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Lukas looks around the walls of his fine prison. Could he contact Jemel? There is one way. “Would he even pay attention to such a message?”
“I told you, he knows who he is. And who we are. Who you are. He knows of the battle with Ur-Durik. He would listen to a message from you. If you told him it was from us.”
“Very well,” Lukas nods. “I will get Jemel out of this place, I swear it. And there is something you must tell Damon. Atticul has the Lady Inez. He will take her as bride at the ascension. Damon would want to know.”
“Inez,” says Elric. “If you can speak with her, tell her we are coming. Tell her Damon is coming.”
Damon is coming, Lukas thinks sourly. Of course they must all wait for Damon to arrive.
Elric says, “And you. You say you will get Jemel out, but what of you?”
Lukas smiles. “I will see you at the Ascension, Lordling.”
Elric sounds suddenly stricken. His playful beaming smile is gone. He holds a hand up to the mirror as if trying to press himself through it. “Please, Bastard. What of you? He plans to take your head.”
Beside Perl, Kerik seems to slump sideways, his head falling down onto Perl’s shoulder, “Faerie,” he says weakly.
The image in the mirror starts to fade, greying and blurring.
Perl turns to Kerik, face drawn. “Kerik,” he says sharply, “Kerik, you need to stop this now.”
Elric leans forward, “And don’t forget, Bastard,” he says with tears running down his cheeks, "you promised to marry me. So you’d better stay alive.”
“Of course I’m going to stay alive, you silly luxorite whore,” Lukas says, voice thick. He misses Elric so much it is a stinging pain.
The mirror flickers once and goes black and then he can see his own face. “Lordling?” Lukas says, hopeful for a moment. But he is gone.
As the rest of the day wears on, Lukas looks at the mirror again and again, hoping Elric might manage to make magical contact again, but he does not. He thinks of him, over and over. His Lordling. His heart hurts.
He tries to restart his game with his hook, but he cannot bear to. He sits, doing nothing, but gazing at the air.
Eventually the door opens and it is Suki with food and wine.
She is his sister. Can he truly trust her with this? He must.
“Suki,” he says as she sets down the tray, “I need you to do something for me.”
“You know I cannot help you escape. It is impossible.”
“I know,” Lukas nods, taking up a small piece of the bread from the tray and eating it, before reaching for the pouch of moonleaf. “And I have told you I do not need that, but there is someone else. Someone else in the palace who might be in danger.” He looks up at her as he fills his pipe. “He is my brother. Another son of Prince Rafus. But he needs to escape the Rose Palace and meet with my other brothers. Will you help him?”
Suki shrugs simply. “Lukas. I am your sister. If he is your brother, he is mine.”
Lukas lights the pipe from a burning candle and puts it to his lips, looking at Suki. He isn’t sure. But what choice does he have? If Jemel is the only chance to find out what it says in the Books of Alios, he must find a way to get him to Damon. Who can say if Lukas is needed to defeat the demon that is Emperor Atticul. But Jemel is, he is certain.
He drinks some of the wine. “I need you to pass a message to someone. To the Hare. Do you know him?”
“Of course.” Suki nods. “The veiled acolyte. He is well known.”
“Good. Find him. Tell him to leave the palace. Tell him you have spoken to me and I have a message from his brother Damon Darekul. He needs Jemel to find him.”
“Leave the palace and go where. Where should I tell him to go?”
“Anywhere. Attar is a big city.”
“Lukas, the Hare is a child of Zai. He has lived his whole life in the Rose Palace and the Sarelik Temple, He never goes beyond the walls of the citadel. Attar is full of unrest. He will not be safe if he leaves with nowhere to go.”
Lukas looks at her. She is right. The Hare is vulnerable. Atticul wants a reason to kill him. If he broke his vows and left the palace, he’d have one. With nowhere to go, he’d be hunted down.
