“Of course.” Justin extended his arm to the blind girl. “You’ll find the mistress through the archive in the sanctuary. I’ll find Miss Ennika somewhere comfortable.”
He disappeared through the curtain, and Winter and the others followed. Beyond was a wide hallway with more curtained doorways off either side and a large arch at the back. Between the doorways, lining the walls, were the Thousand Names.
It had been more than a year since Winter had seen the ancient artifacts that had been the start of everything. They were eight-?foot-?tall slabs of steel, deeply incised with long strings of tiny, unfamiliar characters. Under the Mountain, she’d seen a similar archive, and the Eldest had told her their unwieldiness was intentional. Not only would the steel tablets be proof against the years, but their sheer size and weight made theft unlikely.
She knew now that they were the creation of the Mages, an ancient faction of the pre-?Elysian church that held that the summoning of demons was not intrinsically evil. The Mages had worked to discover the names of demons, and inscribed their knowledge on tablets like these. But their enemies, led by the great Saint Elleusis Ligamenti, had won the power struggle, and the Mages were declared heretical. Some had survived by stealth, like the Eldest and his followers at the Mountain. Others had fled over the seas, taking their archive with them, and after a thousand years had become the secret cult that Winter and Janus had faced in the temple under the Great Desol.
Or so the Eldest claimed, at any rate. Winter was on shaky ground as far as theological matters went, and she wasn’t sure how Feor would take being labeled as a devotee of a heretical Karisai sect. She can talk it over with the Eldest, once all this is finished. For the moment they had more practical concerns.
Abraham’s eyes were wide and his hands twitched, as though he couldn’t wait to examine the huge tablets. He leaned close to Winter and said, “It’s true, then. What you said about the archive in Khandar.”
“You thought I was making it up?”
“I just...” He shook his head. “The idea that it could be found, after so long, seemed incredible.”
They pushed through the curtains at the end of the hall and into a large space, softly lit by ranks of candles. Like the chambers of the Eldest, it was simply furnished, with a circle of cushions on the stone floor the only concession to comfort. They were all empty, save one where Feor sat, looking expectant.
She’d grown, Winter thought, in the time since they’d last met. Not just physically, though a better diet had gone a long way toward filling out the half-?starved girl Winter remembered. There was a confidence in her that hadn’t been there before, a squareness to her shoulders and a steadiness to her gaze. Her dark hair was long and carefully plaited, and the gray cast to her skin marked her as Khandarai.
“Winter.” She smiled tentatively and spoke in Khandarai. “Do you still remember my language?”
“Not... as well as I should,” Winter answered haltingly. Both Alex and Abraham looked on, uncomprehending, and Feor laughed.
“Fortunately,” she said, her Vordanai accented but smooth, “I have learned quite a bit of yours. Come, sit. I imagine we have a great deal to discuss.”
“Quite a lot, yes,” Winter said, relieved that Feor didn’t seem to be angry with her. “This is Alex and Abraham, who accompanied me from the Mountain. That’s a hidden enclave in the north—?the Mages—” She took a deep breath. “I suppose I should start at the beginning.”
Feor held up a hand. “Fortunately, we don’t need to go back that far.” She beckoned to another curtained doorway. “Come in, Jaffa.”
The curtain twitched aside, and the Steel Ghost entered, candles gleaming softly on the brushed metal of his mask. Abraham let out a quick breath, as though he’d been waiting for this. Alex raised an eyebrow.
“Jaffa?” Winter said.
“Jaffa-?dan-?Iln was my name,” the Ghost said. “Before I put on the mask.”
“He came to me several weeks ago,” Feor said. “Most unexpectedly, I might add.”
“I have apologized for any difficulty I caused,” the Ghost said. “But I dared not show myself to anyone else. Only Raesinia knew of my existence, and she had not yet returned.”
“Once we’d established that he wasn’t one of the Penitent Damned,” Feor said, “he explained a great deal to me. I am not sure I completely accept his version of ancient history”—?she looked sidelong at the Ghost and smiled again— “but our present circumstances seem clear.”
“What have you been doing in Vordan?” Winter said.
At Feor’s urgent beckoning, they took their seats, pulling the cushions into a tight circle. When he was settled, the Ghost said, “I came to warn Raesinia about the Beast, only to find that she was gone. It was urgent that the naathem in the city be alert for any of the Beast’s bodies that might try to slip in, so I went to Feor. She and her students have been helping me keep watch.”
“And you haven’t told Raesinia you’re here?”
“It seemed easier to deal with you,” the Ghost said. “I am very pleased to see your journey was successful.”
“It certainly wasn’t easy,” Alex said. “It must be nice being a sandstorm.”
“It has its advantages,” the Ghost said.
“The Beast pursued us,” Winter said. “All the way to the Bataria. After that, it gave up and shifted its attention south. Or so Ennika tells us.” At Feor’s puzzled expression, Winter explained, briefly, what Sothe had told her about the Penitent Damned and her connection to the Beast.
“Remarkable,” the Ghost said. “So it is possible for a mind to maintain its independence even after it is taken by the Beast.”
“Or so it wants us to think,” Abraham said. “I do not believe Ennika is lying to us, but the messages passed to her could be part of some manipulation.”
“I just can’t see the advantage for the Beast,” Winter said. “If it is trying to lead me into a trap, it’s taking a very long road to get there.”
“And if it wanted to ambush you, it would have needed to suggest a particular time and place,” Alex said. “Ennika hasn’t given us anything like that.”
“If we accept that this information is genuine,” the Ghost said, “then Winter is right. The coming battle is our opportunity—?maybe our only opportunity—?to get her to the Beast’s core, while it still believes she is in the north.”
“That leaves us with two problems,” Winter said. “First we have to find the core. Then we have to get me there, ideally with enough of a force that we can handle a few guards. The Beast may have to deploy its army to fight, but it will hardly be completely unprotected.”
“You can leave the first task to me,” the Ghost said. “I can travel fast and unseen. I should be able to locate our target.”
“You can’t take anyone with you, though?” When the Ghost shook his masked head, Winter sighed. “The core could be miles behind the lines. We could try to punch through with a cavalry force, but then it would know we were coming.”