“Who rides there?” called a liveried sergeant at arms, wearing the tunic of the Palanthian Legion. He stepped into the roadway and raised his hand, while several comrades, armed with halberds or longbows, emerged from the shadows below the tower to stand beside him.
“The Lord Marshal of the Army of Solamnia,” Jaymes replied.
“Make way!” added the kender, unnecessarily it turned out, for the guards, recognizing the human rider, hastily had cleared out of the way.
“Welcome to Palanthas, my lord!” offered the sergeant, saluting smartly.
Jaymes nodded as he guided the horse through the open gate and along the main avenue leading to the heart of the city. People pointed and whispered, and several ladies tittered as he glanced in their direction. Boys went running down the streets, calling out the news of his arrival.
When he turned toward Nobles Hill, the lads shouted the news to the gathering citizens: “He’s going to the wizard’s house!”
Coryn lived in one of the great manors in that auspicious neighborhood, a house that was owned by the Mistress of the Red Robes, Jenna. The Head of the Orders of Magic, nowadays Jenna resided in the Tower of High Sorcery in Wayreth Forest, and had willingly ceded the use of her house to the powerful white-robed enchantress.
The Lady Coryn-the White Witch to some-was a fascinating figure to all of Solamnia. She was beautiful and mysterious, a wielder of immense power, a friend to the weak and downtrodden, and a ceaseless worker toward the future of a realm that was just, strong, and eternal. To Jaymes Markham she was all this… and much, much more.
Jaymes kicked his new horse in the flanks, and the gelding agreeably broke into a jaunty trot. Jaymes scanned the streets, eager for his first glimpse of Coryn.
“Hey, you’re whistling!” noted the kender in delight. “I didn’t take you for a whistler! It’s like you’re suddenly happy or something. Are you?”
The Lord Marshal of the Solamnic Army frowned, shaking his head in surprise. “It’s been a long time,” he admitted. “I’m looking forward to seeing her again.”
“Well, there it is-that’s Coryn’s house, right there.”
“I know,” Jaymes said. If the sight brought back a whirl of memories-and it did-his face betrayed no hint of his emotions. Yet he kneed his horse’s flanks so hard that the steed tossed his head, bucking a little as they trotted into the wide courtyard.
The house was a splendid villa, dominating a shoulder of Nobles Hill. The yard was sprinkled with fountains, elaborate statuary spouting geysers that were magically sustained all day, every day. The original fountains had been created by Jenna, but Coryn enjoyed them enough to maintain them, and indeed, the splashing rivulets that babbled and gurgled in their basins added a soothing element to the enchanted environment.
“Hey-I see goldfish! Let me off here!” insisted Moptop as they rode past a deep pool lined with lily pads, home to a dozen or more huge, brilliantly hued carp. Jaymes obliged quickly, lowering the kender by one arm while barely slowing his horse.
He reined in as he drew up before great carved doors atop broad marble steps leading to a portico. A lad with a broad grin stepped down to take the reins of his horse.
“Hi, Donny,” Jaymes greeted him. “How did you know I was coming?”
“Well, Lady Coryn told me to keep an eye out; she thought you’d be here today. I’ll take care of your horse for you, my lord.”
“Thanks,” Jaymes replied, handing over the reins. “He deserves a good rubdown-but go easy on the oats until he’s rested a bit.”
“Will do, sir!” Donny led the gelding away, toward the stables on the far side of the courtyard, while Jaymes sauntered up the broad steps. The front doors opened before he reached them, and he nodded at Rupert’s welcoming smile.
“Good day, my lord,” said the faithful attendant. The man was butler, watchman, and all around helpmate to the enchantress. He had worked in Jenna’s service for years, and had smoothly switched to serving Coryn. “I hope you had a pleasant journey.”
“It went by very quickly,” replied the marshal. “And it’s over now. The lady?”
“She is up in her laboratory, sir, expecting you, I should think. She ordered that, when you arrived, you were to be guided directly into her presence.”
“Thanks, Rupert. You’re looking well, and Donny seems to be turning into a fine young man.”
“Thank you, my lord. He does have a good head on his shoulders, it seems to me. And a warm welcome to you.”
Jaymes well knew the way. He took the steps three at a time up the grand circling stairway that climbed from the main hall. The upper floor of the villa was divided into two wings, one where the bedrooms, guest suites, and other inhabitable rooms were located, and another that housed the wizard’s laboratory. Jaymes turned in that direction, inhaling the familiar musty scents of incense and soot. There were stoves and even a miniature forge here, as well as storage rooms containing a myriad of exotic ingredients. But the main chamber was a long workroom with wide windows arranged to catch the maximum amount of sunlight and a veranda that offered a chance to pace and reflect or simply a splendid view of the Old City and the harbor beyond.
“Coryn!” Jaymes said, striding into the laboratory through the open door. She was standing with her back to him, her black hair fanned out across her shoulders, falling almost to her waist. Her white robe was, of course, immaculate-even when she worked with sooty components, shaping objects in clay and mud, blasting gouts of high heat through burners, she never seemed to get so much as a speck of debris on that robe.
Jaymes started across the room toward her and reached for her shoulder, but something in her still, rigid posture held his hand. He stopped, letting his arms fall to his sides.
“Coryn? The kender brought a summons… from you, he said.”
“Yes,” she replied, turning slowly to regard him. Coryn was a very beautiful woman-one of the two most beautiful women Jaymes had ever seen-but now her eyes were cold, her gorgeous cheekbones as white as though etched from ivory. “I did send for you. What took you so long to get here? We should have started working at dawn.”
His face didn’t betray how much her cold gaze unsettled him. “I rode through the city,” he explained. “It’s been a long time since the people of Palanthas have seen their lord marshal. But I came here directly. What’s the urgency?”
“I need your blood. Sit, there,” Coryn said, directing him to a chair beside a long wooden table.
He obeyed, watching her through narrowed eyes. “My blood? All of it or just a few drops?”
For the first time, her icy facade cracked with a flicker of emotion that made him think that she would rather enjoy taking all of his blood. But she merely shrugged and picked up a large glass vial. “I need to fill this up. You’ll find yourself a bit tired afterward, but with some rest and food, you’ll be back on your feet soon enough.”
Footsteps pounded down the hallway, and Moptop burst into the laboratory as Jaymes was taking a seat in the chair.
“I brought him right here, Lady! Just like you ordered. He wanted to go down to the wharf and look for crabs, but I told him he shouldn’t dilly-dally.”
“Well, thank you very much, Moptop. You are a very professional guide.”
“I myself brought Coryn here, all the way from the Icereach,” the kender said to Jaymes proudly, “back when she was a girl. I’m pretty good at guiding folks.”
“Now why don’t you guide your own way down to the docks. Have Rupert give you some coins so that you can buy some crab claws for dinner.”
“ Buy them? But they give them away! At least, I think they do!”
“Well, do me a personal favor and pay for them this time, all right?” Coryn urged, gently insistent.
“Well, all right.” The kender seemed more puzzled than disappointed, but he nevertheless rushed off to find Rupert.
Jaymes had been thinking. “All this fuss about my blood,” he mused. “It means that you’ve figured out a way to make the potion. The elixir you told me was impossible to make.”