A/N—Things will remain a little foggy for a while. That's kind of part of the effect of the story (or at least the attempted effect.) If anyone has any pressing questions, though, I'll try to explain. Also, this stuff is all pretty new so if I need to do more editing before posting let me know. Thanks.
Corus, Tortall
Spring, 457 H.E.
Queen Thayet, the disempowered queen of Tortall, put a black cloak on over her violet gown, drawing it tight around her to cover every inch of the purple silk. She put the hood up, covering her shoulder-length, raven hair. Despite the fact that life offered her very little joy any more her hazel eyes still sparkled and she carried herself with her head high. Thayet glanced around the room then opened a passage in the wall, disappearing into the shadows.
Thayet came out in a small library where another dark figure waited for her, his hood still up hiding his face. Thayet checked to make sure the door was locked before turning to the man. They both took their hoods down at the same time. The man was tall and broad shouldered with light brown hair and brownish green eyes.
"Good evening, Thayet." The man greeted.
"Gary." Thayet gave as a return greeting. "Have a seat." She offered as she sat down herself. Gary didn't take the seat. "This can't be good news." Thayet said and Gary grinned sadly.
"It's no news." He replied then went on to explain. "We believe that Liam, Jasson and Lianne are still with George but we haven't had any luck finding them. George is good at hiding and he's careful. If your children are with him, they'll be safe and they'll turn up when it's time. We're not having any better luck finding Roald. We've followed a few leads but they've all dead-ended. That spell Numair put on them works, maybe a little too well. Anyone who doesn't already know them for who they are, really are, hardly notices them. It makes them very hard to track down."
Thayet's expression didn't change as Gary gave her the news; it was always the same. "We are following leads that say Raoul and Alanna are living with the Bazhir, separately. Those leads are going to be hard to follow with the tribes warring more then they did before Jon became the Voice. Along those lines, we still don't know who the current Voice is. I put agents in both Persopolis and Tyra where the tribes do most of their trading. If Raoul or Alanna go to the market we'll have a chance of finding them. Until then we just wait.
"There have been leads on Buri in Corus but the last one was before our last meeting. We found the remains of the Queenscove family living in Port Legann. I've got an agent with them now. Baird has been working as a healer since they were turned away from the Yamani Islands."
Thayet smiled. She loved getting good news and it was so rare. "What about Alianne?"
Gary shook his head. "Nothing. Does His Gennature still believe she is dead?"
"He says that but he's got men looking still. She worries him." Thayet added with a cruel smile.
"Well, hopefully we'll find her first." Gary paused. "The rumors say the gods took her. We have to be open to the possibility that she's not on this world anymore."
Thayet shook her head. "She's in her own prophecy. She has to still be here."
"It could be a different seer." Gary proposed delicately. "We don't know for sure the identity of any person in the Prophecy."
"So you haven't made any progress on that either."
"We're still working on it, trying to find hidden meanings." Gary paused then continued, his voice stern. "You have to give us more time, Thayet."
"I've given you six years! It's time to find them." Thayet snapped. Gary didn't flinch at her sharp tone. He was accustom to being around monarchs in all types of moods.
"I know, Thayet." Gary said with understanding. A look of guilt crossed Thayet's face.
"I'm sorry, Gary. Have you had any luck finding your sons and daughters?"
Gary shook his head. "Not anymore luck then I've had with yours. It makes me appreciate having Gary even more."
"How is he?"
"He's doing fine. He's a great help with the inn and he's beginning to help out with finding people. He'll be a first class agent when he's older and he can't wait. He's nothing like I was at that age." Gary said with a smile.
"How old is he now? Seven? Eight?"
"He's almost seven."
"Seven is a nice age. Roald was such a cute seven-year-old and bright too." Thayet said, a slight strain in her voice.
"We'll find him, Thayet." Gary assured her. Thayet nodded and stood, pulling her hood back up.
"I'll see you next month, Gary. Take care of yourself." Thayet said, opening the passage door.
"Good bye." Gary bid before also leaving the room. Gary walked through the palace, looking at everything as he passed. It had been six years since he had been Duke Gareth of Naxen. He'd been back to the palace regularly since then but it still felt strange to him to be there and not be Prime Minister. Though the halls looked mostly the same as they had six years ago, signs of the Gennature were everywhere as well. Gary took a path that led him by his old quarters where the current Prime Minister lived, a Gennature noble who had greatly improved his status by moving to Tortall.
Gary left the palace and began to feel much more comfortable. Most of Corus had been burned when the Gennature took over and was currently being rebuilt. Gary left through the main palace gate to what used to be known as Temple District. The district was now a sort of no-man's-land between the city of Corus and the palace. The charred remains of Temple District gradually grew into large run-down buildings between smaller, newly built ones.
Gary continued down the main street of Corus. After a block and a half he reached an inn with a painted blue sign that said "Cythera's House." It was a new building built on the remains of a much larger one. Gary went around to the back of the building and into the kitchen.
"Hullo Master Gary." The cook, a big, burly man with muscles that looked like they should belong to a blacksmith, greeted him cheerfully. "How was yer jaunt to t'palace?"
"Uneventful." Gary answered.
"The dark man is here for you." The cook said.
"How long?"
"He's been waitin' awhile. He's down below." Gary nodded. He ran his fingers along the wall beside the oven until he felt a latch and pulled the camouflaged door open. It swung outward to expose a small landing and stairway. Gary went down the stairs into the basement leftover from the building that had stood on the site before the war. The basement was one large room where the stair emerged with a smaller room in the far corner. Candles along the walls and on tables supplied the only light for the windowless room and as a result the air was stuffy and think with smoke. The large room had a few long tables, an old, gray couch, two over-stuffed, brown armchairs and shelves of old, dusty books. A man with dark hair, eyes and skin sat at one of the tables, his feet propped on one of the chairs. On the floor beside him sprawled a young boy, thin and bony with light brown hair and brown eyes. A book lay open in front of the boy but he was talking to the man instead of reading.
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Ihra. I wasn't expecting you until later." The man turned, the lines around his eyes creasing in a slight smile.
"It's alright. Your son, here, was keeping me entertained. He knows quite a lot about the Prophecy." Ihra answered. Young Gary started reading, apparently ignoring the adults.
"That he does. I hope your earliness means you have good news."
Ihra shook his head, his smile lines disappearing. Gary crossed the room and opened the door to the smaller one, gesturing for Ihra to go inside before closing the door. Gary the Younger stood up and moved with his book to lean against the wall by the door.
The smaller room was an office with a square table in the center and a desk against one wall. Maps and documents covered the table and desk. A large map of Tortall covered the wall across from the desk. It had hundreds of different colored pins in it. The rest of the walls were covered with smaller maps and similar pins. The area of wall directly behind the door had a piece of aged paper tacked to it, names and family trees written on it in small, neat letters. Beside that was another piece of parchment, just as old, on which these words were written in the same neat, black letters:
Gennature Prophecy—
When the day of death has come
Again ten times
Will the sky of the east again burn red
The waters of Tortall again flow red
With six of power
The people will retake the Great Land.
The rightful king shall lead the six
Blue and silver and gold
He carries the things of the forgotten time.
At his right shall walk a woman warrior
Twice noble
Hazel-eyed dreamer but sharpened fighter.
Another of the six shall be the seer
Kitten of Tortall
Purpled-eyed fighter with silver edged Gift.
One of five and one of many is the thief
The People's Choice
The black-haired wanderer shall he be.
The oldest of the six and youngest son
Green healer
All sides shall benefit from his Gift.
The last and youngest is a scholar
Boy of books
The son of the Finder he will know the six.
Only with the Power of the six
Secrets of six
Will the demon be driven back
The seventh day shall see a battle
Where Gods' return
And where Tortall will reign again.
~Spoken by Alianne Cooper at Fief Treabond, 451 H.E.~
"If the news isn't good then what is it?" Gary asked, leaning his weight against the desk, his arms crossed over his chest. He was trying to hide his unease. Ihra was his leading agent on identifying the six in the Prophecy
"One of the women we were tracking as the warrior died last week, one of the former Riders. It was natural." Ihra assured Gary, seeing his pained expression.
"That means we are down to eight people who could fit that description." Gary sighed. "What about the healer?"
"Still stuck at four people." Ihra answered. "And the rest we still know very little about. We will, though, Gary. I can feel it."