The meal was ordinary to Baluka, but to Rielle every bite was a discovery. What she thought were small round root vegetables were spongy balls of bread cooked in a rich sauce. Long green spears turned out to be a sea animal, soaked in a vinegary brine. Thick, flat cakes were in fact yellow leaves, with a crunchy crust and sweet, juicy interior. Cones of sweet red berries encrusted an inedible woody core that was tossed back into the fire. The meat was the least strange in taste and texture. All was delicious.
She managed to finish everything. Sated, perhaps a little too full, she watched as the children collected the plates and took them away somewhere behind the carts to clean them. Cups were produced and drinks poured–another flavoured water designed to combat the drying of the desert air. She noticed then the dark lines and dots around the men and women’s arms. Baluka supplied the explanation: the lines marked major points in a Traveller’s life, from a woman’s first bleed and a young man’s coming of age, to marriages and the arrival of offspring. The dots marked each cycle, a measure of time similar to a year. Both were made with a tool that injected ink under the skin. It was a painful procedure, but had great meaning for them.
Lejikh looked around the circle, and as his gaze settled on Rielle she read from Baluka’s mind that they’d reached the time of night for conversation and discussion, beginning with their guest then moving on to the business of the family.
“Rielle Lazuli,” Lejikh began. “My son is your translator and guide. He will look after you while you are with us, and answer your questions as fully as he is able. I know there are some you wish to ask now. As it will be easier and faster, please use your own language. Baluka will translate our replies.”
Rielle considered where to begin. “I met an Angel in my world many years–cycles–ago. He is Valhan, the Angel of Storms. A few days ago he offered me a position among the artisans in his world. I accepted and he took me out of my world, through other worlds…”–memories of some of the landscapes they’d passed through flashed through her mind–“… and left me with an Angel named Inekera while he travelled on to check the state of his world. Inekera left a short while later, and when she returned she took me through many worlds so fast I began to lose breath. She stopped between this world and another and… well… pushed me so I arrived here.” Almost dead from suffocation, she added silently. “I thought I was home, as I grew up in a city near a desert, but the sand was different. I thought then that I was in my world but in a different desert until I saw the stars. Then I thought I was in the Angel’s world.”
Lejikh shook his head. “This world is unpopulated. There is not enough water here to support many people, and what is here is deep under the sands. I doubt that this is the world of your Angel.” He frowned. “I know of Inekera. She is no Angel, but a powerful sorcerer. It is unlikely she would not know this world, as it is close to hers, or that you couldn’t survive here. I cannot guess at her reasons, but she appears to have intended to thwart your… your benefactor’s intentions for you.”
Rielle sagged. If Inekera had meant to kill her it was unlikely she would ever tell the Angel what she’d done or where she had sent Rielle. There was no point waiting for him to rescue her.
“What do you wish to do?” Lejikh asked.
“Can you take me to Valhan’s world?” she asked.
His eyes closed slightly–a tiny wince. “We do not know where it is,” he replied. “I might be able to discover the location of Inekera’s world, but I would not advise you to return there.”
She nodded. “No, that would not be wise. Can you take me to my world?”
“Do you remember the way back?”
She frowned, trying to remember the sequence of landscapes. Inekera had been travelling so fast. “Perhaps if I started at her world.”
He scratched his beard. “Even if we were able to find your world, we may not be able to take you into it. We have seen in your mind that the Angel stripped your world of magic before he left. If any of us enter your world, we will never be able to leave again.”
She bowed her head. “I can’t ask that of you.”
“We would not do it if you did. However, if you learn to travel between worlds you could take yourself home.”
She looked up at him, wondering if he understood what it meant to her to learn any non-defensive use for magic.
“It takes time to gain that skill and use it safely,” he continued. “More time than we can stay in this world, or the next, or even several worlds hence. With us you would be travelling ever further from your home world, so you would be better off finding a teacher in one of the next few worlds we visit.”
“And if I don’t learn magic?”
“We will find you a new home.”
Rielle looked down at her hands. So I must learn to use magic or remain stranded outside my world. So much for becoming an artisan in Valhan’s realm.
“Either way, we will help you,” Lejikh assured her. “We will make sure you find a safe home among good people.”