Forgotten Stairs

by Hausladen, Blake;

  Lukan looked put out. He thought to argue, but I’d boxed him in. I almost felt bad about it too, but I did not much care which noblemen in Wilgmuth would lose their claims to those lands. It was never theirs to begin with.

  He said to us, “Where my wife and children go into danger, so must I. We will be victorious, or the Vlek will fall into ruin.”

  The meeting lasted long enough for him to tell his general what he wanted done. They departed, and soon only I, the arilas, and our spouses remained. Earinne led us to soft sedans before the fireplace. Sevat came, but reluctantly. A decanter of divonte was retrieved from a thin counter beside the fireplace mantel. It was warm, and the sweet smell of the almond liqueur drew old and happy memories. The last time I’d smelled it was when my uncle had visited us in Bessradi and brought a bottle with him. I’d been all of four at the time but could still remember the pair drinking the entire bottle that same meal, spilling some of it in their quick drunkenness. The house had kept the sweet smell the whole year.

  I looked over to see my husband fast asleep, his empty cup cradled in his large hands. Earinne retrieved it. She offered me a refill, which I accepted. She then kissed my cheek and excused herself.

  The arilas, despite the day, seemed in the midst of unburdening himself. I could not think what it could be and waited for him to explain.

  “When this newest war began,” he said, “Aderan set fire to our fields and the flames carried wildly across most of our cropland and much of Aderan. Many were caught by the flames. A story is told of a healer who saved the lives of a hundred men.”

  I took a long drink to hide my surprise. Geart was the healer he spoke of.

  “There are also stories of Trace’s defeat at Urnedi and the miracle of Bayen’s touch saving every wounded man upon the field. I had thought it a likely fiction until I read Barok’s letter.”

  “Hmm,” I replied.

  “I have not yet heard anyone try to connect the two stories. One man is said to have been a churlish priest who killed himself in the performance, the other a red-hat who became enraged by the crimes of rogue Hessier. I wonder, though. I know also of a third tale—one of a slave seen at Smargnoid who healed a horse—which is impossible.”

  He set his cup aside. “What I have wondered, is if it is the same man behind all three of these miracles.”

  “That would make for quite a tale.”

  “Indeed. For if it was a single man who had done these things, one would be left wondering what part Bayen truly played. One might also wonder if such a skill is something that others could learn—somewhere perhaps where the eyes of priests and Hessier are not welcome and rarely go.”

  “How would you have me respond, Lukan? You speak of things forbidden by the Ministry and hunted by its Conservancy.”

  “I need hear nothing, Soma. Tell your prince and this man of his that they may ask anything of me and Heneur. I ask only that before I die they tell me how a man may be redeemed in this life. Bayen’s gate is a fiction. I no longer march toward it.”

  I thought Lukan was joking or simply drunk until I saw his full glass and tearful eyes. He knew it was Geart and had been wholly converted simply by stories of him.

  “Prince Barok sent us to draft a treaty of equals with you. The rest … the rest is for another day, in another place.”

  “My father would shake his head, but his ghost wafts up and down the hills he failed to unite. Drink with me, Soma,” he said. We raised and drained them.

  I said to him, “One day soon we will talk. Until then, know that you are much closer now to a redeemed life than you were this morning. Sleep well, Lukan Vlek. These will be good days for Heneur.”

  Also by Blake Hausladen

  Ghosts in the Yew - Vesteal Series Volume One

  This omnibus volume includes:

  Part 1 - Beyond the Edge

  Part 2 - Opposing Oaths

  Part 3 - Reckless Borders

  Part 4 - Bayen’s Women

  Part 5 - Falling Tides

  Native Silver - Vesteal Series Volume Two

  This omnibus volume includes:

  Part 1 - Sutler’s Road

  Part 2 - Forgotten Stairs

  Part 3 - Thrall’s Wine

  Part 4 - Corsair Princess

  Part 5 - Tanayon Born

  The Vastness - Vesteal Series Volume Three

  This omnibus volume includes:

  Part 1 - Silent Rebellion

  Part 2 - The River War

  Part 3 - The Blinded

  Part 4 - Crimson Valley

  Part 5 - Singer’s Reward

  About the Author

  Armed with an English degree from Ripon College and an MBA from Chicago’s Stuart School of Business, Blake has delved for twenty years through the shadowed realms of the financial industry. He currently solves financial crimes during the day and gives life to wild fantasies during the blackest hours of night.

  Glossary

  Abodeen - A poor northern coastal province

  Adanas - A monster in a children’s story and the name of the lost religion of the Edonians

  Aderan - A rich western plains province

  Akal-Tak - The fierce warhorses of the Hemari

  Almidi - Provincial seat of Trace

  Alsman - A bodyman appointed by the Exaltier to each of his sons

  Alsonbrey - Eastern gateway city of the Kaaryon

  Alsonelm - Northern gateway city of the Kaaryon

  Alsonvale - Western gateway city of the Kaaryon

  Aneth - An eastern coastal province

  Anton - A greencoat trainee, Erom’s son

  Apped - A prison in Aderan

  Arilas - A provincial governor and hereditary title

  Ataouk - A royal family defeated by the Yentif

  Avin - A former church lawyer who escaped to Enhedu with Geart

  Barok - Arilas of Enhedu, heir to the throne of Edonia, One of the last three surviving princes of Zoviya

  Bayen - The god of Zoviya

  Bellion - Rich noble family from Eril

  Bendent - Arilas of Thanin, and cousin to the Exaltier

  Bergion - The southern sea that often sends cold winds north

  Berm - A vast southeastern province of tundra and mountains

  Bessradi - The capital city of the Zoviyan Empire

  Bleau - Noble family in Kuet

  Bluecoat - Another name for a Hemari soldier

  Bunda-Hith - The monstrous mountains in Berm

  Chaukai - The secret order sworn to the King of Edonia

  Corneth - A rich noble family in Alsonelm

  Cynt - A rich family in the Oreol

  Daavum Mountains - A thick mountain range that runs south from Enhedu through Trace into Heneur

  Dagoda - A Zoviyan school that trains young women to serve the rich and powerful men of Zoviya

  Dahar - A poor eastern province

  Dame - A familiar title for the oldest woman in a family or place, grandmother

  Darmia - Leger’s wife, sister to Evela

  Dekay - A conservancy priest that serves Sikhek

  Deyalu (way of the blood) - A wing of the Bessradi Palace where the Exalier’s sons are raised

  Dia - Matron of Urnedi, married to Barok

  Dooma, Avinda - Avin’s full name

  Eargram - Urnedi’s bailiff

  Edonia - A kingdom destroyed by the Zoviya Empire

  Ellyon Grano - A Hemari captain who serves with Evand

  Enhedu - A desolate northern province

  Eppel O’Nrosevel - Horsemaster in Alsonvale

  Erd Oklas - Warden of Trace, brother to Erom

  Erik Feseq - A Hemari colonel

  Eril - A rich western coastal province

  Erom Oklas - Mayor of Urnedi, brother of Erd

  Errati Saristrava - A moneylender that works for Chancellor Parsatayn

  Evand - Hemari colonel, one of the last three surviving princes of Zoviya

  Evela - Sister to Darmia

 
Exaltier (Sword of Bayen) - The head of the executive branch of the Zoviyan government

  Fana - Barok’s senior scribe

  Fell Pony - A stout mountain pony

  Fenol - A swordmaster in Bessradi

  Feseq - A noble family from Urmand

  Fleur - A master of horses, Sahin’s sister

  Furstundish - A Chaukai family that includes Gern

  Geart - Healer and singer in Enhedu, was Barok’s body guard for many years

  Gern - A Chaukai at Urnedi, married to Fana

  Greencoat - The name give to the soldiers from Enhedu

  Grand Mhedhil - A famous avenue of shops and baths in Bessradi

  Grano - A noble family from central Thanin

  Haton - A barkeep and leader of a Bessradi labor association

  Harod Serm - Arilas of Aderan

  Havish - A rich eastern province

  Hemari (bluecoat) - Zoviya’s elite soldiers that garrison at its capital and gateway cities

  Heneur - A mountainous coastal province in the northwest

  Hessier - Soldiers of the conservancy

  Horace - A Chaukai healer

  Hooak - Noble family from Thanin

  Hurdu - Cavalry from Urmand

  Kaaryon - The capital territory of the Zoviyan Empire

  Kennculli - A Chaukai family

  Kalot - Darmia and Evela’s family name

  Khrim - A poor northeastern coastal province

  Kiel - Noble family of Aneth

  Kuet - A poor southwestern coastal province

  Kuren Pormes - Former Arilas of Trace

  Kyoden - The last King of Edonia

  Leger - Barok’s alsman and leader of the Chaukai

  Lilly - A young girl at Urnedi

  Liv - A girl from Dagoda

  Ludoq - Defeated royal family from Havish, rumored to remain in hiding

  Mangor root - a dark root that interferes with pregnancy when ingested

  Marrow - Evand’s golden Akal-Tak mare

  Mercanfur, Elsar - Admiral of Enhedu’s young fleet

  Merit - A carpenter from Almidi

  Mhedhil - A famous avenue at the capital of shops and baths

  Minister - The head of the conservancy branch of the Zoviyan government, responsible for the Hessier

  Moorsmoth - A city on the Oreol Coast

  Nolumari - A lawyer of the church

  Ojesti - A small village in Enhedu

  Okel - Evand’s master sergeant

  Oenry Kiel - The Arilas of Aneth

  Onmar - A merchant

  Oreol Coast - A western region of Trace ceded to Enhedu after losing a war

  Osburth - A city along the Oreol Coast

  Parsatayn, Helet - The Chancellor of Bessradi

  Pemini - A cook at Urnedi

  Pikailia (Pix) - One of Soma’s daughters

  Pormes - A weak royal family from Trace

  Pqrista - Royal Family of Heneur that rebelled and was defeated by the Yentif

  Rahan - An elder Zoviyan prince that was assassinated

  Raydau - A rich family in the Oreol

  Red Hat - A senior prelate of the Church of Bayen

  Reeve - A man responsible for the collection of provincial taxes

  Ryat - A church librarian in Bessradi

  Sahin - A bowyer in Enhedu

  Sedauer - A family of Chaukai that includes Fana

  Selt - A scribe from Bessradi who works for Prince Rahan

  Serm - A noble family in Aderan

  Sevat - Barok’s master carriagemaker

  Sikhek - Minister of Zoviya and the most powerful of the Hessier

  Soma - Mother of nine from Enhedu

  Sten (Mouth of Bayen) - The head of the religious branch of the Zoviyan government and chief prelate of the court

  Tanayon - A cathedral in Bessradi that houses the Sten’s superior court

  Thanin - A rich northern plains province

  Thell - An old man at Urnedi that takes care of the horses

  Trace - A poor northern province

  Umera - A clothier from Almidi

  Urmand - A rich southern coastal province

  Urnedi - The provincial seat of Enhedu, also the name of the manor

  Urs - Former reeve of Enhedu, Fana’s father

  Vala - An old woman at Urnedi that everyone calls Dame

  Vall - The Exaltier of Zoviya

  Vlek - A noble family from Heneur

  Wayland Feseq - A Hemari captain that serves Evand

  Wilgmuth - A city along the Oreol Coast

  Yarik - Commander of the Hurdu, one of the last three surviving princes of Zoviya

  Yentif - The ruling family of Zoviya

  Yudyith - A rich southeastern province

  Zoviya - The empire that rules the known world