The Power and the Glory

Book 4 Chapter XIII: More About Lian

'Pardon,' he said, 'I'm a bit rattled tonight. You see, I happen at this moment to be dead.' -- John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine Steps

"The mistake people always make in trying to sneak out of a place," Lian said in the voice of one who spoke both with authority and from experience, "is to try to be clever. They gather a large supply of food then leave it until midnight before they leave. Anyone who catches them knows at once what they're doing and it's no use trying to make excuses. No, the way to sneak out is to go in broad daylight. Don't bring anything with you except money. Act as if you're going to the shops and will be back in an hour or two. No one will pay any attention and you can get a good distance away before they become suspicious."

Abi nodded. "So we just pretend we're going on a shopping trip. But we can't go together or someone will start to ask questions."

"No one stops you from going sight-seeing," Lian said. "I'll explain everything to Lady Yuan and tell everyone else I'm going on an errand. We'll meet outside the post office."

"What about Zi Yao?" Mirio asked.

"I'll leave instructions for his care. Hopefully I'll be back within the week, and he should be all right in the palace physicians' care until then."

Abi looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. I've uprooted your life here, haven't I?"

Lian nodded. "Don't be too upset. I've had leave places very quickly many times before. At least this time I'm not being chased away and have a chance of being allowed to return. Besides, matheríarduan kalugan[1], a phrase I should have paid more attention to a long time ago."

"Irímé's going to join us somewhere," Abi said. "I suppose we'll meet up with him in Tananerl."

Both Lian and Mirio looked blank.

Lian asked, "Who?"

At the same time Mirio said, "How do you know? How does he know anything about this?"

There was a moment's uncomfortable silence in which Abi appeared to be trying to think of a convincing lie. At last she gave it up. "This is going to sound insane."

"More insane than necromancy-created monsters attacking a town? More insane than a random doctor just happening to be your long-lost brother?"

"...Fair point. Well, to summarise, I accidentally got a distant cousin possessed. Then I got him unpossessed, and now we're telepathically linked. I asked him to find out what's happening on Muirus 9436. Irímé's working for him, so he said he's going to send him to help."

Lian held up his hand. "Two questions. Which distant cousin? And who is Irímé?"

"Ilaran, Prince of Tananerl. Do you know him?"

Lian shook his head. "Heard of him but never met him. Didn't he kill his own father?"

"...Maybe, but that's not important," Abi said, while in the background Mirio exclaimed, "What?"

Lian nodded slowly, looking as if he was beginning to question everyone's sanity. "You're telepathically linked to the Prince of Tananerl who is giving you updates on what happens on planet what's-its-name. All right. Now who is Irímé and why would he be any use on this mission? Is he a necromancer too?"

"He's my fiancé. He's coming because fire kills the monsters, and he's a dragon immortal."

There was another pause while Lian tried to wrap his mind around all of this new information. "I see," he said at last, in a voice that implied he didn't really see. "Well, we'd better start planning our route."