Drogoya: Book 3 Circles of Light series (20 page)

Yet each time Cho tried
to catch her out, he found her only poring over pictures, oblivious
to the written words. Silently as he had entered, Cho Petak left
the guest apartment. When the door closed behind him, the child’s
eyes opened, the almost violet blue dark against the tracery of
silver under the long fair lashes.

For a moment, her lips
trembled then her teeth clamped tight and she forced away the
weakness. She glanced down at the page she had been studying. Cho
was incredibly stupid. Not once had he moved any book she held,
which would instantly have exposed the papers beneath. Yes, Mena
could read, better than either of her brothers or many of the men
in Hargon’s service. Thanks to Mayla. A tear splashed onto her hand
and she tilted her head back against the chair, refusing to allow
any more to fall.

When she was first
released from Grek’s domination, she felt total horror and self
disgust remembering what she had done. A cool, calm voice, which
reminded her of Mayla, spoke in her heart, chiding her that it was
Grek’s doing, not hers. She should have resisted more desperately
she argued back, visions of the midnight blue Dragon Kadi’s
exhaustion and terror filling her mind. At that point she could not
resist, the voice told her calmly.

She was meant to be
here, and so she was. Mena had wept for Kadi, she had wept for
being the cause of her older brother’s death. But she had not wept
for herself. The voice had said she was meant to be here although
as yet she had no idea why. She hated the feelings within this
building. Somewhere, far back in her mind, she could see it
differently: its blackness gleaming, reflecting the light which
streamed through its many tall windows. But now, its blackness
absorbed the light, sucking it all into itself.

The voice like Mayla’s
said that she was meant to be here, but why? She was only a small
female child, ten cycles old. What could she be expected to do
about these dreadful creatures she now found herself among? The
voice spoke to her only occasionally and only briefly. It did not
seem inclined to answer when she tried to summon it.

Mena’s silvering eyes
began to close in real sleep when she heard the voice
again.

‘Long ago you were here
as a little child Mena. Now you are here again. Like before, you
must soon leave, but you will be shown the way.’

Mena slept, and the
fragrance of mint filled the room.

Finn Rah stood on the
viewing ledge looking at the same stars Cho Petak had seen from his
window. Below, the waves boomed against the cliff and pebbles
rattled as the sea drew back again. Finn liked to come here in the
middle of the night when no one else was around. So many years
spent as a senior Offering, secluded within the Menedula with her
own spacious apartments, had made it difficult to adjust to this
close communal life.

She retraced her steps
to the room always referred to as Chakar’s sitting room, and made
some tea. She sat sipping the hot liquid, her thoughts still busy.
The Observer Soosha, who had survived the burning of the Oblaka
complex, had suggested that they try to plan for the long term
continued existence of this hidden enclave. Both he and Finn had
been amazed at the extent of the caverns and by the amounts of
supplies hoarded away over light knew how many years.

Food, preserved both
traditionally and with the help of simple magics, filled several
chambers, and already various plants were sprouting in shallow
trays. Volk’s horses had disappeared but someone, Finn strongly
suspected Lyeto, had been outside and now several goats were
tethered on the hillside below one of the entrances to the secret
Oblaka. There were enough young men and women to produce children:
Finn and Soosha estimated that the population of the caverns could
easily be maintained at between one and two hundred.

All aspects of learning
were represented among those here now: healing, teaching, weather
and sky watchers, botanists, and archivists. But no one, not Finn,
nor the two Kooshak or three Observers here knew or dared to guess,
how long they might need to remain in hiding. Chakar and Babach
might know, but they were in the Night Lands, and Finn feared that
Babach was not even still living.

The large chamber
packed solid with books and scrolls had only been half disinterred
yet, even with all the students taking turns helping the two in
charge. Finn very much doubted that they might find a parchment
explaining clearly how long Cho Petak’s nightmare would hold sway
over this land, or detailing instructions on their survival here.
She sighed, pouring more tea. She was glad of the appearance of the
two Kooshak. She knew them both from their student days and they
discreetly helped share her burden of worries.

Finn felt a mind touch
hers and knew it was Lyeto. He asked her to come to the hillside
entrance. Finn put down her bowl and hurried through the passages.
He must have been outside again and this time had given himself
away so that she would have to reprimand him. She lifted a lantern
from its hook to light her way through the final twists and turns
until she felt air blowing, strong and cold, into her face. Lyeto
was just within the entrance and thus shielded by the rock all
around him.

Three shapes huddled
beside him and Finn raised her lantern higher, peering at
them.

‘They survived in the
countryside,’ Lyeto murmured. ‘They are free of the affliction but
hungry and frightened.’

‘Take them on through
to the common room then.’ Finn waited until Lyeto had spoken
quietly to the three huddled figures then followed behind when he
led them into the tunnels.

The first and the last
of the three walked with odd gaits: the first with a rolling
movement, the last with a hitching shuffle. The one in the middle
walked straight but holding tight to the first one’s arm. Lyeto
settled his charges on a bench by the banked fire and busied
himself making some tea. Finn perched on a stool opposite the three
and studied their wrapped and huddled forms. While Lyeto waited for
water to boil, he came and stood by the Offering.

‘These two are husband
and wife,’ he said, gently pushing back the hoods of the first and
second figures.

Finn stared. The second
figure, the woman, had a face disfigured as though melted. Her eyes
were sightless and her nose non existent. The man at her side took
her hand.

‘Fell into a tub of hot
tallow fat when she were a tiny one.’ His voice was hoarse but he
spoke with the local accent. As his tattered cloak slipped from his
leg, Finn saw that one of those legs was a wooden post. The man
followed her gaze and tapped the post on the stone
floor.

‘I were a fisherman
till an accident ten year gone.’ He shrugged. ‘Despite she can’t
see, she makes the best bread and pastries in town. I do odd jobs.
We get by. Then the other night, whole town goes crazy. I got her
and me out, up into the woods. Saw some folks we knew but their
eyes were all funny, so I kept us low. We waited till it seemed
quiet enough and come back. Nowhere else to go, see?’

Finn’s gaze moved to
the smallest shape on the other side of the woman.

‘I be Giff, and she be
Teal. That one we met when we come back. Don’t know his
name.’

Lyeto crossed to the
bench, bending over the third member of the odd trio. It was a boy,
around twelve years Finn guessed, but then she gasped when Lyeto
pulled free the cloak. Blood soaked the boy’s side from his left
armpit to his foot. Finn was already on her feet to fetch dressings
from the infirmary when the door opened. The bean pole cook came
into the room, took in the scene at a glance and bent to stir the
fire to life.

‘I’ll feed these while
you see to boy.’

Povar had proved to be
even less garrulous than his father in law. But despite his lack of
conversational skills, Finn thanked the light for his cool
efficiency now. He already had several pots over his stove and a
large kettle over the fire. The smell of broth was soon warming the
room as much as the newly blazing fire. Kooshak Arryol had been in
the infirmary, keeping watch over the two surviving burns patients
when Finn had rushed in for some dressings. Now he followed her, a
satchel containing instruments and various herbal potions in his
hand.

Lyeto had been trying
to reassure the boy who was clutching his cloak about him. Arryol
stooped over the boy and placed his middle finger lightly between
the boy’s brows. Lyeto caught the child as he toppled forward off
the bench. Laying him before the hearth, Finn and Lyeto quickly
stripped the ragged clothes from the thin figure. The lacerations
all down his left side were deep and filthy. Povar moved beside
them to reach the kettle.

‘I’d say bear, ’cept
they be too narrow.’

‘No bear,’ said Giff.
‘Just the local people.’

Povar helped Giff move
with his wife to a table, placing bowls of thick soup in front of
them. Finn and Lyeto assisted Arryol when needed as the Kooshak
cleaned out the deep wounds with his obsidian bladed knife to get
the poisoned flesh out. Finn washed each freshly bleeding wound
with an astringent herb wash and Lyeto stitched it closed. Students
started to arrive for breakfast and exclaimed at the sight of the
boy being worked on by Kooshak Arryol and Offering Finn Rah. Povar
placed a screen between those by the fire and the rest of the room
and calmly served out breakfasts.

The usual chatter and
laughter was much subdued this morning and instead of lingering,
the students quickly left to go about their duties. Volk poked his
head round the screen, scowled, and vanished again. Finn heard his
growling voice talking to Giff and Teal, then there was silence in
the common room again. At last Arryol sat back on his heels and
reached for a clean rag from the pile Povar had left beside the
boy.

He wiped some of the
filth from his hands and studied Lyeto’s needlework. He shuffled on
his knees back up to the boy’s head and felt for the pulse in his
neck.

‘Be all right then, you
reckon?’ Povar stood at the side of the screen.

Arryol sighed. ‘Some of
those wounds were very deep and I had to make them even deeper.’ He
spread his hands in a helpless gesture. ‘If they become inflamed, I
will have to open them again.’

‘What’s his name then?’
Povar asked.

Lyeto laughed softly.
‘It should be Lucky don’t you think?’

Arryol gave him a weary
smile. ‘If he survives, Lucky would do,’ he agreed.

He got to his feet,
kneading the small of his back and then stretching until his bones
cracked. ‘I will get someone to help move him into the infirmary.
Then I will get clean and sleep for a while.’

Finn smiled up at him.
‘That was good work Arryol. At least the poor child has a chance
now.’ She turned to Lyeto. ‘I want to see you as soon as you are
cleaned up.’

Dressed in a clean
loose robe for once, Finn was sipping her perennial tea when Lyeto
rapped at the door. She waved him to help himself to tea and then
to a chair opposite hers.

‘I ordered that no one
leave the shelter of these caves,’ she began in a mild
tone.

Lyeto had the grace to
look a little abashed, but only a little.

‘I was looking for some
hens,’ he admitted. ‘I thought it might be a good idea to find a
few.’

‘And that would mean
going right into the town of course.’ Finn’s sarcasm was not
wasted. She saw the colour rise in Lyeto’s cheeks with some
satisfaction. ‘You clearly found no hens.’

Lyeto cleared his
throat. ‘No. But I walked straight into those three, and when I
heard some of Giff’s tale, I brought them back here.’

Finn’s hand slammed
down onto the arm of her chair with such force that Lyeto
flinched.

‘And what would you
have done supposing they had not been the three helpless wretches
they are, but were three afflicted ones? Do you think you would
have survived an attack by three? Tell me please Lyeto. Kooshak
Sarryen was able to deal with three – just. Are you already as
strong as one who is so much older and so much more talented than
you?’

The flush had drained
from Lyeto’s face under Finn’s lashing words. He swallowed
audibly.

‘I go out shielded
Offering. I have a talent for altering the way shields may work.
Observer Chakar had been supervising my experiments.’ He met Finn
Rah’s jade and silver eyes squarely. ‘I was alert for anything
unusual – not for just plain ordinary people,’ he ended
lamely.

Finn let him sit and
squirm a little longer before she held out her bowl to him and
nodded at the teapot.

‘Lyeto, when I order
something, I expect that order to be obeyed. By everyone here.
Everyone. And that does actually include you, whether you were a
favourite of Observer Chakar’s or not. I would have expected you to
come to me, to ask my permission to go outside and to state your
reasons for such a request clearly and logically. By sneaking out,
you have implied that I could not properly evaluate such a request.
I resent that implication.’

Lyeto had dropped his
gaze to his bowl of tea. ‘I confess I had not considered how my
actions might appear. I most truly apologise Offering Finn Rah. But
I must tell you this: after tonight, I feel I should go outside
again – even more frequently than I have done. How many others
might there be, wandering lost and hurt? Is that not what the
Oblaka means Offering – a safe sanctuary for any who need
it?’