The Gates of Memory, стр. 68
Once Brandt and Ana arrived, the doors opened, preventing any discussion. Brandt and Regar were invited in. Again, Ana remained outside. The two men entered, taking positions upon the circles carved within the center of the room.
The voices returned, again sounding closer than they should. The elders wasted no time. “We have listened to your request and discussed it, Prince Regar. We find it wanting.”
Brandt opened his mouth to reply, to argue that his own lies shouldn’t reflect poorly on Regar’s request. But the prince spoke faster, and he sounded as though he’d expected nothing different. “Is there nothing I may do to strengthen my argument?”
Another voice answered. “It is possible that we grant your father use of our gate. That, at least, hasn’t been decided. But to make such a decision, we must speak directly to him, here in this room. His youngest son isn’t sufficient.”
“You ask much, given the hostilities between our people.” Regar said.
“As you ask much from us. The terms of the treaty have held. The emperor would be welcome in these lands.”
Brandt clamped his jaw shut. The elder didn’t lie. The treaty, written and signed by Anders I and the leaders of the Etari and Falari, had held. The Falari never raided with numbers greater than those stipulated by the treaty. But the lack of outright war wasn’t the same as peace. Every soldiering instinct he possessed shouted at the foolishness of bringing the emperor here. The danger of the journey alone was too much to risk, especially with so much riding on the emperor’s life. But it wasn’t his place to speak.
“If it is my father’s presence you wish, I can have him here by nightfall.”
Brandt’s eyes went wide and he stared at Regar. That couldn’t be true.
The elders seemed to think so, as well. The room lit up as the circles underneath each elder flickered intensely. A chorus of voices greeted the announcement.
Regar stood tall and silent, an immovable pillar of confidence. Brandt suspected he and Hanns, if they hadn’t predicted this exactly, had at least considered it as a possibility. As Regar had confessed earlier, his father was exceedingly clever.
One voice silenced the others. “How would this be done?”
“Through the gate.” Regar held up his hand to quell another outburst of defiant exclamations. “The technique doesn’t require me to control the gate. I just need to be in contact with it. Anders VI has learned how to travel from one gate to the next. He can be here not long after I reach the gate.”
Another commotion. Brandt forced down a smile. Regar had kicked a hornet’s nest and now stood confidently in a maelstrom of angry voices. A moment later they were ushered into the antechamber to await a decision.
Brandt turned to Regar as the doors closed. “You expected that, didn’t you?”
Regar’s smiled echoed Brandt’s feelings. “We considered it a distinct possibility.”
Brandt explained to Ana.
“It’s true?” Ana asked Regar.
“Yes. Thanks to the gate outside Landow, we were able to understand how it is done. Olen, my father, and I have all stepped through. It’s not a pleasant experience, but the technique works.”
Deep under the mountain, Brandt had no good idea of how much time had passed, but it didn’t seem long before the doors opened and Brandt and Regar were invited in again.
They were barely standing in their circles before an elder spoke. “It is decided. You will bring the emperor here.” The statement was issued with a sense of finality.
“If I may?” Regar asked.
“Speak.”
“I can bring the emperor here tonight, but the effects of travel are disorienting. I will ask that you not summon him here, to this room, until tomorrow morning, or even the day after, if that is acceptable.”
There was no discussion. The same elder spoke. “It is agreed. Now go. You will be escorted to the gate. Try nothing more than you have said.”
Regar nodded. “I will bring Anders VI here. You have my word.”
34
Sheren led the small party through dense pine forest, their path snaking around densly packed trees. The woods were quiet, with even their footsteps muffled. Alena knew it was just her imagination, but the space certainly felt haunted to her.
Ghosts were a subject she’d never thought much about. She’d heard countless stories over the years, but none convinced her. If soulwalking had taught her anything, it was that some part of them existed past death. She knew the gates were real and she knew they led someplace else. But what lay beyond them she didn’t know. She supposed if the gate to eternity was real, it stood to follow ghosts probably were as well.
Still, the rational part of her mind rebelled at the thought. Ghost stories, in her opinion, either served as nothing more than cheap entertainment or an explanation for an unpleasant or unlucky event. No one with any wisdom believed in them.
Yet Sheren was a talented soulwalker, and she believed.
Their guide’s lack of further information encouraged Alena’s own curiosity. In her experience, those who believed in ghosts would speak endlessly about ghosts if given half the chance. Sheren didn’t say more, answering the few questions they asked with a simple “wait and see” answer.
The woods became less dense as they came into the valley where Sheren’s village was located. In time, the trees abruptly ended, the advance of the forest stymied by axes and the need for firewood.
Alena’s third viewing of the village left her just as disappointed as the first two. Holes of varying sizes had been punched in the walls of homes, but from this closer distance she saw some of the holes had been boarded up. There were people still trying to make a living here, though they hid from sight.
They came to a wide stream, the water rushing quickly. Once, a stone bridge had spanned the stream, but the center had collapsed, leaving only the abutments. A narrow wooden plank had been laid across the remains and Sheren crossed it with the