The Tenth Power Read online

  Tamen’s eyes glittered. ‘Let them choose!’ she cried at once. ‘Foolish girl! You think they’ll choose you, a mere novice, not even initiated? A traitor to Antaris, and Outlander-born?’ She threw back her head. ‘Very well, then!Who is it to be? Myself, or Calwyn?’

  ‘I do not offer myself!’ cried Calwyn quickly. ‘I offer Lia!’

  The clamour of the sisters swelled to a roar. Tamen stood as still as stone. The two priestesses who had gripped Trout’s arms let him go and gazed about uncertainly. Calwyn clapped her hands for attention. ‘My sisters, be quiet! All of you who chooseTamen, move to her side.Those who choose Lia, go to her.’

  For a few moments there was confusion.The women milled about, talking eagerly; they seized each other’s hands, shook their heads, darted this way and that. Ursca and Gilly were beckoning others to Lia’s side. Tamen stood with her head held high, proud and unmoving. Lia sat very straight in her chair; just once she glanced up at Calwyn with a steady look.

  Suddenly, a single impulse seemed to grip the whole assembly. Like a flock of swallows in flight, almost all the sisters wheeled toward Lia. Only a handful of priestesses gathered near Tamen. A hush fell as the sisters, shocked by their own daring, held their breath.

  Up on the gallery, Calwyn began to sing. It was not a chantment; she sang the song of thanksgiving that was sung after the initiation ceremony, when the novices had crossed the black ice and stepped ashore as new-made priestesses. One after another the Daughters of Taris joined in, and the song rang through all the Dwellings. The voices of the sisters swelled with joy and triumph, but Calwyn could not feel it.

  Mica seizedTrout’s hand and skipped round the courtyard in celebration, waving the Clarion like a victory trumpet. She grinned up at Calwyn in wholehearted delight. Calwyn nodded to her. Mica had been wrong: there were some things she could do. It was true, she wasn’t a chanter any more, but this battle had been fought without chantment; the only weapons they’d used were words.

  Tamen alone did not join the thanksgiving song. She stood with her head bowed and her fists tightly clenched by her sides. The sisters who had joined her stepped quietly away. A few glanced at her apologetically; others would not look at her at all. Only Calwyn was watching whenTamen reached up and let down her hair, so that it hung loose around her face, in the gesture of mourning.

  CALWYN WALKED MORE and more slowly as she approached the room where Tamen was kept under guard. Half a turn of the moons had passed since the scene in the courtyard.Winter was no closer to lifting. Calwyn had been surprised by the message fromTamen, asking to speak with her; she wasn’t sure what to expect. Did the older woman want another chance to accuse her of treachery?

  Janyr nodded to Calwyn and unbolted the stout door to let her in. ‘Knock when you’re ready, my Sister.’

  Calwyn stepped into the shadowed room; she couldn’t suppress a shiver as the bolt thudded back into place. Outside, the day was clear and crisp, butTamen had closed the shutters and the room was dark. A single candle-lamp cast a pool of light onto the table. Only Tamen’s folded hands were visible, resting inside the circle of light; her face was in darkness. But when Tamen spoke, her voice was as deep and compelling as ever.

  ‘Thank you for coming.’ She did not invite Calwyn to sit.

  Calwyn cleared her throat. ‘You wanted to speak to me?’

  ‘Yes.’There was a silence; Calwyn could hear Tamen’s slow, steady breathing. At last the priestess said, with an effort, ‘Marna – I know that Marna was not dead. She told you – some secrets.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘She told you about theWheel.’

  Calwyn hesitated. She did not want to speak of anything that Tamen did not already know. She must not mention the Tenth Power unless Tamen did so first. She said cautiously, ‘Marna told me that theWheel held the answer.’

  ‘Did she tell you where it is hidden?’

  Calwyn said, ‘I’ve found it.’

  Tamen laughed mockingly. ‘Of course you have. Bravo to you, Calwyn the prodigy!’

  Calwyn said slowly, ‘I must ask for your help, Tamen. Marna said that theWheel is an object of power. But I found only half of it. Do you know what became of the rest?’

  Tamen let out a long breath. ‘So it has come to this. Calida’s daughter, begging for my help.Where is your pride?’

  Calwyn swallowed. ‘If it is a choice between saving Tremaris and saving my pride, then I give up my pride willingly.’

  ‘That is the difference between you and me,’ said Tamen. Her chair scraped back and her hands disappeared abruptly from the circle of light. Calwyn heard the whisper of long robes against the stone floor. When the priestess spoke, her voice came from the other side of the darkened room. ‘Yes. I know what happened to the other half of theWheel.’

  Calwyn drew in a sharp breath. ‘Tell me!’

  ‘When the Merithuran came, Marna told me to hide the Wheel – to keep it safe, in the hive. But I was not afraid to make the sacrifice – to keep us all safe.’

  ‘What did you do?’ whispered Calwyn.

  ‘I broke theWheel. And I gave one part to the sorcerer.’

  ‘You broke theWheel? You gave it to Samis?’

  Tamen’s voice in the darkness was hard and clear as ice. ‘I made a choice. The sorcerer came to steal our chantments of ice-call. I gave him the half-Wheel; I told him that was all we had, and he believed me in the end. It was not easy to convince him, but at last he went away. He could have killed us all. I did not know what would happen when the Wheel was broken. How could I know, when Marna refused to trust me with the secret?’

  Calwyn realised she was twisting her hands together. She whispered, ‘I don’t understand – ’ ‘Isn’t it obvious? There were dark chantments, secret powers, locked inside theWheel.When it was broken, those chantments were released. The long winter, the snow-sickness, perhaps worse to come.’

  The Tenth Power, thought Calwyn. The darkest chantments of all. She put her hand to her head. ‘Worse to come?’

  ‘Chantments to alter the seasons, chantments to strike down every chanter in Tremaris. If theWheel is broken again, more dark magic will be released.’There was a brief silence. ‘I did not know what would happen. I was told nothing. I begged Marna to trust me with the hidden lore. She is the one to blame! Time and again I told her, she must do her duty to the Goddess and pass on the secret knowledge. But even when she knew she was dying of the snow-sickness, when I thought she would have no choice, she refused to tell me – ’There was a harsh sound that might have been a sob. ‘She waited for you. You – you were always Marna’s darling. Marna’s darling,’ she repeated bitterly. ‘And now you have no more chantment in you than a common village girl. Marna was weak. You ran off with your precious Outlander. I was the one who saved us! Yet here I am, trapped like a rabbit in a snare.’

  Stricken, Calwyn was torn between wanting to argue with Tamen, and wishing she could offer her comfort. She faltered. ‘Tamen, if we could repair the Wheel, would that undo the dark chantments? End the winter, cure the snow-sickness?’

  ‘I cannot answer your questions. I did what was necessary. I could not know that the cost would be – would be so high.’ Then, in a voice so low that Calwyn could barely hear, Tamen murmured, ‘The Goddess will forgive me, if you do not.’

  Calwyn whispered, ‘My sister…’

  Without warning, Tamen’s pale face loomed out of the shadows, and her bony hand thrust Calwyn away. ‘Leave me!’ she hissed. ‘Leave me alone.’

  Calwyn backed away and rapped on the door for Janyr.The bolt rattled free, and she stumbled out into the dazzling light of the corridor. Janyr slammed the door and locked it; seeing Calwyn’s face, she laid her big square hand on the younger woman’s shoulder.

  ‘She asked for two things this morning,’ said Janyr quietly. ‘One was to talk to you. The other was a vial of bitterthorn.’

  Calwyn gazed at her, not understanding at first. Then she put a hand to her mouth.

 
Janyr nodded. ‘She will find her own way to the Goddess.’

  CALWYN MADE HER way slowly to the big workshop that Trout had taken over. She had never loved Tamen, but the harshness of the older priestess had been as much a part of her childhood as the kindness of Marna, and the thought of Tamen’s death held its own grief. At least she knew now what must be done. If the Wheel had unleashed dark chantments, they must find the other half before Samis could use it to release more evil. If it was not already too late. And surely, if the Wheel could be mended, the dark magic would be undone. Calwyn stood for a moment before the workshop door, collecting herself, before she slipped inside.

  Mica perched on a bench, watchingTrout closely as he bent over his latest contraption, a wheeled chair for Lia. The High Priestess herself sat nearby, resting her hands on the silver-topped staff. Shining steel skate-runners lay waiting on a bench-top, and a long, sturdy sled, also equipped with steel runners, was propped against one wall.

  ‘ – the idea from Darrow,’ Mica was saying. ‘He made the Grand Council in Merithuros choose if Fenn or Heben would be leader while he was away. Only them two always said they’d help each other, whoever got picked, and you wouldn’t want no help from Tamen.’

  ‘What’ll happen to her?’ asked Trout, tightening a bolt.

  ‘She’ll be judged, when the time comes,’ replied Lia. She caught Calwyn’s gaze, and Calwyn realised that she knew about the vial of bitterthorn. ‘Those who helped Tamen did so mostly from fear. Their own remorse will be the harshest punishment.’

  Mica sniffed. ‘I’d put em all in theWall, if it was up to me!’

  Lia said firmly, ‘No one will be put into theWall. Those days are past.’

  The bodies of Athala and all the others had been recovered, and given proper funeral rites in the sacred valley. Only Marna’s body would remain undisturbed in the Anary graveyard. Those who feared they might have the snow-sickness came openly to Ursca and were housed in an airy dormitory in the House of Elders. There was still no way to cure them, but at least they need not fear they would be sacrificed to the Goddess.

  Lia had begun the work of bringing order to the Dwellings, where so much had been neglected during Tamen’s rule. The new High Priestess had appointed Gilly as beekeeper. Only the day before, Calwyn had been almost bowled over by Gilly and Mica, running helter-skelter to the orchard. ‘Mica and I are teaching each other not to be scared of the bees!’ laughed Gilly, then added uncertainly, ‘It’s only till you come back, Calwyn.’

  Calwyn nodded, though she was far from sure that she’d ever return to Antaris, and she watched the two girls run off together.

  Now Lia offered a hand from across the workshop, and silently Calwyn came forward to clasp it. She didn’t want to answer any questions about Tamen, and the High Priestess seemed to understand that without words.

  ‘Lia,’ Calwyn said in a low voice, out of Trout and Mica’s hearing. ‘I want to pass on the secret knowledge to you, the things Marna told me before she died.’

  But to her surprise, Lia shook her head. ‘Only one priestess is permitted to hold that knowledge. Marna entrusted you with those secrets, not me.We must respect her wishes. Don’t break your vow.’

  ‘But Lia, I’m no priestess; I have no gift of chantment. I’ll never be able to sing the songs Marna taught me.’

  ‘Never is a word that only the Goddess should use. I’ll make a bargain with you, Calwyn. If, when you return to Antaris, you are still without your powers, then you may teach me the secrets you’ve learned.’

  Calwyn looked down. She did not want to carry the burden of those malevolent, dangerous chantments alone. ‘What if I don’t return?’

  ‘You will,’ said Lia simply. In a louder tone, which included Mica and Trout, she asked, ‘When do you leave?’

  ‘Tomorrow morning, if Trout finishes in time.’

  Without looking up, Trout said, ‘I’ll finish it. Pass me that small clamp, Mica.’

  Calwyn slipped her hand from Lia’s and paced up and down the room. ‘We must reach Gellan as quickly as we can. Samis has the other half of theWheel.’ She told them what she had learned fromTamen, though not thatTamen had given theWheel to Samis. She thought, Tamen will soon be dead. Why should she be hated even more than she is already? She said, ‘We must find him, and theWheel. If it’s broken again, more dark magic will be released. Perhaps he doesn’t even realise its power, but what if he does? It might be too late already. But if we can mend theWheel, it will undo all the harm.’

  ‘Calwyn!’ Lia shot a warning glance at Trout and Mica. ‘These are matters that should not be spoken openly.’

  Calwyn shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Lia. But I trust Mica andTrout with my life. I must be able to trust them with other knowledge too.’

  ‘Too many secrets.’ Trout wrenched at a stubborn bolt. ‘Half the trouble in the world’s from secrets. Knowledge should be shared freely.’

  ‘Some secrets are dangerous,’ said Lia with a frown. ‘That is why they are secrets.’

  ‘Cal and Darrow’s always sayin we should share the chantments round, not hang onto em,’ said Mica.

  She looked fleetingly at Calwyn, who said nothing. She had dreamed of a college of chantment, where the songs of magic could be learned and shared. But if the snow-sickness spread all over Tremaris, there would be no more chantment. All the songs would be lost, all the chanters dead and forgotten.

  Mica was saying, ‘Then we wouldn’t forget em, neither. My grandma said there’s a chantment lost every generation, just from someone forgettin how to sing it right.’

  ‘We guard our magic carefully here,’ said Lia. ‘None of the chantments of ice-call has been lost since Antaris was first built.’

  ‘How do you know?’ crowed Mica. ‘If you can’t remember the chantment, how’d you know you’d forgot it?’

  Lia smiled. ‘We’ll miss you, Mica. You keep us from becoming too serious.’

  To Calwyn’s surprise, not only Gilly but all the priestesses had made a pet of Mica. They were fascinated by her exotic looks and chantments, and took delight in her cheeky remarks. If Calwyn had said those things when she was a novice, she would have earned endless scoldings and extra chores, but when Mica said them, everyone shook with laughter.

  ‘Ready!’Trout’s tools clattered to the floor as he stood up. ‘Help me turn it over, Calwyn.’

  Mica and Calwyn lifted Lia into the wheeled chair. Trout had fixed a pair of small wheels to the front, and a large pair to the back. ‘Someone can push you with these handles. But when you’re on flat ground you can push yourself along with your hands. And there’s a brake here, see?’

  Lia’s broad, calm face broke into a rare smile as she wheeled herself across the room. ‘This is wonderful, Trout!’

  Trout blushed. ‘It’s nothing, really. I made a wheeled chair for one of the Masters in Mithates once.’

  Mica sniffed. ‘How’re you goin to get that thing up stairs, if you’re so clever?’

  ‘Put a ramp over the steps – ’Trout broke off. ‘What’s that noise?’

  Calwyn and Lia stared at each other. ‘The traders’ gong?’ said Lia. ‘In the depths of winter?’

  Calwyn’s eyes went wide, and her fingers flew to her temples.

  Mica gasped. ‘Is it Halasaa? Can you hear Halasaa? Is he talkin in your head?’

  Calwyn nodded. Mercifully, her loss of chantment had not affected her ability to communicate with silent Halasaa in mind-speech. ‘They’re here, they’re all here! Darrow and Halasaa and Tonno, they’re by theWall, waiting for us to let them in!’ She was halfway to the door when she faltered and turned back. ‘Forgive me, Lia,’ she said formally. ‘I forgot to ask. Do you permit them to enter?’

  ‘Darrow? The sorcerer?’ Lia hesitated, then nodded her head. ‘Take a party of the sisters to the Traders’ Path, and let the song of unmaking be sung.Your friends are welcome here.’ Mica clapped her hands. ‘Halasaa’s a healer! He can mend your back, you’ll see! You won’t ne
ed Trout’s chair!’

  ‘Oh!’Trout’s face fell.

  ‘Thank you, Lady Mother!’ Impulsively, Calwyn bent and kissed Lia’s cheek, then flew out of the room, with Trout and Mica close behind.

  ‘May the Goddess go with you, daughter,’ said Lia quietly. She put her hands to the wheels and pushed herself toward the door.

  five

  The Red City

  WHILE CALWYN, TROUT and Mica were still skating toward Antaris, their friends Tonno and Halasaa were far away in the north, shivering in a narrow Gellanese street.The overhanging buildings and the faded banners strung between them gave little shelter from the wind, and every few moments the two men were jostled by passers-by, heads bent against the cold, hurrying home before dark.

  From Kalysons, Darrow, Tonno and Halasaa had sailed north as far as Nesca, the last port whose harbour was not yet ice-bound.They had left Fledgewing there, and made the rest of their journey over the sea-ice. They’d arrived in Gellan twelve days ago and begun their search for Samis.

  They found the Red City in the grip of famine and a plague that afflicted only chanters. Both problems were worsened by the oppressive actions of the Guild that governed Gellan.The Guild-masters took most of the available food for themselves. The Guild’s soldiers, known as the Protectors, who were normally charged with keeping the peace, now roamed the streets searching for the sick and hauling them away to the Lazar- House, a forbidding building that had become part prison, part infirmary for the lazars and plague-stricken chanters.

  ‘Nearly curfew,’ grunted Tonno, and the burly fisherman thrust his hands deeper into his pockets. ‘Tell Darrow to get a wriggle on.’

  Thin, copper-skinned Halasaa was calm and untroubled as he replied in silent mind-speech. There is time before sunset. See, he is coming now.

  For some time, Darrow had been talking with an elderly woman who peered from the doorway of a pinched little house built from the crumbling brick that gave the Red City its nickname. Now at last he raised his hand in farewell and strode back to his friends. His face was grim, and the scar that cut across his eyebrow was matched by a deep frown.