Read Online Gama and Hest: An Ahsenthe Cycle companion novella (The Ahsenthe Cycle) by Alexes Razevich - Free Book Online
Authors: Alexes Razevich
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could see Reln’s hand through it. Floating inside were flecks of silver, blue, and green. Gama didn’t know why, but the stone made her feel happy — and there’d been little of that lately.
Reln nodded toward the other corenta guide, a female with skin so dark-red it was almost brown, and she rose. She was tall, with long fingers on large hands. She wore an elaborately sewn shawl in every color Gama could imagine — her mark of rank. But her face was kind, and Gama immediately liked her.
She straightened her shawl and said, “I am Kinto.” She swept her eyes across two males sitting side by side. “These are my brothers, Cra and Pret.”
Cra and Pret looked much alike — same height and weight, same light-red skin, same dark-brown eyes. Gama was glad they didn’t wear matching hipwraps, or she wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart.
What do you think ? she sent to Hest and Frarm, sure that the others were sizing them up the same way they were them — and think-talking to their corenta-kin as well. Thought-grains flew back and forth across the room.
The pinkish one looks nervous , Hest sent.
Joh , from Trontin . She does look nervous . Any guesses why ?
Gama saw the obvious truth the moment she sent the question. These were soumyo who’d also seen things disappear. That’s why they’d come with their guides — to bring the witnesses together. She sent the thought to Hest and Frarm.
Maybe no one believed her either , Frarm sent.
Everyone believes us now , Hest sent.
Gama thought of the carding house and worried again for it. Had it been frightened? Was it frightened still, wherever it was? What could snatch up an entire structure with no more effort than she lifted a bucket of water?
Kinto held her stone in her outstretched palm. “We are touched, Bren, by your gift. The soumyo of Kelroosh will treasure it always.” She closed her long fingers around the stone and let her arms fall in front of her. “As Bren said, it is a sorrowful state that has brought us here together. There may be safety in this place, but safety is not guaranteed. We must find the source of the danger. We can’t defend against what we don’t know.”
Gama’s gaze flitted between the two leaders. Bren had fine manners, but Kinto of Kelroosh seemed more likely to get things done. If Reln partnered with Kinto, Gama was sure the two of them could find a way past the fear festering in the corenta-kin now.
“Hest and Gama,” Reln said, startling her from her thoughts. “I’ve told the guides about the carding house, which I witnessed, and a bit about what you saw. I’d like you to tell it in your own words.”
They told the story again, the words no easier to say the second time than they’d been the first. Their guests listened with little expression on their faces but their emotions spots showed the purple-gray of concern and the blue-red of anxiety.
“You were together?” Bren from Trontin asked.
Gama nodded. “But Frarm was alone.”
All eyes shifted to him. He told about the birds, his voice suddenly strong and confident. He didn’t hint that perhaps the birds had vanished into the clouds the way he had with Vonti. He knew what he’d seen as clearly as she and Hest did.
Kinto, the Kelroosh guide, said, “Cra and Pret have a similar tale.”
Cra’s neck glowed blue-red and he stared at his hands as if they were something new and unknown to him. Gama thought his anxiety came as much from shyness as anything. Pret did the talking.
“Cra and I were up early one morning,” Pret said, “before chore hour, and we decided to go to a nearby river and see if we could catch a grenlo or two. The reeds are thick by this river — or had been thick, the day before when we visited. When we arrived, not one reed thrust from the water. Nothing swam in the waters or crawled along the banks. It was as if someone had come along and taken everything live that was there, put it in a bag and carried it
Reln nodded toward the other corenta guide, a female with skin so dark-red it was almost brown, and she rose. She was tall, with long fingers on large hands. She wore an elaborately sewn shawl in every color Gama could imagine — her mark of rank. But her face was kind, and Gama immediately liked her.
She straightened her shawl and said, “I am Kinto.” She swept her eyes across two males sitting side by side. “These are my brothers, Cra and Pret.”
Cra and Pret looked much alike — same height and weight, same light-red skin, same dark-brown eyes. Gama was glad they didn’t wear matching hipwraps, or she wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart.
What do you think ? she sent to Hest and Frarm, sure that the others were sizing them up the same way they were them — and think-talking to their corenta-kin as well. Thought-grains flew back and forth across the room.
The pinkish one looks nervous , Hest sent.
Joh , from Trontin . She does look nervous . Any guesses why ?
Gama saw the obvious truth the moment she sent the question. These were soumyo who’d also seen things disappear. That’s why they’d come with their guides — to bring the witnesses together. She sent the thought to Hest and Frarm.
Maybe no one believed her either , Frarm sent.
Everyone believes us now , Hest sent.
Gama thought of the carding house and worried again for it. Had it been frightened? Was it frightened still, wherever it was? What could snatch up an entire structure with no more effort than she lifted a bucket of water?
Kinto held her stone in her outstretched palm. “We are touched, Bren, by your gift. The soumyo of Kelroosh will treasure it always.” She closed her long fingers around the stone and let her arms fall in front of her. “As Bren said, it is a sorrowful state that has brought us here together. There may be safety in this place, but safety is not guaranteed. We must find the source of the danger. We can’t defend against what we don’t know.”
Gama’s gaze flitted between the two leaders. Bren had fine manners, but Kinto of Kelroosh seemed more likely to get things done. If Reln partnered with Kinto, Gama was sure the two of them could find a way past the fear festering in the corenta-kin now.
“Hest and Gama,” Reln said, startling her from her thoughts. “I’ve told the guides about the carding house, which I witnessed, and a bit about what you saw. I’d like you to tell it in your own words.”
They told the story again, the words no easier to say the second time than they’d been the first. Their guests listened with little expression on their faces but their emotions spots showed the purple-gray of concern and the blue-red of anxiety.
“You were together?” Bren from Trontin asked.
Gama nodded. “But Frarm was alone.”
All eyes shifted to him. He told about the birds, his voice suddenly strong and confident. He didn’t hint that perhaps the birds had vanished into the clouds the way he had with Vonti. He knew what he’d seen as clearly as she and Hest did.
Kinto, the Kelroosh guide, said, “Cra and Pret have a similar tale.”
Cra’s neck glowed blue-red and he stared at his hands as if they were something new and unknown to him. Gama thought his anxiety came as much from shyness as anything. Pret did the talking.
“Cra and I were up early one morning,” Pret said, “before chore hour, and we decided to go to a nearby river and see if we could catch a grenlo or two. The reeds are thick by this river — or had been thick, the day before when we visited. When we arrived, not one reed thrust from the water. Nothing swam in the waters or crawled along the banks. It was as if someone had come along and taken everything live that was there, put it in a bag and carried it
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