SULIS AND ASHRAF walked the perimeter of the forest hand in hand, getting a little alone time. Ashraf had just finished a session with the healers, learning about blocking their bond.
“It’s fascinating,” Ashraf told Sulis. “The healers showed me how to block, but they also showed me how to link to you and expand.”
“I wondered what was making me so uncomfortable in scriptures lecture,” Sulis said ruefully. “Ava whispered that I needed to dampen my glow. Why was I glowing?”
Ashraf chortled. “So it did work!” he said. “The healers said I wouldn’t know unless we were together. I was expanding your energy to create a psychic shield. I guess when you’re pulling energy from the earth, I can use some of that energy to stop people from attacking you with their energy. I need to get Clay to work that into the morning sessions. The healers said that if I do it enough, it’ll be as automatic as guarding you with my weapon.”
“Could you warn me first before you do that stuff?” Sulis asked. “That’s the second day in a row scriptures was interrupted. Kadar reached out to me yesterday, and today I was glowing. Master Ursa is going to give me extra work.”
“Have you heard from Kadar again?” Ashraf asked, unrepentant.
Sulis shook her head. “No. I didn’t tell Ava about it either. She thinks of Kadar as another brother and doesn’t need to know about her sister’s cheating.”
“I wouldn’t tell her. I’d say I can’t believe it of Farrah, but she always was determined to the extreme, ruthless about her cause. If she felt she needed to, she’d give herself to Severin to forward it. She’d hate herself for doing it, but she would anyway.”
“Don’t defend her,” Sulis scowled at him. “She was killing feli for her precious cause. And she doesn’t deserve Kadar if she can’t understand how much better he is than Severin.”
Ashraf gestured ahead of them. “Is that Djinn? I thought he was back at the house with the kittens.”
Sulis frowned at the lithe form that slipped out of the forest and between the buildings. “That’s not Djinn, though it has similar coloring.”
She picked up her pace, curious about this new feli. She and Ashraf stepped into the shadows as a man came out of the dormitory, and the feli bumped its head against the man’s thigh. The man gave the feli some food, which it ate greedily. When it was done, the feli slipped back into the woods, and the man returned to the building.
“Odd,” Ashraf murmured. “I thought only you and Palou had a bond with the feli.”
“Even odder,” Sulis said. “It had that different coloring, unspotted like Djinn and his kit. Why wouldn’t he tell someone about it if he had a connection with the One?”
“That’s just Palou’s theory,” Ashraf reminded her. “It might just have been a runt he saved or befriended. It seemed smaller than most feli. A lot of the fighters don’t want anything to do with energy or mind powers and wouldn’t admit if they had it.”
“Still, I want to know who he is,” Sulis said. She couldn’t shake the feeling of unease the scene woke in her.
“I’ll ask around,” Ashraf said. “He wasn’t familiar to me, so he must have come in with the newly pledged fighters.”
Sulis nodded, and they continued walking until they found their place, a fallen log sheltered by some trees where they could sit and enjoy each other’s company in privacy. Ashraf turned her head to his and kissed her, and the other feli slipped out of her mind as she kissed him back, then kissed his neck. They kept control, but things were starting to get very interesting when Sulis felt a sort of nudge inside her mind, like one of her links was being plucked.
Sulis cursed and straightened as she felt the tug again inside her mind. Ashraf sighed heavily as she stopped and closed her eyes, focusing on who the link was, and where. It seemed to be some sort of summons, from Grandmother. She focused more on the bond.
“I think Grandmother wants us, either at the eating hall or main hall,” Sulis said. Her brow furrowed as she tried to get a better sense of direction from her link with her grandmother. “It seems to be important, not just her and Anchee testing our bonds.”
“Eating hall’s on the way to the main hall,” Ashraf said, reaching out and smoothing down Sulis’s hair and cloak.
It was still before last meal, so the eating hall was empty. But Sulis had to push her way through a crowd in the main hall to find her grandmother and Anchee, toward the center of a circle. In the circle stood Master Ursa, the healer Rana, the warriors’ training master, and two elite guards.
“Where’s Ava?” Sulis asked her grandmother.
“Clay took her back to the house. She doesn’t need to hear this,” Grandmother said, fury evident in her straight bearing.
“What’s going on?” Ashraf asked.
“The warriors are questioning Ava’s fitness,” Anchee said calmly, but his shoulders were tense.
“I heard her say it,” one warrior said to the crowd. It was the warrior Turin, who’d been guarding them last week when Ava made her announcement. “She said she was damaged. Doesn’t know who people are and mixes them up with people from her past. If she’s crazy, then she’s not the Loom after all!”
“You heard a private conversation between the Chosen. And you were ordered to keep that knowledge to yourself,” Master Ursa reprimanded him.
“We have a right to know!” one warrior shouted from the crowd. The other warriors murmured in agreement. “This is our cause as much as theirs. We train as hard as they do and will lay down our lives for them.”
Ashraf nudged Sulis and jerked his chin toward the edge of the crowd. The man whom they saw earlier with the feli was talking with another warrior.
“This does not concern you,” Healer Rana said. “This is a private matter that a young girl is struggling with. And she is gaining control over those aspects of herself, so there is nothing to fear.”
Anchee spoke up, and the warriors turned to him. “Ava has been confirmed as the Loom by Master Clay and the One himself. A crowd witnessed that acceptance.”
“That was before she admitted she had all these problems,” Turin said stubbornly. “She should be replaced.”
Anchee cocked his head, a small smile on his face. “Are you saying the One cannot see into our hearts and souls?” he asked. “Ava came to the desert with these difficulties, and was still chosen by the One as his Loom. Do you question the One’s judgment?”
Sulis watched, fascinated, as the warrior stuttered, not wanting to commit heresy and say the One was wrong but not wanting to back down from his opinions.
Grandmother stepped forward and addressed the crowd in a contemptuous tone. “We cannot be replaced. There is only one Loom, one Weaver, and three Shuttles in a lifetime.” She leveled a glare at the training master. “Which you should have been taught in your training. That this rumor got this far points to a lack of knowledge and discipline in the warrior ranks.”
The training master bowed to Grandmother. “Which will be remedied.” He stepped forward and glared over the crowd. “Since you have so much time for rumors, we will be on double-training schedule. This will include a recitation of the prophecy and twelve laws of the Chosen every evening before rest since you have clearly forgotten them. You are dismissed to eat, but will return to the training hall directly after your meal instead of free time.”
Sulis winced. She’d learned those in scriptures class. The prophecy was short, but the twelve laws were long and tedious, and the whole thing would take over an hour each evening. She saw the more experienced warriors grimace.
As the warriors turned to go, the training master held up a hand. “Not you, warrior Turin. You are, first, in violation of orders of silence from a master. Second, you are in violation of your oath to come to your superiors with any rumors and fears rather than spreading them to others. These are primary offences. You are cast out from the warriors of Kabandha, which requires detainment until such time as our mission is accomplished. Guards, take citizen Turin to his new quarters.”
Sulis winced again as the elite guards stepped forward to flank Turin. His expression turned from shocked to resigned as they marched him toward the guarded quarters. She didn’t feel sorry for the man. He couldn’t be trusted to keep his tongue here in Kabandha, and he certainly couldn’t be left free to spread rumors outside the city. She glanced at the crowd and found the man they’d seen earlier staring straight at her. He looked away when she caught his eye, turned, and ducked into the crowd that was leaving.
Sulis shivered, and her grandmother looked at her.
“That man felt like Voras,” she told their group. “We saw him feeding a feli, earlier, near the woods.”
Grandmother shook her head impatiently. “You’re just feeling paranoid from this ordeal. It should never have gone this far.”
Anchee nodded. “No human who has been touched by a deity can go through the shields without our knowing.”
“I went through the shields, and Voras had a geas on me,” Sulis protested.
“But you had defeated it, and shaken off his influence,” Grandmother said.
“But what about the feli?” Sulis asked, irritated at her grandmother’s dismissal.
“Palou told me the men were all trying to lure a feli to them after seeing his.” Grandmother said dismissively. “He probably found a runt and befriended it with food. Stop shying at shadows.”
Sulis raised her chin stubbornly, but Ashraf spoke, cutting off her sarcastic reply before it left her lips.
“What will we tell Ava?” Ashraf asked, changing the subject.
“As little as possible,” Healer Rana said, joining them. “I’ll go speak to her now. In a short amount of time, she has gained much confidence and control, and I don’t want this to sabotage her recovery.”
As the others moved on, Sulis hung back, still uneasy. Ashraf noticed and waited for her.
“You really think you felt Voras,” Ashraf said, concerned.
Sulis thought about it a moment. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Grandmother could be right. It was more a sense of something not right, like I’d felt around soldiers of Voras.” She looked up at him as he took her cold hands in his. “I do know that I don’t want Ava to be unguarded, ever. No more sneaking off. No more letting her walk from class to class by herself.”
“Why?” Ashraf asked.
“There can be no other Loom while Ava is still living,” Sulis said. “But if Ava had an accident and died . . .”
“Maybe another Loom would be born? You think the warriors will think of that?” Ashraf nodded slowly. “Agreed. The same goes for you. Where you and Ava go, I will be. We don’t need to be alone to bond.” He sent a feeling of love through their link, and she threw her arms around his neck. He held her close, enveloping her and making her feel warm and protected. Sulis had a pang of sorrow for her twin, who’d lost this connection even as she was gaining it.
“And Sulis,” Ashraf added, beside her ear. “I adore you, but try to get along with your grandmother. It makes it tense for all of us if you fight.”
Sulis glared at his back as he turned to go, warm feelings dampened. She followed him to the eating hall, muttering under her breath.
CLAY STOPPED SPEAKING and looked up from their energy work. He sat back on his heels and closed his eyes. He was motionless a moment, then opened his eyes and looked around at the Chosen.
“The Tribune is in deep sleep, close to death,” he told them. “I predict it will be about a week before he dies. This will unbalance Illian. Southerners will begin to come home, threatened by the deities. More Guardians and the Weaver will come to the desert. We need to move our base closer, meet them north before the summer heat closes the Sands to travel.”
“I know the new Voice,” Sulis said. “Jonas won’t let Parasu attack Southerners.”
Clay looked at her with sympathy. “When the Tribune dies, Jonas will be no more; there is only the Voice. Your friend will change, having contact with his deity. He will become less human, less compassionate. And he is too young to lead yet. They will not heed his advice.”
“Where will we go?” Anchee asked. “If we go closer to the edge of the desert, that will put us in more danger from the soldiers and Voras’s army.”
“Your family owns property,” Clay said, speaking to Grandmother. “Just north of where the Sands begin. If I recall, it has large empty buildings to store goods in, as well as the herds of humpbacks and mules for the caravan business. Your family is constantly switching out the caravans and goods, so a large party coming and going wouldn’t be noticed as much. “
Grandmother nodded. “All who work for us are loyal to the cause. I will notify the family to prepare space for us and a large group of warriors.”
Clay nodded. “The Obsidian Temple will be our first stop. I want to show Ava the way the frozen deities will fit into the drawn patterns and allow the Shuttles to dance the energy to understand better how little there is in that space.”
“When do we leave?” Anchee asked.
“A day’s time.” He held up a hand at their protest. “It is a long trip. The bulk of the warriors can go directly north to the depot when they are ready to leave, as we will be moving slowly compared to them.”
Anchee and Grandmother rushed with Clay to find the masters and ready for travel, as Sulis, Ava, and Ashraf went back to the house to pack.
“I wonder if that’s why Farrah is so upset,” Ava said, as they pulled their leather travel sacks out of storage. “Because the Tribune is dying. That would be scary if you’re in Illian.”
“What do you mean?” Sulis asked.
“I can feel her,” Ava said shyly. “I told Clay, and he said it’s because I’m a Loom. I can feel all the threads connected to me, especially the ones I’m closest to like family and good friends. Farrah’s been sad for a little while now, and anxious.”
“Maybe it is the Tribune’s illness,” Sulis mumbled, not looking at Ashraf. She’d let Kadar explain what had happened if it ever came to that.
“Traveling again, so soon,” Ava said. “It was such a long journey before.”
Sulis smiled at her. “I used to make it twice a year,” she told the younger girl. “Though I’d never been to the Obsidian Temple or Kabandha. We’d go to Frubia and all the coastal cities. Then we’d return and make a big circle through the various trade posts. Uncle Aaron would break off a larger caravan to Illian, and we’d go up to the mountain cities and around and back to Shpeth. Last year was the longest I’d been in one place since I started apprenticing at fourteen.”
Ava shook her head. “In the North, they don’t even let you pledge to the Temple until you’re sixteen,” she said. “And you’re supposed to go to school until at least then because you aren’t mature enough to work.”
“Unless you’re Forsaken,” Sulis reminded her. “I’ve seen tiny Forsaken children sweeping chimneys and acting as servants.”
Ava’s lips turned down. “Unless you’re Forsaken,” she agreed. Her face brightened as the mama feli entered their bedroom, followed by her three kittens, who tumbled and wrestled as they pounced on the bed.
“Will they come with us?” Ava asked, as the unspotted feli tumbled off the bed and began wrestling her pack straps.
“They’re too young to make the journey,” Sulis said regretfully.
“We could rig something up, like you did with Djinn,” Ava said hopefully, giggling as she loosened the kitten’s hold on the nightgown she was trying to pack. The kitten, now as big as a small dog, attempted to climb in the pack, fitting its head and shoulders in, with hindquarters and tail hanging out. Sulis could hear its purr from the other side of the room.
“We’ll ask Palou,” Sulis promised, but she didn’t think it was likely. The mama feli wasn’t tame, and she doubted she could be trained to ride on a pavilion like Djinn, even if she’d allow them to take her kittens. And the kittens were too young to walk that far.
Palou confirmed her suspicions later as they were organizing the bundles to go on the humpbacks.
“Sorry, little one,” he told Ava, as her brow furrowed. “The mama stays with me but doesn’t trust me that much. She and the kittens will be waiting here for us when we return. It’s safest for them here.”
The next day was a whirlwind, but early dawn found them once again standing in front of packed humpbacks, blinking in the torchlighted courtyard.
“We’ll come as soon as things are put right here,” Master Ursa assured them. “A quarter of our men are going with you.”
Sulis was dismayed to see the stranger who felt like Voras among the warriors. She scowled and pointed it out to Ashraf, who nodded.
“I found out his name is Raen; he’s a new pledge. They pair new warriors up with seasoned ones,” he said. “They must have picked his partner to come. We’ll keep an eye on him, don’t worry.”
The farewell speeches had been made, and they’d started sorting out the humpbacks when Djinn appeared, carrying the unspotted kitten by its ruff. Everyone stopped and watched as he carefully carried it over to Ava and dropped it at her feet. She stared down, then knelt beside it and looked pleadingly at the group.
Sulis looked around, waiting for the mama feli to burst in and drag it back to her bed, but she didn’t appear.
Palou stepped forward and picked up the kitten. He felt it over for injuries or marks, then turned it over and examined it, ignoring its angry mews at the indignity.
“This is the first I’ve been allowed to handle one. They’ve been weaned for a couple of weeks now, but Ava’s been the only one allowed with them,” he said to the amused crowd. He carefully handed the kitten to Ava. “You’ve got a little boy there. You’ll want to think hard about a good name for him, one he can grow into.”
Ava squeaked with excitement, her face glowing as Djinn looked on, the tip of his tail twitching in amusement.
“How will I carry him?” Ava asked, looking at the high-sided saddle on the humpback.
Clay glared at his own humpback, which he’d gotten to kneel. “Best to let Sulis keep him and Djinn on her special saddle, with the basket already on. We can rig a basket to yours as we travel.” He threw a leg over the humpback and ordered it to rise. He clutched the saddle and turned slightly green. “I’m going to be very angry if this beast causes me to lose my breakfast.”
Sulis had her hands full, once she was on a standing humpback, trying to keep the little feli on the basket ledge in front of her. She finally rigged a harness for the kitten, tying to the pommel so it couldn’t escape. It stopped wriggling away from her and tried to chew its way out of the harness instead. She looked around to find everyone waiting for her.
“Time to go?” she asked.
Anchee nodded, and they filed out. Sulis turned and looked over her shoulder at Kabandha in the dawn’s light one last time, before they went through the shields, and it disappeared behind illusions.