“Ah.” Alisande nodded. “Like the dwarves in the mountains, the dryads in the trees, and the nixies in the rivers.”
“Yes, organized religion is such a huge advance,” Saul said dryly.
Matt shot him a warning look and defused the remark by saying, “Right. Really primitive animism doesn’t have any gods… just local spirits. After a while, people invent gods, too, and after a longer while, they realize that their inventions are really only aspects of one universal God.” His look dared Saul to argue.
Saul chose the better part of valor for the moment. “Of course, in Merovence, you have all the creatures magic can support… and we’d have trouble enough if our enemies were just raising those kinds of spirits against us.”
“Would not our own creatures of magic defend us from these djinn?” Alisande asked, frowning.
“They might, if we asked them,” Saul said, “but I gather that’s what Matt has done for you before, and some of the elementals needed a lot of persuading.”
Alisande turned thoughtful. “An interesting way to describe a wizard’s role.”
“Well, part of it, anyway,” Matt amended. “Yes, that’s what I was braced for, mobilizing the dwarves in the mountains to help fight off the Berber spirits… but if we have sophisticated Arabic magic on top of that, we’re going to have even more trouble.”
“Trouble that you might be borrowing,” Saul pointed out. “We’re just guessing.”
“Yeah. We don’t really know anything.” Matt scowled. “We need some good, capable wizard-spies.”
“NO!” Alisande and Saul said together.
“Well, it doesn’t have to be me,” Matt said, disgruntled. “I just hate to ask anybody to do something dangerous for me if I’m not willing to do it myself.”
“I think I liked you better when you were a coward,” Saul commented.
“You did not,” Alisande countered, “but you did like the notion that he would live longer. Why must you always seek to thrust yourself into the midst of peril, my husband?” She softened, touching his face.
“Am I so loathsome that you must constantly flee me?”
“You know that’s not true!” Matt said fervently, and took her in his arms. He tried to reassure her with a long kiss.
“Watch the tonsils,” Saul muttered.
They broke apart, laughing and blushing, and Matt told his wife, “Sometimes it’s my yearning for you that manages to pull me out of a magical morass. But I won’t try to shift my responsibility onto somebody else just because I don’t want to suffer the pain.”
“Ah, but we know you are willing to undergo the trials,” Alisande countered. “Therefore may you send another with a clear conscience, for you do not send him to do what you shirk.”
There spoke the executive, expert on delegating authority. “Well, maybe we won’t have to send a living being,” Matt said. “We can start with crystal-gazing… but I don’t expect much luck. Anybody who can command genies can shield himself from magical spying.”
“Until you can learn, we must plan in darkness,” Alisande summarized. “I ask again: What spells can you use to send these djinn packing? What enchantments to shield us from a Moorish army, if one indeed marches upon us?”
“Something involving lamps, bottles, rings, and the Seal of Solomon,” Matt said. “I’ll have to give it some thought.”
“I’ll start by writing down as much of The Rubaiyat as I can remember,” Saul offered.
“Might help. Please do.”
“Then there are verses from Chesterton and Ariosto,” Saul said. “Chesterton had a poem about the battle of Lepanto, and… “
“Ariosto!” Matt’s head snapped up. “The Madness of Roland! It didn’t happen in our universe, but it might happen here!”
Wife and friend both turned to him, puzzled.
“The Siege of Paris,” Matt explained. “The Moors are going to strike into Merovence so far that they’ll besiege Bordestang, if we don’t stop them in Ibile!”
“What is Paris?” Alisande asked, bewildered.
“Our universe’s analogue to Bordestang,” Saul explained, and Matt clarified, “The capital of France, the country that takes up the same territory in our world that Merovence takes in this.”
“Is it not then Merovence by another name?” Alisande asked.
“No, there’s a host of cultural differences,” Matt told her, “not to mention historical facts happening in different order.”
Saul frowned. “You don’t suppose poets can see into universes besides their own, do you?”
“Only in their inner visions,” Matt said, “and if they can, what they see is so jumbled and unclear that they mix it in with what they know of their own world… so Ariosto had our universe’s Hardishane defending Paris from the Moors, instead of one of his descendants.”
“Of course,” Saul pointed out, “there might be a universe in which it did happen.”
“This multiplicity of universes is most confusing,” Alisande protested.
“Tell me about it! I’m just glad I don’t have to worry about more than two!”
“I rejoice that I only need worry about one,” Alisande countered “What do you advise I do, to prevent the Moors from streaming into Merovence while my capital is under siege by these djinn?”
“Make alliances with the mountaineers in the Pyrenees,” Matt said, “then fortify the passes.”
“We could get Stegoman and Narlh to fly in a squad of relatives to help out,” Saul suggested “A clan of dragons can be very persuasive ” Matt nodded “Good idea, especially since we’re probably going to have to cobble up a defense without any of the royal army “
“I shall send straightaway to the lords of Anjou,” Alisande said “They shall ready themselves to withstand an army.”
“They’ll be outnumbered,” Matt warned, remembering his history courses “Tell them to avoid pitched battles,” Saul suggested, “just nibble away at the army’s flanks. Hit ‘em hard and fast, then fade back into the woods and swamps.”
“I have heard of bands who fought thus,” Alisande said slowly “It goes against chivalry, but it is the wiser course. However, I shall also bid them reinforce their strongholds.”
“They’ll need it,” Matt agreed “Anything we can do instead of wait for the next magical surprise?” Saul asked Matt shrugged “Ransack the library, I guess. Maybe somebody wrote something about Moorish magic.”
“Each to his own station, then,” Alisande said. She gave Matt a quick kiss that left him wanting more, then stepped away. “I shall see you at supper. Let it be done!”
“Don’t I wish,” Matt muttered as he watched her sweep out of the room. “Maybe we oughta check out your laboratory first,” Saul suggested, “not that I can think of anything you can brew to chase a genie.”
Matt lifted his head slowly “I can send a servant out for some juniper berries and brew some gin. Maybe what you said about bottles could really do some good.”
“It might at that!” Saul said, grinning “Maybe we can cobble up some oil lamps.”
“Can’t hurt,” Matt said “Let’s go.”
They hurried up to the tower room Matt had commandeered. He unlocked the door, opened it, and stared taken aback. “Well, we couldn’t let anybody in to sweep or anything,” Saul said defensively.
“I was gone awhile, wasn’t I?” Matt looked around at the layer of dust. “Nothing’s even out of place, though I take it the djinn left this tower alone?”
“We lucked out, yeah.” Then Saul frowned “You don’t suppose that wasn’t just coincidence?…
“They might not like my kind of magic,” Matt said He looked out the window. “I chose better than I knew. I should have a fine view of them getting up to tricks from here.”