Trudi Canavan - Priestess of the White

“Just . . . things. Here’s Sirri.”

He looked around to see Speaker Sirri land on an outcrop above their camping place. She smiled.

“Hello, Drilli. That smells delicious.”

Drilli rose. “Hello, Sirri. You’re not skipping meals again, are you?”

Sirri laughed. “I ate something before.”

“Here.” Drilli stood up and tossed something in Sirri’s direction.

The Speaker caught it neatly. “A spice cake. Thank you.”

“She makes them hot,” Tryss warned.

Sirri took a bite, chewed, then winced. “They certainly are. Well, we’d best fly or the meeting will start without us.”

Tryss nodded. He rose as Sirri leapt into the air, but paused as he felt Drilli’s arms wind around his middle. He turned to face her. Her kiss was warm and lingering and he pulled away reluctantly.

“Soon,” he promised.

“Go on, then.” She patted his rear. “Before she comes back looking for you.”

He grinned, then turned and leapt into the air.

They had camped on a small ledge overlooking the road. Most of the Siyee had set up their bowers on ledges and outcrops, whereas the only accessible space for the landwalkers to camp on was the road itself. From the air the landwalkers’ many lamps and fires looked like giant, looping glitterworm larvae.

Tryss caught sight of Sirri and flapped hard to catch up. She glanced back at him as he neared. “How are your meetings with Songmaker going?”

“I’m learning faster than he is. He has a big disadvantage, you see. Our spoken language is similar to his, but our whistling words are all new.”

“How close are you to understanding landwalkers?”

He shook his head. “A long way off. I sometimes recognize a few words. That tells me what they’re talking about at least.”

“That could be useful.”

The white tent appeared around a curve of the road. They both descended toward it. The crowd they usually found waiting outside wasn’t there. As they landed, they heard voices inside.

“Well, better late than not at all,” Sirri murmured.

He followed as she strode forward. The discussion halted as they entered.

“Please forgive us our late arrival,” Sirri said.

“Don’t apologize,” Juran replied. “We were just making introductions.” He gestured to the four Dunwayans Tryss had seen only briefly before. They were small for landwalkers, but their bulging muscles gave the impression of formidable strength and the patterns drawn on their faces added to their fierceness. As Juran introduced them, Tryss found himself thinking it was probably fortunate that Dunway wasn’t a neighbor of Si. If these people ever decided they wanted more land he doubted even poisoned darts and arrows would stop them.

When the introductions finished, Sirri moved to her usual chair. Tryss took his place beside her and looked around the room. All of the White were present except Auraya. As Juran returned to a landwalker tongue, Dyara moved between Tryss’s and Sirri’s chairs and began to translate in a murmur.

“Mil, Talm of Larrik, has reported that the Dunwayan force has settled in the pass at a place well suited to defense,” Juran said. “Hundreds of traps have been set along the road in order to slow and weaken the enemy. Scouts report that the Pentadrians have not yet reached the first of them. It appears the enemy has fallen far behind.” Juran paused. “Unexpectedly far.” He turned to regard Mil. “Any news?”

Mil glanced at a priest standing nearby, who was clearly of the same race. The man shook his head.

“Our scouts have seen no sign of them.”

“There have been no sightings to indicate that the army has diverted to the north either,” Mil added.

To the north? Tryss frowned, then understanding came in a rush. The Dunwayans were afraid the Pentadrians would turn north to attack them. Their forces were, after all, waiting in the pass rather than at home ready to defend their land.

“There is no sign of the army at all,” the priest added. “The Siyee were the last to have seen them.”

There was a pause, and many of the people present were frowning.

“Surely they’re not still in the mines,” Guire said.

“Waiting, perhaps,” the Somreyan leader muttered. “But for what?” He looked at Juran. “Are you sure they can’t be tunnelling through the mountains?”

Juran smiled and nodded. “Very sure.”

Mil nodded. “I am more concerned that the Pentadrians are taking a different route over the mountains.”

Juran frowned. “Is there one?”

“There is no road,” Mil replied. “The mountains are full of gowt-herder paths, however. It would be a slow and difficult journey crossing by these paths, but not impossible.”

“We must know what they are doing,” Juran said firmly. “If the Pentadrians emerge on the plains while we are in the pass we will end up chasing them across Hania, and beyond.”

“If they are crossing the mountains, my people will find them,” Sirri said.

Juran turned to regard her. “That would be dangerous— more dangerous than before.”

She shrugged. “We know about the black birds now. We will be careful. I will call for volunteers—and this time they will be armed.”

Juran hesitated, then nodded. “Thank you.”

Sirri smiled. “They will leave at first light. Do you want one of them to carry a link ring?”

Juran exchanged a quick glance with Dyara. “Yes. One will be brought to the leader of your volunteers before he or she leaves.” He paused, then looked around the room. “Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?”

The settling of the matter felt a little abrupt to Tryss, but perhaps he only imagined it. He watched the four White closely, particularly Mairae and Rian. Tonight Rian looked . . . well . . . unhappy . He occasionally stared out of the tent and scowled. Not an angry scowl, but it was clear something was annoying him. Or perhaps he was disappointed about something.

He’d noted before that Mairae was more inclined to give away hints of her feelings. As he watched, her gaze became distant and she frowned. He chewed his lip. Perhaps all they were anxious about was the coming battle, and the apparent disappearance of the Pentadrian army. He could not help wondering about Auraya’s absence, though. It was odd that nobody had mentioned where she was.

Then, suddenly, the answer came to him.

Of course! Auraya is missing because she’s already out looking for the Pentadrian army! Mairae was worried about her. Rian was annoyed because . . . perhaps he’d wanted to go instead. Or perhaps he’d thought it too dangerous.

Either way, it made sense that this was why she was missing. His pleasure at having worked this out faded quickly, however, and was replaced by the realization of the risk she was taking. If she stumbled upon these Pentadrian sorcerers on her own she would be outnumbered. What if she were killed? What would the Siyee do without her? No other landwalker understood them like she did.

Be careful, Auraya, he thought. We need you .

The servant dismantling Auraya’s tent untied the ropes at each corner one by one. As the structure slumped to the ground, Danjin sighed heavily.

She’s been gone two days, he thought. It’s all my fault . He shook his head in an attempt to dispel the gloom that had come over him. I can’t be sure of that. She might have disappeared for a good reason .

Yet he didn’t believe so. The White were behaving as if there was nothing untoward about Auraya’s absence. They’d given no reason for it, and if anyone had suspicions they hadn’t dared to voice them. However, Danjin knew the White well enough to notice the small mannerisms that betrayed worry and anger.