The girl was taking her surroundings in with wide eyes. “I’ve never seen any Travellers before today,” she whispered to Rielle in Muraian. “Now I meet a whole family of them.”
“This is Lejihk,” Rielle told her, “head of the family.”
Timane began to bow, but stopped as both Lejihk and Ankari protested.
“You are our guest,” he told her. “Our equal.” He beckoned. “Come join us for a meal.”
He led them through the gap between two of the wagons into the circle of them. A canopy stretched between them all. A raised circular platform of wood filled the space in the centre—another sign they had lived here a long time. A fire pit of stone had been built within a gap in the middle, and it flared into life as one of the Travellers used magic to light it. Firm, square pillows and blankets were brought out of the wagons, and as the adults and guests began to settle around the fire, the young women of the family were asked to bring warm drinks.
“This place is for Qall,” Lejihk said, leaving the pillow between his and Rielle’s empty. He looked around. The young man was nowhere in view. “Somebody find him and tell him to join us.”
One of the younger adult men began to rise.
“No need,” Ankari said. “He’s here.”
Following the woman’s gaze, Rielle saw a knot of young men part, and her heart froze. Valhan stood among them, his back straight and expression aloof.
And then he looked up in her direction and became a different person. Valhan would never have allowed such doubt and longing to show. Nor would he have even felt those emotions, she suspected. At least, not towards her.
Qall was Valhan’s body inhabited and animated by all the uncertainty and hope of youth. Emotions she had never seen on the Raen’s face altered it to the point that he no longer looked like the ruler she had known. She almost wondered if she hadn’t succeeded after all when she had changed this young man’s pattern. Or that some of the information imprinted in Valhan’s desiccated hand had been missing.
It was a relief, mixed with a new anxiety. He was Qall, but he was a stranger to her, and her to him. That realisation sparked even greater sympathy towards him. He was a young man with almost no memory of his life before five cycles ago, about to be taken from the only people he loved by a powerful sorceress he knew nothing about except that she had saved his life.
He was probably scared. He might also be excited. Young men were often restless, stifled by a life lacking challenges, and she could offer him a freedom and adventure that he couldn’t get from the Travellers. She smiled, hoping to reassure him. His expression softened a little, then he looked away, gaze shifting to the distance, and all emotion smoothed from his face.
And suddenly he was Valhan again. Disturbed, she looked down, overwhelmed by what she was taking on. Most people, if they had ever beheld a portrait or statue or had briefly met Valhan, would believe Qall was the ruler of worlds returned from the dead yet again. They would fear him, hate him, adore him. If he was recognised before she could get him to a safe world, word of his return would spread like a windstorm through the worlds, and Dahli would come to find out if it were true.
How am I going to avoid anyone seeing him?
“Qall. Come and sit with us,” Lejihk called, gesturing to an empty cushion.
Rielle watched Qall walk to the pillow and sit down. His movements were completely unlike Valhan’s. They had the loose-limbed ease of youth and the awkwardness that came of being self-conscious. They way he dropped onto the cushion and hunched his shoulders hinted at resignation.
“This is Rielle Lazuli,” Lejihk told him.
Qall glanced at Rielle, then fixed his eyes on the edge of her mat. “I am honoured to meet you.”
“And I you,” she replied, hiding her surprise. His voice was so different to Valhan’s. Had it not broken yet? It wasn’t the voice of a child, though. Perhaps Valhan altered his voice. He may not have been aware that he had. While he had used portraits and statues to remind himself of what his true appearance was, perhaps he hadn’t found a way to record what he should sound like.
Lejihk looked around the group. “Most of you know Rielle.” He gestured to Timane. “This is Timane, Rielle’s companion.”
Qall’s gaze lingered a little longer on the young woman, who smiled brightly as the Travellers welcomed her. Timane haltingly spoke the polite reply Ankari had taught her.
“As you know, Qall,” Lejihk continued. “Rielle rescued you five cycles ago from the people who erased your memories. We’ve raised you and taught you most of what our own children learn. The rest she will teach you.”
Qall’s eyes sharpened as he looked at her. “To travel between worlds?”
“Yes,” Rielle replied. “But first we must find a safe place to live.”
The crease between his brows deepened. He glanced around the watching Travellers, and his lips pressed together.
“You don’t want to leave,” Rielle guessed. “I understand. I didn’t want to when I lived with Lejihk’s family.”
The look he sent her was piercing but brief. “You can’t stay here and teach me,” he guessed in return.
She looked at Lejihk. Perhaps something could be arranged. He shook his head.
“Why not?” Qall asked.
“Lejihk’s family agreed to protect and heal the child I brought to them,” she replied. “You are no longer a child.”
“We settled here for your benefit,” Lejihk continued, “but this is not our traditional way of living, and we have survived on our savings and loans from other Traveller families. We must return to our trading and pay back those loans.”
As Qall absorbed that, three young women entered the circle. One carried a barrel; another a box full of ceramic mugs. The third pierced the barrel, took a cup, filled it and handed it to one of the Travellers, then moved on to serve the next.
“Why can’t you start trading if I’m with you?” Qall asked.
Lejihk looked at Rielle and nodded.
My turn, she thought. But how much do I tell him?
“There is a danger you will be recognised by the people who hurt you,” Rielle explained. “They know I spent time with Travellers, and could be looking for you among them.”
His eyes widened. “They’re still looking for me?”
She nodded. “Don’t be afraid. I can protect you. We will find a safe place to live.”
“Why are they looking for me?”
Rielle glance at Lejihk, then Ankari. She wanted to read their minds, and have some guidance to how much she should tell him. The couple nodded, as if in permission. There is no need to avoid seeing their thoughts now, she realised. It can’t bring Qall into any greater danger by reading their thoughts.
So she looked. Lejihk wanted her to avoid frightening Qall needlessly, Ankari thought being truthful would help Rielle gain Qall’s trust. Their opposing views did nothing to help Rielle decide. Let’s see how far his questions take us, then. She drew a deep breath, then let it out again.
“To put someone else’s memories in place of your own,” she said.
“Whose?”
She shook her head. “A sorcerer. A … the leader of the people who harmed you.”
His eyes narrowed. “A bad person.”
“Yes.”
An eyebrow rose. “Obviously some think otherwise, or they wouldn’t follow him.”
“Yes.”
“Who do I believe?”
She held his gaze. “Who do you trust?”
He looked away, then his gaze flitted around the watching Travellers, and he nodded.
“I believe you,” he told her. “Since you agree with my family.”
My family. Something reached inside her and squeezed her heart. She had to take a few deep breaths before she could speak again.
“I wish I didn’t have to take you away, or that I could stay with Lejihk’s family while helping you, but neither is possible. But I hope I can be your friend as well as your protector.”
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The look he gave her was indecipherable. Seeing Ankari frown, she looked closer. The woman was unsure if it was wise for Rielle to propose they become friends. Qall would more likely obey Rielle without question—or at least with less questioning—if her role was more like a mother-matriarch than an equal.
“Eventually, anyway,” Rielle added. “For now, I will be your protector, then your teacher when we find a place to settle.”
He nodded. “When do we leave?”
She looked at Lejihk and raised an eyebrow.
“Tomorrow,” the man said. His expression was controlled, but from his mind escaped a wistful thought. It will be like losing another son. Then he remembered that by letting Qall go, the family had a chance to reunite with Baluka, and his heart lifted a little.
Rielle braced herself for the usual pang of guilt, but it did not come. The Travellers had never blamed her for Baluka leaving them, and it seemed she had finally stopped doing so too. It helped that Baluka had not sought out his family since the Raen died. Though it was possible he was avoiding them for their benefit. Perhaps he had heard they had disappeared, guessed that they were hiding and dared not seek their location in case stronger sorcerers could read it from his mind.
Though Lejihk would prefer that his son inherited his position as leader of the family, he was also proud of him for taking the leadership of the rebellion and helping to defeat the Raen. There are worse things an estranged son could do, the man thought. He was smiling as he turned to Rielle. “What news do you have of the worlds?”
“It’s all third-hand, but …” She paused to take a sip of the drink, then began to relate what she had heard.
The conversation did not shift from reports of war and disruption for the next few hours. Lejihk had been visiting cities around the neighbouring worlds, listening in the markets to gossip and rumours, so he had stories of his own to share. To her amusement, and some relief, Qall soon grew bored and was given permission to leave. She watched him rejoin the knot of young men, his posture changing to the slouch of a youth pretending relaxed nonchalance around others his age—and the young women they wanted to impress. She tried to read his mind, but found only silence. That confirmed what the Travellers had suspected: Qall had become as powerful as Valhan when she’d changed his pattern to match the Raen’s.
Night came and a meal was prepared. It soon became clear it was to be no ordinary evening, but a feast to farewell Qall. He looked uncomfortable through most of it, but she caught a pleased gleam in his eyes when he lowered them at the speeches they gave towards the end.
When it was over, Ulma made up the second bed in her wagon for Timane, and Ankari rolled out the bed from under the one she shared with Lejihk for Rielle. As the activity around the wagons quietened, Rielle could almost imagine she had never left. That she’d never accepted Valhan’s offer to work as an artisan in his palace. Never learned to be ageless. Never refused to resurrect Valhan and saved Qall. Never met Tyen.
Tyen. While the prospect of protecting and teaching Qall intimidated her, after talking to Lejihk and Ankari she had almost reached a state of confidence and belief that doing her best would be enough. Now a ripple of anxiety disrupted that near-calm.
Where are you, Tyen? Why did you leave the desert world? Why didn’t you let me or Tarran know why you left? Have you learned to pattern-shift? Are you trapped in a dead world?
If the worst had happened, she might never have the answers to those questions. As Tarran had said: she could do nothing but wait and hope. Like Tyen, she had a promise to keep. She sighed, rolled over and resolved to think about it no more that night.
CHAPTER 4
The sun—a small greenish disc in this world—was well up when Rielle followed Lejihk and Ankari out of the wagon. She had seen glimpses of activity through the small windows, and heard the noises of the family growing more complex and numerous. Now ceaseless motion, sound and activity greeted her. Sections of the canopy over the central space were being removed and bundled up. Men, women and children hurried back and forth, calling out to each other and laughing.
Beyond the wagons, lom were lumbering in and out of sight, their rumbling a bass note behind the rest of the sounds. Nearby, a pair of the beasts were being guided backwards into the harness of a wagon. From the minds of their handlers she learned that the Travellers had regularly taken individual wagons on short journeys to prevent the lom growing unused to pulling heavy loads, and to train the younger Travellers how to drive them. The wagons had been well maintained, ready to leave in case the strife in the worlds spread to this one. They were well set up to resume their trading lifestyle.
As one of the wagons shifted, a familiar figure came into view. Shoulders hunched, Qall watched the preparations. He was wearing one of the warm coats that Ulma had presented to Rielle and Timane. A pair of Travellers passed him, placing a reassuring hand on his arm and shoulder, and he managed a small smile.
Feeling as if she was spying on him, Rielle began to look away, but then a young woman approached him. His face relaxed as he saw her, then frowned as she pressed something into his hands before hurrying away. He looked down, unfolded a piece of cloth and his eyes widened. Looking in the direction she had disappeared in, he appeared to search for her.
A hand touched Rielle’s shoulder.
“You and Timane can keep the coats,” Ankari said. “We have hundreds of them—they are part of the stock we’ll sell as we resume travelling.”
“Thank you.”
Ankari turned to Lejihk. “Would it be kinder for Rielle to take Qall now, rather than make him watch us packing up, knowing he won’t be joining us?”
“It would,” Lejihk replied. “Everyone is hurrying in the hopes it will ease the pain of parting too. We don’t want to rush only to discover a cracked wheel or lame animal at an inconvenient time later.” He looked at Rielle. “Are you ready to adopt your new charge?”
Rielle drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “As ready as I can be.”
Ankari took Rielle’s hand and squeezed it. “Take good care of him—and yourself.”
“I will,” Rielle assured her. She glanced from the woman to her husband, then back again. “You be careful too. The worlds are not as welcoming as they once were—even to Travellers. If you can avoid sorcerers powerful enough to read your minds, it will reduce the chance any will learn of Qall and try to track us, or punish you for hiding him.”
The couple nodded. “We’ll try,” Lejihk told her. “I will avoid telling the others why we were in hiding for as long as possible, but once the truth is out at least if any sorcerers do see memories of Qall in our minds, they’ll also learn that he is not who he appears to be.”
“They will also see that the Raen’s friends seek him,” Rielle reminded them. “Some might resent you for preventing them from finding him—or for protecting someone the Raen’s friends value.”
Lejihk shrugged. “If they want to find something in it to object about, they will. We’ll deal with that if it happens.”
“Then I hope your skills of persuasion have been kept in as good a condition as your wagons and lom.”
Ankari chuckled. “There is always a youngster of a quarrelsome age among us to practise on. Qall has been particularly good for the task.”
Rielle’s stomach sank a little. “Is he very quarrelsome?”
“Only a little,” Ankari assured her. “And you may find you enjoy the discussions.”
“I have to confess,” Rielle murmured, “I’m more afraid of trying to look after a youngster—even a grown one—than of fending off his enemies.”
Ankari laughed. “Then I know I need not worry about either of you. You have the skills now to defend yourself and your companions. Qall is no child; he’s an adult with very little experience of the worlds. Think of yourself as his guide, allowing him to gain that experience safely. As all parents are.”
“A guide,” Rielle repeated. She looked for Qall, finding him on the other side
of the circle, still searching for the girl, or someone else. She drew another deep breath. “I had better find Timane.”
Ankari looked around. “I’ll fetch her for you.” She turned to Lejihk. “Call him over before he gets distracted.”
As the woman walked away, Lejihk called to Qall and beckoned. The young man’s shoulders slumped. He looked around the camp once more, then shrugged and strode across to meet them.
“Is it time to go?” he asked.
“Yes, Qall,” Lejihk answered. “Are you ready?”
Qall nodded to his pack. “Yes.”
“That’s a small pack. Do you have everything you wish to take with you?” Rielle asked.
The young man glanced around, then shrugged once more. “Everything I can.”
“Rielle!” a high voice called. They turned to see Timane hurrying towards them, her own pack already on her shoulders, Ankari following. “Don’t leave without me!”
Though Timane grinned to show she didn’t truly think Rielle would, her thoughts betrayed her anxiety. I could do worse than being abandoned with the Travellers, but I’d rather help Rielle.
Rielle hid her consternation. What had she done to deserve such loyalty? She had given Timane relief from the bullying of the other servants, and taught her to use her meagre powers. That was all. At Rielle’s thoughtful look, Timane grimaced.
“Sorry I held you up. Ulma tells good stories.”
“She certainly does.” Rielle smiled. She turned to Ankari. “Final farewells?”
The woman nodded and wordlessly turned to Qall, drawing him into an embrace, which he managed to return with the grudging stiffness of someone not old enough yet to be sure such affection didn’t make him look foolish to his peers. To Rielle’s surprise, Lejihk also hugged him, and suddenly Qall did not look at all embarrassed.
“Be careful,” Lejihk told him. “Remember all we taught you. Above all, remember you are in charge of the kind of person you will become.” He smiled. “I hope we will cross paths again, many times.”
“Listen to Rielle,” Ankari urged. “She knows the worlds and their dangers better than we.”