Nightshade (24 page)

Jessa dropped her hand, took Darry’s, and pulled her from the railing. “Come inside,” she said, and Darry followed without question.

“Thank you,” Darry told her quietly. “For helping me.”

Jessa smiled. “You’re welcome.”

Darry struggled furiously to remember what language she spoke.
You make it hard to find words sometimes, when you look at me so. Stop it, Jessa.

“You have majik,” Jessa said softly.

“What?”

“You have majik, Darry,” Jessa repeated. Darry retreated and Jessa seized her hand before she could move farther. “Did you think I wouldn’t feel it? I am a Vhaelin Witch, Darry. Like powers attract my gods.”

Darry considered her words. “You lied to Emmalyn.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because she didn’t know, so I thought you wouldn’t want her to. I didn’t like doing it, but to do otherwise might’ve betrayed you.”

Darry had no idea what to say, seeing Jessa’s sudden uncertainty. Jessa had protected her when she had no real reason to. Jessa had kept her secret and done so willingly, as a true friend would, despite not knowing the consequences. Darry tightened her grip and Jessa’s eyes lit up. “Thank you.”

“You’re most welcome, Darry.”

“There’s someone you should meet.”

*

They walked close, and Jessa saw how Darry moved slower than she had come to expect. When they descended the stairs Jessa held lightly to Darry’s elbow, making sure that if Darry needed the support she would have it. It made Jessa nervous that Darry was out of bed so soon, but she supposed it could not be helped. As a soldier, Darry was not a woman to be held back, not even by illness.

They strolled along the path beyond the solar and entered the gardens. “My great-great, perhaps one more great grandfather Boris was supposedly a sorcerer of sorts,” Darry said. “He built these gardens, and he was also very fond of puzzles.”

“Puzzles?”

“A maze?”

“A
treesha
?”

Darry chuckled. “If that means a maze, then yes. A
treesha
is a sort of riddle that must be solved?”

“Yes. You have many words for the same thing.”

“I used that argument once upon a time,” Darry replied. “But my tutor would not relent and insisted I learn them all. It was very frustrating.”

Jessa laughed and barely kept herself from brushing her hand against Darry’s. The need to touch her in some way was almost irresistible, and Jessa was uncertain what she should do about it. The past three days she had touched Darry without thinking because Darry had needed her. But she knew that she had indulged herself as well, though only in the smallest of ways.
It hurt no one that I touched her hair.
But Jessa felt unaccountably guilty now that Darry was getting better.
Or that I caressed her skin, the hollow at the base of her throat where it is the softest.
Jessa swallowed and closed her eyes for a step.
Very soft, actually.

“King Boris decided that he would make a riddle that no one could solve but everyone might enjoy,” Darry continued. “He was of a dark humor at times, and he spent several years doing this, consulting architects and gardeners and any number of experts on such subjects.”

“He made his riddle out of the garden?” The idea delighted Jessa.

“Yes. He even brought a man from Artanis here, who was said to be one of the most powerful wizards in the world. His name was Sebastian.”

“I know this name,” Jessa said. “Radha has spoken of him. She says he was a mystic of your god Gamar, and that his power was in the blood. Much majik is passed from generation to generation. If your ancestor had majik, Darry, perhaps this is where yours comes from. It is yet another gift.”

“Perhaps. But I’m not sure I have majik as you think I do.”

“How so?”

“I’ll have to show you, and then perhaps you might decide for yourself.”

“You’re being very mysterious,” Jessa said playfully.

Darry grinned. “Not really.”

“Anyway,” Jessa said, “your great-great, perhaps one more great grandfather Boris?”

“Yes. At the center of the main gardens, this is where Boris built his maze. It took him many years, as I said, and as it grew he wove within the hedgerows and plants, perhaps even the land itself, enchantments that pleased him.”

Jessa brought them both to a stop. “He made a
living
maze? Why haven’t I seen it before? I’ve walked these gardens many times, Darry.”

“Yes. And you’ve not seen it because you don’t know how.”

Jessa searched the path ahead, its cut green trail winding into the distance. The hedgerows were lined with splashes of heather and periwinkle, even bluebells that hung heavy within the late-afternoon sun. “You have a living maze
here
?”

Darry took Jessa’s hand. “What I have to show you is within the maze,” she said. “It can be a dangerous place at times, for the hedgerows will change, as will other features, and strange things will happen there. It frightens many people. Malcolm doesn’t like it, nor does Jacob.”

“He would make a map of it, yes?” Jessa asked, knowing of Jacob’s penchant for books and scrolls and all things written.

Darry laughed. “Yes, he tried for many years and then gave up. The pathways are never the same. Do you still wish to see it?”

“Very much, Darry, but will we find our way out again before it gets dark?”

“Perhaps,” Darry said, a look of mischief in her eyes. “Will you trust me to bring you home again, Jess?”

Jess. The way you say my name, so unlike anyone else before
. “Of course.”

Darry turned, pointing with her right hand. “The maze is there.”

Jessa followed Darry’s hand and let out a hiccup of sound.

A thick arch stood some thirty feet away from them, the curving wood trellis dripping with vegetation, both ivy and twisted hamesroot sprinkled through with hundreds of white flowers. It stood where nothing had before, save the garden path.

Jessa started forward, pulling at Darry’s hand. “
How
?”

“You need only find the center of the gardens and wish upon it, and so the trellis will appear. But you must know what the entrance looks like. You must have it in your head.”

Jessa saw as they neared that the trellis was actually alive with thick, twisting arms of maple that rose from the ground and arched in a tangle of bark and ancient branches. “I can
feel
it, Darry.”

“Does it ache along your bones?” That was what Darry felt upon entering the maze. It was a fine moment as she wondered what another person might feel who possessed a power not unlike her own. It was a question she had never been able to ask before.

Jessa’s eyes were alight with anticipation. “Yes.”

They passed beneath the arch and Jessa’s hand brushed through the soft ivy as they stepped into a broad corridor bordered by heavy hedgerows. She stepped closer to Darry as the lane before them began to narrow and the hedges rose from the ground, heavy with life and weight, a weight that held more than just dense shrubbery.

There was majik there as well, and she could feel it just as Darry said, aching along her bones. The green brush was neatly trimmed despite its wild essence, its branches and leaves tangled and thick. There were flowers as well, though, their colors trapped deep within the walls and trumpeting their presence. “The rows are so thick.”

“So you cannot see through them.” Darry pulled them to a stop. “Most of the many paths lead nowhere, unless of course nowhere is the place you wish to go,” Darry said. “There are only two paths to the heart and those you must work for. If you can see which path is wrong, it is not so much a
treesha
as a walk in the gardens.”

“What is at the heart?”

“If I tell you, what fun would that be?”

“You’re still too ill to be having so much fun,” Jessa said, managing to scold while sounding terribly pleased.

“Yes. But I need to show you.”

“Are you tired?” Jessa stepped closer. “You look tired.”

Darry stared into Jessa’s eyes for what seemed like a very long time, feeling happy that such a woman was worried for her. “I’m fine. I will sleep later, I promise.”

Movement to the side drew Jessa’s gaze and she let out a startled laugh. “
Shivahsa
, the hedge!”

“What?”

Jessa’s eyes swarmed over the dense vegetation. “It
moved
.”

Darry laughed. “It’s an enchanted place, Jess. You may see strange things, as I said. This land is caught in a powerful casting.”

Jessa spun and searched behind them for the archway. Bossa trees grew there, heavy with leaves and berries and a patch of heather that should not have been there. There was, however, no entrance trellis and Jessa laughed with pleasure.

Darry’s heart swelled at the lovely sound. “There’s nothing for it now.”

“Show me,” Jessa said with excitement. “Show me, Darry.”

Darry nodded and regarded the path. “I must find my mark.”

She pulled gently at Jessa’s hand and Jessa kept pace close beside her. At times Jessa thought the light played tricks with her eyes. Where wild loosestrife had grown one moment, there would be foxglove or lady’s slipper the next. At one point, when she thought they were moving straight ahead, Jessa realized they were being pushed to the left as the hedge beside them was actually shifting. She laughed, taking hold of Darry’s arm. When the vegetation began to move faster than they did, they were forced to run ahead to avoid being trapped and having to go back. When Jessa spun to the side Darry caught her at the waist and smiled.

Jessa was breathing much too fast and she knew it, but Darry’s scent of gentle musk was making her feel wonderfully alive. She placed her hands on Darry’s arms, wanting to step closer and lean against her body.
It feels so very good right here. It feels…familiar, Akasha.
“You look flushed.” She touched Darry’s face. “Are you all right? Too much running?”

Darry nodded, out of breath. “Yes…and yes.”

“We can rest if you need to.”

“No, it’s almost time.”

“For your secret?”

“Yes.”

Jessa saw something uncertain in her eyes. “What is it?”

“You mustn’t be scared.”

“Will I be scared?”

“You must trust me, yes? I would never let anything hurt you, Jess, I promise. So you mustn’t be frightened.”

“I won’t,” Jessa whispered. The primitive presence of majik in her blood was thicker and more compelling than she would have thought possible. It was the Vhaelin rising and yet it was something else as well. She recognized it from several nights past, when both she and Radha had reacted to its mysterious presence. Darry lowered her face and Jessa’s heart nearly jumped from her chest, her lips parting slightly in anticipation.

Darry’s cheek brushed against Jessa’s. “Then look to the path, Jess, and don’t move until I say.”

Jessa felt a pang of regret as she pulled away, but she obeyed nonetheless. Her body jerked and she stepped back in fear as Darry eased in front of her.

A golden mountain panther stood in the path a mere twenty feet away, an enormous animal that looked to weigh two hundred stones or more.

Jessa raked her gaze over the cat’s substantial paws and muscled front legs, her mind stuttering toward acceptance. The cat’s fur was of the darkest tan, though where the setting sun speckled its light on her coat it was tawny gold. She was in the midst of taking a step, her long tail raised behind her and flicking lightly as if in annoyance. Jessa had never seen an animal of that size still alive and not mounted on her father’s walls.

The cat’s head was motionless as it watched them with ears back. Her mouth was open and she growled, her jaws stretching and her fangs bared as her long whiskers quivered. Her almond-shaped eyes narrowed as the sound rippled along Jessa’s spine. Tears welled up and fell from Jessa’s eyes; it was too much power not to react in some way to its aura.

Darry moved forward and Jessa’s heart seized, her hands tightening on Darry’s tunic. “
No
!”

“Jess, let go.”

Darry turned her head and Jessa studied her profile, seeing how calm she was. “Darrius, you are
mad
.”

“Let go, Jess. It’s all right.”

Jessa obeyed, the bones in her hands creaking in protest at her mind’s seemingly ridiculous command. “Darry
, please
.”

Darry walked slowly along the path. The panther’s shoulders moved in a flowing manner as it approached Darry at an equal pace. Jessa put a hand to her mouth as Darry knelt and allowed the panther to advance. The cat’s wide black nose twitched as she extended her face and Darry did likewise.

The panther leapt and Jessa cried out as the animal’s front legs slammed against Darry’s chest and knocked her backward. Darry tumbled to the grass with a shout.

Darry’s laughter rang out as the panther lowered her face, laying a good portion of her considerable weight upon Darry’s chest as she dragged her tongue across Darry’s face. Darry’s hands sank in the thick fur and pushed. The cat’s hindquarters swayed and buckled lazily onto the grass. The panther let out a mewling noise and batted at Darry’s head, taking her back to the grass in an instant. The rough-skinned paw sat heavily on the side of Darry’s neck. A strange sound moved through the ground and Jessa realized it was a purr. The panther lay still and looked down at Darry with an imperious expression.