by Robert Beers
Milward continued to spend his evenings hunched over Knights and Hounds across from the Innkeeper, Westcott. They appeared to spend much of the time in conversation rather than game play, at least as far as Adam could tell. He was usually too involved in the by-play of Thaylli and her friends to hear what they spoke about, but the occasional glance in his direction was telling.
Eventually the news came that the pass was clear, and he and Milward gathered the last of their supplies into the packs as they prepared themselves for the first leg of their journey to Grisham.
Adam closed the lacing on his pack and straightened his back. His muscles complained loudly at being in one position for too long, and he listened to them by lying down on the bed that had been his during the long winter months.
Milward poked his head in the door and nodded as if confirming a guess. “Ahh, all packed, I see.”
Adam didn't move from where he was lying. It felt too comfortable. “All packed,” he replied. “How far away is Grisham?”
Milward leaned a shoulder against the door jam. “Oh, if I had to guess, I'd say about one thousand, two hundred and fifty-six miles. Or three hundred and sixty-six leagues.”
“That sounds like more than just a guess.” Adam sat up on the bed.
Milward looked smugly pleased with himself. “Of course it is. I've been there more than a few times in my day. One of my best friends lives there. He's the Librarian.”
Adam lay back. It felt much more comfortable than sitting up, and he wanted to lock the memory of the soft mattress in his mind as he thought about all those future nights on hard ground.
He remembered Milward telling him about the Library at Grisham. “Oh, yes. He's the one who has all those old prophecies you want to look at.”
Milward inclined his head. “All that and more. He is the one individual in the known world outside of Dragonglade that has all of the recorded history, prophecy and knowledge ever written down at his fingertips.
“For a scholar, or shall we say, a Wizard? Hmm? He is a very good person to have on your side.”
Sheriwyn appeared at Milward's side. She had a cloth tied over her hair, which told them she'd been cleaning rooms again. Ani was most likely elbow-deep in a bucket, helping her mother scrubbing floors.
She tapped Milward on the shoulder. “Sire Wizard? Sire Nowsek is below, wishing to see you prior to the ceremony.”
He turned to her. “Thank you, Sheriwyn. You may tell sire Nowsek we'll be down presently.”
She gave him a half curtsey, and left.
Milward straightened up from his slouch against the door jam. “Well, we had best get ready to face our public. I'll go down and see what Nowsek wants to talk to me about. You may as well stay comfortable until it's time for this ceremony.”
Adam lay there on the bed, letting his thoughts drift while he dozed. Pictures scrolled across the back of his mind in no particular sequence. Charity playing with the kitten. The giant and his cleaver. The Chivvin evaporating into dust. Thaylli's face wove among the pictures like a connecting link.
Westcott's voice roused him out of sleep. “They're waiting for you downstairs, lad. Time to let someone else use the bed.”
Adam yawned hugely and stretched out his arms. “How long was I sleeping?”
“Not long. Only a few hours.” Westcott smiled thinly.
Adam bolted out of the bed. “A few hours?! I've got to get down there. Milward hates to be kept waiting.”
Westcott put a restraining hand on Adam's arm. “Ease up there, Adam. The old Wizard's the one who told us to let you sleep, and you've plenty of time to make your entrance.”
He rubbed his eyes and looked at Westcott. “But you said they were waiting for me downstairs.”
The Innkeeper gave a small laugh. “I didn't mean the whole village, lad. I'm just talking about those folks who've come to think of you as their friend during your stay here. There's a good lad, get along now. I'll see to the room.”
Adam strapped on the sword, and picked up his pack, and slung it over his shoulder. His mind was still a bit woozy with sleep, and he stumbled a couple of times on his way down the hallway.
Westcott was true to his word. The lower hall was not packed, as he had feared, but some of the faces that looked up at him as he started down the stairs were a surprise.
Milward was there, of course, talking with Nowsek, Maibell and Petron. Thaylli stood with her mother and father. One of the surprises was Merillat, and the other was Moen. He'd seemed to be more of a guard than a friend.
The small gathering was filled out with the younger miners from those he'd rescued. The others were still too much in awe of how they were saved, and of the diamond-lined entrance created as a side effect of the shaping.
Thaylli met him at the foot of the stairs and took him by the arm. “The whole village is going to be here and it's all for you. Isn't that wonderful?”
Adam looked around the room, picturing it filled with village folk expecting him to say something profound. “Yes, wonderful.”
Milward detached himself from Nowsek and his family, and worked his way over to Adam and Thaylli. “Well, my boy. I suppose this must all be very exciting for you. Your moment in the sun, as it were.”
Adam leaned over and whispered to the Wizard. “Honestly, Milward, it all makes me rather uncomfortable. I'm not a speech maker, I'm really not anything.”
“Oh, you're much more than that, Adam. Much more than that.” The old Wizard whispered back as he patted Adam's shoulder.
“Well!” He said loudly enough for the entire room to hear. “Our special guest has arrived, and before the rest of the village gets here I propose we do what we gathered here to do.”
“Hear, hear.” Nowsek remarked in approval. An echo of it circulated through the room.
Petron separated himself from his mother and father and crossed the floor to stand in front of Adam.
He cleared his throat, he looked nervous.
“I hope he isn't going to sick up all over me.” Adam thought.
“Ummm. I want to thank you for saving my life.” Petron began.
“You already did. A couple of months ago, if I remember rightly.” Adam smiled at him.
Petron returned the smile with a nervous twitch of his mouth. “Not the way I'm supposed to. We have our traditions. One is, if you save someone from dying, you become a part of their family. The one saved has to perform a service for his new brother. That's you.”
Adam felt his head beginning to swim. This was not what he was expecting.
Petron held out his hand. It held a small stone of very ordinary appearance. “This is the first stone of your cottage.”
He looked from the stone to Petron's plain, honest face. “I don't own a cottage.”
“You do now, laddie.” Nowsek pushed his way through to Petron's side and clapped his son on the shoulder. “My boy here, and the other miners'll have one waitin’ for you when you return from this adventure of yours.”
Adam was flabbergasted. Adopted and a cottage? He looked to Milward. “M ... Milward? What's going on here?”
The old Wizard was beaming. “The fruits of your labor, my boy.” He leaned closer. “Enjoy it while you can.”
“But I didn't do anything. You told me what to do. What if it all went wrong?”
Milward wasn't given a chance to reply, as the rest of the village came in through the doors and the farewell celebration got underway in earnest.
Adam found himself on the receiving end of back slaps and crushing handshakes from the men, and well-cushioned hugs accompanied by wet cheek kisses from the women. One of the younger women lingered a bit long on the hug, and her kiss missed his cheek completely, landing full on his mouth, prompting a cry of protest from Thaylli.
“Hold on! None of that!” She pushed herself between Adam and the enthusiastic young woman.
Adam stepped back, gasping. His recent handful gave him a broad smile and wiggled her way back into the crowd.
“Friend of yours?” Adam wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Thaylli didn't turn around. She gave every indication of mimicking a mother bear guarding her cub. “Not hardly. She warned me this would happen. She said she'd get a good taste of you, and blast her to the pit if she didn't.”
“You shouldn't let it bother you. It's no big thing and besides she was just being grateful.”
Thaylli spun around. “No big thing!? Some woman engulfs you, buries her breasts into your chest, she practically has her tongue down your throat, and it's no big thing?”
Some of the crowd had discovered a source of entertainment other than Westcott's ale, and were eagerly awaiting Adam's response.
He shrugged. “Why should it be a big thing? I don't have any feelings for her. If she wants to be rude like that, it's her problem, not yours.”
Thaylli stood there with her mouth open. Boys did not act that way. “You thought she was being rude?”
“Yeah, didn't you?”
“You didn't notice the amount of bosom she was showing, or her wiggle?”
Adam crossed his arms. “Thaylli. I'm not blind, I just don't want to be with her, I want to be with you.”
The applause from the crowd brought blushes out both of them.
She looked at Adam through her eyelashes. “That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me.”
Adam, on impulse, leaned forward and placed a kiss on her lips. The crowd erupted in a chorus of cheers and applause that brought out another bright blush from Thaylli. A tiny smile played across her face.
Nowsek raised his voice and hands to quiet the crowd and bring their attention to focus on him. “Now, now. We've said our peace, and have given our gifts.”
“And enjoyed Westcott's good ale!” Someone from the crowd yelled out.
Nowsek joined in the laughter. “Yes, yes. Sire Westcott is sure to have a banner week, based on this day alone.”
“But, we gathered here to express our feelings of gratitude to our new brother and his mentor. It is time for them to take their leave of us, and time for us to wish them good journeying. Sire Wizard?”
Milward detached himself from the bar, but kept the tankard in his hand. “Well, some would say it is good for Wizards not to involve themselves in the affairs of others. It has been said so in the past and in many cases practiced so to the letter. I would venture to say our interference in this place has become a welcome thing. It has gained us new friends, and has enabled us to learn much about each other, and, in spite of what some would say, this is a good thing.
“You have been given a gift, nay, two gifts through the actions of this young man who just happens to be an apprentice Wizard. One of them is beyond price. That is the gift of life he gave to your sons, husbands and fathers by opening the way to the mine. The second, if husbanded properly and its knowledge guarded judiciously, is the wealth of diamonds left behind as an after effect of Adam's shaping. Used wisely, Access may never know privation again.”
“A third gift, you have given us. That is the gift of your open hearts and your open minds. Charity and generosity are all well and good, but they soon curdle if held within a closed mind. I have enjoyed many an evening watching the snow fall, while deep in debate with some of you, and for that gift, I thank you.”
He raised his tankard. “To the people of Access! My thanks and my gratitude.” He drained the tankard to the accompaniment of yells of celebration and several breathtaking slaps on the back from some of the burlier residents.
Nowsek raised his hands again and bellowed for silence. When the clamor died down, he turned and pointed at Adam. “And now, a word from the young man we've all come to accept as one of our own.”
Adam's mind went blank. The few words he'd been rehearsing to himself vanished like mist in the sun.
The crowd filling the Inn looked at him expectantly and he had nothing to say to them.
“Uh hmmm.” He cleared his throat trying to find his speech, but it kept out of sight, hiding behind corners in his memory.
Finally he gave in to the reality of not having anything speech-worthy to say, and told the crowd so. “I'm sorry, but I'm not a speaker like Milward. I don't have anything profound or wise to tell you. All I can do is thank you for your hospitality and the kindness you've shown to two strangers this winter.”
His eyes began to water, and a catch started up in his voice. “The ... cottage you've promised to build is, to me, riches beyond counting, and I can't begin to thank you all enough. I feel like I'm leaving family, not just friends behind. Thank you.”
Westcott elbowed Milward from behind. “That was nothing to say? He wrapped them around his little finger with those few words. Look!” Tears were in several eyes.
Milward nodded. “Like I said, Westcott, a nexus. Labad was such, and armies flocked to his call. How does it feel to know you're seeing history unfold before you?”
Westcott ran a hand through his hair. “I don't know, Wizard. Uncomfortable, I think ... yes, that's the one. Uncomfortable.”
“An honest and fair assessment, Innkeeper.” Milward shook Westcott's hand. “I shall miss our games of Knights and Hounds, especially on those long nights under the stars.”
Westcott returned Milward's grip. “And I shall miss beating you.”
Milward smiled. “Thirteen out of thirty games, if I recall. Not a majority, but good competition nonetheless.”
He looked over to where Adam was involved in deep discussion with Thaylli. The hulking figure of Moen hovered behind them. “All that aside, it's time for me to collect my apprentice and be off. It will be well into nightfall by the time we reach the shelter hut at the foot of the mountain.”
Westcott let him go, picked up another tankard and began polishing it. Yes, it was very uncomfortable being aware of history in the making.
Thaylli clung to Adam and wept into his shoulder. “You're never coming back. I just know it.”
He tried to soothe her. “I'll be back. I promise.”
“No, no, no. You're going to die out there. There's bandits and Garlocs and...”
He stopped her wail with a finger against her lips. “No, I won't. Look.” He held out his other hand. A small glowing ball of bright blue fire appeared and danced above his open palm.
Her expression changed to one of astonishment. “Ohhhh, Adam, it's beautiful. How'd you... ? Oh.”
Her looked into her eyes. “Yes, magik. Do you think someone who could do this would be an easy target for bandits or Garlocs? Do you think someone who could open up a collapsed mine entrance and turn it into hard diamond couldn't take care of himself?”
She lowered her eyes. “I ... I forgot. You look so normal!” The last came out in a blurt that was nearly an accusation.
His smile was rueful. “I know. It's the way I was born, I'm sorry.”
Thaylli hugged him impulsively. “I love you! Please come back to me!?”
He returned her hug and stroked her long hair. “I will. I promise. I will.”
Milward's voice cut into their reverie. “Adam! Come on, lad. It's time to leave.”
Thaylli let him go reluctantly. Moen crushed his shoulder with his grip and gave him a nod goodbye. Tyndale called him son as if the union was already a fact, and Aisbell planted a wet kiss onto his cheek. Nowsek held the door for them, and the next thing he knew they were on the path again, and Access was receding into the distance behind them.
He turned as he and Milward reached the top of the ridge overlooking the village.
Milward stopped with him. “Looks different, doesn't it?”
Adam nodded. “Uh huh. Now it looks like home.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Candles! Nice clean candles!”
“Bern is an easy city to live in, if you are young, strong and male
.” The thought walked its way through the old woman's mind once more as she pushed her single wheel cart through the city streets.
“Candles! Nice, clean candles. A copper for three!” Her harsh voice croaked hollowly in the chill morning air.
No one answered her. She was too early for those who would buy her wares, as she always was. It would be a few hours yet before anyone approached her.
A shadow passed overhead. She felt a chill strike her bones, deeper than the dead of winter. Fear gripped her, and she looked around for its source.
She saw nothing out of the ordinary, The same streets she'd rolled her cart over hundreds times remained unchanged, and the shops and houses looked the same as the day before.
The chill feeling increased as it began to settle around her heart. Her stomach ached and a burning started in the back of her throat. A wave of nausea hit her like a sledgehammer blow to her belly, and she cried out in pain. The agony dropped her to her knees just as her vision began to narrow. She tried to struggle back to her feet, but her legs would no longer obey her and her hands tingled. Her vision blacked out entirely and she felt herself falling. Her last thought was of her candles.
The seeker left Bern with the taste of the old woman's fear and pain lingering on its senses. It was beginning to like the sensation and wished to taste some more. There was also that drawing to the south. The impulse was stronger now.
Somehow moving ahead of the wind, the Seeker pushed on Southward, following the spoor.
* * * *
Ccccrrraaaccckkkkk!! “Ooooo.” Jonas and Sari exclaimed their appreciation of the fireworks display nature was giving them as they sat on the front porch with Ellona, watching the late summer storm roll in from the mountains.
Bbbboooommmmm! Thunder from an earlier strike further away reverberated across the rooftops of Berggren.
“This is fun, Mommy.” Jonas looked up at his mother as he leaned into her side.
She looked down at her son and hugged him to her as she smiled at him in return. “Yes, it is. Isn't it?”
Flashes of cloud-to-cloud lightning illuminated the bottoms of the storm clouds, followed by an almost continuous bass rumble of thunder.