“He stole my brooch?”
“He can climb a blank wall like a fly. He also lifted the hostler’s keys off his belt for Andor. He will oblige in such matters, but he will also steal for sport. As well as being light-fingered, he has a peculiar taste in practical jokes, but he does have a personal rule that he will always call back the one who called him, and we trust him in that sense. I can call any of the others at any time, but I have no control over what that one may do then, or whom he will call next.”
“I find this idea rather confusing, Doctor.” Aunt Kade could always be relied on for a massive understatement when needed. “Tell us how you came and went. My brother sent for you last summer?”
He spoke more respectfully to her, gazing blandly across the debris and ruin. “He did, ma’am, and it was Jalon who received the message. He decided to answer the call and caught a ship for Krasnegar. That was a remarkable success for Jalon—in the past he has been known to take the wrong boat because he thought it had a prettier name. But he managed to reach Krasnegar, went to the king, and called me.”
“But I don’t see how you knew about my dragon silk,” Inos complained.
“Jalon saw it at the gate. I told you, we share memories.” The old man waited a moment, as if she were a slow child, then addressed himself again to Kade. “As soon as I examined Holindarn, I saw that he was not likely to live long. I think he had already guessed that. I needed medicines, so Jalon had to go south again. I am old, you see, and the others are growing concerned about me, so they do the traveling. Jalon decided it would be more romantic to go overland.”
“And that was where I got involved,” Rap said, remembering the picnic in the hills.
Sagorn nodded. “You revealed occult powers to Jalon, and so to all of us. I told you that we have been trying to escape from our curse. We had two ways to try—either we could persuade another sorcerer to lift the spell, or we could seek to learn enough words of power to do it ourselves. I have spent my life in studies to that end, striving to know more of those elusive words.” He smiled his thin, cynical smile. “I was the youngest, once. I was ten. Darad was twelve, I think.”
“But…”
He shrugged. “But I was smart, and Darad was already big, so Thinal let us join his gang. We broke into houses—even then, he was a skilled cat burglar—until we happened to choose the house of a sorcerer. That was not a wise thing to do! I have not seen them since.” He paused, seeming lost in memory for a moment. “Always one of us is, four are not. To live is to age, of course… I have spent so many years in libraries and archives that now I am by far the oldest. Darad almost never gets into trouble he can’t handle, so he rarely has to call for help. He is starting to feel his years, too. Jalon is easily bored, so he soon calls someone else—usually Andor, for some reason. Thinal… Thinal never stays for long. He has hardly changed at all.”
“But you have occult powers of your own,” Inos said. “Did the sorcerer give you those?”
He laughed scornfully. “If you had ever met a sorcerer, you would not ask! No. I doubt that you wish to hear that tale.”
“Please do go on, Doctor,” Aunt Kade said brightly. “This is a most interesting narrative.”
He flashed her a calculating glance. “Very well, your Highness. In Fal Dornin I found a woman of middle years who knew a word of power—a single word. I called Andor.”
“And he charmed it out of her?” Inos asked acidly.
Sagorn smiled his sinister smile, “Seduced it out of her. Of course it affected each of us in turn. I became a better scholar, Jalon a finer singer, and Darad a more deadly fighter. The next time he existed, he went back to Fal Dornin, sought out the woman, and strangled her.”
Inos shuddered. “No! Why?”
“God of Fools!” Rap jumped up and rushed to the door. He pulled the bolt and went racing off down the stairs. Fleabag loped in pursuit.
“Rap!” Inos yelled, too late. Sagorn smiled grimly. “He has gone to bolt the lower doors, I imagine. Master Rap has farsight, you know.”
“Rap does?” Dull old Rap? Solid, ordinary Rap?
He nodded. “To a remarkable degree. That was why Andor went out of his way to befriend him. He must know a word, although he denies it. Either it is a very powerful word, or else—I have been wondering if the words themselves may have different properties, and his happens to fit his native talents particularly well. He has an astounding control over animals and also an astounding farsight. Yet he does not seem to have any foreseeing ability, and certainly his mastery does not work on people, as Andor’s does. So he must know only the one word. Interesting! He has probably seen the soldiers coming.”
Inos had almost forgotten their plight. “That was why we wanted you!” she exclaimed. “How are we going to save Rap and Little Chicken from the imps? What is going to happen when Kalkor gets here? How—”
Sagorn raised a slender, blue-veined hand. “You forget, child, that I know your problems! Andor and Darad were here, so I know. Don’t worry about the imps. Their leader is dead. Tribune Oshinkono is no great warrior. He will have absolutely no desire to tangle with the notorious Kalkor. He and his men will be off down the trail to Pondague long before the jotnar arrive.”
“How…” But of course Sagorn knew all that because Andor had made friends with Yggingi’s deputy on the journey north. Andor made it his business to know everyone. What Andor had known, Sagorn knew. Confusing! “But what about Rap? And what about me having to marry Kalkor?”
“Kalkor I do not recommend!” For the first time the old man looked sympathetic. “Not as bad as Darad, but compared to Kalkor, Yggingi would have made a model husband. He will claim the throne, then force you to marry him to confirm that claim.”
“Then what?” she asked glumly.
He pulled a face, twisting the clefts that flanked his mouth. “Krasnegar would not contain Kalkor for long—roistering and pillage are his bent—but he could keep the title and leave a subordinate here to rule for him. He will beat your word out of you, I expect. Then take a son off you, more than likely. Yes, that would be about his program.”
“And after that?”
Sagorn did not answer but she could guess the answer.
“And after that I shall be of no further use to him!”
The dog came bounding into the room. Inos rose and crossed to the stair, arriving just as Rap came running up, flushed and panting. He slammed the door and shot the bolt. “Should have gone sooner,” he said between puffs. “Only three doors between us and them.”
“Rap,” she asked softly, “what’s this about you having farsight, and magical powers?”
He flinched as if he were a small boy caught with both hands in the molasses, then nodded guiltily.
Puzzled by his reaction, Inos said, “Well, that’s wonderful!” She smiled encouragingly to put him at ease. “Now I know why we never let you join in the hide-and-seek games! I’ve always wondered about your knack for horses—and dogs. I’m not surprised to hear that it’s occult.”
He gaped stupidly at her. “You don’t mind?”
“Mind? Of course not! Why should I mind?” What was it to do with her, except that Rap would make a superb palace hostler when he was older? “I’m supposed to have some magic of my own now, although I don’t know what sort of powers I’m expected to demonstrate. But magically we’re both the same, apparently.”
His big gray eyes blinked several times, then a scarlet tide flowed into his face, and he looked down at his boots. Of course shyness was quite understandable in a boy of his age, with no schooling or training.