Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [179]
“Stop complaining,” Thor’h retorted. “The people deserve this celebration, and Designate Rusa’h has decreed it.”
Pery’h sat in his appointed place, but did not touch his food. He was uneasy, his skin pasty and moist. Now that so many of the people on Hyrillka had separated from Jora’h‘s thism and linked instead to Rusa’h’s, the Designate-in-waiting was cut off from the comfort of even a small splinter colony. And it would only get worse for him.
When Rusa’h stood, all the people in the open pavilions fell instantly silent, though they were not yet completely under his control. The Designate looked at them with glittering eyes, seeing so much potential here.
He called for the two medical kithmen who had accompanied him from Ildira to watch over his condition and monitor his recovery. Rusa’h had secretly forced one of them to take shiing and had converted him. Afterward, the other doctor had easily been persuaded. Tonight, they would take the necessary and dramatic action to cement his ever-expanding hold.
“I have an announcement that most of you will not believe, at first.” Rusa’h said the words, but he was sure that they would believe him. The people were in his grasp. He had the proof…and it certainly explained some of Mage-Imperator Jora’h‘s recent troubling behavior.
“Our times are dark, and Hyrillka has suffered. The hydrogues prey upon us. We have failed, not because the Lightsource has grown dim, but because our leaders have been unable to see it. My father, Mage-Imperator Cyroc’h, had so many schemes that he deluded himself. My brother Jora’h is even worse, for he has willingly remained blind.”
Pery’h stood up, his face white with rage. “Uncle, even your injuries do not excuse the words you speak!”
The shiing-dazed listeners continued to regard the Designate-in-waiting with muddled interest, but no indignation. Thanks to the drug, none of the others could sense Pery’h in the thism. Thor’h just smiled. “Listen when the rightful Designate speaks, little brother. You might learn something.”
“The Mage-Imperator can sense the unrest you are sowing,” Pery’h insisted. “Beware of what you say.”
Rusa’h frowned at the young man who had refused to take shiing with the rest of the people. “Jora’h has no presence here tonight—save through your eyes, Pery’h. Perhaps we should send you away?”
By now the Designate-in-waiting must have sensed that he alone remained connected to Ildira through a tenuous thread of thism—and that the rest of Hyrillka stood against him.
“Listen to what I have to say, Pery’h, before you make up your mind. You are an intelligent young man, trained to be the next Hyrillka Designate. But destiny and preconceptions can be changed. We have the power.”
Pery’h stared at him in shock. “I refuse. I won’t let you.”
The Hyrillka Designate frowned. “First hear me out, then make your choice. Our people have been deceived into believing that Jora’h is the true Mage-Imperator, the rightful nexus of all the strands of thism, but I know otherwise, for the Lightsource has shunned him. While I was in my sub-thism sleep, I was unable to move physically, but I ventured elsewhere in my mind. I saw secrets. I learned facts that no other Ildiran suspected. And now I have finally acquired proof.”
Thor’h looked as if he might burst into a cheer. Pery’h was barely able to contain his confusion. “What sort of proof?” Since he had not joined the revelers in the nialia fields, the young man remained clearheaded and skeptical; the rest of the Hyrillkans accepted Rusa’h‘s dictates without question.
“The former Mage-Imperator died suddenly, while I lay unconscious. And in the shock and grief that followed, Jora’h quickly ascended to become our new leader. Ildirans thought him diligent and honorable. None of us guessed that he was power-mad! That he would do anything to be rid of our father so that he could assume the chrysalis chair and the Prism Palace for himself.”
Pery’h lurched to his feet and turned to leave, but two guards blocked his way. Rusa’h continued, knowing the Designate-in-waiting was listening,