Sarai raised the Black Dagger, ready to defend herself.
Then the newcomer said, “Sarai? Are you there? Damn it all, I forgot we’d need a light.”
The voice was not Tabaea’s; it was a woman’s voice, and it sounded familiar, but Sarai couldn’t place it. She turned over into a sitting position, the knife still in her hand. “Are you in the passage? Did you find it?” the newcomer called, a bit louder. “Sarai, it’s me, Karanissa!”
“I’m here,” Sarai said, lowering the knife; the voice was Karanissa’s.
A faint orange witch-light appeared—but at first even that dim illumination seemed almost blinding in such deep gloom. By its glow, Sarai could see that she was in a stone corridor, just around a corner from a fair-sized room or chamber. The glow, and the voice, came from the room.
She backed up far enough to see into the chamber and found Karanissa standing in the center of an utterly bare stone room, a simple rectangular box with straight sides and square corners—but the entire place was on a slant. The witch’s upraised hand was glowing, casting an eerie light on her arm and face, as well as the stone walls.
“Karanissa,” Sarai asked, “where are we?”
CHAPTER 40
Tabaea saw the sunlight vanish ahead, plunging the corridor into gray dimness, and she slowed slightly; was this some new trick? Had Lady Sarai and her magician friends set a trap of some kind?
And then Sarai dove toward the cloth and vanished, and Tabaea threw herself to the ground, rolling, to stop her forward motion.
Wizardry! That had to be wizardry! It was a trap!
Furious, growling, she got to her feet and stared at the fabric that blocked the door.
It was a tapestry, one of fine workmanship—she could hardly see the stitches, and the depiction of the empty room was flawless. It was extraordinarily ugly, however; it showed only bare stone, in black and shades of gray, with no bright color, no graceful curves, nothing of any interest to it at all.
A tapestry, a magical tapestry—she almost reached out to touch it, and then stopped herself.
A Transporting Tapestry! That was what it must be! Shuddering, she drew back. She had spied on wizards as they spoke of such things. A Transporting Tapestry—and one that, by the look of it, would deliver her directly into a prison cell somewhere. The room in the picture had no doors, no windows; in one of the rear corners was an opening that might have been a passageway, or might just have been a niche, perhaps where a cot or privy might be.
They had wanted her to plunge right into it, after Lady Sarai— and she almost had!
If she had, of course, they would have had some way to get Lady Sarai out, leaving Tabaea trapped there forever as her punishment for killing their Guildmaster Serem. That would be their revenge—not merely death, but perpetual imprisonment. Perhaps they had other plans for her, as well.
Well, she wasn’t going to fall for their tricks. She turned and marched away, back up the corridor.
And then, as she remembered that Lady Sarai still had the Black Dagger, and that Lady Sarai had just dived headlong into a wizard’s tapestry and was therefore back in contact with the Wizards’ Guild, and that the Wizards’ Guild surely wanted to kill her for what she had done, she began to run.
“I abdicate!” she called as she ran, hoping that someone was listening. “I abdicate! I give up!”
Maybe, she thought, just maybe, if she escaped quickly enough by another door, she could still hide, could find somewhere even wizards couldn’t get her.
But she doubted it.
“I think they’re coming this way,” Karanissa shouted. “They’re still on the stairs, but Sarai wants to come here. And Tabaea’s gaining on her, she’s much faster. Quick, Tobas, do something!”
“Do what!” the wizard asked. “I didn’t bring anything but the tapestry!” He looked around helplessly. Teneria and the warlocks were off to one side; Teneria and Vengar were once again working at repairing Thurin’s wound, but the situation was no longer desperate, and Thurin was conscious and watching.
None of them were making any suggestions.
“Well, then do something with the tapestry!” Karanissa called. “Set it up somewhere Tabaea will run into it!”
Tobas hesitated, then said, “All right, give me a hand with it, will you?” He hurried to the wagon.
A moment later, carefully holding the tapestry by the supporting bar and not allowing themselves to touch any part of the fabric, Tobas and Karanissa had the hanging unrolled, and up against the wall beside the door.
Passersby were staring, but no one interfered. This was clearly either the work of magicians or Tabaea’s followers, and no one wanted trouble with either group.
“How do we get her into it?” Tobas asked.
“Put it across the door,” Teneria called. “Then she’ll run right into it.”
“But Sarai will run into it first,” Karanissa objected.
Teneria pointed out, “Well, at least she’ll get away, then— and with the dagger.” Karanissa looked at Tobas, who shrugged. “All right,” the witch said, “let’s do it.” She swung her end around, and a few seconds later they draped the tapestry across the open doorway.
Vengar, using warlockry, helped them to raise it until it hung perfectly smooth and unwrinkled—the spell might not work if the fabric wasn’t smooth.
“Now what?” Tobas said. “Do you think we could lift it while Sarai dives underneath, and then drop it back before Tabaea could stop?”
“I don’t...” Karanissa began. Then, as the sound of desperately running footsteps suddenly became audible, drew near, and vanished, all in a few seconds, she said, “No.”
“What happened?” Tobas asked.
“Sarai hit the tapestry. She’s gone.” “What about Tabaea?”
“Stopped in time.”
“Then should we put it down?”
“No!” Teneria called. “If we do, she might come out here and attack us!”
Karanissa nodded confirmation, and for a long moment she and Tobas stood absolutely still, holding the tapestry up against the palace door.
Then, at last, they heard retreating footsteps; cautiously, Tobas began to lower the rod, just in time to let them all hear Tabaea shrieking, “I abdicate! I abdicate! I give up! Just leave me alone!”
Karanissa lowered her end, too. “Now what?” she asked.
“Well, if she’s serious, we just forget about her for now,” Tobas said. “We have to deal with the Seething Death.”
“What about Lady Sarai?”
“Oh, damn.” Tobas frowned. “That’s right, she doesn’t know where she is. She’s probably terrified. Someone had better go after her and bring her home.”
“I’ll go,” Karanissa said. “After all, I know the way.”
Reluctantly, Tobas nodded. “You’re right. You go.” He beckoned for Vengar to come hold the other side of the tapestry while Karanissa stepped into it.
Wizard and warlock supported the hanging, one on either side, while the witch stepped up and put her hand on it. Nothing happened.
“She must still be in the room,” Karanissa said. “It won’t work while she’s in the part that’s in the picture.”
“That’s it, of course,” Tobas agreed. “I guess we’ll just have to wait until she finds the passage, or wanders into one of the back corners.”
He and Vengar stood patiently for a moment, while Karanissa kept her hand on the fabric. “I’m getting tired of holding this,” Tobas said. “Maybe we should put it aside for now and see if we can do something about the Seething Death, and then try again later.”
Karanissa, her hand still on the tapestry, started to say something—and just then, she vanished.
