Vanity's Brood - Lisa Smedman [29]
Zelia obviously expected a startled reaction. Arvin didn't grant her one.
"Go on," he said.
"That same winter, a restlessness gripped the yuan-ti. Dmetrio Extaminos began his restoration of the ancient city, and Sibyl arrived in Hlondeth. Lady Dediana, deep in winter torpor, didn't recognize the danger Sibyl posed at first, not until Sibyl had killed her cousin Urshas and lured half of the cathedral's clergy away by claiming to be Sseth's avatar. By then it was almost too late."
"What's this got to do with… Smaragd?" Arvin asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar word. "And with Karrell?"
"That's what I hope to find out," Zelia said. "Why has Sseth not struck down an imposter? Does he condone what Sibyl is doing? Or is he merely… keeping silent?"
Arvin frowned. "You hope to find that out just by looking at Karrell? Why not look in on Sseth himself, or ask him?"
"Because I can't," Zelia hissed. "No one can-not even his clerics. Something is preventing it, but that same something may not prevent us from viewing a mortal in Sseth's realm. Your Karrell may be the crack in the wall that will allow us a glimpse into Smaragd."
"Why do you need me?" Arvin asked.
"If I tried to contact her, Karrell would resist, but she won't resist you. She trusts you."
"Why should I trust you? Given the way your mind seeds scheme behind your back, it looks as though you can't even trust yourself."
Zelia's lip twitched, revealing the tips of her fangs. Arvin's taunt had struck home. He knew, thanks to the dreams he'd had while seeded, that at least one of Zelia's seeds-a dwarf-had turned on her. He wondered how many others had betrayed her over the years.
With a visible effort, Zelia composed herself. "Don't you want to find out if Karrell is alive?"
Arvin stared back at her for a long moment. At last he nodded and said, "There's just one problem. I don't know the power that will let me view someone at a distance."
"That's easily remedied."
Silver flashed in Zelia's eyes. She sat silent, staring out over the wrought iron railing that enclosed the rooftop garden. After several moments, a finger- sized crystal rose into view and floated toward her. She caught it then passed it to Arvin.
He glanced at the crystal. It was deep blue and blade-shaped: thin, with a chisel-like point at one end. Azurite.
"A power stone," he said.
Zelia nodded.
Arvin closed his hand around it. "You trust me to tell you what I see?" he asked.
Zelia laughed. "No. That's why I'm going to look through your eyes."
Arvin shuddered. He'd had Zelia inside his head- or rather, a fragment of her-a year ago when she planted her mind seed. Having her coiled around his thoughts wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat, even briefly, but it was something he had to do. If Karrell was alive…
"Let's do it," he said through gritted teeth.
Zelia stared into his eyes. Silver flashed across her pupils, then was gone. An instant later Arvin felt a soft fluttering under the scar on his forehead, the lapis lazuli silently alerting him to the fact that someone was watching him-from inside his own skull. As Zelia settled in behind his eyes, he saw her as she viewed herself: confident, poised, powerful-desirable. Then it was gone.
"How do I hail the crystal?" he asked.
"By its name," Zelia said. "Gergorissa."
Arvin whispered the name. He sent his awareness deep into the crystal and felt it awaken.
Yes?a female voice hissed as a mote of pale green light bloomed in the darkness. The voice was unsettlingly close to Zelia's own, and for a moment, Arvin thought Zelia had spoken to him. She must have created the power stone.
Arvin grasped the mote of light with his mind. He felt its energy rush into the base of his skull, filling the power point there. Suddenly he knew how to view Karrell anywhore on any plane of existence.
Assuming she was still alive.
Holding his breath, he manifested that power- and gasped as Karrell appeared in his mind's eye.
She sat slumped on the floor of a dripping jungle, arms clasped around her round, protruding belly.