Secrets of the Stonechaser (The Law of Eight Book 1) (30 page)

Rade nodded. “I wish to meet the Stonechaser. I have to be sure this time. Do you think she will answer my questions?”

“Len-Ahl is fairly secretive, even to her friends,” Nerris said. “She may be more forthcoming if I’m with you, but Qabala won’t let me into the dungeons. She thinks if I’m allowed to confer with Dist and Jhareth that we’ll find a way to escape.”

“We have no choice,” Rade said. “If I have to, I’ll sneak you in.”

Nerris laughed. “That’s only appropriate, Rade. The last time I enjoyed the hospitality of Qabala’s dungeons, it was you who sneaked me out.”

Chapter Thirty

LEN-AHL’S ROUGH WOOL blanket lay unused on the straw pallet of her cell. There was no need for it down here. Darkness consumed the dungeon, the only light seeping in from torches outside in the corridor. She was underground, she knew, yet she was warm, as if one of Dist’s fires burned a few feet away, and could not explain why.

She felt the absence of the Faery Realm in this place. Even the gnomes who followed the will of Gobe were not present in this catacomb. It was because of the strong presence of the Cult of Eversor, she realized. This was the place Eversor planned to enter their world, and his essence was too much for the faeries to bear. She did not like what that meant for this city. The faeries were the caretakers of the world and their absence meant eventual woe for Palehorse.

She huddled in the corner of her cell, her backside aching as it pressed against the stone floor. She had dreamed this back in Orrigo. Ever since she had begun playing the melody referred to as “Paral’s breath,” visions had come to her unbidden. So many possibilities, and this was the one to come true. She had not told the others because of all those possible futures. Though their ride to Palehorse had been hard on all of them, she took comfort in the feeling accompanying her dreams, the feeling that something important was meant to happen here.

That did not mean it had not hurt her when Nerris’s connection with the Yagol queen was revealed. Those emotions hit her unexpectedly. Nerris had the right to give his love to whomever he wished. She had not even met him when he and Qabala were keeping company. Yet it hurt all the same. In spite of his warrior’s reputation, Nerris was a gentle man. What had he seen in that vile woman who housed such corruption within her?

“Human men have a reputation for being simpler creatures than females,” her mother had once told her. “Yet if the menfolk rule their world, why is there such disparity? There are rough, gentle, violent, and peaceful men. Some kings have destroyed nations where others forged peaceful alliances. Some men seek out status and the truths of the world to the end of their days, while some are content with their plowshares, looking no further than the edge of their fields.”

Len-Ahl sighed. She missed her mother so much at times. For twenty-one years, they lived in that patch of forest together. All it had taken was the span of a moment, and she was alone. It was a difficult adjustment to make.

She had known about her ultimate journey as long as she could remember. Her mother told her stories of the Exemplus and the Fatexion and how it had once been a single stone, until the event the faeries called the Day of Sundering. She had been immersed in the  faeries’ magical lore, which had manifested itself in her music.

Mother had warned her innocence would be tested, that it would be hard on her, both in mind and body. Only now that she had some real experience in the world did Len-Ahl understand the complex nature of humans, their cruelty and their gentleness, their selfishness and generosity. It was one thing to be told, another to do. The faeries she had grown up with were not like that. They were cut from a single roll of cloth, but colored differently. Salamanders with their flames, sylphs gliding through the air, undines splashing in the water, and gnomes toiling in the earth. Humans were cut from many different fabrics. Wool, cotton, silk; humans had much variety.

When her mother disappeared, she knew the time for her journey was near. And then she met Nerris. He was the first human she had ever gotten to know, and her own humanity soared whenever they were together. She had always been close to the Faery Realm, but Nerris completed her human side, a part of her she never even knew existed. Though she knew it would complicate matters, she could not help it. His caring nature and kindness earned her admiration, and eventually her love.

But then she had played the song of the prophecy, and the dreams began. She saw many visions of the future, but all of them shared one trait: she and Nerris were not meant to be together. In one future, he grew to love her in return. However, she spurned him in order to avoid the other future, the one she did not even want to consider. It had brought on intense feelings of hatred from Nerris, and it was all Len-Ahl could do to avoid screaming as she awakened.

A key in the lock of her cell jolted her out of her thoughts. The rusted hinges squealed as the door swung open. Len-Ahl squinted into the torchlight, but could not make out the two men who entered. She knew they were male; it was in their stature, the way they walked, and that smell of sinewy sweat which seemed to permeate in human men. Remembering the stares of the soldiers on the road and the leering of the foul man Falares, she shrank back into her corner.

“Don’t be alarmed,” said a pleasant voice. He set his torch in a sconce and threw back his hood. A gray-haired man stared at her. Though elderly, his eyes gave off a youthful twinkle, reflecting the torchlight.

The other man threw back his hood, and her heart lifted. “Nerris!” She tried to rise, but stumbled in her excitement and fell back into the corner.

“Easy, Len-Ahl,” Nerris said. He held out a hand and helped her to her feet, and she found herself in his warm embrace. “Are you all right? Have Qabala’s men harmed you in any way?”

“No,” she said. “They left me down here in the dark. I have been so frightened.”

“We’ll see about getting you out of here real soon,” the other man said. “Such a lovely lady shouldn’t be hidden down here.”

Len-Ahl smiled at the graybeard. She liked him already.

“This is Rade,” Nerris said. “I knew him from my previous stint in Qabala’s army, and he is now one of her Dume-Generals. He’s the one who set me on the path which led me to you. He knows about the prophecy, the Catalyst, all of it.”

“You do?” Len-Ahl asked Rade. “How do you know about all that?”

“I was an acquaintance of Queen Angelica once,” Rade said, with a twinge of sadness, she thought. “It’s a long story, but I’m a part of this as much as you are, Len-Ahl. I know what you must do, and that we must get you away from here. Tell me, child, have you been having dreams lately?”

Len-Ahl nodded. “I dreamed I would come to this place, and that it would exact its toll on me. But I also got a certain feeling, like there was something I had to do here, or someone I had to meet. It is difficult to gather my thoughts in this dank place. I wish my mother was here. She always explained these things much better than I could.”

“Who was your mother?” Rade asked. “What was her name?”

“I do not know,” Len-Ahl said. “She never talked about herself very much, and I only ever called her ‘Mother.’ Is it important, Master Rade?”

“Perhaps.” Rade moved toward the torch to get a better view of her. “Please, look at me for a moment. I have to be sure of something.”

Len-Ahl met his gaze, and he stared into her eyes. Despite their mischievous twinkle, she could tell this old man’s eyes had seen a lot. After a few moments, he tore his gaze from hers and turned away. He disguised it well, but Len-Ahl briefly saw sorrow on his face. Before she could inquire about it, Nerris interrupted her thoughts.

“Len-Ahl,” he said, “I’m truly sorry about everything that’s happened. I should have told you, Dist, and Jhareth of the nature of my relationship with Qabala.” He held her hands in his, and she could feel the lingering warmth from the outside world, a feeling she had not experienced in days.

“It is all right,” Len-Ahl said. “This hardship is all part of being a Thrillseeker, no?”

Nerris chuckled. “I can’t say we haven’t been thrown in a dungeon or two. But I promise, I will get you out as soon as Rade and I can think of something. I haven’t forgotten you. You have a journey in front of you, and I want you to trust me. Know that no matter what I may do, I am on your side.”

Len-Ahl smiled. “I would never stop believing that.”

She saw Rade observing them out of the corner of her eye, and the Dume-General coughed. “I’m going to give you two a few minutes to yourself, but hurry it up, Nerris. If we’re gone too long, we’ll be missed.”

Nerris nodded. “Thank you, Rade.”

Rade exited the cell and shut the door behind him. Len-Ahl sat on her straw pallet, and Nerris knelt beside her. “Are you and Qabala really lovers?” she asked.

“Yes,” Nerris said, “and we have bedded together once again since I arrived here.”

Len-Ahl had to laugh in spite of herself. Nerris was not one to tell lies, but he did keep things hidden. In his haste to comfort her, he was baring all at the moment, and she sensed this might be her chance to get him to open up, if she had the courage to ask the questions on her mind.

“How can you love a woman like that?” she said. “Is she the one you talked about, the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?”

“No,” Nerris said. “That woman’s name was Ketsuya. She died three years ago, and Qabala was my first lover since that time. She awakened feelings of passion in me I hadn’t felt in years, not just for the flesh but for life. It’s hard to explain if you haven’t lost someone you were devoted to so fully, but after Ketsuya’s death I wanted so bad to follow her. And I would have, if Dist and Jhareth hadn’t stopped me. But for the next three years, I was a mere shell, alive in body but dead in the soul. Until I met Qabala. For that, I owe her no end of gratitude, and it pains me to see what she has become. But she seems to be on a separate path, drifting farther away from me with every passing day. If only I had met her sooner...”

Len-Ahl shook her head. “If that had happend, we might not have met.”

“There’s that too,” Nerris said. “I’ve been confused these past couple of months. I never thought I would love again after Ketsuya, but Qabala showed me I could. And after I left Yagolhan I met you. And I have never been happier. I think I...”

He couldn’t quite bring himself to say it, bless his heart. She knew if he put those words into the air, he would look at it as the final betrayal of his Ketsuya. She could not let him do that. Not until the day when he understood it was not dishonorable to let go, or the consequences of what those words would entail for the both of them.

“You do not have to say anything,” she said, putting a hand on his arm. “I know what is in your heart, Nerris.”

He smiled wanly. “You aren’t going to ask me how she died?”

“It is not my place.”

Nerris sighed, visibly relieved. He brushed a stray hair out of her face. “I’m not sure I can adequately explain it myself. But maybe someday. Right now, the important thing is to get you away from Qabala. I need to talk with Dist and Jhareth as well, and get her to release them if possible. And find a way to get Jinn’s medallion back.”

He rose and made his way to the door, and Len-Ahl found she did not want him to go. When he was gone, she would be in darkness again. Everything seemed easier to bear when Nerris was near.

Nerris opened the door and kissed her on the forehead. Len-Ahl bit her lip, determined to keep herself from crying. She had to be brave, and show him she could be fierce as a warrior queen like Qabala. He stepped out of the room, and Len-Ahl caught one last glimpse of Rade as he shut the door.

She looked at the torch, still in the wall sconce. “You will not need light?” she asked through the small barred window in the thick door.

“We’ll manage,” Rade said. “That is yours now, and when it goes out I’ll send a gaoler down with another. I promise you will not want for light anymore.”

Len-Ahl bowed her head. “Thank you.”

Nerris reached through the bars and touched hands with her for one brief moment. “I will be back for you,” he said.

In a moment they were gone, and Len-Ahl turned back to her pallet, feeling hope for the first time since she had come to this accursed place. They had taken her flute, but they had not taken her voice. She hummed a melody to the tune of the crackling of the salamanders’ flames, and filled the empty space with her lament.

She closed her eyes as she hummed, but she soon sensed  something else present. Nerris and Rade had left, so why did she still feel a presence? She opened her eyes and stared at the corner of her cell. A trick of the light, perhaps, but the shadows there seemed blacker somehow, and misty. Len-Ahl stopped her song and set her jaw, scowling at the blackness.

“You have no right to judge me, half-faery,”
the Tattered Man said. The black mist drifted between a figure in a tattered robe and shapelessness, shifting like the billows of a cloud.
“You may be the Stonechaser, but there is much you do not yet understand.”

“No doubt,” Len-Ahl said to the emotionless voice. “Understanding is not required to complete a task you believe in.”

“The famous naivety of the faeries.”
The shape of the Tattered Man finally formed, his pale hands almost glowing against the gray of his robes.
“You are the world’s oldest beings, yet you all think like children. Allow me to introduce myself.”

“I know who you are,” Len-Ahl said.

“And you are not afraid?”

“You are Eversor’s foothold in our world, a mere extension of his will. I am not frightened by figments of the imagination.”

“I am much more than a figment,”
the Tattered Man said.
“Ask your Queen Angelica, if you can find her.”

Len-Ahl shook her head. “I do not need to. If you mean to intimidate me, do not trouble yourself. I know you cannot harm humans.”

“You are only half-human.”

“But you need me,” Len-Ahl said. “The reunion of the Exemplus and the Fatexion can open the gateway for Eversor, or it can seal him off from our world forever. But all of this with Yagolhan and the Cult is useless unless the second godstone is found.”

“Very perceptive,”
the Tattered Man said.
“Whoever versed you in the secrets of the Stonechaser did so admirably.”

“The Stonechaser will uncover the Exemplus, and the Stonechaser has to earn her power. Your Qabala only understands that which is given to her. When it comes right down to it, that is all Eversor understands, no? The likes of you have no concept of struggle, love, friendship, or achievement.”