Strange Attractors (37 page)

‘
If
this is all her doing,’ Nell said.

‘How would it work, though?’ Teg asked. ‘Would she pose as one from the Richter line?’

‘Can’t be done.’ Nell frowned. ‘In the portal, she said she had someone who could carry it.’

‘You were in the portal with us?’

Nell winked. ‘Kreshkali was.’

Teg scratched his head. ‘Of course.’

‘Someone who can carry it?’ Rosette repeated the words. ‘That can only be one of us.’

They all looked at Grayson. He hadn’t said a word while they debated. His mind seemed far away.

‘Gray.’ Rosette patted his hand. ‘Am I the only living descendant from Earth? Is there a record of the Richter line branching?’

‘If there is, I’ve never seen it, but it’s certainly possible. Janis had two daughters, but we only trace the line back to one. There is something about a rogue Lupin, but I don’t know how that fits in. I’d have to find the reference and study it.’

No one spoke for some time. Even the crickets outside the kitchen window were silent.

‘Who’s watching Makee now?’ Grayson asked.

‘Kreshkali’s tracking the Corsanons and I’ve got Shane and Clay keeping an eye on Treeon and the surrounds.’

‘Do we know where she is at the moment?’

‘Precisely? No.’

An’ Lawrence rose from the table and grabbed his sword. Scylla bounded to the door. The sunrise sent a golden glow through the window as the Three Sisters swooped onto the sill, scolding and flapping, vying for space on the narrow ledge.

‘There are too many unknowns,’ An’ Lawrence said. ‘And we are going to need that diversion to catch Makee out.’ He grabbed his cloak.

‘Where are you headed?’ Nell and Rosette spoke at the same time.

‘To the Dumarkian Woods to protect the temple, as is my charge.’ He tested his wounded leg and gave it a slap. ‘Teg, to me. I want you leading the lower ranks.’

‘You do?’ The Lupin was on his feet as he spoke, a smile lifting his face.

‘Grayson? Your plan?’ The Sword Master turned to him.

‘I think I’d best track down Everett. He’s a missing piece to the puzzle.’

‘But he wouldn’t come with you before,’ Rosette said.

‘I’ll drag him here this time. If he somehow extracted the nanotechnology, we need to know. In any case, there is a clue in the Borderlands. I just have to find it.’

‘Is that where he is?’ Nell asked.

‘I’d say so.’ He turned to Rosette, his eyes soft. ‘Be well.’

‘Come to the cottage when you’ve found him, or found your puzzle piece,’ she said.

He nodded and left, Rosette following him with her eyes.
We didn’t have that talk, Grayson.

He can’t hear you, Maudi.

I know, but when he could hear me, I didn’t speak.

There will be another chance.

Will there?

An’ Lawrence clapped his hands. ‘Teg, I want everyone on the training ground inside the hour.’

‘Yes, Sword Master.’

An’ Lawrence disappeared down the hall only to come shooting back. He kissed Rosette’s forehead and her belly and turned to Nell, kissing her deeply. ‘We’ll change the course of those rivers again, if we have to,’ he said, and was gone.

Teg embraced Nell, kissing each cheek and her lips. He did the same to Rosette.

‘There’s only one thing that worries me,’ Teg said as he followed An’ Lawrence out.

‘What’s that, Teg?’

‘Temple Dumarka fell. It’s in the history books.’

‘And?’

‘And no one survived.’

Rosette turned to Nell. ‘No one survived, did they?’

Not ‘no one’, Maudi. I’m here. I am of that line.

‘The temple cats endured, Rosette, but Makee is playing at something well beyond her knowledge.’

Rosette eyed her mother. ‘You have that look.’

‘What look?’

‘You’re going to chat with the Watcher, aren’t you?’

‘I am, just as soon as I have you settled. I can’t say when that baby’s coming, Rosette, but it’s time you nested.’

‘I feel that too.’

‘Really?’

Really, Maudi?

‘Why are you both so surprised? Did you think I would resist this pregnancy forever?’

‘It was looking that way,’ Nell said. She smiled. ‘Come. To Dumarka, our time, our cottage. I’ll see you there and then pay a visit to the Watcher. Have you thought of a name?’

‘For her?’ Rosette patted her belly. ‘Not yet.’

‘All the more reason to nest.’ She stood. ‘To the cottage.’

Shaea startled when the Entity called. She nearly lost her footing on the mossy rocks. ‘Entity?’

Who else would it be?

She shrugged. It sounded like the Entity. Besides, there was no one else around. The bards certainly didn’t have the trick of mind speech.

Stop nattering and get back to the portal, girl. We have work to do.

‘What work?’

I want you to report to Rall. She’s your mentor now.

‘My mentor?’ Shaea tapped her walking stick on the ground. The breeze turned cold. ‘I have no mentor.’

If you want to travel the corridors, you need to learn the witches’ ways. Did you think I would let you run loose in the halls of the many-worlds like a child in her parents’ manor? I’m not. To the portal with you. To Rall. You will do as she says.

Shaea threw the stick in the stream and crossed her arms. ‘What if I say no? I could live here, in these beautiful woods. I don’t need to ever go another step.’ She planted her feet wide, staring in the direction of the portal. The sun disappeared behind clouds and her damp hair whipped about her face. Thunder rumbled on the horizon.

Are you prepared to go the way of your brother?

‘How do you know about him?’ she asked, shivering.

How do I not?

Lightning zipped overhead, followed by a crackling boom. A sudden squall dumped buckets of rain, soaking her to the skin. Shaea sprinted up the path, climbing the steps to the portal. She grabbed her coat and pack, looking for the bards. There was no sign of them as she scurried into the corridors, rushing past the plasma Entity and turning around. She pressed her back against the wall.

‘There you are,’ Rall said. She pushed wet curls from her face. ‘I’ve been looking for you.’ Her cloak was saturated but she brushed her shoulders as if there was only a light dew.

‘Well you found me,’ Shaea said, frowning. ‘And I’m guessing you had help?’

‘Why, darling girl, what do you mean? Come with me, will you? I’ve a place near Treeon Temple where we can get dry and share a meal.’

‘Treeon Temple?’

‘You don’t know your way around these parts, do you? I can help with that too.’

‘I know the names of the temples. I know that one anyway.’

‘Of course you do.’ Rall passed her hand over the plasma Entity, jerking it back as if it stung. A whirl of lights raced across the entrance. Shaea closed her
eyes, rubbing her head. She wondered about Clay and Shane but felt it best not to ask where they had gone. Wherever it was, they hadn’t waited for her. When the portal cleared, she followed Rall, glancing at the glowing purple strands of the Entity. ‘You’ve gone silent?’ she whispered.

‘What’s that, child?’

Shaea cleared her throat. ‘
It’s dark here
, I said. How can it be night already?’ She waited for her eyes to adjust to the moonlight.

Rall didn’t answer her question but strode off into the meadow. ‘We’ve a good way further east to travel tonight. Keep up. The horses are waiting.’

‘Horses?’ Shaea hurried after her, wading through the tall grass. She wrung her hair, twisting it into a knot on top of her head, and wiped her hands on her cloak. She kept her eyes on Rall, a black form in the darkness. They climbed to the edge of the valley where trees and shrubs appeared like sentinels, their groping branches warning them back. She hoped they weren’t going to enter the wood. It was darker still.

‘Where are we?’

‘The southeast border of the Cusca Plains.’ Rall winked. ‘Does that help?’

‘Not really.’ Shaea followed Rall into the trees.

At least the wind was gone, and it was dry. Stars twinkled between the treetops, the moon high overhead lighting the way. She smelled the horses before she could see them, the warm aroma of alfalfa, leather and dried sweat wafting towards her. When she pushed through the shrubs to a clearing she saw the creatures tethered to a low branch, silhouettes under the dappled moonlight. One was a magnificent warhorse, from fine-bred stock, palomino in colour and perfectly groomed. The other was a Desertwind, a bay with long black
legs and a sweet face with a single white star on her forehead.
You’re gorgeous, the both of you,
she said to them, automatically using her mental voice.

In the streets of Corsanon, she’d had plenty of time to commune with horses. Hitched to wagons or tied outside pubs, they were always around. She sighed. After Xane got the apprenticeship, those horses were her best friends, her only friends.
I see you’ve been waiting for us.

Both animals nickered.

‘Off to a good start. Excellent,’ Rall said. ‘But can you sit one?’

‘I can, Rall.’ Shaea laughed. ‘You know I can! Xane and I used to walk the carriage horses for the pub masters, remember? One leading and one riding. That’s how we got so good at their ways.’

‘I remember, and lucky for you. We have a few miles to cover. Mount up.’

‘Thank you,’ she whispered, her eyes on the bay mare. Rall kept talking but she was too absorbed to hear the words.

Rosette held Nell’s hand as she walked into the early morning light of Temple Los Loma. The air was fresh; a strong breeze was coming up from the south, clearing the ash and smoke. The mountains still plumed in the distance but Temple Los Loma remained untouched. ‘There’s some potent spell on this place, isn’t there, Nell?’

‘There is, and I’ve yet to find the source.’

Rosette closed her eyes. ‘It’s running underneath everything, like the caverns of Los Loma Gaela.’

Nell touched her arm. ‘That’s a thought worth exploring.’

Rosette smiled. ‘Thank you.’

Nell inclined her head towards the entrance gates to the north. ‘Shall we fly?’

‘If we want to get there before noon, I think we must. I’m down to a waddle these days.’

Drayco took off at a run, the Three Sisters above him.
I’ll meet you there, Maudi.
He gave a roar that surprised her. It was answered by Scylla, her screech coming from somewhere behind the training grounds. Horses’ heads flew up and the brood mares bolted, foals frisking at their sides. They stampeded to the far end of the paddock.

Drayco, what’s that about?

Just saying goodbye, Maudi.

You’ve never done it like that before.

I might be gone for some time.

I hope not.
Rosette crouched, dipping her head to her chin. She took a deep breath and launched into the air. As her toes left the ground she shifted into a falcon, light, free and soaring. The shock wave scattered leaves across the road and bent the trees lining the driveway. She shot upward, Nell beside her, calling in a high-pitched whistle.
Oh, this does feel good.
As the wind streamed past, her eyes adjusted to the telescopic vision.
I love flying!

She spotted Drayco running below—the top of his back arching, his legs bunched before stretching into a straight line as he extended his paws.
Shield, my lovely
, she said to him.
I’ve something to discuss and we’ve only seconds.

I thought our packing off to Dumarka was a little complacent.

She kept her own mind shield tight; Nell was gliding in a thermal above her.
I am packing off to Dumarka. I must. I know the baby’s coming soon and really, I need the rest, in that form.

In that form?

Drayco, I discovered something new and I think I can do it. I know I can.

Maudi?

I read the theory of how to be in two places at once.
She said the words in a rush before he could interrupt.
So the pregnant me is going with Nell to Dumarka but another me is slipping out when we get to the portal and going to track Makee. I’m not letting her get the spell, Drayco, and I can do this. I want to do this.

She swooped lower, bracing for her familiar’s response.

Maudi, must I point out the obvious? You have no experience with the technique. It’s not taught in any of the temples and only a rare few High Priestesses know how to do it.

I realise that, Dray.

Also, remember you are not yet a High Priestess.

I haven’t forgotten that either.

Then how can you contemplate it? It’s a brilliant idea, I give you that, but I think the next thirty seconds that it will take us to reach the portal isn’t quite enough time to study and prepare for the ritual, let alone understand it and perform it. Am I missing something, Maudi?

You are.
She veered to the right, catching a thermal that lifted her high above her familiar until he was a black speck on the dust-red plains. From that vantage point, she dove.

Best tell me quickly. It’s fifteen seconds away now.

Janis Richter’s notes were not the only thing I read in Kreshkali’s grimoire.

Even from her high vantage point she saw Drayco falter.
Maudi, you didn’t…

I did. The book itself opened to the exact page.

Really, Dray, it offered it up to me. I had to read on. I know how it’s done and alignment is nine-tenths of it anyway. I’m aligned, Drayco. I can feel it. I want to be in two places at once and I will.

This is going to be hard to explain.

What’s that?

I will be with you in the hunt for Makee, Maudi. There could be a battle. I will go with you there. Not open to discussion.

You can’t, not at first. Listen, sweetie. Here’s what we will do.
She broke out of the dive, riding a thermal to the entrance gate as Drayco dropped to a trot.
You stay with me and Nell until I’m settled at the cottage, a few hours at the most. When Nell goes to engage the Watcher like I think she plans, you come to the portal. I’ll be there waiting. We’ll track Makee together, ahead of An’ Lawrence and the others.