Caught in Crystal: A Lyra Novel (42 page)

“Yes.” Alessa’s voice was sharp, and there were nods of agreement among the Sisters. “We must be sure it cannot happen again.”

“It cannot,” Corrana said quietly.

Alessa’s attention snapped from Kayl to Corrana. “You do not know that.”

“My knowledge comes from Gadeiron’s Crystal,” Corrana said, lifting her eyebrows fractionally. “I doubt that it is false.”

Kayl looked at her, startled. So Corrana, too, had been able to draw information from the Crystal! Somehow it had not occurred to Kayl that the sorceress might have done so.

“Explain, then,” Miracote commanded.

“Our difficulty stemmed from the nature of our magic,” Corrana said. “Our founders chose to tie our powers to our names, as the magic of the
sklathran’sy
is bound to theirs. In a way I do not completely understand, the black creature was an ancient enemy of the
sklathran’sy,
and its attacks on them came most often through their magic. Through their names.

“When our Sisters,” Corrana nodded toward Kayl and Barthelmy, “breached the Tower sixteen years ago, and Gadeiron’s Crystal was broken, the spells that held the creature were weakened enough to let it wake, but it was still bound within the Tower. When it found no physical way out, it sought a magical means of escape.

“It must have learned our ways when it killed Varevice and Evla, and since our magic is similar to that of the
sklathran’sy,
the creature attacked us as it would have attacked a group of demons. But there are no demons in the Sisterhood, and it could not control us through our magic as it could have controlled
sklathran’sy.
All it could do was to feed on our power. But its feeding disrupted our spells, and we felt its evil, and so we all but ceased to work magic. And when we did not call on our power, the creature could not reach it without great effort. That is why it took so long to grow strong enough to call someone to the Tower who would be more… amenable to its desires.”

“Utrilo Levoil,” Kayl said.

Corrana nodded. “I think the creature was not able to convey very much, but it was enough to make the Magicseekers look more closely at what they knew of the Sisterhood’s two expeditions to the Tower. When they realized that one of those who had accompanied the first group had left the Sisterhood, they began searching for you.” Corrana smiled suddenly. “I do not think they quite believed that a common innkeeper could possibly be the woman they sought. It is why they watched you for so long, instead of taking you at once. A mistake would have been embarrassing.”

“Then when the black creature—we really must find some other way to name it—was destroyed, it ceased feeding on our magic and we could use our power freely again,” Alessa said. “A tidy tale. But why was Elder Sister Barthelmy not affected?”

Barthelmy stiffened, but Corrana only smiled again. “Barthelmy is a demon-friend, trained to teach
sklathran’sy
to protect themselves from vulnerability through their names. I think the creature reached for her during the fight in the Tower, and she unconsciously used her skills to protect herself. Any of our demon-friends could have done as much, had they actually faced the creature. The creature learned quickly; its attack on the Sisterhood was subtle enough not to cause the same response in anyone else.”

Elder Mother Miracote snorted in disgust. “If we had known, we could have stopped that thing before it ever started.”

“Perhaps.” Corrana’s tone was thoughtful. “But I think it would have found some other way.”

“We still don’t know enough!” Barthelmy said in frustration. “What
was
that black thing, really? And why did touching the cube freeze it? And—”

“There is little point in worrying over answers we shall probably never get,” Corrana interrupted.

“And I, for one, have had a very long day,” Kayl said. “I want some rest.”

There were smiles among the Sisters, and Miracote said, “So do we all. Enough, for now; we will talk again later.”

They spent nearly two weeks camping in the valley, while the wounded recovered and the Elder Mothers studied the ruins of the Twisted Tower. Four days after the Tower’s fall, when most of the injured were well enough to attend, they held a memorial for their dead. The day after, they moved the camp to the forested slopes above the valley. They saw the remnant of the Magicseekers only once, when they came to the valley to bury their comrades. The two groups stayed well apart from each other, and there was no trouble.

Kayl divided her time almost equally between her children and Glyndon. She made sure that Mark and Dara both knew how proud she was of them, but she could see that, though they appreciated her words, they did not have the same need to hear them that they used to. They knew they had done well. There was a new confidence in both children; Kayl could see it in their eyes and in the way they carried themselves, even when they ran shrieking up and down the hills with Xaya. It made her prouder than ever, though a little sad. Mark and Dara were rapidly growing up.

The Wyrds expressed a firm determination to stay with the camp until the Sisters were ready to depart for Kith Alunel. Kayl did not bother trying to fathom their reasons; she was simply glad of their presence. Bryn’s skills as a handywoman were much in demand, and Alden made himself useful to the group studying the ruins of the Tower. Kayl found him there late one afternoon, sifting shards of night-black stone through his fingers.

“Ho, Alden!” she greeted him. “Bryn says to tell you that if you’re late to dinner again, she and Xaya are going to eat your share.”

“It can’t be that late already,” Alden said absently. “Have you looked at these?” He waved at the stones in front of him. “There are two distinct types. Three, if you include the blocks the Tower itself was made of, but they seem to be ordinary granite.”

“What are the other two?” Kayl asked, more out of friendship than curiosity.

“One’s a hard, jet-black rock; that’s all over. The other is a kind of brittle crystalline stuff—”

“You mean you’ve found pieces of the cube?” Kayl broke in.

“I don’t think so,” Alden said, undisturbed by her interruption. “You described it as clear, didn’t you? Well, look at this.”

He held up a slender piece of stone. Kayl thought at first that it was the same as the rest of the black debris; then she looked more closely and saw that it was partially transparent. “It looks like smoked crystal,” she said. “But I’ve never seen any so dark.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Alden lowered the stone and studied it again. “It would cut well, I think; so would the other.”

“Cut well?” Kayl said, puzzled.

“I mean they’d be easy to shape.”

“Shape? You mean for jewelry?” Kayl shuddered, thinking of the black creature. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Alden looked up and grinned. “You’re quite right. I’m afraid I get carried away at times.” He tossed the smoky crystal back onto a pile of rubble, then rose and accompanied Kayl back to camp.

Ferianek Trone also remained with the camp, helping as best he could. Kayl considered it the least he could do after the way he had used them all, but she found it hard to be angry at the tall, deep-voiced scholar. The ties that held him to the Windhome Mountains had been broken at last, and he had already approached the Elder Mothers about accompanying them back to Kith Alunel.

The work at the Tower ruins uncovered little, and the Sisters began preparing to leave. Kayl watched them thoughtfully, then went off to the woods to hunt and think. When she returned, she sought out Elder Mother Miracote and spoke briefly with her. An hour later, Barthelmy came to find her.

Kayl looked up from the branch she was whittling a point on to replace a broken tent-stake. “What is it, Barthelmy?”

“Elder Mother Miracote says you’re not coming back to Kith Alunel with us,” Barthelmy said. “Is that true?”

“Yes.”

Barthelmy was silent for a moment. Then she said, “Why?”

“I thought it would be better. There’s nothing waiting for me in Kith Alunel; there’s no point in going back.”

“It isn’t because of me, is it?” Barthelmy asked, and looked away as if she was afraid to know the answer.

“No,” Kayl said gently. “It’s because of me. I’m not one of you anymore, Barthelmy, not even in my dreams. My sword and star-gem are buried out there under a mountain of rubble, if the black creature didn’t destroy them completely, and I’m not sorry.”

“The attitude of the other Sisters has changed since Corrana explained what really happened to their magic,” Barthelmy offered.

“I’ve noticed.” Most of the suspicion and resentment the Sisters felt toward Kayl and Barthelmy had died with the black creature. When the shock and grief that followed the battle had worn off, a few of the Sisters had made tentative, apologetic overtures toward Kayl. She had acknowledged them politely, but they had not brought her the satisfaction they once would have. “I just don’t belong in the Sisterhood anymore.”

“It’s Glyndon, then, isn’t it?”

“Barthelmy!” Kayl let her irritation show. “Glyndon doesn’t know about this yet, and I don’t want him told. I’ve given you my reasons for leaving the expedition; stop trying to find other excuses.”

“You mean it, don’t you?” Barthelmy said. Kayl nodded emphatically. Barthelmy’s shoulders moved unhappily. “I think I always knew you wouldn’t come back, but I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted things to be the way they used to be. The Sisterhood meant so much to both of us. To me, it still does.”

“I know. But you can’t live in the past, Barthelmy, and you can’t make the present into a reflection of it. It doesn’t work.”

“No.” Barthelmy was quiet for a moment. “What will you do now?”

Kayl grinned, feeling suddenly like a mischievous fifteen-year-old. “I don’t know. I’ll write when I find out, all right?”

“You’d better.” Barthelmy said, returning the grin. “You’d just better.”

Glyndon was recovering slowly. He had spent four days in bed, and only slowly begun moving around the camp. He had not had one of his visions since the Tower fell. His left arm was still in a sling; Risper had said in Kayl’s hearing that he would have to wear it for five or six more weeks, at least. Kayl had done more than her share of the shifts of caring for him while he was bedridden, and visited him frequently once he was able to move about, but their conversations during that time had been carefully casual. Kayl had been half expecting, half hoping that he would seek her out before the expedition left. Finally, the day before the Sisters were to break camp, Glyndon did.

“Walk with me a bit, Kayl?” he said.

Kayl nodded, and together they left the camp. They headed up the mountain in companionable silence. “How’s the arm?” Kayl said after a little.

“Sore,” Glyndon said, and winced. “Risper says I’ll just have to wait; she’s hurried things along as much as she can.”

He hesitated, then went on, “She thinks I’ll regain most of the use of the hand, but she says there won’t be much strength in it and there’s not much she can do about the shoulder. She showed me some exercises for it.”

“I’m sorry,” Kayl said quietly. She could not pretend to be surprised; though Risper had not told her the details, she had seen enough serious wounds to have some idea what to expect.

“It’s a good thing I’m a wizard and not a swordsman,” Glyndon went on. “There aren’t many spells that really
require
two hands.”

“And the visions?” Kayl asked. “Do you think they’re—”

“They’re gone,” Glyndon said with certainty. He glanced down at his sling, then looked at Kayl and smiled. “The trade was worth it.”

“What will you do now?”

“I don’t know. Go home, maybe.” He hesitated, then said carefully, “And you?”

“In the long run? I’m not sure. I’m not going back to being an innkeeper, that’s sure. Maybe I’ll try to find a way of helping the Wyrds and Shee who’re leaving the southern countries. They might be able to use a good strategist.” Kayl smiled down at a tiny patch of unfamiliar blue flowers beside a boulder. “You know, I used to think I had to know things like that, that once I made a decision I had to stick to it. I think that’s why I spend so much of my time mulling over the past.”

“What?” Glyndon looked puzzled, but interested.

“I was trying to prove that the decisions I’d made were the right ones,” Kayl explained. She shrugged. “Now… Well, I have another twenty or thirty years left; I don’t have to decide today exactly what they’re going to be like. I never really knew that before.”

“Um.” Glyndon tilted his head backward to stare at the branches of the trees above them. “I hadn’t really expected to talk philosophy with you today.”

“Oh?”

“Kayl, you know that I love you, and I want to stay with you. But I don’t think I can face a four-month trip back to Kith Alunel with the Silver Sisters.”

“Neither could I. So I’m not going with them.”

“What?” Glyndon stared at her. “I thought…”

Kayl smiled and shook her head. “You and Barthelmy. I don’t
belong
in the Sisterhood anymore, Glyndon. I’ve known that for months. It just took me awhile to stop wishing I did, that’s all.”

“But if you aren’t going to Kith Alunel, then what?”

“I talked to Bryn and Alden last night. When the camp breaks up, they’re going on to that Waywalker settlement Ferianek told them about. The children and I are going with them. The whole group will be leaving for the coast soon, to hire a ship to take them to the island once the spring storms are over. I don’t think it will be too hard to persuade them to stop and let us off somewhere on Varna.”

“Varna? Kayl, are you sure?”

“Well, if they won’t, we can find a ship that’s headed there,” Kayl said practically. “It shouldn’t be hard, at this time of year.”

Glyndon laughed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You didn’t ask. Glyndon! Be careful; your shoulder!”

“Demons take my shoulder,” Glyndon said. He pulled her to him with his good arm and fastened his lips over hers. “Does this mean you’ll marry me?” he asked a few minutes later.

“Do you want me to?” Kayl laid a hand on his mouth to stop his immediate protest, and went on, “I’m not going to spend the rest of my life on Varna, you know. And I meant it about trying to help the Wyrds.”