After pulling on well-worn shoes, she went to the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming," she said, her voice a sleep-thickened croak. "Gods, give it a rest." The rapping continued.
Angrily, she unlatched the door and jerked it open. "What's so damned—"
Mardis's words died in her mouth as she saw the stranger standing outside her door: a short, pretty woman who looked no older than Mardis herself and who was perhaps even younger, with dark blond hair and eyes of a startling blue. Even more startling than her eyes, though, was the fact that over her tight, mid-thigh-length tunic and knee-high boots, she wore the red robes of a priest of the Faith of the Twin Forces.
"Oh, I'm so glad!" the priest said, tossing away a small stone. Her voice was high-pitched, like that of a little girl. "I was afraid for a moment that no one was home!" She brushed past Mardis and entered the house.
Mardis, almost overcome by surprise and by the heavy scent of the priest's exotic perfume, said, "I—I'm afraid you must have the wrong house, your … um, your …" What was it the Red priests liked to be called? Mardis felt thick-headed and confused.
The blond woman reached the center of the room, where Thardik's circle was still chalked on the floor, and then turned, smiling coyly, to face Mardis. ''I'm a margrave. You may call me 'Your Grace.'"
Mardis didn't move from the doorway. "Well, ah, Your Grace," she said hesitantly, "no one here belongs to your—I mean, no one here is too religious, but we lean toward the Way of Herself, so …" She held the door open wider, silently inviting the priest to leave.
The smaller woman's expression became a pout. "Isn't this the home of Karel, the baker's son? I think his father's name was Delfor, his mother's name is Brell."
Mardis's clothes were sticking to her skin again, but she felt far too self-conscious to allow herself to pull them free. "His mother's name is Brenn," she said. "His father died of illness six months ago."
The priest sighed. "Yes, I know, the poor man. That's why I'm here, you see—I want to offer my condolences to my"—she blushed—"old friend on the loss of his father."
Mardis stared at the flush on the young woman's checks and became even more aware of her own sweat, rumpled clothes, and disarrayed hair … and of how utterly perfect and pretty the priest looked in comparison. "I can't imagine how you know Karel," she said stiffly, "but in any case, six months is a long time to wait before offering condolences."
The pout became exaggerated. "Oh, dear. Please, please—shut the door, and I'll explain."
Mardis opened the door wider still. "I don't even know your name," she said.
The priest's eyes flashed. "I am the Margrave of Narnitalo. As I said, you may call me 'Your Grace.'" She crossed the room to the camel-hair couch and sat down with one bare knee crossed over the other, her robes spread about her like an open tent.
Mardis shut the door. "Very well, Your Grace," she said, crossing her arms. "Explain."
The priest's hands cupped her knee. "I've been cloistered in the temple, instructing the initiates. Why else would I wait so long before visiting? I didn't hear about poor Delfor until after we ordained the new priests two days ago." She rubbed her knee. "Now, please, is Karel home? Surely he's not working on a Luckday, is he? Especially such a hot one!" A sour look crossed her face. "Hot days always make me feel sticky. I hate feeling sticky."
Mardis was becoming increasingly suspicious of this overly pretty, Farlandish-looking woman. "Karel is working on a Luckday," she said. "And I hope you'll forgive me for saying so, but you don't look old enough to be more than an initiate yourself. Your Grace."
The other's eyes flashed again, but then she gave Mardis a dazzling smile. "Not every high priest—that's what I am—is as old as His Scarlet Eminence. Many of us are ordained quite young. Karel would be a priest himself if he hadn't changed his mind."
Mardis felt as though she had been struck with a hammer. "That's—that's nonsense."
The priest tossed her head so that her shining hair all spilled to one side. "It is not," she said haughtily. "How else would a margrave meet and, um, get to know a baker's son? We were initiates together. Karel only stayed a year, though; he left when he was fifteen. I would have thought that a sister, or cousin, or whatever you are, would know all that." She sighed and licked her lips. ''I've really missed him."
Mardis's head was buzzing, and in her dizziness the only thing she could be sure of was that she hated the pretty Red priest. ''I'm not his cousin." she said, hearing her own voice as a disembodied noise. "We're married. We have two children."
The priest stood, her blue eyes wide and gleaming. "Why, that's wonderful," she said, rushing across the room with her scarlet robes billowing. As she embraced Mardis, the robes surrounded them both.
Mardis felt as though she were being suffocated, and then as though the robes were trying to devour her.
"I thought he'd never get over me," the priest said, hugging Mardis tightly. "I'm so glad he found someone!"
Mardis wanted to hit the priest in the mouth, but she couldn't get free of the embrace or the robes. The wild thought occurred to her that none of this was really happening, that she was lying on the couch and dreaming. But then she felt small, soft hands slide down her sweat-slicked arms, and she knew that it wasn't so.
"You're so lucky," the priest whispered, and swirled away in a blur of scarlet. The door opened and closed so quickly that Mardis would not have been aware of it had it not been for the blaze of sunlight that blinded her for an instant, and then was gone.
She stumbled across the room to the couch and sat down heavily. For the first time, she felt that she did not know her husband at all—did not, in fact, even know herself. She wished that the twins were there so that she could touch them and feel their reality.
She rubbed her arms and wrists. Despite the heat, she felt chilled from the touch of the priest's hands on her skin. Could Karel really have known that woman? Could he really have—
Mardis's thoughts froze as her left hand rubbed her right wrist. Then, feeling dead inside, she lifted her right arm.
Her silver bracelet, and her luck, were gone.
•
Mardis ran up and down the dusty street in a panic, searching each alley and doorway, but the blue-eyed Red priest—if that was what she really was—had vanished like smoke. A few neighbors had seen her approaching Mardis's house, but no one had seen her leave.
Finally, breathing hard with fatigue and rage, Mardis headed toward Merchant's Way and the bakery. If Karel really did know the blond woman, maybe he would also know how to find her. Later, he would have some explaining to do, but for now the only thing that mattered was that her luck piece had been stolen.
She entered the bakery through the back entrance, slamming the door against the wall, and found Karel brushing melted butter over hot loaves. He glanced up at the noise, and Mardis saw that he looked as handsome as ever despite the heat. It made her even angrier.
"Mardie!" he exclaimed as she strode toward him. "I thought you'd have to stay home the rest of the—" His expression became one of fear. "Wasn't your ritual successful? Weren't you able to—"
She cut him off. "Yes, I did it. Of course I did." She crossed the kitchen toward the door that led to the bakery's public room. "Is Brenn here?"
Karel resumed buttering the loaves. "There weren't any customers, so I sent her home."
Mardis turned back toward him. "Good. I don't want her to hear this. The way she's been, it could kill her."
Karel dropped the brush into the butter bowl and came to Mardis, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Gods, Mardie, what is it?"
For the first time, she saw that he was getting worry lines around his eyes. Her anger softened slightly; what had happened wasn't his fault. At least, she didn't think it was. "My bracelet's been stolen," she said miserably.
Karel looked stunned. "The one I gave you?"
"The thief pulled it off before I knew what was happening." Mardis struck Karel's chest with both fists. "Da
mn it! I let her do it!"
Karel drew back and rubbed his chest. "Don't take it out on me. Look, if the thief was that close, you must've gotten a good look at her. We'll go down the street to the City Guard post, and chances are they'll know who it is."
Despite herself, Mardis had to blink away tears. She felt as though something inside her were being shredded to pieces. "You don't understand," she said tremulously. "I used the bracelet for investiture. It was the only thing I could think of, the only thing I cared about enough— She stole my luck, Karel!"
Karel closed his eyes. "Rikiki's nuts," he breathed.
Mardis leaned on the bread table and almost let herself slump to the floor. "I don't know what to do," she said.
Karel pulled her upright. "We do the same thing. We go to the City Guard. The thief couldn't have known she was stealing a luck piece, and if we don't tell anyone, she won't find out." He steered her toward the rear door. "Come on. Tell me what she looked like while we walk. It'll keep your memory fresh."
"She was dressed as a Red priest," Mardis said. "She said she knew you."
Karel stopped, looking as though he had seen something that he feared would turn him to stone. "This—this happened on the street?" he asked.
Mardis felt her anger returning. Karel did know the thief. "No. She came into the house before I could think to keep her out."
"Describe her." His voice was a whisper now.
Mardis crossed her arms. "Short. A little pale. Blue eyes, light hair. She claimed to be a margrave, although I've never heard of a margrave stealing bracelets."
Now it was Karel who leaned on the bread table as though he might fall. "I know her," he said. "The Margrave of Narnitalo. She and I were initiates together. I was going to be a Red priest."
"So she told me," Mardis said bitterly. "Apparently thieves aren't necessarily liars, and husbands aren't necessarily what they show their wives."
Karel lowered his head. "I thought of telling you about my Red period a thousand different times, especially in the first year after we met, but … I was afraid that if I did, I'd also have to tell you about Narni. I wasn't sure you would understand."
"You were right. I don't."
He looked up at her, his eyes pleading. "Mardie, I was only fourteen, and she was sixteen. At least, that's what she said. I entered the Temple as a stupid act of rebellion against my parents, and while I was there, I …"
"Made love to a margrave."
"I was fourteen!" Karel shouted. "I didn't have any sense! And when I finally did, I ran away from the Temple and away from her! She tried to force me back, and when that didn't work she spied on me for months to find ways to punish me. She was the most manipulative, cruel little—" He stopped, and then, in a quieter voice, said, "I would have told you all about it a long time ago, but I didn't want you to know that I had ever been such a fool."
Mardis's anger did not weaken, but its focus shifted away from Karel. ''I'll forgive you for the things you did before we met," she said, going to him. "Right now, though, all that matters is that this damned priest—"
"Narni," Karel said.
Mardis clenched her teeth. The thief's nickname was irrelevant. "All that matters," she said furiously, "is that she's got my luck piece—assuming that she's the same priest you knew then."
"No one else fits your description," Karel said, "and no one else would do what she did to you."
"But why did she do it?" Mardis asked. "Just to torment the wife of an old lover?"
Karel shook his head. "That might be enough for her, but I think it's something else." He hesitated. "Ever since the twins were born, I've had a feeling … If I'd had any idea that she'd steal your luck, Mardie, I would have moved us as far from Liavek as I could."
"I wouldn't have gone," Mardis said sharply. "Liavek's my home, and I'll never leave." Then she realized what else he had said. "And what have the twins got to do with this?"
Karel stood up straight. "There's a prophecy in The Book of the Twin Forces. It's a little vague, like all prophecies, but it predicts that a woman whose luck is wild will give birth to twins who will grow up to be of great power. These twins will either strengthen or destroy the Faith—or perhaps Liavek itself. And since they may choose either path, they're thought to embody both 'good' and 'evil,' which will switch from one child to the other until they agree on a balance that pleases them."
Mardis stared at him. "Why didn't you say something before this?"
He looked away. "Because it's only a superstition. Besides, the only way the high priests could have found out about our twins would be if Narni was still spying on me after all this time, and I didn't want to believe that."
Mardis felt panic beginning to well up in her again. "Karel, did you think that if the Red priests did find out about the twins, and about my luck, that they would think it was only a superstition?"
"I just … I don't know," Karel said.
Mardis wanted to hit him again, but restrained herself. "All right, then; we'll worry about that as soon as we can. Right now, I need my luck piece, and since the City Guard isn't likely to believe that a high priest and margrave is a thief, we'll have to regain it ourselves. Any ideas?"
Karel seemed to gaze at something far away. "There might be a way," he said. "She must have known that you'd describe her to me, so—"
The sentence remained unfinished. The door to the public room flew open, and Thardik burst in, dragging a disheveled, glassy-eyed Rashell with him.
"Th-the t-t-t—" Thardik cried, stuttering so badly that he couldn't get his second word out.
Mardis hurried to them and took the burden of her mother's weight from the wizard. "What in the name of—" she began, but stopped as she saw who was missing. "The twins!" she shouted. "Mother, where are the twins?"
Rashell's glazed expression vanished and was replaced by one of terror. "They took them!" she shrieked. "Five men came in and took them!"
Mardis was unable to comprehend what had happened until Karel grasped her arm. When she turned toward him, his face looked as though it had been carved from stone.
"I know who they are—who they must be," he said. Again he seemed to gaze at something far away. "The soldiers of the Faith. The Scarlet Guard." His eyes closed. "The Red priests have our children."
•
Mardis was already in the alley behind the bakery before Karel caught her and dragged her back inside. She felt as though she were on fire, and only one thought seared through her: I have to get them back I have to get them back I have to get them back …
Distantly, then, as though it were a shout from across the city, she heard Karel's voice. "They're all right," he insisted. "Larren and Asriel are all right."
"How do you know?" she managed to ask. A mist fell away from her eyes, and she saw Thardik and Rashell looking at her worriedly.
Karel's grip relaxed slightly. "The Red priests don't want to hurt them, Mardie. If they were certain that the twins posed a danger to the Faith, then …" He turned Mardis so that she faced him. "I know how these people work. If they wanted—" He took a deep breath. "If they wanted our babies dead, we would have found them dead in their cradles. Instead, Narni had the Scarlet Guard kidnap them." His eyes seemed to grow darker. "She had to realize that I'd figure all this out. Either she wants to see what we'll do—or what you'll do, Mardie—or she did it this way simply because she enjoys being cruel."
Mardis bit her lower lip. "In other words, the most powerful people in Liavek have taken our children, and we can't do anything about it."
Karel shook his head. "We should tell the City Guard that the twins are missing … but since we don't have the proof we'd need to accuse Narni or the Scarlet Guard, I'm afraid that if Larren and Asriel are to be returned to us, I'm going to have to arrange it myself." He made a noise of bitter disgust through his nose. "Narni will be expecting me, no doubt."
"W-would someone p-please explain what's happening?" Thardik asked piteously.
Mardis all
owed Karel to put an arm around her shoulders and take her back to the center of the kitchen. Then, together, they told Rashell and Thardik of the prophecy and of the theft of Mardis's bracelet.
"The priest must have stolen my luckpiece to keep me from retaliating magically once I discovered that the twins had been kidnapped," Mardis said, sitting on a stool Karel had brought for her. It was agony to remain still, but she had decided that her husband was right; she would have no chance of getting Larren and Asriel back if she wasn't thinking clearly. "But if that was her only reason, I don't know why she just didn't have me killed."
"She's being cautious because of the prophecy," Karel said. "If you were murdered, the twins might find out later and take revenge. But with a bit of spying, she could discover your birth hours. She'd know the time was close when Thardik purchased the gold dust. Then, once you began your ritual, all she had to do was peek through the bedroom window to see your luck piece. After Thardik left, she took advantage of your fatigue to steal it. That way, she could neutralize you without killing you. "
"So she may think now," Mardis said grimly, "but she'll surely decide to murder both you and me when we try to spoil her plans. After all, Larren and Asriel are just babies; if we don't get them back, they won't even remember us, let alone take revenge for our deaths."
Rashell spoke fiercely. "Those Red thieves have more than you and Karel to deal with, daughter. They have me as well."
Thardik linked his right arm with Rashell's. "I m-may not b-be much of a wizard," he said, "but I am n-no coward. I've become skilled at c-cutting and levitating stone, and I'll raze the R-Red T-Temple and throw the pieces into the sky if that's what it takes."
Mardis rose and hugged them both. "I suspect that the Temple is guarded with counterspells against that sort of thing," she said. "But I do want your help, because the only magic I have now is birth-moment magic."
Liavek 8 Page 9
