Eyes of the Alchemist (30 page)

She tried not to panic as she clung to Kavan, but there was no fear in him and she took comfort and strength from that. Just as the melt reached her mouth she tilted her chin up, closed her eyes and sought his mouth in one last, desperate kiss.

The shaft filled with a pulsing, incandescent light of such power she’d have cried out from the pain of it if she could have drawn a breath.

So this is what dying is like, she thought, feeling Kavan’s heart beat steadily against hers. Something squeezed against the base of her skull.

There was an instant of bliss, of knowing that Kavan loved her too much to allow her to suffer. Then she experienced nothing more.

Just before morning Truarc turned curve down and the two planets moved together. It proved to be a less catastrophic joining than Kavan has predicted, his calculations fortified by a formula applied by the alchemist, who’d been preparing for such an event for thousands of years.

The alchemist told himself he would have remembered to correct Kavan’s calculations, even without his granddaughter’s reminder. For a moment he wondered how they fared, then he bent his mind to the problem of how to divert a large meteorite shower that Celeste the young star goddess had blown his way.

“Hmmm, a bit tricky,” he muttered. “She could have chosen a less destructive move for her turn of the dice.” 

As the forces of earth crushed together, the melt spilt from the mountain and spread along the rift, filling the cracks and gullies. Over time, mountain ranges emerged from the land and tidal waves flooded the plains. Rivers changed course.

There were casualties on both sides. Those Truarc who didn’t heed the warnings to evacuate the edge towns, perished.

Due to Kavan’s preparations there were not as many deaths as estimated. Cabrilan survived intact. The disturbance took less time and affected an area smaller than Kavan had predicted when adjusted to precision by the alchemist – but he didn’t know it.

* * * *

Time passed. Comfortable in his new skin, the manipulative Finn allowed a period of mourning for Kavan and then suggested a new ruler should be chosen for Cabrilan in the age old way of might-of-arms.

Only the younger troopers challenged him, several sustaining mortal wounds before Torma called an end to the bloody one-sided contest to proclaim Javros Lord.

As the seasons passed Finn was unable to sustain the charm needed to be Javros. It began to dawn on the populace that the new Lord was not what he once had seemed. He was unwise in his judgment, unfair in his dealings and it soon became obvious he cared only for his own glory and comfort.

There was discontent.

Kavan’s elite palace guards were disbanded. Finn recruited his own guard from the prison, brutal men who thought nothing of using their position to steal and rape.

When the Cabrilan protested his rule became harsher. Gone were the promises of education. The library was sealed again and the people grumbled. Now withdrawn, the thought of book learning suddenly became very precious to them.

When the farmers refused to grow food, Finn abducted their daughters and gave them to his guards. 

Fear stalked the streets like a mangy feral cat. A curfew was enforced.

Finn snubbed the Truarc elders who’d been promised positions on the council by Kavan. When they presented petitions, the Cabrilan lord summoned
The High One
and held him hostage in the manor on pain of death.

Kavan’s elite troop, horrified by change in their former comrade, held secret meetings to plot against him.

There was a crippled child kept hidden from the new lord by Torma and Benlogan. Part mystic, part visionary, Santo begged Torma not to despair.

“I dreamed of Kavan and Lady Tiana,” he told them. “Our true lord told me all was well with them. He said we must take heart and they will return, one day.”

As each day passed famine spread. Finn’s thugs roamed unrestrained through the streets and the townsfolk became frightened to walk abroad.

So it became harder and harder to believe the rumor that Kavan would return, and people lost heart.

* * * *

There was a final upheaval, one that lasted several days. Inside the mountain, a shaft of precious crystal cracked along its length and shattered into pieces. A pod-shaped chunk was shaken to the top and expelled from the dreaming place. It rolled and bounced down a slope into a swiftly flowing river. Carried off by the current it entered a gorge that twisted and turned for many leagues then poured underground only to divide and take different routes.

Above, the faithful Shazah followed the water’s course, soaring high in the air to keep watch over the many outlets when it went underground. Eventually, she was rewarded. The crystal pod emerged in the sunken forest, tumbled over a fall and drifted slowly along a backwater to wash on to a sandy bank of the lake at the
High Place
. It had changed little, except to subside and shift to the edge of the forest. The alchemist’s tomb had sunk beneath the waters of the lake. Shazah came to rest on the bank and began to graze on the lush vegetation of the forest.

After a while, a pair of watchers lowered themselves from the tree canopy and sat a little way off. They gazed at each other and smiled, and then one gave a high-pitched whistle. Others joined them and they chatted amongst themselves.

From the treetops, they kept watch over the pod and whispered amongst themselves.

As is the way of things, the whisper was picked up by a passing breeze and blown against the ear of a woman hanging her laundry out to dry. She told it to her neighbor who passed it on to her son. In turn he entrusted the secret to the daughter of Benlogan, his newly betrothed.

The mood of the people changed. It was with a lightness of heart they went about their daily tasks. They began to laugh and sing again, but not when the few loyal to the usurper were around, for they would keep the secret hidden.

* * * *

The season turned, the new one bringing with it the bright summer moon.

There came a time of enchantment. The sky was filled with drifts of sparkling dust through which the stars glowed with many colors. A ray of light shafted down through the trees to touch upon the crystal surface. The pod split open and melted into the sand.

A breeze blew down from
The High Place.
It filled Kavan’s nostrils, inflated his chest and pressed caresses against his eyelids. He woke to discover Tiana snuggled against him. She was breathing deeply and easily. Her hair had grown long again. It fell softly about her shoulders and glowed with a faint luminosity. He pressed a kiss against each of her eyelids. “My own true love,” he murmured, for his mind was filled with her and only her.

The jewels of her eyes were revealed to him. Her smile was soft with love. She touched his beard, smiled, and then stretched against him in one sinuous movement. “Mmmm, I feel so good. Did I hear you say you loved me, Bramble-face?”

A smile played around his mouth. Dappled with moonlight, her skin seemed embraced with magic. He thought his heart might burst from loving her, his body with its urgency to possess her. “I adore every part of you. You make my heart sing with joy and my body . . .?” He chuckled. “You must be well aware of my body.”

A smile curved against his face. “I’m aware, and of my own to receive you. You’re still alive and so am I. Love me, Kavan, this place has a special feel to it.”

His loins throbbed with his own power when he reached for her. Above them, the watchers’ eyes blinked shut.

For days the lovers’ minds and bodies were as one in the enchanted place. They bathed in the healing waters of the lake, listened to the music of the fall and ate the delicacies the watchers’ left for them.

Kavan showed off for his lady, dazzling her eyes with his feats of daring as he rode Shazah standing upright and at breakneck speed, or somersaulted over the fall in a perfect dive. She teased him with laughter and song and hid from him.

By day, the sun shone, the flowers bloomed and the air was polished with a seductive perfume. By night enchanted moon-dust fell on their bodies, clouded their sight for anything but each other, and drew them into a web of sensual pleasure.

They listened to the watchers as they told of Finn’s deception.

A tiny seed took root deep in Tiana’s body.

At dusk one day, they exchanged a regretful glance and knew the outside world was calling them back.

Kavan pulled her close. “We must return to the manor tomorrow and I must challenge Finn. Whatever the outcome I’ll never forget this time with you, Tiana of my heart.”

Her eyes filled with love when they met his. “Nor I, Kavan, my lord . . . ” mischief filled her eyes, “. . . and my master.”

When he laughed, birds flew, startled, from the forest canopy to circle overhead.

* * * *

Out gathering firewood, a trooper whose life had been saved by Tiana heard the laughter. He rubbed a finger down the scar down his middle, which had begun to tingle. Was this the sign they’d all been waiting for? He must make sure.

Nobody saw him slip into the forest after curfew. He crept through the undergrowth towards the sacred place. Though it was banned to all, he must make sure he was not mistaken. He came across footsteps in the sand. Shazah grazed by the side of the lake and there was a man, and a woman with hair the color of moonlight.

He was back a little while later, his eyes wide with the importance of his news. He sought out Torma at his lodging, slipping into the house of Benlogan by a secret passage.

With Torma at his side he grinned at the assembly of Kavan’s troopers, all dressed in the outlawed colors of purple and silver. He was proud to be the bearer of the glad tidings. “Our Lord and Lady are back. They are at the
High Place
.

The troopers crowded round him, eager for news. “How did they seem? Were they well? What did they say?”

 The trooper’s face cracked into a grin. “They were . . . um  . . . engaged with other, more pressing matters. I left him a sign on a rock, my trooper’s insignia on the only track out of the place. If he can take his eyes off his lady he cannot miss seeing it.”

A chorus of ribald remarks, grins and elbow shoving went on.

Torma cracked his knuckles to bring it to an end. He drew his sword and held it high. Light reflected along its length when he said quietly. “My life for my Lord and his Lady.”

The replies came as one voice. “My life.”

* * * *

The whole troop was lined up on the battlements when Kavan rode in under cover of darkness.

Torma smiled with delight as he greeted him, then he reached up to lift Tiana down from Shazah. Undetected, he managed to press a kiss on her cheek when the others crowded silently around Kavan. To his delight, though her smile chided him, she hugged him in return.

By the time the inhabitants of the manor stirred, all the troopers were in position, their uniforms disguised by voluminous grey cloaks.

 The grievance court was held early. Matters were dealt with in a haphazard manner, for Lord Javros preferred being entertained to the tedium of administration. He’d reintroduced the old sport of gibber wrestling, where a condemned prisoner was dropped into a pit with a pair of hungry gibber monkeys.

Today, they had a woman prisoner. The mother of a young Truarc maid, she’d sent her daughter into hiding rather than give in to the right of her lord to claim the girl. The match had been widely publicized, and was sure to flush the young woman out. When it did she would join her mother in the pit. It promised to be an exciting match.

 Benlogan bowed to him when the court was dismissed. “There’s a traveler who seeks an audience, sire.”

“The court is over for the day.”

“He’s heard of your bravery in bringing together the rift, and bears a gift.”

Finn waved a languid hand at Benlogan. “What sort of gift?”

“A woman for your pleasure, sire. It’s said she’s a Truarc maid of good birth and great beauty. She would make you a suitable partner.”

Chrisany exclaimed with annoyance. “Lord Javros can have any woman he likes. He doesn’t need a permanent partner, however beautiful she thinks she is.” She slapped away the hand of an infant who tried to cling to her skirt. “Go away and find your nurse.”

The toddler stuck her thumb in her mouth and stared up at her mother, tears gathering in her eyes.

The way the ruler glared at Chrisany informed everyone he was tired of her interference. “It’s for me to decide whether I want the woman or not.”

Benlogan leaned over and whispered in his ear. “There are whispers that the traveler brings you the Truarc maid you so desired, Lord. It is said she wishes to beg for her mother’s life.”

Eyes sharpening, his attention fully on Benlogan now Javros nodded. He plucked a ripe peach from a bowl and peeled it with a show of great boredom. “I’ll give her a few tix of my time to plead her cause, no more.”

Kavan pulled his cowl over his head and made his way forward. Placing the sack on the floor he opened the end. There was a shower of silver and purple sparkles and Tiana appeared.

“You?” Javros said, shooting to his feet. The color drained from his face when Kavan flung back the cowl. The peach dropped to the floor in a splat of wet flesh. “What trickery is this, Kavan? The pair of you died by my own hand.”

An ominous rumble of discontent fired through the crowd.

Tiana bowed low. “Felicitations, you
gangrenous maggot
! You condemn yourself with your own filthy confession.”

She has a deliciously waspish way with words, Kavan thought when a gasp of delight went through the audience. They began to clap and cheer. The child copied them, and then smiled widely at Tiana. “Pretty, Lady,” she lisped.

 Tiana smiled back at the child and wiggled her fingers. A furry toy appeared in her arms. The child gazed down at it with wondering eyes, then giggled with delight.

Chrisany stepped forward, her eyes hard and calculating. “Forgive my son, Lord Kavan. He knows not what he says. His confession was born out of grief, which has twisted his thoughts to make him appear more powerful in his own eyes. We thought you were dead. Everyone did.”