The Warlock's Last Ride Read online

  Allouette felt a chill strike to her heart.

  "And he will learn, be sure of that," Durer said softly, but with a sneer nonetheless. "He will learn that you slept with whomever you were commanded to corrupt—and whomever would gain you advantage in your frantic desire for power. He will learn of your murders and subversions, of your seductions and betrayals. Do you think he will still love you after that?"

  "What would you have me do?" Allouette asked through lips gone wooden.

  "A minor invitation," Durer said breezily. "Only family hospitality. Find some excuse to invite all the Gallowglass brats and their spouses—yes, even the Heir Apparent, most especially the Crown Prince! Find some excuse for gathering them in the Great Hall at Castle Gallowglass. That is all you need do—nothing more than you ordinarily might."

  "What will happen then?" Every word seemed leaden.

  "Oh, you need not concern yourself with that!" Durer told her. "What hostess would ever think of unpleasantness? No, simply gather your guests—I shall see to the rest!"

  Allouette's skin crawled at the menace in his tone, but she understood instantly what she must do. "When am I to execute this plan?"

  "Oh, there is no rush." Durer waved the question away. "As soon as you can, that is all—and when you have set a date, tell Maud the scullery maid. Even twenty-four hours' notice will be enough." His voice sank into a threatening tone. "But do not wait overlong, or your husband shall learn all."

  "As you say." Allouette turned away. "I shall do it. Now leave me."

  Durer made a mocking bow and retreated.

  Allouette opened the door, went in, then closed it forcefully and leaned back against it, trembling. A torrent of thoughts spilled through her mind, but one emerged clearly—that no matter what she did or did not do now, her marriage was over.

  As they rode out of the forest onto the uplands, Rod was saying, "So I've done one more thing to help out people in a predicament and kept the country on track while I did it. Feels good, Fess."

  "You seem to have solved predicaments for several people, Rod, not only Geordie and his wife."

  "Yes—I pulled Anselm back from the brink of rebellion and helped save a few thousands peasants and soldiers from civil war by doing it." Rod nodded. "Not a bad day's work, Fess—or a bad life's work, either."

  "It is certainly worthwhile devoting your life to people, Rod."

  Rod smiled fondly at the back of the horse-head; Fess had deliberately misunderstood again. Then he frowned as the horse came to a stop. "What are you waiting for? We can make three more miles before sunset."

  "We could not, Rod—the sun is setting. Besides, there is no more land."

  "No more land?" Rod craned his neck, looking forward and down, and saw the turf end abruptly. Below it, he saw a blue and rippling expanse—then realized that those ripples were really waves; they were so far below that they seemed much smaller than they really were. "So." He sat back in his saddle. "We've come to the western coast of Gramarye."

  "We have, Rod. We stand atop the sea-cliffs."

  Rod looked into the setting sun—and saw a form emerging from its glare. He frowned, shading his eyes, trying to separate sun from object. "What's that coming toward us—a ship?"

  "It is far too large to be a ship, Rod."

  "No, nor tall enough either, not considering how wide it is."

  The object seemed to swell, separating itself from the sun-glare, and Rod stared. "Fess! It's a floating island!"

  "Surely only an illusion, Rod."

  "If it is, it's a mighty convincing one! It's not just floating, it's sailing—and its coming right at us!"

  It did indeed. The island loomed larger and larger, swelling until it filled half the horizon, then three-quarters, then blocked all of the western vista, becoming a whole land of its own, its cliffs crowned by a meadow of thyme and lavender. Behind it rose a forest—but surely no forest like this had ever existed, not in any world Rod had visited. The trunks of its trees were of silver and ivory and gold, and the leaves that adorned them were all the colors of the rainbow; the fruits that hung from them were crystals and gemstones. Birds fluttered among their leaves, birds of extravagant and gaudy plumage, like birds of paradise only far more various.

  And a human form moved among those trees, moved and came forward, stepping through lavender as though it scarcely touched the earth, drifting closer and closer until it revealed itself as a woman.

  Rod stared, spellbound, and his heart began to ache.

  Then she was only thirty feet from him, for the island had drifted closer still until only a yard separated its cliffs from Gramarye's, and the woman paced closer still, smiling and reaching out toward Rod.

  "It's Gwen," Rod breathed. "It's Gwen as she was when I met her, Gwen not yet thirty!"

  "I see nothing, Rod," the robot's voice said in his ear.

  "I do, and that's all that matters! Fess, I've found it! I've found Tir Nan Og, the Land of Youth—and Gwen!"

  "Do not lose yourself in illusion, Rod. That has been your abiding struggle."

  "Fess, this is no illusion! She's there, she's real!"

  Gwen's smile was radiant.

  "Let's go!" Then Rod paused, frowning. "No, that's not right. Once I cross that gap, I can't come back. Not that I want to—but I have no right to take you with me."

  "Where you go, Rod, I will bear you."

  "But you don't belong to me, you belong to the family! Magnus should inherit you after I've left!" The heartache sharpened, and Rod pressed a hand to his chest. "They'll have need of you, all the kids—and their children, too!"

  "They shall endure, Rod." Fess turned his head to look at his master. "If nothing else, Magnus has the computer Herkimer, who guides his ship—and has all my memories."

  Rod gave him a quizzical look. "You want to come with me, then?"

  "Gwen has been my friend, too, Rod, for thirty years—and the more my friend because she has made your life joyous."

  Rod smiled. "Then let's go see her."

  He gazed at Gwen and everything else seemed dim and unimportant; she was Tir Nan Og, a wonderland in which he could lose himself. His heart twisted as he gave the robot a nudge with his knees. Fess paced forward to step across the gap into Tir Nan Og, and Rod rode with him. For a moment, there was resistance that gave way, a searing pain in his chest, and a feeling as of a tearing veil; then Tir Nan Og was all about him, its colors even brighter now that he was a part of it, and Gwen was lifting her arms and he was swinging down from Fess's back and running the last few steps to sweep her up and whirl her about. As he did, he saw his hands, and they were unwrinkled and young again, as he knew his face and all his body were. Desire hammered hot and strong within him, and as Tir Nan Og once again moved away from the world of the living, he found her lips. They were soft on his, they tasted like the sweetest wine, and he drank deeply, as he would do forever.

  Word came to the High Warlock at his seat in Runnymede, and Magnus d'Armand came to the western shore to gaze upon the body of his father where it lay broken on the shingle above the tide line. Nearby stood Fess, as faithful as he had ever been, but when Magnus spoke to him, he could not say what had happened, and he seemed changed. The robot was never the same again; there seemed to be something missing in him, as though he were indeed only a machine.

  Then his brothers appeared about him, his sister came spiraling down from the sky and with one touch read the massive heart attack that had taken Rod's life before his fall. Together they knelt by their father, each immersed in his or her own thoughts and prayers. Then together they lifted up his body and bore it away.

  "So we are bereft of mother and father in the same year."

  "It's not supposed to happen this way. Papa wasn't supposed to die until we were in our fifties, and Mama was supposed to outlive him by ten years."

  "I was prepared to console her and help her out of her grief, but not for this!"

  "We will have to help each other, then," Magnus said grave
ly.

  No one said anything. The silence was enough for him to feel the tightening, the resentment of his seeming assumption of authority, especially after his long absence. Then the mood relented, and Cordelia allowed, "At least we have each other—and there are more of us."

  "There are," Magnus agreed, "but for this first night, perhaps we each need to be alone with our grief, to take the first step in coming to terms with it." He rose and turned away to the door. "Good night, my sibs."

  "Good night," several voices said.

  Alea stared at Magnus's back, turned a questioning glance to Cordelia, who could only shrug. Exasperated, Alea rushed to catch up with Magnus.

  "What was that all about?" she demanded.

  "I'm not one to stay where I'm not wanted," he answered.

  She could hear the hurt and anger in his voice. "But she's your sister! They're your brothers!"

  "I think it will take a few years for us to re-establish our relationships," Magnus said. "After all, when I left home, I was still the font of wisdom to Gregory, and Geoffrey was still testing himself against me."

  "And Cordelia?" Alea was glad she asked, because the question brought a smile, albeit a small one.

  "Well," Magnus said, "Cordelia and I were always squaring off as to which had the authority—unless someone attacked us, of course. Still, she does seem to resent my coming back." He came to a stop, frowning into the darkness. "Perhaps that's it. Perhaps I'd be welcome as a visitor, if they could be sure I would leave." His face darkened. "And perhaps I should." He began to walk toward their suite again.

  "Perhaps not!" Alea hurried to catch up with him. "Perhaps you should stay and wait until, inch by inch, they've moved over and made room for you again!"

  "Perhaps," Magnus admitted, but didn't sound as though he believed it.

  Althea pushed aside her peasant bonnet to ask Raven, "Do you really trust any of them?"

  Raven cast a quick glance at the VETO agents carrying sacks of provisions into the kitchen of Castle Gallowglass and said, "Not for a second. They'll turn on us the moment we've finished executing the Gallowglasses."

  "Then why did Durer call the Mocker for help?"

  Raven shrugged. "Common enemies. We both need to eliminate the Gallowglass family if we're to have any hope of taking over the government—but the second the brats are dead, start shooting the VETO agents."

  Althea started to say that the totalitarians must be planning the same fate for them, but she shivered too badly at the thought.

  Dressed as peasants and carrying sacks of provisions, the SPITE agents trooped into the castle beside the file of VETO agents.

  The amusement at dinner was muted, but the Gallowglasses and their spouses were managing to smile and enjoy the reassurance of one another's company.

  "The kingdom still stands, at least," Gregory observed.

  "Yes, thanks to your valiant efforts in fighting off the monsters." Alain raised a glass. "To my friends and guards!"

  "To the Prince who had the good sense to talk before he fought." Geoffrey raised his glass in return.

  "Aye, and the brave knight who spoke on his peasants' behalf." Cordelia raised her cup, too. "To your cousin Geordie!"

  "Yes, well met at last!" Alain said with relief. "Now the family can heal—I hope."

  Magnus watched with a half-smile, but Alea sizzled beside him. Didn't any of them realize how much Magnus had done to fight off all their enemies? Deliberately, she raised her own cup and said loudly, "To kin and friendship!"

  "To friendship!" the others chorused. All their cups rose, then all drank.

  Alea blinked in surprise, amazed that her toast had been accepted.

  "To enemies!" said a voice.

  The Gallowglasses looked up in polite surprise as men and women in peasant garb stepped out of doorways, moved from behind tapestries, appeared in the minstrels' gallery—all levelling crossbows that bore ominous gems beneath the bolts.

  A man who appeared aged and emaciated stepped forward before all the rest with a mocking smile. "Your servants salute you."

  "You, then, are the one called Durer?" Gregory asked.

  "He is—and I am the Mocker." Another lean and wrinkled man stepped forward with a bow. "Your parents' ancient enemies—and your own."

  "Do not think to attack us with your psi powers," Durer said, "for both our organizations have enlisted locals who are very powerful espers."

  "And you think they are stronger than all our powers joined together?" Gregory asked, amused.

  The Mocker frowned. "I assure you, you have very little to smile about."

  "Surely seeing our enemies face-to-face at last is cause for delight," Cordelia said.

  "Then at least you will die happy." Durer raised his weapon and pulled the trigger—then pulled it again and again, his look of triumph transforming to horror.

  "Fire!" the Mocker yelled, and all the agents squeezed triggers and pushed firing buttons. Only two of the crossbows loosed bolts—but those nosedived into the flagstones. A few of the jewels glowed brightly with rays that gathered, but never burst out.

  "We have telepaths of our own, you see," Cordelia said, her face taut with strain, "to aid us in restraining your weapons."

  "And soldiers to disarm you," Alain said.

  Loops of rope dropped down and around each of the agents; the soldiers who held them pulled tight. The agents shouted in alarm and anger, struggling to twist free, to turn their weapons on their captors, but the soldiers kicked their feet out from under them and forced them to their knees.

  Durer glared at Allouette and hissed, "Traitor!"

  "Traitor!?" Allouette was on her feet, face burning with anger as she advanced on him. "You dare call me traitor, you whose agents stole me from my cradle? You who sent me to false foster parents who twisted my sexuality and smashed my self-esteem deliberately and methodically? Whose successors debased me and abused me and shaped me into a weapon to strike at their enemies? You dare call me traitor?"

  "They housed you and fed you!" Raven cried. "They changed your diapers and bandaged your cuts!"

  "And called me whore and told me I had been born corrupt!" Allouette raged. "Nay, you have fashioned your weapon—now feel its sting!" She glared at Raven, eyes narrowing.

  Raven screamed, clutching her head, then fell to the floor writhing in agony. "Cut it off! Cut if off to stop the pain!"

  Allouette's mouth opened in a rictus of anger and effort, and Raven went limp. Then Allouette turned that awful glare on Durer.

  "She betrayed you!" Durer shouted to Gregory. "She is our agent! She won your heart only so that she could be here within your midst to destroy you—as she maimed your eldest brother!"

  "Fool, do you truly believe we do not know that?" Gregory stepped up beside his wife. "By titanic effort, my mother managed to undo the worst of the damage your agents had done to Allouette. Then my love told us all she had done, all the malice she had borne toward us."

  Durer stared at Allouette, then bared his teeth in a snarl. "Betrayed from the moment I talked to you!"

  "Oh, be reassured sir," she said bitterly, "for you have destroyed my life for the second time and disintegrated any chance I might ever have held for happiness!" Her eyes narrowed, and everyone in the hall could feel the power building in her, the mental power with the rage of years behind it.

  Gregory touched her shoulder. "Leave him to the Crown, my sweet. Do not soil your hands with his corrupted blood."

  Allouette's gaze snapped to him, staring in incredulity. "Do not mock me, sir! Well do I know that you cannot remain married to a woman who is as treacherous as I!"

  "Remain married!" Gregory stared back, stricken.

  "Aye! Miracle enough it is that you took a serpent to your bosom once, who knew so many of your enemies that she was the obvious choice when they sought one to betray you! How could you ever trust me again!" She turned to march to the doorway, sheer leashed rage radiating from her so intensely that soldiers and prisoners a
like flinched away.

  Alea stepped between Alouette and the doorway, looking down at her in exasperation. "You fool! You absolute total fool! You have the richest love a woman could hope for, you have a man who loves you to distraction, who couldn't even dream of blaming you for the slightest flaw, can't even recognize that there is a flaw, and you're ready to leave him because you don't think you're worthy of him?"

  "Step away, virago!" Allouette's rage cut loose. "Frozen spinster who is eaten up by envy of the love you cannot find, who seeks revenge on the world because you think yourself unlovable! I have withstood your silent condemnation for months, I have endured your silences and slights, but I will bear them no longer, nor let you bar me one second from the fate I deserve! Stand aside, amateur, or learn what true psi power really is!"

  Alea didn't budge an inch. Tense and white-lipped, she said in a low and venomous tone, "And this is the woman who claims she has abandoned the ways of cruelty!"

  Allouette froze, turning pale—and in that moment, Alea stepped back as Gregory stepped between them, staring into his wife's eyes, then dropping to one knee. Gazing up, he caught her hands between his own and said, "You are everything that is good and right, you are all that is completely loveable, not only for your beauty but also for your warm and generous nature—and above all, for your loyalty. How could you ever have thought that I could believe you a traitor?"

  The blood drained from Allouette's face; she stared down, still frozen, aching to believe but unable to.

  "Trust him, lady."

  Turning, Allouette found Magnus gazing down at her—but the grave look he gave her was full of sympathy, not enmity. "Those of us who think ourselves unfit for love must look now and then at truth."

  Alea stared at him, thunderstruck.

  "You proved your loyalty by telling Gregory at once of the ambush Durer planned," Magnus continued, "loyalty that is so titanic it stuns me, now that I realize that, from the moment Durer approached you with his blackmail, you have been sure you would lose your marriage and your love!"