Edér and Kana took the remains of the old Watcher between them and they all headed back upstairs, Huani lighting their way. Aloth lagged behind and they soon heard him having a quiet but furious argument with an unfamiliar voice. The other men looked back, a bit alarmed, then forward at Huani, but she just shrugged and shook her head.
When they reached the top level the men laid Maerwald out as best they could on one of the tables while the young Watcher walked up to the dais. "You slew him?" the echoing voice asked.
"I'm sorry. He attacked us when we tried to leave."
"It saddens me to hear it, but part of me is grateful to no longer have to wait and worry in darkness. This place has always known its master, long as it's had one. It has a will all its own." The voice paused, then continued with some hesitation. "Watcher, it looks to you as Maerwald's successor, whether you care for it or not."
"To me?"
"It must seem a dubious honor, but in the right hands, this could be a place anyone would be proud of."
"But... but I'm no thayn. And there would need to be repairs. Guards. Servants. I can't afford things like that!"
"You needn't concern yourself with making things run smoothly. I'll be here, and I have a great deal of experience in such matters. And though I hate to contradict you, my lady, you are a rich woman."
"I am- what?" Huani tilted her head at the throne. "I hope you're not speaking metaphorically."
"Not at all. Maerwald had a fine treasury and it was well-protected. Speaking of which, perhaps something should be done about the barrier. The passage to the diggings is more or less collapsed- "
"Collapsed!" Kana said in dismay.
"Yes. Almost completely."
"Alas, so much for my dreams of exploration."
Huani reached up and patted the despondent scholar on the shoulder. "We may be able to clear it again. Eventually. Where is this barrier, steward, and what is its purpose?"
"On the lowest level, where you found Maerwald, in the passage between us and the ruins. The beasts infesting them occasionally manage to dig their way through; the barrier ensured they would not emerge to bother us. It would be wise to raise that barrier again."
"Aloth, could you- "
"Immediately. Though I would appreciate it if someone came along to watch my back while I prepared the spell."
"I volunteer!" Kana said, his enthusiasm quickly returning. "I want to see this tunnel, collapsed though it may be."
The two set off and Huani turned back to the statue. "What about the road to Defiance Bay? How can we get through?"
"Ah. Unfortunately, the Eastern Barbican also collapsed some years ago and Maerwald was too preoccupied to order it rebuilt. If you contact the guilds in Defiance Bay for me - the woodworkers, the stonemasons, and so on - I can see oversee repairs. Some of the old hands may even remember doing work for the steward of Caed Nua. In the meantime, perhaps you can simply climb over? You are all young and strong, after all."
Once Aloth and Kana returned, the group took Maerwald out of his keep for the first time in a decade and buried him next to Caed Nua's small chapel. Then it was time to inspect the barbican more closely and see what could be done. When Edér climbed down from an inspection of the breach itself, he was shaking his head.
"Good stonework up there. Someone brought it down on purpose. Guess old Maerwald wasn't just paranoid. We can get over if we scrounge up some rope; maybe we can even find a ladder or two."
They spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the grounds, poking through the outbuildings and gathering up anything that looked useful. WIthin the keep itself they discovered a long room on an upper floor that once functioned as the barracks, a large kitchen below it and a substantial library off the main hall. The library was where Huani, Aloth and Kana all inevitably ended up, poring over the books and trying to save those which hadn't been eaten away by rodents or the elements. There was enough dry wood about to get a fire going in the fireplace, so they made camp there for the night.
Between the four of them, and with some odds and ends they gathered from the overgrown gardens, they managed to put together a meal which satisfied even Aloth's high standards. Kana related the story of his wanderings as they ate, starting with his studies in the lore college.
"In so many of our books and records, I found accounts of ancient Engwith. I decided that my third degree - after theology and the traditions, which are expected - would be in history, and that I would study the Engwithans. They were at the heart of so much discussion abroad, so many discoveries. I was subjected to some mockery over the decision; after all, we'd watched Aedyr draw itself into several conflicts with the Glanfathans over these ruins and Tâkowa had its own concerns, but I was determined. The trail I started on more than a year ago led me here."
"Why here?" Edér said. "It's only a few centuries old."
"The castle is, yes, but behind the castle! Remember the statue I mentioned? If you could find a way up that cliff, you would see them - huge fingers carved from adra and sticking straight out of the ground. They're connected to a much larger structure which the local lords took an interest in all those years ago. It's one of the few ruins not closely guarded by the tribes. I'm told that the early thayns spent their lives trying to excavate the ruin, in spite of local superstition."
"The Glanfathans guard everything else," Aloth said. "Why not this?"
"Not everything. There is an Engwithan tower in Defiance Bay, for instance, which has also been abandoned. I would love to know their reasons, but they're not very forthcoming." He lowered his voice. "I have had trouble, however. In Aedyr there were many people who had observed the Engwithan ruins in the Dyrwood, and I spent some time conferring with experts. In the libraries I found accounts of sites in Ixamitl. It was there I traveled next, but just before that I found myself approached by a woman in dark robes, who bade me abandon my studies for my own safety. I ignored her, of course. But I began to have the sense, after that, of being followed. And after that - well, one ambush on the road I could call misfortune, but three?"
He snorted. "I paid them little mind. Humorless sorts in long robes. But it's why I bought the sword, you see. I also thought it only fair to delve into their activities in turn, and that is where I found word of a 'Leaden Key.' Past that it was all ravings and superstitions. It seems, however, that others have had encounters with my mysterious friends. Where did you meet them, Huani?"
It was then, for the first time, that she told her story in full. The caravan. The bîaŵac. And, when they thought it was over, the strange men in the ruins. The ancient machine. The silent, ashen figures in the light of dawn. The nightmares that had followed her since that day - ancient memories of ancient cruelties. None of them knew what to make of the masked man who haunted her sleep and seemed so very, very familiar.
Huani took one last walk around the grounds before going to sleep, replaying the day's events in her mind. At last she got tired of watching her mind run in circles like some poor creature in a cage, so she climbed one of the watchtowers instead. It looked out over the river, the fields and the forests, all dim and misty under the stars, while the moon sailed peacefully along above it all. She was looking up at her bright kinswoman when she realized that she wasn't alone. Aloth had stolen up beside her, silent as a ghost, his pale face nearly hidden in the hood of his cloak.
"Am I interrupting?" he said.
"Not at all." She glanced up at the moon with a playful grin. "We're used to people walking in on our conversations. Do you want your fortune told? Senn Belafa is in a bit of a bad mood tonight, but Cawldha Debh is willing, though you may not like what you hear."
He gave her an uncertain look. "You are joking. Aren't you?"
She chuckled. "Yes, of course, though you'd be surprised how many people refuse to believe that. Back home I couldn't go out and look at the night sky without getting all sorts of questions. Eventually I just began telling people what they wanted to hear. Sometimes they offered me money, but when I took it, I felt so guilty I- " She stopped and looked at him. "Sorry. There's something you want to talk about, isn't there?"
"Yes." He clasped his hands together nervously. "I thought I should explain myself. Particularly after our conversation with Maerwald earlier." He squirmed, rubbing the knuckles of one hand so hard that they turned white. "You see, I - I also have an Awakened soul." She looked at him in astonishment and he hurried on.
"Unlike yours, mine is a presence that shares my senses and my skin, making herself manifest at the most unwelcome times. I have none of her memories - Berath spared me that much. But her coarse manners and intolerable Hylspeak suggest a provincial from a very, very long time ago." He paused to let out his breath in a rush.
"Then back in Gilded Vale- "
"Yes, that was her doing. Iselmyr tends to surface a hair's breadth from conflict - when the fuse has burned down and teeth are on edge. And when she shows up, she doesn't stop to gauge a situation, she just... acts." He untwisted his hands and began fidgeting with the edge of his hood. "She is artless. Uncouth. A creature of rash impulses and feeble faculties. She doesn't think, and she doesn't back down. She wags her impertinent tongue when she should listen. I've tried to control her, but as I've gotten stronger, so has she."
"When did you Awaken? And how?"
"Some fifty years ago now. My father was a strict man. He expected the best from his only child, and he didn't tolerate failure." He looked back over the castle grounds, throwing his face entirely into shadow. "At times he could be rather... adamant. Particularly when he'd been drinking. Iselmyr manifested on one such occasion. To be honest, I don't remember the specifics. Only that he was more careful with me after that."
Huani started to put a hand out to him, but drew it back. "Who else knows about this?"
"My mother instructed me to keep her a secret after she first emerged. She feared that knowledge of my Awakening would render me an outcast. Even though Iselmyr proved useful against my father, I trusted my mother's advice, and I've since come to see the wisdom behind it. Those with Awakened souls are shunned. Mistrusted. Maerwald is an extreme example, but one that I can relate to more and more each year."
He took a deep breath and turned his head toward her again. "But now, perhaps... If I understood him correctly, Maerwald suggested that Watchers could undo Awakenings. Could you - could you try? It would mean a great deal to me."
She wavered. "I don't know. I'd like to help, but I'm still very new at this. I'm not sure- well, I'm not sure of anything, really. I suppose - I suppose I can try." She turned to face him and her eyes slowly lost their focus. For a long minute they stood there in the moonlight, as still as the stones around them, but when her eyes refocused she shook her head. "You're... dark. You're like a house with all its lights on and thick curtains over the windows. I can see enough to know someone's there, but nothing more. And I don't want to force my way in or I might break something."
She couldn't make out his face, but his shoulders sagged. "It was foolish of me to hope. After so long, I thought it might finally be over."
She took a few anxious steps closer. "I'm sorry. I'm always willing to listen, but I don't know what else to do. I wish I could give you a hug."
"A hug?" He stared at her as if he'd never heard the word before.
"Yes, you know..." She lifted her arms a little, then dropped them again. "They always make me feel better. I suppose it's not the same for everyone."
He stared at her so long that she began to fidget uncomfortably. "I - I could try it, I suppose," he said at last.
"Oh! Well, then." She smiled and held out her hands. "Come on. What's the use of having friends if you can't get a hug when you need one?"
He stepped forward and she put her arms around him gently. He was stiff and awkward at first, unsure of where to place his hands, but after a moment he rested them against her upper back and relaxed slowly.
"Are you going to tell the others?" she asked. "About Iselmyr?"
He sighed. "Must I?"
"No, but they've already noticed something... odd. The longer we all travel together, the more they're going to notice. Especially If she comes out again like she did in Gilded Vale."
"True." Another sigh. "I'll think about what to say tonight and tell them tomorrow. On the road." He started to move closer, then stopped, tensing. "Should I let go now?"
"No. I mean, only if you want to."
"Ah." He relaxed again and his arms wrapped around her. "Not just yet, then. Soon."
