The Spirit Thief Part 19

The wave turned, angling the peak of its foaming crest directly at Eli's head. "What do you know of that, human?"

"I'm right, aren't I?" Eli said, staring up at the swirling water with his arms crossed over his chest. "I know your imprisonment was awful, but, enslaved or free, you're still a Great Spirit. Those animals and trees and all the rest living on what used to be your land, they're yours to guard just as much as the fish that lived in you when this was all sea. Even if things have changed, you can't just turn your back on them."

Without warning, the shallow water at Eli's feet geysered up, lifting the thief clear off the ground until he was level with the wave's crest.

"What would a human know of the pain of enslavement?" the spirit roared. "Who are you to lecture me when it was your kind who created this situation? You humans disgust me. You came from nowhere-blind, short lived, half deaf-and yet you were given dominion over the spirit world? Understand this, boy"-the geyser of water surged higher still, pus.h.i.+ng Eli almost to the ceiling-"I take no more orders from your kind."

With a flick of his current, the great spirit sent Eli hurtling across the ruined hall. For a gut-wrenching moment, Eli flew silently through the dark. Then he struck the crumbling wall with a deathly thud and tumbled with a splash to the ground. Miranda held her breath, waiting for him to move, to breathe. But he did not stir. The ripples around him stilled, and Miranda felt her stomach turn to ice. Without thinking, or knowing what she could do if she reached him, she hurled herself forward, slipping and skidding across the wet floor. Before she had gone more than a few steps, a wall of water erupted, blocking her path.

She whirled on the spirit, eyes flas.h.i.+ng. "You had no right!" she shouted. "Thief or not, he helped us, helped you you." Her spirit roared open, stronger and brighter than it had ever been and sharp as a spear as she leveled it at the water's glowing heart.

"Come then, little girl," the wave rumbled, rising up. "If this is how your kind repays kindness, it's better I kill you like this than leave you to dirty my waters later."

"Miranda!" Gin howled, struggling to stand. "He's a Great Spirit, Miranda! Don't be an idiot!"

But Miranda's rage had taken her further than his voice could reach. With a roar, she hurled the sharpened edge of her spirit at the sea's glowing heart as the water at her feet erupted, covering everything in a great, white wave.

Eli lay on his back where he had landed, trying not to think. He tried not to think about the pain or the freezing water that soaked his lower body. He tried not to think about the waves of spirit power rolling over each other just a few feet away. He especially tried not to think about the frantic, desperate edge on the fiery spirit he had come to recognize as Miranda's, and what that kind of desperation meant for their odds of survival.

Worried about her? a familiar, silky voice whispered in his ear. a familiar, silky voice whispered in his ear.

Eli started, sending a new wave of pain through his body. The sultry voice chuckled. Such a pretty little wizardess Such a pretty little wizardess, and so concerned for your safety and so concerned for your safety, she tsked in his ear. These little dalliances of yours make me less inclined to help you. These little dalliances of yours make me less inclined to help you.

"It's not a dalliance," he muttered. "And I didn't ask for your help."

A thin, white line appeared in the air above him. It hung for a moment, shedding its ghostly white light in a surgical stripe across his chest. Then, with a sound like silk sliding through sand, a white hand reached through the cut in the air to cup his chin. Long, feminine fingers, whiter than moonlit snow, stroked his bleeding cheek, leaving a burning touch behind that was almost painful, yet never enough.

I rather like you this way, she murmured, tracing the bridge of his nose. Broken and helpless. It reminds me of when I first found you Broken and helpless. It reminds me of when I first found you. That That time, you accepted me with open arms. time, you accepted me with open arms.

"Time is a fickle master," Eli said, closing his eyes against the light. "He changes many things."

You're full of sayings today. The disembodied hand brushed past his lips and slid down his neck to his chest, tapping the gaping wound the stones had torn open when he hit the wall, just below Karon's burn. Eli sucked in a breath when she touched the ragged skin, and he felt her chuckle against his skin. Your time is about to end, if you stay like this. Such a pity, I hate watching you squander my gifts. Your time is about to end, if you stay like this. Such a pity, I hate watching you squander my gifts. Her white fingers moved in circles along his rib cage, tracing the bloodstains on his torn s.h.i.+rt. Her white fingers moved in circles along his rib cage, tracing the bloodstains on his torn s.h.i.+rt. Of course Of course, her voice slid seductively along his ear, I could help you, if you asked nicely I could help you, if you asked nicely.

Eli turned away. "Do what you want, Benehime."

She laughed gleefully as he said her name, and a second disembodied hand snaked through the white opening to join the first. Her palms slid over his open wound and, still laughing, she pressed down. Overwhelming pain lanced though Eli's body, darkening his vision and slamming his teeth together. It was as if every wound, bruise, cramp, and discomfort from the past twelve hours was happening again, only all at once, and amplified. He gasped and tried to jerk away, but Benehime's hands pinned him to the icy floor as surely as if he were nailed there. The pain went on and on, until he was sure it would never end and he would be stuck like this forever. Then, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, it stopped. The pressure lifted from his chest and breath thundered back into his body.

As he lay on his back in the shallow water, gasping like a landed fish, Benehime's white hands moved to cup his cheeks. Next time, I'll make you beg Next time, I'll make you beg, she murmured, trailing her burning touch across his skin one last time before drawing her hands back through the white cut in the air. I will see you soon, my favorite star I will see you soon, my favorite star.

The white line faded with her voice, leaving Eli staring at the empty air. It took a few moments more for her overwhelming presence to fade completely, and as his soul righted itself, he realized he could barely feel Miranda's spirit at all anymore.

Miranda was on her hands and knees in the water beside Gin's flank, panting. Her librarian's outfit was dirtied beyond recognition, and her pinned hair had tumbled in a wet tangle down her neck, clinging to her skin like red seaweed caught in the tide hole of her shoulders. She was soaked and s.h.i.+vering, her eyes dull and weary, but she was not beaten. They were huddled in a small circle, with Josef and Nico's heads propped on Gin's paws to keep them from drowning in the shallow water that rode in hand-high waves across what was left of the marble floor. The fact that Gin did this without complaining was proof enough of how serious the situation was. Two feet above them, held back only by the invisible bell jar of Miranda's open spirit, the wall of black water rippled in threatening patterns.

Mellinor surrounded them on all sides, his powerful current beating steadily against the thin bubble of Miranda's spirit. Each time the water crashed down, she felt her mind drowning under the endless, tireless power. Each time, it pushed her right to the edge of buckling, but each time she rallied and met the crash strength for strength, keeping their tiny bubble intact for another few seconds before the next wave hit and the struggle started all over again.

In the tiny s.p.a.ce between the surges, the grim corner of her mind that could still think on things besides mere survival wondered why she bothered to resist.

She had done well, at first. After Eli went down, she'd been able to go blow for blow with the water for a little while. The great spirit was powerful, but his imprisonment had left him slow and weak. However, the longer he spent in the open air and moonlight, the more his power returned, and as he had gained strength, Miranda had exhausted hers. Slowly, inch by inch, the great spirit had pushed her back until he washed her under entirely. Now, trapped in a bubble with her air running out, it was all she could do to survive another wave. Of course, the grim corner muttered, just surviving wasn't winning. She wasn't even sure what the standards of victory were in a fight like this. Even if she had been stronger, more resilient, even if she hadn't let herself be trapped, her enemy was a great spirit of an inland sea. She could no more defeat him than she could defeat a mountain.

So why was she holding out, her doubt whispered. What hope was she trying to preserve? There was no help coming, no knight to ride to her rescue. Even if she could somehow get a message to the Spirit Court, Master Banage was the only wizard strong enough to have a chance against Mellinor, and he would never raise his soul against a great spirit, not even to save her. Hopelessness welled up in her chest, and Miranda choked back a sob, almost losing her rhythm as another wave crashed down. As she struggled to keep their last few feet of air intact, she couldn't banish the thought that, even if she did somehow get out of this alive, Master Banage would never forgive her for fighting a great spirit. Especially seeing as she was doing it to protect two bounty-carrying criminals and a demonseed. Perhaps it would be kinder to everyone if she dropped her s.h.i.+eld and let the water carry them away.

"Just concentrate." Gin's gruff voice was frighteningly close to her ear, but the sound of his growl lovelier at that moment than any music in the world. "Great spirits may be old and flashy, but they're still spirits. The strength of their souls is limited by their physical form. Your strength, a wizard's strength, is limited only by your will. That's the secret I learned back on the steppes, when I first decided to follow you." He pressed his wet muzzle hard against the small of her back. "I will watch your back, mistress, so never let your will falter."

Miranda turned and clung to him, burying her face in the coa.r.s.e fur of his long nose. "I will not let you down."

The waves pounded harder than ever against the sh.e.l.l, but Miranda met each one blow for blow, and no water got through. With every failure, Mellinor roared and foamed, his waters churning as he struck again and was again defeated.

But just as Miranda steadied herself into this new pattern, a surge of oddly familiar spirit power shot through the black water like an arrow, freezing everything with one word.

Stop.

The waves stopped. The water stopped. Even Miranda paused, pressing her hands to her mouth to keep from crying out. Even though the word had not actually been spoken, she would know that spirit voice anywhere. It was Eli.

CHAPTER 27.

Like someone had opened a drain, Mellinor's waters poured away. Miranda's bubble shattered, and she toppled over, gasping at the fresh air. Mellinor's water was still ankle deep on the floor, but the spirit's attention wasn't on her any longer. The wave had reformed itself above the shattered dais, and all its attention was focused on the gangly figure standing at the far end of the room in a circle of shattered marble.

"What a pain," Eli said, running his hands through his wet hair. "We go to all this trouble, and the spirit at the heart of everything turns out to be an ungrateful jerk." He stepped out of the crater he'd made when Mellinor threw him and smiled up at the enormous wave. "It's time to go."

"I go nowhere, boy," the sea spirit hissed, pulling his water closer.

"We'll see." Eli's smile widened, and he opened his spirit.

The room changed. Every spirit, from the stones underfoot to the air overhead to the clothes on Miranda's body, was suddenly wide awake and focused on Eli like he was the only thing in the world. His open spirit was quick and airy as it raced through the throne room, but there was something different about it, something Miranda had never felt in a spirit before, wizard or otherwise. It felt like light. There was no other way of describing it.

Eli walked casually, seemingly oblivious that he was the object of so much attention. As he walked, the spirits made way. The dirt from the flood rolled aside when he came near, so did the fallen stones and the broken gla.s.s, making a clear path. Miranda watched in amazement as the room rearranged itself to make Eli's walk easier. Even the marble trembled as he stepped on it, not with fear, but with anxiousness, as if it wanted more than anything to make a good impression as he walked the last few steps to the crumbled dais.

Mellinor had shrunk to a wavering ball. He floated over the pile of stones flas.h.i.+ng between nervous gray and deep blue.

Eli stopped when his boots were almost touching the shattered rock that had been the first step of the dais stairs. He put his hands in his pockets and looked up at the quivering water. "Now"-the word hummed with power-"I need you to get up."

It was not an enslavement, as Miranda had been bracing for. It was a request. Mellinor s.h.i.+vered, sending tall waves across his surface. "How is it possible?" the water whispered. "How was I allowed to toss you like that when you bore her mark? Had I but known, had you shown me..."

"None of that matters now," Eli said. "Just get up. You're ruining what's left of Henrith's throne room."

The remaining loose water leaped back into Mellinor's sphere, and the floating ball of water churned as the sea spirit tried to make himself smaller. The best he could manage was still twice Eli's height. He was about to try again when Eli's voice stopped him.

"That's good enough," the thief said. "Now, please understand that we are, in fact, very sorry all of this happened to you. You have every right to be angry at Gregorn and his descendants, but you need to understand our position. This kingdom"-he pointed toward the ruined windows where dawn was just beginning to tint the sky-"it's not yours any more. You need to move on."

The sphere of water spun slowly on its axis, its light muted to a deep, cold blue. "Where would I go? My home was here, my seabed and my fish. Without the land, I am nothing. A homeless spirit is no better than a ghost."

"You'll go where all water eventually goes," Eli said gently. "To the ocean."

"The ocean?" The light at the spirit's heart fluttered madly. "Not there. I'll die before I go there. You'll have to kill me first."

"Why are you so afraid?" Eli said. "All of your water has been through the ocean thousands of times."

"But he hasn't."

Eli sighed and turned to watch Miranda hobble toward them, clutching her sides. Her face was pale and exhausted, and fresh yellow bruises stood out stark on her pale, waterlogged skin. Her eyes, however, were determined as she dropped to the ground beside the thief, breathing heavily.

"Water spirits flow in and out of each other," she gasped. "Rain falls and makes creeks that flow to rivers and, eventually, as you say, to the sea, but," she said and looked up at the slowly turning water, "a sea is more than the water that pa.s.ses through it. Even the smallest creeks have their own souls separate from the water that fills them. You can't just blithely send that soul to fend for itself in the ocean."

"She speaks the truth," Mellinor rumbled. "The ocean is a hungry ma.s.s too large to have a cohesive soul of its own. As soon as I joined the waves, that mob of water spirits would tear me apart. They would split me into smaller and smaller pieces with each tide, and with every split I'd grow weaker and stupider, until I could no longer remember my own name."

Eli shook his head. "You'd still be alive."

"To what end?" Mellinor's light flashed wildly as the water heaved. "I'd be worse than a ghost. At least if I dry up here, I can die as myself, with my soul intact and entirely my own."

"Is that really what you would prefer?" Eli said.

The sphere bobbed in the approximation of a resolute nod. "If you won't let me have my land, yes."

Eli thought a moment, then nodded gravely. "Very well, we'll do as you ask."

Miranda looked up at Eli, horrified. "You can't just kill him."

"That's how he wants it!" Eli shouted, spinning to face her. "Were you listening at all? Why do you care, anyway? As I recall, he was trying pretty hard to kill you you when I interfered." when I interfered."

"He's in this position because of us!" Miranda yelled back. "If it wasn't for Gregorn, none of this would have happened. We have a duty to make things right!"

"Make things right?" Eli flung out his arms to take in the whole of the ruined throne room. "Miranda, look around! Do you really think the masters of Mellinor are going to be happy if we tell them that everyone in the country has to move? Do you think they'll even listen? Even if they did, how long would it take to get everyone safely out? A week? A month? What's Mellinor here going to do while he waits, hang in the air? He'll evaporate before the masters finish their committee meeting. You know as well as I do that a displaced spirit has two choices: find a home or die. I don't want the second option any more than you do, but there's no place for him here, and he won't take my compromise and go to the sea, so guess where that leaves us." Eli crossed his arms and glared down at Miranda. "He's made his choice, so, for once, can you put aside your Spiritualist dogma and just let the spirit be?"

Miranda pushed herself up, her fists shaking with fury. "I won't let you kill him."

Eli met her glare head on, and they stood that way for several moments, like children having a staring contest. Finally, when it was clear she wasn't going to back down, Eli flung up his hands.

"All right," he said. "If you're so concerned, you you deal with him." deal with him."

Miranda blinked; she hadn't expected him to turn this back on her. "I don't know what to do."

Eli made a series of frantic "you see?" gestures, which Miranda ignored. Instead, she looked down at her hands. They seemed so bare and fragile with only the one small ring on her pinky. She blinked hard, then blinked again, and her head shot up. "I could take him as a servant."

Eli stopped flailing and stared at her blankly.

"He could live with me," she said, pointing at the small ring. "Then he would have a home but no one would need to be displaced."

Eli's eyes flicked skeptically from her to her pinky finger and back again. "It's an interesting idea, but you can't keep him in that, you know."

She looked down at the ring in surprise. "What? Oh, no, not this one. I mean, it's empty, but there's no way even a fraction of his spirit would fit. Besides, I'm saving it. Look," she said and took a deep breath, "forget the ring. I'm not even talking about the ring." She pointed at her chest. "I could do what you did, with the lava spirit."

"Karon was an entirely different set of circ.u.mstances," Eli said, glancing up at the hovering water. "He was also much smaller."

"I'm not saying it would be the best living situation," Miranda huffed, "but I'm pretty sure it beats the rest of our alternatives."

Eli stoked his chin, considering. "I can't lie to you," he said, "it's an incredibly stupid, reckless idea that you'll probably regret. Still, I can't think of a technical reason it wouldn't work. Of course, in the end, it's not really up to us."

They turned to look at the spirit, who bubbled as he considered the idea. "Servitude to a wizard," he sloshed thoughtfully. "You'll forgive me if I'm skeptical about putting myself in a human's hands again."

"Well," Eli said, slapping Miranda hard on the back, "I can't vouch for her character, but I'd bet money she beats dying here."

"True enough, wizard," the spirit rumbled. "I don't see as I have much choice in the matter."

"It must be by choice," Miranda said, ignoring her aching sides and straightening up to her full height. "I can only take servants who follow me willingly. However, it would be nothing like Gregorn's bond, I can promise you. As my servant, you would be subject to my command, but, in return for your service, I can offer you the Spiritualist's vow that I will never force you to act against your will or keep you if you wish to leave. I will never cast you aside for any reason, and, so long as I have breath, I will do my best to keep you from harm. I offer you power for service, strength for obedience, and my own body to act as your sh.o.r.e, but that is all I can give." Clenching her hands at her sides, she looked up at the churning water. "Is it enough, Mellinor?"

The water spun slowly on its axis, his light s.h.i.+fting softly as he thought. "It is enough, Spiritualist," the water said at last. "Your pledge is accepted."

The great sphere of water splashed to the ground. Mellinor rolled forward, forming a wave as he had before, but this time the water that engulfed Miranda was warm and gentle. It flowed up her body and snaked around her shoulders, pausing just a moment in front of her eyes, as though the spirit was weighing what he saw there one last time. Whatever the test, she must have pa.s.sed, for the water rippled approvingly and, in one smooth motion, slid into her mouth.

Miranda tensed, eyes wide, as the spirit poured down her throat. From the moment she decided to offer her body as a vessel, she'd tried to ready herself for the feeling, but this was so wildly different from anything she'd ever experienced, all her mental preparations seemed laughable now that she was up against the reality. It wasn't like her other spirits. Those had felt like gaining a new limb or a close confidant. This was like gaining a new soul.

Mellinor's power surged through her body as the sea poured into her, filling every hidden nook, every fold of her spirit, even the ones she hadn't been aware of until that moment. It filled the well of her soul to overflowing, and still the water came. As the spirit's strength went on and on, she realized at last how small and pathetic her earlier attempts to fight him had been and how much he had been holding back as he tried to batter her into submission. A wave of regret surged through the water, and she instinctively forgave him everything. All that they had done wrong was pooled together now, one great ocean of fears and regrets that threatened to swallow her. Yet Mellinor's rea.s.surances buoyed her up, and she realized that he was just as much a part of this as she was. They were horse and rider now, servant and master, spirit and human. Unequal, yet the same.

When she opened her eyes at last, she found herself on her back with no memory of how she'd gotten there. Her body ached at every joint, and yet, it all seemed so far away. Time moved in fits and starts. It should have been dawn by now, she was sure, but the throne room was darker than before. She felt a pressure under her shoulders, and she lolled her head back to see Eli crouched over her, his face closed and thoughtful. He had his arms hooked under hers and was dragging her across the floor. Miranda started to wonder where he was taking her, but then her drifting attention was caught by the wonderful sound that filled the air.

"What is that noise?" she whispered, or thought she whispered. It was hard to be sure. She wasn't quite clear yet where she ended and Mellinor began, but Eli seemed to understand.

"Rain," he said, laying her down beside Gin. "Not even your belly could hold all that water, so I sent what was left to putter itself out."

She nodded languidly. It all seemed very sensible. "Where are you going now?"

"If I told you, it would be no fun at all." Eli smiled. He reached into his jacket and pulled out something white and square, which he tucked into Miranda's skirt pocket. "Sleep well, little Spiritualist," he said, standing up with a wink. "I'm sure we'll meet again."

Miranda nodded peaceably and closed her eyes. Within seconds, everything but the lovely sound of the rain had fallen far away, and she slipped easily into a deep, dreamless sleep.

CHAPTER 28.

Miranda woke slowly, her mind rising like a bubble from her deep sleep. Below her, Mellinor was still sleeping, his currents deep and calm at the bottom of her awareness. She let him be and drifted upward, the dandelion fluff of her thoughts coming and going on their own time. Everything felt wonderful, like she was floating in a warm, lavender-scented cloud while someone played music in the distance. She winced, off-key music. Unbearably off key. Her thoughts began to thicken into consciousness, falling into place while worries filled the cracks between them. Suddenly, she wasn't quite as comfortable. She hovered for a moment on the edge of sleep, fretting, and finally decided that if she was awake enough to fret about waking she might as well go all the way. At least then she could stop the awful music.

She opened her eyes to find herself buried at the center of a large feather bed. An elderly maid dozed in a chair by the bed's foot, her soft snores stirring the dust motes that hung suspended in the honeyed sunlight pouring down from the high windows. The awful music came from behind a large folding screen, which split the already small room in half. Miranda s.h.i.+fted experimentally, and she jumped as something heavy rolled across her chest. With some effort, she freed one of her hands from the tightly tucked sheets and groped clumsily across the comforter. After a few uncertain moments, her fingers closed around a soft leather pouch filled with the heavy, familiar shapes of her rings. An incredible feeling of relief rushed through her, and she sighed contentedly. At the sound, the sleeping maid leaped from her chair.

"Lady," she clucked, shuffling across the thick carpet to pull the sheets tighter. "Please do not move."

"Is she awake?" an excited voice called from behind the screen. There was a shuffle, and then King Henrith came bounding into view, a handsome but sloppily tuned tenor vikken dangling from his left hand. His cheeks and neck were wrapped in white bandages and there was an angry gouge across the bridge of his nose, but otherwise he looked quite well compared to the last time she'd seen him. The maid backed away reverently as he approached, and Miranda sank a little deeper into the bed.

"I was hoping you'd wake up during one of my visits," the king said, grinning. "Of course, I haven't been able to visit very often. Things have been busy, but I did think you'd enjoy some music." He held up the poor vikken by its strings. "How did you like my-"