Chapter 43
The knife splashed into the water. Shendar stared at Adramal, open-mouthed, and was seized with a fit of trembling. She sank to her knees, water lapping around her. Head bowed, she clasped her hands together.
"Mistress - Master - forgive me," she croaked. "I... I had no idea. I had not dared to hope I would find you. Degoran thought... there was something unusual about your - about the girl's mind, but - I never imagined this was the reason."
What do you think you're playing at? Adramal asked. Anger boiled within her, but her voice conveyed only mild annoyance. This wasn't what I agreed to! She reached into her body. It was like stretching for the top of a wall that was just a little too high. She achieved nothing except making a muscle in her thigh twitch, which caused her body to stagger. Lelsarin recovered the body's balance. Shendar glanced up and averted her gaze again.
Don't fight me, said Lelsarin. I need to appear to be in control.
Control? So you can murder more innocent people? Her voice remained flat and calm. Was this a symptom of being disconnected from her body? Was that why Lelsarin rarely showed emotion?
What? said Lelsarin. Don't tell me you believed me.
I don't know what to believe any more, said Adramal.
"Rise, Shendar," said Lelsarin. "I reward those who are loyal to me."
Shendar stood, shaking. Her head remained bowed.
"I will retake what is mine," said Lelsarin. "I will raise an army to conquer this land. You will be my first lieutenant, most trusted of all my servants."
"Master," said Shendar, "you do me a great honour. I accept this position, and shall do my utmost to prove myself worthy of it."
"You already have. You drew this girl to you, by carving my symbol into the bodies of those you sacrificed to me."
Shendar frowned. Adramal wondered if that had truly been her plan.
"Now," said Lelsarin, "you came here to find something in the forest, did you not?"
"Yes, Master. One of your temples lies about a few hours' journey north of here. It is a ruin, but it is the nearest."
"Then we will go there."
Are you insane? said Adramal. This is our chance to escape.
Shendar gripped the bow of the boat and pulled it further up the river bank. Lelsarin made no attempt to assist her. Adramal sensed magic helping to move the vessel, but still Shendar struggled.
Are you Zorian? Adramal asked.
No, said Lelsarin. But I'd say that anyway, wouldn't I?
"Master, the boat is ashore. We can leave now."
"Lead the way," said Lelsarin. She fumbled with the muscles in Adramal's legs for a moment. Help me here, will you? The wall between them shrank as Lelsarin relinquished control of the legs. Adramal tried to run, but had forgotten she was standing knee-deep in cold water. The feet had gone numb and didn't move as far as she wanted. Lelsarin intervened to try to keep the body upright, but it fell over with a splash.
"Master! Are you hurt?"
"This body has sustained some minor damage," said Lelsarin. "I have not had enough experience of controlling it." She turned Adramal's head in Shendar's direction. The wizard seemed horrified. "You may assist me."
"Thank you, Master." Shendar came over, and Lelsarin held out a hand to her. She pulled Adramal's body upright, and then put Adramal's arm around her shoulder. Lelsarin lifted Adramal's legs in turn, in a crude approximation of walking.
"Master, the journey will take much longer if we have to travel like this."
"I will reacquaint myself with the principles of locomotion. It will become easier as we go on." They walked into the forest, and Shendar cast a light spell. Noise fluttered all around as birds and small animals fled from the brightness. The light made deep, long shadows. These shifted alarmingly as Shendar moved, making Adramal see monsters behind every tree. The fact that she couldn't turn her head for a proper look only heightened her fear.
Why do you want to go further from help? said Adramal.
I want to be sure she trusts me, Lelsarin said.
And what possible reason could you have for wanting that? If she walks in front of me, I'll hit the back of her neck and run for my life.
Assuming she doesn't kill you immediately, said Lelsarin, if you abandon her in the forest, she'll run off and you'll never see her again. This is our only chance to bring her to justice. But more importantly, this affair is a lot bigger than one half-mad wizard on a killing spree. I've found a trail, and I want to see where it leads.
What happened to "some stones are best left unturned?" said Adramal.
Like you said, until you turn a stone over, you don't know whether you shouldn't. But I didn't turn this particular stone. Shendar did.
As they trudged on, Lelsarin got better at walking - Adramal's body fell over less often as they went deeper into the forest. Shendar helped Lelsarin to stand, but made no effort to treat the wounds the body suffered.
Adramal tried to heal the wounds - the ache and chill in her legs, and the stinging cuts to her feet, arms and face. The magic dissipated without effect against the wall in her mind.
Don't do that, whispered Lelsarin. I'm supposed to be in control, and I'll bet she can tell those spells aren't mine.
Then you can do me the courtesy of looking after my property while you're using it.
I'm doing the best I can. I don't know how to work your healing magic.
Weren't you paying attention, all those times I used it?
No. Does this help?
The pain was abruptly gone, leaving only a faint tingling, like hearing a quiet conversation from another room. I suppose that'll do for now, said Adramal.
They came to what appeared to be a path, narrow and overgrown. After a few hundred yards, Shendar picked a small object from the ground. "See, Master? A temple lies not far from here."
The object was a palm-sized flake of obsidian. Lelsarin shuddered. Anything but that.
Shendar proffered the flake. Take it, said Adramal. You're supposed to be in control, remember. Lelsarin accepted it. One side was flat as a fish-pond, the other covered in irregular facets. Adramal guessed it had been chipped from something bigger.
"We will rebuild it," said Lelsarin. "Larger and grander." She turned Adramal's hand to drop the flake.
"Yes, Master."
It was warm, said Lelsarin. Warmer than any piece of stone that size has any right to be. There's magic in it, I'm sure.
As they went on, pieces of obsidian became larger and more frequent. They skirted a chunk the height of a man that was embedded in the path, almost upright.
Since we're supposed to bring her to justice, said Adramal, why don't you ask her why she killed all those people?
We know that, said Lelsarin. To find Zorian.
But everyone else thinks Zorian is just something to make children behave. So ask her why she wanted to find him.
"First lieutenant," said Lelsarin.
"Yes, Master?" said Shendar, smiling eagerly.
"I am curious to know what prompted you to search for me."
"Master, I wish to restore you to your rightful position as ruler of this land."
"How did you come to know of me?" said Lelsarin. "Before I revealed myself, you described me as 'a story to frighten naughty children.'"
Shendar quailed. "I must beg your forgiveness for that insult, Master. I had no idea you dwelt in this peasant's body. I had thought you would inhabit someone much more important."
"You were not to know," said Lelsarin. "I have had to hide myself well in recent years. I forgive the offence."
"Nevertheless, Master, a great many of your people do not know of you. More still believe you never lived, or that you ruled over only a small part of the land."
"Lies," said Lelsarin, in a voice like distant thunder.
"Of course, Master," said Shendar, trembling. "As soon as you are restored to power, your people will know the truth."
"You have not answered my question. Doubtless you have learned to conceal your belief in me. That is good and necessary when dealing with those who do not serve me. But when you face me, your honesty must be unflinching."
"Yes, Master. I learned of you through careful study of certain books, first in my family's library, and then at Kyturil. I removed the books, or cut out the pages pertaining to you, so that your enemies would not find them."
"Good," said Lelsarin. "Why did you decide to restore me?"
"Because, Master, you are the rightful ruler of this land."
"That is true," said Lelsarin, "but it is not the only reason for your actions." Shendar's eyes widened. "Someone as wise as you does not labour for half her life, towards an end that must have seemed a remote possibility, without any thought of reward for herself."
Shendar clasped her hands together. "Master, my reasons are rooted in a period known as the First Regency - specifically, the engagement of Prince Sathim to Lady Forondel."
"The Prince broke off that engagement and married another, did he not?" said Lelsarin.
"Yes. Forondel was the heir of Gilmareth House. Marrying into the Royal Family would have revived their fortunes."
"But instead Sathim married Ingeld. And now you are the heir of Gilmareth."
Shendar gasped. "How did you know?"
"I know much about you that you thought private."
"Gilmareth is no more, Master. But I am the closest living relative."
"So you believe," said Lelsarin, "that if Sathim had married Forondel, your family would be of much higher status, and that you might be the head of the family."
"Yes, Master."
"Do you think, perhaps, that you might even be Queen now?"
Shendar hesitated. "Yes, Master."
"And that is why you have been searching for me."
"It is," said Shendar. "Sathim should have married Forondel. His children, and all who came after them, have no claim on the throne."
"Even I cannot alter the past," said Lelsarin. "But I can right its wrongs. If you truly desire it, I will make you my Queen."
Shendar fell to her knees, open-mouthed. "Master, you do me too great an honour."
"You have laboured long and hard for this," said Lelsarin. "Rise, my Queen." She held out Adramal's hand. Trembling, Shendar crawled forward and kissed the back of it. She stood, swaying as though drunk.
"You are unmarried," said Lelsarin.
"Yes, Master." Shendar stared at Adramal, eyes bright.
"Then my next host will be a man, high-born and handsome. He will wed you."
"Master, I... I... thank you."
"Together, we will bring forth an heir," said Lelsarin. "When he is old enough, he will become my new host." Revulsion passed across Shendar's face like a cloud in front of the sun. Then she smiled again. "Perhaps you are disturbed to hear words of passion from the mouth of a rough peasant - and a female, no less, much younger than yourself. But to me, this body is merely a suit of clothing. I will don another, more fitted for that purpose, before I speak of it to you again."
Shendar looked down. "As you wish, Master."
She's not the only one who finds that idea repellent, said Adramal. I'd sooner kiss a rabid dog.
Just keeping up appearances, said Lelsarin. If she wants to be Queen, someone has to be King.
As they trudged on, the pieces of obsidian grew steadily larger. There was no sign of the temple yet. What sort of violence could scatter the wreckage over such a wide area? Some of the pieces had corners that suggested they had been parts of walls. Other pieces were warped and twisted, as though they had been subjected to immense heat. Magic could melt stone, but to melt this much of it would require more power than all the wizards in Thuren could command.
The path made a slow turn to the right, and Adramal glimpsed a deep red glow on the horizon. "Another few miles, Master," said Shendar.
Shortly after that, the obsidian blocks became more scarce. The path turned to the left. In the distance, Adramal saw a dark shape among the trees. With the sun behind it, details were impossible to perceive, but it had to be the Temple. As they drew nearer, and the sky lightened, Adramal got more of a sense of the building's scale. Perinar had said when it was intact, it could be seen from seventy miles away. She'd scoffed at the idea then, but now it seemed completely believable.
Abruptly, they came out of the trees into a wide clearing. In the middle was a huge obsidian structure. Shendar said, "Master, behold your Temple."
Adramal still couldn't quite grasp the size of it. Is it a big building or a small hill?
I'm not sure there's any difference, said Lelsarin.
The temple was a cylindrical tower. The top was jagged, as if the rest had been torn off, and Adramal guessed that they'd been walking through the debris for the last watch or more. Around the temple's walls were massive buttresses, like the roots of some gigantic tree.
Lelsarin walked towards the temple, Shendar behind her.
I don't like this, said Adramal. If this place has been abandoned for five hundred years, who - or what - is keeping the trees at bay?
Something crunched under Adramal's foot. Maybe it's this stuff, said Lelsarin. She turned her head this way and that, studying the ground. In places where the light caught it, the soil seemed to glitter. Powdered obsidian. It might retain enough enchantment to stop plants taking root.
As they drew nearer, a doorway became visible - wide as a house, and taller than the trees behind them. A broad, low set of steps led up to it.
Inside was an entrance hall, bigger than the Watch's headquarters. Corridors went to the left and right, and a staircase at the back of the hall led to a landing. Just as the story book had said, everything was made of obsidian. Shendar's light spell barely reached the walls.
"Magnificent," she whispered, looking around. The echoes of their footsteps had not yet faded. "I had thought the stories exaggerated the glory. But if anything, they understate it."
At the edges of Shendar's light, colours appeared - indigos and deep crimsons, like the sky soon after sunset, or dried blood on a wound. They shifted, like reflections in oil.
Shendar gasped. Slowly, Lelsarin turned Adramal's body around. "Kreztalin, rejoice!" said Shendar. "Your master has returned!"
Lelsarin completed the turn. A few yards away, between Adramal and Shendar, stood something shaped like a man. It was made of faceted obsidian, tall and skeletal. Shendar's light reflected off it.
Why is she talking to a statue? asked Adramal. And why didn't you see it sooner?
The thing's head turned towards her. Its face had no features, but something about it - perhaps the way it held itself - conveyed a malevolent intelligence.
It's not a statue, said Lelsarin, her voice filled with terror.
Memories flashed before Adramal, as they had done when Marik examined her in the Temple. This was more focused, however: almost all of the memories were of times when she had been speaking. The creature must be using a spell to search her mind.
The memories stopped. Shendar swayed as though she'd been punched, and her light flickered. "Kreztalin, you have much to learn about hospitality." She gestured to Adramal. "This is Zorian, your master. I am Shendar, his first lieutenant, and you will treat us with the respect that we deserve."
The creature turned its head to look at Shendar, and then back at Adramal. It took a couple of steps away from them, making no noise as it moved. That explained why she hadn't heard it coming. Adramal couldn't be sure, but she thought its feet didn't leave the floor.
A deep sound came from further inside the building, like centuries of grieving.
"Master," said Shendar, her eyes wide, "what is that?"
Suddenly, the sound jumped in pitch to something nearer a human voice and formed words. "Who intrudes?" The sound seemed now to come from the creature, though all the echoes made it hard to be sure.
Shendar put her hands on her hips. "So you can speak. Why do you not welcome us, and acknowledge us as your masters?"
The creature shifted, as though maintaining balance. Although its surface was rigid, like a beetle's carapace, parts of it seemed to bend like flesh. "You are not my masters. You are not worthy to be sacrifices to them." Its voice had a scratchy quality, like fine gravel being poured into a bucket.
Oh shit, said Lelsarin. It smoked us out even faster than I thought it would. The only hope now is that it kills her before it kills us.