EXILE'S RETURN

by Kate Jacoby

  With the smallest of whispers, Robert said, “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

  “Damn you!” Wilf bellowed. “Damn both of you!”

  “Please,” Ayn reached over and placed a calming hand on Wilf s arm. “This will get us nowhere. Robert, if we don’t send someone to court, we could be missing out on the one vital piece in the destiny of the Enclave. Neither of our people at Marsay are capable of such a task. It must come from here. Surely you can understand that.”

  “Of course I can,” Robert looked at each of the councillors present. “I understand your problem, but you don’t understand the danger. There are factors at work here you know nothing about.”

  Wilf made a rude noise and plumped back in his seat. With a sneer, he folded his arms and said, “Well, go on. Acquaint us with them. What factors?”

  In reply, Robert turned to Finnlay. “Did you tell them everything?”

  Everything except the caves and the rod—and Berenice. He would never tell anyone about that. Robert must know at least that much. “Yes. Everything.”

  “Then they have no excuse, do they?” Robert raised a jaunty eyebrow and addressed the council once more. “Has it not occurred to you that several of these recent events may be connected? To borrow one of Patric’s favourite themes, I find it difficult to believe that it is pure coincidence that Jenn was the one to sense this stranger.”

  “Why shouldn’t she?” Henry murmured. “Her powers are different to ours—and she’s very strong.”

  “You don’t know that she’s that different. But even if you’re right, don’t you think it’s strange that she was one of those children abducted—and we already know the fate of another—in the company of a Malachi.”

  Finnlay blurted before he could stop himself, “You’re not suggesting that this presence at court is the man responsible for the abductions!”

  Robert leaned back in his seat. “I won’t say it’s the same man—he was old, remember. But who’s to say they aren’t connected in some way? Why would this person try to pressure Jenn? Why her and none of us? Why not me? Or Murdoch? Why is he so interested in Jenn?”

  There was no immediate answer and Finnlay glanced at Patric, who raised his eyebrows in response.

  “I’m sorry, Robert,” Ayn eventually replied, “but that doesn’t really change anything. For all we know, this sorcerer thinks he is isolated and sensed something from Jenn. Perhaps he tried to reach her.”

  “She said the sensation was entirely evil.”

  “She’s untrained, Robert, how would she know what she’s sensing?”

  “In that case,” he replied, “she may not have sensed anything at all. Look, I’m not suggesting for one moment that you ignore this new player—that would be pointless. I am merely suggesting you do nothing about it for the moment.”

  “And do what?” Henry murmured.

  “Leave it to me. Let me deal with it.”

  Stunned silence filled the council chamber for several long moments. Finnlay’s attention was wholly on Robert. Was it possible? Was he really going to act at last? Did he mean to...

  Wilf slowly rose to his feet. “Am I hearing right? Did you just say you were actually going to do something?”

  “I did.” Robert replied, glancing up. “Don’t die of shock, Wilf—as yet, I still have no intentions of taking your place, so don’t go rushing it. Yes, I want the Enclave to stay away from Marsay, from the King, Vaughn and whoever it is that Jenn sensed there. At least until I’ve had a chance to find out more. You risk all you’ve accomplished so far if you expose the Enclave in this manner, especially in light of Finnlay’s arrest. If you are right—and this sorcerer is powerful enough to have avoided me for all the years I was at court—then that person is surely powerful enough to overcome whoever you send there. They have been shielded for a reason—and perhaps that reason is that they have no wish to be discovered by other sorcerers. There are a myriad reasons why you should do as I suggest.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Wilf grumbled.

  Henry, however, sat forward and said, “You’re not telling us everything, are you?”

  “I never took the oath to the Enclave, Henry. I’m under no obligation to tell you anything at all.”

  “No,” Henry said flatly. “You swore an oath to the King instead. How are we to know where your allegiances lie? You refuse to tell us what we wish to know, you will not explain why—and at the same time you expect us to trust you to investigate this sorcerer at court, the same court where your old friend Selar resides. You deliberately influenced Jenn to leave the Enclave so that we could do nothing with her. You have always guarded your independence from us, refused to join us, regardless of how important it is. You cannot honestly expect us to trust you.”

  “Now wait a moment,” Finnlay interjected, “are you suggesting that my brother would betray the Enclave?”

  “It’s all right, Finn,” Robert shook his head briefly, “I can see their point. I just don’t understand it. After all these years of them asking me to help, when I do, they refuse to trust me.”

  “Then tell us what the Key told you,” Wilf snapped. “Then we’ll trust you. For once, Robert, tell us the whole truth.”

  “No.”

  “Robert,” Finnlay hissed, “are you sure you can’t?”

  “Absolutely,” he smiled, “I can’t do or say anything more to convince them. They must make their decision without my help.”

  Henry’s jaw jutted out. “Perhaps not. Perhaps there’s another way we can be sure of you. The Key.”

  “The Key?” Wilf repeated in a flat voice. “You actually want to allow him access to the Key now?”

  Henry shrugged. “It’s the only way. Will you do it, Robert?”

  There was a sudden increase in tension around Robert’s eyes. Finnlay swallowed, but could say nothing, do nothing to help him. What was he thinking? Would he face the Key again, for the first time in twenty years? Did he dare?

  “Well?” Henry insisted.

  “No. I won’t. I can’t.”

  “There it is again!” Wilf waved his arms in frustration.

  “Then our decision is made,” Ayn said quietly, rising to her feet. “We will send someone to Marsay to contact this unknown sorcerer. I will leave in two days.”

  “No!” Robert sprang up, pinning Ayn with that terrible gaze of his. For long seconds they stayed like that, the air almost alive with tension. Then slowly, gradually, Robert dropped his shoulders in defeat. “Very well, you win. I’ll go to the Key. In fact, I’ll do it now if you like and save you the suspense.”

  The great cavern was almost empty, but the galleries above soon filled with spectators. This event was too unique to miss. Finnlay just wished they’d all go away. This was no game, no trifling occasion to be toyed with. Robert didn’t need an audience.

  Finnlay left the others standing to one side of the Key and followed Robert to the base of the steps. There, hanging on its ornate trapeze at the end of the hall, was the innocuous-looking bell, dull and lifeless. The moment Robert took the first of the three steps, it would awaken.

  Robert came to a halt and gazed up at the bell. Finnlay came close and murmured, “Are you sure you want to do this? After what happened last time?”

  “What choice have I got, Finn?” Robert turned to face him, his gaze steady and entirely open. “This time I’ve been pushed into a corner and I don’t know another way out. For twenty years I’ve fought against doing this and now it seems I must do it by choice. No matter what the others think, I have no desire to see the Enclave destroyed. I need time—and this is the only way I can get the council to give it to me.”

  “But what if...”

  “No, Finn,” Robert smiled gently. “Go back and take your place with them. That’s where you belong.”

  Finnlay held Robert’s gaze for a moment, then nodded slowly. Was Robert saying goodbye? It sounded like it. But why? What had the damned Key said to him all those years ago?

&
nbsp; He turned away and took his place with the council. His questions would be answered soon enough.

  Robert lifted his foot on to the first step and in that instant, the bell began to ring, long deep peals which sang through the cavern. He raised his left hand, his ayarn caught between his fingertips. Abruptly the bell dissolved into the familiar black orb and hung there, shining as though wet with dew. The ringing ceased but as the last echo faded away, Finnlay began to hear voices, coming directly from the Key itself. At first the words were indistinct and garbled and then with a sigh, they started to take shape and meaning. The Key was speaking to Robert again after nearly twenty years of silence but this time, Finnlay could hear what it said. Everyone could!

  You come again to us, Robert of Dunlorn. You come with questions, but you do not wish to hear the answers. She speaks to you, but you do not listen. You each have the gift of mindspeech but you communicate nothing. You are Bonded together but you walk away. She has touched the stone which binds your power and healed the wounds within it. Though you still fight us, you cannot win. Your destiny is written in your blood. You may run from it but you cannot avoid it for ever.

  Jenn! Finnlay felt a shudder of fear run down his spine. The Key must be talking about Jenn! Patric was right. But how...

  The Key continued: Let her live not nor be not alone. For she will be the guiding light against the Angel of Darkness. She is the light of hope and that which will break us. We strive for her life even as she for our destruction. She is the last of her line. All ends and begins with her. Cherish and rejoice in her and be Bonded with her for all eternity.

  A hushed silence filled the chamber. For a moment, Finnlay thought the Key had finished. Then, before he could move, more words came.

  Your anger will succeed where you would fail. Hasten towards your true path and come not again to these your brothers until she is among them. Always remember she is the Ally. You, Robert of Dunlorn, are the Enemy.

  With that, a searing white light shot from the Key and pinned Robert to his place. He stiffened as it held him, his face writhing in agony. For long seconds he remained frozen until briefly the light intensified, focusing its heat on the ayarn in his hands. Then, with a deafening explosion, the ayarn shattered into a thousand pieces. Robert was knocked over by the blast, landing on his back. As the last of the stone shards landed on the floor around him, the Key withdrew the light and returned to its original shape.

  Finnlay rushed forward and sank to his knees beside his brother. Robert was dazed and struggled to sit up. As Finnlay helped him, the others gathered around. For a moment, Finnlay ignored them and whispered urgently, “Was that it? What it said to you before?”

  Robert frowned. “Only the middle part. But the rest. ..”

  “Well, you wanted an answer, Henry,” Wilf said firmly, unable to keep the triumph out of his voice, “and you got it. You were right. It seems Dunlorn has been keeping quite a lot from us, and obviously for his own purposes. He and Jenn share this mindspeech talent—and he’s seen fit to keep it from us! How can that be personal? All these years he lied to us. He refused to tell us this prophecy. How can he say this has nothing to do with us? As far as I’m concerned, that only seals his fate.”

  Robert climbed to his feet and Finnlay turned around to Wilf. “But you don’t understand. Robert never lied. He couldn’t tell you about it before. The Key literally wouldn’t let him . . .”

  “Do you think I give a damn? Do you think I care what plots your brother is indulging in? He has strung us along for too many years now and I’m sick of it! You can stay here if you wish, Finnlay but as soon as he is fit enough to leave, Robert will depart the Enclave and never return. From the moment he leaves here, I forbid him ever to come back. Do you understand?”

  “But, Wilf. ..”

  “Don’t argue with me, Finnlay!” the old man thundered back. “The Key has given its judgement. It has branded your brother as an enemy. It is the Key itself that banishes him from the Enclave. He is condemned by his own actions!”

  “It’s all right, Finn,” Robert murmured, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll go. It’s for the best.”

  Robert turned to face the council, his back straight, his eyes ablaze with a fire that had been gone for too long. “I will go, but despite what the Key has just shown you all, I have no intention of doing anything it says. There are powers at work here we do not understand and I, for one, refuse to be a part of them. Do what you wish—I cannot stop you. And now the Key has destroyed my ayarn, I cannot even use my powers. I’m not even sure I can make another ayarn now. Is this what you want? There is a warning here if you’re willing to see it. This,” he pointed to the silent bell a few feet away, “is your real enemy. It took me until now to realize that. By all means banish me from the Enclave, but whatever you do, do not trust the Key and what it tells you.”

  “Save your words for someone who will trust them, Robert. I want you gone from here by tomorrow night.”

  Without another word, Wilf turned on his heel and stalked away. Bewildered, confused and generally unhappy, the rest of the council followed—and Ayn with them.

  A hollow breeze drifted around the cavern, chill and ominous, like an empty grave at midnight. Finnlay shivered, but his cold seemed to come from within, hastened by the truth.

  “It seems you’re finally on your own, brother,” Robert murmured.

  Finnlay slowly turned to face him, his eyes wide in wonder. “Is it true? Can you really mindspeak? Was it you who warned me you were on your way to rescue me?”

  Robert nodded. “I can, but only with Jenn. She was the one who warned you. I only learned the trick later. Aren’t you going to ask me why I didn’t tell you? Tell everyone?”

  “Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? They wouldn’t have left her alone. As it is ...”

  “As it is, they still won’t—and now I can do nothing to protect her.”

  That fire was still there, in Robert’s eyes. Protecting Jenn was very important to him. So important that he’d lied to them all and brought this banishment down on his own head. Was this part of the Bonding?

  It was difficult to assimilate so much so quickly. Finnlay went on, “But that wasn’t all the Key told you the first time, was it? There was something else—you said something dangerous. Can you talk about it now?”

  “No. As I said before, even if I could, I wouldn’t—especially not now.”

  “Why especially?”

  Robert dropped his gaze to the floor and the shards of his ayarn. “The Key said it, Finn. I’m the Enemy.”

  “It told you that before?”

  “No. That was new.”

  “And the Bonding? What does it mean?”

  Robert smiled. He placed an arm around Finnlay’s shoulder and turned him towards the exit. “Nothing, brother. Absolutely nothing. This Bonding thing is so old I doubt it means anything now.”

  “But the Key said...”

  “Don’t trust the Key, Finn. Don’t trust anyone.”

  “Not even you?”

  Robert paused at the entrance to the tunnel and faced his brother squarely. “Especially not me. For whatever reason, I—and Jenn—seem to be the focus of the Key’s intentions. By all means, trust her. So far the Key has said nothing to her and she is, to all intents and purposes, free from its taint. I want you to do your best to keep her away from it.”

  “I will, I promise—but what are you going to do now?”

  In that moment, the awesome confidence Robert had always exuded suddenly dropped away. What remained was nothing more than raw pain and dull defeat. “I’m going home, Finn. To face the Guilde’s questions about you. To face Mother. To lie. I tried to do something and failed again. I thought that if I helped just a little then I could protect you and Jenn. That I could stop this before it gets too far. But I was wrong. I can no more help the Enclave than I could help Berenice. Any attempt I make to do anything, to change anything, will end in failure. It seems the Key will only let
me travel one path. I have no choice now but to continue fighting it.”

  “But why?” Finnlay whispered, awed by the depth of Robert’s despair. “Why fight it?”

  “Because I know what will happen if I don’t.” He sighed and gazed along the tunnel for a moment. “It’s almost dawn now. I’d better prepare to leave. There’s no point in staying and aggravating things more. I have to get home and tell Mother you’re not really dead. By Serin’s breath, that’s going to be a fun conversation!”

  With visible clarity, Finnlay saw the facade shift back into place, heard the voice resume its old tone. Once more, Robert looked the image of calm certainty, quiet confidence and easy charm, impervious to all the deep wounds life had inflicted on him. In all these years, this was the greatest piece of sorcery Finnlay had seen Robert perform.

  Finnlay stopped walking and reached out a hand to Robert’s shoulder. “If you go now, Robert ... I must stay here and you can’t come back ... I won’t see you again, will I?”

  Robert shook his head and smiled, laughter dancing in his eyes. “Come now, Finn. You never liked having me around anyway. You were much happier when I was out of the country.”

  “But that was different, Robert. That was before I understood.”

  “And do you understand now?”

  Finnlay met that steady gaze, but this time the fear, the anger and frustration were gone. For the first time in his life, he could look at Robert and see the truth. He nodded. “Yes, I do.”

  Robert raised his eyebrows, both cynical and vulnerable at the same time. A typical contradiction. “You’re doing well, brother. Now you also have something in common with Jenn. But please, if she comes here, keep her away from the Key. I don’t know why, but I have the feeling it wants her.”

  “But what do you want, Robert?”

  His brother only smiled. “Come on, Finn. I’ll need some help packing.”

  The End of EXILE’S RETURN First Book of Elita