Beyond the Boundary Stones (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 3) (50 page)

Gevan frowned at her. “Why?”

“That’s where Nirel said she first told Vigorre what happened to her. I want to see if she was telling the truth.”

He nodded grimly. Father was even more skeptical of Nirel’s account than Kevessa was. He’d kept his promise not to go to Master Elkan with what she’d told him, but she didn’t know how much longer he’d be willing to let her handle things.

Gevan shouted the change in orders to the driver, who complied without comment. Most of the route through the city was the same, but they continued two streets past the turn to Mama and Papa’s house before rounding the corner onto the curving road that led to the mansion where the ball had been held.

As soon as they were close enough, Kevessa stroked Nina, who snuggled in her lap.
Would you open a window on that house up there, please? To three months ago. While we were still in Tevenar.

What are we looking for?

Kevessa swallowed at Nina’s tone of innocent curiosity. One way or another, her familiar was going to find out about Nirel’s accusation tonight.
Nirel and Vigorre told me something last week when I went home for Restday. I need to see if they were telling the truth or lying to me.

Nina stretched her body upward, one paw on Kevessa’s arm, and peered at her face.
Lying to you? About what?
Her nose twitched.
Is this what’s been bothering you all week?

She should have known she couldn’t keep her agitation completely secret from her familiar.
Yes.
She sighed. There was no way she could explain.
You’ll see.

Nina made a rude sound, but pressed her paws into Kevessa’s hand and popped open a window over the other. It zipped through days and nights until it paused on an evening when carriages crowded the street and richly dressed guests waited to pass through the doors.

That’s it.
Kevessa felt a little wistful that she’d missed such a grand event. She loved music and dancing and visiting with her friends. She doubted she’d get a chance to any time in the near future. But she wouldn’t have passed up her trip to Tevenar for a hundred balls.
Look for Vigorre or Nirel.

They spotted Nirel first, as her father escorted her in. They skimmed over the time until Vigorre appeared with his father and stepmother, then slowed down when he swept Nirel into a waltz. Kevessa listened carefully to everything they said to each other. Her breath quickened when the conversation turned to religious politics, but the dance ended before anything significant was said.

Gevan sat back and frowned at the window. “I didn’t realize Vigorre had Purifier sympathies.”

“You have to admit he had a point.” Kevessa concentrated on watching as Nina sped further through that long-ago night. She winced as Kabos angrily accosted Nirel and urged Nina to hurry past that part. She had no desire to listen to her friend berated. There wouldn’t be anything important, anyway, until Nirel and Vigorre met again.
There! Slow down.

Vigorre and Nirel walked together through the dark garden and settled on a bench. Kevessa’s face got hot. She didn’t want to intrude on her friends’ privacy—what they did together was none of her business. But fortunately, for a long time they only talked. Vigorre told Nirel about his family. His voice intensified as he expressed his conviction that the Mother would never give her power to some of her children, but not all. Kevessa gulped and held her breath as he begged Nirel to confirm his suspicions, and she protested in a way that revealed she was hiding something.

Nina stiffened as Nirel launched into her tale, just as she’d told it to Kevessa a week ago. The squirrel’s dark eyes didn’t waver from the golden sphere. As Nirel described the familiars’ demonic actions, Nina began to tremble.

When Vigorre leaned down to kiss Nirel, Kevessa pulled her hand away from Nina and the window vanished. She clenched her fists. Her voice sounded rusty in her ears. “That matches what she told me.”

Nina pressed herself hard into Kevessa’s stomach.
Why would she say such horrible things about us? I like Nirel, she’s a good helper. Master Elkan thinks the Mother might offer her a familiar. She doesn’t act like she’s afraid of us.

Gevan reached for Kevessa’s hand. “I can see why it troubled you so much. She sounded very sincere.”

Nina reared up to stare Kevessa in the face.
You can’t believe her? You know I’m not a demon!

I know.
Kevessa swallowed miserably and looked away.
At least, I think I know. Nirel said that familiars can erase memories. That maybe you’d erased mine.

Nina backed down her lap, her back arching, her tail bushing out.
You do believe her!

I don’t!

You promised you’d never betray me!
Nina shivered all over. When Kevessa reached for her, she jerked away and fell sprawling onto the seat, her claws scrabbling for purchase.
All week you’ve been thinking I was a demon! You didn’t tell the other wizards what Nirel said. You think I would break the Mother’s Law by changing your memory. You think I would hurt people!
Nina’s mouth opened and her scream tore into Kevessa’s ears and heart.
I don’t want to have to break our bond. Please, please, don’t make me—

“No!” Kevessa threw herself to her knees on the carriage floor and tried to meet Nina’s eyes, but the squirrel squeezed them shut. “I don’t think any of those things! I don’t care what Nirel said! She must have been lying. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. And I showed you, didn’t I? I swear I never meant to hurt you. Please don’t break our bond. I’m still willing to humble myself and serve the Mother. I’ll always be willing.”

Nina’s eyes opened a crack. Her sides heaved with her frantic breaths. The reproach in her mental voice broke Kevessa’s heart.
How could you doubt me?

I don’t know. Nirel is my friend, and Vigorre, too. I thought I could trust them.
Kevessa swallowed.
I guess I can’t.

Nina’s panting slowed, and she dragged herself to her feet.
We need to find out why they lied to you.

Kevessa gulped and nodded.
I don’t think Vigorre was lying. He believes what Nirel told him.

Yes.
Nina crept forward. Kevessa pressed her cheek into the squirrel’s soft fur and encircled her with her arms.
I didn’t do those things and forget. I would never eat a person, or even bite them. I would die first. I can’t go against the Mother’s will. Nothing could make me.

I know. I know.
Kevessa stroked Nina and crooned over her until her distress lessened.
We’ll find out why Nirel lied to him and to me.

Nina drew back and put a paw on Kevessa’s cheek.
We can trace her.

Yes. She must have talked to someone about it.
Kevessa devoutly hoped that was true. What if Nirel, for some unfathomable reason of her own, had made up the lie in her mind, without ever discussing it with anyone? They’d never be able to discover the truth.

There was only one way to find out. She seated herself on the bench, gathered Nina into her lap, and addressed Gevan, who was staring at the two of them in baffled, horrified fascination. “Father, we have to follow Nirel until we find out why she lied. It might take a while. I know Mama will worry. But we have to do this right now.”

He gave a sharp nod. “I agree. I expect we’ll find that the Purifiers put her up to it. But since the Mother lets us see the whole truth, we’re fools to rely on guesses and suppositions. I’ll take care of making our excuses to Alitta.”

Kevessa smiled at him gratefully and put out her hand. Nina snuggled into the crook of her elbow and opened a window.

Nirel and Kabos had walked to the ball from their home in the village. Gevan kept calling instructions to the driver to keep them in range. They had to stop at the gate to the Dualist Quarter, but the guard recognized Gevan and let them in. On the far side the guard let them out again, and they rolled down the bumpy road until they neared the village.

They traced Nirel through the day of the ball and the day before, seeing nothing suspicious. But as they skimmed over hours of Nirel sleeping the previous night, they reached the moment she’d climbed into bed far more quickly than Kevessa expected, when the time in the window was still well after midnight. She and Gevan exchanged glances, then she silently bid Nina continue. They watched as Nirel exchanged a few words with Kabos, inaudible in the reverse progression of time, and backed through the door.

Nirel trudged backwards through the starlit night. The driver was too well trained to complain when Gevan ordered him to turn around and drive back to the city, but Kevessa was sure he must think they’d gone mad. It worried Kevessa to see her friend out alone so late, but apparently she’d escaped harm.

Inside the gate of the Dualist Quarter, Nirel veered onto a side street. Kevessa had Nina douse the window while Gevan spoke again with the guard. It was harder to convince him to let them back into the city than it had been to get out, but eventually he allowed them to pass.

With a sense of sick inevitability, Kevessa watched Nirel wind through the streets to the same hidden shrine where she’d traced Tharan. Of course. Nirel was in league with Davon, too. That’s what all her quibbling over fine points of the law had been about. She’d been concealing her own guilt.

It didn’t take much searching to locate the moment they sought. Nina let time within the window run forward.

Nirel knelt beside Davon, facing the white scroll hanging between two lamps. “What do you want me to do, Elder?”

“You accepted the invitation to the ball as I instructed you?”

“Yes, Elder.”

“A young man will be there, the son of First Keeper Emirre. I want you to seek him out, gain his trust, and confide to him something that happened to you in Tevenar. A terrible secret that you’ve shared with no one else.”

Nirel’s brow furrowed for a moment. Then she smoothed it and bowed her head. “What secret, Elder?”

Davon smiled. “One I’ve carefully designed to serve our purpose, once it reaches the right ears. I’ve considered everything you told me about your experiences in your homeland, and I’ve crafted a tale that blends with actual events. As we go over what you must say, please feel free to offer suggestions to help it more accurately reflect Tevenaran culture. The more authentic details we can include, the more believable it will be.”

Nirel sat back on her heels and regarded him attentively. “I will, Elder.”

“Good.” Davon, too, settled into a more comfortable position. “Your capture in the mountains provides the perfect setting for our incident. Only a handful of witnesses could contradict you, and we can provide a plausible motive for their silence.”

Kevessa listened in numb horror as Davon spun the elaborate lie. A few times Nirel criticized his original version and offered suggestions to make it more convincing. She supplied a Tevenaran name for the fictitious victim of the demons’ hunger. She repeated the story over and over, listening to Davon’s critiques and varying her inflections until he was pleased with the sincerity of the emotions she portrayed. Nirel paid close attention as Davon described Vigorre and coached her on topics that would engage his interest and draw him to confide to her the doubts Davon’s spies had discovered.

When at last Davon expressed his satisfaction and ushered her out, Nina let the window fade. Kevessa drew a deep breath. “Now I know why Nirel was so interested in anything I could tell her about the Dualists. She was seeking her own people.”

“She found them.” Gevan scowled. “And wasted no time becoming involved in their intrigues. Davon must have known of the Purifiers’ secret document and designed her story to confirm it.”

Nina pressed against her body.
Please, will you tell Master Elkan now?

“Yes. But first I’m going to show this to Vigorre. He’s the one she deceived; he deserves to see the truth.”

Nina complained, but Kevessa was certain of her decision. Master Elkan wasn’t going to be happy with her for waiting so long to tell him what she’d learned. She’d take advantage of any legitimate reason to put off facing his disappointment and anger.

He would be hurt and furious at the way the people he’d trusted and had such hopes for had been lying to him all along. Nirel deserved it, but Vigorre was as much her victim as the rest of them. Kevessa would give her old friend the chance to come to terms with how the girl he loved had betrayed him before he had to face Elkan. Maybe if he begged forgiveness sincerely enough Elkan would allow him to continue working with the wizards. The Mother knew they needed the assistance, and Vigorre loved helping people. It must have been awful for him all this time, believing the power he witnessed doing so much good came from horrific demons.

She brightened. Once disabused of his false beliefs about the wizards, Vigorre would be free to see them for what they really were. Surely he would realize he belonged with them. It was obvious now why the Mother hadn’t offered him a familiar, but all the qualities that had led Master Elkan and the rest of them to expect that she would were still there. The Mother was merciful. Surely she’d see that Vigorre had been trying to serve her the best way he knew how and give him another chance.

* * *

Vigorre stared into the window over Kevessa’s hand. Blood rushed in his ears and his stomach churned.

It couldn’t be true. Nina might look like a harmless pet, but she was a
demon.
The shimmering golden light might look like the Mother’s power, but it wasn’t. The images in the window were illusions, manufactured to discredit Nirel’s story. Keeper Yoran had warned him this might happen.

The Lord of Demons still hoped to ensnare Vigorre. He’d come close to losing Kevessa. He was desperately scrambling to maintain control of his slave and gain another. When Kevessa had come perilously close to witnessing Nirel and Davon discussing the true events, he’d caused his creature to display a false image instead.