The Power and the Glory

Book 3 Chapter XXII: Face to Face

He had certainly seen pictures of Abi's parents before, and he had probably seen these specific ones, but she had a feeling this was about something more than just recognising the photos.

"Did you know there's a Saoridhian doctor living here?" Mirio said.

Abi closed the locket and went along with the change of subject. "No. Why's he here? Aren't there enough doctors in Gengxin?"

~~~~

A girl playing with a dog. A boy sitting on a swing. A boy with a familiar smile. Mirio could have kicked himself. Why hadn't he realised before? He recognised that smile because it was similar to Abi's!

Which raised many important questions. Why did Lian have childhood photos of Abi's parents and why did he say they were his?

Mirio firmly refused to consider the obvious answer. It was ridiculous. Not only that, it was utterly implausible. He'd met all of Abi's siblings. If she had another brother she would have mentioned it.

After saying goodbye to Abi he went straight back to Zi Yao's palace and knocked Lian's door. No answer. Casting politeness aside, Mirio pushed the door open and stepped in. The room was empty. Lian's diary sat on the bedside table. Next to it were those photos. They were exactly the same as the ones Abi had shown him a few minutes ago.

There was just the faintest hint of a resemblance between Abi's mother and Lian. No matter how hard Mirio thought about it he had to admit there was no resemblance at all between Abi herself and Lian. Probably there was a good explanation. Maybe Lian had noticed the slight resemblance and decided to pass himself off as a royal.

But that makes no sense either because he never claimed to be royal.

None of this made sense. It felt like he had stumbled into the middle of someone else's family scandal.

~~~~

After Mirio left Abi opened the locket again and studied the photos. There was nothing odd about them. Certainly nothing that should have provoked such a strange reaction. Unless Mirio had gained an intense dislike of Saoridhin fashions from her parents' childhood -- and honestly she wouldn't blame him; those puffed sleeves and hedgehog-like hairstyles were utterly ridiculous -- he shouldn't have reacted like that. It was a mystery.

Abi shrugged and fastened the locket around her neck again. Oh well. It wasn't really important.

She wandered slowly back through the gardens. She was in no hurry to see Aunt Jiarlúr again, but if she stayed out for much longer she just knew another lecture was in store for her. The path led past flowerbeds full of brightly-coloured flowers she couldn't name. Every few minutes Abi stopped to examine one. In spite of her delaying tactics she reached the edge of the gardens far too quickly.

The gardens were surrounded by a river. At the edge of the garden was a stone bridge. Abi stopped short when she saw someone was already on the bridge. They were leaning against the wall and staring down at the river.

I hope they don't try to talk to me, she thought. The only words of Gengxinese she knew were "Hello" and "Goodbye".

The person turned as Abi approached. To her surprise she saw they weren't Gengxinese even though their clothes were.

This must be the doctor Mirio mentioned, she thought.

She didn't particularly want to talk to anyone right now, not even another Saoridhian, so she bowed and said nothing. He returned her bow and, thank the gods, also stayed silent. He turned back to the river and apparently ignored her existence. As she tried to pass him she felt a strange heaviness in the atmosphere. It was almost like the presence of... Her eyes widened. It was exactly like the presence of dark magic.

Abi stopped short just beside the doctor. He spun round as abruptly as if he expected her to attack him. The two of them stared at each other. Abi almost forgot about the dark magic when she got a good look at his face.

His eyes were the most vivid shade of silver she'd ever seen.

The memory of Imrahil's portrait came rushing back. Her mind superimposed the portrait over the doctor's face and she saw their eyes were exactly the same. Their faces were similar yet with enough differences for her to be unsure if they were the same person, but their eyes...

Imrahil was dead. Imrahil was dead and drowned and his body had never been recovered. He was dead.

Abi stumbled back. She collided with the wall of the bridge. For a terrible dizzying moment she felt as if she was about to fall. Then the stranger grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back.

"What's wrong?" he asked in Saoridhian. Saoridhian that had a distinct upper-class accent. It was exactly like her parents' and siblings' accent.

There was a moment's silence. Abi opened and closed her mouth. She couldn't think of anything to say. The stranger watched her all the time like she was a bug under a microscope. Then he smiled, bitterly and humourlessly.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," he remarked.

Abi glared at him. In light of how shaken his appearance had left her, that comment seemed to be in rather bad taste. "I was just wondering why you're surrounded by dark magic."

The stranger's smile disappeared. He stared at her coldly. "How strange. I was wondering why you're surrounded by dark magic. And not just any dark magic either, is it?" His smile came back again. He tilted his head to the side like a bird. "Whatever have you been doing meddling with necromancy?"

END OF BOOK 3