Through Wolf's Eyes (57 page)

Hazel was waiting for them and ushered them into her
private workroom. When they took seats beneath the hanging bunches of
dried herbs, Firekeeper must fight a powerful urge to sneeze and, from
his place beneath her chair, Blind Seer grumbled protest at this
olfactory assault.

As soon as they were settled, Hazel began, her
expression somewhat severe. "I understand from Derian's note that you
wish to consult me about a matter of great delicacy and great secrecy.
Let me save you some trouble. I do not dispense abortifacients except
in extreme cases when the life of mother and child both are at risk."

Firekeeper was completely puzzled, but evidently what Hazel had said meant something more to the others. Derian
turned vivid scarlet. Elise and Ninette both blushed and looked away. Only Doc remained composed. He replied:

"Your assumption is quite reasonable, Mistress
Healer, given what you know, but let me assure you that we have come to
consult you about something quite different—although no less grave."

Hazel's severe expression vanished. Now she looked both worried and relieved.

"Very well. You have my promise of silence. Start telling me what your problem is while I set a pot of tea brewing."

In deference to the pain Elise would experience
telling her own story, Sir Jared began. Ninette volunteered specific
details and Firekeeper noticed with interest that she seemed to feel no
pain whatsoever. Hazel noticed this as well and, as soon as the
narrative was ended, she asked the maid:

"You don't feel any pain, Ninette, even when you talk about specific aspects of the curse?"

"No, Mistress Healer. My heart beats terribly fast
and sometimes I feel so afraid that I think I will fall down in a dead
faint, but I don't feel any pain."

"Then I must be right!" Derian said excitedly. "The betrothal stone—that's the means by which the sorceress is affecting Elise!"

Ninette said, coloring slightly, "I guess I should
also admit that as soon as the Lady Melina started droning her curse, I
looked away—buried my face in my hands. I don't know if that might have
helped."

In response to the unasked question Elise
volunteered, "I never looked away. I was curious and angry—I wanted to
know what was going on. Another thing you should know, all through the
ritual Ninette never stopped muttering prayers to her Society patron
and to her ancestors. I was only aware of it afterwards, but when I
think back on the situation, I remember the low drone of her voice
behind me."

Ninette nodded in confirmation. "That's right, I did
pray. Mother always taught me to do that when I had night fears. I
guess I felt like a little girl again, faced with real sorcery."

Pouring tea, Hazel considered. Then she rose and, reaching up onto a very high shelf, took down a book.

"Magical powers," she said without preamble, "did not
vanish from the world simply because Queen Zorana ruled that higher
sorcery would not be practiced in Hawk Haven. They still manifest
today, mostly within families and then we only recognize magical power
when it takes the shape of what we call talents.

"My family has a strong talent for working with
plants— the Green Thumb, as it is usually called. There are other
talents: a touch of precognition or clairvoyance, perfect sense of
direction, healing, a strong empathy for animals . . ."

Firekeeper was surprised when Hazel paused and looked at her.

"I wouldn't be at all surprised if Firekeeper has
that last gift and maybe others. It would explain her survival and her
ability to communicate with animals."

Derian, Elise, and Ninette looked as surprised as Firekeeper felt but Doc only nodded.

"I'd thought that might be the case, maybe because I
have the healing talent myself. It would be impossible to test, of
course. Firekeeper's own story of her upbringing provides an alternate
explanation."

From his place on the floor Blind Seer commented to Firekeeper,
"He
speaks as if these talents are restricted to humankind, but the Royal
Beasts may have them as well. Ah, well. Doc is not a bad man, only
filled with human arrogance toward other bloods."

Hazel, of course unaware of this comment, continued,
"The House of the Eagle has never—to my knowledge— shown evidence of
being talented. Neither have the Shields. However, Melina Shield's
other parent . . ."

"Her father is Stanbrook born," Elise said.

"I don't know much about what talents the various
Great Houses might have," Hazel said apologetically. "After Queen
Zorana decreed a reign based on rejection of such Old World things as
elaborate titles and magical power, even those families that had
talents went out of their way to play them down."

Firekeeper thought this was the time to ask something that had been troubling her.

"Everyone say that Queen Zorana want no titles, but
still there are king, queen, duke, duchess, all and more. These seem
like titles to me."

"Good point," Doc answered, "but you should study how
it was before Queen Zorana's reform. She eliminated some titles and the
custom of one person bearing more than one title. Before that, a single
person might have five or six titles: King of this, Prince of that,
Duke of this, that, and the other thing, Baron of this . . ."

"All one person?" Firekeeper asked, not at all certain she wasn't being teased.

"All one person," Doc assured her. "It's sort of a
variation of the way you call me Doc, while my associates call me Sir
Jared, and those who knew me when I was a boy and some of my friends
call me Jared. Different names for different situations."

"It is easier for wolves," Firekeeper snorted. "One name, one person."

"Unless you are the One,"
Blind Seer reminded her.
"Then
you are the One Male or the One Female, but you still have a personal
name. Our Pack's One Female was Shining Coat. I have this on the best
authority."

Firekeeper kicked him.

"We're getting off the subject," Elise said somewhat
anxiously. "Mistress Hazel, you were saying that it is possible that
Melina Shield might have inherited a talent for sorcery from House
Kite."

"Yes, but there are other options as well." Hazel
opened the book in her lap and ran a finger down a closely written
page. For once, Firekeeper regretted not being able to read, for the
others clearly had some idea what Hazel was doing. At last she halted.

"Here it is: trance induction." Hazel looked up and
continued, "The good news and the bad news is that from what you
describe, Lady Melina may also be performing something that, while
rather like magic, is not magic at all. It is an art that enables one
person to control another person's mind through suggestion. As with
many other practices, trance induction fell out of favor after the
retreat of the Old
Countries, but some healers
advocate it to help with the control of pain or certain detrimental
impulses. That's why it's mentioned in this book."

"What does trance induction do?" Elise pressed. "Why
is this good news and bad news? It sounds all good to me. If Lady
Melina isn't a sorceress, we may be able to defeat her."

"The reason it isn't all good news," Hazel replied
levelly, "is that if legend is correct, all magic that isn't locked
into a specific physical item ceases to function after the caster is
dead. You remember what happened in the comic song about Timin and the
Flying Goat, don't you?"

Everyone but Firekeeper nodded and she decided this wasn't the time to ask for details.

"Trance induction is used to create a suggestible
state in the mind of the subjects," Hazel continued. "When the subjects
have been made suggestible, then they can be convinced to do almost
anything—especially if deep inside they wish to do this thing anyhow.
Since the person's own mind is really in charge—just under someone
else's direction— breaking the power of the person who induced the
trance doesn't remove the suggestion any more than a newly built table
reverts to raw lumber after the carpenter hangs up his tools."

"Oh." Elise's small moan of dismay was echoed around the room.

Hazel frowned. "That's why it isn't necessarily a good thing if Lady Melina
is
using trance induction. If she is, she has been working on the minds of
her primary subjects—her children and, I would guess, her husband and
close servants—for years. That hold will not be instantly broken. The
only way to break that hold would be to convince her subjects that she
has somehow lost her power over them."

Derian drummed his fingers against his teacup, making
a little ringing sound. "I suppose we could tell them," he said
dubiously. "Tell them about this trance induction, I mean."

"Lady Elise," Hazel ordered suddenly, "you've heard my explanation. Now, talk about how Lady Melina laid the curses."

Obediently, Elise began to speak, but the sudden twist of
pain that contorted her mouth was an eloquent answer to Hazel's test.

"But it
must
be sorcery," she protested. "Lady Melina only spoke with me briefly. How could she have induced a trance in such a short time?"

Hazel looked at Elise with a trace of pity. "Because,
Lady Elise, you were quite willing to believe that Lady Melina had
power to command you and because she was telling you to do something
you already were inclined to do. What newly engaged young woman doesn't
feel pride in her betrothal token and want to wear it always? Lady
Melina simply reinforced the impulse you already held in your heart."

Elise looked sad. "I wonder if she knew about Jet's
unreliability and decided she'd better assure my loyalty herself? If
I'd been a stranger who knew nothing of her reputation as a sorceress,
then Lady Melina's task would have been more difficult."

"I think so," Hazel agreed. "Of course, it might have been sorcery and the jet pendant the focus for her charm."

"Take off the necklace," Firekeeper urged. "Talking was easier then yesterday, I think."

Elise lifted off the necklace with its jet wolf's
head and set it on the table next to her empty teacup. Firekeeper
wondered if anyone else saw the trembling of Elise's hands.

"Lady Melina said . . ." Elise began tentatively, "that if anyone spoke of what she had done . . ."

She stopped and frowned. "The pain is less but still there."

"So we don't have a definite answer," Derian sighed.
"It could be that a spell has been laid on Lady Elise or it could be
that she has been made to believe that a spell has been laid on her.
What do we do?"

Silence followed through which Firekeeper could hear
the shoptalk without, the comings and goings of people buying
medicines, perfumes, and spices. Seeing that no one else was going to
offer a suggestion, she said:

"Why not do something for both? Melina use the
pendants on her necklace to cast spell or to make believe she cast
spell. If we get necklace and destroy with great fuss," she looked
doubtful, uncertain that she was expressing herself
well, "then the way of the control would be broken, too."

Doc's dour expression lightened. "You have a point
there, Firekeeper. That necklace is the key—at least to Lady Melina's
control of her son and daughters."

"But what Firekeeper suggests is very dangerous,"
Ninette piped up, trembling at the very thought. "Lady Melina never
lets that necklace out of her sight. Her maid said once she wears it
even in the bath and to bed."

Firekeeper sprang to her feet. "So we take it!"

"That may be what we have to do," Derian agreed. He didn't look happy. "I wish we could test the effectiveness beforehand."

"Could we," Elise said, "have my necklace duplicated?
A substitute she has never touched wouldn't have the same power, would
it?"

Firekeeper decided not to mention things she had
heard about the sympathetic resonances between types of stone. Maybe
that was just a wolf legend and didn't apply to human magic. In any
case, she thought that Melina was more likely to be a trickster than a
sorceress. She hoped so—her own knowledge of human sorcery was a bit
shaky.

Hazel extended her hand. "Let me see the carving. If
it isn't too complicated, I know someone who might be able to do the
work. Jet isn't a terribly hard substance, thank the Dog."

That same almost invisible quiver in her hand, Elise picked up the pendant and handed it to the healer.

"It's intricate, yes," Hazel murmured after a few
moments' inspection by the sunlit window. "But my friend may be able to
do the job. He's a local, but I've known him for a long time and I
think he's trustworthy."

"Think?" Derian asked.

"Yes. He dabbled in some shady dealing, usually with
smugglers and thieves, but in his own business he has a very good
reputation."

Elise decided. "I'll do it. Thank the Lynx for this ball! It makes all sorts of strange shopping trips possible."

"Derian," Hazel said, "you know your way around Hope. I'll write you a note saying you represent someone who
needs
private work done. You can run over there, get my friends's answer
directly, and then retrieve Elise. In the meantime, ladies," she
smiled, "can I interest you in any of my wares?"

A
PPARENTLY THE JEWELER
—one Wain Cutter—was quite accustomed to confidential commissions. He
expressed only slight surprise when Elise explained what she wanted
done.

"Usually, I get asked to do something like this," he
said, peering narrowly at the wolf's-head carving, "after the lady or
gentleman has lost the piece. Then all I have to go on is a
description. This is much easier."

Taking out a thin piece of charcoal, he started
making a sketch on a piece of smooth white board. Firekeeper moved
behind him so she could watch, fascinated as he drew the piece first in
a front view then in both right and left profiles.