~
“I can’t believe it. You mean to tell me that you let Shann go down there on her own?” Alondo was sitting up now, squinting in the early morning sunlight. His scarlet coat looked dusty and worn, but he was remarkably recovered, thanks to Boxx. And he was demanding answers.
Keris felt as if she were being accused of a crime she hadn’t committed. “I did not ‘let her go’. She went before anyone could stop her. She was…upset. I tried to reason with her that it was hopeless but she wouldn’t listen. The next thing I knew, she had gone after Lyall on her own.”
Boxx was sitting on its hind limbs, watching the exchange between the two Kelanni curiously. Alondo was not letting up on the interrogation. “How do you know she went underground? She might have just gone off somewhere.”
“The girl took the lamp from my pack. Besides she was… determined. You know how she is when she gets that way; she doesn’t listen to anyone.” Keris was rapidly losing patience. “Look, every moment we stay here is dangerous. We have to leave. Boxx, can Alondo travel?”
The Chandara replied in its childish tone, “Alondo Can Travel.”
“Then we must leave, now.”
Alondo managed to stand with effort. He met her squarely. “I am not leaving them behind.”
Boxx’s eyes were like black beads, almost pleading. “The Key. You Cannot. You Must Not Leave Lyall And Shann. It Is The Key. It Is The Key.”
Keris had no idea what the Chandara was babbling about, but she had no time for its ramblings. She gave a massive sigh. “All right then. We will get you and Boxx to a safe place. Then I will come back and go down there after her.”
Alondo’s fierce determination melted as quickly as it had arisen. “You are going alone?”
“Yes, well, acts of rank stupidity seem to be the norm for this group, don’t they? Besides, you are in no condition to go.”
“At least take Boxx with you,” Alondo urged. “They might be injured. Boxx can help.”
It made sense. Keris addressed the little creature. “Will you come with me to look for Shann?”
“I Will Come,” it squeaked.
“Good. Then it’s agreed. Let’s pack up so that we can move Alondo somewhere safe.” Keris turned away and hurriedly began assembling her gear. A shout. Alondo’s voice. Keris reached instinctively for her staff, but even as she did so, a part of her registered that the shout was not one of alarm, but of something else. Elation? She looked to where Alondo was pointing. Out of the clouds of wafting steam and smoke a miracle was stumbling. It was unmistakably Lyall, his fair hair dishevelled and his clothes torn, supported by the tiny figure of Shann.
Keris ran towards them, then stopped several paces off, adopting her stoic stance, staff upright, expression drained of emotion. It was as if the arrival of Lyall and Shann had suddenly restored balance. Equilibrium. She was herself once more. Detached. In control. No more were people looking to her for leadership, demanding that she solve all of their problems. Keris stood apart from the celebrations, letting the outflow of feelings from the others wash over her like surf crashing against a granite coast and then ebbing to leave her intact. Secure. Indomitable.
Alondo had already covered the distance to Lyall and Shann, all thoughts of his lingering injuries forgotten. He was feeling their arms and their faces in an apparent effort to confirm that his eyes were not playing tricks. “Are you all right? How…how did you get out?”
Shann helped Lyall to a sitting position. Boxx was bobbing up and down. “It was all quite easy, really.” Lyall touched his injured leg experimentally. “After Shann found me and I regained consciousness, we followed the air currents. Eventually we found a shaft with a fairly gentle incline and crawled our way to the surface. We heard the serpent, but never saw it again.” He looked down at Shann. “I owe her my life.” Shann looked down at the ground. Alondo was beaming at them both.
Keris continued to stand guard. Checking the perimeter. Watching over them like a parent, keeping children safe from their own foolishness.
<><><><><>
Chapter 25
It was the most breathtaking sight that Shann had ever seen. It seemed to go on forever. Shades of crimson and azure blue, topped with myriads of whitecaps, stretched to the very horizon. Waves reared up, breaking against the shoreline. Flocks of birds swooped in and out of the surf, their shrieking cries drifting upwards to Shann’s ears.
“The Aronak Sea,” Alondo announced theatrically, with a wave of his hand. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Shann’s eyes were wide as dinner plates. “It seems to go on forever.”
“Maybe it does,” Lyall speculated. “Over there, some way below the horizon, lies The Great Barrier of Storms. If the sea extends beyond the Barrier, then who knows how far it goes?”
They were strolling down a chine which led through a meadow of yellow and purple grasses. Alondo was on Shann’s left, with Lyall to her right. Keris and Boxx followed a little way behind.
The party’s spirits were high. Keris had led them to a steep but navigable cut through the eastern wall of the canyon, so that they cleared the Pits in less than a day. Boxx had done an amazing job of treating everyone’s injuries, although it pronounced itself extremely tired afterwards–the act of healing seemed to sap its energies. Lyall had even carried it for a while. It seemed fully recovered now, as it trotted next to Keris.
The change in the air was palpable. Instead of oppressive heat and sulphurous steam, there was fresh air and cool sea breezes. Shann was mesmerised by the immensity of the sea. She pointed at a distant shape moving over the water. “Is that…a ship?”
“It certainly is,” Lyall declared. “Ships ply up and down the coast between Leota, Sakara and Kalath-Kar, as well as many of the smaller settlements. They carry everything from moba root to gold.”
“We will be at Sakara by this time tomorrow,” Keris announced from behind.
Alondo whipped his hat off and threw it into the air. “Whoo hoo!” He ran to retrieve his hat and settled it back on his head.
Shann chuckled. “You’ve been there before, I take it?”
Alondo nodded. “Lyall and I spent some time there a few years ago. It’s probably my favourite place in all of Kelanni. You’re going to love it.”
Keris snorted. Shann, Lyall and Alondo all turned round to look at her. “It’s a lawless place,” she retorted, “a den of thieves and cutpurses.”
“That is not true,” Alondo countered, “the lawless part, I mean. They have very strict laws in Sakara. And the Asoli are always there to keep order.”
“Asoli?” Shann enquired.
“Yes, they’re the city watch. You’ll notice them right off. They have green jackets and large plumed hats–almost as nice as mine.” Alondo grinned expansively.
“The Asoli are the eyes and ears of the Guilds,” Lyall explained. “The Guilds run the port city. There is an uneasy peace between the Guild Master and the Prophet in Chalimar. The Keltar and the Prophet’s soldiers could probably overrun Sakara and the lightly armed Asoli would not be able to do much about it, but holding on to the port would require a major investment of troops and resources that are currently being used to secure and refine the lodestone ore. So the Guilds pay a healthy stipend to the Prophet, in return for which they are largely left alone.”
“The Asoli are a joke,” Keris cut in. “Ask him what would happen if they saw someone steal your purse. Go ahead.”
“Redistribution of wealth is legal in Sakara,” Alondo returned, without waiting for the question.
Keris scowled. “Redistribution? You mean theft.”
“Theft…commerce…it’s all the same really.” Shann looked puzzled. “Look,” Alondo continued, “If I make something and sell it for more than it cost me to make, then that’s a kind of stealing.”
“That’s profit, not stealing,” Keris corrected.
“It all amounts to the same thing,” Alondo shot back. “If Shann does a day’s work for me and earns a
quarter astria, but I only pay her an eighth, it’s no different than if I went to her at the end of the day and stole the eighth from her. In Sakara the only difference is that they recognise all dishonesty for what it is and declare it to be legal. I have always found the fact that the Sakarans are so honest about their dishonesty to be quite refreshing.”
Keris shook her head. “You’re not even making any sense.”
“Indeed,” Lyall agreed. “That’s all a part of his enduring charm.”
“Why, thank you,” Alondo removed his hat and bowed expansively. “Actually, theft, as you call it, is highly regulated by the Guilds, along with all forms of commerce. Stealing from children, the elderly or any vulnerable people is strictly forbidden, as are all forms of violence. No-one ever gets attacked in Sakara. I doubt the good citizens of Chalimar or Corte or Lind could say the same, especially when the Keltar pay a visit.” He looked back at Keris pointedly.
“Keris is no longer Keltar,” Lyall reminded him.
Alondo grinned from ear to ear. “Then she should love it in Sakara.”
~
Shann sat by the fire with her arms wrapped around her knees, looking out to sea. Ail-Mazzoth’s gentle light lent a tinge of pale pink to the breakers. The red sun sat low behind her in the western sky, dominating the night.
Alondo’s silhouette approached and sat down beside her. They sat in silence for a while. Finally, the musician spoke. “Enjoying the view on your own?”
“Yes,” she returned.
“Pretend I’m not here then.”
Shann smiled as she felt the cool onshore breeze and smelled the freshness of the ocean. “I’d love to sail in a ship.”
“Who are you talking to?”
“No-one,” she replied innocently.
“I see.” Alondo splayed his arms out behind him and stretched his legs out in front. The dune on which they were sitting was peppered with tufts of purple grass, running down to the beach. Small creatures scuttled across the wet sand, busy about their night errands. “Boxx says we are due to get another message day after tomorrow.”
“Really?” She unclasped her arms and turned to stare at him, all thoughts of their little charade forgotten.
“Yes…well I’m pretty sure at any rate. You know what having a conversation with a Chandara is like. I ask it, ‘What is the time of the next message from Annata?’ And it says ‘It Is The Time Of The Next Message,’ or something like that and then we go round and round for a while and I ask again, ‘How many days to the next message?’ And it says ‘Two,’ so I say, ‘You mean two days?’ And it says, ‘Two, Two, Two.’” He was doing a fair approximation of Boxx’s thin, high squeak, and Shann was giggling uncontrollably. “Of course, it could have just been a Chandara mating call for all I know, but I think it was trying to tell us that we can expect the next communication soon.”
“I wonder what Chandara mating habits are? Perhaps someone should ask it.” Shann chuckled.
“I nominate you,” Alondo countered. “Anyhow, we can’t do much more till then, so Lyall has a surprise planned for tomorrow.”
Shann’s eyes grew round. “What is it?”
“Can’t say. It’s a secret.” Shann looked at him doe eyed. “Well, all right, since you forced it out of me, we’re having a celebration at an inn near the wharf, The Calandra.
Her eyes lit up, then her face fell almost immediately. “But…I haven’t anything to wear.”
“I wouldn’t worry,” Alondo confided, “It’s not that kind of celebration.”
“Oh,” Shann responded, not entirely understanding his meaning. She grew quiet, as her main preoccupation pushed itself to the forefront of her thoughts yet again. “Alondo?”
“Yes?”
“What do we do if Annata doesn’t contact us?”
“You have to have faith, Shann.”
She sighed. “I’m afraid I’ve never been very religious.”
“I wasn’t talking about that kind of faith–although there is a place for that. I meant faith in the people around you, those you work with, who want the same things you do…like Keris.” Alondo flashed a sideways glance as if he had thrown a ball and wanted to see if she would catch it.
Shann was staring out across the sea once more. “She would have left him to die.”
“You mean Lyall?” Alondo followed her gaze out to sea as if he were seeking the same answers as she was. “Did you know that she was preparing to go down there with Boxx to get you when you two turned up?”
Shann felt the old resentment welling up inside her. This is Alondo. He thinks well of everyone. “I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true, Shann. I was out of it, as you know. It was her idea to go after you. She was going to go alone. I persuaded her to take Boxx. Then you and Lyall appeared out of nowhere.” He frowned. “You know, Keris was right. As Keltar, she is trained to think tactically in any action, to assess the odds. The odds said that Lyall should have been dead, that any attempt to rescue him would only put more lives at risk. However,” he put his arm around her shoulder, “what she doesn’t know–what you proved –is that sometimes, love and friendship can beat the odds.”
A tear rolled down Shann’s cheek as they sat in silence together, listening to the gentle soughing of the dimly sunlit sea.
~
Sakara. A heady perfume of salt, sweat and spice. The creaking of masts. The gentle lapping of water against the quayside. Gundir barking. Children chasing each other through a maze of oddly shaped crates. Weather-worn sailors and thieves jostling with noble women and grandees. Gaudy merchants proffering exotic articles from beneath the shelter of brightly coloured awnings. Birds wheeling overhead, squabbling for scraps. Shann’s senses were overcome by the rush of sensations. Sakara was Life–raw, unalloyed, unpretentious.
The party strolled across the wharf. Barques and luggers were laid to, side by side, their masts crammed together like an offshore forest. Alondo took in the scene with a sweep of his hand. “Well,” he grinned at Shann, “what do you think?”
“It’s...amazing,” she replied honestly. She pointed to a tall figure in a green jacket and large plumed hat, who seemed to be watching over the goings on at the docks like a hungry perridon. “Is that one of them?”
“One of the Asoli, yes,” Alondo affirmed. “Don’t worry. They won’t bother anyone unless they spot an infraction of the commerce laws.”
Keris had been watching over Boxx, fending off the prying looks of onlookers with her own fierce stare. The curiosity seekers scurried away, suddenly recalling some life or death errand. She turned to Lyall anxiously. “I’m not sure this place is safe for Boxx.”
Lyall regarded the Chandara, who was standing on its hind limbs, watching the hustle and bustle with its head cocked to one side. “I’m sure it will be fine. People are bound to be inquisitive–the overwhelming majority will never have seen a Chandara before. But remember, all forms of violence are strictly forbidden here. Besides, this is a very cosmopolitan city. Folk are used to sights that are out of the ordinary.”
“Kelanni Live Close Here. Like Chandara In The Great Tree.” Boxx’s chirping voice sounded wistful, homesick.
Lyall bent down to address the creature directly. “Boxx, how many days till the next message from Annata?”
“One,” it responded confidently.
Lyall drew himself erect again, “Well we can’t do much until then. So later on, after some sightseeing, I thought we might make a night of it.”
“At the Calandra,” Shann finished.
Lyall’s eyes narrowed. He looked from Shann to Alondo and back again. “Yes, at the Calandra. I see our musician friend’s tongue has been wagging again.”
“She forced it out of me,” Alondo pleaded.
“I’m sure she did.” Lyall’s face was serious, but his blue eyes had a twinkle in them.
Keris’ forehead was creased. “I assume that is a drinking establishment? I think we should avoid doing anything to attract
attention to ourselves. In any case, I don’t drink; neither does Boxx. And the girl is too young.”
Shann shot the older woman a look of pure resentment. Fortunately, Lyall cut in before she could respond. “Nonsense. If she is old enough to save my life, then she’s old enough for a mug of horge. As for Boxx, it might enjoy liquor for all we know. I don’t recall anyone having asked it. You are welcome to come with us. You can drink plain water if you like and make sure we don’t embarrass ourselves too much.”
Shann felt a wicked sense of satisfaction at seeing Keris put in her place. Whatever tomorrow held in store, she was going to enjoy this evening. Perhaps it’s time for a new outfit, after all? Smiling brightly, she hooked her arm into Alondo’s and led him off towards the brightly coloured stalls.
~
The Calandra was set in an imposing four storey terrace, fronting the wharf area. Shann had learned that Calandra was the name of a famous ship, captained by a certain Arval, who seemed to have more stories, exploits, anecdotes and downright tall tales attributed to him than any person could reasonably accomplish in a single lifetime. Shann was seriously coming to doubt whether such an individual had ever really existed, but his ship was depicted on a large board outside the inn’s entrance, as if testifying to the truth of the claims.
The inside of the Calandra was big, much bigger than the Wayfarer in Corte. The spacious seating area had an air of flamboyance and frippery that was in stark contrast to the plainness and austerity of hostelries within the Prophet’s area of influence. Ornate bronze lamps set in rich wood panelling cast a warm glow over the eclectic mix of patrons. Waitresses in blue cote-hardies sailed between tables like carracks in full sail, balancing trays piled with plates of food and steaming mugs of horge. The noise level was pleasantly rowdy.
The party were bivouacked at a corner table–Keris had insisted. The dark haired woman sat in her traditional dark colours with her back to the wall, eyes flicking from one individual to another. She looked as if she were picking out targets. Shann was dressed in a light blue gown, drawn in at the waist and swept to the floor. It was the prettiest, most impractical and easily the most expensive garment she had ever worn in her life. Alondo was seated next to Shann, his crimson suit and hat now cleaned and pressed. He whispered in her ear every so often, sending the girl into fits of giggles. Boxx was perched on a stool next to Keris, sipping from a mug of horge. As it quaffed, its mouth rippled in a way that Shann found hysterically funny.
The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) Page 27