“More than…” Wren confirmed. She stared up at the heavens and murmured, “beautiful night.”
“It is,” he agreed. “A little more about Aarlen, I’m curious. What’s this relationship between her and Corim? It’s like they’re connected or something.”
The blonde woman shrugged. “I never saw him before—well, okay I saw him once in Jhandris. I don’t know anything about him or his relationship with Aarlen or Beia.”
“Beia?” Sarai repeated. “Beia Targallae? The warmaster of the Corwin games?”
Wren nodded. “Yes, she’s the one who taught me to fight. Well, one of them anyway.”
Sarai shook her head. “I have to envy your education. That kind of schooling can’t be bought at any price.”
“I wish I appreciated it more at the time. I know how valuable it is now.”
Bannor rolled his eyes. “Star, how is it you seem to know all these people?”
His fiancé sighed. “It doesn’t hurt that they’re all extremely famous—especially the Band of the Crescent Moon.”
“I’ve heard of them,” Bannor said.
“Can you name any?”
“Well, uh, Cassandra—and DacWhirter, I remember that being mentioned when we met him.”
“They are sixteen of the most powerful adventurers on Titaan,” She told him. “Cassandra Kel’Ishtauri, Keven of the Black Hand, Tab of the high minstrels, Skyweir, Giquikor, and Edrick the war-hands of the silent sect, Karsk and Algernon of the borderlands—kinsmen of yours, Desiray Illkaren—Whitelock—”
“My first teacher,” Wren said.
Sarai looked at her sideways. “T’Gor D’Shar of Southland, Oorcee of the Western Forests, Gondor of Stonehaven, DacWhirter of Blackstar, Beia of the Arenas, Bertram of Coormeer, Damrosil the Myrmigyne… We know their names because any one of them can shift the balance of power of among the Kingdoms.”
He made a puttering sound with his lips. “Come on, I mean I’m powerful but I can’t change kingdoms around.”
“There’s more to power that smacking something with a stick,” Wren said. “There’s knowledge, resources, allies and finances. Many of them have been amassing personal power for half a century. That’s why the Felspars terrify the Kingdoms. Six of the Band are either a part of the Felspar family or close allies. They could be a kingdom if they chose and no one, probably not even Malan could stop them.”
“Well,” Sarai’s voice trailed off. “At any rate that’s why Mother and Father tolerate Cassandra’s—familiarity. We acknowledge their power and appreciate their desire to remain relatively neutral.”
The three of them walked along in silence for a while, going through the outer bastion gate and into the main yard. Sarai chose a different way into Kul’Amaron this time, following a wide staircase that zig-zagged up the side of the ancient structure. As they headed up the steps, the illumination they saw from the bridge grew brighter. The sound of stringed instruments and pipes became audible. The top landing opened onto a large curved balcony.
A half-dozen guards awaited them, mirror polished armor seeming on fire as it reflected the torchlights blazing overhead. The two elves nearest the landing crossed their spears to block the way. Sarai stepped forward and raised a hand.
“Three to enter,” she said.
The guards bowed their heads and the spears were withdrawn.
A huge pair of double-doors easily three paces high, and double that wide, lay open before them and golden light streamed out. The citadel roof slanting up from the wall was cut and fitted with something transparent, and rays of illumination streaked into the sky, casting the surrounding stone in a gold radiance. The music resonated through the stone now, and now they could hear the murmur of voices as well.
They were challenged again at the next doorway by Elves in formal attire. These Bannor recognized as mages. Both held large crystals in their hands and they shined a crimson light on each of them in turn.
Beyond the doors, a short hall opened up into a huge tiered chamber. Like many of the gathering places in the citadel, the chamber was made to look like an outdoor venue, in the case of this place, a rocky canyon. Water cascaded through rocks into cisterns around which many colored mage-lights had been placed. The water reflected the colors all across the area in a scintillating display. At the very back in the highest vantage was a raised dais and dining area obviously for the King and Queen. Curved banquet tables arced to either side from the central podium.
The dais and tables were empty of people. Instead, a group of at least a hundred people thronged the stone floor of the chamber.
Bannor blinked. He’d been prepared for a fairly large party but not this. The number of people did not bother him so much as the power he sensed coming from them. The room was all but choked by threads of elemental and mystical power.
As the three of them came down the steps, he picked out a few faces he knew like Dulcere, Senalloy and Corim. The King and Queen stood to one side with Euriel and Vanidaar, Cassandra, a white-haired woman, and a burly older man. Tal, Beia, and surprisingly Aarlen stood near the center, casting her long shadow over the nearby people. Two other women with dark hair, equally as large stood with her. There were other Kriar as well, standing together in a group. Eclipse, Cassandra, and four others he didn’t recognize. From their threads, he picked his new friends, relatives, and acquaintances. Janai and Daena had a small circle of males and females around them making conversation. Laramis and Irodee were with three other couples that included Ziedra and her husband, Bronawyn and Caldorian from the inn, and two more Bannor didn’t know.
As they moved down into the crowd, men and women bowed to Sarai. It was Wren though that caused the stir. Hugs, touches on the arm or shoulder—everyone knew her name and she knew their names as well.
Moving toward the King and Queen was one tremendous string of polite greetings as Wren introduced everyone in their path. Some of the girls were so pretty they just took his breath away. Sarai was beautiful in every sense of the word, but some of the Felspar ladies gave true meaning to the word ‘stunning’.
Sarai was frowning at his reactions until Wren introduced an androgynous young man.
“Arminwen, Bannor,” Wren said to Sarai. “My friends Everia Felspar, and her brother Darin’kel Felspar.”
Bannor nodded to Everia. She was the prettiest girl by far they had seen. He almost swallowed his tongue. “Lady—Everia.” He stumbled on the words. “Master Darin’kel.” To cover up, he shook Darin’s hand. Effeminate he might appear, but the fellow had a calloused hand and a grip like steel. “Well met, both of you.”
The two bowed to Sarai. “Everia,” Sarai greeted and turned to the young man. “Dar—” Her voice caught, because as she had spoken he raised his head. “Darin’K-kel,” she barely got the words out. “Well—met…” Her voice trailed off.
“Thank you, Arminwen,” Darin’kel said with a smile. “Thanks to your family for entertaining us this night.”
Sarai blinked, glowing violet eyes wide almost as though she were mesmerized.
Bannor nudged her with his elbow. “Yes,” she said, making a little twitch. “Think nothing of it. It’s our pleasure.”
They bowed and moved on through the crowd. As they pushed on Bannor felt a tickle in the back of his mind. Another creature of power had just entered the area. The emanation came from near the five Kriar, a silhouette perched on a ledge above them. He blinked. Quasar. That could be bad…
“Where do they get them all!” Sarai’s words snapped him out of his speculation.
“Didn’t know humans could be that pretty, did you?” Wren said with a grin. “As to where they all come from; they make them. When you meet Desiray and Dorian. You’ll see why.”
Should he alarm everyone by announcing the rogue Kriar’s presence? Her threads did not suggest agitation. Merely sadness—loneliness. She wanted to be near her mate, even if was from afar. The creature might be alien, but at least that much about her was understandable. He m
ight as well let it go for now.
“You’re quite a celebrity,” Bannor said to Wren.
“More like famous family,” Wren said with grin. “Desiray is like my other mother.”
Even though they avoided the middle of the room, somehow their path crossed Aarlen’s. The white-haired giant, dressed in a black satin gown and silver tiara made a slight tip of her head to Sarai as did the two dark-haired women with her. They were twins, Bannor immediately recognized. While Aarlen was in black, they were in brilliant red, their arms and necks heavily festooned with jewelry. Like the other women they had already met, they were breath taking.
“Good Evening, Wren,” Aarlen said.
The blonde savant bowed to her in response and looked to Sarai.
“Sarai T’Evagduran, third princess of Malan, I present to you Fourth Alliance Magestrix Aarlen Frielos. On her left, her daughter Duchess Ascendant Sindra Frielos, and her sister, Duchess Ascendant Drucilla Frielos.” The two women nodded when their names were spoken. “Sindra, Drucilla,” Wren continued. “This is Captain Bannor Starfist of the Ranger Elite of Tenax.”
The two women nodded to him with smiles, their silver eyes making an uneasy shiver go up his spine. They weren’t as strong as Aarlen, but they were easily as strong as any avatar he had ever encountered.
“Greetings Magestrix—excellencies,” he said.
“You are very good at these introductions, Wren,” Aarlen remarked with a smile. “You might have missed your calling.”
“Pardon Milady,” Bannor asked. “No offense, but how is it you came to be invited?”
Aarlen raised an eyebrow. “My daughters are married into the Felspars. That makes me mother-in-law to their mates—therefore I am a relative. Convenient, yes?”
“Yes,” Sarai said, with a nod. “Still, with someone of your rank it seems this gathering would be a trivial affair for you.”
Aarlen leaned her head to one side and put a huge hand on Bannor’s shoulder. “No, not trivial at all not with a Garmtur and all these savants involved. Especially whenever the Kriar take interest in something—I do.” She nodded toward Eclipse and four other Kriar standing together.
Sarai’s gaze followed that of the Magestrix. “Yes, I saw some of their magic demonstrated today. It is—impressive.”
“Really?” Aarlen focused on Bannor. “I heard that you met up with Mercedes. What did you have done?”
“Nothing that you would consider significant,” he answered.
“You mean besides the language implants?”
He knew his jaw dropped. He didn’t bother to say how, it was probably written on his face.
Aarlen leaned forward. She patted the bracelet on her arm. “I am a Shael Dal, remember?”
“Yes—”
He was going to say more, but he was cut off by the feeling of a powerful savant moving close.
“—Aarlen, are you ever satisfied? First, Wren, now this young man? Leave them be. You have enough playthings.”
A woman a little shorter than Wren with dark brown hair and dark eyes stepped up beside the blonde savant. She was a dressed in a gray silk gown, her throat and hands dripping with jewelry. The swirl of threads whipping around her made her identity clear. This was the elder Kel’Varan.
“Damay!” Wren threw her arms around the smaller woman in a hug. “I’m so glad to see you! It’s been so long!”
Damay hugged her back. “Not that long child, but I am glad to see you as well.” She turned and bowed to Sarai.
Wren remembered her manners and straightened up. “Sarai T’Evagduran, third princess of Malan, I present to you High Lady Damay Alostar.” She gestured to him. “Damay, this is Captain Bannor Starfist of the Ranger Elite of Tenax.”
Damay nodded bowed to him. “Savant lord, my regards. It has been a while since I have met a Garmtur.”
Aarlen frowned down at the much smaller woman. “What are you doing here?”
Damay grinned. “I am sister to Wren, to Bannor, to Ziedra, and to the fire-haired one over there.” She gestured toward Daena and Janai with their circle of admirers. “My but that one has ‘being’ I have only seen one time before…” She focused back on Wren with narrowed eyes.
“She’s a first one, at least she is now,” Wren said. “Thanks to him.” She punched Bannor in the shoulder.
“Hella forced me,” he grumbled, rubbing his arm. “The rest was done by that Kell person.”
Aarlen put hands on hips. “Has something else happened?”
“Like all of us getting stomped by one guy including Dulcere,” Wren said. “Nothing else.”
“What?” She glanced over to where Dulcere was conversing with the other Kriar. “She and…”
“All of us savants,” Bannor added. “And Corim. Took us down like green recruits.”
“You’re not dead—so what was the purpose of the attack?”
Bannor shrugged. “All he did was empower Daena, and leave.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s all we are aware of.”
“And no-one saw fit to inform me?” Aarlen growled.
“Pardon,” Sarai said. “But what business is it of yours?”
“I have a vested interest in the team. Ziedra is my niece and Wren will likely be my daughter-in-law soon.”
Wren’s jaw dropped. Damay blinked. Aarlen’s two huge daughters who had been silent throughout the exchange, grinned.
Bannor had heard Wren surmise that Aarlen had something planned. What was probably more stunning was for her to so openly state it.
“W-what?” Wren sputtered. “How? Who? I don’t even have a boyfriend!”
The giant white-haired woman’s expression barely cracked. “And it’s high time. You need to act while you’re in your prime child-bearing years.”
“Child-bearing!?” the blonde woman gasped. “Aarlen, I don’t even know if I want kids!”
The elder dismissed Wren’s objection with a wave of her hand. “Posh. Of course you do.” She glanced at Bannor with a raised eyebrow and twist of her thin painted lips. “Six should be sufficient.”
Wren put hands on hips. She stared at Aarlen’s giant daughters and then back at Aarlen. “You’re joking? Six? Were they required to have six kids?”
“No,” the magestrix rumbled.
“That’s what I thought.”
“For them, it was nine—each.”
The blonde savant paled. “Nine?”
Two more figures pressed out of the crowd. One was another white-haired woman, dressed in dark blue silk, she was a little taller than average with a shapely body and long legs. Her upturned emerald eyes flashed like jewels in the bright light of the room. The other lady dressed in green and wore her dark auburn hair in a crown pleat with a long tail. With her round face and blushing features one could easily mistake her for a teenager if not for her voluptuous body.
The two newcomers pressed between Aarlen and Wren.
“Desiray!” Wren let out, apparently glad for the interruption. She hugged the white-haired woman.
“Sorry, I missed you at breakfast,” Desiray said, hugging her back. “I was looking forward to seeing you.”
“You’re here now, that’s good enough for me!” She let go of Desiray and turned to the other lady. “Dorian.” She gave her a hug as well.
The auburn haired lady seemed surprised and pleased at once.
“Whoa. A hug. Does that mean you’ve forgiven me?”
“Dorian, can anyone stay mad at you forever?” Wren asked.
She grinned. “None so far.”
“It’s just a matter of time,” Aarlen said with a frown.
Wren disengaged herself and put her arms around both women. She turned to Sarai. “Sarai T’Evagduran, third princess of Malan, I present to you Countess Desiray Illkaren Felspar Tarrantil. My—” She looked into Desiray’s eyes for a moment. “Good friend, and occasional adventuring partner.” She leaned her head toward the other woman. “Arminwen, this is Supreme Arcani
st Dorian Degaba Ishtarvariku. A lady to whom I owe—much.” She paused. “Desiray, Dorian, may I introduce to you Captain Bannor Starfist of the Ranger Elite of Tenax.”
Bannor nodded to both of them. Just seeing these two explained a lot about the Felspars. Both were attractive, powerful, and far older than they looked—especially Dorian who seemed more child than woman. The woman’s pattern showed that she was the mother of boy whose beauty had so impressed Sarai.
“Thank you for having us at your party,” Desiray said to Sarai. “It looks like it’s going to be fun.”
“It’s more my father’s idea, but I hope you enjoy it,” Sarai responded.
“You have some fascinating friends,” Dorian said. She glanced toward Daena, and then her gaze tracked to Senalloy and Dulcere standing with Corim.
“They are more Bannor’s friends,” Sarai said. “I find them interesting myself.”
Bannor focused on the young appearing woman. “Lady Dorian, did Wren speak right, you are a supreme arcanist?”
Dorian bowed her head. “That is my title for whatever it’s worth.” She nodded to Wren. “She’s quite good at these introductions.” She raised an eyebrow. She glanced back at Aarlen.
The elder’s mouth quirked.
Dorian focused back on him. “I understand you have Baronian problems.”
“I don’t know that they are my problem specifically,” he answered. “I may have annoyed one of their commanders.”
The auburn haired woman leaned close and spoke low. “You have problems then.”
“Do you know the Baronians Lady Dorian?” Sarai asked.
“Of them, yes,” Dorian replied. “I learn more every day. Is this in connection with Corim’s assignment for the Shael Dal?”
“It is,” Aarlen said. “I will be approaching Loric for his assistance later.”
Desiray’s eyes widened. Dorian’s face clouded. Obviously, such a statement from Aarlen was alarming.
“This is quite a gathering,” Damay said looking around. “That collection of Kriar concerns me. They seem rather—focused.”
Reality's Plaything 3: Eternal's Agenda Page 41
