NaNoWriMo 2005: 41227 Words
A/N: I decided to divide the remaining 20000+ words in half. It may not be more convenient for you, but it is for me. Enjoy.
Belan slowly went made his way up the staircase to the Lady's room, as he had done so often since coming back from his mission with Talwyr. Most of the priests and priestesses in the Temple now shunned him, though a few gave him encouraging smiles. Even so, he did not feel safe out among them, and would feel even less so when Lord Maddeg finally returned. The king's death, as much as Belan grieved for it, almost came as a relief, since it meant that the high priest would stay away even a little longer. The Lady's company was pleasant and almost even welcoming.
And, though he did not want to admit it to himself, he was hoping to catch a glimpse of Fianna again.
But when Belan got to the Lady's chamber, he discovered that she was packing. Bags suitable to be carried on a horse were laid out, and the Lady herself was filling them with supplies for a journey.
"Where are you going, Lady?" he asked at once.
Celwyn scarcely looked up at him. "There will be a meeting of the high council," she said, "for the choosing of the new king. I must go."
"But surely Prince Emryn will now be king."
"One would think, but it is regrettably not so simple as that."
"But surely if Lord Maddeg is already there..."
Now the Lady straightened and looked at him. "I would not trust Lord Maddeg farther than I could throw him. He is a weasel of a man, and cruel in his small way, and wily and cunning, and I don't understand his motives or what he plans. Not at all. And don't let that information leave this, room, either."
Belan bowed his head meekly. "Yes, Lady Celwyn."
It was then that they were interrupted by the screams.
Celwyn immediately dropped everything and hurried to the door at the back of her chamber-- the one through which Fianna had come just the other day. Without thinking, Belan followed her.
Fianna was kneeling on the floor with her face in her hands, her hair knotted, screaming like an animal who was being beaten. Before her on the floor was an overturned bowl and a puddle of water, which was now beginning to soak her skirts. Belan could guess what had happened: she'd been scrying, and seen something that disturbed her. Something that disturbed her a very great deal.
While he stood in the doorway, uncomfortable and helpless, Celwyn went to the crying young woman and held her in her arms. Fianna did not fight the embrace; her sobs began to form words.
"They are gone!" she was wailing. "They are gone, all of them, to the land of the Gods!"
"Who are gone?" Celwyn prompted her gently.
"All of them! Lord Talwyr, the girl, the boy, I can't see them anymore! I can't see them!"
"There, there," Celwyn took this news with barely a blink. She stroked Fianna's hair.
"The prince is gone, too," she continued to sob, but less hysterically now. "They all went where I can't see them."
Celwyn remained perfectly calm, and even Fianna was quieting down, but Belan, in the doorway, found himself close to panic. "Does that mean," he asked, "that they're dead? All of them-- if she can't see them-- does that mean...?"
"No," Celwyn replied, but she did not tell him any more than that.
"But they tried to kill him," Fianna said quietly, and even Celwyn started at the sound. "They tried to kill the prince, but Lord Talwyr took him away."
"Who tried to kill the prince?" Celwyn asked urgently.
"Four men. Four soldiers. With swords and knives."
"Do you know who told them to kill him?"
Fianna shook her head, the tears still streaking down her cheeks. "No."
Celwyn looked up again at Belan, and in her eyes was a steely determination. "I will not be leaving to attend the high council," the high priestess said. "I will remain here. You and I have much work to do."
***
Emryn, Pearl, and Bhodi stared as the wizard's voice rang into silence. The tale he had just told was almost too fantastic to believe. Yet, at the same time, it was too fantastic not to believe. And all the evidence was right before their eyes.
At last it was Pearl who spoke. "What are we going to do?" she asked.
"I wish I knew," sighed Talwyr. "I have been trying to discover the answer to this riddle, the proper solution, for most of my life now. So far nothing has been right, nothing has been enough."
"Well..." Bhodi frowned in concentration. "Can't you just put those borders up again?"
"Yes!" Emryn exclaimed. "You must! At once! Everything must be the way it was before!"
But Talwyr shook his head. "I wish it were that simple. But I have not the power alone to resurrect the borders, that magic is beyond any one man. And there are too few now who have the kind of power that would allow it to be possible. There are some few-- more in the Kingdom than in Dybera, of course. But too few of them believe me, and the ones who do say that they would not regret it if the two worlds became one. Those in the Kingdom might like to give Dyberan technology a try, which is innocent enough. Those in Dybera would like to crush the 'simple folk' of the Kingdom and use the valuable resources available there which have run out everywhere else, effectively turning the place into a wasteland."
"They can't do that," Bhodi said. "Isn't there anybody on your side?"
"Oh, yes. Queen Silvara of Dybera does believe me, and does not wish for the reported beauty of the Kingdom-- for she has never been there herself-- to be so exploited."
"If the Queen wants to help us, then," Pearl asked, "what's the problem?"
"The Queen's hands are tied, it seems. She came to the throne very young, and power-hungry bureaucrats have taken advantage of that. She fights them now at every turn, but under the planet's constitution they have enough power to hold her immobile while injustices are done." Then, offhand, "We will meet her shortly."
Bhodi and Pearl stared. Meet the Queen?
But Emryn's mouth drew into a thin, hard line. "I see. So this is a diplomatic visit."
"It would be polite for you to speak with her, if that is what you mean," Talwyr answered.
"I won't do it. I have no desire to meet this Queen. And I will not speak to her about my Kingdom."
"I was thinking more along the lines of appealing to her for protection and shelter. You may find returning to you Palace now would be difficult."
Emryn glared at him. "I will not beg. I am a prince, nearly a king in my own right."
"Suit yourself." The wizard shrugged. "Stand alone against the den of assassins and traitors at your court. Stand alone against the Dyberan armies who, during your rule, will inevitably come to stamp you out. You will be king, it is your decision."
Emryn glared again.
Twenty minutes later they were on their way to meet the Queen.
***
Pearl had thought the great hall of the Palace was grand. It was nothing to this.
Everything was a shining white, not like the rough gray of the Palace's stones. Huge windows overlooked the vast blue sea, and though them light positively flooded in. Pearl thought briefly that she would hate to be the one who had to clean all of this-- it was so clean, there was no dust anywhere. It was like the robes of the Wise Ones.
Yet there was a similarity, she could see, to the Palace of the Kingdom. The arched doorways, the turrets... it was like what the architect of the Kingdom's Palace must have envisioned in his dreams-- his very wildest, grandest dreams.
And at the presiding over all of it, on a raised gilt throne, adorned in the finest silks and jewels, was Queen Silvara.
No, Pearl couldn't help thinking, Talwyr is wrong. This is the land of the Gods. And she is a Goddess.
Talwyr led the small band to the front of the room, and knelt before the Queen. Pearl, Bhodi, and Emryn followed suit. There were others-- mostly old men, the councilors probably-- lining the hall, also kneeling.
"Rise, Lord Talwyr," the Queen intoned. Talwyr did, and brought Prince Emryn up with him. "What brings you here before me today, Lord?"
Pearl and Bhodi, awed and feeling very out of place, remained on their knees, scarcely daring to look up in the direction of the throne. What in the world, they both were wondering, are we doing here, exactly where we don't belong?
"Your Highness, I bring with me today people of my own country. One of these two children, the boy, is of your own people, and wandered through our borders by accident. It was this girl who found him. And this," here Talwyr gestured to Emryn, "is Emryn, crown prince of the Kingdom, the place which you call the Lost Lands."
The councilors exchanged dark glances and muttered among themselves. Queen Silvara took on an expression of mild surprise and Emryn's title, but otherwise showed no reaction to the news. Talwyr had said that she was one of the few who believed his claims. Pearl wondered if perhaps these others here did not. And if that was the case, they must think Talwyr to be absolutely crazy.
Emryn approached the throne, drawing himself up with all the majesty of the generations of rulers of the Kingdom, the dignity bestowed upon him by his mother and father and all his lineage. Before Pearl had only seen him as Emryn, who did not seem prince-like at all. This new attitude of nobility suited him. It made him seem older, somehow, and even stronger.
"Queen Silvara," he said, "I thank you for granting us this audience so quickly. It is high time, I am given to understand," here he glanced back at Lord Talwyr, "that we met. You are Queen here, and I am..." He hesitated, no doubt replaying the events of the past day in his mind and maybe recalling also his expressed feelings on the matter. "I am to be King of my people. Soon. My mother has recently departed this life, and only yesterday my father also died."
The Queen bowed her head a little in acknowledgement of this news. "I am sorry, Prince. This is a heavy loss to bear."
"There is reason to believe that my father, at least, was murdered. Only today, during a meeting of my councilors, an attempt was made on my own life. We fled here." He met the Queen's gaze coldly. "The sole reason we have ventured into your realm is for shelter and succor until such a time as we may return. Save the boy." He indicated Bhodi. "He may, of course, stay. Beyond this time, I hope to have no further dealings with you or your people. I see no reason for any such contact as this, or indeed any contact at all, in the future. Am I understood, your Majesty?"
The councilors were silent. Wherever the crazy old man had gotten this boy, he was trained well, and seemed serious enough. And impertinent and offensive-- no doubt the sort who should be dealt with before he could be a harm to himself or others. Or the Queen. It was of the utmost importance that nobody harm the Queen, for the people would follow her where they would follow no one else. She had a way with them.
Emryn stared at the Queen. The Queen stared at Emryn. There was ice in their looks, nearly open hostility. It made Pearl's blood run cold, the unbroken glare between them; the Queen of course, had reason to dislike Emryn now. He had been unimaginably rude, thrusting aside all protocol. Even little Pearl, the child of the Temple, could see that. She could not imagine what had made him do it. And it made her afraid, because she was also of the Kingdom, and if the Queen chose to punish Emryn for his impudence, she might do the same with Pearl. The girl had gone so many days without being beaten; she almost couldn't bear the thought of being again the loathsome child she had been before.
For an interminable moment the Queen and the prince held the glare without blinking, like some sort of contest was going on between them. Silvara, silent, met his glare with one she knew to be equally disconcerting, and tried to sum this newcomer up. She met with little success.
At last, she spoke, though her gaze did not move from his face. "I understand what you say, Prince Emryn. You speak very clearly. What would have been perhaps a better question for you to ask is, 'Are we agreed on this matter?' As of this time, Prince, we are not." The Prince now looked disconcerted, as if at last realizing the mess he may have gotten himself into. The Queen paused just long enough to see this, and then continued. "Since Lord Talwyr asks so kindly for you and your company to take refuge here, I will not refuse him."
One of the men lining the hall near the throne looked up sharply, "My Queen, I must advise--"
Silvara waved him silent. "You must advise as you always do in these matters, councilor, and I must as always refuse to listen. I am adamant. These people will stay here as long as I wish them to--"
"But, Your Highness--" the man tried to interrupt, but the Queen went on without pausing.
"And they will stay here in safety, is that understood? If I hear that it is otherwise..." Her cold gaze swept the hall. "There will be consequences, gentlemen." The man, scowling, resumed his reverential position. "Lord Talwyr, Prince Emryn, I am sure we have much to discuss further. I will come to you chambers that we may do it privately. At that time, Prince, we will discuss the relationship between our realms and you may hear my opinion on the matter. But whatever we decide, Prince," her voice lowered, "we will decide it as equals, for so we are. And you will keep in mind, Emryn, that you are now in my land." She glanced once at Bhodi and Pearl, then looked back to Lord Talwyr. "Thank you, Lord. You are dismissed."
Talwyr bowed low, and Emryn reluctantly did the same. Pearl and Bhodi followed them from the hall, craning their necks as they went to get one more view of the place's royal splendor. The door shut behind them with a resounding boom.
"Well?" the Queen asked in the silence that followed.
The councilor who had spoken during the audience, and another kneeling across from him, raised their heads.
"Your Majesty, they may be dangerous," the second one said. "We all know Talwyr is mad, but now he's got other people in on the delusion. And this young man seems serious about it."
"He could be a threat to society," the first agreed. "We cannot allow him to stay here."
"We can and will," the Queen corrected him. "He interests me. I do not believe him mad."
"You insist that you do not believe Lord Talwyr mad, either, My Queen, and yet he speaks of magical kingdoms as though they are real and professes to travel to them and perform magic."
"Yes." The Queen said simply.
"Well..." the second man struggled for words. "Well, why will you insist on believing him? You have never seen this supposed place, Your Majesty. It does not exist!"
"You will not believe it exists until I show it to you," she sighed, "and I will not believe it does not exist until you can prove that it does not. We are at an impasse, gentlemen."
The first man spoke again. "Why do you believe him, Majesty? It is all such madness."
"Because my mother believed him," she answered quietly. "And my mother did not tell lies. Not to me."
That silenced them on the matter.
After a moment, a third finally said, "Yes, but still, this boy, Your Majesty. He could be dangerous."
"No, I do not think so. I find him interesting."
"Whatever for?" the first man asked. "He is arrogant, impudent, unmannered-- the way he spoke to you! He should be punished--"
"That will not be necessary, councilor," the Queen interrupted smoothly. "He is arrogant, yes, and impudent and unmannered, and... I find him interesting. Even if he is not who he claims to be, I wish to know him better, I think. I will speak with him."
"Yes, Your Highness."
With no further objections raised, Queen Silvara dismissed her court and prepared to meet the boy who interested her so. The councilors let her go. So long as she was occupied with these matters of little consequence, these flights of fancy, they could occupy themselves with the real problems of the planetary government.
All they required from the Queen was that she remain alive. For appearance's sake.
***
When Lord Maddeg returned to the Temple, Lady Celwyn was waiting for him. She was not secluded in her tower, as she usually was, but down in the courtyard, her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently, and waiting. The high priest regarded her with some surprise. But he dismounted and made her the proper obeisance all the same. She was the high priestess after all, and appearances must be maintained. It was best that as few people in the Temple as possible knew that the high priest and priestess were about to have a terrible fight.
"Lady Celwyn," he greeted her. "I am surprised you did not join us at the meeting of the High Council."
"Are you?" the Lady replied. Her expression was inscrutable. "But Lord Maddeg, why should I have come when there was nothing to be done or decided. After all, the Prince was not there."
Maddeg smiled, but in a manner which gave the impression of one unaccustomed to the action. It looked like a grimace, going no deeper than the teeth, possibly painful. "Ah, so you have heard. Your messengers are swift."
"Swifter than you know." It was a barely-veiled threat.
"As you say." Maddeg let it go. "It was an unfortunate happening. Traumatic."
"Yes, you are fortunate to have escaped with you life, Lord."
"But no concern need be spared for me. The young prince is still missing. I fear he may have been taken, kidnapped."
"It is just," Lady Celwyn stated plainly, "as the prophecy foretold, is it not?"
"Yes, even so. I am afraid the wrath of the Gods is upon us. And if so, the prince is dead already. What did your girl foretell would follow? Dragons breathing fire from the sky?"
The formalities were over. They had left the courtyard and were now in the secluded chamber of the high priest. Celwyn removed her veil.
"And if that is to come," she said, "who will protect us, now that the child of the Gods has left us, through your own fault?"
Maddeg's face darkened. He looked truly terrible now, as he had looked when he'd been beating Pearl before the crowd on the night of the Speaking. "Tell me that you knew nothing of it, Lady. Tell me that Talwyr never told you who the child was. Tell me that you did not conspire in hiding her from me." He did not raise his voice; Lord Maddeg's cold steel voice was far worse than shouting. "Tell me all of this, Lady Celwyn. I am gracious. You will be lying, but I will believe you. And as the Gods forgive, so I will forgive you."
"You have not the power of the Gods." Her body trembled, but her voice did not. "The Gods have left you. You do not believe in any God but yourself. No one but my Gods can forgive me for what I have done, and the only crime I have committed, Maddeg, is in letting her come here, hidden under your nose and abused by you and those like you. I will not tell you I knew nothing. I knew everything. I knew it all! I was the first to know, aside from Talwyr and the girl's mother. Oh, yes. It's true. And I helped to hide her from you."
"So." Maddeg's eyes flashed. "Now she is beyond my grip-- and beyond yours, too. Because of you she is food for the wild dogs."
"You think so." And Celwyn smiled, her secret smile which Maddeg hated so much.
"What do you know?" He leaned close to her. "How swift are your messengers, Lady?"
"You are a low, insect-like creature, Maddeg. You have climbed very high, for one of your smallness of mind. But as the slightest breath of the Goddess can blow the insect from the highest place, so one word from me could bring you lower than you ever began."
He sat back. "So we have come to this," he said thoughtfully. "You will tell them."
"And the words of the people will eat you alive, yes. If I choose to, I could do this."
"This is a game? How very holy. What will you ask of me, I wonder."
"I will ask nothing," Celwyn told him. "I am only letting you know that there are reasons to keep me here. My influence is too great for you to even try to discredit me. If it is to be a battle of words, I will always win, for it was not I who drove away the child of the Gods."
Maddeg nodded. "Very well, Lady."
Lady Celwyn left him there, deep in thought.
***
Queen Silvara came to the suite shared by Emryn, Talwyr, Bhodi, and Pearl early in the afternoon of the day following their first audience. She was not dressed, this time, in all of her Queenly finery. She'd decided that she would get more done without it. The royal regalia was ceremonial in its purpose, and that purpose, in her opinion, had been served. What she wore now, a plain blue dress-- embroidered only lightly, and not silken-- was much more practical. Just as her dark hair, for the sake of practicality, was swept up out of her face, but not ornamented or topped with a fabulous headdress. This was a meeting for the purpose of doing business, not for impressing the newcomers.
When Emryn opened the door, he didn't recognize her. She realized this with some surprise. At first she took his nonchalance, his air of boredom, to be just another way of being impudent with her and showing disrespect. But then she noticed the way in which he did not address her at all, did not seem in the least combative, or even interested.
No, she thought, trying not to blush. There was some interest; as he let her in he gave her an appraising look, taking in the fine structure of her face and body. She could tell by his faint smile that he found her attractive. The idea brought her a twinge of pleasure, which she repressed as soon as she knew what it was. The boy was insolent-- she wanted to study him, converse diplomatically with him, not flirt with him! The very notion was unthinkable. She was the Queen. He was the prince of a neighboring kingdom-- a place that only half existed, true, but a place. That he was nearly king of. And she was Dybera's Queen.
And she had best remind Prince Emryn of that fact.
Using her best Queen voice, she said, "Prince Emryn, have you really so little regard for me as that?"
The prince spun around, looking at her again, and made to bow, his face very red. Far different, this boy, from the one who had stood so proud before her in the great hall. She could almost not believe them to be one and the same person.
"Come, Prince, no need to bow to one another here. We are, after all, equals."
He straightened, making a superb effort to compose himself. Queen Silvara was more fascinated with this strange prince now than ever. She so rarely got to be with people her own age-- he was as mystifying to her as the Kingdom from which he supposedly came.
As for Prince Emryn...
He recognized her now. He could see that she had the same dark, curly hair and clear, level gaze as the Queen he'd confronted before, but it was not so imposing now. There was a light in her eyes which could almost be mistaken for the glint of natural mischief, if she hadn't been a Queen. And she looked more queenly now, he thought, than she had on her throne in her elaborate ensemble. Then she had looked like a little child dressing up in her mother's clothes and jewelry-- they were too big for her, dwarfed her features, emphasized her smallness. Now one could see how straight she stood, the set to her jaw; she was every inch a queen. And she must be close to his own age. He wanted to ask her, but now that he came to think about it he wasn't sure how. How did one address a Queen? A Queen who was not one's mother, that is? He became aware that the silence was going on too long.
"I'll go get Lord Talwyr," he said.
"Very well."
Talwyr wasted very little time in bringing Queen Silvara up to speed on all that had happened in the Kingdom, taking particular time on Bhodi's ship crash in the middle of the forest. She listened with patience, but when he was finished she was quick to speak her mind.
"I don't know what you would have me do, Lord Talwyr. And I believe I have already exceeded my expectations in accommodating the needs of a place I don't even know exists! I need proof, Lord, I need to see it. My mother saw it, why can't I?"
"You will see it," Talwyr assured her. "But the time is not yet. When it is right, Your Highness, you will come to the Kingdom. This I can promise you."
"If you are not sure my Kingdom exists," Emryn interrupted angrily, "then why insist on continued contact between us? Why keep us here at all, why not turn us out? I cannot speak for Lord Talwyr, but as for me, you would never hear from me or see my face again."
"Why?" Silvara raised an eyebrow. "Just in case, Prince Emryn."
As though Emryn had not spoken, Talwyr continued, lowering his voice, "I do not trust your councilors, Majesty."
"No, nor do I. But what am I to do? They are with me always. I did not choose them; I cannot get rid of them."
"Of course you can!" Emryn exclaimed. "You're the Queen!"
Again she looked at him as one would look at a child. "It is clear that you are not a king yet, Prince Emryn. Otherwise you would know the nature of a ruler's duty to the people."
"I was raised in a royal house. I know all about it."
"But you do not know about my government, Prince. If everything Lord Talwyr says is true, you have no idea what threats are posed by a galactic government. You have no idea. Dybera is a fairly insignificant planet, Prince Emryn, and the Kingdom is an insignificant part of that. I need all the allies I can get, that is why you remain here. I need my planet united, that is why you remain here. But you are in no position to remain here giving advise to me. Now, gentlemen, if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to."
Before Emryn could formulate a retort she had swept from the room.
***
Bhodi had spent most of the day showing Pearl how to use the holoviewer. It was a fascinating device, and Pearl was still sure that it worked by magic, since Bhodi couldn't explain otherwise, at least not using words she could understand. It showed pictures of all different places Pearl had never seen before or dreamed existed, and the pictures moved. There were a lot of pictures of the flying dragon ships Bhodi called ships, it seemed, and those interested her little after an hour. Bhodi, apparently, could have looked at them forever. Other pictures showed people talking about many things Pearl didn't understand, and others showed people doing things she didn't understand. Some were speaking languages she didn't understand and others looked like nothing she had seen in the Kingdom. After a very short time, she began to get a headache and told Bhodi to shut it off.
They went outside, then, and tried to think of something to do. But the garden was very small, and the walls very close to the Palace. Pearl didn't think she liked Dybera very much. If it was the land of the Gods, a notion she was slowly coming to terms with, then it was not very impressive.
"But what do you do?"
"I don't know. Walk around, mostly," Bhodi answered. "The cities are really great. They have some nice cities here."
"Before a few days ago, I'd never been to a city before." She idly twirled the necklace she'd been given at Corbin and Niama's house. She hoped Corbin was all right; he'd been in that fight back at the Kingdom's Palace.
"Hey, I said I'd show you everything, didn't I?" Bhodi grinned the mischievous grin that Pearl liked so much. "Well, I can now. As soon as we get out of this place, anyway."
"Don't you like it here?"
"Oh, it's great and everything. But it's a little too fancy for my taste. Don't worry. You'll see." He ran ahead of her, around the corner, and she laughingly gave chase.
When Pearl caught up, Bhodi was climbing a tree which grew near the bleached-white Palace wall. It wasn't very big, and didn't look as though it ought to hold him, at least not for long.
"Careful!" the girl shrieked.
Bhodi looked down. "Come on up," he replied.
So she did. She had climbed the one tree on the Temple's hill a few times, hadn't she? And this was very much the same. The trick was not to think about how far there was to fall. Applying this rule, and with a little help from Bhodi, she was at the top before she knew it. Bhodi took a step off of a branch and was suddenly sitting on the Palace wall itself. Unafraid, Pearl followed suit.
And then she was afraid, because she was looking down on more buildings than she had ever seen in one place, and the only things scarier than these were the building she had to look up at. She was thinking about how high she was. She did not like it at all.
"We're very high," Pearl whimpered, clutching Emryn's arm.
"Yeah, isn't it great?"
Don't think about how high you are, don't think about how high you are...
And once she stopped thinking about it, it really was great. It was beautiful, the way everything gleamed in the light of the setting sun. The small dragon-ships flying by gave the whole place an air of hurry and excitement, like a festival.
"It's so pretty. Is it like this here all the time?"
"Every day at sunset," Bhodi answered.
She didn't think he understood what she meant, but it didn't matter. There were no borders hemming everything in, and the sight of the endless land and the distant horizon at once frightened and thrilled her. People could be just like the birds here-- they could fly and there were no borders to keep them back. They could go absolutely anywhere, anywhere at all. They might fall off the very edge of the world, but if what Bhodi and Talwyr said was true there were even more worlds, out among the stars.
"Are all worlds as pretty as this one?" she asked dreamily.
"No, I don't think so," Bhodi answered. "No. Some of them are really ugly, and some of them people can't live on at all. Dybera's a pretty one. I like it a lot and, besides, it's kind of my homeworld."
Pearl wasn't surprised at Bhodi's words. She couldn't imagine any place being prettier than this. It was her first real sight of Dybera, and now she thought that she might, after all, love it.
***
At the same time as Pearl and Bhodi were sitting side by side on the Palace wall together and watching the sun set over Dybera, Prince Emryn was being treated to a similar view. At another wall, one which fenced this Palace's small garden, the young prince had at last succeeded in climbing a trellis and was gazing out at a city which stretched farther than the eye could see. He had never imagined a place could be so big. The Queen, he began to think, was right. The Kingdom was nothing to this. He felt ashamed to think such thoughts of the only home his family had known, the place they had ruled for generations. The place he was supposed to rule, when the time came. Could Dybera really be as insignificant as the Queen had said?
Suddenly a familiar, female voice called from below: "Hello, Prince."
Emryn started and let go of the wall, falling back onto the ground many feet below. When he opened his eyes, Queen Silvara's face was inches away from his, and she was looking at him anxiously. "Are you all right? I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to fall."
"Yes, no, that's all right, I'm fine," he babbled, sitting up. He felt as though his head might fall off, but there was no reason to let the child Queen of Dybera know that.
"Are you sure?" She was kneeling beside him in the grass, and really did look concerned. Maybe she was human, after all.
"Yes," he muttered, rubbing his head. "I'll be all right."
"Good." She sat back. "I didn't mean to startle you, but, well... I didn't expect you to be in my garden."
"Oh, is this your garden? I didn't know."
"Yes, it's sort of a tradition here, I guess. The Queen's Garden. It's the only place I can be alone."
He recognized the sadness in her tone. It was his own sadness at the certain knowledge that he would probably never in his life have a truly private moment-- that everything he did was public, and he would never escape it, never ever be alone. He wanted to tell her all this, wanted to tell her how much he understood. Instead, he said, "Yeah."
She smiled a little. He hadn't seen her really smile before. She had a nice smile. Or maybe that was just the head wound talking. "How old are you, anyway?" she asked.
"I'm sixteen."
"Really? I'm fifteen."
He nodded. He'd thought she looked about his age. "How long have you been Queen?" he heard himself asking.
"Four years."
Emryn stared at her. "You mean you've been Queen since you were--"
"Since I was eleven, yes," she finished for him. "My father died when I was a baby, and my mother when I was eleven; she was Queen by birth, I was her only child. She had no brothers or sisters, no family at all except for me."
"That's horrible," he couldn't help saying, in a hollow tone.
"We've both lost our parents, Prince."
"No, not that, that you had to be Queen so young. We are young still, and look at us! I don't want to be a king at all!"
"You don't?"
"No. Did you honestly want at eleven years old to be a Queen?"
"I don't know," she said quietly. "I can't say I ever really thought about it. Of course there have been times, since my coronation, I will admit, when I wished to be something else."
"Like what?" He was feeling more familiar with her now.
"Anything."
Emryn was surprised to find himself laughing.
"But I must say," she continued, "for someone who does not want to be king at all you seem to take the business very seriously."
"Oh." Emryn blushed to think of his earlier behavior in the great hall. "I am sorry about that. It is only... I felt as though my parents were watching, and my grandparents, going all the way back... Really, I believe you simply made me nervous."
"I did? Was it that ridiculous outfit?"
"No. That made you look rather silly."
"I've always thought so. There," Silvara smiled. "Now we're friends. No more open hostility, please?"
"All right," he agreed. "But that doesn't mean I'll agree with you in political matters."
"That's fair."
"And I suppose," he was smiling now, "you'll have to just call me Emryn."
"All right. What does that mean, by the way? Emryn."
"'Immortal one,' I think."
"Mm. Silvara means 'Star of peace,' roughly."
"Do you have a name that isn't so... royal?"
She laughed again. He liked it when she laughed. "Yes. My first name is Kama."
"And may I call you Kama?"
"You may."
***
The next step, Celwyn knew, was to send for Corbin and Niama. She had the priests to do this; no need to arouse any suspicion by it. The problem would arise only when the couple came to the Temple. How would she explain them to Lord Maddeg?
But it didn't matter. She would find a way. She always had before.
She would have to find them for herself. Fianna was good at this sort of thing, of course, much better than Celwyn herself had ever been, even in her prime. But the girl had no focus, she could not be told to find something or someone and then look for it. Her mind wandered and drifted; she saw what the Gods willed her to see, no more and no less. That was Fianna's blessing and her curse.
And so Lady Celwyn stared into her silver mirror. After a time, images began to move within it. Niama bandaging a wound on Corbin's leg-- good, he was not seriously wounded in the struggle, then. She had not really feared for him; Corbin was a skilled fighter. It seemed that they were back in their manor in the woods. That was fortunate, for the two priests had already been there and knew where it was.
She sent for them immediately. They came together, Belan fresh-faced and eager-- the boy had the soul of a poet-- and Herel looking as though he had just been dragged from sleep. Lady Celwyn had not seen Herel since their return from the forest, but that did not concern her. He was bound to do her bidding as high priestess, and it was as high priestess that she was sending them on this errand. Herel, much as he might like to, could not refuse. And Celwyn suspected that he would not turn back now, anyway. Not when push came to shove.
"I have called upon you both once again to go forth in my service," she informed the priests.
"Yes, Lady." Belan bowed. "As you command it, so let it be." Celwyn thought she heard Herel groan.
"You are to go forth," she said, "into the forest and call upon Sir Corbin and Lady Niama. You are to bring them back here, to me. They will arrive under cover of darkness and be brought directly to my chamber. Do you understand what I have said to you?"
Belan bowed again. "Yes, Lady Celwyn."
But Herel shook his head. "Hold on a minute. You want us to bring them here?"
"Yes. Was this unclear?"
"No, only..." He wanted to ask why. It was clear to everyone in the room. Yet this he could not do, for it was forbidden to question the will of the high priestess. "Only they have a little baby. I don't think they'll leave her. How are we to make such a journey with a little baby?"
"I am confident in your abilities. I am sure that together you shall manage it."
"Yes, but..." Herel hesitated. "Will it be a problem... that little baby... bringing it in under cover of darkness? Say, for instance, if it should... cry?"
And now he's asking if he's being instructed to do something that I don't want seen or known, Celwyn thought. Something secret, something forbidden, a cloak-and-dagger affair.
It was exactly that, and for that very reason she had no intention of letting him know.
"Oh, that will not matter, I'm sure. Leave it to Corbin and Niama. They are, after all, the child's parents."
At last, reluctantly, Herel bowed. "Yes, Lady."
"Move as swiftly as you can. There is some urgency in the matter."
***
After sunset, Pearl and Bhodi found Emryn in the twilit garden, talking with Queen Silvara. It was slightly disconcerting. The children hid behind the bushes, trying to hear what the two could possibly be saying to each other.
"Maybe they're going to fight," Bhodi whispered.
"No, Queens and Kings don't fight. They make other people fight for them," Pearl replied.
"Okay, then, what do you think they're talking about?"
"I don't know. Maybe they're saying that they're going to have a war. A war between Dybera and the Kingdom." She shuddered. "That would be awful."
What Emryn was saying was, "I think that we are being watched."
The Queen raised an eyebrow. "By my guards?"
"No. By mine." He gestured to the bush, where Kama Silvara could now see two small figures ducking out of sight.
"Ah. I see." She raised her voice. "Come out, both of you. You needn't be afraid."
The two children stepped out meekly.
"Are you going to start a war?" Bhodi asked.
Emryn laughed. "No. We're not going to start a war."
They came closer.
"Hi. I'm Bhodi. This is Pearl." They bowed.
"Pleased to meet you both. And you don't need to bow right now. We're not at court." Emryn noticed a strange expression suddenly pass across Kama's face. "Pearl... where did you get that?"
"What?" the little girl asked.
"That necklace. The one you're wearing."
"Oh." Pearl looked down and clutched the small pendant self-consciously. "I got it at Corbin and Niama's manor. They gave it to me. Do you like it? I think it's pretty."
Kama frowned. "It is. Very pretty. You say you got it from Niama?" The name seemed to have some significance to her. "Niama the sorceress?"
"She's not a sorceress," Pearl corrected her. "She's a knight's lady, Your Highness, and she lives in the forest in the Kingdom."
"There was a woman here once, some years ago," Kama said thoughtfully. "Her name was Niama, which in our language means 'I never love,' and they said she could do magic. Then she disappeared. No one could ever find her again. I never met the woman, but I wonder..."
"But she's not even one of the Wise Ones!" Pearl exclaimed. "She was never in the Temple at all! I never saw her do magic, and if she could she would have been with us in the Temple... Your Highness, I mean. I'm so sorry, Your Highness." And Pearl cringed at her own boldness in speaking so to a Queen.
"No, it is all right, child. Do not be afraid of me," Kama soothed her. "Probably we are thinking of a different person." But she still seemed uncertain. "I want to know more about your necklace. Do you know what this symbol on it means?"
"No." Pearl looked at the flower-like design. "I don't think I've ever seen it before."
"Me neither," Bhodi added.
"I have," Kama said. "It is my family's symbol-- our royal insignia. I have one like it myself." She looked thoughtful. "Are you sure of where you came by it, Pearl?"
Pearl's eyes had already filled with fear. "I didn't steal it! I didn't, I promise I didn't! Oh, please believe me, Your Majesty, I didn't take it from you!" The girl, near tears, knelt down before the young Queen. But Kama Silvara shook her head emphatically and raised the child back up.
"No, no, Pearl, I am not accusing you. Believe me, I am not. I think, though, that there may be something in this... something I do not yet know, and that you may not know, either. But if any person living does know, it is Lord Talwyr. Come." She stood. "I would speak with Lord Talwyr about this at once."
Taking Pearl by the hand, Bhodi and Emryn following, Kama Silvara strode back into the Dyberan Palace.
***
"I will not question the orders of the high priestess," Belan said with a sigh for what seemed like the fortieth time since they had left the Temple that night.
"Oh, why not? She's not even here." Herel retorted. "You know what your problem is? You have a problem with heroine-worship. You look at all great women as goddesses. You did it with the Queen, and now the high priestess and, unless I am mistaken, that pretty young prophetess, too."
Belan blushed. "Hold your tongue. That's blasphemy, you know, what you just said."
"Come, man. You can't say you don't think it's a little bit odd, what we're being asked to do. Leave in the middle of the night, fetch a knight and lady of no great consequence, bring them back by night, and no word said to the high priest Maddeg?"
"You don't know that Maddeg doesn't know about it."
"No, but I'm willing to put down money which says he doesn't. I mean, I would if I wasn't a priest." Herel sighed.
Belan chose to ignore that last remark. "Are you saying that you approve of everything Lord Maddeg is doing?"
"I said nothing of the kind, and you know it. Stop trying to trick me with words. The only reason I'm doing this at all is that I don't like the way he treated that girl."
Belan was somewhat impressed by this. It was the first indication Herel had ever given of truly having any sort of moral conscience. "I don't trust Lord Maddeg," he said.
"Now, that's blasphemy, I think. You're making something out of nothing. Of course, I don't blame you if your loyalties lie with the high priestess. She's the one who wouldn't have you killed as soon as look at you."
Belan sighed again. It was going to be a long journey to Sir Corbin's manor.
***
"It was your mother's," Talwyr said simply. Kama stared at him, and so did Pearl. They had found Lord Talwyr and asked him about the sorceress Niama and Pearl's necklace, and the only response they received did not make any sense.
"It was my mother's?" the Queen repeated.
"Yes. And it was Pearl's mother's." Pearl's mouth dropped open and her hand went back to the pendant and clutched it.
"How is that possible?" Kama asked.
"Your mothers met once, long ago. They were the same age then-- nine or ten, I believe. And they both just happened to find the same passage between Dybera and the Kingdom at exactly the same time. Your mother, my Queen, gave Pearl's mother her necklace, to remember her by. They never met again."
"And the Niama she speaks of," Kama continued, "is she-- or is she related to-- Niama the sorceress?"
"They are one and the same. People crossing over the borders happens more than you might think, Your Highness, and it is becoming more and more frequent. Niama knew some of the old magic-- she would have been trained in the Temple. But when she was twelve years old she crossed into Dybera by accident. She remained for a few years before she could find her way back, but then she discovered that many, many years had passed in the Kingdom. She was then too old to be sent to the Temple, but she and a knight named Sir Corbin married."
Pearl was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "Lord Talwyr, you knew my mother?"
"Yes, I did. She lived near the borders her whole life. More than once she went back to that place, where she met Maia, Queen Silvara's mother. But because of the way time still ran differently between the two places, they would never come together again. I wish that she had told me what she was doing, what she was waiting for all those years. Perhaps I could have stopped her... but what's done is done."
"Then why did Lady Niama have my necklace?" the girl asked.
"She didn't. I did. I was keeping it for you, until a time when it could be yours."
Pearl said, her voice little more than a whisper, "You knew I was in the Temple?"
Talwyr nodded. "Yes."
"You knew what they did to me there? You knew the whole time? And you never came and got me and took me away?" Her face contorted as she tried to keep from crying. Talwyr said nothing. "Did you put me in there?" Pearl demanded.
"I did," the wizard told her solemnly, but always with the intention of taking you out when the time was right."
Pearl only stared at him. Then she turned away and ran. She did not know or care where she ran, only that it was away from that room, away from Talwyr. Within a moment, he had changed from the kind old man who cared about her, one of the only people who had ever cared for her at all, to the person who had carelessly sent her to the Temple, not caring if she lived or died. She ran until suddenly there was a door in front of her, and she went through it and shut it behind her and leaned against it, unable to cry.
***
Kama was shaken, but not because of Pearl's reaction to Talwyr's words. The Queen did not know of the Temple, or what had made the little girl so upset. She was shaken because she had seen, with her own eyes, proof that the Kingdom existed. She had never quite believed that it didn't, and yet she had never fully believed that it did. Talwyr looked upset. She probably shouldn't bother him about it now. But she was Queen here, wasn't she? She could speak to whomever she wished whenever she wished.
"What is the Temple, Lord?"
"It is a place of worship," he answered, but she could tell this was not the whole truth.
"Did they hurt her there?"
The old wizard bowed his head. "I have been horribly unjust to her. But what else was I to do? If they had known who she was she would have been killed. There was no other way, I made sure there was no other way."
"Perhaps you should go after her, Lord."
"No," Talwyr said heavily. "It is best that I leave her alone for a little while."
"Is that best for her or best because you do not want to face her now?"
Talwyr did not answer.
***
Bhodi and Emryn had heard none of this. They waited back in their chambers for Pearl, Talwyr, and possibly Kama-- or at least, so Emryn hoped-- to return. They waited a long time. When Talwyr at last trod wearily back into the room, Bhodi was already asleep on the main room's cushioned couch. Emryn shot the wizard an inquiring look, which went unanswered. Nor did Talwyr utter a single word. He went into his room and shut the door behind him. Bhodi awakened at the sound.
"Are they back?" he asked.
"Talwyr is."
"Where's Pearl?"
"I don't know. Maybe she's still with Kama-- I mean, Queen Silvara."
"I hope she's not in trouble." Bhodi thought a moment. "I guess I'd better go find her." He began to clamber down off of the couch, but Emryn stopped him.
"No, not tonight. Go to bed. I'm sure she'll be back soon."
But she wasn't. In the morning, Bhodi looked for Pearl in her room, and did not find her. He asked everyone he came across whether they had seen her, but no one had. Talwyr at last revealed to him that she had run off the night before.
"Well, I'm going to go find her," Bhodi declared.
"Good." The wizard sounded worried. "Please let me know when you do."
"Can't you find her with your magic?"
"No. No, I do not believe she has left the Palace, and I cannot tell one room from another here. If I were to seek her out, I might see her, but it would be of no help in actually finding her. That, I'm afraid, will be up to you."
Bhodi set out, wandering the Palace in search of his friend. It was a little unfair, he thought to himself, that this supposedly powerful wizard was refusing to help him in any way. He was sure that he could help, if he really wanted to. Nobody seemed very sensitive to the fact that Pearl was his only friend.
When his parents had had jobs and lived on Dybera, he had been too small to have friends. Maybe there had been other babies belonging to his parents' friends who had come over to "play" occasionally, as if children who could hardly stand up could really play, much less bond over anything in particular. After that short span of time he'd been always on the move with his mom and dad, never in one place for very long. It seemed that every time he'd tried to make a friend, they'd moved away, jetted off on another "mission," as they called their "freelance mercenary endeavors." Bhodi's parents had been his only friends. And then, suddenly, they were gone.
So he'd gone off on his own, and some of the people he'd met-- the bounty hunters, the pirates, the smugglers, the hired muscle, the pilots, the mechanics-- he'd come to think of as his friends. Certainly some of them had developed a real fondness for him. They thought he was "cute," which Bhodi didn't have any objections to as long as it worked to his advantage. And they thought he was smart, too, for such a little kid. And they felt sorry for him. But none of them were ever around forever. And, besides, none of them were his own age. Pearl was. She was the first decent person his own age he'd met in a long time. Ever, maybe.
And so, if he had to, he was going to find her. Even if it took all day.
Fortunately, it didn't take all day. He was checking all of the rooms in a corridor near the "Queen's private wing," as he had heard some of the maids calling it. Apparently it was where Queen Silvara lived, and he worried that if Pearl was in there, it was going to be very tricky to get in and stay in long enough to do some serious looking. But at the end of the very last corridor, he opened a door and found her, asleep on the floor. He shook her awake.
"Hey, Pearl. Wake up."
She opened her eyes in sleepy confusion. "How did you find me?"
"I just kept looking. Why didn't you come back to bed last night?"
"I didn't want to."
Bhodi raised an quizzical eyebrow. "You'd rather sleep on the floor?"
"I guess so."
She clearly didn't want to talk about it. Bhodi, sitting down beside her, looked for a way to change the subject. "How did you sleep on this anyway?"
"I'm used to it. I don't usually sleep in beds, I sleep on floors."
"Oh." They sat in companionable silence for a few moments. Bhodi scrambled to think of something that could cheer her up. "Hey." He looked up, grinning. "Let's get out of here."
"What?" Pearl asked dully.
"Let's get out of here! Let's just leave! I think I know a way to bust us out of this Palace, and then I can show you everything, just like I promised. Come on!"
Pearl looked doubtful. "I don't know, Bhodi. It's probably dangerous out there."
"Of course it is," Bhodi rolled his eyes. "That's why it's fun! Now, hurry up!"
He jumped to his feet and held out his hand to her. After a second of indecision, she smiled up at him and took it, allowing him to pull her to her feet. Together, they ran off down the vast, silent marble corridors of the Dyberan Palace. They weren't laughing this time; they were bent on a very definite purpose. They were, Bhodi thought happily, on a mission.
Please do not copy or republish Erin's work without her express written permission. Thank you!
Belan slowly went made his way up the staircase to the Lady's room, as he had done so often since coming back from his mission with Talwyr. Most of the priests and priestesses in the Temple now shunned him, though a few gave him encouraging smiles. Even so, he did not feel safe out among them, and would feel even less so when Lord Maddeg finally returned. The king's death, as much as Belan grieved for it, almost came as a relief, since it meant that the high priest would stay away even a little longer. The Lady's company was pleasant and almost even welcoming.
And, though he did not want to admit it to himself, he was hoping to catch a glimpse of Fianna again.
But when Belan got to the Lady's chamber, he discovered that she was packing. Bags suitable to be carried on a horse were laid out, and the Lady herself was filling them with supplies for a journey.
"Where are you going, Lady?" he asked at once.
Celwyn scarcely looked up at him. "There will be a meeting of the high council," she said, "for the choosing of the new king. I must go."
"But surely Prince Emryn will now be king."
"One would think, but it is regrettably not so simple as that."
"But surely if Lord Maddeg is already there..."
Now the Lady straightened and looked at him. "I would not trust Lord Maddeg farther than I could throw him. He is a weasel of a man, and cruel in his small way, and wily and cunning, and I don't understand his motives or what he plans. Not at all. And don't let that information leave this, room, either."
Belan bowed his head meekly. "Yes, Lady Celwyn."
It was then that they were interrupted by the screams.
Celwyn immediately dropped everything and hurried to the door at the back of her chamber-- the one through which Fianna had come just the other day. Without thinking, Belan followed her.
Fianna was kneeling on the floor with her face in her hands, her hair knotted, screaming like an animal who was being beaten. Before her on the floor was an overturned bowl and a puddle of water, which was now beginning to soak her skirts. Belan could guess what had happened: she'd been scrying, and seen something that disturbed her. Something that disturbed her a very great deal.
While he stood in the doorway, uncomfortable and helpless, Celwyn went to the crying young woman and held her in her arms. Fianna did not fight the embrace; her sobs began to form words.
"They are gone!" she was wailing. "They are gone, all of them, to the land of the Gods!"
"Who are gone?" Celwyn prompted her gently.
"All of them! Lord Talwyr, the girl, the boy, I can't see them anymore! I can't see them!"
"There, there," Celwyn took this news with barely a blink. She stroked Fianna's hair.
"The prince is gone, too," she continued to sob, but less hysterically now. "They all went where I can't see them."
Celwyn remained perfectly calm, and even Fianna was quieting down, but Belan, in the doorway, found himself close to panic. "Does that mean," he asked, "that they're dead? All of them-- if she can't see them-- does that mean...?"
"No," Celwyn replied, but she did not tell him any more than that.
"But they tried to kill him," Fianna said quietly, and even Celwyn started at the sound. "They tried to kill the prince, but Lord Talwyr took him away."
"Who tried to kill the prince?" Celwyn asked urgently.
"Four men. Four soldiers. With swords and knives."
"Do you know who told them to kill him?"
Fianna shook her head, the tears still streaking down her cheeks. "No."
Celwyn looked up again at Belan, and in her eyes was a steely determination. "I will not be leaving to attend the high council," the high priestess said. "I will remain here. You and I have much work to do."
***
Emryn, Pearl, and Bhodi stared as the wizard's voice rang into silence. The tale he had just told was almost too fantastic to believe. Yet, at the same time, it was too fantastic not to believe. And all the evidence was right before their eyes.
At last it was Pearl who spoke. "What are we going to do?" she asked.
"I wish I knew," sighed Talwyr. "I have been trying to discover the answer to this riddle, the proper solution, for most of my life now. So far nothing has been right, nothing has been enough."
"Well..." Bhodi frowned in concentration. "Can't you just put those borders up again?"
"Yes!" Emryn exclaimed. "You must! At once! Everything must be the way it was before!"
But Talwyr shook his head. "I wish it were that simple. But I have not the power alone to resurrect the borders, that magic is beyond any one man. And there are too few now who have the kind of power that would allow it to be possible. There are some few-- more in the Kingdom than in Dybera, of course. But too few of them believe me, and the ones who do say that they would not regret it if the two worlds became one. Those in the Kingdom might like to give Dyberan technology a try, which is innocent enough. Those in Dybera would like to crush the 'simple folk' of the Kingdom and use the valuable resources available there which have run out everywhere else, effectively turning the place into a wasteland."
"They can't do that," Bhodi said. "Isn't there anybody on your side?"
"Oh, yes. Queen Silvara of Dybera does believe me, and does not wish for the reported beauty of the Kingdom-- for she has never been there herself-- to be so exploited."
"If the Queen wants to help us, then," Pearl asked, "what's the problem?"
"The Queen's hands are tied, it seems. She came to the throne very young, and power-hungry bureaucrats have taken advantage of that. She fights them now at every turn, but under the planet's constitution they have enough power to hold her immobile while injustices are done." Then, offhand, "We will meet her shortly."
Bhodi and Pearl stared. Meet the Queen?
But Emryn's mouth drew into a thin, hard line. "I see. So this is a diplomatic visit."
"It would be polite for you to speak with her, if that is what you mean," Talwyr answered.
"I won't do it. I have no desire to meet this Queen. And I will not speak to her about my Kingdom."
"I was thinking more along the lines of appealing to her for protection and shelter. You may find returning to you Palace now would be difficult."
Emryn glared at him. "I will not beg. I am a prince, nearly a king in my own right."
"Suit yourself." The wizard shrugged. "Stand alone against the den of assassins and traitors at your court. Stand alone against the Dyberan armies who, during your rule, will inevitably come to stamp you out. You will be king, it is your decision."
Emryn glared again.
Twenty minutes later they were on their way to meet the Queen.
***
Pearl had thought the great hall of the Palace was grand. It was nothing to this.
Everything was a shining white, not like the rough gray of the Palace's stones. Huge windows overlooked the vast blue sea, and though them light positively flooded in. Pearl thought briefly that she would hate to be the one who had to clean all of this-- it was so clean, there was no dust anywhere. It was like the robes of the Wise Ones.
Yet there was a similarity, she could see, to the Palace of the Kingdom. The arched doorways, the turrets... it was like what the architect of the Kingdom's Palace must have envisioned in his dreams-- his very wildest, grandest dreams.
And at the presiding over all of it, on a raised gilt throne, adorned in the finest silks and jewels, was Queen Silvara.
No, Pearl couldn't help thinking, Talwyr is wrong. This is the land of the Gods. And she is a Goddess.
Talwyr led the small band to the front of the room, and knelt before the Queen. Pearl, Bhodi, and Emryn followed suit. There were others-- mostly old men, the councilors probably-- lining the hall, also kneeling.
"Rise, Lord Talwyr," the Queen intoned. Talwyr did, and brought Prince Emryn up with him. "What brings you here before me today, Lord?"
Pearl and Bhodi, awed and feeling very out of place, remained on their knees, scarcely daring to look up in the direction of the throne. What in the world, they both were wondering, are we doing here, exactly where we don't belong?
"Your Highness, I bring with me today people of my own country. One of these two children, the boy, is of your own people, and wandered through our borders by accident. It was this girl who found him. And this," here Talwyr gestured to Emryn, "is Emryn, crown prince of the Kingdom, the place which you call the Lost Lands."
The councilors exchanged dark glances and muttered among themselves. Queen Silvara took on an expression of mild surprise and Emryn's title, but otherwise showed no reaction to the news. Talwyr had said that she was one of the few who believed his claims. Pearl wondered if perhaps these others here did not. And if that was the case, they must think Talwyr to be absolutely crazy.
Emryn approached the throne, drawing himself up with all the majesty of the generations of rulers of the Kingdom, the dignity bestowed upon him by his mother and father and all his lineage. Before Pearl had only seen him as Emryn, who did not seem prince-like at all. This new attitude of nobility suited him. It made him seem older, somehow, and even stronger.
"Queen Silvara," he said, "I thank you for granting us this audience so quickly. It is high time, I am given to understand," here he glanced back at Lord Talwyr, "that we met. You are Queen here, and I am..." He hesitated, no doubt replaying the events of the past day in his mind and maybe recalling also his expressed feelings on the matter. "I am to be King of my people. Soon. My mother has recently departed this life, and only yesterday my father also died."
The Queen bowed her head a little in acknowledgement of this news. "I am sorry, Prince. This is a heavy loss to bear."
"There is reason to believe that my father, at least, was murdered. Only today, during a meeting of my councilors, an attempt was made on my own life. We fled here." He met the Queen's gaze coldly. "The sole reason we have ventured into your realm is for shelter and succor until such a time as we may return. Save the boy." He indicated Bhodi. "He may, of course, stay. Beyond this time, I hope to have no further dealings with you or your people. I see no reason for any such contact as this, or indeed any contact at all, in the future. Am I understood, your Majesty?"
The councilors were silent. Wherever the crazy old man had gotten this boy, he was trained well, and seemed serious enough. And impertinent and offensive-- no doubt the sort who should be dealt with before he could be a harm to himself or others. Or the Queen. It was of the utmost importance that nobody harm the Queen, for the people would follow her where they would follow no one else. She had a way with them.
Emryn stared at the Queen. The Queen stared at Emryn. There was ice in their looks, nearly open hostility. It made Pearl's blood run cold, the unbroken glare between them; the Queen of course, had reason to dislike Emryn now. He had been unimaginably rude, thrusting aside all protocol. Even little Pearl, the child of the Temple, could see that. She could not imagine what had made him do it. And it made her afraid, because she was also of the Kingdom, and if the Queen chose to punish Emryn for his impudence, she might do the same with Pearl. The girl had gone so many days without being beaten; she almost couldn't bear the thought of being again the loathsome child she had been before.
For an interminable moment the Queen and the prince held the glare without blinking, like some sort of contest was going on between them. Silvara, silent, met his glare with one she knew to be equally disconcerting, and tried to sum this newcomer up. She met with little success.
At last, she spoke, though her gaze did not move from his face. "I understand what you say, Prince Emryn. You speak very clearly. What would have been perhaps a better question for you to ask is, 'Are we agreed on this matter?' As of this time, Prince, we are not." The Prince now looked disconcerted, as if at last realizing the mess he may have gotten himself into. The Queen paused just long enough to see this, and then continued. "Since Lord Talwyr asks so kindly for you and your company to take refuge here, I will not refuse him."
One of the men lining the hall near the throne looked up sharply, "My Queen, I must advise--"
Silvara waved him silent. "You must advise as you always do in these matters, councilor, and I must as always refuse to listen. I am adamant. These people will stay here as long as I wish them to--"
"But, Your Highness--" the man tried to interrupt, but the Queen went on without pausing.
"And they will stay here in safety, is that understood? If I hear that it is otherwise..." Her cold gaze swept the hall. "There will be consequences, gentlemen." The man, scowling, resumed his reverential position. "Lord Talwyr, Prince Emryn, I am sure we have much to discuss further. I will come to you chambers that we may do it privately. At that time, Prince, we will discuss the relationship between our realms and you may hear my opinion on the matter. But whatever we decide, Prince," her voice lowered, "we will decide it as equals, for so we are. And you will keep in mind, Emryn, that you are now in my land." She glanced once at Bhodi and Pearl, then looked back to Lord Talwyr. "Thank you, Lord. You are dismissed."
Talwyr bowed low, and Emryn reluctantly did the same. Pearl and Bhodi followed them from the hall, craning their necks as they went to get one more view of the place's royal splendor. The door shut behind them with a resounding boom.
"Well?" the Queen asked in the silence that followed.
The councilor who had spoken during the audience, and another kneeling across from him, raised their heads.
"Your Majesty, they may be dangerous," the second one said. "We all know Talwyr is mad, but now he's got other people in on the delusion. And this young man seems serious about it."
"He could be a threat to society," the first agreed. "We cannot allow him to stay here."
"We can and will," the Queen corrected him. "He interests me. I do not believe him mad."
"You insist that you do not believe Lord Talwyr mad, either, My Queen, and yet he speaks of magical kingdoms as though they are real and professes to travel to them and perform magic."
"Yes." The Queen said simply.
"Well..." the second man struggled for words. "Well, why will you insist on believing him? You have never seen this supposed place, Your Majesty. It does not exist!"
"You will not believe it exists until I show it to you," she sighed, "and I will not believe it does not exist until you can prove that it does not. We are at an impasse, gentlemen."
The first man spoke again. "Why do you believe him, Majesty? It is all such madness."
"Because my mother believed him," she answered quietly. "And my mother did not tell lies. Not to me."
That silenced them on the matter.
After a moment, a third finally said, "Yes, but still, this boy, Your Majesty. He could be dangerous."
"No, I do not think so. I find him interesting."
"Whatever for?" the first man asked. "He is arrogant, impudent, unmannered-- the way he spoke to you! He should be punished--"
"That will not be necessary, councilor," the Queen interrupted smoothly. "He is arrogant, yes, and impudent and unmannered, and... I find him interesting. Even if he is not who he claims to be, I wish to know him better, I think. I will speak with him."
"Yes, Your Highness."
With no further objections raised, Queen Silvara dismissed her court and prepared to meet the boy who interested her so. The councilors let her go. So long as she was occupied with these matters of little consequence, these flights of fancy, they could occupy themselves with the real problems of the planetary government.
All they required from the Queen was that she remain alive. For appearance's sake.
***
When Lord Maddeg returned to the Temple, Lady Celwyn was waiting for him. She was not secluded in her tower, as she usually was, but down in the courtyard, her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently, and waiting. The high priest regarded her with some surprise. But he dismounted and made her the proper obeisance all the same. She was the high priestess after all, and appearances must be maintained. It was best that as few people in the Temple as possible knew that the high priest and priestess were about to have a terrible fight.
"Lady Celwyn," he greeted her. "I am surprised you did not join us at the meeting of the High Council."
"Are you?" the Lady replied. Her expression was inscrutable. "But Lord Maddeg, why should I have come when there was nothing to be done or decided. After all, the Prince was not there."
Maddeg smiled, but in a manner which gave the impression of one unaccustomed to the action. It looked like a grimace, going no deeper than the teeth, possibly painful. "Ah, so you have heard. Your messengers are swift."
"Swifter than you know." It was a barely-veiled threat.
"As you say." Maddeg let it go. "It was an unfortunate happening. Traumatic."
"Yes, you are fortunate to have escaped with you life, Lord."
"But no concern need be spared for me. The young prince is still missing. I fear he may have been taken, kidnapped."
"It is just," Lady Celwyn stated plainly, "as the prophecy foretold, is it not?"
"Yes, even so. I am afraid the wrath of the Gods is upon us. And if so, the prince is dead already. What did your girl foretell would follow? Dragons breathing fire from the sky?"
The formalities were over. They had left the courtyard and were now in the secluded chamber of the high priest. Celwyn removed her veil.
"And if that is to come," she said, "who will protect us, now that the child of the Gods has left us, through your own fault?"
Maddeg's face darkened. He looked truly terrible now, as he had looked when he'd been beating Pearl before the crowd on the night of the Speaking. "Tell me that you knew nothing of it, Lady. Tell me that Talwyr never told you who the child was. Tell me that you did not conspire in hiding her from me." He did not raise his voice; Lord Maddeg's cold steel voice was far worse than shouting. "Tell me all of this, Lady Celwyn. I am gracious. You will be lying, but I will believe you. And as the Gods forgive, so I will forgive you."
"You have not the power of the Gods." Her body trembled, but her voice did not. "The Gods have left you. You do not believe in any God but yourself. No one but my Gods can forgive me for what I have done, and the only crime I have committed, Maddeg, is in letting her come here, hidden under your nose and abused by you and those like you. I will not tell you I knew nothing. I knew everything. I knew it all! I was the first to know, aside from Talwyr and the girl's mother. Oh, yes. It's true. And I helped to hide her from you."
"So." Maddeg's eyes flashed. "Now she is beyond my grip-- and beyond yours, too. Because of you she is food for the wild dogs."
"You think so." And Celwyn smiled, her secret smile which Maddeg hated so much.
"What do you know?" He leaned close to her. "How swift are your messengers, Lady?"
"You are a low, insect-like creature, Maddeg. You have climbed very high, for one of your smallness of mind. But as the slightest breath of the Goddess can blow the insect from the highest place, so one word from me could bring you lower than you ever began."
He sat back. "So we have come to this," he said thoughtfully. "You will tell them."
"And the words of the people will eat you alive, yes. If I choose to, I could do this."
"This is a game? How very holy. What will you ask of me, I wonder."
"I will ask nothing," Celwyn told him. "I am only letting you know that there are reasons to keep me here. My influence is too great for you to even try to discredit me. If it is to be a battle of words, I will always win, for it was not I who drove away the child of the Gods."
Maddeg nodded. "Very well, Lady."
Lady Celwyn left him there, deep in thought.
***
Queen Silvara came to the suite shared by Emryn, Talwyr, Bhodi, and Pearl early in the afternoon of the day following their first audience. She was not dressed, this time, in all of her Queenly finery. She'd decided that she would get more done without it. The royal regalia was ceremonial in its purpose, and that purpose, in her opinion, had been served. What she wore now, a plain blue dress-- embroidered only lightly, and not silken-- was much more practical. Just as her dark hair, for the sake of practicality, was swept up out of her face, but not ornamented or topped with a fabulous headdress. This was a meeting for the purpose of doing business, not for impressing the newcomers.
When Emryn opened the door, he didn't recognize her. She realized this with some surprise. At first she took his nonchalance, his air of boredom, to be just another way of being impudent with her and showing disrespect. But then she noticed the way in which he did not address her at all, did not seem in the least combative, or even interested.
No, she thought, trying not to blush. There was some interest; as he let her in he gave her an appraising look, taking in the fine structure of her face and body. She could tell by his faint smile that he found her attractive. The idea brought her a twinge of pleasure, which she repressed as soon as she knew what it was. The boy was insolent-- she wanted to study him, converse diplomatically with him, not flirt with him! The very notion was unthinkable. She was the Queen. He was the prince of a neighboring kingdom-- a place that only half existed, true, but a place. That he was nearly king of. And she was Dybera's Queen.
And she had best remind Prince Emryn of that fact.
Using her best Queen voice, she said, "Prince Emryn, have you really so little regard for me as that?"
The prince spun around, looking at her again, and made to bow, his face very red. Far different, this boy, from the one who had stood so proud before her in the great hall. She could almost not believe them to be one and the same person.
"Come, Prince, no need to bow to one another here. We are, after all, equals."
He straightened, making a superb effort to compose himself. Queen Silvara was more fascinated with this strange prince now than ever. She so rarely got to be with people her own age-- he was as mystifying to her as the Kingdom from which he supposedly came.
As for Prince Emryn...
He recognized her now. He could see that she had the same dark, curly hair and clear, level gaze as the Queen he'd confronted before, but it was not so imposing now. There was a light in her eyes which could almost be mistaken for the glint of natural mischief, if she hadn't been a Queen. And she looked more queenly now, he thought, than she had on her throne in her elaborate ensemble. Then she had looked like a little child dressing up in her mother's clothes and jewelry-- they were too big for her, dwarfed her features, emphasized her smallness. Now one could see how straight she stood, the set to her jaw; she was every inch a queen. And she must be close to his own age. He wanted to ask her, but now that he came to think about it he wasn't sure how. How did one address a Queen? A Queen who was not one's mother, that is? He became aware that the silence was going on too long.
"I'll go get Lord Talwyr," he said.
"Very well."
Talwyr wasted very little time in bringing Queen Silvara up to speed on all that had happened in the Kingdom, taking particular time on Bhodi's ship crash in the middle of the forest. She listened with patience, but when he was finished she was quick to speak her mind.
"I don't know what you would have me do, Lord Talwyr. And I believe I have already exceeded my expectations in accommodating the needs of a place I don't even know exists! I need proof, Lord, I need to see it. My mother saw it, why can't I?"
"You will see it," Talwyr assured her. "But the time is not yet. When it is right, Your Highness, you will come to the Kingdom. This I can promise you."
"If you are not sure my Kingdom exists," Emryn interrupted angrily, "then why insist on continued contact between us? Why keep us here at all, why not turn us out? I cannot speak for Lord Talwyr, but as for me, you would never hear from me or see my face again."
"Why?" Silvara raised an eyebrow. "Just in case, Prince Emryn."
As though Emryn had not spoken, Talwyr continued, lowering his voice, "I do not trust your councilors, Majesty."
"No, nor do I. But what am I to do? They are with me always. I did not choose them; I cannot get rid of them."
"Of course you can!" Emryn exclaimed. "You're the Queen!"
Again she looked at him as one would look at a child. "It is clear that you are not a king yet, Prince Emryn. Otherwise you would know the nature of a ruler's duty to the people."
"I was raised in a royal house. I know all about it."
"But you do not know about my government, Prince. If everything Lord Talwyr says is true, you have no idea what threats are posed by a galactic government. You have no idea. Dybera is a fairly insignificant planet, Prince Emryn, and the Kingdom is an insignificant part of that. I need all the allies I can get, that is why you remain here. I need my planet united, that is why you remain here. But you are in no position to remain here giving advise to me. Now, gentlemen, if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to."
Before Emryn could formulate a retort she had swept from the room.
***
Bhodi had spent most of the day showing Pearl how to use the holoviewer. It was a fascinating device, and Pearl was still sure that it worked by magic, since Bhodi couldn't explain otherwise, at least not using words she could understand. It showed pictures of all different places Pearl had never seen before or dreamed existed, and the pictures moved. There were a lot of pictures of the flying dragon ships Bhodi called ships, it seemed, and those interested her little after an hour. Bhodi, apparently, could have looked at them forever. Other pictures showed people talking about many things Pearl didn't understand, and others showed people doing things she didn't understand. Some were speaking languages she didn't understand and others looked like nothing she had seen in the Kingdom. After a very short time, she began to get a headache and told Bhodi to shut it off.
They went outside, then, and tried to think of something to do. But the garden was very small, and the walls very close to the Palace. Pearl didn't think she liked Dybera very much. If it was the land of the Gods, a notion she was slowly coming to terms with, then it was not very impressive.
"But what do you do?"
"I don't know. Walk around, mostly," Bhodi answered. "The cities are really great. They have some nice cities here."
"Before a few days ago, I'd never been to a city before." She idly twirled the necklace she'd been given at Corbin and Niama's house. She hoped Corbin was all right; he'd been in that fight back at the Kingdom's Palace.
"Hey, I said I'd show you everything, didn't I?" Bhodi grinned the mischievous grin that Pearl liked so much. "Well, I can now. As soon as we get out of this place, anyway."
"Don't you like it here?"
"Oh, it's great and everything. But it's a little too fancy for my taste. Don't worry. You'll see." He ran ahead of her, around the corner, and she laughingly gave chase.
When Pearl caught up, Bhodi was climbing a tree which grew near the bleached-white Palace wall. It wasn't very big, and didn't look as though it ought to hold him, at least not for long.
"Careful!" the girl shrieked.
Bhodi looked down. "Come on up," he replied.
So she did. She had climbed the one tree on the Temple's hill a few times, hadn't she? And this was very much the same. The trick was not to think about how far there was to fall. Applying this rule, and with a little help from Bhodi, she was at the top before she knew it. Bhodi took a step off of a branch and was suddenly sitting on the Palace wall itself. Unafraid, Pearl followed suit.
And then she was afraid, because she was looking down on more buildings than she had ever seen in one place, and the only things scarier than these were the building she had to look up at. She was thinking about how high she was. She did not like it at all.
"We're very high," Pearl whimpered, clutching Emryn's arm.
"Yeah, isn't it great?"
Don't think about how high you are, don't think about how high you are...
And once she stopped thinking about it, it really was great. It was beautiful, the way everything gleamed in the light of the setting sun. The small dragon-ships flying by gave the whole place an air of hurry and excitement, like a festival.
"It's so pretty. Is it like this here all the time?"
"Every day at sunset," Bhodi answered.
She didn't think he understood what she meant, but it didn't matter. There were no borders hemming everything in, and the sight of the endless land and the distant horizon at once frightened and thrilled her. People could be just like the birds here-- they could fly and there were no borders to keep them back. They could go absolutely anywhere, anywhere at all. They might fall off the very edge of the world, but if what Bhodi and Talwyr said was true there were even more worlds, out among the stars.
"Are all worlds as pretty as this one?" she asked dreamily.
"No, I don't think so," Bhodi answered. "No. Some of them are really ugly, and some of them people can't live on at all. Dybera's a pretty one. I like it a lot and, besides, it's kind of my homeworld."
Pearl wasn't surprised at Bhodi's words. She couldn't imagine any place being prettier than this. It was her first real sight of Dybera, and now she thought that she might, after all, love it.
***
At the same time as Pearl and Bhodi were sitting side by side on the Palace wall together and watching the sun set over Dybera, Prince Emryn was being treated to a similar view. At another wall, one which fenced this Palace's small garden, the young prince had at last succeeded in climbing a trellis and was gazing out at a city which stretched farther than the eye could see. He had never imagined a place could be so big. The Queen, he began to think, was right. The Kingdom was nothing to this. He felt ashamed to think such thoughts of the only home his family had known, the place they had ruled for generations. The place he was supposed to rule, when the time came. Could Dybera really be as insignificant as the Queen had said?
Suddenly a familiar, female voice called from below: "Hello, Prince."
Emryn started and let go of the wall, falling back onto the ground many feet below. When he opened his eyes, Queen Silvara's face was inches away from his, and she was looking at him anxiously. "Are you all right? I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to fall."
"Yes, no, that's all right, I'm fine," he babbled, sitting up. He felt as though his head might fall off, but there was no reason to let the child Queen of Dybera know that.
"Are you sure?" She was kneeling beside him in the grass, and really did look concerned. Maybe she was human, after all.
"Yes," he muttered, rubbing his head. "I'll be all right."
"Good." She sat back. "I didn't mean to startle you, but, well... I didn't expect you to be in my garden."
"Oh, is this your garden? I didn't know."
"Yes, it's sort of a tradition here, I guess. The Queen's Garden. It's the only place I can be alone."
He recognized the sadness in her tone. It was his own sadness at the certain knowledge that he would probably never in his life have a truly private moment-- that everything he did was public, and he would never escape it, never ever be alone. He wanted to tell her all this, wanted to tell her how much he understood. Instead, he said, "Yeah."
She smiled a little. He hadn't seen her really smile before. She had a nice smile. Or maybe that was just the head wound talking. "How old are you, anyway?" she asked.
"I'm sixteen."
"Really? I'm fifteen."
He nodded. He'd thought she looked about his age. "How long have you been Queen?" he heard himself asking.
"Four years."
Emryn stared at her. "You mean you've been Queen since you were--"
"Since I was eleven, yes," she finished for him. "My father died when I was a baby, and my mother when I was eleven; she was Queen by birth, I was her only child. She had no brothers or sisters, no family at all except for me."
"That's horrible," he couldn't help saying, in a hollow tone.
"We've both lost our parents, Prince."
"No, not that, that you had to be Queen so young. We are young still, and look at us! I don't want to be a king at all!"
"You don't?"
"No. Did you honestly want at eleven years old to be a Queen?"
"I don't know," she said quietly. "I can't say I ever really thought about it. Of course there have been times, since my coronation, I will admit, when I wished to be something else."
"Like what?" He was feeling more familiar with her now.
"Anything."
Emryn was surprised to find himself laughing.
"But I must say," she continued, "for someone who does not want to be king at all you seem to take the business very seriously."
"Oh." Emryn blushed to think of his earlier behavior in the great hall. "I am sorry about that. It is only... I felt as though my parents were watching, and my grandparents, going all the way back... Really, I believe you simply made me nervous."
"I did? Was it that ridiculous outfit?"
"No. That made you look rather silly."
"I've always thought so. There," Silvara smiled. "Now we're friends. No more open hostility, please?"
"All right," he agreed. "But that doesn't mean I'll agree with you in political matters."
"That's fair."
"And I suppose," he was smiling now, "you'll have to just call me Emryn."
"All right. What does that mean, by the way? Emryn."
"'Immortal one,' I think."
"Mm. Silvara means 'Star of peace,' roughly."
"Do you have a name that isn't so... royal?"
She laughed again. He liked it when she laughed. "Yes. My first name is Kama."
"And may I call you Kama?"
"You may."
***
The next step, Celwyn knew, was to send for Corbin and Niama. She had the priests to do this; no need to arouse any suspicion by it. The problem would arise only when the couple came to the Temple. How would she explain them to Lord Maddeg?
But it didn't matter. She would find a way. She always had before.
She would have to find them for herself. Fianna was good at this sort of thing, of course, much better than Celwyn herself had ever been, even in her prime. But the girl had no focus, she could not be told to find something or someone and then look for it. Her mind wandered and drifted; she saw what the Gods willed her to see, no more and no less. That was Fianna's blessing and her curse.
And so Lady Celwyn stared into her silver mirror. After a time, images began to move within it. Niama bandaging a wound on Corbin's leg-- good, he was not seriously wounded in the struggle, then. She had not really feared for him; Corbin was a skilled fighter. It seemed that they were back in their manor in the woods. That was fortunate, for the two priests had already been there and knew where it was.
She sent for them immediately. They came together, Belan fresh-faced and eager-- the boy had the soul of a poet-- and Herel looking as though he had just been dragged from sleep. Lady Celwyn had not seen Herel since their return from the forest, but that did not concern her. He was bound to do her bidding as high priestess, and it was as high priestess that she was sending them on this errand. Herel, much as he might like to, could not refuse. And Celwyn suspected that he would not turn back now, anyway. Not when push came to shove.
"I have called upon you both once again to go forth in my service," she informed the priests.
"Yes, Lady." Belan bowed. "As you command it, so let it be." Celwyn thought she heard Herel groan.
"You are to go forth," she said, "into the forest and call upon Sir Corbin and Lady Niama. You are to bring them back here, to me. They will arrive under cover of darkness and be brought directly to my chamber. Do you understand what I have said to you?"
Belan bowed again. "Yes, Lady Celwyn."
But Herel shook his head. "Hold on a minute. You want us to bring them here?"
"Yes. Was this unclear?"
"No, only..." He wanted to ask why. It was clear to everyone in the room. Yet this he could not do, for it was forbidden to question the will of the high priestess. "Only they have a little baby. I don't think they'll leave her. How are we to make such a journey with a little baby?"
"I am confident in your abilities. I am sure that together you shall manage it."
"Yes, but..." Herel hesitated. "Will it be a problem... that little baby... bringing it in under cover of darkness? Say, for instance, if it should... cry?"
And now he's asking if he's being instructed to do something that I don't want seen or known, Celwyn thought. Something secret, something forbidden, a cloak-and-dagger affair.
It was exactly that, and for that very reason she had no intention of letting him know.
"Oh, that will not matter, I'm sure. Leave it to Corbin and Niama. They are, after all, the child's parents."
At last, reluctantly, Herel bowed. "Yes, Lady."
"Move as swiftly as you can. There is some urgency in the matter."
***
After sunset, Pearl and Bhodi found Emryn in the twilit garden, talking with Queen Silvara. It was slightly disconcerting. The children hid behind the bushes, trying to hear what the two could possibly be saying to each other.
"Maybe they're going to fight," Bhodi whispered.
"No, Queens and Kings don't fight. They make other people fight for them," Pearl replied.
"Okay, then, what do you think they're talking about?"
"I don't know. Maybe they're saying that they're going to have a war. A war between Dybera and the Kingdom." She shuddered. "That would be awful."
What Emryn was saying was, "I think that we are being watched."
The Queen raised an eyebrow. "By my guards?"
"No. By mine." He gestured to the bush, where Kama Silvara could now see two small figures ducking out of sight.
"Ah. I see." She raised her voice. "Come out, both of you. You needn't be afraid."
The two children stepped out meekly.
"Are you going to start a war?" Bhodi asked.
Emryn laughed. "No. We're not going to start a war."
They came closer.
"Hi. I'm Bhodi. This is Pearl." They bowed.
"Pleased to meet you both. And you don't need to bow right now. We're not at court." Emryn noticed a strange expression suddenly pass across Kama's face. "Pearl... where did you get that?"
"What?" the little girl asked.
"That necklace. The one you're wearing."
"Oh." Pearl looked down and clutched the small pendant self-consciously. "I got it at Corbin and Niama's manor. They gave it to me. Do you like it? I think it's pretty."
Kama frowned. "It is. Very pretty. You say you got it from Niama?" The name seemed to have some significance to her. "Niama the sorceress?"
"She's not a sorceress," Pearl corrected her. "She's a knight's lady, Your Highness, and she lives in the forest in the Kingdom."
"There was a woman here once, some years ago," Kama said thoughtfully. "Her name was Niama, which in our language means 'I never love,' and they said she could do magic. Then she disappeared. No one could ever find her again. I never met the woman, but I wonder..."
"But she's not even one of the Wise Ones!" Pearl exclaimed. "She was never in the Temple at all! I never saw her do magic, and if she could she would have been with us in the Temple... Your Highness, I mean. I'm so sorry, Your Highness." And Pearl cringed at her own boldness in speaking so to a Queen.
"No, it is all right, child. Do not be afraid of me," Kama soothed her. "Probably we are thinking of a different person." But she still seemed uncertain. "I want to know more about your necklace. Do you know what this symbol on it means?"
"No." Pearl looked at the flower-like design. "I don't think I've ever seen it before."
"Me neither," Bhodi added.
"I have," Kama said. "It is my family's symbol-- our royal insignia. I have one like it myself." She looked thoughtful. "Are you sure of where you came by it, Pearl?"
Pearl's eyes had already filled with fear. "I didn't steal it! I didn't, I promise I didn't! Oh, please believe me, Your Majesty, I didn't take it from you!" The girl, near tears, knelt down before the young Queen. But Kama Silvara shook her head emphatically and raised the child back up.
"No, no, Pearl, I am not accusing you. Believe me, I am not. I think, though, that there may be something in this... something I do not yet know, and that you may not know, either. But if any person living does know, it is Lord Talwyr. Come." She stood. "I would speak with Lord Talwyr about this at once."
Taking Pearl by the hand, Bhodi and Emryn following, Kama Silvara strode back into the Dyberan Palace.
***
"I will not question the orders of the high priestess," Belan said with a sigh for what seemed like the fortieth time since they had left the Temple that night.
"Oh, why not? She's not even here." Herel retorted. "You know what your problem is? You have a problem with heroine-worship. You look at all great women as goddesses. You did it with the Queen, and now the high priestess and, unless I am mistaken, that pretty young prophetess, too."
Belan blushed. "Hold your tongue. That's blasphemy, you know, what you just said."
"Come, man. You can't say you don't think it's a little bit odd, what we're being asked to do. Leave in the middle of the night, fetch a knight and lady of no great consequence, bring them back by night, and no word said to the high priest Maddeg?"
"You don't know that Maddeg doesn't know about it."
"No, but I'm willing to put down money which says he doesn't. I mean, I would if I wasn't a priest." Herel sighed.
Belan chose to ignore that last remark. "Are you saying that you approve of everything Lord Maddeg is doing?"
"I said nothing of the kind, and you know it. Stop trying to trick me with words. The only reason I'm doing this at all is that I don't like the way he treated that girl."
Belan was somewhat impressed by this. It was the first indication Herel had ever given of truly having any sort of moral conscience. "I don't trust Lord Maddeg," he said.
"Now, that's blasphemy, I think. You're making something out of nothing. Of course, I don't blame you if your loyalties lie with the high priestess. She's the one who wouldn't have you killed as soon as look at you."
Belan sighed again. It was going to be a long journey to Sir Corbin's manor.
***
"It was your mother's," Talwyr said simply. Kama stared at him, and so did Pearl. They had found Lord Talwyr and asked him about the sorceress Niama and Pearl's necklace, and the only response they received did not make any sense.
"It was my mother's?" the Queen repeated.
"Yes. And it was Pearl's mother's." Pearl's mouth dropped open and her hand went back to the pendant and clutched it.
"How is that possible?" Kama asked.
"Your mothers met once, long ago. They were the same age then-- nine or ten, I believe. And they both just happened to find the same passage between Dybera and the Kingdom at exactly the same time. Your mother, my Queen, gave Pearl's mother her necklace, to remember her by. They never met again."
"And the Niama she speaks of," Kama continued, "is she-- or is she related to-- Niama the sorceress?"
"They are one and the same. People crossing over the borders happens more than you might think, Your Highness, and it is becoming more and more frequent. Niama knew some of the old magic-- she would have been trained in the Temple. But when she was twelve years old she crossed into Dybera by accident. She remained for a few years before she could find her way back, but then she discovered that many, many years had passed in the Kingdom. She was then too old to be sent to the Temple, but she and a knight named Sir Corbin married."
Pearl was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "Lord Talwyr, you knew my mother?"
"Yes, I did. She lived near the borders her whole life. More than once she went back to that place, where she met Maia, Queen Silvara's mother. But because of the way time still ran differently between the two places, they would never come together again. I wish that she had told me what she was doing, what she was waiting for all those years. Perhaps I could have stopped her... but what's done is done."
"Then why did Lady Niama have my necklace?" the girl asked.
"She didn't. I did. I was keeping it for you, until a time when it could be yours."
Pearl said, her voice little more than a whisper, "You knew I was in the Temple?"
Talwyr nodded. "Yes."
"You knew what they did to me there? You knew the whole time? And you never came and got me and took me away?" Her face contorted as she tried to keep from crying. Talwyr said nothing. "Did you put me in there?" Pearl demanded.
"I did," the wizard told her solemnly, but always with the intention of taking you out when the time was right."
Pearl only stared at him. Then she turned away and ran. She did not know or care where she ran, only that it was away from that room, away from Talwyr. Within a moment, he had changed from the kind old man who cared about her, one of the only people who had ever cared for her at all, to the person who had carelessly sent her to the Temple, not caring if she lived or died. She ran until suddenly there was a door in front of her, and she went through it and shut it behind her and leaned against it, unable to cry.
***
Kama was shaken, but not because of Pearl's reaction to Talwyr's words. The Queen did not know of the Temple, or what had made the little girl so upset. She was shaken because she had seen, with her own eyes, proof that the Kingdom existed. She had never quite believed that it didn't, and yet she had never fully believed that it did. Talwyr looked upset. She probably shouldn't bother him about it now. But she was Queen here, wasn't she? She could speak to whomever she wished whenever she wished.
"What is the Temple, Lord?"
"It is a place of worship," he answered, but she could tell this was not the whole truth.
"Did they hurt her there?"
The old wizard bowed his head. "I have been horribly unjust to her. But what else was I to do? If they had known who she was she would have been killed. There was no other way, I made sure there was no other way."
"Perhaps you should go after her, Lord."
"No," Talwyr said heavily. "It is best that I leave her alone for a little while."
"Is that best for her or best because you do not want to face her now?"
Talwyr did not answer.
***
Bhodi and Emryn had heard none of this. They waited back in their chambers for Pearl, Talwyr, and possibly Kama-- or at least, so Emryn hoped-- to return. They waited a long time. When Talwyr at last trod wearily back into the room, Bhodi was already asleep on the main room's cushioned couch. Emryn shot the wizard an inquiring look, which went unanswered. Nor did Talwyr utter a single word. He went into his room and shut the door behind him. Bhodi awakened at the sound.
"Are they back?" he asked.
"Talwyr is."
"Where's Pearl?"
"I don't know. Maybe she's still with Kama-- I mean, Queen Silvara."
"I hope she's not in trouble." Bhodi thought a moment. "I guess I'd better go find her." He began to clamber down off of the couch, but Emryn stopped him.
"No, not tonight. Go to bed. I'm sure she'll be back soon."
But she wasn't. In the morning, Bhodi looked for Pearl in her room, and did not find her. He asked everyone he came across whether they had seen her, but no one had. Talwyr at last revealed to him that she had run off the night before.
"Well, I'm going to go find her," Bhodi declared.
"Good." The wizard sounded worried. "Please let me know when you do."
"Can't you find her with your magic?"
"No. No, I do not believe she has left the Palace, and I cannot tell one room from another here. If I were to seek her out, I might see her, but it would be of no help in actually finding her. That, I'm afraid, will be up to you."
Bhodi set out, wandering the Palace in search of his friend. It was a little unfair, he thought to himself, that this supposedly powerful wizard was refusing to help him in any way. He was sure that he could help, if he really wanted to. Nobody seemed very sensitive to the fact that Pearl was his only friend.
When his parents had had jobs and lived on Dybera, he had been too small to have friends. Maybe there had been other babies belonging to his parents' friends who had come over to "play" occasionally, as if children who could hardly stand up could really play, much less bond over anything in particular. After that short span of time he'd been always on the move with his mom and dad, never in one place for very long. It seemed that every time he'd tried to make a friend, they'd moved away, jetted off on another "mission," as they called their "freelance mercenary endeavors." Bhodi's parents had been his only friends. And then, suddenly, they were gone.
So he'd gone off on his own, and some of the people he'd met-- the bounty hunters, the pirates, the smugglers, the hired muscle, the pilots, the mechanics-- he'd come to think of as his friends. Certainly some of them had developed a real fondness for him. They thought he was "cute," which Bhodi didn't have any objections to as long as it worked to his advantage. And they thought he was smart, too, for such a little kid. And they felt sorry for him. But none of them were ever around forever. And, besides, none of them were his own age. Pearl was. She was the first decent person his own age he'd met in a long time. Ever, maybe.
And so, if he had to, he was going to find her. Even if it took all day.
Fortunately, it didn't take all day. He was checking all of the rooms in a corridor near the "Queen's private wing," as he had heard some of the maids calling it. Apparently it was where Queen Silvara lived, and he worried that if Pearl was in there, it was going to be very tricky to get in and stay in long enough to do some serious looking. But at the end of the very last corridor, he opened a door and found her, asleep on the floor. He shook her awake.
"Hey, Pearl. Wake up."
She opened her eyes in sleepy confusion. "How did you find me?"
"I just kept looking. Why didn't you come back to bed last night?"
"I didn't want to."
Bhodi raised an quizzical eyebrow. "You'd rather sleep on the floor?"
"I guess so."
She clearly didn't want to talk about it. Bhodi, sitting down beside her, looked for a way to change the subject. "How did you sleep on this anyway?"
"I'm used to it. I don't usually sleep in beds, I sleep on floors."
"Oh." They sat in companionable silence for a few moments. Bhodi scrambled to think of something that could cheer her up. "Hey." He looked up, grinning. "Let's get out of here."
"What?" Pearl asked dully.
"Let's get out of here! Let's just leave! I think I know a way to bust us out of this Palace, and then I can show you everything, just like I promised. Come on!"
Pearl looked doubtful. "I don't know, Bhodi. It's probably dangerous out there."
"Of course it is," Bhodi rolled his eyes. "That's why it's fun! Now, hurry up!"
He jumped to his feet and held out his hand to her. After a second of indecision, she smiled up at him and took it, allowing him to pull her to her feet. Together, they ran off down the vast, silent marble corridors of the Dyberan Palace. They weren't laughing this time; they were bent on a very definite purpose. They were, Bhodi thought happily, on a mission.
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