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rainbowfic2024-01-21 09:27 pm
thisbluespirit) wrote in rainbowfic2024-01-21 09:27 pm
Entry tags:
Nacre #4; Azul #17 [Starfall]
Name: now the whole house is rocking
Story: Starfall
Colors: Nacre #4 (Under the floorboards); Azul #17 (commitment)
Supplies and Styles: Triptych
Word Count: 4399
Rating: PG
Warnings: Mild violence; mention of serious injury; suspicion.
Notes: Starfall Manor 1337; Zila Fayne, Aimon Merner, Aliyna Dimue, Pio Caffsley, Tannis Kellen, Kaia Aemullens, Osmer Nivyrn.
Summary: There's trouble brewing at Starfall in the wake of the attack on Leaira and the Governor.
Zila pushed open the door to the library and peered in. There was no immediate sign of life visible and a hush had fallen over it that seemed excessive even for a library. "Hello?" she tried. There was no response. She shrugged and slipped inside, heading over towards the empty desk, as if that act alone might summon a library assistant.
It seemed to work. Someone suddenly moved out from behind one of the shelves, and into her path, blocking her way forward. "What do you think you're doing here?"
Zila held up her hands and drew back. "Looking for Imai Nivyrn, like I was told."
"You leave him alone!" Aliyna Dimue didn't give any ground. "What is it with you people? First Diessa, then Leaira—you're not going near Imai Nivyrn!"
Zila wrinkled her forehead. "What in the wide empty world could I do to him?"
Aliyna still didn't budge. "I don't care. I'm not going to let you try is all." She reached out, catching hold of one of Zila's wrists, struggling to get a hold on the other while Zila pulled back, batting Aliyna's hand away.
"You're mad! Get your hands off me! Ow!"
Aliyna let go, but only to shove Zila hard, sending her back against one of the bookshelves. Several books rained past Zila's shoulders onto the floor; fluttering pages and hard bindings thudding onto the boards around her. Aliyna shook her. "You're going to tell me what you lot have done with Leaira—or else! Where is she? Have you hurt her?"
Zila kicked Aliyna sharply on the shin, sliding out of her momentarily slackened grasp, but she immediately walked straight into another body. She yelped and backed into the shelves, fists bunched up, ready and glaring to find the Portcallan Inspector of Accounts frowning down at her.
"Give me a hand, can't you?" said Aliyna to Imai Merner. "Now we've got her, let's tie her to a chair—make her talk!"
Aimon Merner moved forward and gestured for Zila to get behind him, out of Aliyna's reach. "Oh? And how? Hit her with a hefty hardback?"
"I might," Aliyna muttered, breathing hard from the scuffle. Her hair was falling out of her ponytail. "Anything if it means we can find out what her shitty Governor has done to Leaira!"
Aimon took hold of Aliyna's arm, hard enough to cause her look up sharply and then stop. Some of the fire faded from her eyes and she pulled away, with a stormy shrug.
Zila rubbed her face. Her heart thumped against her chest while her whole frame still thrummed. "The Governor doesn't tell me anything! And he's the one who's hurt. Looks to me like your librarian did it and run away — I don't know why you're worrying about her!"
Aliyna lunged for Zila, getting in with a vicious tug to her hair before Aimon managed to grab her and pull her back, clamping his arms around Aliyna's shoulders.
"This—won't—help," Aimon said, his words punctuated by the effort of hanging onto her. "Imai Dimue—Aliyna! You know that. This isn't Imai Fayne's fault, whatever the Governor or Leaira might have done."
Zila huffed and shuffled further back, pressing herself against the wall, close enough to the main door for her to make a run for it if the wild assistant librarian went for her again. She straightened her jacket with a quick tug and then pushed her hair back behind her ears. Then, with a failed shot at sounding casual, her voice not anything like as steady as she'd hoped, she spat out, "Well, I'm not staying here to be the next person to get killed by a Starfall librarian! I don't want to see your stupid dead-hearted scholar anyway!"
She turned on her heel and swept out, although she had to pause outside the door to wipe her eyes roughly with her sleeve. Then she walked on, her nose as far into the air as it would go, just to show everybody in this cursed place how much she didn't care about any of them.
As soon as Zila found a side door, she stormed out of it and broke into a run. Screw and burn the lot of them! None of this was her fault—the Governor bullied her into accompanying him to this cursed place, and now Stolley wouldn't let her see him or give Zila the pass he'd promised her, as if she thought Zila was a criminal as well. Imai Nivyrn wasn't anywhere around, and Starfall people were trying to kill her.
She stopped under a tree and sagged against its trunk, slumping down to the roots, where she remained, recovering her breath. She sniffed, then blinked away angry tears and then rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.
"I'll run away," she told the grounds at large. "Burn the pass, I'll just go. I'll manage—I'll sing, whatever, like always. Who cares about any of them?" Then, for no reason at all, she had to stop and brush away more tears. She rifled in her pockets for a handkerchief she didn't have.
A dog barked somewhere close by. She swallowed her misery, distracted, as a small brown and white dog of no particular breed bounded over. Zila bent down to stroke its head and silky ears. It submitted to her attentions with complacency; plainly a much loved pet. At least it knew what it was to be wanted.
"Where did you come from?" she asked it. "Don't say this Starfall lot have been terrorising you as well."
"He's with me."
Zila raised her head. A middle-aged man in the Starfall guards' uniform finished making his way across the grass towards her and then crouched down beside the dog. He smiled at her. He was pale-skinned, with an oddly innocent blue gaze. She might have thought him younger if there hadn't been tell-tale strands of grey in his short hair.
"Getting on a bit, is Olly now, but he's a good soul."
"Olly?"
"Olirond, originally—after the old imor, back where I grew up."
"Oh," Zila said, and grinned. "So he could come running when you called?"
"Silly, isn't it? Of course, he deserved better—so Olly it is." The guard looked at her. "Oh, sorry. I'm Pio. I work here."
Zila swallowed. "Worse luck for you, then."
"Good luck, actually," said Pio more earnestly than her remark warranted. "Now, what about you? You looked upset, even from halfway across the grounds."
Zila drew back, pressing herself against the trunk's rough bark. "No, no, I'm fine. It's only—stupid things—nothing that matters. They won't let me see the Governor and I can't find Imai Nivyrn, either. I don't see the point of staying in this" - Zila caught Pio's glance and coloured. " Er. This place any longer."
"Well," said Pio, rising while Olly broke into excited yaps and danced around his feet, "I don't know about the Governor, but I'll ask Osmer to see you as soon as he can. He's up near the Paths with some of the others, but he'll sort things out for you when he gets back."
Zila looked up at him, and then hauled herself to her feet. "Thank you," she said. "Not that I care about the Governor, obviously. It's just." She shrugged, and then deflated. "There was something I should have told him—oh, I don't know. I think I could help and they won't let me."
"We could ask Sy. He'd probably listen," was all Pio said. He gestured for her to follow him and then headed back to the house with Olly close at his heels. He was so sure that she would that he didn't even turn back to look.
Zila hesitated, inclined to remain sulking by the tree, but it was cold and she didn't have a coat. She hurried after him.
Aimon knocked on Imor Kellen's office door. He'd been in two minds about whether or not he ought to inform someone about his findings concerning the Governor—and that he'd given the incriminating letter to Leaira before she went missing—but he couldn't stay silent after Aliyna's behaviour. She wasn't the only one, either. Most of Starfall's people and the Governor's staff weren't at the point of tearing at each other's throats, but it wouldn't take much to spark off another fight.
"Come in!" Tannis called out from within. Obeying, Aimon found Starfall's head sitting at her desk with a sheet of paper in each hand and a deep frown etched on her face. She put one of the documents down and raised her head. "Imai Merner?"
Aimon straightened his collar. "I thought I ought to tell you— this business with Imai Modelen and the Governor. Some of it may be my fault."
"How, may I ask?" Tannis leant forward on the desk, clasping her hands together.
Caught in her direct gaze, he almost took a step back. Instead, he coughed. "I—that is—well. The thing is, I asked someone to research Governor Delver's past for me. I gave the information to Leaira. Imai Modelen, that is. She had it on her when she disappeared—I think that's must be why he went after her."
"Do you?" said Tannis. "And yet it is the Governor who wound up in our infirmary. What are you suggesting Leaira did to him?"
Aimon bridled, but pulled out the chair in front of him and sat down, facing her. "There were some damaging facts in the report I gave her."
"You uncovered something the High Council's Intelligence department couldn't? Who was your source?"
Aimon stiffened at her incredulous tone. "I'm serious. There was a death at the Rosfallen celebration a couple of years ago in Old Ralston that may well be linked to him, and a military trial twenty years ago that had been struck from the records, but - "
Tannis laughed.
Aimon looked up. "What's so funny about that?"
"Nothing, except that I was present at that trial. If Governor Delver was going to silence someone for knowing about it, he'd have to start with me. And then dispose of Osmer, for good measure." Tannis paused, tilting her head to one side as she regarded Aimon in a way that made him stifle an urge to shift in his chair. She reminded him of a particularly sharp teacher he'd once had. "You might have considered before you embarked on this investigation that, as the person responsible for Starfall, I must have asked similar questions myself about Delver before I allowed him to come here."
Aimon pressed himself against the back of the chair. "I—er—merely thought I ought to say. You must see that it looks extremely suspicious from my position. What other reason could he possibly have had to attack Leaira?"
"I don't believe he did." Tannis straightened the pile of papers in front of her before heaving a sigh and sweeping the whole lot aside. "I suppose I ought to speak to you anyway, given where all this leaves you." She raised her gaze to meet his. "It was an animal that went for the Governor, not Leaira. He sustained further injuries from falling during or after, but I don't see some creature going for him and Leaira then trying to push him off the mountainside, do you?"
"An animal? Here? How? What kind?"
"Very good questions. I'd like to know that myself." She drew back into her chair. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so sharp with you. It would make more sense if we could blame the Governor, but we can't. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to have prevented half of my staff from doing exactly that."
"While the Governor's people blame Leaira and Starfall," said Aimon, Zila's retorts still ringing in his ears.
Tannis folded her arms on the desk. "Yes. And these are the only facts I have: the Governor was injured by a predator of a kind that isn't usually found in these parts and my Pathwalkers believe someone, most likely Leaira, entered the Paths at around the same time. Imai Stolley tells me that what the Governor said before he ran after Leaira was that she mustn't go up alone because she didn't understand the danger. He then instructed her to send Captain Aemullens to follow him immediately."
"I hadn't heard that."
Tannis grimaced. "No. It isn't half as exciting as all these wild rumours flying about the place, is it?"
"Why Captain Aemullens? Merely because she was on duty, or did he want her specifically?"
"Specifically, I believe," said Tannis, but then closed her lips, plainly not about to elaborate further. He'd seen the look on his superior's face on occasion, usually before he muttered something about 'need to know'.
Aimon rubbed his chin, something else striking him belatedly. "I'm sorry—what did you mean about my position?"
"Imai Merner," said Tannis, "I have an injured Regional Governor on my hands who is in all probability dying as we speak. Half his people blame Leaira for it, particularly since another member of my staff already stole a file from the Governor and ran away. I also have most of Starfall up in arms against them in turn, since they think Delver is responsible for what happened to Leaira and Diessa. And if Leaira doesn't return soon I'm going to have to inform her family—who are closely connected to the High Governor—and then we'll all be for it. I've had to send word to Delver's family as it is. I can't keep this quiet for much longer."
Aimon wrinkled his brow. "I understand you so far, but where do I come in?"
"If that happens, the High Governor won't want your report on Starfall, he'll order a full-scale enquiry instead."
"Ah," said Aimon. His report would be either entirely redundant, or taken as one small part of the evidence in a larger investigation during which heads would certainly roll, Tannis's first, most likely. Either way, it left him at a loss until he knew which way things were going to fall.
Tannis nodded. "And until we get clarity on the situation from Portcallan, you are the High Council's representative and a neutral presence here and I should therefore keep you informed of any developments."
"I see. Thank you."
She threw him a dark look. "In the meantime, I'm removing as many of the Governor's people I can to the village, which should avoid any escalating squabbles. The search for Leaira is ongoing as we speak while my medical staff are, of course, doing everything they can for the Governor."
"If Leaira went onto the Paths, doesn't that mean she's safe—she'll surely come back soon?"
"Not necessarily," said Tannis. "It could mean any number of things, depending on where she wound up. Most likely she is alive and well wherever that is—but we may never see her again."
Aimon swallowed. "What do you want me to do?"
"For the moment," said Tannis, "if you're willing, you may as well join the search. We're scouring the area for Leaira and this mysterious creature. We need all the spare bodies we can get."
Aimon was glad of something to do. Continuing to go over figures and department reports in the face of events seemed ridiculous, so he wasted no time in heading towards the security office to find Captain Nanoller or Captain Aemullens and offer up his services. Captain Kaia Aemullens had returned to the office at the right moment and took him up on it.
"I don't know the area," he reminded her as they set off up the mountain path.
She pressed her lips together in what might have passed for a smile. "You said. You're another pair of eyes; that'll do. Follow me and shout if you see a wolf or anything else with big teeth and sharp claws."
Aimon lifted his head instinctively to the mountain tops rising above. The sky beyond was a glorious blue scudded with white clouds. The countryside falling away below them was still a lush green, if edged with autumnal gold and brown here and there. It was hard to believe yesterday the same sky had been iron grey and heavy with with snow.
"You don't sound as if you believe in this creature," Aimon said. "What do you think? A wolf— or what?"
Kaia shook her head and quickened her pace. Aimon found, in mild surprise, that these few weeks of traipsing up and down to Starfall from the village had given him enough stamina that he had little difficulty in keeping up.
"Couldn't the cold weather or hunters have driven something here?" he persisted, determined to get her to talk. Delver had asked for Captain Aemullens, so she might well know something—and Tannis Kellen had clearly pointed him in her direction. Aimon needed information to re-evaluate his evidently mistaken conclusions. He couldn't let this opportunity slide.
"Not impossible, I suppose," Kaia returned.
Well, that approach wasn't going to work. Aimon steeled himself to be more direct, despite Kaia's discouraging terseness. "Imor Kellen told me that Delver asked for you specifically yesterday. Why?"
Captain Aemullens halted, and gave him a proper look for the first time, dark eyes scanning his face closely before she replied. "I know what kind of creature he saw. I only wish he'd waited for me." Then she shrugged. "But in that case, it might have been Leaira left for dead."
"Really?" said Aimon. "You don't think that whatever happened was more likely Delver's own doing?"
Kaia set off again. "I don't think anything."
"Look," said Aimon, "I realise I'm the High Council intruder, but I might have to give first account of this to a representative of the High Governor, if it comes to that. Besides, I want to understand. I'm worried about Leaira, and Imor Kellen seems to think I'm wrong about Governor Delver. If you understand anything about this whole mess, I'd love to hear it, because I don't have a clue."
Kaia lowered her head. She walked on for a few moments and Aimon followed without pressing the issue further. Eventually, she said, "Governor Delver asked for me because he knew I understood why the snow was a threat. I don't know what Leaira had to do with it—but then she was attacked before by a creature of snow and ice, wasn't she?"
"She did say something like that," said Aimon carefully, matching his pace to Kaia's. "I didn't see anything, though, and she was in quite a state when I got her out of the icestone store that day. Creature or no, that wasn't normal, certainly. Someone had to be trying to hurt her."
"There aren't any wolves around here," said Kaia. "But in the Northlands, the Ice Prince makes creatures out of snow or ice and sends them after people who displease him. He sent them after me, but I escaped to Starfall. It's been out of his reach until now, but that seems to have changed. This is at least the third time it's happened this season."
Aimon raised his eyebrows. "Truly? Isn't the whole Ice Prince thing a wild traveller's tale?"
"I was chased out of Tanding by snow wolves with ice for fangs and claws," said Kaia. "I lost family to them. But his reach shouldn't stretch this far south, and the scholars here say that even if he has such Power, he can't live with it for long—we only have to wait. Besides, your country cannot invade the Northlands for that – we are responsible for our own affairs."
"Yes, of course," said Aimon. "But—it does seem so preposterous!"
"So everyone says. And nobody can do anything. But he doesn't die — and his hold on the Northlands, and his power, grows."
"But why would he want to harm Leaira and Delver?"
"Governor Delver said he had seen the creatures too—even spoke of ways to fight them. I don't know how he knew. Leaira—that is more of a puzzle."
"Perhaps the Ice Prince wants to get the High Governor's attention," said Aimon. "Attacking Leaira and a District Governor in one go would certainly do that." He took another breath, the path beginning to grow steeper. "Leaira—do you think she's hurt—dead?"
"The Pathwalkers say she went onto the Paths," said Kaia. "Or that someone surely did and a stranger would have raised all the alarms. We should trust them."
Aimon gave a brief nod, but he hadn't been here long enough to be sure of trusting any of these people. "Will she be all right?"
"All I know is, with the Paths, there's no way of telling. Keep looking, Imai Merner."
Aliyna threw herself down into the nearest chair, and glared ahead at the rows of shelves, unseeing. She clenched her fists. Why didn't someone do something? All the Governor's people were wandering about the place freely while Leaira was lost somewhere—Diessa too. Aliyna's gaze darkened further. "I hate them all!"
"Well, don't."
She jumped, but she didn't need to turn to identify the speaker. "You're as bad as the rest."
"Dimue." Osmer pulled out one of the chairs opposite her and sat. "What have I told you about self-control?"
"What about someone controlling all these people they've let run about here, getting rid of us, one by one?"
"Stop that," Osmer said.
She lifted her head, startled. He was often curt, abrupt even, but she understood that. But he'd sounded sharp, cold. She drew in a breath. "The Governor probably killed Leaira and that's all you can say?"
"You know that's not true, don't you?"
Aliyna hunched into her chair. Heat rose in her face. "No, no. That's fact. Anything else I might feel is only that—useless, woolly feelings. Unreliable. I don't know anything. Why did you run and tell everyone else what I said?"
"I didn't run," said Osmer, with a wave at his stick, leaning against the table. "Now, forget Delver. Focus. Tell me again."
Aliyna pressed her hands over her stomach and turned her head away. She hadn't been here a year yet and Osmer never let off telling her all the things she still needed to learn. She didn't want anyone going onto the Paths after Leaira based on her word. They should focus on evidence. Which said that obviously the Governor must have hurt Leaira. She groaned and then let herself slump forwards, laying her head down on her arms on the table.
"You have the best chance of any of us of locating her," said Osmer more quietly. "But I can't take you you anywhere near the Paths in this mood."
She sniffed. "Get stuffed, then."
"No." Osmer paused, and then snapped, "Look at me!"
Aliyna straightened back up into the chair and met his gaze. She pulled her mouth down into a grimace. "Not sure I like what I see."
"Thank you," said Osmer. "Close your eyes. Tell me again what you sensed yesterday."
Aliyna bit her lip. "Do you seriously think it will help?"
"I don't know. I suspect returning will be up to Leaira, not any of us, but that depends. She's not a Pathwalker. She could be trapped on the Paths, not fallen off them. You stand a very good chance of being able to tell us whether or not that is the case—and of locating her if so. If you can finally take what I've been teaching you to heart."
She let the last resistance slide out of her, and shut her eyes. She breathed slowly; in and out. Tears slid down her face. "I know the Paths opened. I felt it, like someone pulled something right out of my stomach."
"Charming," said Osmer, soft and wry. "Yes?"
Aliyna swallowed, but her hands and voice grew steadier. "It wasn't like those weird nightmares we have. It was just—I don't know. Business as usual on the Paths, if that makes any sense. I keep thinking I hear Leaira's voice, but maybe that's my imagination."
"It may be," he agreed. "And?"
Aliyna wrinkled her forehead. "And what?"
"What do you feel now?"
"Mad about everything, especially that they don't just arrest that—that -" Words bad enough for the Governor failed her and she waved one hand wildly instead. For one minute, she'd thought he wasn't that terrible after all, and then he did this.
"You can't arrest people while they're unconscious and most likely dying. They have procedures for these things."
Aliyna sighed. "All right. I suppose he can't do anything to anyone at the moment. Honestly, is any of this any use? I think it'd have been better if Imai Merner had just let me at that Zila person."
"If you can stay calm," said Osmer, "I'll take you back up to the Paths and we'll see what you sense there. Can you do that?"
She'd had enough of being stuck here. She raised her head, set her mouth and gave a quick nod. "All right. Yes. But why can't one of the others?"
"They are. They have. The more of us try it, the more reliable our calculations will be. And you do have a considerable affinity to the Paths."
"More than you?"
Osmer's gaze narrowed. "If you carry on like this, we shall never know. Go upstairs, tidy yourself up, and return to me if you're ready to try. It isn't easy to keep your feelings out of it at times like this, but once we're up there and I open the Paths, you must."
"Or what?" asked Aliyna, brightening suddenly. "Will we be whisked away somewhere awful?"
"No, but you could cause a ripple of instability in the Paths—disastrous for anyone trapped on them or trying to navigate them, so I don't want you if you're not ready. Now—upstairs and only come back down here to me if you're think you can."
Aliyna stood and let the anger and uncertainty drop away from her. She was finding out who she was, and unsure she liked it, but if this helped Leaira and everyone else, she'd do it. She could, if she wanted; she already knew that. She met Osmer's gaze. "I will be."
"Then I shall be here waiting."
Story: Starfall
Colors: Nacre #4 (Under the floorboards); Azul #17 (commitment)
Supplies and Styles: Triptych
Word Count: 4399
Rating: PG
Warnings: Mild violence; mention of serious injury; suspicion.
Notes: Starfall Manor 1337; Zila Fayne, Aimon Merner, Aliyna Dimue, Pio Caffsley, Tannis Kellen, Kaia Aemullens, Osmer Nivyrn.
Summary: There's trouble brewing at Starfall in the wake of the attack on Leaira and the Governor.
Zila pushed open the door to the library and peered in. There was no immediate sign of life visible and a hush had fallen over it that seemed excessive even for a library. "Hello?" she tried. There was no response. She shrugged and slipped inside, heading over towards the empty desk, as if that act alone might summon a library assistant.
It seemed to work. Someone suddenly moved out from behind one of the shelves, and into her path, blocking her way forward. "What do you think you're doing here?"
Zila held up her hands and drew back. "Looking for Imai Nivyrn, like I was told."
"You leave him alone!" Aliyna Dimue didn't give any ground. "What is it with you people? First Diessa, then Leaira—you're not going near Imai Nivyrn!"
Zila wrinkled her forehead. "What in the wide empty world could I do to him?"
Aliyna still didn't budge. "I don't care. I'm not going to let you try is all." She reached out, catching hold of one of Zila's wrists, struggling to get a hold on the other while Zila pulled back, batting Aliyna's hand away.
"You're mad! Get your hands off me! Ow!"
Aliyna let go, but only to shove Zila hard, sending her back against one of the bookshelves. Several books rained past Zila's shoulders onto the floor; fluttering pages and hard bindings thudding onto the boards around her. Aliyna shook her. "You're going to tell me what you lot have done with Leaira—or else! Where is she? Have you hurt her?"
Zila kicked Aliyna sharply on the shin, sliding out of her momentarily slackened grasp, but she immediately walked straight into another body. She yelped and backed into the shelves, fists bunched up, ready and glaring to find the Portcallan Inspector of Accounts frowning down at her.
"Give me a hand, can't you?" said Aliyna to Imai Merner. "Now we've got her, let's tie her to a chair—make her talk!"
Aimon Merner moved forward and gestured for Zila to get behind him, out of Aliyna's reach. "Oh? And how? Hit her with a hefty hardback?"
"I might," Aliyna muttered, breathing hard from the scuffle. Her hair was falling out of her ponytail. "Anything if it means we can find out what her shitty Governor has done to Leaira!"
Aimon took hold of Aliyna's arm, hard enough to cause her look up sharply and then stop. Some of the fire faded from her eyes and she pulled away, with a stormy shrug.
Zila rubbed her face. Her heart thumped against her chest while her whole frame still thrummed. "The Governor doesn't tell me anything! And he's the one who's hurt. Looks to me like your librarian did it and run away — I don't know why you're worrying about her!"
Aliyna lunged for Zila, getting in with a vicious tug to her hair before Aimon managed to grab her and pull her back, clamping his arms around Aliyna's shoulders.
"This—won't—help," Aimon said, his words punctuated by the effort of hanging onto her. "Imai Dimue—Aliyna! You know that. This isn't Imai Fayne's fault, whatever the Governor or Leaira might have done."
Zila huffed and shuffled further back, pressing herself against the wall, close enough to the main door for her to make a run for it if the wild assistant librarian went for her again. She straightened her jacket with a quick tug and then pushed her hair back behind her ears. Then, with a failed shot at sounding casual, her voice not anything like as steady as she'd hoped, she spat out, "Well, I'm not staying here to be the next person to get killed by a Starfall librarian! I don't want to see your stupid dead-hearted scholar anyway!"
She turned on her heel and swept out, although she had to pause outside the door to wipe her eyes roughly with her sleeve. Then she walked on, her nose as far into the air as it would go, just to show everybody in this cursed place how much she didn't care about any of them.
As soon as Zila found a side door, she stormed out of it and broke into a run. Screw and burn the lot of them! None of this was her fault—the Governor bullied her into accompanying him to this cursed place, and now Stolley wouldn't let her see him or give Zila the pass he'd promised her, as if she thought Zila was a criminal as well. Imai Nivyrn wasn't anywhere around, and Starfall people were trying to kill her.
She stopped under a tree and sagged against its trunk, slumping down to the roots, where she remained, recovering her breath. She sniffed, then blinked away angry tears and then rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.
"I'll run away," she told the grounds at large. "Burn the pass, I'll just go. I'll manage—I'll sing, whatever, like always. Who cares about any of them?" Then, for no reason at all, she had to stop and brush away more tears. She rifled in her pockets for a handkerchief she didn't have.
A dog barked somewhere close by. She swallowed her misery, distracted, as a small brown and white dog of no particular breed bounded over. Zila bent down to stroke its head and silky ears. It submitted to her attentions with complacency; plainly a much loved pet. At least it knew what it was to be wanted.
"Where did you come from?" she asked it. "Don't say this Starfall lot have been terrorising you as well."
"He's with me."
Zila raised her head. A middle-aged man in the Starfall guards' uniform finished making his way across the grass towards her and then crouched down beside the dog. He smiled at her. He was pale-skinned, with an oddly innocent blue gaze. She might have thought him younger if there hadn't been tell-tale strands of grey in his short hair.
"Getting on a bit, is Olly now, but he's a good soul."
"Olly?"
"Olirond, originally—after the old imor, back where I grew up."
"Oh," Zila said, and grinned. "So he could come running when you called?"
"Silly, isn't it? Of course, he deserved better—so Olly it is." The guard looked at her. "Oh, sorry. I'm Pio. I work here."
Zila swallowed. "Worse luck for you, then."
"Good luck, actually," said Pio more earnestly than her remark warranted. "Now, what about you? You looked upset, even from halfway across the grounds."
Zila drew back, pressing herself against the trunk's rough bark. "No, no, I'm fine. It's only—stupid things—nothing that matters. They won't let me see the Governor and I can't find Imai Nivyrn, either. I don't see the point of staying in this" - Zila caught Pio's glance and coloured. " Er. This place any longer."
"Well," said Pio, rising while Olly broke into excited yaps and danced around his feet, "I don't know about the Governor, but I'll ask Osmer to see you as soon as he can. He's up near the Paths with some of the others, but he'll sort things out for you when he gets back."
Zila looked up at him, and then hauled herself to her feet. "Thank you," she said. "Not that I care about the Governor, obviously. It's just." She shrugged, and then deflated. "There was something I should have told him—oh, I don't know. I think I could help and they won't let me."
"We could ask Sy. He'd probably listen," was all Pio said. He gestured for her to follow him and then headed back to the house with Olly close at his heels. He was so sure that she would that he didn't even turn back to look.
Zila hesitated, inclined to remain sulking by the tree, but it was cold and she didn't have a coat. She hurried after him.
Aimon knocked on Imor Kellen's office door. He'd been in two minds about whether or not he ought to inform someone about his findings concerning the Governor—and that he'd given the incriminating letter to Leaira before she went missing—but he couldn't stay silent after Aliyna's behaviour. She wasn't the only one, either. Most of Starfall's people and the Governor's staff weren't at the point of tearing at each other's throats, but it wouldn't take much to spark off another fight.
"Come in!" Tannis called out from within. Obeying, Aimon found Starfall's head sitting at her desk with a sheet of paper in each hand and a deep frown etched on her face. She put one of the documents down and raised her head. "Imai Merner?"
Aimon straightened his collar. "I thought I ought to tell you— this business with Imai Modelen and the Governor. Some of it may be my fault."
"How, may I ask?" Tannis leant forward on the desk, clasping her hands together.
Caught in her direct gaze, he almost took a step back. Instead, he coughed. "I—that is—well. The thing is, I asked someone to research Governor Delver's past for me. I gave the information to Leaira. Imai Modelen, that is. She had it on her when she disappeared—I think that's must be why he went after her."
"Do you?" said Tannis. "And yet it is the Governor who wound up in our infirmary. What are you suggesting Leaira did to him?"
Aimon bridled, but pulled out the chair in front of him and sat down, facing her. "There were some damaging facts in the report I gave her."
"You uncovered something the High Council's Intelligence department couldn't? Who was your source?"
Aimon stiffened at her incredulous tone. "I'm serious. There was a death at the Rosfallen celebration a couple of years ago in Old Ralston that may well be linked to him, and a military trial twenty years ago that had been struck from the records, but - "
Tannis laughed.
Aimon looked up. "What's so funny about that?"
"Nothing, except that I was present at that trial. If Governor Delver was going to silence someone for knowing about it, he'd have to start with me. And then dispose of Osmer, for good measure." Tannis paused, tilting her head to one side as she regarded Aimon in a way that made him stifle an urge to shift in his chair. She reminded him of a particularly sharp teacher he'd once had. "You might have considered before you embarked on this investigation that, as the person responsible for Starfall, I must have asked similar questions myself about Delver before I allowed him to come here."
Aimon pressed himself against the back of the chair. "I—er—merely thought I ought to say. You must see that it looks extremely suspicious from my position. What other reason could he possibly have had to attack Leaira?"
"I don't believe he did." Tannis straightened the pile of papers in front of her before heaving a sigh and sweeping the whole lot aside. "I suppose I ought to speak to you anyway, given where all this leaves you." She raised her gaze to meet his. "It was an animal that went for the Governor, not Leaira. He sustained further injuries from falling during or after, but I don't see some creature going for him and Leaira then trying to push him off the mountainside, do you?"
"An animal? Here? How? What kind?"
"Very good questions. I'd like to know that myself." She drew back into her chair. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so sharp with you. It would make more sense if we could blame the Governor, but we can't. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to have prevented half of my staff from doing exactly that."
"While the Governor's people blame Leaira and Starfall," said Aimon, Zila's retorts still ringing in his ears.
Tannis folded her arms on the desk. "Yes. And these are the only facts I have: the Governor was injured by a predator of a kind that isn't usually found in these parts and my Pathwalkers believe someone, most likely Leaira, entered the Paths at around the same time. Imai Stolley tells me that what the Governor said before he ran after Leaira was that she mustn't go up alone because she didn't understand the danger. He then instructed her to send Captain Aemullens to follow him immediately."
"I hadn't heard that."
Tannis grimaced. "No. It isn't half as exciting as all these wild rumours flying about the place, is it?"
"Why Captain Aemullens? Merely because she was on duty, or did he want her specifically?"
"Specifically, I believe," said Tannis, but then closed her lips, plainly not about to elaborate further. He'd seen the look on his superior's face on occasion, usually before he muttered something about 'need to know'.
Aimon rubbed his chin, something else striking him belatedly. "I'm sorry—what did you mean about my position?"
"Imai Merner," said Tannis, "I have an injured Regional Governor on my hands who is in all probability dying as we speak. Half his people blame Leaira for it, particularly since another member of my staff already stole a file from the Governor and ran away. I also have most of Starfall up in arms against them in turn, since they think Delver is responsible for what happened to Leaira and Diessa. And if Leaira doesn't return soon I'm going to have to inform her family—who are closely connected to the High Governor—and then we'll all be for it. I've had to send word to Delver's family as it is. I can't keep this quiet for much longer."
Aimon wrinkled his brow. "I understand you so far, but where do I come in?"
"If that happens, the High Governor won't want your report on Starfall, he'll order a full-scale enquiry instead."
"Ah," said Aimon. His report would be either entirely redundant, or taken as one small part of the evidence in a larger investigation during which heads would certainly roll, Tannis's first, most likely. Either way, it left him at a loss until he knew which way things were going to fall.
Tannis nodded. "And until we get clarity on the situation from Portcallan, you are the High Council's representative and a neutral presence here and I should therefore keep you informed of any developments."
"I see. Thank you."
She threw him a dark look. "In the meantime, I'm removing as many of the Governor's people I can to the village, which should avoid any escalating squabbles. The search for Leaira is ongoing as we speak while my medical staff are, of course, doing everything they can for the Governor."
"If Leaira went onto the Paths, doesn't that mean she's safe—she'll surely come back soon?"
"Not necessarily," said Tannis. "It could mean any number of things, depending on where she wound up. Most likely she is alive and well wherever that is—but we may never see her again."
Aimon swallowed. "What do you want me to do?"
"For the moment," said Tannis, "if you're willing, you may as well join the search. We're scouring the area for Leaira and this mysterious creature. We need all the spare bodies we can get."
Aimon was glad of something to do. Continuing to go over figures and department reports in the face of events seemed ridiculous, so he wasted no time in heading towards the security office to find Captain Nanoller or Captain Aemullens and offer up his services. Captain Kaia Aemullens had returned to the office at the right moment and took him up on it.
"I don't know the area," he reminded her as they set off up the mountain path.
She pressed her lips together in what might have passed for a smile. "You said. You're another pair of eyes; that'll do. Follow me and shout if you see a wolf or anything else with big teeth and sharp claws."
Aimon lifted his head instinctively to the mountain tops rising above. The sky beyond was a glorious blue scudded with white clouds. The countryside falling away below them was still a lush green, if edged with autumnal gold and brown here and there. It was hard to believe yesterday the same sky had been iron grey and heavy with with snow.
"You don't sound as if you believe in this creature," Aimon said. "What do you think? A wolf— or what?"
Kaia shook her head and quickened her pace. Aimon found, in mild surprise, that these few weeks of traipsing up and down to Starfall from the village had given him enough stamina that he had little difficulty in keeping up.
"Couldn't the cold weather or hunters have driven something here?" he persisted, determined to get her to talk. Delver had asked for Captain Aemullens, so she might well know something—and Tannis Kellen had clearly pointed him in her direction. Aimon needed information to re-evaluate his evidently mistaken conclusions. He couldn't let this opportunity slide.
"Not impossible, I suppose," Kaia returned.
Well, that approach wasn't going to work. Aimon steeled himself to be more direct, despite Kaia's discouraging terseness. "Imor Kellen told me that Delver asked for you specifically yesterday. Why?"
Captain Aemullens halted, and gave him a proper look for the first time, dark eyes scanning his face closely before she replied. "I know what kind of creature he saw. I only wish he'd waited for me." Then she shrugged. "But in that case, it might have been Leaira left for dead."
"Really?" said Aimon. "You don't think that whatever happened was more likely Delver's own doing?"
Kaia set off again. "I don't think anything."
"Look," said Aimon, "I realise I'm the High Council intruder, but I might have to give first account of this to a representative of the High Governor, if it comes to that. Besides, I want to understand. I'm worried about Leaira, and Imor Kellen seems to think I'm wrong about Governor Delver. If you understand anything about this whole mess, I'd love to hear it, because I don't have a clue."
Kaia lowered her head. She walked on for a few moments and Aimon followed without pressing the issue further. Eventually, she said, "Governor Delver asked for me because he knew I understood why the snow was a threat. I don't know what Leaira had to do with it—but then she was attacked before by a creature of snow and ice, wasn't she?"
"She did say something like that," said Aimon carefully, matching his pace to Kaia's. "I didn't see anything, though, and she was in quite a state when I got her out of the icestone store that day. Creature or no, that wasn't normal, certainly. Someone had to be trying to hurt her."
"There aren't any wolves around here," said Kaia. "But in the Northlands, the Ice Prince makes creatures out of snow or ice and sends them after people who displease him. He sent them after me, but I escaped to Starfall. It's been out of his reach until now, but that seems to have changed. This is at least the third time it's happened this season."
Aimon raised his eyebrows. "Truly? Isn't the whole Ice Prince thing a wild traveller's tale?"
"I was chased out of Tanding by snow wolves with ice for fangs and claws," said Kaia. "I lost family to them. But his reach shouldn't stretch this far south, and the scholars here say that even if he has such Power, he can't live with it for long—we only have to wait. Besides, your country cannot invade the Northlands for that – we are responsible for our own affairs."
"Yes, of course," said Aimon. "But—it does seem so preposterous!"
"So everyone says. And nobody can do anything. But he doesn't die — and his hold on the Northlands, and his power, grows."
"But why would he want to harm Leaira and Delver?"
"Governor Delver said he had seen the creatures too—even spoke of ways to fight them. I don't know how he knew. Leaira—that is more of a puzzle."
"Perhaps the Ice Prince wants to get the High Governor's attention," said Aimon. "Attacking Leaira and a District Governor in one go would certainly do that." He took another breath, the path beginning to grow steeper. "Leaira—do you think she's hurt—dead?"
"The Pathwalkers say she went onto the Paths," said Kaia. "Or that someone surely did and a stranger would have raised all the alarms. We should trust them."
Aimon gave a brief nod, but he hadn't been here long enough to be sure of trusting any of these people. "Will she be all right?"
"All I know is, with the Paths, there's no way of telling. Keep looking, Imai Merner."
Aliyna threw herself down into the nearest chair, and glared ahead at the rows of shelves, unseeing. She clenched her fists. Why didn't someone do something? All the Governor's people were wandering about the place freely while Leaira was lost somewhere—Diessa too. Aliyna's gaze darkened further. "I hate them all!"
"Well, don't."
She jumped, but she didn't need to turn to identify the speaker. "You're as bad as the rest."
"Dimue." Osmer pulled out one of the chairs opposite her and sat. "What have I told you about self-control?"
"What about someone controlling all these people they've let run about here, getting rid of us, one by one?"
"Stop that," Osmer said.
She lifted her head, startled. He was often curt, abrupt even, but she understood that. But he'd sounded sharp, cold. She drew in a breath. "The Governor probably killed Leaira and that's all you can say?"
"You know that's not true, don't you?"
Aliyna hunched into her chair. Heat rose in her face. "No, no. That's fact. Anything else I might feel is only that—useless, woolly feelings. Unreliable. I don't know anything. Why did you run and tell everyone else what I said?"
"I didn't run," said Osmer, with a wave at his stick, leaning against the table. "Now, forget Delver. Focus. Tell me again."
Aliyna pressed her hands over her stomach and turned her head away. She hadn't been here a year yet and Osmer never let off telling her all the things she still needed to learn. She didn't want anyone going onto the Paths after Leaira based on her word. They should focus on evidence. Which said that obviously the Governor must have hurt Leaira. She groaned and then let herself slump forwards, laying her head down on her arms on the table.
"You have the best chance of any of us of locating her," said Osmer more quietly. "But I can't take you you anywhere near the Paths in this mood."
She sniffed. "Get stuffed, then."
"No." Osmer paused, and then snapped, "Look at me!"
Aliyna straightened back up into the chair and met his gaze. She pulled her mouth down into a grimace. "Not sure I like what I see."
"Thank you," said Osmer. "Close your eyes. Tell me again what you sensed yesterday."
Aliyna bit her lip. "Do you seriously think it will help?"
"I don't know. I suspect returning will be up to Leaira, not any of us, but that depends. She's not a Pathwalker. She could be trapped on the Paths, not fallen off them. You stand a very good chance of being able to tell us whether or not that is the case—and of locating her if so. If you can finally take what I've been teaching you to heart."
She let the last resistance slide out of her, and shut her eyes. She breathed slowly; in and out. Tears slid down her face. "I know the Paths opened. I felt it, like someone pulled something right out of my stomach."
"Charming," said Osmer, soft and wry. "Yes?"
Aliyna swallowed, but her hands and voice grew steadier. "It wasn't like those weird nightmares we have. It was just—I don't know. Business as usual on the Paths, if that makes any sense. I keep thinking I hear Leaira's voice, but maybe that's my imagination."
"It may be," he agreed. "And?"
Aliyna wrinkled her forehead. "And what?"
"What do you feel now?"
"Mad about everything, especially that they don't just arrest that—that -" Words bad enough for the Governor failed her and she waved one hand wildly instead. For one minute, she'd thought he wasn't that terrible after all, and then he did this.
"You can't arrest people while they're unconscious and most likely dying. They have procedures for these things."
Aliyna sighed. "All right. I suppose he can't do anything to anyone at the moment. Honestly, is any of this any use? I think it'd have been better if Imai Merner had just let me at that Zila person."
"If you can stay calm," said Osmer, "I'll take you back up to the Paths and we'll see what you sense there. Can you do that?"
She'd had enough of being stuck here. She raised her head, set her mouth and gave a quick nod. "All right. Yes. But why can't one of the others?"
"They are. They have. The more of us try it, the more reliable our calculations will be. And you do have a considerable affinity to the Paths."
"More than you?"
Osmer's gaze narrowed. "If you carry on like this, we shall never know. Go upstairs, tidy yourself up, and return to me if you're ready to try. It isn't easy to keep your feelings out of it at times like this, but once we're up there and I open the Paths, you must."
"Or what?" asked Aliyna, brightening suddenly. "Will we be whisked away somewhere awful?"
"No, but you could cause a ripple of instability in the Paths—disastrous for anyone trapped on them or trying to navigate them, so I don't want you if you're not ready. Now—upstairs and only come back down here to me if you're think you can."
Aliyna stood and let the anger and uncertainty drop away from her. She was finding out who she was, and unsure she liked it, but if this helped Leaira and everyone else, she'd do it. She could, if she wanted; she already knew that. She met Osmer's gaze. "I will be."
"Then I shall be here waiting."
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And poor Aimon, in a way, finding out he's misjudged Governor Delver. Look a bit silly, now, don't you?
A lot of emotions and misinformation flying around right now.
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XD Books: the best weapon!
Also: Olly is a good boy! <3
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And Olly definitely is. Thank you!
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Everyone is either trying to help or just being trying! XD Things have been happening! And tbf Governor Delver does walk around just being as suspicious-looking as possible, so you can't blame people for then suspecting him of things.
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