*****
The following day, Alexander woke up early, a mix of emotions racing through his mind. He knew trying to sleep was futile so got up and headed for his grandfather’s library. When he needed to think, he always found this a helpful place to go. The study was small and pokey with piles of books and manuscripts littered everywhere, along with old energy metres, works of art, and the odd piece of furniture. The room had heavy drapes across a large window that overlooked the garden, but the drapes were kept closed for fear the light would damage a priceless book or piece of artwork. Alexander had always thought somebody tripping over a stack of invaluable manuscripts was more of a risk, but seeing as he was virtually the only one that ever came in here now, he supposed that risk was small.
He turned on the lamp by the door and used its dim light to guide him to the comfortable brown leather chair in front of the large, leather-topped partners’ desk. He turned on the lamp that lived in the corner of the desk, sat down in the chair, and surveyed the scene. He immediately felt more relaxed, noting how strange it was that such disorder could make him feel calm and help him find perspective. His mind raced over recent events before centring on Anita, the Body Descendant. She hadn’t taken it well when he’d withheld information from her before, so he was guessing she wouldn’t be too pleased if she found out from someone else what he knew about her bloodline. Then there was all the stuff with the energy; Helena’s recent proposition for him to join the Institution, and what the bloody hell Austin was playing at. He was sure Christiana’s death had been about Anita, but surely something more than that was the cause of his recent stance on the energy.
Alexander spotted his grandfather’s old music player in the corner and manoeuvred his way past several stacks of books and scattered artefacts to turn it on. He’d expected dulcet, classical tones to waft through the air, but to his surprise, a wistful modern melody rippled out instead, complete with smoky voice and poetic lyrics. He made his way back to the desk, but as he edged his way past the last pile of books, accidentally toppled a brass model of the world onto the floor. ‘Damn,’ he said out loud as the model rolled under the desk. He crouched down on all fours and followed it under, reaching around wildly with his arms to try and locate the missing artefact. After a few moments, he realised his search would be more successful with the assistance of some light, so he reached for a small lamp from a nearby table, pulled it to the floor and switched it on. Thankfully, he spotted the world near the back, and crawled further in to reach it. As his fingers closed around the model, to his surprise, he heard a soft click under his left knee, near the edge of the drawer section of the desk. He moved back out, lifted the rug covering the area he had been kneeling on, and was surprised to see a tiny panel in the floor had sprung open to reveal a small metal object inside. He reached in and fished out a tiny, simple brass key, closing the panel and replacing the rug before examining it in detail.
After a lengthy inspection, Alexander concluded that it was a normal key; there was nothing particularly special about it. If anything, it was a bit on the boring side, with no ornate head, no engraving, no suggestion as to which lock it fitted, nothing. Very disappointing and very much something his grandfather would like. He tried the key in all the locks he could find in the study; the desk, the door, the windows, the cabinets, but it fitted none of them; it was far too small. Bloody grandfather, he thought, hearing voices down the corridor and realising that everyone else must be up and eating breakfast. He pocketed the key and turned off the lights, taking one final look around to make sure he hadn’t missed anything obvious. Frustrated when nothing jumped out at him, he closed the door sulkily behind him and stalked down the corridor to see his guests.
‘Morning,’ came Cleo’s singsong voice as he entered the breakfast room, another room basked in light through enormous sash windows.
‘Morning,’ grunted Alexander.
Anita looked up from her breakfast, concern all over her face. He pulled himself out of his mood for long enough to send her a reassuring smile and she went back to her bacon and brioche.
‘Everything alright?’ asked Cleo, never one to miss out on potential gossip.
‘Couldn’t be better thanks,’ he said with a disarming smile, whilst helping himself to a lavish portion of smoked salmon and poached eggs on lightly toasted walnut and raisin bread, covered in hollandaise sauce. He joined the others at the table and after a couple of generous mouthfuls, his mood began to lift.
‘So I thought we could head straight to the relic after breakfast, if everyone’s happy with that? We can send a message ahead to Anderson and Arabella and ask them to meet us there.’
‘Sounds great,’ said Bas. He’d been wide awake since 6 o’clock, full of excitement at the prospect of being shown the relic by an expert, a relic expert who was also an energy transfer expert no less. His excitement was almost palpable as they bundled into Alexander’s car to be whisked down into Kingdom.
Alexander and Anita were, this time, sitting next to each other, with Bas opposite Alexander and Cleo next to Anita. They were giving Mrs Hudson and one of the chefs a ride as well, so the chef was in the front with the driver and Mrs Hudson sat next to Bas. Anita and Alexander’s legs were touching, shivers passing distractingly between them. She pulled away, certain someone would notice their soaring energy, but the sensation continued, Anita not sure if it was a repeat of what had happened last night, or a phantom. She was pretty much certain she wasn’t imagining it though when she felt Alexander send a nudge to the edge of her energy; was this flirting? If so, this was a whole new world to explore, but she did feel guilty, she had feelings for Marcus too. She made an inward promise that nothing more could happen with Alexander, in their minds or anywhere else, until she’d had a chance to work out what she wanted, and that would mean at least until she saw Marcus again. Her energy dropped as she shut herself off to Alexander’s charms, and he turned to look at her, trying to hide the concern from his face as he felt the change.
He wanted to ask her if everything was alright, to convince her that it was. He knew she’d be feeling guilty, and although he didn’t really know why, he hated Marcus, he felt guilty too. They pulled up at the Temple of the Spirit and once Bas, Cleo, Anita and Alexander had got out, the driver pulled away to take the chef and Mrs Hudson to the market. They made their way into the Temple, which, although broadly similar to the Temple in Empire, was on a much grander and more impressive scale. The star-clad ceiling seemed to reach up into the sky, there were more pillars than in Empire, the stonework exquisitely intricate, yet the space still felt light and lofty, and walking through it gave Anita the impression that she was balancing on the crest of an elegant wave as it curled its way towards the beach. Just like a wave crashing into the sand, they came abruptly to the closed off centre of the Temple containing Alexander’s chambers; only he, or those he chose to invite inside, were allowed to visit. They circumnavigated his domain, all politely ignoring the fact they were dying to see inside and Alexander was the one with the power to make that happen, and found themselves walking directly into the courtyard that housed the relic the other side.
The relic was an odd looking piece of rock; not any particular shape and not at all pleasing to look at. It was a disappointing shade of greyish brown, with ugly ridges and edges that jutted rudely out from its core. It was a little bigger than a human head, but gave the impression that it was much heavier, like the modern metal structure that had been erected to support its weight might collapse at any moment. The relic sat under a twisted old olive tree that seemed to add to its mystery, shielding it from the real world.
The courtyard was a strange mix of contradictions, its boundaries forming a circle that joined the points of each Temple. It was open to the elements above and around the edges, devoid of Temple wall, yet sheltered by the colossal structures pointing to it. It was welcoming in that it was accessible from every angle, yet intimidating, the olive
tree somehow threatening uninvited visitors. It was awe inspiring in that the relic was without doubt the main event, but also felt like a classroom, in a way mundane, with images and inscriptions on chunks of rock placed sporadically around the courtyard’s edges. It felt at the same time balanced and content, yet strangely off kilter, spacious yet confined, proportionate yet both too big and too small, illuminated in places, yet dark in others. Anita felt uneasy, on edge and out of place.
‘Hi,’ said Arabella when she saw them, bounding over to greet them. ‘Thank you so much for such a wonderful evening last night,’ she gushed at Alexander, clearly not immune to his electric blue eyes and rugged charm. Anita felt a pang of, what? Jealousy? which she quickly suppressed.
‘It’s so great of you to show us around,’ said Anita sweetly.
‘It was the least we could do to say thank you,’ she replied, although Anderson didn’t seem to share Arabella’s sentiment. He’d barely looked up from the relic to acknowledge their presence, seeming not nearly as keen as Arabella on this private lecture. But Bas, realising this was his opportunity to corner Anderson, took care of him, and Arabella started to talk the rest of them through the history of the relic.
‘Of course, the relic hasn’t been here forever,’ started Arabella, revelling in the attention her audience were paying her. ‘That is to say it’s been in the world since the beginning, but we’ve only known of its existence for around three hundred and fifty years, since the year 1000. But I mustn’t get ahead of myself; I’ll start from the beginning. As you know, in the beginning, the three Gods created three worlds, and in our world they put people with skills that resembled their own. What we now know is that, at the same time, the Gods also put the relic in the world, but hid it deep within a cave system far out in the Wild Lands. Along with the relic, there were drawings and inscriptions that must have also been put there by the Gods, and if you ask me, that is the most exciting bit. People come from all over the world to see the relic and many leave again without realising the significance of the inscriptions on the walls surrounding it,’ she said, making a sweeping gesture with her hand around the courtyard. ‘Here,’ she continued, ‘you can see the image of three people around the relic. Our best academic guess is that each represents a Descendant, as you can see, there are two males and one female.’ Anita wasn’t sure she subscribed to this; to her they looked a lot like three smudged stick people with no clear gender, but she obviously didn’t possess an expert’s eye. ‘Over here, we have the same three people pointing to the sky and the relic seems to be floating towards the heavens, back into the waiting arms of the Gods, depicted here by these three symbols,’ she said, pointing to three shapes above where a blob of colour (the relic apparently) was stuck in the sky.
‘But what are most illuminating, I think, are the inscriptions. There are three inscriptions, and again, our best academic guess would suggest that one relates to each God’s line. The first, we think, relates to the Spirit discipline and says, ‘look to the light’, the second, we think has its origins in the Mind tradition and says simply, ‘knowledge is power’, and the third, from the Body, we are almost certain, due to the gender reference, says, ‘she who dares will surely triumph’. We’re not without doubt as to their exact meaning, however, academics are broadly agreed that they’re likely to be words of encouragement to Descendants to fulfil their quest to return the relic. There’s complete agreement that they must be seen as motivational in some sense or another. Anyway, as you know, the Descendants were put in the world by the Gods around the year seven hundred and seventy, around six hundred years ago, but the relic was only discovered in the year 1000. It was at this point that the true purpose of the Descendants became clear and these great Temples in Kingdom were erected in spectacular celebration. Of course, a place for the relic was designed as the centre piece, and the Crowning ceremonies were modified to include the oath that Descendants should devote their lives to freeing the world. That was the time when Kingdom really took over as the premier city from Empire. Aside from the splendour of the new Temples, it made sense for the main city to be by the sea; much more accessible that way.’
Arabella finally stopped talking as she approached the piece de la resistance. She walked towards it, creating what she was sure was a sense of awe and wonder as she went. She stopped several feet away, paused, and was just about to launch into another monologue, when Cleo chipped in. ‘So who discovered the relic and who decided to move it here along with the inscriptions?’ Arabella gave Cleo a piercing look and took a deep breath, contemplating how dismissive her reply should be, when Anderson answered for her.
‘A group of academics discovered the relic out in the Wild Lands whilst on a research trip. They were the ones to bring the relic back with them, but they didn’t think that anyone would believe them without seeing the inscriptions as well, so they extracted sections of the cave walls and brought them back. Luckily, they had a full research team with them, so this didn’t pose too great a challenge; lots of people and horses to help move everything.’
‘Who were the academics and how did the Descendants take it?’ Cleo asked, her instinct for finding gossip piqued.
‘Just a few random academics; their names escape me now. If I’m truthful, I’d be surprised if there’d been no reaction from the Descendants of the time, but there’s nothing documented anywhere, so we really don’t know.’
‘Nothing at all?’ said Cleo surprised.
‘No,’ said Anderson, in a tone that indicated Cleo should move on.
Cleo knew when to drop a topic, so she nodded in defeat but resolved to investigate the matter further when she got back to Empire. There must be something in the Archives and it would be very unlike the Descendants not to react at all to a discovery of such magnitude.
Arabella spotted the opportunity to retake control, so turned back to the relic with a flourish, saying, ‘and this is the much discussed relic. But Anderson is really the one who should tell you about it, he knows the subject backwards and will do it far more justice than I.’ Arabella smiled warmly at Anderson, who looked as though he’d rather not, but knew the path of least resistance would be to do it; Arabella would never let him hear the end of it otherwise.
‘As you can see,’ started Anderson, in a surprisingly commanding voice, ‘the relic is a totally irregular shape. It has no particularly unique markings and looks very much like any other piece of rock you might find in a cave, except, that is, for the fact the relic is made of an element we have not been able to find anywhere else on the planet, including in the Wild Lands around where it was found. Other than what the inscriptions tell us, we know nothing about the relic, which is why it’s been a source of fascination and wonder since it was discovered, well, that, and the promise it brought with it of course. Many academics have devoted their lives to the relic, but no one has managed to make any headway with how to send it back. Of course, the Descendants are generally uncomfortable with the prospect of losing their power, so they haven’t historically shown much support for our cause. We try to keep a low profile,’ he said pointedly, ‘attention is not good in our line of work.’ With that, Anderson abruptly, and a little rudely, in Cleo’s opinion, turned away from the group and got back to work.
It was clear that to stay any longer would be to outstay their welcome, so Cleo piped up, ‘well it’s been a fascinating morning. Thank you so much for the guided tour, we really appreciate it, but I promised my father that I would meet him for lunch, so I’d better get going. See you back at the house later,’ she said to Alexander and Anita, before turning around and striding away through the Temple of the Mind.
‘And we really should be heading off too. I promised Anita I would show her around Kingdom today,’ said Alexander. ‘Anderson, thank you so much for taking the time to show us the relic,’ he said, shaking Anderson’s hand, ‘and Arabella it has been a pleasure as always,’ he said, kissing Arabella briskly on both chee
ks.
‘Bas, are you coming?’ asked Anita, as Bas sat down next to Anderson, making himself comfortable.
‘Uh, no, I don’t think so. I’ll catch up with you two later. Think I’ll stay and help Anderson and Arabella for a bit.’ As Anderson seemed to actually perk up at the prospect, Anita just nodded and threw Bas a smile.
‘See you later then,’ she said, thanking Anderson and Arabella and following Alexander into the Temple of the Body.
‘I’ve never seen him take to anyone like that before,’ said Alexander when they were out of earshot.
‘Well he and Bas have a lot in common, and Bas might even be able to help him. Anderson has spent a lot of time out in the Wild Lands recently, so he probably isn’t up to date with all the energy developments. Given that Bas is as up to date as it comes, Anderson’s probably as excited to have Bas around as Bas is to learn about the relic. I know Bas doesn’t always come across as an authority, but after Alistair, nobody knows more about the energy than him.’
Alexander nodded. ‘I suppose that must be it.’
Anita and Alexander walked past Peter’s chambers, emerging in the main section of the Temple, and it was breath-taking; not nearly as open as the Spirit Temple, but equally pleasing. Where the Spirit Temple was one vast chamber with pillars stretching to the ceiling, the Body Temple was segmented into sections, the lines of the arches tight and pleasing. They invoked images of a ballet dancer bending elegantly backwards, off balance, yet supported by a strong, muscular partner. The sections reminded Anita of secret gardens, the kind of place she would like to have a romantic picnic, secluded but open, welcoming, cosy, stuffed full of wonderful, dusky pink flowers, and wrapped in flowing fabric. She would have liked to spend some time exploring the Temple, but Alexander was already striding towards the entrance, so she reluctantly followed.
They emerged into the crisp sunlight and meandered towards the centre of Kingdom, the conversation wandering through subject after subject. They’d been walking for a while when they rounded a corner to find themselves in a relatively secluded area with an enormous pair of bolted gates straight in front of them. Alexander stopped sharply, as though he were surprised to find himself there, then noticeably bristled. ‘Austin’s house,’ he said, through slightly gritted teeth, nodding his head in the direction of the gates.
‘Really?’ said Anita, looking in wonder at the pretty-yet-imposing house that stood the other side of the gates. It was hard to work out where the buildings around it ended and it began, despite being surrounded by its own protective wall. The red brick construction had a secretive look about it, as though it was guarding a large number of highly incriminating secrets.
‘It’s not what I imagined,’ she said, unable to tear her eyes from the building, ‘not that I’m sure what I imagined really.’
‘Why?’ asked Alexander, doing his best to sound nothing more than conversational.
‘Because it’s so different to the castle in Empire. Everything about it is different. The stone, the size, the style, the proximity to the centre of the town. This seems like a wonderful home right in the thick of things, whereas the castle is a statement of power sitting above Empire.’
‘Yes, I suppose so,’ said Alexander offhandedly. ‘Anyway, there’s something else I’d like to show you,’ he said, purposely moving the conversation away from Austin and also, by default, away from Marcus. ‘Over here,’ he said conspiratorially, taking her hand and pulling her lightly around the side of Austin’s house, a jolt pulsing through each of them as their skin made contact.
‘Where are we going?’ asked Anita, confused, as they approached what seemed to be a solid brick wall.
‘Through here,’ he smiled back, leading them around what was, in fact, an overlap in the wall, concealing a small gap through to the other side. They appeared in a space that was half-room, half-tent, with stone walls and a canvas roof, but the space was full of beautiful swathes of fine silk, in a vast array of deep, rich colours.
‘Wow,’ said Anita, stunned, as she emerged from what turned out to be a fabric stall into a bustling street, jammed full of stalls similar to the one they had just walked through. ‘I wasn’t expecting that.’
‘Welcome to the market,’ said Alexander excitedly, not letting go of her hand. ‘This is where the traders come with their goods from their farms, from the sea, or from the Wild Lands. You can get pretty much anything you can imagine here; silks,’ he said, running his hand over one of the swathes at the entrance to the stall they had just walked out of, ‘all manner of foods, clothes, cosmetics, precious metals and stones, brass cylinders, energy mechanisms, herbs and spices,’ he said, as he gently tugged her past a stall with piles of brightly coloured powders on display, Anita’s mouth wide open in wonder.
They passed a shop with early energy mechanisms chugging away in the window, brass cogs whirring around, but as Anita tried to enter, Alexander pulled her back. ‘It’s best not to linger for too long here. Most people recognise me and kindly leave me alone, but I don’t really want to cause a scene by browsing for an extended period in an old junk shop.’
‘It doesn’t look like a junk shop to me,’ said an indignant Anita. ‘There could be all manner of treasures hidden in there, just waiting to be found.’
‘Unlikely, given the number of traders around, but now is not the time to find out. Come on, we haven’t got time to hang around.’ Alexander finally let go of Anita’s hand as they approached the city’s wall, his recklessness abating a little with every person they walked past. They ducked through an opening in the wall and followed a perilous, winding stone staircase down to the sandy beach below.
‘This place is like a rabbit warren,’ said Anita. ‘I had no idea we were that close to the beach.’
‘That’s why the Descendants like it so much in Kingdom. It’s easy to disappear with all the passages and hidden passes; if someone follows us, it’s usually fairly straightforward to lose them. And Kingdom’s close to the action; if someone finds something interesting in the Wild Lands, the market is the place to find out about it.’
‘It’ll be a wonder if we ever get Cleo back to Empire then,’ she said dryly. ‘Why are you so comfortable with Anderson’s work with the relic?’ she asked, taking Alexander off guard, once again getting straight to the point.
‘Why do you ask?’ he replied, successfully hiding his surprise.
‘Well the Descendants’ interests run contrary to everything that Anderson’s trying to achieve. If he finds a way to send back the relic, then you all lose your authority and the people decide who they want to rule.’
‘Why do you think I want to rule?’ bit Alexander.
‘Well you are, aren’t you, so you can’t be dead set against the idea,’ she snapped back.
‘I rule because it’s my duty to do so until we can find a way to return the relic, and I swore an oath to try to find a way to do that.’
‘But the other Descendants don’t seem to be trying too hard to free the world, quite the opposite in fact. They’re doing everything they can to try to stop the world being freed, even if that means destroying it in the process.’
‘And you think I’m like the other Descendants?’ he said, hurt at the thought.
‘Not exactly, but that’s why I asked the question. Why are you so comfortable with his work, given your high and mighty position in this world?’ Anita knew she was going further than was strictly necessary, but he really was being obtuse.
‘I have no interest in abusing the power and authority bestowed on me because of my bloodline. I’m no different to anybody else really. I’m powerful, yes, but so are others, and I have no desire to rule in a world where people aren’t happy. I told you, Sprit Descendants tend to be different to the rest. We tend to be more philosophical and less power hungry. Maybe that’s something to do with the kind of skills we respect. Minds respect grand displays of mental and physical power, as do Bodies, even if the d
isplays manifest differently, but Spirits acknowledge that it only takes one person to change the course of history. Maybe Anderson is that one person. Austin can put as many barriers in Anderson’s way as he wants to, but if Anderson continues to fight, maybe he’ll be the one to free the world. To a Spirit Descendant, that kind of display of power, motivated by reasons we consider more creditworthy than greed and self-interest, would be far more wonderful than the prospect of ruling for eternity.’
‘But what about stability? What if sending the relic back causes chaos?’
‘I think that’s a bit farfetched. People are pretty good at accepting change when they have to, especially when it’s change they’ve been asking for for centuries. And besides, as you pointed out, the world is heading for chaos as it stands anyway.’