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Rythwar's soul statues are still intact. They're alive, just missing."
"There's the park," I said, pointing ahead. We'd been walking a good hour and
now faced a large, enclosed wild space. Though wild might be a misnomer
considering the fact that this was Aladril. Nothing seemed wild or untamed in
the city of seers.
We came to the edge of the gardens, which were enclosed by a six-foot marble
wall that stretched to either side as far as we could see. The central
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entrance was unlocked and the gate open but even so, as we passed the borders,
I could sense the separation between the main city and the sunken gardens. For
one thing, the temperature rose a good thirty degrees once we passed the main
gate.
Marble steps led down through terrace after terrace of roses, jasmine, and
lilies. Flowers and foliage entwined in an exotic embrace, while walkways
guided pedestrians through the blossoms. The gardens were fifteen tiers deep,
and both ramps and stairs led to the bottom terrace. Benches along the way,
wrought in brass and stone, offered the footsore a place to rest and meditate.
At the bottom, a railing enclosed a large fountain, where an amber water, lit
by some form of magic, sprayed out from a large series of geometric cubes.
"It's so warm here," Morio said, glancing around.
"Think of it like an outdoor greenhouse with an invisible ceiling, heated by
magical energy. There are public bams here, if I remember right." Camille
glanced around as we began to descend the stairs. She looked totally blissed
out.
"Enjoying the contact high?" I asked, grinning.
"Oh yeah," she said, closing her eyes for a moment as she soaked up the
energy. "Magic runs like wine and I'm getting tipsy. I could enjoy living
here, I think."
"Not likely," I said. "I doubt you'd mesh in well. You're too full of life to
be comfortable around such sedate energy, no matter how magical, and you know
it." I flashed her a smile as we wended our way along the path. Occasionally
we passed someone sitting on a bench or on the grass, but no one looked up or
gave any sign they noticed us.
A sudden screech startled me. An owl, perched on the limb of a willow tree,
watched us. I could feel its stare burrowing through the night.
"We're being examined," I muttered in a low voice. "Owl at two o'clock in the
willow."
Camille's gaze flickered up to examine our voyeur. "That's no owl," she said.
"Possibly a familiar, but no ordinary owl."
Morio concurred. "Not a Were either. It might be some other form of
shapeshifter, or perhaps a shadow-scout an illusion set to spy on us."
"I think we should ignore it for now." Camille let out a low breath. "If we
interfere with it, we'll alert whoever's watching. We have no idea who sent
it, and if they're not one of the bad guys, we might hurt our alliances by
being obnoxious about it."
"What alliances?" I snorted. "We're just hoping that something will come out
of the meeting with Jareth. We don't know for sure that this trip is going to
be anything except a big waste of time."
"Queen Asteria seems to think otherwise. And there's no sense in breaking an
alliance that's barely begun." Camille frowned, thinking. "For now, let's just
keep our eyes open. If somebody's following us, they'll slip up eventually."
As we crossed through the gardens the owl followed us, silently gliding from
tree to tree. I tried not to focus on it. Most likely the three guards who'd
given us our identification decided that we weren't to be trusted and had sent
the owl to follow us. Whatever the case, we were almost to the other side.
The climb up fifteen tiers of steps took a little longer than going down, but
Morio was in excellent shape and neither Camille nor I were tired. Living
Earthside had done little to diminish our endurance. At the gate, I saw the
owl veer off.
Interesting. Perhaps our sentinel merely wanted to make sure we were going
where we actually said we were.
As we exited the gardens, I hesitated. The thought of just finding a soft
space in which to rest and relax was so tempting that I was reluctant to
leave. When we had time and energy, maybe my sisters and I could come here and
enjoy the lulling hush.
The park opened out onto the Hall of Temples, which was actually another
avenue, this one filled with one great marble structure after another. The
name was spot on. I could see at least fifteen different temples stretching in
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either direction. I wondered how the priests managed all that disparate energy
swirling around in such close proximity but no doubt the founders of Aladril
had thought of a solution for that, too.
"What are we looking for, again?" Camille asked.
"The Temple of Reckoning," Morio said with a grin. "And may I add that the
name doesn't inspire feelings of confidence?" He stared at the massive row of
temples. "I've never seen anything quite like this, not in all my journeys. I
wonder if this is what ancient Greece or Egypt looked like?"
"I dunno, but I agree with you on the name thing. I wonder what gods this
Jareth follows?" Camille looked at me, but I shook my head.
"I have no idea. Religion has never been my strong suit. It's not something to
which I aspire," I added. The gods had ignored me in my time of need and I'd
pretty much made up my mind that they only meddled in mortal affairs when it
suited their private agendas. If you relied on them, you'd be left holding the
bag of tricks at precisely the wrong moment.
The streets were sparsely populated, unlike the main thoroughfare, but there
was enough activity to ensure we should be able to ask someone for directions. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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