by Jim Hodgson
They sat. After a few mouthfuls, Alan said, “I bet you’re wondering what was happening here.”
Ozel chewed but said nothing.
Ergam turned to Ozel, jerked a thumb at Alan. “Can I slap him?”
Ozel swallowed, glared at Ergam, took a sip of water. Then, to Alan, “Yes, we’d like to know.”
Alan sighed. He looked at Sefa, then back down at his plate. “I met Yasmin in Bilgehan. I went in for supplies and she was just sitting there. We started talking. She said she had traveled to see family in the area, but when she got here there was no trace of them. She said she planned to head back to Calan, but didn’t have a place to stay for the night and no money, so I offered her to stay here if she wanted to. She was so pretty and she seemed so nice. I’d never met anyone like her before.
“Anyway, she ended up staying for a few days, and then we slept together. She taught me a lot about ...” he glanced at Sefa, who wore a sympathetic expression. Alan added, “Things.” He was quiet a moment.
Alan looked pained, then continued. “At first it was nice. Not just because of the things, but because she seemed to care about me. She would hug me, cut my hair, that kind of thing. But after a while, when it became clear she was going to stay here, she started not being so nice.”
“How not nice?” Ozel asked.
“It’s hard to explain. She was polite, but she made everything seem like it was my fault. Like, since she stayed here with me and we had a relationship. I thought we had a relationship, that is. But then she said I needed to work harder to make the garden nicer for her. A couple of times Yasmin said she thought she might be pregnant. I asked her to leave a couple of times, but each time she would cry and make me feel guilty, plus she would, er, do other stuff.
“I knew it wasn’t right, especially since she kept saying she might be pregnant but she never was. Then those two other women, Iffet and Gamze, showed up. I guess Yasmin got word to them somehow that she had a place to stay. Yasmin said I could get them pregnant if I wanted to. I said that sounded weird to me, but then all three of them started calling me The Master and …”
Alan stared off into space. “It was so confusing. Somehow they told me I was The Master, but I didn’t get to make any decisions. At first it was nice to have some female attention. When I was younger I used to dream of someday having a girlfriend. You know that, Ozel. But then all three of these women were watching me all the time and, well, I don’t really know how they got control over me, but they did.
“One day, they showed up with Sefa and ... with her things were different. She lost her parents and Yasmin got control of her somehow too.”
Sefa nodded. “She wanted me to learn to be like her, the way she was teaching Iffet and Gamze. I didn’t have the knack for it. I don’t see how to turn people’s words against them like they can.”
Alan said, “We talked about leaving, but when Yasmin found out she took Sefa’s clothes. It might not sound that mean, but it is.”
Sefa nodded. “It really is.”
“We waited so long for Wagast or someone to come,” Alan said. “Yasmin smashed the communicator when she found out what it was. I didn’t feel like I could leave Sefa alone here. It was all a big mess.”
“I want you two to know something,” Ergam said. “You have nothing to be ashamed about. Being manipulated is the worst feeling there is. Even worse than being physically hurt. Everyone at this table has felt it. It may take time for you to recover, but you’re young, and you will. Yes?”
Alan and Sefa nodded, looked at one another. Sefa very nearly smiled.
Ozel didn’t realize he was staring, mouth open, until Ergam looked at him and said, “What?”
“Nothing. Just expected you to, ah,” Ozel said.
Ergam sniffed. “I have fucking feelings — well, I did. Once. I’m a carefree undead abomination now, but I remember what they’re like.”
Ozel stuffed a piece of potato in his mouth so he wouldn’t be tempted to say anything else.
Ergam nodded. “Yes, go on. Eat your potato.”
Chapter 12
Usta had never thought numbers could possibly be interesting. Being around fellow military people like Alabora and Nazenin was interesting. Honor, tradition, leadership … those things were interesting. Looking at a long column of figures on a report? Three years ago he’d rather have looked at a bowl of pig leavings. That was before Usta became the man upon whose shoulders the responsibility for a prosperous nation rested.
Usta had been taught that good leadership came from the top. Whatever the king did, the generals would do, and the lieutenants, all the way down to the newest recruit. He had to give the impression of a sure hand on the reins lest the horse go bucking off down the street.
Even so, when Yonca entered, he was glad for the break.
“Ah,” he said. “Yonca, always a pleasure.” He lowered the piece of paper.
She gave a small nod. “Your Majesty. We face total destruction.”
He felt one of his eyebrows quirk. “What?”
“The ship we sent to Karvit’s Harbor?”
“I remember it.”
“It found Karvit’s Harbor in ruins. Homes and businesses burned to the ground. Civilians murdered and burned for sport.”
“The ship has returned?”
“No, it’ll arrive tomorrow. Perhaps the next day, depending on the wind.”
“But if it’s not here, how did …?”
Yonca gave him a look.
Usta understood that he was foolish to ask how Yonca knew things, and he agreed. But there was no way a spider could cross the ocean before a sailing vessel. Was there?
“The Yetkin have a new leader. They are organized. I believe they have conquered lands far from here, slaying everyone, burning cities to the ground. The only reason we have been spared so long is that we are small, out of the way. Forgettable.”
Usta grunted gravely. Sometimes it was good to be forgettable. “What do you propose we do? Build more ships? More fortifications?”
Yonca shrugged. “You can build those if you like. But what we really need are more wizards. I’ve made the case to I don’t know how many rulers that opening a proper wizard academy would do more to aid the kingdom than a legion of cavalry would in a thousand years, but they never seem to pay any heed.”
“I like it. Let’s get started. How soon can you and Wagast begin?”
Yonca continued in a mocking tone. “Oh, no, they say. We can’t have so many wizards. Wizards are too powerful. What would be the point? They’d only usurp my throne.”
“I’m not worried about that. Some days I’d welcome a good usurping, truth be told.”
“Bloody royalty and their bloody precious thrones. Never give wizards the same chance to serve as a common swordsman gets. Why, if just one ruler would—”
“Yonca! Madam! I completely agree! Let’s begin at once!”
Yonca stared. Her lower lip quivered. Her hands had stopped in mid-air.
“Yonca?”
She put her hands down. She looked like she’d just gotten grave news.
Usta stood. “Are you all right?”
She waved him back down. “Yes,” she said, tersely. Then her face softened. She shook her head. “I am sorry, Your Majesty. I am showing very bad manners. I have had this conversation many times. I shouldn’t be dismissive of the crown.”
“Nor should any crown have been dismissive of you.”
Yonca used the back of a finger to wipe at one of her eyes. She cleared her throat, then looked serious again. “Right you are, Your Majesty.”
“How long do we have?”
“Three months. A year. A thousand years. The Yetkin may not know we are here. They may know and not care. We may know more when the ship arrives. They found someone barely alive in Karvit’s Harbor. A ship’s captain, I think. Most likely your Captain Sozer.”
“Sozer? He’s alive?”
“Only just. I expect he’ll have quite a story to tell.”
&nb
sp; “He saved my life once.”
“And now I suppose you’ve indirectly saved his.”
Usta said, “You know, the Gerent is planning a raid on the Yetkin lands. What if he provokes a full-scale assault?”
“The Ilbezians and the Yetkins have been squabbling time immemorial.”
“True,” Usta said. “Should that make us feel better?”
“No.”
Usta frowned.
Yonca gestured that it was only the truth.
“I’ll speak to Elgin. Perhaps she can help me convince the Gerent not to go poking the Yetkin with a stick.”
Yonca’s expression said she didn’t believe this to be a very viable “perhaps,” but she said nothing.
“So, you and Wagast will get started training wizards?” he asked.
Yonca nodded. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Usta watched her leave and thought about the Gerent. Clearly Yonca didn’t think he could talk the old man out of his raid, and she might be right. But the Gerent would listen to his daughter, and Elgin would listen to Usta.
Well, she would when they finally got to speak, anyway. Which would be ….
Usta rushed out the door and down the hall. He caught up with Yonca on the stairs.
“I almost forgot,” he said. “Is there any news on the mountain rumbling?”
“Oh, yes,” Yonca said. “Ergam and Ozel found the volume we were looking for, but there wasn’t a good answer in it.”
“So we can complete the tunnel? Or no?”
Yonca looked pained. “I hesitate to advise you one way or the other, Your Majesty. We hoped to find more information, but the information we got didn’t help. We still don’t know what’s down there. Might be something. Might be nothing. The book described some fanciful beasts making the noise. Wagast thinks it’s a load of, well … a load of nothing. But there’s something about it that bothers me. I can’t decide what that is.” She smiled apologetically. “I’m afraid you’ll have to weigh the risks yourself and decide what to do.”
Usta sighed. “This is one of those times when a decent usurping wouldn’t go amiss.”
“Careful what you wish for, Your Majesty.”
“Truer words.”
He thanked Yonca and headed back toward his papers with the figures, wishing the question of whether to continue the tunnel work or not was a simple matter of totting up the sums. He knew he wanted to continue for personal reasons, but he also thought it was better for both countries if they were connected. What if there were unknown dangers ahead, and they quickly needed to join forces?
Weren’t there always unknown dangers ahead?
He made his mind up. He would ask that the work continue, but he would go himself to oversee progress. That way, he wouldn’t be asking anyone to do anything he wouldn’t do himself. Granted, the workers on the job might all be technically dead, and could survive much worse physical danger than his squishy human body could, but it was the principle of the thing.
Kingdoms, after all, ran on principles of things. And the sum of many figures.
And there was the other thing. Going to oversee the tunnel’s completion would mean he was more quickly able to see Elgin face to face and ask her to marry him. If there was something under the mountain and it thought it could keep Alper Usta apart from Elgin Ormuz, well, it had another thing coming.
Chapter 13
When he returned to Wagast, Ozel was surprised at the expression on his master’s face. The old wizard was usually unflappable, but the tale of what Ozel had found at the old tower seemed to unsettle him.
“This is my fault,” Wagast said. “I thought Alan was safe up there, out of the way. I shall have to make amends somehow.”
“Evil can be anywhere, I suppose,” Ozel said.
Wagast grunted in agreement.
“So the king has given you two license to start a wizard’s school?” Ozel asked. This was for Yonca’s benefit. Ozel knew it was a project close to her heart and he thought she might like a chance to talk about it.
But Yonca was looking at the book Ozel and Ergam had brought back from Guzul the Fierce’s house. After a moment she looked up. “What? Oh, yes. He has. We’re thrilled.” She didn’t sound thrilled. She seemed lost in thought.
Ozel gave Wagast a quizzical look. The old man shrugged.
“Anyway,” Wagast said. “Did you put up any magic to help keep our old tower from further prying eyes or what-have-you?”
“I did,” Ozel said. “I learned a few new tricks from Guzul’s house, I think. You should see the gardens Alan made. If I’ve done it right, they should stay as they are until we get a chance to go back.”
Wagast grinned. “You’re becoming quite a handy wizard. You must have had quite a good teacher.”
“I did. He can be a little irascible but when it comes to—”
“Oh, my god,” Yonca said.
Wagast frowned at her. “Excuse me, I was just exchanging praise with my former apprentice, if you don’t mind.”
Yonca stood with the book still in her hand. “I knew there was something about this that didn’t sit right. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I have it now. Ozel, you’ll have to find Ergam, get him to take you as fast as you can to catch Usta. He’s been gone a couple of days, but Ergam should be able to catch him, right?”
“Probably,” Ozel said. “But what’s the problem?”
“The lavadams. They’re real. We all thought this book was written by some crackpot. Felucite Zhuger? None of us ever heard of this person. But look at how it’s spelled. It’s an anagram for Guzul the Fierce.”
Wagast said, “You’re telling us Guzul the Fierce wrote this book?”
“I don’t know if she did. But my gut isn’t happy. If I’m wrong and Usta isn’t about to awaken a lavadam … whatever it is, then fine. If I’m right and he is, he’ll need a wizard’s help to fight it.”
“A wizard won’t hurt,” Ergam’s voice yelled up from the street below. “But that won’t be exactly what we need to fight those things, if the book is right.”
“Oi, his hearing,” said Wagast.
Ergam shouted up, “Sorry. I don’t mean to be rude, but I did hear my name. Anyway I think we should leave, right?”
“I’m on my way down,” Ozel said toward the window. He stood, nodded to Wagast and Yonca. “Tell Aysu where I’m going?”
“Good luck,” Wagast said. “We’ll let her know.”
Ozel ran down the stairs and out of the tower, then climbed into the two-wheeled cart Ergam was holding. “And here I was thinking I’d get to have a bath and a spot of dinner tonight.”
“You may well need a bath even more after what we’re about to do. Er … what you’re about to do.”
Ozel gave Ergam a quizzical look, but it was wiped off his face when Ergam lurched forward with the cart, threatening to topple Ozel out.
“Maniac!” Ozel yelled, once he’d regained his balance and a death grip on the iron bar set into the cart for just this purpose. “Slow down while we’re in the city or you’ll kill someone!”
“Bah,” Ergam yelled back over his shoulder. “It’s no fun being this strong unless there’s someone to show off to.”
Even so, the dead man did slow the cart. Ozel strained to see if he could catch a glimpse of Aysu from the high street, but she must have been busy. He could see part of the smithy, but not the smith herself. Shame.
“We’ll see her soon enough,” Ergam said.
Despite being annoyed that the ranger could read him so easily, Ozel hoped he was right. He also didn’t feel much like talking about Aysu. Why couldn’t he have been something simple, like a builder? He wouldn’t have to be gallivanting all over the countryside all the time saving his friends, if his job was merely to put up houses. But would he trade all his training, his life as a wizard, for stability? At the moment, if it meant staying in town and being around Aysu, maybe. On the other hand, he thought, he was currently speeding across the landscape, faster
than any horse, going to save his friend the king.
“Ergam,” he yelled. “Would being a regular person be better than this madness all the time?”
Ergam twisted his neck to look at him, which was unnerving because he could do this farther than a living man. He gave his head an emphatic shake. “Fuck, no!”
The trees rushed by the cart as Ergam plunged on. Ozel had been wishing for the last few hours that he’d had a chance to step to the urinal before they’d left. He was beginning to feel like an overfull wineskin jostling along and said as much to Ergam.
“There’s a stream ahead,” Ergam said. “But we must be quick.”
Ergam ran on for a few more minutes until the road came to a small stream with a stone bridge over it. Ergam slowed the cart to a walking pace. He said, “You need to drink as much water as you can.”
“I’m more concerned with getting water out of me, at the moment,”
“Yes, well. About that.”
Chapter 14
It was nearly dark when Usta arrived on the site of the tunnel, but it made no difference since the extramortals didn’t sleep. King Bilal welcomed him and gave him a tour of the work being done deep inside the mountain.
“We expect to break through to the other side soon,” Bilal said.
“How soon?”
“It could be weeks. It could be the next five minutes.”
Usta nodded. He hoped it would be closer to the five minutes than weeks.
Once he’d had a look at the works, there was nothing much for him to do but go back to his tent and wait. He was exhausted from the trip, though, and the sleep did him good.
He awoke early the next morning and threw the flap of his tent aside to find one of the extramortal workers nearby with his back to Usta. The man appeared to be gazing up at the mountains.
“Is everything all right?” Usta asked.
“I think so, Your Majesty,” the man responded with a bow. “Just a few reports of some movement up in the hills. Most likely the hill people. They haven’t come down this far yet though, so nothing to worry about.”
