A Bad Spell in Yurt - Wizard of Yurt - 1 (30 page)

Joachim's black eyes were completely sober, and I began to wonder uneasily if he was going to start treating me with the awe and reserve that everyone else in the castle seemed to be demonstrating. Of course, in his case it was harder to tel . But it was no use coming back from the dead if I then spent the next two hundred years being treated like some saint. In the next few days, I would have to think of something outrageous to do to remind everyone that it was, after al , only me.

"I did warn her very sternly against further experiments with pentagrams."

"I'm sure you did," I said, "and I'm sure you imposed some suitable penance on her. You don't need to tel me about that--that real y should be a matter kept secret between a sinner and her priest." I changed the subject abruptly because I did not want to talk about the Lady Maria anymore; I was just glad that he had spoken with her, so I didn't have to. "But tel me, Joachim, how do you do it?"

He lifted his eyebrows at me.

"First you saved the king's life and then you saved mine. I want to know how you do it. It can't be a very common ability. Everybody seems in awe of me for being alive, whereas they real y ought to be in awe of you for having worked a miracle."

"Prayer is available to anyone," he said, more soberly than ever, "who cal s on God with a contrite heart. I already told you that the saints had pity and mercy on you for your sacrifice. It had nothing to do with me."

I considered suggesting that in that case maybe I had been sent back to this world because neither heaven nor hel wanted me in the next, but decided not to. Joachim had limits.

He was stil looking at me, as though in assessment. "You yourself don't seem to be taking spiritual issues as seriously as one might expect."

I was glad I had not spoken. "But I
am
serious," I assured him, which was true. "It's just that I'm joyful as wel . Isn't someone who's come back from the dead al owed to be joyful?"

Joachim took a slow, deep breath. He had leaned his chin on his hand, so I couldn't see his mouth, but I could swear from his eyes that he was smiling.

VI

Gwen came in at that point to get Joachim's breakfast tray, and she gave a little jump, as though remembering the last time she had found us together like this.

"It's al right, Gwen," I reassured her. "Neither of us is going anywhere." She rushed back out, clutching the tray, without a word.

Since we had been interrupted anyway, I stood up to thank Joachim again and to go back to my chambers. I was stil weak, and my head was beginning to ache badly. But I wanted to go to lunch with everyone else today--the cook had been sending very smal meals to my room, apparently not realizing that someone who has been miraculously restored to life needs to eat a lot, and she hadn't even given me any Christmas cookies. A little nap before lunch, I thought, was just what I needed.

But as I reached for the handle to my chambers, I felt a hand on my arm and turned around to face the duchess. "Can I come in for a moment?"

"Wel , my lady, I was just going to lie down--"

"I won't keep you a minute," she said, stepping inside before I could protest further. I wondered what had become of awe and respect just when I needed them. "But I'm about to go home, and I couldn't leave without finding out what real y happened."

I noticed then that she was dressed for travel, in tal boots and a heavy cloak, and as she shut the door behind her I could see the stable boys starting to bring out the horses.

"If I leave now, I can celebrate Epiphany comfortably at home," she said. "The household here doesn't need any more people underfoot, now that the holidays are almost over and you're going to start repairs to the castle. Besides, my own staff wil be returning from vacation, and I need to be there to explain to my cook why she can't find anything in her own kitchen and why she has five hundred pounds of boar that need immediate processing."

I stretched out on my bed and she sat beside me. "I gather you suggested to the others," I said, "that the demon had decided on its own to come live in our cel ars. Thank you for doing so; I wouldn't want everybody to start suspecting each other of black magic."

"But that's why I had to talk to you," she said. "You told me that someone here had summoned a demon, and I've been wild with curiosity the last three days trying to work out who it could be."

I hesitated. Having decided that I would have to do my best from this point on to keep my soul pure, I didn't want to start lying. On the other hand, I did not want to give away the fact that the Lady Maria had heedlessly sold her soul without even realizing she was doing so. Repenting of her actions would be painful enough to her, without feeling that everyone in the castle knew her for a sinner and a fool. I was glad again that Joachim had spoken to her, instead of I.

"I talked to your chaplain right away, of course," she continued, "just after he'd brought you back from the cel ars. I wanted to be sure that he knew someone here had been working with a demon. He gave me the strangest look--he's so dour, you can't tel half the time what he's thinking."

I let this slur on Joachim pass without comment.

"Al he'd say was that the person who had summoned the demon had done so unintentional y, without evil purpose, and that that person's soul was now safe. So I've had to work it out for myself. I remembered that King Haimeric first became il within a year of his marriage, about the same time his old chaplain died. So my first thought was that the new royal chaplain must have been responsible. But then I realized that since he'd been able first to heal the king and then bring you back to life, he couldn't possibly be in league with the devil."

I was interested to see how the duchess's reasoning had paral eled my own. It had taken her much less time than it had taken me, but then she had had the advantage of knowing from the beginning that there was a demon involved.

"So I started thinking who else it might be, and it didn't take me long to realize that it had to be the queen!"

"No!" I said involuntarily.

The duchess looked at me appraisingly. "Not my cousin, eh? You're certainly quick enough to defend her." I wondered how much she guessed of my feelings for the queen. "But the problems al started not long after she moved to Yurt. And it occurred to me that the demon might not have summoned the dragon al by itself, but rather that someone here might have been sil y enough to think that a dragon would be fun. She's become more level-headed since becoming queen, I'l give her that, but she always did do just what she wanted to do."

She paused and looked thoughtful y out the window. Then slowly she started to smile, as though seeing something that made everything clear. "Of course! It wasn't the queen at al . I should have realized at once! It was the Lady Maria."

I didn't answer, but the duchess took my silence for assent. "Good. I couldn't have gone home without knowing. Don't worry--I won't say anything to Maria, or to anyone else. At least I can be sure, knowing her, that she didn't do it out of evil intent. It was only because she didn't know any better!"

The duchess slapped her knees in satisfaction. "Now I'l leave you alone, as soon as you tel me one more thing. Did the demon kil you while you were fighting with it, or did you have to offer it your life to save Maria?"

There didn't seem to be any way to get rid of her without answering. "You can't fight demons, my lady," I said. "Al you can do is negotiate."

She stood up. "Now I real y wil let you rest. It looks like my knights and chaplain are ready to go. But you ever decide you'd rather be ducal wizard than stay on here, let me know immediately."

The door slammed behind her as she left, and in a minute I could hear a clatter of hoofs and farewel s being cal ed as the duchess's party left.

But just as I was fluffing my pil ows to settle down properly, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," I said wearily. At this point more awe and respect seemed highly desirable.

My door opened to admit the Lady Maria.

Except for my white silk shawl, she was dressed entirely in black. I remembered now that she had been in black for church service. She was not a naughty schoolgirl now, but rather a melancholy and penitent matron, looking back in sorrow at a life il -led. Her golden hair was pul ed tight into a severe bun; there were quite a few grey hairs at the temples.

But even though I was sure she had enjoyed picking out a suitably repentant outfit to wear, there were quite genuine tears at the corners of her eyes. She sat down next to my bed, pul ing off her black gloves, apparently unable to speak at once. I sat up, rubbing my aching forehead with my knuckles, and waited.

"I wanted," she said at last, a catch in her voice, "I wanted to thank you, and I wanted to ask if you could ever forgive me."

"Certainly I forgive you," I said, speaking very seriously and holding her eyes. "I didn't go to deal with the demon either hoping for thanks from anyone or feeling the need to forgive anyone. I went because it was my duty as a wizard."

It sounded horribly self-righteous in my own ears, but it seemed to be what she wanted to hear. It was also true. She wiped her eyes with a black-trimmed handkerchief and attempted a smile. "Then you and I can stil be friends?"

"Of course we can." With any luck I could have her out of here in a few more minutes.

But she had much more on her mind. "Then if you're my friend," she said intently, "I need you to tel me something. Are they-- Is everyone-- Is everyone laughing at me?"

"Laughing at you?" She was entirely serious.

"Maybe it's just part of the penance I need to bear, but I have to know! Is everybody chuckling behind my back at the sil y Lady Maria, who didn't even recognize a demon when she summoned one, and who happily sold her soul just so she could act girlish for a few more years?"

"Certainly not," I said without hesitation. Joachim did indeed seem to have explained matters to her most clearly. "The chaplain and I are the only people in the castle who know that
you
summoned the demon, that it didn't just appear in Yurt by itself." I told my conscience that this was, strictly speaking, true; the duchess was by now wel out of the castle.

"Then you didn't have to tel the king and queen--"

Dominic, I remembered, had known al along that she had summoned the demon original y, even though he had not wanted to give her away, and even though he did not realize the demon had broken out of the pentagram that he and the old wizard had drawn to imprison it. But since he was highly unlikely to say something now, I felt safe in not mentioning him. So much for my pure soul!

"I didn't say a word to the king and queen about you. Everyone was just too delighted to have the demon sent back to hel to worry very much about how it got here in the first place."

The tears appeared at the corners of her blue eyes again. I pretended to be looking out my window; I had quite a nice view of much of the courtyard. If the Lady Maria had been standing in a doorway, waiting for the duchess to leave before she came to talk to me, the duchess would have had no trouble spotting her. Perhaps her clever guess had not been as clever as I had thought.

"I tried to explain something to the chaplain," Maria said after a moment, bringing out the black-trimmed handkerchief again, "but I think he's too high-minded to understand something so foolish, so I'd like to try to tel you instead."

Oh, wel , I thought. It was too late to become awe-inspiring anyway.

"Of course it was sil y to want to be young again--even I knew that. But it was fun--fun to think about what I might do if I were to be young, even more fun actual y to find myself growing younger. Of course, Yurt doesn't offer much scope, but when the queen and I went to the City I was able to go to the dances as a participant, not as a chaperone. I had more fun three winters ago at the City bal s than I've ever had before or since in my life! And then
you
came to Yurt."

"I?"

"Of course you, my gal ant knight! Not that I had any real intention of making you fal in love with me!" she added hastily, as an expression I tried to suppress must stil have appeared on my face. "I knew wizards never marry, and you knew that I was quite a bit older, even though I liked to imagine we looked about the same age."

Apparently the grey beard had fooled no one at any time. Maybe I could do better now that my beard was coming in white.

"And then, of course, it quickly became clear that you had given your heart to my niece. But stil I--"

I interrupted her. "You knew I was in love with the queen? Was it that obvious? Does everybody in Yurt know?"

She looked at me with her head cocked to one side, then a surprising and quite genuine smile appeared on her face. "You're as worried about everybody laughing behind your back as I am!"

"I'm afraid so, my lady," I said rueful y. "But do they al know?"

She gave a tinkling little laugh. At least I had been able to cheer her up. "No, they don't al know. Certainly my niece has no idea--she's never had eyes for anyone but Haimeric. And I don't think anyone else has guessed, either. There are advantages of being single and forty-eight--one has had plenty of practice in spotting both romance and unrequited love."

I said nothing but felt very sheepish.

Maria returned to her thread, much more cheerful y. "Even though I knew you would never fal in love with me, I truly enjoyed the opportunity of having someone to flirt with, and of looking young enough that my flirtations would not simply seem pathetic. I've been in Yurt for four years now, and I presume I'l live here for the rest of my life, and I'm not going to get very many more opportunities for maidenly amusements.

"I know it was wrong to deal with a demon, even if I didn't realize then that that was what I was doing. And I know it was wrong, as the chaplain told me in great detail, to want to get extra years rather than being profoundly grateful for those years God does give us. But--maybe you can tel me--it's not wrong, is it, just to want to have fun sometimes?"