As well as the physical skills, there was the schooling. They learned to move without leaving tracks, yet were able to track others. They measured the daylight hours by the sun, and the night hours by the stars, and they read the landscape and learned to track each other. Over the next few sun cycles their youthful softness hardened into muscle and they became men.
Even Desii lost his puppy fat, and he grew an impressive set of muscles. He was good with a knife and swaggered about with it sheathed at his hip, his hand on the hilt drawing attention to it. But Desii wasn’t a true-blood.
Over a short span of time, Laek, Jon, Iago and Tighe had discovered the identity of every true-blood on the island of Soran. And that recognition had spread to the islands of Belia and Abakar via those commanders recognized as true-bloods with the sign. There was no fear that Laek would tell his father, for the true-blood itself was a secret – a bond that would keep the four of them together until the time came to follow Laek when he took over the reins of rulership from Cynan.
Tighe was a steadying influence on the group, but not really one of them.
Today Laek’s group were celebrating, for they’d won merits for mapping, and for tracking. They’d discovered the habitat of all other groups, and had managed to keep concealed their own hiding place.
Ahead of them were mock battles, where they would raid and overcome the groups on the other islands. Then they would receive their coveted badges.
All this time Laek had kept up the correspondence with Jynx by way of the scrying pool. She kept him up to date on the gossip. Although he longed to, Laek couldn’t regale her with their prowess as a group in case she let it slip and somebody wondered where the information had come from.
On this day she was at the High Place sitting on a rock in the pool.
‘You shouldn’t be there,’ he said immediately.
‘I know, but you come through so clearly here. It’s almost as though I can touch you. You’re changing in front of my eyes, Laek. I can see the man you are becoming. Will you be too grand to admit we are friends then.’
‘We will always be friends.’
‘Good for I would not wish to lose your esteem. I have some news. Your half-sister Danea has joined your mother’s household. And it’s said that my sister Helise will soon also join.’ Jynx sounded troubled. ‘Helise is very beautiful, Laek. I wish I looked like her.’
‘You need not be envious of Helise. You have your own look, little Jynx. You’re petite, and your eyes are unusual. They have the cool green depth of jade. You seem unaware of your own attraction.’
The smile she gave lit her face. ‘But others are not. Today my father said to my mother that they must try and find me a husband. Your uncle refused to consider me for Grise and Kedar.’
His face flamed for at the insult in that. ‘May I ask why?’
‘Penn said I am too small to bear healthy young for his sons, and although he didn’t say it out loud I know he was suspicious that Remy and I might have some watcher genes. Not that I want to bear sons for them. Or daughters come to that. Now my parents are enquiring about Desii. His father said he’d only consider me if they paid him enough.’
‘Desii?’ That gave Laek a jolt, and dismay filled him. ‘Surely not.’
‘My mother told me she’d made a list of suitable husbands and he is next on the list. Remy has grown taller than me, and my mother thinks I might grow a little more.’
‘Perhaps you will.’
‘Helise told me I couldn’t be wed before her, anyway, and she was getting the best of them, which is you. She said that one day she will be the lady of Arles and Karshal. She has ingratiated herself with your father to make sure she will get her own way with him. She flatters him, as though she’s his daughter already. And she has a sharp tongue about your lady mother when Azarine is not there to hear it. Not that she says ill, but the bitter tone of voice gives a different meaning to the words.’
Sharply, he said, ‘Helise is disrespectful about my mother? Well, we shall see. I have not agreed to wed Helise yet. What of Remy?’
‘He visits Saire in the forest, and sometimes he has a faraway look in his eyes as if he sees things that nobody else does, so I think he has some forbidden magic in him. I’m frightened he’ll reveal it, Laek. I have given him a jade talisman to keep him safe. Who is that man in the cave?’
‘It’s Tighe. He’s one of the sons of Saire.’
From the corner of his eye Laek saw Tighe turned to gaze at him at the mention of his name.
‘Can Tighe see me?’
‘Tighe has the ability to, but not unless you want him to. He guards his privacy and doesn’t speak much, but he seems to know everything.’
‘He has a solemn face and his deep eyes have depth as well as being a pretty color. He is trustworthy.’
It wasn’t a question, it was a statement, and Laek flicked Tighe a glance. Tighe raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement of Jynx’s observation and grinned.
‘Jynx sees what she wants to see – a refreshing trait,’ he whispered.
‘May I speak to Tighe for a moment?’ Jynx asked.
Laek beckoned Tighe over. ‘Jynx wishes to speak to you.’
‘Lady?’ Tighe said, bowing.
Jynx laughed. ‘My mother would laugh if she heard me called that, and she’d beat me if she knew what I was doing. She has a heavy hand. I want to ask you something, Tighe. You will not be angry, will you?’
‘Anger is alien to me. What is your next question?’
Laek grinned when Jynx giggled and said, ‘You sound like one of those mechanical fortune tellers from the travelling fairs.’
‘I fail to detect any similarity in my speech.’
Jynx’s sigh bordered on exasperation. ‘Do you not possess a sense of humor?’
‘Yes ... I can read minds, as well. If you want to ask what passes between your brother and Saire, who is my father, just ask.’ Laek watched Jynx melt under the onslaught of Tighe’s smile and annoyance flickered through him.
‘I’m worried about what Remy is getting involved in.’
‘You needn’t be. Remy has his own destiny, and it’s not of this world. He couldn’t have a better teacher than my father. I can tell you about yourself. If you wish to know about you, then close your eyes, it will only take a tix or two.’
Who could resist, certainly not Jynx? Tighe fell quiet and his eyes focused on the water. Almost immediately Jynx’s mouth curved into a grin and she began to laugh. Reaching up she unraveled her braid and her hair fell about her shoulders in ripples of silvery strands.
Laek sucked in a breath. He’d never seen her hair unbraided before, and hadn’t realized it was quite so exquisite. She was a fey spirit, a sprite. ‘Why do you keep your hair braided and covered?’ he asked.
‘Because it’s an unusual color and my mother thinks it is different enough to attract unwanted attention. She said the women will be envious, and make fun of it, and the men will stare and will want to touch it.’
‘They will if you flaunt it as you are doing.’
Her face crumpled at the harsh condemnation in his voice. ‘I thought you might like it, Laek.’
‘Like it,’ he said roughly. ‘Look at yourself through my eyes and deny that you are a woman.’
A blush crept across her face. ‘I cannot see myself through your eyes, Laek, but I can’t deny what I am, and neither do I want to. What do you see?’
‘Would you have me feed your vanity with pretty phrases, Jynx? Would you have me tell you that you are the most exquisite creature that I ever set eyes on ... and that you have enchanted me with your glowing hair and eyes to the extent that I am nearly bewitched? I’ll not be able to concentrate on my training for days to come.’
She made an angry noise in her throat and her voice began to tremble as if she was about to cry. ‘No, and firstly because Tighe has already said as much, so my
vanity
is well satiated. I do not want you to lie. I shall not bother you again, Laek, high-and-mighty Prince of Arles. I take back every nice thing I’ve ever said or thought about you. I will never speak to you again.’
‘You will, because I shall command that you do.’
‘And I’ll ignore your command.’ A movement of her hand sent small ripples across the water then she must have changed her mind for it cleared and she was back again, her voice trembling with the wound he’d inflicted on her. ‘Do you really think all those things about me, Laek?’
Laek’s feelings were muddled about Jynx at the moment. To encourage her hero worship of him when he was to be wed to her sister was wrong. ‘I was teasing. I think of you as still a child.’
‘Hah! Then I’ll definitely not speak to you, again,’ she cried out with great passion and the pool below him began to froth and storm. This time when it cleared she was gone.
‘What’s wrong with her?’ Laek muttered, racked with guilt over the necessity to hurt his childhood friend.
‘Nothing is wrong with her. Jynx thinks she loves you, and you condemn her for having such tender emotions.’
‘We’ve always loved each other.’
‘As children, but now you’re nearly a man and Jynx is nearly a woman. Think on it.’ Tighe went back to whittling.
Laek remembered the giggle Jynx had given when she’d been talking to Tighe, and he frowned at him. ‘What did you say to Jynx during that mind exchange?’
Flicking him a glance, Tighe gave a faint smile before ignoring him.
‘Tighe, you’ll answer me. That’s an order.’
Tighe’s eyes took on a bland opaline glow as they slid his way. The next moment Laek found himself flying through the air. A couple of somersaults later and he landed in the water with a resounding splash.
Swimming to the side Laek began to climb up the handholds in the rocks towards the cave. When he got within earshot, he shouted. ‘I could have you killed for doing that.’
Tighe smiled and said nothing. Jon and Iago came out from the cave to see what the fuss was about, their swords half drawn in defense of their friend.
When Laek had nearly reached the top of rock his fingers slipped out of a perfectly good niche and he hurtled down into the pool again.
‘All right, so my rank doesn’t signify here. Damn you, Tighe! Let me out of this pool at once.’
Jon and Iago began to laugh. The next moment they clutched at each other and fell into the pool too. The three of them milled about, shouting and laughing and stirring up the mud, before they tired of the game and clambered out.
Grabbing hold of Tighe they took him by the hands and feet and threw him into the air. He was about to drop when he twisted in mid-air and turned into a peregrine. Plummeting into the water he came out with a fish struggling in his beak and flew to the cave, where he landed in front of the other three and fluffed his feathers. Before their eyes he turned back into Tighe.
But Tighe’s eyes now resembled those of a hawk and he gazed fiercely from one to another and smiled. In an instant two of them forgot what they saw. Jon picked up the fish and the pair went into the cave to prepare supper for the group. The reddish pupils of Tighe’s silvery eyes returned to normal.
Laek smiled at him. ‘No wonder we earned merits for mapping.’
‘You all learned the skills quickly. It was none of my doing.’
‘So ... as well as being a hesp, you have the ability to change form, Tighe. ‘Who are you? Have you been sent to protect me?’
‘You know who I am, Laek, the son of Saire. I am here to be trained in the art of combat and survival.’
For a moment Tighe’s eyes looked as though they had seen and survived many things. ‘You have wise old eyes at times, Tighe. Like a sage. I doubt if you need to be taught anything.’
‘You see what you want to see.’
‘Or what
you
want me to see.’
He shrugged. ‘There’s that.’
‘Jynx troubles me. She’s too young to be wed, especially to Desii.’
‘I can tell you to put that thought aside. Jynx is not destined for Desii.’
‘Then who?’
‘She will attain what her heart desires when the time comes for her to choose, and she will be happy. You have no need to fret about her. It was I who asked her to unbind her hair. I wanted your eyes to see it now there is the distance of time between you.’
‘Now they have seen it,’ Laek said roughly. ‘I have seen hair such as hers before. I can’t remember where.’
‘One day you will remember. Enough now, Laek, already I have said too much.’
* * * *
Jynx gazed at her reflection in the dish, and at the silvery ripples that flowed over her shoulders and down her back. Laek had hated it! She hated it! Nobody else she knew had hair like hers. It was odd. A throwback, she’d heard her mother whisper to her sister.
A throwback to what, or to whom? Her finger gently touched against the water then she began to braid her hair again, saying, ‘It would serve me better if I cut it off. I wish I knew where my looks came from.’
‘It would be a shame to cut it,’ her image whispered.
Jynx giggled at this latest magic the dish had thrown at her. ‘Pardon me, but you’re only my reflection. How can you hold a conversation with me, since we are one and the same?’
‘I can because this was my dish before a fit of ire caused me to throw it into the lake below the High Place. There it has waited to be found by someone worthy of it. Look closely at me, Jynx.’
Jynx noted that their looks were similar in all ways. But while she had braided her hair, the image in the water still had hers flowing free. And there was a garland of flowers about her brow. ‘I don’t understand. Who are you?’
‘I am Tiana.’
Jynx was suspicious and didn’t know what to say. There had only ever been one Tiana, and she’d been the lady of the legendary Lord Kavan. ‘What trickery is this?’ she said eventually.
‘No trickery my dear. You have inherited my genetics, and the immortal in me is part of your heart and mind. I’m here to tell you about the dish.’
‘I know about it. It acts as a messenger between myself and Laek, Prince of Arles.’
‘It is more than that. It’s a wishing dish and it has waited a long time for you. It will bring you anything you wish for, so guard it carefully and use it with great wisdom. I will help you. Just say my name when you need me.’