Orlind Page 6

  She’d been staring, but Orillin didn’t seem to notice. He allowed Eva to usher him back inside Rheas’s house, already hero-worshipping Tren and crushing on Eva. Llandry followed in silence.

  Her grandfather’s face darkened with anger, or something like it, when he saw the crowd of people filling up his house.

  ‘That’s it,’ he snapped. ‘Enough. No more. This is my house, not a town hall.’

  Llandry watched enviously as Eva merely turned a cool look on him. ‘Mr Irfan,’ she said. ‘I’d like to talk with you.’

  Rheas looked her over, his attention lingering on the glasses she still wore. ‘Darklanders?’ He conspicuously failed to stand; nor did he make even the smallest gesture of greeting or welcome.

  ‘Lady Evastany Glostrum,’ Eva said coldly. ‘Of Glour.’ She didn’t extend her hand.

  ‘And what are you doing in my house?’ said Rheas, his tone no friendlier than hers.

  ‘Bringing your granddaughter to visit her mother,’ Eva replied. ‘After that, I imagine I’ll be taking all your visitors away again and leaving you in peace. But you’ll help me with something first.’

  Rheas’s thick grey eyebrows travelled upwards, his blue eyes growing colder. ‘Oh?’

  ‘You’re a summoner,’ she said, taking a step closer to the rocking-chair he sat in. ‘I feel that in you. Do you know what’s happening out there?’

  Rheas glared at her, but consented to nod. Llandry thought back to her frantic flight across Iskyr not long ago, terrified that some harm had befallen Eva and Tren and that she’d be too late to help them. That fear had been strong, but a surge of panic and confusion had overtaken her senses, coming not from her own mind and body but from outside of herself. She’d known immediately what it meant.

  ‘How is it that your domain remains untouched by it?’ Eva persevered.

  Rheas’s expression turned smug. ‘I’ve learned a few things in my time up here.’

  ‘Of course you have. I’ll be needing to know what those “things” are. I’ve no doubt that the Seven are swamped in panicked beasts just now, and I know for a fact they won’t have the capacity to deal with this much turbulence. Your tricks could save lives, Mr Irfan.’

  Rheas looked unmoved. Llandry could have told her that it was useless to appeal to her grandfather’s better side; he didn’t appear to have one.

  Eva gave a small shrug and turned aside. ‘I suppose we had better make ourselves comfortable, Tren,’ she said with a smile. ‘We may be staying for a while.’

  A faint snarl of annoyance came from Rheas’s corner of the room, but he didn’t say anything.

  Llan slipped silently out of the room. The conversation didn’t seem to require her presence; she had little doubt that Eva could handle Rheas, if anyone could. Meanwhile, she wanted her mamma. Back up the stairs she went. Reaching Ynara’s room, she found Devary still in attendance. Nyra and Eyas were also in the room, sitting close together in the window seat with their backs turned to everyone else.

  ‘Ma,’ Llandry said, sitting carefully on the bed. ‘Lady Eva’s here, and Tren.’

  Ynara turned on her a look of surprise. ‘Eva’s here? Why?’

  ‘She brought me,’ Llan replied. It occurred to her then that Ynara wouldn’t have heard of Eva’s newfound Lokant skills, so she went on to explain. She spoke of Limbane and the Library, though she left Krays out of it for now. Ma needed a bit more time to recover before she was burdened with worries again.

  By the time she was finished, all conversations across the room had ceased and she was the centre of attention. She came to an abrupt stop, her face heating.

  Ynara nodded, squeezing her hand. ‘I’m not too surprised. Eva was always different.’

  ‘You’re taking all this very calmly, Ma,’ Llandry said.

  ‘Well, my Llandry. Remember the events that landed me in this bed. What do you suppose has become of Waeverleyne while I’ve been lying here? I have little attention to spare for any other matter.’

  Llandry nodded, her nerves fluttering. Her first objective was reviving Mamma; that accomplished, they would both soon have to return to Glinnery, to face whatever was occurring in their beloved home city. Would there be anything to return to?

  A sudden thought set her cursing herself. Pensould had Aysun’s voice-box. If she hadn’t dismissed him, they could have attempted to speak with her father right away. Pensould had failed to get an answer from him in some time, this was true, but she wanted to try. Aysun needed to know that Ynara was well, and they needed to know what was happening in Glinnery. Was her father safe, even?

  ‘I’m getting up,’ Ynara announced. She threw back the blanket and stood. Devary hovered, supporting her elbow when she wobbled a little.

  ‘Stop that,’ she said. ‘I’m perfectly well. I’d like a moment to dress, please, then we will find Eva. It is high time for a plan of action to be formulated.’

  Llandry left the room, along with Dev, Nyra and Eyas. She could guess her mother’s purpose. Never mind the voice-box; Ynara would go straight to Waeverleyne. Devary would go with her, of course, and probably Nyra and Eyas would too.

  And Llandry was determined that she would not be left behind.

  Squeezing ten people into Rheas’s open-plan ground floor was no easy matter. That it was acutely painful to Rheas was perfectly obvious. For the first time Llandry wondered whether the old man had the same fear of crowds as she did. Was that why he’d hidden himself up here? The possibility that hers was, in part, a familial weakness made her feel a little bit better.

  Ynara took charge of the impromptu meeting, at least to begin with. But she assumed that their only goal was to defeat the draykon invasion, and Eva was obliged to interrupt her.

  ‘I am as concerned as you about the threat to the Seven Realms; the double threat, in fact, as they will be under siege by the animal populace as well as the draykoni. But Krays’s activities may prove to be a still greater problem. Tren and I must assist Limbane in uncovering his operation, and halting it.’

  Ynara glanced briefly at Llandry. ‘Krays?’

  Eva looked at Llandry too, and she blushed. Perhaps she should have told Mamma the whole story after all.

  ‘Krays is another Lokant,’ Eva explained. ‘A rival of Limbane’s, and a very dangerous man.’ She related the tale in full, though Llandry was grateful to note that she played down the danger Krays had posed to Llandry.

  ‘But this is between Lokants,’ Ynara said when Eva had finished. ‘If they must fight over their Libraries, let them. It is no concern of ours.’

  ‘I’m not sure of that at all,’ Eva said. ‘Krays’s various projects appear to involve the Seven Realms closely. He may indeed be aiming to take back Limbane’s Library; Limbane certainly believes that. But why does he need the draykon bone? Why has he chosen this world to conduct his operations? There’s much more to this than we’ve yet learned, there has to be. And I can’t believe that it won’t affect the Seven at all. He and his agents are already the cause of all the turmoil we now face; they brought back the draykoni. What more might the Seven suffer in time, as a result of these Lokant wars?’

  Ynara frowned. ‘What possible reason could this Krays have for wanting to harm the Seven?’

  ‘Possibly none at all,’ Eva said. ‘But considering the extent of the collateral damage so far, I’d say he has no reason to care if our world is broken either.’

  Ynara nodded slowly, obviously disappointed.

  ‘I shan’t abandon the Seven to the draykoni, Ynara,’ Eva said gently. ‘But nor can I make them my priority.’

  ‘I’ll help Glinnery,’ Llandry said. Orillin said almost the same thing at almost the same time. He threw her a swift smile, but Eva shook her head.

  ‘We can’t simply set the two of you loose in Glinnery,’ she said. ‘Limbane would kill me, and rightfully so. As far as we know, Krays is still looking for you both.’

  ‘We can handle him, if we stick together,’ Llandry said quickly. ‘Ori
llin and me, and Pensould and Avane. Especially after we teach them to Change.’

  Orillin’s eyes brightened at that and he looked about to say something, but Eva cut him off. ‘We’ll take that up with Limbane,’ she said. ‘But provisionally, I agree: Orillin and Avane must be taught. May I give you that task, Llan?’

  Llandry agreed, and was rewarded with a beaming smile from Orillin.

  ‘So, to recap...’ Ynara cut in. ‘Nyra, Eyas, Devary and I will return to Waeverleyne and the problem of the draykoni. Llandry, Orillin and Tren will go with Eva back to the Library. And Rheas will teach us to soothe those poor maddened creatures - or at least, to keep them away from our towns.’

  A clamour of protests rose at that, the loudest from Orillin and Llandry. To be confined in the Library while the rest of their friends and family fought Krays and the draykoni alone! Intolerable thought. Not that the prospect of being taken didn’t chill her to the bone; Krays had terrified her, and that fear hadn’t dissipated. But she couldn’t hide away like... like a coward. Couldn’t they train Orillin and Avane in Waeverleyne?

  Ynara closed her eyes and put her hands to her temples. Llandry wondered again how her mother had withstood leadership for so many years, if this was the sort of mess she had to deal with. What did you do when nobody wanted to perform the role laid out for them?

  ‘One at a time,’ Ynara said, raising her voice. ‘Eva?’

  ‘We need Devary,’ she replied.

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘He has contacts in the University of Draetre. We may wish to recruit them.’

  Ynara nodded. ‘Fine. Eyas?’

  ‘I’ll probably be more useful helping with the beast problem.’ Llan remembered he was a summoner; unlike herself and her father, he was a well-trained one. ‘If you can get Rheas to share, I can take over the task of relaying those teachings to the summoner guilds.’

  ‘Excellent,’ said Ynara crisply, without looking at Rheas. ‘Any more objections?’

  Orillin and Llandry began to speak at once. Ynara waved them silent, then looked at Llandry. She was as composed and business-like as ever, but Llan could see the shadow of anxiety in her eyes.

  ‘Don’t shut us away, Ma,’ Llandry said quietly. ‘Please.’

  Ynara was silent for a long moment. Llandry had no trouble reading the internal war she was fighting with herself. She wanted to protect her daughter, as she always had, but she now knew how it felt to be prevented from fighting the battles that were naturally hers.

  She also knew that Llandry wouldn’t necessarily accept her orders anymore.

  ‘Eva’s right,’ she said at last. ‘But I understand how you feel, too. A compromise?’

  Llandry nodded, hoping in silence.

  ‘Go with Eva to the Library. Teach Orillin and the other hereditary draykon - Avane? - to Change. Then we’ll see. I’ve a feeling Glinnery may need its own draykon defence.’

  Fear and anticipation shivered over Llandry’s skin at those words. Defending her city in her draykon shape? If she’d wanted a purpose, here it was: not shrinking from danger but at the forefront of it. Exchanging a look with Orillin, she found his expression was all excitement.

  Ynara’s, however, was sad. She hid it behind a quick smile. ‘If that’s all, we’d better begin.’

  ‘One moment,’ Rheas said gruffly. He sat, silent and glowering, in a corner of the room, and the expression on his face was sour.

  All eyes turned on him. He shuffled in his chair, scowling at the floor. Mags stood directly behind him, a strange smile on her face.

  ‘I agree to help,’ he growled.

  Nobody spoke for several long seconds. Llandry could hardly have been more astonished. What could possibly have changed her intractable grandparent’s mind?

  Then Mags’s hand moved to pat Rheas on the shoulder. Only the smallest gesture, yet Llan had a feeling that it was significant. She looked into the little, unassuming, friendly woman’s face. Had she persuaded Rheas? How in the world had she managed that?

  Mags met her eye with the briefest of glances, and winked. ‘I’m glad that’s all decided,’ she said cheerily. ‘Before you all set off, who’s for a cup of tea?’

  It took most of the rest of the day to organise all the details of their various expeditions. Llandry let Ynara and Eva work it out between themselves, choosing instead to talk to Mags. She had a feeling she ought to have made more effort to get to know her grandfather’s partner - wife? - before, and now it was almost too late.

  But if there was more to Mags than the old lady had chosen to show, she concealed it still. Llandry found her as unprepossessing as before: good-natured, caring and never giving the appearance of a great deal of intelligence. It wasn’t that she seemed stupid; she merely dedicated herself to small matters with all the zeal of a person whose mind couldn’t - or wouldn’t - stretch to encompass the great. She would not rest until every one of her visitors was well fed, well clothed and fully refreshed. This, Llan had to admit, was by no means unimportant: in all likelihood, rest and food would come in short supply for some time.

  At length came the hardest part: saying goodbye to her mother.

  ‘Take care of Papa,’ Llan said, hugging her mother tightly. It was a curious business. To her it would seem as though they were separated for some time. But when she and the others emerged from the Library, little time would have passed; Ynara may well be seeing Llandry again later this same day, or only on the morrow. It always twisted up Llandry’s brain to think of it.

  ‘Take care of your precious self,’ Ynara replied, planting a kiss on her cheek. ‘We’ll be doing our best to make sure you won’t be on the front line, heart-of-mine.’

  Llan just smiled. With a final squeeze, Ynara turned away from her and opened a gate through to Glinnery. Llan stepped backwards, trying to put some distance between herself and the nauseating thing. The gates ripped up the aether, creating a disturbance in the layers of the worlds that turned the stomach of all those with any hint of magical talent. Passing through a gate was even worse: painful in the extreme. Llan was glad, just a little bit, that she would not be going through this one.

  It had turned out that Rheas’s house in Iskyr was built in the location exactly corresponding with Ynara and Aysun’s house in Glinnery, so Mamma could open a gate right into her own living room. This duplicity on Rheas’s part had angered everyone before, but now the arrangement proved convenient. Ynara gestured Nyra, Eyas, Rheas and Mags through, and then stepped in herself. A few moments later, the gate closed.

  Llandry took a shaky breath and looked around. The little house seemed empty now that half of its inhabitants were gone. Only Orillin, Tren, Devary and Eva remained besides herself.

  ‘And time for us to go,’ Eva said. ‘I’d better do this in two trips. Orillin and Llandry first, please.’

  Llandry allowed her hand to be taken in Eva’s right, and waited while Orillin attached himself to Eva’s left hand.

  ‘Onward, then,’ Eva said, and Rheas’s house faded away.

  Chapter Seven

  A day or so later, Eva emerged from her room to find Tren already waiting for her. She quickly hid her tiredness and mustered her usual smile for him. She’d slept for days, or that’s what it felt like, but her body still ached with weariness. Too much PsiTravel in a short space of time took its toll.

  ‘Good morning,’ she said. ‘I think.’

  Tren returned her smile, but then his gaze travelled downwards and the smile disappeared. His eyes widened.

  He said something inarticulate, then coughed. ‘Uh. Is it the “good” part or the “morning” part you’re unsure about?’

  ‘Maybe both,’ she replied, her lips twitching. Tren’s eyes still hadn’t managed the long climb back up to her face.

  ‘Wh... what are you wearing,’ he said faintly.

  ‘Trousers.’

  ‘I can see that, yes, but...’ He swallowed. ‘Wh-where did those come from?’

  ‘I took a pattern from Llan�
�s.’ Llandry habitually wore trousers, of a pretty style she’d said was popular in Nimdre. Hers were fluid, with lots of soft fabric, and they were gathered in at the ankle. Good for flying, Llandry said.

  Well, Eva didn’t have wings so flight wasn’t her concern. Running was. If she had to flee for her life again anytime soon, she didn’t want the hem of her customary long skirts working against her. So she’d avoided loose, billowy fabrics altogether. Her modified trousers were sturdier, flexible... and somewhat more closely fitting.

  They were much more practical, but she hadn’t considered the potential effect on Tren. Women in Glour didn’t usually wear trousers: skirts were much more common. Long skirts, with layers and lots of fabric to hide everything under. Her new trousers, on the other hand, outlined her curves in some interesting ways.

  ‘I think I understand the new game plan,’ Tren said weakly. ‘Fatal distraction.’

  ‘Think it’ll work?’ She turned this way and that, checking to see how the new trousers looked from various angles.

  Tren backed away. ‘I, um. Think I left something. In my room.’

  He fled.

  Grinning, Eva began to walk after him - then stopped when something hit her back, impacting with a solid thwack. The same something whizzed past her ear, bestowing a vicious fly-by bite upon it on the way past.

  Rikbeek. He’d kept up a steady grumble of protest ever since he had discovered that her skirts were gone. No more draping folds of fabric to hide in, no shadows for him to conceal his dark little self in. He’d made a pretty good effort to hide in her trousers, and finding that futile he’d retired to the ceiling, grumbling all the way.

  It seemed he would like her to understand that she was not forgiven.

  ‘Little wretch,’ she muttered. Touching the tip of her right ear, she found blood.

  ‘Plague,’ she added.

  Rikbeek’s response resounded in her thoughts. His mutterings never resolved themselves into meaningful communications in her mind, but she had no trouble understanding the gist. For every name she called him, he had worse to say in return.