The Way of the Power (18 page)

“Over here,” Malja said a little too harshly. Hirasa scurried over as Malja stepped away from the group. “You have feelings for him, don’t you?”

Hirasa looked back at the group as if they might overhear. “What do my feelings have to do —”

“Because you are not thinking clearly. You have an interest in him that, out here, is unhealthy. Understand that it is not for you to protect him or save him from this insanity that afflicts him.”

“You think it’s for you to do?”

“He is my family. I should never have let him —”

“I don’t know what I feel towards him, but yes, I feel something. After what he did, though, everything about the way I feel is mixed up. That doesn’t mean I can’t 
think
 with a clear mind. I’m not some little girl pretending to be Pali while Carsite and Scarite fight over me. Don’t insult me. I’m not naive.”

“No insults. It’s brave of you to accept responsibility, but this isn’t like anything you’ve done before. This is an entirely new world. All you’ve done so far is camp out for one night. If you go out on your own, you may find the whole experience far more difficult, more dangerous. Bringing you here, I have my own responsibility to return you safely.”

“It’s nice that you say all that, but it’s not true. You did not bring me. I have made my own choice to come. I believe in you all and I want to help. I let Fawbry go, I need to figure out how to deal with him and his actions, and the Artisoll needs you. Why else are we really here if not for the Artisoll?”

Hirasa’s words split open something deep within Malja, allowing it to rise to her consciousness like air bubbles floating up from fathoms below the ocean surface. She tried to ignore it, to stay focused on the current task, but the image of Fawbry wandering the snowy woods, half-crazed and freezing, would not let her go. Because Hirasa was right — why had they all come to Reo-Koll? Why had Malja felt the need to get involved in the first place?

She rubbed the back of her neck, inhaled deeply, and tried to clear her mind. Questioning herself would not solve any immediate problems. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Hirasa’s plan made sense. Fawbry needed to be found, and Malja’s abilities would be wasted traipsing through the forest.

All looked at Malja, but before anybody could speak, she said, “Hirasa will track down Fawbry while the rest of us take the Artisoll to Castle Dovell and the Temple at the top.”

The Artisoll stepped forward with one hand on her forehead.

“Is something wrong? Can you show me where you hurt?” Stray asked like a worried midwife. “Is this the Rising already? We should hurry you to Castle Dovell.”

She shook her head vehemently and wisps of orange light floated off her.

“Oh,” Stray said but offered no more.

“What’s happening here?” Malja said. She had to snap her fingers in front of Stray to get his attention. Good thing it worked because her next plan was to slap his backside with the flat of her blade.

“We’re not going to Castle Dovell.”

“How come?”

“The Artisoll is about do something that hasn’t happened in many generations. We’re about to witness the Revelation, something only the Queen has seen for even longer. The Artisoll’s going to give the rule of our world to another country.”

Chapter 17

Stray dropped to his knees
as the Artisoll walked off a short distance. The reverence on his face reflected the morning sun’s rays streaming through the trees like a painting Malja expected to see hung in a temple. Perhaps
the
Temple that they sought.

Malja tried to get Stray’s attention again. “What is all this?”

“Be quiet,” he said. “This is a rare moment. You must be respectful.”

“But is this part of the Rising? Don’t we need to be at the Temple?”

With an impatient bite to his voice, Stray said, “Every country on Reo-Koll has a Temple. Whichever Temple the Rising occurs in is the country that gains the rule of the Queen. Right now, we are about to witness the Artisoll telling us which country we are to go to. The fact that it is not Dovell will literally change this world. Now, get on your knees and be silent.”

Malja had no problem being silent, but she would not lower to her knees. Instead, she stepped back and joined Hirasa to watch from a distance. To her surprise, Tommy moved next to Stray and joined the man.

The more she thought on it, the more sense it made. Magic aside — just as Hirasa had fallen for Fawbry, Tommy had fallen for the Artisoll. If Stray said that they should be on their knees, Tommy would do so.

The Artisoll turned towards them and closed her eyes. Her serene face blended with the calm forest around her to create a silent tableau. She lifted her arms and held them for a moment. When she breathed in, she pulled her arms close to her body. When she exhaled, she let her arms drift outward with the air.

Three times, she did this. On the fourth inhalation, the leaves on the branches above her leaned towards her. When she exhaled, the leaves relaxed. The fifth time, the foliage on the ground rose up towards her as the trees bent inward. A few more times and the entire forest around her oscillated in rhythm with her breathing.

Malja felt the effect on her bones. She stumbled two steps forward when the Artisoll inhaled. Hirasa’s hair reached towards the Artisoll as well. No wonder Stray went to his knees — part religious conviction, but mostly so he wouldn’t be sucked into whatever the Artisoll’s magic was about to do.

“Get on your knees,” Malja whispered and lowered to the ground with Hirasa.

The Artisoll’s eyes popped open. She pointed her hands at the snowy ground between her and Stray. Inhaling again, one tree behind her cracked its thick trunk and toppled over. When she exhaled, the falling tree deflected off as if nothing more than a stick playfully thrown into the air.

The snowy ground that commanded her focus rose up. The surrounding snow rolled inward, and the growing white mound reshaped itself. Parts thrust up in sheer, jagged forms while others molded into carved, purposeful pieces.

When the snows ceased moving, an astonishing model of a Temple remained. Built into a cliffside, the Temple’s entrance had been graced with carved statues of young woman and babies.
Past Artisoll’s,
Malja thought. At various spots along the wall, Malja noticed where the rock had been reworked to form balconies of different shapes. At the base, twenty steps led from the Temple entrance to a wooden dock with a small rowboat tied up. Each fifth step, wide enough to build a house upon, had small columns built at the corners.

Stray bowed his head at the sculpture. When he came back up, tears streamed on his cheeks. “It’s Tunistall Temple. Look how beautiful it is. You see the cliffs? Right off the Rewten Ocean. This is incredible. It’s one of the lesser countries. The Artisoll is giving rule of the world to one of the lesser countries.”

“You’re sure?” Malja asked.

“Of course. Part of my training was to learn what every Temple in every country looked like so that I would be prepared for the Revelation — should I ever be graced with the opportunity to see it.”

A soft cooing interrupted them. Malja looked over and saw a baby in the spot where the Artisoll had stood.

Stray bounded over and scooped up the baby, wrapping her in his coat and tying the bundle to his back. “We must hurry. The Artisoll has taken this form to aid us in moving fast.”

“Move fast? How close is this other country — Tunistall?”

“That depends,” Stray said, eying Tommy.

Malja gritted her teeth. “He’s not your personal transport.”

“He can do it, though. Can’t he? With one of his tattoos, he could send us all of the way to Tunistall in seconds. Without him, six days at least — if the winds are with us, and we find a good boat.”

“Boat? We have to go on the water?”

“How else would we get there from the other side of the world and across two oceans?”

Shaking off her apprehension, Malja said, “It doesn’t matter. We’ll have to take the boat. We can’t use Tommy that way. Not so soon after he got us here.”

“Then let’s go.” Stray stuffed the Artisoll’s clothing into his pack and took off at a light jog. Tommy eagerly accompanied him.

Before joining, Malja looked back at Hirasa. “I know you’ll find him.” Then she ran.

Less than an hour later, Stray broke his stride long enough to check on the Artisoll. Satisfied that no harm had come to her bouncing on his back, he tightened the coat and continued on his way.

Jogging next to him, Malja noticed the elation on his face. It had been there during the Revelation. It had been there when he wrapped up the Artisoll as a baby, and it still remained. “I understand that this is an unusual event, but why is this so big? Is Tunistall where you’re from? Your home?”

“No. I’m from Frennio. This is big because the Eastern countries — Dovell, Ro, Bechstallon — they have held control over the Queen and the Artisoll for the last five generations. It has changed everything in our world. The rules, the laws, the policing, food distribution, wealth distribution — everything funneled through those three countries. It was unfair. The Western countries felt it. Each day, they grew poorer but were without recourse. They couldn’t change what the Artisoll had chosen.”

“I thought the Artisoll gave her power to create a peaceful world. Isn’t that her purpose?”

“Indeed. It is why some whispered in the dark shadows of the world that we were not following the Artisoll’s wishes. That the Large Three Countries had manipulated the results.”

“How?”

“Because nobody had seen the Artisoll go through the Revelation for the last five generations. Back then, the Queen demanded to see the Artisoll in private. She could tell when the Revelation neared. They would go off into a tower in Castle Dovell, or Castle Ro, or Castle Bechstallon, and nobody was permitted in until the Revelation occurred. When it ended the Queen would come out and pronounce which country’s Temple would host the next Rising.”

“So nobody saw but the Queen. How could you prove —”

“It was the Queen’s word. There was no proof necessary. Why would the Queen lie? But after Artisoll upon Artisoll picked the Large Three Countries, we started to suspect that Ro’s way of offering smooth transitions was a trick. It’s the full reason why that battle in the street occurred in which you saved the Artisoll. Without the Queen demanding to be sequestered with the Artisoll, this generation’s Revelation would happen in front of the public. That is what the Large Three Countries do not want. They can’t let the public have that information. They can’t control us then.”

Malja chuckled. “But the three don’t trust each other, do they?”

Stray looked at her from the corner of his eye and winked. “Not just that. Whichever one of them got control of the Artisoll could claim the Revelation was for their country. Who could argue without devolving us all into a war that might cover the entire world? It would be easier, more sensible, to simply accept the result for a generation and wait for the new Queen to make things right for generations to follow.”

Malja peeked over Stray’s shoulder at the baby playing with her nose. “But now things are different.”

“As long as we can get the Artisoll to Tunistall in time for the Rising, then yes, everything will be different.”

“It’s like a legal usurping of a throne. Strange, but I like it.”

Stray put out his hand, halting the group, and squatted in the woods. “We’re near the Ro camp. On the other side are some makeshift docks and whatever boats they used to get over here. We steal a boat, get on the water, six or seven days, maybe longer if the waters are rough, and we’ll be in Tunistall.”

Malja’s face paled. “Makeshift? For such a long trip, shouldn’t we find a boat that’s sturdier?”

“The Ro are known all over as the finest boat builders. We couldn’t do better.”

“But stealing one — that won’t go unnoticed. We’ll have an entire fleet chasing us down.”

“That’s why we’ll have to be quiet about this. Why are you acting strange?”

Tommy made an ocean wave motion with his hands, then clutched his stomach and mimed throwing up.

“She gets seasick?”

“I do not,” Malja said. “Usually. I just don’t like the water. A lot of unpleasant memories.”

As he spoke, Stray checked over the Artisoll. “The only other way I know to get to Tunistall is to use Tommy’s magic. How else would we cross an ocean?”

“You don’t have anything that flies?”

“Nice to see you make a joke.” When she did not change her expression, his face dropped. “You have things that fly?”

“Some worlds do. Some magic, some machine. But nothing here like that?”

“Sorry, no. It’s either Tommy’s portal or a long journey at sea.”

Malja paused. She did not consider Tommy as an option and waited for a miracle thought to enter her brain. But nothing came. Stray was right — there were no other options. With a sigh, she said, “Fine. We steal the boat.”

Chapter 18

Despite the urgency pulsing
out of Stray, he agreed that they needed to hole up until nightfall before attempting to steal a boat. To avoid embarrassment, Malja hid her smile, but she felt some of the tension in her body ease.