The Dreamtrails (81 page)

“I do not know if I can …”

She shook her head. “I am not suggesting that you manipulate Rushton’s dreams. Indeed, I would advise against it. You will need an empath, allied with a coercer and a healer. They must use your knowledge to create the dream images they will evoke in Rushton’s mind, and when he does remember, an empath can induce calmness and a feeling of safety; if there is a need for it, a coercer could put him to sleep.”

“Blyss and Merret?” I said.

“They would work well as a team, and Blyss has real healing abilities, but it would be better if Rushton were back at Obernewtyn when this happens rather than here amid strangers and unfamiliar surroundings. Yet the memories may not wait until a convenient time to break out,” Dell said. “In that case, you could not do better than to use Blyss, for as well as being an empath, she is developing profound probing abilities, which will enable her to work deeply in Rushton’s mind without the aid of a coercer. I’d suggest that you tell Blyss everything and let her plan an approach and prepare the dreams she will use. But I would not have her use them unless it seems very clear that Rushton is on the verge of remembering.”

“How will I know that?”

“Blyss will be able to judge his emotional emanations,” Dell said.

I nodded and then looked into her eyes. “What else did you see that you did not tell Gwynedd?”

Her eyes flickered. “I will say only that this Land must be united and at peace, and peace and order must be brought swiftly to the Norselands, also.”

She had no more to offer, and when I had thanked her, she bade me farewell with a formal finality that reminded me uneasily of our last conversation here.

“Are you all right?” Seely asked, for she had insisted on coming up with me to say goodbye.

I nodded, blinking in the brightness of the sunlit afternoon and feeling the strength of the wind against my cheeks. I expected Gwynedd’s armsmen to be waiting outside the ruins, but instead I saw people and horses standing at the edge of the square. Coming closer, I stared because three tall Sadorians clad in long fluttering tunics over loose-legged trousers of pale silk stood by several horses. The tallest of them was unmistakably the bronzed Sadorian tribal leader Jakoby, and as I watched, she turned and offered a few gestures of fingerspeech to a black horse. Then I looked more closely, for the horse whose long mane streamed out like black silk in the wind was Gahltha!

He tossed his head and flicked his ears at a cat sitting on top of the broken wall—Maruman! As ever, the old cat seemed to feel my eyes, and he turned to glare at me with one blazing yellow eye. I broke into a run, calling out their names aloud, and then I was gathering Maruman into my arms, uncaring. He disliked being picked up and normally would scratch me if I dared to hold him so close, but though his body stiffened, I felt his mind mold itself instantly and tenderly to mine, pressing effortlessly against and through the powerful barrier around it as if it were smoke. I laid my chin against his battered head and threw out my other arm to encircle Gahltha’s glossy neck.

“I have missed you!” I sent to them both.

“You left Maruman/yelloweyes!” Maruman accused, sinking his claws into my arm.

“I did not choose to leave you!” I sent to him. “I had no idea what was going to happen when I went into that tunnel in the cloister.”

“You should not have left me/Maruman, ElspethInnle,” the old cat spat.

“Dear Maruman, even if you had been with me, how could you possibly have come over the sea with a ship fish?” I protested, already knowing that he would not accept this as reason enough for having been left behind.

“Promises are to be kept,” Maruman snapped.

I sighed, giving up the attempt at reason, and agreed that they ought to be kept. Then I apologized and said that my heart had ached from having been away from him and Gahltha for such a long time. Gahltha whinnied and nibbled at my ear affectionately, beastspeaking that he had missed me, too, but Maruman made no response.

“Let him sulk,” Gahltha advised in his robust voice. “You know he won’t be content until he makes sure you know how miserable he has been.”

“Maruman has not been miserable!” the old cat snarled. “Maruman has been angry!”

Gahltha snorted his amusement. “I/Gahltha am glad to see you, ElspethInnle. I sought you on the dreamtrails, but you did not walk there.”

“That is because the Daywatcher is as clumsy as ElspethInnle,” Maruman sneered.

Gahltha dropped his head and blew a long stream of warm air through his nostrils into the old cat’s shabby fur. It was a mark of Maruman’s attachment to the horse that he did not scratch the velvet muzzle but reached up to touch it with his own small scarred nose. The sweetness of the contact brought fresh tears to my eyes, and I blinked hard as I turned to offer to Jakoby the formal greeting between friends that was traditional in Sador, then I bowed to the two tribesmen, who returned the gesture. Last of all, I beastspoke a greeting
to Jakoby’s horse Calcasuus and the other two horses.

The tribeswoman’s smiled broadened, her white teeth flashing in her dark, handsome face. “It is good to see that you remember what you learned in your visit to the desert lands, Elspeth,” she said in her deep, musical voice. Then she, too, made the formal response to a greeting between friends, hand clasped to her heart as she bowed her head low enough that the beaded ebony ropes of her hair fell forward in a little cascade, clicking and clanking against one another.

“How do you come to be here, and with these two?” I asked when she had straightened.

“I traveled to Sutrium on the
Umborine
after the tribe leaders met a sevenday past and agreed that one of the sacred spicewood ships must risk an encounter with the
Black Ship
, for a command from the overguardian of the Earthtemple must be deemed of greater importance than even a greatship and her crew.”

“The overguardian commanded a ship to travel to Sutrium?” I asked. “For what purpose?”

“I was told to anchor there and do what was asked of me.”

“Somewhat cryptic,” I ventured.

Jakoby gave a laugh and her white teeth flashed. “Cryptic is the language of the Earthtemple, but even for them, this was unusually obscure. I asked the overguardian how I was to know when I had done what I was meant to do, and she answered that one who has been to the desert lands would ask something of me. I must continue to do what is asked of me by anyone who had traveled to Sador, until I was bidden to return there. Only then might I do so. The Temple guardian also said that before I returned to Sador, I would learn a thing that would touch an old and very deep sorrow.” She sighed. “You see what I mean about cryptic.”

“The new Temple guardian is a woman?” I asked.

Jakoby nodded.

“So you went to Sutrium, then you came here. Am I to assume that you were
asked
to come here?”

She nodded. “As we approached Sutrium, we saw great clouds of black smoke rising up and obscuring the city. We anchored the
Umborine
some distance from shore, only to find another ship doing the same. That it was a Herder greatship worried me, but those aboard signaled us, and we soon learned that the only Faction priests aboard were prisoners. Incredibly, almost the entire inner cadre of the Faction, and a good number of Hedra captains, were in the hold in chains.”

“The
Stormdancer
!” I said in elation. “Who was aboard?”

Jakoby smiled. “Their captors were the Norse crew and three Misfits from Obernewtyn, one of them—Yarrow—somewhat the worse for wear. Reuvan was with them also. They told me that you and a small force of coercers had overturned the Faction on Herder Isle before you set off to the west coast on the back of a ship fish! And why? To save the people there from plague because someone had been deliberately infected with it. But you know all of this, for it was you who commanded the greatship to sail to Sutrium.”

“Yarrow,” I said, realizing this meant that the Hedra master had been overcome or had surrendered. “What of Ode?” But Jakoby gave me an uncomprehending look, so I asked, “When did you work out that the smoke coming from the Land was the result of a ruse?”

“The wind changed direction, and we saw that all the smoke was coming from the side of the city facing the Suggredoon. Indeed, at first we thought it must have been coming from beyond the Suggredoon, and that made me wonder if you had been too late to stop the plague. Of course, I did not
know it was Domick who had been infected until after we had landed. It was the asura—your Dameon—who told me that. He was waiting to greet us in the name of the high chieftain of the Land, and he told us the reason for the fires. He could not yet tell us the outcome of the gambit, for Rushton and Dardelan and the others had only just gone across the river. But the asura asked us all back to Dardelan’s home to wait with him to learn what had happened on the other side of the Suggredoon.

“I acceded to Dameon’s invitation willingly, because it was a request from one who had been to Sador and who had, while there, been named asura—guest friend of the tribes. I was glad of the opportunity to see my daughter. But I soon learned that Bruna had ridden out only a day past, to journey by coast road to Sador.”

“Bruna went to Sador before Dardelan crossed the river?” I asked in disbelief. Was this the reason for his grimness? And yet it seemed unlikely that Bruna would leave him on the eve of a battle.

Jakoby knitted her brow for a moment, but she only said, “The asura feasted us that night, and those tales we had been told hastily were elaborated upon. That was the first time I heard that the plague-infected null was Domick. You have my deepest sympathy, for Merret told me that he died. I returned to the
Umborine
, still troubled about Bruna, whom I now knew I would not see until I was asked to return to Sador. Also, I was full of curiosity about why I had been sent to Sutrium. Given all I had learned, it would be easy to imagine that I had been sent there to aid the rebels. Yet …”

“You did not think that was what you were sent to do?” I guessed.

Jakoby shook her head. “The overguardians of the Temple
have never had much time for battles and territories. And I was right, for once I reached the pier, I found waiting for me the one who made the request that brought me here.” Jakoby nodded at Maruman.

“
Maruman
requested it?”

Jakoby smiled. “Those of the Temple name him Moonwatcher, but I think you know that.”

“But you cannot beastspeak,” I said.

“Gahltha signaled Maruman’s request to me,” Jakoby said. “He asked that I bring them both to Aborium on the
Umborine
.” She smiled faintly. “To obey the request of a cat, and especially a cat known to the Temple guardians, seemed perfectly in keeping with the mysteries of the Earthtemple. I bade both beasts board, ordered the crew to ready the
Umborine
for departure, and went back to Dardelan’s house to bid farewell to the asura.”

“I cannot thank you enough for bringing Maruman and Gahltha to me,” I said.

Jakoby was shaking her head, the beads and cuffs clinking rapidly. “You do not understand, Elspeth. Maruman asked me to bring the ship to Aborium so that we could fetch you.”

“You will take us back to Sutrium?” I asked.

“I will bear you wherever you wish,” Jakoby said.

I frowned at her. “What if I want you to take me to the Red Queen’s land or to Sador?” I asked slowly.

“Then that is where we will go,” Jakoby said. “Do you ask it?”

I bit my lip, knowing I could not go anywhere until I had spoken to Blyss about Rushton. “There is something I need to do in Aborium,” I said at last.

“Let us ride, then,” Jakoby said. She reached out to take
Maruman from me, and I was surprised that he did not lash out at her, until I realized he must have ridden to the ruins upon her shoulder. Once I had mounted Gahltha, the tribeswoman lifted the old cat up to me, and he settled himself none too gently across my shoulders. I bid farewell to Seely and cast one final long look about the ruins baking in the afternoon sun. Then the tribeswoman made a signal to Calcasuus, whom she had mounted, and the enormous horse wheeled and sprang into a gallop. Gahltha followed, as did the horses of the two silent tribesmen. Maruman’s claws dug in even through the thickness of cloak, vest, and shirt, but I welcomed their bite, for it had been too long since I had felt the sweet weight of my old friend. As if he heard this thought and was mollified, Maruman did not cling quite so savagely. Nevertheless, I was not fool enough to imagine that he would answer any questions yet, so I asked Gahltha about Maruman’s request of the tribeswoman.

“The oldOne called upon Maruman and me to take part in a spiritmerge of humans and beasts, for you were in great danger and needed us. We opened ourselves, and the oldOne drew deeply on us. I was very weary afterward, and when I woke, Maruman still slept. He slept on and on, and I began to fear for him. Then Maruman/yelloweyes wakened, and he told me that the oldOne said you were safe but that we must seek you over the ocean. We were in Sutrium then, and the funaga Kella had asked us to return with her to the barud. We would go back with her, but now Maruman said we must not go.”