by Melissa Mead
"Sooner,” Miska promised.
"Later,” Nurse Dannae corrected. “And if you don't hurry, it'll be much later. Out!"
To Miska's amusement, she herded not only Juliar, but Aldinan and Doria as well, out the door, flapping her apron at them.
"I'm sorry I frightened you,” Miska said to Lindi, when the door was safely closed.
"Why did you ... How did you even get the Impsbane? I though I had it!"
"You did. Most of it. I only needed a little bit to test. The little bit was still in my pocket."
"Test what?"
"Impsbane isn't really poison, Lindi. Tell me—what did you see?"
Lindi shuddered. “Aunt Doria and Uncle Aldi thought it was the Thorns—like what happened to Lila. You went stiff, and it looked like you were having fits. But there was something different this time.” Lindi frowned, biting her lip. “Well, different to me, anyway. There were Motes everywhere. You started looking ... clearer. By the time we got to the Temple, I could see through your hands."
Miska nodded. “You saw right, I think. Impsbane ... It throws people into the Second World. Very far in. It would be much easier to stay too long."
"It almost ... almost felt like something was pulling me, when I stood near you.” Lindi bit her lip. “And I didn't even taste the Impsbane!"
"I don't understand the difference myself, but it's powerful. Look!"
Miska tugged at the end of her bedraggled braid—now sporting a golden—yellow ribbon.
"So what the Thorns use isn't Impsbane at all? Something different?"
Miska shook her head, slowly. “I think they always used it, but the recipe ... no, the formula ... They've changed it. I think they are still trying, looking for a way to Worldwalk."
"Even if they could get into the Second World, what good would that do? What would they do there?"
"Make jewels?” Miska shrugged. “Humans seem to be very fond of sparkly rocks."
"Maybe ... but they could make counterfeit pearls even more easily without magic, I'm sure. It doesn't quite make sense."
"Especially since Impsbane seems to work differently on Humans."
"Is that why you can still talk? Because you're not human?” The whisper was so soft, barely audible, that both Lindi and Miska stared about, looking for the source. A thin hand pushed aside the curtain, and Lila peered around it.
"Oh!” exclaimed Lindi. “I forgot..."
Miska looked at the girl, and her hammering pulse slowed. Lila's expression was puzzled, a little frightened, but completely guileless. “Well! You're looking much better yourself, young one! I'm glad.” Still shaky, Miska swung her feet over the edge of the bed. “Let me move the curtain."
"Both of you sit down,” Lindi insisted, pushing the curtain aside. “There."
"Aren't you human?” Lila asked.
Lindi looked at Miska, alarmed, but Miska simply said, “No, I'm not. I'm Kan ... a Cantrip. That might be why I don't have to learn to talk again."
"Really?” Lila looked at her with mixed delight and awe. “My granny told me about Cantrips. She said Cantrips know everything. Can you really turn into cats, and birds, and turn invisible, and fly?"
Miska chuckled. “Turn invisible, perhaps. But I hardly know everything. Right now I'm trying to learn who those men are, with the poison. Do you remember what happened to you?"
Lila started to shake her head, and then froze. “There was a big man—no, two or three. They stuck a needle in me, I think. I fell down, and I couldn't move. Then one of them said, ‘It's the wrong one!’ and I heard them running away. Everything looked funny, like it was on fire. Then Juliar came, and Vedi Sharanis.” She giggled. “Vedi Sharanis had rainbows all around her, and Juliar had wings!"
"I think he would like that.” Miska smiled.
"He'd look very handsome,” Lindi agreed.
Something thumped heavily against the inside of the wardrobe door. All three looked up in alarm. Slow amusement spread over Miska's face. Holding a warning finger to her lips, she slid out of bed and tiptoed up alongside the door. Silently, swiftly, she yanked open the door. Juliar stumbled out, his feet tangled in a starched nightgown, and fell against a chair. Lindi stood up, hands on her hips.
"Juliar! Do you always spy on ladies in their beds?” she scolded.
Juliar stared at her, then at Miska, a horrified flush creeping over his face. It was clear he'd never thought about where the others were, or what they might or might not be wearing.
"Miss Salera ... Er, Lindi ... Miska ... I would never..."
Lila fell back on her pillow, laughing until she had to stop for breath.
"If he had those wings now, Lila, he'd fly out the window,” Miska chuckled. “How did you get in there, Juliar?"
"Sliding panels in the opposite wall, and the back of the wardrobe,” he muttered.
"How many of those are there in this Temple?” Lindi wondered. “And who do you suppose put them there?"
"Most of them have been there since the Temple was built,” said Juliar.
"Most of them?” Miska ran a hand over the polished door of the wardrobe. “This box hasn't been here since the Temple was built."
Juliar's face got a shade redder. “I told you I've been bored,” he said. “And I had to have some way to keep out of Lady Myringa's way, or I've have suffocated by now."
"Lady Myringa?” Miska asked.
"She comes here a lot, for candles and incense,” Lila put in. “She said she'd heard I was sick, and she came to see me. She told me stories about when she lived here, and about her friend Thanli. She misses him a lot."
"And she nearly caused an explosion every time she came near a lit candle, with all that perfume of hers,” Juliar grumbled. “I'm amazed that she hasn't caught herself on fire by now."
"She was nice to me, Juliar,” Lila protested. “She brought me fizzy orange juice, and she says that if Nurse Dannae doesn't want me to go to the Festival next week, she'll make her let me.” Lila raised her small chin defiantly.
"You'll go, if I have to carry you piggyback on my hands and knees.” Juliar rumpled the girl's hair.
Steps echoed in the hallway. Juliar caught up his stick. “And us old folks will have a long talk about salad ingredients!” he called, vanishing through his secret doorway. Miska scrambled back under the sheets, Lila lay down, and Lindi drew the curtain.
Nurse Dannae came in seconds after the wardrobe door clicked shut. She felt Miska's forehead, checked her pulse, peered closely into her eyes, and announced, “You're flushed. I think you had better stay the night. Let me get you a nightgown."
The three girls held their breaths as the nurse walked to the wardrobe. She opened the door, and two rumpled white gowns and a sheet tumbled out.
"What a mess! And I thought I'd just tidied up in here. These two will have to be washed—they were on the floor—but this one's perfectly clean. A little large, but that can't be helped."
The watchers breathed again. Lindi left without protest, and Miska allowed herself to be tucked into bed as though she were younger than Lila. Now that she was completely back in the Solid World, she realized just how exhausted she was. She leaned back, sank into the pillow...
...and awoke to the sound of scratching, coming from the direction of the wardrobe. Careful not to wake Lila, she tiptoed over the cool wooden floor and stood poised with one hand on the doorknob.
"Go to bed, Juliar. We're sleeping!” she whispered.
The scratching stopped. Miska opened the door and peered in. Empty. Not so much as a washrag was out of place, either. Miska's quick fingers found the catch to Juliar's secret panel, and she looked through. It opened on an empty study: cold hearth, drawn curtains, years of dust snowed over tables and chairs. Thick wool carpet hid any telltale footprints.
"How odd!” Surely Nurse Dannae would never allow mice in her closets, and Juliar couldn't run that quickly, yet there was no sign of anything else alive. Miska closed both sides of the wardrobe carefully, and
went back to bed.
Chapter 11
The next morning, she joined Juliar and the other Temple servants in the Prayer room, conscientiously quiet while Vedi Sharanis gave her blessing. Afterward, the High Priestess took both Miska and Juliar to her study and, over a breakfast of raisin cakes and hot chocolate, pressed them both with questions.
"So you say that Impsbane is not poisonous, Miska? That it's ... magical?"
Privately, Miska thought that hot chocolate was more magical than any bitter root. She could feel it tingling through her, warm and sweet, right to her fingertips.
"It makes it easier to Worldwalk, yes. But ... harder to find your way back again."
"Worldwalk ... You're saying you went somewhere else?"
"Yes'm. The same place Lindi can see."
"But, child, Lindi—and her aunt and uncle—were with you the whole time,” said Vedi Sharanis, very gently. “You didn't go anywhere."
Miska's skin prickled. She set down her mug. “It's not like that, Elder Priestess."
Vedi Sharanis shook her head. “I won't pretend that I understand everything ... I'll grant that Lila's been doing remarkably well lately, and Juliar hasn't been limping, but logically there's no way you could have..."
"Now wait a minute!” Juliar interrupted, so loudly that both women stared. Juliar himself looked startled at his own outburst. “My apologies, Vedi Sharanis, but Miska's not crazy! And she doesn't lie. I've watched her do ... incredible things. I don't understand either, but just because we don't understand something doesn't mean it's impossible!"
"Juliar, you're shouting."
"I'm sorry, Vedi Sharanis. But..."
"Juliar, you were there. Tell me: did you, at any point, see Miska disappear?"
"No, but..."
"Do you realize how sick she was last night?"
"Yes, but..."
Miska cut him off. “I never said I disappeared, Elder Sharanis."
"Child, you were delirious! Nurse Dannae was terrified—she says you stopped breathing entirely at one point. I was foolish to let you leave the Temple in the first place. You'll have to stay here, at least until after the Festival."
"I'm not sick now, Elder Sharanis.” Miska kept her voice low.
"There's more to it than that. Doria tells me that on the way here, she saw wormwood hung over the doors of at least three houses."
Juliar looked blank, but Miska understood.
"To keep ‘Imps’ away,” she said.
Vedi Sharanis nodded. “Superstitious nonsense, of course. But rumors are spreading, and gossip. I think this is the safest place for you, right now."
"But Lindi ... and her aunt and uncle..."
"I've already talked to them. I don't think you should stay in the girl's dormitory. That would attract too much attention. I know just the place."
"But..."
"Don't look so upset, Miska. Your friend Lindi can visit. You'll be quite comfortable here. You can assist Nurse Dannae in the Infirmary—you were quite good with Lila. You can take lessons with Lila, perhaps. You look close to her age ... How old are you, dear?"
Stony-faced, Miska met the enquiring look. “Forty-three,” she said.
"Now, don't be stubborn. Have you learned the Teachings of the Star Ladies?"
"I've learned the paths of all the stars, seven languages, and the histories of people you don't even believe in,” Miska snapped. “I can mend broken bones, call light from darkness, and deliver babies.” Then, seeing Vedi Sharanis's shocked face, she sighed, smiled a little, and said “But if you truly believe you have something to teach me, I will learn."
Vedi Sharanis opened her mouth to say something, closed it again, and left the room.
"Whew!” Juliar shook his head, looking at her with mixed admiration and alarm. “That was quite a speech. Remember, she thinks you're twelve years old, at the most. Kids just don't talk to Vedi Sharanis like that. Well, most of the time.” He grinned.
"I don't speak to Elders like that, most of the time,” said Miska softly. “But, Juliar, she thinks I'm a liar!” Her left foot twitched.
"No, she thinks you're an impertinent little girl. But she thought much worse of me when I was ... the age she thinks you are.” He stood up slowly. “A High Priestess could never admit it, but I think she admires a little ... impertinence.” Taking up his lion-headed stick, Juliar swept a courtly bow. “Welcome to the House of the Lady, fairest Miska. For now. I'll be your host, guide, and Preventer of Abject Boredom."
"I thought you were the one who was insufferably bored.” Despite herself, Miska felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.
"Ah. You can keep me from being bored, then.” His gray eyes turned serious. “You can start by telling me what you put in your salad. And why. And what you mean by the Second World, and what that has to do with the Steel Thorns."
"It's a place.” Miska shrugged. “Only people who can see Motes can go there. I thought the Impsbane had something to do with it, and I was right. Impsbane makes it easier to go there, but harder to come back. I suppose that's what the Steel Thorns are trying to do."
Juliar mulled this over.
"That's where you went when you healed me ... and Lila. Right?"
"Yes."
"You looked strange then, almost like we could see through you. Not that the others would admit they noticed. That would be a handy trick, for a thief."
"I forget. Some Humans steal.” Miska scowled. “Yes, they could come and go as quietly as you did last night."
Juliar laughed. “I'd hardly call that quiet! I'd only been there a few minutes when you caught me."
"Not then. The second time."
"Second time? Miska, there was no second time. I left."
"That wasn't you I heard in the cupboard, late in the night?"
The young man's face went pale. “I swear I never ... Come on. I want to look at that room, right now. We can't go through the infirmary—I don't want to frighten Lila. I'll show you the other way in."
Years of living in tunnels had given Miska a good head for directions. Even so, the interlocking honeycomb of rooms and halls that made up the Temple was enough to confuse anyone. Even Juliar had to backtrack once before they found the proper mahogany door.
"This one. This wing has a lot of unused acolytes’ cells off it. They're all down that hallway. Here's the room that backs onto Nurse Dannae's wardrobe."
It looked unchanged. Fine dust drifted through pallid sunbeams. Miska sniffed, and sneezed.
"Not so loud! Vedi Sharanis will have me dust the place.” Juliar moved slowly through the room. “No handprints on the desk ... or the windowsills ... This fireplace hasn't been used in ages..."
"No one's walked on this carpet, either.” Miska paced to the center of the room and turned in a slow circle. “Nothing seems out of place. It's as though someone went straight to the secret panel."
"Miska? Juliar?” called Vedi Sharanis's voice.
"Quick, look around. Do you see a book called ‘Stellar Chants and Starsday Hymns'?” Juliar hissed.
"No. Why?"
"I didn't expect you would-it's in my room. But now I can honestly tell Vedi Sharanis we were looking for it in here.” He slipped out into the hallway and past several doorways before exclaiming “Ah! There you are ... Yes, Vedi Sharanis?"
"What are you two doing down here ... Never mind, It's just as well. Miska, I'm having a room made up for you, down here in the Acolytes Wing. It's small, but off the main corridors. You won't be bothered, and it's only a short way from the Infirmary if you should have any ... problems. Just down the hall. Here we are. Go on in."
The room was half the size of the one she'd had in Lindi's house, but surprisingly familiar to Miska.
"This wall is stone!” she exclaimed. “Live stone. I thought this building was all made of wood."
"Most of it is. The High City's not perfectly flat, and the builders had to work around outcroppings. The original Temple was built around one of them, and exp
anded outward.” Vedi Sharanis smiled. “You seem pleased, child. There used to be a tapestry there. I can find another one, so it won't be too cold in here."
"Oh, leave it, please! It's very ... very pretty.” She caught Juliar's look of disbelief, and smiled. Small, plain bed, wooden chair and writing desk, a washstand, a rag rug faded to the color of sand. Of course he wouldn't realize that this little room, with its bits of mica sparkling in the wall, looked almost like home to her.
"At least it has a window on this side.” Juliar leaned on the sill, looking out. “What a sunset! You do have quite a view. Straight down to the harbor. Come look.” He beckoned Miska over, and pointed. “See? The ships with purple sails come from Kivinan. Probably half of them belong to Lindi's family, come to think of it."
"You have such high windows here.” Miska dragged the chair over to the window and clambered onto it to look out. “Look! A seagull just flew by—under us!” She jumped off the chair, and climbed onto the bed to investigate a niche at the head of it. “Why are there holes in the wall?"
"For candles. This is an acolyte's room. Lady Myringa's old room, I believe.” Vedi Sharanis's forehead wrinkled. “Have you had no religious instruction at all?"
"I don't know what that is.” Miska scraped some wax loose from the niche. It was dark blue. “Should I put candles in here? Green ones would be nice."
"You really don't know.” Vedi Sharanis looked at Miska as though she were a new species of moth that had blundered unknowingly into her light. “Juliar, you've assisted with the infants’ class. Will you ... explain things to her? And see if she can assist Nurse Dannae somehow."
"Certainly, Vedi Sharanis,” said Juliar, perfectly straight-faced. As soon as his superior was safely out the door, he laughed outright.
"Explain things to you? You've really turned things upside down. ‘Temple boys’ aren't supposed to teach.” He sat with his staff across his lap, sensitive fingers tracing the whorls of the lion's mane. “She wants me to teach you how to light the right color candles on the right days, when you can make them any color you want. She wants you to roll bandages for Nurse Dannae, when you gave me years of healing in five seconds. Baby lessons. If you'd been here when I was six...” He shook himself like a cat shaking off rain. “Never mind. Don't be too offended. Vedi Sharanis is good, and wise. She's just never met anyone like you."