Between Darkness and Light Trilogy (32 page)

Alma mentions, “I tried to open a Crystal
contact to Lumina, but we were very far away… I was attacked before
I could complete the connection.” Her tone then turns scathing,
“What about you, Shi'ahn, did you try to do anything useful?”

“Like you, I attempted a Crystal contact,
but I failed. I didn't know what else to do. By the nine moons I
swear I have never been so frightened before in my life! Darius
beckoned to me and I ran toward him for all I was worth. I almost
didn't make it. I was careful, though, not to truly harm anyone.
Their attacks weren't really their fault, after all, they couldn't
have known we were innocent of… the crime.”

Cas smiles warmly, “The important thing is
that you did make it.” Then he turns toward the others, “So
essentially, we know nothing helpful… perhaps we should begin to
work on finding a way out of this strange place.”

Several, including William, try their
transport crystals. I decide not to try mine yet, instead waiting
to see if theirs work, and furtively checking on the progress of my
power connection tendril. No one succeeds; even Dominar Ultor looks
quite discomforted after making his best effort to transport away
through his own rather disconcerting method.

William says, “It seems as though something
begins to happen… but that there is some kind of barrier.”

Alma responds, “Yes, that is what I sense.
It is a very powerful barrier, I have never encountered anything
quite like it before.”

I reach for William’s arm. ‘Show me what you
found.’

‘Sure Sis.’ He lets my mind join lightly
with his and he returns his concentration to his crystal and the
barrier. ‘Now that’s odd… It does
sound
powerful, but not
impenetrable.’ Then we both feel something amazing… my ring has
finally made contact with the black sun, and intense power floods
into it.

‘Wow, that’s quite some power source, I
wonder…’

As often happens, with power comes
confidence. We simultaneously decide it’s time to try the transport
crystal Cailli gave me. William says, “Each of you, please, join
hands with us. I think we may have found a way out.” Cas takes my
hand, reaching for Alma with his other. Celeste picks up
Gwenllian’s unconscious body, then reaches for William. Darius and
his father decline. I concentrate on my crystal, then reach out
with my mind, attempting to return to Lumina. There is the barrier…
I draw upon the power of this world’s black sun and try to force my
way through. Still I can’t quite make it. William’s mind joins in
the effort and it seems like it begins to work, I can
hear
something beyond the barrier… music. I can
hear
it, but
nothing more. I wonder, and call out.

“Cailli, help me! Grandmother –
Hear
Me!” I
hear
her harmonies then, and am engulfed in crystal
sparkles. I don’t appear where I expect, though. Instead of the
outer gates of the Citadel, or even Calli’s study, I see the
Emperor and his court. My hands feel cold.

“William? William! Where are you? Cas?
Celeste, Alma? Where are you?” I bring my hands nearer my eyes,
willing myself to see theirs joined with mine… but they are not.
“Grandmother?! What have you done?”

Guards appear next to me; they escort me up
to the Emperor. “Shi'ahn, explain your unannounced and disruptive
presence in this court.”

“We were holding hands, all of us! I don’t
understand.”

“The rest should follow momentarily, then,
should they not?”

“Well, that’s just it, we were trapped on a
strange world.”

“You were imprisoned by your hosts?”

“No, not at all! You see… after Nero stabbed
the Magni Dominar,”

“WHAT? Explain yourself, Shi'ahn – that is
in intolerable accusation.”

“I’m sorry, but that is what appeared to
happen. After the trial we were all to go greet him, and when… he
whom we had all presumed was Nero stepped up he said, ‘In the name
of Lumina, I strike this blow.’ He became a blur of motion at the
word “strike”, and plunged a dagger brilliant with Spire Light into
the Magni Dominar's heart. It was terrible! Flames shot out of his
body; he emaciated before our eyes!”

Vespasian nearly explodes, “How dare you
accuse my son of such an act!”

“I am truly sorry to be the one to bring you
this news, and in truth it may not have actually been Nero… but it
did appear to be him.”

“So now you are saying it wasn’t Nero?”

“I don’t know! He looked, sounded and acted
like Nero, up until that last moment, but then…”

“Out with it!” Vespasian clearly has little
patience now, but who could blame him?

“His voice, it was stronger, more sonorous
than I have ever heard him before, and his spells…” I pause for a
moment, searching for better words than ‘they worked.’ “You know
how he always speaks his spells in that odd dialect he prefers? He
did not speak his spells at all during… the incident. He even
conjured a transport portal without any sign of difficulty or
method. It was perfect, it led to a world so fast he was long gone
before Dominar Ultor ran through it to give chase.”

The Emperor again takes charge of my
questioning, “And that world was a trap, you said?”

“Yes. The powers of Enlightenment did not
work there, and our transport crystals always met a barrier of some
kind. It seemed we would be trapped forever.”

“How is it that you managed to escape that
world while the others apparently have not?”

“I’m not entirely sure. Others had tried
their transport crystals, but they hadn’t worked. William and I had
decided to make an attempt together while we all held hands.”

“You’re saying two crystals working together
made the difference?”

“Ah… no – we used only my crystal.”

“Then that should not have worked, it is
exactly the same as William’s.”

“Well… actually, it isn’t. After I initially
lost the one you gave me, Grandmother gave me another.” His eyes
fill with suspicion. “Your Grandmother? Oh yes, that’s what you
claim the old hag told you to call her. Something about it sounding
better, wasn’t it?”

“She said that ‘Greats’ don’t trip over the
tongue well at all. The sound of a name is important, after
all.”

His expression remains cold and he extends
his hand toward me again. “I would examine it.” It feels strange,
but I reach into my bodice and pull out the crystal. The moment I
hand it to him he begins concentrating on it, and it disappears!
“Shi'ahn?”

“I don’t understand!” His eyes glance down
to my bodice, and I realize the crystal is once again in its
pocket. “Honestly, I don’t know how that happened.” He holds his
hand out expectantly, and I dutifully hand it over again. This time
he does not attempt to initiate it, but inspects it by other means.
When he looks back at me his eyes have lost none of their
suspicion.

“Lucian, take this young woman to the tower
and… assign her quarters.” Lucian begins to escort me away, then I
hear almost a growl from the Emperor, and with a shock I realize
that my crystal is once again against my breast. The Emperor’s
displeased voice calls out, “Keep a close eye on her, and keep her
away from the old hag!”

Chapter
18

Imprisoned Again

Once outside the throne room, Lucian takes a
firm hold of my arm and concentrates. We appear in a small guarded
room without windows, standing within what appears to be an
inactivated restraining shield.

“Congratulations, young lady, you’re under
house arrest.” I can’t help my look of confusion; Lucian smiles
slightly and steps forward, still holding me by the arm. “Come, let
us speak of this in slightly more comfortable surroundings.” He
leads me down a long hallway past many rooms similar to what we
just left, and we eventually come to a small sitting room with two
chairs and a rather interesting desk between them, there are
several things I can’t identify on it, and no guard. He closes the
door and I get the feeling it is the room itself that guards us. He
crosses his arms after sitting on the far side of the desk, and
looks me over with an evaluating eye.

“Shi'ahn, I have a great deal of experience
in judging dangerous individuals, and I must say that although you
do seem to have a way of finding trouble, you don’t strike me as
the kind to purposely cause it. In fact, I’ll even admit that you
appear to be the least dangerous individual I have met in a very
long time.” He raises an eyebrow as he speaks, I can’t help but
wonder why he thinks that’s funny, but I can’t think of anything to
say directly in response, my mind is flooded with other thoughts. A
part of me wants to accept his change in attitude toward me, while
a great deal more screams in warning.

“Lucian, I know you seem somewhat friendly
at the moment – but I know you better than that. You think so
little of me that you allowed… you let me be hurt after you
promised you would protect me. I had trusted you, and you betrayed
me! And now you expect me to trust you again? What kind of fool do
you think I am? No matter what the others say, I personally
wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it had been you who was
truly responsible for the murder of the Magni Dominar.” I gaze
defiantly into his dark eyes and wonder what blatant truthfulness
will do to affect the future in store for me.

At first he smiles a little. “Really? Pity I
have such an ironclad alibi, I was in the presence of the Emperor
the entire time you were gone. All of what, an hour?” His smile
fades as quickly as it had appeared, “I understand your distrust,
we have not gotten off to a good start. This isn't about our past
though, Shi'ahn, it is about your trip in Chaos. I have been
instructed to question you, and my report will go directly to the
Emperor. So tell me, did you truly have nothing to do with this
alleged stabbing of the Magni Dominar?”

“Absolutely nothing! That bastard – whoever
it really was – even set me up to be killed!”

“And how exactly did he or she do that?”

“He, well, he claimed to need to relieve
himself while we awaited our turn to greet the Magni Dominar, then
returned and claimed that Alma would not let him back into his
appointed place – so he butted in ahead of me. Then after…
afterwards, he opened a gateway into another place on the other
side of the procession – I almost didn't make it. I was alone,
standing directly in front of the horror and surrounded by
creatures out of nightmare!”

“You did make it, though. You returned
safely while no one else yet has.”

I bow my head. “Yes. I did try to stay
behind, though, to attempt to explain to them that Lumina had
nothing to do with that heinous crime… But William pulled me
through the portal.”

His eyes flit between the various objects on
his desk and me as I speak, and throughout he looks rather
skeptical, “Why would you do such a foolish thing? They would
almost certainly have killed you, and if not, they would have
likely made you wish that they had.”

“Yes, you're probably right, but in
retrospect, they may have been more able to accept the truth.
Unnecessarily giving up one's fate in the face of almost certain
death is a powerful gesture; in time it may have helped them
understand the innocence of our realm.” He spends more of his time
looking at the objects than directly at me, his face a mask of
neutrality while his harmony resonates with dawning
understanding?

“Why would you attempt such a sacrifice –
you hardly know this place or its people.”

“Don’t you see what this may cause?
Inter-Realm war! As I understand it, countless billions of lives
could be at stake. All life is sacred, Lucian – a war between our
realms would be catastrophic. Certainly a single life, willingly
given in an attempt to avert such a terrible future, would be a
worthwhile forfeit.”

Behind his mask he sounds as though I have
confirmed something significant to him, yet his words seem almost
amused, “You are indeed unique, Shi'ahn. Well, I don’t think I need
keep you in this interrogation chamber any longer, I can see that
you are quite convinced that what you say is true.” He pauses,
looking deeply into my eyes and… pondering? His pupils expand,
turning his eyes from deep brown to bottomless black. His
expression changes then, becomes almost pleased. “Since my father
didn’t actually specify that you are to be locked away in the
dungeons, how about I show you around your new home?”

It's strange, only minutes ago I would
refuse such an offer from this monster, and yet, perhaps I should
accept, I do need to learn as much as I can about, well, about
everything here. I reply hesitantly, “My new home?”

“I do not know how long you are to be held
here, Shi'ahn. The Emperor seems quite displeased with you, so it
may be rather a long time. Come, don’t worry, this isn’t a bad
place at all.” He offers me his arm; I hesitantly accept it. What
choice do I have?

~~~

One of the early places we pass is a
kitchen, and almost as if on queue my stomach growls. Lucian
laughs,

“I take it it’s been a while since you have
eaten?”

“Since before Cas Lydia's trial,
actually.”

“Well, this is only the dungeon guards'
kitchen, but it actually has some fairly good food stocked.” He has
me sit at a table, then walks into an adjacent room and comes back
almost immediately with a plate covered with food. We sit in
silence as I devour what must be the best sandwich I have ever
tasted and a very nice selection of vegetables, fruits and nuts,
then he picks up our conversation, “Most of the kitchens here are
held in stasis, just in case the place is needed… as it soon may
well be, if your story of the Magni Dominar’s fate is indeed true.”
His gaze becomes almost disturbingly intense, I feel compelled to
answer.

“I wish I could say that it isn’t, but I
cannot. It was a horrific sight - flames shooting from the wound as
his body emaciated before our eyes, as though the very essence of
life was jetting out of him as we watched.” My vision blurs, rats,
the tears are threatening to return; I tear my mind away from the
horror of the memory and find myself almost penetrated by Lucian’s
gaze.