Chapter Thirty~one
I Want Nothing From You
Part Two
~*~
Keeping his grip on one arm, Kelvaran turned Kazia around and marched her out into the hallway.
Alchemists about the house looked on as he paraded Kazia down the staircase to the ground floor.
Reaching Master Giao's apartment, Kelvaran beat his fist on the poor man's door.
As the door was opened, Amelys emerged from her apartment a few doors away.
“Kelvaran Meratha, what do you think you're doing!?” Amelys shouted. “Did I not tell you to stay away from her? Let go!”
“It's alright, Mistress,” Kazia called, as Madame Brandra also appeared from her apartment nearby.
“Master Giao,” Kazia said to the bemused man standing in his doorway. “May Lord Meratha and I please come inside...” She glanced at everyone gathering in the hallway. “...to speak with you privately?”
“Yes, of course, please come in,” said Master Giao, standing aside to admit them.
Kelvaran pushed Kazia through the door into Master Giao's office and closed it behind him.
“What can I help with?” Master Giao asked, looking from one to the other.
“Well... you've had an Artifact in my storeroom for some time,” Kazia said. “One perhaps meant to make a portal of some sort?”
Master Giao looked thoughtful. That aura of tragedy that always surrounded him bloomed out in full force, and Kazia fought the urge to grimace at it.
“Yes,” he said. “It's been there for years, though. I never could make the thing work.”
“If it did work,” Kelvaran demanded, “can you explain why it would deposit Lady Devratha into my chambers?”
Master Giao's eyes widened, and Kazia felt a desperate hopefulness begin to arise in him.
“Did it cast a portal then?” he asked, his voice trembling. “I don't know why it would go into your chambers, Lord Meratha. Its intention was to help me find my wife. I suppose we're fortunate that it didn't deposit you in Luazin, Lady Devratha.”
Kelvaran let go of Kazia and she took to a chair.
“It does seem to have cast a portal, Master Giao. Which is quite exciting. Lord Meratha tells me that has never been done.”
She glanced over her shoulder at Kelvaran.
He was scowling, but she could feel agreement from him about the portal. His interest was unquestionably piqued.
“To the business at hand, though,” Kelvaran said gruffly.
“Twenty years ago, my wife and I were separated during an uprising in our home country,” Master Giao began. “She couldn't be found, and eventually I was forced into exile. I have never seen her again, but I never gave up on trying to find her. The portal was just another failed attempt.”
“What can you tell me about it?” Kazia asked.
“Well, it is designed to take the user to the side of the person they most wish to be near, who they hold most strongly in their heart,” Master Giao said.
Kazia froze.
“So, say an assassin perhaps could use it to find her target if she willed it strongly enough?” Kelvaran said, a taunt in his voice aimed at Kazia.
“Oh, no,” Master Giao protested. “No, the components are selected and arrayed to harness only the principles of love- and the intention must be pure, or you would be out of alignment with them. So, clearly the thing can't actually be working right.”
He began to laugh gently.
“I mean, if it were, and it took you to Lord Meratha's chambers... you're surely not in love with him, that would be...”
He studied Kazia's face, which was draining of blood.
Her heart was racing.
Master Giao's smile faded.
“Oh, dear,” he said. “Oh, you poor dear.”
“Master Giao...” Kazia murmured furtively.
“What?” Kelvaran demanded.
He gaped in open skepticism from Kazia to Master Giao, back to Kazia again.
“Oh, you can't possibly expect me to believe this!”
Kazia tried to gather her thoughts, to slow her heart as it seemed intent on escaping her chest. She turned her face toward Kelvaran over her shoulder.
“Lord Meratha,” she said quietly, but with steel in her voice, “I expect nothing of you. I will never expect anything from you. I want nothing from you.”
She turned further to look him in the eye.
“And that is the truth.”
He made no answer, he only stood staring at her, confused. He seemed to be making a mental calculation that simply wouldn't add together for him.
“Master Giao,” Kazia said, turning around in her seat again and affecting a businesslike manner, “I don't want to get your hopes up, but there may be a chance that we could find your wife.”
Master Giao said nothing, but his eyes were filling with tears, and Kazia felt such a joy bursting from him.
The door closed heavily as Kelvaran stormed away.
Kazia looked at her fingers where the potion from the transmitter still stained them.
“I think I may know how it worked. Would you come to my laboratory in a few days?” she asked Master Giao, who began to nod his head vigorously, still unable to speak.
“I need to finish a few things first and make some preparations,” she continued. “There will be many considerations if we are to try this.”
~~~*~~~
Kelvaran exited Master Giao's apartment to find the hallway outside filled with curious onlookers.
Tamyn had arrived and stood with Amelys and Brandra, all of them looking a bit bewildered and concerned.
He ignored them all in his rush to leave.
“Kelvaran!” Amelys called after him.
He turned briefly.
“Ask her,” he said coldly. “She can explain it to you if she dares.”
He walked away, leaving Amelys astonished at his behavior.
Tamyn laid a sympathetic hand on Amelys' shoulder, then followed him.
“Lord Meratha!” he called when Kelvaran had reached the staircase ahead of him.
Kelvaran did not acknowledge him, only picked up his pace.
“Lord Meratha, please!” Tamyn insisted.
Kelvaran spun around, and Tamyn was taken aback by his ferocious expression.
“What?” Kelvaran fumed. “Come to berate me for harassing her? This was not my doing.”
Tamyn took a calming breath.
“I'm not berating you,” he said mildly, “or asking for an explanation. I just...”
He hesitated.
“Say what you must quickly,” Kelvaran snapped.
He rubbed at his forehead as if a headache were coming on.
“It's just that... Kazia is under my care now, so I feel that...”
Tamyn furrowed his brow, searching for the right words.
“There are things you may not know, that may not be mine to tell-”
“Yes, yes,” Kelvaran retorted. “She's a precious mystery to be revealed by no one. Do you have a point?”
“You are well aware of Gorvan Devratha's character,” Tamyn said, his tone becoming as heated as Kelvaran's. “How do you suppose he treats those who are under his control? My point is- if you would consider for one moment- that if your suspicions about Kazia are truly unfounded, then you are probably just piling more suffering onto someone who has had quite enough.”
Kelvaran took a step back in surprise. It wasn't like Tamyn to become so visibly agitated. He was suddenly mindful of Tamyn's station and knew enough to be embarrassed at his own behavior.
“I apologize for my tone just then, Master Ilianus,” Kelvaran said, his manner now considerably subdued. “It's been... a very strange evening.”
“Just consider my words,” Tamyn replied gravely. “And, do try to have some faith in your elders. We are not fools.”
Tamyn allowed his robes to billow with an air of authoritative drama as he swept past Kelvaran and back through the hallway to reconvene with Amelys.
~~~*~~~
