The Last Of The Wilds (9 page)

The pipe offered only silence. She tried a few more homes and even the Main Room of the Palace, but though she heard the voices of other members of the traders’ families, or their servants, she heard nothing from the traders themselves.

Frustrated, she selected pipes at random. After hearing countless snatches of conversation, she caught a laugh that sounded much like one of the traders. It was a good laugh. One that put people at ease. Which was probably useful to a trader, she realized suddenly. He wanted people to relax, and relaxed people bought things. She’d noticed that about her aunt. If Teiti was annoyed or unhappy when she was at the market, she hardly looked at the wares in the stalls. If she was relaxed, she was much more likely to buy Imi a treat.

“... wager?”

“Yes. Ten.”

“Twenty.”

“Twenty, eh? Matched!”

“You?”

A sigh. “Out.”

“Settled? Yes? Turn.”

There was a triumphant chuckle, and a groan, then the light sound of corrie shells clinking against each other. She recognized the voices of the traders she’d overheard, plus a few more. They were playing squares, she guessed.

For several more rounds the traders’ comments related to their gaming, then they took a break to eat a late-night snack and drink drai. They began to talk of their families. She waited patiently for the talk to turn to their profession.

“Gili says he saw raiders off Xiti Island three days ago.”

“Not raiders,” a rough voice said. “Divers.”

Several of the traders cursed.

“Knew we shouldn’t have waited.”

“It was a gamble we had to take. It takes time for sea bells to get big.”

“And a lot less time for the landwalkers to steal them.”

“Thin, pale-skinned thieves!”

Imi’s heart skipped a beat. So the sea bells were somewhere near Xiti Island…

“Steal?” The one with the easy laugh gave a humorless chuckle. “It’s not stealing if nobody owns it. Nobody owns anything they can’t defend. We can’t even defend our own islands.”

“Huan made us the people of the sea. All treasures of the sea belong to us.”

“Then why doesn’t the goddess punish these divers? Why doesn’t she punish the raiders? If she means for us to have all the treasures of the ocean, she would stop the landwalkers taking them, or make us capable of stopping them.”

“Huan wants us to take care of ourselves.”

“How do you know that?”

“Either she means for things to be this way, or we have made some error.”

Imi sighed with frustration.
Stop talking about the gods!
she thought.
Talk about the sea bells again
. But the conversation fragmented into two different discussions.

“We should never have put aside so much of our knowledge of metallurgy. Or we should trade goods for swords from the mainland.”

“... lone swimmer might succeed where a group would not. The harvest was small, but better than…”

“What’s the use? They rust away in…”

“... dangerous. What if…”

“... you care for them properly. You need to…”

“... time it well. The right weather conditions… harder to see below the…”

“... surface with something to prevent corrosion. The landwalkers…”

“... won’t dive during bad weather.”

Imi’s mind was spinning from the effort of deciphering the different conversations. The trouble was, she wanted to hear both. The traders’ discussion of how a lone Elai might swim in and take some of the sea bells excited her, but she was also intrigued by the other traders’ interest in trading with landwalkers.

A distant tapping caught at her attention. She reluctantly pulled away from the pipe, then felt her heart constrict as she realized she was hearing footsteps drawing nearer. She leapt away from the pipe and dove into the cupboard. Just as she pulled the doors closed she heard the sound of the main door opening. She froze.

Looking between the cupboard doors, she felt a thrill of apprehension as she recognized the broad shoulders of the man strolling up to the pipes. At the same time she could not help smiling with fondness. Her father was humming to himself. She recognized the song as a popular new tune by Idi, the beautiful new head of the palace singers.

He bent to listen at the pipe that led to the singers’ cave. Imi watched, her heart racing. He was only a few steps away. Only the cupboard doors stood between them.

After a moment he straightened, smoothed his waist wrap, then swaggered out of the room.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Imi turned around. She grasped the frame of the hatch and pulled herself into the tunnel. Only when she had reached the other end did her heart stop racing.

She slipped out of the tunnel quietly, pushed the carving into place, and tiptoed back to her pool. Moving carefully to avoid splashing, she slipped into the water and felt the comforting coolness as it surrounded her.

I know where the sea bells are now
, she thought.
All I have to do is find a way to get away from Teiti and my guards, and slip out of the city. There are only two ways out of the city: the staircase to the lookout and the Main Pool… When did I decide I’d go, rather than send someone?

It wasn’t until the next morning that she began to wonder why her father had been eavesdropping on the singers’ cave.

The old storehouse was full of tantalizing smells. The odors were of wooden shipping trunks and straw mixed with the variety of goods they had contained, spiced with the salty tang of the sea breeze coming in from the docks a few streets away.

In one room the pungent odor of hroomya, the dye that produced an intense blue, overwhelmed all other scents. In another the warm smell of oiled leather dominated. One room was highly perfumed, while another’s stained floor reeked like a drink house. Goods from all lands of Northern Ithania had been stored here, from places Auraya had never seen.

A knocking brought her out of her reverie. She realized she had wandered far down the corridor and hastily turned back. As she reached the hall in which the former owner had conducted his business with customers, she stopped.
Am I ready to do this?

She took a deep breath and made herself walk over to the main doors.

As ready as I’ll ever be
, she told herself.
All I can do is try to keep any less pleasant consequences as small as possible
.

She straightened as she reached the heavy wooden doors. Grasping the handles, she pulled them inward. They parted and swung open with a satisfyingly impressive creak. Auraya smiled at the woman in Dreamweaver robes standing behind them.

Raeli, Dreamweaver Adviser to the White, gave Auraya a wary look. She had never made any attempt to hide her distrust of the White, but had always been cooperative. Auraya read from the woman’s mind that this strange meeting place had sparked both curiosity and wariness in the woman.

“Come in, Dreamweaver Adviser Raeli,” Auraya said, beckoning.

“Thank you, Auraya of the White,” Raeli replied. As she stepped inside her eyes moved around, taking in the storeroom’s hall and the corridor that led away. “Why have you brought me here?”

Auraya chuckled. “You come straight to the point. I like that about you.”

She indicated that Raeli should follow her, then, without waiting to see if she did, started walking slowly down the corridor. “Jarime is a large city and is growing ever larger. Until now the sick had to visit the Temple or send someone there to collect a healer priest when they needed the help of Circlian healers.” She glanced over her shoulder and was pleased to see that Raeli was following. Slowing so that the Dreamweaver caught up, she gestured at the empty rooms. “It is a long journey for some. To alleviate that problem, we are going to turn this place into a hospice.”

Raeli considered this news.
It is a good idea
, she thought.
It is about time the Circlians took better care of the poor living in this district. The distance to the Temple is a problem that some people overcome by consulting us Dreamweavers instead… Are the Circlians trying to take our custom away? Why has Auraya invited me here to tell me this? Her plans must involve Dreamweavers
. At once Raeli felt a rising suspicion.

“What do you want of us?” she blurted.

Auraya stopped at the entrance to the room that smelled of leather and turned to face the Dreamweaver. “To invite your people to join us. Dreamweavers and healer priests working together. I’d say it was for the first time, but it has happened before.”

Raeli frowned. “When?”

“After the battle.”

The Dreamweaver stared at Auraya.
So they admit we were useful
, she thought.
It would be nice if they thanked us. Or we got some kind of acknowledgment for our work… but I suppose this is an acknowledgment
. Her skepticism faltered for a moment and she felt a small thrill of hope.

Auraya looked away. “Of course, it might not work. Several healer priests have volunteered to work here with you, but they may find they are less tolerant and open-minded than they believe. The sick who come here might not accept your help. I doubt we will overcome more than a century of prejudice in a few weeks, months or even years. But,” she shrugged, “we can only try.”

The Dreamweaver moved into the opposite room, her nose wrinkling at whatever smell lingered there.

“I can’t answer for my people. It is a decision for the Elder.”

“Of course.”

Raeli glanced back. “This place will need a good clean.”

Auraya smiled ruefully. “Some rooms more than others. Would you like to have a look around?” She saw the answer in Raeli’s mind. “Come then. I’ll show you—and tell you my plans for modifications. I’d like your opinion on how we should change the water supply system.”

This time, as she continued down the corridor, Raeli walked beside her. Auraya described how both cold and heated water could be piped through the building. Each room would be fitted with a drain to allow for easy cleaning. There were operating rooms for surgery, and storerooms for medicines and tools. Raeli made simple suggestions in a quiet voice and thought frequently of older, more experienced Dreamweavers who could give better advice.

When they had explored every room they returned to the main hall. Raeli was quiet and thoughtful, musing that she had always laughed at the title of Dreamweaver Adviser because she didn’t believe the White would ever listen to her advice. Then suddenly she looked up at Auraya.

“Have you heard from Leiard?”

Auraya felt a jolt inside. She stared at Raeli in surprise.

“No,” she forced herself to answer. “You?”

Raeli shook her head. Scanning the woman’s thoughts, Auraya understood that Leiard had not just disappeared from her own life. No Dreamweavers had seen him since the battle. The Dreamweaver Elder, Arleej, was concerned about him and had asked all Dreamweavers to report to her if he was seen.

She felt a stab of worry and guilt. Had he fled everything and everyone out of fear that Juran or the gods would punish him for daring to be her lover? Or was he simply obeying Juran’s orders? But Juran had said he had ordered Leiard to leave, not to disappear completely.

He didn’t order Leiard to sleep with a whore, either
, she reminded herself. She started toward the hallway and Raeli followed.
He must have known I’d read his mind the next time I saw him
—
whenever that might be
—
and see his infidelity
.

But he had decided the affair was over, so he wasn’t actually being disloyal, she reminded herself.
That might have been forgivable if we’d been parted for a time, but we’d been separated for only a day
. She smothered a sigh.
Stop thinking about it
, she told herself.
It will get you nowhere
.

Opening the doors, Auraya stepped out into the sunlight. Two platten waited in front: the hired one that had brought Raeli, and the gold and white one that Auraya had travelled in. She turned to Raeli.

“Thank you for coming, Dreamweaver Adviser Raeli.”

Raeli inclined her head slightly. “It was my pleasure, Auraya of the White. I will pass on your proposal to Dreamweaver Arleej.”

Auraya nodded. She watched as Raeli climbed into the platten. As the vehicle trundled away a sound came to mind: the creak of a spring as an animal trap was set.
I am like a hunter
, she thought.
Knowing I need to set my traps for the good of others, but not liking it much
.

Holding a bucket out to the waterfall, Emerahl let it fill. Even with the vessel just touching the fall, the flow was strong enough to make her arm ache.

She had spent most of the last few days making the cave a more comfortable home. Felling a small tree, she had cut it up and bound lengths of wood together to make two simple beds and a screen behind which she and Mirar could attend to private matters. For those private matters, as well as for holding drinking water and other tasks, she had carved several wooden buckets out of sections of the trunk.

Since Mirar must remain inside the void, the fetching of water and gathering of food was her responsibility—but not one she minded. The forest was a bountiful place, full of edible plants, animals and fungi. Little had changed since she had last stayed here. Without magic and hundreds of years of accumulated knowledge, surviving would have been more difficult. And dangerous, too.

As many plants in the forest were poisonous as not. She had seen several beautiful venomous insects, but they lurked in nooks and holes that only a fool might stick his or her hands in. The larger predatory animals, like leramers or vorns, might have been a problem if she hadn’t had magic to fend them off. She was alert to the beguiling effects of sleepvine, which used a telepathic call to lull animals into resting on its carpet of soft leaves, while slowly winding its limbs around them in a hold that eventually strangled and dismembered. Long ago she had met a plant breeder who had made himself rich selling a weaker dwarf variety to lords and ladies who had trouble sleeping.

The bucket was overflowing. She grasped the tough rope handle in one hand and picked up the second bucket. This was full of the afternoon’s harvest. With both buckets swinging, she strode into the tunnel.