by Anne Logston
“By the Bright Ones,” Randon said softly. “A pond, here?”
Kayli stared at the shining surface, then glanced around in confusion. The grass was dry and brittle as always in the summertime; the earth was hard and cracked. But there was no denying that the starlight reflected off of water. It rippled slightly in the night breeze.
Kayli slid from the saddle and walked slowly toward the strange sight. It was no illusion; now that she stepped closer, she could smell the moisture in the air. Unbelievingly she fell to her knees; her fingers plunged into coolness.
“How could this be here?” Randon murmured, kneeling beside her. “I could swear there hasn’t been a drop of rain fall here in—” He reached behind him, broke off a dry stalk of grass. “Well, in a long time.”
Suddenly the cool water pulled away from Kayli’s fingers. She could do nothing but kneel where she was and watch as the water impossibly drew itself up into a rippling, shimmering ball. She heard Randon’s gasp, but quietly, as if from a great distance; at that moment she could only stare at the unbelievable sight before her. The shimmering ball flexed and stretched, flattening and drawing itself out until it once more formed a shining disk, but this time hanging in the air before them like a great shimmering mirror.
“What is it?” Randon asked softly, reaching his hand out but not quite touching the water’s surface.
“A Gate,” Kayli said just as quietly. “A water Gate.” And her heart sang, even as she shivered with dread, for she knew with absolute certainty who had cast it.
Kayli glanced at Randon; he gazed back just as soberly. Then he smiled.
“I’ll get the bags and unsaddle the horses,” he said. “We’ll have to leave them.”
Kayli laughed a little shakily.
“We have hardly ridden half a league,” she said. “They will soon find their way back to the Order. Thank you, Randon.”
Randon said nothing, only gave Kayli a weary grin, slung the saddlebags over his shoulder, and held out his hand. She forced a smile in return, clasped his hand firmly, took a deep breath to still her own shaking, and, with Randon, stepped forward.
Chapter Sixteen
“Open your eyes,” a familiar voice said with a little chuckle. “Or would you stand there all night with that terrible grimace on your face?”
Kayli squeezed Randon’s hand tightly a moment longer, then opened her eyes. There was no disorientation; as when she had stepped into the temple, she had an immediate sense of place. She stood in the cellar of the palace, only a step from the edge of the palace well, which, contrary to custom, was lidless. Kayli hurriedly stepped back, then yelped in startlement. The stones of the floor were wet and slick, although to her surprise, her skin and clothes were dry.
“I trust you will pardon the surroundings,” Kairi said wryly, stepping forward to take Kayli’s arm to steady her. ”This meeting required secrecy, and there are few places outside my Order where I could muster enough water for a Gate.”
“But the pool,” Kayli said hesitantly. “How did you manage that?”
Kairi shrugged.
“There is always water deep within the earth,” she said. “The trouble is finding it, and bringing it to the surface. That, of course, is why priests and priestesses of the water Orders are so needed throughout Bregond. To bring the water forth alone from such a depth was more difficult than—” Kairi shook her head. “But I am near to boasting. Come, I have ordered all the servants to their rooms. You need food and drink and”—she glanced at Randon—“washing.”
“But how did you find us?” Kayli pressed, even as she followed her sister from the room. “It was you, was it not, who brought the rain that stopped the grass fire and saved us?”
Kairi glanced at Kayli and raised her eyebrows slightly.
“You give me too much credit, sister,” she said gently. “For a time I believed you dead. Yes, I brought the rain back across the border from Agrond so that a great grass fire would not sweep through Bregond—and to gain water enough for a Gate to bring myself and Danine home.”
“Then Danine is safe?” Kayli asked eagerly.
Kairi nodded.
“She sleeps in her room,” she said. “Brother Santee also escaped with us, but he has returned to his Order. I told no one what I would do tonight.”
“But then if you thought we were dead,” Randon said before Kayli could speak, “Why did you go to so much effort to have that water Gate ready, and right on the path we were traveling?”
Kairi gave them both a patient glance.
“I was called through my speaking stone,” she said, “by a priestess of Kayli’s Order. When she told me you were leaving the Order tonight, and why, I knew you would come here, and that was the most direct road to Olhavar. When Kayli approached my Gate, I felt her presence. We are, after all, sisters.”
To Kayli’s consternation, Kairi led them to another cellar room instead of up the stairs. The room had been hastily cleared, and a small table held a cold supper, a lamp, a steaming pot of cai, and a pitcher of water.
“There are few hours left before dawn,” Kairi said, “but there is time to refresh yourselves before you must go.”
Kayli was still, the tart she had lifted frozen halfway to her mouth.
“Go?” she said quietly. “Go where? What do you mean, Kairi?”
“Back to Agrond, of course,” Kairi said calmly meeting Kayli’s eyes squarely. “I cannot have you here, sister.”
Very slowly, Kayli laid the tart back down; beside her, she could feel Randon touch the hilt of his dagger. Under the edge of the table, she laid her hand over his.
“Oh, Kairi,” she said softly, “please tell me you are not—”
“Involved in the games of the High Priestess of your Order?” Kairi said grimly. “Your priestess told me all.”
“Forgive my rudeness,” Randon interrupted, “but at this point, I don’t think Kayli’s suspicions should be held against her. We’ve got the safety of two countries to consider.”
“And so have I.” Kairi shook her head. “Kayli, I cannot cast a truth spell. Can you?”
Kayli shook her head numbly.
“Then believe me or not when I tell you that, while I—and my Order—do not agree with the alliance between Agrond and Bregond,” Kairi said deliberately, “our disagreement does not extend to treason and fomenting a war. And now, Kayli, I must ask the same question of you.”
“Me?” Shock momentarily robbed Kayli of all emotion. “Kairi, how could you believe that I might be involved?”
“You stand to gain greatly by Brisi’s plan,” Kairi said levelly. “You would be rid of a marriage you never desired. You would gain leadership of your Order, an ambition I know you treasured. And you would gain the throne of Bregond as well. I, however, have no such rewards to anticipate, and in any wise, our father had already declared me Heir when he was killed.”
“But the High Lord and Lady could have changed their minds if they learned you didn’t agree with the alliance,” Randon said. “If you thought they might choose someone else later, it might suit your plans very well to have them killed.”
Kairi whirled suddenly, grasping Kayli’s wrist.
“Fire meets water, sister,” Kairi whispered. “But we are not evenly met, one to quench the other. Feel my power and know it.”
And Kayli could indeed feel that power, pulsing below Kairi’s skin. Water was not an ephemeral element like the Flame; Kairi’s magic was swift rushing but strong and steady, cool and deep and enveloping, and Kayli wrenched her arm free desperately before she could drown in all that magic.
“You see?” Kairi said quietly. “You are young in your magic and unskilled. You could not match me and you know it. If all was as your lord said, it would suit me best that you and he die, and your heir with you. If so, you would never have stepped through that Gate alive. Nor would I send you back to Agrond to reclaim what is yours.”
“Why are you so eager?” Randon interjected. “Surely T
erralt’s force can’t march against Bregond so soon.”
“Terralt’s force will never march against Bregond,” Kairi said grimly. “Look.” She snatched the pitcher from the table and poured the water out onto the floor before them. The surface of the water shimmered, then cleared, and Kayli cried out involuntarily” at what she saw there—Sarkondish warriors, hundreds, perhaps thousands of them, raising their swords in the cold predawn light.
“Your High Priestess never planned this, yet she should have foreseen it,” Kairi said. “The High Lord and Lady of Bregond lie dead, and to the belief of the assassins, so also do the High Lord and Lady of Agrond, burned in the grass fire. In their thoughts, both countries are without leadership, ripe for the taking. Even now Sarkond prepares its forces to cross the border north of Polonwila, where their great army will divide. And I cannot hope to have our military at the border in time.” She gazed levelly at Randon and Kayli. “You can. But only if Terralt’s troops march north toward Sarkond instead of west toward us. Do you understand now?”
“Wait a moment,” Randon interrupted. I don’t understand. How could they think we’re dead? Surely Stevann must have scried out what happened to us.”
“Either he attempted to learn your fate while you were at the Order,” Kairi said patiently, “where the wards would not reveal your presence, or he has allied with your enemies. In either event, he did not reveal your survival.”
“I want to believe you,” Kayli said softly to Kairi. “But if what you say is true, why the secrecy in bringing us here? Your, best defense against Brisi’s plan is to show us, your greatest proof, to all.”
Kairi shook her head.
“Kayli, now more than ever, our people must not lose their faith in the Orders,” she said softly. “They have lost their High Lord and Lady. If the Orders fall under suspicion, how can they accept a priestess as their ruler? And there is yet another reason.”
“What reason?” Kayli asked.
“You have no place here.” Kairi’s voice was gentle, but her expression remained unyielding. “You are part of Agrond now, and at this moment Agrond is our enemy, although soon it may be our ally. Dissidents would see you and your lord killed, or held hostage against Terralt. At the best you would only undermine my efforts and confuse those who must now obey me without question. As long as you are here you will be used—by High Priestess Brisi, or by others. So you must go, sister, and I pray that when we meet again, it will be in peace.”
Kayli turned away from the table, too sick at heart to eat or drink. Kairi was right, of course, but it was a truth that hurt worse than the firebrands Kayli had tried and failed to hold in her temple training. She had thought she had nothing left to lose, but she had lost Kairi, too, for now they could never again be sisters as they had before; now they were rulers of countries on the brink of war, and that knowledge stood between them far more completely than the leagues of land from Olhavar to Tarkesh ever had.
“Yes,” Kayli said quietly. “I understand. But I made a promise, Kairi, that Brisi would be removed from power and Vayavara set in her place. I ask that you, as High Lady of Bregond, honor that promise. Vayavara is ambitious, but I do not believe that her ambitions reach beyond the temple.”
Kairi nodded with a formality that wrenched at Kayli’s heart.
“I will do as you say,” she said. “And in return I ask this: that you say nothing further of any plot by the Orders. This matter is mine to deal with, and deal with it I shall, but as long as Bregond needs the Orders, they must not fall.”
“Very well,” Kayli said, although the promise troubled her deeply.
She turned to Randon.
“We must hurry, then, back to Tarkesh while Terralt is still gathering his troops,” she said. “But riding back would take many days, and there may still be Sarkondish raiders near the border.” She glanced at Kairi. “Can you create another Gate?”
Kairi nodded.
“It is difficult to create another Gate so soon after the first,” she said, “but necessity requires it Unless you can create your own Gate?” she added hopefully.
Kayli laughed a little bitterly.
“I have had little time to study my magic,” she said, at the same time rather ashamed of herself. There would have been opportunity, had she not run from her own power like the rankest novice. “The creation of a Gate is beyond my present skill. And I know of no fire in Agrond large enough for the far end of our Gate, in any event, white Agrond suffers no lack of water for yours. Perhaps you could use the castle well, as you did here.”
“That’s no good,” Randon said quickly. “Here, she could uncover the well. The well in our castle’s certainly covered, and I have no way to tell anybody to open it”
Kayli thought of being trapped in the darkness in the well, trying to stay afloat—until the time came that she would slide under the surface, and the water would fill her mouth and nose and—she shivered violently. It had been hard enough to step through the water Gate the first time.
“I know a place,” Randon said suddenly. He touched Kayli’s arm. “The pool in the forest, remember? From there we can walk along the north side of the Coridowyn; that area’s never patrolled. Then we can swim across near the castle. I know a way we can get inside undetected.”
Kayli would have protested—the notion of Gating into that deep pool, then swimming a river, was almost unbearable—but Kairi nodded briskly as if that settled the matter.
“Very well, then,” she said, gesturing at the puddle of water on the floor. “Gaze into that water and picture the place where you wish the Gate to emerge. See it in your mind, and in the water, that I may see it with you.”
Randon obediently turned to the puddle, staring into the water. Kayli saw nothing, but apparently Randon’s efforts were successful, for Kairi nodded again.
“A good choice,” she said. “Come, we will fetch your belongings and I will begin.”
No more, Kayli thought desperately. Please, no more. It seemed an eternity since she had slept, and she was so tired. But one look at Randon’s dark-ringed eyes and pale cheeks and she was heartily ashamed of herself. If she was tired, he must be near collapse. And yet he went on, undaunted. Kayli swallowed her complaint and followed Kairi back to the well. Randon slung the saddlebags over his shoulder and leaned against the wall to watch.
“My energies are waning,” Kairi warned Kayli. “When I open the Gate, I cannot keep it long. So we must make our good-byes now.”
Kayli hesitated, gazing into Kairi’s eyes and seeing a deep sadness that mirrored her own. Kayli swallowed a sob and embraced her sister quickly. She would have given much to see Danine one last time, but—she stepped back to join Randon, and her eyes were dry.
“Proceed,” she said quietly. “We are ready.”
Kairi gave her a small, understanding smile and nodded, raising her hands and beginning a chant. Kayli could feel the same cool, smooth power she had sensed when Kairi had grasped her wrist, but now this power was gathering in the room, as flowing water might gather in a basin, swelling, pulsing, as deep and regular as the Flame was fierce and consuming and fleeting. The water in the well swelled with that same power, swirling up from its pit not in a ball as Kayli had seen before, but in a twisting spiral, flowing upward and outward until it formed a shimmering disk such as Kayli had seen before.
“Now,” Kairi said breathlessly. “Go.”
Randon grasped Kayli’s hand, pulling her quickly forward. Kayli gave her sister one last look—Will I ever see her again ? Will she or I ever wish it so?—and stepped through the Gate.
No smooth, effortless transition this time. Kayli emerged from air into churning water, and her scream of surprise became a breathless gurgle. Randon’s hand was gone, and although she flailed desperately about, she could grasp nothing. Water flooded her mouth and nose, and she felt a sort of cold fire burn its way down into her chest, choking her, drowning her—
Something jerked the back of her tunic hard, and Kayl
i was dragged up through swirling foam. The world began to fade—
Then there was fresh cool air on her face, and she coughed out water, her lungs screaming protest as she desperately gasped in air. She felt blessedly solid earth under her, and she coughed and coughed again, spewing forth what felt like gallons of liquid. At last she opened her eyes and saw moonlight, and leaves, and Randon’s wonderful face.
“Just lie there a moment,” he said kindly. “You’ll be all right in a bit.” He wiped her mouth with his wet sleeve.
“The—the pool?” Kayli asked hoarsely.
Randon chuckled.
“Your sister isn’t as good as she thinks she is,” he said wryly. “We came out of the Gate right under the waterfall. You’re lucky I found you at all with the currents there. Come on. If you sit up, you’ll breathe easier.”
Randon would have allowed her time to rest, but Kayli staggered to her feet as soon as she could. She thought to herself that the sooner she got away from all that water, the better.
When they emerged from the woods, the sky to the east was paling, and Randon hurried her across the open fields down to the river.
“There,” he said relievedly, pointing, and Kayli saw the castle wall through in the dim light. “There it is.”
“Where can we cross?” she asked calmly, although she wanted to weep. The Coridowyn seemed a league across to her untrained eyes. At least, she thought with a sort of desperate amusement, we did not have to swim the Dezarin.
Randon scratched his head.
“The current here is pretty strong,” he said hesitantly. “I think we’d better just get into the water here and let the river carry us downstream to the castle.” He glanced around, pointing to a fallen tree that lay mostly in the water. “There. We’ll use that log and just float across. Trust me; it’s much easier than swimming. Lucky the floods left so much deadfall.”
Kayli hoped desperately that he was right; it took almost all her strength to help him push the log from the sand bar it had caught on, and she could only cling desperately to the trunk of the tree while Randon pushed it out deeper. She could not stifle a yelp of dismay, however, when the log came wholly free, floating down the river at an alarming rate.