Authors: Anne Bishop
“You’re not from this place,” Danyal said.
“Originally? No. I come from a country that I think is in a different part of the world. Much like you.” Yoshani smiled. “I still cross the bridge to my homeland and visit the Place of Light where I trained, but mostly I am here now to welcome visitors—and to listen. Brighid, Michael’s aunt, is another who has found a home here. She is a true Guardian of the Light, but even so, her heart was troubled until she came here and realized this Place of Light could give her what she needed for herself.”
Danyal hesitated. “Did you show me Sanctuary to occupy me while we
wait or to let me know there is another place besides The Temples where I might do some good?”
“Both.” Yoshani watched the koi. “Do the Shamans run all the places in your city that contain the sick hearts and minds?”
“No, I was the first to be assigned as a Keeper.”
“Why?”
Danyal watched a flash of gold disappear beneath the floating plants, then turned to Yoshani. “I was needed.”
“Why?”
“Because…” Danyal turned back to watch the fish. “I had served as the leader at the Temple of Sorrow for several years. That work demands much from the Shamans who serve there, and it was time for me to leave. I was supposed to be free of duties for a year to rest and explore the restlessness in my own heart. But a wrongness came to Vision, and the Shaman Council felt my presence at the Asylum would draw a madman and a teacher, and they would help me see where help could be found.”
Yoshani laughed softly. “Heart wishes are powerful things to send out into the currents of the world.”
Anger surged in Danyal, and for a moment, the Dark currents in Sanctuary rippled. Then those currents were gone, a reminder that here he was only a visitor and not the voice for this part of the world.
“You think I wanted this to happen to my city?” he asked.
Yoshani shook his head. “I think you and Lee would have had an opportunity to meet, and what you chose to do with that acquaintance would resonate through your lives. But, Danyal? I’m not sure it was your heart wish that drew Lee to your city.”
Glorianna studied the triangle of grass in the part of her garden that contained the dark landscapes.
“Still not resonating with me enough,” she muttered.
“You couldn’t reach that landscape?” Michael asked.
“I could, yes. But I’m not sure going there now would do the place or the people any good. They aren’t
mine
yet.”
“What about you, Magician?” Sebastian asked. “I know that patch of grass is in Glorianna’s garden, but could it be resonating with you, but fit in better with her dark landscapes?”
She watched her lover and partner, the man who had used the music in his and Sebastian’s hearts to bring her out of that terrible landscape she’d created for the Eater of the World.
Michael stared at the grass triangle, his eyes softly focused. After a minute, he shook his head, but he looked puzzled.
“It’s an odd thing,” he said. “The music I hear doesn’t fit a dark landscape—or at least doesn’t fit what I’ve seen and felt in the darker places. Maybe that’s why you’re having so much trouble pinning it down, Glorianna. It’s dark and light and something in between, and I’m thinking Ephemera is nudging it toward the Den because whatever lives there wouldn’t find much welcome in the daylight landscapes.”
“Like an incubus?” Sebastian asked.
“Maybe.” Michael tipped his head. “Not one song, but three that harmonize back into one.”
“So I’m only resonating with one or two but not all three?” Glorianna asked.
“Not yet anyway,” Michael replied. “I’m thinking it’s going to be like Lighthaven. These people are going to have to choose you before you and Ephemera can make that final connection.”
Lee’s message kept circling through her mind. They were running from the wizards and the Dark Guide and going to the landscape that belonged to Zhahar’s people. Those people needed her help. The access point was probably a triangle of grass.
He’d seen this triangle the last time he came to the island.
A triangle of grass. Three songs. A landscape that wasn’t dark but wanted to connect with a dark landscape—specifically the Den, a place that didn’t automatically pass judgment on demon races.
“The Shaman didn’t tell us much about Zhahar, did he?” Glorianna said.
“I had the impression it wasn’t his secret to tell,” Michael said.
“Are you worried because Lee stayed for the sake of a girl?” Sebastian asked.
Glorianna huffed. “He’s twenty-nine. I hope the girl is old enough to be considered a woman.”
Silence. Then Sebastian said, “Lynnea is younger than me.”
“That’s different.” But she looked at her cousin and considered Sebastian and Lynnea—two people who shouldn’t have met but were drawn together by each other’s heart wish.
Was it Lee’s heart or someone else’s that had drawn him to the city of Vision?
“From what Kobrah told Teaser, they’ve got another day’s traveling ahead of them before they reach Zhahar’s homeland,” Sebastian said. “I think we should spend that time getting ready. A daypack with a change of clothes. Water. Some food that’s ready to grab. We’ll get some rest. Can Ephemera give us some warning if the access point becomes strong enough to cross over?”
“I’ll know. If I’m anywhere on the island, I’ll know,” Glorianna said.
“You keep saying ‘we,’ Justice Maker,” Michael said.
Sebastian looked at Michael. “I’m going with Glorianna.”
“Why you and not me?”
“Because if we run into trouble, you have the music that will guide us home.”
“He’s right, Michael,” Glorianna said. “Besides, Sebastian should have a say in whether this unknown landscape connects with the Den.”
Nothing more to be done
, she thought as the three of them went back to the house.
Not yet.
A few months ago, all Lee wanted was to get away from her and everything connected to her. She had felt that truth in his heart the last time she saw him. So what did it mean that he was asking for her help now?
“W
e’re being followed,” the Knife said as he came abreast of the driving seat.
“The same Clubs who were behind us at the traveler’s well yesterday?” Lee asked. They’d found him a hat with a soft brim that helped conceal the dark glasses as well as provide the extra protection he needed to ride on the driving seat during daylight hours.
When the Apothecary made an odd sound, Lee wondered if he’d asked a question that shouldn’t have been asked.
“Some of my brethren have made sure those Clubs are well behind you and will stay that way,” the Knife said. A moment’s silence, then he added, “Hiring this many Clubs to chase you down takes a hefty bag of coins.”
“Are you wondering if it would be worth switching sides?” Lee asked. He heard the Apothecary suck in a breath, and figured he’d deeply insulted the Knife.
“I’ve chosen my side, and I told you my reasons,” the Knife replied calmly. “But I’m wondering what makes you so valuable—or dangerous—to whoever is changing the city.”
When the Knife said nothing more, Lee thought,
Whatever you give to the
world comes back to you—and that includes trust.
“I’m a Bridge. I have the ability to connect pieces of the world, even pieces that are distant from one another. The men who are changing the shadow streets are called wizards. They’re dangerous men who came from my part of the world.”
“Is that why they’re after you?” the Knife asked. “To force you to make this magic so they can travel to and from Vision?”
Lee shook his head. “At first they wanted to use me to reach my sister, who is their most dangerous enemy and lives in a place that they can’t find by themselves. Now I think they want to stop me from reaching her. Without my…magic…I think the journey to your city would be a long one. And I don’t think anyone in my part of the world knows about Vision, including my sister.” Well, there was Teaser, but this wasn’t the time to tell the Knife about the incubi and the way they could travel through the twilight of waking dreams.
“So the wizards’ enemy won’t be able to find Vision unless you get back to your part of the world and tell her,” the Knife said, nodding.
“Yes.” Lee sighed. “And even if I can get back, whether help can reach Vision will depend on Ephemera.”
“Then let’s hope the world is looking kindly toward us. I’m going to drop back a bit to stay between the Clubs and you, but not so far I’ll lose sight of the wagon. You need to get where you’re going before dark. My brethren will delay some of the Clubs permanently, but there aren’t enough of us who can see the northern community up ahead to keep you safe if enough Clubs have a chance to catch up.”
“If there are that many of the bastards after us, you should stay close,” the Apothecary said. “We can’t afford to lose your skills if there’s a fight.” When the Knife dropped back, he added quietly to Lee, “And I’m not sure he’ll still be able to see the road we’re traveling if he’s too far back. This isn’t a part of the city his guild usually visits. Clubs are dangerous, but they’re hired muscle and don’t stand in the shadows as deep as the Knife Guild.”
“So he could lose sight of us and the Clubs won’t,” Lee said grimly.
The second shutter behind the driving seat opened, and Zhahar muttered at Lee’s left shoulder, “Zeela says she can fight.”
Lee wasn’t sure Zeela was fit enough, but having two people with
fighting skills gave both of them a better chance of surviving—and gave all of them a better chance to reach the spot where Vision was connected to Tryadnea. “How much farther?” he asked Zhahar. “Can you tell?”
“I don’t know exactly where the connection is. But it’s that way.” Reaching between Lee and the Apothecary, she pointed.
Thankfully, the road was still going in the right direction.
“We’re close,” she said, withdrawing her arm so that she was no longer immediately visible to anyone they might meet on the road.
“How long will the connection remain once you’re back in your homeland?” Lee asked.
“Since we’re the last Tryad in the city, not long,” Zhahar replied. “Less than an hour, I think. Then Tryadnea will be adrift again.”
Less than an hour is still too long
, he thought. If the enemy was close behind them, having that connection last even a few minutes after they crossed it might be too long. So he would need to break that connection and change it into something else as soon as they were on Tryadnea ground.
A sound came from behind him. Not the
hummm
he associated with Zhahar talking with her sisters.
This
sounded more like annoyed buzzing. And judging by the way the Apothecary suddenly hunched his shoulders, Lee wasn’t the only one hearing it.
“If you all keep trying to come into view and talk at the same time, at least one of you is going to end up with a sore throat,” he said.
The buzzing stopped.
“You usually whack a hornet’s nest to see what happens?” the Apothecary asked quietly.
“I’m usually smarter than that,” Lee replied.
“Could you try being smarter when I’m close enough to you to get stung?”
Lee huffed out a soft laugh. Then he sobered.
No way to tell if this was going to work. No way to tell if his presence would negate the effort of the others to send out a call for help through the currents of the world. No way to tell anything, but he had to believe that, if Glorianna received the message he’d sent through Kobrah and Teaser, she would help him.
Glorianna
would help him. He was sure of that. He believed it with all his heart. But would Belladonna help him?
He twisted on the seat to look toward the window. “Can I ask you something?”
Zhahar’s face appeared in the window. “Sholeh says the community up ahead is an artisan community. When she was researching other parts of Vision, she didn’t find mention of any shadow streets or dark places.”
“Every community has a shadow street of sorts,” the Apothecary said. “But it might not be dark enough to have shadowmen.”
“Why was Sholeh looking for a street like that?” Lee asked.
“In case we needed to try again in a different part of the city.”
“But Sholeh…” Lee paused. Thought. Sholeh definitely belonged to the daylight landscapes. Zeela? Yes,
that
sister would like the things that weren’t so proper—and might even need to spend time in shadowy places to feel comfortable with her surroundings. “Must be a challenge to find a place that suits all of you.”
No answer.
“Was that what you wanted to know?” Zhahar asked.
Distracted by thoughts of Zhahar and her sisters and where they could live, he’d forgotten what he’d wanted to ask. Something about sisters. Ah yes. “If one of you was upset with someone, would all of you be upset with that person? Could one of you stop the others from helping that person?”
“Damn fool,” the Apothecary muttered as he hunched his shoulders and told the horse to giddyup.
The horse made an effort, probably because it could hear the angry buzzing too.
“Why do you ask?” Zeela growled.
“My sister,” Lee replied quietly.
A pause. Then Zhahar said, “Oh.” She reached through the window and rested her hand on his arm for a moment before withdrawing again. “We might not help with a small thing if we were upset with someone, but we wouldn’t walk away from someone in real trouble. Not if we cared about him.”
Not the same. There was Light and Dark in each aspect of Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar, and that wasn’t the same as Belladonna. Not the same at all.
Heart’s hope lies within Belladonna.
He was going to hope—to
believe
—that was still true.
Hurry
, Zhahar thought.
Hurry hurry hurry.
Kobrah, keeping watch out the wagon’s door, gave them constant reports now of four riders—still following from a distance, but closing on them. The village itself was up ahead, and the Apothecary was aiming for it in the hope the Clubs wouldn’t attack them with other people around. But the connection to Tryadnea wasn’t
in
the village, and once they were out of sight of other people…