"It was a spring day about two years ago, and I was feeling particularly restless. I can't say why; perhaps there wasn't really a reason beyond the fact my life was stagnating with nothing on the horizon that suggested anything different. I always found walking a good way to release my tension, better than hitting the Widow Heltine, who always had something nasty to say whenever she saw me. She had this idea I had my eyes on her precious son, and I was only a poor nobody, not good enough to curtsey to her Ignacio."
She paused then and gave Jhond and Ninian an apologetic shrug. "Sorry, you can see how that still annoys me two years later. Anyhow, I often roamed through the woods and occasionally climbed the path up into the foothills. That day, I kept climbing, never knew why, but I found myself outside the entrance to the nunnery; a place that's long been avoided, considered unsavory, a place to be shunned.
"I thought I'd walked off my anger, but something--some lingering frustration at my circumstances, I suppose--made me ignore my own misgivings, and when the rain came I simply walked under the archway into the grounds looking for shelter.
"Instead of feeling afraid, I was only intrigued and began to explore the place, wondering what it was everyone found so disturbing. There was nothing there but moldering stone and crumbling wood. I ventured inside, thinking perhaps the nuns had left some belongings behind, but there was nothing but dust, bits of broken furniture and mildewed old curtains at the filthy windows.
"Gradually, I went farther inside, discovering the steps to the lower floors, and at last I made a discovery--a room lined with shelves that I gathered had once been the library, though the books were long since gone. In one corner sat a desk, thick with dust. There were six drawers, three each side, and I pulled them open, one after the other. The first one was stiff, and I was about to give up when I swore in anger, and abruptly I yanked open the drawer I was struggling with. Annoyingly, it was empty. Still, I checked the other drawers, which now opened easily enough. Until I came to the last drawer, and still it would not budge."
She stared at Ninian, and he sensed her disquiet. "I thought of it as only a curse word, but now I wondered if it was something more. Partly in curiosity and partly as a jest I repeated that word, twice, three times, as if..." She stopped. Took a deep breath. "I shivered when the drawer opened. Even now I'm not sure if that was simple reaction or if I truly felt cold. Inside was a book."
"What was the word?" Jhond asked, and at the same time, Ninian said, "What was the book?"
To Jhond, she replied, "Quiera."
"The name of the ancient Goddess of Dreams and Weaver of Fate," Jhond said.
She frowned. "I had no idea then it was a name. I thought it just meant 'damned bad luck.'"
Ninian explained. "To put it simply, in the old times, you called on the goddess to give you good dreams, and if you had a particularly useful one, you asked her to make the dream come true. If she thought you deserved it, she acquiesced, and you thanked her by making a small offering. Over time, it became acceptable to ask her to give your enemies bad dreams and to importune her to make them reality. Eventually, as belief in the gods and goddesses faded, many prayers became twisted and turned into curses and swear words, such as wishing
damned bad luck
on someone."
Remelin looked pensive, and Ninian asked again, "What was the book?"
"It was a history of the nunnery. It didn't make sense that a simple history would be hidden so, and my curiosity was piqued. Though it wasn't easy to read--the language was archaic--but I was really intrigued and just had to know what I'd found. As I read random pages, I began to understand a little. I discovered Quiera was the name of a goddess and that the nuns were in service to her. The early part of the book described how generous and wonderful she was to those who worshipped her. Then I read a bit about how confused some of the nuns were when the goddess began to accept requests to send bad dreams, horrifying dreams. It went against everything they thought she stood for.
"I skimmed the next part of the book until, toward the end of the book, I read an entry that talked about the destruction of all the nuns believed in, how the people no longer believed in the word or honor of the goddess, how she had failed them."
"So you didn't bother to read the full history and therefore don't know the whole story," Jhond commented.
Remelin shrugged. "I learned enough to know it didn't really concern me. It was all past history and had nothing to do with my miserable life. I was frustrated that all my effort had so little result and shoved the book back in the drawer. I no longer feared the nunnery and proceeded to investigate it fully. It was obvious I was the first person who'd been inside the place since the Lords know how long." She stopped, flushing a little. "Sorry, just shows how frustrated I was.
"Still am," she added under her breath, but they heard her.
"There's more, isn't there?" Ninian asked.
"Yes. Disappointed that I didn't find anything of particular interest, I opened the drawer again and took out the book. I don't really know why. I flipped the pages and shook it in case anything was hidden inside, but there was nothing. I thought I'd read the last entry and was just flipping to the end when I saw more words. I glanced at it, assuming it was just some kind of end note, but it wasn't." She looked down at the table where her hands were gripping the edge tightly.
"Go on," Ninian encouraged gently.
"It looked as if it had been scribbled down by someone in a great hurry. It was hard to read, yet somehow I knew it was important that I do so. It turned out to be instructions on how to find the hiding place of another book, and considering how I discovered the information, I felt compelled to find it."
Ninian glanced at Jhond, who lifted an eyebrow.
"The history book is still in the drawer?" Ninian asked.
"Must be," she replied.
"Where did the message say the hiding place was?"
"In the cellar, where you found me."
"And what was this book?" Ninian asked. He sensed he wouldn't like the answer.
"There wasn't a title on the cover. It appeared to be a personal journal written by one of the nuns, a Sister Eurebia. It was very old, though, predating the destruction of the nunnery by about two centuries. I found a slip of paper partway through the book, as if it had been used as a bookmark, and there was a name on that--Sister Jennifal." She paused, taking another sip from her goblet. "I read the page where the bookmark was, just a reaction, but I found it intriguing." She looked thoughtful, as her voice faded.
"Why?" Ninian pressed.
Remelin blinked, as if she'd forgotten for a moment she wasn't alone. "The page made reference to the ancient powers of magistry. Spoke of it as if wasn't just a legend, as if were real. It talked of learning to create spells and then there were a few words in a language I'd never seen before. I was fascinated, so I took the book back upstairs to the library. I hadn't felt comfortable in the cellar; at least the library had a desk and chair. I had intended to start to read the beginning of the book then, but realized how dark it had become while I was in the cellar. I had nothing to use for light. I thought for a moment about taking the book back home with me, but something warned me that might be dangerous."
"Something warned you?" Jhond queried.
"I didn't mean some
thing...
I only meant I felt uneasy about removing it from the nunnery, so in the end, I put it back in the cellar where I'd found it."
"Are you sure about that?" Jhond queried.
She looked confused. "About why I felt uneasy?" Her eyes widened as she realized what he meant. "Are you trying to say that
something
did make me feel that way?"
"It's possible." Jhond glanced at Ninian, who nodded. He knew just what Jhond was referring to. "Both Ninian and I have sensed something in the nunnery from the moment we arrived."
"Something?" Remelin queried, and Ninian felt her disquiet.
"We've not had the opportunity yet to discern more, but we weren't alone there, and I suspect you never have been either," Ninian said.
"What? What do you mean?" Her expression was a mixture of fear and confusion.
"I mean I think it's time we found out." Jhond turned to Ninian. "You ready to do a little investigating?"
"Yes. In the cellar?"
Remelin glanced from one man to the other, confusion morphing into excitement as she came to understand what they meant. "You're going to cast some spells, aren't you? Like you did before when you removed that...ward? Can I come with you?"
Jhond stared at her. "I insist on it."
Ninian understood Jhond believed she was an important part of the equation. It was, of course, possible what was lurking in the cellar, and possibly even the bowels of the mountain, had been there long before Remelin arrived, but it was also possible her presence had enticed it here.
Without another word, Jhond got to his feet, turned and waited by the door. It didn't take Ninian more than a few seconds to negate his spell and Remelin's cottage returned to its normal state without the additional furniture. Then he gestured Remelin should precede them, and she led them back to the nunnery. At Jhond's direction, she took them straight down to the cellar.
It seemed darker than before, and as Ninian tossed up another jewelite, he wondered if it was because he believed there was some evil intent at work there.
"Where is the book kept?" he asked.
Remelin pointed to a spot halfway up the wall behind him where one of the stone blocks had been removed. The block lay on the floor at the base of the wall. Inside the opening, he could see the leather-bound volume.
Ninian noted Jhond also saw the book, but Jhond simply turned away to glance around the space for a moment before saying to Remelin, "Put your belongings in the corner and make yourself comfortable there." He pointed to the center.
She looked puzzled, but instantly dropped her pack and cloak, then trudged to stand in the middle of the cellar.
"Sit cross-legged," Ninian added. "Relax as much as you can. All will be well."
She sat down, took a breath and rested her hands in her lap.
"Good, good," Jhond murmured. "Ninian."
Ninian took three small jars out of his small backpack and then left it beside Remelin's in the corner. He passed one of the jars to Jhond, who stepped away to stand a short distance from Remelin. Ninian slipped the second one into his pocket before he began to shake out rock salt from the last jar to form the first circle.
"What's that you're doing?" she asked.
"Did your readings make no mention of power circles?"
"There was something about protection spell rings. I didn't understand what that meant, but I assumed it was something you did after you'd mastered the casting of spells."
Ninian paused and smiled at her. "That would be back to front. Most spells can't be cast without the protection of a power circle, a protection ring. Even Jhond and I need a circle for certain kinds of spells."
Remelin watched carefully as he completed the circle. Almost as the last grains of rock salt fell, Jhond commenced to create the inner circle.
"What is that?" Remelin asked staring at the black dust.
Jhond hesitated and stared at her. "Black basalt, powdered in a mortar blessed by blood and then washed in water consecrated in the name of the Lords."
"Oh, there was nothing about things like that in my readings."
"Which is why your spells would never work properly."
Remelin sat up straighter, her expression one of awe as she watched Jhond complete the smaller circle. "I thought I read enough to understand what was needed; clearly, I was remiss."
"Here's the final necessity for a protection circle," Ninian said, as he took the third jar from his pocket. After opening it, he dipped a finger inside and began to draw sigils on the stone floor between the two circles.
After a minute or so, Remelin said, "Oh, I recognize some of those markings. Magic signs in the ancient tongue."
"You're almost correct," Jhond explained, as Ninian continued to work. "Sigils are representations of magistry, a short way of displaying a spell, combining spells, bringing a spell into being. They can have other uses, too, like calling on power or adding to one's strength. In this case, they're meant for protection for all within this circle and to keep out any encroaching threat."
Ninian stood up, stretched and nodded at Jhond. Then he sat cross-legged where he was between the two circles, as Jhond walked over to sit opposite Remelin in the center.
"Why does Ninian not join us here?" Remelin asked.
"Because he can't cross the inner circle once it's closed. If I had been alone making the circle, I'd have left a small break to enter the inner circle through after I had drawn the sigils and then closed it behind me."
"Is he safe?"
"Thank you for your concern, but I'm perfectly safe." Ninian smiled and added, "I'm considered a very competent mage, and the sigils I've drawn are powerful magistry."
"This is all so new and, to be honest, rather scary," she admitted.
"Good," Jhond said. "Being a mage should never be taken lightly."
"As the Eynan should know," Ninian added with a raised eyebrow.
Jhond grinned. "That's Ninian's way of reminding me that he had to teach me most everything I know."
"Really?" Remelin said, staring a Ninian with new respect.
"Only until I sealed him as the Eynan. Now I must bow to his superior skill."
"It sounds as if I couldn't be in safer hands."
Why at Remelin's confident statement did Jhond suddenly feel a chill? He brushed it off as a touch of nerves. Even the Eynan had feelings, just like the next man. Except he wasn't just like the next man. He shook his head to chase the uncomfortable thoughts away.
"Jhond?" Ninian sounded as confused as Jhond felt.
"Ready," Jhond said, determined to get his mind back on the job at hand.