City of Light (The Traveler's Gate Trilogy) (20 page)

She sounded firm, but he recognized the look of someone who had spent months under constant threat. Her eyes were shadowed, and she looked like she had lost ten or fifteen pounds since Simon had last seen her. It may not be Valinhall out here, but Simon got the impression that she would have been safer if she had stayed with him in the House of Blades.

Grandmaster Naraka stood beyond the Gate, amid her five guards on the red stones of Naraka. She looked totally confident, with a small smile and her hand folded peacefully in front of her. There was something wrong there, though he couldn’t quite pin it down. She had seemed afraid of Alin and of the Elysian soldiers in Enosh, but now she didn’t look frightened at all. Why not?

You should beat the answer out of her,
Rebekkah suggested.

She’s an old lady.

Good. You should be able to handle her, then.

The Grandmaster certainly wouldn’t show him any mercy if their positions were reversed, and Simon knew it. But she was under guard, and not likely to be a threat anytime soon.

Overlord Feiora’s raven rested on her forearm like a falcon called to its handler. She conversed with it in a low voice. Simon had seen the Overlord before, at a distance, but he had never spoken with her until today. Her jaw was tight, her shoulders squared, and she stood with feet evenly apart as though she thought she might have to fight. Did she know something the rest of them didn’t, or was she always like that?

The door to the waystation blew gently open, and in a blur of black, Indirial flowed in. He straightened and released a heavy, moonlit breath.

Simon had known that the older swordsman’s Nye essence would last much longer than his own, but seeing it was a nagging reminder of how far he had yet to go.

“He’s got the city locked down tight,” Indirial said, striding over to stand in front of Leah. He delivered his report right to her. “The citizens are on a strict curfew, and they’re terrified of being reported for even minor infractions. I looked in on one of their sessions in the ‘School for the Disobedient.’ It was…not pleasant.”

Then he gave an easy smile. “But hey, I’ve seen worse. Any city occupied by an invading army isn’t going to be treated half this well. The village Valin destroyed, the one the Naraka Incarnation burned down, the mining outpost that Endross blew up, the schools that Asphodel infected…all of those would have paid to trade places with the people of Enosh right now. I don’t see an urgent threat here.”

Ilana remained silent, clutching at her mug, but Leah nodded. “I agree. There’s no freedom here, but there is order. I see no threat to Damasca. Feiora?”

The Overlord muttered something else to her raven, and then turned to the Queen. “I’ll get to that in a minute. First, did any of you notice any other Incarnations besides Elysia?”

Leah, Simon, and Indirial all shook their heads.

The raven cawed, and Feiora stroked his beak. “They’re probably not here, then. So where are they?”

Silence reigned for a minute or so as everyone digested the question.

“There remains only one likely possibility,” Leah said reluctantly.

Feiora nodded. “If someone is gathering the Incarnations in Cana, we need to stop wasting time here and get back to our capital. Who knows what they could do with us here?”

Indirial pushed his sleeves up, baring the chains on his forearms. “That does seem like the smart play,” he said. “Alin’s waited here for six months, so he can wait a little longer. He doesn’t seem like he’s in a hurry to go anywhere. Let’s wait to sew this Incarnation up after we figure out what’s going on with the other eight.”

“We’re not even going to try to help these people?” Simon said, without thinking about what he was saying. Everyone turned to look at him, Ilana hopeful, the rest surprised.

“Help them what, Simon?” Leah asked. “They’re not dying. People in other places are. No matter how uncomfortable it is, they can hang on until we get back.”

Simon struggled for a moment to find the right words. “Sure, but…this is
Alin
doing it. We might be able to talk to him, or even stop him!”

Or punch him in the face,
Rebekkah added.

Leah looked at him sympathetically, and Indirial was smiling, but he doubted they would back him up.

“They’re not our responsibility,” she said simply. “We can’t help everybody. If we get a chance, then we’ll do what we can. But our people have to come first.”

Our people.

Simon had never considered himself a Damascan. Then again, he wasn’t from Enosh, either.

It
felt
like the wrong thing to do, leaving these people behind.

Leah reduced her scrying lens, a round crystal mirror, to about the size of a dinner plate. Then she banished it back to Lirial and started walking toward the Naraka Gate. The two Overlords were deep in conversation in the corner, with the raven croaking some input every once in a while.

“You’re welcome to come with us, Ilana,” Leah said, without turning and looking at the other woman. “You don’t have to stay here.”

Ilana’s face twisted, as though she was having a painful internal fight. “I will come with you,” she said at last. “But only for now. I need your promise that you will take me back here. My family caused this, and I can’t run away.”

At that, Leah did turn back and look at Ilana, but she didn’t say anything. She simply nodded.

Indirial and Feiora finished their discussion, and Indirial clapped. “Well, now that’s settled, let’s get going. We’re burning daylight. Come on, Simon.”

Simon stood for a moment, torn. He felt like the heroic thing to do would be stay and try to talk to Alin. If he could talk and reason like a normal person, then he should be able to snap out of it, right?
 

On the other hand, he owed something to Indirial and Leah. What did he owe to Alin? He wasn’t even doing anything
that
bad, compared to the walking natural disasters that were the rest of the Incarnations.

With a last, regretful look at the doors, Simon turned back to the Naraka Gate.

Rebekkah started to laugh.

Simon’s spine crawled, and he summoned Azura before he was consciously aware of doing it. He almost gave Ilana an unwanted haircut, but she jerked back and avoided the point of the Dragon’s Fang.

“I don’t—” Feiora began, but then she staggered and grabbed the edge of Ilana’s chair for support. Her raven gave one shrieking caw, much louder than any of the others Simon had heard from it, and took wing.

Indirial had summoned Vasha as well, making Simon feel significantly better, and he stared at the closed doors.

“What is it, Indirial?” Leah asked.

“Into Naraka,” Indirial ordered, not turning from the door. “Into the Gate, Leah! Now!”

Then the doors opened, and Alin walked in.

C
HAPTER
E
LEVEN
:

E
LYSIA
VS
. V
ALINHALL

When Alin entered the waystation, he didn’t blast his way inside, or order his army to do it for him. But he didn’t touch the doors, either.

He wore the solid gold plate armor in which Simon had last seen him, though it seemed somehow more impressive now. The symbol of Elysia, a winged sword point-down in front of a rising sun, was etched into the chestplate. He wore no helmet, letting his bright hair shine in the reddening sunlight.

He stood with his hands on his hips, and his eyes…his eyes seemed to light up the stretching shadows in the waystation.

The Elysian Incarnation smiled like a boy expecting a present. “Simon! Leah! You should have told me you were coming, I thought I was going to have to clean up some intruders. And…”

He froze for a second when his gaze passed over Ilana, and Simon would have bet he was going to gasp in shock. But his smile returned almost immediately. “Ilana!” Alin spread his arms wide, taking a step forward.

Ilana scrambled out of the chair and walked away.

The Incarnation shook his head, showing an amused smile. “I understand your hesitation, Ilana. Believe me, I do. But I’m not like the other Incarnations. This
is
me.”

Leah plastered on a smile and turned, smoothly executing a curtsy to cover the fact that she had taken a step closer to the Naraka Gate. “Pleased to see you again, Alin. I’m so glad you found us. Why don’t you Travel with us back to Bel Calem, and we can talk there?”

Silently, Simon applauded Leah for trying to get Alin into a foreign Territory while, at the same time, not giving away where they were actually going.

Alin chuckled. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t have the time to spare. Feel free to come visit anytime, though. I’ll tell the guardians to let you through. Naraka, right?”

Leah nodded mutely.

“Well, then…” Alin looked directly into the Naraka Gate for the first time, and his face went blank. Not that he simply lost all expression, though that was true as well. His entire body froze with an inhuman stillness, as though he had briefly become nothing more than a statue of himself.

Grandmaster Naraka stared back, apparently in complete control of herself.

The three women behind her, in the armor of Tartarus, drew their swords.

Alin pointed. “Did you bring her to me?”

“She came to me for sanctuary,” Leah began, but Alin cut her off.

“I will give her sanctuary,” he said, in a chill, terrible voice. “And then I will give her a fair trial, followed by a swift execution of the verdict. Which I suspect will end in, simply, a swift execution.”

Leah hesitated for a moment, and then rubbed her chin in a display of thoughtfulness. “We could certainly discuss it,” she said. “Her fate would be much the same in Damasca as well, so I don’t see a problem with handing her over to you. Why don’t we arrange a meeting for the first day of next week, say?”

“I will need her now,” Alin said, with such absolute confidence that Simon shivered. The Incarnation spoke every sentence as though he were pronouncing a new natural law.

Valin’s voice:
What do you want to do, Simon?

For the first time, Simon spoke up. “I don’t care about her,” he said. “You can take her. It seems like she’s earned it. But…what do you want to do afterwards? You know, after you’re done punishing the Grandmasters?”

Alin looked startled, either at the question or at the fact that Simon had said anything. “Once the Grandmasters are dead, and the city is secure, I’ll set out with all the Travelers who will join me. You are all welcome. I will find each Incarnation, and they will be given a choice: they can operate according to my instructions, or I will banish them back to their Territory.”

He spoke with such complete openness and sincerity that Simon believed him. It would have been more comfortable to think he was exaggerating.

“What about Damasca?” Leah asked.

Alin smiled patiently. “It will need to be reorganized. No more sacrifices, that sort of thing, and I think the Overlord system is a relic of the past. But once I’m done, I’ll have the whole nation ordered and peaceful.”

“Like Enosh?” Simon asked.

“Exactly!” Alin seemed pleased that someone understood him.

“That sounds like a wonderful plan,” Leah said. “It’s definitely the kind of thing we can talk about next week.”

Alin nodded toward the Naraka Gate. “You’re free to leave as soon as Grandmaster Naraka is in my possession. And my sister, of course.”

Ilana raised her eyebrows. “Since when am I your possession, little brother?” She said it mockingly, just as she would have back in the village, when she had been known for her sense of humor. Simon had the feeling it wouldn’t do her much good now.

“Since our sisters died,” Alin said simply. “You’re the only one I have left, and I would not lose you.”

“Where I go is my own business. Besides,
you
were the one who left me with Simon!”

Alin nodded. “I have since changed my position on that course of action. It’s become clear to me that I am the only one who can keep you safe, and only if you stay close.”

He stepped close and placed his hand companionably on her shoulder, smiling down at her. She tried to jerk away, used both hands to peel his hand away from her, but a red spark kindled within Alin’s armor. She stayed where she was.

Simon’s heart clenched. He couldn’t get Valin’s words out of his head.

What do you want to do, Simon?

“Now, will you join me, Grandmaster Naraka?” Alin said, as if the matter with Ilana were settled.

“Let the girl go,” Overlord Feiora commanded. The order landed with too much force, and Simon found himself looking for a girl so he could let her go. He almost pulled Rebekkah out of his cloak pocket before he realized this must be a mental attack from Avernus.

Alin didn’t move, or even lose his small smile.

Some of Leah’s authority as a queen bled into her voice. “Let’s not rush into anything, Alin. We can meet next week, formally, as fellow leaders, and decide what needs to be done.”

The Elysian Incarnation gave her a quizzical look. “But I have already decided.”

Simon’s grip tightened on Azura’s hilt.

What do you want to do?

“Well, I haven’t!” Ilana said. “Now let go of me!”

The gold gauntlet remained where it was.

“I have every advantage,” Alin said calmly. “I don’t like to put it this way, but you’ve backed me into the corner, so I must say it: you have no options remaining. I could kill every one of you and drag Grandmaster Naraka out of there before you could make it into the Gate. I have not done so because you’re friends, and I’m trying to be polite.”

The ruby in Leah’s crown sparkled with red light. She reached out to the nearby wall, where Simon hadn’t noticed the Lightning Spear resting against the stone. “Don’t make this a fight, Alin,” she warned.

“I wouldn’t call it a fight,” he said.

What do you want?

Simon wasn’t sure about a lot of things. He had no driving ambition. He knew he wasn’t looking for authority, or for lasting power. He couldn’t quite put into words what he
did
want.