by Victor Poole
"My grandfather and I agree," Delmar said. "The priests are out of control, and the witches have become bold again. We have decided," Delmar said, glancing at Ajalia, "to enact a purge."
Silence filled up the room. Denai's face was solemn, and the man who had let Ajalia into the house had a snarl of darkness in his eyes.
"You have made purges before," the man who had opened the door argued. "They have never been effective."
"Purges in the past," Delmar said, raising his hands to calm the angry men, "have been instituted by corrupt and evil men. This time will be different." The spies from Talbos glared mistrustfully at Delmar, and at Ajalia, open dislike in their eyes.
"I don't trust you," one of the men said. "I think you'll do as your father has done, and his father before him. You'll protect the worst of the witches, and your priests will spread their evil into our land."
"It will not be so," Delmar said, "but I know you will require some test."
The men gazed at Delmar, and Ajalia took the new Thief Lord by the arm.
"Delmar," she said shortly, and led him into a farther corner of the room. As soon as she had taken Delmar out of the direct light from the lamps, a burst of agitated conversation broke out among the spies. Ajalia did not listen to what they said; she drew Delmar into the shadows, and sat him down.
"What?" Delmar asked her.
"These are not the men to whom you must subject yourself," Ajalia warned him. "You are about to make a great mistake."
"No," Delmar said stubbornly. "They're right. I have to correct my father's mistakes."
"No," Ajalia said. "You are not your father. If you associate yourself with your father, you will never recover the trust of your people. You are not your father. Your father, and Tree, and those that came before them, are the enemy. You are with your people, and with the people of Talbos." And with me, Ajalia thought, but did not say out loud.
"They're going to fight us," Delmar told Ajalia, glancing at the large huddle of spies, who were conferring vigorously with each other.
"Not if they trust me," Ajalia told him. Delmar studied her eyes.
"How will they learn to trust you?" he asked her. Ajalia noticed that Delmar had spoken as if their trusting her was inevitable, and she kept back the smile that rose up to her cheeks. She thought that if she smiled, Delmar would demand to know what she was so happy about, and then there would be an awful temptation, on her end, to kiss him. Ajalia looked around at the spies.
"Do you remember what I told you, after we took care of Lim?" Ajalia asked. Delmar was watching her closely; he nodded.
"Yes," he said.
"You remember that I gave you a story, and then things went well?" she said.
"Well," Delmar said, "you told me what people would think."
"You made people think that had happened, because you were thinking of it," Ajalia said. "I will show you that this is true. Repeat after me."
Delmar smiled a little, and she saw that he did not quite take her seriously, but he looked at the spies, who still had their heads bent together in a group, and then he nodded.
"All right," he said.
"My father was the enemy of Talbos, but he was also the enemy of my people," Ajalia said. "Say that." Delmar frowned a little, but he repeated the words. Ajalia saw a gleam of confidence and assurance come into Delmar's face, when he said it. "We are in a war against evil," Ajalia coached, "and only together will we root out the witches and the priests of Slavithe."
"But the priests aren't all bad," Delmar protested quietly, looking at the spies. Ajalia thought of Thell, and of his three helpers, and of the other priests who had burst into death with ugly flashes of white light.
"Delmar," Ajalia said evenly. Delmar pursed his lips.
"Yes," he said.
"We are in a war against evil," Ajalia repeated. Delmar's mouth was creased at the corners.
"We are in a war against evil," Delmar said impatiently, "and only together will we root out the witches and the priests of Slavithe."
"Good," Ajalia said, slapping Delmar encouragingly on the arm. "Come on." She stood up, and approached the conferring spies.
"But wait!" Delmar cried softly, following her. He looked as though he had missed something important. "I thought you were going to tell me what to say," he said to Ajalia, keeping his voice very low. The spies had seen them coming, and were straightening themselves out now into their seats. Ajalia said nothing, but looked around at the spies, as though they had all gathered for a pleasant luncheon together in the middle of the night. She could just see the gleam of stars in the skylight, shining through the golden light cast by the lamps that hung there. Delmar glared at Ajalia for a moment, and then, seeing that all of the spies were staring at him expectantly, and seeing also that Ajalia seemed unwilling to speak, he frowned. Ajalia noticed again how handsome Delmar looked, particularly when he was angry. His beard had come in thick against his skin in a strong strawberry blond, with thick hints of red along his chin and jaw, and his eyes, as they turned along the collected spies, were imperious and regal.
"Ajalia thinks I ought to be honest with you," Delmar told the spies shortly. "My mother was a secret witch. I'm going to assume that you've heard that, by now," he added with a grimace. Most of the spies chuckled a little, and nodded. "My mother had infested me with a corrupt iteration of a very old spell," Delmar told them. "Well, two spells. Have you got those papers?" he asked Ajalia, and she, guessing what he meant, pulled out the folded scrap of paper, and the length of charred leather. Delmar took the two pieces, which were covered over in ancient Slavithe writing, and handed them to Denai.
Denai, when he looked at the two pieces, and saw the writing there, made an involuntary start, and the other spies stared at him.
"Where did you find these?" Denai demanded. He looked as though Delmar had handed him a disgusting piece of rotted flesh. Denai examined the writing with a look of disdain on his mouth and nose, and then passed them to the spy nearest him.
"Ajalia took those spells from the body of a witch that she killed for me," Delmar said. "I have learned that Tree, the old Thief Lord, was protecting several powerful old witches, and allowing them to feed on his soul, and to prey on the poorest people in the city."
Another murmur of disgust and anger ran through the collected men; they looked now at Ajalia with something more like respect, and she saw that they had not thought her capable of such an act as killing a witch. She wondered how they had explained the public death of Beryl to themselves, if they had supposed her unable to kill witches.
"Beryl," Ajalia murmured in Delmar's ear. He paused, and she saw that he was listening. The eyes of the men in the room were fastened raptly upon her, and on Delmar. "She was a spy as well," Ajalia said privately to Delmar. "If they know you know, they will respect you more." Delmar gave a brief nod, and raised his hands again.
"Ajalia has been of great service to me, in uncovering the duplicity of Tree, and of my mother," Delmar said. "My mother had used some of these spells on me. I believe," Delmar said reluctantly, "that my father knew my mother was a witch, and protected her from detection."
An angry murmur rose up among the spies.
"Simon was of Talbos," one of the men told Delmar. "He was a weak leader, but he would not have countenanced a witch." Ajalia drew out the slim leather book that Coren had stolen, and held it up.
"They were using this," Ajalia said, "to corrupt the true way of magic."
The eyes of the spies were fixed on the book. Delmar, when he saw what Ajalia held, turned pale. She gave him a reassuring glance, and hoped that he would wait for a little. She had not told him that there were two books yet; he likely thought that this book was the one Salla had given her.
"This old book was recovered from among Tree's secret things," Ajalia said. "He had it from Simon, who kept it back from the books he burned."
The mouths of all the spies formed into harsh, angry lines.
"You said he burned the books," Denai said accusi
ngly to one of the other spies; the man Denai spoke to was older, and had a grizzled beard.
"He had done so!" the older man said. "I watched with my own eyes. I helped to collect the books, when Simon was gone witch hunting," the old man said earnestly to Ajalia. "I swear, there were none kept back. I and the others kept a close accounting of the books of magic."
"There were many books that I burned," Delmar said. "You did not get all of them then."
"How many?" the grizzled old spy demanded. Delmar's ears burned, but Ajalia thought that no one but herself had noticed this.
"I recovered and destroyed eighteen books of magic from my father's private library," Delmar said. "Some of these had been kept by the priests."
"What about that one?" Ben called out, pointing to the leather book Ajalia was still holding up.
"This is not a corrupt book," Ajalia said. Ben scoffed, and looked at his fellows for encouragement.
"There are not any good books of magic," Ben said, "only darkness and evil."
Ajalia reached below the ground for a cord of light; she happened upon a length that was a brilliant emerald. When she closed her fingers around the light, she looked at Ben, and saw that two narrow slabs of dusky pink were tucked in among his ribs.
"Delmar," Ajalia said, and Delmar looked at her.
"What is it?" he asked. Ajalia tucked the book away into her bag; she began to form the claw of gold and black around her right hand. She nodded towards Ben.
"He's possessed," Ajalia said.
The spies heard what she said, and they all jolted instantly away from Ben, as though they were afraid of catching a terrible disease. Ben looked eagerly at his fellows.
"What did she say?" Ben demanded. "Did she say I was possessed?" Ajalia looked quickly around through the rows of men.
"Are there any others?" Delmar asked. Ajalia saw that he was thinking of blocking off the door. Ben looked ready to run.
"If this is true," Denai said loudly, "we must try the tests." The other spies agreed loudly, and Ben quailed.
"There is nothing wrong with me at all!" Ben shouted, his face turning a blistering red. "I don't associate with witches!"
"He is possessed," Ajalia said, pointing at Timothy. "And him," she said, indicating the grizzled old man. "The others are all clear," Ajalia told Delmar.
"Who will help me to keep the door?" Delmar asked, and three spies surged to their feet, and went to the door where Ajalia had come in.
"This is absurd," the grizzled man said calmly. "There is nothing at all the matter with us. We ought to try her as a witch," he said, nodding serenely towards Ajalia. The other spies looked between the grizzled man and Ajalia.
"Ajalia is no witch," Delmar said.
"She has a book of magic," Timothy shouted. "Who knows what other secrets she holds?"
Ajalia, who could sense a fight coming on, imagined the cords of blue above her in the air. She had not tried this other way of flying, but Leed had told her she could climb the ropes of magic in the air, and she did not want to spend the time forming wings again, besides which, she told herself, the twisting of blue magic through her spine and shoulder blades had hurt a little.
The cords of twisting blue were above the ceiling of the building; Ajalia imagined herself grasping on to the lowest one. She released the emerald green cord, and reached with her other hand, the hand coated now with gold and black light, and lifted herself off the ground.
The square room fell utterly silent at once. Ajalia took a second cord, above the first, and her feet raised up about five feet over the ground. The room looked quite different to her now. She could see the spies beneath her, staring with terror and wonder in their eyes, and Delmar, whose shoulders were near her feet, was smiling. Ajalia wanted to berate Delmar for not being impressed enough; she was, after all, flying. The opening in the ceiling felt closer to her now. She could feel the glow from the hanging lanterns on her head and cheeks.
Ajalia held herself up in the air for a few seconds, and then lowered herself down to the ground. She dropped to one knee when she let go of the cords, and then stood up carefully. The eyes of all the men of Talbos were fixed on her; they all looked shocked. Timothy stood up, and came down quietly to stand in front of Ajalia.
"Please heal me," Timothy said. Ajalia, without saying another word, turned Timothy around, and thrust her black-clawed hand against his back. She cut out the first dusky pink piece, and drew it out. The men of Talbos all gave a collective gasp of disgust when she dropped it on the floor.
"Call down a spark," Delmar told Timothy, "and shoot it at the piece."
"Story magic?" Timothy said doubtfully, but he raised his palm, and a gleam of gold appeared there. Ajalia was interested to see that all of the spies seemed to easily see the light that Timothy had conjured; it had taken Leed teaching the other boys and Chad from the book, before many of them had been able to see the lights. Timothy sent the spark of gold at the first pinkish slab, and a cloud of awful dust appeared in the air. The other two men Ajalia had pointed out as having infestations came down, and after Ajalia had removed the second pink slab from Timothy, she did the same for the other two spies.
The men in the room watched her solemnly; Ajalia felt as though she were performing some secret operation.
"There you go," she told the last man, the one with the grizzled beard. "I did this for Rane," she added, "and then he tried to attack me. Please restrain yourselves," she told the three men, "if you suddenly feel the urge to kidnap me." Delmar smiled, but the three men did not. When the slabs of leftover light had all been exploded into noxious clouds of dust, Ajalia went to a side of the circle of benches, and sat down. The folded piece of paper and the scrap of leather found their way back to Ajalia, and she replaced them in her bag.
"Beryl was one of you," Delmar said to the gathered men. They all regarded him solemnly, their faces still and sober. "She had been under the close watch of Rane, and he had never known she was a witch."
"You knew Beryl was a witch," one of the men said. "She was the witch-caller."
"She told us that she was not practicing magic," Delmar said. "Or she told my father so. I was not a part of his government then." A couple of the spies tittered at this, and Delmar shot them a glance. They quieted down.
"What are you going to do about the priests?" one of the men demanded. "You haven't got any way to tell which of them are rotten scoundrels, and in league with witches."
"I don't believe that any of the priests are in league with the witches," Ajalia put in. "The priests believe that I am the sky angel. A large group of them came to my home last night, and attempted to carry me off."
She rather suspected that the priests would have killed her as soon as they would have kidnapped her, after they had begun to attack the witches, but she was not overly concerned with semantics at this point.
"Ocher assisted me in distracting the priests," Ajalia said, and as she spoke, she gathered strings of thick lights from the stars above, and from the deep red-gold lights in the earth. "While the priests were looking away, I built a magical fence around them." Ajalia threw up a long wall that cut through the center of the square room. The blue wall was of the same gorgeous ocean color that the mixed magic had been before, and it extended through the room, just behind Ajalia and Delmar. "When the priests attempted to flee," Ajalia said, stepping backwards through the wall, "they passed through the magic, and they perished." The blue wall made a gleam of red and gold when Ajalia stepped through it. She looked through the wall of translucent light at the gathered spies.
"We can make the priests go through such a wall," Delmar said, catching Ajalia's idea, "and any who survive will be all right."
"I made a similar containment of magic around a group of witches," Ajalia said, "and two of the witches lived through it."
"Where are those witches now?" Ben demanded. Ajalia saw Denai staring at her through the thick blue wall, his eyes narrowed in deep thought.
"One of them is in m
y house, under a close guard," Ajalia said. "The other had great evil in her heart still, and I killed her."
A murmur of agreement went up among the men.
"I think we should all go through that wall," Denai said. He stood up, and came close to the magical barrier. He turned back to the other spies. "Already we have seen," Denai said, "that three of our number had been unknowingly infected by dark magic. I think we must study this old book that Ajalia has found, and learn about these new things."
Denai, his mouth set in a determined line, stepped through the wall of magic. A hideous spark of yellow went up with a crack as soon as he had entered the blue light, but after vibrating for just a moment, and after a copious ooze of darkness left his brain, Denai stepped out on the other side.
"I am alive," Denai said, turning to face the others, and raising his arms. A deathly silence had fallen over all the men.
"How do we know it won't kill us all?" one of the spies demanded. Delmar turned, and stepped through the blue wall as well. There was no flash at all, but the blue wall of magic glowed briefly, as though it had swallowed a sun. Delmar stepped out onto the other side.
"I agree with this man," Delmar said, putting a hand on Denai's shoulder. "Let us all pass the test of the magic. We will conduct our purge this way. Any of us who has become impure will be shown to be so by the impartial magic. Any who desire to avoid the test, will be banished from both Slavithe and from Talbos."
The eleven spies on the other side of the blue wall of magic stared at Delmar, and then at each other.
"I want to pass through this test," one of the three who had gone to guard the door behind Ajalia and Delmar cried out, and he ran down the steps that lay between the benches, and leapt through the wall. A flash of white light filled the room, and his body fell down to the ground. One of the farther spies got up, and went to him.
"He is breathing still," the spy announced. He helped the young man to his feet; a great smile was on the young man's face.
"I think there was something wrong with me," the young man who had leaped through the wall gasped. "I will try again."
