“She is a prisoner of Raksha,” replied the guard. “She must not die before he returns from battle.”
After a moment’s hesitation, the two healers bent over Glissa and looked at her wounds. One reached out and touched Glissa’s forehead and shoulder, while the one with the single blue eye looked at her blackened foot and the decaying metal spreading up her leg. Glissa could see a white glow around the first healer’s fingers as she touched her wounds. The pain in her shoulder disappeared along with a dull headache she hadn’t even realized she’d had until it was gone.
Glissa looked down at the other healer and knew something was wrong. The leonin’s hands glowed, but Glissa could feel no change in her foot.
After another minute, the odd-eyed healer stopped trying and stood. “She must see Ushanti,” she said. “I have not the power to affect this wound.”
“Stand,” said the guard.
Slobad helped Glissa back to her feet, and they followed the healers through the maze of curtains into the center of the large room. Smoke filtered up to the ceiling from a brazier suspended over red-hot coals. Another female leonin stood with her back to the group, sprinkling sand into the smoking pot. A flash of yellow light shot from the brazier and scattered across the ceiling.
“Ushanti,” said the odd-eyed healer, “Raksha’s prisoner needs your healing power.”
“Raksha and his prisoner will have to wait,” replied Ushanti. “There are more important matters in the world than a nim prisoner.” She dipped her hand back into a bowl beside her and grabbed another handful of sand.
Glissa couldn’t see the seer’s face but could tell by the tremble in her voice and the hunch in her back that this leonin was old, older than any of the other leonin she’d seen in the city.
“She is not nim, Ushanti,” replied the healer. “I believe she is an elf.”
Ushanti’s clenched hand stopped halfway between the bowl and the brazier. “Elf, you say? Female elf?” The seer’s voice rose in pitch dramatically. Glissa wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw the woman tremble.
“Yes, Ushanti.”
Ushanti turned to face Glissa and Slobad. As soon as her eyes locked with Glissa’s, the seer screamed and staggered backward. The sand Ushanti still clenched in her hand spread across the floor around her as she slumped to the ground.
CHAPTER 7
“What have you done to my mother, elf witch?” screamed the odd-eyed healer as she rushed forward and knelt by Ushanti.
Glissa reflexively reached for her sword, but the blade wasn’t there.
“I did nothing,” she said. She turned slightly and took a half step back, so she could keep both the healers and the guards in view. “You saw what happened. I never even moved.”
Nobody flinched. The guards seemed to be waiting for the odd-eyed healer to tell them what to do, but she was busy tending to her mother. Glissa stood her ground waiting for the healer to awaken.
The odd-eyed healer held Ushanti in her arms and passed her hand across the old leonin’s face. A sheen of energy surrounded the unconscious healer like a bubble.
“She is fine. I sense no evil, Tangle magic about her.”
Ushanti’s daughter reached up to the table next to her and picked up one of her mother’s bowls. She took a pinch of red powder and sprinkled a little under her mother’s nose.
Ushanti coughed and sneezed then sat up and pulled away from her daughter’s grasp. “Why have you brought this elf to us, Rishan?” she demanded.
“She is Raksha’s prisoner, Mother,” replied the young healer. “The guards brought her. She has a grave wound and a disease that threatens her leg. The guards feared she would die before the Kha could interrogate her.”
“Bring Raksha to us now so he may interrogate her,” spat the old healer. “We will not heal this one unless ordered by the young Kha himself.”
Rishan looked up at the guards. “Fetch Raksha,” she ordered. The guards didn’t move. “Now!” she screamed.
“B-But our Kha is in battle,” one stammered. “It may be some time.”
“The battle has ended,” said Ushanti. “We have seen it in the fire. Bring Raksha now.”
Whether the old healer was telling the truth or not, it was obvious to Glissa that these guards feared her more than their leader’s anger. One turned smartly and marched back through the curtain maze.
“Tie her up,” said Ushanti’s daughter as she rose and brushed herself off.
Glissa put her hands in front of her. She hated to be bound but saw no alternative. She could no longer feel her foot, she had no weapon, and there were two armies between her and freedom. All she could do was keep her options open. She allowed herself to be bound, but kept her hands slightly apart to make sure she could escape the bonds should a need arise. The guard also tied Slobad’s hands.
“May I sit?” asked Glissa. “This wound is painful.” It actually was more tolerable since the healer’s efforts, but she wanted to appear more vulnerable than she was. Her only advantage now lay in surprise … and patience.
Rishan indicated a bench behind Glissa. After the elf sat down, Ushanti pushed herself up from the floor and approached her slowly. Glissa noted that the old healer had two blue eyes and couldn’t help wondering who had sired her odd-eyed daughter.
“Yes, yes,” said the old woman as she paced back and forth in front of Glissa. “We do believe this is the one.” She looked at the guard. “She had a sword, correct?”
The guard’s eyes widened for a moment when confronted by Ushanti. Then he nodded.
“Silver. Bright as the noon sun. The blade flows from the hilt like water, yes?”
The guard nodded again.
“Yes, she is the one,” said Ushanti as she headed back to her brazier. “Keep your eyes on her. The fate of our world depends on it.”
Glissa glanced at Slobad, who had a smirk just barely perceptible on his face. He was obviously enjoying this spectacle. Glissa wasn’t so sure. Ushanti seemed to know her even though Glissa had never traveled outside the Tangle before.
“What is going on here?” she asked.
“Be quiet, elf,” said Rishan. “Mother is working. You shall not interrupt again.”
Glissa was about to argue further, but Rishan motioned for the guard to stand between the elf and the brazier. Glissa breathed deeply, trying to regain her patience.
Ushanti was now tossing colored sand into the brazier in huge handfuls. As smoke rose into the dark room, the air around Glissa began to grow hot, and the room seemed to close in around her. She found it hard to breathe and had to fight to stay awake. The whole scene seemed unreal. Not even Chunth had acted this strangely. She felt herself falling asleep and tried to fight against it.
* * * * *
Glissa started as the curtains were pulled back violently and Raksha strode into the dark room. She couldn’t tell whether she had fallen asleep or not, but some time seemed to have passed. The smoke had cleared, and the guard was no longer standing in front of her. Raksha stood by the curtains, flanked by two guards, staring at the old leonin’s back. Glissa glanced back and forth between Raksha and Ushanti. Neither seemed willing to acknowledge the other’s presence. Raksha stood, holding a gleaming metal mask underneath one muscular arm, and tapped his feet impatiently. Ushanti stared intently into the smoke emanating from the brazier.
The leonin leader could wait no longer. “Why have you summoned us from battle, seer?” he roared. “What could be more important than the safety of Taj Nar?”
“The safety of the entire world, young Kha,” said the seer, her head rising from the brazier and splitting the smoke. Ushanti turned to face her leader, but she did not bow, and Glissa sensed no deference in her voice or manner. “It has been many weeks since our last trance, but the horror of what we saw in the fires that rotation haunts our dreams still. We saw the sacred sun stop above Taj Nar. We saw a huge gout of emerald fire erupt from the world. We saw the leonin ripped from the world.”