Strange Attractors (41 page)

‘In a rush to see me, High Priestess?’

Kreshkali turned at the voice. Descending the steps was a woman of extraordinary beauty. She wore a long fern-coloured dress that flowed like the sea behind her. Kreshkali didn’t think the woman’s feet actually touched the ground as she glided towards her. ‘I am,’ Kreshkali replied, drawing in her breath as the temple cats appeared.

Rosette had talked about her experience at Temple Dumarka but to see the felines parade down the stairs towards her was something she hadn’t been prepared for. They were magnificent—long-bodied with sleek dark coats of black and rust, and one a charcoal grey with black bands and no tail. She held out her hand in the traditional greeting, introducing herself. ‘Kreshkali, High Priestess of Temple Los Loma and friend of Dumarka.’

‘Saphon, High Priestess of Temple Dumarka. This is Noel, my familiar.’ She touched the back of the grey temple cat. ‘Welcome to our home.’

Kreshkali kept her face smooth, her mind shield tight. She wished the Three Sisters were here to confirm her suspicions, but this woman, this High Priestess Saphon, had the same look about her as Le Saint. The
same wide eyes and dark hair.
Those traits are not so rare
, she reminded herself.
Still…
She followed the High Priestess up the steps.

‘We’ll have tea on the back terrace, under the shade of the redwoods. You will tell me of your need and I will see if I can help.’

‘The Sea-goat?’ Kreshkali asked. It was bold to inquire, she knew. Those in power rarely gave information about their birth charts unless it suited them and even then it could be hard to authenticate. Sometimes a priestess wouldn’t announce the birth of her child for days after the event to cloud the exactitude of her child’s horoscope. Knowledge was power in the time of the temple wars. Information embedded in the birth chart could be used as a weapon. But sometimes the sharing of such information could build trust. Kreshkali was hoping for the latter.

Saphon laughed. ‘I do like to plan things, you’ve got that right. But let’s leave the intimate details aside, at least until we get to know each other.’

Well answered
, Kreshkali said, using her mental voice.

Ah, the mind speech. I rarely get that uninvited, from a human, anyway. Thank you.
Saphon looked back at the temple cats. Some were wandering out into the woods, others following through the courtyard. The mare had been led away, the sight of so many felines too much for her.
Are you testing me, High Priestess Kreshkali?

I hope I’m protecting you.

Corsanon rides?

They are crossing the Goregan River this moment.
‘What lovely flowers,’ Kreshkali said aloud, her fingertips brushing the hanging baskets as they walked past.

‘There are gardeners among us,’ Saphon said. ‘From the Southern Cusca Plains. They know how to grow a posy there.’

‘Indeed.’
You have spies?
Kreshkali asked.

Doesn’t every temple?

They sat at a table under the trees; the light filtered through the branches and made golden patterns as the limbs swayed. After a light meal of cornbread, honey and spiced apricots, and more polite exchanges than Kreshkali thought she could endure, Saphon got down to business.

How many?

Five hundred strong.

Five hundred?
Saphon paced, her bare feet padding alongside her temple cat’s.
What could provoke this?
She turned to Kreshkali.
Horsed or on foot?

Marching, for the most part. About one hundred cavalry.
Kreshkali put her arm out to stop Saphon.
It will take them another six days to get here. We have time.

Time for what? This is not a warrior temple. Our skills are in explorations of the mind, not battle.

The towers?

They are for the star watchers.

Did they foresee this?

Saphon crossed her arms. ‘Change comes in many forms,’ she said aloud.

‘And change there will be.’
But, Saphon, it is the skill of the mind that can turn them.

With illusion?

Alteration. High Priestess, you are not alone in this. My warriors…

From Treeon?

Not exactly, but I do have skilled fighters. They plan to meet the Corsanons and turn them back.

Saphon returned to the table. She sat opposite Kreshkali and folded her hands.
Forgive my bluntness. I fear it will betray another quality of my personal zodiac, but why would I listen to you, Kreshkali? I have no knowledge of you or these events, forward or backward in time. No dreams, no premonitions, no point of reference. No predictions. It is like you came out of nowhere. Unheard of and unheralded. Why would I trust you?

You will, Saphon.

How can you be so certain?

‘Because you already have.’ Kreshkali again spoke aloud, letting the words ring through the hallways.

‘And have you seen the results? Do the temple cats and priestesses of the Dumarkian Woods prosper?’

Kreshkali lowered her voice. ‘Not yet. But I think this time, they will.’

This time?

I’m confident, yes.

G
rayson hesitated at the garden gate, listening to the cacophony of sounds, searching for a single voice amongst the myriad others. It was a contrast to the stark winter silence of his last visit. The creek babbled, flush with spring runoff. Woodpeckers were tapping away, magpies sang their sweet operas and butcherbirds twittered in the trees. The caws of the Three Sisters rose above them all, loud enough to bring an army. He didn’t hear anything else—particularly, he didn’t hear the cry of an infant. ‘Rosette?’ he called. ‘Nell? Drayco?’

‘Drayco’s not here. He’s catting about in the woods and I haven’t seen him for days,’ Rosette said.

Her voice warmed his heart. She was coming up from the barn, a milk pail in each hand. Her smile made him answer in kind in spite of his perceptions. She didn’t need him, and that was the problem. His problem, he corrected himself. She might love him, but he could see it all in her single look—her boots
caked with mud, her swollen round belly, her hair tied with red leather in two long braids, the milk splashing as she waddled. She was happy, with or without him around, complete within herself. Wasn’t that what they were all striving for? If so, he wasn’t there yet. He wanted her to need him. No denying it. But she didn’t and he had to deal with it. He opened the gate and let her through. ‘Rosette, I…’

She kissed his cheeks as she passed. ‘Good to see you, Gray.’ She kept walking.

He cleared his throat. ‘Rosette, I wanted to…’

‘Nell’s spotted you,’ she said. ‘She’s on her way in. Let’s save the news for her too.’ Rosette led the way into the cottage before he could say more. He’d wanted to speak to her alone, before he told them about Everett, but now, in her presence, he wasn’t sure how to begin and she didn’t seem to want the intimacy. He let the smell of baking bread distract him. Food seemed a much easier topic. ‘I’m in time for lunch?’ he asked.

‘You are.’ Rosette poured the milk through a strainer into a large earthenware jar and corked it. ‘If you run this down to the creek, lunch will be ready when you get back.’

Again the smile, the confidence, the peace. No trace of need. His heart skipped a beat. He found himself out of the cottage, trotting down the steps to the creek before saying another word. He hauled up the cold box, a large lobster trap that nestled in the eddies of the icy stream, and settled the milk jar.

‘Bring us up the cheese jar, can you? And the butter?’ she called out from the window.

When he retrieved the other jars, he caught sight of a black falcon winging in from the woods. Nell was here already. So much for his private conversation with Rosette. He wasn’t sure if he imagined it or if she
was avoiding any talk of the child with him. True or not, he would speak with her tonight no matter who was in the room. He had to!

Nell greeted him at the door, relieving him of the items and kissing his cheek, one and then the other, and his lips. ‘Did you find Everett?’

‘I did.’

Both women stared at him.

‘From the sound of your voice, it’s not good news.’ Nell ushered him inside. ‘Did he tamper with Rosette’s DNA? Was it him who took the spell?’

‘Not the spell.’ Grayson blew into his hands, rubbing them together.

‘What then?’ Rosette asked.

He nodded to the table. ‘Let’s sit down.’

The women remained standing.

‘What could he take?’ Rosette asked, lifting her palms. ‘I’m not missing anything, save Jarrod’s CPU, am I?’

‘You might be missing more than you think. There’s no way to know for certain. He’s unstable, his mind erratic.’

Rosette brought the food to the table.

‘What do you mean, erratic?’ Nell asked.

‘He’s paranoid, disordered. His behaviour is unpredictable, his thoughts inconsistent. Particularly his memory. It’s flawed.’

‘What do you mean by paranoid?’ Nell asked.

‘He thinks a thief is stalking him.’

Nell frowned. ‘Maybe there is.’

‘What am I
missing
, Grayson? What do you think he took?’

Grayson looked at her beautiful round belly. How would she take this? He couldn’t guess. ‘I can’t be sure, Rosette, but it’s possible this isn’t your only child.’

The atmosphere in the cottage became perfectly
still. No one spoke. Only the sound of the creek in the background and the breeze through the willow tree could be heard.

Rosette broke the silence, her face crinkling as she broke out in laughter. ‘Is that it?’ She held her belly, cackling so loudly the Three Sisters came to the window to investigate, joining in the chorus.

The sound was deafening until Nell hushed them.

‘That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,’ Rosette said. ‘I think I would know it if I’d had another child!’

Nell wasn’t laughing though, nor was Grayson.

Rosette wrapped her arms around Drayco’s neck, burying her face in his thick black pelt. ‘We did it!’

You did it, Maudi! I’m very proud of you. I wonder if Kreshkali will be too.

‘Kreshkali? Nell? I’ll simply remind her that she’s been in two worlds at once since before I was born, if the question ever comes up.’

Would you keep it occult?

‘For now, at least, I think it best.’

They may ask where the child is, however. You realise you aren’t pregnant in this body, don’t you?

‘I do and I can’t say that I miss not being able to touch my toes.’ She whooped, wrapping her arms around herself. ‘Anyway, I’m aware of the other me, at the cottage. I’m pregnant enough there for both of us, I promise.’

Some witches have gone mad with the paradoxes.

‘I’m not some witches.’

Indeed, you are not. And you have me to help keep you straight.

His purr filled the air in the gully and she pressed her ear to his neck, smiling. ‘I love that sound.’

The purring suddenly stopped.
Riders, coming from the south. Down!

She crouched low, the ferns concealing all but her eyes as the riders galloped past. They were twenty strong, mostly on warhorses, which surprised her. Scouts would have done better on mountain ponies if they wanted to get through the Dumar Pass ahead of next spring. One lad rode a grey mare, lithe and spirited.
Desertwind. Oh, Drayco, they are beautiful animals, aren’t they?

Her thoughts tangled in her mind as she watched the young rider. He was turning her way, as if a magnet pulled him. He eased the mare down to a jog, falling behind the group.

Glamour, Maudi. He’s about to spot us.

She hesitated, a smiled lifting her face as she looked upon the rider.
He looks familiar.

Maudi! Now!

She wove an illusion, doubling the thickness of the ferns and blocking any hint of their auras in case he could see them. Most young witches couldn’t, not on command, anyway. It had taken her over a year at Treeon Temple and a stint of disembodiment to develop the skill and this lad was quite young, though that might be a glamour in itself. Whatever he was, he looked past them, urging his mare back into a canter as he followed the troop.

Who was he?
She followed their path, risking a peek over the glamour.

We’ve seen him before.

Rosette frowned.
I thought so too, but where?

On the road to Corsanon City, from the temple. Remember?

She closed her eyes, recalling the day.
You mean just before I got pulled through a stack of dimensions
arse first? When Kali wanted a look at Richter’s notes? Before you savaged half the gate guards?

Yes, that day.

I’m hazy on those events, but if you say he’s one and the same, I believe you. I wonder if he was scouting then as well.
She smiled, capturing the memory.
He was lovely, wasn’t he? A very lovely young man.

I suppose.
Drayco yawned, white teeth flashing.
Where are we going next?

‘Down to the Corsanon gorge.’

To find the spell?

‘We’re going to make sure Makee doesn’t get to it.’

Before we do?

‘Exactly.’ She took a deep breath and stood, marvelling at the ease she felt in the movement. ‘Goddess of the night, it’s good to have my body back.’ She raised her arms to the sun and leapt over the lip of the gully, transforming into a wolf before she landed on the other side.
Eyes wide open, Drayco. Makee could be anywhere.