The Inner Circle: The Knowing (33 page)

‘
There you are.’
El-i-miir galloped over to Seteal and snatched up her hand. ‘Let’s
go.’ She dragged Seteal along, forcing Seeol to dig in his claws to
hold on for dear life.

Before long the two were dancing like
fools. Seteal had no real experience with dancing and by the look
of it, neither had El-i-miir, but the pair kept moving until their
feet were aching and Seteal’s vision was blurred.

‘
Where’s my drink?’
she demanded, turning back to where she’d left it. ‘Seeol!’ The
bird was perched on the side of the cup, his eyes half-closed. ‘You
haven’t been drinking that, have you?’

‘
Fun,’ Seeol lifted
one of his feet and fell to the deck where he proceeded to wobble
about. ‘This funny water.’

‘
Give me that.’
Seteal snatched up the mug. ‘That’s not for birds.’

‘
That brew shouldn’t
even be for humans,’ a smooth voice spoke up to Seteal’s right. She
turned to discover the female crewmember watching her intently.
‘That’s the strongest we’ve had in a while. I hope your pet will be
okay.’

‘
He’s survived
worse.’ Seteal blushed. She must’ve looked like an idiot talking to
an owl. ‘I’m Seteal and this is . . . ’ She turned to introduce
El-i-miir, but instead only caught a glimpse of her smiling
cheekily as she danced back into the crowd. ‘That was
El-i-miir.’

‘
Eris.’ The woman
took Seteal’s hand and shook it. ‘Nice to finally meet you, Seteal.
I like your name.’

Seteal gasped as wings fluttered
against her face and Seeol landed so clumsily on the rim of her mug
that he nearly fell in. ‘Mine! Give it.’

‘
Not now, Seeol.’
Seteal shook the mug back and forth, but the little bird held
on.

‘
I want it!’ Seeol
shouted. ‘Give it!’

‘
Seeol,’ Seteal
snapped. ‘Stop it!’ She flung the mug sideways and watched the bird
sail off into the night from the force of her gesture. She also
watched her ale splash into the back of a crewman’s head. ‘Torrid,’
Seteal squeaked. ‘Sorry.’

‘
Watch what you’re
doing,’ the man grumbled, wiping at the back of his head. It was
then that Seteal realised Eris was laughing.

‘
Well,’ Seteal
straightened out her dress, ‘I’m glad you found that
amusing.’

‘
I’m sorry.’ Eris
stifled her laugh and regained composure. ‘You’re cute. And I like
your bird, too. You’ve taught it to mimic really well. It’s a shame
it doesn’t obey your commands, too. I had a dog like that once,
except he couldn’t talk--I mean, obviously.’

‘
Um . . . thanks.’
Seteal felt her face growing hot and knew she was
blushing.

‘
Forgive me,’ Eris
apologised. ‘We don’t get women on here very often and it’s good to
have a bit of feminine company once in a while. You know what I
mean, don’t you?’

‘
Of course I do.’
Seteal nodded with awkward enthusiasm. ‘I mean . . . any woman
would go out of her mind without a bit of female
friendship.’

‘
Friendship?’ Eris’s
expression suddenly became very bored.

‘
We should get to
know each other,’ Seteal said, hoping to salvage the
conversation.

‘
Sure.’ Eris
smiled warmly. ‘Here.’ She wandered over to a bottle that’d been
left open on a makeshift table and poured herself and Seteal a
drink. ‘So what’re you
really
doing on
board?’

‘
I don’t know,’
Seteal sighed. ‘The whole thing has been one big mess. For longer
than I’d like to admit, I thought I was going to die unless I got
help from the Elglair.’

‘
Help with
what?’

‘
I’m half Elglair.’
Seteal shrugged. ‘I was tricked into thinking I’d die if they
didn’t help me to control my abilities.’

‘
Why would you die
from leaving your body?’ Eris’s face creased with
confusion.

‘
It’s not just that.’
Seteal rubbed her forehead. ‘Sometimes I see the future . . . or
the past. I don’t know. It’s all getting so confusing. I’m not sure
what to believe anymore.’

‘
What about the
silt?’ Eris enquired.

‘
What about
it?’

‘
How’d you capture
it?’

‘
It was nothing
glamorous, I assure you.’ Seteal frowned. ‘He was wounded and
El-i-miir possessed him and then he fell unconscious so Far-a-mael
tied him up. Even then we only captured him because of Seeol . . .
oh, never mind. I’d really rather not talk about all I’ve been
through lately.’

‘
That’s okay.’ Eris
smiled and ran her fingers along the back of Seteal’s hand. ‘Would
you like to dance?’

‘
I’d like that very
much.’

Throughout the evening, Seteal
continued to dance with Eris, occasionally stopping to have a drink
or talk about life and what the future might hold. Eris was a
breath of fresh air for Seteal. She seemed hopeful about the future
and Seteal was able to pretend, if only for the moment, that hers
wasn’t destined to be filled with death and warfare. From time to
time, El-i-miir caught up with them and danced for a while, only to
be dragged back into the fray of moving bodies, leaving Seteal and
Eris with relative privacy.

‘
I think I have to go
to bed,’ Seteal panted finally at the end of another 'one last
dance' Eris had begged for.

‘
How about one last
dance?’ Eris enquired.

‘
No, really,’ Seteal
objected. ‘I must get to sleep.’

‘
Fine then.’ Eris
pouted. ‘I’ll walk you back to your room.’

‘
That would be
lovely.’ Seteal nodded graciously. ‘Especially considering I can
barely stand at the moment.’

‘
Right this way,’
Eris whispered by Seteal’s ear, wrapping an arm around her waist to
guide her below. Together they made their way along the corridor
until they were standing before Seteal’s door.

‘
Well, I guess this
is goodnight.’ Seteal smiled at Eris, realising in the light of the
lanterns just how pretty she was.

‘
Good night, Seteal,’
Eris said softly, turning to face her.

‘
Yes,’ Seteal
breathed. ‘Goodnight.’

A moment passed and then another in
which the pair just stared at each other. Seteal couldn’t be
certain, but she felt that their faces had been farther apart a
moment earlier. Soft lips touched hers. Seteal couldn’t breathe.
How should she respond? Did she really have a choice? Seteal
relaxed her mouth and allowed Eris to lead the way, her soft hand
sliding down Seteal’s side until it rested on her hip.

Eris put her other arm around Seteal,
supporting her as she leaned up against her, pressing her against
the wall, their bodies coming together. Her hand moved up to the
back of Seteal’s head and pulled at her hair, yanking her head back
violently. Seteal wanted to scream as the old man’s hands touched
her body, squeezing her breasts and forcing her legs apart. Her
face was driven into the dirt until she was choking and could taste
blood in her mouth.

‘
Get off me,’ Seteal
yelped, shoving Eris back so that she fell against the adjacent
wall.

‘
What is it?’ Eris’s
eyes were wide with fear. ‘Did I do something wrong?’

‘
No,’ Seteal tried to
calm herself. ‘I’m sorry. It’s just me. I can’t do this.’ She
looked down at her dress. Everything was as it should’ve been. Eris
had barely even touched her.

‘
I don’t understand,’
Eris said dejectedly. ‘I thought you were like me.’

‘
What?’ Seteal
recoiled. ‘I mean, I am, very much so. You’re
beautiful.’

‘
Then what’s
wrong?’

‘
I’m sorry.’ Seteal
felt her throat tightening and her eyes watering. ‘I just can’t.’
She fumbled with the door until it opened. She slipped inside,
slammed it shut, and slid down its length until she hit the floor
sobbing.

‘
Well,’ Eris said
through the door, ‘goodnight then, Seteal.’ Footsteps moved away,
leaving her alone to weep in the dark.

CHAPTER
Twenty-Two

The Soulless

Young women. Foolish young women.
Far-a-mael gripped the wooden railing until his fingers hurt. It’d
been days since their drunken romp and time hadn’t resulted in
Far-a-mael’s being any more forgiving. El-i-miir especially should
have known better. Once outside of the Frozen
Lands
,
she was
a representative of the Elglair and needed to behave as such. Of
course, the girls had both paid for it the following day. It’d been
such a peaceful day
,
too. Far-a-mael hadn’t heard a peep from either of
them.

‘
Far-a-mael,’ Captain
Waxnah called, all formality having long faded from his
voice.

‘
Yes.’ Far-a-mael
turned to the captain.

‘
The river has
become too narrow and shallow to risk going any further. We’ll be
docking at the next town,’ Waxnah stated with finality. ‘Butterdry
is a tiny place
,
so I doubt you’ll find it on your map, but it’s only a few
miles south of Sat Elam and you’ll be able to purchase stallions
for the remainder of your journey.’

‘
Very well,’
Far-a-mael replied. ‘When do you expect we’ll arrive?’

‘
Within the hour,’
Waxnah said dismissively before turning to stride across the
deck.

‘
What be the fate of
the young silt?’ Briel asked casually, having come to lean against
the railing beside Far-a-mael.

‘
That
be
none of
your business,’ Far-a-mael snapped. ‘I know you sympathise with the
creature and I know Fes brought it food. Did you really think the
guard wouldn’t alert me?’

‘
Ye mustn’t mind
Fes.’ Briel lowered his eyes. ‘She cannah stand ta see nothin’
suffer. It be the mother in her.’

‘
I don’t give a
damn.’ Far-a-mael pushed away from the railing. ‘As soon as I’m off
this boat I hope never to lay eyes on either of you ever again. For
your own sakes
,
you’d better hope not to see me either.’

Without waiting for a response,
Far-a-mael marched across the deck, through the hatch and down to
the girls’ quarters. ‘Pack your things,’ he urged, popping his head
through the doorway. ‘We’ll be docking within the hour.’

Far-a-mael headed farther along the
corridor and descended the spiral staircase, but stopped short to
inspect his hand on reaching the bottom. It was slightly yellowish
and bruised. Had he really squeezed the railing that hard? Perhaps
he was just having an allergic reaction to something he’d touched.
He really needed to take better care of his progressively ageing
body.

Without giving the matter much further
thought, Far-a-mael strode across the hold, arming himself with the
Ways as he went. He spun the wheel on the door to the brig and
pulled it open. ‘Get out.’

‘
Why?’ the silt asked
warily.

‘
Ah, good, you’ve
decided to make this fun for me,’ Far-a-mael replied. Ilgrin’s aura
had taken on a lot of dark purples and sickly greens since he’d
been imprisoned, making Far-a-mael’s task even easier. Creating
fear in the silt wouldn’t require the implantation of new emotions.
All he’d have to do was stir up what was already there. ‘There you
go,’ he pulled the purple forward and sunk it into a patch of brown
that oozed across the aura’s surface.

Ilgrin’s face paled with fear.
‘Please,’ he squeaked, doubling over. ‘Not that.’

‘
Dear boy.’
Far-a-mael smiled cruelly. ‘You make me grateful for my limited
capacity for affiliation. That ability really does take all the fun
out of being a gil. Now move.’ He flicked his wrist, allowing a
stream of despair to leak away from his finger and penetrate
Ilgrin’s soul.

‘
Yes.’ Ilgrin
shuddered. ‘I will.’

‘
Good boy.’
Far-a-mael fed the silt miniscule amounts of comfort with every
obedient move he made. It was never enough that he might regain his
senses. Only so much that he’d have some hope and continue to do as
he was told. ‘Put this on,’ Far-a-mael scooped up Ilgrin’s cloak
and tossed it into his hands. ‘You’re revolting. We needn’t give
anyone nightmares.’

With jarring motion, the silt pulled on
his cloak and slid the hood over his head. There was no real way of
hiding the wings, but at least the average fool might mistake them
for an abnormal growth or something.

‘
Far-a-mael,’
El-i-miir gasped from the top of the stairway. ‘What’re you doing
down here?’

‘
Collecting the
prisoner.’ Far-a-mael glared at her, irritated by her lack of
formality in addressing him. ‘I’d hate for him to escape so close
to home.’

‘
Allow me.’ El-i-miir
stretched out her hand so that translucent strands of affiliation
started weaving across the room.

‘
No,’ Far-a-mael
sneered, snapping a white band of light around El-i-miir’s weaving
and severing it before it could reach its destination. ‘I’ll deal
with him. And you really must learn to direct your Way without
using your hands. I expect more from you by now.’