Lynn Flewelling - The Bone Doll's Twin

“You went into the forest alone?”

He nodded. “Are you going to tell?”

“Not if you don’t want me to, so long as you tell me the truth. Why did you go into the woods, Tobin? Did she call you?”

“In dreams. I didn’t know it was her. I thought it was Mama. I had to go see, so I stole out one day. I got lost but she found me and helped me get back home.”

“What else did she do?”

“She let me hold a rabbit, and she told me how to call Brother.”

“Brother?”

Tobin sighed. “You promise you won’t tell?”

“I’ll try not to, unless I think your father should know to keep you safe.”

Tobin looked at her directly for the first time and the hint of a smile quirked the corner of his mouth. “You could have lied, but you didn’t.”

For an instant Iya felt like she’d been stripped naked. If she hadn’t already known otherwise, she’d have looked for magic in him. Trying to cover her surprise, she replied, “I’d rather we be honest with each other.”

“Brother is what Lhel said to call the spirit. She said you can’t give the dead a name if they never had one before they died. Is that true?”

“She knows about such things, so it must be true.”

“Why didn’t Father or Nari tell me about him?”

Iya shrugged. “What do you think of him, now that you know?”

“He still does mean things, but I’m not as scared of him anymore.”

“Why did Lhel teach you to call him?”

He looked away, guarded again. “She said I’m to take care of him.”

“You made him stop throwing things in the hall last night, didn’t you? Does he always do what you tell him to do?”

“No. But I can keep him from hurting people.” He looked at her hand again. “Usually.”

“That’s very good of you.” Another child might just as easily have done the opposite. She would speak to Arkoniel about this before she left. Outside the sheltered confines of the keep, it might occur to Tobin to use his power differently. “Will you show me what she taught you?”

“You mean call Brother here?” Tobin looked less than enthusiastic at the prospect.

“Yes. I’ll trust you to protect me.”

Still Tobin hesitated.

“Very well. What if I close my eyes and put my fingers in my ears while you do what she showed you? Just touch me on the knee when I can look.”

“You promise not to look?”

“By my hands and heart and eyes, I swear it. That’s the most solemn and binding oath a wizard can give.” With that, she squeezed her eyes shut and plugged her ears, then turned her back for good measure.

She kept her promise not to look or listen. She didn’t have to, for she felt clearly enough the spell that rippled briefly in the air nearby. It was a summoning of some sort, but not any she recognized. The air around her went deathly cold. She felt a tap on her knee and opened her eyes to find two boys standing before her. Perhaps it was Tobin’s proximity, or the spell itself. Perhaps the unquiet spirit had simply chosen to show itself to her, but the one called Brother looked as solid as his twin, except that he cast no shadow. Even without this, however, there was no confusing the two.

Brother was completely still, but Iya sensed a wild black rage in him. His mouth did not move, but she heard the words, You will not enter as clearly as if he’d put those pale lips to her ear. The hair rose on the back of her neck, for the words had the bitter tang of a curse.

Then he was gone.

“You see?” said Tobin. “Sometimes he just does what he wants to.”

“You kept him from attacking me. He would have if you weren’t here. Thank you, my prince,” said Iya.

Tobin managed a smile, but Iya felt more disturbed than ever. A young child, especially a child with no magic, should not have been able to do what she had just witnessed.

She nearly laughed aloud when this bold little tamer of spirits replied, “You won’t tell, will you?”

“I’ll make you a bargain. I won’t tell your father, or anyone else, if you let me tell Arkoniel, and if you promise to try to be his friend and go to him for help whenever you need it.” She hesitated, weighing her words. “You must tell him if Lhel asks anything of you that scares you, anything at all. Will you promise me that?”

Tobin shrugged. “I’m not scared of her.”

“Keesa don’t should be, Wizard,” a familiar voice said from the barracks doorway. “I help her.” Iya turned and found Lhel regarding her with a scornful smile. “I help you. Help that boy wizard of yours, too.” She raised her left hand and showed Iya the crescent moon tattooed there. “By Goddess, I swear you not make me go this time. When Brother go on, then I go. You leave me to work until time I can go. You got own work, Wizard, to help this child and the spirit.”

“What are you looking at?” asked Tobin.

Iya glanced at him, then back. Lhel was gone.

“Nothing. A shadow,” Iya said, distracted. Even looking straight at the woman, she’d been unable to sense what manner of magic the witch had used. “Now, give me your hand, my prince, and promise me you’ll try to be Arkoniel’s friend. He’ll be very sad if you refuse.”

“I’ll try,” Tobin muttered. Pulling his hand free, he walked away, but not before she’d seen the betrayed look in his eyes. He might not have seen Lhel, but he’d known she’d lied.

Iya watched him out of sight, then sank her face into her good hand, knowing the witch had surprised her into a serious misstep, perhaps even intentionally.

Like it or not, she had misjudged Lhel all those years ago and now their fates were twined together too tightly to risk any rash action.

The deathly coldness washed over her again. Brother crouched at her feet now, staring at her with gloating, hate-filled eyes.

You will not enter , he whispered again.

“Enter where?” she demanded.

But Brother kept his own secrets and took them with him when he vanished.

Iya sat for some time, pondering the spirit’s ominous words.

After Tobin left with the wizard, Ki found his way back down to the hall. He still couldn’t believe that this grand place was to be his home. Haunted it might be, but to live among royalty and wizards seemed well worth the risk in daylight.

Young as he was, however, he’d seen enough of the world to know how strange a household this was. A prince belonged in the fine palaces Ki had glimpsed over the Palatine walls at Ero, not in a backwater keep like this one. Then again, Prince Tobin was damned strange himself. A pinched-up, dark little thing with eyes like an old man. Ki had been a little scared of him the first time he’d seen him. But after they’d gotten to laughing, Ki saw something else. Odd Tobin might be, but not like people said. Ki thought again of how the younger boy had stood up to the demon’s rage, not even twitching an eyelid, and his heart swelled with pride. What would a living enemy be to someone like that?

He continued on and met Captain Tharin coming into the hall by another door behind the high table. The lanky blond man had on a rough shirt and tunic like a common soldier’s, and shared the men’s barracks here, even though Ki knew from Iya that he was the son of a rich knight at Atyion. Here was another person he had a good feeling about, and this one from first look last night.

“Good morning, lad. Looking to break your fast? Come on, then, the kitchen’s through here.”

Tharin led him through another door and into a large warm kitchen where the cook was at work over a kettle.

“How does the place suit you so far?” Tharin asked, settling down by the hearth to repair a buckle on his scabbard.

“Very well, sir. I hope I’ll suit the prince and Duke Rhius.”