Tower of Doom

Seventeen

Mika stood before the mirror in her chamber in the Black Boar, clad once more in the baron's gift-a gown of lavender silk. By this she knew she was defeated. Shame, sorrow, guilt-all these things seemed to evaporate like mist in the heat of her desire for Caidin. He owned her now, utterly. Mika loathed herself for this. Yet even worse, she still wanted Caidin-more than ever. Leaving the inn, she picked her way through the muck toward the gilded carriage that waited to deliver her into sweet imprisonment.

"Milady!" a voice called behind her. "Milady, please wait!"

Mika turned in surprise. A young woman dashed down the muddy street, coming to a breathless halt before her.

"Begging your pardon, milady, but it's my grand- mama." Worry was written clearly across the peasant woman's flushed face. "She's terribly ill."

Slowly, Mika shook her head. "I'm… I'm sorry. I was-"

"Please, milady." The young woman rung her hands desperately. "Please, won't you come?"

Mika opened her mouth wordlessly, casting a look of longing at the waiting carriage. Finally, realizing that she could not turn the disconsolate young woman away, she nodded. Moments later, she followed the peasant woman-whose name was Lillen-through the main room of a neatly scrubbed cottage.

"She is in the back chamber, milady. This way. She barricaded the door, but Elgar-that's my husband, milady-Elgar removed the hinges. She was very adamant in her wish not to see a healer."

From the back room came the crash of something breaking, followed by a shrill cry. "Leave me be, Elgar! And put my door back on, do you hear?" A peasant man, so young his beard was little more than fuzz, dashed out of the room, ducking to avoid a small clay vase that flew through the open door, way. It hit the far wall and shattered.

The young man gave his wife a chagrined look. "It appears your grandmama is feeling better, Lillen."

"She certainly seems to have a strong arm," Mika noted dryly. Carefully, she peered into the back room.

"I see as usual my granddaughter has ignored my wishes."

Startled, Mika realized that what she had at first thought only to be a small heap of rumpled blankets on the bed by the window was in fact a tiny, shriveled woman. She blended well with the threadbare bedclothes. Only her eyes stood out. They were bright as polished stones, shining with sharp intelligence.

Mika cleared her throat. "You granddaughter has told me that you require a doctor."

The old woman snorted. "My granddaughter says all sorts of foolish things. I am sorry you made the trip here, milady, but I have no use for a doctor. I am dying, that's all."

"Grandmama!" Lillen gasped in protest, but a flick of the old woman's piercing eyes made her shut up.

Mika nodded gravely. "Do you mind if I come in for a moment all the same?"

The old woman threw up her arms in defeat. "Oh, very well." She glared at the young couple, who clutched each other in concern. "But you two stay out!"

As Elgar led a sobbing Lillen back to the main room, Mika sat on the edge of the bed and opened her black satchel. The ol‹} woman grudgingly revealed her name-lrsyla. After several minutes of silent examination Mika leaned back, her expression solemn.

"You are dying, lrsyla. But it is not from an illness. You're just very old, and your body is worn out."

"A fact of which I am well aware. But try telling that to those two young ninnies out there."

Mika laughed gently. "They only love you, you know."

Irsyla's expression softened. "I know, milady. I love them dearly as well. But I am tired. I have lived a long, good life. Now it is time for me to sleep."

Mika smiled warmly at her patient. "I'll leave some herbs for a tea your granddaughter can brew. It has no medicinal purposes that I know of, but it tastes nice, and it might make Lillen feel that she's doing something to help." lrsyla reached out to grip her arm in thanks. It was then that Mika noticed that the old woman's hand was missing two of its fingers.

"How did this happen?" Mika asked with a doctor's curiosity, feeling the old woman's hand. lrsyla snatched her arm back. "I do not think you wish to know that, milady." There was an ominous tone to the old woman's voice.

Mika looked up in surprise. "Why do you say that?"

Irsyla's eyes glittered sharply. "Why? Because you wear a gown that belongs to him even now, milady. And I have seen you through my window, riding in the gilded carriage to his keep."

"Baron Caidin?" Mika's heart skipped a beat. "You mean the baron did this to you?"

The old woman slowly shook her head. "Not this baron, milady. The Old Baron."

"Tell me."

At last the old woman sighed. "I had thought to take the tale to my grave. I have never told it to anyone. Not even Lillen. But perhaps it is right that you hear it." Irsyla went on in a low voice. "In my younger days, I was the village's midwife. I helped the young come into this world, and to draw their first breaths. But all that ended more than thirty years ago."

"What happened?"

"It was a dark midwinter's night. Two of the Old Baron's knights barged through the door of my cottage to tell me I was needed at the keep. They hardly gave me a chance to gather my things before bundling me into a carriage and hauling me up the tor. There I discovered that, not one, but two women were caught in the throes of labor, sharing the same birthing chamber. One was the Old Baron's wife, the baroness. The other was his mistress, a beautiful woman by the name of Kylene, whom some whispered was a witch. The baroness delivered her child first. It was a son, and at this news the Old Baron was joyous. As I examined the child, I could see that it was not well formed. Its limbs were ill-proportioned, its spine curved. The Old Baron flew into a rage. He might have throttled the child there and then, but the baroness clutched the infant to her breast.

"Moments later, Kylene gave birth. Her child was also a son, but this infant was strong and bonny like his father. It was then that the Old Baron concocted a foul scheme. 'I will not have a cripple for an heir,' he

Alone in her bedchamber, she studied her naked form in the mirror. Now there were dozens of the hand-shaped blotches all over her body. Some of them had merged into larger splotches of dark purple, ash gray, and livid green. None of the spots caused her pain. Instead, they were all disturbingly numb. She walked with a slight limp now, and the movement of her arms was clumsy. Then there was the smell. It was so faint that pthers might not have noticed it, but the odor was clear to her sensitive nose. It was the sweet, wet scent of decay.

Jadis peered over her shoulder to study the mottled blotches on her back. It was just as she feared. Each of the hand-shaped marks appeared in a spot where King Azalin had touched her flesh. A shiver coursed through her.

"Be brave, love." She tried to control her fear. "It is not too late. Not yet."

Cold air rushed into the chamber, accompanied by a rhythmic flapping sound. A shadow absorbed the morning light. She turned, hastily clutching a robe about her naked body, to see a huge raven alight on the windowsill. The ruby medallion at its throat glistened like wet blood.

"Goreon," she gasped.. "Greetings, Velvet-Claw." The raven cocked its head, staring at her. "I bring you news from our master in Avernus."

"What is it?" she snapped. "What does Azalin say?"

Goreon ruffled his ebony feathers. "He has heard. your message, and his reply is this: 'Forgive me, my Jadis. I do sometimes forget the frailty of living flesh. Return to me, and I shall make your delicious body pure once more.' "

Jadis let out a deep breath of relief. "Then I must journey to II Aluk at once."

"Wait," the raven croaked. "There is more."

Her blood froze in her veins.

"Our master also speaks thusly: 'But do not forget your duty, my Jadis. Do not return to Avernus before you have discovered Caidin's intentions. My love for you is nearly boundless. My wrath for servants who fail me is boundless.' "

Jadis could not suppress the shudder that racked her body.

Qoreon's scaly claws scratched against the stone windowsill. "Did I not warn you, Velvet-Claw? There is death in all the Wizard King touches."

Rage flared in Jadis's brain. She grabbed a heavy silver candelabra and hurled it at the raven. "Begone with you, carrion-eater!" she snarled. The dark bird fluttered into the air, easily dodging the missile. "Tell Azalin that I am, as ever, his loyal Kargat. Tell him that he will have the knowledge he seeks. Now away with you!"

She launched a heavy book at the window, but the raven had already spread its night-cloud wings to rise into the azure sky. Gradually, she forced her anger to cool.

"That's more like it, love," she murmured. "Now finish what you came here for, and when you return to II Aluk, Azalin will make you whole and beautiful again." Her flesh began to ripple in transformation.

It was midafternoon when Mika reached the cathedral. The forest parted to either side of the rutted track like a dark curtain, revealing the brooding ruins. She slipped from the back of the sturdy pony Lillen's husband, Elgar, had given her at Irsyla's stern command. The beast let out a nervous snort.

"I know." Mika stroked the pony's gray-velvet muzzle reassuringly. "I feel it, too. It's as though› something is watching over this place. A presence. Whatever it is, I don't think it wants us here." She tied the pony's reins to a tree branch. Fighting her trepidation, she walked slowly up the crumbling steps to the gaping doorway of the cathedral. The shadows swallowed her up as she stepped within.

The ruin looked to have been abandoned for centuries. Piles of rubble from the high-arched ceiling were heaped everywhere, and nettles pushed up through the cracked floor. Stone gargoyles leered down from high ledges, grins plastered on their weird mouths. A crimson miasma hung in the air, permeating the stones. The light came from stained-glass windows that seemed oddly out of place amid the decay and disintegration. They shone as brilliantly as they must have the day they were first raised into place, their myriad fragments of glass transformed into shards of sapphire, ruby, and emerald by the sunlight that poured through them. Three stained- glass windows high in the cathedral's nave captured Mika's attention. Slowly, she climbed the steps, gazing upward at the glowing windows. Each depicted a stern-faced knight clad in ornate, archaic armor, and bearing an antique broadsword. The mosaic had been fitted together so skillfully that the knights looked almost real-so real they seemed to follow her with eyes of smoked glass.

Shuddering, Mika forced her eyes away from the windows. She found herself staring at the broad slab of dark porphyry that must have served as the altar. Like everything in the cathedral, the altar was covered with a thick layer of dust-except in the center. Here, there was a perfectly round space where the stone shone glossily, a circle about as large as…

"Of course," she whispered excitedly. "This must be where Wort discovered the bell."

Cautiously, she began to explore around the altar and nave. After some time she could only sigh in frustration. She found nothing save ancient spider- webs and the small bones of rats and birds. She sat down on a fallen chunk of stone, resting her chin on a hand, wondering what she should do next.

That was when she saw them. They were almost completely obscured by dust and mold. Only now that the steep angle of sunlight cast deeper shadows could she just glimpse them. There were letters carved into the altar. She knelt, wiping away centuries of grime with her bare hands. At last she could make out archaic-looking words incised into the dark stone: In its breaking will the curse be lifted.

"That's it," Mika murmured in realization. "That's how to free Wort. The bell has to be broken."

Suddenly sure of what she had to do to, she gathered up her dress and turned to descend the steps. A strange sound halted her. It was an oddly dissonant chiming, like the tinkling of glass. The hairs on her arms pricked up. She stared at the floor in front of her. The glowing patches of colored illumination that fell from above were swirling and flowing. Slowly, Mika turned around, craning her neck upward.

The armored knights in the stained-glass windows were moving. Like living creatures, they stretched their arms and shrugged their shoulders, as if struggling to free themselves of their imprisoning restraint. With a sound like breaking crystal, the knights pulled themselves free of the lead outlines that held them in place. They jumped to the floor. Slowly, deliberately, holding their glass swords before them, the stained-glass knights began to advance on Mika. Their eyes glowed hotly as though the sun still illuminated them.

Mika tried to stumble backward, but her legs didn't seem to work. One of the knights turned sideways, and she nearly lost sight of it-they were no thicker than window panes. Then the knight turned to face her once more, gnashing its glass teeth hatefully. All that escaped her throat was a low sound. She could not scream. The knights of glass bore down on her, raising their shardlike swords.

A ferocious snarl echoed around the cathedral. Like dark lightning, a shadow streaked from nowhere to crash into one of the glass knights. The knight stumbled, waving its sword wildly, then fell backward against the hard stone altar. With a deafening sound, the glass knight shattered into a thousand pieces of colored glass. Its eyes rolled across the floor like glowing marbles.

Mika could only watch, paralyzed with fear, as the two knights turned to face the creature that had attacked them. It was some sort of huge, black- furred beast with ivory fangs, slashing claws, and a twitching tail. Yet the creature was also vaguely human in shape, and walked on two crouched legs. Though the beast was powerfully muscled, it moved with clumsy, lurching motions, as if wounded.

The knights slashed at the beast, but it dodged their blows. It lunged again, shoving one of the knights forcefully against the other. The two stained- glass figures collided, exploding in splinters. A spray of shards rained to the floor with the din of a thousand chimes. The magical knights were no more.

The beast turned in Mika's direction, stalking slowly toward her.

"Please," Mika somehow managed to gasp through her constricted throat. "Please, make it swift." She squeezed her eyes shut.

Oddly, a woman's voice spoke. "I do not intend to kill you."

Mika's eyes fluttered open. Instead of a beast, a naked woman stood before her. The woman's hair was as dark and glossy as onyx, and her eyes glittered green and gold like a summer forest. Mika recognized the woman. The Lady Jadis. Dark blotches covered her body, but before Mika could study them, Jadis pulled a woolen dress from a small pack tied around her waist. Swiftly, the dark-haired woman donned the dress, concealing the strange bruises.

"My lady Jadis," Mika said breathlessly, trying to adapt to this peculiar turn of events.

Jadis nodded deferentially. "My lady Mika."

Mika took a hesitant step forward. Whatever the lady was-r-woman or beast-she was obviously injured. "You're hurt, my lady. Will you let me examine you? Perhaps I could-"

Jadis's sultry laughter cut her off. "Mo, my good doctor. Thank you. But I am afraid that you cannot cure me. Only one being can, and he is far away from this place."

"I see." Mika could think of nothing else to say.

"I had expected to find something of interest here, Doctor," Jadis mused. "I had not expected it to be you. Now, how does your presence here fit what is going on?"

Mika shook her head. "I don't know what you mean, my lady."

"No, Of course you don't." Jadis lurched closer. "Tell me, Doctor, if you will-why have you journeyed to this strange place?"

Mika hesitated, wondering just what she ought to say. "I came to help a friend."

"Let me guess-the hunchback in the bell tower?"

Mika let out a small gasp. "How did you know?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised, Doctor, at the things I know." Jadis smoothed her coal-dark hair. "You must tell me, why should you care for a lonely wretch everyone else despises? Is it simply your inherent goodness that compels you to such perverse extremes?"

A frown touched Mika's brow. "You say much I don't pretend to understand, my lady. I will tell you this. There is no one in this fiefdom who deserves my help more than Wort. Indeed, there is no one who has been more wronged."

"How so?"

Mika gazed at her defiantly..Why not speak the truth? "Wort is the true Baron of Nartok."

"Is he?" Jadis purred with obvious fascination. She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I'll tell you what, Doctor. I have some information concerning your lover, the good baron, which you might be eager to hear. Let us make a bargain. My secrets for yours. What do you say?"

Mika shivered. What sort of information could Jadis mean? There was only one way to find out. "Agreed," she whispered.

The two women spoke for a long time in the gloom of the cathedral. First Mika explained why she had come to the cathedral-to find some way to free Wort from the dark power of the cursed bell and to keep him from committing any more murders. Then she spoke of what she had learned about the unusual circumstances surrounding the births of Caidin and Wort.

When it was the other's turn, Mika found herself utterly hypnotized by Jadis's dark revelations. Jadis was a servant of King Azalin of Darkon himself, and had been sent to spy upon Caidin. Mika listened in growing horror as Jadis described in detail all the abominable actions Caidin had taken in his pursuit of the throne of Darkon-from the false inquisition in which hundreds of innocent people had been executed, to the building of the tower on the moor accomplished by his army of zombies.

This was the fiend who had held her in his arms. He had kissed her lips lingeringly again and again. Now the thought made Mika want to vomit.

At last Jadis was done with her tale. "Can we consider the bargain fulfilled, my lady?" she asked with a smile that was somehow both kind and wicked.

"Yes," Mika barely managed to choke out the word.

"Then I bid you farewell." In a surprising gesture, Jadis reached out and gripped Mika's hand warmly. "You may have saved my life after all."

Mika smiled wanly. "And you may have saved my soul."

As the shadows of afternoon lengthened further, the two women left the cavernous cathedral. Mika mounted the pony once more. The beast let out a frightened snort, and when she looked up Mika thought she saw a black shadow speed into the forest. In a heartbeat it was gone. She nudged the pony into a trot, starting the long journey back.

"How could I have loved such a fiend, my dear ones?" she whispered as she gripped the golden locket. Yet she had not really. The feelings Caidin had instilled in her had been anything but love. At least now she knew the truth. Not only was he a bastard, he was the monster as well. A resolved expression took her face. She was more determined than ever to help Wort.

Behind her, in the silent cathedral, the waning rays of the sun filtered across the dark stone altar. Gradually the angle of the light grew steeper, revealing another row of words carved into the ancient rock:… and by its final tolling will the dead awaken.