Viperhand - Douglas Niles [53]
But when her eyes fell on the looming ridgetop behind her father's house, she saw another view she found unsettling. Not because of any dark shadows she saw there, but because of the memories of her last climb up to the top, when she had been snatched into slavery by a Jaguar Knight. In the days she had been home, she had not been able to bring herself to climb that ridge.
Shatil turned away in frustration. His sister's resistance to his suggestion surprised him. In view of her reluctance, he had decided not to tell her of the true purpose behind the feast. Not knowing how she would react, if he told her the truth, he ran the risk of causing her complete refusal.
"You have told me of the battle at Ulatos," said Shatil, trying a different approach. "Perhaps if you are there to speak wkh the strangers, to reason with them, such an outcome can be avoided."
"How could I do this?" she demanded. But that argument of her brother's had struck home. Perhaps there was nothing she could do-a glance at the plaza showed the darkness as thick as ever-but she was indeed the only one in Palul who had any chance of talking with the strangers.
"Come to the village in the morning," Shatil urged. "Our scouts have told us that the hairy men camp just to the east tonight. "They will reach Palul by midday-for the feast! Please, you must be there, too!"
Erixitl remembered her vision the night they found the pool in the desert. The image of Nexal in ruins came back to her now as freshly as when she awakened from the nightmare. But she had seen no indication of disaster in Palul. Perhaps her presence could in fact prove beneficial.
"All right. I will come and see if they will talk."
"You are doing the right thing," said Shatif, embracing her. "I must go back down to the temple for the evening rites. I will stay there tonight and see you when you arrive."
Shatil hastened down the mountain, and Erix watched him go. It seemed that her brother's black robe became a blur with the darkness below, and soon he disappeared from sight. Finally she recognized the shadows of sunset growing around her and turned toward the house, grateful that darkness would bring a respite from her own personal shades.
"What is wrong, my daughter?" inquired Lotil as she entered.
"I'm fearful of what will happen, tomorrow and beyond," Erix admitted. She told him of Shatil's request for the morrow.
"But, Father, you must promise me something," she continued. '"Ibmorrow, do not come to the village. Stay here and wait for me to come to you in the evening."
"What's this?" objected the old man, sitting taller at his featherloom. "My daughter gives me orders?"
"Please, Father. It's very important!"
"You can see things, my daughter, can you not?" asked her father suddenly. "Tell me, Erixitl, can you see tomorrow?" He fixed his sightless eyes upon her face, and Erix felt as if he could see to the depths of her soul. She squirmed uncomfortably.
Erixitl had told her father nothing of the dark images she saw. She knew that the tale of darkness, with its suggestion of impending doom, would weigh heavily upon him as well as her. Better, she thought, to bear her load in silence.
But somehow he knew, and this knowledge was a great and sudden relief to Erix. All at once, in a torrent of words, she told him of the shadows she had seen across Nexal, and of the greater darkness that lay on the town of Palul.
"This is the working of the gods, child," Lotil said finally, holding her hands as she sat beside him. "And in this you see the balance of all things. My sight has been taken from me, but your eyes have been opened in a way that few ever know. You have been granted a window to look into the future. And through that window, perhaps you will see enough to work important changes. Your brother is right, Erixitl. It is important that you go to the town tomorrow.
"Just as my loss is not so bad a thing as you might think-I have heard bird songs I never imagined before, and it is as though