Palimpsest

The Red Lantern and the council are the two powers of Nirali, and they are not one power divided but two, grown from the same small beginning and answering now to different masters. Nirali was a town of no importance when the Red Lantern was founded in it, and the two rose together — the guild spreading its houses across the continent until kingdoms envied what a town of courtesans had built, and the town swelling into the city that guild called its seat.

The council keeps the law, the harbor, the grain, the order of the streets, and the guard and the wall answer to it. The Domina speaks for the Red Lantern, and for the people who have taken her as theirs, and commands not a single soldier. Her whole strength is that the people love her and the council knows it; the council's whole strength is that everything in the city runs through its hands. So the Domina cannot enforce, and the council cannot afford to be hated, and each holds the other in check by needing what only the other has.

— On the Governance of the Free Cities. Compiled by the Cindorian Institute

Chapter 48 Never You Fear

The sun had already climbed to its peak and begun sinking toward the west. As she stood at the window of this high building, looking down over the city from a relative height, Orsillia's eye had caught on the gleaming glass domes of the archive and the library. She had faced this kind of situation before and set things right by doing what was needed. But a death, and a murder especially, was one of the most troublesome things for this city and for herself to deal with. All the more so when the one who died was a friend you'd known for a long time. And as if all that weren't enough, that it had happened at such a time, at the start of a new movement, gave her no ease at all in regaining control. And her thoughts kept sliding, in the end, toward the possibility that this was a planned act. That possibility was the thing that frightened her most, for to try to lay someone low with a crime like this at the very moment the one from the prophecy had finally appeared, and to do it in one of the most important places in the city, would require planning and, unfortunately, people. There could be enemies beyond the walls, but within them… in this city she had sworn to protect?

"We'll get through this too," Quivar said, coming up behind her and laying his head on Orsillia's shoulder.

Orsillia began to stroke his cheek, but the thoughts running through her mind as she looked out over the city didn't change much. She had to solve this, and she had to be quick about it. Not only because she owed it to the city, but because she felt she had to defend the future she believed in as well. "I know," she answered at last, and then kissed Quivar on the head.

"The council can see you now, Domina," said a voice coming from behind them, bringing them back to themselves.

When they turned around they saw a young elf dressed all in white standing beside the door with his head bowed. It was clear the young man respected them, but alongside that it could be seen that he was nervous, especially in front of the Domina. Orsillia held her arm out toward Quivar. "Shall we go?"

"You want me to come as well?" Quivar asked.

"You'd leave me alone in there?"

At this Quivar took Orsillia's arm. "Let's go, then."

The two of them headed for the door together, and before passing through it Orsillia touched the young elf's shoulder in a gesture of thanks. The man didn't lift his head, but it didn't escape notice that he smiled and flushed. "I think he's not indifferent to you," Quivar whispered with a smirk. Orsillia, without breaking her composure in the least, said, "Shut up," and went on walking inside.

When they passed through the door they entered a wide hall full of windows. In the middle of the hall was a large round table, and on it, along with a parchment that was clearly a map of the city, were a great many small figurines. Not only were there no chairs around the table, there wasn't a single chair to sit on in the room. As soon as they came in, the people looking at them were standing around the table as well. The six of them, each dressed in white, had stopped talking and waited for the two to approach the table.

"Thank you for receiving us," Orsillia said, bowing slightly before them, and Quivar, beside her, bowed the same way.

"Receiving the Domina is one of our duties," answered the silver-white-haired, slightly heavyset elf who was clearly the highest-ranking among them. As he said this he looked pointedly at Quivar.

"I don't suppose I need to tell you what I've come here for," Orsillia went on, paying no mind to what the man had said.

"You don't have any plan to interfere with the workings of the law, I hope," the man answered.

"Briyva's already spoken with you, by the look of it," she said, and gave a displeased smile. "I didn't come here to stand in the way of anything, except a mistake on your part."

"You may be the Red Lantern's voice here, Domina Orsillia, but don't presume to teach us our work. I'll remind you that you hold no authority above the council here."

"The people brought me here, Administrator; I wasn't born into bureaucracy the way you were. Have you still not learned that there's no difference between setting yourself against me and setting yourself against the whole city?" Orsillia raised her voice slightly, but when Quivar took her arm she quickly gathered herself.

"When the people learn that you're protecting the one responsible for the death of someone important they loved, do you think they'll still go on standing behind you?"

"The people stand on the side of what's right, never you fear!"

"And how much longer do you suppose the people will tolerate these savior stories of yours and your revolutionary nonsense?"

At this Orsillia began to clench her teeth. She took one more step toward him and, both lowering her voice and hardening it, went on, "Can you not see that there's a threat capable of moving inside our own walls, right before our eyes?"

The man looked at Orsillia with obvious fury, but before she could respond Quivar cut in.

"Zyras, I'm certain that girl isn't a murderer, and you know I'm right in that too," he said in a low, far more intimate tone. "The real culprit is out—" he tried to go on but couldn't finish.

"You need a great deal more than your gift to turn this around," Zyras answered, cutting him off. "If you can't present proof by the time the sun sets tomorrow, there's nothing left we can do for you. Tomorrow evening, as we send Nivela off, your savior will be exiled as well… from living."

Hearing this, Orsillia clenched her fists and threw the man a deadly look. Then Quivar tried to draw her toward the door, hauling her along. Orsillia turned back and said nothing, and went out the door breathing hard through her nose. In that moment she stopped, gripped the two-man-high wooden door, and looked inside one last time. While the others were still watching her, Zyras had already turned his focus back to the map on the table. Orsillia gripped the door hard and slammed it shut with great force—so great that the door, sending a wave of sound echoing through the building, tore from its metal frame and crashed down inward with a roar. When the cloud of dust it kicked up finally settled, the Domina and Quivar were already gone.

◈◈◈

"I said, what are you doing in here!" Lexim asked for the second time, but this time far more angrily. He was noticeably gripping the rolls and a book he held in his hands.

"We're trying to solve your master's murder," Tivver answered, looking at him with hard, angry eyes, "unlike everyone else." Veylith looked as though she might say something, but chose not to speak.

"Solve it?" he said, and for a moment let out a hysterical laugh, breathing out through it. "You caused my master's death, and now you think you can save your own skins from it?"

"So you'll go on blaming Kaelin without giving any other possibility a second's thought. Is that how your master taught you?" Tivver pressed. "Or in all that time did you learn nothing at all from Nivela?"

"Who told you that you could take my master's name in your mouth, gnome?" Lexim said, taking a step and making a move to march on Tivver.

But Veylith suddenly stepped in front of Tivver and came nose to nose with Lexim. In fact she looked down at him from four or five fingers above. "Do you really want to test me, boy?" she said in a growling tone. Her eyes, though, looked at him as calm as death.

Lexim didn't draw back and went on looking into Veylith's eyes. "No one gets across the bridge without a key, and I don't suppose you're a sworn copyist. It seems you're making an effort to join your friend in the cell."

Veylith had been relieved that he didn't push the argument further, since there were others in the library and they didn't need another scandal. But that Lexim answered contrarily instead of backing down hadn't reduced the chance of things getting tangled to zero.

Because Veylith had gone a moment without answering, Tivver had cut in at once. "The Domina gave us leave to go anywhere so we could solve this thing. Did she not ask your opinion about it?"

The slight twitch of Lexim's eye didn't escape Veylith's notice. If Tivver went on provoking him, it was certain this wouldn't come to anything good. But even so she was curious what Lexim would answer.

"The Domina has no authority to give orders. This place is under the control of the council, and they make the decisions—not some Red Lantern servant who thinks she can turn the people to her side," Lexim said, turning his gaze to Tivver without moving.

"All right, that's enough of this pointless arguing," Veylith finally cut in, and without taking a step back she pulled to the left and moved past to Lexim's side. "You can report us to whoever you like. But don't for a moment think we'll leave off pursuing the truth." Drawing right up close, she leaned to his ear. "I hope that when this is over you're left in a position that won't shame your master." Then she turned to Tivver. "Let's go." After Tivver looked at Lexim one last time, he headed for the stairs going down to the entrance. Veylith, coming after him, took two steps and then suddenly stopped. "Do you have a key?"

Lexim was aware she was asking him this, but didn't open his mouth to answer. There was a look on his face beyond anger, one that bored straight through.

"I wouldn't advise making me ask you again, boy," Veylith said, pressing down on each of the words in an utterly firm tone.

Hearing this, Tivver stopped where he stood and slowly turned toward Veylith, and saw the darkness in her eyes. Tivver had known a great many people who were terrifying when angry, but there was nothing he was as wary of as the threat in this calm tone of Veylith's.

"I'm only an apprentice. Only the sworn copyists and the library director could have a key," Lexim answered, but the thing that changed his mind wasn't Veylith's voice—it was the wary expression on Tivver's face as he looked at her.

Having finally gotten the answer she wanted, Veylith adjusted her hat without responding and went on walking toward Tivver. Then, together with Tivver, they headed for the stairs.

The library was almost a copy of the archive building: mezzanines rising to the ceiling, the work area on the ground in the middle, the great open space above it, and the dome made of glass. The only difference was the statue at the center and the giant glass tree spreading everywhere. The building was imposing all the same, and everywhere was full of scrolls and books. Inside there were a good number of people too, by no means few. Some were searching for something on the shelves, some were scribbling away at something in the central area with a great many texts in front of them, and some had simply sat down wherever they'd found an empty spot to read what they held. There was no security at the door, and by the look of it the public could come and go here as they pleased.

As they walked with heavy steps along the mezzanine corridor toward the stairs going down to the exit, Veylith and Tivver had swept the whole building this way. "After this, they must have simply gone out the door and left," Tivver said, as though he'd come to the end of the road.

"We need more clues," Veylith answered, still sweeping the entrance and the surroundings as they came down the stairs.

"All we have is a bit of dirt, nothing more. The idea that it might have come from somewhere near the harbor isn't wrong, but it won't take us anywhere," Tivver went on. By now they had nearly reached the door.

"Vaelra might catch onto something, but I don't think she'll lead us to the killer. The one we need is Darian."

"Then from here we go to the infirmary," Tivver said as they went out the door.

Veylith didn't answer him, and her eye caught on a small group making its way toward the archive building. Walking with sentries alongside them, the group was made up of a handful of white-clad people, and most of them looked old. Veylith had been able to make out a few humans, two elves, and a dwarf, but as the group neared the crowd already in front of the archive it became hard to pick them out.

"I hope Vaelra managed to find something," Tivver said, looking that way at the same time. "Should we tail them?"

"How do you plan to explain to the sentries who just let us in that we're outside?"

"Shit!"

"They'll manage on their own, don't worry," Veylith said, and turned off the other way. But at that very moment she met the eyes of someone she hadn't expected at all. Someone she still didn't know what to say to, how to behave around, or whether she trusted yet.

"Huh," said Elis, plainly not having expected to see them. "I thought you were at the archive."

◈◈◈

The sun had begun to set by now, and the light striking in through that one small window had thinned and reddened. With it, the thought had entered Kaelin's mind that she would be alone in the dark until morning. Normally, on some evenings when she left the Red Lantern and went home early, she'd had a routine much like this, in fact. That routine of dozing in her chair in the company of tobacco and wine and looking out from where she lay, at the stars, as far as they showed through the window. Now and then, in the room lit by the flame of the tobacco, she was left alone with the thoughts in her head as they began to go numb. And even so it would seem loud to her, uncomfortable, even. Silencing her own thoughts, or perhaps these weights others had laid on her, always took effort. And the reward, if she managed it, was passing out right there.

But in this cell, where she felt the day's heat gradually withdrawing, the thing troubling her wasn't her own problems or that her life was in danger. On her mind, constantly, were these people she'd only just met who were risking their lives for her. But this time she didn't feel guilt or hold herself responsible for everything. What she felt was worry. This emotion, one she'd rarely felt before even for herself, was at the same time triggering something else deep down. Longing. Loneliness had perhaps begun to trouble her for the first time. But not because there was no one with her—this deep discomfort and longing was because Kaelin wasn't with them.

When she stopped looking at the window and lay down on the hard bed in her cell, last night had come to her mind. Those warm, close moments in which she could escape her own thoughts a little. Even though she didn't feel guilty about it, something was troubling Kaelin. She didn't know whether it was Mayra or something else, but the thought of being with Elis wouldn't come clear in her mind no matter what. Maybe deep down she did feel guilty but didn't want to admit it, she kept probing herself. On top of all that, her mind had drifted a little further back, to before the dinner, for no reason.

But in that very moment she heard a spurting sound from outside, like a gas escaping. She sat straight up where she was and reflexively looked toward the window. The sound went on coming, and with it she heard other people panicking as well. Though she didn't want to use her power in order to conserve her energy, she noticed the panic outside despite herself. Finally she got up and went to the iron bars of her cell and tried to get as close to the window as she could. Though she rose up on her fingers to see what it was, she couldn't make anything out. Just as she was pushing her head between the bars and trying to reach further out, the door on the other side creaked open. Kaelin, her whole attention fixed on the outside, was startled for a moment by the sound and threw herself back at once. Then she turned quickly to the door.

Darian, out of breath, having quickly set his back against the door he'd shut behind him, looked at Kaelin, brought his finger to his lips, and made a sign to be quiet. "Shhh!"