He did have his athame, he never went anywhere without it, and the little vial of brimstone was still on his belt because he had never bothered to remove it, but he had no other magical ingredients, no Book of Spells. He was glad that he had happened to have boots on when he tumbled through the tapestry.
When he stopped speaking, he shivered; the night had turned cold. Despite the fire they had kept up, he felt a sudden strong chill. “What’s the date?” he asked, suddenly curious.
“The fourth of Snowfall,” Peren replied. “We’re having a warm spell, and the snows are late this year.”
“Snowfall?” Tobas stared at the flames. “That’s almost three months. Where have you been, all this time? Did you get over the mountains?”
“It’s late,” Peren said. He pulled a blanket from his pack and wrapped it about himself. “We all need sleep. You and your woman take the tent; I’ll stay out here.”
“But...”
“I’ll tell you in the morning,” Peren said. “Now, go get some sleep.”
Reluctantly, Tobas obeyed. Karanissa never stirred as he carried her into the tent.
CHAPTER 28
The sun was well up in the southeast when Tobas awoke, its light filtered by the leafy treetops.
Karanissa was still lying beside him, but her eyes were open, staring up at the light that seeped through the tent’s fabric. When she saw that he was awake, she turned and smiled at him. “We’re really out of the castle?”
“We really are,” he said, smiling in return.
“It’s hard to believe that after so long, I’m afraid I’ll wake up again and discover it’s all a dream. Even you — maybe this whole time with you is a dream.”
“Oh, it’s all real enough; come on out of the tent and I’ll show you.” He opened the flap, and sunlight streamed in.
“Oh!” Karanissa said. “It’s so bright!”
“It’s not so bad,” he said as he crawled out, blinking.
Karanissa followed him, one hand shielding her eyes. “That’s easy for you to say,” she retorted, “but I haven’t seen the sun in four hundred years!” She shivered. “And it’s cold, too.”
Tobas spotted Peren, sitting quietly on the far side of the remains of last night’s fire, stirring the ashes with a stick to get out the last bits of warmth. “Good morning!” he called.
Peren nodded acknowledgment, then stood up, brushing ash from his breeches. “We should get moving,” he said. “I’ve packed up everything but the tent, and I scratched out a stone for the grave. Derithon the Mage — that was the name?”
“Yes,” Tobas said.
“I thought so,” Peren replied, nodding. “Well, are we heading for Dwomor, or hadn’t you decided?”
“Dwomor, by way of the cottage where I left the tapestry. What’s your hurry, though?”
Peren stared at him for a moment, then said, “Tobas, today is the fifth of Snowfall, and we’re leagues away from anywhere, in the middle of the mountains. I don’t care to stay up here any longer than necessary; even if you and your witch can keep us from freezing, we would still starve if a real storm caught us here.”
“Oh,” Tobas replied sheepishly. “You’re right. What should I do?”
“You and she can eat breakfast while I pack up the tent,” Peren said, holding out a sewn pouch of dry salt beef. “I’m afraid it’s cold, but I didn’t want to waste time building another fire and then burying it again.”
“That’s all right,” Karanissa said. “I can warm it up.” She took the pouch and held it.
After a moment it began to steam; she ripped opened the pouch and handed a strip to Tobas.
They ate in silence while Peren took down the tent and folded it away. As he finished, Tobas remarked, “It’s too bad I hadn’t got as far as making a bottomless bag — Derithon had a spell for one in his book.”
“Well, you didn’t,” Peren said. “So you’ll have to carry half the supplies.”
“I can carry a share,” Karanissa interjected.
“All right, then, all the better; we’ll split them three ways. Let’s do that and get moving.”
Ten minutes later they were on their way south through the forest, toward the familiar path around the end of the great cliff, with Peren’s supplies divided more or less evenly. When they had walked far enough to settle into a comfortable rhythm, Tobas reminded Peren of his promise. “You said you’d tell me what happened to you these past three months,” he said.
Peren was silent, and Tobas added, “I thought you’d have rich clothes and servants by now, but that tunic you’re wearing is one of the ones you had when we met. I don’t even see your sword.”
Peren nodded. “I was robbed,” he said.
Tobas had thought that Peren had seemed more irritable, less pleasant, and even quieter than before and had suspected that he had had a hard time. “Tell me about it,” he said.
They marched on another dozen paces before Peren began. “I’m not the hunter I thought I was; after we split up, I didn’t catch much. Oh, I could hit what I aimed at — I am good with a sling — but finding anything to throw at is harder than I thought. I ate everything in my pack and only caught a couple of rabbits and once, when I was desperate, a chipmunk. I was hungry, really hungry, when I came down out of the mountains in Aigoa.”
“You did reach Aigoa, though?”
“Oh, yes. I came across cottages as soon as I was past the last of the true mountains, or maybe those hills are still mountains; I suppose it depends on how you look at it. I was past the last of the peaks that break the timber-line, put it that way.” He paused for a moment, remembering, then continued. “I was hungry. I stopped at the first cottage I found, the home of an old shepherd, and traded him a gold candlestick for a good dinner, a night’s lodging, a hearty breakfast, and some supplies to see me farther down the road. While I slept he helped himself to a few other things as well, my sword among them, but I was too weak to argue and grateful he didn’t just cut my throat and keep it all. I told myself that I would hire helpers and come back later for the rest if I needed it.”
“Did you come back?” Karanissa asked.
“No, of course not. After that I begged or stole what I needed and kept the bag hidden until I reached the trade road between Aigoa Castle and the Citadel of Amor. I found an inn and waited there until a caravan stopped in. That was, let me see, the twenty-eighth of Harvest, I think, that I reached the inn, and the last caravan of the season arrived on the third of Leafcolor. I had kept the innkeeper happy by working for my keep, cleaning stables and the like, and by showing him that jeweled box and telling him I’d pay my bill when I sold it to the traders.”
“Which box was it?” Karanissa asked, her voice wistful.
“It was made of white shell, with a gold latch and pearls at each corner.”
“Oh, well,” she said, resignedly, “I never cared for that one, anyway.”
“Just as well, lady. When the caravan arrived, I spoke to its master; he asked questions about where I had found the box and the other things I showed him, and I lied with every word I told him, I didn’t like his looks, but I was in no position to be choosy. The innkeeper wouldn’t wait much longer. The caravan master seemed to take it for granted that I had stolen it all somewhere, despite my story, but that didn’t seem to bother him much. Finally, we settled on a price, a hundred pieces of silver for everything I had left. It was easily worth twice that, I’d say, probably more, but I was in no position to bargain. So he counted out the coins, and I took them, and we went to our rooms for the night. And when I woke up, the money was gone.”
“Oh, I shouted, and I argued, and no one so much as offered a prayer of sympathy. I was just another penniless adventurer making big claims with nothing to back them up. The caravan packed up and left, saying they had a schedule to keep, and I stayed to search the inn and berate the innkeeper.”