by Andi Van
“Sometimes a day can be an eternity, or an eternity a day,” Rin said. “Or something like that. It was in one of those books of your mother’s.”
“You really should quit reading her romance novels,” Tasis said. He was probably trying to scold the cat, but it looked more like he was holding back a laugh.
“Why? They’re fun.”
Jorget shook his head. “You’re a very odd cat.”
“Thank you,” Rin said, sounding quite pleased. Jorget hadn’t meant it as a compliment, but if Rin liked it, then it didn’t matter. “Now, shall we go inside? We shouldn’t leave them waiting. Maker knows what kind of trouble they’ll get into.”
“They who?” Jorget asked. “There are others here besides us?”
“Oh yes,” Tasis answered cheerfully. “And he’s right. We shouldn’t leave them waiting. Come, I’ll show you.”
He led Jorget up the entrance, throwing open the glass doors and stepping inside only to head directly into a hallway. As they walked in silence, Jorget glanced at the walls. They appeared to be marble, but they almost seemed to glow. He stopped and looked closer, one hand pressed to the cool, slick surface. No, they didn’t seem to be glowing, they were glowing.
“It’s a spell,” Tasis said, waiting for him a few paces away. “The stone glows when people are near. It’s how most of the guild is lit.”
Jorget looked at him, his hand still resting on the stone wall. “How?”
“No idea,” Tasis admitted with a grin. “They came this way. All I did was put them back together.”
“It’s a complex spell,” K’yerin noted. “It’s in one of the books in the library. You can look it up later if you want. In fact, I think you’d be the most likely candidate to understand it.”
Jorget looked at the cat, confusion muddling his thoughts. “What do you mean?”
“Come,” Rin said as he continued down the hallway. “All will be explained.”
Jorget looked at Tasis, hoping for some sort of explanation, but only received a shrug in response before the elf turned to follow his familiar.
They continued down the passage before reaching a large archway. When they stepped through, Jorget could see that they were in an immense library. Sitting in comfortable chairs near the archway were two women. One was a young, beautiful elf with dark hair. The other was a redheaded woman who looked so like Tasis that Jorget had to look twice to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him.
“Josephina,” Tasis said happily, giving the elven woman a kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry I was asleep when you tried to reach me.”
“It’s all right, love,” Josephina said with a dismissive wave. “I heard what happened.”
Jorget pointed a finger at her, beyond confusion at this point. “You’re—” He stopped, dropped his hand, and shook his head. “No, never mind. That’s crazy.”
“It’s not reality,” Tasis reminded him. “She can appear however she likes. This is what she looked like a thousand years ago. If they were stuck with their current forms, Triv couldn’t even be here. We’d have to meet in the boat dock.” He leaned over to kiss his doppelganger on the cheek, as he had with Josephina. “Hello, grandmother.”
Triv tried to swat him, but he dodged. “What did I tell you about calling me that?”
“Not to,” Tasis replied, more than a hint of mischief in his tone. “Which is why I do it. I am your direct descendant, after all.”
Triv laughed, and it was such a sweet sound that Jorget found himself grinning along. “When do you get to come home? We miss you.”
“I’ve been gone for less than a week.”
“Your point?”
Rin hopped up on a table near the chairs and cleared his throat. “Shall we talk about why we’re here? This is rather important.”
“Oh yes,” Triv answered. “Have a seat, both of you.”
As they took their seats, Jorget couldn’t help but stare at Triv. “You’re seriously the same person who killed the original mad king? The last leader of the guild?”
“Well, I’m not the last leader anymore, am I?” Triv pointed out, raising one eyebrow as she did. “Perhaps the last leader of the previous era? But yes, that was me. I don’t recommend drowning to death, it isn’t pleasant.”
Jorget shuddered. “I imagine not. Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Triv gave him a wink before sobering again. “There are two things we need to talk to you about. The first has to do with you.” She pointed at Jorget, who only looked back with confusion.
“It’s because of what happened earlier,” Rin explained. “The thing I was trying to tell Tasis about. You said you understood his words as if they were in your native tongue?”
Jorget nodded. “Yes. I thought maybe that’s what was supposed to happen, but it turned out it was just me.”
“K’yerin suspects you’re a Speaker,” Triv said. “In which case you’re of vital importance to the guild, not only as a person, but as someone who the ancient language has chosen.”
“You say that as if it’s a living thing,” Jorget said with a scoff. “It’s not.”
“Just go with it,” Tasis advised. “I’ve learned not to tell them they’re wrong.”
“It took Tasis six months to write out the spell he performed today,” Rin said. “And that was with near-constant studying of old spell books and picking the brain of every old guild member available. Even then, we weren’t sure it would work. We had only two Speakers before the king attacked, and they were both killed in the initial ambush, so we had no one to verify.”
“So you don’t speak it either?” Jorget asked the cat, more than a little surprised. “Huh. I thought maybe it was your language.”
“I don’t have a language,” K’yerin said. “Not one that involves words, at any rate. We pick up spoken languages from whoever we’ve bonded with. And I was not around when the mages’ language was a living language. Now, unless we find another Speaker, you’re it. You’re the only remaining person who understands it.”
“But I don’t actually speak it,” Jorget pointed out. “I simply randomly understood it. Wouldn’t that make me a listener, not a Speaker?”
Triv barked a laugh and grinned at Tasis. “I like him. He’ll fit in nicely.” Then she turned that beaming smile on Jorget again. “You’ll start speaking it after you’re around it long enough, from what I gather. The Speakers I knew talked about it as if it happened in pieces. You haven’t been around anything but the most basic spells, have you?”
“Well, no, but—”
“We can discuss that further when we’re back at the guild,” Tasis interrupted. “We only have so much time before we wake up, and I need to know what we’re dealing with. Who is Bahz, and why did he have Josephina so upset?”
Triv sighed and leaned back in her seat. “Bahz was the familiar for Falcon, a previous guildmember.”
“Oh,” Jorget said suddenly, as things started to make more sense. “I thought Josephina was calling Bahz a falcon, not saying a name.”
“No,” Josephina said sadly. “Falcon was….” She sighed heavily as if having trouble finding the words. “Falcon was a good person.”
“Falcon was in love with me,” Triv admitted. “And I wasn’t interested in her. When Corrin and I married, she left. It hurt, but I understood.” She turned and gave Josephina a trembling smile. “Not everyone can be as steadfast as Josephina, after all.”
Jorget gave them a confused look. “I don’t understand.”
“Josephina was in love with Triv,” Tasis explained.
“Is in love with her,” Josephina corrected. “That hasn’t changed. But the difference between Falcon and me is that Triv’s happiness means more to me than my own. And I never wanted to lose her friendship. I’m content with my role.” The woman let out a derisive snort and shook her head. “Falcon could never tolerate coming in second place, the competitive wench.”
Triv reached out and took Josephina’s hand in hers. “I
never considered you second best.”
“Anyway,” Tasis interjected, glancing at Jorget as if checking to make sure his head hadn’t exploded from the new information he’d received. “Falcon. You think the feather Emlynn received from the entity the giants refer to as the spirit bird is Falcon’s familiar?”
“It’s Bahz,” Rin confirmed. “I’d know his scent anywhere.”
“Emlynn and I spoke further about it when I tried to contact you earlier,” Josephina said. “She described the spirit bird in detail, and I have no doubt that he is, in fact, Bahz. What I don’t understand is why he’s there. Falcon was human. She would have passed on some time ago, which means Bahz would have returned to his home until he was called again. Him being there makes no sense.”
“He can talk on the mountain,” Tasis said. “Doesn’t that mean there’s a source of magic there? What if Falcon is still alive, living somewhere on that mountain? If she was still performing magic after all this time, wouldn’t it have collected, like it did at the guild?”
“There’s another possibility,” Triv said, her face the picture of worry. “The guild on the isle wasn’t always the only one.”
“What?” Tasis and Jorget exclaimed as one.
“It’s… not common knowledge,” Rin said carefully. “There was a war. Long before the mad king was even born.”
“Before history was recorded as carefully as it has been,” Triv added. “Do you recall the Gyrn legend that led you to the isle?”
“Yes,” Tasis said with a nod. The elf leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and frowned. “It talked about the water dragon, who longed for people of his own after seeing his siblings being loved by their followers.”
“Wait, his siblings?” Jorget asked. “There’s more than one?”
“There were,” Triv said. “A long time ago. My master told me more of the story after I…. Well, after I died. Vashk hasn’t seen any of his siblings in a long time. He has no idea if any of them even still live.”
Tasis held up one hand. “Hold on,” he said. “I think I see where you’re going with this, and it’s probably going to crack my sanity a little. Are you saying that all of the dragons had guilds?”
“More like guilds happened around dragons,” Rin corrected, grooming one paw. “But the old guilds were lost ages ago, and the world’s geography has changed too much to know where they are.”
“But there could be one somewhere in the mountain?”
Triv took a deep breath, then nodded. “It’s a strong possibility.”
“Oh Maker,” Tasis whispered as he rubbed his face with both hands. “The weapon the king wants is magical.”
“Also likely,” Josephina confirmed. “The rendezvous with your friend, the king’s guard, has become more urgent.”
K’yerin froze, head cocked, as if listening. “Someone’s here,” he said.
Tasis looked around. “Here? In the dreamscape?”
“No, in the waking world,” the cat said, standing quickly. “They’re knocking on the door. I need to throw you and Jorget out. Jorget, you’re sleeping in the front room, yes? Don’t answer the door.”
“How do they even know where the door is?” Tasis insisted, panic coloring his words. “The spell should have prevented this.”
“The spell works against those who refuse to see you as you truly are,” Rin reminded him. “Which means chances are, that’s an ally at our door. But don’t take any chances. Here we go.”
JORGET’S EYES flew open, and the knock at the door nearly had him falling off the long sofa he’d been snoozing on, despite having already been told someone was there. He was sitting up and staring at the front door with wide eyes when Tasis and a very groggy Kelwin joined him, Zaree following behind with a wicked-looking staff in her hands.
“Don’t worry,” Tasis told Jorget. “Remember, Rin said it was likely an ally.”
“Right,” Jorget said. “You’ll forgive me if I’m prepared to throw a fireball anyway.”
“You can do that?” Tasis asked. “You have got to show me how.”
“Focus,” Kelwin mumbled. “Door.”
“Right.” Tasis took a deep breath, reached out, and yanked the door open.
On the other side stood the oldest of the Kiril children, the daughter who’d seen them that afternoon. She was pale with fright and had obviously been crying. In her arms she held a bundle. The bundle moved, and Jorget sucked in a breath.
“Please,” the girl begged softly. “Please, you have to help me.”
Tasis placed a gentle hand on her arm and helped her inside, shutting the door tight behind them. “Kel, please go make some tea. Something soothing.”
“Right,” Kelwin said, all vestiges of grogginess gone. He strode out of the room quickly, his ever-present wolf companion following behind.
“Sit down,” Tasis told the girl in a voice gentler than Jorget had heard him use in the short time he’d known him. “You’re Nabiha, right?”
The girl nodded, hiccupping a small sob as the bundle in her arms whimpered. Tasis reached for it, looking to the girl for permission before moving the blanket. An infant human looked back at him with wide eyes before it gave him a huge, toothless grin. “Yours?” Tasis asked.
Nabiha shook her head. “My youngest brother. He—”
The baby let out a delighted squeal and babbled as he waved one hand. Butterflies appeared above them.
“Oh,” Tasis said softly. “I think I understand now.”
“My parents will kill him if they find out,” Nabiha insisted. “They still talk about how you should have been drowned at birth. I don’t care about me, but I want my brother to be safe.”
“May I see him?” Zaree asked, holding out her arms. The girl looked at Tasis uncertainly, but he nodded and gave her a smile. After a moment more of hesitation, she handed the boy over to Zaree. “It’s been so long since I’ve held a baby,” Zaree said as she snuggled the infant close. “You’re a good boy, aren’t you? And so brave. You aren’t the least bit afraid of us, even though you’ve never seen us before.”
“He likes people,” Nabiha supplied. “Pretty much from birth. All he wants is for everyone to love him.” The girl let out a short hiccup of a sob and wiped her eyes. “He’s a baby, how could anyone hate a baby?”
“You’d be amazed,” Tasis told her with a sigh as he patted her shoulder. “People can be horrible. That’s why we have to try to be better than the people around us.”
“He’s right,” Zaree agreed. “We’ll help you, but what is it you’d like us to do? Did you have something specific in mind?”
“Can you take him with you?” Nabiha asked. “Please? I know you don’t live here anymore. I’ve been watching the house to see if you’d returned at some point, but this is the first time I’ve seen you come back. So you must live elsewhere now.”
“I do,” Tasis agreed. “I can’t guarantee your brother’s safety, but he’d certainly be safer there than with parents who’d happily hand him over to the king. But what about you? Your parents are bound to figure out that it was you who took him, and I imagine they won’t be pleased. Even if they never find out he’s a magic user, they’ll know you took him.”
Nabiha swallowed hard, and tears welled up in her eyes. “I didn’t think that far,” she admitted, wringing her hands together in her lap. “I didn’t want anything to happen to him.”
“You can come with us,” Zaree offered, turning to look at her brother as she rested her cheek gently against the baby’s head. “Can’t she?”
“But she’s not a magic user,” Jorget said, confused. “Isn’t that what that place is for?”
Kelwin let out a snort as he rejoined them, cup of tea in hand. “I’m not a magic user, and I’m there,” he said as he offered Nabiha the cup. “Careful, it’s hot.”
The girl gave him a tiny smile of gratitude and took a cautious sip. Whether it was the tea itself or the act of drinking a hot beverage, the girl seemed to relax a li
ttle.
“We have company?”
The group looked up to see a sleepy Emlynn standing at the doorway, rubbing her eyes. “Sorry,” Tasis said apologetically. “We knocked on the door to the room you’re staying in, but you were sleeping too hard to hear us, I think.”
Emlynn nodded, then took in the sight of the newcomer, who was staring back at her. “We saw you this afternoon,” she said.
“Yes,” Nabiha answered. “You’re very tall, aren’t you?”
This comment pleased Emlynn, if the smile that creased her face was any indication. “Thank you,” she said. “But what has brought you here in the middle of the night? And with an infant?”
They went over the entire story with her, and when they came to the conclusion, the giantess nodded. “Then of course she should join us along with her brother.” She paused, her brow wrinkling. “Does the boy have a name yet?”
“Malik,” Nabiha supplied.
Emlynn crossed the room and stopped in front of Zaree, leaning in to rest a hand on the child’s back and get a good look at him. “A good name,” she said. “It shows strength. He’ll need that.” She looked over at Tasis and smiled. “And he’ll need someone to raise him with care. I imagine Nabiha is best suited for that out of all of us.”
“My aunt will also be there,” Tasis reminded her. “But I agree with you that it makes the most sense to take Nabiha with us, assuming she wants to go.”
“I can go?” the girl asked, hope shining faintly in her eyes for the first time since she’d stepped inside. “Truly?” Surprising all of them, she flung her arms around Tasis and held him in a tight hug. “I promise I’ll be useful,” Nabiha wept. “You won’t be sorry. I promise.”
Tasis gave Kelwin a panicked look, but the other elf hid a grin behind one hand. “It’s fine,” Tasis finally croaked, sounding as if the girl had crushed his ribs. He patted her on the shoulder awkwardly, and she loosened her grip. “You’ll find your place,” he said, his voice less strangled. “When I agreed to lead the new guild, I swore I’d make it a place where people were free to be themselves without persecution. That includes the nonmagic.” He patted her shoulder again, then looked over at Emlynn. “It’s the middle of the night. Em, do you mind if she shares your room?”