Arianna's Lotus [http://i.imgur.com/oOhwKDZ.png]

Chapter Thirteen

Rumblings

I sat with my back against one of the few blood-free stone walls at the center of the temple complex. Nearby, Nalithor, Yiltanys, and Sihix were investigating the main plaza. The Lari’xan had purified the crystals beneath the temple with little trouble, and suggested we conduct some of our own investigations while there. I’d been happy with the idea, but after a few minutes a sudden wave of nausea and dizziness had overtaken me. Concerned, the three of them had insisted I rest nearby.

‘You are certain you sense nothing amiss?’ Djialkan nudged my cheek. ‘Corruption from elsewhere, perhaps?’

‘Nothing.’ I shook my head. ‘Though, that itself could be the problem. I can’t sense anything other than those three and you.’

“Perhaps our troublesome Ari-mrii is sensing Ceilail and Xiinsha at work?” Sihix suggested, shooting me a smirk. “You needn’t fret. They will be fine.”

“If that was the problem, it would prove you’re failing to shield her senses,” Nalithor pointed out, eliciting disgruntled snorts from both Lari’xan. “It’s still far more likely that she’s sensing something related to Balance within the complex itself. You still refuse to free her?”

“Neither of you should be permitted to go to the surface or beyond our domains as of yet,” Yiltanys answered, shaking his head. “You are not ready. We will deal with the ‘eye’ while the two of you tend to less tiring matters. It is our desire that you are both in peak condition moving forward.”

‘Which doesn’t sound good, to me.’ I sighed, closing my eyes while I thought. Aside from our little group, there were few sounds within the complex.

‘An upcoming war in addition to our duties as Balance means we will be quite busy,’ Nalithor murmured. ‘And there are your efforts as the First Princess as well. We do have much on our plates.’

“How many copies of Darius are there?” I asked, opening my eyes and settling my gaze on the Lari’xan.

“We are only aware of the one in Dauthrmir’s dungeons and the one wandering Beshulthien.” Sihix tilted his head, stroking his chin. “However, we believe there could be more. Mind control and corruption don’t explain his unstable behavior.”

‘Unstable?’ I wondered. “Something Fraelfnir told you?”

“Indeed.” Yiltanys nodded.

“So, you still don’t want us to kill him?” I asked pointedly.

“We want him alive.” Sihix narrowed his eyes at me. “He may yet be saved and serve the purpose we intend. While he has lost the right to the role of Balance, there are other roles we wish for him to play. For that to happen, he must be freed of this corruption and reeducated.”

“No freeing him via a blade through the neck, then?” I sighed in disappointment. “Well, what are we to do, then? If he is truly turning people against Balance, we need to stop him before it gets out of hand. I’m not sure how you expect us to let him live, either.”

“Would you not prefer your brother be cured of his problems so that he might atone for his sins?” Yiltanys shot me a subtle frown. “He is blood. You should feel some attachment to him.”

“Manipulated or not, he’s the reason Nalithor and I were separated, the reason I was tortured in Limbo, the reason I was tortured in X’shmir, and the reason I could have died if Nalithor and I hadn’t waited so long to be intimate!” I huffed in response.

“His actions also led to his own torture,” Sihix pointed out, making me grimace. “If he can be saved, wouldn’t you want him to be?”

“Would his mind even survive the knowledge of all the harm he has caused?” Nalithor countered, shooting the Lari’xan a stern glare. “Placing aside our desire for revenge, I struggle to believe Darius could handle knowing what he has done. You lot also don’t like to meddle with memories, meaning he’d have little choice beyond facing his sins head-on and likely without support.”

“Of course. Overcoming his troubles would be meaningless if we interfered.” Yiltanys waved dismissively. “If he breaks, he will die. If he survives, he will be more inclined to serve the purpose we have for him. Spending his time in our service will help him begin to atone, and to adapt to the world. Darius will be a powerful ally to you both if he can overcome his troubles.”

Nalithor and I exchanged a doubting look. We both, undoubtedly, wanted to see my brother dead for all that he had done. The same for the ones responsible for manipulating him, of course. Neither of us considered manipulation enough of an excuse to give Darius a free pass. After all, it appeared that he had been raised to be so twisted. Mortals wouldn’t be let off the hook if they were raised to be corrupted, twisted, or murderers, so why should my brother? His relation to me wasn’t enough.

My head spun again, and I let out a small sigh, closing my eyes. The unsteady rhythm of the aether was making me feel sicker by the moment. I couldn’t sense where it was coming from, or what manner of aether it was, but the intermittent shockwaves pulsing through made it terribly disorienting. To my displeasure, closing my eyes only made it worse.

“Shall we return to the forest?” Nalithor placed a hand on top of my head, prompting me to open my eyes and look up at him. “You clearly feel unwell.”

“Don’t we need to investigate more?” I frowned up at him, but he simply smiled and shifted his hand over to stroke one of my fluffy ears. “After all, we can’t leave all of this work to Dauthrmir’s scholars or to the Claws and Fangs.”

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“You are worrying too much.” Nalithor leaned down and scooped me into his arms with ease before shooting a glance toward the Lari’xan. “We will begin working on our plans back at Arianna’s cottage, where she is less likely to grow ill from…whatever your comrades are doing.”

“I will remain with the Lari’xan in case they learn of anything that should be relayed to you,” Djialkan informed us as he glided over to perch on Sihix’s shoulder.

Once the temple complex was behind us and we had entered the tunnel systems, I breathed a sigh of relief and nuzzled into Nalithor’s chest. When a purr left me, the tension seemed to leave him, and he let out a low chuckle.

“What do you suppose the Lari’xan are doing to cause such a disturbance?” Nalithor glanced down at me and gave me a small smile. “Furthermore, do you feel any better away from the temple?”

“Only a little.” I slipped one hand into his robes and rested it against his chest. “As for what they’re doing… If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say they’re already dealing with that thing they’re calling the ‘eye.’ For one reason or another, they seem like they don’t want us involved with it.”

“Under other circumstances I might suggest we take a look anyway…but you are clearly unwell.” Nalithor stroked my leg with his thumb while carrying me further down the tunnel. “When we get back to your cottage I will make us tea and we can proceed with work from bed, where you will be more comfortable. There is so much for us to do, we will have to prioritize.”

“I think dealing with N’lafmar is going to have to come first,” I suggested, dragging my claws across his chest. An amused smile came to my lips when I felt him shiver. “Once we’d dealt with the N’lafmarans, and hopefully established relations with the Zehylor… Ah. Perhaps, before N’lafmar, we should search for the Zehyloran children? Near as I can tell, none of the children we rescued in the Abrantia Valley fit their description, correct?”

“Agreed, an excursion into Falrrsald is in order.” Nalithor nodded, his expression contemplative. “This temple that is supposedly ‘ours’ sounds as if it could provide us with a good launching point. Have you had the chance to explore it yet?”

“No, I’ve only see it from outside and at a distance.” I gave him a crooked smile and wrapped some of his loose hair around my fingers. “My guards whisked me away back to the capital when we learned my father wanted to see me urgently. Though, I was also thinking it’d be a little odd to look at it without my other half there.”

“Ah…” A bright smile spread across his face before he leaned down to kiss my forehead. “Here I was hoping to make you feel better, yet instead you cheered me up. How will I ever keep up with you?”

“You’re doing a fine job so far!” I laughed, tugging gently at his hair. “Once we’ve finished putting together what we know about the Zehylor, their children, and their disappearance, we’re going to have to figure out what it will take to convince the Lari’xan to let us get back to work. It seems to me like they’re being over-protective of us, but maybe they have a reason. Whichever it is, we’re going to have to do something if we want them to let us get back to work.”

“Yes…they are being quite difficult.” Nalithor grimaced as we entered Sihix’s domain once more. “I was hoping the aether here would feel better than that of the temple, but it would appear not. Should the Lari’xan be struggling so greatly with their foe?”

“I don’t think they’re struggling.” I shook my head. “I’ve got the impression they’re just being thorough. Maybe they’re dealing with other corruption within Eormir’s borders too. Though, now that I think about it, I wonder how the Humans and our allies are taking this sudden change of location?”

“Our friends are likely fine. The Humans…I imagine they believe the world is ending.” Nalithor shrugged, then glanced down at me. “Can you walk, or shall I carry you the rest of the way?”

“Do you want to put me down?” I gave him a knowing smile.

“Certainly not.” Nalithor happily carried me the rest of the way to Auvry’e and to my cottage.

Once there he set me down and I busied myself with changing into something more comfortable. While Nalithor prepared tea for us, I scrounged up paper, pen, and some reports for us to use as reference material while working. While I still felt tremors in the aether, we were far enough from them now that they didn’t make me feel ill. I hopped into bed and slid under the covers, sitting turned on my hip so that I didn’t crush my clustered tails. Stretching, I let out a contended purr and then made myself busy while waiting for my nylziis to join me.

“This is all of the information we have regarding the Zehylor children?” Nalithor asked as he pulled a sliding, bed-wide tray into place. After placing our tea and a plate of snacks on it, he undressed and changed into a pair of loose pants before joining me. I promptly snuggled up to his side, hooking one leg over his.

“Well, aside from your conversation with the Zehylor themselves, we haven’t learned much,” I replied, offering him the thin stack of documents. “We know more about where the soldiers went than we do about the children they’re looking for. The soldiers went and appealed to the dragons, but the dragons claimed that they haven’t seen any ‘feather-haired younglings’ in the northern reaches of Falrrsald.”

“In which case, we need to refocus our efforts to the south, east…or west, beyond the N’lafmaran and Zehyloran kingdoms.” Nalithor frowned as he skimmed the reports. “I would like to say that ruling out the northern mountains helps narrow our search, but Falrrsald is large. Furthermore, if they have been imprisoned in some way…”

“Well, if it’s prisons, it’s unlikely the elemental ones unless the children were split up,” I pointed out, tilting my head in thought. “That said, if we’re going on a manhunt, we should include searching for more of those elemental traps. Given the untamed nature of this region, I’m inclined to think that, if there’s more, they will be here.”

“I am inclined to agree with you,” Nalithor murmured, sliding his free arm around me. “Given that we were not looking particularly hard during our first excursion, I believe we should reexamine the portions of Falrrsald we already visited. We will not be able to go too far west without encroaching on N’lafmaran territory, but perhaps we can make our way to the Zehyloran kingdom itself. It would be prudent to make certain they understand our war is with their neighbors…and we might convince them to join the Rilzaan Alliance whilst there.”

“Well, I’m not against it.” I took a sip of my tea before continuing, “You’re still the acting King of Eormir. We’re going to have to contact my father first and make certain a new governor is properly introduced to the region before we leave. With any luck, Hadyn and Edan will have collected the Humans by then.”

“Once we’re permitted to leave the Lari’xan’s domains, we’ll go to our temple and make certain it’s to our liking,” Nalithor suggest, a pleased smile spreading across his face at the thought. “With that as our personal foothold, we can have the Vulin procure anything else we might need and tend to it in our absence. We can make many of our preparations there while we wait for word from your father, and for Eormir to be assigned a new ruler. I would rather not remain in the castle.”

“I second that notion.” I nodded. “As nice as the redesign to my old suite is, I don’t think either of us would be comfortable there. Not when we both know all that happened to me, to Darius, and countless others within the castle walls. I’m a little surprised you didn’t demolish it.”

“It was tempting.” Nalithor snorted. “Lari’xan permitting, we will begin our work tomorrow. For now, let us attempt to list and prioritize all that we need to do. Working by region may be best.”

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