The Duelist 3, page 21
A flash caught my sight, and I returned my attention back to what was going on.
Anwaar now had one of Horus’ arrows held in her glowing palms, and she was staring up at him as if he hung the moon.
Horus looked down at her with an equally besotted expression on his face even though it was tinged a little with sadness.
Yeesh.
If that was the way they always looked at each other, it was no wonder Doler found out about their illicit elopement.
If I was still more-than-slightly impaired from the goba nut, I probably would have yelled, “get a room!”
“This arrow was not the weapon that took Archus Doler’s mortal life,” Anwaar finally pronounced and handed the falcon-man his arrow.
Then the ibex-woman turned her long-horned head in my direction.
“And where is the bolt that struck first?” she asked.
“Oh, right.” I reached for the small case at the small of my back and pulled out the bolt Mec had the foresight to recover after the Duel. Thank Goddess yet again for Jenner having prepared me for this little detail way ahead of time.
I handed over the bolt that was half-broken due to having shattered when it hit Doler’s glass eye.
Anwaar’s hands glowed faintly again, and her multi-colored irises swirled like an oil stain on the concrete.
After a moment of intense staring, the ibex-woman’s eyes returned to normal, and she handed me the broken bolt as she stepped back.
“This is the weapon that pierced first and thereby killed Archus Doler’s mortal body,” she said. “Finally, where is a piece of the artifact in question?”
“I have it,” Mec said as he rummaged around and produced something that looked like the size and shape of a ring box made out of obsidian stone. He was careful about opening the lid and not touching the bleached-white rod resting inside as he offered the whole thing to the mage-woman.
My stomach squirmed when she plucked out the small white rod because I recognized it was an index finger.
Doler’s index finger from his enchanted hand.
Nasty.
Anwaar then approached her sister, and in a magenta-colored orb that reminded me of the bumblebirds, she made the finger float up between them with her mind.
Amaya cupped her hands around the finger floating in the forcefield of magic as if she was warming her palms around a small flame. As she concentrated, her eyes began to glow such a vivid white it almost made me wish for sunglasses.
Then, in a voice that was almost like ten voices, the oryx-woman made her proclamation.
“Augh!” she gasped. “The Light sees Archus Doler on the edge of the Darkness. His heart was consumed long ago.”
She dropped her hands, slowly walked over to the far end of the arena, and stopped right in the place I remember the giant of a man standing.
“Such hateful motivation,” Amaya continued in her harsh chorus voice as her hand clutched at the brown cloak she still wore like it was uncomfortable. “Such rage to kill and maim the person who all blame and failure and humiliation can be laid upon-- you!”
The crescendo of Amaya’s suddenly frenzied pronouncement clashed as she flung an accusing finger out at me.
“You, the enemy of my enemy’s enemy.” The oryx-woman’s multi-octave voice dropped down into a low unearthly register that shouldn’t have been possible coming from a body so small and lithe. “You have upstaged my honor in harboring my son who is not my son! Whom I should have drowned at birth like the pitiful whelp he is-- and you, dark interloper, have stolen my pride and livelihood in the form of my daughter, will suffer-- augh!”
She cut herself off with a violent cry and dropped to the ground to her knees like a stone.
A pang tore through me like shrapnel at the sight of the oryx-woman’s tortured shaking, and based on the glances Shay kept exchanging between me and Amaya, I could tell she was feeling the same.
There was just something inherently and wholly… good about the augurwoman, and I didn’t need her magic Knowing Touch to know how pure her soul was.
To see her so affected by such an evil-minded and homicidal psycho made me want to kill the fucker all over again just for leaving his slimy energy behind like a stinking tar pit.
Amaya blinked her unseeing eyes open again and gazed at the rafters. When she spoke next, her voice had changed, and I was surprised to hear it sounded a little like Horus was among the voices she was channeling.
“No, he’s my friend.” The oryx-woman stood up slowly on her knees. “I can’t let you. Not again. You take everything. Everything! You will not take this! Not. My. Friend!”
She gasped and lifted herself up to her feet, and the arena suddenly plunged into silence as the ethereal augurwoman walked back toward the center and directly toward me.
“Better me than them,” she said in a voice that sounded like an amalgamation of my own and several others. “Better me than them.”
My heart thudded heavily in my chest when I heard the deepest conviction I felt at the time echoed back to me.
The oryx-woman stopped just inches away from me, and I could feel her radiant body heat as if she was made of sunlight itself.
“They are everything to me…” Her hand came up and hovered over my heart, and I had to remind myself to breathe. “Better me than them.”
The moment stretched out between us, and as I looked into her fading silver eyes, the connection seemed like it spanned eons across the universe and yet vanished like the popping of a soap bubble.
“You have a good heart, Alex Brightwood,” Amaya murmured before she collapsed backward in her sister’s waiting arms.
“I-Is she okay?” I asked as I rubbed my knuckles over my breast bone.
“She will be fine,” the ibex-woman said as she first peered up at me with her almond-shaped eyes before she then turned to the silent osprey-man. “Will you be needing any further assessment, Councilman, or will this suffice?”
“This will do, child,” Sha-Kane said as he held the record stone up to his forehead, and the stone glowed even though he didn’t close his burning orange gaze.
I bet he was a champ at staring contests and sleeping with his eyes open, and when I caught his lip twitch for real this time, I reminded myself to stop leaving my face so open to his scrutiny.
“Kane,” Lord Mec said after the Councilman returned the large glass bead back to the soft pouch it came from. The two men clasped forearms and gave each other a solid shake. “Thank you for arranging all of this. You have been instrumental.”
“Any time, Gavlain,” he intoned and then turned his attention onto the humble-looking Horus. “And I am hoping this is the last time I will be seeing you under these circumstances, my son.”
“Yes, of course, milord Councilman, thank you.” Horus bowed ninety-degrees again with his fist over his heart.
“Horus, look at me,” the observant osprey-man said in his suede voice, and he waited patiently until Horus straightened. “I alone cannot make the call, but from what I’ve seen here today, you have only demonstrated the desire to keep your friend from harm. I am confident the evidence gathered will only further prove you only acted in countermeasure due to Archus’ conniving plot.”
“That’s it?” Shay asked and gripped my hand even harder. “My brother is a free man?”
“Not until I take my findings back to Alem, but suffice it to say, you all have nothing to worry about.” The last bit was delivered directly to me, and I dipped my head in respect. “Come, Gavlain, walk me out. There is more we must discuss.”
“Do not leave just yet,” the ram-lord said to me, and then he walked the Councilman out of the Battle Hall.
Shay, Horus, and I all looked at each other for a beat before we all broke out into relieved giggling.
Then the avian-siblings hugged each other strongly, and it was one of those blissful Kodak moments until Shay shoved the falcon-man away.
“Horus!” she raged. “Where have-- I mean, how could-- do you have any idea-- argh!”
The frustrated phoenix-woman then hid her face in her hands for a tense moment while the rest of us stood by, but when she lifted her red and gold head again, she was as composed and as regal as ever.
“It’s good to see you again, Kloe and Kleera,” Shay said with every bit of upper-crust decorum she was raised with. “Or should I say Anwaar and Amaya. Thank you deeply for the services you have provided to my husband’s reputation. The favor done for my brother was an added bonus and wholly unnecessary.”
“Shaylee…” Horus said as she glared at him.
“But to show you our gratitude, I would love for you both to stay the night with us at Ithaca, as long as it’s alright with you, of course,” my wife said, and suddenly that intense emerald stare was directed at me full blast. Then she lifted an impatient eyebrow as if daring me to refuse.
Which I was Not About to Do.
“Yes, please, let us feed you at least,” I said with a smile.
Anwaar cast her warm brown eyes around to all of us as she held her younger sister under the shelter of her arm.
“We will be on Nata for a while yet and have some time to spare,” she said and tipped her head graciously. “My sister could also use some time to rest.”
“Ana,” the oryx-woman said but was ignored.
“It’s settled, then,” Shay said in an overly bright tone, and then she turned sharply on her heels and glided out of the arena.
“Wha-- Shay? Shay!” Horus was startled by her hasty exit and ran after her when she refused to slow. “Please, talk to me, Shaylee.”
“It seems like they have some catching up to do,” I said and then gestured toward the exit. “Shall we?”
When we all rallied around our carriage again, it appeared as if Shay was still not speaking with Horus because he was obviously banished to the driver’s seat again like a kicked puppy.
“Alex,” Mec’s voice resonated from behind me where the ram-lord had just poked his head out of the Battle Hall’s carriage house.
“I’ll be right back, and then we can all go,” I said to Horus, and the falcon-man nodded at me even though his head was resting against his propped-up fist.
What a sad sack.
I shook my head with a chuckle and tried to rub some of the lingering tension out of my neck as I went to go see what Mec wanted.
Hopefully, it would be something quick like a pat on the back, or a ‘hey, let’s get the fams together for a barbecue.’
However, when I saw the Councilman was still in the carriage house with that austere expression on his face, I knew it was going to be anything but.
“What’s going on?” I asked with a crawling sense of dread worming its way up my spine.
“Keeper Golan has been murdered,” Mec said with an ashen face.
Chapter 15
The Asher Lord’s pronouncement made my shoulders deflate like a hot air balloon.
“The guy who watched over the Sun Temple is dead?” I asked as a cold feeling spread throughout my gut. “How?”
“I’m afraid you are not asking the right questions, Alex Brightwood,” the Councilman said as he strode forward with his arms folded behind his back. “The most pertinent one being, ‘why?’ Why was Keeper Golan killed?”
I glanced furtively at the ram-lord and tried to keep my face from telegraphing the fact that the last time Mec and I both saw the keeper, he’d just inducted me and the little hedgehog friar into some Super Secret Club tasked with finding out more about the Temple sabotage.
“Don’t worry, lad, Gavlain has long filled me in on his suspicions,” the osprey-man said in that uncanny way he had of plucking the thoughts right off my face. He then offered up his palm and revealed a small silver disc no bigger than a fifty-cent piece.
At first, it took me a moment to remember where I had seen the object, but when I did, I glanced at Mec to be sure.
“This was the medallion Horus plucked off Gordos and his lackey when they tried to ambush me, isn’t it?” I asked.
“The very same,” Mec said with a scowl. “Shortly after you gave it to me, I passed it over to Kane. There are laboratories on Alem that are better equipped than the academies here on Nata.”
“A very intriguing item your friend Horus managed to find,” the osprey-man said and held the object up between two fingers.
“Did you manage to find out where it is from?” Mec asked as he took the medallion from him.
“It is Terran in origin,” Sha-Kane said and pulled out a twisted metal shard. “This is also Terran and made from the same material. It was retrieved from the wreckage of the Temple.”
“But Ambassador Sskern told me he’d never seen anything of such a quality as this anywhere on Terr,” the ram-lord argued. “Not even their hottest forges can craft this type of metal.”
“The High Priestess herself has assessed the worldly components of both and has deemed it so,” the Councilman said. “Which is more likely the mystery I think our cleric friend died for.”
“So, if we can figure out how or, more importantly, who forged this steel, then we might be closer to some answers,” I said.
“Indeed.” The osprey-man nodded and handed me the shard. “I hear you are acquainted with the old Archivist Tovish. He will be a good resource to have, especially once Doler’s old estate is finally released under your status. See if you can contact him. A parameter of hearing your case is that you allow the Council full disposal of every tome on the estate at any time, indefinitely.”
“You guys want access to Doler’s old library?” I asked as if I didn’t know.
Jenner first cast suspicion on the Council’s true motivation for making us go through the trial rigmarole. He mentioned if they could possibly overturn my legitimacy of my victory, then everything Doler had would just be absorbed by them. The shrewd koala-man was leery the Council wanted something specific, and it seemed as if they had their sights set on the library just as much as we did.
Surprise, surprise.
Whatever was in there must be huge, and it was at that moment I was glad I told Jenner to wait on negotiating with the Council.
I was slowly learning to keep my cards as close to my chest as I could when dealing with Duelist matters, and I worked really hard to school my face into an expression of innocence.
The Councilman’s sharp gaze lingered on me for a half-beat before he continued.
“It has been suspected for quite some time that Archus’ collection superseded all previous public knowledge. He began collecting arcane tomes and artifacts, and as his collection grew, so did his need for secrecy,” the man said and handed the medallion to Mec before striding to one of the stables in the carriage house, and the general air of authority radiating off him in waves made it clear Mec and I were to follow. “It would be of great value to the Council, and to the preservation of the Asher ways, if the collection’s contents could be made available.”
“Like a public library,” I said as we all reached the far end of the carriage house.
“In a sense,” the osprey-man agreed and gathered the reins of a handsome burgundy manapillar that reminded me of a Clydesdale.
“So, are you asking me for permission, or is this where you start to list those ‘parameters’ you mentioned?” I crossed my arms over my chest and carefully made my face as deadpan as possible to see what the osprey-man would do next.
For the first time, Sha-Kane’s solid mask of stoicism fractured just barely, and if I hadn’t been looking for it, I would have missed the minute tightening of his square jaw.
Mec picked up on it, too, because his eyes got wide for a moment as if he couldn’t believe how belligerent I was being.
All of these little things told me what I needed to know, and before the Councilman could form any more of an opinion, I seamlessly changed my tune.
“Because I’ll be honest, I don’t even want the place.” I shrugged and kept my tone noncommittal. “Maybe once everything gets sorted on the Council’s end, they can just transfer it over, neat and tidy.”
Sha-Kane’s thin mahogany eyebrows arched upward a millimeter. “That could be arranged. Look for the officiate in a matter of days.”
I sure hoped Horus remembered the way to break in because that meant we only had a small window to get in, get what we needed, and forget the rest.
Totally doable.
“Councilman Kane,” Mec said again and clasped hands with the osprey-man. “Much obliged.”
“We’ll be in touch, Gavlain,” Sha-Kane said and mounted his steed, but when he looked down at the ram-lord again, his eyes were hard. “And remember what we talked about.”
“Of course,” Mec said mildly, but his usual smile was stiff and wooden.
“Brightwood,” the Councilman murmured, and I nodded my respect before he galloped away on his burgundy mount.
“Something about that guy seems off,” I stated when it was just Mec and me once more.
“And you have apparently gone crazy to toe the line like that with one of the most powerful men in Aventoll,” he said with an almost weary smile and then took a seat on a stack of grain sacks.
“Gavlain?” I questioned as the big man rubbed his forehead.
“What were you thinking, Alex?” he asked me. “Transferring your estate to the Council?”
“Technically, that estate isn’t mine either way once the Council approves it because I put it up for auction in order to get Vel-Rala from the Traders,” I said.
“The Traders are sacrosanct from any laws that govern the land.” He stared at me. “Once an exchange is met, there is nothing anyone can do.”
“Heh, yeah,” I said and gripped the back of my neck. “I’ve been told I’m pretty productive on bed rest if you give me something to study. Jenner gave me a book on how the Trader Auctions worked, and it mentioned gray areas like that. I don’t know what the protocol is from here, but let them figure it out. By the time they untangle themselves, we’ll have gotten what we needed anyway.”
“You…” Gavlain kept staring at me like a cod fish gasping for air. “But that-- how--”
