Wandering Lark (58 page)

Gareth heaved a sigh. “When I stepped out of my gate, I was struck by a most blinding pain that knocked me senseless. It was as if someone had stuck a knife into my head. When I finally woke up, I could not recall how to get back...it was as though there was a wall in my head. I could remember the place I slept. I could remember what I saw, the stuff I found in my brief exploration of those ruins—discarded farthings, scattered pottery, even a few bones—but the moment I tried to concentrate on the location to open a gate spell, the memory would vanish as though it had never been there at all...”

“Perhaps you should let me into your mind,” Fenelon said. “If I can fetch the memory from you, I could probably open a gate and...”

“It will not work,” Gareth said and shook his head. “It’s already been tried. My own father, for all his skill, could not unlock the wall he found there. And what he did manage to see would not let him use it when he tried. It is as though whatever spell was protecting that place passed the loss of memory along. It was a magic like none we had ever seen—not until I met your young friend Alaric. The wall Ronan put in his head was very much like the one that grows in my own when I try to remember that place and open a spell gate...”

“Won’t you at least let me try?” Fenelon asked.

“I would rather not have you rummaging around in my mind, thank you,” Gareth said. “There are some things even a son should never learn about his father.”

“Oh, like there are things about you I don’t already know?” Fenelon challenged. “Father, your life has never been a great secret...”

“How dare you,” Gareth snarled. “What makes you think you know
everything,
eh? What your mother told you about me was a drop of water in the river that has ever been my life...”

“Uh, gentlemen,” Hobbler said in a voice that bordered on panic.

Fenelon and Gareth turned to shout “What?” simultaneously.

And then froze as one.

The passageway was blocked by several rock trows. Unlike their cousins above, these were holding cudgels and hammers of stone, and glowering from beady obsidian eyes.

“They don’t look terribly...happy,” Hobbler said.

“He’s right on that account,” Gareth agreed.

“What do we do?” Hobbler asked.

The rock trow were slowly moving closer. Fenelon glanced over his shoulder in time to see that the way back was closing off as well. Horns, how had they managed to pass the trow without seeing them?

“Any suggestions?” Gareth asked, arching eyebrows at Fenelon.

Fenelon reached into his leather vest and felt around until he found the stone the rock trow above had given him. He brought it out and held it up so all could see it.

The rock trow ceased their advance. A few looked as though they traded glances. Then almost as one, they all moved back against the walls and seemed to disappear.

“Good enough?” Fenelon asked, glancing at Gareth.

“So you do have other good ideas from time to time,” Gareth agreed. “I suggest we move on before they change their minds...”

“Hobbler, were those the things you were so worried about?” Fenelon asked as he looked at the stone and smiled.

“Well, no, there will be far worse things waiting for us in the Stone Forest,”

“Like what?” Gareth asked.

“I’m not sure, but I had heard stories,” the Dvergar said as he hurried on.

Well, that’s certainly reassuring,
Fenelon thought as he shook his head and followed them, keeping the stone in clear view.

Talena awoke to sunshine pouring
through the high windows and several women standing over her. She sat up, startled to see them. They were not guards, but serving women who smiled and whispered to one another as they watched her.

“What do you want?” Talena asked.

The eldest among them looked to be little more than a lass of fifteen, but she held herself like a woman of great age and dignity. “I am called Selana, and my queen has bid me to find you fresh clothes and invite you to have breakfast with her. These women have come to help you bathe and dress.”

Talena leaned so she could glance towards the door. It was closed, and the guard there was another woman. Talena could also see that the chair in the center of the room had been replaced by a steaming tub of water.

“Thank you, but I think I can bathe and dress myself,” Talena said.

“We have our orders,” Selana said. “We will assist you.”

Right and I’ll bloody that snooty nose of yours if you try,
Talena thought.

Selana arched an eyebrow. “Violence is not necessary,” she said.

Talena felt her jaw drop. “You can see my thought?” she asked.

“Yes,” Selana said. “Because you have not yet learned how to shield your mind.”

“Can all of your people read thought?” Talena asked.

“No,” Selana said. “Some can only sense emotions. Still, once you are trained, you will be able to shield your thoughts and...”

“Trained?” Talena said and frowned. “Trained to do what?”

“Use your natural gifts, of course,” Selana said.

Talena stood up. “The only natural gift I have is using a sword,” she said, wishing she had one now as she would gladly use it to hack off this woman’s head.

“Then you will make an excellent addition to our queen’s personal guard,” Selana said. “Assuming you learn to control your violent urges...”

“Strange,” Talena said and frowned. “I don’t remember applying for the position of Queen’s bodyguard...”

“I suspect you would do better at that than becoming one of Her Majesty’s personal maids,” Selana said. “Now, Her Majesty awaits you, and it is never wise to keep her waiting. Bathe and dress quickly, or we will do it for you.”

“Oh, I would like to see you make me...” Talena snarled.

She heard a faint laughter, and it sounded a lot like that creature that had visited her last night. Selana looked at the women and nodded, and as one, they rushed forward, giggling like young girls. Talena nearly tripped over the bedding trying to back out of range. There were no corners in this round room, and they swarmed over her like bees. She struck away several pairs of hands that seized her arms, her lacings, and her clothes, but there were more of them than she could deal without causing them serious harm.

If that’s what it takes,
she thought. She seized the arm of the nearest woman, and flung her into the rest. Several of them went down in a heap, arms and legs akimbo. Those who had managed to stay on their feet laughed and rushed in to finish what their companions had started. Talena kicked, catching one in the stomach and knocking her down. She knotted her fists together and struck out at the next one, catching her across the cheek and flinging her aside. Then she glared at Selana and started to rush the woman.

A mistake, Talena quickly discovered. She had hardly crossed a few meters of space before Selana threw up her hands and whispered,
“Adhar clach!”

Before Talena could check her momentum, she hit a wall of hardened air again.
You would think I would remember that trick,
she thought as she fell back into the bevy of women who were scuttling back to their feet. There was no escape now. En masse, they rushed again, pinning Talena to the floor, and this time there was nothing she could do to resist or fight back as they stripped her down and carried her over to dunk her bodily into the tub. Water closed over her head. They let go, and Talena struggled upright so she could draw a breath. The women stood in a circle around the tub. Their smiling faces never altered. Selana stepped through their number and offered Talena a sponge.

“You said that you wished to bathe yourself,” she said.

Tempting as it was to splash water on the matronly creature, Talena checked her temper and took the sponge. She began to scrub herself vigorously, glancing at each woman in the circle in turn.

You just wait until I get out of this tub,
she thought.

“We will,” Selana said.

Talena cursed inwardly and tried to keep her thoughts quiet after that.

King Culann was quite proud
of his kingdom. So much so, he spent a large part of the morning dragging Alaric from one point to another. Just when Alaric would think he had seen enough, the king would ride through one of those gate menhirs and take Alaric to another part of his land.

“Are these gateways everywhere?” Alaric asked, trying not to sound bored. But in truth, while he was fascinated with this new land, some nagging feeling made him want to go back to the palace and find Talena.

“Oh, yes,” King Culann said and gestured to the capstone. “These were placed here in the most ancient times by the White One herself. I am given to understand that they and the gate stones even exist in your world, but the knowledge of their use has been lost to your kind. Just as magic has been lost to the Aelfyn of Garrowye.”

Alaric frowned. “Exactly who is this White One?”

“I am certain you will find out when the time comes,” King Culann said. “When
she
decides.”

“I hear that she is a dragon,” Alaric said.

Culann smiled. “So it has been said,” he replied. “Come, we will go this way now. I think it will soon enough be time to return to the palace.”

Not soon enough as far as Alaric was concerned. “Will I get to see Talena?”

Culann shifted without looking at Alaric. “That is for the White One to decide,” he said warily. “Come. The morning is almost gone, and I still want to show you the Lake of Uisgedeen wherein the selkies live.”

“Selkies?” Alaric sighed and looked at Vagner. The demon had been keeping up by flying around overhead, and to Alaric’s surprise the horses behaved as though undisturbed by this fact.

“I have heard of Selkies,” Vagner said. “Keltorans call them Sea Folk, and say that they wear the skins of seals when they are living in the water... But I have never heard of them living in a lake.”

“The Lake of Uisgedeen is quite large,” King Culann said. “And on a bright day like this, you might be able to see the Palace of the Water Lord.”

“Really,” Alaric said, and hoped he sounded enthusiastic enough.

But he wanted to go back to the palace of the king, and he had no idea if it was because Talena might be in danger, or if it was Ronan getting restless inside him. He only knew that the urgency was growing.

Talena dressed in the loose garments
they gave her. She was not fond of fripperies, but had to admit that the loose flowing divided skirt was comfortable, and that the linen tunic felt better than her old shirt which she had been wearing for days now.

Selana never gave Talena a moment of peace. Once she was dressed, the matronly woman—yes, Talena was convinced now that the woman was older than she looked, as no young woman could be such a crone—herded like a sheep dog, never allowing Talena more than a moment of stillness. Or peace or privacy, for that matter.

But no matter what insult came into Talena’s head, Selana never flinched or looked embarrassed. So Talena gave up thinking rude thoughts and concentrated on studying her surroundings.

The guards finally opened the outer door. Talena briefly remembered the creature who had visited in the night saying that the way out would open when Talena remembered herself.
I remember nothing other than the humiliation I have suffered because of these people.
So why were they letting her out now? Surely not on the Queen of Taneslaw’s whim.

Briefly, Talena wondered where Alaric was.

“He is with His Majesty,” Selana said.

“Will you stop listening to my thoughts,” Talena groused.

Selana merely rolled her eyes. “Come, Her Majesty is up and ready to receive you now.”

“How do you know?” Talena challenged.

Selana raised an eyebrow.

Okay, foolish question,
Talena thought.

“To be expected,” Selana said. “When you learn more, you will stop asking foolish questions.”