The Gods of Amyrantha (18 page)

Despite how often he denied it to Tiji, the chameleon Crash had read him far too well. No matter how logical it might be to head north to Caelum, he desperately wanted to go to Arkady. Declan had let her down once before, when they were children. He didn't intend to let it happen a second time.

Tilly's unexpected arrival, he hoped, would make his decision easier. She was the Guardian of the Lore, the Head of the Pentangle and therefore the head of

the Cabal of the Tarot. There was nobody better placed to advise him about the wisest course of action, and Declan knew he needed her counsel.

'I need you to find your grandfather for me,' Tilly told him, once the pleasantries were dispensed with. It was very late — the same day of her summons — but that had more to do with Declan's schedule as spymaster than any deliberate attempt on his part to act in a clandestine manner. He'd arrived by an anonymous hired cab which waited out front, even now. The driver didn't mind the wait. He didn't know who Declan was but he knew the sound of a heavy purse when he heard one and in this quiet, exclusive neighbourhood, he was safe enough dozing in his seat, waiting for his customer. Declan had smiled as the cabbie settled down to wait, obviously convinced his passenger had an amorous assignation planned with the lady of the house.

All thoughts of what his driver might be imagining fled at Tilly's announcement, which she made as she led her late-night guest into the parlour, where the fitful light of a single candelabrum on the table cast dancing shadows over the room, shrouding the detail of the furnishings in darkness and making the old lady appear quite sinister.

Declan gazed at her in confusion. 'I wasn't aware he was lost.'

Expecting a smile, he was more than a little alarmed when Tilly nodded, her expression grim, indicating he should take a seat at the table.

'I don't suppose he's lost in the truest sense of the word,' Tilly replied as she took the seat opposite. 'But 1 haven't heard from Shalimar in almost two months, Declan. I'm starting to get worried.'

'Send someone around to check on him, then,' Declan suggested, wondering why such an easily solved problem would bring her to Herino. 'He's

probably engrossed in something he's working on and lost track of time. You know how he can be.'

'He's not in Lebec, Declan,' Tilly informed him. She hesitated, and then added, 'I sent him to look for Maralyce.'

Declan stared at the old lady for a moment, not sure what shocked him most — that she would attempt such a foolish thing, or that she might send his aging grandfather into the mountains to attempt it for her.

'What,
in the name of the
Tide,
possessed you to ...' he began, too angry to finish the sentence. Tilly was the leader of the Cabal and deserved his respect, but right now Declan's fists clenched so tight they whitened with the effort of remaining still.

'We've always known the rough area where Maralyce's mine is,' Tilly explained with an apologetic shrug. 'After Arkady described the terrain to you following her kidnapping, we were able to narrow it down even further. In fact, we were able to provide Shalimar with almost the exact location.'

'And then you sent him into the mountains, alone and unprotected, to face down a Tide Lord with the Tide on the turn?'

Tilly shook her head. 'It wasn't like that, Declan. He wasn't alone. Aleki saw to that. He had two bodyguards and plenty of supplies. And Maralyce isn't dangerous.'

'She's an immortal, Tilly,' he reminded her, too angry to award her the title she deserved. 'And a Tide Lord. You can't use the words
Tide Lord
and
not dangerous
in the same breath. You taught me that before I could walk.'

'Maralyce has tried to help us in the past.'

'Not killing us with quite the same enthusiasm as her immortal cronies doesn't actually qualify as helping, you know.'

The old lady smiled. 'You see the world so clearly, Declan. Are there no grey areas for you?'

'Not when it comes to the Tide Lords,' he said, fear for his grandfather making him reckless. 'What were you
thinking,
Tilly? My
grandfather?
And a Tide Lord? Is there some secret suicide pact you members of the Pentangle have sworn that I don't know about?'

'No,' she said, more than a little defensively. 'But there is an expectation in the Cabal that one will do whatever is asked of them without complaining about it, young man. A lesson you seemed not to have learned yet.'

'I pull my weight,' he reminded her. 'And I've never done anything other than what was asked of me. But that doesn't mean you can toss away the life of the only family I own for the good of the cause.'

Tilly threw her hands up impatiently. 'Oh, do stop being such an idiot, Declan. Shalimar chose to do this, and to be honest, I don't blame him. Do you know how much we would gain if Maralyce was willing to champion our cause once more?'

'She didn't champion it the last time, as I recall.'

'That's your trouble, Declan, you
don't
recall.'

'But the Tarot says —'

'Whatever we need it to say,' Tilly cut in. 'If we'd recorded Maralyce's efforts to help humanity, it would bring the wrath of her immortal brethren down upon her like a firestorm.'

Declan smiled then, deliberately goading her. 'So now you're telling me this wretched cause to which I've dedicated my whole life is a lie?'

Tilly wasn't amused. 'Everything is a lie, Declan. Every one of us is steeped in them. The truth — the only truth — is that which we choose to reveal. There's a reason there's the Lore
and
a Tarot, you know.'

Declan nodded. He did know. 'The Tarot is for the Tide Lords so they think we've got it wrong, and the Lore for the future, for the day we finally find a way to defeat them.'

'Ah, then you did listen to the odd thing your grandfather tried to teach you?'

'I listened, my lady. I just wasn't prepared for there to be quite so much difference between them. I was always under the impression the Tarot was deliberately based on loose fact to give it a ring of authenticity.'

'And so it is,' she agreed. 'But there are some things that are too inflammatory to be recorded at all.'

'Maralyce helping humanity being one of them, I suppose?'

She nodded. 'Truly, Declan, I'm not afraid Maralyce has hurt your grandfather. I'm more afraid he's come to harm in the mountains.'

'Then can't you send someone else after him? There's any number of Scards sitting in Hidden Valley twiddling their thumbs. You could send some of them, couldn't you?'

'I can't risk sending any Crash, Scard or otherwise, after him, Declan,' she said, shaking her head. 'If he has found Maralyce's mine, and there's even the remotest chance she might help us, I don't want to ruin our chances by making her deal with the Crasii. She despises them; thinks they're abominations. And that's a rumour Arkady was able to confirm without a doubt. No, whoever I send after Shalimar has to be human and in a position to negotiate if your grandfather can't.'

'I'm the King's Spymaster, Tilly. I can't just drop everything to go charging off into the mountains after my grandfather. And it's not that I don't want to, you know that. But since we've had Cecil working in the palace, we know for certain that it's Diala posing as Kylia here in Glaeba, which means any day this whole city might go up in flames. Tiji had a run-in with the empress and her lot in Caelum and now it looks as if Kinta may be posing as the Imperator's Consort in Torlenia.'

Tilly's eyes widened in shock. 'Does Arkady know about this?'

'It was Arkady who sent us word. But no, as far as I know, she's not aware who the Lady Chintara is.'

'Chintara, eh? She's modified her name then, for the benefit of her Torlenian subjects.' Tilly smiled. 'Not that I blame her. Isn't a chinta a smelly little Torlenian rodent?'

'The point, my lady, is that I need to go south —'

'To save Arkady?' Tilly said with disturbing insight before he could present his elegant argument defending his decision. 'Does she
need
saving?'

'Tides, Tilly! She's meeting with Kinta on an almost daily basis ...'

'And probably being treated like a queen, Declan. Kinta's done nothing to harm her, has she, or even threaten Glaeba's interests? In fact, I hear on the grapevine Stellan actually got an audience with the Imperator that didn't end in bloodshed thanks to Arkady's friendship with the consort. Exactly what is the threat here?'

'If Kinta is back then it's likely Brynden is nearby. Or worse, the Immortal Prince.'

Tilly's eyes narrowed. 'That what's really bothering you, isn't it? You fear Arkady may run into Cayal again.'

Declan took a deep breath, at pains to appear unemotional about this. 'Brynden all but destroyed Amyrantha during the last Cataclysm because the Immortal Prince stole his lover. You can't tell me that everything has been forgiven and they're all back to being friends again. Kinta has married the Imperator of Torlenia and the only reason she'll have done that is so she can hand the prize of the Torlenian throne over to her lover when he returns. And we don't know which lover that might be. Given what happened the last time there was a battle for her affections, I don't think it's unreasonable that we do something to ensure the same thing doesn't happen again.'

'I'll bet you practised that little speech all the way here.'

'That doesn't make it wrong.'

She smiled sympathetically. 'Nor does it make it compelling. If Kinta is back and preparing to take Torlenia, it will be for Brynden. Cayal's death wish will have put paid to any future he might once have wanted with Kinta, and besides, why else would she be interested in securing Torlenia? It's traditionally Brynden's stomping ground. She'll be getting ready to offer it to him. If she was looking for something to give Cayal, she'd more likely be here in Glaeba. This is his territory, not the continent where people curse his very name.'

'I can't just up and leave Herino. There's too much happening at the moment...' 'Ask Daly to help.'

Declan looked at her in surprise. 'He's retired.'

'And dying of terminal boredom,' Tilly added with
a
smile. 'Bring Daly out of retirement to keep an eye on things in Caelum. He's was the King's Spymaster longer than you've been alive and he's still a member of the Cabal. There's nobody better qualified for the job and five years of fishing is driving him to distraction. He'd welcome the chance to do something useful. You've got Cecil in the palace now, so we'll know what Jaxyn and Diala are up to. He can report to Lord Deryon just as easily — probably more easily — than he can get word to you, anyway. So send someone you trust to Torlenia to warn Arkady she might be dealing with Kinta and do what I require of you, young man. Go into the mountains, find your grandfather, speak to Maralyce if he hasn't already done it, and convince her that the humans of Amyrantha are going to need her help.'

'That's
the plan?' he asked, making no attempt to hide his irritation at the way she was trampling all over his wishes to suit the Cabal's agenda. 'Ten thousand years of sacrifice, ten thousand years of hoarding every scrap of knowledge we could get our hands on and the best the Cabal can come up

with is:
let's ask one of the nice Tide Lords to be on our side?'

The old lady frowned. 'You have your grandfather's gift for vast oversimplification, I see.'

'I'm a regular chip off the old block. Is there any point trying to argue about this?'

Tilly smiled and leaned forward to pat his hand. 'We can fight about this for a bit longer if it will make you feel better, dear. But in the end, you'll do as I say. We both know that.'

He snatched his hand away, in no mood to play her games. This woman might have everybody in Glaeba convinced she was an eccentric fool, but Declan knew better. 'You know, someday, I'm going to tell the king who really rules Glaeba.'

'Well, while you're waiting for your opportunity, do as I command, Declan Hawkes. Find Maralyce. And your grandfather.'

'Even if I have to turn my back on more immediate dangers?'

'Declan, if we don't find a way to counter the rising power of the Tide Lords, it won't matter what you do to help your friends.'

'You're assuming I meant Arkady.'

'She's my friend too, you know. Nobody wishes her harm less than I do.'

'But you're prepared to leave her in the power of a Tide Lord.'

Tilly shrugged. 'Arkady has already proved she can hold her own against a Tide Lord, Declan,' she pointed out, rising to her feet. 'Now it's time for you to do the same.'

CHAPTER 17

Declan Hawkes liked to keep his private life and his working life strictly separate, so when Tiji received a summons to meet Declan at his home, rather than either of the offices he kept, she knew something important was afoot.

It was late in the afternoon when she arrived. He lived in a small apartment above an apothecary several blocks from the palace in an area of Herino that was as quiet as it was unremarkable. Being close to the lake's edge, the street was paved, but the houses were elevated to about waist height on thick wooden stumps and connected by a series of wooden pathways to allow the frequent spring floods a clear path through the streets. More than one house had a small boat propped up against the wall, waiting for the next flood, which Tiji had to skirt around as she made her way to Declan's house. The remains of the last inundation was long gone, she noted, although the street was damp from the most recent shower of rain. The streets of Herino, particularly this close to the palace, were designed to drain quickly and it hadn't flooded since early spring.