by Daniel Huber
"Quade, make haste! The Sentry is in the far corner, by the east door! Run now, and leave the room!" Echo flitted over to the Keystone's desk and Quade scrambled out from under it, running low to the ground, running past the tall potted fern, past the structural column, toward the entry hall. The sound of something clinking on the ground made him hesitate, look over his shoulder. His watch skidded across the floor, coming to a stop behind the large screen that divided the east sitting area. It was the only thing that hid him from view of the Sentry.
"Damn it!" Quade dropped to the floor once again, crawled hastily toward his watch.
"Leave it behind Quade! Leave it!" Echo and Mimic both flitted frantically about his head as he crawled.
"I can't!" He was almost within arm's reach of the watch. "If Aazrio finds it, he'll know I've been in here! I cannot risk that, not now!" Quade grasped the watch in his fist, turned back toward the entry hall, was about to rise to his feet when the emissaries cried out.
"Quade!"
It was too late. From the corner of his eye he could see the Sentry, see that it was hovering next to him, that it was examining him. Quade rose slowly, holding his breath, and began to walk toward the entry hall again when suddenly it lunged to attack. He did his best to ignore it, to walk within its inky substance that clouded his vision as he looked at Echo and Mimic hovering in the hall. At once it tore itself away and shot to hang motionless before him. He could feel a sense of recognition from it, though he shouldn't be able to sense its presence, he could without a doubt feel that.
"Do not acknowledge it Quade"
But it was too late. He had been staring at it, his ire rising. Quade passed angrily through the Sentry, spreading its inky cloud as he did, furious for its presence, for it’s finding him, for it knowing him. He slipped through the door shutting it behind him, and walked down the hall toward Trina's room. Once, he glanced over his shoulder, saw the Sentry bolting across the open air between the north and east wings of the castle, directly toward the Keystone's study.
Distant voices echoed from faraway corners of the castle, becoming clearer to Quade the longer he stood outside of Trina's room, calming his breath and mulling over his situation. In his front trouser pocket he held the Keystone's gemstone, the object tainted with the SanFear's darkness, and the empty silk pouch that would house the item that was clean of its effect. Quade leaned against the wall holding the lararium in his palm, its perfectly fitted shape oddly calming as he went over the plan in his mind. First order of business, he thought, replace Trina's amulet. That should pose no real problem. The more difficult part came later, during Aushlin's speech. Quade visualized himself on the high parapet walk looking over the crowd, imagined lining up the image of the Keystone as he addressed his people. What would the device do, how would it react once he lined up the image of Aushlin as soon as he appeared at Twilight Bloom? Would he know when the task was complete? So many details he'd forgotten to address when he was in P'cadia, so many questions left unasked. His anxious frustration flared; how could he find his way back into the Keystone's room to resume his search for an untainted item? Suddenly the gently laughing sound of Trina's voice caught his ear, and he realized that she was just on the other side of the door, speaking to someone.
"I've said it once tonight and a thousand times in the past I don't need your help!" The door opened without warning and Quade hastily shoved the lararium into his jacket, turned to find himself face to face with one of the castle maidens as she was shooed from Trina's room.
"Juliette," he addressed her with a slight bow of his head, smiled to cover his startled voice. "A joyous Twilight Bloom to you." Quade looked up from beneath the bangs that had fallen in his eyes to the blushing face of the young girl. Just then Trina appeared from behind, leaning out the door and clutching a silk chemise to her chest.
"Well here's the person I was waiting for!" She reached her free hand to grab his. "I was just reiterating to Juliette that I don't require her help to get dressed. At nearly twenty-two years old I'm quite proficient at it." The maiden moved slowly, looked between Quade, who still held her fond attention, and worriedly back to Trina who she still obviously felt needed her assistance.
"You will call, Daughter Keystone, if you require my help?"
Trina pulled Quade into the doorway, gestured dismissively with her hand. "Yes yes, Juliette. Go now, and ready yourself for Twilight Bloom. We've only half an hour before it starts!” Quade couldn't help but laugh as Trina shut the door behind them.
"What's so funny?" She drew him into an embrace as she chided him impishly. "How long were you waiting outside for the opportunity to charm one of the castle maidens?"
"Oh, had to be the balance of an hour at least," he replied, fueling the game. "Whatever took you so long to send her away?" His breath caught as Trina's hand slipped down to his hip, coming dangerously close to the geomite that was hidden in his front pocket.
"You know how it is," she said into his chest, "they're always just a little too helpful, when it's not their help that I want. Now you, tighten me up." She turned around in his embrace so that her back was to him, raised her arms to her sides exposing to him her loosely laced bodice. Quade laughed again, pulled the lattice of strings tighter on the silky garment.
"There's something ironic in this every year," he said, bending to kiss her shoulder as he spoke. "That you send away the person whose job is to help you into your clothes…"
"In favor of the one who would frequently help me out of them?" Trina leaned her head against his, lowered her voice playfully. "There's beauty in that irony, isn't there?"
Quade started to respond, glanced up as he did. But something caught his eye when he looked across the room over Trina's shoulder. On her vanity where he'd meant to replace her amulet he saw the thing that was exactly what he needed, an answer to his most prominent dilemma. It was the Keystone's wedding ring, perched alongside the ring of Trina's late mother on the branch from the ancient Cheramoor tree that wound around her mirror. He gasped audibly, and she bent her head toward him.
"What?"
"Nothing… nothing." He straightened up and finished tightening the bodice, bringing his mind back to what she said. "And you're right, about the irony I mean. There." She flexed her shoulders, walking toward the chamber that held her wardrobe. Quade waited until she disappeared into the closet, then hurriedly made his way to the vanity. He replaced the amulet then grabbed the Keystone's ring from its perch. He looked over his shoulder as he quickly took the silk pouch from his pocket and dropped the ring inside.
"Clea's late, as usual." Trina's muffled voice came from deep within the confines of her clothing.
"Have you heard from her since she got back?" Quade tightened the strings on the pouch, tucked it securely inside his jacket as he eyed the wardrobe chamber warily.
"Yes, last night she left me a message. Just a voice transmission, but she said her run to Tal-Min went smoothly. She sounded busy, said she'd tell me all about it later. You know how Clea gets, so wrapped up in her risky runs and flawless reputation."
Quade scowled, mystified. Why wasn't her ship in the hangar that afternoon? "And that's all she said? Just that she'd tell you about it later?"
"And that she'd see me tonight… why, should she have mentioned something else?"
"No, not really." He thought about how he might sound to Trina, and decided to back off with the questioning. After all, now that he had the two objects that he needed, the tainted the untainted, he could relax a little. "I just thought she might have had more to say about her big ten-thousand chid run." Quade caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. What an unkempt mess he looked after all the rolling around on the Keystone's bedroom floor as he tried to avoid the Sentry! He retied the restraint that held back his hair, tucked the stray end of one of his coupled belts into its loop.
"Here's your cape." Trina approached him from her closet, fully dressed now and carrying a cloak that matched his outfit. She smiled demurely
as he watched her walk toward him, for the first time since he'd arrived taking a moment to see how she really looked. Her long tailored frock coat clung gently to her middle, high riding boots complimented her fitted trousers. Quade had always thought Trina's height regal, her slender figure, elegant. Throughout her younger, more sensitive years, she had often bemoaned that she didn't have bosom enough to fill her formal gowns, and felt boyish compared to Clea, who always had carried herself with casual grace, almost unaware of the charms she possessed. Now Trina walked tall and proud, and had gotten past the oddity in her appearance. She still occasionally rolled her eyes at Clea, who continued to hold an aloof air of disinterest while captivating those around her. There was no doubt that Clea was striking. But, Quade had always maintained, one doesn't need to be striking to be beautiful.
"I would speak were I not so breathless," he said, his voice low and warm. Trina smiled, tossed Quade's cape over her arm, pushed his jacket off his shoulders. He caught it before it hit the floor, carefully placed it on the chair behind him. She threw the cloak around him and clasped the garment's harness chain at his throat.
"I can't find my amulet," she said with a frown, smoothing her hands over Quade's shoulders. "I always have it there on my mirror but for some reason, it was missing this afternoon."
"But it's not missing, I saw it right there." Quade turned toward the mirror, hiding the shock in his eyes. He lifted the amulet off the mirror and held it out to Trina, feigning an amused smile.
"But it wasn’t there earlier. I would swear it." She bowed her head as he slipped it over her neck.
"Don't be too quick to swear, because here it hangs, right where it should." She fingered the heavy symbol, puzzling.
"But this afternoon…"
"Shh…" Quade put his finger to her lips, looked away as if listening to the air. "Aazrio is coming."
"Aazrio is with my father, preparing for the celebration. There's no reason for him to be coming to my room." Quade looked at her, his lips spreading into a clever grin.
"And yet, here he is."
Just as Trina scowled in dismissal there was a pounding at her door. She startled at the abruptness of it and walked toward the bothersome noise. Quickly, Quade gathered the rest of the objects he needed from his jacket and stowed them inside his cloak, and stood before the mirror pretending not to notice the conversation that took place behind him.
"The Keystone wishes to see Quade right away." Aazrio's curt voice carried over the room, its icy tone prompting Quade to glance over his shoulder. Trina pushed the guard out of her room surprised and justly annoyed.
"My father will see Quade after Twilight Bloom, Aazrio." She pushed him again when he refused to budge, kept his eyes fixed on the young man who stood in front of the mirror on the other side of Trina's bedroom. He stared hard at Quade, and again Trina pushed his chest, this time with both hands.
"The Keystone requests to see him right now, Kitrina. His wishes were quite clear."
"And my wishes are the ones you shall heed, Aazrio." Trina began to shut him out the door. "Quade isn't going anywhere. We're on our way to the stables now. Whatever business my father has with him can wait until after Twilight Bloom." Aazrio craned his neck to see inside, to meet the unreadable stare of Quade as he watched them. "He will be here for the entire evening." Trina's voice was stern and edgy, and Aazrio knew that he could not convince her otherwise of her intentions. And it was true, Quade was there, would likely be there for the entirety of the night. Aazrio paused for the measure of a few seconds. The insistence of the Keystone to see Quade had seemed somewhat out of character. The guard took one last look within then glanced back at Trina as she cocked her brow indignantly.
"Be sure that he makes a point to see the Keystone directly after Twilight Bloom is completed." Aazrio grasped his ceremonial scepter, tightened his fingers about the carved staff. Dressed in his more decorative attire, he looked polished as he usually did for more public appearances. Strange that he should be torn away from her father, so soon to the beginning of the ceremony.
"Thank you Aazrio, I will make sure Quade speaks to my father. Now go!" She shut the door behind her, turned back to Quade.
"Why is it that everyone seems to want to be inside my room tonight?" She laughed and shook her head at everyone's strange behavior. Quade hadn't come out of his distracted state of mind since he'd gotten back, if anything, he seemed to be more on edge, though fighting to conceal it almost fiercely. Trina took a moment to study him in the filtered light. Tall and strong, lean muscled and unassuming, he was still a vision to her, had always been a vision to her, just as when she was a child. Even as a teen when she'd spent a terrifying year towering inches over him as she grew lanky and awkward at a very young age, before he caught up and surpassed her loathsome height, he had been her ideal. The soft waves of his hair were long and thick, and always smelled clean and herby, like the forest after a rain. He had it tied back for tonight, secured at the nape of his neck with a black ribbon. Her lips spread into a thoughtful smile as she approached him, kissed him tenderly and he looked at her as he always did, as he had for years. It was the thing that held her most throughout the years, the way he looked at her; when he would turn and catch her glimpse, the comfortable affection that poured from his stare. His slate blue eyes were ever changing, grey and dark like a stormy sea when he was worried, light and sparkling when he was content. She had seen too much of that stormy sea of late, his eyes being what gave away the trouble that he fought so hard to shroud. Even now, even though he was standing here on this most celebrated eve, she could see his turmoil, the turmoil that only a lifetime of knowing someone the way she knew Quade would reveal. Why he couldn't tell her what troubled him so she could not imagine, but she would wait as she always did, and he would tell her eventually.
"Shall we go down now and find our horses, Quade?" She whispered into his ear, took a moment to just enjoy their closeness. "Perhaps we'll find the elusive Clea lurking about the stables."
"That would be a nice surprise." Quade smiled but didn't glance up and as she turned toward the door Trina wondered to herself what it was in his voice that made him sound so doubtful.
CHAPTER 30
"Hush Shadduk it's all right." Trina smoothed her hand over the long braids mixed in the stallion's mane, tucking in the flowers that were weaved amongst his silky hair. He whickered and clopped his hooves on the clay floor, turning his head around to look behind him. "He really is Clea's horse. Never likes anyone else to mess with him. Even if it is to make him more beautiful…"
Trina moved into the sights of the horse and Quade offered him a palm full of sugar cubes and little toasted oat rings. Shadduk lapped them eagerly then nudged Quade for more. Trina laughed.
"Of course, he always has liked you. What is it about me you ungrateful beast? I turn you into a masterpiece and you shun me!"
"It's because I bribe him with the oat rings. They're his favorite you know." Quade reached up, rubbed the horse's ears between his fingers and gazed over the animal's painted body. "I always like how you do his coat. Seems so fitting to Clea for some reason."
"He's her equine match. Stubborn and radiant. Dreamy and proud. He does make up beautifully though."
She offered the muscular horse a carrot then stood back to examine him in the rising moonlight. Shadduk's hair coat was a mottled grey and the white speckles which were a character of his breed spread magnificently all across his hindquarters and legs. Trina had always incorporated his unique markings into her paintings, and this year the horse's hide was transformed into a breathtaking skyscape of the Twilight Bloom's rising moons, the speckles masking in the background as scattered clouds across a night sky. From his hooves and belly climbed the image of blooming flowers, reaching eagerly toward the bold moonlight, and his long, luxurious mane that reached nearly to his knees was braided in half a dozen little ropes, jasmine and miniature stargazer vines weaved ornately among the twisting hair.
"Looks li
ke your mistress is typically late," Trina told the horse, who whinnied in response.
"What if she doesn’t show up?" Quade looked away, made sure that he didn't sound too confident in this suggestion.
"She'll show up, she has to, she's never missed a Twilight Bloom." Trina stepped to the stable doors, peered out and frowned. "It's almost time though. I don't know what we'll do if she doesn't show. Shadduk will ride alone I suppose, if Clea doesn't get here in time." She turned back to Quade indignantly. "I knew this contract with Ryder would only be trouble! I suppose I should be happy for her success, but what about our tradition?" She paused for a moment and smiled. "I sound silly, don’t I? Like a spoiled Daughter Keystone. Still… well, I'll give her an earful whenever she finally does get back. Until then, we'd better get out there. Our cue is in just a few minutes."
Trina grabbed the bridles of her horse and Clea's and headed out of the stable. Quade followed, looking to the sky. In less than half an hour the moons would both be risen, and the Twilight Bloom would really begin. Aushlin would step out on the balcony, and Quade would perform the deed he hoped would save him, would let the lararium do its work. This prophecy that had gotten more and more complex the further he got involved in it seemed to be coming full circle somehow he thought, he himself now possessing an ancient object that had existed throughout the years to be used only by him, for this very act. To save the Keystone's soul, cleanse it of the vile entity that had taken hold on him. And then… what? Quade looked around, took a minute to survey the grounds, to search them for any sign of Clea. She had to show up, otherwise how would he ever get her to P'cadia? That's what the Avè had told him, right? You must bring her here to P'cadia, she has much knowledge…