Chapter 369 - 363: The Missing Daughter

Beyond the shield enclosing the nine continents — Kareth Highlands

Darion stepped aside as three mages lifted a broken stone slab from the passage entrance. Dust spilled from its underside before they lowered it onto the pile beside the excavation.

He waited until the last worker had moved clear, then approached the opening.

"Has Othiel come back?"

"Not yet, my lord. They are examining the second chamber."

Darion glanced into the darkness. A pale light moved across the wall below, followed by the scrape of boots on stone.

The passage had been exposed by a recent rockfall beneath ruins that earlier search parties had already examined. Those ruins lay within the area covered by Aurelia's last expedition. Until the hillside gave way, nobody had known that part of the lower structure remained accessible.

It had been enough to bring Darion here himself.

Master Othiel emerged a few moments later, brushing dust from his sleeves. One of the younger mages followed him with a rolled sheet of copied markings.

Darion went to meet them.

"What did you find?"

"Two storage chambers, my lord. There are broken shelves and some old tools. Nothing so far identifies anyone from Lady Aurelia's expedition."

"And the passage beyond them?"

"It continues beneath the fallen section. We will need to secure the ceiling before we can examine it properly."

"How long?"

"If the stone holds while we work, we should be able to enter tomorrow."

Darion looked at the copied markings. Most had been taken from a damaged wall inside the first room.

"Could she have left those?"

"They appear to belong to the original structure. I will compare them with our records, but I would not call them evidence of her presence."

Darion handed the sheet back.

"Then finish checking them. Keep the men out of the lower passage until the mages have made it safe."

"Yes, my lord."

A scout approaching from the upper slope stopped beside them.

"We followed the northern opening, my lord. It comes out above the ravine. The team has marked it and is checking the ground around the exit."

"Tell them to send their findings before nightfall."

The scout bowed and hurried away.

Darion rubbed the dust from his fingers. He had hoped Othiel would emerge carrying something he could recognize, even a fragment bearing the expedition's mark. Instead, they had more rooms to examine and another passage that might lead nowhere.

Still, the passage was there. They could search it.

He was turning back toward Othiel when light rose from the transport circle at the edge of the camp. A household messenger stepped out, spoke briefly to the guards, and came directly toward him.

"Lord Darion."

"What is it?"

"Lord Theron asks that you return to the estate. He wishes to see you as soon as possible."

Darion's attention sharpened.

"Has news arrived?"

"The message did not say anything, my lord."

For a moment, Darion considered asking him to go back and find out. His father would hardly summon him away from the search without a reason.

He turned to Othiel.

"You have command until I return. Continue the examination and send word immediately if you find anything connected to the expedition."

"Of course, my lord."

Darion followed the messenger toward the circle, carrying a little hope he knew better than to trust.

Theron threw the council's report across the desk.

The papers slid toward Darion, scattering as they struck the edge. He caught the upper sheet before it fell and looked at his father.

"Read it."

Theron remained standing behind the desk. His mouth was set, and the broken council seal lay beside his hand.

Darion lowered his eyes.

The elders wanted the search for Aurelia brought to an end. Every expert assigned to it was to be recalled, and the family was to begin choosing another successor.

He read the final paragraph twice.

He had left men working beneath an unstable hillside to come home for this.

"They want everyone called back?"

"All the experts sent out for the search," Theron replied. "They want the matter put before the next council meeting."

Darion dropped the page onto the desk.

"Did you agree?"

"If I had agreed, you would have received a recall order."

"Then refuse them."

Theron's jaw tightened.

"I have been refusing them for years."

"And we still have no answer about what happened to her."

"I am aware of that."

"Then why are we discussing stopping?"

"Because the elders intend to force a decision, Darion. Your aunt has added her support, and several who sided with me at the last meeting have signed this report."

Darion gathered the scattered pages. He recognized the names beneath the recommendation, including men who had once assured him that their people would remain in the field for as long as they were needed.

Now they wanted them home.

"We have only just gained access to the lower ruins," he said. "Othiel's people are still examining them."

"Have they found anything?"

"Not yet. There is another passage to clear."

Theron watched him for a moment.

"What can you tell the council about it?"

"That the search is unfinished."

"They know that. They will ask whether you have found a reason to believe Aurelia reached those rooms."

"They are within the area her expedition was investigating."

"As were the other sites we searched."

Darion's grip tightened around the papers.

"We cannot know what is there until we look."

"I understand that. I am telling you what they will ask."

"You sound as though you have already accepted their answer."

Theron's hand struck the desk.

"Be careful."

Darion fell silent, but his anger remained.

Theron leaned forward.

"Who do you think has kept those experts in the field every time the elders demanded their return? Who argued for another expedition when the previous one came back empty?"

"I know you have supported the search."

"Then do not stand in front of me and speak as though I am eager to end it."

The words came sharply enough that Darion looked away.

He had arrived hoping his father had received news. Finding the council's demand instead had left him looking for someone to blame, and Theron was the only person in the room.

After a moment, he put the papers down.

"I should not have said that."

Theron straightened, though his expression did not soften immediately.

"No, you should not."

Darion drew out a chair and sat. His boots had left pale dust on the carpet. He stared at it until his father sat down as well.

For several breaths, neither spoke.

Then Darion looked up.

"I cannot agree to call them back."

Theron rested his forearms on the desk.

"Those experts came from several branches of the family. Their elders agreed to release them because we promised to pursue every reasonable chance of finding Aurelia. Now they believe those chances have been exhausted."

"They can believe whatever they like. We still do not know what happened."

"And that is what I have told them."

"You are the head of this family."

"I can demand their cooperation. I cannot replace every experienced mage and tracker they want to withdraw."

Darion began to answer, then stopped.

He knew the people working under Othiel. Some had spent years studying the expedition's records. Others possessed the skills needed to examine places ordinary search parties could barely reach. Sending untrained men to take their places would accomplish little.

Theron picked up the report.

"They have left their people with us for thirty-two years. When they ask what another year will change, I need something to give them."

Darion leaned forward.

"If they believe she died, then let us find out where and how. They keep speaking as though the passage of time has answered every question."

Theron's gaze lingered on him.

"It has not answered mine."

The quiet reply took some of the force out of Darion's anger.

His father lowered the report again.

Darion looked at the paragraph concerning succession.

"And they want to replace her at the same meeting."

"They want another heir chosen."

"So they intend to close the search and settle everything before anyone can object."

"There will be objections. You have just given me several."

Darion almost smiled, but the expression faded before it formed.

Aurelia had been Theron's chosen successor. He remembered the day her name had been announced and how readily those same elders had accepted her. Some had praised her judgment at that gathering. Now they were preparing to discuss who would take her place.

"They can argue about the succession," he said. "That should not decide whether we keep looking for her."

"I will make that argument."

"Let me come with you."

"You will be at the meeting."

"I mean before it. Let me speak to the elders who signed."

Theron studied his son.

"You accused me of abandoning your sister within moments of entering this room. What exactly do you intend to say to them?"

Darion opened his mouth, then closed it.

Theron gave him time to reconsider.

"I will speak to them first," the old man said. "You will bring me Othiel's account of the work still being done. Be precise about what remains to be examined."

Darion nodded.

"I can do that."

"Give me something I can defend in front of them."

"I will."

Theron set the report aside. For the first time since Darion had entered, his shoulders lowered.

Darion had seen his father dismiss demands from the elders before. Usually there had been anger afterward, sometimes a bitter remark about whichever relative had pressed hardest. Today, the old man looked tired.

"Are you going to let the teams continue until the meeting?" Darion asked.

"Yes. Othiel can finish the work already under way."

"And afterward?"

Theron passed a hand over his face.

Darion waited, hoping for the firm refusal his father had given the council so many times before.

The old man let out a long sigh.

"I do not know if I can hold them off again," he said. "But I will try at the next meeting."