Louise Cooper - Indigo 06 - Avatar (18 page)

Yima shot to her feet as though a firebrand had been thrust at her. For an instant her face registered horror. Then she relaxed with a gasp as relief took the place of shock.

“
Grimya
! Oh, but you frightened me!”

Grimya blinked and licked her muzzle, then wagged her tail by way of apology. Yima dropped back to a crouch, holding out a hand toward her. “What are you doing out at such an early hour?” Her face clouded uneasily. “You didn’t follow me, did you?” Grimya licked her hand and she laughed, though nervously. “No, I don’t think so; and anyway, you wouldn’t betray me, would you? You wouldn’t tell them, even if you could.” Reaching up now, she began to wring out her wet hair. “I have to do this, you see. Now if anyone questions my being out, I can say I went early to the lake to wash myself, and my mother won’t suspect anything amiss.”

She was talking, Grimya realized, out of sheer desperation, out of a need to release the emotions within her. Grimya was a safe confidante, for Yima believed the wolf didn’t understand the words that craved an outlet. Now the girl sat back on her heels, hugging herself as though trying to recapture the memory of her lover’s embrace.

“Oh, Grimya, I do love him,” she whispered, looking up at the lightening sky. “I
do
.” There was such sadness in her voice that Grimya whined in sympathy, and quickly Yima looked at her again. “I could almost believe that you know what I’m saying. But you don’t, do you?” Gently now she stretched out one hand and stroked the wolf’s head. “No one knows about us ... well, only one person, and I don’t think even she really
understands
.” She rose. “The sun’s coming up. They’ll all be waking soon. I must go back and become the dutiful priestess and daughter again.” She smiled at Grimya, though it was a sorrowful little smile. “Keep my secret, eh?”

Grimya watched the girl run toward the stairs. She was astonished by what she had witnessed. Dutiful Yima, the obedient and unquestioning child. For how long had she been meeting her lover in such secrecy, the wolf wondered; and how had she contrived to hide the liaison from her mother’s sharp eyes and ears? Grimya knew what Uluye planned for her daughter and could well imagine the ferocity of her wrath if she should discover what was afoot.

Yima must have great courage beneath her meek exterior, Grimya thought. And someone in the citadel was helping her. Grimya suspected she knew who that someone might be, and she resolved to tell Indigo as soon as she could. Perhaps they too could help her somehow? She hoped so, for she liked Yima, and now that she knew the truth, she felt sorry for her. Why should the girl not be free to choose the pattern of her own life? Why should Uluye control her, as she seemed to control everyone and everything in this place? Though Grimya knew the thought was unworthy, it gave her pleasure to think of the High Priestess being bested, in however small a way, for the wolf strongly resented her enforced influence on Indigo. It would be, she thought, a redressing of the balance.

Yima had disappeared now. Looking down, Grimya saw her own elongated shadow stretching out before her on the sand as the sun rose, and the buzz and drone of waking insects impinged on the quiet. Already it was growing hot, and the ziggurat wall wavered in haze. She was hungry, and Indigo should be waking soon.

Sparing one last glance for the still, brazen mirror of the lake, she trotted toward the stairs.

Indigo
! Grimya projected the telepathic call as she approached the curtained entrance to their cave. She had felt Indigo’s mind stirring and was eager to reach her and tell her the story before anyone came to disturb them.
Indigo, are you awake
?

There was no answer, and suddenly the wolf slowed her pace as she sensed something untoward. Indigo was awake, but the link with her consciousness was distorted. What could be wrong?

Cautious now, laying her ears back, she called again. Something flickered on the edge of her mental perception but vanished too quickly for her to interpret it, and abruptly Grimya felt alarm. She broke into a run, covering the last few yards to the cave, and dove under the curtain.

Indigo was in her bed. She was lying flat, the thin covering flung aside, but her eyes stared blindly at the ceiling and her mouth was working soundlessly.

“Indigo!” Forgetting caution, Grimya barked her name aloud and ran to her, jumping up. “Indigo, what is it? What’s wrong?”

A spasm shot through Indigo’s frame; then her body went rigid as though in a death rictus. Horrified, Grimya thrust hard against her torso in an effort to stir her, but she was as immovable as rock. Her throat swelled and contracted in a rapid, jerky rhythm; she seemed to be trying to speak, but her voice collapsed into choking chaos before she could form words. It was as though some powerful, but invisible, hand had cut off her supply of air and was slowly strangling her.

Grimya spun around on her haunches and raced back to the entrance. All thoughts of Yima had fled; she had to get help for Indigo. Writhing through the curtain again, she looked down frantically at the citadel’s lower levels; then, seeing no one, she raised her head and gave vent to a full-throated howl. The chilling sound echoed from the bluff and was flung out over the lake. Almost immediately there was a response from below: voices raised in consternation, the slap of running feet. Shocked faces appeared from other cave quarters, and several women, seeing the wolf poised on the high ledge, began to run toward the stairs. One of the running figures, Grimya saw to her intense relief, was Shalune, with Yima only a pace behind her.

Shouldering others out of her way, the fat woman took the last flight of stairs two at a time and pounded along the ledge to where Grimya waited.

“What is it, Grimya?” Shalune was breathless, her muscular diaphragm heaving alarmingly. Grimya ducked back into the cave; Shalune followed, then stopped as she saw Indigo.

“By all my ancestors!”

“Shalune, what’s happening?” Yima pushed in behind her.

“She’s in a trance.” Shalune’s head snapped around as she heard others approaching. “Send them back, Yima; tell them to return to their own quarters. I’ll deal with this.”

“Should I fetch my mother?”

“No. She’ll hear of it soon enough, and I’ll need your help here.” ,.

Yima hurried to relay Shalune’s message to the anxious crowd now gathering outside. As they started to move away, Shalune hastened to Indigo’s bed, tried to pull her into a sitting position, then swore. “Yima! She’s as rigid as a tree, and she’s choking. Quickly now, help me to turn her on her side!” She was thrusting expert fingers between Indigo’s resisting lips and into her mouth. “Got to ... stop her swallowing her ... tongue....”

Yima ran to assist her and they rolled Indigo over. Grimya jumped up, yelping; Shalune pushed her aside.

“Go away, Grimya—we’re helping her, not harming her. Keep back!”

Whining Grimya retreated, and Shalune balled her fist and thumped Indigo soundly between the shoulder blades.

“She isn’t breathing,” Yima said.

“I know; it’s as though there’s something blocking her throat ...
ah
!” Shalune thumped again and heard a hoarse rattle of expelled air. “That’s it! Lift her back now. We’ll get her sitting up if we can.”

“She’s like stone! I’ve never seen anything like this!”

“Neither have I,” Shalune replied grimly. “Try to move her arms. If we can just—” and she jerked back with a cry of surprise as suddenly Indigo’s body went limp and she slumped back onto the bed.

“
Eyes of the Lady
!” Yima stared, stunned. “What
happened
, Shalune?”

“I don’t know, but we’d best make the most of it before she has another spasm. Bring some more cushions, Yima, and prop them behind her. I don’t want to risk letting her lie flat.”

Experimentally, Shalune raised Indigo’s right arm and let it drop. Moments ago it had been as rigid as granite; now it felt utterly boneless, and the priestess shook her head in bewilderment.

As Yima carried an armful of cushions from the hearth, Grimya heard someone approaching. She lowered her head, defensively alert. Then the curtain was flung back, and Uluye stood on the threshold.

“What’s going on?” Her stare raked the tableau of Shalune, Yima and the unconscious Indigo.

Shalune glanced back over her shoulder, naked dislike in her eyes. “She went into trance, but something’s gone wrong,” she told Uluye curtly.

“Into
trance
?” Uluye stiffened. “How did it happen?”

“I’ve no idea how it happened. I only knew about it when Grimya howled fit to bring the Ancestral Lady’s servants from the lake!” Shalune snapped. “I came up here and found her in the trance state and choking to death at the same time.”

Uluye strode across the floor and leaned over the bed, peering at Indigo’s face. “She’s breathing now?”

“Yes, thanks be, but she’s unconscious.”

“What did she say?” Uluye looked hard at her subordinate, and even from a distance, Grimya saw the familiar, fanatical glint return to her eyes. “Tell me.”

“What are you talking about?”

The High Priestess’s mouth set in a thin, ugly line. “Don’t dissemble with me, Shalune. I won’t tolerate it. What was the Ancestral Lady’s message?”

“Damn it, there was no message,” Shalune said furiously. “I told you, she was
choking
!”

Uluye continued to glare at her suspiciously for a moment, then looked at Indigo once more. “Now you say she’s unconscious?”

“You can see that for yourself,” Shalune snapped.

Uluye ignored the tone. “Could she still be in trance?”

Shalune stared at her with something approaching disbelief. “Is that all that matters to you? For the last time, Uluye, Indigo might have
died
just now! Isn’t that just a little more important than whether or not she’s still in the trance state?”

Uluye opened her mouth to retaliate but suddenly became aware of Yima, who stood at the far side of the bed, staring at them both, wide-eyed. The High Priestess raised her head.

“Leave us, Yima.”

“Let her be,” Shalune said. “I might need—”

Uluye cut across her. “Now, Yima.”

Yima’s face was scarlet. “Yes, Mother.” She didn’t look at Shalune but hurried out of the cave.

“Now,” Uluye said scathingly when Yima had gone, “I mean to make one thing very clear to you, Shalune. When I ask you a question, I anticipate—” She stopped, and both women looked quickly at the bed.

Indigo had uttered a sound. Not quite a word but a long, exhaled syllable. She might have been trying to say: “You...” or “You will....” To the High Priestess’s vivid imagination, she might have said, “Uluye.”

“Oracle!” Uluye pounced, dropping to a predatory crouch beside the bed and taking hold of Indigo’s limp arm. “Speak, oracle! I am here, I am listening. What does the Ancestral Lady want of me?”

Shalune said angrily, “She’s not fit. Leave her.” She moved forward, meaning to pull Uluye away.

Indigo’s eyes snapped open.

“
Come to me
.” It wasn’t her voice, though it had her inflection and her accent. Her blue-violet stare met and locked with Uluye’s wild gaze, and it seemed to Uluye that Indigo’s pupils were surrounded by a shimmering silver corona. “
Come to me. Do you dare? Then come to me.
”

Shalune recoiled, uttering a soft oath, and collided with Grimya, who had rushed forward as Indigo spoke. Shalune gripped the she-wolf’s scruff, restraining her as Uluye leaned farther over the bed.

“Lady, I hear you! I hear you, but I don’t understand!”

The terrible, alien eyes continued to hold her gaze. “
Soon
,” Indigo said. “
Oh yes, very soon. You will dare. I know you will dare.
”

Like the swift drop of a curtain, the silver corona vanished. A small frown creased Indigo’s brow as she tried and failed to focus on Uluye’s face, looming over her. She turned her head a fraction, said in a puzzled but perfectly natural voice, “Grimya...?” Then her eyelids closed and she began to breathe lightly and evenly.

Slowly Shalune approached the bed and looked down at her. “She’s asleep,” she said incredulously.

Uluye rose to her feet. Her gaze was still fixed on Indigo’s face. “
Asleep
?” She sounded dazed.

“Yes. Look at her. She’s as peaceful as a newly fed infant.”

Uluye seemed reluctant to be convinced, but at last she relented and stepped back from the bed. For a few moments there was silence. Then: “Fetch someone to sit with her,” Uluye said. “I want to talk to you in my quarters.”

Shalune had expected this, and nodded. “I’ll set Inuss to guard her. But if she wakes, I’ll want to see her immediately.”

“Yes, yes,” Uluye agreed with an impatient wave of one hand. “Don’t waste time.”

Without so much as glancing at Grimya, she strode out of the cave, leaving Shalune to follow. As the fat woman moved toward the entrance, Grimya whimpered. Shalune stopped and looked back.

“She’s all right now, Grimya,” she said kindly. “Inuss is a good healer. She’ll know if I’m needed and she’ll send for me.”

Grimya swallowed back a whine and Shalune smiled, thinking—not for the first time—that the wolf seemed to have an uncanny understanding. Then she too was gone, leaving Grimya alone with Indigo.

Grimya padded to the bed and stared at her friend for a long time. Indigo seemed, as Shalune had said, to be sleeping naturally and peacefully, but the wolf was deeply troubled. She had seen Indigo’s eyes in the moment when they had snapped open, before Uluye leaned over her and obscured her from view. She had seen the glitter of silver. And silver, as Grimya knew all too well, was the sign of Nemesis.

Footsteps sounded outside, and the curtain parted once more to admit Inuss, a young priestess whom Shalune was training in the healing arts. Inuss saw Grimya and smiled faintly.

“Ussh now, what are you doing there?” She had a pleasant, husky voice that Grimya found both soothing and reassuring. “Your mistress is asleep now. You should go to sleep too, eh?”

Resignedly the wolf padded to the far side of the cave, where she slumped down with her muzzle on her forepaws. Inuss looked briefly at Indigo to satisfy herself that all was well, then settled in a chair. She had brought her sistrum; she laid it across her lap and began to murmur what Grimya thought were prayers, every so often shaking the sistrum gently. The muted drone of her voice was soporific; the wolf blinked, yawned, shifted to a more comfortable position.