The Inner Circle: The Knowing (36 page)

Master Fasil approached to kneel and
smile over her. ‘You’ll never escape me,’ he whispered in her ear,
trailing a finger over her shoulder. ‘You’ll carry me with you
until we meet in the cold grave.’

‘
No.’ Seteal reached
out, grabbing a handful of snow and crushing it between her
fingers. ‘Why won’t you get out of my head? Why won’t you leave me
alone? I used to have hatred.’

‘
Now you can better
focus on me,’ Master Fasil said reassuringly, placing a soft kiss
on Seteal’s cheek. ‘Now please . . . get up.’

‘
No,’ Seteal
murmured, her eyes having at sometime fallen shut.

‘
Please get up.’ The
elf owl rubbed his beak back and forth across her cheek. ‘You’re my
friend. Don’t be dead.’

‘
Seeol,’ Seteal
wheezed, turning her head to face him. ‘It’s okay. I’m far from
dead.’

‘
Here we go, cutie.’
Seeol fluttered over to Seteal’s cloak, snagged it in his beak and
tried in vain to drag it toward her.

‘
I’ve got it,’ Seteal
pushed to her feet and picked up the cloak. ‘Let’s go,’ she
muttered wearily, head hanging so that her long brown hair would
keep her face concealed from the world.

‘
Can we find the
bearded ones now?’

‘
That’s exactly what
we’re going to do.’ Seteal narrowed her eyes and clambered back
onto her horse.

Moments later, she was
manoeuvring through the ice trees as quickly as possible with Seeol
leaping from branch to branch above her. The horse exploded back
out onto icy plains and she was able to take him up to a hurried
gallop. Seeol swooped down out of nowhere, dug his claws into
Seteal’s shoulder and beat his wings furiously.

‘
Shtop!’
h
e shrieked almost unintelligibly. Seteal
gasped as she realised the illusion of the landscape before her,
but it was too late to react. Where she’d thought the expanse was
continuous, it was not.

And the ground vanished. The horse
whinnied in terror and Seteal choked on a scream. Seeol’s wings
continued to beat at her ear and together they plummeted. There was
a moment of peace when Seteal realised she’d reached the Sixth
Cleff--a place of domed towers and buildings built from bricks of
ice--but then there was only pain. The ice beside them was a wall
at first, but as Seteal fell it crept closer as its angle of
degrees became increasingly less vertical. The cleff was positioned
within an inverted dome, or basin.

The horse’s legs flailed fitfully and
the animal bellowed as one of his legs cracked against the ice and
broke. His other leg thrust out, missing Seteal’s face but forcing
Seeol to release her or else be struck. The tiny bird rapidly
became a speck in the distant sky.

The wall became increasingly
diagonal, causing Seteal to hit the surface hard. Fiery pain raced
along her arm as it was dragged across the ice. When she hit again
the force expelled the air from her lungs. Seteal yelped as she
slammed against the surface a few more times before remaining there
as the ice began to level out.

The slope became increasingly
horizontal, allowing for the slowing--although more painful--of
Seteal’s decent. Her horse was dead, his limbs twisted and broken
and his body rolling lifelessly down the basin below her. The ice
became red and Seteal realised distantly that she was sliding
through the animal’s blood. She lacked the strength to be
disgusted.

She slid to a stop, barely
conscious and not entirely sure which of her limbs, if any, still
worked. Her cloak was in tatters and blood was everywhere . . . she
couldn’t be sure whose. Seteal gagged and coughed. That was
definitely her blood. She fell back into the snow and stared into
the blinding blue sky above. Her breathing sounded so loud. Her
heart pounded in her chest. The sky became dark. Seteal was losing
consciousness. But she couldn’t! Not Like this . . . she’d be too
vulnerable.

Leaping through the darkness,
Seteal made one desperate grab for the sky and as she did she
plunged away from her beaten body lying in the snow. Her
consciousness fully restored, Seteal took the opportunity to
investigate her current situation. Her body was covered in cuts,
scrapes
,
and
grazes, but she’d expected that. None of her bones were broken and
her heart was still doing its job.

A small group of Elglair had
noticed Seteal’s descent and were hurrying over to see if she was
still alive. They would do their best to look after her. Satisfied
in the knowledge that her body was as safe as it could be under the
circumstances, Seteal set off to find the others. Several hundred
strides away
,
Far-a-mael was descending via a staircase while holding
Ilgrin and El-i-miir at gunpoint.

In a second . . . less, Seteal’s
spirit was with them. Far-a-mael clutched his pistol within a
white-knuckled hand. Ilgrin and El-i-miir moved ahead of him, both
faces decidedly miserable. Seteal smiled inwardly. El-i-miir
must’ve tried to free the silt. Finally
,
she’d stood up for what she
believed in. Seteal almost felt proud of her.

‘
Who goes there?’ A
young guard put his hand on the hilt of his sword as Far-a-mael
stepped into the basin.

‘
Gil’rei Far-a-mael
of the Eighth Cleff,’ the old man sneered at the boy. ‘Who are
you?’

‘
Just your humble
servant, Gil’rei.’ The boy bowed. As he did so his eyes widened and
he stepped back in fearful submission. Although Ilgrin was well
covered in his cloak, his toes were clearly visible beneath it.
‘That’s a . . . it’s a . . .’ the boy scurried away several steps,
lips shaking. ‘That’s a . . .’

‘
A silt.’ Far-a-mael
raised his eyebrows, before becoming distracted, his eyes filling
with the knowing. Far-a-mael spun toward Seteal’s body. ‘That
stupid girl,’ he barked, having realised her mode of entry into the
cleff.

‘
I don’t have time
for this,’ Far-a-mael grumbled. ‘You’ He pointed at El-i-miir.
‘Make him sleep. And be sure to do a good job of it.’

‘
I’m
sorry
,
Ilgrin,’
El-i-miir said, lifting her hand. Far-a-mael watched the weaving
very closely. He’d know if El-i-miir tampered with it. Ilgrin
responded only by falling first to his knees and then onto his
face.

‘
Thank you,’
Far-a-mael said sarcastically before lifting his pistol and
clubbing El-i-miir over the back of the head so that she too
crumpled unconsciously to the snow. ‘Arrange a cell for each of
them.’ Far-a-mael jabbed a finger at the young guard. ‘If they get
away, I will personally ensure you’re sent to Vish’el’Tei,’ he
growled before setting off at a run.

When Seteal and Far-a-mael arrived at
her body, the small group of Elglair had increased in size. Two men
dressed entirely in white had placed her body on a small bench and
were preparing to lift it.

‘
Get out of my
way.’ Far-a-mael barged through the crowd. ‘Move
,
you Maker-damned buffoons. Oh,
Seteal,’ he finished, kneeling down beside her. ‘I almost came to
like you.’ There was something in his eyes. It was a look Seteal
had never seen in them before. Could it be affection? ‘Well?
What’re you waiting for? Get her inside,’ Far-a-mael addressed the
men in white.

The men lifted the thin wooden
bench and headed off into the cleff with Far-a-mael at their heels.
‘You stay alive, you hear me?’ Far-a-mael put his lips close to
Seteal’s ear. ‘I’m not done with you yet,’ he finished darkly
before scurrying off, perhaps to find Ilgrin and
El-i-miir.

As the men carried Seteal’s body
through the cleff, they came to be surrounded by stunning domed
buildings of ice that curved up from the ground. But none of what
Seteal saw on the outskirts of the cleff compared to the immense
dome at the city centre.

The central structure was
surrounded by smaller domes, which housed tunnels and bridges of
ice, connecting them in a vast web-like network. Rather than doors
or gates, the entrance of the building sported a tall archway
leading into an immense chamber. Once inside, the men turned
sharply to continue up a wide staircase. Seteal arrived in a small
room that was surprisingly warm. The walls were lined with metal
rods from which lanterns hung to light the room. The green flames
that danced within didn’t melt the ice walls as one would have
expected. If anything
,
they were strengthening the ice, as frost leapt away from
the flames and drifted up against the ceiling.

Once the men had put down the bench on
which Seteal was carried, they silently left the room. She didn’t
have to wait long before a stout woman with stunning green eyes
entered from a separate doorway.

‘
Oh . . . poor dear.’
She frowned, her white pupils flashing with irritation. ‘You must
be Jil-e-an’s little one.’

Surprised that the stranger had known
her mother, Seteal’s spirit recoiled and her eyelids fluttered for
just a moment. Wanting very much to speak with the lady, Seteal
wondered if she should return to her body. Doing so, she’d likely
be greeted by a great deal of pain and that was if she even managed
to wake up at all. Deciding to take the risk, Seteal followed the
cord of spirit that kept her connected to the body that was
stretched out on the bench below.

She coughed and tried to move but
everything seemed to be throbbing. ‘Don’t move
,
dearie.’ The woman put her
warm, plump hand against Seteal’s forehead. ‘It’ll do you more harm
than good. My name is Am-in-da and I’ll be your jilt’lesit
today.’

‘
You knew my mother?’
Seteal asked, fighting through the pain in her head.

‘
I did. Here, drink
this,’ Am-in-da put a small bottle to Seteal’s lips. ‘You’ll feel
much better.’

‘
What is
it?’

‘
It’s just a little
spun root juice,’ Am-in-da pushed the bottle firmly over Seteal’s
lips. ‘It’s been proven to have marvellous healing
properties.’

Tentatively sipping the liquid and
finding it not to be terribly unpleasant, Seteal drank it quickly
and was shocked by the almost immediate pain relief.

‘
Now I’d like to give
your aura a once over to see if there’s any damage to your internal
organs.’

‘
You can do that?’
Seteal raised her eyebrows.

‘
One would hope so
after seven years of study and a further ninety years’ experience
as a general practitioner,’ Am-in-da chuckled.

‘
Um . . . sure,’
Seteal replied, once again finding it hard to comprehend Elglair
lifespans. ‘Just don’t change anything without letting me
know.’

‘
That would be
highly unethical
,
dearie.’ The woman stared directly at her, an expression of
concentration on her face. Occasionally she looked a little
flustered and made small hand gestures as though she were pushing
some invisible object out of the way. ‘All right,’ she tapped her
chin, ‘I’d like to give you some positive energy to help along the
healing.’

‘
No. The last thing I
need is more people fooling about with my aura.’ Seteal sat up and
put a hand to the side of her head. Spots danced across her vision
and a wave of nausea washed over her. ‘I need to speak with the
elders before Far-a-mael does. And people should be warned about
Seeol.’

‘
You’ve discovered a
seeol?’ Am-in-da said in puzzlement. ‘Perhaps you’ve hit your
head.’

‘
His name is
Seeol
,
’ Seteal
corrected the jilt’lesit.

‘
What an awful name.’
Am-in-da scowled. ‘But I’m afraid your friend will have to wait.
You need to get some rest.’

‘
He’s not my friend,’
Seteal barked, ‘and I really must speak with the
elders.’

‘
Sorry
,
dearie.’ Am-in-da put a hand on Seteal’s shoulder. ‘I
didn’t want it to come to this.’ Seteal felt herself being
overwhelmed by waves of drowsiness. Her head was heavy and her
eyelids began to droop. ‘You’re not going anywhere. Far-a-mael
would have my head,’ were the last words Seteal heard before
falling to her pillow and drifting into a deep
sleep.

CHAPTER
Twenty-Five

Then There was War

The Room of Meeting was located
in the very centre of the Dome of the Sixth. Unlike most in the
complex, this room had been forged from one very large and very
expensive block of ice.
Far-a-mael’s
attention, however, was on the semicircular table that ran parallel
to the wall behind it. It was at this table that the high elders
sat. Having learned long ago that with their combined abilities the
high elders were able to pick out a lie almost as easily as
El-i-miir, Far-a-mael had decided to err as closely to the truth as
he could when explaining the events of his journey. Naturally,
there’d been a few details he’d had to omit due to their
sensitivity.