The Rift War (19 page)

"You don't have all the data." Grego gestured around at the waiting and watching
people. "We are in Lygroes, the kingdom of Quenlaque. Magic reigns here. We are now in the
Death Zone. Time was compressed when you walked through the tunnel--which is the only way
to get to this world. You walked under the sea, covering a moon of sailing in only two days of
walking. Protected by magic, hidden in folded time. If you enter through magic, this continent is
alive."

Unintelligible murmurs rose from the Directorate people.

"Stop playing games!" Reynod snapped.

"It's not a game. Do your weapons work?" Grego asked, stepping closer to them. "Does
any technology work? The power packs died when you entered the tunnel. Your sensors became
useless, right?"

"Have you been in league with these people all along, planning to betray the
Directorate?"

"If friendship and loyalty are betrayal, possibly." Liris stepped forward now. "There are
some things that are more important than politics and science, Dr. Reynod." His snowy hair
gleamed in the light of the setting sun. The plain blue tunic and pants, the brown cape and boots
and peaked cap looked more right on him, Grego realized, than the simple uniform he had worn
on the Rakkell estate.

"Name one," the man retorted.

"Prophecy. Truth. The eternal battle of good against evil." Liris gestured at the Archaics
and turned to bow to Emrillian. "Highness, I testify that these your friends are warriors worthy of
the battle to come. They listened and learned, and they stood and fought through their fear when
creatures of legend became flesh and blood before their eyes. I am proud to call them all friends.
You have chosen well in your allies."

"Thank you. Welcome, Archaics." Emrillian stood and came to join them. Meghianna
walked at her right and Baedrix on her left. Her friends let out cheers, startling the Valors, and
making her laugh for a moment.

As one person, they seemed to leap forward to cross the open ground between them and
her. The Valors standing guard stepped aside to let them through. Shalara stopped first, going to
one knee, with Karstis beside her, and the others followed suit a moment later in somewhat neat,
orderly lines. Grego suspected the move had been planned.

"We came as soon as we could, Queen Emrillian Warhawk," Shalara said, obviously the
chosen speaker for the group.

"You are most welcome, my friends. Do you understand that even though you have
magic, you could be killed? Are you here willingly?" Emrillian's eyes gleamed with what Grego
suspected were tears when their friends shouted out their affirmations almost in one voice. "My
friends, so many legends are true." Inhaling deeply, bracing herself, she drew Braenlicach from
its scabbard at her hip and held it pointing straight up over her head.

The gathered company let out a collective gasp and sigh of admiration and wonder as
light burst from the blade, mostly blue and silver. Maybe a third of the group leaped to their feet,
cheering and waving their own swords. Emrillian and Grego laughed, and laughed harder when
some of their friends just shook their heads in confusion.

"What is that?" Dr. Reynod demanded. He reached toward the sword, waving a
non-functioning scanner. "That isn't--that can't be--but it has the same refractive--" He closed his
mouth with an audible click when Carious and Pellen hurried to put themselves between him and
Emrillian, and both put daggers to his throat and chest.

"Behold Braenlicach, star-metal sword," Baedrix said. "Borne in the hand of the rightful
heir, proof to you men of the future that magic is real, and legend is real, and prophecy is real.
Now will you use common sense and your vaunted superior intelligence, and join our war to end
all wars?" He ended on a near-growl.

"You're lunatics --" Dr. Reese stopped short again with a gulp when Carious grasped
him by his collar and raised the dagger from his throat to the end of his nose. The man looked
cross-eyed at it and a river of sweat erupted from all over him.

"Emmi, what's happening to us?" Shalara stood, holding out her hands. Nearly a dozen
of the women among the Archaics let out little cries, spreading their arms, visibly stunned as
streamers of white and green light cascaded around them.

"Your
imbrose
is reacting, indicating how strong it is in you. Braenlicach is
made of star-metal, and
imbrose
responds to star-metal." Emrillian traded glances with
Meghianna, who nodded and spread her hands in a welcoming gesture. "You are special ones.
Chosen for the Stronghold."

"It's real, too?" Aneen blurted, stepping up next to Shalara. If Grego read the
dusky-skinned girl right, she was delighted.

"Very real. And in need of new Queen's Ladies, if we are to win the war. Go with my
aunt, all of you, and she will teach you how to use your
imbrose
."

"Pleased to meet you," Aneen said, and held out her hand to Meghianna.

"And I am delighted to meet someone from your time who thinks so clearly. Emmi has
been teaching me about your world and time, but there is so much else to do." Meghianna shook
Aneen's hand, then reached for Shalara's and nodded for the others to follow her. "I should very
much like to know who your ancestors were. You could be descended from one of the ladies of
the Stronghold, with such strong
imbrose
in you."

"I could?"

"Oh, indeed. You can trust me on that, since I am, after all, Queen of Snows."

"Aunt Meggi!" Emrillian called, when both her friends stopped short and yanked their
hands free of Meghianna's grip. "Shar, Ani, it's all right. Aunt Meggi likes to tease, but she only
teases people she likes."

"Really?" Shalara fought the visible trembling that took her body. "When you say Aunt
Meggi..." She swallowed hard and stood up straighter, and bowed in a courtly, deep gesture
worthy of a Valor. "Meghianna, Queen of Snows, command me."

"Oh, my, I do like your Archaics very much," Meghianna said, and held out her hand
again when Shalara stood up straight. "Come, children. We have much to do, and very little time
to prepare for our great battle." She waited until Shalara gave her hand into her grasp again, then
gestured with a turn of her head for all the affected Archaics women to follow her. Grego noted
they were uncharacteristically quiet. He wondered if he envied them. Legends said the Queen's
Ladies were often at the front of battles, and the targets of vicious enemy enchanters, such as the
Nameless One.

The group as a whole sighed in relief when Emrillian finally sheathed Braenlicach
again. The magic power spilling out of the sword made Grego's scalp tingle and itch. It was
pleasant at first, but after a while it grew irritating.

Emrillian settled in her makeshift throne and looked around. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't let
myself get distracted. Ectrix?"

"Here, Highness." The boy hurried forward.

"Take Master Liris and his company to their quarters. Return here as soon as you can. I
think I will have many errands for you today." She smiled when the boy grinned in
anticipation.

Liris and the rest of the household staff took the reins of their mounts and led away the
horses pulling the carts holding all the belongings they had brought from Moerta.

"Liris, is it good to be home?" she asked, as they turned to follow Ectrix to the tents that
had been set up for them.

"Very good, Highness." He winked at her as he turned away. "Though your uninvited
guests have given us a small portion of trouble."

"Trouble?" Reynod laughed, a harsh, barking sound. "I want to know how you got past
those creatures in the tunnel."

"Like this." Emrillian stretched out her hands, fingers spread wide.

Blue light spurted from her fingertips, growing into a globe that enveloped the man. He
rose in the air to nearly shoulder height, then the globe descended again. All the while, the other
Directorate people stared, muttering among themselves. Grego made note of the ones who
clutched at each other in terror and the ones who looked angry. Brysta stared, eyes glistening
with tears. Emrillian would want to know the reactions of the invaders, to judge who would be a
problem or a danger. He prayed his sweetheart would be persuaded and willing to join them.

When the globe touched the ground, it burst like a soap bubble. Reynod staggered
forward a step. He panted for a few seconds, visibly struggling to regain his balance.

"Technology like that--should be in the--hands of the Directorate," he growled between
gasps for air.

"You're becoming irritating. Shut your mouth if you can't learn any manners or common
sense," Emrillian said, snapping her fingers.

Red light spurted from her fingertips, to streak straight at Dr. Reese and hit him in the
mouth. His eyes went wide and he grappled at his throat with both hands, his mouth flapping like
a fish stranded on dry ground.

"How did you put up with him on the way here?" she said to Karstis.

He laughed, tipping his head back. "Do you know how many times I've wanted to do
something like that to him? Of course, that won't solve the problem with Kayn," Karstis added,
glancing at Grego. "We'll deal with that later."

"Sooner than you think," Emrillian said. "Grego will have to give you a crash course on
the time differential between Lygroes and Moerta. You've already been out of communication
with Moerta for half a moon, to their perception."

"That could be a problem." He nodded, eyes unfocused as he visibly considered this new
information. "Whatever happens, though... I'm in. We're all in. Put us to work."

"Lord Carious?" She waited until the Valor stepped up before her, bowed, and slid his
dagger back into the sheath at his belt. "Will you take the rest of my friends and settle them, then
explain what has happened since I arrived? We will meet for the noon meal and make our plans.
We have many lessons and not much time." She waited until Carious clapped Karstis on the
shoulder and led the rest of the Archaics away. Then she sighed and turned back to Dr. Reynod
and the rest of the Directorate people. Grego pitied her.

"What must we do to convince you?" she said, voice muted, so Grego realized she spoke
rhetorically, rather than asking these intruders a question.

"We would like some questions answered," Brysta said, stumbling forward a few steps.
Grego couldn't decide if she had to fight her way free of the knot of her team members, or she
had been pushed forward, forced to act as spokesperson. Her face still looked damp from the
tears she had scrubbed away. She avoided looking at him altogether. "We lost two members of
our team in that tunnel. A tunnel that shouldn't even exist, according to all the planetary surveys.
Our compasses are completely haywire. We should be in the middle of the ocean, at best. How
can you tell us we're in a land that never even existed?"

"Lygroes and Quenlaque did indeed exist, and do exist now, but very different from
when they were the roots of the legends you know. As for the tunnel... It takes magic and
archaic weapons to survive the perils there. Liris told you so, didn't he?" Emrillian waited until a
few people nodded. "But despite all the evidence, you insisted on depending on energy weapons
in a place where magic rules and technology is void. As simple as that."

"Simple as that." Brysta's pallor warmed to an angry flush. "If you knew we were there,
in danger, you can be held accountable for those deaths." She muffled a sigh. "Emrillian, I
thought you were Grego's friend. How can you do this?"

"I do this because I must. Because it is the duty I was born to, millennia ago."

"This doesn't make any sense. You ran, you... You led us into that tunnel, essentially.
You and your friends set up a trap, whether you intended it or not. People are dead and it's your
fault." She glanced quickly at Grego, and then away. "All of you."

He supposed that was a good sign of where she would stand when it came time for the
ultimate choice. Being branded a traitor to Goarlotte-Welcairn and the Directorate was easy to
accept. Grego realized he had hoped to see admiration and wonder and excitement when Brysta
realized that all his Archaics "games" were based in a reality stronger, brighter, more worthwhile
than anything their modern world could offer. He had hoped she would gladly cast aside the life
she knew, and join him in this world of magic and quests and honor.

"The deaths of intruders who were told to turn back?" Emrillian said. "Intruders who
were warned, and who invaded private property, to take by force what they could have had if
they had asked. You know Grego is a good friend. We grew up together." She gestured and he
stepped up closer to her and turned to face these people, most of whom he knew, even if only
casually. "If he had come to me and asked if we had star-metal on our property, and asked if he
could take some for his studies, my grandfather and I might have considered cooperating."

"You expect us to believe that?" a man snarled from the back of the group.

"She is Emrillian Warhawk, queen of Quenlaque," Baedrix said, his voice like ice. He
stepped forward, hand on the hilt of his sword, soft shimmers of red-tinged magic flaring out
from his wrist and from Braenlicach. The group of Directorate people split apart, to leave the
speaker standing alone, wilting before the Regent's disdainful glare. "The Queen has no need to
lie."

"You should have turned back the moment you knew your weapons would not function.
Who is responsible for the deaths of people inadequately armed?" Emrillian said. "The
equipment invented to drain power from star-metal threatens the safety of this land. It could
crack the foundations of the entire planet. We must act to protect our world and time, as well as
yours. This is reality, dreams come true. You have several choices. Stay here. Teach my people
about Moerta. Join our cause to protect our world. Or give me your oath that you will not work
against us, and that you will try to convince the others in the Directorate to give up the star-metal
project. You can return to Moerta with my blessing and protection."