Saray came around the counter and her embrace instantly released the tension of his terrible secret. He wanted to cry but his soul felt dry and brittle, his heart too empty for tears to flow.

  Sarah pulled back and she was crying enough for both of them. She tried wiping the tears away, but they kept flowing down her smiling face and dripping on the front of her tunic.

  Corvan swallowed a few times before finding his voice. “Why are you so happy, grandmother?”

  “Kalian, my precious one, when you have lived as long as I you know the signs of those who have eaten the lumiens. When I went with you to see the old man in the chamber, I could sense the great guilt and pain inside you but there was also a fierce determination to overcome. I am so proud of you for telling me. Confession can move us down the pathway towards healing. Trying to handle such things on our own does not work. We need each other to lean on.”

  Saray shook her head softly. “Even with my Jokten, I know he could have done much better if he had told me of his plans and ideas. At the time I told myself it was not my place as a woman to doubt him, but without my feedback he made costly mistakes.”

  “There is something else grandmother.” Corvan tried to go on, but the words seem to stick in his dry throat.

  Saray did not speak but rested one hand on his left forearm.

  Corvan took a deep breath. “I was also given a powerful potion in the gatekeeper’s house. It was the same elixir he was using to create the Rakash.”

  Saray’s eyes widened but she did not speak.”

  “His potion took away most of the craving for lumiens but there is now a much greater desire that comes over me at times.”

  She looked into his eyes. “And what is that? What is it you desire now?”

  Corvan broke her gaze and looked at the ground between them. “Kael’s Lifelight. I watched when he gave a drop to a watcher. I could see how powerful it was and I wanted to taste it.” He lifted his right hand, intending to to pull the pouch out and show Saray, but she reached out and took both his hands in hers.

  “You must avoid being anywhere near the Lifelight. That potion is incredibly powerful and could corrupt any person, even one who has never eaten a lumien seed. For myself, I think just to see it would instill an irresistible desire to have its power, to get my youth back again, but a single drop of that potion would most likely turn me into another TaKalian, another evil creature who aims only to satisfy their own desires without any thought for what happens to everyone else. I could become your evil grandmother; can you imagine that?”

  Saray gave a weak attempt at a smile, released his hands, and patted his cheek. “You must stay far away from Kael and the Lifelight. This is why I believe you must stay behind when Kael and Neera go to confront their grandfather. TaKalian will attempt to use your desires against you, to make decisions that will benefit only him. I know your mother and brother have the strength to resist him and the temptation to use the Lifelight, but you are young and need time to mature,” she nodded over to the counter, “just like the kokur.”

  Corvan let his hands drop to his sides. It was an incredible relief to have Saray understand his struggle with the lumien seeds, but now that she had declared her concerns about holding the vial of Lifelight, he would need to continue to keep it a secret from her. It would be best to give it back to Kael and be done with it.

  Saray went back behind her counter, gave the kokur orbs a bit more water, then looked up at him. “I am beginning to wonder if Kael might have been testing you by showing the Lifelight to you. He wanted to see if you can be trusted, if you had already consumed the seeds or were a spy for your grandfather.”

  Corvan nodded to Saray but in his heart, he knew that in Kael’s eyes he had already failed the test and was now in league with his grandfather.

  “I don’t ever want to be associated with TaKalian,” Corvan said. “When I picture his cracked face, his black teeth spitting angry words and his bloody hand on my face, I know that the Lifelight is not worth it. It should be called the Deathlight.”

  Saray nodded. “I understand how you feel but the Lifelight was so named because it contained the light of all the lumiens in Dubok Kholm and the essence of all the citizens of the Kholm that perished to create it. It is their life force that swirls about in every drop. TaKalian’s son, the father of Kael and Neera was the one who first reached out to the Makers, the ones could manipulate and distill the essence of living things into that concentrated form.”

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  As Saray talked, the pouch at his chest grew heavier, its cord cutting into the back of his neck. He was carrying something both sacred and powerful, but he dare not share his burden with Saray.

  Saray slowly shook her head. “There are parts of that account that seem more believable to me now that I know more of your family. It explains why TaKalian hates his son and his two grandchildren so much. His son saved his life by having the Makers create the Lifelight but then he took it away from him and made him suffer alone for so long. I think now that any love he may have had in the past, even for Neera, has turned to hate. I, for one, am glad he is getting weaker and that his time is finally drawing to an end.”

  “But doesn’t that mean we must let Kate grow weaker as well? What if she dies before he does? Does she know that might happen to her if we delay?”

  Saray pointed into the room where Kate lay. “You need to understand that along with her suffering, Kate has been growing in wisdom. She fully understands the risks involved in the plan to let the old man grow weaker. She agreed that this is our only chance to end this. To encourage her, I will let her know the good news that Neera is back in the Cor with the scepter and that you are going to help us. It will give her hope that TaKalian’s defeat is much more certain.”

  “But how will my mother and Kael reach Kate in time? Isn’t Dubok Kholm at the very end of the Cor River? They would have to go through the cities of the Cor to get there and does Kael even know the way?”

  Saray patted his arm and spoke softly. “That is where you have a role to play. I need you and Gavyn to find Neera and take something to her.” She went into her small bedroom beyond the kitchen, returning with a short roll of parchment. Spreading it out on the counter, she weighted the ends down with a utensil on each side.

  “When Jokten was governor of Kadir he worked quietly on his own to create a new map of the seven cities of the Cor. On all the older maps the cities were laid out in a straight line, starting from Kadir, and ending in Dubok Kholm. Over time, Jokten surveyed the actual layout of the cities and discovered that, because of the twists and turns of the river Cor, the palace of Kadir is actually directly over the edge of the Dubok cavern far below. When we lived in the palace of Kadir, he set to work exploring all the waterways and small tunnels that lead down in that direction. He spent so much time in the sewers below the city that I dreaded trying to get the stench out of his clothes. What a terrible smell! It was a relief when he was able to create a hidden entry to his tunnels, right under the bathing nook in our palace bedroom.” She pointed at a spot on the map. “I only needed to make sure the warm water was ready for his return with lots of scented soaps. Sometimes he was gone for days, and I was worried he was lost, or worse. He certainly loved to explore, and never gave up.” She smiled up at Corvan. “What a stubborn man.”

  Corvan smiled back at her. He knew the powerful odor of the sewers all too well after his escape from the gatekeeper of Anamir.

  “In time he discovered an abandoned water channel that led from below the plaza karst to the edge of the water in Dubok. His wanted to keep eye on TaKalian and over time he learned what he was up to. It was through that secret tunnel that he carried the hammer and scepter out of Dubok Kholm without having to go through the other cities. Up till now, I was the only person who knew the passage existed and what the secret is to gain entrance. With your help we will pass this knowledge on to Neera and Kael. That way they can get to Dubok Kholm in time to rescue Kate.”

  She smiled and pointed inside the palace rectangle on the map. “Our bedroom was the first window on the far side away from the plaza. In talking to Kate, I understand that our old quarters are now where Tyreth lives. Gavyn knows all the tunnels under Kadir. I’m sure he can help Kael and your mother find their way inside without anyone seeing them.”

  “My mother left a note saying she would be hiding in the Kadir library.”

  “Of course she would. As Madam Toreg tells it, that is how Neera first escaped from Bandur at the time her grandfather purged the city and killed everyone there. Do you know where the Kadir library is?”

  “Yes.” He pointed to the edge of Kadir. “That is where I met Madam Toreg, the gray men and Atiya when Jorad and I brought Kate to you the first time.”

  “Good. I will show Gavyn this map and see what he knows about the passages beneath the plaza and the palace.”

  Saray went out to the gardens to find Gavyn and Corvan went back to the doorway to look at Kate. Sarah had woven together a cocoon of soft vines around her body but to Corvan it looked more like a coffin than a bed. How could Kate last long enough for the others to get organized and get to Dubok Kholm in time to rescue her? He gently cupped the pouch of Lifelight hanging beneath his tunic.

  If the potion was a powerful as Saray claimed, would it work to give Kate a single drop, just like Kael did for Tsarek? He studied Kate’s face, then let go of the pouch. He could not take any chances on what the Lifelight might do to her. If his Saray was so afraid that it would make her a terrible person then it would also be a bad idea to give it to Kate.

  Kate’s brow was furrowed and her cheeks sunken and pale. How could he be sure that Kael and his mother would even want to go to Dubok Kholm? Kael was convinced he had stolen the Lifelight, and he would want it back. What was his plan for it anyway? He wasn’t using it for himself so did he intend to use it to make a deal with his grandfather? Corvan nodded to himself. TaKalian wanted the Lifelight more than anything.

  He leaned in close to Kate’s ear and whispered. “Hang in their Kate, we won’t leave you trapped in the chamber. I have a better plan.”

  Her face relaxed and a faint smile creased the corners of her mouth.

  A fresh sense of determination swept over Corvan, and he sat up straight.

  He had not stolen the Lifelight and was not responsible to give it back. Teek had freely given it to him, and now he knew exactly what needed to be done with it. If TaKalian would do anything for even one drop, then he would go alone through the secret passage to Dubok Kholm and trade the Lifelight for Kate’s life.