Keeper: First Ordinance, Book 2 (24 page)

I was terrified it would be broken, somehow, and wanted to set
it high in a closet. He'd insisted that it go on a table beside a chair
instead, so it could be seen by visitors.

I wasn't sure I'd have visitors other than Dena, but I let him
make the decision—it seemed important to him. Gurnil wanted to hover, too, when
I took a seat on the Library balcony and opened the physician's journal to
read.

The physician's name was Ulrin, but the people of Lironis had
called him physician or healer so long that few remembered his proper name. His
handwriting was tiny, like the tracks a small insect might make should it step
in ink and then amble across parchment. At times, I imagined the insect tracks
would be easier to read.

Worried that I'd miss something if I left pages unread, I
determined to read the entire journal, no matter how difficult. I also resolved
to make notes to hand to Amlis, because birth and death records were also
recorded in Ulrin's difficult handwriting.

I hadn't gotten far when Dena appeared, letting me know I
should dress for dinner with the King. "Berel is wearing the official
colors of Sector Five, or that's what he said," she reported. "Kaldill
says he's dressing down, so as not to upstage the King."

I wanted to laugh at Kaldill's words, but hid a smile instead.
"I will trust your judgment," I said, marking my place in the journal
with a scrap of parchment and closing it. "Want to fly or walk to Justis'
balcony?"

* * *

We walked past Halthea's suite on our way to have dinner with
Jurris. The door was closed; I wondered briefly if Jurris wanted to close her
door in his mind as well. It made me hope that Gurnil was making a
difference—Jurris knew that he'd coupled with his half-sister, who almost
killed him at the last. I also wondered at Justis' decision to inform Jurris of
the tainted relationship.

The moment I saw Wimla, I knew she was pregnant. She and
Vorina stood beside Jurris, welcoming Berel and Kaldill to Jurris' private
suite.
Wimla's pregnant
, I informed those with me.

Can you see the baby's sex or wing color?
Kaldill
asked.

Not yet, it may be too early
, I replied.

Are you sure?
Justis leaned in to nuzzle my hair. He
had mindspeech, he'd merely chosen to use it sparingly.

Yes
, I responded. At that moment, I wanted to melt
against him as Jurris considered Justis' actions. If he hadn't guessed before,
Justis had just announced his feelings for me to his brother.

"Congratulations, brother," Justis stepped forward
and slapped Jurris on the back. "Quin tells me that Wimla is with child."

I will never forget the smile on Jurris' face as his and Wimla's
hopes were confirmed. It also set the tone for the rest of the evening, which
went much better than I'd hoped it would.

"I thought you were—well, I'm sorry for thinking it,"
Wimla said as we were served small glasses of an after-dinner drink. "I
understand who killed Camryn and Elabeth, now."

"It no longer matters," I said. "I was treated
better here than I ever was in Fyris. There, under Tamblin's rule and Yevil's
influence, everybody was afraid."

"Where are they now—the people of Fyris?" Jurris
asked, sipping his wine.

"So far away you can barely see their star in the night
sky," Kaldill replied.

"This is so difficult to comprehend," Vorina sighed.
"And you—where do you come from?"

“My star is even farther away," Kaldill smiled. "You
know of the Larentii. Where did you suppose they came from?"

"I don't know. I'd never seen one—I only heard that
Gurnil, Camryn and Elabeth had seen them, until Quin arrived and one began to
appear regularly."

"Well," Jurris emptied his small glass, "As the
Ordinance no longer holds sway over the Avii since the people of Fyris are safe
far away, you may see the book Liron left here tomorrow," he said, turning
to me. "Justis will bring you after breakfast and I will open the vault.
Just remember that the book may not be removed from my treasury. You will
examine it while you're there."

"I thank you," I dipped my head respectfully.

Not long after that, we left Jurris and his mates. I
understood they had a private celebration to make—a royal child was on the way.

* * *

"Does this make you happy? Getting to read the Ordinance?"
Justis asked, once we arrived at his suite. I hadn't said much on our flight
back to his balcony. It was too late to have our meeting in Gurnil's Library,
so we rescheduled it for the following day.

"It does, but something troubles my mind," I said. "I
can't say what it is—there's only worry there," I shrugged.

"Jurris has offered a private suite for you," he
turned his back to me and relaxed his wings before releasing the hinge and
allowing black feathers to drag the floor. They were magnificent—long and
blue-black where the light hit them. "I know I'm being selfish when I say
I want you to stay here."

"I'm not ready to bed anyone," I began. Dena and
Ardis had already coupled, and I was happy for them. I just wasn't prepared for
intimacy, yet. There was a fear in me—that I'd lose my independence. That was
something I hadn't had long and I savored it.

"I understand that—Kaldill says the same. You're young,
but you are so much more than your age, Quin. I can't help but feel the way I
do."

"I know. Perhaps I should take another suite, so you won't
be tortured by this."

"I'll be tortured more, if I feel you're not safe,"
he said. "Stay here in your bedroom. I wish I could offer you a window,
but that's not to be for an inner room."

"I know. I'll stay here. You won't mind if I visit Berel
or Kaldill?"

"Visit anyone you like," Justis turned. "Just
don't forget or ignore me."

"How could anyone do that?" I asked. "You're
huge. You could probably slap someone across the castle with the ends of your
wings."

Justis laughed. Threw back his head and roared. I'd wanted him
to smile; instead, I'd achieved the ultimate success and made him laugh. Then,
his wings dragging behind him wonderfully, he came and kissed me, holding my
face carefully in his hands while he did so.

"Go to bed, my Quin," he said. "Tomorrow is an
early day."

* * *

It was an early day—Justis had been up and drilling his troops
before breakfast, and returned to his suite to bathe before we ate. We were
joining our group in the Library, where the usual table was set up.

"Eggs, fruit and bread," Dena pushed a plate toward
me. She was unloading the trays two Yellow Wings brought for us. "Eggs,
ham, potatoes and bread," she handed Justis and Ardis their plates next,
then went on to serve Kaldill, Ordin, Gurnil and Berel. There was no order to
it, merely the way we'd seated ourselves at the table.

Ardis ran a finger down Dena's wing when she sat beside him
with her plate of food. She smiled and leaned into him for a moment before
lifting her fork to eat.

"I noticed my bed was made and the suite clean when I got
back this morning," Justis told me. "You don't have to do that—I can
ask the Yellow Wings who clean for Berel and Kaldill to do it."

"It gives me something to do," I said. "I enjoy
it—my hands know what to do while my mind wanders. I did put the washing out to
be picked up," I added.

"My socks—and other things?" Justis lifted a dark
eyebrow and smirked.

"Yes. You'd think I'd never seen underwear before,"
I said. "I cleaned many a noble's quarters in Lironis, and scrubbed things
far worse than your underthings."

Ardis snickered. Dena punched him lightly on the arm for it.
Kaldill merely smiled, but his mindspeech surprised me.
I wish to take you
for a short visit to Gaelar N'Seith
, he said.

When?
I asked.

Soon. I believe Berel wishes to come as well
.
We won't
be gone overly long—less than a day, I think
.

I would love to see your home
, I told him.

Good. I want you to see it
.

* * *

Gurnil chose to come with Justis and me when we flew toward
Jurris' balcony. He said he hadn't seen the book in nearly a century and wished
to do so again. I think he was more than curious to see whether I could read
the language that no other could.

I was curious, too—and frightened. The fear I felt I couldn't
explain. A part of me worried that I'd learn something about myself, before
deciding that was foolish. My other fears were vague and I couldn't determine
their cause.

"There you are," Jurris greeted Justis with a hug
before smiling at Gurnil and me. "Let us look at this book, then, and
learn what we may from it."

Justis' hand went to the back of my neck and massaged it
gently as Jurris led us down a hall toward the east end of his suite. A locked
door waited there, made of thick metal with iron bands. My trepidation grew as
Jurris drew a key from his pocket and inserted it into the lock.

The door creaked, metal on metal hinges, as it opened. Again,
we followed Jurris as he walked toward the back of the huge room, packed top to
bottom with treasures and important items.

There, on a tall shelf at the very back, lay a large,
leather-bound book. I understood what had happened before anyone else.

One of my bloody primary feathers was placed atop the book,
with a note beneath it.
You should have taken the key away, so it's your
fault
, was scrawled across the note in Halthea's handwriting.

Inside, pages and pages of text had been ripped away.
Everything I'd wanted to read was gone—likely burned or torn to pieces and
tossed to the winds outside the castle. Jurris—and all the Avii—were paying the
final price for Halthea's betrayal.

* * *

"I have a copy of the Ordinance, but the other—only the King's
book held that information," Gurnil shook his head, his expression heartbreaking.
Ordin offered him a glass of wine and he took it. Justis, grim-faced and angry,
had escorted us back to the Library before going off to spar with Ardis—he
needed to work off his anger somehow.

I grieved for lost writing. Yes, I was afraid of what I might
learn, but I needed to learn it.

It was gone, now. Justis had snatched up my feather before
storming out of the Library, my hand held tightly in his. We'd left Jurris
behind, cursing Halthea's name loudly enough for anyone to hear.

* * *

Kondar

"There's been an incident," Melis dropped a tab-vid
on Edden's desk. "Some in Sector Three flung rotten fruit and garbage at
the idling wartanks at their border. The wartanks' commanders fired back,
killing twenty. Sector Three's troops have been mobilized. We are now
officially at war with Sector Two," he reported.

* * *

Quin

Berel looked pale when he came to find me. I knew just by
looking at him what had happened. People had died and more would die as well,
because someone had chosen to lie and others chose to believe the lie.

He sat beside me on the bench outside the Library, his
shoulder bumped against mine, his tab-vid in his hand. While the screen was now
blank, I knew he'd had recent conversations with his father.

Shutting Ulrin's journal and setting it aside, I reached for
Berel's hand and laced my fingers in his. Today had been a terrible day for
news of any kind. Berel knew what lay between Sector Two's invading forces and
answering troops from Sector Three—a city lay between them, filled with people
who couldn't escape fast enough. Those who'd managed to get away had few
options as to where to run; the nearest cities were filling up quickly with
refugees.

"I've asked Father to command one of the Alliance air
destroyers—they're coming to pick me up before moving to Sector Two's border,"
Berel said.

"I'm coming with you," I said.

"But," he began.

"No, we go together, or I swear I'll have Justis drop you
in a pig pen."

"Quin, no," he argued.

"I think I have an idea, although it will require Justis'
help, permission from the King and equipment from the Alliance. If we have
those things, I think we can do this. Together."

"Fine. Lead the way."

* * *

"Let me get Ildevar here," Kaldill said the moment I
told him what I wanted. If I had the equipment, I hoped to get the right answer
from Justis when I took the problem to him.

Worrying that the answers would be no—both from the Founder
and from Justis, made my stomach churn. If I'd eaten a midday meal (I hadn't) I
would have heaved it up at that point.

"What's this you're asking for? Personal shields?"
Ildevar appeared in a brief flash of light and blinked at Kaldill.

"For the Avii guards," I said. "This isn't
Kaldill's fault—I'm asking for the shields. The Avii can fly through the rows
of wartanks, and with the weapons you have that will render vehicles and equipment
useless, I hope we can end this idiotic conflict before more people die."

"So you're hoping to protect the winged guards as they
fire on wartanks? These same wartanks that can shoot rounds large enough to
knock down entire buildings?" Ildevar's voice—and his words—were
skeptical. I could see he'd studied Kondari weapons during his brief stays—as
was proper for any Founder of an Alliance.

"They fly really fast," I said. "The Avii, that
is."

"I suggest we get the Commander in here, now,"
Kaldill said, his voice stern. They were going to override my suggestion, which
made me want to weep. There was a way out of this, but we had to act swiftly.

* * *

"What fool idea is this?" Justis snapped. I wanted
to cower—nobody thought it would work.

"Technically, it could work," Daragar appeared and
weighed in. "But you must move soon or the plan will fail. The Wise Ones
say this."