Robert Hughes - The Wizard in Waiting

Pelmen sighed. There was more involved here than just the salvation of Serphimefa. Admon Faye could well have brought Broiiwynn in with him.

If the rightful Queen was boiled as well… “Yes,” he grunted suddenly, and once . again Parmi saw in Pelmen’s eyes that strange fire that had illumined them backstage in Pleclypsa. Without another word from Pelmen, Yona Parmi scampered away.

“Now,” Pelmen mumbled, “to get myself into the infirmary without being seen…”

“Ohh!” Danyilyn moaned, rolling and tossing on her thick mattress.

“Ohh!” she wailed louder, hearing the approach of sandals flapping on the stone floor beyond her open door.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” snarled the Lord of Herbs impatiently as he turned the corner and entered the room. The man looked terrible deep, dark bags sagged under his eyes, and his gray hairs pointed in every direction but down. The stubble that lined his bony chin added to his generally unkempt appearance. “I suppose you think you’re sick as well,” he growled, and he ran a hand through his unruly mane as Danyilyn groaned again. “You’re the third one in this past hour, Everytime I get back to my infirmary door, there’s someone else standing there, ready to tell me of another case. What’s the problem with you actors. You eat something rotten?”

Danyilyn shook her head, then rolled her eyes dramatically and grabbed her stomach. “Ohhh!” she moaned.

“Trouble is, not a thing I can do about it, and it’s the fault of one of your fellows!” The old man stretched his lengthy neck and scratched behind his ears. “After I got back from my first call this morning, I found someone had swiped all my balder berry juicel How can I treat a sick stomach without balderbeny juice!”

Danyilyn shrugged and rolled her eyes again quite thankful that Parmi had successfully made off with that particular concoction. Balderberry juice was an extremely potent purgative that tasted horrible. “I’ll… I’ll be… all right…” the actress gagged.

“Very well.” The herbalist nodded, suddenly becoming aware of the young woman’s curves. His bedside manner abruptly improved, and he sat next to her and felt her forehead. “You don’t seem fevered,” he murmured, growing a little fevered himself. “Perhaps it’s just a mild case, but one can never be sure. I’d suggest a thorough examination, in order to ”

“Maybe we could do that… tomorrow?” Danyilyn asked coyly, and the old man’s heart palpitated. She was far and away more lovely than the merchant’s daughter he usually dated.

“Right. Certainly. Tomorrow. Try to rest, and come and See me in the morning. That is ” He interrupted himself.

“I’m come and see you. Night-night!” he called, and he floated out of the room, now fully awake and already planning the morning’s activities.

Danyilyn groaned again as he left the room. She waited until she could no longer hear his footsteps, then hopped off her bed and danced to the doorway. “Parmi’s surely found Gerrig by this time,” she muttered sourly, then she tiptoed into the hallway to follow him. She kept well out of

sight until he had reached the infirmary door again. She heard his groan, then sighed with relief as she heard Gerrig direct him to the room of yet another “sick” actor. Gerrig had arrived they were all finally gathered. She hugged the wall as the grumbling Lord of Herbs shuffled past her. She smiled with satisfaction as she imagined the old roue’s reactions when he found her room empty in the morning.

Served him right. He would find his present trip up the stairs frustrating, too Gerrig had sent him to Yona’s empty room. Danyilyn darted into the infirmary, shot a dirty look at Gerrig, and slipped swiftly through the trapdoor.

“We’re all clear,” she murmured waspishly. “Finally!”

“Any trouble getting here?” Pelmen asked Gerrig as the bulky actor lowered himself through the infirmary floor into the presence of the others.

“I told you,” Danyilyn snapped, “the only trouble was finding where he was sleeping tonight.”

“Silence!” Pelmen ordered, and the actors and actresses clustered around him obeyed without a question.

“No trouble,” Gerrig whispered after a moment.

“Good. We’re all here then, safely.”

“And you’re going to get us out now?” Gerrig grinned.

“Not exactly. Jamnard, Magrol close off the doorway.”

A-pair of younger players moved quickly to seal off the portal, hiding once more this nether stairway from the infirmary, Pelmen waited until the task was done, then explained: “I have information that somewhere down with us in this maze of passageways is a small army preparing to take control of this castle.”

“And we’re going to join them?” Gerrig asked incredulously.

“No. We’re going to drive them out,”

There was a long, high-tension pause. Pelmen could hear several of the troupe gasping. Then Gerrig made a move for the door.

“Gerrig. We all agreed to do this together ” Yona murmured.

“And now I’ve decided to leave, alone!” the big man replied, trying to free his shoulders from Parmi’s surprisingly strong grip.

“Do you want out of this castle alive?” Pelmen snapped fiercely, and Gerrig stopped struggling,

“Of course I do. But is what you’re suggesting any way to do that?”

“Perhaps not,” Pelmen admitted. “But if that army succeeds, I can’t guarantee you’ll live through the day.”

“I’ll take my chances. I’m going back to bed.”

“As you choose. Parmi, let him go. For the rest of you remember how disgusted you all were with my play praising Ligne? It’s possible that the rightful Queen of this land is among this silent army of invasion.

If so, she comes as a puppet a slave of Admon Faye.” Pelmen waited until the anxious mutterings faded. “I’ll not explain all the reasons, but if we can chase this force from these dark caverns, we’ll do them a favor, as well as ourselves. Don’t feel ashamed if you chose to follow Gerrig back upstairs. After all ” Pelmen glanced at Gerrig’s back. ”

you’re only play actors. You’ve trained yourselves to imitate heroes on stage, not to be heroes in the pitch-black face of fear. I don’t blame you. Turn back.”

No one moved. Though Gerrig stood with his hands resting on the door back up to the infirmary, he didn’t thrust it open.

“On occasion, though,” Pelmen continued with a peculiar lilt to his words, “a chance arises and I think such moments come quite unexpectedly to most a chance to be a hero, instead of playing one. The chance to do something worthy of the playwright’s immortalization.”

Silence greeted his words. Gerrig broke it. “I remember that speech well,” he muttered.

“I thought you would,” Pelmen replied softly. “It was your line, after all, from Shadows of a Night at Sea.” He waited for a moment, then asked, “Are you coming?” Genig looked at him and frowned. “I’m scared,” he breathed.

So am I.” Pelmen chuckled. “Exciting though, isn’t it?”

“You said an army,” Danyilyn whispered. “There’s only a handful of us.”

“Yes, but we’ve got a big friend.” Pelmen smiled back. “Maybe two,” he added to Yona Parmi. “You don’t make any sense,” she grumbled.

“Since when has he ever made sense?” Yona Parmi asked her.

“We don’t have any weapons,” Gerrig said. His voice had changed in texture and tone it was deeper, more mellow. The gravity of this situation had caused him to slip without realizing into stage speech.

“There’s an armory through the side door of the infirmary only fifteen feet away.”

“But what if there are soldiers there?” Danyilyn asked nervously.