The Heart of the Mirage (16 page)

‘Temel, should you be telling her this?’ Pinar interrupted again, her face pulled into a frown. ‘After
all, we hardly know her. She could be a Tyranian spy. There’s nothing to say someone brought up in Tyrans will be loyal to us simply because they are Magor. Especially not when they are untrained Magor.’

‘Pinar is right,’ Korden agreed. ‘We should wait, Temel, until we’ve had time to question her and ascertain the honesty of her answers.’

Temellin laughed. ‘I have already,’ he said.

He smiled at me, but Korden maintained a stern façade, backed up with an underlying disapproval. ‘Don’t say anything else.’

Temellin capitulated. He shrugged, grinning at me.

All the time they were speaking, their emotions flicked around the room, subtly loosed and then curbed as they reinforced the spoken word and layered their conversation with tiers of unspoken meaning. It was too quick, too skilfully done for me to be able to follow in its entirety—a subliminal, foreign language. Its presence challenged me, and my hunter’s soul stirred once more. They had picked the wrong person to play games with…

‘We are being watched,’ said Jessah suddenly. ‘By a non-Kardi.’

They all fell silent, heads tilted as if listening.
Goddessdamn
, I thought,
they sense Brand!
Why didn’t I think of that? Of course they can do all the things I can—and more besides. My heart sped up, my muscles tensed, but I was careful not to look interested.

‘She’s right,’ said the youngest among them—Garis. ‘What ought we to do?’

‘He’s alone. Kill him,’ Korden said casually. ‘Whoever it is, he is not Kardi.’

I bit my lip in chagrin. ‘I know who it is. It’s Brand. He means no harm to you. He’s an Altani slave of the Legata’s. He must have followed me.’

‘So you have the positioning and recognising powers,’ Jessah said in surprise. ‘And without training. What else can you do?’

I thought of lying, of keeping something back, but decided not to risk it. ‘Sense the truth or a lie. Read emotions. Help people not to feel pain. That’s all.’
That’s all?
Stated so boldly, it sounded astonishing. I felt sick.

Jessah’s husband, Jahan, was excited. ‘Why,’ he said, ‘she might just be an Illusa! We must have a look!’

‘Magor take it, Jahan! Not now,’ Korden growled. He turned to me. ‘What do you mean he must have followed you?’

I was careful to tell the truth. ‘He saw me take the sword. He must be following to make sure I am all right. He is very protective of me.’

‘Oh, a lover,’ Pinar said with contempt.

Korden frowned at Temellin. ‘How did you manage to miss him on the way here? That was careless, Temel. That kind of mistake could be fatal.’ He nodded at Garis. ‘Bring him in, lad.’

‘Shouldn’t I go?’ I asked. ‘I don’t want anyone hurt.’

Garis laughed as if that was a joke, and left.

‘He won’t hurt Brand, will he?’ I asked, my anxiety real. These people had power I knew nothing about, and I began to wonder if I were out of my depth.

‘He won’t have to,’ Temellin said easily. ‘And we’re not in the business of killing non-Tyranians, especially not those who have also suffered under the yoke of Tyranian slavery. Quite the contrary.’

It seemed he was right to be so little worried because a few minutes later Garis re-entered the room holding a dazed Brand by the arm. ‘He shields his emotions,’ he complained. ‘I can’t read him. How in the world did he learn to do that?’

‘He taught himself,’ I said, ‘in order to protect his privacy from me. We grew up together. He is like a brother to me. He means no harm. Brand,’ I added reproachfully, ‘why did you follow me? The truth now. These people will know if you lie.’ I continued to speak in Kardi, but he had sufficient knowledge of the language to understand. He had grown up around me and Aemid, after all, although he didn’t usually try to speak it.

He answered in Tyranian, taking his cue from me, his tone heavy with reproach. ‘You shouldn’t be wandering around the streets of a strange city by yourself. I didn’t want anything to happen to you. I thought I might be able to help if anything did. So I followed.’ The truth, just not the whole truth.

Before he could say any more he was interrupted by Jessah saying, ‘Ungar’s coming, and she’s upset about something.’ A moment later, another Magor Kardi came in, a girl of about eighteen or so. ‘There’s some kind of trouble,’ she said without preamble. ‘There are legionnaires everywhere. Grouped in almost every square. I’ve never seen so many. They’re all talking about waiting for some kind of a message to act—’

Pinar gave me a sharp look, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. Her suspicion was obvious; it flooded the room.

‘We’d better play it safe and get out of here, into the escapeways,’ said Korden, looking at Temellin. ‘We can’t risk anything going wrong at this stage.’ He allowed his suspicion to leak as well.

‘I heard there was trouble yesterday,’ Brand offered by way of explanation. ‘A legionnaire was killed by a Kardi woman. They are looking for her.’ He continued to speak in Tyranian, but it was obvious all of them understood what he said.

Temellin glanced at me thoughtfully. ‘Perhaps someone recognised you on your way here,’ he said. ‘I think you’re right, Korden. Let’s move out now instead of later. All of us.’ Intrigued, I noticed that once the decision was made, he was stimulated by the situation rather than worried. The smile he gave me was one of controlled excitement.
Goddessdamn
, I thought,
he’s like me
.

Pinar was not so happy. ‘There’s another possible explanation,’ she said, her voice harsh to match the turbulence of her suspicion. ‘What have you done with your wits, Temel? And what do we intend to do with this Altani fellow?’ She began to advance on Brand, and to my surprise he paled and flinched away.

‘There’s no need for that, Pinar,’ Temellin said sharply. ‘Brand comes.’

‘You can’t take a non-Kardi all the way to the Mirage,’ she protested.

‘We’ll discuss it later. Let’s go.’ He touched my arm. ‘Sorry about all this.’ He grinned and sounded cheerfully nonchalant. Then he leant over and said something to Brand that I didn’t hear. The others were already busy grabbing up Kardi travelling cloaks, collecting packs from other rooms and, as I noticed with increased unease, strapping on Magor swords. We all went downstairs again, where a portion of the floor tiles had been removed in one of the rooms to reveal a set of steps leading underground. A servant hovered, waiting to replace the tiles after us.

‘Here, Derya, you take this; it’s for you,’ Jessah said, and gave me a cloak.

The steps led down into an underground passageway. It was pitch dark and I assumed someone would light a torch; instead, Korden and Garis pulled
out their swords, and the way was illuminated by their uncanny glow.

We walked for a while through a labyrinth of underground passageways, some natural, others excavated, and all obviously once well used. I would have liked to investigate further, but we were hurrying and no one spoke. When we reached a cavern clammy with dribble on the walls and slickness underfoot, Korden called a halt.

‘We’ll all be meeting back here once we’ve picked up our passengers,’ Temellin explained to Brand and me. ‘You two can stay here and wait for us.’

‘Not alone,’ Pinar said, her tone sharp.

‘Garis can stay,’ Temellin said. He nodded at the youth. ‘Look after them.’

‘Guard
them,’ Pinar amended.

Once only the three of us were left, Brand said in heavily accented Kardi, ‘I don’t think I like her very much.’

Garis laughed and answered in the same language. ‘She is a little abrasive, isn’t she? Desert sand in a storm. You might as well make yourselves comfortable; it will be a while before they are back.’

Taking his advice, Brand and I found a dry spot and sat down with our backs against a rock to rest. Around us, drips of water play a syncopated tune as they hit pools and puddles. Conversation was desultory because none of us knew quite what to talk about. Finally, a bored Garis wandered off to the other side of the cavern where he started examining some of the glistening rock formations by the light of his sword. Brand and I were left sitting in near darkness.

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered.

‘Not your fault. What did Temellin say to you back in the house?’

‘That I was to behave myself or he’d carve out my balls. If I didn’t give any trouble, he’d try to see that I kept both my head and my balls. He has a way with words, this Temellin.’ He gave a twisted smile and changed the subject. ‘I gather it was you who killed the legionnaire yesterday?’

‘He had no manners.’

‘Thought it sounded like your handiwork. What did he do? Tread on your toes?’

‘A little more than that. Besides, I thought if I killed a legionnaire, none of the Kardi would question my loyalties.’

‘Goddess, but you can be a hard-hearted bitch, Ligea!’

I dropped my voice still further. ‘
Derya.
And that’s right. I’m a Legata Compeer of the Brotherhood, remember? Trained to kill when necessary.’ But even as I said the words I felt uncomfortable. They reminded me too much of Rathrox Ligatan, and I no longer wanted to be equated with him. I stirred unhappily. I had infiltrated traitorous groups in disguise before, but this time something felt desperately wrong with what I was doing. I wondered why. Was it because I was Kardi too? Because I was Magor, as they were—whatever that meant? Because I had lain with one of their number and experienced something so sweet I would never be able to forget it?

‘How do we get out of this one, Ligea?’ Brand asked.

‘Acheron take you, Brand,
Derya
! Call me Ligea in front of these people and you might just as well slit my throat.’ I took a deep breath. ‘Just behave yourself for the time being and hope Aemid keeps her mouth shut.’ He was silent, so I asked, ‘What did Garis do to you?’

‘He put his left hand on my back, just a friendly clap in between the shoulder blades as though he was
an old friend. And I could hardly breathe. I was so damn weak I thought I was going to die. They scare me, L—Derya. When that cat Pinar came at me, with her hand upraised, I thought she was going to do the same thing. What are we dealing with here? They can’t be—well, they can’t be
gods
, can they?’ He sounded as if he doubted his own sanity. ‘Or immortals?’

My heart skittered uncomfortably. If they were gods or immortals, then so was I.

He added, ‘They are going to question us. About Ligea. What she is doing here.’ I thought he was going to ask me what he ought to say, but he didn’t. Instead, he said, ‘I won’t tell any lies, Derya. Not to these people.’

I stared at him, a churning mass of thoughts whirling in my head, striving to deal with the fundamental change in our relationship. Brand was about to be free of his collar. Free to choose his allegiance.

‘Will you betray me?’ I whispered. The thought hurt more than I would ever have considered possible.

‘Do you know me so little?’ he asked, and I heard his bitterness. ‘I will say nothing that will put you in danger, but I’ll tell no lies to save the Exaltarchy or the Brotherhood, either. I’m free now, Derya, and I’ll choose my own friends and allies.’

I was silent.

He added, ‘Anyway, they know a lie for what it is the moment it’s uttered, don’t they?’

‘Probably.’ I stared at my palm, and had to resist the temptation to reach for my knife yet again. I would find out soon enough.

Garis came back to join us then, and we spoke of other things. Apparently the passengers Temellin had referred to were escaping slaves, a mass exodus of some one hundred Kardis who had been hiding out in
safe houses all over the city. We—the Magor—would lead them to safety in the Mirage.

‘How long will it take?’ I asked.

‘A few days. And please don’t ask me anything about the Mirage, because I don’t know if I should tell you.’

I indicated the cavern. ‘Can you tell us about this? Did you build these passages, this cavern?’

‘A lot is natural. The rest was built by the people of Madrinya and the Magor. These were once underground cellars and coolrooms, storage rooms. When Madrinya fell to Tyrans, the underground portion of the city was hidden by the Magor who survived. We have used it ever since.’

I tried to extract more details, but he smiled and didn’t reply.

Gradually people began to arrive in the cavern in groups.

The ordinary Kardis were too caught up in their own fears to be interested in us, but there were more Magor with them; even in among so many people I could sense that much. They came across and introduced themselves. They were friendly, but distant. I saw Pinar talking to some of them, doubtless warning them not to trust either Brand or me.

And then they were all moving, a river of people flowing through the dimness towards a new life, and we were caught up in the current. Attuned to their emotions, I felt their subdued jubilation, their suppressed excitement. I said to Brand, ‘They are so happy! I don’t think I’ve ever felt such joy from so many people all at once. It’s—it’s almost contagious.’

Beside me, Garis laughingly swooped down on a toddler who was giving his mother problems. ‘Eh, now, none of that, my lad,’ he said, and hoisted the boy
onto his back, where he eventually went to sleep, his head on Garis’s shoulder.

His mother gave a sigh of relief. ‘Many thanks, Magori,’ she said. ‘He’s been a right proper handful with me since his Dad died, but he obeys smartly enough when the order comes from a man.’ She was a short woman, her arms and legs balled with muscle, her torso thin. She was not wearing a slave collar, but then none of those around us were, either.

‘Were you a slave?’ I asked, curious.

‘Oh, aye. Me and my man both.’ She jerked a thumb at her son. ‘He was born a slave. Don’t seem
right,
do it, that someone can be
born
unfree? My man, he died a slave, and that don’t seem right neither. He worked in the Master’s stables, and a gorclak gored him. Took him three weeks to die, it did.’ She looked at Garis with troubled eyes. ‘My mother used to talk of the olden days when the Magor walked with us, and she said they were healers. Magori, could you have cured my man if we could have got him to you?’