The Dreamer Stones (87 page)

Torrullin
smiled, a dangerous gesture that had a number of Magus retreating.
“Your final ace, so to speak. I see your reasoning, but you
underestimated.” He turned and pulled Tymall up beside him. “This
is my son and I shall not have him belittled by your ineffectual
scheming.”

Olera was
ashen. “We can reverse our decision!”

Torrullin
released Tymall and placed both hands on the cold rail before him.
Leaning forward he said, “Your caste will indeed reverse the
decision.
You
, however, are bound for the netherworld.”

“
No
!”
Olera’s hands fluttered up. A marked space formed around him. “You
cowards!” he hissed and whirled forward, raising his hands in
fury.

“You would
rise against Elixir?” Torrullin thundered. Without moving even a
finger he caused Olera’s arms to freeze in position.

“My Lord!”
Olera begged. “Another chance!”

“Digilan is
the realm of no more chances, Magus! You screwed up so badly in
reality you lost all guise of a second chance and the only thing
standing between you and the netherworld is the measure of power
that deflected your path.” Torrullin sighed then. “This gets stale.
To Hell with you, Olera.”

The Magus
disintegrated into dust and was no more.

Visual
confirmation, after all. Absolute silence.

“You, what is
your name?” Torrullin asked, pointing at the Magus who spoke up
earlier.

“Fontenel, my
Lord Elixir,” the tall, gaunt man replied.

“You are in
charge now; you speak for your colleagues. Do you bow before your
Warlock?”

“Yes, my
Lord,” the Magus uttered, his voice strengthening.

“Will you
encourage a challenger?”

“No, my
Lord.”

“Will you
prevent a challenger?”

“Yes, my
Lord.”

“Wrong answer,
Fontenel,” Torrullin said and the man blanched. “Your system works
well enough. If a genuine challenger arises, my son is more than
able to stand his ground. You do not interfere, that is what is
required of you.”

“Understood,
my Lord.”

“Your Warlock
has my authority, do you understand that also?”

The man
swallowed. “We do, my Lord.”

“Good, then I
am done here.” Torrullin turned away without a further word. “Ty,
walk with me to the exit.”

Outside in the
mists with four ghostly white guards nearby, Torrullin said, “It’s
not a portal, Ty. It’s a thinning in the spaces I know how to find
and use.”

“Is that not
dangerous?” Tymall meant dangerous for him. A temptation.

“The thinning
shifts continually. You will never find it in the same place. And
were you to recognise it …”

“… I am not a
Walker of Realms.”

“Right.”

They walked on
in silence and then, “I considered your actions in Grinwallin a
betrayal, but now I realise you had no choice.”

“I had a
choice, Ty.”

“To keep me
there? That would destroy all you work towards. A choice? No.”

Torrullin
laughed and said, “I told them I could squash Digilan and they
bought it. Had I been able to, I would keep you with me in
Grinwallin.”

“Gods, you
lied? I thought …”

“It’s too new
to control perfectly. In the future I can make good on that threat,
but now I’d probably destroy more than Digilan.”

Tymall started
to laugh. “You even had me convinced.”

“They did not
choose you, you know, as a defence. You chose yourself and they saw
the possibilities.”

“It doesn’t
matter.”

“It does. They
are a bunch of idiots with power - combined power. Separate them
and they will be putty in your hands. They are vindictive,
therefore the dig about choosing you, and you can turn that
vindictiveness on them. But beware of upsetting the control factor
or you will be fighting more than the occasional challenger.”

“Pity we
cannot rule together,” Tymall sighed. “I never thought I’d ever say
this, but I’m going to miss you.”

“It’s a giant
curve, Tymall. One day we may find ourselves at a crossroads once
more and perhaps we shall choose different paths. Perhaps that
future will be brighter.” Torrullin stopped and turned to look at
Tymall. His features were indistinct in the mist. “I shall miss you
also, son.”

Tymall looked
away. “It’s close, isn’t it? The thinner space?”

“Yes. You can
go no further.”

Tymall cleared
his throat and then whispered, “Will you see my son grow up?”

“Of course.
Samuel and Curin will make good parents.”

“Before you
go, will you explain something to me?”

“Anything.”

“If you are
the animated spirit knowing all time, how come you arise now?”

“I have no
clear answer.” Torrullin lifted his hand to his son’s face and in
the mist kinfire was surreal. “I must go.”

Tymall covered
that hand with his, intensifying trebac. “Say a prayer for me
occasionally.”

Torrullin
chuckled. “Who do I pray to? Myself?”

“That will
do,” Tymall said.

Torrullin
pulled Tymall into his arms and held him a moment and then,
releasing him, placed a kiss on his cheek. “I love you, Tymall.” He
retreated into the mist and was gone.

“Father! I
love you too!” Tymall called out, his tone bereft, alone. There was
no answer.

A mere few
paces away, Torrullin saw with Elixir’s sight how his son’s gaze
turned frantic as he attempted to pierce the thick mist for a final
glimpse.

He heard the
words and felt a deep sadness settle over him. Too late to reverse
their fates.

With careful,
silent tread, he stepped away and headed for Grinwallin.

Chapter
Sixty-Nine

A spark leads
to fire. Fire is change. Beware the spark. Know your spark
first.

Scroll of
Wisdom

Saska drew a
breath for courage as she stepped into the clearing before Lily’s
cave.

Lily heard
her. She came out with a small child in tow and smiled quizzical
welcome. “Hello, you’re back sooner than expected.”

“I found him
quicker than I thought,” Saska returned and could not meet the
young woman’s eyes.

Lily paused,
and then bent with a forced smile to the child at her side.

“Mara, now
tell your mother to drink the tea twice a day, morning and
evening.”

She handed the
girl a cloth bag, hugged her and then shooed her onto the path
through the trees. It led to the settlement at the foot of the
mountain. Happily waving, the girl skipped away and only then did
Lily straighten.

“Tell me.”

Saska took a
seat at the fire. “I was lucky in that I chose the right region to
begin my search, and found a guide. The first village we visited,
my guide’s own …”

“Saska.”

“Sinsen is
married, Lily, and he barely remembered you.”

A short
silence and then a long sigh. “Ah, well, that’s that then.” She sat
opposite Saska.

“I’m
sorry.”

Lily forced a
smile. “Not your fault. Thank you for your trouble. At least you
had an interlude from your own issues.”

Compounded
them, Saska thought, feeling Sinsen’s expert hands on her body,
touching her with reverence …

“Okay, Saska,
what? What is causing such distress?”

Saska returned
to the present. “What? No, I’m fine.”

“You’re lying,
my Lady.” Lily fixed her with a stern stare. “Tell me.”

Tell her what?
How she sunk into the warm waters of the lake with the man this
young woman thought she could love? How Sinsen lifted her in strong
arms and carried her to his cottage over the lake, a lonely, silent
place where their cries were the only sound? How they stared at
each other in trepidation, both afraid they no longer knew how to
please a partner, and the surprise when every touch sent ripples of
fire through both of them?

“I think my
marriage is doomed, Lily. A marriage should be about respect,
trust, sharing, a continuing wonder …”
and I broke those rules,
as my husband has.

“Sinsen must
have a good marriage,” Lily murmured.

Saska sighed
and said nothing further. More, and she would be revealed as a
terrible friend. “Lily, I must go, if only to tell them you can’t
help.” She rose.

“If you really
want me to raise the dead,” Lily began, probably feeling she owed
her predecessor something.

“No, you were
right. It’s a callous thing to expect, and also wrong.”
And I
offered it to Torrullin - no wonder he was horrified.
“We’ll
manage, have no fear.”

That terrible
offer changed the relationship forever, more than adultery or other
transgressions.
You may kill with impunity and I shall raise
them.
What had she been thinking?

“Saska, I hate
to see you like this. Stay awhile, please.”

“Time to face
the music. Thank you for … well, you know.”

“Come back
when matters are calmer. There’s always a new light even when you
think it unlikely.”

Saska smiled.
“You will be a great Lady.”

When Lily
returned her smile, she blew a kiss and left.

She felt as if
the whole universe had altered in her absence, and acknowledged she
had changed irrevocably.

Saska headed
for Valaris and smashed into the seal, tumbling backwards into the
vacuum.

The seal.
Still there.

Now what?

Declan.
Dome.

Turning, she
bumped into someone.

“Hush, it’s
me,” Belun said. “I saw you head for the seal and tried to head you
off before you hurt yourself. Are you all right?”

“Barring the
injury to my pride, you mean?”

Belun laughed.
“Come on to the Dome. We’ll figure out what to do from there.”

“Declan?”

“He went back
in.”

Her wild goose
chase lost her precious time … and gave her something she thought
lost. He washed her with gentle strokes in the lake to rinse their
sweat off, strokes that quickly became erotic …

“Saska?”

“Sorry,
thinking.”

“Did you see
the Lady?” The Dome came into view.

“She can’t
help unless the land itself succumbs.”

“We thought as
much. What was Torrullin thinking?” An ogive chimed for the Centuar
and he led her within.

“Putting me
out of harm’s way.”

“That peeves
you?”

“Royally.” She
came to a dead stop when she noted the degree of activity inside
the Dome, the number of people … all strangers. The Kaval. “Belun
…”

“Relax, girl,”
Belun whispered, sensing her discomfort, “they are friendly.”

“I’m not meant
to be here. I have lost claim to this place.”

“Saska, it’s
not like that.”

“It is. I
think I’ll go to Luvanor until someone fetches me, or that seal is
lifted.” She turned and stalked to the ogive with Belun behind her
to enable it.

“Grinwallin?”

Was that a
trace of relief in his voice? “Yes, Grinwallin. Belun, what time is
it on Valaris? My time zones are fuddled.”

“Nearing
midday, and it’s almost dawn in Grinwallin.”

“Any
word?”

“Nothing, but
there’s been a lot of activity in the spaces, things we don’t
recognise. We watch, though - see no threat yet.”

She nodded.
“Thanks. Can I exit?”

Belun nodded,
knowing what that cost someone who came through an ogive without
danger in the past.

“I’ll see
you.” Saska stepped out and vanished.

Belun tracked
her signature to Grinwallin, thinking Saska was like the displaced
of the universe. No true home. She could not go to Valaris due to
the seal, but if truth were told, she was not comfortable there.
She was no longer the Lady of Life, and she could not go to
Canimer, her homeworld. Where did she fit in now?

When Torrullin
came to the Dome, forsaking his homeworld, what would become of
Saska?

The Centuar
turned from the glowing ogive and sent a prayer out for her.

Something was
wrong.

Teighlar
paced, his pale features creased in a frown, Kismet stared out at
the false dawn, his face drawn, and Samuel tried to calm Lowen off
to one side of the portico before the Great Hall.

Teighlar
snapped about as Saska alighted and then sagged noticeably. She
looked from one to the other. “Who did you expect?”

Teighlar
slapped a fist into his palm and glared around at Samuel and
Lowen.

Kismet
answered. “Torrullin.”

“And where is
Torrullin?”

“Digilan!”
Lowen shouted, her voice on the edge of hysteria.

“Gods, Lowen,”
Samuel muttered, “calm down.”

“Digilan? He
went …
he went
?” Saska questioned, her voice rising. “Did he
and Tymall …?” She swore then. “He sent me away and then he goes
…”

“Saska.”

His voice
behind her, and visible relief before her. She turned and there he
was. Her husband. Whom she had betrayed. Who had obviously done
strange things in her absence.

“Whatever you
want to hurl at me can wait, all right?”

She had not
seen him quite the way he was now. He was pale and held himself
still as if he feared he would break. His eyes were devoid of
anything.

“Torrullin?”

“Are you
unhurt?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We
shall talk later.” He lifted his hand to her face, but dropped it
before he touched her. Then he was past her. “Kismet, get the
Luvanese army on the move.”

“Yes, my
Lord.” The Elder wanted to say something, but something in
Torrullin’s eyes warned him off. “Right away.” He moved down the
stairs.

“Was it bad?”
Teighlar asked as Torrullin halted before him.

“It was as
expected.” Torrullin craned his neck up. “Real sky. We are
blessed.” He moved past the Senlu Emperor. “Samuel, I need you to
make arrangements for the baby. You and Curin will be his
parents.”