Soul of the Fire (77 page)

“
Yes, every place has its zealots.”

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Here, zealotry went by the name Serin Rajak. He’s the usual type: vicious and vengeful. He’s talented at expressing his delusions in a way that whips up the emotions of others and pulls them into his wicked ways.”

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So his idea of ridding the world of evil was killing you?”

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Me and those like me.”

She briefly pulled down the neck band to reveal a scar.

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He hanged me by my neck while he and his followers started to build a fire under me. He’s rather fond of burning. Thinks it purges the world of the person’s magic—keeps it from lingering after death.”

Zedd sighed. “It never ends. So, apparently you convinced him to leave you be.”

She smiled. “Cost him an eye, what he did to me.”

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Can’t say I blame you.”

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It was a long time ago.”

Zedd sought to change the subject. “I presume you’ve heard about the war with the Old World?”

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Of course. We’ve had representatives from the Imperial Order here to discuss the matter with our people.”

Zedd sat up straighter. “What? The Order has people here?”

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That’s what I’m telling you. Certain people in the government listen closely to what the Imperial Order has to say. I fear the Order is making offers to high officials. And has been doing so for quite some time.”

She watched him over the rim of her cup as she took a sip. She seemed to decide to tell him more.

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Some people have been considering sending a secret message to the Mother Confessor, to ask that she come and investigate.”

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With the chimes loose, she will be without her power, the same as you and I. Until the chimes are banished, she can be no help with anything like that.”

Franca sighed. “Yes, I see what you mean. It would be best if we could see the chimes banished.”

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In the meantime, perhaps people here should investigate the matter.”

She set down her cup. “Who is going to question the Minister of Culture’s office?”

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The Directors,” Zedd offered.

She turned her cup around and around on the tabletop. “Maybe” was all she said.

When Zedd didn’t say anything, she sought to fill the silence. “In Anderith, you do what you must to get along.”

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There are always those who will.” Zedd slouched back in his chair. “It will end up being irrelevant anyway. Anderith is going to have to surrender to Richard and the new D’Haran empire he is gathering to resist the invasion of the Imperial Order.”

Zedd took another sip. “Did I mention he is also the Seeker of Truth?”

Franca looked up. “No, you neglected to mention it.”

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Richard won’t allow Anderith to carry on in the manner they seem to be doing—to have corrupt officials colluding with the Order. He and the Mother Confessor will put an end to such dangerous clandestine scheming. That’s one of the reasons he’s been forced to seize power. He means to consolidate rule under fair and open law.”

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Fair law,” she mused, as if it were a child’s wish. “We are a prosperous land, Zedd. Anders have a good life. If it were the Hakens listening to the Imperial Order, I could understand it, they could be said to have cause, but Anders are the ones listening, and they are the ones already with power.”

Zedd contemplated his tea. “Nothing nettles some people more than other people being free. In much the same way that Serin Rajak fellow hates those who have magic, the ruling elite—or those who would be—despise freedom. They find joy only in perpetuating misery.”

Zedd sought to take the frost off the chill subject. “So, Franca, do you have a husband, or do the handsome men of the world still have a chance to court you?”

Franca smiled to herself for a time before she spoke. “My heart belongs to someone… .”

Zedd reached across the table and patted her hand. “Good for you.”

She shook her head as her smile ghosted away. “No. He’s married. I can’t allow my feelings to be known. I would forever hate myself if I gave him any reason to decide to leave his beautiful bride and take up instead an aging spinster like me. I dare not let him even guess my feelings.”

“
I’m sorry, Franca,” he said in gentle sympathy. “Life—or should I say love—sometimes seems so unfair. At least it may seem so now, but someday …”

Franca dismissed the matter with a gesture—more for herself than for him, he thought. She met his gaze again.

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Zedd, I’m flattered you would come to me—for that matter that you would even remember my name—but why would you think I can help you? You have more power than I. Or at least you did.”

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To be quite honest, I didn’t come for the purpose of seeking your help in the way you might think. I came here because as a young wizard I learned this to be the place where the chimes were entombed—in Toscla, or Anderith, as it’s now called.”

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Really? I never knew that. Where in Anderith are they entombed?”

Zedd spread his hands. “I was hoping you might know. You were the only name I knew from here, so I came seeking you out. I need help.”

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I’m sorry, Zedd, but I had no idea the chimes were entombed here.” She again took up her cup and sipped in thought. “However, if, as you say, the chimes can’t get the soul of your grandson, they might eventually be pulled back into the world of the dead. We might need do nothing to bring it about. The whole problem might just vanish.”

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Yes, there is that hope, but you must keep in mind the nature of the underworld.”

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Meaning?”

Zedd tapped the outer circle of the Grace inlaid on the tabletop. “Here begins the underworld, where life crosses over.” He glided his hand past the table’s edge. “Beyond is eternity.

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Because the underworld is eternal, time has no meaning. There may be beginning when we cross over, but there is no end, so the concept of time unravels there. It is only here in the world of life where time is defined by beginning and end giving it some reference points, that it has significance.

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The chimes were conjured from that timeless place beyond, and derive their power from there, so time is meaningless to them.

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Perhaps it’s true that without obtaining the soul they crossed over to help, they will be pulled back to the underworld. However, to timeless beings, their time here may be viewed by them as but an instant as they wait to see if they will succeed, or as they enjoy a bit of frolic at bringing death and destruction, except that instant to them could be a millennium to this world. It could be ten millennia and still be but a meaningless twinkle in time to them—especially since they have no souls and can’t really experience life.”

She had been hanging on every word, seeming to be starved for conversation of things few but the gifted could comprehend.

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Yes, I see your point.” She raised a finger. “But by the same token, they could be gone today—vanish as we speak—feeling endless frustration in a world with time, once they begin to find they must function within the alien confines of time and a schedule. The soul they seek, after all, has only so much time in this world. They must pursue and capture his soul while he lives.”

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Well put and a worthy consideration, but how long shall we wait? At some point it will be too late for things of magic to recover. Some surely now lie ailing with the fading of magic. How long until they die out forever?”

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I see your stargazers wilting out on the path to your home.” Zedd lifted an eyebrow. “But much worse, how long until magic such as that of the gambit moth fails? What if the crops now growing are soon tainted?”

Her face, creased with concern, turned away.

Not knowing her well, Zedd didn’t bring it up, but without magic, Jagang and the Imperial Order were only that much more powerful. Without magic to aid them, many more would die fighting him, and it very well could be blood spilled to no good end.

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Franca, as guardians of the veil, protectors of helpless creatures of magic, and as stewards of magic’s promise to mankind, we must act with all due haste. We know not where the line lies that makes meaningful aid too late.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “Yes. Yes, you are right, of course. Why do you need to know where the chimes are entombed? What will that help you accomplish?”

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Their ancient banishment, in order to nullify the original conjuring that brought them here, would have by necessity had to again breach the veil. Such a counterspell would itself have had to be balanced with an ancillary spell to allow their return to the world of life. Such a return spell could have been exceedingly narrow in terms—invocation of threes and all that—but it wouldn’t matter; the mere existence of a return mechanism was all the balance the banishment spell would have required.”

Zedd slowly ran his finger around the rim of his teacup. “From what I know of the matter, I believe the nature of their existence dictates that the chimes can only return to the world of life, once the narrow requirements of the balancing mechanism are met, through the gateway of their banishment. That’s why I’ve had to come here.”

She stared off in reflection. “Yes, that makes sense. The gateway, wherever it is, would be open.”

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Being as you don’t know where the chimes are entombed, perhaps you can be my guide.”

Her gaze came back to him. “Where could we look? Do you have in mind a place to start?”

After another sip, Zedd set down his cup.

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My idea was you might be able to help me get into the library.”

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The Library of Culture? At the Minister of Culture’s estate?”

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That’s the one. They have ancient texts there. At least they used to. Since the chimes were banished here in Anderith, the library might contain records or other information so I could find where it took place, and thus the gateway. They might even have other information of use.”

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What are the names of the books you seek? Perhaps I know them.”

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I don’t know what books might be of help, if such books even exist, or if they do, that they are here. I will just have to start looking through those volumes in the library and see what we can find.”

She leaned forward. “Zedd, there are thousands of books there.”

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I know. I’ve seen them before.”

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And if you find a book that names this place, then what?”

Zedd shrugged in a deliberately vague manner. “First step first.”

If he could find no information on the mechanism of their banishment, he had an idea of what he might have to do should he be able to find the location of the entombment. Even if he did find such information and it was a simple matter, without the use of his magic he would be helpless to reverse the problem.

He might be forced to take desperate measures.

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So, what about the Library of Culture? Can I get in there?”

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I think I could help with that much of it. As an Ander, and one known at the Minister’s estate, I’m trusted with access. Not everyone is. Those in authority have been altering history to such an extent that those of us who have lived a bit of it don’t even recognize our own past, much less trust the rest of what we’re told.”

She emerged from her private thoughts and straightened with a brave smile. “When do you wish to go there?”

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The sooner the better.”

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Do you think you could pretend to be a visiting scholar?”

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I think I could manage to look like I have difficulty recalling my own name.”

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Oh, how kind!” Zedd exclaimed in mock delight as the woman set down the heavy volume in the glow from the tall lamp. “I’m sure of it now. I’ve no doubt. You can be nothing other than a good spirit come to assist me, Mistress Firkin.”

The woman abruptly turned as shy as a teenage girl. Her cheeks reddened as she smiled.

“
It’s my job, Master Rybnik.”

He leaned closer to her and lowered his voice to a playful whisper. “I prefer beautiful women call me Ruben.”

Zedd, when circumstances required the use an assumed name, favored the name Ruben Rybnik. He thought it a dashing name. Leading a simple life fostered the urge for occasional flamboyance. Zedd considered lighthearted diversion essential to balance. Something as simple as using the name Ruben Rybnik satisfied that need.