Goddess (22 page)

‘Lazar,’ she whispered, ‘what do you mean, he can sense the owl’s magic?’

‘The owl is here to give me a message.’

‘Who are you?’ she demanded, ‘that Iridor himself talks to you?’

Iridor could hear Lazar holding his rising irritation in check. ‘We are friends. I am helping his cause.’

‘Then I am his friend too,’ she answered. ‘Can I help?’

‘I don’t think so. The magic can be traced. We need to speak but it will draw the wrong sort of attention.’

‘You use magic to speak?’

Of course,
Iridor thought, equally frustrated.
How else is an owl going to talk to a man!

‘He speaks to me in my mind. No wait!’ Iridor watched Lazar take her arm as she prepared to
stomp away in disgust. ‘I speak only the truth to you, Ganya. I have no reason to lie.’

‘How can I trust you?’ she asked.

Iridor was surprised, even bemused, despite his fear, to see Lazar dip his head and kiss the woman in a long, deep embrace. Finally Lazar parted his mouth from hers. ‘That’s why. If you sense any guile in that, you may leave and tell whomever you wish about what you’ve seen tonight. If you felt only sincerity, then trust me.’

Iridor’s exceptional eyesight saw Ganya smile at Lazar’s words. ‘Did my father not tell you I was the tribe’s lajka? There is an aura about you which I don’t understand. But I don’t mistrust it either. And I think I can be more than a sentry for you.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘If I hold the owl and I hold you too, and go into my dream state, I might be able to surround you both with my own protection. I cannot maintain such a protection for long but it will stretch to a minute perhaps, enough for you both to communicate.’

Iridor watched Lazar hesitate, then nod. ‘Anything’s worth a try. But then we will have no-one standing guard.’

‘Risk it!’ she said, taking his hand.

Lazar turned to his friend and Iridor glided down from the dune and watched as Ganya helplessly fell to her knees, still holding Lazar’s hand.

‘Iridor,’ she murmured, placing her other hand over her heart. ‘The Khalid welcome and revere you.’

‘Ganya,’ Lazar growled. ‘There is no time for this. It has to happen now.’

Iridor hopped over to the woman and allowed her to pull him close so that his back nestled against her. She wrapped an arm around him and once again took Lazar’s hand. ‘Ready?’ she asked.

‘Do it!’ Lazar replied, urgency in his voice as he cast an anxious glance around him.

‘I must find my quiet place and then I will slide into a trance. I won’t be able to see or hear anything around me, not even you. I cannot guarantee—’

‘Ganya, please. Let’s try,’ Lazar urged.

She nodded, bowed her head. The trio were bound in silence for several tense moments. Suddenly the air felt thick around Iridor. He could no longer feel Ganya’s touch but was aware of her as a smothering presence about him. He took a slow, deep breath, and put the threat of Maliz to one side.

Lazar
, he said gently.
Can you hear me
?

I can. How are you, old friend?

The very short version is that I am stuck in the form of Iridor. The demon found me. Pez, as you knew him, is dead. Tortured and drowned. But Maliz learned nothing; he is no closer to Iridor or Ana…or you. But you must be careful about everything you say or do. He is frustrated and is in a dangerous frame of mind
.

I don’t know what to say
, Lazar said softly in his mind.

There is nothing to say. I am gone as you knew me. What is important is Ana. I cannot tell you the way. I can only lead you there but if the Khalid carry hawks I’m in danger.

One hawk is certainly with us
, Lazar confirmed.
Let’s just figure out tomorrow’s journey and we’ll worry about the rest of it as we go forward.

All right. Travel all of the next five days in a westerly direction. We will need to meet the night of that fifth day to reassess. I’ll be watching you that evening for any sign that you can get away. As for how we avoid Maliz sensing our conversation…I don’t know. We may just have to place our faith in the Lore and hope it’s enough
.

We know it’s not
.

We have nothing else. Use Boaz to divert him.

Boaz? What reason do I give?

I have shared my fears with him. Not explicitly that his Grand Vizier is Maliz but that he’s an impostor, using magic, and means us harm
.

If Lazar was surprised at this news he didn’t show it.
We’d better stop. Ganya’s cloaking, if it’s working, cannot last much longer.

I shall fly ahead to stay well clear of your birds. I’ll probably be a day ahead.

Be careful, Pez.

Iridor smiled sadly within.
Call me Iridor now. Our one advantage is that Maliz has no idea I’ve survived.

What about Ana? Can you not reach her through the mind?

Right now I am nervous about how vulnerable that makes us. Who knows what powers are being used by Arafanz? And with Maliz in our midst I am fearful of revealing us all.

Risk it, Pez. We have to risk everything
.

All right. When I feel far enough ahead, I’ll try
.

Lazar broke the chain with Ganya and pulled her hand from around Iridor. ‘Go now,’ he said and the great owl took two hops and flew into the night.

‘Ganya,’ Lazar whispered. She moaned softly. ‘Ganya, it is done.’

She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘And you were safe?’

He grinned in the darkness. ‘It seems so.’

‘It worked!’ she said.

‘Perhaps. We could have just been lucky.’

‘That won’t get you out of our bargain, Spur Lazar.’

‘I have no intention of reneging. What you did was brave.’

She shook her head. ‘What I did was for Lyana. I am not going to think about what I just experienced until later when I’m alone and have silence and solitude to understand it. Iridor!’ She gave a soft laugh of awe.

‘You believe it was him, don’t you?’

‘I do. I felt his presence. And you, Lazar, who are you in this struggle?’

The question hurt. ‘I don’t know,’ he said sadly. ‘But I seem to be in the thick of it.’

‘I saw other things just now. Things about you.’

‘What did you see?’

‘Pain, mainly.’

Lazar sighed but said nothing.

‘Let me help you lose that pain, if just for a short while,’ she said gently, huskily. ‘There are no consequences with me, Lazar. I listened to your heart speak. The name of a woman echoes around it. Although I cannot make it out, I know she is young, vulnerable.’

She pulled him close and he nodded, his faced buried in her neck, her long hair shrouding him.

‘I love her but I cannot have her,’ he groaned. ‘And I fear for her. She is in mortal danger. She is why we make this dangerous journey.’

‘I understand. You carry much burden and grief within you, Lazar. You do not love me but you can have me. I offer you a transient but safe sanctuary.’

Lazar picked up Ganya effortlessly and in the relative cocoon of privacy between two dunes he released his sorrows.

‘Lazar has been a long time,’ Maliz said sourly.

‘You can’t rush these things,’ Boaz replied with annoying calm. The Grand Vizier grimaced. The youngster had certainly rushed his copulation with Ana and still managed to sire a child. ‘Besides, it’s good for him,’ Boaz confirmed.

‘And how do you think your mother will feel?’ Maliz asked.

‘I can’t say. But what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her, eh?’

Maliz could hear the edge of disdain in the young man’s voice, as if he were speaking to the old Tariq. Why would the Zar be pleased about this situation?

‘So you’re happy that the Spur has left his Zar alone and unguarded whilst he attends to his own carnal needs?’

‘Oh, Tariq, please,’ Boaz hissed. ‘Firstly, I am not alone. Secondly, we have not left Khalid territory yet and Arafanz presumably has no gripe with the tribe; if he did, they’d already all be dead. I see no reason that I need a guard right now. Thirdly, what Lazar does with his nights is his business, not yours.’

‘I just think we should—’

‘What? Go take a look? Check to see if he’s all right? Whether lying down with the beautiful dancer is as good as it sounds? For Zarab’s sake, Tariq. He’s a man, he’s doing what every unattached, red-blooded man in his prime does. The woman offered herself. Let’s leave my mother out of this. She is a grown woman and she has made her own decision regarding the Spur. She knows their “relationship” will be plagued by problems, not the least of which are his freedom and her enforced attachment to the harem.’

‘So you’re comfortable with his dalliances?’

Boaz laughed. ‘Tariq, if you think Lazar has given his heart to the Valide then you are far more naive than I. You know their history. What happened between them has certainly surprised me but it cannot last. Lazar, by his own admission to me many years ago, has no capacity to love a woman in a single-minded fashion.’

‘In the way that you do, is that what you mean?’ Maliz baited. He hadn’t meant to antagonise him but he didn’t like the Zar’s condescending tone.

‘Perhaps.’

‘How you admire the Spur! You advocate the notion of a man spreading his seed among many women and yet you do not.’

‘Consider my position. I can hardly subscribe to any other way of life.’

‘But—’

‘But how I choose to live within that way of life is of my own choosing. I am, after all, who I am. The fact that I choose to be monogamous at this point is a personal preference. I have absolutely no gripe with any other man following the Percherese way. My mother knows this. My mother would accept this. She is hardly in a position to do otherwise, wouldn’t you say?’ Maliz opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off again. ‘But that does not mean I wish to grind salt into a wound, Tariq. If my mother hears of Lazar’s desert dalliance, as you put it, I could only assume that you helped her to discover this news and if, Tariq, it should upset her, then I would blame you for her angst. Not Lazar, who, if nothing else, is discreet.’

Tariq’s head bowed in acknowledgement of the artful rebuke, but Maliz was not yet prepared to accept that rebuke quietly. ‘And I wonder, Majesty,’ he muttered, ‘how you might feel if you were in the same position?’

‘And what is that supposed to mean?’ Boaz challenged, all politeness gone, his anger evident by how quickly his hand moved.

‘Majesty,’ Maliz whispered, spluttering, ‘people will see your hand at my throat and they won’t understand. You are meant to be Fayiz, a soldier in training.’

‘Don’t forget your place, Vizier,’ Boaz growled but he let go of the man he threatened. ‘I enjoy your new sardonic style, Tariq, and by all means
let it be a fresh weapon you wield against others, but don’t use it against me. Ever.’

Maliz rubbed Tariq’s bruised neck, trying not to cough. ‘Forgive me, Majesty. I was simply trying to understand your incredible devotion to this one woman.’

‘Are you mischief-making, Tariq, or do you have something to tell me?’ Boaz demanded.

Maliz stared at his Zar, disguising his shock. The Zar’s violent and highly emotional response was unfounded. ‘Let me just fetch myself a cup of water, Fayiz,’ he said, still rubbing his throat.

Boaz nodded his permission and Maliz moved over to the skins, poured himself a small cup of water and took his time swallowing it whilst he thought about what he knew. To all intents Lazar was much too fond of Ana and although he worked hard to hide it, everyone, down to the servants, had noted his helpless devotion to the girl. Their distance from each other on the previous trip into the desert had certainly been contrived—he could work that much out. What he hadn’t considered yet was how much of these same signals Boaz was picking up from a distance. Maliz already knew he should not underestimate the Zar. The youngster might still be trying to grow a beard, but he had a mature head on his shoulders. Could the Zar be aware of the doomed couple’s unwise fascination for one another? Maybe the Zar was insanely jealous, given his feelings for the Zaradine, and was just sensibly
keeping a lid on his emotions. But it surely wouldn’t take much to lift that lid. Boaz’s outburst was testimony to those emotions beginning to escape, his physical threat alone demonstrated the depth of his anger. With some careful management perhaps Maliz could make use of all that pent-up rage.

He wandered back to the Zar and sat down.

The Zar cleared his throat. ‘Tariq, you must forgive—’

‘No, Majesty, you have nothing to forgive,’ he whispered, checking to see that no-one could eavesdrop. ‘The error was mine. It is true that I am jealous of the Spur. I always have been. I resent him not only lying with the most beautiful woman in the harem—your wife aside, of course, Highness—but now he casually plucks an exquisite ripe young woman from the desert and has his way with her, too, barely a day after kissing the Valide farewell.’

Boaz gave him a sympathetic shrug. ‘Tariq, Lazar did not kiss my mother goodbye. I was there. He was his usual detached and distant self. If my mother suffers delusions that Lazar is going to suddenly become an affectionate, demonstrative and monogamous partner, I would counsel her otherwise. The fact is, Grand Vizier, the Valide is far too smart to put any sort of constraint on a man she can barely call her own and who has operated under his own set of rules since I was old enough to know him. You have no need to fret on
the Valide’s behalf. And you insult Lazar—and indeed me—if you think Percheron’s lauded Spur can be controlled by his physical needs. Let’s face it, Tariq, you and I both know Lazar does not need a tribeswoman to arouse his desires in the middle of a fraught crossing of the desert when he could lie down with just about any woman he chooses, at any time.’

Maliz smiled inwardly. This was the gambit he needed. ‘Yes, of course you’re right, but that, I hasten to add, was my very point, Majesty.’ He sighed. ‘Anyway, I had no right to talk to you in such a familiar manner and I beg your deepest pardon.’

He watched Boaz frown. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Highess?’ His tone was all innocence and regret now.

‘Explain what you mean by that being your very point.’

‘Er, perhaps not, Highness. I have already overstepped the mark tonight and I do not wish to fan your anger. What I think is not necessarily always wise to share. My years make me more cynical than most, Highness. I must learn to keep my thoughts to myself.’

‘Don’t play coy with me, Tariq. Now you’re treating me even worse than being honest with me.’

‘Highness, I beseech you. I am a loyal servant of Percheron. I have only your interests at heart.’

‘And that is precisely why I am giving you the chance to explain yourself, Grand Vizier.’

Maliz allowed Tariq’s expression to turn to one of dismay and fear. ‘Zarab save me, Highness,’ he hissed. ‘I just want to save you heartache.’

‘What exactly are you talking about?’

Maliz heard the dangerous edge to the Zar’s voice now. He had pushed him hard enough. It was time to let Boaz, who was teetering on the edge, choose whether to step back or fall into the abyss.

Adopting a tone of injured innocence, Maliz replied, ‘Why Lazar and Ana, of course.’

Boaz rocked back. ‘What about them?’ he asked, glaring.

‘I know that I told you Spur Lazar had been exemplary in how he treated the Zaradine.’

‘The Valide said the same.’

‘In all respects he did, my Zar, except…’ Maliz dropped his head and moved into his ruse that was half truth, half lie. ‘There was an occasion—it was one of the nights after the manservant Jumo had died. Lazar was deeply withdrawn and hostile to everyone. He refused to eat, and sat alone, well away from either the royal party or the Khalid.’

‘The Valide told me she delivered food on one of these nights and Ana accompanied her.’

‘That’s right, Highness. It was this same night!’ Maliz replied eagerly.

‘Go on.’

‘Well, it was much later, into the early hours of the morning perhaps, when I was disturbed from my sleep. I don’t know what woke me—I have to presume it was a sound and yet I don’t remember
hearing anything.’ So far it was the truth. Maliz still pondered over that curious moment in the desert when he had felt something akin to the awakening he had been searching for, that awakening which would bring him fully into his powers and tell him Lyana had risen. He saw the frown of irritation on his Zar’s face and knew it was time to hurry on with his tale. ‘I got up and, lo and behold, there was Zaradine Ana stepping back into the campsite.’

He watched Boaz suddenly sit upright. ‘What do you mean,
back
into the campsite?’

Maliz shrugged. ‘Well, I was told by the Zaradine that she had needed to relieve herself. Naturally I believed her. She was, after all, pregnant and sickening.’

‘Was anyone with her?’

‘No, Majesty, she was alone. We were alone. All was silent and still.’

‘Then what is your point, Tariq!’

Maliz waited for the fresh gust of exasperation from the Zar to pass and then let another few moments pass as he feigned reluctance to speak.

‘Tari—’

‘Majesty,’ he cut across Boaz softly, a sad tone in his voice to enforce the lie. ‘I didn’t return immediately to my tent. I sat outside, drank some water, got lost in my thoughts. A little while later I saw a figure rounding a dune—precisely the same dune from behind which Ana had emerged. The man moved silently, stealthily you could say.’

‘Lazar?’ Boaz asked, and Maliz heard the catch in the Zar’s throat.

He nodded miserably. ‘It seemed so innocent at the time. It’s only now that I am piecing together what could have happened. Majesty, I have no proof. This is speculation and that’s why I was reluctant to say anything.’

Boaz ignored his protestations. ‘Do you believe my wife had been with the Spur?’

Maliz shrugged with as much contrived embarrassment and reluctance as he could possibly muster. ‘I cannot say. All I can tell you is that it is very possible, Highness, that they were alone and all their careful avoidance of one another was a trick. I say that with deepest respect to yourself and Zaradine Ana. She is pregnant to you and so clearly fond of and loyal to you, Majesty, that this is all…simply speculation. I could be reading the situation entirely wrongly; it may have been pure coincidence. I would counsel you that it is unwise to jump to any conclusions.’

‘But you have, Tariq, or you would not have begun this conversation. Nothing you say is ever said by chance or without careful thought.’

‘That is true. But I am very mindful that two hops don’t make a leap, Highness. It is always dangerous to make assumptions until the information has been verified. In this instance we cannot verify anything unless—’

‘Unless what?’ Boaz demanded and Maliz suppressed his smile in the darkness. This was too easy!

‘Unless, of course, you already have your own personal suspicions about Spur Lazar.’

Boaz swung away but Maliz didn’t miss how the young ruler balled his fists, his body tensed with anger.

‘Go and find Lazar. It is time he returned to the camp,’ Boaz said in a dull tone. Maliz heard the repressed fury in the young man’s voice. He wanted to laugh out loud. Instead he followed the Zar’s orders and duly went in search of the rutting Spur.

Lazar had just finished tying on his sword belt.

‘Do you ever go anywhere without those weapons?’ Ganya asked lazily from the sand, where she had finally sat up.

‘I bathe with them,’ he said, smiling to hear her deep chuckle.

‘I enjoyed you, Lazar, but I have to wonder what was driving all that passion. It felt like anger, not lust.’

Lazar gave a glance of remorse. ‘It’s not you, Ganya. You are nothing short of delicious…and especially generous,’ he replied, offering her a helping hand. She took it, allowing herself to be pulled up to her feet, and set to re-dressing herself. ‘And you are very beautiful too,’ Lazar added, hoping he hadn’t hurt this woman’s feelings. She really was spectacular in every way.

‘Beauty is transient. I like to think I excite a man in other ways.’

‘You do excite me on many levels.’

‘Not enough though, perhaps?’ she queried, eyeing him with her head cocked to one side.

He sighed. ‘I cannot offer you anything.’

‘I don’t remember asking you for anything,’ she replied. Suddenly she shivered. The temperature had dropped.

Lazar offered her his own cloak, which she gladly allowed him to place around her shoulders, turning her back on him to make it easy. He kissed her neck as he fastened the cloak.

The moon emerged to light them and Lazar knew it was time for them to return to the campsite. ‘Percheron is on the brink of war, Ganya. Stay here, stay safe and forget this night. I could be dead within weeks.’

She spun within his embrace to face him. ‘Don’t die, Lazar. And don’t trust those who are seemingly closest to you.’

He stepped back, looking at her quizzically, his hands resting on her shoulders. ‘What does that mean?’

Ganya shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I saw something, sensed something—I’m not sure. But there’s a threat from someone you trust.’

‘I trust no-one,’ he replied.

‘You trust the owl, you trust the girl you seek, you trust the men you travel with…’