The Warrior's Tale (62 page)

'You still are a journeyman,' he sighed. 'Remember back, aboard Trahern's ship, when I smeared a bit of your blood on that shield or whatever the reflecting metal was? I said a few words when I did, hoping some of my powers had come back, since that spell's something a veritable baby Evocator can cast, especially if the seer is looking from afar.'

'Oh. The bronze was a mirror, intended to reflect
...
me?' I guessed.

'Just so. When the Archon cast about, in the flurry and frenzy of battle, with wisps of spell and smoke and magic all about, he "saw" you aboard Trahern's ship. You don't think he gave one tinker's damn about that old bastard, do you? Why would he bother casting whatever spell he sent out to explode that ship like it was a melon dropped from a tower? You were his target and, as far as he knows, he succeeded.

'Frankly, I'd suspect that was why the pursuit turned back, and why this storm has taken so long to build. This fleet's destruction may be The Sarzana's ultimate dream, but it's hardly the Archon's. He knows he can destroy Konya when and how he wants now that you're gone.

'I think we've also solved another puzzle as well. Remember when we wondered just why The Sarzana would allow word to slip out that we'd rescued him, rather than it appearing like some grand miracle all his very own.

'Again, it wasn't his idea, but the Archon's. The Archon must have sent some sort of whispering spell across Konya so that everyone
knew
the Orissans had freed The Sarzana, but none knew where they'd got the knowledge.

'He must have your death in hand, and, unlike crude villains such as Nisou Symeon or arrogant men like Raveline of the Far Kingdoms, he's quite content to let others kill his snakes for him.'

'He's behaving like I'm some great Evocator, like I was you, with all the powers of the Orissan Evocator's Guild behind me. The man, if that's what he still is, is no coward. Am I to believe he's that great a fool?'

'Don't be absurd, Rali. Consider it from his perspective. If you and your brother were great wizards, once in league with even greater magicians to the east, and your plans were first stopped short by someone named Antero, and then your own brother killed by another, possibly even more powerful, Antero, what actions would you take? It's quite clear that you do have great powers, even if they're still developing.'

I was silent, considering. Then I shook my thoughts away. 'Be that as it may, Evocator, we have a spell to work out. Let's come up with something that keeps me still dead. I like it a great deal better being out from under that bastard's gimlet gaze.'

And so we did, in about an hour. It was a powerful spell, yet a simple one, a spell of delay, not negation. The storm would continue, would still build, but would take at least two days to reach its full fury. Neither of us thought the Archon would sense any opposition, especially since, if Gamelan's reasoning was correct, he had
little
immediate interest in our scattered warships.

The second spell was more hazardous, and chanced exposing the fact I was still alive. But I thought the risk worth taking. I drained a few drops of mercury from the binnacle our compass needle floated on. With that, and a bit of the 'flying' unguent, I sat alone in Gamelan's cabin. I lit a single candle, fed certain herbs, sprinkled an aromatic oil from Gamelan's kit on it and breathed deeply of the fumes. Next I set a steel mirror beside the candle, and concentrated all my attention, my being, on the reflection of that candle. The distance, the remove, would keep 'me' safe from being found out, or so I hoped. But I had no concern for the Archon, no thought for The Sarzana as I became the flame, no more than the flame, only the flame.

Fire, fire

Elemental fire

There is no other

There is no other

You live alone

You need no other

You are the moment

You are the fire.

The one who was Rali Antero was gone, was absent, and there was
only a small flame, looking to illuminate the dark. The fire was fed a trifle of the unguent on a piece of wood, and flared, and became something else, and found new surprise and joy at flying, at flying over water, over land, over its two great enemies. The flame 'saw' itself reflected in that tiny drop of mercury, and somehow the fire felt what a human would've known as words.

Now there's another

Now you've a brother

Fire seek

Fire find.

Now I was, for just a moment, that drop of mercury and again for an instant I 'felt' for my brother. In the same moment I found 'him', there was ice across my soul, and I could feel darkness gathering, coiling behind me, and in that same instant
I
was fire, I was alone,
I was the candle, I was safely back aboard ship, and knew, my drop of mercury having 'found' that larger pool of liquid metal that floated atop The Sarzana's table, just where I could find and kill him.

This time we wouldn't be sailing blindly into
battle
. But it would be a deadly fight - The Sarzana's refuge was the most secure place in Ticino. There'd be much blood shed winkling him out.

It was almost dawn. I spent the last hour before the sun rose drawing an exact map of Ticino and our objectives. Then I cut it into almost two hundred pieces, said a simple duplicating spell, and my table cra
shed to th
e deck under the weight of two hundred full-size maps of our target I could find nothing more to do, so turned matters over to Corais, and collapsed into a dreamless sleep.

When I awoke, I had a screen erected on the quarterdeck, and took a saltwater shower, dumping buckets of water over my head that one of my privates hauled up and passed to me. It wasn't what I wanted -what I wanted was a long soak in a scented bathtub like the ones in my family's villa; a tub about as large as the entire deck I stood on with water as hot as that cast by a geyser; as soft as a kiss and perfumed with the most expensive oils and salts. I allowed a moment to dream. A soak, followed by a long massage. The massager would be Xia, although a part of my mind wondered how she had got to Orissa, but that wasn't important since we'd both be naked, and she would slowly rub the oil into my skin, her nipples hardening as they caressed my back, and then
...

...
and then Corais begged the Captain's pardon and said there was a signal from Nor's galley. So I put aside the dreams of what would've come after, the carefully chosen meal, the slow twining of our bodies as we coupled on a silken bed, and then hour after hour of dreamless sleep, to wake once more to the scent of love, and no damned war, sorcerers or order-giving.

I said to ignore whatever his signal was, but to order him to our galley at once. I dried myself off, feeling the itching start as the salt dried, and put on my
battle
gear.

I had the quarterdeck cleared of all but the watch officer and helmsman, and had Nor brought to me by two fully armed Guardswomen. I wasn't sure what I'd say to him - he was a hard man, harder than Bhzana or his captains. He knew his officers had broken their oath when they went sailing off to blind destruction, and I saw no point in reminding him. Instead, I told him neither he nor the other two galleys would be needed in this
battle
, which was why they weren't summoned to the conference on Bhzana's ship. He visibly flinched, then gritted there was no way of stopping him.

I said there was indeed, and I would have no compunctions about ordering three of Bhzana's ships against each of his. The Broken Men were feared and hated by the others, because they reminded sailors of what could be their fate. Also the other men were eager to prove themselves still warriors, and would leap to my bidding.

He said nothing, and there was nothing to say - he knew I was right. He sagged. 'Is there no chance of changing your orders? I will not apologize for what Yanno and Nasby did, but they did break the oath we all swore. I can't expect you to believe any promise I make, but it shall not happen again. All my men saw their brothers die, with no harm at all coming to The Sarzana.'

Now I had him. I told him he had only one option, and told him
^v
what it was. This was the only way he could fight in the
battle
, and possibly make amends for his men's broken promises. He started to protest, then stopped, realizing I meant what I said, and even though my orders would result in giving up everything they'd planned, and the way they'd dreamed of fighting; it was that or nothing.

Reluctantly, he agreed. I told him he had two hours to ready his men for trans
-
shipment, and we would have boats standing by at that time.

And so it was. Even as his men were taken off their galleys, their ships were taken in tow by the larger Konyan vessels. Heavy longboats busied themselves around those hulks too badly damaged to return to battle, lifting their stone ballast out of the bilges to provide fresh ammunition for others' trebuchets. Then those ships were abandoned and scuttled.

The fleet set sail for Ticino. We moved slowly, our speed held down by those damaged vessels that w
ould've been abandoned and scuttl
ed if I intended using normal tactics, but now, together with Nor's Broken Men, they'd be the opening wedge in my attack.

As we sailed boats were crossing back and form from ship to ship, taking certain supplies to the damaged vessels, taking sailors from ship to ship, and other tasks.

I myself was busy. I'd told Bhzana I needed five ships with only the bravest crew, for a special task. He didn't need to think for more than a minute, but said I could take five from Captain Yezo's squadron. They were crewed by men who'd escaped from islands that had been ravaged by The Sarzana, and Yezo's entire family had been slain by The Sarzana years ago when he held the throne.

I'd heard too much talk of bravery from these people, and seen damned little, so I told Bhzana I'd judge for myself. I had myself rowed to each of the ships whose crews had volunteered. Grudgingly, since at the moment I felt little warmth for these damned Konyans, it appeared they might be capable of what I wanted, although I knew, as always,
battle
is the only truth. I must take my chances. I wished I had a battalion of Guardswomen, or even enough to provide a stiffening squad on each ship, but of course I didn't.

I made very sure each sailor on each ship knew
exactly
what he would be required to do, and how it was unlikely he'd see the sunrise on the morrow. No one stepped back. If the hulks Nor's men now crewed were my opening wedge, these five ships would be the levers to pry the door full open.

I had the most skilled whittl
er on our ship sent to me, and gave him his orders. Surprisingly, it was the murderous Santh, Fyn's compatriot. I began to explain why I wanted what I wanted, but he already knew.

'The son of a poxed whore sent sorcery agin' us,' he said. 'On'y fair if you c'n use it to turn it back agin him.' He tossed the chunk of soft wood in his hand measuringly, then, humming something utterly tuneless to my ears, set to work.

Later, in Gamelan's cabin, the old wizard had a chance to put his slowly renewed talent into practice. I remember how pleased I was as he held his hands over me, brow furrowed in concentration as he chanted:

Turn away

Turn away

Your eyes are bothered

There's naught to see.

He finished the spell, touched my head and either shoulder with a larch twig and shrugged. 'Well, if I've got any powers back, and if I remembered that baby incantation correcdy, I've given you some protection from the Archon, at least for a
spell.''

He smiled a
little
at his feeble joke, and I laughed, not so much at his words but because it was heartening to see Gamelan's spirits return to what they'd been before Konya. I hoped his powers continued returning apace, and sensed if they didn't, he'd drop back into his former gloom.

His smile faded and he looked anxious. 'Can you tell, Rali?'

His spell may have been simple in its execution, but I thought its in
tent quite clever. It was a subtl
e variation of the A
rchon's spell that had hidden th
e
turtle
ships under a fogbank, though requiring far less energy and materials to cast. It was intended only for magical 'vision', so that further simplified it. If an Evocator happened to be 'looking' at an area where I was, his 'eyes' would sting slightly, as if water droplets had been flipped in them, as indeed Gamelan had Pamphylia do when he started. It would be simpler and more convenient to look elsewhere, at something else, although that thought should never pass across the conscious mind of the seer.

'Now, how could
I
tell? I'm not very good yet at "seeing". Perhaps we might evoke an Archon or three and ask them?' I said, my own spirits brought up by Gamelan.

'Well, if it works, it works,' Gamelan said. 'If it doesn't, well, can I have your grimoire?'

We laughed and moved to the next piece of magic. Before we began I wondered aloud what it would be like to live in a world where magic never existed.