Riddle of Fate

by Tania Johansson

  Derrin glanced at Reez, but she nodded. He cursed under his breath. What was going on?

  “And what role did Heran play in your games?”

  “I think Heran should speak for himself,” Garelle said.

  The Highest waved a hand and Heran stepped forward, his hands clenched in fists and the corners of his mouth drawn down. “Well?” the Highest said.

  “Garelle and Meir recruited me to work with the mortal,” Heran said.

  “Why?” the Highest said. “Why not simply deal directly with Brier themselves?”

  “Bah,” Meir huffed, “had it been up to me, I would not have had any contact with mortals unless they were dying. They are notoriously difficult to deal with.”

  “Do you forget that you were human once?” Derrin asked.

  Meir gave him a sideways glare as answer.

  “What were your instructions?” the Highest asked.

  “I was to relay the Echelon’s instructions to Brier. Make sure he stayed in line and did as he was ordered.”

  “Yes,” the Highest said, “the Echelon. Who gave you the authority to set up such a faction? You, as the Echelon, regarded yourselves as so elevated, you even employed servants in the mansion you occupied. Explain yourselves!”

  “The Echelon was a way of hiding in plain sight,” Garelle sniffed. “We needed a way of gathering information and once it came to light that Khaya had a second ability, we made sure the Company had all relevant information regarding the legacy of people with additional abilities.”

  “You don’t see that as interfering with mortal lives?” Derrin snapped, but the Highest held a hand aloft.

  “Heran,” the Highest said, and the Collector shrunk back at his name, “did you, at all times, only carry out orders as given to you by Garelle and Meir?”

  “Yes, Highest.”

  Reez nodded.

  “As far as you were aware, did Garelle and Meir break any Collector laws?”

  He hesitated. “Not as I understand things,” he said finally. “But they certainly came close to crossing the line.” Garelle gave Heran a baleful look. Meir’s face had turned crimson and he looked ready to throttle Heran. “Once we discovered Derrin was assisting Khaya,” Heran continued, his words hesitant at first, started to tumble from him. “Meir told me to take a more direct approach. We were to subdue Derrin and kill Khaya.”

  “And you don’t consider this breaking Collector law?” the Highest bellowed.

  “Meir told me it had been agreed by the Masters that if we could kill Khaya in such a way as to not affect any other mortal, it would be lawful.”

  “Reez,” the Highest barked, “tell me he is lying, for if he isn’t he is an utter fool!”

  “Highest, he speaks the truth.”

  The Highest closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

  “He is lying!” Meir burst out. “I never said any such things!”

  “Silence!” the Highest commanded. “We will get to you soon enough. Heran, what was your plan for the mortal’s relationship with Khaya?” the Highest asked.

  Heran’s eyes flickered to Meir who gave his head an almost imperceptible shake.

  “Meir had… ideas on how we could use him.”

  “Such as?”

  “He thought that, if pushed, Brier would snap and kill her.”

  “Pushed?” the Highest asked, his eyes narrowing.

  “He never shared the details of his plan with me, but I had the feeling it would perhaps do more than straddle the lawful line. Especially since he kept it from Garelle.”

  A small smile crept onto Garelle’s face and her shoulders seemed to relax.

  “And what do you know of Seb?” the Highest asked.

  “Not much,” Heran said with a shrug. “He was there whenever I met the mortal, but he never said much to me.”

  Reez indicated he was telling the truth and the Highest appeared satisfied.

  “How much did you know about Seb?” Derrin asked, turning to Garelle and Meir.

  Neither responded, until the Highest said, “Answer the question.”

  “Seb was a level six Collector who had a specific ability that we needed,” Garelle said. “He was quiet and… pliable. So we used him.”

  “Why did he help you?” the Highest asked.

  Garelle snorted. “We are Masters and he was a level six Collector. No further reason is necessary.”

  “Meir,” Derrin said, “you’ve been awfully quiet. Anything you’d like to add?”

  “You have no right to question me,” Meir said, glaring at Derrin with narrowed eyes.

  “But, I do,” the Highest said. “Any particular reason why you wanted to have Seb working with you?”

  “Now that I come to think of it,” Garelle said, folding her arms across her chest and addressing Meir, “you were the one who originally suggested we work with him.”

  Meir ignored her. To the Highest, he said, “No. As Garelle pointed out, he takes orders well and carries them out without question.”

  “Lie,” Reez said and all eyes flicked between her and Meir.

  Meir jabbed a finger in her direction. “You are the liar!”

  “Meir,” the Highest said, “did you know that Seb wasn’t a Collector?” Heran’s mouth dropped open. He obviously hadn’t been aware.

  “No.”

  “Lie,” Reez’s calm voice intoned.

  Meir launched himself towards her. “You are trying to smear my name! To cast doubt on my honour as a Collector.”

  The Highest stepped in front of Meir, blocking his way. He had no need to physically restrain the Collector. Apparently, he had enough good sense left not to accost the Highest. “She has proven herself trustworthy to me,” the Highest said. “You will restrain yourself or I will have others restrain you. You have been caught out in your lies. If you have any hope of salvaging your situation, start telling us all you know.”

  Meir shimmered, but again failed to Leap. “Meir,” the Highest said, “you know we have other ways of extracting information from you. It would be in your best interests to start talking.” His voice dipped low, threatening and Meir seemed to cower before him.

  Meir licked his lips, dry washing his hands. “Seb told me that he’d been given a probation period as a Collector. The Order couldn’t reach an agreement on him and so decided to let him have a chance to prove himself.”

  “True,” Reez said, “but there is something he is withholding.”

  He stabbed a glare at her, his nostrils flaring. “I had a suspicion he might not be telling me the whole truth, but as he could Leap, I assumed he must have been given a Collector’s abilities.”

  “As far as you are aware, was Seb breaking Collector laws?”

  “I suspected,” he said through clenched teeth. “But at least we were finally getting results. I reasoned if he was on probation, he would simply be sent to damnation should it come to light he’d broken Collector rules.”

  “So,” the Highest thundered, “you suspected him of orchestrating the death of at least two mortals and yet you did nothing?”

  Meir squirmed under the Highest’s intense gaze. “I thought it would all work out in the end.”

  “I’ve heard enough,” the Highest said. “You disgust me. I only need you to tell me one more thing: Where would Seb go?”

  “Derrin knows where we stayed in the human realm.” He paused. “Other than that, he spoke of a man he hated in life. He mentioned him several times. I remember, because he said this man lived in Arteal – that’s where I grew up. He spoke of how he wished he could make this man pay. Perhaps he would go there?”

  “Take him away,” the Highest said. “We will sentence him later. Garelle and Heran, I believe you two, as misguided as your actions were, did not break Collector law. We will need to make changes to the way we do things. Right now, we have more important matters to attend to. And make sure Meir doesn’t Leap!”

  “Derrin as well,” he added more subdued.

  “No
, please, I want to help bring Seb in.”

  “We cannot let you out. You are a flight risk.”

  “I came here of my own accord to help you. I will not flee, but I must see this through. Let me help. I can take you to their mansion.”

  The Highest studied his face. “He is speaking the truth,” Reez said.

  “Very well,” the Highest said. “We leave immediately.”

  Chapter Thirty Four

  The Hunt

  Brier paced up and down. He had a bad feeling. Where were the Collectors? He stopped his pacing and stared out of the meeting room window.

  The landscaped gardens looked so neat and tidy. It made a mockery of his entire life. Nothing was neat. Nothing was perfect. Nothing happened the way it was supposed to!

  He took a deep breath to stem his anger, forcing himself to unclench his fists.

  He swung round as the door burst open behind him. Seb strode in. He looked flustered, his eyes darting from side to side as if expecting the other Collectors to appear at any moment. Brier hoped they would. Seb gave him a cold sneer. “Why are you still here? Are you really still their obedient dog?”

  Brier ground his teeth. “I'm here, because I'm waiting for Meir to return. I've done everything they have asked – not because I'm an obedient dog, but because I was promised acceptance to the Collectors. Once Meir returns, I expect he will confirm that I can now pass on to take up the mantle of a Collector.”

  “You are a fool,” Seb scoffed. “He isn’t coming back here and you were never going to be a Collector.”

  “Meir promised me. We have an arrangement! I’ve kept up my end and now they must keep up theirs.”

  Seb shook his head. Turning his back to Brier, he squatted down and rolled up the edge of the carpet. He lifted a couple of the flagstones underneath it to reveal an elongated wrapped bundle. He strode to the window, opened it and tossed the bundle out. Then he turned back to Brier. “They aren’t coming back. They’ve been taken prisoner in the middle realm. Even if they weren’t, they never had the authority to offer you acceptance. I suspect the others will be here soon looking for me. Perhaps you would not want to be here when they come.” Without another word, he vanished.

  Brier rushed to the window and watched as he scooped up the cloth wrapped bundle and mounted a horse that had been tied up close by. How strange that a Collector would choose to ride a horse anywhere.

  Could Seb be right? Had he been a fool to trust them? To believe their promises? Had it all been for nothing? Anger seethed through him. He’d never even entertained the notion that they might be lying. Seb was right: he was a fool! With a grunt, he punched the wall. He was so angry, he didn’t even feel the pain of his bleeding knuckles.

  There was a knock at the door. He threw it open and nearly stormed straight over the maid who looked at him with large eyes.

  He collected his horse from the stables and urged it on, fleeing to the cover of the forest. He wished he could know for sure if what Seb had said was true, but even if he waited, he wouldn’t be able to see the other Collectors.

  Spurred on by the hate in his heart, he chased his mount on. He had nowhere to go, yet he wanted to be as far away as possible from that mansion, from the Collectors, from all the lies.

  For the longest time, he was unable to live a happy life. Now he was unable to die a peaceful death. Perhaps, one day, he will have the courage to choose to die and then his fight would start anew.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Derrin led the group through the tall arched, wooden doors and into the mansion. “I think this is a waste of time,” Derrin said, not for the first time.

  “Yes,” Liron sighed, “you’ve made your view quite plain. And as I’ve said before, he might not be here now, but maybe he came here right after Leaping away from the Hall of Angels.”

  Footsteps echoed down the stone-floored hallway and they all froze. “We expected them back already,” a woman’s voice was saying just as two maids rounded the corner, deep in conversation.

  Everyone relaxed. “That little man flew through here earlier as if his feet were on fire. He had a word with Brier before he disappeared. I thought he was still in the meeting room, but when I knocked Brier opened and he was alone. I looked out of the window and saw the little one charging away on a horse. He was cradling something under his arm and he looked so unsteady I thought he might fly off at any moment.”

  The other maid joined in the gossip. “Brier rushed out of here as well,” she said. “Something had him scared. I don’t know how the odd one could have got past us and out the door without either of us seeing him.”

  “Maybe he climbed out of the window. He's strange enough that I’d believe that.”

  They chuckled as they passed the Collectors, carrying on down the corridor and turning into a room further along. “What could be so important to him to risk coming here first?” Derrin wondered.

  “Let’s search the house,” Liron said, “make sure they’re not still here. We meet in that room at the end of the hall.”

  The three Collectors split up and went off in different directions. Derrin Leapt from room to room down the hall, ending up in the meeting room. The other two appeared soon after. “I knew this was a waste of time,” Derrin said and Liron’s face darkened.

  “I am concerned about what he might have come to collect,” the Highest said. There were more than one protest raised at his insistence at coming along, but he wouldn’t be dissuaded.

  A thought struck Derrin and made his stomach twist. “Where is the sword kept? Shahemdilor?”

  The Highest’s eyebrows arched. “Liron, return to the middle realm. You know where it is kept. Make sure it is still there.”

  Liron vanished. “You said all the Masters know where Shahemdilor is kept?” Derrin asked.

  “Yes. You don’t think Meir would have given Seb access, do you?”

  “Not necessarily deliberately, but maybe he let slip where it is kept?”

  “It isn’t possible for any but a Master to take the sacred sword from its cache.”

  “Seb has proven himself quite capable of getting his dirty fingers on things that doesn’t belong to him. Take the Masters’ seals for example – kept in their private studies. The only one he wasn’t able to get was yours. I’m somehow certain he would have gone through your study searching for it, though.”

  “Bah! Nonsense. You’d have to be a ghost to be able walk through the wall to get in without my say-so.”

  “A ghost?” Derrin muttered to himself.

  “What was that?”

  Derrin frowned, the events of the previous weeks running through his mind. “Not a ghost,” he whispered.

  “Speak up,” the Highest said, annoyed.

  “He’s not a ghost,” Derrin said, becoming more certain. “He’s a poltergeist!”

  “Where is this coming from?”

  “You just said it. If he was getting into rooms and places that you can’t get into unless you can walk through walls, it’s got to be.” Derrin grinned. “Khaya asked me once why I was able to manipulate objects in the living world. I told her it was because I was a Collector, not a ghost. So, if Seb isn’t a Collector, but he can interact with objects in the middle realm as well as in the living world, he has to be a poltergeist!”

  Liron appeared, his mouth ajar. “It’s gone. I spoke with the other Masters. No one knows where it is. Seb isn’t a Master. Surely he wouldn’t have been able to take it.”

  The Highest turned his back on them, rubbing his bald head. “These are dark days.” He turned back to face them. “We must assume the worst. Seb has Shahemdilor. That must mean he is planning to come after one or more Collectors.”

  “Let’s get to Arteal,” Derrin said.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  “You really think he’s a ghost?” Liron asked, sceptical.

  They were walking through the village square. If it could be called that. It had perhaps once been the village green, but the grass was ove
rgrown and thorny weeds were everywhere. This would hardly be a suitable place for market stalls. A lone tree, branches bare, stood to the side of the square area.

  “A poltergeist,” Derrin said.

  “You realise the last account of this was about five hundred years ago?” Liron asked. “And that was a soul who had managed to escape the Collector sent to fetch him. It took the Collectors a good ten years to catch up to him and put a stop to his mischief.”

  “Why do you even know that?” Derrin asked.

  “I’ve spent some time researching Collector history,” Liron said with a shrug.

  The few houses that stood in a lonesome group further down the road had a forlorn look about them. The village had the feeling of being abandoned. “Are we sure Meir was telling the truth about this place?” Liron said.

  “He had to be,” the Highest said. “Reez would have known if he was lying.”

  They picked up the pace and hurried towards the row of houses. As they drew nearer, it became more apparent that they were indeed derelict. The nearest one’s door was hanging off its hinges. It tapped against the wall as the wind pushed it to and fro.

  Derrin peered inside. A broken three-legged table lay on its side, covered in cobwebs and dust. A mouse skittered across the floor and through a crack in the wall. “Could Reez have been wrong?” Derrin asked.

  “No,” the Highest said. “What Meir said was the truth.” He paused, playing with his gold earring again. “But, what if it only rang true because that’s what Seb told Meir?”

  “You mean Seb lied to Meir?” Liron asked, realisation dawning.

  Derrin rubbed a fist against his suddenly pounding temples. “That leaves us with nothing, then.”

  “Well, what is it that Seb wants?” Liron said, his hands behind his back. “If we assume that he was the one to kill Zera, and he is now in the possession of Shahemdilor, then we must assume he means to kill again.”