Clearing the Web

by Cary J Lenehan

  Strong Spirit soon had Sunmak, or Gift, as a name for his brother. Of the mothers, only Astrid and Verily thought that the two boys were beautiful, but the others wisely refrained from saying anything. Bianca thought that they looked a bit like Christopher’s gargoyle Azrael, but without the wings. They were certainly not as beautiful as her two, not that any of the other babies were as beautiful as her two.

  “If any of them turn out to be mages once they grow up,” Rani said to Theodora, “we know they will all be battle mages at least—all of them have been born in the summer. Perhaps that is to the best for the valley.”

  Christopher

  5th Quattro

  Summer is, for us all, a time for new beginnings. The children are here to delight the village, Theodule and I have properly blessed the fields, and they are bountiful, and the people are working hard to be good stewards of their gifts by trying to improve their skills.

  It is a time of renewal and peace, except of course for those who have to wake at night to feed and care for infants. It seems that Fortunata and Sajãh are well pleased with their foresight and tell me so. They, at least, have alternate nights where they can sleep through the night, at the cost of a little discomfort from swollen breasts.

  I have asked Bilqĩs who, as a child, did some work on making carpets, if she can do some work for me. I want a prayer rug that has all the right symbols woven into it to take with me when we are away. She is starting by making simple prayer rugs for the Muslims. By the time she gets to the more complex task I hope that she has improved a lot.

  Our Princesses are even experimenting with new spells. Rani was very pleased to present Lãdi with a small portable stove that heated of its own accord. She is not used to making spells that are not meant to kill people and is so proud of this one. It is almost the first casting that she has done that is not meant to either cast light or kill something. It seems that she was discouraged from such wasteful pursuits in Haven.

  Christopher

  9th Quattro

  One day, Christopher came running into Rani’s study, brushing past Valeria. “I have done it. I cannot do anything for two more days, but it is worth it.”

  Rani looked up startled. “What can you do? What is worth overdrawing your prayer account that has you so excited?”

  Oh yes, an explanation. I did not tell her what I was doing in the way of new thoughts. “I can tell if there is one of the Master’s diagrams within a thousand paces of where I am. Do you realise what that means?”

  “But we know where several are already, why do we need that spell?”

  He began ticking things off on his fingers as he spoke. “We don’t know if there are others in the same areas. We don’t know where the one is in Darkreach. We don’t know where they are in Freehold. Now, I can find out. We can get rid of the one here, and the ones in Dwarvenholme. We don’t need them anymore.”

  Fatima

  10th Quattro

  All summer long Azrael, the gargoyle, has sat on the eave of the hall. Occasionally, Christopher has fed her something, but mainly she just sits. She was slowly getting a little larger, but like all gargoyles she is very good at just sitting there with her wings furled and her head held in her hands looking out at the world. She has launched herself off, and there is something happening below.

  From her night watch point on the roof she nervously peered over the edge. There is a fight happening below me. Time to wake people with the Talker. This is an emergency. She hurried down the stairs. Rani, Theodora, Basil and Fãtima converged on the spot. Azrael is eating something. Rani pulled her light out of the choli that she had thrown on. Azrael has killed a bird demon…I think.

  “Better get Father Christopher,” Rani said.

  I am glad that I did not have to burst in on them, but they are not very awake. I have Christopher in a robe and an equally sleepy Bianca. She just has a kilt and is strapping knives on as she walks. Christopher is almost jumping up and down with excitement.

  “I told you all that it was a good idea to bring her back.” He turned, “My dear, you can go back to bed. I need to make sure she knows that she did a good thing.” Turning again to the others he said: “You realise that this had to have been sent somehow. Possibly it came through our diagram, possibly the long way down the valley. I would bet on the diagram. We really do need to get rid of it. You can all go back to bed now.”

  He turns to the gargoyle and starts talking to her, telling her what a good girl she is and making a fuss over what she has done. The gargoyle seems to pay very little attention to him. One eye may swivel to him, but she is intent on, before it goes off, eating as much of a creature several times her size as she can. It seems to be going in. It seems that for the rest of my watch I will hear slurping and crunching sounds.

  I heard a heavy thump as she came back up and now there is no sign of the bird demon. She seems more than a little bigger, and her stomach is massively distended. Instead of her normal wrinkled self, she sits there on the wall looking like a ball with a head and wings that could not properly fold up at her sides but that stand out like ears protruding on a round bald head.

  When they went to check in the mine, the door to the pattern had been opened from the inside. I hear that this confirms that this was the way that the demon entered our valley.

  Christopher

  12th Quattro

  Two days later, and I am ready…I hope…to dispel the Master’s symbol in the locked room in the mine before something else is sent. I think my adaptation of a standard miracle will work. I have Rani and Theodora, with the apprentices watching and ready to help if needed, standing by in case there is a backlash from the now free mana. He went to work.

  I am blessed. It is dissipating quietly into a reddish mist that is evaporating slowly through the solid roof. We now have a spell that will eliminate the potentially dangerous mind traps that the Masters use, and with my new miracle, we can find out where others are placed if we are near them.

  It seems that it is likely that the time of relaxation is coming towards an end and we will have to start back to work soon. We may need to call on the aid of the Saints Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar again.

  Chapter XXXVII

  Basil

  18th Quattro

  It is the end of summer and Carausius is back. He says that he has with him the cloth that we ordered and he also brought fine candles, especially ones for the Church that the priests are slowly starting to plan.

  He even has two more pack horses with him. Both of them are laden with iron and bronze, we need both of those, and he has a new Insakharl handler, Candidas, to help him with the animals and to leave him free to help with guarding…and I know him well. The man is even using his own real name.

  The Princesses have decided that any traders coming to the valley will not be charged for their stay at the inn and so Carausius and his men are to be feted and fed at our expense. After all, it is not as if we need the money. We need what they bring. Now to have a chat with Candidas.

  “Greetings, Tribune,” said Candidas.

  Basil looked around quickly. Is there someone else here I have not noticed?

  “That was for you,” said Candidas, with a grin. “Whatever you are up to here, you must have written a good report about it. I am to tell you that you have been promoted and not just a little way. You have gone straight to being a senior officer. I have a despatch for you, and, when I am here or in your area, I am under your orders. If you want, I am even instructed to stay.”

  “Greetings, Candidas. Wait until I tell my wife. Of course, I will have to explain what a Tribune is, but she might, just might, be impressed eventually. I will read the despatch and get back to you before you go. Now, go and enjoy the food and drink. We do both very well here. Oh, and that is an order.” They both smiled. Candidas looked around for spectators and, seeing none, removed a large
sealed note from his pouch and handed it over.

  On getting back to their house, Basil sat down to read. The note is from Strategos Panterius…it commends me on keeping my charge…she is not named…safe and on finding Dwarvenholme. It repeats the news of my promotion and confirms that I am to stay in place…just as well.

  My speculation was correct. This is going to be a lifetime job. Is it possible to communicate any other way? Not that I know of…and this bit the Princesses need to know: following instructions from higher up (Hrothnog is not named), if we choose to visit, we will all be free to leave again without hindrance.

  Basil sat and thought before writing a reply. He went back out, told Candidas that all was well and handed him the return note. “Mind you, I could be in Ardlark before you if you travel slowly.”

  “As for orders, I think that it would be good if you can stay on this run and keep your ears open. I especially want to know if anyone…anywhere…is interested in finding out more about Mousehole, or about any of the people here. If they are, keep yourself safe, but try and find out what you can about them. Promise them information, but ask me what to tell them. If anyone tries to get work with Carausius, get the Strategos to look into them. I am still not sure exactly why, but what happens here seems to be very important, and not just locally.”

  Again, Carausius and his men leave us. This time he has more potions, more gems, the first of our antimony and even some of the gasparin spice, several small bags of it in different strengths. He says he will get a very good price for that as well.

  Shilpa and Ruth have warned him that he will need to bring more general things, things that we cannot produce such as more metal, good cloth, different spices, lots of salt and all of the general things that a village needs to function. Even paper is in short supply. Carausius will not make as much on his trips now as he did on his first, but he will still have a good profit with a guaranteed customer and advance orders to fill.

  Chapter XXXVIII

  29th Sixtus,

  the Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist

  Eventually, summer ended in autumn, and many of the trees began to turn gold. Even though many of the trees in the surrounding forests were gums, on the upper slopes the beech led the way in changing colour in a spectacular fashion. The people of the valley made their harvests, and began to prepare for the winter, with fodder and hay brought in and with large supplies of timber for the fires stacked ready behind the village wall.

  There was still one major event on the calendar of the village that all of them were eagerly looking forward to. Only after it is over will Thord return to the Dwarves. Rani was thinking that it is time for them to start making some of the visits that they have been putting off.

  The twenty-ninth of Sixtus, the feast of John the Baptist, was the anniversary of their attack on the village. As it grew closer, Ruth reminded the children of what had happened. The children’s daily play even turned more to combat, rather than the simpler and more childish games. One would stalk another as she walked from one part of the village to another, hiding in the shadows and pretending to be Ayesha attacking the guards. Another would be asleep in bed and a sister would jump on them.

  The children still had nightmares sometimes, but it seemed that, through their play and acting out the events of the night of their freedom, they were starting to put some of what had happened behind them.

  The feast itself was spectacular. They had been preparing for some time for it. All of the new things that they were making were on display, new foods were shown off, new drinks were drunk, and the apprentice mages showed off some of their spells to everyone. Everyone put on their best displays of entertainment, dances were danced, and they all enjoyed themselves.

  Astrid, to her chagrin, got completely drunk that evening. She had not had a single drink for six months, and what she had at the feast left her very unsteady indeed. She suffered badly for her enjoyment the next day, when she had to get up early to farewell Thord. She was glad to be able to go back to bed, being woken only to feed her children.

  She was not the only one. Thord had also gotten drunk, and had the thought that leaving his departure until the next day might be a better idea as well, but he put the thought aside as he knew that he had to move on. The whole village realised that the time of rest was starting to end. When he left to ride up into the mountains, he had a letter from the Princesses telling the Mayor that the Mice would be making a call on him soon.

  Chapter XXXIX

  Theodora

  33rd Quinque

  “I suppose that we should be off to Dwarvenholme,” Rani said one night as they were preparing for bed.

  “No, we have another visit to make first. Almost a year ago, we went to see the Metropolitan and he gave us Father Theodule, and he also promised to try and succeed at our task if we failed. We have not been back to see him to thank him, and he must be starting to think that we did indeed fail.”

  “If we go there first, we can talk to him and use the visit as an excuse to see if one of the Master’s diagrams is nearby. Not only should we go there, but we should let Father Christopher and Bianca visit all of the outlying hamlets. They can see if there are any men around who might wish to come here.”

  “While they do this, they can also seek information about any bandit activity and perhaps deal with the killers of Maria’s family. These things will act as cover for the Father to set up his search at each stop. Once we have done this, then we will know that there is at least one area, apart from here, that is safe.”

  My husband was easy to convince, now to work out who should go. The carpet will hold six normal adults in comfort, Bianca is small and her children light, and can travel wrapped up in the warm cloak. This trip will only have Orthodox in it. We can take Danelis and Tabitha to start looking for husbands for them and the other women, so with five on board it will give us some leeway if it is needed.

  Next day, when they announced this, Hulagu disrupted all of the plans. “Good,” he said, “I need to visit the tribes, but I do not want to be too long away. I could not go until the babies were born, but my family must know that I am alive, before they declare me dead and mourn. I also must start the hunt for husbands for my köle.”

  He stops. It is obvious that he wants to say something…looking from me to my love. “How would you feel if I announced the location of Mousehole to the tents? If I do that and say that there are women who seek a partner here, and say why, we can see if anyone comes this way for them.”

  The mages looked at each other. Why do that? “Why can’t we just take Anahita and Kãhina out to the tribes and leave them there?” asked Rani.

  “Because my köle are wealthy,” replied Hulagu emphatically. “Part of the herds of the valley and among the animals that we are gaining should be theirs as dowry instead of just jewellery. If a man is not willing to travel here to their home to try for their hand, then they are not worth much as a husband, and I will not accept them.”

  That actually makes sense, for all the women actually. He isn’t finished, is he? “How would you feel if, when my köle marry, and if their husbands agree, that we will take over running the herds in the upper valley? Mousehole lacks the people to do this properly now, and all that grass is really wasted. This way, they can stay with their children, and the back path is guarded as well. We can grow the herds and make it a rich area instead of just empty grass.”

  I guess that we need to add Hulagu to the trip, and include a visit to the tribes before we go to Greensin. We will take that other matter under advisement. At least Hulagu is content with that. He has to find husbands first. Getting them to stay in Mousehole afterwards will have to wait until it is seen if they are suitable anyway.

  Father Christopher raised the next issue: “If we are visiting the tribes, we will be travelling over Evilhalt. It is a key centre for travel. After all, where was the place wher
e we all just seemed to end up? I think we need to look there first, before we go on. It will take two weeks to look at all of its hamlets, assuming that we find nothing…then we go to the tribes.”

  “Bianca tells me that Hulagu just wants to find his own tuman and will spread the word through them. That will only be a couple of days, then on to Greensin. We will still be at Dwarvenholme before winter. After all, there is no hurry. We have received nothing yet in the way of a sign to tell us that it is time to come out and be more active. All we do now is tidy up our own area—and the places that we have been active in.”

  I guess that I have to agree, but each time someone speaks, I can see my time away from my beauty and Fear getting longer and longer. I am not pleased. The problem is that each person who has come to me has come up with a good idea for the trip, and I cannot deny them.

  Theodora

  34th Quinque

  We set out armed as if for war. Even Danelis and Tabitha are armed, although seeing that Astrid has been teaching Tabitha, we have to be careful with her spear lying along the length of the carpet and the point poking out the front. Only Bianca seemed almost unarmed, she is dressed for the plains, but she has her knives, and two shortswords.

  We have gold with us, some for Father Christopher to give to the Church, and another bag to change into other coins of silver, bronze and tin so that we can start collecting some smaller coins. We have so much gold and gems, but so little in the way of smaller coins to use with passing trade. It is a reversal of normal life that we seem to have more mithril coins in the coffers of Mousehole than we have copper. Being unable to give change is one of the things that made us decide not to charge Carausius and his men for their stay.

  Christopher

  Stefan looks nervous. “I didn’t know how to do t’is, seein’ t’at my parents wanted me to leave, but I’ve decided. Can you please speak to my parents for me? Let’em know t’at I am happy an’well an’ll be staying here.” He smiled slightly: “An’ t’at I’m working with leather more t’an fighting.”