Bride of the Castle

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

In the next village he found two days' work sweeping out a cobbler's shop. The cobbler gave him some scrap leather to sell, which brought enough to consult a philosopher. Rance needed all the philosophical help he could get.

Thus the sign read.

The place was stuffed with old furniture and curios. Rance picked his way to the rear and rang a small silver bell. Nothing happened for a long moment.

Then a white-haired, hook-nosed man of middle age came out from behind a tattered curtain and took a seat behind the counter.

"Something I can put over on you?"

"I have a problem."

The man-Benarus, presumably-took off his spectacles and wiped them with a dirty white cloth. "Most people do. Of what sort is yours?"

"I have a curse on me."

The little man's dark eyes widened. "Curse, is it? What sort of curse, and how did you come by it?"

"The bad-luck sort, good for a lifetime. I came by it in the valley of the Zinites."

Benarus nodded. "Ah, I've heard of those. Good luck to you."

Rance grimaced. "Is that all you have to offer?"

Benarus's eyes narrowed. "Are you of noble birth?"

"I am."

Benarus looked him over. "So the curse works all too well."

"Well enough."

The philosopher.got up. "Let's see what the stars portend for you. Perhaps we can see a way clear to abrogating the curse. But I warn you, it will cost."

"I have very little."

Benarus stroked his beard. "Your estate?"

"It soon will be in receivership."

Benarus shrugged. "Then, I am afraid…"

Rance laid three silver pieces on the worn wooden counter. "Are these worth a sidereal analysis of my plight?"

Benarus scooped them up. "They will have to do, for the moment. If the curse comes off and your fortunes take an upturn, more will be expected. Much more."

"In that case, more will be forthcoming," Rance said.

"That's what they all say. Come back."

Benarus led the way through the curtain and into a small room. Star charts lined the walls. Sundry odd instruments occupied a table to the rear. A larger table stood in the middle of the room. On it lay maps, charts, books, and other scholarly apparatus.

"It is strange," Rance said as he took a seat, "that all depends on the heavens."

"All power derives from the universe at large," Benarus said.

"But the natural philosophy in use down here-"

"Is but a transform of universal forces. Be quiet and let me get started."

After asking Rance his birth date and questioning him about the circumstances of his upbringing, Benarus busied himself among books, maps, and charts. Rance looked around the room. Scholarly things put him off. He had been bred to regard such activity as beneath men of quality. At the same time he secretly held learned men in high regard, even envy.

Benarus worked in silence. Rance became bored and studied patterns in the carpet.

"Wait just a damned minute here." Benarus wiped off his glasses, put them on, and reapplied a compass to a set of coordinates on a chart.

"Gods. It can't be." Benarus jumped to his feet.

Alarmed, Rance rose. "What is it?"

"Run!"

"Why?"

"Get out of my way!" Benarus pushed past him and fled through the curtain.

Rance followed him outside. He was not a second too early.

It appeared in the sky first as a star, then as a bright moving comet, then as a ball of flame. When it hit Benarus's house it demolished it, scattering the flinders all over town.

Benarus got up and brushed himself off. He put his hands on his hips and stared at the flaming ruins of his business and his abode. He cursed vilely, colorfully, and well. Then, turning on Rance, he said, "Of all the philosophers in all the towns in Merydion, you have pick my shop to walk into!"

"What was it?"

"I'll show you."

Benarus led him through the smoking wreckage of his shop and home. Rance put out a hand to ward off the heat.

Benarus pointed to a pit, newly formed, at the center of which lay a twisted mass of red-hot metal. "There. See? A metal-bearing sky-stone. When the air burns the stone, iron is yielded." He turned on Rance. "I hope you're satisfied!"

"I am not satisfied," Rance said.

"As to your damnable curse," said Benarus, "the only way you will get away from it is to leave the Earth! Do you hear me? Leave the Earth-forever!''

"Do you have a spell that could do that?"

Benarus said, "Eh?"

"A spell that could transport me to another world. Perhaps one where the sky-stone came from. Are there not other worlds than ours? On some far star, perhaps?"

Benarus scratched his head. "Perhaps. No telling, really. But as to sending you there… Gods damn it, you caused my house and home to be destroyed! You're cursed! Get away from me!"

Rance edged closer to him, menacingly. "I'll stick like dung to your shoe."

Cringing, the philosopher backed away. "What? Get lost, you walking catastrophe!"

"Walk? That I shall certainly do. I'll dog your every step until you help me."

"Why me?" Benarus wailed. "What in the name of the gods can I do?"

"You're a natural philosopher, a wizard. You can figure something out to counteract this curse."

"But it's hopeless! The Zinites were powerful magicians. You should have heeded the warnings, practiced safe grave-robbing, whatever."

"I'll make camp right over there," Rance said, pointing to an empty field across the road. "You can't do anything about it. And there I'll stay. Next it might be an earthquake."

Benarus sneered. "Heaven forfend, I'd hate to have my rubble bounced."

"Or a plague."

Benarus sobered. "Plague?"

"Or locusts. Or any other disaster. The only thing you can do is abrogate this curse!"

"But it's impossible. I-"

"Is that a boil on your forearm?"

Benarus looked. "What? Oh, that, I hadn't noticed… ye gods."

"Yes, looks like a case of the creeping flux."

"Damn! Here's another one." Benarus lifted the edge of his tunic. "My legs!"

"Bad luck."

Benarus scowled at him. "I have a question. Why does this curse never seem to bring bad luck to you personally?"

"The dead can have no luck, good or bad."

"I see. Not only is this curse cruel, it's manifestly unjust! Only the innocent suffer."

"Life's a bother, is it not?"

"And then you get married. All right! You have me by the short hairs. I will do my best to rid you of your curse and me of your miserable company."

Benarus suddenly looked thoughtful. Rance asked, "Something?"

"That sky-stone could be the answer. Celestial magic is powerful. Too bad the Earth sets up interference."

Rance suddenly had a thought. "Could sky magic be worked in a place that was partially shielded from the Earth's influence?"

"Yes, I suppose. But where would one find such a place?"

Rance surveyed the ruins. "Your barn has survived almost intact. Have you a cart and an animal to pull it?"

Benarus nodded, then eyed his tormentor suspiciously. "What exactly is going through that strange mind of yours?"