The Rage of Princes: A Portal Fantasy Adventure (The Chronicles of Otherwhere Book 2)

by Cassia Meare

  "Can we see this place?"

  "All your desires are orders," Delian said, indicating a few men lolling inside carts pulled by motorcycles. "We’ll use the tuk-tuks and not Crossing so you can see more. Tourism, it’s called."

  They became visible again and were ushered into one of the open carts. The motorcycle was noisy and stopped them from talking as the driver sped through fields so green they did not seem real.

  "Rice," Ty mouthed.

  There were bald men in bright orange robes, women in red-and-white checkered headdresses, vendors of fruit, children running. There were delicate trees with small leaves, and short ones full of more flowers. There were statues she recognized as the Buddha, sitting up straight and cross-legged, dressed in orange silk. Before him lay plates with offerings and incense, and small, wizened old women laughed and waved at them as they passed.

  Elinor wanted the ride never to end, but less than half an hour later they arrived at a small hotel with a pool — a good place for breakfast, the driver assured them. The dirt street before it was full of tourists in short breeches, ugly shoes showing pink feet and hats.

  "The guests must be leaving to see the temples," Ty said. "The place will probably be ours."

  After a short conversation at the reception, they found themselves alone at a large, rectangular pool surrounded by twisting trees in bloom. The two princes took the colored cloths lying on sunbeds and wrapped them around their hips to swim, while Elinor sat in the shade with her feet inside the water. Coffee arrived, with rice cakes for Elinor as well as a pot of honey which Delian devoured.

  She hadn’t realized that she was lost in thought until Delian leaned his arms on the edge of the pool next to her. "Don't you want to come in? It feels wonderful."

  "To become brown, like a peasant?"

  "Lady E, there's none of that anymore, and you know it."

  "Oh?" Her eyebrows rose. "No distinction here? Or in Otherwhere?"

  "Peasants are called farmers now," Delian explained. "And everyone wants to be brow. Or they did, before they found out it gave them cancer and wrinkles. But it wouldn't do you any harm to catch some rays."

  Narrowing her eyes at him, Elinor asked, "Looking at the heavenly dancers wasn't enough for one morning?"

  He gave her a smile. "Jealous?"

  "Ha! I shall not enter the water, Delian. It is not for me."

  Ty swam over to them. "The clues are getting more difficult. At twenty-seven, darkness follows a reckoning. That's barely anything to go with."

  "Someone who died young?"

  A frown formed on Ty's smooth, pale brown. "Another king? Or some great person, dead at that age? Darkness and a reckoning … They must pay for crimes with death?"

  "We shall have to think hard." Elinor looked at the new symbol on her arm. "And this?"

  "Likeness," Ty said. "It means we can borrow a power or attribute from an opponent — or a friend."

  She saw his frown. "Why does it worry you?"

  "It may be too advanced for you. I mean, it could be turned against you by someone—"

  "Someone like Ahn?"

  "And why shouldn't Elinor steal something from Ahn instead?" Delian asked defiantly. "She stole Ahn's voice at the unbinding thing."

  Ty shook his head. "It's never that simple. Some powers are too much for the taker, and they may open a way for the opponent to possess her. It may feel like a victory at first, and—"

  "Well, steal from your friends, then," Delian told Elinor. "Until you've practiced some."

  "Why aren't you scared of bearing the hekas anymore?" she shot back.

  "Who says I'm not?" Delian scoffed. "Just can't be sitting on the fence all the time, dipping my toes in the water like some people. Gotta commit!" he cried as he tugged her into the pool.

  No matter how low Elinor's voice usually was, her shrieks were still shrill as she clung to Delian, even as he pulled them both below the water. She opened her eyes to see him smiling at her, and the bubbles coming out of her own lips. As they gained the surface she struggled and cursed him, but he only laughed.

  "Tell me it's not nice, Lady E!"

  It was nice, and she ended up staying in the water for a while, and even in the sun. The trees let go of some white flowers; they floated in the air, falling around them. It felt very much like happiness.

  Later they lay on the sun beds, but again Elinor chose the shade. She could feel her face burning already. Her dress dried quickly, and Delian brought her a beer and put a white flower behind her ear. He already had one behind his and stuck another into the waistband of Ty's cloth. They listened to the silence for a bit, until Ty spoke.

  "Time …"

  "Yes?" Elinor was immediately alert.

  "It's not a river in this world. More like a whirlpool."

  "River, whirpool," Delian mumbled, his eyes closed. "Same thing."

  Elinor leaned toward Ty. "Tell me."

  Ty began to draw circles in the air, until a sort of mist appeared, forming a circle.

  "Otherwhere is the river, perhaps," Ty said. "Because time there moves in only one direction. Time on Earth is like this. It goes round and round. Everything that ever happened is happening now. That's why you can go back, or forward."

  His finger crossed a section of mist and traveled to the other side, breaking another section there. "There might be thousands of years between these two points I touched. Hundreds of thousands. Millions. But they are happening, whereas at home they cease."

  Timidly Elinor's hand advanced, and she touched a spot, making a hole in the mist. She went along the same side of the circle, not too far, and touched another spot.

  "Yes," Ty said, his eyes soft. "Yes, that might be home for you."

  "To think, then, that my father might be breaking his fast now, or seeing to his horses, or telling cook what he wants for luncheon …"

  For a moment, she stared at the two holes turning with the circles; the distance between them slightly lengthened, then closed. The thought that the princes had never traveled beyond the year they presently inhabited gave her pause. It almost stole her breath. The Earth had turned for so long, and yet it could end in a few months.

  "What was the story of Sunda and Upasunda?" Delian asked suddenly. "The brothers we saw in there? Why were they fighting?"

  It did not escape Elinor's notice that he had remembered the names perfectly, for once. The story must have made an impression, and she could guess why.

  Running his hands through the mist to dissipate it, Ty said, "They were two brothers who did everything together. The god Brahma gave them such extraordinary prowess they could only be defeated by each other." Resting his head on one hand as he stretched sideways, Ty continued, "But then they decided to conquer the world. Wherever they went, destruction followed — and it was so severe the gods had to intervene again. They created an apsara of extreme beauty, Tilottama, and sent her to tempt the two men. They fought over her and both died, as you saw."

  "So the gods defeated the brothers through their own gifts to them?" Elinor observed.

  This was now happening in Otherwhere. Brothers against sisters, seeking to recover a mother’s legacy.

  Removing the flower from his ear, Delian threw it down. "I hate everything. They're our sisters — even Red Psycho. And fighting could mean the destruction of our whole world."

  "I thought you liked the idea of fighting," Ty said mildly, but gave a quick shrug when he saw his brother’s misery. "The story we just witnessed was a cautionary tale, chosen by the Tuii or Tuaa who hid this power."

  "It's a bad business. I hope it gets solved with—" Delian stopped short, and it was obvious he had made an effort not to look at Ty. Instead, he took a swig of his beer.

  "Then the quest must have a shape," Elinor continued as if she had not noticed. She could wait a little longer to discover whatever their secret was. "An ... ascent? This story was like a morality play, and we got the power of Likeness — becoming like another, like brothers or twins. Y
ou say it can be dangerous."

  "As the powers grow, the danger grows," Ty said. "Danger of becoming intoxicated, not knowing when to stop. It's what happened to Sunda and Upasunda. Tilottama stands in for the object of one's greed. Doesn't have to be a woman. It can be just power. To rule over all. To be first."

  "And for that you kill what's dearest," Elinor murmured.

  Delian had been quietly listening, and he suddenly raised his head. "Ty, swear we'll never fight."

  "Of course not, idiot. We never have."

  "Or with Nemours."

  "No." Ty looked disturbed. "No, of course not."

  "It's bad enough, what's happening," Delian repeated. "To fight with Ahn, and even with Lamia. I hate fighting with Lamia."

  "They're close in age," Ty explained to Elinor. "Inseparable for a while. Bullying poor Sefira."

  "Don't blame us for that."

  "But then Time is greater than Likeness, even?" Elinor wondered, still following her own reasoning. "Why?"

  "It can't be used in our world," Ty said. "Because of what I just explained."

  "Then what is its use as a major heka?" she asked.

  "Time was a power for Earth, perhaps for this quest. If you have the Time heka and combine it with Crossing, you can become very expedient at getting to the clues."

  "Wouldn't it be enough to just inhabit the latest possible moment, where we are now?" Elinor wondered.

  "Not if we have to jump between worlds. Since the cracks, we can always find this moment, or near it, through them — but the cracks weren't there at first, not at the time when the hekas were hidden. Also, we don't know if some of these monuments the priests used have already been destroyed, in which case we'd need to be able to go back to whenever they were still standing."

  "The hekas must have been placed backward," Elinor mused. "If it's true that no single priest or priestess held them all."

  "Yes, the Key must have been first, with the clue passed on to the next in importance, and the next, and the next all the way down. And we start the quest the opposite way."

  Elinor caressed her forearm, where once Nemours had drawn the symbols. "What's left now?"

  "Time, Change, Might and the Key."

  "Might?" She scoffed. "Are you not powerful enough?"

  "It must mean magical strength."

  "I want that one," said Delian idly.

  "You're already strong," Elinor insisted.

  "Not as we used to be, before Aya put a stop to the fun." Delian hesitated but, unable to help himself, he touched the back of his head. "We used to be able to really fight. Dragons and all. We're still way stronger than mortals, but with Might it will be maximum power of the kickass."

  "The very next one should be Time, then," Elinor said under her breath.

  Throwing her a hurt look, Delian asked, "Still want to get away, Lady E?"

  "You have it." She stared at the three arrows facing up in the form of a fan on Delian's upper arm. It took her a moment to add, "I suppose you were told not to give it to me."

  He made an apologetic grimace. "Something like that."

  "I see."

  "Sorry, but we don't dare. I mean, Nemours was crystal clear." He gave a low whistle to signify how clear.

  She scratched the ground with a twig. "I suppose traitors shouldn't be rewarded."

  "It's not just that, I don't think," Ty said.

  "Let us not forget that I'm meant to be the Star," Elinor said. "It's what made me interesting enough to abduct in the first place."

  Ty sighed. "Not even just that."

  She allowed her eyes to slide to him. "What is it, then?"

  Shrugging, Ty seemed to regret having spoken. "I don't know."

  "Don't look at me," Delian told Elinor. "I never know anything."

  "You do, when you want to. But I don't care, in any case," she said, raising her chin. "I shall find it on my own."

  "And leave?" Delian insisted.

  She had dreamt of returning to her father and Nurse, but now those princes had become too important to her — and the sky above the heads of clever old ladies, and the fields under the feet of running children.

  "I could not now easily abandon the quest. I shall get Time, and after all is done, I can go home. It will make no difference, since I can go back to the moment I choose."

  "Well," said Delian, "unless you're swallowed by an enormous tsunami or the planet just explodes at short notice."

  "Way to keep her here, Delian," Ty pointed out.

  "It's a pretty obvious consideration — or should be to you two geniuses."

  "I was thinking," Ty said. "If we can’t die, what shall happen to us? Will we just float and float? Will we be conscious?"

  "Wouldn’t our hearts be ripped to shreds or blown up?" Delian said, horror on his face. "I wouldn’t want to just—"

  "It will come in handy," Ty added idly, "my knowing poetry and all this stuff if we have to just float there. At least I'll have something to think about."

  "I hate it when you scare me," Delian said, jumping on his brother and wrestling with him.

  But far from really fighting, these two brothers laughed, stood, and ran, perfect bodies making an arc in the air before diving into the water again, together.

  10

  "The thing is between us now, my friend," Delian said as he entered Ty's room, closing the door with his foot.

  Ty let the book drop to his lap and his head to the pillow. "Don't you ever knock?"

  Wearing only his pajama trousers, chiseled chest on show, Delian jumped in the air and landed sideways on his brother's bed.

  "Go away," said Ty.

  "Why do you say that, when you mean the opposite?"

  "It has been a very long day," Ty said.

  Back at the house, they had wearily disbanded to their separate bedrooms. Except that Delian wasn't done with the evening.

  "A wonderful day. A perfect mixture of adventure and romance."

  "What are you even talking about?" Ty asked.

  "Lady E," Delian said. "She'll pick one of us now."

  Ty sighed. "And I actually thought it was good you were obsessed with your reflection again, so you'd stop thinking about Elinor."

  "Why? I can do two things at the same time. Three, if you add drinking. Four with fighting."

  "And never taking anything seriously."

  "Five," Delian agreed brightly.

  Crossing his arms over his book, Ty faced his brother. "All right, then. Tell me why exactly you think that she is going to choose either you or me."

  "I was lying. I meant she's going to choose me. I just didn't want to be rude."

  Ty snorted.

  "What?" asked Delian.

  "You know what they say, dream on."

  "Not a dream, if it's within reach."

  "Ha-ha-ha. And can you put a shirt on?"

  "No. Why are you laughing? She and Nemours are a no-go, I'm around ..."

  "... lurking in the hallway with a naked chest ..."

  "... exactly. What can go wrong?"

  Ty studied his brother. "I can never tell whether your confidence is good or just ridiculous."

  "It's good."

  After a serious moment, Ty said, "She's in love with Nemours."

  "A silly infatuation," Delian assured him. "It will pass."

  "And he—" Ty began, and stopped.

  Delian looked at him. "You've done that twice today. Cough it out."

  "Why do you think someone as uncompromising as Nemours would keep her anywhere near all this, Star or not, after the Binding? Knowing that we can find the hekas?"

  Delian had actually wondered about it. "It’s not very much like Nemours, no."

  "There you go."

  "What are you saying, then? That he loves her?" Delian stared at Ty. "Is that what you mean?"

  "I don't know what I mean," Ty said slowly, and his face had turned somber, "but I don't like it."

  "Well, me neither — considering."

  "Exac
tly. It's a complication."

  Making a dismissive sound, Delian lay face up, his head resting on his arm. "Things pass, my dear. They'll have to, innit?"

  "Nemours isn't a mortal or even a flibbertigibbet immortal like you."

  "What is that word, for the sake of gods?" Delian guffawed and sat up quickly to snatch Ty's book. "Do you get that stuff from here? What's this?"

  "Give it to me!"

  Delian kept his brother away with his foot. "Withering Heights?"

  "Wuthering!"

  "'My wild, sweet Cathy—' Is this a sex book, Ty?"

  Ty only crossed his arms again and leaned back. Delian passed some pages, made a face, and returned the book. "How come you don't go find a real girl? True—" The arm was back under Delian's head. "You get all the weird ones. Like that harpy, remember?"

  "Don't even start that."

  "Ty," Delian cried in a high voice like a bird's. "Ty...Ty...Ty..."

  Hands over his ears, Ty hummed as Delian went on, "She'd perch on your balcony every night, calling you. Ty...Ty...Her face wasn't bad, but that chicken body—"

  "It's not a chicken, fool. It's a bird of prey."

  "Oh, all right, that makes it better," Delian said wryly. "Did you ever—?"

  Ty shouted, "Go away or we will fight, I swear!"

  "Let me get the oil!" Delian cried, but he couldn't stop tormenting his brother now. "You'd cover yourself from head to foot like a mummy, waiting for that thing to leave. Did it or she stop coming or what? Ty...Ty..."

  Having had enough, Ty turned away and turned back a second later, the sheet over his head like a hood as he hissed in a falsetto, "My darling boy, what are those things on your arm?"

  Delian sat in one bound again. A terrified one, this time. "Don't do that!"

  "My little golden son, Delian ..." Ty pursued, his face obscured. "You did magic. Naughty, naughty."

  "Stop, Ty!"

  Instead, Ty advanced. "Mother's gonna punish you now."

  With a scream, Delian fell over the side of the bed, and Ty onto the pillows, laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach.

  "It's not fair," Delian said from the floor. "You weren't there to see her. She sounded just like that at the end."

  "I was there."

  "You were a baby," Delian protested, standing. He ran a hand through his hair. "You didn't see her. She was fried, really fried."