lastkingsamazon (36 page)

“
They don't like you much. Sorry there are only two of them. I suppose I could make more, but I think two will do, don't you?”

I nodded dumbly.

“
They can smell the stone, you see. Smell it anywhere, no matter how far away you are they will come after you. You will hear them coming, the sound vibrating from the stone, into your skull and then to your ears. A reminder that they are out there, coming for you. So,” he said sweetly, “no running away it is then, okay?”

I just stared at them.

“
Good,” he said as though I had agreed with him. “Inside now, and I'll see you tomorrow.”

I went inside. He restored the ward and left.

He took the brandy with him

#

Anyone who has suffered prolonged periods of inactivity will know how the time passed. Pacing, talking to myself, trying to sleep and failing, sweating, shaking, wanting a drink, pacing, breaking things, and so on. I went out onto the balcony. It hurt, like fire in my marrow, and an alarm sounded. The pain faded as soldiers spilled out into the courtyard and looked up. I gave them a cheerful wave and looked about. The view wasn't much but it was better than the four walls behind me.

The town took up much of it, a spread of buildings of various sizes, none bigger than this one. The streets were busy. Life going on as normal, or as normal as it can be under an occupying army. The bulk of the people had merely exchanged one master for another. The army will have soaked up their goods, taken their food stocks, stolen their treasures, filched their possessions, probably taken their women. Armies do all of that, usually. We had laws about loot, and we did not practice rape. Okay, if a legion were let off the leash they would loot and pillage till they were spent but it didn't happen very often. There would be reason for such retribution even if some of those who suffered it were not part of the decision that caused it. In any case the scene was remarkably ordinary. Beyond the walls lay the enemy encampment and I studied them for a while. There wasn't much to see. The army sprawled over a larger area than the city and they were a fair way away from me. Just movement and stillness mixed together. I left them all too it and went back inside.

I took my shirt off and tossed it aside. It was soaked in sweat. Lack of booze to an addict causes all sorts of physical reactions. I felt hot but shivered as though cold, for example. My muscles ached and my head throbbed. My mouth tasted foul and I stank of a sick, stale smell that offended me. There was nothing to do about that. I wasn't tired, not in the sense that I needed sleep at least, but I crawled under the eiderdown and tried to sleep. It was a long time coming.

When the mist swirled and thinned around me I knew what it was, but not where. I couldn't see much. A couple of shafts of light in which dust motes danced. As things cleared I could tell no more than that I was in a large, dusty, empty room. Empty of all but Jocasta She stood in front of me, anxious, her face a picture of concern.

“
Why did you do it?” I said.

“
What?” It wasn't what she had been expecting me to say.

“
Why did you come after me?”

“
Oh, that.” She frowned prettily, looking down. When she looked up she had made some kind of decision, her expression was challenging. “When you were courting my sister I was jealous.”

“
Is that all?”

“
Of course that's not all! Really, Sumto, do you think we should be talking about this now?”

“
Yes. Why did you come after me?”

“
It wasn't just jealousy. You talked to her. I liked the way you talked, what you talked about. She didn't understand. I'm afraid my sister is a bit foolish. But I understood, and I liked what I heard.”

I tried to remember. I can't have said much of importance. It was only one year we visited together, strictly chaperoned. “What, specifically?”

“
You talked about truth. How all beauty comes from truth and all ugliness from lies.”

I remembered now. I had been pretentiously attempting to form my own philosophy. We do not use religion. The fact that we have souls is undisputed fact. But getting sense out of a spirit was like having a conversation with yourself. They turn your own ideas back on you as though deliberately forcing you to understand life, not what comes after it. Perhaps that was exactly what they were doing. In any case, without religion, and knowing that there is an afterlife, what is left as most important is a philosophy validating life itself. Leave the unknowable for when you experience it. I had not found any of the philosophies I had read satisfying, so I had set about developing my own. Truth seemed a good place to start. Facts, actually. Well, I had been talking to a girl so beauty must have crept into the philosophy for her benefit.

“
I was a boy. The truth can be ugly.”

She sighed. “I know that, Sumto, I am not a fool and I wish you would give me some credit. I knew you were wrong, but I also thought you were right, And it got me thinking, and also thinking about the kind of man I wanted for myself. One who valued truth, I reasoned, would at least not try and enslave me with lies.”

It was a phrase I could have used and I said so.

She nodded, smiling. “Good. Now, can we talk about how to get you out of there?”

“
No. So you decided that I was the kind of man you wanted so you had better come get me?”

“
Basically, yes. Done embarrassing me now?”

I smiled. I liked her. Well, I always had but now I saw why. “I'm glad, though I think you have made a bit of a bad bargain. Throwing away your place in society for someone who may not live to continue life as a bad drunk.”

For a second I thought she would slap me, but that would be pointless of course. “Stop it. You are better than that. You will find a way or I will find a way, and with your reputation what matters it that mine is in tatters?”

I grinned. “Not much,” I agreed.

“
That's what I thought. Now, how are we going to get you free?”

“
Did you think about illusory spell forms?”

“
What are you talking about now?”

I sighed in exasperation, running my hand over my face. “I told you about this.”

“
What's that?”

“
What?”

She pointed to my forehead, coming closer. “In your forehead? What is it? A stone?”

“
Yes. Mine or yours. They can use it to find me. And there are dogs; enhanced. I can hear them when they growl or bark or howl, but otherwise I forget it's there.”

“
It's mine,” she said. “Can you use it?”

“
Does it matter? Now, about illusory spell forms. I told you. It was an idea I had. Pay attention,” she was still looking at my forehead. “Spirits can see them and...”

I snapped awake. Someone was standing over me, shaking me. I slapped them away and sat up.

“
Awake now? Good.” Larner had stepped back from the bed. “So, about teaching. Ready to start? I can't wait to find out what you know. Maybe learn a thing or two. I must admit I was surprised to be told you had your own loupe. Never would have thought it. With your reputation I suspected you were a waster; an idle, drunken waster at that. But all the time you were learning. What college?”

“
Go away.” I told him.

“
Well, I could, I suppose. But I brought you a present.” He pulled a hip flask out of his pocket and waved it enticingly just out of reach. “Want some? Just a sip in here but better than nothing, eh? Now tell me something useful and you can have a drop...”

I refused. He talked some more, pressing me. I got angry, impatient for him to go and leave me alone. Eventually he did and I was left to my miserable, drink-free existence.

#

Thinking was difficult. Well, no. Thinking was easy, my brain would not stop, but concentration and focus were entirely lacking from the process. My mind jumped from one memory to the next, to wanting a drink, to hating my captives, to hating my father, to resenting myself for putting myself in this position. Settling on anything concrete and using reason to move forward was impossible, yet something good came of the day. Remembering Jocasta's question I cast a cantrip, removing foreign matter from my teeth. It worked. So I had eight useless cantrips up my sleeve, and clean teeth. Wonderful. I didn't know a single useful spell and the stone in my forehead was no good for much more than what little I did know. There was no doubt about it, my father was right. I was useless.

#

The last person I expected to step into the room was Sapphire. I'd been having problems with illusions but I knew the difference. They sneaked into your awareness out of the corner of your eye, and turned into something innocuous like a pen when you focused on them. I had not looked up at the sharp cries and thumps outside my door. I had not been able to muster the interest. But Sapphire was large as life and bold as brass. He had my attention just by existing. There was a vitality about him that glowed brighter than a bonfire. He moved quickly but without seeming to hurry. Wearing just a pair of trousers and holding a knife, he turned and shut the door behind him. His body was a mass of cuts and bruises, some of them days old. As he walked toward me I could see through the spattering of blood on his face that his nose had been broken recently, a day or two ago I judged. His eyes were blackened, his lip split, he had a gash on his cheek that had scabbed over, part of one ear was missing. He was smiling and I could see that a couple of teeth had been pulled.

“
What the hell are you doing here?”

“
Playing,” he said cheerfully. “If they want me they had best know what they are getting, right?”

I had no idea how to respond to that.

He crossed the room, heading for the balcony.

“
Did you escape?” It was a stupid question.

“
Not yet. You coming?”

I pointed to the stone in my forehead. “They can follow me.”

He nodded once, dismissing the matter of my company entirely. It was plain, like the decision was written on his face. It was the most animated I had ever seen him. He looked like he was enjoying himself, a boy playing at chase. I wondered if the world had always been mad and I had just never noticed.

“
If I see anyone who needs to know I'll tell them,” he said.

I was on my feet. I'd been lying on the bed when he appeared and had stayed there but that just didn't seem right. I was dizzy and walking was hard. He was hurt yet moved like a panther on the prowl.

“
What are you trying to achieve?”

“
Good question,” he tossed over his shoulder as he passed out of sight. “What are you trying to achieve?”

Nothing.