Destiny of the Light: Shadow Through Time 1 (36 page)

L
ae huddled in the dark Cliffdweller tunnel, her two hands held by her friend.

‘It’s itchy and it hurts,’ she whispered.

Hush squeezed her fingers as though to reassure her, but Lae was past reassurance. The only person who might have calmed her fears, Mooraz, had stood by stony-faced while her father’s physician had performed the rite, inscribing the swirling tattoo of Be’uccdha adulthood onto the right side of her face. All who saw the mark would know her to be the heir to the title of The Dark, and the day of her confirmation in that role couldn’t come soon enough.

Though tears had blurred her vision, Lae had suffered the pain in silence, looking to the time when she could take the misused power from her father’s hands.

Mooraz had dutifully escorted her back to her quarters but he had offered no words of comfort and Lae had not spoken to him then or in the two days since. Loneliness, which she had tried to keep at bay, ate at her heart.

Hush released one of Lae’s hands and made the separation signal, a slap on her arm, then followed that with the clasp of betrothal.

‘I miss Talis,’ Lae admitted. ‘But I don’t miss the stupid boy.’ No matter how much she kept thinking about that stolen kiss.

Hush touched her shoulder and then squeezed, the symbol of protection.

‘Mooraz?’ Lae tried to laugh, couldn’t. ‘He is no friend of mine.’ But when Hush added a tap on her right forearm Lae felt her throat tighten. ‘My father …’ And could not speak of the anger and fear that lay in her heart, not even to Hush. ‘The innocence of her childhood was over and she would no longer deceive herself by looking for good where there was only evil.

Because of her father she had lost Talis whom she had trusted, if not loved, more than any other man on Ennae. Worse, she was sure her father planned to give her to Kert Sh’hale at the Ceremony of Atheyre this very month. Lae had considered running away again and Hush pressed for that, saying they could winter in the Cliffdweller caves and then head north into the Echo Mountains, or perhaps hide in the lush forests around Verdan where native fruits were plentiful. But Lae would not.

Firstly there was the matter of her tattoo, which had begun to scab and tighten the surrounding skin. It marked her as the daughter of The Dark and could not be disguised no matter where they went. Second, and most important, was Lae’s conviction that if she stayed at Be’uccdha she might find an opportunity to thwart her father’s plans. Talis and Khatrene had not yet been found, but they would be captured and brought back to Be’uccdha. Lae couldn’t run away from the opportunity to help them. Talis would do the same for her, even though he loved Khatrene.

Hush climbed to her trotters and pulled Lae to her feet. She was right, it was time to go back.

‘I will try to come again tomorrow,’ she told Hush. But if something happens and I don’t, you’re not to worry. I will come when I can.’

Hush squeezed her hand again and they set off down the tunnel, the muffled clopping of her nub feet on the stone floor comforting Lae. They came towards the juncture of a lit tunnel and Hush hung back. Her fingers danced in the air in front of her face, making the sign of tears and sorrow. She pulled Lae into her arms for a hug, something she rarely did.

‘I’ll see you soon,’ Lae said, surprised by her friend’s uncharacteristic display of affection.

Hush pulled back and shook her head.

‘No?’ Lae frowned and it hurt her face. ‘You won’t see me soon?’

Hush made the palm slap movement then chopped her hands together as a break.

‘Never again?’ Lae shook her head. ‘Are you abandoning me?’ She clutched Hush’s hands and wouldn’t let them go.

Hush pulled one loose and pointed at Lae, then walked her fingers away.

‘I’ll never leave you,’ Lae said but Hush nodded at her solemnly, the beginnings of two tears cresting her thick eyelashes.

She pulled her other hand free and stepped back from Lae, put a hand over her heart and then offered the palm face up.

‘And I’ll always love you,’ Lae whispered.

Hush gazed at her a moment longer, her halo of fuzzy curls glinting in the faint light, then she turned and was gone, disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel with only the fading rhythm of her swift departure to mark her passage.

Lae stood for a long time where Hush had left her, and when the tears of grief had stopped stinging her scarred cheek she turned towards the light and the tunnel which would return her to her father — the man she must prepare herself to betray if she would save the life of her friends.

K
hatrene snapped awake, eyes opening in the darkness.

Talis was with her. She could feel his body curled around hers, arm draped protectively over her. His even breaths against her hair should have been reassuring, but outside an unnatural silence hung in the air. Menace seemed to lurk out there.

What’s going on?

Her baby stirred within her and Khatrene put a protective hand over her huge belly, feeling the flesh move as the child rolled. Something pushed against her palm. A hand? A foot? Despite her anxiety, she took time to imagine cuddling her child from within, as Talis had taught her.

A moment later she felt the contentment her baby projected, like purring but with no sound. Talis pulled her closer in his sleep and she snuggled back against him, listening. There was still no sound outside, no clue as to what had woken her. The child moving?

She listened for a moment longer then dismissed her fears, was just closing her eyes and relaxing back into sleep when she heard a whisper outside their tent.

‘Cous.’

Khatrene stiffened but Talis came instantly awake. He had his breeches on and was outside with his sword before she could even sit up. Khatrene heard them murmuring as she stumbled to her feet.

‘What is it?’ she whispered when Talis came back in. He reached for his thick battle jacket and sick premonition welled inside her.

‘The distant-placed sentry has not returned the call,’ he told her, covering his beautiful chest with the thick quilting which in nightmares she’d seen covered in his blood.

Khatrene felt a moment of panic before calm washed over her. She had a baby to protect. They’d done this before and could do it again. If their enemies were at the distant-placed sentry they had at least five minutes. ‘Do we pack and leave?’

‘We go north. Breehan and the children will accompany us.’

‘The children?’

‘Now,’ Talis said and snatched up the emergency pack he’d kept ready for just such an occasion. He took her hand.

Khatrene’s resolve faltered. The memory of Weedah’s twisted and broken body came into her mind. ‘Why are they sending the children with us? Wouldn’t they be safer with their parents?’

Talis paused, then looked back into her eyes. ‘The adults of the tribe will attempt to delay our pursuers. If we are caught on the Plains you may die and your child with you.’

Khatrene stared at him in horror. ‘What if they’re killed? Breehan can’t look after twenty children alone. Wouldn’t the Plainsmen stand a better chance if you stayed?’

‘They have made their decision,’ he said. ‘As I have.’

Khatrene opened her mouth to argue but the voice spoke first.

T
HE
G
UARDIAN
’
S FIRST DUTY IS TO PROTECT THE CHILD WITHIN YOU WHO WILL JOIN THE WORLDS
. Y
OU MUST DO THIS ALSO.

Khatrene looked at Talis and saw what she should have seen to start with — the stiffness of his shoulders, the tight grip he had on the pack.

‘I’m sorry.’ Talis would be more worried about Noola and the others than she was. She grabbed her cloak. ‘Let’s go.’

The Plainsman camp was eerily deserted, a nest of silent tents surrounded by the thick mists of the Plains. Dawnlight had begun to bleed onto the Plains and Khatrene held Talis’s hand tightly as they met up with Breehan and the silent herd of children, then followed them as they skirted the edge of the camp and headed away at a fast walk. The air was surprisingly cool but Khatrene soon worked up a sweat, puffing as she strode at Talis’s side. They’d barely gone any distance before a figure loomed out of the mist in front of them. Khatrene stifled a cry. It was Pagan.

‘Perimeter guards to the south and east are silent,’ he said with barely restrained excitement. ‘We are being encircled.’

Breehan gestured for silence and several of the children looked at Pagan with ill-concealed disgust. A moment later, Breehan’s fist rose to push into three different directions, then he swept his arm around to indicate that the approaching forces were converging on the camp.

Khatrene squeezed Talis’s hand.
Let’s not panic
, her eyes said.

Inside her mind the voice spoke. B
E AS DUST ON THE
P
LAINS
.

Of course.

She tapped Pagan on the shoulder, waved at Breehan then put a finger to her lips and motioned for them all to lie down. Talis obeyed immediately, helping her to sit and then lie silently on the cracked earth. The children waited for Breehan to gesture them down then they obeyed, some of the boys with hands on their daggers. Pagan was a moment longer, but finally he spread himself out beside Khatrene. She turned her head to glance at him, to make sure he was going to be quiet and he surprised her with a ferocious grin.

She rolled her eyes and turned back to Talis. You’ve got a Kamikaze cousin, she wanted to tell him, but she had to be silent. She could only hope Pagan’s lust for glory would on this occasion be tempered by commonsense.

Footsteps came then and Khatrene wasn’t sure if she heard them or felt them through the ground beneath her ear. Fear crept up on her and she closed her eyes. Talis squeezed her hand. Were there shapes sliding through the mist nearby? Was Djahr among them? She couldn’t look. The dull, distant clunk of swords rattling in their sheaths could be heard and she tried not to be terrified, for the baby’s sake if not her own.

A yelping call came from the Plainsman camp behind them; Noorinya, luring their enemies away. Khatrene gritted her teeth as the sound of the approaching force grew louder, then another yelp came, from far to the right. After a time the clunking grew softer and Khatrene forced herself to relax. Their attackers had been diverted, but Khatrene was still a fugitive and she might be hiding for years if she wasn’t captured or killed by either Djahr or her brother. Mihale wouldn’t harm her, but he might give her back to her husband and that would amount to the same thing. Torture and then death. She shuddered at the thought of being Djahr’s prisoner again, then felt cold dread when she imagined what he might do to Talis.

In fear of that, she opened her eyes to look at her beloved, reassuring herself that he was safe. The day was growing lighter by the moment and she could see his face clearly now; the solemn brown eyes, the almost dimples, beautiful, beautiful lips. Don’t die, she wanted to say, yet knew it would be pointless. If there was one thing she’d learned from the experience of regaining her memories, it was that fate couldn’t be avoided. For better or for worse she was The Light and her child would have incredible power. These were facts she no longer denied. Yet the knowledge of this great power had impressed upon her the fragility of life — her life, her beloved’s.

‘They are gone,’ Pagan whispered, and Khatrene suddenly couldn’t hold her love in. Desperation welled up inside of her and she leant forward to kiss Talis, clutching the front of his jacket to pull him closer, wishing there was some way to halt the terrible forward momentum of her child’s destiny. But what began in desperation ended in tenderness as Talis eased away from her lips, slowly, reluctantly.

‘Will you two never leave off kissing,’ Pagan hissed. ‘We are in danger.’

‘And we are in love,’ Talis whispered, gazing at Khatrene with such understanding, such passion that she wanted to cry.

‘You are a changed man,’ Pagan observed softly. ‘If danger such as this excites you.’

Breehan, who had been gesturing for silence, now slapped Pagan hard on the arm, an expression of such frustration in his eyes that Khatrene feared for a moment that a fight would break out.

Yet instead of being angry Pagan merely looked at Breehan silently, noting that Noorinya’s memory stone now hung about his neck. Breehan stared back, then turned to his charges, gesturing for them to rise and prepare to march. Hanjeel, who held his baby brother, helped some of the smaller ones to rise, dusting them down and wiping away the odd tear.

Khatrene was taking a baby from one of the younger children who looked far too small to carry it when a distant sound was heard behind. A faraway clash. The unmistakable sound of swords meeting. Khatrene closed her eyes. People would die because of her — because of who she was and the life she carried inside her. Memories from her childhood offered a perspective on that. She was a Princess of Ennae and the instrument through which prophecy would be fulfilled. But Khatrene was also half Magorian, and that half of her could not accept the cost.

As though sensing her change of mood, Talis touched her face gently before sweeping one of the toddlers into his arms and nodding for Pagan to take another. None of the children whimpered, but the looks on their faces were frightened and sad. If only she’d refused to marry Djahr. Mihale would have let her stay in the Volcastle with him. She could have talked some sense into him, helped him rule, instead of abandoning him when he was so young and vulnerable.

H
AD
T
HE
L
IGHT NOT LAIN WITH
T
HE
D
ARK, THERE WOULD BE NO CHILD TO JOIN THE WORLDS.

That’s not true. I would have had children. Talis’s children.

T
HIS CHILD IS UNIQUE.

The baby stirred within her and she wondered if he too could hear the voice.

Are you telling me Djahr’s … involvement was important?

W
ITHOUT HIS SEED, THIS CHILD WOULD NOT BE.

So, all that I’ve been through, and all the suffering to come is necessary?

Y
ES.

That makes a difference.
But it wouldn’t change the outcome. The past had shown her that. The fate of Ennae was set. The child was already inside her and there was no turning back. Walking beside Talis, cradling another woman’s child in her arms, a woman who even now might be dying to save her, Khatrene knew the best she could hope for was to have the strength to fulfil her own destiny.

And ensure that her child lived to fulfil his.