Julien

by Engor

Chapter 59

Once the storm cleared Xarax had been able to resume his flight. He'd been lucky enough to find, high up, an air-stream that carried him in more or less the direction he wanted to go. He'd gambled on Lord Delian's pilot knowing his business and he had won, which was just as well, because he was sure he wouldn't have been able to make the return journey flying against the wind. But now he knew that he wasn't going to have to swim, because the First Trankenn was almost exactly where he had expected it to be. He dived towards the ocean, losing thousands of metres of altitude in just a few dozen seconds, and as he approached the surface of the sea he skimmed along just above it straight towards the huge ship. He'd adjusted his colour to exactly that of the water, and it would have been appallingly bad luck if even the most attentive of look-outs had noticed him.

It only took him a few minutes to locate and find his way into the comfortable suite that had been allocated to Niil and Ambar. They might not have been the Lord of the Ksantiris' favourite people, and Ambar in particular was considered a complete intruder, but they were family, all the same, and so had to be given the consideration due to their position. That said, the crew of the ship weren't exactly fighting for the privilege of serving them, so they were mostly left to their own devices, and nobody bothered to keep them up to date with what was going on. They wouldn't have minded that at all, but they didn't like the way that it had also been made clear that their presence outside their quarters was not called for. They were playing cards when the haptir made his presence known by a discreet flap of his wings. Ambar saw him first and his face lit up.

"Xarax!" he exclaimed.

"Welcome to the First Trankenn," added Niil. "But I suspect that my Noble Brother would be a lot less happy to see you than we are."

Xarax hopped up onto his shoulder.

Xarax is happy to see you and your young brother again, Ksantiri. Xarax has news, some good and some less so, and it needs to be relayed to the Noble Lord Aldegard.

Is Julien all right? And is he back?

Julien is well. He's here, on Dvârinn.

Where? In Ksantir?

No, he is somewhere to the south-west of here aboard his own boat. But if you will allow Xarax to explain it to you instead of asking so many questions, it would be simpler.

In fact he put the boys in contact with each other and then told his story to them both at the same time, doing it in his own way and actually sharing the events with them. It only lasted a few minutes, but the incredibly detailed memory they had of it afterwards seemed to cover several hours. Niil was horrified.

Do you really think my brother has found some illegal weapons? he asked.

Xarax believes that it is entirely possible.

But surely he's not insane enough to actually use them?

Considering the way Nekal treated Julien and the suspicions that surround the death of your Noble Father, Xarax is ready to believe that your family is capable of almost anything. This opinion, naturally, does not extend to the two of you! But it is essential that Lord Aldegard be warned of this as soon as possible.

There's nothing I can do. We're more or less prisoners here, and I'd be astonished if they allowed us access to a Guide.

Xarax considered this on his way here. Lord Aldegard will certainly come to the First Trankenn for the funeral of his friend – Nandak cannot refuse him an invitation. Xarax is sure that on his arrival he will ask to see you He might use any pretext for this but it is likely that he will say that he wishes to pass you confidential information from the Emperor. You can then tell him what you know. It will be a bit late, but at least he will then be warned about the situation.

They were interrupted by a chime at the door. Xarax slipped away just before a servant came in carrying a covered tray. Niil hadn't asked for anything and he was on the point of sending it back when Ambar pushed past him and closed the door with the servant in the room.

"Karik!" he cried. "It's Karik!"

Indeed it was the young boy rescued from the clutches of the keeper of the Three Tankards inn by Tannder. He'd intended for Karik to serve as his personal messenger and now, finally, the boy was fulfilling that duty.

"Noble Lord," he said to Niil, "The Honourable Tannder has sent me to let you know that your master has returned to the R'hinz. They think he's here on Dvârinn, but they haven't been able to find out exactly where he is yet."

"Karik, it's great to see you! Tell us how you managed to get here – and if there's anything edible on that tray, maybe you can share it with us."

The tray turned out to hold a fine collection of delicacies supplied by the kitchen of Bakhtar Tower, and they set about devouring these while they talked.

"I'm here with a Guide called Wakhann," Karik told them. "He's waiting to take me back to Master Tannder, so if you have any messages for him I can take them for you. As you can see, I'm kitted out as a Ksantiri servant, so I can move about the ship without too much trouble as long as I keep my head down."

"You should bring Wakhann here."

"I don't think that's possible – if he came anywhere near your kang someone would be sure to spot him. And then..."

He broke off with a strangled croak, because he'd just spotted Xarax, who had shown himself, scaring the boy until he remembered that the haptir was a friend. Xarax had something to tell him, but realising that the boy was still nervous about him he chose to speak through Niil instead of getting within touching distance of Karik.

"Xarax says that you should ask your Guide to bring a small target-klirk that he could carry to Lord Julien's boat," Niil told him. "He says that has to be the first priority, and that everything else can wait. And I think he's right."