The Gods of Amyrantha (32 page)

Although neither of them was willing to admit it, they'd both known it was likely he'd never see his grandfather again.

'How far has the Tide come in, anyway?' he asked, forcing the notion of Shalimar's impending death from his mind. He couldn't afford to dwell on that now. And hard as it was for Declan to accept the fact, in the

care of Maralyce the old man was probably in the best place he could be to face the onslaught of the rising Tide.

'What do you mean?'

'I mean how much power do you ... or to be more specific, do the
other
Tide Lords have by now?'

Maralyce hesitated and then she turned and waved her arm. Across the yard, a pile of loose shingles stacked beside the lean-to began to scatter and tumble across the muddy yard as if being tossed by the breeze.

Declan watched the demonstration with interest. 'Ah, the old falling shingles trick. I'll be on the lookout for that one.'

'Don't get smart with me, boy,' Maralyce said.

'I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I get the point of your demonstration.'

'Tide magic is elemental, Declan,' she explained. 'That's what we do. It's
all
we can do. The extent to which we control the elements varies, according to individual talent and our willingness to master what we do. That makes Lukys the most dangerous of us all, because that's pretty much all he does — look for ways to hone his skill. The only other immortal who was ever his student for long enough to be anywhere near as dangerous is Cayal. The rest of them think they know it all, so they tend to be a great deal more ham-fisted when it comes to settling their disputes.'

'It's not lack of power that causes the cataclysms,' Declan said. 'Is that what you're saying? It's a lack of finesse?'

She nodded. 'That's one way of looking at it.' 'So what do I have to fear?'

To Declan's surprise, Maralyce answered him without hesitation. 'Syrolee, more than most, is the one to watch out for. She's not even as powerful as Engarhod, and she certainly wields nowhere near the power Elyssa or Tryan can summon when they're in the mood. But she rules the roost, make no mistake about

it. Whether through fear, emotional manipulation or just outright sneakiness, Syrolee is the empress of that family, sure as she used to be Empress of the Five Realms.'

'But what can she actually
do?'

'Not much, when it comes to the Tide. Tryan and Elyssa, though ... by now they'll be able to affect the weather, manipulate water, air, earth and even fire to some degree. We could rustle up a fairly short, localised storm at a pinch, but it's a bit early for any of us to be able to cause the sort of calamitous weather Cayal is famous for.' When she noticed his expression, she frowned. 'Don't glare at me like I'm trying to dodge the question. It's really not an easy thing to answer. We all have different areas that interest us; all have different reasons to have mastered what we know. I can tunnel through a mountain with a wave of my hand, but I could never have caused the storm that flooded Glaeba and gave rise to your Great Lakes.'

'So the short answer,' Declan concluded, adjusting his pack to a more comfortable position, 'is that you really don't know what the others are capable of.'

The immortal thought on that for a moment and then nodded. 'Pretty much.'

'You've been a great help, my lady.'

She glared at him. 'Don't get snippy at me, boy. I've done more for you and your kind than any of the others of my kind, and all out of the goodness of my heart, and for no other reason. A bit of gratitude wouldn't go astray, you know.'

Declan smiled. 'Forgive me, my lady. I am grateful to you, everything you've done for us and everything you're going to do to ease Shalimar's pain.'

'That'd be a real nice apology if I thought for a moment you meant it.'

'Family shouldn't need to apologise to each other,' Declan said, watching her closely.

Maralyce didn't reply. In fact, she didn't react at all

his suggestion. She just turned her back on him, heading back to the cabin.

'Does Shalimar know you're his mother?' he called after her.

After a few steps she stopped and turned to look at him. The immortal seemed to debate something within herself and then she shrugged. 'Reckon he must. He ain't stupid. We just never talk about it.'

'You'll take good care of him, won't you?'

'I'll see him through it,' she agreed, which Declan figured was as close as she was likely to come to admitting she cared for the old man, or that she had any familial ties to him.

He grinned then, wondering how far he could push her. 'May I call you Great-grandmamma?'

Maralyce's eyes narrowed. Her voice was flat. 'Only if you want me to strike you down where you stand, boy.'

Declan didn't doubt for a moment that she meant it. 'Will I see you again, my lady?'

'Maybe. I ain't goin' nowhere.'

With that, Maralyce turned back toward the cabin and disappeared inside, leaving Declan alone in the chilly yard, standing at the maw of the mine, armed with a lamp, a hand-drawn map and not much more than the word of a grumpy immortal to see him through the labyrinthine tunnels to Caelum on the other side.

CHAPTER 31

Arkady barely slept after her discussion with Tiji. The knowledge Kinta was immortal, the news Cayal was here in the city... It was too much to take in all at once. She tossed and turned all through the steamy night, her skin clammy, her pulse racing, and woke the next morning feeling as if she'd spent all night engaged in hard physical labour.

She'd decided nothing, resolved nothing, and achieved nothing. By the time she sat down to breakfast with Stellan, Arkady had no idea what she was going to say to Kinta when she confronted her, or what she would do if Cayal showed up.

A part of her was terrified by the prospect of meeting Cayal again, another part excited, yet another part coldly indifferent to the notion. Her feelings for the Immortal Prince were complicated. Part love, part contempt, part fear, part fascination, part lust, and part gratitude, if it was possible to feel all those emotions for one person, at the same time.

'You look distracted this morning.'

Arkady realised Stellan was speaking to her. She picked up the teapot and poured herself a second cup, mostly to give her something solid and practical to do. 'Am I? I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude. More tea?'

'You weren't being rude,' Stellan assured her, pushing his cup across the small breakfast table toward her. 'You just seem to be miles away.'

'It was so hot last night. I didn't sleep well.' She

figured she was better telling a half-truth than a complete lie.

'What are your plans for the day?' he asked, accepting the fresh cup of tea. 'Are you staying in, or planning to beggar me in the Ramahn silver markets?'

She smiled, appreciating his attempt to lighten the mood. 'Much as beggaring you sounds like fun, Stellan, I'm actually due back at the palace. The Imperator's Consort has summoned me, yet again.'

He sipped his tea, nodding. 'You two seem to be firm friends these days.'

'We have a great deal in common,' Arkady said, certain Stellan would be horrified to realise their most common ground was whatever patch of Amyrantha the Immortal Prince was standing on.

'It's causing a great deal of comment.'

'Is that a bad thing?'

'I haven't decided yet. It's certainly got the ambassador from Senestra in a flap. His wife's attempts to befriend the Imperator's Consort resulted in her being imprisoned for a week. And all over something she was wearing, as he tells it.'

'According to Kinta, it had nothing to with what she was wearing. The woman called her a slut.'

Stellan's eyes widened. 'Surely not?'

Arkady nodded. 'That's what the consort told me. The ambassador is a member of some strict Senestran religious cult that still worships the Tide Lords. They were having a discussion about heirs one day, and the ambassador's wife asked Chintara when she was planning to produce one for Torlenia. Chintara made some flippant comment about it happening in the fullness of time, but in the meantime, the practising was a lot of fun. At that, the silly woman went crazy, according to Chintara. She started ranting about a union between a man and woman being sacred and how sex was only for the purpose of procreation and how it was an offence against the Lord of Temperance to

indulge in anything smacking of recreational copulation. Kinta got so sick of her lecturing she had the woman tossed in a cell until she calmed down.'

'Are you serious?' Stellan chuckled. 'Tides. I don't blame her. I would have done the same.'

Arkady laughed too, more over the knowledge Stellan had no notion who the Lord of Temperance was, than the humorous anecdote she'd just related. 'Not sure how the story the consort had her thrown in a dungeon for wearing the wrong colour got started, but Kinta assures me that's what really happened.'

Stellan's smile faded. 'That's the third time.'

'The third time?'

'The third time you've called the Imperator's Consort Kinta, rather than Chintara.'

'It's a nickname,' she said. 'A diminutive of her proper name. As you say, we've become firm friends.'

'You certainly have,' Stellan agreed. Arkady couldn't tell if he believed the lie. 'You will try to avoid offending her and getting yourself thrown in gaol, won't you?'

She smiled. 'I'll do my best, Stellan.'

Before her husband could answer, Dashin Deray interrupted them. A slender, short-sighted young man, he was the younger son of the ruling family of Whitewater and Stellan's deputy here in Ramahn. He bowed to Arkady and then turned to the ambassador to inform him an important message had arrived from Herino by bird. Stellan drank down the last of his tea and with an apology and absent-minded kiss to his wife's cheek, hurried off with Dashin to attend to business.

As soon as they were gone, Arkady jumped to her feet, tossed her napkin on her uneaten breakfast, and hurried back to the seraglium where her phaeton was waiting to take her to the royal palace.

Her heart pounding, she settled in to the seat and pulled her shroud down over her face as the carriage

jerked forward. Somehow, between the embassy and the palace, she needed to prepare herself for what might happen when she confronted the immortal posing as the Imperator's Consort, and told her the game was up.

'Are you unwell, Arkady?' Chintara enquired as the Duchess of Lebec took a seat opposite her in the main reception hall of the royal seraglium. 'You look quite flushed.'

'I'm quite well, my lady,' she replied, smoothing down her skirts so her companion wouldn't notice how hard her hands were shaking. 'Can I ... may I ask you a question?'

Chintara seemed intrigued. 'That
was
a question, Arkady.'

'Another one, then.'

'Ask away.'

'Would you consider us friends?'

Chintara was silent for a moment, studying her guest, and then she shrugged. 'I suppose I would.'

'And would you agree friends should be honest with each other?'

Chintara laughed. 'Tides, Arkady! You sound as if you're about to tell me I have bad breath or an offensive body odour.'

'Actually, Chintara, I was going to ask you if you were immortal,' she said, 'and if your real name is Kinta.'

Her words silenced Chintara's laugh as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her. The consort rose to her feet. 'Let's take a turn around the gardens.'

Arkady did as Chintara bid, following her out through the arched doorway into the extravagantly lush gardens, relieved the woman hadn't struck her down where she stood. Chintara's reaction surprised her, though. She'd been half expecting her to laugh off

the accusation; to deny it and accuse Arkady of being crazy.

The consort remained silent, however, leading Arkady through the dense foliage of the seraglium gardens until they reached the rotunda in the centre. Several cushions and a low table took up most of the small pavilion that seemed to have been carved from some sort of blond wood that certainly wasn't native to this land. In fact, it was like nothing Arkady had seen since arriving in Torlenia. Chintara indicated Arkady should take a seat, but she remained standing, walking to the edge of the small platform to look out over the gardens.

'There's a saying here: the seraglium walls have better hearing than the canines.'

'You've not answered my question,' Arkady reminded her.

'What would be the point?'

'I expected you to deny it.'

'Then you're one up on me, my dear, because I never — not even for a moment — thought you even believed in the immortals, let alone knew how to spot one.'

'You're not the first one I've met,' Arkady told her.

That got Kinta's attention. She turned from examining the gardens and sat herself down on the cushions opposite Arkady, staring at her with a piercing and quite unsettling gaze.

'You've met
another
immortal?'