The Dark Path
Page 34
"One hears tales." S'reth set the egeneh-cup aside. "So. How is the High Lord?"
"Officially? Or in truth?"
"I did not abandon my familiar apartments and travel eights of parsecs, and then fly all the way to the top of this esLi-forsaken Chamber to receive official news, my friend. I assume this room is guarded and warded. What is really happening in the High Nest?"
"hi Ke'erl is . . . his Inner Peace is gone. He can feel the esGa'uYal everywhere, even in the Home Stars; he sees conspiracies behind every wing. He has abandoned the daily ceremonies of course, though Nest business continues as it can."
"Who knows this?"
"The Inner Council; the Imperial envoy; hi Ke'erl's mate and heirs. And now you."
"Not the Council of Eleven?"
"In esLi's blessed Name, se S'reth! There is not a single one of the twelve Councillors I could trust with the knowledge. They must not be told, until—"
"Until when? You cannot keep them in the Darkness forever, old friend. No matter what your motivations, they will be consumed with anger if they are kept too long from the knowledge. Even if you wish to discount the eleven Lords of Nest, the Speaker for the Young Ones will be hanging around your neck—!"
"When you were Speaker for the Young Ones, se S'reth, the Council of Eleven was strong and powerful. Now it is old and toothless. I do not feel it necessary to treat with fools."
" 'Fools.' " S'reth picked up the cup and drank a mouthful of egeneh. It burned its way into the back of his throat. "Is that how you feel now, ha T'te'e? That in the Nest there are only two groups: conspirators and fools?
"What category would you place me in? Do not cast me as a conspirator, Younger Brother: that is a role I will not play. That only leaves one choice."
T'te'e growled but did not answer. Instead he rose from his perch and flew about the Chamber for several moments; S'reth could see the tension and anger in his frame. Finally the High Chamberlain returned to his perch and crossed his arms in front of him.
"So tell me," S'reth said quietly. "Tell me what you want of me."
"I had hoped you might be able to offer me some advice. Now I see that all you wish to do is tell me that I conduct my office improperly."
"Is that the only conclusion you draw? Tell me, ha T'te'e, old friend. What possible motive would I have to criticize your position? I am too old for struggles, too old for ambition. All I can be is a teacher."
"So you would be my teacher again."
S'reth settled himself on his perch. "I was your teacher once, half a lifetime ago. Yes, I would be your teacher again, Younger Brother T'te'e. Perhaps I can help your situation."
T'te'e caught the old one's gaze and held it for a long time. Like any Sensitive, the High Chamberlain was well trained in reading body-language and the slightest change in wing-positions; like any Sensitive, S'reth was well skilled in concealing his feelings and intentions.
"All right, old friend," T'te'e said at last. "Be my teacher."
At S'reth's urging, T'te'e reviewed the entire flight from the first contact with the esGa'uYal to the departure of Jackie Laperriere aboard the Fair Damsel a few weeks before. T'te'e was impatient but concealed it from both his voice and wings. He knew that S'reth sought a sSurch'a from this exposition, but he could not see where it would lead.
At last the discussion turned to si Th'an'ya, who had chosen to be the spirit-guide for Qu'u in this incarnation.
"She could not know how it would come about, but she placed her faith in the grace of esLi and gave a great portion of her hsi to the young warrior when they mated a few months later. Within a year she had disappeared, and the evidence of her awakening within se Ch'k'te some weeks ago demonstrates most clearly that she has transcended the Outer Peace, and all that remains now is the memory he carries of her."
"That statement is untrue in two important particulars," S'reth interrupted. T'te'e's wing-position sought an answer, but S'reth did not seem inclined to offer an explanation.
"We could not have known what would happen to si Th'an'ya," T'te'e continued after a moment. "Though it is clear now that the High Lord did. He specifically prohibited a search-and-rescue effort when she disappeared; indeed, I did not understand his motivations until recently. Similarly, until I learned of si Th'an'ya's awakening, I did not realize that our visit to Sanctuary many years ago actually contributed to the building of the Qu'u legend.
"After si Th'an'ya disappeared, the High Lord informed us that it would be necessary to await a sign. By the time the two Imperial ships disappeared several months ago, we had almost exhausted our patience.
"It was then hi Ke'erl indicated that the time had arrived, se Sergei was dispatched to accompany the human admiral to Cicero; the esGa'uYal seized the gyaryu; se Jackie surfaced, passed the Ordeal of Experience against the One of the Dancing Blade, and . . ."
"And?"
"And here the story ends, Elder Brother. I know she is capable of withstanding attacks by the esGa'uYal and that se Ch'k'te can play the role of Hyos as well as she can play the role of Qu'u. But that is all I know."
"And that statement is incorrect in one very important particular."
"What would that be?"
"Younger Brother Ch'k'te has transcended the Outer Peace. He was killed by an esGa'uYe at Crossover Station several suns ago. The esGa'uYe is dead as well, apparently by si Ch'k'te's chya."
"Then si Th'an'ya is lost."
"As I understand it, si Th'an'ya transferred her hsi from Ch'k'te to se Jackie Laperriere some weeks ago."
"That is impossible!"
"I can only point out to you that it is not. As you indicated earlier in this flight, si Th'an'ya saw much more clearly than you did and must have known it was the human, and not the zor, that would attempt to climb the Perilous Stair, si Th'an'ya's hsi is bound to the avatar of Qu'u, who now travels alone to the Fortress of Despite."
"Alone."
"Yes, though we knew that was how it would be all along. Is that not true, Younger Brother?"
T'te'e HeYen, High Chamberlain of the High Nest, returned the sad gaze of S'reth the Sage, and settled his wings in the Posture of Polite Resignation.
Coda
In jump from Center to Port Saud, another world outside the Empire, the crewmembers from the Negri Sembilan took stock of their situation. Lacking a captain, chief engineer and chief navigator, as well as several other key officers, the crew largely deferred to Owen Garrett as chief pilot. Owen designated Rafe Rodriguez as chief engineer.
The ship's comp had a chart of the stars beyond the edge of the Solar Empire, with various annotations they couldn't understand—though the same symbols were used to mark both Center and Cicero. Other worlds within the Empire, such as Corcyra and Adrianople, had other markings. The possibility that they might fly the Negri into another alien-occupied system kept them from setting course for a world inside the Empire itself.
Whatever it had been before, it was war now: The aliens had begun to attack the Empire in earnest. Owen's ability remained a mystery, but it gave him celebrity status aboard the Negri. Still, as he sat watch-and-watch in the pilot's seat of the recaptured starship as it traveled through the darkness, he realized he had no idea where he was going or what to do when he got there.
As for the mysterious force that had plucked him from the alien ship and deposited him on Center, and which might have given him the ability to see through the aliens' deception (and had then, just as mysteriously, taken Damien Abbas off the bridge of his own ship), Owen couldn't manage any sort of opinion. He was being moved like a piece in some game he couldn't understand.
He believed the aliens had to have counted the ribbons of colored light as an enemy. But he wasn't ready yet to count them as friends. In the end, he had no choice but to watch and wait.
***
Jackie settled back in the cushions of the pilot's seat, trying to hold off anger and despair until she could get the ship safely into jump. Th'an'ya had given her directions to g
et to the scout ship; it had been unguarded, and she'd gotten off the station without warning or interference. Still, a worry gnawed at her: This was too damn easy. It happened too fast, and the outcome was too convenient.
Then she thought of Ch'k'te, left behind on Crossover, dead in the process of redeeming his honor. It hadn't been convenient for him, except how he had righted himself with regard to esLi. She pulled the broken chya from her belt, all she had left of him—all she'd ever have again, other than memories.
If you step onto it you have committed an irreversible act, one that ends with you standing within the Circle. All of those that preceded you will be there to help, but the burden is ultimately yours alone.
This is ashNa'es'ri, a crossroads, Mighty Hero. A step away—or a step forward. It is up to you to choose.
One step onto the Perilous Stair and there was no turning back. She had already chosen: As the Abbas-zor had told her on the Plain of Despite, she would have to ascend the Stair alone. Somewhere out there esGa'u the Deceiver held the gyaryu, and it would be up to her to recover it if she could.
If she could.
On the Plain of Despite, the voice said inside her, warriors travel with their gaze directed toward the ground. Only heroes can cast their eyes upward and thus see the signs and portents of their guest.
She cast her eyes upward, toward the distant stars beyond the viewport of her tiny ship. She saw no signs or portents, only questions and uncertainty. Perhaps, she told herself, it was be cause her eyes were full of tears.
Table of Contents
saShrne'e Pulling Aside the Shroud part one
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
seGa'Mrha'u Descent to the Plain part two
Interlude
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Coda
Table of Contents
saShrne'e Pulling Aside the Shroud part one
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
seGa'Mrha'u Descent to the Plain part two
Interlude
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Coda
Table of Contents
saShrne'e Pulling Aside the Shroud part one
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
seGa'Mrha'u Descent to the Plain part two
Interlude
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Coda