Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [89]
‘The temple cat was Dumarkian and that makes her a Dumarkian witch.’
‘She didn’t deny it.’
‘She didn’t give her true reason for being here either.’
‘The pregnancy was no glamour.’
Xane realised they were talking about the witch in the carriage!
‘Are you certain?’
‘If it was, I want to learn how she did it. I felt the baby move myself.’
‘The Stable Master’s boy is here with a message. Maybe that’ll offer a clue.’
‘And we can send this one back.’
‘You hardly need the written word to speak to the insider.’
‘Of course, but this isn’t for the Stable Master.’
‘It’s meant to be intercepted?’
‘I’d say its chances are very good, wouldn’t you?’
Xane scratched his head. The conversation didn’t make any sense. The fact that he could hear them through the solid oak door while they whispered was even more startling. He picked at his neck. Could hemlock poison be doing this? Was it a hallucination? They’d talked about the Stable Master as if he were more important to the temple than Xane ever imagined. It almost sounded as if he was their spy. As he pondered these ideas the doors opened and he was ushered in. His audience with the High Priestess lasted only a matter of moments.
‘Take this back with you. It’s for the Stable Master, or the first authority who asks. Do you understand?’
‘Yes, Mistress.’ He understood perfectly. With a nod he backed out of the chambers, wondering what intrigue the temple was plotting. He felt like it was already something he knew about, and something he needed to remember, fast. He shook his head. That was nonsense. What could such witches’ business have to do with him?
CHAPTER 12
TEMPLE LOS LOMA, EARTH & CORSANON, GAELA
‘Where do you think she went, Sword Master?’ Kreshkali spat the words as she poured boiling water into a pot.
‘I’m not sure, but whenever you say my name like that I know I’m supposed to have the answer.’
Kreshkali sprinkled dried herbs over the steaming liquid and stirred. ‘Back to Corsanon, of course.’
‘She’s looking for Jarrod?’ An’ Lawrence shifted in his seat, bracing his wounded leg with both hands. ‘You can’t blame her, Kali. We gave up the search before it began.’
‘I was under some constraints. Besides, she and Drayco would have heard him if he was anywhere near. I would have heard him, for that matter. We didn’t. He’s gone.’
‘You would have heard if he had been conscious.’ An’ Lawrence winced as he straightened his knee. ‘What if he was knocked out?’
‘After that fall? It’s a flesh-and-blood tulpa he lives in, not a tortoiseshell. His body was dead.’
‘If you had told me Makee had a knife to your throat I would have dropped her in a second. I would have found out her game and…’
‘Are you so sure? As I recall you were having trouble holding your head up at the time.’
‘We’d just come down the quarry road. I was catching my breath.’
‘And I was making the choice that seemed most creative.’
‘You could have warned me at least. I wouldn’t have let her slip away.’
‘Who? Rosette or Makee?’
‘Either.’ He groaned. ‘Both.’
‘So you say.’ She tapped the spoon on the rim of the pot. ‘Get ready,’ she said. ‘This is hot, and it bites.’
‘Are you trying to kill me!’ he hollered as she applied the poultice. ‘What’s in that, woman!’
Scylla leapt to her feet, hackles up.
‘It’s medicine,’ she said to Scylla. ‘Good stuff.’ She turned to her patient. ‘Hold still, Rowan, I’m not done with you yet.’ Scylla had a sniff of the wound as Kreshkali packed it with hypericum pulp and bay leaves steeped in pure onion juice. ‘See? It’s helping already.’ She blew on her finger, shaking it when a drop of the juice seeped into a tiny cut. ‘That does smart.’
An’ Lawrence’s face was red, tears streaming down his cheeks, but he didn’t say another word or move again until she finished splinting the leg, binding it tight with broad flat sticks. He got up, testing the cure.
‘How am I supposed to train in this?’ he said, struggling to stay upright. ‘I can’t even bend my knee.’ He limped around the room, like a man with