Quest for the King (22 page)

For a long time Gerachti frowned upward, working out the route
of their ascent. He began the climb a little distance from the falling
water, where the ascent was less than vertical. They formed a line, Gerachti leading and picking his way carefully round the pool, pausing to look up from time to time. He was followed by Wesley, Lisa and
Kurt, and behind them came Belak and Alleophaz. Soon they were
tackling the wet and steep ascent, taking infinite care. Gerachti chose
his way with caution, and stopped often to shout careful instructions.

They slipped frequently, scraping their shins, knees and elbows.
Though they moved at a snail's pace they grew short of breath, and
in spite of the coolness found beads of sweat running down their
faces. Only the strong Gerachti was accustomed to using his fingers
and arms so much, and the rest wasted much of their energy in
inefficient movements.

At one point it was possible to pause, and they stood almost together, panting.

"The worst is over, I think," Gerachti shouted over the powerful
roar of the water. "The remainder should be easier."

He was wrong. The worst section of all came immediately before
they reached the column. Using his tremendous physique, Gerachti
succeeded in reaching a sort of broad ledge over which the column
hovered, ten or fifteen feet away and right next to the falling water.
With incredible agility, he pulled himself onto the ledge by little more
than his fingertips.

"I can't do that!" Wesley muttered to himself, dismayed. "I can't
even reach the ledge!"

Gerachti grinned, then lay full length above Wesley and reached
down to him. "Grab my wrists," he yelled, "and I will grab yours!"

Wesley seized the thick, dark and powerful wrists, and then Gerachti used his great strength to haul Wesley up. "Now, release my wristsI will still hang on to you. Get a grip on the ledge and pull!"

The ledge was wet and slippery, but Wesley's fingers held firm.
Once he was sure that Wesley's grip would hold, Gerachti shifted his
own hold to Wesley's upper arms, and pulled. Wesley scrambled onto
the ledge, exhausted, breathless and grateful. Then one by one, and
in the same manner, Gerachti helped the rest to follow.

But when, having recovered their strength, they turned to look at the column of smoke, they had more reason to be dismayed. It hovered above the ledge on which they stood, right against the waterfall.
Then it disappeared into the waterfall itself, only to reappear. Again
it vanished into the wall of water, and came back. Then it disappeared
a third time, and they waited in vain for its return.

A minute passed, then two. "It's gone!" Kurt's voice was edged with
panic.

"I believe it is telling us it is safe to go forward!" Alleophaz called
back.

"Safe?" Belak was shaking, partly from exhaustion, partly from fear,
and they were all filled with deep uncertainty.

But not Alleophaz, who turned his untroubled face toward the falls.
"Perhaps the time has come for me to lead the way," he yelled above
the roar. Gently working his way past the others on the ledge, he stood
beside the tumbling water, his body misted in spray. For a moment
he hesitated. Then, as he moved forward they caught a glimpse of him
framed against splaying water-and he was gone, and again they
waited. Long seconds later he returned, treading very carefully on the
rough but slippery stone. Rivulets of water streamed down his face
and drained from his drenched robes.

"It is not at all bad!" he cried as he drew near them. "I expected
a far greater weight of water, but there is very little falling just there!"

"Very little?!" This time the protest came from Kurt

Alleophaz started to laugh, and controlled himself only with difficulty. "Take care how you place your feet," he yelled. "Test every step.
The ledge is very slippery."

Grinning briefly at Wesley, he turned and disappeared. Wesley
drew a tremulous breath and walked into the wall of water. He felt
the shock of the icy water, and suddenly wondered if he had walked
into a dream-for a few seconds he felt he was somewhere in the air
above his body, looking down on himself, watching himself below
with perfect calm.

Then, with equal suddenness, the water was gone and he was back
inside himself, moving toward the smiling figure of Alleophaz. On his left was a gleaming, dazzling, sunlit wall of water, like a vast translucent window illuminating the high-ceilinged chamber around them.
Though water splashed fiercely against the rocky ledge, behind the
waterfall the roar was greatly subdued. They could talk rather than
shout.

"Here is Lisa!" Alleophaz said. Wesley turned to see her emerge,
gasping with the shock of the cold and dripping water. He grabbed
her hands to steady her, and swung her closer to him. She was followed by Kurt. Then came Belak, who fell heavily onto his back,
slipping slowly sideways with his lower half in the chamber and the
rest of him lost to view. Wesley and Kurt grabbed his feet and pulled
him through the wall of water.

Inside, and out of danger, Belak struggled to his feet just as Gerachti
joined them. Suddenly they began to talk, and then laugh as they
moved into a dry area of rock away from the falls. Even Belak, who
had been badly scared by his narrow escape, joined in the laughter
and talk. For a few minutes they seemed unaware of the fact that they
were very cold.

Then a man's voice rang out. "You are under arrest!"

Emerging from a low tunnel the travelers had not even noticed, an
older officer stood at the rear of the chamber, flanked by six soldiers
with drawn swords.

A good hour passed before Mary's sobs subsided. As she tried to get
words out she said things like, "I'm s-so-oh-oh f-fri-fri-frightened," but
mostly she just sobbed. Lady Roelane stood stroking her hair and
rocking her. Later, Lady Roelane sat in a chair while Mary knelt on
the floor and rested her head in the lady's lap.

Her torrential sobbing would die down for a brief period, then
begin again, working itself to yet another peak, each crisis more
subdued than the one before. Finally there was no sobbing left, only
the strange spasms of breath that follow prolonged weeping.

Mary raised her head at last, and saw the mess her tears and running nose had made of the Lady Roelane's gown. Her tears began
again as she sobbed. "Oh-1-I-look what I've done to your 1-lovely drdr-ess!"

Lady Roelane rose to her feet, pulled several of her husband's
handkerchiefs from one of the bags and passed most of them to Mary. "Oh, it is a small matter. The dress was due to be washed in any case.
Come sit with me in the window seat." And there they sat without
speaking, the woman's arm round Mary and the girl's head resting
against Lady Roelane's shoulder.

Mary's mind went back to that awful, awful night when her stepmother sent her away forever to the Friesens in Winnipeg-people
she had never met before. At supper she had been in a foul mood,
and had stormed out of the dining room in a rage. Then, in a strange
adventure that she had never been able to explain, her bed had
behaved in just the same way Lady Roelane had, cradling her and
rocking her.

"An' then Gaal came striding across the snow," she said softly as
the memory came to her. "It was ever so pretty. He lit everything up
so that the crystals of snow flashed gorgeous colors-only I'm not
really describing it properly-not like it really was."

If Lady Roelane (who could have had little idea what Mary was
talking about) was confused, she gave no sign of it. She said nothing,
but quietly and gently stroked the girl's hair with her free hand.

"He gave me the Sword of Geburah," Mary continued, "and told me
to give to Wesley-he's not the real Sword Bearer, you know, my
Uncle John's the real Sword Bearer." She sighed. "I hope we find him,
even if that old lady's with him. An' then he-I mean Gaal, not Uncle
John-Gaal gave me a poem to remember and messages to give the
Friesens."

Again there was silence, and Lady Roelane's own thoughts began
to wander. She could faintly hear the sound of the two men talking
in the next room, and wondered what it was they were discussing. Why
would the duke want to talk to her husband? Mary had been talking
for some time when Lady Roelane began to listen once more.

". . . he's only trying to use you, y'know. It seems like kindness, but
it's not really."

"Oh?" Lady Roelane, bothered by her inattention, was not sure
what else to say

"Sure. He never actually gives you power. Not like the witch did. She was great. Mirmah, I mean. She gave me a ball and chain, an' I could
go wherever I wanted with it."

Lady Roelane smiled. "That sounds like a rather strange idea-a
ball and chain to go wherever you want!"

"Oh, no, not that kind of ball and chain. What she gave me was
a tiny crystal ball, a sort of pendant. When I threw it into a fire it would
swell up and show a scene inside it. Then I would walk into the
scene."

"You mean she let you go anywhere you wanted?"

"Oh, she asked me to do one or two things for her-"

"But other times you were free to choose?"

"Well, no, not really."

"Then how do you know that this witch was doing not the very same
thing you just accused someone else of doing-simply `using' you?"

"Well, I could escape if I wanted to."

"Did you ever try?"

"Yes, I did. An' what's more, I almost didn't make it!"

"Then it sounds to me as though escape is the right word. The witch
does not sound like such a wonderful person, after all."

"I know. Gaal said the same thing-or was it Queen Suneidesis?
She said I didn't own the crystal ball, but it owned me. Hm!"

Then for several minutes she said no more. A look of contentment
began to steal across her face, and her tears began to dry. When she
spoke again, she frowned a little. "She told me that was exactly what
the witch wanted to do-to own me and use me. It was a risk, an' it
could've gone wrong. But-" she groped in her mind for a phrase"but you know, that's the way the cookie crumbles!" The phrase sounded
good, and she felt she had scored a point.

Lady Roelane drew in a deep breath. "Mary, a few minutes ago you
were sobbing your heart out and telling me you were very frightened.
But you have not yet told me what it was you were frightened aboutdid it have something to do with witchcraft? Just what were you and
the captain talking about?"

"I told him about wanting to meet the sorcerers here, an' he told me his daughter was dead-offered as a sacrifice on the altar outside
the temple three years ago."

"Oh, Mary!" A shocked and frightened shadow crossed Lady Roelane's face. "I can understand why you were frightened. I had heard
that matters were not well in the temple. Do you know that the temple
was originally built to worship the Changer-Emperor? I had no idea
how far things had gone."

There was a long pause. Eventually she spoke again, but absently,
almost as though she had forgotten Mary's presence. "You know, I
should have realized. Bamah is to be destroyed, even the temple-the
prophecies the queen has talked about make it plain. Mary, a little
while ago you talked about someone using you. The way you said the
word use made what you said sound evil-unclean, cruel, as though
the person who used you, who made use of you, did not really care
for you. As though he saw you more like a slave than a real servant.
Or even worse than a slave-perhaps as a machine."