Oracle: The House War: Book Six (45 page)

“The
Astari
have been compromised before.”

Jester’s eyes widened. He held up a pale hand; it was golden in the fire’s extended glow. “Please do not continue in this vein. It is making me feel distinctly less safe.”

She didn’t smile. “Is it not why you came to find me? To inform me that the
Astari
had been compromised?”

“Yes. And I am reconsidering the wisdom of that as we speak.”

“You are not. It is not to save Duvari and the
Astari
, nor to save the Kings or the Empire, that you sought me out. You are afraid for your former den. You are worried about Finch and the right-kin. You are concerned about Jewel’s reaction should Duvari attempt to secure knowledge by removing a healer.

“Regardless, it is not the first time the
Astari
have been compromised.”

“And those compromises were demonic in nature?”

“Once. Once that I’m aware of.”

Jester whistled. He shouldn’t have, but stiff protocol had already been abandoned by the simple decision to be here with Birgide at all. He felt himself relaxing in the warmth of the tree of fire. Had he been Haval, he could have feigned relaxation without actually condescending to enjoy any. “I feel I’ve wasted your time,” he told her.

“Don’t. If I appear unruffled, the news you have carried is disturbing. You feel there is a demon in our midst—a demon who is aware of the
Astari
and its methods of communication. Aware, as well, of the least and quietest of its members. That implies an infiltration of a higher order.”

“You don’t think it could be Duvari?”

“No. We are demonstrably still alive. If Duvari had somehow been taken, we would stand no chance at all.”

“But you’d fight, anyway.”

“Yes. I love this forest,” she confessed. “And these trees. Silver, gold, diamond—but most of all the
Ellariannatte
. I owe your Terafin a great debt; Duvari told her, point-blank, that I was
Astari
, and she elected to allow me to join her Household Staff.”

“Could you speak with Vareena?”

“That would not be wise.”

“I’m afraid she’ll try to kill the healer.”

Birgide closed her eyes. “It is not, I am sorry, the healer who concerns me. Nor is it Vareena herself. Tell me, in exact detail, what happened.”

“Will you make certain to lie about your source?”

“It is never wise to lie to Duvari. If you mean for me to speak with him—and you do—I cannot dissemble.” She folded her arms, waiting.

Jester cursed her genially. “There are days it is not wise to leave one’s bed. I accept that. But I feel it unreasonable that there might be whole weeks—or months, more likely—where that is the case. This is vastly more trouble than I am accustomed to dealing with.”

“But you are here.”

“To dump the difficulty on the shoulders of someone vastly more responsible.”

Her eyes rounded; he could almost see the fire through them. Her genuine outrage, unvoiced, made him laugh. It felt surprisingly good. He held his amiable silence until her eyes narrowed. “Do you know Devon?”

“I know of him.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Her arms, still folded, had tightened.

“Devon is
Astari
,” Jester continued, when she failed to interrupt him.

“That is not commonly known.”

“It is not
widely
known, but it is known. I do not,” he added, “discuss it often. I discuss it now for a reason.”

“I hesitate, given your attitude, to ask what that reason is.”

“You stand at the heart of The Terafin’s forest,” he told her. He walked closer, moving quietly and almost diffidently. “You’ve crossed a continent to study The Terafin’s trees. Duvari would not have introduced you as
Astari
if he had meant for you to remain here. But remain here, you do. I think it will take a full-on emergency to pry you from your position here.”

She said nothing.

“But you are, according to the Master Gardener, a woman of great fame in the circles he occupies. He speaks of you with healthy, glowing respect. He is beside himself with joy at your current position—you are working
for
him. On our grounds.”

The nothing extended, although Birgide’s eyes narrowed.

“If Devon can be both ATerafin and
Astari
, why can’t you?”

Outrage had vanished into silent watchfulness. If a woman could be said to be bristling with suspicion, this one was. Jester was aware that he should not be enjoying himself
quite
so much, but felt that he had earned it, given the week so far. “Apologies,” he said, with the usual amount of sincerity. “Suggestions such as this aren’t usually considered a threat.”

“Or an insult?” was her chilly reply.

“Or that. I’ve more experience with that one, though.”

This pulled curiosity out of her otherwise rigid expression. “Oh?”

“Angel. You’re probably aware of him.”

She was, and didn’t dissemble. “He did not, that I’m aware, take the House Name. It was offered?”

“Yes—at the same time as the rest of us. He wouldn’t touch it for years.”

“Something changed his mind?”

“The Terafin died.”

“I see.”

Jester shrugged. “We were here because Jewel was. Taking the House Name didn’t change that, for us. She wanted us to be ATerafin; we were ATerafin. Angel, not so much.”

“What did Angel want?”

“Angel? Who knows. He’s got some pretty Northern ideas of honor and allegiance.”

“Implying that I do? Or that I don’t?”

“I don’t know.”

“Jester—” She exhaled. “I have half a mind to strangle you.”

“I’ll take the other half.”

“You won’t prefer it.” Her grin was sliver thin. “You do not have the authority to offer me the House Name. You clearly have the gall.”

“I have the authority to offer the name provisionally,” was his easy reply. “But it’s not a provisional offer. You are not here as
Astari.
We don’t require you to be
Astari
while you’re here. Devon’s work with the Royal Trade Commission is genuine. He serves the interests of the Twin Kings, where interests collide; they seldom do. When they do not, he serves Terafin.”

“And Terafin’s interests would be served well enough by a botanist?”

His eyes widened in deliberate mimicry of hers. “Consider where you’re standing.”

She failed to reply; he expected that.

“While The Terafin is absent, I think you’ll do whatever you can, within reason, to preserve her forest. You might as well get something out of it.”

“We are talking about a House Name, ATerafin, not a handful of coins or a future commendation.”

“Yes, we are. Let me tell you what I’ve gleaned from listening to Member APhaniel. The forest is our protection. While demons do—and can—move within the manse itself, they must do so with subtlety.”

“His opinion is also conjecture.”

“I’ve seen him fight demons,” Jester replied. He didn’t bother maintaining the easy, nonchalant smile with which he’d made his offer. Birgide wasn’t wrong; he didn’t have the authority to make it. But he knew, if she accepted, it would be affirmed. Jester wasn’t Chosen—but he didn’t need to be. He needed Jay to come back, and he needed—as they all did—that she have something to come back
to
.

“You have?”

“Yes. Before I was ATerafin. His fight destroyed the foyer. I don’t know if you heard about it; you’d’ve been what, sixteen? Our age? It was during 410. Just before Henden. He was terrifying. He seemed to know the demon; the demon seemed to know him. Conjecture or no, I’m willing to believe him.”

“That is disturbing.”

Jester shrugged. “He says there is a chance—small, but real—that the demons and those who’ve summoned them might momentarily wrest control of these lands from Jewel in her absence. And if they do, her chances of surviving her return diminish.

“I don’t understand this forest. I don’t—and I’ve no wish to—understand your obsession with it. I look at the trees and think of selling leaves in the city streets, and I imagine the trees know it.”

Wind crackled through burning branches. Jester forced himself not to take a step or ten back. Birgide watched.

“I want two things,” Jester continued. “I want you to call Duvari off. Take Vareena or don’t—I don’t care. But I want him to stay well clear of my den.”

“You can’t imagine that I can give orders to Duvari.”

“No. I can imagine the Kings can—but it is costly to approach the Kings with demands of this nature. I am not, however, patrician. The right-kin and Finch would, no doubt, reject outright any attempt to contact the Kings. But I don’t particularly care what such an approach would do to the rest of the House.”

Both of Birgide’s brows rose. She didn’t completely believe him. Jester shrugged. Her belief wasn’t his problem. “The second thing?”

“I want this forest to be standing. I want this forest to be Terafin’s. I can’t stand against demons. Some of the
Astari
can, but not many. I don’t know if you’re one of them or not. I don’t think you need to be. Whatever you need, it’s already here.”

“I am not mage-born—”

“Neither is The Terafin, if it comes to that.”

“No. But her understanding of her lands is instinctive and visceral; I do not possess it. No one, I am certain, does, with the exception of The Terafin herself. I don’t understand what you expect of me, Jester.”

“I told you—”

“Apologies. I had not realized you were a pedant.”

He chuckled. “I’ve been called far worse.”

“I do not understand why you expect that I can do these things.” She held up a hand as he opened his mouth. “Yes, I understand why you feel I can approach Duvari. I have not agreed to do so—but you suspect that I will, agreement aside. I suspect I will, as well.

“But the other? The forest? I am here as an expert
tourist
, ATerafin. I am here on sufferance because I could not—if any opportunity presented itself—stay away. I have already earned Duvari’s stiff disapproval; he has not forbidden my presence. The Terafin did herself no favors by accepting my request.”

“Nothing she could do, short of suicide, would sway Duvari’s opinion.”

“No, perhaps not. It is not in his nature to trust. But that is beside the point. I am not an expert. I am not The Terafin. I am not ATerafin. Why do you feel that I can materially affect the forest in a positive way?”

“Do you gamble, Birgide?”

“In the sense that a life lived in service to the
Astari
does not end quietly or peacefully, yes. But in a more casual way, no. I am not a seeker of excitement.”

“It’s a gamble.”

“You cannot offer the House Name as a
gamble
. The Terafin would be appalled.”

“She let you stay. She knew; she let you stay. For reasons I trust I don’t need to explain, The Terafin has always relied on her instinct. And the rest of us? We survived by it. Literally. Our instincts have never been gold-plated—but hers? Always. She
let you stay
. You spend more time in the forest than she does.”

“That is not all.”

“I really loathe smart women.”

“And not smart men?”

“They’re fewer in number, and almost never interested in me.”

Birgide laughed. “I have never been interested in you; I thought you feckless and lazy.”

He bowed. “At your service.”

“I have rather enough feckless and lazy in my life. What are you hiding?”

“Hiding is a harsh word.” He had no idea what Birgide could now see in his face; Haval would probably be outraged were he in the vicinity, eavesdropping. “You carried the leaf.”

“The leaf?”

“Yes. You were holding one of the leaves from the Kings’ trees.”

“The
Ellariannatte.
”

“I prefer the single syllable words if they get the point across. The leaves don’t fall here the way they do in the Common. But you held one in your hand. And you were standing in front of the tree of fire. Do you know where the fire came from?”

“No. And I am not certain, at this juncture, that I want to. You are all too casual in the information you offer. You have spent a decade drinking with the patricians—you, at least, should know better.”

“I might lie.”

“You are too lazy to lie. You feel safe here; you feel that I will not harm you—or that I will not be allowed to harm you, should I make the attempt.”

“I’m not at all certain that’s the case—but I suspect it is, yes. I’m not certain that you would ever risk your life, your livelihood, your vocation, to preserve The Terafin’s life. But I’m not sure, at this point, that you wouldn’t. What I’m certain of is that you’ll protect these lands to the best of your ability—if you make that commitment. I’m asking for that commitment.”

“And I must be ATerafin?”

Jester shrugged. “I think, if you do this, you’ll have earned the name—but oddly, I don’t think it’s necessary. The leaf didn’t fall at your feet because you’re ATerafin. The path didn’t open to this tree because you’re part of the House.”

She turned toward the burning tree. “This is not what I expected of my day,” she told him. “Any of it. Demons.
Astari
. You. I think you might be the largest surprise, and it is not entirely pleasant.”

“No. Believe that I’m not enjoying it either—but I’ve been told to earn my keep, and my current lifestyle is expensive.”

“Let me consider your . . . offer. And your request.”

 • • • 

She expected no argument, and received none. She doubted—very much—that Jester had the authority to offer her the House Name. But the current Terafin was not comfortable with authority, and she did not doubt that should Jewel Markess return, she would confirm what Jester had offered.

No one within Terafin had the power to compel her to speak with Duvari. The Terafin herself might have that power over Devon, who walked the thin line stretched between two masters—but Birgide believed that if Devon were available, Jester would not have come.

Except, of course, he had. She was pragmatic. She did not believe in fate; she did not believe in destiny. But she would not have believed in this forest had she not seen it with her own eyes; had she not walked beneath the branches of the impossible, and touched trunks of silver, gold, and diamond.