Josiah searched his senses as hard as he could for any trace of the telltale red and orange waves, then shook his head. “Nothing.”
His master’s voice was pleased. “I think we can safely say this child won’t suffer the same difficulties as your others, your majesty. I can’t say why—perhaps it’s just good fortune, or perhaps Lord Renarre is compatible with you in a way the fathers of your other children weren’t. But in any case, your pregnancy should progress normally without any help. We’ll continue the acceleration sessions if you wish, but besides that you shouldn’t need the Mother’s power unless some other complication arises.”
Josiah opened his eyes and compared what he’d been observing with the image of the child in the window floating over Elkan’s hand. It was really starting to look like a baby now. For a while it had seemed more like some sort of bizarre sea creature. It had even had a tail at one point. He’d been fascinated to follow how the minuscule bubble of life had progressed through the stages that transformed it into the contours of a human body. Arms and legs, with fingers and toes starting to form. Shadows of bones visible through translucent skin illuminated by the golden glow of the Mother’s power. A bulbous head and pudgy body. Eyes sealed closed above a snub nose and pursed mouth. A gently pulsing cord emerging from its belly. The whole thing small enough to fit in the palm of his hand with plenty of room to spare.
“I certainly wish to continue.” The Matriarch leaned close to the window, her breath fast and shallow. “Incredible to be able to see…”
After a long moment she sat back and tore her eyes away. “How old is it now?”
Elkan raised an eyebrow at Josiah. “Well?”
He conferred with Sar, matching his familiar’s sense of the amount of acceleration and time passed with the stage of development apparent to his eyes and enhanced senses. “Um, about seven weeks?”
“That’s what I’d estimate. Good work, you two.”
Josiah leaned back in his chair, basking in his master’s approval. Now that the baby had grown beyond the stage where even a tiny disruption of the Mother’s power could cause all sorts of things to go wrong, Elkan had let him and Sar share the work of acceleration. It wasn’t that hard, but it required sustained focus over time. Sar had been pulling a steady stream of energy out of him for over an hour.
The Matriarch fixed Elkan with a penetrating stare. “You said you would be able to determine its sex at eight weeks.”
“That’s right. The first signs of differentiation should be detectable by the end of our next session, if all goes well.”
“Tomorrow.” Her eyes shone as she looked back at the image of her child. Its half-formed hands twitched. One leg kicked and sent it into a slow head-over-heels tumble. Her hand went to her belly. “Why don’t I feel when it moves?”
“Because it’s still so small. You will soon.”
Elkan waited until her gaze left the glowing sphere before he removed his hand from Tobi’s head with an affectionate pat. Relieved, Josiah pulled his hand off Sar and rubbed it against his leg. “Actually, your majesty,” Elkan said, “since tomorrow is Restday, we’ll conduct the next session Firstday evening.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You worked the first Restday you were here.”
He inclined his head. “Only emergency cases. The Law requires that we refrain from using the Mother’s power for anything that’s not urgent.”
“What could be more urgent than my need for an heir?” The Matriarch gave him a knowing smile. “Up to your tricks again? What must I offer to overcome your reluctance?”
He frowned and glanced at Tobi. She regarded him with steady yellow eyes, her tongue lolling over her pointed teeth. He gave a short laugh in response to some comment Josiah couldn’t hear. “Release Borlen from his oath of service.”
“Gladly.” She shuddered. “I hear he insisted on bringing that cobra into the barracks last night.”
“Not a good arrangement for anyone, I agree. You could offer him lodging in one of the palace’s guest rooms until the quarters at the Mother’s Hall are ready.”
“The room next to yours is available. Maybe I should start charging admission to see the menagerie.” Her eyes narrowed. “The eagle remains unbound?”
Elkan’s brow creased for an instant, then smoothed. “Yes. It’s common in Tevenar for Mother-touched animals to arrive at the Hall throughout the year. Some of them wait months before bonding with an apprentice at Springtide.”
“Yet Borlen’s creature, ah, attached itself to him the moment it appeared. Unlike Tevenar, Ramunna has far more people who need a wizard’s care than can be served by the few we have. I’m surprised the Mother allows them to suffer when another familiar is available.”
Elkan shrugged. “I’m sure she has her reasons, but I’m not privy to them.” He rose, gesturing for Josiah and Sar to do likewise.
The Matriarch rose and followed them out the door. “I hope she acts quickly to supply us with a full complement of wizards. The city constable was here again this afternoon. There are a number of criminals he’s desperate for your help to apprehend.”
Elkan rubbed the back of his neck. “They’ll have to wait until the healing situation is in hand. The Law requires us to give patients first priority.”
“I understand, but surely stopping murderers and rapists is a high priority for the Mother as well.”
He grimaced and buried his fingers in the loose skin at the nape of Tobi’s neck. “Perhaps the constable could come by the Hall Firstday afternoon. If we’re not too busy, one of us might be able to spare an hour to help him with the most urgent cases.”
“He’ll be pleased to hear that.” The Matriarch gestured for them to precede her out of the room. “Until tomorrow evening.” She swept away down the corridor, guards and servants falling in around her.
Elkan set off toward their rooms. Josiah hurried to keep up. “So why do you think Tharanirre hasn’t bonded with Vigorre yet?”
His master gave him a reproving look. “We don’t know that she ever will.”
“Who else? I mean, I think Thanna would make a good wizard, too, but he’s a much more obvious choice.”
“I suspect the Mother knows things about him we don’t.”
“What? He’s obviously devoted to her. You saw him at the Temple last week.”
“True.” Elkan stared off into the distance.
Josiah made a face. “If he wasn’t going to be leading, I don’t think I could stomach attending the service. Do we really have to listen to Keeper Emirre be all holy and self-righteous, when a few days ago he was calling the familiars demons and us their slaves?”
Elkan grimaced sympathetically but shook his head. “We must. The Matriarch accepted his recantation. It wouldn’t look right for us to hold a grudge.”
Josiah sighed. “At least Vigorre never turned against us. When the Hall is finished can you start holding services there?” He laughed. “I never thought I’d want to attend a boring Hall Restday service.”
“Maybe, in time.” Elkan thumped his shoulder. “As long as you try not to fall out of your chair.”
“Yes, sir.” Josiah waved to his master with a grin as they split to go to their rooms.
* * *
Josiah flopped on his bed with a contented sigh. The Matriarch’s cooks always seemed to make an extra special effort for the midday meal on Restday. He’d stuffed himself so full all he wanted was to take a nice long nap.
But moments after he closed his eyes someone knocked on his door. He groaned and went to answer it. To his surprise, Vigorre stood there, resplendent in his embroidered Keeper robes. Kevessa was next to him, looking uncomfortable, holding onto Nina with a much tighter grip than usual. Borlen stood behind them, Shadow draped over his shoulders, a baffled expression on his face. “What’s the matter?” Josiah asked, alarmed.
Kevessa answered, not quite meeting his eyes. “Could you come over to Elkan’s room for a minute? We have something we need to tell both
of you.”
“Sure.” Josiah hesitated, glancing over to where Sar drowsed in his corner.
“Bring him,” Vigorre said grimly.
Burning with curiosity, Josiah roused Sar and they headed over to knock on Elkan’s door. Elkan surveyed the delegation with surprise, then wary humor. “I take it you’re not here to invite me to a Restday picnic.”
“No sir,” Vigorre said. “Can we come in?”
Elkan moved aside and gestured for them to enter. Josiah filed in with the others. He sat on the bed next to Borlen, with Sar squeezed into the corner beside him. Kevessa took the chair. Vigorre remained standing, his back to the door. He shot an unhappy look at Tharanirre on her perch by the window, then averted his eyes.
Elkan perched on the corner of his desk and fondled Tobi’s alertly perked ears. “I’m listening.”
Vigorre and Kevessa exchanged glances. She inclined her head to him.
Vigorre cleared his throat. “I’m afraid I haven’t been completely honest with you.” He gave a mirthless laugh. “In fact, I’ve been keeping secrets and lying to you from the beginning. But I want to come clean. You’re going to be upset, but will you promise to hear me out before you decide what to do?” He fixed Elkan with pleading eyes.
Elkan nodded slowly, his face a blank mask. His nails scratched hard on Tobi’s thick fur; she pressed into his hand with a rapt expression.
Vigorre took a deep breath. “A few months before you came to Ramunna, I attended a ball with my parents. That’s where I met Nirel.”
Josiah listened dumbfounded as he recounted the preposterous story Nirel had told him. Nirel was his friend. Smash it, they’d saved her life, and her father’s, and all their bandit friends. It had very nearly cost Elkan his life. How could she slander them so viciously? And her lie was so ridiculous. How could anyone ever believe the familiars would eat a person? Well, maybe Tobi looked the part, but Sar? And Nina? Vigorre should have fallen down laughing at the thought. If not at first, at least after he’d gotten to know them.
Vigorre stared at his shoes as he spoke, his voice getting quieter and quieter. “So I told my father everything Nirel had said. He seemed skeptical, but he thanked me for letting him know.” He swallowed. “I hoped that would be the end of it. I—I liked Nirel very much, so I started courting her. But then the Verinna arrived, with you aboard.”
He fell silent. After a moment, Elkan said, “With what you thought you knew, why did you volunteer to help us?”
Vigorre’s shoulders rose, then fell. “I watched you, that first day. I’ve dreamed of wielding the Mother’s power my whole life. What I saw confused me. You acted the way I always thought real wizards should. You helped people, or at least that’s what it seemed like you were doing. It didn’t match what Nirel had told me, but then she’d said that most people in Tevenar didn’t know the truth, that the demons always kept up the pretense in public. I decided I needed to observe you more closely.” He lifted pleading eyes to meet Elkan’s. “Working with you has been more rewarding than anything I’ve ever done. If not for what Nirel had told me, I’d have committed myself to your cause without reservation. Even as it was, I was torn.” He dropped his eyes again. “Then Father took me with him to see what Keeper Yoran had to show us. I’m sorry, Kevessa, but that’s what made me sure Nirel was right.”
She grimaced. “We tried to make it look convincing.”
“That’s why, when Tharanirre found me that night, and the Mother appeared to me”—he gulped and held out his hand, pushing up his sleeve to display the mostly-healed slash on the back of his wrist—“I refused her.”
Josiah swiveled and stared at Tharanirre, who was watching Vigorre intently but inscrutably. “I knew she was supposed to be yours!”
“Hush,” Elkan said. To Vigorre, he said, “What did she say?”
“She said I’d been lied to by people I loved. That people with the best of intentions could deceive me.” He buried his face in his hands and shook his head. “I thought it was the Lord of Demons tempting me. She even changed to that form for a moment, and to the form of the Lord of Justice. It was like she wasn’t even trying to change my mind. She said I had to decide for myself what was true.”
Elkan nodded, one corner of his mouth twitching. “That sounds like her. Go on.”
Vigorre dropped his hands and stared out the window. “I was so proud of myself for resisting. Then she said that even though she usually considers a refusal final, she would give me another chance. That I should watch, and listen, and make up my mind who I believed, and in time Tharanirre would offer me a bond again.”
Josiah caught his breath and looked at the eagle again, half expecting her to fly to Vigorre that minute. But she remained motionless, watching.
Quietly Elkan asked, “And have you? Decided for yourself what’s true?”
Vigorre shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them and met Elkan’s gaze. “I closed my heart to all the good I saw you doing, and continued to believe the familiars were demons. A week ago, when Kevessa’s aunt invited her home for Restday but insisted Nina stay behind, I saw my chance to help her win free of the demon’s influence. I asked Nirel to tell Kevessa what had happened to her.”
Elkan’s gaze went to Kevessa. She nodded, her eyes downcast. “I didn’t believe her, of course, but she sounded so sincere. She was my friend; I didn’t want to get her in trouble. So I kept what she told me a secret. From Nina, too.” She ducked her head to rest her cheek against the squirrel’s fur.
The muscles in Elkan’s jaw tightened, but his voice remained mild. “I take it Nina learned of this earlier, and didn’t consider the transgression severe enough to break your bond.”
Kevessa swallowed. “Yes, sir.”
“So what made you decide to come to me today and confess?” His voice took on an edge. “Considering you’ve seen fit to leave me in the dark until now? About things that I needed to take into consideration, that could make the difference whether our mission in Ramunna succeeds or fails?”
Josiah stayed as still as possible, hoping Elkan wouldn’t notice him. It might be smart to confess his own secret, how he’d nearly been caught in the Purifier’s trap, while his master’s fury would be split among multiple targets. It would help Vigorre’s case, too, if Elkan found out how he’d saved Josiah’s life. But he’d much prefer to escape Elkan’s wrath altogether. He decided to keep quiet unless Vigorre brought it up.
Kevessa clenched her fists. “I wanted to speak with Nirel again before I came to you, but she left. So I put it off. But last night I made Father take me around in the carriage, and I had Nina open some windows. I saw Nirel with Vigorre at the ball, where she told him exactly what she’d told me. When we traced her back, we saw her go to the Dualist Quarter. She went to the same shrine where we traced Tharan and spoke with Elder Davon. He’s the one who told her to lie about what happened when she was captured. She’s been a Dualist agent all along.”
Elkan blinked. His fingers clenched on Tobi’s head, loosening only when she lashed her tail and whined in protest. “What?”
Vigorre hurried to explain. “I only found out last week. She said her father was one of the last Dua—I mean, Faithful, that’s what they call themselves—in Tevenar. That he’d never told her about her heritage until they got here.”
“That—explains certain things.” Elkan’s eyes went distant for a moment, then focused again on Vigorre. “Go on.”
As Vigorre described how Kevessa had come to him and shown him the incriminating evidence, Josiah thought over all his interactions with Nirel, new understanding blossoming everywhere. Of course Kabos was a Dualist. His obsession with obedience and discipline and punishment, his reaction to his deformed daughter’s birth, his hostility to the wizards—it all fit. Nirel’s frantic concern for the Dualist woman after the fire, her knowledge of their beliefs, her defense of their right to reject healing… why, she’d known all along who Davon was, when he sought treatment for Mila from Nalini. And wha
t he’d overheard her saying to Ozor—a familiar really was the last thing she wanted.
Vigorre spread his hands. “So we agreed to come to you and tell you everything. I expect you’ll want to show my father, and Keeper Yoran, and the Matriarch, and anyone else who still believes the Purifiers.”
“If necessary. Although I don’t see that it will do much good now. Your father has already forsworn Purifier beliefs. Yoran is no longer a Keeper. And knowing the Matriarch, if she learns of this she’ll use it as an excuse to treat the Faithful even more cruelly. I want no part of that.” Elkan ran a hand through his hair. “What might be useful is to show large segments of the population of Ramunna. Although that would probably provoke violence against the Faithful while doing little to diminish support for the Purifiers.”
He was silent for a long time, staring into the distance. Finally his eyes refocused and he regarded the young Keeper. “I suppose, Vigorre, the most important question left is you. What do you believe, and where does your loyalty lie?”
Elkan stood up and moved toward Vigorre. Tobi flowed to her feet and paced beside him. “Do you still fear demons?” He stopped, but Tobi continued until she stood immediately in front of Vigorre, gazing up at him. “Or do you accept that our powers are granted by the Mother?”
Vigorre shrank back, looking from Elkan to Tobi. “By the Mother, of course. Everything Nirel told me was a lie.”
Tobi reared up and braced her heavy paws on Vigorre’s shoulders. He flinched, terror plain on his face.
Elkan’s voice was relentless. “But you love Nirel, so doubt still lingers. Why should you believe what you see through a window? It could be false, after all.”
“No,” Vigorre said, his voice cracking.
“Think about it. If Nirel told you the truth, right now you’re alone in a room full of demons and their slaves.” Elkan gestured at Sar, who laid his ears back and switched his tail, and Shadow, who lifted his head from Borlen’s shoulder, his hood spreading. Nina sprang to Kevessa’s knee. “Maybe at any moment their eyes will begin to glow red. Maybe you’re about to suffer the same fate as the unfortunate Malon.”
Beyond the Boundary Stones (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 3) Page 41
