Ganne


20 - The House At North Point.


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Bracketed by trees, the grand ironwork gates sagged open, hanging off the
crumbling stone gate posts.  Their fine scroll work was cankered with
rust, and smothered with the late summer's growth.  The famous Dishone
Crest peeped from among the weeds and faded flowers, its legend all but
worn away by wind and weather.

Thirteen Gannes rode in through the gates, cloaked and hooded against the
pouring rain.  Four heavily laden pack horses plodded along in the wake of
the column.  The heads of the horses were drooping; their tails hung limp.
The way was overgrown with tall weeds.  The line of horses trod doggedly
through the tangle towards the ancestral seat of the Bah Dishone Clan.

Stately elms lined the approach, their few remaining leaves hissing in a
wind off the sea.  At the end of the grand avenue, a wide space opened
under the brooding stone facade of the palace.  Parkland run wild
surrounded the rambling house.  The party passed in under an arch into a
courtyard.  A sodden, brown carpet of rotting leaves covered the stone
flags.  The Gannes assembled in a silent knot before an arched portico.
Half of the Bah Dishone crest surmounting the arch had fallen.  The
remains lay in a scatter of broken stones among the horses' hooves.

Sehko turned in the saddle to glance over the troop.  The women were
peering around at the decaying stonework.  Tall, arched windows were set
in the facade to either side of the grand entrance.  All the women could
see the faint golden glimmer of Ganne shining in the glass, indicating
that the house was shielded against any who could not rightfully claim a
Bah Dishone inheritance.

Sehko asked, "is anyone here hiding a Dishone Lineage?" She did not sound
hopeful.

"I wouldn't think so," Guara answered from the depth of her hood.

"What about Zamaleen?  Was not her great grandfather some cousin of the
Queen of that time?"

Guara nodded; "possibly," she said; "but it'll not do.  Zamaleen's not got
the strength in the Ganne to overcome a genetic drift as great as three
generations."

"Then we rode all the way up here for nothing.  We're locked out," said
Sehko, not bothering to conceal her irritation.  She made to turn her
mount about.

"Not necessarily," Guara said.  She glanced across at the Viper, who sat
with hood thrown back.  The rain fell unremarked upon her up-turned face,
while she stared vacantly at the low clouds.  A ghost of a smile played
about her mouth.

Guara pushed back her own hood, and addressed the girl in a sharp tone.
"Angela.  If you please, child?" Guara waved a hand at the entrance.

For a long heartbeat, the girl did not respond.  Then with a slight nod,
she slid from the horse, and approached the great doors.  She reached out
a hand; and a glowing nimbus of golden light wove through her fingers.
There was a sharp snap of power.  A collective flinch ran through the
assembled riders.  The horses started, and backed nervously.  The golden
glimmer in the windows faded.

Angela laid a hand on the doors.  She pushed.  With a squeal of rusted
hinges, the panel swung away into the shadows.  The Viper looked up at
Guara, as though for approval, then stood aside as the women rode their
horses into the hall.

The air smelt of decay and long disuse.  The far end of the great hall was
lost in gloom.  The party dismounted.  Each woman brought a Ganne Lantern
into being above themselves.  The phantom lights were a foot in diameter,
and all of different colours, ranging from bright yellow to a pale blue.
The incandescent spheres went bobbing before the women as they scattered
into the shadowy recesses of the main hall.  A couple of the women went to
the windows to drag aside the heavy drapes and let in the grey light.

Zamaleen and Culbeth began to strip the gear from the horses.  They were
both Nature Speakers, and as such their affinity for the well-being of all
living creatures over rode any desire to explore the old house.  Sehko
helped the pair with the horses, while Guara sat on the bottom step of the
grand staircase and watched the three women expertly tending their mounts.

Sehko took down a large leather wrapped bundle and came over.  She dumped
it on the floor at Guara's feet.  Guara poked at the bundle with her
booted foot, and looked up at her First Minister.  The bright yellow Ganne
light hovering above Sehko's head cast her face into shadow.  For some
reason, the half-hidden features sent a cold chill down Guara's spine.

"Not now, Sehko," Guara said.  "I really can't face work now.  I'm too
tired."

Guara levered herself up.  She glanced around at the dilapidated grandeur
of the hall.  The dead air was reverberating to the shouting of her women
as they explored the old house.  Given this chance to investigate an
ancient Bah family's ancestral home, they were acting like children set
loose at the Spring Festival.  "Keep an eye on this lot for me, Sehko.
Make sure they don't pull the house down around our ears.  I'm going to
have a lie down."

Sehko's hand was on Guara's arm.  She peered at her Queen, noting the
lines of fatigue in the old face.  "Are you alright?" she asked gently.

"I'm fine," Guara assured her, straightening her slumping shoulders.
"This afternoon...  It was more of a strain than I anticipated.  I'm not
as young as I was."

"None of us are," Sehko observed.  "Is there anything I can do?"

"Just keep an eye on them for me.  They have seen Karrellanne challenge
me...  And live.  My weakness has been noted.  Their blood's up; and
they're spoiling for a fight.  They will move against me when the moment
seems right."

Sehko glanced around at the gloomy hall, reverberating to the women's
voices as they called to one another.  Sehko nodded.  "It's coming, and
soon."

"And when it does," Guara added quietly, "I don't think I'll weather the
storm." Guara turned, and plodded wearily up the grand staircase into the
shadows.  Angela drifted after her.

Sehko watched the darkness swallow them up.  She was beset with grave
misgivings.  When Guara fell, it would also see the end of Sehko.  She had
crossed swords too many times in the past with Karrellanne for the
vindictive woman to allow her to enjoy a quiet retirement with her old
fool of a husband.

Sehko shrugged.  What would be would be.

She turned to help Culbeth and Zamaleen lift down the saddles.


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