Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series (38 page)

If House Crystal
trained its children isolated from all others, one assumed their
loyalty was never divided but always given to their own Imperial
House. He had wondered occasionally if Kasheen was mage gifted:
now, touching the Emperor’s mind he realised he was, and powerfully
so. Jakri simply opened his thoughts, offering Kasheen the true
memory of his recent contact with Maressa at Green Shade. He
recognised that Kasheen was absorbing the memory rather than merely
observing, and as Maressa had broken contact so Jakri withdrew
swiftly from the Emperor’s mind.

‘This will be
considered more thoroughly.’ Kasheen indicated that Jakri should
rise. ‘Notify me the instant these – visitors – approach the city.
You will instruct them to come to the Family Garden. You will
attend me there. I will hold back the fleet until we have spoken
with them.’

He gave a brief nod and
Jakri bowed deeply, backing away until he felt the door behind him.
Grasping the handle, he pulled open one side of the moon door and
left the Emperor’s presence. The Blossoms stood impassively while
Jakri pushed his feet into his sandals and began to walk down the
stairs. Jalan waited at the first landing and walked ahead in
silence until they neared the base of the palace
buildings.

‘Go safely Master
Jakri,’ said Jalan, as an Imperial Blossom approached and
saluted.

It wasn’t the same
Blossom who had brought him to the palace Jakri noted, but this one
was just as silently efficient in escorting the Master Mage back to
House Jade. His mother awaited him in the third reception room. He
recounted Kasheen’s words and nodded at her exclamation of
surprise.

‘I too was astonished
that he would suggest the Family Garden as the meeting place. There
are many other Gardens within the palace which would be as
private.’

‘No Jakri. The Family
Garden is the most sacred place to House Crystal as are our own
Family Gardens. I have never heard of any other than House members
being invited within any, yet he asks that you attend.’

‘I’m not even sure
where it is.’ Jakri looked as uneasy as he felt. ‘The central part
of the palace has always been warded – will the Crystal Mages drop
the warding for the strangers to enter? I sense the girl with
silver eyes will suspect a trap, or duplicity on our
part.’

‘Go to your bed my son.
The hour is too late for serious thought. Dawn is not far
off.’

Jakri scrubbed his hand
over his face. ‘As usual you’re right.’ He turned towards the
stairs. ‘I would see Hiramo, J’Bak and Shek at first
bell.’

Oniko smiled. ‘I will
have messages sent.’

Jakri slept as soon as
he lay on his mat, all thoughts expunged from his mind as he’d been
taught in one of the earliest lessons in Mage College. He woke
before dawn and padded quietly to his shower room. He dressed in
his usual pale blue gown and after rolling away his sleeping mat,
he sat on his balcony. He kept his mind open, orientated to the
north west and Green Shade. The first pale pink fingers of
approaching day were just noticeable when he sensed Maressa’s mind
approaching his.

‘Five of us will travel
to your city Jakri. We expect to be there in two to three days. Is
this agreeable?’

‘It is Mistress. The
Emperor Kasheen welcomes the opportunity to speak with you. He
suggests you go to the Family Garden within the palace.’

‘Where is this place –
is it easy to locate? You will have to guide us in detail as we
draw near.’ Maressa paused, aware of hesitation in Jakri’s mind.
‘Is there a problem you should warn us of?’ Her tone was wary
now.

Jakri took a decision
and was honest with the woman. ‘The Family Garden is the most
secret and sacred place within the palace. House Crystal have never
allowed non members to enter, yet I am also to be present. The area
is heavily warded at all times – inquisitive students often make
the mistake of trying to pry but always they are detected,
identified and reprimanded.’

Jakri sat awaiting
Maressa’s response. She sounded thoughtful rather than worried or
annoyed. ‘I believe that could be dealt with Master Jakri.’ He saw
hazel eyes blazing with determination. ‘You understand my
meaning?’

‘I do. And I repeat –
my life is willing forfeit should any harm be attempted upon
you.’

‘The one called Hiramo
is near you,’ Maressa observed. ‘We will contact either of you to
keep you informed of our progress towards your city.’

She vanished from
Jakri’s mind. He sat a while longer, watching the dark clouds
fleeing before another clear bright dawn. A chime sounded beyond
the inner door and he turned. A maid bowed then straightened
smiling.

‘Your breakfast is
ready Master and your apprentices are in the book room.’

Jakri rose gracefully
to his feet. ‘Ask them to join me in the dining room – they are
usually hungry.’

The maid smiled again
as she bowed and left his rooms. He met his mother in the upper
hall.

‘Just to tell you my
son. I will be far travelling this day. Meshka has instructions to
let none disturb me.’

Jakri raised his dark
brows. ‘Perhaps we should discuss your travelling
later.’

Oniko laughed.
‘Perhaps,’ she agreed amiably.

‘Guard yourself well
Oniko.’

She nodded and returned
to her own apartments.

Jakri went downstairs
to the dining room behind the second reception room. Three people
rose from the floor cushions and bowed respectfully.

‘Be seated and eat.’
Jakri sat at the end of the long low table while two young maids
glided in with parcels of napkins. Jakri and his apprentices
unwrapped the parcels to find hot rolls filled with vegetables and
cheese. Pots of tea and jugs of water were brought and dishes of
chopped fresh fruits.

‘Mistress Oniko said
you wished us to attend you early Master.’ Shek was the eldest of
the three, born on one of the farming estates of House Jade to the
south west of the city.

‘And I appreciate your
coming in time for breakfast,’ Jakri agreed with the young man
quite straight faced.

J’Bak choked on a slice
of peach and blushed behind his napkin. He was Shek’s cousin, a few
years younger but from the same country estate. Hiramo kept her
expression as bland as the Master’s.

‘The food from your
kitchens is renowned throughout the Colleges Master. Any
opportunity to sample its delights is never to be
avoided.’

Jakri laughed and
poured himself some tea. He watched Hiramo over the rim of the
bowl. She was fair: her skin paler and more delicate than the
golden olive of most Wendlans. Her hair too was light brown rather
than the usual sooty black. Hiramo’s mother had been born in Bracca
to the minor House Jasper, but her father had been a tribesman from
the forests of the north east. The area around Green Shade Jakri
realised suddenly. The Emperor Omak had ceded a great deal of land
– useless in his opinion – to the Survivor Captain and her son in
just that region.

‘If you have all
finished sampling?’ he enquired.

He left his cushion and
slid open a door into the next room – the book room where he
received students and dealt with daily business. He waited until
the three were seated and motionless then looked into each pair of
eyes in turn.

‘I will show you a
meeting of minds first,’ he said. ‘I want no comments
yet.’

He showed them Hiramo’s
meeting with Maressa and his own later contact. Again he studied
each face before him.

‘Now I will show you
what should not be shown.’

As Jakri had
anticipated, a hiss of indrawn breath escaped J’Bak when the
apprentice realised that the man Jakri’s memory showed them was the
Emperor Kasheen himself.

Jakri closed his mind
to his apprentices and allowed them time to consider the
implications of what he’d revealed. Before he could begin speaking,
there was a soft scratch at the door. He frowned.
‘Come.’

The door slid open and
the senior door servant entered, bowing deeply. ‘An Imperial
Blossom requests a moment of your precious time,
Master.’

Jakri got up and
followed the man to the courtyard entrance. An Imperial Blossom
saluted as Jakri appeared. He offered a small black lacquered box.
Jakri accepted it and looked up into the Blossom’s face.

‘His Imperial
Graciousness says this is his authority.’

He saluted again, swung
smartly about and left House Jade. Jakri studied the box carefully.
He walked into the empty dining room, the table now cleared and
polished. He pressed a tiny button on one side of the box and the
lid sprang open. Inside, nestled on black cloth, was a gold
bracelet set with a blue stone, a green, and between them was a
diamond of great value. Plumes were finely etched along the gold –
the insignia of Imperial House Crystal.

Jakri slid the bracelet
over his hand and felt it shrink as he did so, so that instead of
sliding loosely, it fitted snug to his wrist. Jakri focused his
concentration on the bracelet and found no spells or wardings set
within it. There was something about the diamond but Jakri
suspected that it was only a natural imbuement of a stone which
represented House Crystal. Letting the sleeve of his gown cover the
bracelet, Jakri returned to the book room.

His apprentices sat
exactly as he’d left them; all deep in their own contemplation of
the images their Master had shown them. Hiramo at least had been
better prepared, having made the initial contact with Maressa, but
J’Bak was clearly struggling to understand. Jakri resumed his
cushion, tapping a fingernail twice on the table top between him
and the apprentices. Their heads lifted and their eyes fixed on the
Master.

‘Comments,’ he
suggested.

He wasn’t surprised
that J’Bak spoke first this morning: usually the shyest, least
confident of the three, he was badly shaken.

‘The Family Garden of
House Crystal,’ he blurted. ‘For any not a member of a House to set
foot in another’s Family Garden is punishable by instant execution.
I have never heard of such a thing Master. If you were married to a
daughter of House Crystal, it would be permissible, and for her to
enter the Family Garden of House Jade. Can even the Emperor put
aside such tradition? Master, I tremble for your
safety.’

‘I cannot see that the
Emperor could issue such a command – and it was a command, not an
invitation,’ Shek pointed out. ‘He could not command your presence
and then your death Master. You are the head of House Jade, as much
respected as head of this great House as for your mage
talent.’

Jakri turned to
Hiramo.

‘I agree with Shek
Master. There is no sense in ordering your presence followed
immediately by your death unless,’ she paused.

Jakri
waited.

‘Unless he feels that
your presence would lull any suspicions of the
visitors?’

Jakri nodded
approvingly. ‘My thought exactly. I have also received a gift from
Kasheen.’

He pulled his sleeve
back, extending his arm across the table. ‘I feel nothing of mage
craft within it, except perhaps for the diamond.’

Shek moved to kneel by
the table, peering closely at the bracelet firmly sealed on Jakri’s
wrist. Silence thickened in the book room as Shek mentally probed
the bracelet. He was highly accomplished in the study of artefacts
and Jakri had total confidence in his expertise. At last Shek sat
back.

‘There is nothing
Master. The diamond is imbued with clarity of thought.’ He
shrugged. ‘Perhaps the Emperor wants you to see behind all words
spoken at this meeting. I admit I feared it would contain a death
command. You will not be able to remove it,’ he added. ‘There is no
trigger alert to warn the Emperor if you tried to take it off, but
I see no way to expand it again.’

‘The Emperor?’ asked
Jakri.

Shek nodded. ‘He would
be the only one to remove it I’d think.’

‘You are absolutely
sure the Emperor cannot – eavesdrop shall we say – through this
bracelet?’

The apprentice shook
his head firmly. ‘May my life be forfeit Master. I find the article
harmless.’

Jakri drew his arm back
and smiled. ‘I hoped you’d come to that conclusion I have to
confess.’

Tension in the room
relaxed; even the rigidity of J’Bak’s spine softened a
little.

‘You heard Mistress
Maressa say that she would contact either you or me, Hiramo. I
wondered how she knew that you were approaching the House earlier –
any ideas?’

Hiramo was as gifted in
far speaking and seeing as Maressa herself, but her methods in
doing so were subtly different. Now she considered Jakri’s question
before she replied.

‘We use House sigils
and various other means to identify any we mind speak. I believe
Mistress Maressa uses a far more specific means of identification.
But we have been restricted by Imperial edict, not to far travel
beyond Wendla. Mistress Maressa is accustomed to much greater
distances I believe.’