David Drake - Master of the Cauldron

Wilfus stepped toward Sharina; she held out her right hand for him to take. He reached for her waist instead. She slapped him hard.

"You-" Wilfus said, cocking his fist to repay the blow. Lord Lattus shoved him away with his swordhand.

"Get back, scum!" Lattus said. "That's not needed."

"No, let him hold my wrist," Sharina said. "But just that. I won't pretend to approve of this horror, milord, so I can't accept your parole."

Lattus glared at her, then shrugged and turned. "All right, hold her," he muttered. Then he added, "There's more than you as don't approve of this, milady. But we don't have any choice."

All the true humans who'd come with Hani were in the sanctum now. The lines of People in polished armor resumed their march up the stairs and into the street. Sharina had an image of liquid bronze leaking into Valles, eventually to fill the city.

Hani seated himself on the floor, a simple mosaic of white and greenish tesserae in waving lines. He started to wipe away the figure Tenoctris had drawn in red lead, then paused instead to check the words written around the circle.

"Come on!" Calran muttered, showing his nervousness by letting his anger out. "You can stare at the dirt any time!"

Hani looked up at Tenoctris in puzzled irritation. "This is all correct," he said. "Youdid know about the Mirror."

"Yes," said Tenoctris equably. She didn't seem aware of Mogon's grip on her right arm. Even the thug seemed a little embarrassed. "I didn't have the power to open it, though. Besides, it wouldn't have done me much good, since only the members of your party have amulets made of the same stone to link with the Mirror here, not so?"

"You think you're smart!" Hani said, a growl but with a hint of underlying fear. What Hani meant was thathe'd begun to realize how smart Tenoctris was.

He bent over the figure, tapped his athame, and began chanting, "Ereschigal aktiophi…"

Calran muttered, "By the Sister!" He raised his sword as if to hack at the wall. Lattus touched his arm; Calran shivered and lowered the sword. The cousins stood close together with their backs to the wizardry, pretending to look at the army of People forming below the temple.. Lord Bolor forced himself to watch Hani, but the fury and loathing in his expression were unmistakable.

"Berbiti baui io," said Hani. The four-pointed figure quivered. Sharina thought it was beginning to rotate, but it could be the red wizardlight was blurring the lines Tenoctris had drawn in cinnabar. "Ereschigal aktiophi…"

Sharina hadn't understood what the two wizards meant by "the Mirror," but as the incantation continued she saw the granite blocks shimmer brighter than their polish and the chips of mica in their fabric explained. She stared, trying to make out the figures hinted within the stone.

"Berbiti baui…"

"Sister take me if I like this!" Wilfus muttered. His grip tightened on Sharina's wrist, but that was a sign of the man's fear rather than bullying.

"It's like it was back when we worked for the Queen," said Mogon. "We had any woman we wanted, anything we wanted to eat and drink. Those were good days…"

Wilfus cursed under his breath. Tenoctris moved slightly, brushing the wine bottle with the hem of her green silk robe. The contact wasn't quite enough to knock the bottle over, but it rocked on its base with a clicking sound.

"Io!" Hani shouted. He'd have fallen back onto the floor if Valgard hadn't caught him by the shoulders.

The star and writing were smeared into a blush of red lead over the cool curves of the mosaic. In place of the inset granite was a window onto a hillside filled with armed men and their horses. Goldenrod bloomed among the grasses, and on the upper slopes of the hill sweetgums and cedars were beginning to replace the lesser growth.

The sound of the bottle caught Wilfus' attention. "What's that?" he demanded. "Is it wine?"

A soldier on the hillside stared pop-eyed at Bolor and the others with him. He tugged furiously on the sleeve of the officer in gold-chased armor who was bending over marks he'd cut in the sod with his dagger. The officer gestured to half a dozen other men who had their own opinions on the subject under discussion.

"The keeper of Stronghand's vineyard gave it to us," Tenoctris said, giving Wilfus a cheerful smile. "I had it in my bag-"

She nodded to the satchel in which she carried the books and instruments of her art.

"-and took it out a moment ago."

The officer on the hillside looked up with an angry expression, then saw why he'd been interrupted; his curly beard was jet black except where it'd grown in white over the scar that continued up his left cheek. He clutched the amulet dangling in front of his breastplate. Jumping to his feet, he cried, "Bolor! Itis you. We were afraid…"

"I'm here, Luxtus," Bolor said. "And the army Master Hani promised, that's here too. My uncle will know better than to fight."

Bolor hadn't spoken as if he believed what he'd said-and from what Sharina knew of Lord Waldron, Bolor would've been a fool if hehad believed it. Still, though Waldron would fight despite being trapped between a force of his friends and relatives on one side and a huge army of People on the other, Sharina didn't see how he could win.

"Look, you're done with your chanting, aren't you, Hani?" Wilfus said peevishly. "There's not going to be more of that?"

The wizard grimaced at him but didn't speak; couldn't speak, very likely. He was regaining his color, but the effort of the spell he'd just completed was obviously at the edge of his ability.

Wilfus picked up the wine bottle. He kept hold of Sharina's wrist until he'd straightened again, but he had to let her go to twist off the wax-sealed ceramic stopper. "Hey, give me some!" said Mogon, still holding Tenoctris by the arm.

"You wanted to join your army," Hani said. "Go on through, then. All you need to do is step through the mirror."

The granite had vanished, but a quiver of crimson wizardlight framed the square where it'd been. Bolor and the cousins eyed the portal dubiously. The soldiers on the hillside backed slightly, all but the bearded man who'd spoken. Word had spread through the army, and faces were turning toward the tableau for as far as Sharina could see through the opening in space.

"Just jump!" Hani snapped. He'd recovered enough to sound waspish. He put a hand on the floor to push himself up, smudging the film of cinnabar; Valgard silently lifted the wizard fully onto his feet. "You wanted to join your fellows-join them!"

Bolor ducked, then stepped over what amounted to a sill of limestone with a sizzling, shimmering rim. The men waiting on the hillside gave a shout of wonder as Bolor crossed to their side of the square opening.

"Come on," he muttered, gesturing to the cousins still in the temple.

"What about Princess Sharina?" Lattus said, looking from Bolor to Hani as he spoke. "She can come-"

"She stays with me," Hani said. He giggled. "I have use for her bones. Perhaps I have use for the rest of her first."

The stopper popped as Wilfus finally pulled it from the neck. "Bloody well time!" he said. Then as purple fluid began to bubble from the wine bottle, "Hey!"

It wasn't fluid: it was oily smoke, thick and opaque. It wasn't purple either, or rather it wasalso purple, the way mother-of-pearl has no single hue depending on the direction from which you see it.

"What's this?" Wilfus shouted. "What'sthis?"

Calran cried out in horror. He raised his sword, apparently planning to slash at the smoke, then shouted again and leaped head first through the opening. He hit the ground beside Bolor and rolled, still shouting. His cousin hesitated a moment, then jumped after him.

Valgard stood unmoving, his face as calm as a death mask. Hani wrenched free of his grip. He pointed the athame, started to speak, and choked on his terror.