The Tales of Tarya, Books 1-3

Chapter 4 - Blood Money-2

At one point Mina felt her ears burning and looked up in time to catch Uberto looking at her with a scowl on his face.

‘I will talk to you, before you go to bed,’ he said. ‘Dario, teach her a new story for tomorrow’s performances.’ Then he walked away, leaving Mina to worry about the coldness in his voice.

The other players continued eating as Dario began teaching Mina the story of a seamstress who dreamed of making beautiful garb for royalty, but whose father only allowed her to make clothes for him alone. He’d barely begun when Roberto interrupted.

‘Dario, the Tale of the Seamstress? After …?’

Dario looked confused, then nodded. ‘Oh … oh. Right.’

Mama Tina suggested a new story, and Dario and Mina huddled together until Mina was able to commit it to memory. After a time Mama Tina interrupted them, holding out a plate of pork and potatoes.

‘Dario, you and Mina take Aldo his dinner,’ she said. Both agreed eagerly, and the rest of the troupe burst into laughter, to Mina’s puzzlement. Walking through the darkness together, the pair chatted about life in the troupe, but when they stood outside the door of the wagon, far enough away from the fire not to be heard, Dario dropped his voice and changed the subject.

‘You did a wonderful thing today. For Aldo, and with your performance. Everyone’s forgotten it was your first time, with what happened, but you played like you’ve been doing it for years.’

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, holding the plate between them awkwardly.

Mina smiled. ‘Thank you.’

‘Be right back,’ he said, and hurried up the steps into the set wagon. Mina touched her cheek in the darkness, feeling his kiss still. She dropped her hand when he reappeared at the wagon door. Dario kept his voice low as they walked back toward the fire.

‘Mina, with Aldo … what did you do? You were telling a tale, and then the air around you shimmered. You were in Tarya, weren’t you?’

‘Yes … well, I think so. I …’ Mina wasn’t sure what had happened. She slowed her pace, wanting to prolong this time alone with Dario. But her mind was churning. Had she been in the Heavenly Realms? In the tales, Tarya could only be reached after death. Her own experiences told her different now. She had been there, and seen other players there. Yet if that was Tarya, how come she hadn’t felt the Creator’s presence? And surely Tarya wasn’t a place mortals could alter? Yet she had the power to create buildings and waterfalls and even enchanted creatures with her stories. How could that be possible? Or had she created them? There had been something solid, eternal, about the place she’d taken Aldo. As though she were telling what already existed. Mina couldn’t pin down the thought.

She wanted to ask Dario all these questions. They’d known each other a few days, but she had the strongest feeling she’d known him always, and could trust him with the strangest or most errant thoughts.

‘Mina …’ Dario said, his voice tentative. Mina looked up at his handsome face. When their eyes met, something passed between them that made her feel a jolt of electricity in her stomach again. Then she remembered Mama’s warning. No romance between players.

‘Uberto wants to talk to me,’ she said, and hurried back to the fire.

~

Uberto had been silent for a long time. All the other players were in their caravans, banished with a firm word once the meal was finished. Mina sat next to him under the starlight, her skin prickling as the air grew colder, and he said not a word. Finally she grew too impatient to wait.

‘Uberto, what have I done?’

Uberto looked away, staring at the dying cooking fire. It was very late, and Mina was tired. Smoke kept drifting into her eyes, making them water.

‘Uberto, I’d like to sleep. What is the problem?’

He looked back at her, his jet black eyes hard. Mina could see the stars reflected in them, tiny silver glints.

‘Very well, I will be direct. You cannot go to Tarya whenever you wish. And you must not go there in a public place.’

‘What?’ Mina gaped at the master player. ‘You’re saying … but I … but playing is always in a public place … there’s no harm … Aldo might have died!’ Her voice faded to nothing under Uberto’s starry black glare.

‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘You are right. And you are wrong. The players go to Tarya, but to a familiar place, and story. They find their characters there. Where you went … is different. I can tell you no more, not yet. But you cannot go to a new scene or character with Reizi close by.’

‘Reizi?’

‘Those who are not Innaroi. No more questions. That is all you need to know.’

Mina wasn’t prepared to accept this. ‘Uberto, you’ve taught me. You know how quickly I’ve learned. Explain, so I can understand. I’ll do what you say, but you need to …’

‘No!’ His shout surprised Mina. She’d never heard him raise his voice. ‘Mina, I have not seen anything like your power before. The way you create buildings, scenery, in Tarya … And today you almost brought it into …’

He stopped speaking abruptly and ran a hand through his hair.

‘Until I have worked out how to deal with this you will obey me. There is danger.’

‘For who?’ Mina asked.

‘For us,’ Uberto replied.

‘But I saved Aldo,’ Mina blurted, standing.

Uberto drew Mina back down beside him. ‘I know you expected my thanks, or congratulations,’ he said, his voice gentle again. ‘But you could have put us all in danger. What you did for Aldo was a miracle, but if it happens again you cannot, no, you must not, go to Tarya.’

He shook his head. His eyes cleared, and Mina wondered how she could have thought they were black. They were dark blue, the reflection of the sky gone. Now she could see the dying flames of the fire in them.

‘Remember what I have said tonight. We have two more performances tomorrow, so get some sleep now. I will deal with the fire.’

Mina stood. ‘Goodnight, Uberto.’

With her back turned, she bit her lip. Why would Uberto tell her not to save a life if she had the power to do it? She wasn’t sure if she wanted to learn the secrets she sensed lay beneath the players’ entertainment. She hurried back to the wagon. A figure moved out of the shadows.

‘Good playing,’ Ciro whispered.

‘Thank you,’ she replied, and tried to step past him.

‘You could do better, with the right training.’

His mouth curled a little in a parody of a smile. Mina noticed for the first time how one corner of his mouth sat in a permanent sneer, with faded tracings of white around the edges. It was an old scar.

‘I’ll train you.’ His hands snaked over her shoulders. ‘Starting with your posture. Shoulders back, chin up …’

‘Now is not the time,’ Mina said, trying to push away the hand gripping her chin.

‘Oh yes, time for bed.’ His hand slid down to her chest. ‘Your heart is pounding,’ he said. ‘I can feel it.’ His face was too close.

‘Uberto is training me,’ Mina said, and pulled away from Ciro’s long fingers. She stumbled up the steps of the wagon, slamming the door behind her, not caring whether she caught Ciro in the face. She stood in the black of the cabin, listening, the hair on her neck prickling. There was something wrong about the silence.

Beyond the ragged curtain, Lisette muttered a few sad, strange words, then the wagon was still again.

‘Isabella?’ Mina whispered. She stepped over a pile of fabric just visible on the floor, and reached a hand out to touch the girl sleeping on the lower bunk. There was no one there. Stumbling over the wagon’s mess, Mina pushed the dividing curtain aside and shook Lisette.

‘Lisette, wake up! Where’s Isabella?’

It took a full minute until comprehension flooded Lisette’s face. ‘She is missing? Pffft, she is just finding some man. Leave me alone.’

Lisette rolled over and slipped back into sleep. Mina thought for a minute. Lisette’s explanation was possible, but after the day’s experiences, it felt wrong. Mina left the wagon, not even noticing whether Ciro was still close by or not, and hurried to Uberto’s wagon, banging on the door.

‘Uberto, Isabella’s gone,’ Mina shrieked.

Uberto was quick to open the door, and he was still fully dressed. ‘Mina, calm down. What is it?’

’Isabella’s missing.’

He swore, then leaned into the wagon. ‘Isabella’s gone, Cristina. She knows better than to do this when we have a performance tomorrow. Sometimes she’s worse than the men.’

He disappeared into the wagon, returning with something in his hand. ‘Come on,’ he said to Mina, and led her back to the dead coals of the fire.

‘Let’s test your power,’ he said, and handed her a leather mask.

Mina looked at it, confused.

‘This will help,’ he said. ‘Quickly.’

‘But …’ Mina began.

‘You want to save people?’ Uberto asked. ‘Then do it.’

He strapped the mask on her and began leading her through the breathing and chanting exercises. Mina closed her eyes and felt herself relax.

‘Now, tell me a story about Isabella,’ Uberto said, and almost before the words were out of his mouth, Mina saw the player girl. She was insubstantial, like a shadow, and though her face was invisible, her outline glowed with red light. She was hunched down, as though she were tucked in a corner, and Mina felt a sense of constriction around her own limbs. Simultaneously she could see the night-soaked field where she stood with Uberto, and Isabella’s hiding place, though her eyes were still closed. Both places were crisscrossed with glowing gold and silver threads, and everything Mina looked at had a subtle glow surrounding in it. Isabella’s gold thread, stretching upward from a small, crouching shadow, shivered.

‘She’s in trouble,’ she said, opening her eyes. ‘She’s tied up. And afraid.’

Uberto nodded. ‘Can you find her?’ he asked.

Mina shook her head, not understanding what he was asking, then realised she could not only see, but feel the thread stretching out from Isabella’s body. Although thousands of insubstantial threads filled the air, she could tell which was Isabella’s, quavering in front of her eyes, like a narrow heat haze, and she could feel the mix of fear and confusion and anger her friend was experiencing. Without a word she started to follow it, gradually walking faster and faster. Uberto hurried behind her.

They walked through fields burgeoning with spring crops, until they reached the houses of Clusone, all black and silent in the night. Braziers lit the way then, causing Mina to blink. There was too much light, causing the massive web of threads to disappear. Mina spun around, confused. Then she felt herself lift from her body. From above she could see herself and the thread she’d been following, a line of shivering gold stretching away. She slipped back into her body again, the way clear. The urgent need to find Isabella prevented her even thinking about the strange thing she had just done.

Mina led Uberto swiftly, though her legs felt difficult to control and she sensed she hadn’t returned to her physical self fully yet. The trail ended in an alley, and a small warehouse. Mina felt a jolt, and her limbs were suddenly an unbearable weight dragging her down. Light from a single brazier burned her eyes.

Then there was a final shifting sensation and all the shining threads crisscrossing the air disappeared. A horrible stench assailed her.

‘She’s in there,’ Mina whispered to Uberto, pointing to the closed doors of the warehouse with one hand while she held her other arm over her nose to block the smell.