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"Eye-catchers?"
"Magical orbs designed to catch the attention. Not exactly charm magic, because they're usually used as warning signals, but… like the bright yellow yield signs back over Earthside." She glanced at Morio. "Do you know the enchantment that makes them? They seem right up your alley."
He shook his head, drawing near her. "No, I don't think that's in my repertoire. Other youkai might know it, though I can't say for sure. I haven't dealt much with most other nature-demons back Earthside. But I can see someone like Titania using these. At least back when she was holding her own instead of holding the bottle."
"I learned very few higher spells when I was training," Camille said. "My teacher didn't bother trying to teach me anything he thought I'd screw up too badly, except for the energy bolts. By the time I moved on to the more advanced stages of training, word had spread that I was a klutz. I'm beginning to think that maybe I wouldn't have so many problems if I'd had teachers who cared more and didn't turn their backs on me because I'm a half-breed."
I recognized the sting in her voice.
Morio just patted her on the arm. "You're doing fine with the death magic," he said. "Maybe we can help you relearn some of what you missed out on." His voice was so tender that I jerked my head up and stared at the two of them. Camille might be Trillian's, but it was apparent that Morio had been slowly, silently staking his claim. Was he trying to undermine the Svartan or just complement him? I shook off the thought. The only thing that mattered right now was what sort of man this seer we were searching for turned out to be.
As we rounded a bend in the trail, the curving spires of Aladril rose up from behind the city gates. Minarets rose from the domes, marble and alabaster gleaming with a finish so highly polished that they reflected the starlight. Aladril's architecture was much like that of Terial, the port city at the edge of the Mirami Ocean, but there the resemblance between the two cities ceased. Terial thrived, a noisy city of vendors and merchants. Aladril was a quiet city of scholars, seers, and magic.
When we approached the gates, a guard, wearing a turquoise and white uniform with golden epaulets on the shoulders, motioned for us to stop. "Proper identification, please."
We held out our necklaces. Using what looked a lot like the crystal bug detector Queen Asteria had given us, the guard touched the crystal to the platelet on the cord and a soft beep sounded. Giving me an odd look, he stepped back and motioned to the gate. "Enter Aladril, the City of Seers, and be welcome."
I paused. "Do you know where we might find a seer named Jareth? Queen Asteria directed me to seek him out."
The guard gave me another strange look. "Are you sure she said Jareth?"
"Yes," I said. "I'm positive."
He resumed his unreadable stance. "You'll find Master Jareth in the Temple of Reckoning. Follow Arabel Avenue to the central park, then cross through the gardens to the Hall of Temples. You'll find him there." As I turned to go, I heard him whisper under his breath, "And may the gods smooth your way, little demoness."
I glanced back, about to ask what the hell he meant, but he ignored me. No matter. We'd find out soon enough.
As we passed through the thirty-foot tall gates, a hush descended around us, as if the world were muffled by a magical blanket. Even though it was night, the streets were bustling with activity, people in long cloaks coming and going, all looking intent on their journeys.
The streets were made of cobbled brick. The buildings varied from stucco to marble to what appeared to be bronze façades. Rounded domes dappled the skyline with spires and minarets rising into the air, complete with flags of blue, white, and gold fluttering from their pinnacles. We saw no farm or transportation animals in Aladril, at least no horses or cows, but dogs and cats and rabbits dashed through the streets and I had the feeling they were familiars.
"There," Camille said, pointing to a street sign. "Arabel Avenue."
We stood at the edge of the avenue. A major thoroughfare, it was filled with a throng of people, silently bustling toward their destinations. The moon was on her way toward dark, but the same globes of light that had guided us along the path to Aladril also decorated the city streets.
As we joined the mass of pedestrians, I found it difficult to tell male from female. Most of the inhabitants seemed to be cloaked in voluminous robes with hoods, and their scent was far less disparate than that of human male and female.
Or Fae, for that matter. I'd found that most races had distinct scents—perhaps pheromones—for the differing genders but here that didn't seem to play true.
Even in the midst of winter, the fragrance of night blooming wyreweed filled the air with a luxurious scent and I thought I could hear music coming from somewhere until I tried to focus on it. Then it slipped away and I wasn't sure if I'd heard anything or not. I'd been to Aladril once before, and Camille had been here several times, but it was as if my memory of the city had faded the moment I left the gates, leaving only a vague impression of what I'd seen or done.
"The energy here is so thick that it's giving me a headache," Morio said, wincing. "How many seers live here? The cerebral pulse of the city is throbbing like a staccato drumbeat."
Camille shrugged. "Nobody knows much about the makeup of Aladril, or even who or what the original inhabitants are. Very few are ever given permission to relocate here and those who do seem to disappear and are seldom heard from after that. Remember cousin Kerii?"
I nodded. "I remember. Her teacher thought she had so much talent as a divination witch that he recommended she seek further training in Aladril." Turning to Morio, I added, "We heard from her once or twice after she moved, then nothing. We know she's still alive, her soul statue is still intact, or was the last time we checked our ancestral shrine, but we haven't had any contact with her since those early days."
"Soul statue? What's that?" Morio pinched the bridge of his nose, and squinted. "I feel like I do when I've been around high-speed Internet too much. Starbucks is hell for me due to all the wireless activity."
Camille glanced around. "The magic here is so heavy that it's even wearing on my shoulders. As to soul statues—when we're born, the shamans forge soul statues for each of us. These are placed in the family shrines and when we die, they shatter." She glanced at me. "Menolly's shattered when she died. When she was raised, the pieces reforged themselves, but the statue came out…"
"Misshapen. You can say it," I said. "I've seen it and I know what it looks like. When I die the final death, it will shatter for good."
Morio blinked. "That's interesting. So you can tell if your father and aunt are alive—"
"Exactly," Camille broke in. "Every time he returns, Trillian takes a moment to have someone check on our shrine and sure enough, both Father and Aunt Rythwar's soul statues are still intact. They're alive, just missing."
"There's the park," I said, pointing ahead. We'd been walking a good hour and now faced a large, enclosed wild space. Though wild might be a misnomer considering the fact that this was Aladril. Nothing seemed wild or untamed in the city of seers.
