The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

As an Arameri, I was expected to show no favoritism to my birthland and consider the needs of all nations equally. I had not done so, of course. As soon as Tvril and Sieh were gone, I had contacted each of my assigned nations and suggestedknowing full well that a suggestion from an Arameri heir is not a suggestionthat they consider resuming trade with Darr. It had not been an official trade embargo, the lean years since my mothers defection from the Arameri. We could have protested an embargo to the Consortium, or found ways to circumvent it. Instead, every nation that hoped to curry favor with our rulers simply chose to ignore Darrs existence. Contracts were broken, financial obligations abandoned, lawsuits dismissed; even smugglers avoided us. We became pariah.

So the least I could do with my newfound, unwanted Arameri power was to accomplish part of my purpose in coming here.

As for the rest of my purpose well. The walls of Sky were hollow, its corridors a maze. This left many places wherein the secrets of my mothers death could hide.

I would hunt them down, every one.

* * *

I had slept well my first night in Sky. Worn out by shock and running for my life, I didnt even remember lying down.

On the second night, sleep stubbornly refused to come. I lay in the too-big, too-soft bed of my quarters, staring up at the glowing ceiling and walls that made my room bright as day. Sky embodied the Bright; the Arameri allowed no darkness here. But how did the other members of my illustrious family get any sleep?

After what felt like hours of tossing, I finally managed a sort of half doze, but my mind never settled. In the silence I was free to think of all that had happened in the past days, and to wonder about my family and friends back in Darr, and to worry whether I had a hope in the Maelstrom of surviving this place.

Presently, however, it came to me that I was being watched.

My grandmother had trained me well; I came fully awake. But though I mastered the urge to open my eyes or otherwise react, a deep voice said, You are awake.

So I opened my eyes and sat up, and had to suppress an entirely different urge when I saw the Nightlord standing not ten paces away.

It would do no good to run. So I said, Good evening, Lord Nahadoth. I was proud that my voice did not quaver.

He inclined his head to me, then just stood there smoldering and looking ominous at the foot of my bed. Realizing that a gods sense of time was probably very different from a mortals, I prompted, To what do I owe the honor of this visit?

I wanted to see you, he said.

Why?

To this he did not answer. But he moved at last, turning and pacing over to the windows, his back to me. He was harder to see there, with the night view as a backdrop. His cloak? hair?the nimbus of dark that constantly shifted round himtended to blend with the black starry sky.

This was neither the violent monster that had hunted me nor the coldly superior being who had threatened to kill me afterward. I could not read him, but there was a softness to him now that I had glimpsed only for an instant before. When he had held my hand, and bled on me, and honored me with a kiss.

I wanted to ask him about that, but too many things about the memory disturbed me. So instead I asked, Why did you try to kill me, yesterday?

I wouldnt have killed you. Scimina commanded me to leave you alive.

That was curious, and even more disturbing. Why?

I assume because she didnt want you dead.

I was dangerously close to growing annoyed. What would you have done to me, then, if not kill me?

Hurt you.

This time I was glad he was so opaque.

I swallowed. As you hurt Sieh?

There was a pause, and he turned to me. The moon, half-full, shone through the window above him. His face had the same faint, pale glow. He said nothing, but abruptly I understood: he did not remember hurting Sieh.

So you truly are different, I said. I wrapped my arms around myself. The room had grown chilly, and I wore only a thin shirt and pantlets for sleep. Sieh said something to that effect, and Tvril, too. While theres still light in the sky

By day I am human, said the Nightlord. At night I am something closer to my true self. He spread his hands. Sunset and dawn are when the transition takes place.

And you become that. I carefully did not say monster.

The mortal mind, imbued with a gods power and knowledge for even a few moments, rarely reacts well.

And yet Scimina can command you through this madness?

He nodded. Itempass compulsion overrides all. He paused then, and his eyes abruptly became very clear to mecold and hard, black as the sky. If you dont want me here, command me to leave.

* * *

Consider: An immensely powerful being is yours to command. He must obey your every whim. Wouldnt the temptation to diminish him, to humble him and make yourself feel powerful by doing so, be almost irresistible?