Voice of the Gods

:If you have the Pentadrians’ good will, you may gain Auraya’s enmity.

Mirar paused to consider that.

:I already have it, he replied. So long as she follows the gods, she must regard me as her enemy. Even if that weren’t true, I cannot let Auraya’s regard for me influence my decisions in regard to the Dreamweavers.

:No. Surim and I do not agree about this. Auraya may not share the gods’ hatred of immortals, but she has little regard for the Pentadrians. Settling here may make a difference.

:I can’t help that. These people do not deserve her contempt. I won’t reject them for fear of offending Auraya. He paused. How is she? I haven’t heard from Emerahl for days.

:Emerahl has been waiting for you to contact her.

:Because she’s worried I will rebuff her for delivering bad news last time we spoke?

:Yes.

:Silly woman. She knows I wouldn’t do that.

:No, but we can’t help retaining old fears and habits, despite the years. It would be tactful for —

:Auraya has made herself immortal, Surim interrupted.

Mirar felt his heart leap.

:Emerahl thought she wouldn’t do it!

:Something changed her mind. She also revealed two unexpected Gifts. Firstly, she has regained the ability to read minds.

:But... no immortals have ever been able to... have they?

:Not in our lifetime, Tamun confirmed. The second Gift she revealed is the ability to sense and hear the gods. Apparently she can see them when she is mind-skimming, too.

:Emerahl wisely advised her to keep this from the gods, Surim added. I can’t imagine they’d be thrilled to know they can be spied upon.

:Auraya said the gods already knew she could sense them when they were close by, Tamun continued.

:That’s... Mirar shivered. That’s not just another innate Gift.

:No, Tamun agreed. It seems Auraya is no ordinary immortal. Perhaps it is the consequence of her being a White first. The powers the gods gave her imprinted themselves on her somehow.

:Except that they wouldn’t have given her the power to sense and hear them when she was a White. That is entirely new.

:No. It may be an unintended side-effect of her being linked to them previously, Surim suggested.

:Whatever the reason, she would be wise to keep it a secret. In a few days she will return to the Open. Then we will see how well the gods take the news that their former favorite has learned to hide her mind - and whatever else she allows them to know she has learned. We’ll let you know what happens.

Mirar felt a pang of anxiety. He had tried to tell himself it didn’t matter. Auraya was out of reach and had no regard for him anyway. Trouble was, the part of him that couldn’t help worrying wasn’t inclined to listen to the part with a grasp of logic and practicality.

:Thank you for the news, he said. And your advice.

:Use it well, The Twins replied together. Then their twinned voices fell silent and he let himself drift off into his usual troubled sleep.

13

“Owaya!”

As a small fluffy blur streaked across the bower, Auraya crouched down and held out her arms. Mischief bounded up onto her shoulders and rubbed his whiskered cheek against her ear.

The female Siyee who usually looked after the veez, Tytee, stepped out of the side room Mischief had bounded out from.

“Welcome back, Priestess Auraya,” she said, smiling.

Auraya sensed relief from the woman. Mischief was making small whimpering noises as Auraya scratched him.

“Owaya back. Owaya back,” he murmured over and over.

“Thank you, Tytee. Anyone would think I’d been away for months,” Auraya said, surprised. She hadn’t seen him so emotional since after he had been snatched from her tent before the battle with the Pentadrians. “Has something happened to him?”

“No. He was fine until a day after you left,” Tytee told her. “He suddenly became distressed, saying ‘Auraya gone’ over and over. Then he became very sad. It was as though you had died and he was grieving. I carried him around with me, concerned he would pine away like old people sometimes do when their spouse dies.”

Auraya lifted Mischief down and looked at him closely. “I wonder.” She let the shield around her mind thin. At once a small, familiar voice spoke in her mind.

Owaya back! There was a fading sadness and puzzlement behind the delight of his words.

She felt a pang of guilt. Somehow Mischief must have forged a link to her mind. Once she had entered the void that link had broken. The only explanation he could have come up with was that she had died.

“Poor Mischief,” she said, hugging him close. At once his delight changed to irritation and he wriggled free. The veez climbed up to his basket and curled up inside.

“Msstf sleep.”

Tytee laughed. “If only we were all so easily satisfied,” she said.

“And forgiven,” Auraya agreed. “Thank you for looking after him while I was gone.”

The woman shrugged. “I don’t mind. He’s always amusing, and a lot less demanding than the children I look after. I must—”

“Priestess Auraya?”

They both turned to see Speaker Sirri standing in the doorway.

“Come in,” Auraya said, beckoning. As the Speaker entered, Tytee excused herself and slipped outside.

“Welcome back,” Sirri said.

“Thank you.” Sensing tension in the Siyee leader, Auraya looked closer. She saw that Sirri had grown concerned as Auraya’s absence had lengthened. The presence of an uninvited landwalker in Si had bothered her, too.

“How did it go?” Sirri asked.

“Very well,” Auraya told her. “Jade has left for home. I learned a great deal while I was with her. She has quite a knowledge of healing and cures.” Auraya gestured to the bag she had brought with her.

“Yet she was unable to treat her own illness?”

Auraya shook her head. “She sent for me because she couldn’t manage what she needed to do by herself.”

“So she’s better now?”

“Yes.”

Sirri nodded. “Good.” She smiled. “We have you all to ourselves again.”

“Did anything happen while I was gone?”

“Nothing drastic. Just a bit of an argument between tribe leaders.” Sirri sighed. “I’m afraid I can’t stop and