RENJIRO’S WORDS HIT TRISTAN LIKE A THUNDERBOLT.“Just as thePon Q’tar did with Vespasian, we intend to imbue your blood signature with forestallments that have long been banned because they might literally mean the end of the world…”
Renjiro’s mention of banned spells immediately reminded Tristan of his first visit to Crysenium and what the envoy Miriam had told him about the early days of the War of Attrition. She too had mentioned spells that had been banned from use by both sides of the conflict. As Tristan thought about it further, the pieces of Renjiro’s mysterious announcement fell into place. The sudden awareness was terrifying.
ThePon Q’tar was about to take the struggle to the highest level. The only thing holding them back had been their need for an endowed person of supremely powerful blood whom the Shashidans could not effectively counter. With the birth of Vespasian they finally had one. And only Tristan’s blood was the supposed equal of the emperor’s.
Tristan looked into Renjiro’s eyes. “It’s true, then-I’m the only one who can stop this,” he said. “ThePon Q’tar will try to take your gold because no matter what else happens, they still need the gold to keep their nation from falling apart. But afterward they will try to accomplish far more. They wish to destroy Shashida completely-to wipe its civilization from the face of the earth with one stroke. Using the banned spells, they mean to do with this one campaign what they have failed to achieve in aeons of relentless conventional war. You’re right, Renjiro. With Vespasian’s coming they finally have the ultimate weapon with which to realize their dreams.”
A blank look on his face, Tristan sat back in his chair. “I beg the Afterlife,” he breathed. “Despite its disastrous consequences, it’s an inspired plan.” Suddenly something else occurred to him and he shot a quick glance at Mashiro.
“Does Vespasian fully understand his role in all this?” he asked.
Mashiro sadly shook his head. “We can’t be sure, but we have reason to doubt it,” he answered. “Our best guess is that he still believes that the entire battle plan concerns only taking the mines. If we’re right, thePon Q’tar will tell him soon enough. We suspect that Vespasian’s blood already possesses these awful gifts, but that he remains unaware of them.”
“Why would thePon Q’tar not inform him?” Tristan asked.
“Excuse me,” Wigg interjected. “Would someone please explain what you’re talking about?”
A short smile crossed Tristan’s lips. “As you have been so fond of telling me over the years, you already have the needed information,” he answered. “You simply don’t understand how it all falls into place. I must say that it feels good to explain something toyou for a change.”
Wigg pursed his lips. “Then I suggest that you enlighten this simple old wizard and your Conclave privateer,” he said. Sitting back in his chair, he crossed his arms over his chest.
“It all goes back to something Miriam told me in Crysenium before she and the other Envoys were killed,” Tristan answered. Before continuing he shot a questioning glance at Mashiro. “Am I right?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” theInkai elder answered. “After all, I wasn’t there. Any time I know you speak in error I’ll humbly correct you, Jin’Sai. ”
“Fair enough,” Tristan answered.
“And so?” Wigg eagerly pressed.
Tristan looked back at the First Wizard. He took a deep breath, as if even he couldn’t believe what he was about to say.
“I told the Conclave the things Miriam said to me about the early days of the War of Attrition,” Tristan said. “Surely you remember them.”
Wigg nodded. “Yes,” he answered. “But it seems that you have taken those revelations a step further in meaning.”
Tristan thought for a moment as he tried to recall Miriam’s words.
“Aeons ago, everyone here lived in a fragile and tense coexistence,” he said. “Then the Vagaries practitioners became fanatically devoted to the dark side of the craft. Eventually they split away and started the civil war. What followed was a miscalculation beyond description.”
Wigg nodded. “Go on,” he said.
“During the war’s early years the Vagaries rebels used especially dark magic to influence the forces of nature,” Tristan explained. “Spells were formulated that allowed them to employ natural phenomena as weapons of war. The destruction was unprecedented, and millions died. To survive, the Vigors practitioners had no choice but to do the same thing, even though it went against their principles.” Suddenly realizing something else, Tristan again glanced over at Mashiro.
“These environmental spells are much like the forestallments, aren’t they?” he asked. “They represent a direction in which you would have preferred not to take the craft, but you had to follow thePon Q’tar ’s lead to ensure the survival of the Vigors.”
Mashiro nodded. “Well done,” he said. “Please continue.”
“Before the war started, what we now call Eutracia and Parthalon were part of this world,” Tristan added. “The Tolenkas didn’t exist, nor did the Sea of Whispers. The lands encompassing Eutracia and Parthalon were one and the same. Once loosed, the dark environmental magic produced devastating and unexpected side effects. The Tolenkas suddenly arose and the land mass separated, creating the Sea of Whispers. Since then these environmental and seismic arts have been abandoned by both sides because their far-reaching effects might kill their users as easily as the enemy. But the formulas were held in reserve by each side, in case the other should try such madness again.”
Tristan looked at Mashiro. “ThePon Q’tar plans to resurrect these ancient arts, don’t they?” he asked. “The only reason why they abandoned them at all was because they knew that you could retaliate in kind. But with Vespasian among them, they know that if they imbue these gifts into his blood, Shashida will be defeated once and for all. Nothing could stand against the lethal combination of his blood quality and those dark arts.”
“Well done,” Hoshi said. “But there remains much that you don’t know. Long ago, a treaty was signed between Rustannica and Shashida that outlawed environmental spells by both sides. Until now thePon Q’tar has kept its word. EveryInkai you see here took part in the negotiations, and at first we had hoped for an outright end to the war. We were rebuffed on that score, but thePon Q’tar did agree to ban the nature spells because they realized that more than anything else, those particularly powerful craft devices could mean their defeat. Gracchus and I were the treaty’s chief architects, and it was signed in the no-man’s land that is the Borderlands. EveryInkai andPon Q’tar member signed the document. Many of those people are still alive. The Borderlands Treaty has survived the test of time, but we fear that thePon Q’tar is about to violate it.”
“How long ago was the treaty signed?” Tyranny asked.
“One hundred and fifty-one centuries past,” Hoshi answered. “Each side agreed to never use this terrible kind of magic again. But two unique occurrences have intersected in time to tempt thePon Q’tar into rethinking their position. One is the depletion of the Rustannican treasury, and the other is the birth and coming to manhood of Vespasian Augustus I. Had either of these events occurred separately, thePon Q’tar mightn’t feel so emboldened yet also so deeply threatened at the same time. If the banned spells are used by Vespasian, he will summon unheard-of power. We have no wish to reply in kind, but if we are to survive, it seems we must fight back with a weapon of equal ferocity. Our use of such spells was stopped, but our research into their workings was not. Surely thePon Q’tar has been doing similar, if not superior, study. In the entire world only theJin’Sai ’s blood and Vespasian’s are strong enough to accept these advanced but untried spells without dying. But the stakes might rise even higher than that. If Vespasian uses these gifts improperly, it could mean more than the destruction of Shashida. It could cause the vaporization of the entire planet.”
Tristan sat quietly for a moment. “And you wish me to become a weapon like Vespasian, an ultimate destroyer of worlds,” he said. “I thought that my mission was to be one of peace.”
“That was our wish as well,” Mashiro said, “and so we agreed to the Envoys’ plan. But as we have said, that prospect is dead. We asked for none of this, Jin’Sai. Now it seems that if we are to find a lasting peace, there is but one way. As I said, while thePon Q’tar fights to destroy the Vigors, we fight to saveboth sides of the craft. Not to resist Vespasian and thePon Q’tar would mean the end of Shashida. With our civilization gone, thePon Q’tar could turn their full efforts toward finding a way across the Tolenkas to your side of the world. One day they will eventually succeed, or perhaps Vespasian might use his banned spells to do it for them. No matter how it happens, your sister and her meager forces will never stop them. Their next step would be to destroy the Vigors Orb, just as Wulfgar twice tried to do and failed. But thePon Q’tar will not fail. With the Vigors destroyed, the world will plunge into a craftless, endless chaos from which it will never recover. The many gifts of peace, order, and balance that the craft provides will be no more, and barbarism will forever reign. ThePon Q’tar embrace a frame of mind in which madness is their only muse.”
Tristan quietly looked around the table. The War of Attrition is indeed aeons old, he realized. And after all this time, things are about to change radically. Vespasian will be the catalyst of this seismic shift in the craft, and it falls to me to try to stop him.
“There can be but one way that you are so well informed,” Wigg suggested. After taking another sip of umake he set the cup back on the table, then placed his hands into opposite robe sleeves.
“You’ve placed a spy in their midst, haven’t you?” he asked. “Given the quality of your information, this must be a person of some importance in Rustannica. And brave, too, considering the heinous things we have heard about the place. You have my compliments. Inserting a spy into the upper reaches of the Rustannican power elite was surely no easy feat. I suspect that doing so took a very long time, and that this asset is of immense value to you.”
“You are correct,” Haru replied. “Her name is Julia Idaeus. Not only is she the reigning Femiculi, she is also a member of the League of Whispers. The League is a secret society in Rustannica made up entirely of Shashidan mystics who feign loyalty to the empire and adopt Rustannican names. Unknown to thePon Q’tar, two of the Priory’s many Sisters are League members. After gaining the post of Femiculi, Julia was able to influence thePon Q’tar into unknowingly accepting another League woman into the sisterhood. Her name is Agrippina Sertorius.”
“How did the League come about?” Tyranny asked.
“During the early days of the war, the Borderlands did not exist, and it was far easier to enter Rustannica than now,” Midori answered. “We asked for volunteers of right-leaning endowed blood to go and live in Rustannica with the understanding that they could never return home. Tens of thousands of loyal Shashidan men and women offered to join the newly forming League. The selection process was rigorous. So as to constantly disguise his or her blood, each volunteer had to be an expert mystic. In the end, more than two thousand were chosen.” Renjiro took another sip of umake and looked around the table.
“After being trained in certain specialized gifts, they were secretly inserted into Rustannica by way of azure portals,” he added. “To avoid being seen, they were sent to sparsely populated areas, then told to make their way to the cities and begin Rustannican lives. Because they had endowed blood and large sums of gold were transported with them, they soon became well-respected krithians. This part of the ruse was needed because only krithians can rise to positions of power in Rustannica. Most are acquainted with at least some of their fellow League members. If not, they can identify one another by way of whispered code phrases that have remained largely unchanged for aeons. Despite their wealth and status, their lives are difficult, and they live in constant fear of being found out. Each member carries a death forestallment in his or her blood that allows for instantaneous suicide without need of a physical weapon. We could not grant them time enchantments for fear of drawing undue attention their way. To avoid the adulteration of their right-leaning blood and to maintain the survival of the League, they can only marry other League members. Finding a mate is often difficult, but they manage. To help in that regard, many marriages are secretly arranged at childhood.”
“Do you mean to say that the League members now living in Rustannica were all born there?” Tristan asked. “They must have been, because so much time has passed. It would also follow that your spies are many generations removed from the people you first sent there, and that those first League members are long dead, and that your current spies have never seen home.”
“That’s right,” Mashiro answered. “When children of right-leaning blood are born to two League members, they are raised by them. On reaching a responsible age they are secretly taught our customs and beliefs as well as those of Rustannica. In this way it was hoped that some of them might reach stations of prominence in the Rustannican hierarchy. Because League children are born there, their Rustannican heritage is not questioned, and there is no limit to how high they might rise. Long ago one League member rose to the rank of Heretic, but he was unknowingly killed in battle by our troops.”
“But now there is Julia Idaeus, the Priory Femiculi,” Renjiro said. “Julia rose from humble beginnings and never took a husband or lover so that she might keep her virginity and apply for Priory membership. To our delight she was accepted, then worked hard and sacrificed much to become the reigning Femiculi. She is the first and only League member to become a voting member of the Suffragat, and her loyalty to Shashida is unshakable. Vespasian unwittingly made a great mistake when he ordered that Julia be a member of the committee responsible for devising the war plan. Julia is not only conversant with the entire scheme, but she also travels with the legions to perform the auspiciums. Because of her membership in the Suffragat, she must be informed of any changes to the battle plan. She communes with us when she can to supply us with vital information. She is also the lone Suffragat member to whom the citizens may come bearing their supplications. As such, she is well informed regarding the mood of the Rustannican citizenry. I daresay that she is more in touch with the common people than is Gracchus or Vespasian, which is yet another advantage to her position. We cannot overemphasize her importance to our cause.”
“What are the ‘auspiciums’?” Wigg asked.
“The auspiciums are yet another of thePon Q’tar ’s carefully crafted fabrications,” a male voice said from across the table.
Tristan looked at theInkai who had been introduced as Jomei of the House of Water Lilies. Like Mashiro, he wore a drooping white mustache, and battle scars crisscrossed his aged face like lines drawn on a wrinkled old war map. His long white hair was pulled behind his head and secured with the traditional gold ornament. Embroidered white lilies adorned his white silk robe. Like Faegan’s eyes, Jomei’s seemed to burrow straight into Tristan’s.
“The auspicium is a ritual during which a host of white birds is released into the air by the reigning Femiculi,” Jomei added. “For propaganda purposes, this is usually done in full view of the populace, and always in view of the Suffragat. It is supposedly a sign of impending good or bad fortune and is performed before an important event. The direction in which the birds fly supposedly indicates whether the venture will succeed. As you might guess, Gracchus uses the craft to influence the birds’ direction of flight and thus help manipulate popular opinion.”
“And Julia understands that the rituals of the azure flame and the auspiciums are clever frauds?” Tristan asked.
“Yes,” Jomei answered, “but thePon Q’tar doesn’t realize that she knows. In many ways Julia’s existence is a great contradiction. She spent her entire life trying to acquire and hold a position that she knows is meaningless, yet it is that same meaninglessness that allows her to serve the highest calling of her right-leaning blood.”
“When will she next commune with you?” Wigg asked.
“When she has important information and can safely do so,” Kaemon answered. “Because of her dangerous situation, the timing must always be hers. Her survival requires that she perform the most delicate of balancing acts-that is, deciding when her information is of enough value to risk performing a communion. It took aeons for a League of Whispers member to rise to such a lofty station as reigning Femiculi, and we can’t afford to lose her.”
“You mentioned that Vespasian might not know that his blood holds the banned forestallments,” Tristan said to Mashiro. “What leads you to that theory?”
“Julia informs us that the emperor has been behaving strangely,” Mashiro answered. “During a recent coliseum spectacle he was taken ill and had to leave. As far as we know, Vespasian has never been sick a day in his life. The banned gifts in his blood might be adversely affecting him. His recent episode is not proof of our theory, but Julia is watching him closely, and she will report any other aberrant behavior that she sees. The other reason is that he made no mention of the banned forestallments when he proposed this unprecedented campaign to the Suffragat. Had he known, he would likely have assured the Suffragat of his willingness to use every power at his disposal. Moreover, one of thePon Q’tar- Gracchus, most likely-would surely have demanded it. This is not Vespasian’s first command. He has led other strikes into Shashida, some of them quite successful. Admittedly, not one of them was the size or scope of this latest one. But if he had known about his gifts during previous campaigns, he would have surely used them.”
“Are you saying that thePon Q’tar might have imbued these forestallments into his blood without telling him?” Tyranny asked. “Why would they do that?”
“You must never underestimate thePon Q’tar ’s legendary paranoia,” Hoshi answered. “Their marked tendencies toward suspicion and distrust-even of others who share their blood lean-were one of the prime causes of the War of Attrition. Although Vespasian is the ultimate product of their depravity, that doesn’t mean that they trust him. Despite the emperor’s supreme command of the Vagaries, the banned spells are so powerful and tempting that if he knew about them, even he might be unable to resist their use. Doing so without the supervision of thePon Q’tar could be disastrous, even to them. Or perhaps Vespasian’s blood or psyche wasn’t mature enough until now to survive the forestallments’ use and so thePon Q’tar did not tell him. It stands to reason that the forestallments were granted to him while he was too young to remember, or while he was in a suppressed mental state induced by thePon Q’tar, or both. With the maturation of his blood, these banned forestallments might be calling out to his mind, begging to be used. This could be the reason for his recent episode and why the empress seemed so eager to rush him away. Now that the Rustannican treasury is at the breaking point, had Vespasian not suggested this campaign, thePon Q’tar would surely have proposed something very much like it. In a way, he played right into their hands. ThePon Q’tar ’s ultimate weapon is ready for use, and his name is Vespasian Augustus.”
“If that’s true, then why don’t they influence Vespasian to use his gifts straightaway?” Wigg asked.
“For thePon Q’tar, one need stands far above the rest,” Kaemon answered. “If Vespasian uses the banned spells first, our gold supplies might be scattered to oblivion. Remember, the research in banned spells that thePon Q’tar has presumably carried out since the Borderlands Treaty likely remains untested. If so, even they cannot fully know what the results might be. Despite their other goals, thePon Q’tar needs our gold to maintain order at home. The gold simply must be secured and sent back to Rustannica before Shashida is decimated. Even thePon Q’tar can’t risk national bankruptcy.”
“But there is a more compelling reason why we believe that Vespasian’s blood carries these special gifts,” Hoshi said. “For research purposes, we once asked for a Shashidan volunteer of highly endowed blood into whom we might impart our own environmental spells. We had no intent to unleash them, but a host was needed to continue our studies. The results were much like what Julia sees in Vespasian, but far worse because of the volunteer’s less powerful blood.”
“What happened to him?” Tristan asked.
Hoshi’s face took on a sad look. “He succumbed to crippling mental terrors and died soon after,” she answered softly. “But he lived long enough for us to recognize the same signs in Vespasian, should Julia report them.”
“There remains another reason why we must believe that Vespasian carries these banned spells in his blood and that thePon Q’tar will soon unleash him on us,” Mashiro said quietly.
“And what is that?” Wigg asked.
“It’s too dangerous not to,” the worried elder answered softly.
For several moments no one spoke. Tristan looked out through the colonnaded far wall into the lush gardens to see that night was approaching. There was still much to learn, he realized. But one supreme mystery still haunted him. It was the same one that had burned in his soul since first discovering the Caves of the Paragon and learning that his and Shailiha’s blood and destiny were special. He was theJin’Sai, but even now he didn’t fully understand what that meant, or who he really was.
“Miriam tried to tell me something just before she died,” he said to Mashiro, “but she never finished the sentence. She said: ‘Your parents weren’t…,’ and then she passed. Can you tell me what she meant?”
“Perhaps,” Mashiro answered. “But it would only be an old man’s guess.”
“Tell me,” Tristan asked.
“Had she lived, Miriam would have probably said that your parents weren’tselected. ”
“Selected?” Tristan asked.
“It has to do with why your and Vespasian’s blood is so special,” Hoshi answered. “The appearance of your supreme blood quality was a very rare but also a natural occurrence. Vespasian’s, however, was engineered by the Heretics and thePon Q’tar. ”
“What do you mean?” Wigg asked.
“Like the Consuls of the Redoubt who serve your Conclave, the Rustannican Heretics serve thePon Q’tar, ” Hoshi said. “Many are legionary officers, second in power only to the eighty tribunes. But others of them once followed another, darker purpose. For aeons it was their task to examine the blood signatures of all newborn endowed Rustannican infants. They searched for one specific female blood signature and one male signature. Many centuries ago they found the female, and they kidnapped her. When she reached her prime childbearing years, she was granted the time enchantment so that she would grow no older. She was imprisoned in luxurious surroundings in Ellistium and zealously guarded by thePon Q’tar as they waited for the needed male signature holder to be found. Fifty Seasons of New Life ago, that male child finally came to light. Thirty years later he reached his sexual peak, then he and the woman were forced to mate under the watchful eyes of thePon Q’tar until she conceived. The result was Vespasian Augustus I. He was taken from his parents and suckled by numerous veiled wet nurses so that no maternal or parental attachments would form in his psyche. From the day of his birth, his only ‘parents’ and mentors have been thePon Q’tar. ”
Tristan shook his head. “It’s monstrous,” he breathed. “Are you saying that he has no knowledge of his true past?”
“Precisely,” Jomei answered. “But there is more to this twisted tale. Immediately after Vespasian was born, his mother and father were again locked away in separate prisons. We surmise that they remain alive. Vespasian is unaware of their existence. He and Persephone believe that Vespasian was an orphan, raised and trained by thePon Q’tar out of the ‘goodness’ of their hearts.”
“I can understand why thePon Q’tar wants Vespasian to believe that his parents are dead,” Tyranny mused. “It helps to ensure his loyalty. But why does thePon Q’tar keep Vespasian’s parents alive? Surely their continued existence represents a threat to thePon Q’tar ’s credibility should Vespasian somehow learn the truth. His rage over how they have been treated might be incalculable.”
“Can’t you guess?” Wigg asked the privateer.
“They want to be able to bring another child of Vespasian’s blood into the world, should their first creation fail them,” Tristan breathed. He shot a questioning look at Mashiro.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” he asked. “That’s also what you meant when you said that to save both sides of the craft, Rustannica and thePon Q’tar must first be totally defeated. If Vespasian is killed and thePon Q’tar live, they can do the same monstrous thing again.”
“Yes,” Midori said. “The thirty or so years needed to bring another such abomination to manhood or womanhood is but a blink of an eye in the maze that is the craft. All that thePon Q’tar wants from Vespasian is for him to use his potent blood to help take our gold and then summon the banned forestallments that will reduce Shashida to ashes. To them he is simply a tool of war-a means to an end and nothing more. Persephone was betrothed to him in an arranged marriage in hopes of keeping him from pursuing and impregnating other women. They even went so far as to cast spells over the empress, making it impossible for her to conceive. They add credibility to their supposed compassion for her plight by giving her useless potions said to enhance her fertility. She is told that the worthless concoctions might help, but in truth thePon Q’tar doesn’t want Vespasian to father children. Being a father would create a needless distraction from his ceaseless training in the craft and might produced an unwanted reluctance in him to risk his life for their cause. When he has served their purposes, they might well kill him. Some sort of terrible accident, no doubt, that can be explained away to a grieving populace. He remains too great a threat to their power for him to live into old age.”
“Who are Vespasian’s parents?” Tyranny asked. “Where did they come from?”
“The girl was found in a peasant village in the Rustannican highlands,” Midori answered. “The boy came from a well-placed krithian family in Ellistium. To maintain secrecy the children’s families were killed by elite legionary assassins, and the murders were blamed on thieves and cutthroats who were never ‘caught.’”
“How can you know all this?” Tristan asked Mashiro. “Julia is too young to have told you these things.”
“Do you remember my saying that one of the League members rose to the rank of Heretic but that he was killed in battle?” Mashiro answered.
Tristan nodded.
“That man found the boy child who would later become Vespasian’s father,” Mashiro answered. “He was also one of the few Heretics who were granted full knowledge and participation in thePon Q’tar ’s plan. Part of his duties included guarding the imprisoned woman who became Vespasian’s mother. As a reward he was granted the time enchantment, and he lived for centuries. Being forced to participate in that travesty for so long nearly drove him to madness, but he persisted and was able to commune with us often. By then Julia had risen to the station of Priory Sister, and she and the League ‘Heretic’ knew each other. It was she who told us of his death, a terrible blow to our cause. Vespasian’s parents still lived at the time of our rebel Heretic’s death. But we have no way of knowing whether that is still the case, for even Julia has not been made privy to that information. Even so, keeping them alive would seem to be in thePon Q’tar ’s best interests, would it not?”
“In a strange way I’m almost sorry for Vespasian,” Tristan said.
Mashiro sternly shook his head. “I understand how you feel,” he said. “But you cannot afford to sympathize with his plight, Jin’Sai. If you meet him on the battlefield you must strike quickly and with everything you have. He is the ultimate product of the Vagaries, and he would as soon kill us as draw his next breath-you above all.”
“And what about me and Shailiha?” Tristan asked. “You said that our blood signatures occurred naturally. What did you mean?”
Mashiro smiled. “Unlike Vespasian’s parents, yours found one another on their own. Wigg and the other Directorate Wizards chose Nicholas I to be king, and Nicholas later took Morganna as his queen. Your parents’ union was natural, as were your and your sister’s twin births. Unknown to your father, mother, and the late Directorate, Nicholas and Morganna carried the supreme male and female blood signature halves needed to produce theJin’Sai and theJin’Saiou. Your parents were each of highly endowed blood, to be sure. But only when these two magnificently powerful and opposing gender blood signature halves join to form a new one does the resulting child’s blood take on such transcendent strength. You and Shailiha became those two children. In the entire history of your world, only three other such random pairings occurred. This also means that your blood signature and Shailiha’s are identical with that of everyJin’Sai andJin’Saiou who preceded you.”
“And the previousJin’Sai s andJin’Saiou s that the Scroll Master spoke of,” Tristan said, “were they our forebears?”
“In a way, they were,” Kaemon answered. “But as you can imagine, for the vast majority of recorded time these two supremely gifted blood signature halves drifted apart from one another as they resided in various people’s blood and were handed down from generation to generation. You and your sister are the first and onlyJin’Sai andJin’Saiou born to royalty. Nicholas and Morganna were more than just your parents-they were also the human vessels that carried the transcendent blood signature halves for a short time. They made you and Shailiha who you are, and you are right to keep on loving them and holding your memories of them dear.”
Tristan sat in respectful silence for a moment, remembering. Then another question occurred to him. “Save for its lean, is my blood signature identical to Vespasian’s?” he asked.
Mashiro shook his head. “We do not know. Our rebel Heretic had no opportunity to see Vespasian’s blood signature before he was killed, nor has Julia. Our scholars believe that they are probably different in appearance but equally powerful.”
“But what is it that gives these two-or should I say four-uniquely powerful signature halves such amazing qualities?” Wigg asked. “Why does their joining create people of such transcendent blood?”
“Our scholars have long believed that it has something to do with the two orbs,” Renjiro answered. “That the orbs perhaps somehow influenced their evolution-one pair for the Vigors, another for the Vagaries. Each pair produces vastly different tendencies, to be sure, but they are probably equally powerful. In truth even we do not know. If we survive to defeat Rustannica, perhaps that will be one of the mysteries we will solve together. Aside from that, who is to say why these unique blood signatures produce such talented and extraordinary mystics? Why do some of us become geniuses of science and mathematics, or great prodigies in music and art? Nature still has her ways, and I daresay we humble humans have yet to fully understand them.”
Tristan again looked through the gaps in the colonnade to the gardens lying beyond. The sun had set in earnest, and the various night creatures had started singing. A cool wayward breeze flowed through the magnificently appointed gardens, its invisible tentacles sometimes reaching into the room to gently caress his face. They brought with them unfamiliar scents, sounds, and seemingly even greater mysteries.
Because of the many things he had learned this day, Tristan had at last found a sense of quiet peace in Shashida that he had known nowhere else. At last he knew who he really was, and how he and Shailiha had come to be, and why. Questions remained, but he understood enough to put his heart at rest-at least for now.
Then his eyes caught the lovely Hoshi’s once more. He was about to speak to her when Mashiro garnered his attention. Leaning over the table slightly, theInkai elder gave the three newcomers a serious look.
“It is late,” he said. “I fully understand that you have more questions, but the three of you should retire. But before you leave us, there is something more that you need to know. You will probably find the news disturbing.”
“What is it?” Wigg asked quietly.
“You three brave travelers and everyone still aboard your Black Ships will likely never see Eutracia again,” Mashiro said. “Like us, you have become trapped on this side of the world. Because of this, you should consider making Shailiha the Queen of Eutracia. Tristan will likely never return home, and Eutracia must have a ruler.”
Tristan looked over at Wigg and Tyranny to see resigned expressions. Wigg nodded; Tyranny took a deep breath and tried to give Tristan a reassuring smile.
All the expedition members who had come with Tristan had done so willingly and with the knowledge that if they reached Shashida, they might never return home. But now that possibility had become fact, and the stark reality was settling in.
Tristan was not concerned for himself. He would miss Eutracia, the other Conclave members, and most of all his sister. But with Celeste dead, and knowing that his destiny lay here, he was content to stay. Wigg had lost Abbey, so there was now less reason for him to return home even if he could. Tyranny was not romantically involved, as far as Tristan knew; her great love was for the Black Ships. With theEllistium destroyed and theCavalon damaged beyond use, the only serviceable Black Ships resided on this side of the world. Tristan couldn’t know whether she might command the great vessels again, but for her sake he hoped that she would. The other Conclave mystics who had traveled here with him had left no mates behind, and Tristan had insisted that the Minion warriors who accompanied him be unattached.
But in the end none of that mattered, for the die was cast. Reaching Shashida meant starting new lives-lives that would surely be filled with wonder and amazement. But they would also be dangerous lives that would test the limits of their courage and faith in the Vigors. What Tristan, Wigg, and Tyranny didn’t know was why they couldn’t return home. Pursing his lips with thought, theJin’Sai turned to look at Mashiro.
“We all knew that if we reached Shashida we might never see Eutracia again,” Tristan said. “But before we retire, please tell us-why are we all trapped here? What keeps everyone from crossing the Tolenka Mountains? Why can’t we sail the Black Ships back the way we came?”
“The story is a complicated one,” Mashiro answered, “and even we do not fully understand it. Because the hour is late, I will be brief. When thePon Q’tar first used the spells that were later banned by the Borderlands Treaty, their calculations were crude by today’s standards and resulted in acts of the craft that were nearly uncontrollable. As you know, when thePon Q’tar employed them, the Tolenka mountain range unexpectedly arose and the land mass separated to create the Sea of Whispers. We too had immense difficulties trying to control our versions of the spells. One such spell was designed to create the Azure Sea and the stone maze that would allow only persons of right-leaning blood to sail back and forth across it and to move easily from one side of the world to the other. When we realized that the spell was going awry, we created the Tome and the Vigors Scroll to leave behind for future generations of right-leaning blood to find and use. Some of us-like the Scroll Master and the Watchwoman of the Floating Gardens-volunteered to stay behind in hiding, in the hope that Vigors practitioners would find them and that they might help you to better understand the workings of the craft. But even they could not tell you about crossing the Azure Sea because it did not yet exist. Like thePon Q’tar ’s best efforts, ours too went awry. After the Azure Sea and the stone maze that brought you here formed, the spell took on a life of its own. That is the major drawback to the banned spells-in some cases they seem to come alive to create their own sentience and purpose. To our amazement, it evolved further and of its own choosing. Since that fateful day, we have not been able to undo it.”
“Amazing,” Wigg said. “What was the result?”
“As you know, the spell allows travel from east to west across the Azure Sea, but only by those possessing right-leaning blood, lest the maze’s course become different and continually repeat itself,” Jomei answered. “Regardless of one’s blood-be that blood unendowed or endowed of any type-should he or she try to sail the Azure Sea and head east, the maze walls rise, but afterward they join, crushing everything and everyone caught between them. You were lucky. Had you turned your ships around and headed back, everyone aboard them would have suffered that terrible fate. Despite our scholars’ best efforts, no answer to repairing the spell has been found. And even if one was devised, using it would violate the Borderlands Treaty, because its calculations are environmental. Even so, if the Rustannican break the treaty, our survival will mean that we must do the same.”
“But that is not to say that others of right-leaning blood can’t come from east to west,” Tristan said.
“True,” Mashiro answered. “But before doing so, they should be warned that they can never return.”
“Why can’t the Tolenkas be crossed from this side?” Tyranny asked.
“We are stymied by the same limitations as those living in the east,” Midori answered. “The mountains are simply too high for even us to cross. The air becomes so thin that every mystic group we sent up the mountainsides returned in failure. Despite much trying, we have found no spell to overcome this obstacle. ThePon Q’tar ’s early spell that unexpectedly created the mountain range also developed a life of its own. To this day it morphs to protect its matrix against tampering.”
“If that is true, then the craft has entered a dangerous and startling new phase,” Wigg said. “Or should I say, new to us three.”
“Indeed,” Mashiro answered.
“Because we can’t go back, you are right about the need for Shailiha to become queen,” Tristan said to Mashiro. He looked over at Wigg. “Do you agree?” he asked.
Wigg nodded. “She is the rightful heir, and her time has come,” he said.
“Before you retire, there is something that I must ask you, Jin’Sai, ” Mashiro said. “Can you decide soon whether you will help us to defeat Vespasian? As we said, to do this we must grant you the banned forestallments. Because of their great power, it is likely that even we cannot imbue your blood with these gifts without causing you great physical pain. If you choose not to help us, no shame will be attached to your decision. But if the answer is to be yes, we must alter our war plan, and time is precious. We also understand that all this news is overwhelming and that you will need time to decide. But know this: Our futures and the survival of the craft are inexorably tied to yours. Vespasian and thePon Q’tar must be defeated, be it now or later. If you accept, we will do everything in our power to help you.” Mashiro gave Tristan a short smile, and the gleam in his eyes seemed to brighten.
“After all, even the reigningJin’Sai does not discover a new world every day,” he added.
Tristan needed no time to decide. From the moment he took a seat at the meeting table, he had known that this strange land was where he would finally meet his destiny.
“I will answer now,” he said quietly. “I cannot speak for those who accompanied me here, but for my part I will do all that I can to defeat Rustannica and her servants who wish to destroy us.” Pausing for a moment, he looked over at Wigg and Tyranny.
“What say you?” he asked. “Are you with us?”
Despite the painful loss of Abbey, Wigg dredged up the semblance of a smile. “I have been alive for more than three centuries,” he said. “I have loved and lost, and this night I find that is the case yet again. During all that time, I have striven to learn everything I could about the craft and to protect it from those who would see it destroyed. And now it seems that the real struggle is about to start.” The wizard stared into Tristan’s eyes. “I watched you and your sister come into this world not so long ago,” he added softly. “From that moment forward, I have been and always will be yours.”
“Thank you,” Tristan answered. He turned to look at Tyranny. She in turn looked at Mashiro before answering.
“I have no endowed blood,” she said. “I want to help, but how?”
Mashiro smiled. “Although you cannot summon the craft, you have unique seafaring talents,” he answered. “I’m sure that something can be arranged to your liking.”
“Then I’ll join you,” she said. “It’s good for a simple privateer of unendowed blood to know that she can contribute to the cause.”
Tristan let go a short laugh. He then looked into every face around the table and raised his cup. Everyone followed suit.
“We’re yours,” he said. He raised his cup higher, as did the others.
“To new beginnings!” he offered.
“To new beginnings!” everyone answered.
After draining his cup, Tristan looked across the table to see Hoshi smiling at him. This time her smile was genuine and offered without reservation.