Perilous Shadows: Book 6 Circles of Light (56 page)

Sket watched the faces
as they absorbed Tika’s mind pictures, and wasn’t surprised by the
healer Konya’s expression of avid interest. He saw Subaken
regarding Tika with an oddly calculating look, but he wasn’t sure
what the Shadow Daughter could be trying to judge. Darallax blinked
as the scenes faded.

‘I am amazed at those
Ships,’ he admitted. ‘I believe the Splintered Kingdom is much –
larger – different.’ He waved a hand helplessly. ‘Imagine a fog, or
a cloud. That is how I have sensed that place. Thinner in some
parts, denser in others. And whether the entire cloud is
intelligent or just a hidden core, I have no idea.’

‘But we’ve seen rock,
tunnels in rock,’ Shea objected. ‘The Chyliax can confirm that too,
poor things.’

‘Maybe there is
illusion. Maybe the intelligence has copied things it has seen, or
remembered. But I do agree that, as we understand sanity, the
intelligence of or within the Splintered Kingdom is far from that
understanding: it is indeed a Crazed One.’

‘So how did Lord
Favrian open a gateway into such a place?’ Tika asked.

‘We will consider that
but perhaps you should simply ask Favrian.’

‘The simple answers are
usually the best,’ Dog nodded judiciously and received glares from
both Shivan and Tika.

‘Did you notice any
change in the gateway, Shivan?’

‘No I didn’t.’ He
glanced at Darallax. ‘Lady Tika wondered if it was possible that a
gateway could be attacked, sir.’

The Shadow Lord
scowled. ‘Indeed it can,’ he said at once. ‘That’s what happened
during the first battle and why the cost was so high for all our
peoples.’

‘What
happened?’

‘The pattern for the
gate was disrupted, obliterating any within in less than an eye
blink.’ Konrik extended his leg, pointing to the old scar. ‘I was
standing close by when my uncle opened a portal to bring people
here. Too close. But at least I lived. My master brought me
through, with the last group of people he’d managed to gather. I
remember nothing of that.’

‘You said we should
have asked Favrian how he opened the way into the Kingdom. Do you
want me to go back again?’

Tika chewed her lip
then gave a shake of her head. ‘Not yet, Shivan. The fact that
Corman’s lost Cyrek, and gateways may not be as safe as you
thought, makes me reluctant to let you try again too soon.
Darallax, were all gates attacked, or only those of
Shadow?’

‘I cannot say. I only
know ours were but then, we have had no contact outside of Skaratay
since that time. Our young ones learn to use portals only within
these bounds.’

‘We are only allowed to
use them within our Realm,’ Shivan agreed. ‘Perhaps that implies
that our gateways too were attacked?’

‘What we cannot divine,
is how our portals were destroyed,’ Konrik spoke heavily. ‘Was it a
purposeful attack against a particular target that this being was
aware of? Did the formation of a portal somehow impinge on its
awareness, thus causing a reactionary attack? Forgive me Lady Tika,
but you say that three times now, you have been trapped or lured
into the Splintered Kingdom. I would not in any way endorse a plan
for you to deliberately place yourself there again. We will find
another way.’

He gripped the wooden
staff that lay across his knees and faced his master. ‘Let my words
stand as the official decree of the Chancellor of
Shadow.’

Darallax smiled
faintly. ‘No. Let the words stand as the decree of Shadow
himself.’

Konrik’s shoulders
relaxed and Tika realised how strongly he had felt to place himself
in a possibly opposite position to the Shadow Lord. With Darallax’s
endorsement of the Chancellor’s decree, she knew she must heed this
warning closely. She glanced at Subaken and found emerald eyes
staring at her fixedly. Tika felt there was more to learn from the
Shadow investigations of the Splintered Kingdom, that there was
something they had found, but not recognised as being of
importance. She saw they were waiting for some response from
her.

‘I would greatly
appreciate being allowed to study any documents you are willing to
share. I would like to consider your theories in all the detail you
have. I ask that some of my companions also view any such papers
you have.’

Without hesitation,
Darallax nodded. ‘My daughter will show you all the relevant
documents.’ His lips twitched. ‘There are quite a lot.’

Tika groaned. She
climbed to her feet. ‘Then we should get started on them, shouldn’t
we?’

‘My Chancellor and I
have several meetings still to attend today but you have only to
ask and we will make ourselves available to help you with
anything.’

‘Papers, books.’ Sket
grumbled as they walked away from the river. ‘If it isn’t stairs or
tunnels, it’s papers and bloody books.’

Tika stopped. ‘Sket,
take anyone who can’t stand stairs or books, and amuse yourselves
doing something important, like weapons drill.’

He scowled although he
knew she was joking. ‘And will Dog be joining us?’

‘Can’t pass up the
chance of trawling through lots of old books, Captain,’ Dog
answered for herself.

Tika turned away to
hide her smile at Sket’s look of outrage. ‘Come on then, those of
you who can’t wait to get eye strain and headaches. We’ll see you
at supper Sket.’

‘But what can I do with
these?’ Shea wailed.

They all waited as Shea
struggled to catch up, eight fish clutched to her chest. Subaken
made a strange sound which Tika strongly suspected heralded an
attack of giggles, but Konya came to the rescue.

‘Let’s get these to the
kitchens, child. I know the way. And then you’ll need to clean
up.’

‘We’ll be round the
back of the house Shea,’ Sket told her, knowing she would choose
weapons drill over archives.

The company divided and
Tika followed Subaken into the house. Dog found a really
comfortable chair in a corner and dozed most of the afternoon away
while Rhaki, Dromi and Shivan pored over an enormous stack of
handwritten leather bound tomes at a table which, most
conveniently, blocked Dog in her corner. Navan was thrilled to
discover a rack on which were hung countless maps: of this island,
of the stars observed from here and from Drogoya, and very detailed
maps of the Shadow Realm in Drogoya.

Essa and Tika sat at
the largest table and Subaken brought armfuls of papers for them to
wade through. She put several notebooks in the middle of the
table.

‘These are some of my
father’s own observations, and also my own.’

Tika reached for the
top one and opened it, hoping it would be in the common tongue. It
wasn’t, and she took the next one. To her surprise, this was
written in common.

‘Why have you changed
languages here?’ she asked.

Subaken pulled a chair
in close to the table opposite Tika and Essa.

‘It was father’s idea.
Long ago, the Dark Ones spoke the same language as us.’ She
shrugged. ‘Well, I would guess most peoples did. But with the great
spread of people born of Hanlif’s line crossed with humans, the
tongue you use became the most prevalent. Father said our studies
should be recorded in your speech. In case we ever – disappeared.
Then whoever found them might find some help in these
records.’

Tika was skimming
through the first pages, written in dark purple ink in a spiky but
legible hand.

‘How old are you
Subaken? Have you been working on these long?’

‘I am very nearly three
hundred and seventy four, barely adult.’

She had her head bent
over some loose papers and missed Tika and Essa’s shared look of
astonishment.

Silence reigned, broken
only by the rustle of paper, the thud of a book being closed, and
the occasional muttered comment. When Subaken rose to light lamps
around the room, Tika rubbed her eyes. She’d had no idea the day
was nearly spent, and so far, although there had been some
fascinating little details, she had found nothing at all to confirm
Darallax’s theory. She felt hands on her shoulders, kneading the
tight muscles around her neck and groaned with pleasure. Dog moved
on to do the same for Essa.

‘You got a big picture
here Lady Subaken?’ Dog asked. ‘We found pictures on walls all over
the place, all very similar.’

‘Well of course.’
Subaken seemed to think everyone would have such a
thing.

Dromi half turned in
his chair, wincing as his back cramped. ‘Like the big painting in
Steadfast Rock?’

Subaken’s eyes
glittered in the lamp light. ‘Is it still there? My father did a
lot of that one. He speaks of it often. But he wouldn’t do any of
the new one here.’

Tika reflected that the
“new” one must be at least a thousand years old, but she only asked
if they might see it.

‘It’s in the other
house. It belongs to everyone you see. The place will be empty now
if you want to come.’

By the time they’d
descended the one flight of stairs and marched along the colonnade,
muscles in legs and backs were loosening enough that they were no
longer limping. Halfway along, Tika glanced to her right. A thick
fog was rolling slowly up from the river and, as she watched,
another row of houses was swallowed from sight. There was just
enough light left in the sky for the fog bank to be seen as a wave,
inexorably creeping higher up the slope. Tika watched it for a
moment, wondering if the Splintered Kingdom could possibly be
something both as intangible as fog and yet contain such solidity
within it.

She was thoughtful as
she followed Subaken through double doors identical to those in the
Shadow Lord’s private house. Two lamps lighted a similar hall and
the corridors down which Subaken led them were also lit by
regularly spaced lamps. Finally they reached the central courtyard,
which Tika had guessed was their destination. She felt Subaken use
power and the large space was suddenly brightly illuminated. Tika
glanced up and saw an opaque skin roofing over the area, like the
Domes in the desert, she realised.

Subaken slid closed the
doors through which they’d entered and they saw that the walls and
doors were entirely covered by the painting. The background was a
solid dark purple, but the figures and scenes were vivid with
brilliant colours of every hue imaginable. They seemed to be almost
alive, as if they could leap off the purple walls and move and
speak to those who stared at them.

‘Again, there are no
connections through the groups,’ Sergeant Essa murmured. ‘But the
Dragons are there, and the Chyliax.’

Tika turned in a slow
circle, letting her gaze slide over the painting. Then she turned
more quickly, and stopped. Keeping her eyes fixed on the section
that had snagged at her, she went towards the wall. Sure she was at
the right place, Tika looked round the rest of the huge room. Yes.
If the picture was a virtual history of the Shadow Realm, she was
at the fairly recent end. What had caught her attention was barely
noticeable this close.

She stepped back and
half closed her eyes. There was a definite break. It was a matter
of the tiniest fraction, but it was there. But for once, Tika hoped
a person was with her who might be able to enlighten
her.

‘Is this gap here to
represent your leaving Steadfast?’ she asked.

There was a
considerable pause and Tika looked across at Subaken with some
surprise. Finally the heir to the Shadow Realm came
closer.

‘No,’ she said softly.
‘That is much longer ago.’

Tika saw both Dromi and
Rhaki nod.

‘What? What am I
missing?’ she demanded.

It was Shivan who
offered an answer. ‘It’s to do with time, Tika. Time turns and
turns, repeating some things, like harvest and planting seasons.
Some things repeat randomly or perhaps never, like plague or
drought.’

He peered at the wall
behind Tika. ‘I would guess that represents a bad time, but not the
arrival of the Splintered Kingdom.’

He glanced at Subaken.
She nodded reluctantly, then walked several paces back from Tika’s
position and pointed at the wall.

‘This is where we left
Steadfast. And Lord Shivan is correct. There was another time of
trouble for Shadow, which coincided with that period. Only it was
three thousand years ago.’

Tika’s mind began to
spin at the idea of, to her, such unimaginable lengths of time. She
swallowed. ‘Subaken, how long is it since Mother Dark – what? –
came here from another world too? Or has she always been here? How
long have you, her children, been here?’

Subaken began to walk
slowly round the walls, her eyes on the enormously detailed
painting.

‘Our records begin
twelve thousand years ago. Or thereabouts. It is possible, like all
children, that we spent many more years growing and learning all
that we now take for granted. Things such as living in peaceful
communities, inventing building, farming, writing. We know there
was something here before us, but we have never discovered what or
who.’