He grinned. “Torrullin.”
She stared at him. “I cannot take the chain to Elixir.”
“He wouldn’t let you in.”
“Hell, you do have a problem.”
Finishing his coffee, he rose. “I’m sorry I woke you unnecessarily.”
“Sit, Tristan. Daisy will know; I could use the chain to have someone speak to him.”
Tristan sat. Daisy would know? “How would he know?”
“Our friend at the enclave keeps his ear close to the proverbial ground. If crap is flying somewhere, Daisy already knows.” She smiled her delight at him.
He gaped and then laughed. “Fine, if you’re willing, have someone ask Daisy what he has heard about danger to the Valla heirs.”
“I will do it, but an answer will come only in a few hours.”
Tristan rose. “Shall I return before dawn, then?”
She smiled up at him. “You could stay.”
“No, I could not.”
“You’re safe from me, Tristan.”
He cleared his throat. Maybe so, but was she safe from him? “I’ll come back later.”
“I’ll be awake.”
ROSE WAS ON THE bed when he returned - having spent the intervening hours pacing his bedroom at the Palace - and this time she was awake, sitting in meditative pose.
She opened one eye as he arrived, motioned with one finger and closed that eye again. Obviously she was in the depths of communication.
Tristan spent more time pacing, aware of her, but his thoughts were far away. Largely they concentrated on Torrullin; he wondered what exactly Elixir was up to at present.
He found himself wondering about the Lumin Sword. The strangest feeling overcame him that it would soon be in play, but in a manner no one could now foresee.
An expansive sigh sounded behind him and he saw her sitting with head hanging.
“Are you all right?”
She lifted her head. “Tired.” She patted the bed. “Come sit and let me tell you. I need to sleep soon.”
Reluctantly he sat.
“Without mapping the twists in getting Daisy to talk via a third party, there’s this. Daisy has information gleaned from Xen’s underground. He has a brother who isn’t as law abiding, you understand? Don’t let on; he’ll not be happy. Anyway, apparently there is lots of action out in Kora City, as in rumours of weapons going to Lax, a mighty raid on the smugglers and Kaval coming and going. Seems there is an army gathering on Lax, potentially an enemy of Sanctuary, with you three Vallas regarded as a universal threat.”
“Crap,” Tristan breathed.
“My feelings also,” Rose said. “To continue, the underground informant network is activate and connections track out to Ymir, Lax, Excelsior, Beacon and others. The latest rumour is, Elixir intends to come down on Lax’s army with intent, meaning he intends to route the whole lot of them.”
“Hell.”
“Right, and not good for Sanctuary’s reputation.”
“They aim to take Sanctuary on!”
“Maybe, but they haven’t actually done anything. It’s going in before the fact and Sanctuary will suffer for it.”
“He must wait until they show aggression?”
“I am on your side. I merely put to you how it appears out there.”
“Sorry. Anything else?”
“The only other thing I kind of got from Daisy is there seems to be a blackout on Kaval transparency.”
“Meaning?”
“They are doing covert work and nobody is talking. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say it goes beyond a strike on Lax.”
Tristan lapsed into thoughtful mode.
“Tristan, that’s it. I really need to sleep now.”
He rose with alacrity, hearing the thread of exhaustion in her voice. Daisy, with his stubborn twists, had tired her.
“Thank you for your help, Rose.”
She smiled. “Anytime. Go now.”
He retreated, and she climbed under the covers and was instantly asleep.
Tristan stood watching her a few minutes more and then left.
THE FIRST PERSON HE saw as he returned to the island in the west was Fuma.
Scantily clad on a freezing morning, Fuma paid homage to the new day. He stood with arms raised high, a strange and unknown language falling rhythmically from his tongue. His bare feet massaged the wet sand of the beach.
Arms lowered and Fuma speared Tristan with a sharp gaze. “What did you find out during the night?”
Tristan smiled wryly. “You knew?”
“I sensed a difference in you.”
“What are you doing out here?”
“A ritual I enact when I am on a world where a sun does rise.”
“Ah. Aren’t you cold?”
“I rarely feel the cold. Young man, what did you uncover?”
“I hear of an imminent strike against Lax.”
Fuma pursed his lips. “Not Lax per se; a secret army there.”
“Torrullin commanded it?”
“Of course.”
“Folk say Sanctuary’s reputation will suffer for it.”
Fuma smiled. “Trust me; no one will be able to point a finger at Kaval or Elixir.”
“Good.”
Fuma eyed the oldest Valla heir. “Tristan, all you need do is wait on the Throne’s choice; nothing will be withheld after that.”
Tristan gazed over the grey ocean. “I have been shying from the event for months, and now it seems unreachable.”
“That is impatience talking.”
“Maybe.”
Tristan headed back to the Palace.
Chapter 29
What is true justice? If sentience is subjective, how does one measure true justice?
~ Book of Sages
Grinwallin
TEIGHLAR WAS IN THE library, but before Torrullin confronted him he spoke to Dechend.
From him he heard of Erin’s enquiries and also what was said to her. Nodding his thanks, he ambled over to the library.
Before he got there, the air around him seemed to heave.
A man ambled through misty treacle before him, one hand gesticulating as if punctuating his words with actions. A dark-haired man.
Torrullin swallowed and came to a halt, watching dark hair swing as the man walked.
Elianas.
He closed his eyes against the vision, needing it to leave in order to function, but his gut churned. He knew, without doubt, the time was near. Any day now he would see this man in the flesh.
Gripping the sword he had named Elianas in a fit of fury, he reopened his eyes.
No one there.
Shaking, Torrullin moved on.
In the library, Teighlar looked up with an absent smile. “Back again?”
Four scribes were busy in one corner and two Senlu read before the fireplace. Teighlar appeared immersed in a book about geology.
Teighlar tapped the tome. “Luvanor is a mite older than I thought.”
“Perhaps because of a long history on Orb.”
Teighlar stilled and then closed the volume with a snap. He glanced around the book-lined chamber, and stood.
“Perhaps we should talk outside.”
A grim smile. “Perhaps, yes.”
Teighlar sucked at his teeth and wordlessly led Torrullin out to the portico. Once there they stared over Tunin bathed in glorious sunshine.
No words passed between them.
After a time Torrullin suggested, “A walk in the forest?”
Teighlar led the way to the little postern gate in the north wall. Once in the sun-dappled realm of trees, he said, “Light and shadows, not so?”
“Hmm,” was the only response.
“Torrullin, I hate it when you get like this.”
“How?”
“Secretive.”
Torrullin barked a laugh.
Teighlar paced towards the steep path leading to the mighty precipice.
“In the mood for danger,
old friend?” Torrullin remarked.
“Scared, Elixir?” Teighlar snapped, and picked up the pace.
Minutes later the two men teetered on the edge of the colossal drop. Mists swirled in the depths below.
“Spit it out,” Teighlar said.
“Sanctuary was once known as Orb.”
“You have mentioned it before.”
“Must have been quite a shock.”
Teighlar sucked at his teeth again. “Why think that?”
“Orb was and is a world plagued by inundations and a long time ago it was foreseen the mother of all floods was due.”
“Interesting.”
“Very, for Orb’s inhabitants decided to save some of their kind. They built a biological ship and placed aboard the seeds and domestic animals needed to feed others on a different world. They also put aboard those young enough to make a journey through space and arrive somewhere still youthful and able to propagate a new civilisation.”
Teighlar said not a word.
“The ship left Orb not long before the annihilating flood and they eventually found a world to resettle,” Torrullin continued. “Orb’s people were called the Diluvans and those who left to a new world changed their name to Luvan.”
Teighlar glanced sideways. “You are saying the Luvans are from Orb.”
“Yes, but you already know that.”
“It strikes a chord, maybe.”
“I have not time for your games, Teighlar. I know you know and we need to move on from there.”
“An ancient tale. What has it to do with me?”
“Everything.”
“Yes?”
“It seems the Diluvans put aboard the last royal son, Tunian was his name - your ancestor, I believe. Both Diluvan and Luvan believed in reincarnation and, while Tunian was not himself reincarnate, one of his descendants was. That royal son brought the truth of what happened on Orb after the ship left orbit to the settlers of Luvanor. You know what it is, Emperor, for you are a reincarnate of a long line of reincarnates.”
“No.”
“You may be in denial, I understand; ninety million years of abeyance can trick the psyche, yet this is truth. The royal line of the Luvans went through curves of bad and good, but it did not die out as Senlu legend would have. You are the last Luvan king and your line reaches back to the times of Orb, itself an ancient and civilised world.”
Teighlar stared at Torrullin. “So?”
“You know what crime was visited on Orb after the ship left, a crime perpetrated by the Valleur.”
Teighlar’s mouth dropped open.
Did he not know or was he acting? “Before we get to it, I must add I now know the truth about the Senlu.”
Teighlar’s face shuttered. “Oh?”
“The Senlu are Luvan.”
Teighlar did not respond.
“Apparently there was a natural calamity here that separated the continent Senluar from the other four. A fair few years passed before the Luvans of Senluar could again rejoin their brethren, by which time they called themselves the Senlu.”
Teighlar stared into the abyss yawning at their feet. “The Senlu were enslaved by their brethren. They chose to retain the name Senlu for it was a way to know themselves from Luvan slave masters.”
“Therefore, despite slavery, the Senlu are Luvan.”
“More true Luvan than the others.”
“Yes, agreed. The Senlu of today were and are true to the ideals established on Orb.”
Teighlar drew breath and released it. “Thank you for that.”
“Do your Senlu know this?”
“No. We do not enjoy identifying with a people who chose disrepute.”
“My friend, you must take the blinkers off this day. There is great danger a-foot, and I need your help to counter it.”
Teighlar waited.
“If you are a reincarnate of the High King of Orb, then you are an Ancient true, not merely by virtue of ninety million years of waiting. Four Ancients are needed to counter this threat, a truly old threat, one that has been in existence all the time you have been around.”
Still Teighlar said nothing.
“Quilla is an Ancient; he will be helping us. Declan has thrown his lot in with this.”
“Declan is one of the four?”
“No, but I cannot deny his wisdom. We need him.”
“You found Agnimus?”
“Yes.”
Teighlar blinked. “Really?”
“He goes by the name Sabian now, and has taken on human guise.”
“And you are number four.”
“Yes.”
“Because you are Elixir.”
“Yes.”
Teighlar snorted a laugh. “I wonder who is most in denial; me or you?”
“Be that as it may, it is the four of us, and Declan.”
“Oh, yippee.”
“Teighlar, Nemisin murdered the last Diluvans on Orb; someone seeks redress.”
The Emperor was horrified. “Excuse me?”
“Gods. Are you acting? You must know this!”
“I am not acting, goddamn it! What is this about Nemisin?”
“Nemisin sought a way to consolidate his base of power and the only way he could do so was to conjure an enemy, a threat. Soon after coming into the Dragon symbiosis he manipulated time to find this terrible enemy, and found the Diluvans. He went forward in time with a Valleur army and annihilated them, to the last. This evidence of an enemy gave him the authority to institute the unassailable right of succession - the Vallas.”
“The Throne.”
“Yes, that too,” Torrullin acknowledged.
“Nemisin was not a nice man.”
“He was an enchanter, like you, like me. The dual road. Nice had nothing to do with it; his nature demanded it. You know how it is; you are guilty of a terrible misdeed, as I am, as Nemisin is.”
Teighlar was expressionless. “You suggest I should know this. How do you know, Torrullin? Kaval research? Should that be enough to cause you to be this certain of your facts?”
“Probably not.”
Teighlar lifted a brow. “Thus?”
“I feel it inside.”
“Instinct? Please.”
“That is the only term I am able to grip at the moment.”
An expressionless smile from the Emperor. “Ah. We are alike, then, in more ways than we dare speculate upon.”
Torrullin sighed. “Apparently.”
“What do you want from me now?”
“Luvan records, to decipher the paintings, Grinwallin’s secrets …”
“You think I can help you there?”
“I think we could do it together.”
Teighlar stared at the ground in silence and nodded after a while. “Fine, perhaps it can work. But what of this redress you mentioned? Is that the threat?”
“We are not certain who or what is behind the intimidation and we do not know what form the danger takes, but Orb, Luvanor and Akhavar are connected by an ancient crime.”
“Akhavar?”
“Nemisin’s world.”
“Which Saska has restored.”
“Yes, and yes it occurred to me had she left it alone, she would not have stirred an ancient threat.”
“You suggest she uncovered the bad with the good on Akhavar. Why Grinwallin? It sounds to me like you should be on Akhavar.”
“And what if redress has its source here?”
“My Senlu are not bent on revenge. Not for an ancient and forgotten event, one they know nothing of.” Teighlar paused. “Dare you suggest I am the source?”
“Grinwallin may be. The blood of your line erected this city, yet the stones themselves instigated the building. Who, then, is the true architect?”
“Shit.”
A grin from Torrullin. “Exactly.”
“What of the communion you had with Grinwallin twenty-five years ago? Did you not learn anything then?”
“It wasn’t Grinwallin.”
“It was a sentience residing in Grinwallin.”
Still Teighlar said nothing.
“Gods,” Torrullin muttered. He had not yet spoken of that event and now, to make his point, he had to. “It was an ancient sentience, one that used Grinwallin’s longevity as a place of repose to wait for Elixir. It did not reveal Grinwallin to me - it revealed Elixir to me.”
“Hmm.”
“Rixile was its name.”
Teighlar had a stunned look on his face. “Alter ego?”
A mirthless laugh. “Rixile is the other side of Elixir, yes.”
“And where is it now?”
Torrullin slapped his chest. “Here.”
Teighlar gave a confounded laugh. “The other side of you, with you, and an ancient sentience? Gods, my friend, what more proof of what you are do you actually need before you will believe?”
Torrullin was wordless for a while and then, finally, “How do I compute an immense span of time?”
Teighlar bent a stern gaze over him. “Now do you understand my reluctance?”
“Yet it is time to uncover and accept those truths.”
“Well, you had better start at the beginning and tell all. Valaris forms part of the Four, does she not? She, too, is in danger, right? Four Ancients, therefore Four Worlds, not so?”
Torrullin went cold. Teighlar confirmed his suspicion.
“You had not considered it?”
“Three Kingdoms, that’s what I was working on.”
Teighlar blanched. “What did you say?”
They stared at each other, and began to talk in earnest.
“SABIAN DELVED ROCK? Gods, amazing. And the strata coincides with your dream?” Teighlar raised his brows as he raised a glass to his mouth.
Torrullin nodded. “Both are confirmed by Minos of Lintusillem. The Epoch of Dancing Suns.”
“And we are right back with Nemisin.”
“Right back,” Torrullin echoed.
“Thus Lowen vanished from Akhavar?”
“Almost surely.”
Teighlar drank and then, “Explain again why you are not there, going after her.”
Torrullin gazed around him, at waterfalls within the rock, at grass under his feet, at colourful birds flitting, all of it inside Grinwallin mountain. It continued to astound him.
Lore of Sanctum Omnibus Page 29