Keeping It Real (43 page)

Lila's blood run cold. 'We are long lost
to one another.' He snapped his wings shut
and they vanished

suddenly, one second there, the next gone. In their absence the room was cold.

Tath's hurt was piercing, old as it was, and his resentment and anger hard to contain.

Lila had to fight to concentrate.
Companion of my hear
t
-
her AI returned to her at last:
friendship

affirma
t
ion, emo
t
ional in
t
imacy (firs
t
degree), longevi
t
y dis
t
inc
t
ion (adul
t
friendship ma
t
ches only),
sexual rappor
t
(second degree, in
t
ermi
tt
en
t
), bond s
t
reng
t
h (firs
t
degree), con- no
t
a
t
ion
(appeasing, persuading), speaker willingly accep
t
s
t
emporary lower degree of power and kudos in

rela
t
ionship.

Then they used to be more than good friends! Lila thought. Very good. This gets more and more

complicated by the second! How old is Zal? How old is Dar? But
she had no time to put
everything

together, yet. She tried to ignore the stab of jealousy she felt
towards Dar

momentarily, though she couldn't
ignore her rage at
his lie. Tath gloated, paying her back for her earlier

disapproval of him.

'Alfheim's power and strength all come from Aparastil,' the Lady was saying, as sweet
of tone and

manner as though she were hosting a party for her dearest
friends. 'As any other realm is likewise

compelled, we must
protect it
with our lives. You cannot
doubt that.'

'You're an idiot,' Zal said, as every other elfin the room winced at his Otopian use of language, 'What's

happening here is the result
of policies
you
began years ago and it
has nothing to do with other realms
.

The more you attempt
to manipulate the Interspace, the more savage the reactions will become and they

will tear Alfheim to bits. Ask any demon scientist. At
least
they check their facts.'

Arie's pretty coral lips curled with anger. 'You have abandoned Alfheim and turned your nature to the

service of degraded magic and black arts. Your words could exert no compulsion on my mind. What

proof have you of your claims? Does Demonia embrace the otherworlds and rejoice in perfect security?'

'Demonia's borders are open . . .' Zal began patiently.

'Because no sane person would enter!' retorted one of the Lady's companions.

'. . . open and yes, it does experience ghost crossings and visits of other creatures of the Interstices,

and it's fine. Demonia knows that I-space is the glue that binds us, as your willing little slave Ilya knows

only too well. Leakage between all the realms is a proper part of their dynamic co-existence. No place

can ever be pure. You can't save Aparastil by refusing contact to anyone not descended from the Valar.

You should re-open the borders immediately.'

'The Saaqaa were never so bad until the Otopians emerged,' Arie said. 'Every degradation of Alfheim

has occurred through contact
with Otopia and Demonia, Faery, Thanatopia and the Void. In the days of

earlier Ages we were many times near destroyed by unwise and ignorant efforts to explore the distant

places beyond our borders and our eagerness to bring their treasures home. Other races value what we

abhor. They all have their own homes and their own power. We have all seen one another and learned.

Let them stay in the places they love the best, and not be polluted by what they so dislike in Alfheim.'

Zal pulled the chair back and sat down on it. His manner became weary but his intensity didn't alter.

'Look at me. I'm still all right. I'm half demon, and I'm still an elf. I can drink the water and I can breathe

the air
.
I can cross into Zoomenon, like any other elf mage, and the elementals come to me
.
I can live

wherever I choose
.
'

'No elf can be half demon,' Arte said. "The magical systems are antithetical to one another
.
Such a

harmony is your fantasy, nothing more
.
You have sustained yourself with frequent transits to Zoomenon,

and you would ever be forced to do the same. You cannot live in another realm for ever, you will always

be coming home and when you can't
you must
bring it
to you. That
vile taint
is killing you surely, even

though you think it so wonderful.'

'I'm not dead yet,' Zal said and shrugged
.
'I'm sure I'll get the hang of it
before that happens. It's a

work in progress.'

'You do not deny your reliance on the elementals to restore you, however,' Arie said. 'You are

dependent on them.'

'Not nearly as much as you'd like,' Zal said quietly, his head dropping forward and jaw biting shut.

The muscles in his face hardened.

Arie made a gesture with one hand and the guards came towards Zal. He stood up and the withering

contempt in his words was physically painful, even to Lila, as though the words were real weapons. 'Of

all our family you were always the most fragile. I'd pity you, if I could be bothered, but my patience with

you ran out
a long time ago, some-where around the minute you decided it would be better for all of us

to scatter and do your dirty work for you at whatever personal cost it exacted from us.' He glanced at

Dar and his accusation was no less damaging. 'You surprise me. I thought you would have had more

character than this.'

Dar shuddered and went
a pale ashen colour. Lila's heart
went
out to him, but Zal had already let

himself be turned away.

T
here 'd be
tt
er
be
ano
t
her chance,
Lila told Tath.

One fo
r
cer
t
ain,
he said. Z
al succeeded in pushing he
r
off balance. Me
too.
I
t
hink. you will ge
t
your momen
t
t
o be a he
ro. Do n
o
t
worry.
He sounded grim and was full of self-loathing
.
Lila felt
sick.

The food, which had all gone cold, was taken away and replaced but she couldn't touch it The court

talked around her, of other matters. Lila watched Dar. He was paler than usual, and if the food had

savour for him he showed no pleasure in it, pushing it around almost with-out noticing what he was

doing. He glanced at her with a troubled expression and Arie watched the both of them.

Lila began to realise the poverty of the situation she had stumbled into. Surely the Incon must
have had

an inkling of this petty tyranny being behind Alfheim's oh-so sophisticated political posturing? They had

sent
her in blind, she thought, and felt resentment knot her stomach. And they must have known much

more about Zal than they let
on, especially Sarasilien, he would have known Zal was once Jayon Daga if

nothing else, and that
whatever he was doing it
was part of the decay in Alfheim, and deadly. That
hurt.

And then she abruptly thought
of her family, for no apparent reason, and her would-be grave on the

hill. / am
already dead,
she realised, glancing at Dar. / was
expendable. An expensive pro
t
o
t
ype, a

secre
t
, and here's my
t
es
t
run
- t
hey're seeing wha
t
I'll
t
urn ou
t
like when
t
hey le
t
me
alone.
But then again, sending her so untried into this kind of storm all to bring back one self-destructive elf- that
made

no sense at
all and she doubted her own doubts and shoved them quickly into one of those mental

drawers the Al-self provided for such things. For the rest
of the almost
unendurable meal she pretended

that
her dog, Okie, was under the table, and that
the occasional brush of
andalune
energy that touched

her was the feathery hair of his tail.

At
last
when the court retired to its preparations for the spellcast, Arie summoned Dar and Tath to her.

'Zal's change disturbs me greatly,' she said. T am convinced now that he may pose a great danger to us.

Perhaps he will attempt some interference with the spell. But if this Game exists between Zal and the

Otopian Agent, perhaps it
can be used to maintain control of him.' For the first
time Lila saw Arie look

doubtful and, through that
moment, saw how tired the Lady was, and how anxious. 'Are you sure that
the

forfeit
is the death of love? If so he would lose all loyalty to anything but this abominable creation.'

'I am sure,' Tath said, and Lila closed her mind around Sorcha's actual words (you will never love

anyone else again). Meanwhile Arie's
andalune
was caressing Tath's, grooming Dar's too; Lila saw both

of them struggling against
the pleasure of her goodwill and approval
.
It
nauseated her that
she could feel

Tath's resistance weakening under that touch, and to realise how defenceless he was - all elves were - to

such rapport from one of higher social rank, of higher power, of greater kudos than they were. For the

first time in her experience of them she began to understand some of their behaviour, their weakness,

their smooth ways. And meanwhile Tath groomed Arie the same way,

increasing her conviction about
his statements. Lila had to interrupt to save her own sanity.

Wha
t
's your game wi
t
h her?

Non
e of your Business,
Tath declared.

Do
we
ge
t
our momen
t
wi
t
h Zal
t
hen?

She
di
d
n
o
t
be
com
e
t
he Lady
of Tat
ha
no
r Because she is
ea
si
ly
p
e
rs
uade
d
o
r duped. I w
oul
d
not
coun
t
any
t
hing for wha
t
i
t
seems now.

Well, I suppose you have
t
o give convincing her your bes
t
sho
t
,
t
hen. Knock yourself out, Lila

said. She distanced herself inwardly from the elf's experience of the aethereal contacts, sure she

could not stand another oleaginous moment.

Springing Zal from here and taking him back to Jelly Sakamoto seemed a bizarre goal now, in the face

of what she had learned, although she was certain that preventing the spell and saving Zal were mutually

compatible goals which her bosses would order her to complete, if only they could communicate with

her at all.

And then there was the way she felt, dizzy and sick, longing to touch Zal again, even in passing, even

in the dark, anywhere at all and for any reason, all her senses tuned to one another and waiting, as

though he was the catalyst that
would make her into something wonderful. She tried not to think of that,

but it was impossible not to. Even Arte reminded her of Zal, and Dar's presence reminded her of t
heir

brief intimacy, in which he had
no
t
rejected her, nor found her unattractive, even if it
was all for the sake

of getting her here, and even if everything about him was a doubled, tripled front and he was Arie's

servant
.
She held onto that sliver of truth
.

'Very well,' Arie said finally, withdrawing
.
'Tath you may tiy this tactic and exert what power you can,

but beware the wild magic effect
and any alterations you may decipher in the forfeit. Dar, come with me,

and assist
us.'

Dar gave Tath and Lila a long glance. His
andalune
brushed Tath's and there was a sparkle of

communion, but
no words. Tath told her

quickly.

D
ar is afraid. He says her cour
t
will crea
t
e a
t
en fold cas
t
in
t
he s
t
ruc
t
ure of
t
wo and eigh
t
. You
do no
t
kno
w magic. Bu
t
such a shell cas
t
ing will give her p
o
w
e
r
to
wi
eld t
ha
t
is an order of magni
t
ude larger
t
han
t
en
e
lf mages could mus
t
er.
T
ier cour
t
are
a
ll w
e
ll prac
t
ised and I doub
t
many of
t
hem are close
t
ed

Revolu
t
ionaries. E
ven if t
he
y
are,
t
he
y
may no
t
be able
t
o effec
t
any help
fo
r us
-
O
n
ce Aerie is
t
he
pearl of
t
ha
t
shell
t
here will be
n
o magic in Alfheim she canno
t
draw
on
, and she w
a
s always a
clairvoyan
t
of
qrea
t
skill.
W
e mus
t
keep
all o
u
r
thoug
h
ts t
o a minimum and our words ye
t
fewer or
s
he will know all our in
t
en
t
s.