77th of Vhalar Arc 721
Previously
Smoke scented the air as the flame was smothered. But darkness did not come. In fact, the room grew more brightly lit by the second, beams of light spilling from between Oberan’s fingers.
“You will do no such thing.” He sighed, an almost casual motion if not for the stiffness of his shoulders and the tense focus with which he kept his eyes on the Naerikk. “Sit down.”
She refused, glaring at him from behind the desk. “We will not submit to a liar—”
“Tell me, ‘daughter of Audrae’, have I told a single lie since entering this room? You can sense when someone lies, right? Well, did I? Or were you unable to tell? Did your ability to separate lie from truth wane suddenly, a season or so ago?”
Her mouth did not move, she remained statuesque, looking as if she’d prefer to claw his throat into ribbons. Though, now it’d be a deliberate choice rather than an act of pure fury.
“Alright, fine. I was sent by Treid to sow confusion among the Naerikk. He thought my word would lend some credibility to the false information I had to relay. You got me.”
“That’s a lie,” Aeyali said, brow furrowed. “All of it is false.”
“Indeed it is. So you can tell after all. Congratulations. Now compare with the following: no-one sent me. I felt Audrae die. I want to know if it is true.”
The anger bled out of her expression, and she sank into her seat. Slow at first, then practically collapsing. For a moment, she sat limp like a marionette without strings. “The Queen is not dead,” she said, shaking her head. “She’s not dead.”
Oberan lit the candle again, producing a box of matches out of his sleeve. Once the flame flickered back to life, the box and the Daylight Stone in his hand both vanished.
“Perhaps not,” he admitted. “Perhaps I am mistaken.”
“You are.” Aeyali righted herself, regaining her posture. She reached for her wine, and took a big swig of it. When she placed it back on the desk, she’d mostly reverted to her former self. “You have to be. You have felt something else, but wholeheartedly believe in your own interpretation of it. Yes, that’s what this is.”
“I would certainly hope so.”
“Why? What do you care?”
He shrugged. His relationship with Audrae was complicated to say the least. He’d been cast aside as a failure early in his life. He’d lived his life his own way, without hearing from her for decades. When she appeared a year or so ago, he’d not exactly been pleased to see her. They’d argued. He’d long ago decided he didn’t want anything to do with her. And yet… “She’s my mother.”
Perhaps that didn’t make sense, but it did not have to. That’s just how these things worked.
“Anyway,” Oberan said, “That’s not important. You say those rumors are false—”
“They are.” She didn’t miss a beat. “False information sent into the world by the other Immortals to destabilize the people united under the banner of those that were supposedly killed.” She stared him dead in the eye, daring him to dispute it. He didn’t.
A few moments passed in silence, Aeyali, sitting with her arms crossed, expression resembling a thundercloud. She kept her jaw clenched shut, scowling in Oberan’s general direction. Though she made no attempts to engage in conversation, she’d not thrown him out yet. Likely she waited for him to speak.
The mortalborn, for his part, decided it best to let some time pass, so Aeyali’s anger had a chance to wind down. He needed to give some thought to his next line of inquiry too, or consider his choice of words carefully. While Oberan was convinced he’d felt her perish, sidestepping the issue of Audrae’s demise seemed wise; he’d rather not rekindle Aeyali’s fury. She might just terminate their meeting early.
Oberan could seek out other information dealers. Aeyali was hardly the only one in the Underground. However, she was one of few likely to be informed of the dealings of Immortals, Audrae in particular. While she was quick to deny the truth behind at least one part of the rumors Oberan was interested in, Aeyali did seem to know more than just the basics. Other brokers might see no reason to verify the rumors at all. Etzori were a simple sort; tidings of dead Immortals were good tidings. True or false didn’t matter, they had no business with the Morties, no interest in their affairs. As long as they kept their ugly mugs and uglier games outside of the city walls, it had nothing to do with them.
“Do you have an idea of when and where these rumors were first spoken?” Oberan asked.
“When is hard to pinpoint. We first heard this news in its most insubstantial form around the thirtieth, we believe? So by estimation they likely sprang into existence at the start of this cycle, or the end of the last. As for who spread them…” She stared into the darkness, looking at something only she could see past Oberan’s shoulder. Furrows lined her forehead, not of anger –the angle of her brows wasn’t as steep as it’d been earlier—but concern. “That is difficult for other reasons. We have heard many similar rumors coming from different cities, all beginning to travel Idalos within days of each other. They do not contradict one another either. The two biggest sources of the rumor seem to be the Scalvoris area and Rharne, but later on, secondary rumors confirming the first came from Ivorian, Rharne, the Empire, and several nomadic Biqaj pods traversing the seas.”
Oberan nodded slowly, lines appearing on his forehead too. “Which is why you suspect a conspiracy. They all are connected to Immortals in some way.”
“Indeed. Raskalarn and Karem, Ilaren, Ethelynda, U’frek. Strangely, however, apart from Karem, none are known to be explicitly sided against Queen Audrae. Though, we suppose Immortal relationships are always in flux. And, well, our beloved Queen wasn’t rich in allies among her kin either.”
“Still, a conspiracy… Though, I suppose… Audrae has not been sighted since the rumors were sent into the world?”
“We have received no reports of her return to Augiery, nor of any appearances elsewhere. That is not an odd thing, though. Queen Audrae comes and goes as she pleases. Sometimes she vanishes from Idalos for seasons on end to attend to her personal business and schemes. Sometimes she does not leave the city for a full year.” Aeyali took another sip of wine, quick and without her previous enjoyment. “But do keep in mind, even through our network, news travels slowly. We need to take precautions to ensure the message reaches its intended receiver safe and sound. Perhaps the report is still on its way.” Despite the hopeful infliction of her voice, she didn’t seem very convinced.
“And the other Immortals who were supposedly killed?”
Her mouth returned to a thin line, expression displeased. When she spoke it was with reluctance. “We looked into them because of the rumors. No sightings either.”
Worrying, indeed. “And all of them have been, what exactly? The other Immortals wouldn’t claim several of them had been destroyed if such a thing could be easily disproved.”
“We don’t know. We do agree something must have happened, though we can only speculate on what it might be. In any case, it has to be something that prevents them from interfering with or appearing on Idalos. Perhaps they were imprisoned? Sealed away? Either way, it cannot be a coincidence that the subjects of the rumors, the Immortals that—” she made a show of forming air quotes “—died were all considered troublesome by their kin. Queen Audrae, Mastes, Kata, Aelig, Syroa, Faldrun, Belaera.”
Oberan frowned at the last one, rubbed his beard as he thought. “The only ones missing from that lineup are Sintra and Lisirra. Perhaps Chrien.” Maybe Aeyali’s talk of conspiracies was getting to him, but the more he thought about it, the more this whole deal smelled awfully fishy. Leaving the truth of their fate aside, he couldn’t deny how suspicious it felt that only the more chaotic and uncooperative Immortals had been incapacitated in some way. Unless, of course…
“What are the chances that it is a plot by Audrae herself? With her Domains of Deception and Secrets, aided by those of Aelig and Syroa, she is certainly capable of pulling the wool over the eyes of all of Idalos, her fellow Immortals and myself included.”
Aeyali leaned back in her seat and pondered for a minute. “It is not inconceivable. However, we doubt Faldrun would allow for Shirotelle to fall apart as it is now. Precautions would have been taken to prevent such an event. But if it was an emergency situation… Yes, perhaps, we could see it… If necessary for their survival. Perhaps they were severely wounded or weakened…”
“Hm. No conclusive evidence either way. Only rumors and hearsay. Then I suppose I know what to do. I’ll seek the truth for myself. If Audrae is imprisoned, no one better suited to breaking her out than myself. The only question is where to start. Obviously I could try asking an Immortal, but I don’t think they’ll be very accommodating. Any suggestions?” He sent a glance in Aeyali’s direction.
“The origin of the rumors is mostly the Scalvoris area and Rharne,” she said. “Scalvoris especially has been a hotbed of strange phenomenon in recent times. We wouldn’t be surprised if it sits at the heart of it all tis time also. We would go there first. Perhaps there’s people there who know more. Maybe you’ll uncover the truth, or part of it. At the very least you might find a lead.”
Oberan nodded. “Then that’s where I’ll go.”
He stood without further ado, purse in hand. For a brief couple minutes they discussed payment. The price was higher than expected, Oberan figured Aeyali had not forgotten his comments on Audrae’s demise. She claimed there was no other reason but the fact she’d done most of the talking. Oberan argued a lot of her comments had elicited non-verbal responses that were worth more than idle chatter. They went back and forth for a little while, until they finally landed on a compromise. Still none too happy about it, Oberan plonked the gold coins on her desk one by one, waited until she’d counted them –she was well aware of his reputation—and headed for the door while she busied herself putting the money away.
She called out when he placed his hand on the knob. Oberan half-turned, glancing at her over his shoulder, framed by candle-light and long shadows.
“Just two things. One, our offer still stands. Two, keep us informed of your findings, and we will make it worth your while. Consider it, yes?”
“Not interested in the first. But I will keep the second in mind,” he said as he stepped out of Aeyali’s incense-scented room and back into the sewer stench.