Master of the Cauldron (60 page)

“I'm not forgetting them,” she said, not angry but not in the least afraid of the man she faced. “A thousand civilians died, I know that. But not a
hundred
thousand civilians as died when the city fell a thousand years ago. And the reason most people here survived is because the royal army, the army of all the Isles and not just this island, stood between monsters and men!”

Liane stamped her foot.
“This
Erdin grew back from total destruction a thousand years ago,” she said. “Think of what can grow from the majority that survived today! Garric, if ever there was proof we need a united kingdom, you gave it today. Sandrakkan couldn't save itself, but the Kingdom of the Isles saved it. And the story will spread till all the Isles hear it.”

Garric felt his tight jaw muscles relax. For a moment he glimpsed a future in which the kingdom was united, not by force as King Carus had held it, but by every citizen's knowledge that unless men stood together, Evil would crush them all individually under its heel. Not a certain future, nothing was certain, but—

Chalcus whipped out his sword and pointed it skyward. “Garric and the Isles!” he called.

Soldiers and civilians turned, in the plaza and in the buildings fronting it. “Garric and the Isles!” a woman shouted.

The plaza filled with echoing shouts that spread beyond those who heard the first cry:
“Garric and the Isles!”

Dorothy Day, Robyn Spady, and the Seattle Weavers Guild more generally were enthusiastically helpful on this one. They provided not only advice but many hanks of yarn dyed with berries, etc. (which draped my clothesline for weeks as I checked lightfastness), and also some remarkable swatches of double weave and other exotic fabrics. Believe me, what a skilled hand weaver can do really
is
magical.

Dan Breen was, as usual, my first reader. He pointed out not only where I dropped words but also where sentences I thought were clear did not appear so to an intelligent and educated person outside my head.

My Webmaster, Karen Zimmerman, and Dorothy Day both archived my text at stages in the process. One can never tell when one's computer will die.

Which brings me to the fact that No Computers Were Killed in the Writing of This Novel. However, a couple of them got very sick. My son Jonathan, with Mark L. Van Name and Allyn Vogel as his backup, kept me going.

I don't ordinarily mention secondary sources I've used in writing (and I use a lot of them), but Dr. Andrea Berlin is still alive to thank. Her “What's for Dinner?,” in the November–December 1999
Biblical Archaeology Review,
was not only informative but evocative. I got two separate settings from the article.

My British editor, Simon Spanton, provided me with some Lord Dunsany material that wasn't already on my shelves. Any reader of
Master
who's already familiar with Dunsany will realize how great my debt is to the
Tales of Wonder
. Those of you
who aren't familiar with Dunsany really ought to give him a try (and Orion Books will accommodate you).

My wife, Jo, kept everything going at home while I was writing
Master,
which, given that the process of writing coincided with the repainting of the interior of the house, is pretty remarkable.

My thanks to all of you.

Dave Drake
david-drake.com