Elfsorrow

'Anyway. The camp guard and the mage are to stay there, look after the sick and the rest of the kit. If that dimwit girl can keep any of them alive, it would be a real bonus. I want the eight back here by midnight so they'd better get a move on. Meanwhile, you mark out pitching and shit-hole areas, organise a firewood party and set a ring of four fires around this entrance. I don't want anything unwelcome disturbing my sleep. Looks like we could be here for a while. All clear?'

Ben-Foran nodded. 'Yes, sir.'

'Good. I'll be inside exercising my rank privilege and watching you all get hot and tired. We'll all sleep in there tonight but anyone pissing in the pool gets staked out for the jaguars. Oh, and Ben, remind the firewood party to wear gloves and be careful where they're putting their hands. If it moves when you pick it up, it isn't a stick.'

Ben-Foran gri

'Good. Now get to it. The light'll fade quickly.' Yron turned and strode back into the glorious cool of the temple. 'Dear Gods, what did I do to land this dog's arse of a command?'

Chapter 8

Erie

She gathered her strength, grasped the door handle and pushed open the door, stepping inside before her mind forced her body to run.

'Erie

And there they were, the two of them, sat in deep, fabric-upholstered chairs, their legs propped up on cushioned footstools. They looked frail and old and a sickness had disfigured their skin but their eyes burned bright. They should both be dead. Like her daughter. Yet here they were, greeting her like a grandchild, which to them she probably was.

'This is not a social call,' said Erie

'We grieve for your loss-' began Myriell.

'Don't you dare!' Erie

'Don't ever tell me you grieve. Dear Gods drowning, but it was you who let her die. And you didn't have to.'

'We felt-'

'You didn't have to,' repeated Erie

Two seasons she had been waiting to say these words. Two seasons where bottomless grief and gut-wrenching loathing had robbed her of the strength to face them as she wanted to. The nausea eased and the nerves steadied. She felt in control of herself.

'But you would have died doing so,' said Myriell.

'To die for my daughter would have been the greatest honour of my life. I'm her mother. What the hell else would you expect of me?'

Erie

'We expected you to fulfil your belief in the greater necessity of maintaining the One magic,' said Cleress.

'My, my, how divorced you are from reality.' Erie

She rested her hands on the arms of Myriell's chair and leaned in close. 'I would have done anything to save my child's life. Being prepared to die for her was easy. And your One magic didn't even figure.'

There was silence as the two women stared each other out, Erie

'So why have you come to us?' asked Cleress. 'Just to vent your feelings or is there more?'

Erie

'No, we don't think that,' said Cleress. 'And we don't expect your forgiveness either. And yes, we both bore children. But the One is bigger and more critical than any of us.'

'Try telling that to Lya

'And she lives on within you now but you deny it,' said Myriell.

'Do you think me completely bereft of sense?' Erie

'But accept it you must,' said Cleress, her voice suddenly gaining intensity. 'It is the future for us all.'

Erie

'If you deny it for ever, it will shrivel and wither, but not before causing your death. Then you and your daughter will both have died in vain,' said Myriell.

'On my terms if at all,' said Erie

'Back?' Cleress's half-smile stretched her face painfully.

'That is why I am here. The Raven are leaving here and I have been reminded that I am one of The Raven. Xetesk controls Herendeneth now. We have things to do, so my husband informs me. While I am gone, keep out of my mind unless by some miracle I invite you in. But more important, stay away from Lya

Myriell and Cleress shared a glance.

'We will, of course, respect your wishes,' said Cleress. 'But remember we are dying. And even though you may hate us, you need us. Because the One will awake and only we can shepherd you through the ordeal you must face.'

'If I choose to believe you.'

'Believe me, girl!' snapped Myriell. 'It is an enormous power. And if you awaken it without our help, your fate will be more awful than your daughter's.'

Erie

'I know you want what lies dormant in my head. I know you think you can return the One to dominance through me. But for now it is lost to you. And you will suffer that loss as I have suffered mine. But at least you will have the one thing I do not. Hope.'

'Be careful where you travel,' warned Cleress.

'I will go where I choose and I will do as I please.' Erie

'You do not own me, Al-Drechar. And you do not own what I host. You would do well to remember that.' Ilkar left Herendeneth with a mix of emotions that left him distinctly uncomfortable. He hardly knew where to start to sort it all out. He was happy to be leaving the island but deeply concerned by the overwhelming Xeteskian presence there. His desire to recruit, even temporarily, mages from Calaius to help rebuild Julatsa was tempered by his anxiety about returning to his Southern Continent homeland for the first time in over a century.

And perhaps worse than all of it, immediately at least, he was going to have to travel there by ship. Despite the pouch of the relaxing and settling drug, lemiir, that the Al-Drechar had given him, his memories of misery and sickness on the open ocean were all too fresh.