Jean Lorrah - Sorcerers of the Frozen Isles

It took several commands for Maldek to silence the other animal’s chattering-an ape of some sort, Torio recognized, as large as a man in the torso but with short dwarfed and bowed legs, so that its hands touched the ground when it stood. It was covered in thick reddish hair, except right around those strange eyes, and the disturbingly human hands.

Maldek was just as they had seen him in Dirdra’s memory: very large and powerfully built, and dressed all in black. Tonight his robe was furred, with little of the silver embroidery they had seen before, but his face wore the same self-satisfied smile, chiseled perfection, carved in ice.

“Welcome to my castle,” he greeted them in tones that attempted sincerity without warmth. “I trust my servants have treated you well. You deserve it-you passed all my tests with alacrity. I rarely find such worthy opponents.”

“We have not come to oppose you, Maldek,” Torio said. “Until you attacked us, we had no quarrel with you at all. Since we were able to defeat you at every turn, we will now consider-”

“Defeat?” The sorcerer laughed heartily. “You think you have defeated me, simply because you managed to get here through the obstacles? My dear Torio, the contest has not yet begun. Tell him, Zanos-you have merely passed the qualifying rounds to enter the games!”

“We are not here to play games,” Torio began, but just then the doors to the chamber were opened once more, to admit the women.

Maldek rose to his feet. “Ah-the ladies. Please enter. The lovely Astra, wife of Zanos-you are a fortunate man, sir.” He grinned lasciviously at the gladiator, and Torio Read Zanos quell his fighting instinct.

Astra was dressed in robes of a deep wine-colored velvet, trimmed in gray fur and encrusted with garnets. Her hair was elaborately styled and entwined with velvet ribbons sparkling with the same jewels.

Melissa was in gold velvet with dark brown fur trim that matched her hair-which had been styled so that part of it was braided and curled with bands of gold mesh, but the rest hung loosely down her back, displaying its natural curl. Her dress was heavily encrusted with gold. “Melissa,” said Maldek, “Reader and healer-but also a woman of Adept powers. You have come to me to learn how to expand those powers.”

“Only in the direction of healing,” she replied warily, trying as Torio was to Read what the peculiar look in Maldek’s eyes meant. But he was braced against their Reading him.

After what seemed to Torio far too long a study of Melissa, Maldek reached between her and Astra to pull forward the woman half-hidden behind them. “Dirdra!”

The Maduran woman’s exquisite beauty was enhanced by a green velvet gown the exact color of her eyes. Instead of fur, feathers in iridescent greens decorated her robe. She was magnificently beautiful, but deathly pale.

Maldek pulled her forward into the torchlight. “Why, Dirdra, you haven’t deserted us after all. Look, Kwinn-your sister has come back to us!”

And as he spoke, the creature that had remained crouched beside the throne, afraid to pass Gray to follow its master, gave a great cry and fairly flew across the room to hug Dirdra about the knees, gasping painful sounds that they all knew now were meant to be words of joyful greeting.

Dirdra dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms about his shoulders, holding him close, her tears dropping like diamonds onto the trembling furred pelt as she whispered, “I couldn’t leave you like this!

Oh, Kwinn-I had to come back for you. I couldn’t leave you in his evil power, my brother!”

What the Readers wanted to do was examine Kwinn, but Maldek had other plans. First they were taken from the throne room to a banquet hall, where only the three who had used Adept powers did justice to the meal.

Maldek did not eat-causing Torio to Read the food carefully for drugs or poison. He could find nothing.

The Master Sorcerer came up behind him. “The game has not begun, Torio. You may safely enjoy the food provided. You are my guests now, and the rules of hospitality obtain.”

For how long ? Torio wondered, but Maldek did not respond. Gray voiced his opinion of their host’s sincerity with a soft growl. It rose in volume when Maldek laid his hand on Torio’s shoulder, but the dog didn’t move. Without the healing fire, the last traces of Torio’s injury vanished!

Melissa looked up, startled. “How did you do that?”

“Come and I will show you,” the sorcerer replied. “Here”-he pointed to Torio’s thigh without touching-“your friend has a deep puncture wound that has healed over, but will come to restrict those muscles if it is not soon healed cleanly.”

“I planned to set it healing again tonight,” Melissa replied. “By morning-”

“But there is no reason to wait so long,” Maldek told her. “Put your hand over the wound.”

Melissa did so-and Maldek placed his left hand over hers. Torio tried to Read what they did, but both the healer and the sorcerer braced to use Adept power. The healing fire touched his wound for a moment, but Maldek, his face between Melissa’s and Torio’s, murmured, “No-that way is long, and takes too much power. Like this.”

This deeper wound took longer to heal-long enough for Torio to feel a strange cold sensation quite unlike the healing fire, as from the inside out the wound knitted together, clotted blood dissolving and dissipating.

He could Read what happened to his injury, but not how it was done. Melissa turned her face up to Maldek’s. “Where… where did that power come from?” she asked. “I feel no weakness.”

“Of course not,” he replied, remaining just a moment too long with his hand over hers. Then he straightened. “There is a ready source of power-if one can tap it. You do, Melissa, but inefficiently. Try it on your other friend, Zanos. His wound still pains him.”

Indeed, Torio had admired the gladiator’s stoicism on the long day’s ride, for he had to breathe shallowly to avoid pain, but deeply to keep mov-ing with them. Yet he had not uttered a word of complaint.

Melissa put her hand over Zanos’ wound… but nothing happened. She frowned, and healing warmth spread beneath her hand.

“No,” said Maldek, beside her in one rapid stride. “Melissa, think of healing the wounded after a battle.

Of how much use is a healer who falls asleep after treating twenty, when a hundred more are waiting?”

“It’s not that I disagree, Lord Maldek,” she replied. “It’s that I cannot Read what you do to heal so quickly and cleanly.”

“My master taught me by directing the power through my hands until I could control it. Here- try again.”

Again he placed his hand over hers. When they lifted their hands, Zanos took a deep breath- without a stab of pain. “Thank you, Melissa,” he said, but looked up at Maldek and continued, “I’ll not thank you , Master Sorcerer. You owed me that-it was you who caused my wound!”

Maldek laughed. “Then we begin our contest even, point to point.”

“Even? When you have powers beyond anything we’ve seen before?”

Maldek smiled his cold smile. “It disturbs you to find the tables turned, Zanos the Gladiator, undefeated Champion of the Aventine Games? How many men did you defeat with powers they could not understand?”

“Zanos!” Astra whispered sharply, putting her hand on her husband’s arm. “Whatever he may be, we are his guests.”

“Prisoners, you mean,” the gladiator replied. “We could all end up like that poor creature!”

He gestured to where Dirdra sat, food untouched, cradling Kwinn’s head in her lap.

“Ah, but Kwinn is happy,” said Maldek. “He has what he wants now: his sister home again. Under my care, you will discover, everyone receives exactly what he wants.”