'Obviously.
'Darling Edeard, she stroked his cheek. 'I'm sorry. Then she swayed forward, unable to stop laughing.
It was no use, he couldn't stay angry with her. His petulance gave way to a rueful grin. 'Yeah, but that trick won't help you with gache fungi, he informed her.
She swarmed into his lap, and twined her hands round his neck. Her smile rivalled the noonday sun. 'If I ever get attacked by legions of gache fungi, I promise in the Lady's name I will do everything you tell me from that day onwards, and I'll never laugh at you again.
'Okay. Now show me how you do the fire trick.
'I'm not supposed to; the families like it kept quiet.
'Think of it as the start of the revolution.
She kissed him. 'All right. Her mind gifted him the technique.
It was actually quite simple, he thought, as he examined the knowledge. Squeezing a little stream of air, and spinning it very fast at the same time to create a big static charge. 'Easy! He lifted his arm up, and let his telekinetic strength agitate the air around it. A blinding flash spat out, fanning wide to punch into the loose pile of wood. A ball of flame bloomed around the branches with a severe thud. Several flaming sticks twirled though the air, trailing smoke. Edeard and Kristabel ducked.
'By the Lady, Edeard! she exclaimed. Her mouth gaped in surprise.
The bonfire was now blazing furiously. Kristabel laughed again.
'That's better, he said as the flames shot even higher. 'I'm starting to warm up now.
Kristabel still had her hands behind his neck; she arched her spine, falling backwards to pull him down on top of her. 'Me too.
Edeard gave the beach lodge a mildly guilty glance, then grinned lewdly. 'I always heard sex on the beach is the absolute best. His third hand unfastened her belt.
The legend, he discovered, was quite right; sex on the beach was spectacular.
As soon as the night fell on the second day they went back to the bed in the middle of the lodge. Long after the candles had spluttered and died, Edeard lay on the bed watching the nebulas twinkle and sway across the night sky. He smiled languidly, yet sleep refused to claim him. 'How far away are they?
Kristabel peeked up at the ceiling. 'Are you still watching the nebulas? I don't know. A long long way.
'Do our souls reach them without guidance from the Skylords?
'I can't remember exactly what the Lady's teachings say. I think it's difficult for souls once they've been cast adrift from their old bodies. They just sort of float away through space.
'Lost. That's why we need the Skylords.
'Yes, she grinned and cuddled closer. 'You see, you know more than I do. You must be very devout.
'Hardly. I can barely remember that much. But how did the Lady know?
'Because the Firstlifes told her, or the Skylords told her what the Firstlifes said. I can't remember which. Though the Firstlifes would know, they're the ones who created the universe.
'This Void. The ships that brought us here came from outside.
'They certainly came from somewhere else.
'If they fell here from the other side of the sky, then they must have passed through the nebulas.
'I suppose so.
'Then they would have known exactly what they were like. Why didn't they stay there, in Odin's Sea? The Lady says it is the doorway to the Heart, where souls live for ever in unity and bliss.
'The ships were falling. They couldn't stay.
'They fell onto Querencia. While they are in the sky, ships fly. The people inside them control where they go, just as captains set course in our traders.
Kristabel propped herself up. He could only see the darkest outline of her, while her soft hair brushed against his chest.
'Why are you asking these questions?
'We have souls, Kristabel. I've sensed them. When I shot Mirnatha's kidnapper, my farsight watched his soul take flight.
'On its way to Honious, she growled.
'Not if it just drifts around the sky.
'Edeard, she asked tentatively, 'are you mocking me?
'No! he promised. 'Never. I just don't understand why the Skylords have abandoned us. What do we do to call them back?
'The Lady says we have to be true to ourselves.
'Most people are, aren't they? I know so many who were. Decent honest folk who died. Are their souls all lost? Is Akeem alone and astray somewhere in the sky? Is Melzar? Obron? For some reason he didn't want to examine, he suddenly thought of Salrana. Salrana who was working conscientiously in Ufford's hospital, waiting for the day she returned to Makkathran — and him. She'd devoted her life to the Lady, and she was decent. Certainly more than I am. Would her soul be lost in the Void? Such thoughts made him very uncomfortable, and for more than one reason. / really ought to write to her, explain I have found Kristabel. But I would never want to hear such news from a letter. Lady!
'I don't know, Edeard, Kristabel said, 'and that's the truth. If you want answers to such notions you'll have to ask a Mother. I can get you an appointment with the Pythia herself if you like. We're related, distantly.
'No. I'm sorry. My thoughts are wondering tonight, that's all. He tried to put the memories of Salrana away. I'll deal with that in an honourable way when she returns.
He felt her hair shift across him. Her fingers stroked his cheek. 'I thought I'd managed to calm you.
'You did. I am so completely exhausted my mind is in a daze, that's why I'm being so stupid.
'Do you want to make love to me again?
He smiled up into the darkness where he knew her face to be. 'I can't actually move right now, let alone do that.
'You'd better recover by tomorrow.
'I'll go to sleep now, I promise. I'll be ready for you again tomorrow night.
'Tomorrow morning, she said sharply.
'Yes, Mistress.
Kristabel, he discovered as she woke him at daybreak, wasn't joking.
During the days they walked along the coast, exploring neighbouring coves and beaches. Sometimes they'd take a swim, then warm themselves afterwards making love in the dunes. Kristabel especially took a delicious thrill at the prospect of being discovered by some estate worker or housekeeper. Obliging her wasn't exactly difficult for him.
On the fourth afternoon they walked back along the lodge's track, surveying the fields and groves that spread back from the small strip of wild ground that ran behind the shore. The coast line was a series of rugged coves reaching almost the entire way back to the city. Many of the larger ones were dominated by villages that had extended or adopted the curving cliffs to make harbours for their fishing fleets. The rest had been incorporated into the estates of Makkathran's Grand Families, who had built pavilions or lodges where their younger generations could idle away the summer.
Further south, the land dipped to become a saltwater swamp before rising again at the end of the Iguru. Then the Bruneau Mountains stood up to fence off the arid southern plains. Towns and farmland continued to cling to the coast as it curved eastwards all the way down to Charyau, Querencia's southernmost city, just past the equator.
'They say you have to wear long clothes all year round there, Kristabel said as they stood on top of a tall hummock, gazing southwards. On the horizon they could just make out the snow-tipped peaks of the Bruneau range. 'The sun is so strong it shrivels your skin, especially if you're not used to it.
'Do they have stories of anyone else sharing our world? Edeard asked. 'Perhaps strange ships that they've sighted at a distance out at sea?
'No. Our ships trade with them all the time, and their schooners regularly make port in Makkathran. If there were any stories like that, we'd hear them. She tilted her head to one side. 'You're so interested in what lies beyond our reach. Why?