Soen stood up, stretching. “Who spoke of endings, my Lady?”
“You chased those bolters from one end of the Hyperian Plain to the other only to herd them all to their deaths,” Ch’drei said. “It’s over. Now we may never know what brought down those Wells in the Provinces. . and it all seems like such a waste.”
“Quite the contrary, Madam Keeper; this investigation grows more fascinating with each passing moment. We know three very important truths now-truths that are best kept to ourselves,” Soen said, his black eyes shining. “First, I must report that while those august members of my Quorum who were with me at the time were, indeed, utterly destroyed by the denizens of the Murialis Woods. . the bolters, on the other hand, were left entirely unscathed.”
“What?” Ch’drei’s outburst threatened to overwhelm the noise of the enormous fountain behind her.
“Rather interesting, isn’t it? An entire living forest bent on the destruction of anyone invading its territory, and these seven bolters from an obscure and apparently unimportant elven House pass the faery line without so much as a hair out of place. It rather begs the question of why these particular seven are the exception to Queen Murialis’ standing decree to kill all invaders first and then ask who they were later.”
Ch’drei leaned forward on her throne. “You think Murialis is assisting them?”
“Certainly. Why else would they have survived the border crossing unless on her express instructions.” Soen stepped in front of the throne and dropped down on the stones of the floor, crossing his legs under him as he sat facing the Keeper. “As for why Murialis would do such a thing-that part remains hidden to me. Murialis knows that harboring bolters would provide the Emperor with the very excuse he needs to declare open war on the faerylands-and she knows that he’s looking for any such excuse now that the war with the dwarves is finished. The fact that she allows them to live means that she is aiding them somehow though she won’t publicly admit to it. But suppose that rumors began circulating around the Imperial Houses that Murialis is not only harboring dangerous fugitives but even hinting that they may have been acting under her orders to destroy an elven House on the frontier? Were I Murialis in such a circumstance, I would be under increasing pressure to push these trouble-plagued bolters out of my kingdom as soon as possible. Murialis won’t risk open confrontation; neutrality has worked too well for her thus far.”
“So you want me to foment a war?”
“Just beat the drums loudly enough so that Murialis is uncomfortable.”
Ch’drei nodded slowly. “I think I can manage that. . but why bother? Seven slaves escaping into the Murialis Woods are hardly. .”
“The reason to bother is, in fact, my second truth,” Soen said, straightening his back. “You no doubt have the reports of our discoveries at House Timuran.”
“Yes,” Ch’drei nodded, her face thoughtful. “Great tragedy, that. Never happened officially, of course, but the explosive collapse of the Aether Well is still of considerable private concern-especially to the Occuran.”
“You know, then, that one of the bolters is a human male by the name of Drakis?”
“Yes. . what of it?”
“The second truth I have discovered is that this human named Drakis also hears the Dragon Song.”
Ch’drei looked up in disgust. “Oh, by all the gods! Do you actually believe this human to be the fulfillment of the Desolation Prophecies?”
“Of course not. . what kind of a fool do you take me for?” Soen snapped, his voice echoing off the walls of the domed chamber. The Inquisitor stood up quickly and moved closer to the Keeper. “One out of every ten human males of the Seventh Estate hear that same song in their heads-and since the humans still teach that prophecy to their young before they’re impressed for Devotions, it seems hard to find a male child who hasn’t been named ‘Drakis’ by their sires. Those prophecies are nothing but the cooling embers of a dead faith.”
Soen’s hand reached out, grasping the arm of the Keeper’s throne and pulling him closer to her. “He may not be the Lost King come to destroy Rhonas and bring honor back to humanity. . but he could be the one or, worse, mistaken for the one. We’ve got to find him before any of the ministries do. . before the Legions and their generals. . before the Emperor or any of his minions have any idea of his existence. We are the Keepers of Truth, Ch’drei, and this is one truth we would want within our control.”
“You think he might be useful to us,” Ch’drei nodded, her voice barely audible over the rushing waters behind her.
“He doesn’t have to be the One,” Soen smiled, his sharp teeth showing. “But in the right place he could pass for the One. He did cause the Aether Wells of nearly every House in the Western Provinces to fail-think of it, Ch’drei! To fail! The Well of House Timuran utterly destroyed: a feat beyond even the Grand Wizard of the Occuran, and yet this Drakis did it. In the wrong hands he could threaten the foundations of the Empire.”
“And in the right hands.” Ch’drei asked.
“In the right hands,” Soen replied, “the Empire might still fall-but in a direction that could be to the right people’s advantage.”
“You propose a most dangerous game, my Inquisitor.”
“But it is my game, Keeper,” he replied, his lips parting into a wide smile revealing his pointed teeth. “The stakes are high-perhaps none higher-and yet in the end you know that you risk nothing at all.”
Ch’drei nodded slowly and smiled back through her translucent, needlelike teeth. “I always liked you. I’d hate to have you killed.”
“It might prove a difficult task to carry out, my Keeper,” Soen nodded. “It’s been tried before.”
“Stay with the subject at hand,” she snapped. “All of this might have proved useful. . if you actually had this Drakis slave,” Ch’drei pointed out, her long fingers uncurling into an open palm. “But as you have already said, this bolter is a guest of the vast kingdom of Murialis. Even if we flush this bird out of the forest, he could reappear anywhere along a thousand leagues of Murialis’ border. . back into Hyperia, Aeria, Chronasis. .”
“This Drakis is currently about seventy-three leagues inside the border of Murialis,” Soen said, standing upright and folding his arms across his chest.
Keeper Ch’drei eyed Soen in astonishment, momentarily unable to speak.
“And he will emerge in Vestasia to the north,” Soen finished with a smirk.
“Are you a wizard, Soen,” Ch’drei frowned.
“You can believe that if you wish, my Keeper,” Soen said, reaching into the folds of his robe. “But the source of my knowledge is more mundane-and it is my third truth that I have brought to you.”
He pulled out his fist, opening the fingers into a loose bowl. Cupped in his fingers were five round stones, each entwined with twigs or blades of grass.
“Beacon stones!” Ch’drei sighed in wonder.
“I found the first of them before the fold gate near the Timuran ruin,” Soen said, his eyes wandering lovingly over the stones in his hand. “Once found, it was a simple matter to align my staff to their Aether emanations and follow them-and other signs-through each successive gate.”
“The gods favor you, Soen,” Ch’drei chuckled.
“If so, they did not see fit to favor me with the lives of Qinsei and Phang,” Soen replied, closing his fist around the small stones.
“Do you think the other bolters know?” Ch’drei asked, her question merely curiosity.
“That they have a traitor among them who is giving away their every move to us?” Soen pondered for a moment. “No, this is a truth that is known to only three of us. . you, myself. . and the wretched creature that will deliver these slaves into my. . forgive me, Keeper. . our hands.”