Angel of Storms (Millennium's Rule, #2)(27)
Footsteps thumped beyond the curtain dividing the room. She heard the faint creak of shutters opening and light illuminated the fabric from behind. The curse came again. Rising, Rielle moved to the closest window and peered through the crack between the shutters. A man was standing outside the wagon. The thin man who had been staring at her the night before. He was looking directly at her, eyes focused beyond the wagon’s walls, his mouth upturned by a smile that wasn’t at all friendly.
The curtain flew open and Lejikh stepped through. He looked angry, but his expression softened as he saw her and he gestured with open palms facing downwards, telling her to stay put and remain calm, she guessed. Moving past to the door, he unlatched and opened it, and stepped outside.
As the door closed she turned back to the shutters and peered through the crack again. The man was gone. Lejikh appeared, turning slowly as he looked around the courtyard. He scowled and strode away.
What is going on? Rielle moved to the opposite window, but could see nothing through the crack between the shutters except the other wagons. If Lejikh is worried then I am worried. After all, if he was powerful enough to move all these people, animals, wagons and their contents from one world to another, then anything he considered a threat was something to be concerned about.
Hearing the curtain move again, Rielle turned to see Ankari step through. The woman began to buzz about the room, putting the bed away, setting up the table, getting Rielle to help her prepare a simple meal, serving and eating it. At her apparent lack of concern, or ability to pretend nothing was wrong, Rielle relaxed a little. But something was going on, or the woman wouldn’t be trying to distract her. Unable to ask what it was, she forced herself to be patient.
A tap at the door made them both freeze.
“It is Baluka,” a familiar voice said.
Rielle sought his mind in vain. Ankari unbolted the door–Rielle could not recall her locking it, but she supposed it had been done with magic when she had been looking away. Baluka was smiling broadly, and said something to Ankari that made her eyes roll in exasperation. Turning to Rielle, he began to speak Fyrian haltingly, prompting her to think of the words he needed.
He pointed to himself. “I am…” He lifted a bowl and hugged it to his chest. “Taking.” He pointed to her. “You…” He paused. Out of the wagon? she thought at him. Into the castle? No? Out of the castle? He nodded then gestured with his hands. Further? Yes… back to the place we arrived? Ah–to the next world!
“To the next world,” he confirmed.
All she knew of the next world was that the Travellers thought it safe enough to leave her there. But what about the rest of the family? Will they be coming? He shook his head. Staying, then. Will I get a chance to say “goodbye”? He nodded. “Lejikh will tell them later,” he told her.
She nodded. “Has this something to do with that man watching us before?”
He looked at his mother, who shrugged and nodded. “Yes. He is a sorcerer. The other chief’s sorcerer. We think he was reading your thoughts. We don’t know why. It would be better to leave without an explanation than stay and discover it means trouble.”
“Wise,” she agreed. “So when do we go?”
He smiled. “Now.”
His hands extended towards her. Just as the Angel’s had, she thought, and the memory of Valhan’s face flashed through her mind. Baluka’s hands were warm, though, not cool. He sucked in a noisy breath.
“Breath,” he said. “Breathe. Between worlds… there is no air.”
Thinking back to her arrival in the desert world, and how she had gasped for breath, she wondered what would have happened if she’d taken longer to get there. Would I have died?
“Yes.” His expression was serious. “Now breathe.”
She sucked in a deep breath and held it. At once the world began to fade. Only Baluka remained clear. And herself. He spoke to her in his thoughts again, but this time it was more like hearing his voice in her mind.
“This is one of the reasons we follow an established path. If you arrive in a place where the environment is dangerous you can move yourself forward, backwards or sideways to somewhere safer, or retreat back to the last world. But if you do not have enough magic or breath to do so, you, and the people you take with you, could die. We stick to established routes to avoid such dangers.”
She shuddered. What happens if you die between worlds? she thought at him.
“Your body will eventually be pulled out into a world by its gravity.” He smiled again. “But you are safe with me. I have plenty of magic and we’ve come this way many times.”
Do others follow this path, too?
He shook his head. “Not regularly. As far as we know, there are no sorcerers in Kezel with the ability or knowledge to travel between worlds, and it is less developed than neighbouring worlds so there are few reasons for outsiders to visit.” The interior of the wagon had faded completely from sight. The sensation of movement stopped and Baluka’s expression became distracted, as if he was concentrating on a faint sound. “Can you feel that?” he asked. “Can you feel the gravity of the next world?”
Closing her eyes, she sought the sensation she had detected when she had moved towards the desert world. A faint pull seemed to draw her in one direction.
“It will grow stronger as we move nearer.”