“I like that,” Karanissa said. “But then, I would.”
Gresh smiled. He recognized the roots of the name—it was a sort of pun and could mean either “from glass” or “a marvel” in Old Ethsharitic, which seemed very appropriate. “Esmera it is, then. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I take it you’re satisfied with your current condition and don’t want Tobas and I to attempt any further magic?”
“Yes, this is fine—there’s much more to me now than there was before. I can feel what Kara meant about my not being whole before.”
Karanissa smiled at that, and in fact the whole party was now smiling happily at one another—except Alorria.
“Now that you have a name, Esmera, could you please do something so that I can tell you apart from my husband’s other wife?” she demanded. “We’ll need to find you a place to sleep tonight—I’ll talk to the chamberlain. And of course, you will go to Ethshar with Gresh, won’t you? It would be much too confusing having you around here. I don’t think my parents would like it.”
Esmera glanced at Tobas, then at Karanissa, then at Gresh. She turned up an empty palm. “All right,” she said. “I could put my hair up, I suppose.”
“That would do nicely,” Alorria acknowledged.
Esmera started to say something to Karanissa, but before she could say a word Karanissa said, “You can use my things, of course—you know where the combs and ribbons are.”
“Thank you.” Esmera rose, said, “Excuse me, Ali,” to Alorria, then slipped past her and out the door.
“You call me Alorria!” Alorria called after her. Then she turned and started toward the door, clearly intending to pursue Esmera.
“Ali,” Tobas asked. “Where’s Alris?”
Alorria paused. “With my parents and Peren and Tinira,” she said. Her anger vanished, and she looked down at her hands, looking suddenly shyer and more appealing than Gresh had ever seen her. “I was hoping we might have a little time together, just the two of us. It’s been... well, a while. There’s the baby, and we were traveling, and everything. I let you and Kara have the tapestry castle to yourselves in Ethshar of the Sands, and I wanted a turn, but you were all here casting spells....”
“Oh.” Tobas blushed. He glanced at Gresh and Karanissa.
“I’ll go see if I can help Esmera with her hair,” Karanissa said.
“Ali, I need to talk to Gresh for just a moment, but if you could wait for me, I’ll be right there.”
Alorria watched Karanissa leave the room, then looked back at Gresh and Tobas. “Don’t be long,” she said. Then she, too departed, leaving the two men in the room.
For a moment neither spoke. Then Tobas said, “You and I are leaving for Ethshar first thing in the morning, and we’re taking what’s-her-name, Esmera, with us, and not my wives, and you are going to be sure to never leave Esmera and me alone together for an instant and be ready to swear to that if Ali ever asks. Having the three of them in one place is much too complicated.”
Gresh understood perfectly, but could not resist asking, “What do you expect Esmera to do with herself in Ethshar?”
“Anything she pleases. She’s a grown woman, a witch, with four hundred years of memories, even if they aren’t really her memories. She can take care of herself.”
“I think it would be fair to provide her with a small sum of money—traveling money.”
“That seems reasonable. If you insist, I’ll do that, but you could equally well give it to her from that down-payment you got and charge it to the Guild as an expense.”
“So I could; I’ll do that.”
“Thank you. We don’t have a great deal of cash on hand.”
“Will you be bringing the mirror with you?” Gresh asked.
Tobas hesitated, then said, “No, I don’t think I will. Either Telurinon or Kaligir would probably want me to give it to him, and thanks to your spell, I can’t. Better I leave it here, so that the issue won’t come up right away, and we’ll have time to explain the situation.”
Gresh nodded. “A wise choice, and one I was going to suggest. You do realize, though, that the geas won’t do anything to stop anyone from taking the mirror from you? You’re only forbidden to give it. You aren’t required to keep it, or retrieve it if it’s lost.”
“Yes, I know—but it really is my mirror, and I think I want to hold on to it, at least until I get my new tapestry.”
“Good for you. If I might make a suggestion, though, perhaps you might tell them, with the Spell of Invaded Dreams or something of that sort, that you’re coming and that you aren’t bringing the mirror? You’ll want to make absolutely sure of its safety here, too.”
“That’s a good point,” Tobas conceded. “I’ll send a message tonight, and I’ll put Karanissa in charge of the mirror.”
“You could even ask the king to post guards, or at the very least to watch out for spriggans in the vicinity.”
“I’ll consider that.”
Gresh realized he was nearing the end of Tobas’s willingness to listen to advice. “We’ll meet here first thing in the morning, then?” he asked.
“First thing. I’ll pack and see to the rest of it this evening, and ready the carpet. Now, if you don’t mind....”
“Your wife is waiting. Go.”
Tobas went.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gresh arrived at the tower door while the sky was still gray. The dawn was not yet broken. He knocked gently; no one answered. Presumably they were all still asleep. While Tobas had said “first thing,” Gresh knew he had probably not expected anyone to take it quite so literally. Gresh had kept a book at the top of his bottomless bag for such an eventuality; he lit the lamp above the stair, settled himself on the staircase, and began reading.
He had not yet finished the second page when Esmera appeared below him, at the curve of the stair; she still wore the same red dress, and it occurred to him that she probably had no other clothes—Karanissa had provided her with combs and hairpins, but so far as he knew, nothing more than that. She certainly had no luggage with her beyond a small purse on her belt.
Her hair was still up, as she had arranged it the night before—tied into a long braid and coiled on the back of her head. He did not think it an especially flattering style, but it did distinguish her from Karanissa, and apparently it was easy to maintain—it either hadn’t come undone overnight, or she had been able to restore it unaided. He wondered which it was—wouldn’t it have been uncomfortable to sleep on it like that? Perhaps if her bed had been soft enough that wasn’t an issue; he wondered what accommodations the chamberlain had been able to provide. Gresh had not accompanied her while those arrangements were made. He had been busy double-checking on the spriggans and the magic mirror, using up the remaining supply of Javan’s Geas to order the spriggans never to move the mirror, and re-packing his bottomless bag, and making sure that the packet of Lord Peren’s hair was secure.
He hoped that Javan’s Geas worked on spriggans; he was not at all sure of it. He had tried it anyway, but there was no obvious way to test it.
The mirror was no longer his responsibility, though. He had delivered it as agreed. Now all he had to do was get home and collect his fee—and perhaps help Esmera find a home.
She was looking hesitantly up the stair at him. Gresh closed the book and smiled at her. “Good morning,” he said. “I see you rose early, as well.”
“I didn’t want to keep anyone waiting.”
“That doesn’t appear to be a problem,” he replied. “No one answered my knock.”
“So I see. May I join you?”
“Of course.” He moved over on the step, making room for her, and pushed his bag further back, out of the way.
She climbed the stair and seated herself beside him, tucking her skirt carefully. “Thank you,” she said.
He nodded, and said, “It occurs to me that this must seem very unfair to you.”
She looked up at him, startled. “Oh?”
“Well,
yes. After all, you remember being Tobas’s wife, you must surely think of yourself as the woman he married six years ago, and now he says you aren’t. You remember owning an entire wardrobe and all you have now is this one dress, which still has dirt from the cave on it and snagged threads where thorns or spriggans caught at it, while the other pretty clothes all belong to the other Karanissa. That can hardly seem just.”
“But I’m not Karanissa,” Esmera replied. “I know that. I’m an exact copy—and I wasn’t even that until you cast Lirrim’s Rectification on me. You and the enchanted mirror created me; Karanissa didn’t, so why should she have to give up any of her belongings, or share her husband with me?”
“But don’t you think of yourself as her, still?”
“Sometimes. I know I’m not, though, however much I might feel otherwise. What I try to do is think of it as if I was her, but now I’m someone else. I’m trying to think of it as an adventure, starting a new life on my own.”
“That’s probably a wise attitude.” Gresh considered her for a moment, and then said, “I suppose I did more or less create you, didn’t I?”
“Not deliberately.”
Gresh grimaced. “And how many children are created without that being their parents’ intent? That doesn’t reduce the parents’ responsibility, and I don’t see why it should reduce mine.”
“But you didn’t know the mirror could produce something like me.”
“Well, that’s true, and perhaps that does lessen my burden somewhat, but all the same, now that you’ve pointed your parentage out to me, I feel I must assume some of the responsibility for your well-being. I have already spoken to Tobas, and we’ve agreed that I should provide you with funds until you can make a place for yourself, in Ethshar or elsewhere. This money should be considered part of my expenses in obtaining the spriggan mirror—after all, I would not have figured out how it worked if you hadn’t climbed out of it. But beyond that, I think I should also offer you the hospitality of my home, such as it is, and perhaps one of my sisters can see to your education and find you employment. One of them, Tira of Eastgate, is a witch—she ought to be able to provide some guidance. Ekava the Seamstress may be able to help with clothes.”
“Thank you,” Esmera said, lowering her eyes.
“You’re quite welcome—and I would like to make something clear; I’m doing this not as a father, but as a friend who feels responsible for your situation. I am not your father; we share no blood.” He was fairly certain that as a witch, able to sense his emotions, Esmera would know exactly why he was making this point. She had Karanissa’s memories; she would recall his reaction to that white dress she had worn a few days ago. And Esmera, unlike Karanissa, was not married.
He also thought she would be tactful enough not to say anything about it directly.
She raised her gaze and smiled up at him. “I’m glad of that,” she said. Then she turned and looked at the door. “Karanissa is awake,” she said. “I can sense it. She slept better than I did—her bed was familiar, and her hair didn’t get in the way.”
“Ah,” Gresh said. “Shall I knock?”
“She’s on her way,” Esmera replied.
Indeed, a moment later the door opened without further action on Gresh’s part.
Half an hour later the flying carpet rose from the platform, bearing Tobas, Gresh, and Esmera, as well as Gresh’s bottomless bag and a small chest holding a few of Tobas’s things. It sailed upward, circled the castle towers once, and then headed westward, gathering speed as it went.
They once again ate lunch at the Dragon’s Tail, in Ethshar of the Spices, but since they had so little baggage they rolled up the carpet and took it inside with them, rather than leaving it hovering.
They reached Ethshar of the Sands while the sun was still a hand’s breadth above the western horizon and spent the night in Tobas’s little house near Grandgate. All three slept in the upstairs rear; no mention was made of the tapestry hidden behind the draperies just the other side of the stairs.
While they ate a simple breakfast the next morning, Tobas reported that he had dreamed a reply—his own message about having the mirror secure in Dwomor had been received, and they were to proceed onward to Ethshar of the Rocks without talking to Telurinon. Kaligir would be meeting them at Gresh’s shop to discuss the matter.
“Why did they send a new dream?” Gresh asked. “Didn’t you talk it out in the one you sent?”
“No,” Tobas said. “I used the Lesser Spell of Invaded Dreams, which only sends. It doesn’t receive.”
Gresh blinked. “Why?”
“Because that’s how the spell works.”
“No, I know how it works. I mean why didn’t you use the Greater Spell of Invaded Dreams?”
“To save time and because I didn’t have all the ingredients for the Greater,” Tobas said defensively.
Gresh started to argue further, intending to point out that the only additional ingredients the more powerful spell required were blood and silver. Tobas had certainly had blood available if he bothered to prick his finger, and he ought to have access to a silver bit or two given he was the court wizard and the castle presumably had a treasury or at least a petty cash fund somewhere, but then he caught himself.
It didn’t really matter why; it was over and done. Tobas was right that the Greater Spell took about half an hour longer to prepare than the Lesser, and if he chose to devote that saved half-hour to getting more sleep or saying goodbye to his wives, that was his business. If he didn’t want to cut anyone for a few drops of blood, nor borrow a coin, that was his prerogative, as well.
If the real reason was that he hadn’t felt comfortable using a fourth-order spell when a second-order one would serve, as Gresh suspected, there was nothing to be gained by forcing him to admit it.
They finished breakfast in silence and were soon on their way west and north, toward Ethshar of the Rocks.
It was very nearly noon when the carpet soared between the towers of Eastgate and descended toward Gresh’s shop. The trip had been far more comfortable than the eastward journey, owing to the lack of crowding, greater familiarity with the hazards of flight, and the absence of a baby, but there had still been relatively little conversation, and Gresh was very glad to stretch his legs after sitting for so long.
Twilfa was standing in the open door of the shop, waiting for them. She waved and called a greeting as the three of them climbed off the carpet onto the street.
“Did you find the mirror?” she called as they approached.
“We did,” Gresh replied. “Have you heard from Kaligir?”
“No; should I have?”
“Not necessarily, but it seemed likely, since you seemed to be expecting us.”
“Oh, Dina told me you’d be home about now. I suppose she heard from Kaligir. So you really found the mirror? May I see it?”
“It’s safe in Dwomor; we didn’t bring it with us.”
“You didn’t? But why...?”
“I’ll be happy to explain everything once we’ve had some food, rest, and beer,” Gresh told her.
“Oh!” Twilfa realized she was blocking the doorway and stepped aside. Gresh and Esmera moved past her into the shop; Tobas was rolling up the carpet. Twilfa looked at him, then at the pair inside, and asked, “Where’s the other one, and the baby?”
“I left my wives in Dwomor,” Tobas said, as he hoisted the carpet on one shoulder, picked up his case, and strode to the door. “Both of them.”
“But that’s....” Twilfa turned.
“That’s Karanissa’s sister,” Gresh told her. “Esmera. She’ll be staying with us for a few days.”
“Sister?” Twilfa stared.
“I’m told the resemblance is strong,” Esmera said, smiling.
“Esmé, I have eleven sisters, and no two of them come close to that strong a resemblance!” Twilfa said. “Are you twins?”
“No, Karanissa is older,” Esmera replied, her smile widening. “Quite a bit older
, actually.”
“About that food?” Gresh asked.
“Oh! Yes, of course.” Twilfa hurried toward the kitchen, leaving the three of them in the shop’s front room. Tobas looked around for a convenient spot to put down the rolled-up carpet. Gresh closed the front door.
That gave the three of them a little privacy. “It occurs to me—do you want your origins kept secret, or would you just as soon let everyone know you’re only a few days old?” Gresh asked Esmera, as she headed toward the chairs in the corner.
“I think I’d prefer to keep it to myself,” she answered.
“We’ll probably have to tell Kaligir,” Tobas remarked, as he thumped the rug down in front of a large brass-bound chest.
“If you must,” Esmera replied. She sat down in one of the velvet chairs and began undoing her braid.
“What are you doing?” Tobas protested.
“I’m letting my hair down, now that I won’t be flying anywhere, and I don’t need to worry about you confusing me with Karanissa.” She had the braid uncoiled and was untying the ribbons that held it together.
“But I’m still.... I mean, people will think you’re her!”
“Tobas, I am not going to keep my hair up forever; I’ve braided it for traveling often enough, but I’ve never worn it coiled up that way before, not in four.... I mean, Karanissa never wore it that way, in four hundred years, and I don’t like it any better than she did. I’m done traveling, so I don’t need the braid, either.”
“But everyone....”
“Tobas.” She stopped unraveling the braid and put a hand on his. “I am going to be living here, in this city. People are going to see my face, sooner or later, and whether my hair is up or down, they’ll notice the resemblance to your wife. There’s no point in trying to hide it, or pretending I don’t look exactly like her—of course I do, because I’m her reflection made flesh. You know that, I know that, and Gresh knows that. I’ll be happy to use the twin-sister excuse instead of the truth, just to save a lot of tedious explanation, but I’m not going to ignore the fact that I’m physically identical to her. It would be silly to try. I will try to hide that I have all her memories, to save on explanation, but even that is my business, not yours. Now, calm down, sit down, and wait for Kaligir.”
The Spriggan Mirror Page 27