Page 97 of Silver & Gold
“Gold is greed. Weapons are death. Quicksilver is worst of all.”
Raider winced. Seth’s hand squeezed his in understanding, then Seth asked, “Is that why you destroyed the people of Ulam? To destroy that knowledge? Then you took their city?”
Tarjan looked frustrated. “It was never their city. It was theirs and ours. We all lived here, peacefully, once. But we killed only the alchemists, and, yes, we destroyed the library. But the others fled, vanished into other cities. Their descendants are everywhere. You must understand that we love humans. You fascinate us. But you frighten us too. Look what your kind does. Look what your kind did to him,” he added, nodding to Raider. “But none of this knowledge can leave Jannat. If any knew the Stone was here—”
“I think they do know,” Seth said. “I think they’re coming. The others we were traveling with. It’s … fuck, it’s my fault. I charted a course based on my guesses about Ulam and Jannat. I never expected to get here,” Seth added apologetically. “I never even wanted to.”
Tarjan shook his head. “No human can see Jannat unless one of the djinn brings them in. We choose carefully. I watched you for days before I chose. Jannat is safe.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” Seth argued. “Soroush—”
“He is angry. His father was one of the five. But he will not harm you or anyone. The djinn swore a sacred oath to never engage in violence again.”
“Perhaps not directly,” Seth argued. “But Soroush said I had been useful. How can I have been useful—except to have drawn the others here?”
Raider shook his head. “But the canyon, Seth. How could they possibly have crossed that? Besides, you and I were brought here by the roc.”
“There was a crossing a few miles north,” Seth said. “I led us to where they couldn’t cross on purpose. But Fadesh, he got my notes and maps. Raider!”
Seth caught him as his knees gave out, lowering him to the stone steps. Raider bowed his head over his knees as the waves of memory crashed through him.
So much had happened since the crisis with the Hammer and Hand—Seth’s injury, Jannat’s wonders—that what Raider had remembered upon seeing the arcanist’s face had sunk back into the shadows of his mind.
That face, unremarkable, utterly forgettable, leered out from his memory, no longer forgotten.
Seth was crouched before Raider, one hand on the back of Raider’s head. “Raider, what is it?”
Raider wanted, desperately, to push the memory away, but he couldn’t let himself do that. Not anymore.
“Fadesh … I remembered him. When we were escaping, I remembered him. Then I forgot him again because …”
“Raider, you’re scaring me. What do you mean you remembered him?”
“He worked with Kahzir. On me.”
Seth froze. He was silent for a long, gravid moment. Then he said roughly, “Fuck.” Voice softening, hand starting to stroke Raider’s hair, he said, “Oh, baby. Goddamn it.”
“This Fadesh is an arcanist?” Tarjan asked.
“Yes,” Seth replied, keeping light pressure on Raider’s head, telling him to take his time before rejoining the discussion.
Raider closed his eyes and tried to breathe. The fear was only a memory. He was fine. He was with Seth.
Tarjan asked, “And you said that Soroush told you that you had been useful?”
“Yes,” Seth confirmed. “Is there a way into Jannat, other than by air? Something that Soroush could reveal to them?”
Raider lifted his head. Seth’s hand slid to his shoulder.
“Yes, there is a pass that leads to the cliff of the Alchemist, but surely Soroush wouldn’t …?” Tarjan asked, seemingly of himself.
“Let them in? So they can take the Stone? I don’t know why he would want that, but I think that’s what he wants. And I don’t think he would have let me see that if he wasn’t close to his goal.”
Tarjan closed his eyes, shuttering the brilliant gold. “Great Fire Mother.”
“Tarjan, give us our weapons. They’re not only death. They’re life too. They defend it.”
“My heart weeps today,” Tarjan said—and vanished in a wisp of blue smoke, leaving behind a pile of weapons.