Soul of the Fire

"With the chimes loose, she will be without her power, the same as you and I. Until the chimes are banished, she can be no help with anything like that."

Franca sighed. "Yes, I see what you mean. It would be best if we could see the chimes banished."

"In the meantime, perhaps people here should investigate the matter."

She set down her cup. "Who is going to question the Minister of Culture's office?"

"The Directors," Zedd offered.

She turned her cup around and around on the tabletop. «Maybe» was all she said.

When Zedd didn't say anything, she sought to fill the silence. "In Anderith, you do what you must to get along."

"There are always those who will." Zedd slouched back in his chair. "It will end up being irrelevant anyway. Anderith is going to have to surrender to Richard and the new D'Haran empire he is gathering to resist the invasion of the Imperial Order."

Zedd took another sip. "Did I mention he is also the Seeker of Truth?"

Franca looked up. "No, you neglected to mention it."

"Richard won't allow Anderith to carry on in the manner they seem to be doing-to have corrupt officials colluding with the Order. He and the Mother Confessor will put an end to such dangerous clandestine scheming. That's one of the reasons he's been forced to seize power. He means to consolidate rule under fair and open law."

"Fair law," she mused, as if it were a child's wish. "We are a prosperous land, Zedd. Anders have a good life. If it were the Hakens listening to the Imperial Order, I could understand it, they could be said to have cause, but Anders are the ones listening, and they are the ones already with power."

Zedd contemplated his tea. "Nothing nettles some people more than other people being free. In much the same way that Serin Rajak fellow hates those who have magic, the ruling elite-or those who would be-despise freedom. They find joy only in perpetuating misery."

Zedd sought to take the frost off the chill subject. "So, Franca, do you have a husband, or do the handsome men of the world still have a chance to court you?"

Franca smiled to herself for a time before she spoke. "My heart belongs to someone…."

Zedd reached across the table and patted her hand. "Good for you."

She shook her head as her smile ghosted away. "No. He's married. I can't allow my feelings to be known. I would forever hate myself if I gave him any reason to decide to leave his beautiful bride and take up instead an aging spinster like me. I dare not let him even guess my feelings."

"I'm sorry, Franca," he said in gentle sympathy. "Life- or should I say love-sometimes seems so unfair. At least it may seem so now, but someday…"

Franca dismissed the matter with a gesture-more for herself than for him, he thought. She met his gaze again.

"Zedd, I'm flattered you would come to me-for that matter that you would even remember my name-but why would you think I can help you? You have more power than I. Or at least you did."

"To be quite honest, I didn't come for the purpose of seeking your help in the way you might think. I came here because as a young wizard I learned this to be the place where the chimes were entombed-in Toscla, or Anderith, as it's now called."

"Really? I never knew that. Where in Anderith are they entombed?"

Zedd spread his hands. "I was hoping you might know. You were the only name I knew from here, so I came seeking you out. I need help."

"I'm sorry, Zedd, but I had no idea the chimes were entombed here." She again took up her cup and sipped in thought. "However, if, as you say, the chimes can't get the soul of your grandson, they might eventually be pulled back into the world of the dead. We might need do nothing to bring it about. The whole problem might just vanish."

"Yes, there is that hope, but you must keep in mind the nature of the underworld."

"Meaning?"

Zedd tapped the outer circle of the Grace inlaid on the tabletop. "Here begins the underworld, where life crosses over." He glided his hand past the table's edge. "Beyond is eternity.

"Because the underworld is eternal, time has no meaning. There may be beginning when we cross over, but there is no end, so the concept of time unravels there. It is only here in the world of life where time is defined by beginning and end giving it some reference points, that it has significance.

"The chimes were conjured from that timeless place beyond, and derive their power from there, so time is meaningless to them.

"Perhaps it's true that without obtaining the soul they crossed over to help, they will be pulled back to the underworld. However, to timeless beings, their time here may be viewed by them as but an instant as they wait to see if they, will succeed, or as they enjoy a bit of frolic at bringing death and destruction, except that instant to them could be a millennium to this world. It could be ten millennia and still be but a meaningless twinkle in time to them-especially since they have no souls and can't really experience life."