The Soprano Sorceress: The First Book of the Spellsong Cycle

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

  After a moment, the woman reached out and took the silver, her eyes still on Anna. “For good or evil, regent or lady, you have given your word. If you keep it, none will ever gainsay your rule. If not, no sorcery will save you.” The sorceress nodded. “I agree.”

  After a moment, the woman stepped back. “Harmony be with you, lady.”

  “And with you,” Anna answered, feeling as though everyone in the square had begun to breathe again. She flicked the reins, and Farinelli whuffed as he stepped forward.

  Two workmen in soiled trousers and ragged shirts stacked barrels in front of the cooper’s, less than a dozen yards away. Neither even looked up as the column resumed its walk through the streets of Elhi toward Jecks’ hold.

  “The people despair, but they hope,” said Alvar quietly. “You cannot afford to disappoint them.”

  “The people are fickle,” Daffyd said. “Once they cheered Lord Barjim, and some even cheered Lord Behlem.”

  “Some are. Some aren’t,” Anna said, thinking about the bleak gray eyes of the barefoot woman, a woman younger than Anna, yet who had suffered more, far more, and who had to put her faith in a stranger and a sorceress.

  The houses beyond the square seemed newer, and were, as in the south, generally finished on the outside with a plaster or stucco. Some were gray, others painted.

  Beyond the north end of Elhi, where the houses began to spread, and where more abandoned cots appeared, the fields swept upward from flat bottomland filled with stubble or recently-turned dark earth to higher, hillier fields, most of which were covered in browned grass or weeds.

  Thinking once more about what lay ahead, Anna turned in the saddle toward Daffyd. “How are your players doing?”

  “Well enough. Well enough, though they question, and I have no answers.”

  “We’ll have answers before too long.” Unfortunately … unfortunately.

  “I await them, but I fear those answers,” answered the young player.

  So do I. “We can’t avoid them.”

  “I would rather not rush to find them.” The corners of Daffyd’s mouth curled into a sardonic smile.

  The sorceress glanced over her shoulder, seeing both the dust and the line of horsemen that stretched all the way back into the town. Had she ever dreamed she would be leading such a group?

  Her head went from the lancers to the banner at her right and to the well-kept road ahead that curved to the right and then back to the left as it wound up to the hall.

  Although dusty, the road to the hall was well kept, and Anna could see where potholes had been filled and tamped smooth. The fields had been turned or harvested, and the wooden fences, if darkened by weather, remained sound, with occasional cross-beams of newer and lighter-colored wood.

  The well-maintained red stone walls, which ran about half a dek on a side, were short for a Defalkan hall, Anna judged, no more than four yards high—enough to present a defense against casual attacks and to create an impression of strength—and well away from the central hall—at least a hundred yards.

  The iron-bound wooden gates were open, and two guards stood in the shade of the arch as Anna reined up.

  Both guards bowed.

  “Welcome to Elheld, regent and lady,” offered the shorter, gray-haired armsman. “Lord Jecks awaits you in the hall.”

  “Thank you. We appreciate the welcome.” Anna offered a smile, hopefully warmer than merely professional, despite her weariness. “Lord Jecks is known for his fairness and hospitality.”

  “He is a good lord,” acknowledged the greeter.

  With another smile, Anna eased Farinelli through the gate.

  The outbuildings, also of red stone, were set about twenty yards inside the walls and paralleled them all the way around the red stone barrier, except directly behind the gates.

  By the time Anna reached the front of the hall, the white-haired Jecks stood on the long columned portico that extended the length of the hall front. The hall’s combination of squared-off stone pillars, heavy stone walls, and red stone conveyed to Anna an impression of a cross between Egyptian and Southern antebellum architecture.

  Beside Jecks were a heavyset and clean-shaven man with jowls and iron-gray hair, and a boy with mahogany-colored hair, already broad shoulders, and a strong-boned face.

  “Greetings, Lady Anna. We are honored that the first visit of the regent is to Elheld.” Jecks offered a bow, respectful, but not mocking.

  “You’re the one who honors me, Lord Jecks.” Anna dismounted and, reins in hand, stepped forward toward the boy.

  “Lord Jimbob?”

  “Lady Anna.” The boy bowed. “My grandsire tells me that I have much to thank you for.”

  “You may not thank me so profusely,” Anna said wryly, “Once you take your patrimony in hand. Enjoy being young while you can.”

  Jecks laughed. “I have told him that, but he is serious beyond his years.”

  Anna wondered what child wouldn’t be, given his parents’ death, and given the possibility that he could have been killed by Lord Behlem.

  “This is Gelen, Jimbob’s tutor and counselor.” The white-haired Jecks inclined his head toward the heavy man. “Gelen, this is Lady Anna, the regent who has reclaimed Jimbob’s patrimony.”

  Anna turned. “Alvar commands the lancers who accompanied me.” She gestured toward the swarthy officer, who had dismounted and bowed. “And Daffyd is the leader of the regent’s players. He was with us at the Sand Pass.”

  Daffyd bowed. “I’m honored, Lord Jecks.”

  “I am pleased your head player has experienced the full might of the dark ones—and survived,” replied the Lord of Elheld.

  “Surely you do not intend magic …” began Gelen.

  “The Lady Anna has assured me,” Jecks said smoothly. “But if Defalk needs her magic, what good are her players if they are in Falcor and she is here?” He motioned to a stocky figure in a blue-and-gold tunic. “Tunbar?”

  “Ser.”

  “Captain Alvar commands the regent’s lancers. If you would ensure that their mounts are taken care of and that they are quartered in the barracks …”

  “Captain.” Tunbar bowed to Alvar.

  “The players will guest in the hall. Captain Alvar … you are most welcome in the hall … or the barracks … .” Jecks’ voice was neutral, yet concerned. “I must insist, however, that you dine with us, as will the subofficer who is the regent’s personal guard chief. And of course, the chief of players.”

  The sorceress wanted to smile. She could still learn a lot from Jecks.

  “Thank you, ser,” responded Alvar. “Best I quarter with the lancers, if there is a suitable space.”

  “There is, better than some rooms in the hall, captain,” offered Tunbar. “Leastwise, Captain Sepko always said so. And there’s one for the guard subofficer, too.”

  A faint smile crossed Spirda’s face

  “Might we spend a few moments in conference, Lady Anna, before you refresh yourself for dinner?” asked Jecks.

  “That might be best,” Anna said. If the older lord requested such a meeting, he had his reasons. “But I will have to groom Farinelli first.”

  A frown crossed young Jimbob’s face, then vanished.

  Jecks laughed, and he turned to the boy. “The palomino may be a gelding, Jimbob, but he is a raider warhorse, and none can touch him save the lady Anna. She may look like a delicate lady, but more than a few have died at her hand.”

  Anna wanted to wince at that, but she understood, and only nodded slightly.

  “How many, Lady Anna?” asked Jimbob.

  “Best you ask how many thousands,” answered Jecks.

  “No. I don’t mean with sorcery in battle.”

  “She killed one man with that dagger at her belt,” said Daffyd. “Three attacked her. They all died. She also rode two deks with a war arrow all the way through her shoulder.”

  “I saw the scars,” Jecks confirmed. His eyes blazed at the boy.

  “
I apologize … if I have offended, Lady Anna.” Jimbob bowed again.

  “Jimbob,” Anna said slowly. “Some women are weak, and so are some men. Other women are strong, and so are some men. Never assume that a woman is weak because she is a woman.”

  “Some have, and they are all dead,” added Alvar. “She has stood on a broken wall and faced the Ebrans when all around her were fleeing. She walked into a hall, after killing the Prophet of Music barehanded, and faced down all the officers of Neserea.”

  “If you can do that, without an army at your back, as she did,” added Jecks, “then perhaps you will deserve to inherit what she has saved for you. You may excuse yourself until dinner.”

  “By your leave, Lady Anna? My lord?” Jimbob bowed, and Anna could sense the anger and humiliation.

  “Jimbob …” Anna’s voice was gentle. “You will be a ruler, and we all want you to be a good ruler. Your sire’s greatest strength was his willingness to see things as they were. When he met me, he greeted me as an equal, and I wanted to help him for that kindness. To my knowledge, he was always that way, and that is why he almost accomplished the impossible. He might have, if I had known then what I know now, but I was too new to Liedwahr.” Anna paused. “He was a good man, and he would want you to be a good man also.” After a moment, she added, “You have my leave, and I look forward to seeing you later.”

  The boy bowed, and Anna could still sense tears close to the surface. So she bowed slightly in return and waited until he turned and left. After a moment, Gelen eased away.

  “Lady Anna?” asked Alvar.

  “Please do what you have to, Alvar. You, too, Daffyd.”

  She waited until Tunbar and Alvar began moving the lancers away, and Daffyd and the players followed.

  “I can see why you are effective, lady.” Jecks chuckled. “Jimbob will remember what you said, and after a bit, realize that you mean well.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Let us get your mount stabled.” Jecks turned and began to walk around the east side of the hall.

  Anna walked after him, leading Farinelli to the stable—another stone building as dry and clean as Tirsik’s, if longer and narrower.

  Farinelli’s stall was in the front, and larger than all but a handful.

  There were two pages waiting as well.

  “Did you have a baggage beast?” asked Jecks, as Anna began to unstrap the lutar, the saddlebags, and the light but bulkier bag that contained a single green gown—not the recital gown, but one of those she had created.

  “No. There’s one gown, slippers, and riding clothes.”

  “You travel like a warrior, too, like my own daughter. I’ll have to tell Jimbob that.” He turned to the pages. “Take these to the great guest quarters.”

  “Not the lutar,” Anna corrected.

  Jecks nodded to the pages.

  Anna set the lutar case aside, then unfastened the saddle and laid the saddle on the rack. Jecks straightened it, and Farinelli neighed.

  “I know,” Anna said. “You’re hungry, but you need grooming.” Then she answered Jecks. “I liked Alasia. I wish I’d had a chance to know her better.”

  “She said you might save Defalk.”

  Not soon enough for her, if I do, Anna thought. “I tried.”

  “You still seem to be trying.”

  Anna gave a short laugh as she began to curry Farinelli.

  Later, once the gelding was settled, they crossed the stone-paved expanse back toward the hall, and in the twilight, Anna could hear chickens. All halls seemed to have chickens—chickens and dust.

  She stifled a sneeze, half shaking her head. “It’s so dusty here.” The lutar case seemed heavy, but that was because she was tired.

  “We had dust before in the summer, but not like this.”

  Like Brill’s hall, Elheld was clean, with only a light coating of dust on the stone floor, and the lamp mantles shone, as if they had been polished for her arrival. They probably had been.

  Jecks opened the heavy wooden door and beckoned. “This is my workroom.”

  Anna stepped inside. The room was comparatively small, especially for a lord, no more than five or six yards square. A desk table sat before the open double windows at the right end of the study. The area directly before the door contained a small circular table and four carved wooden chairs.

  “It’s not meant exactly for comfort.”

  “That’s fine.” Anna sat in one of the four chairs, setting the lutar by her feet.

  “I’m told you prefer water after riding.” The lord poured some from a pitcher into the goblet before Anna. “This has been orderspelled. Hyutt can do some small spells, but that is about it.” Then he filled his own goblet and sat.

  “Thank you.” Anna drank most of the goblet in two swallows. “I get thirsty here.”

  “How was your journey?”

  “I had not realized how hard the Evult’s revenge fell on you and your lands,” Anna admitted.

  “It was close enough to harvest that we did not lose too much. Three weeks earlier and we would have lost most of the crops.” Jecks offered a wintry smile. “You can see why I have mixed feelings about your … expedition. If you fail, all will be lost for Jimbob. But if you do not try, within another two years, perhaps sooner, all will be lost for Defalk. You are a stranger, and you have never seen Defalk as I have known it most of my life—with fertile fields, wide-leafed trees and orchards on the hills, rivers filled with green water, towns and hamlets filled with laughing and happy souls.

  “Even young Jimbob finds it hard to remember, for half his life has been spent in this parched land, and that is the half that he remembers.”

  “I take it that tonight is purely social?”

  “It would be expected.” Jecks nodded. “And, unlike many lords across Liedwahr, I have no complaints with my liege. Complaints are usually the business of such visits,” he added. “I have taken the liberty of inviting a neighbor, Lord Clethner. Will that displease you?”

  Anna refilled the goblet and shook her head.

  “I also have a favor to ask, a small one.” His eyes twinkled slightly.

  “Oh?”

  “I would like you to light the candles.”

  Anna nodded. “You think a small demonstration would be in order?”

  “Clethner—and even Jimbob—have trouble believing what they cannot see.”

  “I can manage that. Even the Evult wouldn’t be surprised, if he’s watching.”

  Jecks rose and walked to the table. There he lifted a cylindrical leather case and carried it back to Anna. “Here are the maps you requested. They are the best we have.”

  “Thank you.”

  “How long will you stay?” Jecks reseated himself.

  “How long should I stay?” Anna countered.

  “Some great lords inflict themselves on their loyal retainers for weeks.”

  Anna winced. “I can’t wait much longer. How about two days?”

  “With a promise to return shortly … that would suffice. Clethner will praise my luck. He has already been here two days, waiting to meet you.”

  “Just my luck.”

  “And his.” Jecks glanced toward the window.

  “It must be getting late. I need to get ready. I would like some water … .”

  “The tub is filled.” Jecks smiled. “I have heard.”

  “Thank you.” Anna rose. “Until dinner.”

  Jecks rose also. “Until dinner, Regent Anna.”

  122

  Anna stretched, after having enjoyed the first hot bath in four days, and wrapped the dressing gown around her, brushing her hair back away from her face. In the dry air of Defalk, the hair she had cut short of necessity would dry quickly—she hoped.

  Then she walked from the bathing chamber into the main room and studied the single gown she had brought. The simple green dress lay across the purple coverlet of the triple-width bed.

  The sorceress turned and, for a moment, stood at the w
indow, looking out across the lands shrouded in shadow, toward a reddish purple sunset that faded into dark gray and purple as she watched. Both moons were visible, but separated by half the width of the sky, with Darksong nearly at the zenith, its reddish glow like an ember in the sky.

  Clearsong was almost an evening star, a point of light above the horizon.

  She turned back toward the dress on the bed, then dropped into the big easy chair, wondering if Alasia or Barjim had preferred the chair, trying not to think about so many things, from Mario and Elizabetta to the expedition ahead, from the questions the disapproving presence of Gelen to the questions posed by Jimbob. Had the tutor set up the boy? Sooner or later, she’d have to do something about that—assuming she were around to do it. And then there was the question of why Jecks had stated her accomplishments so clearly, even to the point of nearly humiliating his grandson. Was there more there than ensuring that Jimbob didn’t get an inflated opinion of himself?

  Anna wanted to shake her head. Right now, she didn’t need those kinds of complications—and there was no reason to look farther, at least not until she dealt with the Evult, assuming she could, and she returned.

  Finally, she rose and began to get ready.

  She had dressed, and brushed her hair, and added what little makeup she had when the rap on the door was followed by a feminine voice. “Lady Anna?”

  “Yes?”

  “Lord Jecks would like to know if you are ready to join us, or if he should hold the dinner for a time?”

  “I’ll be there shortly.”

  She put on the faintest hint of lipstick—too much wouldn’t be good in this culture and it didn’t hurt to stretch her meager two tubes—checked her image in the glass, and headed for the door.

  Fhurgen smiled as Anna stepped out of the room.

  “You have guard duty?”

  “I volunteered, lady.” The dark-haired guard paused. “That was a kind thing you did out front. With the boy.”

  “I don’t know, Fhurgen. I don’t want him automatically thinking women are weak, but I also didn’t want him humiliated before me, and he still might resent me.”