thought set her off on what he might do on his release. Still, she needed to finish her point, or Pevan would just be offended, not corrected. "Humans ratified the treaty just as much as Wildren."
"Did anyone know that separation was a possibility?" Pevan tilted her head slightly, recovering her nerve enough to set her face hard in defiance.
Dora glanced back at Taslin. She couldn't help it. The Wilder might know the answer; Dora was too young by a matter of almost four decades. Taslin's eyes darted to Dora, then back to Pevan. "The point is moot. If you knew what separation might cost, you would not be so enthusiastic."
"What do you mean, what it would cost?" Pevan finally took a couple of steps forward, but not enough to close the distance.
"You didn't ask what the catch was?" Dora rolled her eyes, beyond anger. Pevan had switched sides and joined Van Raighan of all people, without asking even the most basic of questions? "Has nothing I ever taught you stuck?"
Pevan's expression wavered for a moment, but her eyes stayed fixed on Taslin. She couldn't match the Wilder for hawkish intensity, her eyes seeming milky by contrast, but it was an impressive effort. Placing each word with precise, heavy force, she said, "What cost?"
"The Separatists have no interest in the well-being of humans or the First Realm." Taslin spoke little above a whisper. "Their method of separation would be as disruptive as another Realmcrash, and might not even restore the First Realm to the way it was before the Crash. They care only for rebuilding the Second Realm."
Pevan opened her mouth, then closed it again, her shoulders sinking. She turned to Dora and more or less repeated the gesture. Dora resolved to let her stew for a moment. Unlike her brother, Pevan could usually be relied on to see reason on her own. Again, anger and a sick feeling in the pit of Dora's stomach answered her thought of Rel, but she pushed them aside.
She turned to Taslin. "Why did Keshnu go along with it? What is Talerssi?"
"We have yet to find a concept in First-Realm logic that matches it even closely." Taslin frowned at Pevan, than let her face soften as she turned her attention to Dora. "It is a thing bound up very closely with the structure of implication in Second-Realm logic, and your concept of material implication cannot capture important structural features of Talerssi."
"Some actions for Children of the Wild have consequences that we can't understand, basically." Pevan spoke to a point on the floor somewhere behind Dora, eyes and head lowered, but her mumble came across clearly enough.
"Is there no human concept at all like it?"
Taslin's frown turned inward. "'Commerce', 'pride' and 'justice' all have elements of the right structure, but we have been given to understand that there is little common ground between them in your culture."
Dora scrubbed at her untidy hair. "Well, they're all social..."
"Indeed. And Talerssi is not. Within the Second Realm, it is an absolute, every bit as concrete to us as foodstuffs and building materials are to you."
"Within the Second Realm?" Pevan's voice brightened. "What about here?"
"We endeavour to act in good faith." Taslin's face tightened as if she'd just sucked on a lemon, her eyes narrowed and drilling into Pevan. "Unlike your patrons, I might add."
"They don't come to the First Realm."
"Nor do they act in good faith. Humans have no bearing on Talerssi at all. It is one reason the Separatists fear your kind so much. For them to send you as bearers is a perversion that makes mockery of their principles."
"Hang on." Dora took a half-step forward, turning to face Taslin. Keeping Pevan on edge be damned, there was a puzzle here that she needed to understand. "If humans have no bearing on Talerssi, how could the Separatists claim Talerssi for Van Raighan's crimes?"
Taslin gave a weary sigh, more than a little overperformed. "Because both Separatists and Gift-Givers were signatories of the Treaty of Peace."
"So..." Dora cocked her head to one side. "Are the Separatists holding Keshnu in breach of the treaty?"
"In a way, but putting it that way falls well short of capturing the complexities."
Dora turned to look at the Abyss. The darkness felt as if it was worming its way into her gut. A hollow, tense feeling, like trying to cross thin ice.
Taslin said, "Don't trouble over it so much. It is a Wildren thing. You should not need to understand."
"I need to know the limits of your authority over Rel, though." Dora flicked a glare at Pevan, then looked up at the Gift-Giver. "So I can keep him within them."
"It's only temporary, I'm afraid." Taslin's face darkened. "I will watch him until the Talerssi I accrued is dissipated, but after that Keshnu's obligation to Ashtenzim will prevent me getting involved."
A shiver ran through Dora. "How long?"
"Ninety-seven thousand, six hundred and eighty-nine seconds." Taslin's eyes flicked to Pevan, then back to Dora. "A little over a day and three hours."
Dora's stomach gave a sudden lurch, and she staggered into Taslin. It was only as Pevan started to disappear into the floor that Dora realised the wave of nausea wasn't caused by the thought of Rel's imminent freedom. Well, that was a plus, but-
She tried to reach out and grab the escaping Gatemaker, but Taslin held her back, one arm tight around her waist.
"Wait." The Gift-Giver hissed the word, but Dora could feel there was only urgency and not anger in the instruction.
"But a Gate this near the Abyss-" Too late to stop that, she supposed. "And she'll warn Rel."
The Gateway snapped closed. Power flowed out of Taslin and into the concrete where the oval opening had been. She smiled, "Keshnu planned this. Are gateways still a problem for you?"
Dora nodded, her mouth dry. "Let's go. You can explain later."
Her gut heaved as Taslin waved open a Gateway. As one, they stepped through. Dora bit her tongue, hard, but she couldn't hold back a yelp as gravity upended and sent her head spinning. Her toes struck the floor, fouling her landing, and Taslin's grip tightened painfully around her ribs as the Gift-Giver lowered her to her knees.
Cold stone greeted her, and she let herself fall forwards, trying to ease the spasms running through her stomach. Relief was slow in coming, and Dora found her breath short and weak. Her head swam. Tremors ran through her, driving tears up and out onto her cheeks. She grimaced, trying to force her composure back together. God forbid if Rel was still here, seeing her like this.
Above her somewhere, Taslin sent a wave of communication at Keshnu, received an immediate, relieved echo. Keshnu sent a second ripple, and Dora's mind cleared enough to catch the drift; Rel, Pevan and Van Raighan gone, Keshnu having lingered to make sure he collected Taslin's Talerssi.
The world reeled again as the two Gift-Givers left, through separate Gateways. Dora tipped over, landing hard on her side, her vision clouding with spots that shattered the image of the empty cell in front of her. She moaned, and watched the sound seep upward through the air, slowly sheeting her vision in a murky shade of purple.
Her shivers turned to sobs as her gut convulsed again, and she curled her knees up to her chest. Well, there was no-one here to see her. Rel was gone, and at the mercy of Taslin's justice. Dora couldn't tell whether he'd fare better or worse than he had under Keshnu's. Would Taslin want her help? She had very little left to offer.
***
About the author
R. J. Davnall has been telling stories all his life, and thus probably shouldn’t be trusted to write his own bio. He holds a PhD in philosophy and teaches at Liverpool University, while living what his mother insists on calling a 'Bohemian lifestyle'. When not writing, he can usually be found playing piano, guitar or World of Warcraft.
R. J. Davnall on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/eatthepen
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RJDavnall
Blog: https://itsthefuture.blogspot.com/
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