Trial of Fire (73 page)

And with that, he took her hand, leading her out of the Basilica and into a world that was already waiting for them.

THE SECRET HISTORY OF LUSARA

Ruel

Despite the efforts of many of the protagonists, rumours that Jennifer Ross was indeed the incarnation of the goddess Mineah continued to abound. There is little doubt now that what happened to her would be considered a miracle by most people; this was the second re-birth she had experienced as far as the common populace was concerned. The word spread like wildfire across the country; Andrew did nothing to stop it. He would neither confirm nor deny that the woman who had helped kill Nash and bring down a mountain was his mother. There is a possibility that secretly he wished the memory of his mother to live long after, in the legends of Elita.

Of Robert and Jennifer, little was heard after those first few weeks. They left Marsay after their son’s coronation, and returned to Dunlorn with the rest of Robert’s family, determined to bring the castle back to life.

They were not much seen at the new Enclave, founded the following year by Patric and Joshi. The new school was more open than the previous one, though its location was kept secret, using the age-old Seal. Patric spent many years developing techniques which could copy the Key’s protection and, to this day, few folk have any idea where the Enclave is, though it continues to flourish now that Seeking for new members is done openly and is, for the most part, welcomed by the populace. Every year, a dozen Generet arrive to train in the Salti manner, and a dozen Salti head to Felkri, in Alusia, the better to understand their cousins.

What is most interesting to those sorcerers who were involved from the beginning is that what was foretold actually came to pass. They were set free from their prison and now live amongst the people, accepted and no longer feared. Even the Malachi,
under the leadership of Gilbert Dusan, worked hard with those of the Enclave to remove the old prejudices, and to allow a reunification of their people, giving Lusara an opportunity to see that sorcerers of different persuasions could all live in peace.

And so, in a voice of hope, ends this Secret History, along with the prayer that peace will now reign in Lusara for all the future yet to come.

Ruel

Finnlay paced up and down the dark corridor, rubbing his hands together against the damp chill this place always engendered. Why Patric had chosen such a gloomy place as this was a question he had never answered convincingly. All along the stone walls, moisture glistened in the light of oil lamps suspended from the ceiling. There weren’t even any rushes on the floor to give the illusion of warmth. Finnlay would have to speak to him about that. How on earth could he expect new candidates to welcome living in a place like this for the years it would take them to become adept? The gods alone knew how the Generet could stand living here after the heat of Alusia.

He reached up and pulled the collar of his cloak further around his neck, then turned again and retraced his steps, walking away from the door. A sound in the distance made him look up. From the depths of the dark passage a figure came towards him, a midnight blue cape trailing behind. The woman walked swiftly, as though her journey was a matter of urgency. Before she even reached him, she was asking him questions.

‘Any word yet?’

‘Not a sound,’ Finnlay replied, looking at the door. It remained as shut as it had been all morning.

‘I don’t understand. What can be taking so long?’

Finnlay smiled gently and reached out to the girl’s shoulder. ‘I know this is hard, my dear, but we always knew this part couldn’t be hurried. Patience, that’s the key. Patience.’

‘You sound like you know what’s going to happen. I thought you said this was the biggest gamble of all.’

Finnlay shrugged. ‘At my age, every day is a gamble for another few hours of life.’

The girl relaxed a little and a short laugh escaped. She drew the cloak hood back from her face, revealing dark auburn hair plaited and tied with a single ribbon. ‘And you’re so feeble, too, aren’t you, Finnlay? You can hardly get on a horse, let alone keep up with those reckless grandchildren of yours.’

Finnlay drew himself up to his full height. ‘My grandchildren are not reckless – just adventurous, that’s all. I may be old but I’m certainly not feeble.’

She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. ‘At fifty-seven, Finnlay, you’re not even old.’

Finnlay kept up his stiff stance. There was no need to make this girl think he wasn’t actually offended. ‘And what about Andrew? Is he here yet?’

The girl raised her fine, dark eyebrows in mock surprise. ‘Why, Finnlay, you’re the great Seeker. Can’t you sense his presence within the Enclave?’

‘If you’re not careful, girl, I’ll make you sorry for your lack of respect. I don’t know where you learned it.’

‘I’ll give you one guess.’ She turned around just in time for Finnlay to see his nephew come down the corridor towards them.

‘Any word yet?’ the King asked quietly.

‘Do you think we’d be standing out here in the cold if there were?’ Finlay said wryly.

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Andrew replied, deadpan. ‘You always did like to have something to complain about.’

‘Hell.’ Finnlay eyed the two of them acidly. ‘You’re both as bad as one another. I know you’re King, Andrew, but I sincerely hope you don’t treat your subjects as badly as you treat the members of your own family.’

‘Oh, come, Uncle,’ Andrew smiled, putting his arm around the waist of the girl. ‘I treat Ruel here very well indeed. Don’t I?’

Ruel frowned prettily. ‘I’m sorry, sire, is that one of those commands that sounds like a question but isn’t?’

Finnlay laughed. ‘You brought that one down on your own head, my boy. Look, I’m sick of standing out here. My bones are starting to freeze together. Where’s your brother?’

‘I thought he was in there,’ Ruel said. ‘Haven’t you seen him?’

‘Not for a while. Let’s go in and see what’s happening.’

Without waiting, Finnlay strode to the door, knocked once and pushed it open. He held it as Andrew and Ruel followed him in then closed it, automatically waving a hand over it with a warning. Then he made his way to the fireplace and stood with his back to it, warming his body against the heat. Andrew and Ruel were less comfortable. They stood on either side of the table-end, looking somewhat lost. By the window, curled up on a huge seat with a small book, was Ruel’s brother. He looked up once, gave them all a smile, then returned to his reading as though it were the most important thing in the world.

The room was compact, but saved from being small by a huge fireplace
and a deep bay diamond-paned glass window that looked out upon the hill. Dark panelling gave the walls warmth; the Alusian rug was a gift from Joshi’s family. The long table was strewn with piles of papers, two silver goblets and a carafe. On the other side, facing Finnlay, Jenn sat with her eyes still intent on the page before her. She paid no attention to their entrance, but kept reading. Robert stood by the long windows, one hand resting high on the stone, his gaze focused on the grey view beyond the Enclave.

A rustle of paper drew Finnlay’s attention back to Jenn as she turned the last page over onto its face. Then she sat back and clasped her hands together on her lap. She looked at none of them. Watching her, Finnlay was still surprised by how little she’d aged over the years; though now she looked like a woman of thirty-five or so. It seemed now the Prophecy was done with them, they were finally beginning to age, albeit slowly. Even so, they had taken the extra years granted to them, living them to the full; it was impossible to mistake their happiness.

‘Well?’ Andrew said into the silence. ‘What do you think?’

Finnlay almost smiled at the question: it was brave of the young King to be the first to ask. Neither he nor Ruel dared to broach the subject; they were both so involved.

‘I think,’ Jenn replied quietly, ‘that Ruel and Finnlay have put a lot of work into this. There is hardly a thing I can fault. I’m surprised, Finn. I hadn’t realised your memory was so good.’

‘It isn’t.’

‘Ah,’ Jenn said, turning to Ruel. ‘You had other help – from whom?’

Ruel looked first at Finnlay, then at Robert, who was standing alone by the window with his back to them. ‘From Micah and Andrew and a few others.’

‘Did you speak to Lady Margaret?’

Ruel nodded.

‘I see.’

There was another long silence and Finnlay could see Ruel was getting more and more agitated – she was still very young, despite her education and worldliness, and the tension of the moment was almost too much for her. She took a step forward. ‘Is that all?’

‘What else is there?’

‘But … what do you think of it?’

‘It’s a very good history, my dear,’ Jenn replied warmly. ‘I’m proud of your efforts to write such a thing. I could never have done it.’

‘But do you approve?’

Jenn just raised her eyebrows.

Ruel turned from her and half-crossed the room. ‘Father?’

Robert said nothing for a moment. Then, he lifted his hand and pointed to something out the window. ‘You know, there’s a farmer who keeps sheep on that hill over there. One day, during a storm, he went out onto the moor to bring his flock together to take them to saftey. He had trouble finding them in the downpour. Cloud had decended over the hill and the white sheep melted into the grey. For hours he searched, growing exhausted, until he slipped and fell down the hill. He landed against a tree, hitting his head. When he came to, he thought it was night, but it was only when he got to his feet that he realised he’d lost his sight. The storm still howled around him and he could hear the terrified bleating of his sheep. Afraid, but knowing what he had to do, the farmer set out again, blindly, up the hill. Carefully he gathered all his sheep together, by the sound of their bleating alone. He brought them back to his farm and into the shelter they needed.’

Robert took a deep breath. ‘But for a simple accident, he would have lost half his flock. Some would have said the gods had guided him, others that his own foolishness led him to a greater insight than he could otherwise have known. Maybe the man was fated to lose his sight – the occasion alone was the only variable.’

Ruel took another step forward, then asked Jenn, ‘Are you angry that I didn’t ask for your permission to write the story?’

Jenn came to her feet and placed her hands on the back of her chair. ‘He’s angry. But he’s also proud of you, aren’t you, Robert?’

At this, he finally turned around from the window. ‘Of course I’m proud of you. I’m afraid I can’t be so generous about my brother’s contribution, however.’

Finnlay dropped his head and tried to hide his smile.

‘But what do you think of it?’ Ruel asked again. She had her father’s green eyes, but they lacked his intensity, even now.

Robert shrugged. ‘As your mother says, it’s a fine history. You’ve done well to find out so much of what is, in effect, a very great secret. I just want to know one thing. Why write it? Why put down on paper the truth about Carlan? About Selar and Kenrick? More to the point, why tell the truth about your own brother’s parentage? Do you not think that is a secret worth keeping?’

‘I don’t mind the truth being known, Father,’ Andrew said evenly. ‘I’m not sure it even matters now.’

Robert turned his full attention on his oldest son. ‘You’ve been on the throne almost ninteen years. In that time you’ve put down – what, three insurrections from Kenrick’s old supporters? You’ve had border incursions
from both Sadlan and Tusina, and if it were not for the fact that you had the sense to marry Tirone’s daughter, I dare say Mayenne might even have joined in.’

‘Lusara has had no armed attack from any side for the last thirteen years, Father, and you know it.’

‘And I also know that Selar was on his throne a little longer than you before he got himself into serious trouble.’

‘But Selar’s biggest mistake was making an enemy of you, Father. I personally would never be that stupid.’

Finnlay had to bury his face in his hands to stifle his laughter. This meeting was turning out to be more entertaining than he’d expected.

Andrew went on, ‘Really, Father, I can’t see that it can do me that much damage after all this time. I named my son and heir after you and people believed it was to honour the man who fought so long for my throne.’

‘You mean it wasn’t?’ Finnlay murmured, but a glance from both father and son shut him up.

Jenn interrupted, ‘Both you and your sister were conceived before your father and I were married. Does that mean nothing to you?’

‘I was conceived on the eve of a battle that put my brother on the throne and rid this country of its greatest evil for ever. That means a lot to me, yes.’

‘But Andrew inherited titles and lands that do not belong to him. So has David. By openly publishing this history you would throw so much into confusion where there is no need. You would destablise a country that has only recently begun to enjoy its peace. And to what purpose? So you could tell a story that was never meant to be told? And don’t mistake me. It can’t affect Robert and me. We have no public role and most people have forgotten we even exist. Our lives won’t change with this book, but yours will.’

Ruel turned to her father, but his eyes were on Jenn. In the back of his mind, Finnlay could hear what the others would hear: the faint echo of a whisper, the trail of mindspeech passing between Robert and Jenn. Only the blood-tie allowed him to hear that much; more was impossible.

‘Please.’ Ruel moved forward to stand before her father. ‘I want you to understand: I’m not trying to destroy all you worked for. On the contrary, I want everyone to know the sacrifices you made to bring it all about. Nobody knows what really happened – especially in the battle with Carlan. Nobody was there but you and Mother. The rest of us only know because you told us. You would never write such a history because for so long you blamed yourself for failing and then hated yourself for not acting sooner. There are people in Lusara who need to understand why you didn’t act for so long. They need to know why the whole thing happened in the first place. There is a greater, deeper truth that can be learned from this story,
something the whole country can benefit from. Is it so wrong to want that? I know it will cause ructions here and there and people will look at Andrew, David and me quite differently, but that’s a sacrifice we’re all willing to make. You taught me that.’