With the enger priests now some way off, and still deep in conversation, they had a clear run across the bridge and into a narrow alley beside the first building on that side. There, they found a small courtyard to the rear and dropped to the ground in relief.
Pettar took a look at Drax by his side. “We’re pretty safe here, Drax. The worst’s over, our way from here pretty much out of sight. Have a rest and try relax.” Oblivious of Pettar’s words, Drax darted from the courtyard and back out into the alley. As Pettar shot after him, he heard the sound of puking, which continued as he came to his side. Drax puked again but then seemed to relax, sitting down abruptly on the ground before wiping his face with his sleeve.
Pettar sat down beside him. “Lesson well learned, my friend. A hard way, I know, but I reckon you’ve learnt it well.” Drax wouldn’t look at him so Pettar gripped his arm, reassuringly. “All men feel it, but not all deal with it in the same way. Don’t berate yourself, Drax, I’ve too great a need of you for that to get in our way. I value you, not only for what you bring to our task but now also as a friend.”
Pettar’s words seemed to have touched something in Drax for he turned to face him and slowly lifted his hand. Pettar looked down at it before looking back into Drax’s eyes, as he too raised his own hand. Slowly, they shook. “I now accept your hand in friendship, Drax, and freely give my own.”
Suddenly, they were interrupted by Phaylan shouting, “Pettar? Drax? Come quick! Cresmol’s being attacked!”
They both jumped to their feet and ran back to the yard, where they found Cresmol writhing on the ground, entwined with a lean figure. It had long, dank, black hair and spat and hissed. Phaylan was vainly trying to intervene but was finding it hard getting near, something Pettar had no problems with.
He pulled the assailant clear off the ground and away from Cresmol’s rather feeble grip, but it turned on Pettar and tried to scratch and claw at his face, so he grasped it by the neck and began throttling it. It went limp and flopped lifelessly in his grip, hanging limply like a rag doll. When released, it slumped to the ground where it wheezed horribly.
Cresmol was slowly trying to get to his feet, assisted by Phaylan and Drax. When Cresmol was again upright and steady, Drax asked, “Where the blazes did he come from?” and then looked down at the coughing figure at Pettar’s feet.
The answer came rather sheepishly. “Well … err … to tell the truth, he didn’t come from anywhere. I … well … I sort of stumbled on him, and then when he tried to get away I … well … I jumped on him.”
Pettar turned a sharp eye towards Cresmol. “You jumped on him?”
“Yes, Pettar. I couldn’t think of what else to do, I mean, we couldn’t have him running off and giving us away.”
Pettar started to laugh softly to himself as he stared down at the crumpled heap on the floor. “You just jumped on him, eh? Pounced on the cat, did you? Ha! Now that’s ironic.” They all continued to stare, seeing no sense in his words, all except Laixac that was who only wheezed horribly from where he lay on the ground.
38 A Discovered Invitation
Nephril had been very quiet since hearing Falmeard tell of his discovery of Storbanther’s name and that was worrying Penolith. She felt he was holding back on her and not honouring their agreement, that she be his repository of memories. She couldn’t be sure if his reluctance was driven by a need to get things straight in his own mind or because he feared divulging something. For the moment, she resisted the temptation to raise it, made all the easier by her own growing tiredness.
The relentless climb of the balconies towards the Scarra Face had taken its toll. They were drawing to the last few before the start of the Aerie Way and still no one had spoken, not until Falmeard asked, “Why did they go to all the trouble of building here? I don’t understand. It’s such a dreary place and so open to the elements. Surely there were better places to live.”
Nephril didn’t reply so Penolith said, “I don’t know, Falmeard. I know so little about the realm outside Galgaverre, and most of that I’ve learnt since we left.” She slowed until Nephril came up beside her. “Nephril? You’ll know the answer to Falmeard’s question, surely?”
He looked at her as though dazed, and then blankly at Falmeard, which brought a dark cloud to his face. “Pressure of numbers, just pressure of numbers,” was all he’d say.
“But surely the castle had plenty of room, after all it’s vast, quite clearly vast!” Nephril slowly came to a halt and looked about him. “Was I not to be your safe memory, Nephril?” Penolith quietly asked, out of Falmeard’s hearing. “Didn’t you charge me with a duty to preserve your thoughts?”
He turned towards her and she saw painful torment in his face, saw an argument rage there. The disappointment and pity Penolith felt must have shown for he cast his eyes down as he reached out to pat her affectionately on the arm, but still he didn’t speak.
Falmeard, as usual, seemed oblivious. “Are we going to stop at the viewing gallery? I’d love to look out from there again. It’s been so long since I was last there, although I suppose it’ll be quite desolate these days.”
Nephril assured him, with great affection and a smile, that he could indeed. “If thee would like to do that then so be it, Falmeard, I reckon thou deserve a treat.”
“Oh, good. Let’s hope we get some interesting effects off the desert. I’ve never been lucky enough to see the famous mirages. Do you know if the weather’s going to be good for it, Nephril?”
Nephril looked up at the sky and then at the sun. “I suspect not, Falmeard. Not the best time of year.”
When Falmeard then wandered ahead, Nephril spoke quietly to Penolith. “I have been remiss with thee, mine dear. I do apologise, but I am not at all clear in mine own mind how best, and what to tell thee.” With sudden resolve, he said, “The grave part I will give thee first for it be the reasoning behind that be difficult.”
He slowly licked his lips before beginning. “Storbanther is not what any of us have taken him to be. We hath all been wrong about him, mine self included.” Falmeard was obviously becoming impatient so Nephril shouted that he go ahead and they’d join him at the gallery.
Penolith then asked. “Do you know what his true nature is, Nephril?”
Nephril paused whilst he thought. “You know we suspected him to be of Bazarral?” She nodded. “Well, that be only part of the truth. To tell thee in a way thou canst understand, I must first explain something of mine self.”
He sat on the low balcony wall and patted the space at his side, where she then sat down. His eyes misted over, seeing old memories made so clearly new. “In mine youth, I did swear oath to mine king, and to all who were to follow, that I would be their eyes and ears within Galgaverre, that I would secure and protect the foundation of their power and authority.”
When she nodded, he cautioned, “I think thou dost miss mine point. I had sworn duty to keep that office for all eternity, Penolith, and to that end I was…” She waited, patiently. “Leiyatel’s influence hath always been benign, Penolith, benign aye, but near to and over time ‘tis corrosive, so ineluctably corrosive that no one man can overly attend her, not without … not without…”
He lifted a finger before she could even begin to speak. “Penolith? I am not simply a highborn Dican, although that be how I came into this world. No, no I … I have been subtly changed, most subtly, altered so Leiyatel could succour mine body and mind to be everlasting.”
“But we all know of your great age, Nephril. We all understand you’ve lived an unnaturally long life?”
“’Tis not revelation about me I fear will unsettle thee, mine dear, no, ‘tis but preamble to furnish better understanding of Storbanther. Thou see, to fulfil mine duty I had to be made immune to Leiyatel’s influence, to be near her without fear of hurt, and so it was done, done at Leigarre Perfinn.” He paused, to see if the name meant anything to her, but it clearly didn’t. “Where Falmeard came across his secret document, hmm?”
&nb
sp; Her quick answer surprised him. “You mean Storbanther’s also been made immune to Leiyatel?”
Nephril looked relieved, but only thinly smiled. “Yes, of sorts, but more than that, and for a different purpose.”
“But what purpose could Storbanther have had, Nephril?”
He looked embarrassed. “I cannot yet be sure, Penolith, but I think it comes from ancient politic, and that I am a part of his reason for being.”
Her eyes narrowed. “If he’s been altered, like you, then why the concern, Nephril? Why are you so worried about him?”
“Before I can answer thee, thou needst know more. Mine own instilment did impart within the fabric of mine being, both body and mind, a part of Leiyatel. It was but a mere part of the Living Green Stone Tree, but enough to counter her influence, enough to prolong mine years at her side. It did give me balance twixt good fortune and corrosion, and so I have remained unchanged over countless years.”
She looked away and knitted her brows. “Penolith? ‘Tis mine belief that Storbanther be far more of Leiyatel than I, in fact I fear he be almost wholly of her. He ist a part of her at large, able to roam at will, at her will, Penolith, as Leiyatel’s very own limb.”
Nephril rose, looked down at her and then placed his hand on her shoulder. “We really must catch up with Falmeard, mine dear. I dread to think what he may be getting up to on his own.” She looked up, her face clouded by worries, but he reached down and took her limp hand in his own and helped her to her feet. “Are thee rested enough now, Penolith, enough to make haste?”
She slowly nodded and they walked on, still hand in hand towards the Scarra, towards the gallery where Falmeard must even now be impatiently waiting. There was still something worrying Penolith, though. “What does it mean then, Nephril, to have Leiyatel at large, here amongst us?”
Nephril slowed and narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. “Leiyatel is but raw nature, wrought to constrain the world she embraces so that nature’s own fundamental laws of chance almost always win out as beneficial. In that way did the Bazarran mould their paradise, and from which fortune they did grow strong. Nature, however, cannot abide imbalance, and Leiyatel be no different for she is but pure nature after all. Dost thou follow mine reasoning, Penolith?”
She nodded, but uncertainly, and so he added, “Just as we cannot clap with one hand, so too can Leiyatel only give with her good one with due regard to her other, to her hidden hand, the one that holds back all nature’s detrimental choices. That one be within Baradcar, Penolith, which is why no one can enter there, no one who hast not been altered to carry some of her good hand as a shield … no one but I … and now Storbanther, it would seem.”
They’d reached the start of the Aerie Way and could see Falmeard, some way off, leaning against its wall and staring out at the view. Nephril therefore stopped where they were and said, “Whereas I have, wrought within mine very fabric, a base weft of her good hand, Storbanther be composed almost entirely of it. Thou see, Penolith, I am but man infused with Leiyatel whereas Storbanther be Leiyatel bound within nothing more than a human husk. Dost thou now see why I am so uncertain in our way forward, why I find it so hard to fashion plan or scheme, when I am unable to grasp what we are really dealing with.”
He looked quite defeated. “No, not what we are dealing with, but the why and wherefore. Thou see, mine oath and duty have always been to Leiyatel, she is mine life and mine life’s work, and it can be no other way, and here I am now faced with her incarnate and amongst us. Nay, nay, but I do now find she hath always been here, wandering close by, hidden and secretive, with her own purpose, one that seems not to include her only faithful servant and consort.”
Penolith felt that strange feeling again, the one that had more and more made itself at home within her heart. She found herself yielding, stepping nearer, enfolding Nephril in her arms and drawing him close. She lay her head on his shoulder and felt her tears wetting her cheeks. A few moments later, she felt Nephril’s own arms hold her tenderly, shaking as he too seemed to weep. And there they stood, until Falmeard’s excited shouts drifted to their ears upon the north wind.
Slowly and reluctantly, they parted and she softly said, “My heart goes out to you, my friend, but you must try trust to my faithfulness, you old rascal, for I’m forever here to give you support and comfort.” For the first time in so long, his face lit up with a true smile as he leant forward and kissed her gently on the brow.
Falmeard’s cries finally broke the moment, and as they drew nearer, they could make out his words, realised he was pointing them to the east. His eyes were ablaze with wonder and joy, and when they too looked that same way, out to the desert in the far distance, they saw a vast city of steeples and towers, all glistening white against the silvery air. It shimmered and swayed, glistened with gold along the heights of its unreal roofs whilst the ground before it drifted between lake and cloud. As they stared in wonder, the sun slowly slid behind the clouds and it was all too soon lost.
Nephril grinned indulgently at Falmeard. “Well, Leiyatel is certainly with thee today, Falmeard, for she hath granted thee thine fondest wish.”
Falmeard’s face was radiant. “She has indeed, Nephril, she’s favoured me greatly and I give her thanks, heartfelt thanks. I never thought I’d see the day. Wasn’t it wonderful, simply so … so enchanting.”
They both grinned and Nephril allowed him time to savour the moment before saying, “Although the day hath been kind to thee, I am afraid that time is not at liberty to afford us the same largess. We must make haste afore the night overtakes us and makes our journey’s end more difficult. Come, put the vision into thy memories, Falmeard, for now we must be on our way.”
They were still on the Aerie Way, where it clung to the Scarra Face, when Nephril thought he noticed something unusual. At first he couldn’t quite place what it had been and so slowed and stared out at the view. He soon came to a halt, Falmeard again carrying on unawares.
As Nephril peered into the distance, Penolith asked, “What is it, Nephril?”
Without turning, he said, “Something’s amiss but I cannot yet see what it be.” His eyes lit up and he gasped. “Ah! Now I see it. I see it and also an answer, see reason behind what hast plagued me so about our invading army.”
When she asked what he meant, he pointed. “Thou see yonder march of the Gray Mountains? Dost thou see their snow-capped peaks?”
“Pettar’s squatting white-haired giants, yes, I see them.”
“Aye, indeed, those stately gents who sit one by the other’s side across the northern reaches, but are they all white-haired, Penolith, eh, are they all the same?”
“Oh. Now I see. There’s one without white hair. Why’s that Nephril?”
Falmeard, realising he was suddenly alone, had by then returned. “Oh, the grey cap, yes, I noticed that many years ago although it’s got greyer since.”
Nephril stared at him. “And thee never thought to mention it?”
“Well, no, I didn’t think it was important… Is it?”
Nephril laughed, hollowly. “Important! I would say so. How long ago did thee first notice it?”
The stern manner of his asking made Falmeard consider carefully, and at some length for time wasn’t an easy thing for him, not to pin down so. “As near as I can remember, I’d say twenty or thirty years, maybe, but then again maybe a bit more, but not a great deal more. Certainly not fifty … I don’t think.”
Nephril reluctantly let the omission pass. After all, Falmeard wasn’t to know. “There, Falmeard, is exactly where Leiyatel hath been staring all these years, at that very place, and dost thou know why?”
Penolith answered, “She’s been channelled, you said, channelled to a purpose, and there I suspect is her purpose. Am I right, Nephril?”
“Thou art perfectly right, mine dear. In all that time Leiyatel hath been staring hard at that pass, concentrating her gaze to bear upon its inclemency and thereby bring to it a temperateness unique unto itself.
In all that time she hath stared at a mountain pass and not upon me.”
“So?” Falmeard started to ask, “Why would Leiyatel want to bring invasion upon herself? Why’s she opened the way for our enemies?”
Penolith could see Nephril’s face change from surprise to shock. He leant forward on the wall, as though trying to get nearer the pass. “Nay, Falmeard, nay. Leiyatel hath not spent so much of her dwindling time and energy inviting invasion, no, she hath been acourting!”
Nephril’s face lit up and his eyes sparkled. “Thee asked me what I thought Storbanther’s purpose to be, did thee not, Penolith?” She agreed she had. “And I said I knew not, but now I do.” His face beamed. “’Tis not Storbanther’s purpose at all, and that be why the answer has evaded us. No, Storbanther is but agent, as mine own arm be of me. For some reason Leiyatel hath opened the way so she may renew fidelity with a suitor. And with the answer to one riddle comes yet another to vex us.”
In his excitement, Nephril had let his mind drift through Penolith’s and so she also now knew what that new riddle was. “Who is her suitor and why her need to be courted?” she quietly said, which made Nephril smile.
Their race against the sun’s descent soon forced them on, from the Aerie Way and into the growing fan of balconies beyond. They steadily dropped towards the broader reaches of Cambray and Uttagate, where they hoped to find Pettar and his party still safe and sound. It eventually brought Penolith to ask, “Nephril? Can Leiyatel do harm to anybody, I mean, intentionally hurt any of us?”
Nephril thought hard for it was something he’d never had need to consider before. “I do not rightly know. She hath not reason and purpose as we do. She hath no intellect with which to plan and scheme. She is but engine that doth manipulate the world’s base elements. Honestly, though, I cannot say with certainty.”
“Then, how does she know what’s beneficial and what’s not? I mean, how can she choose to invite anyone in?”
Leiyatel's Embrace (Dica Series Book 1) Page 34