Caught in Crystal: A Lyra Novel (21 page)

“What’s funny?” Barthelmy said, sniffling above her own smile.

“Your hair’s coming down.”

“Blast. I should have known better, but Cera was awfully persuasive.” Barthelmy frowned, then reached back and rummaged in her knob of hair with her fingers. A moment later she shook her head, sending the mass of black hair flying in all directions.

“Now I know it’s you,” Kayl said. Her grin broadened as Barthelmy looked around for a place to put the pins that had held her hair in place. “Leave them on the window,” Kayl suggested.

Barthelmy nodded absently and crossed to the window. When she turned back, her face was grave. “Kayl, I—I’m sorry about that last night,” she said with difficulty. “I wouldn’t really have let them blame Glyndon and Kevran, you know.”

“I know. I should have known then.”

“Why? You didn’t expect the Elder Mothers to plan it, but they did. And the way I was talking, I sounded as if I agreed with them.”

“We were both tired and hurt and confused,” Kayl said. “Don’t blame yourself.”

“But I do,” Barthelmy said quietly. “If I’d kept my mouth shut, I might have persuaded you to stay here.”

“Maybe,” Kayl said. She remembered Barthelmy saying in a hard voice, “The Elder Mothers are right! Why
not
blame the Varnans?” Had that really been the final straw, the last betrayal that had made her flee the Sisterhood into fifteen years of exile? Kayl shook her head uncertainly. “I don’t know. I think I would have gone anyway. It would have been a little harder to leave, that’s all.”

Barthelmy did not look convinced, but she did not pursue the subject. She motioned Kayl to one of the chairs and took the other herself, then said, “What did you do? After you wrote all those letters, I mean.”

“I left Kith Alunel with Glyndon and Kevran. They were going to go back to Varna to see if there was a way of stopping Glyndon’s visions.” Kayl smiled reminiscently. “Kevran and I sort of got sidetracked along the way.”

“I suppose that’s one way of putting it,” Barthelmy said with a grin. “But why didn’t you ever send word back?”

“After the scene I made when I left? And then marrying a Varnan wizard? It would just have stirred everyone up again.”

“It might have been good for them.”

“Possibly. But at first I didn’t want to take the chance, and later… later I had other things to worry about.”

Barthelmy nodded sagely. “Two children, Corrana said.”

“Two children and an inn. That’s enough to keep anyone busy!”

“I wish I could have seen it,” Barthelmy said.

“I’m surprised you didn’t. Or is there some special reason the Elder Mothers sent Corrana looking for me, instead of sending you?”

“Didn’t Corrana tell you?” Barthelmy said, frowning.

“Apparently not. She wasn’t exactly forthcoming about anything, frankly.”

“Oh. Well, the Elder Mothers wouldn’t let me go out to look for you because we were at the Twisted Tower together. They think we know more about it than we told them, and they’re sure it has something to do with the problems the Sisterhood has been having with magic. They’ve been being very careful and secretive with everyone involved. I’m surprised they put us in the same room to wait for the Council meeting.”

Kayl stared, then slowly shook her head. “Barthelmy, I didn’t get more than a third of that. And what’s this about a Council meeting? Mother Dalessi said that wasn’t for another two days!”

“Elder Mother Dalessi,” Barthelmy corrected. “You’ve seen her? That’s why they moved the meeting up, then.” Barthelmy nodded in satisfaction. “I was wondering.”

Kayl took a deep breath. “Barthelmy, if I don’t get an explanation of all this, and get it right now, I’m going to shake you until your teeth rattle.”

Barthelmy grinned, and for a moment looked exactly like the impish girl Kayl remembered. “All right, then, but it’ll take awhile.”

“I’ve got time,” Kayl said, and leaned back in the chair.

“The main problem,” Barthelmy began, “is the magic. The Elder Mothers noticed it first, about twelve years ago, as a kind of shadow interfering with their far-seeing. No one could discover a reason for it, no matter how subtle the spells they used. It was just a puzzle, at first, nothing serious. But it kept getting worse.

“It started affecting more spells, not just the complicated ones the Elder Mothers use. It was very slow; it took almost five years to be a problem with anything really important. The Elder Mothers discussed it thoroughly—you know how long that takes—”

Kayl snorted.

“—and eventually they decided to do a joint spell, with all the Elder Mothers cooperating.”

“All of them?” Kayl had never heard of more than sixteen Elder Mothers working together on a single spell, and that had been to counter the Varnans’ magic during the Wizard’s War.

“All of them. They sent messengers all over the Alliance, even to the tiniest Star Halls.” Barthelmy shook her head, remembering. “I don’t think there’s been a spell-casting like it since before the Wars of Binding, but it didn’t work. The shadow or the interference or whatever it is was as bad as ever. And the thing hit back. Twenty of the Elder Mothers died before they could break out of the linkage, and all the others were sick for days.”

“Twenty dead!” Kayl swallowed. “Did I know any of them?”

“Anaya and Saret and Passalessa, I think. The thing killed mainly the oldest of the Elder Mothers.”

Something in Barthelmy’s tone made Kayl frown and ask, “Barthelmy… when you say ‘the thing,’ you don’t mean…” Kayl let her voice trail off without finishing the question.

Barthelmy looked away and swallowed hard. “They brought me to look at some of the bodies, to make sure. They were just like the ones we pulled out of the Twisted Tower.”

“That’s impossible!”

“I saw them!” Barthelmy snapped. “Don’t tell me it’s impossible!”

“I’m sorry,” Kayl said.

“All right, then. When the rest of the Elder Mothers recovered, they held a meeting and decided to send another expedition to the Tower.”

“And Varna cooperated?”

“They didn’t have to; the Alliance had settled the dispute by then. The Elder Mothers didn’t have to worry about starting a war if there were no Varnans with them. They were very careful about everything else, though. They spent a long time choosing people and training them and so on. And they didn’t go inside at all.”

“Then what were they supposed to do?”

“Check to make sure the place was still sealed. And it was. They couldn’t get even à whisper of a spell past the door, and they couldn’t detect the smallest trace of magic leaking out. So they came back. That was about five years ago.”

Kayl frowned. “I suppose that’s when they came looking for me. But why did it take five years for them to find me? I wasn’t trying
that
hard to cover my trail.”

“No, they didn’t start looking for you until last year. I’ll get to that in a minute.”

“All right. What’s been happening since this expedition?”

“Nothing,” Barthelmy said. “That is, the interference with magic has gotten worse, but no faster or slower than before.”

“How bad is it now?”

“No one dares to do any but the simplest spells anymore, wardings and short-range seeking spells and so on.”

“I can see why Corrana wouldn’t want to say anything about that,” Kayl said. “I’m surprised Glyndon didn’t mention it, though. We traveled together from Copeham,” she added in response to Barthelmy’s look of surprise. “And if something were interfering with magic, a Varnan wizard certainly ought to know of it.”

“There’s no problem with most kinds of magic,” Barthelmy said. “Only with the magic of the Sisterhood.”

“
What?
”

“The shadow falls only on us,” Barthelmy repeated.

“And the Elder Mothers have decided it has something to do with the Twisted Tower.”

“Not at first. When the expedition five years ago reported that there was no trace of magic coming out of the Twisted Tower, the Elder Mothers decided the problems with their magic must be caused by something else. Or someone else.”

“Magicseekers?”

Barthelmy nodded. “The Circle of Silence may not be behind this, but they’re certainly doing all they can to take advantage of it.”

“That figures.”

“Until last year, the Elder Mothers were sure the Circle was causing the problem. Then one of the merchants in the Old Town found a cache of old scrolls sealed up in the wall of a building she was tearing down. There was a complete copy of the Book of the Seven Wizards, and one or two of the others seem to date from before the Times of Darkness. The merchant’s daughter is one of us, a sorceress called Halisor, and something of a scholar. So the merchant got her to take a look at the find.”

“And?” Kayl prompted.

“And one of the scrolls had a lot of information about the Twisted Tower in it. It’s a diary or a memoir of some kind, written by someone whose grandfather had actually been there. That’s when the Elder Mothers decided the Tower had something to do with the problems the Sisterhood’s been having with magic.”

“What did the scroll say about the Tower?”

“I don’t know.” Barthelmy looked away from Kayl’s incredulous stare. “Only the Elder Mothers have read the scroll; it’s been kept secret from almost everyone else.”

“You must have
some
ideas, especially if this scroll is what started them looking for me again.”

Barthelmy shook her head. “They don’t trust me.”

Kayl blinked. She opened her mouth, then closed it without speaking. Finally she said baldly, “Why not?”

“Partly because I’m the only spell-caster in the Sisterhood who doesn’t seem to be affected by the shadow,” Barthelmy said, not looking at Kayl.

“Barthelmy…” Kayl did not know what to say. No wonder her friend seemed more subdued than Kayl remembered!

There couldn’t be a sorceress in the Sisterhood who didn’t at least resent Barthelmy’s unique power; many must be actively hostile and suspicious. It was a painful position for someone who cared as much about the Sisterhood as Barthelmy did; words seemed an inadequate comfort.

“They also seem to think you and I ought to know some of the things they found in that scroll,” Barthelmy went on hurriedly, as if to avoid discussing the implications of her magical ability. Kayl took the hint and nodded; Barthelmy continued with less urgency. “Since we never mentioned them, some of the Elder Mothers don’t trust us. Either of us.”

“I see,” Kayl said grimly. This explained Corrana’s secretiveness and Dalessi’s cryptic hints. “And when the Elder Mothers found out I’d been talking to Dalessi yesterday—”

“They moved their Council meeting up two days, so you wouldn’t have time to do anything if you really were working against the Sisterhood.”

“Why didn’t they just put both of us under guard the minute I arrived?” Kayl said sarcastically. “It would seem to make as much sense.”

Barthelmy shook her head. “They don’t
all
think we’re against them. Dalessi doesn’t, and there are others who believe us.”

“And there are some who think we’re no better than the Circle of Silence, aren’t there?”

Reluctantly, Barthelmy nodded.

“In that case, I don’t see any reason for me to stay.” Kayl rose as she spoke. She was tired of being lied to and manipulated, and angry as much on Barthelmy’s behalf as her own.

“You can’t just leave!” Barthelmy cried.

“Why not?”

“Kayl, please! We need you.”

“Corrana said something like that, too, but she never really explained. How can the Sisterhood ‘need’ someone they’re half-convinced is an enemy?”

“The Elder Mothers are going to send another expedition to the Tower. They’re desperate, Kayl! This time they’ll be going inside. They want both of us to go along, if they can be convinced that we aren’t enemies of the Sisterhood. We’re the only ones who’ve ever been inside the Twisted Tower; they need our knowledge.”

“Why should I try to convince the Elder Mothers of anything?” Kayl said angrily. “I don’t want to go anywhere near that tower! It wasn’t even my idea to leave Copeham.”

“But the Sisterhood needs—”

“I’m not a member of the Sisterhood anymore, Barthelmy. If the Elder Mothers want something from me, they can send someone by the inn with a full explanation. But I don’t promise to listen.” Kayl pulled the door open with a jerk and went through it, then paused just outside the room. “Good-bye, Barthelmy. I hope we’ll see each other again under better circumstances.” She swung the door shut on Barthelmy’s cry of protest.

K
AYL WAS THREE STRIDES
down the hallway when the door flew open again and Barthelmy came flying out like a small whirlwind. She grabbed Kayl’s arm, forcing her to stop, and said, “Kayl, you can’t!”

“No? Watch me.” Kayl shook herself free and turned away.

“You’re doing just what you did the last time, and it’s just as big a mistake!” Barthelmy cried in exasperation. “Haven’t you learned
anything
in fifteen years?”

Kayl stopped. “What do you mean?”

“You’re furious with the whole Sisterhood, so you’re storming off without thinking,” Barthelmy said bluntly. “Oh, it’s a fine show of righteous indignation, but all you’ll succeed in doing is to convince the Elder Mothers that you really
are
against them. And once you’ve done it, you won’t back down, and they won’t apologize, and you’ll never get the misunderstanding straightened out.”

“Misunderstanding?” Kayl snorted. “Hardly.”

“How do you know, if you don’t give anyone a chance to explain?”

“They’ve had plenty of chances. Particularly Corrana.” Kayl made her voice hard, but an inner voice reminded her that Corrana had told Kayl her true name. It was a profound gesture of trust; Corrana, at least, must not believe that Kayl was an enemy.

“Then stay and
tell
them why they’re wrong. You won’t convince anyone of anything by running off again.”

Kayl hesitated. Her anger still simmered strongly, but it was no longer the boiling rage and hurt that had driven her out of the room. And despite herself, Kayl recognized the truth in Barthelmy’s words. “Where did you find out so much about me?” she said finally, in a voice that sounded sulky even to her own ears.