by Julia Gray
'Did you help him?' Terrel asked.
'All wings come from the sky,' Talker said doubtfully. 'Touch me, touch you.'
He turned back to the prone figure. 'Touch him.'
'You were trying to help him, weren't you?' Terrel persisted. 'To make it easier for him?'
Talker turned his blank eyes towards Terrel.
'There's a star inside you,' he stated in a tone devoid of any surprise. 'A shining star.'
Terrel was astonished by this comment, but had no chance to respond because the blind man suddenly fell into a dead faint and collapsed on to the floor.
It took all Ysatel's and Terrel's strength to lift him onto his own pallet.
'You think he might be a healer too?' she asked breathlessly.
'Maybe.'
'What was all that about a star?'
'Nothing,' Terrel lied. 'Just more of his nonsense.'
Talker remained unconscious for the rest of that day and all the following night. After conducting the second burial rite in two days, Farazin accompanied Terrel to the infirmary hut to inspect the last remaining patient.
The blind man lay quite still, his breathing barely noticeable.
'Is he dead?' Farazin asked.
'No, but this isn't an ordinary sleep. I'm beginning to wonder if he'll ever wake up.'
'Perhaps that's for the best.'
Something in the old man's tone made Terrel look up curiously.
'Why did you say that? Have you seen anything like this before?'
Farazin hesitated before answering.
'Come with me,' he said eventually.
Terrel followed the sky-watcher outside, and fell into step beside him as they went down the slope to Farazin's own hut. He waited as the old man went inside
- emerging a few moments later with an oil lamp - and then they headed west, out of the village.
'Where are we going?'
'You'll see soon enough. It's not far.'
'Then why do we need the lamp?' There were still several hours of daylight left.
'All in good time.'
After that Terrel kept his questions to himself, and concentrated on keeping his footing on the rough path. A quarter of an hour later they climbed over a ridge, and came to the entrance of a cave.
'Have you ever been underground before?'
'Yes.'
'Good. Some people find it hard to deal with,' Farazin remarked as he lit the lamp.
The cave proved to be the start of a long, winding tunnel that led into the heart of the hill. Daylight was
soon a distant memory, and without the lamp they would have been plunged into utter darkness, but the stone underfoot was reasonably smooth, as if many people had walked this way before. Terrel was given no clue as to where they were going, and knew better than to ask.
Eventually the passage widened out into a large cavern that was full of extraordinary rock formations. Terrel had no time to admire these stalagmites, however, because his attention was drawn instantly to three human figures who lay on roughly-hewn stone slabs near the centre of the cave.
'They're alive,' Farazin explained as he and the boy moved closer, 'but they haven't moved for more than ten years.'
The old man evidently expected Terrel to be astonished by this revelation, but the boy merely nodded, staring at the trio - two men and one woman, all between twenty and thirty years of age.
'Do you call them sleepers?' he asked.
'Yes. But only a few of us know about them.'
'Why do they have to be kept secret?'
'We don't want to frighten people.'
'Then why bring me here?'
'I thought maybe . . . maybe you could heal them, somehow. Help them to wake up.'
Terrel sensed that such a task would be quite beyond him, but he knew that Farazin wouldn't accept this until he tried. He was nervous as he went forward and touched the hand of one of the men. The sleeper's skin was cool, not completely lifeless, but Tercel sensed no connection to the man at all. His thoughts flew back to Alyssa, who lay in the basement of Havenmoon in a similar suspended
state. He had fondly imagined returning to her side, rousing her and taking her into his arms. Now he was plagued by the fear that when he did find her again she might still not be able to wake up. The hideousness of that thought made him close his eyes.
Quickly, without any hope, he tried to reach the other two, then turned back to Farazin and shook his head in answer to the sky-watcher's unspoken question. The old man nodded and gave a slight shrug, betraying resignation rather than any real disappointment.
'Tell me about them,' Terrel said. 'What happened?'
'They were among the first to explore the black mountain - before the military took over, that is - but something happened up there. No one has any idea what. They all fell into a deep sleep, and nobody could wake them. They weren't dead, but. . . well, you've seen them. They haven't had anything to eat or drink for all those years, but they haven't wasted away, and only seem to have aged a little bit. It's incredible.'
'Their spirits are wandering,' Terrel said quietly.
Farazin glanced at the boy in surprise, but Terrel did not explain.
'There were others on the mountain at the time, of course,' the sky-watcher went on. 'Including Kerin. But as far as we know no one else was affected.
Kerin still wonders why they fell asleep and he didn't.'
'And now you think the same thing's happened to Talker?'
'Something happened to him up on the mountain,' Farazin pointed out, 'and you said yourself it's not a normal sleep.'
'I don't think it's the same thing,' Terrel said, but was saved from having to justify this opinion when a strange sound came from the tunnel - a kind of whirring noise, which grew louder as they listened.
'What's—'
'Wings,' Terrel said, and moments later a pale grey dove flew into the cavern, its feathers glinting as it emerged into the lamplight.
'Great moons!' Farazin breathed. 'How did it—'
He did not finish the question, but fell silent in amazement as the bird swooped across the cave and alighted, with a last frantic flutter of its wings, on Terrel's outstretched hand.
About time too, Alyssa declared.
What do you mean? Where have you been? Terrel responded. Why did you leave me alone for so long? His heart had leapt as soon as the dove appeared, and he had not needed to see the 'ring' around one of its legs to know it was Alyssa, but her brusque greeting had confused him.
Hasn 't it ever occurred to you that what you do might have some bearing on what we're able to do? she asked.
Chapter Fourteen
Because their bones lie easily here, Alyssa said.
What? Terrel was in no mood for starting a conversation in the middle.
That's why you chose this place, she explained.
Terrel looked around at the glade. It was a small circular dip, surrounded by bare, stunted trees. Alyssa's dove was perched on one of the pale grey rocks that poked up through the bracken and coarse grass.
I didn't choose it. It had simply been the first place they'd come to where they could be alone, out of sight of the path or the village.
Alyssa decided not to argue with him, just as she had refused to explain her comment about Terrel's actions dictating when she and the ghosts were able to visit him. He had asked her what she meant, but her answers had been typically obtuse - and with Farazin there in the cave as well, Terrel had become flustered. The sky-watcher had naturally been unaware that Terrel was talking to the
bird, and had been asking questions of his own. Holding two conversations at once had proved impossible, but Terrel could not think how to get away from Farazin, and had been obliged to stay with the sky-watcher until they were in the open air again.
The dove had ridden on Terrel's shoulder as they made their way along the dark passages, her claws adjusting their grip whenever he stumbled. Farazin had clearly been intrigued by the bird's presence, but th
e boy had offered no explanation — beyond saying that it must have become lost in the caves and was allowing him to help it because of his natural affinity with animals.
Once they reached the entrance to the outside world, Alyssa had flown off, coming to rest a short distance away, and Terrel had told Farazin that he needed to be alone to think for a while. The old man had looked disappointed but had accepted the decision, returning to Fenduca alone while Terrel headed along the ridge and entered the nearby woodlands. He had stopped in the glade
— which Alyssa seemed to think was an ancient burial site — simply because it offered a place to rest in some privacy. He sat down on one of the boulders.
Are the ghosts here?
Oh no, they passed on a long time ago.
For almost the first time he could remember, Terrel felt genuinely angry with Alyssa.
Stop playing games. You know what I mean.
His obvious annoyance seemed to startle her, and she ruffled her neck feathers.
They'll be here soon, she said meekly.
Good. He was already regretting his harsh words. I'm glad you 're here.
So am I.
What had prompted her to appear now? Terrel wondered, but didn't bother trying to ask again. He hadn't been aware of being in any danger. Could it be that Alyssa arrived - with the ghosts, if necessary - simply because he was in need of their help? And if so, what did that imply? Had he unknowingly sent her some kind of signal? Or had he merely taken another step down an unknown road
- a road on which there were only certain points where the others could come to him? If that was true, he wondered where the journey was leading, and why he was the one who was travelling there.
He dismissed all these questions for the time being as his thoughts returned to Alyssa's last visit and, more specifically, to the conversation with Elam that had ended so abruptly.
Who am I, Alyssa? he asked quietly. Who am I?
Yourself, she answered. Isn't that enough?
No. Not any more.
They were silent for a while, looking at each other.
What difference will it make? Alyssa asked eventually.
I'll know the truth, he said.
It's just words. Nothing really changes.
Words are important.
You taught me that, she agreed. But they can lie too. I learnt that for myself.
That's why I want the truth.
Whose truth?
Terrel was about to ask what she meant - surely the truth belonged to everyone
- but he was distracted by the arrival of the ghosts. He had never before met with them in the open in broad daylight, and his first reaction was surprise at how pale and translucent they appeared in the sunshine.
Muzeni, whose image always seemed to be less sharply defined than the others, was especially faint. Even the colours of his outlandish clothes seemed faded to mere shadows as he glanced around and settled himself on one of the stones.
Shahan remained standing, a concerned expression on his lined, angular face.
Terrel looked round for the last of the trio, but there was no sign of his friend.
Where's Elam?
Different corner, Alyssa said.
I think he was bored with us, Muzeni added wearily. Can't blame him, really.
Perhaps if you weren 't so argumentative, Shahan remarked, looking down his great beak of a nose, he wouldn't feel that way.
It takes two to argue, the heretic pointed out. If you—
Be quiet!
The seers both looked at Terrel in surprise.
I have some questions for you, he went on, before they had a chance to respond, and I haven't got time for your bickering. I want some straight answers, or you can forget about me ever listening to you again. Understand?
There's no need to— Muzeni began.
Yes, there is! Terrel snapped. I've had a long time on my own to think since I left Vadanis, and I've worked a few things out. All you have to do is tell me if I'm right.
The ghosts exchanged glances.
We owe you that much, Shahan conceded soberly.
Thank you, Terrel replied, his sarcastic tone masking his relief. I have a brother, don't I? A twin brother.
Yes.
He did this to me, didn't he? Terrel gestured towards his twisted limbs.
Before we were born.
The surprise on the faces of both men seemed genuine, and neither of them answered.
I never saw it properly, Alyssa said. It was part of you.
Terrel knew she was referring to his recurring nightmare, the hate-filled dream that had at last begun to make sense. The thunder in the red ocean had been his mother's heartbeat, the pain the result of his battle with the enchanter - the battle that had begun even in the womb.
And he '$ been my enemy ever since, Terrel went on. Do you know why?
This time nobody answered him.
He's an enchanter. Did you realize that? He invaded my dreams, and he can control people. He's already been responsible for three deaths, maybe more for all I know. Mirival, a girl called Mela who was carrying his child, and . . .
He broke off to look at Shahan, and realized that the ghost already knew what was coming. And you, Shahan. He tried to kill me too, at Betancuria, and when that failed he made sure I was forced into exile. He actually sent me a letter gloating about it. At first I thought he was just mocking me when he signed it
'Farewell, brother', but it was true. And now, after all that, he's become a hero.
We know who the real hero was, Alyssa said. No one else could've done what you did.
Terrel waved that aside, recalling all the other clues that had finally led him to believe the unbelievable.
My brother is Prince Jax, isn't he? he said, and waited.
For a few heartbeats only the wind disturbed the silence in the glade, rustling the fallen leaves and bracken. Even the birdsong had stopped, as if the whole world was
holding its breath. Terrel told himself that he was ready for the answer, that he had prepared himself for what he was convinced must come, but when Shahan's voice finally sounded in his head, he was still shocked.
Yes, Jax is your twin. You are the son of Emperor Dheran and the Seventh Empress.
So I'm a prince of the Floating Islands? Terrel heard himself utter the absurd words as if in a trance.
Technically, yes, Shahan replied. But as Adina rejected you at the time of your birth, and only a few people know of your existence, it's a moot point.
For the first time in his life Terrel knew who his parents were - the parents who had abandoned him to life in a madhouse. The mixture of curiosity and resentment that had made him wonder about his family so often in the past was replaced now by a new combination of emotions — incredulity, anger, and — to his surprise — a deep sadness.
She rejected me because of this, he said, holding up his clawed hand. And these. He motioned towards his eyes.
Shahan nodded.
She was in great pain, and your arrival had been an enor-mous shock. Everyone knew her child was to be born that might, but no one had foreseen twins.
That's no excuse for what she did, Alyssa said fiercely.
I agree, Shahan said. But the real tragedy was that all of those present, myself included, allowed her to prevail. It's something I lived to regret.
But you came to find me.
Eventually, yes, when it was clear that the current in-terpretation of the Tindaya Code was failing.
And Jax had you killed because of it.
I know nothing of that, Shahan replied, but his tone indicated that he had every reason to believe Terrel was telling the truth.
Why didn 't you let me know about this before? You once told me I'd been robbed of my birthright. You could have said something then.
It was complicated, Muzeni said, speaking for the first time since the discussion had begun. By the time we realized you might be important, a great deal had changed. The Dark Moon had
thrown everything into confusion and, as if that weren 't enough, the various reinterpretations of the Code seemed to be at odds with one another. The only thing that remained certain was that it predicts a series of events between one four-moon conjunction and the next.
You and Jax were born on the night of one such confluence, the first in seventy-five years, but now no one knows when the next one will be. Both your destinies should have been part of the oracles, but so much else was changing, and you already had such a lot to contend with. To put it bluntly, we weren't sure of you.
Which is why you tested me! Terrel realized. With Kativa.
That's right, Shahan admitted. It was the best we could do at the time.
And that gave us confidence that you could go on to a greater task at Betancuria, Muzeni added.
You have to admit that was a good thing, Shahan said defensively. You did save Vadanis, after all.
But Jax took all the credit, Alyssa pointed out. He's the one the seers are calling the Guardian.
As things turned out, yes, Muzeni conceded, but the main thing is that the islands are safe.
And I ended up here, Terrel concluded.
Where you also seem to be doing some good, Shahan commented approvingly.
So what now? Is my destiny still part of the oracles?
Undoubtedly, Muzeni replied. But your path may not be yours to choose.
So who does choose? Terrel asked angrily. You?
The Code is—
Wait a moment! Terrel cut in. You knew, didn't you? You knew I was going to be exiled!
We thought it was a possibility, Muzeni admitted.
And you didn't do anything about it?
There was nothing we could do, Shahan protested.
We were aware that you might have to leave Vadanis, Muzeni added, but we didn't know it would be against your will.
You thought I'd choose to leave? Terrel asked incredulously.
The Code speaks of landscapes that simply don't exist on the islands, Shahan answered. Which meant—
Well, I've seen them now, Terrel snapped, thinking of the strange rock formations, the black mountain, and the swamps and rivers of Macul. So I can go home.
He glared defiantly at the two ghosts, but they made no comment.