by Pam Uphoff
"Yes." She smiled, a bit rueful. "Why I ever imagined that someone as shy as I was, am, would like being a princess, and eventually a queen is . . . Well, I suspect I imagined it because my father wanted me to. I suppose it must seem odd to most politicians, that neither you nor I want that sort of power."
Garit had been studying the babies. "I suspect it's because they don't realize how much power over their own lives they would have to give up. They were born and raised to have servants and guards and flunkies and secretaries. Not freedom.
"In the Army, I'm more free than most dukes. You follow orders, but you risk your life. And go out drinking with your buddies at night. You don't get smothered in comfort and controlled in a more basic manner."
Staven nodded. "Garit's seen both sides. I was mostly raised in my mother's house. Much less smothering."
Eden set the squirming children down. "I know all about smothering. I know how bad it can get. I won't live in Karista. If the boys wind up in the line of succession, I'll visit often. But then we're coming back here, to sanity."
"Good plan." A couple of sane, happy, self reliant country boys winding up as king and spear? Common sense in the government? I wish.
Garit met her gaze. "Lady Eden, I'll be posted in Fort Stag for another year and a half. If you need anything, let me know. And with your permission, I'll hang around the boys a bit when I'm in the village."
Damn. Garit has grown up. Gotten responsible. And here I am, trying to dodge my responsibilities.
Chapter Six
Late Winter 1393
Ash, Foothills Province, Kingdom of the West, Comet Fall
"Silly to be nervous. It's not like I haven't visited lots of other pyramids." River clenched her jaw and stepped into the illusion on the side of Harry's Tavern. And out onto a well worn path, hard frozen dirt, raised a bit for drainage. Ahead, an empty field, furrows with a dusting of dirty snow. Higher altitude. The signs of spring we're seeing lower down haven't made it up here yet.
The path turned left and led to a road, hard frozen gravel and dirt. And from the road they could see the village.
"Well. It's colorful." Grace sounded seriously uncertain. "It's not like every pyramid has to be in a city or anything."
The other man with them snickered. Xen. They call him a "baby god." Wolf's son. Born and raised.
"Ah. City girls." He had a snarky grin on. "Don't underestimate the place. C'mon. I'll show you around."
"Hate these bloody corridors . . . "
River turned to Simon. "Still complaining?"
He stepped up to the road. "It distracts me from the realization that I'm so very out of place, here. The world isn't supposed to change in the blink of an eye." His tone softened toward the end. "But since it put you back into it, I'll keep it."
Damn the God of Art. Why didn't he collect both of us at the same time? Simon aged eleven years, while I was trapped, before Art took him as well. Now he's thirty years older than me. I'll lose him so soon!
"The grange barn, there, apart from being a handy place to stick the ends of corridors, is used for storage. Umm, used to be the Mages' indoor ceremonial spot, but they walked off in a huff seventeen years ago. This is Main Street. The first cross street is School Street, because of the school. The second cross street is Mill Road. Yes, there is a mill down at the stream to the right. Which is west, in case you wondered. We're walking south."
"At least you have a store." Grace peered hopefully through the open door of Brocks Dry Goods. "Umm, how can I earn any money, here?"
"That will depend on what training you've had. Magical and otherwise." Xen pointed down the street. "The Twin Inn was built where Harry kept the Tavern for, umm, seven or eight centuries? The young witches around here earn their pocket money waiting tables, cooking, and cleaning. Once you can sense density changes, you can head up to Gray Valley. It's an old volcanic pipe. Lots of diamonds in the sediments."
"I know that garden!" Simon sounded surprised. "The Goddess of Health and Fertility lives here?"
Xen inhaled deeply. "Yes, she does." He strolled past the garden and stopped in the middle of the street. There wasn't any traffic to be impeded. "If, instead of exploring the mill, you head east, you will notice the road dwindles to a path, which forks as it hits the first slope. To the left, the witches' hotsprings. To the right, hiding behind the hill you will find a vineyard and a winery that you will also recognize."
"Oh." River followed the right hand path with her eyes. Home. A long time ago, when I was a little girl. But Kendra Star died over a thousand years ago. Now this Rustle person lives there. And I'm going to have to like it.
"Damn! That's an impressive volcano!"
River lifted her gaze. Clouds covered the peaks of jagged mountains. A perfect cone, unreal in its symmetry, pierced the clouds. Sunlight gleamed on snow.
"Mount Frost." Xen paused while they all admired it. "The witches climb it for their summer solstice ceremony."
River blinked. "They climb that!"
"Indeed."
They all turned. The little old lady was straight and thin. Glowing with barely shielded power.
"Answer, may I introduce River Fireflydaut, formerly of the Sahara Pyramid, Lady Grace Mercydaut, and Dr. Simon Golan. Answer is the Senior Sister of the Mount Frost Pyramid."
"Humph. I shall be interested in the differences in your training." Eagle eyes moved from River to Grace. "If you have any." She flipped a dismissive hand at Xen. "Go away and take the wizard with you."
Xen just nodded politely, and took Simon by the arm. As they stepped away, River could hear his quiet comment. "Answer's never yet eaten a fellow witch. Let's grab some horses and I'll take you out to the Wizards' School."
"Men!" The old witch eyed them. "I'd say something about 'these decadent times' but for all I know, the witches of your time married. Well, let's walk up to the hotsprings, for a chat, and perhaps some demonstrations."
Tests. No doubt some dominance displays. Oh joy.
***
Simon grit his teeth and left River to the mercy of the local witches. Having her back for two months wasn't long enough!
"She'll be fine. No matter the extra chapters in the history texts, people haven't really changed. Even if she doesn't want to live here, she'll know the pyramid and be able to visit, to ask questions." Xen took the right fork.
Simon cast a long look back to where River was now in the center of a growing group of women. "Yeah. She needs to make more friends. New friends."
"So do you. So . . . you're a physicist? And the geology is a hobby?"
"Serious hobby. I need to find out the state of physics, here."
"King's University in Karista is your best bet. I'll take you there when . . . " He paused.
Simon turned to look at him.
"Either you realize she's enjoying herself and can be safely left alone, or she grabs you and flees from Answer."
Simon snorted. "Of all the senior witches I've ever met—all three of them—only two wanted me skewered and cooked up for dinner. The other was River's foster mother, and the Wolf's . . . almost wife."
"Would that be Kendra Star? Dad's memory is so unreliable . . . I think she's the only person he remembers without prompting, from before the comet fell."
"Yeah. I think River's a bit uncertain how she feels about your mother."
"Mom's the elder sister of the Rip Crossing Pyramid. Now that Q and I are grown, she doesn't actually spend a whole lot of time being domestic. Now, as I was about to say, I'm starting classes at the University in two weeks, so when you flee in terror from the Master Wizard and River flees in terror of the Eldest Sister, the pair of you can come to Karista and check out the Karista Pyramid and the University."
"There's a pyramid in Karista? Why didn't we start there?"
"This is the center of magical learning, these days. The Karista Pyramid . . . is less rigorous."
Simon glowered. "Define less rigorous." There was a huge old oak tree hiding a
narrow ravine. The stream trickling out was misting slightly in the cold air, and the smell of sulfur was getting stronger.
Xen hesitated—verbally—as he paced up the path beside the stream. The walls fell back to form a beautiful little pocket valley. Rows of grape vines, branches barren with a dusting of snow.
"Well, they're collectively referred to as the Sisters from Hell. But that's just because the Senior Sister has taken up with The God of Just Deserts. The women themselves are just fluffy headed fashion-and-boy-crazed. They attend all the balls and dances."
"The God of Just Deserts? Does he still have his dogs?"
"Oh yes. And they had puppies."
"Old Gods!"
A laugh from the vineyard. Simon relaxed at the familiar figure. Even taller than Xen, broader. A thousand years later and the god was still solid muscle, still looked a vigorous thirty years of age.
"Speaking of hell hound puppies, Blackie has a litter of three in the barn. Fortunately Silky only had one, since she nested down on your bed."
"Oh . . . I've been so busy otherwise I'd forgotten about that little incident."
Simon hesitated. "Hell hound puppies?"
"Yeah. Trump and Hell have sons at that really obnoxious teenage stage. They dosed my dogs while they were supposed to be tracking down an assassin. So the pups will be three quarters Hell hound. Well. I better check on the moms. I figured we could borrow some horses, and I'd take Simon out to Prairie Coast. River's meeting the witches."
"Oh. Well, there probably won't be any bloodshed."
***
"So, I see that you are a Half Moon, and expecting again."
River glanced sidelong at the Eldest Sister. "Yes. Rather to my surprise. I had a very difficult miscarriage, and had not taken again in five years of trying."
Giggles from some of the girls following them.
"I'll bet there was wine involved." One of them chirped.
River glanced over her shoulder. The girl was deep tanned and blonde, a spectacular combination that was fairly common here, but rare back in . . . where and when she'd come from. "Yes. I . . . did not believe the warning that came with it, figured it didn't apply to me. I wanted Simon to try it, in case it really would rejuvenate him. Which it has."
Answer snorted. "Temporarily. It's just good health, not actual changes to his metabolic age. He'll age a bit faster and die just as soon as he would have without it. I suppose I ought to be polite and say that you will then be free to study witchcraft, but you'd resent it. And," she raised her voice as River bristled, "you ought to be free whether he's alive or dead. But you aren't. Pitiful. Hopefully you've at least been decently trained."
River clamped her jaws shut to avoid saying anything she might regret. And hoped she wouldn't regret not saying what she thought. She couldn't see Grace, the girl was back with a pack of youngsters her own age, give or take a millennia. Good. Maybe this horrible woman will ignore her.
"Yes, I am well trained for my time. I'm eager to see how magical techniques have changed since my . . . vacation."
Answer frowned. "I hope Art's well and truly contained. If he escapes, we'll deal with him. We simply cannot allow magical criminals to roam free."
Chapter Seven
Late Winter 1393
Cave of the Gods, Ring World
"It's ugly and scary. Get rid of it." Dwarf Two suppressed shudders of terror as he looked at the hideous statues the others had dug up. He'd seen enough in his time at the temple in Paree to recognize a man, a powerful magic user, being transformed, being traumatized and driven to becoming one of the major gods.
The other statue wasn't much better. At least she was physically normal. But angry.
Dwarf Two looked sidelong at his crew. Twelve little gods, as they were called back home. But here they were free. And must stay that way. Must. It's been sixteen years. We're doing so well. We have wives. We have children. But his friends looked unhappy at his reception of their find. He relented a bit. "You can keep the lady statue, but the other one . . . really, you should bury it again."
Giant Three glared, picked up the lady statue and staggered deeper into the cave.
Dwarf Two eyed the others. They shuffled their feet and then four of them grabbed various parts of the hideous goat-thing and hauled it off out of sight.
Faint feminine chatter stilled, then resumed with a change of tone. The women were back from wherever they'd gone, and had apparently spotted the ugly statue. He stalked out to where he could see what they thought of it.
Gale Force, his beautiful Gale Force, had one hand on her hip, the other pointing firmly away from the main cave entrance. Dwarf Two heaved a sigh of relief. If she had wanted to keep the statue, it would have been kept.
The four men hefted the weight and carried it out of sight.
The women conferred, then Gale Force and Spring Breeze followed the men.
Good. It'll get buried properly. Deeply.
Two hours later they all returned, running. "It's alive!" Rabbit shouted.
"What did you do?" Dwarf Two hustled out and looked behind them. Dwarf Eight and Other Dwarf Eight were bring up the rear, but nothing was behind them.
"We didn't do anything." Both heads of Twin spoke at once.
Gale Force edged closer to him, looking apprehensive. "I poked it and . . . something happened. It started moving. Really slowly, so we tried to bury it. Then it started moving faster, and then it turned into flesh and blood. We ran away. When I looked back it was turning into a man."
Dwarf Two swallowed. "Keep a watch, be ready to escape out the rear entrance. I'll go spy on that . . . thing and find out which way it is going to go."
Chapter Eight
Late Winter 1393
Wizard's School, Prairie Coast
"This is a gate, not a corridor."
Simon gaze glumly at what he would have called a moon door, back in his old life a thousand years ago. Round, but flattened at the bottom because the rest of the circle was underground. This way wagons could roll right through. Or horses leap and buck.
"Great, those are even worse." He lifted the reins and Phobos trotted happily through the gate and out into a rolling grasslands. The smell of the ocean on the warm breeze. A path, a rutted dirt track, cut between low hills. The peak of a roof showed over the crest of the hill to the left of the path. Green tile? A bit odd. Then Phobos carried him through the gap and he could see the whole building. Pale stone, steps running the length of the front, columns with carved lintels. Only two floors, possibly with a basement. A second building beyond it had more fancy work. The wagon track dwindled into a footpath beyond, disappearing into sand dunes. He could hear the crash of waves on a beach.
"Let's dump your stuff at the second building, and walk down to the beach. Phobos can stay here, as long as you want her."
Simon swung down to the ground and rubbed the big black mare's face. "She reminds me of some other horses I've owned . . . also related to Jet, now that I think about it."
"Oh, good, then you know how smart they are. Just turn her loose. She'll hang around with Pyrite." The boy slanted a glance his direction. "Why are you looking so apprehensive?"
"Wizards . . . back then they were not nice people."
"They aren't nice now, but they aren't nearly as bad as they got for a while." Xen stripped his saddle off his big chestnut. "C'mon. Face the music and get it over with."
Simon unsaddled Phobos. "Yeah. Right." He slipped the bridle off her and turned her loose. Gathered his courage and followed the younger man down the path. Through the dunes the vista open up to a broad golden beach, the roaring waves foaming up to shore where a few men and boys stood facing the water. It looked like ten students and two teachers. Girls. Half of the students were female.
"Nil sent most of the students home after the assassination." Xen glanced back to where he'd stopped.
"Girls? You've got girl wizards?" Simon grit his teeth as he saw the man trying to not laugh.
"A fe
w. It's a recessive on the X chromosome, so women have to have two. I think though, that these are all witches with the wizard gene on their other X chromosome. Nil will teach them to tap that power source, but they usually only use it in special circumstances. Such as on boats."
"Ah yes. Glad to hear witches still get sea sick, else I might have to totally give up on all my preconceived ideas." His eyes narrowed at the laughing voices, one of the guys leering at the girls . . . "Was ritual castration not necessary, then?"
"Well, about eight or nine centuries ago wizards learned how to regrow their testicles, then we figured out how to magically suppress puberty. Once the brain has finished growing, the hormones don't hurt anything."
Simon heaved a wistful breath. "Well, seventy years too late for me."
The old man ahead dismissed his class with a wave that scattered the older ones. The other teacher flung his hands in the air, and his students galloped away as well.
Simon followed Xen on down the beach, meeting the teachers halfway.
"So, this the Old Wolf's infamous wizard spy." The tall sinewy one looked to be healthy sixty.
"Err . . .Infamous?" Simon eyed him dubiously.
"Dad and Master Nil argue regularly whether natural wizards like you aren't actually more successful, in less obvious ways, than the extremely powerful wizards Scoone produced eight hundred years ago."
Simon turned his head enough to see Xen's grin.
"And then this old wizard pops up out of Art's museum, and he's the previously nameless wizard Dad always used as an example."
The second teacher walked up as he spoke. Not as tall as the old one, but broader, with what looked like mostly muscle. "So we've been waiting to meet this paragon of Subtle Wizardly Excellence for months."
Simon frowned. "I was . . . keeping an eye on my favorite witch."
"Thus proving that you're intelligent." The old one smiled. "But what about your education? I'm Nil, sometimes referred to as the Sheep Man. If we bothered to have an Archwizard, I'd be him."