The Law of Isolation (44 page)

Was he only imagining the wistfulness in her voice? “If a familiar chooses you. It doesn’t happen very often. I think I’m the first in a couple of generations.”

“You’re very fortunate.” Yes, there was unmistakeable longing in Kevessa’s tone. “I’d very much like to hear the full account of how it happened. Would you be willing to tell me?”

“Sure.” Josiah gloated at how thoroughly Kalti’s pettiness had backfired. He took a deep breath and launched into a description of the day he’d first met Elkan. Kevessa listened with rapt attention, plying him with questions between small, dainty bites of her meal. The other apprentices had all heard the story before, but even so they listened, occasionally chiming in to make sure he didn’t leave out any important bits.

He’d just started to describe how he and Elkan had gone out to help deal with the flooding in Elathir when all around the room wizards rose to go back to work. From the corner of his eye he saw Elkan beckoning him.

He hated to leave the story unfinished, especially when Kevessa was enjoying it so much. But an idea struck him. He leaned toward Kevessa, lowering his voice and filling it with hushed excitement. “Just then, a Watcher came wading up to us, yelling for help. The dam on Mill Stream had broken, and the water was washing away Prison Point. There were hundreds of people trapped over there, and only the Mother’s power could save them. So Elkan and I—” He broke off, making a show of catching sight of his master’s summons. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. Elkan’s calling me. I have to go.”

Disappointment flooded Kevessa’s features. “But you haven’t described how you became a wizard yet. I so wanted to hear it.”

Josiah enjoyed the way she looked at him so hopefully. “I’m almost to that part. I should be done with my shift a couple hours before the evening meal. If you like, we could get together and I’ll tell you the rest.” He tried to covey cheerful willingness at the prospect, without betraying the almost desperate eagerness he felt.

“I’d like that very much.” Kevessa glanced at Kalti. “You don’t mind?”

Kalti scowled at Josiah. “Master Hadara and I are scheduled to hear court cases right up to mealtime. I thought you wanted to observe how we use windows in settling disputes.”

“I do. But surely I’ll have ample opportunity for that during the early hours of the afternoon. You’ve entertained me so wonderfully these past few days. I don’t wish to inconvenience you more than necessary with my presence. I expect you’ll appreciate time to concentrate on your work without me distracting you.”

Kalti made one last effort. “Are you sure your father will approve?”

Kevessa smiled and waved a dismissive hand. “As long as I’m safe and constructively occupied, he’ll have no objection. His hours are full meeting with the guildmasters to finalize details of what will be shipped; I won’t disturb him unless the matter is urgent.” She turned back to Josiah. “Should I meet you here?”

“Sure. Then maybe we can go for a walk out in the square or down by the river. I’ll show you where Prison Point used to be.” Josiah could hardly believe his luck. He’d finally get to have Kevessa to himself for a little while.

“I like that idea. I’ll see you then.” Kevessa rose and gestured for Kalti to precede her out of the dining hall.

Elkan kept him so busy with patients during the afternoon that Josiah had no time to worry or get nervous. He did his best to work quickly and efficiently, and they finished at the appointed time. Sar had no objections when Josiah suggested he retire to their room for a nap.

Josiah’s heart was pounding and his hands were sweaty as he hurried to the dining hall. But it was empty. His heart plummeted. Kevessa must have changed her mind.

As he sank into a chair, breathing hard and trying to control his disappointment, the door swung open and Kevessa pushed through, the bell of her skirts swinging as she maneuvered them away from the closing door. When she caught sight of him, her face lit up with an eager expression. “Hello, Josiah.”

“Hey, Kevessa.” Josiah stood, his mouth dry, feeling awkward in her presence all over again.

“Let’s walk outside as you suggested. The sun is bright and it’s not as cold as it has been.”

“All right.” Instead of parading past the waiting patients and working wizards in the Hall on the way to the main doors, he headed to a smaller exit that led out the side of the building. Josiah held the door so it wouldn’t catch her skirts.

As soon as they emerged into the quiet street, Kevessa turned to him. “Please, continue with your story. You said the dam broke?”

“Yeah. The water pounded against the land of the point, tearing out big chunks. I saw a big tree topple over and float away. Buildings fell down and everything. Come on, I’ll show you where it happened.”

Josiah had been afraid the conversation would be strained and stilted, but Kevessa was easy to talk to. He was sure she was genuinely interested in his story. When they reached the broken fragment of road poking out into the water where Mill Stream met the Tarath, all that was left of Prison Point, she gazed into the water as if she could see the storm-torn scene he described.

“…So Sar bit my hand, and bit himself, and pushed me so I touched him and our blood mixed. That’s the way a bonding happens.” Josiah flexed his hand and rubbed the faint scar in his palm. “Everything around kind of faded out, and I was standing somewhere all gold, like clouds all around me. And the Mother was there.” He faltered. It was hard to describe that moment; it felt like revealing something deeply private, too intimate for casual conversation. He waved his hands, at a loss for words.

“What did she look like?” There was a hushed, awed quality to Kevessa’s voice that told him she understood.

“Like a person. Tall, in a white robe, with long wavy hair. Young. Beautiful.”
Kind of like you
, he thought, but he didn’t dare say that. “Her eyes were old, though. Ancient.”

Kevessa’s lips parted and she sighed, a long gentle breath. Her eyes focused somewhere far away.

Josiah waited until her gaze came back to him. He raised one shoulder and let it fall. “So she asked me, was I willing to be a wizard?” That wasn’t the only thing she’d said, but it was the important part. He wasn’t allowed to talk about the rest, about how it was really the familiars that controlled the Mother’s power, not the wizards. “And I said yes. Then I was back here. Sar and I used the Mother’s power to block the water. Like Elkan was going to do, but he was so drained it would have burned him out. I had plenty of energy left. But even so it was hard, one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”

He went on, telling the rest of the story. They walked toward the docks, following the course Josiah had taken that night. Josiah tried to keep his voice animated, expressing the excitement and fear he’d experienced, though Kevessa only seemed to be listening with half her attention. But her focus sharpened again when he got to the part about seeing Nirel on the fleeing ship, and how he’d broken off his attempt to sink it. A sound of sudden enlightenment escaped her lips.

“What?” Josiah tried to figure out what he’d said to provoke her reaction.

“Now I understand what she meant.” Kevessa turned to him with an attitude of some difficult decision finally made. “My father didn’t want me to speak of this to you. But Nirel is my friend, and I promised her I would give you her message.”

“So it
was
Ozor who told you how to reach Tevenar.” It was irrational to be angry at the bandit leader. If he hadn’t betrayed their secret, Tevenar would have been doomed to famine. But Josiah couldn’t help how he felt.

“Yes.”

Josiah shook his head to clear it. “How is Nirel?”

“She’s well.” Kevessa hesitated. “She was injured when she helped me reach the ship, but I believe her hurts were minor and she will recover fully.”

Josiah caught his breath. “You’re sure?” Just because he was interested in Kevessa didn’t mean he didn’t still care what happened to Nirel.

“As much as I can be.”

Her answer didn’t satisfy him, but he wasn’t going to get a better reassurance. “What message?”

“She said to tell you that she was sorry, and that she knew you wanted to help her. But her place was with her father.”

“Her father!” Josiah exploded. “Do you know what he did to her? Elkan and I had to stop him from beating her!”

“I suspected as much. But she loves him, and is loyal to him.”

“What’s it going to take for her to see what a monster he is? Will she believe it if he gives her a black eye, like he did to her mother? Or breaks her bones? It wouldn’t surprise me if he did!” His anger abruptly ran out, leaving only tired resignation. “Smash her anyway. If that’s what she wants, nobody can stop her. I certainly couldn’t.”

“Nor I,” Kevessa whispered. They exchanged bleak looks. Wordlessly Josiah turned and led her back toward the Mother’s Hall.

When they started up the hill, Kevessa broke the silence. “When Master Dabiel speaks with the Mother, and asks her to change the Law, will it be like when you spoke with her?”

“Not exactly. I’ve never seen it. No one has, because she goes off to Gurion’s Chapel alone. But supposedly the Mother physically manifests in this world, not just in a vision. I’ve watched other people bond with familiars, and nobody but them sees the Mother. But when Gurion Thricebound spoke to the Mother for the first time, the other people with him saw and heard her, too. And I’ve heard that every now and then the Guildmaster has to show her speaking in a window to prove that she really named a certain person to be an apprentice.”

Kevessa stopped and stared at him. “Could you open a window into the chapel and see her appear?”

Josiah snorted. “I wish! But Sar would never cooperate. Not without a very good reason.” He quirked a grin at Kevessa. “And he wouldn’t consider your curiosity or mine a good enough reason.”

“Must you have his cooperation?”

“Yeah.” Josiah waved his hand and sidled around the truth. “He’d break our bond if I tried using the Mother’s power against her will.” He hoped the half-truth would satisfy her.

Apparently it did, for she was quiet for a while. When she spoke, her voice was grave. “My father doesn’t believe the Mother is real. Not as a person, at least. Just as a force, like light or wind or fire. He thinks Master Dabiel will pretend her message has come from the Mother, when in truth she’ll only say what everyone wants to hear.”

Josiah fumed. “I wish it were that easy. She’s doing the most extreme form of the fast, you know— no food, or even any water, just like the first time Gurion Thricebound summoned the Mother. He forced her to listen and respond by offering his own life. She’s going to have to do the same, because this is the wrong time of year. Usually she only talks to her in the spring.”

Anger bubbled inside him, aimed in equal measure at Kevessa and her father and the Mother herself. “Master Dabiel is old, and Buttons is ancient for a pig, and I don’t see why they have to put themselves through this to get the Mother’s attention. She should know that we need her to change the Law! She can speak directly to the familiars if she wants to, or she could appear without forcing Master Dabiel to beg her. I guess she’d probably say it had something to do with upsetting the balance of the world, and causing storms or earthquakes or whatever. That always seems to be her excuse for not helping us when we need it.”

Kevessa stared at him, shocked at his outburst. Josiah was a little shocked himself. He hadn’t realized his frustration went quite so deep. He shrugged. He seemed to be doing a lot of that today. There were just some things shoulders could express that words couldn’t.

It was still a while before the evening meal would be served. He sat down on one of the benches around the fountain in the middle of the plaza outside the Mother’s Hall. Kevessa settled next to him.  It was prettier when the fountain was running, but even dry the intricate carvings were beautiful. Intertwined among the abstract curlicues were animals of every sort, portraits of the familiars alive when the fountain had been made, many centuries ago.

After a while Kevessa looked sideways at him. Her voice took on a teasing tone. “I wonder if there’s any way to see the Mother when she appears without using the Mother’s power, since you say that’s forbidden. Surely I’m not the first to wish to see her. With so many clever apprentices, don’t tell me no one’s ever tried.”

Josiah grinned back. “The chapel is in a clearing in the woods northwest of the city, about an hour’s walk from here. It’s a little square building with windows high up all around that let in the light. Supposedly Gurion Thricebound built it while he was Guildmaster, to remind him of the place back in Miarban where he first met the Mother. Elkan took me to see it once. The windows are all too high to look into, unless you had a ladder or something. And if you tried that, you’d be sure to get caught.” He shuddered. He’d only seen Master Dabiel truly angry a few times, but he didn’t want to repeat the experience. He didn’t know whether spying on the Guildmaster’s meeting with the Mother was an offense worthy of a broken bond, but he had a sinking feeling it might come close. “There are trees you might be able to climb to get up high enough, but they’re all a long way away. I don’t think you could see anything from that far.”

Kevessa straightened, her eyes snapping. She stared at Josiah for a long moment with a calculating look. Finally, she nodded. “I don’t think my father will have returned to his room yet. Come with me. I have something to show you.”

Baffled, Josiah trailed after her into the Hall. Inside, most of the wizards were occupied rearranging the furnishings to accommodate the next morning’s Restday service. Josiah clung to Kevessa’s heels, hoping his association with her would prevent him from being recruited to help. Whatever she had to show him would surely be far more interesting than putting away screens and carrying chairs.

It worked, because they made it across the Hall and up the stairs without being stopped. Kevessa opened the door to Gevan’s room, calling brightly, “Father?” When there was no answer she slipped inside, beckoning to Josiah. He glanced guiltily around, but no one was in the corridor, so he followed her.