The Outskirts: The Rogue Knight (Jace x OC) BOOK 2

The Rogue Knight: 20

I stood in a posh chamber. Full of warmth and color, it was less sterile than other rooms in the castle.
Precious metals and deep-blue stones decorated the floor in an elaborate pattern. Thick wooden beams added character to the walls and ceiling. Fine paintings and tapestries hung in abundance. The center of the room featured a generously open space, but the perimeter had furniture of exotic shapes and materials.
I failed to notice the man until he moved. His age was difficult to gauge, somewhere between a young man and a grandfather. He wore a loose golden robe with fur on the collar and at the end of the sleeves. He seemed a product of many ethnicities, with Asian the most prominent among them. Light suffused his skin, as if his entire body gently glowed from within. The man walked slowly, almost carefully, all the while regarding me with penetrating eyes and a cryptic smile.
"Hi," I said. "How did I get here?"
"Think back to your arrival," the man suggested. I heard the words with my ears, but also in my mind, as if the message might have arrived even with my ears covered.
"I'm asleep," I said, recalling the bed.
"I've been waiting," the man answered simply.
"You're Trillian," I realized.
The man gave a slight bow. "I have that honor. And you are Kendal Anderson."
I felt some relief that Trillian didn't look inhuman. I was also glad that he seemed polite. "This doesn't feel like a dream," I said. "I feel awake. This room almost seems more real than the room I was in."
"Perhaps it is more real," Trillian said.
"But it's a dream," I replied.
"Must a dream be less real than the waking world?" Trillian asked.
"Dreams go away when you wake up," I said, confident in my answer.
"Must something be permanent to be real?" Trillian asked. "You dwell in a temporary reality. Everything you know will end one day—your body, your possessions, the entire world where you were born will one day cease to exist as it presently does. Does that mean your life has not been real?"
"I guess it will all end someday," I conceded. "But it lasts longer than a dream."
"Does it?" Trillian asked. "Dreams sustain many through their entire lives. For some, dreams are their most personal and permanent possessions. The world I come from is much more like a dream than what you consider reality. My world existed long before your world, Kendal, and it will endure hang after your world crumbles. Mine is an eternal world, and I am an eternal being."
"You've lived forever?" I asked incredulously.
"Time is irrelevant where I come from," Trillian said. "I have always existed, which means I truly exist."
"Are you saying I don't exist?" I asked, ready to argue.
"On the contrary," Trillian said. "Your current state will end, but part of you is eternal and will move on to other states of being after your body dies. That part of you exists as much as I do."
"You mean I'll go to heaven?" I asked.
"Those specifics are beyond my view," Trillian answered. "But there is more to reality than you presently understand. There are circumstances when a conversation in a dream can leave a deeper impression than a conversation in the waking world. This is one such circumstance."
Trillian waved a hand, and the walls and ceiling fell away. The room reformed into a small ship. They sailed on calm, turquoise waters, a mountainous jungle coast in view on one side, distant islands barely visible on the other.
"See," I said. "Dreams change too easily."
"Do you not hear the water lapping against the bow?" Trillian asked. "Do you not feel the breeze on your face? Smell the salt in the air? Is your mind foggy? Is the experience dulled in any way?"
"It seems real, and I feel awake," I admitted.
"But the illusions enchanters make seem real too."
"Who is to say they are not real?" Trillian asked.
"Me," I replied. "when I walk through them."
"I see," Trillian said. "Things must be tangible to be real. Light is not real. Neither is knowledge. Neither is love."
I could have argued with that last statement, my mind flashing to Jace, but held back. "You're saying dreams and illusions are real?"
"Nothing matters more than what happens in our minds," Trillian said. "Your experiences in what you consider your real life in the real world only exist in your mind and in the minds of others. The mind is everything. And dreams are the playground of the mind."
"Your world is a dream?" I asked doubtfully.
"It's the best comparison I can give you," Trillian said. "When you want to change something in what you consider to be the real world, you must first think the matter through and make a decision, then you physically take action. When I
want to make a change in my home world, I simply exert my will. The shaping here is like a dim shadow of what I could accomplish where I come from."
"I heard you were a shaper," I said.
Trillian waved his arm. The boat was gone. They stood in a warm, humid greenhouse with a roof and walls of glass. The air smelled of fresh leaves and blossoms. Beyond the windows stretched a snowy expanse of tundra.
"I am the shaper," Trillian said. "Where I come from, shaping is a way of life, as intuitive and natural as breathing is to you."
"Where's Jace?" I said.
"He'll be along later," Trillian said. "For now I would prefer to keep this between the two of us."
"I'm a little surprised you speak English," I said, Trillian laughed. "You should not be surprised. Have you ever met somebody in the Outskirts who did not speak your language?"
"No," I said. Some people had accents, but everyone we had met spoke English.
"In the Outskirts, we all hear our native languages," Trillian said. "It takes great effort not to be understood here, I know why you came to me."
"You do?" I asked.
"You hope to take Honor away from here," Trillian said.
"Did Jace tell you?"
"You're scrambling for the best arguments to use," Trillian said. "Don't bother, child. Assume I know everything that you know. I know about Morgassa and the threat that she poses. I know what Stafford did to his daughters. I know about your strong feelings for Jace. I know about the shapecrafters, and Jenna, and your family back home in Mesa."
"How do you know all that?" I asked, feeling off balanced and embarrassed.
Trillian smiled. "This is a meeting of minds. Yours is open to me. It opened as soon as you entered my domain."
"You can read my mind?" I asked, cover my ears with my hands, as if that would help.
"Effortlessly," Trillian said. "Where I come from, there is no verbalization. Not like here. All communication is mind to mind. There are no secrets. No lies. Kendal, I know details about you that you have long forgotten places, events, people. Also things you have not recognized or refuse to admit. Please feel free to speak openly. You can hide nothing from me."
I hated the thought of anyone poking around inside my head. What embarrassing things had Trillian seen? All the selfish, cowardly thoughts. All my fears. All my thoughts about Jace. All on display.
"The brave thoughts, too," Trillian said. "The fond memories. The good intentions."
I remembered the warnings about Trillian from Skye. He was evil and had been trapped here for years. Was he telling the truth? Was he just acting courteous and reasonable until he sprang his trap?
"Go ahead," Trillian said, his eyes grave. "Ask me."
I wasn't sure how exactly to put it. "Why? You know what I'm thinking."
"We're having a conversation," Trillian said. "Ask me."
"You're a prisoner here," I said. "Aren't you dangerous?"
"I am extremely powerful," Trillian said. "Dangerous? I suppose that accompanies power. If I had come to the Outskirts today, I would rule unchallenged. But as fortune had it, when I arrived, there were some shapers of astonishing might here, including some who helped frame the different kingdoms. I wielded great power, but this place was different from my world, and before I could master using my abilities here, they had me."
"Are there others like you?" I asked.
"Many," Trillian said. "An entire world of us. Only one other torivor journeyed here with me. Ramarro. He must have been captured as well, or else he would be ruling. I could not perceive his fate after I was caught, and those I sent abroad found no trace of him. I cannot see beyond my prison, except dimly on the Red Road. What I know I learn from my traveling servants or from people who come here, like you have today."
"Why haven't other torivors come?" I asked.
"The shapers who imprisoned me sealed the way to my world," Trillian said. "I do not expect others of my kind to find their way here in the foreseeable future."
"Why'd they imprison you?" I asked. "Did you attack the shapers?"
"I interacted with them," Trillian said. "Some of them tested themselves against me. They feared my power. Hostility erupted. They tried to harm me. I fought back. They couldn't kill me, but they did imprison me."
"You can't get free?" I asked.
"Not for lack of trying. The shapers knew their craft. They not only shaped a prison to hold me. They shaped me. I am not as you see me now. I am bound deep beneath this place. But my power remains active inside my domain."
I wondered how much of what I was hearing was true.
"I cannot lie," Trillian said. "I can mislead, or evade questions, but I only speak the truth. It is more than a matter of honor. It is an essential part of what I am, where my power comes from. If I lied, I would be undone. If you could perceive my true nature, you would see that it is so."
"If they hadn't imprisoned you, would you have taken over the Outskirts?" I asked, testing his honesty.
"Yes," Trillian answered. "I would have bound the other torivor and ruled unthreatened until the end of this place or until I chose to move on. I would have reshaped this entire realm into a paradise. All who served me would have prospered under my rule. You suspect I'm telling you this because I want you to free me. Rest assured, you lack the ability to release me."
"If you got free, what would you do?" I asked.
"I would rule as the highest shaper the Outskirts has known," Trillian said. "Any who opposed me would fall. I would remake the boundaries between the kingdoms. I would unlock the true potential of this realm between realms."
"The boundaries between the kingdoms can be changed?" I wondered.
"There have not always been five kingdoms, nor have mortals always dwelled here. The five kingdoms were made. They could be remade." He said.
I tried to imagine what it would be like if Trillin go free. Would the people come to accept him as their king? Could it be a good thing? With the kind of power he was describing, he would be a dictator. It mostly depended on whether he was really good or not.
"I would be demanding, but I could also make life easier in many ways," Trillian said. "I confess that I have no deep love for mortals. You're all so fleeting, though a number of you intrigue me. I would not be your servant. Your genie. You would serve me and work to make the Outskirts the paradise that I envision. A higher mind would govern you. Some people would resent me, and I might toy with them. I crave a measure of revenge for my incarceration. I cannot predict for certain how much you would enjoy my rule. I come from an eternal realm where I dwelt among equals. Here, I would be in a temporal realm, ruling over lesser beings."
"Why come here?" I asked.
"To varying degrees, all torivors feel the call to move beyond our home world," he said. "Life there is perfect, except for a certain . . . sameness. I am not the first to depart. Leaving eternity to enter time changed my very existence. Sequence became relevant—yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In a realm of beginnings and endings, I could die. What happens to an eternal being who dies in a temporal reality? Would I be erased? Or would some part of me journey on?"
"You said I would live on," I said.
"Part of you will, yes," Trillian said. "I can see that plainly. But can you recognize it in yourself?"
"Not really," I said. "I hope it's true."
"I see the eternal component in you, but I can't perceive anything in myself besides what I am here and now. I would not want to risk dying here. If I found my life in jeopardy, I would rather return home."
"But for now you're stuck," I said.
"Indeed," Trillian replied. "You're stuck here too."
"I want to find my friends and get home," I admitted. "We never meant to come here."
"I know."
"Do you know where I can find Jenna?"
"No."
"Could you find out?"
"Probably. It would take time. But I have no interest in learning her whereabouts. That problem is yours to solve."
"Is there . . . ," I began, but I got choked up. The questioned mattered too much to me to finish it.
" . . . a way for you to get home?" Trillian supplied. "Not if you want to stay there. Not the way things are currently arranged."
"Could they be rearranged?" I asked.
"Somebody with enough power could do it," Trillian said.
"You?"
"Certainly, if I were free. Others, perhaps?'
"Who?" I asked.
Trillian waved a dismissive hand. "Enough irrelevant trivia."
I wanted to press the torivor for more information, but I could tell Trillian was done with the subject. At least I knew there was a way! I couldn't wait to tell Dalton and Cole.
"You already know what we came here for," I said. "There isn't much for me to say. Are you going to help us?"
Trillian smiled. "That question has burned in you sine our conversation started. Though I can see your mind Kendal, there remains an element of mystery to you. It's the main principle that keeps you mortals interesting. Your past is clear to me, as are your present thoughts, but I can't be sure what you will choose tomorrow. I don't know how you might react to new information. I don't know because you don't know. I can guess, but I can't be sure. You temporal beings are capable of shocking change. Your opinions and attitudes evolve. You lie to yourselves. Your emotions fluctuate. These concepts are foreign to me. I see countless examples in your memory, but I don't expect to ever truly understand your fundamental nature."
"You don't change?" I asked.
"Not really," Trillian said. "At least not in my home world. In this temporal state, there may be unexplored possibilities. But in any state I cannot deceive myself. Who I am and what I want are in agreement."
"What are you trying to guess about me?" I said. "Do you have an offer?"
"I take an interest in the five kingdoms. I will not be locked away forever. This world had a
beginning, and so it will come to an end. But my time here is tedious. I enjoy influencing this realm through the people I train and send abroad."
"You want me to do something?" I asked.
Trillian waved an arm, and they stood on a circular platform high in the sky. A large white moon gave light. Stars sparkled above. Cool air wafted around them.
As the platform began to descend, Trillian walked to the edge. There was no railing. I followed carefully and peered down.
Far below, in the distance, a town was under attack. Tiny people ran from a numberless mob of other tiny people.
"The threat from Morgassa and her horde is real," Trillian said heavily. "These images came to me last week from one of my winged servants. The situation perturbs me. Peculiar elements are at play. Someone unleashed powers that they cannot control. I have sent out many scouts to investigate the problem. Thanks to your conversation with the soldier who witnessed the horde up close, you have better clarified the situation than the few servants who returned with far-removed visions like this one."
"Honor can help us stop Morgassa," I said.
Trillian stared at mensilently. The torivor waved a hand, and they were back in the warm room with the fancy floor and the exotic furniture.
"Unchecked, Morgassa will overrun Elloweer within a month," Trillian said. "I do not wish to see Elloweer destroyed. A live kingdom is a more interesting place to be imprisoned than a dead one."
"What if Morgassa came here?" I asked.
Trillian tapped a finger against his cheek. "I'm not certain. Her strengths differ from mine. Even here, she could pose a threat to me. It would not be a dull contest."
"Why not give us Honor and let us go after Morgassa?" Trillian tilted his head. "Might you succeed? Possibly. Time to bring in your friend." Trillian clapped, and Jace appeared. Jace looked over at me, surprised.
"I've been speaking to each of you separately," Trillin said. "Time to confer together. You both want Honor, As does Mira. I brought Honor here for my own reasons. Given the threat posed by Morgassa, I am not entirely unwilling to let her go. But I will not make her a free gift. Such a prize must be earned, and I love contests."
"Why not just help us?" I asked, folding my arms.
"Giving you a chance is help enough," Trillian said. "You, Jace, and Mira must participate in the contest together, or we have no deal. If you win, Honor leaves with you, If I win, you all belong to me."
"Leave Mira out of it," Jace said.
"No," Trillian said. "Kendal will go fetch her. If she doesn't return with her, she should not return at all. I asked to see all three of you, and you ignored my request. It's time to heed me. You're worried that the contest will be impossible to win. It will be difficult, but possible. If you had no chance of success, there would be no sport in it."
"Why did you bring Honor here?" I asked.
"Bring Mira," Trillian said. "That is all."
The torivor waved a hand, and I opened my eyes. I was on the circular white bed in the small room without corners. No sleepiness lingered. The door stood open, and Hina was waiting.