“Yes,” Morgsten said. “I’ll bet the Outlander tells you all sorts of things. Those savages are experts when it comes to matters of the arcane and assassination. That must be the reason why you want to keep such an untrustworthy beast around. Or could it perhaps be for another reason?”
Jan’s heart stopped beating for a second. Was Morgsten implying what she thought he was? Something in her expression must have betrayed her surprise, because Morgsten began to chuckle.
“What a scandalous affair,” he exclaimed. “I never would have imagined the Grand Arbiter to be party to such illicit activities, but I suppose you are merely a woman, with earthly desires and needs.”
“Let me stop you before you go too far,” Jan interjected. She hoped to regain control of this conversation before it was too late. “What you are implying is unfounded and without evidence. Making such bold accusations against the Grand Arbiter is not an offense to be taken lightly. If I wanted, I could have you brought before the High Council of Lythril.” There, it was out. There was no going back now. If Jan had hoped to have a conversation with Morgsten on amiable terms, all chances of that were now gone.
Morgsten sat back in the chair as though Jan had physically struck him. He was silent for a moment, his eyebrows raised as he regarded Jan carefully. After a minute a smile began to spread slowly across his face.
“Why, Grand Arbiter,” he said. “I do believe you are bluffing.”
“This is a serious matter. I will do whatever necessary to protect my name.”
“If I am to be brought before the High Council, so will you.” Morgsten was far too smug for Jan’s liking. Unfortunately, he was right. If Jan brought the accusations made against her to the High Council, everyone would know about it. Even if those accusations were untrue, people would start to question whether or not the Grand Arbiter was having indecent relations with an Astraeyu Nouvin.
Jan chewed her lip as she considered her next move. She did not like being outmaneuvered by Morgsten. She could not let him see her fear.
“I have nothing to hide,” she said at last. “The High Council will be sure to take my side.”
“The High Council! Bah!” Morgsten’s sudden outburst startled Jan. “Those idiots do not frighten me. I didn’t come here to argue with you on whose side the High Council would take. I came here to offer you a proposal.”
Jan held her breath as she waited for Morgsten’s next words. Somehow, she doubted the proposal Morgsten was going to offer was for something as ordinary as marriage.
“I spoke to you before of the Prophecy of Fire,” he continued. “Let’s be honest. By now, I am sure you are familiar with the Coruscalli.” Jan started to speak, but Morgsten motioned for silence. “Ah, ah, there’s no need to play innocent. I know you are not uninformed as to the cult’s existence. Your Outlander pet has made certain of that. The truth is that the Coruscalli does, in fact, exist, and I am a part of it.”
Jan remained silent, shocked that Morgsten would so willingly admit to having connections with the Coruscalli. She expected they would have to drag the information out of him. Morgsten’s confession made her job easier, but unfortunately there were no witnesses around to hear his bold claims.
“Why tell me this?” Jan asked.
“The answer is simple, Grand Arbiter. I believe we can both benefit from an alliance.” Morgsten got up and began pacing the room. “Help the Coruscalli, Arbiter Sterling. I know the Outlander has made the Coruscalli out to be the villains, but I would expect no less from a savage. We need not be enemies. Help us obtain the Firebringer, and the Arbitrary Order of Lyth will thrive in the new world.”
Jan listened to Morgsten’s offer, hardly believing that he would be so bold as to speak the words aloud. What was less unbelievable was that he would expect Jan to play a part in the destruction of the world.
“I don’t understand,” Jan said. “You want the Arbiters to help the Coruscalli find the Firebringer? Doesn’t the Prophecy of Fire speak of its powers being used to destroy the world?”
“Outlander superstition,” Morgsten said. “The Firebringer’s true purpose is to cleanse the world of all its impurities. Think about it, Grand Arbiter. If you help the Coruscalli now, the Arbiters will remain a powerful organization for all time. All I ask in return is a favor.”
“A favor?” Jan could not imagine what Morgsten might ask of her next.
“Give me the Outlander. She is an Astraeyu’s Talon, is she not? Someone with her training and knowledge of her accursed homeland would be invaluable in finding the Firebringer.”
So that was what Morgsten was after. He wanted Talon so he could better understand the Ancient magic guarding the secrets of the Firebringer. Maybe the assassin had not come to the dungeon to murder Talon, but to kidnap her and take her to the Coruscalli. Talon would never confide the knowledge to the Coruscalli, no matter how much Morgsten had her tortured. Jan had her answer ready, even though she knew it would only make a permanent enemy of Morgsten.
“I’m afraid I can not help you,” she said. “As Grand Arbiter, it is my sacred duty to protect the world of Lythril from any and all threats. From what I gather, this Firebringer is a threat to the peace I’ve sworn to uphold.”
Morgsten was silent for a moment. Then he laughed. “I should have expected that answer from you. If I had spoken with you earlier, perhaps I could have convinced you to see the light, but now it is too late. The Outlander has corrupted your mind with her superstitious fears.”
“I doubt it is only superstition,” Jan said. “You said yourself that an Astraeyu’s Talon would have far more knowledge on the Firebringer than anyone else. You need Talon to decipher some Ancient text regarding the Firebringer that your people can’t understand. That is why I will never let you have her.”
Morgsten stopped pacing and leaned over, placing his hands on the desk. “Mark my words, Grand Arbiter, you are making a huge mistake, one from which your Order will never recover.” He loomed over Jan menacingly, but she held her ground. He scoffed. “You say you will protect the world of Lythril, but what would those same people you’ve sworn to defend say if they knew the truth? The Grand Arbiter is fucking an Outlander, and a woman, no less. If the High Council hears word of this, you will be forced to resign from your position, the first Grand Arbiter in history to be replaced.”
“I refuse to sit here and be threatened in my own office,” Jan said, rising so she could be at eye level with Morgsten. Jan held his gaze unwaveringly, just as Talon would. She doubted she was as intimidating as Talon, but Morgsten must have sensed the unspoken challenge and was the first to break eye contact.
Morgsten took a few steps back from the desk, and said, “You have not heard the last of this, Grand Arbiter.” This time, he spoke the honored title mockingly. He made brief eye contact with Jan once more and then he was gone.
Jan settled back down in her chair and let out a deep sigh. Did she make the right decision by so blatantly confronting and challenging Morgsten? He could prove to be a rather troublesome enemy. If Morgsten spread rumors insinuating that Jan was having indecent relations with Talon as he suggested, it would create a scandal across the Four Kingdoms. Her credibility as leader of the Arbiters would be ruined, her reputation forever tarnished. Jan Sterling would be known as a laughing stock, the Grand Arbiter who was enraptured with her Astraeyu Nouvin lover while the world of Lythril burned around her. Jan forced the urge to flee and hide from her mind. If the Coruscalli succeeded in finding the Firebringer, none of it would matter. There would be no one left to laugh at Jan’s failed leadership. Only the Coruscalli would remain, and that was assuming the Prophecy of Fire was true and the Firebringer was not merely a weapon capable of destroying the entire world.
An idea struck Jan. The Firebringer was said to be a construct of the Ancients, the ancestors of modern day Astraeyu Nouvins. So why, then, had it not occurred to Jan before that what the Coruscalli sought would be found in Astraeyu Nouvi? It
suddenly dawned on her what Morgsten was trying to do, what he wanted to accomplish by inviting her to Kalvatin and entangling her in a web of lies and deceit and deadly plots. This whole time Morgsten was trying to draw Jan’s attention away from the Coruscalli’s true goal.
Jan rose from her desk and strode purposefully from her office. Enough time had been wasted already. She must gather her allies at once.
MORGSTEN DUCKED INTO a dark corridor as he made his way through the Institute. He felt eyes upon him, and he knew exactly who he would find in the shadows.
“I trust all is well, Morgsten.” The hollow sound of the Overseer’s voice sounded strange and out of place among the everyday noises of the Institute. Usually when Morgsten met with the Overseer, it was late and everyone had retired for the night.
“Everything is fine, yes.” Morgsten cleared his throat and tugged at his shirt collar. For some reason, the darkness of the corridor seemed stifling.
“Your plan to incite a riot at the Institute failed.” The Overseer took a step closer to Morgsten, where the light streaming in from an overhead window fell squarely on that silver mask. “The demonstration staged by the Ignoble Ones was supposed to become a bloodbath, but the Arbiters managed to resolve the issue peacefully. You disappoint me, Morgsten.”
Morgsten felt like he could not breathe. The Overseer was disappointed in him, again. If he did not do something to remedy his situation soon, he might not be able to draw breath for very much longer.
“A minor setback, I assure you,” Morgsten managed to choke out through the mounting fear. “I am not out of options yet. In fact, I’ve just come from a private meeting with the Grand Arbiter and I might have uncovered something most curious about January Sterling.”
“I’m listening.”
Morgsten swallowed hard. If he was wrong about the Grand Arbiter’s true reasons for keeping the Outlander so close, he might not live long enough to regret making such outlandish accusations. He recalled the expression on Sterling’s face when he first implied that something scandalous was going on between her and the Black Talon. There was no denying that the Grand Arbiter displayed evident shame at being accused of such a thing, so there was reason to believe that it might be at least partially true.
“It would seem that our Grand Arbiter has rather exotic tastes,” Morgsten continued. “I daresay I’ve discovered the truth behind the alliance between the Arbiters and the Outlander.”
For the first time during the encounter, the Overseer appeared to be genuinely interested in what Morgsten had to say.
“Tell me more.”
Morgsten breathed a sigh of relief. If he could convince the Overseer that Sterling’s dark secret was worth investigating and exploiting, he might be able to live long enough to see the day the Firebringer was unleashed upon the world.
A SHORT TIME after Jan’s confrontation with Morgsten, she was in the Repentance Dormitory, along with Talon, Rhys, and Beatrix. She had gathered her inner circle as quickly as possible, and without drawing any unnecessary attention from the Kalvat Arbiters. She briefly considered sharing the information with Niercel, but ultimately decided against it.
Jan surveyed the faces of everyone gathered. These people were trustworthy. Jan knew they would never betray her. As her gaze fell on Talon, Morgsten’s accusations came to mind and she felt the warmth of a blush threaten to redden her face. She dismissed the feeling of shame for something she was not even guilty of, and cleared her throat.
“As you might know, I was visited again by Morgsten today.” Jan noticed Talon start to protest and held up her hand for silence. “I was unaware of Morgsten’s intentions until he was already at the Vermillion Temple. If I’d had more warning, I assure you, I would have informed all of you.”
“It was dangerous for you to meet with Morgsten alone,” Rhys said.
“I agree with the Knight-Commander,” Talon said. “Even if you didn’t have time to inform us yourself, you should have sent word.”
“Then our cover would have been ruined. No one else knows we are set up in the Repentance Dormitory. You’re still something of a prisoner, Talon.” Jan realized her words sounded harsh, and added, “Not really, but we can’t allow you to have free run of the Temple. If Morgsten knew that you aren’t locked away in the dungeon, he would do everything in his power to make life for all Arbiters miserable here in Kalvatin, especially after today.”
“What do you mean?” Beatrix asked.
Jan took a deep breath before speaking. “Morgsten had the audacity to come here and admit personally that the Coruscalli exists and that he is a part of it.”
“Then we have him,” Rhys said.
“Except that there were no witnesses, other than myself, to hear his confession,” Jan said. “Not only did he confess to his involvement with the Coruscalli, he also extended an invitation for me to join the cult.”
“You must be joking,” Rhys said. “Does he actually believe the Grand Arbiter would be willing to accept his corrupt beliefs? He must truly fear the Arbiters to make such an offer.”
“He claimed that by helping the Coruscalli obtain the Firebringer, I would be cementing a place for the Arbitrary Order of Lyth in the new world.” Jan paused to gauge the reactions of her friends.
“What did you say to him?” Talon asked.
“I refused, of course. I let him know where I stand in regards to the Coruscalli. Unfortunately, that also means that Morgsten will become a more overt adversary of the Arbiters in the future.”
“You should have taken him down before he could cause the Arbiters any more trouble,” Talon said. So far, Talon was reacting to the news the way Jan envisioned she would. She wondered how Talon would feel when she revealed the next secret Morgsten had confided in her.
“I would have loved to, believe me,” Jan said, “but it would have been my word against his. Morgsten is resourceful. He would have found some way to make me look like a fool in front of the High Council.” Jan thought of Morgsten’s implication that she was having an illicit affair with Talon and had to suppress a shudder.
“I still can’t believe that Morgsten would actually come to the Vermillion Temple and ask that you join the Coruscalli,” Rhys said.
“I don’t think Morgsten really wants me,” Jan said. “What he is really after, I believe, is Talon.”
Talon tensed but said nothing.
“Morgsten must be close to the Firebringer,” Jan continued, “perhaps closer than any of us would dare to imagine. But the Firebringer is protected.”
“By Ancient magic,” Talon finished for her.
“Exactly,” Jan said. “I think the Coruscalli have reached an impasse. In order to reach the Firebringer, Morgsten’s people need the assistance of someone who understands the Ancient texts.”
“Then there is still time,” Talon said.
“Yes,” Jan agreed. “I think it’s time that we made a graceful exit from Kalvatin, while I still have some standing among Kalvat society.” Morgsten would be free to spread his lies and sow discord among the Thaumaturgists and Arbiters, but Jan hoped he would be too busy focusing his attention on her actions to cause too much trouble.
“We’re pulling out of Kalvatin?” Rhys asked. “Is that wise, your worship?”
“We are needed more urgently elsewhere,” Jan said. “The whole point in inviting me to Kalvatin was so that Morgsten could draw attention away from the Coruscalli’s true purpose. It took a while, but now I realize what that purpose is. We must stop the Coruscalli before it can unravel the secrets of the Firebringer. In order to do that, we must travel north, to Astraeyu Nouvi.”
Chapter Twenty
NO ONE WAS more surprised than Talon when Jan announced her decision to head north to Astraeyu Nouvi. The island usually was not a travel destination for a Mainlander. Talon wondered if even she would be welcome there after her failures, especially when she would be traveling with such a strange entourage. Jan seemed to bel
ieve wholeheartedly that they would find the bulk of the Coruscalli forces in Astraeyu Nouvi. Talon saw no reason to argue. The Firebringer was a construct of the Ancients. Astraeyu Nouvi was the homeland of the Ancients. It made sense that they would hide their greatest invention somewhere within the isolated northern land.
Jan seemed unnerved after her recent visit from Morgsten. At first Talon thought it was only her imagination, but Jan was having difficulty making eye contact with her. Talon wondered what Jan and Morgsten had discussed and was regretful that she was not there to eavesdrop as she was before. No doubt Morgsten was making threats about one thing or another, dragging Jan into the middle of it all. Was that Jan’s true reason for wanting to leave Kalvatin? Talon didn’t think Jan was the type of woman to run away from her problems. Jan had never run before, not even when a huge spear of light was aimed directly at her heart.
Talon felt embarrassed about how she had nearly broken down in front of Jan when she admitted that she believed that Jan was Astraeyu’s Chosen. It was not easy for Talon to accept that a Mainlander woman had been chosen to prevent the Prophecy of Fire from coming to pass, which made her wonder how well this information would be accepted in Astraeyu Nouvi. There was no hiding such secrets from Astraeyu’s Will. The Heart had eyes everywhere. Talon was sure they would be closely watched from the moment they set foot on Astraeyu Nouvin soil, if not before.
THE JOURNEY NORTH was off to a rough start. Late autumn was the start of the rainy season on the plains, and as they reached the mountains of Rashok’var, their progress was slowed by the deep snowdrifts covering the rocky slopes. Talon felt right at home in the colder climate of the highlands, but Jan and the others were more accustomed to the milder weather of the south.
Jan still said little of her conversation with Morgsten, but Talon was not one to press for details. Jan had been nothing but patient with her since they met. Even when Jan knew Talon wasn’t telling her everything about the Coruscalli and the Prophecy of Fire, Jan waited until Talon was ready to trust her with the details. Still, Talon wondered what Morgsten could have said to cause Jan to want to leave Kalvatin in such a hurry. Was Jan really so concerned that Morgsten would continue to harass them until Jan was forced to turn Talon over to the Kalvat authorities? Jan’s life was endangered in Kalvatin, also, but Talon suspected it was more than fear that drove Jan to leave Orsela when she did.
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