“I don’t know. It makes no sense to me, either—the water, the force of it, is contained by the Keeper, in the Garden.
“Evanton was in a room upstairs,” she said, speaking—and thinking—slowly. “I think he was trying to contain the water’s spread in the store.”
“Confine it to the store?”
“No—not exactly. I think there’s got to be some sort of fail-safe there, some way of speaking to the elements when it’s no longer safe for even Evanton, the Keeper, to do so.”
“You are certain?”
“I can go back to Evanton’s—after we’ve at least got some idea of what’s going on in the Winding Path. Does Teela think that’s where she is? Yes, I know she said she doesn’t know. But Teela thinks in her sleep. There’s no way she’s sitting on her butt in the dark not trying to figure things out.”
“She thanks you for your confidence. And asks you to shut up.”
“Why?”
“Because,” Annarion said softly, “Ybelline is speaking now. She is describing the exact steps taken to cast the spell that might have preserved the Tha’alani for some hours before they were also destroyed.”
*
The Arkon was absolutely unwilling to join the Tha’alaan; he was not unwilling to listen to Annarion. Annarion, aware of the Arkon’s intent stare, spoke of the similarities between summoning and repulsion. Both required knowledge. Both required—to Kaylin’s surprise—an openness, an awareness, a centering of the elemental name. Repulsion was not, as Kaylin had first assumed, an act of destruction or rejection. It was a barrier erected with the complicit acceptance of the summoned element; it was a marker they agreed to overlook, in its entirety.
Mandoran didn’t speak. He had managed to loosen his grip on Ybelline’s waist, and he had closed his eyes.
“Teela says she understands enough now,” Annarion finally said. “She is going to try it on her end.” He hesitated and then added, “She is profoundly grateful to the castelord. Ybelline, she is in your debt.”
Kaylin winced. The Barrani had peculiar and unfriendly ideas of debt. “Are they anywhere near the Winding Path?” she asked, again.
“They were in the Arcanum. Teela found a crack in a wall there.”
“Is that code for something?”
“Yes. The Arcanist in question—who has been missing for some time, due to the machinations of the Imperial Wolves—left research notes, instructions and apparently bound followers. One of those followers destroyed the necessary research.”
“Voluntarily?”
“Teela doubts it. She points out—to Mandoran—that this is how names are traditionally used. The enslaved Barrani had enough time to give Teela warning—but not enough will to subvert the command. Teela and Tain survived. The others in the room did not.”
“So...they should be in the Arcanum.”
“That’s what Tain thought. The destruction in question—Teela thinks it was meant as a...test.”
“Test of what?”
“She is uncertain. She is familiar with the Arcanum; she says that is not where they are now.”
“What, exactly, occurred?” the Arkon demanded.
“An explosion of the type an Arcane bomb would cause. It was not an Arcane bomb. It appears to have caused displacement.”
“She’s not ahead in time, or behind,” Kaylin said.
Gilbert, however, frowned. “Why are you so certain?”
“Because we can talk to her.”
“No, Kaylin. Mandoran and Annarion can speak with her. Had Annarion been keeper of his brother’s name, I believe he could have heard Lord Nightshade. They are not what you are. They are not what Lord Nightshade is. But they are not entirely separate. I may be mistaken, but I do not think Teela is precisely here and now. But there are multiple perturbations and I do not understand the whole of them.”
“Teela thinks it’s the same day,” Annarion said.
“Teela is sitting in the dark, possibly in a dungeon—how the hell would she know?” Kaylin snapped.
But Mandoran said, “Her voice is thin. It’s weaker or quieter than it usually is. Gilbert might be right.”
“And he expects you two to somehow be able to ignore time?”
Gilbert said nothing.
“Teela says we need to speak with the Keeper.”
Chapter 24
“Does Teela still have the portable mirror in her pocket—and did you tell her not to use it?”
“Yes, and no. Don’t make that face,” Mandoran added. “Ybelline made it clear. I passed it on.” He had to shout the last phrase because the Arkon was also conversing. This would have been difficult, no matter what, but they were on the Arkon’s back. It was crowded.
Mandoran and Annarion had not been exactly delighted with the prospect of climbing on a Dragon back—and specifically on the Arkon’s. The Arkon, however, insisted, and he was in full Dragon mode. They chose the better part of valor.