Part 48 (1/2)

Lahash made an irritated gesture, then rubbed his face with his hands. Energy seemed to be leaking away from him. The l.u.s.t to pursue was fading. Who is he? You wouldn't understand. Don't even ask.'

Aninka objected to his condescending tone. How dare you! We, more than you, appreciate what kind of creature Peverel Othman really is!'

Lahash gave her a narrow glance. Oh do you...?' His voice was flat.

Taziel pulled himself away from Aninka. Don't fight,' he said. Stop shouting, for f.u.c.k's sake!'

Are you all right?' Aninka asked. Her hands reached for him, but Taziel only gave her his hand.

I'm fine. Things have become clear, however.' He fixed Lahash with a surprisingly steady eye. Peverel Othman is far more than we knew, isn't he? We were too blind, too wrapped up in the mundane world we inhabited to realise. The clues were there all along, but we'd denied our past and shut ourselves away from the truth. Peverel Othman is an incarnation of the Watcher Shemyaza. Isn't that right, carnifex?'

What?' Aninka said. What do you mean?'

Lahash studied Taziel through slitted eyes. Did you know that all the time?'

He shook his head. No. Sometimes I suspected, simply because Pev got into such crazy states about himself, and I probed his mind to try and help him. I picked up images, which I thought were... metaphorical. They had to be. I was suspicious when Enniel called upon Shemyaza at High Crag to guide us to Othman.' He looked at Aninka. I should have been more persistent in questioning Enniel.' He glanced back at Lahash. The Parzupheim have known about Othman for a while, haven't they?'

Lahash exhaled impatiently, glanced away, then back to Taziel. Yes. It is something they've feared. There have always been prophecies that Shemyaza would return, and that his advent will have catastrophic consequences.'

Aninka couldn't help laughing. Listen to you two! Othman is Shemyaza? Are you mad? That's not possible.'

It's true,' Taziel said. Tell her, Lahash. Tell her it's true.'

Lahash looked slightly uncomfortable. Physically, Peverel Othman has not lived for thousands of years, but his consciousness is the enduring soul of Shemyaza. At least, that is what is suspected. He has been monitored.'

But why?' Aninka felt too exhausted to expand her question. There were too many questions. She could try to scoff at what she'd heard, tell herself it was nothing more than foolish beliefs dredged up from a long dead past, yet she had just seen with her own eyes the most incredible things. Was the existence of Shemyaza in flesh any less credible?

There will come a time,' Lahash said, when Shemyaza is vital to this world. But this incarnation is warped. It was thought best to contain it or kill it, to allow the soul to go free and inhabit a new host. Also, when the time of reckoning comes, the Parzupheim want Shemyaza to be firmly under their control.'

Taziel shook his head. We'll never catch him, Lahash. We have to let him go. We'll only snare him when the time is right, and that's not now.'

I have people to report to,' Lahash said. He glanced uncertainly across the clearing in the direction Shemyaza and his companion had taken. I can't just let him get away.'

Taziel said nothing, but began walking back down the hill in the direction they'd come from. It's all over here now,' he said. Leave it, Lahash. There's nothing we can do. Believe me, I know it! Shemyaza has already left this place.'

Aninka followed him down, took his arm. Taz, this is all too weird. I can't believe it.'

They knew what he was,' Taziel said. They always knew. They just didn't see fit to inform us. How did they ever think we could do anything? How? It's insane. We're lucky to be alive.'

So he'll just go on now, killing and destroying? Taz, we can't allow that!'

It's beyond our abilities to control,' Taziel answered. He's scorched us, Ninka. We are just memories of his power.'

Emma drove the old car, Daniel in the pa.s.senger seat beside her. They'd grabbed very little from the cottage and had had to restrain Lily who'd gone crazy about leaving her cats behind. Emma had been the one to release the scrawny chickens from their run at the back of the house. They would have to survive as best they could.

The twins were in the back of the car with him. What should she call him now? Was he still Peverel Othman? The being of light he'd briefly become at the High Place had faded now. His skin was grey and cold, but at least he was alive. She had felt the fragility of his soul as she'd carried him from the woods. He was so tall yet she'd been able to carry him in her arms like a child, or else like a man might carry a woman from danger. She'd wondered then whether he was dead. Dead from grief. But no, he was still breathing.

We are a family now,' Daniel said.

Emma glanced at him. Are we? Light me a cigarette.'

She looked in the rearview mirror, saw Lily with her arms round him crying on his shoulder. Owen was sitting there staring straight ahead. Emma hoped the boy's mind hadn't been irreparably damaged. She didn't want to have to cope with anything like that. Daniel seemed to have become childlike. His voice sounded very young, although his eyes had become far too old. They'd been through too much, these kids. She took the cigarette from Daniel's outstretched hand. Thanks.'

Ishtahar made us a family,' Daniel said. You are the housekeeper and I am the vizier.'

Right.' Emma sucked hungrily on the cigarette. She wanted to tell Daniel to shut up. Get some sleep.'

I'm not tired.' Daniel leaned back against his seat. Is my father dead? I hope Verity will be all right. How will she get out of the cellar?'

Emma was grateful he didn't suggest they go back to see to it themselves. She'll be fine. Someone will find her. Someone will come looking. The police probably.'

I have a new father now,' Daniel said. He looked over the seat, then back at Emma. He is Shemyaza.'

I know. Just relax, Daniel. You've had a very bizarre experience.'

The car glides along the twisting country lanes. There is a dim light inside. The woman driving the car concentrates on the road. The boy beside her is considering destinies. He knows that eventually Shemyaza will recognise him as his the vizier and prophet, as he always has been. Daniel, around whom the lions lay down, who spoke with angels. As for Lily and Owen, their function is to help Shemyaza fulfil his own destiny. Emma has the role of defender. She will be their guardian and their weapon.

The car glides onwards into darkness. A woman's face can be seen through the windscreen, frowning hard. Draw back. A woman's face becomes the face of a lioness. Sekhmet. G.o.ddess of War. Protectress.

Chapter Thirty-Six.

November 3rd: Little Moor The unnatural heat had left the village, and cold had swept in in its wake. Verity had to put on her thickest coat before going out to the makes.h.i.+ft aviary that she and Raven had constructed the day after the Night of Terror. Outside, the garden looked enchanted, covered in frost. Verity whistled as she crackled her way over the lawn, leaving a green trail in the gra.s.s. Hearing her tune, Raven came bounding out of the shrubbery, jumping up around her legs like a large dog. Verity laughed, put down her basket of bird food, and squatted down to take the cat in her arms. I love you,' she said, burying her face in the fur of his shoulders, kissing the hard muscles beneath.

And I you,' he replied, before uttering a feline chirrup and pulling away from her, to dance on ahead towards the aviary.

Verity had never experienced so complete a love as she felt for Raven. Last night, in the warmth of their bed, he had told her his true name, but it was difficult to p.r.o.nounce, so she knew she would rarely use it. Sometimes, in the delirium of their love-making, she might remember it and sing it, but not in the clear, hard light of day.

He had come to her in the night of terror and darkness, smas.h.i.+ng down the door of the cellar to reach her. She had looked up, sick from pain and fever, to see his tall body standing at the top of the stairs, wrapped in a fringed, green robe. She had never beheld such majesty and power in any living thing. I knew you would come,' she managed to say. He had leapt down the stairs in a single bound, his eyes full of fury and love. His rough tongue had licked her wounds, bringing a healing warmth to her body.

Don't leave me,' she'd said to him softly as he'd carried her back to her life.

Never,' he'd answered fiercely, and she knew he meant it.

The aftermath of the night left lingering echoes in Little Moor. There were deaths to be mourned. Nothing would ever be the same, but in some way the villagers knew they were free now. They would look to Verity for support, instinctively aware her position in their community had changed. She was a guardian now.

On the day after the event, Lily's cats had come creeping down the lane to Low Mede, to take up stations of entreaty around the kitchen door. Since then, they had become residents.