Fall of the Swords Collection

Chapter 11

The talent of prescience is actually three types of sight: Extant, temporal, and prescient. Extant sight, or viewing the present, is watching of someone"s current doings at a specific location. Temporal sight, or viewing the past, is an extension of extant sight, all presents extending from some causal past. Prescient sight, an extension of both these talents, is infinitely more complex, the future always in flux, changing moment by moment.—The Vortex of the Time Sights, by the Prescient Wizard Thinking Quick.

The Vortex of the Time SightsMoments after giving birth, a mother bestows upon her child half her psychic reserve. Thus, she imprints the child to recognize her and imprints the fetal frontal lobes with the capacity for talent. Through this imprinting, a child develops a strong affinity with the mother and a psychic link that slowly fades but never breaks. Rarely does a mother not bestow the psychic gift. When this happens, the child grows up crippled, bereft of a full range of senses and unable to participate fully in society.—Motherhood: Nature and Nurture.

notMotherhood: Nature and NurtureGuards encircling her, Bubbling Water glanced back at Emparia Castle and frowned. Darkness enfolded them as they left the bright glow at the gate. The wind swirled vigorously around them, scolding these denizens of the day to fear this trespass upon the night.

“Your outer robe, Lord Captain,” she said, shivering.

“Of course, Lady Matriarch.” Silent Whisper slipped it off and handed it to her without question.

Another new Captain to train, she reminded herself, knowing Guarding Bear had too little patience to train a new one. The previous Captain had died the week before, thwarting an inept attempt to assassinate her mate. Scowling Tiger had sent so many assassins that warriors joked about the danger of being on Guarding Bear"s personal staff. None had even nicked the General.

“A more favored guard would"ve offered before being asked, Lord Captain,” she chided gently. “That"s why they"re favored.” Wrapping her daughter in the robe, she thanked the Captain and resumed walking.

Infinite knows what mischief the Emperor plans for my mate, she thought, again shivering and glancing back at Emparia Castle. While she"d been discussing the advantages of primary colors for the nursery with Flowering Pine, a servant had brought a message from Guarding Bear. He and the Emperor would be meeting for some hours, and she should return home alone.

Bubbling Water wanted to go places other than home. “Lord Captain, take me to the boy.”

“Forgive me, Lady Matriarch. The Lord General ordered me to allow no one to speak with the boy until he had.”

“I"m certain you executed those orders flawlessly, Lord Captain.” Bubbling Water emitted trust. “You enlisted with us just recently, and aren"t familiar with how we operate. You"ll find that the Lord Bear and I often act in concert. When we refer to ourselves, we refer to each other.”

“I"ll remember, Lady Matriarch,” Silent Whisper said, meeting her gaze.

Bubbling Water smiled. “I"m confident you will.”

“Lady Matriarch, the Lord General asked me to insure that the boy and his parents were safe. I found the boy and his mother, but not the father, and took them to one of the sanctuaries. Although the Lord General ordered that the boy speak to no one, I didn"t separate them. You know how mothers are, eh? I hope my measures were adequate.” Silent Whisper ordered three men to scout the route to the sanctuary where he"d taken the boy and his mother.

“That was thoughtful, Lord Captain. I commend you for your caring. And for taking them to a sanctuary. From the boy"s dress, I gather they live in the southwestern quarter, eh? If you"d posted guards in the poorest part of Emparia City, someone would"ve gotten suspicious.”

“Indeed, Lady Matriarch.”

“Well done, Lord Captain. The Lord Mayor Puma didn"t exaggerate your abilities. I"m pleased you"ve joined our staff.”

“That"s very kind of you. Thank you, Lady, Infinite bless you.”

Bubbling Water would"ve liked Flying Arrow as tractable as this new Captain, but the Emperor was a petulant brat. Flying Arrow was a resurrection of the Empress Steaming Water, the Matriarch Water"s elder sister. Having reared him and succored him after her sister had died birthing him, Bubbling Water knew him as well as any of her children. And feared him more than her sprawling brood in its entire.

I wish I"d had more experience, Bubbling Water thought for the thousandth time.

Flying Arrow hated the Bear Family, the most immediate threat to Arrow Sovereignty. By the letter of law Guarding Bear wasn"t a relative. In the spirit of law, Guarding Bear was the Emperor"s Patriarch, being the mate of Flying Arrow"s aunt. The spirit of law was sometimes more influential than the letter. The penalty for harming one"s patriarch was death. But Flying Arrow was an arbitrary Emperor, unrestrained by custom and above the law. He could arrange the General"s death on whim or pretext. Guarding Bear had planned against such a contingency. The Bear Family and its allies were prepared to rise in rebellion if they suspected that the Emperor had so much as bent his pinky in the General"s demise.

Oh, Lord Infinite, she thought, don"t plunge us into another civil war. Shivering in the wind, Bubbling Water drew her robes tighter, the child tucked close.

Guarding Bear was but one threat to Arrow Sovereignty. Time was another. At thirty years old, Flying Arrow was childless, even though he"d put his shaft into fifty different quivers. Most the courtesans stayed only a night, but ten had become formal consorts. Before and after, these women had born children for other men, but their quivers had refused to yield the Emperor a single arrow. Five years ago, the shame of his sterility too much to bear, Flying Arrow had begun to select virgins. When they too had failed, he"d insured they wouldn"t fornicate again. The Consort Flowering Pine would likely share the same fate.

Bubbling Water felt sad, liking the young woman. She"d probed the Consort and found herself listening to someone"s thoughts. Several moments passed before she realized the thoughts didn"t belong to Flowering Pine. Instead of stopping the Matriarch"s probe, the Consort"s talent had diverted it without alerting Bubbling Water. Few talents disguised their effects so well. Knowing death to be Flowering Pine"s fate, Bubbling Water prayed for the Infinite"s mercy. Oh, let it be fast! she thought.

The circle of guards turned down a poorly lit street. The fetor of refuse and excrement became pungent. At the fourth house, a shadow emerged from other shadows. At a signal, the circle of guards parted for the wraith.

“Infinite be with you, Mother,” said Rolling Bear, her eldest son. His ample hood was lumpy from the thick, black curls beneath. “Where"s Father?”

“Detained with the Emperor,” she replied, calmed by his presence. “I"ve come to see the boy.”

“This way.” Rolling Bear glanced toward an alley.

“One moment,” Bubbling Water said, turning. “Lord Captain, post a scout near each castle entrance and escort the Lord Bear when he leaves. If you don"t see him by midnight, discreetly ask for him at the east castle gate. Ask about every hour because you"ve … blast, I can"t think of anything—some pretext, eh? Signal me on the flow each time they deny your request. Code: Empty sack.” She sent an image. “Questions?”

“None, Lady Matriarch. When the Lord General leaves the castle, I"ll be there to greet him.” He bowed and issued orders to the detachment.

Bubbling Water followed Rolling Bear into the alley. Whispering guidance over his shoulder, he led her through gapped fences and withered hedges, around reeking cesspools and fetid heaps of refuse, between dilapidated hovels with crumbling walls.

They emerged onto a stone path. Ahead, steel sang from scabbard as a trio of rag-garbed guards prepared to defend their post. At a signal, they sheathed their swords and bowed. The house behind the trio was dark and, like many around it, in disrepair. Mother, son and daughter entered. The moment the door closed, Rolling Bear switched on the house shields, then the lights. He threw back his hood. “How"s Rippling Water?”

The Matriarch looked around, familiarizing herself with the interior. Run-down on the outside, the furnishings inside were comfortable. The house was one of many sanctuaries secreted throughout the city. Knowing the cost of maintaining them, Bubbling Water regretted the drain on the family coffers.

“Thanks to the boy, as healthy as can be,” she replied finally, unwrapping the girl.

“What a talent he has! Why"d the Lord Captain bring him here?”

“Someone induced Rippling Water"s illness. They poisoned her.”

“What? Infinite blast them! Why her, a helpless infant?!”

her“I don"t know, my son, unless …” Sighing, Bubbling Water closed her eyes. “Unless it was a ruse to get your father to the castle.”

She knew she was right.

“That sounds like them. Father"s in danger! What can we do?”

sounds“I don"t know. On my way out, I stopped at the eastern hall and asked to see Guarding Bear, but that proved fruitless. The servants told me the Emperor had sequestered himself with Guarding Bear with orders that no one disturb them. So I didn"t see him, which makes me anxious. Your father"s a wily man. He"s survived worse traps. Oh, Infinite protect him! Son, put our forces on twenty-four hour alert. Unless countermanded, I want insurrection across the Empire. Twenty-four hours and we"ll know if he"s safe.” Bubbling Water prayed her order wouldn"t plunge the Empire into civil war.

“Yes, Mother. Countermand code?”

“Code: b****y hand. Now, where"s the boy and his mother?”

“Shielded, in the back room.” Rolling Bear pointed.

“Thank you. Here, you"d better take Rippling Water. I don"t know what I"ll find in there.”

“They look docile enough.” Taking his sister anyway, he rocked her gently, peeking at the sleeping girl"s face.

lookSighing, Bubbling Water checked her mindshields and put each of her worries in its niche. Until she reached her worry about Guarding Bear"s behavior during the audience. “Rolling Bear, you"re a warrior. What does it mean when you"re fighting the enemy in his lair, and suddenly you lay your sword aside and turn your back on him?”

Her son shrugged. “Could mean anything, Mother.”

She told him Guarding Bear had turned his back on the Sorcerer.

“He did? We need a Wizard to examine his brain, eh?”

did“Sounds crazy, doesn"t it? Before he sat down, he said, "I have a few habits to break." He meant to turn his back. He even said to Lurking Hawk, "If a helpless infant"s good health disturbs you, I pray the Infinite opens your heart to the joys of fatherhood." ”

meant“He said that to Lurking Hawk? How absurd,” Rolling Bear muttered, frowning. “When was the last time you argued with him?”

thatLooking at him, Bubbling Water searched her memory. “I don"t remember.”

“I don"t either, Mother. You argue less now.”

“We"d fight silently for days over something meaningless, until we"d both lose our tempers. Then Infinite help anyone who stepped between us. We don"t do that anymore, not since Rippling Water was born, not since he retired and … went north.”

“Went north? When did he go north? And why?”

northwhy“I shouldn"t tell you this, Rolling Bear. He went to kill Scowling Tiger, said he"d kill him or die trying.”

“Unlike Father to make a vow and not fulfill it. What stopped him?”

“I don"t know,” Bubbling Water said. “When he came back though, he talked about Brazen Bear and Fleeting Snow, and dreamed about them.”

“I still don"t understand why she mated Scowling Tiger. I know you don"t like anyone calling her the Traitress, Mother, but after she mated the man who betrayed her own mate, she deserved the name.”

Bubbling Water smiled at her son. “The ways of woman are inscrutable.”

Rolling Bear snorted. “Women!”

“Men!” she replied, and they shared a laugh. “I don"t know whether the Infinite"s addled your father"s brains or just put him on a different path. Well, I"d better speak with the boy before he falls asleep. Come get me if Rippling Water wakes. She"s probably hungry.” Bubbling Water felt the pressure of an overdue feeding in her breasts.

“Yes, Mother, I will.”

“Bless you, Son.” Tucking away her worry for her mate, not knowing what to expect from Healing Hand and his mother, she strode down the corridor.

Entering the room, Bubbling Water saw the blond-haired boy asleep on the bed. Trying to peer out the window, a woman spun toward her. Shoulder-length, dust-blond hair framed her drawn face. Her eyes were chilling green and wide with the fear of an animal caged.

She looks like the boy"s mother, Bubbling Water thought, feeling their intense maternal link. Why is it so strong? she wondered, feeling in that link the mother"s fear for the son"s safety.

looksSitting at the edge of bed, Bubbling Water woke the boy and queried him with a feather-light contact. Sitting up, Healing Hand smiled. Underneath his anxiety was his panacean power. “That"s a remarkable talent you have.” She felt serene in his presence. “Able to determine cure and cause. You"re quite perceptive.”

andHealing Hand smiled modestly, glancing toward his mother.

Abruptly, the woman stepped forward. “What do you want with us, matron turnkey?”

Boiling at insult, Bubbling Water almost crushed the woman between two plates of psychic metal. Infinite grant me patience, she thought, stopping her Wizard-strength telekinesis in time. She realized the strain she was under, her worries so great she couldn"t contain them. “Forgive me, gentle lady. I"m sorry.” She let her face show her anxieties and felt them almost master her. I"d better see a Wizard soon, Bubbling Water thought, knowing she approached the limit of her tolerance.

The woman demanded again, “What do you want with us, matron turnkey!”

Why"s she so hostile? Bubbling Water wondered, wilting and wanting to cry. “My day is long, my family large. I beg you please be patient.” She bowed deeply to the mother, held it for a moment, then bowed to the son. She probed the woman, wanting to know her name. Her signature didn"t carry it. Remembering that Healing Hand"s signature also lacked his name, Bubbling Water wondered if the trait were genetic. “I"m Bubbling Water.”

The mother"s features relaxed somewhat—despite knowing her name already. Only the Infinite"s blessing was better than the Matriarch"s beneficence. “I"m Gentle Hand, Lady Matriarch. Please answer my question.”

“We brought you here for your own protection, Hand. I"ll explain in a moment.” Why did she give him her matronym, and not the patronym? Bubbling Water wondered. Usually boys received the father"s name and girls the mother"s. She realized from the strong maternal link that no man lived at the house of Hand. “First I must ask, on the chance that someone identified the boy, if you have other relatives here in Emparia City.”

“No, not here, except my daughter, who"s safe with friends.”

Why doesn"t she mention the father? Bubbling Water wondered. “Thank you, Hand. Your son knows something that might, uh, be dangerous. I need to learn what he knows. If it"s too important, I"ll erase the information, and you"ll both be free to go.” Normally, the Matriarch would"ve had a psychological Wizard meddle with the boy"s mind. The Bear Family usually retained one for just such situations. They hadn"t had a Wizard for a year, the previous one having died peacefully in her sleep.

“You intend to alter his mind?”

mind“Why should that alarm you, Hand? The procedure is simple and painless, without adverse effect.”

“But, Lady Matriarch …” Gentle Hand seemed at loss to explain.

“I"ve applied to train under the Imperial Medacor.” Healing Hand spread his large palms beside his shoulders in an elaborate shrug.

“Oh? Just training, or perhaps Medacor Apprentice?” The Imperial Medacor trained apprentices in the final stages of their certification. From among them, he usually chose one to become Imperial Medacor after him. “Soothing Spirit has trained at least a hundred Medacors in his tenure,” Bubbling Water said, “but hasn"t found a successor.”

“We hope, Lady, that he can become Medacor Apprentice.”

“Of course; I should have known. Any sign that someone"s altered your mind, Hand, would alarm castle security, who have the Lord Emperor"s safety to consider.” A prescient vision suddenly seized Bubbling Water with enough power that her senses echoed with the scene. “The Lord Spirit would regret losing a colleague, and perhaps a successor.” Half the vision told, it released her as quickly as it"d captured her. Sweating, Bubbling Water contained herself, letting little of her reaction escape her shields.

The boy looked at her with concern. The mother"s fear for the son"s safety returned to Gentle Hand"s eyes.

“I"ll consider not altering the boy"s memory, Hand. However, before I decide, I need to know what he knows. The fewer who know the better.”

Gentle Hand nodded, but remained where she was.

“I need to talk with your son alone, please.”

Gentle Hand folded her arms.

Smiling, Bubbling Water stepped to the door and poked her head out. “Rolling Bear?” Her son strode the corridor toward her. “Give me your sister,” she said, taking the sleeping girl from him. She stepped close to the younger woman. “As I trust you with my child, Hand, so I ask you to trust me with yours.” Bubbling Water folded back a flap of blanket.

A bright smile lit Gentle Hand"s face. Gently, she took the infant, who woke and cried softly. “She"s beautiful,” Gentle Hand whispered. “And hungry. Oh, blast, I just let down.”

“Is your daughter breastfeeding, Hand?” Bubbling Water asked, her own breasts beginning to leak at her daughter"s cry. She adjusted the level of prolactin in her blood to stem the flow of milk.

Nodding, the woman smiled at the infant in her arms. “If I may, Lady?”

“Oh, thank you, Hand, would you? Infinite bless you.” Closing the door behind the woman, Bubbling Water turned to the boy. “You haven"t told your mother what happened?”

His eyes still on the door, Healing Hand shook his head.

“Then you understand that the information is dangerous. If you"re willing, I want to link minds with you.”

He nodded immediately.

She smiled. “Your degree of trust surprises me, but remember that you"re equally vulnerable, eh?” she admonished.

Sitting at the edge of bed, Bubbling Water first put each of her thoughts, memories, and emotions into their compartments. Lowering her many layers of shielding, she increased the adrenalin in her hippocampus to open a direct path into her memory. Her mind open, she watched the boy.

Healing Hand, younger and more flexible of mind than she, dropped all his shields effortlessly.

Ready, she asked him to review how he"d cured Rippling Water.

Swiftly, he recalled what happened.

Raising her shields, Bubbling Water set up a neural reinforcer to keep the memory fresh until she could review it. Smiling, she embraced the boy. Linking minds revealed the depths of the soul. Healing Hand was a glittering jewel amidst ordinary rocks.

“Why don"t you sleep now?” she suggested, the contact having tired them both. Pulling the blankets up to his chin, Bubbling Water soothed Healing Hand to sleep, emitting peace and safety.

I wish I"d had a Wizard, she thought. Psychological Wizards could do what she"d done with far less risk. Although she had put her mind into niches before contact, she couldn"t prevent all transference. She regretted she"d exposed the boy so young to the experiences of herself so old. Excessive transference sometimes overcame a young mind, resulting in death, or worse, insanity. Much of what Healing Hand saw he was too young to understand. Dreamful sleep would dull the blinding images. Her having put her mind into compartments and the boy"s maturity, however, might enable him to emerge unscathed.

Soon, Healing Hand"s breathing was smooth and regular, his mind wandering among the clouds. Gathering chemicals into her uterus, Bubbling Water made a sedative. Teleporting a small amount into his carotid artery, she felt the boy"s sleep instantly deepen.

Bubbling Water rose from the bed and stepped to the panel beside the door. Punching a few buttons, she turned on the room dampers. Operating on the same principle as electrical shields, dampers flooded the area with a pattern that blocked all psychic energy.

Her back to the door, Bubbling Water slid to the floor and opened her awareness. She was glad she hadn"t tried to erase the memory. Healing Hand had already sorted through it, creating too many links with other memories. A Wizard would have to erase it. She"d also learned what she needed to know: An implant in Rippling Water"s brain produced incurable flu-like symptoms. The residual traces of signature in the implant were those of the Sorcerer Lurking Hawk.

I"ll feed the Sorcerer"s testicles to Flying Arrow! she thought, furious. How did the Traitor get close enough to implant my daughter? With the damage now repaired, Guarding Bear concerned her more. Flying Arrow had lured him to Emparia Castle by making Rippling Water ill. Why? she wondered.

With little to do but wait and pray, Bubbling Water struggled to contain her worry. With an effort, she succeeded.

Then the prescient vision intruded.

Nearly everyone wanted to know the past, present and future, and prayed to the Infinite for one or all of the prescient talents. Bubbling Water had met only one Prescient Wizard, the talent rare. The woman lived in a cave at the summit of a small mountain. She ate insects and rats. She wore rags that did little to protect her and covered her nudity less. Hating visitors, she raved most the time. She died before she was forty, looking twice as old.

Thank the Infinite I"m not a Prescient Wizard, Bubbling Water thought. Her prescience a trace and spontaneous talent, its images faded so fast she sometimes couldn"t remember them. The vision she"d seen earlier returned vividly to her mind.

Healing Hand would indeed become the Imperial Medacor—and would serve her son the Lord Emperor.

Her talent fickle, the vision didn"t tell her which of her two sons was destined to rule the Eastern Empire.

The Captain Silent Whisper peered from the shadows toward the eastern gate of Emparia Castle. Why is it that I like peasant and his mate so much? the Captain wondered.

After his three-year compulsory tour at Burrow Garrison in the Eastern Armed Forces, Silent Whisper had returned to Nest and joined the city militia. While rising in the ranks to Captain, he"d discovered that the Mayor Foraging Puma regularly filched from the city coffers. The malfeasance would lose him his head if the Prefect Guarding Bear caught him. The penalty for not reporting a crime as severe as for the crime, Silent Whisper coerced Foraging Puma into recommending him for the General"s personal guard. Thus, years of planning had finally borne fruit for the bandit general Scowling Tiger. The evening before Silent Whisper joined the peasant"s personal staff, the bandit had sent a minion.

“The Lord General with long claws congratulates you, Lord Whisper,” the man had said from the nighttime shadows in an alley in Nest.

Silent Whisper looked back and forth on the street. Seeing no one, he stepped into the alley. “Thank the Lord Tiger,” he whispered, trying to see the man"s face in the darkness.

The man pulled farther back into the shadows. “You"ll thank the Lord General Claw even more for his instructions. You won"t try to assassinate the peasant—not yet. Your general directive is to gather information and send it by courier to the Lord Claw. Your contacts will see you at regular intervals. Please don"t fail to report. Your specific directive for now is to bring an Emparia City Wizard to the peasant"s attention. He hasn"t had a psychological Wizard on retainer for over a year, eh? His name is Spying Eagle—a rather unfortunate coincidence. Anyway, he wants the peasant to retain the Wizard.”

“Why?” Silent Whisper asked, shivers crawling up his back.

“That"s not your concern—do as ordered, eh? You"ll receive other directives in the future. If your service pleases the Lord Claw, he won"t ask you to assassinate the peasant.” Then the man disappeared into shadow.

What will I do if he orders me to kill Guarding Bear? the Captain wondered. Why am I questioning that? I"ll do what Scowling Tiger orders me to do!