His voice echoed behind her. “I’ve even raised the causeway a little—I think it’s subsided since Inisso’s time. And now it’s goblin repellent, just in case. And I’ve restored the inattention spell on the whole kingdom. I made it as strong as I dared. Any stronger, and the ships would forget to come.”
“You’ve been busy.”
“You haven’t exactly been lazing around yourself.” Then she had reached the chamber of puissance. It was astonishingly warm. Rap’s doing, no doubt. It had been cleaned out. Again, Rap’s doing—only sorcery could have removed every trace of dust like this, and even put a shine on the floor.
Southward, the magic portal was a darkness where the magic casement had been, flanked by windows in the two smaller side arches. Sunrise or sunset was streaming in through those.
The only furniture was a massive chest, so that must be what she had been brought to see. She crossed to it and tried the lid.
“Different password,” Rap said. “Shandie.”
“Why Shandie?” The lid came free in her hand. “Just easy to remember, hard to guess.”
She looked at the contents—hundreds of washleather bags.
“Gold,” Rap said at her elbow. “Never knew a woman go through money like you do, but that lot ought to keep you in pins for a while. The big bag there is your crown. I can’t find the original, so I expect the imps took it, but that’s an exact duplicate.”
Crown? Who cared? She dropped the heavy lid and turned to him with tears starting in her eyes. “Rap, if this means—”
“Yes, it does. Now come along.” He put an arm around her waist and led her over to the portal. He said, “Holindarn!” and opened it and they both recoiled at the bright afternoon sunshine in Kade’s private parlor. Smoke puffed from the fireplace, but not so vigorously as last time.
And Kade, who had been sitting reading a book, jumped to her feet in alarm.
“She’s all right,” Rap said. “Just about out on her feet though. She’s hardly slept.”
“Everything’s fine,” Inos said. Sharp guilt pangs reminded her that she had not been keeping Kade informed.
“Yes, dear, I know,” Kade said. “Well done! Now sit here.”
Between them, they guided Inos to a rose-patterned chair. Old age was really making her legs shaky these days. Her joints had forgotten how to bend. Someone put her feet up on a footstool, and someone else tucked a pillow behind her.
“She just ate,” Rap said. “A hot bath and about ten hours in bed should do it. No one will go looking for her in the castle, but she’ll relax better here.”
Inos stared up with bleary, resentful eyes while Kade went hurrying out to organize and Rap perched on the back of a chair, one foot on the floor, one dangling. No tattoos now. Hair a bird’s nest. Stupid face with wistful expression. That was her man and he was leaving her.
“I’m going, Inos.”
“I can tell.” She was too weary to argue, and that was why he had chosen this moment. Arguing with Rap was never productive, anyway. Pigheaded idiot!
“You’ll do all right,” he said. “You’ve been doing all right.”
“I couldn’t have done anything without you.” It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair!
“That’s true, but I’ve haven’t done much since the first night except throw out money. I gave you no advice, you know—none! You knew what to do by instinct. I’ll keep an eye on you . . .”
“I love you. You love me. But you’re going away.”
“And you want to know why. And I can’t tell you. Oh, Inos, dearest, I’d tell you if I could!” He stared at her in dismay. “Listen—the words are more than just words, obviously. They may be the names of demons or elementals. I don’t know that, but it seems reasonable. The elemental is bound by its name and must serve whoever knows it. Makes sense, sort of. Then when you share a word of power, you give the poor old elemental one more person to serve, so its power is . . . Well, you get the idea.”
With her head back on the cushion like this it was hard to keep his face in focus. Hard to keep anything in focus. The warmth was drugging her.
“And the words are more than just words in other ways, like not showing up to magic.” He rubbed his forehead as if it hurt. “They don’t even like to be talked about.”
She didn’t want his lecture. She wanted him to hold her and stay with her always.
“And of course they are hard to say.” Rap rose to his feet and straightened. “Except that they don’t want to be lost. When I thought I was dying in Azak’s jail, one of my words got very agitated in case it was going to be forgotten. I think I would have found it easy to tell that word to someone then.”
Inos was going to ask a question and she had forgotten what it was and she wasn’t sure her mouth would work very well just now.
“So sometimes the words behave almost as if they’re alive themselves.” Rap took a deep breath, and she realized foggily that he was having trouble telling her all this.
Pain? Painful to talk? Painful to tell a word? “What about five words?” she murmured. “Explain what happened to Rasha, and almost happened to you.”
Rap opened and closed his mouth a few times, then shook his head. ”Sorry!” He turned to stare out the window at the winter sunshine. ”Someone told me once that Zinixo was the most powerful sorcerer since Thraine. I bested him! But I can’t . . .”
“Olybino said that what happened was impossible.”
“It damned nearly was. The dwarf was a pushover compared to that. But I was mad then. I couldn’t have . . . done what I did . . . if I hadn’t been so mad at the dwarf. I hated him so much . . .”
She gave up. “And you won’t tell me why you’re going away.”
He spoke to the window pane. “Inos . . . When two people are in love . . . They like to hold hands, and hug each other, and kiss, and . . . Well, be affectionate in all sort of intimate ways.”
“You astonish me.” She yawned enormously. Very vulgar.
“One thing leads to another. I’m sorry if this shocks you, but I’m a sorcerer, and I can see through walls, and, well, I’m afraid I’ve seen what happens . . .”
“I’ve been told all about it.”
“You have?” He sounded surprised. “Well . . . that’s why I’m going away. I don’t trust myself not to go totally out of control.”
For a moment the absurdity cut through her fog. “Rap! Oh, Rap! I want you to go totally out of control! The sooner the better!”
He turned and stared at her, shaking his head. “I don’t mean that exactly. Well, I do. Of course I do. But I might not be able to control what else . . .”
Again she wondered why he was having so much trouble in saying what he wanted to say.
“Sorcerers can marry,” she protested weakly. “They don’t marry sorceresses.”
“Inisso was married. Olliola was his wife’s name.”
“But they didn’t know more than . . .” He groaned and stopped.
“You’ll come back, though? Soon?” He hesitated and she said, ”Promise!”
“All right. I promise. Before winter.”
“Sooner!”
“No. Oh, Inos! It isn’t you, love!” he said huskily. “Believe me, it isn’t you! And it isn’t Krasnegar. We’ve seen a lot of the world, haven’t we, between us? And I know I haven’t found anywhere I like better than dowdy little Krasnegar. It’s dull, but it’s honest and it’s friendly. It has no wars or injustice or oppression. You must feel that way, too, don’t you?”
She nodded wearily.
He had moved. He was kneeling by her chair, but his whisper came from a long way off. “Inos . . . If I said you could come with me; if I said we could go and live together always in a wonderful place and never have any worries ever again . . . What would you say to that, Inos?”
“Duty?” she murmured. Silly question!
She felt a very soft touch on her forehead . . . Then Kade was shaking her shoulder and saying her bath was ready, and Rap had gone.
4
Slowly the days began to lengthen. Slowly Inos’s life shaped itself into a routine. Slowly her reforms began to show results.
The lumber expedition was successful beyond her dreams, and three others followed. Apparently no one had ever thought of sledges before. The wood was green, of course, but there was plenty of it. Either the goblins did not notice this new activity, or they did not care, and the only injuries were a few toes lost to a combination of frostbite and inexperience. The wear and tear on the horses was more worrisome, but Inos had shown even the elders that new ways could be better, and her reputation suffered no harm.