The Raven Ring (34 page)

The card froze. “The Raven is for freedom earned through personal effort, for release,” Climeral said. “A hopeful sign, but not very helpful, I am afraid. Perhaps you will find the meaning clearer in the future.”

“It stands for that ring of Eleret’s, I’ll bet,” Karvonen said. “Are you finished?”

“The chart is finished,” Climeral said. “The scrying is still to come.” He looked at Eleret. “If you will remove your ring and hold it over the central card, Freelady—”

“I thought you weren’t going to use the ring,” Daner objected.

“I have no intention of focusing the spell on or through it,” Climeral said. “However, Varnan magic is often powerful enough to influence the things around it. I hope that the proximity of the ring to the focus of the spell will have the effect we want.” He smiled slightly. “I am depending on Freelady Salven’s quick reflexes to break the link if something goes wrong.”

“Break the link?” Eleret frowned. She was uneasy enough about having a Shee work spells for her like a common hedge-magician; she hadn’t thought that Climeral might be risking any harm. Or at least, she hadn’t thought he would be taking any more risk than magic normally entailed. “What do you expect to go wrong? And what do you mean by ‘break the link’?”

Climeral’s slanted eyebrows lifted slightly. “I do not
expect
anything to go wrong; however, caution is never a bad idea. In the unlikely event that something untoward were to happen, removing your ring from the area affected by the spell will be quite enough to break the link between it and the scrying spell.”

“I don’t like the sound of this,” Karvonen muttered.

“If you’re uncomfortable, you don’t have to stay,” Daner said in a tone that was only a little more polite than necessary.

“I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction.” Karvonen’s voice was too sharp, without its usual teasing undercurrents.
He
is
nervous,
Eleret thought, and had to suppress a renewal of her own anxieties.

“Quiet,” Climeral told them. “Daner, kindly keep your attention on the wards.” He rose and pushed his chair to one side, then took up a position opposite the point of the diamond-shaped layout of cards. “Freelady Salven, if you are ready to begin?”

Half-done is worth none,
Tamm’s voice said in Eleret’s memory.
You can’t use a pot without a handle or a bow without a string. Finish what you start, or you’ll have a house full of bits and pieces, and nothing in fit shape to use.
And a rebellious part of Eleret’s own mind responded,
This is
her
job, not mine. Haven’t we learned enough
?

The others were waiting for her.
Ma would have finished this if she could,
Eleret told herself firmly.
Since
she
couldn’t, it’s up to me, and I’d best make a good job of it.
She looked at Climeral, then slowly removed the raven ring from her finger once more and held it over the raven in flight. Climeral nodded and stretched his own hands out to either side. Bringing them together with a swooping gesture, he said softly, “
Aheltri var-thal-srilreth.
”

A pinpoint of clear white light appeared less than a finger’s-breadth above Eleret’s final card. Barely visible at first, it grew brighter and brighter until Eleret could not look at it even through slitted eyes, and had to turn her head away. Climeral had not moved, nor even squinted.
How can he stand it
? Eleret wondered. But nothing in his expression or actions hinted at a problem, so she kept her hand steady, holding the raven ring two feet above the brilliant, source-less light.

At last Climeral lowered his hands and stepped back. “
Helpara mec
,” he said, and the light vanished. He looked at Daner, who echoed the phrase, and the golden glow of the warding spell disappeared as well. Eleret slipped the raven ring onto her finger and looked around. In the relative dimness of normal morning light, Daner stretched like a hunter who had been crouched too long in a blind and Prill shifted her weight as if she had not dared to move before. Only Karvonen remained tense and watchful, his shoulders forward and his feet apart in readiness for a sudden move.

Climeral blinked, then scooped the six cards into a pile and handed them to Eleret. “Just put them in the case with the rest of the deck,” he said when Eleret hesitated. “The order doesn’t matter; Nijole will shuffle them before she uses them again. Then you can give them to Prill to return.”

“You’re not going to send me away before you tell everyone what you saw, are you?” Prill said. “That’s not fair!”

“Returning Nijole’s cards is your responsibility,” Climeral said. “You may fulfill it in whatever way you see fit. Bearing in mind the possible consequences.”

“You mean Nijole’s going to yell at me,” Prill said cheerfully. “But she does that anyway. So
that’s
all right.”

“You are incorrigible,” Climeral said.

“What
did
you see?” Daner asked.

“The details would be …confusing,” Climeral replied. “I will tell you instead what I learned. To begin with, the Shadow-born remain bound, all of them, everywhere. You need not fear facing one of them directly.”

“Well, that’s something,” Karvonen said.

“Your ring is indeed at the center of what has been happening,” Climeral continued. “However, I am afraid it will not prove a major weapon. It warns the wearer when shadow magic is near, and it will provide you with protection from certain general spells, but a strong, direct attack will wear through in a matter of minutes. A direct attack with shadow magic…well, I suspect the ring could disrupt it briefly, but no more, and it would probably be destroyed in the process.”

“I don’t suppose she has any control of the process, either,” Karvonen muttered.

Climeral smiled slightly. “It depends on what you mean by control. Since Eleret is not a magician, she cannot enhance the ring’s abilities, though a direct effort of will could shut the spell off temporarily.”

“Oh, now that’s
really
useful.” Karvonen snorted derisively. “Just what you want to do when the Shadow-born are after you—shut down the only thing you’ve got to protect yourself.”

“Does the ring warn about other things besides shadow magic?” Eleret asked Climeral, frowning. “Because it’s warned me several times, and if the Shadow-born are all bound—”

“That is the worst of my news. At least one of the Shadow-born has loaned a portion of its power to a human sorcerer, for what purpose I do not know. It is that power—indirect and filtered through another—that you have felt these past few days.”

“Mobrellan,” Eleret murmured. She was not really surprised.

“Are you sure this guy is a Human, and not a Wyrd or Neira or Shee?” Karvonen asked. “Because Human shapeshifters aren’t all that common, and—”

“He is Human,” Climeral said. “I doubt that he has been a shapeshifter for long. The talent probably woke in him when he began using the power of the Shadow-born, and that is a matter of months, at most.”

“Well, no wonder…” Karvonen sat back, looking simultaneously enlightened and disgusted about something, but though Climeral waited a moment and Daner gave him a pointed look, he did not comment further.

“If this sorcerer is already using shadow magic, why does he want Eleret’s ring?” Daner asked.

“That, I could not determine,” Climeral said. “He guards himself well. Perhaps he thinks it more powerful than it is, or fears even a minor disruption of his new abilities. Or perhaps he has some use for it—someone he wishes to protect, for instance. Without knowing more about him, I cannot guess his purpose.”

“Power,” Eleret said, thinking of the leaping fires she had seen on the Mage of Flames. “He wants power, and more power—and the more he gets, the more he wants.”

“How can you be sure of that?” Daner said. “Was it something he said last night, when he was pretending to be me?”

“No, it’s the card, the Mage of Flames. It was in the chart Jonystra did, too.”

“The Mage of Flames stands for power misused, certainly,” Climeral said. “But your interpretation goes far beyond that.” He leaned back, awaiting an explanation.

Eleret told them what she had seen in the card, finishing, “He’ll never be satisfied, no matter how great he becomes. But how could my ring be of any help to him?”

“You must discover that for yourself,” Climeral said. “And remember that the card, and what you saw in it, may bear other meanings.”

“What did you see in the other cards?” Prill asked.

“Mostly just the pictures moving. The Breaking Tower fell into the sea, the Mason worked on her wall, the Raven flew.”

“And the Shadow-Mage?” Climeral said gently.

“It touched the candle, and the candle turned to powder,” Eleret said, trying to repress a shiver and not altogether succeeding. “And then it started to turn toward me. There was a chain on its wrist, I think, but I couldn’t see clearly. And it laughed.”

Climeral looked startled. “You
heard
something in the cards?”

“Wasn’t I supposed to?”

“It is…a little unusual. You must have been concentrating very hard.”

“Or else you had bad oysters at breakfast this morning,” Karvonen put in. “Speaking of which, isn’t it time for lunch?”

“We still have things to discuss,” Daner said.

“Can’t you talk and eat at the same time?”

“Prill can take you to the refectory,” Climeral said, and smiled at Eleret. “Lord Daner and I will join you in a few minutes. We have a discussion on the reality of Shadow-born to finish.”

Daner gave Climeral a look of mild surprise. “Do you really think it’s still necessary—”

“It’s necessary. Prill, see to our guests. And don’t forget your other errands once they’re settled.”

“Nijole’s cards and the scrolls from the library,” Prill said, nodding. “Do I tell Nijole what happened, when she asks, or do I get yelled at?”

“Refer her to me,” Climeral said.

With an air of suppressed glee, Prill nodded again and ushered Eleret and Karvonen into the hall. “This way, Freelady,” she said as the door closed behind them, and then skipped three paces down the hall to the left. Seeing Eleret’s slightly startled expression, she stopped. “Sorry, Freelady, but I can’t help it. The expression on Nijole’s face…I can hardly wait.”

“I understand,” Eleret said, and smiled, thinking of the weaponsmaster in Calmarten who had trained her with the raven’s-feet. Eleret had never had an opportunity to surprise him as Prill expected to surprise Nijole, but she would have thoroughly enjoyed doing so. “Go ahead and skip.”

Prill grinned and started down the hall once more, not quite skipping, but very light on her feet all the same. “I’m glad someone got some joy out of all that,” Karvonen said as they followed in a more decorous fashion.

“I know you don’t like wizards, but—”

“It’s not a matter of liking or disliking,” Karvonen said in a patient tone. “It’s policy. I
like
your Adept Climeral very well; I’d just prefer not to be mixed up in his business.”

“It’s not his business, it’s mine,” Eleret said. “And you don’t seem to like Daner much.”

“Tactful, aren’t you? That’s another thing entirely.” Karvonen gave her a sidelong look. “That’s not policy, it’s personal. And anyway, he doesn’t like me.”

They turned a corner and crossed a large courtyard. “Well, do me a favor and stop sniping at him,” Eleret said. “I have the beginning of an idea of what to do next, and it would be useful if you were cooperating with each other.”

Karvonen’s eyes went wide, and he stared at her for a moment. Then he gave her a smile that held not only all his usual careless charm but also an underlying warmth like glowing embers. “I’ll do
you
all the favors you want.”

“Um. Good. I think.” Eleret looked away, unsettled and unsure of exactly what had unsettled her.
Karvonen certainly has a knack for throwing people off balance,
she thought.
Now, if he could just catch Mobrellan with his bow unstrung
…

“Here we are, Freelady,” Prill said, pushing open a set of double doors. “Savrik, these are Adept Climeral’s guests; he and Lord Daner will be joining them in a little while. Will you see that they’re taken care of? I’ve got errands to run.”

TWENTY-FIVE

B
Y THE TIME
D
ANER
arrived, Eleret and Karvonen were seated at one of the long tables, their tin plates heaped with snowy chunks of fish mixed with carrots and an unfamiliar gray-green vegetable. One of the servers appeared with another plate as Daner slid onto the bench opposite Eleret.

“What kept you?” Karvonen said. “And why couldn’t it have kept you a little longer?”

Daner did not look up from his plate. “Climeral wanted to show me a few things.”

“And did he?”

“More than I wanted to see.” Daner’s expression was grim as he looked at Eleret. “I don’t suppose I can talk you into staying here until we catch that shapeshifter, can I?”

“No,” said Eleret. “Why should I?”

“Because the school is probably as close as we can get to a safe place right now, as far as you’re concerned. Even if Mobrellan can get past Climeral’s wards, the detection spells will let you know he’s here. And there are enough Adepts here to take care of him, shadow magic and all. Are you sure—”

“I fight my own battles. And staying safe doesn’t win wars.”
Assuming that staying safe is possible,
Eleret thought.

Daner sighed. “I was afraid you were going to say something like that.”

“Then why’d you bother asking?” Karvonen said.

“Karvonen.” Eleret waited until the little thief looked at her, then went on, “You said you’d stop that.”

“Not exactly. And it’s a hard habit to break.”

“Then work at it.” She looked back at Daner. “Are you going to try to block my strokes again?”

“Block your—Oh, I understand.” He looked down and shifted uncomfortably. “I’m sorry about this morning, Eleret. I…shouldn’t have done it.”

“And now?”

“I won’t try to make you stay here. If I can’t persuade you…” He shrugged. “I’ll just have to be twice as careful when we’re on the street.”