Outcast Chronicles - Sanctuary Part 4

*Not if I can help it. I've seen what lies on the higher plane...' Sorne shuddered. He knew True-men believed the creatures of the higher plane were G.o.ds, but in reality they were predators. *I've been lucky to escape with my life. I don't want to tempt fate again.'

*Then you are no threat to True-men or the church.'

A little later Sorne rode out of Port Mirror-on-Sea with a dozen of the king's guard.

Chapter Four.

IMOSHEN'S SHIP WAS about to follow the rest of the fleet through the tall sandstone headlands. Bathed a brilliant red-gold by the dawn sun, the headlands were a thing of beauty, but all she could think of at that moment was Sorne. She'd sent him back to save the last of their people from a kingdom torn by civil war.

Over near the foredeck cabin, Egrayne, her sisterhood's voice-of-reason, was speaking with one of the children who'd been delivered yesterday. Until they held an all-council meeting, the children could not be a.s.signed to a sisterhood. But for now they were safe, sheltered and fed.

She was so tired, she could hardly think. They'd had to bring forward their exile; she'd spent the three days before they left the city madly scrambling to coordinate their departure. Then she'd travelled through rain and mud for eight days to reach the port, and last night she hadn't slept.

Her ship was packed with two sisterhoods a" hers and the healer's a" along with anyone who'd escaped the wharf during the attack. Despite the over-crowding, she could hear children laughing and Malaunje singing, and smell food cooking. Already she could feel the deck's rise and fall as they left the sheltered bay, and she suspected that soon everyone would be seasick. Then the overcrowding would only compound the problem.

Looking forward to her bunk, Imoshen stumbled up the steps to the rear-deck and went down the pa.s.sage towards her cabin.

*Choice-mother?' Iraayel opened the door of the shared bathing chamber. At sixteen, her choice-son was half a head taller than her, and just the sight of him made her spirits lift.

*Iraayel.' She smiled, then frowned. *Is Tancred causing problems?'

They were so cramped for s.p.a.ce they'd had to put the big geldr in the same cabin with the lads aged thirteen to sixteen. Tancred would have been born male, but his mother had tried to influence his gender before birth and ruined him. Most days he had the awareness of a five-year-old child coupled with the strength of an adult.

*The lads tease him,' Iraayel admitted. *But no, it's Dragazim. Somehow he found out how his choice-mother died, and...'

Imoshen's heart sank. The night before they left the city, the sisterhood's gift-tutor had gone down to the crypts below the palace and taken her own life and her devotee's.

Iraayel opened the door to reveal Saffazi trying to console a boy of thirteen who was in tears.

*It's not that she didn't love you,' the seventeen-year-old said. *It's a"'

*She didn't love me. She was always angry with me. She didn't care what happened to me, otherwise why would she kill herself and Ch... Choris?' His voice broke. *Choris loved me. Now she's gone, too. I hate...' He broke off, seeing Imoshen.

She did not try to lie. *Your choice-mother was a troubled woman, Dragazim.' Imoshen crossed the chamber and sat beside him on the edge of the marble tub. *It wasn't that she didn't love you, more that she was afraid of what we would face in exile. Vittoryxe could not bear to leave the Celestial City. She believed the glory of our people was in the past. She didn't understand that exile is a great opportunity in disguise.'

As he blinked, a tear ran down his cheek and Imoshen's gift surged. She was a raedan, able to read people. The glory of the T'Enatuath was all very well, but what this boy needed now was a choice-mother who gave him hope.

She squeezed his shoulder. *It's time to appoint a new choice-mother for you.' As she stood, she nodded to Iraayel, drawing both him and Saffazi to the door. *You did well to alert me to his distress. Thank you.'

Then she hesitated. She could hardly take Dragazim into her cabin, it was full of the sisterhood's inner circle and the small T'En children. He would not want them to see he'd been crying. The bathing chamber was the only place they could be private. *Wait here with him.'

Opening the door, Imoshen discovered Egrayne making her way to their cabin. She stepped into the pa.s.sage, closing the door after her and lowered her voice. *We need to appoint a new choice-mother for Dragazim.'

*Vittoryxe's boy?'

Imoshen nodded. *He learned how she took her own life. Not only has she left us in the lurch with no trained gift-tutor, but she's left the boy without a choice-mother.'

*He's thirteen.'

Imoshen bristled. *He deserves a choice-mother who will stand by him during his last four years with the sisterhood.'

*Who were you thinking?'

*It has to be someone of equal or higher stature than his original choice-mother, which only leaves the three sisterhood leaders.'

*I'm too old to take on another child,' Egrayne protested. *And you're not only the all-mother but also causare.'

*It should be Kiane. He's about to begin his training to prepare him for brotherhood life under her guidance. The sisterhood's hand-of-force is a"'

*Perfect. I'll fetch her.'

Imoshen returned to the bathing chamber. She glanced around, taking in the marble tiles and gold fittings. It was hardly the dome of empowerment or the sisterhood's formal ceremony chamber, but it would have to do.

*We have a new choice-mother for you,' Imoshen said.

*She won't want me.'

*Nonsense.' Egrayne bustled in with her devotee, who carried the lineage book, and Hand-of-force Kiane. *You're thirteen,' she told Dragazim. *Rather than wait until the next empowerment day, let's see if I can find your gift now.'

Dragazim looked up at the T'Enatuath's gift-empowerer with a mix of fear and excitement.

Imoshen gave him a smile of rea.s.surance, then gestured to Kiane. *And my hand-of-force is here because you'll need a new choice-mother to guide you and prepare you for the challenges of brotherhood life. Who better than Kiane?'

He flushed and dropped to his knees, giving the deep obeisance. *I am honoured.'

*Very nicely done, Dragazim,' Imoshen said. *Now rise and prepare for empowerment.'

When he came to his feet, his expression was sober, if slightly worried.

*Dragazim, formerly Choice-son Vittoryxe,' Imoshen said. *The T'Enatuath's gift empowerer will reach into your mind to identify your nascent gift and quicken it. Do you agree to this?' As if he had a choice; she bristled on his behalf.

The boy nodded.

*Then thank her for this honour.'

He gave the formal obeisance and said the ritual words. Even though he clasped his hands, left over right, Imoshen could see his fingers trembling.

*Concentrate on me, Dragazim,' she urged, as Egrayne stepped around behind him, placing her fingers on his temples.

A shiver ran through his skinny fame.

*I have been doing this for thirty years, child,' Egrayne said. She was more than a head taller than him, and she was not as big as the biggest of the T'En men. Dragazim had a lot of growing to do before he entered the brotherhood. *This will only hurt if you resist.'

He nodded once.

*Drop your defences.'

Imoshen felt the rise in Egrayne's gift as the empowerer plunged into his mind.

Empowerment always seemed wrong to Imoshen. Her gift had simply arisen, and she had honed it through play and experimentation. In spring next year, it would be thirteen years since she had stumbled into the sisterhood's palace and claimed sanctuary. During that time, she had trained under Gift-tutor Vittoryxe, and she believed the rigid exercises designed to develop the gifts in their prescribed paths actually limited them. Like a limb left unused, other embryonic gifts withered.

If she had her way, Imoshen would put aside this ritual, along with so many other things. If Egrayne only knew her real agenda, she would be horrified.

But Imoshen hid her true feelings as the tension built. It lifted with the suddenness of a silent thunderclap and Dragazim almost fell forward. At the last moment, he steadied himself and blinked sleepily.

*Well done, lad.' Egrayne placed a hand on his shoulder. *You are a gift-warrior.'

He grinned with delight and met Iraayel's eyes. All the boys looked up to Imoshen's choice-son. He'd led them the night King Charald attacked the city. Under his leadership, they'd held the grand stair, which saved the T'En nursery. Yet no brotherhood would take him, the blind fools.

Egrayne gestured to her devotee. *Write it in the lineage book, Roskara.'

Imoshen beckoned Kiane. *Time to make him your choice-son, Kia.'

Dragazim went around behind Kiane, knelt on the floor then crawled between her legs, to symbolise birth.

Kiane reached down and helped him rise, turning him around to face her. *Welcome, Dragazim Choice-son Kiane.' The hand-of-force touched his forehead with the little sixth finger of her left hand, letting her gift brush his senses. *I swear to protect your life with my own. I swear to rear you to revere the heritage of the T'Enatuath and protect our Malaunje.'

With the ceremony over, everyone else filed out, but Imoshen caught Iraayel's arm at the door. His father, Irian, had been the brotherhood's hand-of-force, and Iraayel owed his martial prowess and gift to him. But he reminded her of Ardeyne, the brotherhood's clever voice-of-reason. Ever since Iraayel had been empowered, she'd been testing him with glimpses of other gifts so that he wouldn't be limited. Now she'd seen the way Dragazim looked to Iraayel. He was a natural leader. *You are a gift-warrior, but you are so much more. Don't think a hand-of-force is all you could ever be. Keep up the exercises I taught you.'

He laughed and kissed her forehead. *My subversive mother!'

He left and Imoshen turned to see Saffazi watching her. Egrayne's choice-daughter had been close to Iraayel, leading him into trouble since he was a child. And this last year their relationship had deepened. They'd faced death together when the city was attacked. Imoshen knew she should explain herself, but she was so tired. All she could manage was a weary smile. *Come along.'

Head buzzing with exhaustion, Imoshen entered the ship's main cabin to find her inner circle trying to maintain standards while packed into the cramped s.p.a.ce. A Malaunje servant was working on Ysattori's floor-length hair, creating the elaborate hairstyles that were a sign of high stature in T'En society. Ysattori's shield-sister waited her turn.

Short of the deep-bond Imoshen shared with Ardonyx, the shield-sister bond was the closest relationship two T'En could share. Unlike the bond between T'En and their devotee, it was an equal pairing of gifts; but if one died, the other often died as well.

The cabin was all bustle as the other sisters and Malaunje saw to the needs of the sisterhood's T'En children. Imoshen's infant daughter had turned one last midsummer. Now Umaleni ran to her.

She was the only sacrare child of the sisterhood. Born of two T'En parents, she would one day be an a.s.set to the sisterhood. But Umaleni was not pampered; Imoshen had seen to that. If her daughter was to grow into a self-disciplined woman who could master her powerful gifts, then she must develop strength of character. Hers would not be an easy path. Iraayel had suffered because of his a.s.sociation with Imoshen, and he was only a man.

Imoshen knelt, scooped her daughter up and hugged her, then smiled at her devotee. *Have you been good for Frayvia, Uma?'

At the sound of her voice, the other baby girl began to wail and Imoshen's b.r.e.a.s.t.s ached. She collected the infant and settled on the bunk under the window to feed her. Umaleni climbed up beside them.

Imoshen noticed a five-year-old boy watching them. He had saved the baby girl's life and carried her across Chalcedonia. Now he drifted over, looking lonely. He was the son of free Malaunje and couldn't speak the T'En language. Imoshen held out her arms and he also climbed up next to her.

Egrayne surveyed the cabin. *Take the bigger children up on deck to play. The little ones need to sleep.'

As the cabin emptied, she sat on the end of the bunk. *You can't just make these two children your choice-son and daughter, Imoshen. Their fate should be decided at an all-mother council. The boy will need a brotherhood to go to when he turns seventeen. All the other sisterhood leaders will want the girl. If you take her in without giving them a chance to claim her, they'll resent you.'

Egrayne was right. Few T'En babies were carried to term, and more often than not, they were stillborn or horribly deformed. Healthy female babies were the rarest of all. Every other sisterhood would want the little girl, but... Imoshen looked down at the infant suckling at her breast. *I've fed her, Egrayne. She's mine now. I'd die for her.'

Egrayne's mouth tightened in a grim line, but she didn't argue.

*Captain Ardonyx tells me it could take four days to sail down the coast to Shifting-sands Bay. We'll hold the all-council when we get there,' Imoshen said. But no one would love these children as much as she did.

*That's another thing, Imoshen. It will be winter's cusp in twenty-six days. Your choice-son turns seventeen two days before that. Since All-father Chariode's brotherhood was destroyed, he is without a brotherhood. Kyredeon took in Chariode's survivors. Have you asked a"'

*No, and I won't. There's something wrong with Kyredeon. He's full of fear and hate.'

*Be that as it may, Iraayel has to go to a brotherhood. He's a gift-warrior, and powerful for a male. The sisters won't a"'

*He's a good person. He saved your choice-daughter's life.'

*I know. But we are packed on these ships with no privacy. We can't have a powerful young T'En man living alongside us.' She pulled the cover up over the sleeping boy. *Imoshen, the rest of the inner circle will vote to turn Iraayel out. The Mieren king has vowed to execute any of our people who remain behind after winter's cusp. What will you do?'

If only Ardonyx led a brotherhood. He was Imoshen's secret bond-partner and Umaleni's father. When he and Tobazim risked their lives to save Imoshen's party from the wharf last night, she'd deliberately gift-infused them to augment their power and raise their stature.

Ardonyx feared Kyredeon would fabricate evidence of disloyalty against the pair of them and have them executed. The all-father had made a practice of removing potential threats before they could challenge him for the brotherhood's leadership.

If Ardonyx and Tobazim wanted to survive, they had to move soon. But if they challenged Kyredeon before they had enough support from the rest of the brotherhood's warriors and scholars, they'd be killed.

It would break her heart to lose Ardonyx.

And she would lose more than him, because no other brotherhood leader would accept her choice-son. They hated her, had done ever since the day she'd executed an all-father. She'd had no choice. The sisterhoods had made the safety of her devotee and Iraayel dependent on proving she was not a tool of the brotherhoods.

Surely her kind had enough enemies without bickering amongst themselves? Tears of frustration stung Imoshen's eyes.

*You're tired,' Egrayne said.

*I'm tired of the distrust between the brotherhoods and sisterhoods.'

*Four hundred years of feuding can't be forgotten.'

*There's still time...' Imoshen whispered, as her eyes drifted shut. Less than one small moon, but there was still time for Ardonyx to convince Tobazim to challenge Kyredeon, still time for them to win the brotherhood, save themselves and save her choice-son.

Imoshen heard the door close and knew Egrayne had left her to rest. On the other side of the cabin, old Tiasarone sang the sisterhood's infants to sleep.

Chapter Five.

TOBAZIM GRIPPED THE rail of the lower rear-deck, fighting his gift. It was an unusual manifestation of T'En power. Unlike Learon, his childhood choice-brother, his was not a martial gift and he'd always resented this; stature was easy to gain if you were a gift-warrior. But Learon, for all his strength in body and gift, had not survived long in Kyredeon's brotherhood. The all-father had noted him as a possible rival, shamed him before everyone and driven him to seek an honourable death. It had all unfolded so fast Tobazim had not realised the danger. He'd failed his choice-brother, and he carried the knowledge with him like an open wound.

If only his gift had been something martial...

Instead Tobazim could sense the forces and weights of a building and, now that the ship was at sea, he could feel his gift flexing as the ship plunged into the waves and the sails filled above him, driving the ship's prow through the sea. The forces involved roused his gift and he had to reel the power in.