truth.
“No, Your Highness, there is
not
a chance. The fate that I described to your father ten years earlier is upon us. All my calculations point to one conclusion: our world, Abarrach, is dying.”
“Then what is the use of going on?” Edmund demands impatiently. “Why not just stay here? Why endure the hardship and suffering of this trek into unknown regions if we go only to meet death at the end?”
“I do not counsel that you abandon hope and plunge into despair, Edmund. I suggest now, as I have done before, that you turn your hope in another direction.”
The prince's face darkens, he is upset and moves slightly away from me. “My father has forbidden you to discuss that subject.”
“Your father is a man who lives in the past, not the present,” I say bluntly. “Forgive me, Your Highness, but it has always been my practice to speak the truth, no matter how unpleasant. When your mother died, something in your father died, too. He looks backward. It is up to you to look forward!”
“My father is still king,” Edmund says sternly.
“Yes,” I reply. And I cannot help feeling that this is a fact to be deeply regretted.
Edmund faces me, chin high. “And while he is king we will do as he and the council command. We will travel to the old realm of Kairn Necros, seek out our brethren there, and ask them for help. You were the one who proposed this undertaking, after all.”
“I proposed that we travel to Kairn Necros,” I correct him. “According to my studies, Kairn Necros is the one place left on this world where we might reasonably expect to find life. It is located on the Fire Sea, and, although the great magma ocean has undoubtedly shrunk, it must still be large enough to provide warmth and energy for the people of its realm. I did
not
counsel that we go to them as beggars!”
Edmund's handsome face flushes, his eyes flash. He is young and proud.
I see the fire in him and do what I can to stoke it.
“ Beggars to those who brought about our ruin!” I remind him.
“You
don't know that for certain—”
“Bah! All the evidence points one way—to Kairn Necros. Yes, I think we will find the people of that realm alive and well. Why? Because they have stolen our lives from us!”
“Then why did you suggest that we go to them?” Edmund is losing patience. “Do you want war? Is that it?”
“You know what I want, Edmund,” I say softly.
The prince sees, too late, that he's been led down the forbidden path. “We leave after we have broken our sleep's fasting,” he tells me coldly. “I have certain matters to which I must attend, as do you, Necromancer. Our dead must be prepared for the journey.”
He turns to leave. I reach out, catch hold of his fur-cloaked arm.
“Death's Gate!” I tell him. “Think about it, My Prince. That is all I ask. Think about it!”
Disquieted, he pauses, although he does not turn around. I increase the pressure of my hand on the young man's arm, squeezing through the layers of fur and cloth to feel the fleshand bone and muscle, hard and strong beneath. I feel him tremble.
“Remember the words of the prophecy. Death's Gate is our hope, Edmund,” I say quietly. “Our only hope.”
The prince shakes his head, shakes off my hand, and leaves the library to its flickering flame, its entombed books.
I return to my writing.
The people of Kairn Telest gather in the darkness near the gate of their city wall. The gate has stood open for as long as anyone can remember, for as long as records have been kept, which is from the time of the city's founding. The walls were erected to protect the people from rampaging, predatory animals. These walls were never intended to protect people from one another. Such a concept is unthinkable to us. Travelers, strangers, are always welcome, and so the gates stand open.
But then came the day when it occurred to the people of Kairn Telest that there had been no travelers for a long, long while. It occurred to us that there
“No, Your Highness, there is
not
a chance. The fate that I described to your father ten years earlier is upon us. All my calculations point to one conclusion: our world, Abarrach, is dying.”
“Then what is the use of going on?” Edmund demands impatiently. “Why not just stay here? Why endure the hardship and suffering of this trek into unknown regions if we go only to meet death at the end?”
“I do not counsel that you abandon hope and plunge into despair, Edmund. I suggest now, as I have done before, that you turn your hope in another direction.”
The prince's face darkens, he is upset and moves slightly away from me. “My father has forbidden you to discuss that subject.”
“Your father is a man who lives in the past, not the present,” I say bluntly. “Forgive me, Your Highness, but it has always been my practice to speak the truth, no matter how unpleasant. When your mother died, something in your father died, too. He looks backward. It is up to you to look forward!”
“My father is still king,” Edmund says sternly.
“Yes,” I reply. And I cannot help feeling that this is a fact to be deeply regretted.
Edmund faces me, chin high. “And while he is king we will do as he and the council command. We will travel to the old realm of Kairn Necros, seek out our brethren there, and ask them for help. You were the one who proposed this undertaking, after all.”
“I proposed that we travel to Kairn Necros,” I correct him. “According to my studies, Kairn Necros is the one place left on this world where we might reasonably expect to find life. It is located on the Fire Sea, and, although the great magma ocean has undoubtedly shrunk, it must still be large enough to provide warmth and energy for the people of its realm. I did
not
counsel that we go to them as beggars!”
Edmund's handsome face flushes, his eyes flash. He is young and proud.
I see the fire in him and do what I can to stoke it.
“ Beggars to those who brought about our ruin!” I remind him.
“You
don't know that for certain—”
“Bah! All the evidence points one way—to Kairn Necros. Yes, I think we will find the people of that realm alive and well. Why? Because they have stolen our lives from us!”
“Then why did you suggest that we go to them?” Edmund is losing patience. “Do you want war? Is that it?”
“You know what I want, Edmund,” I say softly.
The prince sees, too late, that he's been led down the forbidden path. “We leave after we have broken our sleep's fasting,” he tells me coldly. “I have certain matters to which I must attend, as do you, Necromancer. Our dead must be prepared for the journey.”
He turns to leave. I reach out, catch hold of his fur-cloaked arm.
“Death's Gate!” I tell him. “Think about it, My Prince. That is all I ask. Think about it!”
Disquieted, he pauses, although he does not turn around. I increase the pressure of my hand on the young man's arm, squeezing through the layers of fur and cloth to feel the fleshand bone and muscle, hard and strong beneath. I feel him tremble.
“Remember the words of the prophecy. Death's Gate is our hope, Edmund,” I say quietly. “Our only hope.”
The prince shakes his head, shakes off my hand, and leaves the library to its flickering flame, its entombed books.
I return to my writing.
The people of Kairn Telest gather in the darkness near the gate of their city wall. The gate has stood open for as long as anyone can remember, for as long as records have been kept, which is from the time of the city's founding. The walls were erected to protect the people from rampaging, predatory animals. These walls were never intended to protect people from one another. Such a concept is unthinkable to us. Travelers, strangers, are always welcome, and so the gates stand open.
But then came the day when it occurred to the people of Kairn Telest that there had been no travelers for a long, long while. It occurred to us that there
Similar Books
Death in Venice and Other Stories
Thomas Mann
Line of Fire
Franklin W. Dixon
The Heather Blazing
Colm Tóibín
Wholehearted
Cate Ashwood
A Baron in Her Bed
Maggi Andersen
With a Twist
Heather Peters
Stamping Ground
Loren D. Estleman
Unraveled by Her
Wendy Leigh