Spellsong - Darksong Rising Part 23

The difference was that on the south wall was a second, wider archway that led into a small study with a full wall of built-in bookcases on the east wall, and an ancient table-desk and chair backed up the west wall The south wall boasted more windows, with a view of the domed sorcery workshop beyond the hold walls.

"Impressive, your hold," observed Jecks.

"It gets more impressive, the more I see."...But when will you ever be able to spend much time here? She turned to Jecks with a smile. "I need to get washed up and ready for dinner."

"I stand dismissed, my lady." The twinkle in his hazel eyes belied the formality of the words.

"Excused... never dismissed, my lord Jecks." Anna smiled. "Never dismissed."

"For that I have come to be most grateful."

Anna wanted to reach out and touch him for a moment, but the moment pa.s.sed, and, instead, she smiled gently. "So am I. I'll see you shortly."

The hazel-eyed lord bowed and turned, leaving with Rickel and Lejun, who stationed themselves outside the closed door. Anna stood alone for a time in the unfamiliar chamber, before turning back to the bathchamber and jakes area.

As the cold water filled the capacious stone tub, Anna wandered back to the study, letting her eyes range across the volumes on the bookshelves. Many had no t.i.tles at all on their spines, and the t.i.tles she did see encompa.s.sed a variety of subjects: Historie of Wei, NordAphorisms, Reisefuhr Botanisch, Kunstmusik.

She shook her head slowly-nearly two hundred leather-bound volumes-a fortune of sorts in a world where books were copied and bound by hand.

She picked up the saddlebags as she headed back to the bathchamber, although she knew that she would wear one of the gowns Florenda had transferred into the master suite. Tonight, she would eat and rest. Tomorrow-it would be another day- and a long one.

34.

After breakfast the next morning, Anna stood on the fourth step of the central stone staircase and glanced out at the hold's key staff. Quies stood in front, with his redheaded son Albero by his side. Serna and Florenda stood a few paces back, while Frideric and Gero stood to the right of the women.

Rickel and Lejun stood behind Anna, but a step up and several paces to each side. Wiltur stood to the right of Lejun. Despite the older guard's grizzled appearance and his silver hair, the steady eyes, the blade in the well-worn scabbard, and the long scar across his cheek marked him as perhaps more to be feared than the two younger men.

"You all know I have not been able to come home to Loiseau as much as I would have liked," Anna began. "That isn't likely to change soon. I cannot maintain the hold with sorcery when I am not here." She looked around. "But I do want Loiseau maintained. You were all helpful when I knew nothing about Defalk and Liedwahr, and for that I thank you. I will only be making one large change...

and one I make reluctantly." Anna scanned the group, but no one's face seemed tofall or appear displeased. "Sometime after harvest, I will be bringing in a saalmeister who has run a much larger holding. He will probably have to bring in more people to make sure Loiseau remains well kept, because I cannot use sorcery from a distance, as much as I am gone. But I will make sure that all of you will remain here, if you wish, and that you are rewarded for your loyalty, both to me and to Lord Brill. Also, Serna, Quies, Albero.. . Wiltur... you will all, if you wish, and I hope you will, continue to do as you have. You will lose no responsibilities. Halde is young, but has much experience, and I have cautioned him to heed your knowledge. He will be here to do some of those things which otherwise I would do, not to do what you all have done so well." Anna offered a sad smile. "I cannot be here to do them, and I do not wish to see Loiseau ill served."

She paused once more, then added, "I'd like to meet with each of you individually in my study upstairs, starting with Quies in just a moment." With a smile, Anna turned and went up the stairs. While using her personal chamber was not perfect, there were no private rooms-that she knew of-on the main level of the hold.

As she had suggested, Quies was the first to step into the chamber, looking around, as if he had never been there.

"Over here," called Anna, standing by the ancient table-desk, on which rested a leather pouch.

The stablemaster stepped through the archway.

Anna took two golds from the pouch and pressed them on the older stablemaster.

"Quies, I appreciate all you've done to hold things together... and for finding Farinelli for me."

The short and wiry Quies bowed his head. "I wasn't sure... Lady Anna... but Serna, she said you'd be back... and when the scrolls and the coins came...

well... she was right."

"If I can come back, I will, as often as I can."

"We know that, lady." Quies smiled.

Next was Gero, the former a.s.sistant to Brill.

Anna offered him a gold. "Just keep the workrooms and pool in shape." She paused. "Are they prepared now?"

The youth nodded. "Yes, Lady Anna... when the messenger arrived, I cleaned it and set it up just as Lord Brill always, instructed me." He bowed.

"I'll be going there shortly... and thank you."

"Thank you, lady." Gero looked down, then slipped away.

The white-haired Serna was third in the line, accompanied by her daughter Florenda. Serna bowed twice, once as she entered the chamber, and once as she came through the archway to the study area. "Lady and Regent."

"I understand you were the one who really kept people together..."

"Lady... I did what any houseminder would do-"

"Lady... she did all that and more," interjected the diminutive Florenda.

"Mum... she wouldn't admit anything."Anna couldn't help grinning. "The loyal daughter."

"That she be," admitted Serna.

"She's also right, I'll bet." Anna offered three golds to Serna, and two to Florenda. "For keeping the house together, and," she added to Florenda, "for all the altering and extra food."

Serna's mouth opened as she realized the coins were golds. "My Lady... never..."

"I cannot be here to tell you how much I value you and your work." Anna shrugged. "Gold's a poor subst.i.tute, but all I can do."

The two women bowed deeply.

Albero was next, and the hold armorer smiled shyly. "l owe you more than you realize, Albero, especially for teaching me about knives." She slipped him two golds. "Thank you."

"Lady... I did what..."

"You did well." She smiled.

Frideric and Wiltur came in together, and each of the hold guards received two golds. As had the others, they bowed reverently.

"Said you don't forget... good or evil," offered Wiltur. "Good thing." He grinned briefly.

"I try not to," Anna answered. "We'll be going to the workroom building in a bit, after I finish."

"I'll be waiting by the stables, lady," Wiltur confirmed.

After the two left, Anna retrieved the lutar before heading back down the hallway and then down the stone steps to the main level, followed once more by her guards. At the base of the stairs, she looked through the stone arch to the front entry hall, but the hall remained empty. Where is Jecks? Or did he mention something about blade lessons for Kinor and Jimbob?

Anna walked to the stables, followed once more by the guards. As she crossed the north courtyard, her glance went to the rear of the courtyard, where Jecks was instructing Kinor and Jimbob in some aspect of using a blade, while several of the younger lancers watched. Anna wondered if Jimbob was really paying attention.

"Lady Anna?"

Her head turned back toward the stables. Outside the open doors in the already hot morning sunlight stood Quies.

"Yes, Quies?"

"If I might ask, Lady Anna, from where does this Halde hail?" inquired the stablemaster.

"He's been the saalmeister at Synfal, Lord Arkad's hold at Cheor," Anna answered. "When Lord Jimbob received those lands, he also decided to replace the saalmeister with someone from Lord Jecks' lands."

Quies nodded."I thought Halde had done an excellent job in the weeks after Lord Arkad's death and the death of the head saalmeister, and I've had him working under Herstat. I believe he will do a good job. He's fair, and he works hard." Anna looked at Quies. "If he has any fault, it is that he may not praise good work enough, but those who have worked with him for years say he does not bully or cheat, but expects the best out of each person."

Quies pursed his lips before speaking. "You won't be here long, will you, lady?

And you won't be here that much."

"No," Anna admitted. "I can't be. Not now. I might be here for a week, or less, and I don't know when I'll be back."

"Lady...?"

"Yes, Quies." Anna smiled.

"I'd not be the youngest stablemaster... and the horses are not Albero's love..."

"You want to train someone else to help you?"

"Aye...my sister's bairn Vyren. A bit young, not twelve, but he loves the horses, and they love him."

"Can he learn the rest of running a stable?"

"That young, I'd not be knowing for sure, but I'd send him home if he could not." A crooked smile appeared on the stable-master's face. "With two... we could build up the stable more."

"Then have him come to work for you... you tell Serna and anyone else who needs to know."

"Thank you, lady."

"Thank you. You do the work, and Farinelli's shown me that you do it well, Quies."

A nervous smile appeared.

"I meant it." Anna stepped into the comparative cool of the always-clean stables and toward the front stall where the big gelding greeted Anna with a whuff, as if to ask why she'd taken so long.

"Business, fellow, business." She slipped into the stall and brushed him briefly, not all that necessary since she'd groomed him thoroughly the night before, tired as she'd been.

The ride out to the workshop buildings was almost too short, except for the heat, and, again, almost a parade, Anna felt, with Wiltur and two of her guards following her.

Wiltur insisted on checking the building before she entered. Then, as Anna carried the lutar, a water bottle, and a sheaf of her notes into the building, Wiltur stationed himself by the door, joining Rickel and Blaz as guards.

After closing the door behind her, the sorceress and Regent wandered through the dusty workrooms, then through the larger room where Brill's players had practiced, and where hers would later.After checking the last of the three workshop rooms, she stopped by the pool in the scrying room, pondering. It's been long enough... do you dare? Besides, when and where else can you try? She nodded and took out the lutar, beginning her vocalises, as she tuned the instrument. When she was ready, she faced the pool, not that she needed it, and sang the simple spell.

Bring to me the letter I desire, from my daughter, safe from fire across the void from Earth to here, let all words from her appear....

A column of flame exploded beside the scrying pool, forcing Anna to lurch backward-then died abruptly, leaving a steaming oblong lump of blackened matter on the stones beside the pool. Her eyes went to the object. She swallowed.

"s.h.i.t..." Then, as she continued to study the object, she smiled, realizing that the black was a heavy black fabric. Once the steaming subsided, she set aside the lutar, laying it on the small worktable behind her, and bent down.

Her fingers brushed the heavy cloth-almost like a stage curtain.

Within the crude bag was an envelope of some sort of synthetic material, and within that were two envelopes. The first contained a small pencil sketch of Elizabetta, and the second a thick letter. Anna looked at the sketch for a long time before she opened the letter and began to read.

Mom- Your letter arrived. It just popped into the pa.s.senger seat of my car. The outer envelope was pretty charred, and there's a brown spot on the upholstery now, and it reminds me of you. I'm leaving this under the stairs like you said, but I found pieces of an old stage curtain, lined with asbestos or something, in the back rooms at PSC. One of my friends goes there, and I made a pouch out of it for this. I hope it works.

The sketch is because I don't know if a modem picture would get there. The sketch of you got here, so I was pretty sure this would. Cortland was happy to do it, and I didn't tell him why.

Anna took a deep breath, looking at the black blot of soot on the stone floor.

She turned to the careful script and kept reading.

I decided not to show Dad the coins. Mr. Asteni paid me by their weight, cause he says there isn't any speculative market for private mint coins. He thinks they were minted by those creative anachronism folks, and I'll bet he's keeping a few for himself. I told Mario you'd left money hidden in the jewelry case I brought back from Ames, and I just found it. I tried to give him half that way, but he wouldn't take it. He said he had a job, and I'd need the money more.

I'm headed back to school. Because you're "missing"-and Dad thinks you're dead because even he admits you would stay in touch, that means you're presumed to be dead. The insurance people said it could be years, but the school gave me full tuition and room and board. So don't worry about that.

You can't be dead. Ghosts don't send messages on real parchment or whatever it is, and funny gold coins. Especially not coins worth that much. I worry about you, and I was really glad to get your last letter. When I come back to the lake house for Christmas, if this one is gone, I'll leave another letter there, and I hope you can use your sorcery or whatever to pick it up. It sure is weird to write each other this way, but it helps to know you're all right somewhere. It'dbe really hard if you had just vanished into nowhere. I don't know how people stand that.

By the way, my grades did go up second semester, and I made the honors list.

German was easier than I'd thought it would be, but I barely sc.r.a.ped out a B+ in theory. You said it would be hard, and it was. My voice teacher sounds like you, always talking about keeping the sound free....

The police in Iowa haven't closed the case, but they're not actively investigating anymore. I think they think you just adopted a new ident.i.ty. You did, but not the way they think...

Anna blotted her eyes, and cleared her throat, then blotted once more. She had trouble swallowing, but she looked back at the letter, reading quickly, almost as if she were afraid it would turn to dust in her hands... or disappear.

...still hard to think of a world or a place like you describe. Somehow, I can see you running things, though. You neyer got a chance here, not taking care of us, and always being there and picking up all the messes...

Anna had to set the letter down...letting the sobs come.

After another interval, she sniffed, blotted her eyes once more, and continued reading the rest of the long and chatty letter, collapsing into sobs with the closing lines.

...Wherever you are, even if you can't ever write again, I love you.

A good half-gla.s.s or more pa.s.sed before Anna was ready to tackle scrying again.

She'd also finished off most of the water in the bottle she'd brought out to the domed building.