Born Of Fire And Darkness (Book 2) (11 page)

When Graiphen stepped in, both mother and son looked up. Kiarana smiled. “Good. You are here.” Her voice thrummed with power. Her skin radiated and glowed. “The time has come,” she said.

Graiphen bowed. “For what, Lady Pang?”

The boy watched Graiphen with interest, but said nothing.

“For your choice, of course.” Kiarana stood, leaving the boy to lay on the bed. Adjusting her gown to cover her, she focused her eyes on Graiphen. The boy looked disappointed, as a puppy whose mother has tired of suckling him.

“My choice?”

“Soon Zain will be ready to make his appearance, and Durjin will be mine. Already they come, the faithful, to offer themselves, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. The anticipation is growing. The city wants him.” She turned and glanced at her son, her face glowing with pride. “Soon, the whole world will want him.” She paused. “And his brothers and sisters. His children. He’s almost ready. He grows more every day.”

“My choice, as you call it, is clear,” Graiphen said. “I have fulfilled my mistress’s command to bring you here and to help you get established. I have one other task to do for her, as you know. When I have succeeded at that, I will take Seba back to her, and she will reward my faithfulness.”

“Will she?” Pang asked, Kiarana’s voice warbling as though two voices spoke at once. Her expression mocked Graiphen. “You of all living humans know Braetin’s proclivity for betrayal.”

Graiphen didn’t answer. Instead, he watched as Zain stood and went to his mother. He sat on the ground at her feet and began toying with the hem of her sheer robes. Although Graiphen did not allow himself to think of this creature as part of him, he could not help but see the superficial resemblance to Korbin.
My son
, he thought. What would Zain grow into? What would Pang do with the boy? He was clearly only an adolescent. But at the rate he was developing, he would appear as a man in mere days. What would he unleash upon the city then?

“What if you don’t succeed?” Pang smiled knowingly, as though she possessed a secret pertaining to him.

Graiphen wondered what she was withholding. “I will succeed.” The confidence he put into his voice was feigned, something he’d learned to do long ago as a senator.

“Will you? I understand the Child of Eurmus, the one who injured your mistress, she has the emperor’s ear now. Do you think this woman will advise him to give Seba to you? Or do you think she will do everything in her power to keep him away from you, to see him killed, even? Once dead, Seba will be beyond even Braetin’s reach. Even we of the realm beyond have our limits.”

Graiphen bowed his head, thoughts whirring in his head. How did Pang know so much? As far as he knew, she’d been cloistered here since her arrival in Durjin. His people would have told him if she’d ventured out. But she was a goddess, and any in her temple would tell her anything she wished to know. Clearly, she wished to know anything to do with Graiphen.

“I must succeed, Lady Pang, and hope remains. The emperor will listen to me and the wisdom of accepting my offer. No matter the emperor’s efforts to encourage tolerance of Kilovian ways, but when my mistress, and you, of course, reach your full power, no one will doubt that the Spirits of Light and Shadow are the only
real
gods.”

“An inspiring thought.” Pang’s borrowed voice dripped with derision.

“The witch may advise him one way, but she is a foreigner who practices profane magic. Now that I know she is infiltrating the palace, I can inform the senate.”

Kiarana’s lips curled into a smile. “I very nearly believe your plan might work. If only I didn’t know otherwise.”

“My lady?” Graiphen made an effort to hide his discomfort as Zain laughed softly to himself.

“Braetin is using you as an instrument to acquire one she deems better. What plans do you think she will have for a spare tool once Seba is by her side? And if you fail to secure his release? Perhaps you will be mounted on one of the rows of pillars with all of the others whose flesh and fear feed her? I doubt even feeding on your soul would satisfy her. No, for those who feed her, she gives some pleasure along with the pain, some respite from time to time. If you are the one who stands between her and Seba? Seba, whom she believes will give her power to rival the days of old? No, there will be no respite to your
sacrifice
, Graiphen. But perhaps it matters little to you?”

Graiphen stared at Kiarana, looking for some sign of a lie. He saw none. Braetin planned to kill him or use him as the useless meat that offered themselves to her every day. She would bind him, and when his body was dry and he could no longer feel fear?

“I see from your expression,” she said, “that your life
does
matter to you. I thought as much.”

“I must not fail, then,” Graiphen said.

“You have already failed.”

“As long as Seba breathes, I have not failed.” With a quick bow, Graiphen turned and marched from the room, ignoring her voice calling after him. The candles and white marble were oppressive to him, and her laughter echoed as he raced through the temple.

He needed a plan. As he strode to his own home temple across the square, a thought occurred to him. He stopped just under the archway leading within. He stepped backward and stared up at the towering black spires above.

What he needed was a way to ensure Octavia did not gain too much influence with the emperor before it was too late. The only way to do that was to be by the emperor’s side. He had to become more than a supplicant. He turned to an acolyte. “You. I need a scribe to send messages to the heads of all the other temples.” He thought for a moment about excluding Pang, but he could not. It would only work if all eight agreed. The other seven would be no problem. Pang, well, he would see. “Never mind. Have the scribe sent to me. I will dictate each letter myself.”

The boy scurried away.

It was time to stop making polite requests. Even the emperor could not stand in the face of all eight temples united. The people of Talmor might tolerate his efforts to seem inclusive to immigrants, but they would not stand for him turning his back on the Spirits of Light and Shadow.

Chapter 10

Only two days had passed since Korbin and Octavia’s things were moved from the inn to the palace, so when Korbin tried to find his way around the winding corridors, he kept finding himself inadvertently in the wrong place. The previous evening, while searching for a path to the garden, he ended up in the kitchens.

That morning, however, the emperor had thoughtfully sent a steward to show Korbin the way to the requested audience. As the small man led him away, Korbin glanced down the wide stone corridor toward Octavia’s room. She’d been given an enormous chamber, bigger than the community hall where she’d been working in Vol. The room was in a corner of the building, so one bay of windows looked out over the gardens, and another down toward the city.

He wondered where she was. If he knew her, she wasn’t sleeping, despite the early hour. They’d hardly spoken since the emperor had asked him to stay, announcing that Octavia would be remaining at the palace and wanted Korbin nearby. He didn’t know exactly what was expected of him, except that the emperor indicated she should be taught how to speak to Dul, to guests, and most importantly, to the emperor himself. He could, of course, assign a protocol steward for the job, but he speculated that Octavia might take the advice better coming from a friend.
What had changed her mind?

When Korbin had gone to her to try to broach the subject, however, she’d been working on a letter to the Sennestelle, and she seemed frustrated. When she added her current attempt to a crumpled pile of previous drafts, he left her alone to finish.

Now, following the steward to the third floor, Korbin made an effort not to gape at his surroundings. He’d been raised amongst the wealthy and with fine things, but nothing like this place. The long crimson rug that led from the stone stairwell down the corridor ahead was soft. His feet sank down with each step, and although his boots were newly cleaned, he worried about leaving marks.

The steward stopped in front of a worn wooden door. He rapped once, then entered, Korbin on his heels.

The emperor sat behind an old, heavy desk that was laden with scrolls, sheaves of paper, cold candles with long streaks of wax drips down the side, and an empty cup. He glanced up when the pair entered, and he motioned for Korbin to approach.

“I saw your father earlier this morning,” the emperor said without preamble.

Korbin bowed, but the emperor had turned his attention to some papers on his desk and didn’t appear to notice.

“I hope it went well,” Korbin said, wondering what the emperor wanted.

The emperor stopped and tilted his head as though thinking. “Yes and no. He’s offered his service to me. More to the point, the leadership of all eight temples have suggested it would be in the interests of the empire for me to have a ‘spiritual advisor’. They each endorsed the choice of the Ultim Qardone.”

Korbin waited as the emperor considered. The silence stretched, but he didn’t dare interrupt.

“When I first met you, I sensed you and your father are not close.” He gave Korbin a wry smile that showed he appreciated the understatement. “Is that fair to say?”

“Yes, your highness. As you probably know, he disowned me a few years ago.”

“Why? Had you done something to disgrace the family?”

“He certainly thought so.” Korbin hoped to not have to tell the story, but when the emperor simply waited, he had little choice but to expand on his statement. “I fell in love with a woman my father didn’t approve of. He used his influence to ruin her father. The man killed himself, and my lady friend left the city. Afterward, she insisted she didn’t wish to see me ever again.” Keeping his voice level and devoid of emotion required some effort.

“But that doesn’t explain why he would disown you. With the lady out of the picture, surely he’d gotten what he wanted.”

Korbin shrugged, hoping his anger didn’t show. This was one memory he didn’t care to have trotted out for discussion. If anyone but the emperor himself had asked, he would have refused to answer. “I despised him. Words were said. By both of us. Of course, the problems started years before. He was cruel to my mother and always found me disappointing. The breaking of my engagement was merely the final straw.”

“And you hate him still.”

“I don’t trust him, your highness. After he disowned me, I avoided him. I did so for years, until my friend Dul Eliam told me my father had been cursed and needed my help. If not for Seba’s attack on him, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to betray me yet again.”

“You believe your father to be untrustworthy? I’ve heard many things about Ultim Qardone Graiphen, stories dating back to when he was a young Dul Graiphen, but it seems to be fairly well accepted he’s a man of his word.”

“I would have said that once, too. His adherence to this principle was one of his redeeming qualities. I always knew where I stood with him, for good or for ill. But this situation with the temple of the Spirit of Shadow has changed him. His goddess demanded betrayal of him, and he complied without hesitation.”

The emperor looked thoughtful. He picked up a small knife and began reshaping the end of a quill. “You are aware, I’m sure, of the events that took place at Dramworthy Farm outside of Vol when several conduits were captured by the Red Manus.”

“Yes, your highness. I was there.”

The emperor dipped the quill in ink and made a couple of test marks on a scrap bit of parchment. “I hadn’t realized that.”

“Yes, your highness. Octavia and I had gone to Dramworthy to warn the other conduits to leave the city. The Red Manus had discovered their location and came to arrest us all. We got away. The others did not.”

“A dark day. I must say, I don’t approve of the Red Manus. It’s said they have tacit control over parts of Vol.”

“Since the Red Manus was blamed for the public executions of Duls Eliam and Tarsten, the brute squad has been forced to keep a lower profile. The leadership of the temple, from what I’ve heard, has
encouraged
my father to keep the role of the Red Manus more circumspect in recent months. But still, they are a presence.”

“I was under the impression your father
was
the leadership of the temple of Braetin, at least in Vol, and now, here in Durjin, by all appearances. He has a gift in rising through the ranks, it appears.”

“Your highness, I’m not an expert. I can only tell you what I saw. The night Octavia performed the ritual to stop Seba, the other leaders of the temple had stripped my father of his title. When the Spirit of Shadow needed him to get to you, to reveal Seba for what he truly was, he was reinstated. It appears the Spirit can be fickle.”

“So, there are limits to his authority.”

“I would say so, yes. But those limits are determined only by the goddess.”

“Why does he want Seba back in Vol?”

“Senne Octavia can explain better, your highness, but she told me that the Spirit of Shadow was drawn to the power Seba wielded and wanted it for herself.”

“You believe that? You saw evidence with your own eyes that the Spirit of Shadow was alive?”

“I…” Had he? Had he seen it for himself? “I saw evidence of the power of the One. Seba attacked me twice without ever having been in the room. Octavia saved me both times. If she says she heard Braetin’s voice, I believe her.”

The emperor sighed. “Life was simpler when the Spirits were sleeping. If Braetin has truly awakened, how long before the others do too? But then, perhaps it would be good if the others did awaken. Braetin is the one I would least like to see with a sole hand guiding the souls of Talmor. At least in the old days, there was a balance.”

Korbin had no reply for this. It bordered on sacrilege to suggest the gods had been sleeping. The emperor might say what he liked, but Korbin had to tread carefully.

After a few moments of silence, the emperor continued. “The Ultim Qardone has offered me a show of good faith. This morning, I questioned him about the conduits killed at Dramworthy. He told me one still lives. He will send a messenger bird today instructing that she be released.”