“I acceded to Dameon’s invitation willingly, because it was a request from one who had been to Sador and who had, while there, been named asura—guest friend of the tribes. I was glad of the opportunity to see my daughter. But I soon learned that Bruna had ridden out only a day past, to journey by coast road to Sador.”
“Bruna went to Sador before Dardelan crossed the river?” I asked in disbelief. Was this the reason for his grimness? And yet it seemed unlikely that Bruna would leave him on the eve of a battle.
Jakoby knitted her brow for a moment, but she only said, “The asura feasted us that night, and those tales we had been told hastily were elaborated upon. That was the first time I heard that the plague-infected null was Domick. You have my deepest sympathy, for Merret told me that he died. I returned to the Umborine, still troubled about Bruna, whom I now knew I would not see until I was asked to return to Sador. Also, I was full of curiosity about why I had been sent to Sutrium. Given all I had learned, it would be easy to imagine that I had been sent there to aid the rebels. Yet…”
“You did not think that was what you were sent to do?” I guessed.
Jakoby shook her head. “The overguardians of the Temple have never had much time for battles and territories. And I was right, for once I reached the pier, I found waiting for me the one who made the request that brought me here.” Jakoby nodded at Maruman.
“Maruman requested it?”
Jakoby smiled. “Those of the Temple name him Moonwatcher, but I think you know that.”
“But you cannot beastspeak,” I said.
“Gahltha signaled Maruman’s request to me,” Jakoby said. “He asked that I bring them both to Aborium on the Umborine.” She smiled faintly. “To obey the request of a cat, and especially a cat known to the Temple guardians, seemed perfectly in keeping with the mysteries of the Earthtemple. I bade both beasts board, ordered the crew to ready the Umborine for departure, and went back to Dardelan’s house to bid farewell to the asura.”
“I cannot thank you enough for bringing Maruman and Gahltha to me,” I said.
Jakoby was shaking her head, the beads and cuffs clinking rapidly. “You do not understand, Elspeth. Maruman asked me to bring the ship to Aborium so that we could fetch you.”
“You will take us back to Sutrium?” I asked.
“I will bear you wherever you wish,” Jakoby said.
I frowned at her. “What if I want you to take me to the Red Queen’s land or to Sador?” I asked slowly.
“Then that is where we will go,” Jakoby said. “Do you ask it?”
I bit my lip, knowing I could not go anywhere until I had spoken to Blyss about Rushton. “There is something I need to do in Aborium,” I said at last.
“Let us ride, then,” Jakoby said. She reached out to take Maruman from me, and I was surprised that he did not lash out at her, until I realized he must have ridden to the ruins upon her shoulder. Once I had mounted Gahltha, the tribeswoman lifted the old cat up to me, and he settled himself none too gently across my shoulders. I bid farewell to Seely and cast one final long look about the ruins baking in the afternoon sun. Then the tribeswoman made a signal to Calcasuus, whom she had mounted, and the enormous horse wheeled and sprang into a gallop. Gahltha followed, as did the horses of the two silent tribesmen. Maruman’s claws dug in even through the thickness of cloak, vest, and shirt, but I welcomed their bite, for it had been too long since I had felt the sweet weight of my old friend. As if he heard this thought and was mollified, Maruman did not cling quite so savagely. Nevertheless, I was not fool enough to imagine that he would answer any questions yet, so I asked Gahltha about Maruman’s request of the tribeswoman.
“The old One called upon Maruman and me to take part in a spiritmerge of humans and beasts, for you were in great danger and needed us. We opened ourselves, and the old One drew deeply on us. I was very weary afterward, and when I woke, Maruman still slept. He slept on and on, and I began to fear for him. Then Maruman/yelloweyes wakened, and he told me that the old One said you were safe but that we must seek you over the ocean. We were in Sutrium then, and the funaga Kella had asked us to return with her to the barud. We would go back with her, but now Maruman said we must not go.”
“So Kella went back to Obernewtyn before Iriny crossed the river,” I muttered, finally understanding why the healer had not come to Domick. She did not yet know what had happened to him. “What of MornirDragon?” I asked, for I could not imagine Kella leaving Dragon alone in Sutrium.
“MornirDragon disappeared soon after we came to Sutrium,” Gahltha said.
“Disappeared?!” I echoed in dismay. “But how?”
“No one knows, beast or human,” Gahltha answered. “We sought her, but even the dogs given her scent could not find her.”
This was bad news, especially when I had told Matthew that we could bring Dragon to him in the Red Queen’s Land. What could possibly have happened to her? I gathered my wits, telling myself that I could do nothing to help her until I reached Sutrium, but once I was there, I would seek her until I found her. Then I asked, “What exactly did Maruman say to you about coming to me? Had he an ashling from the old Ones?”
“Maruman/yelloweyes traveled on the dreamtrails. He went seliga in Saithwold after I told him that you had vanished. He said that he would find you. After that, he woke and ate, yet he was seliga. I/Gahltha learned fear, for never had he traveled so long. Dameon carried him to the barud by the sea and still he was seliga. Then the smoke came, choking the air, and that night Maruman/yelloweyes came to my dreams and said that a ship would come that would bring us to you.” Gahltha broke off, and I touched his flank gently and withdrew from his mind, for though the healers and empaths had done much to cure his terror of water, he could not think of it without a shudder. The journey from Sutrium to the west coast would have required courage.
The horses were walking now, but I did not try to speak to Jakoby, for the strong constant wind raised a fine gritty mist of sand that made conversation aloud impossible. I found myself thinking of the last overguardian, who had told me that I would one day come to the Earthtemple with the Moonwatcher and the Daywatcher—names that he told me signified Maruman and Gahltha—to find the fifth sign that Kasanda had left for me. I had always imagined that I was supposed to travel to Sador when I had gathered the other signs. But now I wondered if I had been wrong, for he had said nothing about finding the signs in order. Yet if Jakoby had been sent to bring me to Sador to retrieve the fifth sign, why had not the new overguardian simply bidden Jakoby find me and bring me to the Earthtemple? Surely it could not be, as Jakoby had implied, a matter of cryptic tradition.
I thought of the five clues left by Kasanda.
I had long ago realized these would lead to information or devices that would enable me to destroy or disable the worldwide retaliatory system of weapons created by the Beforetimers, known as BOT, and enter the Sentinel facility. But my conversations with Dell and Ines had given me a far clearer idea of what I would be facing, for I now understood that Sentinel must be a program like Ines, and like her it might communicate in words once I had wakened it.
I ran my mind over the clues I had obtained so far. The words that had been scribed on the glass statue in Newrome under Tor might be connected to whatever it was that Jacob had taken into the Blacklands. Then there were the words Evander had carved at the base of Stonehill to replace those created by his mother. I had yet to see the statue that Cassy had carved to mark the safe-passage agreement, and then there was whatever she had left for me in the Red Queen’s land, the location of which was known only to Dragon. Who had disappeared.
I mastered a surge of anxiety about the girl and forced myself to go on considering the signs. Cassy had referred only to four in the message she carved into what later became the doors to Obernewtyn. I had not known there was a fifth until the last overguardian of the Earthtemple had spoken of it. I focused hard and sank into my mind, searching until I found what he had told me.
I know many things. I know that when the Seeker comes, borne by the Daywatcher and bearing the Moonwatcher, with one of Kasanda blood by her side, she will be searching for the fifth sign. Then may the one who is overguardian of the Temple aid her.
I frowned. I had been right. The overguardian had said nothing about finding all the other signs before I came for the fifth one. But if Maruman had been sent to draw me to Sador, to fetch whatever had been left in the Earthtemple, what about the one of Kasanda blood who was supposed to accompany me? I had always assumed it would be the gypsy D’rekta Swallow, Iriny’s half brother and a direct descendant of Kasanda. He was the guardian of the ancient promises, which, among other things, bade him ensure the safety of the signs Cassy left for the Seeker; moreover, Atthis had actively used him to protect me.
Perhaps, if I asked Jakoby to take me to Sador, I would find Swallow there. But it troubled me that Jakoby had not been given simpler instructions, if I only needed to go to Sador. Maryon had once told me that her futuretellings sometimes appeared obscure and difficult to understand because she saw only some aspects of an event. The gaps in the vision meant there were so many possibilities that it was impossible to choose one over another. The safest thing in such cases was to leave a gap in the futuretelling to allow all of the possibilities to coexist until the person or people involved could make their own choices, for sometimes simply voicing a possibility was enough to bring it to pass. Perhaps the current overguardian of the Earthtemple faced a similar problem.
Jakoby broke into my speculations to call a halt at a travelers’ well by the main road, and we stopped to drink and rinse the dust from our mouths. Jakoby wet a cloth and began carefully cleaning the eyes and nostrils of Calcasuus and Gahltha while the tribesmen with her performed the same service for their mounts. I carried Maruman to a smaller trough and knelt to scoop water into my hands for him to drink. Despite the cold windy day, many people were traveling the road hunched in hooded cloaks, their mouths hidden behind cloths. Leaving Maruman to stretch his legs for a while, I dipped into a few minds to learn that most believed there had been a great battle in Sutrium between the Faction and the rebels. I could not find the slightest suspicion that it had all been a trick by the rebels to lure their enemies over the river. This impressed me, because the smallest hint of the truth would have sparked rumors. The people Gwynedd had summoned to Aborium had been very careful.
As we mounted and set off on the road leading to Aborium’s main gate, I realized I could see the shape of the city in the distance. A young woman and her son rode past us in the other direction, and I noticed Jakoby’s gaze rest on her for a long brooding moment. Some impulse made me push aside the cloth covering my mouth and ask the tribeswoman if Dameon had said why Bruna had left Sutrium so abruptly.
Jakoby gave me a long expressionless look through narrowed golden eyes; then she sighed, and some of the stiffness went out of her bearing. “The asura told me only that Bruna quarreled with Dardelan amid preparations for the charade that would draw the Hedra and soldierguards over the river, but he did not know what the nature of their quarrel was. He said I must ask Dardelan or Bruna.”
“And did you ask Dardelan?”
“I saw only Merret before I came to seek you,” Jakoby said. She was silent for so long that I thought she would say no more, but then she added in a low voice, “When Bruna fell in love with Dardelan, I made no secret that I could not see how such a match would work. They were so different in temperament, and the allegiance of each to their own land was so strong. Which of them would give up their home for the other, and what would that price do to them? In truth, I hoped that Bruna’s passion would prove to be a greenstick love that would help her to grow and then fade to a sweet memory, but in time it was clear to me that, for all her youth, her love for Dardelan was strong and mature. But Dardelan’s love? I have never known if, behind all of his courtesy, he loves her.”
“Brydda told me once that he thought Dardelan did have feelings for Bruna but that he kept them hidden because he guessed she would see it as a weakness.”
Jakoby laughed, and there was real amusement as well as sadness in it. “The Black Dog is clever. And maybe in the beginning he would have been right. But I doubt that would be so now. Let me ask you this: If love exists but is forever withheld, is it truly love? Is it not a kind of cowardice?”
That stung me sharply, and I said, “Perhaps he has a reason for keeping his feelings hidden.”
Jakoby gave me a penetrating look. “What reason can there be for hiding love from the beloved?”
“Duty.”
“And would love for my daughter prevent Dardelan from doing his duty?”
I did not know what to say to that, but I remembered the bleak weariness in the young high chieftain’s eyes. “Did Dameon tell you nothing of their quarrel?”
She shrugged. “He said that there had been a rift between them since Dardelan refused to permit Bruna to ride to the highlands to track down and capture the robbers who had been burning farms and killing Landfolk. Apparently, he was convinced that Malik was behind it, but he wanted no confrontations, because he had asked Obernewtyn to lay formal charges against Malik for his betrayal of your people in the White Valley, and it was necessary that he not be seen persecuting the man he must judge. But he said none of this to Bruna. Then a day or two before I came to Sutrium, they quarreled in the privacy of his chamber. All heard the shouting, and finally Bruna stormed out in a fury. The following day, she came to Dardelan’s dining hall and announced to all present that she would be riding for Sador since at last Dardelan had shown his lack of regard for her, which he had previously hidden in polite deceptions and flowery meaningless talk.” Jakoby scowled. “The asura told me that Dardelan rose and bowed to her, and when she left, he did not ride after her. I would think this meant he did not love her, but the asura said he has been grim and unsmiling since her departure. I cannot help but wonder if, in riding away, Bruna achieved what all her determined pursuit of Dardelan did not….”
“Perhaps it is for the best that they have parted,” I ventured.
Jakoby nodded. “So I try to tell myself, and yet…there are some who love more than once in life, as I have done. But there are those for whom love comes only once. I fear it is so with Bruna, and I do not want to think of the remainder of her life being barren of love. She is so young. Once I have brought you to Aborium, I will bring you to the ship, as Maruman asked. Then I will seek out Dardelan and speak with him frankly about Bruna, to learn his heart in this matter. You may bide upon the ship until such time as you wish to name a destination.”
Her jaw was set, and it occurred to me that Jakoby might be even more of a warrior as a mother than as the leader of her tribe.
12
AS WE JOINED the long queue of people waiting to enter Aborium, I farsought the watch in both towers visible from that approach and was relieved to find the soldierguards on duty unbanded and coerced. The soldierguards at the gate were banded, however, and the process of entry seemed little different from that in any city, save that when I came closer, I noticed that no one was being asked for their horses’ ownership papers. When our turn came and none of the Sadorians were treated any differently from other travelers, I was certain that the guards had been coerced and then ordered to wear their demon bands.
I was wondering if Rushton had told the rebels of the dangers inherent in wearing demon bands when Merret’s mind bludgeoned its way into mine. She explained that she had been pacing back and forth between the watchtowers, waiting for us to arrive. “Right now I am looking down at your head.”
“You knew Jakoby was coming for me?” I asked, resisting the urge to look up.
“Gwynedd has had Alun and me on the wall since dawn, probing randomly to make sure news of this meeting does not excite any attention that will reach the Councilmen or any of the Hedra in their Faction houses. When I heard that a Sadorian greatship had anchored at the piers, I went to see if it was true. Jakoby
said she had come from Sutrium to find you, so I told her where you were.” There was an unspoken question in her mind.
“It was well done,” I assured her. “Did she mention that the Stormdancer has arrived in Sutrium?”
“She did, and I told Gwynedd. He bade me watch for your return so I could invite Jakoby to the meeting. He wants her to speak of the desert lands to those gathered.”
“The others are there?” I inquired. “Brydda and Gevan? Rushton?”
“Everyone. The meeting is being held in a merchant hall in the third district. Gwynedd has his people posted all about the area to make sure there is no trouble. To all intents and purposes, there is no more than a meeting of merchants taking place.”
“Show me where,” I commanded. Merret sent a vision that showed me the swiftest and safest route we could take from the main gate to the merchant house, which appeared to be close to the wall.
I told Jakoby what she had said. The tribeswoman agreed at once that we should go to the Councilcourt, since it would give her the opportunity to speak with Dardelan. As we rode along, the Sadorians drew many curious stares, but there was no hostility in them. There was, however, much speculation about the fires on the other side of the Suggredoon, and it seemed to be generally known that a combined force of Hedra and soldierguards had crossed the river. As yet, there was no talk of what they had found there, but the hiatus could not last long. Some news must be offered soon, and I wondered what Gwynedd had decided it should be.
My thoughts shifted to Dell’s prediction that the Norseland rebel leader would be made a king, and it still seemed fantastical and unlikely. And yet, when I thought of the futureteller’s words, I felt that she had held something back.
It was almost an hour before we reached the meeting house, for the city was large and the streets twisted. The meeting house, when I saw it, was grand enough to make me nervous. It was constructed not of golden or gray stone, as most of the other city buildings were, but of the pink and white streaked stone that came from the quarries behind Murmroth—skinstone, it was called. Lit by the sun, the building had a translucent radiance perfectly complemented by delicate enameled panels set about the building’s wide entrance.