determined to investigate the Barrowland came up with a battalion of laborers
hired in Oar. The laborers cleared the trash and brush, up to the Barrowland
proper. Entry there, without appropriate protection, meant a slow, painful
death. The protective spells the White Rose left hadn't faded with the Lady's
resurrection. And she had added her own. I guess she is terrified he will break
loose.
The Taken Journey arrived, bringing troops of his own. He established outposts
in the Great Forest. The Taken took turns making airborne patrols. We minions
watched one another as closely as we watched the rest of the world. Something
big was afoot. Nobody was saying so, but that much was obvious. The Lady
definitely anticipated a breakout attempt.
I spent my free time reviewing the Guard's records, especially for the period
when Bomanz lived here. He spent forty years in the garrison town, disguised as
an antique digger, before he tried to contact the Lady and unintentionally freed
her. He interested me. But there was little to dig out, and that little was
colored.
Once I'd had his personal papers, having stumbled onto them shortly before
Whisper's Taking. But I passed them on to our then mentor Soulcatcher for
transportation to the Tower. Soulcatcher kept them for her own reasons, and they
fell into my hands again, during the battle at Charm, as the Lady and I pursued
the renegade Taken. I didn't mention the papers to anyone but a friend, Raven.
The Raven, who deserted to protect a child he believed to be the reincarnation
of the White Rose. When I got a chance to pick up the papers from where I hid
them, they were gone. I guess Raven took them with him.
I often wonder what became of him. His declared intent was to flee so far no one
could find him again. He did not care about politics. He just wanted to protect
a child he loved. He was capable of doing anything to protect Darling. I guess
he thought the papers might turn into insurance someday.
In the Guard headquarters there are a dozen landscapes painted by past members
of the garrison. Most portray the Barrowland. It was magnificent in its day. It
had consisted of a central Great Barrow on a north-south axis, containing the
Dominator and his Lady. Surrounding the Great Barrow was a star of earth raised
above the plain, outlined by a deep, water-filled moat. At the points of that
star stood lesser barrows containing five of The Ten Who Were Taken. A circle
rising above the star connected its inward points, and there, at each, stood
another barrow containing another Taken. Every barrow was surrounded by spells
and fetishes. Within the inner ring, around the Great Barrow, were rank on rank
of additional defenses. The last was a dragon curled around the Great Barrow,
its tail in its mouth. A later painting by an eyewitness shows the dragon
belching fire on the countryside the night of the Lady's resurrection. Bomanz is
walking into the fire.
He was caught between Resurrectionists and the Lady, all of whom were
manipulating him. His accident was their premeditated event. The records say his
wife survived. She said he went into the Barrowland to stop what was happening.
No one believed her at the time. She claimed he carried the Lady's true name and
wanted to reach her with it before she could wriggle free.
Silent, One-Eye and Goblin will tell you the direst fear of any sorcerer is that
knowledge of his true name will fall to some outsider. Bomanz's wife claimed the
Lady's was encoded in papers her husband possessed. Papers that vanished that
night. Papers that I recovered decades later. What Raven snatched may contain
the only lever capable of dumping the empire.
Back to the Barrowland in its youth. Impressive construction. Its weather faces
were sheathed in limestone. The moat was broad and blue. The surrounding
countryside was park-like. . . . But fear of the Dominator faded, and so did
hired in Oar. The laborers cleared the trash and brush, up to the Barrowland
proper. Entry there, without appropriate protection, meant a slow, painful
death. The protective spells the White Rose left hadn't faded with the Lady's
resurrection. And she had added her own. I guess she is terrified he will break
loose.
The Taken Journey arrived, bringing troops of his own. He established outposts
in the Great Forest. The Taken took turns making airborne patrols. We minions
watched one another as closely as we watched the rest of the world. Something
big was afoot. Nobody was saying so, but that much was obvious. The Lady
definitely anticipated a breakout attempt.
I spent my free time reviewing the Guard's records, especially for the period
when Bomanz lived here. He spent forty years in the garrison town, disguised as
an antique digger, before he tried to contact the Lady and unintentionally freed
her. He interested me. But there was little to dig out, and that little was
colored.
Once I'd had his personal papers, having stumbled onto them shortly before
Whisper's Taking. But I passed them on to our then mentor Soulcatcher for
transportation to the Tower. Soulcatcher kept them for her own reasons, and they
fell into my hands again, during the battle at Charm, as the Lady and I pursued
the renegade Taken. I didn't mention the papers to anyone but a friend, Raven.
The Raven, who deserted to protect a child he believed to be the reincarnation
of the White Rose. When I got a chance to pick up the papers from where I hid
them, they were gone. I guess Raven took them with him.
I often wonder what became of him. His declared intent was to flee so far no one
could find him again. He did not care about politics. He just wanted to protect
a child he loved. He was capable of doing anything to protect Darling. I guess
he thought the papers might turn into insurance someday.
In the Guard headquarters there are a dozen landscapes painted by past members
of the garrison. Most portray the Barrowland. It was magnificent in its day. It
had consisted of a central Great Barrow on a north-south axis, containing the
Dominator and his Lady. Surrounding the Great Barrow was a star of earth raised
above the plain, outlined by a deep, water-filled moat. At the points of that
star stood lesser barrows containing five of The Ten Who Were Taken. A circle
rising above the star connected its inward points, and there, at each, stood
another barrow containing another Taken. Every barrow was surrounded by spells
and fetishes. Within the inner ring, around the Great Barrow, were rank on rank
of additional defenses. The last was a dragon curled around the Great Barrow,
its tail in its mouth. A later painting by an eyewitness shows the dragon
belching fire on the countryside the night of the Lady's resurrection. Bomanz is
walking into the fire.
He was caught between Resurrectionists and the Lady, all of whom were
manipulating him. His accident was their premeditated event. The records say his
wife survived. She said he went into the Barrowland to stop what was happening.
No one believed her at the time. She claimed he carried the Lady's true name and
wanted to reach her with it before she could wriggle free.
Silent, One-Eye and Goblin will tell you the direst fear of any sorcerer is that
knowledge of his true name will fall to some outsider. Bomanz's wife claimed the
Lady's was encoded in papers her husband possessed. Papers that vanished that
night. Papers that I recovered decades later. What Raven snatched may contain
the only lever capable of dumping the empire.
Back to the Barrowland in its youth. Impressive construction. Its weather faces
were sheathed in limestone. The moat was broad and blue. The surrounding
countryside was park-like. . . . But fear of the Dominator faded, and so did
Similar Books
