The Spirit Stone - Katharine Kerr [211]
Men filled the cabin, she realized, staring at her. Faharn shoved his way through the mob and stood in front of her, his blue eyes narrow with rage.
‘What have you done to him?’ Faharn said.
‘Me?’ Sidro took a step back. ‘Nothing! He’s the one who—’ The tears rose and drowned her words.
‘Leave her alone!’ Pir snapped. ‘She’s trying to tell us.’
Faharn crossed his arms over his chest and glared, but mercifully he stayed silent. Young Vek was shaking so badly that she knew he was close to having one of his seizures. Nothing else looked the least bit unusual. The wrappings for the two crystals still lay on the table among the remnants of their noon meal. Nothing had burned, nothing had broken, not one object had moved from its place. Except of course for Laz.
‘I don’t know what happened,’ she whispered, then steadied her voice. ‘It was the two spirit stones. Laz brought them together and touched them, tip to tip. Everything seemed to explode. He stood right here but a moment ago. Now he’s gone.’
Faharn swore under his breath.
‘Do you believe me?’ Sidro said to him.
‘Yes, yes, of course,’ Faharn said. ‘He’s talked about nothing but those damned gems for days.’ His voice wavered and threatened to choke. ‘It’s just like him, somehow, to do something like that.’
The men began to murmur, just a word here and there, and look slantwise at each other. A few laid their hands on their dagger hilts for the comfort of it.
‘Do you think he’s dead?’ Pir asked Sidro.
‘I don’t know. I just don’t know.’
Vek sobbed once, then choked, making a growling sound deep in his throat. Everyone turned towards him as his head began to sway from side to side. He threw his arms into the air, then his head suddenly flopped forward. He staggered and fell to his knees among the rushes.
‘Alive,’ he stammered. ‘Alive but gone, gone. Alive but gone. Alive but—’ He fainted, sprawling face down onto the boughs.
The two men nearest to him grabbed him and hauled him up. His head flopped back, and drool ran from his open mouth.
‘Take him back to his shelter,’ Pir said. ‘And stay with him till he comes round.’
When they carried Vek out, the cabin began to empty. A few at a time, the men slipped out, whispering among themselves. Faharn lingered, tried to speak, then turned and ran up the steps and out. Sidro sat down on the stump and concentrated on keeping herself from weeping. Pir leaned against the table and considered her unspeaking until the last of them had left.
‘You’re our leader now,’ he said. ‘Until we find Laz, of course.’
‘Of course? Do you truly think we can find him? Alive but gone, gone—what does that mean? What can it possibly mean?’ Sidro held up her hands, noticed they were shaking, and tucked them into her lap. ‘How can we even search with the dragons lurking right nearby?’
‘The dragons? It’s the Lijik men I’m worried about. Without Laz and his sorcery we can’t hide if we stay here. We can’t travel without leaving a trail they’d have to be blind to miss.’
‘Ai, may every goddess help us! We’ll need them all. How can I lead you? I’m all to pieces, I can’t think, I—’
‘Hush!’ Pir held up a hand and let a scent flow out to her. ‘I’ve been thinking about things.’
This scent smelled like horses, sharp, sweaty, and yet oddly calming. Sidro took a deep breath. Her hands lay still in her lap, and her thoughts steadied with them, though her grief still burned in her soul. Laz, Laz, how could you desert me again? A childish thought, ridiculous, even, she knew—yet she ached as badly as if it were true. Pir’s voice shocked her out of self-pity.
‘My idea is this,’ Pir said. ‘What if we surrendered to the Ancients in that army?’
‘What?’ Sidro stared gape-mouthed at him.
‘Why are we here? Because the Alshandra people hate us. Why are the Ancients and their allies here? They hate the Alshandra people. They have sorcerers among them. Our sorcerer is gone. That black stone was theirs. They likely want it back. We want Laz back, and he likely still has the black stone.’
‘They’ll kill him if they find him.’
‘Not if we strike a bargain with them.