Wargall crawled till his chin rested on Jurgis’ chest, and took a grip on the chair’s legs.
Closing his eyes, Jurgis went to work. It wasn’t difficult. Dangerous, yes, but he knew this type of gadget. One needed to siphon off the magic, to render it harmless. Deftly, he removed a screw and inspected the tiny hole behind it. ‘It’s open,’ he said. ‘Now the most dirty part. Ready?’
‘Yes,’ Wargall croaked.
‘Don’t be scared, everything is under control. Just hold a strong grip on the chair.’ Jurgis unrolled a thin tube and stuck one end in the hole, into the mana reservoir. A quick glance told him Wargall lay with his eyes closed. Sweat dripped down his face and bare chest, but his hands gripping the chair’s legs were rock-steady. Jurgis put the tube in his mouth and sucked. The old magic tasted like clover on his tongue and his nose wrinkled in disgust. Carefully, he breathed out and let the magic dissolve in the air. When he was sure he’d emptied the trap, he lowered the tube. ‘Done,’ he said. ‘You can relax now.’ As Wargall let go of the chair, the thief gave it a shove. Wargall cried out, but nothing happened.
Jurgis smiled. ‘You may stand, my friend.’ He came to his feet and walked over to the chair. There was the explosive, now visible. Jurgis unhooked it from the bottom of the seat. ‘Here,’ he said to Wargall. ‘You can keep it. As a remembrance of your bravery today.’
‘Me?’ the boy said.
‘Yes. You can be proud of yourself, Wargall of the M’Arrangh.’ He said it loudly, and from the hall Wemawee made a derisive sound. Jurgis turned to her in a flash.
‘You shut up,’ he snarled. ‘You could have helped me yourself, girl, instead of hiding behind his back. Don’t belittle him, for he was brave just now.’
The initiate recoiled as if he’d slapped her.
Basil stepped between them. ‘What did you do?’
Jurgis told him.
‘You sucked the magic out of the trap?’ His brother stared at him. ‘Sucked the magic? Is magic a fluid to you?’
Jurgis shrugged. ‘No idea. I only know I can disarm traps this way. And it gives me the shits should I swallow it. Old Ghost taught me; damn, that man knew a lot.’
‘Is the room safe?’ Maud said, frowning.
Jurgis nodded. ‘As far as I can see, yes.’
‘Good. Let’s see what we can find.’
They searched every inch of the room, but found nothing.
‘Figures,’ Jurgis said. ‘Someone turned this room into a trap. Anything of value would’ve been blasted to the hells should anyone have triggered it.’
‘What’s next?’ Maud said.
Jurgis stepped back into the hall and tried the second, double doors. They swung open as if a servant had recently oiled them, and the large central room lay before them. Straight ahead, across the dusty floor, stood a black stone throne, adorned with golden leopard heads.
Maud made an indelicate sound. ‘A throne? For a clanmother? Not even the queen has one.’
‘Perhaps it was meant for the Black Warlock?’ Jurgis said. ‘I don’t think the bastard was the modest type.’ The look Wemawee gave him made him blink. Anger, arrogance and something he couldn’t place were in that look.
‘He doesn’t have to be modest,’ she said coldly. ‘All the glory of the Kell comes together in his being.’
‘You sound as if you admire him, little sister,’ Maud said.
‘I ... No, of course not,’ the girl stammered, aghast at her own words. ‘Only, he was so big and strong, with such mighty magic. A ... a real man.’
Under Maud’s incredulous stare, the girl colored even more darkly.
‘Kelwarg was a renegade and you, a wisewoman; you admire him for a real man? How can you, knowing what those real men did to our people, with their endless warfare?’
‘I know I shouldn’t,’ Wemawee said, and her face twisted. ‘Yet I can’t help it. I find no relief with ... with our own males. They ... they’re pitiful. Inadequate.’
‘What a miserable remark!’ Jurgis glanced at Wargall. The boy looked sick and his hands opened and closed at his sides.
Maud’s look had the initiate shrinking back.
“There aren’t any traps here,’ Jurgis said, attempting to turn back to the matter at hand.
Basil shook his head. ‘I don’t sense anything, either; it’s just an empty place.’
The lioness shrugged. ‘It was too public a space for secrets,’ she said. ‘The clanmother’s apartment should be at the back. Maybe we’ll have more luck there.’
CHAPTER 22 - WARGALL
Behind the throne was a door that opened into a surprisingly fine room. A canopied bed, a dresser, chairs, all gilded. Rich carpets, drapes on the walls, and several framed paintings. One was of a lonely tower standing on a rock in a misty blue lake, against a backdrop of high mountains, and clouds mirrored in the water’s surface.
Basil studied the painting. Then he exclaimed and his fingers touched a small plaque on the bottom of the frame. ‘Spellstor XV8,’ he read. ‘Well, that tower won’t be Spellstor.’
‘Collectors mark their paintings,’ Jurgis said. ‘They often think it gives protection against thieves and such miscreants.’ He smiled. ‘Until they find their room full of empty frames.’
His brother whistled. ‘Then this painting was from Spellstor’s collection. A tower–here, in this room rich enough for Kelwarg. Could this be Bitter’ights?’
‘Your father said that painting was destroyed in the war,’ Maud said.
‘Perhaps. I understood nobody knows what really happened in Spellstor.’
Jurgis walked toward the bed; he felt a sound in his mind. It was the strange, almost indescribable sensation of sleeping magic, and he hadn’t felt it for a long time. He stopped and closed his eyes. Nothing. Then he saw a vague light, so darkly red it was almost black.
‘There’s something hidden here,’ he said, and the others all looked at him.
He looked up as Wargall came to stand beside him, and gave him a grin. ‘Good, I need more darkness. You have big hands, mate; cover my eyes.’
Wargall obeyed, and now Jurgis saw the light better. ‘There’s something under the floor, right in front of the bed. Its magical echo is strong.’ He touched Wargall’s wrist. ‘Help me remove the carpet.’ A dust cloud rose when the two of them dragged the heavy covering aside.
Jurgis gazed at the floorboards. Then he knelt and felt the planks with his fingers.
‘Here!’ he said. ‘It looks like a knot, but it’s a hole.’ He put his finger in it and pulled. The planks creaked, and that was all. He grunted. ‘Here is a second hole. Time to use some muscle power.’
Maud moved, but Jurgis shook his head. ‘Wargall, you do it.’
The boy hesitated. ‘I’m not strong. I’m only a male, and ...’
‘Just do it,’ Jurgis said impatiently. ‘You’re big enough.’
Wargall put his fingers in the holes and gave a slight pull. As with Jurgis, the floor protested, but nothing else happened.
Wemawee snickered, flexing her hands.
‘Again, and use your whole body,’ Jurgis said.
Once more, Wargall pulled, and now the floor slightly heaved.
‘He can’t do it,’ the initiate said.
‘Pull, dammit!’ Jurgis shouted.
Wargall braced himself and the muscles on his arms stood out as he mustered his strength. With a loud noise, part of the floor came up, and through the dust, showed a rectangular hole.
‘There you are,’ Jurgis said, and he slapped Wargall on his shoulder.
The boy smiled shyly and put the segment of flooring away.
Jurgis caught Maud’s thoughtful look, and he winked.
‘Nice hole,’ Basil said. ‘But what’s in it?’
‘It’s a cellar of sorts.’ Jurgis sank to his knees and peered into the dark hole. ‘A tiny cellar, with what looks like a doorframe on one end. Here’s a ladder.’ Without hesitating, he climbed down. ‘It’s dusty. Not been used
for a long time.’ He laid a hand on the frame and again he felt that sound in his head, but louder. Basil and he cried out together.
‘It’s active!’ the Spellwarden said.
‘But what does it do?’
Wemawee stood staring down at the construction, her mouth open. ‘The M’Arrangh gate!’
Wargall turned to her. ‘But it was destroyed!’
‘It wasn’t,’ his clansister said.
Maud folded her arms. ‘What is the M’Arrangh gate?’
‘It’s a clan secret,’ Wemawee said, evasive now. ‘I’m not allowed to talk about it.’
‘You had better tell me,’ Maud said, her voice harsh. ‘If you’re keeping secrets from the other clans, it won’t go well with you.’
The girl looked scared. ‘My mother always said I wasn’t to talk about it. I thought it just a tale. No other wisewoman I asked had heard of them.’
‘Of what?’
‘Of portals. Traveling doors that bring you to another place in the time of a sneeze.’
‘I have heard of them!’ Basil pointed his staff at the girl, and his eyes flashed. ‘This one was stolen from Spellstor. So your people were thieves as well as traitors.’
‘No! The Unwaari gave it to my forefathers when they went to Malgarth, as an escape route.’
Wargall turned to look at her, his face frozen in shock. ‘I never heard of that. How do you know?’
‘From my mother,’ Wemawee snapped. ‘It’s a M’Arrangh wisewomen secret.’
‘Then your M’Arrangh wisewomen betrayed us too,’ Maud said, leaning forward. Jurgis thought he’d never seen his love so furious. ‘What else can you tell us of this secret?’
The initiate stood in a circle of hostile eyes, looking both scared and defiant. ‘Not much. When Kelwarg came here with those of our clan who followed him, the Unwaari gave them the portal, in case they had to come back in a hurry. After Kelwarg escaped from his prison, our people went home this way. All of them, except for the two wisewomen and their daughters. Those five hid the portal and then returned to the House of the Wise. Their calling protected them against banishment and they stayed. They were my–Wargall’s and my ancestors.’
‘And you knew this?’ Maud’s voice was hard as steel now, and the girl quailed.
‘I thought it was just a story they told us to ... to make themselves look big,’ she cried. ‘I didn’t think much of it.’
‘You should have told this story to your superiors,’ Maud said grimly. ‘How does the thing work?’
‘I don’t know! Really I don’t.’
‘There was a portal project,’ Basil said. ‘I found some notes, but nothing much. It was a way to travel from somewhere to somewhere else in an instant. The main portal, or gate, was in Spellstor, because that’s where they did all the thinking. It was the biggest project the combined minds of Vanhaari and Unwaari worked on.’ He stared at the portal frame. ‘This one must open to Spellstor.’ His voice was dreamy. ‘If one stepped through this gate, they would emerge there. Imagine!’
‘No, Basil!’ Maud said.
He turned his head. ‘What?’
‘You’re not going to try it.’ She stared at the portal, her eyes narrowed in thought. ‘There’s something else. If both gates work, the enemy could send an invading army into the heart of Kell.’
Basil thought for a moment. ‘I’d say he could. With a few at a time. It would be a slow business.’
‘He wouldn’t have to hurry. As long as the gatherhouse stood sealed, he could gather an army at his leisure,’ Maud said. ‘This does it. We’re going to the palace. Queen Hilda must be warned. And you will have a lot to explain, Initiate.’ Angrily, she marched from the room, with Jurgis and Basil close behind. Halfway to the throne room, they heard Wargall’s yell.
‘No! I won’t! You can’t make me!’
‘You’re mine!’ Wemawee screamed. ‘You’ll do as I say, you cowardly male.’
A cry of pain and the sound of a scuffle followed, and they ran back into Kelwarg’s room, just in time to witness how Wargall broke loose from Wemawee’s grip and gave the girl a shove. She staggered and then fell down in the little cellar, right between the poles of the gate. She disappeared as Wargall ran away.
Jurgis sprang and clasped his arms around the boy’s upper body. ‘Easy! What happened?’
Wargall shook. ‘I ... I pushed her through! Have I killed her?’
Jurgis looked at the portal. ‘No,’ he said. ‘She just popped out in Vanhaar. What was all the shouting about?’
‘Wemawee was frightened by the lioness’ words,’ the boy said. ‘Afraid of the queen’s anger, and what her teachers at the House would say. She wanted us both to go to Kelwarg. She was crazy about him. Every time she had me make love to her, I knew she dreamed of him. Then my efforts weren’t what she desired, and she slapped me. In the end I ... didn’t want her anymore.’ He turned gray. ‘What a terrible thing to say; she’s my clansister.’
‘Justified,’ Jurgis said, his voice hard. ‘She misused your loyalty, mate.’
‘I didn’t mind making love to her,’ the boy said simply. ‘I know she needed it and I would have served her with pleasure. But I hated her always forcing me, the way she hurt and humiliated me. Why didn’t she just ask?’ He looked up. ‘What will happen now?’
‘She’s gone,’ Maud said. ‘Where did you say that thing leads to?’
‘To the ruins of Spellstor,’ Basil said. ‘The main portal was built into the building there; you can’t pick it up like this one.’
‘Will she be in danger?’
Basil shrugged. ‘My guess is as good as yours. If the ruins stand deserted, there will be little danger. If she landed in the middle of an army, though ...’
Wargall’s face was filled with shock at the suggestion. ‘Danger! I hadn’t thought of that. Then I must go after her.’
‘Don’t be an idiot,’ Jurgis said. ‘She can always return here if she wants to.’
‘I pushed her through! It’s my fault!’
‘You will not go after her,’ Maud said over her shoulder. ‘And that’s a direct order. Got it?’ She turned around and faced the boy. ‘Listen, the fault is hers; you rightly defended yourself. We’re going to the palace and I need you to tell the queen all you know about the portal. Don’t worry, she won’t blame you. You’re not a wisewoman, after all.’
Back on the street, Maud stopped and looked around. Not far away a quartet of archeresses passed. Maud mustered her newly gained authority as a lioness, and gave a full-throated roar. Immediately the four came running.
‘I’m searching the M’Arrangh gatherhouse,’ Maud snapped, as she answered the leader’s salute. ‘I must see Queen Hilda, but I need a guard inside the building. Behind the throne is the main bedroom. In a small cellar you’ll find a construction that looks like a door. It’s a magic portal; keep this with your life. Arrest anyone coming out, and whatever you do, don’t step through it. I’ll return as soon as I’ve spoken with the queen. Understood?’
The senior leopardess saluted again. ‘Yes, ma’am.’ Their faces looked decidedly unhappy as they went into the ill-reputed building.
Queen Hilda received them in her apartment. As Maud spoke, the queen walked to and fro like an angry lion, making growling noises deep in her throat, every sinew of her still strong body poised for attack. When it came to Wemawee’s disappearance through the portal, her rage burst into a royal roar that had a full unit of tigresses rush into the room. Swearing mightily, the queen waved her guards away and raised her fists.
‘Cursed M’Arrangh! Even their wisewomen were treacherous snakes.’ She turned to Maud. ‘I was at fault. I sent Wemawee to you, in spite of her youth and known lack of balance, because she was the last of her clan. I hoped the racial memories of a M’Arrangh wisewoman would be of aid to you. Had I known of her fascination with the unnamed one, I would have had her re-judged instead. False clan, treacherous child! May the earth swallow the lot of them.’ She t
ook a deep breath and stopped behind her desk. She placed her knuckles on the top and leaned forward. ‘I ....’ Then her eyes fell on Wargall’s scared face and her face softened. ‘Of course, you are a M’Arrangh, too. Don’t be afraid, boy. It’s not your fault. You can help me by telling me all you know, both about the portal and about your clansister.’
For a moment, the boy was too frightened to speak, but a nudge from Jurgis returned some of his courage and he answered willingly. It became quickly clear the portal had been news to him, but the queen was a skilful questioner, and after a while Wargall had told more about Wemawee and her bullying ways than he thought.
‘That girl ... Where were her instructors? Why wasn’t she supervised?’ Queen Hilda said when he fell silent. ‘How could she pass all her tests? Her behavior, to misuse a male clanmember like she did ... It should have been reported. She should have sought help, not make you the victim, young Wargall.’ She turned around. ‘The girl is truly gone?’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Maud said. ‘We all saw her disappear. The Spellwarden thinks she came out at the Spellstor ruins.’
‘So she is in Vanhaar. That’s worrisome.’
‘I had planned to go there,’ Maud said. ‘Now I can use that same portal. Perhaps I can discover what happened to the initiate.’
‘I would be grateful if you’d prevent her joining with the unnamed one.’ The queen looked grim. ‘I don’t necessarily need the girl back, as long as her knowledge doesn’t fall into enemy hands.’
‘I understand,’ Maud said.
Behind her, Wargall made a small sound, as if in protest.
The queen hadn’t forgotten his presence, for now she frowned. ‘What shall we do with him? I don’t want to risk an innocent young male on such a dangerous venture.’
‘With all due respect, ma’am,’ Jurgis said. ‘I would suggest otherwise. Wargall has helped me twice already and I find him both capable and courageous.’
Queen Hilda showed her surprise. ‘You think so? Yet he is only a male. A winsome boy, no more.’
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