The Stolen Child (15 page)

Her father had warned her that crossing the
V
eil would be different, but
the reality had been even more unpleasant than she had expected.  Even her cycles weren't quite as bad
.  It was a little over twelve hours since they had cleared the
w
ays,
and t
he dizzy spells had grown less frequent, but only slightly less intense.

Steadier, she braved the stairs up to the bridge.  In spite of her queasiness, this was something she had to see.  She came up to find her father and Abasi already there.  Abasi was at the helm
and
her father
was
examining the
lumen
-displays over one of the consoles.  
T
raceries of light played out
on the glass windows
, projecting
information;
velocity, distance, angle of motion.  One sweeping line for the horizon.
 

Past the display
s
all she could see was a darkening sky and an endless spiral of heavy grey storm clouds below.  
Her heart sank a little as she saw that t
here was
n't
even a glimpse of the city.

Abasi turned and caught her expression.

"Storm rolled in about an hour before we did,"
h
e said.  "I'm keeping us over her, for now."

“The storm's not what worries me,” her father
added
.

Following his gaze, at first she couldn't make out anything but the wall of grey cloud.  Straining her eyes, she finally saw
the sleek white
ship
nestled in the clouds.  It lay on the far side of the storm's eye, made tiny by the distance, though she guessed it was nearly a match for the Triskelion in size.  
It's hull was brightly painted in designs of brilliant red and gold.
 

"They were
also
here when we arrived," Abasi said,
with a heavy sigh.
 

"Who are they?"
s
he said.

"It's the Jyoti.  She's registered to House Bhandari
,”
Abasi said.
 

Her father examined another display, his lips pressed into a thin line.
 

“They're staying veil-warped?”
he said, glancing past Abasi, towards the distant vessel.
 

“As tightly as they can,
by the looks of it,
”
Abasi replied.
 

“What d
oes that mean?
”
Arsha interjected.  "Veil-warped?"
 

“We try to be,
uh,
discreet, w
hen we're this side of the
V
eil,”
her father said, considering his words carefully.
 

“Because they don't remember the Exile,”
s
he prompted.  Sometimes, he seemed to forget just how much of this he'd already taught her.

“Right.  The
V
eil keeps them separate from the
other
worlds.  But it does more than that... It keeps everything about the Exile locked away.  The Hearth is like the calm eye in the centre of a storm.  So when we travel here, through the
V
eil, we sort of bring a part of it with us.  By keeping that
V
eil around our ship, we make it...”  He faltered.  “... Hard to find, I
suppose
.”

“They don't see us?”

“No.  They just don't remember,” Abasi said.

“Oh,”
s
he said, not sure that she really understood.  
“
So... Why did th
ose other guys
come here?  
What does
House Bhandari
have to do with this?
”
 

Abasi turned to look at her father, and for a moment neither of the men spoke.
 

“
It's a little complicated,” her father said.  “I've worked with Manindra... With Lord Bhandari, in the past, and I know the man is obsessed with Ur artifacts.  The Seeds in particular.  If he's learned about what's going to happen here, that a Seed is awakening, you can be sure that he'll try to get his hands on it.”
 

“
But how would he know?” Arsha said.  “You said maybe even the Guild doesn't know yet.”
 

“
Yes,” her father sighed.  “I suspect Manindra is the cause of that.  He has many allies within the Chamber of Foresight.  It wouldn't be easy to suppress a prediction of this scale, but for Manindra, I think it would be possible.  He could certainly pull enough strings, if he wanted this badly enough.  And I know that he does.”
 

“
If you're right, Rishi,” Abasi added, “then it means we're alone out here.  Just us and the Bhandaris.  No Guild backup.”
 

“
I know.  I'm not planning to start a fight, Abasi.  Trust me on that.”
 

“
Fates, I wish I could,” Abasi said, shaking his head.
 

“
If you know this Manindra guy... Lord Bhandari... Why can't you talk to him?  Tell him how dangerous this is?” Arsha said.
 

“
Because Lord Bhandari doesn't exactly think very kindly of me, sweetheart,” he said, smiling in a way that suggested there was something else he was holding back.  “Besides, Manindra won't be here on the Jyoti.  He'll have sent his sons to do his dirty work.  Rakesh and Naveen, probably.”
 

“
And just what do you plan to do about this, Rishi?” Abasi said, without looking up from the controls.
 

“
Get down there and find the girl.  Before they do,” her father replied.
 

“
And do you have any idea how you're going to find one girl in a city of millions?” Abasi said, still not looking up from the console he was studying.
 

“
Some,” her father said.  
“
Arsha, you've been practising with Ilona like I asked you to?”
 

Arsha nodded.
 

“
I'm... I'm getting the hang of it, I think.  But, I still haven't managed to find anything.”
 

“
No, I wouldn't expect so.  A seeker only really works over a short distance.  That's why we'll be taking the Zephyr down.  Once we're flying low over the city, you should be able to make a connection more easily.”
 

Abasi looked over at the two of them, incredulous.
 

“
Rishi, you can't be serious.  You're taking Arsha down there with you?”
 

“
Out of necessity, yes,” her father replied.  “I'd hoped to
use some other method to find the girl, but she's being warded.  With Arsha's connection, we should be able to track her down with a seeker, if we get close enough.  It's the best option we have, and I don't like it any more than you do.”
 

“
It's OK Uncle Abasi,” Arsha added, giving the man a brave smile.  “I wanted to help.  Really.”
 

Abasi gave them both a strange look, as if there was something he was struggling to contain.  With a forlorn shake of his head he turned away.
 

“
Alright,
I'll
start getting the Zephyr ready
,”
he
said, heavily.
 

“
Thank you.”  Her father nodded.  “Arsha, you should go find Ilona, get some more practice in.  I'll call you when it's time to go.”
 

“
OK,” she said, wondering if it was the lingering effects of the Veil that was making her feel nauseous, or something else entirely.
 

-

Rachael didn't really remember him changing back.  Just
the sight of
his face,
an
outstretched
hand
pulling her up from the cold ground.  She remembered walking, his coat around her shoulders.  Streets passed
by
in a
haze, as she heard the rumbling of thunder overhead.
 

They came to an alleyway behind a burned out shell of a building.  Another relic of the riots a summer past
.  
She sank to
the floor, huddled against the cold brickwork
.  Justin
knelt
beside her, his face heavy with
concern
.  She felt his hands on her shoulders, saw his mouth moving, but she couldn't make out the words.  Her body seemed to contract in on itself, everything collapsing in to
ward
some silent core where she could be safe and alone.

Rachael
felt
his
arms around her, as he urged her to stand.  His hand went to brush
the
hair out of her eyes, but she batted it away.  
H
is mouth kept on moving, making sounds that she could not understand.  The legs of her jeans were soaked black with blood.  She held up her fingers to inspect them, sticky and glistening red.  
S
he doubled over, felt the acid tang of vomit splash the back of her throat.  For a moment everything swam.

She shivered in the cold, as Justin wiped a rag across her mouth.  Footsteps blurred together.  Boxes, bare floor, garbage
piles
and a metal bin that was blackened with smoke.  A couch that had
clearly been scrapped and salvaged many times over
.  She la
id
her head down and sleep took her.

Her dreams lead her through darkened streets, chased by something that she only glimpsed.  Something wild and savage.  A wolf, howling towards a moonless sky.  A man with blood and foam around his lips.  Sometimes she caught the flicker of a long coat.  The streets kept leading her round in circles, and all the while the creature was closing.  Finally she stumbled and fell.  She looked up to see the creature charging at her, long hair wild and matted, lips dripping with blood.  But
it
had
Justin's face.
 

When she woke
there was a fire burning
in the blackened oil
drum
.  
Her thoughts were foggy, her eyes dimmed with the faint traces of sleep.  
It took her a while to focus past the flickering light playing at the edges of the steel drum, to where Justin sat on an upturned milk-crate.  His head was h
ung
low, his whole body curved over, elbows resting on his knees.  His
shoulders
rose and fell
with each breath
.  The fire cracked and popped,
the sound mingling with the downpour outside
.  The couch smelled damp and the air was smoky.

Her wrists hurt.  
As she rubbed at them, she saw
that her hands were clean.  
S
he not
iced
a
bucket
of water
on the floor
, its contents stained dark.

She saw that Justin was watching her, his
expression somewhere between pity and sorrow.  She realised that he was looking at her cheek, where the man had clawed at her.  Touching her fingers to the skin she could feel the ragged, stinging lines his nails had left.

“
D
on't,”
s
he whispered, her voice hoarse.  “Don't look like that.”

He turned his eyes away.

“I'm sorry,”
h
e said.  
T
he words didn't
really
seem to convey whatever he was trying to express.

“
D
on't want to hear it.  
You
ain't
my knight, or my bodyguard, or whatever.  I never asked you to
be looking after me
.”

“I was supposed to be.”

“Be what?”

“Your knight.”

“Right.  On your quest to bring me home.”

“You still don't believe any of this is real, do you?”

She stared at her hands, remembering the way the old man's blood had glistened
under the street lights
.

“I believe it.  I have to.  Nothing else makes sense.”

“I'm sorry.”

A pause.
 

“Did you kill him?”
s
he said, still unsure of her own jumbled memories of the attack.

“Yes,”
h
e said, his voice faint.

“Good,”
s
he said.

Justin nodded, his eyes fixed on the embers of the fire.
 

“I'm coming with you,”
s
he said, at last.  “I
mean none of this is gonna start making sense any other way, right?
  So, this place you're supposed to take me to,
wherever that is..
.  I'm coming with you.”

“It wasn't supposed to
go like
this,”
h
e said.

“
What
?”

“In my head... I imagined it would be different,”
h
e looked up and met her eyes.  “Sorry.  That probably sounds really stupid.”

“A bit,
yeah,
”
s
he said.  He winced.

Silence stretched out between them, as she struggled to find something to say.  Anything to take her thoughts away from the swirling storm inside her head.  
She could feel it
all
thundering away inside of her.  The fear, the sickness, the
screaming
vertigo of the whole world collaps
ing
underneath
her
.  She could feel it
all, even
as she forced it back down, deep inside.

“Tell me about her,"
she said.
  "The lady who sent you.  My... My mother.”

“She's... I
don't even know
where to start.”  He pushed a hand through his hair.  “She's gentle.  And beautiful.  But she can be scary, sometimes.  Not in a way that makes you want to run, but more like... Like she could be dangerous, if she wanted to be.  But you know that she'll never turn it on you.  That she'd never hurt someone she loves.  
You know
she'll protect you, with all that power.  And she's graceful,
and delicate.  She moves like water, or... Like leaves when they're caught on the air
.  
L
ike she's
always
dancing.”