He discoursed upon the stately elm and silvery birch, the monumental oak and chestnut. “Note that copper beech! Magnificent. A pity the rhododendrons are over.” The day was stiflingly hot, even in the Central Hills, with not a hint of a breeze.
Thaile was still a novice and would remain one for several years yet, but she was no longer the naive peasant girl who had walked the Defile. A second word of power had brought her an adept’s ability to master any mundane skill. She could read and write and calculate. Day in and day out she sat with her fellow novices and trainees as the tutors filled their heads with history and geography, the sociology and politics and languages of the Outside, genealogy and the lore of magic. She read until her eyes ached and listened until her head swam. She talked with sorcerers. She heard rumors of terrible events stalking the world Outside, and knew that prophecies were being fulfilled. She understood that these were not normal times; the College was nervous as it had not been for centuries.
The second word had confirmed her Faculty by bringing her the beginnings of occult skills, very rare for a mere adept. They frightened her, for they implied that she was destined to be a mighty sorceress one day. Dread years lay ahead, and she might find herself playing a part in them, and for that she had no ambition. She suspected she had no ambitions at all, except to do her duty as it had been shown to her that terrible night in the Defile.
“Ah!” Teal exclaimed. “There—see the lake?”
Thaile peered through the foliage and admitted that she could just make out a tiny scrap of polished blue in the far distance, between two hills.
Teal nodded fussily. “Now you have seen it, I can leave you. There is only the Baze Place, so you can’t be mistaken. He is expecting you. When you’ve finished, come and see me at the Library.” His eyes twinkled, waiting for her question.
“Finished what?”
He beamed. “You are to learn another word.”
The baking heat of the day seemed to chill. For a moment Thaile wondered if she was being teased or tested in some strange way. She, a mage? What insanity was this?
“But, Analyst! I have been here less than four months.”
“We are well aware of that.”
“But surely it takes years—”
“It is a great honor for you, Novice.” He paused, surprised. ”Of course as a mage you can hardly still remain a novice, can you? I shall arrange to have you registered as a trainee, or perhaps even as recorder, although I don’t suppose you will ever be asked to perform a recorder’s duties. How difficult!”
She was frightened now. The future threatened like a shadow across a path. She wanted no more occult abilities, nor the self-knowledge they might bring. ”But I have years of study ahead of me yet before I will be capable of handling the powers of a mage.”
“Now, now! That is not so, my dear, and you should know that. Why, Outside people become mages or sorcerers without any studying at all. We teach you about Thume and the College; we can’t teach you anything about using power. That wisdom comes from the words themselves.” He saw that she was about to argue further. “It was an edict, Thaile.”
A stronger breath of fear dispersed her faint rebellion like smoke in the wind. “The K-k-keeper? Why?”
“I have no idea,” Teal said peevishly. “As I said, it is a very great honor that her Blessedness even knows you exist, let alone takes an interest in your progress or orders it accelerated. I am sure she has her reasons. Now, off to the Baze Place with you. Remember to be patient. He is very old. Address him as ‘Archon.’ “
Thaile started. “Is he?”
“He was once. He may bore you with many stories. Just remember that he has dedicated his whole long life to the College and deserves respect for that. His goodwife’s name is Prin. She must be almost a hundred herself.”
“That is old for . . .”
Teal’s nod held a hint of reproof. “For a mundane? Of course she is a mundane, and yes it is. He preserves her as he preserves himself. Do you grudge him that?”
She felt her cheeks flush hotly. “Of course not.”
“When he dies, she will die, also. Remember therefore that what you will take from him today is doubly precious to him.”
“But—”
“No, I do,not think you will kill him. Just be understanding if he seems reluctant, or takes a long time to get to the point. I am sure he will eventually. Baze has always been loyal to the College, and will not shirk this final duty. The Oopan word. He knows that, but remind him, just to be sure.”
Teal swung on his heel and walked off along the Way. In a few moments he rounded a bend, and disappeared behind shrubbery in a final flicker of blue. Reluctantly Thaile continued her journey, heading down to the little lake.
In a few moments she emerged from the trees at a small clearing by the shore. The cottage under the willows was old and furry with moss, like some great forest animal dozing in the sun. In size and shape it resembled the Gaib Place where she had been born, except that the logs of its walls were thicker and sturdier. A man sat on a bench by the door, just as her father might even now be sitting by his door, wondering how his lost daughter fared. There was no sign of Goodwife Prin, either inside or outside the house.
Baze was spare and weatherbeaten, but he did not seem especially old. His back was straight. He held bony hands on the boss of a thick staff propped upright between his legs, and he was staring fixedly at the water. His hair was thin, silvery streaks on his brown scalp, his ears very long and pointed. His shirt and pants were of drab brown stuff and he was barefoot.
She approached, expecting formal welcome, but he surprised her before she was even within earshot. “Come and sit by me. You are younger than I expected.”
She moved faster, panting in the sticky heat. “Archon Baze?”
“Who else?” He did not turn his head at all, but he smiled toward the lake. “And you are Novice Thaile, sent here to become a mage. So young. Troubled times.”
Nervously she crossed the somber deep green of the grass before the cottage and seated herself on the end of the bench. Still he did not turn his head. Of course he had no need to look at her to see her, and perhaps the very old learned to dispense with unnecessary movements, but she found his immobility disconcerting.
“You are frightened.” His voice was raspy, and sounded forced.
“Er, a little, sir.”
“No need. I am quite harmless.”
“Yes, sir. I mean, I don’t doubt that, Archon. “
He did not answer for a while. A jay shrieked in a maple.
“You should, perhaps. I have slain many men in my time. Women and children, also.”
She could not think what he wanted her to say to that. She wished she was not there. A squirrel bounded out of the shrubbery and stopped abruptly to stare warily at the couple on the bench.
“Most Keepers execute their own judgments,” the old man told the lake. “After all, what more pain can guilt bring a Keeper? Puile, though, had a hatred of violence. When he was Keeper he gave the worst work to the archons. Once he had me destroy a village.” Still he sat in perfect stillness. He sighed, but even that hardly moved his chest. “Merfolk, settling on the coast. They meant no harm.”
Horrified, Thaile said, “A whole village?”
“Even the babes. I came in the night, and they knew nothing. By morning there was only grass. Do you know the worst thing about being an archon, Novice?”
No one had ever spoken quite like this to her, and she was not sure how much she should believe. She could guess the answer to that question, though. ”Fearing you may be the next Keeper?”
Baze did not reply, but his head moved in a very slight nod. The squirrel decided it was safe to make three more bounds.
Thaile jumped at a sudden outburst of song. She twisted around and saw a wicker cage hanging under the eaves, a yellow bird pouring out incredible streams of golden melody, finer than anything she had ever heard. She glanced at the old man. He was smiling toward the lake, but obviously listening to the song and enjoying her surprise.
It ended as suddenly as it had begun.
“That is Sunbeam,” Baze said softly. “She is an old friend. My goodwife enjoyed her company in the days when I had to travel.”