Spellsong - The Soprano Sorceress - Spellsong - The Soprano Sorceress Part 53
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Spellsong - The Soprano Sorceress Part 53

"What did she want?"

"She is insisting that she ride back to Pamr," Menares says smoothly. "She says that she needs to study the land there to defeat Eladdrin."

"And you want her here where you can watch her? Did you refuse her request?"

"I told her that such travel might be unwise, but that I would consult with you."

"Oh, Menares, old friend..." Behlem laughs. "So cautious you are. If you were only that cautious for the right reasons. This woman needs us. She could bring the whole liedburg down around us. Don't you know that?"

"If she can," replies Menares, his voice carrying the faint hint of sourness, "why hasn't she, with all the restrictions she clearly chafes under?"

"Because she is as old as she says she is, not as she appears. She knows a sorceress, especially a sorceress, cannot hold off an entire land, no matter how powerful she is." Behlem refills his goblet, his eyes on the portcullis, which has been lifted to allow a troop of riders to enter.

"But... if she is that poweful... and you win... then what will you do? Can you afford to have her near?"

"No. But I will not ford rivers before I reach them. One way or another, she will not remain near." Behlem smiles and fingers his beard.

"Talk to her this afternoon. Send Spirda and a full squad with her, and remember to tell her that her attacker belonged to Delor. Also. . ." Behlem frowns. "I believe I will sup alone tonight, rather than in the hall."

"Oh. . . you suspect Delor will make trouble?"

"He could. He could." Behlem shrugs, his eyes on the portcullis as it drops back into place. "Is there anything else new?"

"No, ser."

"Good. Will you tell the page to bring me more of the wine on your way out?"

"Yes ser."

Anna set the lutar aside and glanced out the window into the hot mid-afternoon. On the one hand, she hated feeling cooped up. On the other, she hated walking out into the oven that the liedburg became every afternoon. Even the ramparts were empty, as sentries hugged the few shadows. The banner of Neserea hung limply from the flagstaff that rose above the wall that surrounded the portcullis gate.

She glanced back at the lutar on the bed, surrounded by scraps of paper, on which were jotted words and musical notations that represented potential spells. She rubbed her neck and shook her hand to loosen her fingers, fingers that had developed calluses from the lutar practice over the past weeks.

The heavy knocker on the tower door thunked twice.

After taking a deep breath, the sorceress crossed the floor and opened the door. Menares stood on the landing.

"Come in, counselor." Anna held the door, then closed it behind the heavyset advisor.

"It is so pleasant here."

"I'm glad you find it so."

After settling himself into the wooden armchair, the counselor cleared his throat. "The Prophet and I have discussed.. . your scouting mission..."

"He's agreed," Anna said, tired of the circumlocutions. "What sort of escort will I have?"

"Ah. . . Officer Spirda and a full squad. I trust that will be sufficient?"

"I would hope so. We'll leave right after breakfast."

Menares nodded.

"Also, you should know that I won't take the pages, but I will take my player. He has experience with what players can handle, and I'll need that."

"You did not mention..."

"Menares... I would like it if you would stop thinking about why I shouldn't do something and help me do it." She paused.

The white-haired Menares coughed and cleared his throat again, then shifted his bulk on the chair, which creaked. His fingers touched the short white beard.

"And I'll need some golds," Anna said. "I'll be looked to for food and lodging, and since I'm not from Liedwahr, I don't have resources."

"Then perhaps you should not-"

"I'm offering assistance you couldn't buy with all the golds in Liedwahr, and not only are you trying to hinder my efforts to help Behlem, but you're quibbling about lodging costs."

"The treasury is not... boundless...Lady Anna." The sorceress stood and walked to the bed, lifting the lutar off the coverlet. Then she eased to the window, before turning back and facing Menares. Her fingers strummed across the strings. "How much are two thousand armsmen worth? A handful of captains?"

The counselor's eyes flicked from Anna's face to her fingers and back again. "I think we could spare a few golds, Lady Anna."

"A dozen would be about right. You can have them ready in the morning when we leave." She nodded absently, chording the background for the water spell. "Who was behind the attempt to kill me?"

"That we do not know." Menares shrugged. "The armsman belonged to the Mittfels Foot."

"That's Delor."

"Someone could have suborned his men."

Anna considered, then shook her head. "I don't think so. Do you, really?"

"I could not say. I really could not." Menares wasn't about to admit what he knew, but his reactions and body posture had already told Anna what she needed to know.

"There is no dinner tonight, since the Prophet will not be eating with his captains," Menares volunteered as he slowly eased his bulk out of the chair.

Anna tried not to swallow. The statement meant more than the words conveyed. . . but what?

"I would like to remain, Lady Anna. I have not been more comfortable in days, but..." The white-haired counselor shrugged.

"I understand." Anna walked to the door and held it open, standing back as Menares half walked, half waddled onto the hot landing.

Once the echoes of Menares' footsteps had faded, Anna closed the door, yanked the bell pull and waited. This time, Birke appeared.

"Birke, I need you to find my player, Daffyd. Would you ask him if he would come here for a bit?"

Birke glanced down the stone steps, then cleared his throat. "Yes, lady."

''Good."

After the page left, she closed the door, wondering once more why she had to act like a bitch to get anything done. And why Menares had been told to let her know that Behlem would not be at dinner. Finally, she nodded. The problem was hers to resolve. Hers alone. Delor could try to kill her again and again, and Behlem would do nothing-unless she either went to his bed or begged for his mercy...or both.

She took a deep breath, and began to look for a scrap of paper. Do you want to do this? Do you have any real choice?

Anna actually had the spell complete before Daffyd thunked. After setting the paper aside, she crossed the stone floor and opened the door, motioning him in.

"It's cold here." The dark-haired player shivered as he sank into one of the chairs.

"It's comfortable." Anna turned the chair to face Daffyd. "Tomorrow, we're riding back to Pamr. I'm sorry I didn't give you much warning, but I just persuaded Menares and Behlem that it was necessary."

"You want me to go?" asked Daffyd, a hint of a boyish sulk in his voice.

"Yes. I trust you, and you know more about Defalk than any of the Neserean officers. who'll be with us. I need to see how I can turn things to help us."

"You haven't talked to me that much lately."

Anna held in a sigh. Why was it that men required so much emotional hand holding? Either that, or lots of power to reassure themselves? "Daffyd, I have been very busy trying to keep from getting murdered. If you didn't hear, this morning three armsmen tried to kill me in the stable."

"This morning? What happened? You look all right."

"I almost wasn't. I managed to stab one with my dagger, and I got free long enough to use a spell on the other two." Anna frowned. "This happened in a castle where I'm supposed to be safe. Then, earlier, someone tried to cripple Farinelli by dropping those iron pointed things into his stall."

"Caltrops?" The player shook his head. "I don't understand. The Prophet needs you."

"That may be, but someone doesn't agree. Or they don't care."

The young player glanced toward the door. "Do you think Behlem...?" He shook his head.

"No. Not yet, anyway. He needs me now, and he's an opportunist. But I trust him about as far as I could throw Farinelli."

"Why would you do that?"

"You're not..." Anna shook her head ruefully.

Daffyd grinned.

"Why do I stay here? Work with them? Because the alternative is worse." A lot worse, if what I feel is right. And she had to trust her feelings. They were about all she could trust, from what she'd experienced of Liedwahr. She stood and stretched. "I need to prepare some things. I'll see you in the morning, right after breakfast."

''That's all?''

Anna really wanted to sigh. She didn't. "Daffyd, I'm sorry if I haven't had more time to talk, but it's hard trying to learn all these things you grew up with and I didn't. It's also hard being a sorceress in a place that's. . . very different. We'll have more time on the way to Pamr."

"Do you want me to bring my viola?"

"I think that would be a good idea, don't you?"

The player nodded.

After Daffyd left, Anna didn't know whether to shake her head or scream. She was old enough to be his mother, and looked young enough to be his girlfriend, and the poor boy was confused.

No matter what she did, he'd be confused.

She picked the lutar back up, running through the chords again, then the words, but never both together, and never singing the words.

When the sun had almost touched the horizon, Anna took another deep breath, then lifted the lutar, and slipped out of her room into the heat of the tower steps.

Although she passed two armsmen and a page she did not know, none said a word to her, all three looking away as she strode determinedly toward the middle hall.

"Lady Anna.. . ah... there is no. . . accompanied dinner.., this evening. . . ." stammered the young armsman standing outside the doorway.

"I know. I didn't come for that." Anna smiled, but the smile felt cold, colder than university professionalism. "I take it the captains and overcaptains are eating now?"

Giellum swallowed. "You can't enter."

"Do you announce me, or do I turn you into charcoal?" Anna's fingers flicked across the strings of the lutar.

The young armsman's eyes widened, then he croaked. "Ah... a moment, lady." He swung the door open.

"The lady Anna."

She almost wanted to smile as his voice cracked, but she wasted no time stepping inside, halting, and surveying the table to make sure Delor was there.

He was. The overcaptain bolted upright at the table, his blade clearing the sheath, his face twisted in anger.

Anna sang.

"Delor, killer, now you learn...

from flame to ashes shall you turn...

from the strings, from the sky, fire flay you till you die!"

Delor leaped from the far side of the table, flicked out his blade, grasping a dagger in the other hand, and charged across the tile floor toward the sorceress even before she finished the spell.

Cracckk!!!

Anna flicked the last chord from the lutar strings and dodged.

Delor stopped in his tracks as one line of fire slammed his body, then a second. Although he went down after the second, he didn't begin to scream until the fifth or sixth fire-lash cut away fabric and flesh.

Except for Delor's screams, the miniature lightnings and the crackling of flame, the hall was silent. With his death, only heavy breathing remained.

Anna swallowed, and stepped up toward the horrified faces around the table. She noted that Behlem was not present. Nor was Menares. She turned to Hanfor.

"Unlike some, I don't hire innocents to do my killing. And I don't hide behind a smile and witty words. I didn't kill Delor just because he tried to kill me. I also killed him because he was stupid. How do you feel about a captain who would try to kill the best weapon his lord may have? How many of you will die if I am not there?" You're setting yourself up... but what choice do you have? You have to stop this assassination shit before it gets anywhere. "Do you want to play stupid masculine games or do you want to survive?"

Hanfor stood. He was silent for a long moment before he spoke. "I appreciate your directness, Lady Anna. If they stop to think, many others may do so as well."

"Thank you." The sorceress bowed and turned, giving Delor' s corpse a wide berth as she left the hall.