An idea rattled around her mind.
Could it work? She thought it would work. The Iramisian glyphs in the Tower of the Cataphract flickered through her memory, and the stone doors in the strange corridor. Perhaps Caina could take the Sword out of reach of the Umbarians with a single stride.
Caina walked into the library and found Ariadne sitting at her desk, grimacing as she wrote with her bandaged right hand.
“How is your hand?” said Caina.
“It hurts,” said Ariadne. “It will get better. Given that I almost died, a little pain is a small price to pay.” She took a deep breath. “We’re alone. I think we should have a candid conversation, dear.”
“About what?” said Caina.
“About how you have one of the relics of Rasarion Yagar strapped to your back,” said Ariadne.
“How long have you known?” said Caina.
“Since our first coach ride,” said Ariadne. “You never let the Sword out of your reach, but you never use it. Carrying a second sword when you can summon your valikon at will seems like a waste of effort. You did well not to tell anyone. Too many magi here will be tempted to use the weapon for themselves. You are taking it to the loremasters of Iramis, I think?” Caina nodded. “That is well. It will be safe there, and out of Talmania’s reach.” She flexed her wounded hand a few times, scowled at it, and looked at Caina. “Will you take a ship from Artifel, now that Arzaxia is in Imperial hands once more?”
“I thought about it,” said Caina, “but I think it’s too risky. The Empire controls Arzaxia again, but the Umbarian fleet dominates the Alqaarin Sea. Talmania would have all the time she needs to prepare an ambush.”
Ariadne nodded. “Sensible. You could travel with us.”
Caina frowned. “Where are you going?”
“Lord Conn and Lord Hadrazon have been summoned to Malarae,” said Ariadne. “The return of Arzaxia has changed the course of the war, and I think the Emperor wants to plan an offensive into the Saddaic provinces from the sea. If the Legions push from Nova Nighmaria and Rasadda at the same time, we might regain half the eastern Empire and drive the Umbarians into headlong retreat. My husband and the Lord Marshal will be traveling by fast horse, and I’ll be accompanying them to represent the Magisterium. You could travel with us. We shall have a full company of Imperial Guards and several battle magi.”
“But the Marshal of the eastern Empire, his chief lieutenant, and the Sword of Rasarion Yagar together in the same group,” said Caina, “that would be too tempting of a target for Talmania to resist.”
“I had the same thought,” said Ariadne.
They stared at each other for a moment.
“You’re going to risk it, then?” said Ariadne.
Caina sighed. “This must be how Kylon feels when he can never hide anything from me. But, yes. If it works…we can sidestep Talmania entirely. Perhaps we can even get the Sword to Iramis at once.”
“It is probably worth the risk,” said Ariadne. “And the Cataphract did say that he had opened the Tower to you as a valikarion.”
“He did,” said Caina. “Then again, he had an Ascendant Bloodcrystal locked up in his Tower, and the Divine knows what else. I’m not quite ready to trust him.”
“That’s wise,” said Ariadne. “Good luck, Caina. I hope we can meet again soon.”
Caina hesitated and then smiled back. “I hope that, too.”
Chapter 23: Gates of the Valikarion
A few moments later Caina found Sophia standing in the dining room, her pack slung over her shoulders.
“Ready to go?” said Caina.
“Aye,” said Sophia. She took a deep breath. “My lady…thank you. I would not have wished to join the Magisterium. If there had been no other choice, I would have done it, but…” She took another long breath. “Thank you.”
“I wouldn’t have wanted you to join the Magisterium, either,” said Caina.
“Can I ask you a question?” said Sophia. Caina nodded. “Is…is it true? What Riona said? That you wanted to kill all sorcerers?”
“When I was younger, yes,” said Caina. Sophia offered a cautious nod. “I was a lot angrier then.” She sighed and rolled her shoulders. “But…it’s like Ariadne said, Sophia. No matter a man’s rank or station in life, there are good and evil in his heart. It doesn’t matter if he’s a sorcerer, a lord, a magus, or a common farmer or craftsman. Life would be simpler if we could sort all the good people into one pile and all the evil people into another. But it doesn’t work that way. You can only know people for what they are once they act.”
“Like Riona,” said Sophia. “Killing all those people so she could take the Ascendant Bloodcrystal.”
“Aye,” said Caina.
“I wish I was as wise as you, my lady,” said Sophia.
From someone else, that might have been an attempt at flattery, or sarcasm. Sophia just sounded earnest.
Caina laughed. “I’m not wise. I’ve just learned a lot of things the hard way. Are you ready?”
Sophia nodded. “Are we taking a ship to Iramis, my lady?”
“Not from here,” said Caina. “Remember how we keep saying you haven’t seen the largest cities of the Empire yet?” Sophia nodded again. “Maybe we can fix that today. Let’s find the others and head out.”
###
A short time later Caina stood with Kylon, Seb, Morgant, Sophia, and Ilona before the gates to the Tower of the Cataphract.
“Are you sure about this?” said Seb, giving the Tower a dubious look.
“No,” said Caina. “I’m not at all sure about it. But I think the reward might be worth the risk. The Cataphract said he built his Tower to aid the valikarion and the Warmaiden. Let’s see if he was telling the truth. Follow me.”
Caina took a deep breath, called her valikon, and strode into the Tower of the Cataphract. As before, she led the way down the corridors of black stone with their green marble floors, guiding the others around the sorcerous traps and wards. They walked past the Mirrors of Worlds that lined the corridors, and Caina tightened her grasp on her valikon, but the Cataphract was true to his word. No spirits issued forth from the Mirrors to attack. The Cataphract had indeed granted her the free run of his Tower.
And those who were under her protection.
A short time later they reached the chamber where they had spoken with the Cataphract before he had vanished back into the netherworld, where Calaver had accidentally summoned the elemental lord. Caina gave a wary glance at the Mirror, but nothing emerged from it.
Instead, she looked at the Hall of Gates on her left, at the closed stone doors lining the hallway, at the glowing Iramisian glyphs over the archway of the corridor.
At the insanity-inducing ward that covered the corridor.
Anyone who stepped into that corridor, no matter how powerful, no matter how strong of will, no matter how well-warded, would instantly go insane. The spell would reduce anyone who stepped into its influence into a gibbering madman, one who would rant and rave until he died of thirst.
Except for a valikarion.
And those the valikarion chose to bring with her.
Caina dismissed her valikon and walked forward until she came to the edge of the spell’s hazy, crawling glow.
“All right,” she said, looking at the others. “Form a line. Take each other’s hands.”
Kylon took Seb’s hand, who in turn took Morgant’s. Morgant took Ilona’s hand, who grimaced a little, and she reached back and took Sophia’s. Caina grabbed Kylon’s hand and squeezed it, and he squeezed back.
“You’re getting a little too forward for my taste, battle magus,” said Morgant.
“Fear not,” said Seb. “I think you’re much too old to have any carnal interests.”
“Close your eyes,” said Caina. “All of you. Don’t open them again, for any reason, until I say that it’s safe. Follow me.”
She stepped into the hazy aura of the spell, the others following her in a line.
And as Caina had guessed, the spell could not affect them so long as they kept their eyes closed.
She walked into the Hall of Gates and looked at the rows of stone doors on either side of the high corridor. Iramisian glyphs written in white light glowed on the lintels, showing the names of cities – Iramis, Istarinmul, Marsis, Rasadda, Cyrica Urbana, Arzaxia, and others.
Caina walked to the door marked Iramis and tried to open it.
Nothing. To judge from the spells over the door, it had been sealed from the other side. Which made sense. Likely the door opened within the Towers of Lore, and the loremasters would have sealed it to defend against the Magisterium during the Fourth Empire. Caina tried the door marked Istarinmul, but it too had been sealed. Her valikon could break the spells, but the spells were physically on the other side of the door, and not even a valikon could slice through solid stone.
Which door would take her the closest to Iramis?
Caina looked at the door to Malarae.
It hadn’t been sealed.
She pushed on the door, and it swung open at her touch. Beyond she saw nothing but a veil of white light.
“Do not open your eyes yet,” said Caina. “Follow me.”
She led the way into the white light.
A burst of whirling disorientation shot through her, and then Caina found herself walking through a stone cellar, the ceiling supported by thick brick pillars. The walls were built of rough-mortared stone, and the air was much warmer than it had been in Artifel. Caina looked back as the others stepped through the door, and then it swung shut behind Sophia with a thud. Closed, the door looked like a slab of white stone carved with Iramisian glyphs.
“You can open your eyes now,” said Caina.
The others looked around.
“A cellar,” said Seb. “That is rather underwhelming, I must say.”
“It’s not the cellar that’s important, but where it’s located,” said Caina. She thought she knew where they were. “This way.”
She led the way across the cellar and up a flight of stairs. The stairs ended in a wooden door, and Caina pushed it open and stepped into a deserted temple. The temple was cool and dim and airy, light leaking through the narrow windows between the pillars. At the far end of the temple rose a dais holding an altar, and over the altar stood a statue of a stern-faced man in robes with a scroll of laws in his left hand and a set of scales in his right. Stone benches rested along the walls where petitioners could wait to place their requests and sacrifices before the god and his priests.
“That’s Cursus,” said Seb, looking at the statue. “The Imperial god of justice and laws.”
“And this is the Temple of Cursus,” said Caina, walking towards the doors, “in Malarae.”
“Malarae?” said Sophia, her voice shocked.
Caina thrust open the temple doors, and for the first time in years, she looked upon the imperial capital of Malarae.
The Temple of Cursus was in one of Malarae’s wealthier districts, and the temples of the gods of the Empire rose around them. Caina saw the mansions and towers of the nobles and rich merchants clustered around the foot of the mountain crag, and the Imperial Citadel itself rose overhead, tall and strong and gleaming.
“Malarae,” said Caina.
She had not been here since she had left the city with Halfdan and Corvalis on a task for the Ghosts years ago…and her path since then had taken her to New Kyre and Istarinmul and Iramis.
A wave of emotion rolled through her at the sight of the city, and she forced it down.
“Gods,” said Morgant. “Travelling from Artifel to Malarae in a single step. Suppose that Cataphract actually knew what the hell he was doing.”
“Suppose he did,” said Caina. “We should go to the docks right now and get on the first ship we can find heading to Istarinmul. Then…”
“Caina Kardamnos?”
Footsteps rang behind her, and Caina turned.
A tall, thin man in the black trousers, coat, and polished boots of a Nighmarian noble walked towards her. He had blond hair, pale blue eyes, and absolutely no trace of emotion in his face. Now that Caina was a valikarion, she saw the faint arcane aura around the man. It looked damaged, as if he had been injured by a potent spell in the past.
And Caina recognized him.
“Lord Aeolus?” said Caina.
Lord Aeolus, the high circlemaster of the Ghosts, stopped a few paces away.
“I see you have discovered the Gates of the Cataphract,” said Aeolus.
“You know of them?” said Caina.
“I’m afraid the high circlemaster of the Ghosts knows many secrets,” said Aeolus. “That is one of them. Another is that Lord Corbould has put a price on your head, should you ever return to the Empire.”
“I remember that,” said Kylon, his voice calm but cold. “I also remember that you encouraged the Emperor to banish Caina for the sake of the Empire. Are you and I about to have a problem?”
“My lord Kylon, I shall be blunt,” said Aeolus. “Right now, we have far larger concerns than Lord Corbould’s preferences. Caina Kardamnos, the Emperor has reinstituted the Pact of Iramis. Since you are both a Ghost circlemaster and a valikarion, by the terms of the Pact, I call upon your aid as a valikarion knight. We need your help.”
Caina frowned. “My help with what?”
“If you cannot help us solve a mystery,” said Aeolus, “then I fear the Empire might collapse before the year is out.”
“Oh, for the gods’ sake,” said Morgant.
Epilogue: Games
Vilus Pentarion walked through the corridors of Sigilsoara, the long metal coffer cradled in his arms.
Most men, he knew, would have found the Iron King’s stronghold an unsettling place. Black veins and strange, twisted growths covered the walls, and the aura of necromantic power was so potent that Pentarion could sense it without trying hard.
But Pentarion knew the truth.
The hideous growths were a sign of Temnuzash, a herald of the coming of the Final Night.
All his life, Pentarion had sought for meaning, sought for power…and then in the doctrines and teachings of the Temnoti, he had found the truth.
The Final Night would remake the world into a new and better form, just as Pentarion’s power as a rulkavak allowed him to rip apart and remake his weak mortal flesh.
How Talmania would have sneered if she knew that he had converted to the worship of Temnuzash.
He looked forward to the expression on her haughty face when she finally learned the truth.
Pentarion reached a wooden door and swung it open.
Beyond was one of Sigilsoara’s libraries, the shelves laden with books the Iron King had collected during his reign. Talmania sat at one of the tables, and next to her stood the Syvashar, the chief priest of the Temnoti, swathed in his stained brown robes. His hands were tucked into his voluminous sleeves, but Pentarion saw the occasional tentacle slip from beneath the hem of his robe.
“Provost,” said Pentarion.
“You have it?” said Talmania without preamble.
“Yes, my lady,” said Pentarion, and he laid the metal coffer on the center of the table. “I concealed it before either the late First Magus or Lady Kardamnos arrived in the chamber.” He smiled. “No doubt they both thought that the Cataphract had only hidden one Ascendant Bloodcrystals in the chamber, not two.”
Talmania lifted the lid of the coffer a few inches, and the green glow from the second unfinished Ascendant Bloodcrystal, the one that Pentarion had stolen before the First Magus or the Balarigar had ever found their way to the forest of guardian spirits, flooded into the library.
“A potent weapon,” said the Syvashar in his watery voice. “The high necromancy of ancient Maat was most powerful. Yet the weapon is unfinished.”
“Fear not,” said Talmania, closing the coffer. “We shall find a use for it.”
###
“What are your orders now, provost?” said Pentarion.
&nbs
p; Talmania kept the smile from her face. Vilus Pentarion looked like a prissy, fussy dandy of a man. No one looking at him would ever guess that he had become a rulkavak, that he could kill a room of soldiers without much difficulty.
But appearances were so often deceiving.
She could employ that tactic as well. Talmania gave the appearance that she didn’t know that Pentarion had sworn to the Temnoti, that she didn’t know the Syvashar was only using her to gather the five relics of the Iron King for himself.
Or that they had resurrected poor Antonin Crailov and had…improved him. In a certain sense of the word.
Talmania pretended that she didn’t know the Temnoti planned to betray her when the time came.
They were in for an unpleasant surprise.
But, for now, she needed them, and they needed her.
“We are going to proceed to Malarae,” said Talmania. “With the knowledge I obtained from the Book of the Warmaiden, using Sigilsoara to travel from Artifel to Malarae will be no great difficulty.”
“Malarae, provost?” said Pentarion with a frown. “Our previous efforts in the Imperial capital have come to naught. The Ghosts there are too well-organized.”
“Nevertheless,” said Talmania. “Both the Book of the Warmaiden and the skull of Maglarion are clear. To find the Dagger of the Iron King, we need to go to Malarae.” She allowed herself one small smile. “It is time to open the Vault of the Moroaica.”
THE END
Thank you for reading GHOST IN THE TOWER. Look for Caina's next adventure, GHOST IN THE VAULT, to appear in 2019.
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