Upon the Flight of the Queen by Howard Andrew Jones

Author:Howard Andrew Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

15

Counsel from the Dead

Elenai sat at a dream fire contemplating an arcing strand of stars scattered across the firmament. Suddenly Rialla was there, stunningly real in her khalat and worn black boots, her high forehead damp with perspiration. Elenai understood, as she had the last time, that all else but the visiting woman was dream.

Rialla’s stare pierced her like a sword thrust. And here she’d thought Kyrkenall’s eyes disquieting. No one she’d ever met had a gaze as disconcerting as this. “Have we spoken yet?” Rialla asked.

Elenai had worried that she’d be asked that again, and had prepared an answer. “We’ve spoken before. In the theater.”

Rialla’s nod was so small she almost missed seeing it.

Elenai spoke quickly. “I told him he had to go left. But we didn’t understand. What did you mean? And are you dead?”

“Probably I am.” She didn’t sound concerned about it. “Kyrkenall will have to drop, one day soon, upon the flight of the queen. It has to be to the left. It won’t look right. But tell him to trust me.”

“He trusted you when you were alive. He can scarce talk about you because he misses you so much.”

“He is my friend,” Rialla said simply. The word “friend” carried more weight and meaning than it did if used in the waking world, conveying the great significance of Rialla’s interpretation of the word. It was as if all others were shadows and he alone was real to her. “He will die if he goes right. I don’t want him to die,” she added. “Right looks better, but it must be left.”

“I’ve told him. I’ll warn him again. What did you mean about the world ending?”

“The queen thinks she can control what she’s doing. But she won’t be able to do so. And if all isn’t in exactly the right place, Kyrkenall, N’lahr, you, Naor, kobalin, everything, the world will cease. I’ve seen it again and again.” She sounded now as though she were talking to herself. “All the pieces have to be in the proper places or it doesn’t come out right. After the queen opens the last hearthstone, everything is—”

The dream world rocked and faded and she heard her name called from somewhere far off. She tightened her eyes and fought to hold to the fading dream. “Wait!” Elenai cried. “Is there any more you can tell us?”

Rialla shook her head dismissively. “I’ve little time left.”

That in itself was a strange statement—presumably if she was dead, she wouldn’t have to worry about time, would she? But if there was little time for either of them, then she should make it count. “Do you know where Kalandra is?”

“If you’re where I think you are, right now she’s in the stone on the shelf.”

And with that answer in her mind, Elenai blinked and woke to the morning. Kyrkenall was shaking her shoulder. “You’re a deep sleeper,” he said with a grumble.

“Rialla was there.” She couldn’t keep the snap from her voice as she rose.

He froze. “You’re joking. No, you’re not.

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