by Anne Bishop
Tryad. One who is three. Three who are one.
“You and Sebastian are the other two sides of Glorianna’s triad now,” Lee shouted at Michael. “She shouldn’t be traveling without at least one of you.”
“She felt she was ready—” Michael began.
“I agree with Lee,” Sebastian interrupted as he hitched a hip on the kitchen table. “Glorianna has plenty of heart, but the Light isn’t all that good at self-defense. Maybe that will change over time, but that’s the truth of it now. And Belladonna can defend anything she pleases, but it’s not always easy for her to let go of that power over the landscapes. After all, she answered to no one in the place she created for the Eater of the World.”
“Which is exactly why one of you should be with her!” Lee roared.
“It wasn’t our choice,” Michael said tightly.
“Whether Glorianna has any help this time isn’t the Magician’s choice or mine,” Sebastian said. “It’s yours, Lee. That’s what Glorianna meant when she talked about opportunities and choices before she went to Sanctuary. If you think we need to be there, then figure out how we get there.”
“I—” Lee braced a hand on the table. There was a way. Or there used to be.
He walked out of the kitchen and across the lawn. He crossed the footbridge that was nothing more than a footbridge over the creek at the back of Nadia’s personal gardens. Then he closed his eyes and extended one hand and pictured the little island.
You were a piece of Ephemera that came from my sister’s heart. She gave you to me because you resonated with my heart. Currents of Dark and Light. They flow through Glorianna Belladonna and me. Different and the same. She is different. And she is the same. She is my sister. In the Dark, in the Light, she is still my sister. You are a piece of my sister’s heart that used to answer to me. I need you to answer again. Please hear me, Ephemera. Please.
Nothing.
He rocked forward—and his fingers brushed against the bark of a tree.
Hardly daring to believe—and knowing that he could lose everything if he didn’t believe—Lee pressed one hand against the tree as he shifted his feet and stretched out his other hand. When he touched the other tree that flanked the path on his island, he stepped between them and knew by the feel of the ground beneath his feet and the different scent to the air that he was on the island.
It was his again.
He slipped off the glasses, then put them back on and wished he’d brought the walking stick and the slouchy hat. The trees softened the light, making it too dark with the glasses, but his eyes were too sensitive without them. No matter. With one hand in front of him and one out to the side, he made his way to the center of the island where the fountain provided him with fresh water.
Lee drank, savoring the taste of water that came from Sanctuary.
“Lee?”
“Lee!”
He made his way back to the edge of the island. Michael and Sebastian were a few paces from him, searching for something they couldn’t see.
Watching them made him think of something Danyal said about Shamans being able to remove parts of Vision from sight. When he shifted his island, it existed in that other landscape on the bridge of his will, and he decided whether it was visible to the people in that other landscape.
It seemed his island had something in common with Vision after all.
“Lee!” All three voices of Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar.
She almost walked into him as he stepped off the island.
“Daylight!” Sebastian snapped as he strode toward Lee. “Are you trying to upset everyone?”
“No,” Lee replied, keeping his voice calm and quiet. “I didn’t intend to upset anyone. We can use the island to travel to Vision. We just have to figure out how to get to the part of the city we need.”
Glorianna wandered the wide stone pathways. Strong currents of Light, as she expected in the part of The Temples where the Shamans nurtured those currents. There were also threads of Dark currents. Those, too, were necessary in any landscape.
Different architecture. Different taste in the air. She could almost believe food was seasoned by holding the bowl under the spice trees.
Danyal, Yoshani, and the Shaman Council sat outside in the shade. It wasn’t prejudice against her gender; two Council members were women. She had the impression that the Shamans didn’t wish to trouble her with discussion. So she wandered, staying in sight so that Yoshani especially wouldn’t worry.
And she thought about how to find a darkness the Shamans couldn’t see.
“I could get us back to the Asylum, but that’s a full day’s journey or more from The Temples,” Lee said, bracing his hands on the kitchen table. “And there’s no way to know what we might find at the Asylum. Hopefully, the wizards left the people alone, but they might be waiting there in case Danyal or I return.”
“They sent Clubs after you,” the Knife said. “Whatever they intended when this began, I think they want you dead now. You can tell too many people what they are.”
“So can the two of you,” Lee replied, turning his head toward the Knife and the Apothecary.
“True. And other shadowmen will listen to us, especially those who have had their streets disappear in a darkness they can’t see. But the Shamans will listen to someone like you, and they speak for the world—and to the world. That’s a power those wizards don’t have. Isn’t that so?”
“Yes, that’s so. But I don’t know how to work that to our advantage,” Lee said. He looked across the table. “Mother?”
Nadia shook her head. “A Landscaper keeps her pieces of the world balanced so that it reflects the resonance of the hearts living there. If a place turns darker—or lighter—than her own heart’s resonance, she has to let that landscape go, let it be taken up by someone else.”
“If there is someone else,” Sebastian said. “But so many Landscapers were killed by the Eater, and their landscapes must be ripe for the taking. Why didn’t the wizards take over one of those?”
“They may be trying to turn some places into dark landscapes that they control,” Nadia admitted. “But Ephemera is more unpredictable these days, so maybe the wizards can’t take over.”
“If Ephemera lets dark or dangerous things grow in wizard-controlled places, ordinary people will flee if they’re aware of the bridges,” Lee said, turning all those thoughts over and over. “And that will leave the wizards in a landscape they control, but it doesn’t leave them with people to control.”
“The wild child learns from the Guides,” Michael said. “What’s to say that the bridges out of places that have reached a certain level of darkness still work? In this part of Ephemera, if the stationary bridges stop working, that leaves the resonating bridges.”
“And if that resonating bridge takes you to a place that doesn’t have these bridges?” the Knife asked.
“You can walk or ride or make your way to a port and buy passage on a ship sailing in the direction you want to go,” Lee replied. Then his attention focused on Zhahar, who stood near the table but hadn’t been participating. Probably because her mother was sitting at the table for this meeting. The a Zephyra Tryad had returned to Tryadnea, but whatever they had found had brought them back to the Den in a hurry.
He had a bad feeling it had something to do with Zhahar.
He heard the buzzing that meant Zhahar and her sisters were having a fierce discussion with each other.
“Something you want to add?” he asked.
Zhahar froze a moment before Sholeh came into view. “Scattering seeds. Michael said the world is learning from the Guides, and it’s the world, so what if this was a kind of seed scattering?”
“The wizards spread themselves through the world to poison other parts of Ephemera?” Lynnea said, hugging herself.
Before Sebastian could rise and go to her, Teaser threw an arm around her shoulders.
Lee stared at Sholeh. “What if the wizards weren’t the ones who did the scattering?
” He felt a fizz of excitement when she nodded. “The number of wizards to Landscapers was pretty much even in this part of Ephemera until the Eater changed the balance by killing the Landscapers and Bridges—and Glorianna restored the balance by taking Wizard City out of the world. The wizards have the lightning, which is a deadly weapon, and even if the Landscapers know what they are now…”
“Not all the surviving Landscapers believe the wizards are a danger to them,” Nadia said, sounding bitter.
“And not all wizards are a danger to them,” Michael countered, tipping his head toward Sebastian. “But I think I’m following Lee’s tune here. Ephemera manifests the human heart, but it also wants guidance. If the wizards keep destroying Landscapers when they find them, who knows how much of the world will be in turmoil? Any one of you might know only a double handful of places, but those places are located all over the world. Hearts fearful of an enemy that might gather again and strike down the rest of their kind. Or enough hearts fearful of the loss of the Landscapers. Can’t move the Landscapers, but it seems like the wild child can make or break bridges on its own.”
“If it can’t relocate the hearts that keep it balanced, Ephemera scatters the dark hearts that are a threat,” Lee said.
“And makes them a threat in more places,” Sebastian pointed out.
“How does any of this help us get back to Vision and stop those bastards?” the Knife demanded.
“It’s the nature of Vision that has gotten in the way of you holding on to your piece of the city,” Lee replied. “And it’s gotten in the way of the Shamans protecting the city. There are a lot of shadowmen and only a handful of wizards. If you don’t let them change your pieces of the city, they’ll be there trying, but they’ll be in sight.”
The Knife made a frustrated sound and moved away from the table.
“Pretty words,” the Apothecary said, “but they’re still just crap.”
“No, they aren’t,” Michael replied. “One of my landscapes is a place called Foggy Downs. A dark landscape because of the number of Dark currents that flow through that part of Ephemera. And yet it’s not a dark landscape, because the people keep it on this side of the Light. Generations of them living out their lives in that village and not knowing the importance of being there until Glorianna saw the village and the people and explained it to all of us. If your part of Vision is what you want, you can hold it against the wizards, be an anchor for it like Sebastian is the anchor for the Den. You can get back what they’ve taken. I’m not saying it won’t be a fight, and I’m not saying all of you will live through the fighting, but you can take it back.”
Silence.
“Maybe this cleared the air some, but it doesn’t get us any closer to Glorianna,” Sebastian said.
“What do you need?” Sholeh asked.
“We need a resonance,” Lee replied. “Some kind of connection.”
“When you found me in the bonelovers’ landscape, you didn’t know me,” Caitlin said.
“But I had a tail of your hair,” Lee said. “That provided enough of a link so that I felt it when you needed help.”
Kobrah stepped forward. “Does this resonance need to be some thing, or can it be a person?”
“A person would be better. Do you know someone at The Temples?”
“The Voice,” she said, hunching her shoulders. “I know The Voice.”
Chapter 28
Lee stowed his pack and Michael’s in the wooden shed Jeb had built a few years ago. It wasn’t big, but it held all his gear when he was traveling, and had plenty of shelves for jars of food and other cooking supplies. And while it didn’t have heat, he could spread his sleeping bag on the floor in bad weather instead of getting wet.
Now it would hold all the gear for several people who hoped Kobrah’s memory of someone called The Voice would resonate strongly enough to bring them near the access point where Glorianna, Danyal, and Yoshani crossed over to Vision.
Even though he wouldn’t be gone long, he closed the shed’s door out of habit before he strode back to the spot he thought of as the island’s front door—that space between two trees where the path into the island’s center began.
As he stepped off the island to get the next packs, he noticed the woman hurrying to reach him before he disappeared again. The red hair stood out, even with his diminished eyesight.
“Sholeh,” he said, offering nothing and asking for nothing.
“We want to help.”
She sounded breathless, but he couldn’t tell if that was because she rushed to reach him or was nervous about being seen talking to him. It was clear to everyone that there was a serious problem between the mothers and daughters, but none of the Tryad were willing to discuss the reason Zeela had tried to sabotage the border between Tryadnea and the Den.
Of course, he didn’t think any of the Tryad realized Zeela had been influenced by another heart.
“Please,” Sholeh whispered.
“Grab that pack.” He pointed to one he hoped she could carry. If she couldn’t, Zeela would lend some muscle.
Settling the strap of one pack over his shoulder, he picked up another and held out his hand—and felt her hesitate, saw her body turn as if checking to make sure no one saw her touch him.
“Maybe you should go back to the house,” he said.
“No.”
He huffed out a breath. “Then you’re going to have to grow enough spine to take my hand, because you’re not going to get on the island any other way.”
She hesitated a moment too long, but when he turned away, she grabbed his hand.
He stepped up on the island and heard her gasp as he—and her hand—disappeared.
“Take a step up, like you’re climbing a stair,” he said.
She did. When she appeared, he drew her a couple steps farther along the path, then released her hand.
He headed for the shed. The island wasn’t big, but the trees and plantings kept areas of it private. “Say what you came to say.”
“We want to help,” Sholeh said, puffing as she struggled to keep up. “Kobrah trusts Zhahar more than anyone else here. And when I was attending school in Vision, I found a map of the bazaar and the part of The Temples that is open to everyone, so I can help you find the inner parts of The Temples. And Zeela can help if there’s a fight.”
And all of you really want to get away from Morragen Medusah a Zephyra. Why? “Tell me why Zeela tried to break the border. Then we can talk about your helping.”
He heard that buzzing that indicated the sisters were having a furious discussion. Letting them fight it out, he opened the shed’s door and went in to store the two packs. When he turned, she was blocking the door, and he could tell by the way she held the pack with one hand that he wasn’t dealing with Sholeh anymore.
“It wasn’t just me,” Zeela said. “It was all three of us. But Sholeh would be more wounded than me by our mothers’ wrath, and if Zhahar were blamed…” Her voice caught.
“Why?” he asked quietly.
“Because Zhahar loves you,” she replied, heat and temper in her voice now. “She loves you, and we want her to be able to love you. But Sholeh and I didn’t want to die! If we were somewhere the Tryad couldn’t reach, if we were somewhere our laws didn’t have to be upheld…And why should that terrible law be upheld? Why should two aspects be condemned because the third has a chance to be loved?”
He understood the words, but he couldn’t make sense of them. What was clear to him was that Zeela had her own reasons for taking the blame for the border fading, regardless of whether she was contaminated by someone else. “What law? What are you talking about?”
“We are Tryad,” Sholeh replied, her voice trembling. “We are one who is three and three who are one. But if an aspect loves deeply enough to become a…wife…of a man of single aspect, by law the Tryad must be merged so the three are truly one.”
A chill went through Lee. “But you’re not three facets of a single personality. You’
re three people, three sisters, who share a physical core but are distinct in every other way.”
“Some things remain,” Sholeh said. “Knowledge, mostly. Information. Sometimes physical skills, to some degree.”
He shook his head. “You’re talking about killing two of your sisters in order to have a man. That’s…Guardians and Guides, do you realize how cruel that is?”
“Of course we do!” Zeela shouted. “But it’s Tryad law, set down generations ago.”
“Why?” he demanded. “Because long ago two sisters had the same man for a lover and ended up killing or destroying the third when they fought over him?”
“That’s one reason. Another is that your kind considers us an abomination, a freak of nature at best. At worst, we’re a breed of demon.”
“My kind? So far my kind has made every effort to welcome you.”
“Limited exceptions,” she snapped.
He scrubbed his fingers over his head. “So what happens? You have sex with a man who isn’t Tryad and wake up the next morning as one person?”
Sholeh came back into view, shaking her head. “Some of us have the magic to merge aspects. The Medusah aspect of the a Zephyra Tryad is one of them. But the sisters who are going to be absorbed can’t fight the merging. If they do, the merging doesn’t always take properly.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “Sometimes they become like single-aspect people who have more than one personality but only one body. We saw one at the Asylum before Shaman Danyal came to be Keeper. At first we thought it was a damaged Tryad, but it wasn’t.”
“What happened to that inmate?”
“They died. One of them got angry and stabbed another, and they all died.”
Bits and pieces of information shifted into a new pattern. “One-face,” Lee said grimly. “You use it as an insult for those of single aspect, but it was originally a label, a condemnation, of a Tryad who sacrificed her sisters for a lover.”
Zhahar came into view. “It still is.”
He moved closer to her. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”
“I told you being with you was taboo.”