Darkest Designs (25 page)

The Louer leader nodded.

“And?” she asked in a cool voice, “What is your decision?”

He tilted his head and she thought she saw something flash in his eyes. She didn't understand, but a weird hum filled the air. Dread filled her stomach; was she about to be knocked out? Quickly, she said to Tammy, “Tammy, stop your father.”

“Why?” Tammy bounced in front of her, the short tubby body surprisingly agile. Skorky raced from one shoulder to the other and back again.

“I don't want to be knocked out again.” Storey said in a dry voice.

“He won't.” She giggled. “It won't work anymore on you now. He already tried.”

“He did?”

“Yes.” Tammy laughed and danced through the room. None of the other Louers noticed or paid any attention to her. Storey didn't understand the lack of interest. “Tammy, why are there no other children?”

“There are. But not many.”

As the adults were looking at her. Storey continued to ask Tammy, “Do you know why there aren't many?”

“No.” Tammy danced a little jig that made Storey grin. The humor was out of place, given the silent room and situation, but hard to resist. Tammy had always been a joy.

Crossover influence. She had to stop herself and think about that. She'd definitely been influenced by Tammy. Look where she was. There's no way she'd have come to rescue the little girl – time and time again – if she hadn't been. She'd also been hoping to find a way to improve relations between the Louers and the Torans. They were one and the same, inside.

And maybe so were her people, but they were a long ways away from being ready to have a relationship with other dimensions. She couldn't even imagine trying to explain such a concept to her government. Add in all the other governments of all the other countries…and things would get very icky.

“Storey.”

She straightened to face the Louers' leader. He motioned to her to move forward down a corridor. She stepped forward before the guards could prod her.

Tammy grabbed her hand, and tugged her closer. Storey grinned. It was stupid to feel so happy and carefree with her fate yet to be decided, but she'd been through so much. Done so much. How could she not want to enjoy the moment? Knowing her time with this cherub was coming to an end, Storey couldn't help, but open her arms. Tammy launched herself into them. Storey stumbled. She'd forgotten how heavy Tammy was when in her body. She gave her a big hug, the two of them laughing. Finally she put her down and the two ran forward. They ended up in another cave, darker and much smaller than the previous once. On the wall was a large monitor. Filled with the Councilman's face.

For a moment Storey was sidetracked by the apparent lack of power here and the appearance of a big, functioning monitor. Maybe her people could learn more than she thought from the Louers. From the rest of the furnishings in the room, she assumed the Louers had made good use of the doorways she'd made leading back to their old world.

The voices brought her back to her surroundings.

And her lip curled.

“Why did you walk away?” the Councilman growled. “I gave you important information. You can use it to get more of what you want.”

“And I wanted to check the information.” Tammy's father motioned Storey closer.

“What is she doing there?” The Councilman gasped in horror. “Kill her. She's right there. Do it. Now.” His voice rose to a shout as temper and outrage rippled across his face. His color went dark and he appeared to be on the edge of an apoplectic fit.

Storey laughed. “Still trying to get someone else to do your dirty work. Does the Louer leader know that you were cheating him?”

The man at her side straightened. She kept her mocking gaze on Eric's father. “That you promised to give them technology you don't have the power to give?” She snorted. “And of course you haven't told the Council members or Paxton either, of your deal. And what about Eric?”

“Don't you even mention my son's name. You've ruined him.” This time the Councilman appeared to be hopping from one foot to the other. His rotund face twisted and reddened with temper. “Kill her.”

Storey tried to not to look at Tammy's father's face. She didn't want to know if he was of the same mind as the Councilman. But eventually she had no choice. Shit. She turned to face Tammy's father. “You know…Potre….Paxton
is
a Louer. But he is also a very revered Toran scholar. And he is capable of helping you.” As an afterthought, she added, “If he wanted to, that is.”

There was a silent murmur behind her. “As for Eric, yes, it's true he is the Councilman's son. But Eric is not like his father. He is what his father could have been. And never will be.”

She didn't know if they could understand that message. She didn't speak Louer properly.

But the stylus did.
Stylus, can you tell them? Can you explain?

We have.

And?

He isn't sure. He doesn't trust us.

Wait…does he have any relatives who are related to any of the souls in the styluses we have? Are there any Louers today that remember styluses?

The stylus bubbled with the concept. Noise filled the back of her mind. She waited, watching the Councilman and the Louer leader glare at each other. How could she convince Potre? “Tammy, have you told your father about all the adventures we had?”

“Yes!” Tammy shouted at her. “He asked lots of questions.”

“Good. Do you understand that Eric's father is asking your father to kill me?”

Tammy gasped. She cried out and her arms wrapped around Storey and squeezed her tight. “Did your father say anything about it?”

Tammy shook her head.

“Has he said anything about the new dimension, problems with the Torans? Anything at all.”

This time, Tammy nodded.

“Yes? What part?” Storey bent to look into Tammy's face.

“He asked about how we went from one place to the other. The types of guards you have. Eric's guards.”

Storey groaned. All Tammy had seen was her house and Paxton's lab. His father must think the two dimensions were playgrounds. Neither had visible guards and both would appear developed, but empty. Sigh.

She wondered what he had planned. And why?

The Councilman's face swelled in temper as he ranted and raved about the damn people betraying him, about their lack of appreciation and how he was going to get his own back when the traitor Paxton was shown for the liar and fraud he was.

The longer Storey listened to his rants the madder she got. Finally she'd had enough. She stepped back up in front of the monitor. “That Paxton is a Louer doesn't surprise me. And of course he had to hide his identity. When your people became sick and started dying, you blamed the Louers. Your people enslaved them. Turned them into something they weren't supposed to be. When they protested and started to fight back, you banished them. How difficult it must have been then, when so much of your knowledge went with them. The knowledge in the styluses. The styluses couldn't be renewed because that technology was lost. Because it was Louer technology. Paxton's technology created in the Toran dimension.”

She gave a hard laugh. “You are such an egotistical bastard. You deserve to spend your lifetime in servitude. In service to others so you can understand an honest day's work. To teach you to give, not just take. Wait until your people find out how you let the Louers back to your world out of revenge. That you were willing to give up their safety out of spite. You never counseled your people. You have been a ruler without compassion. A monarch over serfs. Do your people understand that it was you and the leaders before you who banished the Louers, and turned your own people into their replacements? Instead of all Torans being above the Louers you made yourself above the Torans.”

The last words ran through her like lightening, giving her the understanding of their truth. “How many people have you hurt by your greed? Or have you been just a rotund clown at the head of the table, while the worker bees carried on without knowing what you were really like? You couldn't even spend time with your son, could you? Be a part of raising him? You left it to Paxton.”

She laughed. “So maybe he was the lucky one after all.”

The stylus spoke quietly.
The Broken One remembers the time of the banishment
.

Storey nodded, sorry for the pain the Broken One had been through. “Do you realize that there are still souls that remember all this? Everything that happened when the Louers were banished?”

The Councilman spluttered. “Not possible.”

“Yes, it is possible. It's a fact. The styluses carry Louer souls.” She shook her head. “I rescued several that had been damaged, forgotten. Lost through time. The Broken One is alive and well. I don't remember his original name…but he is here.”

Her stylus spoke.
His name was Barrat
.”

Storey repeated the name aloud, “Barrat – the Broken One was once called Barrat.”

A shocked hum rose around her. Excited murmurs filled the air. Storey didn't understand what they were saying and she couldn't take the time to work it out as she was trying to keep two conversations together at the same time. The Councilman shrugged. “So. He is nothing to me.”

“Maybe, but from the reaction I'm getting here, he means something to the Louers.”

Potre leaned forward, his commanding voice breaking through the rest of the noise in her head. And spoke to her directly – for the first time. “What do you know of Barrat?”

She turned to look at him. “Everything. I carry his soul.”

***

Eric and Paxton stood shoulder to shoulder as they watched the byplay between the Councilman and Storey with Tammy's father popping on screen every once in a while. Eric was horrified at his father's machinations.

“Barrat? Barrat,” murmured Paxton. “Why do I know that name?” He grabbed up his stylus and asked him for information on Barrat. The stylus started writing, filling the tablet in no time. “Barrat was the leader of the Louers. Enslaved by the Torans and sent to join the stylus when he became too old and broken to work. His knowledge was important, but his physical presence too dangerous.” Paxton looked at Eric.

“How is it that Storey is carrying him? She can't have bonded to two styluses.”

Eric winced. “I guess you weren't told all the details, huh?” At Paxton's wide eyed stare, Eric nodded. “You know Storey, she can't leave anyone to die. So she is carrying the Broken One inside her until he can be moved to a new stylus. If she dies, so does he.”

“That is not good. We need his information.” Paxton looked ready to panic. “I understood she was doing something to help him, but not what or how that help would be administered.”

“Yeah, that's Storey all over. Now she's trying to fix the Louer and Toran problem.”

Paxton looked at him sideways. “What problem?”

“She wants our people to share technology with the the Louers. And she wants peace between the dimensions.”

“They aren't my people.” Paxton stared straight ahead. “I'm a Toran.”

Eric sighed. “See that's the problem. There shouldn't be them and us. We were all the same at one time.”

“But no longer.”

“And that's wrong. We banished them and they suffered. Now they have a chance at a better life thanks to Storey and they need help to get started. They don't even have enough necessary food stores for the coming winter.”

Paxton's lips thinned.

Eric grinned. “I'm warning you now, Storey won't let them suffer.”

Paxton spun on his heels. “What does she expect us to do?”

“Help.”

Paxton gasped. “They attacked us.”

“Because they couldn't stay where they were any longer. When they found a way through…”

“That was Storey's fault. She opened a portal. If she hadn't done that…”

“You would never have found your brother, the Councilman would never have been put in a position to show his true colors and I'd have never met Storey.” He smiled, a gentle twitch of his lips. “And that is something I wouldn't have wanted to miss.”

“You can't keep her. You know that – right?” Paxton said slowly. “We have enough problems with just one dimension. There's no way we can handle dealing with multiple dimensions. That would be a political nightmare.”