The Gem Lords

Answers - Part 2

     The first people he saw as they approached the continent of Nahul weren't natives, though, but visitors. Several tall ships were berthed in a natural (although nothing here could truly be called natural) harbour and boarding parties of several dozen men were walking inland, leaving an encampment on the beach to guard their small rowboats. They looked up in wonder as the gem steeds flew overhead, and some of them aimed crossbows before being frantically reprimanded by their officers.

     Thomas smiled grimly. It was never a good idea to shoot at a god. They had about as much chance of actually hurting Lord Ruby or his steed as a gnat had of hurting a dragon, but the gem lord would probably have retaliated brutally all the same. Visitors from neighbouring islands were welcome on Nahul, but only so long as they didn't betray the hospitality of their hosts. They'll come across the town of Tullion if they carry on in that direction, he thought, using Tak's memories as a guide. Tullion by the waterfall, whose inhabitants were accustomed to receiving visitors from the outlands beyond the rule of Dono. They'll give them a good reception.

     He spent a moment wondering which of the neighbouring land masses those ships had come from. Mohonia was the nearest continent of any size. It had been one of the first to be created after the formation of the world ocean, and he remembered Tak entertaining several delegations from that pleasant, fertile land, but these visitors bore only a slight resemblance to them in their design of ship and style of dress. Could it be that enough time had passed since Tak's most recent memories that Mohonian culture had changed completely?

     He realised he had no idea how much time had passed since Tak's 'death', but it had to have been at least two centuries because that was how long the Emerald Oracle had existed, whose only true purpose was to search for Tak's replacement. That was easily enough time for a completely new culture to have arisen on the next continent. He found himself experiencing a strangely uncomfortable feeling of being out of touch, which was ridiculous because he'd never been here before and owed nothing to these people. Even so, though, he found himself wishing he could speak to Barl and ask him what kind of people now inhabited Mohonia.

     That thought also felt uncomfortable, though. This is my realm, not his, he found himself thinking. I should be treating him as a guest in my realm, not turning to him for answers as if I were the guest! I rule here, not him! The thoughts arose fully formed in his head before he could stop them, and they left him shocked with horror. I'm beginning to think like Tak! I'm beginning to think I am Tak! I'm not Tak! I'm Thomas Gown! I'm just visiting here, to get a few answers! This isn't my home, and I'm not staying here!

     He looked across at Lirenna, flying alongside him, to remind himself where his future lay. In Haven, with his wife and son. The sooner we get out of here, he thought, the better!

     They were now flying over forest. An undulating green carpet that stretched for miles ahead of them broken here and there by the silver thread of a river flowing back in the direction from which they'd come. Beside one river was an area of open grassland, and on it they saw a small cottage surrounded by a carefully tended garden. The ferry keeper's cottage, remembered Thomas, seeing the wide, flat barge moored alongside. Old Porthold lives there, or had. How many centuries ago?

     When he looked closer, he saw that it was a different barge, and that the garden had been redesigned. He felt a moment of sadness and nostalgia. Old Porthold had been a real friend. He'd enjoyed his long talks with him, sitting on the riverbank watching otters playing in the water while kingfishers hunted nearby. And before Porthold, the ferry keeper had been Farin, who had in turn replaced Brok the hunchback.

     They'd all been his friends, but they lived and died while he went on and on. That was why it was rare for the Gem Lords to befriend the ephemerals. It was too painful to keep watching them die. That was why they tended to keep to themselves, only allowing themselves to grow close to those they knew would still be around a thousand years later. How many ferry masters have there been since Porthold? he wondered, and who was the cottage's current occupant? He longed to land and find out, but Barl was flying on and Thomas's steed was resolutely following him. Never mind, there'll be plenty of time to come back later, he thought, and was horrified all over again as he realised what he'd just thought. There was a part of him that was ready to settle down here, to become Lord Sapphire and rule as he had, and he had to keep reminding himself who he really was.