Lejikh’s eyebrows rose. “Why do you ask?”
Felomar leaned his elbows on the table and lowered his voice. “I have heard, and this time from a reliable source, that the Raen has returned.”
The silence that followed was unlike any natural pause in conversation. Rielle’s senses sharpened and she resisted the temptation to seek the minds around her. Lejikh was calmly returning Felomar’s stare. Ankari looked from one to the other, her eyes narrowed. Baluka had frozen, his spoon before his mouth. Felomar’s eyes gleamed with amusement, but his mouth was set in a grim line.
Whatever this means, it is potentially bad news for the Travellers, she guessed.
Lejikh looked down at his bowl, the contents undisturbed. “Reliable, you say?”
“Yes. I received a message this morning from my cousin, who is not prone to boast or lie, reporting an encounter between the Prince of Liema and the Raen that many were witnesses to.” Felomar’s eyebrows rose. “In this very world. A few days ago.”
Lejikh picked up his spoon. “We have heard nothing of his return.”
Felomar leaned back in his chair and nodded. “There have been numerous false sightings over the last, what is it? Twenty years since he disappeared. Many thought him dead and made changes he will not like.
“Those who were too young to remember him, or were born after he disappeared, are now adults. They will not understand the danger they are in if he is, indeed, back among the worlds, and will resent a return of the old laws.”
Baluka was listening with such attention his thoughts were mostly fragmented and wordless. The Raen! Here! A few days ago. So close. Fear and excitement radiated from him. Father encountered him once. Must get him to tell that story again…
Rielle could not stand it any longer. She leaned closer to him.
“Who is this Raen?”
His gaze snapped to hers, the intensity in his eyes faltering as he considered how to tell her without frightening her needlessly. “A sorcerer. The strongest that ever existed–stronger than all others together, it is said. He can move through the worlds like… as easy as walking, one step in each. In some worlds he is worshipped as a benevolent god. In others he is the human manifestation of evil. He has lived for a thousand cycles, and he cannot die.”
“He can die,” Felomar corrected. “Or so the wisest have said and written. I have a collection of books on the subject.”
Baluka smiled. “As do many fine libraries, though none are as extensive and full of treasures as yours. Did the Raen say where he had been, while visiting the prince?”
Felomar shook his head. “No. I was rather hoping your family would provide more information.” He looked at Lejikh again. “I fear my favourite explanation, that he had travelled to the edges of the populated worlds, found himself in a dead world and been trapped there, cannot be true.”
Lejikh shrugged. “I doubt we will ever find out the truth, and discussing it will make no difference.”
Felomar’s eyebrows rose, and Rielle sensed Baluka’s surprise. His father had always enjoyed debating the mystery with the lord.
“And the note left by one of the rebels?” Baluka asked, to keep the discussion going. “That told of his intention to lure the Raen into a dead world?”
“If he did manage to keep ahead of the Raen long enough to reach one, he can’t have chosen a truly dead world,” Felomar answered. “If it was populated, the occupants would eventually generate enough magic for him to leave again. Though perhaps not before he died of old age.”
Baluka nodded. “Perhaps it only took twenty cycles. And when he left he’d have had to…” He stopped, his eyes widening, and looked at his parents. Ankari made a small gesture.
His mind snapped into silence. Rielle reeled as she found herself isolated and unable to understand what Lejikh was saying to the lord now. Baluka leaned closer, his expression apologetic.
“Do not worry,” he said haltingly in Fyrian. “I must…”–he pointed to his head–“think.”
Whatever Lejikh was saying it was clear from his manner and Felomar’s that the conversation and meal were now coming to an end. The lord rose from his chair and as the Travellers followed suit Rielle joined them. Felomar ushered them out of the room. In the wide hallway beyond, servants came forward. One bowed to Lejikh and Ankari, and led them away. Another approached Baluka. As the young Traveller began to follow he looked over his shoulder.
“I will see you… tomorrow,” he said, then smiled and spoke to a young woman who had bowed to Rielle. The girl nodded, then gestured to indicate that Rielle should follow.