Caught in Crystal: A Lyra Novel (22 page)

“I’ve had a long time to think about the way you left the Sisterhood,” Barthelmy said seriously.

Kayl nodded reluctantly. “I suppose—”

A tall woman with the silver-blond hair and slanted green eyes of a Shee came around the corner behind Barthelmy and stopped short. Kayl broke off in midsentence, and Barthelmy turned. The Shee woman frowned slightly, which was as flustered as Kayl had ever seen a Shee get, and said to Barthelmy, “Your Virtue, I had expected to find you in the first waiting room. Alone.”

“Your pardon, Mother Lorea, but I was not told that I was to be isolated,” Barthelmy said.

“I mistook the directions I was given,” Kayl put in. “Barthelmy came out here to set me straight.”

“Indeed.” Mother Lorea studied Kayl for a moment. “You must be Kayl Larrinar, formerly a warrior of the Sisterhood.”

“I am.”

The Shee woman looked from Kayl to Barthelmy and back in cool appraisal. “Come with me, then, both of you.”

Barthelmy gave Kayl a sidelong, questioning look. Kayl hesitated, then nodded. Barthelmy was right; she should not make impulsive gestures that it would be impossible to back away from. As she fell into step beside Barthelmy, she berated herself for consistently overreacting to the Sisterhood. She seemed to shift from longing for them to wishing never to see a Silver Sister again. She hadn’t felt so off-balance since her training years.

The Shee Mother turned down a narrow hall whose floor was covered in deep blue mosaic. Kayl stared down at the tiles as she walked, forcing her emotions back under control. Pretend this is a meeting with Islorran’s caretakers about a new tax, she told herself. It wouldn’t be pleasant, and she was certain to disagree with most of what was said, but Kayl had learned over the years that she could find out a good deal about Islorran’s true intentions if she listened calmly and patiently and did not commit herself during the meetings.

Kayl smiled suddenly at the image of Islorran’s servants in the silver robes of Elder Mothers. She felt better now that she had decided what she was going to do and how. She looked up and found Barthelmy watching her with eyes full of concern.

“I’ll be all right,” Kayl whispered. Barthelmy’s answering nod did not convey much conviction.

They reached one of the doors that led into the Court of Stars. Their guide entered without pausing to knock. Kayl followed the woman in, then stopped in the shadows to scan the courtyard. Her eyes widened in surprise.

The huge courtyard was over half-full. Elder Mothers in silver robes filled the ambulatory on three sides of the Court of Stars and spilled out between the slender columns into the roofless center of the Court. The fog of their breath hung above their heads in the wintry air. They must have come from every Star Hall in the Estarren Alliance, Kayl thought. Her eyes searched them, looking for Dalessi, but she was lost, somewhere in the sea of silver.

The Court of Stars seemed strange and unfamiliar, and not simply because of the crowd. After a moment, Kayl decided it was because she had seldom seen it in daylight, and never in winter. She noted with detachment that the reflective pool in the middle of the Court was coated with ice; someone had swept the snow from it and from the flagstones that paved the courtyard.

The Shee woman motioned them forward. A rustle of surprise ran through the silver-robed women as Kayl and Barthelmy came into the open. A querulous voice from somewhere on Kayl’s left said, “What is this, Lorea? We summoned only the Elder Sister; that other one was to wait.”

“I found them together in the hallway, Your Serenity,” said the Shee woman who had brought Kayl and Barthelmy to the Court. “Kayl Larrinar claims she was misdirected, and that Elder Sister Barthelmy was correcting her. Under the circumstances, I thought it better to bring them both to you.”

“Quite so,” said a thin woman on the other side of the frozen pool. “And what does Elder Sister Barthelmy claim?”

“I was certainly correcting Kayl,” Barthelmy, and Kayl caught the faintest quiver of amusement in her voice.

“Is that all? You are such… old friends.” The woman’s voice was level, but the pause held a wealth of insinuation.

“Indeed we are,” Kayl put in smoothly. “And we had quite a lot of catching up to do. But I didn’t think anyone else would be particularly interested in the details.”

“Perhaps not,” the thin woman said. “We, however, are.”

“You may be interested, Stennis, but some of us have more serious concerns,” another woman said. She looked a few years older than Kayl; a little young for an Elder Mother, but only a little. Her hair was a rich, dark brown. “If they’ve talked, they’ve talked; it’s too late to do anything about it now. I don’t see any reason to waste time hearing about it.”

“I hardly think—”

“I’d noticed.”

“Stennis! Javieri! Enough.” The speaker was a small, bright-eyed woman whose face was a mass of wrinkles beneath snow-white hair. “It is time to proceed.”

“Very well, Mika,” Stennis said stiffly.

Javieri nodded agreement; as her head came up, she winked at Kayl.

“Then I think you may go, Mother Lorea,” Elder Mother Mika said. ‘Thank you for your service.”

Lorea bowed and left. As the door closed behind the Shee woman, Mika swept the assembly with an imperious gaze. “All three of the ones who have yet to speak to us are now present. I propose that we dispense with the separate questioning nonsense; it’s a waste of effort and time, and at my age I’m not willing to waste either.”

There was a murmur of amusement, but Stennis frowned. “You aren’t in charge of this meeting, Mika!” she said.

“Someone ought to be, or we’ll never get anything done,” Mika retorted. “What say you, Sisters?”

The discussion that followed was relatively brief. Kayl watched it with interest. She could see tempers fraying beneath the veneer of cordiality. The Elder Mothers were accustomed to working in much smaller groups, four or five to a Star Hall, where consensus was easier to reach. Dealing with so many equals had many of them slightly off-balance. They
are
a lot like Islorran’s councilors, Kayl thought, and felt a touch of sadness.

In less than half an hour, the assembled Elder Mothers had agreed to let Mika order their meeting. “Good,” Mika said briskly when the decision had been reached at last. “Where’s the other Sister? Bring her out here and let us begin.”

Kayl had time to wonder who the third person could be; then Corrana appeared out of the crowd on Kayl’s right. Kayl nodded, half in greeting, half in sudden understanding. Corrana inclined her head to Kayl, then bowed to the Elder Mothers and came to stand beside Barthelmy.

“We will begin with you, Elder Sister Corrana,” Mika decreed. “Tell us your part in the search, and what you have learned. You will not be interrupted,” she added pointedly as Stennis stirred.

Stennis scowled but did not speak. Kayl saw the corners of Corrana’s mouth quirk, and concluded that Corrana did not like Stennis much. Then Corrana bowed again and began.

“I am a sorceress and Elder Sister of the Star Hall of Kith Alunel. Six years ago, the shadow that stands between us and the stars first affected my spells. For three years I continued to work as best I could despite it; then I was forced to turn to scholarship to serve the Sisterhood, for my spells no longer had power. Yet I continued to practice them, hoping that a remedy for the shadow might be found.”

Stennis stirred again, her expression a combination of boredom and irritation. Mika gave her a sidelong glance and she subsided.

“Among the scholars was one called Halisor,” Corrana went on. “She and I became friends. And when the ancient scrolls were found and brought to her, she asked me to help her unravel their intricacies. So I learned of the contents of the scroll that deals with the Twisted Tower. Because I knew, and because I had not completely abandoned the practice of magic, the Elder Mothers of Kith Alunel chose me as one of those they sent to seek Kayl Larrinar.

“The Elder Mothers advised me to travel alone, and not to wear the robes of the Sisterhood past the borders of the Estarren Alliance. In this way, we sought to mislead the spies of the Circle of Silence. We succeeded only in part; the Circle is more active outside the Alliance than we knew.”

A murmur of dismay rose from the listeners. Kayl shifted her weight and wrapped her cloak more tightly around her body. She was glad there was no wind in the courtyard; it was cold enough as it was. She wondered how the Elder Mothers managed.

Corrana waited until the murmur had died away before she continued. She skipped over much of her search for Kayl and went quickly on to her arrival in Copeham. She covered events from then on in great detail, including descriptions of Kayl’s dealings with the villagers, her children, Utrilo Levoil, Bryn saMural, and Jirod. She spent several minutes on Glyndon shal Morag, reporting his visions, warnings, and behavior with scrupulous accuracy and careful neutrality.

Kayl was surprised and disturbed to discover just how much Corrana had noticed. Kayl mulled over the implications while Corrana summarized the escape from Copeham and the trip to Kith Alunel. Then the sorceress finished her tale, and for a moment the Court was silent.

“An interesting narrative,” Stennis said coldly. Her narrow eyes shifted to Kayl. “What is your opinion of it, Your Justice?” Her voice held a sarcastic, mocking undercurrent, particularly on the last two words.

Kayl almost smiled. Stennis was very like Islorran’s steward, though the steward had been far more blatant in his attempts to bludgeon Kayl into acting rashly. “I have no major disagreement with Elder Sister Corrana’s account,” Kayl said calmly.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“For now, yes.”

Stennis turned away, a baffled expression on her face. Other Elder Mothers began questioning Corrana about various details of her story, chiefly those regarding Glyndon or the Magicseekers. Mika let them go on until they began repeating themselves, then cut the discussion short. “Two questions more, Elder Sister. Did you find it difficult traveling with the Varnan, Glyndon shal Morag?”

“Difficult at times, but hardly impossible,” Corrana said carefully. “There is little love between us, yet I think there is some respect.”

“And what is your opinion of Kayl Larrinar after your travels in her company?”

“My opinion of her is unchanged,” Corrana said in a steady voice, without so much as glancing in Kayl’s direction. “She is honest, strong-minded and fair, loyal, somewhat impulsive, and inclined to be hot-tempered.”

Kayl felt her face grow hot. Stennis gestured impatiently. “But you do not trust her,” she said.

Corrana smiled. “I trust Kayl now as I trusted her when we met. I have given her my name.”

Astonishment rippled through the Elder Mothers, and Stennis frowned in chagrin. Elder Mother Mika only smiled slightly. Still looking at Corrana, she said, “Thank you, Your Virtue. You may leave now, if you wish.”

Corrana bowed and stepped back. Mika turned to Kayl. “Now, Kayl Larrinar, I think we will hear you next. Many years ago, you gave an account of the journey your Star Cluster made to the Twisted Tower in the Windhome Mountains. All of us here have, I think, read the record of that account. Indulge us, please, and tell us again what you found there.”

“As you wish, Your Serenity,” Kayl said. She paused to collect her thoughts. “Exactly where do you want me to begin?”

“With your arrival at the valley.”

“Very well. We found the valley late in the day. It was a dry, barren place, very unpleasant looking. The Tower is in the center of the valley, and it’s just as grim looking as the valley. It’s black and bent, and there are grooves here and there in the walls, running slantwise in a kind of spiral. I think Varevice Tamela was the first of us to call it the Twisted Tower, but the rest of us picked the name up quickly. It was so appropriate.

“We camped on the hills; nobody wanted to go down into the valley for the night. In the morning, we all went down to the Tower. We had some trouble getting inside. The wizards said there was some sort of sealing spell on the door. Varevice and Evla and the three Varnan wizards all had to work together to get through it, and it took them all morning.”

“Why was that?” Stennis demanded.

“I assume it was because it was difficult,” Kayl replied. “I really can’t say for sure; magic isn’t my specialty.”

“Go on,” Mika said, directing a quelling look at Stennis.

“Beshara insisted on sending her
sklathran’sy
slave, Odevan, inside first, to make sure it was safe,” Kayl continued. “He looked around, then came out and told us the Tower seemed to be deserted, so the rest of us decided to go in together.

“There was a little room just inside the door of the Tower, with a stone staircase on the other side. Beshara left all of her slaves except Odevan in the room, and we started to climb the stairs. Beshara had Odevan climb first, right in front of her. Varevice and Glyndon came behind Beshara, then Evla and Kevran. Barthelmy and I went last.

“The staircase was a large spiral, so Odevan and Beshara were out of my sight much of the time. We came around a curve and Beshara was opening a door at the top. My memory gets a little confused after that.” Kayl paused and took a deep breath, hoping she could keep her voice steady. “There was… something on the other side of the door.”

“Something?” asked a voice from the crowd of Elder Mothers. “Can you not be more specific.”

“It was a dull, dead black,” Kayl said. “It must have been huge, because it filled the stairwell when it came after us. It didn’t seem to have any particular shape, but it moved as if it were alive.”

“Continue.”

“The black thing came out in a kind of wave that engulfed the top five or six stairs, and then started oozing toward the rest of us. I remember Odevan shoving Beshara out of its way, and then he was buried up to his waist in it and screaming. Beshara tried to pull him out, but it got her, too. I think Varevice shouted for everyone to get back, but—”

Kayl broke off, shuddering. A kaleidoscope of memories whirled through her mind, distorted fragments set in a background of horror. She took another deep breath, and shook her head to clear it. When she looked up, Elder Mother Mika was looking at her with sympathy.