Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series (43 page)

‘Open one of the doors
inside for me. Grek watches in the chamber but I would – explore –
this palace.’

Sket grinned in the
fading starshine. ‘At your command majesty.’

Khosa ignored the
sarcasm, recognising the affection in Sket’s voice. He opened the
required doors and returned to sit leaning against a tree trunk
close to Tika and Farn. Ren snored gently a few paces
away.

The second bell had
rung, signifying mid morning before Gan, Navan and the three
Dragons rejoined them, the gijan now wide awake and hungry. Navan
and Gan went inside to try to catch up with some sleep as Sariko
emerged accompanied by three Blossoms carrying food and drink. Tika
regarded the Empress with admiration: she had changed her robe
again and despite having less sleep than Tika, Sariko’s face shone
with wellbeing.

‘Jakri remains with
some of the mages,’ she told them. ‘The Heads of Houses have left
to consult their families and begin preparations. Oniko is still
here – she requests audience with you.’

Tika pushed her fingers
through her tangled hair and wondered just how Sariko managed to
look so perfect.

‘We don’t give
audiences Sariko – if Oniko wants to talk to us, ask her to come
out here.’

The Blossoms withdrew
and a few moments later Oniko appeared. She began to bow but Tika
shook her head and smiled.

‘We are not used to all
this bowing all the time.’

Sket handed Jakri’s
mother a bowl of tea and Oniko folded herself gracefully onto a
cushion.

‘I far travel,’ Oniko
began without preamble. ‘I think you sensed Jakri’s apprentice
Hiramo’s mind seeking westwards of late.’

Brin rumbled. ‘She was
not present in the hall,’ he remarked.

‘No. She remains in
House Jade,’ Oniko agreed. ‘But I used Hiramo to conceal my mind.
Once she reached her limit in travelling, I went on.’

‘To Malesh?’ asked
Ren.

Oniko nodded. ‘I tried
to trace the witch woman but I could only snatch glimpses of her.
She was not aware of me, but she has a system of constantly
changing defences which is quite unique. Travelling so far is
taxing in the extreme so I never had enough time to properly locate
or observe her.’

‘And if you had?’ Tika
swirled the tea in her bowl, watching Oniko from beneath her
lashes.

Oniko paused. She bowed
her head. ‘I would have tried to destroy her.’

Sariko gasped. ‘You
would imperil your spirit?’

Oniko gave a wry smile
– she had used the same words to her son barely three days ago and
pretended to be shocked that he had reached such a
decision.

‘If the witch woman
frees a Child, my spirit will be sorely endangered anyway. The cost
would be worthy.’

‘Sariko told us more of
the Bound Ones yesterday than I had heard from Taseen.’ Ren reached
for the tea pot.

Tika looked at Seela.
‘Sariko said at least one of the monstrous Children used Dragon
blood to somehow change or enhance her power.’

Seela’s eyes blazed in
anger. ‘Tell me of this.’ Her tone in their minds was fraught with
suppressed rage.

Sariko quickly repeated
one of the many tales she’d learnt as a child. Tika watched
carefully, hoping Seela would stay in control of her temper. To her
relief, the anger shifted to a deep confusion as Seela listened
closely to the Empress, to her words and to the feelings beneath
the words.

‘You will tell me
more.’ Seela stared down her long nose at the tiny Empress. ‘I
would know every tale you can recall.’

Sariko obediently sat
in front of the purple Dragon and related every story she could
dredge from her memory.

‘House Jade also
teaches its children the ancient stories but I’m not sure if many
others do,’ Oniko said softly to Tika. ‘The Dragons of the Time
Before were much fiercer I think, wilder too. They had great
physical and mental powers but less wisdom.’

Tika studied Oniko
carefully, her smooth gold skinned oval face, the gleaming black
hair piled in intricate coils on top of her head and held in place
with long carved jade pins.

‘The stories say the
Dragons thirsted for blood, although once the Dragon Lord
half-breeds had risen to power, they reduced the attacks by Dragons
upon humans who had displeased them.’ Oniko watched Willow suddenly
fly high above them, spreading his wings to drift lazily down in
the midst of a host of butterflies.

‘These you call gijan
are unknown to me but clearly it must be their feathered wings
depicted beside the Dragon faces in our emblems.’

She pulled a thin gold
chain free of her gown, holding it for Tika’s inspection. It was a
flat oblong of palest green jade, a Dragon’s face etched on it,
flanked by feathered wings. Oniko tucked it back out of sight and
Tika regarded the dark green stone denoting Oniko’s position as
Head of House Jade. Oniko lifted it, a questioning expression on
her face.

‘This is the token of
my House,’ she began.

‘I know. I mean I
guessed it was so. I was given this. It is of great importance but
I don’t yet know what that importance is.’

Tika freed her pendant,
holding its gold chain so that it swung from her hand. In the still
shadowed courtyard the rich red gold of the pendant’s backing shone
as if alight, and a tiny pulse within the amber filled front flared
in time with her heart beat. Oniko did not touch it but leaned
close to stare as it dangled between Tika’s fingers.

‘I have never seen such
a thing,’ she said sitting back again. ‘Our people know much of
stones and of certain metals, but this is new to me. House Amber
has a large collection of amber in which insects were trapped at
the time the amber flowed from a tree, but nothing like this. It
almost seems there is something alive within it.’

A bell rang in a
distant part of the palace and the midday sun blazed down into the
Empress’s courtyard within its deep well. Gan and Navan emerged
from the inner rooms blinking at the brightness. Oniko turned to
speak to them and Farn rested his head over Tika’s shoulder. He
kept his mind voice tightly focused for his soul bond
only.

‘Seela becomes angry
more quickly of late.’

Alarmed though she was
by Farn’s comment, Tika kept her eyes on Piper, dangling her legs
from a branch some distance across the garden.

‘Could it be that she
is tired, or wishes she had stayed home in the Sun
Mountains?’

‘No.’ Farn was
definite. ‘Storm gets cross much faster too – it’s something to do
with this land we think.’

‘We?’

‘I spoke of it to Brin.
He doesn’t seem disturbed and neither am I.’ There was a note of
pride in Farn’s tone.

Tika turned against his
chest to hug him. ‘But Brin thinks something is affecting both
Storm and Seela?’ she asked.

‘Mmm. Do you remember
when we first met Storm’s Flight? Brin and Khosa both said that the
sea Dragons were wilder than our Kindred.’

‘You’re right. And
Storm was very angry in Singer’s Dome.’ Tika glanced round the
courtyard. ‘Where is Khosa?’ she asked aloud.

‘She went off
exploring,’ Sket replied, resheathing his sword and reaching for
Tika’s.

‘Can she get back here
all right?’

Sket shrugged. ‘She’ll
surely mind speak someone if she wants a door opened.’

Tika’s green silvered
eyes unfocused as she searched for Khosa’s mind
signature.

‘Where are you?’ she
demanded when she’d located the Kephi.

‘Busy,’ came the curt
reply.

Tika sighed and
released the contact. She’d sensed some agitation from Khosa’s mind
but she didn’t doubt Khosa would call for assistance should she
need it.

In fact, Khosa was
crouched on top of a high cupboard washing a torn ear. She had been
greatly displeased to find a large number of cats – as her kind
seemed to be called here and in Malesh. As befitted cats who dwelt
in an Emperor’s palace, they gave themselves disgustingly superior
airs. One, a slender short haired female with slanted blue eyes and
a kink in her tail, had screeched appallingly at Khosa’s
approach.

Her wails reached a
pitch that hurt Khosa’s head and so she’d slapped her smartly as
she would one of her children. She was astonished to find herself
bowled over and attacked, not just by the noisy female but by two
males who had appeared from nowhere. Khosa wasted no breath in
screaming back at these three ill mannered brutes: she set to work
with claws and teeth.

One of the males fled
first, howling from a deep scratch from the corner of an eye down
across his nose. The second male had ripped Khosa’s ear before she
got both her back feet under his chest and raked down the length of
his body. When he fled, the female backed away. Khosa’s orange fur
stood on end, her tail thrashing furiously and the other female
decided discretion might be the wiser course for now.

Khosa had also left the
area at speed, looking for somewhere to attend to her ear and take
stock of her next move. Now she froze as she heard the sound of
claws in wood: another Imperial cat was climbing her cupboard
refuge. She backed away, her fur fluffing around her and her eyes
narrowed to slits. A mottled face cautiously peered over the edge
of the cupboard and then the rest of the cat appeared.

It was a male, rather
elderly and rather tatty. He surveyed Khosa for a moment and then
advanced, belly low, until he could touch her face gently with his
own. Khosa kept still, her fur still puffed to make her seem twice
her actual size. The male began to croon gently and his rough
tongue started to work on the torn ear.

‘I am Khosa,’ she
murmured to his mind.

The male paused and
stared into her turquoise eyes.

‘I am Akomi.’ He
blinked his own tawny gold eyes. ‘Few of the cat folk talk
now.’

He continued to clean
Khosa’s ear. ‘I am the only one in the palace to mind speak. When I
try to touch the minds of others, they sense it only as an
irritation. Then they attack me so I keep my own
company.’

‘You must be lonely.’
Khosa shifted slightly as the edges of her ear rubbed
uncomfortably.

‘I pass my days
watching and listening, both the humans and the cats. And I wait to
die.’

Khosa glared at him.
‘Wait to die – pah! You will travel with me now Akomi. I am Queen
of a great estate in my homeland and so I command you. But first,
show me where the humans are in this place who speak of secret
things.’

Akomi peered at the
ripped ear to see if it had stopped bleeding and then stepped back
from Khosa.

‘I think I have an idea
of what you mean. I’ll take you there if you wish.’

Khosa butted her face
gently against the older cat. ‘Let’s go then. And thank you for
your kindness.’

Akomi led the way: a
long slithering jump from the cupboard and a hurried run down a
corridor. They passed maids and menservants and reached a broad
stairway guarded at the foot by two Imperial Blossoms. Akomi slowed
to a nonchalant saunter and marched up the middle of the
stairs.

‘No one pays us any
attention,’ he murmured in Khosa’s mind.

‘I found that a
tremendously useful fact in my dealings with humans in Gaharn,’
Khosa agreed.

Akomi turned left at
the top of the stairs and trotted more speedily down a long
passageway. He turned right onto another, much narrower staircase
which ended in another corridor. Tall windows on their right
striped the floor with patches of light and shade as the two cats
padded soundlessly along the stone floor. They passed several
closed doors on their right until Akomi halted outside
one.

‘They call the human
who lives here a mage,’ Akomi explained. ‘He is the oldest of all
mages in the palace, perhaps even in all the land. Kasheen told him
he would not expect him to continue as chief advisor to the Crystal
Throne when he became Emperor. From what I’ve worked out, Kasheen
never liked him and used his great age as an excuse to have him put
aside. Of course, the mage has hated Kasheen ever
since.’

Khosa noted that
Akomi’s mind tone had brightened enormously since his first words
to her on top of the cupboard. And from what he’d just told her, he
had followed the human intrigues within the palace closely, even
though there was no other cat with whom he could share his gossip
and amusement. Akomi crouched, his tail round his front paws. In
the shadow he was scarcely visible.

‘You can hear them
quite easily – perhaps not their words but their thoughts are loud
enough.’

Khosa squeezed between
the wall and Akomi’s side and crouched comfortably. Akomi sniffed
her ear and licked it a couple of times then both settled and
opened their minds.

The patches of sunlight
and shadow moved position and a bell rang from the floor below and
still Khosa and Akomi sat listening.

‘Close your eyes,’
Akomi warned, pressing Khosa tighter to the wall.