Caught in Crystal

  “Because you have been to the Twisted Tower,” Corrana said. “And because you were one of the best.”

  The unconscious echo of Barthelmy’s long-ago dream struck Kayl like a blow. “We failed at the Tower,” she said harshly. “And I’m not one of the best anymore, not after fifteen years without even practicing. You’ll have to look elsewhere, Your Virtue; I have no reason to go back to the Tower.”

  Corrana sighed. “Will you at least come with me to Kith Alunel and hear the Elder Mothers’ reasons for wanting you to return to the Twisted Tower?”

  “Kayl, don’t do it.”

  Kayl turned her head, startled, to find Glyndon shal Morag standing on the stairs. “Glyndon, what—“

  “Don’t go back,” Glyndon repeated. His face was pale, and he looked unwell. “Anywhere else, but not the Tower.”

  “A Varnan!” Corrana said with loathing.

  “A guest at this inn,” Kayl corrected. She was surprised that Corrana had placed Glyndon’s accent so quickly, but her main emotion was irritation. She had no wish to be caught in a confrontation between Corrana and Glyndon.

  Corrana ignored her words. “So this is why you resist my appeal! I should have guessed. Your husband was also a Varnan, was he not?”

  “Get out of here,” Kayl said in a voice of deadly calm. “Take your magic and your memories and go. And tell the Elder Mothers not to send anyone else. I’m staying here.”

  “No!” Glyndon half fell the rest of the way down the stairs. “You musn’t stay, either.” He staggered to the nearest table, sank onto a bench, and hid his face in his hands.

  Corrana’s expression changed to surprise, then wariness. When Glyndon did not move or look up, she leaned forward. “Don’t touch him!” Kayl said sharply as the sorceress reached for Glyndon.

  “I mean no harm,” Corrana said coldly. “I only wish to know if he is unwell, as he seems.”

  “He is,” Kayl said grimly. “Don’t touch him! You’ll only make it worse.”

  Corrana’s eyes narrowed, but she let her hand drop. “You seem to know much of this ‘guest’.”

  Kayl rose without replying and fetched a mug of wine. She set it on the table a handspan from Glyndon’s elbow and watched the Varnan carefully until he gave a deep, shuddering sigh. Then she said, “Glyndon. Drink.”

  Glyndon lowered his hands and reached for the mug. He half drained it in three swallows. When he set it down, he still looked tired and worn, but some of the color had returned to his face. “Thank you,” he said.

  “I’m more interested in an explanation than in thanks,” Kayl said. “Particularly since you chose your time for this so carefully.”

  “What?” Glyndon looked around. When he saw Corrana his shoulders sagged. “So. That much was real.”

  “Who are you?” Corrana demanded.

  “My name is Glyndon shal Morag.”

  Corrana nodded. “You were one of the three Varnan wizards who went to the Windhome Mountains with the First Star of Kith Alunel,” she stated.

  “Yes.”

  “I see.” Corrana glanced at Kayl. “Now I understand more fully your willingness to take his advice.”

  “You know nothing of the matter,” Kayl said.

  “I know enough to apologize to you both for my hasty words.” Corrana looked from Kayl to Glyndon and went on with difficulty. “I have no love for Varnans, but I should not have spoken as I did. I am sorry.”

  Glyndon nodded tiredly. “After fifteen years away from Varna, I’ve heard far worse than anything you said. For myself, consider it forgotten.”

  Corrana dipped her head in acknowledgement, but her eyes stayed fixed on Kayl. “And you, sister?”

  “I accept your apology as well,” Kayl said in a tight voice. “But if you are wise, you will not speak of my husband in that tone again.” Corrana nodded without speaking, and Kayl went on: “Now, I wish to speak with Glyndon. Alone.”

  “No,” Corrana said calmly. “Not if it has bearing on my errand here.”

  “You presume a good deal, Your Virtue.”

  “I think not. Your friend overheard enough of our conversation to interrupt with some precision. I think that in simple justice I should hear his reasons.”

  Kayl heard the determination in Corrana’s voice. She pressed her lips together, knowing that she could not keep the sorceress from staying. Glyndon might try, but that would precipitate just the confrontation Kayl had hoped to avoid. “This is a personal matter,” she said at last.

  Corrana raised an eyebrow. “Is it?” she said, looking pointedly at Glyndon.

  Glyndon shook his head. “No. Still, I think Kayl’s right. You presume a good deal.”

  “How nice that you agree,” Corrana said politely. She settled herself more comfortably on the bench and raised one hand to toy with the tiny silver skull at her throat.

  The corner of Glyndon’s mouth quirked and he turned to Kayl with a look of mischievous amusement. Kayl knew that look well. The last time she’d seen it was just before the incident with the Bridden army officer, the mug of ale, and the dead mouse. Before Glyndon could say anything, Kayl said, “That’s enough, both of you.”

  The two magicians looked at her in surprise and Kayl went on: “I listen to enough of Mark and Dara’s squabbling; I don’t want to listen to you as well. If you won’t talk like reasonable people, I have work to do.”

  There was a moment’s silence. Kayl started to rise. Glyndon and Corrana looked at each other, and Glyndon sighed. “All right, Kayl.”

  Kayl turned to Corrana. The sorceress gave a small, humorless smile. “I will respect the peace of your inn. But I will not leave until I hear what this Varnan has to tell you.”

  “I see. I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to talk, Glyndon.”

  “No! We may not have that much time.”

  “You weren’t in such a hurry last night.”

  “That was last night.”

  Kayl sighed. “Then will it cause any harm to either of us if Corrana listens? Not that I like the idea much, but we don’t seem to have a choice.”

  Glyndon’s eyes went blank; then he shook himself. “No,” he said reluctantly. “It will cause no harm.”

  Kayl let herself back down onto the bench. “Then explain.”

  “I was ‘seeing’ things.”

  Corrana looked at Glyndon, startled. Kayl made an exasperated noise. “I could tell that much, even if I haven’t watched you go through it in years. What were you seeing?”

  “The Tower,” Glyndon said. He looked at her with sudden grim intensity. “You mustn’t go back there, Kayl. The thing inside will escape.”

  A shadowy memory surfaced in Kayl’s mind, of standing in a high-ceilinged room, slashing uselessly at a dripping, pulsing curtain of dull blackness that ate away her sword as it oozed closer. She blinked and concentrated, trying to make the memory clearer. The picture slid away and was replaced by a more vivid recollection, of herself and Kevran dragging Glyndon down the last few stairs and through the crooked arch of the tower door, just ahead of a voracious black wave that splattered on the ancient protective spells guarding the door. Kayl felt gooseflesh rise along her back. “You’re sure it will get out?”

  Glyndon hesitated, then slowly shook his head. “Not certain. Almost certain.”

  “What is this indecision?” Corrana demanded. “A born Seer sees truly or not at all.”

  “But I was not born a Seer,” Glyndon said. “I see many visions. Some I know are true, others false, but most of what I ‘see’ is simply… possible.”

  “I have never heard of such a gift,” Corrana said doubtfully.

  Glyndon’s smile was bitter. “More of a nightmare than a gift, I think.”

  Corrana waved away his objection. “It is the uncertainty you claim that interests me, not the name you give this sight of yours.”

  “The uncertainty is there. Sometimes what I ‘see’ occurs; sometimes it does not. And sometimes it can be avoided.?
?? Glyndon looked at Kayl. “That is why I’ve not come here for so long, and why I stopped sending you word.”

  “What do you mean?” Kayl asked.

  “I was avoiding one of my visions,” Glyndon said, and looked away. Kayl waited for some further explanation, but when Glyndon turned back all he said was, “It is not the first time I have succeeded in doing so. I know from experience that what I ‘see’ is not always true.”

  Kayl’s eyes narrowed but she stopped herself before she asked more about the nature of the vision he had been avoiding. Instead she said, “Then what did you see that brought you here in spite of it?”

  “Yourself, on the steps of that tower we found, with the edge of the black thing drawing nearer. And through the door I could see it outside the tower, spreading like a black storm.”

  “But it is not certain to happen,” Corrana said quickly. “You yourself said as much.”

  Kayl gave the sorceress a cold look. “No one who has seen that black thing would take a chance of letting it escape. Particularly since three Varnan wizards and the best Star in the Sisterhood couldn’t figure out what kept it in there in the first place.”

  Corrana looked suddenly thoughtful. Kayl waited a moment, then turned back to Glyndon and said, “And you don’t want me to stay here, either? Why?”

  Glyndon hesitated, then said bluntly, “Because if you stay, you’ll be killed. Unpleasantly.”

  Kayl swallowed. Glyndon’s voice was a flat statement of fact; the only way of avoiding this vision would be to leave Copeham. “And the children?” she said at last.

  Glyndon closed his eyes. “Also will die.”

  His voice shook slightly, and Kayl wondered how bad the vision had been. She decided not to ask. “Who?” she said instead.

  “No one I’ve ever seen outside a vision. There were at least seven of them, and they all had eagles on their helmets.”

  Corrana’s eyes went wide. “Magicseekers!”

  Kayl shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense, Glyndon! What would the Magicseekers want with an innkeeper?”

  “With an ordinary innkeeper, perhaps nothing,” Corrana said before Glyndon could reply. “But you are a former member of the Sisterhood of Stars who has been visited privately by an Elder Sister. I fear it is I who have brought the Circle of Silence down upon you.”

  Glyndon shifted uncomfortably, but neither he nor Kayl replied. At last Kayl said, “You’re sure this vision can be avoided, Glyndon?”

  “I’m sure. I’ve been avoiding visions of the eagle-helms for years.”

  Kayl stared, momentarily jerked out of her own concerns. “The Magicseekers are looking for you?”

  Glyndon shrugged. “I’ve never gotten close enough to one of them to ask.”

  “Even if they do not know of your part in seeking the Twisted Tower fifteen years ago, the Magicseekers would look for you,” Corrana said dispassionately. “Their hatred of Varnans is greater even than their hatred of the Sisterhood.”

  “Then we seem to have an enemy in common.”

  “And the only way to avoid a slaughter is for me to leave Copeham?” Kayl asked again. Glyndon nodded, and she sighed. “If it was anyone but you, Glyndon… How much time do I have to set things in order?”

  “I don’t know,” Glyndon said. “Not very much. A few days, at most. Maybe not even that.”

  Kayl felt numb. “Why didn’t you tell me all this last night?”

  “I didn’t know it was so close. I thought I had at least a couple of weeks to convince you, perhaps as long as a month. It wasn’t until just now that I could tell that it’s so close. You have to get out of here quickly, Kayl!”

  Irritation prickled the hairs along Kayl’s neck. Corrana’s oblique approach had been bad enough; discovering that Glyndon, too, had intended to take his time about delivering his warning was even more annoying. “You might have said something anyway,” Kayl said, her voice cool.

  “I’m sorry!” Glyndon ran his left hand distractedly through his hair. “But you will go, won’t you?”

  The rear door of the inn banged. “Mother!” Mark’s excited voice penetrated the walls of the inn with ease. “Mother, wait till you hear!”

  Kayl looked at Glyndon. “I won’t take chances with the children’s safety,” she said. She could hear the muffled sound of Dara’s scolding in the kitchen, and then Mark came boiling through the door into the front room, with Dara close on his heels.

  CHAPTER

  EIGHT

  MARK’S HAIR DRIPPED RAINWATER and his clothes were soaked, but he was still calling in excitement as he came into the front room. “Mother! You’ll never—oh, excuse me.” Mark added the apology automatically when he saw that Kayl was not alone. Then his eyes widened as he took in Corrana’s black robes and Glyndon slouching over the end of the table. He looked questioningly at Kayl.

  “Bar the front door, Mark,” Kayl said wearily. “Then go put on something dry. And don’t dawdle; I have to talk to you and Dara.” She noted that her earlier fears had been justified; Mark had indeed tracked mud across the floor. She did not bother to mention it. Other things were more important now.

  “Bar the door? In the middle of the day?” Mark looked at his mother in disbelief.

  “That’s what I told you.”

  Mark blinked, then moved slowly toward the door. He paused with his hand on the latch. “But what if the soldiers come? They won’t want to stay at an inn if the door’s barred when they get there.”

  “Soldiers?” Kayl said sharply. “What soldiers?”

  “I was just going to tell you!” Mark said. “Tully saw them marching up the road from Cedarwell, six of them. He says they’re from Kith Alunel, because they’re wearing scaled lorica, but even Prefect Islorran’s men wear that kind of armor, so it doesn’t mean anything, does it? And Kith Alunel soldiers don’t have wings on their helmets. So they can’t—”

  “Wings? Mark, did you see these men yourself?”

  “No, Tully told me. I came home right away to tell you, so we could get ready for them,” Mark said. “They’ll be here in a little while.”

  “Not even a day,” Glyndon murmured. His face was drawn and haggard. “I didn’t even have a full day.”

  “These soldiers may not be the Magicseekers you saw,” Kayl said, but even to herself her tone was unconvincing.

  “Will you wager your life on that, innkeeper?” Corrana said. “And the lives of your children?”

  “Magicseekers!” Mark said with relish. “Tully saw Magicseekers?”

  “Yes, and we have to be away from here before they arrive,” Kayl said firmly. Corrana was right; this was no time to sit debating the proper course of action.

  Mark stared at her, then turned and set the bar in place across the door. When he looked back at Kayl, his eyes were frightened. “Mother—”

  “I’ll have to explain later, Mark; there isn’t time now.” Kayl turned her head. “Glyndon, if there’s anything in your room you need, go get it. Quickly. Dara, I want those baskets Bryn made for us last summer. You and Mark put your good clothes in the bottom, and the blanket off your bed. Then bring them to the kitchen.”

  Dara swallowed hard and nodded. Kayl headed for the back of the inn. When she reached her bedroom, she scooped the money box out of its hiding place and quickly transferred its contents to her pockets. Thank the stars she’d been too busy to spend much, these past few days! Kayl left the empty box lying in the middle of the floor and turned to the chest that held her clothes. It took only seconds to find what she wanted, then she went on to the kitchen with hurried steps. Dara arrived with the baskets at the same time as Kayl. Kayl ignored her daughter’s worried questions and set to work filling the baskets. A cheese, a loaf of bread, the bag of meal, a couple of empty wineskins to fill with water later. “Get your cloak,” Kayl told Dara at last. “And tell Mark to get his. We’re leaving right now.”

  Dara nodded. Kayl went back into the front room. Corrana and Glyndon were standing be
side the door; Glyndon had retrieved his staff, and Corrana had covered her dramatic black robes with a shapeless brown cloak. Kayl hesitated, then knelt by the hearthstone. If the Magicseekers searched the inn thoroughly, they would surely discover the cache. She could not leave Kevran’s rod for them to find, nor her own sword. Her sword…

  The stone slid away. Kayl heard Corrana’s hiss of surprise, but she did not look up. Gently, she withdrew the bundle of oiled cloth and touched the hidden latch to close the hole. She rose and turned to find that Mark and Dara had joined the group. “Let’s go.”

  “Where?” Mark demanded. “What is that thing? And who’s he?” He jerked his head in Glyndon’s direction.

  Kayl paused. “We’ll go to Jirod’s, I think,” she said, ignoring the rest of Mark’s questions. “They won’t know to look for us there unless someone from the village tells them, and I don’t think anyone will. Come along. And cover your head; I don’t want you catching a cold on top of everything else.”

  Mark sighed and draped a fold of his cloak over his head. Kayl nodded and picked up the largest of the baskets. Covering her own head against the rain, she led the group out the rear door of the inn and along the narrow alley behind it. As they reached the street, another problem occurred to her, and she stopped. “Dara.”

  “Mother?”

  “I want you to go to Bryn’s and warn her that at least six Magicseekers have just arrived in Copeham. Tell her we’ll be at Jirod’s for at least a few hours, and if she and Alden want some company for their trip north, they should look for us there. Try not to be noticed, and don’t tell anyone else where we’ve gone. Then come straight to Jirod’s. Have you got all that?”

  Dara nodded. “Yes, Mother.” She looked worried, and more than a little frightened. Kayl wanted desperately to be able to give reassuring answers to all the unasked questions she could see in her daughter’s expression, but there was no time. They had stood too long on the street already.

  “It’ll be all right, dear,” Kayl said. “Go on!” She tried to smile as she took Dara’s basket.

  The expression on Dara’s face did not lighten. As she turned and started off, Mark said, “I’ll go if Dara doesn’t want to.”