Part 22 (1/2)

Da stared at him. Now what are you fratched at, Rafe?

Wasnt any call for you to step in, Da, he said tightly. I dont need help with the likes of Arlin Garrick.

Das eyebrows shot up. No?

No! he said, nigh on shouting. All you did poking your nose in waswas Make me look a fool. Make me feel small and useless. Da, I didnt need your help.

Oh, aye? Da snapped back. So youre sayin you werent about to lose that fine temper of yours and try magickin the little sea-slug into the middle of next week?

It smarted that Da could read him so easily. So what if I was? He was smearing on Deenie!

Aye, but if Deenie never hears of it Deenie wont be hurt, will she? Da retorted. And hows branglin with Rodyn Garricks sprat goin to manage that, Rafel? Do things your way and everyone would b.l.o.o.d.y know!

Why didnt Da understand? Why wasnt he angry? The likes of Arlin Garrick didnt ought to get away with saying muck about whoever they want!

Oh, Rafe. Da shook his head. The likes of Arlin Garricks a Doranen, you young fool. Hundreds of years they been arrogant s.h.i.+ts. Reckon theyre goin to stop bein emselves any time soon?

They wont stop being themselves till we make them, Da. Nowtll change if we dont stand up to them.

Things have changed already, said Da, impatient. You just be too young to see it. And theyll change more. But it takes time, Rafe, so while you be waitin you got to learn to walk away. No goodll come of stirrin things up. Specially not with magic. Not while we be stuck here with em like cats and dogs in a barrel.

Then maybe Fernel Pinttes right, he muttered, still hotly smarting. Could be its past time we showed them the door.

Rafel Da turned away, hand rubbing over his face, then swung back again. Youd side with Pintte? At Pellens farewell youd Aye, Da, I would! he retorted. If Pinttes right, then I Without warning, the b.a.l.l.s of glimfire dotted round the small Guildhouse garden flared and spluttered. Belched eye-stinging, throat-catching smoke.

Sink me, said Da, his head snapping up. Rafe, dyou feel that? Dyou feel And beneath their feet, in the deep earth, Lur groaned.

Startled cries came from inside the Guildhouse. Through its many windows Rafel saw fits and bursts of light as the golden glimfire beneath the rafters surged and spat bright sparks.

The waves of unease in the earth rolled higher and harder. Turning, Rafel saw his own shock and sickness reflected in his fathers face.

Da? Whats this? I thought Aye, Rafe, so did I, said Da. He sounded strange, almost frighted. But that couldnt be right. Come on, he said, starting towards the Guildhouse. Lets find your ma and sister.

Asher! said Mama, catching sight of them, her voice lifting over the hubbub. Folk inside the Guildhouse milled and gabbled, crying out as the b.a.l.l.s of glimfire sizzled and bounced. Even the Doranen looked shocked, standing together in little groups whispering and staring accusingly at the Olken guests. But Mama paid no heed to that, she shoved her way through the anxious throng, ignoring the folk who yelped and glared.

When she reached them Da caught her in a swift hug. Wheres Deenie?

Mamas face was milky pale, her dark eyes wide. Shes with Goose, she said, her voice breathless. She sounded frighted. Over there, in the corner. Pulling one hand free, she pointed.

Rea.s.sured, Da nodded. Pellen? And Charis?

Im sure theyre fine too. Asher I dont know, Dath, said Da, still holding her tight. Lets talk on it at home. Rafe He clasped his fathers shoulder. Aye, Da, dont fret. Ill fetch Deenie.

Da spared him a swift, strained smile. Good sprat.

For once, he didnt mind being called a child.

Leaving his parents he made his way round the edge of the dance floor, trying not to flinch as the glimfire spat more stinging sparks. Trying not to groan out loud as the waves of wrongness surged and s.h.i.+fted beneath his unsteady feet. He hadnt felt this in ten years. His head was spinning, pins and needles in his blood. Many of the Olken who only moments ago had been laughing and dancing, they were feeling it too. He heard their moans, saw their fear, watched them clutch at each other. Watched the tears of fright trickle down their cheeks.

If he wasnt b.l.o.o.d.y careful, he could weep with fright himself.

Rafel! Rafe!

And that was Goose, safe in a corner with Deenie huddled against him. His sister wasnt crying but she shook like a flower in a windstorm, even with Gooses strong arm around her.

Hey, he said, joining them. You all right?

Goose had sprung up and filled out so much this last year, Deenie looked like a little girl beside him even though she was a young woman now. Fine, he said, nodding. But youre not, are you? Rafe His eyes were bleak. Is this The riverpond? Aye, he said shortly, as his belly churned and heaved. Hush up, eh? Deenie His sister turned her pinched face towards him. Whats happening, Rafe? she whispered. I feel so bad. Lur feels bad. I dont understand, I thought Then she cried out, and she wasnt the only one, as another enormous wave of wrongness ripped through the earth, the air, through the blood and bones of most Olken in the room.

And outside the Guildhouse, the night was deafened by thunder.

Rafe! said Goose, as Deenie pressed her face into his fine brocade weskit. Can you stop this?

More thunder roared, like a rock-slide. Then screams and shouts as the Guildhouse glimfire extinguished in a shower of sparks and the room plunged black. A heartbeat later it lit up again in jagged fits as spears of blue-white lightning seared and sizzled the dark.

Dknow, he said, his blood seething. Will you watch Deenie a mite longer? I need to No, Rafe, Deenie said. Please, I dont I aint going far, he said. And Goose is with you. Dont fret, Deenie. Ill be back in a ticktock.

Do what you need to, said Goose. I got her.

There was something about the way his friend said it, the way his arm cradled Deenie, the look on his face. He stared. Goose and Deenie? Hes never said a word to me. But there wasnt time to think on it. He had more alarming things to think on just now.

Everyone in the Guildhouse was shouting. Someone had found candleslittle puddles of light were popping up everywhere. Someone else mustve told the musicians that fiddles were soothing, cause them as were stuck up in the gallery had started playing again. Over the music and the fratching he could hear Fernel Pintte trying to be mayor, but it wasnt working. Too much fright, too much upset. Too many Doranen demanding explanations. And in Pinttes voice he could hear the pain of Lurs pain. Doranas new mayor was a powerful Olken mage.

Trying to shut out the noise and the hurt, Rafel stumbled and shoved and excused his way to the Guildhouses open doors.

Escaped outside, he nearly fell over his mother, and Da.

Wheres Deenie? his father demanded. Rafel Shes with Goose. Shes fine. I wanted to When he saw the sky, his voice died in his throat. Oh, Da, he whispered. Da were in trouble.

He felt Mamas arm slip round his waist. Felt Das hand come to rest heavy on his shoulder. Aye, sprat, his father said. We sinkin well are.

The glorious summer stars were vanished, blotted out by thick cloud. Vivid forks of lightning stabbed the city like a cut-throat. Thunder rolled and rumbled, pressure against his skin, in his head. He could feel his magic roiling, boiling in his blood. The nights wildness was calling him. He wanted to leap and shout.

Hold fast, Rafe, said Da. Cause this be only the beginning.

And as though Das words were a knife blade severing a taut, restraining rope lightning crackedthunder roaredand a cold rain fell like hammers. Like the end of the world.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

Because she couldnt trust herself to speak, Dathne stood at the Towers solar window and stared at the sullenly weeping world beyond it.

Since the night of Pellens farewell ball, nearly two weeks ago, it had stormed and rained almost without ceasing. Tremors had been felt in every part of the kingdom. Countless creeks and riverlets and ponds were overflowing. Thered even been some drownings. Doranas City Guardhouseall the Guardhouses in the kingdomwere on the highest alert. Frightened people did silly things. Doranas Guardhouse was full right now of hotheaded Olken and Doranen youths caught brawling in Market Square, each blaming the other for Lurs overwhelming strife. Rafes friend Goose was one of those arrested, swirled up in the disturbance trying to save another lad from harm.

All fear and no sense, the fools, and not once stopping to think. Dont people understand anything? We survive this together or we perish alone.

Behind her, she heard Asher s.h.i.+ft on the solars low couch. Dath? You goin to say somethin?