“Mostly because Alisande has marched into Latruria with Ortho and a small army, to come and get you.”
“A small army!” Matt cried, appalled. “Hey, no! I don’t want to cause a war!”
“No, just to fight in ones that other people start,” Saul said with sarcasm. “So she was already in Latruria and making pretty good speed toward Venarra, when Chancellor Rebozo, whoever he is, sent word to Alisande that you were no longer in Latruria.”
“I’ll just bet he did!” Matt fumed. “He hoped she’d get the idea that if I wasn’t there, mere was no point in marching farther south. She didn’t just pack up and go home, did she?”
“Without you to bring back? No way! She sent word that she might as well pay a courtesy visit, as long as she had gone that far. Then she talked Sir Guy into calling for me.”
“How’d you find me?”
“Ortho guessed that you must be in some sort of alternate magical pocket universe, and I thought of the physicists’ idea that the higher dimensions are hidden inside the other three. So I went into a trance and fished around with my mind, trying to get outside the three-dimensional frame of reference-but I wasn’t having any luck, until I heard your voice saying, ‘I wish Saul were here.’ I zeroed in on that.”
“I’d like to say it wasn’t necessary,” Matt said, “but I’m afraid it was. Hate to have you pulling my chestnuts out of the fire again, Saul.”
“Don’t mention it-life always gets more interesting when you’re around.” Saul looked up at Arouetto, and Matt could almost see the chip settling onto his shoulder. “So you’re a scholar, huh?”
“I am,” Arouetto said, “though your friend seems to think the word ‘student’ is more apt to what I am. For myself, I see no difference between the two.”
“Older usage, yeah,” Saul admitted. “Any particular reason why you don’t call yourself a philosopher?”
“An excellent one-that I do not know enough, and am too poor in judgment.” Arouetto’s smile warmed. “It is Knowledge I love, Wizard Saul, not wisdom.”
“Well, at least you know it-in contrast to a few philosophers I could name. And you’re not a professor?”
Arouetto looked surprised. “What would I profess?”
“Whatever your major area of study is,” Saul snapped. “Greece and Reme? There is too much of them to know, for one man to have the audacity to profess his opinions about them!”
“Your humility does you credit,” Saul grumbled, “but it’s very frustrating when I’m trying to work up a good argument. Okay, Scholar Arouetto-if we want to get back to the real world, where do you think we should aim for? Merovence, so we’re outside King Boncorro’s jurisdiction?”
“Oh, no! We can do no good for Latruria unless we are in it!”
“Up to our necks,” Saul griped, and Matt agreed. “If we do go back to Latruria, Rebozo will know it in a matter of minutes, and will hit us with everything he’s got.”
Saul’s smile twisted. “I just love paradoxes. So what we need is someplace inside Latruria, that’s outside Rebozo’s powers. Neat, huh?”
“Very.” Arouetto’s eyes glowed again. “But as with any paradox, Wizard Saul, one can resolve it by stepping outside its terms-and there is one hill in Latruria that has held proof against even King Maledicto’s miasma of evil, and has certainly held fast without King Boncorro’s secular skepticism.”
“Oh?” Saul looked up with foreboding. “What hill is that?”
“The Vatican.”
“How did I know that was coming?” Saul sighed and looked up at Matt. “Think St. Peter’s might be there, in this universe?”
“The largest cathedral in Europe?” asked Arouetto. “Be sure, it is!”
“Well, what the hey! I always have wanted to see the sights.” Saul came to his feet. “Of course, I expect the Sistine Chapel hasn’t been built yet, let alone decorated, but it’s worth seeing anyway.” He looked at Matt. “Who do we know in the Vatican?”
“Well,” Arouetto said slowly, “there is Brother Thomas…”
Brother Thomas, it turned out, wasan acquaintance of Arouetto’s from their school days-and Matt got another shock when he found out that Arouetto was a deacon. He had attended the seminary because it was the only place devoted to any kind of learning, and the only one that had a good, though limited, library-excellent, so long as all you wanted to study was theology. When Arouetto realized how badly he wanted to study other subjects, he knew his calling was not for the priesthood. Apparently, Brother Thomas had come to the same conclusion, though for different reasons-Arouetto said he simply felt that he was not good enough for the job. In vain did his teachers explain to him that he did not have to be a saint, only a good man trying to be better and trying to serve his fellows. Brother Thomas remained adamant. His vocation was for the clergy, he agreed, but not for the priesthood-yet. Perhaps it would be, in God’s own time. Until then, he would serve in whatever capacity his bishop wanted. What his bishop wanted of him, it transpired, was to stay at the seminary as librarian, which was ideal from Brother Thomas’ point of view, since it gave him the company of the books he dearly loved, and time to write the treatises about the problems that had been worrying him. He showed them to his teachers, and they exclaimed with delight-he had managed to come up with answers to the spiritual problems that had been perplexing them all, ever since merchants started bringing back alien ideas along with the spices of the Orient. He might not have been a priest, but he was a theologian-so the bishop transferred him to the cathedral library, where he remained happily filing andscribbling until the pope coopted him to run the Vatican library. Besides, that way the cardinals could keep a personal eye on the development of Brother Thomas’ ideas; they weren’t certain they liked the sound of some of his newer lines of thought. Saul grinned. “Sounds like my kind of hombre.”
Arouetto frowned. “ ‘Hombre’?”
“That’s Iberian,” Matt said quickly. “It means ‘man.’ ” He turned to Saul. “So what do we do with this librarian, now that we’ve found him?”
“Think about him,” Saul said simply. “Scholar Arouetto, can you show us what Brother Thomas looks like?”
The scholar closed his eyes, brow creasing in concentration, and a picture frame appeared next to him, with a canvas that gradually became clear, showing them a round face topped by a tonsure, a snub nose, small but kindly eyes, and a little mouth pursed in a smile. It was a gentle face, a tranquil face-just the kind of man who might start anintellectual earthquake. Why did Matt have the feeling Brother Thomas was never coming out of the Vatican again? “Theologian, huh?‘ Saul stared at the picture, brow knit. ”He have anything to say about magic?“
Arouetto smiled. “It is one of the notions that has aroused consternation among the cardinals. Brother Thomas maintains that what we term ‘magic’ is really just the deft handling of unseen forces that surround us, but do not come from either Heaven or Hell-they simply arise from all living things. It is the life force, if you will. But the way of manipulating and concentrating that to affect objects and people, that is learned from God and His Saints, or the Devil and his minions. It is not the force that comes from God, but the knowledge.”
Matt nodded. “Which explains why magic works in your universe but doesn’t in ours-our life-forms don’t give off that kind of energy.”
“How is this?” Arouetto lifted his head like a hound striking a scent. “You come from another universe?”
“Yes, and we’ll explain later,” Saul said quickly. “Right now, we need to get out of this universe.”
“But if that’s magic, what’s a miracle?” Matt cocked his head to the side. “Those happen in our universe, too.”
“Ah!” Arouetto raised a forefinger. “Miracles are the work of God directly, or through His Saints-so says Brother Thomas. They are not a manipulation of natural forces, but an exercise of God’s power itself.”
“Meaning the One Who made the laws can break them when He wants to,”
Saul said with a sardonic smile. “Dealer wins all draws.”
“Well, at least we’re not trying for a new deal.” Matt sighed. “We’re just playing our cards better.”
“I’ll take three,” Saul said. “Let’s try to reach out to Brother Thomas, shall we? Use him as our anchor to pull ourselves out.”
Arouetto frowned. “But how can you reach out to his universe from this one?”
“Who says we can’t?” Saul countered. “Have you ever tried?”
“Why-no!” Arouetto said, startled. “I am no wizard, but only a poor scholar! Still, there are many sorcerers and wizards here-surely they have attempted it!”
Saul shrugged. “Maybe none of them had a confederate on the outside. From what I hear of sorcerers, none of them would help anybody else if he didn’t have to, and definitely wouldn’t want to increase the competition by bringing somebody back out of solitary. Wizards might not be outright people haters, but from what I’ve seen of them, they tend to be loners-lots of acquaintances, but not very many close friends.”
“A few really good ones are all you need!” Matt protested. Saul shot him one of his rare warm glances. “Hey, I know that, man-but most of the people I meet don’t. They like to travel in packs: the bigger the better.” He turned back to Arouetto. “So there’s no proof any wizard or sorcerer has tried to get out, with a pull from the outside-and they certainly haven’t ganged up trying. Here, you’ve got two experienced wizards, ready to work together, and a scholar who probably has more understanding of magic than he’s willing to admit.”
“Well… I have read the theories of Pythagoras,” Arouetto admitted. ‘Then you’ve got a book that didn’t survive in our universe.“ Now it was Saul who tensed. ”After this is all wrapped up, I want to see that text!“
“Why, surely, if my belongings have not all been vandalized. But how are we to proceed now?”
“Well, we know it’s possible to reach in here from outside,” Saul said, “because we know Rebozo did it, sending that chimera after you. In fact, he probably watches what goes on in here pretty closely, brewing up even bigger trouble, so we’d better get moving fast. If he can reach in, we can probably reach out. What would make Brother Thomas concentrate on you?”
Arouetto smiled. “Why, a picture of me with the inscription, ‘Think of me!’ ”
“Of course,” Saul said. “Pardon me while I feel dumb. Any time I’m getting too cocky, Matt, just tell me to come have a chat with this guy.”
“Why, how is this?” Arouetto looked back and forth from one to the other with concern. “I do not mean offense!”
“Of course not,” Saul said. “You just see the obvious that goes right past the two of us, ‘cause we’re busy looking for something complicated. Okay, Scholar Arouetto-think up a self-portrait with the inscription, and we two will get busy concentrating on a mental picture of Brother Thomas’ face.”
“Will that accomplish anything?” Arouetto asked doubtfully. “Who knows? It’s sure worth a try!”
“It is that.” Arouetto shrugged. “Very well, then, here is my portrait.” His brow furrowed with concentration, and a miniature appeared in a filigreed frame. It was a bit uglier than the real thing, but none the less recognizable. Underneath it was a small metal scroll engraved with the words, Think of me. “Got it” Saul closed his eyes and grabbed Matt’s hand. Matt squeezed back, closing his eyes and picturing Brother Thomas’ face, then expanding the view to show him wearing a monk’s robe and holding out a hand with the miniature in it. “Right hand.”
“Right,” Saul acknowledged. Matt groped with his left hand, felt Arouetto catch it. “I have your hand, Lord Wizard!” the scholar said. “Hold tight,” Matt said between his teeth. “If anything happens, it’ll happen fast.”
Suddenly, he felt it, the way you feel someone’s gaze on the back of your neck, only stronger, much stronger. It felt as if he had stepped out of the shade into a ray of noontime sun in summertime Nevada. From a distance he heard Saul say, “Got him! Now, Matt-‘I’m Going Away,’ past tense!”
Matt sang with him, not quite on the same pitch: “I’ve gone away For to stay A little while, But I’m coming back, Though I go ten thousand mile!”
The fabric of the universe seemed to wrench and tear about them. Reality rocked, and Matt clamped tight with both hands as his inner ear went crazy, registering a tilting and seesawing from side to side and back and forth. Dimly, he heard Arouetto cry out with alarm, and Saul cry out with elation. Himself, he just bit his lip and hoped for the best. Then the world seemed to stabilize, a little at a time, until Matt finally realized that the rocking was going on in his stomach, not in the world around him. With trepidation, he opened his eyes… And found himself in a small but spacious room with sunlight pouring in through open windows, the smell of flowers in the air, plain cream-colored plaster walls with the dark supporting beams showing, and a monk on a high stool, sitting at a higher desk, looking up at them in delight. Matt recognized Brother Thomas, not quite as noble-looking as Arouetto’s picture of him-and in the monk’s right hand was the miniature of Arouetto. “Friend Arouetto!” Brother Thomas cried in a surprisingly deep voice. “What a joy to see you! It has been so long! But who are these wizardly companions of yours?”
Matt was just about to answer when the world darkened and he felt the room spinning again.
Chapter 22
All things considered, Matt was very relieved to see the same room around him when he came to. He’d had a bad moment when he thought Rebozo had magically pulled him away. He said as much, but Brother Thomas assured him, “No evil sorcery can touch you here. There is too much holiness about us, too many prayers filling the air.” Then he frowned. “Of course, if you wished the powers of Evil to touch you, if even some part of you that you did not wish to acknowledge longed for that touch, you would breach our defenses.”
“I don’t think even my subconscious wants that,” Matt said thickly. “It’s seen a little too much of the results.”
“Here, drink.” The monk held a goblet near Matt’s lips. “Gently, for ‘tis brandy-but a sip or two will bring the color back to your cheeks.”
Matt took a guarded sip, and heat exploded on his tongue, down his esophagus, and into his stomach. He exhaled, expecting to see fire, and found himself sitting upright. “Yes,” he said hoarsely. “That’ll straighten out a snake.” He swallowed and said, “Nice brew.”
“But perhaps a bit of water after it?” Brother Thomas smiled and held out another goblet. Matt took it, and the monk turned away to press the brandy on Saul, then Arouetto-both of whom, Matt was relieved to see, were looking pretty green around the gills themselves. The brandy straightened them up, of course, and Brother Thomas was right-it did bring the color back to their cheeks, though they needed the chaser, too. “Didn’t know you folks had brandy here,” Saul said. “We have a most talented monk in charge of our stillery,” Brother Thomas explained. “New invention, then.” Saul nodded. “I’m sure it will catch on.”
“Well, you seem to be somewhat restored.” Brother Thomas beamed around at his collection of hulks beached on hardwood benches. “It is so good of you to visit a poor friar in his solitude! But tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit-especially when it is made in so unorthodox a manner?”
He was polite, but he was very curious-and very good at hearing them out, then asking questions that drew every last ounce of information from them. Finally he leaned back on his stool, resting against the desk, nodding in satisfaction that he had the whole story. “So! You have the audacity to set yourselves against the wickedness permitted by King Boncorro-or to seek to help him banish the wickedness that remains from the reign of King Maledicto, if you can first determine which is the case.”
“I vote for leftovers,” Matt said. “I’ve met Chancellor Rebozo.”
“He has an unsavory reputation, yes,” Brother Thomas agreed, “though most seem to think it is only because he toadies to the king and does what
ever his Majesty commands, whether it be good or ill.”
“He prefers ill,” Matt averred, and Arouetto agreed. “Dismiss whatever reputation you have heard of his kindliness, Brother Thomas. He is a mean and cruel man, enjoying others’ misery.”
“You speak from your own experience?” Brother Thomas asked with interest. “Yes,” Matt and Arouetto said together. The monk steepled his fingers together. “And what do you propose to do about it?”
Arouetto and Saul exchanged a blank look, but Matt said slowly, “The king is trying very hard to be a materialist and believe in nothing but the things he can see and taste and touch. The result is that he has made a very good beginning on transforming Latruria into a secular society.”
Brother Thomas frowned. “But we have always had to contend with the secular aspects of life. The word only means ‘worldly,’ after all.”
“Yes-but most people have looked beyond this world, to the next. King Boncorro is trying to convince himself, and his people, that this world is all there is.”
Brother Thomas pursed his lips and whistled, gazing off into space. “Yes,” Matt said. ‘Taking it to a bit of an extreme, isn’t he?“
“He is most surely! There is nothing wrong with seeking to cope with the trials and burdens of this world, mind you, nor to seek worldly pleasures, so long as you hurt no one else thereby-”
Secular Wizard Page 35
