The Mirror of Her Dreams (96 page)

That depends,' replied Lebbick. 'You're the student of Imagery. You tell me. Is there any chance he speaks a language we can understand?'

Geraden had once discussed that subject with Terisa; he didn't go into it now, 'Let's find out.'

He and Lebbick started down the passage-and a shadowy figure brushed past them, hurrying towards the creature's cell. 'Nobody tells me anything,' the man muttered into the air as he passed.

Terisa caught a glimpse of his face and recognized Adept Havelock.

Adept Havelock?

Automatically, the Castellan grabbed at his sword; then he slapped it back into its scabbard. With Geraden, he pursued the mad old man.

Jumping to sudden conclusions, Terisa ran after them.

They were moving too quickly: she couldn't catch up with them in time. In the grip of a sudden alarm, she called, 'Don't ask him any questions.'

Castellan Lebbick whirled towards her so unexpectedly that Geraden ran into him. Their collision sent the Apt staggering against the bars of a cell. Swearing viciously, Lebbick took hold of Terisa's coat and snatched her to him.

'''Don't ask him any questions?''

That's right. Questions just make him worse.' The Castellan's breath was dry and sour. She wanted to explain herself clearly; but everything was happening too fast. 'He might tell us something. But not if we ask him any questions.'

'My lady,' Castellan Lebbick whispered through his teeth, 'how do you know that?'

'He told me.'

'He
told
you?'

Fortunately, she had no chance to think about what she would say. A chance to think would also have been a chance to make a mistake, to reveal something accidentally. Almost without hesitation, she repeated, 'He told me. I guess he wanted to talk to me. But I didn't understand. When I didn't obey, he nearly had a fit.'

The Castellan tightened his grip on her. His grin made him look mad, nearly out of control. A second later, however, he dropped his hands and went after Adept Havelock again.

Geraden had caught up with the Adept. They stood together in front of a cell. Lamplight glowed from inside the gridwall.

A snarl throbbed down the corridor. Four furred arms with claws on their fingers sprang between the bars, reaching for Geraden. He jerked backward just in time.

Vehemently, Adept Havelock shoved the last digits of both hands up his nostrils and waggled the rest of his fingers at the creature like a child trying to make his face as horrible as possible.

Castellan Lebbick grabbed Havelock by the scruff of his surcoat and pulled him a safe distance away from the bars. When Terisa joined the three men, the creature was clinging to the grid with all four hands. His chest heaved, and the whiskers around his eyes bristled like weapons. Maybe they're poisoned, she thought, staring at him. Though his features were completely alien, they promised violence plainly.

Swept away from rationality by the creature's strangeness, the Adept's unexpected appearance, the pressure of too many unanswered questions, she observed in a tone of lunatic calm, 'The weather sure got cold today.'

Trying to lure Havelock into talking to her.

He didn't look in her direction. First he pinched his lips with his fingers and pulled them apart, making a wild grimace. Then he commented, 'I've heard of these, but I've never seen one before.'

The Castellan started to explode. Geraden slapped a hand against his chest to stop him.

All at once, Terisa's throat went dry. She had to swallow several times before she was able to say, 'We went riding today. I nearly froze to death.'

Havelock experimented with another monstrous face, but it had no discernible impact on the creature. 'A couple of Vagel's Imagers talked about them,' he muttered. 'Not Vagel himself. But he was eager. In the mirror, all they did was hunt for things to kill. And they seemed to be able to find what they were after without seeing it. They went past the mirror in swarms. But obviously intelligent. They had domesticated animals they used for mounts. He wanted a whole army of them.'

In an effort to keep the Adept going, she said the first words that popped into her head. 'We were following Geraden's brother Nyle. He went to meet Prince Kragen.'

Geraden winced.

That's right,' replied Havelock as though he were in complete agreement. 'Festten kept interfering.' He bared his teeth in a humourless grin, then put his thumbs in his ears and stretched his eyes to slits with his fingers. 'If Vagel had his own army, he wouldn't need the High King. Festten found ways to interrupt the research before those two Imagers could finish it. One of them finally disappeared. I think he was killed.'

Terisa did her best to pull her thoughts together. Her concentration was in tatters. She had killed-

What were the Imagers researching? What kept them from translating the army the arch-Imager wanted?

Was it language?

Aiming a mute apology at the Apt, she said, 'We tried to stop Nyle, That was when they attacked us. They were after Geraden. Not me.'

The Adept gave her a smile as high-pitched and unexpected as a giggle. 'I know exactly what you mean.' The lamplight made his eyes look milky, as if he were going blind.

From one of his sleeves, he produced the palm-sized bit of mirror which Terisa had twice seen him use as a weapon.

For a piece of time that seemed to have no measurable duration, she gaped at him while he murmured to the glass and passed his hand over it. Then a sting of intuition warned her, and she wrenched herself forward, grabbed at his wrist.

She missed. He had already turned away.

Blissfully unaware of her, he focused his glass and shot out a beam so hot that the creature went up in flames like a bundle of kindling.

With a howl of inarticulate frustration and rage, the Castellan flung Havelock aside. Instantly, the beam stopped as Adept Havelock stumbled against the wall and fell to the floor.

But the creature burned like a torch. No sound came from him; he didn't recoil or wave his arms or loose his grip on the bars. Slowly, slowly, he slumped down the grid.

As if in slow motion, Terisa felt a blast of heat. The stench of scorched fur and sizzling flesh filled the air.

Unable to control her reactions, she staggered to her knees. Down near the floor, the air was still cool. The rotten stink of the straw was too much for her, however. Adept Havelock had risen to his hands and knees to watch the creature. When he saw that she was looking at him, he gave her a huge, conspiratorial wink. Then darkness welled up in her, and she fainted as though she were fading inward.

23 Anticipating Disaster

SHE HAD THE DISTINCT impression that she was gone for a long time.

A man bending over her: she remembered that. But who was he? Master Eremis? The idea gave her a liquid feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to be unconscious. If he were to touch her in any way, she didn't want to miss it.

Now, however, the figure with her was more like a woman. Gradually, she became aware that she wasn't lying on the floor in the dungeon. For one thing, she was warm, really warm- warm all the way down to her toes. There must be a bed under her; no stone was this soft. And blankets-

With an effort, she got her eyes open.

Over her hung the familiar peacock-feather canopy of her bed.

Saddith met her bleary gaze and called softly, 'Geraden. I think she is waking up.'

At once, Geraden came to her side. His face was stretched with fatigue and worry, and his expression was harried; but when he looked into her eyes he smiled as though she made everything in the world all right. Thank the stars,' he murmured in a husky voice. 'I'm glad to see you conscious again.'

She coughed at a throat full of gluey cotton. 'How long have I been out?'

'Long enough.'

Saddith gave a light laugh. 'My lady, the Apt is sotted with you. Every moment that your eyes are not open for him is 'long enough' to fill him with alarm. You have had a much-needed rest. When you have had food and'-she wrinkled her nose-'a bath, you will feel well enough to be amused by his concern.'

Terisa smelled the faint rotten scent. It seemed to be in her hair. And in- Her coat was draped over the back of another chair, but she was still wearing her clothes under the blankets. The smell was in her shirt and pants as well. When she lifted the covers, it wafted delicately into her face.

She pushed the blankets away and let Saddith and Geraden steady her in a sitting position on the edge of the bed. A bright fire crackled in her hearth, and the creature had burned- 'What happened?' she asked.

Geraden's smile twisted. 'Not much. You passed out. Adept Havelock left. The Castellan swore at everybody. One of the physicians and I brought you here. He said you were going to be all right, but I didn't believe him.' He looked away. 'Saddith has been telling me her life story to keep me from screaming while you slept.'

'Why did-?' Terisa ran her fingers into her hair, then grimaced at the odour which clung to them. She had to breathe deeply to make her head stop spinning. 'Why did Adept Havelock kill that poor-?'

At that, Geraden's expression turned harsh. 'He's crazy. Even if we knew why he does anything, it wouldn't make sense.'

'I can explain it,' said Saddith in a teasing tone. 'If the rumours are true, the Adept has not had a woman since he returned from Cadwal.' With her elbow, she nudged Geraden's ribs. 'All men become madmen if they do not bed women often enough.' For no very clear reason, Geraden appeared to be blushing. Terisa had to get the creature's immolation out of her mind. She had to get the stink out of her clothes and hair. Ignoring Saddith, she said to Geraden, 'I don't understand. Why didn't those Imagers who worked with Vagel translate the army he wanted? What research did they have to do?'

Promptly, as if he were relieved by her question, he answered, 'I don't have any way of knowing, of course-but I'm pretty sure I can guess. We've talked about language.' He watched Terisa's face intently. 'When the arch-Imager's cabal came up with an Image of what looked to them like the ideal warrior, they had no way of knowing whether they would be able to talk to him. They didn't believe the question of language would be resolved by the translation itself, That's what they needed to research.'

He snorted a sour laugh. 'It's funny, in a way. Either High King Festten or the arch-Imager could have had an entire army of those creatures, if they just believed the same thing King Joyse believes. They might have been able to beat him.

'
Now we'll never know the answer,' he concluded bitterly.

Terisa nodded, letting Geraden push back the memories from which she wanted to escape. For her part, however, Saddith didn't appear particularly pleased by this turn of the conversation. As soon as Geraden stopped, she said, 'My lady, I have no food or bathwater ready for you. I did not know when you would awaken. But both can be provided almost immediately. With your permission, I will go to bring what you need.'

Thanks.' As usual, Terisa's eyes were drawn to Saddith's open blouse and bursting breasts. She made an effort to raise her head so that she felt less like she was talking to Saddith's chest. 'I would like that.'

In response, Saddith swung a saucy gaze at Geraden. 'Be warned,' she said slyly. 'I will be back too soon for what you desire. Even the hottest youth must have a certain amount of time.'

Laughing, she left the rooms.

Experimentally, Terisa eased herself to her feet.

In a hurry to steady her, Geraden jerked forward. Unfortunately, he missed his balance and nearly fell onto the bed. Terisa found herself holding him up rather than being supported.

Swearing at himself, he pulled away. Apparently, he had lost his balance in more ways than one. Now he looked like he was on the verge of tears.

Geraden? What's the matter? She wasn't sure of what she was seeing. Or she wasn't sure of herself. She wasn't in particularly good shape. In fact, she felt lousy. Where was the Geraden who always took care of her as if she were the most important person in his life?