Kirith Kirin (The City Behind the Stars) (17 page)

“We were in a house,” I said. “When I woke up. Where was it?”

They glanced at each other. Commyna sighed. “We hoped you would not remember that.”

“You touched a jewel to my head.”

She looked deeply into my eyes as her sisters murmured in that strange language.

“You frighten me,” Commyna said. “Not many could retain what transpired in a sleep such as you were in. Yes, I touched a gem to your head. You had wakened when you were not supposed to waken, in our house far away in the mountains. We took you there for safety, to make sure you were the child we had been told to find and teach. As it was, our wish for safety nearly killed you. I can’t explain all that happened to you now, there isn’t time. But no mortal Jisraegen has ever seen the house you were in, and when you wakened there we had to return you to the trance quickly. The jewel I used sent you too far, and we were a long time finding you. Do you remember what happened?”

I nodded. She smiled grimly.

“How strange.” Vella helped me to drink more tea. “I had looked forward to returning to Arthen for so long. Now I feel afraid.”

“The bad time is beginning in earnest,” Commyna said, “and we haven’t helped matters much with our bungling.”

“Who could have guessed a novice would escape from fourth level sleep?” Vissyn asked. “We could hardly have done more.”

“We nearly killed the boy before we started,” Commyna had not taken her eyes off me. “And we’ve alerted Drudaen to our presence besides. YY only knows what he suspects concerning the child.”

“What are you starting?” I asked.

“Teaching you,” Vissyn said, twirling a blade of grass against her lips.

“Teaching me what?”

“Magic,” she said.

The breeze returned. I watched the duraelaryn again, leaves streaming like small sails. I looked at Commyna. “You said you knew why I had come to Arthen, before, when I met you on the road. Is this why I’m here? To be taught by you? To learn magic?”

She met my gaze calmly. “Yes.” Her face grew stern without her moving a muscle. “We had not planned for you to know so much so soon. But so be it, we’ll change our plans. You’re here to be taught. What you’ll learn is magic. A magician is coming, and you are to be his helper.”

“Is the magician Yron? Is that his name?”

Vella and Vissyn drew in quick breaths, and Commyna turned from one to the other. “He heard me say the name on the fourth level. You see what I mean? He remembers even that.” To me she said, “Yes, the magician’s name is Yron. Never say that name away from Illyn. Never, ever tell anyone that you’ve been here or that you have seen us. Never say our names. If you break any of these rules or reveal anything that we teach you we we’ll send you far into the mountains and you’ll never see this country again.”

“You’re being very severe,” Vella said.

“Hush Vella,” Vissyn said. “You know we’ve had trouble in the past.”

“Thank you sister.” Commyna turned to me again. “Are the rules fixed clearly in your mind?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Commyna turned to Vella. “Is he well enough to travel?”

Vella laid her hand along my brow, her warmth reminding me of the cold place. “Yes, for the moment. But when we return him to his own time the full sickness will hit him.” To me, she said “You have been to the fourth level without training. We can’t absorb the shock of it for you without dulling your senses to our teaching. You’ll be very sick for a time.”

Commyna nodded. Then she sat up straight, with a look of listening. After a moment she said, “Nixva will know when you’re ready to return here, Jessex. In the meantime, rest well. You’ve been a long way, body and spirit.”

“Finish this cake,” Vella said quietly. “We can’t keep you here much longer. Can you ride?”

I wasn’t even certain I could stand. But I nodded anyway, and finished the cake as she had asked. Some sort of charm was in it; I felt much stronger when I had eaten the last crumbs. I sat up, and finally stood.

Nixva was beyond, in the center of a broad meadow where golden sunlight was falling. When he saw me he tossed his head in greeting, cantering toward me. Vissyn handed me his bridle and when he was near I slipped it over his head.

I mounted him, sitting as steadily as I could manage. I faced the three women, looking from one to the other. “Close up your coat,” Vella said, “you’ll be riding through a storm. When you get to camp, when you are in the worst of the fever, tell them to give you unufru. A doctor would have it but won’t necessarily think of it for an illness like yours. Remember, unufru. We’d give it to you here, but you have to drink it in real time.”

The sky was perfectly clear overhead. But I remembered Vella’s words,
When we return him to his own time
and understood. Commyna smiled, knowing my thought, and said, “Precisely. You’ll be returned to the moment in which we first took you. For those you know in camp, you will have been absent only a few hours. Your time here is a bubble that we make, away from all the rest. Remember, say nothing about us, and above all say nothing about what has happened. If you can’t keep this secret your life is not worth a flake of gold.”

“I can keep secrets.” But my head was spinning and I knew I would be lucky to keep my seat, much less remember not to talk out of my head. Nixva was impatient to go, and let me know it. The women turned their backs, and I nudged Nixva with my heels. He took off galloping across the meadow, the sky darkening with every stride. I felt no change. But suddenly we were riding beneath trees, and rain was beating down on us, and lightning flashed.

Nixva reared as before, and came down gently to earth, and we were in Hyvurgren Field in a spring storm with the wind howling round us. I nearly lost my seat.

Whoever the women were, they had been right. The sickness hit me at once, and it was all I could do to cling to Nixva’s back as he galloped. He must have understood that his rider was in a bad way. He covered the distance between the holy field and camp as quickly as he could. But I felt like I was dying just the same. When I reached Mordwen’s tent I tried to dismount but nearly fell, the groom Thruil catching me in his arms. Mordwen cried out in shock and, surprisingly, affection, and had me carried into his tent. Thruil lay me in cushions and someone threw a heavy duvet over me. I lay watching them as if they were a thousand leagues away. I had a hard time realizing that this was, for them, the same morning I had ridden from the shrine, Kirith Kirin’s greeting ringing in my ears.

1

Someone changed my wet clothes for dry ones. A householder brought hot soup and mild tea. The tastes reminded me I was supposed to ask for something at some point but I was sick and drowsy and could not remember what. The cold had returned, and I shivered no matter how many coverings they piled on me and despite the braziers they ringed round me. Mordwen sent for a doctor from main camp and she came in a hurry. She performed many indignities on me that I tolerated only because I felt too awful to say anything. I was still trying to remember the name of the stuff Vella had told me to ask for when the doctor mixed a sleeping potion and poured the warm milky stuff down my throat.

The sleep that followed was peaceful and no dreams came to me, pleasant or unpleasant. I slept for a long time, and my body did heal some in that interval but the fever did not abate. When I finally woke it was night. My teeth were chattering with the cold but I felt hot to the touch and moist with sweat. My hair was damp. No lamps were burning, so I knew it was late. With shock I remembered Kithilunen and wondered who had lit the evening lamp, who had sung? and I felt ashamed, too, that I had failed to do these things myself in the shrine entrusted to me.

With shock, I saw Uncle Sivisal asleep on cushions near the bed that had been laid for me.

When I said his name he woke up at once. The change was visible on his face when he realized what had wakened him. “Jessex, praise the Eye, you’re awake.”

“The doctor gave me something to drink.”

He lay his hand on my forehead. “Yes, I know. But that was days ago. You’re still so hot.”

His hand was cold to me. “I’m tired,” I said.

“You should eat something.” He stood, still groggy, and walked outside. Presently I heard a runner heading away toward camp, and Uncle Sivisal returned. Light was at his back, I could not see his face. “What happened?” he asked.

“I was in the storm and felt sickness come on me. I was riding in Raelonyii, near Hyvurgren Field. Lightning struck close to us and Nixva reared up, and afterward I felt dizzy and got sick.”

“Did you eat anything, or drink creek water?”

“No, nothing.” I stirred, still shivering, pulling furs and blankets around my neck. “I’m cold.”

He knelt close to me, stroking my forehead. In a few moments I was asleep again.

When I woke Mordwen and Uncle Sivisal were sitting by the open tent flap, talking in hushed voices. With surprise I understood Kirith Kirin was there as well. I did not know if it were the same night or not, but night it clearly was, and again no lamps were burning. Finally I called them, my voice hoarse but loud enough to reach them.

Uncle Sivisal heard me and called someone outside to fetch the doctor. Kirith Kirin bounded across the dark tent to my cushions. “Are you awake again?”

“Yes, sir. How long have I been asleep?”

He started to answer, then shook his head. “A while.”

Mordwen knelt so that I could see him, and smiled in a gentle way that let me know I was very sick indeed. “I’m thirsty,” I said and he helped me swallow water. By the time I had drunk as much as he would allow, the doctor had come into the tent.

She knelt over me and touched my brow. “The fever’s the same,” she said presently. “Are you cold?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think you could eat?”

I shook my head.

“Do you want to sleep again?”

“No,” I said, but I could hardly hold my eyes open. The doctor was frowning, and a little nervous too. I felt sorry for her.
At the height of the fever…
I remembered the word I was supposed to remember, and I said, “I would like unufru tea.”

“What did you say?” She bent closer.

“Unufru. For the fever.”

“What is he saying?”

“Do you know what unufru is?” she asked, ignoring the Prince.

“Yes,” I said, and I found, despite everything, that I did know. “A root. You grind it and dry it and make a tea from it.”

“It helps some bowel conditions,” the doctor said, “but never anything like a fever.”

Mordwen studied me intently. “Do it.”

Kirith Kirin watched me strangely too. “Witches give unufru to cure the victims of love charms. They go through a fever purge, and sleep for a long time. I’ve seen it done.”

“How do you know about unufru?” the doctor asked me. “Do you have an alchemist for a relative?”

“My mother knew herbs,” Uncle Sivisal said. “She taught him.”

The doctor had to send to camp for the root, and someone had to be wakened to make the tea, so I had some time to wait. Uncle Sivisal sat close by, talking to me quietly to keep me from falling asleep again. Kirith Kirin sat behind him.

“Who’s been lighting the lamps?” I asked.

“Mordwen,” the Prince answered. “Trysvyn sings the hymn. I like her voice but it’s not like yours.”

“Is someone feeding Axfel?”

“Yes,” Uncle Sivisal answered. “He’s a good dog. I have him at my tent right now. Do you want to see him?”

“Not in here. He might break something.”

“Nixva’s missing you too,” Kirith Kirin said. “Thruil’s been riding him some. Open your eyes, sleepy. Stay awake till your medicine gets here.”

A sweat broke from me worse than ever, but at the same time I was so cold my teeth were chattering. The doctor returned only a moment later with a closed cup in her hand, and Sivisal made way for her. The unufru smelled like vanilla. I had no trouble drinking it.

When I finished it the doctor asked if I thought I could keep it down. I felt no sickness and told her so. Aside from the sensation of having something in my stomach I could feel no difference.