Priestess of the White

A wave of dizziness swept over Emerahl. She worked another nugget out of her sleeve and gave it to Brand. She had to concentrate hard on removing three more nuggets for Tide, Bird and Star. Then she let herself relax against the seat back. Waves of delicious dizziness were rolling over her now.

“Have you got any more?” Star asked dreamily.

Emerahl shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. She thought about checking how close they were to the gate, but could not rouse herself to do so.

The other girls were smiling blissfully now. Such silly expressions. Emerahl felt a laugh bubble up and out of her. They grinned at her in surprise.

“What’s so funny?”

“You’ll look s’ happy,” she slurred.

Tide giggled, then they all burst into lazy-sounding, breathless laughter.

“Feeling better now, Jade?” Brand asked. “Not so Jaded?”

Emerahl laughed, then leaned forward. She swayed. Her vision blurred.

“Ma‘ mine li’l strong’r,” she managed.

Then she slipped into a comfortable, delirious blackness.

Time stopped, but she felt too lazy to care. She let her mind relax into the safe, warm darkness. Out of it a tower appeared. The sight of it disturbed her. She felt a flash of annoyance.

Oh no. Not again.

The tower stretched impossibly high. It tore clouds as they drifted past. She couldn’t stop herself looking at it. It captured her attention.

Where is this place?

The tower flashed out of existence. She looked down. A different building stood in its place. The old Dreamweaver House in Jarime. The one that Mirar had been buried under after Juran, high priest of the circle of gods, had killed him.

I’m dreaming. I shouldn’t be. I should be unconscious. This isn’t good...

She tried to break free, but the dream tightened its grip. Suddenly the high white tower loomed over her again, even more menacing than before. She wanted to flee, but couldn’t move. Once again she knew she would be seen if she stayed. She couldn’t stop herself looking. They had only to see her and...

“What’s wrong with her?”

... know who she was...

“She took formtane. She gets sick when she travels. I think she made it a bit too strong.”

... and when they saw...

“She certainly has. She should be unconscious, but instead she’s been caught in a dream.”

... they would kill her...

“Caught? You can see that?”

“Yes, I’m a priest.”

“In a guard’s uniform?”

“Yes.”

“Will she wake up?”

... the tower loomed over her. It seemed to flex. She felt a stab of terror as cracks ran down the surface...

“Yes. She will break free of the dream when the drug wears off.”

... and the tower began to fall...

“Thank you, Priest... ?”

“Ikaro.”

The voices barely registered in Emerahl’s mind. The dream was too real. Perhaps the voices were a dream and the dream was reality. She heard the roar of the collapsing tower, felt the pain of her limbs being crushed, of her lungs burning as she slowly suffocated. It went on and on, an eternity of pain.

“Jade?”

I don’t like this reality, Emerahl thought. I want the dream. Perhaps if I convince myself the dream is real, I will escape this pain. She struggled to hear the voice better, concentrated on the words. The pain faded.

“Jade. Wake up.”

Someone forced her eyes open. She recognized faces. Felt the radiating concern from familiar minds. Held onto that and pulled herself clear of the dream.

She gasped in a lungful of wonderfully clean air and stared at the five girls leaning over her. Their names ran through her mind. She could feel the movement of the tarn. She was lying down. The Tower dream, she thought. I had it again. There were voices this time. Another dream inside the dream.

“What happened?”

The relief on the girls’ faces was touching. They had good hearts, she decided. She would miss them, when she left.

“You took too much formtane,” Brand told her. “You fell unconscious.”

“A priest at the gates came over to see,” Charity added. “I don’t know how he knew.”

Emerahl felt a stab of alarm. She sat up. A priest! So the dream within the dream had been reality? “What did he say?”

Tide smiled. “He had a look at you and said you were fine, just dreaming.”

“I think he could read minds,” Star added.

He could see me dreaming? She frowned. I must have let my guard down.

“We were worried you’d made a mistake with the dose,” Brand told her. “Or that you had tried to kill yourself.”

“You weren’t trying to kill yourself, were you?” Tide asked anxiously.

“No.” Emerahl shrugged. “Just thought it would last longer if I took more.”

“Silly girl,” Brand scolded. “You won’t make that mistake again.”

Emerahl shook her head ruefully. She swung her legs over the end of the seat. Brand sat down beside her.

“You look a bit dreamy still,” Brand said. “Lean on me and have a nap - if you can sleep with all this rocking.”

Emerahl smiled in gratitude. She rested her head on the shoulder of the taller girl and closed her eyes.

So the priest read my mind, she thought. And dismissed everything he saw there as a dream. She thought of the fear of being seen that always lurked in the tower dream. A fear similar to her own fear of discovery. She silently thanked the Dreamweaver who was projecting these dreams. He or she had probably saved her life.

As Auraya woke she realized she had not dreamed of Leiard, and she sighed in disappointment.

He hadn’t visited her dreams since she had left Si. She had nursed a faint hope that the reason had something to do with her travelling and being hard to find, and that he would link with her again when she came back to the Open, but her sleep hadn’t been interrupted last night.

That’s only one night, she thought. He won’t know I’ve returned yet, and now I’m leaving again.

She rose and began to wash. Surely he checks to see if I’ve returned each night. Perhaps he is too busy - or maybe dream-linking is too tiring to spend each night at it.

I shouldn’t be thinking about this. I should be thinking about taking the Siyee to war.

There had been a lot to arrange. She had spoken to the Speakers until late last night, discussing what they would need to bring, and what they would have to rely on the landwalker army to supply. The Siyee could not carry