Yet he remained a poor liar.
"You have my orders. Your place is not to question, but to act as instructed. Please do not provide further reasons for me to wonder about my choice of Knight Commander."
Brathtar's eyes narrowed. But he said, "You are the Keeper. I am pledged to Stardeep and will do what is necessary to protect her. I've already prepared the foray. A handpicked troop will venture forth down the Causeway."
Telarian let the commander's dig pass unremarked, giving a curt nod. He called to the air, "Cynosure? Connect me to my quarters."
Moments later, only shadows inhabited the balcony above the War Room.
* * * * *
When Delphe opened the door from her chambers that led to the common area of the Inner Bastion, something fluttered to the floor. A vellum envelope. She bent, retrieved it, and examined its exterior. The red wax seal proclaimed the letter was from the desk of Stardeep's Empyrean Knight Commander.
What was the man's name . . . ? Brathtar, that was it. She recalled seeing him in the Inner Bastion from time to time, enjoying Telarian's patronage, though not recently.
"What have you found, Delphe?" inquired Cynosure, his voice issuing from a small statue standing in its niche at the center of the hallway.
"A memorandum from the Knight Commander. How odd. Why didn't Brathtar ask you to pass the message?"
While useful for communication sent beyond the confines of Stardeep, a hand-delivered letter was hardly a substitute for asking the idol's aid. Cynosure was everywhere in Stardeep. Perhaps the man enjoyed his formalities?
Silence greeted her question, so she broke the seal and shook out the parchment within. On it was scrawled:
Keeper Delphe,
Forgive this sudden request, but I humbly ask you to meet me at your earliest convenience. Please come in person.
Yours,
Commander Brathtar
"Odd . . . Cynosure—please relay to Commander Brathtar a question: Why do you want to meet me?"
Cynosure's voice remained silent a moment, then relayed, "I'm afraid that's impossible, Delphe—Commander Brathtar and a contingent of his Knights departed Stardeep via the Causeway just this morning."
The Keeper nearly dropped the letter. "Empyrean Knights rode forth from Stardeep? What's happened?"
"Telarian ordered the excursion. I believe he had some concerns regarding a nearby wood elf encampment. You'll have to inquire of Telarian directly. My purview doesn't extend beyond the Outer Bastion."
Delphe turned from her door and strode the curved length of Tardoun Hall, so named for one of the first Keepers to inhabit Stardeep after its delving. A frieze of carved figures ran along both sides of the hall, depicting elves involved in all manner of clerical and teleological pursuits—charting the courses of the stars figured prominently. She passed doors leading to the lounge, the baths, the archives, the repository, the noisy chamber housing Cynosure Prime, the dining hall, the steeply sloping stairs that led down to the Outer Bastion, and various lesser side halls. Finally, Telarian's personal chamber. The door was closed. She knocked.
No answer.
"Cynosure, please tell me where I can find my fellow Keeper."
"He is in the Epoch Chamber."
"The what?"
"Some months ago, Telarian completed construction, with my aid, of a chamber designed to focus his precognitive talent."
The abjurer blinked. "Why didn't I know about this?"
"The chamber lies just beyond the limits of Stardeep's Inner Bastion."
"So it is also outside my concern, is that what you're implying? Everything in Stardeep is my concern, Cynosure!" Her earlier worries about the sentient idol's faculties woke again.
"Would you like me to connect you?" Cynosure volunteered.
"You said this new chamber lies beyond the limits of the Inner Bastion. How—"
"It is close enough for me to transport you. It has no entrance or exit besides me."
Just like the Well, she realized.
"Yes, Cynosure. Warn Telarian I'm on my way, then connect me."
A parabola of blue light spun out of nothing, engulfing her. Her stomach lurched and darkness descended. She blinked, and her eyes readjusted. She stood within a small dome.
The floor was scribed with a star-in-circle configuration she recognized from old texts—a predictive tool prized by diviners. The floor gently rolled and pitched in an unsettling manner, as if floating on liquid. Telarian reclined at the star's center, staring at her, surprise evident on his face.
"Delphe!"
"Why, hello, Telarian. I see you've been delving new chambers within Stardeep?" She tried to keep her voice light, but was mostly unsuccessful.
Telarian raised himself to a sitting position then stood. His features resumed their normally placid countenance.
He said, "As you can see." He gestured around. "I find the Epoch Chamber helps concentrate my talents."
"Ah—so Cynosure informed me. And have you learned anything useful?" She gazed down at the smaller symbols scribed around the circle's periphery and at the slowly burning incense sticks.
He squinted at her, a yearning expression briefly inhabiting his face. Then he smiled ruefully. "Not yet. But if I can look forward far enough, I can foresee all potential escape attempts by the Traitor. Once I know of them, I can eradicate each and every possibility from the time stream."
Her eyes widened. "Is that possible?"
He shrugged. "So I hope."
"The Traitor tried today—I would have told you earlier, but I couldn't find you. Did you foresee that?"
"He tried today?"
"Yes—your new chamber didn't foresee it?"
Telarian considered, frowning. Then he said, "It did not. But then, it wouldn't, would it? You obviously foiled the effort."
"But he mounted a genuine, credible effort! If I hadn't stemmed the attempt. . . what good is your early warning chamber if—"
He put up a hand. "Why should I focus on escape attempts already destined to be foiled by our efforts? Interference in such events, already predetermined to proceed one way, could finish far differently. No, I'm looking for instances of probability where the Traitor successfully breaks free of all our containment efforts."
Delphe blinked. "Successfully?"
"Yes. If I can identify those instances, how ever far in the future, I can take steps right now in the present to make certain those circumstances fail to develop and materialize."
Delphe put a hand to the side of her head. Telarian's voice seemed so matter of fact, so rational. But the meanings behind the words he spoke seemed unbound by reason. She spoke out, "How far do you look?"
He smiled. A note of pride crept into his voice as he explained. "Before I crafted this chamber, I could see only moments, perhaps days at most. Now I can see years. The misty edges of a century ahead are becoming clear to me . . ."
Telarian broke off, frowning.
"And you've seen . . . what?"
He plied her with another gauging look. Finally he said, "I've seen worrying images . . ."
She grasped his shoulder, squeezing. "What? What did you see?"
He frowned again, said, "I'm too close to the edge of temporal resolution; I can't be sure. I'm working to increase the clarity of that vision so the details will firm up."
"You must have seen something—I can tell by your expression you hold something back. From your fellow Keeper!"