- Chapter 7 -

"Where is Skylla?"

Raven, Ashyra and Chal'Shi had been sitting on the rug in Chal'Shi's room, eating nuts and fruit and chattering as any gathering of girls greater than one tended to do, when Sshraada invited herself in. The Naagian did not speak to them much, and appeared to do even less, save stand around nearby and look threatening. This she was an undisputed master at, and the girls usually let her get on with it.

This was different, however. The snake-woman had butted in on something private - almost sacred - and the dancers were not about to let their bodyguard trample so thoughtlessly over their privacy.

"We don't know", said Ashyra sharply, "and to be honest, I don't think any of us care."

 "I am not allowed such luxuries", replied the Naagian bluntly. "If you have information concerning Skylla's whereabouts, you must provide it."

"She's probably...er - dancing solo for the Prince or Yasil", suggested Chal'Shi, chuckling. "Wasn't that what she was doing last night?"

"I believe so", said Sshraada. "She entered a private chamber, to which I was not admitted. That room is currently unoccupied."

"I might be able to help you", Raven offered, against her better judgement. I don't know why I did that, she thought, but I'm stuck with it now...

"Help? How?" Sshraada looked singularly unconvinced.

"I...I might be able to track her emotional aura", answered the girl.

"I hear too many 'mights', and too few 'cans'", said the bodyguard sternly. "Convince me."

"I can only do that by actually going and looking for her", said Raven. "Shall we go?"

"If the Ershalin find you of interest, then maybe you can do as you claim", conceded Sshraada, and she stepped out of the doorway to allow Raven to get to her own room, and dress.

Raven was unsure how to begin, for she had never tried to locate someone by their emotions before. She had a fair idea of what Skylla's emotional mind-scape was like, but instead tried to look for something more general - the kind of emotions that came over herself when she danced.

Searching for those - or, in fact, any - emotions throughout the whole vast volume of the royal ship was like watching for animals creeping around in the undergrowth in the pitch darkness of the night. Gradually, Raven became accustomed to the great expanses of empty ship, sensing emotions purely by the "echoes" they caused in those unoccupied spaces.

Tracing the echoes back to their sources, Raven began to map out the emotional "neighbourhood". She located cheerful servants, enjoying the leftovers from that night's banquet, bored guardsmen on duty at the top of the boarding ramp - and an almost blinding hot-spot of sexual arousal. Raven "retreated" the moment she touched it, for she recognised Yasil's psychic fingerprint at once, and did not want to further annoy the Shr'Ganti half-breed.

"This way", the dancer told Sshraada, pointing across the hall way to a passage directly ahead. "I...I think Skylla and Yasil are together..."

The Naagian stormed past Raven, growling ominously. The dancer glared at the serpent-woman, upset about being so rudely pushed about, then hurried after the bodyguard. Better not get on the wrong side of this one as well, the girl thought as she caught up with Sshraada.

"To the left, now", said Raven, struggling to keep up with the taller Naagian's long strides. The dancer tried to focus solely on Skylla, but it was not easy, now that the First Dancer was close enough to Yasil that their emotional auras were almost one and the same.

"Next door", she said, halfway down the passage, "That - that's how it feels..."

"You only sense Skylla and the half-breed?"

"Yes." That was the only thing Raven was quite certain about. But then again...

Sshraada led the way, without ceremony or warning. She resisted the urge to shoulder-charge the door, not wishing to damage anything that might take her entire fee for the trip to repair, but still flung the door open with some force.

The chamber beyond was almost completely dark, faint amber light coming from lanterns fixed to the walls at regular intervals. The room was circular, its floor strewn with cushions, and easily half the chamber was filled with a dome of glass panels, held together by a frame-work of silvery metal. Its circumference took up most of the ceiling, and its lowest point was a couple of feet short of the floor, the deficit made up by a short pillar which the framework merged into.

Raven was marvelling at this structure, not understanding why she could not see her reflection in the mirrors that appeared to line the interior of the inverted dome, when a rarely-heard voice cut through the gloom. "Is it not customary to knock first?", queried the Prince.

The dancers' regal host slid from the near-darkness, somewhere behind the upturned dome of glass, clad in a long, wide-sleeved gown of midnight blue satin. The garment was belted with an iridescent silk scarf, but was effectively open to the waist, revealing a hairless chest, and gleaming black boots with white cuffs could be glimpsed occasionally through the opening at the front of the "skirt".

Sshraada glared at Raven, the sides of her neck pulsing visibly. "I only felt the two of them!", the dancer exclaimed, not volunteering the fact that she could not sense the Prince's emotions. "But...but where are they...?"

"Upstairs", said the Prince. "They should just about be ready - ah, here they are..."

Skylla, dressed in one of her new outfits, suddenly dropped into view, her hair awry, landing amongst the cushions that partly filled the dome. "Please, mistress Raven - would you do me the honour of joining me for the performance?", the Prince asked.

Raven sat on the cushions next to the Prince, thankful that he had not taken lasting offence at the sudden intrusion. She had only just started to get settled - or as settled as she could be in the company of royalty - when Yasil made her appearance, climbing down a series of small loops running down one of the vertical supports.

The half-Shr'Ganti's boots came into view first. They were primarily black lacquered leather, trimmed with white leather, straight around the tops but crafted into flames around where the laces hooked on, and the laces themselves were actually narrow pink ribbons.

The boots were all Raven saw of Yasil's clothing, because they were all the giantess was wearing.

Yasil pounced on Skylla, leaping from the fifth or sixth rung up from the cushions, and began pulling at the First Dancer's clothes, stripping off the girl's red satin shirt and tearing at the laces holding her scarlet leather skirt shut. Pried loose, the skirt was unceremoniously pulled down and off, past Skylla's glossy black boots, Yasil's fingers lingering briefly on the short cuffs...

Raven felt a slight tugging at some of her hair. She looked round, and found the Prince stroking a length of her hair, which lay close to him. "You have magnificent hair", she said, as though daydreaming. "Yasil has said she would like to dance with you - tomorrow night, perhaps...?"

"I won't do that", said Raven resolutely, glancing back at the dome, where she caught the briefest glimpse of Yasil bending down over Skylla, with the dancer's booted legs hooked around the half-Shr'Ganti's neck. Yasil's tongue slid over the dancer's bare belly, and Skylla arched her back, digging the spiked heels of her long black boots into the cushions.

"Of course not - it would go against the contract between the Court of The Sapphire Cluster and The Phantasia", assured the Prince. "Skylla's only doing this because she has ah, come to an understanding with Yasil, and no harm will come of it."

"Does Skylla...does she know you - we - are watching?"

"No", the youth replied, "but Yasil does. It is at times like this that I am glad she is so willing to share her...intimate encounters."

Raven moved away, retrieving her hank of hair. She had thought the Prince to be a kind, gentle soul, based on her first impression of him, but this encounter changed all that. She suddenly felt rather uncomfortable in his company. "I think I should be going now, Your Highness", she said meekly.

Sshraada moved silently up to Raven's side, and put a firm hand on the girl's shoulder. "You will stay, where I can keep an eye on you", the snake-woman hissed. "I must remain here to ensure Skylla's safety, and I will not have any more of you running around on your own."

"I'll stay", said Raven moodily, "but that doesn't mean I have to watch."

The girl turned her back on Skylla's escapades, and the Prince's company. She never saw how genuinely disappointed he was that she no longer enjoyed being with him.

Yasil, on the other hand, smiled in the Prince's direction, and winked towards Raven, even though both were hidden from her view, and let her hair fall forward to conceal Skylla behind a deep red silken curtain.

For what seemed like an age, Raven tossed and turned in her bed that night, eager to get some sleep before setting off early to look for Fayreen, yet infuriatingly restless. Despite all that, she eventually managed to fall asleep, slipping into sleep just when she thought it would never come.

Raven's dream-world did little to relax her, for she found herself reliving that uncomfortable time in the room with the inverted glass dome. As with many dreams, not everything was exactly the same as reality, yet the actual differences were impossible to identify with any certainty. Nothing was radically changed, and thus a threat to the illusion of the dream.

One distinct variation was that the girl could not keep her eyes away from Yasil and Skylla, no matter how hard she tried. The First Dancer's wrists were bound with silk to one of the ladder loops, whilst Yasil held the woman up so that she could put her tongue to work around the dancer's crotch...

The hypnotic lure of such unfettered sexuality was strong, far stronger, in fact, than Raven had recalled, yet it only took something as subtle as a feeling that someone was standing next to her to break the spell. She turned, and came eye-to-eye with Fayreen.

The Ershalin's hood was down, and her face was now clearly visible, and free from shadow. Her skin was moon-pale, with an iridescent sheen like mother-of-pearl, and the long straight hair framing her beautiful child-like face was a glittering metallic sea-blue.

"Wh-why are you here?", stuttered Raven.

"To see you", Fayreen replied, "and to spare you the disappointment of not getting the chance to come looking for me. Your ship has left port early, and by the time you come back this way, I will have moved on."

"You knew I was coming to find you?"

The Ershalin chuckled. It was a quite lovely sound, unlike the voice of any other being. "I suspected that you would."

Raven gulped down her nervousness. "How much do you know about me?", she asked, grabbing this chance for enlightenment.

"How much do you know about you?", Fayreen replied. "That is the real question."

The dancer felt the opportunity start to slip away. "Please - if you can tell me anything..."

Fayreen sat next to Raven, and took the girl's hand. "I can answer three questions, and no more. Consider them carefully. I am bound by ancient oath to be truthful."

Raven thought for a moment. She had been given just what she wanted, but did not know how best to proceed. In the end, however, she chose to be simple with her first query, and work from there.

"What can you tell me about who I a...who I was, before I came here?"

The Ershalin raised one narrow, arched eyebrow. "You were wise to change your question - you already know who you are. As for who you were...to learn that you must first free yourself of other burdens, such as your apprehension about this realm. Embrace this world, in all its wanton diversity, and free your inner self."

Raven frowned, disappointed that her strategy had failed so quickly. The answer did nothing to further her self-knowledge immediately. What do I ask now?, she wondered.

"Will I ever be able to return home?", she eventually asked.

"The possibility exists, but by the time you find yourself able to make use of that possibility, you may have a new definition of 'home'."

Again - a cryptic response, Raven sighed inwardly. "Is it worth my asking a third question, if I'm going to come across all the answers by myself anyway?"

"It all depends on the question", said Fayreen.

Raven again took time to ponder her next, and final, question. She was desperate for a worthwhile answer. Even a straight-forward "yes-no" question yields a riddle, she thought.

"I will do my best to answer plainly, but there will be a price", the Ershalin said, seeming to sense Raven's frustration. "Now, more than ever, you should consider your question carefully."

"What sort of price?", enquired the girl anxiously.

"Nothing you cannot afford, and nothing that will bring you harm", answered the little woman.

Two questions had come to mind for Raven. She could either ask "Is the Prince really Lord Serpentine?", or...

"Is Ashyra's brother really dead?"

Fayreen closed her eyes briefly, then smiled, apparently relieved. "No", she said assuredly, "he lives. You must not tell her, however. She must find out on her own."

"I-I can't do that!", exclaimed Raven. "How can I look at her, feeling sad without him, when I know the truth?"

"Such is the price of this knowledge", said Fayreen. "She will understand."

The Ershalin pulled her hood up again, and got up to leave. "I have answered your questions, in accordance with the ancient rites", she declared, then her voice softened again. "I can, however, offer these words without compulsion or restriction...

"Whatever happens, always be Ashyra's friend - you will both need each other, no matter what paths you take. Second - whatever form evil takes, there is no greater evil than to kill another's dreams. And finally - when they come to you, welcome them."

A range of feelings flowed through Raven as Fayreen began to walk away. Shame, for she now bore a secret she had to keep from her dearest friend...

...gratitude - the gods had allowed her the chance to talk with the enigmatic Ershalin...

...fear - the word "evil" had been mentioned far too many times for the dancer's liking...

...hope - Fayreen had implied that things would work out...

***One last thing, Raven***, said Fayreen's mind-voice, clearer and sharper than her spoken words. ***If you're that keen to know the truth about the Prince, why don't you ask him...?***

Raven got up, again wanting to follow the fascinating magical creature...

...but when she rose, the girl found she was back in her bed, in her own cabin. The air hummed with the distant, muffled purr of the ship's internal power systems, drawing excess energy from the drive-sails, only noticeable in the quiet of the night. The ship had indeed left port, in the time that Raven had been sleeping.

The girl briefly considered getting up to gaze out of one of the external view-ports, but the lure of the fantastic display of distorted space rushing past was not enough to keep her awake. Raven turned over, and almost instantly fell asleep again.

This page hosted by - Get your own Free Home Page