The House of Yeel (11 page)

Jymoor walked toward the
center knot of people and motioned to them.

“We’ve lost enough time!”
Jymoor announced, trying to speak in a deeper voice. “We have a
long way ahead of us, and each day counts. We will linger here only
a few minutes more! Everyone help share the load; if anyone has
things they can’t carry assemble over here. We need the able ones
to help out; the only way we can make it back in good time is by
cooperating with each other.”

Jymoor began to oversee the
distribution of what little supplies and equipment were available
for the journey. She assigned a small group to check the trail
ahead, then formed other groups to forage for food and set up camp
each night. Yeel brought the hidden weapons out. Jymoor put them
back into the hands of the soldiers who had threatened violence
before. Everyone seemed more level headed this time, and they
didn’t restart the previous arguments. Then Jymoor assembled
everyone in a marching order.

“Time is of the essence. A
great enemy threatens our homeland. We all need to get back and
help. The mighty Yeel and I plan to meet the invaders who threaten
to wipe out our nation and defeat them.”

“And you will have me at your side!” called a
soldier. “I owe you that, at least!”

“I’ll stand with you as
well!” said another.

A cheer rose among the crowd.

Jymoor motioned with one
arm, waving the group forward. Yeel stayed at her side as they
started walking to the east. The refugees fell in behind them in
twos and threes.

The first day of travel passed slowly, as the
group meandered along the course home. Several times they had to
stop and regroup. Jymoor assigned a scribe (who had been sent to
record the deeds of a great warrior now dead) to take an accounting
of how many refugees traveled with them, so if anyone became lost
it would be noticed. The scribe would also take stock of who
everyone was and what they were capable of, in case Yeel should
wish to call upon their skills.

Most of the travelers had
some food with them that had been turned to stone when they had
been attacked by the serpent. Still, when they stopped an hour
before sunset Jymoor sent groups out to forage for what little they
could find. She was directing the construction of the night’s camp
when Yeel sought her out.

“If you would be so kind as
to accompany me, Your Knightship,” Yeel indicated his roveport.
“There are some matters which we must discuss. Perhaps if there is
someone you could leave in charge, then we could begin—”

“Yes, we should talk,”
Jymoor announced loudly. “Kirangadr will be in charge in my
absence. I believe he can take care of it. Take heart, you have
your freedom at last. Maristaple is still a mighty city as in times
long past. It’s many leagues away, but we’ll make it.”

With that, Yeel deployed his
roveportal and the two moved through it to return to Yeel’s palace.
Peace and quiet dominated the great house, broken only by the soft
murmur of the fountain.

“You did a marvelous job of
projecting the confidence and direction that they needed. I don’t
believe anyone noticed any oddity, my friend, as they are just
happy to be free. They’re still rejoicing so they don’t seek out
problems or mysteries to wonder over. By the time they do, you’ll
be the knight they’ve known all along.”

“I do think I can do it. Thank you for giving
me the chance.” Jymoor pulled the heavy helmet off her head and
turned it upside down so it could hold the gauntlets she pulled off
her hands.

Yeel walked over to the water and peered over
the wall, looking down into the rippling flow.

Jymoor stared up at the vaulted ceiling and
wondered at the magnificence of the house. Everything remained
perfectly white, devoid of even dust or cobwebs.

“What are you thinking,
Yeel?” Jymoor asked. She spoke to Yeel as an equal. She realized
that before she had been foolish to grovel before the wizard; after
all, it was clear that the man didn’t even notice Jymoor’s begging.
More efficient to simply get to the point. She looked at the gloves
and the helm in her hands. Their presence felt
comforting.

“Memories. I’m recalling
them as I gaze at my…ah, my wonderful…pets. In the
pool.”

“There are living things in there? Can we not
drink from the water?”

“The water is drinkable,
yes. Simply be very careful not to disturb these creatures in the
slightest. They are frail, and extremely valuable to me. Do you
understand? They are worth more than these artifacts that surround
you.”

Jymoor stood next to Yeel
and stared at the water. She almost declared the absence of
anything whatsoever, then a near-transparent entity caught her eye.
It floated smoothly through the water, making slow, imperious
progress against the gentle current of the fountain. Jymoor looked
further and spotted other identical creatures.

“They are monstrous…yet
beautiful,” she breathed.

“Monstrous…perhaps. You
should learn, Jymoor…Your Knightship…that sometimes things appear
monstrous, but they are not so. There are monsters like those we
met in the stone garden, and then there are others. Good
monsters.”

“Ah, I understand of what
you speak. Your helper. The thing that scared me when first I came
here for you.”

“Ehrm, yes. That is a good example.”

“Then I shall look forward
to meeting it…him, again.”

“Good. But for now we have
another task before us. Another piece of the puzzle that we’re to
solve, the next subtask of—”

“Divide and conquer again, eh?”

Yeel looked discomfited.
“Yes. Although that is a rude, brutal way of describing the Grand
Paradigm of Incremental Solution. We must now travel to a far-off
place so we can gain the help of others in this task.”

“But the people of the
garden…we must guide them.”

“We will not travel by foot.
I have other places…spots we can travel to by more efficient
means.” Yeel indicated the glowing gate that Jymoor had seen when
she first entered the house.

“So let me get this
straight…we’re to simply step through that gate, and go to this
place I see through it, just as if we were stepping through the
roveport back to where we were?”

“Exactly. Well, sort of. Not
really. Very different actually. The roveportal works here within
your world. This gate is of a different nature. There are further
complications. We’ll have to set the temporal dilation carefully.
We need as much time as we can get at our destination with a
minimum of elapsed time here.”

“What?”

“Oh, it is a matter of time,
my friend. The passage of events. We need as much time as possible.
Things will pass here and things will pass there, and we want to
pass a lot of things there and only a few things here; it is all a
matter of the ratio of passings to passings.”

“My Lord Yeel, I know you
are capable of a great many wondrous things, but you cannot stand
there and tell me that you also control time itself…can
you?”

“Oh, no, of course not,”
Yeel said. Jymoor sighed with relief. “Control time itself? No…I
can only arrange it such that it will slow down or speed
up.”

“Oh…what?” yelped Jymoor.
“Only speed it up or slow it down? Ah! Surely that isn’t
possible…such power!”

“Well, there are a great
number of constraints on the system. I haven’t the freedom to do
whatever I want in this regard. It is simply a factor that I use to
coordinate between our planes of reference. Now, please, I’m afraid
I must concentrate. It wouldn’t do to make an error at this
point…it’d be a little troubling if we were to run into
ourselves.”

“What? Run into ourselves! Yeel! Are you
absolutely certain we should be doing this?”

“Of course. It’s part of the
plan I’ve already outlined. We are to meet people who can help in
our cause, both in terms of training for you and military
assistance for your kingdom. I have, in my time, come across many
cultures and I’ve specifically remembered that I have a few favors
to call in, here and there. If we’re successful, perhaps someday I
shall call upon your people to help others in need
elsewhere.”

“Yes, of course,” Jymoor
said weakly. “I’m afraid I must…sit down for a moment, perhaps by
the fountain?”

“Yes, by all means. By the fountain.
Carefully, please. Could you possibly remember not to disturb any
clear little creatures you see swimming in there? Remember, I said
good monsters. Could you please commit this to memory?”

“I’ll remember, Great
Yeel.”

“Thank you! I shall begin
configuring the device. Now don’t worry. Almost every time I’ve
encountered myself, I’ve proven to be a most hospitable fellow, at
times almost magnanimous. And always quite stimulating. Of course I
wouldn’t be foolhardy enough to try and remember such an event, I’m
simply extrapolating from what I know of myself.”

Jymoor staggered over toward
the fountain and sat.

“Only slow it down or speed
it up…” she muttered.

Chapter 9: Under the Green Sky

When Jymoor emerged from the magical gate the
first thing she noticed was the sky.

“Lord Yeel! What have you
done to the sky? It’s green!”

She stared in wonder. White
and gray clouds drifted lazily through the deep green heavens. She
finally examined the ground, covered in gray rock with a few
stubborn plants growing here and there in the niches. She couldn’t
see far, as they were surrounded by large outcroppings of rough
gray rock. A six-legged lizard darted for cover, startled by their
movements.

“This is another world,
Jymoor. I’ve done nothing special to it. The atmosphere here has
different properties, which results in reflected radiation of
different frequencies—”

“Is this where the teachers you spoke of
live? Are they human?”

“Yes, I hope to get you the training you need
here. That other question is more difficult to answer than you
might imagine.”

“Well, what now?”

“Follow me, Your
Knightship,” Yeel said. “I shall lead us through this strange world
and deduce the location of those we seek.”

“Deduce? Oh no! You mean you
didn’t remember this place?”

“I remember a great deal of
it…the important parts, I assure you. There are a few particulars,
however, which—”

“Lead on, Yeel,” directed
Jymoor. She no longer feared addressing Yeel in this way. Somewhere
in the back of her mind, she realized the moon armor had done this.
Somehow it increased her perception of her stature…made her feel
important, like a noble. Perhaps if she fulfilled her knightly
duties well, Yeel might come to see her as an equal, or maybe even
an intimate companion. Jymoor dared to hope she would become closer
to the Great Yeel.

Yeel moved forward through the broken
terrain. He seemed to be uncertain at first, but after a moment
started to move down the slope. Their path twisted left and then
right as they avoided the huge boulders that thrust up through the
ground.

They walked around a rise of
stone and Jymoor saw a green ocean ahead, a vast calm expanse of
water that mirrored the color of the sky. Only a dim line in the
distance marked where the sea met the horizon. An isthmus of land
extended out into the sea, connecting to a massive rocky island
with a grey stone fortress perched atop it. The place had tall,
smooth walls which angled gently inward. The fortress culminated in
four crenelated peaks. The landscape felt so surreal that at first
she had a hard time establishing its size.

Jymoor peered at the fortress for a moment,
trying to catch a glimpse of any natives. She did see forms moving
about on the battlements, but from this distance she could hardly
tell what they looked like. If they were humans, the fortress was
large indeed, perhaps three or four hundred paces on its front
side.

“Um, Lord Yeel? Is that the place we
seek?”

“What? Hmm? What place do
you speak of? Please, do tell me. Describe that which you have
designated but for which I cannot determine the association.
Perhaps then I will be able to answer your query.”

“That rocky fortress by the sea,” Jymoor
said, pointing.

“Oh. That that. You can see
it? That’s exactly the that where we need to go. Could you lead us
there? By there I mean to that. I’m afraid my eyesight is not that
good here. And that last that was not that that. It was a regular
that.”

“Um. You can’t see the
ocean? Or the fortress?”

“I’m sorry, but I can only
remember the dwelling you speak of,” Yeel said, moving toward the
ocean. “I realized there would be a greater chance of finding the
water by moving downhill.”

Jymoor raised an eyebrow.
Apparently, another unexpected weakness of the Great
Yeel.

“I can see it clearly,” she
reported. “I do have sharp eyes…that’s one of the reasons I became
a scout. I think I see people on the walls; I hope they’re
friendly.”

“Absolutely. Yes. Without a
doubt, we will be received warmly. Don’t worry, Your Knightship.
I’m sure it’s fine. Unless things have changed. In which case the
danger could be extreme!”

Jymoor stepped up to Yeel
and they continued side by side toward the cape. After a few
minutes, they joined a broken road of ancient stones that meandered
toward the fortress. Jymoor saw the plants had long runners of
bluish green that wriggled over and around the stones, seeking the
soil. She inhaled a deep lungful of the damp air. It had a
different quality to it, something that she couldn’t
identify.