Read Online 01 - The Compass Rose by Gail Dayton - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Gail Dayton
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massive stones and piles of rubble crashing down, shouts and screams of warning came too late. The workers couldn’t escape. The rock fell and they were beneath it.
“Quickly! Move the rock. Get it off before it crushes them. Adessay—” But he was dead. He couldn’t help. Kallista ran forward to pull people out of danger.
“Kallista!” Torchay called to her, drew her back, and she was lying fully dressed in a too-soft bed in a too-dark room with Torchay gripping her shoulders.
“A dream,” she breathed, rubbing her hands down her face. “It was just a dream like any other.”
“Not exactly like,” Torchay said, releasing her cautiously, as if he thought he might have to grab hold again. “I could always wake you from the others.”
“You woke me from this one.” Kallista let drowsiness claim her.
“Not till you were damned good and ready. Not till I shook you five turns and called your name five more.”
“Lie down. Go back to sleep.” She tugged at his sleeve and reluctantly, he did as she bid him.
“It’s not proper,” he grumbled. “I can take the floor. Or out in the corridor.”
“Too far away. And there isn’t any floor in this room. The bed’s too big. Big enough for two more bodies beside ours.”
“You didn’t want me here before.”
“Changed my mind. I need you to wake me from the dreams.”
He lay quiet a moment and Kallista thought he had gone to sleep. As much as he ever slept. He woke at the slightest noise. Then he spoke. “Nightmares aren’t part of a bodyguard’s duty.”
“I know.” Kallista grinned, knowing he couldn’t see it in the dark. “But they are in the Handbook of Rules for Friends . Right after ‘See that your friend gets back home after drinking all night.’”
Torchay turned his back to her. “Go to sleep.”
Kallista turned over and settled her back against his, as they slept in the field while hunting bandits. “Yes, Sergeant.”
She slept the sun around before waking early and alone on the second morning. A smiling acolyte in the yellow-trimmed white of a South naitan-in-training led her to the baths on the floor below. Kallista paddled about in company with a trio of chubby toddlers and their pregnant minder before being escorted firmly but politely to breakfast in the prelate’s office with her hair dripping down her back. There she not only found the green-robed elder, but Torchay looking entirely too comfortable. The first finger on his left hand wore a white-bandaged splint, but it didn’t seem to interfere with his ease.
“Eat, child.” The woman indicated a tray near overflowing with food.
Torchay picked up the plate and began filling it, ignoring Kallista’s sour look.
“I am sorry, Mother,” she said. “I don’t know your name.”
“Mother is fine. Mother Edyne, if you insist on more.”
Kallista took the food Torchay handed her and began to eat, discovering an appetite she hadn’t recognized.
“Your guard has told me what he observed that morning,” Mother Edyne said without waiting. “Tell me what you experienced.”
Over sweet buns, early melon and steaming cha brewed from leaves shipped over the southern mountains from the lands beyond, Kallista told her. When she had finished, the prelate frowned.
“This magic…” Mother Edyne shook her head. “It has frightened people. It smells of the mysteries of the West. That is why I’ve kept you here, you know. So that their fear would have no target.”
“No, I didn’t know that.” Kallista shuddered. No one had been found with West magic in over fifty years. “But I am a North naitan. I’ve always been North. Not West.”
“I admit it puzzles me.” Edyne peered at Kallista, her eyes sharp green. “Have you found a mark somewhere on your body? One that you did not have before.”
Kallista felt Torchay’s gaze on her as she lied. “No. Nothing like that.”
The magic she had already was enough to bear. She didn’t want more. Maybe if no
“Quickly! Move the rock. Get it off before it crushes them. Adessay—” But he was dead. He couldn’t help. Kallista ran forward to pull people out of danger.
“Kallista!” Torchay called to her, drew her back, and she was lying fully dressed in a too-soft bed in a too-dark room with Torchay gripping her shoulders.
“A dream,” she breathed, rubbing her hands down her face. “It was just a dream like any other.”
“Not exactly like,” Torchay said, releasing her cautiously, as if he thought he might have to grab hold again. “I could always wake you from the others.”
“You woke me from this one.” Kallista let drowsiness claim her.
“Not till you were damned good and ready. Not till I shook you five turns and called your name five more.”
“Lie down. Go back to sleep.” She tugged at his sleeve and reluctantly, he did as she bid him.
“It’s not proper,” he grumbled. “I can take the floor. Or out in the corridor.”
“Too far away. And there isn’t any floor in this room. The bed’s too big. Big enough for two more bodies beside ours.”
“You didn’t want me here before.”
“Changed my mind. I need you to wake me from the dreams.”
He lay quiet a moment and Kallista thought he had gone to sleep. As much as he ever slept. He woke at the slightest noise. Then he spoke. “Nightmares aren’t part of a bodyguard’s duty.”
“I know.” Kallista grinned, knowing he couldn’t see it in the dark. “But they are in the Handbook of Rules for Friends . Right after ‘See that your friend gets back home after drinking all night.’”
Torchay turned his back to her. “Go to sleep.”
Kallista turned over and settled her back against his, as they slept in the field while hunting bandits. “Yes, Sergeant.”
She slept the sun around before waking early and alone on the second morning. A smiling acolyte in the yellow-trimmed white of a South naitan-in-training led her to the baths on the floor below. Kallista paddled about in company with a trio of chubby toddlers and their pregnant minder before being escorted firmly but politely to breakfast in the prelate’s office with her hair dripping down her back. There she not only found the green-robed elder, but Torchay looking entirely too comfortable. The first finger on his left hand wore a white-bandaged splint, but it didn’t seem to interfere with his ease.
“Eat, child.” The woman indicated a tray near overflowing with food.
Torchay picked up the plate and began filling it, ignoring Kallista’s sour look.
“I am sorry, Mother,” she said. “I don’t know your name.”
“Mother is fine. Mother Edyne, if you insist on more.”
Kallista took the food Torchay handed her and began to eat, discovering an appetite she hadn’t recognized.
“Your guard has told me what he observed that morning,” Mother Edyne said without waiting. “Tell me what you experienced.”
Over sweet buns, early melon and steaming cha brewed from leaves shipped over the southern mountains from the lands beyond, Kallista told her. When she had finished, the prelate frowned.
“This magic…” Mother Edyne shook her head. “It has frightened people. It smells of the mysteries of the West. That is why I’ve kept you here, you know. So that their fear would have no target.”
“No, I didn’t know that.” Kallista shuddered. No one had been found with West magic in over fifty years. “But I am a North naitan. I’ve always been North. Not West.”
“I admit it puzzles me.” Edyne peered at Kallista, her eyes sharp green. “Have you found a mark somewhere on your body? One that you did not have before.”
Kallista felt Torchay’s gaze on her as she lied. “No. Nothing like that.”
The magic she had already was enough to bear. She didn’t want more. Maybe if no
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