The Arbiter Unforgiven

Chapter Twelve, Part B - Saiph

What has been happening in this house?? Will it be what you expect? --Elizabeth

Grinning now, Saiph moved to the center of the room where the floor was conspicuously clear. Kicking aside a few rancid smelling sleeping mats, he examined the nest that they had made for themselves. Bowls, cups, and forks all sticky with food, were casually tossed into the dirty blankets helter-skelter.

Papers crinkled under one of the cushions he was pushing aside.

Saiph nearly dismissed it as part of the mess, but it looked a drawing. An old one...

"What's that?" Mirrah peered around his shoulder.
"Looks like someone tore a page out of a book. Several books in fact. I can't even read some of this." Saiph handed the sheave of paper to Mirrah who studied them with a frown that turned into an expression of pure astonishment. "What?"

"This is...I know this is Nadir's writing!"

"These are from the Tower? What? Who could have wanted them?" Saiph blinked. "And how did that damn drakys know how to write?"

"I thought it must have been Serreh manipulating things...but this makes no sense"

"What did they take?"

"It doesn't seem important." Mirrah licked her lips, glancing up at him quickly. "This one here is the story of the first Icon, Rachel. It's a copy of her diary, and a few notes from her Apprentice. Nadir must have wanted to add them to his official record he started later."

"What about the rest of it?"

"This is the part that doesn't make sense. It's not a secret. It's just a list of materials, I think. Part of the tithes that the people brought to the Icon, perhaps? I can't tell when though, it doesn't even mention which Icon." Mirrah frowned and tapped at one of the items on the list. "Must be one of the earliest Icons, though."

"Why?"

"Because some of these things haven't been produced in Waterwall since the formation of the shield. This Icon was bringing up iron ore from the ground, and asking that it be made into—"

"Weapons?"

"No...a support structure of some kind. There is a reference here to another book, and something about a chamber...but I've never seen anything in Waterwall that required iron beams to hold it up. It wasn't a secret. There were many villagers involved, apparently. It was part of a...I can't make out that word...of a defense? A bastion?"

They stood for a moment in the cluttered room amidst the smell of decay and the chaos of cramped make-shift sleeping quarters. His mind went around and around in circles. It maddened him. Saiph hated riddles. Rigel would be able to figure something like this in a heartbeat. He saw how things connected in a way that Saiph would never understand. Saiph's whole world revolved around Mirrah...

Reaching out, he brushed a dark curl of hair off her shoulder. "You know, everything that was ever done in Waterwall, had to be done with the knowledge of the Icons, and therefore Nadir. If it involved a major work, it would also be in the annals of the Arbiter."

"The Icon wouldn't have meant to keep this secret. Nothing an Icon does should be hidden away, that's not how this is supposed to work."

"So...where would we find a record of a metal structure? If the Icon pulled ore out of the ground, and it was smelted in Waterwall, then there will be a way to find it."

She nodded, but her face remained troubled.

"They brought these here... Serreh said they were sick. It seems more likely that they were looking for this structure."

"I've lived in this garrison my whole life. This whole place is made of stone with very little wood, and that was added later to make it comfortable for a family. There is no iron here. No one had the nerve to dig for it when this place was built."

"They didn't need to dig. The Icon did that for them." Mirrah looked down. With both hands, she seized the nearest pallet with both hands and flung it across the room. Her new strength always surprised him.

"Why are we doing this?" He asked as he started to push at the nearest pile.

"They knew something was here. Serreh didn't send them here, they wanted to go. Maybe they weren't even sick. They took those records, and they must have figured out where the structure was here."

"Mirrah I'm telling you..."

He stopped talking as she dug into the floor, cutting through it as if her nails were claws. How fragile he must be to her now. When she held him, how much of herself did she hold back? Saiph did the only reasonable thing and backed away as she became more and more aggressive in her attack of the floor. After she had cleared a four foot diameter, exposing the stone below, she went to work on the stone. This she had more trouble with, and her nails bloodied as she attacked the mortar.

"Saiph, a little help here?"
"I just wanted to discover your limitations, wife. Don't hiss at me. Here. We can destroy my mother's floor as much as you like. Attack the grout, not the stones themselves, we can pry it up that way."

Mirrah stamped her foot and the stone cracked. She looked down with surprise in her eyes and she started to fall. Saiph rushed forward, reaching out to catch the hands that reached for him. He caught her, and hardly had time to brace himself before she started to pull him after her. For one breathless moment, he thought they would both tumble into the darkness. Then she swung there, her dark eyes wide with fear.

"It's okay. I've got you."

"Iguess I was a little impetuous."