A/N:I've not done a shout out for a while, but I'd just like to thank XSilentWingsX and 12345tootles (from DA, I don't know your names) for nagging me to get on with this story. :P I'll try and write as much as I can before I get swamped with work again. :-)
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Tariro
Chapter 9: Hungry
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It was the lesser of two evils, and also the only place that they knew how to find. The other camp could be packed up and gone by now, while the upper cave was still being used as a meeting place. They climbed up to it wearily; a whole day had passed since they'd argued their way down the same path. Daine, at least, was relieved when they got to the cave and found that the other group hadn't moved in yet. Everything's simpler when Elan's not around...
"Where the hell have you been?"
...although just as polite. She smiled up at the man- the leader of the other group. He was blocking the entrance, through which a maddening smell of trail stew was taunting her.
"I'm sorry, I can't remember your name. Do you have any food, please?"
"Explanation first, food second." The man folded his arms, taking in both of the stragglers in his glare. Numair nodded a greeting as Daine folded her own arms, just as stubborn.
"No, I think you'll find it's definitely food first. I have memory lapses when I haven't eaten, and you want to hear what we have to say."
"Tyro, you remember Arra, right?" Numair tried not to laugh. "We can talk while we eat. We've found a safe haven!"
Ten minutes later, with a bowlful of stew and a chunk of bread in front of each of them, they started telling their story. Or, at least, Numair did. Daine ate ravenously. The biting hunger had nearly made her faint when they had climbed back up through the palace and drank in the sweet fresh air. She had even got as far as scanning the island for plants, but it was barren rock and mud. The plants that Ghada had given her must have grown under the water.
"Perhaps we can change the directions on the spell; make it so it can get us across the lake. Or we could shapeshift and fly across..." Numair was saying. She shook her head- to say no, and to clear it.
"I don't particularly want to have to explain why we're both naked to a crowd of staring bandits." The girl looked around at the empty lake and scowled. "Right, that does it. I'm too hungry to care anymore." She cupped her hands in front of her mouth and bellowed across the water, "Trickster! I know you're listening! I want to talk to you!"
Numair winced. "If he's listening, why did you have to shout so loudly?"
Daine shrugged. "I guess he'd be more likely to come if we lit incense and flattered his ego, but I reckon his ego's already too overgrown."
"Just for that," said a smooth voice by her ear, "I'm not giving you any food."
The girl whirled around and pulled a face. "I wouldn't have eaten anything you gave me, anyway."
As the God grinned, Numair rolled his eyes at her. "Daine, could you try not to annoy the all-powerful being?" He bowed respectfully to Kyprioth, who nodded regally and then strode away to sit on the altar, lounging on it like it was covered in cushions. He had chosen a human form this time, probably because he wasn't trying to disguise himself, but he was still unnaturally tall and walked with the elegant gait of the Neferii.
"You know, this was my patron land," The god said levelly, "The other gods thought that the people worshipped the Immortals, but it was always me in their shape. When I left, they just kept on doing it. But my poor children are not good at being worshipped, and even worse at being patrons. Without a leader, they started being scared of their own shadows." For a split second, his face took on the innocent cruelty of one of the Johi, and then it returned to its normal shape. One eyebrow rose. "What happened here is not my fault. You could show me more respect, you know."
"I'm not the one who thinks it's a game," Daine started, but the god held up a hand to stop her.
"To play games is my nature. Don't think for an instant that I don't take this seriously, child." He glanced away from her, and fixed Numair in his gaze. "And I see that you've forgiven her. A shame. That would have been quite interesting. Never mind, I'm sure Elan will think of some way to complicate things."
"Trickster," Daine started quickly, noticing Numair's hand curling into a fist, "I want to make a deal."
"You've already made one. And since you won't be able to fulfil your side of that one, I think you already owe me enough." He waved a dismissive hand, but his eyes gleamed. "Nevertheless, I might as well hear what it is."
"I want the humans on Tariro to be allowed to live here, on this island, and to cross the water to gather food and firewood without being killed."
He drew his breath in, a harsh hiss. "This is a sacred island, and you want to let humans walk here?"
"Well, we have to be here to win the game, so it's already had humans on it. And besides, there's the added element of danger, don't you think?"
"Danger?" His voice was soft, but the grin was back on his face- almost encouraging, almost poisonous. She had mentioned the game, and he was interested. Daine nodded.
"This whole island is a spell, right? You know what it is, but we don't." She looked at Numair, who nodded, his eyes fixed on the god. She took a breath and carried on talking, "It could explode, or turn to water, or kill us at a moment's notice. And the bandits- the humans- we can't trust them. Imagine if rogue magic was being used here, another civil war. That could trigger the spell, turn it nasty. And the Neferii- they can't kill us in the water if you intervene, but who knows what else they might do? We don't know, but you do. We'll trade you our ignorance for safety from the Johi."
Kyprioth paused. A thin beard grew from his chin so he could twirl it around his fingers thoughtfully. "No. Well, maybe... You can come and go from the island as you please, but I won't allow you to touch the water. Be creative about it." He said, and disappeared in a shower of water droplets, soaking them both. When their eyes cleared from the water, they were on the opposite shore of the island.
"Very funny!" Daine yelled after him, shaking water from her hair.
"Don't worry," Numair said, "I have an idea. We can get everyone to the island safely, they just won't be able to leave for a while. But at least they'd be safe."
Daine shook her head, clearing water from her ears.
"Maybe not. The island's a death trap. It's the only reason he'd agree to let us on it."
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...Of course, they didn't tell all of this to Tyro. They just told him that they'd found a way to get everyone onto the island. He watched their faces as they spoke, neither agreeing nor arguing until they'd finished, and then he stared upwards at the ceiling, face expressionless.
"It seems to me," he said, "That there's a whole lot you two aren't telling me." He looked back at them, watching their faces carefully as he spoke. There was a stillness about lying, you could see it in the eyes. The way they could fix on yours, so steadily that they could never be honest. He sighed and steepled his fingers, wishing there was a nicer way to have this conversation.
"Look, I'm not a bad person." He started, "But I'm in charge of three hundred men and women, and when your husband rejoins us, Mistress Arra, there will be four hundred more. I can't agree to risk their lives without knowing why, and as it stands I don't even know why you are on the island in the first place! And no," he said, interrupting before either of them could speak, "I don't want to hear more stories, and I'm not going to tell anyone else what I already know. But then, Keith has already blurted out your secret to me; it's probably only a matter of time before someone else works it out."
"Keith." Numair muttered, his eyes narrowing. "I'm going to throw that idiot in the lake."
"Is that the man who..." Daine started, and then stopped abruptly, her face flushed. "Oh. That man. Does anyone actually talk to him?"
Tyro caught his breath, torn between being serious and the sudden urge to laugh. His sense of humour finally won, and he almost choked on the laughter. "Okay, you've definitely met him. Poor soul that he is, you have to admit that he's not the most reliable secret keeper."
"Right..." Daine leaned forward, "And how trustworthy are you?"
"Depends what the secret's worth," he challenged, a born bandit. Numair made a dismissing gesture, and when that failed he resorted to pushing them apart, like children. It was only when they argued that he realised that they had the same accent- the rapid, direct lilt of the mountains. Yet another reason for Daine not to trust the man, he thought with a sigh.
"Will you two stop it? Tyro, I'm sorry... the other group has a man in it who can read minds, and Da...Arra's gotten used to being cautious. But I would trust her with the lives of seven hundred people as easily as breathing. And Arra, Tyro would be honest for a merchant, let alone a bandit. I trust him completely."
"What's your real name?" Tyro asked quietly, looking at Daine levelly. She shivered at the question, suddenly feeling too close to Elan even in this deserted stretch of the cave. Why did they keep asking her that question, as if it mattered so much? And even as the ice of the thought hit her, the cries of the bats started a few scant tunnels away. The other group was approaching.
"On the island, I'm Arra." She said finally. "If we get off it alive, then I'll tell you. But for now, we need to agree on a plan. Before Elan gets here. Which will be soon."