A glowing blue boggin leapt onto the arm of Tasha’s chair. She recoiled with a shriek, drawing glares of disapproval from all within earshot.
“Sorry.”
The boggin turned to Katka. “Apprentice Katka, Archmage Delilah needs you. Please come to Kale’s shop immediately.”
“Gotta run, Crow Queen. I’ll ask Deli… Archmage Delilah what we can do to help with your chaos rift while I’m there.”
Those can’t be the same draks I met in Drak-Anor, can they? Probably coincidence. Surely they aren’t the only draks named Kale and Delilah. “I appreciate it.” Tasha dove into the book as Katka responded to the archmage’s summons, hopeful the answer to Koloman’s troubles lay within.
Chapter 47
Aveline awoke with a start to someone pounding on her door. Rubbing her eyes, she pushed herself out of the chair in which she’d fallen asleep. After checking to make sure she was wearing more than just her smallclothes, she pulled the door open.
Tasha held a sheaf of papers. “I think I have it.”
Yawning, Aveline beckoned her forward. “It’s late. Why didn’t you just appear inside?”
“That’d be rude.”
Snorting, Aveline cleared the table. She stoked the fire to a full burn, then lit more candles. “Hey, do you know a Watchman named Torben?”
“Torben? I wouldn’t say I know him. Why?”
Aveline gestured toward the package on top of the dresser. “He gave me something to give to you. He seems to be sweet on you.”
Tasha eyed the parcel. “He is? What is it?”
Aveline brought the carving to Tasha. “Go ahead and open it.”
The Crow Queen unwrapped the package, gasping as she admired the carving’s workmanship. “It’s beautiful. Where did he get it?”
Aveline retrieved two goblets from a cupboard to pour some mead. “He said he made it. He carved it from a piece of wood that broke off your shop during the flood.” She slid one of the goblets toward Tasha. “Supposedly.”
“It’s amazingly detailed.” She turned the wooden bird in her hands, examining its precision. “Oh Aveline, I don’t have time for this sort of thing anymore. I’m the Crow Queen.”
Aveline sat opposite Tasha, then sipped her mead. “That’s a cart of cow plop, and you know it. The only reason the mantle came to you is because the previous Crow Queen had no children to pass it to. You’re supposed to serve Cybele, goddess of fertility, among others. You think she wants you to take a vow of celibacy?”
“And you think this Torben is my perfect mate?” Tasha scoffed, running her fingers along the edge of the carving.
“I didn’t say that. I just don’t think you should give up things you want because you’re the Crow Queen now. So, obviously, you made it to Muncifer and back.”
“I did.” Tasha shuffled through the stack of parchment she brought with her. “I spent so much time reading and taking notes in the library I didn’t have time to buy you mead, though, sorry.”
Aveline dismissed Tasha’s concern with a wave of her hand. “I’m not out. I appreciate the thought, though.”
Cracking in the hearth, a popping log spat sparks across the floor. Aveline kicked an ember into the fire.
“So, I read up on the basic techniques of oneiromancy, took some notes, then read about how to get someone to take control of their dreams.” Tasha pointed to one of the pages of her notes. “They can then basically fight whatever is terrorizing them to banish it from their mind.”
“Are you going to do it tonight?” Aveline didn’t fancy heading over to Koloman’s house at this late hour.
“No, I want you to go with me tomorrow. I’ll bring the hut to his house, since I’ll need the basin. You can bring him inside, we’ll get him to sleep, and I’ll deal with it then.” Tasha picked up the goblet, draining it.
“More?” Aveline poured while Tasha held the drinking vessel.
“I didn’t get to talk to the archmage about the chaos rift, but I spoke to her apprentice. She said they’ll send someone out as soon as they can to help.” Tasha held up another piece of paper. “She wrote down the ritual for me in case the situation becomes dire, but they said if we can wait, it’s easier with more than one person doing it. And safer.”
Aveline deferred to Tasha’s judgment where the chaos rift was concerned. “Whatever you say. As long as the draks don’t go poking around down there, it should stay buried for years, right?”
“You’d think.” Tasha folded the papers, then stuffed them in her pouch. “It is a chaos rift, though. I’m not sure what to expect. I’ll go out there in a couple of days to make sure nothing unusual is going on.”
Upon finishing her second goblet of mead, she picked up the carving. “I’ll let you get back to sleep. Meet me at Koloman’s in the morning?”
Aveline clicked her fingers to gain Tasha’s attention before she teleported to the hut. “Oh, one more thing. Ra-Jareez is looking for you. I told him where you’d be tomorrow, at least, before you decided to move the hut again.”
“Thanks, I’ll send a message to him when I get back to the hut. Have him come to Koloman’s estate in the afternoon to see me. Do you know what he wants?”
Aveline stoppered the bottle of mead. “He and his sister want to know what you’re going to do with the old shop. They think they could fix it up and live there, turn it into a shop for whatever it is they think they’re going to sell.”
“Hm. I haven’t given it any thought.” Tasha hugged Aveline. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
With a snap of her cloak, Tasha vanished. Aveline snuffed the candles she’d lit, stripped out of her wrinkled clothes, and crawled into bed.
* * *
After breaking her fast at dawn, Tasha conjured a messenger to send to Ra-Jareez. “I would be more than happy to talk to you about my old shop. I will come and see you once I have finished with the Lord Mayor.” The glowing, emerald bird fluttered through the window in search of the faelix.
Tasha then assumed her position above the basin, moving the hut to the Lord Mayor’s compound. Clusters of houses surrounding the perimeter of the estate made finding a location in which to stop difficult, so she directed the hut to hop over the wall. Delighted by the hut’s agility, Tasha settled it in the courtyard.
Moving to the window, she watched for Aveline. The watch captain came up the lane, followed by a small line of townsfolk. Discouraging them from loitering as she entered Koloman’s estate, the knight-captain shut the gate behind her and shouted for Alik to bring his gate key.
Tasha descended from her hut. “Our Lord Mayor is terribly ill, good people. Please, let me…”
“Good!”
“Aita take him, he’s a thief.”
“Maris take him first, with her bloody spear. Over and over and over!”
Aveline raked her shield against the bars of the gate. The crowd receded, quieting. “Enough of that. We’re duty-bound to try to help him”—she eyed Tasha—“regardless of our personal feelings.”.
Tasha turned to her friend. “Are you going to get him, or shall I?”
Alik sped down the path from the house, jangling keys in his hand. The crowd shouted insults at him as he locked the gate. “Can’t you do something about this rabble?”
“It seems Koloman’s popularity is waning.” Aveline gestured for the Crow Queen to follow her. “We’ll get him together, Tasha.”
“Excuse me, I demand to know what you’re doing here, Lady Aveline.” Alik seized the knight-captain’s arm. “The Lord Mayor is not taking visitors at this time.”
Tasha stepped between them, noticing Aveline clenching her fist. “I am here to put a stop to his nightmares, as he requested. I need Lady Aveline’s help, Alik. If you object to our presence, you can bring him out and into my hut. Otherwise, stay out of our way.”
Alik glanced at the hut, taking a step backward. “How did you get that in here?”
“I am the Crow Queen.” Turning her back on him, she dismissed A
lik’s demands for answers. Inspired by the warming mantle, she proceeded into Koloman’s house.
“I think Alik was born grouchy.” Aveline chuckled, following her.
“If you had to work for Koloman, wouldn’t you be angry all the time?” Tasha paused at the door to the study; the last place she’d seen Koloman. It stood to reason if he suffered from sleep deprivation and refused to see anyone, he’d sequester himself in the room in which he felt safest.
“If I had to work for him, I’d probably kill myself. If I didn’t kill him first.” Aveline gripped the door handle. “Let me go first.”
Tasha stepped aside, allowing Aveline to open the door. The knight-captain unfastened the latch. Readying her mace and shield, she pushed the door open with her foot. The acrid tang of stale urine assaulted them as they entered the room. Cloaked in darkness, the only light in Koloman’s study came from glowing embers in the hearth.
“Damn you, Alik, I told you I was not to be disturbed.” Tasha barely understood Koloman’s slurred words.
“It’s Tasha and Aveline. I can fix your dreams, make the nightmares stop.”
He peeked around the side of the chair in which he slumped. Light from the hallway illuminated his face, revealing dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. His hair, tangled and matted, appeared as though it had not been washed in ages.
“The dark man says you’ll kill me. Boil my bones into stew.” Growling, he fell out of his chair, then pointed at Tasha. “Arrest her, Captain. She’ll kill us all!”
Aveline glanced at Tasha. Even in the dim light of Koloman’s study, Tasha noticed her friend biting her cheek to stifle her first, impulsive retort.
“I’ll take you somewhere where you’ll be safe from her.” Aveline secured her mace before lifting him under the arm. “Oof, you stink. Come on, then. I’ll take you to my magical room where you can sleep, then we’ll go to the baths.”
He tried to push Aveline away. “Unhand me, woman. I’ll not…” He stumbled, catching himself on the knight-captain’s arm. “I… he… coming…”
Koloman blubbered as Aveline pulled him out of the room. Tasha closed the door behind her before racing ahead to intercept Alik. Putting her hands on his chest, she kept him from interfering while Aveline dragged the Lord Mayor out of his house.
“Draw a hot bath for him, then start cleaning that study, Alik.”
“I demand to know where—”
“The hut isn’t going anywhere. We’re going to stop his nightmares. You’d do well to keep things quiet out here.” Feeling the cloak growing warm around her, Tasha left Alik sputtering on the path. Upon confirming Alik had not followed her, she shut the door.
Tossing and turning on the Crow Queen’s bed where Lady Aveline laid him, Koloman muttered. Tasha’s blankets lay in a pile by the footboard.
“You may want to burn the bed when we’re finished.” She examined her mail where Koloman touched her. “I think he corroded my armor.”
Tasha ignored the jibe, concentrating on utilizing the basin to enter Koloman’s mind. “Pull the curtains, then shut the door and snuff the candles, would you please, Aveline?”
As Aveline did so, Koloman’s restlessness diminished. Soon, he lay still. Tasha focused on viewing the moments between waking and sleeping, as the tome instructed. According to the text, entering dreams was easiest if one connected to the subject’s mind prior to them entering a deep sleep.
Unlike Aveline’s, Koloman’s sleeping mind lay wide open to Tasha. Moving into it felt like slipping into a pool of black slime. Anger, fear, and hatred coated her, laying claim to her limbs with a clinging chill. She felt the cloak grow warmer and warmer still, staving off the cold that enveloped her.
Surrounded by inky blackness, Koloman sat in his armchair, naked, emaciated, a hollow shell of the man Tasha knew. A tall robed figure leaned over the chair behind him.
“Yes, show me the object of your desires, Koloman.” Its voice, posture, and thin frame seemed familiar to Tasha, although she could not place it.
“Show me, and they can be yours.” The robed figure pointed at Tasha with a slender, almost skeletal, finger. “Is this one of the wenches you lust after? What do you want to do to her? Show me. Unclothe her and show me your deepest desires.”
Koloman pushed himself out of the chair with shaking arms.
“No, Koloman. It is not your master.” Tasha strode forward. “It is a dark figment of your mind. Cast it out, and you can sleep freely once more.”
Hissing, the robed figure grabbed Koloman by the head, pulling him downward and into the chair. His fingers framed Koloman’s face. “How are you in his mind?” The Lord Mayor’s eyes appeared lifeless.
This is no figment of his mind… this is… I don’t know what this is. She peered into the depths of the creature’s hood. The resources she had found in the Arcane University library contained no instructions for combating an actual entity as the source of the nightmares.
“Fight it, Koloman. Cast it out. It has taken control of you. You are Koloman, Lord Mayor of Curton, not this creature’s thrall.”
“Tired… need sleep.” Koloman’s voice became a mere raspy whisper.
“Sleep when it is gone.” Tasha gripped her amulet. “Fos.” It flared with brilliant, verdant light. She willed the light to grow brighter, holding her amulet before her like a beacon. “Leave this man, creature. Begone! You are not welcome here. Cast it out, Koloman. Take back your dreams, your mind.”
“My dreams… I don’t like my dreams.”
“You have no power here, woman.” The creature recoiled from Tasha’s light, hissing.
“Cast it out, Koloman. It has invaded your home, your mind, and your dreams. It is an unwelcome guest.”
“You are… unwel—”
“Koloman”—the creature leaned its head next to Koloman’s ear, keeping a tight grip on his head—“I will give you the power to take all you desire. This woman, any woman in town, all the women in the world, if you so choose. They will do your bidding. They will service you willingly and lustfully.”
“Koloman!” Tasha lunged forward, thrusting the blazing amulet into the creature’s hood. For a brief moment, the blinding light illuminated the features of a man whose face appeared half-melted. Shrinking from the light, he screamed in agony.
Tasha thought about the forest, trees, and vines. The darkness retreated, replaced by an ancient forest. The vines sped toward the creature. “I am the Crow Queen. You are not welcome here, abomination. You are an affront to Gaia. Begone!”
Wrapping around the creature’s arms and legs, the vines pulled them spread-eagle. Hissing, he thrashed in the vines.
“Tell him, Koloman. Tell him he is unwelcome. Cast him out.”
“You are… unwelcome here.”
Screaming, the creature flailed. Tasha retracted the vines, straining against the creature’s strength. Shredding its robes, the vines pulled the creature apart. With a final shriek, the entity fell to the ground, melting into the dark landscape of Koloman’s dreams.
The Lord Mayor collapsed, fading from Tasha’s mind. Upon opening her eyes, she found Aveline viewing the scenery, unconcerned.
“Aveline?” Tasha found her knees weak, holding onto the stump to remain upright.
“What do you need?” Aveline turned, sunlight glinting off her polished armor.
“It’s done. It’s over.”
Chapter 48
“What? That’s it?” Aveline examined Koloman sleeping soundly on the bed. “I expected something… I don’t know… more flashy.”
Tasha rubbed her eyes, stifling a yawn. “How long did it take? I’m exhausted.”
“Just a few minutes. Alik just entered the house.”
Gazing at her bed, Tasha suppressed another yawn. “I feel like I need a nap.”
“I suppose I could carry him down to the house. Let Alik deal with him.” Aveline lifted Koloman’s arm, then let it drop. He did not stir. “How much do you think he weighs?”
“Too bad this place doesn’t have a second bedroom.” Aveline slung her shield around, bending to hoist Koloman over her shoulder.
“I could use a second bedroom, perhaps a little den so I can just sit with my friends and talk without”—Tasha gestured around the room—“all this clutter.”
Shuddering, the hut sprouted a curved wooden handle on the back door. Aveline stepped away from Koloman. “What was that?”
Tasha shook her head. “I don’t know, but this isn’t the first time I’ve expressed a wish, and the hut responded.” Upon approaching the back door, she tried the handle. The door swung open, revealing a room beyond.
“Aveline, it’s another bedroom!” Tasha passed through the doorway. Aveline stuck her head through the opening. Made from tree branches and vines, the room resembled a sylvan cave more than a proper room in a house. A chandelier made of twisted branches hung down in the center of the room. From each branch sprouted several short vines with glimmering ends. The chandelier cast a warm glow over the entire space.
The bed, much like the one in the main room, grew from the floor, a rectangular mass of branches and vines with a mattress of fronds and moss. Through another doorway on the far side of the room, Aveline viewed an alcove containing its own hearth, a hammock, and several armchairs.
“You should be careful what you wish for in this place. You could bring everything down around you with a stray thought.” Upon entering the room, Aveline half expected the door to slam behind her.
Summer of Crows Page 34
