Hemlock And The Dread Sorceress (Book 3) (4 page)

But what is the purpose?

Jasper provided a clue by mocking her as Hemlock darted away in search of more information amongst the crowd—most of which seemed completely unaware that something very unusual was happening.

“What’s wrong
? Your second sight not seein’ too well, lass?” said Jasper.

As she trotted away
, she considered his words.

Of course!   T
hey’ve blinded my magic sense.  But why?  What’s going on?

She found another
cutpurse who was radiating magic and grabbed her arm roughly.  “Tessa, why did you drink from that vial?”

The motley young girl affected her best impression of a blank stare and hissed through teeth yellowed by an excess of strong
, intoxicating teas.

“Answer or I’ll break your arm!” Hemlock growled.

“That’s not very neighborly talk, is it?  You bein’ part of the watch and all,” cried the girl as Hemlock tightened her grip.

“Don’t make this hard on yourself, Tessa!” said Hemlock as she became aware of a crowd of onlookers gathering around her.

Damn, if I don’t stop, word of this is sure to reach Samberlin.

Hemlock released the girl.  “Fine! 
I’ve seen no crime, though I think you’ve been involved in something I haven’t seen.  I’ll discover the truth sooner or later.  And then we’ll continue this conversation.”

Hemlock had to concentrate on ignoring her magic sense as she walked the remaining blocks to her apartment.  She skirted the market for several minutes
, looking for any signs of misconduct, but saw nothing unusual outside of the distracting magic.  In the process, she’d spotted no fewer than twelve youths that radiated the magical energy.

Once she reached it, s
he was relieved to enter the apartment which was free of the emanations.

Mercuria and Tored were seated at
a breakfast table eating sweet bread and strawberries.

“Back so soon, Hemlock?” Mercuria called out with an ethereal air to her voice.

Hemlock knew her sister well enough to anticipate what was likely to happen.   This was Mercuria’s mischievous voice.

Suddenly
, there was a small pop near Tored’s face.

The comedy of the scene before her temporarily pushed the upset of
Hemlock’s experience in the marketplace out of her mind.

Tored sat
stoically at the table as the juice of a burst strawberry dripped down his nose, along the deep creases in his cheeks and trickled onto his forearm.

Mercuria was beside herself with warm laughter that filled the room.  Hemlock couldn’t help herself and guffawed more loudly than she had meant to.

Tored remained nearly still as he used a napkin to wipe his face.  But as he did so, there was a gentle quivering at the corner of his mouth, and a small smile struggled into existence—disproving the notion that the old warrior’s face had been chiseled from granite rather than pliant flesh.

“
Misusing your magical talents, again?  One day all debts shall be repaid, young lady.” It was the best he could manage as a retort, and this just made the sisters laugh anew.

As the
humorous moment passed, thoughts of the incident in the marketplace reasserted themselves.

“Listen
, something odd happened to me right before I got here.  I need to tell you both about it,” said Hemlock.  She quickly related what had happened.

If the preceding incident had softened Tored’s perspective at all, it wasn’t evident in the grave reply he gave
. “Someone is moving against you.  And it’s someone with some cunning.”

“Then
, why didn’t they attack me?”

“Pe
rhaps it was just a test.  The witches in my…” Tored paused for a moment as if recalling something unpleasant, “homeland would always send small patrols before large attacks.  Perhaps the people who did this were testing whether their plan would block your magic sense.”

“Well, it worked,” said Hemlock with a sigh.

“And they know it.”

Hemlock sat at the table and ate a strawberry.  Its rich flavor comforted her.

It’s good to be home, and it’s good to have a home again.

“We should do extra patrols.  Together,” said Tored.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.  But wait, I haven’t even gotten to the bigger news.  DuLoc’s apparition has been sighted in the mountains.  And Jalis has attacked the mining towns there.  DuLoc is getting closer.  Penelope the griffin is living at the top of the Wizard Tower, now.  The Seekers attacked her with help from Jalis.”

It took Tored several minutes to digest this latest information.  Hemlock noticed his eyes searching out his ornate spears, which rested near the door.

“Why is the world going crazy?  Can’t it all just stop?” said Mercuria.

“I feel the same way,” said Hemlock.  “But crazy things keep happening no matter what I do.”

“Life is like that,” said Tored.

“Well
, we never asked for this!  Why should you be the one who has to stop it all, Hemlock?” cried Mercuria.

“I…just am.  I don’t know why, but it’s what I’m here for.  I wish it weren’t so.”

“Do you really?” asked Tored.

Hemlock couldn’t delude herself
. “You’re right, I guess.  I love the power.  I’ve always yearned for it—asked the Creator for it before I even knew anything about my life.  I just never thought it would be so hard.”

Mercuria reddened
.  “Well, I want to live my life for myself.  I don’t want to be beholden to this insanity.”

Hemlock hated to see her sister upset. 
It jarred something deep inside of her, and left her feeling out of balance.  But she had a sudden idea.  “Mercuria, what would you do now if you could do anything?”

Mercuria was initially uncertain in the face of being challenged, but she seemed to arrive at a decision after only a few moments.  “I’d go find Mother.”

Hemlock didn’t hesitate. “Okay, we’ll do it.”

“Hemlock, we should talk about this,” said Tored.

“No, we’re going to do it.  Gwineval said we have some time before DuLoc gets here, and my last stop at the observatory showed no change in his location,” replied Hemlock.

“But what about the people in the mountains?  What about Jalis?” said Tored.

“Gwineval and the wizards can handle him.  I’ll tell them as much tomorrow morning.  Look, we could die when DuLoc returns.  Mercuria and I deserve to see our mother before the end.”

“I’ve never known you to be fatalistic, Hemlock.  That sounds like an excuse.”

“Penelope says he’s like a god from a past age.”

“That’s what DuLoc said about that
Earth Spirit, and we defeated her.   We’ll defeat DuLoc, but we must respect him and take the time to prepare a strategy.”

Hope burned in Mercuria’s eyes
, but Tored’s exuded caution with an equal intensity.  Still, Hemlock remembered Mercuria as she had been on that fateful day when they stowed away on the City merchant’s ship that took them away from their mother.  She remembered holding the scared little girl and having to tell her she didn’t know when they would see their mommy again.

Hemlock felt the resolve of a decision take hold.  She had already
used her new ability to see beyond the sky to search for her old world.  It hadn’t been hard to find. It was located among the two score worlds in direct connection to the City via the strands of Maker’s Fire.  Then she thought of the surprising discovery she made in the observatory, and that made her doubt her decision.  She detected Falignus on that very same world.

Am I
making this decision for Mercuria or for my own interest in the fate of Falignus?

S
he managed to quell this internal voice of opposition.  If it was just about her feelings for Falignus, wouldn’t she have left as soon as she discovered his location?  But she had to acknowledge that the fate of Falignus was a big part of her sudden decision.  She had been thinking about him, and though she feared she was just indulging her own personal desires, a surety had been building inside her that Falignus could help her defeat DuLoc.

With her internal balance restored, she announced her decision
. “We’re going. “

Mercuria squealed with glee then restrained herself when she noticed how upset Tored looked.

“This is short-term thinking, Hemlock,” he said.

“
So you think.  Nevertheless, I’ve made my decision.”

A heavy silence ensued until Tored broke it
. “How will you get there?”

“According to what Merit told me, Penelope can fly between worlds.  I’m sure I can convince her to take us.”

“And how many do you think she can take?” he replied.

“When I spoke to Merit
, he said the old books refer to griffins carrying two people between worlds.  And Mercuria is light.”

“But I’m not,” Tored said softly.

“You would join us even though you don’t like the plan?”

“Yes.  There is nothing here for me without the two of you.”

Hemlock’s heart leapt at his words.  “Fine!  It’s decided, then.  I’ll talk to Penelope about taking us three.  It’s really like two and a half, if you think about it.”

“That means you won’t be able to return with your mother.”

“True.  But if war is coming to the City, maybe that’s just as well.”

With
all of them in agreement, Tored rose to begin his daytime patrol.  Hemlock decided to join him.  They both hoped to resolve the mystery of the marketplace before their impending departure.

…

Hemlock considered the implications of the previous day’s events as she walked the still empty streets of the Warrens, shielding her eyes from the glare of the morning sun.  Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred there since her unusual experience in the marketplace the prior morning. 

She discussed the risks with Tored, but decided to attend the meeting of the Wizard Council to inform them of her plans to leave the City.  She anticipated
that Gwineval would react negatively to the news, but it still felt right to her. 

Gwineval should be able to contain Jalis until I return.

A hooded figure caught her attention as it darted across her path several blocks away.  She recognized something about it, and without thinking, she took off running at top speed toward the alleyway.  She tried to be quiet as she took a wide turn into the shadowy, tight passage between two houses.  But her speed caused her feet to skid a little on some soft sand, and the figure ahead of her turned its head sharply to the side.

Hemlock was too quick for the figure as it reached for its knife. 
She had a sabre at its neck before it could draw. With a flick of her wrist, she used her other sabre to throw back the figure’s hood.

“So, we meet again, Jasper,” Hemlock sneered as she recognized the face she revealed.

“What are ye doin’? I’m headin’ back to me mum’s.”

“Let’s see how the night was for you,” said Hemlock as she roughly patted him down.

A dull copper cup fell and clanged as it hit a rock on the ground.  Hemlock was about to give up when she felt something in his breast pocket.  She withdrew a glass vial filled with a glowing liquid.

“And what do we have here?” she asked.

Jasper’s beady eyes darted around desperately.  “I haven’t done nothin’,” he managed.

“But you clearly intend to do something, again.  You
’d better start talking, or I’m taking you to the watch station and you’ll be spending the day in a cell.”

Hemlock had spent time in station cells in her youth and knew why Jasper’s eyes widened in fear at her threat.  The City Watch were not kind to their prisoners—especially those from the Warrens.  Jasper faced not mere imprisonment, but a sequence of fearful interludes between furious beatings.

“Yer one of us!  You can’t do that to me!”

“Then tell me who gave you that vial and why
.”

“What good will it do?  I’m just tryin’ to make some money for me mum.”

“Right.  For your mum.  Not to drink yourself into a stupor?”

“If she didn’t ride me like she does
, mebbe I wouldn’t drink like I do.  But it’s no matter.  I’m just doin’ a job.  No more.”

“Tell me what you know!” Hemlock said, losing patience.

“Okay, okay.  A big guy gave me the vial.  He hired me to drink it when the whistle blows today at the marketplace at sundown.  That’s all I know.”

“Come on.  Who is this big guy?”

“I don’t know his name.  He’s from the district though—nice white robe and all.  I asked him his name and he just laughed.  I don’t see him around ‘cept for when this thing goes down.  He’s always in the marketplace when it does, and I think it’s him that blows the whistle.  That should give you the info you need.”