by Will Wight
A wet, meaty squelch came from behind Calder.
He had heard nothing from the vision outside the window until now. This time, he turned around and saw that the sound had come from the Consultants pulling the plate away from his body. They tore a chunk of flesh with it, but now they were all celebrating, taking away the Emperor’s armor piece by piece.
Shera herself picked up a quicklamp and shattered it on the side of Calder’s bed. She tossed most of the luminous fluid over his body. Someone nearby lit a match, handing it to her.
She held it poised over Calder’s body, ready to burn him. The tiny flame sent shadows dancing over her face in a hideous mask.
A primal fear shot through Calder. He almost felt like he could feel the fire about to consume him.
If he accepted Kelarac’s offer, this would stop.
“To be the Emperor is to carry the Empire.” Sadesthenes.
Calder deliberately turned his back on the image.
“I don’t believe you,” he said.
The Soul Collector watched him, unreadable.
Calder ticked off points on his fingers. “First, why would the Head of the Consultant’s Guild personally help remove my armor? Second, why would she start a fire right there in the operating room? If I’m about to die, they would take my body elsewhere. Third…”
He held up the three fingers. They were more visible now.
“If I’m dying, why do I feel stronger now?”
If he hadn’t met with Ozriel and experienced what it was actually like to converse using only his consciousness, he might not have noticed.
If he hadn’t met with Kelarac three times before this, he wouldn’t have known that anything was any different than usual.
But he suspected that his connection to his body was growing clearer by the second.
Maybe he actually was dying, and in a moment he would regret this decision. But that brought him to his last point.
“And finally…what kind of king lets someone else rule his own body?”
Kelarac stared at him. The rivets in his blindfold reflected fire.
Suddenly the stench of the slaughterhouse, which Calder had almost forgotten about, returned in force. As though he’d been prevented from seeing them before, he saw flaws in the room: a bleeding tear in the couch, a length of intestine dangling from the ceiling, blood splattered over the carpet.
The Great Elder flashed him a smile.
It was too wide to fit on a human face.
“The deal I offered was real, you know. You could have had it.” His voice was quiet, but his lips didn’t move. The sound came from all around Calder…and it slowly got louder and louder. “With your will joined to mine, you could have had all your wishes come true. And I, too, would have gotten what I wanted. Now…”
In the middle of the sentence, his voice suddenly shook the entire room, quaking Calder’s mind and soul as though the words rattled Calder’s skull from the inside.
“I STILL GET WHAT I WANT. I WILL PULL IT FROM THE ASHES OF YOUR SHATTERED WORLD. AND YOU WILL SUFFER UNTIL THE STARS BURN OUT.”
Kelarac’s shadow stretched out behind him, squirming with a thousand unseen shapes, eyes blinking open on the walls and ceiling.
Fear choked Calder, gripping him from every angle, pressing him down as though he stared down the mouth of a shark.
But fear did not rule him any more than Kelarac did.
He forced his own smile as far as it would go, marching forward until he stood nose-to-nose with the Great Elder.
“We thank you for your long history of service to the crown,” Calder said. “You are dismissed.”
Kelarac’s jaws unhinged, lunging forward. Calder was swallowed up, and he somehow managed not to scream.
Then his eyes snapped open.
In the last few months, Jerri had grown used to spending time in cells.
First was the cell on the Gray Island, which was cold and damp, but the Consultants had been attentive. Torn clothing was replaced immediately, she was given plenty of blankets, and they even gave her a steady stream of books.
She had broken out of there with the help of the Sleepless cabal and the destruction generated by Nakothi’s Handmaiden. Immediately afterwards she had been imprisoned here in the Imperial Palace—or somewhere inside the enormous Palace complex—by Kelarac himself.
That had been…less comfortable.
She still wasn’t sure how long it had lasted, but was sure it must have been at least two weeks. Elderspawn had dragged her food, squirted out drinkable water, and even disposed of her waste.
It was a nightmarish experience bearable only because of all the things she’d learned and because of the personal connection she’d made with the Soul Collector.
He knew her now. That alone would elevate her beyond the ranks of his other servants.
Finally, she had been left in the dungeons of the Imperial Palace. This room was nicer than any before: it had a soft carpet, a padded chair, a table, even a polished plate of silver set into the wall to serve as a mirror. Her bed was tucked into a cabinet in the wall, and she even had her own bathroom with running water.
It was better than many hotels she’d stayed in. Far more comfortable than the cabin of The Testament, though she’d give almost anything to be staying there instead.
Unlike the Consultants, the Palace guards ignored any requests she made. They delivered her food twice a day, and every three days they bound and gagged her while they cleaned the room. But they largely left her bored.
There were other prisoners down here in this dungeon, but there was some sort of Intent working to keep them from communicating. She couldn’t tell if it was the carpet or the walls or something else, but sound coming from outside was always muted. Though she could see right through the bars of her cell, she could hardly hear anything.
Before about a week ago, Calder had summoned her frequently, but he’d been silent since. She wished she had a cellmate, or a neighbor she could chat with.
She missed Lucan.
Of all the things she’d given up in her service of the Elders, the life of the Consultant Lucan was one of her greatest regrets. He had listened to her, kept her from going insane during her imprisonment, and she was certain that she could have gotten him to listen to reason in time.
But she had rashly decided to strike against Meia, one of Shera’s allies, and had missed her shot. She’d lost her Soulbound Vessel in the process.
Calder wouldn’t destroy it—destroying a Vessel could have unpredictable effects on the mind of the Soulbound—but even if she could summon Elderspawn and escape, she was sure she wouldn’t be able to find her earring.
She was sitting and reading the one book they had provided her—a stage play entitled Heart Like a Churning Sea. A classic, but she’d read it too many times already.
She was interrupted by the ringing of metal-on-metal. The noise coming from the door itself wasn’t muffled, so the guard got her attention by rapping his keys on the bars.
Eagerly, she tossed the book aside. It wasn’t time for a meal, so this could mean only that Calder was calling for her.
The guard leaned in close to the bars, cupping his hands to shout into the room. It came out at a slightly lower volume than a normal speaking voice.
“…you have a visitor…”
A visitor?
Just in case it wasn’t Calder, she sat in her chair, crossed her ankles, folded her hands on her lap, and adopted a knowing smile.
No matter who came through the door, she wouldn’t react with surprise.
…especially when a Consultant strode into view.
She was wearing the black uniform of her Guild, but the cloth that usually covered her mouth and nose was missing. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a short tail, and she carried a stick and a box of matches in one hand.
She looked somehow familiar, but it was hard to place her. It was hard to place Consultants when they so often went around with half their faces mask
ed.
Until she turned to face Jerri directly, and suddenly recognition struck like a bolt of lightning. This was Shera’s ally. The woman Jerri had meant to kill.
Meia.
She would never have remembered, but she had been having dreams of Meia every night…though not nearly as frequent or intense as the dreams of Shera.
The Great Ones were speaking to her through dreams. Driving her against the one they called the Killer.
Before Meia could speak, Jyrine decided to knock her off her guard. “Hello, Meia,” she said immediately. “Where’s my husband?”
Meia showed no reaction at all, only setting a bronze stand down on the nearby table and slipping a stick of incense into it. “The Guilds have reached a peaceful agreement,” she said.
Jerri had missed most of the Guild conflict from inside one cell or another, but she was disappointed to hear that Calder was working with Consultants. She would have hoped that he would harbor more of a grudge against the people who kidnapped and imprisoned her.
Meia struck a match and lit the incense. “I have been sent to ask you a few questions about the Sleepless cult. If you cooperate, I can authorize a few concessions to your accommodations.”
Jerri didn’t know what concessions she was supposed to ask for, but she was far more curious about the incense. That wasn’t normal behavior for an interrogation.
She nodded to the burning stick. “What’s that for?”
“I have a sensitive nose,” Meia responded. “Now, what do you know about the intentions of the Great Elders?”
Changing the subject.
The incense was likely to be alchemy of some kind, but if it was intended to prevent Jerri from lying, then the Consultants had wasted their time and money making it. She meant to tell the truth. If Calder didn’t listen to her and negotiate on behalf of humanity, the Great Elders would leave nothing behind when they left.
No one would benefit from that.
On the other hand, maybe she shouldn’t give this Consultant any answers. Why hadn’t Calder told her about the end of the Guild War in person? He should have wanted her to know that the Great Elders hadn’t driven them apart.
For a full minute, Jerri tried to decide whether to speak or not speak as the peppery scent of the incense filled the room. Meia calmly pulled out a notebook, a pen, and an inkwell, obviously in no hurry.
Jerri’s frustration eventually won out. Her thoughts were going in circles, so she might as well talk. “The Great Elders want to pass through the crack in the sky in order to ascend beyond this world,” she explained. “This isn’t their home; they’re trying to leave. So you see, we’re really trying to help you.”
Meia scribbled a few notes while she spoke, then lifted the pen to ask a question. “How do they plan to leave?”
“I don’t know.” Jerri really wasn’t sure. She only had guesses.
But as the Consultant scratched away at the paper, Jerri found the silence pressing on her nerves. She decided to continue. “…but they’re supposed to take human vessels. Well, we have conflicting reports. Some say they can’t leave unless they’re in the form of a person, but others suggest they could leave, but they seek human bodies anyway. In the Elder War, some fought in human bodies at first before reverting to their true forms, but some didn’t.”
She wasn’t sure that answered the question, but the more accurate information she spread about the Elders, the better.
As soon as her speech lagged, Meia had another question. “And what do the Sleepless want?”
Jerri was only too happy to answer that. Maybe Meia could be reasoned with, just as Lucan could. “We’re working to secure a bargain with the Great Elders so that they will leave their power and knowledge with us when they depart.”
She leaned forward, looking into Meia’s blue eyes.
Come to think of it, the dreams showed Meia with orange eyes. Was this some other Consultant who looked similar? Meia’s sister, perhaps?
As long as she’s listening, Jerri thought.
That’s why we need Calder,” she said. “If he can negotiate with them directly, he can get their concessions. He might even be able to open the crack in the sky himself and let them out without any conflict. I’ve told him—”
“About that,” Meia interrupted. “How do we heal the sky?”
“I don’t know,” Jyrine admitted, and it was true. As far as she understood, there was no way to repair it until the Elders left. “I can’t even begin to guess. It was made by the Optasia as the result of a plan by Ach’magut. As far as we know, they were never able to do so much even at the height of the Elder War.”
The records that the older generations of Sleepless left behind were fascinating; some included transcripts of conversations with Great Elders. Ultimately, there were still more mysteries of the Elders than answers.
Meia scribbled some more notes. “I see. I’d like to speak some more about your knowledge of the Great Elders, but first…we’ve talked about the desires of the Sleepless and the Elders, but what do you want, Jyrine?”
Jerri didn’t want to answer that.
She was beginning to suspect that the Consultants weren’t in contact with Calder at all, because they were asking her redundant questions.
On the other hand, she had already come so far.
And someone was finally listening.
“I want it all to be worth it,” she said. “My father sacrificed his career, his reputation, and eventually his life because he believed the Elders were the path to a better world. I’ve given up everything myself. I don’t want it to be for nothing.”
Memories bubbled up as she spoke: her father leaving in the middle of the night for an emergency trip. Jerri lying to the man she loved, over and over, telling herself that it would be worth it in the end. Kelarac’s shadow stretching behind him as he threatened her.
That couldn’t all be worthless.
She continued with renewed passion. “And if we don’t get it now, on our terms, with someone on the throne speaking on behalf of humanity, then the Great Elders will break us and get what they want anyway. We either cooperate with them or we are trampled beneath them.
“Calder can give them what they want from us while getting what we want from them. It’s symbiosis. But if he won’t do it…then I’ll still do whatever it takes to strike an agreement with the Elders. If they’re going to break us anyway, we need a foundation to rebuild. I…”
Why am I telling her so much?
The spicy scent of the incense filled her head, and stopping her sentence in the middle caused her actual, physical discomfort. She wanted nothing more than to keep talking.
The Consultant wore a subtle look of smug satisfaction, but Jerri was stunned. She had been aware of the alchemy and it had still led her to say more than she wished.
She was furious at herself. She had intended to maintain control.
Meia shut her notebook. “I see that my time has run out.” She reached out and snuffed out the incense with her bare fingers, lingering as though to emphasize that the embers couldn’t burn her.
It was enough to make Jerri shiver like she was facing down a hungry Kameira.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Tessella,” Meia said.
She was emphasizing Jerri’s maiden name. Why? Just to taunt her? Had Calder decided to proceed with a divorce?
“I’ll be back to see you,” the Consultant said, and it came out as a threat rather than a promise.
She moved to leave, but Jerri’s thoughts were already racing. There were too many pieces of this interrogation that didn’t match up.
Something had happened to Calder.
She didn’t have enough information to know what, but something had.
Meia turned back like she’d sensed Jerri’s sudden realization. She spoke again, her voice colder than it had been. “If you really intend to lean on the power of the Elders to protect us from the destruction of the Elders, then you’re even more of a fool th
an I took you for. Would you adopt a wild wolf to protect you from wolf attacks?”
So she hadn’t been listening after all. Or maybe she had, and she was too stupid to understand.
Still, Jerri needed to get some information out of her. Something related to Calder. “Kelarac keeps his bargains,” Jerri responded. “Ask Calder.”
Meia’s expression was still relatively blank, but Jerri thought she saw the beginnings of a sneer. “I will,” she said.
Then she left.
That was the wrong answer.
If Calder was still in charge, a Consultant wouldn’t be asking him anything. He would be talking to Jyrine directly.
Of course, it could have just been an inaccurate choice of words. A flippant remark. But combined with the other things that felt off…something stank.
And if the Consultants had really taken over, they would not keep her alive. Not with the Killer as their Guild Head.
Using her fury to push herself into action, Jerri raised the meat of her finger to her teeth and bit down hard. She had to chew to break the skin, but she soon felt blood flowing into her mouth.
With the guard still escorting Meia out, she began to rub her blood onto the carpet, staining it red. She drew a circle of symbols one at a time, inflicting new wounds on herself when she needed to.
This was a simple Elderspawn summoning ritual. It was dangerous; she had no control over the type of spawn that arrived, nor any influence over the Elderspawn itself. It was just as likely to devour her as break her free. And they were in the Imperial Palace; any Elderspawn that tried to crash through the wall by force would be annihilated.
More importantly than any of that, if Calder was still in charge, she would lose what influence she had on him by breaking out.
But she’d said what she needed to say. Both to Calder and to the Consultants.
Whether Calder had lost his position or he had just stopped listening to her, she couldn’t allow herself to be trapped in here any longer.
She had a world to change.
Calder opened his eyes to white light and a world of pain.
Everything in his body hurt. He’d thought it would just be his back, but his bones felt like they were running with lightning. He tried to move, but it was as though his joints were filled with razors.