by Matthew Ward
"Which of course means that I don't exist. Pardon me, I'm sure."
"I didn't say that," I said. "But I've lived in Ashana's light all my life. Never once have I heard of any daughters, let alone one named 'Elspeth'."
"Fine," said Elspeth. "I maintain I am what I say I am, and that no lesser power than my mother sent me to watch over you. If you don't believe me, I'll have to live with it, won't I? But then I'm not the one in the cage. Stay if you like, but I'm leaving."
Put like that, I didn't have much of a choice. I'd not forgotten Magorian's words. I had to warn my uncle, and could hardly do that whilst locked in a cell. Besides, what more could the serathiel do to me?
"Come on," Elspeth hissed.
This time I obeyed, and was through the cell door in seconds. I stared at the drudge again. It looked oddly peaceful.
"What did you do to it?" I asked.
"It's dreaming," Elspeth replied. "As are the graces at the top of the stairs."
"How did you..."
"Fewer questions, more walking." She shoved me towards the stairway. "Don't you have other places to be?"
I took the stairs two at a time – not the best of ideas with a spiral staircase, but I reached the top without getting too dizzy.
As I emerged into the early morning gloom, I saw that there were indeed two dreaming graces standing guard either side of the archway. They were slumped in exactly the same manner as the drudge, their only movement the slight rise and fall of their shoulders as they breathed.
"That's a nice trick," I observed.
I'd long ago decided that I wouldn't want to fight a grace if I could possibly avoid it. If Elspeth could do that to anyone, perhaps I could yet stop disaster from befalling the approaching Hadari army. There was no point trying to reason with the serathiel, but perhaps I'd another way to prevent her from ordering the attack.
Elspeth emerged from the stairway, her movements gracefully precise.
"What next?" I asked.
She peered up at the rightmost grace. "That's up to you. I've already done more than I should. I wasn't meant to become embroiled in your stupidity. Mother will be furious, but hopefully not as furious as if I'd left you there." She abandoned her examination of the grace, and jabbed me in the chest with a long, polished fingernail. "She hates it when mortals can't handle their own affairs. Don't disappoint her."
She turned and strode briskly around the corner of the building.
"Wait!" I called, careless that the sound might awaken the graces. "I need your help."
I ran after her, but she was gone by the time I cleared the corner. Ahead, a white cat ran across a courtyard and vanished down a flight of stairs. I knew at once that the cat was Elspeth. She'd been watching me for some time, but I'd never catch her now. In any event, I could hardly force her to help, and I'd lose precious time in the attempt.
What to do now? The sky was brightening quickly, and the hour of my sentence couldn't be far away. I'd minutes to capitalise on my freedom. Perhaps I should have fled, saved myself from what was coming, but I couldn't let Magorian's plan run its course without at least trying to stop it. But how?
There was only one answer. I needed help. I'd been determined not to involve Koschai and Arianwyn before, but with so many lives at stake there was no other choice. If they convinced Karov to rein in the serathi, there might yet be a chance. It wasn't a good plan, but it was the best I had, so I set off through the pre-dawn streets for Koschai's quarters.
I clung to the shadows as if my life depended on it. If a serathi caught even a glimpse of me, my attempt to reach my friends would be over before it had begun. Thankfully, I saw no serathi as I made my way across the city, only a few drudges, going about their assigned maintenance tasks.
I heard a beating of wings above and behind me. My heart sinking in my chest, I drew my sword and spun around to face my pursuer. I'd not give up without a fight, however futile.
Adanika lanced a few paces away. She was unarmed, but that hardly mattered with a serathi. "Put that away, before you injure yourself."
I clenched my teeth. "I don't want to fight, but I can't let you stop me."
She smiled, and drifted towards me. "You are absolutely correct, on both counts. Put the sword away." She glided closer.
"No."
"Edric, you do not have time for this. We do not have time for this. The serathiel has ordered that the Light of the Radiant be unleashed against your people, in response to their act of war. It will be soon."
"It's no act of war," I said. "They were invited."
"That hardly matters," Adanika snapped. "In a few minutes they will be dead, whatever the reason. I had thought to release you, so you might have a chance to save them, but it seems that was unnecessary. How did you escape?"
"You said that we were short on time," I reminded her, unwillingly to speak of Elspeth even to Adanika. "What can I do?"
"I will take you to the Chamber of the Sun. Perhaps between us we can stop the Light of the Radiant from being unleashed." She sighed. "You will have to trust me, Edric."
I lowered my sword. "Why help me?"
She sighed. "There is already too much blood on our hands, I cannot allow more to flow over them. Will you let me do this?"
I'd the impression she was talking about more than the destruction of Salkard, but it was hardly the time to ask, if I'd even get an answer at all. I sheathed my sword, and thought frantically. "Are you certain we can stop the Light of the Radiant?"
Adanika hesitated. "No."
"Then we'll have to be cleverer than that," I said, surprised by the straight answer. "Tell me where I can find this Chamber of the Sun, and I'll deal with it alone. I need you to carry warning to my uncle."
"No," Adanika replied. "You will never find it in time."
"This is the only way," I insisted. "We have to give the Emperor every chance. If we both go to the Chamber of the Sun and fail, it will all be for nothing. But if one of us warns my people...? I can't do it, I can't fly, and I'm willing to bet that the reason I've seen no serathi save for you is because they're all clustered around the Farsight, waiting for the entertainment to begin."
Adanika nodded. "What you say is true."
"Then it has to be this way. Don't you see?"
"Very well, Edric Saran. Your logic is impeccable. But you must understand that I cannot return to Skyhaven if I do what you ask. If I do, I will share Myrzanna's fate."
That sounded ominous, but the future would have to look out for itself; the present was slipping away. "So be it. Tell me how to reach the Chamber of the Sun."
Adanika gazed across the square to a drudge pruning a rosebush. "I can do better than that." She raised her voice. "Drudge, attend me."
The drudge turned to identify the source of the sound. It was Edina. Carefully, she set her shears on a wall, then strode to Adanika's side.
"Drudge, you will lead Edric Saran to the Chamber of the Sun. You will do so quickly. You will grant him any assistance he requests. You will treat his orders as if they were mine. Do you understand?"
[[I understand, Mistress Adanika.]]
"Then be off. Goodbye, Edric Saran. Perhaps we will meet again." Then, with a sweep of her wings, she was gone.
*******
Edina set a brisk pace, the sheer mechanical rhythm of her stride devouring the distance between us and our goal.
[[What business have you in the Chamber of the Sun?]]
"I need to destroy or disable the Light of the Radiant," I said, though I'd no idea how that was to be accomplished. "Otherwise many of my people will die."
[[This is important, then?]]
"It's very important," I agreed, marvelling again at a drudge's ability to understate things.
[[Then we must hurry.]] Impossibly, Edina quickened her pace.
A minute later, we were at the base of the tower housing the Courts of Heaven. Edina led me unerringly to a small door guarded by two graces. On seeing them, I ducked back into the shadows
.
"I can't let those graces see me," I hissed.
Edina halted. [[Then I cannot take you to the Chamber of the Sun.]]
I swore under my breath. I didn't know how much time we had left, but I was conscious of it slipping away. "Is there no other way in?"
[[No.]]
Should I not have sent Adanika away? She could have passed the graces without incident, and maybe even ordered them to leave their posts. It was too late. There had to be another way.
"Edina, are you permitted to harm the graces, if I order it?"
[[No. They are extensions of the serathiel's will. I can no more harm them than I could her.]]
A horrible thought struck me. "Does that mean that their orders override Adanika's?"
[[Yes. Or they would if they could issue them. Graces do not speak.]]
That was a relief, but it didn't help us much. Frustrated, I slammed my fist against a wall. As I did so, I glanced back the way we had come and saw Arianwyn running down the street towards us.
At first, I thought perhaps Adanika had found her and sent her after us. As she drew closer, I quickly saw something was wrong. Arianwyn was barefoot, and wearing a nightdress rather than more practical attire. She must have been frozen. The morning air was cold, and the nightdress, whilst conforming to Tressian conventions of modesty, was hardly a fit garment. She hadn't seen either Edina or I, and would have run straight past us had I not pulled her into the shadows.
"Let me go," Arianwyn ordered. "They are looking for me. They are always looking for me."
I started in surprise, but didn't release my grip. I thought back to what Koschai had told me the previous day. "I'll let you go. But there are two graces less than fifty paces away. Keep your voice down."
Arianwyn stared blankly, then nodded.
I let go of her arm. "What's wrong? What's happened?"
"I told you," she said crossly. "The serathi are looking for me. I think they want to kill me."
I peered into the empty street. If the serathi were indeed looking for her, they were doing so in all the wrong places. "Where were you going?"
"The Courts of Heaven," she hissed. "I will be safe there. I will."
Arianwyn was breathing heavily, her eyes flicking back and forth between me and Edina. This wasn't a waking dream, as I'd thought it might be, but what was going on? I had to get her away from here, but first the Chamber of the Sun had to be attended to.
"I'll help you escape, but I need your help." I took a deep breath. "I need you to get me past those graces. Magorian's tricked the serathi into attacking my uncle's army, I need to stop it from happening."
"I cannot," Arianwyn said flatly.
What? "Why not? You were all for breaking down the doors of my cell yesterday, and to Otherworld with the consequences."
She gave me a peculiar look, but said nothing.
"Look. I need to get past those graces. If you can't help me, I'll have to try it by myself, and I have to do it now."
Arianwyn regarded me with confusion, not concern. "You'll die."
"Probably," I agreed, "but it's me or thousands, and I'm out of time."
I moved to step into the street, but Arianwyn put a restraining hand on my arm. "I will do it," she said quietly, and strode past.
Already there was a halo of white light around her body, and the graces quickly and correctly interpreted it as a threat. One levelled a spear and marched to intercept her. The other hung back by the door.
Arianwyn ignored the obvious challenge, and continued her advance. She raised her hands as she walked, brilliant light dancing about them. Still the grace came on. Arianwyn seemed completely unperturbed. Whatever fear had set her to flight was clearly under control.
The grace jabbed her spear forward just as Arianwyn clapped her hands together. A searing burst of light ripped through the air. When it cleared from my vision, the grace was on her knees. Spear and shield abandoned, she scrabbled at her mask with both hands. Arianwyn stepped past the grace without slowing and bore down on the other. There was another burst of white light, and the second serathi was blinded and weaponless.
I ran to join Arianwyn, Edina close behind me. "It is only temporary," Arianwyn said. "You must hurry."
"I intend to," I said, but hesitated anyway. "You can probably reach the Courts of Heaven, if you still want to?"
Arianwyn shook her head. "No, I will come with you. You may yet need my help."
I stared at her. Though she sounded more like herself, something still bothered me, but there was no time. "Thank you. Edina? Where now?"
Without a word, the drudge led us down a stairway, through another door and into a large cylindrical room beyond. We had reached the Chamber of the Sun.
A giant glass sphere hung in the centre of the room, suspended from four silver ropes and an array of bronze pipes. It pulsed with amber light, and I guessed the pipes carried that same light to other chambers on Skyhaven – such as the rooms where the drudges were born, and where Myrzanna had been executed. There was a large window let into the centre of the floor, through which I could make out the ground far below. A beam of brilliant amber lanced from an aperture in the sphere's base and into the window. With each pulse, the beam grew wider.
[[Once the beam is as wide as the focusing window,]] said Edina, [[the Light of the Radiant will be unleashed.]]
The beam was already wider than half the window's diameter. "How do we stop it?" I asked.
[[I do not know. Perhaps if we sever the ropes, the Heart of Light's alignment will be disrupted.]]
The Heart of Light was the sphere, I guessed. Edina's suggestion seemed a slim hope, but it was all we had. I pointed upwards. A gallery ran around the top of the room, and it appeared the ropes were anchored to it. "How do we get up there?"
[[There is a stair on the other side. Come.]]
She started across the chamber. I turned to Arianwyn. "Can you stay here and keep the door sealed?" She stared at me blankly. "Well, can you?"
"Yes, I can do that," she said at last.
I hesitated. More and more I was convinced something wasn't right with Arianwyn. I'd doubted Koschai's fears, assuming that after a decade away he no longer knew what was or wasn't normal about his daughter. I should have listened. It was no single thing I could identify, just small flickers of poise and speech that seemed out of place. Her voice was the same, but the words somehow weren't right, her posture confident or cautious at all the wrong times.
The sphere pulsed, snapping me back to the problem at hand. With a last worried glance at Arianwyn, I ran after Edina.
The drudge and I reached the top of the gallery without incident. Gods, but it was a long way down. I was glad of the balustrade. The last thing I needed was to lose my footing and fall over the side. It would have been embarrassing, to say the least.
We reached the first rope. It was attached to the chamber wall by a metal bracket at about my head height. I decided Edina could probably pull the thing clear, or I could cut the rope with my sword.
"You deal with this one," I said. "I'll start on the other side."
Edina nodded her understanding, braced both feet against the floor, and hauled on the rope.
I was already moving around the gallery to the far side, when a call from below brought me to a halt. "Edric? Edric, are you there?"
I crossed to the balustrade, and stared down at Arianwyn. "What is it?"
"Where am I?" she demanded. "Where are my clothes? It's freezing!"
At that most inopportune of moments, the door burst open and two graces rushed in.
Confused or not, Arianwyn knew danger when she saw it. Her hands came up. A bolt of white light slammed into the first grace and knocked her back out of the room. The second intruder closed the distance with a flap of her wings, and struck Arianwyn a vicious blow. There was a dull thump, and Arianwyn collapsed.
I swore, and ran to the nearest rope. With Arianwyn down, we couldn't defeat the graces. "Edina, we need to do this now
, or not at all!"
The drudge heaved on her rope to no avail. [[It will not move.]]
Drawing my sword, I hacked at the rope in front of me. The blade skittered off, leaving no sign of impact. A shock ran up my arm. It was like striking metal – I couldn't cut that.
Changing tactics, I set the edge of the blade on the rope, and started to saw. The rope frayed almost immediately; but it wasn't going fast enough. I couldn't see any way that I'd be able to cut through this one, let alone another, before the Light of the Radiant was unleashed.
Nor, it seemed, was I to be permitted the opportunity. The two graces, one of whom had clearly recovered, flew up through the centre of the chamber. Before I could react, they landed beside me and seized my arms.
The light in the sphere pulsed, the beam blazing into the window growing wider with each beat. Two or three pulses more, and the beam would be as wide as the window below, at which point it would unleash itself on the heart of my uncle's army. I struggled against the graces pinioning my arms, but they were too strong. Edina saw my efforts, but made no move to assist me.
"Edina!" I called. "You have to help me!"
[[I cannot fight a grace. It is not permitted.]]
"There must be something you can do!" I winced as the graces tightened their grip. "We have to stop the Light of the Radiant!"
Edina nodded. [[There is something that I can do. Goodbye, Master Edric.]]
In one smooth motion, she climbed up onto the balustrade around the upper gallery. Her intent was obvious.
"No!"
The graces saw it too. Throwing me roughly to the floor, they took wing across the Chamber of the Sun, arms outstretched. They were too slow. As the serathi bore down upon her, Edina stepped off the balcony.
With a sharp crack, the glass shattered where she struck. A beam of brilliant amber light blazed upwards though the hole. The two graces, hands inches from Edina's at the moment of impact, had no chance. They burst into flames as the light tore through them, and plummeted to the chamber floor, dead before their bodies slammed into the stone.
With another crack, Edina fell through the base of the sphere, punching another column of light onto the floor below. Or rather, what was left of her did so. Edina's stone body was blackened, cracked and utterly still. I felt inexpressibly sad. Had I ordered her to do that? Or had she chosen to sacrifice herself? I found myself hoping desperately it had been the latter, but doubted I'd ever truly know.