Tara Duncan and the Spellbinders (10 page)

“—sensible, very sensible. We like the name.”

The data was entered into the computer, which didn't operate quite like most computers. Lady Kalibris simply sat down in front of it, and Clara said, “Computer!”

To Tara's surprise, the computer turned itself on and spoke.

“Yes, my lady?”

“Human spellbinder registration,” stated Dana. “Name: Duncan. D-u-n-c-a-n. First name: Tara. Age: twelve. Section: Unicorn South Wing.”

“Data entered. Paying visitor or invited guest?”

“Guest of the High Council,” said Chem. “Isabella also gave me some pocket money for Tara for these few days. She'll have fifty gold immuta-credits to spend.”

“Data entered. Familiar?”

“Black Labrador. Name: Manitou. M-a-n-i-t-o-u.”

“Accreditation?”

“Level 6, blue, black, yellow zones. Green and red zones forbidden.”

“Registration complete.”

The computer ejected two shiny, transparent rectangles.

“This is your accreditation,” said Lady Kalibris to Tara. “Hold out your hand, please.”

Somewhat cautiously, Tara reached to take the card, but Lady Kalibris seized her wrist and recited: “By the Fixus, may this accreditation within our walls give authorization.”

Tara felt a kind of tingling at her wrist and was astonished to see that the accreditation card was now under her skin! When she rubbed it she felt only her skin, yet she could see the card clearly. She was also surprised to see that it had a photograph of her. The accreditation card also displayed a handsome white unicorn beneath a silver crescent moon.

Lade Kalibris did the same with Manitou's front right paw.

“There you go,” said Clara with a smile. “This way you can't—”

“—lose it. Everybody in the Castle must carry an accredicard. The moon and unicorn is the emblem of Lancovit. Anyone can go through doors, but you can't go through walls without an accredi-card. And if your card expires—”

“—you're trapped, because the walls will close in on you.”

“You have the right to go everywhere except the red and green zones.”

“Those are reserved for the royal family, the high wizards, the commander of the Royal Guard, and the Royal Treasurer. On your night table you will find—”

“—a book explaining life in the Castle: schedules for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner; the infirmary; the armory; and in particular the—”

“—rules of etiquette. Caliban will—”

“—take you to your room. Be careful—”

“—not to say anything about your adventures on Earth. Caliban should—”

“—be here any minute. Enjoy your vacation with us!”

The two heads had just finished saying this when a boy with a shock of black hair burst in, out of breath. (Didn't spellbinders ever comb their hair? Tara wondered.) He was followed by his familiar, a handsome red fox named Blondin. The boy's gray eyes widened to see the disorder in the room, then lit on Tara.

“Hi!” he said with a big grin. “I'm Caliban, but you can call me Cal!”

“Hello,” she said, a little intimidated by the boy's energy. “My name's Tara'tylanhnem, but I prefer Tara.”

“Yeah, I can see why,” he said, his grin widening. “You sent for me, Lady Kalibris?”

“Tara is the guest of Master Chemnashaovirodaintrachivu. She will be in the South Wing, Unicorn Section guest quarters. Can you show her to her room?”

“No problem. I'm in the South Wing too, right next door. C'mon! Don't you have any bags?”

“They'll be along later,” said the wizard. “Before you go, Tara, I want you to make a note of my crystal number. You never know when you may need it.”

At Chem's command, a small piece of paper with glowing numbers floated into her hand.

“Please memorize it,” he said. (From Cal's wide-eyed look, it was clearly unusual to be given a high wizard's private number.) “Have fun, Tara. I'll see you soon.”

“Goodbye, Master Chem,” she said, bowing politely. “Goodbye, Lady Kalibris.”

Tara and Cal went out, followed by Manitou, who cautiously gave the dragon wizard a wide berth.

“The high wizard's private crystal number, eh? That's the first time I've ever seen it handed out like that,” said Cal, not expecting an answer. Once out of the office, he asked, “So, what did you think of Lady One-Too-Many?”

Tara giggled. “The administrator? How is it that she has two heads?”

“She's a tatris. Her species has two brains in one body, which makes things complicated when they disagree. So you're the high wizard's guest, eh? Are your parents here too?”

Tara hesitated for a moment then said simply, “No. They're both dead.”

The boy stopped short in the middle of the hallway, almost tripping a courtier wearing a yellow jerkin covered with purple feathers and green fur-trimmed slippers, who glared at them.

“I'm really sorry. My tongue works a little too fast sometimes.”

“That's okay. You couldn't have known. My grandmother Isabella raised me all alone but she didn't want me to be a spellbinder. I found out about that just recently.”

“Oooh, so you don't know anything about Travia or OtherWorld?”

“I don't know anything about
anything
!”

A wide smile lit up Cal's face.

“That's great! Finally someone who won't put on airs and parade her knowledge. I think you and I are gonna be pals, Tara.”

Tara wanted nothing more than that, but right now she had a specific question in mind, and Cal seemed very well informed.

“What's a blood oath?”

He looked at her curiously.

“A blood oath—wow! Do you know any warriors?”

“Eh, no,” she said, intrigued. “Why?”

“A blood oath is sworn during battle, when two warriors are hurt by the same enemy. If one is dying, the other will swear on their mixed blood to seek revenge or do anything else the dying person asks.”

“I see,” said Tara thoughtfully. “So if one of the warriors made the other swear that his son or daughter would never become a wizard—because that's what got him killed, say—what happens if the oath is broken?”

“The person who swore the blood oath dies.”

She took a deep breath. Isabella had sworn a blood oath, which meant that if she, Tara, used her power, she might kill her grandmother! Well, given what she had suffered because of magic these last few days that was not going to be a problem. It was hardly likely that she would want to use her powers ever again.

“Hm, thanks. And do you know something called the Gray Fortress?”

The boy thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No, I don't. What is it?”

“Oh, nothing. Just something I heard about.”

Tara hoped that Cal would know the place where her mother was held prisoner, and was disappointed.

Suddenly she felt an odd sensation, a kind of tickling between her shoulder blades, as if somebody was staring at her back. She spun around and glimpsed a fleeting movement and a flash of gray cloth.

To Cal's surprise, she raced off in that direction, but when she reached an intersection of two hallways, nobody was there.

“Hey, what's going on?” asked Cal, who had followed her.

“Nothing,” said Tara, frowning. “Tell me: these robes and tunics, you know, the things people wear here, what color are they?”

“We don't wear any particular color, except for the high wizards. In Jaffar they wear red, green in Brandis, purple and gold in Omois, and blue here, because the Castle colors are silver and blue. Why?”

“Just curious. So nobody wears dark gray?”

It was now Cal's turn to frown.

“Only Bloodgraves wear that color. That's why they're also called the gray spellbinders. There's no rule against it, but people avoid dressing like them.”

Tara took a deep breath. “Yeah, that's what I figured.”

“Am I going to get an explanation?”

Tara flashed him a bright smile and said, “I forgot to tell Master Chem something. Will you excuse me for a moment?”

A very curious Cal peered at her, but agreed.

“Go ahead; I'll wait for you here.”

Tara sprinted back to Lady Kalibris' office, but found it empty.

Darn! she thought. Couldn't these spellbinders stay put for just a moment?

She went back to where Cal was waiting.

“Master Chem wasn't there. Any idea where he might be?”

“Well, in his office, I guess.”

“Oh yeah, right! I should've realized he'd have an
office
. Since he's a dragon, I stupidly assumed it would be a cave or a cavern. Do you know the Castle well?”

Cal's shoulders slumped.

“Inside and out, believe me,” he said gloomily. “I've been Master Sardoin's apprentice for the last two years. He specializes in magical mathematics and spatial localization, so he's had me materialize and dematerialize at least a thousand times in every corner of the Castle, supposedly because I must always know where I'm landing. Except for forbidden zones I know it like the back of my hand.”

“Great then, let's go. You can show me the way.”

The first time Tara passed through a wall, it left her feeling creepy for a good ten minutes. Cal showed her how to spot passages, which were marked with the Lancovit moon and unicorn symbol. You waved your accredi-card, the unicorn let you pass, and the wall melted away. You could also use a regular door, of course, but there were many more passages than doors.

When they reached the wall outside Chem's office, Tara noticed it was marked by a tiny unicorn statue but also by the wizard's personal symbol, a dragon. Each statue stood in a little niche. Tara, who didn't know quite how to proceed, knocked timidly on the wall. She was startled when both the unicorn and the dragon came to life.

“Who goes there?” roared the guardian dragon.

“It's a girl, can't you see?” snapped the unicorn. “What do you want, my child?”

“Er, my name is Tara Duncan and I want to see Master Chem as soon as possible.”

“I'll tell him,” grumbled the dragon. “And you”—to the unicorn— “don't open the passage until you get my order.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” said the unicorn, rolling its eyes.

Tara was so fascinated by this that she didn't immediately notice the return of the dragon, who looked surprised.

“The High Wizard will receive you right away. You may enter.”

“Go ahead, Tara. I'll wait for you out here,” said Cal, who didn't want to seem indiscreet.

She gritted her teeth and walked into the wall, which politely gave way. Whew! She was through, but good grief! How much she preferred the good old-fashioned doors on Earth.

Tara was amused to see that for Master Chem's office, the Living Castle had created a cave landscape with stalagmites and stalactites. A large heap of gold coins and precious stones stood where the old wizard probably rested between meetings.

A noise made her glance up, and she backed away when she saw that Chem had reverted to his dragon shape. He stood twenty feet tall and was smiling at her with his sharp teeth. Like all dragons, he was exceedingly fond of gold and jewels. With the wave of a claw, he made his treasure disappear.

“So little Tara, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” He seemed relieved to see that Tara had no interest in his gold.

Tara decided to get down to brass tacks instead.

“There's a Bloodgrave in the Castle!” she said.

“O
uch!” roared the dragon, who had banged his head in surprise.. “What did you say?”

“I said there's a Bloodgrave in the Castle. I just glimpsed part of his gray robe.”

“What?” Chem roared again, making the walls shake. “In the Royal Travia Castle? In my domain? Do you mean to say that those sawed-off runts in gray nightshirts dare to challenge me on my home ground?
I will track them down, I will find them, I will break them, and I will eat their hearts! This is war!
”

Tara decided not to argue with him, not at all.

“Right—war. No problem. But it would be nice if you could stop yelling,” she added politely, pulling her fingers from her ears. “So while we're waiting for the festivities—destroying, crushing, eating their hearts, and so forth—what can I do to help?”

“Nothing,” said the dragon. “Just keep me informed of anything that strikes you as unusual or strange. And if you ever see that twerp in gray rags again, let me know right away.”

Tara shrugged helplessly. The old wizard was asking a lot, since
everything
in this world seemed unusual and strange to her.

“I don't know why a Bloodgrave would walk around the Castle in a gray robe,” she remarked. “Wouldn't that be the best way to get caught?”

“He's defying me,” rumbled the dragon, also shrugging his shoulders, which fanned a small tornado, since the shoulders in question were attached to twenty-foot wings. “The Bloodgraves are among us, and we have no way of knowing which of us has joined their alliance. He also wants to frighten you. Let you know that he's here, watching you.”

Tara shivered. In regards to her that was a complete success. She
was
frightened.

“But isn't it possible to recognize them? From their size or their build?”

The dragon sighed, barely containing a blast of fire so as not to burn Tara to a crisp.

“You don't understand, I see,” he said. “By Alakazam transform this state, from my dragon to my human shape.”

Tara turned pale. Standing in front of her instead of the dragon was a powerful Bloodgrave, the dark gray of his robe stretched across broad shoulders. He was taller than the old wizard, and a mirror mask hid his face.