You will understand once you read the book.
One other issue. Try your best not to let any in the Iluminus become aware of your ability as a tamer. Only one such as yourself can communicate with the mind of a zyphyl. When the day comes that the vasumbrals are unleashed, you will have to free the zyphyl as instructed within this tome. They will be your only hope.
Truth is to lie as order is to chaos.
Quintess.
Hands trembling, Irmina Forged. The letter burst into flames. She released it from her hand and watched as it drifted to the ground, still burning, and then turned to ash. With another Forge, she blocked her door.
Irmina unraveled the seal around the box. The lid eased open of its own accord. Inside was a book, its paper discolored with age, mustiness rising from inside. She lifted it out and set it down on the table. There was no title. At the bottom was several scrolls.
She took them out and unrolled them. Squinting, she repeated the same Forging Quintess taught her that would reveal any tampering. As she began to read, her eyes widened. After the first paragraph, numbness swept through her body. All she could manage was to stare. What she was reading had to be a lie. It just had to be.
But the essences revealed to her the truth of it all. The essences might have their own motives, but they never lied. Ever.
She could tell where someone altered the words. The handwriting on the pages were the same as the ones sent to her by her parents, recording their research and the events before their death. Except for the changes. In the scrolls she had hidden away so long ago, the ones that matched half of these, everything pointed to the Dorns.
The originals showed beyond a doubt those who were truly responsible. The Exalted.
Unbridled rage ripped through her, replacing shock. Vision becoming red, she continued to read even as tears trickled down her face at the names associated with the deception. The name responsible for the murder. All these years of lying. She wept, her body wracked with spam after spasm. Not once did she attempt to curtail her grief or her anger, allowing them to suffuse her, clinging to them.
One thing resonated within her. Whenever she saw the woman again, she would kill her.
Over the next month, Irmina spent most of the day and night in the Great Library. As a Raijin, the Custodians allowed her to peruse almost any books she wanted. Some stayed by her side to make sure she did not damage the precious vellum of the old tomes, but they did not deny her access. Each night she returned to her room and compared what she learned to the massive book given to her by Quintess, often until early morning, her eyes an ocean of red from lack of sleep, but still she pressed on. It was astounding how many books and teachings the Tribunal had altered. Each day provided a bigger surprise than the last.
She often wondered how widespread the corruption was beyond what the Devout taught. Were the Colegiums in Cardia carrying the same tainted texts? Had they managed to change the tomes in Castere’s libraries? Surely, they couldn’t have infiltrated the Svenzar’s Stone Vaults.
She arranged for messages between her and Quintess. In order to corroborate much of what she read, she sent for couriers she trusted in her missions for Jerem. They sent back their replies by eagle, written in a cipher. Each translation provided a greater picture of corruption than she imagined. The Tribunal was rotten to its core. Her family’s demise had been the least of their atrocities.
The rush of memories concerning the gruesome facts around her parent’s death threatened to overwhelm her. The ones in her family deemed to have been able to produce a child with a beasttamer’s power had been systematically eradicated. The orders had made it sound like an inconsequential action, common place, like picking up a spoon to eat soup.
Sitting at a table of some inn she’d chosen for its food, she had to seek the Eye to calm herself. What had been scents that made her mouth water now made her lose her appetite. A harpist played a soothing tune not far from where she sat, her meal a distant memory. She leaned her head back, the conversational murmurs and laughter bringing a deceiving sense of normalcy. The world as she knew it was far from normal.
“Jin Irmina, are you well?” the pale-skinned merchant across from her asked. The man dabbed at his hanging jowls before wiping his mouth.
Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded.
“As I was saying,” he picked up a lizard leg and dipped it in sauce, “I don’t know how you people have done it, but … one moment …” He popped the leg into his mouth and swallowed. His eyes closed as a smile spread across his face. “Hmmm, that’s some good stuff.”
Irmina simply waited. Kaffar made her sick, but he was privy to certain information she needed.
“As I was saying, I don’t know how you people made it happen, but the Travelshafts have been reopened. A journey that would once take three months now takes less than one. Trade has been phenomenal.”
She’d heard the rumors, but could not risk asking directly within the Iluminus. Finding a merchant had been a much simpler solution considering the abundance of trade between the Iluminus, its neighboring city of Coren, and other points within Granadia.
“I wish I had known of this sooner, Kaffar. I have lost out on much.”
Kaffar smiled. “You know what they say, ‘information means power and riches’.”
“Indeed.” The man was a chatterbox. All she needed to do was feed him.
“I’m surprised you didn’t know. They’ve been open for months now.” He leaned forward as much as his belly would allow. His voice lowered. “I suspect they’ve been open for a much longer time.”
“Why do you say that?” Her tone matched his.
“A merchant of my stature has a few insiders as well as a few rivals. Let’s just say some of my competition has been wallowing in riches since last year. I began to wonder how they were making their trips so quickly. Then one of your Ashishin approached me to broker a deal.”
Intrigued, Irmina said, “Go on.”
“Well,” Kaffar was whispering now, “they’ve done the same all across Granadia, sending out enough supplies from here to all the major cities in territories they hold. Everything from food, to pack animals, to metal, stone, wood. I even heard rumors of weapon shipments. Gods know I wish I could get a hand in on that. Much of it is concentrated along the southern coast at ports in Ishtar and Calvar.”
Irmina frowned, working over the news in her head. Those ports all provided access points to Ostania and those in Ishtar were not that far from Torandil.
“Only one thing causes people to mass supplies like this,” Kaffar said. “There’s going to be a war. A war bigger than the Remnants.”
Irmina didn’t let on that she agreed. She also suspected the Travelshafts had been open for a while longer than Kaffar mentioned. She allowed the talk to continue, giving noncommittal replies here or there, promising Kaffar a bigger stake in the trade to line his pockets. A lot of good it would do him. The merchant wouldn’t live to see the night through. When she smiled, Kaffar did the same, his grin one of genuine pleasure.
Chapter 38
Galiana left the Stoneman by the upper entrance, finally allowing a deep breath to escape into the night. She stretched her neck from side to side, trying to ease the tightness the mention of High Shin Cantor had caused.
She reached her mind out. Her Matersense drifted freely as she searched for the imbuing she would feel from the dozens of weaponsmiths. As the number increased, she puckered her lips, finally stopping close to one hundred.