Chapter 7
Post Mortem
Coral lurched forward, flailing around him, trying to connect with something. A firm presence prodded him in his shoulder and knocked him back onto the bed. He gripped the mattress and took stock of his surroundings.
“One of the many uses of 'the pole'” said a gruff voice from a safe distance. “Pity you left yours behind.”
Coral growled in frustration and pulled himself up again, although more slowly. He sat wearing nothing other than a plain under tunic on a fairly stiff bed in a nondescript room. A window let in filtered light and the buzz and rumble of voices from the main thoroughfare of a town were heard nearby. “I couldn't get it down the corridor,” he said, by way of explanation. “It was too big.”
“You didn't notice it came in three screwing sections?” asked the Dwarf looking sadly at him. He demonstrated on the one he had been prodding Coral with. His clothes were the color of granite with a contrasting belt and hood of slate grey. His beard was salt and pepper and his expressionless eyes brown.
“Three screwing sections” repeated Coral, raising a finger. “I'll remember that for next time.”
“Still haven't had enough?” asked the Dwarf.
“Not until you have, Jack” Coral grinned. He slapped his thighs and looked around. “Where's my stuff?”
“It's being laundered,” replied Jack. “And, in some cases, repaired.” Coral looked disappointed. “Electrocuted, roasted and crushed. Quite something.” Jack shook his head.
“OK,” said Coral, counting off on his fingers. “Electrocuted: picking up Lightning Lord while standing in water. Yes, yes, incredibly stupid in retrospect. I get it. Roasted? I presume that ignited the oil?” Jack nodded. “But crushed? I don't remember that.”
“The detonation rattled the portcullis and brought down the weakened ceiling.” The Dwarf shook his head. “That wasn't supposed to get you until you were on the way out.”
Coral whistled. “Zapped, fried and flattened. Not a good day.”
“Technically asphyxiated and poisoned as well. But those were just secondary,” said Jack. “You did seem to set off every trap that was in there.”
“That flint statue... that was... mean,” said Coral, reproachfully.
Jack shrugged. “I have to admit that was one of mine. It wasn't in the original.”
“Do I want to know what was there instead?” asked Coral.
“It was in a cyst. One of those vaults that was proofed against the cataclysm. Back when we worked for the government under Moss and Goatha, trying to work out what the cataclysm was all about.” He tugged on his beard with one hand. “It was a different setup. Those cysts had been there for 2000 years. Some were proof against the cataclysm, some not.”
“I take it this one was, since you found Lightning Lord in it,” said Coral.
“Actually it wasn't,” said Jack, leaning back in his chair. “The Cataclysm wasn't the earth shattering purging by fire we first thought it was. We worked out it was very specific. Very targeted. In some places specific words, passages or engravings were burnt from pages with everything else intact. Now we know that it was really all the work of your patron and her 143 friends. Once the use of the Six Books of Magic got out of hand, they banded together with the aim of erasing all knowledge of the 'New Magic'. The new magic is strongly pattern based and so they created spells seeking out the pattern of the books and sent them out seeking and destroying. They put a lot of power into it, but the world is a large place. Some cysts out in the Outer Waste survived nearly intact. But they've been hard to find. This one was not far from their base of operations and no reference to the works survived.”
“But hugely powerful swords such as Lightning Lord didn't really rate?” laughed Coral.
“Apparently not,” said Jack. “Looks like they just targeted the Six Books themselves, and not magics created by the knowledge of them. In any event, Moss thinks that Lightning Lord predates that time anyway. It is referred to in some romances from the cataclysmic era.”
“Wow. That's pretty old then.” Coral thought for a while about that. “Well, thank you for the history lesson,” he said. “And, well, the more practical one as well.”
Jack inclined his head and returned his chair to the floor, shifting his weight as if to get up.
“The lesson being over,” continued Coral, “I did manage to do that other favor you asked of me.”
Jack raised his eyebrows and leaned forward. “And?”
Coral took a deep breath. “Devonshire thanks you for your offer. On the matter of magical reincarnation, she is fully occupied and, given your own limited abilities in these areas, there is little assistance you can offer. Given that it is a priority of The Queen, she feels that there is also little use that your influence can offer. However, there are other pursuits of hers that she holds equally important that she has been unable to pursue that she feels you may be of some assistance on.” Coral stopped to be sure Jack was taking this all in. He nodded. “Winter, her son, is still fostered far away from her in a nominally hostile court. If things go ill with the gods we may find ourselves in direct conflict with them. She is concerned about his safety, and where safety cannot be guaranteed the ability to speedily extract him from a danger zone. Fostering is just polite language for hostage taking. She has not been able to keep on top of things as much as she has wanted to. This is your specialty. And a place where your assistance would be quite beneficial.”
“The words are well put,” said Jack. “And I thank you for pursuing it. But they seem well rehearsed and more your words than her words. I take in then that she completely refused my help and you're just trying to patch things over.”
“There's more.” Coral grinned thinly. “Those were the things that played to your strengths. This being Devonshire, there are other bits that play to your weaknesses.”
Jack gave him a long look and nodded. “Continue.”
“What she most regrets about her situation is that she has not had the time to do an adequate job of being a mother to Winter. Not only because of the pressure of her work and the remoteness of him, but also because he appears to be aging as a human, and not at all as an Elf. Whatever work you do for him, she wishes you to do it in such a way that he feels he has a mother who loves him and cares deeply for him. She does, but she just hasn't been able to convey it as well as she would like, given the situation. So no duplicity is warranted. Just expression.” Coral concluded and bowed his head.
Jack sighed deeply. “You're right. That really isn't my strength.” He thought for a while. “Very well. If that will put her at ease, and improve her work, I'll agree.” He shook his head. “I don't know how I'll do it. But I'll find a way.”
“Many thanks,” said Coral. “Devonshire, Winter, and all who hold Romitu dear, will be glad of it."
“I may have to call on you,” said Jack. “For... advice.”
Coral held up both hands. “No problem. I'm happy to help, although I don't have many ideas on the subject.”
“At least you had a comparatively normal upbringing. You knew your parents,” said Jack.
“Yes, and we all loved each other dearly,” said Coral. “However, I'm not exactly sure that a normal upbringing is the best baseline here. She's an Elf. He's human. His father was a god.”
“And I'm a mental patchwork put together by a magical artifact obsessed with assassinations,” exclaimed Jack.
Coral pointed his finger at him. “And that sets you apart from everyone else. I don't know the boy well, but I'd put good money down that he's feeling exactly like that right now. So reach into your drama and pain, remember how it felt, how it feels, and work out what you could have had that would have made it all that much easier for you.”
“A loving mother? Perhaps.” Jack sighed. “I'll do what I can.”
“OK,” said Coral. “I'll see you in two weeks?”
“Yes,” said Jack. “Time for my lesson then.”
“A
nd don't think I'll forget what you've put me through!” laughed Coral. “I'm thinking I might introduce you to jousting.”
White Mage Page 7