The Way of Things: Upper Kingdom Boxed Set: Books 1, 2 and 3 in the Tails of the Upper Kingdom (25 page)

“Oh
mother,” gasped Fallon.

“Oh
no,” growled Kirin.

“Oh
well,” grinned Kerris. “Guess we can all go home now.”

Kirin
glared at him.

“That’s
well past the edge of the earth, Kirin. Even our dear Kaidan hasn’t traveled
that
far, believe me. There’s nothing out there! Nothing. I’m afraid your Seer has
had a little too much opium. I did warn you, didn’t I?”

“No,”
growled the Captain once more, his tone darker, almost desperate. “No, Kerris.
This must work. We must find this ‘Soul of a Tiger.’ We
must.”

“Captain?”

It
was Sherah, still kneeling very close to Sireth, studying his face with
gleaming golden eyes. Kirin straightened up, putting hands to hips in
frustration.

“What?”

She
looked up at him, with a faint, crooked smile, made all the more exotic by the
kohl-black streak along her cheek.

“Your Seer,” she looked back now,
the smile growing wider, almost dazzling in its brightness. “Your Seer is
singing.”

***

Kirin knelt forward.

It
was true.

Eyes
closed, hands still folded loosely in his lap, the seventh and last Seer of
Sha’Hadin
was indeed, singing.

But
it was like no song he had ever heard before.

“He’s
really quite terrible, isn’t he?” snickered Kerris. “Tell me,
sidalady
tigress, do all tigers sound
that bad? I thought your people had the voices of angels.”

“Oh we do. Tigers are the best
singers in the Kingdom. Why, almost all the famous poems and ballads are
written for tigers. I think it has something to do with the stripes on our
throats - makes us warble and trill like little birds. Want me to show you?”

“Thanks
love. I think I’d need another sakeh.”

Kirin
cast a quick glance at the Alchemist. She caught it and threw it back, her
smile more dazzling than ever before. It was clear she was fascinated.

Finally,
the Seer sighed.

“I can’t sing any more songs. If I
have to sing one more song, I’ll go crazy. Well, maybe given my particular situation,
that wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Okay, one more time,
‘Just sittin’ on the
dock of the bay—”

“Hello?”
said Kirin.

Sireth benAramis nearly jumped off
the floor, sending both the Captain and the Alchemist scrabbling out of the way
to keep from touching him. After a brief moment, he pulled his hand from his
face, searching the room with unseeing eyes.

“Hello? Hello, is someone there?”

“We
are here.”

“How
long have you been there? Who are you? How do you do this?”

“Slowly,
please,” said Kirin. “We know as little as you but we will try to answer your
questions if you will try to answer some of ours.”

“I’m
all ears.”

“What is your name?”

“You
first.”

“My
name is Kirin Wynegarde-Grey, Captain of the Imperial Guard.”

“Imperial?”

“Her
Most Honoured Excellency, Thothloryn Parillaud Markova Wu, Twelfth Empress of
the Fangxieng Dynasty, Matriarch of
Pol’Lhasa,
and Most Blessed Ruler of
the Upper Kingdom.”

“Alrighty,
then.”

“Now
your
name,
sidi.”

“Dr.
Jeffery Solomon,” said Sireth. “The stuff after
my
name isn’t nearly as impressive.”

“Solomon?”
Fallon smiled. “Are you a king?”

The
Seer’s head snapped up.

“Hey! Is that Fallon Waterford I
hear? Scholar in the Court of the Empress?”

“Scholar
in the Court of the Empress?” asked Kerris. “My, my, isn’t that a fancy title.”

She felt her cheeks grow hot.

Sireth
was shaking his head, grinning. “Where are you people coming from, anyway?”

“From
Pol’Lhasa
in
DharamShallah.
And yourself?”

“
Pol’Lhasa?
Where in the world is
Pol’Lhasa?”

“Please,
sidi.
It is important that you tell
me where you are.”

“Why?”

“Because
we would like to help you but we need to know how to find you. We need to know
where you are.”

There
was a brief pause. “I’m in a bunker, 20 k outside of
Kandersteg, Switzerland.”

There
was a longer pause. The Captain looked first to his brother, then to the
Scholar. Both shrugged, baffled.

“Swisser-land?”

“Switzerland.
Please don’t tell me you don’t know where that is.”

“I
suppose then I won’t tell you,
sidi.”

“Great.
Just great.”

“This
‘Swisserland’, is it in the Upper Kingdom?”

“Upper Kingdom? You’re from Egypt
then?”

“I
am from Aegyp,
sidi,”
purred Sherah.

“Enough,” said Kirin. “Solomon, I
must ask you more questions, but...”

His voice failed him as the
realization struck like a cold wind. He was trying to find a man whose very
finding would bring his death. It was dishonorable.

“How are you doing this?” said
Solomon. “Are you using computer-links? Are you wired in to a Sat-com?”

“You are speaking through one of
us, a man named Sireth benAramis. A Seer and Advisor to the Empress—”

“Seer?
You mean like a telepath?”

“Your
words are unfamiliar,
sidi.
These past
two nights you have spoken and heard us speak through the soul of this man. Even
now, his soul journeys to you to determine your exact location.”

“Wow.
My very own psychic hotline.”

“In
fact, he may be there, with you, at this very moment.”

***

mountains rushing up towards at
blinding speed, falling like a shooting star, faster, the earth closer, closer
still, earth passing through, snow and earth, soil dark and rich and brown,
passing through, falling still deeper, metal passing through, beams of steel,
slicing at his soul, wires, cords, altars, ground, shock of ground, quietness,
quietness and a voice, a single voice in darkness, absolute darkness, blacker
than a panther’s pelt, Shakuri? sleep, no -follow the voice,

follow it now

***

“Now? Here? That’s kind of eerie,
if you ask me.”

“Say his name. I wish to know if he
is there. Say it. Sireth benAramis.”

“Aramis? Like the Musketeer?”

“I don’t understand you,
Solomon...”

“Never mind.” His unseeing eyes
searched the Great Hall. “Hello? Sireth benAramis. Your Captain wants to know
if you are anywhere around. Hello?”

There was a long pause, and he
shrugged.

“Sorry, I have the feeling it’s
just me and these creepy little animals down here -
Ow!”
He clasped a hand to his face.“Ow, dammit, something just
poked me in the eye!”

A
simultaneous cheer went up from Fallon and Kerris. Even Kirin could not help
but smile.

“I
believe it is you and the creepy animals and our Seer,
sidi.
Tell him to return at once but to map the area as he does so.
We will be journeying into unknown territory and cannot rely on a steady
quantity of opium to enable him to travel thus, very often.”

“Opium.
I
see...”

Kirin
could not help but smile. “Tell him simply to return. He knows what to do.”

“Okay.
Go home, Sireth benAramis and leave my eyes alone. I like seeing out of both
them, thank you very much.”

Fallon
squirmed closer.

“Are you a tiger, Solomon?”

“A
tiger?” he laughed. “Hell no, I’m a Kiwi. Born and raised in New Zealand before
I moved to California. That was before it fell off into the Pacific, of course.
Then I moved to Boston, then Brussels. But, if you don’t know where Switzerland
is, I’m betting you won’t have a clue about California, Boston or Brussels.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s
alright. I guess things have changed since I went under. That was to be expected.
I realize that, but this procedure has somehow gone wrong and I can’t get the
computers up. There’s no light, no heat. At least there’s food even if it is
just protein powder and vitamin squares. And the others... the others are all
dead in their chambers. I think these rat-things havebreached the outer bunker but
inside, well I’m not sure. All six and I...”

Now
it was the one called Solomon’s turn to lose his voice, as a wave of despair
crossed the Seer’s face. He dropped his head and Kirin felt a rush of panic.
They could not lose the connection now, not when they had come so close, gone
so far. He gritted his teeth, took a deep breath and waited.

***

too slow, much too slow, he had
come too far, would never get back, sleep now, try later, no -faster,
concentrate, the Inn at the Roof of the World, the room full of people, Path -
her quick fleeting thoughts, the Captain an able anchor, reliable and worthy,
the others, were there others? he couldn’t remember, fields of green and
forests of dark trees streaking below, growing darker as he moved south and
east, into the night, into the moon, too high, he was too high, clouds below,
obscuring the Sight, a star pulling him higher, a star not a star, concentrate
on the Inn, the Inn at the Roof of the World, soaring upwards soaring

***

“I’ll kill him!”

There was the clacking of bootheels
as Major Ursa Laenskaya stormed down the stairs.

 
Kirin glanced up. “Hold
your tongue, Major.”

She
did not appear to hear. She brushed past the single leopard guard and snatched
a dagger from her thigh.

“I said Hold!”

Still
she came.

The
Captain nodded and the guard darted forward to catch her slim white arm but she
swung her fist into his temple and the leopard dropped like a stone.

“Major!”

“She’s
not hearing you, Kirin!” shouted Kerris, “It’s the opium!”

Kirin
was on his feet now, stepping forward to block the woman’s path. It was obvious
she was not seeing him either, her pale eyes wide and glassy, every muscle in
her body as taut as a steel cord.

She
plowed into him like a small avalanche, literally forcing him backwards in his
effort to contain her. Her fists flashed again, claws extended. Expertly, Kirin
avoided them, snagging her wrists and using his greater weight to push her off
balance. His foot lashed out, knocking her ankles out from underneath her but
she pulled him down and they both hit the floor with a crash.

With
a strength and skill heightened by opium, she drew her feet to her chest and
sent sharp bootheels thudding into the Captain’s ribs. Pain exploded behind his
eyes and before he could catch his breath, she was gone.

“Kerris!”
He rolled onto his knees. “Kerris, see that she does not touch the Seer!”

The
silver lion was already fully occupied in that very task, pulling chairs and
benches into her path. Unmindful, she kicked them out of the way like kindling
in her drug-induced quest. This ‘kindling’ was heavy, however, and one upturned
bench sliced through the air toward the ashen map, threatening to obliterate
the location of ‘Swisserland.’ Fallon dove for the coal as Ursa dove for the
Seer.

Flame
glinted off polished silver as Kerris grabbed her wrist before the dagger could
find its mark, but like earlier, her free hand was lethal, slamming into his
stomach like iron. The Captain tackled her from behind, and together, the three
of them went down.

The
heavy wooden bench hit the stone floor mere whiskers in front of Fallon’s face,
smashing the coal to ashes, scattering the soot in a dustcloud. Helpless, the
tigress glanced up and out of the corner of her eye, saw long speckled fingers
reaching for the Seer’s cheek.

“Solomon,
are you a wizard?”

“Sherah,
no!”

She
touched him.

Sireth’s
head snapped up.

“An eye for an eye. A life for a
life,” was all he said before falling forward into the Alchemist’s arms.

Suddenly,
for a long, terrible moment, there was silence in the Inn at the Roof of the
World.

***

like a boxkite with a snapped
string, the spirit left him, and he began to drift, up up upwards, towards the
star not a star, the Sight all but gone, clouds growing thin, dark, cold, the
dying star not a star, he turned his soul to the star not a star but a dragon,
a dragon of steel, a dying dragon with great fan wings and long segmented body
and single eye, hovering just beneath the blanket of stars, watching the
affairs of cats for years, more than years, years, he had been floating for
years, too far, too long, dying

***

“No!”

With a roar of frustration, Kirin
sent the heel of his palm into the Major’s temple and her struggles came to an
abrupt end. He scrambled off her limp body, leaving Kerris to disentangle
himself and was at the Seer’s side in an instant.

“What
happened?”

“The
connection severed. I caught him as he fell.”

Fallon’s
eyes grew wide but no words came from her mouth. The Captain’s fingers found
the spot on the throat where heart met soul and with a snarl, pulled the man
out of her arms and onto the floor.

“Sireth,
Sireth benAramis. Hear me.”

It was not a plea and more than
command, rather a warning, a promise of dire consequence if it was not obeyed.

“Come back.
Now.
You have a
duty. You are needed. Here. Now.”

There
was no response.

“You
must hear me. Now. You are almost home. You are almost here. You must finish
what you started.”

He
glanced up at his brother, at the Scholar and the Alchemist, all looking to him
for direction, for a way out of this bleak and desolate place. It was up to
him. It was always up to him. He nodded to himself, swallowing back the rising
panic. Indeed, it
was
always up to him, for as always, he
did
know the way. It was inside of himself.
Bushido.