Hearts in Cups (26 page)

Hollin spoke first.
"What was that?"

"A snowcat,"
Daffyd breathed in awe as he lowered his sword. "I've heard tales of them
but never thought to see one in the flesh. They do not exist in the Pentarchy,
only back here in the depths of the mountains, and it is said that they are
very rare even here."

"How dangerous are
they?" The duchess was plainly unsettled by the creature's appearance.

"I don't know.
According to legend, the snowcat's appearance is a portent of great good or
great evil. There are some who believe that they live and travel freely between
the worlds of flesh and of dream." He wrenched his eyes away from where
the cat had disappeared and, kneeling, began to build the fire. "I think
it would be most prudent to stand watches through the night again and keep the
fire burning brightly. That cat definitely looked of this world to me and was
big enough to do a lot of damage to us if it wished."

That night was as
chilling and filled with dread as the previous night. Daffyd took the first
watch, alternately walking the perimeter of their camp and sitting against a
large rock with his naked sword across his knees. Strange sounds floated to him
out of the eerie darkness: faint whispers, the mutter of the wind and footfalls
that were not quite right. He thought not to wake Hollin, to see the night
through himself, but she woke of her own accord and demanded that he get some
sleep. Reluctantly he agreed, and she piled new logs on the fire. She woke him
for the last watch before dawn, informing him that the sounds had continued off
and on, but that she had seen nothing.

In the early light,
Daffyd shook himself into wakefulness, realizing with distress that he had
fallen asleep during his second watch. With hands stiff with cold he pushed
himself up and checked the still form of the duchess. She slept on, oblivious
to his lapse of duty. The fire continued to smolder with coals gone ashy grey
and he bent forward to lay new wood on the embers. As he leaned forward his
attention was arrested by a pawprint in the soft dirt on the other side of the
firepit. Slowly rising, with his sword at the ready, he carefully scrutinized
the area in and around their camp and discovered more of the large feline
prints. No other trace of the snowcat remained and, with a shudder, he sank
back on his heels and tended the fire.

Hollin awoke within
minutes of his rising and he pointed in silence to his discovery. "I fell
asleep. I don't remember getting drowsy but I was very much asleep by this
morning. Apparently the snowcat entered our camp while we were both
unconscious."

Hollin, who had begun
to brew the tea, said as composedly as she could, "Well, it doesn't seem
to have wanted to harm us."

Daffyd's reply was less
optimistic: "Perhaps it simply wasn't hungry. Look at the size of those
footprints! It looked large on the cliff, but it must be even bigger than I
thought!" He shook his head in disbelief and accepted a cup of very hot
tea.

"Today I want to
check out the base of the rocky cliff again," Hollin said briskly.

Daffyd cocked his head
in query at her. "I told you before that the wall is far too unstable to
climb."

"Yes, but the
other cliff-bases have revealed nothing, and I have the impression that we have
overlooked something. I can't quite explain it, but unless you have a better
suggestion I'd like to do some more exploring."

"No, I have
nothing better to offer," he admitted, disheartened.

In the growing morning
light they walked through the valley towards the massive wall of stones. Before
they had gone halfway there was an ominous rumble and several of the loose
rocks shifted to come rumbling down to the foot of the wall. A cloud of dust
rose and the motes danced high in the air. Pushing fear aside, Hollin and a
reluctant Daffyd continued to approach the unstable obstacle.

When they were close
enough to observe the features of the wall in detail, they stopped. Starting at
the southern side, where the wall melded with the solid rock of the valley's
cliffs, Hollin began to walk in front of the threatening wall towards the
cliffs of the northern side of the valley, all the while patiently seeking any
continuation of the path that had led them into the valley. Daffyd followed a
pace behind her, his eyes constantly roving about, as much on guard for any
danger as trying to find a trail.

The sun was just
beginning to spill its light into the depths of the valley when they reached
the northern cliffs for the third time. Discouraged, they halted and sat down
to drink from their water flasks. Daffyd was beginning to warn her that they
would have to make another trip out of the valley in order to gather wood and
water if they intended to stay another night, when a piercing scream sent them
leaping up from their resting spot with sword and dagger drawn. Not far above
where they stood, a large feline creature observed them impassively.

The snowcat was
impressive: frightening and beautiful in the same instant. Its fur was long and
pristinely white. Close to fifteen feet in length from its elegant whiskers to
its gently twitching tail, it watched them from opalescent eyes with pupils
slitted in response to the noon light. For many minutes cat and humans stared
at one another; Hollin was curious, Daffyd anxious, and the snowcat enigmatic.

At last Hollin
discerned something and softly spoke to Daffyd. "It's standing on a
ledge."

He looked up and saw
that indeed, the snowcat was balanced on a ledge, and a ledge that could be
reached from the ground. He caught his breath as the snowcat rose from its
crouch. Still watching them, it walked slowly up the wall.

"The path!"
Hollin exclaimed in subdued excitement. "Do you see it? It goes up this
cliff!"

"Yes, but it has a
snowcat sitting on it! It is just as likely to lead to the snowcat's den as to
take us out of the valley." He was clearly skeptical.

The cat continued climbing
until it was fifty or sixty feet above them. Then it stopped, sat down and
regarded them once again.

"I don't think it
wants to harm us," Hollin remarked, intently watching the snowcat. The
snowcat returned her stare unblinkingly. "We must follow it," she
announced quietly. As if in response, the snowcat stood and climbed another ten
feet before stopping.

"That is
madness!" was Daffyd's appalled response.

"Nevertheless,
that is what we must do. Go fetch the packs, I'll wait here." Her manner
was preemptory as she concentrated on the animal on the cliffs above.

"Lady Hollin I beg
you, do not follow the snowcat! What you propose is extremely dangerous. You
are going to your doom to follow that thing!" His face was white and his
voice harsh.

She turned to him and
he saw the resolve in her face. "We must go up this path. If it is our
fate to die by the snowcat, then we shall surely die; but I do not believe our
death is up there." She reached out to grip his arm. "You have sworn
to be my paxman. You have followed me thus far, do not lose heart now,
Daffyd!"

He breathed a sigh to
steady himself and regain his composure. "As you command, my lady,"
he replied, staring directly into her eyes. "I will go and get our packs,
but take my sword while I am gone in case you are wrong about this." He
handed her his sword and retraced his way to their camp. She smiled to herself
and returned to watching the snowcat. If the snowcat was not friendly and chose
to attack, the sword would be as a twig against a storm.

Daffyd returned shortly
and received his sword back. Neither Hollin nor the snowcat had moved from
their respective positions since he had left. They shouldered their packs and,
with a feeling akin to dismay, Daffyd boosted Hollin up onto the ledge and
hauled himself up behind her. Before them a narrow but unmistakable trail led
up towards the waiting snowcat. Putting aside his qualms, Daffyd followed his
leige-lady.

The climb was arduous
and dizzying as they climbed the face of the cliff after the snowcat. Very
quickly they began to notice that the animal would wait seated until they were
quite close, then rise and continue a little further up the trail. Daffyd
forbore to look back down as they ascended higher and higher. Though the day
was cool, a heavy sweat covered him before they had gone very far.

Hollin seemed distant
and absorbed as she led the way. The snowcat no longer worried her, and she
found and followed its path with little difficulty. She was somewhat
disconcerted when suddenly she found that the snowcat had disappeared from
sight. However, when they finally surmounted the crest of the cliff she saw the
reason. Standing at the top of the cliff, they could see that it sloped
gradually back for several hundred yards before abruptly rising to form the
base of the pinnacles that in turn became the tops of the enveloping mountains.
The ground before them was rough with rocks and there was no sign of tree or
shrub. The faintest indication of a trail led, twisting and turning, to a
narrow cleft between two of the mountain peaks. Sitting at the entrance to this
pass was the snowcat.

Daffyd, who had stopped
to catch his breath, stood leaning against one of the larger boulders near the
cliff's edge. To his way of thinking, their position had gone from reckless to
self-destructive. Far below them, down a path he could no longer see, was the
relative safety of the valley floor. From this cliff top the only exits were
the serrated peaks of the mountains or the trail that led directly to the
snowcat. Daffyd had no doubts that the crack between the mountains led directly
to the snowcat's lair. He swallowed his futile advice as the duchess prepared
to lead them into the beast's jaws, contenting himself with readjusting the
weight of his pack and unloosening the scabbard of his sword.

Without hesitation,
Hollin started after the snowcat. As they reached the half-way point across the
expanse of the cliff-top, the snowcat patiently rose and vanished down the passage
between the rock-walls. Fully expecting the snowcat to pounce on them as they
came to the opening, Daffyd was astounded when nothing happened. Looking into
it, he discovered that the opening was indeed a passage between the mountains.
Only wide enough for the two of them to walk comfortably abreast, the pass
seemed to lead straight through, directly into the heart of the mountain. The
sheer walls of the pass were faintly damp with condensation that sunlight never
evaporated and their height was daunting. The sky was nothing but a pale blue
ribbon and the dimness of perpetual shadow filled the passage with gloom.
Daffyd realized that the sun would only be able to peep directly into this
crack for a few minutes each day, and only when exactly aligned overhead in the
sky. An indistinct grey form was all that either of them could discern of the
snowcat, far along the passage. Looking down at her ring for encouragement,
Hollin stepped into the gloom of the pass and Daffyd came in beside her.

Their footsteps were
preternaturally loud, echoing off the rock walls as they walked along. Even
their breathing seemed to echo around them. The floor of the pass was
surprisingly smooth and free of debris. There was a progressive downward slant
to their path, so that the sky continued to recede from them overhead. The
walls remained regular, with no ledges, handholds or potential ambush sites.

They had walked for the
better part of an hour before they saw the end of the passage. Ahead of them
loomed another wall of solid rock, touching the sky with the two walls abutting
it. At the base of the cross wall was a black hole. As they approached, they
saw that it was a post and lintel doorway of stone not dressed by nature.
Curious, they examined it for carvings but found nothing. Beyond its doorstep
was blackness. And there was no sign of the snowcat.

Hollin stepped boldly
through this doorway before Daffyd could restrain her, and stubbed her foot.

"Come back!"
Daffyd cried, his voice loud and unfamiliar as it bounced against the stone
walls.

Gingerly, Hollin
stepped back out. "I think that there are stairs in there," she said
abashedly.

"Let me make a
light and we will find out." Nerves and concern for the duchess' impetuous
behavior made him irritable.

Hollin nodded contritely
and watched without comment as Daffyd unslung his pack and busied himself
within it. He emptied the contents and hunted through them. Shaking his head
dejectedly, he looked up at her. "I am afraid that we shall have to go
back or stumble forwards in the dark. I thought I brought something to make a
torch with." He sat back on his heels.

Thoughtfully she
regarded the myriad items that lay piled at her feet. "There is a way that
I can create the light we need, but to do so I shall need to rest for a while and
have something to eat." Her eyes engaged his speculatively. "I can
conjure an arcane flame to be our lamp."

His jaw did not drop,
but his look clearly bespoke the thought that she should have mentioned this
solution before he unloaded his entire pack. Wordlessly he began to repack.

Crouching before him
and offering the canteen and some dried fruit and pine nuts from her pack,
Hollin explained. "I don't do much with my arcane abilities. Unlike your
lord and lady, I was never formally trained. House Gifts are inherited and then
unlocked when a person becomes the head of a Great House. I believe that the
Gifts of the Minor Houses are more similar to the arcane attributes studied and
exercised by the Scholastium in Dacara. The Gifts of the Great Houses are more
directly channeled from vaster powers. Langstraad's House Gift is fire. House
Gifts are rarely used because they can be very difficult to control and direct.
Anyway, I can conjure fire and I should be able to control it, but it does take
concentration."