by B. J. Beach
Mordas strode forward. “What kind of emergency?”
The messenger sketched a bow and took a deep breath. “Some kind of sickness, all over the city.”
Mordas pushed past him out into the corridor and began to run. “Inform his Majesty I’m on my way. I have to collect my things.”
Evalin hurried across the room to stand beside Karryl who was leaning out of the door watching Mordas. She placed a calming hand on the messenger’s shoulder. “Would you also inform his Majesty that the Lady Evalin will be with him shortly?”
The boy gazed up at her, his eyes wide, and gave a great gulp. “Oh! Yes ma’am. Right away!”
Making another sketchy bow he hurried off down the corridor in the opposite direction to that which Mordas had taken.
Evalin turned to Karryl and Kimi. “My senses are telling me something is dreadfully wrong. I must speak to Vailin immediately.”
Karryl looked thoughtful, and glanced at Kimi. “Should we come too?”
Evalin’s deep blue eyes flashed. “Indeed. I fear we shall all be needed.”
She set off at a rapid pace down the corridor, closely followed by Kimi. Pulling the heavy doors closed behind him, it seemed to Karryl that the thunderous noise of their closing carried a dreadful note of impending doom.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A purple-hued dusk was already beginning to fall as Mordas hurried into the small reception room to find Karryl and Kimi already waiting.
She looked around. “Where’s Evalin?”
Karryl nodded towards the heavily carved double doors. “In the throne room with King Vailin. She said we should wait out here until you arrived. Shall we go in?”
Without waiting for a reply Karryl strode towards the doors which swung noiselessly open as the little group approached.
Mordas spoke from behind him. “Did you do that?”
“Of course. I don’t think we’ve got time for niceties. We’ll worry about etiquette later.”
They trooped into the throne room to find Jobling waiting for them. “His Majesty asks that you join him and the Lady Evalin on the main balcony.”
Leading them across to a side door, he opened it then stood to one side. The cool breeze which wafted in brought very little sound. As the three stepped out onto the balcony, King Vailin turned, his eyes troubled, his mouth a grim line.
The young monarch beckoned them forward, then gestured towards the palace frontage. “They have come to us for help. Is there anything we can do?”
Mordas put down her laden bag and leaned forward on the balustrade. Shock registered on her face as she looked across the wide courtyard. A vast crowd of Vellethen’s citizens were packed solidly in front of the main gate a hundred yards away. All stood unmoving and silent, many with their hands gripped tightly round the cold iron rails. Mordas lifted her head to see more clearly through the gathering dusk. The majority were men, although Mordas could just make out the unmistakeable sounds of women sobbing with despair. As the group on the balcony watched, a ripple of sound and movement ran through the crowd, like an errant breeze through corn. Secure on the inside of the railings but constantly alert, the guards turned towards the crowd and took up a combat-ready stance. Those citizens assembled at the front jostled each other, giving space to one of their number who had shoved his way through.
At first Mordas could make out nothing of his features. Then the holler of the lamplighter cut through the chill evening air. The crowd shuffled raggedly back to give him enough room to squeeze along in front of them and touch his long lighting pole to the lamps on either side of the massive gates. No sooner had he finished and jostled his way out, than the man who had pushed forward returned to the place he had gained, close to the railings. Lamplight struck the man’s features and clothing. With a gasp of recognition Karryl darted forward to lean across the balustrade beside Mordas. Looking up towards the balcony, the man called out.
His deep strong tones lifted easily towards them on the evening breeze. “Your Majesty, Karryl, Mordas! Their children are dying. These people need your help!”
Mordas pulled back and turned sharply to King Vailin. “Did you hear that? Has anyone been to see these people?”
The king nodded, but it was Evalin who spoke. “It was the Mayor of the city who first petitioned His Majesty. Local physicians were unable to identify the illness, and the mayor was able to tell us very little, only that the first case was reported three days ago. Since then, new cases are being reported every hour. The physicians seem to be at a total loss.” Her dark blue eyes flashed. “As the illness seems to be affecting only children, it is causing a more than usual degree of distress. I suspect some kind of enchantment, and until we can get amongst these people we shall not be able to discover what it is, or its origins.”
Karryl turned to the king. “That man is Harrel, my step-uncle. He knows the city and its people. He will be able to tell us what the situation is, probably as well as anybody.”
Vailin looked at Karryl, his expression thoughtful. When he replied his voice was firm and decisive. “You realise that if I have him brought up here it will open the floodgate to a host of accusations of favouritism. I think you are too closely connected. It would be better if someone went down to the gates and spoke to him.”
Evalin placed a hand on Karryl’s shoulder. “Mordas and I will go down. We will question others as well, and you can keep yourself here.”
Karryl opened his mouth to protest, but Evalin cut him short with a flick of her slender hand. “To be sure, I know what you’re thinking. ‘Tis true a crowd like this has been known to turn ugly, but we can hold our own if necessary. And haven’t we got those lovely strong guards to look out for us and all?”
Karryl nodded wordlessly, totally won over, not only by the sense of her argument but also by the musical lilt of Evalin’s voice.
She looked him in the eye and gave him a little wink. “Now, you be coming if I call. Don’t worry, you’ll hear me. When I call, the gods hear me. Isn’t that right, Mordas?”
The auburn-haired physician-mage smiled and nodded as she picked up her large embroidered bag. “That’s right. Now, if we decide to go straight out into people’s homes, which is why I am taking my bag, I will leave a trail for you to follow.”
Despite the gravity of the situation, Karryl’s sense of the absurd kicked in and he grinned. “What are you going to do? Scatter breadcrumbs?”
Mordas scowled but couldn’t hold it, and she too grinned. “You know what kind of trail I mean. You’ll be able to pick it up easily with the fingers of one hand.”
She looked at Kimi who was still surveying the silent, unmoving crowd. He turned as she spoke. “Friend Kimi; we may well need your unique healing spells. Will you follow with Karryl?”
The tattooed hill ranger bowed his head in acknowledgement. The two women turned and with a swift curtsey to King Vailin, left the balcony.
Vailin’s eyebrows knitted as he looked at Karryl. “I wish they wouldn’t do that.”
Karryl was puzzled. “Take over. Is that what you mean?”
The young king gave a wry smile. “No. I’m used to that. It’s that blasted curtseying, all that dipping and bobbing that seems so unnecessary.”
Karryl gave his deep throaty chuckle. “One of the minor drawbacks of being a king I suppose. Anyway, has anybody been sent into the homes in the city to assess the situation, or will Mordas and Evalin be the first?”
Vailin stepped forward to the balustrade and looked down at the two most magically powerful women in the land hurrying across his courtyard. “They will be the first with the benefit of magic. The physicians have been unable to achieve any results. Perhaps Lady Evalin is right and it is an enchantment. If it is, then it would require equal powers to remove it. If that works, then perhaps we shall see what stance those decriers of magic who have sick children will take.”
Karryl stepped back into the shadows at the rear of the balcony and leaned his tall frame against an ornamen
tal pilaster. He kept his voice low, but loud enough for Vailin at the front of the balcony, to hear him. “As much as I am concerned about the plight of the children, the thing that really concerns me is, if it is an enchantment then who is responsible, and more to the point, why?”
Vailin answered without turning round. “That thought had crossed my mind. If, as you say, it is an enchantment, then you know that my ministers and intelligence service are at your disposal, along with anything else you may need.”
Karryl made a gruff noise in his throat. “They won’t like that. You know as well as I do that despite the vote in favour and the efforts of the Lady Evalin and Master Symon, some of them will secretly disapprove of the use of talent. There are probably one or two who will still go so far as to deny its very existence.”
Vailin turned and gave him a long look. A tone of mild contempt tinged his voice. “They’re probably the same ones who maintain that the world is flat. Anyway, they don’t have to like it. I’m certain the arrival of those grelfons is somehow connected to this. The whole thing could well escalate into a major crisis, and that’s something I would rather nip in the bud if at all possible.”
Just as the king finished speaking Karryl pushed himself upright and cast a quick glance over towards the palace gates. “If you’ll excuse us Your Majesty, we have to leave now.”
Vailin frowned. “We?”
“Kimi, and I.”
The wiry Ingalian hill ranger emerged from the deep shadow behind the second pilaster.
Vailin chuckled. “Good grief! I’d forgotten he was even here. What a spy he’d make!”
Karryl clamped his jaws on a grin. Straight-faced he looked at the inscrutable Kimi and then at the young king. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
After making a respectful bow he hurried off the balcony. Kimi placed his palms together in front of his chest in a courteous gesture to the young king then quickly followed. With a jerk of his head, Karryl sent one of the throne room guards out to stay with Vailin who remained alone on the balcony, watching the crowd begin to disperse and drift away, seemingly having been persuaded that something was being done.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
At a signal from Mordas one of the guards opened the small side gate. Mordas and Evalin slipped through and eased their way through the anxiously pressing throng to stand in front of Harrel.
He looked at them long and hard, then ducked to one side to peer over their shoulders. “Isn’t Karryl coming then?”
Evalin seemed to loom large and powerful in front of him. He took a small step backwards as her eyes locked on his. “We know Karryl is close family. He will be along shortly, as soon as we can gather some information from someone who can explain things clearly. Would that be yourself now?”
Rubbing his large hand over two days growth of stubble, Harrel turned to glance at the restive crowd pressing in behind him, all trying to hear what was being said. Some began to call out, each wanting their own families to be given priority. Within seconds, the whole crowd was alive and swaying, a tumult of voices raising their protests in the chill night air. The two women looked at each other. Mordas gave a brief nod as a tacit signal passed between them. They each held up a hand, palm forward. The crowd became still and quiet, all gazing vacantly as if waiting to be told what to do.
With her fine-boned hand resting on Harrel’s shoulder, Evalin spoke. “Harrel, you are free of this influence. Will you answer my questions?”
The burly drayman blinked, his gaze drifting briefly before he focussed once more on Lady Evalin. “Beg your pardon ma’am, my mind must have drifted off. It’s all the worry you know, but I’ll tell you what I can. Where shall I start?”
Evalin’s tone was calm and soothing. “Tell me how this has affected you, what you have experienced.”
Harrel’s mouth set in a grim line as he thought about his answer, then he straightened his shoulders and began. “A friend of my wife’s has two children, a boy of almost fourteen and a girl of twelve. They came home from school as usual, three days ago, both complaining of muzzy heads and feeling tired. Lyssa packed them off to bed, thinking it was the winter sickness come again.
“She went down to the kitchen to make them a hot drink of herbs and lemons. When she went to give it to them they were both sound asleep. She tried to wake them to give them the drink, but she couldn’t. Then Devin her husband came home, took one look at them and sent for Radbit the physician because they were so cold and still.
“It’s an awful thing to say, but he, Devin that is, thought they were dead. Anyway, Radbit comes running with his bag, and he holds crystals under their noses, and calls and shakes them, but he got nowhere. And the poor lambs are still the same. They haven’t even moved.” He looked down at his feet, as if embarrassed. “They haven’t done any of their functions either, if you know what I mean. Lyssa and Devin are out of their minds with worry, especially since the same thing’s happened to some of their neighbours. The word is that it’s some kind of plague, but so far it only seems to have affected the children. Do you know of a plague that does that? Anyway, it’s all over the city now, and the schools have closed already.”
Moisture glistening in his hazel eyes, he looked first at Evalin and then Mordas. “Can you do anything? We desperately need help.”
Evalin fondled a large gold pendant set with deep red stones and amber which hung around her neck. “We shall need to see some of the children. If it is what I’m thinking, they won’t be dying if we can find the source of this fairly quickly. Show Mordas to your friend’s house and I will follow shortly. Go now.”
Hitching her laden bag higher on her shoulder, Mordas followed close behind Harrel as he shouldered through the motionless crowd. Evalin turned to one side and also began to ease her way through. As she reached a clear space near the gates, a fresh-faced young man with a thick mop of unruly blond hair stepped out in front of her.
Far from being alarmed, Evalin let out a crow of delight, hurried forward and took both his hands in her own. “Well! Isn’t it glad I am to see you? Are you staying?”
The young man gave her an impish grin. “I thought I’d hang around down here for a while. It seems quite possible you’re going to be a bit short-handed.”
Evalin gave a wry smile. “Indeed we are. Do you want me to tell the others you’re here?”
He held up a cautionary hand. “You can if you wish, but I won’t make myself known just yet. There are certain things I have to look into. I’ll contact you again when circumstances make it necessary.”
The air around him shimmered, and in a swirl of green and gold, he was gone. Evalin stood for a few moments, gazing in quiet contemplation at the place where he had been standing. Then, slipping through the silent and unmoving crowd, she picked up Mordas’ trail and slowly walked away. A few yards from the back of the crowd she turned and sketched a simple symbol in the air before slipping into a side alley to her left. Following where Mordas’ trail led, Evalin hurried along, her sharp hearing catching the murmur of voices and the clatter of feet. The once somnolent crowd were returning to their homes, now strangely secure in the knowledge that all was being done that could be done.
* * *
Karryl and Kimi caught up just as Lyssa opened the door to Harrel. Leading the little party through the front room of the neat terraced cottage, she guided them up the narrow wooden stairs and into the small bedroom where a young boy lay, apparently peacefully asleep. Only the pallor of his face told them something was amiss. As they entered the neat room, all except Harrel and Lyssa exchanged knowing glances. Evalin fingered her pendant. Their faces etched with deep concern, the others gathered around the bed as Mordas reached under the eiderdown to take the boy’s small cold hand in her own. At the same time she gently lifted his eyelid then, bending low put first her nose and then her ear to his slightly open mouth. After a long moment she straightened up and replaced the boy’s limp hand beneath the eiderdown.
She turned to the distraught mother. �
��May we see the little girl now, please?”
Lyssa showed them to a pretty room on the other side of the landing. Again they gathered around the bed as Mordas repeated the procedure she had followed with the boy. Wringing her hands in anxiety Lyssa watched her every move, hopeful of even the slightest sign that all would be soon be well.
Straightening the bedclothes, Mordas turned to Kimi standing close behind her. “I was hoping we could attempt your waking spell, but there is indeed a strong enchantment over the children. All we can do for now is ensure that they don’t fall under so deeply that we are unable to recover them. We must use the spell of containment we used for Karryl.”
Kimi studied her face, seeming to be looking for something deeper and more significant in her expression. His dark eyes went from hers to the face of the child in the bed, and back again. “There are many children. To do this for each one would take much power. This we do not have.”
Mordas spun round to look at each of them in turn, her long auburn locks flying. “We would if the four of us did it. It would mean that each of us used less of our own power, and it would only take half the time!”
Karryl placed his hand on her arm. “Even so, there still wouldn’t be enough of us. We would run out of power and time before we were less than a quarter of the way round, then we would all be exhausted. Suppose something came at us while we were drained. What good would we be then?”
The ponderous silence which ensued was broken by Evalin’s lilting voice. “I think there may yet be a way to deal with this.”
Still not fully accustomed to having Evalin with them, the blunt statement took everyone by surprise.
Hurrying forward, Lyssa looked imploringly up into the strong face of the mage. “Please, do whatever it takes to save my children. Anything we have is yours!”
Evalin reached out and cupped her hands gently round the woman’s pale, worried face. “Don’t be fretting yourself child. If what I am about to do is successful, all will be well. Now, we must go back downstairs. And, if I may ask, where might your husband be in all this?”