Compendium (10 page)

“That’s amazing,” Mia said, in awe of the drawing. “It’s like the entire Compound is situated in a volcano with the elders grown up through the crater.”

That is precisely correct
, Compendium chimed in helpfully.
Thousands of cycles ago, where we sit now, an active volcano existed. It is now dormant, and after the last eruption, it filled with mineral-rich water that seeped into the crater bed and created layers of moss. For 656 cycles, the Order has been cultivating this mountain and the elder trees growing through it. Over hundreds of cycles, the people of Willowslip have forgotten that the mountain was ever a volcano, and it appears, for all intents and purposes, that the Compound is like any other flora-covered mountain in the near vicinity. Its Crater Grove remains a secret, except to those trusted among the Order
.

And now me
, Mia thought. “That’s really amazing,” she repeated. “I have to see it for myself.”

Compendium composed a map from the cells to the Crater Grove’s entrance.

“Thank you,” Mia said, and yawned. In the excitement of discovering Compendium, she had almost entirely forgotten that she was a prisoner in a cell in the Order’s brig and that she not only had missed the Gathering but also likely would be questioned as a spy on the morrow. It was ridiculous, but she took comfort in the stilted words and arcane language of Compendium’s text. An ancient artifact gathering dust—or not actually gathering dust at all—on a bookshelf for who knew how long had sprung to life in her hands. Now active, it hummed almost inaudibly and remained soothingly warm to the touch.

“How long has it been since you were last active?” Mia asked, the strain of the day finally catching up to her.

Six hundred fifty-four cycles
, replied Compendium.

“Wow, you must have been really bored” was all she could think to say in response.

It was the last thing Mia said, and she promptly fell sound asleep on the cold, smelly cot in the brig with Compendium resting open on her chest.

13
The Network

Lumin Cycle 10152

“
So
it finally happened?”
asked Dominus Nikola Draca. He rested a hand on the large console and felt the energy pulse through its thick surface. “An unknown device has accessed the Network?”

Nikola and Moritania stood in the bowels of the Compound, below the living quarters, below the kitchens, below the Crater Grove even. The room was dark and damp and warm, with vines curling among the roots that covered the walls and snaked along the ground and up along and under the large console. Its smooth surface was etched with faintly glowing blue lines displaying symbols, text, and numbers, most of which Nikola didn’t directly concern himself with. This was Moritania’s purview, the Deep Compound.

“Yes,” said Moritania. She frowned and rubbed a finger across the surface of the console, as if lost in thought. “But we don’t know what it is. Its identification signature is locked. See here? Something is drawing energy.” She gestured to a blinking blue ideogram in a line of identical but darker ones. Nikola could almost see it sucking energy from the Network as it pulsed steadily.

“How can that be?” he asked. In his many cycles as head cleric, nothing had accessed the Network except the Compound itself and certain other devices known only to a select few clerics, and those few clerics were Moritania’s engineers down here in the Deep.

“We really don’t know,” said Moritania. She rubbed her eyes in frustration. “As you’re well aware, nothing has accessed the Network in more than six hundred cycles. How this device was able to do so is a mystery.”

“Well, is this good or bad?” he asked. He had his opinion, but he wanted to hear Moritania’s.

She laughed oddly, as if he had made some terribly funny jest. “We’ve waited so long for something to happen, for the Network to show new signs of activity. But now that it has, I’m terrified. What if a hostile device has infiltrated us? Gamma Protocol was supposed to end more than one hundred fifty cycles ago, but we’re no closer to understanding why it hasn’t ended and what to do if it does. We’re severely handicapped without the key!”

“I understand your fears completely, Moritania,” he said, and frowned. “We can’t rule out any theory at this point, including that Clavis has fallen into the hands of the Druids.”

Moritania frowned as well and made as if to speak, but Nikola held up his hand.

“However,” he continued, “we must remember that no living person has ever seen the key, and its very description has been locked in the lost Network logs archive for six hundred fifty cycles.”

She sighed and nodded, her hands returning to the console before them. The blue light continued to blink in the dank dimness of the Deep Compound. “I’ll continue to research the matter,” she said. “In the meantime I can’t prevent this device from accessing the Network, but I can at least monitor the access logs.”

“What has it accessed so far?” Nikola asked.

Her frown deepened, and her brow furrowed. “A history of the Order and maps of the Compound.”

Nikola patted Moritania’s hand but turned his head away to hide his worry. “We’d best not tell SainClair of these developments. He carries too much guilt and anger as it is.”

14
The Dominus

Lumin Cycle 10152

Mia
Jayne woke from a sound sleep
to heavy footfalls advancing toward the door to her stone cell. Still groggy, she opened her eyes slowly. The quality of the light was unchanged, and she had no sense of the time. The footsteps came to a stop, and the heavy lock to the door unbolted with a hollow thunk. SainClair stalked in.

“Well, what do we have here?” he sneered. “Have we been doing a bit of night reading? Enjoying our leisure time?” His body was rigid, and his eyes glinted coldly at her prone frame.

Mia sat up quickly, trying to simultaneously close and stow Compendium in her sash. SainClair moved with speed that belied his age. He snatched the book from her and held it away from her grasping fingers. Bile rose in her throat, and she tried not to let him see her panic. He took a step back and leisurely flipped the pages.

“
An Exhaustive Genealogy of the Families of the Realm
,” he said, reading from the title page.

Only after she realized she was holding her breath did she emit a long sigh.

“What are you doing with this?” he asked.

She tried to think of a plausible excuse. Telling him that it was warm to the touch and that she’d felt compelled to take it probably wouldn’t elicit a positive reaction. She was initially relieved that Compendium had reverted to the relatively mundane tome on genealogical history, but she quickly panicked once again. What if she had gone daft? What if her entire experience the night before had been a feverish hallucination born from stress? Or worse yet, perhaps she had contracted the purple spores from Father and was now doomed to die a slow, horrible death as a prisoner in this Compound. She almost had worked herself into a full frenzy when her eyes slid back to SainClair’s angry, expectant face.

“I never knew my mother,” she said. It wasn’t a lie. “So I was trying to learn more about my family.” That statement also was true, even if not entirely so.

Mia hadn’t known her mother, and Father had almost never deigned to talk about her. She had used Compendium to try to look up her family. SainClair didn’t need to know that the effort had led nowhere fast. What sounded like a perfectly reasonable explanation, however, only enraged him further. His tall frame towered over her as he shook the book in a meaty fist, his pale face sallow in the backlit glow of the gourds set in the hallway. He laughed then, the sound malicious and cold and not at all jovial. He spat on the ground near the bed. Mia had no idea what had caused this reaction.

“And what did you learn about your family?” His question was more than a little sarcastic.

“Not much,” she squeaked. “The Jayne family name apparently isn’t all that illustrious.”

Her self-deprecating remark did nothing to quell SainClair’s rage. His face reddened in anger. “Well, I have my own theory,” he said, grabbing the shoulder of her robes and dragging her to her feet.

At least, he doesn’t have me by the neck
, she thought. As it was, it still hurt to swallow, and she suspected she had some bruising.

SainClair dragged her from the cell into the tunnel that led back to the living quarters. He didn’t return Compendium to Mia’s possession, instead stashing it in his own sash.

“I think you were learning as much as you could about all of us, hoping to find some weakness that could be used to exploit the Order for whomever you have allegiance to.”

“I have no care for the Order either way. I’m here at my father’s request, at the pleasure of Dominus Nikola, and out of no desire of my own. Think what you will, but I have no other purposes.”

SainClair made a growling noise in his throat and continued to march her along the corridors. “We’ll see what the Dominus thinks,” he said.

After that, he fell silent, and they proceeded with no further conversation. Mia was more than grateful for an end to the discussion. Eventually SainClair marched her up to a curving staircase set invisibly into the stone wall of the corridor. She walked this passage regularly but hadn’t noticed it before. SainClair briefly let go of her robes to stuff a gourd into her hands.

“Up,” he said tersely, and pushed her ahead of him. “We are expected.”

With only the gourd lighting the path, they climbed the curving staircase for a long while until it ended at a similar alcove that led to an exceptionally brightly lit room, the brightest Mia had seen since she’d arrived at the Compound.

She blinked from the light as she stepped out of the alcove.
By the Core, this room actually has natural light. We must be up high in the volcano.

She saw a large opening in the side of the room, mostly shaded by foliage growing up and from outside. There also was a thick branch that formed a sizable hearth near the open wall. The humming vibration of the forest resonated through the opening.
This must be the most beautiful room in the Compound
, she thought.

She resisted the urge to ask SainClair where they were, as she rather wanted him not to speak to her, and he’d probably take the question the wrong way anyway. She tried not to look awestruck by the view of the outside world.

Mia was so focused on the window that it took her a moment to notice the desk in the corner of the room. Seated there was Dominus Nikola.

“Lovely view, isn’t it?”

His question jolted her from her reverie. It seemed she was in Dominus Nikola’s chambers.

Apart from being airy and open to nature, the space was well appointed. The desk was a large, oiled hardwood, gleaming in the sunlight. A thick rug woven in many colored furs covered the floor, damping the sound of slippers and boots alike. Tapestries hung on the stone walls, displaying scenes of worldly beauty. One depicted a grove of massive trees that seemed to grow out of the center of the earth. Another displayed a frozen landscape with a thicket of trees glowing through the frost. Two separate closed doors led to other rooms. The walls on either side of the open window were floor-to-ceiling bookcases stuffed with books, perhaps as many as the volumes that filled the cases in the acolyte barracks. By the hearth there were a couple of overstuffed chairs.

I bet he doesn’t sleep on a stone pallet.

“Brother SainClair,” Dominus Nikola stated in a calm, clear voice, “I think it’s safe to let go of Ms. Jayne.” He gestured with a bony hand to the robes twisted about her neck, where SainClair was still gripping them tightly. “I highly doubt she plans to bolt.”

He exchanged a knowing look with SainClair that left her feeling confused. SainClair twisted his mouth as if to reply but instead released his hand from the neck of Mia’s robes.

“As I informed you earlier, Dominus, I caught this acolyte poking around the corridors on the lower levels. When I asked her what she was doing in an empty passage, she told me Brother Cornelius sent her to his laboratory. We well know that the laboratories are nowhere near that part of the Compound, and I very much doubt Brother Cornelius would send this upstart to fetch something from his private laboratory.” SainClair stated all of this in one breath and took another to continue his diatribe.

Dominus Nikola held up his hand to silence him. “Yes, yes, Brother,” he said amiably. “Did it not cross your mind that the young Ms. Jayne was telling you the truth?”

Mia tried to hide her surprise.

SainClair’s face darkened. “It didn’t cross my mind because it clearly wasn’t the truth.”

“Yes, well,” said Dominus Nikola. He then paused as if considering his next words carefully. “Brother Cornelius came to see me this morning. When Ms. Jayne didn’t report for her duties at the Archives, he was sufficiently worried to request an audience.”

SainClair added a slightly curled lip to his grim expression but remained silent.

“When I explained the situation to him, Brother Cornelius said that he did indeed send Ms. Jayne to his laboratory to retrieve some additional wands for the next day’s work. He apologized, saying he must have sent her in the wrong direction when he instructed her regarding where to find his laboratory. It was a very long day, and you know how it is with those of us of advanced age.”

Dominus Nikola raised an eyebrow at SainClair, who continued to seethe silently. Mia tried to maintain a nonchalant face, although a slight smile might have escaped her attempt at neutrality. If it did, Dominus Nikola made no comment. SainClair was too focused on the Dominus to look her way. Brother Cornelius had vouched for her.

A warm feeling spread through her chest. Perhaps she actually had a friend among the cleric ranks or at least someone who selfishly didn’t want to lose an able-bodied assistant. She would take it even if it were the latter.

“Did he mention any books missing from the Archives or from his laboratory?” SainClair asked casually.

Dominus Nikola’s forehead furrowed in thought. “I don’t recall him mentioning anything being missing.” He looked over at Mia.

She kept her expression passive but took a deep breath. SainClair drew Compendium out from his sash. “Well, she had this on her when I visited her cell this morning. It must have been with her when I caught her snooping in the corridors.”

He tossed the book onto Dominus Nikola’s desk, where it landed with a clank. The Dominus picked it up and examined the cover. Then he opened it to the title page.

“I’m sure I have no idea what this book has to do with anything, Brother SainClair,” he replied. “It’s merely a historical archive of families. Where did you get this, Ms. Jayne?” he asked.

There was nothing accusatory in the Dominus’s tone, and despite Mia’s concerns that he had been less than honest with her regarding Father’s letter, she decided that whatever he thought of her, his opinion had to be higher than SainClair’s. She would tell him the truth.

“Brother Cornelius has me assisting him with spore removal in the Archives. I came across that book, and something struck me about it, so I decided to borrow it from the library. In my excitement about the Gathering, I did forget to tell Brother Cornelius that I had the book with me. As no particular person was clamoring to borrow an ancient book on families, I suspect it’s irrelevant whether or not I mentioned I had it.”

An expression passed over Dominus Nikola’s face as she spoke, like a statue cast in the momentary shadow of a passing cloud. When she stated that something struck her about the book, he definitely reacted. Was that flicker on his face relief? She couldn’t tell. However, he said nothing further on the subject.

“Brother SainClair,” he said, turning his attention away from her, “I find that explanation perfectly reasonable. We must not discourage the future of the Order from reading and learning, correct?”

Brother SainClair pursed his lips. He wouldn’t be winning today’s battle. “If that is all then, Dominus, I will return Ms. Jayne to the barracks.”

“If you please,” Dominus Nikola said, “I should like to have a moment to speak with Ms. Jayne alone. Do not hold yourself up from your duties on our account.”

“Do you think it’s wise to let her wander alone—”

Again the Dominus held up his hand and fixed his clear, gray eyes on SainClair, silencing him with the gesture and the look.

Mia dearly wished she could master that one. SainClair sucked air into his lungs, expanding his chest. He looked rather constipated all of a sudden.

“Very well, Dominus.” With that, he bowed deeply to the head cleric and retreated back through the alcove.

His boot steps resonated down the spiral staircase, and Mia was relieved to be away from him.

“Ms. Jayne,” Dominus Nikola said after the sound of SainClair’s feet faded from earshot, “please have a seat.” He got up from his desk and came around toward the hearth, gesturing toward one of the overstuffed chairs.

Mia looked down at her rumpled robes. She was dirty and disheveled from her night in the brig. Seeing her face, Dominus Nikola waved a hand in dismissal.

“Never you mind, my child. These chairs have survived worse than a bit of grime. I believe it’s high time we had a proper conversation.”

She didn’t know what he meant by “proper conversation,” but she was too weary to protest. His implacable demeanor and concerned face put her at ease, despite her reservations. She made her way to one of the overstuffed chairs and sank down. Her body relaxed into the chair almost against her will. The thick cushions cradled her sore muscles and bones. What on Lumin did they stuff into these chairs? She suspected puppy tails or maybe the feathers of baby chicks. Either way they were blissful.

“What did you want to talk about?” she asked.

“How are you settling in?”

Mia was surprised by the question, but then Taryn had said the Dominus’s interest in her was peculiar, and she grew uneasy.

“I’m not sure,” she said slowly.

“Not sure? That’s rather odd.”

“Well,” she continued, trying to explain, “I’ve lived my whole life in the forest, most of it in the hammocks of the tropics, and this place is nothing like my home. I find it foreign in every respect.”

“Yes,” he said, then paused to consider her words. “I would imagine the Compound is rather different from where you lived with your father. Still, we have much to offer in the way of learning, and I believe as you acclimate you’ll find the cool weather refreshing.”