The Unmaking (The Last Days of Tian Di, #2)(92)

“We do not know that,” said Obrad.

“She killed herself,” pointed out Aysu softly.

“That is not proof of anything but an unhinged mind,” said Obrad.

“Trahaearn,” said Aysu. “What say you?”

Trahaearn raised his head slowly. “He did wrong and kept secrets. For this he should be punished. And yet in his years as Supreme Mancer he has been a strong and wise leader. For this he should be rewarded. I do not know what justice is, in this case.”

“Ka,” said Aysu, “What say you?”

“I agree with Trahaearn,” said Ka. “Though I do not condone what he did, I do not wish to see His Eminence cast out from the Mancer fold. He is one of the greatest Mancers in all our long history and Nia has punished him soundly for what wrong he did. But he cannot lead us anymore. Even if we forgive his wrongs, he is too much impaired. We cannot break a Curse as strong as the one Nia has laid on him and the Faeries will never come to our aid.”

“Anargul?” asked Aysu.

“He should be cast out,” said Anargul shortly. She did not look at Kyreth.

“Obrad?”

“I accept whatever is the will of the Mancers, but in my own heart I feel that His Eminence is the greatest leader the Mancers have known since Karbek and should not be lightly cast aside.”

“Then let us say he has earned our friendship and our help through the centuries and we shall give it to him,” said Aysu gravely. “He shall stay among us and we shall do what we can for him, but he shall not be called Supreme Mancer anymore.”

“That title must fall to you, Aysu,” said Ka. The others murmured their assent.

“Then Foss will take my place among the Emmisariae as Manipulator of Water,” said Aysu. “Foss, will the Shang Sorceress accept this arrangement? Will she return to us?”

“I do not know,” said Foss.

“As Emmisarius, you must seek her out and hear her thoughts on this,” said Aysu. “If she refuses, she must be persuaded. The Shang Sorceress cannot sever ties with the Mancers, nor dictate how we deal with our own.”

She looked out at the assembled Mancers.

“Do the Mancers accept what we have spoken?” she asked.

Kyreth half-listened to what was being said, the Mancers voicing their approval that he should be deposed. Aysu would be Supreme Mancer. It was laughable, that. Even in the throes of this Curse, he was stronger than Aysu. It didn’t matter. He had his own battle to tend to, the constant struggle against the shadows of dread that sought ever to draw him back to the tower where his other half waited, utterly lost. There were ways to break even a Curse as powerful as this one. The simplest way was to kill the one who has Cursed you. His mind worked slowly, slowly, but it worked. Lost in shadow, still he could see in the dark. He could see, he could think, he knew what to do. They would not cast him out. Though they did not say why, it was because they feared him. And rightly so.

Aysu stood before him now, demanding his acceptance of her authority. He closed his mind to her and bowed.

~~~

Ander Brady’s funeral was held on the Day of Stories, the sixth and final day of Winter Festival. All the islanders came and, instead of the usual stories, they told stories about Ander. They burned his body on a pyre at the northern tip of the island. His bones were buried and stories told over them and the ashes scattered into the sea, as was the custom in the Archipelago. Nell placed Jalo’s firestick at the grave, where it would always burn. She had been welcomed back to the island with tears and relief, but Eliza was given a wide berth. They all remembered her, that odd little Sorma girl who had lived among them a few years before being whisked away by Mancers. She was taller now and, though she dressed like an ordinary girl, there was something alarming about her. She carried a long wooden staff. They noticed an unusual number of ravens flocking about the island, settling in the trees and on rooftops. It was her kind that had led to such a bad, untimely end for Ander, they muttered, and it was only by luck that dear Nell had survived.

As the night grew late and the stories began to dwindle, Alban invited Nell and her friends to come roast marshmallows at the beach with him and Marti. They ate marshmallows until they all felt a bit sick, and Marti fell asleep while Alban strummed his guitar.

“I dinnay feel like I should be happy about anything. I feel like I dinnay have the right,” said Nell, lying on her stomach on the sand and staring into the fire. “But I cannay help it. I’m so glad that I’m alive and that you two are alive. We made it home. Di Shang is safe. But Ander is dead and...” she broke off and left the sentence unfinished, swallowing hard.

“I spec we all feel that way,” said Charlie. “We are lucky to be alive. Of course we’re happy about it.”

Nell closed her eyes to stop her tears. She could still see the flames dancing on the inside of her eyelids. Within seconds she was asleep.

“What are you going to do, Eliza?” asked Charlie.

“I dinnay know,” said Eliza. “I havenay slept in days, so I spose I’ll rest here a while if Nell’s family will have me. Then, if you’re up for it, I’ve got to take Uri Mon Lil’s staff back to him. It was still floating up in the corner of the Library, aye. Foss had to get it down for me. I’d like to check on Swarn, too. Make sure she’s all right.”