Mairelon the Magician

"There must be at least a hundred people in London who

  might have recognized me, including my dear brother An-

  drew You didn't ask me about any of them "

  "Andrew's in London? You didn't see him, did you:?"

  "As a matter of fact, i did Briefly it needn't concern you "

  "Nothing in this affair—"

  "You're avoiding the subject, Edward What's so special

  about Bramingham and the Cranleighs?"

  Lord Shoreham sighed again "Stephen Granleigh is in-

  volved with the Ministry in a number of ways Of necessity,

  he's familiar with the history of the Saltash Bowl Has de-

  cided opinions on the subject, too "

  "I see And St Clair?"

  "Was elected to the College in your place "

  "He must have been delighted " Mairelon's voice was ut-

  terly devoid of expression "I must remember to congratulate

  him if ! see him "

  "Richard' Don't take foolish risks "

  "Foolish? Never "

  "I ought to take the bowl, after all, and let someone else

  recover the platter "

  "You can have it if you like, but it won't keep me out of

  Essex "

  63

  "I was afraid of that Richard, if the Runners catch you with

  the Sahash Bowl—"

  "The Runners have criminals enough to deal with in

  London What would one of them be doing in Essex?"

  "Quite possibly looking for you," Lord Shoreham replied

  dryly "I told you someone's been talking too much "

  "I'll take the chance "

  "Very well I hope your luck holds, Richard And don't

  hesitate to call on me if something happens "

  "You may be sure of it "

  The wagon door opened, and Lord Shoreham's footsteps

  sounded on the steps. Kirn heard Mairelon moving about the

  wagon, then a soft thump as the lid of the chest closed She

  held her breath, waiting for him to leave and wondering how

  she was going to sneak out unseen But Mairelon did not

  leave Kim was just beginning to wonder whether she would

  have to stay where she was all night when Mairelon spoke.

  "I think you had better come out now, Kim, and explain

  why you've been eavesdropping on my conversation "

  64

  SEVEN

  Kim swallowed hard and pushed the curtain

  aside Mairelon was standing in the center

  of the wagon, watching her His face was ex-

  pressionless Kim swallowed again and said nothing

  "You do have some explanation, I trusP" Mairelon said

  "I was just—it was an accident," Kim said lamely

  "I see You just happened to hide behind the curtain at

  exactly the time Lord Shoreham was planning to arrive,"

  Mairelon said with a cool politeness that was worse than sar-

  casm and far worse than open anger

  "Yes!" Kim said hotly "You and Hunch didn't have no

  use for me outside, so I came in here to look at that stage you

  got in back Which you got to get back of the curtain

  to do "

  "The timing was remarkably convenient "

  "You never said when that Shoreham cove was comin',"

  Kim said angrily "So how would I of known when to hide?

  You ain't told me nothin', neither one of you "

  "Why didn't you come out?"

  65

  "With the two of you talkin' about me!" And after that

  Kirn squirmed "It wouldn't of looked right "

  "Wouldn't have," Mairelon said, sounding as if his mind were

  on something else "No, I suppose not"

  "How did you know I was there"" Kim ventured She

  had been half afraid Mairelon would throw her out at once,

  but it seemed she had been wrong He wouldn't be correct-

  ing the way she spoke if he'd made up his mind to get nd

  of her

  "The end of the curtain was hanging oddly, I noticed it

  when I was showing Shoreham the bowl Then I remembered

  seeing you come around this way and that you hadn't come

  back Simple, really "

  "So why didn't you say something right then?"

  Mairelon looked uncomfortable "I had my reasons "

  "You didn't want the gentry cove to know I was there'" Kim

  said triumphantly

  "Shoreham has a nasty temper at times Besides, I prefer to

  deal with you myself"

  "So what are you gom' to do?"

  "I don't know " Mairelon studied her Kim stared back,

  trying to gauge his temper He looked tired, and Kim was

  suddenly sorry she had added to his worries, however inad-

  vertently She pushed the thought aside; she had worries of

  her own.

  "I suppose I shall have to bring you along," Mairelon said at

  last

  "To Ranton Hill?"

  "That far at least Afterward—well, we'll see how things

  go"

  "What if I ain't wishful to go?"

  Mairelon's eyes narrowed "I beg your pardon?"

  "I said, what if I ain't wishful to go with you?" Kim re-

  peated She chose her next words carefully, aware that she

  66

  might be jeopardizing whatever fragile trust in her Mairelon

  still retained "You told me you weren't doing nothin' the nab-

  bing culls'd be lookin' out for But it didn't sound that

  way when you were talkin' to the gentry cove "

  "No, 1 suppose it didn't," Mairelon said, and some of the

  tension went out of his shoulders He looked at Kim and

  shook his head "I wish 1 knew whether you—" He stopped

  short and snapped his fingers "Of course'"

  Kim stared in surprise as Mairelon turned and pulled open

  the wagon door "Hunch' Do you have any rosemary in that

  cache of herbs you cart around all the time^"

  Hunch's response was muffled, but a moment later Kim

  heard Mairelon say, "Thank you Kim will be with me; don't

  disturb us for an hour or so I'm going to need to concen-

  trate "

  "Master Richard'" Hunch's tone was horrified "You ain't

  going to You wouldn't never "

  "There are days, Hunch, when you remind me forcibly of

  my excessively estimable brother," Mairelon said in a tone of

  mild irritation "Is it her virtue or mine that you're worrying

  abouP"

  "You ain't a-going to gammon me," Hunch said severely

  "What are you up to?"

  "I'm going to take that suggestion you made just before

  Shoreham arrived, if you must know I trust you don't expect

  me to do so outside the wagon, in full view of the road?"

  Hunch snorted but did not answer A moment later, Mair-

  elon pulled his head and shoulders back into the wagon and

  closed the door His right hand held a smalt packet, presum-

  ably the herbs he had gotten from Hunch Kim eyed him

  warily "What're you goin' to do~'"

  "Reassure myself," Mairelon said absently He set the

  packet down on the counter, then crossed to the chest and

  opened it He muttered a word and made a quick gesture

  67

  with his left hand, hidden from Kim by his body Then he

  withdrew the velvet-swathed bundle that had been Kirn's

  downfall He set it carefully on the counter and gently folded

  back the velvet

  Kirn's eyes went wide as she stared at the heavy silver bowl

  nested in the npples o
f black velvet It was shallow and cir-

  cular, like the soup bowls the gentry used, but more than

  twice as large The nm was at least two inches wide and

  carved into intricate leaves, flowers, and vines !t shone softly

  in the lamplight

  Kim looked at Mairelon "Is that the silver bowl you and

  the gentry cove were on abouts"

  "The Sattash Bowl Yes " The magician opened a cupboard

  and removed several small jars He measured carefully as he

  added portions of their contents to the bowl, then mixed

  them with a long wooden rod Kim noticed that he was care-

  ful not to touch any part of the silver with his hands as he

  worked

  She started to ask another question, but thought better

  of interrupting him She waited until he finished the mixing

  and laid aside the wooden rod As he reached for Hunch's

  packet, she said, "You ain't explained nothm' about what

  you're doin' "

  Mairelon paused in mid-reach and looked at her "No, I

  haven't, have I?" He hesitated, studying her, then sighed "I

  suppose you have a right to know what to expect Very well,

  then One of the uses of the Saltash Bowl is to compel people

  to speak truthfully "

  "And you're gom' to use it on me?" Kim asked cautiously It

  was not a welcome thought There were any number of

  things she would rather not be forced to discuss truthfully

  the uses to which she had put her expertise in lock picking,

  for instance On the other hand, this was an opportunity to

  observe real magic at close hand, and she wasn't about to pass

  68

  it up without a reason Assuming, of course, that she had a

  choice

  "Not exactly The magic of the Saltash Bowl can be used

  only under very speciftc circumstances More important, it

  can be used only when the entire set is together "

  "That platter the gentry cove was talkin' abouP"

  "Among other things I cannot, therefore, use the bowl to

  force you to be truthful However, I believe I can cast a sim-

  ilar spell, using the bowl as a focus, which will let me know

  whether or not you are telling the truth "

  "So if I don't say nothm', you can't tell what's true?" Kim

  said Mairelon's lips tightened, and she added hastily, "I'm

  just trym' to understand You ain't got no business knowin'

  everything about me "

  "A reasonable objection," Mairelon said after a moment

  "Very well The spell is just an indicator If you don't say

  anything, it won't have anything to work with, so it won't tell

  me anything "

  Kim nodded She understood the unspoken implication

  well enough Mairelon would be able to tell a good deal by

  which questions she chose not to answer "All right, then,"

  she said "I'm ready What do I have to do?"

  "Just stand there, for the time being " Mairelon turned back

  to the silver bowl He smoothed a wnnkle from the velvet on

  which it rested and laid a twist of straw beside it, not touch-

  ing the silver Then he opened Hunch's packet and sniffed at

  >t He nodded in satisfaction, but to Kirn's surprise, he did

  not dump it into the bowl with the rest of the herbs Instead,

  he set it down and reached for the lamp that hung beside the

  door He adjusted the wick, then did something to the hook

  that held it When he pulled on it, the lamp came away from

  the wall on a long, flexible arm

  Mairelon positioned the lamp to hang a hand's breadth

  above the center of the silver bowl Then he looked at

  69

  Kim "If you have any other questions, ask them now From

  here on, any interruption could have unpleasant con-

  sequences "

  "I understand " Every street waif in London had heard

  whispers of the fate that came to anyone foolish enough to

  interrupt a true wizard in the practice of his magic Burning

  alive would be nothing to it Kim might have her doubts

  about some of the things she'd heard, but she wasn't about to

  test them now

  Mairelon gave her a searching look, then nodded He

  turned back to face the bowl and took a deep breath The

  lamp above the bowl threw the magician's shadow against the

  opposite wall, large and dark, and made a mask of his face

  Kim shivered, then froze as Mairelon began to speak

  The language was unfamiliar to Kim, but every word

  seemed to hang in the air, clear and sharp as broken crystal

  She could almost feel their edges, and she was afraid to move

  and jostle their invisible presence She understood, now,

  where the saying had come from, "deadly as a wizard's

  words " She wondered how there could be room in the wagon

  for the solid sounds Mairelon was speaking

  The magician's hands moved suddenly, sliding with ex-

  quisite precision into a gap in the growing lattice of invisible,

  razor-edged words One hand seized the packet of herbs

  Hunch had provided, the other lifted the twisted straw on the

  opposite side of the bowl The straw touched the lamp's wick

  and burst into flame Mairelon's voice rose to a shout, and

  herbs and burning straw dropped together into the silver

  bowl

  Smoke billowed out of the bowl, spreading a strong, sweet

  smell throughout the wagon The lamp went out with the

  suddenness of a snuffed candle, and the silver bowl began to

  glow Mairelon lowered his arms with a sigh and looked at

  Kim "What is your name?" he said

  70

  Kim hesitated. "Jenny Slower," she said deliberately.

  The glow of the silver bow! dimmed to an angry red point

  "Your name?" Mairelon repeated. "And the truth, this time "

  "Kim "

  The bowl flashed into silver light once more Kim stared at

  it, awed and frightened. "Where did you first hear of me, and

  from whom?" Mairelon asked

  "At the Dog and Bull, the day afore 1 snuck into this

  wagon A skinny toff offered to pay me if I'd find out what

  you had in here " The bowl remained silver, and Kim relaxed

  a little

  "WTiat, exactly, did he tell you?"

  Kim repeated the story she had told Mairelon at their first

  meeting The bowl glowed a steady silver throughout the

  tale Mairelon nodded when she finished, and made her re-

  peat her reasons for eavesdropping on his conversation with

  Shoreham Kim did the best she could, but the bowl's light

  faded slightly

  Mairelon frowned "And were those your only reasons?"

  Kim shifted uncomfortably "Mostly "

  "You'll have to do better than that," Mairelon said, watch-

  ing her closely

  "All right' I was curious "

  The silver light brightened. Mairelon's lips twitched "Curi-

  ous?"

  "Why not?" Kim said indignantly "Anyone as meets you

  can see you're a regular swell, and it queers me what your lay

  is. Bilking the culls in the markets ain't work for a gentry

  cove, and you ain't told me nothin' I got reason for won-

  derin' "

  Mairelon laughed "I should have guessed Well, I'll explain

  as soon as we're finished here. You've enough of the pi
eces to

  get us all into difficulty by accident if you aren't told the

  rest "

  71

  He asked Kim a few more offhand questions, but his suspi-

  cions seemed to be laid to rest "That's all, i think," he said at

  last He turned to the bowl and raised a hand, then paused

  and looked at Kim "Why did you decide to leave London

  with us? Curiosity again?"

  Kim swallowed "Yes," she said, and the bowl flickered

  Mairelon looked from her face to the bowl and lowered his

  hand "There is more, 1 think''"

  "It ain't nothin' to do with you'"

  The light held steady, and Mairelon nodded "Perhaps it is

  not, now However, we will be returning to London eventu-

  ally, and I don't like the possibility of a nasty surprise waiting

  for me "

  "He ain't waitin' for you," Kim muttered

  "Nevertheless, 1 should like to know who 'he' is, and why

  you considered it so important to remove yourself from his

  vicinity Particularly if the reason is something that is likely

  to interest the constables "

  "It ain't the nabbing culls I'm worried on," Kim said, scowl-

  ing "It's Laverham " She sfghed "I suppose now I got to tell

  you "