Hatchling (Tameron and the Dragon) (39 page)

It was Kiliane, Kiliane crying out to her lover. "Wa
it," said the Protector. "Where is Mauric?"

"I gave him a potion to sleep in the confinement room in the barracks. It was the only way I could think of to make sure he stayed there."

"Kiliane is calling to him. Fortunately, I think I managed to intercept it. Perhaps I should let him hear it after all." The Protector began walking towards a chair by a hearth.

"Sidian, you're not going to like this. We both know he's been
given childbane for the last couple of weeks. He found out this afternoon. That's why Stine had him locked up--the boy attacked your son this past afternoon because he was so angry. I had to make sure he fell asleep before he could make a jump out of there to cause mischief. But that's not important. A young woman who takes the Red Cup when her body is ready to conceive must be properly bred or she'll lose her ability to have any children at all. Explain
that
to Juri Sandega."

The Protector pounded his fist on a small table and shattered it. "I don't suppose you told
her
about that part!"

"Like you, I didn't think it necessary. I thought her power-hungry enough to do what she must."

"Then we must find my son!"

"The night-groom reported to me just a few minutes ago. He ran into who he thought was a stable-boy leading two mounts to the town gate. Then he returned, counted heads, and found that one horse and a pony were missing but the lads were all there. Stine has already checked the town gate, and the guard there swears he saw nothing. But with only one there, and
in this bad weather, Tameron might have slipped by."

"Check the other gates, too. He told Randor that he might be
going to Warding, but the boy had to know we'd ask the old man what he knew."

"You do realize that it will likely too late by the time we find him," the Guardian said gently.

"Yes, damn you! Why couldn't my son obey this once?"

"Kiliane put up a spirited resistance, brother. Don't put all the blame on him."

"It shouldn't have mattered to him. The Red Cup should have erased any such qualms. Well, I made preparations for even this eventuality. You'll have to run the search for Tameron, but I'll need your help with a couple of spells first. Once he's in Dever Tower we can still salvage something from this disaster."

"If he lives."

"You'll have to find out how, sister. Unfortunately I will be unable to help you. Let's go see Mauric first."

The Guardian walked over to the door and spoke with the guard. "He'll be brought here in a few minutes. What do you have in mind?"

"Believe it or not, Tameron had the idea first. He said it was too bad that magic didn't work on him, or maybe I could change him into Mauric."

"Oh. But they'll both have to believe--"

"Yes," his father said through gritted teeth. "They will. But I'd rather have people think me a fool than actually be one."

Someone knocked on the door. Tam, still an invisible observer in his father's head, watched it all in fascination. Two guards brought in Mauric's limp body and placed it in a chair.

After the pair departed and the door was closed, his father placed his hand on the young mage's head. "Mauric, you heard Kiliane's plea. You heard her cry for help, and her love for you," the Protector said. "You followed her mind to where her body is waiting for you. See the room. See the pool of water with floating lights. See the dim light and the curtains, though some of them are scorched. But most of all, see Kiliane naked and waiting for you. Yes, you heard that you were given childbane. But it was a lie, a lie meant to keep you from her. Why should we guard her so carefully if you could not give her a child? Now remember how well you love her, the touch of her skin and the silkiness of her hair. See her gladness when she knows
you
will be the father of her child. But remember that you can never tell a soul, or the Protector will be forced to disinherit both Kiliane and the child. Only deep in your heart, you will look upon this child and know that it is yours."

Mauric smiled, and began whispering to himself. "When you wake up," the Protector continued, "you will realize that you bespelled yourself to the library by accident, and that you must
go back to the confinement room immediately before Stine finds out that you left. Your love for Kiliane has given you new strength, so you will find your magic undiminished by this night's passion or your ability to move yourself through walls. Kiliane will bear you other children, but you can never truly acknowledge this first one. Yet whenever you smile at each other, you will both remember this night."

Tam could feel his father's power go out into the younger mage. So that was what it felt like to have magic! It was like singing and always being in tune, or dancing and never missing a step. No wonder mages were so proud of their powers.

"Once this next spell is done, I'll need you to escort me to my own chambers," the Protector said.

"Why not do it there?"

"Because here we have Mauric himself to check the illusion against," his father said. "And I'll need a charm of invisibility. Mauric might find out that he was seen in the hallways, and we can't have that."

The Guardian nodded. Then the Protector began chanting and waving his hands. It felt as if his father was drawing power from the hearth to give him the strength he needed, Tam thought.

Tameron watched the Protector's hands. Soon they changed into thicker, shorter ones, with freckles instead of pale, wrinkled skin. The Guardian looked back and forth from Mauric to the man standing before her. "Perfect, except you shouldn't have any white in your hair at all...there. How long will this spell last?"

"For about an hour, but it's one that won't fade till then even when I...even when the rest of my magic is temporarily gone. Oh, damn my son and his tender conscience!"

"What have you offered him that's worth giving it up?" the Guardian asked. "A life as a prisoner, or a sorry death at the hands of your enemies? If he weren't in danger, I'd say let the boy go! Haven't you done enough to him?"

"You always know how to bring me down from my high horse," said the Protector wryly, though now even his voice s
ounded like Mauric's. "But if I had lied to him, instead of stupidly telling him the truth, he'd be asleep in her arms and as safe as you could wish."

"Or dead. Kiliane stole his dagger and nearly stabbed him as it was," the Guardian said.

The Protector sighed. "I see. Well, it won't be healthy for me to delay either. Let's go."

They swiftly walked down the hall to the Protector's personal quarters. Tam knew what was about to happen, but couldn't leave his father's mind. The Guardian talked her way past the guard with ease, but stalled at the door long enough to let 'Mauric' slip by.

His father, apparently having made up his mind to do everything as quickly as possible, strode up to the small table that held the cup, still concealed by a cloth. The Protector stared down on it. "After all this time I thought I was done with you!" he muttered angrily. Then he removed the cover, lifted the cup, and drank.

Tameron gagged at the taste, even though it was sweet as well as pungent.
I have to wake up, I have to get out of here before he goes in and...

Stine's voice brought him back. Tam gladly woke up, even though he was frightened. "No, we can't go that way," said the commander
from the other side of the locked door. "We'll need a mage to go past the wards in front of the hidden door there, and they're all searching to the west. And pipe down! The Guardian told me that sound carries oddly in these tunnels. If he really is there, he's probably listening to us right now. Lorin couldn't go past the wards, either." It was quiet for a moment. She spoke again. "Lord Tameron, you've got to come back with me. The Guardian told me you're only going to get sicker, whatever she means by that, and that she knows what to do to cure you. You'll never make it to the Giant's Sanctuary with us guarding the way. Come back with us, lad. No one's angry at you this time."

That was a lie. Tam knew his father certainly was furious, especially if his dream was true.
No. The Guardian must have lied to Stine. It was only a dream. I have no powers, everyone knows that. How could I go into my father's mind like that, and without him noticing? It's just another tale meant to get me to come out. I'm not that sick, really.
He ignored the ache that had spread up to his stomach and down both legs. He'd just slept in the wrong position and not long enough, was his only problem.
I'll feel better once I start moving.

Then Stine's voice faded out. Tameron leaned against the door to listen some more, but heard nothing. Maybe it was like being under the Great Dome of Lights in Kelemath, where if you stood in the middle and whispered, everyone could hear you, while those who stood at the rim could shout all day and couldn't
make their voices carry more than a few feet.

Then again, Stine might be that close--but he certainly hadn't noticed any wards. May
be the commander thought he was no threat to Fiallyn Mor outside the Wall and wasn't even searching very hard. He'd better not count on that, though.

Tam shook his head to rid himself of the last remnants of his dream. It hurt to put his breeches back on, but he steadfastly ignored it.
My dream can't be true. Surely my father couldn't do what he planned to Kiliane. He's much too old, even with the Red Cup. That's why he needed me.
He shuddered for a moment as a vision of Kiliane eagerly reaching up to someone she thought was Mauric flashed through his mind.

He finished dressing. It was time he left, but he'd have
to search for another door. So far he'd found two hidden entrances--why not try for a third, rather than risk the passageway outside? Tam gave the pony more grain and began looking through the place.

Was this set of chambers the Guardian's private sanctuary when the pressure of the world grew too great? If so, why the dust? Then he noticed a tiny figurine of a beautiful, fair-haired woman nearly hidden behind a lamp on the mantel over the hearth.

Tameron almost moaned out loud when he finally understood. His mother must have stayed here during the last months of her life. His fingers trembled as he picked up the painted death-doll and cradled it in his arms. Her hair must have turned white from the agony she endured from the accident and the death of her other children, judging by its color, or perhaps the gilding had faded over the years. His father must have left it here, unable to bury it with his own hands as custom prescribed.

He opened one of the saddlebags, wrapped the small statue in a shirt, and packed it. He had a right to mourn, though he'd never known her.
Father should have buried this death-doll long ago,
he thought. His mother's body was somewhere on this island, and it wasn't right for that ceremony to be neglected.
It's like he wanted to forget she ever existed.
Then again, if the Protector had been telling him the truth before giving him that poisoned meal, perhaps he'd loathed the reminder of those other Red Cups he'd been forced to drink in order to do his own Duty. Tameron couldn't blame him for that.

What would his life have been like if Lady
Aliana had lived? When he dreamed of a mother's care, the only arms he felt around him were Esa's. She had been real, not just a bright painting or a cold little statue. He'd wept for his nursemaid when she died in a way he couldn’t for his real mother.

He couldn't find anything that looked like a door, even when he knoc
ked on every wall. Tam panicked. He rummaged through the small bedroom off to one side, pulling aside hangings, and even tugging at the small shrine in one corner to see if it swung out if he toggled the right statue in it. He knelt before it in silent prayer. It was no use lying to himself now. The potion's effects weren't going away. Fear now gripped his vitals as well as pain. He gazed dull-eyed at the icons of the Lord and Lady.
That's odd.  The Lady is missing one of her attendants...
He looked again. Yes, there was clearly an empty spot where the slightly-raised base was outlined by dust.

Tam ran back, picked up the saddlebags, and took the pony with him into the bedroom, though Mujuk balked for a moment. He moved as quickly as he could, and nearly dropped the doll trying to
pull it out in his terror that he was already too late. Even back here he could hear voices near the door, one of which was chanting a spell, probably to lower the wards.

It wouldn't take them long after that to defeat the lock. He must move quickly. He finally placed the small statue of his mother in the empty base. Nothing happened. Now they
pounded on the door itself! They'd made it past the wards!

Tameron pulled his dagger out and left it in easy reach. If he was going to die, better that it be quick and clean. Stine would understand it, no matter what others thought.

Then he took the statue back out. What had he done wrong? Of course! The dust! He quickly cleaned it out, and replaced the statue of his mother as one of the Lady's attendants.

This
time an outline of a door appeared in the wall, though Tam could have sworn nothing could possibly be there. He hastily put the saddlebags back onto the pony, though he'd have to re-cinch them later, and at the last moment removed the statue. His father had left him no Jewel that he knew of, but he could have this much of his mother.