The White Robe (25 page)

“The outside door was warded and that opened okay so it shouldn’t be a problem. Do you know how we get there?”

Tissian nodded and led the way along the corridor, the light from Jonderill’s flame lighting up a small space around them and leaving the rest in darkness as they made their way forward. The end of the corridor opened into the large hallway which he remembered from his previous visit. His light was not bright enough to reach across the hallway and he wondered if there might be guards hiding in the dark. If there was then their game was up. Carefully they followed the wall around until they came to the door to Razarin’s rooms. Jonderill gripped the iron blade tightly as he pushed against the door and the door gave a small click and swung open.

The room looked different in the half light, less comfortable and welcoming and more sinister, as if unfriendly eyes were watching from the shadows. Jonderill made his way around the upright chairs and past the soft chairs by the hearth where he had sat and talked to the High Master. Tissian stopped to stare at a shelf full of books and beckoned Jonderill to join him. To Jonderill the bookshelf looked like all the others, neatly stacked with rows of books and small piles of scrolls but Tissian was running his hands around the edge with an excited look on his face.

“This is it! The goddess’s sanctuary is behind here.”

He stepped back to give Jonderill more room and Jonderill moved forward and pressed the hand which was holding the blade to the edge of the bookcase. Blue and silver sparks ran across his hand and an intense pain, as if he had been burnt, shot up his arm. He gasped in surprise, rapidly pulled his hand back and dropped the blade onto the carpeted floor with a loud thud.

“Blast! That hurt!”

He clutched his tingling hand to his chest and rubbed his numb arm vigorously whilst Tissian picked up the blade and handed it back to him. “Have another go. The warding has probably broken now.”

Jonderill took the sword in his other hand and slowly moved it to the edge of the book case. As he did so his hand started to tingle and his arm ache. Both grew worse the closer he came to the hidden door. He stopped before his hand touched the bookcase and watched as small sparks jumped from the blade onto the hidden door. He moved the blade away and his hand and arm returned to normal.

“I don’t think this is going to work.”

“I think you’re right, but it’s a pity to have come so far and not be able to get through the last door.” They both looked disappointedly at the bookcase and Jonderill turned to go but as he took a step away he felt dizzy and the room lurched around him making him stagger back and clutch at the wall.

“Are you okay?” asked Tissian in concern.

Jonderill turned back to the bookcase and shook his head to get rid of the buzzing that was reverberating through his head. “Here, take this.” He handed the sword to Tissian, placed a hand on the edge of the bookcase and with a loud click it swung open in front of him.

“Hellden’s balls!” muttered Tissian to himself as he followed Jonderill into the goddess’s sanctuary. The door closed silently behind them.

If Jonderill had an image in his mind of what a sacred sanctuary should look like, then it was nothing like this. The room was circular and much smaller than the red metal dome which glowed with a dull bronze light far above. Its light reflected off the walls giving them a faintly pink hue and making the crystals in the stone sparkle and shimmer. Despite the bronze light from above, the floor remained pristine white and glowed like fresh snow in sunlight. Jonderill looked around for the source of the light but couldn’t find any lamps or candles. He clicked his fingers and the ball of elemental fire at his shoulder went out but the light in the sanctuary remained unchanged.

In the centre of the room, under the apex of the dome, stood a single pedestal of stone which rose to around waist height. It was plain and unremarkable except that its surface was silky smooth and one half was black and the other half white. A single crimson disk was embedded in its centre. Around the pedestal, spaced evenly apart, stood five chairs made of golden weiswald but without any carving or decoration. A sixth chair lay broken into small pieces on the floor. Apart from that the room was empty and the silence so complete that Jonderill could hear Tissian breathing and the sound of his own heartbeat.

“What do we do now?” whispered Jonderill, his voice sounding small and strange in the open space.

“When I came here the High Master put his hand on that pedestal and the goddess spoke to me. Perhaps you should do the same.”

“I’m not the High Master.” replied Jonderill with a frown but despite his denial it did feel the right thing to do. He moved to the centre of the room, stared down at the top of the pedestal and then hesitantly back at Tissian. Tissian nodded in encouragement and Jonderill slowly placed his hands on either side of the pedestal’s smooth surface. For a moment nothing happened and then the light increased in brilliance and a woman’s soft voice echoed around the room.

“Callistares, you have made your way to me

at last. I have
waited so long to bless the one

I have chosen but now our time together must

be brief. You must leave this place if you are to

keep your freedom, and you must keep your

freedom if you are to discover who you are.

Your road is a difficult one Callistares, difficult

and filled with pain but when you truly know

what you are, you will learn the reason for

the task that has been set for you. Only then

will you understand why it was necessary

to cause you such hurt.

Now go, and know in the darkest of times,

when all that you were has been taken

from you and you are no more,

that I am the light and I am always with you.

The light faded and Jonderill removed his hands.

“What was all that about?” asked Tissian. “Who is this Callistares? When the goddess spoke to me she called me by my name. You don’t think you got someone else’s message by mistake do you?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anyone called Callistares.”

“Well, if I were you, I would be grateful that you’re not this Callistares bloke, it sounds like his future is not very bright.”

“I think you’re right.” said Jonderill thoughtfully and then laughed. “Well, at least this has solved a problem for me. The goddess clearly didn’t want to speak to me did she? So I guess that means that I’m not going to be a magician after all. In which case I will take her advice and I will leave the Enclave tomorrow.”

“I’m really sorry Jonderill. I thought that would help.”

“Don’t be. As I told you I’ve always wanted to travel to Tarbis and see the Great Southern Ocean and now there is nothing to hold me back.

Jonderill turned away from the altar and the brilliant light faded. Across the room the door clicked and swung open and his ball of elemental light suddenly appeared above his shoulder without being bidden.

“I think that is our cue to go,” said Tissian. “Come on.”

Tissian lead the way through the sanctuary door with Jonderill following behind. He stopped at the door and looked back at the altar, almost hoping that the goddess would call him back but the room remained silent. He stepped into the High Master’s room and the door shut quietly behind him. Tissian had almost reached the door into the hallway when Jonderill called him back.

“Wait a moment, Tissian. High Master Razarin has something that belongs to me and I don’t intend to leave without it.”

He held out his hand for the iron blade which Tissian had been carrying and when he had it firmly in his hand he stepped behind Razarin’s desk. The High Master had put Maladran’s torc into one of the desk drawers, of that he was certain, and it was likely that it was still there. He wasn’t sure which drawer it was in, but the centre one felt right, so he held the blade in his hand, pushed lightly at the decorative keyhole and the drawer slid smoothly open. The torc lay on the top of its black silk bag, the dragon’s ruby eyes gleaming balefully in the dark. He picked it up and slid it into the bag and put the bag inside his jerkin before pushing the drawer closed.

Tissian frowned and shook his head. “The High Master is going to miss that and then all hellden will break lose.”

“He won’t know that I took it but just in case he suspects it was me, I will put it somewhere safe until I leave so he won’t be able to find it. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

They retraced their steps back out into the hallway, along the narrow corridor and back to the hidden door in the temple wall. Jonderill used Plantagenet’s blade to open the door whilst Tissian made sure that the way was clear. The night was dark and quiet and the streets deserted and when they reached the pathway that led to the inn they could see that the inn was closed for the night. They were surprised; they didn’t think they had been inside the temple for that long.

Jonderill stopped and held out his hand. “Tissian, my friend, this is as far as we go together. I’m leaving at first bell tomorrow but now I’m going to hide Maladran’s torc so that nobody will be able to find it again, and I think it would be safest for you if you didn’t know where it was. I want to thank you for saving my life and for coming with me to the temple even if the goddess didn’t want to talk to me. One day I hope a real magician will come here and take you to be his protector; he wouldn’t find anyone better or more dedicated. You never know, perhaps our paths will cross again, but until then try and stay out of trouble and keep well away from the Master of Penance.”

Tissian took the proffered hand and shook it warmly. “Goodbye, Jonderill. I’m sorry you weren’t the one I could be paired with, we would have been good together.” He gave a final small smile and strode off across the square without looking back.

Jonderill watched him go until he was swallowed up by the darkness and then set off in the direction of Sansun’s stable. He had one last thing to do before he could return to his room for the night and grab a few hours sleep. Tomorrow he would leave the Enclave and find his own place in the six kingdoms.

*

The door slammed open with a crash and Jonderill was instantly awake. He rolled over to make a grab for his sword, which was propped up in the corner, but stopped moving as a sword point was pressed into his chest. He eased back into his bed and the sword point was withdrawn fractionally. Four guards clad in dark blue and gold stood around his bed, all heavily armed and none of them smiling. He didn’t recognise any of them but he did recognise the uniforms as belonging to the men who guarded the High Master’s rooms and the doors to Federa’s temple. It didn’t take much for him to work out why they were here.

“Search the room,” snapped the squad leader.