The Oracle (The Oracle Sequence) by Fisher Catherine

Author:Fisher, Catherine [Fisher, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hachette Children's Books
Published: 2010-10-07T05:00:00+00:00

The door closed. Mirany sat up in the bed instantly, though it made her dizzy again. ‘Quick, Chryse, listen! You have to do something for me.’

It was the first time they had been alone. Either Rhetia or Callia or Ixaca had been here all morning, the tall girl frankly bored, the others sewing or chatting or trying out Mirany’s few glass flasks of perfume till the room stank of scent.

Chryse looked startled. ‘Sit still. You’re not supposed to get up until tonight.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with me.’

‘And that’s such a miracle, Mirany, do you know that! The god bit you.’

‘It wasn’t the god.’ But her head ached, and she was sweating. She leaned back on the pillows and said carefully, ‘I want you to do something for me. But it’s a secret. You must promise … you must swear to me you’ll never tell anyone, not even Hermia.’

Chryse’s blue eyes were wide. ‘I knew it,’ she said. ‘I knew you were up to something.’

She came and sat on the bed, eagerly. ‘What is it? It’s a boy, isn’t it? Oh, Mirany, I’d never have thought you—’

‘Be quiet.’ She didn’t have time for this. Already the afternoon was half over, and Rhetia would be back at any second. ‘Put a cloak on and go to the land end of the Bridge. Wait there, and make sure no one sees you. Two men will come, a young one and a fat, older one. They should have a boy with them …’

‘Oh Mirany!’

‘A ten-year-old boy.’

That silenced her. Her eyebrows shot up. ‘Ten!’

Mirany caught her hand. ‘Chryse, listen. Get this into your head. This is no love tryst. The boy is one of the Candidates for the new Archon. In fact, I believe he is the Archon, the God-in-the-World. I really believe that.’

The blonde girl shook her head, bewildered. ‘But the Candidates are being fetched by Argelin. Nine of them, with their parents and everything. To the General’s house.’

‘Those that Argelin wants, yes. Look, I haven’t got time to explain everything, but we think Argelin and Hermia are setting up a puppet Archon. Their own choice. They’ll rule through him, and that can’t be allowed to happen.’

But Chryse was almost tearful now. ‘Don’t be silly! Hermia speaks to the god …’

‘No.’ She took a deep breath and said it. ‘She only pretends to. The god speaks to me, Chryse. To me.’

The room was silent. Through the open windows the faintest of seabreezes drifted the gauzy hangings.

Chryse was staring at her, aghast.

Mirany said quickly, ‘I know, you think I’m delirious but I’m not.’

‘How? How does he?’

It was a whisper of horror. Mirany felt Chryse’s hand pull out of hers.

‘I don’t know how. In my head. Through the Oracle.’

The fair girl sat on the bed. She seemed numb. Mirany said anxiously, ‘He’s told me what to do. It’s all right! We think …’

‘Who’s we?’

She hesitated. ‘Their names don’t matter. If you don’t know you can’t give them away.’

It was a mistake. Chryse looked terrified. ‘Oh Mirany, what are you mixed up in! It’s a conspiracy, against the Temple!’ She jumped up.

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