by Allan Cole
I asked how the servants had taken it, having words said over them that came from someone hardly a member of the Evocator's class. Janos grinned, and said there'd been no problems. "You don't realize, Amalric, there is a whole underworld of sorcery most poor folk rely on. They cannot afford an Evocator, or else they believe certain spells and items their family and friends have used for years have far greater efficacy than anything the Evocators might prescribe. Sometimes that is superstition, but as often as not they are correct. Finally, the things they might want sorcerous help in obtaining, such as a love philtre or an enemy to be cursed or an overspell to give them riches... any of these might be considered unlawful."
"To them," I said slowly. "But not to me, because I have always had money enough to purchase silence once whatever spell I desired is cast."
"Money... or simply the power of the Antero name."
"There is a great unfairness in this city of ours," I said.
"Brilliant deduction," Janos said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. "When you find a system where that is not true, to a greater and lesser degree, be sure to inform me so that we both can emigrate." I poured him brandy, neat, and told him not to grind it in. Then, very privately, I went to Halab's altar, and prayed my thanks. I knew not if he would appreciate sacrifices when this was over, but I promised them anyway. I also swore that his - or his ghost's - doings this day would be told again and again, until the last Antero was taken from the earth.
The next attack came late that afternoon. I heard the blast of a horn, and peered out an upstairs window. In the street below was Cassini! He wore the full ceremonial robes of a Master-level Evocator. Two other Evocators stood behind him, and there were white-robed lay assistants flanking them. Two of them blew another blast on their trumpets. To their rear were some twenty soldiers.
"Lord Amalric Antero," Cassini shouted. "I summon you to justice." I did not respond until Janos had come into the room. Cassini called for me twice more in the interim. I asked Janos what should be done. He considered. "You may ignore him if you wish," he said. "Or you may speak to him. I see no archers or crossbowmen out there, and I do not sense he has made himself the catalyst for some spell."
I unbarred the balcony doors and stepped out. "I hear you, Evocator."
"I summon you, Lord Antero," Cassini shouted once more.
"By what right? I have broken no laws. And you are hardly a Magistrate. Not yet, at any rate." I probably should not have added the last, but could not avoid a comment on what our city had become.
"You lie," he shouted back. "We Evocators have sensed someone in and of this household is practicing sorcery. Since there are no known licensed Evocators in this villa, you, and those whom you choose to protect, are accused of this crime against Orissa, against the Evocators and against the natural order of our land. You are required therefore to surrender to me, as is any person you know of who might be guilty of committing this enormous sin, or aiding and abetting others in committing it. You have one turning of the glass..." and an assistant held the device up "...to prepare yourself, and to bring whatever materials you think might aid in your defense. Heed this summons, Lord Amalric, and yield to our justice. For an honest man has nothing to fear from the Council of Evocators."
"I hear my brother's spirit laughing at that," I shouted, goaded into anger. "And don't waste your time with the glass. Neither I, nor anyone else within these walls will abandon himself to become a popinjay for the Evocators! If a hearing is necessary, let it be made in the proper manner, and served by Magistrates, not charlatans in robes!"
I saw Cassini smile - he'd known the answer his warrant would receive. He took a long double-handed dagger from another assistant, a dagger that gleamed gold in the afternoon sun. He took its grip in both hands, and held it before him, blade up.
"I have no choice." Another assistant stepped beside him and unrolled parchment. "I, Cassini, gather the power granted by the gods and demons of this and other worlds. I direct this power against Amalric Antero, and all those who serve him, willingly or unwillingly, and declare all of them outlaw and anathema, from this moment until justice has been done, and the outlaw Antero has been brought to bay.
"I curse and condemn both in specific and general, and the curse shall take the following horrible forms, so that the Anteros and all who serve them shall be marked, so that no honest man who fears and respects the gods and their servants will be deceived. The first curse shall--"
Cassini blinked, as a spot of light flashed across the scroll, and then his face. He looked up, and cried out, the dagger falling into the roadway. He attempted to pull the hood of his robe over his face, but it was too late.
Janos was beside me. He held, in both hands, the great silvered mirror that hung in my wardrobe. He finished whispering the words of a spell, then said, loudly, "Evocator Cassini! I have trapped your image, and the images of those beside you in this glass. I now order you, in the name of the gods of Orissa and the demons of Kostroma, hostage against any further curses or thaumaturgy directed against anyone in the Antero family or service, or anyone who calls an Antero friend. If my command is broken, the image held in this mirror will be sent out into the night, blasted by whatever powers I may summon. Also, this mirror now turns your spell back, away from this house and its people. I offer my own soul to the gods as proof that you, and any Evocator who has taken part in this mummery, are witches! Wizards of the blackest sort!"
Cassini's mouth hung open. I heard a low wail from one of his lay assistants. "This is absurd," he managed. "How can you, no more than an amateur and criminal, claim the ability to cast such a Great Spell?"
"I claim them," Janos cried, "from knowledge and dedication. But more because my powers, and my learning, come from the day, come from the light. And just as day shall always conquer the night, so justice shall triumph over your evil!"
Cassini looked about, realizing his fellows, and the soldiers, had fallen back. "This is a farce!"
"If you so believe... then continue your curse and continue declaring us criminals."
I saw Cassini lick his lips. Then he spun, without answering, and stalked away. The hem of his robe became tangled around his legs, and he almost fell. He recovered, and vanished, back into the city, his minions scuttling behind him.
I heard, below me, the startlement of my servants. I turned to Janos, who was setting the mirror down very carefully. "I did not know," I said, "you have powers that great."
Janos forced a grim smile. "Nor did I. Nor am I sure that the... ones who are beyond would allow me to cast such a counterspell. I shall not attempt to construct it unless forced by Cassini and the Evocators. Perhaps even conceiving of this makes me guilty of hubris. But I am ready to be judged on that matter."
"So you were bluffing?"
Janos shrugged. "In the invisible world, how can anyone, even the greatest wizard, mark the difference between bluff and inspiration? What matters is that the others, those people who serve us will be reassured for the moment."
"What if Cassini tries again? Or if he assembles all of the Evocators to cast the outlawing spell?"
"I do not think that will happen. Perhaps I truly have his image caught in my glass, in which case if he tries again, I shall go on the attack. If I do not have him caught... then all is before. But at this moment Evocator Cassini believes himself in jeopardy, which is enough."
"He won't give up," I said. "Nor will the other Evocators and Magistrates he's enlisted."
"No," Janos agreed. "But I suspect they will try something different. And they will try it very quickly - Cassini is too worried about whether I have power over him to let any time pass at all. All of us must be ready for greater trouble this night."
By dusk I knew Janos was correct, at least in his last prediction. I heard the boom of drums coming, I thought, from the Great Amphitheater, and the roar of crowds from the city. By full dark, torches could be seen lining out the streets. Perhaps we could have fled the villa, but to what end? I kn
ew Cassini would recast his spell, and, with a bounty on all our heads everyone from huntsmen to soldiers would be tracking us. The situation must be resolved here and now.
The night sky was as clear and far overhead shone the cold, hard light of the stars. There was no moon, but it seemed as if a sort of luminescence shone everywhere. Although the night was cloudless - but somewhere, not far away, I heard the mutter of thunder.
Janos ordered all lights that could be seen from the outside extinguished. He gathered the ten strongest men together, and broke them into two groups, under the command of Maeen. They would be our reserve if, or rather when, we were attacked. The four men who knew a little of archery were stationed on the roof. The watch posts were manned by the youngest servants, whose eyes and ears would be the sharpest of any. Great torches were lit in front of our gates, at each corner of the villa, and to the rear. Other torches, tied to spears, were made ready. If the large lights were snuffed out, their replacements could be hurled beyond the walls for emergency illumination. Those who wished food were given it, although Janos said he would have preferred no one eat - belly wounds, he told me, were grievous enough without being further corrupted by the stomach's overflow. Also, to prevent filth from being driven into a wound, he had all of us put on clean, dark clothing. Then we waited.
Two hours later the torches began streaming from the center of the city toward the villa. The crowd chants were growing louder. I noted something odd, and brought it to Janos' attention:
"We are, I guess, to be torn apart by a horde angered beyond reason by my scoffing at the gods. Or so our enemies will have it."
"What signs do you have," Janos asked wryly, "that yon throng is not your basic mob, wreaking vengeance in the name of all that is good and holy?"
"I see the torches in front and to the sides, moving in lines as if they were being carried by trained soldiers. And the chants sound rehearsed. My guess is they have ordered loyalist elements of the army into civilian costume."
"No," Janos disagreed. "Again, we are opposed by their sorcery. Soldiers would talk, after the event, no matter how they are ordered to keep a still tongue. But men and women, brought out of their homes by a skillfully-cast spell, whose skein is finer than a fishing net, will produce the same directed havoc...and with no guilt or recollection in the morning. History of this night will be not be written on a palimpsest."
Within half a glass, the rabble had arrived, and surrounded the villa. "Yet another clue as to their organization," Janos pointed out. "A real mob would be centered where things are most likely to happen, which means the front of the villa. Instead, we are now trapped."
"What comes next?"
"Rocks, chants, then a group will chance charging a weak point. We should strike hard, with arrows and spears to drive them back. We must hurt them hard and suddenly any time they make such a thrust. Sooner or later, they will either tire of bleeding without result, or else..."
I didn't need to ask what the alternative was. "I suppose there is no hope of the Magistrates coming to our assistance?"
Janos shook his head. "Our best chance is that we are still here when the sun rises."
The mob milled and shouted, and rocks and pottery arced toward us. But there was no sign of the anticipated thrust. "Perhaps," Janos wondered, "they are planning the first attack be sorcerous in nature. Look around the crowd, Amalric. Look for their leaders. This mob is definitely led in the person, and not by some Evocator with ghostly hands from their palace. There! See?"
I spotted, at the rear of the throng, several pin-lights. "Bullseye lanterns," Janos suggested. "The group's leader or leaders, probably being guided since he will be in the throes of his spell-working."
"Cassini?"
"Do you think he would allow us to be destroyed without witnessing the event? There is Cassini, and I know if we had a magick glass and could look back to the Palace of the Evocators, there would be a great mutter of his fellows chanting like fiends."
Time passed with no further developments. Janos became worried. "They are expecting something, some event that will turn the tide. Or else they would not be keeping the crowd in hand so tightly."
A woman screamed. Screamed from inside the villa! "Go," Janos ordered. "I'll watch Cassini and forestall whatever his move is meant to be."
I hurtled downstairs, hearing shouts, and the clash of steel now. Somehow... some way... the mob had broken into my house. A bent-nosed man, waving a bloody axe, burst toward the bottom of the stairs. I leapt over the banister at him, my sword cleaving. It struck deep into his shoulder and he staggered and went down, ripping my blade from my hand. I landed, left hand pulling out a duplicate of the long scramasax I'd carried on my Finding. Another villain was on me before I could pull my sword free of the body, his club raised. I went under him and cut his guts out. I had his club in my free hand, and two more were on me. I parried, swung, and they fell back.
I was shouting "Anteros! Anteros! To me! To me!" and Sergeant Maeen and my reserves boiled out of the sideroom I'd told them to wait in. The room at the foot of the stairs that led to the main door was a sea of shouting, stabbing, fighting men - they were coming in on us from somewhere. And then I saw him, and knew from where the assault was coming.
Across the room was Tegry! He was one of the few who'd been trusted with the secret of the tunnel, and must have betrayed it to Cassini. He carried a spear and wore some sort of rusty armor. He saw me as well, screamed rage, and cast the spear. It went well to the side, thudding into the wall, and it was my turn. I leaped up and grabbed the torch-like oil lamp from its stanchion and threw - threw with all the anger a body could hold at this ultimate betrayal of not just me, and my family, but my father as well.
The flaming lamp struck him in the face, and even over the sounds of fighting I could hear the howl of agony. He fell back and I lost sight of him as my stalwarts struck again. I heard arrows hum past, and saw, at the top of the landing, my archers, sending shafts into the rabble. A shout, then another shout, and the survivors were turning, pushing their way toward the door, back toward the tunnel. Very few of them made it.
The room was a welter of blood. I counted five, no six of my own down, wounded or dying. I saw Tegry once more. He'd pulled himself up to a sitting position, against one wall. His face was ghastly, black, red and blistered. His hair and beard had been burnt away by the oil as it clung and seared. His blind eyes saw nothing, but he must have sensed my footsteps. He held his hands out, mumbling what might have been a plea for mercy. He received it, dying more cleanly and quickly than the death he had tried to send me and mine.
I heard Janos shouting. I told two servants to block the entrance to the tunnel, recovered my sword and the rest of us went up the stairs at a run, stumbling now, exhausted, winded. Janos was standing in the balcony, a bow in hand. Methodically he was whipping war arrows into the crowd below. "Now they attack," he shouted. "You bowmen... on line. Choose your targets well. Those men there, first. Remember, you cannot hit all of them if you cannot hit any of them."
The mob had secured a battering ram from somewhere and eight men held its handles and ran back and forth, crashing the bronze-fisted end again and again into the villa's door. The heavy iron-bound oak boomed in defiance at each blow, but I knew it eventually must yield. Bowstrings twanged and arrows sang, but as each man on the ram fell, two more would run to replace him. Either Cassini's sorcery, or the crowd's bloodlust, was very strong. Again the ram crashed against the door and I heard splintering wood, loud as the door began giving way.
"Back below," I shouted. "Janos. Stand with me. You others... rip away the block on that tunnel. We will give you what time we can."
Again we went downstairs into that blood-drenched room. This would be the last moment for the Anteros. Halab's portrait was before me. In a few moments I would be joining him. "You men," I cried. "Your service is finished. Flee, now, down the tunnel, while there's still a chance."
"The hell with you and your orders, Lord Ante
ro," growled J'an, muscles rippling as he readied a great axe, an axe we used to split beef carcasses. "I die when an' where I see fit. There'll be no damn' Evocator or his spawn seein' the back of me this night."
Maeen was beside him, and said nothing but spat on the floor and drew a final line with his foot. I looked about me, and realized that more than ten of my servants had chosen to die here, as J'an had. There was a great lump caught in my throat. I looked at Janos. His teeth gleamed white against his beard.
"Now," he said. "Now let there be such a doom of blood the gods themselves will hear the keening and know that Janos Kether Greycloak, Overlord of Kostromo, will be among them." He grinned. "There will be sagas sung of this night, I wager. And I am ready."
Not being gifted at funeral oratory, I forced what I hoped was a death-dealing smile across my lips, said nothing and lifted my sword and dagger.
The door crashed in... and the screams started. From the outside! I heard the keen of pipes, the boom of drums, bowstrings again, and spears thudding into the walls outside, and screams and frenzy. All of us were brought back from that exaltation of death to the real world. We looked at each other, bewildered, as the sounds of a great battle built outside. Janos yanked the axe from J'an, and with three great blows ripped the door away. We ran outside.
From out of the night came three phalanxes of the Maranon Guard. They moved slowly and deliberately forward, spears overlapped, overstepping bodies as they came. Behind the attacking groups were archers and javelin hurlers, casting as they found targets. The Guards' pipers and drummers were crashing a deadly cadence. I saw Rali leading her column, but she had no time to be looking for me.
The mob shattered and ran... into the country... into the fields, back the way they'd come. I sheathed my dagger and pulled a spear from where it had buried itself in the ground. Cassini would be fleeing with the rest. It was utterly forbidden to raise a hand against an Evocator, but I had so much blood on my hands I was not worried about another few drops, whether they came from a sorcerer or not.
