The Realms of Ethair (22 page)

“
My apologies for my behavior earlier, my
lady,” the Rituvan Elder said, bringing her fingers to his
lips.

His manners matches
Kelor-dan’s
,
Liyanna observed. “There is nothing to apologize,” she paused,
unsure of how to address this stranger. Then: “I find that my
appearance these days elicits different reactions.”

Kasador nodded understanding, his eyes
straying to the high priestess beside her. Thin lines appeared
around Sara’s eyes, an indication that the prophecy had drained
her. They did not exchange words. The Council had not been informed
of this secret meeting and would be too late to stop Liyanna. It
was no use keeping Liyanna in the dark. She had been subdued at Dur
na Valed; but Sara’s prophecy remained unchanged: Liyanna would
defy the Elders.

Dropping on bended knee, Kasador said: “I
made an oath to protect the first Liyanna with my life. I offer it
once more to the present Liyanna. With Prince Kelor, Lord of the
Eastern Province and Forest of Merleina, and Her Eminence, High
Priestess Sara of the Order of Nurandine, as my witnesses, I vow to
protect and support Liyanna until my very last breath.”

Liyanna
looked for help. The Devatas waited expectantly
for her response; their Prince’s gaze was at the kneeling man, his
expression thoughtful; Sara was too weary to ask for counsel. The
witnesses the Rituvan Elder had called upon were uncomfortable with
the role forced upon them. The vow had been uttered in Old Tongue
making circumstances more complicated. He had abruptly ended his
career as Elder just to be her Protector. She was unfamiliar to the
customs of his land that to release him from his oath might result
to losing his honor.

Not knowing how to respond appropriately
to the situation, Liyanna gestured for him to rise, placed a hand
on his arm, offered a small smile and said: “I am not sure I need a
protector but I would like to continue my studies in
Indariki.”

He hesitated for a moment at her request;
but, eventually, the Rituvan said: “It would be an honor to teach
you, Liyanna.”

Displeasure was an understatement of how the
Elders reacted to his blatant disregard of their orders. The looks
they gave him at Dur na Valed were marked with disappointment,
exasperation, and anger. Sola and Sara, Merleina
’s representatives in the Council, did not
come to his defense.

The high priestess did not confront him.
Her son did. Sola had stalked to his office the afternoon of that
same day. Reno’s apprentice had been apprehensive when the latter
announced the visitor, whose anger rolled off him in waves.
Arturion had never caused his foster family grief. The Gate Keepers
were also relatively easier to manage than the Black Guards. The
glow globes flickered unnaturally. Sola was at the brink of
unleashing something unpleasant. Reno mentally checked that his
barriers would be able to withstand any form of attack. They were
both commanding officers in their respective Orders, but
Sola was far more experienced
and sorely outranked him. The older man had come as an
Elder.

“
I did what I had to do,” Reno said
quietly.

“
Of course. Have you ever considered the
implications of your repeated offenses against the Council?” Sola
said blandly. He lifted a hand when Reno was about to reply. “Your
frustration with the Council is understandable and unsurprising.
They tolerate your methods because you acted out of necessity but
this–” One of the glow globes cracked as Sola tried to rein in his
temper. “We had taken pains to hide the disappearances from Liyanna
because of the prophecy, but you,” he paused, “you had to tell
her.”

“
The future can be changed.” Reno had no
way of knowing what Liyanna was thinking in Dur na Valed. She had
retreated within her self. He hoped she would be smart enough to
stay with the Forest Folk.

“
I pray you are right. However, the damage
has already been done. Soon, they would demand us to make an
example of your Order or you.” The anger dissipated. Sola’s eyes
were bleak. “I promised your mother I would protect you. Your
foolishness would make me break that promise.” He turned to
leave.

“Commander Sola. Aren’t you going to ask why
I did it?”

“
Do you think my foster son would have approved?”
Sola said, revealing that he knew the reason, and stepped out of
the room. Reno knew he would pay for the consequences of his
actions once the mission was over –
if
he hadn’t yet been captured by the enemy, as well. Still,
it was more frightening that the warning had come from an official
member of the Council.

Commander Reno and his Guards visited each
site where a Keeper had last been sighted. A few of his men
possessed strong Sight to see what had occurred before the taking.
Yet, the visions were unclear: the Keeper would be doing a trivial
activity then the person would fall unconscious and
disappear.

The Zertans’ awareness of Merleina’s
existence has made Them more slippery than ever. Travelers and
Keepers alike were completely unprepared of the harmless methods
their enemies have adopted that no one had the foresight to leave
an imprint in an unassuming object. It would have led the Guards to
the owner’s location.

The whole situation was laughable. All
their lives, Merleinans were taught to detach themselves from
worldly possessions. Now, it seemed that the opposite would have
been the key finding the victims. It intrigued him how one race
doomed to be left behind in the third dimension could cover its
tracks from the more evolved Guards.

In front of Reno, the wooden chair lay on
the floor at the exact position when he and Arturion had rushed
back to Merleina. Dust coated the once impeccably clean
furnishings, proof that the wards had been breached weeks ago. The
owner of the house was nowhere to be found, another addition to the
rising number of missing individuals. Futilely, he hoped that his
friend had gone into hiding. He righted the chair and surveyed the
room one last time. At the center table, a bowl of potpourri caught
his eye. It had graced the corner table between the sofa and chairs
before. Using his Sight, he saw a vision: his friend stood by the
sofa with his back turned to him. Arturion lifted a twine from his
neck. His head moved sideways, expecting someone to sneak up on
him. He clasped the necklace with both hands as if in prayer. Then,
he lifted the glass bowl of potpourri and hid the necklace within.
Turning to the center table, his lips moved as he held the bowl
while his eyes darted around the room. The furniture trembled
slightly at the incantation and ceased after the last word was
chanted. Arturion placed the object in its current position and
hurried out of the house.

Reno reached for the bowl then stopped,
his hand hovering over it. He remembered he had to check on his
niece and the Guards he had assigned around the perimeter. They
were to stick together as a group to prevent an ambush from their
enemies. He straightened and scanned the room, wondering why he
continued to linger in this part of the house. His gaze dropped to
the center table again.
The potpourri was not in its usual place…
Arturion had probably
repositioned it for some reason. He moved to the door and thought
of how his friend had made efforts to make living in the third
dimension bearable. He had left nature to run riot in the garden –
a poor imitation of Merleina’s forest in Reno’s
perspective.

Commander, a human
approaches,
one of the
Guards warned.
Her behavior is suspicious. She is attempting to scale the
wall. Should we apprehend her?

Leave her be. I’ll handle
it.
Reno sighed as he
saw the intruder pull one leg over the wall and the next. He had
glimpsed her face. Even half-concealed with the large sunglasses
and her hair hidden underneath the hood of her baggy jacket, he
recognized her.

“
You could get in trouble for trespassing
in private property, you know,” he called out to her as she
persisted in moving stealthily among the vegetation. Reno waited,
allowing his words to sink in.

“
And you could go to prison for operating
your business illegally.” She shot up behind a bush, her sunglasses
askew, glaring at him. He would have been more concerned of this
piece of knowledge she about his affairs if it had not been spoiled
by the state of her appearance. The weather had not been kind,
recently. It had rained all day and it showed in Mindy’s clothes.
Mud, twigs and leaves stuck to her.

“Come out of there. Then, we’ll talk.”

Mindy stood in place, her expression
wavering with indecision. She had meant to investigate on Arturion
and possibly spy on him against Reno’s advice.

“
If you’re worried about Arturion finding
you out, he’s gone.” He leaned on the doorframe and crossed his
arms. A few moments later, she noisily struggled against plant life
that blocked her path. She marched inside and swiveled to face him.
Hands on hips, she demanded: “Where is he?”

“There’s a path from the gate leading to this
door. You might want to use it next time.”

“
Uncle.”

“I don’t know where he is.” He shrugged. “And
I specifically told you to stay out of this.”

“
I did until I discovered that everything
about you is a lie,” she accused. “For all I know, you had us all
fooled into thinking that you’re related to us.”

“
Unfortunately, we are.” Reno regretted
sharing information with Mindy with the purpose of keeping her
safe. He should have just kept her in the dark and trusted his
people to keep an eye on her. His niece was far too clever for her
own good and he had encouraged it. He taught her sleight of hand
tricks in their meetings and passed on what he knew in hacking
computers. Now, it seemed he had dragged her into deeper trouble.
He could just imagine his mother raving at him when she learns what
he had done, especially for involving Mindy in his
investigation.

“What?” Hurt reflected on her eyes.

“
Mother would kill me when she finds out,”
he motioned a hand towards her, unable to continue.

Mindy’s face cleared, then replaced by a
scowl. “What do you actually do for a living?”

“I’m the head of an intelligence agency.”

“So, the firm is actually a cover story.
Where does Arty come in?”

“He works for another organization. They find
people.” His niece looked skeptical. “You don’t believe me.”

“How could I when you give me vague
answers?”

“I can’t give you what you want. I took an
oath of secrecy.”

“Aren’t there supposed to be exceptions for
the head of an agency?” Reno gave her a stern look. “Fine. Who do
you spy on?”

“Potential enemies.”

“Argh! This is so frustrating.” Mindy
gestured widely with her arm. “When will I ever get a straight
answer?”

Reno wasn’t in his best form to answer his
niece’s barrage of questions. He was tired from going to and from
Merleina and if he wasn’t careful, he might accidentally give her
more details about his work than allowed.

“
No. Sorry.” What he couldn’t say was the
oath he took had been uttered in the Old Tongue, preventing him
from breaking his promise. The few who managed to work around it
usually ended up paying the price for the deed; mainly, it was
because they overlooked a minute detail that enforced the pledge.
It followed the universal law that every action has an equal
reaction. The consequences varied depending on the gravity of the
offense. It was easier to bend or break the Council’s orders. At
least, one could predict the judgment they would pass than go
against one’s word spoken in the Old Tongue. Reno had found a flaw
in the oath he had taken but it required him to speak carefully.
Still, the easiest course of action was to have someone willingly
release the individual from one’s oath.

“What do you mean he’s gone, anyway? Has Arty
gone AWOL or something?” He didn’t know if he should be glad the
topic wasn’t about him anymore now that she was making inquiries
about Arturion.

“He’s missing. Many of my people have been
disappearing. If my observations are correct, Arturion was the last
person they took.”

Confused, she said: “But I just saw him
yesterday.” Reno pushed himself away from the doorframe.

“Where?”

“
Here. He was with Fred.” She arched an
eyebrow. “He’ll be here in—” Mindy looked at her wristwatch.
“Shoot! He’s coming. We’ve got to hide. Quickly!” She dashed to the
nearest room and stopped abruptly. “Oh, right. You’re Arty’s
BFF.”

“B-F-F?” He stared at her, quizzically.

“You know…” At that exact moment, one of his
men mentally informed him of Arturion’s arrival. His instruction to
them to stay hidden and alert for signs of trouble baffled the
Guards; but training and loyalty would keep them from disobeying
his orders.

The sound of a gate closing was heard before
Arturion’s head became invisible among the thick foliage.

“Hide behind the bar.”

“Huh?”

“
Just do what you’re told,” Reno snapped.
His niece glared at him, defiantly. “I’ll explain
later.”

With unhappiness written all over her
face, she finally obeyed; all the while, muttering under her
breath. Reno’s gaze followed her to the bar. Now he knew where he
got his rebellious streak. It apparently ran in his mother’s
family. Returning his attention to Arturion, who was nearing the
front door, he scanned his friend’s expression.