The Namura Stone (The Ammonite Galaxy, book 6)

Chapter 13

THE NEXT MORNING Tallen led the way out of Mesteta and along the roads towards the sacred marshes. He had come this same way only months ago, with Valhai Diva, and it was painful to remember that journey. He couldn't help but feel apprehensive, so he was scouting out the path in advance of the others, slightly hampered by the weight of Raven, who was still tired from the previous day.

Ledin saw his predicament and came forward to take the little girl. She was sleeping, quite secure in the knowledge that she was being protected by Tallen. Yet as soon as Ledin took her out of his arms, she woke up and glared at him, opening her eyes widely, showing she was quite ready to bawl her disagreement with the change.

Ledin jiggled her in his arms. "Sshh, Raven! You are safe with me, too."

At first, Diva's daughter seemed unwilling to believe him, and her expression showed her feelings with extreme clarity. She reached out towards Tallen's back as he padded on ahead of them. This lasted for some minutes, until she seemed to come to terms with the new shoulder, settling down and letting her head drop forwards again.

Six walked alongside them, in a sort of stupor. He still seemed to be taking no interest whatsoever in his surroundings. Although they had managed to persuade him to eat and drink, it was obvious to them all that he had real difficulty swallowing food at all. His eyes were terrible to see. They had a sort of stunned expression deep inside, coated with sheer pain. When he did look around him it was with a dull lack of interest. He was still simply unable to function.

The others ushered him along the road. Anything would surely be better for him than sitting on the hard earth in one of the canth farm corrals waiting for Diva's seal brown to die. What if it didn't? And what if it did? Would that mean Diva could reappear as a trimorph? How would he be able to cope with that, if she did?

They trudged on, their heads clouded by such thoughts, their eyes skimming the landmarks along the way with little interest.

Only Tallen and Bennel were completely alert. Neither of them had forgotten their jobs, and neither of them would let their feelings change their priorities.

Bennel was reliving the scenes on Dessia, wondering if he had been somehow to blame for Valhai Diva's death, wondering how he could have changed the final outcome, but his eyes scanned all directions just in case.

Tallen, who had already been in mourning for Petra, was surprised to find that emotional pain did not have a ceiling. There was, it seemed, always room for more. He had disliked Diva heartily on first meeting her, but had come to admire her spirit, her tenaciousness, and her attempts to change Coriolis despite being one of the dreaded meritocrats herself. Without diminishing the hole in his heart which Petra had left, she caused wrenches of sadness of her own. He glared around him, hating the world more than ever.

They were several miles along the track when Grace came forward to speak to Bennel. She gave Tallen a look, and he nodded, picking up his pace so that he was a good twenty metres in front, out of earshot. Grace had plucked Raven out of Ledin's arms and was brushing the little girl's hair out of her eyes with one hand.

"Bennel," she began, "Six will need somebody to look after Raven – look after the house by the Emerald Lake now, and I don't think it is the right time to bring strangers into his life. I ... err ... I was wondering whether you might be prepared to stay with him?"

Bennel stiffened. "Naturally I shall stay with Valhai Six. Where else would I go?"

"Good. I am relieved that you will not abandon him. Of course, you won't be able to look after Raven, not on your own. It ... err ... it is a great pity you are not married. If you were, I would ask you to take your wife over to Xiantha. As it is ..." her voice trailed off and she waited.