The Eighth Warden Bk. 04 Ch. 09-10

Chapter Nine

"... vincit omnia veritas." Ellerie had to pause to catch her breath after finishing the recitation. The lore spell was the longest spell she'd ever attempted to cast. She'd memorized it during the journey to Aencyr, but learning a spell involved more than just saying the words. The wizard had to understand how each word fit with the others, manipulating arcane magic in a precise and controlled manner.

And this time it worked. She felt it take hold in her mind, alongside the new shaping spells and all the other spells she'd learned in her life.

Now to see if it worked. The little table in her room held the few remaining objects they still had no information about. Hildra had recognized the enchantment on one of the rings--it could cast a barrier shield spell similar to Corec's. She'd also been able to activate the lamp, which turned out to provide enough warmth to heat a large house. Another item, a stiletto, was enchanted to pierce through armor as if it wasn't there.

That left the golden circlet, the spectacles, the silver cuff bracelets, and two other rings. Ellerie's hand hovered over them as she tried to decide, finally settling on one of the rings--platinum, with tiny chips of sapphires inset into the surface.

She reached for it, then paused, glancing at the spellmail draped over the back of the lone chair in the room. She'd promised Boktar she'd try it out the next time she cast a spell, and now was as good a time as any. Quickly shedding her outer tunic, she slipped the mail on over her undershirt, then put her tunic back on. The spellmail was no thicker than the fabric of the tunic, and didn't feel any different than wearing an extra layer of clothing.

Ellerie's sword belt hung from a hook near the door. She drew her rapier and attempted a series of practice exercises, keeping them simple since her room at the inn didn't offer much space to maneuver. She ended with a lunge, her sword arm extended out, the tip of the blade aimed at the approximate height of where a human assailant's heart would be.

It seemed Hildra had been right--the light mail shirt didn't constrict her movement. But would it truly allow her to cast spells?

Ellerie grabbed the ring and cupped it in her palm. Taking a deep breath, she whispered the words to the lore spell.

Just as she finished, a half-forgotten memory flashed through her mind. She was sitting in a small boat on a lake. She placed the ring on her finger and then... and then what? The memory vanished, and Ellerie blinked. When had that taken place? For the memory to be that hazy, she had to have been very young, perhaps only twenty or thirty, and yet her hand had been full grown. And how could she remember the ring from her childhood when it had been locked away in Tir Yadar until a few months earlier?

Another memory came to mind, this one more clear. She was swimming underwater--warm, crystal-clear blue water. It was an ocean, but unlike anything off the coast of Terevas. She swam through the middle of a school of brightly colored blue and orange fish. They scattered, then reformed behind her. She dove deeper until she could see a copper coin resting on the sandy surface below. As she retrieved the coin, the ring glinted on her finger. The memory faded.

The second memory was more disturbing than the first. Ellerie wasn't that talented of a swimmer, and she'd never in her life swam in any ocean, much less one like that looked like that. Then, realization dawned. The memories had to be part of the lore spell.

Were they the thoughts of those who'd worn the ring in the past? Something like the visions Shavala had described seeing when she'd first held the staff? The hands and arms had looked like Ellerie's own, but that could have simply been a remnant of how the lore spell handled the memories.

If it was a memory, had the bearer been seaborn? In the memory, Ellerie had been underwater for minutes without surfacing for air. But didn't seaborn actually breathe underwater? She hadn't taken a single breath while she'd been submerged.

Before she had time to fully process what she'd seen, a third memory came, hazy and indistinct like the first. She was underwater again, but this time, it was cold and murky. She was directing the movements of a stone statue in roughly the shape of a man, similar to the statue they'd found within the ruins. The tunneling golem--as Ariadne referred to the creatures--stepped up to a submerged boulder and swiped its hands through the rock, as if it was insubstantial. It came away with a smaller mass of stone in its hands, which it formed into a rough oblong shape as it plodded toward a huge dark shadow in the distance.

It took Ellerie a while to recall what she'd been doing that day, but finally it came to her. She was building a breakwater. With the golem's help, she'd moved rocks and outcroppings away from the harbor entrance, then used the leftover stone to construct a wall intended to stop heavy waves from washing into port.

It was a tantalizing glimpse into events of the past, but that brief vision was all she was given. There was no memory of her life before or after that moment. Once again, though, she had remained below water without breathing. It could only be the ring. If the lore spell was giving her the memories that were most closely connected to the target of the spell, then the ring must allow the bearer to remain underwater without breathing. Ellerie wanted to test it out before telling anyone, though. She didn't want to announce she'd figured out the secret only to learn she'd simply been seeing seaborn memories after all.

Then there was a fourth memory. She was in her room at the inn in Aencyr, collapsing in a wave of dizziness. She realized it wasn't a memory just as she hit the floor.

#

Leena flipped through the pages in a book of adventure stories she'd borrowed from her cousin the last time she'd visited home. There wasn't much else for her to do in Aencyr. She hadn't needed to Travel for supplies since the group had left the barrens, and there was no need for her to cook when they were staying at an inn.

She considered returning home for a longer visit, but sometime within the next few days, Marco would want her to Travel to Tyrsall with a summary of the expedition's findings. He'd asked her to help him keep the investors informed about the terms of the agreement he was negotiating with Ellerie.

After that, presumably, the group would get back on the road, returning to Nysa to find a ship headed back to Tyrsall.

Did Leena really need to stay for that leg of the journey? Once the negotiations were complete, they wouldn't need her to Travel anymore, and it wasn't as if they couldn't afford to hire a better trail cook than her.

She'd agreed to accompany Corec and his friends to the free lands, but that was still months away. It would be nice to spend that time at home, but Corec was right--any extended stay would put her family in danger. Still, if she wanted to avoid the slow, tedious ride back to Nysa, she could Travel anywhere else in the world instead. She just had to decide where to go. Maybe Rohav would have a suggestion.

Next door, the sound of Ellerie's faint muttering had finally come to an end. The elven woman had been practicing a spell all day, and the thin walls didn't block much sound.

The noise should have been annoying, but in a way it was comforting. Other than Razai, Ellerie was really the only person on the expedition that Leena could truly say she'd become friends with. It wasn't that the others were unfriendly, but there simply hadn't been any connection with them. It had taken her a while to realize why. After learning of her parents' deaths, she'd tried to avoid getting to know anyone new. She'd refrained from discussing her personal life, limiting topics of conversation to just those necessary to do her job. Razai had gotten around Leena's reticence by sharing a room with her much of the time, and by asking blunt questions that demanded answers. As for Ellerie, Leena still wasn't entirely sure how that friendship had come about.

Her initial anger at the other woman had faded, leaving her more confused than anything. Ellerie seemed truly hurt by Leena's continued reluctance to talk, but Leena still couldn't figure out why the woman had bothered leading her on in the first place.

A quiet thump came from Ellerie's room, and then a louder crash, as if something heavy had fallen. No other sounds followed--no startled exclamations, no quiet muttering, no movement as the elven woman picked up whatever she'd dropped.

Leena stared at the wall, waiting for the silence to end. The quiet was unnerving. When nothing changed, she went into the hall and knocked on Ellerie's door. There was no answer but she opened it anyway. The elven woman was sprawled out on the floor near the bed.

Leena rushed over to check on her. She was still breathing but unconscious. "Ellerie!" she said, shaking the other woman's shoulder. Why had she collapsed?

Ellerie's eyes opened slowly. "Leena?" she asked, blinking rapidly as she tried to focus. "What happened?"

"I heard you fall, and then found you like this."

"Oh. It must have been the spell. How long has it been?"

"Only a moment. I should go find Treya. I think she went to the temple of Allosur today, to help with healing."

"No, I'll be fine," Ellerie said. "Help me up."

Leena stood and helped Ellerie to her feet. The elven woman sat down on the bed, pressing her palms down against the mattress to steady herself.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Leena asked. "Was it drain shock?"

"It doesn't feel like drain shock. I've just been so tired lately, planning with Marco, practicing the shaping spells, trying to master the lore spell. I finally learned it, and I used it, but I should have gotten some sleep first. It was a lot to take in."

"It worked?"

"I think so," Ellerie said. "I need to try something first to make sure, but that'll have to wait. Thank you for coming for me."

Leena suddenly felt uncomfortable. "Of course," she said. "I should go."

"Wait, Leena, please--tell me what I did wrong. Why won't you speak to me anymore?"

Leena stopped near the door. She wanted to leave, but she couldn't dodge the question forever. Not if they were both staying with the group after the expedition was over. "I know who you are," she said. She couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice as she added, "Your Exalted Highness."

The elven woman winced. "Who told you? Katrin?"

"Renny Senshall."

Ellerie's head jerked back in surprise. "Renny Senshall knows? How? Never mind--that doesn't matter. I'm so sorry. I didn't know how to tell you."

"You didn't try!" Leena hadn't intended to say that, but it came out before she could stop it.

"Because I don't like thinking about it. If I don't think about it, I can pretend it isn't true. Everything's better when I can just be me."

"You could have said something."

"Like what? Hello, my name is Ellerie, and my mother is the queen of Terevas, but I ran away from all my responsibilities because I couldn't bear to stay there any longer?"

"You ran away?"

"I had to."

Leena sat next to her. "Why?" she asked.

Ellerie was quiet for a moment. "There were a lot of reasons to go," she said slowly. "Good reasons. But the biggest is that the queen must produce an heir. In Terevas, the rights of succession are... complicated. The throne doesn't automatically pass down from parent to child, but that relationship is the most important factor in the decision. If I take the throne and die childless, it's unlikely my sister would inherit, nor any child she might have. The di'Valla dynasty would come to an end, and it would be my fault. But if I remove myself from the line, my sister is still my mother's daughter. She'll almost certainly be the next queen, and will do a better job than I would have. And I can't do it, Leena. I won't lay with a man."

Leena wrapped her arms around the elven woman. "I didn't know."

"Nobody knows. Well, my family does--it's the reason why my mother wasn't more forceful about dragging me back--but I've never even told Boktar all of it."

"You don't want children, then?"

"I've never considered it. I don't want to do what it takes to have children."

"I'd like to have a child someday," Leena admitted. "Pavan suggested a marriage alliance."

"That Traveler?" Ellerie asked. "You're going to marry him?" There was no mistaking the disappointment in her voice.

"I have no feelings for Pavan--I only met him the one time. In Sanvar, marriages are sometimes arranged for convenience. Among the Zidari, that often means alliances to strengthen our bloodlines and our magic. He's made the offer, and now it's up to me to decide on the details. Could you accept a child under those terms?"

Ellerie's eyes widened. "You mean if you and I... you still want to be together?"

Leena kissed her lightly. "If you want to. But can you be with me? Would it be allowed?"

"I don't plan to return to Terevas except to visit. I can make my own decisions." Despite Ellerie's words, she sounded uncertain. "You don't mind knowing who I am?"

"I'd thought I already knew who you were. When I found out the truth, I was worried that you'd just been toying with me. I didn't know if the person I knew was actually real."

"I'm still me," Ellerie said. "That other stuff is just... details. But I never meant to hurt you. I'm so sorry. How would it work, though? With Pavan, I mean?"

"If he accepts my terms, I won't have to live with him. He and I are both Travelers--we can go wherever we want. But that's for the future. I'm not going to talk to him about it until we've dealt with the snake cult. And with Prince Rusol--Corec wants to help me with my problem; I should help him with his." And doing so would give her an excuse to spend that time with Ellerie.

"What if Pavan doesn't accept your terms?"

"Then I won't agree to the marriage. There's nothing that says I have to."

"So we can do this?" Ellerie asked. "When you stopped talking to me, I thought I'd messed things up. I was worried that..." She trailed off.

Leena kissed her again.

Their relationship had always been an odd one, shying away from actually acknowledging it, and instead just hinting at what might happen in the future. In a way, it had been a fun, secret game between the two of them--how much could they flirt without ever admitting what they truly wanted? It was almost a shame to end the game, but it was the only way to move things forward, and they'd never know whether they could truly fit together if they didn't move forward.

#

Hildra was at her desk, writing, but glanced up when Corec came in, the maul braced against his shoulder. "You brought it," she said with a smile. "Good. That one showed up in my mind as strongly as your sword did while you were making your way to the city."

"Ellerie said you two weren't meeting today?" Corec asked. The two women had spent the past three days experimenting with the shaping spells.

"We're waiting for some stone samples to be delivered, to make sure the formulas for stone shaping work. But that gave me time to look at that armor this morning." Hildra led him to a stand that held the brownish gray plate armor Ariadne claimed had belonged to King Argyros. "The problem is more basic than I thought. Whoever created it was in a rush. The reason the binding spell didn't end when the bearer died was simply because the enchanter didn't bother to include the trigger to do so. The armor was never intended to be passed along to someone else. It was made for one person, and one person only."

"Can you do anything about it?" Corec asked.

Hildra rapped her knuckles on the metal breastplate, her gift allowing her to touch it safely. "You could sell it to a collector the way it is now. Not for as much as it's worth, but still for a tidy sum. Or I can reset the binding spell, but to do that, I'm going to need some time."

"It seems wrong to sell something that belonged to the king of Tir Yadar," he said. He'd come to the same conclusion about the maul. "I think Ellerie would agree that we should hold onto it for safekeeping, or give it to Ariadne. How much time would you need for the binding spell?"

"Believe it or not, I do have other things to do besides helping you and your friends. It'll take me maybe a week of constant concentration. That's going to cost you, and I won't have that much time available in the next few months."

"We can't wait here that long."

Hildra smirked. "It's not a difficult task to find space for it on a cargo vessel heading to Tyrsall. As long as it's in a crate, it won't burn anyone--nor will it bond a new bearer. Of course, you'd have to pay for the transport costs too."

"You mean you want us to leave it here?" Corec asked. "I'd have to ask Ellerie and Marco. That's really their decision."

"I had another thought, too," Hildra said. "If you want, I could remove the burning enchantment completely, so whoever's wearing the armor doesn't accidentally kill anyone they happen to run into."

"You can do that? Change an enchantment?"

"In this case, yes. It's sloppy work, or rushed, like I said. The spell isn't layered in as deeply as it should be."

"If you can do that, then you don't need to work on the binding spell, do you? The problem is that it burns anyone it's not bonded to."

Hildra shrugged. "Removing the burning enchantment might allow someone to wear the armor, but the other enchantments--the ones I haven't figured out yet--probably won't work if the armor isn't bonded. Just because someone can touch it doesn't necessarily mean they can use it."

Corec nodded. "Can you add an enchantment? Not to the armor, but to the weapons. I've been trying to figure out how to use the sword and the maul in a fight. They're too large and heavy to carry them both around at the same time, but then I remembered what you did with your own sword."

Hildra grinned and held out her hand. A curved backsword flew off its mount on the wall toward her, the hilt thumping into her palm. "It's handy, but no. Removing a sloppy enchantment is one thing. Layering a new spell into an existing enchantment is something else entirely. It's almost never worth the effort. But that's not the only way to do what you want."

"It isn't?"

"How familiar are you with other types of binding spells?"

"Not very familiar. I bought a book on them once."

"Then I've got another spell for you to learn."

#

The lore spell took a lot out of Ellerie. In the days after learning it, she spent half her time recovering from each attempt at casting it and the other half working with Hildra to perfect the stone-shaping formulas. On the fourth day, she brought the items back to the warden's manor house.

She showed Hildra the platinum and sapphire ring first. "This one lets you stay underwater without breathing. I tested it in a bathtub to make sure." She then picked up the other ring--a simple bronze band. "This one allows you to stay comfortable in hot or cold weather."

"No wonder I didn't recognize the enchantments," Hildra said. "I've never heard of those two before. I might be able to find buyers, but they're a bit outside my normal area."

"Marco wants to try selling them himself, once we return to Tyrsall. He has a few people in mind."

Hildra nodded. "He may find it harder than he thinks. I've spent decades building up my contacts. Aim for a hundred gold each if you can, but it won't be as easy to find a buyer for these two as for the barrier shield ring. You might have to go down to seventy or eighty."

"Corec convinced Katrin to take the shield ring, since she doesn't wear armor. For these two, if Marco can't get a good price, can Leena bring them back to you to try to sell?"