Deadly Fate [Book 1 of the Teadai Prophecies] Page 7

  The late afternoon sun glinted off the water, causing him to keep his eyes in a constant squint. Something glimmered ahead, something metallic, and he urged his mare toward it.

  Nym stirred and grabbed the saddle horn.

  “You going to be sick, lad?”

  “No, Thad. Where are we? That a very big river.”

  Thad chuckled. “That not a river, Nym. That the sea.”

  The lad stiffened. “Monsters out there. Monsters eat people. Lads especially taste good.”

  “Those tales are made up.” That came out a bit more forceful than he planned. The shimmering object was farther than it looked but he kept his eyes focused on it.

  “But Fada told me. He said if I was bad, the faeries would take me to the sea for the monsters to eat.” Nym’s body shivered as he wept.

  “Now you listen to me, Nym Fargoodes. There are no monsters that eat lads or anyone else. I have the sight, just like you, and my visions tell me the sea is safe from monsters.” He didn’t dare tell the lad about the large swimming life he had sensed as a group of creatures followed the shore. He had seen them in the distance and guessed they were as big as horses, only with fins in place of legs. They simply swam by with the occasional leap from the waves. He thought them magnificent.

  Thad’s reassurance seemed to get Nym’s attention and one arm swiped across the lad’s face. “Will my visions tell me things like that?”

  “Someday.” Nym had already seen the dark-eyed woman. “Once you learn to see the visions without retching, they will tell you many things.”

  “I would like that very much.”

  “Good. Then no more talk of monsters. We’re going to find the cave and wait for the others. I’ll teach you how to fish in seawater. It tastes like salt. That a fact.” He remembered his trip to the sea. The salty water had fascinated him so much that he swallowed handfuls then vomited it all up before his mother told him seawater wasn’t for drinking. “You can taste the seawater, lad, but don’t drink it. Drinking will make you retch.”

  “All right. But I want to fish. I’m hungry.”

  Thad had no doubt of that. Visions had caused the lad to empty his stomach of what he had eaten at midday meal then heave when there was nothing left to come up. “You can have bread and cheese when we stop and we’ll fish tomorrow. You need sleep and so do I. We’ll bed down early tonight.”

  Nym nodded and leaned back into Thad’s stomach. They rode that way until he was certain the glimmering object was the rock from his vision. The gray stone shimmered with the silver specks and crystal fragments embedded in it. The cave opening wasn’t more than twenty paces from there, hollowed into the side of the sea cliff. No sign of the woman from his visions but he expected she would be along in a day or two.

  He reigned Fern to a halt, lowered the scrawny lad to the sand, and handed him the water bag. Thad dismounted, flipped his blanket roll and saddle bags from the mare’s rump, unsaddled and unbridled her, then hooked the feedbag over her neck.

  Nym went directly to the water’s edge and squealed as he ran from the approaching waves. He did it again before he squatted to pluck something from the sand. “Thad!” Skinny legs pumped with effort in the thickness of the beach. “What this?” One small hand held a slightly purple, fan-shaped object.

  “That a shell.”

  “Oh.” Nym held the shell as though it were gold and caressed the fanned part with his small fingers.

  “Don’t go in the water alone.” Thad repeated himself when the lad didn’t answer.

  “All right,” Nym finally said, but his large eyes never left the treasure in his grasp.

  Once Thad got the camp set up, they sat on large rocks near the cave opening and filled their bellies with bread, cheese and water. There were two dried apricots each for desert, which Nym seemed to cherish. Thad watered the mare but didn’t bother to hitch her to anything. He wouldn’t be going home for a long while. There wasn’t much there for him anyway. Though his people didn’t fear the sight, many were cautious, his uncle included. No one wanted to be reminded that they or their children could fall victim to its power and madness.

  Nym tapped him on the shoulder. “I want my game.” He dropped the shell that he had held onto during his meal. “Stinking mudworms.” He bent over to retrieve it.

  “Nym Fargoodes,” Thad said in a tone he remembered his own father using.

  The lad immediately stood and stared at him, wide-eyed, while holding onto the shell.

  “Guard your tongue. You’re not a man, yet. You’re not to use that language. I’m responsible for you now.”

  “Yes, Thad.” Nym winced as though he expected to be hit. When Thad made no move to punish the lad, he took his shell and bag of pebbles and sat.

  “You can play for a short while then we get to bed.” The sun neared the horizon now and he was tired. There was nothing to do except wait for the dark-eyed woman to find this place.

  “Can’t play a game in a short while, Thad.”

  “You’ll have to. Or else wait until tomorrow.” He cleaned up the remainder of their meal, when he realized that Nym stared at him. “You get a vision?”

  “No. I’m thinking if I want to stomp my foot. Would you whip me for that like my fada does?”

  “No.” The lad visibly relaxed. “But I don’t like pouting. And I’m old enough to be your big brother.”

  “I never had a brother. Could we play-act you’re mine?”

  “I don’t see what that could hurt.”

  The lad grinned and revealed his missing bottom tooth. “Then I should do what my big brother tells me.”

  “Yes, you should.” Thad fought the urge to laugh. “You can play until I get the fire going then we clean up and bed down.” Locating drinkable water would be a task for morning. They had enough in the bag until then.

  “Yes, Thad. Whatever you say.”

  Thad shook his head. He got a fire started near the cave entrance to keep any animals away, if animals were even a danger out here, and leave a signal for the dark-eyed woman should she happen along the beach tonight. The cave was abandoned and neither cold nor hot so they would be comfortable here. He took Nym’s hand and led him to the ocean for a quick bath, which got protests the entire way. Thad fought laughter at the lad’s numerous excuses why he shouldn’t bathe. His favorite was that Nym’s tiny manhood would shrivel and fall off from too much washing.

  * * * *

  Once the sun set, the cave was dark and the fire gave off a welcoming glow. Thad sat and watched the flames lick the night air while he listened to Nym’s light snores. The lad had fallen asleep a while ago but something pricked at Thad, tugged at his senses, and he couldn’t sleep despite his weariness.

  The fire began to fade from his view and another vision was upon him. He waited as the sight, for he had no control when a vision came, swelled in his body and filled him with awareness. A lass glided through white mist, cradling her left arm. She had skin almost as milky as the mist she waded through, which created quite a contrast to the raven hair that hung in waves to her knees. She wore a man’s tunic and breeches and carried a wool cap. A smile donned her lips as she walked. Her left arm gave off a red glow, like injuries did when Thad saw them, but the lass didn’t seem to notice pain. She searched for something, her eyes darting back and forth through the mist. A ball of light hovered just above her head but it didn’t seem to light very much of her surroundings. She had the sight.

  But where was she? Who was she? She didn’t look at all like the people of Tandiar Province. And she wasn’t the dark-eyed woman Thad had seen in previous visions. Perhaps she came from one of the villages in the far north, outside the province, where he had never ventured. He had heard plenty of stories of other places. The Twin Mountain area grew large, sturdy people, women included, but this girl looked thin and worn, as though she had been through something awful and only recently recovered. Perhaps she hailed from an even farther place.

  Just then, her head turned
toward him and green eyes focused on his. She looked as startled as Thad felt. His vision broke, the sight receded, and he stared into a crackling fire. That had never happened before. No one had ever looked back at him from a vision.

  Never.

  She took him by surprise coming from the rear of the cave like that. He had awakened sometime in the night and watched as a figure walked through the rock wall, startling him. But he was quick and grabbed her before she could attack him. Once in his grasp, he realized he held the lass from his most recent vision.

  She struggled violently and it was an effort to keep her restrained. She made muffled cries through his hand as he tried to keep her quiet. He didn’t want to wake and frighten Nym.

  “I won’t hurt you,” he said in a soft voice, but she either didn’t hear or she didn’t believe.

  Her left arm emitted a red glow to Thad’s sight, indicating her injury hadn’t healed. Just as he suspected, the arm was broken. A clean break, luckily. Those were easier to pull together and reconstruct new bone from old. As he accelerated her life particles, bone grew and sealed the break. She lost her fight and drifted into unconsciousness.

  She would be sore but her arm would take only a few sunrises before it was at full strength. He regretted frightening her. If she had come from outside, he wouldn’t have panicked so. He never expected anyone to travel through a wall. Well, he would have to make apologies later.

  Thad cradled her in his arms and carried her to his blankets where he gently laid her. The fire was low and gave off almost no illumination so he pushed a warm yellow speck of light through his fingers and swirled it until a ball glowed just above his head.

  With enough light to see what he was doing now, he removed the woman’s boots, boots that were too large for her feet, and covered her. Despite the men’s clothing she wore, no one would mistake her for one. A striking lass with long, raven hair and smooth, milky white skin. He retrieved the cap she’d dropped during the struggle and placed it near her boots. Then he crouched and stroked her cheek with one hand. She was even beautiful when she slept, and she would sleep for a while.

  Thad watched her, his eyes moving up and down her soft body as his desires grew stronger than ever before. A small belt knife hung at her waist and he wondered whether it was a weapon or simply for eating. He smoothed her hair. It was soft against his calloused palm, like her skin. Another man might take her right here while she lay unconscious and helpless, but Thad simply sat, let the sight drain away, taking the ball of light with it, and watched her a while.

  The tightness in his breeches eventually went away and he wondered where this woman had come from. Her beauty was unmatched in any he had ever known. His conversations with Nym were pleasant but he preferred the company of adults, and he realized that he also looked forward to morning, when this mysterious lass would wake.

  The fire was almost out now and he added more seaweed and driftwood. Nym had never even stirred and he smiled at the sleeping lad. Then he lay on the sand between his new charges and the fire, putting himself closest to the cave opening. Each of his boots, which he still wore, held a knife, one for gutting fish and one for protection. Should there be danger from outside, he would need to defend the other two.

  He felt an odd sense of duty in their safety, perhaps because he was the only man present or perhaps because both were vulnerable. Whatever the reason, he silently vowed to keep them from harm and drifted off to sleep with those thoughts in his head.

  Chapter 6

  The shore was at least another half day’s ride, and Haranda didn’t know if she would make it the rest of the way without hauling these foolish younglings from their saddles and gagging them. Henny wasn’t a problem today. Adelsik had whined about her saddle-sore muscles ever since they left camp at dawn, and the sun had shifted beyond zenith now. Maesa and Eletha had bickered since they left Mistress Flindering’s place yesterday. And both were marriageable age! Wren’s warnings of youngling mischief, which would became even stronger once the calling happened, hadn’t prepared her for these frustrations. Haranda’s patience had worn as thin as well-used leggings.

  The way Saldia kept eyeing her made her wonder if the girl planned to run off. That one definitely warranted close observation. The tavern girl also amused her the way she seemed to know the count of things, a habit formed long ago, no doubt.

  Kal, the listener, had obviously been through the calling and survived this long on her own. Haranda shifted in her saddle to study the Energy footprint, a sure sign that the girl had been through the calling, just above Kal’s head. The luminous, transparent image of a green wheat stalk represented knowledge. A Gypsy’s footprint was as distinct as the Gypsy herself and one way to identify younglings, as well as an indicator of how strong they were in the Energy. Full and new-oathed Gypsies knew how to conceal their footprints, except in the Netherworld when they dreamt, but younglings didn’t have that talent. And even the most powerful slumberer couldn’t hide one in the Netherworld.

  Flickering indicated a lie and Kal’s footprint hadn’t flickered once since she met the girl. Haranda doubted the others would be so truthful.

  She had spent a while at Mistress Flindering’s instructing the listener how to build a mental wall to shut out voices. Kal was quick to learn but had trouble maintaining her wall, saying that it crumbled as soon as her thoughts strayed. Keeping a wall up while doing other tasks was no small feat and thought it might take the girl a moon cycle to master. The fact that the youngling had learned to do it by sunset yesterday was impressive. Kal would be a fine listener and an asset to the kin.

  Saldia Trich would be the strongest of the group, even stronger than Haranda, but not for a long while. She could feel the girl’s power even now, but Saldia hadn’t shown any sign of which Energy aspects she would harness. There was no choice but to wait and see. The calling couldn’t be rushed. Some didn’t harness the Energy until their twenty-fifth year. At twenty-four, Saldia could very well be one of those, though Haranda doubted it. The young woman caressed the Energy even now, and gave off a strong tingle each time she was near.

  Haranda suspected Eletha Lavine would be a treewalker. The small, fiery-haired girl had already shown an interest in climbing and took every chance to touch low branches as they passed. She had even stuffed fallen leaves in her pockets when she thought no one was looking. Though Haranda didn’t know exactly when the calling would take each of her younglings, the Goddess Energy caressed them.

  “Your priorities are ghastly, Eletha.” Maesa’s voice brought Haranda from her thoughts. “There’s nothing impressive about shoving a half-loaf of bread into your mouth.”

  “Can you do it?” Eletha countered. “I didn’t think so.”

  Haranda twisted in her saddle to study the squabbling girls, causing the leather to creak.

  Maesa, who seemed to enjoy arguing almost as much as Eletha, huffed and gave the small girl a sour look. “I wouldn’t want to. That’s simply disgusting.”

  “Not any more disgusting than you primping in front of a mirror.” Eletha’s fiery hair moved in the breeze. “I saw you at Master Flindering’s, adding rags to your bosom to try and fill that dress.”

  Maesa’s face turned bright red. “You shut it, Eletha Lavine!”

  “Make me shut it! I’ll have you on the ground weeping for your mother’s teet before you can lift those fancy skirts to show a boot.”

  Mistress Flindering had made sure each girl had good traveling boots to wear, as well as extra underbreeches and stockings. Fat lot of good it did for Haranda’s waxing headache.

  “Well, at least I don’t eat like a filthy, revolting pig!” Maesa shouted. Her quick head movements, along with those sharp features, made her look like a bird of prey about to pounce. And Eletha her intended target.

  “I’ll have you know pigs are clean animals and not at all concerned with large bosoms.” Eletha flipped her fiery hair to her back and her saddle creaked.

  Maesa’s cheeks turned crimson
again. “I told you—”

  “Enough!” Haranda raised a hand to stop the group. As much as she would like to, she could no longer ignore the squabbling. A clan mother, soon to be Haranda’s new title, didn’t allow younglings to get out of hand, and these two needed her attention. Her own face was probably red, but not from embarrassment, as she reigned her horse and steered in between the two bickering girls. She raised her hand and caught Saldia’s expression. The young woman looked pleased. Goddess help me! This had turned out to be another very long day.

  She took in the Energy from below and reveled in the awareness that pulsed through her body. Her awareness didn’t spread as far as she would have liked but she didn’t sense any middlings close by, so she pushed a small amount of cool, blue sparking Energy into her fingers. Since Kal had been through the calling, she was the only youngling who would see the Energy once it left Haranda’s fingertips. Taking in a breath of calm, Haranda sent a spark to Maesa’s leg then Eletha’s, getting a satisfactory yelp from both and a pout from Maesa. The horses seemed not to notice a thing or else they were so mild mannered they didn’t care.

  “Stop that incessant bickering,” Haranda warned them. “Both of you.” She lowered her voice. “Or next time I won’t be so gentle.”

  That got wary looks from both girls. Henny and Adelsik also eyed her with reserve. Haranda had no idea what else she would do with the Energy, other than use the urging to hold their mouths shut. She had no intention of making these girls run away whenever they saw her, but at least they believed something terrible would happen to them. If that kept them quiet, so be it.

  “I see that you’ve decided to calm yourselves. Very smart.” She let the Energy seep from her body then raised her voice so all of the younglings heard her. “I’ll do whatever is necessary to keep you civil the rest of the way.”