Voice of the Gods

“I will let you know as soon as a decision is made,” Sirri promised.

:Thank you. Goodbye, Speaker Sirri, Auraya.

As his mind faded away, Auraya felt anger seething inside. Clearly the gods wanted her to stay behind. She felt a light touch and looked down to find Sirri’s small hand resting on her own.

“I’m sure you’ll find a way around their restrictions,” the Speaker said.

Auraya met Sirri’s eyes and nodded, though she could see the questions in the woman’s mind and longed to answer them.

Why are the gods testing her like this? Sirri wondered.

Because some of them hate me, Auraya replied silently, though she knew the woman couldn’t hear her. Then she smothered a curse. When Chaia said Huan might try to hurt those I loved, I never thought of the Siyee.

But surely the goddess wouldn’t harm the people she had created?

Sunlight filtered through the trees. Emerahl’s bag was full and heavy and she was fighting the temptation to lighten it by removing a few cures. She hadn’t been to Southern Ithania before, however, and wasn’t familiar with local ingredients. If she was going to pay her way she would need to bring her own supplies.

The distance between herself and her destination seemed immense. It would take her a month to get out of the mountains, then she had to cross the Plains of Gold to another range. Once through the pass she must cross the northern edge of the Sennon desert. At the coast she would buy passage on a ship sailing to the Murian capital, Hannaya. It would be a long journey.

According to The Twins, the Thinkers in search of the Scroll of the Gods based themselves there. She had two choices: try to find the Scroll on her own or attempt to join them. Both choices presented her with difficulties.

If she chose to search for the Scroll herself, The Twins would skim the Thinkers’ minds and pass on everything they learned. The Twins had more than just the Thinkers to watch. They were keeping an eye on people around Mirar as well as keeping up their usual skimming of minds in Ithania. Added to that, Emerahl couldn’t stay in a constant trance linked to The Twins. She would only find out what they had learned whenever she found time to communicate with them, so she might receive important information up to a day later.

If she joined the Thinkers she would find out what they discovered as they discovered it. The only problem was, they were notoriously jealous of their knowledge and disdainful of women.

The Twins doubted she would ever gain their trust. Instead, she would have to prove herself useful to them. She could read most ancient scripts. She knew a lot about history. She spoke ancient languages.

Coming around a curve of the steep mountain slope she was traversing, she stopped and cursed. The narrow fold in the rock she had been following abruptly ended a few steps ahead under a loose covering of boulders and stones. There had been a landslide further up the mountain.

Crossing that would be foolish, she thought. It’s likely to start sliding down the mountain all over again. She would have to go back and find a new route.

She cursed Auraya and Mirar under her breath. I might have already found this Scroll by now, if Mirar hadn’t insisted I come here and teach Auraya.

But he owed Emerahl a big favor now. She smiled at the thought. And it wasn’t so bad, anyway, teaching Auraya. The girl is likeable enough - if one ignores her loyalty to the gods. It would be a pity if that loyalty proves her downfall.

She had to admit The Twins were right. If Auraya did join the rest of the immortals, she would be a powerful ally. With the ability to sense and hear the gods, and read the minds of mortals, she could help them all survive.

It doesn’t hurt to have someone that powerful owe you a favor, either.

Thinking back, she considered how Auraya’s manner had changed once she was able to leave the cave. The woman appeared to relish being in the forest. She was relaxed in that way people are when they feel at home, Emerahl thought.

How could an ex-White feel at home in the Si mountains, with no luxuries, no servants, nothing to rule over?

Suddenly she saw Auraya in a different light. She likes wild places, Emerahl thought. Places untouched by humans. Oh, she is happy enough to be around people, and the Siyee clearly have a place in her heart, but I think it is more than just the Siyee that calls her to the mountains. Emerahl laughed quietly to herself. She might not be so comfortable if she had to climb up and down cliffs, tramp through mud and cut her way through dense undergrowth, however.

Was Mirar aware of this? He had always been attracted to cities - to the bustle of crowds. A memory rose of a conversation she’d had with Auraya.

“I thought you didn’t like him.”

Auraya had smiled. “I never said I didn’t like him.”

Emerahl sighed. She knew there was always a chance that like could become love. She’d seen it happen often enough. Not that it would, but Emerahl was always going to wonder if she had ruined that chance for Mirar by telling him about Auraya’s affair with Chaia. And now that I’ve met Auraya I’m no longer opposed to the idea of Mirar and her together.

What was done was done. Mirar was resilient. Better for him to know the quick pain of truth than the ongoing pain of a long-held false hope. Turning around, she retraced her steps and began searching for a safer route.

PART TWO

16

When the horizon had taken on the form of an undulating shadow the previous day, Auraya had assumed she and the Siyee were headed toward low hills. Now it appeared the smooth, gentle lines of these landforms were much larger than she had first thought. Used to the jagged peaks of Si, she did not realize these were the mountains of western Sennon until their scale became apparent.

She could feel the excitement of the Siyee. They were looking forward to leaving the desert and just as their water carrier was burdened with a heavy load, so was she. Extra skins were tied to her back and, with Mischief safely curled up in her pack, she felt as if she was covered by a heavy, lumpy blanket.

The desert had served up more difficulties than they had imagined it could. At first they had flown directly across it, but a dust storm had blown them back toward the coast. Since the Siyee could not carry much, they relied on finding water along the way. Mischief had shown them where to dig for water a few times and they encountered a lonely well once, but these had not been enough.

They dared not land at any landwalker settlements. The Sennon emperor’s policy of allowing the practice of any religion in his country meant that Pentadrians could be living in the desert villages. If they were, a group of Siyee warriors seen heading south was sure to be noted and reported to the Pentadrian leaders. Even if there were no Pentadrians in the villages, it was still possible that an ordinary Sennon villager would decide there was profit to be gained in delivering the news to the nearest Pentadrian.

Most settlements were on the coast, so the Siyee kept inland. They had expected to find the occasional river but had encountered only one thread of muddy, near-undrinkable water. It probably flowed cleanly at other times, but in the middle of summer it had dwindled to a sluggish stream. Auraya hadn’t visited Sennon before, so she could not advise them. All she could do was fly back to the closest water source each morning to refill their skins.