The Seedbearing Prince: Part I (21 page)

“You sleep in here?”

“When the need arises.”

Lurec removed a tower of books from a stool
beside the table and motioned for Dayn to sit. He swept aside some
dusty scrolls that made them both sneeze, revealing a circular
metal bowl built into the table top. Dayn set his packs and staff
near the door and settled on the stool.

“Dayn, would you...? Thank you.” He placed
the Seed into the bowl at the Preceptor's prompting. Lurec rummaged
through some glass containers on a shelf until he found the one he
sought. He applied the clear paste within to the bruise on his
forehead and sighed in relief.

“Why will no one else touch the Seed?” Dayn
asked. He could not help but stare as the Preceptor’s bruise faded
right before his eyes. “I almost think people are afraid of it.
Should I be, too?”

“Afraid? Certainly not. Think of it as
respect. The less people who handle the Seed, the better. At least,
until we understand precisely how it works.” Lurec poured water
from a small flask into the bowl. The water's surface dimpled and
flashed around the red orb. It glowed more vibrantly, pulsing in a
regular rhythm.

Dayn grew nervous, as Lurec studied the water
intently. Something about the glow made him uneasy. “Well, does it
work? You sounded like you didn't know before.”

“I was certain this specimen was intact from
the moment I laid eyes on it.” Lurec sat back, clearly satisfied
with whatever he saw. “And I am right. I cannot thank you enough.
My every conscious moment shall be devoted to this treasure you've
found!”

“What is it?” Dayn asked, watching the Seed's
light. He rubbed his shoulder absently. It occurred to him that he
needed to change he bandages beneath his shirt, although he no
longer felt the wreathweaver's bite. “You never told me, after
everything that happened.”

“Yes, of course. The Seed...where do I
begin?” The Preceptor laced his fingers behind his head and pursed
his lips. He glanced over at his swampy enclosure. A hidden frog
croaked from somewhere within the mire. “You must understand that
the Seed predates the Ring by thousands of years. All of its powers
are not fully understood. Perhaps it is simplest to think of it as
a living repository. A record of the entire World Belt's plants and
animals―many long dead. I imagine a farmer would appreciate that
aspect most of all.”

“I thought it’d be for more than just study,”
Dayn said dubiously. “I thought it would
do
something. Even
our Elders keep a bestiary, and Wia Wells is small. We’re taught
everything they know about plants before our first Sealing.”

“That is impressive.” Lurec leaned forward
intently. “Yet how would you tend crops that you are not as learned
about? From Shard's Highlands, her swamps or caves? Do you have a
lifetime to master each of those environments, should your skills
be called upon elsewhere? Or on another world, perhaps?”

“Well, no,” Dayn admitted. “But I could learn
in a season or two. What good is—”

“Perhaps a test is in order. A
demonstration.” Lurec stood and plucked the Seed from its strange
bath. The rippling water immediately stilled. Dayn followed him
over to the habitat. The Preceptor lifted the crystal top, and the
fetid smell of rot and standing water immediately wrinkled Dayn's
nose. Lurec unceremoniously plunked the Seed into his odd little
swamp. The red glow showed dimly through the murky water. He peered
at it with a thoughtful expression before closing the top.
“Curious. I've never read of one pulsing this way. I hope it is
truly undamaged.

“Not much is recorded about the Seeds, not
even in the Ring's earliest chronicles. But every story mentions
their power to give living things new vigor.”

They peered into the enclosure together. The
surface of the water convulsed, and a layer of pink algae bloomed
upon it, creeping halfway up the crystal before finally
stopping.

Dayn gasped. “That should take days, not
seconds!”

Lurec nodded speculatively. “I submit to your
expertise. Let us see what else happens.” Shapes flickered through
the water, which looked less murky than before. Perhaps a dozen
tadpoles flitted by the crystal near Dayn's face, followed by a
school of minnows. One of the dreary plants shook for a second, and
he thought it would burst into bloom. Instead a sleepy old turtle
appeared, looking surprised at the sudden activity in the
water.

“Remarkable,” Lurec breathed. “A balance
among living things exists, Dayn. You know better than most how
sensitive the scales are. My fully grown specimens lived well
enough in this world I've attempted to fashion. It took
immeasurable time to attain what you see here. None of their eggs
have ever successfully hatched, until now. You see the results of
mere moments near the Seed.”

The red glow persisted from beneath the
water. Dayn set aside his unease over the Seed's light as his mind
grasped the possibilities. “You're saying it’s like...a hothouse
for all of the creatures in here?”

“A suitable comparison.”

Dayn's head reeled with questions. Those fish
should fare poorly in such stagnant water, yet the minnows zipped
around inside like they were holding festival races. Algae made the
water even less hospitable. The Seed either chased the algae out,
or did something to the water. “Could it do this for a crop, or
stop blight?”

“Now you begin to see. The Seed is a tool
that gives us great power to do good in the Belt.” Lurec's eyes
took on a faraway look as he gazed into the makeshift swamp. Even
the frogs seemed to croak louder. “Great power, to make our world
anew.”

“You were right to fight for it. The
Misthaveners would never have given this up if they knew of it.”
Once the Preceptors fully understood the Seed, there might never be
drought in the World Belt again.
What will Shard’s Pledge mean
then?
Another thought filled him with dread. “The voidwalkers
who chased me. Do they know about this, too?”

The Preceptor’s brow furrowed, but a chime
sounded before he could answer. Lurec looked at the door in
surprise. “At this hour, who could...?” His eyes met Dayn's in a
moment of panic.

“The other Preceptors from the
transport?”

“I’ll have to turn them away!” The Seed
pulsed quickly and brightly now, filling the room with crimson
tones. “Hide it if you can.”

Dayn stared at Lurec in disbelief. He would
have to climb into the enclosure to fish the orb out of the mud.
“You can't be serious. How?”

“I don't know!” Lurec snapped as he strode to
the door. The chime sounded again. “Peace, it chooses now to shine
brighter? Throw some mud over it!”

“I'm no Southforte folk,” Dayn muttered. He
rummaged frantically for something to block the Seed's light,
toppling books as he searched. He refused to wade into the muck.
He dropped it in there, he can scoop it out himself!

He spread his red cloak over the top of the
crystal, then grabbed the Preceptor's doffed overcoat and tossed it
on as well. He looked on helplessly as the Preceptor reached the
door. The Seed’s light still shone through the habitat. “Wait,
there's nothing else to hide it with!”

The door swished open to reveal a young woman
in the unrelieved black Dayn associated with Defenders. She wore no
armor, just trousers and a long-sleeved shirt that buttoned down
the front. She hastily snatched her hand down from hiding a
yawn.

“Preceptor Lurec? I am Eriya. The Lord
Ascendant ordered me to escort your guest to his quarters.”

“Yes, yes. Please enter, Initiate.” Lurec
nodded graciously, exhaling loudly as she strode into his
study.

He’s relieved she's not a Preceptor,
Dayn thought.
Should I be, too?

Lurec looked at his swamp, then back at Eriya
curiously. The frogs had grown silent at her presence. Her manner
reminded Dayn of a prowling ridgecat. She wore her black hair in
thinly woven braids, tied neatly into a ponytail. Eriya's brown
eyes rested above proud cheekbones, and turned wide as saucers at
the Seed's glow, only to narrow again as she took in Dayn. A ruddy
tone brushed her cinnamon skin, somehow reminding him of the roses
in his mother's garden. Dayn supposed Eriya to be quite beautiful,
except that her bearish expression took away from a smooth jaw and
full lips.
It’s late here,
Dayn reminded himself.
She
must have just been pulled from bed.

“It’s past time the Defenders redressed such
a poor display of hospitality,” the Preceptor said. He turned to
Dayn, and in so doing missed Eriya's eyes nearly pop from her skull
in outrage. “I’m sure you’ll be well looked after. Breakfast shall
be served in many of the dining halls soon.”

The Preceptor walked Dayn to the door in a
show of politeness, but the man looked ready to dance now that he
could continue his examination of the Seed undisturbed.

“You’ve not eaten yet?” Eriya asked Dayn. She
gave Lurec a scandalized look when Dayn shook his head no. Her
fingers reached up and plucked a bit of twig from Dayn’s braids. He
cringed, imagining how his torn clothes and cloak must look.
“Preceptor Lurec, you would have him stand before the Veiled Throne
looking like this?”

“I'm a little hungry,” he admitted. Eriya
shook her head and motioned him into the hall, giving the
Preceptor's study one last dubious sweep.

Lurec’s face reddened. “I’m sorry, lad. I’m
rather pressed for time, and—”

“No matter. I’ll clean him up.” Dayn
retrieved his cloak, then grabbed his staff and packs. The Seed's
light did not pulse quite as strongly as before. “I understand. But
aren’t you going to eat?” he asked Lurec.

Lurec laughed heartily. “Only if I must! I
plan to be in study for the next several months. Peace favor you,
young Shardian.” The Preceptor bowed, his attention already riveted
on the Seed before the door to his study fully closed.

“Peace favor you,” Dayn said. He should have
felt relieved at his dismissal, but he finally realized what
bothered him about Lurec's test in the makeshift pond. The Seed’s
pulsing red light perfectly matched the rhythm of his own
heartbeat.
Old powers can take a liking to you. That’s what
Nerlin said.
He was glad to be free of the Seed.

Eriya regarded him for a moment, hiding
another yawn behind her fist. “You are the first Shardian I have
met,” she said finally.

He extended his arm to greet in the Defender
manner he remembered from Nassir. Eriya blinked at that.

“What world are you from?” he asked.

“Dervish.”

Dayn hastily jerked his hand away. “I'm
sorry, I didn’t mean any offense,” he said hastily. Dervishi folk
were known to be extremely touchy, especially the women. He did not
want her to attack him over some imagined slight.

Her eyes narrowed. “Offense? For stealing my
sleep, or pulling me down to the Preceptor's halls?” She continued
on over Dayn’s stammering. “Surely you’re important for the Lord
Ascendant to order a personal escort at this hour.”

“Me? No, I’m not important. I’m a
farmer.”

“As you say. This way.” She favored him with
a wry expression. “I will not bite you, Shardian.”

Dayn hurried to keep up as Eriya swept down
the hall, recalling what little he knew of her world. He remembered
that a Dervishi took grave insult from a stranger’s touch, but that
obviously was not true. Dervishi fighters were considered among the
fiercest in the Belt, and the proudest.

Dervish itself spun faster than any other
world of the Belt, and their capital city was carved of old
heartrock. Such useless tidbits served Dayn poorly now, and he
regretted not listening more to his father’s lessons. Dervishi held
little regard for coursing, so Dayn held little regard for
Dervish.

Eriya cast uncomfortable glances around each
corner. She appeared eager to leave the Preceptor's halls.
“Misthaven is your city?” she asked. Her boots echoed off of the
plain stone.

“Peace, no,” Dayn blurted out. She gave him a
surprised look, and Dayn considered how his words must sound. He
did not want to cast his homeworld in a bad light, he might be the
only person she ever met from Shard.
Besides, I'm the offworlder
now,
he reminded himself. “It’s the capital, but I don't live
there. I'm from the Mistlands, to the south. My village is Wia
Wells. Misthaven’s a good place, though.” Dayn could scarcely
believe his own lips.

“Your time upon the Ring will be difficult if
you know so little of the Belt. Very difficult.”

“I won't be here long,” Dayn replied. “After
I talk to the Lord Ascendant, Lurec said I'll go back to
Shard.”

Eriya's face was expressionless. “Of
course.”

They came to an intersection with six
archways, each with a hallway leading deeper into the Ring. Eriya
paused uncertainly before choosing the way to their immediate left.
A scene carved into the archway’s stone depicted a robed man
sitting crosslegged with a sprouting plant in one hand, and a
scroll in the other. A sword handle jutted out from behind his
shoulder.

“Defenders are very learned about the customs
of every world. Next year is my first trial as an Initiate,” Eriya
said. Dayn knew of Initiates, at least, folk from the Belt who were
tested to become Defenders. “Speaking with you may bring me
advantage. Teach me of your Shard, and I will teach you of the
Ring. Will you make this agreement with me?” Eriya turned to face
him, and placed her right palm on her chest, looking at him
expectantly.

“I will tell you as much as I can,” Dayn
promised, mirroring the motion.
Peace, she might get angry if I
don’t,
he thought. Besides, the only two Ringmen he knew were
absorbed in far more important matters than answering his
questions. “I don't know what good it will do, though. Shard is
probably dull compared to the rest of the Belt.”