* * *
Katherine
* * *
My days are pretty dull if I can't hunt somebody down to spend them with. To be honest, there's not a lot that anybody asks me to do - it's as if once 'Sy's gone, people forget that i'm around to assist them. So Jhe h'Logos's request is unexpected on several levels. That, combined with Jhe h'Logos's polite urgency, means that I respond lightning-fast.
Not to mention the fact that he summoned me to Daddy's chambers.
I'm halted by the wards before I can enter, and end up stuck outside his front door. What's going on? They've turned so thick and solid that I wonder if 'Sy could even get in. That doesn't happen unless there's direct danger to Daddy's life! I'd ask Jhe h'Logos what's going on, but it'd be quicker to just...
There.
The thing about being the Advocate is that you can get into a lot of places that most people can't. I walk through the door, taking care to make sure the wards reset once I'm inside. They won't repel me now, but I don't want anyone else getting in until I know what's going on. "Daddy?"
"He's in the study, Katherine. He's unconscious, but not in any further danger." I go into the study to find Jhe h'Logos standing next to Daddy, who's seated in one of his favorite chairs. Daddy's face... he must have been in shock over something.
I'm already leaning over him with my hand hovering over his forehead when I ask, "What happened here?" Daddy's mind is definitely strained and tired. He's got something dirty hanging on him, too. Some lingering aura, familiar yet oddly repugnant. Like fruit that's gone bad a day ago.
Jhe h'Logos sighs, the sound possibly sad but more resigned than anything else. "It seems that Jhe o'Radia's possession of the Crown came with a price. It was the vulnerability that Jhe Edward exploited to try and take my predecessor down. I was unaware that he was continuing to exploit it, and apparently your Father was also unaware."
I keep myself steady by propping one hand on the back of Daddy's chair. "Edward what?" Even as I question, I know it to be true. That's the aura on Daddy. It explains the tang of malice and filth left behind. I'd ask what he'd done, but that's what I imagine Jhe h'Logos called me here to find out. I move behind the chair so I can shift my weight more easily, leaning over the back to place my hands on Daddy's shoulders. I can feel the tension in them. "Keep a watch on me." It's all I say before I jump in. I'm used to 'Sy being around to anticipate my whims. If this new Jhe h'Logos claims to be as good of a Time Lord as Jhe Elete, he'll be able to do the same.
* * *
Daddy's mind is dark. That's not good. Daddy's not a dark person. His mind tends to be upbeat, full of light and lots of fast, quick turns. If it's any consolation, it looks to be a place that's been recently dimmed, as if the party's over and the bar's closed for the night. I see some wear and scuffs around the edges, but not enough that they can't just heal over time. He hasn't had that Crown for long, after all - the damage hasn't had a chance to accumulate.
Now, where in this place has he gone off to? I spot a trail on the floor, like a golden bit of thread that's gone dim. I follow it, hoping that I'm heading towards the end of it and not the beginning.
Daddy's not far. He hasn't receded too far below the surface of his consciousness yet. This is all good news. Elete was worse off than this when I first had to find the knots in his mind, all those years ago. Father was much, much worse after he'd been Judged. Daddy hasn't had long to get hurt from this. He's strong, and he doesn't have a death wish. It'll be okay. I keep telling myself these things.
Still, it hurts to see him hunched in the corner, face buried under his arms, shaking. "Daddy? Don't be afraid. I'm real." I don't know what Edward's been doing to him until now, what he might have filled his head with. I just know it's very dark in here, and Edward always exploits the shadows to his best advantage.
He stops shivering, but I think it's out of the feeling that he's just been caught. He doesn't tell me to go away, though. He doesn't lash out. He just stays still. The worst thing he's feeling right now is fear, and there's quite a lot of it.
I take a special moment to pause and curse Edward. Of course Daddy's plagued by fear. It's always been Edward's favorite tool.
Approaching Daddy might not be wise just yet. I could do a lot of good from here by just...
The shadows recede as light slowly fills his mind, a gradual dawn. It does more to ease his fears than words could. I can't bring it up to be as bright as it should be - something's holding him back. Still, it means I can approach him now with the faith that he'll face me.
I kneel beside him, then after a pause to gauge whether it's the best of ideas, I put my hand on his shoulder. "Whatever it is, it can't be so bad that we can't fix it together."
He shudders again, just a little. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't make it right again. I'm going to have to go out there and everyone will know that I let it all fall apart."
I hiss through my teeth. He's not just rambling about something Edward's put into his head. Some of what he said was based on preexisting, valid concerns. But of course, it's much easier to build fears on top of other fears, and weave it all together. Edward taught me that himself when I had my lessons from him in the Poet Hall. He was an early expert in the field.
"You can put anything back together. We'll all help you. We won't blame you." I measure the words out in my mind before I speak them, to check the truth of them. They're not lies - but I know they would be for different definitions of 'we'. I'll just have to be careful in picking who to help him.
"None of you can change the fact that I gave up the crown when I shouldn't have. This would never have happened."
I scowl. "Elete would have died ten years ago if you hadn't given the Crown to him when you did. Sometimes it was all that he could live for. What good is it to anyone for you to wear it now, anyway?"
He stops his reply before it finds its way out of his mouth, which hangs open a moment before he remembers to close it. A light wells up in his eyes, and I swear the surroundings in here get a bit brighter as well. "What good is it..." He looks past me, weighing that as if he'd never considered it. I realize that he must have taken it for granted all this time that he had to wear it. "I'm supposed to wear it. I let Elete take the responsibility of the Song so that he'd go on living, but no one else is here to do it now."
I think there's a rather obvious candidate, but I'm not sure if this is the best place to have this discussion. "Are you ready to wake up?"
He's reluctant to give assent, but he nods. Then, before I can make a move, he wraps me up in a hug. "Come here. You're my daughter and I love you and you make me proud."
I let that moment linger a little before I pull us both back up into the waking world. It's warm, and nice.
* * *
Erynn
* * *
Awareness slides into me, the feeling echoing strangely as if, at the same time far distant, someone else is opening his own eyes after a far more distressing nap than mine.
We Poets get used to these weird bits of deja vu, premonition and happenstance. As Jhe h'Logos (both of them) always said, they make for great story fuel. Just as that person far away (Jhe o'Radia? Really?) is nudged awake by someone leaning over him, I too am nudged awake by someone leaning over me.
Huh. Did Gerude go blonde or somethin--
I sit bolt upright as that little scoundrel Lyric raises a finger to his lips. After a moment he shifts back, edging away from me. It's a little weird to see the shock on his face - I must look like I'm about to strike him. Well, I kinda am. What's a little traitor like him doing skulking around while I sleep?
He motions out the mouth of the cave we're in, towards some sagebrush over a little sand hill - away from and out of sight of the camp. Oh, of course. He wants to talk somewhere alone and kidnappable-from. How subtle. This, after waking up from being stalked by Edward. Probably working in tandem, the two of them.
But no, that doesn't sound right, somehow. I wonder if my hunch to follow him is something else I can blame on Edward, or some of Lyric's own trickery. It's a strange thing to be genuine. But then again, I think I'll be safe. I can certainly take him in a fight.
I place a pebble on Gerude's shoulder, careful not to wake him just yet. Then I nod to Lyric and follow him out of the cave and over the sands, keeping my eyes wide open at every turn, paying attention to my peripherals.
When we're far enough from the cave that my traveling companions won't hear him, Lyric speaks. "I can't explain a lot to you. You can figure out if what I say is true on your own. You're smart, you pay attention. You might even have picked this detail up without me telling you, but I can't take risks with family. You understand."
I wait for whatever he's trying to hunt down to actually show up and get talked about. I certainly believe he's a Poet because he gets to the point as fast as the rest of us do.
"Don't sleep in any of the caves past this point. They're not safe. Daddy might know a little bit about it but I know he can't know the half of it. So get what you want to get done in Robinstead, but stay away from the caves unless you want to bring along an army next time you poke into one."
I cross my arms. "And who can I thank for this little bit of information?" It sounds valid enough, I'll give him that.
"You have it on behalf of Thelea Xaillyndesse, but not with her knowledge. I'd prefer you didn't tell anyone I told you. My operations are all well and good, not liable to hurt anyone at all, really... unless they decide to bunk in certain places. Then things get messy. It's just reality in this place. You'll hear the stories when you get to Robinstead." He shrugs. "In fact you probably heard them back when you grew up there. This land's been part of a certain project for awhile, it seems."
I decide to cut through the bullshit instead of laying on the subtlety. We each know where the other's coming from. "What side are you on, Lyric?"
He shrugs. "Maybe someone else could answer. I just do my job, just like I did for the Peacock King. Things turned out well from that, didn't they?" He cocks his head. "Have you heard much from Ebrellin-i? How does he fare?"
I can feel the prod for information, just as weaselly as his answer. "He tripped the other day. Poor bloke's so tall that the fall struck him dead, and then a tree grew out of his brains."
Speaking of trees, Lyric turns a bit green. "I'll be going now. Please stay away from the caves."
And before I can tell him that I'm not letting him go, he's gone, just like a dream. Like those stories about Cade vanishing in thin air, come to think of it. I stare at the spot he was standing in for a long time, and then I return to the camp, walking backwards and never letting the surrounding hills out of my sight. An ambush could be anywhere, but I don't sense anyone nearby.
He must be feeling guilty. He snuck away from whatever operation he was part of, then came and warned us. But that means he was able to find us, and knows where we are. Damnit...
I duck into the cave, then find my way into my sleeping bag again. I flick the pebble off of Gerude. If things had gone bad, I'd have made it heavier to give him a nudge and wake him up. Looks like I didn't need to poke him.
I lay down and don't sleep at all.
* * *
Myles
* * *
I wait for Lyric to come back. This mission has been a lot of waiting, really. Waiting for Jhe h'Akribastes's posse to ride ahead of me, waiting for Lyric to get here, and now this. I'm a patient man - lucky that it's the case, or I might be in the wrong line of work. Of course, Lute did warn me that spying wasn't as exciting as Iaen always made it sound, and that for the most part it was dull stuff that no one would ever bother writing down (except to annoy Katherine with the paperwork of it all).
Lyric takes his time. I'd worry, but I won't. He can handle himself, and if he can't, it means his Father's caught him, and the Judge is no one Lyric needs to fear. The only risk here is that he blows his cover and suddenly Erynn and Gerude know he's on the up-and-up. Erynn's a bit chatty and so that makes it a bit of a danger, and the less people to know of a double-agent the better. Or just plain agents, for that matter. It's hard to keep secrets from everyone all at once. Especially when you're close to anyone who's a Poet.
Exhausting, in fact.
When Lyric makes his way back I'm relieved, which surprises me. Did I really think the odds would be that low? No, I've just been out here alone for quite awhile, and Lyric makes for good company. I wave with a grin. "Family reunion worked out?"
Lyric looks askance, his face showing his displeasure. "'Rude's a heavy sleeper, thank the stars. Daddy wasn't awake, though, so I had to tell Erynn. I'm pretty sure he's still fooled, but it's so weird to hide things so openly to someone who's like family to me."
That hits close to home, but I hide it. "You think they'll be wary of the caves, then?"
"Time will tell if they stay away from them, but if they go in they'll do it with guns drawn." Lyric shudders. "I don't want anyone going into those again, ever. I mean, I know that's just a dream, and that the things in those caves aren't gonna stay in there forever, and somebody's gotta fix em sometime, but..." He wipes sweat away from his eyes. "Hey, why couldn't you tell them about it? You're my liaison, right?"
I shrug. "I've got my orders." And that's all I say. He looks disgruntled over it, but one thing I like about Lyric is that he can't hold a grudge for long without getting distracted.
"Yeah, well... you know what I know now. Not that it was much to begin with. I was really supposed to just come down here and get the lay of the land for Thelea. I'm still not sure what else there is to report on other than caves full of the walking dead. Crawling. Trickling. Whatever." He wraps his arms around himself and shudders again.
I just mull it over. I already had some hunches about those caves, and so did Jhe h'Akribastes, really. There was intelligence from Stevane and other sources that lead to the conclusion Lyric just summed up. Really, I don't think the Judge would have even gone near caves any closer to Robinstead than the one he's in now.
I let Lyric go and warn them just to see if he would.
Trust is a weird thing. You can know you're supposed to trust a person, and be aware of many details that add up to that fact, and be told by someone you trust implicitly that you should also trust a certain person. But real trust is earned. Lyric's working his way there, at least. Today was a big step. "Time to find out if that's the only thing of interest around here, then." Lyric raises his eyebrows and I smile in reply. "I'm your liaison, aren't I? Time to liaise. I did a bunch of searching around here before you even made it into the desert, so we just need to complete the job." I start walking, and Lyric huffs and puffs behind me.
Twitchy corpse bodies aren't the only things Nul's hidden in this desert. Time to find the rest of it.
