Ferran watched him a moment and then returned to his duties with the children, leaving Tan, feeling troubled, staring at the spot the master had occupied. If even Ferran—a shaper able to speak to the elementals—didn’t fully understand that Par-shon was worse than Incendin, then how would other shapers?
“You summoned last night.”
He turned and saw Roine watching him. Today, he wore a long navy cloak pinned at the neck. It seemed that each time Tan saw him, he dressed more regally. Would there come a time when Roine would not want to give up his place as king regent? They had found potential heirs, but there was no way of knowing which should rule. For now, that responsibility fell to Roine.
“Par-shon shapers were in the kingdoms,” Tan said.
Anger flared across Roine’s face. He guided Tan down the hall without another word, turning into a servants’ corridor before shaping opening a door that led to a plain room. Tan took it in: a circular table pushed almost to one wall, a pitcher of water resting atop it; three slatted wooden chairs forming a circle around the table; an ornate tapestry hanging from the wall was the only evidence of finery in the room.
Roine pulled out one of the chairs and plopped into it, his clothing making him look suddenly out of place.
Tan noted a stack of papers piled on the floor under the table. Several books angled against the wall. A shapers lantern was also hidden, though Roine shaped a weak light into it.
Tan closed the door behind him and took a seat. “What is this?”
“This,” Roine started, surveying the room, “is where I come when I need to have time for myself. There aren’t many who know that it’s here. And now you do.”
“Why have you brought me here?”
Roine leaned on his elbows. “I need to know what happened last night. Why did you summon?”
Tan told him about the summons from golud and the way that he and Ferran had found one of the traps. “It was my mistake. I knew it wasn’t safe for me to attempt the shaping, and Ferran pressed me. I should have known better than to let him try.”
Roine shook his head. “Your mistake wasn’t letting Ferran attempt the shaping. Your mistake was thinking that you had to do this alone.” The comment echoed what Ferran had just said, enough that left Tan wondering if they’d spoken about it.
“There wouldn’t have been time to summon earlier.” Roine gave him an arched brow. “Well, I had forgotten the summoning rune. Roine, I did what I could. I asked ara to get word to my mother—”
Roine started to smile, catching Tan off guard. “Yes, ara got word to Zephra. But you neglect to remember that you had a way to summon me directly.”
“I said I forgot the rune coin.”
Roine chuckled and reached across the table to tap on the ring Tan wore. “Part of this gives you a way to summon me. It also allows you to speak on my behalf. Sign peace agreements. Many other affairs of state.” He waved his hand as if most of that was meaningless. “I used the mark of Athan to travel freely and unencumbered. There were instances when it was helpful, such as the time when I first came to your village.” His smile widened. “Mostly it’s a marker of office, but that’s not all that it is. I made certain to give you a way to reach me, too. I probably should have told you that sooner.”
Tan stared down at the ring, twisting it on his finger. It fit well and was marked with the rune that represented each of the elements. “Had I known…”
“You would have summoned sooner. Yes. And then? Perhaps it is best that you didn’t. Otherwise, you might not have gone after the Par-shon shapers and you might not have learned what you did about the traps.”
“I nearly failed, Roine. I nearly died.”
Roine studied him a moment. “Tannen,” he started, saying his name with genuine warmth, “there have been probably a dozen times since we’ve met that you could have died. What is important is that you didn’t. You might have allowed emotion to guide your actions rather than thinking it through, but had you taken the time, you might have talked yourself out of what needed to be done. It was much the same for me when I was Athan. I think of what I accomplished simply because I acted. Imagine what would have happened had Par-shon managed to bond the elementals near Ethea.”
He’d already considered what would have happened and how much might have been lost. “I need to find the rest of the traps. They can’t remain here. If the Utu Tonah uses them…”
“Yes. They need to be brought back to Ethea.”
“They need to be destroyed,” Tan said.
“Not destroyed. Studied. We must understand what it is that Par-shon does. If we can understand them, then we can find the key to stopping them.”
“I won’t risk someone having access to the traps,” Tan said, thinking of how the kingdoms’ shapers had once harnessed the elementals. “If someone thinks to use them—”
“You can store them in the lower level of the archives. That way, you’re the only one able to reach them.”
Tan fidgeted with the ring. The idea of having the elemental traps so close worried him. There were those like Seanan who wanted the bond, thinking that Tan could simply force it. There might be others like him, or possibly worse, who would do anything in the name of keeping the kingdoms safe.
Tan studied Roine, wondering what he might be able to do. Would he think to use the traps, thinking he was helping the kingdoms? Roine had already shown how far he would go to protect the kingdoms. How could he not use every advantage to save them?
Tan couldn’t help but think the ancient shapers must have started the same way. What must they have faced that would have convinced them that harnessing the elementals should be considered? There were shapers then who bonded to the elementals naturally, allowing the elemental and the shaper to choose whether to join in the connection. What had changed?
Roine waited on him for an answer. “I will bring them to the archives,” Tan said. “Please, Roine. Leave them there. Don’t be tempted to use them.”
Roine waved his hand dismissively. “Our shapers will be enough,” he said. “I know that you intended to go to Incendin—”
That had been Tan’s plan, but he couldn’t do that, not until after he kept Par-shon from trapping elementals. “Not until I find the traps.”
“Good. After you secure them, there is something else I would ask of you. It has to do with Incendin. I know you think we need to work with them, but you should know that while Zephra worked to solidify the barrier, she has seen movement near Nara. If they attack—”
“They aren’t going to attack. They have enough to fear with Par-shon active.”
Roine leaned back and rubbed a hand over his chin. “If they attack,” he started again, “we need to know what we might face. Zephra can only do so much in Incendin, and repairing the barrier is taking time, more time than I’d like. If only Lacertin still lived. The barrier had been his idea, and he had been responsible for the first shaping to bring it into place.”
“The barrier was never designed to keep shapers out, though. It held back the lisincend and the hounds.”
“The barrier restricted anything with elemental power from crossing,” Roine said. “Including shapers.”
“How did Lacertin cross?” Tan asked.
He tapped his hands on the top of the table and let out a frustrated sigh. “I still don’t know.”
Tan frowned. It wasn’t just Lacertin, but the Aeta had crossed as well. Had they not been able to do so, Amia would have been stuck on the other side in Incendin. Now, with Lacertin gone, they would never know. Amia hadn’t known there was a reason they shouldn’t have been able to cross, so she wouldn’t have any answer either.
“So you want me to scout Incendin rather than travel to the Fire Fortress.”
“Can’t you do both? You could bring Cianna. She knows the lands well.”
“Roine, Incendin isn’t our threat—”
Roine sat up, his back stiffening. “Then prove it. Find out why they have been moving along
the border. Explain it in a way the proves they mean no harm.”
“And Par-shon? Who will make sure that Par-shon doesn’t attack again?”
“I’m certain that you’ll know if there is another attack. The elementals warned us last night, didn’t they?”
“It won’t work quite like that. Golud helped because Par-shon attempted to force a bond. There are other elementals Par-shon can use. And they can hide themselves. We saw that in Doma.”
“Zephra will know if ara is impacted. Ferran has bonded earth. I believe that you share a connection to the nymid as well as the draasin? That means we’re covered.”
Tan shook his head. “That’s only the beginning. There are countless elementals, especially here in Ethea. Think of all the elementals that are found here that aren’t found in other places. Elementals like saa and ashi and wyln and—”
“Those are all lesser elementals.”
Tan resisted the urge to make a comment. Despite how frequently they had had this conversation, Roine still seemed to believe that there were lesser and greater elementals. From what Tan had learned, the elementals had no such distinction. Some were greater in one land than another, even though all were found around Ethea. The draasin were different, though even Asboel couldn’t really tell him why that would be. Roine needed to understand.
“Focus on fire,” Tan said.
Roine frowned. “Tan, now is not the time—”
“Now must be the time,” he said. “You are king here, and you need to understand what you rule. I don’t think even Althem really understood. If he had, he might not have underestimated the strength of the elementals.”
Roine grinned at him. “Now you think to give me lessons on how to rule? Maybe your mother is right. You’re becoming a little too much like me.”
“Roine—”
“Fine. I’ll focus on fire. You know that it’s the element I’m weakest in.”
“And you know it’s the element I’m strongest in. So we will balance each other out.”
Roine snorted. “What will I be sensing?”
“I’ll show you,” Tan said.
With a quick surge of shaping, Tan created a simple ball of flame. It hovered in his hand, creating a bright glow. Tan fed it with his own shaping, making it burn hotter and brighter. As he did, saa was drawn to it as usual, and he encouraged the elemental toward the shaping, allowing it to assume control. Tan lowered his hand and the shaping remained in place.
He reached inwardly for the fire bond and felt its pull. Through it, he could feel the way saa reached from him to the flame. Even the distant sense of Sashari and Asgar pulled on the fire bond. They were the brightest draws, but not the only ones. Heat in the stones pulled on the bond, the heat of his body and Roine’s, even within the chair he sat upon. Everything had elements of fire, though not all burned with intensity.
“That’s an impressive shaping, I’ll grant you that,” Roine said.
Tan reached toward the flame, running his hand through it. Saa, like the fire of the draasin, didn’t burn him. “Can you sense the fire within the shaping?” he asked.
Roine laughed. “I can see the fire burning within your shaping. Is that not enough?”
“No. Focus on it. Sense the flame. Notice what is there.”
Tan sat back and waited. Roine’s face contorted slightly as he concentrated, and then he shook his head. “I don’t sense anything.”
Maybe that was the best answer Tan could hope for. “Do you sense me shaping?” Roine shook his head. “Did you sense me shaping?”
“I felt the pull of fire, Tan, but as I said, fire is weakest for me. This demonstration might have worked for Lacertin—he was strong in fire—but it’s lost on me. Maybe you should be showing this to Cianna or Seanan.”
“Cianna has no need, and I’ve already shown Seanan.” Tan still didn’t know what would come of Seanan, and whether he would continue to demand a bond. In time, if he worked at it, maybe Seanan could earn a bond, but there was nothing that would force it. “And I don’t think it’s lost on you. You felt the beginning of my shaping, but now nothing. That’s what you should have felt.”
Roine glanced from ball of fire, now glowing with a faint blue light, hotter than almost any shaping Tan had ever performed. “I don’t understand.”
Tan smiled. “Because this is no longer my shaping.” Roine’s frown deepened. “You can sense how much heat is here, yes?”
“I couldn’t shape something that hot, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“And it would take me considerable focus, but with the elementals, I don’t need to use such focus. This, Roine, is saa. Not draasin. Not inferin. Not saldam. Saa. You claim saa a ‘lesser elemental,’ but you once said the same about the nymid. And like the nymid, saa has much strength burning within it, but not everywhere. Here, in Ethea, saa competes with other elementals of fire, but there are places where saa is incredibly strong.” He cupped the flame again, encouraging saa to send it dancing. “Without saa, I doubt I would have escaped Par-shon. Saa is fundamentally different than the draasin, but even the draasin do not consider them weaker. Only different.”
Roine studied the flame, and his eyes danced with the light of it. He reached toward the fire, but then jerked his hand back and swore under his breath. He glanced over at Tan and shook his head. “If this is saa…”
“None in the kingdoms are bonded to saa, Roine,” Tan said. “I can ask saa for help with things like this, and I can use the strength of saa found here, but it’s different than the communication I have with the draasin. I would know if something were to happen to the draasin I bonded to, but to the hatchling? I didn’t know at first. And saa is even harder. So to assume that worrying about the so-called greater elementals is all we need to do, we risk losing more than you realize.”
Roine settled back in his chair and ran his hand across the back of his head, scrubbing through his hair. “And this is how the Utu Tonah has bonded countless elementals?”
Tan nodded.
Roine let out a controlled breath. “When you told me that before, I never thought the lesser elementals amounted to much. Sure, I figured it gave him some measure of increased strength, but I didn’t think that having other elementals would help him. I thought that was why he wanted the draasin bond.”
Tan sent a quiet request to Honl, letting the warm breeze of the wind elemental draw through the room and then fade. “I’ve bonded to ashi, not ara. I will tell you that this bond is not weaker than ara.”
“Great Mother,” Roine whispered.
“I’m sorry, Roine. I thought you understood before.”
“I heard what you’d told me before, but apparently I wasn’t listening.” He met Tan’s eyes. “I still don’t know what to make of this. And regardless of what you think, Tan, Incendin remains dangerous. They will do whatever it takes to keep themselves safe, the same as we must do.”
“What they must do is recognize the shared threat,” Tan said. He sent a request to saa to release the shaping back to him, and then Tan let it fade out.
Roine laughed. “Were it only so simple. If all were able to simply recognize what should be done, there would be no need for war.”
“Roine, there’s never a need for war.”
The king regent shook his head. “If only that were true.” He took a deep breath and then stood, his eyes hesitating as he looked at the spot the fire shaping had occupied. “Now, I need my Athan to first take care of the traps, then go onto Incendin.”
Tan crossed the small office to the door. As he pulled it open, Roine caught him.
“Tannen,” he started, “thank you for serving as Athan. I don’t know if I could do what I need to if I didn’t have faith that you would do what needs done.”
“I won’t do things the same way as you would.” Tan looked over his shoulder to see Roine nodding.
“I wouldn’t expect you to. But I trust that you’ll always do what needs to be done, regardless of how you feel about i
t. It was not always easy for me either, especially after what happened with Anna. I wanted nothing to do with the kingdoms. Nothing to do with shaping at all. But Althem convinced me—whether shaped or not—that I needed to serve, so I did what was needed. As will you.”
Tan watched him for another moment, trying to decide if there was anything that he could say, that he should say, but realized there was not. Roine—his king regent—had told him what he needed to do, and now Tan would have to see it complete.
12
Search for Traps
“I don’t see where you think I should go.”
Tan and Vel stood a league outside of Ethea, nothing but a small stream splitting through the countryside. Tan wished that he had asked someone else to help with the traps around the city, but Vel had seemed the best option. With his bond stolen from him, he didn’t have to worry about risking a severing, and Vel understood the need to remove all the traps. He was driven nearly as much as Tan. But then there was the fact that Vel still wasn’t ready to return to Doma. He could still shape water, but when he’d last been there, he’d been a powerful bonded shaper. Elle had told Tan how important that had been for Vel.
There was another reason, one that Tan hated admitting to himself. As someone who had bonded naturally to the elementals, Vel appreciated the connection. Tan didn’t have to worry about him attempting to steal the traps they had found.
“You need to better explain what you think I should be doing,” Vel went on.
The sun was nearly to midday, but a cool breeze still gusted. He was not cold—he no longer felt cold the same way as he once did—but he recognized ara’s influence. “It’s along here, I think,” he said, pointing to the stream, ignoring the question.
So far, they had removed nearly two dozen earth traps, circling the city about a league out. How had Par-shon managed to place so many traps without detection? Why would they need so many traps? Each was the same as the one he’d found with Ferran. Runes coated them, looking less ominous in the daylight. Once removed from the ground, Tan sealed the holes with an earth shaping and a request to golud.
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