She never once demanded anything. Even her hints were so oblique
they left everything to me to work out. Two days after our evening
on the ramparts I asked the Colonel if I might see her. He said he
would ask. I suspect he was under instructions. Otherwise there
would have been arguments.
Another day passed before he came to say the Lady had time for
me.
I closed my inkwell, cleaned my quill, and rose. “Thank
you.” He looked at me oddly. “Is something
wrong?”
“No. Just . . . ”
I understood. “I don’t know either. I’m sure
she has some special use for me.”
That brightened the Colonel’s day. That he could
comprehend.
The usual routine. This time I entered her demense as she stood
at a window opening on a world of wet gloom. Grey rain, choppy
brown water, and hulking to the left, shapes barely discernible,
trees clinging precariously to a high river bank. Cold and misery
leaked out of that portraiture. It had a too familiar smell.
“The Great Tragic River,” she said. “In full
flood. But it’s always in flood, isn’t it?” She
beckoned. I followed. Since my last visit a large table had been
added. Atop it was a miniature of the Barrowland, a representation
so good it was spooky. You almost expected to see little Guards
scurrying around the compound.
“You see?” she asked.
“No. Though I’ve been there twice, I’m not
familiar with much but the town and the compound. What am I
supposed to see?”
“The river. Your friend Raven evidently recognized its
import.” With one delicate finger she sketched a loop well to
the east of the river’s course, which curved into the ridge
where we had camped.
“At the time of my triumph in Juniper the river’s
bed lay here. A year later the weather turned. The river flooded
continuously. And crept this way. Today it’s devouring this
ridge. I examined it myself. The ridge is entirely earthen, without
bones of stone. It won’t last. Once it goes, the river will
cut into the Barrowland. All the spells of the White Rose
won’t keep it from opening the Great Barrow. Each fetish
swept away will make it that much easier for my husband to
rise.”
I grunted. “Against Nature there is no defense.”
“There is. If one foresees. The White Rose did not. I did
not when I attempted to bind him more securely. Now it’s too
late. So. You wanted to speak to me?”
“Yes. I have to leave the Tower.”
“So. You didn’t have to come to me about that.
You’re free to stay or go.”
“I’m going because there’re things I have to
do. As you well know. If I walk, I’ll probably get them done
too late. It’s a long hike to the Plain. Not to mention
risky. I want to beg transportation.”
She smiled, and this smile was genuine, radiant, subtly
different from previous smiles. “Good. I thought you would
see where the future lies. How soon can you be ready?”
“Five minutes. There is one question. Raven.”
“Raven has been hospitalized at the compound at the
Barrowland. Nothing can be done for him right now. Every effort
will be made when an opportunity arises. Sufficient?”
I could not argue, of course.
“Good. Transport will be available. You will have a unique
chauffeur. The Lady herself.”
“I . . . ”
“I, too, have been thinking. My best next step is to meet
your White Rose. I’m going with you.”
After gulping quarts of air, I managed, “They’d jump
all over you.”
“Not if they don’t know me. They wouldn’t,
unless they were told.”
Well, no one was likely to recognize her. I am unique in having
met her and lived to brag on it. But . . .
Gods, the heaps and bales of buts. “If you entered the null,
all your spells would fall apart.”
“No. New spells wouldn’t work. Spells in place would
be safe.”
I did not understand and said so.
“A simple glamor will fade on entering the null. It is
being actively maintained. A spell which changes and leaves
changed, but which isn’t active on entering the null,
won’t be affected.”
Something off in the badlands of my mind tickled me. I could not
run it down. “If you turned into a frog and hopped in there,
you’d stay a frog?”
“If the transformation was actual and not just an
illusion.”
“I see.” I hung a red flag on that, told me to worry
it later.
“I will become a companion acquired along the way. Say,
someone who can help with your documents.”
There had to be levels of deceit. Or something. I could not
imagine her putting her life into my hands. I do believe I
gawked.
She nodded. “You begin to understand.”
“You
trust me too much.”
“I know you better than you know
yourself. You’re an honorable man, by your own lights, with
enough cynicism to believe there can be a lesser of two evils. You
have been under the Eye.” I shuddered. She did not apologize.
We both knew an apology would be false.
“Well?” she asked.
“I’m not sure why you want to do this. It makes no
sense.”
“There is a new situation in the world. Once there were
only two poles, your peasant girl and I, with a line of conflict
drawn between. But that which stirs in the north adds another
point. It can be seen as a lengthening of the line, with my point
near the middle, or as a triangle. The point that is my husband
intends destroying both your White Rose and myself. I submit that
she and I ought to eliminate the greater danger
before . . . ”
“Enough. I see. But I don’t see Darling being that
pragmatic. There’s a lot of hatred in her.”
“Perhaps. But it’s worth a try. Will you
help?”
Having been within a stone’s throw of the old darkness and
seen the ghosts astalk on the Barrowland, yes, I would do most
anything to keep that dread spook from shedding his grave. But how,
how, how trust her!
She did that trick they all have, of seeming to read my mind.
“You will have me within the null.”
“Right. I’ll need to think some more.”
“Take your time. I can’t leave for some time.”
I suspect she wanted to establish safeguards against a palace
revolution.
She never once demanded anything. Even her hints were so oblique
they left everything to me to work out. Two days after our evening
on the ramparts I asked the Colonel if I might see her. He said he
would ask. I suspect he was under instructions. Otherwise there
would have been arguments.
Another day passed before he came to say the Lady had time for
me.
I closed my inkwell, cleaned my quill, and rose. “Thank
you.” He looked at me oddly. “Is something
wrong?”
“No. Just . . . ”
I understood. “I don’t know either. I’m sure
she has some special use for me.”
That brightened the Colonel’s day. That he could
comprehend.
The usual routine. This time I entered her demense as she stood
at a window opening on a world of wet gloom. Grey rain, choppy
brown water, and hulking to the left, shapes barely discernible,
trees clinging precariously to a high river bank. Cold and misery
leaked out of that portraiture. It had a too familiar smell.
“The Great Tragic River,” she said. “In full
flood. But it’s always in flood, isn’t it?” She
beckoned. I followed. Since my last visit a large table had been
added. Atop it was a miniature of the Barrowland, a representation
so good it was spooky. You almost expected to see little Guards
scurrying around the compound.
“You see?” she asked.
“No. Though I’ve been there twice, I’m not
familiar with much but the town and the compound. What am I
supposed to see?”
“The river. Your friend Raven evidently recognized its
import.” With one delicate finger she sketched a loop well to
the east of the river’s course, which curved into the ridge
where we had camped.
“At the time of my triumph in Juniper the river’s
bed lay here. A year later the weather turned. The river flooded
continuously. And crept this way. Today it’s devouring this
ridge. I examined it myself. The ridge is entirely earthen, without
bones of stone. It won’t last. Once it goes, the river will
cut into the Barrowland. All the spells of the White Rose
won’t keep it from opening the Great Barrow. Each fetish
swept away will make it that much easier for my husband to
rise.”
I grunted. “Against Nature there is no defense.”
“There is. If one foresees. The White Rose did not. I did
not when I attempted to bind him more securely. Now it’s too
late. So. You wanted to speak to me?”
“Yes. I have to leave the Tower.”
“So. You didn’t have to come to me about that.
You’re free to stay or go.”
“I’m going because there’re things I have to
do. As you well know. If I walk, I’ll probably get them done
too late. It’s a long hike to the Plain. Not to mention
risky. I want to beg transportation.”
She smiled, and this smile was genuine, radiant, subtly
different from previous smiles. “Good. I thought you would
see where the future lies. How soon can you be ready?”
“Five minutes. There is one question. Raven.”
“Raven has been hospitalized at the compound at the
Barrowland. Nothing can be done for him right now. Every effort
will be made when an opportunity arises. Sufficient?”
I could not argue, of course.
“Good. Transport will be available. You will have a unique
chauffeur. The Lady herself.”
“I . . . ”
“I, too, have been thinking. My best next step is to meet
your White Rose. I’m going with you.”
After gulping quarts of air, I managed, “They’d jump
all over you.”
“Not if they don’t know me. They wouldn’t,
unless they were told.”
Well, no one was likely to recognize her. I am unique in having
met her and lived to brag on it. But . . .
Gods, the heaps and bales of buts. “If you entered the null,
all your spells would fall apart.”
“No. New spells wouldn’t work. Spells in place would
be safe.”
I did not understand and said so.
“A simple glamor will fade on entering the null. It is
being actively maintained. A spell which changes and leaves
changed, but which isn’t active on entering the null,
won’t be affected.”
Something off in the badlands of my mind tickled me. I could not
run it down. “If you turned into a frog and hopped in there,
you’d stay a frog?”
“If the transformation was actual and not just an
illusion.”
“I see.” I hung a red flag on that, told me to worry
it later.
“I will become a companion acquired along the way. Say,
someone who can help with your documents.”
There had to be levels of deceit. Or something. I could not
imagine her putting her life into my hands. I do believe I
gawked.
She nodded. “You begin to understand.”
“You
trust me too much.”
“I know you better than you know
yourself. You’re an honorable man, by your own lights, with
enough cynicism to believe there can be a lesser of two evils. You
have been under the Eye.” I shuddered. She did not apologize.
We both knew an apology would be false.
“Well?” she asked.
“I’m not sure why you want to do this. It makes no
sense.”
“There is a new situation in the world. Once there were
only two poles, your peasant girl and I, with a line of conflict
drawn between. But that which stirs in the north adds another
point. It can be seen as a lengthening of the line, with my point
near the middle, or as a triangle. The point that is my husband
intends destroying both your White Rose and myself. I submit that
she and I ought to eliminate the greater danger
before . . . ”
“Enough. I see. But I don’t see Darling being that
pragmatic. There’s a lot of hatred in her.”
“Perhaps. But it’s worth a try. Will you
help?”
Having been within a stone’s throw of the old darkness and
seen the ghosts astalk on the Barrowland, yes, I would do most
anything to keep that dread spook from shedding his grave. But how,
how, how trust her!
She did that trick they all have, of seeming to read my mind.
“You will have me within the null.”
“Right. I’ll need to think some more.”
“Take your time. I can’t leave for some time.”
I suspect she wanted to establish safeguards against a palace
revolution.