The Sehani Hall was packed with people. Hope swept her seer-senses across the throng and it was child’s play to locate Silas in the center of a knot of people standing to one side of the hall. He shone brightly in her mind’s-eye, his predominantly yellow-hued aureya ringed with orange- and red-toned swirls.
She analyzed his aureya. Yellow signaling high intellect, a forceful personality and mental power. No surprises there. Red for raw energy, vitality and sensuality. Orange swirls for a heightened emotional state. She delved more deeply. Eagerness, single-minded pursuit of respect and power, uncertainty of self-worth…. Hmmm. She could use that last to her advantage.
Abruptly his aureya pulsed, brightening and swelling. Startled, Hope withdrew to observe. The energy of the people closest to him dimmed, and their animated chatter quieted. The effect didn’t last long, and as she continued to observe she noted the noise levels creeping higher again. He’d fed off the energy of the crowd. Lukas was right. Silas did have a power of his own. Like Romana, he could draw energy from others… which begged the question whether her daughter’s strange power might be a natural phenomenon after all, rather than an unhappy accident caused by her mixed heritage and double exposure to the spore. Interesting.
His aureya pulsed again. Ah, there—the merest hint of a violet hue indicating a burgeoning psychic power. She shook her head, disturbed. After this debacle was over she was going to thoroughly test Silas, whether he liked it or not.
She compressed her lips, reviewing what she’d planned to say as she made her way toward the raised dais where the First Settlement elders were waiting. When she reached the dais she brightened the lamps with a careless wave of her hand, flooding the dim hall with light. Heads turned expectantly.
“Before I begin,” she said, “let me make it very clear to you all that this meeting is being simultaneously projected to the meeting halls at the other settlements. Such is the gravity of the situation we now face.”
All chatter ceased. Good. She had their full attention. Time to launch her offensive. “Traditionally only elders, healers and Sehani have elected an overall leader amongst their peers—a First. And traditionally, that First has resided here in the First Settlement. All other trades have chosen to recognize those who’ve excelled, or contributed a great deal to their trade, with the title of ‘master’. Or in the case of the hunters, ‘leader’.”
She detected the first inkling of unease from Silas and as she continued to speak, she watched his aureya carefully, gauging his reactions. “We,” her gesture encompassed the elders, “have decided it is time for an official convention across all trades. Henceforth, all trades shall be headed by a First—an overall leader and representative for his or her trade across all settlements. Further, it will no longer be a requirement that the First resides here in the First Settlement.”
Silas’s aureya flared. She sensed movement and knew he was shoving people aside to get to the front of the hall.
Too late, Silas. My endgame is about to play out. “Under normal circumstances,” she continued, “we would allow all trades to take their time selecting the person best suited to speak for them. Unfortunately, these are not normal circumstances. We Sehani have Seen the coming of a predator that kills for pleasure and absorbs magic. It is called a wyverna.” She conjured a life-size image of the creature and hung it mid-air for all to see.
She heard rustles of clothing and the scrape of boots as people shifted uneasily. Going by his aureya, Silas didn’t appear fazed by the image she’d conjured or overly concerned by her description of the threat it posed. His public mind roiled with phrases from a carefully planned speech but otherwise he was completely focused on her. The more energy he absorbed from those he passed, the larger he loomed in her mind, and she charted his progress through the crowd.
“In the past,” she said, raising her voice to be heard over whispers and murmurs, “these creatures wiped out entire animal populations. And when they ran out of animals to prey on they turned to humans—to us. Our gods finally managed to capture each beast and entomb it deep beneath the earth. And now one of the beasts has somehow escaped.” She raised a hand to gesture—purely for effect—and the static image segued into Ryley’s Seeing. “Time is short,” she said as the first Seeing ended and blended seamlessly into Hopian’s. “We cannot afford dissention within our ranks.”
Silas halted directly in front of the dais just as she delivered her ultimatum. “As the highest ranking Dayamari, I have therefore taken it upon myself to select the Firsts of each trade. First Elder Keeta will announce the names of those selected shortly.”
Silas caught the First Sehan’s implacable gaze and knew without a doubt his name would not feature on Keeta’s list.
“Of course, you are welcome to disagree with my choices, and put forward other names for consideration,” she said, her eerie blind eyes still holding his. “I do not presume to be a dictator. But until the threat this wyverna poses is neutralized, my current choices will remain in effect and no changes will be considered.”
A corner of his mind registered the gasps of shock and outrage from those behind him. Hah. He was not the only one incensed by her arrogance and presumption. She would not get away with this. Energy sang through his veins and he felt strong, confident, vital. It was time to grasp the dream he’d worked toward for so long.
He anchored himself with shoulders thrown back, legs apart, arms crossed over his chest to issue his challenge. She would be forced to recant her decision once she heard what he had to say. Everyone would back him on this. Everyone. “Sehan Hope, you have no right to do this. There’s no precedent for a Sehan to make decisions on behalf of the trades!”
From her lofty position atop the dais her golden eyes glittered. “I believe I’ve just set one, Silas.”
“Everyone is outraged by this travesty,” he said. “I know you can’t see them but surely you can hear them?”
“I can hear them all right, Silas,” she said. “And I agree—they are horrified. But what they feel isn’t outrage for my high-handedness. And if you would concentrate on someone other than yourself for one moment, you might understand what they’re so horrified about.”
He opened his mouth to argue and found himself staring helplessly into her glowing eyes. He struggled to move but he couldn’t—not a muscle. He was caught by her compulsion like a fly in a web. And then his body was jerked about like some child’s ragdoll and his chin was lifted until his vision filled with the image floating in the air above him.
He blinked, and then realized he was looking at a broken body. Unease spiked through his veins. Not an image. A Seeing.
The body flopped about like a child’s ragdoll as a winged beast with an iridescent hide began to feed, its fangs ripping and tearing at… at… her. The body was recognizably female even the though the Seeing didn’t show her face, and Silas could only thank the gods for that small mercy. His skin felt clammy. His forehead beaded with sweat and his stomach muscles convulsed. He tried to turn away from the ghastly sight but he was helpless, and all he could do was watch the beast shaking its wedge-shaped head, worrying at the raw meat of her thigh. If that was not horror enough, his gaze caught another movement—this one so slight it might have been missed by a less observant man.
Her chest rose and fell.
Gods…. She was still alive. His heart quailed and he wanted to run from the hall and vomit up his guts. Thankfully the same force that kept him immobile had clamped his jaws together. And it was then that he understood something that changed everything. He was masterful at convincing others to do what he wanted—even to take risks if the situation called for it. But if he were confronted by such a beast his first thought would be to run, to save himself. The truth? He was a coward. And if by some remote chance Sehan Hope had selected him for the position of First Hunter, he would be forced to decline the honor. He didn’t deserve it.
He blotted the perspiration from his face with the sleeve of his tunic. A part of him understood he could move freely again, could turn away from the stomach-churning nightmare of the Seeing if he wanted to. He saw it through to the bitter end. And when it was finally over, he turned, intending to retreat into the crowd. But she was there, planting herself in front of him, her palm on his chest.
“Let me go, please, Sehan Hope.”
“It’s hard, isn’t it? Looking deep inside yourself and learning who you truly are. I’ve had to do that myself recently, and I didn’t much like what I learned.” Her golden eyes had darkened with remembered guilt and pain. “Don’t you want to know who is going to be the First for the hunters?”
“Owyn, I imagine. He’s a good man.” He knew she heard the fury and hatred vibrating in his voice but there was no point in trying to hide how he felt. Not from this woman.
“Yes, he is. He’ll make a fine First. Would you come with me now, Silas?”
“Why? So you can humiliate me further? Isn’t it enough you’re getting who you want as First Hunt-Leader?”
“I think we may have to devise another title, don’t you? I mean really. First Hunt-Leader?” She caught her lower lip between her teeth. “Mind you, I suppose it’s marginally better than Head Hunter.”
Despite himself a smile tugged at Silas’s lips. “You’re the most aggravating woman I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet, Sehan Hope.”
She fluttered her eyelashes at him and hooked her arm through his, resting her palm on his forearm. “So I’ve been told. Numerous times.”
“Aren’t we going to wait for the Firsts to be announced?”
“Oh, I’m sure Keeta will manage. I’ve made certain all the names are written down. And each elder has a copy, as well as instructions to check each name she announces. She won’t possibly be allowed get it wrong.”
He gave a bark of laughter. “You surprise me again, Sehan Hope. I didn’t think you cared overly much that we were overseen by a weak First Elder.”
“Oh, I care, Silas. But frankly, given what we’ll shortly be facing, I’m glad Keeta is so easily manipulated. I’m pleased she’ll do whatever we tell her to do without debating every suggestion to death. I’ve been down that route before, resigning my post because I didn’t want to be seen to make the final decision for my people. I went it alone, unwilling to risk anyone else. And the cost of my actions was higher than you could ever imagine.”
He mulled her words as she guided him through a side-door of the hall and stopped dead when he saw the others who’d gathered, obviously waiting for them. The Panakeya. The Second Sehan and his life-partner, Romana—a woman whose rumored power scared most people spit-less. Fear drummed his spine and he fought the impulse to hunch as she looked him up and down with her alien blue eyes.
“Come along, Silas. We need you.” Hope continued walking, forcing him to accompany her.
He summoned enough bravado to snort. “Me? Why? I have nothing left to offer you. I’m a hunt-leader who’s finally realized he’s a coward.”
“Perhaps,” she said in that maddening way she had.
She really was the most infuriating female.
She patted his arm. “Don’t say that aloud in front of Blayne. He might agree with you that I’m infuriating but only he is allowed to say so—oh, and Chryss, of course. Have you met Chryss?”
Silas swallowed and shook his head. And then, realizing she couldn’t see the gesture, felt like a fool. “No,” he spluttered. From what he’d heard tell of the man he had no desire to meet him, either.
“Well, he’s very interested to meet you, Silas.”
Shikari’s hairy paws. What had he gotten himself into?
~~~