Cole hated the thought of anyone poking around inside his mind. What embarrassing things had Trillian seen? All the selfish, cowardly thoughts. All his fears. Every daydream about Jenna. All on display.
“The brave thoughts, too,” Trillian said. “The fond memories. The good intentions. Not to mention the hidden power.”
“What can you see about my power?” Cole asked, genuinely curious. He had begun to doubt whether it was really there.
“It’s there,” Trillian assured him. “And it’s significant. Your power is much more interesting than Mira’s or Honor’s. Their gifts are not small, but yours is unique. Under other circumstances, I would endeavor to unlock that potential.”
“What do you mean?” Cole asked.
“I have trained all the Ellowine enchanters of any consequence over the past several centuries, including the Grand Shaper Callista. You would be a fascinating pupil.”
Cole remembered the warnings about Trillian from Skye. He was evil and had been trapped here for years. Why would he help train shapers? Was he telling the truth? Was he just acting courteous and reasonable until he sprang his trap?
“Go ahead,” Trillian said, his eyes grave. “Ask me.”
Cole wasn’t sure how exactly to put it. “Why? You know what I’m thinking.”
“We’re having a conversation,” Trillian said. “Ask me.”
“You’re a prisoner here,” Cole said. “Aren’t you dangerous? Why would people let you train them?”
“I am extremely powerful,” Trillian said. “Dangerous? I suppose that accompanies power. If I had come to the Outskirts today, I would rule unchallenged. But as fortune had it, when I arrived, there were some shapers of astonishing might here, including some who helped frame the different kingdoms. I wielded great power, but this place was different from my world, and before I could master using my abilities here, they had me.”
“Are there others like you?” Cole asked.
“Many,” Trillian said. “An entire world of us. Only one other torivor journeyed here with me. Ramarro. He must have been captured as well, or else he would be ruling. I could not perceive his fate after I was caught, and those I sent abroad found no trace of him. I cannot see beyond my prison, except dimly on the Red Road. What I know I learn from my traveling servants or from people who come here, like you have today.”
“Why haven’t other torivors come?” Cole asked.
“The shapers who imprisoned me sealed the way to my world,” Trillian said. “I do not expect others of my kind to find their way here in the foreseeable future.”
“Why’d they imprison you?” Cole asked. “Did you attack the shapers?”
“I interacted with them,” Trillian said. “Some of them tested themselves against me. They feared my power. Hostility erupted. They tried to harm me. I fought back. They couldn’t kill me, but they did imprison me.”
“You can’t get free?” Cole asked.
“Not for lack of trying. The shapers knew their craft. They not only shaped a prison to hold me. They shaped me. I am not as you see me now. I am bound deep beneath this place. But my power remains active inside my domain.”
Cole wondered how much of what he was hearing was true.
“I cannot lie,” Trillian said. “I can mislead, or evade questions, but I only speak the truth. It is more than a matter of honor. It is an essential part of what I am, where my power comes from. If I lied, I would be undone. If you could perceive my true nature, you would see that it is so.”
“If they hadn’t imprisoned you, would you have taken over the Outskirts?” Cole asked, testing his honesty.
“Yes,” Trillian answered. “I would have bound the other torivor and ruled unthreatened until the end of this place or until I chose to move on. I would have reshaped this entire realm into a paradise. All who served me would have prospered under my rule. You suspect I’m telling you this because I want you to free me. Rest assured, you lack the ability to release me.”
“If you got free, what would you do?” Cole asked.
“I would rule as the highest shaper the Outskirts has known,” Trillian said. “Any who opposed me would fall. I would remake the boundaries between the kingdoms. I would unlock the true potential of this realm between realms.”
“The boundaries between the kingdoms can be changed?” Cole wondered.
“You glimpsed this when you used the Jumping Sword against the Rogue Knight. Others have tested the possibilities as well. There have not always been five kingdoms, nor have mortals always dwelled here. The five kingdoms were made. They could be remade.”
Cole tried to imagine what it would be like if Trillian got free. Would the people come to accept him as their king? Could it be a good thing? With the kind of power he was describing, he would be a dictator. It mostly depended on whether he was really good or not.
“I would be demanding, but I could also make life easier in many ways,” Trillian said. “I confess that I have no deep love for mortals. You’re all so fleeting, though a number of you intrigue me. I would not be your servant. Your genie. You would serve me and work to make the Outskirts the paradise that I envision. A higher mind would govern you. Some people would resent me, and I might toy with them. I crave a measure of revenge for my incarceration. I cannot predict for certain how much you would enjoy my rule. I come from an eternal realm where I dwelt among equals. Here, I would be in a temporal realm, ruling over lesser beings.”
“Why come here?” Cole asked.
“To varying degrees, all torivors feel the call to move beyond our home world,” he said. “Life there is perfect, except for a certain . . . sameness. I am not the first to depart. Leaving eternity to enter time changed my very existence. Sequence became relevant—yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In a realm of beginnings and endings, I could die. What happens to an eternal being who dies in a temporal reality? Would I be erased? Or would some part of me journey on?”
“You said I would live on,” Cole said.
“Part of you will, yes,” Trillian said. “I can see that plainly. But can you recognize it in yourself?”
“Not really,” Cole said. “I hope it’s true.”
“I see the eternal component in you, but I can’t perceive anything in myself besides what I am here and now. I would not want to risk dying here. If I found my life in jeopardy, I would rather return home.”
“But for now you’re stuck,” Cole said.
“Indeed,” Trillian replied. “You’re stuck here too.”
“I want to find my friends and get home,” Cole admitted. “We never meant to come here.”
“I know.”
“Do you know where I can find Jenna?”
“No.”
“Could you find out?”
“Probably. It would take time. But I have no interest in learning her whereabouts. That problem is yours to solve.”
“Is there . . . ,” Cole began, but he got choked up. The questioned mattered too much to him to finish it.
“. . . a way for you to get home?” Trillian supplied. “Not if you want to stay there. Not the way things are currently arranged.”
“Could they be rearranged?” Cole asked.
“Somebody with enough power could do it,” Trillian said.
“You?”
“Certainly, if I were free. Others, perhaps.”
“Who?” Cole asked.
Trillian waved a dismissive hand. “Enough irrelevant trivia.”
Cole wanted to press the torivor for more information, but he could tell Trillian was done with the subject. At least he knew there was a way! He couldn’t wait to tell Dalton.
“You already know what we came here for,” Cole said. “There isn’t much for me to say. Are you going to help us?”
Trillian smiled. “That question has burned in you since our conversatio
n started. Though I can see your mind, Cole, there remains an element of mystery to you. It’s the main principle that keeps you mortals interesting. Your past is clear to me, as are your present thoughts, but I can’t be sure what you will choose tomorrow. I don’t know how you might react to new information. I don’t know because you don’t know. I can guess, but I can’t be sure. You temporal beings are capable of shocking change. Your opinions and attitudes evolve. You lie to yourselves. Your emotions fluctuate. These concepts are foreign to me. I see countless examples in your memory, but I don’t expect to ever truly understand your fundamental nature.”
“You don’t change?” Cole asked.
“Not really,” Trillian said. “At least not in my home world. In this temporal state, there may be unexplored possibilities. But in any state I cannot deceive myself. Who I am and what I want are in agreement.”
“What are you trying to guess about me?” Cole said. “Do you have an offer?”
“I take an interest in the five kingdoms. I will not be locked away forever. This world had a beginning, and so it will come to an end. But my time here is tedious. I enjoy influencing this realm through the people I train and send abroad.”
“You want me to do something?” Cole asked.
Trillian waved an arm, and they stood on a circular platform high in the sky. A large white moon gave light. Stars sparkled above. Cool air wafted around them.
As the platform began to descend, Trillian walked to the edge. There was no railing. Cole followed carefully and peered down.
Far below, in the distance, a town was under attack. Tiny people ran from a numberless mob of other tiny people.
“The threat from Morgassa and her horde is real,” Trillian said heavily. “These images came to me last week from one of my winged servants. The situation perturbs me. Peculiar elements are at play. Someone unleashed powers that they cannot control. I have sent out many scouts to investigate the problem. Thanks to your conversation with the soldier who witnessed the horde up close, you have better clarified the situation than the few servants who returned with far-removed visions like this one.”
“Honor can help us stop Morgassa,” Cole said.
Trillian stared at him silently. The torivor waved a hand, and they were back in the warm room with the fancy floor and the exotic furniture.
“Unchecked, Morgassa will overrun Elloweer within a month,” Trillian said. “I do not wish to see Elloweer destroyed. A live kingdom is a more interesting place to be imprisoned than a dead one.”
“What if Morgassa came here?” Cole asked.
Trillian tapped a finger against his cheek. “I’m not certain. Her strengths differ from mine. Even here, she could pose a threat to me. It would not be a dull contest.”
“Why not give us Honor and let us go after Morgassa?”
Trillian tilted his head. “Might you succeed? Possibly. Time to bring in your friend.” Trillian clapped, and Jace appeared. Jace looked over at Cole, surprised.
“This is Trillian,” Cole said. “We’re dreaming.”
“I know,” Jace said. “I’ve been talking to him.”
“I’ve been speaking to each of you separately,” Trillian said. “Time to confer together. You both want Honor. As does Mira. I brought Honor here for my own reasons. Given the threat posed by Morgassa, I am not entirely unwilling to let her go. But I will not make her a free gift. Such a prize must be earned, and I love contests.”
“Why not just help us?” Cole cried.
“Giving you a chance is help enough,” Trillian said. “You, Jace, and Mira must participate in the contest together, or we have no deal. If you win, Honor leaves with you. If I win, you all belong to me.”
“Leave Mira out of it,” Jace said.
“No,” Trillian said. “Cole will go fetch her. If he doesn’t return with her, he should not return at all. I asked to see all three of you, and you ignored my request. It’s time to heed me. You’re worried that the contest will be impossible to win. It will be difficult, but possible. If you had no chance of success, there would be no sport in it.”
“Why did you bring Honor here?” Cole asked.
“Bring Mira,” Trillian said. “That is all.”
The torivor waved a hand, and Cole opened his eyes. He was on the circular white bed in the small room without corners. No sleepiness lingered. The door stood open, and Hina was waiting.
CHAPTER
29
CONTEST
Cole found Mira, Dalton, Twitch, Skye, and Minimus waiting on the Red Road just outside the gates. Mira and Dalton ran to him as soon as he appeared. They looked anxious and relieved.
“Are you all right?” Mira asked.
“I’m okay,” Cole said. He felt reluctant to deliver the message from Trillian.
“You were gone for hours,” Twitch said.
“What happened?” Dalton asked.
“Where’s Jace?” Mira wondered.
“The torivor has Jace,” Cole said. “We talked to him.”
“What’s he like?” Skye asked.
“I don’t know,” Cole said. “He visited me in a dream. He’s from another world, but in the dream he looked human. He has a pretty high opinion of himself. He could read my mind.” Cole glanced back at the desolate view of the skeletal castle through the fence. “That place looks a lot different from the inside. Maybe what we see from here is a seeming. Maybe it’s all a big seeming once you go through the gates.”
“How scary is he?” Dalton asked.
“He’s not like a giant scorpipede,” Cole said. “He’s scary because he’s smart and really powerful. He can get inside your head. He knows a lot. He said it might be possible for us to get back home. Our hopes might not be completely crazy!”
“Are you serious?” Dalton’s eyes lit up. “Where do we go? What do we do?”
“He wouldn’t explain how, but he told me somebody with enough power could change how it all works—could fix things so we could get home and stay there.”
“Cole, that’s wonderful news,” Mira said. “And did you see Honor?” she asked, not quite keeping her voice steady.
“No,” Cole said, deflating a bit. “I’m sorry, I didn’t. Trillian has her, though—definitely. He says he’ll give her to us if we win a contest.”
“What kind of contest?” Dalton asked.
“He didn’t really explain,” Cole replied. “Jace, Mira, and I have to do it together. All he promised is that we’d have a chance to win.”
“And if we lose?” Mira asked.
“He keeps us,” Cole said. “Like he’s keeping Honor.”
“Meanwhile he’s holding Jace hostage?” Mira asked.
“Pretty much,” Cole said.
Mira tossed up her hands. “I have to try.”
Skye stepped forward. “Are you sure? Without any daughters of the High King, the revolution doesn’t stand a chance.”
Mira shrugged. “I have three other sisters. Without Honor, Elloweer is doomed. I’m not going to abandon my sister if there is a chance of saving her.”
“Then I must insist on accompanying you,” Minimus spoke up. “The Rogue Knight left you in my care.”
“I don’t think you’re invited,” Cole said. “Trillian made it clear the contest is for me, Jace, and Mira alone.”
“The best way to protect me might be letting me go with Cole,” Mira said. “We don’t want to cross Trillian. We’re lucky he’s willing to give us a chance.”
“It might not be much of a chance,” Twitch said. “How do you know the torivor isn’t lying about the contest to get you to come to him? He may not let any of you go.”
“He said he never lies,” Cole said. “Of course, that could be a lie.”
“I’m willing to risk it,” Mira said. “How about you, Cole?”
Cole close
d his eyes and tapped his forehead with his fists. He wasn’t sure what they should do, but Mira needed his take at least. “I don’t know,” Cole said, opening his eyes. “I think it’s a real contest. Of course, that could be what the torivor wants me to think. Trillian seems really smart. He was almost polite. He seems bored. He said he wanted to give us a sporting chance. I believe he meant it, but I have no idea how bad this whole contest thing will actually be. It could be a nightmare. But we can’t just leave Jace in there. Honor either. It’s up to you, Mira. If you’re in, I’m with you.”
“Let’s go,” Mira said, walking toward the open gate.
“If you’re not back in a day, I’ll come for you,” Minimus pledged.
“That’s up to you,” Mira said. “Nobody has to come after us. I doubt it would do any good. Hopefully, we’ll see you soon.”
Cole and Dalton tapped knuckles.
“Be careful,” Dalton said. He looked worried.
Cole put an arm around his friend. “Promise me something.”
“Sure,” Dalton said.
“If I don’t make it back, find Jenna. Help her. Don’t give up until you’re home.”
“Okay,” Dalton said thickly.
Cole looked at Twitch. “And you save your village.”
“Will do,” Twitch replied.
“You ready?” Mira asked, standing where the Red Road ended.
Cole slapped the Jumping Sword at his side. “Nope. But let’s go.”
He crossed to her, and they stepped through together. Hina and two guards awaited them on the far side, beside a fancy coach glittering with gemstones. A harness of red leather and gold connected six white horses to the vehicle.
“Welcome, Miracle Pemberton,” Hina said. She made a gesture, and one of the guards opened the door to the coach.
“Where was this for me?” Cole complained.
“You’re not royalty,” Hina responded.