The Sorceress of Belmair

by Bertrice Small

  “You have searched in all the obvious places,” Lara said. “Where have you not looked, Dillon?”

  He shrugged. “We have inspected every cave, the hills, the fields, the woodlands, the meadows. We have sought out villages now deserted but we can find nothing at all.”

  He sighed. “Where else is there to look?” Dillon asked his mother.

  Lara considered the answer to her son’s question, and then she said, “Have you sought in the sea?” she asked him

  “The sea?” Dillon looked surprised. “How could they exist in the sea?”

  “I don’t know,” Lara admitted, “but you should consider it. After Napier IX banished them from Belmair they disappeared never to be seen again. And yet they are still here, and they exist. They are in none of the places that you have looked, but they are somewhere, Dillon. Why not the sea? It’s the only place you haven’t sought.”

  “That is true,” Dillon agreed, “but how are we to find them? We need Nidhug. She knows all there is to know about Belmair. Britto!” he called to his steward, who came running. “Fetch the dragon to me at once!” he said. “Tell her it is of great import.”

  Britto hurried off, and within the hour Nidhug came into the hall with Cirillo. “What is it, Majesty? Has some word come about the queen?” she asked him.

  “The sea, Nidhug! We have not looked in the sea for Cinnia!” Dillon cried.

  Cirillo looked to Lara. “Your thought?” he asked, and when she nodded, he bowed to her in admiration. “Mother should really make you her heir,” he said.

  “Please, little brother,” Lara replied. “Do I not have enough upon my plate?”

  “Nay, Majesty,” Nidhug said slowly, “we have not looked in the sea.”

  “How are we to do it then?” Dillon demanded of her. “Are there creatures in Belmair’s seas who would aid us, Nidhug?”

  The dragon’s brow actually furrowed as she considered his request. She thought and she thought. Finally she said, “Once there was a small clan of Merfolk who made their home near Belia, but I do not know if they even still exist, Majesty. They were extremely private creatures and did not seek the company of mortal Belmairans who considered a half mortal, half aquatic people beneath them. The Merfolk kept to themselves. Now and again they would help the fishermen on Belia seeking fish by directing them to where large schools were swimming.”

  “I will go to Belia at once!” Dillon said.

  “Nay, I will go,” Lara told her son. “Ahura Mazda watches you, my son. He does not watch me. Better we not alert him to the possibility that we might find him.” And before he might argue with him Lara transported herself to Duke Alban’s hall.

  Ragnild gave a small frightened cry as the beautiful faerie woman suddenly appeared practically in front of her.

  “Forgive me for startling you, my lady Ragnild,” Lara said. “I forget there is little magic in Belmair. I am the king’s mother, the Domina of Terah, and I have been sent to speak with Duke Alban.” She smiled.

  Ragnild smiled back, relieved. “I wish I could command your mode of travel, Domina,” she said. “I rarely leave Belia for I do not enjoy travel upon the sea.” She gestured to a servant who had come into her hall. “Fetch Duke Alban at once. Tell him the king’s mother is here to speak with him.” She turned back to Lara. “May I offer you some refreshment, Domina?”

  The two women seated themselves in a window seat that overlooked the sea below, chatting amiably as they sipped fresh fruit juice and nibbled upon cheese wafers.

  The duke had hurried to the hall when he had been told of his visitor. He stood before Lara and bowed low. He had been told of this powerful faerie woman. “I welcome you to Belia, Domina,” he said.

  “I thank you, Duke Alban. My son has told me of your friendship, and now he has sent me to ask for your help.”

  “The young queen has not been found yet, has she?” Ragnild asked softly.

  “Alas, no,” Lara told them. “The king has searched every nook and cranny in all of Belmair, but there is no trace of Cinnia. And then we realized that there was one place that we had not searched. We have not searched the sea.”

  “The sea?” Duke Alban looked surprised, but also puzzled.

  “You know that the Yafir are a magic folk,” Lara explained. “It is very possible that they have made a world beneath Belmair’s seas. My blood is mostly faerie, but it is Forest Faerie, not Water Faerie. And I carry some mortal blood, but mortals are not capable of going safely beneath the sea, either. The dragon tells us that Belia had a small clan of Merfolk. If they still exist perhaps they could help us, and so I am here.”

  “Aye, they still exist,” Duke Alban said. “In fact, they thrive. They make their homes in the sea caves off the southeast coast of Belia. But whether they will help you I do not know, Domina. They do not like legged folk too much. When I took over my father’s dukedom one of my first tasks was to go to the caves of the Merfolk and pay my respects. I brought them several baskets of fresh fruit of which they are very fond. Their chief is named Agenor. He was respectful, but cool. I told them if they needed my aid I would always give it, and then I left. They have never called upon me, Domina.”

  “If you are not afraid to travel by magic,” Lara said, “I should like you to come with me to the Merfolk. They have some small magic that they can use.”

  “I was not fully aware that they had a little magic for their use,” Alban replied. “Perhaps by offering my aid to them I offended them. I did not mean to, but we know so little about them. They have always been so insular a people.”

  “I am certain you did not offend them,” Lara reassured Duke Alban. “More than likely it pleased Agenor that you were so deferential toward him and his people. And perhaps in that light it would be best to send a messenger to the chief of the Merfolk that you would appreciate being granted an audience with him immediately.”

  “Aye, good manners are a hallmark of the Merfolk,” Alban agreed. “But it will take several days to reach the cave in which he resides.”

  “Nay, we will use magic,” Lara told him. “I will change my appearance and go as your messenger.” Before his eyes Lara morphed herself into a serious-looking gentleman in his middle years. To Belia’s Merfolk I must go. Take me quick. Do not be slow.

  Alban and his wife were left openmouthed by both the change in Lara’s guise and her sudden disappearance, for they had not, of course, been able to hear her silent spell. “I suppose we will eventually get used to this magic,” the duke said, and then several minutes later Lara appeared to them again in her own form.

  “Agenor will see us now, my lord. Come, and take my hand,” she said, holding out her own hand to him. Lara looked to Ragnild. “He will be safe with me, lady. You need have no fear.” When the duke came to stand by her side and took her hand in his, she repeated the spell, modifying it just slightly. To the Merfolk we must go. Take us quick. Do not be slow.

  Again Alban did not hear her simple incantation, but he suddenly found himself in the sea cave hall of Agenor, the chief of the Merfolk. The tide was out, and Agenor lounged upon a large flat rock. He was alone. “Greetings, Agenor of the Merfolk,” the duke said. “Are you ageless that you appear no different from the last time we met?”

  Agenor laughed heartily. He had the large, broad torso of a mortal man, but from his navel down he was all fish to his broad flat green tail, which was flecked with gold. His scales were green, as were his eyes. He had a well-barbered,
short, dark red beard that matched his thick shoulder-length hair. “You have grown older, Alban,” he said. “You are no longer the beardless boy who paid me such careful respects all those years ago. And now you travel in the company of a faerie woman. You have come up in the world.”

  “This is Lara, Domina of Terah, from the world of Hetar,” Alban introduced his companion. “She is the new king’s mother.”

  “So,” Agenor said, “old Fflergant’s sands have finally run out. I did not know. News comes rarely to this side of Belia.”

  “We could arrange for me to send you word of important events should you wish it, Lord Agenor,” Duke Alban said.

  “I will think on it,” the chief of the Merfolk said. “You know how we value our solitude here. But now tell me how the dragon came to choose a Hetarian king for Belmair? I certainly would have never imagined such a thing.”

  “King Dillon is also the son of the great Kaliq of the Shadows,” Duke Alban said.

  “The son of a faerie woman and a Shadow Prince,” Agenor mused. “There must be difficult times coming to Belmair that we need so strong a king. Is Fflergant’s daughter now queen?”

  “Yes,” Duke Alban said, “but that is where we need the help of the Merfolk. The young queen has been stolen by the Yafir lord, Ahura Mazda.”

  “So they are still here,” Agenor said. “Where?”

  “We believe they have created a civilization beneath the seas of Belmair,” Lara told him. “They can be found nowhere else. We have spent the last few months searching the entire kingdom to no avail. The only place we have not searched is beyond our abilities, for it is in the sea. The king is desperate to restore his wife to the kingdom.”

  “The Belmairans will never allow it,” Agenor said. “They are a narrow-minded people who do not trust any who are not like them. They scorned the Yafir. That is why we keep our distance. Duke Alban is the first ruler of Belia ever to come to us, and hold out the hand of friendship to the Merfolk. While we are content as we are, we nonetheless appreciated his generous gesture. And we will reciprocate by helping you if we can. Do you know why the queen was stolen away?”

  Lara explained to Agenor about the unjust banishment, and the disappearance of Belmair’s women over the last centuries. How the new king wished to end the animosity between Belmair and the Yafir. That Dillon wished the Yafir to be integrated once more into Belmair’s society. The response of the Yafir lord had been to steal the young queen.

  The chief of the Merfolk listened patiently, and when Lara had finished he said, “Even knowing that the Belmairans will never accept his wife again the king would have her restored to him? He must love her deeply. Coming from Hetar he has not the prejudice that the Belmairans harbor toward women taken by the Yafir. I already like this king of Belmair, and I do not believe I have ever said that about any king of Belmair in all of my nine hundred and twelve years. I will help him,” Agenor said. “You need my Merfolk to learn if the Yafir have made a place for themselves beneath the waters?”

  “Aye, that is exactly what we need,” Lara said. “Thank you!”

  “It will take time,” Agenor said. “We are but a small pod of Merfolk, my lady. Some of my clan are too old and frail to travel out into the absolute depths of the sea. But if the Yafir have made a world for themselves beneath the waters, we will eventually find it. When we do we will report the location to you, and we will rescue the queen for you.”

  “Thank you, my good Agenor,” Lara said. “But first find where she is hidden, and then we will discuss regaining her. This must be carefully done, and we do not want the Yafir attacking you in retaliation.”

  “We can defend ourselves, Domina of Terah,” Agenor responded.

  “I am told you like fruit,” Lara said. “Where would you like me to place these baskets for you?” With a wave of her hand several woven containers appeared on the sand before Agenor’s seat of office. One contained fresh apples, another pears, another peaches, another plums, another all manner of berries, and the last, which caused Agenor’s eyes to light up with delight, was filled with pineapples. “They will remain fresh and sweet until the last one is eaten,” Lara told him.

  “There.” He pointed to a rock ledge just above the high water mark in the cave. “My thanks!” His eyes went again to the pineapples, and he licked his lips.

  One by one she set the woven containers up on the ledge with a carefully pointed finger, elevating each basket and moving it to its proper place. “’Tis but a small token of the king’s thanks,” Lara said. “His gratitude will be far greater once he has the queen back, Agenor. Now we will leave you for I see the tide returning, and I quite dislike wet feet,” she explained. “Again, our thanks!” Reaching for Alban’s hand once more Lara returned them to the duke’s hall, where Ragnild was awaiting them. “I will return to my son now, and tell him of Agenor’s efforts on his behalf,” Lara said. “You are free to tell your good lady of our small adventure this day.” And Lara was gone from them in a puff of purplish smoke.

  “Mother!” Dillon greeted her as she appeared back in his little family hall. “What news do you bring me? Say it is good news!”

  “It is!” Lara exclaimed, smiling. “The chief of the Merfolk, Agenor by name, has agreed to help us find the queen. He will set his people to seeking out any civilization beneath the seas, but he begs you be patient. The seas are vast, and their number is small, my son. I liked this fellow, Dillon. We must do something to make the lives of the Merfolk easier once this is all over. What a wondrous place Belmair is, and the Belmairans, alas, know little of what is here other than themselves.” Lara continued, explaining in careful detail her entire visit to Agenor.

  “Do you like Alban?” Dillon asked her.

  “Aye, he is a good man. Both he and his wife would appear to have open minds, but restoring Cinnia will not be an easy thing once we are able to locate her,” Lara said.

  “I must continue sending out search parties. I do not want Ahura Mazda to consider that I am any less desperate,” Dillon replied grimly. “I am going to have to kill him, Mother. I offered my hand in friendship. I offered to right the wrongs done the Yafir all those centuries ago. His response was to steal my wife so that the Belmairans will consider her defiled, and I would be forced to renounce her. I do not see how I can make peace with someone like that. Belmair must have a Yafir lord with whom it can deal. Ahura Mazda has lived too long with anger and bitterness in his heart. We cannot change the past. We can change the present and make a better future. But the past is the past. I will not apologize for it, nor should anyone.”

  “Bringing Belmair to a different frame of mind will not be easy or simple,” Lara warned her son.

  “If the dragon had wanted everything to remain static in Belmair then she would not have chosen me to be its king,” Dillon said. “She did not need the son of a Shadow Prince and a faerie woman to keep Belmair as it was, Mother.”

  “You have become such a strong man,” Lara said. “I hardly know you now.”

  “Power is both a gift and a curse,” Dillon noted. “It must be wielded strongly, yet carefully. And no being should ever believe that in possessing power they are either invincible or inviolate. That is the lesson Ahura Mazda will soon learn. I know that revenging myself on him will not bring me peace, Mother. It will just put an end to the chapter for me, but I will never forget that my beautiful Cinnia has been hurt by this Yafir’s selfishness.”

  “Perhaps her abduction has a greater purpose
behind it,” Lara said.

  “Perhaps,” Dillon said. “But what I cannot fathom.”

  Chapter 12

  THE SUMMER CAME, and Dillon had stopped the incidents of female infant snatching by the Yafir, seeing that each expectant mother was given a charm to protect her newborn daughter. Lara had returned to Terah. For now all they could do was wait for the Merfolk to find out if the Yafir had made a kingdom of their own beneath the sea. But with the warm weather the three dukes came to the king, Dreng and Tullio pressing him to take another wife.

  To his credit Duke Alban counseled his fellow dukes to be more patient.

  “It doesn’t matter if she’s found or not,” Dreng said bluntly. “She is tainted by her time with the Yafir, soiled and tarnished. She can no longer be considered your wife, or the queen of Belmair, nor will we accept her as such.”

  “We have so many lovely young women of good reputation and family, any one of whom would be a perfect mate for you, Majesty,” Duke Tullio added.

  “You have already seen two of my granddaughters,” Dreng reminded the king. “And there are several other suitable candidates from Beltran. Tullio has his niece, and at least three other young women. But Alban, it seems, has no one to offer you,” Dreng concluded a trifle sourly.

  “The king has said he is not yet ready to pick another wife,” Alban murmured. “When he informs me that he is I will be happy to offer him several young women from my dukedom of Belia. Until then it would be premature to accost him.”

  “Bah!” Dreng said unpleasantly. “You are a too-careful old woman, Alban.”

  “Your Majesty,” Duke Tullio said, “that you refuse to choose a new wife but frets the people. It keeps the matter of the Yafir in their minds.”

  Dillon was astounded by this comment. “Do you think,” he asked them, “that simply because we have stopped the Yafir from taking our females that this is the end of it? That we can go on with our lives as if nothing happened? The Yafir mean to have Belmair unless we can prevent it. Ahura Mazda must be stopped, and a new Yafir lord chosen with whom we can negotiate a peace. And how dare you refer to the queen as soiled and tarnished! She will never give her heart to the Yafir. All the other missing women, your own granddaughter, Dreng. Are they impure? The mixing of Yafir and Belmairan blood has been taking place for centuries now. The children born of these unions are as much Belmairan as they are anything else. New blood brings new facets to a culture, and Belmair’s is dying even if you cannot admit it. You are stuck in the quicksands of your own selves. Belmair needs to progress, to move forward. And we will, my lords! I promise you that we will!”