David Gemmell - Echoes of the Great Song

'Yes. Yes, that is the answer. I will teach them. You must get a message to Rael. He will know what to do.'

'It will be as you say, lord,' she told him.

For three weeks Baliel taught Pendar the Rituals. At first the young man made little progress, but on the twenty-seventh day he managed to revive a dying flower, bringing it back to full bloom. After this, progress was swift.

Outside, in the city, the Avatars were searching for the missing Questor.

One morning Viruk arrived at the house. Mejana had heard of him. And what she had heard was not encouraging. He was ruthless and cruel, his malice disguised by a great physical charm and charisma.

As he was ushered into the room by a frightened serving girl Mejana rose. 'You do my house great honour, lord,' she said. 'However, I cannot accommodate you for, as you know, the race laws are very harsh.'

He smiled. 'My dear lady, let us not play games. The services of your entertainers are offered to any with the gold to purchase them. And that includes some of my Avatar colleagues. So let us not flirt with one another. Tell me the last time you saw Questor Baliel.'

'My clients always respect the fact that I keep their confidences, lord,' she said. 'My house would not be filled were it known that I was loose-tongued.'

'Oh very well,' he said, sorrowfully. Drawing his dagger he moved towards her. 'I shall cut the left breast from your body, you fat cow, and then we shall speak without games.'

'Three weeks ago,' she said. 'He came three weeks ago.'

Viruk did not sheath his dagger. 'What time did he leave?'

'With your permission, lord, I would have to ask the… entertainer who kept him company. I do not always see my friends leave.'

'Then do so.'

Mejana walked to the door and called out a young man's name. Within moments he entered the room, and, seeing Viruk, bowed deeply. Mejana asked him about Baliel, and the time of his departure. The young man replied that it was just after midnight.

'Did you walk with him to the door?' asked Viruk.

'No, lord. I fell asleep.'

Viruk asked the man's name and his address and then allowed him to leave. 'I trust,' said Mejana, 'you will not tell the noble Questor that we spoke of him. He is a very good client, and honours us with his presence.'

'I doubt he will be honouring you again,' said Viruk. 'Who would know of his trysts here?'

'He visits on the same two days every week, lord. I know

this, as do all my entertainers. He has a carriage waiting for him at the end of the Avenue, a walk of perhaps a half-mile. His driver would know, as would any who saw him leave. Has something happened to him?'

'I expect so,' said Viruk cheerfully. 'He was a windbag and a blowhard. He will not be missed. Even so, the man was an Avatar, and therefore the investigation will continue. By the way, how much did he pay for his pleasures?'

'Five gold pieces, lord.'

'You must miss him greatly.'

'I do not like to lose customers. I thought he had moved to one of the other cities. I know he has a house in Boria. Perhaps he has gone there.'

'No one has seen him since he came to your brothel. Did you speak to him on that last night?'

'Yes, lord.'

'How did he seem?'

'He was always happy here, lord. I sincerely hope he will be again.'

Viruk stared at her for a moment. She felt the intensity of his pale gaze and found that her heart was beating in panic. 'I shall question the boy he slept with tomorrow. Send him to the Officers' Building on Military Square.

Have him ask for me.'

'I will, lord. But I promise you he is a good lad and would not wish any harm on the Questor. He is very fond of him.'

Then he has nothing to fear.'

The following day the boy was crystal-drawn to death.

Mejana groaned as the pain flared once more. She could not move now and her eyelids were growing heavy.

Death was whispering to her like a trusted lover.

On the news that the boy was dead she had walked to the warehouse and, with the aid of two strong men, had up-ended Baliel into a barrel of salt water. She had stood and watched as his legs thrashed around, the bubbles rising from his tortured lungs. The body was later thrown from the wharf.

She heard movement in the garden. A hand touched her. Heat roared through her chest and she cried out.

'Be still, Mejana, and let me heal you.'

She opened her eyes and saw the village girl she had taken to the inn. 'I am beyond healing,' she said.

The girl smiled. 'I do not think so.'

In her private apartments Mejana stripped off her blood-soaked clothing and stood naked before a full-length mirror. There was no sign of a wound upon her pale flesh. Not even a mark to show where the knife blade had punctured the skin. Tidy, as always, Mejana carried the stained clothes to a laundry basket and dropped them inside. Then she dressed in another voluminous gown, this one of pale green linen. Returning to her outer rooms she saw the girl sitting by the window, looking out over the bay.

Mejana paused and stared at her. Outwardly she looked no different to the naive villager she had found wandering the city, the shy girl she had taken to Baj. But something about her had changed. There was a radiance to her features and a new confidence in her movements.

'How are you feeling?' asked Sofarita.

'Better than I expected. How did you master the Avatar crystals?'

'I have no crystals, Mejana. The power is mine alone.'

'I had no sense of it when I last met you,' said the older woman, moving to a large chair and sitting opposite the girl.

'It had not manifested itself at that time. Now it has. And all is changed.'

'And now you serve the Avatar?'

'No. I serve no-one.'

'Yet you dwell with Questor Ro and you saved his life.'

'Indeed I did — and would do so again. Just as I saved yours.'

'Mine is worth saving,' said Mejana. 'I have a mission and a purpose. To free my people from Avatar tyranny.'

Sofarita shook her head. 'No, you desire only revenge for the death of your daughter. But your motives are not important now.'

'What is important, then?' asked Mejana.

'The defeat of the Almecs. They are a cruel and malevolent people, ruled by a goddess of crystal. She is fed by blood, by ritual sacrifice. If they succeed here then the Vagars and all the people under their dominion will be merely food for the goddess.'

'My daughter was food for the Avatar. She fed their crystals with her life.'

'I am not defending the Avatar, Mejana. Their day is almost gone. However, I want you to trust me. I want you to understand how terrible is this new enemy.'

'What are you asking of me?' snapped Mejana.

'The Almecs have landed armies upon the coast and they are sailing to attack the Mud People at Morak. More ships are arriving daily along the coastlines. Soon there will be thousands of Almec warriors. It is vital that we co-ordinate our efforts. You have contacts with Ammon and the tribes. Your grandson Pendar is close to the Patiakes. He made a friend of their king.'

'Until Viruk slew him,' Mejana pointed out.

'That is past. Viruk slew Judon, you killed Baliel, and ordered the deaths of others. You did not listen as Baliel cried for mercy. You held his legs as he thrashed around in the barrel.'

'How do you know these things?' whispered Mejana.

There are no secrets I cannot find,' Sofarita told her. 'But, as I said, this is all in the past. In two hours I shall meet with Questor General Rael. You will be there. Together you will plan the campaign against the Almecs.'

Mejana laughed. 'Rael will have me arrested and crystal-drawn.'

'He may,' agreed Sofarita. 'But that is a risk you will take.'