She was drawing one or two stares. The flying cloak and staff were important tools–assets that she was reluctant to dispense with. Nevertheless, it might be wise to acquire clothing that would allow her to blend in a little more, at least when she happened to be in a populated area. As they turned a corner, she stopped dead in her tracks. Coming toward her were two individuals in distinctive blue suits with oddly shaped silver staffs slung across their backs. Drach.
Shann grabbed Rael by the arm and pulled him back around the corner. “What are you doing?” he protested.
“Shhhh, didn’t you see them?”
He pulled his arm away. “See who?”
“The drach. They’re here.”
“Well, of course they’re here,” Rael said. “They protect people from the beasts that live in the hills, remember?”
“But they might be looking for us,” she hissed. Rael turned away from her and rounded the corner once more, eluding her grasp. “Stop. Where are you going?”
She threw her hands up in the air and ran after him. The blue coated watchkeepers were standing outside a glass-fronted clothing shop. They regarded the tall boy and the girl in the black cloak curiously. One said something to the other, but they made no move to approach. When she and Rael had passed by and were out of earshot she let her breath out slowly. “That was close.” She smacked him on the shoulder. “Why did you do that?”
“I told you before. I’m not running from them.”
“But what if they should recognize us? We can’t afford to be taken back–not now.”
He rounded on her. “Look, Shann. I’m not like you. I can’t do all this cloak and dagger stuff.” He looked her up and down, realising what he had just said. “Sorry, no offence.”
She looked down at the ground. “No, I’m the one that’s sorry–for involving you in all this.”
His face brightened. “That’s all right. If I hadn’t come with you, I would never have discovered a major ancient site or opened up a whole new area of lodestone technology. And…I enjoy your company.” She had no opportunity to reply. “We’re here.”
They were before a wooden door in a side street off the main thoroughfare, away from the bustle of townsfolk and the hum of passing phaetons. Rael knocked lightly. The door opened, and a slight woman with silver grey hair and a harried look answered. When she caught sight of Rael, her frown only deepened. “Rael? What are you doing here?”
“Hello, Mother,” he said.
~
Shann was growing more perplexed by the moment. Here was a mother who had not seen her son in…how long? Yet there were no cries of welcome, no hugs, no happy smiles. She felt as if she had suddenly barged in on a solemn commemoration of hariath-sharana, or whatever ritual these people observed for those that had died. The woman led them through a narrow hallway to a sparsely furnished sitting room with plain wooden walls. It was warm, but the atmosphere was distinctly chilly. “This is not a good time.” The woman sounded as if she were rebuking Rael.
“It never is, Mother,” Rael returned. “Where is Father?”
“He’s at the workshop; he should be home soon. Please try not to antagonise him. Work has been difficult of late.” She seemed to notice Shann for the first time and attempted a smile. “Who is your lady friend?”
“She is not my ‘lady friend,’” Rael corrected. “This is Shann. Shann, my mother, Espen.”
Shann bowed slightly, adopting the formal custom of her world. “Greetings and honour be to you, Lady.” Rael’s mother appeared nonplussed.
“Shann is…we are engaged in research,” Rael added by way of explanation.
“I see. Well, best not mention that to your father. You know how he feels about your work.”
Another door opened and another young man entered. He was as tall as Rael, but more filled out. “Rael, what are you doing back here?” he asked.
Rael turned to Shann. “This is my elder brother, Adrak,”
“You never told me you had a brother,” Shann blurted out.
“That’s right,” Adrak said. “He’s ashamed of us and what we do, aren’t you, Rael? He thinks he’s better than us.”
“Th-that’s not true. I…” Rael shrivelled up before her. It was as if he were suddenly back at the observatory, being lectured by Hannath. Shann’s impulse was to take Rael by the arm and leave right away. But they were here for a purpose.
“So this is your girlfriend? Interesting costume. Is that the fashion in Kieroth these days?” Adrak was leering at her in a way that made Shann take an instant dislike to him. She longed to draw her staff weapon and cut him a new smile. “How come a pretty girl like you has taken up with a waster like Rael?”
Rael’s mother intervened. “Please, please don’t fight. Your father will be home soon.”
Adrak ignored her. “Why are you here, Rael?”
Rael looked trapped. “I…I just–”
“We need to borrow an avionic,” Shann broke in.
“Why? Where are you going?” Adrak demanded.
Shann had a moment of inspiration. “If we can borrow the aircraft, we will be gone tomorrow morning.”
Adrak shrugged. “Good enough for me. Personally, I’ll be content to see you on your way. But you’ll have to ask Father. Well, I must go. Some of us have real work to do.” He turned on his heel and left.
Rael’s mother stood rooted to the spot, her eyes flicking back and forth. She looked like a trapped animal. “I…I’m sorry. Your father will be back soon. I’m sorry.” She retreated from the room in disarray.
Shann tried to face Rael but his eyes were still fixed on the floor. “What’s going on? What’s wrong with your family?”
Rael met her earnest gaze. “Nothing…everything…I’m sorry, Shann, it may have been a mistake to come here. I don’t know that I can face Father again.”
She placed an arm on his shoulder and smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ll face him together.”
<><><><><>
Chapter 24
“You want to what?” The big man rose out of his chair, looking like a vara-cat ready to pounce. “You want to borrow our avionic? Are you mad, boy?”
Rael looked as if he was trying to make himself as small as possible. “No…you see, I…”
Adrak rose from his stool to stand beside his father. “Ask him what he did with the avionic he came here in.”
“I…there was a-an accident,” Rael stammered.
The older man made an unpleasant sound in his throat. “Did you hear that? An ‘accident’. You certainly have your share of accidents, don’t you, boy? Everything you touched when you were here was an accident.” It was horrible–like watching an animal being baited. Yet that was not the worst of it. In the eye of the maelstrom, Rael’s mother sat, looking down at the hands folded in her lap as if they didn’t belong to her. Saying nothing. Shann’s sympathy for the woman’s plight was rapidly being replaced by a growing feeling of anger at her cowardice, that she could sit and do nothing while her son was being torn to pieces. The old man continued to rant. “You are useless, boy. You never made the effort to learn any practical skill. You were content to live off the rest of us while you pursued your high and mighty ideas. You never gave anything back to this family. Now you come here making demands?” He glared at the boy from beneath thick brows. His tail swished back and forth. “Well, say something.”
“I’ve had enough of this.” Shann stood up. “Come on, Rael, we’re going.”
“Shann, we need–”
“We’re wasting our time. There’s nothing for us here.” She headed for the door. Rael followed meekly.
“So you’re just going to run out on your family responsibilities again,” Rael’s father called after him. “You’re no good for anything, boy.”
Shann turned to face him. Thick set and barrel-chested, with arms like thick hawsers, the grizzled old man towered over her menacingly. Shann planted her feet wide in a defensive posture. I’ve faced worse things than you.
>
Rael’s expression turned from one of hurt to one of alarm. “Shann, don’t…”
But she was not going to be denied. “You. You are his father? You should be ashamed of yourself. You don’t even know who he is. You are jealous of him because he’s smarter than you are. He is kind and compassionate, and one day he’s going to be a great man–greater than anything you could ever hope to be. You don’t deserve him. None of you do.” She turned away and headed for the door. “Come on. Rael, let’s get out of here.”
The boy followed her out into the street. It was cold and the stars were out. She gazed up at them. What were once terrifying points of light had now almost become familiar friends. She began to retrace their steps.
Rael caught up to her. “Where are we going?”
“For a walk,” she said. “To clear my head.”
They strode between lambent pools cast by streetlights, and then out into the main thoroughfare. It was almost deserted. “I’m sorry,” she heard Rael say. “I should never have taken you there. I thought…”
She placed a hand on his arm. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll make it somehow. We don’t need them.”
He smiled down at her. “You were amazing.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t think anyone has ever spoken to my father like that…ever.”
“Well, it’s about time somebody did,” she retorted. “He’s rude and abusive. Sorry, but I had to say something.” She picked a direction and began walking. “I don’t understand how you ever managed to live there.”
Rael matched her stride. “It wasn’t always like that. I can remember some happy times when I was younger. But Father’s work began to go sour. He became more and more frustrated. In time he started taking his frustrations out on my mother and me. He was right about one thing–I have no practical skills. I tried to help at the workshop, but…I don’t know. I made a mess of everything I touched, and that just seemed to make him angrier. At the same time Mother became anxious–withdrawn. It was as if she was dying a little more every day. Then something unexpected happened. Without my knowing it, the educator had sent my work to the Scientific Directorate in Kieroth. I was suddenly invited to take up a position as Hannath’s apprentice. Father strongly objected to my leaving. I almost turned it down.”
“Why didn’t you?” Shann asked.
“It was Mother. She came to me and begged me to leave. I remember how she clung to me and wept. That same afternoon I left for Kieroth. I haven’t been back–before today, that is.”
Shann smiled grimly. “When it comes to family, it looks as if we’re both on our own.”
“You mean because you’re trapped in Skell?”
“I don’t remember my father and mother,” she said. “They were taken by Keltar when I was very young. I don’t even remember their faces clearly. The relatives who took me in were kind enough, though. Gall was everything to me that a mother could be. I miss her a great deal.”
“I’m sure you’ll see them again before too long,” Rael reassured her.
“Poltann is dead,” she declared. “He was executed by the Prophet’s men because I intervened to help Lyall. When I left, Gall was missing. I don’t even know whether she’s still alive.” Lyall and Alondo were like family. I lost them, too. I never seem to be able to hang on to anyone.
“I’m sorry.” He paused for reflection. “Come on, let’s get you out of the cold. There are one or two boarding houses in this direction. We can stay there for tonight. We’ll worry about the rest tomorrow.”
“Fine.” She pulled the cloak tighter around her neck and followed him up the empty snowblown street.
~
For the first time in ages, Shann felt like a whole person. She smiled as she reflected on the miraculously restorative effects of a warm bath and a hot meal. She had luxuriated in the rising steam, feeling the aches and pains from her exertions of the past few days melt away, until Rael had finally banged on the door, demanding to know if she was still alive in there. Supper was communal with the other guests, and consisted of a delicious broth, similar to that prepared by Meira at the observatory; slices of meat that Shann insisted was raleketh, although their jovial cook claimed not to know what a raleketh was; the habitual black bread that they seemed to serve with every meal, and a selection of vegetables. Their host appeared to have an inexhaustible supply of amusing anecdotes, so that it was a challenge to find sufficient time to chew and swallow amongst all the laughter. However, that didn’t stop her eating enough for twelve people. At last, her stomach insisted that she was finally full.
She had just recovered from a punch line at the end of a story about some wandering traders, when she turned around and noticed that Rael had slipped out. She glanced at the timepiece on the wall. Rael had taught her how to read those devices. It was late, and she realised that she was tired. She excused herself and went up to her room. She let herself in and saw that an elegant robe had been laid out on her bed. Rael was always considerate–that was one thing she liked about him. She changed into it. It was loose fitting, yet warm. She hugged herself, revelling in the way it caressed her skin. Tomorrow morning they would have to set about obtaining another avionic from somewhere. That could take a while, if it were even possible. Her black tunic and trousers were being cleaned and her flying cloak was safely folded away in her pack. Replacement clothing. She knew there was something she meant to discuss with Rael, but with everything that had been going on, she had never quite gotten around to mentioning it. If they were going to be here a while, then she should ask him to get her something that would help her blend in a little easier.
There was a door adjoining their rooms. She went to it, raised her hand to knock, and hesitated. He could well be asleep by now. She knocked lightly and heard a muffled “come in” from the other side of the door. She entered. At the far end of the room, a large board was propped up on an easel. Rael was scribbling rapidly, the same way she remembered him doing on the walls of the ancient tower.
She watched the curious marks and symbols flow from the end of his marker. “What are you doing?” she asked.
Rael stopped his flow, considered the board for a moment, then went back and rubbed out some of the marks with his sleeve. He turned and smiled at her. “Hello, Shann. Is everything all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. What are you doing?” she repeated.
“I’m carrying on my calculations from before. Trying to determine what destructive force a large lodestone device might have, and how to go about disarming it.”
“And you’re doing that now? After all we went through today?”
Rael scratched his head. “Believe it or not, it helps me to relax.” He went back to his scrawl.
“How is it coming?” she asked at length.
“Not very well,” he confessed. “It occurred to me that we might not be able to find the Chandara, or the device Annata concealed might turn out to be missing or damaged after all this time. I thought that if I could determine a method of disarming such a weapon safely, I might be able to recreate her device.”
“You can do that?”
“It’s a machine, Shann, nothing more. Any device can be built if you understand the principles involved and have the right materials. However, right now I can’t see a way to do it. Puncturing the weapon or causing a leak would be too dangerous–you would be more likely to set off the explosion than stop it.”
Shann cast an eye over the confusing hodgepodge of glyphs and diagrams. “I wish I could help you.” She sat on the bed and watched him for a while, willing the symbols to reveal their meaning. But the more she looked at them, the more confusing they became. Finally, she stood up. “You have work to do. I should go.”
“No, stay please,” he said. “Talk to me.”
Shann sat back on the bed obediently. All right, what should she talk about? She did not want to bring up family again. She felt all talked out on that subject, and it seemed to her that bringing up unpleasan
t memories would only serve to make his task harder. Lodestone. She knew little enough on the subject, but…“Where I come from, it is said that the original lodestones did not fall from the sky, but were native to our world. They are of a kind that always points south.”
Rael did not look up from his writing. “We call them magnets.”
“Mag-nets,” she repeated. “Well, after a while it was discovered that some metals, like iron, could be made into lodestone and used to make wayfinders. Travellers in my world use them to find their way. I remember being told that the process is also reversible–that original lodestone can be converted back to ordinary iron.”
“That’s true,” Rael said. “If you heat it past a certain temperature. Or if you use an alternating magnetic field.”
“So you can turn iron into lodestone and back again,” she concluded.
The boy’s eyes flicked over the board, checking his shorthand. He appeared to be only half listening. “I suppose so.”
“So could we do the same here?”
He turned towards her and shook his head. “What…pardon?”
“Could we do the same here?” She saw the confusion in his expression. “The Prophet’s weapon is basically like the lodestone grenade. It works by combining lodestone gas with ordinary gas, right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” he said.
“So could we do the same thing to the lodestone gas that you can do with a mag-net? Turn it back into iron?”
Rael shook his head. “No, no…Look, Shann, magnets and meteorite lodestone may share the same name, but they’re quite different. Meteorite lodestone can’t be turned into ordinary matter.”
“Why not?” Shann persisted. “What makes them behave differently from one another?”
Rael put a hand to his chin. He looked deep in thought. The interlude was so long, she began to think she must have said something wrong. Suddenly he began. “We believe it has to do with gravity waves...Gravity waves.”
He was no longer talking to her. He turned back to the board and began frantically rubbing out whole sections of his work with his sleeve–attacking it as if it were a mortal enemy. She watched in astonishment as he began again, labouring as if he were possessed. She did not dare to speak for fear of breaking his concentration. At length, he finished with a flourish, drawing a circle around one group of icons. He took a step back and examined his handiwork. “Remember when I said before that you would make a good scientist? I really think you ought to consider a career in science, Shann. You’re a genius.”
The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) Page 56