Fires of Memory

by Washburn, Scott;

  “Lyni! Idira! What’s the matter?”

  Lyni’s face took on a look of raw fury when she saw him. The tears still flowed down her cheeks, but her lips drew back in a snarl. “You! This is all your fault! You killed him, you son of a bitch!” Before he could even react, she stepped forward and slapped him across the face—hard.

  He stumbled back in shock and pain. No one had hit him like that since he was a boy. The blow left his cheek stinging and tears welled up in his eyes. “What…? What did I do…?” he gobbled in confusion. Idira took hold of Lyni and pulled her back. Stephanz stepped forward.

  “I have tragic news: Dauros, our revered leader, is dead.”

  “Dead!” squawked Jarren in disbelief.

  “H-he died in the night,” said Idira, shaking her head sadly.

  “How?”

  “He was old. His heart just stopped beating.”

  “It was the strain of this crisis you have thrust upon us,” said Stephanz. “Had you left us in peace, he would still be alive.”

  “I-I’m sorry. B-but this is hardly our fault.” Jarren’s head was spinning. The news and the slap had rocked him to his core.

  “I’m very sorry to hear this,” said Colonel Krasner from behind him. “He seemed like a good man. But this does not change anything. We will still require…”

  “It changes everything!” snapped Stephanz. “I am Dauros’s chosen successor. I am now the leader here. I opposed this cursed ‘alliance’ from the start, but as Dauros’s loyal subordinate, I did as he wished. But now the burden of leadership has fallen to me. I shall make the decisions—and my first shall be to dissolve any and all agreements with the mainlanders!”

  “What? You can’t!” exclaimed Jarren.

  “I can and I will!”

  “I’m afraid I cannot allow that Master Stephanz,” said Colonel Krasner. Jarren turned to look at the man. He was clearly very upset by these developments. His face was white as a sheet and he clutched at his chair as he stood there. “You will give us your help!”

  “And how do you propose to make us give it to you?” sneered Stephanz.

  “By force, if need be.”

  “Indeed? And how will you do that—when you can barely even stand up?”

  Krasner reached for his sword, but he wasn’t wearing it. The simple motion nearly overbalanced him, and he almost fell. “What have you done to me?” he snarled. Then his eyes widened in comprehension. “Poison!” he gasped. The other men of the escort cried out and tried to rise, but several of them fell. The rest could not even get out of their chairs.

  “Stephanz!” cried Idira, “What have you done?” She looked completely surprised. So did Lyni.

  “Just a little something from Brother Hesseran’s laboratory. Nothing harmful, I assure you. But it will suffice to prevent any unpleasant scenes.”

  “You bastard!” grated Krasner. He grabbed a knife off the table and staggered a few steps toward Stephanz before collapsing on the floor.

  Jarren’s head was spinning faster and faster. Something in the food, he realized in a daze. He had gotten here later than the others, so it had affected them first. He turned to look at Idira and Lyni. He tried to form a plea for help, but the words slipped away. He felt himself falling. Soft hands caught him and lowered him gently down. From a long way off, he could hear Stephanz’s voice:

  “Take all of their weapons and lock them up.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Jarren, I’m terribly sorry we have to do this,” said Idira from the other side of the locked door. “But Stephanz is willing to let you out of your room if you promise not to make any trouble.”

  “I didn’t think he would accept my promises anymore,” said Jarren bitterly. He could almost hear the woman blushing.

  “Well, actually, he accepted my promise that I’d keep you from making any trouble. But I need you to promise me.”

  “I see. What about the others?”

  “Except for Brother Thaddius, they will have to stay confined. Stephanz doesn’t trust them. They are all soldiers and much too dangerous to let wander around.”

  “Whereas I’m so weak and stupid, he doesn’t worry about me?”

  “Oh, Jarren, I didn’t mean it that way! But you don’t seem like someone who would resort to violence. Will you promise me not to do anything rash? If you do, you can take the air and even make use of the library.”

  Jarren hesitated for a moment. He was still furious over the whole situation, but there was no real point in staying in his room for another day. “All right, I promise you, Idira.”

  “Good!” she said, and he could hear the broad smile. “Now let’s get you up to the refectory for some breakfast!”

  “With or without a sleeping potion?”

  “Without, this time—if you behave yourself.” He heard the clinking of keys outside, and a moment later, the door opened. Idira was standing there with Thad and one of the larger, stronger servants. Jarren stepped through and looked around. It was amazing how everything could look exactly the same, but feel so totally different. Idira looked the same, the hallway looked the same, even the little table by the window with the vase of flowers on it looked the same. But now, Idira was a jailer instead of a friend, and the comfortable accommodations were now a prison.

  He followed Idira down the hall but stopped and knocked on the third door. “Colonel? This is Carabello. They are letting me and Thad out for a while. Colonel?”

  “He’s not in there, Jarren,” said Idira. “Stephanz didn’t think this was…secure enough.”

  “So where is he? And the others? The dungeon?”

  “We don’t really have a dungeon. But there is a nice suite of rooms over on the north side which only open onto an interior courtyard. We’ve locked all the doors and lower down food and drink from a balcony above.”

  “They’ve been there three days. They must be getting a bit…testy,” said Jarren. The three days he had spent locked in his room had tried his patience sorely. He could scarcely imagine the sort of mood the soldiers would be in. Colonel Krasner was probably mad enough to chew through the rock to freedom.

  “Yes, they are not happy. Perhaps you can talk to them later.”

  “Oh? And just what am I going to say to them? What has Stephanz decided to do with us?”

  “He is not going to harm any of you, I can promise you,” said Idira firmly. “I would not permit it, and most of the others back me on that. I believe that Stephanz simply plans to keep you here until the weather makes sea travel impossible. Come spring, he’ll have to decide what to do.”

  “So we are to be prisoners here. The commodore of our squadron will search for us, you realize.”

  “Stephanz knows that. We all had a long discussion. He does not think only five ships will be able to find us in the short time they will have before the really bad weather.”

  “And what about Erebrus? Once they realize we are being held prisoner, they might carry out the threat to destroy the town. I’d hate to see that.”

  “So would I,” said Idira sincerely. “That was one of our chief worries. Stephanz is making arrangements for the townspeople to flee across the mountains to one of the other towns on the island. I hope it works.”

  Jarren sighed. “Stephanz seems to have thought of everything. I don’t suppose there is any hope of convincing you that he’s wrong?”

  “He is our leader, Jarren. I’m not going to go against him just because I disagree any more than he went against Dauros when he disagreed.”

  Jarren just nodded. He’d been afraid that would be the prevailing attitude. Idira was the strongest supporter of helping the mainland, and if even she would not oppose Stephanz, then there was no hope at all that anyone else would. They reached the refectory and had a breakfast that was not quite so grand as the one Stephanz had loaded with the sleeping potion. Jarren wasn’t terribly hungry anyway. Gez, who had been trailing along silently, ate far more than he did.

  “We stuck here
for the winter?” he asked between mouthfuls.

  “Looks that way.”

  “But I still get my copper a day, right?”

  “I’ll do what I can, Gez. The situation is a bit…uncertain.”

  “Great.”

  “How are you doing, Thad?” The priest had hardly said a word.

  “Well enough, considering the circumstances. Feeling a bit embarrassed, actually.”

  “Embarrassed? Why?”

  “In my healing work, I make use of a great many herbs. When we sat down to our drugged breakfast the other day, I was sure I tasted something unusual in the food. But I was not sure what it was and said nothing. And now we are in this fix.”

  “Hardly your fault.”

  “Perhaps not.”

  “What do you think we should do?” asked Jarren, his voice falling to a whisper.

  “I don’t know.”

  After breakfast, they wandered back to the library and were somewhat surprised to see a number of people there, poring over books. After a moment, Jarren realized that they were still working on the problem of confronting the Kaifeng!

  “What is this?” he demanded of Idira.

  “We are free to study what we wish here, Jarren. No lord master has ever tried to interfere with that—unless something truly dangerous was involved, of course. Some of us still believe that the Kaifeng problem is serious enough that we should try to prepare.”

  “‘Some of us’? Does that include you, Idira?”

  “Yes, of course. I have no doubts at all.”

  “And yet you won’t help us.”

  The usually jolly healer looked troubled. “If we come up with some answer that you can take with you and go, then perhaps Stephanz would allow it. He has to realize that our concealment will eventually be lost. But I doubt he will permit any of us to go in person.”

  “He can’t control what you study, but he can imprison you here, just like me and my friends?”

  “Please, Jarren, don’t start this again. It’s not the same situation. If it endangers all of us, then we need to act as he directs for the common good.”

  “We are trying to act for the common good of a considerably larger group, Idira,” said Thaddius. The woman just frowned but refused to be drawn into a debate.

  “Feel free to read or talk with the others if you like, Jarren. Brother Thaddius and I are going down to my infirmary to ‘talk shop’ for a while. Please don’t leave the library alone. I’ll be back in a while.” She and Thad left, and Jarren stood there and watched the wizards at work. Several of them glanced up at him and then, somewhat guiltily it seemed, went back to their books. He noticed that Hesseran, the alchemist, was at one of the tables. There was an empty chair opposite him, and Jarren went and sat in it.

  “Good morning, Master Hesseran.”

  “Oh, hello, Jarren. How are you today?”

  “I’m feeling fine. Your potion does not seem to have had any lasting effects.”

  Hesseran winced slightly. “I had nothing to do with that, Jarren,” he whispered. “Stephanz took the drug from my workshop without my knowledge. I was rather angry when I found out. There are strict rules about that sort of thing.”

  “Stephanz seems to be willing to make his own rules,” said Jarren. Unlike Hesseran, he was not whispering. A few eyes were flicking in his direction.

  “He is our leader now, Jarren. Don’t try and start an argument about that! The lord master sets the policy for our community. The rest of us can have our say, but he is the one to make the final decision. It is a good system and it has worked for centuries. He was willing to obey Dauros even though he did not agree with his actions. Now we must do the same for Stephanz.”

  “I see. I also see that it was extremely convenient for Stephanz that Dauros died when he did.”

  “Jarren!” exclaimed Hesseran. Everyone was looking at him now, and there were several exclamations of protest. “What a terrible thing to say! I refuse to discuss this any further. And if you persist, I’ll have to have Idira take you back to your room.”

  “Very well. I’m sorry. I’ll behave, as I promised Idira. So what are you working on now?”

  “Oh. Well, I’m still looking into all the references we have on gunpowder. It goes back quite a way, you know. Farther than I had realized. There are indications that the substance was known as much as a thousand years ago. Perhaps longer.”

  “Really? Interesting that it was never used as a weapon until only a few hundred years ago.”

  “Yes, that’s true. I suppose no one realized it could be used in such a way. These references just mention that it could be used to produce a flash and smoke for festivals and entertainers.”

  “Perhaps when the wizards were numerous, there was no need for gunpowder as a weapon. With their fireballs and such, they would have been better than cannons. And with all the magic armor and swords, the knights would not have been interested in guns. Only after Soor would the need have arisen.”

  “Why, that’s true! I had never thought about it in those terms. When you look in the larger context, it becomes very obvious, doesn’t it?” Hesseran laughed. “We are too close to our particular subjects to see the whole picture. Perhaps we need to have a scholar in our community who is not a magicker to point these things out to us.”

  “Well, you shall have one for the immediate future, it seems. And once the Kaifeng destroy the mainland, I’ll probably have no reason to want to leave—and nowhere to go even if I wanted to.” A number of the others were staring at him again and Hesseran looked uncomfortable. Jarren decided he had planted enough little seeds for one session, and he took one of the books from the alchemist’s pile and opened it. “Let’s see what else I can find.”

  * * * * *

  The day passed, and Jarren was able to lose himself in his research. He found many fascinating bits of information, but nothing really relevant to the immediate problem. At the noon meal, he briefly saw Lyni in the refectory. She did not look at him at all.

  “She really hates me, doesn’t she?” he asked Idira.

  “She’s very upset over Dauros’s death, Jarren. He was like a father to her. Right now, she’s hurt and angry, and probably not inclined to be very fair in her judgments. Don’t worry, that will pass. You know that she was actually rather impressed with you on your first visit.”

  “Really? She never showed it.”

  “We talked a few times. Girl talk, you know,” Idira giggled.

  “I see,” said Jarren, not really sure that he did see.

  Later, Idira took him and Thad to see Colonel Krasner and his men. Jarren was partly eager to see them, and partly dreading it. He feared that his ‘parole’ was going to make him look like a collaborator to Krasner. But there was nothing he could do about that. A servant unlocked the door to a room and they went inside. There was a large window and door opening onto a balcony at the other end. He went through and looked down into a small canyon in the rock of the island. About thirty feet below him was a courtyard, perhaps twenty feet square. Several doors and windows looked out onto it. It was enclosed on all sides and had no other exits. The rocks were quite sheer, and climbing out would be impossible without special gear. There were a few soldiers lounging down there, and they immediately caught sight of Jarren.

  “Is Colonel Krasner down there?” he called. Stupid question, where else would he be? The men relayed the call through a door, and very shortly the colonel came out and looked up.

  “Carabello? Is that you?”

  “Yes, Colonel, I’m here with Brother Thaddius. Are you all right down there?”

  “I suppose we are. The quarters are comfortable enough—I’ve certainly had worse—and the food and drink are passable. But what is going on? How long are we to be kept in this jail? I see they have let you loose.”

  “Only under guard, Colonel. I’m afraid they see you as a bigger threat. They have not told me when you might be let out.” Jarren expected the colonel to explode. He had a hot t
emper and this situation must be incredibly frustrating to him. But to his surprise, the man merely nodded.

  “I see,” he said. “Well, as much as I hate to say it, we are depending on you, Master Carabello. We can do nothing from in here. At least you can talk to the wizards and try to change their minds.” Jarren had been afraid he would say something like that.

  “Uh, Colonel?” said Idira. “You say you can do nothing, but I really must ask you to do less than the ‘nothing’ you are already doing. Please stop taking the baskets and rope when we send the food down. If you persist, we are going to have to just drop the baskets down from here and that will make an awful mess of the food.”

  “I see,” said the colonel again.

  “And our carpenter asked me to tell you that if you keep scraping at the door with your spoons, he’s going to have to just nail it completely shut with extra bracing and that would be an awful waste of effort on everyone’s part.”

  “I see.”

  “Stephanz told me to warn you that if you make trouble he’ll just order the mason to wall up the doors completely.”

  “Your Stephanz seems to be a man of decisive action,” said Krasner. He paused and then added loudly: “You realize that he murdered Dauros, don’t you?”

  “Colonel!” gasped Idira. The servant twitched like he’d been stung. “I will not stand here and listen to such slander!”

  “Stephanz tricked Hesseran into giving him the key to his workshop last evening, you know.”

  “Just to get the sleeping potion!”

  “Yes, and just why would he need the sleeping potion to handle us? Dauros was still alive at that point!”

  Idira took a step back and looked very pale. “I won’t listen to any more! Jarren, we are going!”

  “I’ll talk to you again later, Colonel—and I’m already working on that line of reasoning.” They went back into the hall. Idira looked very upset.