Child of Releeshahn
Chapter Six
The dinner bell sounded a little less than an hour later. The three couldn't help but hear it--and feel it. The room literally vibrated with the sound. Tanya bolted from her bed so quickly that she became tangled in the blankets, a squirming heap on the floor. Anna and Yeesha shrieked and grabbed one another. After a few minutes, the sound ceased, a droning ring left behind.
"By Yavo," Anna said, trembling, "that is some call to dinner."
"I have to agree," Yeesha said in return.
Tanya struggled from her linen and silk cocoon, and got to her feet. "We best neaten up a bit and head down. We don't want to anger our generous hosts already."
"We're leaving…soon, right?" Anna asked. Apparently, her sense of adventure had vanished as easily and as completely as the Prison Age and Boogin.
Tanya smiled at her as she brushed the girls' hair with an ivory brush that had been sitting on a massive vanity. "After we get your squee back. I didn't spend all that time chasing down Saavedro for nothing. We can't stay any longer than tomorrow night, that's for sure. And we have to destroy the linking book as we go. We can't have them following us."
"But they sent the book that Oma found. They must have a way to get there."
"Not necessarily. They sent the book, but it appears as if it was only an experiment to see if there were others of your bloodlines. The books had to have been teleported in a similar manner to the way we had been. There's no other explanation. The books came, but people didn't." She brushed her own hair once she was done with theirs.
"Shall we try to talk to Fehrahn about it?" Yeesha asked shyly.
Tanya shook her head. "Not directly. Perhaps a few dropped questions here and there. They can work magic, but hopefully not read minds."
"People can do that?" The girls were shocked.
Tanya had to laugh. "Some like to say they can, though most also claim that magic doesn't exist--that it's all an illusion."
"In this case," Anna waved her hand around to the room, "that's exactly what it is." She headed for the door then. "Shall we head down? I can't wait to eat something."
"Just be careful what you touch," Tanya warned. "We still don't really know what's real and what isn't. These people could be eating rotten food for all we know. Remember to use your eyes and not the thoughts of what you want to be there."
The two younger ones nodded as they made their way down a gargantuan flight of green marble steps into a dining room that reminded Anna of the cavern of D'ni. It was almost big enough. The floor was done up in an ornate mosaic of coloured tiles and the walls were a glorious shade of saffron. Gold adorned everything and sculpted marble pillars held up the ceiling. Anna and Yeesha thought it grand. Tanya twisted up her face in disgust, only for a moment. She saw the inside of a rotted barn, but she didn't say anything. The illusion she also did not like overly much. It was too gaudy.
Fehrahn invited them to sit with her at the high table at one end of the room and even served them herself. As various people walked in, she explained who they were and how important they were to society. She seemed like the typical hostess in every way. Gossip was most certainly not something she shied from.
"Just look at Gisha R'Uthon's dress. Can you believe she would come in such rags?" She pointed to a young noblewoman who had just sat down wearing an elegant gown of sea green adorned with gold and silver ribbons. She almost looked like she had come right out of the ocean.
"I beg your pardon, my lady," Anna said, "but compared to us, she looks like a queen."
Fehrahn smiled. "That is my fault, and I am so sorry. I forgot to supply you with something. Here, let me fix that." She waved her hand and, suddenly, Anna was in a dress of navy blue, Yeesha in one of burgundy, and Tanya in one of hunter green. All were gloriously beautiful in cut, design and fit and adorned with gems and fine embroidery. Though, it took the three a short time to actually see what they were now wearing.
"Now," Fehrahn said once everyone was situated, "how is your chamber?"
"Exceptional, my lady," Tanya said politely. She was seated to the woman's direct left and did not want to anger her in any way. Anna and Yeesha were on the right side.
"That's always a blessing to hear. We're never sure how guests will take what we give them. Some say they've never seen worse chambers in their lives."
"Worse?" Anna said setting her acting skills to work. "How can things of such beauty be said to be so awful?"
Fehrahn looked at her, a smile on her face but her eyes full of sadness. "I'll tell you another time, my dear." She concentrated on eating then.
"Tell me, my lady," Tanya said after a time while the second course was being served--she had noticed nothing wrong with the food, "what is your proper title? Are you the queen here?"
"Queen? Oh, don't I ever wish," Fehrahn said with a laugh. "No, I am one of the more…higher standing nobles. Right under the queen actually. No, she lives elsewhere--far from anyone. Some say she died long ago."
"How long is long ago?"
"Five thousand years."
Tanya had to do everything in her power to keep from choking. Five thousand years! That was nearly impossible. Even the longest lived D'ni never got anywhere near that age. "And how long do your people live generally?"
"Oh, not long. The longest recorded was six thousand years, I think. It was my great uncle."
"Oh my," Anna said quietly. She was just as shocked as Tanya. Peering to her right at Yeesha she could see that the girl was paying no attention to the conversation whatsoever. Rather, she was staring out into the mass of guests on the lower level. "What are you looking at?" the girl whispered.
"What?" Yeesha asked, startled. "Oh…nothing."
"You were staring at something."
"No I wasn't! I was just--lost in thought."
Anna gave her the 'you're hiding something from me' look.
Yeesha sighed. There was no way of keeping anything from Anna. "If you really must know…." She pointed quickly out into the crowd.
"Am I supposed to be seeing something that I'm not?"
Yeesha sighed again, exasperated this time. "Him," she said through her teeth and pointed more forcibly.
Anna saw this time, and she liked it, too. There, in the direction Yeesha's finger was pointing, sat the most handsome young man she'd ever seen. His hair was just as dark as Yeesha's, and his skin was a musky shade of tan. She couldn't get the colour of his eyes from that distance, but they appeared to be dark as well. He appeared tall and trim. Women didn't crowd him, though. "Why is he so undesirable?"
"Who said he was anything of the kind?" Yeesha snapped.
"No one. It's just that he's not hounded by others of our gender."
"Perhaps they know him too well. It happens."
"And you want to get to know him?"
"Absolutely."
"Well," Anna said when she heard music starting and saw people flock to the centre of the floor, "here's your big chance. The dances are starting." She bit into a pastry and looked at her cousin expectantly.
Yeesha didn't budge from her seat.
"Come on, before you lose him! Do I have to do everything for you?" She turned to Fehrahn. "Who is that young man seated over there?"
The noblewoman looked at the subject in question. "That," she said matter-of-factly, "is my nephew, Damyen. He's a bit on the shy side. Why do you ask?"
"Has he any friends?"
Fehrahn gave a look that proved she was thinking. "Some. Oh, look, there's one now. Thaylan Ro'Garon. Very nice young man. Why don't you two introduce yourselves? You'll need to remain occupied somehow."
Anna didn't wait to be told twice. She grabbed Yeesha by the hand and dragged her over to where the two young men were. If she thought Damyen was a dream, Thaylan was better still. His shoulder-length hair was a golden auburn that was neatly clipped behind his neck with a clasp of engraved silver. His eyes were a pleasant blue, and his skin was pale but not excessively so. He was just slightly taller than Damyen with broad shoulders and a slightly more built physique. She stopped halfway across the floor thinking that even people's faces might be illusions. Some were, but the two men remained unchanged--save that their rich clothes were actually little more than rags.
The two young men stood and bowed when they saw Anna approach with the reluctant Yeesha behind her. She curtsied in return and nudged her cousin to do the same.
"You must be the newcomers," Thaylan said, a friendly grin playing at his mouth. "I'm Thaylan Ro'Garon, and this is my friend Damyen Ro'Shir. You are…?"
"I'm Anna Ro'Jethhe," she replied holding out her hands all prepared for the D'ni greeting, but he took them and kissed each in turn. She couldn't help a slight blush. "And this is my cousin, Yeesha, daughter of Atrus." Thaylan nodded to her as she was introduced.
"Ro'Jethhe. I've never heard of that household. Could you enlighten me?" He took her by the arm and led her to the dance floor.
Looking back, Anna saw Damyen begin to talk to Yeesha. Inside, she was jumping for joy, outside, she was calm and collected as she answered Thaylan's question as best she could. "Have you heard of Terahnee, my lord?"
"Terahnee is a legend."
"Then I must be a thing of myth because that is where my father was born and raised. The Ro'Jethhes were a very respected family. Good friends to the king there."
"Were? You speak as if they are no more." He began to lead her in a jaunty dance as a cheerful melody played from somewhere.
"My father, mother and I are the only ones left. There was a war in Terahnee not too long ago that killed nearly everyone. A war carried out by unhappy slaves."
"Slaves. Terahnee had slaves? How can this be?"
Anna shrugged sadly. "It's not one of the higher points that I wish to think about. My father was a good friend to them--they were called relyimah--and when a plague broke out that started the war, he did everything in his power to help. Along with Atrus."
"Your uncle."
Anna nodded.
"They were successful?"
"The slaves won the war because the plague affected them little. It was the Terahnee that were almost completely wiped out. The survivors now live on an Age called Releeshahn with the D'ni, who had a similar history--without the slaves."
"Another people I thought to be legend."
"Yeesha is D'ni."
"Yeesha has also captivated Damyen. Look at them." He motioned with his head to where the two now sat side by side, deep in conversation. Neither appeared shy anymore. Yeesha was actually laughing at something that Damyen had said, him smiling in return.
Several women were heard screaming at that point. Something about a creature and, "Kill it! Kill it!" Anna sucked in her breath and ran in the direction of the din with Thaylan close on her heels. Once they reached the spot, there was a large circle of quivering women all pointing to a little grey thing on the floor. Anna got in closer.
"Boogin!" she cried happily.
The little squee, which had been munching on some vegetable, looked up and ran to Anna as she held out her hand. It scurried up her arm to her shoulder. She rubbed at the white fur of its belly.
"There's nothing to fear, ladies," she said. "This little squee couldn't possibly hurt anything."
"What's a squee?" Thaylan asked once things had gone somewhat back to normal a minute or two later.
Anna turned to him, a playful glint in her eyes. "This, my lord, is a squee." She motioned to her pet.
"And he is yours?" He reached out a tentative hand to pet the tiny animal.
She nodded. "Tanya caught him for me."
"And which one is Tanya?"
"The only one of us that hasn't been introduced. She's sitting next to Lady Ro'Shir."
"Ah." He held his palm flat and Boogin hopped onto it. The young man laughed.
"He likes you," Anna said, smiling.
"Indeed," Thaylan replied as he looked at the girl with a warm look in his azure eyes. "How long are you staying?" he asked.
Anna sighed. A long time, she wanted to say. "Tanya wants to be gone as soon as possible. She and my Uncle Atrus both say that we could still be carriers of the disease that destroyed two civilizations, and they don't want any others to end up the same way."
Thaylan let out a laugh. "Nothing can kill these people," he said motioning around. "Have you seen the food that they serve? Certainly some of it is truly good, but the other…I won't even touch that subject."
"You see through the illusions, too?" Anna asked, taking back Boogin.
He nodded, running a hand through his thick black hair. "All can. Most don't choose to. Damyen and I, we're looking for the first linking book out of here. Unfortunately, the Art has been lost to us for some time. Ever since the Queen sent the books to the Ages of Legend."
"D'ni and Terahnee."
He nodded. "Though, they aren't quite legend anymore."
"And the book actually got to D'ni. I'm not sure about Terahnee, though. That one is doubtful."
"D'ni…that's the cavern, is it not?"
"It is."
Thaylan clapped his hands together and raised his eyes upward. "Thank the gods!"
Anna blinked in confusion. "You lost me."
"I've always wanted to see what the world looks like underneath the surface. There are no caves around here. None. Terahnee sounds wonderful but too much like here. I've always wanted to go to D'ni."
The girl lowered her green eyes to the floor. "No one lives in D'ni anymore. They all went to Releeshahn."
"Yes, but the caves still exist?"
"I should expect so; I was only there this morning." She looked back up at him. His handsome face was staring at hers in earnest. "You'd like to come back with us then?" she said, a broad grin on her face.
"More than anything. If not for D'ni, then…." He picked up her hands and kissed them again. "And I'm sure Damyen will want to be with Yeesha." He nodded in their direction again.
Anna turned back to him, a suspicious look on her face. "Just how old are you two, anyway?" With a race that could grow as old as these people could, she had to be careful.
"We are both twenty summers. Does it really matter?"
"No," she replied with a shake of the head. "I just…like to know everything about everything."
He smiled, and they began to dance again.