Voice of the Gods

“Give it time,” Jade said. She put down her knife. “I just need to... take care of something. I’ll be back soon.”

As the woman rose and left the cave, Auraya picked up another root and began to peel it. She barely noticed what she was doing. Instead her mind returned to what Jade had told her of the gods.

When she had confronted Mirar, intending to kill him, he had argued that the gods had done terrible things. He hadn’t described those deeds, but Huan had all but admitted that the gods had been guilty of something.

“The Age of the Many ended long ago,” Huan had said. “The excesses of that time are forgotten.”

She did not know what Huan had done to her followers in order to make the Siyee. It was hard to see their creation as a terrible thing, when the result was hardly a race of abominations.

But breathe fire? Abnormal sizes? Did Huan try to make races other than the Siyee and the Elai?

She shook her head. How could she judge the gods for things they had done so long ago? She hadn’t witnessed them. She could not know the truth... unless Jade or Mirar agreed to show her their memories.

Mirar would, she guessed, but he was far away. Would Jade agree to it? I don’t think so. She likes to keep her thoughts to herself. Can’t blame her, really. I wouldn’t want to let anyone see my mind without good reason, either. I certainly wouldn’t want her finding out about Chaia and me, for a start.

Jade’s story about Chaia had disturbed Auraya deeply. Had the nights she had shared with him damaged her in some way? Had he been trying to bind her to him through pleasure? Perhaps she had been wise to end the affair when she had.

:My, my. That took courage.

Auraya started and dropped the peeling knife. The voice in her mind had been faint, but familiar.

How can I be hearing Jade’s thoughts? As the answer came she felt both anger and embarrassment. She is mind-skimming! Is that what she wanted to take care of? Looking into my mind? She felt herself mentally recoil, wishing there was a fog, or a haze of some kind, that could at least blur her mind.

Auraya stood up. She wanted to storm out of the cave, but she couldn’t leave the void. Instead she paced around the beds.

“I was projecting.”

Spinning around, Auraya glared at Jade as the woman entered the cave.

“How dare y—”

“I wondered at first if you saw past my mind shield, but then I realized I was projecting my words as one automatically does in the dream trance. I didn’t expect you to hear, because nobody can hear the thoughts of a mind-skimmer. Nobody but you. You’ve done it, by the way.”

“Done what?”

“Your mind is veiled. Can you sense what you have done?”

She stared at Jade, caught between wanting to voice her anger and the knowledge that she might be able to escape the void and Jade. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated and slowly came to see that she had created the haze she had wished for. Not a veil, a fog.

“Yes,” she said.

“Good. Well, that was an unexpected bonus. I was only looking for something I could use to persuade you to try harder. Now you just have to learn to keep your mind shield there, all the time, until you’re not even aware of it - like breathing. I will provide distractions to test your concentration.” She sat down, wiped the knife clean and picked up a stone. Spitting on the stone, she began to sharpen the blade. “You haven’t finished,” she pointed out, nodding at the bucket of roots.

“I can’t leave?”

“Not yet.”

Taking another deep breath, Auraya quelled her anger. She sat down, picked up the peeling knife and continued with her work.

“So Chaia was your other lover,” Jade said in a conversational tone.

As anger rose, Auraya felt the haze around her mind thin. She concentrated and was relieved when it thickened again.

Jade smiled slyly. “You did say you loved the gods. I didn’t realize you meant it so literally. I’m impressed - and I’m not easily impressed. So tell me: are the gods as good at lovemaking as the legends say?”

“I don’t know,” Auraya replied. “I couldn’t say.”

Jade’s eyebrows rose. “I saw it all quite clearly, Auraya. You can’t lie to me.”

“I didn’t lie,” Auraya said. There’s no point denying it, so I may as well make the best of it.

“Oh yes you did.”

“No, I didn’t,” Auraya told her. “I have no idea what the legends say.”

Jade looked at her questioningly, then threw back her head and laughed.

The night was warm, heralding the coming summer. Reivan could smell it in the air. Though she rose early to attend to her duties, she found it hard to sleep on nights like these. There was a tension in the air, a feeling of expectation and dread. Soon the sun would blaze down and the nights would be too hot for comfort.

Tonight she had tossed and turned until restlessness sent her from her bed out onto the balcony. There the night breeze cooled her. She looked down at a city bathed in moonlight. Bright points of light outlined the main thoroughfares crisscrossing the city. Sanctuary lamps marked the edges of courtyards.

And in the courtyard directly below her room, a figure was strolling unhurriedly past. A familiar masculine figure. She held her breath, wondering if he had seen her, hoping he hadn’t sensed the thrill that had run through her at the sight of him.

Her heart lurched as he looked up at her and smiled. She raised a hand in reply.

Gods, I hope he doesn’t think I was watching him. Then she snorted quietly. Well, of course he does. He can read my mind. Oh, no.

He had changed direction and was now walking toward her. She forced herself to keep smiling, and to ignore the pounding of her heart. Stopping below her balcony, he looked up at her.

“The moonlight favors you, Reivan,” he said softly.

Her heart leapt into her throat, making it impossible to reply. He’s just being nice, she told herself. Flippant. Flirtatious.

His smile faded a little.

“I hope you aren’t allowing Imenja’s and my differences of opinion to spoil our friendship.”

Friendship? What friendship? I lust after him and he rightly ignores it. Reivan’s wry amusement eased the constriction around her throat.

“Of course not,” she replied, then impulsively added: “I’m just not used to flattery.”

His smile broadened again. “Then we shall have to amend that.”

She crossed her arms. “And what impression would that give people?”

“The right impression. You are an admirable woman.”

Heat rushed to her cheeks, and hope sent her heart racing again.

“Don’t tease me,” she said, then winced at the desperation in her voice. Embarrassed, she stepped back to hide her face.

“Forgive me.” His voice drifted up. “I did not mean to anger you.”

Angry? I’m not angry, I’m ashamed. Surely he sees that. Of course he does! She peered warily over the balcony again, but he had moved. Where is he now? She moved to the railing and searched the courtyard.

He had gone.

Feeling as if she had said something wrong, she returned to her bed to toss and turn some more.