The Red Queen by Isobelle Carmody Read Free Book Online

ferment.
    The tribeswoman waited until she’d left then said grimly, ‘I am sure.’ She leaned across the table and added, ‘The spice purchased by Councilman Kana did not come from Sador, even if Daffyd is right about Salamander being of my race.’
    ‘It is true,’ said a Sadorian man seated beside her. He leaned forward into the light too, and I recognised Hakim, who had been with us on Norseland when we entered the Beforetime portal in Ariel’s demesnes. He bore a scar high on one cheek, the result of the explosion triggered by the opening of that portal. ‘I spoke to those who were part of the trade in Halfmoon Bay. The spice was brought by Herder ship after a deal was struck between Councilman Kana and Ariel.’
    ‘If Ariel was part of it, then Salamander was involved,’ Jakoby interrupted. ‘The point is that the spice received by Councilman Kana was red. Spice from Sadorian groves is yellow. So this spice came from some other grove, only there
are
no other groves in Sador. Nor can spice grow anywhere in the Land. The weather is too damp.’
    Rushton frowned. ‘What are you saying then, that it came from the slavemasters’ land? Elspeth always believed there was another Gadfian stronghold, and now that we know the slavemasters are Gadfian, it is clear she was right. You know that she thinks Salamander comes from that place?’
    ‘About the stronghold she is undoubtedly correct, but about Salamander, she is wrong,’ Jakoby said. ‘Nor did the spice come from the Gadfian stronghold either, unless the Gadfians have chosen to dwell somewhere cold, which I doubt. Spice grows red only where it is cold, and unlike yellow spice, it must be kept out of direct sunlight after being harvested if it is to remain potent. When Hakim questioned the dreamweed makers, they told him they were given clear instructions that the spice be kept cool lest it spoil.’
    ‘Maybe the Gadfians do live somewhere cold,’ Rushton said. ‘Even if they hate the cold as you say, they were fleeing their homeland after the Great White. Perhaps the only land that they could find that would support life was cold. Look at how the other Gadfians settled on tainted land. Or maybe their stronghold is mountainous, and spice is grown on the coldest heights.’ Rushton sounded impatient. ‘I do not see why it is so important. It is not as if anyone in the Land blames Sador for the dreamweed trade, least of all Chieftain Rolf, who had to clean up after it.’
    ‘According to the overguardian of the Earthtemple, the seeds of the plans to invade both our lands sprouted in the place where the red spice grew,’ said Jakoby flatly.
    The dream frayed and, released, I descended to the deepest layers of my mind. Hearing the haunting song of the mindstream, I looked and saw it below me, a glimmering thread of silver. A vague anxiety arose in me that the coercive armour I had woven would prevent me balancing the pull to merge against the pull to rise, but I need not have worried. I was able to engage the opposing forces to hang in balance above the mindstream, as I had done so many times before.
    But my presence, armoured in spirit matter, produced a stronger effect than usual. The mindstream grew agitated, roiling and bubbling directly below me, until a wavelet bulged and detached itself, to rise towards me.
    It engulfed me and I found myself looking at a smoke-filled hallway. The light filtering through the fug was dim and bloody. There was an explosion in the distance and two dark figures came hurtling towards me. Another more distant explosion stopped the pair, who were panting hard. One of them was the Beforetimer Cassy. Her companion was a tall, lean man with a frightened expression and skin even darker than Cassy’s molasses colouring.
    ‘What’s happening, Ishmael?’ Cassy cried, coughing.
    ‘It the beginning of the end, what else?’ her companion answered in a despairing voice. He drew a white cloth from his pocket and motioned her to hold