“Klia said Rhazat kept prisoners down there,” said Alec.
“Most likely.”
“I want to go down there.”
Seregil tilted his head, eyeing the stairs with concern. “There are likely to be snakes, assuming the stonework doesn’t crumble like sugar.”
“I’ll just have to be careful.”
“What’s this ‘I’ business?”
The stairs were still passable and they made it down into the cellar without encountering any snakes. Stone pillars still stood in the center of the main chamber, which had once held up a floor. Empty doorways led off in two directions.
“What are you looking for, Alec?”
Alec glanced around at the shattered stone and shadows. “Some sign of Sedge and the others, I guess.”
They each took a doorway and Alec found himself in a large room lined with what had probably been cells, though the bars had rusted away to nothing. Inside the first few he found bones and a few skulls, protected from the elements and animals, except perhaps for the ancestors of the ravens perched far above them. Here and there he found names or words scratched into the stone, poignant evidence of desperation. Moving from cell to cell, Alec looked for any relic that might give him a clue about who the prisoners had been. In the last cell there were a few more scattered bones. He was turning to go when he saw something scratched into the wall near the cell door that nearly stopped his heart.
Sedge son of Por of Wyvern Dug
Sakor help us
Captain Sedge had been on his way home to finally reunite with his wife and children. Born in the distant territories, he’d gone a thousand years in the past to die, after all he’d been through.
Alec’s eyes stung as he whispered a prayer for the man’s soul, hoping Astellus had led him safely to Bilairy’s gate. He shrugged out of his coat and pulled his shirt over his head to bundle the bones together. He found Seregil in the central chamber, peering at something on the ground.
“I found Sedge’s name scratched on a cell wall, and his bones,” Alec called as he set his bundle carefully on the ground. “These should go to his family.”
“Astellus carry him softly, poor fellow,” Seregil murmured as he joined him. Then, to Alec’s surprise, Seregil slipped a hand around the back of Alec’s neck and rested his forehead against Alec’s for a moment.
“I was never down here,” Alec whispered.
“No, but you could have been.”
They climbed the stairs and found Micum Cavish glaring down at them from his horse. “And just where in Bilairy’s name have you two been?” he demanded. “As if Klia doesn’t have enough to worry about!”
“Just tying up some loose ends,” Seregil told him as he mounted his horse.
“And getting filthy in the process. What did you find down there?”
Alec mounted one-handed and showed Micum the long bundle he carried. “We found Captain Sedge.”
Micum’s anger evaporated. “The poor fellow. After all he went through.”
“How is Thero?” Seregil asked as they set off.
“Alive. Klia and Kordira are with him.” He stroked his moustache. “By the Four, we came close to losing him.”
“We came close to losing all of us,” said Seregil and kicked his horse into a gallop.
Dorin met them in the great hall at Mirror Moon.
“How is Lord Thero?” asked Alec.
“Doctor Kordira is tending to him, my lord.”
Vhadä came clattering halfway down the stairs. “There you are! Lord Thero is awake. Come on!”
Alec hesitated, knowing he stank of sweat, dust, and sex, but Seregil grabbed his elbow and hurried him upstairs to Thero’s chamber.
Klia sat beside Thero on the large bed, holding his hand, and Mika stood on the other side of the bed, elbows on the mattress. Kordira was leaning over the wizard, helping him drink from a cup.
“He’s awake,” Mika whispered.
“So we heard,” Alec whispered back and went with Micum and Seregil to stand at the foot of the bed.
Kordira straightened up, and Alec saw Thero’s face. The wizard was propped up on pillows, looking pale and exhausted. “Alec?” he rasped, opening his eyes. Still pale green, they were cloudy white where the pupil should have been; Thero was blind.
Seregil went to the bed beside Mika and covered Thero’s hand with his own. “Thero, I’m so—”
“Don’t!”
“What happened?” Alec murmured to Micum.
But it was Klia who answered. There was nothing accusing in her voice or expression as she looked up at them, but Alec heard her deep sorrow. “He was shielding Seregil when it happened. Rhazat—”
“Was going to kill Seregil, and I stopped her,” Thero snapped. “Any of you would have done the same for me. It’s not your fault, Seregil, and I don’t want anyone’s pity!”
Rather than pulling his hand away, however, he turned it to clasp Seregil’s. Blind he might be, but Alec could tell from the twitch in the wizard’s wan cheek that he felt the hot tear that fell from Seregil’s eye to spatter on the back of his hand. Alec felt like crying, too.
“I don’t want your guilt, either, Seregil,” Thero said, giving his hand a sharp shake.
“I owe you my life.”
“I have my own, thank you,” Thero replied crisply. “Who else is here besides you and Alec. Micum?”
“I’m here,” said Micum.
“Good. So we all came through alive?”
“Except for Rhazat,” Mika said. “Seregil and Alec chopped her to pieces and I sealed her head and hands in the boxes you brought. We buried the rest.”
“Well done.”
“Mika left out that he saved my life, Thero,” said Alec. “He single-handedly destroyed a dra’gorgos that was about to kill me.”
“But I had to use the red,” Mika said in a small voice.
Thero let go of Seregil’s hand and placed his own on Mika’s head. “I am very, very proud of you.” Then, in a strained voice, “If the rest of you don’t mind, I’d like to be alone with Klia and Mika now. And Alec? Get Seregil down to the baths. You both reek.”
Kordira placed the cup in Thero’s hand. “Drink as much of this as you can.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
She patted Thero’s shoulder and followed Alec and the others out into the corridor, where Vhadä was waiting.
“Fetch clean clothes for me and Alec and take them down to the bathhouse, please,” Seregil said to the boy. Vhadä hurried off to their room.
When he was gone, Seregil turned to Kordira and asked softly, “Is the blindness permanent?”
“Yes, I’m afraid it is. And if you are as good a friend to him as I believe you are, you will honor his request and never burden him with any guilt or pity. You might as well feed him poison.”
Seregil nodded, and Alec followed him downstairs, leaving Micum with the doctor.
Seregil said nothing as they went down the covered walkway to the bath chamber. In silence he stripped off his filthy clothes and settled into one of the two steaming tubs that had been drawn for them. Respecting his silence, Alec undressed and sat down in the other, but kept one eye on Seregil as they washed.
Seregil surfaced from rinsing his hair and lay back against the end of the tub staring up at the painted ceiling. If there were tears on his cheeks, they were lost among the water droplets.
THERE was no reason to hurry back to Rhíminee. Klia returned to Deep Harbor with Thero and Mika to carry out her duties as governor and sent a full report to Queen Elani by fast ship, with a request to return to Skala to bear her child. A week later she received a reply, granting her request but instructing her to remain there until the queen’s arrival in a few months’ time.
Seregil, Alec, and Micum remained at Mirror Moon that summer, except for frequent visits with their friends in Deep Harbor. More ’faie and ya’shel came to the estate, seeking a peaceful place to live out their long days, and joined the others
to build more cottages to handle the growing population. Those who showed magical aptitude were sent off to Thero for training, and the wizard was enjoying the challenge.
Seregil, Micum, and Alec often worked with the builders. Micum had been right. There was the beginning of a respectable little hamlet at Mirror Moon now. Their hands grew callused, and they were all brown as nuts.
One afternoon, as Seregil and Alec sat in the shade of a tree, drinking mugs of the first turab brewed on the estate as they watched the builders at work, Alec turned to him and said, “I think you’re happy.”
Seregil raised a brow at him. “What made you think I wasn’t?”
“You know.”
“Thero and I have had some good talks. It’s not easy for him, but he says that he’s not the first blind wizard, and that he truly doesn’t blame me. I’m not going to dishonor that by moping around. He’s got his own little wizards’ school and a baby daughter on the way. He’s happy, too.”
“Good. But I think there’s more to it than that. I think you like it here.”
“You certainly are doing a lot of thinking today!” Seregil teased.
“I just wondered if you want to stay here.”
“For how long?”
Alec let out an impatient sigh. “I’m asking you if you plan to go back to Rhíminee!”
“You have considerable say in that, Alec. What do you want?”
Alec rested his chin on his knees, gazing out over the hamlet, where men were swinging hammers and planing lumber. Micum had his shirt off and was helping plaster a wall. Women were working with them, or carrying out baskets of excellent food. Sabriel had turned down Thero’s offer of training, much preferring her kitchen kingdom, where she had several new helpers. Mika was back for a visit, and Seregil could hear him and Vhadä laughing somewhere nearby.
“I do like it here,” Alec said at last. “I think we should come back when we can, but I don’t think I’m ready to give up on nightrunning just yet.”
“Me, neither.”
And that was settled.
Elani’s ship and its escorts sailed into Deep Harbor on a hot day in late summer. As soon as the gangway was down she appeared at the head of it, fair and pretty in a green summer frock. She waved, then came down to meet Klia and the others, who stood back to let the royal kin greet each other. Klia also wore a light summer gown, and the front of it showed the gentle swell of her belly. With no silks, jewels, or coronets, they looked like a pair of ordinary young women, delighted to see each other. Elani’s mother followed, and her ladies-in-waiting.
Klia started to bow, but Elani stopped her with an exuberant hug. “I’m so glad to see you well, dear aunt! And Thero, my uncle.” She went to him and took his hands. The wizard smiled and raised her hand to his lips. “You honor me greatly, Majesty. You remember Mika, I’m sure.”
“Brave boy and such a fine wizard already,” Elani said, kissing the boy on the cheek. “I hear they taught you to play bakshi. Seregil has given me some lessons, so we’ll have to have many games while I’m here. And you three!” Seregil, Alec, and Micum, dressed in their best, bowed low, hands on their hearts. “Again, I owe you so much. I’ve heard all about your exploits.”
“We’re honored to serve you, Majesty,” Seregil replied.
She looked closely at Alec. “You’re thin, my lord, and so brown.”
“We’ve been doing a bit of building at Mirror Moon, Majesty. It keeps me fit.”
Elani gave him a knowing look; she and Klia had been corresponding for months and Seregil doubted there was much that the queen didn’t know.
“Mama, you know my friends,” said Elani as Aralain joined them.
The princess gave them a cool nod. “I do. Thank you for your service to the Crown.”
Just then another trio came down the gangway. A priest and priestess of Illior robed in white and wearing their silver masks escorted a young, white-robed girl with a long braid of blond hair. Her eyes were vacant and her companions guided her to stand before Klia and the queen. It was clear she was simple-minded; only the god-touched could channel the voice of the Immortal.
Elani took the young girl’s hand and put an arm around her shoulders. “Behold, my friends, the Oracle of Kouros!”
The others bowed, and the girl laughed and hid her face against Elani’s shoulder.
“The caves are restored,” Klia told her, “and a very nice cottage has been built for her and her attendants. We shall have the dedication at your pleasure.”
“Oh, very soon,” said Elani. “Now let’s see Deep Harbor.”
Two days later Seregil and Alec accompanied the others and the queen to the caves, at the head of an entourage of Elani’s retainers, Mayor Hasen and his wife, and other eminent townspeople. The Oracle and her attendants rode in an open carriage decked with flowers, flanked by Elani and Klia.
The stonework around the entrance to the first cave had been damaged by the earthquake, but had been repaired so skillfully that it was difficult to tell. Members of Klia’s guard flanked the flower-decked altar, where the flame burned, reflected in the basin of clear water beside it. The priest and priestess held a brief rededication ceremony, then accompanied the Oracle, Elani, and Klia inside while the rest waited outside in the sunshine. The third cave had been repaired with a masonry wall that Thero had sculpted to look as it had before the cataclysm. Even blind, he was an artist.
After that followed several weeks of frivolity. Elani was clearly delighted to be away from the constraints and duties of Rhíminee, having left that in the capable hands of her uncle Korathan, the vicegerent. She toured Menosi, but declined to take up residence in the old palace, instead ordering the construction of a small, charming summer palace on a headland near Deep Harbor. She’d brought the architect and a crew of masons and builders with her to begin the task, and hired many more people from the surrounding area.
In the meantime, there were riding parties and picnics, boat rides and hunting. She was very taken with Mirror Moon and spent a week there, which sent the household into a flurry of feasts and pleasant pastimes. Alec had had an archery list built and he and the queen spent many happy hours together there. It was there, after swearing Alec to deepest secrecy, that she confessed that she had a suitor, a young marquis Alec and Seregil had gambled with on occasion. He was a good sort, and Alec promised to keep her secret. She hadn’t told her mother yet. There in the list, dressed for shooting, with her fair hair escaping her braid and fluttering in the light breeze, Alec was struck again by her freshness and light humor, as well as her intelligence. He prayed she did not lose any of that; Skala had had enough of dark times.
The new governor, a capable woman named Archduchess Nurana, arrived as summer began to fade, and it was time for leave-taking. Klia, Thero, and Mika sailed back to Rhíminee with Elani, together with the wizard-born ’faie from Mirror Moon.
Seregil had contracted with a sea captain to carry him, Alec, and Micum back to Skala with a shipment of two dozen fine Mirror Moon horses, destined for Watermead.
On their last night at Mirror Moon, one lit by a yellow late-summer moon, the people of the little village that now took up most of the north meadow held a great bonfire and feast in their benefactors’ honor, and it was a lively affair. Kordira joined them, and even Dorin took part. There were several good fiddlers and drummers among the villagers, and a ya’shel girl who played a reed flute. Seregil and Alec were coaxed into singing as well.
When the feasting was over, Seregil climbed onto one of the tables and shouted for silence, then held down his hand for Alec to join him. They’d shed their coats hours ago in the lingering warmth of the day, and it was good to feel the sea breeze against his skin.
“My dear friends, and you are that,” he began, “Alec and I are so very glad to celebrate with you, for the home you’ve made for yourselves here.”
“We owe it to you, my lords!” a woman shouted, and many others took up the cry.
Seregil smiled and gest
ured for silence again. “That may be so, but we’ve no wish to make dependents of you. You’re free to live and work as you like. That’s all the thanks we need. We very much appreciate your warm hospitality and we have a gift for each of you, if you care to accept it. Anri?”
The weaver and Vhadä came forward with two large baskets of cloth. Anri handed one up to Alec, who shook it out to show the crowd a large square of fine, soft wool, woven with white crescent moons against a sea-blue ground.
“Many of you may not know what this is,” said Alec. He passed his to Seregil and took another from Anri. “These were woven by Master Anri—who’s very good at keeping a secret, by the way—here at Mirror Moon, from the wool of Mirror Moon sheep. The blue dye comes from the shells of sea snails gathered on the seashore.” With that, he and Seregil folded, twisted, and tied them around their heads, with the long tails over their shoulder.
Seregil took up the speech. “These, for those of you too young to know, are sen’gai, the birthright of everyone with a drop of ’faie blood. They are worn to honor Aura Lightbringer, and to show which clan one belongs to. And that’s what you are, my dear friends. You are the clan of Mirror Moon, wearing Aura’s moon and the color of the surrounding sea. Will you accept our humble request, and live as a clan?”
For a moment all he could hear was the sawing of crickets and the breeze. Then Khiria and her sister Sabriel stepped forward and each took a sen’gai from the basket. Turning to face the others, they skillfully copied the style Seregil and Alec used. Willow came forward, took two sen’gai, and gave one to Vhadä. Then she tied hers on like a kerchief.
“Until I learn the fancy way,” she announced, and was greeted with cheers.
Two lines formed as every man, woman, and child queued up to accept a sen’gai. Those who knew how to tie it helped those who didn’t, and within half an hour they looked like a proper clan.
“Your next task will be to elect a khirnari and form a clan council, but that can wait for another day,” said Seregil. “Tonight is for celebrating, so more music and more turab!”