The Practice Effect Part 16

The Baron lounged back on his plush, thronelike chair. He seemed filled with a restless energy, carefully, calculatedly restrained. It showed from time to time as he crushed nuts in his bare hands.

Hoss'k wiped his mouth on his napkin-sleeve. He bowed his head.

"As you wish, my Lord. First, would you tell me which of Dennis Nuel's tools are of most interest to you?"

Kremer smiled indulgently. "The far-killing hand weapon, the far- seeing gla.s.s box, and the box that shows s.h.i.+ning insects moving as dots."

Hoss'k nodded. "And what do all of these things have in common?"

"You tell us."

"Very well, my Lord. Clearly these implements contain essences wholly unknown here in Coylia. Our lady of the L'Toff"-Hoss'k inclined his head to Linnora-"has confirmed this fact for us.

"Although he has endeavored to hide the details of his origins, our wizard's plain ignorance of some of the most basic facts about our way of life indicates that he comes from a distant land, easily beyond the Great Desert beyond the mountains-a land where the study of essence has developed along radically different lines than it has here.

"Perhaps essence itself is different there, such that the tools they practice are constrained to develop in totally divergent ways." Hoss'k smiled, as if he knew he were making a daring speculation.

Dennis sat up in his chair. Perhaps this fellow is no dolt after all, he thought.

"The box of lights, in particular, tells me much," Hoss'k went on, confidently. "The tiny trained insects it contains behind its clear cover are unknown in these parts. They are smaller than the tiniest firefly.

What are they called, Wizard?"

Dennis sat back in his chair again, almost sighing aloud in disappointment. Cavemen, he reminded himself.

"They are called pixel array elements," he answered. "They are made up of things called liquid crystals, which-"

"Living crystal elementals!" Hoss'k interrupted Dennis. "Imagine that! Well, I feared at first that the little creatures were dying under my care. After a time they grew dim, and I could find no airholes nor any way to supply them with food. Finally I learned-almost by accident, I will confess-that they recovered quite nicely when fed sunlight!"

Dennis couldn't help reacting with a raised eyebrow. Hoss'k took note and grinned in triumph.

"Ah, yes, Wizard. We are not b.u.mpkins or fools here. This discovery was particularly pleasing to my Lord Baron. Until that time his new weapon, the small "needle-caster" you so graciously provided, had stopped functioning. Now, of course, that tool is also fed its fill of sunlight every day as it is practiced."

The portly scholar beamed as Baron Kremer acknowledged this coup with a faint smile and nod. Kremer obviously had plans for the needler. Dennis frowned but remained silent.

"Like the bugs in the wonder box," Hoss'k continued. "Something inside the weapon must at intervals eat from the sun. Indeed, when the weapon is used one can hear the faint scamperings of captive animals inside it.

"I did find a little food door on that machine. And now we provide the creatures inside with the metal they apparently require besides sunlight.

"These demons of yours have expensive tastes, Wizard. My Lord has used up the price of several serfs just keeping the weapon in practice!"

Dennis kept his face impa.s.sive. The fellow was clever, but his deductions were diverging more and more from reality. Dennis tried not to think about how Kremer might be "practicing" his needler.

"And just what does all this tell you about my homeland?" he asked.

Hoss'k grinned. "Well, first off we have seen that part of your magic is in taking the essence of living things and imbuing them into tools before practice even begins. This suggests to me a society with less regard for the dignity of life than we have here in Coylia."

Dennis couldn't help smirking sardonically. Of all the fatuous conclusions to reach! He glanced at Linnora to share his feelings in a secret glance but was shaken by the look she gave him. She obviously didn't think much of Hoss'k, but his latest deduction obviously disturbed her. She fingered her napkin nervously.

Couldn't she tell that the scholar was only flailing around blindly?

Hoss'k went on. "Some time ago I took some of the items Dennis Nuel brought with him from his homeland-those that my Lord Baron did not require for other purposes-and put them in a dark closet, where they received neither light nor practice. I wished to observe them as they reverted to their original forms and find out what principles of essence were at the heart of each.

"To my shock I found that, after a few days, the tools stopped devolving altogether! Left in a dark room, his knife remains sharp as it was a week ago. Some of this may be due to the fact that it is made of a prince's ransom in iron, but the fastenings on his clothing and backpack also remained frozen in intricate shapes that could have been made by no craftsman alive."

Dennis glanced at Kremer. The Baron listened with hands clasped in front of him. Heavy brows cast his eyes into shadows.

Linnora's gaze darted from Hoss'k to Dennis to Kremer with an expression of apparent anxiety. Dennis wondered what was going on.

Was it something the fool had just said? He decided to stop this foolishness before it got any more ridiculous. "I don't think you. . . ."

But the scholar wouldn't be interrupted. "The wizard's things are positively amazing. Only once before have I encountered their like,"

he said. "In our recent expedition into the western mountains north of the lands of the L'Toff, I and my escorts found a tiny house in the wilderness, all made of metal. . . ."

Dennis stared at Hoss'k and felt his hands become fists. "You!" He knew, now, that he had seen the deacon one time before, on the tiny screen of the Shara Tech exploration 'bot. It was this fool, dressed in his red formal robes, who had overseen the dismantling of the zievatron!

"Ah," the scholar nodded. "I see from your reaction that that little house was yours, Wizard. And that does not surprise me. For I found a little box in the side of the house, which opened under prying. And there I found a storehouse of incredible little tools! I took home a few to examine at my leisure and, while I have not been able to make them do anything discernible, they, like the items in your backpack, have not changed a whit since I acquired them!"

Hoss'k reached into his voluminous robes and pulled out a handful of small objects.

"A few of these came from a pair of rather large, ferocious demons we found guarding the little house. But they were no match for the thenners of my Lord's brave guardsmen."

Bits and pieces of s.h.i.+ny electronics spilled from his hand onto the table. Dennis stared at a claw arm from a "ferocious" little Sahara Tech exploration robot, and a broken elevatronics circuit board whose components alone were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars!

"Of course, we could not stay long enough to pursue a full investigation, you'll understand. For that was when we encountered the Princess. It took our men two whole days to-ahem-track her from the little metal house to the rock cleft where she had become lost. . . ."

"I wasn't lost! I was hiding from your thrice-cursed northmen!"

Linnora bit out.

"Hmm. Well. She claimed that she had come to the mountain glade because she sensed that something unusual had recently occurred in the area. I felt it wise to invite her to accompany our expedition back to Zuslik. . . for her own safety, of course."

Dennis could barely contain himself. "So you're the cretin who tore apart the return device," he growled.

Hoss'k laughed. "Oh, Wizard, I completed the job of dissection, but our L'Toff Princess had already begun investigating the strange cabin when we arrived."

He glanced at her to see if this was true, but Linnora only looked away, fanning herself. At that moment Dennis didn't feel any favoritism. He gave Linnora some of the hot glare he had offered Hoss'k. Both of them had meddled where they had no business!

"Anyway, Wizard," Hoss'k went on, "no harm was done, I'm sure.

When my Lord Baron decides it is time for you to return to your homeland with your property, I'm sure we can return the metal I took and lend you all the help you'll need in order to practice your little house back to perfection."

Dennis swore softly in Arabic, the only way he could properly express his opinion of the idea.

Hoss'k seemed to sense some of the message, if not the meaning.

His smile narrowed. "And if my Lord decides otherwise, why, then I will lead another expedition to the little house and reclaim all of that wonderful metal for my Lord's treasury."

Dennis sat back in stunned silence. If the airlock itself were ever actually moved, let alone dismantled, he would spend the rest of his life here!

Kremer had remained quiet during this exchange. Now he cut in.

"I believe we have strayed from the topic, my good Deacon. You were explaining to us what was so unusual about the tools once owned by our alien wizard. You said that they appear to remain unchanged, no matter how long they are left unpracticed."

"Yes, my Lord." Hoss'k bowed. "And there is only one way known to freeze a tool into its practiced form so it will remain in that condition forever, unable to revert to its starter state. In our land this technique is controlled only by the L'Toff."

Linnora sat rigidly, not looking at Hoss'k or even at Dennis.

"The technique, as we all know, involves a member of the L'Toff race willingly investing a portion of his or her own life-force into the tool in question, spending a part of his or her life-span to make the Pr'fett permanent."

Kremer spoke pensively. "A great gift, is it not, Wizard? The priests claim that the L'Toff were chosen by the G.o.ds. . .blessed with the talent to be able to make beautiful things beautiful forever.

"But all gifts have a price, do they not, scholar?"

Hoss'k nodded sagely. "Yes, my Lord. The talent has been a mixed blessing to the L'Toff. With their other gifts, it elevated them above other peoples. It also led to many unpleasant episodes of, well, what might be called attempted exploitation by others."

Dennis blinked. This was all coming too fast, but even without reflection he could imagine how the L'Toff had suffered for their talent.

The Princess looked only at her own hands.

"Of course, the rest of the story is common knowledge," Hoss'k said, chuckling. "Fleeing the greed of mankind, the L'Toff came to the western mountains, where an ancestor of our King Hymiel ceded them their present territory and made the old dukes of Zuslik their protectors."

And Baron Kremer's father deposed the last of the old dukes, Dennis realized.

"We were speaking of the wizard's property," Kremer reminded softly but severely.

Hoss'k bowed. "Of course. Now, what can we suppose when we find that the wizard's property does not decay, does not devolve into crude starters? We are forced to conclude that Dennis Nuel is a member of the aristocracy of his homeland, a homeland in which both metal and life itself are cheap. Furthermore, it seems clear that the equivalent of the L'Toff in his country have been enslaved and put to use freezing Pr'fett within practiced objects so that they remain refined even when left unused for long periods. This exploitation has gone so far as to freezing even Nuel's clothing. Here in Coylia no one has ever considered squandering the L'Toff talent on clothes-"

"Now just a darned minute," Dennis cut in. "I think there are a few things that need to be-"

Hoss'k grinned and hurried on, cutting Dennis off. "-We must conclude, at last, that their expertise at different lands of essence- including the enslavement of little animals as integral parts of tools- plus this power over the L'Toff of their own land explains the wizardry of Dennis Nuel's country.

"He may be an exile or an adventurer. I cannot say which. In either case our guest clearly comes from a most powerful and ruthless warrior race. This being so, he should be treated as a member of the highest caste while he remains here in Coylia."

Dennis stared at the man, dumbfounded. He wanted to laugh, but it was too preposterous even for that!

He started to speak twice and stopped each time. It occurred to him to wonder if he should interfere at all. His initial impulse to protest might not be the right strategy at all. If Hoss'k's sophistry led to the granting of high status and respect here, should he even interfere?

While he considered, Princess Linnora abruptly stood up, her face very pale. "My Lord Baron. Gentlemen." She nodded left and right but did not look at Dennis. "I am fatigued. Will you excuse me?"

Her chair was withdrawn by a servant. She did not meet Dennis's gaze, though he stood and tried to catch her eye. She bore stoically the Baron's lips upon her hand, then turned and left, accompanied by two guards.

Dennis's ears burned. He could well imagine what Linnora thought of him. But all considered, it was probably best that he had remained silent right now, until he had a chance to think about what was to be done. The time for explanations would come later, He turned to see Kremer smiling at him. The Baron took his seat and sipped from a goblet whose lacquer had, over the years, developed into a magnificent, a.r.s.ene blue.

"Please sit down, Wizard. Do you smoke? I have pipes that have been used every day for three hundred years. As we relax, I am certain we will find matters of mutual benefit to discuss."

Dennis said nothing.

Kremer eyed him calculatingly. "And perhaps we can work out something that will benefit the lady as well."

Dennis frowned. Were his feelings that obvious?

He shrugged and sat down. In his position, he had little choice but to deal.

4 "It's a good thing the palace has lots of well-practiced indoor plumbing," Arth said as he worked to join two ill-fitting pieces of tubing, binding them with wet mud and twine. "I'd hate to have to make our own pipes out of paper or clay and have to practice 'em up ourselves."

Dennis used a chisel to trim a tight wooden cover to fit over a large earthen vat. Nearby, several kegs of the Baron's "best" wine awaited another test run. The maze of tubes overhead was a plumber's nightmare. Even the sloppiest Appalachian moons.h.i.+ner would have shuddered at the sight. But Dennis figured it would be good enough for a "starter" distillery.

All they had to do was get a few drops of brandy to come out the other end of the condenser. A little final product was all they needed for it to be useful and therefore practicable.

Arth whistled as he worked. He seemed to have forgiven Dennis since being released from the dungeon and a.s.signed work as "wizard's a.s.sistant." Now wearing comfortably old work clothes and being fed well, the short thief was enthralled by this extended making task, unlike anything he had ever done before.

"Do you think Kremer's goin' to be satisfied with this still, Dennizz?"

Dennis shrugged. "In a couple of days we should be producing a concoction that'll knock the Baron's fancy, two-hundred-year-old socks off. It ought to make him happy."

"Well, I still hate his guts, but I'll admit he pays well." Arth jingled a small leather purse a quarter filled with slivers of precious copper.

Arth seemed satisfied for now, but Dennis had his private doubts.

Making a distillery for Kremer was a stopgap measure at best. He was sure the warlord would only want more from his new wizard. Soon he would lose interest in promises of new luxuries and trade goods and start demanding weapons for his upcoming campaign against the L'Toff and the King.

Dennis and Arth had been at this task almost a week. Here and now, few spent much more than a day making anything. Kremer was already showing signs of impatience.

What would he do when the distillery was operational? Show the Baron how to forge iron? Teach his artisans the principle of the wheel? Dennis had hoped to keep one or two of those "essences" in reserve, just in case Kremer decided to renege on his promise. The warlord had vowed eventually to heap wealth on Dennis and provide him with all the resources he'd need to repair his "metal house" and go home. But he might change his mind.

Dennis was still ambivalent. Kremer was clearly a ruthless s...o...b..

But he was competent and not particularly venal. From Dennis's readings of Earth's history, a lot of men who were revered in legends weren't exactly pleasant people in real life. Although Kremer certainly was a tyrant, Dennis wondered if he was particularly terrible as founders of dynasties went.

Perhaps the best thing to do would be to become the fellow's Merlin. Dennis could probably make Kremer's victories overwhelming-and therefore relatively bloodless-and in so doing become a power at his side.

Certainly that would win him a freer hand, perhaps even to repair the zievatron and return home again.

It did sound like the right plan.

Then why did it feel so unpalatable?

He could think of at least one person who wouldn't agree with his decision. The few times he had seen Princess Linnora since the banquet they had been at least two parapets apart, she escorted by her guards and he by his. She had nodded to him coolly and swept away with a swirl of skirts even as he smiled and tried to catch her eye.

Dennis could see now how Hoss'k's logic at the banquet would sound compelling to someone raised in this world. The misunderstanding irked him all the more because it was so unfair.

But there was nothing he could do. Kremer was keeping her in Dennis's sight but out of earshot. And he couldn't insult the Baron in her presence-spoiling all of his plans- just to regain favor in her eyes, could he? That would be shortsighted.

It was perplexing.

He and Arth built their still in a broad court not far from the enclosed jailyard they had escaped from only weeks before. Except for their small corner, the broad field was taken up by drilling grounds for the Baron's troops. Near the outer wall of sharpened logs, sergeants marched militia from the town and neighboring hamlets- practicing both the ragged weapons and their equally motley bearers.