The Shattered Stone

by Robert Newman

  At first Ivo thought he would not go either. But when he discovered that Jartan was going to be working in the garden, he changed his mind and set off alone.

  Mistress Silvia was at her loom and she nodded when he greeted her.

  “Where is Neva?” she asked.

  “With Liall.”

  “How is he?”

  “Better. But she thought she should stay with him.”

  “He will be even better this afternoon. He should get up then and perhaps tomorrow he can come here with you.”

  “I’ll tell that to Neva.”

  “Do you have any questions for me?”

  “Yes. When will he be able to leave here?”

  “He will be able to leave the day after tomorrow. But he may not wish to leave then.”

  “Why not? He knows that his uncle, the king, is concerned about him.”

  “He might decide that it won’t really matter if he stays for a few more days. Don’t you want him to stay?”

  “Of course. I like him. I asked because he said that when he did leave he wanted Neva and me to go with him.”

  “And do you want to go?”

  “I don’t know. I told you I’d like to see other places and other people sometime. But I never thought of going with someone else.”

  “You mean you thought you’d go just with Neva.”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you have any other questions?”

  “Let me think.” He frowned, feeling guilty because he did not have any important ones ready. “Why couldn’t I get back into the forest the other day when I went out to help Ronno?”

  “I’m sure you know.”

  “Because of the spell you put on this part of it. But Ronno had no trouble getting in or out. And Greymane didn’t seem to have either.”

  “No. But the spell works differently in almost every case. I knew the animals who belonged here would want to be able to leave and come back. And when I first cast it, its purpose was as much to keep you in as to keep others out.”

  “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “Don’t try to. It’s magic, and it has its own laws. What else?”

  “I don’t think I have any more questions.”

  “No?”

  “Why are you smiling?”

  “Because I know there are other things on your mind and I was wondering whether you’d talk about them.”

  “What things?”

  “Haven’t you been upset because Neva has been spending so much time with Liall?”

  “Why should I be? She’s only doing it because he was wounded and needs care. Besides, I told you I liked him.”

  “Yes.”

  He frowned again, aware that—as always—there were things she was trying to get him to see.

  “All right. Why is she doing it?”

  “You just told me why.”

  “I know. But there’s more to it than that, isn’t there? I’m Ivo whom she’s known all her life and he’s someone new who can talk to her about things that I can’t: about Andor and the palace at Lantar and what it’s like to be a prince.”

  “And is that all they talk about—things?”

  “What else is there to talk about?”

  “Why don’t you ask Neva?” said Mistress Silvia, smiling again.

  “Because I don’t care.” He got up abruptly. “I think I’ll go, my lady.”

  “Very well. And if Liall comes here with you tomorrow, tell Jartan to come too.”

  “Yes, my lady,” he said and left, thinking about what she’d said and also about the rather strange feelings that he had apparently had for some time but that he had not been conscious of till he talked to her.

  He didn’t go directly to the hut but stopped by the pond first and watched the otters at play, then went to the large clearing to visit Greymane. When he finally returned to the hut, Jartan had finished working in the garden and told him to get the swords and bucklers for some weapon practise.

  They had only been at it for a short time when Jartan paused and said, “What’s wrong with you today?”

  “Why?”

  “I’ve touched you three times now. You’re not thinking about what you’re doing—not that you should have to think. If you want to stop, say so.”

  “I’m sorry, Jartan. No, let’s not stop. Let’s try it again.”

  While they were talking, Neva came out of the hut and sat down on the bench. Liall was sleeping again, she told them, and she agreed that he seemed strong enough to get up when he woke. She had a needle and thread with her and was mending something. As she held it up, Ivo saw that it was Liall’s tunic. She had washed the blood from it and was now sewing up the place where he had been wounded.

  “Well, Ivo?” said Jartan.

  Ivo raised his buckler and instead of waiting for Jartan to attack him, he attacked himself—so vigorously that Jartan gave back before him. When they finally stopped, Jartan nodded approvingly but asked why he seemed to be in such a temper.

  Liall did get up that afternoon, sat out in the sun and remained up so that, for the first time, they all had supper together. He began asking Jartan questions, wanting to know if he had always lived in the forest and, if not, where he had come from. But when Jartan made it clear that he did not want to talk about it, Liall dropped the subject and again began urging Neva and Ivo to come back to Lantar with him when he left.

  Though Liall seemed himself again, he began to look tired during supper and went to bed soon after it. Ivo, however, was restless and went out, walking to the edge of the forest where he stood for a while, looking out over the moonlit heath. When he came back, Neva was again sitting on the bench outside the hut.

  “I’ve seen little of you all day,” she said.

  “I know.”

  “What did Mistress Silvia have to say this morning?”

  “That if Liall was well enough to come to the cave tomorrow, Jartan should come, too.”

  “Oh.”

  “You don’t seem surprised.”

  “No. If we’re going to be leaving here, she will have things to say to us and she will want Jartan to hear them also.”

  “Are we going to be leaving here?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Why of course.”

  “It’s just a feeling I have.”

  “And where will we be going? To Lantar with Liall?”

  “Perhaps. Perhaps not. Don’t you want to go?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I thought you did. You always said you did.”

  “I know. And while I’d like to see other places, I always hoped that when we went it would be for something more than that.”

  “It will be.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Don’t you remember what Mistress Silvia said when we asked her about it? ‘You will go when you wish to go for the right reason.’”

  “And what is the right reason?”

  “We’ll probably find out tomorrow. Did she have anything else to say?”

  “She wanted to know if I was upset because you were spending so much time with Liall.”

  “And are you?”

  “No. I told her I knew you were doing it because you had to take care of him.”

  “I didn’t have to. Jartan could have done it just as well as I.”

  “Then why have you been doing it?”

  “Why do you think?”

  “Because you wanted to. Because you like being with him.”

  “That’s right. You should go see Mistress Silvia without me more often.” Though it was too dark to see her face, he knew she was smiling just as Mistress Silvia had.

  “This is silly,” he said, annoyed. “We’ve never talked about anything as silly as this before.”

  “No, we haven’t,” said Neva, getting up. “Good night.” And she went into the hut.

  Chapter 5

  As Mistress Silvia had predicted, the next morning Liall said that he felt as well as he ever h
ad. So after breaking their fast together, they all set out for the cave: Neva, Ivo, Liall and Jartan.

  It was another fine day. What they could see of the sky was clear and blue; a faint breeze rustled the leaves, and the trees were alive with birds that twittered, sang and darted from branch to branch overhead.

  “It’s very beautiful here,” said Liall, looking around admiringly. “Quite different from the parts of the forest I’ve been in to the east.”

  “Different how?” asked Ivo.

  “Though the trees are not as tall there, the forest seems much darker and less friendly.”

  “What were you doing when you went there?” asked Jartan.

  “Hunting,” said Liall. “Sometimes deer, but mostly wild boar.”

  “Then why should the forest have been friendly?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “There is no hunting, no killing of any sort here, either by us or by any of the animals who live here.”

  “But why?”

  “Because that is the law. Those animals that must kill to live do it elsewhere.”

  They were almost at the pond now, walking in single file. Suddenly Ronno came trotting down the path and paused when he saw them.

  “Good morning,” he said to Neva who was leading the way. Then looking at Liall, who was immediately behind her, “I see that your friend is better.”

  “Yes, he is,” she said.

  “I’m glad,” said Ronno. “I know you were worried about him. But why is he staring at me that way?”

  “I don’t know,” said Neva. “Why are you, Liall?”

  “Because, unless I’m still feverish, he’s talking.”

  “Oh. I’d forgotten what Greymane told us: that the animals outside can’t talk. Or at least that people can’t understand them.”

  “No, they can’t,” said Liall. “Is this Ronno?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “If it is, I’d like to ask his pardon.”

  “If it’s for what happened the other day,” said Ronno, “I’ll admit that I was frightened. I don’t mind a good run. But when that second pack of hounds appeared, I thought I was done for. And of course I would have been if it hadn’t been for Ivo.”

  “I can say the same thing,” said Liall.

  “So I hear. Remember how you felt then, when you thought you were finished, the next time you go hunting.”

  “I will. Though I’m beginning to doubt if I shall do it anymore.”

  “You needn’t go that far,” said Ronno with a grin. “I do a little hunting myself. But why hunt foxes? We’re not good to eat.”

  “Very well,” said Liall. “I’ll promise you that much. No matter what I do, I’ll never hunt a fox again.”

  “That more than makes amends for the day we met,” said Ronno, and he went trotting off towards his den.

  “I understand now why you wanted to save him, Ivo,” said Liall. “Just as I’m beginning to understand many other things.”

  Mistress Silvia was outside her cave, and two of the spiders were with her, clinging to the rocks overhead and spinning out thread that she wound on a spindle. She looked up as the four of them approached, cut the threads and the spiders disappeared into the cave.

  “So the report Ivo gave me yesterday was true,” she said to Liall. “I thought you would be well enough to come here today, and I’m glad you are.”

  “I have you to thank for that, my lady,” he said, making her a deep reverence.

  “Not I alone.”

  “No. And I have already thanked Ivo and Neva for what they did for me. But it is you I must thank most of all. For I know how grievously I was hurt, and I do not believe I would be here now if it were not for your help.”

  “That could well be.”

  “Was it leechcraft that saved me or magic?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “No. What matters is that you did give me back my life. And what I would like to know is how I can repay you.”

  “You have already said that what was done was not done by me alone. How do you intend to repay Ivo and Neva?”

  “I’m not sure. We haven’t talked about it. But I’ve asked them both to come back to Lantar with me when I leave here. My uncle, the king, will be as grateful to them, as I am.”

  “Are you suggesting that I come, too?”

  She was smiling now, a faint grave smile. Liall shook his head.

  “No, my lady.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because, while I would like you to come—and the king would like it, too—I don’t think you would come. Nor do I know why you should.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because, as I told Ivo a short while ago, I understand many things now that I did not understand before. This is your realm, a place like no other that I have ever heard of, where men and animals live together in friendship. Why should you leave it—this place where there is no killing—and go out into a world that is full of war and hatred?”

  She looked at him thoughtfully.

  “You do not like what is happening there?”

  “No, my lady. Though my father was killed in a battle not far from here, and though, but for your help, I would have been killed, too, I do not hate those from Brunn. In fact, I have always hoped that some way could be found to end our differences so that there could be peace between us.”

  Ivo, who had been listening intently, stirred.

  “Is there some way that can be done, my lady?”

  “There may be.”

  “How?”

  “I cannot tell you that, but I can tell you how you can find out. The answer was written long ago on a stone set on the top of Tarec.”

  “On Tarec?” said Liall. “It might as well be on the moon.”

  “Why so?” asked Ivo. “What is this Tarec?”

  “It is the highest peak of the Wendery Hills that lie between Andor and Brunn, far to the west beyond the Desert of Morven. But none may climb it.”

  “It is that great a mountain?” said Ivo. “That difficult to climb?”

  “Not as great or difficult as many of those to the south. But it is a sacred mountain. For it was there that Kennar, our ancestor, had his first sight of Andor; and where he stood, no man may set his foot.”

  “It is forbidden?” asked Neva.

  “There is no need for that. Of those who have tried to climb Tarec, few have come back and those few had lost their wits. It is said that there is something there—a watcher—to keep all from it.” He paused. “Of course, there are many tales told about this part of the forest, too, and yet I am here.”

  “You are thinking that you will go there then?” asked Ivo.

  “If the stone will tell me what I want to know, perhaps I should.”

  “I must warn you that the stone is now broken,” said Mistress Silvia. “But it may be that what was written on it can still be read.”

  “If I take the risks of the journey there, I will risk that too.” He hesitated a moment. “Very well. I will go.”

  “Good,” said Ivo. “I will go with you.”

  “We will go with you,” said Neva.

  “We?” Liall stared at her. “Do you doubt what I said about Tarec?”

  “No.”

  “Then be reasonable. Even to reach it will be a great trial, for we will have to cross Morven, which is a desolate waste.”

  “I am still going.”

  Liall looked at Ivo and then at Mistress Silvia.

  “My lady, what say you to this?”

  “Ivo has wanted to leave here for some time, and Neva has said that when he left she wanted to go with him. Some days ago I told them that they could both leave when they wished to leave for the right reason. There can be no better reason than this.”

  “I still think it will be a very dangerous and difficult journey,” said Liall. “But if you do not …”

  “I did not say it would not be,” said Mistress Silvia. “I said that if she wished to go, she sho
uld be permitted to.”

  “Very well,” said Liall. “All that remains then is to decide when we can leave.”

  “I think,” said Jartan, “that this is why you wanted me here, my lady.”

  “Yes, Jartan.”

  “There are preparations that must be made. But I have already started them, and if all three of them help, I think that they can leave tomorrow morning.”

  “There are things that I must do, too,” said Mistress Silvia. “Tomorrow then.”

  “We will see you again before we go?” asked Neva.

  “Would you go without that?”

  “No, my lady,” said Neva.

  They started across the glade and along the path to the hut. Ivo was walking slowly, lagging behind, and glancing at him, Neva said, “You seem troubled, Ivo. Do you think, as Liall does, that I should not be coming with you?”

  “No. I’m sure it will not be easy, but if it were too dangerous I don’t believe Mistress Silvia would let you go.”

  “She might, if what we were trying to do were important enough.”

  “There’s little doubt that it’s important. But that’s made me wonder. It was many days ago that she said we could leave when we wished to for the right reason. Do you think she knew then that we would be leaving and why?”

  “Of course.”

  “Even though that was before we’d ever seen Liall?”

  “Yes.”

  “I think she did, too—that she knew he would be coming. And that makes me wonder about something else. Jartan said he had already started making preparations for our journey. Well, isn’t it possible that many of the things we have been doing and learning recently were part of those preparations?”

  She smiled at him. “Dear Ivo. It sometimes takes you a while to see things, but in the end you usually do.”

  “You mean you think that, too?”

  “I’ve thought so for a long time.”

  “How long?”

  “Several years.”

  “That we were being prepared for something … No, not something. For this particular quest?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I thought that when the time came you would find out.”