Binarius (16 page)

“
It is what it is,
yeah?”

“
Listen, you don’t have to act all
callous and bold around me. Honest, my father died a long time ago
by the hands of the Desideriums, and my Mum is currently locked up
in our dungeons…as well as everyone else from the
Queendom.”

“
Which Queendom?”

“
Citrine, have you
been?”

“
No, my parents told me that if
anything ever happened I shouldn’t cross the river. They never gave
me a reason, but I’ve listened all these years. So is it my turn to
interrogate?”

Firinne chuckled. “Yes, all right,
go on then.”

“
What’s your name?”

“
You want my full name or just my
first name?”

“
Hey now, don’t get all sassy with
me. You’re first name would’a been just fine, but now I think I’d
like your full name if you don’t mind.”

“
Sure thing, I’m Firinne Celeste
Luxithanya, Second Queen of Citrine Castle, and Extant Crystal
Keeper. I escaped through an ancient labyrinth of tunnels under the
castle. I’ve been trying to find someone who will help my mother
and our Queendom, no luck so far. I came this way after leaving
Archen Castle. A map ordered me to.” She shouldn’t have said that,
she knew she shouldn’t have.

“
So you’re a Queen, who’s been
traveling all alone, and a map led you here. What map?”

Firinne lowered her head. “I
shouldn’t have mentioned it…”

“
Why?”

“
I just shouldn’t have, all
right?”

“
Still don’t trust me?”

She looked up. “Trust is
scarce.”

“
You’ll tell me tomorrow.” Kaolin
said.

“
Oh, will I?”

“
You’ll see…you’ll tell me. Now, I
suppose I shall be most gracious and allow you to rest in my
Kingdom. So if you don’t mind, I think I’ll get some sleep. Think
your fuzzy guy over there will let me cuddle with him?”

“
Unless you want to get mauled, I
wouldn’t recommend the attempt…your highness. Mabon is an almost
unreadable creature. He also happens to be my best friend. Good
night…”

Firinne laid her sword down
adjacent to her makeshift bed before tucking herself in.

Kaolin said, “Goodnight, my Queen”
as he curled up by the fire.

“
Hey, Kaolin?” Firinne
said.

“
What?”

“
What is a Guardian of the
Current? What’s a Current?”

“
Tomorrow.”

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Revelatory Ruins

Kaolin’s
scrawny, boyish figure was standing over her as she stretched her
arms over her head. It was too bright in the throne room and as
soon as Firinne caught a glimpse of him, she collapsed her hands
across her face. Her mind was still stuck in the dream she’d been
having; another gray dream that made no sense.

“
Can I help you with something?”
she said under hands and a smushed nose.

“
Yeah, you can get your lazy arse
up.”

“
What time is it?”

“
Too-late-o’clock.”

“
Oh very funny” Firinne
groaned.

“
C’mon, get up. ‘Lots to show
you.”

After Kaolin treated them to some
apples, they spent the rest of the morning touring the Castle.
Kaolin was like a boy that day. He pranced around from room to room
with pride stamped on his face. In every room he would spread his
arms wide as if he was showing something that was his own creation
— it was endearing, but it made her heart hurt for him. She
couldn’t imagine what he had been through, and all of it at such a
young age. He had been forced to grow up faster than he should have
had to. Today she could see that little boy begging to let down his
guard and escape from reality — she wanted to keep him.

The most interesting part of
Stahrling Castle was the laboritorium. To get to it, they had to go
down at least a dozen flights of stairs, but rather than a spiral
staircase, this one made squared, left angles that would sometimes
cut across the vertical tunnel; switching off directions every few
flights.

Once they reached the bottom,
Firinne realized she was in foreign territory. There were huge
towers, coils, disks, obelisks, and spirals of copper and silver in
every area of the room. It was a gigantic space that was centered
right at the bottom of where they had entered. From the bottom, she
could see the sky from the floor of the courtyard — miles away. It
was like the builders had stuck a square tube in the center of the
Castle.

“
What is all of this?” she
asked.

“This is where
mystical
things
are created.”

“
Seriously…”

“
The bloodlines of Stahrling
Castle are…were, the Guardians of the Current. We, or I, guard the
sky’s fire, the electrolifi, and they,” he pointed to the huge
shapes of silver and copper, “harness it.”

“
You mean like lightning in the
sky?”

“
Yes, but it’s more than that.
Even when there isn’t a storm, the current lives in everything. It
even lives in you and me.”

“
So what is all of this for
then?”

“
This is our conductor. It makes
the current feel safe and guides it.”

“
Well, what is the purpose of it?
I mean…what do you do with it?”

Kaolin stared at her with his mouth
open for a few seconds.

She flinched a little. “I’m sorry,
like I said…I’ve never heard of any of this before.”

“
Just watch.”

From behind his back, he pulled
what looked like two twigs coated in silver. He touched the two
ends together and slowly pulled them apart. As he did so, a white
stream of electrolifi followed. Then, he aimed the two twigs at a
large, silver sphere to his right and the electrolifi struck hard.
In a split second, Firinne was momentarily blinded by currents of
energy connecting like magnets from one sphere to the next —
finally connecting to the middle and shooting in zig-zags to the
top of the castle. Firinne could now see the underside of the
pyramid she had seen the night before. It was beautiful.

“
So what did you think?” Kaolin
said with his hands on his hips.

“
That was amazing! I think I’ll be
seeing lights in my eyes for days. What did it do?”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Well, that was grand and all, but
I don’t see what it did…what was the point of all of
it.”

He shrugged, and with a completely
straight face said, “No idea.”

Firinne studied him hard for a
moment. “You have no idea? What do you mean?”

“I mean I’ve no idea. It
was
wicked
,
though, wasn’t it?”

Firinne laughed. “You’re being
serious?”

“
Dead. This has been here for as
long as I can remember. My parents told me that in ancient times,
someone came and instructed us to do this. They taught us how to be
the guardians of the current. They helped us build these spheres.
The electrolifi branches I have were supposedly created by these
people, and they have been passed down from one generation to the
next. We weren’t ever told what we needed to do this for but
apparently my ancestors had reason to not question it.”

“
That’s insane! Maybe it has
something to do with the citrine pyramid at my castle?”

“
Your guess’s as good as
any…”

“
So, you must use your spectralin
to harness the electrolifi, like I use mine with
crystals?”

“
Yeah, I s’pose that’s
it.”

Nothing made any sense. In fact,
since meeting Kaolin, things made even less sense than they had
before. What was the point of being a crystal keeper, or a guardian
of the current? Why did it matter? What was its purpose?

The books —

It was later in the day. Kaolin had
left to forage the edge of the forest for evening’s feast. Firinne
was building a fire in the throne room where she planned on
sleeping again tonight. She would head out tomorrow, follow the map
to wherever it would lead her. The question that nagged her was
what to do about Kaolin. She was afraid to trust anyone and even
more afraid to get close to anyone. She had lost so much already
but it would break her to leave him here.

“
Those are some deep
thoughts.”

Firinne jumped. “Aren’t they
all?”

“
S’pose you’re right…the way
things are in the world now.”

“
Mm.”

“
Anything you wanna share with
your close confidante, Kaolin?”

Firinne stared at him hard. She
stared at him as though she thought that if she stared at him hard
enough, the truth of him would spill out, and then she would know
for certain.

“
Why you lookin’ at me like
that?”

“
Sorry…I’ve just got a lot on my
mind.”

“
Yeah, we just covered that. You
mind telling me what it is?”

“
I just…I don’t know if I can
trust you.” Firinne said.

“
Who am I gonna tell? I’m a ruddy
recluse!”

“
I know, there’s just so much at
stake…”

“
Listen, if you wanna tell me then
tell me. If you don’t, then maybe you should be on your
merry!”

He was hurt. She could see it
through his defensiveness. “Kaolin, don’t be that way.”

He put up a hand to silence her and
perched himself in a window ledge with eyes set off sternly in the
distance.

After a few minutes, Firinne crept
towards him. She put her hand on his knee. “That thing you showed
me this morning…that was fantastic.”

Kaolin shrugged.

“
It made me realize a lot of
things but mostly, it left me with more questions. I’ve been
through hell Kaolin, and I’m afraid to trust you. No, that’s not
right…I’m afraid to trust. But what you showed me made me realize
that in order to answer these questions, I’m going to have to tell
you.”

“
Oh, really?”

“
Yes, really. And besides all of
that, I don’t think I could bear to leave such an adorable, scruffy
mess like you behind. You’d look positively irresistible next to my
shaggy stag.”

“
Oi! You can stop all that right
now!”

Firinne laughed. “See, I’m already
getting the hang of you. Guess I can trust you after
all.”

Firinne walked away shaking her
head. Before she could disappear in the next room, Kaolin was off
the ledge and after her.

“
Oi! You forgot to tell me what
was on your mind!”

“
Yeah, you know…you’re right, I
did. So whatcha gonna do for me?”

“
I’ve already told you…I’m your
confidante.” He said as he jabbed his thumbs into his
chest.

“
I’ll take it. What else’ve you
got?”

Kaolin’s eyebrows were now messed
up in frustration. “All right, how about your loyal
guard?”

“
You? Guard me?” Firinne rolled
her eyes.

“
Hey! You’ve never seen me in a
fight! I’m vicious, I tell ya!”

“
I’m only playing! All right my
guard and my confidante.”

Kaolin nodded.

“
Well, confidante…we’d better get
you debriefed.”

They spent the next hour together
with Firinne explaining everything that had happened to her. It was
long and laborious to her. She was also faced with swallowing her
pride and revealing some of the bits that involved her which she
was not proud of. Kaolin sat there like one of Lirveen’s pupils —
taking in every detail. When she got to the part about the huge
library and the books, his eyes widened in amazement. When she got
to the part about Cyneric and the quake, his face became stone.
Kaolin really was a child at heart and Firinne thought that he
tried to hide it beautifully.

“
So where do I come in?” Kaolin
asked.

“
You, I am guessing, are the
Currantus Electrolifi that the book mentioned. I am the Kristellis
Spectralli.”

“
There is one other on there,
isn’t there?”

“
Yes, the Sonicus
Leviticus…”

“
Do you know what that
means?”

“
No idea…Imphius probably
would.”

“
So we go through the mountains
then?” Asked Kaolin.

“
Yes, do you know anything about
them?”

“
Only that my parents told me to
stay away from them.”

“
Yes, I don’t know much about them
either. But I don’t know what option we have…assuming you want to
be a part of this.”

“
I don’t think I have much of a
choice. It’s pretty clear that I am the only living Currentus
Electrolifi. I just wish I knew what it meant.”