Orlind (41 page)

‘
But
we don’t know
why.’

‘
So?
The best way to find out what’s so special about Orlind is to go
there.’

Eva stared at
him. ‘Tren, you may be a genius.’

‘
I
know,’ he said modestly. ‘Only once every ten years or so though,
alas.’

‘
Well,
you’ve put this decade’s quota to good use.’ She was already
accessing the Map in her mind, searching for the way into the
Seventh Realm.

It wasn’t
there.

She frowned and
tried again, applying the full force of her will to the attempt.
There
was
something there, hovering to the west of Irbel in
her mind’s eye, but whatever it was lay behind a dense shroud, like
layers of tightly-woven cloth. Try as hard as she would, it could
not be penetrated.

‘
Curse
it,’ Eva swore. ‘They’ve hidden it on the bloody
Map
,
too!’

‘
Not
surprising, when you think about it,’ Tren observed.

‘
But
then how are we to get there?’

‘
Fly.’

‘
Fly?
If it was that simple, people would have gone before.’

‘
No
they wouldn’t. No one from Glinnery could fly so high or so far in
those conditions, and those flying machines you told me about are
brand new, aren’t they? I bet a draykon could make it,
though.’

She blinked.
‘That’s twice in ten years, Tren. Twice in ten
minutes.
It’s
making me feel stupid, I don’t mind telling you.’

‘
You’re many things, m’lady - maddening, infuriating, wild and
difficult to live with - but not stupid.’

‘
Thanks.’

‘
Any
time.’

‘
So
we’ll ask Llandry to take us,’ she decided. ‘And
Orillin.’

‘
What
about Pensould?’

Oh, yes; she
hadn’t told him about that yet. She did so now, but recounting that
part of the tale required her to share everything she knew about
the Waeverleyne conflict and that took some time.

‘
Shit,’ Tren said when she’d finished. ‘I can’t believe we’ve
lost Pensould.’

‘
Llan’s working on it.’

‘
I
thought you said they’ve lost his remains?’

‘
Yes,
but she’ll get them back. She can be formidable when she cares
about something, more than I think she realises. She’ll fix
it.’

‘
Perhaps we’d better go to Waeverleyne, then, and see how it
goes on. That way we’ll be ready to go as soon as they
are.’

‘
We?’
she repeated, looking up at him with raised brows. ‘Someone here
isn’t finished healing yet.’

‘
I’m
fine,’ he snorted. ‘I’ve had many fine Lokants working on me, day
and night. You know what that means.’

‘
It
means you still need time to finish the regaining-your-strength
part on your own. Remember, we’ve done this before.’

‘
I’m
fine,’
Tren repeated tetchily, trying to throw her and the
blankets off at the same time. ‘See, I’ll prove it.’

Eva clung on.
‘You’re welcome to prove it. As long as it doesn’t involve leaving
the bed, or being anything other than mostly
horizontal.’

Tren gave her a
speculative look. ‘That could be arranged.’ He began unlacing her
blouse, a difficult task with only one free hand.

Eva knew she
ought to refuse; the last thing she wanted to do was aggravate his
injuries. But she was as much in need of comfort as he was. ‘You
will stop me, if I’m hurting you?’

Tren gave her a
smile; a real one. ‘Not a chance.’

Chapter Twenty Eight

Llandry was not
surprised to find no trace either of her grandfather or Mags in
Waeverleyne. She couldn’t really blame them for removing themselves
from the city, since there wasn’t much else that her grandfather
could have done in the later stages of the battle. But she might
have respected him more if he had tried.

She spent the
next few hours in a fever of impatience, missing Pensould sorely.
Sigwide’s company cheered her; she learned from him that her father
had never let the orting out of his sight, and had carried the
creature around with good grace no matter what he was doing. Poor
Siggy had gone hungry more than he was used to, of course, so she
made up for this by feeding him some extra good things while she
waited.

Watching the sun
setting late in the afternoon, it occurred to her to notice that
the Day Cloak had never wavered throughout the conflict. Here it
came now, blanketing the remains of Waeverleyne in the soothing
evenglow that she had always loved; it was a calming time of day to
her mind. How the sorcerers had maintained the Cloak in spite of
the chaos, she couldn’t guess, but it was admirable. If they had
let it slip, darkness would have fallen over Glinnery for the first
time in generations, and many light-loving plants would have
suffered. As it was, the damage was mostly confined to the
capital.

Ori found her
sitting on the balcony of her home. The balcony was nearly all that
remained of the building, so it was a melancholy state in which he
found her.

‘
Good
news,’ he said cheerfully. ‘Your ploy worked out. The drayks are
calling for their leader’s remains to be returned to
them.’

‘
Eterna? Why?’

‘
Something to do with the missing drayk. Oh, they admit they do
have
a missing comrade by this time, though it took a while.
Iver told them they can have Eterna - when they return
Pensould.’

Llandry stared up
at him, holding her breath. ‘And?’

‘
They
agreed,’ he said, beaming. ‘Iver’s sent some men out to bring
Pensould back. Soon as it’s confirmed, he’ll hand over
Eterna.’

Llandry bounced
to her feet, awash with feelings of relief and excitement. ‘Dear
Iver, I could
hug
him.’

Ori laughed. ‘I
think it was your doing as much as his. Still, since he isn’t here
you can hug me instead. If you like.’

Delighted to hug
anyone at all just at that moment, Llandry was happy to do so. Ori
gave her a thorough squeeze, lifting her off her feet. ‘You were a
brave drayk, you know that?’ he said.

‘
You
too, Ori,’ she smiled. ‘Where did they hide Pense?’

‘
Over
the border in Glour, would you believe? Cunning, because it didn’t
occur to us to look there. They had him buried deep,
too.’

Llandry swallowed
a lump in her throat. How
could
they have treated her
Pensould in such a way! And to speak so casually of the state of
his mortal remains was chilling, though she didn’t blame Ori for
it. He viewed it in the light of a temporary setback, like an
injured colleague. Pensould would soon be up and about again, once
he and Llandry were given access to him. She was the only one who
took it so much to heart.

Ori thought it
would take Iver’s men some time to return with Pensould, but still
they took to the wing to travel to the designated meeting point. It
was a relief to fly freely again, without fear of attack. Relishing
the gentle caress of the wind across her wings, Llan tried hard not
to look too closely at the wreck of her city. They had won the
battle; time enough now to heal the damage.

To her surprise,
Pensould’s body already lay waiting when they landed. A quick
glance at Ori drew a rueful smile from him.

‘
I
knew you’d be half-crazed with impatience if I told you the news
too soon,’ he admitted. ‘Waiting must be torture. So I gave them a
head start before I came to you.’

‘
A big
one, it seems,’ Llandry said, unsure whether to feel grateful or
annoyed. She settled on gratitude. ‘Thank you, Ori. You’re
considerate.’

His shrewd look
suggested that he knew her thanks were not unqualified, but he said
nothing. Standing back, he let Llandry approach Pensould
first.

It hurt, to see
his proud form laid out inert in the moss. At least this place was
beyond the limits of war-torn Waeverleyne, and Pensould’s bed was
healthy, vibrant, undamaged plant life.

‘
Let’s
begin,’ she said to Ori, unwilling to delay a moment
longer.

‘
Just
tell me what you need me to do,’ he said.

Llandry closed
her eyes, reaching out to Pensould with her draykon senses. The
first thing she encountered was fractured bones, torn muscles and
ruptured hide; he had incurred a lot of damage in his fall. She
healed these first, pouring her own energy and Ori’s into
Pensould’s body. Once his body was once again whole, she turned her
attention to the mind currently in slumber.

He must have been
waiting for her, somewhere in his deep sleep, for she felt a
presence there right away. His soul was close, eager to return, and
it took little effort to set the process in motion. The spark of
his consciousness roared to triumphant life, and renewed life-force
raced through his body, healing and reactivating the organs that
had lain idle. She knew from experience that this process took some
hours, but it felt like no time at all before Pensould came around,
pushed himself shakily to his feet and lifted his head. His
blue-green scales twinkled in the sun, his thick hide restored to
shining health and his old vigour quickly returning to his
strengthening limbs.

Llan and Ori
stood back, waiting anxiously for a sign that Pensould was fully
himself again. The world tipped, and Llandry realised she had
fallen into a sitting position.

‘
Careful,’ Ori said laughingly, hauling her upright
again.

I see
you still need to learn when to stop, Minchu.

Llandry could
have wept to hear that familiar voice, with all Pensould’s wry,
teasingly chiding manner. His draykon-shape wavered and vanished
and then he stood in his human shape, smiling at her. His dark hair
and too-pale skin glowed with restored health, and his eyes smiled
down at her, full of affection.

Hastily stuffing
Sigwide into Ori’s hands, she ran at Pensould and hurled herself
into his arms.

‘
I
do
wish you would stop dying,’ she muttered into his
chest.

Pensould hugged
her hard enough to hurt, but she didn’t care. ‘Why, Minchu, this is
the first of my deaths since we have met.’

She shook her
head, sending tears flying. ‘Not true. You were dead when I first
knew you.’

‘
Not
that that sounds weird,’ Ori observed from a few feet
away.

Pensould
chuckled. ‘A good point. I will not die again if you will not, is
that an agreement between us?’

‘
Accepted,’ she smiled. After that she devoted herself to the
pleasant pastime of being kissed, a process which proceeded
apace.

‘
I
missed you,’ she said at length. ‘Even though you lecture me more
often than not.’

‘
Well,
good,’ Pensould said pragmatically. ‘I would be disappointed if you
hadn’t.’

‘
Oh,
are we done?’ Ori said, turning around. ‘Excellent, because I too
would like to say “hello” to Pense. Though I hope he won’t kiss
me.’

Pensould grinned
and shook hands with Ori heartily. ‘Will that be a suitable
alternative?’

‘
Perfectly,’ Ori gasped, flexing his hand. ‘Though for future
reference, it isn’t necessary to grip
quite
so
hard.’

Pensould stood in
silence for a moment, surveying the sky. ‘I take it from the
reassuring quiet that the battle is over?’

‘
Yes,
quite finished,’ Llandry said with a smile.

‘
And I
take it from your continued existence - and mine - that the city
was victorious?’

‘
Let’s
go find Papa,’ Llandry said, tucking her arm through Pensould’s,
‘and we will talk it all over.’

This pleasant
conversation was cut short when a summons came from Commander Iver.
Llandry, Ori and Pensould were called to talk with
Eterna.

They departed at
once, Llandry suffering some feelings of unease. Eterna was
dangerous; would it be possible to keep her under control? But she
must trust Iver. He had never yet made a serious error, to her
knowledge.

But when they
arrived, Llandry could see no sign of Eterna at all. The same six
draykoni remained under restraint, still watched by four or five
times the number of soldiers. Llandry turned in circles, hoping to
see the draykoni leader somewhere nearby. Was it possible that she
had escaped?

When she turned
to Pensould, she found that he had not moved. He was looking
intently in the direction of the Commander’s makeshift office, a
frown creasing his brow. Following the direction of his gaze,
Llandry saw Commander Iver, a man she recognised as his
second-in-command and an unfamiliar female.

‘
Interesting,’ murmured Pensould.

‘
What
is? Pense?’

‘
Look
again, Minchu,’ he said. ‘But not with your eyes.’