Reunion (10 page)

You sense the unis,
the prince's “voice” said in his mind.
Fate is heavy in this place
.

What will happen here?
Corwin asked.

I cannot see. I am too weak. It is too far from now
.

Then I will make sure to avoid this place in the future
, Corwin thought.
Assuming I live to have a future.
“Nia!” he called out. “You should come out of there as soon as you can.”

Nia swam closer to where he stood on the lakeshore. “Why? Corwin, you should come in. This water's very healthful.”

“No, thank you. I don't like the slimy moss that grows on lake bottoms. But listen, there's something strange about this place. Even your prince thinks so. Can't you feel it?”

Nia stood up in the shallows and looked around. “No. I don't feel anything. It's very peaceful here. I wish I could stay.”

“Well, we can't. We have to get to your prince, remember?”

Nia smiled. “I'm glad you now see our goals as one. Just let me swim a little bit more.” She turned and slid under the surface, her long hair streaking like wet lightning as she swam.

Corwin sat down on the lakeshore feeling miserable, itching to leave. He took another roll from his cloak pouch and dunked it in the lake water, letting it soak for a while. Then he picked it up again and took a big bite, gagging almost instantly. It tasted like stale bread and pond scum.

He managed to get down one swallow and then threw the rest at Nag. “How can you stand this stuff?” Then the prince-mind within said,
Ah, that was very good. I wish I had some.
To Corwin's shock, his hand reached out and picked up the roll again. He continued to eat it, one part of his mind loathing it, one part enjoying it thoroughly. It was just as Nia had said—slowly, his goals were melding with those of Nia and the prince.
If this is being “joined,” then maybe death wouldn't be such a problem.

“Don't be silly,” Nia chided as she emerged from the lake. There was something regal in the way she carried herself that made it easy for Corwin to believe she had been among the royalty where she came from. “In time, you and the prince will be as one. He'll enjoy what you enjoy, and you'll enjoy his delights as well. It's nothing to be afraid of.”

“I hope you're right,” Corwin said, with a halfhearted smile.
Though I doubt it
, he couldn't help thinking.

Nia tousled his hair as she passed him. Corwin jerked back his head, annoyed. But he wouldn't have minded so much if she did it again sometime.

They continued to follow deer paths through the woods, and finally Corwin was able to glimpse the tops of the towers of Carmarthen Castle far off in the distance.
So, we aren't lost after all. Just running out of time.

But Corwin perhaps had his gaze too firmly on the goal, for just then he tripped and fell flat on his face. “Ooof!”

“Are you all right?” Nia asked.

“I'm fine,” Corwin muttered, embarrassed. He turned to see what root or fallen branch had tripped him up. But it was a rock . . . a rock with inscriptions on it. Curiosity got the better of him and he looked closer. “Probably some old Roman ruin.” But the letters weren't Latin—Fenwyck had taught him to read that language a little, so he could at least recognize the amount on Roman coins or tell which documents were valuable enough to be worth stealing.

But Nia gasped and crouched down beside the stone. “I know this—it's the language of my people!”

Corwin's eyebrows shot up. “So what's it doing here?” he asked.

“I have no idea.” Nia lightly dusted the stone with her fingers. “Shrine of the . . . The rest is broken off. These are symbols for earth and water,” she said, pointing to the etchings.

“Could it have washed ashore a long time ago, from your city?” Corwin felt stupid as he asked it. He knew that stones rarely came up from the sea depths to shore. “Or maybe it fell off a ship?”

“My people don't use ships,” Nia replied. She stood and looked around. There was an overgrown hill to the west. Nia crept through the underbrush toward it.

“Nia? Nia, what are you doing? We don't have time for any side trips, Nia, remember?”

“But this is important! I can feel it. I just want to look . . . oooah!” she shrieked and disappeared.

“Nia!” Corwin ran toward where she had been and suddenly slid down into a slanting hole. He skittered and bumped and landed right beside her on a stone platform. There were stairs ahead of them leading down into darkness.

“Oh, Nia,” Corwin sighed as the unis feeling of foreboding closed over him again. “We
really
shouldn't be here.”

“But what is this place?” Nia asked. “Why haven't I heard about these shrines in land-dweller kingdoms?”

“Why are you asking
me
? Do I look like a keeper of Atlantean knowledge? You should ask your prince.” Corwin slowly got up and dusted himself off.

Nia closed her eyes a moment. “He doesn't know, either. But he senses its importance within the unis.” She ran her fingers over the inscriptions and images on the wall—images of octopuses and mermyds and dolphins.

Corwin could feel homesickness radiating from her. He gently grasped her upper arm. “Nia, come on. I know all this reminds you of your homeland, but if we stay here much longer, you won't live to see it again.”

“You're right,” Nia said, determination returning to her face. “I lost sight of my purpose for a minute. It's good that you're here with me. The prince chose his land Avatar wisely.”

Chose wisely?
Corwin thought as they began to crawl back out of the hole.
And here I thought I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It took a little while for Corwin to catch sight of the castle again. But once he had, the path opened wider and wider until it led onto a clearing surrounded by trees. Castle Carmarthen was not far away, just over a slight rise.

“Looks like we finally got some luck,” Corwin murmured.

“Corwin,” Nia warned.

Suddenly the bushes ringing them shifted and rustled. Armed and liveried men on horseback emerged from under the trees into the clearing. “Guess again,” Anwir said, riding on a stout pony. “Luck is with someone today, but not you. There they are, your lordship,” Anwir told a rider who had the armor and tabard of the captain of the guard.

Corwin prepared to grab Nia and run, but the rest of the horsemen closed around them in a semicircle. “Just when I was sure I couldn't possibly think any worse of you, Anwir, you've gone and proven me wrong,” Corwin said.

The insult didn't seem to bother Anwir a bit. Instead, he responded with a broad grin. “Why, thank ye, lad. I've your late master's reputation to surpass, ye know.”

“Oh, you've well surpassed Fenwyck in villainy, Anwir.” Corwin turned round and round, looking for a hole in the circle, some avenue of escape. But there was none. “How did you find us?”

“My man followed you,” Anwir said, pointing at a bush. From behind it emerged the man who had been “sleeping” at the inn table. “He said you made enough noise crashing through the woods that a deaf man could have tracked you.”

Corwin sighed.
Fenwyck always said I was too clumsy to be a good house-thief.
Continuing to study the circle of riders, Corwin recognized one of them—one of the mages from Vortigern's court. The mage leaned over and whispered in the captain's ear. The captain nodded. “Enough of this chatter,” he declared. “Corwin of Carmarthen, you and your sorceress companion are under arrest for assault upon a royal personage. You are to accompany us to the court of His Royal Majesty, King Vortigern, where you will be tried and sentenced for your crime.”

All the riders looked wary and had their hands on sword hilts or bows. The mage looked as though he had a spell gesture prepared to unleash.

But Corwin knew their preparation was unnecessary. Even if he and Nia had had the strength of last evening, they could not have overcome so many. Weak as they were today, it was hopeless. “I'm sorry,” he whispered to her. “I failed you.”

To his surprise, she shook her head. “These people will take us into the castle, won't they?”

“Probably.”

“Then we will be closer to our prince. We haven't failed yet.”

Yesterday she was the voice of doom; today she is the voice of insane hope
, he thought.
I'm not sure which voice I like less.

Corwin allowed the guards to escort him and Nia to a wooden wagon on which sat a large wicker cage. The guards motioned for them to get into the cage, which Corwin and Nia reluctantly did. Corwin tried to reach out mentally to the Farworlder prince.
What do we do now?

I cannot help you. Come find me. Hurry.

Big help you are
, Corwin thought and then immediately chided himself. The prince
had
done all he could to help. What more could one expect from a baby squid-thing? Corwin felt his gut clench at the thought of again meeting the king who killed Fenwyck.
If we live, and I keep my magical power, maybe I'll have the chance to teach Vortigern a lesson
. It seemed like just another insane hope, but it gave Corwin strength.

Anwir cleared his throat. “Now as to that reward, my good fellow . . . ,” he began, addressing the captain.

“You will be paid when the king is assured that these are the criminals he wished apprehended,” the captain replied.

“But . . . but . . . didn't your wizard there just confirm that for you?”

“As I have said, the king himself must decide. Now be off to your business, man, and let us be about ours.” He rode away, leaving Anwir sputtering.

Corwin smiled sourly.
There's no honor among thieves, Anwir. You probably won't see a penny for betraying me.

The driver at the front of the wagon shouted to the horses, and the wagon jerked forward with great jolts and bumps. The ride was going to be anything but comfortable.

“What is this King Vortigern like?” Nia asked.

“A nasty piece of work, really,” Corwin answered. “He doesn't trust anyone, he's afraid of everything. We definitely can't expect justice or mercy from him.” Corwin noticed the guard riding closest to the wagon scowling at him
. So I'm speaking treason. So what? I'm dead already. I can't make anything worse than it is.
“In fact,” Corwin went on, “people say he stole the crown by killing the king before him and that king's son. And that he gave land to Saxon mercenaries in exchange for one of their women as a wife. And that he's a heretic—”

“That's enough!” roared the guardsman, drawing his sword. “You will speak no more treason, varlet, or I will cut your tongue out.”

“I'm only saying what everyone already knows.”

“You are spreading vile gossip invented by the king's enemies.”

“Hmm. Hoping for a promotion in the ranks, are you?”

As the sword was thrust through the wicker bars, Corwin leapt back, protecting Nia. “All right! All right!”

The mage in the scarlet robe rode back to see what the commotion was and had a soft word with the angry guardsman. The guardsman calmed down a little and sheathed his sword, but the scowl never left his face.

“You aren't allowed to talk about your king?” Nia asked.

Corwin shook his hand. “Kings are considered more than men here,” he explained. “The only person more powerful than a king is the pope.”

“What's a pope?”

Corwin tried not to let his eyes bulge. It was so strange to meet someone who didn't know these things. “He's the leader of the Catholic Church,” he said.

“What's the Catholic Church?”

“Uh-oh—you'd better not say that in front of the king,” Corwin warned. “It's . . . hard to explain. Tell me about who holds power in your country.”

“In my city we had ten kings,” Nia said. “Farworlders, each joined to a mermyd Avatar, the way you and I are joined to the prince. They ruled together in the High and Low Councils and used their magical power to run the city and heal people.” She paused, her eyes clouding over. “But I don't know if any of them survived,” she added in a softer tone. She raised her gaze slightly to meet his. “Do you think King Vortigern will kill us?”

Corwin's jaw tightened. “If we're lucky,” he said. “But given the way kings are, especially ones like Vortigern, he might want to try some torture first. Boiling oil, or maybe a bed of spikes. Just to make his point.”

Nia sighed. “Land-dwellers.”

Now would have been a wonderful time, Corwin thought, to be struck with a vision of an old Corwin, gray-bearded, playing with grandchildren. But no such vision came.

They rode the rest of the way to Carmarthen Castle in silence.

Chapter Seven

As the wagon bumped over the drawbridge, Corwin glanced up at the crenellated wall. The iron cage in which Fenwyck had been exposed was still there. And from the looks of the skeletal arm that draped over the side, so was Fenwyck. Corwin shivered.

“What are you looking at?” Nia asked.

“My old guardian, Fenwyck. Or what's left of him. A man who was like a father to me. But Vortigern had him killed.”

“Oh.” A wave of sympathetic feeling came from Nia. “I had a similar loss—also because of an evil king.”

Again Corwin saw in his mind the gray-haired merman lying on the sand. Corwin reached over to grasp Nia's hand. Together, for some moments, they shared their sorrow.

The wagon stopped with a sudden jolt. A guardsman came around to open the back of the wicker cage. “Come out!” he commanded.

Corwin and Nia crawled to the back of the wagon and were hoisted out by the none-too-gentle guards. They were taken without ceremony into an antechamber and soon thereafter marched into the presence of the king.