wish to pass on your mastery to another.'
Kelric tipped back his head and laughed. 'They ascribe to the sorcerer the most evil of motives,' he said. 'But even in my most vile moods, I would not think of inflicting my fate onto another.' He leveled his head and looked with a penetrating stare into Alodar's eyes. 'Now be off and irritate me no longer, or perhaps, after all, I will make the effort for more than a simple illusion.'
Alodar remembered the images still fresh in his mind and almost instinctively turned his head and raised his arm across his face. Kelric laughed a second time, turned, and continued his slow shuffle down the passageway.
After a moment, Alodar lowered his head and replaced the sphere in its pouch. He smoothed down the front of his tunic and exhaled deeply. So that was the great Kelric, the master sorcerer of all of Procolon. He shook his head and began to pace slowly down the hallway, hands clasped behind his back. And now what course? Should he seek a sorcerer of less renown? Perhaps someone away from the court, one whose limits bad not yet been tested.
Alodar looked down at his side. Such a search would take him away from the fair lady. And he had pledged to seek Aeriel's aid in unsheathing Cedric's sword for the queen's cause. Yes, Aeriel! For both the marines and dealing with Kelric, lady Aeriel would provide the aid.
Alodar slapped the hilt at his side and increased his pace. And there was still time enough to arrange an appointment before the end of the ball.
The guardsman coughed softly as he ushered Alodar into the small, plain chamber, and Aeriel's face brightened with recognition. 'Why, what a coincidence! It is Alodar the thaumaturge. And I see by your garb that you ply your craft to much greater profit than when we last met.'
Alodar looked intently at Aeriel as she rose to greet him. She clutched an old shawl around her bare shoulders, not seeming to care how out of place it looked, draped over the richness of her ballgown. Her lips curved in a broad smile, but he could see the fatigue that pulled at her eyes as well. Behind her on a simple table, between two teetering piles of parchment, was scattered an array of seals, colored candles, inkstands, and quills.
'My fortune does not extend from journeyman training, my lady,' Alodar answered, 'but it does provide the means by which I may consult with you for sage advice.'
'Advice?' Aeriel asked. 'You seemed quite sure of yourself in Iron Fist, Why now would you need my council?'
'The ways of the court are not so straightforward,' Alodar said, 'especially when they concern the opinions of the queen.'
Aeriel stopped and visibly stiffened. 'The opinions of the queen,' she repeated slowly. 'By that do you mean you still quest for the fair lady?'
Alodar saw her change in mood and darted his eyes to the side. He paused a moment, then looked back into her eyes. 'So I have done since we parted,' he said with difficulty, 'although oftentimes my thoughts have…' He trailed off and took another breath. 'Yes, I still seek for the hand of the fair lady, and your parting words led me to believe that you would not look with disfavor upon such a goal, if it were in the interest of the queen.'
Aeriel was silent for a moment and then returned to her seat behind the table. 'I encourage any endeavor that truly assists the crown,' she said. 'And such aid is now sorely needed.' She rubbed her eyes and waved her hand at the documents on the table. 'Writs for the armory, rum allocations for the crew, promotions and certifications of skill, they all must be decided before we sail. And despite the seriousness of the hour, no one else will take the responsibility, so much do they fear offending one of the suitors by their choice. Many beseech my favor in intercession with the queen, Alodar, but I have little time for such petty intrigues, especially now.'
'But it is an audience with Kelric that I seek,' Alodar said. 'I will gain the favor of the fair lady on merit, not because of some arrangement with the nobles of the land.'
'And why then do you desire audience with the sorcerer?' Aeriel asked. 'He traffics in the frivolities of the court no more than I.'
'Because I bring to the fair lady a gift that surely is the equal to those offered by the others,' Alodar said as he removed the orb from its pouch and held it forward. 'I need only such meager instruction as is necessary to activate it properly and I am ready to pledge wholehearted service to the queen. Kelric mentioned the enchanting of thousands. Surely such an ability will be of great value when she has to face the armies of the south.'
Aeriel touched the sphere, and her lips pursed in surprise at its coldness. She studied the delicate sculpture of the eye and then looked at Alodar in silence, frowning in thought. After a moment, she reached out tentatively for his arm but then quickly shook her head and withdrew her hand before he could respond.
'Your boldness is no less than I have judged, Alodar.' She sighed. 'And in the calm light of reason, I see you as worthy a suitor as the others. I have pledged my service to the queen. If you do likewise, then I must aid you as I can. Come, follow me to Kelric's quarters. I can persuade him better than most.'
Without waiting for a reply, Aeriel quickly swept through the room and out into the hallway. Alodar followed her through the maze of passageways in the huge palace. Unlike the buildings at the Cycloid Guild, the royal residence was a one-story sprawl, a jumble of wings and annexes added over the centuries as the power of Procolon grew.
Aeriel whirled past guard stations without explanation; after several minutes of bewildering turns, she ducked into the low and open entryway of a softly lit chamber.
He looked about in the dimness, straining to distinguish form from shadow. In a feeble flicker in the center of the room, between two giant columns of smouldering incense, he saw Kelric sitting cross-legged, clad only in a simple loincloth, with his chin slumped forward on his bony chest. A brazier hung on a tripod, its meager flame providing the only light. Against the far wall, a lady of the court, her hair hanging long in imitation of the queen's, stood tensely erect, watching the scene.
Alodar started to speak, but Aeriel put her finger to her lips as Kelric opened his eyes wide in a glazed stare and sluggishly extended clinched fists. He opened his left hand over a disk suspended above the brazier, dropping a fine sand onto its shiny surface. With his other hand, he struck the shallow bowl sharply, setting up a complex set of vibrations as it swung. Kelric stared at the dance of sand in silence, eyes unblinking and seemingly oblivious to his surroundings.
'I see the camp,' he said in a voice as thin as a distant wind. 'The fire burns low and the sentry slumps at his post. The one for which you care is not asleep. With his head propped by his elbow on the ground he talks softly to the one who rests next to him.'
'What does he say, does he speak of me?' the lady asked. 'Is my favor still bound on his arm?'
Kelric's other hand opened and a second load of sand hit the disk. He clanged it again just as the first vibrations began to subside. 'My ears hear the voices,' he said, 'although they are soft and faint.' Kelric closed his eyes and was silent for a full minute, swaying his body back and forth with the rhythm of the gently swinging disk.
'It is not only Bandor and the other leaders, I tell you,' a voice, deep and youthful, broke from Kelric's lips as he rocked. 'Each commander leads his own troops as if he were possessed as well. They will not ask for quarter so long as one of them remains standing. This siege will far outlast the season.'
'Yes, and there are so many imps darting about,' a second voice came from the sorcerer. 'The talk of the camp has it that the barrier between the worlds has been weakened, and stronger demons can pass through without being called. Do not look even into our simple campfire, I say. Who knows what lurks behind the flame to grab your will as well?'
'But what of me?' the lady interrupted. 'What are his thoughts of me?'
Kelric opened his mouth to speak but then fell silent. Gradually the sand stopped its jumping, and his eyelids slowly opened. 'It has faded, Umbriel,' he said groggily. 'Any more would be greater than fair trade for what you have offered.' With a trembling hand, Kelric reached for a cup at his side and drained its contents. He shook his head violently from side to side and arched his back. Finally, he struck his face with a series of sharp slaps and grimaced at the shock. 'And so a little more is gone,' he muttered as he hesitantly got to his feet.
Umbriel saw his slow motions and started towards the doorway. The sorcerer quickly sprang to life and jumped in the way. 'And a payment promptly rendered reflects so nicely on the debtor,' he said with a toothless smile. 'Come forward, my dear, and linger as long as you like.'
Umbriel sighed and shut her eyes. She took a single step and then hesitated. She pursed her lips and
