Eyes of the Alchemist (3 page)

“And even less Cabrilan.” He brushed the hair away from her face, smiling in a predatory way as he scrutinized her, so fear trickled through her. “You are indeed an unexpected prize. But you are still a child. I shall wait until you’re grown before I claim you.”

She blushed under his regard. “I’m not for the world, Lord. The augur has prophesied I shall spend my life secluded in the temple.”

“That was before the time of the life change. It’s not your destiny now. Your mentor wears the badge of the
Grand Alchemist
, which suggests you have skills beyond your own understanding. On your life journey you will become mine and bear my children.”

“Because the great Lord Kavan decrees it?” she scathed. “You can take another for yourself.”

“I have claimed
you
, Tiana.”

“I urge you to seek counsel with my sire,
The High One
. He will consult the great augur on your behalf, but only if you agree to abide by the augur’s decision.”

Kavan’s smile was ironic as he curved a silvery lock of her hair around his fingers. I’m of a mind to indulge you. What price do you place on peace, daughter of light?”

“Whatever the augur demands of me, savage.” She lowered her eyes from his, pleased her small skill with mesmer had calmed his tempestuous nature.

“Then so be it. Summon your sire from where he skulks, and we shall see what the augur advises.” Laughing now, he threw his arms wide. “Let all bear witness. I Lord Kavan of Cabrilan, swear to abide by the augur’s wisdom. Swear you also, Tiana?”

“I so swear.”

His eyes fixed on
The High One. “Your
daughter’s courage does her credit. Come, time is short. Let’s us get this farce over with. Consult the augur to determine her fate.”

Her sire was trembling from head to foot, yet he had a strange dignity about him as he shuffled forward. She wanted to scream with frustration when he slowly went through the rituals of opening the fountain of knowledge. For a few seconds nothing happened, then there was a disturbance in the middle of the water and a crystal ball emerged. It began to pulsate with sound, slowly at first, then faster and faster.
The High One
lifted his arms and a beam of light came down from the roof to hit the crystal. Prisms of light shimmered.

Beside her, Lord Kavan drew in a deep breath.  A quick glance showed his eyes were fixed on the crystal. A smile played around his mouth.

Consulted, the augur advised that on the next seven-orbit convergence, Tiana would become the mate of Kavan.

She was horrified and warned Kavan the event would never come about. “Somehow you have manipulated the augur. To become your mate is alien to what was destined for my future. I prefer to believe that version.”

“You called me a savage, yet you seek to dishonor your promise,” he said, turning brooding eyes on her. “If your people want proof of my good intent you must act on the augur’s advice. If you do not, you will discover exactly how savage I can be, for I’ll hunt you down if I have to. You will be mine, Tiana, one way or another.”

He stooped to gather up the body of his trooper, cradling it gently against his body.

His warriors parted as he turned. He swept away, his cloak swirling about him, his unkempt hair and beard flying in the turbulence that swirled at the entrance to the portal.

There was silence after the portal abruptly collapsed into a swirl of dust. Exhaustion flooded through her when the guardians and novices crept towards the
High Mother.

“What magic was that?” one of them said in an awed voice.

“A novice may not indulge in magic rites as an aid to healing,” one of the guardians said prissily. “It must have been Sybilla’s doing.”

Air rattled impatiently through Sybilla’s teeth.

Muttering broke out
.
“The pair of them are in league with Cabrilan. Did the warrior lord not claim Tiana as a mate?”

“She indulges her fantasies and makes them reality. The Cabrilan was a figment of her imagination.”

The High One
made his presence felt. “See the blood which was spilled? The Cabrilan troopers were no figment. My daughter, Tiana, is the daughter of a Goddess and part of the destiny of our world. It is written in the water crystal . . . and what the augur has written shall come to pass.”

“Tiana is special,” the
High Mother
cried out, and held up her arms for all to see. “A follower of the
Grand Alchemist
has come to claim her, which is a great honor for the temple. Now, let’s get on with the choosing, and let there be feasting and dancing.”

Tiana scowled at Sybilla. “I will not become a mate to the barbarian. I will kill him first, then dance on his burial place.”

Sybilla smiled, and took her hand when the other novices crowded around the augur. “Come child,” she said gently. “You need rest, for tomorrow we journey far.”

* * * *

They started early, before the sun had climbed over the horizon. There was no one to see them off, no one to say goodbye, not even her sire. She was different from the other temple maids, had always been so – how different had become apparent yesterday.

She placed her hand on the leathery ridge at Atarta’s neck and gazed up at Cabrilan. The planet had turned, and was heading on its outward orbit. It looked dark and mysterious, like the lord who had laid claim to her.

She wondered then, was Kavan still thinking of her?

The wilderness was not without stress for Tiana, but the stress was balanced by happiness. Lying awake and gazing up at the stars was a pleasure in itself. She had learned to name them all.

 The furthest, which was revealed as a mere dot on the outer edge of the sight-scan was called Assinti. The image disappeared when gazed at directly. “It appears inside the sub-state to remind us that higher attainment is possible,” Sybilla had told her.

Assinti was a haven for spirits, a place in which to rest when the body was too worn or damaged to contain the joyful essence.

Tiana traced an arc across the night sky with her finger and stopped on a sullen, red star. Bane – the planet of dark thoughts. It was said that the God Beltane had been banished there, and he’d fallen into a deep and long-lasting sleep. When he woke, his mind was so heavy with depression he could no longer move so he laid on his back, belching flame and black smoke from his mouth in a quest to relieve his suffering.

Tiana knew the tales of all the stars, for Sybilla was a storyteller of some stature. Over the past few seasons she’d learned a lot from her – how to harness her healing powers, to control her thoughts, and most of all, how to apply the gifts she’d been born with wisely and discreetly. 

“There are those who would use you for their own ends if they knew,” Sybilla had told her when she’d finally handed Tiana the prize she’d worked for – a plain, brown robe with the coveted
Grand Alchemist
badge attached. Her smile had been mischievous. “You must trust your own intuition in the future, Tiana . . . and try to curb your temper and your stubbornness.”

Tiana felt a quiver of alarm. “You’re not leaving me, mother mentor?”

“Not now, but eventually my spirit will seek to rest before my body is reborn. Others will have need my guidance in the future.”

Cabrilan swung into her view. Dark and mysterious, the planet grew steadily closer each sunset, reminding her of the warrior lord who would claim her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, banishing him from her thoughts.

The desert flowers drugged the air with their perfume. They would die as soon as the sun touched their petals. At night they provided sustenance for the gibber monkeys and rock goats, which in turn became food for her Pitilan. He was out hunting now, his skin lustrous with the increased blood in his diet.

At first, Atarta’s blood lust had made her feel sick, but now she was used to it. She’d learned that everything preyed on everything else in the wilderness. If they didn’t they perished from hunger, for there was no scientifically produced food outside the city.

She and Sybilla existed on dried fish, grain, nuts and fruit, which they exchanged for stories and healing. They ate frugally, mindful of the hardships of the wilderness, yet Tiana thrived on the sparse fare.

Sometimes she supplemented their diet with a rich delicacy, read about and remembered from her forays into the temple library. As long as they stayed within the image they could taste the treat, and their hunger was satisfied. When they came back to reality so did their stomachs, the treats as illusionary as the feelings of fullness they evoked.   

Tiana drew a scarf across her face, for the perfume of the flowers drugged the senses of the unwary with a delightful euphoria making what was wrong seem right, and what was right seem foolish.

Sybilla was asleep, her head cushioned in her hands. They’d rise at dawn and meditate. Then they’d eat breakfast, usually a meal made with grain and mixed with the milk of a rock goat, if they’d managed to catch one and tether it. There were cactus apples too. They were small, hard and prickly, but nutritious.

The breeze became a wind. She made a small sound of annoyance and sat up as her scarf was plucked from her face and borne away. The wind dropped to a sigh of luminosity that drifted just above the surface of the ground. Her heart pounding, she rose to her feet when the light began to take on a form.

“Sybilla,” she said softly, and then when the woman didn’t stir she stooped to grip her shoulder. “Sybilla, wake up.”

“Sybilla will not wake, Tiana.” The voice was that of a woman, lilting and melodious.

She darted a glance at the luminous figure and sucked in a deep breath. She was exquisite in her perfection. “Have you placed a spell on her?”

 “She will not wake because she does not wish to look upon my face. To do so would mean everlasting death for her.”

 “Your face does not appear so terrible?”

“Indeed, it is not. Men are entrapped by its beauty so they can never gaze upon another female with favor. Women envy it and die from longing for it.”

 Tiana placed her hands over her eyes. “Then I do not wish to look upon it either. But if you seek refreshment to help you on your journey, I can supply you with a little bread and fruit, and some wine.”

The woman laughed. “You can look upon me without fear, Tiana. And it is I who will furnish the refreshment – fruit such as you’ve never tasted.”

“Who are you?” she said, a sense of oneness growing in her.

“Look upon me and you will know me.”

Tiana knew no fear when she dropped her hands to gaze at the woman, who sat by a pool under a tree. Tasting the fragrance of the flowers in her mouth Tiana smiled. She could be hallucinating from the smell of the desert flowers. Wonderingly, she touched her fingers against her cheek. Sometimes she saw that same face reflected in a still pool, though one not quite so exquisite or so luminous.

“You are the goddess, Lynx, and you gave me life.”

“Your sire gave you life. I was the vessel in which you grew.” Lynx smiled at her. “You grew in my image as I knew you would. Come and sit beside me, Tiana. I will tell you of your birth, so when they whisper it in the market place you will realize that all know and speak of you.”

“I have no wish for all to know me. I am happy with Sybilla.”

“Sybilla is not your destiny and she’s served her purpose.” Lynx plucked a small, red fruit from a basket and held it out to her. “Come, sweet daughter, let’s not waste our time together. Eat. Do not be afraid.”

The fruit filled Tiana’s mouth with sweet juices and before she knew it she was sitting on the bank of the stream with her mother. The water sounded like music. When they embraced, a feeling of completeness filled her heart.

“When I was on the journey of knowledge I came across your sire in the wilderness. He was a young man seeking wisdom. His body was full of the vigor of his manhood and I needed a mate. He was affected by the scent of the desert flowers and so was I.”

“The effect is potent,” Tiana murmured. “Indeed, I know not whether this be dream or truth.”

 Lynx gave a gurgle of laughter. “I’d heard that gods sometimes mated with mortals. As your sire coveted wisdom so I craved a child. So I revealed my face to him, and when he was fevered with lust I offered him wisdom in return for his seed. He could not resist the temptation. Thus, I stole his youth and his manhood from him, for only then could he have true wisdom. My punishment was to bear you in my body then to lose you. I discovered that the child of a mortal cannot journey with the gods, and a god cannot live the life of a mortal for more than a short time, unless he is cursed.”

A great melancholy filled Tiana’s heart. “That must have been a hard lesson to learn. Why are you here?”

“I needed to see you again, to tell you of the great love I feel for you.” From around her neck she took a silver cord. A stone as green and glowing as her eyes hung from it. “This is my gift of love,” she said, fastening it around Tiana’s neck. “Guard it well since it’s the key to your future. Now I must go for I am forbidden the company of night.”

“Will we meet again?”

“Perhaps.” A kiss brushed against her cheek, as light as the air but twice as sweet. “Your spirit will never quite be earth-bound, Tiana. Sleep now, daughter of my heart, for the time of change is nearly come.”

Tiana’s mind filled with the overpowering scent of the flowers and she was pulled down into the velvety darkness of petals.

She woke to the sound of a howling wind and semi-darkness. The Cabrilan world was swinging low in the sky, so it blotted out the sun. She’d never seen it so close. Alarmed and disorientated, she sat up, and rubbing grit from her eyes gazed around her. The horizon was a haze of pulsing darkness. Her heart began to pound and she looked around for her Pitilan.

The beast was stretched out on his side, a satisfied look on his face.

“Sybilla?” she said quietly, her sense of unease almost overwhelming.

 Her mentor opened one eye and then hastily shut it against the flying dust. “What troubles you, child?”