by Fran Jacobs
"I don't know," she said awkwardly. She cast a desperate look for help at her brother. "I don't know, Dale."
"Glamour," Silver said, with a shrug.
I saw Hazel's eyes darken. That probably wasn't the sort of help she had wanted him to give her. No doubt she had wanted him to try and talk me out of it, or persuade me that there was no way of doing this, instead he had given me the answer, even if I didn't really understand what he meant.
"Glamour?" I repeated.
"A simple spell to make you look different from how you are now," Silver said. "It won't work on mages, they'll be able to see right through it, but it will work on the stable-boy as he has no magic ability, or brains, whatsoever. So, as long as you avoid any mages on your way down to get your horse, it should be fine."
"Oh," I said, although I didn't understand at all what he was talking about. "All right."
"Then it's decided?" Silver said. "On the fourth day off from now, just over three weeks, we'll do this?"
"Yes," I said. "We shall."
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Chapter Twenty
STANDING STONES
"This is a bad idea," Teveriel said, arms crossed over his chest as I stood nervously in the centre of the room, facing him. Silver stood between the two of us, studying Teveriel quietly. We'd been forced to drag the bard out of bed so that Silver could see exactly what he looked like, down to the smallest detail, so that I could be made to look the same. And he was not happy about being pulled from his warm bed, anymore than he was at being forced to stay behind. In fact, he was more than just unhappy about it, he was sulking.
"I have to see this circle," I said.
"I don't see why. It's just a big ring of stones. What do you expect will happen there?"
"Nothing," I said, with a shrug. "But I still have to see it."
"Then why can't I come?"
"We've been over this," I said. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but I can't go down to the stable, disguised as someone else, and just ride off with my own horse or anyone else's for that matter. The stable-boy would be far too suspicious. I need to look like you and borrow your horse so he won't think anything of it. Tev, you're my best friend, you know that. And I've dragged you to all sorts of stupid places, and I wish I could drag you with me to this one, but I can't. I'm sorry."
"Best friend?" Teveriel raised one golden eyebrow. "I remember not so long ago when you said you supposed I was your friend." There wasn't much I could say to that and Teveriel looked rather pleased at what I'd said, even though he was still pouting, his lower lip stuck out like a spoilt child. "Well, seeing as you're my best friend, I suppose I will have to make some sacrifices for the greater good. I hope you appreciate this."
"Of course I do," I told him. "I appreciate everything." Trellany snorted and I glanced at her. She was standing with Hazel and Belyisia, her arms folded beneath her breasts and a doubtful look on her face. "Just because I act like an idiot, it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate what you do for me."
"Is he meant to appreciate it?" Silver asked. "I thought lords just took everything for granted."
I stuck my tongue out at him. "Just do this glamour thing," I told him, "and stop talking back to your betters."
"If you aren't nice to me," Silver said, smiling, "I'll make you into a big, fat, four-headed turkey." He laughed and laid his slender hands on my shoulders.
"Will it hurt?" I asked.
"Will what hurt? Being turned into a turkey? Yes, I imagine so."
"No," I rolled my eyes at him. "This glamour."
"It shouldn't," he said. "It's just an illusion. If I was to really change you, which I can, you know, then yes, that would hurt a lot. All your bones, muscles and skin shifting and changing. That would be agony. You'd probably scream and alert half the school to what we're doing, which is why we chose the glamour option, over the transforming you completely option."
"Can you really make someone into a four-headed turkey?" Teveriel asked, curiously, head tilted to one side.
Silver shrugged. "Yes. But we're not meant to use our magic frivolously like that and the penalty, if we're caught, is pretty harsh."
"How harsh?" I asked. "You won't get in trouble for this, will you?"
"We won't get caught," Silver told me. Then he sighed softly. "The harshest penalty for anyone caught abusing their gifts, is to be stripped of them and sent away from the school, but that hasn't happened to anyone yet, not in the whole history of White Oaks. Students play around with their gifts all the time and this is fairly minor in comparison to what some students have done. If Tival finds out, he'll be furious, but I doubt that he'll make us the first to suffer the ultimate penalty. It would be a different matter if we were trying to hurt you, or were trying to raise a demon, or something like that."
I nodded, but I had my doubts now. Was it really fair of me to ask Silver to do this, knowing what he could be risking?
"It's my choice," Silver said, meeting my eyes. "And I will accept the consequences for it. Don't worry, Dale."
"Why would you risk possible expulsion for me?" I asked.
Silver shrugged. "You're my friend," he replied. "And I know it won't come to that." He gave my shoulders a firm squeeze. "Close your eyes and relax."
I did as he asked, anxiously. I felt nauseous and there was an army of butterflies flittering around inside my stomach. "C-can you do anything with magic?" I asked in a small voice. "T-take things away?"
"Take what things away?" Silver asked, his breath hot on my face.
"Dreams?" I whispered. "Stop a man from dreaming? Or-or seeing things, or visions, or hearing voices that aren't there?"
I could feel eyes staring at me, but I tried to pretend that I couldn't by squeezing my eyes closed even tighter.
Silver shook his head. "No," he said flatly. "I don't think that we can. Why would you want it done?"
"Nightmares," I said. "I have nightmares, a-and the ... the hallucinations that I have as a result of my drug withdrawal. I just thought there might be a way to stop it."
"So you want to use magic to replace the withdrawal? I don't see how that would be wise, or healthy." I gave a shrug. "I'm sorry, Dale. I can't help you. The healer might be able to give you something to help you sleep, but I think he would fear you becoming dependant on that instead. I'm sorry. I know it can't be pleasant for you, but some things just have to be suffered."
"Yes," I said reluctantly. "All right. Please, continue."
A surge of heat began to build up in my belly and then it slowly started to spread throughout my body. It wasn't an unpleasant or painful feeling, it was just a bit odd, almost itchy. "Is magic always warm?" I asked.
"Always?" Silver asked me, and for a moment I feared he would ask me where I had experienced magic before. Then he said, "No, different types of magic result in different sensations. Most magic does feel hot, though, as it requires energy and energy is heat."
I nodded, but I didn't really understand a word of it. And a moment later I heard Silver move away from me, so I opened my eyes. He was standing a good few feet back, yet I could still feel the heat spreading through my body, only now it was increasing in temperature. Everyone was watching me curiously and Teveriel was standing very still, staring at me, his eyes almost popping out of his skull, and the more the heat grew, the more alarmed and shocked he seemed to become.
When the heat finally died down, Silver handed me a mirror. "Thank you," I said, lifting it towards me a little cautiously.
Teveriel's face stared back at me.
It was incredible. I had his eye colour, his face structure, his hair, everything! I even had a small birthmark on my temple that Teveriel had on his. I set the mirror down and looked at my hands, at my body. My fingers were calloused, just like the bard's, and I appeared to have his body, too, broad shoulders, slim waist and long legs. To my own eyes I was now Teveriel.
"Very impressive," Hazel said.
"Yes," Belyisi
a agreed. "All your practising has really paid off."
Silver grinned smugly.
"I-I didn't think that you could see it." I said.
"Of course we can," Silver said. "How else would we know if it looked right or not? We can see the glamour, but we can also see right through it to what you look like underneath. It's like Teveriel's head is layered on top of your own. It isn't very easy to look at."
"I can imagine."
"You better not talk," Trellany said. "Unless you have a way of changing his voice, too?"
"Not without it hurting, no," Silver said. "So yes, keep your yap shut, Candale, until we're safely out of the school."
"All right," I said. I looked at Teveriel. His approval on this was very important. After all, it was his face, his body, I was now wearing. "Well?"
"Do I really look like that?" he asked curiously.
"Yes," Trellany said, her eyes narrowed as she regarded me. "You two look like twins."
"How does it feel?" Teveriel asked me.
"I feel the same," I said. "And I see everything as I would from my height, rather than yours."
"Hmm." Then Tev shook his head. "No, I don't like this. It's too strange to be looking at myself walking around, yet hearing someone else's voice come out of me, so, if you don't need me anymore, I'm going back to bed. Enjoy your day as me, Candale. It's a privilege that not many get to experience."
When his bedroom door had closed behind him, we got up and set out.
The stable-boy paid me absolutely no attention, although I'm sure he must have been just a little curious as to why I kept my head bowed, didn't say anything, and clung so tightly to Hazel's arm. I held her hard enough to leave little indents from my nails in the plush fabric of her coat. It was just as well that it wasn't her bare arm that she had offered me, but her coat-clad one, otherwise I might well have drawn blood.
"Odd," Trellany said, as we mounted up and rode out of the school gates, "you would think that after all the times you have done stupid things, that you knew would get you into trouble, you would have learnt to control your fear a little better. If that stable-boy hadn't been half asleep, he might have wondered why your face had gone as pale as the snow around and why you were twitching."
"Fear is a good emotion," I told her. "It prepares me to run and reminds me that I'm alive."
"It isn't such a good an emotion if it gives you away, Candale," she said. "Or if it draws attention to you."
"But you are here to protect me," I told her, "should that happen."
"Until the spring," Trellany said.
"What happens in the spring?" Hazel asked curiously.
"Candale and I go home," Trellany said. "And someone else will be taking over his protection. I decided to resign after he went off walking in the gardens without informing me." Her green eyes narrowed as they focused at me. "You didn't tell her I resigned?"
"I didn't tell anyone," I said, "because I hope to change your mind. I don't want anyone else to be my protector, Trellany."
"You should have thought of that before you went for a walk without telling me," she replied. "I will resign when I see your grandfather again and perhaps I'll then go home for a few weeks. Spend some time with people who do appreciate me."
I made sure that I didn't show any outward reaction to what she had said, although it stung. I forced myself to smile at her. "We'll see," I told her.
"Yes," Trellany said. "We will."
It was Hazel who changed the subject after that and for the rest of the journey we kept the mood light by telling jokes and stories, which made the two hour ride seem to fly by. Soon the stone circle came into view, but even from a distance I could tell that it wasn't the one from my vision. The circle I'd seen had been smaller, more intense, giving the feeling of being in an outside room. This circle was huge, rambling, and the stones were spread too wide apart, almost carelessly, as though there was no pattern to them, no purpose. And I didn't think that it was the ring of stones from the song either, because, even though a couple of the stones were on their sides, I think that they'd been placed that way from the start, rather than having 'fallen' over.
"What's wrong?" Hazel asked, seeing the dismay on my face.
"It's so big," I said. "It doesn't look so big in your picture."
"I took a section of stones," she said, "and a little artistic license." She frowned. "I'm sorry. This isn't what you wanted to see. You're disappointed ... ?"
"No," I said quickly, "oh no, of course not. I'm just surprised, that's all. I'd expected something smaller. But this ... it's still beautiful here and I'm glad we came."
"Good," she said, giving me a nervous grin. "I'm glad."
We rode up slowly into the circle. A little further on, at the top of the hill, there was a flat stone, the altar. I decided to head up there on foot, feeling a little saddle-sore after the ride, so I dismounted and let the horse snuffle around, trying to find some grass through the snow.
"How are you feeling?" Trellany asked me, as she swung out of her own saddle.
"Stiff," I said, stretching. "It's been a long time since I've been in the saddle."
"Yes," she said, "me, too." But she gave no sign of it as she started to push her way up towards the centre of the circle and the flat stone slab that lay there.
From the top of the hill we had a good view of the rest of the stone circle and of the countryside in general. Everything was covered in a white, crisp blanket of snow. The trees and grey standing stones were wrapped in it and it covered some of the bushes almost completely, like thick icing on a cake. It was very beautiful, but I was still disappointed.
I let out my breath in a heavy sigh.
"This place isn't what you hoped," Trellany asked, drawing near to me. She wasn't out of breath at all, although her face was glowing with the cold.
"No," I said. Behind her I could see Silver, Hazel and Belyisia struggling to join us, pushing through the snow. They would be a good few minutes, so it gave me a chance to admit how disappointed I really was without hurting Hazel's feelings. "It's still beautiful out here, but it isn't the circle I saw in my vision. But," I murmured, sweeping the snow from the stone with my fingers, "there was this symbol on the altar in my vision, just as there is here." And when the others drew near, red faced and panting, I asked them about it.
"As we told you, this circle, like the others, was a temple to the earth god, Karn," Silver said. "And this altar would have been where the magical rites were carried out and where offerings of food and handmade goods would have also been made to him."
"There are other stone circles?" I asked.
"Yes. Karn, like the others of the Quartet, was worshipped universally, although perhaps with a different name. There would have been at least one main temple, a ring of stones like this, or one of wood, in each of the kingdoms and perhaps a few smaller ones, too. There would have also have been an altar, in many of the villages, outside, with access to the land below."
"You said that magical rites took place here," Trellany said. "Were the followers of Karn more accepting of magic then?"
"No," Silver said, shaking his head, as he climbed up to sit on the altar. "No. They treated those with magic the same way that they're treated in other kingdoms, like Idryan, now. Anyone who was caught with it was burnt alive at the stake, and it was often used as an excuse to get rid of someone from your town or village that you didn't like, or a wife, or husband, who you no longer loved, or a rival of some sort. You could say they had magic, that you had seen them cavorting with demons, doing evil, and they would be burnt alive at the stake in front of everyone. The only time that an act of magic was accepted was if a priest carried it out, because then it was seen as the work of the god, and was all right. All priests of the Quartet, the four ancient elemental gods, were mages. It was the only way that they could practise magic safely, by claiming it was the will of one of the gods."
I nodded. I knew all this from my own classes back at Carnia Castle, but I could see
from Trellany's face that this was new to her. "I guess that you can get away with anything if you say that it was the work of the gods," she said.
Hazel nodded. "And that was the situation for years. People were happy to accept magic, as long as it was done by the priests, but things began to change when the new gods, Drakan and his sister Cerone, were brought up from the south."
"Their ceremonies were simpler," Silver continued. "They just involved prayers and services, and that made the worship of the Quartet, with its sacrifices and ceremonies and magical rites, seem old fashioned and superstitious. People began to turn away, but they feared that the old gods might want to punish them for this, through their priests, so they decided to get there first and drive them out. They started to attack the priests, novices and anyone else who they thought might have sympathy for the old ways, in the streets, in their homes, at their temples. The priests fled into exile, where they banded together and worked, in secret, planning their return and to take back the land and their temples. They openly proclaimed that they had magic and started to recruit others with the gift, telling them that they no longer had to hide behind the guise of being a priest, or suffer death for their talents, and their numbers grew. It led to the brink of war, but then King Alarn came to the throne at his father's death. He had sympathies for the old ways and decided to officially unite the Quartet with the two newer deities, creating the Six, as we know them now. He also legalised magic, married a mage, and built White Oaks, the first school to train those with the gift. And that's our end of today's history lesson." He turned to face me, peering over the top of Hazel's head. "Have you seen all that you came here to see?"
"Yes," I said. "Thank you."
"Then you won't mind if we make good use of the time, and the snow, that we have left," Hazel said.
"What do you mean?" I began.
A snowball hit me on the side of the head. Whirling around I saw Belyisia, giggling, as she shaped the snow into another ball, which she then threw at Silver. He used his sister to shield himself, the snow hitting Hazel squarely on her shoulder. She squealed, wriggled free from his grasp and started to shape the snow into a ball of her own.