The Tower of Sorcery f-1

by James Galloway

  "And how would you explain how you are dressed?"

  "The same way I've done it the last three times," she said, looking over her shoulder and winking. "The Brat is famous for doing weird things. Even she likes to put on dark clothing and skulk around with no protection every once in a while. It satisfies her need to be adventurous."

  "Sometimes I do not understand you, sister," Allia grunted.

  "Then I'm doing it right," she replied in a frippant tone.

  Everything was in readiness for them, and it told him two things. One, that Miranda was very thorough, and two, that Miranda could find the center of the maze. A single tent had been erected not far from the fountain, in a large open area. Inside that small tent were four modest wooden chests and four neatly folded lengths of waterproof canvas. She had even thought to have a trio of simple chairs with throw pillows placed in the seats and a small table set up in the tent, so that anyone visiting it would have somewhere comfortable to read.

  Tarrin had felt a sense of peace and assurance flow over him when he stepped into the courtyard, and for the first time, he understood what it was and where it was coming from. He knew it was somehow connected to the Goddess, but he realized that the courtyard was holy to the Goddess, and that gave the sacred ground a very different feel for anyone who followed her. The courtyard was holy ground, and her presence there was powerful.

  "I told her not to do that," Keritanima snorted as they entered the tent and looked around. Keritanima had the place illuminated with one of her little conjured balls of light.

  "Do what?" Tarrin asked.

  "Bring someone else," she replied. "I really don't think that Miranda dragged those chests in here by herself. They may look small, but those chests are very heavy."

  "Even if it was Binter or Sisska?"

  "Even them," she said adamantly. "I seriously debated letting Miranda in here."

  "Why?"

  "I don't know," she said after a brief pause. "Maybe because this place feels very private to me. I really had to bring myself to telling Miranda to come in here."

  Tarrin didn't say anything. Keritanima was feeling that same closeness to the Goddess he did, a feeling that was always intensified there, in her courtyard. Keritanima was being affected by holy ground. That told him something about how she felt towards the Goddess.

  "Anyway, let's take advantage of it," she said. "Time to pack away the booty."

  They placed the books and scrolltubes into the chests, packing them carefully so that they wouldn't be damaged and looked orderly. Tarrin looked at the books as he did so, noticing that very few of them had any sort of marking on their black leather covers. The book with the shaeram on it was an exception rather than a rule. He opened one randomly and looked at it, and found it to be written in a very exacting hand, the precision of a writer who had been penning books for years. The short passage he read seemed to be talking about political affiliations among different magical and nonmagical orders in the west. He opened another book, and found a list of names, complete with dates and comments. The dates were from over two thousand years ago, and the comments seemed to be abbreviated words marking something the reader would understand. The key for those abbreviations was probably in the book.

  Two thousand years? The book was that old? It looked like it was bound only last ride! He remembered the feeling of magic he felt in that room, and then he remembered that the place was a bit too clean, too dry. Perhaps that magic also preserved the books in their good condition.

  "What is it, Tarrin?" Keritanima asked.

  "This book has dates in it from before the Breaking," he replied. "I was musing that it doesn't look that old. That magic in the room must have preserved the books."

  "It would be a wise thing to do," she agreed. "And the priests of Karas are anything if not methodical."

  "They made a spell that lasted for over two thousand years," Tarrin said, mainly to himself. "That's some serious magic."

  "Well, don't give them too much credit," Keritanima warned. "No doubt it took them some effort to do that."

  "I guess," he shrugged.

  "At least we know that the books are from before the Breaking now," Keritanima said as she placed scrolltubes in a chest. "That means that we might find something very useful in them."

  "If not, then we wasted a whole night."

  "Of course we didn't," Keritanima said. "We had fun, and we got to play together."

  "You are weird," Tarrin told her flatly, which made Allia laugh.

  "Of course I am, dear brother," she winked. "I'm a Wikuni. We're all weird."

  "To your toenails," he agreed.

  "Well, I'm done," Keritanima said, folding up the sack. Tarrin too was finished, but Allia was still placing the last few books into a chest. She too had paged through one or two of them while putting them away. Keritanima took one from her with a smile, the one with the shaeram on it, then opened it. "In common," she said. "I think I'll get started. I'm too wound up to sleep right now, and we have to start reading them sometime."

  "We should all take one book," Allia said, reaching in and picking one up.

  "No," Keritanima replied. "I'm not taking them out of the courtyard. If someone picked up one of our books and tried to take it back to the library, we'd have alot of explaining to do. If you want to read them, it will have to be done here."

  "I guess that is only wise," Allia agreed after thinking about it for a moment. "How will you arrange that much time?"

  "By not getting much sleep," she grunted. She sat down at the table and put the book in front of her, then opened it to the first page. "Tarrin, would you be the greatest brother in the world, and go get me something to eat? I'm starving."

  "And how do I explain carrying a tray of food into the maze?" he asked.

  "Not if they don't see you carrying it," she winked.

  "Do you think you want to trust food I carry around that way?" he asked pointedly.

  "We won't know until we try, now will we?" she asked with a grin.

  "I'm hungry as well," Allia said, patting her flat belly. "I would be very honored if you would do this for us, Tarrin," she smiled at him, just a little bit too sweetly. "Clan members always help one another."

  "I never had to put up with this from Jenna," he grunted sourly. "And since when did you start teasing me, sister?"

  "I guess Keritanima is a bad influence on me," Allia said with a sly smile.

  "Tarrin, swing by my room and tell Miranda to give you my scribing kit," she added.

  "Goddess help me," he said in a plaintive voice, turning and changing form, then loping out of the tent.

  When dawn came that morning, it found the three of them still in the courtyard. Tarrin was in cat form, curled up on the table and regarding Keritanima while she continued to read. Allia was laying on a canvas cot brought by Tarrin, asleep to at least look presentable for the next day. Miranda was there as well, sitting in the chair across from Keritanima, writing something down in an empty book studiously.

  Keritanima had all the books on the table. She had skimmed through each one to get an idea of what information it held, and Miranda had written it all down on a small book she had brought when Tarrin came to fetch items for Keritanima. Miranda had returned with Tarrin instead, and she had taken the role of secretary and scribe, helping Keritanima catalog and document the suspected information held within each book. Tarrin was shocked that it had taken the entire night, but there was supposedly alot of information in the books. Most of it was history and observations, as the priests watched the katzh-dashi, watched them and wrote everything down. They had compiled lists of members, Council members and their histories, and even a list of the Novices and Initiates coming and going. The church had people deep into the structure of the katzh-dashi for them to get some of that information.

  She had just begun to unroll the scrolls. Tarrin was lounging somewhere between sleep and wake, letting the harmony of holy ground lull him with sensations of security and p
eace, when Keritanima's ragged gasp startled him out of his reverie.

  "What is it?" he asked in the unspoken manner of the Cat.

  She gave him a strangled look. "Do you know what this is?" she demanded in an almost hysterical voice, a voice that had Allia awake and instantly alert. Miranda gave Keritanima a calm, assessive look.

  "No, tell me," he replied calmly.

  "This is a primer!" she said almost exuberantly. "It's a key for learning the language of the Sha'Kar!"

  Tarrin gave her a stunned look, then jumped off the table and changed form. "You mean-"

  "It'll take some work because this scroll doesn't have a guide for their written alphabet, but this is what the Lorefinders have been looking for for a thousand years!" she declared. "With this, and alot of work, we can read what's in the books in the library!"

  "What's on the other scrolls?" Allia asked immediately.

  Keritanima unrolled another one. "It's the same," she said, and then she was silent until she went through them all, leaving her friends in a state of quiet, nervous anticipation. "This is a comprehensive guide to learning the language of the Sha'Kar!" she finally said. "The priests have been sitting on the one thing the Tower has been hunting for for a thousand years!" She gave Tarrin a triumphant look. "And you thought we may not find anything useful!" she declared with a laugh.

  The Sha'Kar. Books written in that ancient, mysterious language were all that were left now, and nobody could read them. The language had resisted every attempt to decipher it, even magical attempts. And now they had found the one thing that could break that ancient language, a series of instructional writings on learning it.

  But why was it so easy? That information should have been ferociously defended, and the church should have used it! Did the church truly not know that they had it? That passage and area were run-down and unkempt…could they have forgotten that it was there over the years? That seemed unlikely, but there was a simple truth staring at him in that they had it. Maybe they did forget it. Maybe a high priest had ordered the room sealed, and over the years, the memory of it and what it had once held had been forgotten, lost in the musty old tomes of history kept by the church historians. There to be found, but lost among the sea of old lore accumulated by the church over the years.

  Keritanima was actually jumping up and down, twirling in circles with a scroll to her breast. "This is it! This is it!" she squealed, acting like a little girl who had just been given a pony. "I couldn't have asked to find anything better than this!"

  "Highness, you're about to tear the scroll," Miranda said soothingly.

  Keritanima's face became horrified, and she instantly calmed down, though her tail was absolutely writhing behind her. "We have to get started, tonight!" she said excitedly. "Miranda, I want you to do something very important for me," she said. "Something that you may not like."

  "What is that, Highness?" she asked.

  "I want you to transcribe the scrolls into a book," she said. "I know how fast you can write."

  "That's going to occupy a great deal of my time, Highness," she said after a moment. "I do have other duties."

  "You'll have to make time, Miranda," Keritanima said happily. "I'll help, but I'll be spending most of my time studying these. And I'd like to have a backup copy. Just in case."

  "I won't say no, Highness," Miranda sighed. "I will get to work on it today. May I take the scrolls from the courtyard?"

  "No," Keritanima told her. "They stay here, where they're safe."

  "It isn't going to be easy to explain why I spend hours at a time in the maze, Highness," she said calmly. "The scrolls must be removed."

  Keritanima took on an agonized look. "You're right," she sighed. "Alright, you can remove the scrolls, but no more than two at a time. And they're to be heavily guarded at all times. Either Binter or Sisska have to carry them when you don't actively have them in front of you." She gave Miranda a blunt look. "I'll impress them with how absolutely vital the scrolls are. They are to defend them to the death, if necessary."

  "Yes," Miranda agreed calmly. "You have class in about an hour, Highess," she reminded.

  "Already?" she said plaintively. "I guess so. We'd better sneak back to our rooms. Please get started on this as soon as you can, Miranda. It's important."

  "I will be grouchy today," Allia said as she sat up. "I can do without sleep, but it always puts me on edge."

  "Then stay away from me," Tarrin said absently. Allia glared at him, then laughed. "I should get going too," he added. "I have no idea what they'll want me to do today. I'm in limbo until they decide how to go about training me."

  "You should go, Highness," Miranda said calmly. "I'll pack up the books and organize the scrolls. You go and get ready for class."

  "I-yes, yes," she agreed. "We have to keep up appearances. I have no doubt that my veneer as the Brat is already starting to show thin. If I'm not careful, my secret will be out. Is it safe to leave?"

  Miranda nodded. "I have people keeping the other people away."

  "Good. Come on, Allia. I think we could use a bath before class."

  "Yes, a night's work does tend to linger," Allia said. "Coming, brother?"

  "In a minute," he said. "I'll help Miranda pack things. No reason leaving her with all the work, and I don't have to be somewhere."

  "Alright. I'll see you tonight?" Keritanima asked.

  "Of course," he smiled.

  Keritanima and Allia filed out, chatting warmly with each other. Those two had really came together.

  Miranda knew precisely how to arrange the books so that they had a very logical order, and she directed Tarrin as they put them all back in the chests. Tarrin had a strange feeling that Miranda had something to say. That was why he remained behind. The cheeky, almost criminally cute mink Wikuni was an enigma to Tarrin, and something about her struck at him on a level that he couldn't understand. It was almost like a kin-closeness, though it was not the same feeling he had had with Allia, or Dar, or even Keritanima. Miranda was different. Very different. But he had no idea why, or how he knew. It was as if he was instinctually drawn to her.

  "You're staring at me," Miranda said with that cheeky smile.

  "I am?" he asked. "Sorry. I'm just trying to figure something out."

  "What?"

  "You," he replied. "Keritanima absolutely adores you, but she doesn't seem to treat you that well. Why do you stay?"

  "She treats me much better than you'll ever understand, Tarrin," she replied calmly. "If you're wondering why I ended up with these tasks, remember that I am her maid, after all. It's my job to do things for her. Did she control herself in the cathedral?"

  "She stayed to her plan," he replied calmly, setting a stack of books into a chest and closing it. "It went very smoothly. I was surprised."

  "I think you two are a good influence on her," Miranda said smoothly. "She's usually much more erratic. Brilliant, but erratic."

  "How long have you been her maid?"

  "For six years," she said. "I was only a girl when I was put in her service. They felt that if she had a maid her own age, it would help her. She was a very…lonely girl. It had to do with her situation."

  "She never talks about that," Tarrin said, taking another book from her. "Would you?"

  "It's very simple, Tarrin," she replied, stacking a few books and handing them to him. "Everyone that she liked was killed."

  "What?"

  "You don't understand Royal politics," she said calmly. "When Keritanima was young, she was second in line for the throne. She had one ahead of her and two behind. Keritanima showed the most promise at that age. She was much smarter than Jenawalani and Veranika, and Sabakimara was smarter than them, but still wasn't quite as smart as Keritanima. Sabakimara feared Keritanima. A great deal. She felt that her younger sister may either kill her, or the noble houses would have Sabakimara killed so that a more effective queen could take the throne. At the tender age of nine, she tried to have Keritanima killed."

 
Tarrin gaped at her.

  "Does that help you understand what growing up in the palace was like?" she asked calmly. "As soon as Keritanima could understand things, she was started in the training to be a prospective queen. She learned from her father, and few are as nasty and underhanded as Damon Eram. Damon hates everyone, even his own children. If not for the need to continue the line, he would have had them all killed at birth. The infighting between the daughters is almost legendary in Wikuna," she sighed. "Each of the four of them were trying very hard to kill off the other three. After all, a lone heir is a guaranteed heir. Keritanima wasn't as savage as her sisters. She never tried to kill them, she just evaded their assassins, because she had this twisted idea that they could be a family. Anyway, after a couple of years, it became apparent that Sabakimara wasn't going to kill her sister, so she started a terror campaign instead. Every single one of Keritanima's friends died. All of them. Anyone who showed even the most remote affection for her was killed."

  "Goddess," Tarrin breathed.

  Miranda nodded. "It almost worked. Keritanima was driven almost to the edge of madness, but then they gave me to her. I rather liked her, and I was someone that she could talk to."

  "Why didn't Damon Eram stop it?" Tarrin asked.

  "Because he doesn't care," she replied sadly. "Damon Eram's only rule to his daughters is not to try anything to him. As far as he's concerned, they can kill each other off. At least until there are only two. If only one were left, then she would start eying the throne, and he wouldn't tolerate that. I honestly believe that if there was only one daughter left, Damon Eram would try to kill her."

  "That's horrible!" Tarrin gasped. A family at war with itself? Tarrin's close family was the only reason he was still alive! Without them, he had no idea what he would do. How could a family hate each other so much? It struck him on many levels, for the Cat's need to protect the young also felt shocked and violated by such brutal behavior.

  "Yes, but that's politics in Wikuna," she said calmly. "We pretend to be more civilized than the humans, but in many ways, we're more barbaric than the Plainrunners of Valkar. It wasn't long after that that Keritanima started sneaking out of the palace, and fell in with Ulfan and the thieves of Wikuna. They taught her how to protect herself, and she taught alot of it to me. That's when the Brat Princess was born. Everyone in Wikuna remembers when Keritanima was a bright, intelligent, serious young girl who showed tremendous promise as a potential queen, but they think that what was done to her left her the way she is now. Sometimes, I almost believe it myself. She doesn't let on, but what happened to her has left her very scarred."