The Sorcerer of the North

21

Alyss swept toward the gray-gowned castle lord, ignoring Will. "Lord Orman," she said, "it is so good of you to shelter me for these next few weeks!" She held out her hand, palm downward, to Orman, leaving him in no doubt as to whom she considered to be more senior in rank.

Orman grudgingly bent over the hand and brushed his lips to it. "Weeks, my lady?" he said. "I thought it was a matter of a few days? A week at most?"

"But surely not!" Alyss recoiled a little at his gaucherie. "The roads to my fiance's castle are thick with snow and I have heard that there are wolves and bears in this countryside! I cannot possibly progress further until the roads clear-anxious as I am to be with my beloved Lord Farrell. Surely, Lord Orman, you would not begrudge me the hospitality promised by your poor dear father."

Orman was trapped. It was interesting, Will thought, how the noble pecking order worked. Sour and ill-mannered as he might be, and a potential murderer to boot, Orman was overwhelmed by Alyss's presumption of superior rank.

"Of course not, Lady Gwendolyn! he said. It was a mere inquiry, nothing more."

But Gwendolyn had already dismissed him and was staring at Will as if he were some kind of inferior insect.

"And whom do we have here?" she asked, arching one eyebrow.

"A jongleur, my lady, arrived only a day ago himself."

"Does this jongleur have a name?" she replied, her gaze fixing on Will. He hesitated. It was Orman's place to introduce him. Someone of common rank could not initiate a conversation with a noblewoman such as Gwendolyn. As he watched the byplay between the two, Will was immensely impressed by her ability to play the role she had taken.

"Will Barton, my lady," said Orman. By having him introduce Will to her, she had reinforced her superior rank once again. Will bowed deeply.

"At your service, my lady," he said. Alyss studied him thoughtfully, one elbow cupped in her hand while her long, elegant fingers stroked her cheek.

"Are you a skilled performer, Will Barton?"

Will glanced sidelong at Orman. "I am a simple entertainer, my lady," he said.

Orman shook his head disparagingly. "Folk songs and country ditties are his limit, I'm afraid, my lady. Hardly what you would call one of the higher rank."

"Folk songs?" Alyss said, and broke into a shrill little laugh. "What fun! Very well, jongleur, you may attend me in my suite in an hour's time. Perhaps your ditties can help me forget the misery of separation from my beloved." She glanced at Orman. "I trust you have no objection, Orman?"

Orman shrugged. "None at all, my lady," he said. "Please avail yourself of all our facilities."

Will's eyebrow shot up. So he was a "facility," was he? Fortunately, he had his expression under control again before Orman noticed. The castle lord's attention was fully occupied by Alyss, as she forged on with her superb impression of an overbearing noblewoman.

"Then perhaps you could have your kitchen deliver a light meal to my rooms as well, Orman?" she said. "I'm tired and hungry after my travels through this dismal countryside of yours. You may present your household to me tomorrow, but for the remainder of the day I prefer to rest."

Orman bowed. "Of course, my lady." Really, thought Will, there was little else he could say. He realized that Alyss was looking at him once more.

"But before I retire, there are one or two things we might discuss, Orman…" she said meaningfully, and Orman took up her cue.

He made a covert shooing gesture to Will. "Very well, Barton, you may go. We'll continue our discussion another time."

Will bowed deeply. "Lady Gwendolyn, my lord," he said, and backed toward the door. They ignored him, which was only fitting, as Orman ushered Alyss to a chair.

"Remember, jongleur," she called imperiously as Will reached the door, "my rooms in an hour. I may not be ready for you then, so you may have to wait, but be there anyway."

Will bowed again. "Of course, my lady," he said.

As he exited, he heard her saying breathlessly to Orman: "Now, Orman, you must tell me what ails your poor dear father! Is there anything I can do to help?"

Xander eased the heavy door closed behind Will before he could hear Orman's reply.

As befitted her assumed rank, Alyss was traveling with a sizeable retinue. A chamberlain, two maids and half a dozen men-at-arms made up the group. The soldiers were accommodated in the castle dormitory while Alyss and the others occupied a large suite in the keep tower. Will presented himself in her anteroom at the appointed time. He wasn't sure what to expect, not knowing how many of Alyss's party were aware of her true identity. The chamberlain greeted him coolly and motioned him to a seat.

"The Lady Gwendolyn said you are to wait," he said loftily. He glanced at the instrument case as Will set it down. "Brought your lute, have you?"

Will took a breath, preparatory to speaking, then decided to give up. If the entire population of the world wanted to assume he played a lute, who was he to disabuse them? The chamberlain had lost interest in him and disappeared into an inner room, leaving him alone.

Several castle servants came and went while Alyss kept him waiting at least half an hour. He realized that the delay was totally in keeping with the character she was playing-lords and ladies rarely gave any thought to lesser beings whom they might keep waiting but he felt she was overdoing it just a little. Finally the chamberlain reemerged and beckoned him in.

"The Lady Gwendolyn is ready for you now," he said. Will muttered under his breath. A keen listener might have made out the words "Not before damn time," but the chamberlain seemed to hear nothing.

He followed the other man into the large sitting room. Alyss was standing by the window, her face a mask until the chamberlain closed the heavy door behind them. Then her mouth widened into a warm smile and she came forward to take his hands in hers, brushing soft lips against his cheek.

"Will," she said softly, "how wonderful to see you again!"

His annoyance evaporated instantly and he returned the pressure of her hands.

"I couldn't agree more," he said. "But what on earth brings you here?"

Alyss looked surprised. "I'm your contact," she said. "Didn't Halt tell you?"

He stepped back, confused. "He said it would be someone I'd recognize. I had no idea it would be you. I had no idea that you…" He hesitated, not sure how to proceed. Alyss laughed softly. It was her natural laugh, not the shrill neigh of self-amusement she assumed as Lady Gwendolyn.

"You had no idea I got involved in this sort of cloak-and-dagger business?" she said. When he nodded, she smiled and continued. "Well, you've seen my dagger. Did you think Couriers simply carry messages around the kingdom?"

He smiled in return. "Well… yes, as a matter of fact. But then, this is my first assignment like this."

She released his hands and became businesslike all of a sudden. "We're wasting time. I'll explain more later. But first, we need to hear you play."

That startled him. "Hear me play?" he said, and she nodded quickly, gesturing to the instrument case.

"Your mandola. It is a mandola, isn't it?" she added, and he nodded. Somehow, he wasn't surprised that Alyss could name it correctly. He unstrapped the fastenings, still puzzled. He realized that the chamberlain had moved a little closer and was watching carefully as Will adjusted the tuning. He strummed a chord.

"Just the instrument. Don't bother to sing," Alyss said.

Frowning, Will began the introduction to Wallerton Mountain. The chamberlain drew closer, his head to one side, listening intently. Alyss's eyes were fixed on the man. After sixteen bars or so of the old folk tune, he looked up at her and nodded briefly and she gestured for Will to stop. Still puzzled, he played the last few notes and frowned a question. In a low voice, she gestured to the chamberlain.

"Give the mandola to Max," she said. "He'll play while we talk."

Understanding dawned as Will passed the instrument to the older man. Max took it and, without any of the usual retuning or fiddly adjustments that most musicians undertook when they borrowed another's instrument, he began playing immediately. Will realized that the man was copying his own style exactly. There was the occasional thwarted note in the lower range, and the slight hesitation as he moved up the neck for treble arpeggios-faults that Will was constantly at pains to correct.

Alyss drew him to one side, closer to the window but not so close that they could be seen from outside.

"Now we can talk," she said, "while any eavesdroppers will hear the jongleur serenading that stuck-up twit, Lady Gwendolyn."

"Who dreamed up Lady Gwendolyn, by the way?" he asked her. Alyss shook her head.

"Oh, she's real enough. A bit of an intellectual lightweight, but terribly loyal. When we found that she had arranged to travel here this month, she agreed to allow me to take her place. It was an ideal situation, really. She'd been invited to winter here by Lord Syron before all this business began. Orman could hardly go against his father's offer of hospitality. I spent days practicing her half-witted giggle, you know," she added.

Will smiled. "Is all this really necessary?" he said, indicating Max, now stumbling slightly over the introduction to Heart of the Wildwood. Alyss shrugged.

"Maybe not. But we can't be sure who might be listening or watching and it's better to assume that someone is. That's why I felt I should keep you waiting-sorry about that."

He shrugged the apology away. What she said made sense. He recalled the castle servants who had seen him in the anteroom. Any of them could be reporting to Orman right now. He glanced at Max.

"He's very good," he said, then amended the statement, "I mean, he's very good at being bad." He grinned. "Do I really sound as bad as that?"

Alyss touched his hand. "Oh, come on. You're not so bad. But we couldn't have him playing like a virtuoso and expect people to believe it was you. Now tell me, what have you found out so far?"

Will shook his head. "Not a lot that we don't already know. The entire countryside is terrified all right. Nobody will talk. I haven't seen Syron, but Orman seems like a nasty piece of work altogether."

Alyss nodded. "I agree. Did you notice the books on his desk?" she said. Will shook his head and she continued. "Spells and Incantations was one. Wizardry and the Black Art was another. There were more but they were the only two titles I could make out."

Will nodded, understanding. "That explains the gaps on the shelves in the library," he said.

Alyss sat on a two-seat settle, tucking her feet up under her Will found it a particularly appealing motion. "What about the cousin? Keren?" she asked. "Have you met him?"

"Just once. He seems like a good man to have around. Straightforward. No-nonsense. And there's no love lost between him and Orman. Orman virtually warned me to stay away from him just before you arrived," he added. Alyss's face took on a thoughtful expression.

"So it might be awkward for you to make further contact with him?" she said. Will nodded and she continued. "Perhaps I could do it. I suppose it would be in character for Lady Gwendolyn to flirt with him-particularly since he's beneath her in rank. That way she could be sure nothing would come of it."

Will was a little surprised to find that he didn't like that idea too well. Keren was good-looking, friendly, and, he assumed, would be attractive to women with his open, easygoing manner. He realized that Alyss was smiling at him, as if she could read his thoughts.

"It'd only be Lady Gwendolyn doing the flirting, Will," she said. "And she is betrothed to be married, so it would amount to nothing as I said."

She might be betrothed but you're not, Will thought to himself. Then he shook away the sour thought. Alyss was only doing her job, he realized.

Alyss continued. "I've left a man outside the village you came through, in case we need to contact Halt and Crowley. He's camped in the woods there with half a dozen message pigeons if we have anything to report."

Will cleared his throat nervously. "Actually, there is something I think we should let them know," he said. Alyss paused and looked him curiously. He hesitated, knowing that what he was going to say would sound ridiculous, then went ahead anyway.

"Last night, I saw the Night Warrior in Grimsdell Wood."