In Stone's Clasp (33 page)

When she returned, Jareth had finished packing for them. The Tiger was curled up, nose to tail, sleeping. Jareth’s eyebrows rose in appreciation as he regarded Kevla. She smiled, suddenly a bit shy.

“Well,” he said, jokingly, “you clean up nicely.”

“Thank you. I could say the same.”

His smile faded. “Kevla,” he said, looking away, “I want to thank you. For everything. You’ve been…well. I can only hope you haven’t been too disappointed in your Stone Dancer.”

She went to him, and moved so she was looking him right in his blue eyes. “I’m not disappointed at all.”

“I wanted to tell you,” said Jareth, “that I don’t have the…the items any more. The ones I would listen to at night. I gave them back to the earth.”

Admiration flooded Kevla. “That must have been difficult,” she said.

“Yes…and no. I need to make my own peace with what happened. Reliving everything every single night…it didn’t help. I have the memories here,” and he put his hand to his heart. “That needs to be enough.”

“I’m very proud of you. That took courage, Jareth.”

For a long moment, they gazed at one another. Jareth took a step closer to her, his eyes never leaving her face.

“Kevla,” Jareth said, softly, “I—”

The familiar sound of the Dragon’s wings interrupted him. The Tiger lifted her massive head, yawned, revealing a pink tongue and sharp white teeth, and stretched.

“How is Mylikki?” Jareth asked of the Dragon.

“She was welcomed and is in good company,” the Dragon said. “Her brother was there of course—and their father as well. He, too, had fallen under the Ice Maiden’s spell. Gelsan will be delighted to have her family whole again.”

“That is wonderful news!” said Kevla. “If only Altan…” Her voice trailed off.

“Yes,” said Jareth heavily. “If only.”

“There was one thing I was curious about,” Kevla said, trying to change the subject. “You were in the Ice Maiden’s very hall, and yet you never succumbed to her supposedly irresistible powers. Why not?”

Jareth shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe because I’m a Dancer, and we have the ability to resist her. Or maybe…maybe because at that moment, there was nothing she could turn cold, because I’d already done it myself.”

Kevla was surprised at the brutal honesty of Jareth’s self-assessment. And she supposed it was true. The man before her was nothing like the man who had stood, coldly raging, in the Ice Maiden’s hall. And she was so glad of the change.

“Where to now?” she asked the Dragon and the Tiger.

“Why don’t you two find out?” the Tiger replied.

Kevla looked at Jareth, and extended her hands. Slowly, awkwardly, he took them. Kevla braced herself for the rush of sensation that she had experienced before when they had deliberately joined their powers, but now she only felt a calm clarity. She closed her eyes, and they experienced the vision together.

A girl, standing beside a body of water so vast that Kevla could not even see where it ended. It stretched toward a sun that was sinking slowly down as if to submerge itself in its depths. The girl had long red hair and a pale face with large, green eyes. There was both a sorrow and a wildness about her, and beside her pranced a horse whose mercurial features were as changeable as any human’s.

“West,” breathed Jareth. Kevla opened her eyes. “She’s in the West. She’s the element of water. She’s the—the Sea Dancer.”

“What is ‘sea’?” Kevla asked.

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out,” Jareth stated firmly.

“You are not as prepared as you should have been,” the Dragon stated, uncharacteristically solemn. “You have found us, but neither of you has your Lorekeepers. Kevla’s lives inside her, but he is no longer flesh; Jareth’s is mad and an ally of the Emperor. You must proceed with care, Dancers.”

“I’m ready,” said Jareth. “Kevla?”

She looked at the three of them—her dearest Companion, the great blue Tiger, and the Stone Dancer who now was as steady and solid as the earth that was his element. Despite the Dragon’s words of caution, Kevla felt hope stir within her.

“Yes,” she said, firmly. “I’m ready.”

The exquisite creature, powerful beyond the advisor’s imagining and yet so delicate and beautiful, cowered in a corner. It had managed to yank the ever-present golden chain from the Emperor’s grip, spring forward and with its single horn knock the
Tenacru
to the floor where it shattered into glittering crimson pieces. But the mammoth doors had been closed, and there had been nowhere for the beast to flee.

Now the Emperor rose and stared at it. It shivered, blinking its large, soft eyes. Slowly, the Emperor advanced, and even the ad visor cringed, just a little. The Emperor’s wrath could be terrible.

“What have you done?” the Emperor said in a cold, flat voice. “I had them, right inside the
Tenacru.
The Maiden would
have obeyed me if I’d just had a little more time. But you…you…”

Swift as a snake he struck, his boot landing with a sickening thud in the ki-lyn’s side. It made a soft, sad sound and trembled. The advisor winced, even though he knew that nothing the Emperor could do would truly injure the creature. The Emperor lunged for the chain, gripping it with long, strong fingers.

The simple movement exhausted him and he staggered. Quickly, the advisor was there, a supportive hand under his lord’s arm. Recent events had taken their toll on the Emperor, who had neither slept nor eaten for far too long.

“I built the Maiden too well,” the Emperor murmured as the advisor helped him into his luxuriously upholstered chair. The ki-lyn followed, pulled inexorably by the chain the Emperor had retrieved. “I couldn’t watch her every minute, not with all the things I have to manage elsewhere. So I built her to be autonomous. She wouldn’t even know about me. And that was my undoing.”

He glared at the ki-lyn
.
“That, and this imprisoned wretch of a creature,” he added. “You keep trying to stop me. Eventually I will cease showing you mercy.”

The Mage had moved slowly to where the shattered fragments of the
Tenacru
lay on the floor. He knelt and began to pick up the pieces with his gloved hands. “Do not despair, Your Excellency. The
Tenacru
has been broken and remade ere now. It will take a little time, but I can do it.”

The Emperor closed his eyes in relief. To the ki-lyn, he said, “That’s awfully lucky for you, my little friend.”

“My lord,” said the advisor, feeling his way carefully, “There are easier ways to destroy the Dancers.”

The Emperor, eyes still closed, rubbed his temples with beringed hands. “Of course there are, if I wanted them dead. But if one of them dies too soon, everything is lost, you idiot.”

The advisor gaped. Then what did—

There came a knock on the door, and the Emperor seemed to perk up slightly. The advisor frowned. He and the unsettling Mage were the only ones admitted into this part of the Emperor’s castle. Who dared approach?

Strangely, the Emperor did not seem offended or concerned. “Ah, good. There’s someone you need to meet. You’ll be working with her in the future. I’ll need as much advice from all quarters as I can get to stop the Dancers.”

The advisor tried not to show his shock. The Emperor had appointed another advisor? But…
he
was the chief advisor, choosing his own council. Who was the Emperor going to foist upon him, and why?

“Enter,” the Emperor called. The massive, dark doors slowly opened to reveal the slender form of a woman. She was in her middle years but still quite the beauty. Her proper, demure robes could not hide her exotic appearance, though, with her dark skin and black hair. She bowed to the Emperor, to the Mage, still picking up red pieces of the shattered orb, and nodded at the advisor, who stared at her with thinly veiled hostility.

“This is your new colleague, my old friend. She knows a great deal about the Flame Dancer and is eager to work with us.”

The woman now bowed to the advisor, but he could tell the gesture was an empty one.

“Greetings,” she said in a cool voice. “My name is Yeshi.”

*  *  *  *  *

Under Sea’s Shadow

the next Dancer

will be found

Coming from LUNA Books

in 2006!

Arrun Woods: Mylikki’s village

Arukan: the name of Kevla’s country

Arukani: native to Arukan

Bai: Generic term for Bai-khas and Bai-shas Bai-sha: “female without father,” derogatory term for illegitimate girl or woman

Bayinba
: Lamali term for “raids”

Blessing cloth: magic fabric woven by the
tasskali

Clan of the Four Waters: Kevla’s clan

Gahalgeese
: bird of Lamal

halaan
: slang for “prostitute”

hamantu
: the spirit of stonesteaming, embodied by the steam rising up after water is tossed onto the hot rocks

huskaa
: bard or minstrel

huskaa-lal
: apprentice
huskaa

Kevat-aanta
: “Spring-Bringer,” term for Jareth

kha
: unit of money, gold

khashim
: Lord of the clan; plural
khashims

khashima
: Lady of the clan

khashimu
: the young heir, prince

kirvi
: Lamali deer

kyndela
: Lamali stringed instrument

kurjah
: Arukani term for the male organ

kuli
: demon

Lamal
: Jareth’s homeland, the farthest land north

liah
: gazelle-like creature

Riversong: village in Lamal

rhia
: a flowing garment worn in Arukan by both sexes

sa’abah
: desert animals, with long, fluffy tails, long legs with broad feet, small “hands,” long ears

Skalka Valley: Jareth’s village

selva
: large mythic Lamali creature similar to a deer or caribou; tended by the
taaskali

-sha-: “daughter of”

Shamizan
: board game with colored glass “stones”

simmar
: big cat of the desert

skeltha
: literally “long sticks” used by the Lamali as skis

snow walkers: snowshoes

stonesteaming hut: Lamali equivalent of a sauna or sweatlodge

sulim
: Arukani term for female genitalia

Summer Realm: Lamali term for the afterlife

Tahmu-kha-Rakyn: Kevla’s father,
khashim
of the Clan of Four Waters

taaskal
: a wizard or enchanter, person of powerful magic, plural
taaskali

Two Lakes: village where Taya is from

uhlal
: term of respect, “gentleman” or “sir”

uhlala
: female term, “Lady” or “Ma’am”

usk
: gathered bunch of birth branches used in the stonesteaming hut

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