somewhere within the castle stables, well-covered by some superior spell so that I was unable to locate him precisely, much less identify him. He watches the council of war.”
Stergos uttered a moan. “Oh, God. Oh, God. And I perceived nothing. Nothing! What are we going to do?”
“If I may suggest—”
“What?” The doctor’s dismay turned to alarm as the boy explained.
“Let me go down through the ‘tween-wall passages and see if I can find this fellow. Perhaps he’s visible to the naked eye, even though windsight can’t scry him. He may be a wild talent… just like me! He must be someone in the entourage of one of the lords, for you know the duke didn’t allow any casual travelers or other strangers to enter the castle during this secret gathering. Since he’s in the stables, he may be disguised as a horse lackey. If he is visible, he could pretend to be drunk or sleeping and no one would suspect what he was doing.”
“If he should discover you—” Stergos broke off fearfully. “He must be a talent of great power, Deveron, to exert two magical functions at the same time. Even Ullanoth gave some hint to me of her watching, although I couldn’t be sure of her. But not this unknown—working his sorcery practically on top of us! If he’s spying on the council, he must be a mortal enemy of our prince. He might not hesitate to kill you.”
“He won’t realize I’m a danger to him. Not if I just seek him out and give him a casual glance. Just another housecarl without an adept bone in my body.”
“It might work,” Stergos said grudgingly. It was a sore point to him that Snudge’s wild talent was imperceptible to the anointed of his Mystic Order, to say nothing of the fact that the boy was capable of identifying even the smallest modicum of talent in others.
“Shall I go, then? I won’t get lost. I’ve already explored most of the passages on this side of the ward. I did it last night, while you were all asleep. I even made a dark lantern for myself out of an old pewter tankard and a candle.”
Stergos sighed. “I might have known… Very well. Do your best to find out who the villain is, or who he pretends to be. Be quick about it and don’t take any dangerous chances. His Grace and I will decide what to do about him.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“If only I could watch over you…”
But that was impossible. Even though Stergos, like most of the Zeth Brethren, had the ability to scry over short distances, Snudge’s wild talent protected him from any sort of magical surveillance, a fact that particularly delighted Prince Conrig at the same time that it dismayed his brother.
“I’ll take great care, my lord. Don’t worry about me.”
“Oh, all right,” the doctor grumped. “But if you get into serious trouble, bespeak me at once and I’ll do my best to help you.”
“Of course, my lord.” He bobbed his head and slipped out of the cubicle, leaving Stergos full of misgivings but at a loss to know what else to do.
----
four
The boy made his way to the area where the armigers had laid their straw-stuffed palliasses. He rummaged in his pack for a moment, then hurried to the opposite side of the tower. Three document presses stood there. The left-hand one had a few ancient crocks of dried-out ink on its lower shelf. Snudge pushed them aside so he could creep in and touch a small stud at the rear of the cabinet, causing a low door to slide soundlessly open. When he was safe inside in the dark he paused for a moment, then struck fire with his talent, lighting the wick of the candle inside his lantern.
It was cleverly made. A fat waxen stub was affixed to the wall of the tankard. Tiny vent holes poked into the base kept the flame burning when the tankard’s hinged lid was shut. If the lid was more or less held open by a thumb, a beam shone out. The only problem with the thing was that a section of the handle tended to get uncomfortably hot after a while; he’d wrapped it with a
Stergos uttered a moan. “Oh, God. Oh, God. And I perceived nothing. Nothing! What are we going to do?”
“If I may suggest—”
“What?” The doctor’s dismay turned to alarm as the boy explained.
“Let me go down through the ‘tween-wall passages and see if I can find this fellow. Perhaps he’s visible to the naked eye, even though windsight can’t scry him. He may be a wild talent… just like me! He must be someone in the entourage of one of the lords, for you know the duke didn’t allow any casual travelers or other strangers to enter the castle during this secret gathering. Since he’s in the stables, he may be disguised as a horse lackey. If he is visible, he could pretend to be drunk or sleeping and no one would suspect what he was doing.”
“If he should discover you—” Stergos broke off fearfully. “He must be a talent of great power, Deveron, to exert two magical functions at the same time. Even Ullanoth gave some hint to me of her watching, although I couldn’t be sure of her. But not this unknown—working his sorcery practically on top of us! If he’s spying on the council, he must be a mortal enemy of our prince. He might not hesitate to kill you.”
“He won’t realize I’m a danger to him. Not if I just seek him out and give him a casual glance. Just another housecarl without an adept bone in my body.”
“It might work,” Stergos said grudgingly. It was a sore point to him that Snudge’s wild talent was imperceptible to the anointed of his Mystic Order, to say nothing of the fact that the boy was capable of identifying even the smallest modicum of talent in others.
“Shall I go, then? I won’t get lost. I’ve already explored most of the passages on this side of the ward. I did it last night, while you were all asleep. I even made a dark lantern for myself out of an old pewter tankard and a candle.”
Stergos sighed. “I might have known… Very well. Do your best to find out who the villain is, or who he pretends to be. Be quick about it and don’t take any dangerous chances. His Grace and I will decide what to do about him.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“If only I could watch over you…”
But that was impossible. Even though Stergos, like most of the Zeth Brethren, had the ability to scry over short distances, Snudge’s wild talent protected him from any sort of magical surveillance, a fact that particularly delighted Prince Conrig at the same time that it dismayed his brother.
“I’ll take great care, my lord. Don’t worry about me.”
“Oh, all right,” the doctor grumped. “But if you get into serious trouble, bespeak me at once and I’ll do my best to help you.”
“Of course, my lord.” He bobbed his head and slipped out of the cubicle, leaving Stergos full of misgivings but at a loss to know what else to do.
----
four
The boy made his way to the area where the armigers had laid their straw-stuffed palliasses. He rummaged in his pack for a moment, then hurried to the opposite side of the tower. Three document presses stood there. The left-hand one had a few ancient crocks of dried-out ink on its lower shelf. Snudge pushed them aside so he could creep in and touch a small stud at the rear of the cabinet, causing a low door to slide soundlessly open. When he was safe inside in the dark he paused for a moment, then struck fire with his talent, lighting the wick of the candle inside his lantern.
It was cleverly made. A fat waxen stub was affixed to the wall of the tankard. Tiny vent holes poked into the base kept the flame burning when the tankard’s hinged lid was shut. If the lid was more or less held open by a thumb, a beam shone out. The only problem with the thing was that a section of the handle tended to get uncomfortably hot after a while; he’d wrapped it with a
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