Ziedra murmured.
From this high vantage he could see down into the citadel, to the emanations of threads, bright specks that moved slowly through the glare of surrounding magic. He recognized Queen Kalindinai, a bright star of powerful energies surrounded by a swarm of lesser sparks. King T’Evagduran, cooler burning, but still bright was surrounded by a smaller host in a different part of the citadel. There were a few other bright emanations, probably mages, they weren’t strong enough to be alarming though.
Did an enemy have to be powerful to be dangerous though? The right poison and the slightest nick with a weapon and the mightiest warrior could be slain.
he answered.
He saw no other bright spots in the citadel, but there were dark areas, suspiciously devoid of all energy. Two or three were probably the ghost vaults that Sarai had described to him some time back. He saw no less than six dead spots, he cast out the three largest as ones that were there by design. That left three unexplained locations.
He drew a breath, getting himself back under control and focusing on the real world instead of being lost in the realm of threads.
Corim thought.
Daena answered.
With some pausing to draw a breath, Bannor made his way toward the balcony Daena indicated. With no gates, passersby, or guards to slip them up, the flying made things easy. The red balcony stood at one of the highest points in the citadel some hundred paces up in the massive structure. The broad opening, was girded by a thick wooden archway carved in a reticulated pattern of leaves. While there were no guards to hinder entry, the magic infused into the arch was a far more powerful sentinel. Bannor watched energy pulsing through the structure in corkscrew patterns, like blood being pumped through a living thing.
Bannor pushed the others ahead of him, helping to keep them from jostling Ziedra and each other. Anxious instants later, Ziedra relaxed her control on the ward, which snapped closed with an angry rasping sound.
In the tighter confines, it was easier to keep everyone organized and together. Here in the main citadel he felt something odd in the air, some feeling that simply did not belong. If anyone else sensed it, they didn’t speak of it. With everyone invisible, it was impossible to read what people were thinking or feeling except the strong impressions that he felt through their ties to eternity.
Daena lead them on a steady course advising lefts and rights as they wound through the intricate architecture of Kul’Amaron the great citadel of Malan. Everywhere he looked were tributes to elven ingenuity, their sense of beauty and fastidious habits; paintings, tapestries, statuary, shield crests, braidings and brocades of silk and other materials.
The stone around them resonated with history and animus of all the great and not-so-great elves who had sheltered here over the millennia. It was still hard to imagine that he would soon be a part of this. It was much easier to visualize that everything they were experiencing today was part of something to prevent his becoming part of the family. Of course, anyone close to the family knew it was a little late for that. As stern as Queen Kalindinai was, Bannor felt a sincere affection between them. It was just that there were so few moments when the Queen could openly express it and so many others where she needed to act in a suspicious and hostile manner toward him in order to satisfy appearances. King T’Evagduran, while he had no particular liking for Bannor, did have a deep and abiding love for his daughters, especially his youngest, Sarai. The two of them had come to terms in most respects. While T’Evagduran was concerned about the purity of his family, he had come to have a greater concern for his daughter’s happiness. As long as he kept Sarai happy, King T’Evagduran was happy. There would be much woe should that situation change.
As they drifted into the lower levels of the citadel, they began encountering guards, staff, nobility and members of the T’Evagduran extended family. For the most part the halls were tall enough that they were able to slip past by staying close to the ceiling.
A few doorways caused trouble where they simply needed to be patient and wait until people blocking the way finished their conversation and moved on.
Ziedra said into their minds.
They continued downward toward the areas that Bannor had seen from so far away. Sometimes his divinations did have a frightening aspect, to be able to see so much yet understand so little.
Down two more stairwells, to the northern “back” portion of the citadel. Daena did know her way around extremely well, especially considering she’d only lived in the citadel a scoreday. As Bannor had noted, he had yet to meet a mentally challenged savant.
As they stepped down into the older back halls of the citadel Bannor felt the sense of oddness increase. It was something out of place; an aspect that just didn’t seem quite right. As they moved down the hallway with quiet hisses, he started to feel a pulsation in the back of his head.
Daena put in.
They approached the first area slo
wly. The strange sensation all the savants were feeling making them edgy. As they floated into the long hall Bannor recognized what must be one of the chambers he identified from the outside. There was nothing to mark it, or make it seem out of the ordinary. This part of the citadel was very utilitarian, the walls unadorned, the floor simple flagstone. The chamber entry was a plain brass bound door.
The tingling grew more pronounced, with each step the sensation increased. Bannor’s heart beat fast. The area was shielded in a very strange way.
As he stared at the door, what was strange became familiar, and what was familiar became frightening. There were threads wound around and through the door and through the room beyond, sealing it away from his viewing. The seal was familiar, the threads twisted in a way only possible by one creature that he knew.
* * *
Chapter Fourteen
Möbius Reality
« ^ »
The longer I remain among savants, less surprises me, and the broader my expectations of what’s possible becomes…
—Bannor Starfist,
Prince Conjugal of Malan
Though Bannor couldn’t see it, he felt the others probing the area to find sight of him. He stared at the door to the suite that looked like nothing other than an ordinary brass-bound door into an insignificant chamber in the back part of the citadel well away from anything of value, strategic or other wise. Still, he remained certain. The energies in the door and in the chamber beyond belonged to a savant—a garmtur. Most disturbing was that the threads felt as if they belonged to him.
That was crazy. He’d never been in this part of the citadel, unless he’d come here while asleep. No creature with the exception of perhaps the eternal Koass could manipulate threads in such away that they would confuse his senses.
He nodded. Realized he was invisible and sighed.
The question made his skin prickle. Another one of him? He’d certainly experienced stranger things.
There was a pause, then a soft buzzing in Bannor’s mind. Through his link to the others he felt them twitch a little. A feminine voice echoed in their minds.
The warrior described the situation.
After a few moments Wren reported.
Before the word even seemed complete in Bannor’s mind, the gold-skinned Kriar was standing in the hall in front of the door. There was no sound, no light, the threads of eternity just abruptly seemed to stretch and flex around a spot in the air through which she seemed to step.
The Kriar smoothed her emerald colored shift, brushed her waist length hair back and studied the door with narrowed black-black eyes. She lifted a hand and touched the surface of the wood with tentative fingers.
That stopped the ancient creature.
Bannor thought to everyone.
Bannor found the implications in that statement troubling. What did she think would happen? He drew a breath.
Dulcere winced.
He felt the group tensing behind him, teeth gritting in anticipation of something bad. Body tight, hand shivering, heart beginning to pound, he pressed inward.
He heard the other savants draw breaths, and experienced a cold tingle shoot up his arm as his knuckles passed through the surface of something. The sensation immediately made him stop. He looked back to Dulcere. The Kriar’s normally impassive face was screwed up in a wince.
Seeing the door now open, she relaxed a little. Her brow furrowed.
Her perplexed expression only made Bannor’s trepidation worse.
Swallowing, he put his hand against the door and push
ed. The valve swung open. As the wood shifted inward there was a flicker of green illumination that shot across the darkened interior. For an instant, the colors of everything in sight seemed to invert, white to black and black to white. A sensation not unlike being caught in a gust of ice cold air washed over him making his skin prickle and his heart freeze. A sharp stab hit him in the temple and in back of his head where he felt his nola.
“Ack!” Wren let out a sound.
“Ooof.” Ziedra chimed in.
“Ow.” Daena grunted.
Bannor staggered back a step, gripping his head. He blinked, realizing the wall of threads had vanished.
Bannor snatched around. Silhouetted in the torchlight from the corridor was a figure standing in the middle of the small chamber.
Behind him, Bannor heard metal slide against metal, the unmistakable sound of a sword being unsheathed.
The figure in the room remained stationary.
Bannor felt elemental threads tapped and a ball of illumination appeared near the center of the room, bathing the creature in light. The person was definitely not Bannor.
The male, Bannor could tell that now, was about a hand shorter than himself, dressed in a plain black tunic and breeches. He stood in the center of the room with his arms folded and eyes closed as though he’d fallen asleep standing up. His smooth hairless face with its sunken cheeks and upturned eyes suggested elven heredity. He wore his thick reddish brown hair tied back in a tail much the way Bannor did his own. Despite being slim, the young man’s body was heavily sculpted with muscle evident even through the tunic.
Reality's Plaything 3: Eternal's Agenda Page 25
