The Crimson Vault Part 15

As she had suspected, the gray wall was a long, low stone fortification outside one of the Damascan outposts in Helgard.

The Travelers hurriedly opened one of the side gates, beckoning her inside. As they brought her inside, leading her to a fire and to her father, they caught her up on the situation.

The Damascans had managed to kill Grandmaster Helgard barely two days ago, in real time, but Helgard had experienced a time spike since then. For the Travelers here, it had been over a week. The Helgard Travelers loyal to Enosh had used that time to a.s.sault this fortification on the twenty-first floor as the nearest Damascan outpost of any real size.

"They were pulling out all the stops, too," the Traveler said. He shuddered and stared off into the distance, though he didn't stop walking. "I'd never seen a frost giant before." From his expression, Leah didn't think he would want to see another one, either.

As soon as the time spike had stabilized, late this past afternoon, they had sent for reinforcements from the capital. Without them, the Helgard Travelers here wouldn't have lasted the night.

However, they had not expected the King himself.

Zakareth and his deadly spear had proved enough reinforcements to get the Enosh Travelers to reconsider; they had pulled back to regroup just before Leah reached the wall.

Leah considered the implications of that. Why was the King here in person? There were only a few possibilities. Either he didn't have any other Travelers to send*unlikely*or he thought this situation important enough to warrant his personal attention. Why?

Either way, she felt somewhat responsible for the Helgard Travelers here. Her news was likely to make the King return to Cana, and then they would be left here with no backup. Well, the stability of the realm came first. They could always come back and recapture their lost outposts later.

The Helgard Traveler led Leah into an ordinary sitting room. It was hardly fit for Damascan royalty; the walls were made out of rough, barely-cut stone, and the furniture was simple wood. Four chairs rested around a heavy, barely-polished table, and the hearth at the end of the room blazed with flame.

At least it was warm. Leah hurried over to the fireplace, pressing her body as close as she dared. It probably wasn't wise, but she barely gave any attention to the room's other occupants.

Talos sat at the table, his sheathed sword in front of him. Maybe half an inch of its red blade showed. Upon seeing Leah, he ran a hand through his golden curls, and flashed his sister a perfect grin. "Playing with the mirka, Leah?"

Leah ignored him, lowering her hood to feel the full warmth of the fire on her face. Her dress underneath was wet and cold, and somehow her body actually shivered more now that it was getting some relief. She supposed that was her way of transitioning from the cold. She would have pulled the heavy cloak from around her, leaving her in her dress and jacket, but she felt incapable of moving.

"You're careless," King Zakareth said to her. He sat at the head of the table, behind her; she had caught a glimpse of him as she came in. He was clothed fully in his royal armor: plates of dark metal lined in gold and set occasionally with rubies. It was not ornamental, that armor. The rubies were mined from Ornheim, and in some way she didn't understand they added strength to the armor as a whole. He had worn the armor into dozens of battles, and it bore the marks to prove it: dents and dings and scratches that represented attacks. Attacks that had never come close to wounding the man inside.

A number of clever replies rose to Leah's tongue, but only one thing escaped. "I'm sorry, father," she said. She had been trained well.

"Take an escort with you, next time," Zakareth went on. He was never one to abandon a battle just because he had won. "You can't count on me being there to save you every time."

"Perhaps we should ask why she's here," Talos said. "Surely, it must be something urgent for her to risk running into Helgard alone."

Zakareth stared at her so hard that she could have sworn she saw a red light pulse against the fireplace. Red light shining from his crimson eye. She shuddered, and it wasn't because of the cold. She didn't speak; she wasn't sure that she could make her jaw move.

"I know why she's here," Zakareth said. "I see the moons of Lirial upon her. She found a way to spy on the war council of the Grandmasters."

Out of the corner of her eye, Leah saw Talos look up sharply. He seemed almost panicked. Well, he probably worried about what the Grandmasters were up to.

"That is true, father," Leah said between shivers. She reached into a pocket and withdrew her recording crystal, turning to place it on the table in front of them.

"I've only watched the first few minutes," Leah continued, "but what I heard was enough to alarm me. The Grandmasters plan to take this opportunity to attack us. They will a.s.sault some of the Overlords, trying to damage the Tree. And I suspect that they also intend to reinforce the Valinhall Incarnation."

Zakareth stared at the crystal. He did not ask her to activate the recording, though she knew he soon would. He appeared carved out of granite as he sat there, lost deep in thought.

Talos did not have his father's patience. "We should gather the Overlords. Travel to them immediately. We can abandon this outpost, and focus everything we have on destroying the Incarnation."

"Where is the Incarnation now?" Leah asked.

Talos looked to their father, who continued to stare a moment before answering. "The Incarnation of Valinhall stands in what was once the village of Harinfel. According to reports we have just received, he marched into the village at dawn, challenging anyone who stood in his way to duels. He spared the lives of those that acquitted themselves well, and killed the rest. Harinfel is now a graveyard."

Anger showed in Talos' eyes. "This is exactly the kind of thing we should be there to prevent. Where will he be heading next?"

"Harinfel, Harinfel..." Leah mused. "That's in Lysander's realm, isn't it? It's just southeast of the Latari Forest."

Zakareth nodded in her direction. "The Valinhall Incarnation travels in a straight line from his grave at the center of the Latari Forest to his destination. He will walk through any obstacle until he reaches the royal palace in Cana and slays me."

Leah took a moment to digest that information. Talos' eyes widened, and then narrowed, as though he had just heard something that would change the entire game. He was probably thinking about how to allow the Valinhall Incarnation to a.s.sa.s.sinate his father, leaving the succession open. Leah's thoughts went in a different direction.

"How do you know that?" Leah said. "Maybe he just wants to slaughter indiscriminately to satisfy some mad urge."

Zakareth met her gaze then, with eyes of blue and red. Leah tried her best not to look away. "I know the man he was," the King said. "I cannot think that Incarnation has changed him so much."

Talos leaned forward, one hand almost unconsciously brushing his sheathed sword. "How do you know so much about him?"

"Because I was the one who sealed him in that grave," Zakareth replied. "In a way, my actions led to this. I decided to place a tenth inmate in a prison built for nine."

Neither of them had anything to say to that.

After a moment, Talos broke the awkward silence. "I will leave now. We should mobilize all the soldiers and Travelers we can gather, and stop this Incarnation directly. We can warn the Overlords to be on alert, to defend their Trees, but if we can take care of this Incarnation now, we will have disarmed the Grandmasters' primary weapon. Perhaps Indirial can even lure this Incarnation back into his home Territory."

That wasn't a bad plan; Incarnations became trapped if they stayed too long in the Territories that created them. Her tutors had said that this was because the Incarnations were part of the Territory's power, and by returning they became absorbed in their world's fabric. She hardly understood the theory behind that, but she didn't need to know the theory; as long as Incarnations couldn't move miles in seconds through their Territories, she was satisfied.

Zakareth continued staring at Leah, his expression as unyielding as the face of a hammer. She knew what he wanted. He only got that look when he wanted her to prove herself. Leah sighed*inwardly; she wasn't fool enough to do anything but obey to her father's face*and spoke what she and her father had both considered immediately.

"We need to consider the opposite strategy," Leah said. "We may want to determine which Overlords the Grandmasters will attack, and prepare traps there. In the meantime, we send a token force to oppose the Incarnation, or else send no one."

Talos let his chair fall forward on its front legs, sending a thunk echoing through the sitting room.

"If we send no one, the Incarnation will slaughter at his leisure. The villagers will have no chance. They will fall by the dozens."

"It's a strategy we have to consider," Leah said. "The Grandmasters may or may not accompany the Incarnation, but they will attack the Trees. If we can ambush them there, then we can remove the Grandmasters, who represent a significant portion of the Enosh fighting force. Besides, even if we stop the Valinhall Incarnation and save dozens or hundreds of lives, losing the Hanging Tree will release the other Incarnations. Thousands more will die. Tens of thousands."

King Zakareth leaned back in his chair and gave her one brief nod of approval.

Her heart swelled with pride, though she tried to ignore it. She was a grown woman; her father's opinion should mean nothing to her. But approval or encouragement from her father was more rare and valuable than diamonds.

Talos' face twisted. He sneered at them, and it did terrible things to his face. He didn't look like a hero now, just like a broken and bitter man.

"You two. You're the same as Cynara and Adessa. You have no thought for those beneath you."

"Do not speak of things you do not understand," King Zakareth said. He did not sound angry; he was just making a statement. But Leah edged back, close enough to the fire now that the heat felt scalding even through three layers of clothing. Even if her cloak caught fire, it was better than standing in the middle if the argument between two Ragnarus Travelers came to blows.

"I understand enough," Talos said. He gripped his sheathed sword in one hand, pulling it to his side. "I understand that you are more concerned about your rule than about the people who trust you."

He did not put his other hand on the sword's hilt, which was likely the only reason that their father allowed him to remain conscious.

"If you were king, you could do as you wished," Zakareth said. "Fortunately, you are not, and you will do as I say."

"You are not fit to rule," Talos spat. Leah shot a glance to the door and started trying to calculate how quickly she could rush out of the room.

Zakareth stared at his one remaining son, and Talos stared back. Neither said a word.

After a tense minute, Talos looked away. "It's pointless speculating," Talos muttered. "We don't have enough information."

Their father didn't acknowledge Talos' words, but he did stand up and gather Leah's recording crystal from the table.

"I will return to the palace and have this examined," he said. "My advisors and I will determine our course of action. You will both remain available until a decision is made. Talos, stay here and do what you can to keep the Grandmasters from taking this outpost. It's more important than you think. Leah, return to Enosh and gather what other information you can. But do not expose yourself unnecessarily. I will count on having you alive and capable in whatever defense we fashion."

"Yes, Your Highness," Leah said. She dipped a little curtsy, then hurriedly stepped forward when she realized she had almost trailed her cloak in the flames.

King Zakareth turned and swept from the room, his boots clanking on the floor, leaving Leah alone with her brother.

Now that their father was gone, Talos turned his glare on her. "You would give in to him so easily?"

Leah shrugged. "Not giving in, but considering all options. Whichever course of action results in the least life, that's the one we will take."

"Even at the cost of entire villages?" Talos said. "Who are we, that we make such decisions? You lived in a village for your trial, just as I did. Imagine that it was your village with an Incarnation rampaging through. Imagine that you had to watch, powerless, as he tore apart faces you knew, people you loved. Seven stones, isn't your mother's family from a village? What if it was their lives at stake?"

Leah knew what he was trying to do, though she couldn't help but picture what he described. A long sword jutting from the chest of her half-sister, Rutha. Her aunt Nurita, cut down as she tried to organize a resistance. Chaim and his family, stuck in their home as it collapsed around them. Alin's sisters, butchered by an insanely powerful creature that knew no reason.

She shuddered. "It's a horrible thought," she agreed. "But sometimes the alternative is even worse."

Talos hurled his sheathed sword down to the table in anger, pacing restlessly from one side of the room to the other. "Is it? Is it worse? Why is that always the justification we use, that the alternative is worse? We sacrifice nine of our own citizens every year, citizens we were meant to protect. And now we're considering letting even more of our people die. What alternative is worse than that?"

"It's mathematics, Talos," Leah said quietly. "If it costs us nine lives to save ten, then as responsible rulers there's only one choice we can make."

Her brother met her eyes, and in his face she saw the expected rage, frustration, and condescension. He always thought that anyone of any intelligence should see things the same way he did. But she also saw something she did not expect: a deep, compelling pain.

"I got to know them, in my trial," Talos said. "They became close to me. One...one in particular. Cynara found out."

Leah winced. Ruthlessness ran in her family's blood, but her oldest sister had inherited a double share, along with a streak of cruelty.

"The one I loved," Talos went on, "she was chosen as the first offering in the 354th sacrifice. I was away, on a.s.signment for Father. I didn't learn about it until later."

"What did you do?" Leah asked. But she knew. Her sister Cynara was paranoid and delusional, forever trapped inside her palace rooms. Someone had done that to her.

Talos put a boot up on the seat of his chair. He looked regal again, once more like the heroic prince from the stories. "Her trial was in Asphodel. There are no crimes out in the Mist. And once the fear sets in, once she started to panic, the Mist began to feed on her. She will never forget what her cruelty cost her."

"I'm not sure it was her cruelty," Leah said.

Her brother pointed a finger in her direction. "You're right! It wasn't hers. It was ours. We all perpetuate this system while we're a part of it. We keep these Incarnations enslaved, and we pay lives to do it. Well, there are other ways. The whole system will burn to the ground, and we will build a new one on top of it. A better one."

Talos was staring past Leah now, into the hearth full of flickering flames.

Leah shivered, and not from the cold. Her brother may have started with pure motivations, but they were twisted. Wrong.

I could use him, Leah thought. Then she cursed herself. Why was that so often her first thought?

Still, as she watched her brother stare silently into the flames, she couldn't help but wonder about him. He could not be allowed to take the throne, that was for sure. In that case, who else was left?

CHAPTER NINE:.

THE INCARNATION OF VALINHALL.

358th Year of the Damascan Calendar 24th Year in the Reign of King Zakareth VI 31 Days After Midsummer 14 Days Until Summer's End Simon emerged from the healing pool with an imp still gnawing on his shoulder. Kai spun Azura in an arc, slicing the creature in half and sending its two pieces flying off to splash in the pool. The imp didn't bleed, and Simon had the distinct impression that it would eventually just pull itself back together.

"Thank you for saving me, sir," Simon said, pulling his clothes back on. It took him a moment to notice that they were still stained with blood.

Simon held up his bloodstained shirt in front of Kai. "Where are the Nye?" Simon asked. "Did I not wait long enough?"

Kai was stroking the flat of Azura's blade like a lover, staring deep into her silvery blade. "It's not your fault, little mouse," Kai said. "The Nye have...other concerns, today."

"Does that happen often?"

"Never," Kai said. "This is something of an exception, and the reason why I was looking for you in the House. We have a problem."

"A problem?"

"You're just full of useless questions, aren't you?" Kai said. He held Azura in his right hand*he seemed not to want to let it go*and gestured to Simon with his left. "Hurry up, if you would. We have places to go, people to save."

Simon pulled on his shirt, wincing at the feel of sticky blood against his scars, and ran after Kai. He led Simon back to the garden, where a familiar figure was engaged in conversation with Chaka. He wore road-stained clothes of brown and green, and looked as though he was about a week overdue for a shave and a haircut. He held a Dragon's Fang in his right hand, and had a huge red-and-gold book tucked under his left arm.

"Denner," Kai called. "We're ready."

Denner said something and bowed to Chaka, who bowed back. The leather man didn't spare Simon more than a glance. Denner jogged over to join Kai and Simon. Simon started to say something, but as soon as Denner was close enough, Kai grabbed Simon by one arm and began pulling him out of the room.

"Hold on," Simon said, pulling himself free. "What is going on?"

"This is somewhat urgent, little mouse," Kai said. "Please scamper in this direction, if you would." He seized Simon by the shoulder this time and kept guiding him out.

Denner sighed, but he kept following Kai. "How have you been, Simon?" he asked.

"Well enough," Simon replied, struggling in Kai's grip. Short of calling steel, he didn't think he could break it.

Hariman, the book under Denner's arm, chuckled. Then he spoke, in a stuffy, cultured voice: "You have been well enough, I'm sure. a.s.sa.s.sinating Overlords, destabilizing the realm. I hear you're quite the wanted man in Damasca, which is unfortunate, considering that's where*"

He cut off as Denner slapped him on the binding. "Sorry about that, Simon. Sometimes he just runs away without me."

"It's no problem," Simon said, but he felt a little queasy.