A Prince Among Men Part 29

"By chance only."

"Chance?" The elven knight didn't sound as if he believed it. "You did not come seeking me?"

"I was hoping to find my friends."

The elf's head lifted slightly. "You are traveling with others?"

"I'm supposed to be."

"Humans?"

Something in the elven knight's tone made John suddenly cautious. Certain that complete honesty was not the best policy in this circ.u.mstance, John tried to be vague, saying, "Some of them."

"I see."

"Please, sir knight. I didn't mean to disturb you." John had no desire to enter the chill fog again, but he wasn't sure he wanted the elf s company either. "If I could just wait out here. I'll be gone as soon as the fog clears."

"Come inside."

It was as much an order as an offer. Having given the order, or made the offer, the elf turned and reentered the tower without waiting to see whether John would comply. I ower down the slope, hidden in the fog, something moaned low and long. It sounded hungry.

John found himself on the stairs; and once he had started, it seemed only reasonable to continue. Shortly he found himself standing on the landing where the knight had stood, short of breath and sweating lightly, though less from the climb than from nervousness.

The knight awaited him inside the tower. Though the elf was no longer wearing his armor, he was no less fantastically dressed. His princ.i.p.al garment was a robe with voluminous folds and glittering silver spangles, and he wore a torse of feathery fronds about his head. The fall of silver curls flowing down the back of his neck stood out starkly against his dark skin. It was a decadent effect, but he seemed no less menacing than he had in the armor.

But the hall looked warm and inviting, especially the fire roaring in the great stone fireplace. The chill of the fog had seeped into John's bones; his clothing was damp, his skin clammy with the mist.

"Enter," the elven knight said. "If you will."

John hesitated, looking back over his shoulder. The keep might have been an island in nothingness, for the fog stretched from the ground below into the sky, making a bowl of fog to enclose the structure. The mist seemed somewhat closer to the tower's base than it had been. The thing in the fog moaned again.

What did he have to lose?

He stepped over the threshold. Trying to be polite, he turned to close the door and found it already shut behind him. For a moment he was puzzled; the ma.s.sive wooden door would have had to have swung through where he stood. Magic, of course, was the answer. It was still a little unnerving to have it happening around him.

"Tell me, young sir. What has brought you to my home?"

John fed him a line about wandering travelers, so heavily edited as to be more of a blipvert than a story; it didn't have a plot or any motivation, and John was the only definite character in die spa.r.s.e cast, but the elf seemed not to notice.

"Your story is most interesting," he said. "You say you became separated from your companions in the fog and found your way here by yourself?"

"Yeah. I was thinking about some stuff and kind of lost track of them. I called when I figured out we were separated, but I didn't get any answers. I guess I wandered pretty far."

"Far afield, of a certainty. Few come here uninvited. Fewer still with peaceful intent."

"I mean you no harm." It seemed the right thing to say, though John had no idea how he could harm such an obvious master of magic. When the knight pointed to what was slung over his shoulder-the Viper-he thought of a possible way.

"Yet you carry a weapon from the human realm."

"Would you wander this realm unarmed?"

The elf smiled. "No, I would not."

John s.h.i.+fted the weapon sling so that it hung more on his back. The weight of it felt heavy and awkward, but he was reluctant to part with it. Fortunately, the elf didn't suggest that he should.

"But I am being a poor host," the knight said. "Your ordeal has clearly tired you, and you must be hungry."

John realized that the knight was right. He was so hungry that he couldn't understand why he hadn't noticed until now the savory smells permeating the room. Already he could feel his mouth water in antic.i.p.ation. When he turned, and saw the table laid to overflowing with plates and platters and bowls heaped with food, his saliva production went into overdrive. There was far more food than two people could eat. Were there more elves about?

"Please," the knight said, handing John a golden plate. "Help yourself."

John was reluctant at first; there were songs about people who accepted an elf s invitation to dinner. But this wasn't an elf hill and he already was in Faery. How bad could it be?

As if to alleviate John's fears, his host stepped up to the table, his own golden plate in hand, and heaped mounds of meat and vegetables onto it. He waited until John had selected enough from the table to feed the entire fencing team, then led him to a pair of ornately carved chairs with arms wide enough to set the plates upon. A jeweled golden goblet already sat on the right armrest of each chair. The knight seated himself, motioning John to do the same. Without benefit of eating utensils, the elf started in on his food. John was still a little uneasy as he selected his first morsel, the drumstick of some small bird. But the taste won him over at once, for it was smokily flavorful and the meat was cooked to a perfect blend of juiciness and tenderness. He started tucking away the rest of his selections like a football jock after the big game. Having devastated the contents of his plate, he laid it on the chair's arm and leaned back.

"There is more if you wish it," the elf said.

Burping embarra.s.singly, John said, "I think I've had more than enough."

"Forgive my lack of decorum, young sir, but I find it most curious that you travel in disguise."

"Disguise?" Sure, he wasn't wearing what he usually did, but- It dawned on John what the elf meant. "You can tell I'm an elf?"

The elven knight took a sip of his wine and nodded. "Of course. Your disguise is built of such simple spells, and ones clearly designed to operate in the earthly realm, at that. But even there I would be able to see through them. Here in Faery, they are the merest flicker of light, a trivial hindrance to the rankest novice on the Way."

"If they're so bad, what's the point? Why are they still working?"

"Am I to understand that they are not your spells?" The knight actually sounded surprised.

"A present from my father." Whom he didn't want to discuss. "You think I was a mage or something?"

"That is ob-" The knight put down his goblet. "Is it you who wish to test me, or do you do so under the command of another?"

The elf sounded offended. Which didn't make sense. As the visitor here, wasn't John the one who was supposed to be tested? And what was this "command of another" business? "I don't know what you're talking about."

The elf seemed puzzled by John's response. "You speak sincerely. Could it be that you are truly ignorant?"

John's anger flared with sudden heat; he'd never liked being called ignorant. He knew he didn't understand a lot about the otherworld. He couldn't help not knowing. It wasn't as though he'd grown up in Faery. This elven "better than thou" att.i.tude was really starting to be prehistoric. "Yeah, I'm a real jerk. I don't know nothing. Okay?"

Slamming his fist down on the chair's arm, he upset his plate. The knight stayed him from fumbling after it, with a light touch on his arm. Jaw set, John looked away, finding the corbel supporting one of the room beams utterly absorbing; it was a cold deep place he could pour his frustrations.

"Let it go and calm yourself. I meant no offense." The elf waited until John had relaxed a little and released his death stare at the corbel before he spoke again. "I must admit to fault in myself; I was misled by how you found my keep. Now I think I begin to understand. I believe I would be correct to name you a changeling."

"Yeah, so?" The anger hadn't all drained away. "You got a problem with that?"

"It does explain certain things."

"Maybe you'd like to explain these certain things to me."

"Given the right circ.u.mstances, I would. But first, let us try something in the nature of an experiment."

John didn't like the sound of that. "What have you got in mind?"

"Nothing dangerous, I a.s.sure you. If you have not already learned it, our society is to a large degree based on merit and accomplishment. Here, little is accomplished without magic."

"I told you, I'm not a mage."

"Say rather that you have had no training."

What? The last shards of anger popped and vanished. "Are you saying I am a mage?"

"Mage is a word I would reserve for one who has considerable experience in the Way."

"What's this 'Way' stuff?"

"The Way is magic and magic is the Way. It is a path of art and craft and science by which one touches the staff of the universe and binds it to one's will."

"I suppose it's got a light side and a dark side?"

"That sounds like a quote," the elf said.

"Maybe you should just tell me what you've got in mind."

"Very well. Now is not the time for philosophy. Now is the time for a demonstration. You must believe before you can take your first step along the Way." He gestured, and the dozen candles of the candelabra between their chairs went out. "You will relight one of them."

Right. "I haven't got a match."

"Without a match."

" You're gonna have a long wait, sir knight." "I think not. Your temperament would seem to indicate an affinity for fire." The knight reached out and touched the central candle with his finger. "Take a good look at this, then close your eyes."

John closed his eyes and gave it a try.

"Clear your mind of all but the image of the candle. See it white against the black. Do you see it?"

He saw a candle, anyway. He wasn't sure that it was the one the knight had touched.

"It is incomplete, isn't it? What is the point of a candle that gives off no light? Concentrate on the image. See it as it should be. See the flame. Feel the heat. Smell the burning wick, the hot wax. Know it." The knight's voice was compelling, but John was having trouble conjuring the image. He felt hands on his temples, rubbing, and tension eased from him. More relaxed, he found it easier to picture the flame.

"See it as real," the knight coaxed.

John saw the flame in his mind's eye. The heat, the light, the smell, even the tiny, tiny sound of it. It began to seem real.

"Make it real."

That was exactly what he wanted to do. He wished the reality of the flame. He wished it hard. Something gave, and he felt heat rus.h.i.+ng through him.

"By the Dark!" the knight exclaimed, shocking John out of his concentration.

John opened his eyes and saw that all twelve candles burned.

He'd done it. Not just one, but twelve little flames, all of his creation. It was wonderful. He'd called fire into being. If he could do this, what more was he capable of?

"Show me more."

The knight held up a cautionary finger. "Before we go further, I must know how you came to this realm. You did not make the crossing yourself, did you?"

"No." What did this have to do with learning magic?

"An elf came to you and helped you make the crossing."

"Are you guessing, or do you know?" "It seems the most likely circ.u.mstance. Is it so?"

"Yeah."

"Did he tell you that he was your father?"

"Yeah."

"And do you believe him?"

John started to answer, to say yes, but a sudden surge of caution urged him to be circ.u.mspect. "Don't see that it's any of your business."

"You know very little of this realm." The knight turned his head slightly, to regard John from the comer of his eyes. With a gesture of his hand he conjured an image of Bennett. "Is this the elf who brought you to the realm?"

So much for withholding information; the knight already knew. "Yeah. Calls himself Bennett."

"Bennett," the elf said thoughtfully. "Very well, then, Bennett is what we shall call him."

Meaning it's not his real name. "You know him?"

"He and I are not of the same estate."

"You didn't answer my question."

"And you are very blunt and impolite, but I do not hold it against you. Doubtless you have had a deficient education."

"I had a very good education," John protested.

"Perhaps for the earthly realm. There is much you have to learn of your birthright, and of what is open to you because of your blood. Such things were closed to you in the other realm. They need not remain closed. For example, I can teach you to touch the magic in your soul."

Having had the taste of it, John wanted more. "Okay. I'm ready."

"Swear to me as apprentice and I will. I can open your heritage to you. With my guidance, you can reach your true potential."

John had always heard that an education wasn't free, but he'd never had to face the payments. "And what do I have to do for you?"

"For me? No more than any apprentice. A good student is reward enough for the teacher."