Mistress Of The Ages (In Her Name, Book 9) Read Online Free Page B

Kura-Hagil after Ayan-Dar’s rescue of Keel-Tath from the conclave’s inquisition. They were joined by the most high of the Ana’il-Rukh from the Homeworld. The four stood upon the dais of the Kal’ai-Il at the center of the temple, and their mood was grim.
    “Ulan-Samir of the Nyur-A’il is absent, I see,” said the high priest of the Kura-Hagil. He turned to look at the high priest of the Ana’il-Rukh. “Have you any knowledge of why?”
    The priest, the youngest of the four, shook his head. “No, but I believe he is in league with Syr-Nagath, or at least is encouraging her in her pursuits. His agenda is his own, and he would not speak of it to me.”
    “That is his right,” said one of the others. “Such is in concert with the Way.”
    “That may be,” said the most high of the Kura-Hagil, clearly displeased, “but it would be most unfortunate if our plans and his ran afoul.”
    The priestess of the Ima’il-Kush looked up from her study of the names engraved in the ancient stone of the Kal’ai-Il, a record of all those who had been punished there. Many had been worn smooth by ages of wind, rain, and the tread of feet over the last hundred thousand cycles. Her name was Sian-Al’ai, and alone among those gathered there had fought in the last great war between the Settlements and the Homeworld. One of her most treasured memories and greatest honors had been a duel of swords against Ayan-Dar, an event that, miraculously, both of them had somehow survived. “Are not your goals the same? To kill Keel-Tath and bring the Desh-Ka to heel?”  
    “Syr-Nagath does not seek to bring them to heel, as you would say,” said the priest of the Ana’il-Rukh, who fashioned himself their leader. “She seeks to destroy them, to erase their kind from existence.” He paused and drew a deep breath. “And in this endeavor, I believe we have common cause.”
    “Common cause to exterminate one of the orders?” Sian-Al’ai shook her head slowly. “We should be seeking to restore the balance that has been lost, not further upset it! None of you have ever fought a Desh-Ka in challenge, let alone in war as I have. Killing them, even weakened as they are, will not be so easy. You would fare better against a genoth using nothing but your talons and teeth. And even if we could do as you suggest, the Homeworld would have a disadvantage against the Settlements. While that would serve to heighten the honor of the Homeworld’s warriors in future wars, they would be conquered too easily. The Way would not be well served.”
    “There is a means to restore the balance,” one of the others suggested. “The Ka’i-Nur could be resurrected.” The others nodded their heads in agreement.  
    Sian-Al’ai realized that her companions, all from the Settlements, had discussed their plans during her absence when she had returned to her own temple after the events at the conclave, and had clearly already decided on a course of action. All she could do now was try to dissuade them. “Even to speak such thoughts is madness! The Ka’i-Nur were a blight upon our kind before they were finally subjugated which, I would remind you, was largely at the hands — and at great price in blood — of the Desh-Ka. All of our people suffered at the hands of the Ka’i-Nur at one time or another. They are so ancient, so rooted in the old ways that nearly destroyed our kind at the end of the Second Age, that they do not even look like us! Have any of you even seen a Ka’i-Nur, other than Syr-Nagath? She herself is a hybrid, her father a hapless traveler taken as a breeder by her mother!”
    The other three shook their heads, but their eyes held no remorse or reconsideration.  
    So this was their ingenious plan , Sian-Al’ai thought bitterly. The fools!
    “They would restore the balance, fill the vacuum left by the Desh-Ka,” asserted one of the others, “especially if their crystal could be found and returned to them.”
    Unable to help herself,