Temple of the Traveler: Empress of Dreams (48 page)

“One butterfly is harmless. The swarm of two hundred covering that man was the problem,” Tashi said to keep the gamekeeper alert.

Murali was sweating. “I think they could smell fear.”

“I hate bugs,” said Pinetto. “Every island is a new hell, and I grew up around scorpions.”

The gamekeeper whispered, “We didn’t know the bee stings on the Island of Lotus Honey could be fatal.”

Pinetto said, “Only to Imperials. Everyone else just falls asleep. Everything in this cursed place hates the children of Osos.”

The smuggler shrugged. “Your uncle was old. Old people sometimes have bad reactions to bites that younger, stronger men don’t.”

“After all the bloody battles he’s fought in, he died for picking a flower for Sarajah’s hair!” Pinetto growled.

Tashi looked away. The old man had picked the bouquet as a favor for him. “The omens for our quest looked bright when we found the golden bear cub in the first week.”

Pinetto could tell his friend was trying to change the subject. “No matter. We only have one island left, the farthest one. This one has to be Ashter Island.”

“I think we’re missing something. No one on the last island had heard of the island of invisible mages,” complained Hindaloo.

“No one on the last island ever heard of soap,” Pinetto countered.

“Lavender-scented soap and plum perfume,” Tashi said wistfully.

“Down, boy,” Pinetto said with a laugh.

Hindaloo shook his head. “Every man on this ship is thinking the same thoughts. She takes long baths.”

“And wears less than she ought,” whispered Murali.

Tashi said, “The mask mages made the outfit for her, and it’s cooler than the Crooked Island dress.”

“Not to mention how it accents the valleys of her hips,” said Hindaloo. Tashi glared at the plague-runner. “All we found out from the mask mages was that there are ten demons in these parts from before the fall of Archanos.”

“The Chorus,” said Pinetto. “They work together in harmony to feed magical power to Archanos. That’s important because the Chorus is probably guarding his wife and weapons cache.”

“A shape-shifting wife. Ho! Imagine what she could do to a man,” said Hindaloo.

Pinetto grabbed the plague-runner by the shoulder and pulled up. “I’m going up on deck to charge my ring. You need to go with me.”

Tashi’s hand had ripped a chunk of wood out of one of the beams, and he was huffing like a bull about to charge.

No fool, Hindaloo followed the wizard without a word.

The gamekeeper distracted Tashi by asking, “How heavy was that fish you caught? It fed the whole crew for days.”

Tashi began retelling his deep-sea fish tale. After ten bits, Murali’s eyelids dipped. Tashi shook him awake again. “Tell me about the tigers.”

“The tigers, biggest I ever saw! Not afraid of people. Walked right up to it and scratched its chin. Just like Kitten.” The gamekeeper shut his eyes. “Just like my little Kitten.”

****

Tashi knocked on the door to the captain’s cabin. Sarajah said, “Enter.”

After he closed the door behind him, she stepped out from behind the desk, and his heart fluttered. “You’re magnificent.”

She smiled. “You say that to all the women on this ship.”

He swayed with the swell of the ocean and whispered, “I need you.”

Sarajah shook her head. “We agreed, not during the voyage. It would kill morale. I have to be seen as an officer.”

He looked at her exposed thigh and said, “They all like the uniform. I’ve even caught Pinetto staring.”

“Oh. That’s bad. I thought it made them easier to . . .”

“Control, manipulate?”

“Lower your voice. We are not having this discussion now.”

Tashi grabbed the back of her neck by surprise and pulled her into a kiss. She kneed him in the groin in response. He backed against the door. Her knee came away bloody. When she noticed, she apologized. “I didn’t mean to.”

Tashi crouched over, gritting his teeth. “Not you. Curse.”

She got a bowl of water and cleaned him as he swore in shame. When he slowed, she asked, “Why did you do that?”

“Murali is dying without the potion. We’re being whittled away by a thousand little cuts. If you die on this island, I wanted to kiss you one last time. I need that.”

“All you had to do was say that,” Sarajah whispered. She kissed him tenderly and passionately until he pushed her back.

“Enough. Bleeding again.”

“We’ll find a way past this,” she insisted.

“Really? What’s my card?”

“Those are subject to interpretation.”

“You won’t show me. Maybe I want a choice this time. How am I going to die?”

She glided to her shelves and removed a box. “Once you read it, a part of you agrees with the fate and you make it true. It’s best if you don’t know.”

He held out his hand. When he opened the box of drawings, his was on top. He was chained by a pit with the caption ‘the Sacrifice.’ Angry, he said, “I guess that’s why you don’t want to get too invested.”

She slapped him so hard his ears rang. Tears were pouring down her cheeks. “Don’t you dare doubt my commitment. I’d quit today if I thought it would save you. I’d live with you on any of these godforsaken islands for the rest of my life, but you wouldn’t be happy. I spent half my time with the masked mages asking if they could lift your curse, but nobody will cross my mother—nobody but you.”

“I couldn’t kill her, or you’d never be able to look at me again. Although, I can’t free her and keep my honor.”

“Isn’t that the irony? Your stupid honor is one of the things I admire most about you, and it’s the one thing that will prevent us from ever being joined. And the lack of physical contact is the one thing that makes you miserable.”

Tashi stared at the floor. “Sometimes, I just want you to touch me.”

She whispered, “If my sister Ashterah can heal you, I’d be willing to give up the quest and leave the emperor to solve his own problems.”

“I couldn’t,” said Tashi in a voice barely audible about the waves.

“I know. That’s what the chain is in the picture. You put it there yourself.”

He looked closer at the drawing, and, indeed, his hand was fastening the manacle. He rose to his feet. “I need to go surfing, clear my head. There’s a little island just before the Invisible Mages. We’ll go by it tomorrow morning. It should be perfect weather.”

Sarajah shook her head. “We don’t have time or provisions.”

He looked in her eyes, those beautiful, gray-green eyes. “It’s customary to give a condemned man his last wish.”

Her tears made her turn away again. On his way out, he added, “I’ll say good-bye to Pinetto then. He’s still getting over Baran; this could break him if I don’t prepare him.”

The click of the door closing couldn’t be heard over her sobbing.

The next morning, he and Pinetto rode their paddleboards to shore as
Nothing Sacred
anchored a short distance away. Riding ocean waves was harder, but with practice, even more exhilarating. Then, they paddled back out and repeated the ride until they were exhausted. Wearing nothing but loincloths, the two friends lay on their backs on the unsullied beach, drying in the sun.

Eventually, Tashi said, “Sometimes people leave us when we’re not ready.”

“Stop,” Pinetto said holding up a hand.

“I have to get this out. Sarajah—“

“The birds have gone silent,” Pinetto said.

Tashi rolled to his feet and groped for the sword on his side that wasn’t there.

Twelve men with glassy javelins and sand-colored clothing surrounded them. They weren’t ethnic islanders; rather, these warriors were taller and green-eyed—the same eye color as Sarajah’s. They all appeared to be half-breed Imperial/plague-landers in prime physical condition.

The girl had misread the journal entry in several ways. “Ahh . . . Mages who can
see
invisible.” Pinetto raised his hands in surrender. “Archanos needs them for the war; don’t hurt them.”

“Do not defile the great one’s name, infidel.” The lead warrior slashed at Pinetto’s face with the side of his javelin.

Tashi caught the weapon and locked eyes with the warrior. “Either of us could kill you all. He stays my hand out of reverence.”

“Hah!”

“Please don’t make me demonstrate the lightning bolt again.”

“He did walk on water, I saw him,” muttered another warrior.

Tashi proclaimed, “Behold the Prophet of Archanos, author of the
Book of Dawn
, Grand Vizier of Kiateros, former intelligence officer of Bablios, companion of the Defender of the Realm, master of powers unknown to the gods, and newest dean of the mighty College of Wizards!” Leaning over, he whispered, “Say something impressive.”

Tashi was the indestructible one; Pinetto felt vulnerable. Thin and sunburned, he stood, and said, “I’m here as an envoy of the great Queen of Archanos, Sarajah the Seeress, whose purse I am unworthy to hold.”

“What nonsense is he spouting?” asked the lead warrior. “Ashterah is the Great Queen, and why would she not let him hold her purse? Does he steal as well as lie?”

Tashi chuckled. “Don’t compare him to normal priests and politicians.” He made a show of releasing the weapon and stepping back. “He could strike you down for blasphemy.”

“No need for violence. Is this Ashter Island?” Pinetto asked hopefully.

“No, you buffoon, it is the land of the Greens. Having trespassed here, you must both die.”

Pinetto tried to send a jolt through the spear, but either the glass wouldn’t conduct, they were too far from the border, or he was too relaxed from surfing. Nothing happened. When he closed his eyes, one of the other warriors gasped. “Look at his eyelids, sir.”

The symbols of Archanos burned white.

“Your god said he’d strike dead any man or animal that slew me,” the wizard noted.

“Let’s prove his words,” said the lead scout.

The statement pushed Pinetto over the edge. “Really? You’re going to kill me
before
you get your message from Archanos? You’re worse than an aristocrat. Do you have anyone in your tribe whose job it is to
think
?”

Tashi leaned over. “You catch more flies with honey—”

Pinetto shook his head. “Oh, no wisdom from you, Mister Let’s Swim Naked into Hostile Territory and put the skinny guy in front. Either kick his ass for me or tell him to pull his head out of it.” People, including Tashi, were backing away from his belligerent display.

The lead scout twisted up his mouth and poked Pinetto in the chest with a finger. That’s when a spark leapt up the finger to make the man’s hair stand on end.

“Now will you take me to your leader?”

Having no precedent, the Green islanders looked at each other and shrugged. “Uh . . . sure. Follow us.”

The scouts bound his wrists behind his back with a leather thong and blindfolded him. Pinetto glanced at
Nothing Sacred
in the distance. The last thing he saw was the longboat being lowered into the water.

****

The scouts led Tashi and Pinetto into a secret, underground camp. The captives had to kneel and wait for the entire village to be rousted. When they were surrounded by a hundred more green-eyed natives, the blindfolds were removed, but the bonds remained. A gray-haired woman with mystic medallions on her chest said, “I’m Gloriana. Is there a reason you’re not dead yet?”

Pinetto said, “Archanos sent me to collect green-eyed warriors for the upcoming battle against the old gods.”

“It’s the Call,” whispered several natives.

“Indeed,” said the shaman woman. She chatted with the guards who’d delivered them and asked, “Who is the woman whose purse you stole?”

Pinetto gritted his teeth. “The woman whose purse I am unworthy to carry, the Queen of the Outer Islands and High Priestess of Archanos.”

“Can you prove that the holy mother Ashterah sent you?”

“We were actually looking for Ashterah when we found you. Is this her island?”

“No. You’d know that if you worked for the true Queen of the Night. We are training under the great Geriog to do battle against the unholy hordes.”

“Yeah. You’re a little confused about your theology. The goddess can accept worship and give the queen hints, but the actual ruler of a kingdom has to be a human. By divine law written on the Foundations—”

“Silence!” Gloriana the shaman said. “Can you prove any of these outrageous claims?”

“That Tashi freed Archanos and Serog from their terms as guardians? Um . . . We each have the dragon’s marks on us.”

The old woman inspected Pinetto’s neck and nodded. “Where’s his?”

Tashi held up his hands. “You don’t get to see that spot, Grandmother.”

Pinetto explained, “The mark’s in a sensitive place. Serog wants this mission completed before she’ll allow Tashi to . . . join with her daughter Sarajah.”

“Zariah?” countered the old woman.

“Yes, in your language,” Tashi said.

“That’s impossible; we guard her essence in our shrine.”

“Wait,” said Pinetto. “I’m guessing your tribe was called the Fish of the Ocean?”

“Yes,” Gloriana said, squinting. “You
seem
genuine, but your friend profanes the mysteries.”

“Could you show us this shrine? Perhaps there’s a misunderstanding we can clear up.”

After a discussion with the elders, the shaman led them to two altars of polished, black stone. Condemned men had the right to pray at the shrine before sentence was carried out. The altars looked like thrones, each with an elaborate, lead-sealed box in the center. The one on the left was engraved with the name Zariah and the right was Deliah.

Tashi shook his head. “I’ve experienced Zariah in ways you couldn’t imagine. Her life-stone is not in that little casket.”

“It is our sacred trust. Her stone is there, sealed until she can rise again in her glory. This man is a deluded hobo. Throw his body into—”

Tashi broke free of his guard and jumped full-weight onto the stone box. He shattered the end cap with no problem. Because his hands were tied, however, he fell against the stone wall of the shrine and stunned himself. Men with large clubs beat him into unconsciousness.