The Dark Remains - Mark Anthony [227]
“That’s a dark tale, Falken,” Beltan said. He looked at Grace, his usually jovial face somber. “And I’m sorry you lost your parents. I know what that’s like. But this still doesn’t explain how Grace ended up on Travis’s world.”
“That was my doing,” Melia said.
Travis gaped. “You mean you have the power to send people between worlds?”
The amber-eyed lady smoothed her robe. “Not precisely. I had a little help in the matter.”
Falken folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, very well, so I had a great deal of help. But the New Gods owed me—I had saved up quite a few favors over the millennia.”
“So you and the other New Gods sent Grace to Earth,” Travis said.
Now it was Grace’s turn to stare. “Why?”
“To keep you safe, dear. Wherever they came from, the black knights had one goal in mind: to slay the heirs of Malachor. You were all that was left, and we knew it was only a matter of time before the knights discovered you were alive. Desperate measures were called for.”
Vani moved closer, leather creaking. “So you knew of this other world, this Earth, even as the Mournish did. I thought only the sorcerers of Morindu knew of the place that could be reached across the void—the morndari told them of it long ago, and that was why they built the gate artifacts.”
Melia patted Vani’s cheek—a gesture which seemed to shock the assassin.
“Don’t completely underestimate us, dear. Foolish and petty as we can be, we immortals do know a thing or two. We first became aware of the other world more than a millennium ago, when we aided the Old Gods in binding Mohg beyond the circle of Eldh. We glimpsed—if only for a moment—a world beyond what we knew.”
Travis gazed at Melia, his gray eyes thoughtful. “So the New Gods were able to open a gate to Earth.”
“It was not quite so easy as you make it sound. It took nearly all of us working in concert to do it—an alliance which I fear will never occur again. And even so, I do not think we would have succeeded if there had not been something working to open the way from the other side.”
Now Grace was completely lost. “What do you mean? What could have been working from the other side?”
However, before bard or lady could speak, Travis did. “It was this, wasn’t it?” He drew something out of his pocket: a gray-green Stone. Sinfathisar.
Falken nodded. “We believe so. Now, at least—for at the time we didn’t know the Stone of Twilight was on Earth. But its magic acted like a beacon for the power of the New Gods, drawing it to your Earth and opening a gate.”
“That’s why you came to Castle City, Grace,” Travis said. “And that’s why the people from the orphanage found you there. It was because Jack Graystone had Sinfathisar. And I suppose that’s how the ironhearts and wraithlings ended up in Castle City last autumn. They were drawn there by the very thing they were seeking.” He tightened his fingers around the Stone.
“We can’t be sure,” Falken said. “But it makes sense. We know the Pale King had the Great Stone Gelthisar. It must be that its power was great enough for him to send some of his servants to your world. And just like Grace, they all ended up near the place where Sinfathisar was being kept.”
Grace’s eyes were hot, and she felt tears filling them. At last she knew she had not been abandoned as a child. They had loved her, and they had been trying to protect her. So why did she feel so lonely she couldn’t bear it?
“Why?” she whispered. “Why did you let me go there alone? Why did you send me …?”
Why did you send me there, to the orphanage, to the shadow? she wanted to ask, but the words stuck in her throat.
Melia hesitated, then she took both of Grace’s hands in her own. “We didn’t send you alone, Grace. At least, we didn’t want to. Merric Warden held you as we opened the gateway. He was to go with you, to watch over you. But … something went wrong.”
Grace shook her head, beyond words now. Melia tightened her grip.
“You were so small, so fragile. You were wearing a dress Anilena had made for you, and Falken had placed the necklace around your neck, for