there’s really an Inner Circle, or who gets chosen to be a Guildmaster, or anything else about how the Guild operates. I just know that if you break a Guild rule, you die, and I know what the Guild rules are, and what I can and can’t tell outsiders.”
Emner nodded. “It was the same for me,” he said. “Even though my master’s old master was a Guildmaster himself, until he died.”
“So you intend to inform the Wizards’ Guild of Vond’s plans,” Sterren said. “Then what?”
Emner and Annara exchanged glances. “Then I go home,” Emner said, “if the Guild will let me. And I’ll buy a dream-spell or a messenger-spell and let Annara know what the Guild wants her to do, if anything, if they haven’t sent a message already.”
“And what will the Guild do?”
“I have no idea,” Emner said.
“Most likely,” Annara said, “they’ll argue for several months, maybe years, and give the problem time to either go away by itself or develop into something serious. My master always said that was how they worked.”
Emner nodded. “My master never said, but it sounds right.”
Sterren turned to Ederd. “Is there a Witches’ Guild?” The three witches exchanged glances. “Not really,” Shenna said. “There are two rather loose organizations, the Brotherhood and the Sisterhood, but they’re nothing like what Annara described. At least, the Sisterhood isn’t. I never joined either one, but I was invited by the Sisterhood once. I turned it down; I didn’t like the rules. They swap spells and recipes, and talk shop a lot, and they have an emergency fund for when a member’s in trouble; but they’ve got a lot of regulations about not competing with each other and not keeping secrets from the group and a whole bunch of other stuff that I didn’t want to put up with.”
“The Brotherhood’s even looser,” Ederd said. “I was a member for a year, but I got tired of paying dues for nothing and I quit.”
“I never even heard of it,” Hamder said.
Ederd looked at him curiously. “Your master never mentioned it?”
“No, she didn’t,” Hamder said, glaring back.
“Is there a Warlocks’ Guild?” Shenna asked. “You seem to know a lot about them, Sterren.”
“I failed an apprenticeship,” he said. “If there is a guild, I didn’t get far enough to find out about it. I don’t think there is, though; warlocks tend to be pretty antisocial. And they don’t have the history wizards and witches do; they haven’t even lasted twenty years yet.”
“I wonder about the sorcerers?” Hamder said.
“And the theurgists?” Annara added.
“You could ask Agor about them,” Sterren said.
“He’s a theurgist here in Semma, though he isn’t a very good one.”
“I’ll do that,” Annara said. “Where do I find him? I think I’d like to talk to him about all this and see what he thinks we ought to do about Vond out there.”
Ederd nodded agreement. “Good idea.”
Sterren shrugged. “I can show you his room, but there’s no hurry.”
“Speak for yourself,” Hamder retorted. “I intend to get out of here today, in case somebody gets Vond mad and he decides to squash this whole castle.”
“Me, too,” Shenna said.
“I don’t think he’ll do anything like that,” Sterren said.
“All the same,” Emner said, getting to his feet, “the three of us who are going probably ought to go, without wasting any more time. If you don’t mind, Sterren, I’m going to go pack my things.” He turned to Annara. “I have that spell you wanted written out; I’ll trade it for the Explosive Seal any time it’s ready.”
“I don’t know how to put all of it in writing; I’d better come show you,” Annara said. She rose, and together the two wizards departed.
“Excuse me, my lord,” Hamder said as he, too, stood up, “but I think the wizard’s right. I’ll go pack.”
Shenna just nodded without saying anything, as she and Hamder left.
That left just Sterren and Ederd.
“Well,” Ederd said, “I suppose I’ll go look around the castle, see if I can find a window with a good view of the warlock’s palace, and let you eat in peace.” He rose.
Sterren nodded. “If you like climbing stairs, my chamber in the tower has a great view. Tell the guards I said you could go in.”
Ederd bowed and left.
Sterren ate.
CHAPTER 28
“Ten leagues to the northwest, you say?” Sterren nodded. Queen Ashassa looked thoughtful. “That would be Lumeth of the Towers,” she said. “Perhaps near the Towers themselves.”
“Maybe it is the Towers!” Princess Lura said. The queen nodded. “Maybe it is,” she agreed. “Certainly, nobody knows what they’re for, and generating this magic you describe seems as likely an explanation as any.”
Sterren glanced at Nissitha and Shirrin, but as usual, they said nothing. Nissitha stared at him disdainfully, and Shirrin, whenever she saw him look in her direction, looked quickly away. The adoration he had seen so often in her face seemed to be gone, now, replaced by a ferocious disappointment.
Prince Dereth, age eleven, watched carefully, but said little beyond occasional expressions of wonder.
Nobody replied to the queen’s comment, and when the silence began to lengthen uncomfortably, Sterren asked, “Is there anything else, your Majesty?”
“Just this, Lord Sterren. You know this man Vond and you know something of his magic. What would you advise us to do?”
Sterren frowned slightly. He could only give one answer, but he knew it was not one that the queen would like.
“Nothing,” he said. He would have liked to have said more, explaining his reasons, but the effort of making himself understood in Semmat was too much. He had been talking all morning, save when he was walking back and forth between the castle and Vond’s building site, and he was tired of it. He left his answer a single word.
“You think he could defeat our entire army, if you marched against him?”
“Yes, your Majesty, easily.” Sterren did not bother to point out that the warlock had already defeated the much larger armies of Ophkar and Ksinallion; the queen knew that.
Ashassa eyed him for a moment, then nodded slightly.
“All right, Lord Sterren,” she said, “you may go.”
“Thank you, your Majesty.” He rose, bowed, and backed out of the room.
Once in the corridor he paused, unsure where to go. The three departing magicians might well have already left, and he had no idea where to find Annara or Ederd, unless Annara had tracked down Agor, in which case she might not appreciate any interruptions. The climb back to his own room was too much to face immediately.
Well, there were always his duties as warlord; he had not seen anything of his troops since returning from Ethshar save vague shapes moving on distant battlements, or guards at various doors. He headed for the barracks.
As he walked, he reviewed his own thoughts about Vond and the unexpected turn of recent events. He had not had a chance to sit down and think about it, but in the course of the morning’s several discussions, he had reached several conclusions.
The warlock’s plans had several good points to them, in truth. Uniting several of the Small Kingdoms and putting an end to their stupid little wars would hardly hurt anyone or anything except the egos of the conquered rulers. Most of the people affected would be peasants, who would acquire a new ruler and who would no longer
