Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [129]
‘We’re ready then?’ Kreshkali said. ‘Off to an audience with Le Saint?’ She sat forward on the horse, giving him room to mount up behind her.
The captain looked about him as he drew the reins over the mare’s neck. The concern on his face didn’t lift.
‘Treeon?’ she encouraged. ‘We’d like to meet with Le Saint about this ghastly business. We have news, remember?’
‘Of course I do.’ He eyed An’ Lawrence before shortening the reins. He swung up behind Kreshkali, a smooth and practised movement, his arms enclosing her waist as he turned the mare back the way they’d come. His guards followed and they headed out at an easy jog. She glanced at An’ Lawrence riding behind the guard on the chestnut mare. His face was grim.
She tuned into Teg. We’re on our way.
Same plan, Mistress?
That’s right.
You had me scared.
She exhaled. Everything’s fine now. She noticed An’ Lawrence’s fingers twitching and hoped very much she was right.
Le Saint stood before them, her hands clasped tight, her pearl dress saturated with blood. The hem was torn; wilted daisies clung to the edges, falling to the floor when she paced. Her feet were bare, the toenails painted a dark red, but not as dark as the dried blood around her ankles. Her hair fell in golden ringlets, and her eyes were a slate blue, like the centre of orchids. They bore into Jarrod, unblinking.
‘I am High Priestess Le Saint,’ she said, after he and his companions had given their names. ‘Tell me, where are you from?’
Jarrod shrugged one shoulder slightly. ‘A different place, High Priestess.’ He offered no other explanation and she drew in a deep breath.
‘A different place, or is it time?’
‘Both.’
‘And the witch in your company? The murderer?’ Her voice was flat, devoid of any emotion or emphasis.
‘She’s from another place again.’
Le Saint paused to survey Shane and Selene. ‘And they also, I gather.’
He nodded.
‘But you’ve all converged here, in my time, my temple…my Beltane. For what reason, other than death?’
‘We hoped to restore balance to another future.’
‘By murdering Corvey?’
‘That was not my intention.’
She blew air over her lips. ‘Yet it is the result. Couldn’t you foresee it?’
He considered, wondering for a moment why he hadn’t been aware of the probability of Nell’s actions. As quantum sentient, he could predict—in a deterministic fashion—all the myriad outcomes of any given set of events and observe them simultaneously in superposition to each other. It’s what he did. How could he have missed this? ‘It seems I was deceived,’ he said, his brow furrowing.
She looked down at the bloodstains on her hands and rubbed them. ‘It seems I was as well.’ She drew in another deep breath. ‘And now I must decide where the truth lies. Corvey may or may not have brewed a spell that was best broken. My people are not going to hail you and that indigo witch as heroes either way. You’ve cast a shadow on our Beltane, and a shadow on my sovereignty. It doesn’t bode well.’
‘We sought to protect your sovereignty.’
‘I don’t like your methods.’
‘It wasn’t my best solution, I assure you,’ Jarrod said.
‘Yet here we are.’ She turned her gaze towards the high arched windows to the west. ‘For good or ill?’ she said as if speaking to someone far away.
He shrugged both shoulders this time. ‘The results are yet to be seen.’
‘With that established, can you speak plainly, both of you?’ Selene blurted out, her voice gathering momentum as she continued. ‘I’m tired of these allusions to what’s right or wrong, best or worst. Either lock us up or set us free, but leave off with the damned mystery. Demons, is this how all you witches communicate?’ She snapped her mouth shut at a wave of Le Saint’s hand.
‘I can see this doesn’t concern you,’ the High Priestess said.
Selene gathered her breath, about to respond, but Shane pulled her back, shaking his head. An apprentice entered the chamber before anyone could say