[djo]

Vanheim turn 39


In which Vethru interviews his newest employee, and Molly hears thunder.


Vethru

I've got the little lizard locked in a tower in the castle. He's not a prisoner, not exactly, but precautions must be taken. He's not too safe around fire, or sharp objects, for example. When I come in, he's crouched in the center of the room as usual, rattling the bones. I close the door behind me and sidle over to the table to see which ones he's got. Most of the teeth. Only the burnt finger bones. Interesting.

"Heh, heh," says Akkulu, giggling. "Not-warmling. Scale leaver. Heh. Heh." He throws the bones to the floor and just about dives after them, putting his nose mere inches from them. His red tongue flicks out and tastes the nearest.

Quellian Ji lands on the table. "Hey, boss, where'd you find this one? Babbles and plays with his food!"

"He found me" I say. "He was waiting for me on the road back from Imictan."

"Imictan. Saw the shadows go," the lizard says. "See--saw--said. And so to bed!" He picks up the bones and starts shaking them again.

"What's going to happen in the north?" I ask him. Akkulu stares back, then tosses the bones and bends down to examine them.

"What's with the ossiary?" Ji asks, and before he can peck at the bones on the table, I say, "Stop!"

"What? Why? Oh!" says Ji, when he notices Akkulu has silently come up behind him, maniacal rage in his eyes. Ji backs away. I nod, and Akkulu goes to the floor again, not before protectively snatching another few bones from the table.

"Those are the bones of his egg-brothers, all lost in the war," I tell Ji.

Ji deflates. "Jeez, boss, you should've said something." He turns to Akkulu. "Sorry, fella. I had no idea. I know what it's like,--"

"You do not," I interrupt. "I reincarnated you directly into that form. You were never hatched."

"I had brothers!" screeches Ji. "They died! They're dead! And I remember them, after all these years. Not like you, goddamn it. Just screw you, all right?" He flies angrily around the room a couple times, but there's no open window. Finally, he settles down. "What happened to him?"

"Boddern Weald. Some powerful magic went down there. Cole's prophet was killed. The battle turned from victory to massacre and no one knows why." That was a lie. I had a pretty good idea what happened, but hey, out of my hands. "Not all the survivors stayed sane. He picked up little something in exchange."

"Bad men," says Akkulu. "Bad good bad. Big pointy pointy. Cuppa, cuppa. Woo hoo!"

"Marignon," I say. "I knew they'd attack soon."

"What, you speak lizard?" asks Ji.

"You don't?"

"I barely manage bird and human. Marignon? You're telling me he's a seer?!"

"Ni! Ni!"

"Probably."

"Damn. Don't you trust Molly anymore?"

"She's good, but she's got a blind spot."

"Burn her! Him! It! Uh...clop-clop? Wild, wild east!"

"Pherios?"

I don't reply. The boy was steadily shifting from an asset I couldn't use to an annoyance I couldn't ignore.

"Crusade?" asks Akkulu.

"Could be," I say. "Keep looking. I'll be back tomorrow." He returns to his bones, and I start to leave. At the door I say, "Ji?"

"Uh, that's OK, boss, I'll stay with him for a while." He flutters to the ground.

"We're leaving for Trisia tonight," I remind him. "Be on time."

I leave the two of them staring curiously at each other. You really could tell they were distant relatives. The beady eyes are a dead giveaway.




Anterios

After my son left us, my wife started to cry. I held Mistepeillia for a long time. "My little boy," she said. "He's grown up just like you. So strong."

"He's got the best parts of both of us," I said. "My mind, and your heart."

Pherios had surprised us earlier in the evening. His timing was precise: his mother was only in the capital for a few days, and we were not expecting any visitors that night. The staff had left hours before.

"You know how it is when you're at the theater, and notice that if the hero would only trust his friend or his lover or his family, and tell them what's going on, that everything would be OK? But instead, everything falls apart, and it's a tragedy?" he'd asked. "I'm not going to be that guy."

He told us the extraordinary tale of the last half year since he disappeared, and the things that he kept to himself of the years before. Mistepeillia clenched my hand fiercely as we listened, driving her nails into my palm, but it did not distract me from piecing his story together with what I knew of recent events.

I showed him the letter that set me investigating Vethru's actions. "It must be the lady of the tower," he said, which I'd begun to suspect when I heard his story. I told him what little I knew of her--her mysterious arrival less than a hundred years ago, and the bargain she'd struck with the Konella Koreia: her magical talent and loyalty to Vanheim in exchange for resources, no interference, and no questions.

"What will you do now?" Mistepeillia asked. "Come to the estate with me. Vethru will never know you're there. You'll be safe."

We both know he would not go. The man who sat with us was no longer a boy. His worn, dirty clothes, his unnatural wound, the hint of emptiness in his steady gaze--there was nothing safe about him.

When he told us his plan, I was very proud. It was clever, daring, extremely dangerous, and exactly what needed to be done. I could find no fault in his strategy or tactics. His plans meshed with mine as if he were a part removed from a machine that nonetheless remembered its purpose.

"You've done well," I told him, as he left. "You've done more alone than many men do surrounded by their fellows. But never forget, you are not alone. We will always be with you, whenever you need us."

I waited an hour before I readied myself to leave. I told Mistepeillia, "I will speak Petema tomorrow."

She did not need to ask to know that tonight, first, I would speak to my brother. "What about Irulia?" she said.

"She's a cipher. I will see what Belletennares and Petema say." I kissed her. "I may not be back by morning."

"I know, my love," she said. "But I will not be here to see you return."

"Why?"

"I'm leaving for home. I've got to be ready in case Pherios comes. If Vethru tries to take him, he'll have to go through me first."

She said this matter-of-factly, without any particular defiance or intensity, because to her, that is what it was: fact. And I also knew it to be true, for me as much as her. "Talk to Sennei," I told her. "Tell her everything. And be careful."

As I walked to Belletennares's encampment, I pondered the shortcomings of metaphor. There were new pieces on the board, including one I had feared placed in the box forever. But life is not a game. Game pieces don't cry, or bleed. Nor can they surprise you with their courage. Life is not a game, nor should we treat it so. But still, I could not erase from my mind one commonality between game and life: sacrifices must be made.


Molly


The thunder woke me up again, but it wasn't real this time, either. Only I could hear it. It actually hadn't happened yet. The sky was clear. I could see the stars. The Keel and the Sail shone right out my window.

I sighed. It wasn't that late. It was really annoying for the universe not to let you sleep. But it was a lot better than nightmares. I shuddered. At least those nightmares with the maze stopped.

I lit a lamp and sat down to do some mending. They gave me enough money so I didn't have to, but a little tear wasn't enough to throw away a whole blouse. Plus, it gave me something to do. While I waited. To hear stuff.

I heard creaking wood outside, maybe an old wagon making its way up the street. I didn't go to the window. It was like I spent all my time staring out the window, or sewing. I was so lonely. There was nobody talk to most of the time. Petema wasn't here much, and Ji only came by with messages once or twice a week. Pherios couldn't write often. All the Vanir ignored me. My people avoided me. They thought I was spooky. Who could blame them? The two guys who tried to court me, I knew what would happen. I knew one would cheat on me, and the other would go to war and die. So why bother?

Somebody outside started hammering as I sewed. Maybe the creaky wagon broke down. People would be mad. It's a nice, quiet neighborhood. But I didn't care. I was awake a lot these days. I wondered what Pherios was doing. He was close, I knew. His reply came really fast after I sent my last message. Vethru was out of town, so maybe he was here.

I heard a sharp clank!, and then right away a thud!. That woke me up. So I guess I was asleep again. Were they real? The street was empty. No wagon there. So, not real. Then I heard Pherios's voice. "Damn it," he said. Then someone else, I think one of the castle sergeants, said, "My lord, we have him."

No!

I threw my sewing into the corner and got changed. But why? What could I do? I didn't know where Pherios was. How could I warn him?

The castle. He always wanted to know when Vethru was away, so that must be where he would be. I rushed out into the cool summer night and ran. I kept hearing that creaking noise. Now it sounded like a big tree branch bending in the wind.

They let me into the castle because I belong there. But once inside, I didn't know where to go. Until I heard it! An echo! I followed it like a cat after a mouse. It let me up into a little tower I'd never been in before. I pushed open the door.

It was his room, I could tell. I set down the lamp on his desk. It was dusty. There were papers everywhere. Just like he left it. Pherios told me how the last time he saw Galameteia, his visions overwhelmed him, and he never came back to the castle.

I'd leave him a note here. I'd make look like the others. I'd write it just like his notes, and only he'd know which one didn't belong. I was trying to figure out how to word it really sneaky when I heard the thunder. I thought maybe I'd dozed off, but no--there was a flash of lightning. It was real!

I went to the window, and that's when I saw him in another flash of lightning. It was real close. It hit that angel statue the Valkyries practice throwing spears at. And Pherios was right there, staring at it.

I almost called out, but that would be stupid. So I leaned out and waved, but he wasn't looking. He was still facing that statue.

Another bolt struck it. In the flash, I saw across the field to the gatehouse. Soldiers! Coming toward him! So then I did yell, "Pherios! Run! Run!"

One of the soldiers pointed up at me, and they started running. Another bolt struck the angel. Pherios didn't move. The statue was falling apart. My own screams echoed in my head.

"Pherios! They're coming! Go! Run! Pherios! Pherios!"

I screamed myself hoarse, but it didn't matter. He just watched the lightning hit the statue until they got him and took his sword and led him away.

I couldn't see through my tears. What should I do? I didn't know. Would they come for me, for warning him? I ran down the stairs and tried to sneak out, but the guards saw me and let me go anyway.

By the time I got home, I was sweaty and panting and my throat hurt. And Petema was back, so I woke her and told her everything, and that was when Pherios's dad and uncle showed up. They told me to pack my things and get ready to go.

And now I know how Pherios feels. I don't ever want to go back to the castle, either.