The Lightstone: The Ninth Kingdom

by David Zindell

Alkaladur! Alkaladur!

  The Sword of Sight, the Sword of Fate,

  Which men have named the Harbinger

  Of death to all who rule by hate.

  In Tria thus the Dragon cowed,

  Behind its star-flung walls of stone.

  The ancient warrior, vengeance vowed,

  Pursued him to his dragon throne.

  But also came King Aramesh

  At ending of the bitter strife,

  And there despite his wounded flesh,

  In ruth, he spared the Dragon’s life.

  The King then claimed the golden bowl,

  Thus broke their star-blessed amity.

  The warrior now with bitter soul:

  He cast the sword into the sea.

  And there it dwelled beneath the waves,

  Through ages new and ages old.

  But so it’s told in ancient caves:

  The silver gelstei seeks the gold.

  Alkaladur! Alkaladur!

  The ageless blade, immortal sword

  Which men have named Deliverer –

  To pure of heart will be restored.

  Alphanderry fell silent as he stared at my sword; I stared at it, too, as did everyone else gathered around the lake.

  Maram slowly nodded his head. Then he looked at Kane and said, ‘If Kalkamesh did cast the sword into the sea in his anger at King Aramesh sparing Morjin, then it seems a rare chance that the sea carried it a thousand miles to this island only to be caught in this man Elkaiu’s net.’

  ‘Ha, chance,’ Kane called out. ‘There’s much more at work here than mere chance.’

  Now Alphanderry asked Liljana to tell the sword’s story in the Maiian language, which she did. When she had finished, Lady Nimaiu gazed at the sword for a long while. ‘Now I understand why it lay so long beneath the lake – and in the sea perhaps longer. Upon this sword, there must have been much blood.’

  Perhaps once there had been, I thought. But now, as I held it up to the sun, the blade’s silver surface reflected its light so perfectly that it seemed nothing could ever stain it or mar its beauty.

  Master Juwain, whose mind turned over thoughts more times than the wind tossing about a leaf, nodded his bald head toward the sword and said, ‘This must be the Awakener told of in the song. But we must be sure that it is before Val claims it as his own.’

  ‘But, sir, how can we be any more sure than we are?’ Maram asked.

  ‘Well, there is the test to be made,’ Master Juwain said. ‘If it is truly of silustria and not some lesser gelstei or alloy, it will pass this test.’

  ‘What test?’ I asked him sharply.

  ‘The silver gelstei is said to be very hard – harder than any stone save the Lightstone itself

  He motioned for me to hold the sword with its blade flat to the earth so that he could get a better look at it. ‘The sea carried it a thousand miles across its rocks and sands. Did they make many scratches? Do you see any mark upon it?’

  I turned the sword over and over, trying to detect on its gleaming blade the faintest featherstroke of a line or scratch. But it was as unmarked as the surface of a still mountain lake.

  ‘Hard is silustria – harder than adamant,’ Master Juwain said as he looked at the two sparkling stones of my knight’s ring. ‘Why don’t you use these diamonds to try to scratch this blade?’

  Again I looked at the sword’s wondrous finish. I no more wanted to scratch it than I did the lens of my eye.

  ‘It must be tested, Val. It must be known.’

  Yes, I thought, it must be. And so, making a fist, I touched the diamonds to the blade and drew them in a small arc across it near the hilt. The silver remained untouched. Now I singled out one of the stones and positioned it precisely; I found a point where three of its facets came together and pressed it as hard as I could against the silver, all the while trying to dig and drag the diamond down the entire length of the sword. But it slid off like light from a mirror and left not the slightest mark.

  ‘Alkaladur,’ Master Juwain said reverently. ‘It is the Bright Sword.’

  Now that our ceremony was completed, many of the Maii came down to congratulate us and get a better glimpse of this miraculous sword that had lain in their lake for so long unknown to them. Although they craned their necks to see it, none tried to touch it, nor would I have let them if they had.

  ‘There are lines from the song I would like to understand better,’ Maram said as he came up by my side. ‘What does it mean that the silver gelstei seeks the gold?’

  ‘Hmmph, that should be clear,’ Atara said. ‘Weren’t you listening to what Alphanderry said?’

  Her eyes fixed on the sword as she sang out:

  The silver sword, from starlight formed,

  Sought that which formed the stellar light,

  And in its presence flared and warmed

  Until it blazed a brilliant white.

  ‘Yes, I see,’ Master Juwain said, rubbing his shiny pate. ‘The lines tell truly. Some believe that the Lightstone, far from merely coming from the stars, is the source of their light. It is known that the silver gelstei was first sought in an attempt to forge the gold. And so it has a deep resonance with it. It’s said to love the Lightstone as a mirror does the sun. But whether it flares in its presence as the song has it, I do not know.’

  ‘Why don’t we put that to the test?’ Kane growled out.

  ‘An excellent idea,’ Master Juwain said. ‘But how? I believe that the Sea People also told truly: there was a great gelstei on this island. But not the Lightstone, it seems.’

  I, too, believed what the great whales had said. But I turned to look at the temple even so.

  ‘Why don’t you point the sword toward it?’ Kane said to me.

  I did as he suggested, extending the sword’s point directly toward the temple’s pillars behind us to the south. But the silver blade, while marvelously full of light, seemed not to brighten even slightly.

  ‘It’s not there,’ Maram muttered. ‘I don’t think it’s there.’

  We all fell silent then, and Liljana took this opportunity to explain our efforts to Lady Nimaiu and the Maii. And then Master Juwain, still gazing at the sword as he scratched his head, told me, ‘It might help if you meditated, Val. This, too, is said of the silustria.’ He recited:

  To use the silver stone,

  The soul must dwell alone;

  The mind must be clear,

  Unclouded by fear.

  As I stood there gazing at the reflection of my dark eyes in the sword’s polished contours, I remembered what Master Juwain had once taught me about the silver gelstei: that it was the stone of the soul and therefore of the mind which arose out of it. At the moment, with thousands of people staring at me and this unlooked-for blade catching the bright morning sunlight, my mind was anything but clear.

  ‘Why don’t you try the seventh light meditation?’ Master Juwain suggested.

  And so I did. With the bees buzzing in the flower beds down by the lake to the west, I closed my eyes and envisioned a perfect diamond floating in the air. This diamond was just myself. Nothing could mar its incredibly hard substance – certainly not my fear of failing to gain the Lightstone. It was cut with thousands of facets, each one of which let in the sun’s rays with perfect clarity, there to gather in its starlike heart with a brilliant fire that grew brighter and brighter and …

  ‘Well, it seems there’s nothing,’ Master Juwain said, his voice coming as from far away. ‘Nothing at all.’

  I opened my eyes to find the blade unchanged.

  ‘It seems the Lightstone really isn’t on this island,’ Maram said. And then he fell despondent and muttered, ‘Ah, perhaps it’s nowhere – perhaps your brothers were right that it’s been destroyed.’

  ‘No, it can’t have been,’ I said. ‘I can almost feel it, Maram. I know it exists, somewhere on Ea.’

  And with that, I held the image of the diamond inside myself again even as I held the sword out toward the Gard
en of Life to the west. But still its blade grew no brighter.

  ‘Again, Val,’ Kane encouraged me. ‘Try a different direction.’

  I slowly nodded my head. And then I lifted the sword toward the smoking mountain to the north, with as little result.

  ‘Again, Val, again.’

  Now I lightened my grip around the swan-carved hilt so that the seven diamonds set into the jade there wouldn’t cut my hands so painfully. Then I pointed this sword that men had named Awakener toward that part of the world where the Morning Star arises in the east.

  ‘It flares!’ Kane called out suddenly. ‘Do you see how it flares?’

  It wasn’t enough, I sensed, merely to clear my mind. And so I opened my heart to Alkaladur as I might to my brothers in a rare moment of trust. And the fire there suddenly blazed hotter, both purifying and reforging the secret sword that I had carried inside myself since my birth. I felt the two swords, the inner and outer, resonate like perfectly tuned crystals chiming out harmonies older than time. It was as if they each quickened each other’s essence, aligning with each other, a fiery light passing back and forth, down the length of the sword, up and down the length of my spine and then out through my heart along the line of my arms held pointed out away from me and into Alkaladur.

  ‘It flares!’ Kane shouted. ‘It flares!’

  I opened my eyes to see the silver sword glowing faintly as from a light within. When my arms trembled and the sword’s point wavered from slightly south of due east, so did its light.

  ‘So, the Lightstone lies somewhere east of us,’ Kane said. ‘But it seems it’s still far away.’

  To the east of us, I thought, lay the Dragon Channel, Surrapam and the great Crescent Mountains. And farther: Eanna, Yarkona and the ancient library at Khaisham. And beyond that, the even greater White Mountains of Sakai and the plains of the Wendrush. And finally, the Morning Mountains of Mesh.

  The Maii, who had witnessed glories of the earth before but never one like this, gathered around gazing at my sword in wonder. After Liljana had explained to Lady Nimaiu about the silver gelstei, she nodded her head and smiled at me, saying, ‘It would seem, Sar Valashu, that you won’t leave our island with empty hands.’

  ‘Yes, Lady Nimaiu,’ I told her, ‘and thanks to you.’

  ‘But you still must leave, mustn’t you?’

  I looked at Atara and Kane and the others of our company, then turned back to her and said, Yes, we must.’

  ‘But first, you’ll share a meal with us, won’t you?’

  I glanced up at the sun, now high in the sky. The Snowy Owl would be sailing tomorrow on the morning tide.

  ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘we’d be honored to dine with you.’

  As the Maii began walking off toward the temple and the feast to be held there, she embraced me warmly. Then she touched her wounded finger to Alkaladur’s blade and looked at me with her bright, black eyes.

  It came time for me put away my new sword. But first I had to draw forth my old one. This I did, and I stared at the pieces of it with a great sadness in my heart. But there was also great joy there, too, and with Lady Nimaiu’s permission, I flung the pieces of my broken kalama far out into the lake. They sank into its dark blue depths without a trace. Then I slid Alkaladur into the sheath. It fit perfectly. We would journey east, I thought, as I rested my hand on its swan-carved hilt, toward the rising sun.

  APPENDICES

  HERALDRY

  THE NINE KINGDOMS

  The shield and surcoat arms of the warriors of the Nine Kingdoms differ from those of the other lands in two respects. First, they tend to be simpler, with a single, bold charge emblazoned on a field of a single color. Second, every fighting man, from the simple warrior up through the ranks of knight, master and lord to the king himself, is entitled to bear the arms of his line.

  There is no mark or insignia of service to any lord save the king. Loyalty to one’s ruling king is displayed on shield borders as a field matching the color of the king’s field, and a repeating motif of the king’s charge. Thus, for instance, every fighting man of Ishka, from warrior to lord, will display a red shield border with white bears surrounding whatever arms have been passed down to him. With the exception of the lords of Anjo, only the kings and the royal families of the Nine Kingdoms bear unbordered shields and surcoats.

  In Anjo, although a king in name still rules in Jathay, the lords of the other regions have broken away from his rule to assert their own sovereignty. Thus, for instance, Baron Yashur of Vishal bears a shield of simple green emblazoned with a white crescent moon without bordure as if he were already a king or aspiring to be one.

  Once there was a time when all Valari kings bore the seven stars of the Swan constellation on their shields as a reminder of the Elijin and Galadin to whom they owed allegiance. But by the time of the Second Lightstone Quest, only the House of Elahad has as part of its emblem the seven silver stars.

  In the heraldry of the Nine Kingdoms, white and silver are used interchangeably as are silver and gold. Marks of cadence – those smaller charges that distinguish individual members of a line, house or family – are usually placed at the point of the shield.

  Mesh

  House of Elahad – a black field; a silver-white swan with spread wings gazes upon the seven silver-white stars of the Swan constellation

  Lord Harsha – a blue field; gold lion rampant filling nearly all of it

  Lord Tomavar – white field; black tower

  Lord Tanu – white field; black, double-headed eagle

  Lord Raasharu – gold field; blue rose

  Lord Navaru – blue field; gold sunburst

  Lord Juluval – gold field; three red roses

  Lord Durrivar – red field; white bull

  Lord Arshan – white field; three blue stars

  Ishka

  King Hadaru Aradar – red field; great white bear

  Lord Mestivan – gold field; black dragon

  Lord Nadhru – green field; three white swords, points touching upward

  Lord Solhtar – red field; gold sunburst

  Athar

  King Mohan – gold field; blue horse

  Lagash

  King Kurshan – blue field; white Tree of Life

  Waas

  King Sandarkan – black field; two crossed silver swords

  Taron

  King Waray – red field; white winged horse

  Kaash

  King Talanu Solaru – blue field; white snow tiger

  Anjo

  King Danashu – blue field; gold dragon

  Duke Gorador Shurvar of Daksh – white field; red heart

  Duke Rezu of Rajak – white field; green falcon

  Duke Barwan of Adar – blue field; white candle

  Baron Yashur of Vishal – green field; white crescent moon

  Count Rodru Narvu of Yarvanu – white field; two green lions rampant

  Count Atanu Tuval of Onkar – white field; red maple leaf

  Baron Yuval of Natesh – black field; golden flute

  FREE KINGDOMS

  As in the Nine Kingdoms, the bordure pattern is that of the field and charge of the ruling king. But in the Free Kingdoms, only nobles and knights are permitted to display arms on their shields and surcoats. Common soldiers wear two badges: the first, usually on their right arm, displaying the emblems of their kings, and the second, worn on their left arm, displaying those of whatever baron, duke or knight to whom they have sworn allegiance.

  In the houses of Free Kingdoms, excepting the ancient Five Families of Tria from whom Alonia has drawn most of her kings, the heraldry tends toward more complicated and geometric patterns than in the Nine Kingdoms.

  Alonia

  House of Narmada – blue field; gold caduceus

  House of Eriades – field divided per bend; blue upper, white lower; white star on blue, blue star on white

  House of Kirriland – white field; black raven

  House of Hastar – black field; two gold
lions rampant

  House of Marshan – white field; red star inside black circle

  Baron Narcavage of Arngin – white field; red bend; black oak lower; black eagle upper

  Baron Maruth of Aquantir – green field; gold cross; two gold arrows on each quadrant

  Duke Ashvar of Raanan – gold field; repeating pattern of black swords

  Baron Monteer of Iviendenhall – white and black checkered shield

  Count Muar of Iviunn – black field; white cross of Ashtoreth

  Duke Malatam of Tarlan – white field; black saltire; repeating red roses on white quadrants

  Eanna

  King Hanniban Dujar – gold field; red cross; blue lions rampant on each gold quadrant

  Surrapam

  King Kaiman – red field; white saltire; blue star at center

  Thalu

  King Aryaman – black and white gyronny; white swords on four black sectors

  Delu

  King Santoval Marshayk – green field; two gold lions rampant facing each other

  The Elyssu

  King Theodor Jardan – blue field; repeating breaching silver dolphins

  Nedu

  King Tal – blue field; gold cross; gold eagle volant on each blue quadrant

  THE DRAGON KINGDOMS

  With one exception, in these lands, only Morjin himself bears his own arms: a great, red dragon on a gold field. Kings who have sworn fealty to him – King Orunjan, King Arsu – have been forced to surrender their ancient arms and display a somewhat smaller red dragon on their shields and surcoats. Kallimun priests who have been appointed to kingship or who have conquered realms in Morjin’s name – King Mansul, King Yarkul, Count Ulanu – also display this emblem but are proud to do so.