Marie Brennan - Doppelganger

“Thank you,” she said sincerely. “Do you have the paper we were given in Corberth?”

“In my bag.”

“I’ll need that before I leave. I have to write to Ashin and the others, so that they’ll know what I’ve figured out. I’m also going to give you a copy. I don’t want to risk this information getting lost.”

She did not add, “in case I die,” but Eclipse was capable of filling that in for himself. His face grew grimmer, but he did not comment. “How are you going, then? Do you need a horse?”

“No. It’ll take too long. I’ll go the way I came.” As she said that, the shock that had been lurking in the back of her mind came explosively to the fore. She saw a fainter cousin of it on Eclipse’s face. “Isn’t that… I thought moving living creatures like that was impossible.”

So did I . Mirage had known it, but Miryo had taken it for granted; only now, as she thought about what she had done, did the full import hit her. Even when the Primes had appeared so suddenly for her testing in Starfall, they had walked in; a spell had simply kept her from noticing. “It’s supposed to be. I…” Her voice trailed off as she closed her eyes and thought back. “I know how I did it. And I can do it again, to get myself to Starfall.”

For a brief moment she considered explaining to him how it worked, and what had changed, but she decided not to. He should know, eventually. But if I tell him now… no. After I’m done in Starfall. Otherwise I’ll never get out of here .

And the witches deserve to know first .

“ If you’re sure,” he said uncertainly. “Can you depend on a new spell like that?”

“Yes,” she said, without hesitation. “I remember what I did, almost as well as I remember how I made myself one again. It’ll work.”

He trusted her enough to accept that. “All right. Do you want to write to Ashin now, or later?”

She sat, still wrapped in the blanket, and stared at the enchanted rice paper that would take her message to Ashin.

Crone’s stick. Where to start?

All the things she wanted or needed to say crowded into her mind, making thought momentarily impossible. Mirei gritted her teeth and forced herself to focus. One thing at a time. Go in order .

She bent her head and began to write.

Ashin:

The Primes sent Cousins to ambush us and take us prisoner. They were going to interrogate us for information on you, and then kill both of us; it’s apparently possible, if you kill both at the same time. They may be aware of the existence of the other doppelgangers. Eclipse is going to warn the Grandmaster of Silverfire, who has two of them under his training. You should see to the others, and to their witches.

But I have found the solution.

Misetsu was almost right. She didn’t lose the voice of the Goddess as thoroughly as you thought. She simply misinterpreted what she sensed. “Destruction, oblivion, undoing”—it’s the Void That is what we lose when the doppelgangers are killed. That is why, until now, we’ve only been able to touch four of the Elements.

The doppelgangers are not meant to remain separate. Yes, they’re divided, but only for a time: when the witch is opened to magic, she is ready to rejoin with her other half, and become a single person again.

That is what I have done.

Since being rejoined, I’ve begun to work magic that incorporates the Void. I suspect, although I’m not certain, that when I have children, I’ll have sons as well as daughters. How exactly all of this interrelates is for the Path of the Head to sort out; I admit that I’m really just feeling things by instinct.

Following this message are the notations for the spell that made me whole. It’s complex, and requires the participation of the doppelganger—not in song, but in movement And that’s why previous attempts failed; I bet you anything they treated it as song alone, and left out the physical part. But the doppelganger represents the Warrior, and the Warrior is movement as well as Void.

Copy the notations at the bottom, and distribute them as widely as you can, so they won’t be lost. I’m headed south to see the Primes. I don’t know how well they’ll receive this news, but I’ll find out. Wish me luck.

She set to work writing down the pitches and syllables that had guided the power to rejoin her two halves. Though she had sung the spell only once, it was burned into her memory; she wouldn’t forget it any time soon.

A part of her watched the process of notation with detached curiosity. She had yet to adjust to the way things seemed both familiar and yet strange. She still grieved for the deaths of the Cousins she had killed, but the acceptance her Mirage side had of these actions tempered her guilt and kept it from paralyzing her. Likewise, the part of her that had been trained as a witch wrote out the spell without a second thought, but that which had been a Hunter found it intriguing. Then she recorded the movement, dredging up long-buried memories of Dancer notation. Ashin would have to find someone to interpret it for her.

When she had finished, she sang the message to the paper’s counterpart. She had no idea which of the conspirators had it, but the information should reach Ashin soon.

Eclipse was downstairs, getting food for her. It was very late, or perhaps very early; the bells had rung Dark not too long ago. Soon the inn’s staff would be waking and beginning the day’s chores, but right now everything was still silent.

Mirei rose and found her saddlebag on the floor. She worried briefly for Mist, then dismissed the thought; Wisp would take good care of her horse. And besides, the mare needed the rest. She unbuckled the flap of the bag and found her spare uniform on top.

Mirei fingered the windsilk thoughtfully. She had intended to go to Starfall armed, but dressed normally. Now, she reconsidered.

Well, I am a Hunter, as well as a witch. Maybe if I wore it without the mask ?

That seemed the better plan. If she showed up masked, it would cause alarm; witches didn’t appreciate Hunters skulking around their domain any more than Hunters wanted witches in their schools. The uniform would still spark unease, but enough people would recognize her face that she could get through to the Primes. She hoped.

Besides, you want to wear it .

She grinned and began to dress.

Eclipse gave Mirei a long, serious scrutiny. It was nearly dawn, and she stood in the center of his room, dressed in Hunter uniform, his weapons strapped to her hips, the triskele pendant around her neck. Her hands hung at her sides, relaxed; her posture had the loose wariness of a cat.

“You’re sure you know what you’re doing?” he felt compelled to ask, one last time.

Mirei nodded, and there was no hint of doubt in her eyes. “I do.”

He swallowed and forced himself to accept that. He was afraid for her, but also proud; only rarely had he seen someone with her kind of certainty and resolve. It had produced in her an aura of peace, and a readiness for whatever might come.

“Goddess walk with you,” he said at last. “She has so far.”

“Thank you,” Mirei whispered, and gave him a tight embrace.

Then Eclipse stepped back, retreating to the dubious safety of the wall. She had said the spell would work, but after all the previous backfires, he still felt a reflexive need for shelter. Mirei seemed to guess his feelings; she smiled. Then she took a deep breath and began to sing.

And not just sing; her body moved as well, arms carving a pattern in the air, as no witch before her had done.

It didn’t take long. A few heartbeats later, she was gone, and the air around Eclipse shifted, rushing to fill the gap where she had been.