A Glimmer of Guile

by Mary Patterson Thornburg

  I do not ask for your instruction; I know you are not a schoolmistress. Only to observe you will be worth whatever payment you may require from me, and I shall pay it gladly. If you would be so kind as to grant me an audience at your convenience, I should attempt to show you my worth. I shall await your reply, whether yea or nay, at the Crosskeys Inn.

  Yours, in sincere respect and admiration,

  Vivia

  I toyed with "your humble servant" but decided against it. I was not her humble servant and would not pretend to be. There were no lies in my letter, except maybe "admiration." It was true I wanted more than Raym had given me, not to mention Harken. Anyway, there was little point in lying, since she'd get whatever she wanted to know of me from Raym--though no more, I hoped, than what she specifically demanded. It made sense to flatter her, but just as much sense to show my own self-confidence. And it had occurred to me to send a gift, but I didn't want her to think I was trying to bribe her. If she gave me an audience, I'd take her the best of Jareth's ornaments.

  If she didn't want to give me an audience, she'd kill me. It was time now to wait.

  The sun rose and I heard Kenath stirring. I set tea to steep, called out to her that I'd return directly, sealed the letter, and took it downstairs for one of the inn's servants to deliver. Then I ordered breakfast for Kenath and me: eggs, sausage, oatcakes, butter, honey, and plenty of everything. I felt unreasonably lighthearted and remarkably hungry.

  I'd debated telling Kenath what I was doing, but I hadn't reached a conclusion. Now, impulsively, while we ate our meal, I broke the news to her as simply as I could. "You've heard about Orath, I take it?"

  She put a forkful of oatcake in her mouth, set down the fork and made the sign against evil.

  I went on talking while she chewed. "She's been doing bad things for years, you know, Kenath, and now she's done some things that I can't let her get away with. So I'm going to go head to head with her, witch to witch. There's a chance that I won't succeed, which means I won't live through it. You understand that, don't you?"

  "You're really going to do that?"

  I could tell she didn't believe me. "Really."

  "Not now, though. Not for a while, I mean, right? Sometime...later."

  "Oh, no, not later. Now. I just sent her a letter asking for an audience."

  Kenath turned pale. "Vivia, you can't. You don't know. You're not from here. She's evil."

  "Oh, but I can. And I will. What you can do is remember what I told you yesterday, about going east. Do you remember?"

  She repeated my instructions, glaring at me.

  "Do that. Tell Tada everything that happened."

  "You said you needed my help."

  "You've already given me your help. I needed to show Orath that I have plenty of money to throw around, hiring people to be my maids. I had no idea you'd turn out to be a witch yourself. There's not going to be much future for witches around here if I don't come out the winner against Orath. But you know where to go. Do it now, Kenath. As soon as I've been called to court. Don't wait for her to come after you."

  Tears rose in the girl's eyes. "You said you'd help me."

  "And so I have," I said gently. "Didn't I explain to you what you are, what we both are? Witches, not freaks, not evil creatures? Haven't I showed you that our guile's a gift, not a curse? You'll find Tada and you'll learn how to make your life whole, if that's what you choose. Anyway," I went on, while helping myself to more sausage, "I have a good feeling about this. She's not going to beat me. I'll find you when this is over and tell you about it."

  On impulse, I got my backpack, rummaged in it, and came up with my ragdoll. "This is Seena, Kenath. She doesn't look like much, and there's nothing guilish about her. She's just my old doll. But she's been a friend to me for a long time. Now you keep her. She can be a friend to you, too." I caught a whiff of Seena, campfire smoke and silver polish, and it was all I could do not to give her a little kiss before handing her over.

  Kenath grabbed the doll and held her to her chest, with a dark frown for me, as if she were rescuing an infant from a bad mother. She ate the rest of her breakfast sullenly, but without weeping, and took Seena into her little alcove. When she returned from taking the tray of dishes down to the kitchen, she handed me a sealed paper without a word. Orath had sent me an answer already.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  I was brought into Orath's presence by a poor girl whose cleft lip and palate made her speech unintelligible. When she'd announced me at the door to the apartment, she bobbed her head and scurried away. I stepped inside.

  The room was carefully lit. A central chandelier was abetted by many sparkling lamps in strategic places, so that the space was bright in the center with mysteriously dark alcoves around its edges. It was a richly furnished, tasteful, comfortable space. The general impression was of muted color, large shapes and simple lines, varied textures, all a setting for the figure who now stepped out from one of the shadows and toward me.

  The Lady Orath was tall and big-boned, broad-shouldered, powerful looking, yet with a rounded, womanly figure that showed to advantage in her dark red robe, which clung to shoulders and breasts as if by magic and fell, loose but clingy, to the carpet, like wax melting charmingly from an elegant candle. Her skin was as dark as mine, her face large-featured, her eyes like the bright cruel eyes of a hawk. She appeared to be in her early twenties, no older than I. Now I understood her salon's dramatic lighting. She was daring me to see the shimmer of the illusion. And I did, but only just barely, as I'd seen the flicker of it on Tedor's hand the day before. I thought she believed I did not see it.

  I saw, too, in one of the dark corners, a crouching, misshapen form, her servant, whom Afron said she called Frog. For an instant one eye caught a spark of light, and I knew he recognized me, had known I would be there, had hidden himself as well as he could so that I wouldn't see him immediately and give my own recognition away.

  I'd glanced away from Orath for only a fraction of a second, but of course she saw my glance. I raised my eyebrows slightly, so that she'd see I saw she'd seen. Returning my attention to her, I stepped forward and held out my hand, without a curtsy or a bow or a bit of hesitation. "My Lady Orath. Thank you so much for receiving me. You are as beautiful as they say!"

  Why not be audacious? What could she do but kill me slowly, shamefully, as she was killing Raym?

  Instead she smiled. "Vivia. How happy I am to meet you." Her voice was deep and musical. I couldn't tell if this was illusion or not, although I suspected it was.

  She took my hand in both of hers and I felt a thrill of something unusual run through my whole body, a weird mixture of profound relaxation and terror. I guessed that the first was the result of a surge of influence from Orath and the second the result of my blocking this surge, so that my natural reaction crept through.

  I'd considered carefully how she might have managed to capture Raym, and it seemed to me she could have done it only by taking him absolutely by surprise. Probably it hadn't been too hard to do, since he would've had no reason to suspect she was on her way to him. I'd thought my guile might be as strong as hers, if not as practiced; it was certainly not as strong as hers combined with Raym's, which she was using as if it were her own. But I knew I'd be a fool to let her surprise me.

  Thus I was shielding myself, with every bit of strength I possessed, from her influence if not--or not much--from her perception. She might be able to push me over by sheer force, but she wasn't going to catch me off guard. And now, of course, she knew that.

  My plan was a risky one. I would have to force her to let go of Raym, to give up her control of his guile. After that, whatever the outcome for him, the odds between her and me would be closer to even. Of course, if Raym were dead he would then have no guile for her to control. I knew this, but I had refused to think it through.

  "I was glad to hear so directly from you this morning." Orath let my hand go. "Although, as you know, I've been aware of your presence fo
r a good while. Marvelous strength of glimmer, my dear. I was quite impressed. In fact, I'd expected a somewhat larger person--or is this illusion, your small stature? Has someone told you I have a weakness for petite women?"

  I smiled as if she'd just committed a witticism. "No one mentioned a weakness of any kind, my lady. Believe me."

  "Oh, Vivia, I think we can dispense with formality while we're alone. Call me Orath, please. No one does, nowadays, and I miss it. Such a lovely name, I think."

  "Indeed it is, Orath. Someone told me once that women never like their own names. Or was it that women hate their names because they hate themselves? Anyway, I've always liked my name, too. Not so majestic as yours, but pretty."

  While we're alone?

  She had spoken as if Raym weren't there, only a servant, nobody who counted. Was she trying to see if I'd mention his presence? He was, as my one glance had told me, disfigured only partly by illusion. Some of what was wrong with him was real. Had she crippled him with influence, or by physical force? There was no way of telling.

  "Vivia, dear, I am thoughtless. Please pardon me. Have a seat--there, I think." She pointed to a huge chair, upholstered in cream velvet and perfect for her, whereas I would look like a child in it, or a large doll. "It will set off your charming outfit."

  I'd worn one of my expensive new costumes, a long sparrow-colored tunic with tight matching trousers. I eyed the chair, hoping I could climb into it without looking too ridiculous. "Thank you, Orath," I said. "Before I do... Please accept a small gift, one of my father's ornaments."

  I'd hidden it down the front of my tunic and produced it with a bit of sleight-of-hand that I thought might amuse her. It was the very best of the jewels Mani had taken from the dead pirate's ship, a long, heavy chain of gold filigree, set all around with rubies like drops of blood and knotted casually, the knot secured by a little cluster of diamonds.

  Orath gave a small gasp--in spite of herself, I thought.

  "Not his best, I'm afraid, but the best he had with him at his death. And I was already prepared to embark for Maal." All unhappily true. The jeweled chain was Jareth's work, beautiful and unique, the kind of thing only a tall, dark woman can wear successfully.

  She took the ornament and glanced at it. She was wearing no jewelry now but long gold bobs in her ears, and this pendant would suit her perfectly, especially as she was dressed today. Although she was completely closed to me, it didn't take guile to see that her vanity was struggling with a wish to seem unimpressed.

  Vanity won. "It's stunning, Vivia." She went to a discreetly lit mirror, held the pendant against her robe, and then slipped it over her head. The diamond cluster fell between and just below her breasts. It was perfect, and I allowed myself a bit of self-congratulation.

  "You must have had an informant," she said, "to tell you what would please me. One of the women you called on yesterday, perhaps?"

  Oh. Well... I'd already made up my mind that she knew everything about me. With, I hoped, a couple of important exceptions. Certainly Klaar had been right when she said Orath would have me watched. It really didn't matter.

  I allowed myself a small, self-deprecating chuckle. "No. They did describe you, but the rest was mostly luck. I am a goldsmith's daughter, after all, so I guessed it would look well on you. I'm glad it pleases you. I'll know what else to choose, now, when I'm able to collect the rest of my inheritance."

  She clapped her hands together, and Raym crept out of his corner. "Frog, order tea for Vivia and me. Cakes. Make sure they're very fresh."

  Without looking at me, he bowed, touched his forehead in a sort of salute, and shuffled to the door, where I heard him speak in a stammering voice to someone apparently stationed there in the hall for just such an occasion.

  I wondered briefly if his stupidity was feigned but, remembering the note he'd dropped for Afron, I doubted it. Whatever had happened to his body had happened to his mind as well. That hadn't weakened his guile, but had left it unprotected, easy for Orath to touch and command. Still, the note also showed that he remembered me, and that he wasn't totally Orath's creature. If, that is, he hadn't written and dropped it at her order. I didn't believe he had, perhaps because I didn't want to.

  "Why did you call on the ladies, Vivia? I'm curious."

  I shrugged. "I was curious, myself. I wanted to meet you, of course. But I wanted to hear at first hand from someone who'd actually been acquainted with you. You wouldn't believe the stories, Orath. Well, maybe you would. But I wanted to know if they told the same stories here in your city. Especially after feeling your glimmer. And then seeing what you'd done to Tedor."

  I shook my head in awed admiration. "Astonishing. Unprecedented, as far as I know. If I hadn't already wanted to meet you, that would have decided me." I paused. "Also, I wanted to find out what you looked like. To see if the jewel would be appropriate. One hears so much about you, about your beauty, but nothing specific. The ladies told me you were tall, and dark like the people of my country."

  Raym came limping back from the hall and set a tray, holding a teapot, cups, and a plate piled high with elaborately frosted cakes, on a table between us. He bowed again to the Lady. Turning, he looked me straight in the eye for just an instant, and I looked back. Let her make what she would of that.

  But, improbably, she wasn't watching. As she poured two cups of tea, she smiled a demure little smile. "Your country. Did you know I was born in your country?"

  "You were? No, I had no idea." I was surprised, but not so surprised as to take my attention from what she was doing. "Where?"

  "Oh, it doesn't matter." She passed the second cup to me in what I took to be a reassuring gesture. A floating drug would have gone into the other. Not that she mightn't have taken an antidote, nor would I have put it past her. "It was long ago. But just think. You, I, Taso Raym.... And of course Harken and the great Keln, who I understand is no longer functional. Do you suppose there could be something in the water?"

  I laughed. "Possibly. But, you know, I've often thought that many people may be touched with guile--even great guile--in youth, but that something destroys it before it really shows itself. Fear, maybe. Or even distraction. Mine showed itself distinctly, I think, because I'd been alone with my father and brothers for so long. I knew them so well. The step from ordinary human intuition to guilish sympathy wasn't a long one. And Monsara is sparsely populated, so there may be less distraction than in other countries."

  I swallowed tea and a bite of cake. Both were delicious. I hoped she was interested enough in me, and possibly in my "inheritance," to keep me unpoisoned, in my senses, mistress of my own guile, for yet a little while. I guessed that such a woman, however depraved, however given up to evil in fact, must also be extremely bored. I hoped to make myself as entertaining as possible.

  "A fascinating theory." She sipped tea. We might have been two matrons exchanging chitchat. "In fact it was also true in my case. I was very close to my family, especially my younger sister, and to no one else. Perhaps someone with a mind for philosophy should examine the possibility."

  Did she glance at Raym?

  Suddenly, to me: "Tedor. So. You saw him, then?" She was laying little traps for me, hoping to make me jump. If she could confuse me for even a second or two, she could overpower me with guile.

  Or so I thought she thought. "Why, yes. I supposed you knew."

  "You shielded your glimmer before that." Ah, a mistake. She had known, and known when.

  "I didn't want to annoy you. I was sure you'd have picked it up."

  She looked at me for a while. "So, Tedor," she said again. "You were surprised? You were sent to find him, I assume. Harken..." She said the name with some distaste.

  "Yes, Harken." I let my own distaste show. "It was a way to leave Ladygate without simply walking out the door. I suppose it's my weakness, or one of them, that I'm not eager to incur anyone's wrath. And Harken's not to be trifled with, after all. Anyway, she gave me the money to get here. She's waiting on my
father's fortune." We both know Harken, my little smile implied.

  "You were with her for--what, two years?" She had abandoned the subject of Tedor, for now at least.

  "Nearly."

  "And with the wizard, Raym?" She still gave no indication that he was in the room.

  "About the same. I took what I could there, and from Harken too. One takes what one can. But it's deadly dull, Orath. You must know that."

  She stared at me now for a long time, her hawkish eyes bright and unreadable. Had I gone too far? But at last she smiled.

  "Ah, yes, I know it. How good to meet you, Vivia."

  We chatted for a while longer, each on guard, each doing her best to give the impression of being entirely at ease. What I learned about Orath was very little, except that she was indeed vain, and that her vanity led her to some questionable beliefs. She believed, for example, that no shimmer betrayed the illusion of youth she projected. More disconcerting, she believed not only that the illusion of Tedor's old age was secure but also that I thought it was no illusion. She seemed confident that I regarded her powerful guile as real magic, the real ability to do something I knew was impossible.

  What Orath learned about me, I thought, was that I was stronger, and maybe smarter, than she'd expected. She continued to make little feints at me, verbally and with guile, trying to push me off balance so that she could take advantage. She was interested in me, yes. She pretended to like me, and perhaps she did like me in her own weird way. But basically she wanted to do to me what she'd done to Raym.

  He'd been not too much of a challenge, I realized. She'd managed to knock him down, so to speak, on her first sally, and I guessed she had been a bit disappointed. She'd been looking forward to a fight. The mistake had been hers and she knew it, no doubt. She hadn't given him a chance.

  Now she'd found someone who would give her a fight, and this pleased her. It was early rounds yet. We were sparring but still pretending to be friends. A wrestling match disguised as a tea party. The real fight had not yet begun.