Storm Breaking

Altra invited himself along, sauntering casually at Karal's heels. As Karal glanced inquisitively down at him, Altra blinked guileless blue eyes at him. :I thought I'd come along, too, just in case you needed me,: the Firecat said idly. Karal did not ask 'for what?' since he knew the answer already. There wasn't a great deal that Altra couldn't shield him against, if Firesong turned angry or dangerous, or both.

He found the Adept in the chamber containing one of the mysterious contrivances (one made of wire, odd plates of some sparkling material, and gemstones) that looked far too delicate to warrant the label of 'weapon.' Aya was with him, cuddling inside his jacket. Aya's long tail trailed comically down from beneath the hem, as if the cascade of feathers belonged to Firesong. The Adept stared at the softly glowing stones with an intense look on his face. He turned to face the entrance when he heard Karal's deliberate footstep, but he did not seem particularly surprised to see the Karsite.

Karal approached him gingerly, but there was nothing in Firesong's slight smile to indicate anything other than welcome. As he edged around the wire-sculpture weapon, Karal tried to think of a lateral approach to the subject, and failed to come up with a good one. So he decided to go straight to the heart of the matter, and make no attempt at being clever.

'You've been wandering off by yourself for the last couple of days, and we're a little concerned about you,' he said bluntly. 'It didn't seem right to go behind your back and pester Silverfox to see if you were all right, so I decided to ask you directly. Is there anything wrong?'

'Other than everything?' Firesong asked archly. 'We are in a very precarious position here, you know.'

'Well, yes, but—' Karal fumbled. 'I mean—'

'There's nothing wrong, or rather, nothing wrong with me, Karal,' Firesong interrupted, with a smile for his bondbird, as Aya stuck his head out of the front of the Adept's jacket, saw who it was that Firesong was talking to, and tucked himself back inside. 'But I'm glad you came to find out, because I have a few questions that really concern only you. Here, sit.' He patted the floor beside him, and Karal lowered himself down warily. 'Karal, Karse and Valdemar fought a generations-long war, and I can understand that anyone from Karse might feel very negative about certain figures of Valdemaran history, but you are bright enough to reason things through for yourself and not just take everything you are told in without ever examining it. So, given that, here's a history question; what do you know and what do you think about Herald-mage Vanyel Ashkevron?'

Karal stared at him, a bit confused by the abrupt change of subject, for the initial question Karal had asked about Firesong had nothing whatsoever to do with a figure of ancient history like Vanyel Ashkevron.

But it was a very interesting question, given all of the changes Karal's own life and thoughts had been going through. It might, on the surface, seem like the question had no relevance in any way to the situation in the Tower, but he knew Firesong better than that, and Firesong had to have an ultimate purpose in asking it.

'I'm going to have to think aloud, so bear with me,' Karal said, finally. 'As you probably guessed, according to our history Vanyel Demonrider was absolutely the epitome of everything that was terrible about Valdemar. Every child in Karse used to be told that if he was bad, Vanyel would come and carry him off. He was a Herald, a rider of a demon-horse, and the implacable enemy of all Karse stood for. He was a mage, which was anathema, of course, and he had the audacity to be a very powerful mage, one who could turn back the demons that the most highly skilled Priest-mages could raise, which made him even worse. And if that wasn't bad enough, it is said by some chroniclers of the time that he could break the compulsions that the Priests put on their demons and send them back against their own summoners, which made him the King of the Demons so far as our people were concerned.'

'That's your history,' Firesong replied, watching Karal with peculiar intensity. 'How do you feel about it?'

'I'm getting to that.' Karal rubbed the back of his own neck, trying to sort out his thoughts as he loosened tight muscles. 'I do think it's supremely ironic that the worst accusations about Vanyel have to do with him riding a demon-horse and being a mage, when our own Priests were mages who summoned demons and controlled them.'

Firesong's sardonic smile had a note of approval in it. 'No one has ever dared to claim that the causes of warfare and the sources of prejudice are ever rational.' He scratched Aya under the chin, and was rewarded by a particularly adorable chirrup. 'And religious fervor is often used as an excuse for a great many socially unacceptable behaviors.'

'That's religion as an excuse. Sometimes it seems to me that when religious fervor enters the mind, the wits pack up entirely and fly out the ear,' Karal replied a bit sourly. 'But worst of all is when powerful, ruthless people use the religious fervor of others to further their own greed.'

Aya poked his head out of the jacket again, as if he found what Karal was saying very interesting. Altra settled himself at Karal's feet, and there was nothing in the Firecat's demeanor to make Karal think his own religious guide disapproved of anything he had said so far.

'All that is true in my experience.' Firesong replied with one of his brilliant, perfect smiles. 'Though I'm not that much older than you. So, what do you think Vanyel was really like?'

Karal shrugged. 'Of course, I am sure that he must be a very great hero to the Valdemarans; the fact that my people considered him to be such an evil enemy would make that a simple conclusion to come to. Given that he was fighting what I now know to have been very power-hungry and entirely amoral men, most notably one of the worst Sons of the Sun we ever had in all our history, I suppose that he was only doing his duty to protect his people against the rapacious land grabbing of mine. I—cannot say that I like that thought. It fills me with shame, in fact.' He paused, and a final thought floated to the surface, one that seemed to define the situation. 'I can only say that not even his enemies in Karse ever tried to claim that he led any armies over the border into our land, and the same cannot be said of the