Power's Shadow

by Richard Parks

  “How did you know you could share that with us?” Marta asked.

  “The abbot told me. As for why he told me this, I couldn’t say. You’ll have to ask him. Now, then—what about the sword?”

  “You know which sword we refer to, don’t you?”

  “You’re quick, Lady Marta,” Collas said in evident satisfaction. “In some ways you remind me a great deal of your mother.”

  “You made the copy of Master Solthyr’s sword?” Prince Dolan asked.

  Collas laughed then. “If you’re referring to Part-the-Breeze, then yes. I did. Seriously, who else would he ask?”

  Prince Dolan scowled. “Who did ask?”

  “The abbot, of course. I wasn’t happy about the mistake, mind you, but he was insistent.”

  “The mistake?”

  “The wrong-way spiral on the pommel,” Sela said. “That’s what he means.”

  Collas looked at her. “Yes. He said it was important to get that part wrong. He didn’t say why, but I finally figured that out.”

  “So someone like my companion Sela would know that it was wrong,” Marta said. “It was only meant to deceive for a while, not forever.”

  “Exactly. Oh, I could have done it,” Collas said. “With all due respect to Lady Sela, I could have made a copy that even she would not have suspected. Pity. It was some of my finest work.”

  “So the sword is here!” Sela said. “You had to be working from the original, there’s no other way you could have copied it so exactly, no matter how skilled you are.”

  “No, it was here. It’s not here now. Or at least so the abbot informs me, and he’s not known as a liar, but he did obtain another example for my study, Sunlight-on-Water, which I understand he has since lent to you.”

  For a few long moments no one spoke, Dolan and Sela perhaps from pure astonishment. Dena remained as silent as she had for all of the conversation, though her brow was now furrowed as if in deep concentration. As for Brother Collas, he seemed to be waiting. Marta studied the man closely, and she finally nodded.

  “I understand now,” Marta said.

  “As do I,” Dena said. “Finally.”

  Brother Collas smiled again. “Ah, Lady Dena. I was wondering if you were ever going to show any interest.”

  “I show what I choose to show,” Dena said, but then she shrugged. “My participation was not required.”

  Or wanted, Sela mouthed silently, though Marta saw it. She just shook her head.

  “We were led here. That’s why Sunlight-on-Water was brought to the Kuldun Monastery and evidence of the transaction left to find. Someone knew we would come looking for it,” Marta said. “We’d never have known about Part-the-Breeze otherwise. Someone has gone to a great deal of trouble.”

  “Yes, but who?” Sela asked.

  “The ‘who’ is obvious,” Dena snapped. “A better question is ‘why?’”

  “I think,” Marta said, “we need to have another talk with the abbot.”

  Ω

  17 CHasing a nightmare

  “In the world you will find things that are real, and some that only appear to be real. You can appreciate the real easily enough, especially when you stub your toes on a stone in the road. What is not real is a great deal harder to grasp, but trust me, it’s every bit as important.” – Black Kath’s Tally Book

  “Of course I had the copy made,” the abbot said. “Did you expect me to deny it, at this point?”

  Their first audience had been held at the main chapel, but now they were in Abbot Seb’s private chambers. For a monk’s cell it was very spacious, with several chairs and a work table and two walls covered in niches for books and scrolls. There was a door leading further in, Marta guessed to the abbot’s bedchamber. Seb sat at the table writing on a long piece of parchment. He appeared to be copying lines from a very old book held open on a stand.

  “You knew that sword had been taken from my father’s armory,” Prince Dolan said. “Lord Abbot, I must say I am disappointed.”

  Seb smiled. “Rubbish. We didn’t take the sword any more than we knew what it was or who owned it. Certainly, we have a reputation for omniscience, but the truth is that we don’t know everything by a great margin, and you must admit that the exact contents of a king’s armory is a rather obscure bit of information.”

  “Which is the sort you specialize in, Abbot Seb, but I don’t think that’s really the issue. You wanted us to come here,” Marta said. “Why?”

  The abbot sighed. “Now that is where you are mistaken, child. The Kuldun Monastery mostly just wants to be left alone. We understand that this is not possible unless we co-operate with the kingdoms of the mainland and share—where appropriate—what we do know. When great matters are stirring, our every instinct is to stay out of them.”

  “Great matters? We’re simply in search of the Laws of Power,” Dena said.

  “As I said—great matters,” Seb repeated dryly.

  “Then why didn’t you ‘stay out of them,’ as you say?” Marta asked.

  Seb put down his quill and sighed. “Because a very old, very dear friend asked me to. He has the real sword, by the way. If you still want it, you’ll have to talk to him.”

  “Who is he?”

  “He’ll tell you himself, if he choses to. He may even give you the sword. Or maybe he’ll destroy you instead. Or both. One can never be sure with him.”

  “Lord Abbot, how old are you?” Marta asked.

  “Five hundred and twenty-three…next summer. If I had chosen anywhere other than the Kuldun Order to retire I’d likely be burned as a devil by now. The monks of course want to study me, so every few decades I let them. And yes, I know that what I’m telling you is both impossible and ridiculous. It’s still true.”

  “That depends on how it happened,” Marta said. “Or rather, ‘who.’”

  “My friend calls her Amaet, though there’s no goddess by that name that I’ve ever heard of. Apparently, we’ve been cursed, my friend and I…well, he already was, but then she added one to the both of us. To this day I don’t really know why.”

  Marta shook her head. “Not a goddess. A Power. And likely because she’s very fond of curses.” Marta looked at the abbot, who returned her gaze without expression.

  “You’re…that Seb, aren’t you?”

  He smiled a sad smile. “I was wondering if you would make the connection. Not that it really matters now.”

  “What are you talking about?” Dena asked.

  “Five hundred years ago there was a dark wizard called Tymon the Black, among other things. He disappeared long ago. A dwarf named Seb was his companion.”

  “My ancient ancestor was supposed to have killed him,” Dolan said. “The honor he achieved from that distinction ushered in an era of peace that lasted for a century. Now you’re saying it didn’t happen?”

  Seb shook his head. “No, it did happen. Tymon literally was dead…for a little while. Now he isn’t. Don’t ask me to explain it because I can’t.”

  “He has the sword,” Marta said, and it wasn’t a question. What followed pointedly was. “Where is he?”

  “In the Blackpits. He’s waiting for you. And don’t ask me why, because I don’t know that, either, and he wouldn’t tell me. I can’t say what will happen next, Lady Marta, but if you want the sword, that’s where it is. The only question you should be asking now is—how badly do you want that blade?”

  “You’d have to be insane to traverse the Blackpits even without a dark wizard waiting for you,” Prince Dolan said. “I can send for more men—“

  “No,” Marta said. “You’d only put them in danger, too. I’m going.”

  “So am I,” Dena said, looking defiant, if nervous.

  “If you think I’m staying behind, think again,” Sela said.

  “It’s against my better judgment,” Dolan said. “But I want to see this through.”

  “Tymon always had a fondness for fools,” Seb said. “Not that it saved any of them who he h
ad decided to kill, mind you. But the fondness was there.”

  §

  “Why does he get to be human, and I have to stay a raven?” Bonetapper asked, pointing his beak at Kel, who rode beside Dena. Marta had found herself envying Dena just a bit because of her ease on horseback. Fortunately, Bonetapper’s complaining kept her from focusing on that uncomfortable emotion.

  “Because you tend to get into more trouble when you’re human, and I don’t want or need the aggravation,” Marta said. “You know it’s true. Learn to behave yourself and I’ll reconsider.”

  They had taken one of the wagons to hold supplies, and a couple of the pack horses for fodder, but the rest had been left at Kuldun in Akan’s care. The road that had led to the Kuldun Monastery now led through and past its western gate toward the Blackpits, but they had been warned that the road would not last for very long. There was no proper road to the Blackpits, because no one wanted or needed to go there, in the normal order of things. What they traveled on now was little more than two ruts which would soon turn further north into Wylandia, but technically they were already off of the pilgrim trail.

  “How many protocols will you be violating by accompanying us into Wylandia?” Marta asked Dolan, who was riding on the right side of the wagon. Sir Kian held the same position on the other side.

  “Pretty much all of them,” the prince admitted. “The one saving grace is that I should be able to do it unnoticed. Why would Wylandia even bother to keep a presence here? Even bandits avoid the area—too dangerous.”

  “I will follow wherever you go, Highness,” Sir Kian, riding abreast of the wagon, said. “But this journey is against my better judgment.”

  “Mine as well,” Dolan said. “If I didn’t have three brothers in line for the throne ahead of me I wouldn’t even consider it.”

  “Even so,” Kian said, “That’s a lot of marriage alliances.”

  Dolan closes his eyes for a moment. “Please don’t remind me,” he said. “Fortunately, His Majesty ran out of strategically significant foreign princesses before he got to me, so my conscience is clear on that point as well. Nothing too inconvenient to the kingdom would happen if this proves a foolish venture.”

  Sela remained silent for most of the exchange, but finally spoke up. “I think that would be terrible.”

  Dolan frowned. “What would, Lady Sela?”

  “Being told to marry. Being told whom you must marry, with no say in the matter at all. My father would never have married me off without my consent.”

  Dolan smiled a wry smile. “One of the hazards of being born royal. As I’ve said before, there are more advantages than not, so it would be hypocritical of me to complain. I was just luckier than my brothers. I don’t think father much cares what I do.”

  “I rather doubt that,” Sela said.

  “Well…up to a point, I should say. I’m thinking that, after this trip, I may find out where that point is. Will you be there to guard me, then, milady?”

  Sela blushed. “Why would I? You have Sir Kian…who I happen to know is better with a sword than I am.”

  “It was a joke, and not a funny one. I apologize.”

  “No need,” Sela said softly.

  Marta had been following the conversation with a certain bemused fascination when something caught her eye on a ridge line above the road. She spoke to the raven on her shoulder. “Scout the ridge to our north and report back to me. See? I’ve been spared the bother of changing you back to your more useful form,” she said. “If you were still a man....”

  Bonetapper sighed. “Fine, point taken. But now and then it wouldn’t hurt.”

  “Fly,” Marta said.

  “Flying,” said the raven, and launched himself into the air.

  The mountain trails on the western side of the monastery didn’t look very different from the pilgrim road they had taken out of the Snake Pass. They were still within the White Mountains proper, but the trail was trending downward and a little to the south. Far ahead, Marta could see a haze in the air, and it was not the clouds that flitted past some of the higher peaks. This haze hung low and heavy, and light from the afternoon sun picked up a yellowish glow. Marta found herself lost for a moment in the implications of that haze.

  “Lady Marta?”

  It took her a moment to realize that it was Sir Kian who was speaking to her. “Yes?”

  “May I ask why you sent your servant to scout the ridge? Loken didn’t find any threats in what he’s scouted so far, but it’s always possible he missed something…if unlikely.”

  “I thought I saw something…perhaps I was mistaken, but it shouldn’t take Bonetapper long to verify that.”

  Indeed, less than an hour has passed before Bonetapper appeared again and glided down to land on Marta’s shoulder.

  “There was something up there. I tried to follow it, but it vanished.”

  Marta frowned. “Something? You mean a person, an animal?”

  “I mean a ‘something,’” the raven replied. “It was like…well, I didn’t get a very good look before it got away from me.”

  “Got away? You said it vanished,” Sir Kian said.

  “Sort of both. I saw it duck under a holly bush, but when I landed for a better look, there was nothing but a few dead twigs, and nothing within the bush I could see. If there had been either a person or an animal hiding there, I would have known.”

  “What did it look like?” Marta asked.

  “Well, as I said, I didn’t get a very—“

  Marta cut him off. “Bonetapper, I’m asking you what you saw.”

  The raven sighed. “You’ll think I’m deranged. I swear it looked like a little man made of sticks.”

  That evening they made camp at the mouth of a valley. Loken, Sela, and Bonetapper scouted the area while Sir Kian and Devan searched for firewood and Prince Dolan and Kel organized provisions for their supper. Down below Marta could see the smoke of volcanic vents. Now and then a flame would shoot out of the ground, burn itself out, and vanish. Marta watched the show for a while, noted that Dena was doing the same.

  “What do you know about the Blackpits?” Marta asked.

  At first Dena didn’t seem inclined to answer, but then she shrugged. “Not a great deal. Some say it’s an opening to the underworld, others that it’s simply an evil place best avoided. Personally, I think that the forces that are usually confined beneath the earth come close to the surface where the barriers are weak. I know there are other places where the same thing happens, but the Blackpits has the worst reputation of all of them. I suppose you have better information?”

  Marta just shook her head. “I know little more than you. There’s an old story that two Wylandian princes were lured here and murdered by their younger brother so he could take the throne. That was ages ago. I don’t know if it’s true or not. If there is such a thing as a physical opening to the underworld, this is probably it.”

  Dena frowned. “Do you even understand why we’re here? What has a sword or seven or a hundred have to do with a Law of Power?”

  “The pull of the Law leads me here, but what the swords have to do with anything? I don’t know yet. Do you?”

  Dena scowled and did not answer, and Marta watched the flames dance in the valley.

  “I’m not your enemy, whatever you may think,” Marta said finally.

  Dena looked at her. “You have something I need. How is that any different?”

  “I don’t have the Fifth Law, if that’s what you mean.”

  Dena shook her head. “You have the pull to the Fifth Law. I don’t. You know where to look. Damn it, why don’t I know?” The last few words came out almost as a shout. Dolan and Kel looked up from their preparations, but Dena hugged herself tight and kept her eyes on the valley, and after a few moments they turned back to the task at hand.

  “If I could answer that, I would,” Marta said.

  Dena frowned. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because there’s no reason not to
,” Marta said simply. “No one can own a Law. If you already knew the Fifth Law, it wouldn’t stop me from learning it.”

  “What if I didn’t want you to gain more power than I had? What if I wanted to be the strongest witch in the Seven Kingdoms? Shouldn’t I try to stop you?”

  “Is that what you want?” Marta asked.

  For a moment Dena’s hard gaze softened, but that did not last. “I want to be so strong that no one can ever touch me again,” she said. “Whatever that may require of me.”

  Her pain…I never realized….

  “Dena, whatever happened to you—“

  Dena’s face turned red and she cut Marta off. “Is none of your concern. Finding the Fifth Law is.”

  “You’ve discovered four previous Laws,” Marta said. “So you must know that a Law is not a ‘thing’ to be found. It is an understanding to be discovered.”

  “Then why are you searching for a ‘thing,’ that sword? You don’t really know, do you?”

  “I already said so.”

  Dena sighed. “Yes, you did. I find the fact that you don’t even know why you’re looking for it and yet you know you must? That makes me angry.”

  “No, you were already angry. I think you remain that way, unless there is something that makes you happy instead? Is there such a thing?”

  “Don’t mock me,” Dena said.

  “I would not and did not. It was a serious question,” Marta said gently.

  “Kittens,” Dena said. “I’ve always been fond of them. Pretty much everything else, though? Yes. You included.”

  Marta nodded. “I did understand that much.’”

  “Good. Understand this, too—I will do what I have to do to obtain the Fifth Law. Anything at all, and if that happens to be something I don’t want to do, I will do it anyway. You may consider that a warning, if you want.”

  “I don’t want to,” Marta said. “But I will.”

  “As long as we understand one another,” Dena said, and then she turned her back on Marta and the valley and went to where the others were gathering. Kian and Devan had just returned with armloads of dead wood and Kel was building a fire. Marta glanced at them, but kept her attention on the valley for a little longer.