Evastany

by Charlotte E. English

  ‘You know those sixteen enslaved drayks? About half of them were hers.’

  Oh. ‘That would do it,’ I said.

  ‘Mm. When I told her that the person behind her missing people had just stolen Orlind, she became all kinds of enthusiastic about helping us out. She’s rather taken over the operation by now. I hardly have to do anything.’

  ‘Sounds great, until she starts trashing things.’

  ‘When she does, we are ready to intervene.’

  I noticed that Llan said when, not if, and did not feel encouraged by the term. But she was right: desperate measures. And goodness, we could certainly use the manpower.

  ‘Let me know when you find something,’ I said. ‘Something large, watery and Orlind-shaped, in particular.’

  ‘Will do.’

  Good. Excellent. So.

  ‘I’ve previously wondered,’ I said to Hyarn, Tren and Gio, ‘why Dwinal was ever bothered about becoming Lokantor here when she does not seem to care for the post. Perhaps this is why, hm?’

  Tren looked sceptical. ‘So she could use it to steal Orlind?’

  ‘Why not? She’s probably been planning this for ages.’

  ‘True. Possible.’

  ‘What I am wondering is,’ I continued, with a narrowed-eye look at Hyarn, ‘once we find the island, how do we get it back again?’

  ‘Only the Lokantor can move the Library,’ Hyarn said, confirming my worst fear in seven brief words.

  ‘Right, then,’ said Ori. ‘So we locate the island, help Ylona to stage a coup, overthrow Dwinal as Lokantor and install Ylona in her place, have the new Lokantor put Orlind back and… we’re done!’

  ‘Find and rescue the other fourteen draykoni,’ Tren reminded him.

  ‘Oh yes, and that.’

  ‘And do something about Dwinal,’ I added. ‘We can take the island and the Library off her, but will that mean she’ll meekly go home and never bother us again? I doubt it.’

  ‘That too, then,’ said Ori.

  ‘Easy work,’ said Tren, cracking his knuckles. ‘We’ll be home by tea time… in about a year.’

  ‘We will need more help,’ I agreed.

  ‘How nice that would be,’ said Tren with a wry smile. ‘If only there were someone we could ask.’

  He and I exchanged identical looks of mingled resignation and chagrin.

  ‘Limbane it is, then,’ I said.

  Rikbeek found Limbane delicious, it seems, and recognised the name. He stirred awake the moment I spoke those syllables aloud, and began to salivate.

  You had better behave, I told him.

  Hmph, said Rikbeek.

  I reconsidered. You had better mostly behave.

  I don’t think Rikbeek knows how to smile, or he would have done so just then. Broadly.

  My meeting with Limbane did not go well.

  ‘What?’ he snapped.

  As I had only proceeded as far as revealing that Dwinal had taken the island, this was not promising.

  I explained the rest.

  ‘You,’ he said in a fashion disagreeably thunderous, ‘were supposed to prevent catastrophe!’

  ‘Oh, was I! I thought I was merely meant to convey information.’

  ‘Did I need to spell it out?’ he bellowed. ‘Obstruction is your natural talent! Getting in the way is what you do! Yet all this has gone on right over your blessed heads!’

  Once, I might have been goaded by such unfair accusations, such unflattering reflections upon our characters. I would have become angry myself. Instead, I couldn’t be bothered with Limbane’s childish anger. In fact, I couldn’t be bothered with Limbane.

  ‘These problems must be resolved,’ I said calmly. ‘Will you help us, or not?’

  ‘I don’t see that I have any choice,’ said he with (perhaps) pardonable bitterness. ‘She cannot be permitted to build any such structure anywhere, but especially upon that island.’

  And I realised he was angry because he was worried. Limbane! Afraid! Dwinal may have hatched an absurdly ambitious plan, but she was coming awfully close to pulling it off. And without the approval of the Lokant ruling council. If she succeeded, she would build a Library more than mighty enough to challenge the council for power. Governing bodies don’t usually like being overthrown, as a rule, and Limbane would positively despise being rendered irrelevant.

  Part of me was tempted to dismiss all of it as mere Lokant politicking and leave the whole mess in Limbane’s hands. What did it need to matter to us, provided we got our island back? Let Limbane take care of the rest of Dwinal’s plans.

  But that would not do. What I’d said before was true: if she wanted the island of Orlind that badly, she would come back for it. And she did want it. Where else could she find such a perfect place to host her new “establishment”? A Library populated by Lokants and draykoni alike, mixing and mingling their unique powers, would need the right conditions for both species to thrive. It would need the Library structure itself, and the amasku which only Orlind could provide. Without Orlind, Dwinal would simply have to abandon her mission. And that seemed about as likely as the Darklands abandoning the NightCloak.

  Could I rely on Limbane to deal with her? To make sure that she was never in a position to come after our worlds again?

  Hah. What kind of a fool relies on Limbane?

  ‘Ow,’ said Limbane in sudden annoyance, slapping at his neck. I saw a tiny flash of red: he was, once again, bleeding.

  Satisfied? I enquired of Rikbeek.

  I received in response a glow of smug contentment, wordless but profound.

  Limbane’s gaze focused on me and his eyes narrowed. Suspicion.

  I mean, whatever else Limbane may be — annoying, aggravating, obnoxious — he is not stupid.

  ‘Carrying any passengers, Lady Glostrum?’ he asked of me, in a tone of mild interest. ‘Small, swift, biting passengers, by any chance?’

  I decided it was time to go. ‘I will see you at Sulayn Phay,’ I told him firmly.

  He replied only by way of a sour look and a dismissive wave.

  ‘How did it go?’ Tren said a little later.

  ‘Limbane would be delighted to help us. He is on his way at this very moment, bringing all his best and brightest people along.’

  ‘Really…?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Did he refuse?’

  ‘No. I think he will show up, but I do not know when, or how, or what he plans to do when he gets here. So, I think we are on our own for the present.’

  Tren shrugged. ‘Not an unfamiliar situation.’

  ‘It’s lucky that we are a brilliant bunch, equal to anything.’

  ‘Isn’t it, though?’

  ‘So what are we going to do?’

  Tren thought deeply for a moment, and then said: ‘I have no idea.’

  ‘Me neither.’

  ‘Excellent.’

  We were saved by Hyarn, who was rapidly winning his way into my good graces. We had convened at the schoolrooms, noticing in passing that Dan and Tynara were nowhere in evidence. Not a promising sign, that, either. Where were they? What were they doing? We enquired of the students and found that no one had seen or heard from them in a while.

  No one had seen or heard from Dwinal in a while, either. Were any of them still in the Library? If not, where were they?

  And why (my suspicious mind insisted on asking) had Hyarn been left behind?

  Regardless, Hyarn found us there — and when I say “us” I mean Tren and I, Gio, Ori, Nyden, Avane, Adonia, the students, everybody. He was a little out of breath, as though he had been running, which made no sense considering he merely had to translocate. Perhaps he was breathless with excitement, for he immediately said: ‘I think I know what became of the other fourteen.’

  We, of course, all leapt upon him at once, eager for more information.

  ‘I have been talking to Dwinal’s supporters — the few I could find. I picked up a rumour, a thought. There were more draykoni and they were probabl
y housed in the same hall in which you found the other two. But they’ve been moved out of the Library. It happened not long ago.’

  ‘Where could they possibly…?’ I began, but the rest of my question went unspoken, for I knew the answer.

  ‘The island,’ said Hyarn. ‘It is the only place they could possibly have gone. I believe, in short, that Dwinal and her supporters have simply moved out, and taken the remaining draykoni with them.’

  Yes. It made sense. What else would they do, now that they had carried their point of securing the island of Orlind? That would explain the absence of Dan and Tynara, too, although…

  I know I said that all of the students were there in the schoolroom with us but it occurred to me that I was wrong. There weren’t enough of them. All right, an oversight on my part, but I had other things on my mind — my first thought wasn’t to take a head count.

  ‘Is it me or are we down a few students?’ I said aloud.

  ‘Eight,’ said Faronni.

  I noticed that she looked dismayed. ‘What happened?’ I asked her.

  ‘Tynara held a series of tests. She said there would be a special reward for those who passed.’

  ‘You did not?’ I guessed.

  She shook her head. ‘All of us here failed.’

  Fostiger was one of those absent. The names of the rest, I did not know. ‘The ones who passed must have been the most talented, according to Dwinal’s definition. Or at least, those best fitting her requirements. They’ve been taken to the island.’

  Faronni nodded. ‘I felt like such a failure, but now…’

  I mustered for her a reassuring smile. ‘I think you received the better outcome.’

  All right, so Dwinal had taken the rest of her captives, the best of my students and all her favourite followers and decamped to the island. But now what? She couldn’t seriously expect that she would be left in peace to build her new Library undisturbed, stationed as she was right next door to Sulayn Phay, and in the middle of the oceans of the Seven Realms. Did she plan to leave the island right there, not all that far off the coast of Irbel? She must know there would be opposition. Strenuous opposition.

  ‘Is the island still there?’ I asked of Hyarn.

  ‘Nearby? Yes, it is still in tow, and we are still in your Cluster.’

  I hoped, then, that Llandry would soon find the island. ‘Some things aren’t making sense,’ I said, that headache still beating at my brow. ‘She can’t just sit there forever. But neither will Sulayn Phay, will it? Just how do your Libraries move from world to world — or Cluster to Cluster?’

  ‘It is hard to explain—’

  ‘I do not need the details. In general terms, please. You do not sail from place to place, that cannot possibly be the case.’

  ‘No, no. It is a form of translocation, much the same thing we do individually, only on a grander scale.’

  Which was much what I had been thinking, alas. ‘So at some point, Sulayn Phay will translocate away from the Seven and off into some other Cluster of worlds?’

  ‘Exactly. It is under the Lokantor’s direction.’

  ‘Mhm. And could a Library do that with an island in tow, would you say?’

  Hyarn gave me a troubled look, and thought. ‘No,’ he decided. ‘Too much extra weight. Consider how much harder it is for you to translocate when you have passengers to take along. For most, one or two or perhaps three extra people is the most we can manage. This Library is a strong, proud structure, but I do not believe it is robust enough to drag the entire island of Orlind around with it.’

  ‘That is reassuring,’ I murmured.

  ‘Is it?’ said Tren. ‘What if there were two Libraries here? Three? How much extra weight could they carry between them?’

  And we all stared at him in utter horror, because he was right. He was right. ‘She has supporters elsewhere. Other Libraries, other Lokantors. What might she promise them, if they help her to build her new Master Library? All manner of powers and privileges, I am sure.’

  ‘Right,’ said Tren grimly. ‘So the whole lot of them are sitting out there ready to go, the moment enough additional Libraries arrive here to help her take Orlind away with them.’

  ‘But only Dwinal can order this one to move,’ I pointed out. ‘She is still Lokantor here. She will have to come back.’

  Something in my pocket buzzed, and I jumped and grabbed for it. Llandry’s voice box. ‘Llan!’ I practically yelled. ‘Tell me you’ve found it.’

  ‘We have. It’s not far out. Due northeast from its old position. But Eva, it’s not alone out there, there’s a building stationed right by it — incredible place, vast, all built on its own, separate island. We think it must be—’

  ‘A Library. It’s Sulayn Phay, that is where we are. Where are you now?’

  ‘On the coast, as close as we can get to the island without being seen, because it’s not empty anymore. There are people there, and they’re building, impossibly quickly. I have no idea how they’re managing that.’

  ‘New Library,’ I sighed. ‘Llan, listen.’ I told her everything we had learned and all that we had concluded, finishing with: ‘If any other Libraries show up you must te—’

  I stopped speaking because Llandry had gasped, and I had patently lost her attention for a moment. ‘There’s a second,’ she said. ‘Just popped out of thin air, the way you do when you’re translocating.’

  I may have said a foul word, but it would be unladylike to reproduce it here. I felt briefly frozen with panic. What to do? We were rapidly being outmanoeuvred. If Dwinal managed to get away with the island, we could have no way of following, or of figuring out where she had taken it. Was two Libraries enough? Were they waiting for a third, or a fourth?

  What should we do?

  ‘Llan,’ I said tersely. ‘I think you need to get back to Orlind. Take everybody and get over there. We can’t let her take the island out of our Cluster — certainly not without us.’

  ‘Agreed,’ said Llandry, but she was doubtful. ‘But if it takes us with it, we’ll have no way to get back.’

  ‘You will, because we’re going to join you. We are on your doorstep, after all. I’m bringing as many Lokants as I can get hold of. Go.’

  Llandry made no further objections, and I stuffed the box back into my pocket. I relayed everything Llandry had said, but skipped over my half of the conversation — they had all heard.

  ‘So,’ I concluded. ‘I need everyone who’s willing to go. And Hyarn, we need you to guide us out of this place. If you have anything so convenient or commonplace as a front door, I’d love to know where it is.’

  ‘There is a way out, of course,’ he said. ‘I will get you there.’

  ‘Great. Volunteers, then?’

  Not everyone was willing to go. Most of the students declined, not much to my surprise, but that was well enough. Many of them were incapable of translocating, and those who could do it at all were not yet able to manage the art very well.

  Faronni was eager to go, though, which surprised me. I raised an eyebrow.

  She hung her head and uttered the word “Fostiger” in an abashed tone.

  Ahh. ‘We will try to get him out,’ I promised her. ‘Assuming he wants to be retrieved.’

  Tren and Gio and Nyden and Ori and Avane and everyone else were all in favour, naturally, but since only one of them could translocate, I needed to do better. ‘Hyarn, who else can you rustle up? There must be more of you who’d rather not see Dwinal crowned queen of all the worlds.’

  ‘I will do what I can,’ he promised.

  ‘I hope Limbane shows up soon,’ I muttered, for now of all times would be convenient.

  ‘Ylona,’ Tren pointed out.

  Oh, yes. Ylona! ‘You’re a genius,’ I told him with a kiss.

  ‘I know.’

  See, not only would Ylona be able to deliver plenty more translocation-handy Lokants, standing by to pull everybody out of Orlind at need. She was also the person who could stop Dwinal from u
sing Sulayn Phay to steal the island in the first place.

  But the conversation did not go quite as I was hoping.

  ‘No,’ she said, once I had laid the problem before her.

  ‘No?’ I was too shocked to know what else to say. No? What did she mean, just no?

  ‘So Dwinal is gone? Good riddance to her!’

  ‘I don’t think she will just cede the Library to you,’ I pointed out, having recovered my wits. ‘Already she plans to use it to carry off Orlind, dragging all of you along with her. And then what? Peace and harmony? Doubtful.’

  Ylona’s eyes narrowed. ‘What do you care for Sulayn Phay? Not one whit, I’d wager.’

  ‘Not even half a whit,’ I acknowledged without a blink. ‘But I do care for the fate of Orlind. That’s our island. I want it back.’

  ‘It wasn’t always yours. Where do you think it came from in the first place? Galywis and his disciples dropped the island in your Cluster to begin with. Why shouldn’t it be reclaimed now?’

  ‘How do you know that?’ I was fascinated by this confirmation of an earlier suspicion, temporarily distracted from my purpose.

  ‘I had productive ancestors.’

  Focus, Eva. ‘Be that as it may, it cannot be argued that the island is more ours than anyone else’s, by this time. It has been part of our Seven Realms for… how many centuries?’

  ‘Can’t it?’ was all that Ylona said, with an ironic quirk of her lips.

  I blinked. ‘It is certainly more ours than Dwinal’s.’

  ‘That, at least, is perfectly true.’

  This acknowledgement did not leave her much moved in our favour. ‘Are you not concerned by the prospect of Dwinal’s building such a Library?’ I tried.

  ‘Not as much as some. So the outcome might be disastrous — the same could be said for virtually every endeavour undertaken throughout history, however grand, however modest. The outcome might also be wonderful. I admit, I would rather see such a construct in other hands than Dwinal’s, but just because she builds it does not mean she gets to keep it.’

  ‘I just want our island back,’ I said, unwilling to embark upon a long debate about possible consequences. ‘And I need you to help us achieve that. Please.’