I gathered all the courtesy I could find amongst my misgivings. 'It is a most harmonious house,' I said. 'Thank you.'
He beamed. 'There is a hot-spring bath through there,' he said proudly, waving to the passage with the rush matting. His hand swept across to the closed double doors. 'And that is a dining area. Your belongings, Lord lion, have been placed in the left chamber, and yours, Lord Ido, in the right. If you require anything, we have people wail ing.'
'That is not necessary,' Lord Ido said abruptly. 'We have our own servants.' He smiled, covering the moment of ungraciousness. 'You have done well, Elder Hiron. I thank you for your considerations, but now I must rest. To prepare for the exertions of tomorrow' He nodded towards me. 'I imagine Lord Eon is also weary'
'Of course, of course,' the elder said, bowing and backing away. 'If you need anything…'
He disappeared into the passageway
The three of us stood silently for a moment, suspended in thick tension. Lord Ido moved, as if towards me. Immediately, Ryko lunged forwards, the movement a breath away from attack.
Although Ido's face was unreadable, his body tightened into the coiled expectancy of a warrior. The power in him had nothing to do with dragons and I felt my own blood answer it for a dizzying moment.
'I will be with Lord Eon at all times,' Ryko said through his teeth.
Ido looked past him to me, his eyes narrowing. 'Call off your guard dog, Lord Eon. Or I will have him flogged for insolence.'
The sound of footsteps echoing in the bathhouse corridor made us all turn. Rilla appeared, accompanied by three of Lord Ido's servants.
'Ryko!' My voice cracked on his name.
He stepped back, but his body was still angled for confrontation.
Lord Ido smiled maliciously 'Good dog.' He turned to me. 'Sleep well, Lord Eon. I look forward to an exhibition of your power tomorrow. Let us hope you are more effective than your island mongrel.' He snapped his fingers at his servants, pointing them to the right bedchamber.
'I will stay outside your door, my lord,' Kyko said grimly as we Watched Ido and his entourage enter his room. And I have already placed men at the window and any points of entry'
I nodded.
And Rilla will sleep at the foot of your bed,' he added as she approached. 'Won't you?'
Rilla rose from her bow 'Of course.' She glanced behind her at the closed screen of Lord Ido's bedchamber. 'But he would not be so stupid…'
Kyko shrugged, ushering us to the left chamber. 'We take no chances. Tomorrow's test is the key to everything. We will get you there safely, my lord. Then it is up to you.'
I nodded again. Fear had blocked my throat and there was only one thing that could clear the way I stepped inside the sparsely furnished bedchamber.
'Tea,' I whispered, fumbling for the Sun drug pouch.
Rilla followed me inside and slid the screen shut. 'Yes, my lord.'
The dark security of Ryko's silhouette appeared on the door's waxed parchment panes. I sat on the bed and worked open the pouch drawstrings. Another dose tonight would completely destroy any chance of a restful sleep. I gave a short laugh. With Lord Ido lying less than ten lengths away, sleep was a faint hope anyway.
CHAPTER 17
The long hours of wakefulness gritted my eyes as I watched the room brighten into the start of the King Monsoon day. The humidity was already so heavy that it pressed on my skin like another hot, damp body At the foot of my pallet, Rilla stirred then lapsed back into sleep.
I eased myself off the bed and poured a cup of water. The tail end of the folio pearls dropped out of my sleeve and swung loose. I tucked it back up, coaxing the black pearls around my forearm again. Their grip was slackening every day; perhaps they had realised I was a fraud.
I carefully pulled out the drug pouch from my pocket. The generous pinch of herbs sank into the cold water as one lump, then bobbed up to the surface, bursting into dry powder. It should have been dissolved in hot tea, but Rilla had been vigorous in her disapproval last night and I didn't want her to wake and see me taking more of it. At least not all of the doses. No doubt Ryko had told her about its dangers and had asked her to report back to him.
I gulped down the lumpy mixture in one bitter mouthful.
I crossed over to the door anc^slid it open. Ryko's face, heavy-eyed and drawn, peered in at me.
'Everything all right?' he asked softly
'Yes.' I stepped out. 'But it's so hot. I want to sit in the garden.'
Ryko scanned the small courtyard and nodded. I had just settled down on the elegant bench when a dust- covered messenger, slouching with fatigue, emerged from the passageway, accompanied by one of Ryko's men.
'Sir,' the guard said to his captain. 'This man says he has a message for Lord Ido.'
' He has not yet risen,' Ryko said.
The screen door of Ido's room snapped open. The exhausted messenger flinched and swayed on his feet. A servant hurried out from the room and bowed to me then turned to the messenger.
'Lord Ido will receive you in his chamber,' he said, waving the man over. 'Come.'
The messenger bowed to me then half jogged, half stumbled behind his guide into the room.
Another servant immediately emerged, closing the door behind him and standing with arms crossed and eyes alert.
'That messenger has travelled very hard and very fast,' Ryko remarked.
'On horseback,' his man said. A good horse.'
Ryko nodded. 'You've done well. Go back to your post.'
The man saluted and headed back through the passageway. Ryko stood where he was, still and silent. No doubt straining, like me, to hear any sound from Ido's chamber. But I could hear nothing over the morning bird shrieks and the distant rumblings of the King Monsoon thunder.
I scanned the ranks of village men kneeling around the edge of the square, chanting their prayers for our success. Where was Ryko? He had left just before midday to find out more about
Ido's messenger, but had promised he would be back before the test started. I turned my attention to the knot of apprentices waiting nearby with food and water in ease their masters called for sustenance. Dillon was standing a little apart from the others, and Hollin was calming the younger boys, but no sign of the big islander.
Lord Tyron looked across at me, his face unusually pale. Are you ready?'
No, I was not ready, but the weather-watchers had sent their runner to the village with the final report: the King Monsoon was heading inland. No more than a half bell away, the man had panted.
I pressed the ruby compass between my palms. The gold disc was cool against my damp skin.
Just before the runner had arrived, I'd managed to take another dose of Sun drug with the ghost-maker's tea that Rilla had prepared. The drugs had started a thudding ache in my head that was still sending waves of sweaty heat through me.
Trying to ignore the relentless pain, I studied the compassarium in front of me. Last night it had been a low circular stage the width and breadth of a small room, bare of any distinguishing features in the dim light. Today, it was the Dragoneye centre of power. In the bright sunlight, I could now see that the twelve compass points were marked by jade arrows inlaid in the grey stone. A curved bench had been placed over each jade marker, the seat cunningly fitted into its neighbour to form an unbroken circle around the edge of the dais. The flat of each seat was carved with the heavenly animal sacred to that compass point, the wood so beautifully crafted that the Rabbit's eyes seemed to glisten, the Monkey's hand was only a moment away from grabbing, and the Snake caught mid- strike. The wooden Dragon that reared across my bench was bright with new varnish; the artisans must have worked hard to finish it in time for the festival.
