Tale of Wizardry

JESSAN -- A TALE OF WIZARDRY Chapter 6

Copyright 2006 Trewin Greenaway All Rights Reserved

To learn more about me and the genesis of this tale, visit my website http://www.cronnex.com/ .

I hope to post a new chapter every Saturday from now on. If you're enjoying the story, do let me know!

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PART II -- GEDD

Chapter 6

AT FIRST, there was only the sensation of my lips being wiped with a wet cloth, the smell and taste of bitter herbs, and, further off, the sound of soft conversation. I couldn't make out the words but I thought I knew both voices. At the same time, I dimly realized that this couldn't be. One voice belonged to my childhood and the other had come into my life only recently. I could almost, almost, put a name to it. But, no, the word slipped away as I sank back into the vast and shimmering depths.

Then, later--how much, I did not know--I felt something also familiar, the warmth of another body, lying next to my own. Even in my sleep, this felt good to me, and I began to shift myself, so that I was pressing against it instead of merely lying up against it. For awhile this was enough. But then I began to yearn to touch it, to move my hand across it. I had hands, still, surely, somewhere...it was just a matter of remembering how to use them.

As I puzzled over this I heard a voice speaking softly in my ear and this time I could make out the words. "Little apprentice," the voice said, "where are you? Come out, come out, and play with me."

I smiled. I knew this voice. I felt its owner's fingers caress the side of my face. They ran down my neck and stroked my chest. My body quivered to that touch.

"Don't stop," I whispered. "Don't stop."

"I would never want to," the voice replied. And the fingers wandered down to my stomach and came up my other side, explored the other side of my face, and finally began to gently caress my hair.

"Alfrund," I said. "Alfrund." I was so pleased to remember his name that I smiled again, a radiant smile that spread across my entire face.

He leant down and kissed me, first on my mouth, and then on my cheeks, my eyebrows, my forehead. Then he opened his lips and gently sucked on the end of my nose, making me laugh.

"Can you open your eyes?" he asked. "It's been a long time since I've looked into them."

"I would rather reach over and touch your face," I whispered. "I miss the feel of it and every other part of you. But I seem to have forgotten how. Does that seem strange?"

"No," Alfrund answered softly. "You've been long asleep. You're waking up slowly, and at first everything will seem like a part of a dream. In sleep, you walk without moving your legs, see without opening your eyes, and grasp without moving your hands, and so it is for you now. But not, I think, for long."

Although I wasn't aware I'd dozed off again, I knew that someone else was tending me, wiping my body with a moist hot cloth scented with smithta and another herb I couldn't place. Then my head was lifted up and a tiny bit of some potion trickled between my lips.

I swallowed. The smell of the person who was doing this was so familiar that it shook memories out of my mind the way a wind scatters autumn leaves.

My eyes fluttered open. "Grysta," I whispered. "Grysta." Her hair now was white, but bound in the same braids, and coiled tightly on the top of her head. As a child, I was allowed to brush her long hair when she had let it down for washing. Her face was filled with wrinkles but her gray eyes were still calm and clear. My hand moved and found her old one and held it tightly. "Does this mean I'm dead?"

Grysta burst out laughing. "Are we met in the Hall of the Hallowed?" she asked. "Not yet, little one, not yet. But, yes, it's your Grysta, who dandled you when you were a baby and came again to teach you your letters when you were a wee bit older. I've lived here in Gedd all my life except for those visits to you and my daughter and that metal smith of hers at the village at the end of the world."

"Is that it's name?" I asked. It seemed a fitting one.

"Your village?" She sniffed. "No. As far as I know, it has no name. I call it that because that's where it is. Although it will have a name soon enough, once the word is spread out that you came from it."

I thought she meant the Summoner and his allies, and I shuddered. When Alfrund had said that they would start searching for me there and then follow us up the coast, I'd no idea who "they" were or what this might mean. Now I had some inkling, and it made my heart sick. I fought off these thoughts, and still holding Grysta's hand, asked her where Alfrund was.

Her eyes hardened slightly. "That scoundrel," she said, "is away for the moment. Whenever he's here I have to keep myself from hugging him one moment and wringing his neck another."

I looked at her in astonishment. "He saved my life, Grysta, and more than once."

She snorted. "And you saved his, and more than once. He put you at terrible risk, with one crackbrained scheme after another. If he hadn't got you here safely at last I would have roasted him in my hearth and basted him with his precious dogbane until he was brown and crisp."

"Well," said a voice, "I can think of several herbs that would do me more justice--but then, Grysta, you were never much of a cook."

Alfrund came in and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Our patient has improved a mite since I watched over him last." He ruffled my hair. "I just hope he isn't still so weak in the head that he believes the wicked things about me that you've been stuffing into his ears."

Grysta shook her head. "I can't say wicked things about someone who brought my grandson two whole leagues from the shore to here without raising the alarm. But," she added, glancing over at him, "you're right. I'm sorely tempted to."

Alfrund laughed. "And I'd deserve them, or most. Let's see if things don't go smoother from here on."

Grysta shook her head and sighed. "If only they don't go worse still," she said.

Suddenly there was a voice calling from below. Grysta opened the door and called down an answer. "I'm needed as a midwife," she said, "and so I shall leave you two alone." She gave Alfrund a warning glance and then turned to me.

"One last thing, I have a young helper, named Onna," she told me. "She is about your age and I think that you'll like her. But please remember that she knows nothing about you--remember to keep it that way. This isn't because she can't be trusted but because it would be foolish to put her in any more danger than she already is, simply by being in the same house as you.

"I've told her that you had been helping Alfrund gather herbs up in the hills above the town, where you were bitten by a poison snake. She's very talkative so it should be easy to avoid her questions by asking her another, yourself. I'm constantly shushing her, so she'll be more than happy to make up for lost time."

A second shout came up and she bent over, kissed my forehead, and hurried out, closing the door behind her. Alfrund listen to her footsteps down the stairs for a second and then began to remove his clothes. That done, he climbed into bed with me and we wrapped ourselves around each other.

I wasn't sure what I wanted more, to burrow up against him or to touch every part of his body with my hands and my mouth. I felt like a dog who has just discovered an intoxicating scent and immediately rubs his body all over it.

After a bit, though, I calmed down, and was content to lie in his arms, kissing his mouth and stroking his sex with my hand, and he stroked mine. My urgency was such that, in what seemed but a moment and with my whole body quivering, I spent in juddering spurts. And, after some gentle but persistent coaxing, guided by his hand, Alfrund did, too. Then a sweet contentment flowed through us both, and we lay still in each other's arms.

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AFTER A WHILE, though, my curiosity overcame me, and I said into his ear, "I've so much to ask you and now that you're in my power, you must answer all my questions."

He smiled. "Ask away, and I'll reply to any that don't lead to sadness. I'm in no mood right now for that."

"Fair enough," I said. "Why does my Grysta call you a scoundrel? And, for that matter, how is it that you know her at all?"

"Hmm," he said. "Grysta thinks lowly of me right now for two reasons, one more important than the other. That one is that I encouraged you--ordered you, really--to use powers that you don't yet understand and can't control. When you didn't come out of that second trance on the boat, we both knew we might well have lost you. As it is, you've been unconscious for ten days, and so eaten nothing all that time, and--as you'll remember--not that much before."

"I don't feel hungry," I said, "except for you. It was when you laid down beside me that I first felt any urge to return from that place. Grysta says you carried me here from the boat, but how did you get the boat to land?"

Alfrund laughed. "Well, to tell the tale correctly, let's start when you went into the second trance. I've no idea what you did but you lured the war galley deeper and deeper into the fog, until all I could see was the ball of fell fire, and even it had become a mere hazy glow.

"At that point, I thought, `enough is enough,' and called you. I thought my voice alone would pull you out of your trance. When you didn't respond, I crawled to the stern of the boat and gave you a shake. You simply fell over on your side. Your eyes were wide open, your skin was cold--you seemed so close to death that it tore my heart. I think I'll never be so happy again in my life when finally, yesterday, you spoke to me and smiled."

He kissed me then, holding my head with his hand. Then he lay back and sighed. "Anyway, as I looked helplessly at your inert form, there was the sound of a terrible crash, followed by shouts and screams. The great drum of fellfire had been kept flaming for too long and had burnt its way free of the mast. It fell down onto the war galley and in mere moments had set the ship on fire. It then proceeded to blaze its way down through it, deck by deck, and sink it."

"I saw it all," I said. "I had found my way into the Summoner's head and watched it through his eyes."

Alfrund looked at me in shock. "Well, you were busy in that trance of yours," he said. "Please don't tell Grysta this or I'll really find myself on that spit. Anyway, although I was astonished and relieved by the sinking of the war galley, I would easily have swapped that to have you back. I've never been more frightened. There I was, alone in the dark and fog with you slumped in a heap before me, in a boat that I didn't know how to row, with no idea of where to take it if I could."

I hugged him close. "We each faced our worst terrors that night alone," I said softly. "For me it was the war dogs, and for you, being adrift at sea."

Alfrund glanced at me. "The dogs were more terrifying than the Summoner?" he asked. "I would have thought that he would have relegated the dogs to a distant second."

I shook my head. "No, the Summoner was different. He certainly did frighten me, but with him I somehow knew I could fight back. I felt that the moment you explained to me what was happening in my mind and what I had to do. From then on, I was learning too much to feel as afraid as I was before the dogs. The very thought of them terrifies me still." I put my arm around him and asked, ""Then what?"

"Before the galley sank," Alfrund continued, "the Summoner must have cast a thought to someone ashore. Because after awhile, I began to hear the muffled tolling of the Great Bell of Gedd. It's housed in a tower at the harbor, and it's rung when the fog comes in unexpectedly, to guide boats safely to the harbor. The Lord of the Fort couldn't send any rescue boats out, so he had the bell rung in the hope that it would help any survivors find their way back.

"When I worked that out, I decided I would have to just learn to row. I'd already closed your eyes; now I wrapped you up safely in our cloaks. Now I slipped the oar into that device that holds it, gingerly balanced myself on the platform, and tried to remember exactly what I'd seen while I'd been watching you in the dark."

I smiled. "You didn't watch me for long, unless you did so between snores."

He smiled in return. "I slept like a log, for a bit," he admitted, "but some sense of danger woke me a bit before you spoke to me. All was quiet, though, and I was content to watch you working the oar in the starlight. You were so graceful at it and so sure and it eased my eyes to watch it." He fell silent for a moment, and I closed my eyes. His words had sent a glowing warmth throughout my body.

Finally, I said, "I would give anything to have seen you at that oar."

"And I would happily give anything to prevent you from ever doing so," he retorted. "In any case, it turned out not to be as difficult as all that. What is hard is not pitching yourself over the side while you're doing it. I can swim, it's true, but I didn't fancy my chances at getting safely back in the boat without tipping it over and tossing you into the water as well.

"Still, I kept my footing and eventually I grew skilled enough to move the boat forward instead of around in circles. Even so, it took me a long time to make the shore, and I know it was thanks to amazing luck, because the direction of a sound isn't at all easy to fix in the fog."

"True enough," I said. "I really am amazed. I'll never again think of you as a clueless landsman...just as a sorely inept seaman."

Alfrund gave me a poke. "I accept your commendation. Lucky yet again, I found the shore before I found Gedd and so was able to beach the boat unnoticed and carry you and our packs ashore.

"Of course, I'd no idea where we were. I left you hidden in some shrubbery (praying I'd be able to find you again on my return!) and slipped away to do some scouting. By then, morning had come, light was sifting through the haze, and it wouldn't be long before the fog went back out to sea. But, lucky yet a third time, I came across a pasture with a pony grazing in it, with his bridle hanging on the gate.

"He was a gentle beast and consented to be led away. I returned to shore, draped you over the pony, covered you with a cloak, and shouldered the packs. At a casual glance, I would appear to be a trader, early on the road. I found the path, followed it to the main road to Gedd, and soon had my bearings. Grysta's house is on the outskirts of the town, and so I made my way there without alarm. If there were patrols out, I never encountered any."

"And the pony?" I asked.

Alfrund nudged me. "I'm no horse thief!" he said, with mock indignation. "Grysta knew the beast and its owner, and brought it back to its paddock. When asked, she said that she had found it wandering by itself, and suspected some boys had `borrowed' it for an early morning ride. So, the pony's well, I'm well, and most importantly, you are, too."

"But suddenly very hungry," I said. "Do you think Grysta has anything in the house I could eat--right now?"

"If she hasn't, then horses can fly," Alfrund answered. Rising from the bed, he pulled on just his shirt. "It will only be a question of hot or cold, wet or dry, sweet or salty, flesh or fish."

I considered for a second and said, "I choose them all."

He returned after a bit, bearing a spoon and a large glazed earthen bowl of steaming broth. "There's a lot more down there, as well," he said, setting the bowl down on a small table beside me. "But let's start with this. Grysta left it simmering on the back of the stove for you, and you'll find it soothing and filling, and it may be all that your empty stomach can handle right now."

He put his arm behind me and gently lifted me into a sitting position, and packed pillows behind me. When I protested, he shushed me. "Be glad I'm not allowing myelf the pleasure of feeding you, spoonful by spoonful, as Grysta would. But having felt your hand on my shaft, I know it now has some strength in it."

"Well, so did your shaft--then," I answered. "But my hand is like your shaft--now."

Alfrund laughed as he sat beside me and held out the bowl. "Give it a try," he said, "and let's see. Perhaps you'll find it strengthens you everywhere."

Cautiously, I took up the spoon and dipped it into the soup. My hand did shake slightly as I lifted it up, but not enough to scatter soup on my bedclothes. I took a little sip, for it was quite hot. It had a rich meaty flavor edged with herbs and it was very good.

For a while, mouthful quietly followed mouthful. But after a bit, as the spoon headed back to the bowl, I glanced up at Alfrund and said, "You said there were two reasons that Grysta was angry with you. What's the other?"

Alfrund blew through his lips and looked away. "She thinks it's not right for me to be sleeping with you. She believes that you're not yet old enough for this, at least with someone my age, but also that it's an impertinence for me to do so, given who you are."

I put the spoon back into the bowl and waved the soup away. "Your apprentice, you mean," I said angrily.

Alfrund took the spoon, dipped it into the soup, and held it up to my lips. "I won't talk to you if you don't keep eating," he said. "I did promise to answer your questions but I'll do so only if you promise to listen to my answers."

Somewhat sulkily, I opened my mouth for the spoon, and after he fed me, he continued, "If you were simply my apprentice, she would still have the first objection, but perhaps feel it less strongly--all the more so because she knows me so well.

"But you must already be aware that you're meant for something other than the quiet life of an herbalist. We do have our share of quacksalvers, but our profession hasn't yet attained such ill repute that soldiers and war dogs are sent to capture or kill us."

I sipped from the spoon and watched it return to the bowl. I could have fed myself, but now that I knew I could, I preferred having Alfrund do it. It comforted me against what I was hearing.

"Grysta can't stop us," I said finally. "I won't let her."

"No, she can't," he agreed. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't consider what she thinks, or at least respect it enough to not rub our lovemaking in her face while we're staying in her house."

He lifted another spoonful of soup to my lips as he said this, so I had to get it down before I replied, which made me at least consider what he had said. It seemed that the more urgently I wanted an answer to a question, the more confused it made me when I got it. So I said nothing at all, but merely gestured with my hand that I had eaten enough.

Alfrund set the bowl aside and laid a hand on mine. "Jessan," he said, "when you said you had questions for me, I honestly thought they would have to do with why we are resting here and what will be happening to us next. I just wasn't prepared to start talking about you and me."

I turned my head toward the wall but I heard his words. It was true. I had barely given those things a moment's thought. My need for Alfrund had overpowered everything. When I turned my head back to look at him, my eyes were full of tears.

"Fisherboy!" he whispered, "don't break my heart." He reached over and gently touched the carved dolphin that still hung around my neck. "You're at the very brink of the age of choice. If it were you and Faryn sharing this bed, Grysta would think nothing of it--a thing between two boys.

"But when it is you and me there, she has reason to worry. And she also has spent enough time in company to know that in the ordinary course of events I wouldn't even be drawn to someone as young as you."

He was going to say something more, but the words failed to come. He bit his lip and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they, too, were full of tears. "Why does any of this matter?" he said. "The truth is that I love you very deeply."

"I love you very deeply, too," I said. "But when I say those words I give you my heart. When you say them, I feel you shifting yours beyond my reach."

"I know," he said softly. He put the bowl of soup on the little table beside me, stood up, and began pulling on the rest of his clothing. "I'm going to take a short walk to let my thoughts settle. As Grysta has already told you, Onna is below, so you won't be left here alone. I'll tell her you're sleeping, so she won't bother you. But she'll come immediately if you call. And, if need be, she'll know where to find me."

He looked down at me and smiled. "You may not believe it," he said, "but all I have to do is look at you to know that a minute from now you'll be sound asleep." He leant over, kissed me on the lips, and went out, closing the door quietly behind him.

Alfrund was right. My confusion and anger were already fading into a distant blur. The time I spent in the void wasn't real sleep, it seemed, but something else; my body, my mind, both needed the healing of plain, familiar slumber and it was sweet to surrender to it.