Part 28 (1/2)

Ilana clapped her hand on his shoulder. ”Well, for now, don't worry about it. Stay and have breakfast with us. We'll go down to the kitchens to finish this bread, and I think one of the helpers is saving me some soup...”

Ilana kept talking, with occasional input from Shai or Tamara, but Alin stopped listening. For the moment, he could stay with his sisters and pretend they were all back home.

Since when had he wanted that?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:.

SUCCESSION.

Surrounded by the workshop, Indirial looked like he had just discovered a h.o.a.rd of treasure.

”This is where he designed the advisors,” he said in awe. He pulled a black string off a nearby workstation and lifted it into the air; it drifted down much slower than it should have, as though it were drifting through water. ”These materials must have come from foreign Territories. Amazing.”

Indirial reached into a small leather purse, pulling out a tiny dark gem that almost looked black. He removed his medallion, comparing the gem at the center of the medallion to the gem he held in his other hand. The two were identical.

”How did you find this?” he breathed.

Simon looked to Olissa, who shrugged. ”We've all been sharing my daughter's bedroom, and I used to spend most of my days doing things that the Nye could probably do better for themselves. The Eldest asked if I needed something to do, and I've always been a bit of a tinkerer.”

Indirial's face soured, and he put the gem back in its purse. ”The Eldest, huh?”

”Why?” she asked. ”Is there something wrong?”

”Not exactly, no.” Indirial glanced at Simon, as though asking for help.

Simon wasn't sure he could explain, but he tried anyway. ”The Eldest wants the Territory to grow and expand. And...well, that's all he wants. He doesn't care about us.”

Indirial nodded. ”It would have been nice to think that you had earned your way in here on your own, or that the Territory had for some reason decided to open this place back up. But if the Eldest's involved, that means he thinks there's some way to increase Valinhall's power.”

Olissa looked unconvinced. ”Is that bad?”

”Depends on your definition of bad,” Indirial responded.

Simon waited for more, but the Overlord didn't seem inclined to say anything else.

”Well, if you don't want to tell me, just say so,” Olissa said. ”No need to be so cryptic.” Deliberately, Olissa turned from Indirial to Simon. ”Would you mind helping me for a moment, Simon?” she asked. Her voice wasaalmost too pleasant.

”No, ma'am,” Simon said, looking away from Indirial. The Overlord's eyebrows were raised, and he looked as though he were trying to decide whether to be amused or offended. Simon wondered how long it had been since anyone dared to talk to Indirial like that.

Olissa reached into a nearby cabinet and withdrew the mask.

It had improved since Simon last saw it: polished-steel silver on one side and wrought-iron black on the other, with a jagged line through the middle like a solid lightning bolt. There were small eye slits, one on each side, though they still looked too small to see out of.

Clapping the mask down on a table in front of Simon, Olissa looked him in the eye. ”Put it on, if you don't mind,” she said.

Simon looked from her to the mask, then back at her again. On the one hand, if it gave him anything near the power it had apparently given Malachi, he could find a use for it. On the other hand, he couldn't believe something like this would be without drawbacks. Probably significant drawbacks. Plus, it was homemade.

He was willing to trust the artifacts left behind by the Wanderer, and he had no problem with those native to the Territory. But something Olissa had cobbled together out of an artifact she undoubtedly didn't understand...

What he had learned in Enosh led Simon to believe that this mask was from Ragnarus, and that further reinforced his suspicion that there would be some horrible cost to wearing the mask. His imagination leapt into action, providing him with disturbing images of the mask sprouting limbs of sharp metal, driving into his skull and drinking his blood.

”What are you waiting for?” Olissa said. ”It's perfectly safe. It used to have all sorts of nasty side effects, but we think that was because it was broken. It won't drain your life-force anymore.”

”What is that?” Indirial asked curiously.

Simon had a different question in mind. ”It drained your life-force before?”

Olissa waved that away. ”Well, it doesn't now. Now, it just draws on your connection to Valinhall. It's like calling yourayou know, steel or whatever. Just much deeper.”

Indirial eyed Olissa suspiciously. ”How do you know all this? Where did you learn how to do anything with the artifacts of a Territory?”

Olissa raised her eyebrows at him. ”The library,” she said, in a tone that made it clear that this subject wasn't any of his business.

After a moment, she relented, adding, ”Some of it, the Eldest taught me. Some of it, I learned from doc.u.ments in the workshop. Some thingsaI just know, now. The longer I spend in the workshop, the more I know.”

”That kind of link can be dangerous,” Indirial warned. ”I know you're not familiar witha”

Indirial kept talking, but Simon stopped listening. He had heard enough.

Now he was faced with a simple choice: would he wear the mask, or not?

Taking a deep breath, Simon made up his mind. He needed an edge against Valin, and this mask might be it. If this would help him defeat the Incarnation, or even to last a little longer against him, he would be willing to take a little risk.

Simon took the mask in one hand and, with only a moment's hesitation, pressed it against his face.

”Simon, wait,” Indirial commanded.

He took his hand away, and the mask stayed. It didn't feel like it was glued to his face, and there was certainly nothing wrapping around his head, so how did it stay on?

”I don't feel any different,” Simon said. His voice sounded tinny and m.u.f.fled behind the mask. He had been right about the eye slits; he could see either Olissa's hands resting on the table or her face, not both at once.

Olissa nodded absently and scratched something down on a piece of paper. ”Good, okay. Andra managed to get this far. Now, can you call one of your Valinhall powers?”

”Hold on a moment, Simon,” Indirial said.

Olissa huffed impatiently and turned toward the Overlord. ”What is it now?”

”I can't believe this is safe,” Indirial responded evenly. ”Let me try it.”

”I'm more comfortable with Simon, thank you,” Olissa said, once again in that too-sweet voice. ”I hardly know you. Do you have any reason to believe it isn't safe?”

Indirial hesitated a moment before saying, ”Nothing tangible. Just...experience. I don't expect anything to be safe.”

”Well, unless you have something more concrete, please just trust me.” She smiled rea.s.suringly at him. ”Don't worry, I've been here a while now. I know my way around.”

Indirial sighed and shook his head, but he didn't say anything else.