The sound of Jemeryl’s footsteps came from the doorway. The sorcerer appeared, wrapped in warm travelling clothes, with the two bears in retinue. At the sight of her, Tevi’s insides turned to mush. Her first impulse was to rush over and sweep Jemeryl into an embrace, but Tevi hesitated, unsure of herself. Would it be overenthusiastic? Too immature? She waited for Jemeryl to join her before reaching out self-consciously and placing her arms around Jemeryl’s waist.
Jemeryl planted a gentle kiss on Tevi’s lips. “Everything ready?”
“Yes.”
“Then it’s time to go.”
“Do we really have to leave today?”
“I was given a deadline to heal you and quit the valley. My time’s up.”
“Couldn’t you tell them I suffered a relapse?”
Jemeryl muffled her laughter in Tevi’s shoulder. “Don’t tempt me. I’m in enough trouble with Iralin as it is.”
Tevi started to turn away forlornly. Jemeryl pulled her back. “Believe me, I’d love to stay here in the castle, alone with you. But we’ll be together until we find the chalice. With any luck, it’ll take us months...maybe years.”
“It might not.”
“I’m sure we’ll find a way to drag it out,” Jemeryl said mischievously.
The tone put the smile back on Tevi’s lips. After one last kiss, the pair climbed into the saddles. They rode under the heavy stone gatehouse and into the watery morning sunlight. Ruff and Tumble padded along behind, accompanied by an excited group of squirrels.
The trail led across the ruined outer ward before winding downhill between bushes and broken heaps of stone. Once they were well clear of the castle, Jemeryl reined her pony around. She closed her eyes and muttered softly while her hands made a series of sharp, cutting movements.
Before Tevi’s eyes, a change came over the buildings. The solid timbers of the gate decayed and fell apart. Stones crumbled and fell. A crash resounded as a floor gave way; the boom echoed back from the surrounding hills. The squirrels fled in panic to the shelter of the nearest tree.
“Why did you do that?” Tevi was caught between alarm and surprise.
“Didn’t I tell you the castle was a partial illusion? I just returned it to the state it was in when I found it. Else it wouldn’t have been safe if the villagers came poking around once we’re gone. Now the squirrels can have it all to themselves again.”
Jemeryl turned her pony around and guided it down the trail, leaving Tevi staring in bewilderment at the ruins and trying to come to terms with the idea that she had spent the previous twelve days in a heap of rubble disguised by illusion. It did not make sense. She urged her pony to catch up with Jemeryl’s.
“You can create a castle from a ruin, but we have to ride all the way to Lyremouth on horseback. Can’t you make us fly there or something?”
“Magic isn’t like that. Sorcerers can’t make things happen out of nothing. We have to study the paranormal dimensions and use whatever we find there. For telekinesis to be effective, you need a suitable sixth-dimensional drift pattern. If you can coerce the essence to flow, then the mass in the three normal dimensions follows.”
“What?”
“Flying isn’t easy.”
“The sorcerer in Treviston made a bottle of wine float in the air.”
“You can force things over a short distance, but it’s hard work. Usually, when a sorcerer makes things defy gravity, it’s just to impress the ungifted. It would actually be less effort to move the items by hand.”
“You mean it’s not very useful?”
“It is sometimes. And if you’re lucky with the currents, telekinesis can be impressive—but it doesn’t happen often.”
“Sounds rather haphazard.”
“That’s like a blind person saying sight is haphazard because it doesn’t work well at night.”
The trail passed through a breach in the outer walls. The bracken-covered hillside rolled down to the cultivated fields of the valley floor. The slopes above were covered in pine trees that ended in a ragged line a short distance away. Again, Jemeryl brought her pony to a halt and pointed to the trees. In obedience to her gesture, Ruff and Tumble ambled up the hill, shouldering their way through the coarse vegetation. When they reached the trunks, Jemeryl stood in the stirrups and clapped her hands three times.
As the sound faded, the two bears froze in their tracks; then Ruff shook his head and sneezed. Tumble looked at the branches above her head, whining softly. Back on the path, Tevi’s pony fidgeted restlessly. The crunching of small stones under its hooves made both bears look around. Instantly, they spun back and pelted away into the woods.
Tevi watched them go sadly. “Will they remember us?”
“Just a few confusing details that will make them even more wary of people than normal, which is the way I’d want it,” Jemeryl said firmly. “I’d hate them to wander up to a fur trapper and try to make friends.”
“But Klara comes with us?”
“You bet, sweetheart,” the magpie answered for herself, perched on the pack behind Jemeryl’s saddle.
Jemeryl prompted her pony into a gentle trot down the hillside. “Come on. Let’s go and bid our fond farewells to the villagers.”
*
Late afternoon, three days later, they reached the outlying farms surrounding the town of Rizen. A slow-flowing river looped through waterlogged meadows. In the dwindling light, flocks of sheep grazed on rough pasture. The ragged peaks of the Spur disappeared into low clouds to the west and a light drizzle was falling. The road forded several tributaries running down from the hills. Nobody else was visible on the road, although the track showed signs of much use. Its surface was furrowed with deep ruts from the wheels of farm carts.
Ahead of them, Rizen lay in a wide bend of the river. The heavy defensive walls were a reminder of the days before the area had taken allegiance with the Coven. The drizzle turned to rain as they approached the town gate. Tevi pulled up her hood, grateful that they would be spending the night under a roof.
Three guardsmen were sheltering beneath the stone arch of the gate. They were dressed in the uniform of the town militia, and their hands carried the mercenaries’ red and gold tattoos. They paid far more attention to their own banter than to the approaching riders. Bursts of laughter echoed in the confined space.
Jemeryl halted her pony. “Could you tell me if the sorcerer is in town today?”
The sergeant broke off in mid-sentence and turned around, his mouth set in a self-important sneer. His contemptuous manner lasted a mere fraction of a second. As if incidentally, Jemeryl’s sleeve was pushed back to reveal the black amulet on her wrist. At the sight of it, the sergeant snapped to attention. The other two guardsmen were only an instant behind him.
“Yes, ma’am. Sorcerer Chenoweth is in residence. Please, if you would wait a moment, I will arrange a suitable escort for you.”
“Thank you, that isn’t necessary.” Jemeryl acknowledged the sergeant’s salute with the faintest nod and rode on.
The abrupt change in attitude was not so easy for Tevi to ignore . Of course. That’s how people respond to sorcerers, she reminded herself, feeling uncomfortable. The guardsmen’s eyes looked straight through her. There was no response to her friendly smile. Tevi hesitated, tempted to speak, but then urged her pony forward to catch up with Jemeryl.
Substantial timber-framed buildings lined either side of the street. Above the doors hung the signs of a dozen guilds, but none denoted an inn. Tevi was about to suggest they look for lodgings when she caught sight of the red and gold swords of the mercenaries adorning a banner outside a tall building.
“I ought to call in at the guildhall,” Tevi pointed it out. “I should check that Harrick left the payment. I suppose I’d also better explain about the basilisk. I didn’t get paid for it, and I wouldn’t want them to think I was cheating the guild out of its share.”
“Don’t be surprised if they aren’t very pleased.” Jemeryl gave a crooked smile. �
��As their name implies, the mercenaries don’t go in for acts of charity. But while you’re explaining it, I’ll visit the town sorcerer. It counts as good manners to tell someone when you’re in their area. I’ll pick you up from the guildhall afterwards and we’ll find an inn.”
Tevi slipped out of her saddle and caught the pony’s reins. “I guess I’ll have to hand the pony over as well. It was only on loan. “
“Don’t worry; we’ll get another one.”
“Right.” Tevi shared a last smile before heading off in search of the stable block.
*
Once Tevi was out of sight, Jemeryl continued riding along the street. A fair number of people were about, despite the rain. Most rushed by with their heads down, but those who spotted her amulet stepped aside discreetly, some bowing. Jemeryl barely noticed them. Her thoughts were locked on the imminent meeting with the Rizen sorcerer.
She was not looking forward to the conversation. Jemeryl had met Chenoweth on several occasions and they had not got on well. Jemeryl had found the other sorcerer uninspired and, frankly, not very intelligent. She suspected that Chenoweth thought her both arrogant and unorthodox. Iralin claimed that he had been the one to pass on the bad reports and Jemeryl was sure that he had been prompted more by a desire to upset her than concern for the villagers.
Chenoweth’s home overlooked an imposing square. Jemeryl could not hide her scorn as she looked at it. The place was a monument to a weak imagination. In truth, it was a pleasant townhouse, built in the local style to generous proportions. However, Chenoweth had overlain it with illusion to the extent that it now appeared hideously incongruous with its neighbours. He had turned it into a caricature of a sorcerer’s house. Animated gargoyles guarded the door and multicoloured smoke issued from the chimneys. If it impressed the local population, it implied a sad lack of sophistication on their part.
To Jemeryl’s mind, Chenoweth was little more than an overrated witch, and she could not believe that Iralin would think him important enough to inform of the actions taken over the reports, but equally, he would be quite able to draw his own conclusions when he learnt that she was bound for Lyremouth. It was a safe bet that his response would be both smug and vindictive. Jemeryl chewed her lip, trying to work out the most tactful way of dealing with the situation.
Klara hopped onto her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Just give him a quick summary of the relevant facts.”
“Which are?”
“That he’s an interfering arsehole who pays too much attention to the ramblings of morons.”
Klara’s suggestions were rarely helpful.
*
The guild master’s massive forearms were laced with a network of scars. He crossed them in front of his barrel chest. “And you’re quite certain you haven’t anything else you’d like to declare?”
“No, sir.”
On the other side of the desk, Tevi stood sullenly at attention. In the hour since arriving at the guildhall, she had come to realise that Jemeryl’s warning was well founded. The guild master had insisted she repeat her story four times, while his attitude had grown progressively more hostile. He clearly did not believe a word she said. For her part, Tevi was forming an intense dislike of the man.
The guild master gave her a long, hard stare. The only sound came from one corner of the room, where another guild official was rummaging suspiciously through the contents of Tevi’s pack.
“Why didn’t you complete your contract?”
“Trader Harrick agreed he didn’t need me once we’d got over the mountains.”
“Your contract said you would stay with him until Rizen. What gave you the right to change its terms?”
“By mutual consent, a contract may be amended.”
“Don’t quote the rules at me,” the guild master bellowed. “I was living by them before you were born. Amendment of contract is only allowed in exceptional circumstances.”
Tevi would have laid money he had been a bully as a child. “The lives of Protectorate citizens were at—” Her words were interrupted by urgent rapping on the door.
“What is it now?” the guild master shouted.
An apprentice poked her head in nervously. “There’s a sorcerer to see you, sir. She says it’s about the new arrival.”
Tevi greeted the announcement with a sigh of relief. The effect on the guild officials was far more dramatic. They both froze with blank expressions of confusion while their eyes shifted from the messenger to Tevi and then to each other.
The guild master was the first to recover. “Don’t stand there gawking. Show her up immediately.” As the door closed, his glare fixed on Tevi. “I suppose you think this is your friend?”
Tevi felt herself blush at the emphasis on the word ‘friend’. “Yes, sir. Jemeryl said she’d meet me here.”
“Still sticking to your story? Well, maybe now we’ll get to the truth.”
Despite his continued belligerence, the guild master was noticeably unsettled. He got to his feet and stood, adjusting the set of his clothes and tightening his belt. As footsteps sounded outside, he combed his thinning hair with his fingers in a last nervous effort at personal grooming.
Suddenly, Tevi understood what the guild master had meant when he stressed the word “friend.” An immense social gulf existed between a junior mercenary and a Coven sorcerer. In the castle, Jemeryl had insisted on acting like equals, but the rest of the world would not see them as such.
Tevi realised that referring to Jemeryl in terms more appropriate for a friend than a superior had prejudiced the guild master against believing her story from the start. Claiming that the Coven took an interest in her quest for a family heirloom had not helped. Judging by his reaction, the guild master had not even believed that Jemeryl existed. Now he evidently expected to have Tevi’s account revealed as distortion, if not outright lies. However, Tevi did not have long to think things through. The door opened, and both guild officers bowed stiffly as Jemeryl swept into the room.
“How may we assist you, ma’am?” The guild master’s combative tones were replaced by starched politeness.
Jemeryl did not answer immediately. Her gaze travelled very deliberately around the room. Tevi guessed that her own face held an expression of aggrieved irritation. Jemeryl could add it to the guild master’s officiousness and his colleague’s edgy sideways glances. Reading the situation would not be hard.
Jemeryl’s eyes finished up fixed on the guild master. “Thank you, but my business is with Tevi.” Her manner was condescending.
“On that subject, I’m pleased you’ve arrived, ma’am. There has been a little confusion. W—”
Jemeryl cut him off. “Confusion? Didn’t Tevi explain?”
“We’ve had a version of events, but we’re unsure of the accuracy. If—”
“You’re surely not calling my friend’s honesty into question?”
The guild master’s eyes bulged in surprise. “Er...well...no, ma’am.”
“Then what is the problem?”
“It’s...we...” The guild master swallowed.
In the resulting silence, Jemeryl turned to Tevi. “You told them I want you to accompany me?” She sounded coldly offended.
“I’ve tried to.”
Jemeryl looked back to the guild master.
“Um...no, ma’am. There’s no problem.”
Tevi was starting to feel uncomfortable. She had hoped that Jemeryl’s arrival would resolve the situation with the minimum of fuss; but Jemeryl was clearly playing at baiting the guild master. Having recently been subjected to bullying, Tevi was unhappy to see it continued, even though her tormentor was the one currently on the spot. Yet despite her qualms, there was a point that had to be cleared up.
“They’ve refused me permission to leave town,” Tevi said quietly.
“They’ve said what!”
“Ma’am, we didn’t—” The guild master tried to get his explanation in.
Jemeryl spoke over him. “You told them we�
�re on Coven business?”
“They said I had to stay here, regardless of who wanted me.” Tevi tactfully refrained from quoting verbatim.
The guild master flinched.
Jemeryl stared at him. “You question my authority to claim Tevi’s services?”
“No, ma’am. Of course not.”
“But you won’t let her come with me?”
“Oh, no, ma’am. But we didn’t want her running off without authorisation.”
“You want me to sign a contract for her employment? Of course, you are quite within your rights to do so.”
While in Lyremouth, Tevi had been told that the Coven would only be asked for formal contracts in exceptional circumstances. When working for a sorcerer, the guild reimbursed its member from its own coffers. Tevi had not understood the ramifications, only that it was an indiscretion even to suggest charging the Coven. Despite this, Jemeryl held out her hand as if waiting to be passed a pen.
“Please, that won’t be necessary. I’ll sort out all requisite details.” The guild master was half an inch from grovelling.
Jemeryl treated him to a glare that could have stripped the varnish off his desk. “So what is all this nonsense about?”
“We were just a little confused, ma’am. Your...friend’s story was...unusual. We couldn’t see why you’d need her services.”
“You’re surely not calling on me to account for my reasons?”
Tevi felt sorry for the guild master as he floundered in the face of the sorcerer’s determination to put the worst interpretation on his every word.
“Oh, no, ma’am. There’s been a misunderstanding. Your companion can leave at once.”
The guild master clearly had the sense to realise that anything he might say would only make things worse. Both officials fumbled in their haste as they shoved Tevi’s belongings back into her pack. In next to no time, the two women were outside on the street. Tevi had even been given back her pony. The guild master had personally promised to pay for it.
The Exile and the Sorcerer Page 30