concluded by telling them that his grandmother’s masala was the best.
Macconnach could see how worn the other man looked.
“Are you well? You’re looking a little peaky this morning.”
Arpan looked wearily over Macconnach’s way.
“I don’t believe I got more than a few winks, you might say. Strange, really, I ought to be used to sleeping and eating in the Spartan style.”
“By that you mean in Lord Wellington’s service, I presume?”
Arpan chuckled.
“Indeed I do. I take it you’ve heard of his minimalist tendencies?”
“That I have. One might call it the stuff of legend. What do you suppose is troubling you at the moment?” Macconnach eyed the last of his rice unhappily. He strongly desired a fish or even a small amount of bacon.
“I am not entirely certain. The most curious sense of dread has settled on me, so that when I close my eyes, rest does not come, or as it did once or twice, I was awakened immediately by nightmares.”
“Most unpleasant. I have the same feeling that you speak of, although I think I may say that by now, I am more equipped to cope with it. You had not mentioned that you were ‘sensitive’, however.”
“Yes, well, that might be due to the fact that I really do not believe myself to be. Whatever I am feeling currently is the first such instance I can ever recall. I call it extraordinary.”
“I see. Well, in that case, I might offer an explanation.”
“I should be glad to hear it.”
“You see, there is a touch of what some call the inner eye in most of us. For the largest percentage of people, they never realize it, because nothing ever triggers it. My mentor is of the opinion that many of us with fully evidenced powers required a precipitating event in order to be fully open, rather than latent. I tend to agree with him, as everyone I’ve ever spoken with has had some such event take place in their life.”
“Have you?”
“Is not my presence here evidence of that? I must say that I would think it more likely that Miss Alderton would be the more likely candidate, after last night. Though, I get the feeling that you might have a bit of a story you’ve not yet shared with us.”
Macconnach stared Arpan in the eye, not entirely certain what he might hear, convinced nonetheless that there was some detail to be offered that would shed light on their quest. Arpan sighed deeply, though he was willing to share the tale.
“I cannot be confident in all the details, not completely, but the fact is that there is a connection between my father’s family and the palace in which General Abington has taken to be the heart of your new fortress.”
“I do not think I follow your meaning.”
“Do you not? Likely that is due to your only becoming aware of our troubles rather recently. We in the village know that, almost to the day, our village began to suffer as soon as the English troops settled in to occupy the palace and its grounds. And thus began the rumors that someone in your ranks must be the source of the problems. Nobody could blame Miss Alderton, nor you, because you both arrived after all these incidents began. Until we made Miss Alderton’s acquaintance, there were many who thought it possible that the general might have given orders to harass us.”
“But Colonel, you served with English troops, surely you never would have thought that?” Isabel had entered the conversation in a typically sideways fashion. She looked tired and disheveled, but was gratified to see that everyone else seemed to be in similar condition.
“Oh, Miss Alderton, you do yourself no credit. I have seen the very worst of the most elevated of men, and the best of the lowest, ‘tis true, but I think we all know that every range exists within the ranks and commissions. I had no direct knowledge of your father, if that is where your disbelief lies. He could easily have been a minor dictator, or a complete saint.”
“And what opinion do you now hold?” Her jaw was set in a heated fashion. Macconnach bit his lip, knowing that she would never forgive his laughing at her. She was strangely, sweetly attractive in the full bloom of fury, he thought to himself for not the first time.
“Miss Alderton, I think you can safely presume that I have settled on a favorable view of him, and nearly everyone else there. Your father is one of the finer officers I have had the good fortune to become associated with.”
Isabel relaxed, though a high color lingered admirably on her cheeks for some time.
“You were saying something, I think, regarding the palace and your family.”
“My father’s family, yes. You see, from what I know, my great-grandfather lived there. He was a young man when he came to the village, bringing two other children with him. The head man took my great-grandfather in, because he had only daughters, and saw some quality in the boy. The eldest daughter married him, and he became the head man.”
“So, you are descended from one of the last occupants of the palace?”
“I believe so. He never would speak of it, what he had done there, who he was, none of it. Supposedly, the two younger children were high-born, at least, that is what was said, because they often spoke of the things they missed from home. My great-grandfather finally forbade they speak of their old home anymore, when the twins were old enough to listen and obey.”
“But surely, the people in the village would have known who he and the children were anyway. Why would an entire populace keep a secret like that, unless it pertained to something so terrible that….” Isabel and Macconnach looked at one another with a swift dawning of comprehension.
“What did happen to the palace occupants?”
“It was never spoken of. Even visiting the grounds was discouraged. We were told that it was haunted by demons, as children. When I grew older, I thought that the stories were the usual means of parents instilling obedience and fear in their children. Now, I question that. Perhaps the stories were true. I never saw a single soul set foot on those grounds, in spite of what possibilities might lie there. Certainly, there were stories of abandoned riches, and I often fantasized about the manuscripts that must have rotted away there. But I never went. No-one ever went.”
“Arpan, what if…what if your great-grandfather was the only survivor, with the children, I mean, of some evil event? Something like what is happening now?”
“This is the notion that I too have arrived at. And I wonder whether those children perhaps belonged to the royal family that lived there. But, from all that I have been able to learn, it is as though one day, the raja and his family existed, and the next, were gone into nothingness.”
“I do not think I like the implications of that scenario.”
“Nor, Miss Alderton, do I.”
“No, it does not bode well for the work that I must undertake. I’m sorry, Miss Alderton, I was not going to speak out, but I think it is possible that the time has arrived for you to return to your father.” Macconnach was as serious as he could be. Isabel reignited into fury.
“Certainly not! You cannot think that just because that creature leapt onto me that I am in more danger than anyone else here?”
“Why must you argue this? It isn’t a game. We may face death as a matter of course. I could never forgive myself, that is to say, that your father would never forgive me bringing you into known danger.”
“Oh, well, we can’t upset the general, can we? But I ask you this, Major, why should we assume that being back at the palace is any safer now than being here? How can any place be safe, until some resolution is brought about? Perhaps you might be more reassured of my safety if you can keep me in your sights.”
Isabel said this through gritted teeth and swallowed past the strange lump in her throat. She was somewhat rewarded by the sight of Macconnach flushing, however faintly.
“I am afraid that I tend to agree with Miss Alderton at this point. Perhaps there is no safe quarter until you have met this enemy on its field of battle.” Arpan looked over at the men from his village ruefully.
“I might remind yo
u that nothing has happened yet at the palace. That is the only particular I can think of that does not agree with either of your theories.”
“The palace is a large area, the grounds even larger. We have hundreds of men milling about. Something could very well be going on, escaping our notice, if no reports were made. Beyond that, all the attacks were made against children and animals. We’ve no children at the palace.”
Not yet, anyhow. She was thinking of one sergeant’s wife, who was due to give birth any day. The child would have to remain in God’s hands for now. Macconnach was clearly not satisfied with what had just transpired, but he was in no position to argue.
Short of taking Isabel back himself, he would have to accept her continued presence. She certainly was not going back of her own volition. He threw up his hands, and set about making ready to depart their little campsite.
As he did so, he thought over what he had seen and perceived thus far. Perhaps Isabel had hit upon something unintentionally when she’d mentioned that only animals and children had been harmed.
He wondered whether it meant that the entity was not yet powerful enough to confront human males, or if that merely indicated its preferred victims. It had dispatched a creature to harm Isabel, or had it?
Perhaps the thing had been with them all along, and only Isabel’s attempt to sense the unseen had triggered the attack. Macconnach tried to imagine Colonel Grandy’s thoughts on the matter, but heard