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Topiara - Chapter 63
Jilan and Lyara were all eyes as they were ushered through the vestibule of the Oracle's fine mansion very near the Palace itself. The ceilings were high – much higher than usual for a Talandri mansion – and everything was of a very pale grey stone that was nearly translucent. Their footsteps echoed off the stone walls as they followed a very quiet and retiring steward into a tall, narrow hallway that ended at a pair of doors that stood open. In the doorway of what looked to be a visitor's salon stood Bandriel, dressed in a simple white robe.
"You know why you're here?" Bandriel asked his guests as his steward closed the door of the very comfortable salon, giving the three within privacy. This room had a few more details to it than the rest of the hall that Lyara had seen. Tall windows that looked out upon the pristine landscape of the walled garden lined one wall, nearly full bookcases spanning floor to ceiling lined another, one displayed a huge and intricately detailed tapestry of a Talandri pastoral scene, and the last housed a huge hearth that would keep practically the whole building warm by itself. The proportions of the room, like the rest of the mansion, were obviously designed to fit the taller frame of the Oracle – it was more than likely that the previous Oracle had shared that trait with his successor.
Lyara glanced at Jilan and then nodded. "It's time for us to give you…" Her hand crept to her breast, where Topiara rested between her breasts and just above the mound that was her unborn child.
The Oracle nodded soberly. "But I would not just rip the signs from you. You have borne them with honor and no doubt bonded with them, and it would be only right to give you a chance to say your farewells." The tall man rose. "There is a small bell-pull in the corner – I think Nilyaron had this moment in mind when he designed this room. I will leave you each to your thoughts – pull the bell-pull when you are ready for me to return and take custody of the signs." Bandriel moved on quiet feet and gently closed the door behind him, leaving Lyara and Jilan alone.
Jilan knew that his face reflected Lyara's distress at not having that presence in the back of her mind anymore – he'd become so accustomed to that stream of calming music and occasional glimpses that living without it would be almost painful. "We have to," he told her gently. "I can't tell you how I know, but I know this is very important. We can't keep them."
"I know," Lyara's voice trembled. "I just…"
"I'll go over there," Jilan pointed to a chair that was near the tall windows overlooking the garden. "Just do what you need to do to…"
Lyara nodded mutely and turned her thoughts inward. 'I don't want to do this.'
'It's necessary,' replied the soft whisper that was Topiara's voice in her mind. 'My time in this world is finished.'
Lyara nodded. Like Jilan, she knew without knowing HOW she knew that it was very important that both Topiara and Rodayn be returned to the Oracle now. 'You've given me so much…'
'Good and bad, I know,' Topiara replied in a wry whisper. 'There was much that you had to understand without help – for that, I'm sorry. All I can say is that there is a small part of you that will live inside of me until the end of eternity. You will become a small part of who and what I am in the future.'
'Tell me one last thing…' Lyara closed her eyes.
'A son,' Topiara whispered so very softly, and Lyara was gifted with a vision of a small towheaded child with a wide smile that looked just like Jilan's and dark eyes like her own. 'A son who will go forth and have adventures like yours in time.'
'Will he know you?'
'No – and that is as it should be.' Topiara was quiet for a moment. 'It's time. Farewell, Lyara-Chivan. And thank you.'
'Good-bye,' Lyara whispered aloud, tears running down her cheeks. She reached into the neck of her gown and pulled on the slender cord that was the soft leather pouch that held the stone. She lifted the cord from about her neck and clasped the hard, warm lump between her two hands as she felt the subtle sense of loss that came with Topiara's withdrawal from her mind. A glance at Jilan told her that he had also removed Rodayn from his neck – the tears were just as plain running down his cheek.
Slowly Jilan rose from his seat and moved across the room to the bell-pull and tugged it sharply twice. Only a few moments later, Bandriel had returned and found himself facing his two former escorts – each with a soft leather pouch in their hand. Wordlessly the Oracle put out both hands and waited, and slowly each put the pouch they had possessed and which had at times possessed them into a waiting hand.
The Oracle crossed his arms over his chest, a sign in each hand, and bowed. "I know how difficult that was for you," he told them. "But it is a blessing I will give you now – a touch of forgetfulness. You will remember all of your actions and activities, but any part in them played by either the stone or the flute will slip into the Fog of Forgetfulness. In this manner, you will no longer feel the loss of the inspiration and insight from the signs."
"But I want to remember what Topiara told me at the end," Lyara asked, her hand wiping at the tears on her face. "Let it be a mystery how I know…"
Bandriel's eyes closed for a moment, and his lips quirked in a half-smile. "Very well. In a tenday's time, you will find a reason to come to me again," he predicted as his brilliant blue gaze rested on the young woman. "I will tell you again what it was that you were told. It is a small enough boon for your help traveling here. And there will be one other – but we will speak of that another time." The Oracle moved to the door. "If you will wait for a moment, I shall return, and I will have my steward bring you some refreshments."
Once more the tall man vanished out the door and closed it almost silently behind him, leaving Lyara and Jilan staring at one another.
"I feel empty without Rodayn in my mind," Jilan shook his head sadly. "I don't want to forget."
"I know," Lyara moved closer to her i'ilim and was grateful when he circled his arm about her shoulder and pulled her close. "I think we've forgotten other things before this."
"We must have," Jilan nodded. "That would explain how we knew what to do as far as Bandriel was concerned and never questioned his presence. We knew much more than we do now."
"Will I forget how and why Karlo died, then?" Lyara wondered aloud and then looked up at Jilan. "One of my best friends died because he'd stolen Topiara from a man who would have used it for his own gain. When Bandriel says that we will forget any part played by them, does that mean I'll believe Karlo died as a mere thief, rather than as an honorable man?"
Jilan pulled her tighter to him. "I don't know, Lya," he whispered sadly. "I guess we'll just have to find out the hard way."
Lyara sighed and pressed against him, feeling her child move strongly within her – her son. She didn't want to forget – not even for a tenday. She had the strangest feeling that this was something she'd been through before, and she hadn't enjoyed knowing that she was destined to forget something this important that time either.
Then Bandriel was walking through the doorway of the salon again, followed by the steward carrying a tray with a pitcher and three clear crystal mugs with no handles. "I have refreshments for you," the tall man stated, gesturing with a graceful move for the steward to place the tray on a sideboard beneath the tapestry. The man did as requested, then bowed and once more vanished out the door. "Please," Bandriel motioned for them to come closer. "I found this very much like something I enjoyed when I was in my former home."
He poured the three mugs full of a delicate pink liquid and handed each of his former escorts a mug. "I have discovered that Nilyaron did a wonderful job creating a home for himself here."
"And the unrest you spoke of when we first got here?" Jilan asked sharply.
Bandriel smiled a mysterious half-smile. "There were several taking advantage of the lack of accurate forecasting. I spent the better part of the last three days untangling the truth from the speculation so that the King would have a clear idea as to his options. Those who were attempting to defraud or profit unethically have discovered the error of their ways."
"Nothing like diving right into the job," Lyara commented with a smile and sipped from her mug to find the drink delicous – very reminiscent of the fruit that formed a staple of the Vri'ia'ani diet and chilled to accent the taste even more. "This is good," she gasped, looking at Jilan. "It tastes like the forest."
Jilan sipped at his drink and glanced back at Lyara with wide eyes, and then pulled his mug to his chest thoughtfully as he moved his gaze to the Oracle. "What now?" he asked quietly.
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Bandriel answered with a gesture inviting his guests to take a seat. "On the trek home, you often spoke of an educational institution dedicated to the truth rather than the expedient. Is this still an intention of your?"
Again Jilan and Lyara glanced at each other. "It would be, were we intending to stay in Tandri," he answered slowly.
Bandriel nodded knowingly. "There will be an extended time when you will be staying with your family in I'ilansru'an," he mused aloud, "but you will be returning to Tandri more often than you might think – especially after the first few Turns." The Oracle turned his gaze to Lyara. "You are still too much of your Kauwlut roots, you know – you will have trouble staying in one place for too long."
Lyara's hand smoothed over her belly. "I'll need to stay in one place long enough to raise our child properly," she complained quietly. "I want him – or her…" she added with a suddenly confused look on her face, "…to have Vri'ia'ani values."
"What do you mean, we'll be returning to Tandri after the first few Turns?" Jilan frowned.
Bandriel chuckled. "Let's just call this a private reading," he smiled, "one in which you receive information that will make sense to you more as time goes by than it does at the moment. As I know that you will be returning, I was wondering if you would consider founding that school you spoke of anyway."
"But we're leaving as soon as the baby's old enough," Jilan shook his head. "There'd be nobody here…"
"I would gladly administer your school in your absence," Bandriel offered after a sip of his drink. "It serves both the people and the lands best to have the truth of matters made plain and accessible to everyone – and in this way would make my own task easier." He waved his hands in the direction of the bookcases that lined the one wall of the salon. "I have plenty of material to offer as seed for one of the best libraries in all the lands – and I'm sure Lyndon would be willing to have whatever volume of information that he will publish privately about the 'Vryies' lands copied for your library as well."
Lyara gazed at her i'ilim. "You wanted to found that school so badly when we first started out," she reminded him. "And I can't think of anyone more trustworthy to administer the school in our absence than the Oracle himself…"
"…With the assistance of the Guides Master," Bandriel added with a smile. "Master Lyndon will soon be wanting to step down from his post – and you two are already aware of his dedication to the truth of things."
Jilan deliberately kept his gaze in his mug as he sipped at his drink thoughtfully. Lyara was right – the notion of founding a school deliberately intended to counter the convenient half-truths and outright misrepresentations that had been his instruction for years was very dear to him. "Can we get it started properly before the time comes for us to leave?" he asked suddenly, looking up at the Oracle's face.
"I predict the task will not be as hard as you imagine," Bandriel answered in his serene voice. "It would be a legacy to leave to the future that any man would be proud of."
"He's right," Lyara leaned toward Jilan. "It would be a monument that will honor Tandri over all other cities."
Jilan shrugged. "The Gods know that there's enough specie to found an entire line of schools…"
Bandriel's brows rose. "Bringing the truth closer to the people is a noble endeavor, Jilan."
"I like it," Lyara smiled.
Jilan came to a decision. "I'll speak to the usurer in the morning," he said finally, "and to an agent to find the best location for the school here in Tandri." He glanced at Lyara. "I hope Farranby and Sharin approve of what we'll be doing with their share of the specie…"
Lyara rested her mug against the lump that was her unborn child. "They have no need of it in I'ilansru'an. And if they ever return to Tandri, we'll just have to see that whatever they need is procured for them immediately."
"Good." Bandriel rose and fetched the pitcher from the tray and refilled their mugs. "May the venture that we begin now bear fruit from this day onward without end."
The three crystal mugs clinked together gently and sounded a clear tone.
"It's a wonderful idea," Lyndon exclaimed over the dinner table that night. "I can see all of the Guild Masters donating their lore to the library as well, so that those who study there can read the truth about their crafts."
"Perhaps, perhaps not," Lyara shook her head. "I don't see Master Vandor being very forthcoming with information about sailing. So much of what I learned from him came as the result of experience – feeling the boat beneath me respond this way when I did this, and that way when I did something else…"
"You need not request the inner secrets of the guild, Lyara," Jilan had considered Lyndon's idea and found it intruiguing. "But there are a few things – the use of a lodestone, for example – that could be included that would be of more general interest. Each guild has information like that – information that could be of great use to other guilds…"
"Exactly like your lodestone, Lyara," Master Lyndon nodded vigorously. "You had tricks to using yours that you learned from Master Vandor that have become invaluable as I train the cheretis and chatoris here. I'd imagine cartography would be one thing the Guides Guild would be adding to the pool of knowledge."
"The other universities will be very unhappy about the competition," Jilan noted with a small and satisfied grin. "Their reputation has been more involved with the class of student they attracted and less with the quality of education offered. This school will be turning that trend on its ear."
Lyndon chewed his food thoughtfully and then waved his fork at Lyara. "You never know – the time may come that you'll want to send that little one of yours to your school if it's a boy. At least that way, if your school becomes the kind of place you envision, he'll be able to hold his head high and know his education will stand up to both scrutiny and experience."
Lyara grew quiet, as if waiting for a thought to materialize in her head from another source – and then smoothed her hand over her child when no glimpse of a future that included her child or the school was forthcoming. Then she shook herself and put out her tankard. "I think this calls for more bitters, don't you?" she asked the two men with her.
"Chip! More bitters please!" Lyndon called out to his little aid and then smiled. "How little I knew what you would bring to my Hall when I accepted you as a Guide."
Lyara's hand slipped over Jilan's knee. "How little I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to become a Guide. The Gods have been kind."
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