Aylem, Crystal Shrine of Tiki

I was sitting in bed in the room Foyuna set up for me on the outer ring of the shrine so I would have a view of the river and the farmland beyond. The afternoon light was lovely streaming through the windows. I could see the work crews hired from Queenstown to pick and sort out the possessions of the vanished Impotuan army.

I was waiting to hear whether I needed to go to Black Falls or if I could stop and stay awhile at Aybhas. I was hoping it was the latter but I suspected it was the former. The army Imstay put together had five wagon-days of marching to do before they could reach the enemy. I was worried that the shrine might fall before then. I wasn't bouncing back as quickly as I did at Yant or I might have left this afternoon straight for Black Falls.

Fassex was confident that the flying cavalry with its instant firebombs had eliminated most of the Impotuan mages involved in the assault on the Shrine of Sassoo. I hoped so too. The thought of a shrine falling made me feel a bit sick to my stomach, to be truthful.

The nations of this world shared the same gods. Some were more important than others depending on where you went. The lizard people of Chem and the Sea Coyn of Inkalim both revered Vassu before all others and the Tirmarans followed a blood-thirsty version of Erhonsay. Impotu worshipped all eleven gods as did Junu. What was going on with the Impotuans that they would attack the shrine of any god?

I wanted answers and I didn't have any yet.

As something to keep me from obsessing over Black Falls, I requested the summary account books from Is'syal. My staff had sent them down yesterday so I could start work on sorting out three seasons of embezzlement while I away. Why did the idiots in the exchequer never learn that the beauty of double-entry accounting was that it made it easier to spot irregularities in finance? I knew there would be a few more thieves to send to the mines when I got back to the palace.

There was Lisaykos' knock pattern at the door.

"Come," I said loudly, just for the joy of being able to be loud again. I confess I hate sitting in bed feeling weak and helpless. How does Emily put up with it?

Lisaykos came in with a somewhat grumpy Emily sitting on her arm.

"So, you finally woke up, sleepyhead," I couldn't stop myself from teasing her. "I guess that's the sleep of the gods for you. I hope you slept well and finally got rested up from pushing yourself too hard at the army camp."

"Well, I do feel w...well-rested," Emily conceded. "I hear I slept through all sorts of excitement."

"I don't know if I would call it excitement," I put a slip of vellum into the accounts summary codex and put it aside. "I have a letter from Fassex for you," I picked up her sealed letter from my side table. “She wanted to talk with you before she left but her shrine asked she return right away. So she wrote you a note after I suggested it to her. There's lots of room between me and the wall if you want to sit."

Lisaykos put Emily down on the bed next to the wall and then pulled up a chair for herself. Emily sat down crosslegged.

"You are in your stocking feet?" I noticed her lack of shoes or boots.

"Someone hid my shoes because she doesn't want me walking around," Emily managed not to pout but just barely. Lisaykos looked satisfied with herself.

"Well, you do have a bad habit of pushing yourself too hard. Remember what Ud said about that? You need to stop doing that or it will take longer to get well," I tried hard to keep any sort of judgmental tone out of my voice.

"I did a little math about how far you walked four days ago," I added. "North to south, the army camp was about a quarter of a wagon-day long, laid out along the river. That's about three miles in English distance. The Royal Pavilion was in the middle of that. You walked to the bread ovens at the very southern end of the camp, so about a mile and a half. Then you walked to the western perimeter from the bread ovens, which was about a half mile. From there, it was three miles to the north gate along the path that skirted the fields for the mounts. So you went for a five mile stroll, Em. No wonder you slept all day afterward," I smiled in what I hoped was a friendly manner.

Emily just sighed, bit her lip, and shook her head. "So, there's a letter?"

I handed it to her. She tried to break the seal with her hands and couldn't. Looking at it, the sealing lacquer was as thick as her fingers. The look of angry frustration disturbed me and the silent tears that followed were worse. It was very hard for me to watch since I was the cause of her poor health though I wondered if the seal was too thick to break for any Coyn.

Without looking up, she handed the letter to me. In a normal voice, she asked, "will you break the seal for me, please?" I did so and she blotted the tears from her eyes. Lisaykos studied Emily with concern. I handed the letter back and she started to read it. The look on her face went from neutral to bug-eyed. Then her face went red and brows drew together in displeasure. She put the letter down, closed her eyes, and placed her clenched fists on her knees. I could feel the frustration radiate off her as of it were a physical fire. She took a deep breath and held it for quite a while and then let it out, relaxing her tensed-up shoulders as she did so.

I looked at Lisaykos and Lisaykos looked at me. Lisaykos reached over and took the letter slowly off Emily's lap, so Emily could stop her if she wanted. Lisaykos leaned back and read it. Her eyebrows slowly floated up across her high forehead and I could tell when she was done, that she was working hard to hide her amusement. She passed it to me.

After I read it, I understood. I hid both my amusement and my worry. "You know, Emily, she wouldn't have felt obliged to mention it if she wasn't concerned about you. Fassex doesn't waste her words at all."

I got one of Emily's daggers-of-death stares. The frustration was burning orange-yellow in her aura with tinges of angry red. I wish the charm of peace worked on her because I would have used it right now.

"It might help if you stayed in one place for a while and did nothing much for a change," Lisaykos suggested. "I think adopting a lifestyle where you ate three to four meals a day without skipping any and avoiding any activities that would exhaust you may be what you need. No running off to play with the rest of mekaner maniacs in Omexkel. No trips to pick up weird rocks. No field trips to strange places with Usruldes. Just you and a couch and a pile of books to keep you getting too bored. Besides, my account books need some more help again."

"It's not if I'm trying to lose weight," she snapped and slammed her fists back down on her knees.

I heard Foyuna's knock pattern at the door. "Come."

"Welladay. I was just down the hall when I heard someone emote with incredible force," Foyuna walked in, curious. "I'm not sure if it was rage or frustration." She raised an eyebrow at Emily's still flushed face.

"Ah," she uttered as she assessed what happened. "Frustration, I see." She shook her head. "After talking with Fassex before she left, I was thinking of mentioning that I could feel all your ribs when I put you to bed three days ago, Great One, but I think I won't mention that now. You've probably heard it from too many people already. Well, I still have work to do this afternoon. I just needed to check to make sure there wasn't any blood on the floor or dead bodies in the hall." She made a bowing obeisance to Emily and fled with a smile on her face.

"I prescribe the Gang of Three treatment for at least a season and see if it helps," I suggested.

"I just might do that," Lisaykos replied, deliberating not looking at the boiling nexus of frustration sitting on my bed between me and the wall, "and I will impose it under the Grace of Mugash because otherwise, someone might find a way around it."

It was a good thing Emily had no magic because the shrine might have been destroyed from just the force of those two angry smoldering eyes. It was a good thing that Fassex was far far away at the moment.

---

* Wake up, Aylem. *

It was between the three-quarter night bell and dawn. I sat straight up and then realized I had heard the voice in my head.

* Can you travel, Aylem? We could use both you and Lisaykos, though you are better at burns and bones than just about anyone. *

"Usruldes," I mindcasted back, "where are you? Why do you need me?" Burns did not sound good but I had a hard time imagining burns so bad that Usruldes couldn't handle the healing. He was very good with the methods Ud had taught him.

* We are at the Singing Shrine of Sassoo, what little is left of it. Senlyosart is in a bad way. I've done what I can, as have the healers who are here, but I have put her in stasis and we are maintaining that until we can get a real miracle worker here like you or my mother. We fear for her life. Are you well enough to come? Can mother come? *

I knew he had been able to find and wake me because we had both studied under Ud. I still wasn't a hundred percent yet but I estimated I was more than 90%, which should be good enough. If I flew on Asgotl, I would likely be back to my full power by midday. If it was just healing I needed to do, I would be fine.

"What about the Impotuans?"

* There was a terrible bloody battle. They broke the gate into the shrine before we could reach them. They pulled down the buildings of the city to slow us down. We had to fight from one pile of rubble to the next. They set the shrine on fire and burned the Well of Sassoo. The singing crystal was destroyed. Senlyosart used the charm of Sassoo Euroo after emptying several 400-stone barrels of unprocessed salts at the door of the Well and breaking the wall of the shrine to flood its interior. That put out most of the fire and allowed our forces to slaughter the remaining enemy, but the roof fell in on Senlyosart and eight other Windshapers and Voice Mages. Three were still alive when we found them. One has since died. Senlyosart and Priest Usoy are still with us but just barely. Can you come? *

"As soon as I can wake your mother, I will come."

I dropped the contact and got out of bed. Throwing on a housecoat, I ran down the circular outer corridor to Lisaykos' room and knocked. I felt her wake up and heard her tell me to enter, so I did. I lit all the gem lights as I walked in, "I have just received a request from Black Falls, what's left of it, for you and I to come and try to save Senlyosart."

"What has happened?" Lisaykos sat up, got out of bed, and started to gather her clothes for flying.

"It appears, from what your son just told me, is that the town is ruined and the enemy burned the shrine. They burned it, that beautiful wooden well with the wonderful acoustics. The singing crystal is no more. Senlyosart and nine others repelled the Impotuans with salt and water propelled by Sassoo's Euroo wind. The damage they did to the enemy enabled our army to defeat the Impotuans, but the remains of the burning Well fell in on them. Senlyosart and one other are all that live."

"I'm not going to bother to pack," Lisaykos said. "I can come back for my stuff and my two patients. Have you woken Foyuna?"

"No need," Foyuna made another of her amazingly well-timed entrances. I was never able to figure out how she always managed to show up at exactly the right moment.

"I'm having your mounts tacked up under the dome of the well as we speak," she added. "I will make sure General Bobbo and the Tiny Tornado of Trouble are well taken care of."

"She gets along with the General," I pointed out. "He can't get out of bed and she's not allowed to walk anywhere. Put them in the same place and let them entertain each other. It might work and you may still have a shrine standing and intact by the time we return to retrieve them."

"She can't be that bad," Foyuna gave us an incredulous look.

"Oh yes, she can," Lisaykos said. "She's twice as smart as the rest of us put together, she's excessively clever, and she has no respect for authority because she's figured out the rules don't apply to her. Don't ever forget that she's older and much more experienced than she looks."

Foyuna looked gobsmacked at Lisaykos' warning.

"Just think of her as a feral Coyn and you should do alright." Lisaykos smiled with some encouragement. "Let her read the restricted revelations or have someone take her to your kitchen to corrupt your cooks."

"Relax, Foyuna," I said cheerfully. "She doesn't have any of her strange chemicals on hand so you don't need to worry about the shrine burning down or exploding."

"Maybe you should take her with you," Foyuna said, frowning.

Lisaykos was thoughtful, "not a good idea." She stared at her feet, which she often did when she was mulling over what to say. "Emily is not that good with seeing the aftermath of destruction and violence. I'm not sure how bad things are down in Black Falls but with the shrine in ruins, I worry that the blood and gore will be enough to trigger traumatic memories for her. I would rather she stay far from scenes like that.”

"The battle at Yant?" Foyuna asked. "How did she handle that?"

"Not well," Lisaykos said. "Fassex said she lost her stomach. I don't worry about stomachs myself with Emily. I worry about nightmares and flashbacks."

"Yes, Fassex told me about the nightmare she inadvertently shared with the royal pavilion," Foyuna shook her head and looked troubled. "What bothers me about that incident is that Emily said that she woke up before the bad part. What could be worse than the fire and murder she dreamt of?"

Lisaykos glanced and me and I looked back. Foyuna saw the exchange, "you both know, don't you?"

"Yes," Lisaykos said.

"Yes?"

"Yes."

"And you not going to tell me," Foyuna accused Lisaykos.

"That is correct," Lisaykos remarked.

"I will tell you when we come back," I promised her.

"Aylem," Lisaykos protested.

"Dear heart," I looked her in the eyes, "you're her mother's cousin. You watched her grow up. You're both princesses of the same degree. You share the same royal surname. You are both sisters in the Convocation. With all that, you still can't bring yourself to trust your kinswoman and sister of the clergy?"

"I want to be here when you tell her," Lisaykos conceded. "Remember who we are protecting."

"Will you allow Emily to read the unrevealed revelations?" I asked.

"Not all of them," Foyuna said without thinking.

"And mine?"

"Certainly not."

"She already knows what’s in it without having to read it," I said, "so it does not matter if she sees the original or not. She is the prophet with the golden eyes. We have as much control over her as we do over what is about to happen, which is to say, none at all. We should learn to cherish was few moments of peace we have left."

"Surd save us," Foyuna's eyes grew wide as the implications of what I said sunk in.

"Enough. We are wasting valuable time. I need to change and so do you," Lisaykos said to me. "I will meet you in the dome."

"I will be there in just a few minutes," I left Lisaykos' room as she pushed a befuddled Foyuna out into the hallway so she could change.