storm (18 page)

            Once again, the har at the end of the bed shook his foot and repeated the words he'd spoken before.  At that point, Tyson knew the har before him wasn't real.  The shock of this caused him to draw up his feet and hug his knees.  He couldn't speak.  At once, the vision of Cal expanded, grew huge, until his head was pressed against the ceiling, his arms splayed out around his head like the branches of a tree.  “Wake up!” he said, and vanished.

            At that moment, the door to the room opened and Cobweb put his head round it to say, “Ty, have a bath, clean yourself up.  Downstairs in half an hour.”

            Tyson opened his eyes.  He'd been asleep.  He'd been dreaming.  He called Cobweb's name to stop him from leaving.

            “What is it?” Cobweb asked.

            “I dreamed of Cal,” Tyson said.  “He was here.”

            “Hardly surprising,” Cobweb said dryly.  “Get ready, Ty.  You must be present tonight.”

No message had been sent from Immanion to warn the House of Parasiel that the Tigron would be visiting them, but Cobweb rarely needed advance warning of anything, in any case.  He always just
knew.
  Tyson could tell that Pellaz har Aralis was disappointed that Cobweb had foreseen his visit.  He had hoped to storm in by surprise.  As it was, he found that a sumptuous dinner had been prepared for him and rooms made ready.  Cobweb had made sure the entire family was present: Swift and Seel, their son Azriel and his chesnari Aleeme, who was the son of Flick and Ulaume Sarestes in Shilalama, and had moved to Galhea some years before.  The head housekeeper, a Kamagrian parage name Bryony, who had once been a human servant of the Parasilians, was also present, to supervise with a steely Cobweb-trained eye the serving of dinner, so that Cobweb was free to pay full attention to any subtle nuances in conversation around him.  It was clear that, for whatever reason, Cobweb wanted the House of Parasiel to present a united front to the Tigron.

            Tyson was relieved to see that Pellaz had brought Terez with him, because of all Gelaming he had met, Tyson liked Terez best.  He was not as arrogant as most of them were.  In appearance, Terez was very similar to his brother – olive-skinned and black-haired – although Terez was taller and his features were more severe.  He seemed older than Pellaz, although he was a couple of years younger.  He wore his long hair in a braid down his back, plaited so tightly it was almost savage, whereas Pellaz affected a less rigid appearance, at least with friends.  His hair fell in unruly bangs over his forehead, while the rest of it tumbled over his shoulders and down to his waist.  They got in the way constantly while he was eating.  Over drinks before dinner, the Tigron recounted in detail all that had happened in Immanion.

            "We can only suppose Cal has been abducted," he said.  " Or perhaps he was also attacked." He shook his head.  "We are frustrated.  There are no clues.  Not even our most clear-sighted seers can see anything."

            "Perhaps Cal was the one who attacked the Tigrina," Tyson offered, anticipating the icy response.

            Pellaz fixed him with a stare.  "Rue is most emphatic that is not the case."

            For a moment, Tyson fantasized about being in Immanion, feeling utterly disenchanted, disorientated and fed up, surrounded by haughty, preening Gelaming.  He could imagine very easily it could drive a har to murder.

            "Cal didn't attack Rue," Pellaz said, perhaps prying into Tyson's mind.  He turned away and resumed his conversation with others present.

            Cast, as usual, to the sidelines of the social gathering, Tyson reflected that Pellaz felt uncomfortable around him, for the same reason Seel always had.  Both Pellaz and Seel had been jealous of Terzian, because he'd had a relationship with Cal that neither of them had ever had.  Simple as that.  Not that they'd ever admit it.  When they looked at Tyson, they saw Cal taking aruna with Terzian.  He was living proof of it.  All through his childhood, when Seel had looked at him in a certain sour way, Tyson had imagined being a spark of life in the cauldron of creation, being made by two Hara lost in bliss.  Even a har who hadn't to rained very much could project a thought like that.  It was the psychic equivalent of throwing stones and had helped to assuage the bitterness Tyson had sometimes felt when Azriel had received better treatment than he had.  It wasn't Azriel's fault.  He was aware of it and embarrassed about it, but from the moment of Azriel's birth, Seel had made sure his and Swift's son supplanted Tyson in the family hierarchy.  If Tyson had been older at the time, that wouldn't have happened, but those years had been chaotic, with so many changes.  Cobweb, usually the power in the house, had been stretched out of shape by it all and Seel had breezed in to mould things to his liking.

            Now, Tyson wondered how soon he could make an escape from the party.  It was clear that Pellaz wanted to speak to Cobweb alone, because the actual point of his visit was not revealed before or during dinner.  There was much to discuss, of course, as everyhar present had their own theory as to the motive for the attack on Caeru. Uigenna assassins.  Human rebels.  Shadowy unknown hara from unknown tribes who resented the way the yawning extended their empire.  Tyson could tell that Pellaz was holding onto his feelings, if not his entire being, with the greatest of effort.  He almost felt sorry for the Tigron, for the first time ever.  Everyhar would consider that Cal had done this terrible thing, and perhaps Pellaz feared it too, but was straining to deny it, to find alternative answers.  And that must be why he was it here in Galhea: to question Cobweb the seer in the hope that Cobweb would provide him with an explanation he could bear.

After the last course had been served and Bryony was organizing the staff to clear the table, Cobweb put Pellaz out of his misery and suggested they went for a walk together the gardens.  Pellaz virtually vaulted over his chair to escape the room.  Swift talked about going down to Galhea, proposing that Terez might want to sample the town's night life, but Terez declined.

            As he stood up from the table, he caught Tyson's eye with a piercing glance, and by that Tyson guessed the har had something to say to him privately.  He closed his eyes briefly to acknowledge the unspoken request and Terez left the room.

            "He can be dour, that one," Seel remarked, and Swift made a soft sound of agreement.  Terez was not very popular, mainly because he was dour, and he kept a silence.  He had had an awkward start to his Wraeththu life and it had marked him.  Pellaz kept him very close, which meant he had to meet a lot of hara, some of whom disliked his manner, while others resented his relationship to the Tigron.  Terez did not go out of his way to accommodate or charm hara.  He went his own way, like a stray cat.  He might live among the roof-tops of Immanion, never going indoors, and rarely seen.  Pellaz might leave food out for him.

            "What do you think?" Swift said to Tyson, interrupting his reverie.

            "Of what?" Tyson finished his wine.  He must remember to secure a bottle from the kitchens before going to Terez's room.

            "About this whole business.  Pell is here to pick Cobweb's brains, that's for sure."

            Tyson shrugged.  "I think Cal went mad and did it." He stood up.

            Seel grimaced.  "Speak your mind, why don't you?"

            "It's what
you
think, isn't it?" Tyson said sweetly.  He didn't wait for a response but left the room.

            After he'd crept to the kitchens and raided the wine store, Tyson went directly to the room that Cobweb had had prepared for the Tigron's brother.  Fresh flowers filled the air with a tart lemony scent and a jug of Bryony's elderflower cordial stood on the night-stand.  Terez sat on the end of the bed, looking out of place and uncomfortable.  When he wasn't close to Pellaz, it was as if he was missing a limb.

            "What did you want to see me about?" Tyson asked, closing the door.  He knew Terez responded best to direct approaches.

            "Are you ready for a journey?"

            "What?"

            "Sit down," Terez said.

            Tyson sat on the window seat and began to open the wine.  "Well?"

            "Pellaz wants me to find our brother, Dorado.  Cobweb mentioned him a short while ago.  Now this business in Immanion has happened and it's clear that Cal was implicated in some way.  Pell will find out tonight what Cobweb knows about Dorado and why he is significant.  Pell and I think you should come with me to track Dorado down."

            "This is a surprise."

            "It's not an order, but an offer.  You were to be brought to Immanion, but now is not a good time for that."

            "I didn't want to go, in any case.  I'm curious as to why the Tigron wants me out of the way now."

            "That is somehow it is.  If you come with me you will learn many things.  You cannot escape your heritage, Tyson.  It will catch up with you.  Pell is extending a hand to you.  You would be wise to take it."

            Tyson pulled out the cork from the bottle he carried.  "I see." He went to the cupboard where glasses were kept and poured out two measures.  One glass he handed to Terez, the other he drank himself very quickly.  He could barely take in what had been said.  "Where will you travel to?"

            Terez shrugged.  "Dorado was incepted into the Uigenna.  It's most likely he will be in hiding.  We hope Cobweb will help us find him.  We anticipate he will still be in Megalithica.  If not, I'll go wherever I have to go."

            Tyson laughed and shook his head.  "This is most unexpected.  For years, I dreamed of travel..."  He sat down again.  "I have no desire to be part of Phaonica's court."

            Terez smiled tightly.  "No.  I can see you would not fit well there."

            "Did Cal?"

            "No," Terez said.  "He was itching to work, to help Hara, to make a difference.  If he hadn't disappeared, he would have done great things, I'm sure."

            "I'm surprised to hear you speak of him warmly.  I don't know why, but I thought you'd resent him."

            "No," Terez said.  "The only thing I could resent him for has no meaning now."

            "Which was?"

            "Stealing my older brother away from home, away from me, taking his humanity from him.  What meaning has that now?  I am Wraeththu too.  All that went before is a past life.  Irrelevant."

            Tyson hesitated a moment before speaking.  "Shouldn't you be looking for Cal now rather than Dorado?"

            "I will find Dorado first.  One thing at a time.  Many Hara are looking for Cal."

            "He came to me today," Tyson said.

            Terez glanced at him sharply.  "What?"

            "In a vision or a dream.  I think he was trying to tell me about this.  He said it was time for me to wake up."

            "This is good," Terez said.  "You have a link.  What is your answer to my proposal?"

            It took only seconds to make a decision.  Tyson saw himself in years to come, still working for Swift on mundane tasks about the estate, the father or hostling of a couple of harlings: a predictable life, devoid of adventure.  "Count me in," Tyson said.