Wizard's Education (Book 2) (6 page)

Naeck was dead.

Lorit swore.

He'd tried to be gentle. Someone must have placed a strong spell on the man, with an extra measure of protection so that he couldn't reveal his secrets. He looked down at the guard and shook his head. It looked like his children were going to have to grow up without their father after all.

Lorit walked back to the castle, head hung low. He had accidentally taken the life of a good man. He was angry with himself. He'd been unable to protect his charges from the Temple, and now he'd killed the innocent guard trying to get the information he needed. How was he any better than the priests who killed for their own needs?

As Lorit drew near to the Castle, a pair of guards ran to meet him. They were accompanied by a torch bearer to light their way. As they approached him, one of the guards stopped and lowered his spear. "Wizard Lorit, the King demands your immediate presence."

He reached out and grabbed Lorit by the arm while the other guard stepped up and grabbed Lorit's other arm. They marched him to the castle, through the banquet hall and into the King's private meeting room. King Orin stood looking down on the city below, waiting.

"Where is my son?" King Orin demanded. He turned to look at Lorit; his face was red, and he spoke with a slight slur.

"Where is my son, Wizard? I left him in your care, and now he's gone."

"I'm sorry, Sire. I don't know what you're talking about." Lorit had parted company with the Prince when they arrived at the Castle earlier that evening. He hadn't seen the boy since, but assumed he was in good hands.

"I entrusted him to your care, and you lost him," the King bellowed. "Where is my son?" The King turned to the guards. "Take him to the dungeon." He shook his finger at Lorit as they dragged him away. "And don't try any of your Wizard tricks to escape."

The guards hauled Lorit down a damp hallway that lead to the dungeon. They threw him into a cell with a hard wooden bench. The guard locked the door behind him and extinguished the torch, plunging the cell into darkness.

Lorit sat quietly, searching for the link he shared with Chihon. He could still feel her presence, but she was muted and distant. He tried to contact her, pushing his power into the connection, trying to break through. He thought for a brief moment that there was a glimmer of recognition from her, but it faded almost as quickly as it appeared.

Gwitney

Chihon lay on a large, ornately carved bed with a rich, decorative canopy. The bed covering and canopy were made of finely woven silk, decorated with scenes of rocky hills set against the stark white of the Ice Father. Many of the scenes depicted Castle Gwitney standing proudly astride the ice floes and overflowing with abundance.

The door to her room opened, and a woman crept in. Tass was short, with a slightly crooked nose and one eye that didn't quite follow the other. She leaned on her staff, as she made her way over to the bed, careful to avoid waking Chihon as she approached. Tass reached into the sleeve of her garment and withdrew a small vial of lavender liquid. She carefully opened the stopper, keeping the bottle far from her face, took a cloth and splashed a few drops onto it. Tass rubbed the cloth to distribute the liquid evenly, placed it over Chihon's mouth and nose, and held it firmly in place.

Chihon struggled, briefly coming awake at the touch, but quickly succumbed to the potion. Her breathing returned to the steady deep rhythm of sleep, and Tass withdrew the cloth. She sat on the bed and leaned in to Chihon, whispering in her ear. She repeated the words over and over again, words that would replace Chihon's true memories with the ones she had planted there and cultivated so carefully.

When she finished, she slumped onto the bench and sighed at the mirror. Tass carefully lit a candle and focused on it. Quickly, the flame turned to the image of a thin birdlike Priest sitting behind his desk. "Tass. I trust you have good news for me?"

"I do, Father Sulrad. The potion has done its work. Tomorrow I will allow her to wake naturally, and we can begin the next step in the process. I am optimistic."

Tass looked back at Chihon lying on the bed. She'd spent their travel time struggling to keep the girl under her spell so she would not wake fully. It had been exhausting. She was glad to be able to relax even a little bit.

"Is she truly as strong as they say?" Sulrad asked.

"Yes; even with the web around her, I can feel her magic struggling to get out. Although fast asleep and drugged, she still emanates the power that she carries as if it were a beacon. We must be extremely cautious."

"You are correct, especially now that Lorit has pierced the web around the Princess. He knows that we have the girl, and he's coming after her."

"How long before he gets here?" Tass knew the Temple had arranged plenty of diversions for Lorit, but she still feared that he might see through them and arrive before her plans for Chihon were complete.

"My report says he is ready to make for Relynn. When he gets there, he will find yet another diversion, and another. We will try to distract him long enough for you to complete your work."

"I will be most careful, Father." She bowed her head in supplication.

"All you have to do is turn her. If you can, Lorit will come along with her, and that ends it. I have confidence in you, Tass, don't let me down." With that, Sulrad faded slowly back into the candle flame and vanished.

Tass turned to the bed and bent over Chihon whispering softly, as she passed a gnarled staff above the sleeping girl. She repeated her version of Lorit's adventures again and again, reinforcing it with her magic, as she replaced Chihon's own memories with her tale.

When she was satisfied with her efforts, she packed her bag, and cleaned up the remnants of her craft. She cleared away all evidence of her magic and anything that might remind the girl of the truth. Satisfied with her efforts, she released the spell that bound Chihon in sleep, allowing her to wake naturally when the time came.

Chihon woke to find herself in a large bed with a rich decorative canopy. She sat up and looked around the room. It was adorned with hangings depicting rocky hills with the Ice Father in the background. There were several showing a large and imposing castle sprouting from the peaks that withstood the face of the ice.

She reached up to shove her hair out of her eyes, only to find skin where her long brown locks should have been. She rubbed her head in disbelief. What had happened to her hair? She was clean shaven and quite bald. She jumped up and rushed to the mirror, staring at her reflection in horror. She was completely bald and had lost weight. Her scalp was well tanned, indicating that her hair must have been gone for quite some time.

There was a scar on her cheek that she didn't recall. Had she been injured in the fall of the Temple? Was that why she couldn't remember anything? The last thing she could recall was when Lorit had defeated Vorathorm and brought the Temple down around them.

She remembered how Lorit had wrested her power from her against her will, and used it to help him deliver the final blow to the Wizard Priest, Vorathorm. Lorit had taken the power from Vorathorm and broken the link the Priest had with the Temple, bringing the structure down around their heads.

She'd been charged with helping Lorit avoid that path, but she couldn't remember why. She just felt that when it had really mattered, she had failed Lorit. Things were fuzzy after that point.

She reached out for Lorit. He would be able to explain what had happened. She could not locate him, his magic was heavily shielded, and even his location was hidden from her. She called to him, trying to strengthen the connection they shared, but he did not respond.

She panicked. "Lorit!" she thought. "Where are you?"

Still nothing.

There was a knock at the door, and a voice called softly, "Mother, are you awake?"

"Just a moment," Chihon answered. She tried again to reach for Lorit. Where was he? Why wasn't he answering her?

She heard the door open and a woman entered. She was holding a kettle of hot water and fresh clean towels were draped over her arm. She set them on the table and rushed over to Chihon.

"What's the matter, Priestess?"

"Lorit. I can't reach Lorit. Where is he?"

"It's alright, Priestess. Lorit is on a mission. He is shielded so that the Wizards cannot locate him. It's nothing to worry about."

"What do you mean, on a mission?"

"He's on a mission for the Temple. He's carrying strong shields to protect you both until he's finished. He will contact you when it's safe. Don't worry."

"Why did you call me Priestess?"

"Sorry, Mother. You are not yet a Priestess. I know, but the ceremony is coming soon and you will be. I should not assume." The old woman bowed deeply then backed away. She opened the wardrobe and pulled out a long black robe trimmed in silver, which she hung on the end of the bed, smoothing the wrinkles out of it.

Chihon had a vague recollection of heading for Calrick to be installed as the High Priestess there, but she couldn't remember more. Why Calrick?

"My memory is a little fuzzy." She ran her hand over her shaved head once more, grimacing at it.

"Don't worry about it. You were seriously injured when the Temple came down. You took a pretty hard hit to the head. The healers say you should recover your memories, but it's going to take a while. Until then, I will keep filling in the missing pieces as I have every day for this past moon."

The woman rummaged around in the wardrobe and came out with a pair of sturdy boots that matched the color and trim of the robe. She placed them on the floor next to Chihon and sat on the bed. She motioned Chihon to take a seat next to her. She grasped Chihon's hand and looked her in the eye while she filled in the gaps in Chihon's memory.

"We're on our way to Calrick, where you're taking over as High Priestess. Lorit will be installed as the High Priest there at the same ceremony. The two of you will shepherd the Temple and the surrounding kingdoms as chief servants of Ran."

The woman released her hands and picked up one of the boots. She held it out and guided Chihon's foot into it.

"We're about half way through our journey there," the woman continued. "It won't be more than a half a moon before we arrive. There's no rush. Lorit is taking the Southern route through Amedon so he can take care of a couple of meddling Wizards before he joins you."

She guided Chihon's other foot into the remaining boot and stood up. "Are you hungry?"

She helped Chihon into the heavy black robe, pulled it tight and tied it quickly. To Chihon's surprise, if fit her perfectly, even though she was sure she'd lost weight recently.

Chihon reached back and pulled the hood over her head to conceal her face. It was heavy and she could feel the material rest against her bald head where the seam joined the cloth. She flipped it back and felt the slight breeze of its passing on her exposed skin.

After breaking their fast, Tass took Chihon to see the market. Chihon was familiar with the market from her days spent with her Grandma'am selling bread back home, but she was unprepared for the grand bazaar in Gwitney. It was so large that the whole of the market in Bebrook could easily have fitted within one of the specialty areas and still leave room for more.

The market was divided up by product, gathering all of the tanners into one city block, all of the herbalists in another, and so on. As they walked, Tass explained to Chihon what was expected of her as the high Priestess.

They stopped at the herbalist stall. The stalls here were permanent structure, not the carts Chihon was familiar with in the Bebrook market. These herbalists were here day in and day out selling their wares. Tass purchased several herbs, explaining to Chihon that they were used in the potion she prepared to help Chihon heal from her injuries and regain her memory.

As she completed the purchase, a woman approached the herbalist. She wore a peasant's rough homespun dress that was threadbare and was stained and dirty.

"Please, kind Sir. Do you have anything that can cure my daughter?" she asked. "She was taken with the fever six days ago and I am afraid for her life. She has three small children and no husband. If she doesn't get better, what will I do?"

"Does she cough?" the herbalist asked. "If she does, you want Fenugreek seed. You moisten it and grind it into paste, then make a tea of that and have her drink it. It will help clear her cough. For the fever, I would recommend either Bloodwort, to cause sweating and release toxins from her body, or else Yarrow, to help cool the fever."

The herbalist held up the vials of powder and seeds as he described each then restored them to their proper place in his display.

"She coughs, and she has a fever. How much for the Fenugreek and the Yarrow?"

"The Fenugreek is three coppers and the Yarrow is one." He held up the small vial that contained the seeds, showing her how much she could purchase.

"Please, kind Sir, all I have are two coppers. Can you see it in your heart to have pity on an old woman?"

"I'm sorry, but this is my livelihood. I can't just give these herbs away; my sons work hard to collect them. This is how we feed our own children. The price is three coppers for the Fenugreek and one for the Yarrow." He returned the Fenugreek to its place on the cart. "Perhaps just the Yarrow then. You can afford that."

"She coughs so hard, Sir. Please, I beg you. I'm too old to bury my daughter and raise her children. How about half portions? Could you spare those?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't." He placed the remaining vial back on the shelf. "Half portions won't work. You'll waste your money and be upset with me because they did not make her well."

"Please, I beg of you, she's dying." The old woman dropped to her knees and grabbed at his hand.

He pulled his hand free and pushed her away. "I can't do it. I have a family to feed, too."

Chihon rushed over to the stall. She bent down and helped the woman to her feet. She looked at the herbalist with a scowl, reached into her robe, and found a silver. She handed it to the herbalist. "Here, this should cover it."