Destiny's Rift (Broken Well Trilogy) by Sam Bowring Page B

each other’s side, they were still facing a direction dictated by him. He did not seem to realise how much his decisions affected her. Still, even though she did not enjoy admitting it herself, she loved him more deeply than she had ever loved anything, and so with him she would stand.
    ‘So,’ she said, ‘we’re in this together, it seems.’
    ‘Aye,’ he said, and reached over to squeeze her hand.
    •
    As Bel walked out of the Open Castle, despite the warmth of Jaya’s hand in his, a certain short-lived peace left him. It had been good having something to concentrate on, and installing Fahren as Throne instead of that worm Thedd had been a positive step in the general direction of his enormous goal. However it had been a distraction at best, and now that it was done with, he was back to wondering what he was supposed to do next. He had his mission from Arkus, but still no idea how to go about achieving it. Even if he did manage to find the Stone, that was only one step, beyond which he could not see the next. It all seemed so insurmountable, yet he was impatient to get started. Couldn’t Arkus have given him some clues as to how ? Or was it possible that a god could not know everything?
    They arrived at the entrance to the Open Tower.
    ‘You’ve never been in here before, I imagine?’ said Bel.
    Jaya gazed up at the towering pinnacle. ‘Not that I recall.’
    At the top they were let into Fahren’s quarters by a guard. Inside, they found the old mage sitting at his round table, using a fine quill to write on a tiny piece of parchment, while a sundart pecked happily at a bowl of seed.
    ‘Ah,’ Fahren said, and his gaze came to rest on Jaya. Bel wondered if he would have to insist that Fahren could speak openly in front of her. It wasn’t as if she wouldn’t find out everything anyway. Apparently Fahren came to the same conclusion, for he gestured at two seats opposite him. ‘Please, sit. Both of you.’
    He rolled up the parchment and attached it to the bird’s leg. ‘No rush, my friend,’ he said, stroking the creature lightly. ‘You finish your meal.’ The bird chirped, head down in the seed. ‘Yes, yes,’ said Fahren. ‘I know you’d no intention of doing otherwise.’ He picked at his teeth, as if there was something caught there, then shook his head. ‘Funny thing,’ he said. ‘When you open an empathic connection with animals, you feel some of what they feel. For a moment, I thought I had a seed stuck in my teeth.’
    ‘Birds don’t have teeth,’ Jaya pointed out.
    ‘Same general area,’ said Fahren, waving a hand. ‘Now, I’ve had some interesting news from one of my mages. It seems he recently had reason to investigate the sighting of something undead in Cadmir – a small village quite close to Ismore.’
    ‘Undead?’ said Jaya. ‘I thought we didn’t have any of those in Kainordas.’
    ‘As a general rule we don’t, and certainly necromancy is strictly forbidden. The abomination was most likely “born” in Fenvarrow. My mage, a man called Gellan, writes that a young girl from Cadmir claims to have seen a skeleton in the woods.’ He leaned over the table towards Bel. ‘She described it as having a burnt appearance.’
    Suddenly Bel was sitting up very straight in his seat.
    ‘When I was a girl,’ said Jaya, ‘I imagined seeing all kinds of things. And certainly I told plenty of lies.’
    ‘Of course,’ said Fahren. ‘That was why Gellan investigated further. Following the girl’s directions, he found a place in the woods that matched her description. In a cave set in the mountainside, he sensed residual traces of shadow magic. It seems the girl was telling the truth.’
    Bel felt excitement rise – did he finally have a direction?
    ‘Excuse me,’ said Jaya, glancing between the two men, ‘but I feel as if I’m missing something here.’
    ‘Has Bel told you of Fazel?’ Fahren asked.
    ‘Yes. Quite a tale, that one.’
    ‘Indeed,’ said Fahren.