The Inner Circle: The Knowing (34 page)

‘
Yes
,
Gil’rei.’ El-i-miir lowered her eyes and removed herself
from sight.

The silt watched as she left,
eyes losing hope and his aura a litany of steadily darkening blues,
yellows
,
and
pinks.

‘
How interesting,’
Far-a-mael murmured. His voice broke the spell and Ilgrin’s aura
plunged back into murky darkness. ‘What could that little minx have
done to get you, a demon, to fall in love with her?’

‘
I . . . don’t know.’
Ilgrin squirmed as Far-a-mael poked about in his aura.

‘
You do,’
Far-a-mael sneered. ‘I hope for your sake she hasn’t fallen in love
with you
,
too.
The Tome condemns such things as an abomination, often likening it
to bestiality. On this particular matter, I happen to agree with
the old writings. You must be an embarrassment even by the
standards of your own kind. Is that why they sent you here, to get
rid of you?’

‘
I
am
from
Sitnic.’

‘
Yes, yes,’
Far-a-mael rolled his eyes. ‘I’ve heard it all before. You truly
won’t budge from that silly little story, will you? What a stubborn
creature.’

‘
What the torrid is
wrong with you?’ Ilgrin gasped, clamping the sides of his head.
‘Everyone else believes me. Why won’t you?’

‘
Do you really want
to know?’ Far-a-mael lowered his voice and marched over to the
silt, stretching up to put his lips close to the creature’s ear.
‘Because I don’t want to,’ he whispered. ‘A technicality like that
might ruin my plans.’

‘
You,’ Ilgrin cried.
‘You’re the evil one, not me.’

‘
Get up stairs,’
Far-a-mael ordered. ‘I don’t know how you managed to survive Cold
Wood, but I assure you that you will not fare so well in
Vish’el’Tei.’

Once they were off the boat, Far-a-mael
turned on Briel and Fes. ‘Our business has reached its conclusion.’
He handed Briel a small moneybag. ‘You’d best be on your way.’

‘
My horses be dead,’
Briel replied, sounding as tired of Far-a-mael’s company as he was
of theirs.

‘
I’ve given you
enough to make up for your loss.’

Briel and Waxnah’s men were still
struggling to remove the wagon from the riverboat when Far-a-mael
and his companions left to make their way into town. The roads were
dirt and the buildings were shabby. The central building was the
Butterdry Inn, which of course happened to be the only one in
town.

‘
Good evening,’
Far-a-mael said as he approached the most sensibly dressed man in
the building. ‘I require two rooms: one for myself and the
gentleman to my right, and one for the ladies.’

The fellow didn’t even raise his head
to ask for the appropriate sum of money and handed over a pair of
keys. ‘Upstairs to your right.’

After pointing the girls to their room,
Far-a-mael unlocked the next door and pushed the silt inside.

The room was small, its contents
sparse. There was a narrow bed against the far wall and a modest
table with a chair beside it and a small mirror that hung above it.
Far-a-mael looked at the silt and smirked. He grabbed him by the
neck and shoved him into the corner. The creature fell hard, his
hood bouncing back to reveal a bruised face.

‘
How long do you
think you can keep me hostage?’

Far-a-mael answered by backhanding
Ilgrin across the face. ‘Don’t look at me.’

The creature deserved to die and
he’d have ended its pitiful life long ago if it weren’t for the
sake of his people. Few throughout recorded history had managed to
capture a living silt. When the elders learnt of his
success
,
they’d
accept his proposal immediately. He was certain of it. Far-a-mael
glared at the silt, keeping an eye on him as he rummaged through
his bag.

‘
There,’ he murmured,
retrieving a small pouch of herbs, but froze when a shiver ran down
his spine. Something wasn’t right. But Far-a-mael’s power of
knowing was weak in comparison to other gils. Perhaps he’d been
mistaken. After a moment of transfixed silence, the feeling faded
and Far-a-mael disregarded it.

He turned back to the creature on the
floor and clutched his chin. Just touching the demon’s pasty white
flesh revolted him. Far-a-mael yanked back Ilgrin’s head and
pressed the bag of herbs under his nose until he passed out.

He put the herbs away and went to the
door. He had little time before sunset and needed to be sure he
could purchase some horses for the following day. He reached for
the handle, but stopped at the return of the peculiar sensation
he’d felt earlier. Someone was watching him. Far-a-mael spun
around, grabbed the silt by the throat and peeled back his eyelids.
But the herbs had never failed before and the silt was lost to the
deep sleep they induced. Far-a-mael frowned and exited the
room.

The door shut with a solid thud and
Far-a-mael took two steps. His eyes widened and he froze in his
tracks.

‘
Seeol,’ he
whispered, anxiously turning back to his room. This was his chance
to destroy the creature once and for all. It was trapped. He
hovered over the silt and patted down its body. Before long, he
found a small bulge squirming about in his shirt.

‘
Ah!’ Far-a-mael
yelped and pulled his hand away to reveal a break in his skin. The
little monster had bit him. He turned his attention back to the
silt in time to see Seeol squirm free. Far-a-mael leapt at the owl
but it evaded him and flew for the exit.

Far-a-mael kicked the door and was
satisfied to see it slam shut on the bird as it tried to escape. He
rushed over to examine the door. There were plenty of feathers, but
no blood. Far-a-mael yanked it open hoping dearly to see the bird’s
lifeless form on the carpet outside, but what he stood before him
made his blood run cold.

Seeol had transformed into his other
self, the creature now filling the entire hall, barely able to move
in such confinement. Far-a-mael reached for his bag in the hope of
retrieving his pistol, but before he could put any distance between
himself and the monster, it picked him up in its talons.

‘
Seeol . . . please,’
Far-a-mael begged as the mutant bird started squeezing, making it
impossible to breathe.

The monster’s grip slackened and
Far-a-mael hit the floor. He raised his eyes, expecting to see a
giant foot come crashing down. But the fiend stood entranced. A
glimpse passed the beast revealed Seteal, her eyes deep with
concentration.

She had become one with the Ways.
How she’d stilled the creature with so little experience was beyond
Far-a-mael. Her strength had been proven so many times that he was
almost willing to believe her potential limitless. Then the
creature began to shrink. Seteal was reversing Seeol’s condition,
something Far-a-mael had never succeeded in doing nor had he
expected possible.

Once back to his regular self, Seeol
launched into the air and out the door. Seteal fell against the
wall, breathing raggedly. It was then that El-i-miir approached,
somewhat paler than usual and offered her hand to Far-a-mael.

‘
I’m fine!’ He
battered her hand out of the way and clambered to his feet, wincing
at a definite ache in his chest.

The innkeeper stormed up the
stairs.

‘
Torrid,’ Far-a-mael
cursed and slammed the door before the he could get a proper look
inside.

‘
You in there. Open
up.’ The innkeeper slammed his fist against the door. ‘I’ve taken a
risk allowing Elglair to stay here with Jenjol across the river and
this is how you repay me? What are you hiding in there? What was
all that noise?’

Making eye contact with El-i-miir,
Far-a-mael put a finger to his lips and listened as heavy footfall
moved back down stairs, only to return moments later.

‘
He’s got a master
set.’ Far-a-mael’s eyes widened at the sound of jingling keys. He
grabbed El-i-miir by the arm and pushed her down next to the silt
before tearing the blankets off the bed and throwing them over both
of them. ‘Try to look sick.’

‘
What?’ El-i-miir’s
eyes widened fearfully. The child must surely have been terrified
lying beside such a creature.

‘
Just make sure you
keep that thing covered.’ Far-a-mael hushed her.

With a bang the door swung open and
Far-a-mael put a finger against his lips aggressively. ‘Can’t you
see how unwell she is?’

‘
What in Maker’s name
is going on?’ The innkeeper asked furiously, looking from
Far-a-mael to El-i-miir covered apparently in a very large volume
of blankets.

‘
I’m sorry . . . is
there a problem?’ Far-a-mael wove ropes of coloured light into the
man’s aura, forcing him to calm down. ‘This child is simply
ill.’

‘
How ill?’ the
innkeeper enquired, already backing out of the room.

‘
Don’t be concerned.’
Far-a-mael rested a reassuring hand on the man’s shoulder. ‘It
isn’t catching.’

The innkeeper swallowed nervously,
perhaps even wondering why he didn’t seem able to summon the anger
he should’ve been feeling. Far-a-mael haphazardly pushed small
bursts of pulsing olive cowardice into the man.

‘
Well.’ He turned
away from Far-a-mael’s penetrating gaze. ‘I think it’d be best if
you were on your way at first light.’ The innkeeper backed out the
door and pulled it shut.

‘
You can get up now,’
Far-a-mael urged, having noticed the girl remaining in place even
once the door was closed. She got up without too much delay, but
not quite as hurriedly as Far-a-mael would’ve expected from someone
in her situation.

As the innkeeper had demanded,
Far-a-mael made sure to get the girls out of bed early the
following morning, but having decided they probably needed the
additional sleep, he first went out alone and purchased four horses
at a ridiculously high price. The day that followed was mostly
uneventful. For this
,
Far-a-mael was grateful, as his bones ached and his head
was heavy.

As it turned out Butterdry was
not as close to Sat Elam as Waxnah had proposed
,
and although Far-a-mael was
loathe to do so, that meant another night sleeping in tents. The
following morning they were all reminded of their destination by
the rapidly declining temperature and the steady elevation of the
landscape. Several hours later
,
the party arrived in Sat Elam.

‘
Take Seteal into the
city and bring back something to eat,’ Far-a-mael ordered
El-i-miir, handing over his money bag. ‘I’ll stay out here with the
silt.’ Far-a-mael frowned at Ilgrin tethered to a grey stallion,
trotting beneath his influence.

‘
Gil’rei?’ El-i-miir
enquired with much more respect than that which Far-a-mael was
accustomed to receiving.

‘
Yes, my
dear?’

‘
If you’d like to see
the city for yourself, I’d be happy to watch the demon for
you.’

‘
And have you let it
escape?’ Far-a-mael rolled his eyes. ‘I think not.’

‘
No, Gil,’
El-i-miir’s face expressed panic. ‘I’d never!’

‘
I meant as an
accident,’ Far-a-mael clarified, shaking his head. ‘Look, it’s
fine, El-i-miir. I’ll wait here. I’m too old to be bustling about
in city crowds.

When the women returned with
bread and butter, Far-a-mael hurriedly ate and they continued on
their way. It wasn’t until they passed the final row of ramshackle
houses at the northern outskirts of the city that Far-a-mael
squinted into the distance to witness a sight that brought warmth
to his heart. When he heard Seteal gasp, he wasn’t at all
surprised. The beauty of the Frozen Lands was enough to take
anyone’s breath.

A flat desert of ice stretched out to
the north, marred only by the occasion tree poking through its
surface. Beyond that ten or so miles of icy plains were towering
cliffs that stretched into the sky, their peaks breaking through
the clouds. These mountains were not constructed of earth, but of
ice. The entire landscape glowed as sunlight was captured and the
blue of the sky was caught and reflected.

Far-a-mael exhaled in relief. He was
finally home. These were the Elglair Frozen Lands.

CHAPTER
Twenty-Three

The Truth Won’t Set You
Free

It was colder than anything Seeol had
experienced outside of Cold Wood. He looked at his toes and feared
for a moment that they’d changed colour. He wriggled them. They
felt stiff. Beating his wings, Seeol lifted into the air and found
himself a perch in one of the few trees that broke through the
ice.

El-i-miir and the others were ahead of
him by almost fifty strides. It was far enough that they wouldn’t
notice him and yet close enough that he could listen in on their
conversations. Like himself, Seteal was native of Gor Narvon and
looked to be suffering the cold as dismally as Seeol. If not for
the threat that Far-a-mael posed, Seeol would’ve joined her so that
they could share body heat.