Lorimal's Chalice
Part Four - The Chalice
by Jane
Fletcher
Disclaimers: see Chapter 1
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Chapter 3: Magic Tricks
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Ponderous clouds, black and purple,
loomed over the farmlands, hastening the onset of night. Under the trees, it was
darker still. A rising wind shook the branches in a hissing imitation of the river's
roar. Dense shadows coiled around roots, which jutted claw-like from the eroded
red soil. The weakening light glinted off the pools of black water that flooded
dips in the route along the river's edge.
At the point where the path reached
the trees, a second smaller trail branched away. It was little more than a scratch
in the steep side of the valley. The bare trodden earth showed pale in the gloom.
Tevi halted the horses and examined the trail. The surface was littered with a
scattering of pinecones, broken twigs and mud-smeared rocks. It rose steeply for
the first few yards, and then levelled out before disappearing into the shadows.
A clear line of hoof prints gave the promise that the track was passable on horseback.
There was no way of knowing where
the path led, yet it had to be safer than the treacherous, half-submerged route
along the riverbank. Tevi twisted in the saddle to look back. Russ and the others
were still watching her. They would see where she went, but it could not be kept
secret. Sharl would have no problems tracking her across soft ground. For Tevi,
the most important thing was to put as much distance as possible between herself
and the others. To that end, the track up the hillside was probably as good as
any other.
The sound of the river faded away
below to be replaced by an oppressive silence in which the horses' hooves fell
with dead thuds. After a few hundred yards, the path rounded the base of a sheer
rock face, where water dripped from clinging beards of moss, and then bent back
to the north, still climbing steadily. On either side, the trunks of trees rose
like pillars - and they seemed to be closing in. Tevi had to duck repeatedly to
avoid low branches. She was eventually forced to dismount and lead the horses
on foot.
Higher up, the cold wind blew
more freely but provided little relief from the heavy, charged air. A rumble of
thunder boomed in the distance. Eventually, the track rolled over the brow of
the hill and begun a steep descent. The path underfoot degenerated into little
more than a mud-filled gully. The horses' nostrils flared wide as their hooves
slipped and skidded. Tevi carried on doggedly, pulling the horses with the reins
wrapped round her hand, although she was increasingly aware she might be forced
to retrace her steps.
There was little now to distinguish
her route through the forest as a path. The light was so poor that Tevi was reduced
to guessing the way. The horses' hooves gouged deep gashes in the mud as they
slithered down a nearly vertical bank. To Tevi's relief, the trail bottomed out
in a grassy hollow. She halted at the edge of the open space to calm the unsettled
animals and prayed she would be able to find a way forward. It would not be easy
to get the horses back up that last sheer section. The sky had now darkened to
a heavy grey; the first of the rain splattered on her face. Within seconds, the
sound of the downpour rose into a crescendo of drumming. Tall grass in the clearing
was bent down, flattened by the force of the rain.
Tevi was looking up, cursing the
storm, when the sky was torn apart by a white-hot bolt of lightning, etching the
treetops in stark silhouette. The thunder broke immediately - a pounding, deafening
onslaught of sound, which sent the horses rearing back in panic. Tevi was almost
wrenched off her feet. Somehow, she managed to hang on and get the frightened
animals under control. She pressed them back under the shelter of a spreading
pine and tied their reins securely to the trunk. There was no hope of progress
until the worst of the storm had blown over - maybe not even then.
She left the horses and returned
to the clearing, moving out from the sheltering trees in defiance of the storm.
The ground sunk and squelched under her feet. The quagmire was due to more than
just the pelting rain. It was not a manmade clearing, but a spring, the head of
a stream. On the downhill side, straggling trees and bushes knotted in an unbroken,
sprawling hedge. Uphill, the steeply rising ground formed the sheer sides of an
eroded basin. There was no exit. It would seem she had reached the end of the
trail.
Tevi sank back against the rough
bark of a tree and considered her situation. It was insane to continue wandering
aimlessly in this nightmare of mud and rain, risking injury to both herself and
the horses. By morning they would all be exhausted and still no further from the
pursuit. There was also not the slightest risk of the other mercenaries re-crossing
the river that night. A camp and early start on the next morning was easily the
wisest course of action - maybe daylight would reveal a missed turning in the
trail.
The centre of the storm was moving
away, although thunder still pounded over the mountains. It alarmed the horses
and complicating the task of removing the saddles and packs from their backs.
Tevi discovered her confiscated sword wrapped in one bundle. There was nothing
rational about the emotion, but with it again at her side she felt less helpless.
She gave what attention she could
to the horses, sharing a small bag of oats between them. It was insufficient for
their needs, but the animals seemed to find it reassuring. Tevi manufactured a
tent from a waterproof sheet, in the driest spot she could find. Her own meal
came from the food rations and full water-skin found in the saddle-packs.
By the time she had finished,
the thunder had faded. It was now little more than the occasional rumble in the
distance. However, the rain still fell in sheets, lashing the hillside. The horses
had calmed down. They nuzzled against her hands with only the softest wicker of
complaint. Tevi judged there was little chance of them straying - not least because
there was no obvious way out of the hollow. She turned them loose to graze or
find shelter as they chose and crawled into the damp blankets of her bed.
* * * * * *
Tevi awoke to the first uncertain
trill of bird-song. The storms of the previous night had blown themselves out.
Pre-dawn light picked out the faint details of the sodden vegetation. At the far
side of the hollow were the dark forms of two horses. Stars still twinkled brightly
overhead but off to the east a pale tint was gaining strength in the mountain
sky. The air was bitterly cold. Tevi stumbled to the edge of the boggy ground
and stood, stamping her frozen feet and slapping her arms to speed the circulation
of blood. The horses ambled to her side.
Hazy blue-grey light filtered
through the forest. The dark trunks of trees stood like rows of ghostly soldiers,
wreathed in tendrils of mist. A brighter patch revealed another break in the trees,
some twenty yards further downhill. Tevi set off to investigate, skirting the
edge of the bog.
The wet grass drenched her feet
and legs. Heavy splats of water dripped fitfully from leaves and branches as she
passed below. Somewhere, a bird warbled out its territorial claim. The song and
the snap of twigs under her feet were the only sounds as Tevi pushed her way between
the trees. Soon, she emerged onto a well-used forest road.
The track was deserted. Tevi ventured
to the centre to look in both directions. To the west, she guessed it lead to
the place on the river that Russ had claimed was a ford in summer. In the other
direction, it headed off into the distance, its destination unknown, though surely
it must eventually link with the Gossenfeld to Horzt road.
Tevi chewed her lip as she thought.
This was clearly a reasonably well-used highway through the forest. Her experience
of the previous night had reinforced the knowledge that she could not match Russ's
ability to navigate the wilderness trails. Her best hope lay in speed and taking
advantage of the head start. Maybe, in the general traffic, Sharl might lose her
tracks.
A short way off, a lively stream
washed across the road. Beside it was a muddy break in the grass verge of the
road. Tevi walked to the spot and peered into the forest. Under the trees were
the remnants of a disused path, heading for the spring. The summer's growth of
bramble had obscured the track in many parts, but proved no match for Tevi's sword.
In a matter of minutes she had hacked her way thorough a last heavy thicket and
stepped into the marshy open space around the spring.
The daylight was strengthening,
putting colour back into the green of the foliage. The horses were grazing quietly,
swiping huge mouthfuls of the wet grass. They watched with large disinterested
eyes as Tevi hastily packed the bags. She saddled both horses - the chance to
swap mounts might well give her the decisive advantage in speed.
Tevi lead the horses along the
short path she had just hacked. The first bands of pink were touching the eastern
sky as they reached the main road. Tevi swung up into the saddle. The horses stamped
their feet and raised their heads to sniff the sweet dawn air. They needed no
urging. At the faintest touch of her heels, the horse she was riding sprung forward.
The other, tethered to the saddle, matched it stride for stride. The pounding
of their hooves resounded over the forest as they galloped along the road towards
the rising sun.
* * * * * *
It was afternoon on the following
day when Tevi re-entered the Horzt valley. She stopped by the same grassy knoll
she had stood on with Jemeryl to view the town, and considered her next step.
So far, everything had gone without incident. Nobody had paid attention to the
young guild mercenary racing by with two horses. No doubt, they assumed her to
be a courier on official business. The good roads had cut a day off her return
journey - a healthy pace, even allowing that Russ's route had been chosen for
stealth rather than speed.
Now things needed a bit more thought.
Entering Horzt would be dangerous but Tevi did not know how else to find Jemeryl.
She stared at the distant walls. The mayor had been unenthusiastic at handing
her over in the first place. Would he now see it as purely the guild's problem
that she had escaped? Or was he too dependent on the guild to risk a show of defiance?
Not that it matters, Tevi
told herself with a humourless smile; if the other mercenaries believe me a
renegade from the guild, they'll take me prisoner without needing his say-so.
She would have to slip in quietly at dusk under cover of the general licentiousness.
No one paid much attention to drunks, as long as they didn't cause trouble. It
wasn't a very good plan, but she could think of nothing better.
Tevi returned to the road and
pressed the horses into a steady canter. After a short while, she came across
a spot where the track divided. A sudden impulse prompted her to take the smaller
fork, which hugged the western flank of the valley. However, she had not gone
far along the rutted cart track before she was questioning the wisdom of her hasty
decision. There would be fewer witnesses than on the main road, but those she
did meet might wonder what a guild courier was doing in the farming fringes of
the Horzt valley. Yet, now that she had made her choice, there seemed little point
in retracing her steps. Tevi shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.
An hour later, the road began
to look vaguely familiar. It puzzled Tevi until she recognised the spot where
the foul-mouthed farmer had been driving the three cows. She was now heading in
the opposite direction and realised she must already have passed the entrance
to Russ's forest trail. Soon, she reached the place where the blanket had been
removed from her head. A narrow track split off from the road and headed through
the fields straight for Horzt. It was the route by which the mercenaries had escorted
her from town and was the quickest way back.
Although she was unclear about
her own reasons, Tevi kept to the edge of the valley. She stopped only when a
small village appeared, sprawled along either side of the road. A few chickens
and children ran between the houses. In the fields were horses and farm-workers.
Tevi was not sure why she felt she wanted to avoid the village, but her eyes caught
sight of a well-worn path running off to the left. Almost without thinking, she
quit the level road and rode slowly up the hillside.
For the first few hundred yards,
the path climbed across open sheep pasture until dense woodland was reached. Thereafter,
it continued to rise steeply through the trees with no obvious destination, although,
unlike her last experience of such trails, this one showed no sign of fading away.
For once, the clouds had dispersed
and autumn sunshine bathed the woods in a mellow afternoon light. There was a
heavy warm silence, broken only by the steady clump of hooves, distant bird-song
and the drone of insects. The peace of her surroundings soaked into Tevi, filling
her with an untroubled drowsiness. She was barely aware of it, and certainly not
concerned, when her head began to nod.
* * * * * *
Tevi awoke to find herself high
in the mountains. Rocky outcrops broke from the upland, their bases littered with
cracked boulders and scree. The trees were sparse and stunted, interspersed with
belts of bracken and heather. From the sun's position, Tevi knew it was nearly
evening. Hours had passed in her daze.
Tevi pinched the bridge of her
nose hard, partly to drive away the cobwebs clinging to the corners of her mind,
partly to give expression to her anger with herself. It went against all her training
to have given in to sleep. Not even two restless nights offered an excuse. Now,
it would take some hard riding to reach to Horzt by nightfall - if she could work
out the way to go.
There was neither signpost nor
landmark in sight. The path behind her disappeared up over a ridge while ahead
it slipped across folds in the mountainside, leading down to a valley. Her first
thought was to turn the horses around and go back the way she had come, but the
idea left her uneasy; she was not sure if it was the most sensible thing to do.
She had no idea what paths she had taken and no wish to spend the night criss-crossing
the mountains. Perhaps the valley would contain a bigger road or a hamlet where
she could ask directions.
A prod with her heels set the
horses off at a brisk pace, but ripples of lethargy begun to wash over Tevi again.
The hillside was drifting into nothingness as she left the last wooded hollow
before reaching the valley's bottom. With an almost audible snap, the spell broke.
Someone had made camp by the banks of a leaping brook. Tevi dropped from the saddle
and pulled the horses back under the cover of the trees.
From the shelter of a dense bush,
she surveyed the scene. A simple tent was strung between two trees. A horse was
quietly grazing upstream and a trickle of smoke wafted into the air from a campfire.
There was no other sign of life and nothing to explain Tevi's certainty that this
camp was the centre of the summons that had pulled her into the mountains. She
eased back, about to slip away, when a harsh voice spoke behind her.
"You know, you could just
walk down to the camp."
Tevi spun about, half drawing
her sword even as she recognised the voice.
Perched on the rump of one horse
was a magpie, head cocked to one side, watching her. Klara continued speaking.
"You'll have to excuse Jem for not rushing out to greet you, but she's very
tired. She's been calling you for days."
* * * * * *
Ripples of flame chased over the
logs on the campfire. A light breeze fanned veins of glowing red through the coating
of grey ash. Tevi snapped another branch in half and fed it to the hungry flames.
Above the fire, stew was bubbling in a pot. The rich aroma hung heavy on the night
air, making Tevi's stomach growl. She paused to give another unnecessary stir
before settling back on her elbows.
The dark mass of the hillside
rose opposite. Its top was ragged with a fringe of trees. Banks of clouds were
rolling in from the south, swallowing the stars, but for now the moon floated
clear, a half sphere, pure and cold, set against the black sky.
The new wood spat and crackled
as sap exploded under the bark. Other sounds came from further off - a snort from
a horse and the undulating gurgle of the brook. Tevi felt a deep sense of peace;
a feeling aided immensely by knowing that Klara was patrolling the treetops.
Tevi shifted around so she could
look in through the open mouth of the tent. The firelight rippled over the sleeping
form of Jemeryl in dull reds and warm shadows. The sight held Tevi a long time,
watching.
It was obvious that the sorcerer
had scarcely slept in all the time they had been apart. On Tevi's arrival at the
camp, Jemeryl had staggered from the tent, clung to Tevi as if she was never going
to let go, sobbed, "I'm so pleased you're here." and then virtually
fallen asleep on her feet. The food was ready but, despite her own hunger, Tevi
was happy to wait until her lover woke of her own accord.
Eventually, Jemeryl stirred. She
rolled onto her back and her eyelids flickered. "What time is it?"
"Late."
"Is dinner cooked?"
"It was ready ages ago."
"Was?"
Jemeryl levered herself up. "Is there any left, or have you scoffed the lot?"
Tevi smiled. "I was very
tempted."
Jemeryl shuffled out of the tent,
dragging a blanket behind her, more by chance than design. She burrowed into Tevi's
arms, in an emotional, although clumsy, embrace. Tevi returned the hug.
Jemeryl's lips steered towards
Tevi's as she mumbled, "I didn't say 'hello' properly before."
The kiss that followed was also
slightly uncoordinated, but Tevi wasn't complaining. Her stomach, on the other
hand, was not so patient.
Tevi broke off at the rumbling
sound. "I think I'd better serve up the food."
Jemeryl gave one last hug and
then sat by the fire looking dazed. Her eyes stared blankly into the flames and
her hair was even more dishevelled than normal. Tevi smiled as she handed over
a bowl of the stew. For a while, they ate in silence, sitting side by side with
the blanket draped around their shoulders. The night air was chill and Jemeryl
shivered as she put aside her empty bowl.
"Are you all right?"
Tevi asked, concerned.
"I will be. I got overtired.
I haven't been sleeping much recently." Jemeryl rested her head on Tevi's
shoulder. "I wouldn't turn down another bowlful. Why don't you tell me what's
been happening to you while we eat? My mind's working okay; it's just my body
that hasn't woken up yet."
By the time Tevi finished the
story of her capture and escape, the clouds had completed their advance across
the sky and cloaked the moon. The firelight cavorted demonically now it had no
rival. The last of the stew was gone and the empty pot stood to one side. Tevi
concluded with a brief description of her entranced arrival at the camp in the
mountains.
"I've wondered what it's
like to be caught in a spell." Tevi had a bemused frown on her face. "It
was odd. I knew something was up, but I couldn't be bothered to work out what."
"I'm sorry, I really am."
Jemeryl said earnestly. "I didn't want to ensnare you, without your permission,
but I didn't know how else to get you here. I was terrified you'd walk back into
the hornets' nest I've stirred up in Horzt."
"Hornets? What did you do?"
"At first, I sat and waited
until, by mid-morning, I was convinced you'd been caught by Levannue. So I dropped
the old crone disguise and went looking. It set off the mayor's wards, and some
people started acting very silly. No one would tell me anything. In the end, I'm
afraid I lost my temper." Jemeryl stared into the dancing flames. "In
the Protectorate, you tend to lose sight of just what you can do, if you want
- of how vulnerable the ungifted are."
"Did you hurt anyone?"
"Not seriously. The only
real casualty was the mayor's dignity. I suspended him upside-down over a cesspit
and threatened to drop him if he didn't say what had happened to you. He blabbed
everything but by then you were too far gone to scry." Jemeryl shrugged.
"So I dropped him anyway. Then I thought it would be tactful to leave town.
I didn't want to get into a confrontation with the militia."
"I doubt they'd have stood
against you. Most are guild mercenaries, so they're sworn to obey Coven sorcerers
and I suspect even the non-guild militia appreciated what you did to the mayor."
"It's true none of them risked
their necks coming to his aid, but I couldn't count on it lasting. With rumours
of a renegade sorcerer going about, it only needed someone to take the initiative
and things could have got nasty."
"Could they have hurt you?"
Jemeryl pursed her lips. "Unlikely,
but they might have forced me to hurt them. Oaths go both ways. I'm sworn to defend
Protectorate citizens. So, I came up here. I guessed they wouldn't chase me once
I left town, but I was worried about you."
"It could have been unpleasant
if the mayor got his hands on me. I have the feeling he's the sort of person who
holds grudges. If you hadn't called me I'd have walked straight into his arms."
"Which is why I haven't dared
sleep. I didn't know when you'd escape or whether you'd arrive by day or night."
"You knew I'd escape?"
"I had faith in you."
Jemeryl caught one of Tevi's hands between hers. "There was no way I could
risk leaving here and let you get caught by the mayor."
"Levannue's plan worked."
Tevi said bitterly. "She managed to pin us down and get away."
Jemeryl paused before replying.
"I don't think Levannue had anything to do with your arrest."
"She must have. Who else
is going to start sending false warrants?"
"I'm not sure it was false.
Your captors had been warned of your enhanced strength. Levannue wouldn't know
anything about that." Jemeryl pointed out. "After we left, it must have
taken Neame a few days to find a ship bound for Lyremouth - there aren't enough
sorcerers left in Ekranos to send a message by magic. It would be over a month
before the boat arrived, then another few days for the Guardian to make a decision
and for the pigeon to get to Gossenfeld. Which ties in perfectly with the time
the warrant arrived."
"But why?"
"Levannue fell for the lure
of this spell. With me absconding from Ekranos, people in Lyremouth might be worried
that I've found out what the spell does and have given in to the temptation as
well. I might be about to swipe the chalice from Levannue and set off on my own.
Perhaps the Guardian wanted to talk to you to find out what's going on and whether
it's one or two traitors they have on their hands."
"By taking me prisoner they
stopped you from catching Levannue. Either way, they'd have been better leaving
you alone. If you were still loyal it was insane to distract you, and if you weren't
at least, after you and Levannue fought, they'd be back to just one traitor again."
Tevi argued.
"I don't think they'd have
done the sums that way - for the very same reason Levannue wouldn't have tried
to use you as a decoy." Jemeryl raised her hand and guided Tevi's face so
their eyes met. "It would never have occurred to either the Guardian or Levannue
that a sorcerer would stop doing something important for the sake of one ungifted,
junior mercenary. I'm afraid, my love, they wouldn't believe that I would think
so much of you."
"The Guardian knew we were
lovers."
"And I'll bet she's certain
that I'll have tired of you by now. One night stands are rare enough between sorcerers
and the ungifted; long term relationships are unheard of. The Guardian would have
reckoned that, if I'd turned traitor, I'd be using you, so taking you away deprived
me of a servant and, if I was still loyal, she'd be doing me a favour by taking
you off my hands." Jemeryl's voice dropped. "Very few sorcerers have
any real regard for the ungifted. Our oaths to protect them are just the glue
that holds the Coven together. This time last year, I felt the same. I saw the
ungifted as pawns a sorcerer uses when playing for status in the Coven."
Jemeryl's hands slipped around Tevi's back and held her tight. Her next words
were murmured into Tevi's shoulder. "You know, between Neame and you, I've
learnt an awful lot."
A series of emotions chased across
Tevi's face. She raised her arms to return Jemeryl's hug and her eyes caught sight
of the tattoos on her hands. They brought a more prosaic problem to mind. "Does
this mean we'll be in trouble when we get back to Lyremouth?"
"They can't blame you. You
acted in good faith. If we return with the chalice and Levannue as prisoner, I
guess they'll forgive us everything."
"That's a big if. She could
be anywhere by now."
"We know she's not bound
for the Protectorate, else why go north through the pass?"
"Is there any real hope we'll
catch her?"
"We can try." Jemeryl
sat back. "Don't overestimate her abilities. Magic removes some physical
restrictions, but she's still an old woman. Even sorcerers don't find flying a
practical mode of transport. I think she'll stick to travelling with caravans,
they're slow but reliable, although she may have swapped route a dozen times by
now."
"No. Probably not."
Tevi said with sudden excitement. "From what I heard from the traders in
Horzt, there's an established campsite by some ruins at the other side of the
pass but, apart from that, there's no opportunity to change caravans before Uzhenek.
With the speed wagons go, we should have no problem overtaking her before she
gets there."
"Is that so?" Jemeryl
weighed Tevi's words for a moment and then sighed. "Of course she might be
stopped just north of the pass, using Lorimal's spell to create an enormous army
of hideous monsters ready to sweep down on the Protectorate."
"In which case she won't
be hard to locate." Tevi said with grim humour.
Jemeryl laughed and snuggled back
against Tevi. "I guess there would be that advantage."
Tevi was silent for a while and
then said, "I wonder what the really spell does, because... " She paused.
"Has it struck you that, right from the beginning, the Coven leaders were
more concerned with keeping the spell secret than they were with catching the
traitor?"
Jemeryl chewed her lip thoughtfully.
Tevi had a point.
* * * * * *
By the time they were ten miles
north of Horzt, the landscape was noticeably drier. Dusty hollows pitted the crumbling
soil of the path. Even in the sheltered valleys, the covering of trees was thinning
out, giving way to matted gorse, bracken and bristling clumps of yellow spiky
grass. The air was thinner too, and colder. On all sides, the mountains rose to
new heights. The peaks were bare fists of rock punching the sky.
The late morning sun was on their
backs as Tevi and Jemeryl followed a trail across an open expanse of moorland.
Ahead of them, the bracken ended at a saddleback slung between two peaks. They
paused at the crest. On the other side, the terrain plunged in a series of vertical
steps, which sprouted around buttress-like folds on the mountainside. The Danor
glittered white at the bottom of the gorge, twinned with the darker line of the
wagon road. The drop was so sheer that the river seemed to pass directly beneath
their feet.
Until this point, the route had
been well-used and clearly marked. Faced with the precipitous descent, the path
broke into a web of straggly goat-tracks that lurched off in all directions, as
if the trail-makers had been unable to agree on the safest way to proceed.
Tevi followed each track with
her eyes until it dropped out of sight. With a shake of her head, she turned to
Jemeryl. "We've got to rejoin the main road. There probably isn't a best
way down, but do you have any idea which might be the least worse?"
"Would it be unduly smug
of me to point out that those if us who can fly are alright?" Klara observed
from her perch on the saddle of Jemeryl's horse.
"Yes it would." Jemeryl
said firmly.
Tevi looked at the magpie thoughtfully.
"Could you use Klara to go ahead and check out the route?"
"I'll give it try, but I'd
warn you that paths which look fine from the air are sometimes impassable on foot."
Jemeryl's voice held little optimism but she scooped Klara onto her wrist, preparing
to transfer her senses.
Tevi watched, intrigued. Jemeryl's
eyes closed and the expression on her face froze and then faded. It was as if
the air about the sorcerer thickened and stilled with the weight of the spell
casting.
Without warning, the silence was
broken by a shout from below. The sound ricocheted around the walls of the gorge.
Jemeryl jerked out of her trance. Her eyes chased the echoes, however Tevi had
already located the source and was urging her back from the exposed ridge, out
of sight of the group of horsemen who had appeared over a fold on the hillside.
The riders were more than a hundred yards away on their ascent of the steep cliff
path, but closing in rapidly. They were clearly a militia patrol. Helmets glinted
in the sun and the distinctive cloaks flapped in the breeze. The leader stood
in the stirrups and called again. It was an assertive cry demanding attention,
but not hostile - not yet.
"Jem, we've got to get away.
We must try to outrun them. If Russ has returned to Horzt they may have my description.
The guild members won't let me go free, not with the guild's integrity at stake."
"No. There's no need. I can
take care of it. Come on. Get out of their way so they don't ride into us."
Jemeryl led the way towards a
small knoll, twenty yards from the path. Her horse stepped high over the bracken.
Tevi followed, towing the spare horse after her and looking around in despair.
There was nothing in the way of cover on the open heath. The knoll was barely
high enough to hide a cat and Jemeryl made no attempt to get behind it. She stopped
to one side and turned to face the road. Her fingers started to trace elaborate
patterns in the air.
Tevi brought her horse to a halt
beside Jemeryl's and waited. Her mouth was dry and her eyes jumped between her
sword hilt and the point on the skyline where the riders would appear. She tried
to convince herself of her faith in Jemeryl's abilities but felt hopelessly exposed
and vulnerable.
In a fury of pounding hooves and
the clash of metal on metal, a score of militiamen exploded over the ridge and
thundered down the trail. Almost immediately, their impetus started to fizzle
out. One by one the militiamen pulled back so that, within seconds of their appearance,
the charge collapsed in a confused melee. The lead rider reined in her horse and
stared around. The open plateau provided no hiding place, yet her confused gaze
passed straight through the spot where Tevi and Jemeryl were. From the body of
the patrol came anxious queries.
"Where've they gone?"
"They were here, clear as
anything against the sky."
"There's nowhere for them
to be." An edge of panic tinged the voices.
In sudden comprehension, Tevi
looked at Jemeryl's calm face. The sorcerer's hands were now motionless. Her eyes
were glazed, focused on a world beyond the soldiers and the open heath. Tevi took
a deep breath and forced her hands to unclench and accept Jemeryl's ethereal defence
against the swords of the militia. She looked around, savouring the dream-like
quality of the blue sky, the hills and the rough vegetation. It felt so very strange
to stand on a bare hillside in broad daylight and know herself to be invisible.
"Meric. Come here. Examine
the track and see if you can spot anything." The sergeant barked the order,
trying to reinforce her command of the situation. It made little impression on
the thin wiry scout who sat leaning forward in his saddle, a little way apart
from the rest of the patrol.
"I don't need to look for
footprints, I can see the same thing as you - the work of a sorcerer."
Despite his cynical words, the
scout dropped lightly from his horse and walked a few yards along the track. He
knelt and traced his fingers over the soil before raising his head to look out
over the field of gorse. For a moment, his eyes fixed directly on the knoll.
He stood, faced his sergeant and
shrugged. "There were three horses here, two with riders, but there ain't
now. They might have taken wing and flown for all I can tell, or they might be
standing by my elbow, invisible. There's nothing we can do."
His words did nothing to calm
his colleagues. Several at the back shuffled nervously in their saddles.
Smiling at their discomfiture,
the scout added, "I wouldn't worry. If the sorcerer wanted us dead we wouldn't
be standing here now, calmly debating it."
The sergeant was clearly unhappy
with the scout's assessment of the facts. She chewed her lip while making her
decision. "Tadge, Elamis. Go back to the main road. Catch up with the lieutenant
and report what we've seen. Tell him the rest of us will carry on." She snapped
out the order and raised an arm to wave the rest of the patrol forward.
A cynical smile touched Tevi's
face. She recognised the style of an officer who doesn't worry whether a command
achieves anything worthwhile, as long as it is given and obeyed. From the expressions
of the militiamen towards the back, Tevi was not alone in her opinion.
It was with obvious relief that
the main body of the patrol followed their sergeant across the heath. The horsemen
rode two abreast along the path. The sound of hooves and harness faded as they
shrunk into the distance. Behind them, the two detailed militiamen waited until
the others were well out of earshot.
"What good is telling the
lieutenant? What can he do about a sorcerer?" the younger of the two asked
bitterly, using a show of anger to hide her nervousness.
"I know what I'd like to
do." The other said calmly.
"What?"
"If it's the same sorcerer
as what dunked the mayor, I'd like to offer to buy her a drink."
A yelp of laughter met his words.
"You and the rest of the militia."
"It certainly doesn't pay
to make enemies you can't beat."
After a last jittery glance over
the heath, the two militiamen wheeled their horses around and trotted back over
the brow of the ridge. Jemeryl's head turned to follow them, though her eyes remained
unfocused.
"Can you keep this up if
we go after them? They probably know the best route down." Tevi asked quietly.
"As long as we don't get
too close." Jemeryl's voice sounded oddly flat.
With the help of their unwitting
guides, it proved reasonably easy to negotiate the steep descent. The route rose
and fell and twisted down the hillside. Several times it seemed certain that a
sheer drop would block their way, only for an unexpected side path to branch off
at the last moment. As the top of the gorge rose above them, the sound of the
Danor grew - an unceasing roar of white water cascading over the boulders. The
last few yards of the descent were a steep gravel slide onto the road. The two
militiamen turned south. With high shouts, they spurred their mounts into a gallop,
raising a plume of dust behind them on the road.
Tevi and Jemeryl also made it
to level ground. They watched as the militiamen disappeared from view around a
towering column of rock. As the last echo faded, the two women turned their own
horses north. The valley bottom was noticeably warmer than the exposed heath,
though a chill breeze gusted between the sheer sides of the gorge and stirred
the dust into smoke-like wisps that chased over the road.
Jemeryl was subdued. She rode
with downcast eyes.
"What's wrong?" Tevi
asked after a while of travelling in silence.
"The tattoos... some of that
patrol were guild members." Jemeryl said, troubled.
"So?"
"Which means they're Protectorate
citizens. I tampered with their perceptions. By all the rules of the Coven I'm
not supposed to do that without their consent."
Tevi frowned slightly. "But
they weren't hurt."
"It still counts as an abuse
of power."
"Don't some sorcerers do
things like that just to impress people?"
"Oh, all the time."
Jemeryl agreed readily.
"So why are you upset? It's
not as if you had any real choice."
"I know. "Jemeryl sighed.
"I'm just not happy about it."
Klara rotated her head to stare
at Jemeryl. "It's your own fault. I always warned if you started noticing
the ungifted you'd go and develop a conscience."
* * * * * *
A field of stars hung in the clear
black sky. The brilliance pierced the night with cold purity now that the moon
had set behind the mountains. Jemeryl stood, arms folded, looking north. The terrain
before her flowed away in ever fading ripples. It became a flat plain on the horizon
- the northern grasslands. The mountain chain was not wide above Horzt, no more
than twenty miles as the eagle might fly, though closer to fifty on the wagon
route as it slipped from valley to valley.
Dusk had been falling when she
and Tevi had reached the northern end of the pass. The spot was the site of extensive
ruins. The last of the daylight had shown shattered, fire-blasted walls. People
still lived on the site, though no more than one-twentieth part was occupied.
They sheltered in rough hovels patched into the broken shells of buildings. With
suspicious eyes, the surly inhabitants had watched the two women arrive. The folk
traded with the caravans passing through, but only from necessity. The hostility
of the local folk was not surprising; they had been noticed once by the outside
world and now wanted only to be ignored.
Jemeryl sighed loudly. Her head
sagged as she wandered back to the fireside. The camp was on the eastern edge
of the ruins, well away from the inhabited section. The remains of the buildings
in this area were too fragmentary for their original function to be stated with
certainty. Jemeryl threw herself down by the campfire and stared into the flames.
In the starlight, the ruins looked
tranquil, even picturesque, but Jemeryl had seen the walls torn apart and smashed
by raw magic. They were a testament to a city that had died as a pawn in the power
games of sorcerers. She could sense the imprint of magic, soaked into the cracked
stones, deeper than the blood that rain and time had washed away.
Her brooding was disturbed by
soft approaching footsteps. Tevi wove her way through the stumps of shattered
masonry. Dog-like at her heels was a local man. He scurried along with anxious
glances in all directions and shoulders hunched as if ready to ward off an attack.
Jemeryl sat back and waited until both were seated, Tevi a little way to one side
and the local directly opposite. His face was turned down so that he watched her
through a straggling fringe of straw coloured hair.
"You want to know things."
He spoke with a stilted monotone that left Jemeryl unsure of whether his words
were meant as a statement or a question.
Jemeryl made an effort to keep
her voice calm. "Yes, as my friend will have told you. A caravan passed through
here three or four days ago, heading to Uzhenek. I am interested in one of the
passengers."
"I remember it." the
man muttered.
"I'm afraid you might only..."
Jemeryl hesitated. She had been about to explain her intentions, but as she watched
him rub the palms of his hands on his knees she realised the man was terrified.
A word about magic would send him into flight. "Tell me everything you remember
about the caravan on the day it left."
Jemeryl let her gaze drop to her
hands clasped in her lap. She listened to his halting description, but her attention
was fixed on the seething mass of his thoughts. Even as a sorcerer, Jemeryl could
not read the man's mind. The human intellect was too transient and lost in convoluted
contradictions to pick out a single thread, but it was not so hard to spot where
it had been tampered with and memories altered or removed. Eventually, the local's
mumbled sentences stuttered to a halt.
Jemeryl looked up, satisfied.
"Do you know where the caravan was going?"
"Like you said, Uzhenek."
His eyes flitted momentarily to her face.
"What can you tell me of
the route?"
He shrugged.
"Is there a single trail
they have to follow?" Jemeryl persisted.
"They can go where they like
over the grasslands, except that the river Rzetoka can only be forded in three
places."
"Which ford would the caravan
use?"
The sharp shake of his head might
have been a nervous twitch or an expression of denial. Either way, Jemeryl sensed
she would get no further information from him. He almost bolted when Tevi leaned
over to offer the few coins she had promised. He took the money as if he was frightened
it would burn him and then leapt to his feet and rushed off into the thick shadows.
"Levannue left on the caravan?"
Tevi asked.
"Yes. I'm certain of it."
"There doesn't seem much
chance of running into her in the grasslands."
"Which might be just as well.
We can get to Uzhenek first and wait for her. I'm sure she won't be expecting
that."
Tevi slid around the fire to sit
closer to Jemeryl with an apologetic look on her face. She gestured at the spot
where the local had sat. "I don't know how bright he was, but he was the
best I could find. It was incredibly difficult finding anyone willing to talk
to you. The inhabitants are terrified of sorcerers."
"If you told people that
that's what I am, I'm surprised you were able to find anyone. It's why I asked
you to go on your own."
"It seems a bit excessive."
"They've got a reason."
"There's a story to these
ruins?" Tevi guessed.
"Yes." Jemeryl's eyes
fixed on the outlines of broken walls. "Two hundred years ago, this was a
thriving city, built solely by the ungifted. It's virtually unique. The people
here wouldn't tolerate anyone who could work magic. As soon as any child showed
the slightest sign of being gifted, they were killed." Jemeryl's voice was
hard. "It made for a stable society. It grew slowly, not like the overnight
flowering of a sorcerer's empire, and it lasted nearly 150 years. In the end,
it grew big enough to attract attention. A third-rate sorcerer, who'd been displaced
by the Protectorate, heard of the city. She walked in here and took control. There
was no one to stop her - they'd killed the only ones of their own folk who could
have made a stand."
"As you said about the men
on my islands - it sounds like poetic justice."
Jemeryl pouted. "Maybe -
but not what happened after. The easy victory gave the sorcerer delusions about
her own ability. She embarked on a forlorn attempt to expand her territory, which
only succeeded in annoying a more powerful sorcerer off to the west. By the time
the dust settled, virtually all the population were dead and the city was as you
see it now." Jemeryl stared down at the ground. Three times her lips started
to frame the start of her next sentence. "I used to think the people here
got what they deserved. If I'd been born in this city I'd have been killed. But..."
She raised her head. "Tevi, how do the citizens of the Protectorate really
feel about sorcerers?"
"From what I can tell, they
feel varying levels of unease and resentment coupled with varying levels of gratitude
and respect."
"You must have heard some
more specific views expressed."
"Oh yes, but I couldn't take
them seriously. It's ridiculous to lump all sorcerers together. Some are okay
and some aren't, much like any other group of people."
"But there's more to it.
Being a sorcerer is so..."
Tevi interrupted by catching hold
of her hand. "Supposing I were to ask you what women really think about men.
Women on my home islands would have no trouble giving an answer on behalf of 'all
women'. Of course, it would fall apart as soon as you tried probing, and if you
compared what they said with how they acted, you'd realise they hadn't even got
the answer right for themselves. But if I asked the question in the Protectorate,
I'd only get blank stares. It would be a meaningless question. And it's like asking
me about sorcerers. I don't have any strong emotional feelings about sorcerers
in general, I only know how I feel about you." Tevi raised her hand to gently
cup the side of Jemeryl's face. "I love you."
Continued in chapter 4
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