Neither of us knew what to say so I took her hand and we walked quietly back to my rooms.
Chapter 8
The silence between us stretched out after we reached the rooms. We both sat on the couch, staring toward the veranda. “You look very lovely,” I managed at last. I had never seen the dress she was wearing, but it fit her perfectly.
“Thank you.” Penelope glanced at me for a moment, her eyes taking in a hundred details at once, “I heard what the king told you.”
I almost said, ‘about what?’, but my good sense caught me this time. I knew exactly what she meant. It didn’t help that a god had just reinforced the message. “How did you hear about it?”
“Rose. She went to visit the Lancasters last night.” Now I understood… she had gone to stay with Rose Hightower. Where else could she have gone? Rose was a towering intellect framed within a slender woman’s body. Obviously she had gone hunting for information not long after Penny arrived on her doorstep.
“Did you tell her why you were there?” I asked.
“No. I started to, but then I couldn’t. How could I say I had left you because you would die? It sounded selfish.”
“So you changed your mind?” I felt a glimmer of hope combined with fear. If she stayed with me she would only know more pain.
“Sort of… Rose came back with news about the king ordering you to choose someone, to be your Anath’Meridum.”
“I haven’t decided about that yet,” I told her.
“Apparently even the gods are waiting on your choice.”
“I wonder about that, it seems as if everyone is trying to push me into this.”
Penny gave me a serious look, “You don’t have to worry about it anymore. That’s why I’m back. I won’t have anyone else taking the bond with you.”
“What!? Absolutely not! You realize what it means don’t you? When I die? Has your vision changed since yesterday?” Without thinking I had stood up and now I was glaring down at her.
She looked up at me calmly, “Yes, I’ll die with you. It solves all our problems.”
“It solves nothing. I won’t accept such a bond,” I declared.
“Then you’ll be put to death,” she stated calmly, “and I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of other innocent people also died trying to protect you. You have no choice.” Her voice held a note of resolve and her eyes a quiet madness, the madness of one determined to die with her lover.
“I have plenty of choices; at the very least I could choose someone else. I’m sure Dorian would accept the duty.” I didn’t like what I saw in her expression and my words kindled a fire.
“No you won’t, not if you value my life. You have no idea what I am capable of Mordecai Eldridge. You think murdering a priest in cold blood was easy? That is just the tip of the iceberg!” Her voice had taken on a low growl. I took an involuntary step back; the goddess had been easier to face than the angry woman in front of me now. “If you choose someone else I’ll make sure you spend your remaining days wishing you were already dead! And to top it all off, I’ll kill myself as soon as you die anyway. Do you understand?”
“Fine!” I shouted back, “Have it your way!” In truth I had no intention of agreeing. It was easier to lie now and handle things my own way later. Penny was adept at spotting my lies so I figured I should throw her off the scent. “You want to die with me? No problem, but if we’re both going to die in half a year I’ll have my way now, in what time we have left.” I grabbed her by the shoulders and half dragged her to her feet, planting a rough kiss on her astonished face.
My plan worked better than I could have hoped. What started as a forced kiss turned into a fierce embrace as she responded to my passion. A few moments later I began to wonder what sort of tigress I had taken by the tail. She returned what I gave tenfold over, and the ferocity of her love was a thing to make lesser men shake in their boots. Luckily I am not a lesser man. If I had ever been unsure of that before, she made sure I knew it that day.
A few hours later I decided that dying in a few months might not be so bad. If things continued like this for the foreseeable future I wouldn’t survive that long anyway. “There!” I declared after a long breathless moment, “I think I’ve made my point.”
Penny started chuckling beside me and soon we were both laughing. “You can believe that if it makes you feel better, my Lord Cameron.”
I grimaced in mock anger and started tickling her but a knock at the door interrupted our battle. Feeling brash I rose to answer it. “Mort! Put some clothes on!” Penny hissed at me.
“Bah! I’ll teach that brazen manservant some manners this time!” I went to the door and threw it open, preparing to embarrass the man once and for all.
“Oh my! If I had known you greet all your callers this way I would have visited you sooner Mordecai.” Rose Hightower stood in the entrance, covering her mouth with her hand as if to hide a gasp. I turned several shades of red and dashed back to the bed, hoping to cover myself with the sheets.
Penny had already wrapped them around herself and refused to share, “Oh no you don’t! You brought this on yourself you cad!” she yelled. I gave up quickly and ran for the bath chamber. Rose stood laughing in the entrance the whole time.
“I may be overstepping, but does this mean you have forgiven him already?” she asked Penny.
Penny blushed, “He was very persuasive.”
Rose laughed, “I’ll wait here in the hall till you’re both ready. Unless you would prefer I come back at a later time?”
I wanted to shout that later would be best but Penny answered first, “We’ll be presentable in just a few minutes if you don’t mind. Thank you Rose.” I heard the door close and I peeked out into the main room.
“It’s safe,” said Penny. We dressed hurriedly and once we were somewhat presentable Penny opened the door. I wasn’t quite ready to face Rose so soon.
“I came to ask if you’d been to see your father’s house yet,” Rose said after we had all sat down.
My first impulse was to answer that Royce couldn’t possibly own a house in Albamarl till I realized she must mean Tyndal Illeniel, “He owned a house here?”
“Of course, he was a counselor to the king. Naturally he and your mother kept their residence here. You didn’t know?” Rose seemed genuinely surprised.
“No, it never occurred to me. I only recently learned who he was and things have been so busy I hadn’t thought to ask. Why wasn’t the house sold after he died? No one knew I was alive after all.” Without an heir ownership should have reverted back to... I wasn’t sure who, but someone should have taken possession by now.
“Hah! No one would dare enter his home. Think of what he was! Even robbers and vandals have given it a wide berth since his death,” Rose answered. What she said made sense; I would probably have put wards and protections around my own dwelling.
“So it has stood untouched since my parents were there last?” The thought brought a host of fanciful ideas to mind. What had they been doing before they left? What secrets were there? How many of their possessions remained? I had never known them in life yet their home might be full of answers about their lives.
“As far as I know… yes.” Rose’s eyes twinkled; she seemed as excited by the prospect of exploring the house as I was. She had an insatiable curiosity. Despite her beauty it was impossible to forget that behind her blue eyes lurked a mind as sharp as a razor. “Shall we go take a look?”
“I would love to. You already know the way?” I replied.
“This city is my home. Penny this man’s head is addled. If I hadn’t seen him naked a moment ago I would still be wondering what you see in him,” she teased.
Penny started laughing and I blushed again. I suspected Rose would be using that to embarrass me for years to come. “He does have his talents,” Penny added. I wasn’t sure if she was referring to my magic or... or my other magic.
I gathered up my sword and staff and we set out with Rose leading the way. Since we had arrived
in Albamarl we hadn’t had an opportunity to see much of the city beyond the royal palace itself so the walk was educational. The city was laid out much like a wagon wheel, with the palace at its center. Once we were out of the palace proper we followed the inner hub road until we came to another ‘spoke’ road that led outward.
At the place where the roads met was a large garden on the side nearest the palace. It was unusual in that its main feature was a massive rock that seemed to thrust up from the very earth. It had to be natural; no feat of men could have moved such a massive stone there to be a garden feature.
Is he sleeping?
“Did you say something?” I asked my companions. I wasn’t entirely sure whose voice I had heard.
Penny and Rose had been deep in conversation, so my question seemed out of place, “Rose was just saying that she’d like to stay with us for a while in Washbrook. Haven’t you been listening?”
As a matter fact I had tuned them out. Women’s conversation often seems like a sort of pleasant background noise to me, but obviously I couldn’t tell them that. “Sorry I thought I heard something else, don’t mind me,” I replied.
He’s awake.
I heard that clearly. This time I knew for sure that the girls weren’t the source. I stopped in the street, peering around me. Penny realized immediately that I must have sensed something while Rose looked at me curiously, “Something we should know?” she asked.
I held my finger to my lips, motioning them to silence and with a few words I put a shield around them. I had gotten much better at it over the past year and it hardly took me more than thought and a few well-placed words. “There’s something here, but I’m not sure what or who.”
Who or what, what or who, he hears us no matter what we do.
It was mental, not a voice at all. That gave me some concern; nothing should be able to speak directly to my mind while my inner shield was up. I stretched out my senses, expanding them to find whoever was playing these tricks.
“Mort, what’s going on?” Penny said.
“Someone is talking to me. Give me a moment; I’m trying to find them.” I couldn’t concentrate and answer her questions at the same time. We stood in the street for several minutes while I searched the area with my mind. I found nothing. Finally I gave up and we started walking again. I explained what I had ‘heard’ but neither of them had any better idea as to what it might have been.
The fact that I hadn’t been able to find the person responsible had me worried. I immediately thought of the creature Penny and I had fought that night two weeks ago. I had been looking for ‘holes’ though. I should have been able to spot the empty place even if it was one of them. I really needed a name for whatever those creatures were.
Whatever this had been, it managed to speak directly to my mind, despite my shields. That shouldn’t be possible. I remained watchful for the rest of our walk, not that it did any good. Soon enough we reached my father’s house.
“This is it,” Rose said, but I already knew that. The large stone mansion fairly glowed in my sight. Unlike the rest of the city it was constructed of grey granite and every part of it was enchanted. Each stone looked to be individually worked with runes, making them stronger and linking them together. No mortar was in evidence, none was needed. The gaps between the stones were so tiny I doubt I could have slipped a fingernail between them.
The house appeared to be three stories tall; which made it stand out among the shorter buildings in the neighborhood. “The house is not warded,” I stated simply, but the fact was hard to comprehend. Enchanting each stone must have taken a lifetime.
“Are you sure?” Rose questioned, “The stories about this house make it sound as if it is guarded by a thousand magics.”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t being clear. The house isn’t guarded by anything as simple as wards; rather the entire structure is enchanted. How could my father have done this? It would have taken most of his life to build.” My awe was evident in my voice.
“He didn’t build it. This house was built not long after the founding of Albamarl, some seven hundred years ago. It was built by one of your great-grand-sires,” she clarified.
That gave me pause. What would it have been like to be raised here, surrounded by magic? Guided by a father who knew magecraft and the history of our family; life would have been very different. For a moment I felt the loss, the knowledge that could never be regained. I was a stranger to my family’s past, picking at the threads of a long frayed tapestry; trying to reconstruct a story of men long gone.
Nothing would be gained standing in the street, so I stepped up to the door. It was a massive oak construction, wide enough for two men to stand abreast. The timbers were so wrapped in runes and symbols that they looked almost gold in my sight. Reaching out I attempted to touch the door-handle, but my hand came up short, stopping several inches from it. An invisible barrier prevented me from even contacting it.
Since that day in Lancaster when I had struggled to get into Devon Tremont’s room I had not met a door I could not pass. One of the first things I studied when things calmed down was the art of spelling locks to open. This was not a lock however, it was a magical barrier. Using a few words and a mental push I tried to force my way through the barrier but it resisted me. It felt as though it were as hard as the granite the house was made of, resolute and unyielding.
Penny spoke up, “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to get in. It seems my father forgot to put a key under the doormat for me.” I redoubled my efforts, seeking to pry apart the magic that held me at bay. The air began to crackle with static discharges as I put more and more effort into forcing the barrier aside. I tried subtle tricks to slip past the protections, I tried clever spells to hide my presence, and I tried brute force. Nothing worked. “Goddammit!”
It was frustrating to be so close to such a major part of my past, yet be unable to enter. The thought of the secrets and knowledge my parents might have left inside filled me with yearning. The door didn’t seem to care. I lost my temper and attacked it, driving at it with a wedge of pure force, attempting to batter the door down. The house didn’t like that. Lightning enfolded me, wrapping me in blue light, burning through my shield and setting my nerves on fire. Screaming I collapsed in the doorway.
I came to in the middle of the road; Penny had dragged me, still twitching back from the door. “Dammit Mort, if you’re going to do something stupid at least warn me first!”
“Let’s just assume I’m always doing something stupid. It’s quicker and easier for both of us,” I replied as I tried to stand up, but my legs had turned to jelly. Penny steadied me.
We can rend it asunder son of Illeniel. Let us tear it down.
“Who is that!?” I yelled, looking around me.
“What’s wrong Mort?” Penny had a worried expression.
“They’re talking to me, but I can’t find them!” I was staring around me; paranoia was beginning to take hold.
“Who? There’s no one here but us,” she was talking to me in a soothing tone. I realized she must think I was going mad.
“The voices...” I started, but I decided to let it go. I was beginning to wonder about myself. My legs were feeling better so I pulled away from her and walked toward the door again.
“Let’s go back. You’re just going to hurt yourself Mordecai.” That was Rose. She sounded reasonable but I was tired of being reasonable.
“No, I’m not done yet.” I pushed up my sleeves and reached out for the door handle again. Too late I remembered I hadn’t replaced my shield. The lightning had burned it away from me. My hand touched the door handle but nothing happened. I stood still for a moment, wondering why the barrier hadn’t stopped me. I let go and stepped back. “That’s odd.”
“What?” Penny asked.
“I just touched the handle, but a minute ago I couldn’t even reach it,” I responded. An idea came to me and I re-shielded myself. Reaching for the handle I found myself stopp
ed by the invisible barrier again. My hand couldn’t get within six inches of the handle. “I’m going to try something stupid,” I said, looking at Penny.
“Let me get the fire brigade first,” she replied. I’m not sure if she was joking, but I didn’t wait. I removed my shield and reached for the door handle. I gripped it without problem and pulled. The door opened easily.
The doorway revealed a large entry hall. The walls were paneled in oak and stained a dark color, contrasting the lighter brown of the wood floors. I stepped inside and a crystal globe hanging above lit up, casting a warm golden light across the room. “Oof!” That was Penny; she had run into the barrier outside the door.
“Oh let me fix that for you,” I said and removed the shield I had put over her. “Ok now try.” She cautiously tried to enter once more but the barrier stopped her anyway.
“That’s odd, when I removed my own shield it let me in.”
“Maybe the magics are keyed to allow the descendants of your line inside,” Rose put in. As usual her quick insight made sense but a few things still didn’t fit.
“I know my mother lived here with him and she wasn’t a descendant so he must have had some way for her to enter.” Not to mention the protective magics had nearly fried me before I removed my shield. My best guess was that they couldn’t identify me while my shield was in place. Still there had to be a way to let strangers and guests inside. “I’m going to look around a bit, I’ll be back soon.”
“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” That was Penny, she wasn’t happy about being left outside. I gave her a smile and shut the door.
Before I had gone two steps she started banging on the doorknocker. Apparently she was allowed to touch that. I started to turn back but a voice stopped me.
“There is a woman at the door.” It sounded very similar to Benchley but I could tell the voice emanated from the enchantments around the house. I suppose they had people like him back then too. No accounting for taste I guess.
I was in a contrary mood, “See who it is.”
A moment later the voice replied, “She says her name is Penelope Cooper and she is accompanied by a Rose Hightower.”
The Line of Illeniel Page 8