Lore of Sanctum Omnibus

by Elaina J Davidson

  “And they may not.”

  He understood her hesitancy. “They may not.”

  “Does the Emperor agree to this?”

  Dechend sighed. “He does not know.”

  Her eyes widened. “You are doing this without his approval?”

  “My Lord has entrusted me with your safety and the well-being of all Senlu territory in his absence, and I regard this as a measure in both those factors.”

  “Dechend, he will not like it.”

  “He desires an answer also, Alik.”

  She paced more calmly, and still set his papers a-rustle in the small space. “Surely you need his DNA?”

  “It is on record.”

  She stopped again. “The test does not prove everything.”

  Dechend inclined his head. “Not in modern medicine, no. Even now there are certain links unaccounted for, but the test I speak of is greater than a test-tube in a laboratory.”

  There was dead silence before she said, “Crucible?” She nearly spat the word.

  Again he inclined his head. “Before witnesses.”

  She glared at him and strode out.

  Kylis, outside, fell into Alik’s wake, and shook his head. He really liked her and respected her well-educated mind, and she was attractive as well.

  Not that he would dare, especially if she was an Emperor’s daughter.

  QUILLA ARRIVED IN THE Great Hall as Alik strode across the grand expanse. He knew immediately she was the young woman in question and was amazed Teighlar could be so blind. He stepped deliberately into her path, forcing her to a halt. The young man behind her stopped at her shoulder, a hand to his sword.

  “Forgive me,” Quilla murmured. “I believe you are the young lady I have come to see.” He smiled over her shoulder. “Kylis, I hear you are doing good work.”

  Kylis relaxed. “Well met, Quilla. Thank you.”

  Alik visibly relaxed as well. Of course she knew of the birdman, but had never actually seen him. She raised an eyebrow at Kylis, who stared back in consternation until he realised where his duty lay.

  “Um, Alik this is Quilla - Quilla, Alik.”

  “Very, um, to the point,” Alik grinned, and held her hand out to the birdman. “I have heard much about you.”

  Quilla took her hand and smiled up at her. “You are an extraordinarily beautiful young lady.”

  She blushed. “Thank you.”

  Quilla leaned forward. “May I have a word in private?”

  “Why would you want to speak to me?”

  Quilla merely smiled.

  She blinked. “Kylis has to stay nearby.”

  “And so he will be.”

  She drew a breath. “I intended to pay a visit to the graveyard. Privacy is assured there.”

  Quilla dipped his head and fell in beside her. Kylis followed, and so did a fair number of curious eyes.

  THEY DID NOT SPEAK until they were in the graveyard. The walk through the forest gifted Quilla opportunity to put his thoughts in order, and presented Alik with a thousand more questions to add to the million she already had to ask. She wished, fervently, Mikhail was at her side. She missed his solid presence and his unassuming friendship.

  She kneeled before her mother’s grave, offered up a prayer and then rose to take a seat on one of the benches amid the trees. She did not speak; her mother had taught her in insecurity it was wiser to await the other’s words.

  Kylis, at a nod from the birdman, moved out of earshot while remaining visible.

  She was grateful for his dependability.

  “Alik, allow me to begin by saying how sorry I am about your mother,” the birdman murmured and she sent Quilla such a tight gaze he moved on immediately. “Emperor Teighlar shared the current situation in Grinwallin with me before he went to Avaelyn, but the real truth is, everyone beyond these borders knows also. Ambassadors have a way of spreading gossip, particularly chatter with political ramifications. Teighlar could be fighting for his throne soon.”

  “This is not my business.”

  “Actually it is, whether or not you are of his blood, for every Senlu will feel the changes.”

  She stared at him. “You know?”

  “Teighlar told me, yes.”

  “What did he say?”

  Quilla moved to sit on a rough stump before her. “Teighlar is uncertain now. Certain issues have explained there is a chance he may have fathered a child and he blames himself for neglect and abandonment.”

  “It is unproven.”

  “No, it is not. Your mother knew.”

  Her gaze was stricken.

  “My dear, I took one look at you in the Great Hall and I saw your father. I am guessing you will be required to do some manner of testing, but it is not necessary. Alik …”

  “Don’t say it; please do not say it.”

  Quilla folded his hands into his lap and sat in silence.

  She raised her green eyes filled with misery to Kylis, and saw the light of understanding blossom in his. He drew a breath and then he bowed, face clearing of all emotion.

  Alik was on her feet. “I have no father! I am not taking this on!”

  Quilla sat on. “Your father is being tested and he may lose his throne. You could lose your life. However, dear Alik, that is not the direst situation at all. Other plans are in the making to cause Grinwallin’s internal battle to pale in comparison, and your father is right in the middle of it as well. Sit. Please.”

  She sat.

  “Beacon is about to invade worlds for food, raw materials and every kind of energy supplement there is. Valaris, Sanctuary and Xen are the first worlds to be pillaged by an invading force, and one day soon they will come to Luvanor also. Lax is dying and so is Yltri. Thisseldrum will be exploited for her medical supplies as well as the wealth of the super-rich who have their homes there. And it will go on, because Beacon as a world and a people is in dire need. This could come to pass sooner than we think.”

  She swallowed. “That is terrible, Quilla, but what has it to do with me?”

  “They raise a stronghold to withstand sorcery, they build ships that travel faster than magic; they raise an army able to shrug off sorcery, and it spells out one exceptionally clear intention. Beacon will war on Elixir first. Torrullin is a major threat to their plans.”

  “And Teighlar is with him,” Alik murmured. “He went to help Torrullin.”

  Quilla nodded. “Teighlar managed to pierce the barriers around Avaelyn, which we are unable to achieve. Alik, we need warn them what is about to explode in our faces.”

  “I still do not understand what this has to do with me.”

  Inside she wanted to scream and run and hide; she wanted time to accustom herself to the fact she could well be an Emperor’s daughter. She cared not about Beacon’s plans or even who was responsible for her mother’s death; she needed time to re-position her mind.

  Quilla steepled his fingers. “You may know how Teighlar pierced the barriers, Alik, and it is knowledge we seek urgently.”

  It was not what she expected. “How would I know?”

  “The blood.”

  “Excuse me?” she blurted.

  “There is much you do not know, I am aware, but the knowledge will be inside you.”

  “Just how do you intend to access it, if it is true?”

  Quilla shrugged. He did not know.

  She started to laugh, a hysterical sound. “Well, this tops all! A few days ago I was a student, and now this.”

  “The knowledge is inside,” Dechend’s voice came from beyond the graves. He stepped forward. “Forgive me for following and for listening, but when Quilla sought to speak with you, I knew what it was he wanted to ask.”

  He came nearer still. In his hands he clasped a nondescript box.

  “My Lord Emperor may soon be trapped in a battle he did not ask for, and it is my duty to aid him. My Lord Elixir does not ask for this either and deserves warning, as does Elianas. If they know what is coming, those three could well pu
t a dent in Beacon’s plans.”

  He stroked a hand over the box, ignoring Alik’s astonishment and Quilla’s thoughtful silence.

  “Beacon’s ambassador in the city inadvertently let slip something about soldiers eating magic-damping crops, and we knew something was about to rear, but Teighlar wanted to aid his friend and I wanted to clear his name. Perhaps we were remiss, but I shall not ignore it longer.”

  He handed the box to Alik. “This is how your father entered Avaelyn. He used a key, but did not lock it again. All you have to do is open it and a portal is formed to where it is you desire to go. Your father used it and it returned to its hiding place, still unlocked; I assume it will do the same again, but it may react differently also.”

  She stared at it. “This looks old.”

  “It is from Diluvan time.”

  Her head moved upward.

  “Speak to your father for those secrets, whenever you are ready to accept them, Alik, but use this to help him now. Leave Grinwallin and its problems to Kylis and myself, and go with Quilla.”

  “How dare you place this on me?”

  Dechend bowed over his hands. “My Lady, as Quilla said, it is unnecessary to test for who you are, except to prove it before witnesses and thus quieten the doubts. You are of royal blood and it means you are a threat and a target; it also means you have abilities within that should be used for the greater good. This is new and yet you must know where duty lies. Your mother prepared you and now you must accept. Go with Quilla; leaving now removes one temptation from Grinwallin and buys us time to find the culprit or culprits.” He sighed. “We could not protect you on Thisseldrum and thus we brought you home, but we may not long protect you here either, and thus it is best to leave. The Kaval has …”

  “You send me into a battlefield?” Alik demanded.

  “I send you to your father and Elixir. Who better to protect you?”

  Her hand clenched on the box. “I need to think.”

  Quilla spoke, “We may be out of time.”

  She scowled at him. “It takes years to plan an invasion; it will not happen right away.”

  “Beacon has been planning for longer than we knew. It could happen in a month, even a year, or we could return to Avaelyn right now and find at least four warships ready to invade.”

  She closed her eyes. “Give me an hour, please.”

  Quilla nodded, and Alik rose. Dechend motioned and Kylis prepared to guard her. The young man’s face remained carefully neutral in the presence of royalty.

  Chapter 16

  To forget is sometimes the easier option. This is akin to stating ‘ignorance is bliss’.

  ~ Book of Sages ~

  Avaelyn

  TEIGHLAR SAT ON THE pinnacle overlooking the empty plains beyond the mountain and there Torrullin found him.

  Out of breath, he did not speak, sitting beside the man to take deep lungsful. The view was spectacular. The grass possessed golden tinges amid emerald green and the trees surrounding the plains wore the russets and reds of autumn. Wild creatures wandered the expanses in utter security; here no man had ever hunted them. The air was cold and bracing, clearing the mind for the eye to appreciate.

  “I have heard that name called in dreams, “Teighlar said eventually. “’Alexander! Alexander!’ And it felt familiar, but it never occurred to me it was mine.”

  “You have been reborn many times, my friend, and one forgets certain facts every time, until one needs them.”

  “I have been reborn more than the seven that creates true immortality and yet I am not deathless as you are. Why is that?”

  “You are different, I suppose.”

  “How?”

  “Perhaps it has something to do with the loop of time. I have been seven times born more than once, while you are still on one timeline. Teighlar, I am not an expert in this; Elianas may have a clearer answer.”

  Teighlar sighed and moved to clasp his arms around his knees. “Alexander Diluvan. It has a certain ring.”

  “Welcome to the club of changing names,” Torrullin grinned. “I have gone from Torrullin Agripson to Torrullin Lorinin Valla, with quite a few between and never mind my reincarnate names.”

  Teighlar looked at him askew. “Lorinin?”

  “Do not bloody ask; Elianas will not tell me anything.”

  “Is it something like Danae?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Teighlar laughed. “Well, aren’t we a pair?”

  Torrullin laughed with him.

  “And Elianas?” Teighlar asked.

  “What about him?”

  “Has his name changed at all?”

  “He has been forced to use names to hide his identity, as I have.”

  “That is not what I meant.”

  Torrullin was silent for a time. “Elianas has secrets even I am not aware of. There were long periods of separation in which he may have uncovered a true name, but if he has, he has never let on.”

  “You hate the thought of him possessing a different one, don’t you?”

  “He is Elianas Danae. It defines him.”

  “You thought your father’s family name - Agripson - defined you and I believed Teighlar Sirdann was it for me.”

  “Point taken.”

  “And yet it would piss you off if he shouted another at you.”

  “I did not come to discuss Elianas’ quirks.”

  Teighlar sighed. “You came to discuss mine.”

  Torrullin grinned. “Right now you are far more interesting.”

  “Bugger off.”

  “Teighlar, you are first and last High King of Orb …”

  “Orb no longer exists.”

  “It does on other planes and even if it did not, your title is no less valid. You are an Ancient and you have a message the universe needs to hear.”

  Teighlar snorted. “What not to do?”

  “Did you really make so many mistakes, my friend? You gave your people warning through deluge after deluge and sent them to a new world when Orb was due for an annihilating inundation. You led your people to Grinwallin.”

  “And suffered the division of my people when Senluar split from the other continents, only to lead them back into slavery. I murdered my sons and many others.”

  “And you have paid the price. Today Grinwallin is again free.”

  “I do not quite hear the message in there.”

  “The universe needs to know who your people are. You need to retake your place in History.”

  Teighlar snorted. “Stuff History. I am quite content to leave it as it is.”

  “The Diluvans …”

  “Stop right there. We are the Senlu and we are happy with our identity.”

  “You have much to share, damn it. Orb’s true tale, the art of magic, the Painted Chamber; Grinwallin alone teaches lessons sentience everywhere should hark to. The story of Luvanor, the many faces she wore …”

  “Ancient history.”

  “Exactly. Do not allow it to be lost forever.”

  “Imagine claiming I am Alexander Diluvan, Torrullin, eons old. Can you imagine the backlash?”

  “For whom?”

  “The Senlu!”

  “Why?”

  “They do not know themselves.”

  “Perhaps it is time they do; perhaps that will prevent civil strife in Grinwallin,” Torrullin said.

  “And perhaps it will sound the death knell I have been trying to avoid for two thousand years.”

  “You underestimate your people. The Valleur came close to extinction also, my friend, and we lied and hid to save ourselves and it only brought us disaster upon disaster, until the day we stood forth with pride to claim our heritage without apology.”

  Teighlar was silent. And then, “It is not that simple.”

  “No, it will be the hardest thing you will ever have to do.”

  “The Senlu of today are but a paler version of the Luvans and the Diluvans before them.”

  “And the Valleur of toda
y do not understand they are sundered from what was a dual race in ancient time, and yet we have survived.”

  Teighlar gave him a strange look. “Should you not take your own advice? Should you not tell your people once they were not merely of Golden kind?”

  Torrullin returned an unblinking stare. “Elianas must make the decision. He is the only Danae left.”

  “But you are Elixir; the duty, in reality, is yours.”

  Torrullin looked away. “I shall not be the one to unmask Elianas.”

  “Do not sit there and give me advice when you are unable to act on it yourself, Torrullin. I am sick of dual standards from you.”

  “I am not ruler of the Senlu; you must do what is right for your people, whatever my dual standards are.”

  “But you are ruler of Luvanor. And Grinwallin was your brainchild.”

  “Tianoman is …”

  “Please. You will always be ruler, whoever is Vallorin.”

  Torrullin flashed him an irritated look. “Tian is ruler of Valaris, Akhavar and Luvanor, Teighlar, and let no one say different.”

  “Whatever lie you tell yourself. Grinwallin, however …”

  “Gods! Are we going to rehash that one again?”

  Teighlar gave a feral smile. “Coward.”

  Torrullin grinned. “Bugger off, Emperor. You try my patience.”

  Teighlar was serious. “If, as you say, civil strife could be prevented by telling my people what their true heritage is, I need do so with you at my side.”

  Torrullin pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why?”

  “You are Grinwallin’s architect. She more rightly belongs to you than she does to us.”

  “I imagined her only. You and yours raised her and lived in her, gave her heart and soul. She is not mine.”

  “Stubborn, damn it. We should put it to the test.”

  “Gods, no.”

  “Worried, my friend?”

  “Yes, bloody hell. One does not mess with Grinwallin.”

  Teighlar pushed his face into Torrullin’s. “Why not?”

  “You have seen what she is capable of.”