The Vondish Ambassador

Chapter Twenty-Four

Emmis sat on the bed; Ithinia took the room’s only chair.

“At the dawn of time,” she began, “the universe, unable to contain so many opposed forces in its original compact form, tore itself in half. One piece became Heaven, home of the gods, the realm of light and...”

“I know this,” Emmis interrupted. “The gods in Heaven, demons in the Nethervoid, and the leftover bits in between formed the World. What does this have to do with Lumeth?”

“As we wizards tell the story, this middle realm wasn’t just left over; it was where the gods and demons collected the impurities they cast out of their own realms. All the good that had been in the Nethervoid was put here, and all the evil that had been in Heaven. Gods and demons watched as it all combined to form a new place, and were amazed to see it was possible for something to exist that was such a blending of light and dark, of good and evil — after all, hadn’t the universe itself just ripped apart because it couldn’t hold both? But this new creation didn’t show any sign of repeating that.”

“So they wanted to see what else it could do.”

“And they created people,” Emmis said. “Yes, I know. I learned all this when I was a baby.”

Ithinia calmly continued, “But the middle realm was such a mess, such a disorderly collection of cast-offs, that nothing could live in it.”

Emmis had been going to say more, but he stopped and closed his mouth. This wasn’t part of the traditional creation story.

“So the gods and demons used all the forces at their disposal to make it habitable — or at least make the part of it we call the World habitable. We don’t know how much they left a poisonous wasteland, but they raised up an immense plateau in the middle, where they divided land from water and cleansed the air above. And they did this using all the different powers that we now call magic — the power of the gods made the sun and set the cycles of days and years in motion, and the power of the demons made decay and death so that the World wouldn’t ever be overwhelmed by its inhabitants. They used the chaos outside the universe to make life — we call that kind of power wizardry. They used witchcraft and dance and song and all the other magics to get everything just as they wanted it.”

“Warlockry, too?” Emmis asked.

“No. Warlockry didn’t exist; it’s new. Which is why we weren’t sure at first it was really a kind of magic at all, when it appeared twenty-two years ago. It must have come from somewhere beyond the universe, somewhere in the chaos.”

“Oh.”

“So no, they didn’t use warlockry. But they did use sorcery. Sorcery draws on order the same way that wizardry draws on chaos, so the gods and demons used both, to keep a balance. They used sorcery to make air that could be breathed. The original gases that had covered the World were poisonous fumes; I’m told that if you go to the edge of the World and look over, you can still see them covering the wastelands below. They’re said to be greenish-yellow and very unpleasant.”

Emmis blinked. He had never heard of anything at all beyond the edge of the World.

“The thing about sorcery,” Ithinia said, “is that it uses talismans. That’s inherent in it; the power it uses, a force the sorcerers call gaja, must have a physical core, or it dissipates and stops doing whatever magic it’s supposed to be doing.”

“And the towers in Lumeth...”

“Are the talismans the gods and demons created more than five thousand years ago to make the World’s air breathable.”

Emmis stared at her for a long moment, then said, “Oh.”

“And the Wizards’ Guild has been guarding them for as long as the Guild has existed, to make sure that nobody is ever stupid enough to damage them. We like being able to breathe.”

“Oh,” Emmis said again.

“So now, if you don’t mind, just who is being stupid enough to risk sucking the air from the entire World and leaving it all a poisoned wasteland?”

“I can’t tell you,” he said.

She glared at him. “You do understand that if they’re destroyed, the air will be deadly poison here in Ethshar, don’t you? It won’t just affect the Small Kingdoms.”

“Yes, I understand that. I’m trying to think what I can tell you.”

“You’re working for the Vondish ambassador — is it Vond that’s planning to destroy the towers?”

“Vond went off to Aldagmor years ago.”

“Not the warlock, the empire.”

Emmis hesitated.

“It is, then,” Ithinia said, disgusted. “Why?”

“Well, I don’t know for certain that they’re going to try. I’m sure you could convince them not to.”

“Why would they even consider doing something so insane? And how do you know about it?”

“They... I’m not saying it’s the empire, all right? I never said that. But the people I’m talking about know there’s a source of magical power in Lumeth of the Towers and they want to destroy it so it can’t be used against them, and I think the source they’re looking for is the towers.”

“You think?”

Emmis sighed. “Yes. I was... a wizard was hired to identify the source, and said he couldn’t, because there’s magic interfering, so I asked a theurgist to tell me everything in Lumeth that had protective spells on it, because I thought that would narrow it down, and he told me that there are protective spells on their government palace, and on a tunnel the Cult of Demerchan uses, and on a few personal things like spell books, but most of all on the towers. They’ve got a lot of protective spells on them. So maybe this magic source is in the Demerchan tunnel, or in the palace, but I’d expect to find protective spells on those anyway, and it seems more likely that the mysterious power source is these gigantic sorcerous talismans. Which would explain why the source has been so hard to identify.”

Ithinia stared at him silently for a moment.

“A source of magical power, you said?”

“Yes.”

“The towers aren’t...” She stopped and frowned. After another moment of thoughtful silence she said, “If anyone asks, I cast a spell on you that forced you to tell me this. You resisted as best you could, but of course you were helpless against high-order wizardry.”

“Of course,” Emmis quickly agreed.

“I won’t deny it. Just as well if everyone thinks we have such a spell handy, and that we’re ruthless enough to use it on innocent bystanders.”

Emmis blinked, hesitated, then asked, “Don’t you have such a spell?”

“Not really, no. I wish we did. We have a few spells that could get answers to specific questions, but they aren’t entirely reliable. Witches are much better at that sort of thing, but I’m never going to tell anyone the Wizards’ Guild had to ask witches for help.” She sighed. “Though if you stop cooperating, I will ask a witch for help. Which would be awkward for all of us.”

“I’m trying to cooperate, but I promised never to reveal certain things, and it’s understood that if certain people learn them my life is forfeit.”

“Am I one of those people?”

“No, but... no, you aren’t. But I’m not sure I want to trust my life to you; I hardly know you.”

Ithinia smiled crookedly. “I can understand that. If you think about it, though, you’re already trusting your life to me, just by being here. I’m the senior Guildmaster in this city; if you died here, or simply disappeared from this house never to be seen again, nothing would be done about it.”

Emmis bit his lower lip. The wizard was speaking the truth, and he knew it.

“Is there anything more you can tell me? For example, why does someone think there’s a source of magical power in Lumeth in the first place?”

“They know it’s there. It’s been used.”

“I am clearly going to need to have some long conversations with His Excellency.”

So much, Emmis thought, for his job as Lar’s aide. That hadn’t lasted long — four days [Note to self: check chronology for second draft], was it? Four very busy days, but still, just four days. He sighed. The lie about an enchantment might save his life, as he didn’t think Lar was a bloodthirsty man and Ithinia wasn’t a warlock, but his job was as good as gone.

“So this magic — was it Vond who used it? Was that how he became so powerful before the Calling took him?”

Emmis stared at her, not answering, not even refusing to answer, but just sitting on the bed.

“And someone’s worried it will be used again? But why would the Empire be worried about that? They’re the ones who know how it’s done.”

Emmis turned to look at the window, to make it harder for the wizard to read his expression.

Ithinia leaned back in her chair and folded her hands behind her head. “Ah, but the actual source is in Lumeth of the Towers, you said. Which Vond never conquered. So maybe whoever or whatever stopped him is still there, and the Empire is afraid it will emerge and undo everything Vond did. Maybe that’s it, and it wasn’t Vond’s power source at all.”

The clouds seemed to be thinning, Emmis thought; the sky outside the window was brighter than before. The sun was starting to break through.

“But... is it a war with Lumeth they’re worried about? Is that why the Lumethans are hiring assassins, because they’re expecting a war? That’s not what Ildirin told me.”

Emmis decided he could respond to this. “The Lumethans think Lar came to Ethshar to hire magicians for the Empire to use against Lumeth, and they wanted him dead before he could do that,” he said.

“Did he come to Ethshar to hire magicians for the Empire to use against Lumeth?”

“No. At least, not that way; the Empire doesn’t want a war. But Lumeth and Ashthasa don’t believe that.”

“The Small Kingdoms have a code against using magic to fight their wars. And Vond broke that code, so they think his Empire is outside all law and custom, even with Vond himself gone.”

“I think that’s it, yes.”

“How do you know Lar hasn’t lied to you, and the Lumethans aren’t right?”

Emmis stammered, then turned up his empty palms. “I believe him,” he said.

“But you have no proof.”

“No. But everything he’s told me makes sense, more sense than the idea that the Empire wants to hire magicians to conquer all its neighbors.”

“So the Lumethans think the Vondish are planning to invade with magical aid, while the Vondish think the Lumethans are going to use magic against them. Is that right?”

“I... I think you should ask the ambassador.”

“I will. But I’d like to have it straight in my own mind first. It’s always more impressive if I already know the answers, and appearing impressive is part of my job as Guildmaster.”

Emmis decided not to reply to that.

“So the source of this dangerous magic is in Lumeth,” Ithinia continued, staring at her guest. “And the Vondish want to destroy it so it can’t be used against them, which seems to imply they can’t use it or control it themselves, while the Lumethans — they don’t know about it, do they? Or they would use it, and they wouldn’t be worried about the ambassador hiring a bunch of journeymen from the Wizards’ Quarter.”

“I don’t know whether they would really use it,” Emmis ventured.

“They’re hiring assassins here in Ethshar. They’d use it.”

“Well, maybe.”

“And you think the source of this magic is the Towers.”

“Yes.”

“So it could be sorcery. Maybe there’s a way to use the Towers as a weapon? Poison the air, perhaps?” She frowned. “I never heard of anything like that happening in Vond’s wars of conquest, though. So perhaps it isn’t sorcery. Wizardry, then? Is there some way of turning the spells protecting the Towers into a weapon?” She shook her head. “I can’t see how that would work.”

“Fendel’s Assassin defended me from an attacker,” Emmis pointed out. “Spells can work in ways that aren’t obvious.”

“You’re talking to a master wizard, boy. Don’t teach a fish to swim. I know most of the spells on the Towers, and I can’t see how any of them would apply.”

“Oh.”

“And of course, Vond was a warlock. He had other magicians with him in Semma, two wizards, three witches, and a theurgist, but he was a warlock. So was...” She stopped. She stared at Emmis for a moment, then lifted her gaze to the ceiling. She unfolded her hands and lowered her gaze again.

“That’s what you can’t tell me, isn’t it?” she said. “That was how Vond became so powerful. He found a way to use some of the magic from the Towers for warlockry. So the Vondish are worried that if he could do it, other warlocks could, too. And they don’t have any way to control them. The certain people who mustn’t find out aren’t just the Lumethans — it’s the warlocks. Because if they didn’t go conquering empires and building palaces out of bedrock and tearing up the edge of the World, they could live there for years without being Called.”

Emmis grimaced. “That enchantment you put on me — it’s a very powerful one, right? I never stood a chance.”

“Oh, absolutely, my poor child. You couldn’t possibly have resisted.” Ithinia got to her feet. “Why didn’t the Empire just outlaw warlocks, then? Oh, because that wouldn’t look right when Vond, their founder, had been a warlock. It would just serve to notify Lumeth and Ashthasa that something was up.”

“Guildmaster? Why do you keep secret what the Towers really are?”

“Oh, it’s not exactly secret,” Ithinia said. “We just don’t advertise it. We don’t want people prying at them. Yes, I see the similarity — if you don’t want to draw attention to something, you don’t make it a forbidden mystery, you just don’t mention it. All the same, I think I’ll want to have a word with the chairman of the Council of Warlocks, whoever it is at the moment, and remind him that the southern Small Kingdoms are a bad place for warlocks, and anyone fleeing the Calling should look to the west instead.”

“That would be... I think the ambassador would appreciate that.”

“I’m sure he would. I’ll tell him about it. Right now, though, I think you should go back to your place in Allston and pack a few things.”

“Pack... what?” Emmis blinked. “Oh, I think Lar will give me time to find a new place back in Shiphaven.”

“Shiphaven? We aren’t going to Shiphaven.”

“What? Then... ’we?’ Where are we going? Who is ’we’?”

“You, and Lord Ildirin as the representative of the Hegemony of the Three Ethshars, and His Excellency representing the Empire of Vond, and me, representing the Wizards’ Guild, and I think we’ll need to track down those spies you met, Annis the Merchant and the three Lumethans, and bring them along.”

“Along where?”

“To Lumeth of the Towers, of course.” She smiled at him, and touched the ancient dagger she wore on her belt. “And maybe to Ashthasa and Semma, as well.”

“But — why? I don’t understand.”

“It’s simple enough,” she said. “The Wizards’ Guild guards the Towers, and the enmity between Vond and Lumeth threatens them. Therefore, the Guild will put an end to that enmity, even if it means wiping out every living soul on both sides.”

Emmis’s mouth fell open.

“Come downstairs now. We have an ultimatum to deliver.” She opened the door and stood waiting for him.