Ghost and Guardian: Part One: Lord
Page 12
He left her home and made his way to the bath house, cheerfully greeting townspeople as if they were old friends.
He hasn’t been here two days, and he’s making friends faster than I have my whole time in Forest Town. By the time he’s done in the bath house, he’ll probably have every teenage boy in town mimicking him. She considered. Maybe my comparison of Quicksilver to some warlord’s son isn’t that far off after all. He has the same air that attracts a lot of people.
And his mother is one of Lucian’s worst nightmares.
No fresh disasters befell Forest Town during the afternoon. Quicksilver set about befriending everyone he could, as if chatting with strangers came naturally to him. To Cylin’s surprise, despite her initial impression, the usually open and welcoming people of the town remained cautious of his overtures, responding politely, but not warmly. For his part, Quicksilver appeared undeterred by the less than enthusiastic welcome. When she thought about it, Cylin realized that even a lukewarm Forest Town welcome was still more friendly than a lot of places would be. She wondered whether Quicksilver could tell that he was being snubbed.
Cylin’s afternoon training session, primarily meant for those involved in town defense, but open to anyone, got more attendees than she’d seen since she first took charge of Forest Town defenses. At first she wondered why Quicksilver’s arrival triggered the resurgence in caution. But when she listened to the talk between others, the answer became more clear. Opinions about Lucian’s nephew ran that while he acted friendly enough, neither Cylin nor Devin trusted him, and that was enough to make the rest of Forest Town uneasy.
When did my opinion become important enough that an entire town questions a newcomer because of it?
When dusk fell, she knocked on Devin’s door. She hadn’t noticed him return from Lucian’s cave, but lights were on inside, and he answered the door. “Hi Cylin. Come in.”
“Hey. Wanted to check on you. How did your talk with Lucian go?” She stepped inside and closed the door.
Devin shrugged. “It... went. I think he listened when I told him I was worried, and about the dangers outside the forest. And... I apologized for what I said yesterday. I know he’ll come back.” He sighed. “Just, when I think about him leaving, a part of me wonders whether someone’s going to try to sell me to the bone men again without him to stop them.”
“That won’t happen,” Cylin said firmly. “I’ll shoot anyone who tries.”
He blinked, startled. “You would?”
“I will. And as much as the rest of the town respects you and me, I think most anyone else would do the same. Fuck, they’re ready to distrust Quicksilver just because we don’t like him.”
Devin blinked again. “Oh.” Then, “Really? Are you sure?”
“Well, I don’t know what sensible person thinks I’m a good judge of character, but yeah, I’m sure. People were talking about it all day.” Cylin laughed softly. “So does that sound as weird to you as it does to me?”
He just nodded. After a long moment, he said, “If that’s true, does that mean that people will also expect us to take charge when Lord Lucian is gone?”
“Gods of my father’s hearth, I hope not!” Cylin said quickly. But once the thought began to take shape, she couldn’t dismiss it. “I think Doctor Kinnel would be better. Although you’ve been around Lucian more than most people. I could see them thinking you’d have a good idea what decisions he’d make.”
“And you’re in charge of the village defenses,” Devin said. “I think we’d better at least think about it.”
“Not tonight,” Cylin told him. “If I think about it tonight, I might just run off and never come back.”
Devin finally smiled. “Take me with you if you do.”
She held out her hand. “All right. It’s a deal. If I run off in the middle of the night, you can come too.”
He took her hand and they shook on it.
Lucian came down to Forest Town the following morning. As if drawn by instinct, people paused in their work, emerging from houses and buildings to gather around him. Cylin stood on her balcony, leaning on the railing and watching him. Lucian cast a look up her direction and waved in greeting. She waved back, but didn’t join the throng on the ground. Her perch offered a better view.
Lucian smiled at the people gathered around him. “I’m sure you’ve all heard that my nephew, Quicksilver, got here a few days ago. And I’m sure you’re wondering why, and how things are going to change. Rest assured, right now you’ll notice very little difference. Maybe some more activity at times, and I’ll need to consult with people on various matters, finalize some plans.”
“Plans for what?” someone asked uncertainly.
Lucian’s smile widened. “Plans for other surviving members of my family to join us in Forest Town.”
People murmured in surprise and excitement. Cylin leaned on the railing, catching snatches of the conversations. Lucian stood calm and smiling amid the crowd.
She felt a light vibration on her platform. Cylin spun, reaching toward her gun. Quicksilver stood on the platform, although she stood between him and the stairs to the ground.
“Sorry to trespass,” he apologized. “May I join you?”
“How did you get here?” she demanded. “Fly?”
“Yes?” He answered tentatively, as if unsure she would believe him.
“Figures.” Cylin scowled, then sighed. “Well, you’re here, so I guess you can stay.”
“Thanks.”
Below, Lucian continued. “I know I’ll be asking a lot of everyone, to welcome more elves among us. But most of all, I will be asking your patience, even when things seem chaotic and confused.”
People quickly shouted their agreement, their unquestioning devotion to Lucian. He bowed to them and withdrew back toward his cave.
“No mention of a months-long absence, I notice,” Cylin said under her breath.
Quicksilver watched Lucian leave and frowned. “What is he up to?”
“What do you mean?” she asked. “What did you hear that I didn’t?”
“It’s not what he said so much as how he said it,” Quicksilver answered. He paused to glance around, as if someone might have snuck up to spy on them. “I think Lucian’s going to do something reckless and stupid.” He cupped his hands over his mouth and blew on them.
Cylin motioned for him to follow her. The wind blowing through the trees had a bite to it, and she didn’t fancy lingering in it. Once they were sheltered in the warmth of her home, Cylin asked, “Reckless how? What sort of thing would Lucian do?”
“I don’t know! I don’t see very many things he could do here, but we’re talking about Lucian, so I know he’ll find something, and if I can’t predict it, I have no idea how to prepare for it. There are no ‘sensible’ limits when we’re talking about Lucian trying to find Chance.”
Cylin hung her coat on a peg. “So... what, should I expect the forest to uproot itself and start walking toward wherever Chance is, Forest Town and all?”
“Stars above, please don’t suggest that to Lucian! I’m not sure if he or the Guardian could do that, but he’d try.” Quicksilver ran a hand through his silver hair. “I just hate not knowing what he’s going to attempt. Any chance you could try to get the answer out of him?”
“Me?” Cylin blinked. “Why do you think I would be able to if you can’t?”
“Well, you seem to be close to him, and he trusts you.” Quicksilver hesitated. “Um, can I ask a personal and kind of inappropriate question?”
I should have known this was coming. “The answer to your question is no,” Cylin said.
He blinked. “Don’t I get to ask it first?”
She folded her arms. “You were going to ask if I’m having sex with Lucian. The answer to that question is no. But if I’m wrong, and you have some other personal and invasive question, go ahead and ask.”
He blinked again. “Uh... no, that was the one. Sorry.” He paused. “How did you know?”
A startled laugh from Quicksilver. “They might be right, you know. Elves tend to be more open about sex than humans. But actually, the reason I thought you might be is because you treat him differently than everyone else does. You’re much more relaxed when talking to him or about him. You are the only person I’ve heard who doesn’t call him ‘Lord Lucian’, you know.”
“I know,” she said. “I also don’t worship him. I have my hearth gods; I don’t need to start following the worship of ‘ancient spirits’.”
“Worshiping?” Quicksilver repeated. “People do that?”
“Didn’t you notice, outside when he was talking?” she countered. “Yeah, people worship him.”
“That must drive him nuts.”
“It does. Most try to keep it out of his face.” Cylin walked to the kitchen and set the kettle on the stove. “Now I have something to ask you.”
“Well after my question to you, I’m a little worried, but ask away.”
She turned to face him. “How old are you?”
His eyebrows in surprise. “Real answer?”
“Real answer.”
“I am one thousand, six hundred, and fifty-seven years old.”
“And you look seventeen.”
He shrugged. “I don’t understand the science of it. I’m pretty sure that the rules as humans know them don’t exactly apply to us elves. We grow up, but we don’t... get old like humans do. It’s more like... we physically mature to our ‘ideal’ age and appearance—when that is varies by individual—and just... stop. So yeah, I’ve looked like this for most of my life. Lucian too. He’s looked about the age he appears now for as long as I’ve known him.”
Cylin gazed at him, trying to guess whether or not he was lying. “How does that even work?”
“I have no idea, honestly. I didn’t go to college or anything like that, so I just know what I picked up through life. Chance and Lucian took some time to attend one of the universities, though.”
“Really?” Cylin frowned, wondering why a thousand-year-old elf would bother. “Wasn’t that supposed to be expensive?”
Quicksilver chuckled. “When you can pull gold straight out of the rocks, money isn’t really a problem. It was Chance’s idea. He wants to know everything—he did something like a triple major.” Seeing Cylin’s puzzled expression, he explained, “Three different fields of study, at the same time. Lucian took a slightly less overachieving route with one major field of study and two minor ones, but he also competed in a couple sports.”
“Swimming?” Cylin asked.
“Of course.” Quicksilver chuckled. “I don’t remember what the other one was.”
She filled the kettle with water. “You want tea?”
Quicksilver lounged in one of the living room chairs. “Sure, that sounds—what the fuck?!” He launched out of the chair, nearly hit the ceiling, and apparently forgot that he was supposed to come back to the ground.
Cylin dropped the kettle in the sink and raced to him. “What?”
Quicksilver’s head turned as if he was watching something beyond the walls of her house. Color drained from his face. “Shit. What is he... shit.”
Cylin grabbed Quicksilver’s arm and jerked him down eye level with her. “Quicksilver, what did Lucian do?”
He swallowed hard. “He... he did... something really stupid.” Quicksilver glanced around, then scrambled to the door and grabbed both his coat and Cylin’s. He tossed her to her. “We... um... we better get up there.”
Cylin caught her coat and pulled it on, checked that the stove wasn’t going to burn her house down, and hurried outside. She started toward the stairs, but Quicksilver caught her arm. “No time for that, Cylin. I’ll get us there faster.”
She had just a moment to be confused by his words, then her feet left the ground. Cylin yelped, then bit her lip to stop a more forceful objection. Quicksilver’s hold on her arm was firm, but not restrictive. She fought an impulse to pull away, not sure whether he required the contact to hold her aloft. They rose over the railing and flew toward Lucian’s cave. Cylin glanced down and immediately regretted it. Her legs hung over empty air, the ground much too far below. Wind whipped in her face.
We’re flying. Shit, we’re actually flying. Flying very fast, and it’s a long way down. Her stomach twisted into knots.
Quicksilver landed in front of Lucian’s cave. Devin, sitting just inside the mouth of the cave, jumped to his feet with startled obscenities and stared at them.
“Sorry, no time for courtesies!” Quicksilver told him. “Where’s Lucian?”
Devin’s mouth opened and closed twice before he managed to answer. “Inside. He said he was going to take care of a few things and didn’t want to be disturbed.”
“Dammit, Lucian,” Quicksilver snarled. “No time for explanation. Lucian just did something really stupid and dangerous, and I need to stop him.” He rushed past Devin into the cave.
Devin glanced to Cylin. She shook her head. “I don’t know what happened either, but if Lucian’s doing something, we might need to interrupt it.”
Devin bit his lip, then nodded. “All right. But I’m going with you.”
They trailed Quicksilver deeper into the cave, finally catching up with him at Lucian’s bedroom.
Cylin hadn’t been in this room since Lucian’s episode. It stood in order now, no sign of the chaos that had dominated it then. The furniture was neat and whole. Clothes hung on hooks in the wall. Lucian lay on the bed, a single cover drawn over him, eyes closed and chest moving in the slow, deep rhythm of sleep. Cylin glanced to Devin, then Quicksilver.
“If all this fuss and worry is over Lucian taking a nap, I’m going to be pretty mad at you, Quicksilver,” Cylin warned.
Quicksilver gave her a tight smile. “If this is just a nap, I’ll happily accept you being mad at me.” He crossed the room to Lucian and shook his shoulder. “Hey, Lucian, wake up.”
Lucian didn’t respond. His breathing didn’t even change. Cylin and Devin joined Quicksilver around the bed.
Quicksilver pulled one of Lucian’s eyelids up. Instead of being rolled back in sleep, Lucian’s eyes stared blankly, an empty, hollow gaze.
Quicksilver stood perfectly still for a long moment, then cursed rapidly in languages Cylin didn’t recognize.
“Lord Lucian?” Devin shook Lucian’s shoulder, as if he could succeed where Quicksilver had not. He turned sharply to Quicksilver. “What did he do?”
“Shit.” Quicksilver sank down on the floor. He let out a heavy breath. “Shit. Lucian sent his essence into the spirit realm.”
“Wait, wait, he did what?!” Cylin interrupted. “How? No, never mind, don’t try to answer that. I’m sure it’s some elf magic thing.”
“Most elves can’t either,” Quicksilver said quietly. “That’s limited to the most powerful. I can barely see the edges of the spirit realm when I really try; I’m certainly not able to separate my spirit from my body to go wander around out there.” He shuddered. “It was dangerous to do even before the war tore things to shreds. Now that place is filled with monsters and twisted souls of tormented dead elves and worse. Things lurking out there can shred a soul to pieces, and they’re always hungry. Lucian’s powerful enough that he’s like a giant beacon in the middle of the night. Everything will go racing toward that, and he’s there alone! If something attacks him out there, hurts him badly enough, he might not come back!”
Devin stared at Lucian, as pale as Quicksilver. “Is he...” He gulped, then spun to Cylin. “Doctor Kinnel! You have to get him! He’ll know what to do!”
Quicksilver shook his head. “I don’t know what a human doctor could do—”
“He can!” Devin insisted. “Cylin, please.”
“Right. I’ll get him.” She had no more idea than Quicksilver what
Doctor Kinnel could do to help Lucian, but she needed to do something.
The trip from Lucian’s cave to the infirmary passed in a blur. She walked quickly without quite breaking into run, as much to avoid attracting attention as to avoid slipping. Cylin rushed inside and breathed a sigh of relief to find the waiting area empty. “Doctor Kinnel?”
He emerged from the kitchen, a mug of tea in hand. “Is someone injured, Cylin? Did someone fall?”
She shook her head, glancing around again to confirm they were alone. “Something’s wrong with Lucian.”
“What? He appeared fine when he was down here earlier. An episode? No, you wouldn’t come to me for that.” Doctor Kinnel motioned her to follow him. “Tell me more.”
She entered the small kitchen, but didn’t sit. “Quicksilver said that Lucian sent his mind into the spirit realm.”
“That idiot!” Doctor Kinnel slammed his mug down on the table. “Lucian knows better!”
She’d never heard him speak of Lucian without the honorific before. Cylin blinked. “So you... know something about this?”
“Describe his state,” Doctor Kinnel ordered.
“He looked like he was sleeping, but when Quicksilver opened his eyes, Lucian was staring off at nothing. He didn’t stir at all.”
“That idiot,” Doctor Kinnel repeated. He began opening cupboards and pulling out jars and bottles. “Fetch the gray duffel from the infirmary. It’s on the top shelf of the tall metal cabinet with doors.”
Only one metal cabinet in the infirmary had doors. Cylin found the gray bag and pulled it down, disturbing a cloud of dust. It was heavier than she expected, and clanked like it contained pieces of metal. She brushed some of the dust off and brought it into the kitchen.
“This one? What’s inside?” She laid the duffel on the kitchen table.
“The tools I used last time he did this.” Doctor Kinnel set a collection of small bottles on the table, holding each one up to the light to check its contents. “How long ago did he leave?”
“Less than an hour,” she told him. “Do you know how to bring him back? Quicksilver said he couldn’t do it.”