2 To Light A Candle.13 (26 page)

Then there was Cilarnen the Entered Apprentice, who went about his tasks throughout the City with ears open wide, listening closely for any scrap of gossip or careless word from the Mages he served, for anything he heard might come in useful later. In this role he practiced effacing himself completely. Gone were the lordly airs and mannerisms suitable to a son of House Volpiril; this Cilarnen made himself meek, and humble, and as invisible as the lowliest Entered Apprentice from the lowest-ranked House in all Armethalieh. He was no one of importance. He was only Cilarnen, a pair of hands to be called upon at need, and ignored when not actually being ordered about.

Last of all there was Cilarnen the Conspirator, who had learned a hundred ways of slipping out of House Volpiril by night, of stealing a few chimes here, half-a-bell there, for errands that served the City in ways that would horrify the City if it knew.

But all would come right in the end. He was sure of it.

"ARE you sure this works?" Jorade asked curiously, looking down at the small lump of silvery-grey stone in his palm.

"Of course it works. Haven't you ever seen umbrastone before? Here, I'll show you," Kermis said.

He took the lump of stone from Jorade's hand and set it down on the table. "Who's got a lantern?"

Several of them did—the back streets were dark at night, and it wouldn't do to advertise their Mageborn status by walking the streets lit by balls of Mage-light, after all. Margon produced his, and Kermis set it on the table beside the lump of umbrastone.

"Now light it. A Fire Spell's simple, right?"

Jorade simply glared at him. The spell to summon fire was the first one every student of the High Magick learned. He concentrated on the lantern.

Nothing happened.

"You've warded it," he accused.

"I swear by the Light—I haven't," Kermis said. "Try any spell you know. It won't work. Umbrastone eats magic. The only reason the Mage-lights are still glowing is because they were already lit when I brought this piece in. We couldn't cast them now, and if this were a bigger piece of umbrastone, it would put them out."

"How much magic can it eat?" Tiedor asked with interest.

"I'm not sure," Kermis admitted. "A lot. When it gets full, it crumbles away, though. I know that much from the books in my father's library."

"So we'll need a lot more," Cilamen said thoughtfully. "For the guards, for the Stone Golems… enough to absorb all the spells the High Council will throw at us."

"Where are we going to get that much?" Geont demanded. "You're talking pounds of this stuff, and it took all our allowances together to bribe that Selken to bring in this much!"

"If I might make a suggestion… ?" Master Raellan said.

The boys turned and looked at him hopefully.

"Now that we have a sample to work with—and have proven that it will meet our needs—wouldn't it just be simpler to make it here? I grant you that it's a delicate process, and proscribed, of course, but I am not without certain resources myself, and among you, certainly you have the knowledge to oversee the work? Surely the recipe is to be found in one of your fathers' libraries?"

Anigrel waited with barely-concealed impatience, wondering if he was going to have to bring them the book from Lycaelon's library himself. He took care to stay well away from the small piece of umbrastone on the table, for if it touched him it would dispell the small glamouries of misdirection that disguised his true self. And even if Rolfort, Isas, Pentres, and Lalkmair weren't close enough to the seats of power to recognize him, both the Volpiril brat and young Ogregance would certainly recognize Arch-Mage Lycaelon's so-effacing private secretary.

At last Kermis spoke. "I think I can find it in my father's library. He never notices when I go in there, or what I do."

Anigrel breathed a faint inward sigh of relief. Once the manufactory for the umbrastone was in place—well, that was treason, pure and simple. And easy enough to hang High Mage Volpiril himself with it: yes, and any other members of the High Council he chose to implicate…

"How long will it take?" Geont asked. "To make enough, I mean?"

"Does it matter?" Margon answered. "The problem isn't going to go away. Or get better. White flour's being rationed in the Market now, and even the Commons are starting to wonder why. Father's been in meetings every day for the past moonturn, trying to figure out what to do about it. And the only thing possible is to get the Council to reverse its decree, and take the Home Farms back."

"But why can't they just see that?" Jorade said miserably.

"The High Council will never reverse itself," Cilarnen said bitterly. "Not when it means doing so publicly. By now everyone"—he meant, as his listeners knew, all the Mageborn—"knows about the decree to draw back the Borders to the City Walls. Lycaelon Tavadon was the only one who voted against the decree. That means that reversing the decree is endorsing the Arch-Mage, so they'll never do it."

"So the City suffers… for petty politics," Kermis said grimly.

"Unless young men like yourselves—who love the City, and who set themselves above such things—will save her."

"Master Raellan" said.

The six young Entered Apprentices regarded each other. What they'd done so far was serious, but if it came to light, they could expect no worse than a severe scolding—at the worst, a censure from the Council. What they were contemplating now, each of them knew, had far graver consequences.

"We'll meet here again on Light's Day," Kermis said. "I should be able to get the book we need by then. We can study it to figure out what materials and equipment we need to buy—or steal." He looked at Cilarnen.

"If anyone wants to back out, do it now," Cilarnen warned. "Because once we start making umbrastone… well, there's no going back."

"I'm in," Jorade said.

"You know I am," Kermis said. "Light blast all politicians."

"And I," Tiedor said. "For the City—and the Mages."

"I know what the stakes are better than any of you," Margon said. "I won't back out now."

"If you're in, House Volpiril, so am I," Geont said gruffly. "You're twice the man your Light-damned father is."

"Thank you all," Cilarnen said warmly. "Then we'll meet back here on the day. And the Light go with you all."

ALL was proceeding perfectly, Anigrel thought to himself as he walked back toward House Tavadon. He was careful to take a more circuitous route than the boys, for they believed that "Master Raellan" was a younger son of a minor Mage House, and it would not do to have their illusions shattered. He might well wish to play this game again someday soon, with new players.

And what a splendid game it was! Lycaelon would certainly be furious to discover additional plots against him among the Mages, and the foiling of this one would provide him with all the leverage he needed to take back control of the Council from that eternal pest Volpiril.

And to further Anigrel's ambitions as well…

He reached the Mage Quarter, where no one would think it odd to find Un-dermage Anigrel upon the streets, even at this late hour, and a wave of his hand dispelled the glamourie, restoring his own natural appearance and that of his clothing. At length he achieved his own—or rather Lord Lycaelon's—doorstep, passing between the stone mastiffs without incident, and a waiting servant hurried to open the door for him.

"Good evening, Undermage Anigrel," the butler said, bowing deferentially as he hastened to receive Anigrel's cloak.

"Good evening. Is the Arch-Mage at home?"

"Arch-Mage Lycaelon is still at the Council House, Undermage Anigrel," the butler said, bowing again.

"In that case, have a tray with a light supper brought up to my rooms in two chimes. See that I am not disturbed until then."

Anigrel passed through the panel and ascended the staircase, his immediate thoughts on a hot bath and one of the exquisite meals served up by Lycaelon's talented cook. Beyond that, there was much to do to ensure that the plot against the High Mages—such as it was—turned out satisfactorily.

For some people, at least.

TO create a measure of umbrastone took approximately three moonturns, once all conditions were right. And for all conditions to be right, as Cilarnen had discovered that Light-day, was one of the reasons that umbrastone was expensive, in addition to being proscribed.

There were a lot of ingredients that went into its manufacture. Some of them were rare and difficult to acquire—certain herbs and flowers—while others, such as gold and sea-pearls, were merely expensive. And some were just peculiar, like fresh chicken eggs. It seemed a lot more like cooking than like any branch of the Art Magickal than Cilarnen had yet studied.

Strangest of all, no spells seemed to be involved at any stage of the stone's manufacture.

"That's because this is the Art Khemitic," Kermis had explained when Cilarnen had questioned him. "It's Proscribed, of course, but its essential doctrine holds that the objects of the natural world have an elemental nature possessed of innate qualities, which, when combined in specific amounts, can create objects with certain powers."

"Sounds dangerous," Geont had said, with a look of distaste.

"It is," Kermis answered with a thin smile. "There are more warnings in this book than spells. Looks like fun, though, if you don't mind getting blown up."

"What do we do after we put all the things together?" Cilarnen had asked, trying to head off what had promised to be a lengthy debate.

"They have to be kept in total darkness at a constant temperature for three moonturns in a sealed container inside a special brazier. The Khemiticists call it an athanor."

"An athanori" Margon had said in surprise. "That's a magickal tool? It's just an oven. The Baker's Guild uses them to extract oils from spicebark and finish delicate pastry. I can get one. They're kind of big, though."

"How big/" Cilarnen had asked warily.

Margon sketched a shape in the air with his hands.

"Not too bad," Tiedor said with relief. "My birth-father is a carter. He'll let me borrow one of the carts and teams, and he won't ask any questions if I tell him it's Mage-business. I can drive a cart and team, too." He regarded the rest of them, a faint smirk on his features, and Cilarnen felt a faint pang of… guilt? Relief?

He'd always looked down on Tiedor—who hadn't?—because of his Common blood. But it was just that—the fact that he came from the Commons and remembered what he'd learned there—that would make their plan work now.

"That's good then. And, Tiedor—thank you. I don't think this would work without you." He turned to the others. "We seem to have a plan. Margon will get us the athanor, Tiedor will get the cart to transport it here, Kermis will write out the list of materials that we need to make the umbrastone, and we'll all work on getting them. We can work out the rest of our plan while we're actually making the umbrastone."

IT was a good plan—Cilarnen had discovered, over the last several moonturns, that he had a talent for planning—and the first part of it went exactly as he intended. The athanor was acquired, installed, tested, and seasoned—both Margon and Kermis agreed on the necessity for that.

Obtaining the ingredients for the recipe took far more ingenuity, though the six of them were wealthy by any standards but those of the Mageborn.

But finally, almost two moonturns later, they were ready to begin.

It had not been an easy time for Cilarnen. He had the disturbing feeling that his father was watching him more closely than he had for a long time, and the gossip he overheard in his work as an Entered Apprentice was not encouraging. Though the City was protected from inclement weather, the Delfier Valley was not. And outside the City, the autumn storms had been ferociously hard; Cilarnen did not precisely understand the details or the logic, but apparently because of the bad weather, the farmers were withholding the rest of their food, just as Margon had warned would happen.

And what was the Council doing? Engaging in screaming debates (so it was rumored) as to whether—and if so, how—to continue its trade with the High Hills, now that it no longer had a Trading Outpost available in Neren-dale. Would the caravans even be willing to come into Armethalieh as they had a generation ago? And if they were, would the Council be willing to allow them in?

Well, they won't have to. By spring, this will all be settled. I hope, Cilamen told himself uneasily. He still wasn't sure what they were going to do once they had the umbrastone. The making of the stuff had turned out to be so complicated that none of them had even begun to discuss the next phase. Deep down in his heart, he just hoped that the Council would see how serious things were, and understand that they had to take the Home Farms back.

Perhaps he was going about this all wrong. Maybe he should just petition for a private audience with the Arch-Mage Lycaelon. It was every Mageborn's right—a right rarely invoked, but still the law of the City. He could ask the Arch-Mage what to do.

Tonight he'd been the first to arrive at their secret meeting place, and his train of thought was interrupted by the arrival of the others.

"I've brought wine," Geont said. "I think we'll need it."

Kermis shuddered faintly. "Well, I've brought tea—and decent water." He flourished a packet and a large flask. "Phastan Silvertip. I hope the pot's clean."

"And I've brought the mixing bowl," Jorade said, lifting a huge shallow container of pure gold from beneath his cloak and setting it on the shabby wooden table with a grunt. The rickety table creaked and shifted beneath the weight. "I borrowed it from the family chapel. Nobody will miss it—so long as it's back before Morning Devotions, of course."

"It will be," Kermis said. "And Tiedor?"

"One dozen hen's eggs, fresh from the hen and this morning's market," the young Entered Apprentice said. "The ways of Mages are mysterious," he added with a grin. "The silly woman had no idea why I'd want to be down in the Fowl Market buying my own eggs. She fluttered as much as one of her own geese!"

"Women!" Cilarnen agreed, dropping his own contribution into the bowl— eight ounces of white roses (heads only). The recipe had specified that they had to be cut precisely at sunrise without the use of metal, so Cilarnen had been unable to simply buy them in the Flower Market. Rather, he'd had to slip out of bed at an unspeakably early hour, make his way across the City to the Park, charm his way into one of the greenhouses with a tale of a youthful dare, and bribe one of the gardeners heavily to allow him to cut them with an ivory letter opener he'd sharpened for the purpose. And hope that nobody—like his father, or his tutors—checked up on his story, because it would be a little awkward to explain.