Not yet ready to speak to the Abbess, Josse cast around in his mind for a quiet place to go and sit by himself. The herb garden came to mind; he set off around the east end of the sisters’ dormitory and made his way through Sister Tiphaine’s neat beds to where a rough bench stood, under the shelter of the Abbey walls.
It was very peaceful. The gardens around him had the feel and the scent of autumn, and there was the faint smell of smoke on the air; presumably the herbalist had been burning garden rubbish. Herb cuttings must have been among the detritus, because he could smell something sharp and quite pleasant. .
He closed his eyes. He had all but made up his mind; perhaps a brief period of silent meditation — of prayer — might bring him the wisdom to decide whether or not what he was planning was the best thing to do.
After quite a long time, he became aware that somebody was approaching, and had come to sit beside him.
‘You have it,’ John Dee said softly. ‘Would you permit me a look?’
Josse opened his eyes. ‘Aye,’ he said. He opened his right hand, resting on his knee, and the Eye winked up at him.
Dee sat and gazed down at it.
‘You may hold it, if you wish,’ Josse said.
Dee looked doubtful. ‘I am not sure. .’ But then, as if gathering his courage and hastening to act before he could waver, he darted out his right hand and took hold of the Eye’s chain, dropping the jewel into the open palm of his left hand.
He sat perfectly still for some time, staring at the Eye, unblinking, face impassive. Then he went to return it to Josse but, as Josse unthinkingly held out his left hand to take it — the nearer hand to Dee — the magician held the Eye back.
‘It is time for your first lesson in the power of stones,’ he said with a smile. ‘You must always think before you take the Eye in one or the other hand. Are you right or left handed?’
‘Right.’
‘Then your right hand is your power-giving hand, your left the one that receives power.’
‘Oh,’ Josse said casually. Then, as he understood, ‘Oh!’
Dee’s smile widened. ‘Yes. I, too, am right handed. And I took your Eye in my left hand because I wanted to take in some of its power. You do not mind?’
‘I know virtually nothing of its power. As far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome to take all you like.’
‘A generous sentiment, but you should be careful over making such offers.’ There was a pause, then Dee went on, ‘Would you like me to tell you of the Eye’s power?’
Josse sighed. ‘I know it can stop bleeding and detect poisons, and warn of enemies approaching. But aye, I suppose you’d better tell me the rest.’ Thinking that he had sounded ungracious, he added, ‘If you will.’
Dee chuckled. ‘For a man who has just been given the world,’ he murmured, ‘you appear very uninterested.’
‘What do you mean?’ Suddenly Josse was alert.
‘Oh — nothing. Take no notice.’ Dee seemed to be uneasy. ‘Now, you are right in what you say, as far as it goes, but those you have described are but the Eye’s minor powers. In its heart it carries far greater forces, but they cannot be awakened except by one who possesses psychic powers.’
‘Do you have these psychic powers? Can you awaken its forces?’
‘I could,’ Dee replied carefully, ‘but I will not. The Eye is yours,’ he said by way of explanation.
But it was hardly an explanation at all.
‘What do these greater forces do?’ Josse persisted. ‘Would they bring me wealth? Power? Good fortune? Position?’
‘All of those, and far more.’ Dee’s voice was low, sombre. ‘Although, like an inexperienced rider on a fiery stallion, you would have great difficulty controlling them. Indeed, they would probably control you. Which is why’ — his voice dropped to a whisper, and he spoke right into Josse’s ear — ‘it is vital that the Prince does not get hold of the Eye.’
‘I thought you said the powers would only work for the Eye’s rightful owner?’
‘I did. So, imagine what harm he might do himself, trying to bend uncontrollable forces to his own will when their intent was already to work against him!’
Being a novice in the world of magic, Josse had no idea of what the extent of the potential damage might be. But, judging by Dee’s horror-struck tone, it sounded as if it could be fairly devastating.
‘I shall not let the Prince have the Eye,’ he said firmly. ‘You have my word, Magister.’
Dee looked at him for a long time. Then, slowly, he nodded. ‘I believe you. Thank you, Josse d’Acquin.’
He went on staring at Josse. Just as the scrutiny was becoming really uncomfortable, he spoke again. ‘The Eye now belongs to you and your descendants,’ he said dreamily. His dark eyes seemed to look beyond Josse, out into the distance — or into the future — at something unseen by all except him. ‘It will go to one who has the innate psychic skill to make the Eye come properly alive. Yes, for the first time in almost two thousand years, the stone will come into its full potential.’
After a moment — during which, it seemed to Josse, the echoes of vast invisible waves lessened and finally shrank to nothing — he said, ‘But, Magister, I have no wife, and no child of my own. Will the Eye therefore go to one of my nephews? Is that allowed?’
‘You have nieces?’ The question seemed strange.
‘Aye, several.’
‘Ah.’ Dee smiled, as if in satisfaction.
‘Why do you ask?’
‘Oh — it is only that I have the strong sense that this great sorcerer will be female.’
Josse felt afraid. The thought of one of Yves’s girls, or of Acelin’s sweet little Eleanor, having this great burden put upon them was, in that moment, quite intolerable. Which was, when he thought about it, precisely the endorsement of his earlier decision that he had been waiting for.
As if Dee were intently following Josse’s silent reasoning, he laughed softly and said, ‘Ah, Josse, how little you know of magical stones! You can do what you will — indeed, I think that, under the circumstances, you have decided wisely — but do not think that you can dust off your hands and finish the matter. The Eye, as you will discover, has its own ideas.’
‘I can’t lay this thing on the innocent shoulders of one of my nieces!’
‘No, you can’t,’ Dee agreed.
‘But I don’t understand!’ Josse protested. ‘Magister, you speak in riddles!’
‘Just as sorcerers always do.’ Dee got to his feet, putting a hand to the small of his back. ‘Ah, but I have sat here too long, and allowed the damp to get into my bones.’
Instantly Josse leapt up to help him. ‘Lean on me, Magister, and I will help you to walk.’ He hesitated, then said impulsively, ‘I am going to seek out the Abbess. Will you come with me?’
‘Thank you. I will.’
‘You should ask Sister Tiphaine for some of her special remedy,’ Josse urged. ‘She has a firm hand, but the pain as she rubs in the ointment is worth it for the relief it brings.’
‘Ah yes, Sister Tiphaine,’ Dee said softly. ‘I shall do as you suggest, Josse.’ He stopped for a moment, staring into Josse’s face. ‘You are a good man. I have always said so.’
Embarrassed, Josse muttered his thanks and then concentrated on supporting the magician’s weight as he led him away. As they proceeded out of the herb garden, he remembered something.
‘Magister, I have been in the forest,’ he said.
‘Ah.’
‘I — well, I’ll save the full story to tell the Abbess first, if you don’t mind. But I was informed that someone was using their power to protect me out there, and I imagine it was you, so I would like to thank you.’
‘Ah,’ Dee said again.
But, Josse noticed, he neither confirmed nor denied that he had lent his help.
Helewise put aside her books and gave her full attention to her visitors. She had been expecting them — at least, she had been expecting Josse — and she summoned one of the sisters to go and find Yves and invite him to come and join them.