Nightshade

by Shea Godfrey

  Jessa’s eyes were alight with anticipation. “Yes.”

  They passed beneath the arch and Jessa’s hand brushed through the soft ivy as they stepped into a broad corridor bordered by heavy hedgerows. She stepped closer to Darry as the lane before them began to narrow and the hedges rose from the ground, heavy with life and weight, a weight that held more than just dense shrubbery.

  There was majik there as well, and she could feel it just as Darry said, aching along her bones. The green brush was neatly trimmed despite its wild essence, its branches and leaves tangled and thick. There were flowers as well, though, their colors trapped deep within the walls and trumpeting their presence. “The rows are so thick.”

  “So you cannot see through them.” Darry pulled them to a stop. “Most of the many paths lead nowhere, unless of course nowhere is the place you wish to go,” Darry said. “There are only two paths to the heart and those you must work for. If you can see which path is wrong, it is not so much a treesha as a walk in the gardens.”

  “What is at the heart?”

  “If I tell you, what fun would that be?”

  “You’re still too ill to be having so much fun,” Jessa said, managing to scold while sounding terribly pleased.

  “Yes. But I need to show you.”

  “Are you tired?” Jessa stepped closer. “You look tired.”

  Darry stared into Jessa’s eyes for what seemed like a very long time, feeling happy that such a woman was worried for her. “I’m fine. I will sleep later, I promise.”

  Movement to the side drew Jessa’s gaze and she let out a startled laugh. “Shivahsa, the hedge!”

  “What?”

  Jessa’s eyes swarmed over the dense vegetation. “It moved.”

  Darry laughed. “It’s an enchanted place, Jess. You may see strange things, as I said. This land is caught in a powerful casting.”

  Jessa spun and searched behind them for the archway. Bossa trees grew there, heavy with leaves and berries and a patch of heather that should not have been there. There was, however, no entrance trellis and Jessa laughed with pleasure.

  Darry’s heart swelled at the lovely sound. “There’s nothing for it now.”

  “Show me,” Jessa said with excitement. “Show me, Darry.”

  Darry nodded and regarded the path. “I must find my mark.”

  She pulled gently at Jessa’s hand and Jessa kept pace close beside her. At times Jessa thought the light played tricks with her eyes. Where wild loosestrife had grown one moment, there would be foxglove or lady’s slipper the next. At one point, when she thought they were moving straight ahead, Jessa realized they were being pushed to the left as the hedge beside them was actually shifting. She laughed, taking hold of Darry’s arm. When the vegetation began to move faster than they did, they were forced to run ahead to avoid being trapped and having to go back. When Jessa spun to the side Darry caught her at the waist and smiled.

  Jessa was breathing much too fast and she knew it, but Darry’s scent of gentle musk was making her feel wonderfully alive. She placed her hands on Darry’s arms, wanting to step closer and lean against her body. It feels so very good right here. It feels…familiar, Akasha. “You look flushed.” She touched Darry’s face. “Are you all right? Too much running?”

  Darry nodded, out of breath. “Yes…and yes.”

  “We can rest if you need to.”

  “No, it’s almost time.”

  “For your secret?”

  “Yes.”

  Jessa saw something uncertain in her eyes. “What is it?”

  “You mustn’t be scared.”

  “Will I be scared?”

  “You must trust me, yes? I would never let anything hurt you, Jess, I promise. So you mustn’t be frightened.”

  “I won’t,” Jessa whispered. The primitive presence of majik in her blood was thicker and more compelling than she would have thought possible. It was the Vhaelin rising and yet it was something else as well. She recognized it from several nights past, when both she and Radha had reacted to its mysterious presence. Darry lowered her face and Jessa’s heart nearly jumped from her chest, her lips parting slightly in anticipation.

  Darry’s cheek brushed against Jessa’s. “Then look to the path, Jess, and don’t move until I say.”

  Jessa felt a pang of regret as she pulled away, but she obeyed nonetheless. Her body jerked and she stepped back in fear as Darry eased in front of her.

  A golden mountain panther stood in the path a mere twenty feet away, an enormous animal that looked to weigh two hundred stones or more.

  Jessa raked her gaze over the cat’s substantial paws and muscled front legs, her mind stuttering toward acceptance. The cat’s fur was of the darkest tan, though where the setting sun speckled its light on her coat it was tawny gold. She was in the midst of taking a step, her long tail raised behind her and flicking lightly as if in annoyance. Jessa had never seen an animal of that size still alive and not mounted on her father’s walls.

  The cat’s head was motionless as it watched them with ears back. Her mouth was open and she growled, her jaws stretching and her fangs bared as her long whiskers quivered. Her almond-shaped eyes narrowed as the sound rippled along Jessa’s spine. Tears welled up and fell from Jessa’s eyes; it was too much power not to react in some way to its aura.

  Darry moved forward and Jessa’s heart seized, her hands tightening on Darry’s tunic. “No!”

  “Jess, let go.”

  Darry turned her head and Jessa studied her profile, seeing how calm she was. “Darrius, you are mad.”

  “Let go, Jess. It’s all right.”

  Jessa obeyed, the bones in her hands creaking in protest at her mind’s seemingly ridiculous command. “Darry, please.”

  Darry walked slowly along the path. The panther’s shoulders moved in a flowing manner as it approached Darry at an equal pace. Jessa put a hand to her mouth as Darry knelt and allowed the panther to advance. The cat’s wide black nose twitched as she extended her face and Darry did likewise.

  The panther leapt and Jessa cried out as the animal’s front legs slammed against Darry’s chest and knocked her backward. Darry tumbled to the grass with a shout.

  Darry’s laughter rang out as the panther lowered her face, laying a good portion of her considerable weight upon Darry’s chest as she dragged her tongue across Darry’s face. Darry’s hands sank in the thick fur and pushed. The cat’s hindquarters swayed and buckled lazily onto the grass. The panther let out a mewling noise and batted at Darry’s head, taking her back to the grass in an instant. The rough-skinned paw sat heavily on the side of Darry’s neck. A strange sound moved through the ground and Jessa realized it was a purr. The panther lay still and looked down at Darry with an imperious expression.

  Darry pushed at the leg and tried to rise only to have the panther scoot forward on her belly and bite. Darry cursed as her hair was caught in the panther’s teeth, forcing her to be still. The panther dragged her tongue once more along Darry’s skin.

  “Let me up, Hinsa,” Darry mumbled, pushing at her face.

  The cat tumbled onto her side and freed her, her long tail slapping the ground.

  Darry sat up and scratched the panther’s neck. She laughed and looked to Jessa.

  Jessa’s knees gave out and she reached back, catching herself as her backside hit the ground.

  Darry’s brow went up. “Jess? Come and meet my Hinsa.”

  Jessa shook her head.

  “She won’t hurt you, I promise.” Darry smiled happily and then tumbled forward, laying her upper body across the panther and pushing her face into the golden fur.

  The cat stretched beneath Darry, and Jessa stared into the animal’s eyes as it returned her scrutiny, ignoring Darry’s antics completely. Very much as if I were your dinner.

  “Jess, you can move now.”

  Jessa was powerless to comply. Darry used the panther’s body to push to her knees as she pulled at the fur beneath her hands. The cat shifted sm
oothly and vaulted to her feet. They walked forward and Jessa gasped as Darry moved as sleekly as the cat that prowled beside her. The animal stood mid-thigh to Darry, so much power in her long body that Jessa thought the ground was shaking as she moved. They stopped a few feet away and Darry knelt. The panther sat beside her in a rather polite manner as Darry’s hand found the scruff of her neck.

  “This is Hinsa, Jessa,” Darry said. “Hinsa?” The cat’s whiskers quivered as if she understood. “This is Jessa.”

  Jessa sat forward slowly, her fear evaporating as they both faced her. The knowledge of what they were quaked through her and stole her breath. Their eyes were the same, only opposite. Darry bore green upon the right and blue upon her left, while the panther’s eyes were blue upon the right and green upon the left. “You are Cha-Diah!”

  “Hinsa is my majik,” Darry said, unable to keep the happiness from her voice. The panther began to purr once again, her eyes narrowing in pleasure as Darry scratched her ear. Darry leaned over and kissed Hinsa on the side of the face. “Go and say hello, biscuit.”

  Jessa gave a start as Hinsa pushed forward, extending her powerful neck. Jessa lifted her hand, her fingers trembling as she met the advance halfway and offered her palm. Hinsa let out a snuff of air, taking in Jessa’s scent and sprinkling her skin with moisture.

  The cat stepped closer and Jessa caught her breath, lifting her arms as the massive cat leaned against her, pushing her face within Jessa’s braids. Jessa laughed, tears slipping free as she set her hands within Hinsa’s fur.

  “She likes you.” Darry sat in the grass and crossed her legs. “But then how could she not?”

  “Hello, Hinsa.” Whiskers brushed across Jessa’s lips. “Salla shimbra ahbwalla…Vhaelin antua essa.”

  Hinsa made a deep rumble of sound in her throat and stepped gracefully over Jessa’s legs, rubbing against her. Thick golden fur passed beneath Jessa’s hands as the panther’s tail wrapped over her shoulders and slid along her neck. Hinsa turned about before sitting in the grass a few feet away, then flopped onto her side and stretched in contentment.

  Jessa wiped at her flushed cheeks and smiled, looking up shyly. “How?” she asked. “How is she here?”

  “There’s a gateway in the hedge,” Darry answered. “Or perhaps not so much of a gate.” She frowned a little. “Maybe a window? I’m not sure what I should call it. She passes through it from where she lives in the Green Hills. She can feel me when I enter the maze and so she comes to me. Sometimes it takes awhile, and sometimes she’s waiting for me. But she always appears. I can call her too, if I like, or she calls me.”

  “There is a portal here?” Jessa asked, shocked yet again.

  “Yes, but only Hinsa knows where it is. It changes, you see? Like the rest of the maze. She always knows where it is, though.”

  “Have you ever gone through it?”

  “Once.”

  “What happened?”

  “I woke up in the Green Hills, in one of the deepest parts of the Menath. I was twelve and I wanted…” Darry’s voice trailed off, her eyes catching with emotion as she stared at the ground between them.

  “What did you want, Darry?”

  “I wanted to go with Hinsa and live with her. She took me but when I went through the gate, well, I’m not sure what happened.” Darry shrugged. “I was there, though, and would’ve stayed with her forever if she hadn’t made me come back.”

  “Made you?” Jessa eyed the panther.

  “She can be very persuasive.”

  “I can imagine. Blood majik is an extremely ancient thing, Darry, or spirit majik as you say. How is it that you, I mean, how did this happen?”

  “When I was five years old I came looking for the maze. My mother had brought me here several times and the place called to me. My brothers had been teasing me that I wasn’t smart enough or old enough to find the heart of it on my own. I became angry, of course, and when my mother’s attention was elsewhere I ran off. I found the maze easy enough for it was all that I was wishing for, but I became lost almost at once. As the day wore on and I could not find my way out, much less the heart of the maze, I began to cry. I wasn’t very brave, I suppose.”

  “You were but a child.”

  “Yes, but I wanted to be like my brothers,” Darry said. “Anyway, at some point I lay down and took a nap. Being lost can be very tiring, I assure you. When I woke the sun was going down and I started to cry again. It was then that Hinsa came to me. At first I didn’t realize what I was looking at. She seemed like a very large version of the cats I knew from the kitchens, always stealing cream and underfoot. I was thinking that she must’ve eaten a lot of cream to have grown so big.”

  Jessa laughed softly, glancing again at Hinsa. The cat gazed back at her with Darry’s eyes in a rather pleasant exchange.

  “I ran over to her and smashed right into her.” Darry laughed. “I think she was more startled than I was. She fell over and I climbed on top of her. She was very big even then and I was tired of being alone.” Darry closed her eyes. “I remember…I remember pushing my face into her fur and telling her that I was lost, and could she please take me to my mother. She hissed and showed her fangs, all the while with me sitting on her ribs as if she were some sort of tiny pony. I punched her in the shoulder and told her to stop scaring me.”

  “And she did?”

  Darry laughed. “Sort of. She grabbed me by the arm with her teeth and pulled me over as if I were a cloth doll.” Darry loosened her left sleeve and pulled the material back, holding out her arm. The five distinctive scars on her skin were freckles of tissue thick and white with age.

  Curious, Jessa touched them gently.

  “I didn’t cry, though it burned my skin and I was bleeding,” Darry went on, her heart giving a pleasing flutter as Jessa’s hand caressed her forearm. “She had trapped me beneath her leg and held me to the ground. I recall looking into her eyes, which were the most brilliant green. I wasn’t scared, really, even though my arm hurt. She began to purr and it rattled my bones, but it felt good too. She ripped my shirt and began to clean the wounds.

  “I felt very strange and dizzy as she did this and I tried to get closer. The earth beneath me was moving and Hinsa was very solid and safe. I fell asleep again. When I woke up next, my mother was holding me in the gardens by the fountain of the marble lady, and she was crushing me so tight I couldn’t breathe. She was crying terribly, which of course made me cry too.”

  “What happened?”

  “My mother says she found me all tangled and trapped beneath Hinsa’s legs, bloody and not moving except to breathe. She was terrified but wouldn’t leave me to go fetch my father or the guard, afraid that if she did the cat would either eat me or carry me away into the maze. After a few hours and a bath while I slept, Hinsa picked me up by the back of my shirt and dropped me a few feet from my mother.

  “She grabbed me up and ran from the maze, which opened before her. I slept through the entire thing. Only when she reached the safety of the fountain did she stop and try to wake me.”

  “You are Cha-Diah, Darry. Do you know what that means?” Jessa asked. “It is a most rare thing. It’s…Darry, it’s unheard of. It is an old majik that has faded from the world.”

  “You don’t need to explain what I am.” Darry turned her eyes to the panther. “Since that day we’ve been connected, though I don’t know how. I’ve not been just myself since I looked into her eyes.”

  “This was the fever then,” Jessa said. “It was Hinsa.”

  Darry nodded. “If I fight it when her blood is high within mine, my body doesn’t react well. It’s not always easy to be both things. I’m not as strong as a panther. No one knows of this, though, no one but Bentley.”

  “The dogs!” Jessa exclaimed.

  “Yes. I didn’t realize the true depth of our connection until that day. When I was attacked I felt all of Hinsa’s power in my blood, though it only made things worse. I was a wild animal to them, not a girl who on
ly wanted to play. I was the quarry they’d been trained to hunt.”

  “But how can no one know?” Jessa asked. “Your eyes…”

  “I became very ill shortly after that day. When I woke from my sickness my eyes were as you see them. The healer told my mother that it was rare but that it happened sometimes with such a high fever. They used to be blue, like my brother Wyatt’s.”

  “Is what you see different than what I see?” Jessa asked.

  Darry considered the question. “When my blood is high, definitely. And in the dark? The night is not so hidden for me.”

  “Why would you not share such a gift with those that love you? Why do you hide such an amazing thing from them?” Though more importantly, why would you share it with me? Why do you gift me with such an honor, Akasha?

  “After what happened, after my illness, my brothers would tease me and call me the Golden Panther. It was a joke at first but it stuck. I would get angry that they mocked me. Even then I knew I was no longer just Darry, that in some way I was Hinsa as well. I thought no one would believe me, and even if they did, they would take her away from me. And the dogs taught me that Hinsa wasn’t welcome in my world. I don’t know, Jess, I was very young and I only knew that I must protect her. My mother was filled with fear by what had happened. After a while the name they called me was no longer in jest.” Darry’s expression was troubled as she tried to find the words. “I was afraid.”

  Jessa waited, seeing in the fading light how pale Darry still was.

  “I was afraid that my father…he doesn’t hear me sometimes. And she was something that was just my own,” Darry whispered, and Hinsa moved suddenly beside them. The huge cat stepped close and rubbed against Darry’s shoulder. Hinsa pushed her substantial weight into Darry, making her tumble over.

  Jessa laughed as the cat lay on top of Darry, pressing her to the ground.

  Darry let out a grunt and tried to free her arms. “Hinsa,” she said in a strained voice. “Please, I don’t feel well.”