Dragonclaw (21 page)

Meghan bent and examined the pile of dust and bone remnants carefully, not touching it and not allowing Khan'derin to go near. After a while she carefully swept it up, keeping her mouth and nose covered and careful not to let any of the dust drift onto her skin. Only when the pile was completely gone did she stop to examine the rest of her house, and then she scowled at the sight of her smashed plates and ruined furniture, the marks of axe and fire everywhere in the small room.

‘Well, let's get this all cleaned up,' she said.

They toiled all the long afternoon to gather together the dead, both human and animal. Khan'derin was surprised that Meghan would show the same concern and courtesy towards the animals as she did to the slaughtered guards but said nothing, working hard and willingly in the hot sun.

They buried Seychella and the stag in the sun-dappled glen overlooking the loch. The other corpses were tipped into the crevice which Meghan had created during the fight with the Red Guards a week ago. By the time they had finished, the deep crevice was almost filled. Meghan bent her head and drew upon the One Power, then brought her hands together smartly with a loud crack. Slowly the lips of the giant fissure closed, burying Guard and animal together. Meghan then spoke the rituals of death over the graves, and scattered there earth, seeds and ashes, watered in thoroughly. Khan'derin watched with interest, sitting cross-legged in the shade, hands upturned in her lap, far less affected by the events than Meghan herself. When at last they were finished—filthy, sweaty and Meghan sick to the stomach—they walked back to the tree-house in the gathering dusk, each pondering the mystery of the other.

In the fresh blue morning they began the task of cleaning and bandaging the many burns and wounds of the surviving animals. Khan'derin had done everything so competently till now that Meghan was surprised to discover she had no knowledge of nor aptitude for healing. Neither did she show any affection or pity for any of the wounded animals, who had been Isabeau's only friends. After a while, Meghan sent her away, expecting her to have a swim or explore, as Isabeau would have done. Instead, though, Khan'derin stripped off her tight leather suit and began a series of stylised movements similar to those the witches called
ahdayeh
. These were far more aggressive, however, and executed with much greater skill and grace than Isabeau had ever demonstrated. Khan'derin worked for over an hour in the sun, kicking, punching, tumbling, working with a wooden stave she made from a branch, as well as with the strange variety of weapons she wore strapped to a leather belt around her bare waist. There was a sharp skewer, a mace on a short stick with a detachable head that could be swung around her head on a leather strap, an eight-pointed star that glittered as she flung it at a tree, then came straight back to her hand, a rope that she swung with amazing dexterity, and a long knife with one edge wickedly serrated. Meghan stopped her poulticing and bandaging to watch her. She was interested that Khan'derin worked naked, except for her weapons belt and a long-tailed linen cap that covered her hair.

Khan'derin paused, her white skin shining faintly with sweat, and looked around for a more interesting target. On a branch of a greenberry tree sat a bird, trilling happily in the sun. So fast her hand was merely a blur, Khan'derin threw the sharp-edged star at the bird.

With a cry Meghan flung out her hand and deflected the weapon before it could strike. ‘Any beast within this valley is under my protection,' Meghan said gently. ‘Ye may no' kill here.'

Khan'derin balanced on the balls of her feet, and brought the star back to her hand. She looked at Meghan with interest, but said nothing.

By the time Meghan had tended every animal left alive in the valley, there were only a few hours of sunlight left. The wood witch straightened her aching back, and looked around for her new ward. ‘Khan'derin? Come and help me gather what provisions we can, for I want to set out at first light tomorrow.' The white-capped girl rose from the log where she had been silently waiting, and came to Meghan's side. ‘It is early yet for there to be much to find, but this valley is fertile and the weather here generally much milder than elsewhere on the mountain, so one can usually find something,' the old woman said.

‘Ye wish me to gather foodstuffs?'

‘Aye, o' course. What else would I be meaning?'

‘I do no' gather. That is a chore for children and feeble old women.'

‘Suitable for me then, but no' for one such as yourself?' Meghan responded sarcastically.

‘Exactly,' Khan'derin agreed.

For a moment the old witch was taken aback. She glared at her incredulously, then said, ‘That may be the case on the Spine o' the World, lassie, but here, if ye do no' gather ye do no' eat. Come with me and I will show ye where the best plants grow.'

Khan'derin did not budge. ‘I am a Scarred Warrior. I hunt and I fight. I do no' gather nuts like a squirrel.'

‘It's a little early for nuts, though the squirrels and donbeags will no doubt let me have some of their winter store. There's plenty else we can find, though.'

‘I am a Scarred Warrior.' Khan'derin's voice rose a little, and her cheeks reddened, showing the white line of her scars along her cheekbones. ‘We do no' gather! It is an insult to ask me.'

‘I'll be insulting you harder if ye do no' come and help me!' Meghan said irritably. ‘What do ye think ye are going to eat on our journey if we do no' pluck what the valley has to offer and take it with us? It'll do us no good rotting on the ground, will it now? And we need to move swiftly, I want to try and catch up with Isabeau, we canna be foraging as we walk. Bring that basket, and I will tell ye what to pick.'

The girl stood her ground.

‘Khan'derin, pick up that basket and come and help me forage! I am too auld to be bending and digging for long, and if ye think I am going to let ye sit and watch me labour, ye're entirely mistaken.'

With tightly compressed lips and scarlet cheeks, Khan'derin picked up the basket and followed the wood witch through the forest. It had rained overnight, and a few early mushrooms had sprouted here and there. Sullenly she picked them, then pulled great copper-coloured fungi off tree trunks, as directed by the wood witch. Here and there she was instructed to dig for roots and tubers, or to cut flower heads heavy with seeds, or to strip a branch of its leaves. By the time Gladrielle was rising, the sun just disappearing behind the far horizon, her basket was laden and she was hot and very dirty. Apart from the giving of brisk orders, Meghan had said little, and Khan'derin had been as silent as an elven cat.

Back in the tree-house she was set to washing and cutting while Meghan swung down her great iron pot and laid out her skillets and pans. Khan'derin did all she was told, but showed no initiative or pleasure in the task, even though the kitchen was soon redolent with cooking fumes. She was clearly unhappy and, after sliding the bread pans into the coals of the fire, Meghan put out her hand to comfort her, saying, ‘I am sorry if ye find gathering and cooking an onerous task, Khan'derin, but indeed ye shall have to get used to doing many things ye have never done before.'

As soon as her hand touched Khan'derin's shoulder, though, the girl flinched back, straining her body away. Meghan returned to the table with her mouth folded tightly, and kneaded the remaining dough with such vigour she was sure the bread would be flat.
At least, it will no' take up so much room in our packs
, she thought wryly.

Once all the provisions had been made ready, Meghan ladled out bowls of vegetable soup for dinner. She passed Khan'derin hers, and ate hungrily, her mind busy with plans for the morning. Suddenly she realised Khan'derin had not touched her meal, but was looking down at it with an expression of distaste. ‘For Eà's sake, eat your food else ye'll be starving yourself to death!' she snapped.

Slowly Khan'derin began to spoon the soup into her mouth, but her left hand remained tightly clenched in her lap, and Meghan had to bite back more irritable words, reminding herself she had no real authority over the girl.

There was another struggle of wills after the meal had been tidied away, for Khan'derin refused to change out of her conspicuous furs and leather. Again Meghan had to lose her temper before she would submit, and when at last she climbed down the ladder, dressed in a pair of Isabeau's old breeches, she wore still her white leather jerkin and her fur cap.

‘Ye canna wear a cap like that travelling through Rionnagan!'

‘I must,' Khan'derin responded.

‘But ye will draw attention to us, and make yourself out as a stranger, which ye must no' do! Besides, I canna bear to have ye near me wearing the skins o' dead animals. Please, will ye humour a poor auld witch and take the hat off!'

Khan'derin stared before her, then slowly and reluctantly reached up and took off the cap. Her red-gold hair was cropped close to the skin, as close as a knife could cut. Meghan was distressed at the sight of her shorn head, for witches believed their hair and fingernails, as part of their living bodies, contained residues of power. For this reason, witches were always careful to burn their fingernail cuttings or any hairs that stayed in their comb. ‘Your hair! Why have ye cut it so short? Have ye been ill?'

‘The People o' the Pride do no' have hair like mine,' Khan'derin responded unwillingly. ‘In the snow, my hair shines like a flame. A Scarred Warrior must slide invisibly through the white. Ugly red hair like mine would reveal me should my cap fall off. If I could, I would bleach it white like the manes of my people, but I am the heir o' the Firemaker, child o' the Red. I must accept my heritage.'

‘Ye must no' cut your hair again,' Meghan said. ‘This is for two reasons. Firstly, we must stay as inconspicuous as possible during our journey. Ye must be like any other lass born in Rionnagan—and believe me, no lassie would shave her head unless she had been critically ill! Secondly, your hair contains power, just like any other part o' your body. Ye must learn to guard and protect anything that contains your living cells. Ye can be hunted down or hurt from afar with a lock o' hair, or flake o' skin, or a discarded crescent o' fingernail. Remember that!'

For a moment Khan'derin looked as if she was going to resist, then she bowed her head. ‘Yes, auld mother, I'll try.' She replaced the fur cap with the long-tailed linen cap that she had used for fighting, however, and when Meghan remonstrated with her again, set her mouth tightly. Later, she came down the ladder wearing one of Isabeau's old tam-o'-shanters, so faded it was almost white. Even when Meghan pointed out gently that there was no need to wear it indoors, she would not take it off. Later, when Meghan wearily clambered up the ladder for her last night in a bed for some time, she found Khan'derin, fast asleep, still wearing it.

 

When Meghan woke Khan'derin the next morning, it was pitch-black inside the hollow tree, and Gitâ was yawning widely, showing a long pink tongue. ‘We must make ready. I wish to Test ye this dawn, and ye must be prepared. I would fain have had ye suffer the Ordeal, but it was a hard day yesterday and as hard a one ahead o' us. Besides, this is no' a formal Test, for there is no other witch but me. Eà kens when we shall have another opportunity, though, and I must have some idea o' your abilities. The valley is guarded—if any more soldiers decide to come and have a look I shall ken at once, so I think it is safe to be using the One Power. Now, go and wash yourself, and meet me at the clearing where we first landed. I shall give ye the First Test o' Power, which is what children o' the Coven undertake when they are eight.'

For a moment she thought Khan'derin was going to refuse, then the girl nodded, lowering her eyes so her expression could not be seen. ‘As you wish, auld mother.'

In the clearing by the loch, where the water poured over the lip of stone to cascade in thin ribbons down the cliff-face, Meghan Tested her new apprentice and found the results puzzling. Khan'derin easily, almost contemptuously, passed the Trial of Air, and when prompted by the wood witch, showed that she could also move that which was unmoving, proving she was strong in this element. She was, however, unable to even quiver water in a bowl, failing the Trial of Water. She knew none of the seeds or herbs or minerals, failing the challenge of knowing in the Trial of Earth, nor could she speak the first seven languages of beasts. Yet Meghan knew she could speak with dragons, which one must be able to do in order to pass the Sorceress Test of Earth. To speak with dragons was a rare and difficult challenge, for their language was quite unlike that of any other living creature, taking place entirely in the mind and without words or common perceptions. To be able to converse with dragons yet not with the birds and beasts of the field and forest was strange indeed.

Meghan already knew Khan'derin could light a candle, for she had seen her do it at the Towers of Roses and Thorns. To her bafflement, though, she found Khan'derin could not put the flame out with her mind alone. ‘It is the challenge o' the flame and the void,' she said in puzzlement. ‘Ye must do it to pass. Think of darkness, coldness. Think of the dying o' the flame. Think of emptiness.'

Suddenly she found herself shivering, and realised that not only had the candle-flame winked out, but the fire also, a thin veneer of ice forming across the bowl of water. She rubbed her thin arms vigorously, and said gently, ‘Think of warmth, lassie, ye're freezing me to death!'

With a wondering expression on her face, Khan'derin brought the fire flickering up again, saying, ‘I have never done that before. The fires in the Haven are never allowed to go out.'

The last Trial, the challenge of clear seeing, Khan'derin had some trouble with, as all acolytes did, but at last she said tentatively, ‘Is it a star in a circle that I am meant to be seeing?'