Out of the Darkness d-6

by Harry Turtledove

  Out of the Darkness

  ( Darkness - 6 )

  Harry Turtledove

  Harry Turtledove

  Out of the Darkness

  Dramatis Personae

  (* shows viewpoint character)

  ALGARVE

  Adonio Constable in Tricarico

  Almonte Major; sorcerer near Pontremoli

  Balastro Count; Algarvian minister to Zuwayza

  Bembo* Constable in Eoforwic

  Botelho Mage in Ruuivaes, Lagoas

  Clarinda Serving woman in Trapani

  Dosso Jeweler in Trapani

  Fiametta Courtesan in Tricarico

  Frontino Gaoler in Tricarico

  Gismonda Count Sabrino’s wife in Trapani

  Lurcanio* Colonel formerly occupying Priekule

  Mainardo Former King of Jelgava; Mezentio’s brother

  Mezentio King of Algarve

  Mosco Captain in Priekule; Brindza’s father

  Norizia Baroness; Gismonda’s friend in Trapani

  Oberto Baron; mayor of Carsoli

  Oldrade General in Trapani

  Oraste Constable in Eoforwic

  Orosio Captain of dragonfliers outside Psinthos

  Pesaro Constabulary sergeant in Tricarico

  Pirello Mage in Trapani

  Prusione General in southern Algarve

  Puliano Lieutenant in Plegmund’s Brigade in Yanina

  Sabrino Count and colonel of dragonfliers outside Psinthos

  Saffa Sketch artist in Tricarico

  Salamone Soldier; father to Saffa’s son

  Santerno Captain in western Valmiera

  Sasso Constabulary captain in Tricarico

  Spinello* Colonel in Eoforwic

  Tibiano Injured civilian in Tricarico

  FORTHWEG

  Aldhelm Bodyguard in Gromheort

  Beornwulf King of Forthweg

  Brorda Baron in Gromheort

  Ceorl* Soldier in Plegmund’s Brigade in Valmiera

  Conberge Ealstan’s sister in Gromheort

  Doldasai Courtesan in Gromheort

  Ealstan* Bookkeeper in Eoforwic; Vanai’s husband

  Elfryth Ealstan’s mother in Gromheort

  Ethelhelm Musician in Eoforwic

  Grimbald Conberge’s husband in Gromheort

  Hengist Hestan’s brother in Gromheort

  Hestan Bookkeeper in Gromheort; Ealstan’s father

  Kaudavas Kaunian refugee in Zuwayza

  Nemunas Kaunian refugee in Zuwayza

  Osferth Official in Gromheort

  Penda King of Forthweg; in exile in Lagoas

  Pernavai Kaunian in Valmiera; Vatsyunas’ husband

  Pybba Pottery merchant in Eoforwic

  Saxburh Ealstan and Vanai’s daughter in Eoforwic

  Sidroc* Soldier in Plegmund’s Brigade in Yanina

  Tamulis Kaunian from Oyngestun in Gromheort

  Trumwine Forthwegian minister to Zuwayza

  Vanai* Kaunian in Eoforwic; Ealstan’s wife

  Vatsyunas Kaunian in Valmiera; Pernavai’s husband

  Vitols Kaunian refugee in Zuwayza

  GYONGYOS

  Alpri Istvan’s father in Kunhegyes; cobbler

  Arpad Ekrekek (ruler) of Gyongyos

  Balazas Ekrekek Arpad’s Eye and Ear in Gyorvar

  Batthyany Istvan’s great-uncle in Kunhegyes; deceased

  Diosgyor Corporal near Gyorvar

  Frigyes Captain; captive on island of Obuda; deceased

  Gizella Istvan’s mother in Kunhegyes

  Gul Baker’s son in Kunhegyes; Saria’s fiance

  Horthy Gyongyosian minister to Zuwayza

  Ilona Istvan’s sister in Kunhegyes

  Istvan* Sergeant; captive on island of Obuda

  Korosi Sentry in Kunhegyes

  Kun Corporal; captive on island of Obuda

  Maleter Villager in Kunhegyes

  Petofi Captain in Gyorvar

  Saria Istvan’s sister in Kunhegyes

  Szonyi Captive on island of Obuda; deceased

  Vorosmarty Mage near Gyorvar

  JELGAVA

  Ausra..Talsu’s sister in Skrunda

  Donalitu..King of Jelgava

  Gailisa..Talsu’s wife in Skrunda

  Krogzmu..Olive-oil dealer in Skrunda

  Kugu..Silversmith in Skrunda; deceased

  Laitsina..Talsu’s mother in Skrunda

  Mindaugu..Wine merchant in Skrunda

  Pumpru..Grocer in Skrunda

  Talsu*..Tailor in Skrunda

  Traku..Tailor in Skrunda; Talsu’s father

  KUUSAMO

  Alkio Theoretical sorcerer in Naantali district; Raahe’s wife

  Elimaki Pekka’s sister in Kajaani

  Heikki Professor of sorcery, Kajaani City College

  Ilmarinen* Theoretical sorcerer in Naantali district

  Juhainen One of the Seven Princes of Kuusamo

  Lammi Forensic sorcerer on the island of Obuda

  Leino* Sorcerer in Jelgava

  Linna Serving girl in Naantali district

  Nortamo Grand general in Jelgava

  Olavin Elimaki’s estranged husband

  Paalo Sorcerer in Ludza, Jelgava

  Pekka* Theoretical sorcerer in Naantali district; Leino’s wife

  Piilis Theoretical sorcerer in Naantali district

  Raahe Theoretical sorcerer in Naantali district; Alkio’s husband

  Ryti Language instructor in Yliharma

  Tukiainen Kuusaman minister to Jelgava

  Uto Pekka and Leino’s son in Kajaani

  Valamo Tailor in Yliharma

  Waino Captain of the Searaven

  LAGOAS

  Araujo Marshal in southern Algarve

  Brinco Grandmaster Pinhiero’s secretary

  Fernao Theoretical sorcerer in Naantali district

  Pinhiero Grandmaster of the Lagoan Guild of Mages

  Sampaio Fernao’s uncle in Kajaani

  Simao Major in Algarve

  Xavega Sorcerer in Jelgava

  UNKERLANT

  Addanz Archmage of Unkerlant

  Akerin Alize’s father in Leiferde

  Alize Peasant girl in Leiferde

  Andelot Lieutenant near Eoforwic

  Ansovald Unkerlanter minister to Zuwayza

  Bertrude Alize’s mother in Leiferde

  Curneval Soldier near Gromheort

  Dagaric Captain in western Unkerlant

  Dagulf Peasant in Linnich

  Drogden Captain in Yanina

  Garivald* Sergeant near Eoforwic

  Gurmun General of behemoths near Eoforwic

  Joswe Soldier in Gromheort

  Leudast* Lieutenant in Yanina

  Leuvigild General in Eoforwic

  Merovec Colonel in Cottbus; Rathar’s adjutant

  Noyt Soldier near Trapani

  Obilot Peasant woman near Linnich

  Rathar* Marshal of Unkerlant in Patras

  Swemmel King of Unkerlant

  Vatran General in Patras

  VALMIERA

  Baldu Algarvian collaborator near Carsoli; playwright

  Bauska Serving woman in Priekule

  Brindza Bauska’s daughter in Priekule

  Enkuru Collaborationist count near Pavilosta; deceased

  Gainibu King of Valmiera

  Gainibu Krasta’s son

  Gedominu Merkela’s first husband; deceased

  Gedominu Skarnu and Merkela’s son

  Krasta* Marchioness in Priekule; Skarnu’s sister

  Kudirka Midwife in Priekule

  Latsisa Peasant woman near Pavilosta

  Marstalu Duke of Klaipeda

  Merkela Underground member in Priekule; Skarnu’s fiancee

&
nbsp; Povilu Peasant near Adutiskis

  Raunu Sergeant near Pavilosta

  Sigulda Algarvian collaborator near Carsoli; Smetnu’s companion

  Simanu Collaborationist count near Pavilosta; deceased

  Skarnu* Marquis in Priekule

  Skirgaila Woman in Priekule

  Smetnu Algarvian collaborator near Carsoli; editor

  Sudaku Soldier in Phalanx of Valmiera in Yanina

  Valmiru Butler in Priekule

  Valnu Viscount and underground member in Priekule

  Vizgantu Major in southern Algarve

  Zemaitu Peasant near Pavilosta

  Zemglu Peasant near Adutiskis

  YANINA

  Iskakis Yaninan minister to Zuwayza

  Mantzaros General in Patras

  Tassi Iskakis’ wife; Hajjaj’s companion

  Tsavellas King of Yanina

  Varvakis Merchant in Patras

  ZUWAYZA

  Hajjaj*..Foreign minister of Zuwayza in Bishah

  Ikhshid..General in Bishah

  Kawar..Crystallomancer in Bishah

  Kolthoum..Hajjaj’s senior wife

  Lalla..Hajjaj’s former junior wife

  Maryem..Palace servant in Bishah

  Mundhir..Captain in Bishah

  Qutuz..Hajjaj’s secretary

  Shazli..King of Zuwayza

  Tewfik..Hajjaj’s majordomo

  One

  Ealstan intended to kill an Algarvian officer. Had the young Forthwegian not been fussy about which redhead he killed, or had he not cared whether he lived or died in the doing, he would have had an easier time of it. But, with a wife and daughter to think about, he wanted to get away with it if he could. He’d even promised Vanai he wouldn’t do anything foolish. He regretted that promise now, but he’d always been honorable to the point of stubbornness, so he still felt himself bound by it.

  And he wanted to rid the world of one of Mezentio’s men in particular. Oh, he would have been delighted to see all of them dead, but he especially wanted to be the means by which this one died. Considering what the whoreson did to Vanai, and made her do for him, who could blame me?

  But, like a lot of rhetorical questions, that one had an obvious, unrhetorical answer: all the other Algarvians in Eoforwic. The Algarvians ruled the capital of Forthweg with a mailed fist these days. Ealstan had been part of the uprising that almost threw them out of Eoforwic. As in most things, though, almost wasn’t good enough; he counted himself lucky to remain among the living.

  Saxburh smiled and gurgled at him from her cradle as he walked by. The baby seemed proud of cutting a new tooth. Ealstan was glad she’d finally done it, too. She’d been fussy and noisy for several nights before it broke through. Ealstan yawned; he and Vanai had lost sleep because of that.

  His wife was in the kitchen, building up the fire to boil barley for porridge. “I’m off,” Ealstan said. “No work for a bookkeeper in Eoforwic these days, but plenty for someone with a strong back.”

  Vanai gave him a knotted cloth. “Here’s cheese and olives and an onion,” she said. “I only wish it were more.”

  “It’ll do,” he said. “I’m not starving.” He told the truth. He was hungry, but everyone in Eoforwic except some-not all-of the Algarvians was hungry these days. He still had his strength. To do a laborer’s work, he needed it, too. Wagging a finger at her, he added, “Make sure you’ve got enough for yourself. You’re nursing the baby.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Vanai said. “I’ll do fine, and so will Saxburh.” She leaned toward him to kiss him goodbye.

  As their lips brushed, her face changed-literally. Her eyes went from brown to blue-gray, her skin from swarthy to pale, her nose from proud and hooked to short and straight. Her hair stayed dark, but that was because it was dyed- he could see the golden roots, which he hadn’t been able to do a moment before. She seemed suddenly taller and slimmer, too: not stubby and broad-shouldered like most Forthwegians, including Ealstan himself.

  He finished the kiss. Nothing, as far as he was concerned, was more important than that. Then he said, “Your masking spell just slipped.”

  Her mouth twisted in annoyance. Then she shrugged. “I knew I was going to have to renew it pretty soon, anyhow. As long as it happens inside the flat, it’s not so bad.”

  “Not bad at all,” Ealstan said, and gave her another kiss. As she smiled, he went on, “I like the way you look just fine, regardless of whether you seem like a Forthwegian or a Kaunian. You know that.”

  Vanai nodded, but her smile slipped instead of getting bigger as he’d hoped. “Not many do,” she said. “Most Forthwegians have no use for me, and the Algarvians would cut my throat to use my life energy against Unkerlant if they saw me the way I really am. I suppose there are other Kaunians here, but how would I know? If they want to stay alive, they have to stay hidden, the same as I do.”

  Ealstan remembered the golden roots he’d seen. “You should dye your hair again, too. It’s growing out.”

  “Aye, I know. I’ll take care of it,” Vanai promised. One way the Algarvians checked to see whether someone was a sorcerously disguised Kaunian was by pulling out a few hairs and seeing if they turned yellow when removed from the suspect’s scalp. Ordinary hair dye countered that. The Algarvians being who and what they were, thoroughness in such matters paid off; Vanai kept the hair between her legs dark, too.

  Carrying his meager lunch, Ealstan went downstairs and out onto the street. The two blocks of flats across from his own were only piles of rubble these days. The Algarvians had smashed both of them during the Forthwegian uprising. Ealstan thanked the powers above that his own building had survived. It was, he knew, only luck.

  A Forthwegian man in a threadbare knee-length tunic scrabbled through the wreckage across the street, looking for wood or whatever else he could find. He stared up in alarm at Ealstan, his mouth a wide circle of fright in the midst of his shaggy gray beard and mustache. Ealstan waved; like everyone else in Eoforwic, he’d spent his share of time guddling through ruins, too. The shaggy man relaxed and waved back.

  Not a lot of people were on the streets: only a handful, compared to the days before the uprising and before the latest Unkerlanter advance stalled-or was allowed to stall? — in Eoforwic’s suburbs on the west bank of the Twegen River. Ealstan cocked his head to one side. He didn’t hear many eggs bursting. King Swemmel’s soldiers, there on the far bank of the Twegen, were taking it easy on Eoforwic today.

  His boots squelched in mud. Fall and winter were the rainy season in Eoforwic, as in the rest of Forthweg. At least I won’t have to worry much about snow, the way the Unkerlanters would if they were back home, Ealstan thought.

  He spotted a mushroom, pale against the dark dirt of another muddy patch, and stooped to pick it. Like all Forthwegians, like all the Kaunians in Forthweg- and emphatically unlike the Algarvian occupiers-he was wild for mushrooms of all sorts. He suddenly shook his head and straightened up. He was wild for mushrooms of almost all sorts. This one, though, could stay where it was. He knew a destroying power when he saw one. His father Hestan, back in Gromheort, had used direct and often painful methods to make sure he could tell a good mushroom from a poisonous one.

  I wish the redheads liked mushrooms, he thought. Maybe one of them would pick that one and kill himself.

  Algarvians directed Forthwegians hauling rubble to shore up the defenses against the Unkerlanter attack everyone in the city knew was coming. Forthwegian women in armbands of blue and white-Hilde’s Helpers, they called themselves- brought food to the redheads, but not to their countrymen, who were working harder. Ealstan scowled at the women. They were the female equivalent of the men of Plegmund’s Brigade: Forthwegians who fought for King Mezentio of Algarve. His cousin Sidroc fought in Plegmund’s Brigade if he hadn’t been killed yet. Ealstan hoped he had.

  Instead of joining the Forthwegian laborers as he often did, Ealstan turned away toward the center of town. He hadn’t been there for a while: not since he a
nd a couple of other Forthwegians teamed up to assassinate an Algarvian official. They’d worn Algarvian uniforms to do it, and they’d been otherwise disguised, too.

  Back then, the redheads had held only a slender corridor into the heart of Eoforwic-but enough, curse them, to use to bring in reinforcements. Now the whole city was theirs again … at least, until such time as the Unkerlanters chose to try to run them out. Ealstan had a demon of a time finding the particular abandoned building he was looking for. “It has to be around here somewhere,” he muttered. But where? Eoforwic had taken quite a pounding since he’d last come to these parts.

  If this doesn’t work, I’ll think of something else, he told himself. Still, this had to be his best chance. There was the building: farther into Eoforwic than he’d recalled. It didn’t look much worse than it had when he and his pals ducked into it to change from Algarvian tunics and kilts to Forthwegian-style long tunics. Ealstan ducked inside. The next obvious question was whether anyone had stolen the uniforms he and his comrades had abandoned.

  Why would anybody? he wondered. Forthwegians didn’t, wouldn’t, wear kilts, any more than their Unkerlanter cousins would. Ealstan didn’t think anybody could get much for selling the clothes. And so, with a little luck. .

  He felt like shouting when he saw the uniforms still lying where they’d been thrown when he and his friends got rid of them. He picked up the one he’d worn. It was muddier and grimier than it had been: rain and dirt and dust had had their way with it. But a lot of Algarvians in Eoforwic these days wore uniforms that had known better years. Ealstan held it up and nodded. He could get away with it.

  He pulled his own tunic off over his head, then got into the Algarvian clothes. The high, tight collar was as uncomfortable as he remembered. His tunic went into the pack. He took from his belt pouch first a small stick, then a length of dark brown yarn and another of red. He twisted them together and began a chant in classical Kaunian. His spell that would temporarily disguise him as an Algarvian was modeled after the one Vanai had created to let her-and other Kaunians-look like the Forthwegian majority and keep Mezentio’s men from seizing them.

  When Ealstan looked at himself, he could see no change. Even a mirror wouldn’t have helped. That was the sorcery’s drawback. Only someone else could tell you if it had worked-and you found out the hard way if it wore off at the wrong time. He plucked at his beard. It was shaggier than Algarvians usually wore theirs. They often went in for side whiskers and imperials and waxed mustachios. But a lot of them were more unkempt than they had been, too. He thought he could get by with the impersonation-provided the spell had worked.