The Destiny of the Dead (The Song of the Tears Book 3) (88 page)

Tali crouched, took hold of the lowest crate and heaved,
using her legs this time. Even little girl slaves were strong, and she forced
upwards, slowly straightening her legs, until her back ached and her knees
trembled. But she wasn’t going to give in, ever.

The moving crates scraped and squealed. He swung around,
trying to work out where the sound had come from. She gave an almighty heave,
the ten-high stack swayed, then with a roar the lot fell down on him.

Tali scurried sideways into a new gap and hid in the
darkness. The man groaned. The woman appeared, taking her time, and heaved the
crates aside. The man’s face was covered in blood. Ha! thought Tali. Take that!
But it could never make up for what they had done to Mama.

‘What happened?’ he moaned.

‘Stop whining,’ said the woman disgustedly. ‘You pulled them
down on yourself. Did you find anything?’

Fifty heartbeats passed, then the man lurched away. ‘Must
have been rats. Come on. I need another drink.’

‘I’ll pour it down your throat until you choke.’

Tali pressed a fingertip against the nail wound, trying to
heal it the way Nurse Bet had taught her, but the hole went too deep. The beads
of blood on her fingers were as bright as jewels, as bright as Mama’s blood.
Mama! Her eyes flooded.

The woman pulled on a dangling rope and, with a screech, an
iron staircase corkscrewed down. Tali felt sure the point at the bottom was
going to twist right through Mama, but it brushed by her tiny waist before
grounding on the black bench. The man shot up the steps, a rat running away
from a ferret. The staircase was a coiled spring quivering under his weight.

But then –then the woman picked up the tin of blood,
climbed onto the bench and stepped onto Mama’s chest as though she was rubbish.
One of Mama’s ribs snapped like the wishbone of a poulter and a scorching fury
surged through Tali, an urge to smash the woman down. She fought it; Mama had
told her to not make a sound.

The woman rocked back and forth as she scanned the cellar,
crack-crack, standing on Tali’s beautiful mama as if she were a piece of
firewood, then followed the man.

Once they were gone, Tali darted across and touched the
crimson beads on her fingers to her mama’s head, as if her own blood could heal
her. There was blood everywhere, but none left in Mama. Taking hold of her
hand, Tali squeezed it tightly, trying to will Mama back to life, but the
spirit had left her forever.

She had taught Tali not to fight back, to always bow her
head and say, ‘Yes, Master,’ and it had killed her. Tali wasn’t going to make
that mistake. Mama said it was wrong to hate people, but Tali’s rage had red-hot
teeth and talons as sharp as spikes. How dare they treat her beautiful mama
that way?

‘When I’m grown up I’ll find them out,’ she whispered, hand
upon her mother’s heart. ‘Once I get my gift I’ll hunt them down and make them
pay.’

Someone took a heavy breath, close by. The murderers! Coming
back to kill her! Tali scuttled into the shadows between two of the stone bins,
grabbed a grey stick protruding from its broken top and prepared to defend
herself.

But it was a handsome, black-haired boy, a few years older
than herself, who stumbled out from behind a heap of empty barrels. He wasn’t a
slave, though, nor a tattooed Cythonian. He must have been rich, for he wore a
plum-coloured velvet coat with gold buttons, an emerald kilt and shoes with
shiny buckles. His face was white, his eyes a rich, purply brown, his yellow
vest was covered in vomit and his teeth were chattering.

That wasn’t the only odd thing about him. The faintest misty
aura, pale pink as the gills of a mushroom, clung to his head and hands. The
aura of magery – though not his. Tali could tell that he had no more gift
than a log.

The boy reached out towards Mama then drew back sharply,
staring at his hands. Tali’s hair stood up. His hands were covered in blood,
yet he hadn’t touched Mama
.

He doubled over, sicked onto his shoes and let out the moan
of an animal in pain. Tali must have made a sound for his head shot around and
he stared at her, then bolted up the stairs, yanking on the rope as he went.
The iron staircase howled as it rose with him out of sight.

Tali could hold back no longer. ‘I’m going to get you!’ she
screeched, brandishing the stick. A trapdoor clanged shut and the greenish
light began to fade.

What if Tinyhead was waiting outside? Tali shivered. What if
he came after her? No, he had betrayed Mama and he had to pay. Rage swelled
until her heart felt as if it was going to explode, then she pointed the stick
at the stone door, willing Tinyhead’s head to burst like a melon. With a sudden
gush, the pressure was gone and her rage as well.

She was holding the stick so tightly that her knuckles hurt,
and for the first time Tali saw it clearly. It wasn’t a stick, it was a human
thigh bone. There was nothing horrible about it, though. Oddly, it felt like a
friend.

Tali put it back where she had found it. Now so exhausted
that she could barely stand up, she stumbled to the door, trying not to think
about the man with the knife or the woman and her golden tongs, trying to wipe
out the memories forever. When she slipped into the painted tunnel that led
back to Cython, there was no sign of Tinyhead.

Learn to lower your
eyes and say, ‘Yes, Master’.

‘All right!’ Tali said savagely. ‘But once I come of age,
once I find my gift, look out!’

How could she find her gift when she couldn’t trust anyone?
How could she beat her enemy when no one knew who he was? Blinded by scalding
tears, she crept home to Cython, and slavery.

At least she would be safe there.

GLOSSARY

Aachan
: One
of the Three Worlds, the original world of the Aachim and, after its conquest
by The Hundred, the Charon. It was recently rendered uninhabitable by massive,
and mysterious, volcanic eruptions, and some tens of thousands of Aachim fled
to Santhenar through a portal, in a fleet of constructs.

Aachim
: The
human species native to Aachan, but now also numerous on Santhenar; they are a
long-lived, clever people, great artisans and engineers, but melancholy and
prone to both hubris and indecision. Many were brought as slaves to Santhenar
in ancient times, but later the Aachim flourished until they were betrayed by
Rulke in the Clysm, after which they withdrew from the world to their hidden
mountain cities, principally Shazmak and Stassor. The Aachim who came from
Aachan after the eruptions mainly dwell on the arid island of Faranda.

Aftersickness
:
Sickness that people suffer after using the Secret Art or a native gift or
talent.

Antithesis
:
The one object (or power or force) that can break the power of the Profane
Tears and bring down the God-Emperor.

Bladder-bat
:
A flesh-formed aerial attack beast. An internal bladder can be inflated with
floater-gas, enabling it to lift heavy objects.

Blending: A child of the union between two of the four
different human species –

Charon, Faellem, Aachim and old human. Blendings are
rare, and often deranged, but can have remarkable talents.

Boobelar
:
Captain of the Rigore militia, a malicious, addled drunk and drug user.

Calendar
:
Santhenar’s year is roughly 395.7 days and contains twelve months, each of
thirty-three days. Every tenth year is a Dearth Year, where the calendar is
adjusted, the midsummer month that year having only thirty days.

Charon
: One
of the four human species, once the master people of the world of Aachan where,
mysteriously, the Charon were practically sterile. Though they had enormously
long lives, few children were born, until the race was almost extinct. At the
end of the Time of the Mirror, the few survivors went back to the void, to go
to their extinction with dignity. The greatest of the Charon were Rulke,
Yalkara and Kandor, all of whom came to Santhenar at some stage.

Chissmoul
: A
thapter (flying construct) pilot during the lyrinx war, shy but known for her
reckless verve. She is the long-time partner of Flangers and was held with him
by the Numinator.

Chthonic Flame,
Chthonic Fire, White Fire, White-ice-fire, Rancicolludire
: An elemental
force that can feed on ice, chthonic fire has the power of binding (it once
bound the being Stilkeen’s physical and spirit aspects together), and
unbinding, i.e., it is capable of opening dimensions that would normally be
closed. It was stolen from Stilkeen by Yalkara in ancient times and used to find
the Charon’s escape route from the void to Aachan.

Clanker
: An
armoured war cart which moved via pairs of mechanical legs and was powered by
the field. All were rendered useless by the destruction of the nodes at the end
of the war.

Clysm
: A
series of wars between the Charon and the Aachim beginning around 1500 years
ago, resulting in the almost total devastation of Santhenar.

Colm
: Once
the heir to Gothryme, he lost both clan and heritage during the war and
resented it deeply. He accompanied Maelys to Mistmurk Mountain and once
nurtured an affection for her but later became estranged. Embittered by his
sister’s death, and feeling betrayed by Flydd, he accepted Klarm’s amnesty and
went over to the enemy.

Construct
: A
war machine at least partly powered by the Secret Art, invented by Rulke in the
Nightland as the virtual construct, a kind of three-dimensional blueprint for
the real one that he built on Santhenar after his escape. His construct was
capable of creating portals, though the constructs later modelled on his by the
Aachim, and brought to Santhenar through a portal thirteen years ago, were not.
All were rendered useless by the destruction of the nodes at the end of the
war.

Council of
Santhenar
: An alliance of powerful mancers. The Council helped to create
the Nightland and cast Rulke into it, but was later overthrown by the
Numinator.

Crandor
: A
wealthy, tropical land on the north-eastern side of Lauralin. Its capital is
Roros.

Cryl-Nish Hlar
:
Generally known as Nish, he started out badly but grew to become one of the
greatest heroes of the lyrinx war, though at the end of it he was cast into
prison for rebelling against his father, Jal-Nish. He was freed by Maelys a few
months ago and has been on the run ever since. At the end of the war Nish vowed
to overthrow his father and relieve the suffering of the people of Santhenar,
but has not been able to keep his promise, for he is stricken with self-doubt
and afraid that he will take the same corrupt path as his father. He has always
been tempted by power and what it can bring. And Nish never got over the death
of his beloved Irisis, slain on his father’s orders; Jal-Nish lures him by
offering to bring her back from the dead and, though Nish knows this is
impossible, he is unbearably tempted.

Nish was twice held in thrall to Monkshart (Vivimord),
who wanted to turn him into the Deliverer to overthrow Nish’s father, but
escaped both times, latterly in the distant land of Gendrigore, and is now
leading a small militia from that rain-drenched land to the Range of Ruin to
defend the high pass of Blisterbone against his father’s mighty army.

Cursed Flame
:
A mysterious flame in the caverns below the Charon obelisk on Mistmurk
Mountain. It has somewhat ambiguous healing properties.

Defiance, the
:
The Deliverer’s supporters and army, initially controlled by Monkshart, but now
fallen apart after his and Nish’s disappearances.

Deliverer, the
:
The one person (or so the common folk believe) who can overthrow the
God-Emperor, i.e. Nish.

Dry Sea
: Formerly
the Sea of Perion, it dried up in ancient times but began to flood at the end
of the lyrinx war a decade ago and is now the Sea of Perion again.

Elludore
: A
large forested land, north and west of Thurkad on Meldorin Island. Flydd found
the mimemule there, in a cave where it had been hidden as part of Karan’s
reparation to Faelamor.

Emberr
: The
son of Yalkara and Rulke, born in the Nightland and therefore unable to leave
it. He sensed Maelys on her first visit there and she became infatuated with him;
on her second visit they made love but a trace of chthonic fire on her skin
killed him.

Faelamor
:
Leader of the Faellem species who came to Santhenar soon after Rulke, to keep
watch on the Charon and maintain the balance between the worlds. She was Maigraith’s
liege and kept her in thrall for most of her life.

Faellem
: The
human species who once inhabited the world of Tallallame. They were a small,
dour people, forbidden to use machines and magical devices (though they
sometimes did), but were masters of disguise and illusion. Faelamor took most
of her people back to their world, Tallallame, at the end of the Time of the
Mirror, and there they self-immolated. A few remained on Santhenar, living deep
in the cold southern forests.

Flangers
: A
soldier and hero in the lyrinx wars, he is stricken by guilt for following
orders and shooting down a Council thapter, and desperate to atone. Taken
prisoner by the Numinator seven years ago, along with Yggur and Chissmoul, and
held at the Tower of a Thousand Steps, he was recently released by Flydd.