The Magestone

24 Mereth—events at Krevonel Castle and Lormt (21st Day, Month of the Ice Dragon/20th Day, Moon of the Knife)

The gnawing agony in my injured right hip combined with the searing ache in my left knee to distract me from noticing the unsettling effects accompanying our postern transit. I knew I had returned to Lormt when Nolar spoke to me and Jonja retrieved for me my slate—only slightly cracked—from my tunic pocket. I had become increasingly aware of another sensation overriding my pain. I recognized with a start that it was the same mental pressure I had earlier felt at Krevonel’s conference table, except it now waxed even stronger.

I remembered the flash of silver in Kasarian’s hand when he stepped back from Gurborian’s body. Seizing my remaining sliver of chalk, I wrote on my slate for Kasarian to read, “You found the jewel. I sense its presence. Let me see it.”

He hesitated for an instant, then slowly drew out the chain. The brilliant blue stone I had discovered at Vennesport so long ago at last dangled before my eyes at Lormt.

Jonja gasped audibly. “It is truly an object of great Power,” she whispered.

Nolar peered thoughtfully at the jewel. “I feel something akin to the puissance of my own Stone of Konnard,” she said. “Perhaps this jewel, too, possesses similar healing properties that might relieve Mereth’s pain.”

Kasarian dropped the pendant into my outstretched hand. The instant it touched my flesh, all other sensations diminished as if cast into the depths of a bottomless well. My mind reeled as a strange, insistent voice addressed me. Before I became incapable of acting, I managed to thrust my hand into my pocket, unclenching my fingers and breaking my contact with the jewel.

I snatched my slate, and wrote for Nolar to read, “Elsenar has enspelled a message within his jewel—an urgent plea for aid. I long to write it for you, but my hand grows unsteady. Can you carry me to a bed? I fear that my pain is such that I may swoon at any time.”

Jonja emitted a derisive snort. “A plea for help that has waited a thousand years to be heard can wait a few more hours—or days. Your leg and the rest of you needs a healer’s attention. What can be delaying that scholar? He should have notified Ouen by now.”

My vision was beginning to darken again, but as often happens in times of great strain, minor irritations can assume undue significance. I abruptly realized that my hands were bare, and managed to scrawl, “Pray express my apologies to Mistress Bethalie. In the struggle with Gratch, I have lost both her fine gloves.”

“Good riddance,” Nolar said firmly. “They were atrocious to look upon.” She turned her head away toward the distant door, and smiled with relief. “Be of good cheer—Duratan is bringing the litter we used to transport Master Kester when he fell and broke his hip.”

Her voice unaccountably receded, as if she had moved far away, then swooping darkness obliterated all further sensations.

My next awareness was of a ravishing smell of herbed broth. I opened my eyes to find myself in a bed of glorious softness, propped against a bank of pillows. Nolar was sitting nearby, stirring a pot suspended over the fireplace coals.

I raised my hand and slapped the bedclothes to attract her attention. She hurried to my side at once, bringing a pannikin of broth and a horn spoon. No wealthy merchant could have savored the finest banquet fare more than I did that simple broth. I gestured for my slate, but Nolar would not give it to me until I had drunk the last drops of nourishment.

I saw at once that my poor old slate, companion for so many hazardous leagues, had been replaced by a fresh slate mounted in a sturdy wooden frame. Nolar handed me a piece of chalk, and I wrote, “How long have I been asleep?”

“Nearly half the day,” Nolar replied. “It is more than an hour past midday, and all of us are most grateful for the respite after last night’s exertions. Although,” she added with a mischievous smile, “we are markedly curious to hear Elsenar’s long-delayed message. When you are certain that you feel strong enough to convey it, Master Ouen wishes to be informed. Since this room will not comfortably accommodate our full assembly, he suggests that chairs might be placed in the hall.”

I wiped my slate, and wrote, “Pray tell Master Ouen that I, too, am most anxious to learn whatever Elsenar sealed within his jewel. I cannot know in advance the extent of his message, but if you will fetch me parchment and ink as before, and a table we may position across the bed, I shall try to transcribe Elsenar’s ancient plea.”

Within the hour, my bedchamber had been converted into an audience chamber. Morfew claimed a cushioned chair near my bed, the better to hear the reading. Nolar insisted upon sitting next to me, where she said she could most easily read the pages I wrote and also provide any refreshments I might require. Ouen sat beside the door, while Jonja and Duratan placed chairs just outside the door in the hall. Kasarian preferred to stand at the foot of the bed.

While I had slept, in order to attend to my bodily hurts, Jonja and Nolar had removed my baronial clothing, replacing it with a long-sleeved, high-necked linen nightgown which was far more comfortable. They had bandaged my aching ribs, and my knee, and had applied a wondrous poultice to my hip, which both warmed and numbed the area. I felt considerably more alert, with far less pain than I had upon my return through the postern.

Oralian’s green velvet tunic had been carefully draped at the foot of the bed. I did not have to touch it to know that Elsenar’s jewel remained within its pocket where I had left it. I motioned for Kasarian to hand me the tunic. When I had first grasped the jewel in Lormt’s cellar, my impressions had been confused and fragmentary due to the strain of my injuries. I had to hope that Elsenar’s spell would allow me a second opportunity to receive his message now that I could devote my entire attention to it.

I shook the chain and pendant out upon the table positioned above my lap, then deliberately seized the jewel in my right hand. Like a rush of icy mountain stream water, the enspelled voice of Elsenar poured into my mind.