Realms of Shadow a-8

by Lisa Smedman

Slowly, the eyes ground in the other direction, and the ground bulged under the second imprisoned woman.

  "And… thaaat… one."

  "Just as I said!" Ptack exclaimed.

  Behind the floating lenses, his eyes swiveled briefly to gauge Andoris's reaction to the testimony-but only briefly. Sweat was running down his temples from the strain of holding the massive elemental inside the earth.

  Andoris leaned forward on his chair. The elemental's eyes were slowly rolling back and forth, grinding softly in their sockets.

  "Which one is the thief?" he asked.

  A heat haze shimmered in the air above the elemental's mouth as it licked its lips with a tongue of molten lava.

  "They… taste… saaame."

  "Did both of them enter your master's laboratory?"

  The floor trembled, forcing Ptack to catch his balance, as the elemental slowly shook its head. On the walls above, some of the spectators who had been drawn back by curiosity disappeared again.

  "Juuust… one."

  "Can you tell which one?" Andoris asked. "Nooo."

  Ptack, sweating more profusely now, shrugged a shoulder to wipe a trickle of sweat from his temple, but kept his palms motionless over the elemental.

  "Blamira knew about the elemental," he said, "yet she had the audacity to steal my notes, despite the fact that she was being watched. She must have counted on Went- on this court being too timid to hear its testimony."

  "When did the elemental alert you to the theft?" Andoris asked.

  "Immediately," Ptack said. "Unfortunately, Blamira had already fled with my notes." Andoris glanced at the two accused-both of whom

  Were watching the elemental with rapt, silent frowns- then sat back in his chair, considering. It was possible the elemental was lying, but unlikely. Ptack could control it and force it to carry out his orders, but he couldn't control its thoughts. It was an independent creature, with a mind of its own-a mind filled with fury at being forced to serve a mere human. If the elemental did lie, it would do so out of malice, to damage Ptack's testimony.

  We would never do anything like that. We would never, ever tell a lie about our master if we were ever called to testify. But we wouldn't ever be called to testify, would we? If people knew the truth about us, it would ruin our reputation.

  Andoris ignored the homunculus's words, which were sent in a fawning tone, but with a slight edge.

  "The testimony of the witness is deemed valid," he announced. "The witness may be dismissed."

  Taking a deep breath, Ptack leaned forward, forcing his hands ever closer to the floor. The elemental grimaced, causing the floor and walls to tremble violently. It slowly sank back into the floor. Ptack moved his hands back and forth, as if erasing a picture. A heartbeat later, the floor was smooth, flat, and featureless, as if the elemental had never been.

  As High Justice Wentar let out an audible sigh of relief, Andoris turned to the two accused and said, "You have heard the testimony given against you. You now have an opportunity to plead guilty or to-"

  Both interrupted at once.

  "But I'm innocent!" they cried. Each pointed at the other and spoke, their words fitting together like heartbeats. "She must be-" "She's the one who's-" and came together on the final word, "guilty!"

  They continued to protest, each trying to shout the other down. Andoris, noting that the testimony was becoming jumbled on the ivory spiral-even the Spiral Court was having a hard time telling the two apart- forked the fingers of his right hand, simultaneously casting a holding spell upon them both. Each woman froze in place, unable to do more than breathe or blink, but still capable of hearing any testimony given against her.

  "They're both guilty," Ptack muttered, peering back and forth at the frozen figures. "One's the arcanist, and the other's her shadow double. One directed the crime, the other committed it. Execute them both-but force them to say what they've done with my research notes, first."

  Andoris crooked his finger. "The mantle."

  Ptack plucked it from his shoulders with a grateful shudder, as if removing a leech. Andoris gestured, and the mantle floated across the circle that held the Blamira claimant with the gown and gem-dusted face. As soon as she was released from her spell she flung the mantle across her shoulders with a haughty expression and stood poised and expectant, waiting for Andoris's questions.

  "Are you Shiris Blamira?" he asked.

  "I am," she began, then winced as the mantle struck a slightly sour note. "That is, I believe that I am. There is a chance, of course, that I am wrong. If I am the shadow double, I wouldn't know it. I have all of Shiris Blamira's physical and mental attributes, including her spellcasting abilities-even the same memories."

  "And the same motivations to commit theft?" Wentar asked.

  Ha! Got her!

  Andoris held up a hand. "The accused is not required to speculate on whether she might have committed the crime," he cautioned. "Only to testify as to whether or not she did commit the crime."

  Wentar considered a moment, then said, "Assume, for now, that you are the original Shiris Blamira, and answer my questions accordingly." He pointed at the woman in the other maze-circle. "Did you create this shadow double?"

  "I must have. It wouldn't be possible for another arcanist to have created so exact a duplicate." "Do you remember casting the spell?" "No. I know only that the shadow double must have been created yesterday-and that somehow, my memory of yesterday has vanished."

  "What do you remember?" Andoris asked.

  "One moment I was sitting in the library of the Shadow Consortium, reading and enjoying my morning tea, and the next, I found myself in my laboratory, face-to-face with this… creature. I thought it was a doppelganger at first, and only realized what it must be after I tried to magically bind it-and it dismissed the binding as if it had cast the spell itself. That's when I realized it must be a shadow double."

  "Did you try to command it?"

  Blamira nodded vigorously. "Immediately-but it didn't work. Somehow, the thing must have become free willed."

  Free willed?

  Back in the bedchamber, the homunculus was sitting on the edge of Andoris's four-poster bed, riveted by the testimony.

  "Did you try to dismiss the shadow double?" Andoris asked.

  Blamira nodded. "That didn't work either."

  "Did you try dispelling the magic that sustained it?"

  "Of course I did," Blamira said, curling her lip disdainfully. "I'm not some newly initiated apprentice, you know."

  Andoris thought for a moment, then asked, "When did the constabulary arrest you?"

  "At shadowfall-dusk," Blamira answered. "That was the first I heard of the missing research notes."

  "Did you steal Ptack's research?" Andoris asked bluntly.

  Blamira looked pointedly at her double and said, "One of us did. It may or may not have been me."

  "Do you know where the stolen research notes are now?"

  "No."

  Throughout Blamira's testimony, the mantle of truth echoed her words with a continuous harmony, without striking a single off note. Blamira was telling the truth.

  Andoris tried a different line of questioning. "When your memory returned, what was the shadow double doing?"

  "What do you mean?" Blamira asked, frowning.

  "Did it appear to be casting a spell?"

  "No. It was just standing there, staring at me."

  Andoris sat quietly a moment, considering. "Shadow doubles normally have only a limited duration, yet this one appears to have been made permanent. A simple permanency spell should have collapsed under the dispellation spells High Justice Wentar subjected you both to, but this one did not. How do you explain that?"

  "How can I explain anything?" Blamira cried, throwing her hands in the air. "You obviously weren't listening to what I just said. I have no memory of anything that happened yesterday-including casting the spell that created the shadow double."

  Bitch! Of course we were listening.

>   Andoris sat on his silver chair, motionless and impassive. He would not allow his judgment to be swayed by the expression or tone of voice of the accused.

  "The court will hear the defense of the second accused," he announced. He pointed at the mantle on Blamira's shoulder. "Remove the mantle of truth."

  As soon as she complied, Andoris froze her in place and floated it to the second woman, dispelling the magic that prevented her from moving. He posed the same questions-and received almost identical replies. The second Blamira also swore she had no memory of the shadow double's creation and said her first clear recollection after the gap in her memories was of she and the shadow double standing in her laboratory, blinking at each other in confusion. All the while, the mantle hummed in perfect harmony with her words.

  Wentar leaned toward Andoris, his eyes troubled behind his ivory mask. He spoke in a low voice, but even so, the spiral of ivory picked up his words. "By law, an arcanist is legally responsible for the actions of any creatures created by his or her magic," he began, "but in this case…"

  "In this case, it's obviously not an ordinary shadow double," Blamira interjected, tossing her long red hair. "It's free willed, with a mind of its own. It could have committed the crime entirely of its own accord, using my spells and my knowledge of Ptack's research to steal his notes. If that's what happened-and if you find us both guilty and sentence both of us to die-you’ll be killing an innocent woman. You have no other option but to find us both innocent, and let us go."

  Found innocent. If only we'd had that option with Jelal.

  Choking back a sob, the homunculus sank needle-sharp teeth into one of its fingers.

  Andoris ignored the mental image of blood dripping from the homunculus's punctured finger. He sat in silent contemplation as a murmur of voices drifted down from the spectators. Now that the defense of the two accused-slight though it was-had been heard, all attention was focused on the judges. On Andoris, in particular. The spectators, the two accused, Ptack, and Wentar all watched his face closely, looking for the slightest of frowns or the twitch of a mile, hoping to interpret it in their favor. As usual, he disappointed them.

  This court will temporarily adjourn," he announced. "High Justice Wentar and I need to discuss this case in chambers." He glanced at his fellow judge. "Shall we retire to the Crystal Chamber?"

  Wentar nodded behind his mask and spoke the words of the spell that would take them there.

  An instant later, both men were standing in a room whose oddly angled walls and ceiling were made of a clear, glasslike material. Perched on one of the enclave's highest towers, with nothing but air surrounding it on all sides, the chamber caught the light from all angles. Beams of sunlight slanted in through walls and ceiling, erupting into thousands of tiny blue and red sparkles, revealing the chamber to be an enormous, hollow diamond. Wards etched by magic into each facet of the gem prevented those outside from scrying on those within.

  Far below the tower that supported the Crystal Chamber, the rooftops and spires of Karsus Enclave could be seen, clustered like barnacles on the inverted mountaintop from which the enclave had been formed. Two buildings stood out from the rest: the cagelike enclosures that housed the enclave's two mythallars-enormous spheres, more than one hundred and fifty paces in diameter, that channeled raw magical energy from the Weave. Energy pulsed out of each mythallar, sustaining the magic that kept the enclave afloat, and powering all quasimagical devices within the energy field's one-mile radius. That energy was visible to the eye as a light colder than ice and brighter than the hottest flame-and like a flame, it drew its moths. Those bent upon self-destruction had only to touch one of those brightly glowing spheres to be instantly killed, without any possibility of resurrection.

  Back in the bedchamber, the homunculus shuddered. Horrible, it moaned. A horrible way to die. Andoris, however, merely turned away from the view. He snapped his fingers, causing a decanter and two tiny glasses to hover in the air in front of him. He glanced at Wentar, who nodded, then caused the decanter to tip, filling one glass with a yellow liquid, then nudged it through the air to Wentar. He then filled the second glass and took a sip. The honey wine was delicious, warm and sweet.

  "I'd like to hear your thoughts on the case," Andoris said.

  Wentar pushed his mask onto the top of his head and took a sip of wine. He gently swirled the liquid in his glass, considering it with a slight frown.

  "The accused has a point," he began. "If the shadow double was an independent creature that committed the theft of its own volition-even if the original motivation sprang from its creator's psyche-then Blamira must be found innocent. Whichever one she is." "Quite so," Andoris agreed.

  "It all comes down to the question of when the thing gained free will," Wentar continued. "If the shadow double was commanded by Blamira at the time of the theft, and only gained or was granted free will afterward, then Blamira is guilty-and only Blamira. Enclave law states quite clearly that any 'person or creature' that is magically compelled to commit a crime is innocent of that crime. This shadow double can indeed be classed as a 'person or creature.' Since it displays permanence combined with independent thought, it is no longer a 'spell effect' in the eyes of the law. That entitles it to be judged an independent, sentient being."

  Am I a spell effect?

  Of course you are, Andoris answered.

  "I wish we had some way of telling arcanist and shadow double apart," Wentar continued, "but even that wouldn't be much help, since we don't know which one committed the crime. I can't just sentence both of the accused to death, since there is a strong possibility that one of them might be innocent. That's why I asked that you try the case. I thought you'd discover the truth of the matter-as you always do-but it looks as though there's no solution to this puzzle. Which means," he sighed again, "that they both must be set free, I suppose."

  The homunculus slammed a fist against the bed. No! We mustn't let her get the better of us!

  "That would equally be a miscarriage of justice," Andoris noted, "since one of them is indeed guilty."

  "It's the memory loss that perplexes me most," said Wentar. "Not the mechanics-the erased memories obviously the result of a forgetfulness spell, with its potential for erasure extended well beyond the few moments of oblivion that were all that Keonid was ever able to achieve. I wonder, though… did Blamira try to cast a forgetfulness spell on the shadow double for some reason- perhaps so it couldn't testify against her-only to unwittingly also cast the spell upon herself?"

  "A spell cast upon a shadow double doesn't affect its master," Andoris reminded his fellow judge. "Even if the shadow double is killed, the arcanist is unharmed-and vice versa."

  "Maybe there was another arcanist involved," Wentar mused. "One who cast the spell on Blamira and her double to cover up any knowledge of his or her involvement in-"

  "There's no evidence to support that conclusion," Andoris interrupted. "A forgetfulness spell requires a line of sight to its target-and according to the second Blamira's testimony, the laboratory in which she found herself facing the shadow double had a door that was locked from the inside, and wards against teleportation. If someone else had cast the spell, she would have seen that person in the room. It would have been her first clear memory. No, logically, Blamira must have been the one who cast the spell on the shadow double, and on herself at the same time, since neither one remembers seeing the other performing the spell."

  "But why?" Wentar sputtered. "It's hardly logical to commit a crime and erase all memory of the object you plotted so carefully to steal. How did she ever hope to remember she had Ptack's research notes, let alone find where she'd hidden them?"

  "She'd probably already sold them or traded them for some other consideration," Andoris said. "Both we-and she-will probably never know who she gave them to." "Making this the perfect crime," Wentar groaned. He's right, you know. We may never solve this one. We must.

  "The extent of the memory loss is what I find significant," Ando
ris continued, ignoring the homunculus's fretting. "Blamira didn't just erase her memories of the crime itself; she erased an entire day's memories. She has no recollection of the creation of the shadow double or of the exact moment she made the spell effect permanent." "But why?" Wentar asked.

  "There's only one logical reason," Andoris answered. "Blamira wanted to raise the question of whether the shadow double was free willed from the moment it was created. If she'd conjured up a normal shadow double, it would have faded into nonexistence long ago-taking with it her clever alibi."

  "So she is guilty," Wentar exclaimed, an excited gleam in his eye.

  Is she? Then she must pay for her crime, even if she is Shadow's disciple. No favoritism-isn't that what we say? the homunculus asked bitterly. Not even for our own "Not necessarily," Andoris countered. "There's a possibility you're overlooking. The shadow double has all of Blamira's magical capabilities-and her cunning. There is a possibility that it got the better of her-that it really did act of its own accord to steal the research notes. The shadow double could have been the one who cast the forgetfulness spell on Blamira-and on itself-to ensure its own alibi."

  Wentar*s shoulders sagged. "So we're back where we started," he groaned.

  Back in his bedchamber, the homunculus was pacing, its clawed toes clicking against the hardwood floor, but Andoris remained calm, in complete self-control. He knew that logic wouldn't fail him-it never had.

  Wentar drained his glass, then released it and snapped his fingers, teleporting it away.

  "I'm glad you're judging this one, Andoris. This case just gets more and more confusing the more I try to decipher it. We may just as well be trying to read one of the Nether Scrolls with Ptack's half-completed spell notes."

  The homunculus halted abruptly, atremble with excitement.

  That's it! How could we have been so stupid? If Blamira was helping Ptack reverse his secret script spell, he must have taught her how to cast it.

  Andoris, however, merely turned to his fellow judge, and said, in a quiet voice, "Did the constabulary search Blamira's laboratory when they arrested her?"