Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One

by Tania Johansson

  He led me to his sitting room. Large plush cushions covered the floor and the ceiling had a sky light in the centre, allowing the cheerful sunlight to brighten the room. He put a kettle of water on the boil and gestured for me to have a seat. The smell of herbs transported me back to the day I had arrived home from my Seeking. So much had changed since then…

  He handed my tea to me and sat down across from me. “How long are you staying for?”

  I shrugged. “A few more days.”

  He nodded seemingly deep in thought. “You seem troubled about something Kadin.” His dark eyes gave the impression of looking beyond the surface. I found myself idly wondering how old he was. I did not have a single memory of him looking a day younger than he did sitting there before me.

  “I do not yet know if I have reason to be troubled,” I said eventually.

  He took a sip of tea, his eyes looking over the top of the cup at me. “You have always shown good instinct. Some have called it stubbornness, but you tend to be right. Tell me.”

  I realised I had my hand in my pocket, absently rubbing the sentinel, so I pulled my hand out. “Do you know of Dhillion? What he did?”

  He pursed his lips into a thin white line. “That was most troubling, but I do believe he learned a hard lesson through it. From what I have gathered, he devotes his time to his family, doting on both Trissa and little Griaty. That was a long time ago now, though. Why does this trouble you now?” He looked at me with concern.

  “I guess it is not just that. I was talking with Brant last night and he was the one who told me this tale. I suppose that what is bothering me more is that when I saw him today, he did not seem to remember any of our conversation. Although we had a drink at the Sprouting Fountain inn, I did not think he had been drunk. He must have stayed after, because why else would he not recall anything. I am not even talking about the specifics of our conversation. He does not even remember seeing me at all! Prea does not think he has a problem with drink, but I am worried.”

  He nodded, his hands folded as if in prayer and his chin resting on the tips of his fingers. “I do not believe he is an alcoholic. Drink is not the only thing that can make a man forget,” he added enigmatically. I raised my eyebrows at him in question, but he did not elaborate. “What of your dreams, Kadin? What do they tell you?” His eyes lit up in anticipation.

  I looked at him perplexed. Where did that come from? “What do you mean?”

  He looked at me searchingly before answering. “Simply that your dreams often gives voice to what your conscious mind withholds from you. What have you dreamt?”

  “Last night I thought I heard a Dyrrendrel howling, but then I started thinking that it must have been a dream. Is that what you mean?”

  A slow smile crept over his face. “Only you know what you dream, but what you need to work out is what it means. Do you think the Dark Children and Twisted Ones are roaming again?”

  I shook my head. “No, of course not. It is not possible. Without Rakadamon they cannot be.”

  He nodded. “Yes of course, not without him. I cannot tell you what they mean. This you must work out for yourself. My advice would be to mind your dreams, boy. And mayhap speak to Markai of hers as well.”

  I did not know where this had come from, but what I was sure of was that it would be pure foolishness to ignore the Cha’s advice.

  I left his house with the events of the last few days spinning through my head, circling back around to my too-real-for-comfort dream. Unable to wait, I called Markai. It took her some time to appear, but that had become the norm. She knew it would not be an urgent situation.

  I hugged her tightly. Her silky black coat was warm. I had not seen her for many cycles of the moon and the separation was difficult. The physical contact between us produced the familiar sense of flames running across my skin and ice coursing through my veins. It was invigorating.

  You are troubled and it is more than your Moma’s passing. You know she is in a better place now.

  I started walking and she fell into step beside me. We had been bonded for such a long time that I could not remember what it was like without her awareness nestled in my head. I sometimes forgot that I alone could see and hear her unless she chose to reveal herself to others. I knew I would look strange to others; seemingly walking and talking to myself, but everyone knew about her and so would not trouble me with questions.

  I told her about Brant’s strange behaviour, my dream and the Cha’s advice. She listened carefully and mulled it over for a while before speaking again.

  I have had a few dreams of someone waiting in ambush for me. I get the feeling of danger lurking. I search for the source, yet when I think I have it pinpointed, it disappears. As though a Qupari brother is calling me from the forest, but when you look, there is no one there. I did not think much of it.

  “Do you now think these dreams mean something?”

  Her long tail flicked and whipped in agitation. Perhaps. We should take heed of the Cha’s advice. I think we must walk lightly.

  “What do you think of Brant’s behaviour?” Through our bond, I could feel a ripple of worry.

  I think something odd may be going on. It might not be that he tried to deceive you, but be careful of him.

  I sighed. It felt like I was back to when I was starting out on this journey and Brant was an unwelcome and untrustworthy addition.

  After a pause, she added, I see you still carry the sentinel.

  I realised I had been rubbing at it like a talisman and purposefully took my hand from my pocket.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  I decided to take Aliana up on her offer of tea, except I needed to speak to her alone. I found her at the market and arranged for her to come over to Moma’s house when she finished her shopping. “I will go home to fetch Brant and then we can both come and catch up!” she said excitedly.

  “Actually, I would prefer if it was just you on your own.” Her face dropped a bit, but she nodded.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  It was later than I had thought it would be when she finally arrived. “Sorry for the hour, but I got caught up in some work and lost all track of time!” she said, but it was obvious that she had been wavering over indecision on whether to come or not.

  Alathaya came out and greeted the other woman warmly. “Tea?”

  She smiled, relief evident on her face. Did she think I had meant to see her alone for some unsavoury reason? And she had come anyway?

  “Yes please.” She took a seat at the table.

  Alathaya placed the steaming mug in front of her and Trissa held it up to sip daintily from it. “I must admit I am now very curious as to why you wanted me to come over on my own.”

  Thaya stood behind Aliana and she rolled her eyes at the implication that she had thought there was an illicit reason for this visit. I had to force myself to keep from smiling.

  I spread my hands on the table. “Has Brant been behaving strangely?”

  She sighed, but whether in relief or annoyance I could not tell. “You are asking because he said he could not remember last night?” She did not pause for an answer. “No, he has not. As any man, he does overindulge in drink on occasion, but he does not have a problem if that is what you are implying!” Her voice had risen as her agitation grew.

  “I do not mean it like that,” I said. “I was just surprised that he did not remember any of our conversation. We had spoken for some time, he even told me about his recent visit to see Seran. He…” she held up a hand.

  “What are you talking about?” She asked. “He has not been to see them in a good number of cycles-of-the-seasons. The last time we were there was soon after Trissa had found out she was with child.”

  I sat with my mouth half open, but before I could respond, Alathaya did. “That is not possible. He would not have known about what Dhillion had done or how he had changed because of it. He must have been there afterwards. Perhaps you have forgotten…it is a long time ago now.”

  A
liana was shaking her head vigorously in denial. “He could have heard this from someone else. I knew of that story from a friend who had heard it from another friend.” Her face was indignant.

  “Why would he have told me that he had been there then?” I asked. “Why lie about it?”

  She smiled, but it did not reach her eyes, and rose from her seat. “You must have misunderstood. Or else he had already been in his cups. He would have no reason to lie and I do not appreciate your going behind his back to question me like this.”

  I tried to soften my tone. “I did not mean to cause offense. We were merely concerned for him.”

  “I thank you for that concern, but I can assure you, Brant is fine. If you need to convince yourself any further, I advise you speak directly to him. No doubt I will see you around.” She inclined her head and all but stormed out the door.

  Thaya looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Brant was not drunk when I spoke to him. So either he was lying to me, or he has lied to her.”

  She nodded. “Either way, it seems strange.”

  “Where are the children?”

  She pointed vaguely into a direction. “They needed to get out and Lilana could do with some fresh air as well, so she took them into the woods. I expect Riaph will be trying to catch something for our dinner.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Their laughter and joking drifted toward me through the trees and lifted my spirits. Myria had a rabbit strung onto her belt, teasing Riaph that he had not yet caught anything. I was relieved to hear that he was taking it in good humour. “That is because I have not seen anything big enough! I am not going back with a puny little rabbit. Who are you planning to feed with that? Just yourself?”

  Myria giggled at his big talk. Lilana shook her head with a small smile curving her lips. She walked over to me. “I see Myria idolises her big brother. Much like I had when we were little.”

  I put an arm across her shoulders. It was good to be back in the familiar woods of my childhood. It brought back many memories of learning the Navitas and my first encounters with Markai. It all still seemed like yesterday.

  “Look at this, Popa!” Myria motioned me over to where she was standing and pointed down to the ground. “There has been a wolf here!”

  I looked down at the large track and bent down to see it more clearly. A strong gust of wind picked up and blew dust into my eyes. They started streaming and I scrubbed away the tears. When I was able to see again, the print had been nearly completely blown away. I frowned. The glimpse that I had gotten, had seemed too large for a wolf, but then what other creature around here could have made it?

  “We haven’t had wolves in this close to Predaki for a number of cycles-of-the-seasons,” Lilana said. “Not since I was younger than you, Myria.”

  “You are all making too much noise. I will never be able to get something now,” complained Riaph.

  “Not to worry. It is time to go back now anyway. It will be dark soon,” Lilana said reasonably.

  “Fine,” he replied with a sulky huff and he shouldered his bow. As we walked back, I was happy to see Riaph cheer up again and start playing chase with his sister.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  We stayed another day in Predaki before deciding it was time to leave. The Kichwa arranged a feast in my honour for our last night. I tried to dissuade him of this, but he could not be turned.

  Riaph went out with the hunting party. He was determined to be the one to fell the first antelope. I had no doubt about his ability, but sometimes his own eagerness worked against him. If he could steady himself and apply patience, he would be a better hunter than I was. They had asked me to go along as well and one of the other huntsmen had even casually asked if I could get Markai to hunt with them. As if I would make a spectacle out of her. I firmly, but not unkindly, declined.

  I spent my day working on Moma’s house. There were a few things that needed fixing and although I was sure that Jench would have happily done all of it, I wanted to do it myself.

  It was late afternoon when the hunting party came back. Riaph’s face was dejected. “No luck?” I asked him.

  He looked at me with his blue eyes narrowing in tightly controlled anger. “Luck has nothing to do with it,” he said. “I did fell a deer, but I was only third to get one and mine was not even as big as Flinn’s!”

  Flinn was the youngest of the men on the usual hunting party, but still a good six turnings older than Riaph. I saw myself in his frustration. At his age, I too had thought I needed to be the best at everything I did.

  “Better…” I caught myself before saying ‘better luck next time’ and his mouth pulled into a thin line. “You will do better next time.” I ruffled his hair, but he shrugged out from under my hand.

  “I need to go help prepare the deer for tonight.” He was halfway out the door before he was finished speaking.

  Thaya walked in as he left, but he stormed right past her. She looked a question at me. I shook my head. “He did not win.”

  Comprehension dawned on her face. The corners of her mouth quirked up in concealed mirth and she shook her head. “Remind you of anyone you know?”

  I laughed.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  That evening, four roasting spits was set up in the middle of the town square. Flower wreaths hung around tall wooden display poles.

  It appeared as though most of the town’s people had come out, all dressed in their best finery. I chose to close my eyes to these sorts of things, as it would seem they were honouring some lord or lady.

  An excited little girl of about five turnings bounded up to me before turning scarlet when I looked at her. She hesitated and looked back at who - I assumed - was her mother. She turned back to me and shyly said, “We made these for you.” She gestured to the colourful wreaths.

  Her mother walked up behind her and placed her hands on the child’s shoulders. “The children wished to do something nice for you.”

  “Do you like it?” she asked with sparkling eyes.

  “They are beautiful. Thank you.”

  She beamed and ran to a group of her friends close by while hollering, “He likes them!”

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  I enjoyed the feast a lot more than I had thought I would. Although, there were times when I had to grin and bear the ingratiating smiles, bows and dry washing of hands from members of the council and even from the Kichwa himself. I did not know what they hoped to achieve by trying to curry my favour. I managed to avoid most of these displays by surrounding myself with my brothers who were very adept at excluding anyone like that.

  Riaph had recovered some of his good spirit and with a smile, even pointed out his deer. It was a sizeable animal and I could not believe he had been disappointed with it. He was soon running around again with some of the Predaki boys.

  “When last have you seen any of the Alliance members?” Prea asked. “You had not known about Dhillion so it must be several cycles-of-the-seasons.”

  I grimaced at the truth of that. “Too long.”

  Thaya and Aliana came walking up to us at that moment. “Kadin, I have been thinking. We should go see Seran and Trissa. We have not seen them in such a long time. It would be nice to meet their daughter as well,” she said.

  I nodded. “I was starting to think the same thing.”