Mystic and Rider

by Sharon Shinn

  She excused herself from the activities planned for after the meal—cards and music, it seemed, entertainments that everyone else appeared to be looking forward to—noting that she was tired from the long journey.

  “Come see me tomorrow,” the king said as she prepared to leave the dining room. “At two hours past noon. We have things to discuss, you and I.”

  She could not help but return his smile. “Yours to command, sire,” she said, giving him the best curtsey she could manage.

  His voice was full of satisfaction. “Every Brassenthwaite is.”

  IN the morning, Senneth was awake early and quickly dressed in a set of her travel clothes. They had been cleaned and pressed by the palace servants, so they did not look quite as disreputable as they had for the past few weeks. She asked the footman at the door—and then two or three different gardeners and groundskeepers as she passed—where Queen Valri’s private gardens might be found. The compound comprised several hundred acres; it was easy for anyone to get lost.

  Eventually she located the queen’s own property, which looked to be maybe thirty square yards enclosed by a high brick wall. Tendrils of last year’s ivy trailed over the brick from the other side; a few thin branches from ornamental trees poked their heads up over the wall. Senneth circled the enclosure till she found the scrollwork metal grate set in the north side, but she did not have the key to open the lock.

  She pushed her face through the bars and peered in. A tangle of shrubs and vines and exotic bushes met her eyes. In summer, this place must be thickly overgrown with plant life. Now everything was brown and dusty-looking, patiently awaiting the advent of spring.

  “Cammon?” she called. “Are you in here?”

  A rustle of dry branches and Cammon appeared, bounding over to her like a happy puppy. “Senneth! You’re awake early.”

  “Not as early as you,” she replied, amused. “How’s our wild friend?”

  “Wild,” he admitted. “Calmer today than he was yesterday when they first set him free. But he keeps pacing and then every once in a while he gives that howl—you know the one I mean—”

  She nodded. “Good thing the garden is so far from the palace.”

  He laughed. “That’s what I thought.”

  “How’d you get in?” she asked. “The gate’s locked.”

  He pulled something from his pocket. “The queen gave me a key.”

  Senneth’s eyebrows rose. “She did, did she? She must have taken quite a liking to you.”

  Cammon grinned and unlocked the gate. Senneth slipped inside quickly, and he locked it again behind her. “She took a liking to the raelynx, and she could tell I cared for it. That made me her ally.”

  Senneth glanced around, looking for the raelynx. For a moment, she couldn’t spot it, which made the back of her neck prickle. There was no way it had managed to overlook her arrival, and she did not like the idea that it was lying in wait, close enough to spring on her. But then she spotted the wave of russet through the densely overgrown bushes, and she saw it sitting about ten feet away, watching her, its tail twitching ominously back and forth.

  “Has he been fed since we arrived?” she asked.

  Cammon nodded. “A few squirrels had made their homes in the garden. They’re gone now.” He shrugged, showing little sympathy for the short lives and violent deaths of those unfortunate creatures. “And the queen had raw meat sent in this morning. Venison, I think.”

  “So she really came here yesterday afternoon? To see it?”

  Cammon nodded.

  “What did she say?”

  Cammon spread his hands. “She asked how we’d found it, and how old we thought it was, and how you managed to use it to scare off the Daughters of the Pale Mother. The whole time she was talking to me, though, she was watching the raelynx, and it was pacing around the garden, and pouncing on game and acting very edgy. I was a little worried that her presence would stir him up so much that he’d attack her, but I had a pretty close grip on his mind.”

  Senneth turned to look at him. Cammon was never particularly good at hiding his emotions, and she could tell that something had happened yesterday to trouble or excite him. “And then?” she asked.

  “And then she—Senneth, it’s hard to explain. It was a lot like when you would transfer control of him to me, or I’d give him back to you, except I didn’t know she was going to do it. She just—she took him from me. All of a sudden, he wasn’t in my head anymore, and I could see by the expression on her face that she was the one holding him. And the raelynx didn’t like it at first. He let out one of those terrifying screams, and he started pacing even more tightly. You know how he gets, with his ears down and his tail going. But she just stood there, so quiet, not moving at all. It was like she wasn’t even breathing. And then the raelynx started to calm down—stopped pacing, sat back on his hind legs and just watched us for a while.

  “And then,” said Cammon, his voice trembling a little, “it stood up again and came over to us. Like a dog or a housecat. But it was snarling a little—you could see its teeth. I backed up to the wall, but the queen just stood there—had her hand out, as if she would stop it. And it sat back down. And then it lay on the ground and stretched out, right at her feet. It was close enough to lick her shoes. I swear, for a moment I thought she was going to reach down and touch it on the head, but she didn’t. She just stood there a long time looking down at it while it looked up at her. And then suddenly she spun around and left the garden. And the raelynx jumped up and acted like he wanted to attack me,” Cammon concluded, with some grievance in his voice, “but I had hold of its mind again before it could come any closer.”

  Senneth’s emotions were an unworthy mix of admiration, speculation, and jealousy. She turned her attention back to the raelynx, who was on his feet and prowling through the undergrowth, sending occasional calculating glances back their way. “That’s very impressive,” she said in a neutral voice. “And while she was proving her mastery over the raelynx, did you scent any magic on her? Sense any kind of sorcery at all?”

  He spread his hands. “The same as yesterday. I think there’s power there, but not any that I understand. Not the same kind of magic as ours.”

  “Would you trust her?” she asked softly. “Because you have an especially good instinct for knowing when someone is a friend and when someone is an enemy.”

  He looked at her, though she kept her eyes on the raelynx. “Senneth, I can’t tell.”

  She nodded and didn’t answer. She had brought all her energy to bear on the raelynx, the wild creature she had forced to accompany her over hundreds of miles of dangerous terrain, giving it a hasty mental promise to take it home and set it free whenever the time would prove convenient. It was no happier here in this pretty prison than it had been pacing alongside them as they rode to Gisseltess. She could feel its uncertain temper, its watchfulness, its never-stilled hunger. She closed her mind upon its own.

  It responded with a cry of protest and leapt forward by a dozen paces, its tail lashing furiously back and forth. Its tufted ears lay almost flat against the red fur of its head, and its eyes were hot with fury. Senneth cleared her mind, made her thoughts limpid and cool, and invited the raelynx closer. It hissed and snarled and sat back on its haunches. Senneth extended one hand.

  “What are you doing?” Cammon asked somewhat fearfully, but she ignored him. She opened her mind even more, made it a space of freedom and joyous motion, and bade the raelynx enter. He resisted for a moment, then came with a sudden, menacing fluidity to his feet. Putting one paw daintily, almost hesitantly, before the other, he came closer and closer to where Senneth and Cammon stood at the gate.

  When the raelynx was only a few feet away, Senneth sank to the ground, her hand still outstretched. The raelynx stepped forward a few inches at a time till he was close enough to devour Senneth’s fingers with one quick bite. Delicately, he pushed his red face forward and sniffed at her hand. She could feel the tickle of his whiskers across he
r skin.

  Then he opened his mouth and brushed his tongue across her palm. She felt as if she had just been kissed by a mouthful of knives; her eyes watered with the momentary pain. She kept her arm extended, but he did not lick her again. Instead, he settled his full length on the ground before her and began to rumble with a deep purr of satisfaction.

  Senneth turned her head slowly to glance up at Cammon. He was staring down at her with an expression that showed equal portions of delight and terror. She could not help herself. She laughed out loud.

  CHAPTER 36

  ONCE they had left the garden and locked it behind them, Senneth and Cammon headed off toward the gates that separated the palace grounds from the city.

  “I want you to meet someone,” she said. “I think you’ll like him.”

  The day was cool but sunny, and Ghosenhall, as always, was a treat for all the senses. They stopped three times to buy food being sold by street vendors: dried fruit, warm bread, fried sausages. They admired the uniform arrangement of shops in the merchant streets, the well-tended parks, the handsome statues that guarded occasional corners.

  “I like this city,” Cammon decided.

  “Yes,” said Senneth, “it’s the jewel of Gillengaria. There are parts of it that are not so savory—Justin could tell you about those—but most of it is a treat and a treasure.”

  They had walked more than an hour from the palace wall by the time they arrived at their destination, a stately three-story house in a residential district that featured similar well-constructed buildings on every street. They had only taken two steps up the flagged walk when the front door opened, and a tall, thin, totally bald man came dashing down to meet them.

  “Senneth!” he exclaimed. “I had heard you were back in Ghosenhall, but I was not sure you would have time to come by and see us!” He took her in a hard embrace, pulled back to look at her, and then hugged her again. When he finally released her, his face was full of admiration. “You’ve grown even stronger,” he said. “I can sense it. It’s like you have fire in your veins, not blood.”

  She smiled at him. He was maybe ten years older than she was, though his face looked even younger than hers, and his eyes were a pale gray that gave him a strange, otherworldly air. “Jerril, I want you to meet Cammon,” she said. “We picked him up in Dormas and found him to possess most extraordinary skills. He saved our lives more than once while we were on the road.”

  Jerril turned instantly to Cammon and laid his bony hands on the young man’s shoulders. Cammon looked up at him with an expression both wary and hopeful. Senneth thought that nature had made Cammon a happy boy who embraced all new adventures, but experience had taught him how bitter those adventures could be. She could not tell exactly what Jerril was communicating by touch, but Cammon’s face grew more radiant, bright with wonder, the longer Jerril stood there looking down at him.

  “So!” Jerril said at last, dropping his hands back to his sides. “A sensitive—and a very strong one at that. I can see why this one would have been quite an asset to you as you traveled in hostile territory.”

  “Are there any hostile territories in Gillengaria?” Senneth asked innocently, and Jerril rewarded her with a laugh.

  “Forgive me for expressing aloud what I have deduced from reading people’s emotions,” Jerril said. “What is the phrase the melodramatic persons use? These are parlous times.”

  “Or they will be soon,” Senneth said. “I think we have a period of grace before true trouble begins.”

  “Then you have time to come in for tea?” Jerril asked, still laughing. “Perhaps a little luncheon? Lynnette and Areel will be most excited to see you.”

  “I have to start back to the palace very soon, for I have a conference scheduled with the king,” Senneth said. “But I thought you might entertain Cammon for a while. Show him the treasures of your house. Explain to him—” She shrugged. “What you might be able to teach him.”

  “Then Cammon is come to us as a student?” Jerril asked, sounding most pleased.

  “That’s up to Cammon—and you, of course,” Senneth said. “He needs training, and I would rather trust him to you and Lynnette than to anyone else I know. But I’m not sure he’s ready to leave his friends up at the palace. Two Riders and a raelynx. A most unusual set of companions.”

  “A raelynx?” Jerril repeated. “That must be an interesting story.”

  “Justin said I could stay with them,” Cammon said, but he sounded uncertain. “They’d find a place for me. Tayse said so, too.”

  “Well, you must naturally stay where you feel most comfortable,” Jerril said. “But we’d be happy to take you in here. We only have two other students at the moment, and the house feels almost empty. And we don’t live so far from the palace grounds, as you must have noticed if you walked here this morning. You could study with us and see your friends quite often.”

  Cammon glanced up at Senneth. “What should I do?” he said, rushing his words. “I want to do both.”

  She laughed and gave him a quick hug. “Why don’t you spend the afternoon with Jerril and his friends?” she suggested. “And maybe spend a few more days here next week before you make up your mind. You know I would not leave you anywhere that was not safe—you know you can trust my friends, and be happy here.”

  “Oh, I know,” he said. “I can tell that already.”

  “Then spend the day here,” she said, “and come talk to me tonight. You don’t have to decide anything yet.”

  “All right, I will,” he said, sounding quite cheerful. “I hope you have a most interesting conference with the king.”

  She laughed, a bit ruefully this time. “I’m sure I will.”

  QUEEN Valri was with Baryn when Milo ushered Senneth into a small, comfortable room that clearly functioned as the king’s private study. The dark blue furnishings seemed well-worn; the desk was cluttered. The window gave out over a lovely view of garden and lawn, but it was clear the king rarely had time to gaze out when he was in here working.

  When Senneth stepped inside, the queen was standing beside the king’s desk. He sat in his plush chair, looking up at her over his wire-rimmed glasses. Both of them appeared quite serious.

  Senneth instinctively edged back toward the door. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ll return later.”

  But King Baryn smiled at her. “Nonsense! I’ve been expecting you. Besides, Valri is here to discuss a matter that might be of some concern to you.”

  Valri had also turned her head to look at Senneth but, unlike the king, she was not smiling. “I am petitioning my husband for permission to keep the raelynx.”

  That brought Senneth all the way into the room. “Keep him? But—here at the palace? In that garden? I don’t—I know you think you can contain him there, but he—I’m not sure that would be such a good place for him.”

  Valri nodded, as if she did not find this speech either disjointed or disrespectful. “Deep in the palace grounds we have a small stand of woods. Full of enough game that sometimes my husband and his friends go hunting there. I would have this fenced in and guarded, and I would keep the raelynx there. It would not be true freedom for a creature such as he, but it would be better than the garden.” She drew a deep breath. “And then, when I have the time, I will take the raelynx to the Lirrens and release him into the wild.”

  “You could go now, or later this year,” the king murmured. “You do not have to wait.”

  The queen looked down at him with some unreadable message in her green eyes. “No. I would not leave you.”

  Something peculiar going on here. Senneth wished Cammon were beside her to decipher the undertones of the conversation—though Cammon had already said the queen was impervious to his magic. Well, she might be for now. But once Cammon had trained with Jerril and Lynnette for a few months, he might learn a thing or two about how to scan even the most protected mind. Then Senneth would be curious to see just what Cammon might learn about the queen.

  The kin
g raised his hand in a gesture that might have been affection and might have been resignation. “Very well. You may keep the raelynx.” He glanced back at Senneth. “Unless Senneth has some objection.”

  “It is not for me to object, sire,” Senneth said quickly. “I am happy to turn over his care to someone else.”

  The queen watched her a few moments with those fabulous eyes. Her expression had softened, but she did not look particularly happy or even grateful. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “I will care for it most attentively.” And with that, she nodded to her husband and left the room, closing the door behind her.

  The king offered Senneth a whimsical smile. “I suppose you think me a most indulgent husband,” he said.

  “That’s not what I was thinking,” Senneth said.

  He laughed and waved her to the chair across the desk. She sat. “You are thinking, ‘What was that fool about, to marry a woman young enough to be his granddaughter?’ There are many who think that, though very few of them dare to say it to my face.”

  Senneth was grinning now. “Actually, I never wonder why an old man marries a young woman. I do admit to curiosity about what would make a young woman marry an old man.”

  “But I am the king!” he said. “I commanded her! What could she do but obey?”

  He seemed to be joking, but Senneth wondered if perhaps he was telling the truth. “She seems most devoted to you,” was all she could think to say.