Voice of the Gods

He could probably blast her out of the sky if he wanted to.

She drew back hastily, but he made no move to stop her.

:Juran.

:Yes?

:The enemy leader is here. I have to leave. But I will stay close. I’ll take any opportunity to free the Siyee, without fighting.

:Yes. Do that. I will discuss the situation with the others and let you know what we decide.

As she moved further and further away from the scene she felt the despair of the Siyee. They were running out of darts and the enemy were now tackling them one by one, extracting weapons and binding wrists together. Auraya reached the ridge she had begun watching from and set herself down.

She felt awful, as if she had abandoned them. But I can’t do anything yet. I have to think of a way to free them.

“Owaya?”

A relieved and frightened Mischief bounded up to her. He climbed onto her shoulders and sat quietly, trembling slightly. As she scratched his head she realized her hands were shaking.

“They’re alive,” she told him. “At least they’re alive.”

The sound of air on wings drew her attention away. The two Siyee who had escaped landed beside her. Their expressions were terrible.

“Are they dead?” one asked.

She shook her head and their relief washed over her.

“Prisoners, then?” the other asked.

“Yes.”

“What will you do now?”

Auraya sighed. “Whatever I can do without disobeying the gods. They said I must not fight. They did not say I couldn’t sneak up to a prison and set anyone free.”

They fell silent, staring down at the village. The magic around her roiled and she almost hissed out loud as two strong presences suddenly shot out of the town and into the two Siyee beside her. Her skin crawled as she recognized Huan, then she relaxed a little as she realized the other was Chaia.

:So what will your pet sorceress do next? Huan asked.

:Make a choice, Chaia replied. That is what you mean to accomplish, isn’t it?

:From this? No, this was merely retribution for the murders in Jarime and the attempts to convert Circlians, Huan said.

:For the murders of Dreamweavers? I didn’t think you liked them that much.

:I don’t dislike them as much as you do, she retorted. Besides, the White have decided to encourage tolerance of Dreamweavers for now. It makes sense to avenge Dreamweaver deaths.

:Yet you arranged for the Siyee to fail. How does that avenge anyone?

:It doesn’t matter. What matters is that the Pentadrians know the White are upset with them.

:You’re taking unnecessary risks, Huan. Juran considered this attack a gamble. He’s not surprised it failed. Now he’ll wonder why you ordered it. He will doubt the wisdom of following your orders.

:A small test of his loyalty.

:Was it really? And why didn’t you consult the rest of us before you arranged it?

:I consulted. I didn’t need to consult you since all the others agreed.

:Lore would not have agreed to this.

:He did. You forget his fondness for war games.

:So why did you have the Siyee captured, not killed? That would stir the world into war more effectively.

:It is more interesting this way.

:Interesting? You’re not interested in war, Chaia said. You’re only interested in getting rid of Auraya. If this ambush of yours leads to Auraya turning from us, you will regret it.

:Is that a threat? Huan laughed. You can harm me no more than I can harm you.

With that she moved away, speeding toward the town. Auraya sighed with relief.

:That’s where she’s wrong, Chaia said to himself. He chuckled. Did you hear all that, Auraya? I hope so.

And then he too was gone, leaving her blinking in surprise. He knew she could hear the gods talking. Had he encouraged Huan to discuss the ambush with him?

Perhaps only to show me he wasn’t responsible... and that Huan was.

She felt her stomach turn over as she realized what that meant. Huan had betrayed the Siyee. She had not just arranged this mission as a test of Auraya’s loyalty, but she had ensured the failure of it as well.

Then she remembered Chaia’s warning. Huan would seek to hurt her by hurting those she loved. It seemed that Huan was willing to harm the people she had created.

She felt a hand on her arm.

“How can we help?”

Auraya turned to blink at the Siyee in surprise, then dragged her mind back to the dilemma she faced. At once she realized that if Huan wanted to harm the Siyee in order to hurt her, then it was better to get them as far away from here as possible.

“Go back to our last camp,” she told them. “I will meet you shortly. I’m going to get some food and water for you. You should leave some at the camp, and in the places we stopped on our way here, for any of the others that manage to escape.”

“You want us to go home?” one of the Siyee asked doubtfully.

“Yes.” She met the Siyee’s eyes. “This was a trap. They were expecting you. I will do what I can to free the others. You must ensure they survive the journey home.”

The two Siyee nodded. They knew she was right, but they were reluctant to leave their companions behind.

“Go,” Auraya told them. “Get yourselves home, at least. Speaker Sirri and your fellow warriors’ families should know what happened here.”

At that they bowed their heads in agreement. She watched them fly away, then turned her attention back to Klaff. There were quite a few public wells, and she had noted a small market on the edge of town. Even if Nekaun had been reading the Siyee’s minds as she had told them her intentions, she doubted he would get to the market in time to catch her.

Lifting Mischief off her shoulders, she put him on the ground.

“Stay,” she ordered.

His head drooped, but he obediently walked to a patch of shade and curled up to wait.

Satisfied, she stepped out into the air and propelled herself back to the town.

20

Heavy rain and fierce winds had roused Mirar from sleep several times during the night, but when he woke in the morning all was quiet. He looked outside his window. Cloud covered the sky, but in places it had parted to