Riddle of Fate

by Tania Johansson

  Reality flooded back and sobs shook her body. He held her until she fell asleep.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Brier crept out, quietly closing the door behind him. He mounted his horse, gritting his teeth against the pain from his broken ribs, and raced back to the Collectors’ mansion. The cool night air whipped around him as he urged his horse on faster. He ignored the bolts of pain shooting out from his middle.

  He leapt from the saddle. Storming along the corridors, he smiled to himself. Not only is he ensuring his acceptance to the Collectors, he will force them to withdraw Khaya’s deal. Everything would be back to the way it was meant to be.

  He knocked twice before pushing the door open. Meir’s face darkened when he saw him. Garelle was standing in front of Meir’s desk and she crossed her arms as she turned to face Brier. “What is the meaning of bursting in here?” Garelle asked.

  “I apologise. I have urgent news.”

  “Out with it, then,” Meir said.

  “Derrin was at Khaya’s house tonight. Khaya wants him to run away with her.”

  “Did he agree?”

  “No.”

  Garelle and Meir looked at each other. Meir looked surprised. Garelle didn’t.

  “He told her the Highest would carry out his sentence. He said he didn’t regret saving her.”

  “He’s handing himself over?” Meir asked.

  “To the Highest it would seem,” Brier said.

  Meir cursed.

  “The Highest will see to his sentence,” Garelle said.

  “We cannot be certain,” Meir hissed.

  “Oh, stop,” Garelle said. “You hate him. I’ve never understood it, but I’ve tolerated this obsession of yours. So, you won’t be the one who gets to dispatch him. The important thing is that justice will be served.” She turned to Brier. “Did you hear anything else?”

  “No,” Brier said.

  “You’ve done well today,” Garelle said.

  Brier realised that was his dismissal and he took his leave. He felt relieved, lighter. Finally, something had gone right for him. Finally, they had acknowledged that he’d done his task well. They won’t be able to revoke his acceptance now.

  Chapter Thirty Two

  Rooting Out Evil

  Derrin sat in the small room, waiting to be called. He shifted on the hard bench. Surely, they must call him soon. His foot tapped a rapid beat. His memories of the last time he was in this room was all too fresh in his mind. He rubbed the palms of his sweaty hands on his shirt.

  A loud clang as the key turned in the door made Derrin jump. The guard told him to get up and, stony faced, led him from his cell to the Hall of Angels. The tall arched doors were open. Derrin paused at the threshold, staring at the five assembled Masters. The Hall was filled with Collectors.

  Just as they’d hoped.

  A rumble of whispers erupted as Derrin entered. He glanced at some of their faces as he was ushered forward. Some stared at him with cold condemnation, but there were a few who seemed sympathetic. Perhaps that was merely wishful thinking.

  The five masters at the front of the room wore black cloaks, a red band at their wrists and ankles. Derrin had only once before seen them in these traditional robes – at his judgement. It made his legs go watery, but he reminded himself of the plan.

  The Highest stood on the middle dais, his face impassive, but his eyes intense. Garelle regarded Derrin with her usual composure. She nodded to someone in the crowd, no doubt taking credit for capturing him.

  Meir grinned, nodding repeatedly as he watched Derrin step forward. The other two Masters were Collectors Derrin knew by name alone. The Highest obviously trusted them and he could only hope that trust was not misplaced.

  After holding a hand up to silence the room, the Highest said, “Derrin Rhai, third grade Collector of the middle realm, you are before us today to be judged. You tried to run from justice. From fate. A fool’s undertaking. You stand before the Order today faced with the charge of breaking our first law. You have already been sentenced for this crime. You dishonoured yourself by fleeing your punishment.”

  “I say we flog him before we send him to damnation,” Meir interjected. “Do I have a second?”

  A smothering silence blanketed the room. “I will second the motion,” Garelle said finally.

  “I’m curious,” the Highest said, ignoring their call, “why did you decide to surrender?”

  “Highest,” Garelle said, “with respect, should you not first pass the motion?”

  “We’ll get to that,” the Highest said. “Derrin?”

  “I felt it my duty to return.”

  “To accept your just punishment?”

  “Not that alone,” Derrin said. “I had information I needed to share with you, Highest.”

  “So,” the Highest said, “were it not for this need to pass on information, would you still be on the run?”

  “Yes,” Derrin said, his eyes dropping to the ground.

  “Before we share this information, tell us what you’ve been doing recently.”

  “Highest,” Meir said, “I feel we are diverging from the purpose of this meeting. I think we –”

  “I am still the Highest, am I not?” he said, voice quiet, dangerous.

  “I apologise, Highest, I –”

  “Enough,” the Highest growled. “Derrin, continue.”

  Meir and Garelle shared a look. Her raised eyebrow was the only indication of her emotions. Meir openly scowled.

  “I was assisting Khaya Pherela to evade both the Company and the Collectors.”

  A gasp ran through the room followed by a burst of talk. The Highest motioned sharply and silence fell again. “To be clear,” he said, “Khaya Pherela is the human whose life you saved and thereby broke the first law.”

  “Yes, Highest.”

  “Why did you compound your error by preserving the life that was never meant to be lived?” Liron asked. He stood on the dais to the left of Meir. His sparse brown hair stood on end. It gave him a muddled appearance. He seemed oblivious of the glare Meir was giving him.

  “She may not have been destined to have a life beyond her fifth year, but the fact that she did was not her fault. It was mine. I didn’t want her to suffer for something she was innocent of.”

  “The Company, though,” Liron said, his bushy eyebrows pulled together, “that is a human organisation and should they, for whatever reason, have Miss Pherela murdered, that would have nothing to do with her past. That constitutes a human matter with no interference from Collectors. Why did you intervene?”

  “At first,” Derrin said, “I did not.”

  “That is a lie,” Meir spat. “From the very beginning, you were there. Watching her, helping her, and doing all you could to make sure not a hair on her head came to harm.”

  “Is this true?” the Highest asked.

  “No,” Derrin said.

  “Nonsense,” Meir huffed, but the Highest held up a hand with a stern glare directed at him.

  “True, I was there and I was watching. But, it was only when I suspected something more was going on that I stepped in and helped her.”

  “Something more?” Liron said. “What do you mean? And spit it right out. I cannot abide people talking in circles.”

  “I started to suspect that an outside force was influencing the Company. When Khaya’s colleagues were killed and Khaya was clearly being set up to take the blame, I knew there was more to it than met the eye.”

  “How did you know it was not the Company orchestrating the deaths?” Yarin asked. She stood on the dais to Garelle’s right. Her long black hair hung down across her chest. Her small frame was dwarfed beside Garelle.

  “I was certain that they had a hand in it, but I felt they were taking their orders from someone external to the Company.”

  “What does it matter?” Meir asked. “Whether it was the Company trying to get rid of the blasted woman or someone unconnected to them, what does it matter? It is still a cas
e of humans killing humans. Something that they’ve been doing for ages and will continue to do for many ages to come.”

  “It was not being orchestrated by humans,” Derrin said, his eyes switching from Meir to Garelle.

  “Do you have any proof of this?” the Highest asked, keeping his gaze on Derrin.

  “I discovered that Meir and Garelle were sending messages to the Company, ordering them to carry out certain tasks. Orders pertaining to Khaya’s murder.”

  “Preposterous!” Meir called, face indignant.

  “Highest,” Garelle said, apparently unmoved, “will you stand by while this proven traitor accuses two Masters of this heinous crime? He is obviously attempting to shift blame, gain sympathy and avoid his sentence.”

  “I move we hear no more of his ridiculous claims,” Meir said, “but carry out his sentence!”

  “I second the motion,” Garelle said.

  “Denied,” the Highest said.

  A gasp rang through the gathered Collectors. “You cannot deny a motion outright,” Garelle said. “Not when it’s gained a second.”

  “Assembled Masters,” the Highest’s voice boomed through the room, “step forward.”

  Some thirty or forty Collectors stepped out from the crowd.

  “This is an unprecedented situation,” the Highest said. “Never before has an accusation such as this been brought before the Order. I shall ask you now to participate one-and-all. I move we continue the questioning so that we may bring to light the truth of the matter. Do I have a second?”

  Silence.

  This was the moment.

  If the other Masters did not support the Highest in this motion, the whole plan would fall apart. They would overrule the Highest and Derrin would be sent to damnation. His hands trembled at his sides and he balled them into fists to still them.

  A portly woman to the front of the room raised her hand and said, “Seconded.”

  Another followed; a man with short, blond, curly hair raised his hand as well. Slowly, hands went up until every last Master was holding a hand up. The Highest turned to Meir and then to Garelle. “Majority rules. We continue. Derrin, what proof have you?”

  Derrin took a shuddering breath before he could speak. “First, we found correspondence bearing the emblem of the Collectors in the Company offices. I also followed a messenger from Phalio Tarr to a mansion, which I then found was occupied by Garelle and Meir.”

  “Only them?” Liron asked.

  “At that time, I thought it was just them. It has since come to light there was one other: Sebrian Novari.”

  A sudden commotion erupted at the back of the room. “Grab him!” someone called.

  “He’s Leapt!”

  “Follow him, quickly!”

  Several more shouts echoed around the room. A man pushed his way through the throng to the front. “He’s gone,” he said, “and his Leap didn’t leave a residue. We can’t follow him.”

  “How is that possible?” the Highest asked. An answer wasn’t forthcoming.

  “I don’t know if this accounts for it,” Derrin said, “but Khaya could see Garelle and Meir because of Seb’s ability. He makes the unseen seen. Perhaps he can make the seen unseen as well?”

  All eyes shifted to Garelle and Meir. The Highest glared at Garelle with raised eyebrows. “We know nothing of this,” Garelle said, pointedly not looking at Meir.

  “If you know something,” Yarin said, “you must share it with us now. It is obvious that he has something to hide. And surely, if someone is against the Collectors, then you must be against them.”

  “As I said,” Garelle hissed quietly, “we don’t know anything about that.”

  “Barsel and Fria,” the Highest said, “do all you can to find Sebrian.”

  Two Collectors from the crowd disappeared as they Leapt away. “Derrin,” the Highest continued, “tell us of Khaya’s meetings with Garelle and Meir.”

  Meir shifted on his dais, folding his arms across his chest, a scowl darkening his face. Derrin glared at the two scheming Collectors. “They made a bargain with her. She was to either to convince me to hand myself over to them, if she could, or somehow trap me and deliver me to them. In return, they would allow her to live an undisturbed life and at the end of her natural life, she was to become a Collector.”

  A few angry protests rose from the crowd. Anger burned in Derrin’s stomach. Were they so bloodthirsty for her life?

  “Is this true, Garelle?” the Highest asked.

  “Of course not,” Garelle said. “You have not sanctioned such an agreement. We wouldn’t offer anything without gaining your permission first.”

  “Did you find out anything else?” the Highest asked.

  “I have since found out that all is not as it seems where Seb is concerned,” Derrin said. “His acceptance record was forged.”

  A mutter rose in the room. Silence fell again at a sign from the Highest. “That is a grave accusation,” he said, his gaze sweeping the room. “But it is one for which I have proof.” He dug the file out of his pocket and held it aloft. “Upon closer inspection of this record, I have no doubt that it is a forgery.”

  A buzz of conversation hummed. “How can that be?” one Collector called.

  “What does it mean?” another asked.

  “I believe,” the Highest said, “that Sebrian Novari was never a Collector. That is most likely why you could not track his Leap.”

  “If he isn’t a Collector,” Liron said, “then what is he?”

  “Now that,” the Highest said, “is a good question. Garelle, are you able to shed some light on this matter?”

  All eyes turned to her. For once her mask of composure slipped. Her eyes were wide and her mouth pulled into a tight line. Meir’s face was pale. “Highest,” she said, “esteemed Masters, you must believe me when I say I had no idea.”

  “Nor I,” Meir added.

  “I think I would not be the only one in the room who’s having trouble believing anything passing by your lips,” the Highest said.

  A murmur of agreement rose. “What was your connection with Seb?” the Highest asked.

  “He was assisting in the capture of Derrin Rhai,” Garelle said.

  “What exactly was his role?”

  “He has an – ” Meir started, but was cut off by Garelle.

  “As we are all equal,” she said without looking at Meir, “he was doing no more and no less than we were.”

  “Meir,” the Highest said, “I believe you were going to say something before Garelle so rudely interrupted you.”

  Garelle stared at Meir with large cold eyes as though daring him to complete his sentence. Meir licked his lips and sniffed. “I was going to say exactly what Garelle said.”

  “Come now, I think it is obvious to all that you were about to say something altogether different. Who knows? It might even have been on its way to the truth.”

  “I was simply going to add that he has an uncanny eye for detail. We were gathering information on Derrin’s whereabouts and he was able to see connections that we missed.”

  “Perhaps not then,” the Highest muttered under his breath and Derrin suppressed a smile.

  “Derrin mentioned before that Seb had an ability to make the unseen seen,” the Highest said, “were you not perhaps keeping him close for this purpose?”

  They’d hoped that Garelle or Meir would admit to that without too much prodding, but it seemed they would need a whip to their backs to set them on the right course.

  “I do not see how we would have made use of this ability,” Garelle said.

  “Come now, Garelle,” Derrin burst out. “You used him so that you could interact with humans. Humans such as Khaya's friend Brier with whom you conspired to murder her. You had servants in that mansion, not to mention messengers. And, of course Khaya herself was able to see you.”

  “You are speaking out of turn,” Meir growled. “You should know your place. You are the one on trial today.”

 
; “I am not so certain about that anymore,” Liron said.

  “What are you on about, you wrinkled old lizard?” Meir said.

  Garelle’s chin lifted at his words and her eyes widened for a second before she regained control of her emotions.

  Liron stared at Meir, dumbstruck, his face changing from embarrassed to shocked to outraged in a few short breaths. “You, Meir Amber, and your associate, Garelle Prect, appear to be guilty of more crimes than Derrin.”

  “How dare you?” Garelle said softly. “Derrin is a confessed traitor, a betrayer of our values and a breaker of oaths.”

  “Sometimes,” Liron said, “the snake you do not see is deadlier than the big spider on the wall. In fact, often, the spider on the wall is merely catching flies and insects. Doing a service, if you like.”

  “Highest,” Garelle said, “I fear you have lost control over these proceedings. We should deal with Derrin first and then we can sit down and address any concerns you may have with my conduct.”

  “I agree,” the Highest said.

  For a second, relief flooded over Garelle’s face, but then the Highest continued. “We should take a small recess. We will reconvene shortly to continue this process.” He waved a hand and four Collectors came forward to escort Garelle and Meir from the room.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Garelle asked, her icy mask crumbling as she gave in to anger. “Unhand me! I am a Master and I demand you release me!”

  Meir struggled in vain with his captors who ignored his and Garelle’s protests, hauling them from the room.

  Chapter Thirty Three

  Digging Out The Truth

  Khaya stood in her front room, her hand on the door handle. She should go. They were expecting her back at the library. She closed her eyes, seeing before her the faces of her colleagues. The scornful glares, the mistrustful glances she was sure to get when she walked back in.

  She should go.

  What else was she meant to do, anyway? Derrin wasn’t coming back. She didn’t know anyone outside Arroe.

  She could leave… Why go back? The Company no longer held any power over her. She didn’t owe them anything. She would just leave.