The Crimson Vault Part 9

"It was eight years ago, just before midsummer," the Grandmaster began. Her voice softened as she spoke, and she almost seemed to relax. "My granddaughter, who was also a Naraka Traveler, went with a partner to the Latari Forest. You have heard of the place?"

"Yes, of course," Alin said. He had grown up hearing stories of Latari Forest all his life. "It was only a day or two from Myria. I heard that's where Simon's father died."

Naraka sighed. "Another victim of the Valinhall Travelers, no doubt. Truly unfortunate that he chose to side with them. Anyway, we learned that Damasca had sealed a very powerful force at the center of Latari Forest. It is to maintain this seal that the Damascans sacrifice nine lives every year. We thought that if we destroyed the Damascan prison and set this power free, then we might be able to stop the sacrifice. My granddaughter and her partner were one of twelve teams we sent."

Master Farin clapped Alin lightly on the shoulder, signaling that he was done, and bowed one more time before slipping from the room. Alin didn't blame him. He wouldn't have wanted to eavesdrop on such a personal story either.

"Alas, there were Valinhall Travelers guarding the Latari Forest, and they sided with Damasca. All twenty-four of our Travelers were killed, including my granddaughter. We would never have known what happened, except that a few managed to send messengers back through their Territories before they died. If Valinhall had joined us, rather than the Damascans, perhaps Zakareth's rule would be over even now."

One detail of the story bothered Alin. "How many Valinhall Travelers were there?" Alin asked. "They killed twenty-four of your people, but I thought you said Valinhall Travelers were rare."

Grandmaster Naraka turned her red lenses on him. "Perhaps only one."

Alin would have been significantly less stunned if she had punched him in the face. One Traveler had killed twenty-four others? He had seen what some of the Enosh Travelers could do; he couldn't imagine standing alone against such power. His thoughts turned to Simon, who had survived a great battle involving over a dozen Damascan Travelers from at least two or three different Territories. Suddenly the carnage in that canyon took on a startling new aspect.

When Alin had seen the remnants of Simon's battle, he had a.s.sumed that Simon had called up allies to help him fight the Damascans, and then had eventually managed to either survive the conflict or slip away in the confusion.

Had Simon actually managed to win that fight alone?

Alin's respect for Simon sharply rose. If Grandmaster Naraka had meant to tell him that story in order to stop him from relying on Simon, she had failed dramatically. He trusted Simon's dedication, and if Simon was worth a dozen enemy Travelers in combat, Alin had to secure his help.

"You've given me a lot to think about," Alin said at last.

Grandmaster Naraka nodded. "Think on what I've said. In the meantime, let us turn our talk to happier matters. I have a surprise for you." She even smiled, which looked unnatural on her gnarled face.

Naraka walked over to the doors and pulled one open. Either those doors were balanced perfectly, or she had much more strength in her body than it seemed, because at her touch the door swung open easily.

"Come on in," Grandmaster Naraka called.

Alin's sisters walked inside.

Once again, Leah entered the Enosh Grandmasters' palace through a dusty broom closet.

The tiny closet would have barely had enough room for two people standing side-by-side if it was empty, and as it was Leah was nearly crowded out by mops, buckets, brooms, rags, and discarded furniture. Unfortunately, this was the only out-of-the-way place where she could figure out how to open a Lirial Gate.

Traveling from Lirial required her to perform complex calculations based on the movements of the Territory's twelve shifting moons. Landing where she wanted was like trying to put a ball through a hoop, only the hoop was tied to the back of a wild horse, and there were twelve horses, each with a hoop, but only one was the hoop she wanted. It was enough to make her want to tear her hair out at the roots.

Fortunately, she had mastered the trick to putting a Gate in this one old closet. She just wished she could have found somewhere a little less dusty.

Leah let the Gate vanish behind her, taking with it the clean, cold scent of Lirial. Then she adjusted her skirts*peasant brown again, the same as she had worn for the past two years in the village of Myria*and stepped through the closet door.

As soon as she stepped through the door she sneezed, and of course there was someone there to see her. A servant stood in the hall, rag and bucket in one hand, his other reaching out for the door handle. He stared at her for a moment as if he had seen her pop out of thin air, and then he stared suspiciously into the closet as if looking for someone else.

Leah delicately dabbed at her nose with her handkerchief, then folded the cloth and put it in her pocket. She met the servant's eyes and arched one eyebrow.

He opened his mouth to say something, but she kept staring at him. He eventually just shook his head and walked into the broom closet, while she walked calmly away.

She allowed herself a small smile at that. In Enosh or the capital city of Cana, servants were all the same.

As Leah walked the halls, she lost her purposeful stride, stopped pinning people to the walls with her stare, and choked back her impulse to command the servants out of her way. In short, she became once again the villager Leah, daughter of Kelia.

That was what they would call her in Myria. In Damasca, she would be Heiress Leah. The common folk would address her as *Heiress,' *Heiress Leah,' or *Highness,' but to those of equal rank she was simply Leah. Her family had no surname; any family that held the throne gave up their hereditary name as a symbol of their dedication to Damasca. The policy had played its part in stopping more than one civil war over the past three and a half centuries, but Leah liked the way the villagers did things. Her mother, Kelia, deserved to be remembered.

Leah froze at the intersection of two hallways, trying to remember which way led back to her room. The Grandmasters' palace was enormous, perhaps even as big as the Damascan royal palace in Cana, and she had not yet had time to become familiar with its layout.

She stood still for a good twenty seconds, trying to pretend she was exactly where she wanted to be, before she realized she could just ask. Any number of people pa.s.sed her in the halls*servants, Travelers, ordinary citizens*and most of them would probably know how to direct her. She had become too used to the way things were done in Cana, where she had to project invulnerability at all times or else invite an attack from one of her siblings or enemies. Leah, daughter of Kelia had no enemies. She could ask directions from anyone she wanted.

Sometimes, Leah enjoyed being a villager. She felt so free.

Once she secured directions to her room from a pa.s.sing maid, Leah turned her mind to her mission. As she walked, she took stock of her situation.

From her father, she had two goals: maintain surveillance on Alin, the Elysian Traveler, and gather as much information as possible on the Grandmasters' war plans. She could keep an eye on Alin easily enough, as Alin himself would likely tell her anything she wanted to know. The Grandmasters were a more difficult matter. In Damasca, Lirial was a relatively rare Territory, due to a somewhat stormy history between Lirial Travelers in general and the Damascan throne. As a result, she had already encountered more Lirial Travelers in Enosh than she had ever met in Cana.

She would therefore have to exercise extra care if she meant to use her Lirial powers to spy on the Grandmasters. If she were detected and unveiled as a Traveler, she would have some awkward questions to answer.

But those two tasks were possible enough. Worse were the tasks she had set for herself.

First, she had to keep an eye on Simon, not just Alin. From what she had seen and from what Indirial had said, he might be just as important to coming events as Alin. If she played her hand right, she might even be able to tell him that Enosh Travelers*not Damascans*had killed his father. That could be enough to win her a valuable ally.

Second, she could not let Talos ascend to the throne. King Zakareth had yet to name one of his children Successor, so she still had time, but with Adessa's exile only Talos and Leah herself remained as likely choices. Leah had very little desire to ascend to the throne herself*too many responsibilities; too much blame*but she was prepared to do her duty to the people. And it had begun to look like her duty to the people meant stopping Talos from attaining the throne.

Before she had moved to Myria for her two-year trial, Leah had known her older brother as a levelheaded, if ruthless, rival. In the last few weeks, Talos had seemed unstable. Almost unhinged. Sometimes he seemed almost desperate to overthrow their father, but he spoke of the throne as if he didn't want it.

So with a war against Enosh looming on the horizon, Leah had nothing more to do than monitor a prophesied hero, supervise a deadly young Traveler, spy on the enemy, and prevent a royal coup.

Leah hoped the city of Enosh had a library; she wouldn't want to get bored.

Since the plague that had taken Alin's parents, his three sisters had all but raised him. Tamara, the oldest, entered the room first, following Grandmaster Naraka's call.

"You honor us, Grandmaster," Tamara said warmly. "This hospitality is more than we deserve." She bowed at the waist, holding her long hair up so that it did not sweep the floor. She always was proud of her hair.

Grandmaster Naraka turned her own smile on Tamara, and Alin was half-surprised that Tamara didn't flinch and turn away. The Grandmaster's smile looked like it belonged on a bat. "It is your brother who honors us, child."

Tamara looked at Alin, and her eyes sparkled with amus.e.m.e.nt. "Oh, I'm sure he'saan honor," she said.

Shai, fourteen years old, was Alin's youngest sister. She said nothing, simply bowing to Grandmaster Naraka and slipping off to the side. Shai rarely said much, and today she seemed bored, her flat eyes staring at everything without a spark of interest. But Alin knew her better than that, so he kept an eye on her.

Ilana bowed as she entered the room, but she flashed Alin a grin. At twenty, she was three years older than Alin, and still unmarried. He hadn't seen her since the night of Malachi's raid on Myria, when a squad of Damascan soldiers had cut her betrothed down as he ran. He would have expected to see the shadow of that tragedy on her face, in tightness around the eyes or a hollow smile, but she seemed her usual self.

"Do you have nothing to say to your sisters?" Grandmaster Naraka asked. In truth, Alin had been too stunned to speak. He had sent Travelers to Myria months ago, shortly after he arrived in Enosh, to make sure his sisters were safe and cared for. Since then, he had barely thought of them. He felt a little guilty about that, but events had proceeded so fast that he had hardly had time to think at all.

Alin thought his smile would split his face in half. He had never thought it would feel so good to see his family. "Ilana! Tamara! You look wonderful! I'm so glad to see you've been keeping well." He would have mentioned Shai as well, but he thought she would probably be happier if he didn't draw attention to her sneaking along the back wall.

Ilana and Tamara sighed together.

"Listen to him," Tamara said.

"He sounds like he's making a speech," Ilana added. "'Keeping well.' Why yes, my good sir, we have been keeping well. We spend so much time knitting and attending b.a.l.l.s that we hardly have time for tea and scones."

The three women*Grandmaster Naraka included*all laughed. Shai continued sneaking around, apparently on a quest to see and touch as much of Enosh as she could.

Ilana's good-natured mocking did not put a dent in his smile. If anything, Alin felt relieved. After her promised husband's death, Alin had been afraid that her sense of humor would never recover.

"All right, all right," Alin said. "I'm just glad to see you." He spread his arms and walked over for a hug.

He clanked as he walked, which gave his sisters the opportunity to poke fun at his armor, but he didn't mind. Much.

Behind Grandmaster Naraka's back, and safely out of Tamara's sight, Shai pulled a clock down from a shelf on the wall. She sat down with the clock in her lap and immediately began taking it apart.

After they spent a few minutes catching up, their conversation naturally turned to Alin's newfound powers.

"Are you the one teaching Alin to Travel, Grandmaster?" Ilana asked.

"I am," Grandmaster Naraka replied.

"How's it going?"

Naraka shrugged. "I have had worse students, and I have never taught an Elysian Traveler before. But I suspect we would make more progress if he did not think so much of his own abilities. He seems to think he is invincible."

Alin's face heated, and he raised one gauntleted hand to his mouth as if to cover a cough. Maybe Ilana wouldn't notice his blush.

Tamara chuckled quietly at the Grandmaster's words, but Ilana nodded. "You praise him too much," she said. "It goes straight to his head. If you don't p.r.i.c.k his ego every once in a while, it'll just keep swelling."

Even Shai piped up. "Too proud," she submitted, from the floor next to her pile of clockwork.

It was hard to tell, behind Grandmaster Naraka's dark red gla.s.ses and her mask of wrinkles, but Alin thought she was trying to restrain a laugh. "I will defer to your wisdom in this matter," she said, "but I'm afraid it may be too late. Our next meeting together will not be until after the city-wide celebration in his honor."

Ilana sighed and shook her head sadly. "Oh, no. There'll be no talking to him after that."

At that point, Alin thought it was his place to speak up. "The city is celebrating, Ilana, because I defeated one of the Overlords. Malachi lies dead because of me."

Ilana's eyes went flat and hard, and a shadow entered her voice. "Good. His men killed Aden."

Tamara put a comforting arm around Ilana's shoulders, and Grandmaster Naraka glared at Alin as though he had done something wrong.

"You snuck off against our advice," the Grandmaster said. "You risked your life, the life of one of our most promising young Travelers, and the fate of this city on your own whim. The fact that one good thing came of your decision does not justify your actions."

Alin started to speak, to defend himself one more time, but Grandmaster Naraka cut him off.

"That reminds me," she said. "We have a strategy meeting after you address the city. We need to discuss our actions against Damasca."

Alin glanced at his sisters. "What about them?"

"Don't worry about us," Tamara said. "The Grandmaster has given us wonderful rooms. We'll be here when you get back."

"There's a clock in my room," Shai called.

Ilana smiled, though there was still a touch of darkness in it. "I'm sure it won't last long, Shai."

Tamara noticed the pile of gears and springs surrounding her sister for the first time, and immediately launched into a combination of apologizing to Grandmaster Naraka and scolding Shai. Her face remained pleasant through the whole tirade.

Alin's sisters left the room, and the Grandmaster moved to follow them.

"I want Simon at this meeting, Grandmaster," Alin said.

Naraka stopped. She half-turned to face him, her gla.s.ses gleaming red in the afternoon sunlight. "That is not wise."

In his mind, Alin reached out to the golden power of Elysia, like a warm sun just over his shoulder. Somewhere, an acorn in a golden cage began to shake. "I wasn't asking your permission. It's already done."

Grandmaster Naraka's answering bow was nothing more than a fractional nod of her head. "As you wish, Eliadel. Now come. The people await you."

Alin walked out with her. The doors slammed shut behind them, the sound echoing loud and hollow in the empty halls.

CHAPTER SIX:.

THE GRANDMASTERS' COUNCIL.

Simon's Gate opened onto the last place he'd left: his suite of rooms in Enosh. After his final showdown with the Damascan Travelers, he had Traveled to Valinhall for healing, but he'd been forced to take three of Alin's huge Elysian bears with him. Valinhall, he had learned, was not equipped to support bears. They had torn up three couches and one of the strange oxen from the garden before the Nye had enough.

Simon had walked the bears from the canyon at the edge of the Badari Desert all the way back to Enosh, and had then managed to sneak them into Alin's room. That had taken most of a day, but the look on Alin's face when he saw the bears was worth every second. Simon had spied on Alin's reaction from outside his window, but after seeing the bears, it had taken Alin all of ten seconds to summon a tracker that located Simon.

After that, Alin had insisted that Simon be given rooms in the Grandmasters' palace and the little buzzing-acorn alarm that would alert him in an emergency.

Alin hadn't put it that way, of course. He said something like, *Now I can call you whenever I need you.' But since it would allow Simon to help in case of an attack, he let Alin's poor phrasing slide.

The rooms here were no better appointed than his bedroom in Valinhall, though he had much more floor s.p.a.ce here. For some reason, his bed and washstand were fifteen paces apart. Did they expect him to host a dance in the middle of the room?

Rich people, he thought, with a mental shake of his head. Then he stepped out of the room and almost ran straight into Leah.

She looked as startled as he was, her blue eyes wide. "Simon!" she said. "I thought you wereagone." For some reason she jerked her wrist behind her back, as though she meant to hide the crystal bracelet she always wore. After a second she relaxed.

"I was in my Territory," Simon said carefully. He found himself watching his words with Leah after rescuing her from Malachi's tower.

"Oh, really?" Leah didn't sound intrigued, or frightened, or in awe, any of which Simon would have expected from her when talking about his Traveler powers. She sounded like she was thinking about something else, like his answer had been expected.

"Simon," Leah said, "I've been meaning to talk to you about something. Do you have a minute?" Without waiting for his response, she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the side of the hall, where they would be out of the irregular hallway traffic.

He considered telling her that Alin had called him on some urgent business, but he found that the idea of making Alin wait didn't bother him at all. Besides, if you discounted his recent suspicions about her, there was something exciting about having a pretty girl*having Leah*pull him aside for a private conversation.