Part 8 (1/2)
am eager to meet this child, and you are familiar to her. Would you have breakfast with me here at seven tomorrow? Her interview will begin after that.”
”I will be here,” said Mengyao.
That night, in his living quarters on the fourth floor of the Hall of Ministers, Mengmoshu slept a troubled sleep.
He was awakened three times with a feeling of sorrow, flas.h.i.+ng visions of dead bodies, the face of a woman that vaguely disturbed him. The third time he was left wide awake, and suddenly there was a voice.
Mengmoshu, I cannot sleep with this racket. Is this the child brought back from the Tumatsin?
It was Juimoshu.
Yes. I've never felt such power from a young one, but her grief is terrible and we must handle her carefully. We have the support of the Emperor in treating her well.Then there is something you must know, said Juimoshu.They spoke without words for an hour, and formed a plan for the coming day.
CHAPTER SIX.
MENGNU.
When the guard came, Kati was instantly awake.
Her head ached and she felt as if she'd not slept at all, yet apparently she had, for she was on the cot, a light blanket over her. The guard came in with a tray of food and put it on the table when he saw she was awake. ”Someone is coming for you,” he said, then left the room and closed the door again.
She was ravenous. There was bread and cheese, a hot, grainy cereal with milk added to it, a small pot of tea. She wolfed it down greedily, drank all the tea, then relieved herself on the fancy toilet in the corner.
She waited on the cot only a few minutes before there was a soft knock on the door and it opened slightly. A small face peered around the edge of it. A woman. An old woman.
”Kati?”
She nodded, and the woman came in, and instantly there was a presence in Kati's mind. She is a Searcher, thought Kati, amazed.
You are surprised, I see. The woman was tiny, dressed in black. There was no bulge on her forehead, or prominent veins, yet the forehead was unusual, not flat but domed, extending to the temples.
It's possible for a woman to be a Searcher, Kati, but there have been few of us. I am Juimoshu. Some people would like to talk to you, and I will take you to them.
I have nothing to say to them.The old woman walked forward, knelt before her, their eyes meeting. But you will. They are like us, Kati. You have much in common with them.
I am not a Searcher. I am Tumatsin, and I want to be with my people.
Juimoshu reached out to take Kati's hands and Kati balled them into fists in her lap. Juimoshu took them anyway, and her touch was warm, her eyes soft. Kati felt calmness, a sense of protection in those eyes.
You have a gift, Kati, and we want to find out about it. We want to know how you received it, for no other Tumatsin has received such a gift before. We think First Mother has blessed you.
”You mean the lady with the green eyes?” said Kati.
Juimoshu smiled, and squeezed Kati's hands. Her voice was husky, yet somehow melodic. ”Yes, Kati, the lady who spoke to you from very far away. She is our ancestor and yours, too. She wants us to take care of you for Her. You've been in those clothes all night. Let's get you bathed, and then I'll find a nice robe for you to wear when we meet the people. Will you do that for me?”
She could detect no threat and nodded, even let the old woman take her hand to lead her out of the room and back to the barred gate. The short bow of the guard did not escape her, nor did the blankness of his mind. The woman leading her was someone he feared, a person with authority over him.
They climbed three flights of interior stairs to a hallway in white, and went in the first door there. The room was a marvel in porcelain, brightly lit. There was a row of fancy toilets, cubicles with transparent doors, and a huge, sunken tub, filled with steaming water. There was room for several people in that tub, and the water smelled like herbs. Juimoshu handed her a bar of soap, fragrant and smooth, not like the coa.r.s.e soap of the Tumatsin, and said, ”Bathe yourself, and I will wait outside.”
Kati climbed into the tub, wearing only her pendants, and it was the most wonderful bath she'd ever had. The odors of herbs and flowers filled her, anxiety draining away with the heat. She rubbed the soap all over her body and into her hair, again and again, until finally Juimoshu called, ”Hurry, now. Dry yourself with the towel by the tub and I will bring in your robe.”
The towel was thick, and soft. Kati rubbed herself until her skin tingled, then held the towel in front of her as Juimoshu entered with a black robe and a pair of matching slippers.
How different you look. Lovely.
Kati put on the robe, felt Juimoshu's hands, then a brush, on her hair. The woman brushed her hair down slowly, gently, her tiny hands occasionally smoothing it. ”We'll let it fall naturally, so it will dry faster,” she murmured.
Kati felt relaxed, nearly sleepy from the heat of the bath, but it was not for long. Her anxiety grew as they climbed another flight of stairs to walk a long hallway surrounded by transparent material like clear ice with a view to the outside: cl.u.s.tered buildings to the right, to the left a panorama of the city sprawling below, down to the valley and the mountains beyond, and before them, a great, golden dome dazzling in the light of Tengri-Khan. They came out into another hallway in white, with closed, numbered doors on either side.
Kati's heart was pounding again. She felt a gentle squeeze on her hand. Juimoshu knocked softly on a door, opened it slightly. ”I have Kati here,” she said.
”Come, dear. These men are your friends.”
They entered a room all in white except for a large, ebony table with matching chairs. The walls were barren of decorations, and light came from the ceiling. In one corner were a couch, a low, small ebony table before it, and two chairs. Two men had been sitting there and they stood as she entered. Both were Searchers, but now dressed in white, not their usual military garb. Older men, but not so old as Juimoshu, looking similar to each other, like brothers, one slightly larger. The smaller one she recognized as the man who had brought her back from the ordu.
Greetings, Kati. I am Mengyao, and the man beside me is Mengmoshu, my superior. Please sit here, and let us get to know you. Juimoshu will also join us.
Juimoshu led Kati to the couch, and sat down next to her, facing the men. Kati was enveloped by soft fabric, feeling small. She twisted her fingers together, and looked at Mengyao.
I know you from yesterday. Why am I here? My mother! You killed her! Kati's cheeks were suddenly flushed with anger.
The men stiffened, seeming startled.
Gently, child. We, the Moshuguang, tried to prevent that, but there was an error by the military people. Our Emperor sends his regrets to you for what happened, but we cannot undo it. We're sorry about your loss, and intend to devote ourselves to your care.
I WANT TO GO HOME! It was the other man who'd spoken to her, not Mengyao.
Both men blinked hard, and Kati felt Juimoshu flinch beside her.
”I think we will speak with words,” said the man Mengmoshu. ”It will be easier for all of us, and less painful.”
”I want to go home,” said Kati sorrowfully.
”I know. I know,” said Mengmoshu, ”but you are with us, now. You are with people like you.”
”I'm not like you! The Searchers are evil! They go into people's minds, and steal their private thoughts. You are the Emperor's spies. Ma has told me this.” Kati clenched her hands, and felt sudden hatred for these people who held her captive.
Kati felt Juimoshu's hand brush her cheek. ”We are not evil, dear, but we do serve the Emperor in searching for lies people tell him. Tell me, Kati, did your mother know you could speak without words?”
”Yes, she knew, and it frightened her. She was always afraid for me after she found out.”
She was careful of what she thought when I was near. Oh, you heard that!