Dark Realm: Book 5 Circles of Light series (34 page)

‘Strannik,’ he
acknowledged the man.

‘Traitor!’ Strannik
shrieked, pointing at the General’s chest. ‘You have betrayed us to
these evil killers!’

The man at the
General’s shoulder rolled his eyes.

‘You could make a
living in the playhouses Strannik; not the better ones of course,
but a living of sorts surely.’

Strannik glared. ‘Who
are you to dare such rudeness to a Kelshan officer?’

General Whilk smiled.
‘This is Prince Jemin, son of the late Imperator Jarvos, and he is
my commander and lord.’

Strannik gaped again
before he could find his voice. His face flushed dark crimson. ‘So,
all these years your sister has mourned you, you have dwelt here,
amongst these devils, plotting against her.’ He spat the words at
the Prince.

Jemin’s expression
didn’t change but his hazel eyes went flat and cold. ‘I have no
sister. If you refer to the tyrant Veranta, she would not mourn
anything or anyone except as it affected her or her plans.’ He drew
a breath. ‘You claim still that you are hers, body and
soul?’

‘Of course I do.’
Strannik drew himself up.

Then he stared down in
surprise. Jemin’s sword was buried in his chest, yet he hadn’t seen
the Prince draw it, and he could feel nothing. Strannik raised his
eyes to General Whilk, to the Dark Lord, and finally to the man who
was now slowly withdrawing the blade from Strannik’s chest. Blood
gushed from the wound and Strannik watched for a moment, unable to
understand what could have happened to his visions of glory. He was
dead before he hit the ground.

Jemin’s blood metal
blade was clean and dry when General Whilk looked over at
him.

‘It was necessary
General. He would never have changed his views.’

The General nodded. ‘I
know. But why did you do it? Many of the Kelshan guards are
watching and you just killed their unarmed officer.’

‘I did it so that they
know General. Know that my sword will serve them, fight with them,
and protect them, if they serve me. Likewise, my sword will take
their lives should they betray me.’

Chapter
Nineteen

The Dark Lord Daylith
had joined the group in Chindar’s rooms. Tika thought he looked
quite young, but she found it nearly impossible to judge people’s
ages. Like most Dark Ones she’d met so far, he was slender, and
taller than most Sapphreans. His hair was swept straight back from
his forehead and grew down to his shoulders. His eyes were a bright
fresh gold above sharp cheekbones. At Chindar’s gesture, Daylith
began to speak. His voice was low and had a slight lilt to it which
was new to Tika.

‘I opened a gateway as
Seola instructed, directly into Snail’s establishment,’ he began.
‘Snail had a warning from General Whilk, and as far as she knew,
none of the Spiders were taken for questioning. When Waxin Pule
returned here with Seola, the Kelshan guards made searches
throughout the Citadel and the City. Many were taken, but Snail
said she knew none who might know anything about contact with
us.’

Chindar smiled.
‘General Whilk has made no mention of the Spiders’ Web. He has
always believed the organisation obtained information for his wild
clans.’

Corman disagreed. ‘In
the last years I think he has suspected our involvement. He met
Seola, twice at least. She told me she thought he’d guessed her
origins. But by then, he was so disillusioned with Veranta’s
tyranny, he felt no sense of wrongness in passing information
through the Spiders.’

Chindar nodded at
Daylith to continue.

‘Snail is very
frightened. Obviously, the Spiders are keeping well out of sight,
and they are not risking contact with each other. She said they had
all become aware, increasingly over the last half year, of
something malignant in Kelshan City. She told me that several
nights ago, a fear grew upon her such as she’s never experienced.
It vanished with the dawn, but Snail was terrified even as she
described it to me.’

A silence followed his
words. Chindar leaned back in his chair. ‘Lady Emla, I would
suggest it is time for you to return to your lands. The Splintered
Kingdom has made too many attacks too close together I believe.
More will come.’ He frowned. ‘It is impossible to decide if these
attacks are made from a position of confidence or of panic, but
there can be no doubt they are increasing.’

Emla nodded. ‘I have
felt I should return to Gaharn these last two days, Lord Chindar.’
She touched Tika’s shoulder. ‘But how will we know what happens
here? It is obvious Tika will remain in your Realm for now.’ She
smiled sadly and stroked Tika’s cheek. ‘But we – I – would know
what occurs.’

‘Of course Lady Emla.
One of my people will take you to your home and, if it is
agreeable, she will remain with you for a while. There are several
ways we can get news to you.’

Emla stood up. ‘In that
case, I will find Nesh and Soran, and we will ready
ourselves.’

Gan also rose. ‘I would
speak with Soran before they go, Chindar.’

‘Certainly, but I ask
you to stay a moment Lady Tika.’

Tika sat down again and
summoned a faint smile. ‘I do wish you wouldn’t call me
lady.’

Chindar laughed. ‘Very
well.’ His expression grew sombre. ‘You offered us your assistance
when you saw the First Daughter?’

Tika’s oddly silvered
green eyes met Chindar’s dull gold ones steadily. ‘I did, and I
still offer my service.’

‘You have experienced
the close attention of the Crazed One. Would you be able to
anticipate his interest now – could you perhaps sense if he drew
near?’

Tika frowned as she
considered. ‘Perhaps. I’m not honestly sure. Oh. He spoke when Sket
and I fell – I’d forgotten that. He called me a meddlesome brat.
And he laughed.’ She shivered. ‘I saw – somehow – I don’t know if
it was just a picture in my mind. But no, it was real.’ Her tone
was definite. ‘A part of the evil was watching too. A human woman,
one of the Survivors from the Ship in the desert, was giving birth.
But it was a monster that came from her, a foul thing, which
deliberately killed her and then drank her spilled blood. It was
that, that thing. It looked straight at me and that’s when we were
tossed aside, into the Splintered Kingdom, as you call
it.’

Chindar poured more
dark wine into his goblet and swirled it thoughtfully. ‘I would ask
you to go to Kelshan.’ He met her eyes again. ‘It could be
difficult – your eyes will not be easy to hide. I would ask Daylith
to take you, but I fear Farn would be in great danger if he
accompanied you.’

Tika slowly nodded. ‘It
would not be for long?’ she asked.

‘A day at most, just
long enough to see if you have any sense of the Crazed One’s
presence.’

Tika sighed. ‘Something
happened to us all. The bond I have with Farn is as strong as
before in most ways, but it feels less – constricting. It’s almost
as though Farn has realised, and accepted, that we are two separate
beings. I think he would remain here calmly, but Sket won’t.’ She
grinned ruefully. ‘Sket appointed himself my personal guard, and
nothing will keep him here.’

She got to her feet
again. ‘Oh. I meant to ask before. Who is the First Lord? Corman
took one of Seela’s scales to show him I think, but he’s not
returned it to me, or said anything.’

Chindar stood too and
joined Tika at the door. ‘Let’s ask him,’ he said.

He led the way down to
the great library and through to Corman’s room. Finding Corman busy
scribbling at a pile of papers, Chindar repeated Tika’s question.
Corman pushed aside his work.

‘I will take you to the
First Lord. I warn you, he may choose to speak with you, he may
not. I left the scale with him. It will still be there.’

Tika trotted along
behind Corman, lower and lower through the levels of the Karmazen
Palace. The Dark Lord’s back didn’t seem to invite conversation so
she followed in silence. She could see no particular light source
but the walls themselves seemed to radiate a soft glow, sufficient
for her to see the way clearly. It was a wide corridor Corman
finally led her to, with another massive archway at its farthest
end. Corman stopped.

‘The First Lord is
there. His name is Dabray. I cannot say if he will speak with you.’
He leaned against the wall and folded his arms, plainly intending
to wait there rather than accompany her further.

Tika squared her
shoulders, not afraid, but a little unsettled by Corman’s manner.
She was surprised how far it was before she stood at the threshold
of the arch. She glanced back and saw Corman’s distant figure,
still leaning against the wall. Looking into the cavernous archway,
she saw it was unlit. Cautiously, Tika took a pace forward. She
found the wall curved to her right, and within a dozen steps she
could no longer see the entrance. She hesitated, then the walls
gave a hint of luminescence and she walked on. Gradually, Tika
realised she was in a vast chamber devoid of furniture. She turned
in a slow circle in confusion. Then she saw the enormous carving
along one wall, and moved closer.

It was a Dragon
obviously, but far larger than even Brin, and yet less bulky. Tika
studied the way the head had been set half clear of the wall and
realised it was a Dragon such as the one Cyrek had transformed
into. There was a clink on the stone floor, making Tika jump. It
sounded over loud in the deep hush here. She saw a shape by her
feet and stooped to pick it up, recognising Seela’s purple scale.
Where had it come from? She straightened and her heart nearly
stopped. The Dragon’s exposed eye was open and fixed on her. The
edge of the scale cut her fingers as she clenched her hand so
tightly round it. She swallowed.

‘If you are the First
Lord Dabray, I am Tika. I asked Corman to bring me
here.’

‘I know who you are.’
The voice was a dry rustle, aloud, not inside her mind.

Tika’s chin came up. ‘I
owe the First Daughter a debt I doubt I will ever be able to repay.
But I will try to do so.’

Tears sprang to Tika’s
eyes at the profound sadness in the voice’s reply. ‘You owe Lerran
nothing. She chose freely.’

Tika realised she
hadn’t known the First Daughter’s name before. She cleared her
throat. ‘Will – will Lerran recover?’

A huge sigh gusted
round the chamber as though the very walls exhaled. ‘I can see many
things within this Palace Tika. The stone is my body now. But
although I am nearly completely stone, my heart bleeds for my
wife’s pain.’

Tika closed her eyes.
‘Why is her body so altered?’ she whispered.

‘Lerran sank deep into
the Dark. Things touched her and knew she still had life. They have
been lost so long and yet still they would snatch a chance to live
again. There is no acceptance among such as they.’

‘But what were they?
Were they from this Splintered Kingdom?’

‘No, no. They are what
we once were, thousands upon thousands of years ago.’

The great eye which
stared at her from the wall blinked slowly. It rippled with many
soft colours, but gold predominated. Tika drew a breath.

‘What did you learn
from Seela’s scale Lord Dabray? And what can you tell me of this
Crazed One and his Splintered Kingdom?’

‘There is sufficient
residue within the scale for me to know how brave your friend Seela
was. To know of her love for you personally, and that she chose her
death with pride. She is Beyond.’

There was a silence
while Tika absorbed the First Lord’s whispered words. Then Dabray
spoke again.

‘We knew of the people
who came to this world from across the stars. They call themselves
Asatarians, after their distant home. We knew of the others who
came. Some of their ships landed here and some still circle high
above. Mostly dead shells now. We chose to keep aloof from all
these people. My people suffered terribly, long, long ago, and we
swore to stay hidden away, living the way we have always lived, and
having no involvement with any other peoples.’

Tika had backed away a
few paces and now sat cross legged, staring up at that ancient
eye.

‘You see, the Crazed
One came before those others. He nearly destroyed us. He would
probably have succeeded if we had not fled here. He too comes from
a world too far to imagine the distance. We cannot know how he came
to be mad, but it is so: his mind is utterly fractured as is his
Realm. But he retains his power, which alone, was nearly more than
that of my people’s when it was combined against him. He retreated,
and we came here. But he returned.’

‘Chindar thinks this
creature has somehow infected Kelshan.’

Dabray was quiet a
moment. ‘The Crazed One finds footing in certain minds. This is
what happened in your land across the sea, and also in Drogoya,
north of Kelshan. We believe it has happened on many other worlds.
Maybe the Crazed One attacked the home worlds of those who came
here. So far, we have divined no method to slow him, or to stop
him.’

‘And you think I can do
something, when even you can’t?’ Tika got up, moving closer to
stare into that huge eye.