Awakening Page 20

  Inside it was organised chaos. Half a dozen cooks were bending over three ovens against the wall and a group of chattering women were preparing various dishes on the long tables. Other workers, like herself, were streaming in and picking up or depositing trays before rushing out of the large main door and off to the meals pavilions.

  She went to a rack of open shelves and grabbed an overgarment, pulling the material over her head and fastening the ties at her sides. She plucked at the sleeve of a woman hurrying past. ‘Why are there so many people here?’

  ‘Haven’t you heard?’ The woman looked at her in surprise. ‘There’s a big load of Free Landers visiting today. They came from the palace, plus all the sept leaders and the riders and they’re all eating together! Some big meeting or something.’ She stared at Shaan, sweat glistening on her forehead. ‘Didn’t you get a runner this morning? They sent a heap out tellin’ us all to come in earlier and to bring more workers.’

  ‘No,’ Shaan frowned.

  ‘Look out,’ the woman whispered fiercely. ‘Supervisor’s comin’!’

  Shaan quickly picked up the nearest tray full of food, wincing at the pain in her hand.

  ‘Second pavilion.’ One of the preparing women barked at her. Shaan nodded and made for the door. From the corner of her eye she could see the meal supervisor hovering red-faced near the ovens, screaming something at one of the cooks. Manoeuvring the tray out the door around an incoming worker, she followed the others. The pavilions had all their doors opened and the sound of many voices drifted out.

  She could see flashes of colour outside. A man wearing the blue shirt of a sept leader was leaning against one of the pillars, sipping a drink, and talking to a beautifully dressed woman. She immediately wondered if Balkis would be in her pavilion? The thought made her stomach jump anxiously and, keeping her head down, she followed the line of servers.

  Long tables had been set up inside. Sept leaders chatted with Free Landers at some, while riders ate at others. Shaan had never seen so many riders gathered together at once. No wonder the meals supervisor was so harassed. She approached a supervisor and asked which table she should deposit her food on. He pointed to the other side of the room and carefully she edged her way around and began laying the dishes along between the riders, who ignored her. The heat in the room was rising, despite all the open doors, and by the time she’d laid the last dish down her injured hand was shaking and sweat trickled down her back.

  Her head felt light and her mouth parched. She straightened, trying to take a deeper breath of the close air, and looked straight into the eyes of Balkis. He was seated at the next table, watching her as he sipped from a glass. The tray slipped from her hands, crashing to the floor as her heart gave an unexpected leap. In a sudden panic, she turned away colliding with a rider as he pushed his chair back from the table. He staggered and grabbed her, his hands slipping low around her hips.

  ‘Need a hand?’ he leered, his face red with wine.

  ‘Get off!’ She shoved him away and pushing past another startled worker, made desperately for the door. Laughter followed her, but she didn’t turn around. She could still feel Balkis’s eyes on her. She burst outside, her breaths coming shallow and fast. She shouldn’t be here. Angry with herself, she leaned against the wall near the door. The sun was very bright and hot. Her head was buzzing and she couldn’t seem to catch her breath. The burn on her hand felt like fire licking her skin. She had to get away. Staggering around the corner of the pavilion, she headed toward the gardens.

  Tallis had been feeling strange since they’d sat down in the huge open pavilion. Jared was next to him while Balkis sat opposite, silently toying with a glass of wine and ignoring the man beside him who had been trying to engage him in an argument.

  ‘This meat tastes strange,’ Jared said.

  Tallis looked at the plate. ‘I think it’s fish,’ he replied. He hadn’t touched his. He couldn’t think of eating while this strange restlessness had hold of him. It was almost as though he was being watched, or – but no, that wasn’t it. He looked around at the unfamiliar faces. An uneasy, tugging sense of being drawn towards something, or someone, gnawed at him. He glanced at the sept leader opposite. Balkis had been watching him closely all day but now his attention seemed elsewhere. He was staring at something behind Tallis with intense scrutiny.

  There was a sudden crash and the sound of chairs scraping. Tallis turned to see a young woman with dark hair struggling through the crowd towards a door. She glanced back as she ran out and he felt a jolt inside as if he’d been punched in the chest. That dark hair, the shape of her jaw . . . The sounds of the other people eating and talking faded. Surely it couldn’t be possible? His heart was racing and the tugging, drawing feeling increased, like an arrow readied for release.

  Balkis suddenly rose abruptly, pushing his chair back so it crashed against those behind him and without a word to either him or Jared, strode from the pavilion.

  Tallis sat stunned, barely registering his disappearance. Had it been her? He couldn’t seem to move. He turned and stared at the bright sunlit doorway, overpowered by a fierce yearning and the feeling that something had just reached inside and was pulling, dragging him toward the woman who’d left. He stood up, his muscles quivering, his breath coming fast.

  ‘Tallis?’ Jared looked up. But Tallis couldn’t speak. Looking at him he just shook his head, then turned and ran toward the door, pushing past any who stood in his way, ignoring their protests, and bursting out into the hot bright sunlight. There he paused, looking desperately around. Where had she gone?

  A small grove separated the pavilions from the road to the Dome and, pulling off her worker’s shift, Shaan rushed unsteadily down a narrow path between the trees. It led to a small pool and her only thought was to get to it and rest for a moment in the quiet, away from the heat and noise. Her breath was loud in her ears and her hand felt on fire. She came out of the trees into the small grassy clearing and was startled when a hand fell on her shoulder from behind. With a startled cry she whipped around. Balkis had followed her from the pavilion.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to scare you. I was calling – didn’t you hear me?’

  Her heart pounding, Shaan took a step backward. ‘No.’ She couldn’t look him in the eye. Why had he followed her?

  ‘What happened to your hand?’

  ‘Nothing. I burned it. Is there something you want?’

  He shook his head. ‘No, not really, just,’ he hesitated, ‘Shaan . . . that night at the inn . . .’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said quickly, ‘forget it.’

  Balkis smiled, a dimple forming in his cheek. ‘Well I would, but you seem to keep falling at my feet, literally sometimes.’

  Shaan felt her face grow warm. ‘I have to go.’ She began to back away.

  ‘Wait.’ He stopped her. ‘You ran from the pavilion so quickly, I thought I should check to see if you were all right. You don’t look well.’

  ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘You don’t look fine.’ He was watching her closely.

  Why couldn’t he leave her alone? The shame from that night, the memory of the man’s hands on her, she just wanted to forget it.

  ‘Please, Balkis, there’s nothing wrong with me.’ She avoided looking at him. ‘I’m just tired, it’s the heat. I should get back.’ She made to step past him, but he moved, blocking her.

  ‘Shaan, please, I’m trying to apologise. I shouldn’t have left you in the alley, but I was angry. You seemed to deliberately put yourself in harms way.’

  She stared at him. ‘Deliberately? Are you saying it was my fault I was attacked?’

  ‘No, but taking a man into an alley . . .’

  ‘How do you know I took him there?’

  ‘Because I saw you leave with him,’ he said.

  Had he been watching her? ‘What business is it of yours what I do?’

  ‘None,’ he said. ‘But you’re lucky I happened to be passing o
n my way home and took an interest that night.’

  She looked away, her heart thudding hard. It was mortifying that he’d been watching her and even though he had saved her, words of thanks wouldn’t rise to her lips. Her hand throbbed and she cradled it, wondering what to do.

  He let out a long breath. ‘Look, Shaan,’ he held his hands out. ‘I didn’t come after you to fight, I just wanted to apologise. You were hurt and I didn’t help you as I should have.’

  ‘All right, fine. Apology accepted,’ she said quietly staring at the ground.

  Unexpectedly, she felt his hand settle on her shoulder. ‘Really, I’m sorry,’ he said. His blue eyes gazed into hers and his voice was low and intimate.

  Shaan’s heart beat faster and she had a sudden insight into how he had come by his reputation for bedding dozens of women. She dropped her gaze and took a step back. ‘Thank you, but I have to go.’ She tried to turn away, but his hand tightened, stopping her.

  ‘Wait. I want to ask you something.’

  ‘What?’ She eyed him warily.

  ‘It’s about Nuathin. When I found you in his crell, what were you doing?’

  ‘What?’ Her heart almost stopped and she felt the chill of a sudden twist of fear.

  ‘What happened? I sensed it when I came in. It was as though you were mind voicing with him. But it was strange.’

  ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she whispered, but he’d noticed the alarm in her eyes.

  ‘Tell me,’ he said. ‘You didn’t fall, did you? You were screaming when I came in.’ He watched her closely, but she avoided his eye, looking instead at the medallion of bronze that lay on a chain against the tanned bare skin of his throat.

  ‘I was ill.’

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ he said. ‘Shaan, something is happening to the serpents. If you know something, you should tell me.’

  Should she? Fear curled in her gut and Nuathin’s words came back to her. Is he here then? Is he back? She shivered and immediately Balkis’s hand was on her other shoulder, forcing her to look at him.

  ‘Shaan?’ He searched her face and the look in his eye was steady, concerned.

  The temptation to trust him filled her. But something held her back: the knowledge of what had happened to Petar, Balkis’s links to the Faithful. It was too much. She shook her head, pulling away. ‘I have to go.’

  ‘Stay,’ Balkis said softly. His fingers trailed lightly down her arms as she stepped back. His touch confused her, and she hesitated. ‘Let me . . .’ Balkis began, but the sudden sound of pounding feet interrupted him and, with a lurch, she stepped away as a young man with long black hair ran out from under the trees.

  Seeing her he stopped dead, staring, and at the sight of him Shaan suddenly felt the warmth stripped from her body and her breath freeze in her chest. His eyes were exactly the same as her own.

  A strange humming started in her ears, as if her blood was running faster through her veins. As they stared at each other another man ran out from the trees and halted suddenly at the young man’s elbow. ‘Tallis, what . . .’ his words disappeared as he saw her.

  The young man he’d called Tallis moved toward her, but it was too much.

  ‘Stop!’ Shaan put her hands up. Dimly she felt Balkis beside her, his hand on her shoulder. ‘Who are you?’ she said.

  ‘I’m . . . you’re my sister,’ he replied.

  He could have been speaking true – those eyes – and she felt such a strange sense of knowing him. But the blood was too loud in her head and her senses too fractured. ‘No.’ She began to back away but somehow he knew her intention.

  ‘No, don’t!’ He sprang forward but she was already moving, turning as she bolted away from him through the trees.

  Tallis stared after her then tried to follow, but Balkis moved fast, grabbing him around the neck. ‘Guards!’ Balkis shouted, but he barely had the words out before Jared launched at him with a growl.

  Locked in Balkis’s grip, Tallis twisted against him in fury. The woman was his sister, his twin – the certainty was a fire in his heart. As soon as he’d looked into her eyes he’d known; it was like a hammer hitting his spine. The drawing feeling he’d had all his life had vanished and he had felt his blood singing to her. There was no mistaking her and no wetlander was going to keep him from her.

  Balkis was strong, but he was no match for both of them. With Jared on his back, his grip weakened. Tallis twisted and slammed an elbow into his gut, driving the air from his lungs. He let go and Tallis pushed him off and sprinted toward the trees.

  He could feel her inside; she was still there, faint as a child’s heartbeat, but she was there. He didn’t get far. A man came from the trees and tackled him, pushing him to the ground, and then there were two sets of hands holding him down. He struggled furiously.

  ‘Enough!’ He heard Balkis shout. The men holding him pulled him to his feet. Jared, his face tight with anger, was being held by two other men.

  Balkis coughed and, turning his head to the side, spat on the ground before giving him a savage look. ‘That wasn’t clever, clansman.’ He strode over and put his face close to his. ‘I could have you thrown in the cells for attacking me.’

  ‘You attacked him first,’ Jared said and Balkis sent him a hard-eyed look. ‘My orders are to keep you two here, within the yards.’

  ‘We are not your prisoners,’ Tallis said.

  ‘No, but you know nothing of Salmut or the people here. If you had followed Shaan, who knows where you may have ended up.’

  ‘Her name is Shaan?’ Tallis said.

  Balkis’s lips thinned. ‘How is it you claim to be her brother, clansman?’ His tone was accusing, protective, and Tallis wondered what she was to him. He shook his head and said nothing.

  Balkis watched him silently, then jerked his head at the men guarding them. ‘Come,’ he indicated the path, ‘back to the barracks.’ He stood back and waited for them to pass, escorting them back to their room in silence.

  22

  Shaan ran blindly, following the winding path. A thousand thoughts flew through her mind: Balkis, his warm breath on her face; the fire city of her dreams; Petar lying in a pool of his own blood; and a man with indigo eyes staring into her own.

  Sister he had called her. It wasn’t possible. But she could feel him; he was still there, an awareness. As soon as she’d looked at him it had been like a spark striking a flame inside. She stopped, gasping for breath, looking up at the Dome. How had she got here? It was a dark shadow against the bright blue of the sky, and a few serpents soared high above. She shivered as a screeching cry reached her and something tugged at her insides, as though in response.

  You are my sister. The words echoed in her head and she stared up at the serpents circling the city. Was she? But then, who was he? Nuathin’s words came to her: Is he here then, is he back? The skin on her arms pebbled, despite the warmth of the day and she followed the ceaseless turning and twisting of a dark serpent against the clouds. Could the serpent know, could Nuathin explain it to her? He had seemed to know something. Arak-si. She turned and looked at the dark entrance of the Dome. Where else was there to go? Without stopping to think, she ran under the archway.

  Inside it was much dimmer and she moved up the spiral ramp, half blinded still from the bright sun. Her leg muscles ached as she climbed and her arms felt like sappy vines, but she took a deep breath and pushed through her exhaustion. She could sleep later.

  Nuathin was in his crell, asleep near the ledge, his long tail curled around his body. His crest glowed a deep aquamarine blue, the colour fading then deepening as he sucked and blew from his nostrils, the air hot as fire. She went in quietly, the blood running faster through her veins. Straw shuffled under her feet and one lid opened, a great amber eye regarded her.

  Her heart pounded. Slowly, slowly she took another step forward. The lid covering the serpent’s other eye lifted. It was a deep blue. It hadn’t been that colour before. The urge to run was overpowering, but she m
ade herself stay still. Breathing shallowly she hesitated, unsure what to do. She moved one foot.

  Wait, a voice whispered in her head. Nuathin lifted his head slowly from the floor. She smelled ancient dust as he snorted and hot air swept over her, redolent of charred wood and oil.

  Who are you?

  Nuathin? She thought his name as she looked into his eyes. He stared at her, immobile. Had he heard? She moved closer, dangerously close. She was within reach of his huge foreclaws, one swipe and he could disembowel her, but the serpent didn’t move. She stared up into his blue eye. As she looked, the dark spot of his pupil became larger and larger, or was she drawing closer?

  A strange kind of lethargy came over her. She couldn’t look away. The serpent blew out and hot air fanned her face. Nuathin? She stared up at him. Something flickered deep in his eye and she heard a whisper, faint as a breath. Arak-si, he hissed and the darkness of his eye reached out and swallowed her.

  The world was gone. Her mind was ripped from her body as she plunged into a whirling maelstrom of colour. Bright blues and purples lashed past, then every hue of green. She was falling. Desperately, she called out the serpent’s name, but a deafening wind was in her ears and she could not hear.

  Nuathin! She screamed and the colours suddenly disappeared. An endless blue surrounded her and when she reached her arms out she saw straight through them to the blue behind. The wind had disappeared and she became aware of a low hum, like the sound of a thousand bees. She looked down. Far below, a wide river of lights flowed. There were so many colours, some so bright it was like a ribbon of many-hued stars. Forgetting her fear, she drifted down to it in wonder. As she came closer she could hear voices. Many different voices were talking, some slowly some quickly, some whispered. The lights and voices drew her; she wanted to join them, to swim in the river of lights. She reached out to it.

  No! You cannot join the Hive.