“Can you help us?” he asked.
“Perhaps.” A tiny crease appeared between the man’s brows, his gaze on Tyen’s chest. “I have not had to deal with the creations of my predecessor for several hundred cycles, and then what was requested was their destruction. If I am to restore this woman’s body, I would not attempt it without testing the method first, several times. One mistake and she could be destroyed.”
Tyen nodded. Words repeated in his mind: “my predecessor”, “several hundred cycles”. Suddenly he didn’t want to think about that too closely, afraid that if he did he’d lose his nerve.
“It will take time,” the Raen said. His eyes narrowed. “In return you have nothing to offer but service.”
For a brief moment Tyen was tempted to point out that he now owned an object that had read the Raen’s mind, but he figured it wouldn’t be a bargaining piece he’d possess for long if he did.
“Not much of an exchange, I know,” he replied.
The man made a low noise. A chuckle, Tyen realised. The Raen had a sense of humour.
“You may be useful to me, if you are willing. A group of sorcerers, some formerly of the school you attended, are uniting with the intention to defy my laws and challenge my rule. I would like you to join them and report their activity to me.”
Tyen’s stomach sank. Could he work against people he had once learned and worked with? Lie to them? Betray them? What if his true role among them was discovered? What if his actions led to their deaths?
“It would be better if it does not come to that,” the Raen said. “If you are clever you may steer them from their more dangerous ambitions. If not you might still reduce the number who perish as a result of a direct confrontation.”
A direct confrontation? So they are planning to attack him? They must truly hate him. Tyen thought of the arguments between the teachers, wondering which was right. Was he a monster? Then he winced as he knew the Raen had seen the thought.
“They are angry at losing their freedom to do whatever they wish,” the man continued. “They do not see that my laws keep the strife of the worlds from growing into greater conflicts. If they obey them, I will let them live.”
Tyen nodded. He remembered Tarren’s words: “… what are you prepared to do in order to fulfil your promise to her?” He took a deep breath.
“I won’t kill anyone for you.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“How long will the arrangement last?”
“Until Vella is restored or I am convinced I cannot help her.”
Tyen looked down at the pouch hanging around his neck. He wished he could ask her what she would prefer, but he knew what she would say: only he could decide. She was not whole, so she could not feel emotions as he did. She only knew she was incomplete, and that what had been done to her was wrong.
He nodded. “I’ll do it.”
“Then we have an understanding: I will attempt to restore Vella and you will watch these potential rebels for me in return. I do not need you to seek me out to make your reports, so long as you leave their base from time to time. I will find you.”
“Where is it?”
“Seek your old friends and you will find it.”
Empty, cold air was suddenly all that filled the space the Raen had occupied. Tyen stared at the snow beyond and he realised he was shivering. Whether from the cold or his encounter with the ruler of worlds, he couldn’t decide. I am alive. I still have Vella. More than that: the most powerful sorcerer in the worlds had agreed to seek a way to restore her for him. I think that means things just took a turn for the better. Not that there aren’t many, many ways it could all go wrong. He had to trust that the Raen would keep his word, and hope that his “watching”–spying was more accurate–didn’t end in disaster, for himself, Vella or his friends.
Then doubts crept in and he began to grow certain he had made a bad and hasty choice. But what choice did I have, really, with the Raen standing there? Say “sorry for breaking your laws” and hope he didn’t kill me? Perhaps he would have let Tyen live. The man had suggested he would forgive these potential rebels if they gave up their plans of resistance and obeyed his laws.
He took Vella from her pouch again and opened her pages.
What did you make of the Raen, Vella?
Nothing. I could not penetrate his mind.
You couldn’t? But you were able to read Roporien’s, weren’t you?
Yes.
He paused to marvel at that. It made sense that the Raen was more powerful than Roporien, since he had killed his predecessor. If that was, indeed, how Roporien had perished. It was always possible people had assumed so only because that was what Millennium’s Rule predicted and the Raen rose to power at the same time that Roporien had died. He looked at Vella’s pages again.
Did the Raen ask you anything?