GriffinSinger

1. Seer, Sand, and Secrets-8

Irenya emerged from the lodge, squinting in the bright sunlight. The ground floor had been cleaned out but she was still obliged to hurry through holding her breath. Women were climbing to the rooftops of the single-storey structures, sure-footed as goats, on the ricketiest ladders she had ever seen. On the flat surfaces, they stooped with their short-handled brooms, spreading small objects that looked like fruit. The day was already hot.

Rani called to her from the far side of the common. ‘Reencha!’ being the best pronunciation of Irenya’s name the Sildahni could manage. ‘Come!’ She danced a few steps, twirled on the spot, and motioned Irenya to follow. Several women were weaving baskets and mats in the shade of a huge tree. An occasional drift of fine spray from the nearby falls cooled Irenya’s face. Ulei was not present.

The women couldn’t contain their excitement. Word by word, action by action, and with a great deal of laughter, Rani painted the picture for them. Not only had Elaaron deflowered Ulei, but he had also given consent for the act to be witnessed by two women, discreetly stationed behind a screen. Irenya watched, amused, as Rani drew pictures in the dirt to describe his scars.

‘Ah,’ sighed the girl. ‘Beautiful man. Mighty warrior!’

The women exploded at her eye-rolling. Her parody of thrusting hips set some of them mimicking the action.

‘Lucky Ulei!’ she cried.

They doubled over, clutching their bellies. The arrival of Ulei brought cries of joy from the group. They jostled each other to embrace her, pat her—including her thighs—and admire her new necklace, worn proudly as proof of a new status. They repeated the pantomime for her benefit.

She laughed with them and admitted her relief, which she explained to Irenya in slow, simple language, ‘Now, I free to marry. No longer child ordered what to do. My husband make new home and I take my place with elders.’

‘You have chosen a husband?’ Irenya asked.

Ulei’s eyes shone. She gathered up a handful of her necklace and kissed the red beads. ‘Yes. He waiting. I am to ask him.’

As the girl turned to leave, Irenya stopped her. ‘A moment, Ulei. I believe the seer Fis lives here. May I see her?’

A chorus of ahhhhs, repeats of the seer’s name, and much pointing of fingers greeted her request. Rani took Irenya’s hand and guided her across the common to Elaaron’s lodge, the ground floor of which housed not animals but food. Rani stayed outside. In the gloom, Irenya could see little, but she did catch the aroma of fruit, heated and dried by the sun. On the next level, a guard asked her to wait while he approached the archprince. From the floor above, she heard male voices and then the guard’s lowered tone. He reappeared and beckoned her up the steps. Elaaron was waiting for her.

‘Lady?’

‘I’ve come about the seer.’

He had the grace to look apologetic. ‘Yes, of course. Kidu is here. I will ask him what he knows.’

‘I’ve known for days that she is alive and living close by. I just need to know exactly where she is and how to get to her.’

‘I see.’ He looked surprised. He motioned her into the room where Kidu and Gedric were sitting on huge floor cushions. She sank onto the one offered and Elaaron resumed his place. He nodded toward Kidu, leaving her in a quandary; did the chieftain speak only his language? She wasn’t even sure how to address the man.

‘Goddess greetings,’ she began in halting Sildahnese. ‘I …’

‘Young woman, I speak common tongue. What you want to know?’ His narrowed unblinking gaze spoke of shrewdness, and Irenya thought Leachim was right; this man was not to be taken lightly.

‘I wish to speak with the seer Fis, but I do not know exactly where she lives. Can I walk to her home?’

Kidu hooted as though she had said something hilarious. She glanced at Elaaron, but his expression was bland. Gedric stared into space and waited.

‘Home?’ Kidu laughed again. ‘You mean miserable cave. The woman not been in good vigour. I offer her room here. She want dusty hole. My nephew Telo visit her, take her some food.’ He bestowed a magnanimous nod at Irenya. ‘Telo take you tonight. You cannot walk there—too far. You need sleep, now.’ He muttered something in his own language.

Irenya thanked him and excused herself. As there was no sign of Rani outside, she made for the pools. It occurred to her that Elaaron might have wished to speak with the seer himself. He could have asked her about the new MageGate he claimed he would find. Irenya did not feel like sleeping. She viewed Kidu’s talk of the miserable cave with dismay. She had not expected the simple yet graphic image of isolated life in the wilderness. It frightened her. And how could a woman in pinched circumstances help her find the portal to home? Near the pool, the voices of the women piped through her thoughts. Where paths diverged, Irenya took one that followed a tributary and she searched for a secluded place. She pushed through a profusion of growth: tall flax-like bushes of green, or yellow, and a dark colour almost navy. In a rocky place, half-covered with creepers, she found a deep green pool. Taller trees gave shade. She worried at the distance, though the noise of the falls was still perfectly audible. At intervals, she heard laughter. A burst of song from the women soothed her anxiety.

Having cooled her face and neck, she sat with her feet in the water. How had she made swords feel as light as feathers? All she had wanted was to soften her fall from the alcove. If she could turn a sword into a feather, even by illusion, where did it end? Water into wine? Metal into gold? Some people might think she was handy to have around. I need to get out of this place. Out of nowhere came the memory of Aldine’s face stretched into a mask of grief and fury. She had been abandoned, left to wail down the merciless tunnel of time. If the goddess possessed a heart, Aldine’s pain should be recorded there in a spray of blood. Another memory cut deeper still … Elaaron’s face, cold, angry, his words slicing her battered spirit to shreds. ‘You see nothing beyond your own petty satisfactions. Wallow in your self-righteous ignorance.’

She dozed awhile beside the pool until the gathering heat drove her back to the lodge. In the empty room, she lay on her mat. If she needed to ride through the night, she should at least get some rest.