Star Thief
Page 26
Neither of them sat.
“How do you know our names?” Nolan asked.
“I know your names because you sought the magic of this mountain. I have been watching you since you made that first, foolish wish.”
Nolan sized the old man up as he and Kris stepped nearer. Old didn’t really fit him. ‘Ancient’ suited much better, especially the eyes that seemed a stranger to no man’s action, however well or ill-intended. Nolan felt sure that before him sat a man who had seen centuries.
“Who are you?” he asked, seating himself on the right-hand cushion. Kris followed suit more reluctantly to the left. The old man began to pour steaming tea into their mugs. “I am your judge, if you will. No one unworthy—selfish, cruel, power-driven, or merely foolish—may be allowed access to power such as this mountain contains. If no other obstacle along this road turns back such questers, I ensure that unworthy individuals never find this cave. The mountains themselves defeat them.”
Nolan shivered with his tea half-way to his lips as the old man’s meaning hit him. This was the man who could keep people wandering the mountain until they slowly froze to death. To freeze to death was one thing. To slowly die as an impassive stranger watched and manipulated the spell of the mountains to keep all help from you…that was a thought that chilled him more than any of past week’s frigid days. Nolan sipped and returned the mug carefully to its saucer.
“And since neither of us is cruel, selfish, or power hungry? What happens now?”
“Now, as you finish your tea you may reflect on what wish you choose to make. When you are ready, I will grant it.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all. Take what time you need.” Physical relief washed over Nolan like droplets of water. This was really it. He’d done it. Through the months of sweat and blood and fear he’d finally managed what he’d set out for—to set right everything that he’d put into motion with his last foolish wish. The moon, the stars, their planets, and all of the people belonging to them would go back where they belonged. Fishing would go back to normal, mages would go back to their worlds, the balance between the priests of the Night God, the Sun Lord, and the Mother might even go back to normal.
Kris would go home. The thought of sending her away forever, to a life of solitude and fear, was just as painful as he thought it would be. He met Kris’s solemn eyes across the tea table. Her cheeks were stiff and her lips formed a small pale line. But there was no hesitation there, only resignation.
“I don’t need time to think,” Nolan said softly. “If you’ve been watching all this time then you should know. I haven’t come so far without knowing why I was coming. I want to reverse my last wish. I wish to return the moon and the stars I stole to their proper places, to return the people from those worlds to their homes, but to keep Tylan here.”
The old man waited a moment, as though expecting more, then nodded gravely when Nolan offered no change. “You do realize that technically that is more than one wish, I’m sure. But it will be done nonetheless. What’s more, I will even assure you safe passage home.”
Nolan heaved the breath he’d been holding. “Thank you.”
“And you, Karisa? What is your wish?”
Both Nolan and Kris jumped slightly in their seats. A look between them made it obvious that Kris had no more idea than Nolan that she would get a wish.
“You are surprised? Did I not just say that only the worthy may climb this mountain, and enter this cave? Have you not also suffered, and struggled, and sacrificed to reach this moment?”
Kris swallowed and nodded. Her eyes flitted from Nolan to her tea, and finally again to the old man. “You can’t change the set-up of an entire world.”
“No. Remove worlds, yes.”
Nolan shivered.
“Bespell them, for a short time. But I can’t change how people associate with one another. Not in the way you mean. That’s up to people themselves.”
Kris nodded, her face tense and resigned at the same time. Her eyes dropped to her hands.
The old man studied her briefly, then nodded. “However, this I will do for free, or freedom, as it were. Give me your hand.”
With a glance at Nolan, Kris reached forward slowly and put her hand in the old man’s. He gently rolled the sleeve of her coat back and pulled her bracelet forward on her hand. With another touch, the silver pieces broke neatly into two and fell to the floor with a clatter that rang through the cave.
Kris gave a small cry and gripped her wrist with her right hand, turning her arm over. Her hands were shaking.
“What did…you…”
“It is rather pointless for you to come this far and be asked to wish for anything so base as your own freedom,” the old man explained mildly.
Kris stared at him blankly, her hand still around her wrist. “Thank you.”
“I am not concerned with thanks. But those who earn my favors ought to have some level of equality to begin with, or my powers serve nothing.”
Kris nodded again, her face still blank with shock. Nolan’s mind was reeling to absorb what the old man had done. Kris was free.
“Now you may live undisturbed as a common, mundane woman. You need never cross the path of a magni again, should you choose.”
A ghost of a smile crossed Kris’s face. Her eyes dropped once more to her bare wrist. She took a deep breath, then another, rolling her shoulders slightly. Finally Kris turned her face slowly to Nolan, and even more slowly back to the old man.
She shook her head. “That’s not what I would wish. I can’t just leave the others…my mother…”
“Then what is your wish?”
Kris swallowed. “I…wish…to return to Rusam.”
The old man smiled slightly. “I believe that was included in your companion’s wish. What is your own wish?”
Kris met the old man’s eyes intently now. Her jaw clenched and unclenched for several moments. She swallowed. “To not return alone,” she whispered finally. She looked at Nolan cautiously. “If…if Nolan were willing…”
Nolan’s heart rebounded in his chest, pumping hard in his ears. Willing to leave his world? To never see his family or friends again? But to stay with Kris, to travel to Rusam, to help her change it…
“I’m willing.”
“Then…that he would come with me to Rusam.”
The old man smiled. “So the Trickster knew what she was doing after all, setting this course in motion. That is a wish I can gladly fulfill.”
Kris smiled faintly, her face filled with shock.
Nolan smiled back shakily, reeling at the speed of new events that were overtaking them. But this was his chance.
A stray thread of guilt entered his head. “Is there any way to tell my parents I’m all right? It’s just—I don’t want them to think I’m dead.”
“A message may be conveyed to your mother. Are you ready?”
Nolan blinked at him. Ready? To make an end to his foolhardy wish once and for all? To return the stars, and their planets, and their people, safely to the skies, and out of his hands? To leave his world forever? To follow Kris? He straightened his back and nodded. “Yes. I’m ready.”
Kris wet her lips. “So am I.” She reached for his hand. He met it with his own, and their fingers knit together. Kris’s smile grew. Nolan felt a grin begin to stretch his cracked cheeks.
“Prepare yourselves.” The old man put his gnarled hand on top of theirs. “For your courage, and your selflessness, may your wishes be granted.”
Nolan gripped Kris’s hand firmly in his own. Her hand would be the last thing he felt on his old world, and the first thing he felt on the world that awaited him.
END
MAP
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robin grew up in northeastern Vermont, and tackled her first novel between high school and college. She studied Political Science and Spanish at Knox College and Communication Management at Emerson College, continuing to launch new and improved projects in
her after-hours. An animal lover, musical-theater geek, and amateur guitarist, she now lives again in Vermont with her assorted pets, and is currently finishing her new novel, THE EMPIRE’S ORPHANS. Watch for news about the release soon at http://robinkristoff.com!