Magic Casement (6 page)

Her
father laughed in turn. Evidently these were old adventures that Inos would not
be invited to share. Now he had produced a decanter of dwarfish-cut crystal
that she had only seen once or twice before, and three of the precious matching
goblets-three! To her astonishment she found herself sitting on the edge of the
sofa and holding one of those goblets. Sagorn must have noticed her surprise,
and her father had noticed that he had noticed. “I think Inos has earned
this,” he said. “Sip, my dear. It’s powerful. “

Sagorn
sipped and sighed. “Superb! I would not have expected this in Krasnegar.
Elvish, of course.”

The
king smiled. “Valdoquiff itself. Kade brought a cask of it from Kinvale.
I hoard it like a dwarf.”

He
was answering a question that had not been asked. Obviously Sagorn and he knew
each other well. Inos felt a little reassured, and sipped at her drink. She did
not care for the taste--like drinking nettles, and the fumes burned the inside
of her nose--but certainly it was an honor-and a sign of forgiveness? She felt
very grown-up!

“Now,
Inos,” her father said, settling back in his chair. “Tell Doctor
Sagorn about the God.”

“God?”
The eagle’s eyes flashed to her again.

Inos
related her experience once more. When she was done, she thought she had managed
to maintain a very matter-of-fact decorum. There was a long silence. Sagorn
scratched at his cheek in deep thought. He emptied his goblet. Her father rose
and refilled it.

“Had
the God not come, Holindarn, what would you have done?”

She
had never heard anyone except her mother and Kade call her father by name like
that.

Her
father shrugged at the question. “Given my daughter a hard scolding, sent
Meo a couple of crowns, and dispatched Unonini out of here on the first boat.”

The
old man nodded, then smiled mockingly. “The silk would have stayed in the
chapel, then?”

“I
do not steal from Gods!”

“Quite!
The silk seems unimportant. If the Gods did not want this chaplain woman to
return to the Impire, They could have found a simpler way to produce the effect,
I should think. “ Sagorn turned his calculating eyes on Inos again. “So
the message to you seems to be the important part. But Gods do not meddle in
trivial matters... Are you in love at the moment, young lady?”

Inos
felt herself turn very pink. “No! Of course not!”

“Hardly!”
her father protested mildly.

Sagorn
sent him an odd glance. “So she is going to fall in love? She will have a
choice to make? Highness, has your father ever explained the importance of
Krasnegar?”

Inos
shook her head dumbly.

“Well,
Krasnegar is very unusual. You have jotnar here and you have imps. There are
very few places in all Pandemia where that combination exists in peace. Did you
ever hear of the Mad Sorcerer? “

She
shook her head, surprised at the sudden shift in subject.

“It’s
a name that was given to Inisso. Does it not seem strange that a man of such
vast power would choose to build his tower in a barren, isolated spot like
Krasnegar? But he was not so crazy as he seemed, I think. This is a very
strategic little town. It has the only good harbor in the north.”

Why
was he telling her this? He seemed very solemn. Inos glanced at her father, and
he frowned as if to tell her to listen carefully.

“Both
Nordland and the Impire think they should own Krasnegar. Is that not so, Majesty?”

“It
has always been so. “

“And
it has always had a king, not a queen regnant!” Sagorn said triumphantly.
“So you see, Highness, the thanes and the Impire will all take a great
deal of interest in whomever you choose as husband. Yet they both need you.”

“Need
me?” she asked. “Us?”

He
nodded. “Need Krasnegar. There is much your father must teach you if you
are to rule here after him. Salt, for instance. Even humble things like salt.
The jotnar need salt to store their meat over the winter. Salt doesn’t
sail well, so most of it comes overland from the south in the summer, to
Krasnegar. Goblins and jotnar trade furs for it. The Impire wants furs. Things
like that. The imperor would not like to see a jotunn king in Krasnegar.
Nordland wouldn’t like you to marry an imp.”

“But
they’ll both accept me as queen?” she protested, looking to her
father. She had hardly ever thought about being queen. That would be after he
died, and she was not going to think about that.

He
nodded-a little doubtfully, she thought. “If you are old enough and
strong enough, and if they approve of your choice of husband. Most husbands
like to give the orders, you know.” She snorted, not caring that snorting
was not regal. “Well, that doesn’t have to be for years yet, does
it?” For just a moment... then he seemed to change his mind. “I
certainly hope not. What I think my learned friend is saying, though, is that
you may have to choose a husband quite soon-in a year or two, even. And your
decision will be important to very many people. The God was telling you to
remember love when you decide-a divine hint. Right, Sagorn?”

Inos
spoke first, suddenly seized by a horrible doubt. “You’re not going
to marry me off to some horrible old duke, are you, Father?”

Her
father laughed. “Not unless you want me to. No, Nordland would not stand
for it, anyway. That’s what I mean-your decision might start a war, Inos!”

She
gasped at such a horrible idea, and swallowed the last of whatever it was in
her glass. It made her cough. If enjoying this vile stuff was a requirement for
adulthood, then she had farther to go than she had thought.

Her
father rose. “I’ll send for some lunch, Sagorn, unless you’d
prefer the hall?”

It
was a hint of dismissal for Inos, and Inos had still not settled the terrible
matter of the silk.

“No.
A snack here would be fine,” the old man said, with a strange smile at
her father. “As you know, Sire, I am not much of a party man. “

“Tonight,
perhaps, though? I understand that we have a very fine minstrel visiting us.
Kade is organizing something.” Inos was being edged to the door. “Father?
The silk?” He looked surprised, then laughed loudly again. “Three
and a half imperials, you said?”

She
nodded miserably, and he laid heavy hands on her shoulders. “Inos,
darling, that much would buy Meo’s whole stock!”

“Meo?”

He
smiled and, perhaps, blushed a little. “Meo and I are very old friends.
You used to play with the servants’ children when you were little; so did
I. I’ve known Meo all my life. I even thought I was in love with her
once. Who went with you this morning?” he added, suddenly suspicious.

She
confessed-no one.

He
sighed and patted her shoulder. “This has to stop, Inos! You’re
growing up. You’re not a child anymore. You can’t run around by
yourself. Nor with stableboys and scullery maids clambering after bird’s
eggs, digging clams... I’ve been neglecting you.” He chuckled. “Perhaps
Meo thinks I have been neglecting her-I haven’t seen her in years. Or
else she was sending me a message.”

“Message?”

He
nodded. “A message that my beautiful daughter should not be wandering the
town by herself. No, Meo doesn’t expect three and a half gold imperials! “

That
was better. Much better.

Her
father chuckled. “I’m very tempted to send the guard down to arrest
her for extortion and then sentence her to stay to dinner, but her neighbors
would gossip. Did she have any other quality stuff?”

With
sudden excitement, Inos remembered what the God had said. “Only one other
silk, Father. It had flowering trees on it. Apples, she said. Do apples really
grow from flowers? But she has a drooly turquoise satin and three soft linens
and a roll of silver mohair-”

He
laughed. “I was going to send you out with your aunt this afternoon, but
perhaps I’ll come as well. If Doctor Sagorn will excuse me for a little
while, I shall visit my old friend Meo. She’s a widow now. I expect she’s
lonely. But you can have all of those, and more besides-all the fine dresses
and gowns we can make or find for you. “

“Father!
You mean it? But-but why?”

He
smiled sadly. “I wasn’t going to tell you yet, but I suppose I
must. Because you have to leave Krasnegar. “

I
loved a maiden, Maiden oh...

I
loved a maiden, Long ago...

I
left my land, I left my kin,

I
left my all, her heart to win.

Maiden,
maiden, maiden oh...

Long
ago...

Jalon’s
voice floated through the great hall like flower petals. Inos felt shivery
listening to it. She thought of the glory of the God she had seen that morning;
she thought of moonlight on snow, of the string of pearls she was wearing, and
of white gulls against blue sky. Great beauty always made her shivery and she
had never known such singing. Any other minstrel she had ever heard was a
honking goose compared to this Jalon. The hall was full of people, yet there
was no sound except the tremulous throb of the harp and a gloriously clear
tenor voice floating under the high rafters.

Flower
petals!

Inos
was sitting with her father and his guests at the high table, on the dais at
one end of the great hall. More townsfolk and the senior castle staff flanked
tables along both sides. At the far end the lesser folk sat on the floor in
front of the big fireplaces. The stones above them were black with the grease
and smoke of centuries, and the high rafters overhead were black, also. Many a
winter’s day she had shivered at this table, staring wistfully along the
length of the hall to the leaping flames hissing and spluttering as grease
dripped into them from the creaking spits, a princess envying servants. But
today the hearths were dark and bare and the hall was hot, not cold. The sun
loved Krasnegar in summer and would not leave it. Men fell down from exhaustion
before the sun did, and after an hour or so it came smiling back, ready for
another endless day. So the sun was still shining in the windows, laying
sparkling bridges of light across the room in the floating dust.

I
gave her gold, and rubies, too,

I
gave my all, her heart to woo.

Maiden,
maiden, maiden oh...

around
at the guests. She’d had her hair blue-rinsed. Smiling at the thought of
Kinvale? No! No! Think of that tomorrow. Mistress Meolome was there, beaming
happily, perhaps musing on all the wonderful fabrics she had sold to the court
that afternoon-and all of them for less than a single imperial, as the king had
predicted. He and she had laughed together like old friends. Her father did
look tired, almost as if he were sitting in shadow when everyone around him was
in sunshine. There were merchants there, with their wives, and a few ship
captains, and the bishop and the school teachers; old Kondoral, cupping his
ear, tears running in his wrinkles; Chancellor Yaltauri; and Master Poraganu.
There were few of the castle staff, for so many were away in the hills, and
especially not many young folk, but she could see Lin, who had broken his arm
cutting peat of all things-how could he have managed that?-and Kel and Ido and
Fan...

And
Rap of course.

They
were all sitting on the floor at the far end, near the great fireplace-small,
wide-eyed children at the front, cross-legged or hugging knees, entranced by
the music; the junior staff like Rap gathered behind him. As always, the palace
dogs had clustered as close to Rap as they could get.

Before
the children, flanked by the lesser tables, the center of the hall was empty
except for one chair, and on that chair the minstrel sat and pleated moonbeams.

I
loved a maiden, Maiden oh...

I
loved a maiden, Long ago...

I
traveled land, I traveled sea,

I
traveled all, by her to be.

Maiden,
maiden, maiden oh...

Long
ago...

It
was warm up there at the high table with her father and Aunt Kade and all the
distinguished guests who had been rounded up from the town at very short notice
to hear this minstrel... and perhaps to say good-bye to Princess Inosolan? No,
never mind that. Aunt Kade had dug out her ancient lapis lazuli velvet, which
made her seem plumper and shorter than ever and was usually worn only at
Winterfest. It was much too hot a garment for this weather and her face was
pink and shiny as she smiled contentedly Mother Unonini was not there. Mother
Unonini was under the care of the physicians, resting in a dark room on a light
diet, and Inos could not help but think that there was a small good in that
evil, and the thought made her feel guilty.

The
fearsome Doctor Sagorn was not there, either-another small good. Even if he was
an old friend of her father’s, his glittery eagle gaze and beak nose
still frightened her, and she was quite happy that he had pleaded travel
weariness to excuse his absence. Jalon’s song ended and the hall exploded
with applause--clapping and cheering and drumming of heels on the stones. The
minstrel rose and bowed to the king and then to the rest of the company, and
then he came back up to his seat at the high table.

“Your
throat must be dry, minstrel?” her father said.

“A
little, Sire. And the audience could use a rest, also.”

“That
I do not believe. Steward!”

Jalon
gratefully accepted a new tankard and said something about fine northern beer
before quaffing it. All around the hall conversations began to poke up like
spring flowers through snow, as the spell he had painted faded away.

“The
imperor has appointed a new marshal of the armies, minstrel?” demanded
one of the pompous burghers.

Jalon
smiled vaguely. “The old one died, didn’t he?”

The
burgher made an impatient noise. “But the new one? Is he warlike? “
Inos could not recall that burgher’s name. He looked like a rooster, with
red wattles and hair that stuck up. He had perhaps drunk a little too much of
the fine northern beer.