“I—” Glyndon stared at her for a moment; then his shoulders slumped. “It’s my fault,” he said in a low voice.
“What is?”
“The Tower. I was afraid to come back, and now it’s been too long and it’s all out of hand.”
“What are you talking about?” Kayl demanded when Glyndon did not go on. “Even if you thought you could do something, you’d have been a fool to come back alone.”
“You don’t understand. I wouldn’t have had to come back alone. I avoided being asked.”
“Your visions,” Kayl said, suddenly understanding. “You kept away from the Sisterhood the same way you kept away from the Magicseekers.”
“Not exactly; the Sisterhood wasn’t actively looking for me until recently. But I avoided a number of chance encounters that would eventually have led me back to the Tower. I never went near Kith Alunel, for instance. I got very good at it, until…”
“Until I got involved,” Kayl said softly.
Glyndon looked away. There was a long pause. Kayl could feel the chill sweat from her practicing as it dried on her back. “Yes,” Glyndon said at last.
“I see.” It was Kayl’s turn to hesitate. “The way you feel about me isn’t new, then,” she said finally.
“I’ve loved you for nearly sixteen years,” Glyndon said. He stiffened like a man about to face the King’s justice and met her eyes. “How long have you known?”
“I think I’ve known since Kith Alunel, when you decided to come with the expedition without waiting to hear what the Sisterhood had to offer. It took me a long time to admit it to myself, though.” Kayl smiled slightly and shook her head at her own stubbornness.
Glyndon was silent for a moment, studying her. “What happens now?”
“Nothing, for a while,” Kayl said. Then, seeing the look on his face, she added quickly, “It isn’t that I don’t care for you, Glyndon—”
“But you just can’t see me as a lover,” Glyndon finished. “I know that; why do you think I’ve never said anything?”
“You’re being an idiot,” Kayl said, half annoyed, half sorry for him. “The problem isn’t how I feel about you. If I were twenty and didn’t have the children to worry about, I’d have seduced you weeks ago. Possibly months.”
“You don’t mean that.”
Kayl gave an exasperated snort. She stepped forward and, before Glyndon could object, put both her hands behind his head and pulled his mouth down to hers.
“You meant it,” Glyndon said in a dazed voice several minutes later.
“Of course I meant it,” Kayl said. She felt more than a little dazed herself.
“Then why are you…”
“Hesitating?” Kayl sighed and, reluctantly, moved away from him. “Because it isn’t a simple decision. What kind of a life would we have, Glyndon? Do I take the children wandering along with you, or do you settle down to innkeeping with me? It isn’t an easy thing to do, giving up your way of life for somebody else; Kevran and I found that out. And what happens at the Twisted Tower could change everything.… I can’t decide now, it’s just too soon.”
Glyndon studied her gravely. “I think I understand,” he said at last. “But you can’t keep running away from your future, Kayl.”
“This from the man who spent years running away from the mere possibility of returning to the Twisted Tower,” Kayl said, smiling.
Reluctantly, Glyndon returned the smile. “Yes. We’re that much alike. We may run from different things, but we both run.”
Kayl nodded slowly. Glyndon was only voicing her own thoughts of the night before in different words. “Maybe we can help each other face things,” she said.
“Maybe.” Glyndon paused, considering. Then he sighed. “All right; I’ll start. Let’s go talk to the Elder Mothers about that crystal chip.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
THEY FOUND JAVIERI TALKING quietly with Corrana, while all around the other Sisters broke camp. Kayl drew them well out of the way of the hum of activity. The story of the crystal would, of necessity, be told to every member of the expedition before they reached the Twisted Tower, but Kayl felt that Javieri should hear the news first, in as much privacy as possible.
Javieri listened with increasing coldness to Kayl’s awkward explanation, but Corrana’s expression did not change. “And just touching this chip made you remember the truth?” she said when Kayl finished.
“It was more than remembering,” Kayl said with an involuntary shudder. “I felt as if I were living through it again.”
“Interesting,” Corrana said thoughtfully. “I would like to see this chip.”
“We should have been informed of this crystal earlier,” Javieri said, and there was a frigid undercurrent to her tone.
“Why?” Glyndon demanded. “What would you have done differently?”
“Had we known of the crystal, we would have had time to study it, and perhaps learn what manner of power it holds,” Javieri replied.
“You would have learned nothing,” Glyndon said flatly. “Without magic—”
“More can be done without spells than you may think, Varnan,” Javieri said. “So much, at least, we have been forced to learn. Nor are we completely magicless.”
“We acted as we thought best, Your Serenity,” Kayl said with as much courtesy as she could muster.
“And we have little time for more disagreements and recriminations,” Corrana murmured. Her eyes stayed firmly on Glyndon’s face as she spoke.
Javieri looked suspiciously from Kayl to Corrana; then she nodded. “You are right, Elder Sister,” she said. “Ask Alessa and Miracote to join us, please, and Elder Sister Barthelmy. They must be told of this, so that we may consider it while we travel.”
Corrana bowed and left. Javieri turned to Kayl. “May I see this chip of crystal?”
Kayl glanced at Glyndon. “She’ll have to, sooner or later,” Glyndon said with a shrug.
“I’ll get it, then,” Kayl said, and left.
The tent Kayl shared with the children had not yet been taken down; inside, Kayl found Dara, just finishing the packing. “Thank you, dear,” Kayl said. “I’d been wondering when I was going to find time for that. Where did you put your father’s rod?” Kevran’s hiding place had seemed the best spot to leave the crystal; certainly Kayl preferred not to carry it around unprotected.
Dara looked startled, then injured. “In your pack. I wouldn’t take it when you said I couldn’t.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Kayl said quickly. “I want to show it to Elder Mother Javieri, and I didn’t want to disarrange all your bundles looking for it.”
“Oh.” Dara dug for a minute in one of the packs, then pulled out the oilcloth-wrapped rod. “Here it is. Why does Her Serenity want to see it? Can I come, too?”
Kayl hesitated, then nodded. The time for concealment was clearly past. She waited until Dara had resettled the pack, and they left the tent together.
Barthelmy and the Elder Mothers were waiting with Glyndon when Kayl and Dara arrived. Javieri gave Kayl a warning glance, then launched into a brief summary of what Kayl had told her. Kayl noticed that she did not include details of the memory-visions the crystal had brought to Kayl and Glyndon.
Elder Mother Miracote scowled at Kayl and Glyndon when Javieri finished, and even Barthelmy looked somewhat shocked. Javieri raised a hand, and the resentful murmurings ceased. The Elder Mother looked at Kayl and said, “Have you brought it?”
Kayl nodded without speaking and untied the knots that held the wrappings around Kevran’s rod. Javieri frowned as the rod came into view. She opened her mouth as if to speak, then appeared to think better of it. Kayl smiled grimly, and devoted her attention to manipulating the rod through the heavy oilcloth. Carefully, she twisted the ends of the rod.
The rod separated in the middle, and with even greater caution, Kayl tilted the hollow section and shook the chip of crystal onto the center of the oilcloth. She let the pieces of the
rod slide out of her grasp and, still keeping the cloth between her fingers and the chip, held the crystal out for Javieri and the Elder Mothers to look at. The three Elders leaned forward, and after a moment Alessa reached out.
“I don’t think you should touch it,” Kayl said softly, but she did not pull her hands away.
Alessa frowned and glanced at Javieri. “Later, I think,” Javieri said. She looked at Kayl. “I would prefer to begin by discovering whether this crystal affects Elder Sister Barthelmy in the same way you say it did the two of you.”
Javieri’s tone was formal, but it seemed to Kayl that the Elder Mother was requesting, rather than commanding. Kayl nodded. It was only sensible to find out whether the crystal chip had the same effect on all three of those who had been part of the original expedition to the Twisted Tower.
Barthelmy stepped forward, her eyes wary. “It’s not bad,” Kayl said in a low voice. “Just a bit of a shock.” She held out the crystal, and the sunlight made it glitter coldly against the brownish cloth.
Barthelmy forced a smile and touched the tip of her finger to the crystal in Kayl’s protected hands. She stiffened and went pale, then sucked in her breath in a small, involuntary gasp. A second gasp echoed Barthelmy’s, but this one came from beside and just behind Kayl.
Automatically, Kayl lowered her hands and whirled, in time to see a white-faced Dara sway and stumble. Kayl clenched her left hand around the crystal chip and flipped the oilcloth over and around it with her other hand as she stepped forward to catch her daughter in her arms.
Dara clung to her as she had when she was a small child afraid of the Night Men. Kayl murmured soothing words and stroked her hair, while behind them a babble of questions broke out.
“Enough.” Javieri’s voice cut through the hubbub, and the Elder Mothers quieted. “Barthelmy, what happened?”
Dara’s shivering had stopped, so Kayl half turned to hear the answer, keeping a reassuring arm around her daughter’s shoulders. Barthelmy was still pale, and she looked worried, or perhaps frightened. “I… saw the Twisted Tower,” she said slowly. “The interior, when we were there fifteen years ago. But it did not happen as I have remembered it.”
“Ah.” Javieri glanced at Kayl. “How did it happen?”
“We got to the room at the top of the Tower,” Barthelmy said, her expression changing to bewilderment. “There was a huge crystal; Kevran knocked a chip from the corner, and—”
“And the black stuff came!” Dara said, and buried her head in Kayl’s shoulder. “And it calls and calls,” she mumbled against the rough linen of Kayl’s over-tunic.
“What?” Javieri said sharply.
“Let her alone,” Kayl said, her tone a match for the Elder Mother’s. “Can’t you see she’s had a shock?”
“I can see it,” Javieri said dryly. “And I am wondering why. The child was not the one who touched the crystal.” She looked pointedly at Barthelmy.
Barthelmy swallowed, then raised her chin. “It may be the link between teacher and student that is the cause of Dara’s reaction. I have been instructing her in the basics of magic for several weeks.”
“What?” The cry tore from Kayl’s throat, and it was a moment before she realized that Javieri’s voice had joined hers.
“I asked her to, Mother,” Dara said, raising her head.
“Exactly what is it that you have done?” Javieri asked Barthelmy. Her voice was as cold as it had been when she told Kayl that the Sisterhood should have been informed of the crystal’s existence much earlier than it had been.
“I have taught Dara what any foundling child may learn in the Star Halls before her fourteenth birthday,” Barthelmy said, meeting Javieri’s gaze steadily. “The shaping of spells, the words and rituals that mold all magic, and the beginnings of focusing power. Should I have denied her request?”
“I wish you had told us of it,” Javieri said, gesturing to include the other Elder Mothers. She turned toward Kayl and Dara, and her face softened. “Tell us, child, what you felt and saw when Barthelmy touched the chip your mother holds.”
Dara glanced doubtfully at Kayl, then, when Kayl nodded, she said, “It was like I was in a big room made of glass, and I could see people outside through the walls. Then there was a noise like a bell, and the glass cracked, and—and the black stuff came. It was outside, but I could feel it calling through the glass.” Kayl felt her shudder. “I can still feel it. I wish it would stop!”
“Calling?” Javieri said, looking at Barthelmy. “Do you know what she means?”
“I may,” Glyndon broke in, and his tone was grim. As he came forward, Kayl felt an irrational gladness in simply knowing he was present.
“If you know something, tell us,” Javieri said.
Glyndon’s eyes were fixed on Barthelmy. “When you taught Dara the beginnings of focusing her power, did you teach her the Sisterhood’s method of using a name as the channel?” he asked. His voice was hard and shook slightly; he was clearly struggling to contain his anger and only just succeeding.
“Yes, of course I did,” Barthelmy said, sounding puzzled. “And Dara is an apt pupil, the best I have ever had. She—”
“Of course she’s an apt pupil for that kind of magic!” Glyndon said furiously. “She has demon blood!”
Javieri and the other Sisters stared at Kayl and Dara in shocked surprise. Kayl pulled Dara closer and glared back at them, wondering what Glyndon was getting at. Barthelmy went white. “Demon blood… And sklathran’sy are vulnerable through their names! But I didn’t know!”
“You knew,” Glyndon contradicted her flatly. “Or you would have known if you’d bothered to stop and think.”
“No!” Barthelmy insisted. “Dara—”
“Dara is Kevran’s daughter. I was there when Kevran told you about his grandmother; I remember how shocked you were by the whole idea of a Varnan having a child by a demon. But you didn’t want to remember that, did you? And now you’ve put Dara in a position—”
“Glyndon.” Kayl reached up and touched his arm, and Glyndon stopped.
“I’m sorry, Kayl,” Barthelmy whispered. “I didn’t.… If I’d had the slightest suspicion…”
“I know.” It was difficult to say, but Kayl forced herself to do it, because it was the truth. “I didn’t remember it myself until just now.”
“You think the calling the child spoke of has something to do with this… sensitivity of hers?” Miracote asked Glyndon.
“It must,” Glyndon said. He glanced at Barthelmy again and added bitterly, “Though I doubt that it would have happened at all if it hadn’t been for her.”
“Mother, what does he mean?” Dara whispered. “Am I a demon?”
“No, of course not,” Kayl said. “Your great-grandmother was, but that’s a long time ago. Don’t worry; it will be all right.” She wondered whether her reassurances were doing any good. She didn’t feel reassuring; she was angry and frightened and very, very worried. A thought struck her, and she looked at Barthelmy. “What about Mark?” she asked in a voice she hardly recognized as her own.
“Mark wasn’t interested in learning magic,” Barthelmy said hastily.
“He’s been having sword lessons with Demma instead,” Dara said eagerly. Then her face fell and she said in a forlorn voice, “We wanted to surprise you.”
Kayl summoned up a laugh. “Well, you’ve certainly managed it.” She was relieved to know that Mark, at least, was not likely to have felt whatever had touched Dara. She knew, however, that if demon blood were a source of danger, Mark was as much at risk as Dara.
“Not that way,” Dara said indignantly.
Kayl laughed again, glad that Dara seemed to be recovering. “I should hope not.”
“Kayl.” Glyndon had finished whatever he had been saying to the Elder Mothers; now he was looking at Dara again. “Do you think Dara could answer a few more questions now?”
“Dara?” Kayl said.
“All right, Mother,” Dara said.
“You don’t have to, if you’d rather not,” Kayl said, feeling her daughter stiffen slightly.
Dara’s chin came up. “Mark answered questions, when that man in Kith Alunel tried to take him away, and I’m older than he is. I’ll be all right, Mother.”
Glyndon chuckled. “Good,” he said. “Can you tell us anything more about this thing that was calling you?”
“It isn’t calling me,” Dara corrected him. “It’s just calling. I think it’s been calling for a long time, only I couldn’t hear it before.”
“And now you can?”
Dara nodded. “I don’t like it. It sounds just as nasty and awful as it looked.”
“Do you mean you can still hear it?” Kayl interrupted. Dara nodded again, and Kayl turned to Javieri. “That settles it,” she said. “Dara can’t go on to the Twisted Tower, and Mark probably shouldn’t either.”
“We cannot leave her behind alone,” Javieri said. “And there is no one to stay with her.”
“I—” Kayl stopped, knowing that she could not turn back now. She was sure that whatever Dara was feeling came from the black thing in the Twisted Tower, and that it would be dangerous to take Dara any closer. But she was equally certain that leaving the mystery of the Tower unsolved would be even more dangerous, to Dara and everyone else. Kayl could not desert the expedition, but— “I’ll ask Bryn and Alden if they’ll wait here with the children. No one is likely to come by, and they have no need to go to the Tower with the rest of us.”
“No,” Glyndon said. Javieri and Kayl both looked at him in surprise, and he went on, “Dara needs to know as many of the protective spells as she can learn. I can teach her, if she comes with us.”
“We’ll be at the valley in two days,” Kayl objected. “Three at most. How much can you teach her in that time?”
“Quite a bit, I hope,” Glyndon said.
“I learn very quickly,” Dara put in hopefully.
“And what if it isn’t enough?” Kayl retorted. “What if that black thing gets to her somehow?”
“For all we know, that could happen here as easily as in the valley,” Glyndon said. “At least if Dara comes with us I can try to do something about it.”