Silver Mantle

by Gail Merritt

  Silver Mantle spoke aloud so all could hear. ‘The fox tells me that she wants some instruction in using the Tongue. Perhaps…’

  The old man shook his head. ‘If she could converse with this small lady,’ he pointed to the spider, ‘then she needs no help with the Tongue. But we should spend the summer together. There is much to show you, teach you, share with you, if you would like to learn.’

  ‘I would like nothing better.’

  So began my summer with Green Mantle and the sweetest time of my life. We rose before dawn and travelled the Five Kingdoms, sleeping in the hedges of the laneways, for he preferred to sleep under the stars, teaching me their paths and their histories. In heavy weather, in deference to me, we spent some nights in a barns or inns, if the landlords were generous, but I could always sense his discomfort, sharing a roof with too many humans. We walked every where, or rode on the back of hay carts or grain barges. He said that moving faster would mean that he might miss something wonderful. When he tired of walking we sat and talked, sometimes for days.

  He taught me the correct way to address every kind a creature from a worm to a wolf, weaving tales of their lives and natures. He taught me the names and powers of herb and flowers, taught me where to find them and how they grew, how to mix herbal teas and make healing potions. He showed me how to live from the fruits of the land and how to heal the land itself. I dipped my feet in the great ocean, waded across swampy hollows and sucked icicles from the snows of Mount Befell.

  His generosity was boundless and I marvelled at his patience with me and the creatures we encountered. No wild thing was passed by without an inquiry about their health and how the world was treating them. Nor were the creatures kept by men forgotten. Every plough horse, dairy cow or new-shorn sheep would be thanked for their help and praised for their forbearance. And sometimes he even had kind words for their masters. When told by an animal that their master was good, he enriched the soil and encouraged a better harvest.

  In those gentle days, he enriched me beyond even my understanding. He set an example that I would spend my life trying to emulate and he did it with such kindness and good humour. No one had ever spent all their time with me. I wallowed in the luxury of it, but all too soon the leaves were turning in the forests and we returned to the Talarin.

  'There's a nip in the air,’ he said one morning shortly after our return. ‘The geese are travelling and so must I.’

  ‘Let me come with you,’I begged.

  ‘Your life must go on here.’ He patted my hand. ‘Perhaps when you are Green Mantle you may travel the winter roads but not yet.’

  I shook my head. ‘You are Green Mantle, no one could replace you.’

  ‘Someone will have to, some day.’ He put his hands on my shoulders. ‘I see no one better qualified than you Megwin, if the Souran will it. They already know my heart on the subject. You were born to be Green Mantle.’

  ‘Might they not wish it? Have they not forgiven me for my past folly?’

  ‘Some would see you occupy a different seat in the chamber.’ He returned to packing his small sack that contained all his possessions.

  ‘What other seat could there be for me?’ I handed him his pouches of medicines. ‘I can’t imagine they want me to be Blue Mantle.’ I spoke lightly but in my heart I still feared the wrath of the Souran.

  He stopped and fixed his blue eyes on me. ‘Some day there will be a need for a new Silver Mantle. Some believe you have the power to follow Olemia.’

  I gaped. Deep down, I knew she treated me differently to all the other novices but I could easily explain that it was my lack of years that made her so attentive to me. Hodin had once joked that she was grooming me to succeed her, why else was I being pushed towards Prince Ardin? I had brushed away his suggestion but now the seed of his suspicion was being watered by Green Mantle.

  ‘I don’t want to be Silver Mantle. I’d hate it. I want to walk through the land as you do. I would refuse it even if they offered it.’

  ‘I don’t doubt your sincerity, my dear, but remember that you are still young. Perhaps your interests will change as you grow. Do not think of it now. Enjoy the talents that you have. Now I must be on my way.’ He threw the sack over one shoulder.

  ‘ButI shall miss you,’ I made not attempt to fight the tears.

  ‘And I, you.’ He gave me his gentlest smile. ‘But there are others who have missed you this last summer. Blue Mantle tells me that Prince Ardin has been asking when you would return and I think we both know that Silver Mantle may not part with you so easily next time. I will be back with the Spring.’ He kissed my forehead and was gone.

  I dream of him still, trudging along a muddy road at sunset, his head bowed against the cold, his staff casting reflections in the puddles.

  Ardin came to visit and managed to persuade Silver Mantle to take me back to the Palace. Black Mantle complained until I promised that I would continue my studies with him. After the fire, the King commissioned a suite of chambers to be built for Black Mantle, who now showed himself to the novices. They responded with a mixture of awe and reverence that maintained the mystique that his disembodied voice had once created.

  ‘No wonder he is so strong,’ Betra said, out of his earshot. ‘He has fought battles that we can only begin to imagine. I will never complain again when he gives me something difficult to complete.’ Black Mantle’s raised eyebrow told me that he wasn’t quite out of earshot after all.

  So life on the Angirat returned to normal and I believed it would go on like that forever, or at least until I was much, much older.

  ◆◆◆

  After Green Mantle’s departure and my return to the Palace, I spent some of my time with Ardin. We rode together and spent afternoons sitting in the small garden, sharing memories of our childhoods. One afternoon, I learnt a little of what it was like to be a royal prince. We were following behind a heavily laden hay wain, forced to plod our horses behind the slow-moving cart. The two field workers sitting almost immersed in hay, cheered us with their jokes, until a passing rider told them who Ardin was. After that, the men were silent and sullen.

  ‘It’s always the same,’ Ardin began as he handed Gavalan to his groom. ‘My father says there should be no divide between a king and his people, but how can there not be? In their eyes,

  I have all the wealth and power they could image and none of the cares that they share with each other.’

  I thanked the pony before it was led away. ‘But they don’t know the great responsibilities you have to shoulder do they?’

  ‘They are weighed down by their own cares. I don’t toil each day just to ensure I have a meagre supper each night. How could they see me as a friend, someone who shares their hopes and fears?’

  I followed him across the courtyard towards Silver Mantle’s apartments. ‘You could disguise yourself and move among them, gain their trust and then tell them who you are.’

  His laugh was hollow. ‘And how could I convince my father, or Silver Mantle, that it was safe for me to do that?’

  I stopped, waiting for him to turn to face me. ‘Well, you could take me? Didn’t I save you from the spider?’

  He regarded me for a moment before his eyes twinkled and his lips spread into a broad smile. ‘Of course!’ He reached for my hand. ‘Let’s put it to Silver Mantle right now. If we can convince her, she will persuade my father. Megwin you are a wonder. I shall insist that when the time comes you must be my Silver Mantle.’

  I resisted the tug of his hand. ‘Don’t insist, please. I don’t want to be Silver Mantle.’ The anguish in my voice surprised us both. I had no idea until I spoke the words that my feelings on the subject were so deep. ‘I mean, it’s a long time in the future and I don’t want to think about that,’ I muttered, the insincerity of the excuse fooled neither of us.

  He put his hand to my cheek. ‘I will never do anything that hurts you, sweet little Megwin. Believe me. You are fast becoming my closest friend. If I had a sister, I would wis
h her to be just like you.’ His eyes widened with a new idea. ‘That’s it, we could go out into the world as brother and sister, we could be taken for such.’

  ‘You with your blue eyes and fair hair, me with my green eyes and red hair?’

  ‘Well, that apart. Come on, Megwin, let’s talk to Silver Mantle!’ He pulled me after him, already making plans of where we could go and what adventures we might have.

  Of course Silver Mantle listened politely and then gave him all the reasons why it would not happen. She laughed most at the idea that we could be mistaken for siblings and suggested that it would not be wise to raise the idea with the King as he had plans of his own for Prince Ardin.

  ‘Getting to know your subjects is a very noble and indeed, a very generous idea, my Prince, but it is just as important for you to become better acquainted with the kings and princes of the Five Kingdoms. One day, they will all be required to swear allegiance to you. It is always easier to bend a knee to someone respected and who you already know and trust.’

  Ardin gave me a sideways glance. We had been seated together on the long settle beside Silver Mantle’s afternoon fire. She had fed us flat cakes laced with honey and cups of her silkiest mead. ‘Perhaps she’s right. I could do that. Could I take Megwin with me?’

  ‘My Prince,’ her cheeks dimpled when she smiled and she tossed her dark hair, ‘I fear that would be inappropriate. Megwin is fast growing into a young woman and would be out of place in the retinue of an unmarried prince. Besides, she has yet to complete her studies and go on a journey of her own.’

  ‘She could at least accompany me to Dereculd, when I visit my cousin Llewid.’

  Silver Mantle’s raised hand halted my own protest. She had a better one of her own. ‘But my Prince, you already know your cousin and I know he is busy with his own affairs at the moment. I do not think it would be the right time to go to Dereculd.’ In her head, she added, ‘Megwin, I believe you were right about Llewid, he is not to be trusted.’

  While they discussed his possible itinerary, my mind filled with thoughts of King Llewid. I could not dismiss the memory of his easy manner, his fine features, his gaiety. His treachery had wounded me deeper than I would confess. It gnawed at me whenever he came to mind and I drove him from my thoughts. As always, he crept back again, before I slept, looking out across the lights of Vellin, I saw his face. My emotions overwhelmed me and I cried. Perhaps because of Llewid, perhaps because I knew I was about to farewell Ardin, if only for a time.

  ◆◆◆

  Ardin left at the end of autumn, when the trees were bare and the ground was growing cold under morning frosts. I watched his small company ride north, over the same hill from where I had first seen Vellin. I spent the rest of the day sitting on the Angirat with the fox. We spoke little but he occasionally gave me a gentle nuzzle.

  ‘It seems that everyone is leaving.’ I told him. ‘Three of our novices will be starting their quests before winter sets in. Everyone is going, except me.’

  ‘And me!’ It was the voice of Black Mantle. For a few months after the fire he had moved about the Talarin but the damage to his lungs by the fire and the strain of walking had both taken their toll, forcing him to retire to his beautiful new suite of tiny rooms.

  ‘I see you can still intercept my thoughts whenever you feel like it!’

  ‘Only when they are so strong that they scream at me. You will miss both the Prince and Green Mantle but your misery is increased by your inactivity. Too much idleness!’ He adopted his stern voice. I suggest that we fill your days with study and hard work. You have learnt much during your time here but you still have much to learn. I think it is about time that you learnt the art of Mind Travelling and who better to teach it to you than the one who has spent over a century perfecting it. You have the ability within you. I owe my life to your skill. It would be small payment indeed for me to instruct you in its use.’

  No novice was instructed in Mind Travelling. It was skill that the Souran guarded jealously. I felt bold enough to ask if the Souran had given their permission. He clicked his tongue. The Souran would not know if we did not tell them. Silver Mantle was bound to find out, so he would tell her, but the others need not be informed. I was to be bound in a conspiracy with Black and Silver and the invitation was too exciting to ignore.

  So winter crept in with frosted windows and robins eager to follow gardeners as they turned the earth. As I studied with the other novices, the first snow fell and we all welcomed the break that the Winter Solstice brought. We lit bonfires, those who had gods prayed and gave seasonal sacrifice, while those from the lands of the Gathering placed a single silver leaf beneath the ground, a remembrance of the forest below the world. Silver Mantle gave me a gift of a leaf made of real silver, rather than the painted wooden ones that the pedlars sold at the Solstice Fair and we buried them together in the rose bed beside the small statue.

  The year began with fierce storms and blizzards but for me it was brightened by mind excursions with Black Mantle. From his room, sitting beside him on a low cushion, we visited other parts of the Talarin. It was tempting to see private rooms but I had sworn an oath not to go where my presence would cause embarrassment. Instead, we saw the kitchens and the gardeners’ shed. We went to the stables and we visited the pigs. Once, we came upon a pantry where two servants were stealing food. Black Mantle roared angrily at them. They dropped the hams and begged for mercy. Mercy was given after they vowed never to steal again.

  Silver Mantle also spent time with me. In the evenings, while the snow fell, we sat beside her fire and watched the hidden landscape of the coals. We spoke little, content to be comfortable in each other’s company. Sometimes she suggested skills that I might like to try but mostly she talked about trivial things while the coals made magical caverns that slowly collapsed to create new ones.

  News came from Ardin. He was in Thanis, studying with the nobles there, and becoming good friends with the prince.

  Spring came slowly, snowdrops, crocus and daffodils surrounded the little statue. I gathered catkins and pussy willow for Silver Mantle’s room and set hyacinths to flower outside Black Mantle’s window. I waited for Green Mantle to return but he was delayed, restoring the health of a flock of geese on the edge of the Western Wastes. Hodin and Leida were given permission to begin their quests, three new novices arrived and a messenger came with an invitation for Silver Mantle to attend Kerith’s wedding. She had met a nobleman during her quest and fallen in love with him. It seemed to be no surprise to Silver Mantle that she did not wish to become a Mantle.

  ‘For every Mantle we must train many novices,’ she explained. ‘Kerith might have become a Yellow or Lilac Mantle in time, if she worked hard but there was no greatness in her powers. We all knew that, specially Kerith.’ She looked up at me, expecting some response but when I gave none, she began to poke the fire tentatively.

  ‘You, on the other hand,’ she spoke to the flames, ‘you have great powers. You have the potential to lead the Souran one day. You could become Silver Mantle. I felt that when I first saw you. I feel it now, even though you shy away from the very thought of such a destiny. Black Mantle agrees with me. The time to test how strong you are, what you are capable of, has come and it rests in your hands now. You are ready to begin your quest.’

  10.

  Quest

  ‘I’m only fifteen!’ I stammered.

  ‘Age is unimportant,’ Silver Mantle dismissed my protest, coming to my side. ‘You have learnt all we can teach you. Each one of us reaches a point when our particular powers require our own experimentation and development. It cannot be done in a novice classroom. Despite your years, you have already reached that point. Now you must learn from the world. The place to learn is beyond our walls.’ She brought me to my feet, placing her hands on my forearms. ‘You have permission to begin your quest whenever you wish.’ Then she changed the subject back to Kerith’s wedding, leaving me with a thousand questions that gnawed at me long into a
sleepless night. I suspect she did it to suspend those questions until I had organised my thoughts more clearly and perhaps because others would have already answered them before our next meeting.

  The quest… for so long it had been every novice’s goal, the culmination of all our study, the opportunity to step back into the world to test our knowledge and above all, to taste adventure. We talked about it constantly, those reaching the end of training anticipated it with excitement and fear in equal portions, for the new novices it was the ever-present peril awaiting them at the end of their study.