Quest (36 page)

Afterwards, when they broke the circle, each person in turn clasped Fiana's hand and she gave them a tremulous smile. Her cheeks were wet again, but there was some measure of peace in her eyes.

'Now,' said Herra, eyes gleaming, 'we shall make our plans.'

'Teach us, Elder Sister,' said Cheral, using the formal temple phraseology.

'We shall teach one another,' said Herra, deliberately using the more personal mode of address. 'These are new times and we must find new paths through them. But I wil suggest our first move. Some of us must go outside and contact our old friend Aharri Bel-Ashkaron, who should be able to furnish us with supplies and a wagon, with, I hope, deleff to pull it. Then, when we leave Tenebrak, we shall appear to be a family of travelling traders, as we had planned.'

'Who is Aharri Bel-Ashkaron?' asked Davred.

Herra's eyes softened. 'He's the husband of Merryan, who is of the Sisterhood. She has the Gift of Healing and is a distant relative of mine.'

Cheral sniffed. 'But she committed herself to full marriage.'

Katia and Davred exchanged involuntary glances.

'She loved Aharri deeply,' said Herra quietly, 'yet would have given him up if we’d asked. We didn’t ask. The bloodlines were a good mix. It met with
full
approval, Cheral.'

Another sniff was the only reply.

'And has she borne children?' asked Katia, thinking of Siri-Soo, whom she was still missing dreadfully.

'Oh yes. She has a body most apt for childbirth. She bore three sons and three daughters, as we had planned, then sought permission to have another daughter. As all her children showed great promise, and she herself was in excellent health, we gave our permission. The new baby made it less painful for Merryan when we dispersed the others, for safety. That last daughter is now thirteen, and she, too, is a most promising child. She will attend her Festival of Choosing next year, but I know now what the result will be.' Herra smiled to herself.

'It's an unusual name, Aharri Bel-Ashkaron,' said Davred.

'Aharri is from Fen-Halani. He used to be a trader. When he was passing through Netheron many years ago, he was injured. Merryan was the Healer who helped him. They grew to love one another, but she was too well known in Netheron to make it wise for them to settle there. As he was a younger son, stil to make his fortune, his family didn't object to him leaving their business. He's been in Tenebrak ever since, running a trading concern, and has done well for himself and his family. Theirs is an important line for the Sisterhood.'

'Do you often disperse whole families like that?' Davred was frequently surprised at the far-ranging scope of the Sisters' activities.

'When it's necessary.' Herra bowed her head briefly, thinking of her own origins, in Peneron. Like Merryan, she’d had to leave that claim when she married, and had then spent a few precious years in Garshlian, with her husband.

She’d borne six children. How sad she’d been when the time came to leave them and Parin! But she hadn’t shirked her duty. She’d always known that with her Gifts, she could have but a brief respite from temple life.

She’d feigned illness, 'died' and come to Temple Tenebrak as Healer. Parin had been desolate, but had eventual y remarried and been happy again. They’d assured her of that. He’d died long ago; she’d sensed when it happened. As for her, two decades after their parting, she had been
chosen
as Elder Sister-Elect and her life had been full ever since. How long ago those family days all seemed now.

'Wel , then,' she said aloud, putting the memories resolutely aside, 'some of us must go outside and contact Aharri.'

'I'll go,' said Fiana at once.

QUEST Shannah Jay 132

Herra shook her head firmly. 'You don't know Aharri, my dear. And I don't care to risk Katia and Cheral, neither of whom could pass easily for a man.'

Cheral didn’t attempt to hide her relief; Katia shrugged and raised no protest. She was again carrying Davred's child, conceived just before this crisis, and she knew it was too precious to risk. She suspected that Herra had guessed her secret, and of course, Davred knew, but she’d told no one else.

'Which leaves you and me again, Elder Sister,' agreed Davred. 'If I knew the city better, I'd volunteer to take the message myself, but I don't. When do we leave?'

Herra didn’t argue. She might resent the weakness which kept overcoming her if she did too much, but she would never pretend to herself about it. She was feeling distinctly uncomfortable at the moment, but couldn’t understand her own symptoms. She felt no hint of impending death, and still felt sure that she had a part to play in the Quest. She did not, she felt certain, need another Renewal, but these bouts of bone-aching weariness and tingling in the head puzzled her. She would need someone younger and stronger to help her on this excursion, and Davred was the only one available.

'We'll leave at first light tomorrow. Cheral, could you find Davred some clothes - something shabby, suitable for a very minor clerk, perhaps? And Katia, could you do something about his hair? We need to change his appearance.'

* * *

The two of them left as soon as they had broken their fast the next morning. With Herra's help, Davred ran through some muscle movements that subtly changed the planes of his face. Katia had streaked his hair with grey and Herra had caused a wart to grow on his nose overnight. This made Katia pull a face and say teasingly that she wasn’t sure she wanted such an ugly husband. Davred also managed to control some of the blood vessels to his face, to give it an unhealthy pallor. This strained his body-control to the limit, but he thought he could hold it for long enough to serve their purpose.

Herra was once more dressed as an old man, but this time her skin seemed more wrinkled, with a weather-beaten, countryman's appearance. She too had changed the muscular substructure of her face, and she didn’t even remotely resemble the old man she had seemed when they recovered the stasis cube. Confex, thought Davred, not for the first time, would be able to keep medical research teams busy for years, just investigating the body control possible to the more accomplished of the Sisters.

Herra and Davred came out of the tunnel complex into a grove of dereela trees, whose heavy leaves and tangled branches made an effective screen. The wards were very strongly embedded at the entrance - Davred felt uncomfortable in the grove and even Herra breathed a sigh of relief when they left it. At the edge of the wall of foliage they paused, but no one was in sight, so they slipped quickly out on to the main pathway that led from the garden to the street.

'This is a large family domain,' said Herra quietly. 'Several families live here and yet there is so much space that this end of the garden is rarely visited.'

The garden was so overgrown near the tunnel entrance that they could see nothing of the street until they reached a small gate in the wall. Once through it, they both stopped dead in shock.

'Brother, look down upon us!' exclaimed Herra, who knew the district well. With a shaking hand she pulled Davred back into the shelter of the gateway.

'The rioting must have spread all over the city,' said Davred, looking at the smoking ruins of the family domain opposite. A long, low, two-storeyed structure, it must have been beautiful once. A few unburnt sections showed the wooden walls to have been painted white, while the carving on the balcony rails and gables was exquisite.

Even before he’d come down to the planet, when he was relying on long-distance observation, Davred had fallen in love with the wooden houses of Tenebrak and the huge variety of building styles possible in such a mild climate. The domains of the rich were large, with gracious flower and vegetable gardens, little groves of trees and even fish pools.

More ordinary people lived in group domains, where a dozen families might share a smaller piece of land. The poorest of the poorfolk lived in the Shambles, where wooden shacks were crowded into any spare corner, often
QUEST Shannah Jay 133

between businesses and warehouses.

Herra's voice made him pull himself together. 'Looting!' she exclaimed. 'In Tenebrak! Tenebrak of all places! Are the Sisterhood's teachings so easily overthrown? Is Discord so easily spread?'

'Would you like to go back to the tunnel, Herra? The city looks dangerous still. Perhaps we should wait a little longer, allow things time to settle down properly.' He would have liked to put his arm around her, to give her a hug of reassurance, but he didn’t quite dare. There was something awe-inspiring about her today.

'No. We must find Aharri and Merryan. We cannot hide in the tunnels for ever. We have a journey to make. Come, Davred.'

Their walk was heartbreaking. This was one of the better quarters, yet in every street, one or two of the houses were damaged and sometimes whole domains had been destroyed. Several of the ruins were still smouldering, and once they had to detour to avoid a newly-lit conflagration surrounded by shouting, jeering figures.

The Claim of Tenebron had long been famous for its beauty and for the lush magnificence of its plants. Now most of the gardens they passed were trampled into deserts, both flowers and vegetables wantonly destroyed. Sad heaps of shrivelled brown leaves and flowers lay everywhere. Gates hung askew at the entrances to the large family domains and nearly every fence or hedge had gaping holes in it. Buildings of all sizes, even on the smaller domains, had windows broken, all except for those places which displayed at their entrances a large carved serpent.

'What worries me is that no one is trying to repair anything,' said Herra, her voice tight with suppressed emotion.

'Look at that domain over there!' She pointed to a graceful structure on their left. 'It's a large complex. Single storey, too, so the family must be a rich one. There ought to be several family members living there, with many servants, yet not one person is in sight.'

'Most of the windows are smashed.' Davred scanned it carefully. 'That's not chance. The owners must have fled.'

Herra paused to consider. 'No, there are several people inside at the far end. I can sense them - and their fear - quite clearly.'

The few people they encountered in the streets hurried about their business and seemed determined not to catch each other's eyes. Even the shade trees which lined the gravel and earth streets looked battered and bruised, with broken branches hanging down over the walkways and gouge marks in their bark.

'We've seen no women at all,' Herra observed after a while. 'Not even the women of the poorfolk, who usually serve those living in this quarter.'

'And no children,' added Davred, glad he’d sent Siri-Soo to a hidden crèche where she wouldn’t have to face such dangers. At least, he and Katia hoped she wouldn’t.
Brother, watch over her!
he prayed fervently, remembering his little daughter's mischievous grin.

After a while Herra suggested that Davred let her lean on his arm and that he stop pretending to limp, which he wasn’t doing well. Feigning weakness, she hobbled along beside him, close enough to whisper in his ear.

'They've still got spies out,' she murmured as they rounded a corner. 'There was a man hiding in the garden we just passed. I wonder why? They can't know that anyone has escaped from the temple. It's three days since you activated the stasis cube. Do they not even trust one another?'

'Obviously not. Or perhaps they're just keeping a general watch. They won't be able to understand what stasis really involves,' Davred said thoughtfully.

'You may be right. Though they have seen us
still
people, so it won’t be completely strange to them.' Herra's voice suddenly became louder. 'Turn right along here, son. Nice little neighbourhood shrine, that one. Wish I could still take part. You'll have to do my share now, as wel as your own.' She cackled loudly at her joke and dug Davred in the ribs with such force that he winced. 'Say something!' she hissed.

'I'l do my best, Dad. Do my best. Never be as good as you, though.'

'That you won't!'

QUEST Shannah Jay 134

They walked past a gateway overhung by undamaged foliage and edged by two black triangular flags on their snake-twisted poles. At this shrine, serpents were also carved in the stone capping of the wall. Beyond the gateway, half hidden, stood two Servants of the Shrine in black robes and silver Serpent wristlets. They made no attempt to conceal the scrutiny they were giving Herra and Davred.

'Pass in the name of the Serpent,' said one of the men. Obviously what they’d overheard and thought they’d seen had convinced them that the two were followers of their God. 'Serve the Serpent faithfully, and you shall have pleasure for your reward.'

Pleasure! Herra thought scornfully, what sort of an aim in life is that? But she thanked the men for their blessing and continued slowly along the street.

She led Davred across the city by a circuitous route. Twice she pulled him into private domains and waited for men to pass; once they slipped right through the garden of a small domain, past a burnt-out house and into the next street.

Each time they changed direction.

It took well over two hours to reach their destination, the Street of Bellflowers, named for one of the loveliest of trees, which bore giant bell-shaped blossoms for most of the year. Although the lower branches of the trees which lined the street were denuded of foliage and the trunks hacked and slashed, the damage there didn’t seem too bad at first sight and there was stil a froth of blooms wafting to and fro above them. As they followed the twists of the street, however, they saw that the windows of several houses were smashed, though no house was burnt down.

'Pickings too rich to resist. I only hope . . . ' Herra's words ended abruptly as they followed the curve of the road.

'Brother, no!'

Aharri's house was a smoking ruin, the only one in the street, and much of his domain had been trampled into a muddle of earth and brown plants.

'Why?' asked Herra. 'How did they know about Merryan?' She scanned the domain. 'There's no sign of any spies hiding in the grounds. We'll go and have a look round. Get through the hedge quickly, before someone comes.'