Ganne


Part 29 - The Confession of a High Ganne.


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Shining a putrid blue, the gigantic face of a young woman floated in the
dimness of the grand hall.  Sightless eyes bulged from the bloated face;
the tongue lolled from one corner of the slack mouth; and the head was
tilted on one side.  The obscenity was swaying back and forth in time to
the desolate keening.

The grisly lantern illuminated a figure crouching at the foot of a grand
staircase.  Standing around the hunched figure like sentinels were five or
six wine bottles.  Two more lay on their side, empty.

At Sarah's stifled gasp, the crying stopped abruptly.  The ghastly face
winked out.  Darkness closed about Sarah like a silent thunderclap,
leaving only the pale radiance from the tall windows to light the dusty
hall.

The hunched form looked up.  A pale oval of face turned in Sarah's
direction.  Before Sarah could collect her wits, something hit her with
heart stopping force.  The hammer blow fell right behind her eyes, driving
all sense from her.  She felt herself begin to fall, but did not remember
hitting the ground.

The next thing Sarah knew was the feel of arms about her, and being
cuddled into a feminine body.  She seemed to be choking in a thick miasma
composed of a mingling of rain soaked cloth, horse sweat and wine scented
breath.  Strands of damp hair tickled her cheeks.  She grew aware of a
voice calling to her out of an echoing distance.

"Sarah...  Sarah...  Come on Sarah, answer me.  Relax and take some deep
breaths.  You'll be fine in a moment.  O Goddess!  I'm sorry, Sarah.  I
didn't mean to Lash you."

With a great effort, Sarah forced her eyes open.  There was a shadowy and
distorted face filling the world.  A spasm of fear shot through her.  She
cringed, and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Sarah?" Genella called, shaking her gently.  "Come on, Sarah...  Just try
and relax.  Take a few deep breaths.  The weakness will pass in a moment."

"What, what happened?" Sarah managed to ask.  Her voice seemed to echo
inside her head.  Then she remembered...  "That face...Oh God!  That
face!"

The arms cradling her tightened in a reassuring hug.  "It's alright,
Sarah.  It's gone.  I have sent it away."

"What was it?' Sarah asked, her scattered wits collecting themselves
reluctantly into some sort of order.  The blue tinge to the light she
could see through her closed lids was still sending shivers of horror
tingling down her spine.  "It's still there.  I know it is...  I can still
see it."

"No, Sarah.  It's gone now."

But what was it?"

For a long moment, Sarah thought Genella was not going to answer.  Then
the Ganne said in a low, faltering voice, "it's the mark, the mark of, of
my shame, the curse I shall carry to the grave.  But it's gone now.  You
can open your eyes.  It truly is gone."

Cautiously, Sarah did as she was bidden.  There was still a face hanging
over her; but she saw now that it was Genella.  The woman's face was cast
into shadow by a sphere of dim blue light drifting in the air above them.
Sarah stared over Genella's shoulder at the ghostly globe of light.  Of
the tortured visage, there was not a trace.

"What is that thing?" Sarah asked.

Genella glanced up at the sphere.  "Oh that?  That's just a Ganne Lantern.
They're quite easy to do." She assisted Sarah to sit up.

Sarah stared hard at the floating sphere of light.  "You're making that
light?" she asked.

"Yes."

"How?"

"It's a simple trick," Genella said - "for anyone with any Ganne at all.
But I couldn't explain it to you."

"Why?  Is it a secret?"

"Yes.  But it is a secret only because it is something which cannot be
told, not because I would not tell it to you were that possible.  It is to
do with being possessed by the Ganne.  If you had any Ganne at all, it
would be a very basic manipulation.  Actually, an electric lamp or candle
would be much better.  Are you feeling better now?"

Sarah nodded.  "A little." Genella helped her to her feet, and assisted
her to the bottom of the staircase.  The globe of light bobbed and danced
in their wake, rising higher, until it was brushing the plaster mouldings
encrusting the ceiling, from where it cast a chilly radiance about the
hall.  The dim glow served only to emphasise the shadows, lending them a
grotesque and sinister presence.

"Sit down here and rest." Genella directed.  She brushed the carpeting
clear of the dust and debris fallen from above, and helped the still
wobbly Sarah to settle onto the bottom step.  Genella sat beside her.  For
a time there was only the sound of the rain pattering on the windows and
the muted rush of the wind through the trees.  Slowly, Sarah's mind
cleared of the effects of the Lash.  At last she turned to Genella and
asked, "who, who was she?"

An oppressive silence settled in the great hall.  Genella was regarding
the parade of wine bottles before her booted feet in gloomy introspection.
Sarah waited.  Just when she thought Genella was not going to say
anything, the Ganne sighed, lifted her head, and met Sarah's gaze.  She
drew in a slow breath, pushed back some strands of her untidy hair, and
began to speak in a forlorn voice.

"I did something wicked once.  ..Unspeakably wicked...  And I cannot
forget it...Or forgive myself."

Genella's anguish was almost palpable.  It touched Sarah deeply.  She
reached out an arm and slid it around Genella's shoulders.  "What did you
do?" Sarah asked softly.

Outside, the wind in the trees swelled to a savage roar.  The rain renewed
its assault on the windows, the droplets lashing the glass with sudden
fury.  Inside, a little cloud of dust arose about the Ganne.  It swirled
in the still air like a dust devil, its diaphanous billows seeming to
suggest a dragon with spread wings.

The surge of dark emotion which washed through Sarah made her head spin.
She had been warned often enough by the Doctor to steer well clear of an
emotional Ganne.  She was just now beginning to understand why.

Genella, who had begun to shake with the strength of her inner turmoil,
hands clenching in her lap, grew suddenly calm.  The phantom of the dragon
shrouding her body thinned away.  In a voice barely above a whisper,
Genella went on...

"We were a wild lot that year.  More than is usual for a bunch of High
Gannes let loose from the Academy to find their feet at the Shennon.  We
ran absolutely wild, scandalising the whole Palace and half of Shennon
Freeport in our primary year before Phaedra reigned us in a bit."

Genella paused.  In the quiet, Genella's mare whickered nervously in the
porch.  A hoof scraped on stone, saddle leather creaked, and harness
jingled.  The shifting of the horse masked the noise of a stealthy
footfall.

Genella began speaking again.  "And I as a Princess of the premier Bah
Family was the ringleader of our scandalous debauches.  There was even a
rumour that I would lift my skirts for anything that was still breathing.
I revelled in the reputation, and played up to it outrageously...It was
untrue, of course...." She paused a moment, a rueful grin playing about
her lips, before adding, "well...not entirely untrue, I suppose."

Genella fell silent, frowning.  For a moment, she was unable to reconcile
the fierce, fun-loving girl who, thoughtless and carefree, had run riot
through the stuffy halls of the Shennon all those years ago, with her
present self.  When she went on, her voice was laced with contrition.

"There was this girl at the palace, Malincha.  She was Guara's daughter -
a silly vain little air headed commoner of no consequence whatsoever.  She
was only tolerated because everyone was terrified of her mother.  Us
Aristos could not possibly tolerate such impertinence.  She was just a
commoner with no Ganne whatsoever.  We decided...  I decided, she needed
taking down a peg or two.  We...  I...  I..."

Genella faltered into silence, and put her face in her hands.  Sarah
staggered under the impact of Genella's suddenly wildly tumbling emotions.
She tightened the hug reassuringly, and waited for Genella to continue.

At length, the Ganne drew in a long steadying breath.  "She was sweet on
this oafish Lordling.  So, to get back at her, I openly seduced him, and
paraded myself around with him on my arm to demonstrate just how powerless
she was, and how foolish she was being trying to lord it over us Aristos
because of her mother's protection.  It was a great joke, a real hoot
until...  Until...  Until...  Oh Goddess!  the silly little fool went and
killed herself."

Beyond the stone walls, the wind seethed in the ornamental trees.  The
roaring masked the sound of further, stealthy footfalls.

"We...  I thought she just had a crush on the boy; but she was head over
heels in love with him.  He loved her too.  They were true soul mates; and
I ruined it all...  And myself into the bargain.  It wasn't as if he was
even any fun to be with.  He was an oafish lout, and a dull boor in bed.
They deserved each other.  They would have made a life long match if, if,
I'd not been such a nasty vicious bitch.  If only?...."

The silence in the hall drew out.  The fury of the wind died.  At last,
Sarah prompted gently, "what happened?"

"She hung herself...  The silly little fool...  She went and hung herself
in the Grand Library.  And it was all my fault...  She wrote me a note...I
still have it...Here, I've still got it with me." Genella fumbled inside
her cloak, and drew out a worn scrap of paper, yellowed with age.  She
unfolded it slowly, smoothing out the creased paper.  She offered it to
sarah.  There was something ineffably pathetic in the gesture - like a
little child holding out a cut hand, appealing to its mother to "make it
all better again."

"She wrote the most horrid things," Genella said, "all of it true.  Oh
Dear Goddess!  It's all true, every single word." Genella's face dropped
back into her hands; and the thin keening sound of her misery once more
filled the dark hall.

Sarah glanced at the scrap of paper.  Knowing that she would not be able
to read it, she held onto Genella until the woman stopped crying.  After
some time, Genella took out a piece of rag and wiped her face.  Then she
reached for one of the nearby wine bottles.

"That wont help," Sarah said quietly.

"It's the only thing that makes life bearable," Genella replied.  She
upended the bottle, and took a deep swallow.  She set the half empty
bottle down.  "When I cannot endure it any longer, it's the only thing
that helps.  And after this morning, I need it more than ever.  I really
need it."

Sarah gave her a puzzled look.  "This morning?  What happened this
morning?"

Genella looked right into Sarah's face and said, with complete calm, "the
world came to an end."


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