Sanguine

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The cave on the Eden side of the Boundary was one of hundreds set into the cliff face, and didn’t look particularly special. One of the Living River’s many tributary streamlets flooded the area whenever it rained, so the ground was always a bit boggy and therefore not the simplest way to travel unless you had a specific reason to go there. Like I did.

Not far from the base of the cliff was a path that led up to a shallow ledge, and if you knew which boulder to look behind, the cave entrance was easy to find. The little path was only slightly better hidden behind a thick patch of bushes with russet leaves and purple berries, common in that part of the valley.

Dallmin was sitting on a log not far from the path, tossing berries into his mouth. He had what looked like a model airplane on his lap.

I greeted him with a wave, and he tossed me a berry, which I caught in my mouth.

I was waiting for Annie, he said. She usually comes to find me when I sit here.

I think she’s still swimming. Or playing rainbow smack, I told him. Rainbow smack was basically a big food fight that sometimes broke out when someone was feeling a bit cheeky. It involved throwing Living Fruit at each other, trying to hit hard enough to make the Fruit squish. It was a funny game because the Fruit would heal the person it hit as soon as it made contact, so no matter how hard you threw, it never hurt at all. Depending on how close to turning colours the Trees were at the time, it was possible to end up with a rainbow of colours staining your skin and hair for a while.

I will wait for her to finish. I don’t want this to get broken yet. It needs to fly first.

He handed the model glider over for me to inspect. It wasn’t the first one he’d made, but it looked like it might be the most sturdy so far, with well-engineered joints and finely woven cloth for the sails. A tiny woven replica of a harness dangled from the model’s frame. So this was just a small-scale prototype, then. I weighed it in one hand.

Too heavy when it’s full-sized? I asked, giving it back so I could strip some more berries from the bush.

I’ll make the spars hollow. There is a wood that is light and yet still strong that grows near another village not far away. It will only take me a few moon cycles to get there.

A few moon cycles—months of travel—and yet apparently ‘not far away’. The long-lived had a very different perspective on things than what I was used to.

And will you go? I asked.

Only if Annie wants to come with me. I enjoy her company. He tilted his head at me. You’d like me to leave?

No. Not at all. I would miss you.

But you are not comfortable with me being here. He gestured behind him, where the not-well-hidden path could just be seen through the russet foliage.

I was simply wondering why I find you here so often. No one else comes this way.

He laughed at that, his deep brown eyes shining with the same innocent optimism that pretty much defined everyone’s personality here.

Everyone knows that the cave with the pretty metal knife is the place to come if you want to talk to one of the Shamar. Don’t be restless, we all know you would rather we didn’t go and look at it. It has been like this always, Lainie. Come, let’s find your mother and test this fledgling’s wings, he said, giving his model glider a quick kiss.

Later that afternoon as I helped Annie collect up all the broken bits of the model, I asked her about the cave.

‘Are we supposed to keep him away from there? He knows about the sword. Won’t he get curious?’

She glanced up to where Dallmin was climbing down the tree from which he’d launched his ‘fledgling’. He’d paused for a moment, balanced on a wide branch, to take in the sight of a pair of eagles riding the currents near the cliff. His desire to join them showed in every line of his body.

‘I think he has his mind on other things,’ she said. ‘Flying is all he talks about.’

I waited for more. For her to tell me not to worry, or to explain what our duties were in regards to guarding the Boundary on this side, but she just continued to stare at the naked man balanced in the tree with his hair flicking around his face in the breeze.

‘I think he’s not the only one with his mind on other things,’ I said carefully.

A series of emotions crossed her face. She didn’t speak.

‘He told me he’d like to travel if you go with him,’ I pressed, studying her reaction.

‘He doesn’t need to wait for me. He can do as he pleases.’

Her voice was indifferent; however, I had a gift. Not only had I been taught to read body language as second nature now, but every time I touched her lately I was able to read memories of times that Dallmin had made her smile. They were interlaced with other flashes of memory that were fixated on a man with bright blue eyes and messy pale hair. A man I had only seen in photos. My dad looked much happier in her memories. My mother was conflicted, and still grieving, yet not lonely. If she wasn’t ready to talk about it, that was fine with me. I was hardly qualified to give my mother advice on relationships.

‘He looks like he’s about to jump off the branch, he’s so eager to fly,’ I observed instead.

‘He won’t. Only us young idiots do that for fun. I used to love free-fall when I could, you know, recover easily. Besides, his emotions are more determined than reckless right now.’ She tilted her head at me. ‘Why is your mouth hanging open? Does it surprise you that I used to jump from heights? Surely you’ve been tempted sometimes.’

‘It isn’t that. How do you know what Dallmin’s feeling?’

‘Same way you can remember things you weren’t there for. You have the same talent your grandmother did. I hope you aren’t ever as nosy about your daughter’s first kiss as she was.’

‘Damn straight I will be.’

That made her laugh.

‘So are you some sort of an empath, then? That’s kind of cool.’

‘No it isn’t,’ she said. ‘True empathy is exhausting. I’ve worked very hard to draw my gift back from empathy down to sympathy. I’ve learned to shield people’s emotions. Knowing how someone feels is enough to be able to help. Feeling the same things they do is going a giant step too far.’

‘Fine, but you’re still an Empath, with a capital E, because it sounds really cool. My mum’s an Empath.’

‘I’ll take “Sympath” over “Empath” any day,’ she argued, her eyes drifting back to the rippling muscles of the man climbing down the tree.

Did that mean she could feel what Dallmin felt for her? Did it make a difference? This was Eden. No one ever kept their feelings to themselves.

With a smile she turned back to me, and all traces of conflict were gone. ‘Lainie, do you think we could help Dallmin design something that could work? Once he’s flown he might get it out of his system and start talking about something else.’

‘Ha! The first time Noah went hang gliding he wouldn’t shut up about it for weeks. He got worse, not better.’

‘But can’t we design something that will at least stop those messy experiments he likes?’

So his crashes disturbed her too. Interesting.

‘Nalong College didn’t exactly cover Aeronautical Engineering, Annie,’ I tried to explain as I looked over the smashed remains of the model. ‘And even if it did, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to remember much, sorry.’

She looked disappointed, which reminded me that we were not really the same as the people here. Nothing ever disappointed them.

I tried to be more helpful. ‘Noah’s glider was made from modern materials. The frame was aluminium. I’m not sure how well willow and cloth will work. Perhaps we can test a wider range of materials before he tries it out again himself. Have you ever made a kite?’

Her eyes lit up and she bounced away to enlighten Dallmin on the art of kite flying. Her enthusiasm was contagious, or perhaps I was just feeling buzzed at the discovery that my mother was a Sympath.