‘What’s happening?’ the woman beside him asked, but Samuel only hushed her impatiently.
There was no sound of the men outside; indeed,there was no sound other than the overpowering roaring of the wind and,after only a few minutes,a dark line had begun tracing its way up the tent as the sand piled up around them.
As timewore on, Samuel grew increasingly worried, for the line continued to rise and the light dimmed with each moment. Finally, as the creeping line reached the top of their shelter, they were left in utter blackness. Their only solace was that the noise of the storm was now muffled so as to be bearable.
‘Magician?’ came a muted whimper from beside him. ‘I’m afraid.’
‘Just be quiet,’ he told her. ‘We will wait for the storm to subside. Then Utik’cah will come to find us.’
She bumped against him as she struggled to be comfortable.
‘Sit still!’ he told her, for the tent was already deformed under the weight of the sand, and he did not relish the thought of their shelter collapsing beneath itand suffocating them.
‘I need air!’ she hissed back at him, and he could sense that she had sat up.
He did the same and his head bumped into the roof-such a thin barrier to maintain their tiny bubble of sanctuary within the sand. He sat quietly, listening for the others, but all he could hear was her breathing,faster and more urgent.
‘Breath slowly,’ he told her. ‘If you keep that up you will use all of our air.’
‘It is my air to use!’ she barked back at him, but he had no reply for such a statement.
They sat long in the darkness, waiting for some sign of rescue. It was hot and Samuel could feet condensation on the inside material when he brushed against it. Distantly, the storm continued to murmur, whispering its secrets in some timeless,unintelligible tongue.
‘Why did you lie to your Queen, Magician?’ she said after some time, breaking the silence.
‘Empress Lillith? What do you mean? I did not lie to her. What do you know? You cannot even understand when we speak.’
‘I don’t understand the words but I understand your tone and the expressions on your face. The word forPaatinis the same in any tongue, and I have heard you call me a witch enough times to know that sound. You spoke as if you disliked the Paatin witch, yet you have bedded her and continue to do so.’
‘Only to get what we need. It is not something the Empress needed to know.’
‘I think you lie to yourself, also,’ she told him. ‘It is not something you were forced to do. You choseto doso willingly.’
A moment of silence.
‘It helps our cause,’ said Samuel.
‘She is responsible for countless deaths,for killing your friend and my countrymen.’
‘Why do you sound so insulted? Have I done anything to you?’
‘I was stolen from my family, raised as a god and used as a puppet. Even now,I am a toy for Canyon and the likes of you. My life was stolen and I know nothing about common people or their lives. All I see are the ghosts of their fears and ambitions, played out in their colourless dreams. I can see the lives of those around me, butInever participate, because I don’t know how. I have spent every moment in some temple or hidden away, practising pointless rituals. Why should I not be insulted? All I want is for someone-anyone-to be honest with me. You were the last person in the world that I had any faith in. Is it so much to ask?’
Samuel had no comforting words for her and he lay back down as best he could, with his knees bent up to keep his feet from pressing against the wall of the tent. It was much later before she did the same, wordlessly shifting down beside him. After several hours, the hum of the storm still sounded, but Samuel guessed it was now night time above them.
‘Can you not even make a light for us?’ she asked, but Samuel did not even try. Everything she said seemed designed toirritate him.
He awoke many hours later and listened for the storm. It was very dim, but he could hear it just on the edge of his perception, droning far away. Her steady breath sounded beside him and he guessed she was asleep. There was a weight across his chest and it took him a moment to realise it was her arm. His own arm was leaden and bristling with pins and needles, for she had rolled upon it. He tried to pull it out from beneath her, but it caused her to stir and she rolled even closer,with her nose against his shoulder.
He could smell scented soap in her hair and he was wondering if he should just ask her to move, when she sidled against him and kissed his cheek. Again, he was not sure if she was awake, so he froze still. Again she kissed him and he felt her fingers crawl up to his chin, where she pulled his mouth against her own. The warmth of her lips was welcoming and he began to kiss her in response. She hugged him properly and he then knew she was no longer asleep. Wordlessly, they lay together, embraced in darkness.
Voices and rough scratching against the outside of the tent roused Samuel and a brilliant slit of sunlight fell in upon him.
‘Samuel!’ came the voice of Utik’cah. ‘I-’ but the voice stopped and the opening was shut again as quickly as it had opened, leaving Samuel blinking at the dim light that found its way through the coarse material. ‘I will give you a moment.’
Samuel realised he was still intertwined with the Koian woman. Her eyes were wide open, and she was looking at him-horrified. She squirmedaway fromhim and he found his clothes scrunched up behind him against the wall of the tent. It was difficult, but he managed to wriggle his way into his robes while she held her own clothes across herself, watching him all the while.
He scrambled out of the tent and almost tripped over the lip of the incision that Utik’cah had made, crawling along the short tunnel that had been burrowed through the sand. Outside, it appeared as if he had emerged from the side of a dune, and the desert had moved completely from its place before the storm, leaving them at the base of an enormous wall of white sand, rising almost vertically above them. It seemed remarkably lucky that their tent had only been buried a short distance from the edge.
It was early morning, but already the sun was gaining inheat, punishinganything caught beneath it. The other desert-men all seemed accounted for, but the camels were nowhere to be seen.
‘It isgoodthat you survived,’ Utik’cah noted. ‘These sudden storms can be ferocious and deadly.’
‘Did everyone survive?’
‘Yes. We know the ways of the desert well. I was only afraid for you. I thought you mightdo something foolish and bring your roof down upon your head. I trust you found a way to pass the time.’
Samuel ignored the remark, peering out at the other men as they continued to pull their belongings from beneath the sands. ‘What of the camels?’
‘We set them loose. They also know how to weather these storms and will eventually make their way back to the city. Unfortunately, this means we must continue the rest of the way on foot. It will not be comfortable but,now that the storm has passed, we are safe.’
A grunting sound followed and the Koian woman came stumbling out from the tent, as if ejected from the side of the dune. She adjusted her clothes, looking indignant. Noticing Samuel and Utik’cah looking at her, she threw them an evil glare.
‘Avert your eyes!’ she hissed and they both did so, before her temper waselevatedany further.
‘No mentioned of this, please,’ Samuel whispered to the man beside him as the Koian woman strutted away in no particular direction.
‘There is nothing to mention,’ Utik’cah responded.
There was no doubt the Koian woman avoided him in the days after thatepisode in the tentand Samuel was glad for it. Upon arriving at the palace, he had told the Emperor of his visit with the Empress,and the man had been elated to learn that his wife and child were well. Samuel returned to visit the Queen on subsequent nights and she was attentive but,for some reason, shehad lost much of her passion and attended to him without the spark that had first enticed him. Either that, or perhaps he had lost his interest in her-he could not be entirel
y sure.
It had been some time since he had ventured into the catacombs and earlyonemorning hecreptaway stealthily, knowing full well that the Koian woman next door would not be awake at such an hour.
He had found an abandoned room in the palace where the floor had fallen in and, as luck would have it, the hole led into the tunnels beneath the palace. This entrance, too, had been covered with a spell of detection, tuned to catch the passing of any living creature but,of course,it slipped over him as if he did not exist. He could enter and exit this way asoftenas he pleased, and he did not have to bother finding ways around the fearful guards. It wasaless direct route, for he first had to navigate a twisting spiral of cobwebbed tunnels beneath the palace before he could enter the mountain proper, but he was in no particular hurry.
He kept a map of his explorations in his head and,on this occasion,he delved further and deeper into the mountain than he had ever beenbefore, but still without any sign of Balten. With each trip,he hoped to reduce the number of tunnels that he had not yet seen, but each trip only revealed more endless passages that required exploration.
He found all manner of cells,ranging from comfortable furnished rooms, to broken and abandoned holes in the floor. Some were filled with torturous devices or had been flooded with water and he guessed there were perhaps hundreds of prisoners held within those dungeons. He dared not free any of the poor souls he found, or even give away his presence, for he did not want to risk anything that would give his actions away. Only if he was eventually successful in finding Balten and in regaining his ring could his plans come to fruition.
After several hours, once again defeated, he returned to the surface and madeitback to his room.
He was surprised to find Utik’cah waiting for him there.
‘Out walking?’ the Paatin asked.
‘Yes,’ he replied plainly.
The desert-man accepted the answer at face value and continued, ‘Alahativa summons you. I would be quick, if I were you.’
That was all he needed to hear and Samuel started off at once to see why the Paatin Queen had called for him so early in the day.
On reaching her hall, it was immediately apparent that something was wrong. She was standing upon her dais, waiting angrily. The Emperor, who stood below, waited patiently,his hands clasped by his front.
‘What is happening?’ Samuel asked, coming to stand beside the embodied Emperor. ‘Why have you summoned Sir Ferse?’
‘Sir Ferse?’ she said calmly, although Samuel knew her expressions wellenough by now to know she was furious. ‘Interesting that you should use such a name. I know you and your party came here to kill me and retake your Empress, Samuel. That is no surprise. I had thought those who had accompanied you were of small interest, for I hadreceivedlimited reports on Sir Ferse: a court member of little importance. However, it seems you magicians are still capable of surprises. I did not expect-as I’m sure no one did-that the Emperor himself would somehow accompany you. While it is true that few in my city would recognise him, I am led to believe that his disguise is rather…convincing. But what comes as the greatestsurprise is that, from all accounts, he has been long dead.’ Samuel tried to withhold his own surprise, quite poorly. The Emperor, however, remained resilient and showed no emotion at all. ‘So please forgive my lack of courtesy, Your Majesty for,if I had known it was you, my hospitality would have been more fitting.’
‘Think nothing of it,’ said the Emperor. ‘I am glad that this charade can end.’
‘Of course I will have you moved to a more appropriate room, befitting a man of your standing.’
‘My room is fine. I have given up my station as Emperor and, if you don’t mind, I would rather as few people learned of this as possible.’
‘As you wish,’ she said,with a deliberate bow of her head.
They waited for her to say more, but she was silent.
‘Is that all?’ Samuel asked.
‘It is,’ she replied, with a fuming expression.
They turned together and left.
‘This is very bad,’ Samuel said to the Emperor as they hurried along the halls.
‘Why is that?’ Edmond said back to him.
‘She is very,verymad.’
‘I sensed that. What will she do?’
‘I don’t know, but when she gets angry, people die. We will have to wait and see.’
Samuel was glad that there was no summons to come to her chamber for the next few nights. Instead, he spent as much time as possible exploring the catacombs.
The Koian woman was still being evasive and so, when he was not delving beneath the mountain, he had little to do but chat with Canyon and the Emperor about their possible plans, all of which hinged on him regaining his ring.
Each day, he continued his attempts to recover his magic, with little result,savethe odd spark and the occasional trembling mage-sphere of glowing light. It seemed his power existed, which was some consolation, but it was still evasive and unreliable. At this rate, it would be years before he could reliably cast a worthy spell.
A servant waiting at his door one evening was a signal that Samuel had been summoned again by the Queen, and he hurried off. He was half-hoping that he would be led to her bedchamber but,instead,the servant once again guided him towards herreceptionhall.
‘Why have you summoned me, wondrous Alahativa?’ he said. He already knew that something was wrong, for the Paatin Queen was standing with her back to him, surveying her city through the misty veils on her balcony. Several men and a woman lay dead on the floor, crushed by magic, and Samuel did his best to ignore their grimacing corpses.
She turned and came back inside, brushing through the translucent cloth. It was the first time he had ever seen a worried expression on her face.
‘I have had worrying dreams these pastfewnights, Samuel,’ she said. ‘I have been counselled by my highest seers and astrologers, but their advice is worthless.’ As if to illustrate, she gestured to them, splayed out on the floor. ‘The Star of Osirah shines brighter, but it cannot burn the worries from my heart. I want to know if you, my darling, my most trusted magician, can helpeasemy burden?’
Samuel cleared his throat. ‘Tell me what is bothering you and I shall endeavour not to disappoint you.’
‘My dreams are troubled. I see days past and events long gone. I see loved ones and lost ones and people that I know well, yetwhomI have never metin this life. I am generations old but,in truth, my own childhood was told to me by our scholars, for it was so long ago that I cannot remember it. I always attributed such longevity to my beloved ring, but now I have witnessed these dreams, I am not so convinced.’ She ceased her stalking up and down and turned to face him directly. ‘Do you believe that I could have had other lives? I have never heard of such things, but these dreams are torturing me. They are so vivid,so real. They are more memories than dreams but,for this to be so, I would have to have lived another life that I have since forgotten; indeed,many lives for,in each, I am a different person,in a different place, in a different body.’
Samuel immediately thought of the Emperor. Before learning of his transfer into the body of Sir Ferse, he would never have thought such a thing was possible. The Paatin Queen’s words seemed eerily familiar.
‘I do not know what to say,’ he told her. ‘Perhaps they are merely dreams?’
‘They are not!’ she roared and one of the muscled menwholined her room actually bolted from his position in fear and fled through the door. Luckily for him, she failed to notice and continued stalking her dais. Magic had begun to boil from her finger and it surrounded her like a tumultuous liquid, curling and twisting around her. ‘I know dreams from truth, Magician. Don’t taunt me with such stupidity. I don’t know what it can mean. You are useless. Leave me be! Go, before I do something I may regret!’ she commanded and Samuel backed away from her as quickly as he dared. She continued muttering to herself as he left the room and he felt her magic lash out in furious,sporadic bursts. It did not bode well
.
Another week passed and Samuel grew anxious about the uncustomary behaviour of the Queen. The Emperor had also begun acting strangely, looking distant and thoughtful at times, and losing his temper and having tantrums at Samuel, demanding he hurry up and find his ring.
The Koian woman was also behaving strangely, for she had surrounded her bed with all the furniture and blankets from her room, stringing and piling the sheets to form a makeshift shanty that she inhabited all day. Shara brought food and water to the woman, but she rarely ventured out, and ran back behind cover if Samuel or Canyon attempted to speak with her. She had covered her face with the make-up that had been provided to her, but in a hideous fashion, scribbled and smudged all about. When they beckoned to her, she only croaked at them from her hole and told them ‘Begone’.
Samuel ignored such behaviour and left the woman to her strange habits. He then had to resort to Canyon for the occasional civil conversation. The man was polite, but aloof,and so Samuel was left with nothing to do but venture beneath the mountain at every opportunity.
He had been hoping for Lomar to appear and miraculously save the day, but more wizards had been attracted to the palace by the Queen’s erratic behaviour and that made the prospect seem even more remote.
It was only as he was tiptoeing about beneath Mount Karthma, far down in the deeper reaches, that Samuel finally had a change of luck. Peering into a row of neat cells, he found that light was pouring from beneath the door of one and he was delighted when he sensed the familiar presence of Eric on the other side.
‘Eric!’ he hissed. ‘Is that you?’
‘Samuel!’ came the excited reply. ‘What took you so long? Let me out of here!’
‘I can’t. Not yet. There’s nowhere for you to hide and I can’t risk alerting the guards until I have found Balten.’
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