Then he shrieked.
Just Outside Burkus House About Ten Minutes Later Debreban ducked guiltily through the wrought iron gates, then remembered to stand up straight, squaring himself. Just because Lord Cadmus might be angry didn"t mean the rest of the meager household would embrace his example. Though most of them looked on Cadmus with the kind of indulgent affection usually reserved for wayward, but charmingly cute, infants, none took their emotional cues from him.
They were a sensible lot, and gawd knows, where the eccentric Burkus clan was concerned, one needed to remain sensible.
Toward that end, Debreban paused to put his cloak back on again, so as to present a competent facade when he made his report. Drat, there was a seam parting up near the shoulder. He"d have to get one of the house girls to mend it for him; his own sewing skills were too limited. It was too much to expect LordCadmus to notice and replace the cloak with a proper new one, not until more money came in, but dammit, the head of the guard for Burkus House should not be seen running about in thready rags.
At least it was clean. Mostly clean. Trudging through that tunnel and then the streets had certainly caked on the dust. Well, that could be brushed off. . . .
From up the carriage drive came the sound of hooves going at a smart pace. The only horse left in the stable capable of that much energy was his lordship"s showy war charger. As there"d been no war here for ages many thought the animal should be traded in for something more practical, like a flock of egg-producing, edible chickens.
Debreban broke off toothsome thoughts of roasting fowls as the big white horse nervously cantered up, Lord Cadmus astride it. One couldn"t fault him for his looks; he cut a dashing figure in the saddle, but why was he wearing the cloak with the house colors withthat outfit? The purple and green clashed horribly with the deep garnet red. Had he suddenly been struck color-blind?
"My lord," said Debreban, executing a bow as horse and rider approached. "About that errand you sent me on . . ." He had thought up a reasonable excuse for his lateness; not a good one, but reasonable.
"Out of my way," Cadmus ordered, rather shortly.
Debreban stepped back, though he was nowhere near the horse"s path. The great animal still skittered, head plunging up and down, its iron shoes striking sparks on the carriageway cobbles. Cadmus pulled the reins sharply, which upset the horse even more, making him buck.
"b.l.o.o.d.y b.a.s.t.a.r.d, don"t you dare!" Cadmus snapped, hauling the reins tighter.
Debreban judged that things could get out of hand if he didn"t interfere. He jumped in quick, seizing the bridle. The horse started to rear back, dragging him along, but weight and muscle saved him. He spoke the horse"s name in a calming voice, hand on its nose, and that eased the crisis. His mum had always maintained he had a way with animals and should have stayed on the farm.
"Let him go, you lout! You think I can"t handle him?"
Sheer surprise made Debreban let go. He"d seen his lord annoyed, but never to the point of name-calling. It wasn"t the gentlemanly thing, even to servitors. Cadmus looked incensed beyond the measure of the situation. There was something seriously wrong here, you could see it in his red-rimmed eyes.
"My lord, I-"
"Are you deaf? Out of my way, you clot!"
Debreban got out of the way, and the horse went back to its frantic dancing. Whitestone was usually very well-mannered; what had gotten into him? Cadmus dug in his heels and otherwise did things he shouldn"t that only added to the problem. The horse finally leaped forward, heading toward the gate.
Poor Whitestone was already patched in sweat. The only time Debreban had seen its like before was with an animal panicked by a nearby fire. What could have this one so spooked?
"Brainless b.l.o.o.d.y idiot," Cadmus snarled over his shoulder as he charged away. Debreban stared open-mouthed after his master. Nowthat was justmean .
Chapter Nine.
Outside Darmo House Whatever Terrin had done about shielding himself worked, but he got very white during the trip. Even his freckles went pale. Shankey and I rode on either side of him in case he fell off. Terrin didn"t say a word the whole time, very unusual for him, but his horse-riding skills were intact. He"d worked on a ranch as a kid, which came in handy with all these low-tech worlds between us and home. I was pretty good myself, and since I couldn"t remember taking riding lessons, maybe it was an instinct thing.
Once clear of the more crowded streets we made good time to Filima"s, opting to go to the front gate of the main house rather than use the stable tunnel. Shankey was unsure if the house protections extended that far. Of course we were seen by all those overduke guys in the black-and-silver cloaks who were still hanging around. They could hardly miss us, especially me.
"Hey! Shankey! How"d you get out?" one of them called.
"Wouldn"t you like to know?" Shankey called back.
"Come on, we been waiting here all day for that guy. The overduke wants to see him. If we don"t show up, Lord Perdle will throw a fit."
Shankey muttered something about Lord Perdle throwing like a girl, even fits. Then, louder, "Sorry, we got an emergency. I"ll tell Lady Filima."
We pushed past. None made to stop or follow us, though I got the usual curious looks. Maybe there was some kind of protocol rule at work; I didn"t care so long as we kept moving.
Terrin"s balance lasted until we reined up at the front door, then he began to sway.
"Ulps," said Shankey. He threw a leg over his horse"s neck and slipped off to grab Terrin before he fell. I did the same and between us we kept him from hitting anything hard. He seemed strangely heavy as we hauled him up the steps and inside.
There was a long, padded bench in the entry hall, and that"s where we eased him down. His eyes were shut, and he"d gone all limp.
"Oh, jeez," I said, not sure what to do. I tried his pulse, which was fast and strong, maybe too strong. A couple of veins in his forehead were throbbing big time.
Shankey bawled orders to the pages who had opened and shut the doors, and in a minute the hall teemed with more servants. It wasn"t as crazy as when Filima fainted, but still a good crowd. They had cold cloths to put on Terrin"s face, and a cute girl chafed his wrists. There was talk of fetching a local healer. What I wanted was a fully loaded Star Trek-style sickbay with a smug and smiling hologramdoctor asking me to please state the nature of the magical emergency.
Instead, I got that matron-looking lady again. With a phlegmatic expression, she pa.s.sed the ammonia-smelling vial under Terrin"s nose.
"Argh! Agh! Foo!" he said, waving her off as he struggled awake. She nimbly avoided his thrashing arms and left, smiling grim triumph. I wondered if that was her only job.
"You okay?" I asked Terrin.
"Urgh!" he replied, dragging a cold compress from his forehead. He shook the wet cloth open and blew his nose in it. "Day-um, whatis that stinky stuff? And why are you always shoving it in my face? What"d I ever do to you?"
"The day isn"t long enough to answer. How are you?"
He paused wiping his nose to take stock. "I ain"t dead, so that"s something. You guys were right about the protections here. I don"t feel anything sucking at me."
The kneeling servant girl who had chafed his wrists snickered. He threw her a big, showy grin.
"Later," I told him. All he ever needed with most women was to smile at them, but he probably wasn"t in shape for anything strenuous. "You think you"ll be safe here, then?"
"For the time being."
"What about tonight? That"s when the river appears. Will you be safe?"
"If it"s not come inside this house yet, then I should be fine. Stop fussing."
"I"mnot fussing."
"You are so. I know fussing when I see it, and that"s what you"re doing, so stop it."
I looked at Shankey. "You got anything to eat? He gets like this when he"s hungry."
"I do not!"
"What"s going on?" This from Filima who had just swept in. She was the sort of woman who could do that sort of thing, sweep into a room and make it look good, both the sweeping and the room.
"Day-um," said Terrin, looking her up and down. "What a babe."
That got both her eyebrows up. "Is this . . . ?"
I nodded. "Lady Filima Botello Darmo, this is Terrin the Whiz. Wizard, I mean. Wizard."
He scowled at me, knowing exactly what I meant.
"You are welcome to my house," she said politely. "Are you all right?" Terrin continued to loll on the padded bench, taking in the view. Filima was well worth the time. "I could do with a drink. Got any Captain Morgan Private Stock? Cold?"
How that translated, I couldn"t guess, but Filima was spared from answering when Terrin tried to stand.
He was sitting up with his feet on the floor, but that was his limit. "Houston, we have a problem," he said.
"Just stay there," I told him. "Don"t rush things."
"I couldn"t rush if you put a rocket up my a.s.s." He lay back down again.
"Can we get you anything?"
"I could have done with a couple of gems a little bit ago. Too late now."
"What do you mean by that?"
"No travel spell power."
Uh-oh. "How do you feel?"
"Terrible."
Filima moved in close and held her hand out over him, fingers spread. A warping of the air, like a heat shimmer fluttered between them and Terrin"s body. "Youare weak."
"Magically weak?" I asked.
"On the nose, fur-face," said Terrin. He shut his eyes. "Feels like a migraine, but all over."
"What do you want us to do? How do we help?"
"A travel spell off this ren-fair reject world would be handy."
I looked at Filima. "You know anything about travel spells? The kind that bounces you from one world to another?" Her blank reaction was not unexpected, but, hey, I had to ask. "Okay. Option one is officially tossed. Let"s try option two. How about getting my partner out of the hall? You got any magically shielded rooms, something like a vault where he can be safe?" I gave her the short version of Terrin"s power drain crisis.
"There"s my scrying area," she said. "But he probably shouldn"t be there, not after what happened with the mirror."
Shankey put himself forward. "My lady, what about the late master"s chamber in the tunnel?"
"Chamber?" She had the innocent tone nailed, but her eyes flickered. "What chamber?"
"Cut the act," I said. "We found where your hubby used to play hardball magic."
She cut the act, swapping the innocent tone for rising alarm. "You were in Botello"s Black Room? How did you even find it?" "He left the burglar alarms on." I looked at Shankey. "I told you she"d know about it. Wives always know what their husbands are up to." Which was probably why, among ten thousand other reasons, I"d never gotten married.
"You-?" But she bit it off, going as white as Terrin.
"Was our being there a problem?" Boy, did she look like she had a tale to tell, but I didn"t think she"d spill it here. Maybe Terrin could work on her. I"d be along to chaperon, of course. Couldn"t let him have all the fun.
"N-no. Not at all, as long as you weren"t hurt by anything."
"What d"ya mean?"
She recovered some lost poise. "Many who use their Talent tend to be secretive. They try to protect their works. It"s like a cook with a favorite recipe, a practical necessity. Black Rooms can be dangerous unless you know what you"re doing. Touch the wrong thing and . . ."
"Boom? Okay, no sweat. Nothing jumped out at us. Shankey, that"s a brilliant suggestion, but the place smells pretty bad, and it"s a long way to carry him."
"But wouldn"t it be extra well shielded?" He appealed to Filima, really liking the idea.
"I don"t know," she said with such absolute sincerity that I knew better than to trust it. "Botello had talent, but might not have been skilled enough to manage such precautions. Mr. Terrin will be more comfortable in one of the guest rooms, I think."
That said, she got four st.u.r.dy guys to lift Terrin, bench and all, and carry him upstairs like it was the last act forHamlet . A short hike from her blue room was a fancy suite that would have done any five-star hotel proud. It even had indoor plumbing. I"d have been jealous, but one of her people led me to the next room over. It also had a bath. I could have abath . In a gigantic tubby-tub. Oh joy, oh, rapture, oh, gawd, there was room for two, maybe three in that thing. I wondered what plans Filima had for the evening.
I broke off drooling at the prospect, dumped my pack, then returned to Terrin"s room. They"d shifted him from the bench to a big red-velvet bed. The cute girl was trying to get his purple high-tops unlaced while Filima and Shankey had their heads together.
"Go tell them not tonight, Captain," she said, looking at me.
"Hah?" I asked, my ears perking forward.
"The overduke"s invitation," she explained. "His men have been waiting for you for some time."
"Oh." I was too distracted to put on a show, anyway. "Maybe later."
"He also sent a message for all those with Talent left in the city to come to the palace early tomorrow morning. I got my summons just before you arrived. He"s going to want a solution to this h.e.l.l-river problem; you"ll have to be there to help."
Drat. Confession time, but I didn"t think she"d toss us out just yet. "I can provide the entertainment.Terrin"s the real wizard. Theonly wizard."
Her brows drew together. A frown. It was still adorable. "But I thought you-"
"I"m a patterman, remember?" Or cat, as the case happened to be.
"You"ve no skill in magic atall ?"
"In a word, no."
"You misled me?" Her voice went up.
Shankey rounded on me to frown on behalf of his lady. In contrast, he didn"t look at all adorable.