Spellfall by Katherine Roberts

Author:Katherine Roberts
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-01-09T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

IN THE HEART

Friday night, October 30

~~*~~

It was Friday evening before Lady Thaypari took Natalie to the Heart for her interview. She knew a lot more about the soultree by then.

As she’d hoped, Lady Thaypari had proved easy to talk to and it was all so fascinating she’d lost track of the time while they fed their magehounds, explored the fantastic leafy chambers, and met some of the lucky Treemages who lived in Oq’s branches and helped care for the tree. They’d breakfasted on an airy, sun-dappled balcony with a view over the entire Earthaven canopy, and though they had left Merlin waiting below in Lady Thaypari’s private chambers (he’d flatly refused to have anything to do with feeding magehounds) Natalie didn’t say anything because she wanted to keep the Spell Lady to herself for as long as possible. She did feel a little selfish but at the same time she couldn’t help feeling glad the boy wasn’t around to ruin her enjoyment of the meal. Soulfruit tasted as good as it looked and, after checking with Lady Thaypari that it was indeed safe to eat, she ate so much of it she became drowsy. After breakfast, Thaypari told her to lie down and rest if she wanted and, although she didn’t mean to, Natalie had dozed off right there on the balcony with the Earthaven breeze playing through her hair. She woke sometime during the afternoon feeling guilty but Lady Thaypari assured her Merlin was resting too and promised she’d be able to see her friend as soon as her interview in the Heart was over.

With complete trust, Natalie followed the Spell Lady through the spiralling passages, deeper and deeper into the tree, with K’tanaqui and K’aypari padding at their heels. As they neared the Heart, however, a heavy green silence folded around them and she began to feel nervous again.

“What’s it like?” she whispered, afraid to raise her voice.

Thaypari smiled and spoke equally softly. “It’s different for everyone. Don’t worry, Oq will be pleased to see you.”

“See?” Natalie breathed. “How can a tree see? Has she got eyes, then?”

“Just a manner of speaking,” Thaypari said with another smile. “You’ll be connected directly and might get images in your head like the ones K’tanaqui showed you. Oq will get the same from you. Think of them as human telephone lines, only much better because they don’t just carry sound. Hush now, we’re here.”

She stopped at the entrance to a small chamber filled with emerald light. Natalie peered inside and caught her breath. The walls and floor glowed with layer upon layer of luminous moss. Sweetly scented vines hung in loops from the ceiling. Tiny coloured stars glimmered among their leaves, and a faint music lingered in the air. A stool waited in the centre, half hidden by all the greenery. “Is that where I sit?” she asked.

“That’s right. Oq can hear us anywhere, of course, even through her smallest root, and she speaks to us with her public voice in the Council chamber.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.