Stardeep_ The Dungeons - Bruce R. Cordell [38]
"You have my orders. Your place is not to question, but to act as instructed. Please do not provide further reasons for me to wonder about my choice of Knight Commandet."
Brathtar's eyes narrowed. But he said, "You are the Keeper. I am pledged to Stardeep and will do what is necessary to protect her. I've already prepared the foray. A handpicked troop will ventute forth down the Causeway."
Telarian let the commander's dig pass unremarked, giving a curt nod. He called to the air, "Cynosure? Connect me to my quai tets."
Moments latet, only shadows inhabited the balcony above the War Room.
When Delphe opened the door from her chambers that led to the common area of the Inner Bastion, something fluttered to the floor. A vellum envelope. She bent, retrieved it, and examined its exterior. The red wax seal proclaimed the letter was from the desk of Stardeep's Empyrean Knight Commander.
What was the man's name…? Brathtar, that was it. She recalled seeing him in the Inner Bastion from time to time, enjoying Telarian's patronage, though not recently.
"What have you found, Delphe?" inquired Cynosure, his voice issuing from a small statue standing in its niche at the center of the hallway.
"A memorandum from the Knight Commander. How odd. Why didn't Brathtar ask you to pass the message?"
While useful for communication sent beyond the confines of Stardeep, a hand-delivered letter was hardly a substitute for asking the idol's aid. Cynosure was everywhere in Statdeep. Perhaps the man enjoyed his formalities?
Silence greeted her question, so she broke the seal and shook out the parchment within. On it was scrawled:
Keeper Delphe,
Forgive this sudden request, but I humbly ask you to meet me at your earliest convenience. Please come in person.
Yours,
Commander Brathtar
"Odd… Cynosure-please relay to Commander Brathtar a question: Why do you want to meet me?"
Cynosure's voice remained silent'a moment, then relayed, "I'm afraid that's impossible, Delphe-Commander Brathtar and a contingent of his Knights departed Stardeep via the Causeway just this morning."
The Keeper nearly dropped the letter. "Empyrean Knights rode forth from Stardeep? What's happened?"
"Telarian ordered the excursion. I believe he had some concerns regarding a nearby wood elf encampment. You'll have to inquire of Telarian directly. My purview doesn't extend beyond the Outer Bastion."
Delphe turned from her door and strode the curved length of Tardoun Hall, so named for one of the first Keepers to inhabit Stardeep aftet its delving. A frieze of carved figures ran along both sides of the hall, depicting elves involved in all manner of clerical and teleological pursuits-charting the courses of the stars figured prominently. She passed doots leading to the lounge, the baths, the archives.the repository, the noisy chamber housing Cynosure Prime, the dining hall, the steeply sloping stairs that led down to the Outer Bastion, and various lesser side halls. Finally, Telarian's personal chamber. The door was closed. She knocked.
No answer.
"Cynosure, please tell me where I can find my fellow Keeper."
"He is in the Epoch Chamber." "The what?"
"Some months ago, Telarian completed construction, with my aid, of a chamber designed to focus his precognitive talent."
The abjurer blinked. "Why didn't I know about this?" "The chamber lies just beyond the limits of Stardeep's Inner Bastion."
"So it is also outside my concern, is that what you're implying? Everything in Stardeep is my concern, Cynosure!" Her earlier worries about the sentient idol's faculties woke again.
"Would you like me to connect you?" Cynosure volunteered.
"You said this new chamber lies beyond the limits of the Inner Bastion. How-"
"It is close enough for me to transport you. It has no enttance of exit besides me."
Just like the Well, she realized.
"Yes, Cynosure. Warn Telarian I'm on my way, then connect me."
A parabola of blue light spun out of nothing, engulfing her. Her stomach lurched and darkness descended. She blinked, and her eyes readjusted. She stood within a small