The Sleeping Life (Eferum Book 2) (23 page)

"She looks like she has a lot of personality. I bet she nips the other horses, just to make mischief."

Sukata's touchy mare. Fallon wouldn't be surprised at all if she nipped as well as kicked. Auri stroked the mare as best she could, but as usual there was no reaction. Even cats and dogs—and Kellian—failed to sense the bored girl trying to win their attention.

A circuit of the far limits of Auri's reach flushed no hidden predators, but the sprawling immensity of the trees kept her entertained, along with attempts to bound through piles of fallen leaves. They did seem to rustle minutely when she kicked, just as still water would hold a suggestion of a quiver. Back home, Fallon had once set out a big bowl of water, in the hopes that Auri would be able to establish a yes/no communication with their father, but Father had not noticed at all, and Fallon had woken exhausted.

Trailing back to the shelter, Auri straightened abruptly. "Is he in trouble?" she asked, and hurried ahead almost gleefully to make an invisible fourth in a ring around Dezart Samarin.

The others in the circle were Lord Surclere, Darian Faille and Lieutenant Faral: all three adult Kellian in the Duchess' current entourage, trying not to loom. At least, two were: Darian Faille seemed quite inclined to loom, standing directly in front of the Dezart, holding his gaze.

"You'd think he'd look a little nervous," Auri observed. "
I
would be, if anyone stood over me like that. And that's not even counting claws that could cut me open."

But the Dezart, as usual, appeared primarily entertained by the encounter, and was saying: "I've no objection at all. Did Hirel Falcy not tell your forebears anything of her past?"

"Hirel?" Darian Faille repeated.

"An honorific," Lord Surclere said. "It means teacher." He took a step back then, and indicated some handily arranged stones beside the path to the stream. "Please. This sounds a longer story than anticipated."

"Who is this Falcy person?" Auri asked, then made a confused face when Lord Surclere told the Dezart that 'Aurai' had never spoken of her past, beyond that she had been a bond servant who had abandoned her post before completing her contracted period.

"Entirely true," Dezart Samarin said, after they had settled on the stones, his faint smile easing away in the face of so much Kellian gravity. "Lenaurai Falcy was a bond-servant to Emperor Arav, tasked with instructing his children in the sword arts."

"Which one was Emperor Arav?" Auri asked, as the Kellian reacted only with added stillness. "Oh, wait, I know—he was the one who was going to invade Tyrland, back when the Black Queen was in charge."

"Emperor Arav had quite a number of children," Dezart Samarin was saying. "Three by his wife, and a good dozen 'secondary' heirs. Being sent to Hirel Falcy's class was a kind of acknowledgement of parentage, for he expected a great deal of his children, and retained the absolute best to instruct them."

"Didn't Emperor Arav once have an entire town pegged up at night outside their circle, just because a statue of him was allowed to fall over?" Auri said, poking her fingers casually into the Dezart's eyes. "Why are they acting so solemn over ancient history?"

Oblivious, Samarin continued. "The Emperor himself was an excellent swordsman, and once a month he would have his children match him, to gauge how they were progressing. Wooden swords, and many bruises, and further punishment if you wept. He was particularly exacting with his heir, Kyrus." The Dezart shrugged. "They hated each other and, given the Emperor's temperament, it was perhaps inevitable that one day the Emperor would cast aside the practice weapon, draw his sword, and attack Kyrus in earnest."

"And Kyrus defeated him. This is known." There was just a note of uncertainty in Lieutenant Faral's voice.

"So the histories tell us," Dezart Samarin agreed. "And so the more than dozen children who witnessed the fight told the Court: Kyrus had fought with their father and their father had died. After which, Kyrus drew the severed haft of the practice sword from his father's body, and declared 'I did this' most firmly. Since Arav was feared and loathed almost universally by that point, this direct route to taking the throne brought no repercussions, and gave Kyrus a reputation for strength that was most useful in the early days of his rule."

"And he sent Aurai away to protect the lie," Darian Faille said, her words very quiet.

The Dezart's faint smile briefly reappeared. "For protection, at least. He had no guarantee that every one of his many brothers and sisters would always remain silent, and indeed in later years there was more than one who, at least in their cups, hinted heavily that there was a reason their teacher vanished one night soon after Kyrus was declared Emperor.

"If Kyrus had started with a fuller mastery of Imperial bureaucracy, he would have not been so concerned about drawing attention to his teacher, and simply created an excuse to nullify the contract. Sending her away broke bond to the Imperial service, and automatically made Hirel Falcy outlaw. That meant being dragged back and a great deal of whipping, in those days. Not so dramatic as the penalty for killing the Emperor, of course. That would have been Hirel Falcy's death, and death to all her family, and death to her line." He cocked his head to one side, meeting Darian Faille's fixed gaze with unimpaired calm. "Unto the seventh generation, which is why, even among a rather long-lived people, this discussion is one of curiosity, not consequence. Is it not?"

The Dezart stood then, nodded politely, and walked off to the little stone shelter.

"Wasn't all this three hundred years ago?" Auri said. "Why are they all so grim? Not that they aren't endlessly grim anyway, and, really, I don't think much of your Duchess' taste. This Kolan's much more interesting."

Kellian often talked in a language of hand signals, so Fallon could not guess what Lieutenant Faral said before she walked off to re-check the horses, but Darian Faille said one thing out loud to her son before following:

"I hope the Rest survives your visitors."

Lord Surclere, expressionless as usual, returned inside, and Auri trailed him, and listened to less interesting conversations until everyone inside went to sleep. Then she again explored that day's bounds of her existence, hunting hidden birds and animals, and making little games trying to jump between branches that barely held any substance for her. And all the while chattering on and on: an eternal, one-sided conversation, heard only in a dream.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

After determinedly avoiding all discussion of Aurai's Rest, Rennyn had not known whether to expect a crude collection of shacks or a fortress. Instead, the road opened upon a garden-festooned hill: an uneven oval narrower and lower to the east, while the west rose to a high, bare crest above steep terraces. Although there were smaller trees, the space was clear of the vast Semarrak oaks, with the hill rising like an island above a sea of gold.

"Glorious," she murmured.

Rennyn felt more than saw Illidian's approval. "Spring and autumn at the Rest are incomparable. I have missed seeing this."

He had been born here. All of the Kellian had been born at the Rest. Even after the majority had chosen to dwell in Tyrland, they travelled to the forest settlement to bear their children, and raise them away from the pressure of people who were afraid of even half-grown Kellian.

It was certainly not a hand-to-mouth childhood. The buildings—finely crafted in stone and wood—clustered down at the eastern end of the hill, and were surrounded not only by crops, but by areas of garden and lawn bounded by the inlaid path of stone that marked a well-maintained protective circle. A river curved close, but of course did not cross the circle, and there was even a water wheel turning lazily.

"How many families live here?" Dezart Samarin asked, drawing his horse level with Illidian's.

"There are eighteen adults and four children," Illidian said, evenly. "But the Rest supported more than thirty families when permission to serve Tyrland was sought from King Theum."

"And you simply keep watch and kill any predators that stray close?"

"If necessary. There are caves beneath the hill, and we bring all the animals into them at night. The buildings are sturdy, and it is only in years where food is particularly low that the slashers or keenwolves will attempt direct assaults."

"How very interesting," Samarin said. "The surveyors who continue to insist that Semarrak is uninhabitable are perhaps broaching a less civilised part of the forest."

He did enjoy fomenting mischief, this peculiar Kolan, who could not be anything but fully aware of how little he was wanted in this place. Illidian had once told her that Tyrland was home to the Kellian, but it had long been clear that Aurai's Rest held an equal claim. Here alone in all the world was a place made by and for them, where no-one would say they did not belong. Why remind them of the Empire's technical claim over the forest?

The tingle of a clear and strong protection distracted Rennyn as they crossed into the settlement circle, and another piece of mischief surfaced in her memory. Breeding for magic.

She set that aside. If she was going to expend her energy on doubt over the reasons for her marriage, her ability to control the Kellian would trump all other factors. Her bloodline had been an unseen keystone since the Kellian had first become a people rather than tools. The Kellian had recoiled from that knowledge, but then adapted and forced themselves to face the ramifications of the Symbolic Magic that defined their core. But Illidian had been drawn to her before he had known what she had inherited, and had not let it keep him from her.

What would become of this place, dependent as it was on Kellian speed and instinct, when they tested the boundaries of their existence?

As the inhabitants of Aurai's Rest emerged to greet their arrival, Rennyn leaned back against Illidian's chest, and dropped one hand to the arm curled lightly around her waist. He shifted so he could briefly lace his fingers through hers, squeezing in silent reassurance before they dismounted and faced the business of greetings, and the wary regard of those who had not met her before, and who were trying to be polite, and to hide their horror. There were three non-Kellian among them, working especially hard to keep their expressions welcoming.

After Rennyn had been fully overwhelmed by names and faces, the travellers were shown to rooms, and paused in the business of settling in for Lieutenant Meniar to cast the focus divination yet again, and establish that her Wicked Uncle was still north and east of their location. But certainly not at Aurai's Rest itself.

"How is your strength?" Darian Faille asked, having observed this process without comment. "Do you wish to sleep?"

"I think I'll last until dinner," Rennyn said, taking stock of herself. She had dozed a little on the highly undemanding ride, and at least did not feel like she would drop.

"Then I will show you the Rest."

Was Darian, Rennyn wondered, creating an opportunity for the other Kellian to do much the same thing as the Sentene mages had: talk to Illidian away from the Montjuste-Surclere heir he had so hastily married, to reassure themselves that it was something he had truly chosen? Given that there were many among the Sentene mages yet to be convinced, Rennyn resigned herself to the continuing distrust, and followed her mother by marriage.

Not unexpectedly, Darian was considerate and polite, taking Rennyn on an undemanding tour of the central buildings of Aurai's Rest. The settlement was tidy, most of it arranged around the eastern base of the hill, but while the shared kitchens and dining areas reminded Rennyn of the Kellian barracks back in Asentyr, the creators of Aurai's Rest had imbued everything with an elegance of form and a regard for craftsmanship that elevated the settlement to a precious object in itself.

There continued to be a sense of restraint about Darian, the shadow of words unsaid. Rennyn, aware of unfamiliar awkwardness, sought for a neutral topic.

"Who designed the Rest?"

"The Ten." Darian surveyed the roofs of the main buildings as she led the way up a bricked path. "Veya and Tio in particular."

Rennyn blinked, then counted from one to five in Verisian: "Ala, Tio, Seya, Nal, Veya?"

"Yes. Aurai's response to ten near-identical women who had no names for themselves."

"Was Aurai Verisian?"

"She came from the border country," Darian said, keeping her pace slow as Rennyn followed her up another section of the gently winding path. "Though we still know almost nothing of her family."

Having had Dezart Samarin's revelations passed on to her, Rennyn suspected she understood the troubled note in this last remark. Nor was she surprised when Darian added:

"Illidian looks worn."

"Yes." Pointless to deny such an obvious fact. "Nightmares. And caring for me has been a great deal of work." Rennyn concentrated on walking, as the gentle climb began to take its toll. "I think that the threat Prince Helecho poses is also weighing on him. There's so little we can do to find him, and yet we cannot be sure he is not hunting us."

"From what I understand, this Eferum-Get Prince's most logical course is to avoid anyone who knows his identity. Is he not more likely to keep safely away from you?"

"He seemed the sort to spend several years looking forward to surprising me at an unprotected moment," Rennyn said judiciously. "But not, perhaps, if he cannot do so without risk. Tyrland was his mother's obsession, and I just entertainment along the way. Though that's perhaps wishful thinking. I don't relish meeting him again, even to put an end to him."

Darian accepted this admission of cowardice without comment, and they walked on for several steps before the Kellian woman, unhurried and unsparing, said:

"I was concerned at the haste of your marriage. Illidian has explained the reason for it. Do you truly believe that Tyrland's Queen would have forced you to wed her heir to gain control of us?"

"I believe it inevitable that the advantages of such a marriage would have occurred to Tyrland's Court, if not the Queen. How Queen Astranelle would have acted, I cannot say. From what I've seen of her, she is firm on matters of importance, but stays aloof from what she considers minor issues."