[Lyra 04] - Caught in Crystal

by Patricia C. Wrede - (ebook by Undead)

  Corrana inclined her head, then straightened and looked at Utrilo. She studied him with a dispassionate gaze and an expression of mild distaste, as she might have viewed a slug crawling on one of the plants in her garden. “You have some interest in my presence here?”

  “Ah, yes, my lady. I mean, no, my lady. That is, Prefect Islorran—”

  “The proper form of address for an Elder Sister is ‘Your Virtue’,” Corrana said coldly. “Has Mindaria lost all knowledge of manners?”

  Kayl saw hatred flash in Utrilo’s eyes again; then he was the unctuous servant once more. “No, my—Your Virtue. Would Your Virtue condescend to tell me when you arrived in Copeham?”

  “No.”

  Utrilo blinked. “Your Virtue?”

  “I said no. Is your hearing as bad as your manners?”

  “But, Your Virtue, Prefect Islorran charged me with the duty of bringing him information about the arrival of the sorcerer—ah, sorceress staying at Mistress Kayl’s inn.”

  “That is your problem, not mine,” Corrana said indifferently.

  “But Prefect Islorran will—” Utrilo said in a desperate whine.

  “I am on the business of the Sisterhood of Stars, and your Prefect has no authority over me. That is all you need to know.”

  “Of course, Your Virtue.” Utrilo’s forehead was shiny with perspiration. “But Prefect Islorran is most interested in magic. I am sure he would give you a most gracious welcome, should you wish to visit his villa.”

  Utrilo rocked forward hopefully as Corrana paused, considering. “Perhaps that can be arranged,” she said magnanimously. “I cannot say for certain until my business is concluded.”

  “If there is any way we can be of service—”

  “The affairs of the Sisterhood are no concern of yours,” Corrana snapped.

  “Yes, Your Virtue. I mean, no, Your Virtue.”

  “Bear it in mind,” Corrana said, and swept back into the inn before Utrilo recovered enough to respond.

  Utrilo stared after her. Then he closed his mouth and glared at Kayl, as though attempting to make up for the deference he had shown Corrana. “Wait until Prefect Islorran hears about this!” he hissed. “You’ll regret this day’s work, innkeeper Kayl!”

  Before Kayl could respond, Utrilo whirled and stalked off. Kayl stared after him, wondering at his unsettled behavior. Was it just the effect of Corrana’s unexpected appearance? The Silver Sister had humbled Utrilo in front of both Kayl and Bryn; he would find some way of taking it out on them after Corrana left. Kayl shook her head and went inside.

  To her surprise, Corrana had not left the serving room. She was sitting on a bench beside the empty hearth, watching Bryn inspect the broken bench-leg. Kayl joined them, nodding a greeting to the Wyrd. Corrana looked up. “Welcome, innkeeper.”

  “Your Virtue,” Kayl responded warily. Corrana did not answer immediately, so Kayl turned to Bryn. “How bad is it?”

  “Well, the one leg will have to be replaced, but you knew that already,” Bryn said. “The other one is showing the strain, too. It hasn’t cracked yet, so I could just brace it, but you’d be better off in the long run if I replaced it as well.”

  Kayl nodded. She had noticed nothing when she had inspected the damage earlier, but Wyrd senses could learn far more about wood than human eyes. “Replace them both,” she told Bryn. The Wyrd twitched an ear in surprise and Kayl gave a twisted smile. “I’d rather have it fixed now, while I can still pay you for it, than wait for it to break after Islorran raises the taxes again.”

  Bryn nodded understandingly. She sat down on the floor and began pulling tools from her leather pouch. Corrana raised an eyebrow. “May I assume from that, that your Prefect’s man has left, and not altogether happily?”

  “Exactly,” Kayl said. “Though it might have been much worse without Your Virtue’s assistance. I thank you for your timely help.”

  “My presence here gave rise to the incident,” Corrana said. “The least I could do was aid you.”

  “Your Virtue is too kind.”

  “There is no need to use the formal title. I insist on proper address only when it seems… necessary.”

  Kayl thought of Utrilo and smiled in spite of herself. Bryn looked up from her carpentry and said, “If that’s your rule, you’ll have to resign yourself to being ‘Your Virtued’ for as long as you’re in Mindaria.”

  “Perhaps you are right,” Corrana said. “I must admit that I had not expected such a scene as that. Why is this Prefect Islorran so obsessed with Shee?”

  Bryn sniffed. “It’s not the Shee he’s interested in, it’s magic. He’ll do anything to get his hands on a little more of it.”

  “He expects the Shee to give him knowledge for the asking?” Corrana said skeptically. “He could not be such a fool!”

  Kayl and Bryn exchanged glances. “I don’t think you understand,” Kayl said. “Since Mindaria left the Estarren Alliance, the nonhuman races have not been kindly looked on. Islorran doesn’t have to ask politely.”

  Corrana’s lips tightened. “I see. I had not thought the taint would have reached here so soon.”

  “It’s been eight or ten years since Mindaria recalled its representative to the Senate, and things weren’t exactly good then,” Bryn said.

  “And since?”

  “It’s gotten worse.” Bryn shrugged. “Travel restrictions, taxes, all sorts of things. That’s why there are so few of us left in Mindaria.”

  “What?” Corrana looked startled and dismayed.

  “They’ve gone elsewhere,” Kayl said in a matter-of-fact tone. “No Shee has passed through Copeham for at least five years, and this used to be a regular stop for them. It’s not as bad for Wyrds; the King of Mindaria values their woodworking too highly to allow more than minor harassments.”

  “You mean, it wasn’t as bad,” Bryn corrected. “Islorran’s father, the old Prefect, was a decent man, for a human. Islorran’s another matter.”

  “So it has reached even here,” Corrana said softly. She looked at Bryn. “Why do you stay?”

  Bryn gave her a long, unblinking stare. “I don’t plan to,” she said, and turned back to the bench-leg.

  “What do you mean?” Kayl said.

  “I mean that Alden, Xaya and I will be leaving Copeham within a month,” Bryn said. “For good.”

  “Why now?”

  “Because I can see what’s coming, and so can every other Shee and Wyrd and Neira with eyes. Ever since Dark water, none of us have had any illusions about what this sort of thing leads to.”

  Kayl shuddered. The memory of the Darkwater Massacre was over forty years old, but its horror still lingered. Nearly a thousand Wyrds, Shee and Neira had been killed by Prince Fazendin, tortured to death in a desperate attempt to extract magical secrets they did not possess. The Estarren Alliance, led by Kith Alunel, had retaliated, razing Fazendin’s home, sowing his fields with salt, and leaving the Prince himself stretched on his own rack for the crows to feast on. “Even Islorran wouldn’t condone a slaughter!” Kayl objected.

  “He won’t get the chance,” Bryn replied, calmly measuring the disassembled bench-legs and marking the results down on a small wax tablet. “By the time he thinks of it, we’ll all be gone. I’d have left long ago, but Xaya wasn’t old enough to travel.”

  “Where will you go?” Corrana asked. “Bridden?”

  “No, not Bridden, or even Kith Alunel. Not that Kith Alunel isn’t well disposed toward Wyrds now, but who can say how long that will last? North of the Thar lands, maybe. I hear the ice is moving back.”

  “Is there anything you’ll need?” Kayl said.

  “Prompt payment on this job,” Bryn said, flashing pointed teeth in a grin. “The rest we’ll manage ourselves. We’ve been preparing for a long time.”

  Kayl nodded. “Good luck to you, then, whenever you go.” There was nothing else to say. She would miss the furry little Wyrd, and Copeham would miss her fine touch with carpentry, but she could not
deny the wisdom in Bryn’s choice. Mindaria was going the way of most of the non-Alliance countries, and nonhumans were better off elsewhere. Kayl felt a sudden, fierce anger; these were her friends being driven from their homes!

  The anger faded into grim frustration. There was nothing she could do about it, nothing at all. Islorran was not the only nobleman more interested in sorcery than in justice; half the Mindaran court was greedy for knowledge of magic. Remembrance of the punishment inflicted on Prince Fazendin might keep them from overt measures, so long as the Estarran Alliance remained strong. It would not keep them from whatever threats they thought they could get away with. And the more Shee and Wyrds withdrew from Mindaria, the worse the situation grew for those who remained behind.

  Kayl felt like smashing something, preferably Islorran’s head. Even that would do no good; Islorran’s son was as bad or worse than his father. With difficulty, Kayl reined in her anger and frustration and bent to help Bryn pick up her tools.

  CHAPTER

  FIVE

  Bryn left with her measurements and the pieces of the bench, promising to return and finish the repairs before evening. Kayl was grateful; if the crowd was as large as it had been the previous night, she would need every bench and chair in the inn. Kayl shut the door behind the Wyrd and turned to find Corrana still watching from her seat beside the hearth. “Is there anything I can do for you, Your Virtue?”

  “We must talk,” Corrana said. She was frowning into the distance as she spoke.

  What now, Kayl wondered. She crossed back to the hearth-side and seated herself. “I am at your service.”

  “I hope so,” Corrana murmured. Her eyes came back to Kayl’s face. “I shall not be staying the full week, as we arranged.”

  “It is kind of you to tell me, but—”

  “Word that an Elder Sister is in Copeham will spread, and I wish to be gone before the Magicseekers hear of my presence.” Corrana paused. “I fear they will do so soon.”

  Kayl nodded. The members of the Circle of Silence, more commonly known as the Magicseekers, were known to be devious and unscrupulous; some even thought that they had been the true instigators of the Darkwater Massacre. The Sisterhood of Stars opposed them openly, and had been instrumental in forcing them out of Kith Alunel entirely some twenty years ago. The Magicseekers could do little to harm the Sisterhood itself, but they could make things extremely unpleasant for any individual Sister who happened to fall into their hands. Suddenly Kayl understood the presence of the warding spell she had found guarding Corrana’s door the night before.

  “What does this have to do with me and my inn?” Kayl asked uneasily.

  “Have I said it has to do with you?”

  “People normally don’t bother to tell innkeepers the reasons for their comings and goings,” Kayl pointed out. “So I ask again—what has this to do with me? And no more games, lady.”

  Corrana’s head dipped in assent. “Very well. I apologize. I had hoped to give you more time, but your Prefect’s man forced my hand.”

  “Did he?” Kayl said skeptically. “Your help was welcome, but hardly necessary. I have managed Utrilo before.”

  “Not under such circumstances as these. And I had reasons of my own for wishing you to remain.”

  “What do you mean?” Kayl demanded.

  “I think you must already know,” Corrana said. “I seek a woman, born among the Thar and raised from early childhood by the Sisterhood. She left our order some fifteen years ago, after a disagreement with the Elder Mothers. We have need of her knowledge and her skill. Her name was Kayl Larrinar, and I think you are she.”

  Kayl closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again. “I am.”

  Corrana let out her breath in a long, quiet sigh of relief. “We have need of you, Sister.”

  “Why?” Kayl was startled by the cold hardness of her own voice.

  “I think you can guess.”

  “No games, lady!” Kayl slammed a hand down on the tabletop with enough force to numb her fingers. “What do you want of me?”

  “Your help. The Elder Mothers think someone is tampering with the Twisted Tower.”

  Kayl’s face stiffened. “Impossible!”

  “So the Elder Mothers thought. But there is a shadow on the stars, and they believe the Tower is its origin.”

  “And you want me to help you find out who is doing things, what they’re doing, and how to stop them, because I was one of the ones who went to the Tower in the first place.”

  “I think that is a fair summary, though it is not as I would have put it.”

  The calm in Corrana’s voice angered Kayl, and she said sharply, “You’re forgetting something, Corrana. I’m not one of the Sisters anymore. I’m not even a warrior anymore. I’m an innkeeper and a mother with two children to raise.”

  “And if you refuse me, and our efforts fail, what then? Whatever is happening at the Tower, it can be nothing good.”

  “It’s no concern of mine.”

  “Is it not? The rot that is creeping through the lands of the Alliance is spreading. Will you go to your grave knowing that you could have tried to stop it, and did not?” Corrana’s voice tolled like a death knell, and her eyes were darker than a moonless sky at midnight. “Is that the example you would give your children? Is that the world you would bequeath them?”

  Kayl stiffened. “The decision isn’t that straightforward.”

  “We are asking for very little.”

  “You’re asking for my life! It would take months for me to get to the Windhome Mountains and back. By then there’d be nothing here to return to. Utrilo Levoil would be knocking at the door with a writ of confiscation before I was gone two days. And what would happen to Mark and Dara then?”

  “The protection of the Sisterhood—”

  “Outside the borders of the Estarren Alliance? You’re leaving four days sooner than you’d planned because you aren’t sure you can protect yourself from the Magicseekers. I’d trust the Sisterhood to take care of two children, but how are you going to protect a whole inn?”

  “We’ll build you a new one, if we must. We need you, Kayl.”

  “The Sisterhood has plenty of swordswomen,” Kayl pointed out. She was sure that Corrana had not yet told her everything, though she could not have given the reasons behind her certainty.

  “But none better suited to the task.” Corrana shook her head. “I feared that you would react unfavorably if I put my question too soon. I had intended to go more slowly, but that choice is no longer mine. I must leave tomorrow. Until then, think on what I have said. Your decision—”

  “Mother!” Mark’s shout came clearly through the unshuttered window. “I got the things you wanted. Did Bryn come yet?” The door opened and he came plunging into the room, covered with dust and laden with packages. “She said she’d be—” He stopped short as he caught sight of Corrana in her silver robes, and his eyes widened.

  “In a minute, Mark,” Kayl said. She looked at Corrana. “Is there anything else, Your Virtue?” she said politely. “I have work to do.”

  “Go, then.” Corrana rose, her face expressionless. Her eyes raked Kayl up and down. “But I shall ask for your answer tomorrow.”

  Mark looked uncertainly from Corrana’s back to Kayl’s set face as Corrana swept out of the serving room. “Is she really a star-sister?” he said tentatively.

  “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t she tell us that when she got here?” he said in an injured tone.

  “Possibly because she didn’t want to be pestered by small boys with more curiosity than sense.”

  “I wouldn’t!” Mark said indignantly. He looked speculatively up the stairs. “What did she mean, about your answer?” he asked after a moment.

  Kayl hesitated. “It’s a bit complicated,” she said at last. “I’ll explain it to you and Dara later.”

  Mark stared, and his expression held a ghost of the one he had worn when he came charging into the inn just after Corrana’s d
ramatic arrival. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” he blurted. “And it’s her fault.”

  “Not exactly,” Kayl said. She felt a wave of fierce protectiveness; whatever else might happen, she would not let it harm the children. She looked at Mark’s face and sought refuge in a half-truth that would be reassuring because of its familiarity. “Utrilo Levoil was here a little while ago.”

  “Oh, him,” Mark said. His worried expression changed to one of revulsion. “Why does he have to bother us so much?”

  “It’s his job, dear,” Kayl said. “And it’s all right for you to use that tone when you speak of him to me, but if I catch you doing it anywhere else you’ll get a month of heavy chores.”

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Mark said, and grinned suddenly. “Well, not much, anyway.”

  Kayl shook her head, smiling in spite of herself. “Go wash the dust off those vegetables. And next time you go to market, try not to bring half the road back along with the vegetables.”

  Mark nodded and vanished into the kitchen. Kayl stared after him for a moment, smiling. Then her eyes turned to the stairs, as if irresistibly drawn, and her smile faded. She sank down heavily on the nearest bench and leaned her head into her hands.

  They had come for her, after all this time. They had come for her, and they wanted her to go back. Kayl swallowed. The choice she had dreaded, avoided, walled out of her life, was being forced on her, and she was not ready to face it.

  How could she leave everything she had worked so hard to build, the accomplishments that had cost so much? How could she stay knowing that the things she thought she had lost forever were still awaiting her return? How could she go back, after such a bitter, painful parting? How could she refuse to go, when old friendships and old loyalties called to her so strongly?

  She raised her head. The familiar room had gone suddenly strange and distant, and she shivered. Then, slowly, she rose. It was not much longer before her dinner customers would begin arriving, and there was still a great deal to do. Once again, she shoved her present worries to the back of her mind and mechanically set about readying the inn for business.