He laughed, but only after he was sure Auri was out of earshot. One or two of the guests looked away from Lelet long enough to see that it was only a child who insulted them and went back to inspecting the subject of their fascination. “In that case, we’d best go see to her.” He turned the child towards the kitchen. “Care to join us for an early dinner?”
It was tempting. Even though it hurt sometimes, she loved being with Sally, even if her father was a prickly specimen. “Better not.” She didn’t imagine Auri would appreciate her abandoning his meeting.
“Well then,” he said, “enjoy your subjects, my queen.” And with a snort of laughter, he and Sally vanished into the kitchen, heading for their cottage at the bottom of the garden.
Lelet leaned against the doorframe with a sigh and settled in to listen to Auri deliver his remarks. It was more or less the same as always. Demons were on their way, this time he had unshakeable evidence. Soon, they’d meet their friends from the other side of The Door.
She glanced at the clock on the mantel and waited for him to finish. He’d promised a reward for staying through the whole thing: he’d take her to Three Figs for dinner, and it was a notoriously hard place to get a table. And she’d already stumbled across the flawless sapphire studs he’d hidden at the bottom of his wardrobe while putting a quilt away. He probably left them there for her to find. They’d match her dress perfectly; she supposed he’d give them to her over dessert. She hoped it would be charming, happy Auri, that she hadn’t done anything to bring silent, disappointed Auri to the fore. He caught her eye from where he spoke at the front of the room, and she smiled. He smiled back, and she felt her shoulders relax.
He did take good care of her.
Chapter Forty-Six
Eriis
It was late, well past second moonrise, and Calaa had fallen asleep, giving the Zaal a moment's rest from her noise. He raised the light of a night stone just enough to admire a bracelet of burn marks—she did have her charms—when there came a knock at his door. A summons to meet with the queen's brother. He’d been expecting this. He left his darkened room on his quiet street beyond the market, pausing on his threshold to change his face to something more anonymous. Since Yuenne's departure, many eyes turned towards his good friend and occasional house guest, the Zaal. It seemed that putting on a new face might be the correct course of action. Sometimes he forgot to change back to his old one. Well, that would be behind him soon.
He was admitted to the royal couple's private wing of the palace, and the house guards stepped aside after seeing the family's seal on the note.
The newly returned royal family of Eriis sat on their carved stone seats, still in their formal day dress, straight backed and unblinking, facing each other. For all he knew they’d been sitting like this every night for the entire month since they’d returned from the sand. He wondered if they realized he was there at all and gave a discreet cough.
Both slowly rotated their heads to look at him. He found no welcome there, only cold curiosity. Not for the first time, he questioned the wisdom of what he'd done. But he didn't believe in the indulgence of second guessing, and anyway it was far too late.
“Zaal,” said Araan, as the tiny ticks and quirks that passed for life flowed back into his face. “How kind of you to join us.” He looked at his hands for a brief moment, then seemed to remember what they were for. He reached for the cup of water, and took his sips, and passed it to his guest.
“I am always at your disposal, Your Grace.” Thaali, the pretty queen, tittered at that. He forced himself to sip. “Even after second moonrise. You are ready for the ceremony?”
“When?” asked Araan. He leaned forward slightly.
“Why, tomorrow morning. It should be well attended, and Hellne—the queen, I should say—is prepared for what comes next. The prince may be surprised but he won’t cause any problems.”
“We don't care about that. We know all about it. Ceremonies. You know what we mean. When you woke us, you made us promises, demon. We did not take the female or her servant, as you requested. We did not take the many demons that came to look at us when we walked into your city. We spoke the words you gave us, we did not eat.”
The Zaal took his time arranging his robes around himself as he sat. He knew what Araan meant but wasn't ready to answer.
“When?” Araan repeated. “When will you retrieve our brothers and sisters still trapped?”
Thaali yawned, and for a split second her sweet Eriisai visage flickered, and her True Face appeared. It was mostly teeth. “We are so hungry,” she pouted. “And I miss my cousins. We’ve been free for…” she paused, looking for the right word “. . . many, many days.” She frowned. “No, not days. Month! One month! That’s how long. But I don’t feel free.”
The Zaal swallowed. He’d felt her rummaging through his mind. He knew they couldn’t read his thoughts, but they could pick at his memories. “I have a proposal,” he said. The pair's heads flicked up, suspicious. This was a delicate time. “When I arranged to bring you out of your captivity, I told you there would be, err, enough food for all of you. I should have added that meal is presently on the other side of The Door.”
The two looked at each other unhappily. “Doors, again.” said Araan. “We just came through one. We took the faces we found in that female's mind.”
“The one who gave us the blood and moved the rock,” said Thaali. “She woke me up. I want the rest of her.”
“Now that we know where the Door to your captivity is located, I can begin the work of drawing the rest of you to your freedom.” Araan began to speak, but the Zaal held up his hand. “And you will all be fed. We are opening that other Door, the Door to a green and delicious world. That world is full of things called humans. There are many more of them than there are of us. They are larger and fatter. They are slow and simple, and when you have fed, there will be still more. That world will be yours.”
Thaali made a face. “Are they like that big tall creature? The prince thing? I don't like the way he smells.”
Araan smiled at his lady. “But just think of how he'll taste.” He nodded. “We have had our fill of dust and sand. We will wait for this new place.”
“Mistra, it's called,” said the Zaal, struggling to hide his relief.
“Mistra.” Araan licked his lips, revealing his own True Face. Or whatever his kind called it.
The Zaal inwardly shuddered, thanking Light and Wind he'd steered this monstrous tribe safely away from his home and towards his enemy—the humans. He supposed he owed Rhuun a debt of thanks for being large and juicy enough to tempt the things that wore those faces. He owed the royal family a great deal, if he thought about it. Them, and their court. Hellne (for in the privacy of his mind, he called her by her name) had, at his word, abandoned her family's Seat and fled into the desert to release the creatures that sat before him. Yuenne played his part as well, stepping into the void she'd left, so he—The Zaal— could continue his work in peace and privacy. And Yuenne's brood of brats had scorped their way through the humans they encountered. Yes, the Mistrans would open the Door for those delightful children of Eriis, of course they would.
And then there was the prince.
Without his blood, there would be no new weapon. And unlike the old, abandoned project—the one so foolishly shut down by Hellne herself all those years ago—this time it wouldn't be aimed at Mistra. A city could be rebuilt. A population could, eventually, recover. But once The Door was destroyed, Eriis would be free. No more Door, no more humans. The two worlds would be as untethered as the two moons in the sky. There wouldn't even be any way to hear the humans scream, once the family of the next king and queen of Eriis began to feed.
Yes, he owed the royal family a tidy debt, but hadn't he already paid it? That imbecile Coll thought he had the skills and enough of the prince's blood to repair the weather on his own. Neither of them, Coll nor the prince, would ever know the Zaal was the one who made sure it worked. He still had a fe
w precious bowls of blood, spirited out of the ruins of the Raasth. Enough to fix the weather, with more than enough left over for his special project. His two loyal fellow Mages, also spirited out of those glassy ruins, had served as dinner for the royal couple as a reward for not eating the welcoming party. He felt it wise not to remind the pair of the sacrifices he'd already made on their behalf.
“They are coming here. The humans, they'll be here soon, I am told. I'm afraid I must ask that you do not eat the few that will be visiting. But you should look at them and smell the scent of the world they carry. Our goal is to open The Door with their assistance, and keep it open long enough for your…cousins to go through. If the humans sense they are threatened, they will close it. You would be trapped here.” He knew what the result would be. “I will give you more words, and the humans will trust you, and want to work with you. Look into their heads and they’ll give you words, too. If you put them at ease, they'll open their Door for you.”
“At ease, how?” Araan looked interested.
He struggled to remember what he knew about human interaction. They were always laughing at each other, weren’t they? “Um. Tell a joke?”
“And then we will eat?” asked Thaali. The Zaal nodded. She scowled. “But I am so hungry now. I want that female who woke us up.”
“My Thaali can be moody and…irritable when she is hungry.” Araan grinned. It was appalling. “Is that the right word? Best to tend to that soon.”
“Of course,” said the Zaal. “I would not leave the two of you without provisions after asking you the favor of waiting even longer. I'm having your dinner sent up, it should be here shortly.”
The woman, Kaaya, had been making a proper pest of herself, even trying to get in front of the royal couple, asking after her little daughter. Well, everyone knew the child was gone and Yuenne with her, if not to the Crosswinds then to perish in the Vastness. Yet the woman persisted.
There was a knock. And here she was, Kaaya from the Quarter in her good dress, thinking that finally someone (Rhuun himself being the likely party) had gotten her the audience she desperately wanted. If the prince couldn't help her, if the queen did nothing, then perhaps her brother would take up her cause. They rose, the two of them, and went to greet her. Their eyes were uncommonly bright. He didn't like to look at their teeth. He wished Kaaya the best fortune and a swift recovery of her daughter, if Light and Wind intended. Then he changed his face and walked away from the palace, trying not to run.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Eriis
Even though the ceremony started even before the morning dust had rolled back towards the desert, the High Seat Hall was already full when Rhuun arrived. He met his little retinue - Zaii, Liim, Coll and an uncharacteristically quiet Calaa - and led them through the crowd which spilled from the High Seat Hall down the length of the atrium. The closer to the actual High Seat you got, the further inside the Arch you probably lived. Those furthest away could only hope a member of the royal family or someone they'd heard stories about would take the time to walk the length of the great hall, and Rhuun obliged them. By the time he'd made his way to the Seat itself, he was quite disheveled from all the tugs on his sleeves. His mother raised an eyebrow at him from the other side of the dais, and he quickly smoothed his tunic.
“I wonder if they are here to see our queen take back the Seat or hope that you'll elect to keep it.” Zaii was a master of speaking so that only the intended ear heard what he had to say, so Rhuun merely shrugged.
“It was never my intention to take it at all.” Still, he wondered about what his mother had in her mind. She was clearly avoiding him, sending Diia with apologies for missed dinners, claiming she was still recovering from her time on the sand. He wondered what she didn't want to say. Or hear. He hoped she'd taken her rest, because the High Seat turned out to be far more demanding than he realized. I didn't make a total hash of it, though, he thought. I wonder, Mother. Are you glad about that? Or disappointed?
Hellne stood with a round-faced man Rhuun did not recognize next to Araan and Thaali at the foot of the dais, and after settling his friends in their positions, he took his place on the opposite side. His mother avoided his eye, Araan gave him a warm smile, and Thaali looked around at the assembled with wide eyes. Rhuun wondered if she had forgotten how to be around so many people. He recalled his time in the Veil as lonely and isolating and realized that he never did find out exactly how long he'd been caught there. He decided to try and befriend her. He knew it was hard to be in a new place surrounded by strangers.
Anuu had a smile for him as she made her way to the Seat. “Your reign was short but accomplished.” She explained that Rhuun would relinquish the crown, safe in its wooden box, of his own will. Next, according to tradition and as she had attempted to do only recently, Anuu would have the person accepting the crown create water and fire, show their True Face, and tell the story of the one who came before. Normally that person would be dead; in this case, it was him. The idea of his mother reciting his list of 'accomplishments' gave him an unpleasant feeling. He wondered what accommodations would be allowed considering the circumstances. On the one hand, these people wanted a show. On the other, she'd already performed the ceremony after the Weapon, and had nothing to prove.
“…and we thank him for his service to Eriis,” said Anuu, lifting the box from his arms. She flicked a glance at him and he stepped back. There, at least his part of it was over. Now his mother could take the Seat and things could start to come back to normal. He had plans for—not a vacation—perhaps a retreat. He was thinking about taking a small house somewhere in the Quarter and writing down some of his adventures in the human world; not the doodles and drawings from his time locked in his room, but a real memoir. He did, after all, come from a family of writers. “And all of Eriis is grateful today for the return of its queen, who—”
“Thank you, Anuu,” said Hellne. A murmur went through the crowd. She stepped forward and lifted her voice. “Before the Weapon, there was an heir to the High Seat of Eriis. And now, that person is restored to us. He is here to take the crown and the Seat, as our father King Fedeer intended and as it should always have been.” She turned to Anuu and opened the box, lifting out the glass and stone crown. “There is no more need for ritual. Today we set things right. Here rests the rock and bone of Eriis. King Araan, the High Seat and the city are yours. Be thoughtful with them.” Araan knelt, and Hellne placed it on his head. “King Araan of Eriis, welcome home.”
There was a long silence.
Those standing before the new king and his queen were the first to applaud. It would hardly do to seem unenthusiastic. And once the cheer went up, it spread to the rest. They might be confused, but the High Seat had a member of the royal family in it, so no doubt it would sort itself out.
Well, they got a show, all right. Rhuun forced his own enthusiasm and wondered what had just happened. He'd have to leave as soon as it was appropriate and sit down with Zaii, see if he'd felt the first breeze of the storm that had just blown in. At the moment, he recognized his mother's smile as the one that often preceded a slap. Araan had the same bemused expression he always wore. Thaali looked, appropriately enough, like she'd just been made queen consort. Perhaps what he’d taken for fear was merely anticipation.
Rhuun made his way through the crowd to his mother's side. They stood back from the new royal couple and watched the pair smile and greet their subjects. He noticed the strange man, his mother's companion, closely watching the two of them, although he did not approach. Fine, he thought. If she doesn't want to introduce us, it doesn't matter to me.
Servers moved through the crowds with trays of sarave. He accepted a cup.
“It appears we both have some free time, Mother. Perhaps while we are idle, you'll tell me what you're doing?”
She looked up at him, her smile still bright. “I did what I had to do, of course. It was always meant to be Araan.”
He crouched so to speak nearer her ear.
“But he's been gone for so long—-is this really what you want?”
Her look was knife-edged. “Your king is merely new, not deaf, Rhuun. And I know you aren't implying this is somehow against my wishes.” Perhaps it was only a coincidence that Araan picked that moment to turn and look their way. It took another moment for his smile to catch up.
He flushed. “Apologies.” He gave a short bow—the one he learned from Olly—towards his uncle, who returned his attention to his new court.
“Take some time and think about what you want to happen next. To yourself, I mean.” She allowed him to lead her towards the less crowded atrium. With someone new and interesting to occupy them, his tunic went largely unmolested by the crowds. “Tell me about the weather.”
He stopped and stared at her. “That's what you want to talk about? Do you have any idea—?”
“I have plenty of ideas,” she said. “I know you've had a rough patch. And I also know you and your friends have done some interesting work while I've been gone.”
“A rough patch.” He stopped himself from tugging the sleeves of his tunic down to cover his wrists, a foolish habit that was pulling his clothing out of shape. “Very well. What have you heard?”
“That you and that Mage of yours have gone to some rather extreme measures.” She laid her hand on his arm, he forced himself not to flinch away. “Was it worth it?”
“How will our new king respond, do you think, when he finds out the lengths I went to, so that the humans could come back here? They were his blood enemies yesterday.”
She gave a little sigh. “You haven't lost your taste for drama. He's not simple, he knows the world has changed—all the worlds have changed. And you did well, holding the Seat. Everyone says so, despite that stunt with inviting the sand trash into the palace. He's going to reward you.”
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