Perilous Shadows: Book 6 Circles of Light (58 page)

Tika stepped into a
small room which she realised was at the back of the house,
sheltered from any bright sunlight. A narrow high bed stood against
one wall and a woman in a lilac gown sat on a stool beside it. Tika
recognised Subaken’s mother, Rueshen: so this is where she’d been
for the last three days or more. Rueshen offered Tika a small smile
and held a hand out to her. Tika accepted Rueshen’s hand and drew
nearer the bed.

Khosa lay on her side
on the white sheet. She was so thin Tika could scarcely believe she
still lived. The orange fur was dull and it looked as though a lot
of it had fallen out. The body barely moved to indicate she
breathed. Rueshen’s right hand was cupped around Khosa’s skull, one
finger gently moving between the cat’s ears. Tika stared. She was
afraid to touch Khosa, she looked so frail that a touch might break
her. She sent a tendril of thought towards Khosa and felt a tiny
response.

‘Khosa please, we love
you as you are. Take what strength you need from me.
Please.’

She felt the smallest
tug on her power and let Khosa draw what she would. Konrik and
Rueshen watched. Khosa’s fur brightened, just a little, and –
perhaps it was just imagination, but she seemed a tiny bit more
solid. Khosa shuddered then her side rose and fell, her breathing
stronger.

‘Enough for now my dear
one. Rest, and I will come again later. And remember, we do love
you, and I cannot spare you from my company.’

Tika moved away,
straight to the door, Konrik at her heels.

‘You’ve strengthened
her greatly,’ Konrik said as he closed the door behind
them.

‘I’ve learned that fast
healing is not always best. I will return at midday and help her a
little more.’

Konrik followed her
down the stairs. ‘It is her mind, as well as her body.’

Tika glanced back at
him and the Chancellor flinched at the raw pain he saw in her green
silvered eyes.

‘I know. That is why
this must be a slower healing. Some of my friends will choose to
sit with her. That will help.’

Konrik was astonished
when he and Tika came to the garden room, to find uproar. All four
Dragons were crowded at the entrance, eyes flashing and distress
pulsing from them.

‘What’s happened now?’
Sket demanded, storming to her side and glaring suspiciously at the
Chancellor.

Tika lifted her hands
for quiet. ‘Khosa is very sick. She asked the Shadow Ones to return
her to human form.’

Dromi gasped and sat
down with a thump.

‘They tried, and Khosa
insisted they try much further than they thought wise. I cannot
heal her quickly, as she is in such despair. I’ve strengthened her
a little and I will do more later.’

Shea pushed up to her,
tears streaming down her face. ‘Where is she? I’ll sit with
her.’

Tika brushed her
fingers over Shea’s cheek. ‘Thank you. That will help, but do not
try to wake her.’

‘I’ll come too,’ Sket
growled.

A speechless Konrik led
the two off, to show them the way, leaving a stricken company
behind them.

Tika went out to the
Dragons, using mind speech to show them Khosa and to try to
reassure them. When all four were reasonably calmed, she turned her
attention to her company. She spoke to Dromi first.

‘Did you not know what
she was doing?’

Dromi looked miserable.
‘I didn’t know she had once been human, my lady. And I have been
trying to come to terms with what I’ve learned of my people.
Forgive me, I have been far too selfish.’

‘Of course you haven’t,
Dromi.’ Tika’s answer was brisk. ‘I would ask you to go on with
hunting through those archives.’

She looked
questioningly at Rhaki and Essa. They nodded and got to their feet,
joined by Dromi and Dog. Tika studied the three guards and the
engineer Onion. Before she could speak, Onion did.

‘We’ll stay around
here, Lady Tika, if you don’t mind. We don’t know the poor little
cat like you do, but we’d still rather stay put.’

‘They’ll keep us
company,’ Farn announced, bringing smiles to the men.

‘We can all play the
riddle game,’ Storm added.

Tika saw the smiles
freezing in place but she was proud that they didn’t vanish. Onion
heaved a long suffering sigh.

‘We’ll play the riddle
game – for a little while, but we’ll teach you the spying game,
too.’

Tika left them to it
and made her way up to the study room where Subaken had set out all
the papers yesterday. She rubbed her left thumb: it was tingling
under Garrol’s ring again. She found Shivan hovering on the first
landing.

‘Konrik told me there
was a trace of Cyrek in Kelshan,’ he said.

‘Yes, but only briefly,
and there was no report of any trouble. Where’s Konya by the
way?’

Shivan rolled his eyes.
‘With the Shadow herbalists, where else?’

‘Shivan, there’s
something we’re missing, in that painting, in what Darallax and
Subaken have told us, in those documents. They’ve told us, and
neither they nor we have recognised its importance.’

Shivan paused outside
the study door. ‘I can recall all they’ve said. Do you want me to
go over it?’

‘Yes please. And
Shivan, can you think of any real reason why Ferag would have taken
care of me?’

He opened his mouth to
make a sarcastic reply then thought better of it. ‘I can’t. Nor
could Corman. In fact, it worried him I think.’

Tika reached for the
door handle. ‘Oh, can you try to remember everything – everything –
you’ve ever heard of Lord Dabray? I’ll talk to you tonight, after
supper, about that.’

She found everyone
busy, even Dog was browsing through a large book but Tika thought
it might be prudent not to check what she was reading. Subaken
hadn’t joined them but Rhaki wanted more details on Khosa before
settling to work, so Tika explained what she could.

‘So Namolos is Khosa’s
father?’ Rhaki mused.

‘Was. I believe he has
been killed. It’s most likely he and Cho Petak destroyed each
other.’ Tika remembered the letter Konrik had given her and pulled
it from her trouser pocket, smoothing it flat on the
table.

‘I believe Namolos
thought he was doing the right things. He came here in his Ship and
found what he thought was a simple, ignorant world. He planned to
guide its people in such a way that they would never face the evils
that came to the worlds he knew. From the little I’ve managed to
learn from Khosa, there were other Ships, which carried Namolos’s
enemies. There were battles, out in the great spaces between the
stars, in which Ships and people of both sides were lost. Namolos
wanted to make sure that never happened to this world.’

‘So he convinced his
daughter – his own daughter – to let him turn her into a cat for a
thousand years or more.’ Sergeant Essa’s voice dripped with
contempt.

Tika looked across at
her sadly. ‘Two daughters, Essa. The other one he turned into a
Dragon. She became the mad Dragon of Talvo Circle in Vagrantia. But
she has changed again, so I’ve heard and is now physically the same
as Mim – a scaled human body with great feathered
wings.’

‘And what were these
two poor girls meant to do?’ Rhaki asked.

Tika shrugged. ‘Spy.
Keep watch on those who Namolos felt would have the most likely
chance of ruling the whole world. The elder daughter, Gremara, was
sent first, to Vagrantia. The remnants of a people had found
sanctuary there. They were once great users of power, with
marvellous cities throughout Sapphrea, but they brought devastation
to the lands when they over stretched that power. Namolos sent
Gremara there but loneliness drove her insane.

‘Khosa was sent when
Emla’s people arrived from beyond the stars, to see if the
Asatarians were the people from whom Namolos had fled. They
weren’t.’

‘That’s what you get
when you let men rule your life.’

Heads turned to regard
Dog.

‘I know I’ll regret
this,’ Essa muttered. ‘Did a man try ruling your life then
Dog?’

The engineer turned
another page of her book.

‘My ma died, leaving me
the eldest with four brothers to raise. I was ten. Would have done
it too, only the old bastard who sired us all, or so he said, he
thought I should be wife to him too.’

No one moved; Tika
scarcely dared breathe. Dog looked up at her five listeners and
gave a cold, cold smile.

‘Cut his throat and
took the boys to an aunt. Then I ran. Joined the guards when I was
twelve, made corporal when I was fifteen. No man rules
me.’

It was perhaps
fortunate that Subaken arrived at that moment and Dog retired
behind her book. Tika broke the seal on her letter and unfolded the
stiff paper. Corman wrote to emphasise his warning to beware of
Cyrek, to be watchful at all times. He told her First Daughter
Lerran had woken occasionally and spoken four times. Corman had
tried to make contact with Lord Dabray but with no success. He
ended his letter by wishing her safe and asking Mother Dark to
guard her and her companions. Tika refolded the letter
thoughtfully, and pushed it back in her pocket.

At midday she went with
Rhaki and Essa to Khosa’s room. The three of them stood watching
for a moment. Sket was sitting on the bed with Shea close to him
and he cradled Khosa’s fragile body in his arms. Sket looked up,
meeting Tika’s eyes and she was deeply touched to see the marks of
tears on his cheeks. Very, very gently, he laid Khosa’s limp form
back on the bed, and slid to his feet. Tika caught his hand as she
moved to the bedside.

‘Always after a cuddle,
cheeky old cat,’ he said gruffly.

Tika sent a thread of
power to link with Khosa’s mind. Again she called her, the softest
whisper of mind speech, encouraging her, pleading with her, at the
same time as she let a trickle of her own strength seep into
Khosa’s weakened flesh. There was little apparent change, but Tika
knew Khosa’s heart beat more strongly and her other organs were
less sluggish. She stepped back and Essa took Navan’s place on the
stool while Rhaki leaned against the bed. Quietly, Tika left with
Shea, Navan and Sket.

When supper was
finished, Tika went once again to offer her strength to the still
unconscious Khosa. Shea and Dog went with her, carrying blankets
and adamant that they would watch through the night. Tika knew that
Khosa was aware of her presence but she didn’t push, didn’t force
the cat to acknowledge her. When she left, she surprised herself by
hugging both Shea and the engineer, who hugged her back quite
fiercely.

Saying nothing, she
went quickly downstairs to find Shivan. But before she could locate
him, the Shadow Lord appeared. He glanced at the companions, who
calmly stared back, obviously having no intention of leaving the
room so he could speak privately with their Lady. Repressing a
smile, Tika inclined her head, just a fraction.

‘You have news sir?’
she enquired.

‘Would you walk in the
garden with me, Lady Tika?’ he replied, formally enough to banish
any thought of amusement from her mind.

Her answer was simply
to walk through the wide doors into the night air. The scent of the
flowers was always different after sunset she’d noticed. Many of
the blooms of the day shut their petals tight, while others she
never even glimpsed during the day were now wide open, filling the
air with quite different fragrances. She had only walked a few
paces when Darallax came alongside. He took them to what she
guessed was his favourite arbour and gestured her to a
bench.

‘My watchers have tried
to find the messenger who came last night,’ he said without
preamble.

Tika frowned, not
understanding. He paced back and forth in front of her, his bare
feet silent on the stone.

‘There are ways to
follow the track of a portal – gateway as the Dark Ones call them.
You reminded us of the attacks on our portals in the first battle,
so I commanded that watch be kept over the messenger’s return last
evening. The portal disrupted after four heartbeats.’

Tika gaped at him in
horror, the single lantern on one of the columns showing Darallax
her face white as milk.

‘What does that mean?’
she whispered. ‘And who was the messenger?’

Darallax rubbed a hand
over his domed hairless skull and sighed.

‘I regret that I didn’t
learn his name. He was here only briefly and I didn’t even meet him
myself. When a portal disrupts, anything within it is reduced to
less than dust.’

For the first time
since she’d arrived here, Tika noticed the shadows. They came from
the corners of the arbour, from beneath the benches and from under
the wide leaves of the trumpet vine. They writhed across the stone
to nestle around the Shadow Lord’s feet. She surmised it must be an
indication of how upset and disturbed Darallax was – the shadows
were curling round his ankles and calves, offering what comfort
they could to their Lord.

‘It was not the same
wild, flailing disruptiveness we’ve experienced before,’ Darallax
said softly. ‘This was a very specific, very precise, attack. We
have spent this day trying to discover its source.’