The Dark at the End

11

Glaeken admitted them to the Lady’s apartment. Weezy had called ahead from the road to tell him they would be there soon. The first thing upon entering, she went straight to the Lady and handed her the paper.

“What do you think? Is it a name?”

As the Lady took it, Weezy moved to her side and together they stared at the weird glyphs.

After a moment the Lady nodded. “It has been so long since I have seen this form of writing. It has been dead for ages. But, yes, it is a name.” She then made a sound like two grunts of different pitch connected by a click.

“That’s a name?” Eddie said. He sounded as if he was suppressing a laugh.

The Lady looked up at him. “I believe that is what I said.”

Weezy realized that Eddie wasn’t used to the Lady’s literal nature, so she jumped in.

“But is it the name-Rasalom’s Other Name?”

The Lady shrugged. “Who is to say? I have no way of telling.”

“But it came from the broken sigil,” Eddie said. “It was written on the only remaining section of the border.”

“And the sigil is made of tenathic,” Weezy added.

Glaeken said, “If that’s true, then it can only be from the First Age-the secret of forging it was lost in the Cataclysm. We have no choice but to proceed on the assumption this is his Other Name.”

“But what if it’s not?” Weezy said.

“We will never be sure until we try.”

Weezy finally looked directly at the playpen. Since entering the apartment, she’d kept it in her peripheral vision. Now she had to confront the reality of burdening that baby with Rasalom’s Other Name.

As ever, he sat in his space and gnawed a soup bone. He seemed perfectly content, oblivious to the role he was about to play in a cosmic drama. If Glaeken was right, his limited intelligence would allow him to remain oblivious. And that in turn would protect him.

She watched him and thought about how they were all pawns being moved around a cosmic game board. And now the pawns in this room were about to move him, bringing him into the game.

But hadn’t he always been in play? Wasn’t that what Jonah Stevens had in mind when he started designing his own strategy using his bloodline-a strategy aimed at producing a child that would supplant the One?

So, in a way, Jonah was going to get his wish: His grandchild was going to stop the One, though not in the way he’d intended.

“Even if it’s not the One’s Other Name,” Eddie said, “we haven’t lost anything, have we?”

Weezy looked from Glaeken to the Lady. “Have we?”

“The Other Naming Ceremony can be performed only once on the child. Once given an Other Name, it cannot be undone.”

Weezy looked back to the baby. “So, he could wind up with an Other Name that has no power. Then what?”

Glaeken shrugged. “It is the only name we have. Unless you know of some other inscribed tenathic sigil somewhere, we must accept it as the only name we will ever have.”

“We’ve got to go with it, Weez,” Eddie said. “And the sooner the better, if you ask me.”

She wasn’t asking him. She shook her head. “I want to wait for Jack.”

Eddie scowled. “He could be cooling his heels in a jail cell for all we know.”

“Wait,” Glaeken said. “Where is Jack? Why isn’t he here?”

How did she explain? She wasn’t sure herself.

“Something about the situation bothers him. He thinks it’s too easy, too pat.”

“I can’t argue with him on that. But if the sigil is, as you say, made of tenathic, then it must be genuine.”

“I agree, but he wanted another look at it.”

“We were caught trespassing in the Lodge,” Eddie said. “We were lucky we got away. Jack might not be so lucky a second time.”

“You don’t know Jack,” she snapped, fully intending the double meaning.

Eddie sighed. “I do. Or at least I’ve been getting to know him. But nobody’s perfect. I think it was risky going back.”

“And don’t you think the stakes merit some risk? We’ll wait until we hear from Jack.”

She didn’t have the authority to say that, but she guessed enough of her determination shone through. No one argued.