But at least half the remaining handful of refugees were women, or men too old to fight, and they were scattered, completely unprepared, with no leaders or organization, and unarmed. If it came to open battle several people would be hurt, maybe killed, and Vond’s men would probably win. Immediate open resistance was not the way to go, then; instead Hanner resolved to watch how the situation developed, and see whether he could find a better resolution.
“What kind of magic is it?” Vond asked. “Why wouldn’t it work at night?”
“It’s another tapestry,” Gerath said. “It shows the attic of your house in Ethshar.”
“The attic in daylight,” Hanner added.
“Another tapestry? Oh, for…” He turned to glare at Hanner. “You might have told me that when you first told me about this place.”
“Didn’t I?” Hanner asked, feigning innocent surprise.
One of the soldiers sucked in his breath at that.
“No, you did not.”
Hanner dropped the pretense. “You didn’t ask.”
“I shouldn’t have had to!”
“Forgive me, your Majesty, but I am not one of your subjects. You stole my house and now you’re stealing the tapestries I spent my fortune on. Why would I help you any more than circumstances force me to?”
“Because you want to live, idiot!” Vond shouted, his voice still thin and weak. “Serve me faithfully and you’ll thrive under my rule, but this sort of pointless resistance could get you killed.”
Hanner did not bother to answer that; he closed his mouth firmly. He suspected that if this conversation had taken place back in Ethshar, he would have been smashed against a wall by now.
“Show me the tapestry,” Vond ordered.
A few minutes later all of them were standing in front of the tapestry, where Tesra and the refugee woman demonstrated several times that it was not working.
“You didn’t change anything in the attic?” Hanner asked.
“No,” Vond said. “It looked just like that when last I saw it.” Then he corrected himself. “Or rather, the last time I saw it by daylight. You’re right — it stopped working when dusk faded.”
“Then it should be fine once the sun rises again,” Hanner said.
“And if it isn’t?”
“Then we’re all trapped here.”
Vond looked at him thoughtfully. “You don’t seem very upset by that idea.”
Hanner turned up an empty hand. “I have been in worse places,” he said. “It’s sunny and warm here, and we have food, water, and shelter.”
“Is that all you want? Don’t you have a family in Ethshar?”
“I do,” Hanner said. “But for years they all thought I was long dead, and accepted it.”
Vond shook his head. “But they know now that you’re alive. No, I think you know another way out. You’re hoping to strand me in here, where I won’t trouble the Wizards’ Guild any further, but you have another way out.”
“No,” Hanner said. “I really don’t.”
The emperor studied Hanner’s face for a moment, then nodded. “Maybe you don’t. But you think there will be another way out eventually, don’t you?” Vond raised his sword and rested the point on Hanner’s chest. “Will it still happen if I kill you?”
The other people in the room all tensed, but none of them spoke, and no other blades were raised.
“Probably not,” Hanner said, trying to keep his voice perfectly steady. “Honestly, your Majesty, I don’t know of another way out, but I do know that there are people in Ethshar who care about me, and as you say, they know I’m alive. When they realize I’m missing, they’ll try to reach me — they’ll hire a magician, most likely a wizard or a theurgist, and they’ll find me, and arrange for a way out. Perhaps they’ll bring another tapestry here, or open a portal. Will anyone do that for you? I rather doubt it. As for these other people, the ones I brought here are here in the first place because no one cares about them, and the men you hired — does anyone know where they are, or even who hired them? Will anyone miss them?” He shook his head. “I’m the only one here who is certain to be missed, when my sisters don’t hear from me.”
Vond straightened up and lowered the sword. “Interesting logic,” he said. “And quite possibly true. Oh, I think there are people who care for me — Zallin and the others who stayed in Warlock House want me to give them back their magic, and I think I pleased Leth — but I concede they aren’t likely to hire a wizard to find me. I told Zallin where I was going, and that if he ever wanted to be a warlock again he would want to make sure I got back safely, but that doesn’t mean he’ll do anything. Even if someone did hire a wizard and the Guild allowed that wizard to try to find me, given that they don’t know my true name, perhaps they couldn’t. So you may be right.”
“Ithinia certainly wouldn’t be in any hurry to get you out of here.”
“Very true,” Vond said. “She swore not to harm me, but I don’t trust her. She may well be conjuring up some assassin this very minute, hoping to kill me in my sleep before I can hoist the palace into the sky again.”
“I doubt an assassin could find you here,” Hanner said.
“You think not?” Vond cocked his head to one side. “You might be right about that, too.” He looked over his shoulder out the open door, at the bright, steady sunlight. “This place could be useful.” He looked back at Hanner. “These tapestries — you bought them?”
Hanner nodded.
“They were made to your specifications?”
“Yes.”
“So I could buy more, couldn’t I?” He snorted, then laughed. “Buy, or steal. I could bring them all here, and be able to appear anywhere in the World just by walking into the right one.”
“Well, not anywhere,” Hanner said. “There are limitations. But I don’t see any reason you couldn’t have several here. I believe the higher ups in the Wizards’ Guild have an arrangement along those lines somewhere.”
“But of course, this all assumes we get back to Ethshar,” Vond said.
“I think we will,” Hanner said. “Once the sun is above the city walls.” He glanced up. “The real sun.”
“If Ithinia hasn’t laid a dozen traps for us,” Vond said. “Or smashed the attic, so there’s nothing to match the image.”
“If that, yes,” Hanner agreed. “But you’re assuming she knows where we are.”
“She’s a wizard,” Vond said. “You have to assume she knows everything she might want to.”
“There is that,” Hanner acknowledged. He looked around at the swordsmen and the remaining refugees. “It must still be hours until dawn. Maybe we should all get some sleep.”
“Maybe,” Vond agreed. He looked at Tesra and the woman who had been testing the tapestry. “I want at least two men awake and watching the tapestry at all times — Gerath, you work out the roster, and whoever isn’t doing that should get some rest.” He smiled a very unpleasant smile. “If our friend Hanner is correct, the tapestry may start working again at dawn — or it may not, in which case we will have to wait until his family arranges to rescue us. Either way, we may find some excitement waiting for us, if and when we get back to Ethshar.”
Gerath nodded, and began giving orders.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ithinia knelt before the low table where she was making preliminary preparations for Varrin’s Greater Propulsion. She could not complete the spell for another four days — well, three and a fraction — but the early steps could be done at any time, and she wanted them out of the way. She kept her hands moving in the necessary gestures, her eyes focused on the elements of her spell, as she said, “How long has it been?”
“Two or three hours, Guildmaster,” Rothiel replied, standing well back from the table.
They were in a guard-room to one side of the overlord’s grand audience chamber; it was not as centrally located as Ithinia might have hoped, but it did have several large casements that gave a good view and would aid in navi
gating the palace when the spell was complete.
Right now, the view from those windows showed her the night-lanterns of Crooked Pier and the lights of the Newmarket waterfront. She had thought the spell would be needed to keep the palace from falling when Vond eventually let it go, but it was no longer airborne; instead it stood on a sandbar a hundred yards out from the beach. The spell would still be necessary to set the palace back in its proper place, of course, and at any rate, once she had begun it was not safe to stop until she reached one of the spell’s natural breaks.
“Do we know what happened?” she asked.
“That’s why I’m here, Guildmaster. We have received reliable reports that Vond did indeed follow Hanner and the rest through the tapestry Arvagan made.”
Ithinia considered that silently for a moment, swaying back and forth gently as her hands circled over the seven stones.
“Hanner had that tapestry made as a refuge from the Calling, I believe?” she said at last. She was not really asking Rothiel as much as reminding herself what Arvagan had told her.
“That is my understanding, Guildmaster.”
“But when he tested it, he was Called immediately.”
“So I was told, yes.”
“Warlockry should not reach through a Transporting Tapestry.” She frowned. “But I don’t think Vond would want to give up his magic even for a moment, and Hanner’s refuge apparently did not protect him seventeen years ago. Perhaps there is yet another source of magic on the other side, one that increased Hanner’s susceptibility to the Call.”
“We have no way of knowing, Guildmaster.”
“Don’t be an idiot, Rothiel. Dozens of Called warlocks went through that tapestry, and were then chased back to Ethshar by Vond’s hirelings — they would know whether there is a third source on the other side. We can ask them.”
“Oh,” Rothiel said. “Of course.” Ithinia glanced up from her work long enough to see that the man was actually blushing.
“Everyone misses the obvious on occasion,” she said. “Now that your oversight has been pointed out, perhaps you will make up for it by talking to some of these refugees and learning as much as you can about Hanner’s other world. What does Vond want there? Why hasn’t he returned yet? When will he return?” She paused. “You might want to talk to Arvagan about what return mechanism he provided when Hanner first purchased the tapestry. Talk to the refugees first, though. I’m sure you can think of the questions we want to ask.”
“Yes, Guildmaster.”
“Was there anything else I needed to know before you attend to interviewing the refugees?”
“Not about the general situation, but Lady Alris wishes to speak to you.”
“Then by all means, send her in.”
Rothiel bowed, then turned and left the room.
A moment later Lady Alris entered.
Ithinia did not know the Lady of the Household well; Alris’ duties generally kept her in the palace, while Ithinia had preferred to stay out of the seat of government. Still, they had met before, in passing.
“You will forgive me, my lady, if I do not bow,” Ithinia said. “As you can see, I am in the midst of a spell I hope will restore the palace to its proper place.”
Alris nodded. “Of course, Ithinia.”
For a moment neither woman spoke; then Ithinia asked, “Are you here on behalf of Lord Azrad?”
“I am here as his representative, yes,” Alris replied, “but I am also here on my own behalf.”
“Are you?” Ithinia’s tone was polite, but uninterested.
“Yes. But first, the overlord wishes to know what he might expect from you and this demented warlock.”
Ithinia nodded. “Please extend to Lord Azrad my apologies for allowing this situation to arise. I regret to say I am not entirely sure what he should expect. Emperor Vond has disappeared. He may return at any time, and when he does I expect he will lift the palace off this sandbar and once again suspend it over the city.”
“Lord Azrad has been given to understand that the emperor has done this because you attempted to deceive him in some fashion.”
Ithinia sighed. “Yes, we did. We had hoped to discourage him from using his magic recklessly.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
“Myself and certain other magicians, most particularly a witch named Kirris of Slave Street. I very much regret to say that Kirris is dead now; Vond killed her.” Ithinia allowed herself a sigh. “We meant no harm.”
“Yet here we are, in a palace that has been yanked out of the ground like a weed, dangled over the city for hours, and then flung aside.”
“I am aware —” Ithinia began.
“Lord Azrad is not interested in what you may be aware of,” Alris interrupted. “He has sent me here to express his very great displeasure at being caught in the middle of a feud between two magicians.”
Ithinia was startled; she was not accustomed to being interrupted. She said, “I —”
“Furthermore,” Alris continued, cutting her off, “he wishes me to convey to you his intense annoyance at the apparent hypocrisy involved. We all know your Guild forbids the overlord to interfere with magical business, yet you and the warlock seem to have had no compunction about interfering with the overlord.”
“On the contrary, I am appalled that Vond —”
“Heretofore,” Alris went on relentlessly, “Lord Azrad and his predecessors have allowed wizards a great deal of leeway, as have the other overlords. He would remind you that it was you and your fellow wizards who convinced his father to allow warlocks to live in this city in the first place. He would also remind you that while he knows wizards and warlocks are very powerful, there are other powerful magicians who would be happy to see your position in Ethshar reduced.”
“Yes,” Ithinia said. “I know.”
Alris glared silently at her.
“Are you done?” Ithinia asked.
“I have delivered the overlord’s message,” Alris replied.
“Good. Tell Lord Azrad that he has every right to be upset, and I can assure him that I will be more careful in the future. The spell I am working on, once completed, will allow us to keep the palace airborne for a month, even if Vond releases it. It will not, I regret to say, prevent him from smashing the palace in some other way, but at least if he drops it — if, perhaps, he were to die suddenly while the palace is aloft — it won’t fall, but can instead be lowered gently back into its place. Furthermore, I am doing what I can to make peace with Emperor Vond; I have sworn not to harm him, and I hope that once his temper has cooled we’ll be able to reach some sort of agreement to leave each other alone. I apologize for all this.”
Alris listened, then asked, “You’ve sworn not to harm him?”
“Yes.” Ithinia saw no need to explain any further, or offer any greater assurances than a simple statement.
“Does he know that?” Alris demanded.
“He heard me say it.”
“And yet the palace is still on a sandbar.”
Ithinia grimaced. “Obviously, his temper has not yet cooled. I would also guess that he is not necessarily sure my word is good, or that my friends and allies won’t take action against him without me.”
Alris nodded. “I see. I will tell Lord Azrad what you’ve said.”
“Thank you.” Ithinia frowned as she completed a tricky pass, then looked up from the table and asked, “Was there anything else?”
“Not from the overlord. For myself, though — have you seen my brother Hanner? Do you know whether he’s all right? He was staying in our uncle’s…at Warlock House, and that’s where Vond is now.”
“It’s where Vond was, certainly,” Ithinia said. “My friends and I aren’t entirely sure just where he is now.”
“Do you know where Hanner is?”
Reluctantly, Ithinia admitted, “I’m not sure. We think he went through that tapestry he commissioned before he was Called, but we don’t know for certain whether he’s still over ther
e. You might consult another magician, though; I’ve been rather busy with other concerns.”
“I haven’t seen him since he was Called,” Alris said. “Nerra did — Lady Nerra, our sister — and he visited Mavi, who used to be his wife, but I haven’t seen him, and neither have any of his children. You did, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did,” Ithinia said. “He seemed fine.”
“Did he?” Her tone made it clear that Alris was genuinely concerned for her brother’s welfare.
“Very much so,” Ithinia said. “Like all the Called warlocks, he didn’t age while he was in Aldagmor, so he isn’t any older than he was sixteen years ago —”
“Seventeen,” Alris interrupted.
“Seventeen, then. He looked a little tired and worn after his hardships in the wilderness, but he seemed to be healthy and in good spirits.”
“Tired?”
“Yes,” Ithinia said. She knew that since Hanner had been a warlock, Alris had not seen her brother tired in decades. “Tired. He’s free of the Calling, and no longer a warlock. But he’s fine.”
“Then why didn’t he come to see me?” Alris asked plaintively.
“He’s been busy,” Ithinia said, suddenly sympathetic. “And remember, for you it’s been seventeen years, but for him it’s only been a few days.”
“You don’t think he’s been avoiding me?”
“I’m afraid I really have no idea,” Ithinia said. “I’ve known him for decades, but we’ve never been close; I won’t pretend to know his thoughts. I think he’s found it somewhat unsettling to see how much things have changed in his absence; perhaps he doesn’t want to see how much you’ve aged.”
Alris stared at Ithinia for a moment, then shook her head. “That’s silly,” she said. “He’s my brother, not my lover.”
“You’re now a decade older than he is.”
“No, I’m younger…oh. Well, yes, but…” She hesitated as she thought it over, then shook her head again. “That’s not it,” she said. She frowned. “But that’s…you know, sometimes I really hate magic.”
The Unwelcome Warlock Page 37
