Spellsong - The Spellsong War Part 6

The stone under the bluff seemed to s.h.i.+ft even before she finished the first verse. Strophic spell, her thoughts corrected automatically.

A s.h.i.+ver in the harmonies underlying all Liedwahr flowed the last chord, except Anna knew only she heard that s.h.i.+ver, she and any other sorcerer or sorceress. The lightning that flashed across the half-clear sky was visit to all, and murmurs swept across the armsmen as the white-and-gray clouds began to darken into black.

Anna, holding the lutar one-handed, used the other the reins to urge Farinelli away from the edge of a bluff that suddenly felt all too insecure.

The ground rumbled, and dust puffed from beneath the sodden upper soil that overlay the rocks beneath.

Another flash of light seared across a sky that had become dark gray.

The edge of the bluff from where Anna had begun the spell s.h.i.+vered, then peeled away in a brown-and- gray cascade, even as a s.h.i.+mmering mist of silver, sheathed in the faintest of rainbows, began to arch across the river.

The sorceress, feeling lightheadedness slas.h.i.+ng across her consciousness, struggled to get the lutar back in its case.

How would you replace it now?

The ground s.h.i.+fted again, and Anna struggled to sta balanced in the saddle as Farmnelli sidestepped and she tried to close the lutar case.

A line of fire seared across her eyes, and again that gigantic harp that affected only her strummed somewhere 'she could not see, but only sense.

More dust rose around her with the grinding of rock below, and the river began to boil, sending steam up t mix with dust and rock powder, until the entire area from one edge of the Faiche to the other was cloaked in a gray mist.

Anna's eyes burned, and her head swam, and she grabbed for Farmnelli's mane, as the entire world turned black.

5.

ESARIA, NESEREA.

The dark-haired youth s.h.i.+vers and draws his green cloak more tightly around him. He sits on a green cus.h.i.+on in the gilt throne chair that comprises the official seat of the Lord of Neserea, and the Protector of the Faith of the Eternal Melody.

A cold breeze seeps into the receiving room that adjoins the empty, columned, hilltop chamber used in the summer. Through the single window, the-youth who is neither boy nor man can see the fluted marble pillars, and beyond them, the whitecaps of the Bitter Sea.

"Am I not the Prophet of Music, Nubara?"

"Young Lord Rabyn, you are indeed the heir of the Prophet of Music and will rule Neserea-" The officer in the maroon uniform of a lancer of Mansuur breaks off his words as the youth's eyes flash.

"Grandsire's message said I was Lord now."

"He also confirmed me as acting regent for him in your name." Nubara smiles politely.

"But you should serve me." The hint of a pout frames the full red lips.

"I serve the will of the Liedfuhr." Nubara smiles broadly. "Always in your interests, most a.s.suredly."

The music of low strings sifts through the morning stillness from the adjoining Temple of Music, providing a soothing background that neither Lancer nor youth acknowledges.

"What are you doing about that evil woman who killed my mother and my father the Prophet?" Rabyn's eyes narrow as he watches the older man who stands below the low dais.

"The sorceress Anna, Lord Rabyn?" Nubara's smile narrows. "Your grandsire has indicated that he was most displeased, and that he will take such matters into his own hands. Fiftyscore lancers make their way here to Esaria."

"That's not what I asked. What are you doing?"

"Following the orders of the Liedfuhr. I am, after all, a Lancer of Mansuur."

"You are a... ." Rabyn frowns, then smiles. "I should be thankful to you."

"It is hard to be patient when great wrongs have been done, Lord Rabyn. You must recall that the sorceress subverted fully a third of your sire's forces, and murdered most of those officers who were loyal to him... and to you. We are working to rebuild your armsmen."

"All of the Prophet's Guard returned, except for their commander. You could command them."

"I could indeed. Would you have me lead them against the evil sorceress and lose them as well? She has never lost a battle, and those who have opposed her have never lost less than the majority of their forces.

There are no armsmen left in all of Ebra." Nubara bows slightly, raising his eyebrows.

"She can be defeated. Anyone can be defeated." The pout on Rabyn' s lips grows fuller.

"That is what your grandsire believes. That will take many armies. The sorceress can be in but one place at one time. She must be encircled so that her armies are reduced and destroyed."

"That is why you are seeking more armsmen?"

"Exactly, Lord Rabyn. Exactly." Nubara smiles and bows.

"Thank you, Nubara. You may go." Rabyn's eyes remain on the lancer until the older man leaves the chamber. Then the young Prophet of Music s.h.i.+vers and readjusts the heavy cloak.

6.

You are so good with young voices, Anna dear. I really do not understand why you persist in this sorcery business." Her eyes cold, Dieshr smiled across the too-neat desk at Anna.

Anna wanted to scream, but what was the use? Dieshr was Music Department Chair, and Anna didn't have tenure. And what was this sorcery Dieshr was talking about? Anna certainly didn't believe in witchcraft.

"Besides, you should devote your energies to obtaining a doctorate. That would make you far more marketable in today's academic community."

A doctorate? After all the years when Avery-the great Antonio-had offered reason after reason why it wasn't the right time, or appropriate, or whatever? "The children are too young." "We can't afford it...

perhaps next year." "You wouldn't take off now, not when I've just gotten this break with the New York City Opera?" "Teenagers really need their mother.. . it's the most sensitive part of their life."

Anna did scream, and Dieshr vanished into gray smoke, and the scream came out of her too-dry mouth more like a groan. The gray smoke turned into gray walls.

Her head ached-throbbed-and her mouth was dry. A blonde face swam into view.

"Lady.. . please drink. You must drink."

She drank what tasted like vinegar, and the gray walls turned black again.

The next time she woke, Cataryzna was still waiting.

"Can you drink, lady?"

Anna nodded and sipped from the cup. Her eyes still burned, and her head continued to throb, if less violently. She took a small swallow, then another.

The door opened, and a white-haired figure slipped into the chamber, and settled onto the chair beside the bed.

Anna wondered if she looked as terrible as she felt. She could tell she was dehydrated and started to reach for the cup. Cataryzna lifted it to her lips.

From the light, Anna thought it was morning.

"Morning?" she finally asked.

"It is morning, lady," answered Cataryzna. "We were not sure you would see it."

Anna tried to struggle into more 'of a sitting position, and her blonde fosterling-Lord Geansor's daughter- adjusted the pillows behind her.

"More. .. wine." Anna drank again, and could almost feel the worst of the headache subsiding. Lord, was she that dehydrated? She probably had no blood-sugar level at all, either.

"Some bread might help."

"I will get it." Cataryzna slipped toward the door and out into the second floor corridor, her shoulder- length hair flying out behind her.

"Lady Anna," Jecks said slowly, from the chair beside her bed. "You cannot rebuild Defalk by destroying yourself with sorcery."

For a moment, Anna just took in his words, then sipped more of the vinegary wine. She wished it were water, but in her condition she couldn't orderspell water, and trying to drink unspelled water would invite disaster of another type.

"If you destroy yourself, everything you have preserved will vanish." Jecks swallowed.

"Lord Jecks." She wanted her voice to be hard, but it just sounded tired. "Everyone counsels me to patience. Everyone tells me that we cannot do this. We cannot find players. We cannot find weapons smiths. We cannot travel or whatever because the roads are too muddy."

"You cannot rebuild Defalk in a season." He forced a smile. "You cannot do that in even two seasons or a year."

"We may not have a year," Anna said. "If you want your grandson even to have a land to rule, we have to.

find ways to do all those things everyone tells me we can't do. Now.. . do we have a solid bridge over the Faiche?"

"Yes, Lady Anna. Hanfor thinks it will outlast Falcor." Jecks smiled. "The channel beneath is also rather deeper. It is almost a gorge."

So that was where the stone had come from. Anna nodded. It would have been easier with players-much easier-but Delvor alone wouldn't be much help. A name popped into her head-Liende, the woodwind player injured in the Sand Pa.s.s battle.

"Liende, the player? Isn't she still at Elhi?"

"I believe so."

"Would you have her summoned to Falcor?"

"You may summon anyone you wish."

"Stop humoring me!" Anna hated any hint of condescension, even from Jecks, even if he did resemble her favorite movie star, even if he had actually shown some real concern for her as a person, not as a regent.

"I'm not being whimsical. I need players. She knows who many of them are, and if I can't do anything else, I'll build roads. To the west first."

"You cannot-"

"Why not? The first threat will be from the west, won't it?"

"That will not come for years, and you must recover." Anna doubted she'd have that much time, but she couldn't argue everything. "Good. Then we can build lots of roads and weapons and train an army." Anna took another swallow of the vinegary wine. Her stomach growled. She needed to eat. Another problem- the demands of sorcery drove her metabolism so high that anything that left her unable to eat for very long was practically life-threatening. She wasn't sure she wanted to see how thin her face had become.

The door opened, and Cataryzna scurried back in at almost a run, carrying a platter. Skent followed with a second. The dark-haired page's eyes took in Anna, and she could see the shock there. She'd wondered how bad she looked, and now she knew.

"Can you eat?" asked the blonde.

Anna reached for the bread, and slowly began to chew. She wanted to smile as she saw Skent and Cataryzna standing side by side. Perhaps her weakness-how she hated to be weak!-had had some positive effect.

She tried the white cheese that Skent had brought. She'd need protein and fat. Lord, she needed everything.

In between bites, she turned to Jecks, noting absently that he continued to worry one hand against the other. "I'll be fine. At least with rest and more food, I will be."

"You cannot... You must not.. ." Jecks stammered. "Lord Jecks... we have no choice. We must rebuild Defalk as quickly as possible." She swallowed more of the wine.

"I will have Liende sent for," Jecks said. "And I will tell her to bring any players she knows."

"Good." Anna could feel tiredness creeping over her. Not the draining exhaustion that had felled her at the bridge, but a fuller feeling.

"Why are roads so important, lady?" Cataryzna said quietly. "You murmured of roads and of doctors."

Anna sighed, even as she could feel the la.s.situde creeping back over her. She shouldn't have gotten upset.

Anger always tired her, and she was already exhausted-and what she'd done had been Clearsong. "I'm tired. So tired." She forced out the remaining words. "So all the dissonant lords of Defalk don't go on thinking they're independent little countries. So that we or Jimbob can put an army at their gate in two days instead of two weeks. So that. . ." So many things....

She shut her eyes.

7.