Rap fidgeted and stared down at his hands. “She’s going to be upset?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Very upset?”
“Extremely upset.”
He looked up with dismay. “I don’t want to upset her.”
She felt puzzled. “Then you should have waited until after the wedding.”
He nodded miserably. “Then … Will you promise not to tell her … both of you?”
Quite perplexed now, Kadolan said, “She can see for herself.”
Rap groaned. “I mean this.”
Black eyes and split lip disappeared.
Kadolan jumped. “Oh!”
Hononin uttered a low growl. “You told me you weren’t a sorcerer anymore!”
Rap nodded, looking completely dejected. “That was true when I said it. Ma’am … can you remember your word of power?”
“No … no, I can’t!” Kadolan had sensed something inexplicable when Inos was destroying the words. She’d attributed the feeling to mild dyspepsia until Rap and Inos had come bursting through the magic portal that evening to tell her that the magic was destroyed and they wanted a quick wedding and everything was wonderful. And now she could not even remember what her word had been.
Rap glanced at the hostler. “They’re great long, gibberish things, you see. The only reason people can remember them at all, when they’ve only heard them once, is that they’re magic in themselves. They’re magically memorable.”
Now Kadolan began to understand and was hard put to hide a sudden excitement. “So when Inos destroyed them …”
“She just stunned them!” Rap said crossly. “Or some of them. All those hundreds of people who heard them three days ago … now they’re starting to forget what they heard.”
“The words are coming back, you mean?”
He nodded glumly. “Seems so. Some. And because I have this natural talent for sorcery … I think that’s what it is. I seem to be the one they’re coming back to.”
“Well, I don’t see why you’re so miserable! I still don’t understand why Inos tried to destroy them in the first place.”
“Because the G-G-Gods …” He stuttered, and gave up. “It’s hard to explain. But it doesn’t matter now. I asked Inos if she could remember what the words were, and she said no. So, as long as she doesn’t remember, we’re all right. I don’t think I’m going to get all my power back, anyway.” He waved a hand to indicate his eyes. “This … it’s just an illusion. I’ll need to show my face tomorrow, back in Krasnegar … You won’t tell Inos, though?”
Nor had Kadolan ever understood why he didn’t like being a sorcerer, but that was not her business. A little magic had always come in handy for ruling Krasnegar.
She rose, and Rap sprang up also.
“I shan’t tell her — if you do something about the lint on your collar!”
This obvious blackmail made him scowl as ferociously as Hononin ever had. Then the lint vanished, as did the wrinkles in his coat. The lace of his cravat stiffened and began to shine like fresh snow. The buckle of his belt sparkled and his hair settled into shiny waves.
“Much better!” she said. “Oh, much!” Suddenly he was an astonishingly handsome royal bridegroom. How romantic! “Inos will be delighted!” Impulsively she kissed him. He looked startled, and then grinned bashfully. She was astonished to discover that he was shaking. Rap, nervous? Rap who had faced down pirates and sultans …
“Thank you,” she said. “And you do promise to behave yourself this time, don’t you?”
“Behave myself?”
Rap, who had overcome goblins and dragons …
“Not disrupt the ceremony by brandishing swords?”
“Of course not!”
Rap, who had challenged warlocks and — she suspected — even the Gods Themselves …
“Or coming in on a horse … backward?”
“Certainly not backward.”
“Or running away?”
“Ah!” Rap said darkly. “Now that is beginning to seem like a good idea.”
“Don’t worry, Kade,” Hononin said cheerfully. “I’ll keep him there if I have to run him through with my sword.”
Rap, who would be a faithful, loving husband and a solid, honorable king …
Suddenly Kadolan’s eyes started to do what they always did at weddings. She turned away quickly and headed for the door. Rap strode by her and threw it open.
She curtseyed. “After you, your Majesty!”
“No! Please, ma’am! I don’t want to be called that!”
“Surely that is for the queen to decide? Or do you intend to overrule her all the time?”
Rap turned scarlet. “Overrule her? Of course not! Never! Inos is the queen! I’m just … just … Oh, God of Fools! …” With a muffled noise that sounded vaguely nautical, he strode out into the corridor, where he continued to mutter angrily.
Hononin leered like a gargoyle and offered Kadolan his arm.
“Sorcerer or not,” he whispered, “any man who falls in love that deep hasn’t got much hope, has he?”
“None whatsoever!” she agreed quietly.
They chuckled in unison and followed Rap out.
And the door closed behind them.
Irksome words:
The play is done; the curtain drops, Slow falling to the prompter’s bell:
A moment yet the actor stops,
And looks around, to say farewell.
It is an irksome word and task…
Thackeray, The End of the Play
About the Author
Dave Duncan, born in Scotland in 1933, is a Canadian citizen. He received his diploma from Dundee High School and got his college education at the University of Saint Andrews. He moved to Canada in 1955, where he still lives with his wife. He has three grown children and four grandchildren. He spent thirty years as a petroleum geologist. He has had dozens of fantasy and science fiction novels published, among them A Rose-Red City, Magic Casement, and The Reaver Road, as well as a highly praised historical novel, Daughter of Troy, published, for commercial reasons, under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin. He also published the Longdirk series of novels, Demon Sword, Demon Knight, and Demon Rider, under the name Ken Hood.
In the fall of 2007, Duncan’s 2006 novel, Children of Chaos, published by Tor Books, was nominated for both the Prix Aurora Award and the Endeavour Award. In May 2013, Duncan, a 1989 founding member of SFCanada, was honored by election as a lifetime member by his fellow writers, editors, and academics.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
These are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Magic Casement copyright © 1990 by D.J. Duncan
Faery Lands Forlorn copyright © 1991 by D.J. Duncan
Perilous Seas copyright © 1991 by D.J. Duncan
Emperor and Clown copyright © 1991 by Dave Duncan
Cover design by Amanda Shaffer
ISBN: 978-1-5040-4713-5
This edition published in 2017 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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New York, NY 10038
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A MAN OF HIS WORD
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