Tamir - The Bone Doll's Twin Part 35

The place was a shambles. The furniture had been smashed to bits and scattered about the room.

Mouldering bolts of cloth and tapestries covered the floor.

'Mother made her dolls here," Tobin whispered.

Arkoniel had heard of those later dolls; boys with no mouths.

The sound of weeping was more distinct here, but it was still faint, as if heard from another room. If Tobin heard it, he said nothing. As he crossed to a far corner, however, Arkoniel noted how he kept his face turned away from the fatal western window.

What had the child witnessed that final day, when he'd received that crescent scar on his chin? Closing his eyes, Arkoniel whispered a blood-seeking spell. The magic made a few scattered spots of old blood on the floor near the west window s.h.i.+ne bright as moonlight on silver. And there was one more trace, a tiny, much-weathered half-moon smudge on the edge of the stone sill.

The outer edge, beyond the shutters.

Tobin made his way over the debris to a far corner and was s.h.i.+fting a small pile of refuse there.

The sobbing grew suddenly louder and Arkoniel could hear the whisper of heavy skirts, as if the weeper was pacing the room.

Caught between fear and grief, Arkoniel searched his mind for spirit spells, but all that would come was her name.

'Ariani."

It was enough. The shutters of the west window flew open and there she stood, a dark outline against the moonlight. Brother stood with her, grown as tall as his sibling even in death.

Arkoniel took a step toward her and held out his hand, face to face with the woman he'd helped wrong.

She turned to him and the light fell across her face. Black blood covered the left side, but her eyes were bright and alive and fixed on him with a terrible confusion that disturbed him more deeply than any show of anger. "Forgive me, Lady." An echo a decade gone. He felt Tobin beside him, clutching at his arm with trembling fingers. "Do you see her?" he whispered.

'Yes. Oh, yes." He stretched out his left hand to the pitiful apparition. She tilted her head as if bemused by his gesture, then reached as if they were partnered in a dance. As their hands met he felt a fleeting sensation like the kiss of snow shaken from a branch. Then she was gone, and Brother with her.

Arkoniel brought his hand to his nose and caught the faint scent of her perfume mingled with blood.

Then a deathly chill closed in around him. It felt as if someone was reaching into his chest and squeezing his heart to stop it. Another hand, this one hard and warm, found his and dragged him from the room.

Doors slammed shut behind them as he and Tobin fled the tower.

In his workroom Arkoniel locked the door, latched r the shutters, and lit a small lamp, then collapsed trembling on the floor with his face in his hands. "By L Ligh You saw her, didn't you."

"Oh yes. Maker forgive me, I did."

'Was she angry?"

Arkoniel thought of the crus.h.i.+ng sensation he'dfe,'cin M Cmt ,'Mt&f been ner doing, or Baxter's? "She t looked sad, Tobin. And lost." He looked up and only then noticed what Tobin had brought back with him from the tower. "Is that what you went up for?"

'Yes." Tobin clutched an old cloth sack to his chest. "I-I'm glad you caught me tonight. I don't think I could've done it alone again and I'd never have been able to ask anyone to go-"

"Again? You mean you did that before? All by yourself?"

'When I put it up there. That night Ki arrived."

'You saw your mother then, didn't you?"

Tobin knelt beside him and began plucking at the knotted string that held the sack closed. He was s.h.i.+vering. "Yes. She reached out for me, like she was going to throw me out the window again."

Arkoniel searched for something to say, but words failed him. Tobin was still busy with the sack. "You might as well see. This was my mother's. She made it." The string came loose and he pulled out a crude muslin rag doll with a badly drawn face. "She always carried it."

'Your father mentioned it in his letters."

He thought of the fine dolls she'd made in Ero. All the great ladies of Ero had wanted one, and many of the lords, too. This thing that Tobin cradled so carefully was a grotesque parody, the embodiment of her ruined soul.

This thought was quickly replaced by another, however, and the hair rose on his neck and arms for the second time that night. The doll wore a necklace of hair '

houghr

with n-c-n- nof enough K, There had to foe something more; a talisman of 't'tsontt-'sthat joined the two. Something that had perhaps been pa.s.sed from mother to child.

'Did your mother give this to you?"

Tobin stared down at the doll. "Lhel helped my mother make this. Then she made it mine."

'With your hair?"

Tobin nodded. "And some blood."

Of course. "And this helps you call Brother?"

'Yes. I wasn't supposed to show it to anyone, so I hid it in the tower. I think maybe that's why Brother doesn't always stay away when I tell him to. When Lord Orun said I must go to Ero I knew I had to get it..."

'But why not leave it here? Leave him here?"

'No, I have to take care of him. Lhel said so."

'If a wizard put his mind to it, he might be able to smell it out."

'You didn't."

Arkoniel let out a rueful chuckle. "I suppose not, but I wasn't looking. All the same, there are plenty of wizards in Ero. You must be careful of all of them, especially those who wear the white robes of the King's Harriers."

Tobin looked up in alarm. "What about the one with Orun's men?"

'A blond young man dressed as a soldier?"

'Yes, that's the one."

'He's a friend, Tobin. But you mustn't let on that you know about him. lya sent him to keep watch over you, that's all. It's a secret."

'I'm glad he's not a bad wizard. He has a kind face."

'You mustn't only judge people on their faces-" Arkoniel caught himself, not wanting to scare the boy, or give too much away for a Harrier to find in Tobin's mind later, should one have cause to look.

"There are many kinds of people in the world, Tobin, and as many kinds of wizards. Not all of them mean you well. By the Four, you didn't trust me and I mean you nothing but good! Don't go lowering your guard to someone just because they tip you a winning smile." He looked down at the doll again.

"Now, are you certain you must take this with you? Couldn't you leave it here with me?"

'No, Lhel says I have to keep it and care for Brother. No one else can do that. He needs me and I need him." Him.

Oh dear, thought Arkoniel. Here was another plan that had worked too well until now. Thanks to Lhel's magic, the king had been shown the body of a dead girl child, and so the world had heard the story; Tobin knew the truth. If someone saw Brother or heard Tobin speak of "him," uncomfortable questions would be raised.

Tobin was watching him with those eyes that saw too much and Arkoniel felt the terrible fragility of the new bond they'd created in the tower just now.

He thought of lya's bag lying under his worktable; no wizard could see through its magics to the bowl swathed in silk and spells inside. For an instant he seized on the notion of making such a bag for the doll.

This, at least, he had the magic for, and the makings: dark silk and silver thread, a crystal wand, needles and razors of iron, censers for burning resins and gums. Everything lay in easy reach. With these he could make a bag that would hold Brother in and keep out the prying eyes of any Harrier. But the bag itself would be seen. He or lya might carry such a thing with impunity, but an ordinary eleven-year-old child of warrior birth could not.

He sighed and picked up the discarded flour sack.

387.

Ordinary. As ordinary as an old doll left as a keepsake for an orphaned child.

'This changes everything, you know," he mused, an idea already taking form. "That little display we had Brother put on in the hall was all well and good as the antics of a house spirit. At court no one, especially you, can afford any taint of necromancy and there are plenty who might a.s.sume just that if they think you can control Brother. You mustn't speak of him except as the demon twin they know of. It's an old story there."

'I know. Ki told me some people even claim it was a girl child."

Arkoniel covered his surprise quickly; he supposed if rumors would come from anyone, it would be Ki. It seemed his work was done for him after all. "Let them go on thinking that. There's no use arguing.

Say nothing at all about it, and never let anyone see him. And you must never let on that you know anyone like Lhel. Her sort of magic isn't necromancy, but most think it is, and because of that her kind are outlawed from Skala." He gave Tobin a conspiratorial wink. "That makes us outlaws, you and I."

"But why would Father have dealings with her if- "That's a question best left'til you're older, my prince.

For now, trust in your father's honor as you always have and promise me that you'll keep Lhel and Brother your own secret."

Tobin fidgeted with one of the doll's mismatched legs. "I will, but sometimes he just does what he wants to."

'Well, you must try very, very hard for your sake. And Ki's, too." "Ki?"

Arkoniel rested his elbows on his knees. "Here at the keep you and Ki have lived as brothers and friends. Equals, if you like. But once you're at court, you'll soon learn that you're not. Until you're of age, Ki has no protection but your friends.h.i.+p and your uncle's whim. If you were accused of necromancy the king might save you, but Ki would be executed very horribly and there'd be no saving him."

Tobin went pale. "But Brother's nothing to do with him!"

'It wouldn't matter, Tobin. That's what I'm trying to make you understand. It has nothing to do with truth. All it would take would be a Harrier wizard's accusation. It happens often these days. Great wizards who've never done harm to anyone have been burnt alive on nothing more than a secondhand tale." "But why?"

'In their zeal to serve the king, they have taken a different road than the rest of us. I can't explain it because I don't understand it myself. For now, promise me you'll be careful and make Ki be careful, too."

Tobin sighed. "I wish I didn't have to go away. Not like this. I wanted to go with Father and see Ero and Atyion and go to war, but-" He broke off and rubbed at his eyes.

'I know. But Illior has a way of putting our feet on the right path without s.h.i.+ning the Light very far ahead. Put your trust in that, and in the good friends the Lightbearer has sent to walk with you."

'Illior?" Tobin gave him a doubtful look. "And Sakor, too," he added quickly. "But look whose mark you wear on your chin."

'But what about the doll? What do I do with it?" Arkoniel picked up the flour sack. "This should do well enough."

The boy gave him an exasperated look. "You don't understand. What if the prince sees it? Or the Arms Master? Or Ki?"

'What if he did?" To his astonishment, Tobin blushed. "You think Ki would think less of you for it?"

"Why do you think I had it up in the tower?" "Well, I've seen it, and I certainly don't."

Tobin rolled his eyes. "You're a wizard."

Arkoniel laughed. "Has my manhood just been insulted?"

'You're not a warrior!" Some strong emotion shook Tobin now, making his eyes flash and his voice break. "Warriors don't want dolls. I only have this one because Lhel says I must. For Brother."

Arkoniel watched him closely. The way Tobin still clasped the lopsided doll belied every word hespoke.

She spoke, he amended. For the first time in a very long time, Arkoniel allowed himself to make the correction, though he saw little sign of the hidden princess in the angry youth before him-except perhaps for the way the strong, callused hands neither crushed nor threw away what they professed to be ashamed of.

'I believe you misjudge your friend," he said quietly. "It's a keepsake from your dead mother. Who would begrudge you that? But you must manage that as you see best."

'But-" Confusion warred with stubbornness on the boy's drawn face.

'What is it?"

'The night Ki came, Brother showed me. He showed me Ki finding the doll, and how-disappointed and shamed everyone was that I had it. Just like Father told me. And everything else he's shown me has come true. At least I think so. You remember the fox with the broken back? And I knew when lya was coming. And- And he told me that Lord Solan wants to take Atyion away from me."

'Does he, now? I'll pa.s.s that along to Tharin. As for the rest of it, I don't know. It's possible that Brother could lie when he wants. Or that what he shows you can change with time, or that perhaps you don't always understand what he shows you." He reached to pat Tobin's shoulder and this time the boy allowed it. "You're not wizard born, but you've a bit of the sight in you. You should have shared your visions with Lhel or me. It's our gift and our service."

Tobin's shoulders sagged. "Forgive me, Master Arkoniel. You've always helped me and I've shown you poor courtesy."

Arkoniel waved aside the apology. For the first time since his arrival here he felt that a true link had been forged between them. "I don't expect you to understand it yet, but I've pledged my life to protecting you. Perhaps one day you'll remember what we've shared here tonight and know that I'm your friend.

Even if I am only a wizard." Grinning, he held out his hand in the warrior style.

Tobin clasped it. The old guarded look had not completely left him, but in his eyes the wizard saw a respect that hadn't been there before.

'I'll remember, Wizard."

diausted beyond words, Tobin crept back to his bedchamber and hid the doll deep in one of the traveling chests.

He tried to slip into bed without disturbing Ki, but as he lay back he felt Ki's hand on his arm.

'Are you sick, Tob? You were gone a long time."

'No-" Arkoniel thought he should tell Ki about the doll, and suddenly he was badly tempted to.

Maybe Ki wouldn't care, after all. He hated having secrets between them and the doll was so close, just a few feet away. But the memory of Brother's fury when he'd tried to show it to Nari was still too clear.