Katia didn’t sound confident. ‘The best thing would be for me to go into the town alone. That way, you two will be able to escape if anything goes wrong.’
‘No. I’ll come with you as well,’ said Erlic.
‘I don’t think you should.’
‘I must, mother. I know that.’
Katia stared at him, eyes narrowed, then shook her head. Who was she to stop someone from following their fated path. After a minute, she said slowly, ‘I have an idea. We could pretend you’re a simpleton, lacking the wit to live a normal life. Do you think you could do that, Erlic? Pretend not to understand folk.
Don’t speak much, and whimper if anyone comes too near you?’
‘What good will that do?’ demanded Quinna.
‘I can say we’re wandering folk, because of my idiot son. That’s quite credible. If I say I’m a herbwoman, they may just let me look at the sick child, especially if I can manage to put a small Compulsion on someone. And they don’t allow simpletons into the shrines, so Erlic will be safe from that.
They say the Serpent doesn’t like people who aren’t normal in the head.’
‘What is normal?’ said Erlic softly.
Katia shook her head. ‘Who knows? We of the Sisterhood would certainly not presume to judge that being different is wrong.’
Quinna looked thoughtfully at the pair of them. ‘They’ll never believe he’s your son, Katia. I have trouble believing it myself, sometimes. You don’t look nearly old enough to be his mother.’
Katia stared at Erlic. ‘You’re right. I’ll say he’s my brother, instead. Can you pretend to be my brother, Erlic?’
He seemed to be listening to other voices as well as hers, for his eyes had taken on a distant look. ‘Yes.
I’ll call you Katia and cling to your skirts like this.’ His face twisted suddenly into blankness and he suited his actions to the words, stumbling to her side and clutching the dark cloth of her gown.
‘Good lad!’ Quinna gave him a hearty buffet on the shoulder.
‘Very good, Erlic. Exactly right.’ Katia turned to their companion. ‘Don’t come into town with us, Quinna. There’s no reason for you to risk your life. Stay out of sight in the forest and keep Nim with you.
I’ll try to get away before nightfall or send Erlic out of town with a message. We can pretend he has to gather some more herbs for me.’
Quinna nodded. ‘I’ll see if I can pick up any useful bits and pieces, while I’m at it.’
‘Stealing?’ Katia’s voice was suddenly sharp.
‘Nothing that folk will miss; nothing that will upset them too much; and I’ll take nothing from poorfolk.
But our need is desperate, you must admit that.’ Quinna laid a large hand on Katia’s shoulder. ‘Are you sure you have to do this?’
‘I’m very sure. That child will die without help. I couldn’t abandon it. Even to ease its passing from this life would be worth the doing. Now, let’s gather a few herbs before we go into town, Erlic. We need to look the part.’
When they were ready, Quinna hid behind some bushes and watched them. Katia was walking hesitantly, as if unsure of her welcome, and Erlic was stumbling along behind her, his beautiful face blank and somehow twisted into ugliness. Quinna shook her head. Who would have thought Erlic could be such a good actor? ‘Brother look down,’ she murmured. ‘Don’t let us lose Katia. We need her special Gifts.’
Almost as an afterthought she added, ‘And look after the lad, too. He’s a nice lad, whether the deleff made him or not. He doesn’t deserve to die.’
Then she set out to see what she could pick up. Katia might not approve of stealing, but Quinna had no such qualms. The prime rule in life where she came from was to look after yourself. It couldn’t be that much different here. People were people, wherever you went. She’d already found that out.
CHAPTER 2 JEDDIAK TOWN
Before Katia and Erlic had reached the first houses of the town, men stepped out to meet them, some of them wearing the black and silver of those serving the Serpent. Those men had hands that fidgeted on their dagger hilts and twitched at whips hanging from their belts.
'Halt!'
Katia gasped and clutched at Erlic, not needing to feign shock.
'Who are you?' demanded one of the men.
'Only poor wandering folk.' Katia managed to get a whining note into her voice. Shed changed the underlying muscle structure of her face to look as unattractive as possible - small changes could make a big difference to one's appearance, combined with a dull expression and a sagging posture. And she had twisted her long curly hair, which Davred said was one of her main beauties, into a lumpy knot at the nape of her neck. How Davred would have laughed to see her. She used the thought of her husband to bring tears to her eyes.
'Where are your packs, then?'
'Raiders stole them a few days ago.' She willed a few more tears and allowed them to trickle down her face.
'Out of pity, sirs, let us earn our bread here. They've left us with nothing.'
One of the men came right up to Erlic and poked him suddenly, only Erlic side-stepped before the finger made contact. He clung to Katia, whimpering and staring wide-eyed at the man, as if in fear, but said nothing.
'He's a strange one.' The man exchanged disapproving glances with a companion.
'My brother hasn't got all his wits,' Katia pulled Erlic behind her, 'but he's no danger to anyone. He's a gentle soul. He earns his way in life and helps me earn mine.'
One of the men spat on the ground. 'They should put that sort of creature down at birth, if you ask me.
You're not bringing him into our shrine.'
Another of the men grabbed Katia's arm and swung her round, fumbling with her body as he did so. 'But maybe we should take this one along to the shrine and make an extra sacrifice. What do you think, lads?'
She had no need to feign terror as he breathed hotly into her face and tweaked her breast cruelly. If they took her into a shrine, they’d soon find out that she was a Sister. There would be no way she could hide it in such a place. He grabbed her by the hair and tugged her head backwards, so that she yelped involuntarily with pain. His touch filled her with shuddering revulsion. It was a moment before she could pull herself together enough to set a Compulsion upon him. I am a disgrace to my training, she thought suddenly, ashamed of her weakness. She concentrated her will upon him.
He shoved her away from him abruptly. 'No, she's too old and too ugly. She'd bring no honour to the Serpent.'
'Why don't we kill the pair of them, then?' another man asked, fingering his whip. 'They could offer up pain, at least.'
Katia pretended to cower back, clutching at Erlic to pull him away from their hurtful hands. She could feel him shivering, feel the fear in his bones, but she was beginning to feel stronger. She wouldn’t give in to these carrion creatures, nor would she, as long as there was breath in her body, stop fighting against them.
'No,' the first man drawled. 'We've got other things to plan tonight.' He spat in Erlic's direction. 'But if any of that sort are born in our town, I'll make sure they're put down at birth. Useless, they are.'
'He's not useless, sir,' Katia ventured, letting her voice tremble, 'really he isn't. He's a good boy. He knows all the best herbs to pick and he works hard to help me.'
'You're a herb woman?' A man with grey hair stepped forward from the crowd that had gathered, and the Servants moved to give him space.
'Yes, sir. That's how we earn our bread. But the raiders took our packs away. We've been gathering a few bunches, to make a start at earning our way, you see.' Katia held out her kerchief full of
herbs, which she had caused to wither and dry out more rapidly than usual.
'That one looks more like a Sister to me,' said another man in forester's green. 'There's something about her that makes me uneasy.'
Katia sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of one dirty hand, managing a chuckle. 'If I were a Sister, the last thing I'd do would be to walk into a strange town, surely?'
'Are you good at your trade, herb woman?' It was the grey-haired man again.'
'Yes, sir. Very good.' She sniffed again and patted Erlic's hand. 'It's my brother here as likes to wander.
Can't keep him in one place for long. Else I'd have set up as a regular herbwoman in a town long ago. An' I'd not have gone hungry, neither. I know my herbs well.'
He made a dismissing gesture with one hand to the Servants. 'I'll take responsibility for these two.'
Katia applied a light Compulsion for him to take her to the sick child, but he accepted it so easily she knew he’d have done so anyway.
One of the men spat on the ground. 'Rather you than me! Wouldn't want to go near that one, even if she laid down ready and eager on the altar. She's as ugly as a nighthooter.' The other men chuckled at this mild witticism and turned away. Nighthooters were clumsy comical creatures, with the harshest call of any bird known.
The grey-haired man beckoned to Katia. 'Come with me. My grandson lies ill and our local herbwoman has been unable to help him. You can try out your skills on him. If you cure him, I'll buy you a new pack before you leave town.'
When he turned and started walking away, Katia grabbed Erlic's hand and hurried after him. 'What's wrong with your grandson, sir?'
'How should I know? He's screaming with pain and nothing we've given him has helped. You're the one who claims to know herbs.' He stopped, turned round abruptly and grabbed hold of the front of her dark robe, shaking her backwards and forwards for emphasis, and not gently, either. 'You do know your herbs, don't you? If I find that you're trying to trick me, woman, I'll hand you over to our Initiates myself for use in the Inner Shrine.'