[Lanen Kaelar 01] - Song in the Silence (35 page)

In the meantime I lay beside my beloved in my own
chambers, something I would have sworn mere days ago would never happen. Idai
will be furious, I thought, smiling sadly to myself. Dear Idai, she had wanted
me for so long. I simply never felt for her as I must feel towards a mate. I
hoped she would understand when at last I had to tell her. I did not think it
likely.

My heart was at peace, despite all that I knew
must come. The word of the Winds, the Council, having to explain about Lanen
and me: none of it would be simple. But for now there were only the two of us,
and I let my heart fill with the kind of joy I had despaired of ever knowing.

Lanen, my heart. Lanen, my dear one. Lanen, my
betrothed.

Lanen Kaelar.

My fife had changed forever.

Marik

In the end I waited some hours after Caderan
left. It was all very well for him to assure me that the beasts were bound by
law—but in my experience, if you fine a butcher, you are more likely to get
brains or tripe than the finest cut joints. If I were in their place I would do
the same. No, I would go among their dwellings and discover what I could for
myself.

I left my cabin normally clad, carrying the boots
of silent movement and the cloak of unseeing. The amulet, which would mask my
smell, would last but a very short time indeed, and I had decided to save it until
the night we were to leave, when I would collect whatever I had found.

I put on boots and cloak and crossed the Boundary
some miles east of our camp, near the sea, that their Guardian migh: have the
longer trip to find me. At first, I might just as well have been walking the
halls of Castle Gundar, for there was not one of the creatures in sight. The
moon was bright enough to guide me easily.

I walked warily but unhindered, seeking their
lairs and the storied riches therein, but at first found little. Past the
Boundary I went a mile north, keeping the shoreline in sight, then turned
inland. I should have known, I suppose. Do not all the ballads describe the
lairs of such beasts as being in caves? Half a mile in from the sea I came
across a low line of hills. and the first of their dwellings.

From the outside it was plain rock. I approached
cautiously, even though the boots masked the sound of my footsteps. I heard no
movement, and my dim sight saw nothing, but I did not trust it. I stood and
listened a good ten minutes, then crept slowly in keeping well against the
wall, but there was no need, it was deserted. I lit a small taper I had
brought, lifted it high and gazed about me dumbfounded.

The tales were true and more than true. I did not
know there was so much gold in the world.

The wall, the very floors were covered with it. I
looked all round, noting all but touching nothing, then moved on.

I saw three more caves; the first two were
occupied and I went near enough only to hear the inhabitants and leave, but the
third was the charm indeed. Its tenant was absent, so I brought out my
tinderbox again and lit the taper. When finally it caught I lost my breath, for
I had surely found the lair of their treasure-keeper.

The walls were covered with gold to the depth of
my second finger joint, deeply graven with strange symbols and set with
many-hued crystals from the earth and vast pearls from the sea.

But at the back was an opening into a second
chamber. I went swiftly towards it, meaning only to glance inside, but I defy
anyone to look on such wonders and not linger.

The inner chamber was forty feet on a side and,
though it was lined floor to ceiling with gold, you barely noticed the gold for
the stones. Faceted all, the largest I saw as big as a duck’s egg, and every
colour known to man. Emeralds, rubies, wondrous sapphires, topaz the colour of
smoke and of sun-light, and huge beryls green as the sea. But even these paled
by comparison to the centerpiece of all the splendour.

It was all I could do not to laugh out loud for
the sheer joy of it. Before me lay riches even I could not conceive of, a
reasure trove beyond price, beyond imagining. There in the center of the room,
in a cask of gold on a golden pedestal, lay casually heaped one on another the
most wondrous gems in the world. What would not kings or the greatest of the
merchants pay for these wonders I had found? There must be two hundred of them,
each the size of my fist. Why, I would demand payment for a glimpse of them in
their cask before ever I needed to sell off the gems themselves. And when I did
sell, I would charge the world for them, sell but one in a year, or two perhaps
if times were hard and all my other ventures doing poorly.

Who had seen their like?

Who could resist them, having seen?

Perfectly cut, flawless gems, with the very
flicker of life in their depths.

I was reaching out to touch one when I heard a
soft clatter outside the cave mouth. I blew out the taper, but not before I
caught sight of what awaited me. A vast shape of dark bronze was sliding into
the cave and coming straight towards me. I could not see in that sudden
darkness, but had the sense to move to the wall next to the entrance to the
chamber. I heard the creature sniff, then start to hiss. Sudden as a snake I
felt rather than heard it flow past me to the back of

the inner chamber. I took my chance and slipped
out the entrance, through the outer chamber and on, not pausing for breath
until I had run the full two miles to the Boundary and beyond. I dared not look
behind me, but I had heard nothing and would not spare the time to stop and see
if I was followed.

For all their usefulness, for all their ruinous
cost, the precious articles that Berys made were so flawed they were barely
worth using. The boots raised such bloody welts on my feet that I could barely
walk when I returned, and it took much out of Maikel to ease them. The cloak
appeared to work well enough, but the shadow it created affected me as well. I
could barely see and found I stumbled like a blind man until my eyes grew
accustomed to the lessened vision. My vision was blurred, and my old pain
stabbed at me dreadfully.

I spoke with Caderan, and he admitted that the
spells could protect me only, not that which I might be carrying. Thus the
cloak might hide me from sight, and the spells hid Raksha-scent, but only my
footfalls would be silenced. Should I cough I would be heard, should I strike a
light the scent of burning would be evident, as would any light illuming
anything beyond the circle of my cloak.

I began to wonder if the Rakshasa were so
puissant as I thought. The limitations of these articles, which Berys claimed
were the best in the world, made them barely usable.

But these were trifles. Maikel salved some of my
wounds and Healed the others, and I knew that I truly had power over the
Dragons, for I had myself been in their most guarded places and found their
dearest treasure.

XII

THE WIND OF SHAPING

Lanen

I woke in midafternoon to find the cave filled
with a grey light from the opening far above my head. Akor was not long gone,
for the heat of him lingered in the golden floor. I wandered outside and into
the wood a ways, to perform the necessary and to drink from the pool. As I had
guessed from the sound of it the night before, it was not a still pool, more a
wide spot in a small stream. The water was fresh and clear but icy cold.

It was a good match for the day. Clouds had moved
in and covered the sun in winter grey, and there was a deceptively gentle
breeze that blew straight through me.

As I stood at the edge of the wood, braiding my
hair and looking up at the clouds, I found myself tracking a dark speck in the
distance. It was either a very large bird or Akor returning. I watched the
flight with some pleasure as it drew nearer and became clearly a Dragon’s
shape.

It was still a
dark
shape.

I ran for the cave. What would become of me here,
without his protection? And who would know this place, he had said it was
secret. Did his parents still live? Was this a soulfast friend?

Oh dear Goddess. Shikrar.

The dragon landed just as I bolted into the
semidarkness. Ah, well. No peace for the wicked, they say.

Shikrar

// “Akhorishaan, are you here? I have sought
you since dawn, I need you, my friend.” //

There was no reply, though I would have sworn the
cave was not empty. I put my head just inside the passageway. // “Akor,
for the love of our friendship, come out to me if you are here.”//

Then I smelled her.

I hit my head on the low roof of the passage in
my anger, then cried out, furious, // “Akor, what in the name of the Winds
are you doing!”//

Lanen

“Lord Shikrar,” I said, “I don’t
know what you just said, but if you’re looking for Akor, he’s not here. It’s
me, Lanen. We spoke the other night.” I stepped into the center of the
room so he could see me, calmer than I had ever dreamed I could be. ”Akor
brought me here last night to talk, and I fell asleep. He was gone when I
woke.”

He rumbled deep in his throat. It was a
terrifying noise, like the growl of some unimaginable bear. His truespeech
lanced into my mind.
“Gedri, speak to me of this in the Language of
Truth or I shall flame you where you stand. Where is Akor, and how came you
here?”

Those were better odds than I had hoped for.

I concentrated as hard as I could. Like a small
hole, Akor had said, send your thoughts through it, no larger than it must be,
concentrate on what you are saying.

“My lord, I tell you but truth. Akor and I
came here last night to speak with each other. A great deal happened that we
did not expect and we were talking until dawn. I slept and when I woke he was
gone. I swear on my soul that I speak truth. I do not and have never wished
harm to any of the Kindred.”

I don’t know how much of my underthought got
through. Shikrar at any rate did not appear to be shocked or to grow more angry
than he was, which I would have expected had he gathered more of the truth than
I had meant to tell him.

“This must be brought before the Council.
Where is Akor?” he asked, in my own language.

“I don’t know, truly, my lord.”

“I must find him! He will not answer me, his
mind is closed.” I heard his voice go grim with the thought. “Child
of the Gedri, will it be open to you?”

I tried not to shake, with the result that I
stood firm enough but my voice quavered like an old woman’s. “I believe
so, my lord. I will—I will try.”

“Come out of there. It will be easier
outside,” he said. He backed out of the opening. Only then did I realise
that he was too large to enter the passageway easily.

I gathered my courage as best I could and wrapped
it round me like my cloak.
If he means to kill you outside at least Akor
will not have to move your bones from his Weh chamber
, I thought to myself.
I stepped out into the middle of the clearing.
Deep breath now, Lanen my
girl. See him in your mind, call him.

“Akor? Where are you? It is Lanen.”

He answered me instantly. I could hear the smile
in his voice.
“Good day, dearling. I am on my way back to you. I have
been hunting that we both might eat. And I thank you for your name, my heart,
but I would know your mindvoice among a thousand. I shall be with you very
soon.”

Keep it concentrated, lass; Shikrar can hear your
speech but not Akor’s.
“Lord Akor, your friend Shikrar is here and
would have speech with you. He is greatly concerned about something.”
I
tried to keep my fear out of that last sentence, but I don’t think I managed it
very well.

Akhor

“
Lord Akor
very formal keep it very
formal
your friend Shikrar is here
growling at me
and would have
speech with you
. been trying all day resents that I can bespeak you he cannot
He is greatly concerned about something
horribly upset hasn’t killed me
yet but I fear for my life.”

I instantly opened my mind to Shikrar. He hardly
had to speak; I saw the source of his concern even as he formed his words.
“Akhor
soulfriend at last you answer me. No, not me, the Gedri—not now. Akhor, I beg
you, it is Mirazhe, her time has come, something is terribly wrong. Help me! I
know not where to turn.”

It happens sometimes that births are difficult
for our people. Such things used to be rare, but even in those days they were
feared.

I instantly dropped the beast I carried.
“I
fly now to the Birthing Cove, Shikrar, but you must swear to do something for
me.”

“Anything!”

“Bring Lanen with you.”

“NO!”

“Hadreshikrar, soulfriend, you must. You
know I do not ask this lightly, I have an idea, you must bring her for
Mirazhe’s sake. Promise me! For the sake of your son and his.”