The Orb And The Spectre (Book 2)

by Martin Ash

  Leth sat in fevered thought. Four days of travel would put his troops within striking distance of the Karai. He itched to be with them, but with so much else to occupy him he knew that was impossible. He would have to be precise in his instructions to Sir Cathbo.

  Leth left his office in the base of First Tower of Dawn and went to his private study. He locked the door and brought forth the blue casket from its compartment.

  "Orbelon, are you here?" he called when he had entered the blue world. For some time there was silence. The absolute silence that had so alarmed Leth when he had first entered this strange place, the silence that made him so utterly aware of himself. His breath roared, his heart pounded, the flow of his blood raged in his ears.

  "Orbelon, are you here?"

  At last a sound that was not his own broke through the cacophony of silence. A familiar dragging, shuffling, thumping, coming from an indiscernible distance. Leth gave a relieved sigh. Moments later the stooped figure of Orbelon hoved into view, forming out of the mist, hauling itself forward with a laboured gait.

  "My apologies. I had to arrange myself," said the ancient god-thing. "Have you learned something more?"

  Leth shook his head. "I seek more answers."

  "Ah. Well, ask away, though I am not sure I can provide you with anything more that will help you at the current time."

  "The Legendary Child. Does this mean anything to you?"

  Orbelon was still for a moment, then his great head shifted ponderously from side to side. "What is this thing?"

  "An obscure tale around which a powerful system of belief has formed among a certain section of my people. I know little other than that it purports to tell of a god spawning a human-ish child who will unleash destruction upon the world."

  "Hmm. I know nothing of it, but then, if it is a tale composed by humans it is unlikely that I would. It may be more or less than it appears. Without knowing more it is impossible to say."

  "Could such a child exist?"

  "Ah, now that is interesting. But I require clarification. Do you mean a child who is literally born of a god, or one expelled from the womb of a human mother?"

  Leth had never considered this. It seemed suddenly that he had been given a clue. "I- I don’t know."

  "Let me think. . . . For a child of Enchantment to exist as a human outside of Enchantment for any appreciable span, it would require human attributes. Before my death I would have said it could not happen. My adversaries, and myself also, could not have impregnated a human being."

  "Why not?"

  "Well, in the first instance the world originally lacked humans." There was a hint of a smile in his voice as he said this. "As Enchantment diminished creatures evolved in the formed world. Humans were among them. But we of Enchantment, no matter our talents, could not survive beyond Enchantment's borders - not with our powers intact. And you of course could not exist within it. That is to say, we could not ordinarily meet. Even had one of us consorted with one of you, no child could have been conceived. But, eons have passed. The world has changed. Those 'gods' who remain in Enchantment are cunning and resourceful. They will have pursued many forms of research. Who knows what they will have come up with? Certainly it’s not inconceivable - ahem! Forgive the pun - it is not inconceivable that such a thing could have been achieved."

  "For what purpose?"

  "If a god could produce spawn which carried something of its essence into the formed world, they would be mighty among men."

  "Do you think it has happened?"

  "How can I say? From your attitude I read a likelihood. Certainly you believe it. But why do you ask about it now?"

  "I am half-persuaded that the Child exists and that it is he that the god of the Karai seeks. In a short while I am due to interview a man who claims to know far more than I about the subject. He is my sworn enemy. Beyond that I am not clear as to where his loyalties lie. I had hoped you might have information by which I could compare his tale and yours and thus measure the veracity of his words."

  "I am sorry I do not. But it would interest me to know what this man tells you."

  "When I have done I will return here and tell you. But let me be clear on something. You and your kind are unable to exist outside of Enchantment, if you wish to retain your powers. How is it then that you survive, and more importantly, how does the woman who travels with the Karai prince survive?"

  "For my part, I am deprived of my powers, and I exist only inasmuch as I am here, within my own world. I am my own world also - a vital point to consider - and am endeavouring to develop, but that is another issue. Orbelon could not survive without the Orb, that is, the blue casket as you perceive it, for the Orb is what he is. As for the woman, I have already told you that she must be a sorcerous projection or fabrication. Even so, her powers will wane the further she travels outside Enchantment and the longer she remains. Your land, Enchantment's Reach, is not as enfeebling to us as the Mondane kingdoms and the further lands. It is imbued with a residual magic of Enchantment and hence allows us a semblance of life. So here is something you may find useful: almost certainly Anzejarl's consort will have with her, close upon her person, a magical artifact of some kind which renews her essence, enabling her to persist without enfeeblement. I think she must carry something else, too, something which gives her control of Anzejarl and allows him to command the Enchantment-creatures he sets against you."

  "You should have told me of this before!"

  "Had you told me of her before, I would have done so."

  Leth swallowed the rebuke. "These artifacts - how would I know them?"

  "Ah, that I can’t say. They might take any form. But they would probably be exotic or fabulous, even alien, to your eyes. The only sure way to know them is to see them used."

  "What of the Orb's Soul? How might that be known?"

  "The Orb's Soul?" Orbelon's voice took on a timbre of distance. "Again, it might be in any form, or have no perceivable form. Bring it to me and I would know it. It would know me."

  "It is a living thing?"

  "Of course. It is my soul."

  "But were I to seek it, how would I find it?"

  "Leth, you cannot find it. I have told you, it is within Enchantment."

  "But if I could send someone?"

  "Who could you send?"

  "I don’t know, but please answer my question."

  "I could teach you how to recognize it, but you would still have to search all of Enchantment unless you were able to persuade my enemies to reveal its whereabouts."

  "Perhaps that’s not so far-fetched."

  "Leth, is there something you have not told me?"

  "No. My imagination plays me like a marionette. I’m keeping nothing from you except fantastic dreams, absurd hopes and desperate aspirations."

  "The stuff of which universes are made."

  "And for that reason I can’t abandon them. But I must go now and prepare myself for my meeting."

  "I wish you success. Before you leave, I have a favour to ask. Would you take the knife that hangs at your belt and cut for me a small section from your trousers? A few threads will suffice."

  Leth had grown used to Orbelon's odd requests. Even so he could not resist commenting as he cut the threads from his trousers, "I am intrigued. Over many months I have brought you a variety of articles: cheese, wood, metal, water, stone. . . . Many times I have wondered what these things are for."

  "There is little I can tell you. I seek to slowly introduce new elements to this world that is the Orb, that is also me. The laws here are precisely and delicately balanced, and I must take care. But over time I find that I am able to introduce tiny but significant changes. Do return and let me know what you discover of the Legendary Child."

  III

  Leth quickly left his study and, on the way to his office, was met by Master Briano, Mawnie's head valet.

  "Sire, the Duchess has asked for you," said Briano in excruciation, wringing his hands and writhing heels against an
kles.

  Leth heaved a sigh. Mawnie's condition had not improved. On those occasions when, looking in upon her, Leth had found her awake, she had been either raving or in ecstatic transport. Doctor Melropius reported infrequent periods of relative lucidity, during which she was generally subdued and melancholic.

  "Is she sensible?" Leth demanded.

  Master Briano lifted his eyes to the fan-vault ceiling, puckering his lips, and nodded. "She has been asking for you repeatedly, Majesty."

  Leth changed his direction and made rapidly for Mawnie's chambers, Master Briano a respectful distance behind, scurrying on tip-toes to keep up.

  Mawnie was seated in a chair beside the window when Leth arrived, a small china cup of green tea held lightly in the fingers of both hands. She wore a simple green robe, her light brown hair loose and somewhat lank about her shoulders. She was pale and thin and there was a haunted look in her eyes.

  "Leth," she gave a flickering smile and put aside her cup.

  "How are you, Mawnie?"

  "There is something I must tell you." Her look was penetrating, hopeful, diffident. Then it was disconsolate. "Oh."

  "What is it, Mawnie?"

  "Where is my sister?"

  "Issul? She has had to go away for a while."

  "Iss. Yes. I felt, I thought, something bad had happened to her. I would like to see her."

  “I’ll send her to you the moment she returns."

  "Not the moment she returns, dear Leth. You will want to take her to your bed and love her first, won't you."

  "Well, I suppose, yes, that’s a likelihood. Immediately after, then."

  "Do you miss her?"

  "Very much."

  Mawnie turned to the window. "How fortunate dear Iss is, having someone who misses her."

  "Mawnie, you said you had something to tell me."

  "Hmm? Oh. Yes. Now, what was it? Yes, Leth, something terrible has happened. To me." She turned, her eyes strained and brimming, and took his hands. "Leth, I do not think I should live any longer."

  "What? Mawnie, that is absurd. Why do you say such a thing?"

  "Because of what happened, Leth, dear Leth. In the woods. In the woods."

  Leth concealed his impatience. He knew of the attack upon Ressa and Mawnie on Sentinel's Peak, the wooded promontory behind the three sisters' family home, Saroon. He knew that Mawnie's twin, Ressa, had died as a result. But neither he nor anyone else save Issul knew of the child that had been born to Ressa after her death. "Mawnie, you are not to blame for what happened in the woods. It was a long time ago. You must put it from your mind."

  "But I have to tell you. I wanted to tell Issul, but she is not here, so I must tell you. You see, it spoke."

  Leth frowned. "Who? What?"

  Mawnie suddenly froze, her eyes wide with fear. "The- the thing. It told me. It told Ressa."

  "What did it tell you, Mawnie?" Leth held her cold hands. She was beginning to shake. Beginning to whimper.

  "Oh, it told us it was going to destroy us all. Destroy us all. It said it had come from Enchantment and that the world would soon know why. Oh Leth, I was so frightened! It killed Ressa. It killed sweet Ressa. It should have been me. Oh, why, why wasn't it me?"

  She was distraught, drained, limp with sorrow, then suddenly rigid, trying to turn away from something only she could see, her body making spasmodic jerks, her mouth wide in a rictus of terror. An anguished, gasping scream was squeezed from the back of her throat. She drew back, then tore her hands free and began to fight.

  Leth held her. She fought against him, but he held her so that she could not move. She bit his neck. He cried out in pain. A nurse came to his assistance and they wrestled Mawnie to the bed as she struggled and howled.

  *

  Doctor Melropius applied a salve to the wound on Leth's neck and the King departed. Mawnie's words had made no sense to him. Her assailant on Sentinel's Peak, whatever it was that had caused Ressa's subsequent death, had never been found, and the incident had faded from most people's minds. Leth could conceive of no reason why it should resurface now, other than that it had plainly left a painful and indelible scar upon Mawnie's memory. Except. . . Mawnie's statement that it claimed to have come from Enchantment made him uneasy. But he put the matter from his mind, the better that he might concentrate upon his meeting with Grey Venger.

  In the middle of the evening, a couple of hours after darkness had descended upon Enchantment's Reach, Lord Fectur announced that Grey Venger was safely within his custody.

  "Did it go smoothly?" asked Leth.

  "Perfectly, Sire. We established that we would await him outside the inn of the Tinted Domes, close upon the edge of Overlip. A password was agreed and passed to him via an intermediary, calling himself Iklar, who is also the man with whom the Queen made contact in the Tavern of the Veiled Light. By this means we were identified by Venger's followers. Venger emerged from a nearby house and gave himself over. The house is now under surveillance."

  "Hardly necessary at this juncture, I would have thought"

  Fectur shrugged.

  "Were you present when Venger gave himself over?"

  "On an issue so important I deemed my attendance as your official representative imperative," replied Fectur coldly.

  Leth wondered at that, wondered whether words had passed between the two. There was no point in asking. Neither Fectur or Grey Venger could be relied upon to give an honest reply.

  "Where is he now?"

  "Under guard in my guest's quarters."

  "But not under restraint."

  "None. Of course, he is confined to his chamber. He has dined - with some relish - and now reclines in comfort, awaiting your summons."

  "Did he drink?"

  "He did. Good Aucos red, in some quantity. He seemed to lack concern for the effect it might have upon his tongue."

  Leth breathed deeply. Venger wanted to talk! "Bring him here, then, Fectur."

  "Here? Do you intend to interrogate him in your private apartments?"

  "It’s a meeting of minds, not an interrogation."

  "But would a more formal environment not be more appropriate?"

  "Informality will be more conducive."

  "But Sire, there are no guards here."

  "Quite."

  "I will substitute your house-servants with my own men."

  "You will not, Fectur. I am dismissing the servants."

  "You cannot intend to seclude yourself here alone with Grey Venger!"

  "That is precisely what I do intend. Venger will do me no harm."

  "No! No! Sire, if you will permit no guards I must insist upon being present myself."

  "Certainly not!"

  "My lord, I have the right to insist. Your welfare is my concern."

  Leth stared him in the eye. Fectur was unflinching. "Fectur, you jeopardize everything!"

  "Your life is in my hands," said Fectur, with weight.

  "Do not overstep yourself. The future of Enchantment's Reach quite possibly rests upon the outcome of this meeting."

  "The Lord High Invigilate is charged with the well-being of the sovereign in order to protect the welfare of the kingdom. To leave you alone with this man would be an indefensible dereliction of my duties."

  Leth fumed silently to himself. "Bring him here."

  IV

  "We were to speak alone, Leth. That was my understanding," declared Grey Venger, turning daggered eyes to Fectur.

  "The Lord High Invigilate insists, against my wishes, that he must be present," Leth replied.

  "I have nothing to say in his presence."

  "Master Venger--" Fectur began.

  Grey Venger, garbed in his customary grey, turned away, his arms folded. "You have broken the terms of our agreement, King Leth. I will say nothing if we are not alone."

  "It is not I, Venger," said Leth.

  "You are King and sovereign."

  "Even so. . . . You are aware of the circumstances that press upon me."

 
Venger addressed Fectur. "You may escort me back."

  "Master Venger, I--"

  "You may escort me back!"

  Fectur stiffened in inexpressible fury, red welts appearing about his temples and jaw.

  Leth looked at him, concealing his satisfaction. "Well, there you have it, Lord Fectur. It has all been for nothing."

  "My lord, this man tried to murder you."

  "Aye. But an understanding has been reached between Grey Venger and myself. Grey Venger has declared his willingness to impart, in the first instance only to me, information that may prove vital to the state. He deems me capable of judging its relevance and validity, and declares his unwillingness for any other person to be present. The circumstances are unusual, but I have agreed to his terms. Later you may be made party to all relevant details of what passes between us. For now, I ask once more that you reconsider your position, bearing in mind that your refusal could represent a threat to our nation."

  Fectur gripped the arms of his seat, his knuckles white, contrasting with his bulging face. Then he stood, almost quivering. He gave a barely perceptible nod, and turned to walk with stiff-backed formality from the chamber.

  Leth basked for a moment. He looked at Venger, hoping to see perhaps a hint of a mutuality of feeling, of shared endeavour, but Venger's eyes were as hard as glass.

  The leader of the True Sept sat before Leth and regarded him coldly. "Does it not strike you as odd, Leth, that I should come here on such a flimsy pretext as that put forward by you, and offer you secrets that have not been revealed in centuries?"

  "I simply assume that you have seen the sense, indeed the necessity, of my argument."

  Venger gave a harsh laugh. "Not so. At least, not as you perceive it. No. Firstly I will say, I am irrelevant. Should you betray me, all that I know has been passed to another. My imprisonment or death will not harm the True Sept. We would in fact become stronger. But there is another reason. The simple fact is: it has begun. The Legendary Child is here, as was foretold. History will now unfold in the manner foreseen by our wise and holy forefathers. Nothing you or anyone else can do will change that now. For my part it’s enough that I observe your face as I reveal the One Truth to you. And I will take great pleasure in hearing you publicly admit that you have been wrong."