Peric thought for a moment, trying to get into the mind of someone who’d been torn away from their family and everything they knew, which was strangely easy. “No matter how much time passes the races are still angry that the fae created them and the worlds, so it must make things worse when someone ends up on a different world because of what the fae has done. If it wasn’t for the fae none of this would exist and I can imagine how it must feel to end up on another world, alone, knowing that it’s unlikely you’ll ever get back.” He shook his head. “Even though you know that it’s not because of the fae, but due to the sentient worlds, it’s likely that the average person will.”
“The fae created the worlds, so technically they did create the problem, and I still blame the fae for things I probably shouldn’t.” Meriwether shrugged. “It doesn’t matter that I was one, once, that I was a part of creating this whole mess, because I know now what it’s like to be one of the created races. I’ve seen it from the other side, in a way none of the fae hiding away in warded settlements will ever be able to, and I hate the person I was for helping to create the worlds. Yet I can’t help loving the worlds at the same time. They’re beautiful and get more so as time passes.”
“What other lives have you lived?”
Meriwether looked at Peric, the deer assessing the mouse in a way that should have bothered Peric but didn’t. He could see himself doing the same thing if someone was asking him about his previous lives, because it was one of those things that could only be told to the right person, and he just hoped that Meriwether would think he was the right person.
“My longest life was my fae life. The fae’s lifespan has increased thanks to the amount of magic there is within Athare. I lived for nearly 600 years and I spent most of that time on Athare, because I never felt the need to travel. I was on the World Walker’s Council and a part of so many important decisions that I was satisfied with staying on the world I really started to think of as home. Unlike some of the fae I got to know a lot of the Walkers, who told me about the other worlds, the races, and gave me an understanding that I don’t think many of the other fae had. Even those who were on the Council. When I died I stayed a spirit for just over a hundred years, travelling the Web in a form I knew a lot of people didn’t even realise existed, although I think the Walkers did.
“I think the Walkers knew a lot more than they let on, but I’m not surprised they kept a lot of things to themselves. In their position I would have done the same thing.” Meriwether smiled. “During the time I was travelling I ended up on one of the Gaeloms. It’s a world the Weavers went to, because they knew about the spirits who travelled the worlds, and taught one of the races there how to call the travelling spirits to them using a ritual. Most of the time it’s gives all the spirits in the area the freedom to chose if they want to share a body, but sometimes the magic they use is too strong, and I happened to be there at a time when the magic was so strong it dragged every spirit in a hundred mile radius into the bodies of one of their people. A lot of the people weren’t volunteers either, which made things difficult, but I did, like everyone else, eventually get used to sharing a body with someone.”
“Who are the Weavers?”
“They’re one of Eithne’s races, who live on Athare. She always kept what she knew about them to herself and I later found out, during my lifetime as a multiple, that they’d been sentient before they took the bodies that Eithne made for them.” Meriwether ran a hand over his antler in a way that reminded Peric of the way Lucille sometimes ran had hand through her hair. “Bronwen knew about it, but she knew a lot more about everything than she ever let on. I think Emrys was another one who knew more than he let on and I have this suspicion that he’s been travelling through time ever since the day he left Athare.”
“What makes you think that?”
“I was alive during the time the Walkers became demons and the Council lost a lot more demons than they ever caught. Some thought it was due to the leader of the Council at the time, who was Riordan’s son, especially as he was a Walker, but the way it happened made me think that Emrys had something to do with it. In one night pretty much every Walker on Athare disappeared and no one could find them.”
“You don’t think that’s something Riordan’s son could have done?”
“It’s possible, but I don’t think he would have known enough about the worlds and the Web. Emrys was a part of everything. He helped to create the Web, he worked with Riordan on a couple of worlds, he worked with Bronwen and Eithne, and if there’s anyone who would have known somewhere he could hide a thousand Walkers it was Emrys.”
“A thousand?”
Meriwether nodded, smiling. “I think they went to one of the Gaeloms. Emrys made the world the way he did for a reason and I think it’s because Emrys was connected with Athare. The worlds can’t see the future in the way that a diviner can, but the worlds have a way of communicating with themselves that means that Athare would have known what was coming. She would have told herself about the Walkers and what needed to be done in order to save them so her past self could have told Emrys.”
***
Bertram tried not to show how worried he was that Sini would look at him with disgust, because he didn’t feel any sympathy for the fae, but she didn’t. She nodded, looking as though she really understood his point of view. When their eyes met he could see that he’d made her think about things a different way and was grateful for it.
“You’re not callous, Bertram, and I’m sure that’s the way the majority of the created races view the fae. I just can’t help thinking that without them we wouldn’t exist, so I am grateful for what they did. I like living. I like living on Quiar, I like talking to Lucille and learning about the other worlds of the Web, and I like knowing that one day I might be able to travel the worlds myself.” Sini shrugged. “Maybe there were other ways they could have done things, but this one was the one they chose, and if they hadn’t…” She looked around. “Our world wouldn’t exist.”
“I never said I wasn’t grateful. I just don’t pity them for the choices they had to make. They never had to be in the position they found themselves in if they’d simply thought about what they were doing.” Bertram shook his head. “Destroying a world by using up all its magic is more than selfish, it’s stupidly selfish, and to stop the destruction all they needed to do was stop using magic.”
“True, but the Thirteen families were only one group of the fae, and even if they had of stopped there’s no guarantee that the other groups would have done. I also think that magic is addictive, because it can make life easier.” Sini sighed. “Unfortunately there are people who use the power they have the wrong way.”
“Power corrupts. The fae are corrupted by it, even after all that happened, because they still want to be in control of everything the created, as long as they view it as worthwhile. We, thankfully, aren’t on that list.”
“It doesn’t mean that Quiar isn’t.”
Nodding, Bertram tried not to think about what might happen if the fae did decide they wanted control of Quiar. “Maybe, if that ever happens, Emrys would come to our rescue, because this is the world created and we are the races he chose to place here.”
“Do you really think he would?”
“If he’s still alive I think it’s possible. From what Lucille said it seems like the creators did begin to feel an obligation towards the worlds they made and the races the placed on them.”
“I really would love to meet one of the creators, especially Emrys, because there are so many questions I have that could only be answered by someone who was there when the worlds and the races were created. I doubt it will ever happen, even though Lucille said that it’s possible that anyone travelling through the doors might end up travelling through time.” Sini looked suddenly worried. “Do you think that might happen to Lucille?”
“Quiar has chosen Lucille, so I can’t see it happened, unless the time comes when none of the worlds that chose our Moonjumper need her any longer.” Bertram looked down at Lucille, who was still talking to a mouse stall holder, and knew she was probably learning all she could abut the counterfeits. “We were lucky, Sini, that Quiar chose her and that she’s happy to help us with her problems, even though the Council wouldn’t be happy with the choices she’s made.”
“I know we are. Her arrival changed everything in Sheepshank, so hopefully she’ll have the same effect here, and we’ll soon have all the counterfeiters rounded up.” Sini sighed. “It’ll take a long time to get all of the counterfeits out of the market though.”
“We didn’t suffer as badly as you seem to have suffered here. From what I heard a couple of people got hurt, but their injuries healed quickly. Here…” Bertram reached out with a wing and touched Sini’s shoulder gently. “It’s been very different for the people of Seahorse Port.”
Sini smiled sadly at Bertram. “Even when the case has been solved and the criminals have been rounded up there are going to be people dealing with the damage the counterfeiters caused. The charms have injured people all over the city, some of the charm makers were threatened by the counterfeiters, and there are stall holders who lost their stalls because they couldn’t afford more charms when they found out their purchased charms were mostly counterfeits.” She shook her head. “I wish it was going to be a simple fix, but it’s not going to be.”
“Nothing is simple, Sini, especially not when it comes to something as pervasive as counterfeit charms. Charms are something that everyone in Larnach uses, whether that’s on a regular basis or occasionally, and counterfeiting them means that they have affected a whole chain of people. Importers will be affected, because anyone who sells charms won’t know if they can be trusted, then the charms that the sellers have on their stalls will be looked at with suspicion, and anyone who would normally buy one will think again about whether they really need it or not. In the end I can see the majority of people walking away, simply not buying charms because it’s easier, or going to someone they can watch make the charm so they know for a fact it’s safe.”
“I hate it, Bertram, and I hate whoever it is that’s counterfeiting the charms.”
“We all do.”
“Who could do something so…” Sini shook her head. “Evil is such a strong word, but it’s the only one that fits.”
“Criminals don’t care who they hurt as long as they get what they want. I have no idea what the counterfeiters want, but they are being hurt by what they’re doing and they’re probably making good money even though people aren’t buying charms, so they have no reason to stop.” Bertram shrugged. “They don’t care who they are hurting. Your sister, anyone else who might have been hurt, the stall holders, and the importers are nothing to them.”
Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.
