Lamentation

She stretched her neck toward him and kissed him on the cheek. “Dear, sweet, Dreaming Boy,” she said with a voice that seemed far away. “Understanding is not always necessary.”

Neb’s muscles were sore now, and he realized suddenly that he was still entwined with the girl. The tingling had become something different. The warmth of her body and the firmness of her hands as she held him were building toward something in him that was frightening and exhilarating all at once.

He disentangled himself quickly, scrambling to his feet. She did the same, and he realized that her face was as red as his. “I’m sorry,” he said.

She laughed. “There is nothing to be sorry for. The spirit moves as it will, so also the body.”

He looked at his half-eaten breakfast at the table, but knew already he wouldn’t be able to finish it. “I think I should go back to Windwir soon. They will be worried for me.”

A sad looked passed over her face. “I understand. I will see if the Marsh King has returned from the parley.”

She walked close to him, near enough for him to feel her warmth. Then the Marsh girl Winters quickly touched his cheek once more, and left through the back entrance of the cave.

After she’d gone, he sat and thought about her and her people.

A home-seeking is upon us.

Neb hid all of her words in his heart and wondered about the world that had changed.

Petronus

Vlad Li Tam’s wagons of donated supplies Enat3›‹ glaring='glaring' edge='edge' down='down' camp,='camp,' as='as'›

“I would talk with the captain of this company,” Vlad Li Tam said to the sentries who stopped him.

“That would be Petros,” one of the guards said, turning to look for him.

Petronus stepped forward. “I’m here.”

“I come bearing the grace of House Li Tam and the Pope of the Androfrancine Order,” Vlad Li Tam said. “I would speak with you about your work here.”

Petronus gritted his teeth. “I’d gladly speak with you about our work, Lord Tam.”

The slight, older man dropped from his saddle, heavy in the armor he wore beneath his canary colored robes. “Let us walk together.”

They moved away from the camp and toward yesterday’s work. Petronus guided them toward a recently filled trench, feeling the anger build in him with every step. When they were out of earshot, he rounded on Tam.

“What game do you play at?” he asked, not even trying to mask the rage.

Vlad Li Tam smiled. “I play at the game of survival, Petronus. I play at the game of keeping the light alive.” He paused, his eyes narrowing as his smile faded. “I should ask what game you play at, Petronus. You could have stayed dead. You could have stayed in Caldus Bay. But here you are.”

Petronus knew Tam was right, and he knew that at least part of his anger was directed inward, toward himself. “I had to see it,” he said, his voice thick with loss. “I had to see what they’d done to themselves.”

“And then you had to bury them?” Vlad Li Tam’s voice wasn’t chiding, it was matter-of-fact, as if he were stating some obvious truth about Petronus’s soul.

He nodded. “I did.” He waved his arms around, taking in the four points of the compass. “These others weren’t prepared to do it. They’re too busy posturing and pointing fingers.” He stared at Vlad Li Tam. “We both know who really brought down Windwir.”

Vlad Li Tam’s eyes flashed. “They’ve done this to themselves. We both knew they would when they started playing with words that should not be played with. It was only a matter of time.”

Petronus felt his fists clenching and unclenching. “You claim House Li Tam had no part in Ehad'1ethis?”

Vlad Li Tam shrugged. “We monitored increased intelligence gathering in the City States coinciding with the discovery of the final fragment. My forty-second daughter, Jin Li Tam, was Sethbert’s consort until recently. She’d known something was under way but not exactly what. I knew an event of some kind was likely.” He stepped closer to Petronus and put a hand on his shoulder. “When or who-these facts eluded the best work of my sons and daughters.” He leaned forward. “But I do know this much-word of the final fragment was not initially leaked by the Androfrancines. They were most cautious.”

“And you did not leak it yourself?”

Vlad Li Tam shook his head. “I did not.”

“But you knew of it?”

He nodded. “I did. I had been approached years ago about storing something of great value and great danger in the Li Tam vaults. There was talk of scattering the fragments under Pope Introspect, but it was quickly abandoned.”

Petronus studied the man, then studied the line of his face, and tried to gauge the truth of his words. But Vlad Li Tam was a master of queen’s war and a master of himself. There were no telling movements, no revealing posture, no hints whatsoever to catch him in a lie. And not even the best Francine training could see through that perfect mask. “Then we need to know how Sethbert discovered the spell and what compelled him to take action.”

Vlad Li Tam shook his head and chuckled. “An Androfrancine to the end.”

Petronus felt his blood rise. He pointed to the filled-in trench, then pointed to a line of diggers closer to the center of the city. “A city lies dead, Vlad. A way of life is ended. What little remains of the light is guttering. If it weren’t for the mechoservitors, it would be all but extinguished now. I want to know why.”

“We all do, Petronus. But strategy would dictate that first, we shore up what remains.” Vlad Li Tam sighed, looking away for a moment before meeting Petronus’s eyes. “I’m afraid I have not been completely truthful with you.”

Petronus felt his eyebrows furrow. “What do you mean?”

Vlad reached into his belt pouch and drew out a yellowed scroll, rolled carefully and tied with Androfrancine purple. He passed it to Petronus.

Petronus read the note and paled. He read it again, this time more slowly, and the words finally came together. He looked up. “These are plans for the relocation of the Order, away from Windwir.”

He nodded. “Under Introspect’s seal.”

Petronus’s mind spun. “Why would they do this?”

“Defensive posturing,” Vlad Li Tam said. “It seems they had a sense of what was coming, too.”

Petronus racked his brain, trying to find some scrap of memory that might make sense of this. For two thousand years, the Great Library and the Order had occupied Windwir. They were the backbone of the Entrolusian economy, centrally located yet distant enough for a modicum of safety and privacy.

Suddenly, he saw Vlad Li Tam’s strategy more clearly and understood it. “The Ninefold Forests,” he said quietly.

Vlad Li Tam nodded. “I have been under Holy Unction by the Order for nearly thirty years-really, since just after you left-to groom Rudolfo for this.” Petronus studied him, surprised when the line of Vlad Li Tam’s face betrayed him in such a small lie.

Longer than that, he realized, but he didn’t say anything. The one person other than Vlad Li Tam that could truly say when this started had died in the Desolation of Windwir. But Petronus suspected that the work-both the study of the spell and the plans to relocate Windwir-had started well before he’d stepped down from the Papacy and returned to fishing.

Another reason you should have stayed, old man.

Petronus forced his mind back to matter. “You mean to continue Introspect’s plan, then?”

Vlad Li Tam’s eyes were hard, blue glass. “That depends on the word of my Pope.”

Petronus nodded. “Does Rudolfo understand exactly what this means?”

Vlad Li Tam shrugged. “He may or he may not. I’ll not tell him-I’m bound by Holy Unction. And there have been certain-” he paused to find the right word “-complexities in implementing the Androfrancine strategy. You studied the Francine way. Men can be shaped for a role, but it often involves sacrifice.”

Petronus’s eyes narrowed. “What have you done?”

Vlad Li Tam climbed into his saddle. “These are matters best left in the past.” He settled himself and looked