She expected a rope, but all she got was a water skin that hit her on the side of her face. ‘Sorry,’ Jarel said, but didn’t dare show himself.
‘Just get me out of here.’ There was a long silence and then his head poked over the top of the pit. Without a word he threw in some dried meat.
‘Jarel?’ she yelled.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Stop mucking about.’ Iwa stamped her foot and stifled a wince. ‘Just climb down and get me out of here.’ There was another long silence. ‘Jarel? I’m fine; now get me out.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said again. This time his voice was quiet, almost sheepish.
‘For what?’ She began to claw at the side of the pit, but the walls were steep and the earth was smooth.
‘I’ll come back for you later, once I’ve spoken to Kazik.’
‘You’ll get me out of here now!’ Iwa yelled as she tried to climb the wall; it was hard to keep a trace of panic from her voice as she scrabbled for a handhold and tumbled down to the floor. ‘We were supposed to speak to Kazik and the others together, or have you forgotten that?’
‘It’s best if I go alone.’ Jarel’s voice trembled, he sounded almost as scared as she felt. ‘I saw you in the cave, the way you stared at those pictures for hours with hardly a breath.’
‘What kind of foolishness is this? Get me out of here now!’
‘I couldn’t break the trance, no matter how hard I grabbed your shoulder, and all the while you just kept staring into the rock.’
‘They’re just pictures.’
‘Not for you. Kazik warned me about you; you’re filled with magic, like your mother. She almost damned us all with her spells and her witchcraft.’
‘What are you talking about?’ She was almost in hysterics now, slamming the walls of the pit with her fists. What did Jarel know? Nobody had ever told her any of this. What spells? What witchcraft? How had her mother almost destroyed the clan? ‘You need me, Jarel!’ she cried. ‘You need me to talk to Kazik.’
‘You are the last person he’ll listen to. And nobody is going to let you wander round freely, not with the fate of the clan at stake.’
‘I can help you.’
‘Magic helps no one in the end. People think that they can control it – your mother believed that, but in the end it is the magic that controls the magician and works things to its own end.’
‘You’re wrong: I’ve no magic of my own. I’m just like you, Jarel.’
‘You are your mother’s daughter. The clan tolerated you because of Yaroslav. He said that there was no sign of the craft about you and we believed him. Who knows, you might have cast a spell to fool him, or maybe he just didn’t want to see the signs. We should have thrown you out at birth and left you on the rocks to die.’
‘Together we can fight the woyaks,’ she pleaded, still trying to take everything in. He’d never mentioned her mother before, or said anything about her having anything to do with magic or the dark powers of the earth. That’d only been something the old ones said, and even then they barely mentioned it. He must be making it up, they all were. He just doesn’t want to take me to Kazik. But even then she realised it was a lie. He seemed truly scared. ‘I’ve seen Jezi Baba kill the woyaks. Maybe I can summon her to help us.’
‘That’s the last thing we need. No, magic is too dangerous and nobody is going to allow you to roam around free, especially not now.’
‘Look, I don’t know anything about magic, or my mother. Just get me out of here and we can talk. I’m no danger to anyone.’ Surely he had been wrong about her mother? If she had been so powerful why did she let Iwa kill her in childbirth? It made no sense. Nothing about this made any sense. If only he’d let her back up.
‘A woman who thinks she can summon Jezi Baba is a danger to everyone. I’ll put in a good word for you when I meet with Kazik. Who knows, if you keep your mouth shut about magic and Jezi Baba, then we might free you when this is all over and things are safe again.’
‘Let me out, Jarel, please,’ Iwa begged, her voice reduced to a trickle of fear. ‘Jarel!’ she called again, but there was no response, only the scrape of leaves and rustle of bracken. ‘Jarel,’ she tried again. After that she kicked the side of the wall in anger, which brought her nothing but another stab of pain.
She sank back against the side of the pit and began to cry. ‘Please,’ she murmured, though she was not sure exactly what she was asking for. Would Kazik come for her, or just leave her to rot until her bones were bleached in the sun? Jarel had sounded pretty scared. Maybe the hunters would just forget about her, or worse.
Iwa picked herself up from the ground. Until then she’d never imagined that the clan would want to kill her. None of the clans sacrificed people, just animals or maybe a special object thrown into the river, but she’d heard stories of
