The Inner Circle: Holy Spirit (15 page)

There was a long period of awkward
silence before El-i-miir stepped into Ilgrin’s arms. ‘It’s true,
isn’t it,’ he whispered, heart sinking. ‘I’m going to die saving
you.’ He felt tears wetting his chest.

‘
No.’ El-i-miir
stepped back, tears tracing done her cheeks. ‘Not for you. The
knowing is linked to me and the man I love.’

‘
What’re you saying?’
Ilgrin put a hand to his chest, hurt by what she’d said.

‘
I don’t love you,’
El-i-miir replied.

‘
You’re just saying
that to try and save me from Seteal’s prophesy.’

‘
No.’ El-i-miir
covered her face with her hands and burst into tears. ‘You’ve
broken my heart. How can I love you when the very thing I loved
most about you is gone? You’re supposed to be a good man. You’re
supposed to be perfect. Now you’ve gone and done this. You’ve
resurrected the one you love at the expense of everybody else.
You’re just another demon,’ El-i-miir wailed.

‘
That’s not fair!’
Ilgrin cried. ‘I thought it would kill me.’

‘
But it didn’t!’
El-i-miir shouted through a haze of tears. 'And I know I’m a
hypocrite.’ El-i-miir threw up her hands and shook her head. ‘I
affiliated a resurrection to bring back Far-a-mael, but you were
supposed to be different. You were supposed be better than that. It
was why I fell in love with you. Now . . . you’re just another
monster.’

Ilgrin stared at El-i-miir and the
makeup running down her face. The two simply watched each other.
The gulf between them had become impossible to cross. ‘Well, if
that’s the way you feel.’ Ilgrin opened his wings and vanished into
the night. It was time for him to join the other monsters.

*

‘
Seteal,’ El-i-miir
called, hurrying up to the camp fire.

‘
What’s
wrong?’

El-i-miir spun around in a slow circle
observing tendrils of light mapping out the paths strangers would
soon be walking. ‘Someone’s coming.’

‘
The bodies,’ Seteal
gasped. ‘We have to get as far away as possible.’ El-i-miir went to
throw some dirt on the fire, but Seteal grabbed her arm. ‘Just
leave it. There’s no time.’

El-i-miir gasped and tried to stop, but
it was too late. She saw the aura only as she slammed into the
stranger’s back. A Jenjen soldier spun around and grabbed her.
Another took a hold of Seteal.

‘
Well, well,’ a third
man strolled over with a menacing expression. ‘This one’s Elglair.
Ha! I knew Far-a-mael couldn’t be trusted. Blindfold her. We can’t
risk her causing us any grief. Not tonight.’

El-i-miir threw out a tendril of
affiliation, but it was too late. Before she could focus on weaving
it into place, she had a black material tied tightly over her eyes,
rendering her blind. All she could do now was hope Seteal had a
plan.

CHAPTER Ten

Unexpectation

The Holy Tome lay open at Seeol’s toes,
which he periodically warmed over the candle sitting beside him. He
slid a claw beneath the page, lifted it, burrowed beneath it, and
pushed it over. He scrambled to the top of the page to analyse its
words.

Reading was difficult and Seeol found
himself considering calling upon Ieane to help him. The girl was an
excellent reader, but he decided against enlisting her assistance,
as she always seemed so fearful in his presence. Ieane would jump
about, bowing and apologising for things that didn’t matter. It
made conversation rather dull. Still, she’d been a brilliant
teacher and Seeol was grateful for her efforts. Because of Ieane,
he’d developed at least a sketchy understanding of how reading
worked.

Seeol flew over to his bed and landed
at the foot. It reminded him of Seteal and the bed she’d used at
El-i-miir’s house. That in turn reminded him of El-i-miir. How he
missed her! He’d reluctantly come to accept that their abandonment
of him had been intentional. They thought he’d been causing too
much trouble, that he was too evil. Or perhaps they just hadn’t
been very good friends because nothing bad ever happened to anyone
on Jenjol. Not because of Seeol anyway. He’d loved his friends, but
they’d cut him to the heart with such betrayal. And it wasn’t just
them. As soon as he’d released Briel and Fes, they too had taken to
avoiding him as much as possible.

‘
Holy Spirit.’
Ieane’s voice cut through his maroon curtained door. ‘It is
time.’

‘
Already?’ Seeol
glanced at the mind-boggling symbols on the clock-face across the
room. ‘Am coming,’ he replied, flying to the small doorway and
landing before using his beak to nuzzle through. He leapt onto
Ieane’s gloved hand and she immediately proceeded along the dark
corridor. ‘Did they find them all?’

‘
The food you asked
for?’

‘
Yes,’ Seeol
hissed excitedly
.

‘
They were able to
gather several red beetles and the green lizard you described,’
Ieane’s voice wavered nervously, ‘but we couldn’t find the flighted
yellow insects.’

‘
The green lizard,’
Seeol gushed ecstatically. ‘It’s my favourite. And they are very
sneaky and hard to catch.’

‘
You’re not mad?’
Ieane asked.

‘
Why
would?’

‘
Because we couldn’t
find the yellow insects.’

‘
Why would I be mad?’
Seeol shook his head. ‘You got me yummy treats!’

‘
You are truly
merciful.’ Ieane’s voice was filled with awe.

‘
Will you coming to
dinner?’ Seeol enquired, made nervous by the idea of attending
Far-a-mael’s imposing company without a friend.

‘
I will be there to
serve you, my Lord,’ Ieane stepped through an arched doorway to
make her way across the courtyard.

‘
Holy Spirit,’ Phil
Yas called, sprinting across the courtyard, his face covered in
sweat. ‘Come quickly.’

Seeol leapt from Ieane’s fingers and
followed after the man. ‘What is it?’ He enquired, landing on the
Phil’s arm. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘
I’m afraid not,’ he
replied. ‘We found Elglair spies in the woods. ‘Far-a-mael is not
to be trusted.’

‘
You’re telling me?’
Seeol made an attempt at humour. ‘Where is they now?’

‘
I left them with my
soldiers,’ Phil said reassuringly. ‘They’ll be showing the ladies a
good time. I can assure you of that,’ he finished with a
wink.

‘
Ladies? Good time?’
Seeol was confused. Why would Phil’s men be having a fun time with
the enemy? ‘Oh no!’ Seeol screeched upon the realisation of what
Phil was implying. ‘You is hurting them.’

Leaping from Phil’s arm, Seeol flashed
over the wall and through the city streets. He reached the woods,
his wings aching as he beat them ever harder to weave between
branches and duck around trees. Lead by the sounds of wicked male
laugher, Seeol arrived at a patch of woods where two bodies laid
sprawled on the grass. The men leant over their painfully familiar
captives like predators guarding their prey.

‘
I’ll take the
Elglair,’ one of the men chuckled. ‘You take the
brunette.’

‘
Please,’ El-i-miir
squeaked, ‘don’t do this.’ Her eyes were blindfolded.

‘
Not a problem,’ the
man replied to his friend, ignoring El-i-miir to lean over Seteal,
struggling with his belt all the while. ‘I’ve been in service so
long I couldn’t have cared less if you’d given me a dog to fuck.’
Seteal was unconscious. Seteal was unconscious!

‘
Stop!’ Seeol cried,
tumbling and skidding to a stop in the leaf-litter. ‘Not her,’ he
shrieked. But it was too late and the world sank into deathly
silence, the distant wind whispering its sinister tune. An
invisible force tore the man away from the earth and sent him
screaming into the sky. The soldier’s journey peaked when he was no
more than a speck in the distance.

The second soldier yelped and leapt
away from El-i-miir, but his fate could not find redemption. He
stumbled backward and struck a tree, his eyes flickering as his
soul was extinguished. The body hit the ground, an empty vessel
without pants.

‘
Oh, Seteal,’ Seeol
called out in dismay. He knew well why the men had met such a cruel
completion to their lives. He didn’t feel for them--they’d
attempted such a rotten act--but he feared for Seteal. She’d become
so effortlessly capable of murder. She was becoming increasingly
detached from right and wrong, and Seeol feared she’d be unable to
find her way back. How many lives had she taken? There were at
least three Seeol knew of. ‘My Lord!’ Phil Yas burst into the
clearing, panting and leaning heavily on his knees. ‘What
happened?’

‘
You must leave.’
Seeol narrowed his eyes furiously. ‘If ever this happens again by a
man he must leave. You must leave!’

‘
You’re shunning me?’
Phil spluttered. ‘But I didn’t do anything.’

‘
Correct.’ Seeol
glared. ‘You knew what these bad men were doings and you didn’t do
anything. Never return.’

‘
But--’

‘
Never,’ Seeol
hissed. The trees surrounding him moaned as the wind picked up.
Phil backed away as clouds gathered and the woods were bathed in
darkness. A wolf howled somewhere nearby. Phil hurried in the
opposite direction.

‘
Seeol?’ El-i-miir
asked wearily.

‘
You are safe now,
sweetie.’ Seeol pulled back her blindfold and rubbed his beak over
her cheek. ‘You are so safety with me.’ Seeol parted his mandibles
and micked the clicking sound of a human kiss.

*

Far-a-mael strutted through the
streets of Veret with as muc
h pomp as he
could muster while limping. He wasn’t doing so because of pain. In
fact, he didn’t even feel pain anymore. Rather, he limped for the
simple fact that his left big toe had fallen off. Truth was, the
whole affair had been rather unsettling. All the same, he’d never
thought that the day would come he’d be strolling so freely through
the heart of Jenjol’s capitol city.

The faces of commoners were ones of
disgust. They’d been ordered under threat of execution not to lay a
finger on the visiting Elglair, but that didn’t stop them from
cursing the cohort as they passed. Such awful people. Far-a-mael
had only ever met one Jenjen whom as a child he’d called a friend,
but that was a very long time ago.

‘
There it is,’
Far-a-mael said to his cohort of gil’hadoans as they approached the
palace walls and the buildings that lay beyond. They would test the
Ways through various methods and see if anything was amiss. The
gates had been opened in time for the Elglair’s arrival. Far-a-mael
strode through the arching entrance and approached the
guards.

‘
Name?’ one of them
enquired.

‘
You know who I am,’
Far-a-mael retorted.

‘
Of course, War Elder
Far-a-mael,’ the guard sneered. ‘Follow me. King Harundor awaits
your presence in the great hall.’

The great hall was a bubble of noise.
Officials and nobles danced with their wives . . . or other men’s
wives. Young men roved about the floor casting devilish glances at
young women’s cleavage none too subtly as they collected fresh
glasses from platters. Music was played by several musicians,
whilst hired dancers twirled and waved their arms to a traditional
Jenjen rhythm. An exorbitant banquet had been provided in the
centre of the room atop a long table at which the king was
seated.

As Far-a-mael entered, the music
stopped and the king rose to his feet. The two stared each other
down for a prolonged moment, during which not a word was spoken
amongst the impressive crowd.

‘
Well?’ The king
turned to his people. ‘Let us make our guest, War Elder Far-a-mael
of the Unified Cleffs, and his associates, welcome!’ He waved his
goblet through the air and the frivolity reignited.

‘
Spread out.’
Far-a-mael turned to his men. ‘Mingle, but maintain your senses.
And for Maker’s sake, don’t drink.’

‘
Come, Far-a-mael,’
Braihon Harundor waved him over like they were old comrades. ‘Sit.’
He patted the elaborate chair beside him. ‘Eat.’ This was a man of
few syllables.

‘
King Harundor.’
Far-a-mael nodded as he approached and took the seat indicated. ‘It
is good to meet you in person.’

‘
Indeed.’ Harundor
took a bite out of a chicken leg. His hands and beard were wet with
grease and his face was red from too much wine. ‘Have you thought
any further of my proposition?’

‘
I will agree to an
alliance with you,’ Far-a-mael intoned. ‘But I do have some
conditions.’

‘
And those are?’
Harundor chuckled as a dancer passed by his vision shaking her
rather rotund backside.

‘
You will send every
able-bodied man in the city and order Ignish to do the same,’
Far-a-mael replied. ‘And when I speak of men, I mean to say anyone
up from the age of sixteen.’