Caught in Crystal: A Lyra Novel (12 page)

A shadowy memory surfaced in Kayl’s mind, of standing in a high-ceilinged room, slashing uselessly at a dripping, pulsing curtain of dull blackness that ate away her sword as it oozed closer. She blinked and concentrated, trying to make the memory clearer. The picture slid away and was replaced by a more vivid recollection, of herself and Kevran dragging Glyndon down the last few stairs and through the crooked arch of the tower door, just ahead of a voracious black wave that splattered on the ancient protective spells guarding the door. Kayl felt gooseflesh rise along her back. “You’re sure it will get out?”

Glyndon hesitated, then slowly shook his head. “Not certain. Almost certain.”

“What is this indecision?” Corrana demanded. “A born Seer sees truly or not at all.”

“But I was not born a Seer,” Glyndon said. “I see many visions. Some I know are true, others false, but most of what I ‘see’ is simply… possible.”

“I have never heard of such a gift,” Corrana said doubtfully.

Glyndon’s smile was bitter. “More of a nightmare than a gift, I think.”

Corrana waved away his objection. “It is the uncertainty you claim that interests me, not the name you give this sight of yours.”

“The uncertainty is there. Sometimes what I ‘see’ occurs; sometimes it does not. And sometimes it can be avoided.” Glyndon looked at Kayl. “That is why I’ve not come here for so long, and why I stopped sending you word.”

“What do you mean?” Kayl asked.

“I was avoiding one of my visions,” Glyndon said, and looked away. Kayl waited for some further explanation, but when Glyndon turned back all he said was, “It is not the first time I have succeeded in doing so. I know from experience that what I ‘see’ is not always true.”

Kayl’s eyes narrowed but she stopped herself before she asked more about the nature of the vision he had been avoiding. Instead she said, “Then what did you see that brought you here in spite of it?”

“Yourself, on the steps of that tower we found, with the edge of the black thing drawing nearer. And through the door I could see it outside the tower, spreading like a black storm.”

“But it is not certain to happen,” Corrana said quickly. “You yourself said as much.”

Kayl gave the sorceress a cold look. “No one who has seen that black thing would take a chance of letting it escape. Particularly since three Varnan wizards and the best Star in the Sisterhood couldn’t figure out what kept it in there in the first place.”

Corrana looked suddenly thoughtful. Kayl waited a moment, then turned back to Glyndon and said, “And you don’t want me to stay here, either? Why?”

Glyndon hesitated, then said bluntly, “Because if you stay, you’ll be killed. Unpleasantly.”

Kayl swallowed. Glyndon’s voice was a flat statement of fact; the only way of avoiding this vision would be to leave Copeham. “And the children?” she said at last.

Glyndon closed his eyes. “Also will die.”

His voice shook slightly, and Kayl wondered how bad the vision had been. She decided not to ask. “Who?” she said instead.

“No one I’ve ever seen outside a vision. There were at least seven of them, and they all had eagles on their helmets.”

Corrana’s eyes went wide. “Magicseekers!”

Kayl shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense, Glyndon! What would the Magicseekers want with an innkeeper?”

“With an ordinary innkeeper, perhaps nothing,” Corrana said before Glyndon could reply. “But you are a former member of the Sisterhood of Stars who has been visited privately by an Elder Sister. I fear it is I who have brought the Circle of Silence down upon you.”

Glyndon shifted uncomfortably, but neither he nor Kayl replied. At last Kayl said, “You’re sure this vision can be avoided, Glyndon?”

“I’m sure. I’ve been avoiding visions of the eagle-helms for years.”

Kayl stared, momentarily jerked out of her own concerns. “The Magicseekers are looking for you?”

Glyndon shrugged. “I’ve never gotten close enough to one of them to ask.”

“Even if they do not know of your part in seeking the Twisted Tower fifteen years ago, the Magicseekers would look for you,” Corrana said dispassionately. “Their hatred of Varnans is greater even than their hatred of the Sisterhood.”

“Then we seem to have an enemy in common.”

“And the only way to avoid a slaughter is for me to leave Copeham?” Kayl asked again. Glyndon nodded, and she sighed. “If it was anyone but you, Glyndon… How much time do I have to set things in order?”

“I don’t know,” Glyndon said. “Not very much. A few days, at most. Maybe not even that.”

Kayl felt numb. “Why didn’t you tell me all this last night?”

“I didn’t know it was so close. I thought I had at least a couple of weeks to convince you, perhaps as long as a month. It wasn’t until just now that I could tell that it’s so close. You have to get out of here quickly, Kayl!”

Irritation prickled the hairs along Kayl’s neck. Corrana’s oblique approach had been bad enough; discovering that Glyndon, too, had intended to take his time about delivering his warning was even more annoying. “You might have said something anyway,” Kayl said, her voice cool.

“I’m sorry!” Glyndon ran his left hand distractedly through his hair. “But you will go, won’t you?”

The rear door of the inn banged. “Mother!” Mark’s excited voice penetrated the walls of the inn with ease. “Mother, wait till you hear!”

Kayl looked at Glyndon. “I won’t take chances with the children’s safety,” she said. She could hear the muffled sound of Dara’s scolding in the kitchen, and then Mark came boiling through the door into the front room, with Dara close on his heels.

M
ARK’S HAIR DRIPPED RAINWATER
and his clothes were soaked, but he was still calling in excitement as he came into the front room. “Mother! You’ll never—oh, excuse me.” Mark added the apology automatically when he saw that Kayl was not alone. Then his eyes widened as he took in Corrana’s black robes and Glyndon slouching over the end of the table. He looked questioningly at Kayl.

“Bar the front door, Mark,” Kayl said wearily. “Then go put on something dry. And don’t dawdle; I have to talk to you and Dara.” She noted that her earlier fears had been justified; Mark had indeed tracked mud across the floor. She did not bother to mention it. Other things were more important now.

“Bar the door? In the middle of the
day
?” Mark looked at his mother in disbelief.

“That’s what I told you.”

Mark blinked, then moved slowly toward the door. He paused with his hand on the latch. “But what if the soldiers come? They won’t want to stay at an inn if the door’s barred when they get there.”

“Soldiers?” Kayl said sharply. “What soldiers?”

“I was just going to tell you!” Mark said. “Tully saw them marching up the road from Cedarwell, six of them. He says they’re from Kith Alunel, because they’re wearing scaled lorica, but even Prefect Islorran’s men wear that kind of armor, so it doesn’t mean anything, does it? And Kith Alunel soldiers don’t have wings on their helmets. So they can’t—”

“Wings? Mark, did you see these men yourself?”

“No, Tully told me. I came home right away to tell you, so we could get ready for them,” Mark said. “They’ll be here in a little while.”

“Not even a day,” Glyndon murmured. His face was drawn and haggard. “I didn’t even have a full day.”

“These soldiers may not be the Magicseekers you saw,” Kayl said, but even to herself her tone was unconvincing.

“Will you wager your life on that, innkeeper?” Corrana said. “And the lives of your children?”

“Magicseekers!” Mark said with relish. “Tully saw Magicseekers?”

“Yes, and we have to be away from here before they arrive,” Kayl said firmly. Corrana was right; this was no time to sit debating the proper course of action.

Mark stared at her, then turned and set the bar in place across the door. When he looked back at Kayl, his eyes were frightened. “Mother—”

“I’ll have to explain later, Mark; there isn’t time now.” Kayl turned her head. “Glyndon, if there’s anything in your room you need, go get it. Quickly. Dara, I want those baskets Bryn made for us last summer. You and Mark put your good clothes in the bottom, and the blanket off your bed. Then bring them to the kitchen.”

Dara swallowed hard and nodded. Kayl headed for the back of the inn. When she reached her bedroom, she scooped the money box out of its hiding place and quickly transferred its contents to her pockets. Thank the stars she’d been too busy to spend much, these past few days! Kayl left the empty box lying in the middle of the floor and turned to the chest that held her clothes. It took only seconds to find what she wanted, then she went on to the kitchen with hurried steps. Dara arrived with the baskets at the same time as Kayl. Kayl ignored her daughter’s worried questions and set to work filling the baskets. A cheese, a loaf of bread, the bag of meal, a couple of empty wineskins to fill with water later. “Get your cloak,” Kayl told Dara at last. “And tell Mark to get his. We’re leaving right now.”

Dara nodded. Kayl went back into the front room. Corrana and Glyndon were standing beside the door; Glyndon had retrieved his staff, and Corrana had covered her dramatic black robes with a shapeless brown cloak. Kayl hesitated, then knelt by the hearthstone. If the Magicseekers searched the inn thoroughly, they would surely discover the cache. She could not leave Kevran’s rod for them to find, nor her own sword. Her sword…

The stone slid away. Kayl heard Corrana’s hiss of surprise, but she did not look up. Gently, she withdrew the bundle of oiled cloth and touched the hidden latch to close the hole. She rose and turned to find that Mark and Dara had joined the group. “Let’s go.”

“Where?” Mark demanded. “What is that thing? And who’s he?” He jerked his head in Glyndon’s direction.

Kayl paused. “We’ll go to Jirod’s, I think,” she said, ignoring the rest of Mark’s questions. “They won’t know to look for us there unless someone from the village tells them, and I don’t think anyone will. Come along. And cover your head; I don’t want you catching a cold on top of everything else.”

Mark sighed and draped a fold of his cloak over his head. Kayl nodded and picked up the largest of the baskets. Covering her own head against the rain, she led the group out the rear door of the inn and along the narrow alley behind it. As they reached the street, another problem occurred to her, and she stopped. “Dara.”

“Mother?”

“I want you to go to Bryn’s and warn her that at least six Magicseekers have just arrived in Copeham. Tell her we’ll be at Jirod’s for at least a few hours, and if she and Alden want some company for their trip north, they should look for us there. Try not to be noticed, and don’t tell anyone else where we’ve gone. Then come straight to Jirod’s. Have you got all that?”

Dara nodded. “Yes, Mother.” She looked worried, and more than a little frightened. Kayl wanted desperately to be able to give reassuring answers to all the unasked questions she could see in her daughter’s expression, but there was no time. They had stood too long on the street already.

“It’ll be all right, dear,” Kayl said. “Go on!” She tried to smile as she took Dara’s basket.

The expression on Dara’s face did not lighten. As she turned and started off, Mark said, “I’ll go if Dara doesn’t want to.”

“No,” Kayl said sharply, still looking after Dara. “Now, come on.” Then she turned, and saw relief and hurt mingled on Mark’s face. “If Jirod is out when we get there, I’ll want you to take him a message,” she said more gently.

“Oh,” Mark said, and his hurt look lessened. He started to say something else, then glanced sideways at Corrana and Glyndon and changed it to a mumbled, “All right.”

“If you are quite finished, should we not be going?” Corrana broke in with ill-concealed irritation.

Kayl nodded and they set off once more. She led her companions by a circuitous route, avoiding the open square at the center of town. She took the narrow, little-used streets behind the butcher’s and the tanner’s; unpleasant odors were certainly preferable to being seen and remembered by villagers who might give later searchers a hint of Kayl’s whereabouts. Fortunately, the rain had kept most people inside. The few villagers they saw showed no interest in the little group.

They reached Jirod’s small house safely. As Kayl had half expected, the farmer was not at home, but the cottage door was not barred. Feeling obscurely guilty, Kayl pushed the door open and they went inside. Then, swallowing her misgivings, she sent Mark to find Jirod and warn him of his unexpected and potentially dangerous visitors.

“Try Holum’s shop first,” she said, trying to think of the possible errands that might take a farmer out on a rainy day. “Jirod may have gone to get some tools repaired. Then try the wheelwright, and the potter, and—”

“I’ll find him, Mother,” Mark said impatiently.

“Remember, Mark,” she said sternly as he put his hand to the door. “You’re not to tell anyone where we are, not even Tully.”

“Yes, Mother,” Mark said.

“And keep your head covered!” Kayl said as he pushed the door open and went out into the rain. Mark did not reply, and Kayl stood staring at the rough wood of the door. Dara was a sensible child. Even without explanations, she’d run her errand carefully. And Mark was reliable enough. He’d hunt until he found Jirod; once he delivered his message, Jirod would make sure he came back safely. Unless someone had already told the Magicseekers about Kayl’s children.

The sound of a throat being cleared behind her brought Kayl back to herself with a jerk. She turned and found Glyndon and Corrana both watching her. “Well?” she said.

“I had not thought that you would send your children into danger,” Corrana said. Her eyes held a speculative gleam.

“They won’t be in danger until someone tells the Magicseekers who they are,” Kayl said, fighting down her own fears. “And there was no other reasonable choice.”

“You could have taken the message yourself,” Corrana pointed out. “And I am quite capable of following directions. Also, your Wyrd friend and I have met.”

“Yes,” Kayl said tiredly. “But we don’t know whether the Magicseekers are looking for you or for Glyndon. Or me. I doubt that they’re aware I have children, so they won’t be looking for Mark or Dara. Assuming, of course, that the men Tully saw are, in fact, Magicseekers.”