The Chaos Crystal (12 page)

'Keep it level,' Cayal warned for the thousandth time. Declan wondered how long it would take him to master this flying carpet business enough to tip just the one corner Cayal was sitting on, in the water.

'I
am
keeping it level,' Declan said. He'd been at it now for a couple of hours, and was starting to feel like he was getting the hang of it. Of course, the down side was that Declan had never ridden the Tide for so long before. His skin was on fire and he feared that soon he'd be as crazy as Kentravyon from the ridiculous ecstasy of it. He understood now why neither Cayal nor Kentravyon had objected to him learning how to do this. Riding the Tide for extended periods was beyond draining. It left one feeling bereft, ultra- sensitive and more than a little lustful.

And they were still thousands of miles from Glaeba.

if you manage to keep us heading north east,' Cayal told him several hours later, when Declan was on the

point of collapsing from the relentless thrill of the Tide, 'we'll be able to make landfall in Stevania tonight.'

It was raining heavily, the sky ashen and overcast, and occasionally split by lightning. Falling rain pockmarked the roiling water surrounding them. No raindrops fell on the immortals, however. After a shaky start, Declan had finally figured out how to protect them from the elements just as Kentravyon had done, so they travelled in a bubble of calm through the storm, untouched by its fury.

Cayal seemed to be in a rare good mood, perhaps still riding the exhilaration of the Tide left over from his own stint as their magical guide.

'There's a small settlement on the coast near here named Blackbourn,' he explained, it's not much more than a fishing village really, but it has quite a serviceable brothel staffed by some tireless young ladies who deserve our special attention. A day or two's recuperation there, and we'll be on our way again.'

Declan looked at Cayal, wondering. He'd thought he was the only one ready to explode from the after- effects of this extended journey on the Tide.

Cayal must have guessed the direction of his thoughts. 'What, you think it gets better with time?' He shook his head, it gets predictable, Rodent. It even gets tolerable. But it never gets better.'

'Even for someone as old as him?' Declan asked, jerking his head in Kentravyon's direction. The older — perhaps millions of years older — Tide Lord had stretched out on the damp rug. He'd shed his wet clothes and was lying naked on his back, apparently asleep. Given he could have dried his clothes and himself instantly using the Tide, Declan got the feeling Kentravyon was soaking up the ocean's vastness as a reaction to being trapped in the ice for so long.

'He's mad, so I'm not sure his opinion counts.'

'And Lukys?'

Cayal shrugged. 'What? You think he went out and got himself an energetic young wife just because she can cook?'

Declan frowned. 'Tides, here I am thinking you're all bent on ruling the world and it turns out you just want to get laid.'

'Disappointing, isn't it?' Cayal looked at Declan for a moment, amused about something. 'Didn't you ever wonder how Syrolee and her lot got involved in all this?
We
immortals spend an inordinate amount of time hanging around brothels, Rodent. In fact, when all is said and done, we're really rather ignoble creatures.'

'I had that much worked out a long time ago.'

Cayal smiled at his dilemma. 'And yet here you are — one of us — riding the Tide as if you've been doing it all your life, and ready to implode from the ecstasy of it all. What a journey you have ahead of you, you unsuspecting fool, trying to reconcile your narrow-minded mortal sensibilities with the reality of your immortal situation.'

'I suppose
you
had no trouble at all with adjusting when you were made immortal?'

'I did go through a period of thinking there might be a purpose in my fate. But I never suffered from the delusion that there was anything particularly decent about me,' Cayal said, shifting to a more comfortable position. 'Tides, by the time I became immortal, I'd already killed my best friend, been dispossessed, exiled, and lost everything I ever owned or loved.' The Immortal Prince cocked his head to one side and studied Declan for a moment. 'Kind of where you're at right now, isn't it?'

'What makes you so sure I've killed anyone?' Declan asked, not wishing to dwell on what — or who — he might have lost. He wasn't all that enamoured of Cayal pointing out the similarities between them, either.

'Are you kidding? Weren't you the King of Glaeba's Spymaster? I'd be surprised if you'd
only
killed one man.'

He had a point, although Declan had no intention of admitting it. 'Do we have time,' he asked, 'to stop along the way?'

'We can keep going without a rest if you want — provided you have a hankering to end up like him,' the Immoral Prince said, glancing over at Kentravyon. 'Moderation in all things is the key to swimming the Tide and staying sane, Rodent.'

'Why do you care?' Declan asked, curious to hear Cayal offer such sage advice. Actually, it seemed strange to hear Cayal offer any advice that wasn't designed to aid his cause in some way. 'You'll be dead soon. What difference does it make if the effort of getting you to your goal drives you, or anybody else, crazy?'

'I might go mad and change my mind about wanting to die,' Cayal said. 'And that
would
be a crazy thing to do.'

'Does it bother you that your efforts to die might destroy Amyrantha?' 'No.'

Declan found that hard to believe. Of course, given the source of the information, he wasn't certain Kentravyon's prediction about the end of the world deserved any credit, but still
...
it was something to consider. 'Are you trying to tell me it doesn't bother you in the slightest that your quest for death may kill millions of people and destroy a whole world in the process?'

'My quest for death isn't going to kill anybody,' Cayal replied. 'According to Kentravyon, Lukys closing his rift is what will do the damage. He's the one who wants to move on. I'm simply going along for the ride. So before you start pointing the finger at me, Rodent, look a bit closer to home. If he's right,

then it's
your
father who's planning to destroy Amyrantha, for no better reason, I gather, than he has itchy feet. Worse — if you believe the madman over there — this isn't the first time he's pulled this trick, either.' Cayal lay back down on the rug, folding his arms behind his head. 'Amyrantha's blood will be on Lukys's hands, not mine, if it goes awry. And yours, too, if you decide to help him.'

if I don't help Lukys open his rift,
you
don't die,' Declan pointed out.

Cayal turned his head to stare at Declan, smiling. 'And isn't
that
little dilemma just going to eat you up inside until the very end of time? What's a noble man to do, Rodent? Kill the man who stole his woman and then drove her away? A very satisfying act, which might, somewhat inconveniently, destroy the whole world? Or do you refuse to help? Make the bastard who caused you all this grief live forever, and then suffer his presence into eternity, long after Amyrantha is a cold and lifeless rock and Arkady nothing more than a dim and distant memory?'

Declan had no answer to that, because Cayal was right. The choice before him was eating him up, and he had no idea what he was going to do about it.

CHAPTER 12

'They're here,' Arkady said, pointing to the map of Amyrantha Jaxyn had unrolled across the exquisitely carved desk that had once belonged to her husband.

Jaxyn looked at the position on the map she'd indicated for a moment and then looked up, his doubt written clearly on his face. 'In Jelidia?'

'Lukys has built a palace down there. It's huge, apparently, and very beautiful, according to Cayal. Taryx helped him build it. Cayal said Pellys calls it the Palace of Impossible Dreams.'

'So Pellys is down there too?'

Arkady nodded. 'Along with Taryx, Arryl and Kentravyon.' She didn't mention Declan. Jaxyn didn't know of Declan's new status as an immortal and she couldn't see any benefit in telling him just yet. Besides, it meant she still had something she could hold back; one last bargaining chip if things went awry.

'What about Medwen and Ambria? Are they still in Senestra?'

Arkady nodded. 'How did
you
know they were in Senestra? I thought that was supposed to be a secret?'

'Worst kept secret in history,' Jaxyn said with a shrug. 'You say Kentravyon's awake again? On purpose?'

Arkady hesitated, wondering if it was really such a good idea giving Jaxyn so much information. And then she thought of her father sleeping in a real bed this night for the first time in over seven years, and the guilt evaporated. She owed the immortals nothing.

'Lukys revived him a couple of months before I saw Cayal in Senestra. Cayal says it has something to do with the power needed to help him die once the Tide peaks, but I'm not sure he was entirely convinced of that himself.'

Jaxyn leaned back in his seat — the seat that had also been Stellan's — rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Outside, a gentle snow was falling; an unusual event for Lebec at this time of year. But then, the whole country was in the grip of a winter like no other. Arkady had her suspicions about who was responsible for that, too.

'Do you really think Lukys has found a way for Cayal to die?'

'How in the Tides do you expect me to know the answer to a question like that?' Arkady said, stepping back from the desk. It felt so strange to be standing here in the palace again, in Stellan's private sanctuary, with Jaxyn Aranville sitting there, acting as if he owned the place.

Jaxyn smiled. 'Fair enough. I wonder what they're really up to down there.'

'Here's an idea, Jaxyn. Why don't you abandon your quest for the Glaeban throne, call off the war and go down to Jelidia and ask?'

Jaxyn's smile faded. 'You dare a lot, taking that tone with me.'

'So kill me. You're going to eventually. Why drag it out?'

He studied her sceptically for a moment. 'You don't mean that. I know you, Arkady. You want to live.'

'In a world ruled by Tide Lords? Death may be preferable.'

'Tides, do you really think we're that bad?'

Arkady took the seat opposite Jaxyn, leaning back in it as if she hadn't a care in the world. It was an act, of course, but Arkady had learned one thing in the past year: men — tyrants — like Jaxyn could smell

fear. 'So far, Jaxyn, you've murdered the previous King and Queen of Glaeba, accused my husband of the crime, had him stripped of his title and declared a traitor, stolen everything he owned, started a war with our closest ally and arranged to have your minion marry our new king. And that's just been in the last year. How long does a High Tide last? Centuries?'

'And yet here you sit, daring to taunt me. Perhaps you do have a death wish, after all,' Jaxyn observed.

She pulled the spotted fur coat she'd been given on leaving Lebec Prison a little tighter around her shoulders. Even with a blazing fire going, it was still freezing in Stellan's study. 'You need me, Jaxyn. If not for what I know of Cayal's movements, there's still the chance you can use me to gain leverage over Stellan.'

'I'd not put too much store in that notion,' Jaxyn warned. 'Stellan may care what happens to you, but I'm fairly certain nothing would concern Syrolee and her family less than the fate of Stellan's long-lost wife. And it's Syrolee who's pulling your husband's strings these days over on the other side of the lake, my dear. You can be certain of that.'

Arkady feared Jaxyn was right, but she was reluctant to agree with him. She never got the opportunity in any case, as their discussion was interrupted by a knock at the door, followed by Lady Aleena letting herself into the study. Dressed in the finest silks — the cold did not concern her — and draped in the Desean family rubies that had once belonged to Arkady, the woman was tall and dark- haired and the candelabra she carried lit the angular planes of her face, highlighting her finely sculpted cheekbones.

Jaxyn's fiancee eyed Arkady curiously for a moment and then looked at Jaxyn. 'Not interrupting anything salacious, am I, dearest?'

'Not at all,' Jaxyn told her expansively. 'Arkady and I were just discussing her future.'

'Oh,' Aleena said. 'She has one, does she?'

Arkady forced a smile at the woman posing as Lady Aleena Aranville, reminding herself that this woman had been a whore in a sea port brothel before she was immortal, which probably accounted for her manners — and her desire to wear every single ring and bracelet Arkady had once owned, all at once.

Admittedly, Arkady had demonstrated rather less moral fibre than a whore herself in recent times, but at least she could console herself with the thought that she'd done what she had out of necessity. Lyna, Arkady had discovered on their journey together back from Senestra, had been a whore — and often returned to that occupation when she was hiding during low Tides — because she liked it. Her reasoning totally eluded Arkady. Despite sharing a cabin on the trip from Senestra during which time Lyna was at least civil, if not exactly friendly, Arkady still didn't trust her or her motives.

Jaxyn wasn't going to be drawn on Arkady's fate, however, not even by his betrothed. 'Well, that remains to be seen, my dear. Have you settled in our other guest?'