The sorcerer of the North ra-5

by John Flanagan

  Orman was behind his own work table. Will noticed that the books on magic were still among his papers, one of them lying open at a page marked with a leather bookmark. Orman was wearing his usual dark robe and he seemed to be hunched over in the large wooden armchair. He moved awkwardly as he waved Xander out, almost as if he was in pain. His voice, when he spoke, confirmed the impression. He seemed to form his words with difficulty and his breathing was heavy and labored.

  "Well done, sergeant major. Any trouble from him?"

  "None, sir. Came right peaceably," the soldier announced. Orman nodded slowly.

  "Good. Good," he muttered to himself. There was a pause as he breathed heavily, then he flicked the fingers of one hand at the sergeant major in a gesture of dismissal.

  "Very well, sergeant major. You can leave us. Wait outside, please."

  The old soldier hesitated. "Are you sure, my lord?" he asked uncertainly. "The prisoner may try to…" He stopped in mid-sentence. He wasn't sure what Will might do. In fact, he wasn't even sure that he was a prisoner. He had been ordered to take two men and go fetch him here right away and so he had assumed that there as trouble brewing. Now, as Orman dismissed him, he began to wonder if this was simply a social matter and he remembered with some concern the prodding he had been doing all the way up the stairs.

  "It's all right. Go." Orman's voice was a low whisper but the note of annoyance was clear in it. He was definitely in pain, Will thought. He heard the soldier come to attention behind him, then his boots as he marched to the door. He paused there, still unsure of the situation.

  "I'll wait outside then, my lord," he said, then added, "… with my men."

  "Yes. Yes. Do that if you choose," Orman told him. The door closed as the sergeant major went out. Orman rose awkwardly, favoring his left side. Will could see now that his left arm was held to his side, almost as if he was suffering from broken ribs. He winced as he moved around the table and stood before Will, His breath came heavily, as if moving that short distance was an enormous effort for him. Will started toward him.

  "Lord Orman, are you all right?" he said, but Orman held up a hand to stop him.

  "No. As you can see, I'm not. But there's little you can do about it."

  "Are you wounded?" Will asked. "I can send for your physician." But Orman was shaking his head, and a harsh laugh escaped his lips.

  "I doubt that any healers in this castle could help with what I have," he said. "No. I need help of another kind." He paused, and his eyes burned into Will's as he added, "I need the help of a Ranger."

  26

  There was silence in the room. Will was speechless. It was the last thing he expected to hear from Orman. He recovered, knowing that his reaction was too late, but determined to try to bluff his way through anyway.

  "A Ranger, Lord Orman?" he said. "I'm just a simple jongleur." He forced a self-deprecating smile and continued, "And, as you've pointed out several times, a pretty disappointing one."

  Orman made a dismissive gesture and sank painfully onto one of the straight-backed chairs in front of his table.

  "Don't bandy words with me. I don't have the strength. Look, I need help and I need it quickly. They've finally gotten to me, just as they got to my father. As you can see, I'm sick, and before too much longer I'll sink into a coma and then there's nothing to stop them."

  "They?" Will asked. "Who are they?"

  Orman groaned again, holding his side and stomach and bending over as a wave of pain hit him. Will could see sweat forming on man's face-he was obviously in a bad way. "Keren!" Orman gasped finally. "Who the hell do you think? He's the one behind my father's sickness. He's the one trying to take over the castle!"

  "Keren?" Will repeated. "But…" He paused and Orman, stronger now that the tide of pain had receded a little, continued angrily.

  "Oh, of course. He's taken you in, just like everybody else. I suppose you imagined I was behind the whole plot to get rid of my father?" He looked up at Will for confirmation. Seeing it in the young man's eyes, he nodded resignedly. "Most people do. It's so easy to think that way when a person is unpopular, isn't it?"

  There was nothing for Will to say. It was precisely the way he had reacted, now that he thought about it. He disliked Orman and the dislike had led him to the conclusion that the temporary Lord of Macindaw was not to be trusted. By contrast, Sir Keren's open, friendly nature had led him to view the man as a potential ally. But still, there was only Orman's word to go on here. The sallow-faced man continued.

  "Look, you may be many things, but I doubt you're really a jongleur." He held up a hand to stop Will's automatic protest. "You're talented enough, I suppose, although your music isn't to my liking. But you gave yourself away the other day when I interviewed you."

  "Gave myself away?" Will's mind flashed back to the conversation he had with Orman just before Alyss's arrival.

  "I asked about your mandola, remember? I asked if it was a Gilperon."

  "Yes," Will said slowly. He wondered where this was going. He remembered a few moments of confusion when Orman had asked the question, moments where he tried to cover up the fact that he hadn't heard of the master luthier, Gilperon. "It was simply that his name escaped me at the time, Lord Orman," he said. "As I said to you, a country musician could never afford a real Gilperon instrument, so the name simply escaped me for a few seconds."

  "There is no Gilperon. The name is Gilet," Orman said flatly. "Any true jongleur should have known that."

  Will closed his eyes briefly in anger. It was a very old trick that Orman had pulled on him, but it had worked. And now he saw no way out of the trap.

  Orman continued. "So then I checked your horse-it's very similar to the breed the Rangers use. And it seems to be very well trained. Even your clothing gives a hint." He gestured to the gaudy black-and-white cloak that Will wore. "It's similar to the camouflage cloaks Rangers wear. Of course, the colors are different, but in a winterscape such as we have here, black and white would be ideal. I imagine you could disappear into the countryside in moments if you chose to."

  "It's a fascinating theory, my lord," Will said. "But unfortunately, it's really no more than a series of coincidences." He saw the anger flare briefly in Orman's eyes and then the other man replied.

  "Don't waste my time. I don't have much left. They've managed to poison me the same way they did my father. The pain is becoming worse and worse and in a matter of hours, I'll be unconscious. And then they'll have everything they want. You have to get me out of here."

  "You want to get out of here?" Will said, the surprise evident in his voice. That was the last thing he had expected.

  "I have to, don't you see?" Orman said desperately. "I've tried to fight them for the past weeks but they've gradually infiltrated the castle. Keren is recruiting his own men and gradually getting rid of the ones who are loyal to me. I have barely a dozen men I can depend on these days, while he must have a score or more of men loyal to him."

  Another spasm of pain racked him and he doubled over, groaning in agony. He was unable to speak for some time, then he continued, in a weak voice.

  "Keren wants the castle. He's an illegitimate cousin, so there's no way he will ever get his hands on it legally. For some time, I've suspected that he's made an agreement with a Scotti warlord to hand the shire over-as long as Keren keeps the castle. If I'm right, once the snows clear, the Scotti will come through the passes and occupy the entire shire. Without Macindaw to threaten their lines of supply, they'll be able to besiege Norgate and the whole fief will fall before spring is out. Is that what you want?" he added bitterly. He could see Will was wavering and he went on.

  "If Keren has me and my father in his power, he won't hesitate to kill us both and take control. Oh, he won't do it obviously. He isn't powerful enough to get away with that-yet. That's why he's dredged up the old legend about the sorcerer. He knows that frightened people will look for strong leadership-which he can provide. He's poisoned my father. He's keeping him unconscio
us and now he's planning the same for me. If we both die of the so-called sorcerer's curse, he'll have a free hand to take control-and nobody will oppose him. He'll be the only living relative."

  "But if I can get away, he can't claim to be Lord of Macindaw. As long as I'm alive, he's stalemated and he gains nothing by killing my father. On the contrary, he'll probably keep him alive as a hostage. Until the Scotti get here, Keren must play his hand carefully. If he's too obvious, the countryside would rise up against him. But once he's established as Lord of Macindaw, it'll be a different story. Then, by the time the Scotti arrive to support him, it'll be too late."

  "How did he poison you?" Will asked, and Orman shrugged.

  "I have to eat and drink. Who knows? I've tried to be careful and have my food prepared separately. But they may have got to my servants. Or maybe they got their damn poison into the water." He gestured to the books on the Black Art that lay on the work table. "I've felt it coming on for days. They do it slowly, you see. I've been going through those damn books trying to find some clue, some antidote, but so far without any success."

  Will looked at the books as the other man pointed to them. "Oh, I see," he said. "I thought…" He didn't finish the thought. Orman smiled grimly at him.

  "You thought I was a sorcerer? You thought I was behind my father's illness?" he said. Will nodded. There was no point in denying it.

  "It seemed a logical theory," he said.

  Orman nodded wearily. "As I said, when a person is unpopular, it's so easy to think badly of him." He rose from the chair, moving painfully. "Now my best hope is that you are a Ranger, because I need help getting away from this castle, and I doubt if a simple jongleur would be up to the task." He paused and then added, "I assume that Lady Gwendolyn is also more than she seems?"

  "How did you…" Will began, then stopped, realizing he had said too much. Orman smiled.

  "Don't assume that because a person is unpopular, he's also stupid," he said. "The two of you turned up virtually at the same time then Lady Gwendolyn had you summoned to her rooms. Very convenient. And then you both just happened to go riding at the same time. I'm not a fool."

  Events had moved so fast in the past few minutes that Will had forgotten about the need to warn Alyss to stay out of sight. Making a decision, he apprised Orman of the situation, telling him of the surprising appearance of John Buttle. The castle lord frowned thoughtfully.

  "That is a problem," he said. "He's one of Keren's men, of course-a new recruit. Keren seems to find every unattached thief and murderer who drifts through the shire. They gravitate to him. At the same time, he's getting rid of the men who might be loyal to me. I'll send Xander to pass your message to her. Best if you aren't seen by this man Buttle either, I think. Then let's think about how the three of us can get out of here."

  He reached for a small silver bell on his table and rang it. There was a pause, then the door opened and Xander entered. Quickly, Orman gave him his instructions while Will dashed off a short note for him to carry to Alyss. The clerk, looking worried, folded the note into the top of his jerkin and left the room. Another thought had been nagging at Will. He voiced it now.

  "The Night Warrior-the apparitions in Grimsdell Wood-is Keren behind them as well? What does he gain from them?"

  "Oh, you've seen them, have you?" Orman asked. Then he shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know. Perhaps this former healer Malkallam is behind them all. Or maybe it's Keren. Maybe they're even working together. Then again, Keren may have simply taken advantage of the apparitions to use the old legend to his own advantage."

  He shuddered in pain again. "In any event, we're going to have to find out what Malkallam is up to," he said. Will looked at him, a question in his eyes, and he elaborated.

  "He may well be the only one who can heal me. I need you to take me to him."

  27

  "Are you mad?" Will's voice rose in pitch as he reacted to Orman's statement. "You think Malkallam will help you? He's a sworn enemy of your entire family!" But Orman merely shook his head, the effort seeming to take a lot out of him.

  "Only if you believe in fairy tales," he said. "I don't believe Malkallam is behind all this. I don't believe he's a sorcerer. For years, the man worked as a healer-an herbalist-and a very good one. But then something went wrong and he disappeared from sight. People said he went into the forest and surrounded himself with dark forces and apparitions."

  "What went wrong?" Will asked, and Orman shrugged. The minute he did so, he regretted it, giving vent to a little grunt of pain before he answered.

  "Who knows? Maybe somewhere along the way, people started confusing his abilities with sorcery. It's happened before, you know-someone develops a skill that's a little out of the ordinary, and before too long, people start believing it's magic." He paused for breath and looked meaningfully at Will. "As a Ranger, you should understand that."

  Will was forced to agree. It was exactly the way many people thought of Rangers. And, he realized, he and Alyss had already seen that a lot of Malkallam's so-called sorcery consisted of elaborate mechanical tricks. But still…

  "Can you afford to risk it?" he asked. "You're assuming an awful lot, after all."

  Orman gave him a thin smile. There was not a great deal of amusement in it.

  "The question is, can I afford not to risk it? Malkallam is the only person within hundreds of kilometers who might have the skill to recognize this drug and find an antidote. Without him, I'll sink into a coma and eventually die."

  Will frowned thoughtfully as he digested this statement. The castle lord was right, he realized. Malkallam was a last throw of the dice. There was no other way for Orman to turn.

  The door opened to admit Xander. The moment the secretary entered the office, Will saw the look on his face and knew he had bad news.

  "My lord, I couldn't reach her. Keren's men are everywhere," he said.

  Orman cursed as another seizure struck him. As Xander moved toward his lord, Will stepped to block his way. He felt a cold hand tighten around his heart.

  "You mean they stopped you?" he said, then added, with a scathing note of condemnation, "You didn't even try to reach her, did you?"

  The little secretary met his gaze unflinchingly. "I didn't try once I saw them, because I knew they'd see me. And I didn't want to implicate the Lady Gwendolyn," he said.

  Will reached out and grabbed the little man's jerkin in both hands, pulling him closer.

  "You coward!" he told him. "What do you mean, implicate her?"

  Xander still met his gaze without any sign of fear. He made no effort to break free from Will's grip.

  "Think about it, Ranger. I'm seen hurrying to take some kind of message to Lady Gwendolyn. Then, within an hour, the three of us escape from the castle. Do you think Keren won't put two and two together and realize she's working with you?"

  Slowly, Will released his grip and the secretary stepped back, smoothing his crumpled collar. He was right, Will thought. Any attempt to warn Alyss would only endanger her at the moment. Yet if she were to run into Buttle, if Buttle recognized her… somehow, he would have to get word to her.

  "I've got to help her," he said.

  Orman shook his head wearily. "It's too late for that," he said. "If Xander's right and Keren's men are everywhere, he may be about to make his move. We have only a few minutes to get out of here."

  Will's anger boiled up and overflowed. "Is that all you can think about?" he demanded. "Your own precious skin? Well, to blazes with you! I don't run out on my friends when they need me."

  Orman said nothing. But Will was surprised as Xander took a step toward him and laid a hand on his arm.

  "Lord Orman is right," he said. "Your best chance is to get him out of here right away. If you're caught in the castle, there'll be nothing to stop Keren from killing all of you, don't you see?"

  Will realized Xander had spoken the truth. His first task, now that he knew Orman was not a rebel, was to get him to safety. But to do that mean
t leaving Alyss in danger and he hated the idea of that.

  "We're wasting time," Orman said quietly. "Look, your friend may be caught. Or she may not. But if they catch us too, there'll be no reason for Keren to keep her alive-particularly once he learns she's a Courier. But if he doesn't have me, he can't claim the castle, and he'll need to hedge his bets. You can even offer to trade me for Gwendolyn if you want. That'll ensure he looks after her." He paused, letting Will think about that. "I assume Gwendolyn isn't her real name?" he added.

  "It's Alyss," Will said, distractedly. He was thinking about what Orman had said. It made sense. Once they were all prisoners, Keren would have no reason to let any of them live. But if he and Orman could get away, he could use Orman as a bargaining chip. As he had the thought, he wondered briefly if he would really trade the castle lord for Alyss. He decided that if it came to it, he would.

  "All right," he said abruptly. "We'll do it." He paused, gathering his thoughts, then issued orders rapidly.

  "Get your things together," he told Orman. "We're traveling light, so keep it to the bare essentials. Warm clothes, a good cloak and boots. We'll be sleeping rough, I should think. I'll go to the stables and saddle two horses." Will paused, glanced at the secretary and amended the statement. "Three horses. Xander, can you get Lord Orman to the keep's eastern entrance without attracting too much attention?"

  The eastern entrance was the one that opened onto the courtyard, facing the stables. The little secretary nodded.

  "There's a servants' staircase. We'll use that," he said. Will nodded agreement.

  "Good. Be there in ten minutes. I'll have the horses ready inside the stable and when I see you, I'll bring them across."

  "Then what?" Orman asked.

  "Then we ride like hell for the gate," Will said. The other man's face twisted in a sardonic grin, in spite of his pain.