The Sorceress of Belmair

by Bertrice Small

“I would suckle my own child,” Sapphira replied, surprising Arlais.

  “For a month then, but no more. He will take you back into his bed in six weeks, Cinnia, and he will want your breasts for himself, not the infant,” Arlais told her.

  “He has other breasts to fondle,” Sapphira said. “This is his daughter, and I will not have my lord’s daughter nursing on the teats of a servant.”

  “That is a matter you will decide between you,” Arlais said. “Rest now.”

  It was just dawn, and the Yafir lord’s first wife sought her own bed for a brief nap. She dared not sleep long, for she must sleep well tonight when she once again joined Belmair’s queen upon the Dream Plain. Her servant awakened her after two hours. Arlais made certain word was spread throughout Yafirdom that the lord’s youngest wife had borne him a daughter. She soothed the two younger wives who feared their place in the household would be usurped by the sixth wife, now the mother of a daughter.

  “It is just one child,” Volupia said to Tyne and Orea. “Another of us is bound to have a female infant, and then Cinnia will no longer be the special one. I am certain he has seeded me again. He is delightfully lustful these days.”

  “He was not so lustful with me last night,” Orea complained. “After you came and told him of Cinnia’s labor he was distracted. He used me but twice.”

  “Then he will be doubly lustful tonight,” Tyne said with a little smile, “for twice in a single night is never enough for him.”

  They chattered on throughout the day. The younger children came to visit their mothers. Arlais was the only one with fully grown sons. The evening meal was served, and afterward Ahura Mazda’s first wife excused herself from the group.

  “I got no sleep last night with Cinnia’s labor. Minau, will you watch over her this evening, and see to the baby? I am going to bed.” She stood up from her seat by the fire.

  Ahura Mazda entered the common room, and after a quick visit with Sapphira and a peek at his daughter, looked to Tyne, and beckoned to her. With a grin at her fellow wives, Tyne led their husband into her bedchamber and firmly closed the door.

  Arlais entered her own bedchamber, washed, and changing into a sleep robe, lay down. She could scarcely keep her eyes open, and wondered if she would even hear the young queen of Belmair’s call, but of course she did. The silvery-gray mists swirled about her as she walked toward Cinnia’s voice. And then the mists parted, and the two women met. “Sapphira had her daughter early today,” she told Cinnia. “Both are well.”

  “I am happy for her,” Cinnia replied. “Have you spoken with your sons?”

  “I have,” Arlais responded. “They beg you to call them to the Dream Plain tonight so they may speak with you themselves. I humbly ask that you do this for me.”

  “What is it they seek from me?” Cinnia asked her, surprised.

  “Reassurance,” Arlais said. “They are young men. Yafirdom beneath the sea is all they have ever known. And yet they long for the land. It is almost as if it calls to them,” she explained. “But they need to know from you, Belmair’s queen, that they are welcome. They must eventually beard their father and his authority in this matter. It will not be easy for them. The Yafir grow restless for the bubbles are full, and cannot expand any farther. There is no room for growing or grazing. When asked for more, Ahura Mazda refuses to even consider the requests.”

  “That is because none of it is of his making,” Cinnia told her. “Cronan made a place for the Yafir to hide themselves, to live their lives. Then he left them to themselves but times have changed.”

  “Call to my sons then, and let them hear this from your lips,” Arlais pleaded.

  “Behrooz, son of Arlais. Sohrab, son of Arlais. Nasim, son of Arlais. Come to me upon the Dream Plain,” Cinnia intoned three times.

  The mists again swirled around the two women, and when it began to clear the three sons of Arlais could be seen coming toward them. They looked both amazed and perhaps a little frightened as they came. When they had reached their mother and Cinnia, they bowed politely, Behrooz speaking for them.

  “We greet you, Cinnia, queen of Belmair.”

  “I greet the sons of Arlais,” she responded. “What is it you desire from me?”

  “Forgive us for our concerns, but did you speak truth to our mother? Is there really a new province that has been created for us, for the Yafir?” Behrooz asked her.

  “There is. I have not been there myself, but my husband showed it to me in a reflecting bowl. Nidhug, Belmair’s Great Dragon, was with the Shadow Princes when Belbuoy was fashioned. She says the land is a perfect paradise,” Cinnia answered him.

  “I lived in your world, sons of Arlais. It is gloomy and dank. Come and live in your province of Belbuoy, and you will live again in the sunlight. You will feel the breeze and you will feel the rain upon your faces. Your animals will grow fat upon its sweet grasses, and your crops will thrive in its rich soil.”

  “And the king will truly welcome us back to Belmair?” Behrooz inquired.

  “My husband desires peace for all of Belmair’s peoples, and the Yafir have lived in this world for aeons. You are a part of us as we are of you,” Cinnia replied to him. “He will welcome you, and there will be others who do, too. But there will be some who will not welcome you. This is why Belbuoy was created. So that the Yafir have a place of safety until that day when our differences no longer matter, and we accept each other for who we are and nothing more.”

  “How will you accomplish this?” Behrooz asked Cinnia.

  “The Shadow Prince Cronan will make it happen. It was he who gave you Yafirdom all those centuries ago. Here is the tale he told us. He had just come to Belmair from Hetar when Napier IX decided to banish the Yafir. Such an action angered him, for the Shadow Princes believe that all life is precious and sacred no matter the form it takes. He knew, of course, how the Yafir have gone from world to world over the years. He knew their place in the magic realms was lowly, and not greatly respected. But still he felt sorry for them, for they were being driven out of existence, and had nowhere to go. Cronan does not believe that one people has the right to destroy another people. He studied the Yafir, and chose Ahura Mazda as the one to lead the them.

  “He brought your father to his own dwelling place. He told him what he would do to protect the Yafir. Then one night while they slept a drugged sleep he surrounded the Yafir, which he had divided into small groups, with the bubbles. The bubbles were already individual self-contained worlds with their villages, and the lord’s castle. These he transported beneath the seas of Belmair. When the Yafir awoke the following morning they were in their new world of Yafirdom. Ahura Mazda told them it was his magic that had done all of this. That it was he who had led them to safety, and would now rule over them. This was as Cronan wanted, and for the first time the Yafir were living as normal folk do, and not being driven from place to place.”

  “So our father has no magic,” Behrooz said.

  “Nay, that is not so. Ahura Mazda has magic. It is just not great magic as he claims. He can transport himself from place to place easily, and do other small enchantments. But the Yafir have never had the greatest powers of necromancy,” Cinnia explained to Arlais’s three sons.

  “We have been taught nothing. The ability to move from here to there seems inbred in us, but we can do no wizardry, nor can any that we know. Only our father seems capable of magic. Or so he has claimed,” Behrooz told her. “We have never been witness to anythin
g exceptional. Tell us, though, what will happen to us when we come up from the sea? Many of us are centuries old. We reach our maturity beneath the sea, and then remain there. Those among us who once lived in Belmair remained the same ages beneath the sea as they were upon the land, and are the eldest among us. Will this moving from sea to land kill our elders?”

  “Nay, I have been told they will not. A spell has been fashioned and put into amulets for each of the Yafir so they will begin to age again from the age they are now. When you awaken upon Belbuoy you will all have your amulets, and you will be safe. Have you asked all your questions of me, then?” Cinnia inquired of them.

  “We have,” Behrooz said, “but for one. When will Yafirdom be transported to our new province of Belbuoy?”

  “I know you must speak with your people first,” Cinnia said.

  Behrooz looked to his brothers, and they nodded. “We have already consulted with our friends,” he told her. “We are ready. The Yafir are ready. Take us all. We will deal with our father ourselves when it is done, my queen.”

  Cinnia smiled at him. She had not missed his respect. “I will speak with Cronan on the morrow,” she told them. “I believe the sooner this is accomplished the better for all. Your father seeks to provoke a war between our peoples. Help us to stop it, sons of Arlais. There is no need for war between us.”

  “As you help us,” Behrooz said, “so we shall aid you, my queen.” He bowed to her. “It is time for us to go, my brothers.” And suddenly Arlais’s three sons were fading away back into the mists.

  “Belbuoy will need a duke,” Cinnia told Arlais. “Your eldest son, Behrooz, would make a fine lord for his people.”

  “What of Ahura Mazda?” Arlais asked softly.

  Cinnia shook her head. “He will never accept what is to happen, Arlais, and you know it. I think it will end badly for him, though I would wish it not.”

  Tears sprang into Arlais’s eyes. She nodded, unable to speak at first. “I love him,” she finally said. “He was not always as he is now, Cinnia. After the Yafir were driven from Belmair his grandfather and father filled him with anger and bitterness. Perhaps you should leave the bubble with the castle and its village beneath the sea.”

  Cinnia shook her head. “Nay. All must come. It is better that way.”

  “Ahura Mazda is no fool, Cinnia. We have not spoken to those within our bubble yet for fear of my husband learning of our little plot. But many are old, and long to see the land again. They will not be unhappy to awaken and find themselves upon the land once more,” Arlais said.

  “It is time for us to go,” Cinnia said, feeling a tug of wakefulness.

  “Will we meet again?” Arlais asked as she felt the same pull.

  “I am sure we will,” Cinnia responded, and then she felt herself slipping away. Opening her eyes she saw her husband dozing in the chair by her side. She stretched and sighed, reaching out to touch his arm. “I am returned,” she told him.

  “Tell me,” he said, and Cinnia did. When she had concluded her tale, Dillon said, “We must call upon Kaliq and Cronan to return to us. Now that it has been decided it must be done swiftly before any whisper reaches Ahura Mazda’s pointed ears.”

  “Is it morning yet?” Cinnia asked him sleepily.

  “It is just daybreak,” Dillon told her.

  “Then let us do what must be done, my lord husband,” Cinnia replied, and she arose from the small bed in the dream chamber.

  Together they returned through the castle corridors to their own apartments where they bathed, dressed in fresh garments and readied themselves for the day ahead. They had a great deal to do once the two Shadow Princes were called upon to return to the castle. Most important of all were the amulets that would have to be fashioned to protect the Yafir from the effects of their centuries beneath the seas of Belmair. Dillon had finally managed to fashion a spell that implanted within the little amulets would protect those who returned to the land, and allow them to begin the aging process from where they had left off.

  It was Cinnia who had created the amulets. The star symbol of Belmair, which was made from Belmairan red-gold, and would be inculcated into the left shoulder of each Yafir except those who had not yet reached their maturity, would not need the amulets. They would simply age naturally as if they had always lived upon Belbuoy.

  The amulets were brought into the Great Hall, and spread out upon the stone floor. There were several thousand of them. Dillon now came to speak the spell that would protect each Yafir who wore the star of Belmair. Raising his hands he moved them over the little golden stars spread across the Great Hall of his castle.

  “This magic star will keep you free,

  From your years beneath the sea.

  Time be twisted, turn away,

  From the Yafir from this day.

  Age from now as you will,

  Let none this spell turn ill.

  This Shadow-faerie lord has spoken,

  And this spell shall ne’er be broken.”

  Cinnia had watched, fascinated, as her husband incanted his spell. The little stars had glittered and glowed as Dillon’s words flowed over them. When the sound of his voice had died Cinnia could almost swear she heard the stars sigh. Carefully she gathered them up into soft velvet pouches. Tonight they would be distributed by magic to protect the Yafir as they were brought to Belbuoy.

  Now Dillon called to Kaliq and to Cronan to join them. The two Shadow Princes stepped shortly from the shadows. Both he and Cinnia went forward to greet them. Servants came forth with sweet frine to welcome them. Dillon explained all that had happened in the last few weeks. “We are now ready to proceed tonight.”

  “How will you keep the Yafir safe from the centuries?” Cronan wanted to know.

  Cinnia brought forth one of the velvet bags, and drew out one of the tiny red-gold stars. “Each Yafir, but for those who have not yet reached their maturity, will have this star implanted into a shoulder. The spell rests within each star.”

  Cronan took the star from her, examining it carefully. “So I see,” he said. “It is a good spell, my boy. A very powerful spell, and by making the stars part of each Yafir you keep them from losing their protection. Well done! Well done!” He handed Cinnia back the star, and as he did he smiled at her. “The crafting of the stars is quite excellent, sorceress of Belmair,” Cronan told her. Then he turned to Kaliq. “They are a well-matched couple, old friend.”

  “You will not go away now, will you?” Cinnia asked the ancient Shadow Prince. “You will stay with us here in Belmair? Our world is honored to be home to one of your kind. What can we do to make you more comfortable, my lord?”

  Cronan smiled again. “Do you know where I live?” he asked her mischievously.

  Cinnia shook her head. “No, my lord, I do not, but wherever it may be we will do whatever we can to make it better,” she replied earnestly.

  “I live at the top of the round tower on the north side of the castle,” he said.

  “Our castle?” Cinnia was astounded.

  “No one has bothered with the north tower for centuries,” he said with a chuckle. “I thought as it was unused I would take it for my own. Now and again one of your servants stumbles across it, but I gently wipe their memory of it, and send them on their way again. That is how I have lived there undetected for centuries. I have watched you grow up from the shadows of the rooms where you have lived, daughter of Fflergant. I knew at your birth that you were meant
for greater things and so with your proper mate I have watched you becoming what you must eventually be. A sorceress almost equal to your husband, Dillon, son of Kaliq and Lara.”

  “Teach me!” Cinnia said to him.

  The old Shadow Prince smiled and nodded. “I will teach you,” he said. “Your first lesson will come tonight as you watch us bring the Yafir from beneath the sea to their new home. But before then I shall teach you how to implant the stars of Belmair within each Yafir. It is only right that you do this, for you are Belmair born.” He looked to Dillon and to Kaliq. Both nodded in agreement.

  “When will we do it?” Cinnia asked.

  “We shall bring the bubbles up from the sea floor one by one, and set them about Belbuoy. As long as the Yafir remain within the bubbles they will continue to be protected from time. We will enter each bubble, and you will go from cottage to cottage implanting the stars in each Yafir who needs one. Once that is done the Yafir are safe from the ravages of time, and we may move on to bring up the next bubble,” Cronan said.

  “Why not bring all the bubbles up at one time?” Cinnia inquired.

  “The bubbles cannot sustain themselves for too long within the sunlight and the air,” Cronan said. “That is why we must all work quickly.”

  “I see,” Cinnia said. “Yes, it makes sense, doesn’t it? But can I get all the stars for each bubble implanted in time?”

  “You can,” Kaliq told her. “That is why we only bring one bubble at a time up from the sea. It will take the three of us to maintain the bubble’s integrity while you work to implant the stars in the Yafir so that they are protected.”

  “I have the spell!” Cinnia said excitedly. “This star of Belmair I thee give, so you upon the land may live. Time begin from whence it ceased. Time be knit no longer pieced.”

  “Excellent, sorceress!” Cronan approved. “Now give me your hand.”