Page 57 of The Enduring Universe
Ahilya’s mind raced, a sick feeling spreading through her, making her want to vomit. She had vowed to Iravan she would tell him everything she learned of the Virohi, including any means to destroy them. That she had been looking for ways to save them was secondary; with what the council had told her now, she was duty bound to share this. Already she could feel the heartpoison bracelet tightening around her wrist. It could tell that some part of her wanted to hide this news, and it was warning her of the consequences of doing so.
But even if the council did not see subsummation this way, Iravan would. Surely he would? The memory of him waiting forher within the Etherium sparked in her mind. He’d said she’d summoned him there as always, but if so it had been unconsciously done. Even if she had, he had stayed—not shielding himself. He had attempted to save her from the overwriting, perhaps against the wishes of his capital desire.
He was once a reasonable man, and he had experienced subsummation. He had accused her of corruption, but his corruption by the falcon-yaksha’s hate had undone him. She had kept faith in his return to her, despite Eskayra’s proposition, despite the way things had been between her and him for the last many months. That kiss in the Etherium had shown her she’d been right to do so. She still had a chance to convince him of her point of view. She had to do it now. Before any of the others could speak to him.
Ahilya finished dressing, and moved toward the door. If she could get to him, tohim, past the falcon and his past lives and his capital desire, there was still a chance to prevent genocide. Speed made her movements clumsy, and she banged into the edge of her cot.
She stopped as Basav rose to block her way, a scowl on his face, his hands shaking with emotion. “You have already done enough damage with your sympathies for these creatures,” he snarled softly. “You are to obey the council’s wishes in this. Do you understand me?”
Iravan had demurred to his capital desire in the Etherium, when she had been attacked. He had saved the cosmic creatures because it meant saving her. She had to believe that meant something. Ahilya stared at Basav, her pulse racing.
“Let me pass, please,” she said quietly.
Basav stepped out of her way. Ahilya walked past him, but his soft words came to her nonetheless. “Do the right thing, Ahilya-ve,” he said, the suffix an invective in his mouth. “Enough lives have been lost because of you and your husband.”
32
IRAVAN
How are constellation lines created?” Iravan asked.
Around him, the Ecstatics of the Garden shuffled. They were back in the main assembly chamber, though this time none of the sungineers were present. Dhruv had taken nearly all of them to Irshar to keep Iravan’s promises. Only a few remained here to maintain the technology for the Garden, and they kept to their solar lab, away from the Ecstatics. Iravan did not bother them. He’d never claimed authority over them.
He stood in the center with the only people he commanded. The Ecstatics collected in a circle around him, deathly still, watching him intently. No one was trajecting, and hardly anyone glowed, away from the Deepness as they were. Not wanting to involve sungineers here, or waste any energy, Iravan had eschewed the use of glowglobes in this chamber. His skin provided the only light, ricochetting off blue-green phosphorescence, gleaming on his blade pendant, reflecting off the pools of water.
It was enough light to see the expressions of all the other Ecstatics. Hostility dripped from the gathering, in the cold stances,the suppressed murmurs, the raised eyebrows. Iravan had still not released the rogue Ecstatics from their makeshift prisons, but already his architects who were in Irshar were living with their families. This hostility was to be expected—both for bowing down to Irshar, and for his refusal to let architects out of the Garden when they requested to do the same.
He had called this class to gain control, but only his closest contingent looked truly curious. Darsh studied the gathering, his arms crossed over his chest, as though unable to believe none of them knew the answer. Reyla frowned, moving closer to Naila, a questioning look in her face.
Naila sighed. In a sea of black uniforms, her white kurta shone with Iravan’s light. He did not expect her to participate, but perhaps the habit was too ingrained in her not to answer his questions.
“It’s a matter of will,” she said, reluctantly. Her voice, though quiet, echoed around the chamber. “One has to visualize them in one’s head, and it is actioned desire that manifests as constellation lines. Each line becomes stronger the more we impose our will on it, yet each line must be different and subtle, and an architect must be careful to choose the stars to create a particular effect. You can create a wall of jasmines by imposing your will on a blooming jasmine star and combining it with the possibility of a single jasmine growing on a wall. Or you can do so by stringing a bud with a different vine that already climbs the wall, performing a grafting. But the lines themselves are a persuasion, a seduction. Our wills cannot be forceful. We can damage a star, so we must be careful to give the star, the plant, the life and possibility, only as much as it needs and no more.”
“As much as it needs and no more,” Iravan echoed, nodding. Naila had repeated almost word for word what he had taught in Nakshar’s Academy once. It was amazing she remembered it soclearly. He turned to Darsh. “How is this different from Ecstasy?” he asked.
“It’s pure power,” the boy replied. “We don’t create constellation lines, but we force our will and we change the plant in some way.”
He relapsed into silence. More and more, Darsh concerned Iravan—with his moody silences and frequent frowns. Was it merely an effect of adolescence? Or was it Ecstasy, and everything their survival had become?
Iravan did not push. He simply nodded and did not correct Darsh’s answer.
In truth, there was more to it. Changing the nature of the plants did involve some measure of constellation lines. The force of desire during Ecstasy might present as a simple ray of light from the Deepness while performing Ecstatic trajection, but that force split within the Moment to become constellation lines. It was the difference between constructing the lines and having them be constructed for you, and Iravan had ridden the wave of pure power into constellation lines multiple times.
The Moment, the Deepness, even the Etherium were all intricately connected. But for most of these people, it was an academic question. What they knew of Ecstasy was taught by him. And today, he was holding this class for one reason.
“This,” he said quietly, “is the everpower.”
He flexed his fingers, and around him a maelstrom arose, one of dust, earth and wind. The air warped to create a rhythmic chiming, reminiscent of the bells within Nakshar’s temple—a sound he had not heard in months, but which was imprinted in his memory. The current lifted him up, his feather cloak billowing. He spun in a small circle, arms outstretched, and radiance burst from his skin, throwing shimmers of light across the dim chamber.
The Ecstatics had seen him do these feats before while heprepared for the war with the Virohi, but it seemed to finally hit them that he intended to teach them this, when he had been so guarded with his secrets before. Eyebrows shot up, and the muttering took on a new, excited flavor. Those who had been slouching suddenly straightened, their eyes bright as they tracked him. Iravan felt a surge of satisfaction.
He gently descended and let the everpower go. The audience settled, though eager eyes still watched him.
“Attempt to amalgamate your visions,” he said to them. “Your first vision, the Deepness, your Etherium. Try to imagine them as the same.”
The architects muttered, throwing each other confused glances. “Like combining the Two Visions?” someone asked in a loud whisper. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“It is dangerous, but safety has never been an architect’s lot,” Iravan replied coolly. “Acknowledge they are the same and you have control. Desire it. I will intervene should anything go wrong.”
