Circles of Stone

FILIMAYA EMBRACED SIMIA FIRST, holding her tight and bending down to kiss the top of her head. Then she went straight to Sylas and embraced him too, in a way that surprised him: not a formal greeting, but warm and heartfelt. For a moment he felt awkward, holding his arms at his sides. No one had held him like this since his mother had been taken away. But her warmth was infectious and slowly he drew his arms around her.

“Thank you for returning to us, Sylas,” whispered Filimaya. There was a pause. “And who did you bring with you?”

Sylas turned. There, walking down the gangway from the ship, was Naeo. As was her way, she seemed at ease, her hands tucked into the pockets of her coat, eyeing the crowd of onlookers and paying little attention to the reunion.

“That’s Naeo,” he said, instinctively taking a step away from the gangway. “I thought … I thought you might know her. She’s Bowe’s daughter.”

Filimaya raised a hand to her lips. “Of course …” she said. She took a step in the girl’s direction. “Naeo, daughter of Bowe, my precious child! We thought you were—”

“Naeo is my Glimmer,” said Sylas, abruptly.

Filimaya froze. The gathering of Suhl fell silent. Everyone turned to face him.

“What was that?” someone hissed behind him, and another: “Did he say his Glimmer?”

There was a gale of hushes, everyone straining to hear what was said next.

But Filimaya seemed lost for words. Her eyes narrowed a little, searching his face; she tilted her head as though struggling to understand. Then she glanced at Naeo, who returned her gaze without expression.

Finally Filimaya smiled. “Well you never cease to surprise us, Sylas!” she said. There were a few nervous laughs from the crowd. “You must forgive my awkwardness. I find myself entirely unsure how to address you both.”

“The same as ever,” said Simia with a careless shrug, as if it was perfectly clear. “Sylas is still Sylas and Naeo is Naeo. The only thing is—”

“We prefer not to be together,” said Naeo. For the first time everyone turned to face her, taking in her slender features and calm, measured voice.

“There’s no reason to treat us any differently,” said Sylas. “It’s just that Naeo and I … find each other … difficult.”

“Madness, isn’t it?” came a voice from beyond the crowd. It was Ash, strolling down the gangway from the Windrush. “All that blasted effort to get them together and now they can’t wait to be apart!” He smiled and nodded at various faces that he knew, clearly enjoying his entrance.

Filimaya paused, clearly still preoccupied by Sylas and Naeo, her eyes shifting between them. Finally she turned to the young man and smiled. “Welcome, Ash. You still have your knack for timing, I see.”

Ash’s arrival was indeed a welcome distraction. Many of the Suhl were soon jockeying for position to shake Ash’s hand, bidding him their personal welcome to the valley, and the same people then naturally turned their attention to the other travellers, swamping them with enthusiastic greetings. Simia in particular seemed to enjoy the deluge of well-wishers and beamed from ear to ear as she realised that she had achieved something approaching celebrity status. She walked around, offering her gracious hand to all who approached and many who did not.

Naeo, however, seemed far less comfortable. She shook hands and gave faint smiles, but she seemed distant and uncomfortable, looking at times tired and at others as though she wished to be anywhere else. Sylas too had slipped back a little into the crowd, distancing himself from Naeo.

Filimaya noticed this and raised her hands to call for silence. It took some while for the gathering to come to order.

“Friends! Friends!” shouted Filimaya. “Our guests have been travelling for days and who knows what perils they have faced. We must show them some hospitality and give them time to rest!”

A small hollow-cheeked man stepped forward. “But Filimaya, surely we can just ask a little of what they have seen?” he protested in a dry, wasted voice. “After all, the things we have been hearing on the winds have us all terribly worried! And just this morning the chatter among the birds has changed. I am no expert, but they would seem to suggest that Thoth is beginning to—”

Filimaya raised her hand in a calming gesture. “I understand your concerns, Dropka, and we all share them. But just look at our visitors! They are pale and they clearly haven’t slept in days. They have come here for sanctuary, not to be interrogated. What kind of hosts would you have us be?”

The man shrank a little. “I don’t mean to be impolite,” he said, dropping his eyes. “It’s just—”

“I understand,” said Filimaya, “of course I do, but there will be plenty of time for us to discuss these things tomorrow.”

There was a general murmur of agreement from the gathering. The man gave a bow and quickly retreated into the crowd.

“Good, then!” said Filimaya brightly. She walked over to Ash, embraced him and gestured to a rather portly woman in the front row. “My dear Ash, please go with Kayla – she’ll show you to some fitting quarters. I will come and see you later.”

Ash nodded and hoisted his pack on to his shoulder. Filimaya turned to Naeo and smiled warmly. “Naeo, your father has become a good friend since the war and he has spoken of you often. I hope that in time we too can be friends.” She held out her hand.

Naeo stared at the hand, then slowly and awkwardly she took it and gave it a quick shake. “All right,” she said.

If Filimaya was surprised by this cool response, she did not show it. “Good!” she beamed. “Now, I take it that you and Sylas would prefer to sleep in different—”

“Yes,” said Naeo and Sylas in unison.

Their abruptness clearly shocked Filimaya, but she quickly gathered herself and nodded politely. “Of course. Naeo, please go with Kayla and Ash. I’ll come and check on you just as soon as I can.” Finally she turned to Sylas and Simia. “You two,” she added with a wink, “you can come with me.”

Sylas and Simia smiled and fell in at her side. Sylas tried not to show his relief that they were not to be separated. After all they had been through together over the past few days, he knew he would feel a little lost without Simia. He saw in her glance that she felt the same.

“Thank you, everyone!” shouted Filimaya.

There were a few disappointed grumbles from the crowd, but soon enough everyone began to disperse, reluctantly and noisily, amid much chatter about the Windrush and its occupants, about the things Dropka had mentioned – the whispers in the leaves and the chatter among the birds – but most of all, about Sylas’s strange declaration.

“Why did you have to mention Glimmers?” murmured Simia in his ear, jabbing him in the side. “Now everyone’s completely freaked out!”

Sylas sucked a breath through his teeth and shrugged. “I don’t know. It just came out!”

Filimaya led them up the grassy bank and into the cool of the forest. Many of the ancient trees were gigantic, with trunks as broad as castle towers and waist-high roots that rumpled the forest floor into a baffling, mossy maze. They crossed dazzling, sun-speckled glades and lively streams that bubbled between stones, singing watery melodies. They waded through seas of delicate ferns, between vast outcroppings of thickly scented bracken, over rich carpets of leaves and nodding flowers. Sylas was struck at once by how vital everything seemed, how full of life, even though the world outside the valley had fallen under the cloak of winter. Yet there was no sign of any of the people who had met them on the banks of the lake. It was as though they had simply disappeared.

Filimaya moved with all the grace and ease that Sylas remembered from his time with her in the Water Gardens; in fact she seemed even more vigorous, even more radiant, as though this magical place had returned to her some of her lost youth.

As they walked, they told Filimaya of their adventures; of their meeting with Espen and their long journey together across the Barrens, ending with Espen’s revelations about the Glimmer Myth. Filimaya nodded as though entirely familiar with the Myth, just as Espen had predicted. They told of Espen’s seeming betrayal at the Circle of Salsimaine and Bayleon’s capture, of their escape to the city and their discovery of Paiscion and the Windrush.

At the first mention of Paiscion, Filimaya turned.

“Was he well?” she asked, anxiously.

Sylas nodded.

“And where is he now? Did he not travel with you?”

“You’re jumping ahead!” scolded Simia. “You need to hear the rest first – you’ll miss the best bit!”

Filimaya sighed. “I don’t know why, Simsi, but I’ve missed you.” She squeezed her arm. “Go on, then, tell me your own way.”

Sylas and Simia took it in turns to finish the story, telling of Paiscion’s astonishing discovery in the note from Mr Zhi, then Sylas’s encounter with Naeo in the Glimmer Glass and Simia’s decoding of the message “So at last we may be one” into Sylas and Naeo’s names. Simia spent some time on this part of the story and rather exaggerated its importance, but even then Filimaya did not rush her.

As they began to tell of Naeo’s rescue from the Dirgheon, Filimaya stopped in wonderment.

“You broke into the Dirgheon?” she blurted.

Sylas nodded. “It was the only way. I had to get to Naeo.”

He described Paiscion’s summoning of the storm, the encounter with Espen, the battle with Scarpia and their final escape, flying high over Thoth’s city, borne aloft by Sylas’s strange birds made from the ruined sails and rigging of the Windrush.