The Worlds of the Sheaf

The Doom of the Gem Lords - Part 2

     Lirenna was up on deck one of the Jules Verne, engaged with shae matters, and Thomas had to wait most of the day to see her again.

     When they eventually met in the crew lounge they hugged tightly and the demi shae congratulated him on his exoneration, something she’d already heard on the grapevine. They spent the rest of the day together before returning to Thomas’s cabin, where they celebrated the result of the enquiry in bed, enjoying the quiet time before the rest of the crew came back aboard.

     That night, Thomas dreamed uneasily, tossing and turning, his skin slick with sweat, and Lirenna watched with growing concern, debating with herself whether she ought to wake him up. The shae folk believed that dreams were important, that they brought messages from realms unreachable in any other way. Messages that the wise paid close attention. She knew that this was unlikely to be an ordinary dream, though. It was more likely another of his acquired memories. An episode in the life of Tak Eweela, also known as Sapphire the Gem Lord. A disturbing episode. One that was scaring her husband badly.

     She put a hand on his arm, shaking him gently. "Tom. Tom. Tom!" He dreamed on, though, and moaned under his breath, a moan of misery and terror. That was enough for her, and she shook him more violently. "Tom! Wake up, Tom! Wake up!"

     He raised his hands, pushing her away, and his fingers closed around her arms, gripping her painfully tightly. She tore herself loose and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Tom! Wake up! Wake up!"

     He gradually began to come out of it, his eyes fluttering open and flitting about the room before focusing on the face of his wife, hovering above his own. The dream lost its grip on him, allowing reality to creep back, and he realised that the sheets under him were soaked with sweat, sticking uncomfortably to his back. He sat up on the edge of his bed, wiping his hands across his face, pulling strands of sweat soaked hair out of his eyes, while Lirenna also sat up to sit beside him. She put an arm around his shoulders, ignoring the clammy dampness of his skin.

     "Bad dream?" she asked.

     Thomas shuddered. "You've got no idea," he said, staring ahead at the wall. "It was Tak, and it was horrible. Gods, it was bad!"

     "Something bad happened to him?"

     He shook his head. "No, but he found out that something bad was going to happen to him, to all of them, and that there was nothing they could do about it. I understand now. I know how he became undead, and it explains how I might have gotten his memories."

     He fell silent and Lirenna waited patiently, gently stroking his arm with her fingers, knowing he'd talk when he was ready.

     "One of them died," said Thomas at last. "Lan Del-Tora. Lord Opal. The oldest and strongest of them. He was in his seventies when he slipped away. A heart attack in his sleep. Not a bad way to go, except he didn't stay gone..."

☆☆☆

     Tak and Essca were asleep in each others' arms when someone began knocking frantically on their door. They didn't wait for an invitation but barged straight in and Essca woke up in terror, sitting up and clutching the sheets to her chest with white-knuckled hands.

     Tak, hearing her cry of fear, sprang awake and leapt out of bed, the words of spells flying to the front of his mind, and he was actually starting to cast one when he saw that it was Alustra Jarel. Lady Diamond. A fellow Gem Lord. She was in a state of anxiety so intense that she didn't even glance at his nudity. "Come quick!" she cried, grabbing his arm and pulling. "It's Lan! Quick!"

     Tak glanced at Essca. "Stay here," he commanded, grabbing a bedrobe with his free hand and throwing it around his shoulders. "Don't leave this room." Then he dashed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.