The Vondish Ambassador

by Lawrence Watt-Evans

  "So they wanted to see what else it could do."

  "And they created people," Emmis said. "Yes, I know. I learned all this when I was a baby."

  Ithinia calmly continued, "But the middle realm was such a mess, such a disorderly collection of cast-offs, that nothing could live in it."

  Emmis had been going to say more, but he stopped and closed his mouth. This wasn't part of the traditional creation story.

  "So the gods and demons used all the forces at their disposal to make it habitable – or at least make the part of it we call the World habitable. We don't know how much they left a poisonous wasteland, but they raised up an immense plateau in the middle, where they divided land from water and cleansed the air above. And they did this using all the different powers that we now call magic – the power of the gods made the sun and set the cycles of days and years in motion, and the power of the demons made decay and death so that the World wouldn't ever be overwhelmed by its inhabitants. They used the chaos outside the universe to make life – we call that kind of power wizardry. They used witchcraft and dance and song and all the other magics to get everything just as they wanted it."

  "Warlockry, too?" Emmis asked.

  "No. Warlockry didn't exist; it's new. Which is why we weren't sure at first it was really a kind of magic at all, when it appeared twenty-two years ago. It must have come from somewhere beyond the universe, somewhere in the chaos."

  "Oh."

  "So no, they didn't use warlockry. But they did use sorcery. Sorcery draws on order the same way that wizardry draws on chaos, so the gods and demons used both, to keep a balance. They used sorcery to make air that could be breathed. The original gases that had covered the World were poisonous fumes; I'm told that if you go to the edge of the World and look over, you can still see them covering the wastelands below. They're said to be greenish-yellow and very unpleasant."

  Emmis blinked. He had never heard of anything at all beyond the edge of the World.

  "The thing about sorcery," Ithinia said, "is that it uses talismans. That's inherent in it; the power it uses, a force the sorcerers call gaja, must have a physical core, or it dissipates and stops doing whatever magic it's supposed to be doing."

  "And the towers in Lumeth..."

  "Are the talismans the gods and demons created more than five thousand years ago to make the World's air breathable."

  Emmis stared at her for a long moment, then said, "Oh."

  "And the Wizards' Guild has been guarding them for as long as the Guild has existed, to make sure that nobody is ever stupid enough to damage them. We like being able to breathe."

  "Oh," Emmis said again.

  "So now, if you don't mind, just who is being stupid enough to risk sucking the air from the entire World and leaving it all a poisoned wasteland?"

  "I can't tell you," he said.

  She glared at him. "You do understand that if they're destroyed, the air will be deadly poison here in Ethshar, don't you? It won't just affect the Small Kingdoms."

  "Yes, I understand that. I'm trying to think what I can tell you."

  "You're working for the Vondish ambassador – is it Vond that's planning to destroy the towers?"

  "Vond went off to Aldagmor years ago."

  "Not the warlock, the empire."

  Emmis hesitated.

  "It is, then," Ithinia said, disgusted. "Why?"

  "Well, I don't know for certain that they're going to try. I'm sure you could convince them not to."

  "Why would they even consider doing something so insane? And how do you know about it?"

  "They... I'm not saying it's the empire, all right? I never said that. But the people I'm talking about know there's a source of magical power in Lumeth of the Towers and they want to destroy it so it can't be used against them, and I think the source they're looking for is the towers."

  "You think?"

  Emmis sighed. "Yes. I was... a wizard was hired to identify the source, and said he couldn't, because there's magic interfering, so I asked a theurgist to tell me everything in Lumeth that had protective spells on it, because I thought that would narrow it down, and he told me that there are protective spells on their government palace, and on a tunnel the Cult of Demerchan uses, and on a few personal things like spell books, but most of all on the towers. They've got a lot of protective spells on them. So maybe this magic source is in the Demerchan tunnel, or in the palace, but I'd expect to find protective spells on those anyway, and it seems more likely that the mysterious power source is these gigantic sorcerous talismans. Which would explain why the source has been so hard to identify."

  Ithinia stared at him silently for a moment.

  "A source of magical power, you said?"

  "Yes."

  "The towers aren't..." She stopped and frowned. After another moment of thoughtful silence she said, "If anyone asks, I cast a spell on you that forced you to tell me this. You resisted as best you could, but of course you were helpless against high-order wizardry."

  "Of course," Emmis quickly agreed.

  "I won't deny it. Just as well if everyone thinks we have such a spell handy, and that we're ruthless enough to use it on innocent bystanders."

  Emmis blinked, hesitated, then asked, "Don't you have such a spell?"

  "Not really, no. I wish we did. We have a few spells that could get answers to specific questions, but they aren't entirely reliable. Witches are much better at that sort of thing, but I'm never going to tell anyone the Wizards' Guild had to ask witches for help." She sighed. "Though if you stop cooperating, I will ask a witch for help. Which would be awkward for all of us."

  "I'm trying to cooperate, but I promised never to reveal certain things, and it's understood that if certain people learn them my life is forfeit."

  "Am I one of those people?"

  "No, but... no, you aren't. But I'm not sure I want to trust my life to you; I hardly know you."

  Ithinia smiled crookedly. "I can understand that. If you think about it, though, you're already trusting your life to me, just by being here. I'm the senior Guildmaster in this city; if you died here, or simply disappeared from this house never to be seen again, nothing would be done about it."

  Emmis bit his lower lip. The wizard was speaking the truth, and he knew it.

  "Is there anything more you can tell me? For example, why does someone think there's a source of magical power in Lumeth in the first place?"

  "They know it's there. It's been used."

  "I am clearly going to need to have some long conversations with His Excellency."

  So much, Emmis thought, for his job as Lar's aide. That hadn't lasted long – four days [Note to self: check chronology for second draft], was it? Four very busy days, but still, just four days. He sighed. The lie about an enchantment might save his life, as he didn't think Lar was a bloodthirsty man and Ithinia wasn't a warlock, but his job was as good as gone.

  "So this magic – was it Vond who used it? Was that how he became so powerful before the Calling took him?"

  Emmis stared at her, not answering, not even refusing to answer, but just sitting on the bed.

  "And someone's worried it will be used again? But why would the Empire be worried about that? They're the ones who know how it's done."

  Emmis turned to look at the window, to make it harder for the wizard to read his expression.

  Ithinia leaned back in her chair and folded her hands behind her head. "Ah, but the actual source is in Lumeth of the Towers, you said. Which Vond never conquered. So maybe whoever or whatever stopped him is still there, and the Empire is afraid it will emerge and undo everything Vond did. Maybe that's it, and it wasn't Vond's power source at all."

  The clouds seemed to be thinning, Emmis thought; the sky outside the window was brighter than before. The sun was starting to break through.

  "But... is it a war with Lumeth they're worried about? Is that why the Lumethans are hiring assassins, because they're expecting a war? That's not what Ildirin told me."r />
  Emmis decided he could respond to this. "The Lumethans think Lar came to Ethshar to hire magicians for the Empire to use against Lumeth, and they wanted him dead before he could do that," he said.

  "Did he come to Ethshar to hire magicians for the Empire to use against Lumeth?"

  "No. At least, not that way; the Empire doesn't want a war. But Lumeth and Ashthasa don't believe that."

  "The Small Kingdoms have a code against using magic to fight their wars. And Vond broke that code, so they think his Empire is outside all law and custom, even with Vond himself gone."

  "I think that's it, yes."

  "How do you know Lar hasn't lied to you, and the Lumethans aren't right?"

  Emmis stammered, then turned up his empty palms. "I believe him," he said.

  "But you have no proof."

  "No. But everything he's told me makes sense, more sense than the idea that the Empire wants to hire magicians to conquer all its neighbors."

  "So the Lumethans think the Vondish are planning to invade with magical aid, while the Vondish think the Lumethans are going to use magic against them. Is that right?"

  "I... I think you should ask the ambassador."

  "I will. But I'd like to have it straight in my own mind first. It's always more impressive if I already know the answers, and appearing impressive is part of my job as Guildmaster."

  Emmis decided not to reply to that.

  "So the source of this dangerous magic is in Lumeth," Ithinia continued, staring at her guest. "And the Vondish want to destroy it so it can't be used against them, which seems to imply they can't use it or control it themselves, while the Lumethans – they don't know about it, do they? Or they would use it, and they wouldn't be worried about the ambassador hiring a bunch of journeymen from the Wizards' Quarter."

  "I don't know whether they would really use it," Emmis ventured.

  "They're hiring assassins here in Ethshar. They'd use it."

  "Well, maybe."

  "And you think the source of this magic is the Towers."

  "Yes."

  "So it could be sorcery. Maybe there's a way to use the Towers as a weapon? Poison the air, perhaps?" She frowned. "I never heard of anything like that happening in Vond's wars of conquest, though. So perhaps it isn't sorcery. Wizardry, then? Is there some way of turning the spells protecting the Towers into a weapon?" She shook her head. "I can't see how that would work."

  "Fendel's Assassin defended me from an attacker," Emmis pointed out. "Spells can work in ways that aren't obvious."

  "You're talking to a master wizard, boy. Don't teach a fish to swim. I know most of the spells on the Towers, and I can't see how any of them would apply."

  "Oh."

  "And of course, Vond was a warlock. He had other magicians with him in Semma, two wizards, three witches, and a theurgist, but he was a warlock. So was..." She stopped. She stared at Emmis for a moment, then lifted her gaze to the ceiling. She unfolded her hands and lowered her gaze again.

  "That's what you can't tell me, isn't it?" she said. "That was how Vond became so powerful. He found a way to use some of the magic from the Towers for warlockry. So the Vondish are worried that if he could do it, other warlocks could, too. And they don't have any way to control them. The certain people who mustn't find out aren't just the Lumethans – it's the warlocks. Because if they didn't go conquering empires and building palaces out of bedrock and tearing up the edge of the World, they could live there for years without being Called."

  Emmis grimaced. "That enchantment you put on me – it's a very powerful one, right? I never stood a chance."

  "Oh, absolutely, my poor child. You couldn't possibly have resisted." Ithinia got to her feet. "Why didn't the Empire just outlaw warlocks, then? Oh, because that wouldn't look right when Vond, their founder, had been a warlock. It would just serve to notify Lumeth and Ashthasa that something was up."

  "Guildmaster? Why do you keep secret what the Towers really are?"

  "Oh, it's not exactly secret," Ithinia said. "We just don't advertise it. We don't want people prying at them. Yes, I see the similarity – if you don't want to draw attention to something, you don't make it a forbidden mystery, you just don't mention it. All the same, I think I'll want to have a word with the chairman of the Council of Warlocks, whoever it is at the moment, and remind him that the southern Small Kingdoms are a bad place for warlocks, and anyone fleeing the Calling should look to the west instead."

  "That would be... I think the ambassador would appreciate that."

  "I'm sure he would. I'll tell him about it. Right now, though, I think you should go back to your place in Allston and pack a few things."

  "Pack... what?" Emmis blinked. "Oh, I think Lar will give me time to find a new place back in Shiphaven."

  "Shiphaven? We aren't going to Shiphaven."

  "What? Then... 'we?' Where are we going? Who is 'we'?"

  "You, and Lord Ildirin as the representative of the Hegemony of the Three Ethshars, and His Excellency representing the Empire of Vond, and me, representing the Wizards' Guild, and I think we'll need to track down those spies you met, Annis the Merchant and the three Lumethans, and bring them along."

  "Along where?"

  "To Lumeth of the Towers, of course." She smiled at him, and touched the ancient dagger she wore on her belt. "And maybe to Ashthasa and Semma, as well."

  "But – why? I don't understand."

  "It's simple enough," she said. "The Wizards' Guild guards the Towers, and the enmity between Vond and Lumeth threatens them. Therefore, the Guild will put an end to that enmity, even if it means wiping out every living soul on both sides."

  Emmis's mouth fell open.

  "Come downstairs now. We have an ultimatum to deliver." She opened the door and stood waiting for him.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The preparations took longer than Ithinia's words had led Emmis to expect – and probably longer than Ithinia herself had expected.

  The afternoon's meetings with Lar and Ildirin went smoothly, so far as Emmis could tell; he was sent off while they were taking place, and did as Ithinia had suggested, packing a bag for a few days' trip to the Small Kingdoms.

  Or rather, what he thought might be appropriate. He had never been to the Small Kingdoms. He had never wanted to visit the Small Kingdoms. Ithinia, however, did not offer him a choice. "You started this," she said. "You're coming."

  When Lar returned to the house on Through Street that evening, accompanied by four guardsmen, Emmis met him at the door. "What happened?" he asked.

  "We're going to Lumeth," Lar replied, bemused. "Ithinia insists. She says that if Lord Ildirin wants the assassination attempts to stop, they must be stopped at the source. She's planning to leave in a day or two."

  "That's... interesting," Emmis said. "Do you think she knows anything about..." He glanced at the guards. "...about who's behind the assassins?"

  "We'll talk upstairs," Lar said.

  A few minutes later, after posting the guards at the doors, they did exactly that, taking seats in the ambassador's study.

  "Did you ask the Guildmaster about the source of the hum?" Emmis asked.

  Lar shook his head. "No," he said. "I don't think I want her to know anything about it; she frightens me. She isn't anyone's hireling; she has her own goals, and they may not match ours. But Lord Ildirin has brought her in to stop the assassination attempts and keep peace between Vond and Lumeth, and I think she can help with that."

  "I see," Emmis said, hiding his unhappiness. He had hoped that the ambassador had brought Ithinia into his confidence; it would have simplified matters.

  "Lord Ildirin had that man Kelder questioned this morning, by a magistrate and two witches," Lar continued. "He'll hang tomorrow, but in exchange for his cooperation Lord Ildirin let a warlock heal his arm, and the witches calmed him. He'll be burned on a proper pyre, not left to rot."

  Emmis shuddered.

  "He named his partner, Tithi Salman's son," Lar added. "
Ildirin has magicians and soldiers tracking him down now, as well as those three Lumethans and the Ashthasan merchant."

  "That's good," Emmis said. "Isn't it?"

  "I think so," Lar said. "But Lumeth and Ashthasa are going to be our neighbors for a long time; we need to be careful how they see us."

  Emmis nodded.

  After a moment, Lar asked, "That theurgist you visited – the one who told you about Fendel's Assassin. Did he tell you where the hum came from?"

  Emmis hesitated. "Not exactly," he said. "He said the Towers are gigantic sorcerous talismans, so it might be from those, but he didn't say definitely."

  "The Towers." Lar nodded. "I thought so. Sorcery, is it? That might be it. Interesting."

  Emmis waited for Lar to ask the next question, to give him a chance to say more, to explain about the Towers and why he had spoken to Ithinia, but the ambassador said nothing more.

  And then the moment had passed, and Emmis couldn't bring himself to say anything more about it. The rest of the evening was uncomfortable; Emmis had to watch everything he said, lest he reveal some part of his conversation with Ithinia best left unspoken. He went to bed early, claiming to still be tired from the previous night's adventures.

  And in the morning there was Zhol's funeral, which Emmis and Lar attended as Lord Ildirin's guests. Because Zhol had served honorably in Lord Ildirin's escort the ceremony was held not in Camptown, as most city guard funerals were, but on a terrace overlooking the Grand Canal, between the Palace and the Old City. The pyre was built right on the edge, where the flames reflected in the murky water of the canal, and the event was well attended – not only were dozens of guards present, and a score of Zhol's kin, but much of the city's ruling elite; Lord Ildirin had seen to that. The overlord himself, Azrad VII, plunged the torch into the waiting kindling to light the blaze that would free the dead man's soul to ascend to Heaven.