False Horizon - Alex Archer [41]
Tuk gestured for Annja to follow the parade and the two of them walked behind Prava and the others.
Tuk glanced at Annja, but she seemed just as mystified as he was. And what was it that Prava had said? “Home?” Did he mean that Tuk had once lived here? The tune they had played brought back a cloudy thought in Tuk’s mind, but he couldn’t clarify it. It seemed so utterly alien to him.
And yet…familiar.
“Do you know this place, Tuk?” Annja’s eyes bore into him. “I heard what Prava said to you back there. About this being home. Well, is it?”
Tuk shook his head. “I do not know. I don’t remember it, and yet the music they played…it was strangely known to me.”
“You said you were an orphan.”
“I am,” Tuk said. “I mean, I thought my family was killed or they’d abandoned me, but I guess I don’t really know.”
Annja smiled. “If you’re from this incredible place, then that’s not the worst news you could have gotten, huh?”
Tuk laughed. “No, I guess not. And Mike is here. That’s more good news.”
“Sounds like they’ve saved his life,” Annja said. “We’ll be indebted to them for that.”
“I don’t think they would view it like that. I get the distinct impression they are motivated to help simply because it’s the right thing to do.”
Annja nodded. “I kind of got that impression, too.”
Tuk turned back to the path they walked along. On either side of them, gleaming golden statues rose out of the lush grass. Strange faces and animals contorted and twisted together in a variety of poses and postures that reminded Tuk of some of the Tibetan Buddhist paintings he’d seen displayed in Katmandu.
The sunlight reflected off of the statues and dazzled his eyes. The music that swept them along sounded like a celebration tune and swept Tuk’s soul into its joyful refrain.
He heard squeals from somewhere farther ahead and then saw a series of fountains spraying jets of crystal-clear water high in the air. Under the arcs of water, children splashed and played as the parade marched by. They waved to Tuk and he smiled in spite of himself, waving back.
“Seems like you’re a popular guy here,” Annja said.
Tuk shrugged. “I have no idea what’s happening to me, but I am struck by an almost overpowering sensation that I have been here before.”
“Is it possible this is your home?”
Tuk looked at her. “I suppose it is, but the question then becomes, when did it stop being my home? And for what reason?”
Annja shrugged. “Prava said we would find out when we got to the court. I take it there is someone we’re having an audience with.”
“I gathered the same,” Tuk said. “To say I am beyond anxious would be a terrible understatement.”
Annja nodded. “I know how you feel.”
“Do you?”
“I’m an orphan, too, Tuk.”
Tuk smiled. There was much about Annja he didn’t understand. But what he did understand, he liked. She seemed to be a complicated woman with a fierce and passionate heart. And he respected her loyalty toward her friend Mike. That was to be admired, especially when the rest of modern society seemed to care little for helping others unless they gained something from it.
“If this is indeed my home,” Tuk said, “then you are forever welcome to call it your home, as well.”
Annja smiled. “Thank you, Tuk. That’s a very kind thing to say.”
Tuk watched as they approached the structure ahead of them. He might have called it a temple or a castle, but it looked more like a combination of both. He could see a grand entrance capping off an approach of hundreds of steps that led skyward. Behind the structure, it looked like a mountain went clear up to the heavens.
Was that the mountain they’d been inside earlier?
Was the building they were entering a part of the mountain or was it the mountain itself?
Prava’s voice was low. “Tuk, we must hurry now. The king awaits.”
“King?”
Prava smiled. “Yes. I believe he’s very anxious to meet with you and hear of your travels.”
“My travels…” Tuk’s voice trailed off. “This is all quite a marvel to me. I’m sorry if it seems like I’m a bit slow.”
Prava shook his head. “You are responding exactly as we knew you would when you returned.