45

:Danjin.

The voice was dreamy and sad. Danjin slowly became aware that he was no longer asleep, yet not fully awake either.

:Daaaaanjinnnnn.

He knew the voice. As recognition came, he felt a mild surprise.

:Auraya?

:Yes, it’s me. How are you?

:Asleep.

:Not quite. We’re dream-linking again.

:Are we? He felt alarm and his thoughts sharpened. Where are you?

:Still locked up. I feel better. I was sick. I think I nearly died. Obviously that’s not part of Nekaun’s plans. He had them bring me clothes and better food.

Clothes? Danjin felt a pang of horror and concern as he realized what that meant.

:I bet you didn’t expect to march into another war again so soon, she said.

A tingle of warning ran down his spine. How did she know about the war? Had the Voices told her? Of course they had.

:No, he said warily.

:I’ve been watching the army, she told him. Watching you all marching across the desert. Watching the Pentadrians preparing to meet you. I wish I had something I could tell you.

:Tell me…?

:A secret about the Pentadrians. Something vital to help you win the battle. But the White’s spies and advisers already know everything.

:How did you…?

:Mind-skimming, Danjin. There’s nothing much else for me to do—except talk to Mischief, and you know what a great conversationalist he is. I wish I could talk to you more often. We all know the Voices will kill me before they set off to meet the White. It would be nice to have someone to talk to during my last days who didn’t constantly demand scratches or shower me with bits of whatever he’s managed to catch and eat.

Danjin felt as if he were choking. How could she speak so casually of her death? Maybe that was because she was making it all up?

No, he thought. There’s something else. She’s making light of it, but really she’s desperate. He felt a wave of grief and pity. She’s alone. She knows she’s doomed. How can the amazing woman I knew end like this? I suppose the only alternative is to die in some spectacular magical battle.

:Danjin?

:I’m here.

:In case you think this is a dream, I’ll tell you this. There’s a messenger from the Sennon emperor about to enter the camp.

And then the sense of her presence vanished. Danjin opened his eyes, sat up and looked around. Grabbing his blanket to protect himself from the chill night air of the desert, he rose and left his tent.

The thought that Auraya was watching them was both disturbing and reassuring. He had to know if it were true, and the best way to do that was to go to the White’s tent and see if a messenger from the emperor arrived.

Under the light of the moon the tents of the Circlian camp looked like a great ghost army of myth. They spread in all directions, lit by lamps from within or fires from without. The army was no larger than the one that had met and defeated the Pentadrians a few years before—in fact it was smaller—but from where he stood it appeared to have no end.

The stretch of desert the army had settled onto for the night was relatively flat. With no features like rivers or hills to consider, the tents, supply carts and platten had been set down in a circular pattern: a wheel in which the White and leaders of their allies gathered at the hub and the gaps between the armies of each land formed spokes. Danjin didn’t know if there was any tactical advantage in this. Perhaps only in that many would feel reassured by such a powerful use of the symbol of the gods.

Reaching the war-council tent, he asked the guard to request permission to enter.

Do we need reassuring? Danjin asked himself. We won last time. But having gods on one’s side does not make victory sure. The Pentadrians are proof of that. The Pentadrians know us better now. They won’t make the same mistakes.

“Here’s my ever-doubtful Danjin,” a familiar voice said from inside.

The flap of the tent opened and Ella beckoned him in. He saw that Juran and Dyara were standing beside a table covered in a map Danjin recognized from the last war. Mairae and Rian were absent.

The Circlian leader met Danjin’s eyes and nodded. Danjin made the sign of the circle.

“Now, Danjin. Why can’t you stop worrying?” Ella asked.

“Somebody has to,” he replied. “Consider me your personal worrier.”

Her eyebrows rose and she glanced at Juran, who returned her look with a half-smile.

“Did I say something wrong?” Danjin asked.

Ella laughed. “No. Juran was saying something similar just a moment ago. He says you are my conscience and common sense.”

“Am I?” Danjin looked at Juran. He couldn’t help wondering if that meant Juran thought Ella had too little conscience and common sense.

Juran chuckled. “You do not blindly trust that events will turn out as the gods would have them,” he said. “Ella cannot comprehend anything but victory.”

“Why send us to Southern Ithania if they can’t ensure victory?” she asked.

“There is always the risk of failure,” Juran replied. “Even if it is a small one.”

“Why do we bring an army with us if the gods’ power, channelled through the White, is all that is needed?” Danjin asked.

Ella shook her head. “We all know the army is only needed in order to control the land one takes. The real fight is magical. Magic is the province of the gods, so victory is sure.”

“Unless the Pentadrian gods are stronger,” Juran pointed out.

“If that were so, the Circle would not send us to war.”

Juran smiled and waved a hand in her direction. “Enough of that. Danjin came here to discuss other matters.” Danjin felt his heart skip as the Circlian leader looked at him earnestly. “I see you have spoken to Auraya again.”

Danjin nodded, then related what he could remember. When he had finished, the White silently exchanged glances, communicating in their unique way.

“She is alive; she has been sick but is better,” Dyara summed up. “Can she really see us?”

Juran shrugged. “We can only wait and see if this messenger turns up.” He turned to Danjin. “Ella has told me you found the link ring Auraya made for you among your possessions. Do you know why it was there?”

Danjin felt his face warm. “I am not sure…but I have a suspicion my wife may have put it there.”

“Why would she hide it?”

“Oh, she wouldn’t have meant to hide it,” Danjin explained hastily. “When she packs for me she often puts things in odd places in order to fit more into my trunk. She probably intended for me to find the ring when I opened the game, and didn’t realize it would get stuck in the drawer.”

Juran nodded. “So why pack it at all?”

“A precaution, I suppose. I’ve found a lot of strange items in my trunk over the years, and when I ask her about them she usually says she put them there ‘just in case.’”

“Just in case of what?” Juran said thoughtfully. He said it as if he were wondering aloud, not expecting an answer. Danjin shrugged. The Circlian leader took something from within his robe. A white ring. Danjin guessed it was the ring in question.

Juran held it out to him. “Put it on.”

“But…” Ella stared at Juran, who returned her look with an unreadable expression. She bit her lip and watched as Danjin took the ring.

The small signs of concern her face betrayed negated any eagerness Danjin had felt at the chance to communicate with Auraya. He considered asking if using the ring was dangerous. But so what if it was? Juran had ordered him to, anyway, and he would not refuse.

“What should I say?” he asked.

Ella shrugged. “Tell her we are relieved that she is alive.”

He nodded. Taking a deep breath, he slipped the ring onto his finger and closed his eyes.

:Auraya?

No answer came. He called several times more, then looked at the Voices and shrugged.

“Perhaps it isn’t working any more.”

“Take off the ring, Danjin,” Ella said.

Juran held out his hand. Danjin removed the ring and handed it over. The three White were frowning.

“That’s not it, is it?” he asked tentatively.

Juran looked at him thoughtfully. “The ring may not be enabling us to speak with Auraya, but it has not lost another quality. While you wore it I could not read your mind. Ella could, as you are wearing her link ring, so I had to watch through her mind.”

“Is it the same ring, then?”

“Yes, it definitely is. We knew about the flaw, but had no time to make another at the time, as Auraya had to leave for Si.”

Juran regarded the ring speculatively, then looked at Ella. “This could be to our advantage. So long as Danjin wears this ring, his mind will be hidden to all but us.”

“And Auraya,” she pointed out.

His lips thinned. “I wish I knew she could be trusted.” Curling his fingers around the ring, he let his hand fall to his side.

The entrance to the tent opened and a guard stepped inside and made the sign of the circle. “A messenger from the Sennon emperor requests an audience with the White.”

Juran looked at Danjin, but his smile was forced. “Thank you for alerting us to this, Danjin. You had best get some sleep.”

As Danjin moved toward the tent flap Ella touched his arm gently. “She is alive, at least,” she said quietly.

He sighed. “Yes, but for how long?”

“That is in the hands of the gods,” she said.

Nodding, he stepped out into the desert night and headed for his tent.

 

The Gull felt the power of the wave gather behind him. As it reached him he stretched out and rode it forward. The rock wall of the stack rushed toward him. He twisted at the last moment, his body moving automatically to lessen the impact, his fingers catching familiar cracks and protrusions. As the wave retreated he began climbing.

He had done this so many times he didn’t need to think about where the next handhold was. Reaching the cave, he hauled himself inside and stood up.

Looking back out, he regarded the dark waves that surged around the stack. He could see no sign of the shipwreck. Even had it been a bright, clear day he wouldn’t have been able to see that far. But he stilled his mind and reached outward.

Silence.

The Gull shook his head and sighed. They had probably all drowned. The irony was, he had intended to sink the raider ship himself, but at the right time. Once he’d had time to get to know the crew, to sort the ill-fated from the ill-natured.

He hadn’t had time. If he hadn’t been asleep he might have sensed the approach of the Elai and been able to warn or help those of the crew who were worth saving. But he needed to sleep, just as any mortal did.

Yet he didn’t waste effort in annoyance at the Elai. Their attacks on the raider ships were justified after all they had suffered. He did worry where their newfound confidence and taste for killing would take them, but he wouldn’t try to steer it. Though he and the Elai were both famous for their relationship to the sea, they had no other connection. For millennia he had been a legendary figure of the folklore of landwalkers, whom the Elai hated. The Elai were a young race created by a goddess who hated immortals.

Huan, he thought darkly. He frowned as he remembered the strange distorted creatures, dead or barely alive, that he had chanced upon long ago. They kept appearing, for over a century. Only when the early ancestors of the Elai appeared toward the end of that century had he found an answer to the mystery. The twisted creatures had been the experiments and failures of the sorcerers fulfilling Huan’s great ambition to create a people adapted to living in the sea. She and her followers didn’t suffer as the animals and people did. At least the people chose their fate, though I’m sure they didn’t expect to be cast out to sea or left to die when the work failed.

Eventually Huan had succeeded. Out of a goddess’s vision and mortals’ willingness to do her bidding had come two miraculous peoples, the Elai and the Siyee. Out of cruelty had come beauty. This was the way of the ocean, too. Sometimes the most beautiful creatures were the most deadly. Starfan fish were brightly colored, but so venomous one prick of their spines could kill in a few breaths. The doi was a playful, intelligent creature, loyal and affectionate. Sailors believed that doi swimming in the prow wave of their ship was a sign of good luck. But The Gull had seen doi treat their own kind with a cruelty he had otherwise only observed in humans.

He shrugged. The gods had once been mortals. They were driven by the same emotions and needs. Therefore it was no surprise they could be as cruel as humans. The trouble was, while the occasional human was inclined to behave badly, all of the gods had dealt cruelly with humanity at some point.

No, not all, he corrected. The old gods weren’t all bad. Is it so strange that those remaining are cruel? They were the ones willing to murder the rest.

His mind was beginning to wander in old and familiar circles. He didn’t mind that, but he had agreed to contact The Twins tonight. Moving to the back of the cave, he lay down on some old blankets. He closed his eyes and sent out a mental call.

:Gull, Tamun answered. You’re late.

:Ignore her, Surim added. She’s grumpy.

:Oh? Why is that?

:Everything is happening too fast. It scares her.

:I am not scared! Tamun protested.

:Not a bit, Surim agreed unconvincingly.

:What is happening too fast? The Gull asked.

:Emerahl wants us to go to Diamyane, Surim explained. And you, too.

:She wants to attempt to kill the gods?

:Only if an opportunity arises. She has rightly pointed out that it would be a shame if one does and we are not there to take advantage of it.

:That is true.

:Are you willing to go to Diamyane, hang about in the middle of a battlefield with all the risks of being discovered that it entails, just in case Auraya somehow manages to escape and decides to help us kill her precious gods?

The Gull considered. He could see the advantages of being in the place where the White and the Voices clashed. The gods were sure to be present. They might be able to kill several at once.

Yet he could also see that the chances that everything would fall into place were slim.

But if there was even a slim chance…

:Yes, he said. If I remain hidden in the water, discovery is unlikely.

Tamun cursed.

:Sorry, sister, Surim said. Emerahl wins this time. We had better start packing.

:And I have a long way to travel, The Gull added.

:Will you make it in time?

:Yes, if I leave tonight.

:Then travel well. We will speak to you again tomorrow night, Surim finished.

Opening his eyes, The Gull stared up at the roof of the cave. He rose and moved to the cave entrance. Closing his eyes again he sent out his mind, seeking a familiar pattern of thought.

It did not take him long to find it. Slow, male and calm, the mind roused at his familiar presence. He posed a query; it answered with an affirmative.

Pleased, The Gull waited.

Some time later he felt the same mind’s anticipation of arrival. Looking down, he saw the great head of the roale, as large as a fishing boat, surge up out of the water, turn and crash down again. One eye glinted in the starlight.

:Thank you, he said to it. We will swim south together, where the water is warm and full of fish.

:Yes, the roale replied. Food.

Stretching out his arms, The Gull leapt from the stack and dived into the sea.

 

Every time the Voices gathered without Nekaun present Reivan felt uneasy, yet she no longer felt comfortable in his presence either.

The other Voices weren’t conspiring against him, yet in his absence they were more likely to voice their opinions. It didn’t help that they often discussed ways to lessen the impact of his mistakes, or verged on complaining about his methods.

Today they were discussing the Sanctuary’s remaining honored guest, the Dreamweaver Mirar. Though Reivan had seen him several times now, she found it hard to believe this man was over a thousand years old. It wasn’t that he looked no older than thirty—Imenja was far older than she appeared as well, but she had a bearing that suggested the confidence and wisdom of an older woman. Mirar lacked the aura of power Reivan had expected. He seemed too humble to be a great sorcerer of legend and the founder of a cult as old as the Dreamweavers.

The Voices were concerned with more important matters.

“So can Mirar read minds or can’t he?” Shar asked.

“He can’t,” Genza replied.

“But your test worked. He reacted.”

“He sensed a threat to himself, but not its nature,” Genza explained. “If he had known what the threat was he would never have stepped into the alcove. That indicates he has an ability to sense the mood of those around him, not read minds.”

“If I’d been observing people for a thousand or so years I would be able to sense moods too,” Vervel said. “Is it a magical ability or good observation?”

“The assassin was out of sight,” Genza reminded him. “This isn’t observation, it’s a Skill.”

“There is one final test I’d like to make,” Imenja said. The others turned to regard her. “A test that would surely betray his ability.”

“What is that?”

“Allow our Companions to know the true nature of the relationship between Mirar and Auraya.”

The other three Voices exchanged glances.

“If he can read minds, he will know we know,” Vervel pointed out.

“Yes. But he will also read that it only improves his position. That we have something to offer in exchange for his help in the battle. So long as he knows we are willing to make that offer, we will have his cooperation.”

“But we may lose it if Auraya dies,” Genza added.

“Most likely,” Imenja agreed. The Voices exchanged long looks, then she nodded. As she spoke her gaze moved from one Companion to the next.

“The gods have told us Mirar and Auraya were once lovers. It is more likely that he wishes to rescue her than kill her.”

Lovers? Reivan straightened in surprise. Surely not!

“She worships the gods who want him dead!” Vervel’s Companion, Karkel, protested.

Reivan remembered something else. “Mirar said Auraya tried to kill him. Was that a lie?”

“Probably,” Shar replied.

“Does this mean he is a spy for the White?” Vilvan, Genza’s Companion, asked.

“The gods did not say so.” Imenja spread her hands. “They just warned that he would try to rescue her.”

“By asking if he can deliver the news of the White’s defeat to her, he ensures she lives a little longer,” Genza said.

“By suggesting we’ll give her to him, we ensure he does help us during the battle,” Shar added.

Genza frowned. “We’re not actually going to give him Auraya in exchange for his help, are we?”

Imenja sighed. “If we want to stay on good terms with Mirar, we must consider it. I don’t like the idea, but once the White are gone Auraya would be of little threat to us. Nekaun does not agree. He’ll keep her alive only so long as Mirar is useful.”

Vervel chuckled. “I feel a bit sorry for Mirar. He seems a good man.”

“If Mirar is a good man, he will not want to endanger his people through his actions,” Shar added darkly.

Vervel grimaced. “If he still loves Auraya, incredible as that may be, he has a difficult choice ahead of him. He may have to choose between his lover and his people. Now I feel even more sorry for him.”

Shar snorted. “I can’t feel sorry for anyone who has such bad taste in women,” he muttered.

Imenja’s lips twitched into a smile, then her expression grew serious. “I don’t think we should force such a choice on Mirar. Dreamweavers are a people of great usefulness who are of little threat to us. We should not risk spoiling our friendship with them because of a personal dislike of Auraya or our desire for revenge. Then we would be no better than the Circlians.”

“I agree with you,” Vervel said. “This may be why the gods want her alive.”

“For now. If Auraya proves a nuisance, we can get rid of her later. And she is, after all, only mortal,” Shar said.

“But what of Nekaun?” Genza asked. “We all know how much he wants to kill her.”

Imenja paused, then lifted her head and looked at each of them in turn. “If we are in agreement on this, we can persuade him otherwise.”

The room fell silent. Reivan’s heart was racing. Imenja was suggesting they unite against Nekaun. Until now the others had never been willing to stand against the First Voice.

“I will at least try,” Vervel said.

“And I,” Genza added.

Shar shrugged. “He would not defy the gods, but if he tries, I will give you my support.”

Silence followed. Imenja bowed her head.

“Thank you.” She drew in a deep breath, then stood up. “Reivan and I will now test whether Mirar can read minds. If not, I should still be able to ensure Mirar doesn’t attempt to rescue Auraya and spoil our plans.”

“How will you do that?” Genza asked.

Imenja smiled. “I will merely let him know that if he helps us win this war, we will give him Auraya to do with as he wishes afterward.”

Shar chuckled. “He’ll think we’re playing right into his hands. Unless, of course, he can read minds.”

“I guess we’re about to find out,” Genza concluded.