Crystalyn sat up, the blanket falling to her lap. The expected nausea, coated with dizziness, washed through her in tidal waves. Eventually the “Waves of Affliction,” as she thought of it, lessened to a level she could live with, as before. She hoped that living life with her mind affliction episodes had raised her tolerances for such attacks. Kara Laurel continued to regard her with a critical eye, her face impassive. “Bring them here. All of them,” Crystalyn said. She was proud that her voice remained steady, though unusually weak.
Raising a fine dark eyebrow, Kara Laurel uttered her own set of commands to the group of white-robes, with Leven in their midst. “Bring food and drink to speed her recovery, see that her companions are summoned.”
Leven inclined his head and strode away. “Why does he follow your orders?”
A hint of surprise flashed through Kara Laurel’s green eyes, but her face remained smooth. “Not only is Leven a healer and my Interrupt Controller, he is indentured to me for training for a position on the Circle. Perhaps someday he will be bestowed a seat, should someone abdicate or be involuntarily abdicated. I do believe he has the capability.”
“So the appointment to the Circle of Light is for life?”
“Yes it is. However, we’ve had a few renunciations in our history, though one or two have been forced.”
“By forced, you mean, asked to leave, or face worse punishment, I assume,” Crystalyn said.
Sadness flickered briefly in Kara Laurel’s green eyes. “Yes, except the worse punishment is execution within the golden pyre.”
The approach of her friends making their way around the stone benches spared Crystalyn the necessity of replying. Execution was a barbarous custom, though some very evil people had sometimes left limited alternatives for those passing judgment on her world. Crystalyn’s eyes went first to Lore Rayna, who looked well, though her big companion kept her golden-haired head lowered as though abashed.
Broth sprang over a bench and sprawled at her side, slipping his head under her palm, contentment flowing through their link. Crystalyn stroked his fur gratefully, feeling better already.
Atoi was close behind. “You’re pale, like me,” she said without preamble.
“Thank you, Atoi,” Crystalyn said with a smile. “Your concern is touching.”
Atoi gazed at her unblinking.
Hastel laughed, taking a seat on a nearby bench. “That’s our Atoi. I don’t know what I’d…uh…we’d do without her bluntness to keep us humble. How do you feel?” He asked quickly, his one good eye glancing away.
“I’ve been asked that already,” Crystalyn said, nodding toward Kara Laurel. “I’ll survive, is the answer. Have you checked on the horses recently?” she asked eager to change the subject. There were only so many ways to politely tell someone you would rather be unconscious than face the pain the day promised to bring. Besides, Kara Laurel was listening to every word; she wouldn’t hesitate to send them away if she thought they were detrimental to her recovery.
Hastel smiled briefly. “Every day, like you asked. They’re energetic, but doing well for the most part. Oh, there’s one other thing you should know. The stable master has refused to accept payment.”
Crystalyn’s eyebrow rose. “Why would he do that?”
“Not sure, he would only say we’d been placed with the Circle.” He dabbed at the weeping scar with a cloth.
“You know, there may be one here who could heal that,” Kara Laurel interjected.
Atoi spoke, her voice taking on a faint echo quality. “Many of your best have tried some high on your Circle. All have failed.”
“Yes,” Hastel agreed, sighing. “I thank them for the effort, but this scar wasn’t made with conventional steel. I don’t think it can heal. Someday I may even divulge how I got it, but not now.”
Kara Laurel looked pointedly at Crystalyn. “I wasn’t speaking of any of my people.”
Five sets of eyes regarded Crystalyn, even Broth. Stop it, Do’brieni! I don’t know why she thinks I can. Broth lowered his head to her lap, bemusement flowing through to her.
Hastel’s one eye opened wide; he looked as if struck by an errant arrow.
Atoi stared at her, a thoughtful look on her usually impassive face.
Lore Rayna’s head rose to face her, a broad smile on her lips.
Crystalyn regarded her companions, amazed. “What’s wrong with all of you? What makes you think I can heal it when so many others have failed?”
Lore Rayna straightened to her full height, her smile firm. “You’ve healed me, twice, when no else could. I am indebted to you, and I will be older than the Lore Mother before it is repaid. Command me as you will, my lady, as long as it doesn’t interfere with my studies.”
Crystalyn almost expected a salute from the gigantic woman. Vibrant and green, Lore Rayna’s dress shifted with each breath she drew, forming a cover over her lush body only where needed, but it was lively. A sure sign the big woman was in good health since the dress seemed to mimic her physiology. What about those fragile aspects of Lore Rayna’s Valen mind? Had the worm destroyed some tiny, but integral part of her friend?
She’d have to keep a sharp eye out for signs of brain trauma or differences in speech behavior. Hopefully, the Valen had recovered completely from the effects of the worm. Time and patience would be the key. “It doesn’t mean I will be able to help Hastel like I helped you, but I’ll certainly try,” Crystalyn said quietly. She still felt wholly drained, as if she never would have enough energy to do what she promised. “But you all must know by now, I failed in healing my spiderbee wound.”
“Your Valen friend has already taken care of that,” Kara Laurel said.
Crystalyn’s hand flew to her stomach. The puncture wounds were gone, not so much as a scar left behind. “How is this possible?”
Kara Laurel stood. “Lore Rayna is a rare Valen who can use the Flow to manipulate her affinity with flora, specifically trees. As for attending to Hastel, it will have to wait until I have had a chance to train you on grounding yourself after your recovery.” Folding her arms to her stomach, she looked around Crystalyn’s little circle of companions. “For now, she needs time to heal the old way. Do I make myself understood?” She glanced at each one of the companions in turn. Every head nodded, even Broth. Kara Laurel’s imperious gaze fell on Lore Rayna last. “Can you carry her back to her quarters for bed rest?”
Lore Rayna scooped her up, lifting her with both arms with ease. Her strength was no surprise to Crystalyn, not after inhabiting the big woman’s body back at Four Bridges. Lore Rayna could no doubt carry her for days.
Watching her footing, the big woman began the climb from the pit while Crystalyn’s three companions followed close behind. Kara Laurel and Leven trailed the group, strolling side-by-side, deep in conversation. Crystalyn strained to overhear the couple, but the distance was too great, so she focused her thoughts on her living transport while gazing ahead. “Do you recall how you arrived in Surbo? When last we parted the three of you had left for your homeland.”
Lore Rayna spoke softly for her ears alone. “I remember the journey but no reasoning or motive for it. I was allowed to see as a prisoner would, caged beside a mute wagon driver, viewing the path forward clearly but helpless to change course. Part of my mind screamed this is wrong the entire nightmarish time, no matter where the driver went, what it did. I still recall every tiny, horrific detail.” A shudder wracked her large frame, vibrating through Crystalyn from the woman’s chest and arms. Crystalyn gave Lore Rayna’s neck a weak squeeze, the best she could.
Lore Rayna went on, her voice a dull monotone. “On the first night of our return to Vibrant Vale, the mind worm waited until everyone but the watch was asleep. Slaying a guard, I knew well, I slipped away from my beloved city and trudged without rest through the dense forest of the Vale to Surbo. I made many attempts to regain control. The worm batted me aside as if I was an annoying blood fly, it paused thrice during the journey to drink water, and partak
e of sustenance. I arrived at Surbo on the third day. You know the rest.”
Crystalyn could imagine the big woman’s horror at having to watch her hands kill someone. She shuddered, fervently hoped a similar situation never happened to her. “Have you been in contact with the Lore Mother and Cudgel yet?” she asked in order to change the subject.
“Yes. A Contacting—deemed important—occurred while you slept. Durandas initiated it. Once things are stable at the Vale, they are to meet us here.”
“Durandas can Contact?” Crystalyn asked. Her voice sounded sharper than she intended.
“No, but being on the Circle, he always has a Master Contactor at his disposal. Surely he has informed you of this.”
“You would think so, wouldn’t you? Has he mentioned attempting to contact my sister, yet?
“No. No one has mentioned it. I would have expected this to have occurred as well, by now,” the big woman said, confusion evident in her tone.
Crystalyn stayed silent, quietly fuming. Why hadn’t Durandas mentioned from the start that he could have ordered a Contacting? She knew the answer. He’d been afraid of the very thing that had happened to Lore Rayna. Now that he’d seen her heal, that reason carried less weight, though Crystalyn wasn’t sure she could do it again, but he wasn’t aware of that. The golden symbol had held, but who could say for how long? Her white one had crumbled in seconds, but no one knew that, nor would anyone as long as she kept it to herself. So why had the Circle flatly refused to help?
LORD CHARN
The aging tavern woman thumped two mugs onto the table. She glared at Crystalyn as if holding her personally responsible for having to wear the drab, too tight clothing and work in such a dingy place. Seizing the coins Atoi had set standing on edge, she gave her a final glare and strode away.
The woman’s reaction was typical, happening whenever she found herself around women her age or older, usually when she wore new purchases. Youth and fashionable clothing triggered the female rivalry gland for some reason. Perhaps at middle season it would happen to her, too, though she preferred not to think about it now, the day had been too grand. They’d squandered some of Atoi’s wealth spending much of the day finding suitable clothing, which always seemed to be among the most expensive the merchants offered.
Atoi had paid for everything without protest, without a single scowl, but she rarely smiled either. Crystalyn hadn’t asked how the little girl always seemed to have the coin available, extracting it from a thin leather belt worn under her clothes. Did she really need to know? After all, the lacy blue dress—donned right after its purchase—did go well with her eyes. Not to mention, she would now blend in better with the locals: even the kell leather she’d got from Hastel had stood out. With the assortment of outfits they’d bought, they’d had to purchase large bags. Interestingly, silver seemed to have greater value than gold, she’d gleaned that much from their travels.
She was tired but pleasantly so. The shopping experience had been therapeutic. After a week of recovering from removing the mind worm, then another demonstrating her symbols, she’d needed to get away before she throttled the entire bloody Circle of Light, starting with the First.
Durandas had contacted the Lore Mother about her student’s recovery, but had refused to risk another worm encounter looking for Jade, not without the Lore Mother’s help, he’d finally admitted. She’d at least gotten him to commit to performing one when the old woman arrived, but only after she’d threatened to stop demonstrating her symbols for the Circle. Fervently, she prayed Durandas would stick to the bargain, though she didn’t want to put anyone in danger again, she had to locate Jade. All of her companions from the journey to Surbo she counted as friends, the Lore Mother included.
Kara Laurel’s rigorous training designed to keep her from frying precious oxygen in her blood whenever she used her symbol had gobbled up much of the past week. The training had made the demonstrations for the Circle easier, though she felt like some weird, newly discovered technology on display.
Now here they were at some seedy inn, waiting on Hastel. The Creeping Vine Inn, he’d called it. “Did the note say why Hastel wanted to meet here? Why not back at the Dome of Light, in our room?”
Atoi’s green eyes shone briefly. “I didn’t know a man would offer an explanation, particularly when it’s a drinking establishment.”
Crystalyn smiled. Atoi’s humor was old for her age, and funny. She had to keep reminding herself how ancient her young companion really was, especially now that she seemed to have gotten over her fear of being in Surbo, at least for the moment.
“To be truthful, it looks like he has started on the drinking part as scrawled as the note is. Do you want to see it? He wants us to meet him here after the fifth midday bell, which it is,” Atoi said, lifting her mug for a swallow.
Raising her own mug, Crystalyn tasted a semi-sweet red liquid with a faint acrid taste. She took a longer draught before setting it down. “I’ll accept your word on that. How long do you want to wait? Myself, I want to sort through all these wonderful clothes.”
Atoi shrugged her petite shoulders, taking another swallow.
“What about your clothes? Don’t you want to go through them, even though they look nearly identical to what you’ve been wearing lately?” Crystalyn looked at the black pants and matching shirt Atoi wore. They fit the young girl snugly and felt strong and supple when she’d handled the ones Atoi purchased. “What material is that anyway? I’ve been meaning to ask.”
Atoi glanced down at herself. “It’s a blend between black wolf and kell, expensive, but worth it. I like the way it feels on my skin. It’s rare, so only the bigger cities carry it. The wolf material is hard to come by and kept secret, but I have ways to acquire it.”
“Tell me of the kell, do I know what they are?”
Atoi regarded her over the rim of her mug. For once, the little girl seemed to be quite lucid. Atoi’s ancient entity residing in her was a keg of knowledge Crystalyn wanted to tap during those moments of lucidity. Most times, though, she didn’t know if she was talking to the shade or the child. “You may not,” one of the Atois was saying. “It’s a furry river creature found only in one place on Astura−though they are fairly abundant there−the Black Wolf Valley.”
“Well, that’s convenient for you, isn’t it? Both materials for your silky, shadow clothing gained from bloodshed in one place, does it matter to you that it’s made from living creatures?”
Atoi blinked.
Crystalyn regretted her irrational outburst almost as soon as she’d said it, even though she probably couldn’t have stopped it. Her mind spat what it would from her mouth sometimes. Nevertheless, a moody, defensive companion was the last thing she needed, right now. “Don’t answer that. We’ll save it for later. When Hastel gets here, help me pressure him into going before the Circle with me. He seems to know how to get things done. Perhaps he’ll have better luck with them. They’ve kept me waiting for days with their petty politics. I’m not asking for them to hand over the world, just a little help.”
“Your scarred companion won’t be successful,” a female voice said.
Face smooth, a dark-haired woman from the Circle of Light—who so far had argued the most against helping them—sat down. Crystalyn couldn’t recall her name, if she ever had known it. “Most of the Circle now believes as I. A Contacting would be extremely risky to those making the attempt, for the sake of finding someone who may or may not be found,” the woman went on, her light-blue eyes boring into Crystalyn’s. A hooded red shawl draped across her thin shoulders stood out over a skirted yellow tunic. Much different attire than the yellow robe she’d worn at the Assembly Hall.
“You haven’t been invited to share our table,” Atoi said, her voice low but distinct.
The woman ignored the comment, gazing at Crystalyn as if expecting something.
Crystalyn tried to recall which position the woman held on the Circle. Ninth? “Did you stop by to gloat, or tell me I’
m wasting my time? I’m not giving up on finding my sister, even if I have to camp outside the Circle of Light’s bloody assembly chamber.”
The woman leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice. “A Contacting isn’t the only way to find someone on Astura. I have... other ways at my disposal, should you be interested.”
Atoi banged her mug on the table, and then leaned forward. “Don’t trust her Crystalyn. I don’t like her or any of those like her. Their assistance always comes at a steep price.”
Her smooth face unperturbed, the woman’s blue eyes stared placidly at Crystalyn, showing no indication she’d heard Atoi. She looked prepared to wait patiently through the night for a response, though a flicker of haughtiness marred her composure now and then. Tiny streaks of red pulsed along the blue of her corneas an indication of her addiction to the Flow, also a mark of her strength as a User, according to Kara Laurel. “Why would you help me?”
“I, too, have a sister.”
Good answer, she thought. Perhaps the woman could help; she was on the Circle, and the Circle of Light was supposed to be working for the good of the White Lands. It should be safe to work with her, yet one never knew. What did the woman hope to gain by helping her?
Atoi made eye contact with Crystalyn. “How do we know she has a sister?”
Crystalyn looked to the woman. “Good question. Can you offer proof?”
Her smooth façade crumbled with a frown. “You don’t have to accept my word; my proof is far from here in another…city.” The woman arose. “Do as you will. I simply offered aid, nothing else.”
Crystalyn rose to her feet. “Wait! What’s your name?”
Pulling the red hood over her head, the woman paused, her face shadowed, but her pale blue eyes shone brightly before fading. “You may know me as Khiminay.”
“Okay Khiminay, how do I find my sister? What other methods are there besides a Contacting?”
“Follow me. I will answer your questions, perhaps all of them,” Khiminay said softly, walking away.
Beyond the Sapphire Gate: Epic Fantasy-Some Magic Should Remain Untouched (The Flow of Power Book 1) Page 38