Firewalk (45 page)

It took Kayli a few moments for her “eyes” to adjust, even in a visualization; however, when the brilliance no longer dazzled her, she could see before her a huge fire burning white-hot, smaller flames flickering out to the sides and sparks spraying outward to light smaller fires nearby. Although the sight was alarming, Kayli was reassured. Yes, the visualization was a good one, solid and true.

Brick by brick, Kayli imagined a stone floor around the fire; immediately the small side fires died and the smell of burning grass vanished. Next she built up the wall of the forge, pressing inward on the flame and forcing it into a smaller and smaller space until the fire was confined to a good-sized firepit. Again and again the flames tried to escape their confinement, sending out tendrils of white fire and spraying sparks outward, but each time Kayli patiently confined it. Last, she filled her forge with the details that made it real to her—coal and bellows, pokers and shovels and barrels of water, tongs and hammer and brooms, until the solidity of the stones under her “feet” was as real as the memory of her forge in Agrond. As long as she periodically tended this visualization, her power would remain her servant.

Kayli emerged slowly from her meditative trance to the sound of a quiet scratching at the door. She stood slowly, stretching her muscles and groaning as her numb feet came painfully awake, and hobbled to the door, opening it just wide enough to see Vayavara standing outside.

“Follow me,” the priestess said quietly. “All has been prepared.”

To Kayli’s amazement, the temple was dark and still and the halls were empty; it had been some time since she spent so many hours in meditation. But at least she had not spent the whole time worrying and pacing the small chamber.

Vayavara led her unerringly through the corridors despite the darkness, and Kayli wistfully recalled a time when the temple—at least the sections to which she had had access—had been as familiar to her. She followed Vayavara down the stairs they had descended before, and once again the priestess unlocked and opened the door to the room where Randon slept.

Randon lay exactly as he had before. This time Kayli stood back while Vayavara stepped into the doorway, raising her hands. The priestess recited no ritual—at the priestess’s level of skill, Kayli would have been surprised if she had required any formal ritual at all—and abruptly the light of the runes winked out, although the torches burned as before. Vayavara traced a last symbol in the air with her fingertip, then stepped briskly into the room, motioning for Kayli to follow her.

Kayli knelt at Randon’s side, folding his cold, still hand between her own. Her heart ached to see him so pale and motionless, the rise and fall of his chest so shallow and slow. She could barely feel his heartbeat in his wrist.

Vayavara laid her hand briefly over Randon’s eyes, then removed it. Kayli was overjoyed to see him stir then, and his breathing grew deeper and more frequent, but he still did not wake. Kayli glanced worriedly at Vayavara.

“His spark has been banked for many hours,” the priestess said impatiently. “You can fan it alight better than I.”

Kayli stifled a flash of impatience of her own—how was she supposed to know how to deal with such magic?—but she bent to press her lips to Randon, putting all the desire she could into her kiss, at the same time flexing her new control to allow a tongue of her own Flame to flicker through her to him. Immediately a shudder went through Randon’s body, and when she sat back on her heels, his eyes opened. Kayli sighed with a double relief; she had wondered whether Vayavara actually expected her to couple with Randon then and there.

Randon’s eyes slowly focused on her face.

“Kayli?” he murmured groggily. “I can’t—don’t—what’s hap—”

“Not now, Randon,” Kayli said hurriedly, easing her arm under his shoulders to help him sit up. “We are in danger, great danger. Can you walk?”

“Danger?” He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “I can walk. I think. If it’s not far.” He glanced around blearily. “But isn’t this—”

“Not now,” Kayli insisted. “Come, let us be away from here quickly.”

In the end, however, Vayavara had to loop Randon’s free arm over her shoulder and help him stumble down the hall. Kayli remained silent, but she worried when Vayavara led them deeper into the cellars, not back up the way they had come. At last, however, Vayavara pressed a spot on the stone wall and a section of the stone swung silently aside, revealing a dark, narrow passage leading steeply upward.

“Here I leave you,” she said, lifting Randon’s arm from her shoulder. “This passage ends in the stable. Your horses are saddled and packed. I suggest,” Vayavara added wryly, “that you proceed with haste.”

“Thank you.” Kayli bowed her head slightly in lieu of a proper bow acknowledging the priestess’s rank. “I will consider all you have said, and when I know the truth of what you have told me, I will keep my word to you as best I can.”

Vayavara inclined her head slightly, but said nothing. A moment later she had vanished back into the dark corridor.

Randon pulled his arm from around Kayli’s neck, although his hand still clutched her shoulder and Kayli could feel him swaying slightly on his feet.

“I think I can walk now,” he said. “But what’s happened? We’re still at the temple, aren’t we? What’s wrong?”

“Please, not now,” Kayli said, leading him into the narrow passageway. How she could explain what she had learned, she did not know, nor what she could say if Randon disagreed with her conclusions. If she once began to doubt herself, she would never manage the courage to leave, so she must do it now before she thought about it too much.

“All right, then.” Randon’s voice was still so weary that it wrenched at Kayli’s heart, and she realized guiltily that he had had neither food nor water since before the Gate, and she did not know if he had even truly rested in his magical sleep.

The passage ended in a wooden door, Kayli pushed on it until it slid smoothly aside, and to her surprise they emerged inside one of the stalls. Kayli helped Randon past the drowsing horse, and once they were out of the stall, she found two horses saddled and ready. She was grateful to see that Vayavara had chosen the swiftest horses in the stable, but wondered whether that really mattered; if Brisi wanted to track or pursue them, she had means far swifter and more sure than horses.

Saddlebags already hung at the horses’ sides, but Kayli took the time to inspect the contents before she helped Randon to mount. The warm cloaks her father had given her had been brushed and packed, and there was food and water, but nothing else—no tent, no sword or bow. Olhavar was, of course, only a short ride from the Order, but Kayli wondered uneasily whether they would require weapons before reaching their goal. Unfortunately there were no weapons kept at the Order except—

Except—

Kayli made certain that Randon sat steadily on his horse, then hurried to the back of the stable, feeling on the shelf for the bundle of oiled leather containing her hunting bow and arrows. There! She fastened the bundle to her saddle, carefully not wondering whether she could bring herself to fire those arrows at any Bregondish warriors who might see her and, not knowing who she was, attack what must surely appear to be spies from Agrond.

“All right,” Randon said tiredly. “Let’s go if we’re going. But I wish you’d tell me where we’re going, and why.”

“As to where, there is only one place,” Kayli said as they rode out of the stable. “The palace—my father’s palace in Olhavar. And as to why, I will tell you as we ride.”

Randon remained silent as she talked, asking no question. Kayli told him all that Vayavara had said, omitting only the priestess’s speculation about High Lord Terendal’s death. Vayavara’s other accusations could be proved or disproved with time; any hint that High Lord Terendal had been murdered could likely never be proven now and would only anger Randon needlessly. When Kayli finished, Randon rode without speaking, apparently considering her words.

“This priestess, this Vayavara,” Randon said slowly at last. “Do you believe her?”

Kayli shook her head.

“I know not what to believe,” she said just as slowly. “But I dare not discount her words completely. The state in which I found you was proof in itself.”

“This priestess could have arranged that, if her ambitions are as great as you say,” Randon said after a moment’s thought. “Why didn’t you confront the High Priestess with these questions? You said she’d been your teacher for years.”

A pang shot through Kayli’s heart.

“For myself, I might have taken that risk,” Kayli said quietly. “Even if what Vayavara said of High Priestess Brisi was true, I would be of no use to her unwilling, and I cannot believe she would ever do me harm. But you—”

“If it was true,” Randon said slowly, “she might have used me to control you. Or she might have killed me—or simply let me die sleeping down there—to at least be certain the alliance fell apart.”

“Oh, to the darkness with the alliance,” Kayli exploded. “It is not worth the price we have paid for it already, much less the demands it makes of us now and in the future.” She ruthlessly swallowed back a few bitter tears.

Randon nudged his horse forward so that he could reach out and touch Kayli’s hand.

“This is the second time you’ve given up your Order for me,” he said gently, “and this time it was by your own choke. I don’t know that I’ve done anything to earn that kind of loyalty from you, but I swear by the Bright Ones, if we survive this, somehow I’ll find a way to make you glad you chose as you did.”

Kayli said nothing. There was nothing, in fact, to say. Months ago she had taken her leave of the Order; tonight she had simply made that separation irrevocable. There was no doubt in her mind that some part of her would grieve over that choice forever, just as there was no doubt that no other decision was possible. Her marriage vows and the baby growing in her belly bound her more securely than the pledges she had once made to the Order. And remembering Randon’s eyes on hers as he had drunk Brisi’s potion, the same potion that might have meant his death, Kayli knew that she could never regret her choice. She twisted the temple ring on her finger; at last she quietly removed it, tucking it into her pocket.

“Kayli?” Randon pulled his horse to a stop; Kayli reined in beside him. “What’s that?”

Starlight sparkled on a shining surface, and Kayli squinted at it puzzledly. Was it metal, polished brightly?

“By the Bright Ones,” Randon said softly. “A pond, here?”

Kayli stared at the shining surface, then glanced around in confusion. The grass was dry and brittle as always in the summertime; the earth was hard and cracked. But there was no denying that the starlight reflected off of water. It rippled slightly in the night breeze.

Kayli slid from the saddle and walked slowly toward the strange sight. It was no illusion; now that she stepped closer, she could smell the moisture in the air. Unbelievingly she fell to her knees; her fingers plunged into coolness.

“How could this be here?” Randon murmured, kneeling beside her. “I could swear there hasn’t been a drop of rain fall here in—” He reached behind him, broke off a dry stalk of grass. “Well, in a long time.”

Suddenly the cool water pulled away from Kayli’s fingers. She could do nothing but kneel where she was and watch as the water impossibly drew itself up into a rippling, shimmering ball. She heard Randon’s gasp, but quietly, as if from a great distance; at that moment she could only stare at the unbelievable sight before her. The shimmering ball flexed and stretched, flattening and drawing itself out until it once more formed a shining disk, but this time hanging in the air before them like a great shimmering mirror.

“What is it?” Randon asked softly, reaching his hand out but not quite touching the water’s surface.

“A Gate,” Kayli said just as quietly. “A water Gate.” And her heart sang, even as she shivered with dread, for she knew with absolute certainty who had cast it.

Kayli glanced at Randon; he gazed back just as soberly. Then he smiled.

“I’ll get the bags and unsaddle the horses,” he said. “We’ll have to leave them.”

Kayli laughed a little shakily.

“We have hardly ridden half a league,” she said. “They will soon find their way back to the Order. Thank you, Randon.”

Randon said nothing, only gave Kayli a weary grin, slung the saddlebags over his shoulder, and held out his hand. She forced a smile in return, clasped his hand firmly, took a deep breath to still her own shaking, and, with Randon, stepped forward.

Chapter Sixteen

“Open your eyes,” a familiar voice said with a little chuckle. “Or would you stand there all night with that terrible grimace on your face?”

Kayli squeezed Randon’s hand tightly a moment longer, then opened her eyes. There was no disorientation; as when she had stepped into the temple, she had an immediate sense of place. She stood in the cellar of the palace, only a step from the edge of the palace well, which, contrary to custom, was lidless. Kayli hurriedly stepped back, then yelped in startlement. The stones of the floor were wet and slick, although to her surprise, her skin and clothes were dry.

“I trust you will pardon the surroundings,” Kairi said wryly, stepping forward to take Kayli’s arm to steady her. ”This meeting required secrecy, and there are few places outside my Order where I could muster enough water for a Gate.”

“But the pool,” Kayli said hesitantly. “How did you manage that?”

Kairi shrugged.

“There is always water deep within the earth,” she said. “The trouble is finding it, and bringing it to the surface. That, of course, is why priests and priestesses of the water Orders are so needed throughout Bregond. To bring the water forth alone from such a depth was more difficult than—” Kairi shook her head. “But I am near to boasting. Come, I have ordered all the servants to their rooms. You need food and drink and”—she glanced at Randon—“washing.”

“But how did you find us?” Kayli pressed, even as she followed her sister from the room. “It was you, was it not, who brought the rain that stopped the grass fire and saved us?”