Golden Age (The Shifting Tides, #1)(61)

Finding her key, she moved into the ‘Ballad of Aeris’, a song about the goddess’s love for the heroic warrior Korax. When Korax died defending the Temple of Aeris in Sarsica from the ravaging of northern barbarians, Aeris tried to bring him back to life but his wounds were too dire even for the goddess. Her heartbreak was evident in the low bass while the trickling away of his blood formed a sad lilting melody of high notes.

Chloe opened her eyes as she approached the end of the ballad. She saw that Solon was watching intently, his expression thoughtful but giving nothing away. The dark clouds overhead had continued to gather, casting the pyramid in shadow.

Without halting, she continued on to the ‘Tragedy of Aleuthea’, a complex song describing the sinking of the great king Palemon’s civilization beneath the waves. It was at the limit of her skill to execute the dancing trills and low throaty rumbles. Without the words, she had to tell the story entirely with the flute, hearing the stanzas in her mind but conducting them with her instrument.

Still Solon merely watched, and now Chloe made up the melody as she went, eyes once more closed, her fingers working furiously on the flute, combining mournful low notes with bright trills, adding a repeating coda to her song and weaving it through. She slowed and then filled the air with a series of long, slow, drawn-out notes in a minor scale.

Finally she let the music fade away and opened her eyes. As she took the flute away from her lips the clouds parted and the sun shone directly through the gap, striking the glittering pyramid’s facets where one side met the next. The diagonal line formed by the meeting point flared with golden fire.

Chloe forgot all about the music as she stared in awe at the glistening gold, so bright her senses could take in nothing else.

Solon nodded. ‘The sun god has spoken. It is a good omen.’

He didn’t look at her; his eyes were on his tomb. Chloe felt suddenly drained.

‘I will give you your chance. You will be assigned a bodyguard. Each night you will be confined with the women, but you may venture into the city to get the materials you need to make your potions. You may leave.’

He made no mention of the music. Solon continued his inspection of the pyramid, frowning at the places where the stone was bare.





26


Dion had sailed through two days and two sleepless nights, determined not to return home in failure. His vision wavered as he kept the Calypso on course, trimming the sail and sending the incredible vessel leaping over every crest.

When he sighted land, he knew he had finally crossed the Maltherean Sea.

But finding Lamara was another task altogether. He knew that if he headed directly south from Athos he should strike the coast higher than the city, and should be able to travel, hugging the shore, until he came to the sun king’s capital. Yet he was worried, for he had little knowledge of what he was actually looking for.

He passed the third day scouting inlets and rocky bays, brow creased as he looked for the signs of a city. His only encouraging thought was that Lamara was reputed to be huge, and must therefore have fishing and trade vessels leaving and returning to the city in numbers. But as the day wore on and the sun passed the sky’s midpoint, beginning to fall back down to the horizon, he wondered if he’d missed Lamara altogether.

Then he saw a ship.

It was a distant merchant vessel, with a fat belly and wide beam, but he could tell from the set of the sails which way it was heading, and he followed the same course. Keeping a wide distance between them, he skirted the rust-colored coastline until the merchantman turned to head toward shore.

A wide bay opened up ahead, and when he saw a tall lighthouse at the extreme end of a promontory he felt his hopes rise. At the opposite end of the bay another lighthouse marked a safe passage between the two and now he saw more ships, all heading in the same direction.

He spurred the Calypso forward, getting every bit of speed from her that he could. Overtaking the merchant ship, he saw that the other vessels were all heading into a wide inlet. A gigantic stone statue appeared on the left bank and Dion recognized the sun god.

His spirits soared. He had come to the right place.

He now saw galleys and fishing boats, dozens of vessels returning to safe harbor before the day’s end. Heading into a wide brown river, he passed tiny coves and the occasional shack. A huge wall rose ahead, the longest and tallest he had ever seen. He stood up in the boat, holding onto the mast as he peered at it, though the city behind was mostly hidden behind.

Dion decided not to venture closer; he would hide the boat outside the city.

He worried about the danger underneath the Calypso as he turned into shore and scouted an inlet, before changing his mind and deciding the place wasn’t hidden enough. A second cove was worse still, rocks poking up from the water making the peril clear. Finally he found a little bay, curving in on itself, a mile or so from the high city wall. Scraggly bushes grew along the sides of a little stream with steep banks on both sides, a place he knew he would be able to hide his boat.

He dropped the sail and allowed the Calypso to gently coast to the rocky bank. Moments later he was out of the boat and pulling the vessel into the stream, shoving the bushes aside. He fetched his bow – the string was ruined, but the bow might still be serviceable – and a satchel with supplies. Placing them on the bank, he then resumed his work to conceal the painted hull, not content until the Calypso was well hidden in the cleft where a casual observer wouldn’t notice her. He would be leaving the same way he came.