The Law of Isolation (40 page)

Kevessa was already there, along with the rest of the Ramunnan party. They were seated at a round table with Master Dabiel and several other wizards. Elkan and Gevan took the two vacant seats. Gevan was shocked to see the wizards’ animals milling about the room, clustered around bowls and troughs or perched on shoulders or laps. It looked more like feeding time at a menagerie than a formal dinner. But he concealed his reaction. An ambassador must adapt to the customs of his hosts, no matter how strange.

The food was good, hearty and plentiful, simple homey fare. The roast was cooked to a perfect moist pinkness, the vegetables delightful with unfamiliar herbs and spices, the brown bread warm and soft. He was well into the meal before he noticed that the wizards’ plates held portions half the size of those provided to the Ramunnans, or the way so many of them devoured their meal with single-minded intensity, as if it might be a long time before they saw another its equal.

After they finished eating, Master Dabiel stood up and formally introduced Gevan and the other Ramunnans to the rest of the Wizards’ Guild. Gevan made a few brief pleasant remarks. This wasn’t the time or place to present his case. That would have to wait until the decision-makers of this land could be assembled. From what Ozor had said, Master Dabiel didn’t have the power to grant or deny his request on her own, but must gain the support of others.

A series of singers, instrumentalists, and dancers performed entertainments. Gevan enjoyed them, but inwardly chafed to be wasting time on such trivialities. So after an hour, when Master Dabiel rose from her seat, bent to murmur in Elkan’s ear, and came to his side, he was eager to hear whatever she might say.

“Master Gevan, I thought we might retire to my office for a private discussion. I’ve called for a meeting of the Council of Guildmasters in the morning. Any official business must wait until then, but there’s no reason you and I can’t make each other acquainted with the issues likely to come up. I’ve asked Master Elkan to join us, if you don’t mind.”

“That will be fine.” Gevan rose. He glanced at Kevessa. She seemed thoroughly captivated by the current performer, a marvelously deft juggler. He hated to leave her alone, but surely no harm would come to her in a public place. He’d picked the guards he’d brought from the ship carefully. He couldn’t be absolutely sure they weren’t agents of the Purifiers, but he’d spent many hours on the voyage speaking with all the ship’s complement, and these two seemed the least likely of the Matriarch’s men to harbor Purifier sympathies.

And the Matriarch herself had assigned his aide. Gevan glanced at Tharan. He sat quietly, as was his habit, blending unobtrusively into the background until it was easy to forget he was there. But Gevan had taken his measure during the voyage and discovered that Tharan missed little of what his dark eyes took in. He strongly suspected Tharan was watching him and would report all his actions back to Verinna. But he’d purposefully asked for Tharan’s assistance with his experiments during the voyage. The man had never displayed any offense, even when Gevan made bold assertions about the Mother that directly contradicted Purifier doctrine. He’d even asked intelligent questions about Gevan’s work and made a few suggestions that led to fruitful new areas of inquiry. Gevan still didn’t fully trust him, but he had no real reason to distrust him, either.

He put a hand on Kevessa’s shoulder. “Will you be all right here by yourself, if I step out?”

“Of course, Father.” Kevessa spared him only a brief glance before focusing again on the performer. “Master Hadara is over there if I need anything. She’s been wonderfully kind and welcoming. And her apprentice Kalti is just my age. That’s her with the adorable little lamb. They’ve offered to show me around the city tomorrow, if you approve.”

“That should be fine. I expect I’ll be busy with meetings all day.” He still hesitated, but told himself firmly there was nothing to worry about. “You know the way to your room, if I’m not back before this is over?”

“Yes, Father,” she said, with amused impatience. “Go on. Good-night.”

“Good-night,” he echoed. Formless anxiety still swirled in his gut, but most likely it was only overprotectiveness. He patted her shoulder one last time and went to join Elkan and Master Dabiel.

They led him through the dining hall and across the echoing space of the main Hall, walking slowly so that Dabiel’s elderly hog could keep up with his ponderous shuffle. Elkan’s cat padded beside them. Gevan didn’t know why the animals were included in this private audience, but the wizards seemed reluctant to part from their companions. Gevan supposed that if he were to possess an animal which gave him the power to work magic, he’d take pains to keep it close at all times, too.

Down a short corridor off the Hall, Dabiel escorted them into an office. She bustled around for a few moments, lighting lamps on the walls that filled the room with soft light. There was a desk, but she ignored it, going instead to sit on a low, comfortable couch, gesturing for Gevan to take a seat on the matching one opposite. Elkan settled beside him, the cat sprawling at the wizard’s feet. Gevan edged away, moving his feet to the side so the cat’s hot breath no longer tickled them. The hog eased himself stiffly to the floor next to Dabiel’s couch. Above them, hanging from the ceiling between the two couches, an abstract work of art consisting of suspended wires, rods, and ornaments gently turned.

Dabiel smiled at him. “Have you found your accommodations to your liking, Master Gevan? Is there anything else we can do to make you comfortable during your stay here?”

“Everything has been most agreeable, thank you. I appreciate your warm welcome.”

“If any need arises, don’t hesitate to ask, and we’ll do our best to meet it.” She leaned forward and sighed, her face taking on a grave expression. “Gevan, your coming here has created a huge dilemma for me. As head of the Council of Guildmasters I’m responsible for the welfare of Tevenar, and as Guildmaster of the Wizards’ Guild I’m in charge of our adherence to the Mother’s Law. Those two things don’t usually come into conflict. But now they have.”

Beside him, Elkan nodded, his eyes shadowed. Gevan looked back and forth between the two wizards. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. I’m not familiar with the Law you speak of.”

It was Elkan who answered. “When people first came to Tevenar nearly a thousand years ago, the Mother gave us the Law, which governs all that wizards do. I don’t know how much your people remember of history, but our oldest writings tell us that once there were wizards who wielded the Mother’s power directly, without the intervention of familiars. But they misused that power, and turned it to evil, so the Mother took it away from them.”

Gevan nodded slowly. “So the Keepers tell us.” He shifted in his seat. Elkan spoke with an intensity that reminded him uncomfortably of the most fanatic of the Purifiers. His words could almost have been spoken by one of them.

“But when the Mother saw how her people suffered without her power, she granted it to us once again, this time through her familiars, so that it could never again be misused. When the first bonded wizards suffered persecution, she led them here, to Tevenar, so they’d be safe from their enemies. And in her Law she forbade us to leave, so those enemies wouldn’t find us.” Elkan quirked one eyebrow and gave Gevan a rueful grin.

Dabiel took up the tale. “But despite our best efforts, a few people left Tevenar last spring, and what the Mother sought to prevent has happened. You’ve come to us from across the sea, and demanded we break the Mother’s Law, and threatened us if we don’t comply.”

Gevan swallowed. Put like that, his actions did seem hostile. “I wasn’t aware that I’d be asking you to violate your religious beliefs.”

“I know. And you couldn’t be aware, either, how tempting your offer would be to us.” Dabiel leaned forward and studied him. “If you haven’t noticed already, we can’t hope to conceal it from you much longer. Tevenar is in desperate straits. We’ve suffered a series of disasters that have left us with an inadequate supply of food for the winter. We’re in the early stages of a famine that might easily kill thousands in the coming months. You said your Matriarch has empowered you to negotiate on her behalf. Would you be able to offer us shipments of food if we agreed to your terms?”

Gevan slowly nodded. “Food could certainly be arranged, if that’s what you desire. Grain easily, dried meat and fish, preserved fruits, anything that can survive the voyage. The harvests in Ramunna were ample this year, and our stores are full.” His heart raced. Maybe he’d be able to fulfill his mission, after all.

Dabiel sat back, briefly closing her eyes. When she opened them again, they were hard with determination. “How soon could it be here?”

Gevan tilted his head. “There are stores of food aboard my ship. We didn’t anticipate that this would be your need, but we’re well-provisioned and we made good time on the voyage, so we have some extra we could give you now. Beyond that, the return crossing should take around two months, and ships full of food could be at your docks two months after that. So, early spring.”

Dabiel and Elkan exchanged glances. “Tight, but soon enough,” Dabiel said. She drew a deep breath. “Why does your Matriarch require the services of a wizard? No matter how great our need, if what she wants is outside the Mother’s will, it will be impossible for us to help her. We can’t kill her enemies, or spy on them, or help her oppress a rebellious populace, or anything else a ruler is likely to need.”

“Nothing like that,” Gevan hastened to assure her. “She needs your healing power. After many years of trying, she’s been unable to conceive and bear a daughter to be her heir. Her hope is that a wizard can help her do so.”

Elkan’s eyes sharpened with interest. “That should be permissible, if her condition is one we can remedy. Tell me, how old is she? Do you know anything of her history? Has she ever been pregnant?”

Gevan gave him a brief overview of Verinna’s long and tragic experience with childbearing. Elkan nodded with every new detail, his eyes occasionally narrowing or taking on a calculating look. When Gevan finished, Elkan glanced at Dabiel. “Rejection, do you think?”

“It certainly sounds like it could be. One healthy child, followed by a series of losses.”

Elkan turned back to Gevan. “If that’s her difficulty, the Mother’s power can address it. But even so, there are no guarantees. If she hasn’t yet passed the age of fertility, pregnancy should be possible, but older women have more difficulties than younger ones. Some the Mother’s power can help, but some it can’t.”

“I understand.” How the Matriarch would tolerate failure, Gevan didn’t know. Surely she was pragmatic enough to realize that even the ancient wizards hadn’t been able to accomplish some miracles. But she had little patience for anything that defied her will, even the implacable laws of nature. Still, even the possibility that the wizards might be able to help her was more than Gevan had expected.

Dabiel added urgently, “And results will take time, even if we can help. We can’t wait. The food would have to be sent as soon as a wizard arrived, whether or not his efforts are eventually successful.”

“I’m sure the Matriarch would be agreeable to that condition.” She’d be delighted to get off so cheaply. Food enough to feed Tevenar for years would cost a fraction of what she’d empowered Gevan to offer.

Dabiel turned to Elkan. “Have you established a good enough working relationship with Tobi to handle this, do you think?”

“Me, master?” Elkan sat up straight, staring at Dabiel. “Surely you’d want to send someone with more experience? There are many masters more qualified than I am.”

“None I’d trust so much to follow the Mother’s will. Wherever it might lead.” She gave him a look layered with levels of meaning Gevan couldn’t begin to interpret.

He flushed and looked away, reaching to fondle the cat’s ears. “Any of us would do the same.”

“Perhaps.” She gave him a wry grin. “The Mother said you were one of her best, and the world would need you. Maybe this is what she meant.” She brushed aside his protests. “Is Tobi capable?”

He shrugged. “It would have been easier with Sar, but Tobi’s learned a lot. She’d do fine. But I don’t see why it matters. No familiar will consent to pass the boundary stones. They’d break their bond. It’s the Law.”

“Right now it is.” Dabiel’s face took on a peculiar expression, at once humorous and fiercely determined. “I can ask the Mother to change it.”

“But you won’t be meeting with her until spring. That’s too late to do us any good.”

She shook her head. “I’ll go into fasting tomorrow. If Gurion Thricebound could demand the Mother’s attention and persuade her to change her mind, so can I.”

“But, master, it nearly killed him!”

“If that’s what it takes.” She returned Elkan’s shocked expression with a laugh that did nothing to undercut her seriousness. “Don’t be so alarmed, apprentice. She’s not likely to ignore me after all our years together. In three days we’ll have an answer.” She put her hand down to the hog’s broad forehead and scratched it. “From certain of Gurion’s writings, it seems clear to me that our isolation was never intended to last forever. He speaks of a day when the two lands will meet again. I think that day is here. I believe the Mother will rescind the Law of Isolation, if I’m able to ask her.”

“You intend to keep the full fast? Not even water?”

“I don’t dare do any less.”

“It will be hard on you.” Elkan’s eyes dropped to the hog. “It will be hard on Buttons.”

For the first time Dabiel’s steady gaze faltered. “He doesn’t have to fast with me.”

“Will he eat or drink, if you don’t?”

Dabiel stroked the pig’s ears for a long time, staring at them. Finally she lifted her eyes back to Elkan. “What other choice do I have?” she whispered.

He met her gaze for a long moment, then dropped his eyes and swallowed. He shrugged, helplessly.

Dabiel looked at him for a moment more, then nodded. She turned back to Gevan, all business once again. “If I’m able to obtain permission from the Mother, Elkan will accompany you to Ramunna and attend to your Matriarch. In return, she’ll provide shipments of food in the amounts and types we specify. That’s the agreement I’ll propose to the Council of Guildmasters in the morning. Will it be acceptable to you?”