"You'll do well here, I see," he said.
With that, he went to the door and knocked. Someone let him out and locked the door again behind him. I sat where I was for a long while after, with my hand on my cheek.
***
Wordless people entered my room twice the next day, bringing me a light Amn-style breakfast and soup for lunch. I spoke to the second one-my voice was better-asking where Madding and the others were. The person did not answer. No one else appeared in the interim, so I listened at the door awhile, trying to determine whether there were guards outside and whether there was any pattern to the movement I could hear in the halls beyond. My chances of escaping-alone, from a house full of fanatics, without even a stick to help me find my way-were slim, but that was no reason not to try.
I was fiddling with the thick-glassed window when the door opened behind me and someone small came in. I straightened without guilt. They weren't stupid. They expected me to try and escape, at least for the first few days or so. True Itempans were nothing if not rational.
"My name is Jont," said a young woman, surprising me by speaking. She sounded younger than me, maybe in her teens. There was something about her voice that suggested innocence, or maybe enthusiasm. "You're Oree."
"Yes," I said. She had not given a family name, I noticed. Neither had Hado, the night before. So neither did I-a small, safe battle. "I'm pleased to meet you." My throat felt better, thank the gods.
She seemed pleased by my attempt at politeness. "The Master of Initiates-Master Hado, whom you met-says I'm to give you anything you need," she said. "I can take you to the baths now, and I've brought some fresh clothing." There was the faint pluff of a pile of cloth being deposited. "Nothing fancy, I'm afraid. We live simply here."
"I see," I said. "You're an… initiate, too?"
"Yes." She came closer, and I guessed that she was staring at my eyes. "Was that a guess, or did you sense it somehow? I've heard that blind people can pick up on things normal people can't."
I tried not to sigh. "It was a guess."
"Oh." She sounded disappointed but recovered quickly. "You're feeling better today, I see. You slept for two whole days after they brought you out of the Empty."
"Two days?" But something else caught my attention. "The Empty?"
"The place our Nypri sends the worst blasphemers against the Bright," Jont said. She had dropped her voice, her tone full of dread. "Is it as terrible as they say?"
"You mean that place beyond the holes." I remembered being unable to breathe, unable to scream. "It was terrible," I said softly.
"Then it's fortunate the Nypri was merciful. What did you do?"
"Do?"
"To cause him to put you there."
At this, fury lanced down my spine. "I did nothing. I was with my friends when this Nypri of yours attacked us. I was kidnapped and brought here against my will. And my friends…" I almost choked as I realized. "For all I know, they're still in that awful place."
To my surprise, Jont made a compassionate sound and patted my hand. "It's all right. If they aren't blasphemers, he'll bring them out before too much harm is done. Now. Shall we go to the baths?"
Jont took my arm to lead me while I shuffled along, moving slowly since I had no walking stick to help me gauge floor obstacles. Meanwhile, I mulled over the tidbits of information Jont had tossed at my feet. They might call their new members initiates instead of Order-Keepers, and they might use strange magic, but in every other way, these New Lights seemed much like the Order of Itempas-right down to the same high-handed ways.
Which made me wonder why the Order hadn't yet broken them up. It was one thing to permit the worship of godlings; there was a certain pragmatism in that. But another faith dedicated to Bright Itempas? That was messy. Confusing to the layfolk. What if the Lights began to build their own White Halls, collect their own offerings, deploy their own Order-Keepers? That would violate every tenet of the Bright. The Lights' very existence invited chaos.
What made even less sense was that the Arameri allowed it. Their clan's founder, Shahar Arameri, had once been His most favored priestess; the Order was their mouthpiece. I could not see how it benefitted them to allow a rival voice to exist.
Then a thought: maybe the Arameri don't know.
I was distracted from this when we entered an open room filled with warm humidity and the sound of water. The bath chamber.
"Do you wash first?" Jont asked. She guided me to a washing area; I could smell the soap. "I don't know anything about Maro customs."
"Not very different from Amn," I said, wondering why she cared. I explored and found a shelf bearing soap, fresh sponges, and a wide bowl of steaming water. Hot-a treat. I pulled off my clothes and draped them over the rack I found along the shelf's edge, then sat down to scrub myself. "We're Senmite, too, after all."
"Since the Nightlord destroyed the Maroland," she said, and then gasped. "Oh, darkness-I'm sorry."
"Why?" I shrugged, putting down the sponge. "Mentioning it won't make it happen again." I found a flask beside it, which I opened and sniffed. Shampoo. Astringent, not ideal for Maroneh hair, but it would have to do.
"Well, yes, but… to remind you of such a horror…"
"It happened to my ancestors, not to me. I don't forget-we never forget-but there's more to the Maroneh than some long-ago tragedy." I rinsed myself with the bowl and sighed, turning to her. "Which way is the soak?"
She took my hand again and led me to a huge wooden tub. The bottom was metal, heated by a fire underneath. I had to use steps built into the side to climb in. The water was cooler than I liked, and unscented, though at least it smelled clean. Madding's pools had always been just right-
Enough of that, I told myself sharply as my eyes stung with the warning of tears. You can't do him any good if you don't figure out how to get out of here.
Jont came with me, leaning against the side of the tub. I wished she would go away, but I supposed part of her role was to act as my guard as well as my guide.
"The Maroneh have always honored Itempas first among the Three, just like we Amn," she said. "You don't worship any of the lesser gods. Isn't that right?"
Her phrasing warned me immediately. I had met her type before. Not all mortals were happy that the godlings had come. I had never understood their thinking, because-until recently-I had assumed Bright Itempas had changed His mind about the Interdiction; I thought He'd wanted His children in the mortal realm. Of course, more devout Itempans would realize it before I, lapsed as I was. The Bright Lord did not change His mind.
"Worship the godlings?" I refused to use her phrasing. "No. I've met a number of them, though, and some of them I even call friend." Madding. Paitya. Nemmer, maybe. Kitr-well, no, she didn't like me. Definitely not Lil.
Shiny? Yes, I had once called him friend, though the quiet goddess had been right; he would not say the same of me.
I could almost hear Jont's face screwing up in consternation. "But… they're not human." She said it the way one would describe an insect, or an animal.
"What does that matter?"
"They're not like us. They can't understand us. They're dangerous."
I leaned against the tub's edge and began to plait my wet hair. "Have you ever talked to one of them?"
"Of course not!" She sounded horrified by the idea.
I started to say more, then stopped. If she couldn't see gods as people-she barely saw me as a person-then nothing I could say would make a difference. That made me realize something, however. "Does your Nypri feel the way you do about godlings? Is that why he dragged my friends into that Empty place?"
Jont caught her breath. "Your friends are godlings?" At once her voice hardened. "Then, yes, that's why. And the Nypri won't be letting them out anytime soon."
I fell silent, too revolted to think of anything to say. After a moment, Jont sighed. "I didn't mean to upset you. Please, are you finished? We have a lot to do."
"I don't think I want to do anything
you have in mind," I said as coldly as I could.
She touched my shoulder and said something that would keep me from ever seeing her as innocent again: "You will."
I got out of the tub and dried myself, shivering from more than the cold air.
When I was dry and wrapped in a thick robe, she led me back to my room, where I dressed in the garments she'd brought: a simple pullover shirt and an ankle-length skirt that swirled nicely about my ankles. The undergarments were generic and loose, not a complete fit but close enough. Shoes too-soft slippers meant for indoor wear. A subtle reminder that my captors had no intention of letting me go outside.
"That's better," said Jont when I was done, sounding pleased. "You look like one of us now."
I touched the hem of the shirt. "I take it these are white."
"Beige. We don't wear white. White is the color of false purity, misleading to those who would otherwise seek the Light." There was a singsong intonation to the way Jont said this that made me think she was reciting something. It was no teaching poem I'd ever heard, in White Hall or elsewhere.
On the heels of this, a heavy bell sounded somewhere in the House. Its resonant tone was beautiful; I closed my eyes in inadvertent pleasure.
"The dinner hour," Jont said. "I got you ready just in time. Our leaders have asked you to dine with them this evening."
Trepidation filled me. "I don't suppose I could pass? I'm still a bit tired."
Jont took my hand again. "I'm sorry. It's not far."
So I followed her through what felt like an endless maze of hallways. We passed other members of the New Lights (Jont greeted most of them but did not pause to introduce me), but I paid little attention to them beyond realizing that the organization was much, much larger than I'd initially assumed. I noted a dozen people just in the corridor beyond my room. But instead of listening to them, I counted my paces as we walked so that I could find my way faster if I ever managed to escape the room. We moved from a corridor that smelled like varsmusk incense to another that sounded as though it had open windows along its length, letting in the late-evening air. Down two flights of stairs (twenty-four steps), around a corner (right), and across an open space (straight ahead, thirty-degree angle from the corner), we came to a much larger enclosed space.
Here there were many people all around us, but most of the voices seemed to be below head level. Seated, maybe. I had been smelling food for some time, mingled with the scents of lanterns and people and the omnipresent green of the Tree. I guessed it was a huge dining hall.
"Jont." An older woman's contralto, soft and compelling. And there was a scent, like hiras blossoms, that also caught my attention because it reminded me of Madding's house. We stopped. "I'll escort her from here. Eru Shoth? Will you come with me?"
"Lady Serymn!" Jont sounded flustered and alarmed and excited all at once. "O-of course." She let go of me, and another hand took mine.
"We've been expecting you," the woman said. "There's a private dining room this way. I'll warn you if there are steps."
"All right," I said, grateful. Jont had not done this, and I'd stubbed my toe twice already. As we walked, I pondered this new enigma.
Lady Serymn, Jont had called her. Not a godling, certainly, not among these godling haters. A noblewoman, then. Yet her name was Amn, one of those tongue-tangling combinations of consonants they so favored; the Amn had no nobility, except-But, no, that was impossible.
We passed through a wide doorway into a smaller, quieter space, and suddenly I had new things to distract me, namely the scent of food. Roasted fowl, shellfish of some kind, greens and garlic, wine sauce, other scents that I could not identify. Rich people's food. When Serymn guided me to the table where this feast lay, I belatedly realized there were others already seated around it. I'd been so fascinated with the food that I'd barely noticed them.
I sat among these strangers, before their luxurious feast, and tried not to show my nervousness.
A servant came near and began preparing my plate. "Would you like duck, Lady Oree?"
"Yes," I said politely, and then registered the title. "But it's just Oree. Not 'Lady' anything."
"You undervalue yourself," said Serymn. She sat to my right, perpendicular to me. There were at least seven others around the table; I could hear them murmuring to each other. The table was either rectangular or oval-shaped, and Serymn sat at its head. Someone else sat at the other end, across from her.
"It is appropriate for us to call you Lady," Serymn said. "Please allow us to show you that courtesy."
"But I'm not," I said, confused. "There isn't a drop of noble blood in me. Nimaro doesn't have a noble family; they were wiped out with the Maroland."
"I suppose that's as good an opening as any to explain why we've brought you here," Serymn said. "Since I'm certain you've wondered."
"You might say so," I said, annoyed. "Hado…" I hesitated. "Master Hado told me a little, but not enough."
There were a few chuckles from my companions, including two low, male voices from the far end of the table. I recognized one of them and flushed: Hado.
Serymn sounded amused as well. "What we honor is not your wealth or status, Lady Oree, but your lineage."
"My lineage is like the rest of me-common," I snapped. "My father was a carpenter; my mother grew and sold medicinal herbs. Their parents were farmers. There's nobody fancier than a smuggler in my entire family tree."
"Allow me to explain." She paused to take a sip of wine, leaning forward, and as she did, I caught a glimmer from her direction. I turned to quickly peer at it, but whatever it was had been obscured somehow.
"How curious," said another of my table companions. "Most of the time she seems like an ordinary blind woman, not orienting her face toward anything in particular, but just now she seemed to see you, Serymn."
I kicked myself. It probably would've done no good to conceal my ability, but I still hated giving them information inadvertently.
"Yes," said Serymn. "Dateh did mention that she seems to have some perception where magic is concerned." She did something, and suddenly I got a clear look at what I'd glimpsed. It was a small, solid circle of golden, glowing magic. No-the circle was not solid at all. In spite of myself, I leaned closer, narrowing my eyes. The circle consisted of dozens upon dozens of tiny, closely written sigils of the gods' spiky language. Godwords. Sentences of them, a whole treatise's worth, spiraling and overlapping each other so densely that from a distance the circle looked solid.
Then I understood, and drew back in shock.
Serymn moved again, letting her hair fall back into place, I realized by the way the sigil-circle vanished. Yes, it would be on her forehead.
That can't be. It doesn't make sense. I don't believe it. But I had seen it with my own two magic eyes.
I licked my suddenly dry lips, folded my shaking hands in my lap, and mustered all my courage to speak. "What is an Arameri fullblood doing with some little heretic cult, Lady Serymn?"
The laughter that broke out around the table was not the reaction I'd been expecting. When it died down-I sat through it, uneasily silent-Serymn said in a voice that still rippled with amusement, "Please, Lady Oree, do eat. There's no reason we can't have a good conversation and enjoy a fine meal, is there?"
So I ate a few bites. Then I wiped my mouth using my best manners and sat up, making a point of waiting politely for an answer to my question.
Serymn uttered a soft sigh and wiped her own mouth. "Very well. I'm with this 'little heretic cult,' as you put it, because I have a goal to accomplish, and being here aids that purpose. But I should point out that the New Lights are neither little, nor heretical, nor a cult."
"I was given to understand," I said slowly, "that any form of worship other than that sanctioned by the Order was heretical."
"Untrue, Lady Oree. By the law of the Bright-the law as set down by my family-only the worship of gods other than Itempas is heretical. The form in which we choose to worship is irrelevant. It's true th
at the Order would prefer that the two concepts-obedience to the Bright Lord, obedience to the Order-be synonymous." There was another soft roll of chuckles from our table companions. "But to put it bluntly, the Order is a mortal authority, not a godly one. We of the Lights merely recognize the distinction."
"So you think the form of worship you've chosen is better than that of the Order?"
"We do. Our organization's beliefs are fundamentally similar to those of the Order of Itempas-indeed, many of our members are former Order priests. But there are some significant differences."
"Such as?"
"Do you really want to get into a doctrinal discussion right now, Lady Oree?" Serymn asked. "You'll be introduced to our philosophy over the next few days, like any new initiate. I thought your questions would be more basic."
They were. Still, I felt instinctively that the key to understanding the whole heaping pile of fanatics lay in understanding this woman. This Arameri. The fullbloods were the highest members of a family so devoted to order that they ranked and sorted themselves by how closely they could trace their lineage back to First Priestess Shahar. They were the power brokers, the decision makers-and sometimes, through the might of their god-slaves, the annihilators of nations.
Yet that had been before ten years ago, that strange and terrible day when the World Tree had grown and the godlings returned. There had always been rumors, but I knew the truth now, from Shiny's own lips. The Arameri's slaves had broken free; the Nightlord and the Gray Lady had overthrown Bright Itempas. The Arameri, though far from powerless, had lost their greatest weapons and their patron in one stunning blow.
What happened when people who'd once possessed absolute power suddenly lost it?
"All right," I said carefully. "Basic questions. Why are you here, and why am I?"
"How much do you know of what happened ten years ago, Lady Oree?"
I hesitated, unsure. Was it safer to play the ignorant commoner, or reveal how much I knew? Would this Arameri woman have me killed if I told her family's secret? Or was it a test to see if I would lie?
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