THE SOUL WEAVER

by Carol Berg

  “Do it, D’Natheil - Father,” said Gerick’s voice from Ven’Dar’s lips, cold, unconcerned. “It’s what you’ve wanted for four years. She can’t see what you see. You know who I am because you’ve been closer to me than any mundane woman, even my mother, could ever be. If you don’t do it, then you’ll see all of them dead, including this pitiful relic you’ve chosen to lick your boots.”

  I would not allow this. “Listen to me, Karon. Once, very long ago in Martin’s drawing room, you swore that you’d never seen my match when it came to solving puzzles, and that if ever you were to wager your life on a riddle, you would ask me to solve it. So. The time has come. Place your wager.”

  Karon’s body was alive with rage, and no more than the weight of a hair would press his sword point into Ven’Dar’s flesh. But he held back.

  I forced everything I believed about our son into my words… everything I believed about Karon’s true heart… about our love, our family, our history… everything and anything that might reach him through the armor of D’Natheil’s anger. “That day at the Ravien Bathhouse, why did Gar’Dena turn the knife on himself once Gerick left him? How was it even possible? Those the Lords possess are left mindless. You have seen it in Zhev’Na and here in Avonar. They can’t eat; they can’t pull on a boot; they can’t breathe. They die. You told me the vessel died because once the Lords had used them they didn’t know how to live any more. So how was Gar’Dena able to turn his knife on himself? And why would he need to do so if the very act of Gerick’s withdrawal was his doom? What if Gar’Dena was not possessed by a Lord, but controlled by some other power? What would you have seen when that illusion was done? You would have seen Gar’Dena as himself again, not mindless at all, not dead, and you would have known the truth. And so Gar’Dena had to die. By the Lords will, certainly. Using Gerick’s soul weaving, yes.”

  I pressed harder. “Is this not the same thing over again? The one who controls Ven’Dar will make sure you’ve killed your dearest friend. But this time, something is different. As surely as the sun rises, you will also kill your son, the Soul Weaver, and your own true heart will be destroyed. And who benefits? Not Gerick. Not you. Not even the Lords who intend for Gerick to inherit your power. Before you kill this man,” I said, “ask Men’Thor, Where is his son? Ny vah mordeste, es Men’Thor yanevo Radele?”

  Infuriated, Men’Thor lunged forward, restrained only by two of the commanders. “How dare you - ?”

  But Karon was not swayed. “Impossible! Radele has no skill to possess a man or to create the seeming of another soul. Only the Lords have that kind of power.” Karon’s words dripped with loathing. He snarled and his shoulders tensed. Blood seeped from Ven’Dar’s neck, and I had no answer but faith.

  “Wait! Radele does have the power!” A young woman’s breathless voice came from the doorway. The remaining Dar’Nethi turned as one, parting enough that I could see a disheveled Roxanne who stood panting as if she’d run a race. “The same power he used to ensorcel the King of Leire!”

  Paulo stood beside her, gulping and heaving. “It’s one of the rings, my lord. Roxanne says that Radele has got one of the magical rings that spins, like the one in the cave of the Source, an oculus like the ones the Lords use in Zhev’Na, but small so’s it’ll fit in your hand. Radele must be controlling everything.”

  Before I could quite comprehend their meaning, Ven’Dar growled and twisted out from under Karon’s sword, lunging for his own dropped weapon that lay but an arm’s reach away. Karon was quicker. He slammed his boot into Ven’Dar’s middle. When the Preceptor curled into a ball, Karon dropped his sword and grabbed the Preceptor’s arms, calling two of his warriors to aid him. The Preceptor writhed and fought and spewed foam and spittle from his mouth.

  “Hold him,” shouted Karon. “Ward him with the strongest bonds you can manage. No one - no one - is to touch his mind. And on your lives let him touch no weapon. Seri, with me!”

  He ran from the room, and as I followed him, Ce’Aret and Mem’Tara rushed to Ven’Dar, who fell limp in his warders’ arms.

  Men’Thor had been restrained by two warriors. He squirmed and shouted, “Madman! How dare you accuse my son - ?”

  With a barked command, Karon called up the portal in the anteroom and vanished through it. I stepped after him, Paulo and Roxanne on my heels. Thunder exploded behind us. Over my shoulder, I glimpsed Men’Thor strike down his captors with a flash of fire.

  I cried out a warning, but Karon was far ahead, already disappearing down a long stairway. Through galleries we sped, down wide staircases, past astonished servants, and into the warren of sloping, narrow passageways that looked increasingly familiar… the steel-banded doors… past four fallen warriors… through the iron gate and the second guardroom where other warriors lay still in pools of blood… From the prison chamber ahead came a scream… as if the victim’s heart was being torn out. Gerick.

  I stood at the door of the prison chamber gaping in wonder and horror. The walls had vanished, replaced by fathomless darkness, riven by bolts of blue-and-white fire. Hanging in the center of all was a pulsing orb of lurid light, created by a small brass ring, spinning so fast that it swept every mote of light from the room and wove the light into a palm-sized universe of blinding yellow-streaked purple and gold. A particularly potent burst of lightning illuminated Radele’s smiling face. The spinning ring hovered above his palm.

  Another burst of blue and white shattered the darkness and struck the orb of light. At the moment of impact, Gerick jerked and screamed again. He knelt on the stone platform in the center of the guardroom, curled in a knot, his pale, trembling fingers interlaced and cradling his head. Silver bands at his neck, wrists, and ankles were chained to the eyebolts at the corners of the platform.

  “Come no closer, my lord,” said the smirking Radele. “I require you to stay where you are while we work out a settlement.”

  Karon was just inside the door, trying to move closer to the stone platform. But his every forward movement caused another streak of blue lightning and another scream. Finally, with a curse, he stepped back, and the storm was stilled. “I make no settlements with the Lords of Zhev’Na or their servants.”

  Gerick collapsed on the platform, shaking, his face buried in his arms.

  “Oh, come now, I’m not one of the Lords. This” - Radele pointed to the magical orb spinning in his left hand - “is only a temporary device, made necessary by your infernal stubbornness. It will help us accomplish what is needed, and then… ” He shrugged.

  “You think they’ll let you sever your partnership?” said Karon. “Or perhaps you believe you’re more powerful than the Lords? Or more clever? Yes, that’s it, isn’t it? So you’re a fool as well as a traitor.”

  “Once the sword of D’Arnath rests in the proper hand, the opinions of those in Zhev’Na will have no more weight than the opinions of a fly… or the opinions of a dead coward of a prince or his demon spawn.”

  “And whose hand would be the proper one to hold D’Arnath’s sword?” said a calm, equable voice from behind me. A firm hand moved me aside, and a straight-backed figure in red robes strode into the room. Men’Thor - his legendary composure regained.

  Radele smiled triumphantly, straightened his own back, and gave a deep bow. “Yours, of course, my father. And after yours, mine.”

  Men’Thor walked slowly past Karon, assuming, correctly it seemed, that Radele would allow him to pass his barriers. When the man in red stood next to his son, he examined the spinning ring for a goodly time.

  “You have made alliance with the Lords of Zhev’Na in order to make me the Heir of D’Arnath?” he said at last. He might have been discussing a gift of a new pair of boots or the talents of an untried sweeping girl.

  “It was the only way. If you had seen it, Father… the madman Prince brought the boy sneaking across the Bridge in the middle of the night, as if to show his demon spawn the prizes awaiting him! How could I permit it? I was appalled. Furious. It happened th
at one of the Lords came to me that same night in the guise of a Zhid defector, thinking I was some weak-minded fool who would not recognize one of them. He said the boy was just biding his time, hoping to learn Avonar’s secrets before rejoining the Lords. I could see they feared the boy would supplant them and take the powers of the Heir for himself alone. But for the time our purposes were the same, and I allowed them to think they had deceived me. That’s when I bargained with them and obtained this device.”

  “And today you were able, using this Zhev’Na device - this oculus - to displace Ven’Dar’s soul with that of the boy?”

  “The Lords own this creature’s mind. They taught me how to use the oculus to reach into his corrupted soul and command him, so that he would not even remember his own deeds. And though he is no longer an immortal Lord, his soul has this ability to move into other bodies. Ask our Prince. He recognized the boy. It was no illusion.”

  “But it was you all the time, controlling him, putting the words in his mouth and wielding the weapons in his hand.”

  “I could not allow Ven’Dar to be named successor. He’s weak. Just as you said, Father. If the Prince had only named you instead, Ven’Dar would never - ”

  “And in the Preceptor Gar’Dena, too, you did this thing?”

  “I used the oculus to discover what secrets the Prince told the boy that night and learned of the information cache at the bathhouse. If the Prince had named you to the Preceptorate, as he should have, nothing would ever have happened to it. But we had to control the knowledge of mordemar. If the people thought the Prince could prevent enslavement, it would take them another thousand years to listen to our reasoning. It was unfortunate that Jayereth and Gar’Dena had to die.”

  “And the Circle… ”

  Although there had been not the slightest change in Men’Thor’s demeanor, Radele’s grin began to fade. “Yes, yes. When Grandfather Ustele told you of the Circle, you said such a flimsy enchantment so close to our borders would ensure the destruction of Avonar. You said they should all be executed for treachery. So I used the oculus to learn the disposition of the Circle from the boy. I pretended to be horrified at the result. The Lords never knew the destruction of the Circle served our own purpose more than theirs. And then Grandfather said that the best thing that could possibly happen would be an attack on the Vales, to make the people wake up to their folly, to make the Prince forget the mundanes and concentrate on our own people. You agreed. So I probed the boy to see what he knew of the Vale Watch and told the Lords of it, too. You said the woman had to be silenced, to free the Prince from his bondage to the mundanes, and I knew there must be no question of the boy’s succession.

  “I did everything you wanted, Father, and now we’ve won. The people have seen the Lords in their midst and witnessed the power of evil. They will follow us anywhere we wish to take them. With the mad Prince and his demon son dead, and the puling Ven’Dar out of the way, no one can hold us back. We will lead the host against Zhev’Na and we will prevail. What is it, Father? What’s wrong? Everything is accomplished just as you wish.”

  Men’Thor spun on his heels, and with a formality that seemed ridiculously out of place, he bowed to Karon, spreading his hands, palms up. “My lord Prince,” he said softly, “words cannot express my humiliation, my disgust, my dishonor at the despicable deeds of this traitorous fool I have sired. I accept full responsibility for his crimes, and may my actions, in some small part, remedy the damage he has wrought. Ce’na davonet, Giri D’Arnath!”

  And before the red-faced Radele could digest the significance of his father’s speech, Men’Thor straightened his back, drew his knife, and buried it in the belly of his son. With a twist and a jerk, the bloody implement was withdrawn and turned on its wielder, and before anyone could move, an ashen Men’Thor gave a single agonized sob and caught the slumping Radele. The two collapsed to the floor in a mortal embrace.

  Horror robbed me of breath. Dread weighted my bones… my spirit… my soul. The spinning ring did not fall, but hung suspended in the air, pulsing and whirling in an obscene dance. Like a swelling bruise, it grew larger, a bilious swirl of purple and red and green. A cold wind swept through the guardroom, bearing the stench of old stone and foul smoke and such despair as would cause the bravest warrior to turn his weapon on himself.

  “They come.” Gerick, still shackled to the table, struggled to his knees and raised dark, haunted eyes to Karon. “Father… ”

  Karon turned away. Crouching down beside Radele and Men’Thor, he felt their wrists for signs of life, closed their eyes, and murmured words of Dar’Nethi peace sending, as if no one else was in the room.

  Gerick wrenched his gaze from Karon’s forbidding back and looked about the room, bewildered. When his gaze fell on me, he shuddered, looking gray and sick. Then, taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and lifted his head until the light of the orb lay full on his face.

  The pulse of the swelling orb increased until it set my teeth on edge and skin aflame, forcing my very heartbeat to throb in time with it.

  “They come.” Gerick’s words were almost inaudible now, his eyes haunted. Hopeless. Lifeless. “Father, help me.”

  This time Karon rose and turned to the stone platform. Grim and merciless, he drew his sword and stood waiting.

  From out of the bitter wind and the whirl of the oculus rose whisperings to paralyze the blood, voices that grew louder and easier to distinguish one from the other, weaving their wickedness through the thick air like writhing snakes.

  “You called us, Dieste?” As the voice sighed and slithered through the air, I envisioned Notole the Loremaster, the gray-haired hag whose face was of beaten gold and whose eyes were emeralds.

  “Your acceptance of your destiny gives us great pleasure, little brother.” So spoke the wide-browed Parven, the Warmaster, he of the amethyst eyes.

  “We had almost despaired of you, young Lord,” said Ziddari, so clearly present that I imagined his ruby eyes gleaming in the shadows beyond the orb, his voice still that of Darzid, my brother’s lieutenant who had once been my friend and confided in me of his terrifying dreams. “We feel your craving, and desire nothing but to fill you as you ask. Let us remove your bonds, so that as we share this body, we can wield our power as one. Power is your birthright.”

  Karon made no move to stop what was happening. Gerick lifted his hands to the orb, and the manacles snapped and fell away. He kicked the broken shackles from his ankles, then took another deep, shaking breath. “I’ve been powerless too long,” he said. He looked as fragile as winter moonlight. Yet with a flick of his index finger Karon’s sword flew out of his hand, clattering against the far wall. “No need for ugly blades. My execution has been stayed.”

  “And so you show yourself at last, Dieste,” said Karon. “All pretense stripped away. Radele didn’t know that his maneuvering was unnecessary. You would have done everything he wanted without the oculus. You were looking for a way to go back all the time, weren’t you? Is that why you carried this with you from one world to the next, awaiting the opportunity to make amends to your fellows, once you’d done all the damage you could do?”

  From a leather bag at his waist, Karon pulled something that flashed gold in the strange light. He threw it onto the platform in front of Gerick. Gerick turned deathly white, then slowly extended his hand and picked up his mask, the Lords’ gold mask with the diamond eyes that had been molded to his flesh when he became Dieste the Destroyer.

  I wanted to scream. What was Karon doing? I was not wrong about Gerick. I was not. Why would Karon drive him back to the horror he had rejected?

  Karon did not take his eyes from Gerick. He didn’t even blink.

  “I hunger!” cried my son, a spasm racking his slender frame, drawn from the very depths of despair. “Notole, help me! Ziddari… Parven… join with me… fill me!”

  As his white fingers gripped the mask and lifted it to his face, he groaned with the animal hunger of a starving man who sees his fir
st bread. Lust distorted his features, as his eyes darkened until they became pits of unending blackness. A blast of winter cut through my flesh, infusing me with the revolting pleasure of the Lords. They had him.

  “Gerick! Dearest child, don’t do it!” The cry burst from my lips and heart and soul all at once. “I know your true heart! You do not belong with the Lords!”

  Gerick paused, and Karon moved at last, not with any weapon, but only his hand, holding it out where Gerick could not fail to see. “Come into me, my son,” he said softly. “My dear and beloved son.”

  For one brief instant Gerick’s bottomless eyes met my own and then shifted, coming to rest on his father. The world, the stars, the mighty universe held its breath along with me. And then Gerick reached for Karon’s outstretched hand.

  At their touch, thunder shook the foundations of Avonar. The Lords’ unholy pleasure, their depraved satisfaction and unmuted lust were shattered by shock and dismay, as first Gerick and then Karon collapsed to the unyielding gray stone. For one instant, a hellish symphony of pain and terror and screeching disbelief rattled my bones…

  … and then absolute silence fell upon the world.

  As the light of the spinning orb winked out, I glimpsed the oculus and the gold mask fallen to the floor, sagging into a pool of molten metal, the two diamonds floating in it like sparkling eggs. Gerick lay crumpled on the stone platform. Karon sprawled across the edge of it, one hand still clasped in Gerick’s. In my husband’s other hand lay a small pyramid of polished black - Dassine’s crystal where Karon’s soul had been bound for ten dark years, the stone that held his long-postponed death.

  I sank to my knees beside the two of them, and in the darkness that fell on me like a woolen blanket came a soft breath on my wet cheeks, an invisible touch that bore a lifetime of love and reassurance. Karon had taken Gerick to the only place he could be free of the Lords, a bittersweet gift from father to son, swift passage beyond the Verges to L’Tiere, the following life.