And stopped midway.
He stared. Minikin said nothing. The pretty woman smiled shyly.
‘Fate above. .’
‘It’s me, Lukien,’ replied the woman. Meriel stood in the threshold, demure and beautiful. Her unscarred lips curled in a hopeful smile. The breath caught in Lukien’s throat.
‘What happened? You’re. . you look. .’
‘Minikin did this for me,’ replied Meriel. ‘With the help of the Akari.’ She stepped into the room and twirled for him. ‘Look! I’m normal again!’
The astonishing change in her left Lukien dumbstruck. He studied her face — the left side which had been so disfigured — and saw only the smooth skin of youth. Even her hand, scarred like her face, was normal and perfect. He looked at Minikin for an answer, who smiled with sympathy.
‘It is not what you think, Lukien. It is an illusion. Beneath what you see she is still scarred.’
Meriel glowered at the mistress. ‘I look normal again. That’s what matters.’
‘She has given up her gift with fire to appear this way,’ said Minikin.
Meriel ignored her. ‘Lukien, isn’t it better? Am I not so much easier to look at?’
‘Meriel, I-’
‘Call her Mirage, Lukien,’ interrupted Minikin.
‘What?’
‘Mirage is her name now. Finally she has taken on an Inhuman name. I have insisted on it.’
There was a quiet animosity between the two women. Lukien sensed it and knew to be cautious.
‘All right,’ he said easily. ‘If that’s what you wish.’ He looked at Meriel and smiled. ‘Mirage. I like that. It’s a pretty name.’
Her smile widened. ‘I am happy now, Lukien. This is how it should be.’
‘Good, but I still don’t understand. Why couldn’t this happen before? If this is what you wanted, why did Sarlvarian wait so long to make you look this way?’
‘She gave up Sarlvarian for this,’ answered Minikin. ‘There is much to explain, I know, but there is something else we need to discuss, Lukien.’ She turned to Mirage. ‘Go now, child. Lukien and I will talk of this alone.’
‘Talk about what?’ asked Lukien.
‘About me coming with you,’ said Mirage. ‘To Liiria.’
‘You?’ He turned to Minikin. ‘Her, Minikin? Is that what you meant?’
Before the mistress could answer Mirage said, ‘I want to leave here, Lukien. You know that. That is why Minikin granted me my wish, so that I could live among normal people again, in the real world.’
Lukien looked at Minikin. ‘Is that true?’
‘It is,’ declared Minikin. ‘She is unhappy here. This is what she wants.’
‘And you expect me to take her to Liiria? Minikin, I’m going after Thorin. You know how dangerous this is. How can I agree?’
‘Please, Lukien, just take me as far as Liiria,’ begged Mirage. ‘From there I can go off on my own, if that’s what you wish.’
But the girl was baiting him, and Lukien knew it. Minikin knew it too. She loved him, and there was no way she would let him abandon her in Liiria.
‘Meriel. .’ He paused and tried to smile. ‘Mirage. Do as Minikin says. Let us talk alone.’
Disappointment suffused Mirage’s pretty face. She hesitated, hovered in the doorway for a moment, then left without a word. When she was gone Lukien glared at Minikin.
‘You’re angry,’ said the mistress. ‘I understand. But think on it, Lukien, please. She was miserable here, and I could no longer make her stay.’
‘Why would you let her give up her gifts?’ railed Lukien. ‘Why let her live a lie? She’s not normal! You said so yourself; her appearance is all just an illusion.’
‘Because it is what she wished. Because it was I who brought her here to make her an Inhuman.’ Minikin’s face fell with sadness. ‘Because I failed her, Lukien.’
The admission surprised Lukien. It pained Minikin to speak it.
‘And now she wants me to take her to Liiria,’ he sighed. ‘Because she loves me.’
‘She thinks she can make you forget Cassandra,’ said Minikin. ‘Now that she is pretty again, she thinks you will love her. Maybe she thinks that you already do.’
‘I do not,’ said Lukien flatly. ‘And she will only be disappointed if she rides with me.’
‘But she will be safe with you. I can’t keep her here, Lukien. None of us are prisoners in Grimhold. And if she leaves without you she may well fall prey to Aztar’s men.’
‘This is a fine fix, Minikin,’ grumbled Lukien. ‘If I take her with me she’ll be a burden. And if I don’t, I’ll have her murder on my mind.’ He collapsed down into the cot and groaned. ‘I’m so tired. I want to sleep, and when I wake up I want to have forgotten about this place and all my responsibilities.’
Minikin padded toward him. Because he was sitting they were at eye level. She touched his face with her little hands, cupping it. Pulling him gently forward, she lightly kissed his troubled brow. The gesture made him sorrowful.
‘I have to find Thorin, Minikin. I have to save him.’ He glanced down at his dangling amulet. ‘Why won’t this bastard god help me?’
‘Amaraz is very wise, Lukien. You must trust him. He will keep you alive and keep your feet on the right path. With his help you’ll find the means to defeat Kahldris.’
‘Before or after he finishes raping Thorin’s mind?’
The Mistress of Grimhold had no answer.
24
Guided by the light of a great, grey moon, Gilwyn and White-Eye rode.
She wore a dress of fine white silk that billowed as the kreel loped through the sand, holding on to Gilwyn’s waist and breathing in his ear, soft and warm. He wore a sad expression, heartbroken and afraid. There were hours to the night, still, and Gilwyn wanted only to be gone from Grimhold and take White-Eye away for himself. When they rode she was not kahana, and he was not responsible for Jador’s million troubles. He had missed White-Eye sorely, and upon the news of Thorin’s crimes he had taken her from her desecrated home to ride in the moonlight before the deadly rays of the sun could burn her.
To Gilwyn, the news was unbelievable. Thorin was no thief, but the spirit of the armour had corrupted him. Worse, it had made him a murderer. While Minikin and Lukien met and planned, Gilwyn had left Grimhold with White-Eye. He didn’t care what the others thought of him now. He needed the blind kahana.
They rode, and as they rode the mountain keep faded behind them, swallowed by the night and the undulating dunes. Unafraid, White-Eye said nothing as she held tight to Gilwyn, letting Emerald bear them away. On a better night she might have laughed, delighted by the hundred sensations. She loved seeing Gilwyn and stealing freedom when the sun went down. She trusted him. Gilwyn felt her trust, wrapped around him like a soft blanket. The sense of her, her breath in his ear, weakened him. Barely able to speak, he could find no words for the pain in his heart. Would Thorin die now? Would any of them ever be the same?
With merely a thought he brought Emerald to a halt. All at once the silence of the desert swam around them. White-Eye leaned forward, resting her chin on his shoulder. He listened, fascinated by every small sound. The young kahana’s perfume reached his nose, making him smile.
‘Why do we stop?’ she asked softly. In the quietness her words glowed.
‘The moon. Can you see it?’
White-Eye thought for a moment. She did not need to face the moon to see it. ‘Yes. It is very lovely.’
They were on a dune, their own private mountain, with the swales and valleys of the desert all around them. Here they were safe from the eyes and ears of Grimhold. Gilwyn thought he might never return there. White-Eye, sensing his pain, raised her hand to his chest. He clasped it there, feeling his own heartbeat. It had been many weeks since he had seen White-Eye, and he had never expected their reunion to be like this. Circumstances had ruined it, but he did not want to speak of them. He hoped White-Eye would not even utter Thorin’s name.