The Witch Woman's Prophecy

22 | The Search Begins |

Early the next morning, Soni knocked on the door to my room to wake me. It was still dark, but she wanted to start looking for relics before the temperature rose and people were out in the streets. Being in Polemmy was not unlike being in the desert again, I thought ruefully as I hauled myself from my comfortable bed. We ate a quick breakfast of fresh fruits and soft, warm bread before setting off; at least the food in Polemmy was better than in the desert.

'What if there is another attack on me?' I asked as she opened the front door and a gust of cool air pushed its way to where we stood.

'This is another reason to be out early. There will be less people around and it means that anyone who should not be around will be seen by our friends over there.' She pointed to two guards who waited close to the house, they were new to me. 'Your ability is too precious to the Ustelin to risk another attempt on your life. You will be accompanied by at least two guards whenever you leave the house.'

One of the guards saluted us and we set off into the dark streets. Soni explained the layout of the city to me as we walked. Aside from the city walls and gates, there were four constructions from the Before Time: the Ustelin, the Council Hall, the Temple and the Wasnami, which was a pool in the middle of Polemmy. There were other buildings within the walls: houses, shops, bakeries, warehouses, bath houses, markets and so on, but none of the other buildings were anywhere near as old as the Before Time buildings. Most were built of bricks made from the mud from the banks of the Greater Harn, though a few were built from wood brought along the river.

'This is part of what fascinates me,' said Soni, waving her hand at the buildings around us. 'That the Forgotten People built like this, and then simply stopped. There's nothing in between their great buildings and ours. What happened to the Forgotten People? Did they all die? Did something happen to them? Did they just leave? I want to know. I'm surrounded by the mystery every day.'

I had no answers for her. Indeed, I did not know what to say or how I should speak to her. I regretted the way I had reacted the evening before and had thought that she might not wish to speak to me ever again. However, she seemed to have decided to start anew with me, or perhaps she felt more confident now that she was once more hidden behind her headscarf. She was more the person that I had met in the desert than she been the evening before. Confident and curious, rather than cowed and withdrawn.

The air was cool and still and the sky was beginning to blush with the first signs of dawn. Here and there, a candle or a lamp glowed through a window and the murmur of voices came from within. Dogs roused themselves to give sleepy barks from behind closed wooden doors as we passed.

We walked along the empty streets of the dark city with the guards a few steps behind us.

'We should make haste. Soon the gates will be opened to let the workers from outside the walls into the city. It will suddenly become crowded and make our work more difficult,' said Soni.

I had not eaten one of the foul-tasting pellets so that I would stay as alert and as receptive to the relics as possible and I was nervous, wanting to help, yet dreading a sudden spike of pain. We made our way towards the Ustelin and walked from there. Twice pain lanced into my head and Soni marked the places so that she could return with more guards later to investigate them further.

As we walked, I was alert to the slightest sensation of pain in my head. I closed my eyes and allowed Soni to lead me. She held my arm lightly, and the warmth of her hand came through my sleeve. The physical closeness made me wonder if I could ask about the scars on her face, but I could not bring myself to break our amiable silence with words that might anger her.

Soni bade me open my eyes and I gasped. The Wasnami lay before me, its rippling water reflected the pale light of the sky. It was built of the same stone as the city walls. At some point it had been carved, I could see undulating shapes in the blocks, but they were too worn by sand and wind to be recognisable now.