In Legend Born (52 page)

Mirabar ignored Kiloran's grousing about the feeble tricks of Guardians. She ignored the
torena
's perplexed questions. She even ignored the shame that practically radiated from Tansen now that she had exposed his secret.
A man of stained honor...
Now Armian would come, and she would learn why Tansen had killed the man rumored to be the Firebringer, the one who might have set them all free. Now she would learn why she had been sent to confront these strangers and enemies in this watery underworld where no Guardian had ever been admitted before tonight.

He arose in the flames, and she saw instantly that he was different from any other shade she had ever Called forth from the Otherworld. He reached out and seized his
shir
, something he should not have been able to do. He looked at them
all
; something he should not have been able to do. He
addressed
them all directly, instead of speaking through her.

Wary of what kind of power she had just unleashed with her Calling, Mirabar held the flames steady as Armian floated in the fire and linked this world to the Other one.

"Kiloran..." His voice was rich with power, strength, intelligence. "
Siran
... Now is the time. We were wrong.
Now
is the time."

Kiloran's breath rasped sharply. His aged lungs wheezed against the shock of the first Calling he had ever seen; a man who pursued water magic gave up any claim to communion with the Otherworld.

"Sileria..." Armian seemed to sigh. "Oh, to breathe her scent again. To see her peaks and valleys again. You never knew,
siran
, I never told you. You would have laughed... but I loved her as if she were a woman..."

"She could have been ours." Kiloran's voice was heavy with hatred. "I could have ruled all of Sileria!
We
could have, if not for
him
."

Armian swayed like a willow in the wind. "Tansen..."

So... Armian had somehow promised Sileria to Kiloran, and Tansen had stopped him. By killing him? Mirabar felt dizzy with the implications. Confusion swamped her. And even through the humming of her senses and the music of death, she could feel the warrior's tension and shame as Armian repeated his name.

"I am here," Tansen answered at last. "I..." His breath was harsh, choking off his words.

"You..." Armian's shade wavered with sorrow. "You were the only thing I ever loved unselfishly, asking nothing in return..."

"I... I know..." Tansen stumbled forward and stood so close she could feel his trembling.

"My son..."

His
son?
Mirabar was so startled she nearly lost control of the fire. Armian's shade wavered as she wrapped her will around it again, concentrating fiercely.

Armian's shadowy gaze burned into the man who stood at her side. "I trusted you... See what you've done to me..."

Tansen fell to his knees at Mirabar's side. Unable to speak, he crossed his fists over his chest and bowed his head respectfully, swallowing hard, shoulders shaking.

"Let me kill him for you now," Kiloran urged. "Let me—"

"You need him." Armian's floating voice drowned out the waterlord's hatred.

"Why?"

"Because Josarian needs him, and Sileria needs Josarian..."

"For
what?
"

"To drive out the Valdani..."

"Now?" Kiloran's voice was hoarse with surprise.

The
shir
twisted and turned gracefully. "Sileria can be Silerian again, free of invaders for the first time in a thousand years..."

Now it was the
torena
who spoke, her voice high-pitched and full of desperate hope. "Truly? How? Will I live to see it?"

"Elelar..." Armian's arms moved subtly, as if drawing her nearer. "If you had been only a little older... Ah, but I could never take the woman that my son wanted so desperately..."

Bitter yearning.

"And when you betrayed my bloodson for killing me... You paved the way for all that he became..."

A
bloodpact son
. Armian had taken Tansen, a
shallah
boy, as a bloodpact son. Mirabar started to recognize the tangled connections, the strands of life and death, of enmity and alliances, of love and betrayal that had led her here.

"You spoke of freedom," Elelar said, addressing Armian.

"I spoke of defeating the Valdani..."

"Well?" she prodded, not sounding as respectful as she had at first. A very arrogant woman, this one.

"We were wrong then... The Moorlanders..."

"Meant to betray us?" Kiloran asked.

"Were too weak..."

"Too weak to fight a war on two fronts?" Elelar guessed.

"Yes... The war here... Must be
our
war and no one else's..."

"But it can be done?" Elelar asked.

"Not by the Society alone. Not by the
shallaheen
alone. Not by the Guardians, the Alliance, or the sea-born folk... alone..."

"An alliance," Mirabar breathed, finally understanding. "All of us together. All the peoples of Sileria, fighting together against the Valdani."

"The Society and the Guardians?" Kiloran blurted. "Never!"

"Don't you think the Alliance has tried?" Elelar said, sounding exasperated. "The
shallaheen
trust no one. The sea-born folk care about no one but themselves. The Society and the Guardians are blood enemies. The lowlanders hate the
toreni
, and the city-dwellers fear the
shallaheen
. The Sisters and the
zanareen
will fight no one, not even the Valdani. The
toreni
and the merchants are unwilling to risk their wealth in an all-out rebellion. How can we possibly—"

"I didn't risk my life to come here and listen to you whine about how difficult it will be!" Mirabar snapped.

"You know nothing about this," Elelar shot back. "I have spent years—"

"I have seen visions of our future," Mirabar insisted hotly. "I have seen
his
swords breaking the shackles that enslave us!" She pointed at Tansen. "I have seen fire and water together, neither destroying the other. An alliance of our power!" She risked a glance at Kiloran and then returned her attention to the fire she kept blazing for Armian, at great cost to her strength. "I have seen Daurion's sword smash the Sign of the Three, a great structure made of marble and gold which sits in a place of—"

"In the middle of Santorell Square," Elelar said breathlessly. "In Shaljir."

"I don't know where. I only know that we can smash it together. All of us, fighting as one, for the first time."

"With Josarian leading the
shallaheen
," Elelar murmured.

"The Society and the Guardians joining together?" Kiloran said with obvious distaste.

"Yes..." Armian's voice echoed around the palace.

"And this Alliance of yours..." Mirabar said.

"This Alliance of
ours
," Elelar said, "bringing all the people together into one. Against them."

"Against the Valdani."

"The sea-born folk, the Sisters, the
zanareen
, the lowlanders..." Josarian's voice trailed off. "Will they join us?"

"If you prepare the way..." Armian said. "Not at first, but you must believe... They will come if you prepare the way..."

"How? When?" Elelar demanded.

"The city-dwellers, the Guardians, the Society..." Armian continued, ignoring her. "The
toreni
, the merchants, the
shallaheen
... Not all at once, but you can convince them... Not all with the same strength, but they will come..."

"If we prepare the way," Mirabar said.

"Then Sileria will be ours?" Kiloran asked.

"Then Sileria will be free of the Valdani..." Armian vowed. "They will leave..."

"What must we do?" Josarian asked.

"Enemies must become allies. Bloodvows must be rescinded, bloodfeuds between the mountain clans must be ended," Mirabar said, finally understanding the substance of her visions.

"Yes..." Armian gestured to her. "She is guided by the will of the Otherworld. You must respect her..."

"She's a demon!" Srijan cried.

"She will be the shield," Armian said, "as my son will be the sword..."

"The Olvar." Tansen suddenly said, coming to life at last. "That's what
he
said."

"You five..." Armian's voice grew thinner. "You can change the world if you make peace tonight..." Mirabar was growing weaker, letting Armian fall back through the barrier. She pursued him, using the last of her energy to pull him closer to this world. "If you fail..."

"What's wrong?" Elelar asked suddenly.

"I'm losing him," Mirabar muttered, her spirit following his into the fire, depleting her strength. She felt the pull of the Otherworld as she drew closer. She ignored it, clinging to Armian.

"The chance won't come again..." They could barely hear his voice now. "... for another thousand..."

"Armian!" Kiloran's voice was urgent, willing him back.

"A thousand years... You must..."

Mirabar lost Armian and stumbled too far while trying to reclaim him. Her strength crumbled, leaving her stranded in the void between this world and the Other one. The fires roared around her as she lost her way, the world of the living growing black and distant as oblivion reached out to gather her to its bosom for all eternity. Lost in the void of the gateway, searching for the path back to her body, she cried out in silent terror. She had seen others die this way and had always feared it. Now there was not even another Guardian present to help her find her way. Screaming for the Beckoner, she groped blindly, resisting the pull of death and oblivion.

The shock of freezing cold water snapped her back into place with the force of an explosion. Sputtering and blinking, she shook her hair out of her eyes and looked around in dazed confusion. Kiloran, she realized vaguely, had saved her by destroying her own fire. Water was still rushing in from a collapsing wall of the palace, pushing her across the floor and flooding the room.

"
Stop it!
" she shouted, afraid of drowning.

Arms folded across his chest, the old waterlord gazed at her with a cold, unfriendly expression as the wall closed itself up and stopped pouring water into the room.

Trudging through knee-deep water, the assassins went to Kiloran's side, standing protectively around their leader. Tansen hauled Elelar to her feet, swept her into his arms as she sputtered and coughed, and set her down on Kiloran's throne, ignoring the wizard's angry objection. Srijan climbed atop a shell-encrusted chest and watched them all warily. Josarian helped Mirabar to her feet and, apologizing for the familiarity, checked her for injuries.

"You saved my life," she said to Kiloran, aware that her tone lacked the gratitude one should normally express for such an act. "Does that mean..." She stopped uncertainly.

"It would seem that, after a thousand years of enmity, the Guardians and the Society must become partners," Kiloran said. He added, in a voice that dripped with sarcasm, "
Sirana
."

"And the
shallaheen
will join the Alliance," Josarian said. Then he shook himself like a dog.

"The waterlords and the assassins..." Kiloran's face twisted with displeasure. "We will call a truce on our internal disputes until..."

"Until after the war," Elelar said, shivering. "Until after Sileria is free of the Valdani."

Kiloran nodded. "And we will pledge ourselves to this... bloodfeud sworn by the
shallaheen
."

"So will the Guardians," Mirabar vowed. She hoped was right. She was only an initiate, after all, but she didn't think this was the best moment to mention that.

"Now is the time," Elelar said, dwelling on the words. "We can win. I can live to see the Valdani withdraw from Sileria."

Without asking Kiloran's permission, Tansen sloshed across the hall and retrieved his swords. Arming himself, he said, "There is one minor point I'd like to clear up before the rest of you start planning the victory celebration." He turned to face Kiloran and said, "Call off the bloodvow."

"We seem to be right back where we started," Kiloran muttered.

"Cheer up," Tansen advised him. "If I'm to fight a war against the Valdani, you can count on my dying soon, anyhow."

"He will be the sword," Mirabar said, her teeth chattering. "We cannot do this without him."

"I
won't
do it without him," Josarian added. "Call off the bloodvow, or the
shallaheen
will join no one."

Looking as if he had just swallowed seawater, Kiloran said, "Bring me the
shir
."

Tansen sloshed over to the spot they'd last seen it and groped around in the water. After finding it, he knelt before Kiloran and formally offered the dagger to its maker: "Lord of water and all its power, you who made the
shir
and who can unmake our thirst at your will, I have no wish to quarrel with you, and so I beg your forgiveness for killing Armian mar Harlon shah Idalari. I return his
shir
to you as a sign of my good faith and my earnest desire to make peace with you."

Kiloran accepted the
shir
and held its blade against Tansen's forehead. "Tansen mar Dustan shah Gamalani, I accept your peace offering. Before these witnesses, I hereby forgive you the death of Armian and now rescind the bloodvow I swore against you. Whosoever your other enemies may be, you will no longer be pursued by me, my friends, or the friends of my friends, so long as you offer me no further offense."

Tansen rose to his feet, met Kiloran's gaze, and nodded. Then he looked long and hard at the assassins, as if to make sure they didn't have any doubts about the ritual.

"Now we can be allies," Josarian said with satisfaction. "Now we can fight the Valdani together."

Shivering, Mirabar said to Kiloran, "Can't you do anything about all this water? I'm freezing!"

Elelar sighed. The assassins looked shocked. Tansen actually laughed.