“So your people always say,” sneered Alyx.
With visible effort the young man controlled himself.
“Where is the rest of our party? The little girl? Surely even Mori would not kill a little girl.”
“You are a fine one to talk,” snapped Alyx, suddenly furious at this fresh-faced young man with his blue eyes. “Murderer’s son!”
Didier shot a warning glance at her. With difficulty Alyx controlled her feelings. A ruler did not bandy words with prisoners. To show anger was to show weakness. She turned on her heel.
“Bring them!” she ordered.
Chapter 5
Jindabyne & Alyx
In the dead land, shadows flew above Jindabyne and the stench of rot filled her nostrils. The shadows grew into birdlike things the grey-blue colour of veins with three wings and long misshapen necks. Their cruel black eyes glittered. Twisting their necks down at a painful angle, the bird things gouged their beaks into Jindabyne’s shrinking flesh, leaving deep red gashes. Stringy red flesh dangled from their beaks as they pulled them up out of her. Their ice-cold claws dug in as they gulped the flesh down.
Suddenly someone threw open a door and light blasted the shadows away. Birdsong rang out bright and loud and the clean smell of sweet-oil overpowered the stench of rot. Jindabyne’s eyes opened to see a man was leaning over her with his hands on her face. His healing power smoothed into her like warm, golden honey and for a moment she relaxed into it.
Only for a moment.
Braids interwoven with feathers. Sweet life! A Mori!
“What...? Where am I?”
“You are in the Mori camp,” said the man kindly. “Rest now. You were exhausted and shocked.”
He held a slightly salty drink to her lips. She was lying on a bed of skins and, above her, a huge canopy was stretched between trees. Its sides were open to the sky, and she could see four little green parrots chewing on the sweet-oil nuts in one tree. The sight of them busily climbing round the branches was very comforting. She didn’t want to think about the reason she needed comfort.
Then she felt the cold weight around her neck. An iron collar to prevent her from using her magic. She was a helpless prisoner. Olga! Where was she?! The man did not try to stop her as she scrambled up from the pile of skins. A group of Mori were standing outside the tent and they turned to stare at her.
“Where’s my daughter?” she stammered.
“Your daughter?” said a contemptuous voice speaking Mirayan. A tall dark-haired young woman stepped out from among the watching Mori. From her almond shaped eyes, she must be half-Tari; a very beautiful young girl but her expression was ugly. “How ironic that we now keep you from you daughter, Jindabyne Tari.”
“I’m sorry? What do you mean?”
“You don’t know me, Jindabyne? Alyx Verdey?”
Jindabyne could only look at her uncomprehendingly. She knew that Verdey was the name of the Mori ruling house but this girl was far too young to be the queen.
The girl made a contemptuous noise. “How well you feign innocence! Bring her!” she said to the others and two strong women seized Jindabyne’s arms.
“Where’s my daughter?” she cried as they dragged her across a clearing towards a huge enclosure made of skins. “Olga! Olga!”
She thought she heard a child calling out but before she could be certain, the women were hustling her along a corridor with cloth walls and no roof.
“Where are you taking me?” she cried to them in trade talk.
“Shut up!” snarled Alyx, who was striding before them. The corridor opened up into a wide enclosed space. At the end of this space was a tent open at one side and floored with beautiful skins.
The young girl went over to three who sat on stumps of wood at the centre of the enclosure and took her place behind them. Two were Mori, a woman and a blindfolded man dressed in fine skins, hair decorated with bright feathers, and carrying staffs banded with copper. The central figure was a woman, though she wore breeches like a man. It was impossible to tell anything else about her for a black hood like a bag with slits for eyes covered the woman’s head.
The hooded Queen! Even in the seclusion of the women’s quarters Jindabyne had heard of the sinister queen of the Mori. A woman who never showed her face, a ruthless sorceress who had reunited the Mori tribes after their defeat at Wolf’s hands, and who had forced the Mirayan settlers from their homes in the forest. She was rumoured to be a Tari, which accounted for why the Guardians favoured her so unfairly. Wolf had once told her that the Queen was so hideous that she hid her face. Wolf had hated the Mori Queen.
“Jindabyne! It is you!” cried the hooded woman.
This woman must know her from the forgotten time, but she did not sound as if it had been happy knowledge.
“Lady,” said Jindabyne politely, curtseying and trying to hide the fear swirling in her gut as best she could.
“So now you are in my power.”
“Have we met before Lady?” She couldn’t stop her voice from trembling.
“How can you have forgotten?” snarled the Queen. She leapt up from her seat and suddenly she was on Jindabyne, her hands grabbing her shoulders, shaking her roughly. “I have not forgotten. I will never forget you and how you handed us over to him.”
“Who lady? Please forgive me! I remember nothing of the past,” Jindabyne cried. The woman had stopped shaking her. Her eyes glared through the slits of her hood. Over the woman’s shoulder, young Alyx Verdey hovered, her face tense and fearful.
The Queen threw Jindabyne to the ground.
“My sisters told me of the mindblast,” she said, spitting out the sour words. “You lucky bitch. I remember everything. Every damned thing.”
“Lady, if I wronged you, I humbly beg pardon,” cried Jindabyne. “Please forgive me. I was another person then.”
The Mori woman was at the Queen’s side, dragging on her arm talking to her urgently in a language that Jindabyne did not understand. The queen let herself be pulled away before suddenly turning back.
“Have you really forgotten me Jindabyne? I find that very hard to believe.”
She ripped the covering off her face.
Jindabyne gasped. Before her stood the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Utterly, utterly, breathtakingly lovely. How could she have forgotten her?
As she stared in open mouthed amazement, the woman’s eyes widened and the glaring hatred on her face changed to bitter amusement.
“So! Marigoth was right,” she said, her mouth twisting wryly. “Or I am less memorable than I thought.”
“Lady, I am sorry,” cried Jindabyne wringing her hands. “I always suspected that I did wrong in the past, but I am different now and willing to make amends.”
The savagery of the woman’s glare did not make her any less beautiful. For a moment Jindabyne thought she was going to leap on her again, but then she slumped back onto her seat.
“Take her away!” she said her voice heavy with disgust. “I cannot bear the sight of her.”
“Lady please!” cried Jindabyne, as the guards dragged her away. “If you wish revenge... Do not harm the others. They are innocent of any harm to you.”
Alyx found herself laughing mirthlessly at the irony of it all.
That was the great ruthless mage, Jindabyne? That weak cringing woman who was still apologising as she was dragged beyond the enclosure walls. Aunt