Spellbreakers (29 page)

Ljung bowed his head and greeted them politely, but
without exhibiting any special reverence. Leal and Daria were undecided on how
to behave. If they had been in a foreign court, they might have been expected
to kneel, or at least curtsy, but there didn’t seem to be much formality among
the elvers, even here. The Elders saved them from further indecision by gently
taking them by the elbows, making welcoming murmurs, and showing them to the
wide bench. There was an opening in the stone circle, through which they filed
to take seats, all facing the clear pool in the middle.

“Again, welcome. Please do not be uneasy,” said the
woman who had first spoken. She spoke the lingua franca of Nevraan very slowly,
with a breathy, husky voice full of feeling. “This is not a place for great
formalities. Here the Elders of Elverhjem grow the herbs of healing, of dream
and of death for our people. We mostly come here to work and garden. And when
it is needed, we sit and talk. We are both healers and justice and lore-keepers
of Elverhjem. Today, we talk. My name is Gerdrun Hagaansdottir Hellä-Helmi, and
these are Rutger Alvensen Into and Geir Geransen Blackalv.” The two men bowed
their heads courteously.

“I am afraid Elvers’ names are a sad trial to most
humans,” said Geir with a smile. “I am sorry about that. Gerdrun, Rutger, and
Geir will do very well.”

Leal smiled, amused. “Thank you. My name is Leal, of
the royal house of Escarra. And this is Daria, my dearest friend. We came a long
way, from Castel Argell, in the south. We are very grateful for your
hospitality, and for sending out help for us. Help was most needed, and came to
us at the timeliest moment.” She sketched a small bow to Ljung, who nodded, but
then she ground to a halt, because after these courtesies she hardly knew how
to continue. She had no idea how much the Elders knew or guessed of their
quest, or if they meant to offer more help.

Rutger spoke for the first time. He was the blond
Elder, and the one who looked most nearly old. There were fine lines fanning
out from the corners of his deep blue eyes, and smile lines creased the corners
of his mouth. His skin was almost translucent and very frail, yet there was a
decided jut in his chin, and a lively glint in his eyes. Leal realized he
reminded her of Dee.

“We know something of your quest. News of it reached
us in a rather unusual way. It is not often that the Shining Ones trouble
themselves with the needs of mortals, elvers or humans. We talk to them
sometimes, but mostly we talk of the endless cycles of life, which concern us
both, although in different ways. But, please, tell us your story more fully.
From the beginning until you came to our doorstep. It might be a long story I
know, but we have refreshments here, as you see.” He smiled and gestured to
trays of food and drink that lay on the bench. There were no tables.

Leal told them their tale, from the first Challenge
three hundred fifty years before to their own adventures in the Kalevan forest,
aided sometimes by Daria, and sometimes, for the last part, by Ljung, who
supplied the names of places they had passed in the Elverlaen, to which the
Elders nodded knowledgeably.

When she got to the end, there was a silence, and then
Gerdrun spoke.

“Dalarna has become an evil place a long time ago. The
Ice Queen, some call her, yes. She was first heard of, oh, more than three
hundred years ago. I don’t know for sure. I am not
that
old.” She shot
them a charming and indeed girlish half smile, which relieved her somber tone
for a moment. “But ever since then the ice waste has grown further and further
south every year. Time was when Dalarna was a land of high moors in summer and
deep snows in winter. Now it’s mostly just ice year round. And wretched animals
creep out of its borders all the time. Half-starved white wolves and ice bears,
deer and foxes and birds, but also worse
creatures
altogether.
Hatis
and skølls, weargs and garmr.
Some are just desperately hungry and only seek game and warmth. Others are evil
and will kill and plunder for no reason at all. We keep a watch of skilled
hunters on our northern borders, all the time, and even so things slip through
sometimes.”

“Did you ever try to get rid of this Ice Queen?” asked
Daria.

Geir shrugged. “Some did, long ago. But now, she has
not been seen in so long that many doubt if she’s still alive, or if she ever
existed at all. Those with a very long memory remember her, but the Icy Winter
was her last great stroke of malice, her last attempt to expand her reign
beyond the borders of Dalarna. Whether she made the winter, or grew strong in
it, even as the snow trolls do, I cannot say. But it was clear that the trolls’
attack was governed by more than their native cunning. The invasion was her
plan, and she was often seen at the edge of the battle fields, wreathed in snow
and mist. That is, I suppose, when she came to covet Kjetil Alversen
Haukka-Silma’a for herself. He was a proud and powerful warrior indeed, and
very comely, or so the ladies always said.”

Gerdrun smiled dreamily and look down demurely at
this.

“Indeed he was,” she said. “But to the younger
people,” she tipped a small bow to Ljung, “both he and she are little more than
a legend now, and Dalarna just a naturally evil place.”

Ljung shrugged. “It’s just that he has been long gone,
and nobody had a glimpse of her in more time than we can remember. And those
who go deep in the Ice Waste seldom come back to tell tales.”

He stared hard at the Elders as he said that.

Geir nodded gravely. “Elvren warriors went north from
time to time over the years, on a quest to have done with her and her evil
beasts. But few ever came back, and only those who had never ventured far into
the glaciers. Some say they just perished in the snows, and they might be
right, who knows. But some say that it was not time yet.
That
a person would come at a time of great need, with a fate to do this deed.
I believe that is what the Shining Ones believe.
That you
might have this doom on you, Princess Leal.
Perhaps your quest will help
both our kingdoms, and restore a balance that has long been broken by evil
magic.”

Rutger looked darkly down and nodded. His gaze was
lost in the depths of the pool at their feet. “Indeed. And there might soon
come a day when the bow and the leadership of Haukka-Silma’a will be needed in
the Northern Kingdoms again as well. Dalarna has long been a thorn in our back.
But there are other and even greater evils growing elsewhere.”

He considered Ljung then. Ljung returned the glance
questioningly. Leal caught the exchange and frowned. There was something more
going on here than
her own
quest. The Elders were
helping her, but clearly their reasons were not merely altruistic. Which was
fine, really, but she would have liked them to be more candid about it.

 
“I hope we can
help everyone then,” she said uneasily. “Tell me, do you know what she was like
this Ice Queen? Before she disappeared?”

“Some say she was an uncommonly beautiful woman,” said
Geir. “Elver or human, nobody knows. Some say she was not even a woman at all,
but just a cunning goblin capable of mighty glamours.” He paused a moment,
catching a questioning look on Leal and Daria’s face. “
A
glamour
is a spell that casts forth a dream of yourself, so people will
see whatever you wish to be, instead of your true self. Some say she arrived by
boat from the great western seas, some say from the north, from the Islands of
Eternal Ice.”

 
“Do you have
any idea of how we can defeat her?” asked Daria.

Rutger shrugged. “It is hard for us to tell, since so
little about her is known now. But we will give you what help we can.
Warm furs to face the cold, and all the tools that our hunters have
found to be of use on the ice.
We will give you our cordials, and food
that will keep you strong. But we will not send a host of warriors with you. I
do not believe that that is the way. Secrecy is your best chance on the
glaciers, and a small party will go unnoticed better than a large one. And we
have gifts for you.”

Gerdrun nodded. “We are not sure of what awaits you in
the Ice Waste, princess. Even the Shining Ones have very little power in those
parts. There is life on and under the ice, but it is slow and thwarted, even at
the height of summer. Very heavy spells have twisted the currents of natural
life forces over the whole waste. We have no eyes there, no clear perception.
And even the wisest seers only have the vaguest images of the future, of the
possible futures, to go with. However, we brought some things that
ring true
to us. The Elders keep many memories and many old odd heirlooms in their homes,
and they are always passed down to the next Ring, until such time as they might
be of use. And although the north is now veiled to us we believe that these
things may be of assistance to you. This is intuition rather than wisdom. It
may happen that these things will serve no purpose at all and will only be a
burden to you.”

Geir took a small package from under the bench and
handed it to Leal. It was a large flattened loaf of dark bread, wrapped in
green cloth. It smelled strongly of old dry herbs and mound.

“This is not food for a traveler, Princess Leal. It is
rowan bread.
An old recipe of a former Elder.
Keep it
for the end of the trip.”

Leal took the ancient loaf with some puzzlement, but
thanked the old elver most profusely.

Gerdrun also took out a light parcel. It was a bag of
the silky silvery fabric that gleamed here and there in the elvers’ clothes.
Inside it was a coiled rope, about as thick as a finger, and perhaps ten yards
long, woven out of grey-green fibers here and there a glint of iridescent
silver, brighter than the grey silk, but more elusive, like a fresh snail trail
twisted in the rougher body of the rope. She gave it to Daria with a smile.
“This also might be of help when you come to the end of the journey.”

Daria took the rope with a mixture of gratitude,
wonder, and doubt.

Finally Rutger stood up. He held a small casket in his
hands. It was dark polished wood, with ornate bronze hinges, locks, and
handles.

“Am I right in believing that you will accompany our
guests in the next stage of their journey, Ljung Leuksen Sinkka’a-Reissu?”

Ljung nodded. Both Daria and Leal gasped in joyful
surprise. He had not mentioned a word before.

Rutger smiled gravely and setting aside the casket for
a moment, he laid both his hands on Ljung’s shoulder. “I believe it is wise. I
cannot see the future clearly, and little also of the present, sometimes, but I
believe this to be your fate, Ljung Leuksen. Ever it was your destiny to tread
the darkest paths. This might be useful to you.”

He passed the casket over, and Ljung bowed deeply.

“Come, let us eat together now. Tomorrow you must rest
while we see to your clothes and provisions, and the day after you must leave.
I am loath to send you away so soon, but it is already almost too late in the
year for travelling to the ice waste. Were things otherwise, I’d suggest you
wait here for the spring. But I fear that that would not serve the purpose of
your Challenge, Princess Leal.”

Chapter Fifteen

“What did it
mean,
that thing
about you and the darkest path?” asked Leal thoughtfully as they walked back to
their home after their repast, carrying their mysterious gifts.

She could see that he was a little startled by the
question, but he quickly pulled himself together and shrugged dismissively.

“Oh, just Elders’ talk, I suppose. You will agree that
it was ever your fate to do this deed
sounds more numinous than
somebody’s
gotta go out in the rain, and look, you’re already wet
.”

Leal laughed, but she was not fooled for an instant.
There was some darkness in Ljung’s history, and he was reluctant to talk about
it. That was unnerving and intriguing in equal amounts. She would not have
pried into his private life if it were not for that glance he had exchanged
with Rutger in the Ring. Something in his past was tangled with her quest, or
at least with why the Elders were helping her. She wondered what it was,
especially now that he was coming with them to the Ice Waste.

Now that she had seen more elvers she could tell that
while many of his strange physical features belonged to his whole race, there
was something subtly different between him and the elvers of Elverhjem, as if
he came from a different place, perhaps from somewhere far away. She wondered
how he had come here, and why, and what had happened to him on the road.

They went back to their house, and set out to have a
resting day, but they had all been on the road so long now that it was
difficult to settle down. Daria was restless and busy sorting things out of her
pack, bringing dirty clothes to the bathroom, packing the cleaner ones back in,
despite the fact that the elvers had promised that a full wardrobe for each of
them would be delivered by nightfall the next day. Ljung was better at resting
when he had a chance, but although he lay back on a pile of pelts and cushions
under an open window, Leal could see that he was not sleeping.