Read The Remembering for Free Online Page A

up at me. She lit a candle next to the bed, then looked back at me. She wore black cotton pajamas and slippers. Her hair was cropped close to her head, and her skin was as black as her pajamas. She wore no jewelry, but her eyes sparkled in the candlelight like two brilliant green emeralds. In one second I knew in my heart and mind that she was much, much older than all the rest of us. Susheela the Ninth.
    “Ta ifi dite ifsaah, dite kaa mabayisa,” she said softly.
    I took another step forward. “I’m sorry, but I’m not familiar with your language,” I said. “Do you speak English?”
    “Most certainly,” she answered, smiling slightly and reminding me a great deal of Opari, not only in her features, but also in her speech and manner. She rose to greet me. We were exactly the same height. “My words were these,” she said. “ ‘And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehend it not.’ ”
    “My name is Zianno Zezen, Egizahar Meq, through the tribe of Vardules, protectors of the Stone of Dreams, and I have come to take you out of here.” I looked into her intensely green eyes. Inside her gaze there was a deep calm and stillness I had never seen before in anyone’s eyes. I was sure it was this utter and complete serenity within her that had frustrated the Fleur-du-Mal to the breaking point. “I know who you are,” I said, “but what do I call you?”
    “Long ago, in my youth, I was called ‘Sheela.’ Would that do?”
    I smiled and told her that would do just fine, then I told her we must leave immediately.
    “I understand,” she said. She grabbed a few loose items from the table next to her bed, shoved them into side pockets in her pajamas, and reached for a light shawl draped over a chair, but nothing else. She turned to me. “Shall we?”
    I paused at the doorway. In the passage Koki was still rocking and holding Goya tight. Behind me, she asked, “Do you know of a secret exit?”
    “Not exactly, but I’m pretty sure he does.” I nodded toward Koki.
    “Koki?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. “You are depending on Koki?”
    “Yes. If I know the Fleur-du-Mal, there is another exit from this level of the shiro , a hidden one, probably dating from when the level was used as a torture chamber and prison. That’s what would have attracted him to the property. I’m betting Koki knows where it is.”
    “And you believe Koki will lead us to this exit? He is not capable of such behavior.”
    “He is today.” I pulled the door shut and placed the key back on its hook. “Koki,” I said, “show us the way out … the other way.” Koki looked at me and acknowledged me, but didn’t respond. He seemed confused. I reached out and took Goya’s skull from him. I was worried I had scared him and fear was the last thing I wanted him to feel.
    Suddenly Susheela the Ninth stepped forward. “Dedoko,” she said quietly. “ Dedoko  …  kakushigoto  …  kakushigoto , Koki.”
    Koki wiped his chin, pushed his glasses up, and grinned. His stained teeth looked black in the faint light of the candles. “Yes, hello,” he said, and turned around, shuffling away through the darkened passage, not waiting for us.
    I glanced at Susheela the Ninth. “I don’t know what you said, but thank you … Sheela.”
    She smiled at hearing her childhood name. “I told Koki you wanted the secret exit, and you are welcome … Zianno.”
    “Call me Z,” I said, then motioned her ahead of me. “Shall we?”
    Koki picked up the pace and we walked by three more doors before the passage came to a T. We took a left and stopped in front of another door, which resembled the others in every way, except that when Koki opened the door there was no bedroom or cell inside. This door led to an iron spiral staircase winding up and disappearing into darkness.
    “Yes, hello,” Koki said.
    “Hello, yes, Koki!” I replied, glancing up. “Follow me.” I held the candle high. Susheela the Ninth fell in