Daughter of Magic - Wizard of Yurt - 5 (21 page)

“This is Daimbert,” said Elerius, “the wizard who invented the far-seeing telephone.”

His king looked momentarily interested but not very much so, and in a minute he wished us al a pleasant dinner and left.

Antonia, exhilarated and exhausted, fel asleep in the middle of the soup course. I cradled her on my lap, too relieved and too weary to feel much like eating myself, and wondering how one little girl could at the same time be so adorable and so exasperating.

“Lady Maria thought she was giving me a ‘change’ the other day by taking me to Caelrhon,” said the Princess Margareta excitedly. “But how many times have I been to that city before, a thousand, a milion?

Where does she think I live? But this!” She giggled. “This realy was a change! And now I know al about flying carpets, Justinia, just like you do.”

“I hadn’t realized you were teaching your niece magic, Wizard,” said Gwennie. “Isn’t it rather unusual for girls to learn magic?” Elerius caught my eye, lifting one eyebrow but saying nothing.

I had telephoned Yurt as soon as we reached the castle. The queen had answered the phone herself, emerald eyes concerned. “Everyone’s fine,” I had said quickly. “No problems at al. You’l hear al about it when we’re home. Anything happening there?”

But everything was quiet in Yurt. I caled Evrard next, to reassure him as wel. Theodora I would tel when I saw her. One more thing, I thought with a sigh, that I was keeping from her.

“When I take over Father’s principality,” said Hildegarde, “I think I’l get a flying carpet of my own. But wil I need an eastern mage rather than a western wizard? Just think, Celia, if you don’t go into the nunnery you can ride on my carpet whenever you come to visit, once you’re a duchess.”

Elerius was the perfect host, serving us himself.

When I asked, in a low voice shielded by the general conversation, if he had taught Antonia to fly the carpet, he only smiled and said, “I have never taught anyone the spels for a flying carpet.” Gwennie looked more cheerful than she had in weeks. “I must say, Wizard,” she said to me, “that I didn’t think Antonia meant it when she said she could take us to see a dragon! We didn’t actualy see one,” she added regretfuly, “and considering that she didn’t seem to be able to steer maybe it’s just as wel the wizard came along when he did, but it certainly made for a more interesting afternoon than putting away the laundry!”

Elerius’s constable was able to find rooms for al of us in the castle, and in the morning we set out to return to Yurt. “Antonia,” I told her firmly in my best wizardly voice, “I think it’s time for you to go home.

I’ve realy enjoyed having you at the castle this week, but you took off without teling me where you were going. I’m afraid I just can’t alow that.”

“But I told you I was going!” she protested, giving me a sidelong look, as though knowing perfectly wel she had been disobedient but confident she could stil get out of it. I had sometimes felt that way myself.

Justinia directed her own magic carpet, her automaton riding with her, keeping its pace slow to match the air cart where the rest of us were crowded. Quite understandably, she insisted that the girl was not to ride on the carpet again.

“You said that your friends would like to see a dragon, Antonia,” I said, not about to be won around, “but you didn’t say anything about taking them there on a flying carpet, and you didn’t even give me a chance to come along if I’d wanted.”

The sky was overcast, and I hoped we would make it home before it rained. Antonia whirled from me to Hildegarde. “But I want to stay with her.” Hildegarde shook her head. “I’m afraid Celia and I are going to be busy for a while. By now our parents wil have heard that she wants to be a nun, and they’re either furiously telephoning Yurt or else riding right down from Father’s principality.”

“Then I’l stay with you" cried Antonia, turning to Gwennie.

I turned her around toward me again. “We’l drop everyone else off and go straight to Caelrhon,” I said slowly and clearly.

Antonia frowned darkly for a moment, but then her expression cleared. “I can tel my friend Jen al about the castle. And I can see the Dog-Man again!” It grew darker as the day moved on, and the air felt much too cold for this time of year. The air cart’s pace slowed as its wings had to beat against a strong east wind. The women shivered, though I kept Antonia warm in my arms—she did a good job of keeping my chest warm too. But whatever storm was building did not yet break. We landed in the castle courtyard under a lowering sky, and everyone turned out to greet us. They were too pleased to see us al safe to start taking me apart at once, though I was discouraged to see the king showing more solicitude to Justinia than to Gwennie.

I paused only long enough to colect Antonia’s things, then took off for the city, leaving the others to give the details of our adventure. The duchess had indeed telephoned, leaving a message that Celia was not to do anything until she arrived.

The sun never had shone through the clouds, and I wanted to get to Caelrhon before it realy did begin to storm. Besides, the sooner I faced Theodora the better. Probably I should go around to the cathedral and apologize to Joachim too if he’d even agree to see me. He’d forgiven me for a lot of things in the past, although in this case I hadn’t just insulted the bishop himself but someone under his direction.

Antonia was not reconciled to going home in disgrace—she kept hoping I would change my mind until we were actualy in the air—and hugged her Doly rather than me as we flew along. “It’s for your own good,” I tried to reason with her. “Your mother said you should do what I said, and you didn’t. Suppose Elerius hadn’t been able to stop the carpet, and you’d ended up flying for days and days across the Outer Sea until you either fel off or died of hunger?”

“You never told me not to fly the carpet,” she replied indignantly, her chin trembling only the slightest amount But she sprang from the air cart with a glad cry and threw herself into her mother’s arms when I set the air cart down in the quiet cobbled street of the artisans’ quarter of Caelrhon. And she agreed only slightly reluctantly to kiss me good-night once she had been fed and washed.

I told Theodora everything that had happened, sitting again on her couch with my arm around her, the room bathed in the glow of the magic lamp. The only part I didn’t tel her was the bishop deciding that he had had lustful thoughts about her for years without realizing he did. It began at last to rain, a cold, fitful drizzle, and the wind howled in the chimney. At several points Theodora took a deep breath and started to lean forward, but she always settled back again against my arm without speaking. “Wel,” she said at last, her cheerful tone sounding almost normal, “it sounds as though Antonia’s visit to Yurt was a little more exciting than I had expected. But everyone is fine now, and that’s what’s important. Shal I make us some tea?”

As we sipped our tea, its warmth welcome this cold night, she suddenly said, “I’l have to try to find out what spels Elerius taught her.”

“But he said—” Then I realized Theodora was quite right. When I returned to Yurt two days ago, my rooms had been thick with magic. Elerius would not just have shown off for Antonia. He had decided to win her affection by teaching her spels.

“Were you learning magic when you were five?” Theodora asked, pouring more tea.

“I must have been twelve or so,” I said slowly, remembering back. It had been years since I’d thought about this. “An old magician who sometimes worked the street corner for pennies showed me how to make an ilusory gold coin in return for quite a pile of real copper coins. As I recal, I’d been saving them for months.” I promptly made Theodora an ilusory gold coin of her own to show I hadn’t lost the knack.

“But remember that I grew up in the great City, nearly in sight of the wizards’ school, where it perched on a pinnacle at the center of town. I’d always dreamed about learning magic, of being one of the very wise masters we would occasionaly see, or even one of the student wizards who were always getting into trouble with the city Guardians after spending too long in the taverns. After my parents died and it was clear that the choices were to help my grandmother run our wool import house or else go up to the school and beg the Master to take me on, the decision wasn’t difficult.”

“And what would the Master say,” asked Theodora, “if our daughter asked him to take her on?”

“Wel, they’ve never had a woman there. I’ve told you they mention the possibility from time to time, but either no women have applied or else they haven’t been the right ones.”

“That is,” said Theodora, mostly to herself, “they haven’t been women who are in fact men.”

“That may change, though,” I continued thoughtfuly. “They’ve always thought extremely wel of Elerius, and I know he’s got plans of his own to start revitalizing the school once he has a position of power there—which he’s certain to have soon. Maybe he was teaching Antonia magic because he intends to have women in the school when he’s in charge.”

“Or maybe,” said Theodora, giving me a quick look, “he’s trying to get a hold over you through her. Didn’t you just suggest something of the sort yourself?” The rain tapped against the dark panes, and somewhere down the street a dog howled mournfuly. I wondered irrelevantly if it was the dog Cyrus had brought back to life. “She is good, Daimbert. I’ve taught her a little of what you cal my witch magic, and she learned it far faster than I ever did. If she starts on school magic too she’l soon be far ahead of me.”

“If I came and stayed here more often I could give you private tutoring in school magic,” I suggested with a smile.

“Maybe I’ve already learned just about al of your magic I particularly care to learn!” she replied saucily.

I puled her to me, nuzzling her hair, but thinking about Elerius and Antonia. I could try to teach our daughter myself, but if she realy had a flair for magic she deserved to be taught by a better wizard than I was. I had never trusted Elerius, but if he was planning to get women into the school he might be Antonia's best chance for the education she deserved.

But then I chuckled. “Maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. She’s only five.”

“Yes,” said Theodora. “A five-year-old girl who already knows enough magic to steal a flying carpet.”

III

The clouds were even heavier the next morning although the rain had ceased. Theodora settled down to her sewing almost on top of the magic lamp. “Couldn’t you try some weather spels on this?” she asked. “Nobody’s going to be able to see anything al day.”

“Wel, I don’t like to affect the weather unless it’s for something important like saving a crop,” I started. “After al, the spels can have unexpected results—” But then I stopped. Suppose Cyrus was affecting the weather for his own purposes? I felt very reluctant to try to question him any more, especialy since I was quite sure I would get no answers out of him, but the Romneys should be able to tel me if he had worked weather spels for them.

Antonia was stil asleep, worn out from her adventures. I bent to kiss Theodora. “I’m heading back to Yurt.”

She turned around to kiss me properly. “I’m very glad Antonia visited you. We’l have to do this again.” No mention of missing me but I would take what I could get. I thought as I went down the street that alowing oneself to love someone always gave that person the power, intentional or unintentional, to inflict pain. Maybe the wizards in renouncing marriage wanted to avoid any pain that would distract them from their spels.

But if so it was much too late for me. I stopped by the cathedral office and left a note for Joachim. An acolyte told me rather loftily that the bishop was much too busy to see me without an appointment, but I didn’t know if that meant that he had left orders to keep al wizards away or if he realy was very busy—I tried to reassure myself that most of the times I had seen him the last five years had been in brief interludes he could snatch from his duties.

The Romney circle of caravans was stil at the edge of town, smoke rising from their chimneys, but on this cold, raw day no one was outside, and the ponies looked at me disconsolately. I thought I saw a brown rat disappear into the grass ahead of me. But the bright blue door of one of the caravans swung open as I approached, and the Romney woman I had first spoken to a week before caled to me.

“Come to have your fortune told?”

I laughed and mounted the wooden steps. “Wizards can manage much better fortunes than I expect you can.” I’d never get the Romney children by themselves today. “Isn’t this terrible weather!” She stepped back as I ducked my head to enter.

Inside her caravan was smoky from the stove but laid out very compactly and neatly, with copper pans gleaming on the wal and al the cupboards painted blue like the door.

“Not like summer at al,” the woman agreed, giving me a gold-toothed smile. “At this rate we'l have frost! We haven’t seen weather like this since we left the Eastern Kingdoms this spring.”

“Did Cyrus help you with weather spels as you came over the mountains?” I asked casualy.

Her expression changed at once and so did her tone, from friendliness to the resonant and artificial note of someone teling a mysterious fortune in which she herself did not believe. “I wil look into the future for you, Wizard,” she said, “and see shadowed doings beyond even the knowledge of the wise, but you wil have to pay me first.” Puzzled, I readied into my pocket and puled out some coins, substantialy more than what I had paid the old magician to teach me my first ilusion when I was twelve. Had Cyrus ordered her not to tel me anything about him, even threatened her with his dark magic if he did?

She dropped my money into her own pocket without counting it, then opened a cupboard to take out a crystal bal. In sunlight a crystal wil make rainbows and weird reflections of everything around, but today it showed only dark blues and grays, with at the center a flash of light from the fire in the stove. She put the bal on the little table in the center of the caravan, and I obediently sat down across from her.

She stared into the crystal for a moment, playing with the long whisker on her upper lip, while I wondered if she was going to try to impart actual information through an aleged fortune or was just doing something that would plausibly explain my presence and also get rid of me.