The Voice of Prophecy (Dual Magics Book 2) (13 page)

Veleus trudged up the last staircase, lugging the heavy tome
and its companion scroll with him. Why had they ever decided to place the
Council Chamber so high up? Yes, the view was spectacular, but the point of a
meeting of the High Council was hardly to enjoy the view. He just wished
Amaurea had called this meeting for a little later in the day. It was hard to
be as alert as he needed to be with only a couple of hours sleep. That wasn’t
good for his temper, either.

And he suspected that he would need both attentiveness and
self-control before this meeting was over. He knew Gerusa too well. After
yesterday’s setback, she’d be scrambling to rebuild her prestige—and she’d
always preferred a preemptive strike to merely countering her opponent’s
move.  Yes, she’d suffered a defeat and some embarrassment, but she still
had a sizeable bloc of Councilors willing to follow her lead. Combined with her
own personal power, based on her undeniable Talent, that gave her influence he
couldn’t afford to take lightly.

Arriving at the Council Chamber at last, Veleus sank into
his seat with a sigh, setting the book and scroll on the table in front of him.

“How long have you known about this, Veleus?” Gerusa asked
before he’d even properly settled into his chair.

Veleus sighed wearily. “Known about what? A great deal
happened yesterday. You’ll have to be more specific.”

“How long have you known Vatar has Talent?” Montibeus asked.

Veleus turned to his friend. “If you mean what he did
yesterday, I didn’t know he was capable of that. I’m not sure he knew, until
Gerusa made him angry. But I had recently learned that he had Talent.”

“How recently?” Gerusa asked.

Veleus shrugged. “Vatar himself only learned that he was
capable of Far Speech
and Far Sight last winter.”

“Lords of Creation! Less than a year and he did that
yesterday?” Montibeus asked.

Veleus’s lips twitched up despite his weariness. “I suspect
motivation had something to do with his rapid progress. His new wife was one of
his teachers, I believe.”

Montibeus smiled briefly at that. “Ah.”

Gerusa leaned forward and tapped the table. “Still, you’ve
known for several months, at least. But you didn’t inform the Council.”

Veleus turned back to her. “Gerusa, if you thought I was going
to help you imprison my son, you should have known better.” He paused and drew
a deep breath to help him control his temper. “Anyway, he wasn’t in Caere and I
wasn’t sure he planned to return.
Because
of his new wife, I thought it
was possible he’d stay there.”

Gerusa slapped the table hard. “So you let him come here and
threaten us. You didn’t even think to warn us.”

Veleus’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared as he turned
to face Gerusa squarely. “First, I didn’t know you had sent the Guard to arrest
him until just before the Council meeting. How can I warn you about something
you deliberately do behind my back, Gerusa? Second, Fore Sight is not to be
considered a threat, however frightening. That has long been established. And,
third, as I remember it, Gerusa, you threatened him first. It wasn’t until you
proposed killing him and his family that he challenged you.”

“That’s all true.” Montibeus waved his hand. “But why didn’t
you warn us of the possibility that he is the Fasallon who is not a Fasallon?”

There was a murmur of agreement around the table.

Veleus sat back. “Because I
know
that he isn’t. Even
he
told you that he isn’t.”

“But, how do you know that he’s not the one the prophecy
speaks of?” Amaurea asked.

Veleus placed his hands on the book and the scroll that he’d
brought with him. “Because he is foretold in a different prophecy. Or, rather,
several prophecies.”

Veleus opened the thick book to a page he had marked near
the beginning. “How many of you have read the Book of Prophecies lately? I
have. We have based almost our entire society on just one of Abella’s
prophecies. When our ancestors decided to pass themselves off as the Caereans’
Sea Gods, Abella made five prophecies concerning the Lie. Taken together, they
describe almost exactly what happened here, yesterday. We ignore them at our
peril.”

“What do they say?” Amaurea asked.

Rather than answer, Veleus unrolled the scroll. “I had to do
a little work to piece her prophecies together in the right order. Whether it’s
a copying mistake or for some other reason, they’re not in the Book in the
order she made them. But the Chronicles clearly tell the correct order.” Veleus
placed the scroll next to the book on the table.

“The first prophecy was so simple it might have been an
ordinary guess. ‘If we do this, the Lie cannot be maintained forever.’ But the
second, made a day later, expands on the first. ‘There will come a point of
decision when the Lie can no longer be sustained. The choice our descendants
make will determine their future’—”

Gerusa groaned loudly. “This is all a diversion. What does
quoting ancient prophecies have to do with the business at hand?”

“I’m coming to that,” Veleus answered. “Or don’t you have
faith in your own ancestress’s prophecies?”

Amaurea glared at Gerusa. “Go ahead. There won’t be any more
interruptions.”

Veleus looked back at the page in front of him. “‘—The
choice our descendants make will determine their future. One choice leads to
ruin, but the other choice will lead to their greatness.’ The third prophecy describes
a Harbinger. ‘When the time of decision arrives, a Harbinger will appear to lay
the choice before them. These are the ways by which they will know the
Harbinger. He will have been raised far from his kin and washed to them by the
flood. He will be in possession of wild and ancient Talents and guided by one
forgotten. He will be one of those born to be bound to another. Through her, he
will reunite us with our lost half. And he will possess two kinds of magic—ours
and another.’ Two days later, Abella made the fourth prophecy. ‘The Harbinger
will be the subject of the decision. He will tell them what the correct choice
is, if they have the sense to listen.’ Abella’s last prophecy on the subject is
the one we have focused all our attention on, as if it stood alone. ‘If the
wrong choice is made, one day a Fasallon who is not a Fasallon will reveal our
secrets and end our rule as gods.’ It’s all there in the Book of Prophecies.
Read it for yourselves.”

There was silence around the council table for several
minutes. Amaurea pulled the book closer and reread the prophecies Veleus had
marked.

Gerusa was the first to speak. “I take it you mean to
persuade us that Vatar is this Harbinger. But I don’t see how you come to that
conclusion.”

Veleus sat back and began to tick of the points on his
fingers. “Vatar was raised among the Dardani, far away from us. He first came
to Caere after having nearly been caught in a flash flood. After yesterday, I
think ‘ancient Talents’ speaks for itself. Only yesterday, his wife informed me
that she thought they were ‘binding’ each other in a way I understand to be
similar to the bond between Taleus and Calpe. And I believe that the Valson he
brought back with him, like the boy, are ‘our lost half’, descendants of those
our ancestors split away from before they came to Caere.”

“What about guided by one forgotten?” Montibeus asked.

Veleus shook his head. “I confess I don’t understand that
one. At least, not yet.”

“And in possession of two kinds of magic?” Amaurea asked.

Veleus smiled. “Well, I’m not sure yet if it’s another kind
of magic. Vatar claims not. But apparently the Dardani have what he describes
as a spiritual connection with the animals that symbolize their clan. In his
case, this is the lion, like the one you saw yesterday.

“Vatar is the Harbinger. And he laid a choice before us
yesterday—to leave him and his family alone or else face our downfall. He told
us which was the correct decision, just as Abella prophesied. It’s up to us to
make the choice Abella foresaw six hundred years ago.”

“You don’t suppose he could be persuaded to help us with the
Festival, do you?” Montibeus asked. “With Talent like that—”

Veleus gave a single bark of laughter. He couldn’t imagine
Vatar taking part in the procession of the supposed Sea Gods. Maybe he
shouldn’t say that just yet, though. “Well, I’m not going to ask him today.”

Montibeus gestured palms down. “No. No, I suppose not. But
maybe after he’s had a chance to see that we keep our word?”

“Anything is possible, Montibeus. But I wouldn’t rely on
it,” Veleus answered. “All of my sons inherited a certain stubbornness. Vatar
not least.”

Amaurea leaned forward. “How many of these Valson did he
bring back with him?”

“Only three. His wife, her brother, who was here yesterday, and
a friend of his wife,” Veleus answered.

“So what do you know about these Valson?” Amaurea asked.

Veleus rewound the scroll while he thought. The Sooth Teller
would know if he lied outright. That didn’t mean he had to tell everything he
knew, though. If only it hadn’t been such an open-ended question, that would
have been easier. “I’ve only met them twice. From what I can tell, they seem to
have Talents like ours. Similar enough to be able to train Vatar. As well as
this ability that the young boy displayed, to move objects without touching
them.”

“No wonder he thinks his children are the answer to reviving
the Talent in our bloodlines!” Montibeus said.

Amaurea leaned forward. “Where do they come from? Why have
we never heard of them before?”

Veleus smiled. This was a much easier question to answer.
“According to Vatar, they come from the far side of the Great Forest and across
the Kragehul mountains beyond. A place they call simply the Valley.”

“Will they come talk to us?” Amaurea asked. “An alliance might
be advantageous.”

Veleus sighed theatrically. “Now? I don’t know. They are
Vatar’s friends, after all. This incident may make them more cautious of us.”
Let
them think that he had been trying to convince the Valson to come to the
Council and that Gerusa’s action had delayed this event
. Indeed, there was
always an angle.

Amaurea nodded firmly and pushed the Book of Prophecy back
toward Veleus. “Assure the Valson that they will be treated with all honor and
courtesy. This is a discovery that we clearly need to explore more fully.” She
looked around the table. “All those in favor of upholding the decision we made
yesterday to take no action against Vatar or his family?”

Nine hands were raised around the Council table. Only one of
her supporters joined Gerusa in voting against Vatar.

Good. At least that’s over.

As they reached the lower floors below the Council Chamber,
Montibeus came up beside Veleus. “You should have told me.”

Veleus shook his head. “You know why I couldn’t. It’s not
that I don’t trust you, old friend. But your duty requires that you report
individuals with that kind of Talent, especially the ability to do fourth-level
Transformations, to the Council. You would have had to report it. And Gerusa
would have jumped on it. You couldn’t fail to report it to the Council without
the Sooth Teller reading the lie. I have no such duty. I can—and did—simply
keep my mouth shut. The Sooth Teller can’t read what I don’t say.”

“But with that kind of Talent . . .” Montibeus said.
“Veleus, you know how badly we need the help. There are fewer and fewer with
the kind of Talent it takes to put on the Festival every year. Only you,
Gerusa, and I can maintain fourth-level Transformations for long enough. Even
Amaurea has to have your help to get through the Festival. Three of us can’t
maintain eleven third- and fourth-level Transformations. Some of them have to
be first-level, with always the risk that the mask will slip. With Vatar’s help
. . .”

Veleus reflected on the work involved in that procession of
the Sea Gods, each Councilor Transformed into the image of the ancestor they
represented. Montibeus wasn’t wrong. Vatar could be a lot of help, if he could
be persuaded to join in. He shook his head. “Montibeus, he’s never here during
the Festival. That’s when he goes out to the plains to be with his other family
and to trade. His children are on the plains. He won’t give up his time with
them.”

After a moment, Montibeus said, “Maybe he could arrange to
stay just long enough for the Festival. We might even move it up, if he would
agree to help. It could be done.”

Veleus shrugged. “Maybe he could, if he had enough reason. I
don’t think he’ll do it out of love and loyalty to the High Council. That was
unlikely before and I think it’s safe to say yesterday didn’t improve the odds.

“I’ll talk to him about it, when things have calmed down.
Because you asked. Not now. Now, he’d refuse out of hand. You know me well
enough, Montibeus. Vatar’s just like me in this. You’ve got to give him some
time for the stubborn to wear off.”

Montibeus chuckled.

~

Veleus looked up as the small boat crossed the strait
between Palace Island and the Temple. Cestus was waiting for him, as Veleus had
asked. Good. He’d timed this for after the last of Cestus’s classes.

Veleus handed up the precious book and scroll before
climbing out of the boat.

Cestus’s eyebrows rose as he looked at the cover of the
book. “What was it you wanted, Father?”

Veleus smiled. “I just thought I’d walk with you out to
Vatar’s farm.”

Cestus hefted the book as they walked away from the pier.
“So you’re returning this to the Library on the way?”

“No.” Veleus took back the scroll, but let Cestus continue
to carry the book. “Or, at least, not yet. I need it to explain a few things to
Vatar.” Now that he’d dealt with the Council, Veleus needed to make sure that
Vatar knew at least as much as they did. Enough to defend himself against
Gerusa.