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Page 24

 

  "Magical orbs designed to catch the attention. Not exactly charm magic, because they're usually used as warning signals, but… like the bright yellow yield signs back over Earthside. " She glanced at Morio. "Do you know the enchantment that makes them? They seem right up your alley. "

  He shook his head, drawing near her. "No, I don't think that's in my repertoire. Other youkai might know it, though I can't say for sure. I haven't dealt much with most other nature-demons back Earthside. But I can see someone like Titania using these. At least back when she was holding her own instead of holding the bottle. "

  "I learned very few higher spells when I was training," Camille said. "My teacher didn't bother trying to teach me anything he thought I'd screw up too badly, except for the energy bolts. By the time I moved on to the more advanced stages of training, word had spread that I was a klutz. I'm beginning to think that maybe I wouldn't have so many problems if I'd had teachers who cared more and didn't turn their backs on me because I'm a half-breed. "

  I recognized the sting in her voice.

  Morio just patted her on the arm. "You're doing fine with the death magic," he said. "Maybe we can help you relearn some of what you missed out on. " His voice was so tender that I jerked my head up and stared at the two of them. Camille might be Trillian's, but it was apparent that Morio had been slowly, silently staking his claim. Was he trying to undermine the Svartan or just complement him? I shook off the thought. The only thing that mattered right now was what sort of man this seer we were searching for turned out to be.

  As we rounded a bend in the trail, the curving spires of Aladril rose up from behind the city gates. Minarets rose from the domes, marble and alabaster gleaming with a finish so highly polished that they reflected the starlight. Aladril's architecture was much like that of Terial, the port city at the edge of the Mirami Ocean, but there the resemblance between the two cities ceased. Terial thrived, a noisy city of vendors and merchants. Aladril was a quiet city of scholars, seers, and magic.

  When we approached the gates, a guard, wearing a turquoise and white uniform with golden epaulets on the shoulders, motioned for us to stop. "Proper identification, please. "

  We held out our necklaces. Using what looked a lot like the crystal bug detector Queen Asteria had given us, the guard touched the crystal to the platelet on the cord and a soft beep sounded. Giving me an odd look, he stepped back and motioned to the gate. "Enter Aladril, the City of Seers, and be welcome. "

  I paused. "Do you know where we might find a seer named Jareth? Queen Asteria directed me to seek him out. "

  The guard gave me another strange look. "Are you sure she said Jareth?"

  "Yes," I said. "I'm positive. "

  He resumed his unreadable stance. "You'll find Master Jareth in the Temple of Reckoning. Follow Arabel Avenue to the central park, then cross through the gardens to the Hall of Temples. You'll find him there. " As I turned to go, I heard him whisper under his breath, "And may the gods smooth your way, little demoness. "

  I glanced back, about to ask what the hell he meant, but he ignored me. No matter. We'd find out soon enough.

  As we passed through the thirty-foot tall gates, a hush descended around us, as if the world were muffled by a magical blanket. Even though it was night, the streets were bustling with activity, people in long cloaks coming and going, all looking intent on their journeys.

  The streets were made of cobbled brick. The buildings varied from stucco to marble to what appeared to be bronze façades. Rounded domes dappled the skyline with spires and minarets rising into the air, complete with flags of blue, white, and gold fluttering from their pinnacles. We saw no farm or transportation animals in Aladril, at least no horses or cows, but dogs and cats and rabbits dashed through the streets and I had the feeling they were familiars.

  "There," Camille said, pointing to a street sign. "Arabel Avenue. "

  We stood at the edge of the avenue. A major thoroughfare, it was filled with a throng of people, silently bustling toward their destinations. The moon was on her way toward dark, but the same globes of light that had guided us along the path to Aladril also decorated the city streets.

  As we joined the mass of pedestrians, I found it difficult to tell male from female. Most of the inhabitants seemed to be cloaked in voluminous robes with hoods, and their scent was far less disparate than that of human male and female.

  Or Fae, for that matter. I'd found that most races had distinct scents—perhaps pheromones—for the differing genders but here that didn't seem to play true.

  Even in the midst of winter, the fragrance of night blooming wyreweed filled the air with a luxurious scent and I thought I could hear music coming from somewhere until I tried to focus on it. Then it slipped away and I wasn't sure if I'd heard anything or not. I'd been to Aladril once before, and Camille had been here several times, but it was as if my memory of the city had faded the moment I left the gates, leaving only a vague impression of what I'd seen or done.

  "The energy here is so thick that it's giving me a headache," Morio said, wincing. "How many seers live here? The cerebral pulse of the city is throbbing like a staccato drumbeat. "

  Camille shrugged. "Nobody knows much about the makeup of Aladril, or even who or what the original inhabitants are. Very few are ever given permission to relocate here and those who do seem to disappear and are seldom heard from after that. Remember cousin Kerii?"

  I nodded. "I remember. Her teacher thought she had so much talent as a divination witch that he recommended she seek further training in Aladril. " Turning to Morio, I added, "We heard from her once or twice after she moved, then nothing. We know she's still alive, her soul statue is still intact, or was the last time we checked our ancestral shrine, but we haven't had any contact with her since those early days. "

  "Soul statue? What's that?" Morio pinched the bridge of his nose, and squinted. "I feel like I do when I've been around high-speed Internet too much. Starbucks is hell for me due to all the wireless activity. "

  Camille glanced around. "The magic here is so heavy that it's even wearing on my shoulders. As to soul statues—when we're born, the shamans forge soul statues for each of us. These are placed in the family shrines and when we die, they shatter. " She glanced at me. "Menolly's shattered when she died. When she was raised, the pieces reforged themselves, but the statue came out…"

  "Misshapen. You can say it," I said. "I've seen it and I know what it looks like. When I die the final death, it will shatter for good. "

  Morio blinked. "That's interesting. So you can tell if your father and aunt are alive—"

  "Exactly," Camille broke in. "Every time he returns, Trillian takes a moment to have someone check on our shrine and sure enough, both Father and Aunt Rythwar's soul statues are still intact. They're alive, just missing. "

  "There's the park," I said, pointing ahead. We'd been walking a good hour and now faced a large, enclosed wild space. Though wild might be a misnomer considering the fact that this was Aladril. Nothing seemed wild or untamed in the city of seers.

  We came to the edge of the gardens, which were enclosed by a six-foot marble wall that stretched to either side as far as we could see. The central entrance was unlocked and the gate open but even so, as we passed the borders, I could sense the separation between the main city and the sunken gardens. For one thing, the temperature rose a good thirty degrees once we passed the main gate.

  Marble steps led down through terrace after terrace of roses, jasmine, and lilies. Flowers and foliage entwined in an exotic embrace, while walkways guided pedestrians through the blossoms. The gardens were fifteen tiers deep, and both ramps and stairs led to the bottom terrace. Benches along the way, wrought in brass and stone, offered the footsore a place to rest and meditate. At the bottom, a railing enclosed a large fountain, where an amber water, lit by some form of magic, sprayed out from a large series of geometric cubes.

  "It's so
warm here," Morio said, glancing around.

  "Think of it like an outdoor greenhouse with an invisible ceiling, heated by magical energy. There are public bams here, if I remember right. " Camille glanced around as we began to descend the stairs. She looked totally blissed out.

  "Enjoying the contact high?" I asked, grinning.

  "Oh yeah," she said, closing her eyes for a moment as she soaked up the energy. "Magic runs like wine and I'm getting tipsy. I could enjoy living here, I think. "

  "Not likely," I said. "I doubt you'd mesh in well. You're too full of life to be comfortable around such sedate energy, no matter how magical, and you know it. " I flashed her a smile as we wended our way along the path. Occasionally we passed someone sitting on a bench or on the grass, but no one looked up or gave any sign they noticed us.

  A sudden screech startled me. An owl, perched on the limb of a willow tree, watched us. I could feel its stare burrowing through the night.

  "We're being examined," I muttered in a low voice. "Owl at two o'clock in the willow. "

  Camille's gaze flickered up to examine our voyeur. "That's no owl," she said. "Possibly a familiar, but no ordinary owl. "

  Morio concurred. "Not a Were either. It might be some other form of shapeshifter, or perhaps a shadow-scout—an illusion set to spy on us. "

  "I think we should ignore it for now. " Camille let out a low breath. "If we interfere with it, we'll alert whoever's watching. We have no idea who sent it, and if they're not one of the bad guys, we might hurt our alliances by being obnoxious about it. "

  "What alliances?" I snorted. "We're just hoping that something will come out of the meeting with Jareth. We don't know for sure that this trip is going to be anything except a big waste of time. "

  "Queen Asteria seems to think otherwise. And there's no sense in breaking an alliance that's barely begun. " Camille frowned, thinking. "For now, let's just keep our eyes open. If somebody's following us, they'll slip up eventually. "

  As we crossed through the gardens the owl followed us, silently gliding from tree to tree. I tried not to focus on it. Most likely the three guards who'd given us our identification decided that we weren't to be trusted and had sent the owl to follow us. Whatever the case, we were almost to the other side.

  The climb up fifteen tiers of steps took a little longer than going down, but Morio was in excellent shape and neither Camille nor I were tired. Living Earthside had done little to diminish our endurance. At the gate, I saw the owl veer off.

  Interesting. Perhaps our sentinel merely wanted to make sure we were going where we actually said we were.

  As we exited the gardens, I hesitated. The thought of just finding a soft space in which to rest and relax was so tempting that I was reluctant to leave. When we had time and energy, maybe my sisters and I could come here and enjoy the lulling hush.

  The park opened out onto the Hall of Temples, which was actually another avenue, this one filled with one great marble structure after another. The name was spot on. I could see at least fifteen different temples stretching in either direction. I wondered how the priests managed all that disparate energy swirling around in such close proximity but no doubt the founders of Aladril had thought of a solution for that, too.

  "What are we looking for, again?" Camille asked.

  "The Temple of Reckoning," Morio said with a grin. "And may I add that the name doesn't inspire feelings of confidence?" He stared at the massive row of temples. "I've never seen anything quite like this, not in all my journeys. I wonder if this is what ancient Greece or Egypt looked like?"

  "I dunno, but I agree with you on the name thing. I wonder what gods this Jareth follows?" Camille looked at me, but I shook my head.

  "I have no idea. Religion has never been my strong suit. It's not something to which I aspire," I added. The gods had ignored me in my time of need and I'd pretty much made up my mind that they only meddled in mortal affairs when it suited their private agendas. If you relied on them, you'd be left holding the bag of tricks at precisely the wrong moment.

  The streets were sparsely populated, unlike the main thoroughfare, but there was enough activity to ensure we should be able to ask someone for directions. The temples ranged in style from Grecian architecture to Egyptian design, providing a surreal, avant-garde feel to the area. Aesthetically the Hall of Temples jarred the eye. Energywise, it whirled like a vortex.

  "The magic here is incredibly thick," Camille said in a raspy voice. "I can barely speak—it's clouding my senses. "

  "Maybe I should go alone," I said, glancing at her. "You look out of it. " And she did. Both Morio and Camille had glazed looks on their faces, almost bewildered, as they stared at the row of buildings.

  Camille tugged at the hem of her top. "I don't know. I don't like the idea of you wandering around by yourself. "

  "I'm in Aladril. Who's going to bother me here as long as I behave myself? Roz couldn't get in through the gates. The energy repelled him. I doubt if Lethesanar's welcome here, and Dredge's crew… well, if they hesitated letting me in, I scarcely think he'd be given free reign. " I gave her a little shove. "Go back and wait in the gardens where it's warm. I'll find the Temple of Reckoning and talk to this Jareth dude. "

  She hesitated, but Morio took her hand.

  "Menolly's right," he said. "I can barely focus on walking, let alone on our mission. We have to shield properly before we can handle the energy up here. We can do that while we're in the gardens. "