Iniscara smiled speculatively at Alethia. “I have a proposal to make to you, my dear,” she said as soon as the bowing and curtsying ended. She paused. “Would you like to learn magic?”
Tamsin’s jaw dropped. Alethia sat staring for a moment, then blinked. “Why should you wish to teach me?” she asked.
“It is the only way we know to determine the extent of your power,” replied the unfamiliar woman beside the Queen.
“This is the Lady Clasiena. She and Illeana will be your tutors if you accept our offer,” the Queen said into the silence that followed. Everyone began talking at once, except for Alethia, who sat silent. Iniscara looked at her sharply. “Well?”
“I have so many questions I don’t know where to begin!” Alethia said. “I think someone should start at the beginning and explain.”
Illeana raised an eyebrow. “You do not realize what an opportunity you have, girl,” she said. “Else you would not quibble.”
“I am not quibbling,” Alethia said indignantly. “But I’m certainly not going to say yes or no until I understand what is going on a little better.”
“It will be difficult for you to understand, for you do not have the background,” Illeana said condescendingly. “It has to do with Firivar’s prophecy, and the Shadow-born, and the ways of magic.”
“I still would like to hear what you have to say,” Alethia said stubbornly.
Clasiena gave Illeana a glance that said “I told you”; Illeana shrugged. Clasiena looked at the Queen, and Iniscara nodded.
“It is difficult to know where to begin,” Clasiena said, turning toward Alethia. “But I will try to explain. You have been told what the Shadow-born are?”
“Jordet said they were very powerful spirits of evil things,” Alethia said. “I am not quite sure what that means.”
“It means mainly that we know they have no bodies and we know they are evil,” Clasiena replied. “It has been three thousand years since they were bound, and we know very little else as fact. One other thing we can add: over the years they have weakened to a fraction of their former strength; but even that is more than any one of us could face alone.”
“Illeana and Jordet won out over that one on the mountaintop, didn’t they?” Alethia said uneasily. Talk of the Shadow-born was still enough to unsettle her, though she was not sure why she reacted so strongly.
Before Clasiena could reply, Illeana shook her head. “We drove the creature out of Corrim, tis true,” she said patiently. “But its grip was not strong. It was still weak from its long captivity, and it was in the Kathkari, where the Shadow-born find their magic difficult to work. Even so, it was a near thing.”
“They will gain strength rapidly now,” Clasiena went on. “We have a little time, perhaps, before they become so powerful that we cannot defeat them at all—but only a little.”
“What does that have to do with teaching me magic?” Alethia asked.
“Do you remember the prophecy that was read at the Council this morning?” Clasiena asked. “‘The child of fire holds the source of power.’ In the Elder Tongue, the language of magic, your name means ‘fire-souled child’. Somehow you are a key, and we must try to prepare you as best we can.”
“I don’t want to have anything to do with those things!” Alethia said. “They terrify me. I’m not sure why; I’m not usually bothered by dark creepy things, but the Shadow-born scare me senseless. I am afraid I won’t be much help to you. I am sorry.”
“If need is there, you will find a way,” Iniscara said serenely. “We will do our best to keep you away from them, since they seem so interested in obtaining possession of your person, but, if only for your own protection, we must try to teach you some magic of your own.”
“I am willing to try to learn,” Alethia said hesitantly. “But I cannot promise anything more, and I will only stay until there is news of Brenn and a way for me to return.”
Illeana frowned, but Clasiena glanced at the Queen again, then replied, “Of course, if that is what you wish.”
“I do wish it,” Alethia said firmly, stifling her own doubts about the wisdom of this project. If the Shee thought it wise for her to learn magic, she could hardly object.
“Then it is settled,” Iniscara said, and rose. “I think you should begin as soon as possible. You may join her, Bard, if you like,” the Queen added, turning to Tamsin as she spoke.
“What!” A startled, angry exclamation broke from Illeana. “Excuse me, your Majesty, but that’s impossible!”
“There have been human sorcerers before,” Clasiena said, looking warily from Illeana to the Queen. “And he is a Minstrel.”
“What does that matter?” Illeana said. “He’s a human! Do you think the Council will allow this?”
“The Lord Advisors and the Council will certainly object,” Clasiena said in a troubled voice.
“Their objections no longer matter,” Iniscara said calmly. “I am Queen; I have ordered this; and it will be done. This is a time of change for all the Shee; there is nothing we can do to delay it. Do you question me?”
Illeana stared at the Queen for a moment, then lowered her head and sank into a deep curtsy. “No, Your Majesty.”
The Queen nodded. “See to it, then.”
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
In spite of the Queen’s parting instructions, the lessons did not begin that afternoon. Instead, Tamsin and Alethia spent several hours riding through Eveleth. Alethia, accustomed to the noisy crowds of Brenn, was at first surprised by the quiet of the city. Though it was mid-afternoon, the wide streets were nearly empty. She soon adjusted to the absence of other people; indeed, she forgot it entirely in her admiration of the city.
Eveleth was even more attractive by day than by night. The houses were airy structures of slender columns and graceful arches, carefully shaped in smooth, white stone. They were surrounded by carefully kept gardens and formal parks. Alethia came to one with a fountain, and stopped her horse in surprise; three jets of water rose high in the air, then twined about each other in an intricate, loosely-woven knot before falling back into the still pool below.
“Tamsin,” said Alethia, “how do they do that?”
Tamsin looked in the direction of Alethia’s pointing finger and blinked. “I don’t know,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if that house belongs to one of the Shee wizards.”
“I thought all Shee were wizards,” Alethia said.
“Are all Alkyrans farmers, or all men of Col Sador smiths?” Tamsin said.
“Oh,” said Alethia thoughtfully. She looked at the fountain again, then urged her horse forward, and they continued on in silence. They passed several more of the inexplicable fountains, and once they came to a garden where a small breeze played a tune on a curtain of tiny silver bells. Tamsin would have stood there, listening, for the remainder of the day had Alethia not reminded him that they really ought to return to the palace before night fell.
Eveleth, thought Alethia as they rode back along the way they had come, was certainly a fitting setting for the Shee. Still, she could not help comparing this city with the living buildings of Glen Wilding, and she found that she preferred the home of the Wyrds. Glen Wilding was a friendlier place.
Immediately after breakfast the next morning, Alethia and Tamsin were escorted to a room on the far side of the palace. Clasiena was waiting, and as they entered she smiled. “Be seated,” she said. “We have much to talk on.” They followed her instructions and looked at her expectantly.
“Magic depends on power,” the Shee woman told them. “Therefore you must first learn to tap your own power and focus it. You will then be able to work small spells, but it is very draining, since you will be powering the spell with your own energy. Later we will teach you to reach out for other sources of power, and then you will really begin to work magic.”
“How do we start?” asked Alethia.
“Most people require something to concentrate on, at least at first,�
�� Clasiena said. “It is better if it is something small and easy to carry. Have you anything suitable? A ring perhaps?”
Alethia’s slim hands were bare of ornamentation. She felt in her pockets and pulled out a hairpin, a few coins, and a smooth round stone. The Shee woman picked out the stone and examined it carefully. “This will do,” she said, and turned to Tamsin. The minstrel pulled a heavy gold ring from his finger. “Will this do for me?”
The Shee woman nodded. “Hold it in front of you, like this,” she said, cupping her hands to demonstrate. “Now, concentrate. Shut out the sight of the room, the sound of my voice; see only the focus you hold.”
Clasiena’s voice became a drone. Alethia tried to follow her directions. At first, she found it difficult to concentrate on the pebble, but gradually Clasiena’s hypnotic murmur took effect. Alethia began to feel detached, as if observing the scene from far away. From somewhere outside herself a voice was insisting, “Focus! Reach into yourself and gather your ability together!” Obediently, but with dream-like slowness, Alethia turned her attention inward.
At first it seemed as if she were once again floating in the grey fog that had surrounded her and Tamsin in the Wyrwood. The voice was urging her on, and gradually things seemed to grow lighter. A part of her mind told her that what she saw was unreal, a mental picture in familiar terms of things too strange to grasp directly. Most of her attention, though, was concentrated on the scene that was gradually growing clearer in her mind.
There were pools of light and thick ropes of shadowy emerald strung between impossible ferny trees of blood-red. Alethia floated among them, insubstantial and wondering. The prodding voice was gone, but something was still directing her gently and firmly toward the liquid light below. Alethia drifted slowly nearer, strangely reluctant, but unresisting. Finally she touched it. There was a soundless explosion of intolerable whiteness, and Alethia lost consciousness.
She came to herself lying on a couch in the study room. Clasiena, Illeana, and Tamsin were standing over her with worried expressions. Without speaking, Clasiena held out a glass of water, and Alethia took it. A moment later she looked up.
The room was the same, yet it was not. Everything seemed to be sharply defined; the chair took up this space, no more, and ended precisely at that point. Even the air seemed more emphatic, like looking through sunlit crystal. “What has happened?” Alethia asked.
Illeana started to speak, but Clasiena waved her to silence. “You were doing well with the concentration exercise, so I told you to take the next step, to turn inward and focus your abilities on something outside yourself.”
Alethia nodded. “I remember hearing that,” she said.
Clasiena shrugged. “I cannot tell you much more. You collapsed just before Illeana arrived; we were on the point of sending for a Healer. Tell me what it seemed like to you.”
When Alethia finished her explanation, Clasiena nodded absently. “You have reached more deeply than I would have believed,” she said. “The effort was perhaps too much for you. We must proceed more cautiously hereafter; I think that this will be enough for today.”
Though she protested that she felt perfectly well, Alethia was overruled by the two Shee. “Put your focus away; we will try again tomorrow,” Clasiena told her. Alethia realized in some surprise that her right hand was still clenched tight around the stone, and she opened her fingers to replace it in her pocket. With an exclamation she bent over it.
The stone was split in two, revealing its interior, and embedded in one fragment was a smaller stone of a deep blue, almost black. It was very smooth, almost polished; when Alethia rubbed it gently it came free and she had to close her fingers quickly to keep from dropping it. She sat down once more and carefully picked out the strange stone, putting the other fragments on the table.
The blue stone was about the size of Alethia’s smallest fingertip. As she stared at it, she saw that in the center of the stone was a dim pinpoint of light. Alethia looked up. “I have never seen a stone glow before. What is this?”
Clasiena turned and gave a startled exclamation. “This was not your focus!”
“The stone split in two, and this was inside,” Alethia explained. “See, there are the pieces.” Clasiena bent over the table and scooped the shattered rocks toward her. She examined them carefully, then turned to the stone which had been embedded inside.
Suddenly the austere Shee woman smiled. “No wonder your attempt went so well! This is a firestone!”
“What is a firestone?” Alethia asked curiously.
“They are natural amplifiers of power,” Illeana said. “They are very sensitive to power in other things, so they are sometimes used to detect spells, but their main use is to increase the power that a wizard can put into a spell. I do not know of anyone using one as a focus before; they are usually thought too dangerous for the inexperienced.” The Shee seemed to agree with general opinion, for she was eyeing the stone with a disapproving frown.
Tamsin’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Could this explain why the Shadow-born could not reach Alethia when he attacked her on our way here?” he asked.
The two Shee exchanged startled glances. “Of course! It must have,” Clasiena said. “But Alethia must have great ability to create a barrier that would hold off a Shadow-born, even with the aid of a firestone.”
“I just wanted it to keep away from me,” Alethia said. “I wasn’t trying to do anything; I only wanted it to stay back.”
“You must have set up a wall of pure power,” Clasiena told her. “There is nothing else you could have done without training.”
“It is a good thing that you are here now, where we can teach you properly,” Illeana said condescendingly. “Such power can be dangerous if it is not completely controlled.”
Tamsin, who had been looking at the firestone, turned to Alethia. “What did you mean when you said the stone was glowing, Alethia? I do not see it.”
The Shee women turned and Tamsin handed the stone to Illeana. “I, too, see nothing,” she said after looking at it for a minute, and Clasiena nodded her agreement. Alethia leaned forward. The stone lay in Illeana’s palm with no hint of light.
“It was there a minute ago,” Alethia said in bewilderment, and reached for the stone. As soon as she touched it, the light returned. Illeana jerked her hand away in surprise, and immediately the light died, but as soon as Alethia touched it once more the glow rekindled. Clasiena and Tamsin tried holding the stone, but with the same results.
“It seems that by using this as a focus you have waked some power attuned to you,” Clasiena said thoughtfully.
“Perhaps it is simpler than that,” Illeana said. “Perhaps anyone who uses it as a focus can achieve the same results. Here, let me try.” She took the stone and bent over it, concentrating as Alethia had done. A moment later she cried out, dropped the stone, and bent forward clutching her head. Clasiena hurried to her, while Alethia retrieved the stone.
“It appears that it is not so simple,” Clasiena said dryly. She looked up from Illeana in sudden concern. “You did not feel anything?” she asked Alethia urgently.
“No,” Alethia replied. “Nothing at all.”
“Then it must have been her own power reflecting back at her,” Clasiena said with some relief. “I think only you can use this as a focus now.” She nodded toward the blue-black firestone.
“But why?” Alethia asked.
“I do not know,” Clasiena said. “Firestones are too rare, and too little is known of them. Keep yours close; I suggest that you find some holder for it. It is too easy to misplace as it is.”
“Why not have it set in a ring?” Tamsin suggested.
“A good idea!” Clasiena approved. “There are jewelers who work for the Queen; I will send one to you this afternoon.” She rose and, after a brief exchange of courtesies, escorted a shaken Illeana out.
The jeweler arrived shortly after noon. He was intrigued by the stone, which he clearly valued highly. When pressed
, he reluctantly agreed to deliver the ring in two days time. “But it will not be elaborate,” he warned as he left. “No, it will be very plain.”
The lessons resumed the following day, but no further experiments were made. Instead, Clasiena gave them a long list of rules and relationships to memorize and then repeat until they could do so instinctively. “Since magic is the art of changing the relationships between things,” she told Alethia and Tamsin, “you must know what you are about before you can make a change.”
Alethia found the lists boring, but she followed Clasiena’s instructions. By the end of the afternoon, she was word-perfect in only half of the drills, and she found herself envious of Tamsin. The minstrel was more at home with their current tasks, and had nearly finished the list. Clasiena seemed pleased with their progress, and promised more interesting work to come.
The ring arrived next day, a small circle of silver wire with the firestone set firmly in it. The jeweler had underrated his ability; though not intricate in design, the ring was hardly plain. It fit perfectly. The back of the stone rested lightly against her finger, and Alethia noted with pleasure that the contact was enough to awaken the pinpoint of light in the heart of the stone. Thoroughly pleased, Alethia picked up the remainder of the list of rules and left to find a peaceful spot to memorize them in.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Maurin stood beside his horse in the cold grey of pre-dawn, waiting. All around him were the muffled sounds of horses breathing and the occasional clink of armor as the Shee quieted their mounts. Through the screen of trees ahead, he could dimly see the beginning of the fields surrounding Brenn; the city itself was invisible in the faint light.
The Shee were positioned in the forest northeast of the city. They had managed to get so close only with the aid of a few Wyrd guides, who ambushed several Lithmern scouts before they could raise any alarm. The main body of Wyrd archers had crossed the mountains two days before to take up a position behind the Lithmern camp; if all was well, they, too, were now in place, hidden and waiting.
[Lyra 01] - Shadow Magic Page 14