“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.”
Drakis awoke with a start, sitting upright so quickly that he felt three vertebrae in his back crack back into place. He drew in a great gulp of air and then held it for a moment, his eyes blinking as he tried to make sense of his surroundings.
The walls of the circular space were a dark, rich brown color. The curve of their surface showed slick and glistening in the thin light that spilled down through a woven grating that capped the room ten feet or so above his head.
At length he let out his breath and stretched slowly. Every muscle in his body felt stiff and aching. It was to him as though he had slept for a thousand years, and yet he still longed for the bliss of unconsciousness. He rubbed his hand quickly over the bristles of his emerging hair and was surprised at how long it had gotten.
How long have I been in here? he wondered. For a while, he fingered the matted animal furs under him. He remembered running into the woods. Then something about Mala finding him. . leading him somewhere. .
He frowned at the thought of her, his mind tumbling through a cascade of memories. He loved her-had to love her-and yet the things he had done to her, had suffered because of her were shameful, painful, and unforgivable. .
A small, quivering voice cut through his dark musings.