by Guy Antibes
Ari nodded his head. He sat in an old easy chair and steepled his long, thin fingers. “Let me tell you what has happened. The manifestations of the deities lost their power when you entered Antibeaux. Am I right?”
Jack felt relieved that Ari would understand. He nodded. “You are right.”
“What about your own power and your own objects?”
“I haven’t had the opportunity to find out.”
“Shall we? I have a back garden where I don’t grow anything since the sun is best in front of my house. My herbs need more light. Come with me.”
Jack walked back through the house. It was filled with the same style of furniture. They entered a gravel-filled back space. Jack could see how the sun had a hard time hitting the back garden.
Neighbors had plants and small trees, but nothing with flowers.
“Show me your stuff.”
Jack had taken his bag of objects with him, and he wore his black bracers.
“These were given to me by Eldora if you know who she is.”
“Goddess of Tesoria. I know her well,” Ari said, jokingly.
This red cuff allows me to produce water, and the blue cuff, ice.” Jack demonstrated. Both cuffs still worked, but barely. Jack realized he could probably still make iced drinks, which wasn’t of great utility during the cold winter in Bristone.
He lifted Eldora’s box from his tunic. “This is a warded box of power. It barely trickles.” He demonstrated his others, including the Battlebone.
“Can I see that?” Ari asked. He took the bone and closed his eyes. “It still works.”
Jack tried it, and it did, but he could only retrace their steps as far south as Boxwood. “The range is limited. How did you know how to use it?”
“I don’t look at magic quite the same way Corandians do,” he said.
“Do you look at magic more like Masukaians?”
“I believe so, although Bornan and Masukai are hardly friends.”
Jack nodded. “Then, you know this is from Bornan?”
“I do. I can read the script.”
If Ari could read the script, that proved the Bornan part of the bone’s story. He was a powerful wizard from the Lajian continent, for certain.
“How did you get to Antibeaux?”
Ari sighed. “It is a long story and not suited for talking about our first encounter. Perhaps another time. Show me your own objects.”
Jack nodded and started with his sword, shooting wizard bolts. It wasn’t affected, much to Jack’s relief, although he suspected his magic would be unaffected. His Serpent’s Orb worked well, although it resulted in a clump of fused gravel.
“I’m sorry about that,” Jack said.
“I’ll consider it a souvenir of our first meeting,” Ari said.
At least Ari was thinking of more than one meeting, Jack thought. He teleported to his room at the inn and back.
“I went all the way to the inn,” Jack said.
“I believe you,” Ari said. “I think you’ve shown me more than enough. What is it you want?”
“Will you accompany us to Bristone? We need to retrieve the mask, and none of us are experts in the culture. The politics are complex.”
Ari laughed. “You expect me to help you with that?”
“You can lend us some perspective. I’m worried about what Yvessa will do if we find out where the mask is.”
The wizard pursed his lips. “You really think you can find it?”
“I won’t know until I succeed or until I fail,” Jack said.
“That is a unique way of saying that you don’t know.”
Jack nodded. “I intend on succeeding. I haven’t failed yet.”
“But you have almost died a few times trying,” Ari said.
“I never told you that.”
“You didn’t have to. I know Fasher Tempest, right?”
Jack had to agree. The wizard seemed to be a few steps ahead of him in the discussion.
“We will pay for everything,” Jack said. “I’m sure we can also pay you for your efforts.”
“I won’t need you to pay me, although it will be considerably easier if you provide room and board along the way. I have friends in Bristone,” Ari said. “I’d be happy just to see how you struggle with your task.”
Jack smiled. “It will be a struggle, so I’m sure you will be entertained.”
Chapter Twelve
~
L in narrowed her eyes as she gazed at Ari Gasheaux.
“Jack says you are a Bornan. What is your real name?” she said.
“I go by Ari Gasheaux, and that will be the only name I give you.” Ari met Lin’s gaze and won the tiny battle.
“Very well. Fasher Tempest mentioned Jack might be inviting another to our party. I am the leader. Are you willing to follow me?”
Ari frowned. “I will take direction from Jack Winder,” the wizard said, “but if he takes your advice, then I will too.”
“Are you a member of any Antibeaux faction?”
“I can say, without a doubt, I do not follow any Antibeaux faction. You may be double assured of that.”
“As in the Double P?”
Ari just smiled and shook his head.
“Lorton will ride in the carriage, and Ari can ride with Jack,” Lin said. “I assume you can ride a horse?”
“I can,” Ari said. “The view on the road to Bristone is much better from the saddle, unless it rains or snows, of course.”
“You can be ready to leave with us the day after tomorrow?”
“I could leave today if I needed to, but I will be where you want me to be at the appointed hour,” Ari said.
~
Ari told Jack that he rarely imbibed, so he put off the invitation for a night of drinking. Jack took Oscar out in the morning for a tour of Chancey with Ari.
“Everything of material worth is in the central part of the town,” Ari said.
“What about the men who go around wearing shorts?” Oscar asked.
“Traditional garb. The shorts would make a great souvenir. You will have to get new boots; the socks are that thick. Some of the shorts are lined with sheepskin or wool felt. Wool sweaters, felted wool coats, and wool hats. They have to do something with all the sheep in the hills,” Ari said. “You’d be surprised how warm they are, even with naked knees.” Ari laughed.
The tour was much the same as any other place. Ari took them to a few parks where they watched the children at play. “My favorite pastime,” Ari said.
Jack passed a shop. “Woodcarving?”
The figurines looked very quaint. “I like these,” Oscar said. “I used to work in a jewelry shop, but I think these would sell in Dorkansee.”
“A business opportunity?” Ari asked. “I can put you in touch with a few people who buy such things for the shopkeepers. The winter nights are cold and long. Everyone needs some kind of hobby to keep them sane. You can’t live on alcohol alone in the winter months. My contacts in Chancey are better than any you’d find in Bristone. The middlemen there mark everything up at least twice as much. You’ll see.”
“I will keep my eyes open in Bristone so I can learn more about the business,” Oscar said. “I will have more than enough time to myself.”
Ari nodded. “Shall we move on?”
The administration buildings were clustered in a square. It wasn’t too large of a space, but all the buildings had open spaces underneath archways so people could move from building to building without being fully exposed to rain or snow.
They passed a church to Yvessa, the third one on their tour.
“Do the factions have their own churches?” Oscar asked.
“Good question. The basic answer is yes in Chancey and in Bristone. Village churches, not so much. Do you want to go to this one? They are mostly alike.”
“I entered one in Boxwood,” Jack said.
“That is where you met the lady, yourself?”
Jack nodded.
“Take t
his, both of you, and put them on.”
Ari gave them silver bands to put around their wrists. “It will keep Yvessa from noticing you. She will note a person is in her church, but she won’t detect your magic.”
“I have no magic,” Oscar said.
“Wear it anyway,” Ari said.
They entered the edifice. Yvessa’s statue stood at the end of this church, surrounded on three sides by leaded windows etched to look like shards of ice. The face was severe, and her skin had a bluish tint.
“That’s wrong,” Jack said. “She doesn’t have bluish skin, and no one ever gets her hair right.”
“You would know,” Ari said. “Seen enough? I never like being in Yvessa’s churches.”
“Not a religious man?” Oscar said.
“I wouldn’t say that, but Yvessa has always left me cold,” Ari said, “and not just because of the ice.”
Ari declined an invitation for dinner, but he would meet them in the morning with his bags.
Penny sat next to Jack and asked him questions about the man. “Lin said he was too mysterious to be trusted,” she said.
“I don’t think he lied to me, but he left plenty unsaid. He sort of reminds me of Fasher, never quite answering some questions. He knows how to use the Battlebone, though. That gave him a lot of credibility,” Jack said. “I think you will like him.”
“It will be like having father along on the trip,” she said.
“No, more like Grigar,” Jack said. “He is just as funny as Grigar, but I haven’t seen him actually do anything wizardly. He could have been faking about the bone, but he knows too much. He thought I would be able to use my own magic after I demonstrated the black bracers. He was right. If he doesn’t have a lot of power, he still has a lot of wizardry knowledge, and that could be what we need to find the mask.”
“And he isn’t like Myra Pulini?”
Jack laughed. “She never wanted to go with us if you remember. I’ll worry about him if he doesn’t show up in the morning, and if he doesn’t, we just leave without him.”
“I suppose so. I’m just glad your orb worked. That is the most unique object you have.”
Don’t forget the Battlebone. It won’t show me what is going on across the world, but it might be good enough to show us what we need to see in Antibeaux,” Jack said. He hoped he was right. “Try your bone seer tonight.”
Penny smiled. “No need. I took it out of my trunk. It is currently in my pocket.” She closed her eyes and nodded.
“I tried to find Dee in Boxwood, but it wouldn’t go as far as the first town we traveled through.” Penny giggled. “I was able to push farther north but was only able to sense, but not see, Bristone.”
Jack didn’t have the Battlebone with him, so he couldn’t verify his range to the north, but he smiled back. “Good. It will take us as far as our own magic will, I guess.”
“I’d like you to take this,” Jack said, removing the silver band from his wrist and pressing it so Penny could wear it. “Ari said it is a charm to keep Yvessa from seeing our magic.”
“Gods can see us that way?”
Jack shrugged. “It makes sense. They know where I am. Maybe the band will stop them from visiting. We entered a Yvessa church, and I didn’t have a visitation.”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Penny said.
“It means it worked once, doesn’t it?” Jack replied, smiling.
She bumped his knee. “You are still a trickster.”
He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “And so are you.”
~
Ari showed up with a few bags to stow on top of the carriage and a set of saddlebags. He walked up to the assembled party and handed out more of his silver bands.
“Where is yours?” the wizard said to Jack.
“I gave it to Penny to wear.”
Ari shook his head. “She is to wear this. You wear the one I gave you. It is keyed to you and you alone. The others less so.”
“But Penny is—"
“I know what Penny is, but do as I say. Give her this one.”
Jack did as Ari said. “He was quite insistent,” Jack said.
“This one does fit better, Jack. If it means that much to him, humor him.”
Jack agreed with Penny and slipped his band on. He felt a tiny push of power from his wrist.
“This is an object of power,” Jack said.
Ari nodded. “It has to be for you and for your girlfriend. You two are special.”
“What does this do?”
“Just what I told you. Did you think a spell to hide from a goddess would be a simple one?” Ari asked.
“How powerful are you?”
“Powerful enough to show you a thing or two,” Ari said, but then he smiled. “Don’t worry about me. Worry about your mask, and don’t ask me where it is. How would I know such a thing?”
Jack had to admit Ari was right. Floury walked into the stableyard. “I’m waiting outside. Are you ready to go?” He looked at Ari.
“Are you with the inn?” the lord asked Ari.
“Actually, I’m with Jack. He recruited me to join him.”
Floury narrowed his eyes. “What faction are you?”
“As you can undoubtedly tell, I’m a foreigner. I have no Antibeaux faction that I follow. Consider me like one of the peasants herding their sheep on the mountainside.”
“He is a wizard,” Lin said, who walked up to greet the lord. “We might need a little more power in Bristone.”
Lord Floury looked sideways at Lin and then at Ari. “You may be right, but the man might not be welcome in Bristone society.”
“The man doesn’t care about that,” Ari said with a smile. “Consider me a bodyguard for Jack Winder, just as Lorton protects Lady Kanlinn.”
Floury turned to Jack. “I didn’t think you would need a bodyguard.”
“You have two men in your company to watch your back. I only need one,” Jack said. “Anyway, I’d like to learn more about the common side of Antibeaux.”
Floury pursed his lips. “He doesn’t look common to me.”
“I would agree,” Ari said. “But I am friends with many men of the mountains.”
Lord Floury took a deep breath and thought for a moment before he bowed to Ari. “You may consider me a friend, then, as I consider the rest of your party friends.”
“That is kind of you. I appreciate your words, truly,” Ari said.
The way Ari replied to Lord Floury, Jack could tell the wizard meant what he said. Jack didn’t think he could be so courteous, enduring the veiled insults.
“When you are ready, Lady Kanlinn,” Floury said as he walked out of the yard.
“Do we have to watch Lord Floury?” Jack asked Ari.
Ari shook his head. “I’d rather watch the scenery. We won’t have to worry about him, after all. His last words were as much as an apology as I could expect from a noble. It took him a bit of humbling to do it, and that means a lot to a person like me.”
~
Ari was true to his word about knowing the men of the mountains as he called the peasants farming and herding on the ledges of the mountains. He enjoyed Ari’s commentary. The man knew his farming and herding and kept Jack occupied with his descriptions, just as Jack kept the wizard occupied with descriptions of his travels.
Jack was sad to see the wide valley and the ribbon of the river that passed into the large city of Bristone. It was as large as Bartonsee and might have been the size of Gameton, the capital of Tesoria.
The valley was brown with patches of green since long days of sunshine had come and gone. The city had stone walls that shone white and bright in the cool afternoon light. Jack tightened the cloak around his neck. He was glad the mountain saddles that permitted them to move from one set of valleys to the next were over, but as they traveled, everything was progressively colder, and that included the high valley where Bristone sat.
“I won’t be staying with you,” Ari announced as they approa
ched the city gate. “I have a few friends in the city.” The wizard cleared his throat. I am assuming you can hear me in your mind?
I can, well enough. Will we be able to talk each day? Jack asked.
Better than that, Ari said. I will come to you whenever you wish. I don’t mean to desert you, but I think the ladies will feel outnumbered when I am around. “You do understand?”
Jack had to be truthful. “I don’t really, but at least accompany us to our inn.”
“I can do that,” Ari said. “It isn’t a goodbye, you know.”
“Right,” Jack said, not knowing how he really felt about Ari leaving the group. “I’ll contact you with what we’d like you to investigate.”
Ari smiled. “That will work splendidly,” he said. “I feel better telling you now rather than when we stop.”
They had to show their papers to enter the city. Ari pulled his papers from the saddlebag, and soon they rode through the streets of Bristone. The wizard gave Jack a running commentary about the history and architecture of the city. Jack had most of it figured out when he saw everything, but he didn’t know how to describe how he felt about the city. It looked sterile somehow.
“Why doesn’t Bristone feel more like a city?” Jack asked.
“The city looked quite different a month ago. The city prepares for winter right after the first frost, which was a few weeks ago. Right after summer ended. The window boxes are removed, the decorative plants are removed. Extraneous items on the streets like hitching posts, barrels, benches are stored for the cold season.”
“It gets that cold?” Jack said.
“It isn’t always cold, but the city removes the snow from the streets and doesn’t allow anything to get in the way of the plows that shove the snow into piles that are removed.”
“Where do they put all the snow?”
“On the other side of the walls. It keeps many of the citizens employed during the winter when Bristone can be cut off from the outside.”
“Why build a city all the way out here?”
“The answer is what you didn’t see. The valley is incredibly fertile. It is full of life in the late spring and the summer. We saw few people on the roads, but if you had come a month earlier, it would have taken you twice as long with all the traffic. You might remember you didn’t have any trouble finding rooms at the inns along your way?”