Steph Swainston - Dangerous Offspring

‘I barely understand.’

A breeze gusted across the grounds, cooling my face; followed by the low rumble of thunder over Donaise. Saker looked out at the ruffled water. ‘Jant, I remember when you joined the Circle. I was afraid of you.’

‘No!’

‘Yes. I was living here and I hadn’t done anything new for a hundred years. I had settled into a rut. Rayne sent me a letter saying, “Come and look at the man who can fly!” But it’s impossible for a man to fly. You stormed the Circle. I remember you standing on the spire to show us all what you can do. You dived off and we gasped. We thought you’d be killed for certain. But you swooped over the bonfire and vanished up into the sky. I was so shocked, so inspired! I thought I’d seen everything, but you reminded me there was yet more. There will always be more. Thank you, Jant. I hope I have opened your eyes in the same way.’

I nodded, speechless. I hoped being tongue-tied wasn’t going to become a habit.

‘Then I saw you become disenchanted, and we know what you’re like now with the drugs. Try not to be disillusioned; it’s a fate worse than death. You proved that all your other worlds exist. San knew all the time your drug-fantasies were real.’ He shook his head in wonder.

‘The Shift?’ Yes, I wanted to talk to him about that. I said, ‘Remember Dunlin?’

‘The last of the Rachiswaters?’

‘He is in the Shift. Don’t ask me how, because it’s a long story. But if you grow old, and at the very end of your life you don’t want to die, then you can Shift. Take scolopendium-I’ll make it for you-and you can go through and join Dunlin. And if you’re mortally wounded while fighting the Insects, I can ask Rayne to give you enough scolopendium to Shift. That’s more or less what happened to him.’

There was a long pause. Lightning said thoughtfully, ‘Jant, do you know your power?’

‘Huh?’

‘Rhydanne are such a curious people. You have such a clever mind, yet you never see the bigger picture.’

‘What? The Shift? They’re just other worlds, a bit different from here.’

‘No, I didn’t mean that…No wonder San doesn’t want you cornered…but don’t you realise the Emperor is scared of the Shift? I can tell you that much. He knows about things which he really doesn’t want you to bring back, even if they followed you accidentally.’

‘What? The Gabbleratchet?’

Lightning shrugged. ‘He didn’t say. Besides, I know San doesn’t want the truth to be widely known in case people start trying to go there themselves instead of staying here to fight the Insects.’

‘There are Insects there as well. And worse.’

‘Ah, so many new secrets I’m learning-it’s a whole new world…Will you do something for me, Jant?’

‘Yes.’

‘Will you look after Cyan? When she becomes immortal, will you guide her the way I have guided you? You’ve seen so much trouble yourself, you should know how to keep her out of it.’

‘That’s very clever. She’s inheriting your place in the Circle.’

‘Yes. When she is in the Circle she’ll become part of the establishment and she won’t be able to be rebellious any longer.’

I said, ‘In fact, she’s submitting to a much higher authority in order to escape yours.’

‘Well, she hasn’t realised it yet. Even if it’s just for a short time, it’ll do her good.’

In turn, Lightning had cast off the Emperor’s authority. This was his teenage rebellion, and San knew it was time to let him leave. He looked stronger and more confident than ever.

‘All right,’ I said. ‘I’ll look after Cyan.’ He had saddled me with the girl, given me a wayward subordinate to look after. I can’t sleep with her now, can I?

‘Thank you, Jant.’

Incredibly, there had been nine new Eszai in the last ten years. I was one of the older ones now, having to give advice to the new immortals. I hated that, but with a tired resignation I didn’t see that I could do anything about it. ‘Now I’m becoming part of the establishment,’ I said.

Lightning grinned. ‘It is the inevitable process.’

‘I never thought it would happen to me but it’s happening at last. I’d never have the guts to leave. I barely understand it.’

‘You can’t. You’re too young.’ He stepped up onto the covered stern and I passed him the punt pole. ‘When you put another thousand years between yourself and your past, you’ll understand.’

‘I’ll never leave the Circle, Saker,’ I said with conviction.

He smiled. ‘Look after Cyan. She’ll need it.’

‘I will.’

He held the pole up and rocked his weight forward, enough to tip the boat onto the slipway. It ran down, spinning the rollers, and splashed into the lake, sending out a wave before it. A cloud of glittering specks rose up from the silt.

Lightning dug the pole in. Standing tall on the back of the boat, he pushed calmly away from the shore without a backward glance. I remained looking out in the direction of the island for a long time after, when he had gone.

A big thank you to all the people I used to go caving with. Thank you to CU Hang Gliding Club and Blooners 2000 Hot Air Balloon Company for helping me see the Yorkshire Dales and the Chiltern Hills from the air. Thanks to the Yorkshire Dales Falconry and Conservation Centre for days out hawking. Thank you to Dr Jo Cooper, curator at the Natural History Museum Bird Group at Tring, for letting me view the awe-inspiring collections, and to Alison Harding for letting me play with the Ornithology Library. Many thanks to Stella Swainston for details of PSU Riot Procedure, shield instruction and equipment, used in my fyrd shield walls. Thanks to Dr Marco de Boni for memorably explaining hand-to-hand combat in between mouthfuls of pizza. Thanks, John Berlyne. Thank you, Mac and Jenny. Above all, love and thanks to Brian, without whom none of this would have been possible.

STEPH SWAINSTON is a qualified archaeologist with a degree from Cambridge and a research degree. She worked as an archaeologist for three years, taking part in the dig that researched the oldest recorded burial site in the UK, before becoming an information scientist. The author of The Year of Our War and No Present Like Time, she lives in England.

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