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circular face with its single hand. There were five marks between each of the
ten triangles. Dainyl nodded. Without any sight of the sun, mechanical glasses
were even more necessary, and far better than sand ones, which had to be
turned every glass or measured against a gauge. Light-torches were set in wall
brackets on each side of the headboard.
He moved through the open archway to the bath chamber, which held both shower
and a deep redstone tub, coated with a clear enamel or glaze. Beyond to the
right was a much smaller chamber with the other necessary facilities. Dainyl
looked at the stone-walled shower and the white bronze fixtures. A truly hot
shower would be more than welcome.
Almost a glass later, feeling warmer, refreshed, and definitely hungry, Dainyl
stepped out of the guest chambers, wearing a clean uniform, and walked down
the corridor toward the foyer.
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Ahead of him was an older alector wearing a dark gray shirt and
trousers white-haired, and slightly bent. He was carrying folded linens. As he
saw Dainyl, he stepped to one side and bowed.  Terribly sorry, sir.
 That s all right, Dainyl replied, uncertain of how or why the old alector
was supposed to have offended him.
The man bowed quickly once more, then hurried past Dainyl.
Dainyl reached the circular foyer, but saw no one there. He debated heading
down the center corridor, but decided to wait. Each of the four curved
sections of stone wall between the three corridors and the staircase held a
mural. The geographic locale of each mural was that of the isle and city of
Elcien. The first scene was just that of an isle, rocky in the center, low and
marshy near the bay on the south, with scattered stunted trees. The second
showed the arching bridge from the mainland and a grid of stone streets, with
the Hall of Justice, and Palace of the Duarch, and but a handful of other
structures. The third depicted an Elcien similar to the one Dainyl knew, if
somehow subtly different. The fourth illustrated an Elcien where a soaring
palace identical to the depictions of the Archon s Palace in Dlustra rose
between two green towers far taller than those that currently flanked the
Duarch s palace.
 You are most punctual, observed Asulet, entering the foyer.
 I try. Dainyl pointed to the third mural.  When was that drawn?
 Oh& some five hundred years ago. They were all done then.
 That one, it s almost like Elcien today.
 It was the plan for Elcien about a hundred years ago. It s fairly close to
what it is today. Matters often take longer than originally planned. Asulet s
last words held an ironic dryness.
 The fourth one that s what s planned?
 If the master scepter is transferred here, Asulet said.  The Archon has yet
to decide. Let us go eat. We will talk of that, and of other matters of which
you should know. He turned.
Dainyl walked beside the older alector down the wide center corridor.
 I saw someone in gray&  Dainyl ventured, wondering if the rumors about old
alectors were indeed true.
 Yes. The orderlies and servants. Various failures, heavily imprinted with
loyalty bonds. Tragic, but it s better than execution, and someone has to do
the menial work, and it s far better than letting landers or indigens know
what lies behind the facade of the Vault.
What did lie behind the facade of Lyterna? The Highest had intimated that much
did, and now Asulet was telling him the same thing. The engineering alone,
Dainyl had to admit, for what little he had seen in the past glass and a half,
had to have been stupendous.
 You are beginning to wonder, are you not, Submarshal?
 How could I not? Dainyl managed a laugh.  I ve already seen superb
engineering and remarkable crafting, and I doubt that I ve seen a fraction of
what is here.
 That is indeed so. Asulet raised a hand toward the open square archway just
ahead of them.  The dining chamber is the most ornate space in Lyterna, and it
is also among the oldest finished rooms in the complex. The thought was that
we should have something of elegance and grace when outside held little but
lichens, stunted trees, and winter-cold swamps. As Asulet finished speaking,
he stepped through the wide square arch into a large circular chamber.
Dainyl followed and stopped. i
The space was close to fifty yards across, with a high-arched dome cut out of
the very rock, soaring to nearly twenty yards overhead. Double goldenstone
columns circled the chamber, set at intervals of six yards, and reaching from
their pediments to a frieze ten yards above the shimmering green and gold
marble floor. The green marble frieze was less than a half a yard in height.
On its face had been carved a repeating design of pteridons and sandoxes. The
wall space between the columns and beneath the narrow frieze had been faced
with creamy white marble. Each set of double columns was flanked by lighter
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green hangings that dropped from the base of the frieze to just above the
polished marble of the floor.
Overhead was the domed ceiling, inset with the same creamy white marble tiles,
edged with green marble. The lines of green marble converged, ending at a
circle of green surrounding and filling the apex of the dome. In the center of
the green was the gold, eight-pointed star. The dining l hall was illuminated
by light-torches set in ornate bronze brackets on the goldenstone pillars.
There was a full score of tables arranged in the quarter of the chamber
opposite the entry archway. So large was the space that the tables seemed well
apart from each other.
 Once there were more of us living here, added Asulet.  That was when Acorus
was too chill for half the year.
Four circular stands, each six yards across and a yard and a half high, were
set equidistant from each other, lost in the openness of the otherwise unused
space under the dome.
Dainyl glanced at the nearest stand, realizing it held the model of a city.
 That s Ludar.
 Exactly, and the others are Elcien, Alustre, and Dereka.
 As they are now, or as they were planned?
 As they were planned. The models are close to five hundred years old. There
are a few differences between the plans and the final construction, but not
many. Those differences are largely because of geographic peculiarities of
which we were unaware at the time. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]