“What is it?” Wigg asked quietly.
“You three brave travelers and everyone still aboard your Black Ships will likely never see Eutracia again,” Mashiro said. “Like us, you have become trapped on this side of the world. Because of this, you should consider making Shailiha the Queen of Eutracia. Tristan will likely never return home, and Eutracia must have a ruler.”
Tristan looked over at Wigg and Tyranny to see resigned expressions. Wigg nodded; Tyranny took a deep breath and tried to give Tristan a reassuring smile.
All the expedition members who had come with Tristan had done so willingly and with the knowledge that if they reached Shashida, they might never return home. But now that possibility had become fact, and the stark reality was settling in.
Tristan was not concerned for himself. He would miss Eutracia, the other Conclave members, and most of all his sister. But with Celeste dead, and knowing that his destiny lay here, he was content to stay. Wigg had lost Abbey, so there was now less reason for him to return home even if he could. Tyranny was not romantically involved, as far as Tristan knew; her great love was for the Black Ships. With theEllistium destroyed and theCavalon damaged beyond use, the only serviceable Black Ships resided on this side of the world. Tristan couldn’t know whether she might command the great vessels again, but for her sake he hoped that she would. The other Conclave mystics who had traveled here with him had left no mates behind, and Tristan had insisted that the Minion warriors who accompanied him be unattached.
But in the end none of that mattered, for the die was cast. Reaching Shashida meant starting new lives-lives that would surely be filled with wonder and amazement. But they would also be dangerous lives that would test the limits of their courage and faith in the Vigors. What Tristan, Wigg, and Tyranny didn’t know was why they couldn’t return home. Pursing his lips with thought, theJin’Sai turned to look at Mashiro.
“We all knew that if we reached Shashida we might never see Eutracia again,” Tristan said. “But before we retire, please tell us-why are we all trapped here? What keeps everyone from crossing the Tolenka Mountains? Why can’t we sail the Black Ships back the way we came?”
“The story is a complicated one,” Mashiro answered, “and even we do not fully understand it. Because the hour is late, I will be brief. When thePon Q’tar first used the spells that were later banned by the Borderlands Treaty, their calculations were crude by today’s standards and resulted in acts of the craft that were nearly uncontrollable. As you know, when thePon Q’tar employed them, the Tolenka mountain range unexpectedly arose and the land mass separated to create the Sea of Whispers. We too had immense difficulties trying to control our versions of the spells. One such spell was designed to create the Azure Sea and the stone maze that would allow only persons of right-leaning blood to sail back and forth across it and to move easily from one side of the world to the other. When we realized that the spell was going awry, we created the Tome and the Vigors Scroll to leave behind for future generations of right-leaning blood to find and use. Some of us-like the Scroll Master and the Watchwoman of the Floating Gardens-volunteered to stay behind in hiding, in the hope that Vigors practitioners would find them and that they might help you to better understand the workings of the craft. But even they could not tell you about crossing the Azure Sea because it did not yet exist. Like thePon Q’tar ’s best efforts, ours too went awry. After the Azure Sea and the stone maze that brought you here formed, the spell took on a life of its own. That is the major drawback to the banned spells-in some cases they seem to come alive to create their own sentience and purpose. To our amazement, it evolved further and of its own choosing. Since that fateful day, we have not been able to undo it.”
“Amazing,” Wigg said. “What was the result?”
“As you know, the spell allows travel from east to west across the Azure Sea, but only by those possessing right-leaning blood, lest the maze’s course become different and continually repeat itself,” Jomei answered. “Regardless of one’s blood-be that blood unendowed or endowed of any type-should he or she try to sail the Azure Sea and head east, the maze walls rise, but afterward they join, crushing everything and everyone caught between them. You were lucky. Had you turned your ships around and headed back, everyone aboard them would have suffered that terrible fate. Despite our scholars’ best efforts, no answer to repairing the spell has been found. And even if one was devised, using it would violate the Borderlands Treaty, because its calculations are environmental. Even so, if the Rustannican break the treaty, our survival will mean that we must do the same.”
“But that is not to say that others of right-leaning blood can’t come from east to west,” Tristan said.
“True,” Mashiro answered. “But before doing so, they should be warned that they can never return.”
“Why can’t the Tolenkas be crossed from this side?” Tyranny asked.
“We are stymied by the same limitations as those living in the east,” Midori answered. “The mountains are simply too high for even us to cross. The air becomes so thin that every mystic group we sent up the mountainsides returned in failure. Despite much trying, we have found no spell to overcome this obstacle. ThePon Q’tar ’s early spell that unexpectedly created the mountain range also developed a life of its own. To this day it morphs to protect its matrix against tampering.”
“If that is true, then the craft has entered a dangerous and startling new phase,” Wigg said. “Or should I say, new to us three.”
“Indeed,” Mashiro answered.
“Because we can’t go back, you are right about the need for Shailiha to become queen,” Tristan said to Mashiro. He looked over at Wigg. “Do you agree?” he asked.
Wigg nodded. “She is the rightful heir, and her time has come,” he said.
“Before you retire, there is something that I must ask you, Jin’Sai, ” Mashiro said. “Can you decide soon whether you will help us to defeat Vespasian? As we said, to do this we must grant you the banned forestallments. Because of their great power, it is likely that even we cannot imbue your blood with these gifts without causing you great physical pain. If you choose not to help us, no shame will be attached to your decision. But if the answer is to be yes, we must alter our war plan, and time is precious. We also understand that all this news is overwhelming and that you will need time to decide. But know this: Our futures and the survival of the craft are inexorably tied to yours. Vespasian and thePon Q’tar must be defeated, be it now or later. If you accept, we will do everything in our power to help you.” Mashiro gave Tristan a short smile, and the gleam in his eyes seemed to brighten.
“After all, even the reigningJin’Sai does not discover a new world every day,” he added.
Tristan needed no time to decide. From the moment he took a seat at the meeting table, he had known that this strange land was where he would finally meet his destiny.
“I will answer now,” he said quietly. “I cannot speak for those who accompanied me here, but for my part I will do all that I can to defeat Rustannica and her servants who wish to destroy us.” Pausing for a moment, he looked over at Wigg and Tyranny.
“What say you?” he asked. “Are you with us?”
Despite the painful loss of Abbey, Wigg dredged up the semblance of a smile. “I have been alive for more than three centuries,” he said. “I have loved and lost, and this night I find that is the case yet again. During all that time, I have striven to learn everything I could about the craft and to protect it from those who would see it destroyed. And now it seems that the real struggle is about to start.” The wizard stared into Tristan’s eyes. “I watched you and your sister come into this world not so long ago,” he added softly. “From that moment forward, I have been and always will be yours.”
“Thank you,” Tristan answered. He turned to look at Tyranny. She in turn looked at Mashiro before answering.
“I have no endowed blood,” she said. “I want to help, but how?”
Mashiro smiled. “Although you cannot summon the craft, you have unique seafaring talents,” he answered. “I’m sure that something can be arranged to your liking.”
“Then I’ll join you,” she said. “It’s good for a simple privateer of unendowed blood to know that she can contribute to the cause.”
Tristan let go a short laugh. He then looked into every face around the table and raised his cup. Everyone followed suit.
“We’re yours,” he said. He raised his cup higher, as did the others.
“To new beginnings!” he offered.
“To new beginnings!” everyone answered.
After draining his cup, Tristan looked across the table to see Hoshi smiling at him. This time her smile was genuine and offered without reservation.
