7/25/3028
We made it to New Incus station with ample time to board our connecting ship for Tau City. I was a bit paranoid that someone would be looking for us as we reentered the station, but fortunately for us that wasn't the case. Maybe word from Ien City hadn't traveled to Incus yet, or perhaps those in the position of power didn't want soldiers finding a Sye-Liene that was also the Ruhamun in a public place.
Our cabin was much nicer and larger than the one we boarded from Ien. We even had our own private bathroom.
A hot bath is exactly what I need.
"Guys, mind if I use the bathroom first?" I asked.
"Go ahead," said Martin.
The bathroom was small and had the residual scent of a strong cleaning agent.
To my right was a dark gray tub with a faucet but no lever or handle, only a black panel against the wall a foot above the faucet. I waved my hand over the panel and a transparent screen appeared. My first thought was to call Elossai over to help me, but I heard Martin and Elossai laughing and decided against it. There was no need to disrupt their fun when I could figure it out on my own.
I followed the simple instructions and the water from the faucet spout flowed out and stopped by itself when the tub was a little more than half full. I grinned with satisfaction and stepped into the tub.
As I soaked, I couldn't help but ruminate over the Mórese girl. Martin, Ilta and Elossai insisted that I couldn't have killed her because I wasn't Sye-Liene. I understood that. What I couldn't figure out was why I still dreamed as if I was her? Could it be that my desire to be her was that strong? No, that was silly. Why would I dream about a place if I'd never been there before? I had to have been there at some point, hadn't I?
I shut my eyes for a minute, and it helped me relax a little. Shutting my eyes was always a good way to calm myself and escape from things that bothered me. But when I opened them again, I wasn't in the bathroom. I was standing in water up to my shoulders and Sye-Liene stood in the water in front of me.
I groaned. "What do you want?"
Sye-Liene shook her head and pointed to her throat.
"You can't speak again?"
She nodded. I opened my locket and touched the corin like I had before.
"Thank you," said Sye-Liene.
"You keep showing up—what do you want?" I asked.
"I want to know how things are progressing."
"Why does it matter to you anyway?"
"Why are you questioning me?" Sye-Liene maintained a calm composure, but I could see that she didn't like that I wasn't answering her. "Was it not I who instilled the knowledge of how to use the locket so that you could make contact with your friend's little sister?"
"Yeah," I said, reluctantly. She was right about helping me contact the Ras and indirectly, Katie, but I didn't forget about what happened to the Mórese girl. I decided to ask her about it. "The Mórese girl; did you push her into the Ora?"
"I beg your pardon?"
I was deadpan. "The girl on Mór Mountain."
Sye-Liene blinked and her expression became cold. "What are you talking about? Why would you ask me something like this?"
"You hiked up Mór Mountain and met with the Ras and a teenage boy. Then the Mórese girl..."
"Oh, you're speaking of that..." Her eyes drifted to the side.
"Is she the Mórese Governor's daughter?" I asked.
Sye-Liene stalled for a moment, then answered, "Yes."
"And did you kill her?"
"You must understand that I was defending myself. I would have spared her if she stopped, but she wouldn't. She wanted me dead." Her blue eyes twinkled intensely. "You doubt me, Ellis?"
"You make it difficult for me to trust you."
"There is a great deal about the Ankins that you don't yet know about. Just look at how they lied to the Kings to achieve what they wanted. They also kept you prisoner, have you forgotten already? I am the only person you can truly trust. Believe me, I have your best interests at heart."
I nodded slowly. What she said was true. The Ankins did keep me prisoner and stage the confirmation.
"Ellis," she continued, "all the Ankins have given you are broken promises. I have never lied to you. Haven't I been helping you every step of the way?"
Sye-Liene's points were valid, but I still wanted to know just one more thing. "Can you tell me the girl's name?" I asked.
"Of course—why should I hide it from you?" Sye-Liene said with an air of confidence.
She wobbled out of focus for a moment, and then the hallucination began to fade entirely.
"No!" I shouted, desperate to keep hold of it for just a second more. Then, just before she faded out of sight, Sye-Liene said the name I didn't want to hear.
Lise-An.
***
I came out of the steamy bathroom and looked around for Ilta but couldn't spot her. Martin and Elossai sat on the bottom bunk on the bed, holding hands and laughing about something. Elossai pulled her hand away from Martin's when she spotted me. A blush crept up her neck.
"Hey... Do you guys know where Ilta went?" I asked.
"Ilta said she had to do something, and we should meet her in the cafeteria for dinner in a bit," Martin said. He stood up and walked over to me. "I'm gonna go wash up before we head out to dinner."
I waited until I heard the water in the bathroom running, then turned to Elossai. "Is everything okay?"
"Oh, it's nothing." She shook her head then looked down, blushing once more.
"Did I come out at a bad time?" I sat beside her on the bed.
"Oh, no... Nothing like that. Martin was just teaching me this game. I believe it is called a thumb war."
"Ah, the good ole' thumb war," I said. "So why are you embarrassed?"
"I thought that you might not approve."
"Why wouldn't I approve of a thumb war?"
"Well, we had to hold hands..." She twiddled with her thumbs as if she were having a thumb war on her own.
I still didn't see what the big deal was, but I had a guess. "Elossai," I whispered. "Do you like Martin?"
"Yes, of course I do. He is so much fun to be around," she said, cheerfully. "Is there something wrong?"
My question had obviously gone over her head.
"No, everything's fine." I said. I wanted to tell Elossai about the name Sye-Liene had told me, but she seemed too distracted.
Better put it on hold.
After Martin had gotten washed up, the three of us went to the cafeteria where Ilta was already waiting with our meal tickets. After we selected our meals, we found a quiet booth in a corner.
"Ellis Ann," Ilta said out of the blue. "I must apologize to you."
"What for?"
"I have always treated you with contempt because I believed you to be Sye-Liene. I do not trust her, and even now I advise you to carefully reassess anything you have learned from her," she scooted forward and rested her elbows on the table. I leaned in closer. "I believe that you and I must try to regain some form of trust between us if we are to succeed in rescuing Katie. So now I must apologize." Ilta bowed her head, earnestly.
"It's alright, Ilta," I said with a smile.
"Awesome. Now that you two got that off your chests, can we eat? Foods gettin' cold." Martin gave his eyebrows a playful waggle. Ilta and I exchanged embarrassed smiles then nodded. I was quite relieved that Ilta and I finally understood each other.
In the dining room there were mostly Todaji having their meals. The Todaji were covered in fur like the Olourians except that they were of Ankin height and didn't have fur growing on their faces. From a distance I'd think that a Todaji was an Ankin wearing a fur suit underneath regular clothing.
"Food tastes extra delicious when you're starved," Martin said as he cleaned up the last few items on his plate.
"That is very true," Elossai nodded.
"So Ilta, how long 'til we get to Tau City?"
"We should arrive quarter to ten in the evening," Ilta said after dabbing her mouth with a napkin. "When we arrive, we will stay at an inn for the night. It would not be wise to wander out of the city after nightfall. For now, we should head back to our cabin and remain there for the duration of our trip. I don't want to draw any attention to us."
"Sounds good," Martin agreed.
As suggested by Ilta, we returned to our cabin. Martin and Elossai were chatting to each other again while Ilta practiced lightly with Martin's sheathed sword. I was the only one with absolutely nothing to do except think about the hallucinatory conversation I had with Sye-Liene.
I managed fifteen minutes before breaking. "Ilta, do you have a minute?" I asked.
Ilta looked at me inquisitively before sitting beside me. "What is it?"
"Your dislike for Sye-Liene..." I tried to tread as lightly around the topic as I could. "May I ask why?"
Ilta thought for a moment. Her blue eyes grew dim and distant, then flinched as if recalling something that was painful. She straightened her back and her face hardened. "It wasn't just one specific incident or thing that she did. She was hiding something, and I always felt that her behavior toward people was subjective to their importance."
"You mean like how she would act around Keiran?"
"Exactly. I saw through her pretense when Keiran Anmus did not." Ilta shifted into a more comfortable position. "One day, Sye-Liene confronted me about my suspicions and I told her exactly how I felt."
"What did she say?" I leaned toward her in anticipation.
Ilta's jaw tightened. "She put me in my place."
Whatever Sye-Liene said to Ilta those years ago had hurt her deeply, and it hadn't healed. I didn't press her further.
***
Much to Ilta's disdain, our ship arrived in Tau City nearly an hour behind schedule. Unlike Incus City where everyone disembarked the ship in an orderly fashion, everyone rushed out without queuing. We exited the crowded station only to be bombarded by chaos on a larger scale. Merchants yelled loudly in broken Ankin, advertising their wares that ranged from gadgets to food. A combination of traditional carriages and a few corin carriages zoomed by on the streets bringing with it a gust of wind that made the cluttered street garbage float up into the air before settling.
"Where to now?" Martin asked.
"I've made reservations at an inn for the night," Ilta said, motioning for us to follow her.
We stopped to cross the road, but carriages continued to speed by, not giving us the chance to cross. Finally, a group of Todaji darted out into the street to cross when there was a small window of opportunity.
"Quickly now," Ilta said before we ran out into the street, capitalizing on the opportunity to have our way paved ahead of us.
They can't run over all of us.
When we got to the inn, Ilta paid first before we were given the keys to our room.
In our medium-sized suite were four decrepit-looking beds lined straight across. At this point, I didn't care if the beds weren't comfortable because I was exhausted.
I slipped out of my cloak and collapsed face-down onto one of the beds. I laid there, recounting about how far we had come. We were finally here in Tau.
I craned my head over to see what Martin was up to only to find him blankly staring out the window. I knew he was thinking about Katie. "Martin, we'll get her back." I said.
"Yeah. Yeah, I know." Martin said in a low voice then came over and plunked himself on my bed. It was impossible for him to feel relief just yet. Until Katie was safe with him, there would be no relief. Martin cleared his throat. "So, what's the next step?"
"Rahaiwen said that I should contact her again once we got here," I said, sitting up. Ilta and Elossai looked at me disapprovingly.
"Contact Rahaiwen?" Ilta shook her head. "I think it might be better if I do the negotiating from this point forward."
"That's not a good idea, Ilta. I don't think they'll like the fact that we brought you, an Ankin that works closely with the crown, into this," I said.
"Ellis Ann is right," Elossai chimed in. "We might be putting Katie in jeopardy if they knew you and I were involved. It also might be an advantage that they don't know about you accompanying us."
Ilta folded her arms across her chest. She didn't like it, but she saw that Elossai's point was valid. "Fine. What is your strategy when you make contact with Rahaiwen?"
"Rahaiwen will reveal their location and our previous plan where Ellis Ann will secure Katie before we attack the Ras will be in effect," Elossai answered, on my behalf.
Ilta pressed her already thin lips into an even tighter line. A moment later she finally gave a relenting sigh. "Alright. Make contact, but do not agree to any new conditions."
Elossai locked the door and I put on my cloak. Martin stood in front of me looking like he wanted in, too.
"There's no point in you coming. We know that Katie won't be there. I'll be quick, I promise," I said.
Martin nodded and stepped back reluctantly. He knew as well as I did that the Ras wouldn't bring Katie this time.
***
I'd expected to see Rahaiwen come out from the trees immediately, but she wasn't here yet. I went to the edge of the cliff and gazed down on the forest of trees below. It stretched as far as my eyes could see, an ocean of rich, deep green. I felt slightly dizzy and stepped away from the edge.
"It is a long way down, isn't it, Anmyn?" Rahaiwen's sleek voice purred from behind me.
I turned around and swallowed uneasily. "Uh... Yeah."
"Have you made it to Tau?" She walked smoothly toward me.
"Yes," I said.
"Good. Open your locket and I will show you how to travel here in person." I looked at her skeptically for a moment. "I can't touch you, remember?" She clasped her hands together gently.
She couldn't do anything to me in this world, but I still didn't feel entirely comfortable with her. Regardless, I did as she asked and opened my locket.
"I'm quite pleased that you decided to come." A dimple appeared by her lip when she smiled. She reached into her pocket for something. "I should add that Gundhram was overcome with joy when I told him."
"Gundhram?"
"My apologies," she said, shifting. "War Raven." I had thought War Raven was another name for her sister Razelle.
"He will be most pleased to see you. Mind you, he has changed in appearance since you last saw him." She pulled out a locket of her own and flipped it open with one hand. She laid it flat on her palm and hovered her hand over the corin center. "Now do as I do, Anmyn."
"And what is it that we're doing?"
"We are setting your compass to my location so that your locket can guide you to me," she said.
When I held my hand over my locket's corin, Rahaiwen began reciting in another language—I guessed it was Sye. The corin in my locket started to glow and I felt a warmth spread in my hand. The needle initially twitched from side to side faintly, then accelerated until it was spinning at a rapid pace.
"What's going on?"
"It is done." Rahaiwen put her locket back in her pocket. "It will now guide you in the right direction. Head to the Sigti forest. From there, all you will need to do is follow the needle."
My compass was still spinning, showing no signs of waning. "It's spinning. How is the compass pointing me in any direction?"
"It's spinning because we aren't anywhere at the moment. I shall see you soon, Anmyn." Rahaiwen bowed and made the inverted triangle gesture as she backed away.