Jaya fell silent. She had always prided herself on the fact that she depended on nobody, that she could come and go as she pleased …but now that her soul had up and decided Bel was the one for her, there was nothing she could do about it. She could always leave him, she supposed – but how the blazes could she ever follow through with such a thing? The idea of being without him was maddeningly unthinkable.
‘Damn man,’ she said. ‘If you were anyone else, I’d lock you in a cupboard and tell you only to come out when I want you.’
He smiled, but she could tell her words troubled him.
‘I’m only doing what I need to do,’ he said. ‘I was never given much choice in the matter.’
‘I know, I know. It’s just …well, in my wildest nightmares I never saw myself as the supportive woman behind a man.’
‘Supportive woman?’ chuckled Bel. ‘Is that what you are?’
‘A year ago such devotion would have made me retch.’
‘Well, if it does, I’ll be there to hold back your hair,’ said Bel. ‘Jaya …the support I need is hardly to have someone staying home baking bread and squeezing out my pups. We’re talking about taking on the world.’
‘Well,’ she said, ‘when you put it like that …’
‘Besides,’ said Bel, ‘I don’t think of you as the woman behind me. You’re at my side. And I’m at yours.’
His words were somewhat comforting, although she bit her tongue on pointing out that, even if they were at each other’s side, they were still facing a direction dictated by him. He did not seem to realise how much his decisions affected her. Still, even though she did not enjoy admitting it herself, she loved him more deeply than she had ever loved anything, and so with him she would stand.
‘So,’ she said, ‘we’re in this together, it seems.’
‘Aye,’ he said, and reached over to squeeze her hand.
As Bel walked out of the Open Castle, despite the warmth of Jaya’s hand in his, a certain short-lived peace left him. It had been good having something to concentrate on, and installing Fahren as Throne instead of that worm Thedd had been a positive step in the general direction of his enormous goal. However it had been a distraction at best, and now that it was done with, he was back to wondering what he was supposed to do next. He had his mission from Arkus, but still no idea how to go about achieving it. Even if he did manage to find the Stone, that was only one step, beyond which he could not see the next. It all seemed so insurmountable, yet he was impatient to get started. Couldn’t Arkus have given him some clues as to how ? Or was it possible that a god could not know everything?
They arrived at the entrance to the Open Tower.
‘You’ve never been in here before, I imagine?’ said Bel.
Jaya gazed up at the towering pinnacle. ‘Not that I recall.’
At the top they were let into Fahren’s quarters by a guard. Inside, they found the old mage sitting at his round table, using a fine quill to write on a tiny piece of parchment, while a sundart pecked happily at a bowl of seed.
‘Ah,’ Fahren said, and his gaze came to rest on Jaya. Bel wondered if he would have to insist that Fahren could speak openly in front of her. It wasn’t as if she wouldn’t find out everything anyway. Apparently Fahren came to the same conclusion, for he gestured at two seats opposite him. ‘Please, sit. Both of you.’
He rolled up the parchment and attached it to the bird’s leg. ‘No rush, my friend,’ he said, stroking the creature lightly. ‘You finish your meal.’ The bird chirped, head down in the seed. ‘Yes, yes,’ said Fahren. ‘I know you’d no intention of doing otherwise.’ He picked at his teeth, as if there was something caught there, then shook his head. ‘Funny thing,’ he said. ‘When you open an empathic connection with animals, you feel some of what they feel. For a moment, I thought I had a seed stuck in my teeth.’
‘Birds don’t have teeth,’ Jaya pointed out.
‘Same general area,’ said Fahren, waving a hand. ‘Now, I’ve had some interesting news from one of my mages. It seems he recently had reason to investigate the sighting of something undead in Cadmir – a small village quite close to Ismore.’
‘Undead?’ said Jaya. ‘I thought we didn’t have any of those in Kainordas.’
‘As a general rule we don’t, and certainly necromancy is strictly forbidden. The abomination was most likely “born” in Fenvarrow. My mage, a man called Gellan, writes that a young girl from Cadmir claims to have seen a skeleton in the woods.’ He leaned over the table towards Bel. ‘She described it as having a burnt appearance.’
Suddenly Bel was sitting up very straight in his seat.
‘When I was a girl,’ said Jaya, ‘I imagined seeing all kinds of things. And certainly I told plenty of lies.’
‘Of course,’ said Fahren. ‘That was why Gellan investigated further. Following the girl’s directions, he found a place in the woods that matched her description. In a cave set in the mountainside, he sensed residual traces of shadow magic. It seems the girl was telling the truth.’
Bel felt excitement rise – did he finally have a direction?
‘Excuse me,’ said Jaya, glancing between the two men, ‘but I feel as if I’m missing something here.’
‘Has Bel told you of Fazel?’ Fahren asked.
‘Yes. Quite a tale, that one.’
‘Indeed,’ said Fahren. ‘It was also the last time the Stone of Evenings Mild was seen. In my dream of that night I saw it flung from the clearing to land amongst trees, yet afterwards it could not be found. The only conclusion I’ve ever been able to draw is that someone must have taken it. Who, then? For a time I feared Battu’s goblins. They probably wouldn’t have realised the Stone’s import, but that wouldn’t stop grabby fingers from opportunistically stealing bits of jewellery. That said, I can’t imagine them stopping to plunder while fleeing for their lives with the babe Losara. So I have always wondered about the only other being present at the time who might have recognised the Stone for what it was.’
‘Fazel,’ said Bel. ‘He didn’t die?’
‘I’d hoped so,’ replied Fahren with a sigh. ‘But the undead are hard to kill, and a mage of Fazel’s power, brought back to life by the most talented necromancer the world has ever known …well, I had my doubts. Although I prayed that he’d finally found peace, I also feared that what was left of him …came back together.’
‘It has to be him!’ said Bel.
‘The thing is,’ continued Fahren, ‘I don’t even know how it can be Fazel. Always since his resurrection, he has been tied to the Shadowdreamer’s will as a slave who must carry out any order he is given. How is it, then, that after all these years he could be spotted still lurking in Kainordas?’
‘Maybe he did return to Fenvarrow, but came back on some other errand?’
‘I have sources in Fenvarrow,’ said Fahren, shaking his head. ‘There has been no word of Fazel for many years.’
‘Maybe he managed to break whatever spell kept him bound?’ suggested Bel.
‘I cannot imagine how. Though admittedly he’s had longer to think about it than I have, and more reason to do so.’
Bel was not really listening – the skeleton had to be Fazel, he knew it, felt it – and Fazel had taken the Stone. Finally he had an inkling of a clue of what he needed to get started on his mission.
‘Do not let your need for something to be true cloud your judgement,’ warned Fahren. ‘Just because you wish it does not mean it is.’
‘You cannot deny,’ said Bel, ‘that it is the best thing we have to go on.’
‘No, that I cannot deny.’
The sundart took off suddenly into the air and flew away.
‘That is why I’ve told Gellan to expect you,’ said Fahren.
Bel stood. ‘Then we should get going!’
Fahren chuckled. ‘I know that you’re keen,’ he said, ‘but sit a moment longer, if you would. There are other things to discuss.’