Arrows of Time (20 page)

‘I don’t follow.’

Do I give the long or the short version?
He sighed. ‘Think of it this way, Caller. Everything is energy and all energy vibrates at a particular frequency. Energy also cannot be made or unmade. It simply is.’

‘What’s this got to do with it?’

‘Do you think the sex act creates a new person? It doesn’t. It’s merely a magnet that constellates being. brings together the molecules that form a new body, a habitat—something for a soul to dwell in.’

‘I still don’t follow.’

Long version, then
…‘We know that energy is always moving into manifest formation, through it and out again.’

‘Manifest form in this case, being a body?’

‘You can think of it that way, yes. There’s a link, like a beacon, that the soul uses to find its new placement.
When that happens, the body materialises from the sex act, which is not only DNA recombination but a “vibrational” alignment. When the DNA, energy vibration and soul match, a pregnancy occurs. A child is born, and the soul jumps in. Actually, the soul jumps in before birth usually, but that’s the basic order of things. Does that make sense?’

‘It’s not quite what the mystery schools teach, but also not so different. I follow. You’re saying that there are no souls hovering about to trigger any new bodies, hence no reproduction?’

‘That’s about it, though I am not certain yet. It’s a calculated guess. There are other possibilities too.’

‘There’re plenty of animals reproducing.’

‘That would suggest plenty of animal intention souls.’

She nodded, cupping her tea with both hands.

Jarrod closed his eyes for less than a blink. ‘Tell me, Caller,’ he asked. ‘Are there deaths?’

She frowned. ‘No more than usual.’

‘But no less?’ Jarrod watched her expression as she struggled with the concept. He was perplexed by it himself. If energy always moved into form, through form and out of form, why was it only going one way here? Why only out of form and not into it?

‘No less death,’ she answered. ‘Can you tell me why this is happening?’

‘I’ll need to investigate further.’

‘I suggest you get started immediately.’

She drained her teacup and stood, calling in the guard. She patted Jarrod’s shoulder and mouthed the words
thank you
before her face turned sour as if she’d tasted bitter fruit. ‘I’d hoped for more from you—solutions, cures, explanations. You’ve only given me riddles to ponder.’

Jarrod hid his surprise. She certainly was paranoid. ‘I’ll know more soon,’ he replied. He leaned towards
her, extending his hand. ‘May I have your leave to explore the city and talk with your people? I may need to travel as well.’

She waved the question away. ‘Do what you must, if you think it will help. I’ll expect you back soon with a substantial result.’

He didn’t move.

‘You may go,’ she said.

‘There is still the matter of my friends.’

She gave him a quizzical look. ‘Your friends?’

‘My travelling companions. They didn’t arrive with me. You said you might know something?’

The Caller motioned the guard out, though the door remained open and he stood well within earshot. ‘Did I say that?’ She chuckled, running a hand over her close-cropped hair.

Jarrod waited for her mirth to subside.

‘They never arrived,’ she said, humour still dancing in her eyes. ‘You must have lost them before you got here.’

‘Rosette?’ Shane whispered.

She turned to him, the breeze lifting long strands of hair. Her lips curved into a smile as she gazed back over the valley. ‘What’s that, Shane?’

‘Can I thank you now?’

She laughed. ‘You may. We’re above Corsanon, safe and sound.’ She’d dismounted, holding the reins lightly as her horse’s head drooped, eyes half shut. The mare cocked a hind foot and fluttered her nostrils. Both horses had laboured hard, increasing the gap between them and their pursuers by many leagues before the first nightfall. They were days ahead now, if the temple guards had even continued the chase.

The young pup who called himself Fynn was asleep, draped over the saddlebags, tied there like a sausage link. He hadn’t protested when Rosette took him on
board. He had refused to be left behind, and it had broken her heart to watch him struggle to keep up. When he’d fallen back she’d sent Drayco to retrieve him. He’d hoisted the pup by the nape of his neck and Rosette had made room for him across the saddlebags. She felt a soft spot growing for the little guy, though she didn’t know what in the many-worlds she would do with him.

‘Still no pursuit?’ Shane asked, searching the horizon.

She closed her eyes for a moment. ‘I can’t sense them at all.’

‘Not much of a guard team, really.’

Rosette frowned as she undid the ties securing Fynn. ‘I agree, and that bothers me.’

‘Maybe so, but it was lucky for us.’

She lifted the pup and nested him in the grass that carpeted the mountain ledge. He let out a huge sigh but didn’t wake up.

‘Lucky, though they didn’t have a chance in any case. These horses left them in the dust.’ She ran up the stirrup and unbuckled the girth before hauling the saddle off. ‘I would have loved to have met their High Priest, just to learn what the big “women-with-swords” taboo was all about.’

Shane leaned against his horse, letting it rub its sweat-crusted forehead on his shoulder. He’d improved his horsemanship skills considerably in the last few days, and he was proud of it, if somewhat saddle sore. ‘Probably it’s what all taboos are about,’ he said.

Rosette looked at him.

‘Generating fear to stay in control.’ He answered the unspoken question.

‘I don’t know how it could happen at Treeon, but your theory sounds right.’ She began vigorously rubbing down the mare with a thick cloth.

‘Do you know what would sound better?’

‘Show me.’ She knew what was coming next and it made her smile. He reached into his pack and pulled out a low whistle. The tune he played was rich and sorrowful; it was like the sound of a lone raven searching for its mate—sad, yearning yet hopeful. When he finished, Rosette wiped tears from her cheeks. ‘That’s beautiful.’

‘Ta.’

‘Did you write it?’

‘Aye.’

She looked at his face and noticed a hollowness there she hadn’t spotted before.

‘Selene?’

He looked away. She took Shane’s hand and gave it a squeeze. It felt cold to the touch.

‘When’s her birthday?’

‘What?’

‘I’m a star-witch, remember.’

He nodded. ‘We call it Caprimarius, half-serpent, half-goat. You know it?’

Rosette nodded. ‘The Sea-goat? Of course.’

‘So tell me, does that mean anything to you?’

‘It says something about her ambition and maybe a leaning towards self-sufficiency.’

‘That’s playing it soft.’ He broke off a grass stem and chewed one end. His horse took it out of his mouth and finished the job. Rosette pushed the animal over a few paces to unsaddle it, rubbing down one side while Shane did the other.

‘Does that mean she’ll never want a partner?’ Shane asked, straightening his back.

‘Everyone wants a partner, Shane. Just different kinds and for different reasons.’

‘And her reasons?’

‘If I had to guess?’

‘Please do.’

‘To build an empire.’

He snapped off another tassel of oat grass. ‘That explains it.’

‘How so?’

‘I’ve no interest in empires—building up, or taking down.’

‘There are other ways to connect.’

He wrinkled his nose. ‘Would she think sex was one of them?’

‘Of course.’ Rosette laughed. ‘The Sea-goat is as sensual as she is ambitious.’

‘Not seeing much of that side.’

‘Don’t worry, Shane. We’ll get you home and you’ll sort it out.’

‘Is that a prediction?’

‘It’s an intention—one you might want to take up yourself.’

He nodded.

‘Meanwhile, she’s safe. She’s with Jarrod, after all.’ Rosette grinned widely, picking up the horse’s hooves and checking for stones.

Shane raised his eyes to the surrounding mountain peaks, staring at them for some time before putting his whistle back in his pack. ‘That’s not much comfort, actually.’

‘Are you kidding? He can protect her, if that’s what you’re worried about, though from what you say she sounds like she can protect herself. Good woman. But Jarrod’s different.’

‘In what way?’

She shrugged. ‘It’s complex.’

‘I think he’s the one that’ll need protecting. I saw the way she looked at him.’

‘Really? How?’

Shane gave her a look that made sweat prickle the small of her back.

‘Oh. I get it.’

‘She likes
different
,’ Shane said. ‘She likes complex as well.’ He spat out the blade of grass. ‘She likes it a lot.’

Rosette wrinkled her brow. ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’

‘I have…’

She patted him on the shoulder, not knowing how else to respond. Shane was trapped in a creation that was not to his liking, and nothing she could say or do would change it. His emotional dilemma with Selene was his business anyway, not hers. She had dilemmas of her own.

Grayson?

Are you listening in, Drayco?

Only when it’s interesting.

She sighed.
He’s been gone a long time, that’s all. Or rather, I’ve been gone from him for a long time.

You miss him?

Feels like it.

Maybe he’s not as far away as you think.

What do you mean?

You don’t know?

She put her hands on her hips and stared down at her temple cat’s amber-orange eyes.
You can enlighten me?

No, Maudi. This is one you best work out on your own.

She frowned and roughed his neck.
Then I will!

She led the horses to the edge of the path that wound its way like a snake to the basin below. There, grasslands rolled in broad low hills, dotted with dusty grey cows and jet-black calves. The occasional moo bellowed up to the top of the ravine, answered by the high-pitched bawl of a young one. The wind rustled the white-barked trees. She’d never seen the valley so beautiful.

She released the horses, slipping their bridles off over their ears and stepping aside. They stood for a moment, looking back at her, until she slapped their shining black rumps and shooed them along. ‘Have a break, my gorgeous ones. You’ve earned it.’

Swishing their long tails and nickering to each other, they shook their heads and ambled down the path, breaking into a trot until they reached the edge of the grazing land. There they stopped as one and dropped their heads to the grass. Drayco yawned massively as he watched them. Fynn slept on.

‘Will they be all right?’ Shane asked as he leaned against the rock face.

Rosette laughed at the horses cropping the tall grass. ‘I should think so. And so will be the Corsanon herdsman when he finds two Treeon Temple steeds prancing around in his fields. There would be a reward for their return, I imagine. At least, on my Gaela there would.’

I smell rabbit.
Drayco stood and stretched before he lunged over a shrub and darted away.

Don’t be long. We aren’t staying.
She reached out to Shane and pulled him forward.

‘Come on. Let’s swim.’

‘And then home?’ he asked, following her down the path to the water.

‘Which one?’ she said, stripping off her clothes when she reached the water’s edge.

‘Mine,’ he said, doing the same.

She didn’t answer right away. She’d have loved to go home to her Gaela. But she hadn’t seen Kreshkali in…she paused. How long would it have been? The time loops they’d been experiencing made it impossible to know. It felt like ages. She wanted to see her, and she wanted to find Grayson. They’d separated too quickly. There’d been no time to talk, no time to clarify their
connection. But she also needed to find Jarrod, and get Shane back to Tensar. That was a priority.

Torn between her intentions, she trod water, swishing it around her body as her arms glided in circular motions just under the surface, flutter kicking to keep her head up. Finally, she flipped over on her back and floated, letting the gentle current take her downstream.

‘Not back to Tensar yet, Shane,’ she said as he swam beside her. ‘We don’t want to walk into that time loop again. I was thinking more of my other home world. We can get some perspective there, and consult with Kreshkali. She’ll help get this mix-up straightened out.’

Shane rolled over like an otter. ‘Earth?’

‘That’s the goal.’

‘What’s it like?’

She swam back to the embankment, Shane still at her side. ‘I think I’ll have to show you. It’s too hard to describe.’

Drayco?

Here, Maudi. I have a rabbit! Are you hungry too?

Not so much, lovely, but can you save some for Fynn?

If I must.

Please?
Her feet sank into the mud as she stood, walking the rest of the way out of the water.
You know what he’s like when he’s hungry
…

Say no more. I’ll nab a whole one just for him.

She swiped the water from her body and lay down in the grass. Within minutes the sun had dried and warmed her skin enough for her to get dressed. She and Shane climbed back up to the portal in silence.

Can you meet us at the top, Drayco? It’s time to go.

He answered by appearing around the other side of the ledge, his pace leisurely, a limp jack rabbit dangling from his mouth.

‘Nice one,’ she said and stroked the top of his head. ‘Fynn will be pleased.’

And famished.

‘If he ever wakes up.’

Drayco didn’t respond, but his eyebrows twitched.

Rosette scooped up the pup and led the way to the portal. It was hidden in the crevice of the mountainside, but she knew where to find it. This may be a different Gaela, but the land was the same above Corsanon—at least it seemed to be. As she entered the portal that led to the corridors between the many-worlds, she felt the tingling of the plasma energy that always enraptured her. Bliss.
Are you with me, Dray?