"And in Semma, Vond got headaches because of a horrible buzzing in his head that never stopped. Can't you guess what happened?"
"No." Emmis had an uneasy suspicion where this was going, but he wanted it spelled out.
"Vond discovered he could draw power from the hum, instead of from the whisper. And he thought he could use all the power he wanted without worrying about the Calling, because the buzz didn't have any words or images in it, it was just this constant flow of energy he could tap into."
A second source of magic that warlocks could use – that was a secret worth worrying about, Emmis had to admit. But it still didn't seem all that terrible. "But he got Called eventually, didn't he?"
Lar nodded. "Yes. Eventually he used so much magic, and grew so powerful, that the whisper could get at him right through the buzz. But the buzz, or hum, or whatever it is, never tried to affect him."
That would make it more appealing for a warlock, certainly. "Was this hum coming from Aldagmor, too?"
Lar shook his head. "No," he said. "We think it comes from Lumeth of the Towers."
This was beginning to fit together. "So you really do want to conquer Lumeth, to control this power source?"
"Gods and demons, no!" Lar said. "Didn't you hear me tell you that we don't want any warlocks in the Empire? We don't want to control this second Source.
"We want to destroy it."
Chapter Fourteen
Emmis ambled along High Street, mulling over what Lar had told him.
It all made sense, really. Vond the Great Warlock had been as much a menace to his own people as to anyone else, and the Imperial Council really didn't want anyone taking his place. They liked being in power, with no emperor to answer to – apparently Lord Sterren, the Regent, was an easy master to deal with.
So they didn't want any warlocks in the Empire, and most particularly they didn't want any warlocks who might be able to hear the Lumeth Source, as well as the Aldagmor one. That explained why Lar had gone to see Ishta, why he had asked what kept warlocks out of Vond.
They wanted to know exactly what and where the second Source was, so they could destroy it. And they didn't want any warlocks to know anything about it, because they assumed, with reason, that warlocks would want access to this second source.
The Source in Aldagmor was obviously more immediately dangerous; everyone near it had simply vanished on the Night of Madness. Apparently they had all heard the Calling, man, woman, and child. A little farther away there had been survivors initially, but they had all become warlocks, and were either murdered by frightened neighbors, or Called not long after. Even now, anyone venturing too deeply into that area would be Called, even if he or she had not been a warlock. The southeastern half of Aldagmor was now uninhabited, as a result.
Lumeth wasn't depopulated. There were no warlocks there. There were no areas where people vanished, or where people acquired magical powers. It wasn't obvious exactly where the second Source was, or how Vond had been able to "hear" it when no one else had.
So Lar had asked Kolar where Vond's "hum" originated – and Kolar hadn't been able to tell him.
Lar was interested in where one might hire thugs and murderers because the Empire might want to hire a few and send them into Lumeth to smash that mysterious source, wherever and whatever it actually was.
He was also worried that the Lumethans might have found out that they had an immensely powerful source of magic in their country, and might be looking for ways to use it against the Empire. The Empire was just as worried that Lumeth might invade them as the Lumethans were worried that the Empire might invade them. That the Empire had at least a dozen times the population really wouldn't matter if the Lumethans learned how to use that magical power.
That was one reason Lar had insisted Emmis return to the Crooked Candle – to find out anything he could that might tell them what the Lumethans knew, or didn't know.
That was pretty much all that Lar had actually told him, but Emmis thought he had picked up hints that there was another element at work. He remembered that Lar had said there had been two warlocks in Semma since the Night of Madness, and there had been vague implications that Lord Sterren took a personal interest in this whole situation.
Emmis could see two ways this might work. Lord Sterren might be the second warlock, and hiding it, or he might know who the second warlock was and be afraid of what he or she might do. The second warlock might be a family member, or a close friend, or a sworn enemy – or perhaps the princess Sterren was reportedly planning to marry.
If it was Sterren himself who was a warlock, would he really want the Lumeth power source destroyed?
He might; after all, Vond had come to a bad end.
But if he had the same sort of unchecked magical power Vond had had, why didn't he use it? Why keep it concealed? Was he that afraid of the Calling?
Or was he, perhaps, that frightened of the Wizards' Guild, which had forbidden magicians to hold high office?
That made sense. And if the Lumeth source was destroyed, well, Vond was so far from Aldagmor that he'd hardly be a warlock at all, would he?
It could be any of those; Lar hadn't said, and Emmis didn't know. Lar might not know either, for that matter. Emmis did believe, though, that Lar intended to track down the Lumeth source and see that it was destroyed.
Emmis thought that was probably a good idea. He was no geographer, but if there was a previously-unknown and unused source of warlockry in Lumeth of the Towers, its range presumably extended in all directions, just as the one in Aldagmor did. Lumeth of the Towers was northwest of Semma and the Empire of Vond.
And Ethshar of the Spices was northwest of Lumeth. Emmis was not at all sure of the distances involved, but he thought it was possible that the Lumeth source might be entirely too close for comfort if warlocks all learned how to use it.
Better for all concerned if no warlocks ever heard about it.
He turned from High Street onto Commerce Street, and noticed a few interesting shops – the house in Allston really did need more furniture, and kitchen supplies, as well as ordinary things like candles, lamps, and oil.
Perhaps he would go back by way of Bargain Street, rather than High, and see what he could find. Then at least this entire trip wouldn't be wasted.
The truth was that he did not expect to find anything useful in Shiphaven. He was sure his belongings must have been stolen; if they hadn't been he would almost be disappointed, as it would mean the thieves of Ethshar were not living up to their reputation. And surely, the foreigners must have all fled by now, and there would be nothing worth learning at the Crooked Candle.
But Lar had sent him to check, so he would check. He was being paid to do what he was told.
He pushed quickly through Canal Square without stopping to look at any of the merchandise on display. This was not much of a market; the better goods wound up in Shiphaven Market or the shops of the Old Merchants' Quarter, and Canal Square got the leftovers, the bits of this and that that had been discarded by the successful merchants and salvaged by scavengers, the items pilfered from cabins and cargo holds by sailors, the things that thieves had been unable to fence elsewhere.
It occurred to Emmis when he was three blocks down Twixt Street that perhaps he would have found some of his own former possessions offered for sale there – most of what he had had was not likely to bring any real money, which meant it was just the sort of merchandise that someone might try to sell for a few bits in Canal Square.
Well, it wasn't worth turning back at this point. He strode on, across Shiphaven Market, past the farmers, fishmongers, and recruiters, into Commission Street.
And there he stopped, twenty yards from the Crooked Candle.
There were guards at the inn door, two of them, trying to look casual, as if they just happened to be lounging there.