The Trials of Lance Eliot (30 page)

“Why?” I demanded. “What would he gain by killing Kana?”

“The pleasure of revenge, I suppose. Lance, are you all right? You're trembling.”

I turned and ran. Someone had smashed a window. I leapt out of it, landed on the lawn and kept running.

You may wonder why I was acting so irrationally. The truth is that I don't know. I suspect it was the trauma of killing a man, intensified by a severe lack of sleep. Whatever it was, I wanted to be alone. I couldn't bear to have a crowd pressing in on me, patting my back and asking if I was all right.

I stopped running. I had descended the hill on which the Royal Palace stood and entered the commercial district. The street that stretched on before me was lined with shops and restaurants. I looked around and realized I had stopped right in front of a comfortable pub.

For a long time, I stared through a window at the kegs and bottles behind the bar. I wanted a drink to steady my nerves, but I knew that one drink would lead to another, which would lead to another, on and on like a line of dominoes. I had just made up my mind to walk away and find a bakery when the barmaid put her head out the door and said, “Won't you come in? We've just opened a keg of old whiskey.”

That did it. I entered the pub, set a coin on the bar and asked for a tumbler.

One drink did nothing to steady my nerves. I ordered another, resolving it would be my last. It wasn't.

I'm not sure how exactly much whiskey found its way down my throat that evening, but it was enough to send me into a dizzy depression. I finally pushed away my empty tumbler, put my head on the table and sobbed.

“What are you doing?” asked someone. I looked up. It was Atticus. “I didn't think I'd find you here,” he said. “Didn't you quit drinking?”

I tried to explain, but I couldn't find the right words. At that moment, it was hard to find any words at all.

“Lance Eliot, I am disappointed.” Atticus had left. Kana stood in his place. “I expected better from a man of such courage.”

I stared for a moment at my empty tumbler, and when I looked up it was to see Regis peering at me with concern. “You look terrible. I'm sorry you're in such a state. See here, old boy, no one blames you for what happened to Senshu. It was justice. It's no reason for you to soak yourself in whiskey like this.”

I blinked. Regis was gone. There stood Tamu Baba, smiling with the tenderness of a grandfather. “I felt much the same when my wife and daughter died,” he said. “Friendship was my cure, not whiskey. I could never acquire a taste for whiskey. If I may advise you, blackroot is much more wholesome.”

I knew then I was suffering from delusions. The whiskey had gone to my head, or I had possibly lost my mind. I shook my head, trying to dispel the illusions. “Lance,” said someone. I looked around. Miles stood beside me. “I know you're hurting,” he said. “I know it. But you shouldn't go numb. Fight it. You're not alone.”

As I passed a trembling hand over my face, I heard another voice. I removed my hand and looked, torn between joy and dread, knowing whom I would see.

It was Tsurugi. His eyes were no longer vacant. They sparkled with life. All likeness to a stuffed fish was gone. He looked more like the picture of a great saint, but only if great saints are permitted to wear good-humored smiles.

“Lance,” he said. “Remember the fable about the boy and the shadow? Don't run. Face it. Don't make my mistake. Don't give up.
Don't give up.
”

I put my face in my hands and bawled.

It came as no surprise when I heard another familiar voice. It was Maia. “There you are! Oh, you're drunk. I'm glad to see you anyway. I've missed you so much, Lance.”

I could take no more. Overwhelmed, I put my head on the table and passed out.

When I awoke, I found myself in my own bed in the garret. My head hurt. I lay a long time in bed with my eyes closed. The illusions of the night before kept coming into my mind, especially Tsurugi. It had seemed so real.

I tumbled out of bed, clutching my head. I needed a cup of blackroot. Before descending to the kitchen, I slipped into the bathroom to wash my face with cold water. There was a basin in the corner. I dipped my face into the water and withdrew spluttering. There is a wonderful restorative power in cold water. Perhaps my uncle wasn't so wrong to compare it to champagne. Feeling much better, I turned around in pursuit of a towel.

Maia stood in the doorway. “You look awful,” she said.

I'm not sure how best to convey my surprise at the reappearance of Maia Lufian. Had I turned around and seen the Skeleton grinning at me, I couldn't have been more staggered. Although I didn't faint completely, I reeled against the wall in a sudden fit of dizziness.

“Careful,” she said, coming toward me and helping me up. “Don't hurt yourself.”

“What in blazes are you doing here?” I asked, after half a minute of incoherent stammering.

“I think you'd better go back to bed,” she said with concern. “You don't look well.”

“I'll be fine,” I said. “Dash it, how the—”

“Good morning,” said Regis brightly, putting his head into the bathroom. “How are you feeling, Lance?”

“Like a raving lunatic.”

“Not surprising. Come down to breakfast, and we'll see about answering your questions.”

I stumbled out of the bathroom in a daze. I would have been delighted to see Maia if I hadn't been so confused. The whole thing was like a dream. I was beginning to wonder whether I was still delirious when I found myself at the breakfast table.

It was a gray morning. Rain was falling. In spite of the wet weather, my friends were in excellent spirits. The leaders of the Resistance were all there, along with Cog, Abigail and a few others.

“Here you are,” said Atticus.

“It took you long enough,” said Cog. “I was all for starting breakfast without you, but Father insisted we wait. Now that you're here, would you pass the valeberry jam?”

It was a fine breakfast, though I couldn't eat more than a roll or two. It took all my self-restraint to keep from staring at Maia. Here she was, the friend whom I thought was dead, my only hope of returning to Oxford, cheerfully munching toast and sipping chocolate. It was bizarre.

“Now for your questions, Lance Eliot,” said Kana as we finished. “I think Maia is the one to answer the question that is foremost in your mind.”

“I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here,” said Maia. “It's pretty simple. I was staying with my parents in Riku when a man arrived from Faurum. He said the city had been destroyed and he wanted to warn his family. Word spread that the Nomen were coming. Most people ignored the warning.

“My parents and I decided to run. It was a hard decision, Lance. We didn't know whether you had escaped Faurum. We stayed as long as we dared in Riku, then packed up a few things and left. Since we have relatives in Valdelaus, we thought it would be best to come here. The weather turned cold. We spent most of the winter with my aunt in Bosque—a village in the hills north of the Bow—and arrived in Valdelaus just three days ago.

“Kana once told me that a friend of his, Atticus, managed an orphanage in the capital. I decided to visit him after settling in with my relatives. When I found the orphanage yesterday afternoon, the children told me Atticus was storming the Royal Palace. I couldn't believe it, so I started asking questions. They told me you were alive, and staying in this very house!

“I waited for someone to come back, and Kana finally arrived. I was so happy to see him. He told me what had happened at the Palace. Half the Resistance was out looking for you. It took a while, but we found you at that pub at the bottom of Palace Hill, drunk as can be. I thought you recognized me for a second, but then you passed out. So we carried you back here and put you to bed.”

I listened to this narrative with eyes and mouth wide open. I'm sure I looked like an idiot, but at the moment I couldn't have cared any less. It was starting to sink in. Maia was alive.
Maia was alive.
I wasn't trapped in Gea any longer. My adventure was over. I could go home.

“You can return to your own world,” she said. “I'm ready whenever you are.”

“Well, I—that is to say—dash it all,” I exclaimed. “This is all happening so fast, I hardly know what to think.”

“If you can spare a few more minutes,” said Atticus, “you may be interested to hear the outcome of yesterday's rebellion.” I assented, and he recounted what had happened after I ran out of the Palace.

Kana had addressed the people, explaining that a regent would be elected to govern the kingdom until a suitable king could be found. The people agreed and trickled out of the Palace. A few tried to smuggle out paintings and other valuables, but were apprehended by the Resistance and sent on their way empty-handed.

An emergency meeting of the Assembly was called, with Kana presiding. They elected a regent, put General Fox over the military and debated plans for the defense of Rovenia. Nobody seemed to regret the death of Senshu. It was decided early in the meeting that his demise was an act of justice and I was guiltless of his blood. He apparently wasn't popular.

I should mention, by the way, that Petra burst into the meeting halfway through and demanded the immediate release of the women in Senshu's harem. These poor ladies were freed and allowed to return to their homes.

Within an hour of the meeting's adjournment, the Rovenian Legion had been deployed. Inactive soldiers were called back into duty and hundreds of new recruits swelled the ranks. Under the direction of General Fox, large detachments of soldiers marched north and south to secure the borders. A sizable military presence remained in Valdelaus.

“Wait a moment,” I said, interrupting Atticus. “You said the Assembly elected a regent. Whom?”

“You won't believe it,” said Regis.

“Out with it.”

“They chose
me.
”

“I don't believe it.
You?
No offense, Regis, but you're not a leader. You're not even a politician. You have no experience. All you've ever done is gamble.”

“Politics and gambling are practically the same thing, old boy.”

“You're not even a gambler anymore. Why in blazes did they choose you to be regent?”

“Kana suggested it. I think the Assembly agreed because they think some of his brilliance might have rubbed off on me. They would have made Kana regent, but he won't be available.”

I was more puzzled than before. “Why won't he be available?”

“Lance Eliot,” said Kana gravely, “Jian and I had a long discussion last night. Our triumph yesterday and all our preparations are worthless unless something is done about Maldos. By defending the borders, we are merely treating the symptoms. If we are to save Rovenia, we must cure the disease. Together with a few elite soldiers, Jian and I will travel through the Darkness to Akrabbim. Maldos must be destroyed.”

At this moment, my friend, I made perhaps the most idiotic decision of my whole life. It was also, paradoxically, one of the best. As Kana spoke, my memory flashed back to that first meeting of our Resistance. No one had known what to do about the Darkness. Then Tsurugi had spoken. He had said, “Send me.”

As I sat next to Maia at the table, I felt a sudden, inexplicable, insane conviction that I was not meant to return to Oxford quite yet.

“Send me,” I said.

There was instantly silence, except for the faint pattering of rain on the pavement outside the window.

“Send you back to Terra?” asked Maia.

“Send me to Akrabbim,” I said, not looking at anybody. “I know this is absurd, but I can't help feeling this is what I'm meant to do. I can't explain it. This is why Tsurugi gave his life for me. I know I sound like a madman, but….”

I didn't know how to end that particular sentence, so I fell silent.

“You may be wiser than you know,” said Eben. “As the poet said, ‘How often is madness but genius misunderstood.'”

“Hear, hear!” said Cog.

“I begin to think your presence in Gea is no mistake,” said Kana.

“I don't share your confidence,” I told him.

It was a gloomy morning. I thought I had just sealed my own execution. However, I somehow survived that strange adventure.

At any rate, for the moment, I live to tell the tale.

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