CASTLE OF DECEPTION -- Mercedes Lackey and Josepha Sherman -- (1992)

This is a work of ficdon. All the characters and events
portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to
real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

Copyright® 1992,byMercedes Lackey and JosephaShennan

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book
or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original

Tfc'&CTri'iTa&charactiers and descriptions are the sote property of
Electronic Arts and are used by permission. The Board's Tide is a
registered trademarkofElecc-onicArts.

Baen Publishing Enterprises
EO. Box 1403
Riverdale,NY 10471

ISBN: 0-671-72125-9

Cover art by Larry Elmore

First Printing, July 1992

Printed in the United States of America

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Amcricas
New York, NY 10020

Chapter I

'Roong./

The lute string snapped, whipping across Kevin's
hand. He yelped, just barely managing not to drop the
lute. Instead, he placed the instrument gendy down on
his cot, then brought his stinging hand to his mouth.
Blast it all, that had Aurt! Of course it had. He knew bet-
ter by now than to try tightening a string too far. After
all, he'd been a bardling, an apprentice Bard, for what
seemed like all his nearly sixteen years.

The welt finally stopped smarting. Kevin got to his
feet with an impatient sigh. He didn't really mind prac-
ticing; it was something every musician had to do every
day, even his Master. He didn't even mind being stuck
in his cramped little room. Or at least he wouldn't mind
practicing and being cooped up in this stupid room in
this stupid inn if only he knew this was all leading
somewhere!

If something doesn't happen soon, something exciting...

Picking his way across the piles of clothes and music
scrolls uttering the floor, the bardling stared out the
one window, down to the Blue Swan's cobblestone
courtyard. A merchant was climbing onto his fine bay
horse, his travelling robes rich purple in the
springtime sunlight. With him rode his bodyguard,
two men and a woman in plain leather armor, straight-
backed and alert as falcons, hands never straying too
far from the swords at their sides. Kevin sighed in envy.
They were probably nothing more heroic than com-
mon mercenaries, and the journey they were taking

2          Mercedes Lackey^'Josephs Sherman

was probably nothing more exciting than a ride to the
next town, but at least they were going- somewhere,
they were doing something! While he  -- 

"Blast iti" the bardling swore under his breath.

He couldn't stand being stuck here a moment
longer. Clattering down the inn's wooden staircase,
Kevin hurried across the common room  --  empty at
this early hour  --  and headed out into the courtyard.
But then he stopped short on the cobblestones. What
was he hoping to see? The merchant and his party
were already out of sight, riding down the old North
Road that ran just outside the inn's gateway, and there
probably weren't going to be any more travellers today.
Discouraged, the bardling turned and went back
through the inn to the back entrance, stepping out into
town.

Ha. Some town.

Bracklin was litde more than a collection of a dozen
small, thatched-roof houses clustered behind the inn.
A neat, pretty, orderly place, one where nothing dif-
ferent had ever happened and nothing ever would.

And people here actually like it that -way!

Kevin leaned back against the inn's half-timbered
side, the wall chilly on his back, the sun warm on his
face. There had never been a day he could remember
when he hadn't dreamed of being a Bard, of singing
wonderful songs and travelling to wonderful places,
maybe even working the rare, powerful Bardic Magic,
healing people with his music or even banishing
demons. How could those dreams have turned into
something so unbearably dull7

"Morning, Kevin," a woman's cheerful voice called
from across the unpaved strcet-

The bardling started. "Uh, good morning, Ada."

"That's just like you bard-folk, always off in a world
all your own."

Ada was a round, chubby, middle-aged hen of a

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          3

woman. Right now her brown hair was tucked up out of
her way in an unddy bun, and the sleeves other plain
white blouse were pushed back above the elbows as she
filled a washtub full of soapy water. "Come for Master
Aidan's clothes, have you? Told you they couldn't be
ready till this afternoon. Had to spend all day yesterday
washing the travel dust off the robes of His Nibs." Ada's
jerk of the head took in the departed merchant and his
party. "Eh, won't bad-mouth die fellow; paid me down to
the last coin, with extra added." Her bright black eyes
studied Kevin. "What's with you, lad?"

-Nothing."

"Oh, don't give me 'nothing.' What is it?"

Kevin sighed. "Ada, you remember when I first came
here."

The woman smiled warmly. "Don't I, though. You
were such a little boy, almost too small for the lute on
your back, clinging to your music teacher's hand and
all wide-eyed with wonder."

"Mistress Malen was very kind."

"Well, of course she was! Imagine after all the years
of having to teach merchants' kids without a drop of
talent to them coming across someone like you with the
true gift for music! No, no, don't start blushing like
that You know it's true."

Ada plopped a shirt into her washtub and started
scrubbing. "Look you, lad, before she left. Mistress
Malen told me all about you: how you were pluck-
ing at the strings of your family's old lute the minute
you were old enough to hold it, making up your
own litde tunes till they didn't have a choice but to
hire her."

Kevin had to smile. Mistress Malen had been a
wonderful first teacher, endlessly patient with her eager
pupil. She had also been honest enough to admit his
talent was more than she could shape. A litde shiver of
wonder raced through the bardling as he remembered

4 Mercedes Lackey 6f'Josephs Sherman

how she'd shaken her head and told him, "You have the
makings ofa Bard, boy, a true Bard."

Ada's chuckle dragged him back to the present. **So
there you were, poor chick, standing in the courtyard
of the Blue Swan, fall of wonder, yes, but maybe just a
touch scared, too. And no surprise, being apprenticed
to Master Aidan like that, a Bard -- an^ a hero as well!"

Kevin glanced up at his Master's room. "You
remember how it was, don't you? When my Master
helped King Amber keep his throne, I mean.**

"Bless you, child, how old do you think I am? That
was a good thirty years ago! I was a chick myself back
then, much younger than you." She paused thought-
fully. "But I do remember all the celebrating. My, yes!
Everyone couldn't stop chattering about how it had
been a Bard, your Bard, who'd used his magical songs
o> stop that witch ofa would-be usurper."

"Princess Cariotta."

"Oh. she might have been a princess, the nasty tittle
creature, but she was a sorceress, all right, dark-
hearted as they come! She turned our good king into
stone  --  stone, can you imagine that! And if it hadn't
been for Master Aidan, stone. King Amber would have
remained. Bah! Good riddance to her, I say  --  and all
praise to Master Aidan for stopping her."

Kevin sighed. "That must have been a wonderful
time.... **

"Wonderful! Those were the most dangerous days
nobody ever wanted! And 1 don't blame your Master
for coming here after it was all over. If anyone ever
earned some peace and quiet, it was he!"

That wasn't what Kevin wanted to hear. At first every
day with his Master had seemed wild with excitement
After all, with a hero Bard to teach him, why shouldn't
he, too, do great deeds someday! But it hadn't taken
long to learn that his Master had, somewhere over the
years, forgotten all about heroism.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

"Ada, you've lived here in Bracklin all your life,
haven't you?"

"You know it. Never left this town. Never saw any
need toF

"But don't you ever want to meet new people?"

"I do! Enough travellers come into the inn for that.**

"That's not what I mean. Don't you ever get bored?
Want to see new places, do new things?"

Ada looked at him as though he'd gone mad. "Why
should I want something as foolish as that? I have a
nice house, good, steady work. Love you, lad, I think
the spring's gotten into you." She shooed him away
with soapy hands. "Now, get along with you, Kevin. I
have work to do."

The bardling wandered on down Bracklin's one street
to the end. It didn't take long. He stood looking out over
the fields beyond die edge of town, each neatly plowed
strip of land exactly like the next, and shuddered.
Making his way back towards the Blue Swan, Kevin
politely returned the greetings of baker and seamstress
and butcher. All of them, he realized, were quite
peacefully going about their various tasks just as they did
every day. And not a one of them seemed to mind! Sud-
denly frustrated to the point of screaming, Kevin hurried
back into the inn and his room. At least he could learn a
new song!

There wasn't a sound out of his Master's room. Of
course not The old Bard probably had his nose buried
in old manuscripts, just as he had whenever he wasn't
playing himself, or giving the bardling a music lesson
 -- just as he had for almost all the time Kevin had
studied with him.

/ know he's hunting/or something important. But he won't
tell me what it is! And while he hunts through all those dusty
books, I'm stuck here in Bracklin with him. Fm not a child
anymore! I can't be content Hke this!

The bardling snatched up his lute and struck a few

6         Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

savage chords. But he couldn't play anything with that
broken string.

"Blast it all to Darkness!"

Kevin rummaged through the mess on floor and
table till he found a replacement string. This was
ridiculous? All Master Aidan had to do was say the
word, and King Amber would gladly name him the
royal bard. They could be living in the royal palace
right now.

And wouldn't that be grand? Kevin pictured his
Master in elegant Bardic robes, people bowing respect-
fully as he passed. He would be a major power in court-
And his brave young apprentice would be a figure of
importance too....

"Right," Kevin muttered. "And pigs could fly."

His Master had tremendous musical talent, no
doubt about that; every dme the old Bard took his own
well-worn mandolin and showed the boy how a song
should be played, a litde shiver of wonder ran through
Kevin, and with it a prayer: Ah, please, please, let me some-
day play Uke that, wrth such grace, such -- such glory! Of late
he had begun to hope that his prayers, if not answered,
had at least begun to be heard. But even Ada insisted
Master Aidan was also an adept at Bardic Magic....

Idon't understand it! IfIhad such a gift, fdbeusmgit, not
 -- not fading it away m the middle of nowhere!

Oh yes, "if," Kevin thought darkly. It wasn't as
though every Bard had the innate gift for Bardic
Magic, after all. Master Aidan seemed to believe he pos-
sessed it, had assured Kevin over and over that in some
bardhngs the gift blossomed fairly late. But surely if he
was going to show any sign of magic, it would have sur-
faced by now. After all, he was nearly a man! Yet so far
he hadn't felt the slightest angle of Power no matter
how hard he'd tried. To him, the potentially magical
songs his Master had taught him remained just that:

songs.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION           7

The bardling gave the lute an impatient strum, then
winced. Sour! Lute strings went out of pitch all too easily.

As he retimed them, Kevin admitted to himself that
yes, he did take a great deal of joy in creating music,
and in creating it well. But aside from that music, what
did he have? Of course it was true that a musician
seldom had time for much else; if he was to succeed at
all, a musician must give himself totally to his craft.
Kevin could accept that But did the rest of life have to
be so  --  drab? What did he do from day to day, really,
but run his Master's errands like a litde boy, keep all
those old manuscripts dusted, see the same dull town
and the same dull people?

/ might as well be apprenticed too  --  a baker!

"Kevin," a weary voice called from across the hall, and
thebardlingstraightened, listening. "Come here, please."

"Yes, Master."

Now what? Maybe he was supposed to order their
supper from the innkeeper? Or go find out from Ada
exactly when their wash would be done?

But when the bardling saw the old Bard's pale face,
his impatience slipped away, replaced by a pang of
worry. He had never known the Master as anything
but a white-bearded old man, but surely he'd never
seen him look quite this tired. Quite this... fragile.

It's because he never goes out, Kevin tried to persuade
himself. Never even gets any sunlight, cooped up in here •unth
his books. "Master? Is  --  is something wrong?"

"No, Kevin. Not exactly."

But a hint of fire flickered in the man's weary blue eyes,
and Kevin tensed, all at once so wild with hope he nearly
cheered. "You've found what you were looking for!"

"Alas, no."

"Then ... what is it? Are we going somewhere?" Oh
Rtease, ohplease, say yes!

"We? No. boy. You."

Kevin felt his heart thunder in his chest. Yes! At last

8         Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

something new was going to happen! "You w-won't
regret this!" he stammered. "Just tell me what the quest
is, and I -- "

The old Bard chuckled faintly. "I'm afraid it isn't a
quest, my fine young hero. More of an errand. A
longer one than usual, and further away than most,
but an errand never the less."

"Oh." Kevin struggled to keep the disappointment
from his face. I should have known better. Just another stupid
errand.

"What I want you to do," the Bard continued, "is go
to the casde of Count Volmar  --  "

"And deliver a message from the King?" At least that
would be something halfway dramatic!

"And copy a manuscript for me," his Master cor-
rected, looking down his long nose at the bardling.
"You're to copy it  --  copy it exactly, understand  --  and
bring the copy back to me."

Kevin barely silenced a groan. "Is it very long?"

"I believe so."

And it was probably unbearably dull, too. "But,
Master," Kevin asked desperately, "why don't you just
ask them to send the manuscript to you?"

"No! It's too valuable to be moved."

Naturally. "If you want it copied exactly," the
bardling said as casually as he could, "why not hire a
trained scribe  --  "

"No!" For a startling moment, the Bard's face was so
fierce Kevin could almost believe the heroic tales- But
then the fierceness faded, leaving only a weary old man
behind. "I have given you your orders. The
manuscript you are to copy is known as The Stvdy of
Ancient Song. It is approximately three hands high and
one and a half hands wide, and is bound in plain, dark
brown leather that, I imagine, must be fairly well worn
by now. The title may or may not be embossed on the
spine, but it should be printed clearly enough on the

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          9

cover." He paused- "In brief: the manuscript cannot be
moved from the count's library. And only you are to
copy it. Each day's work must be hidden. It must not be
shown to anyone. Is that understood?"

Kevin frowned. Had the old Bard's mind turned?
Or, more likely, was he simply trying to enliven a dull
job for his apprentice with a touch of the dramatic?

The bardling bowed in resignation. "Yes, Master," he
muttered.

"Good. Now, here's a letter of introduction to the
count from me. He should recognize my seaL Be sure
you keep it safe in your belt pouch; nobles are suspi-
cious sorts, and unless they know you're really from
me, you'll never get past the casde gates."

Kevin obediently stuffed the parchment into his
pouch. Ah well, he'd try to make the most of this. At
least it meant getting out of this dull old inn for a few
days. Yes, and he would be staying in a castle. Hey now,
maybe even rubbing elbows with the nobility!

The bardling fought down a sudden grin, imagining
himself at court, impressing somebody important,
maybe even the count himself, with his talent. Who
knew? If he was really lucky, he might get a chance to
really prove himself. He might even end up being
named a true Bard!

Oh, right If he didn't wind up spending all his time
stuck in the count's library.

"Kevin? Kevin! Listen to me, boy," his Master fussed.
**You must hurry. I have a way to get you to the count
safely -- friends are coming through -- but time is short
Can't have a lad your age travelling all by himself."

The bardling straightened, insulted. "Your pardon,
Master, but I'm not a baby. I'll be all right, don't worry.**

"It's notyou I'm worried about, boy. It's what you
might meet along the way. You're a bardling, not a
trained warrior."

"I can handle a sword!"

10 Mercedes Lackey S^Josepha Sherman

"But you won't," the Bard ordered bluntly. "A
musician doesn't dare risk injuring his hands."

"Well, yes, of course, but --  "

"I repeat, you are not a trained warrior. If someone
attacked you, you wouldn't stand a chance of defend-
ing yourself."

"I'm nearly sixteen!" Kevin began body. "I can take
care of myself!"

But the Bard was no longer listening to him. Head
cocked, the old man murmured, "Well now, do you
hear that?"

"Singing?" the bardling said in surprise. Who in that
quiet town would suddenly be frivolous enough to
burst into song? And raucous song at that!

"I wonder," the Bard murmured to himself. "Can it
be... so soon?"

He moved slowly to the window. Kevin followed,
looking over the man's shoulder at a laughing group of
folks on horseback clattering into the courtyard, sur-
rounding two gaudy red and blue wagons. The riders'
cloaks and tunics fluttered in the wind, their many
colors so bright he could have sworn they were cut
from scraps of rainbows. The man who seemed to be
the leader, driving the first wagon, wore a robe that edit-'
tiered like the sun itself.

"It^sjust a troop of minstrels," Kevin began, but his
Master was already calling out the window: "Berak!"

The leader glanced up, his sharp-featured, green-
eyed face suddenly alert. "So it was your Summons, old
man!" he yelled back. "You're still alive and kicking, I
see!"

Kevin gasped, but his Master only laughed. "And
you're still the same disrespectful soul as ever! Come
up here, if you would."

Berak brought his whole troop with him, twenty
men and women and their offspring, all with sharp,
suntanned faces and bright, wild eyes. Chattering and

CATTLE OF DECEPTION          11

laughing, they filled the small room almost to overflow,
their gaudy clothing making it look even shabbier than
it was.

Berak held up a hand for silence, "What would you,
old Bard?" he asked, making the man a fantastic bow.

The Bard didn't seem at all disturbed by the curious
stares. "A favor, Berak, if you would. My apprentice here,
young Kevin, needs to travel to Count Volmar's castle --  "

"A far way for such a child," a woman murmured,
and Kevin gave her an indignant glare.

"Exactly," his Master said. "I doubt you restless but-
terflies will be staying here longer than one night."

"NotinAis dull town!"

"Then since your route seems to be taking you along
the North Road anyhow, if you might happen to see
your way to the count's castle, and take Kevin with you
when you go... ?"

For a moment, the Bard's eyes met Berak's fierce
green gaze.

Almost, Kevin thought in sudden confusion, as though
they're exchanging secret information.

But in the next moment Berak laughed and bowed
another of his intricate bows, and Kevin told himself
not to be ridiculous. The man was nothing more than a
common minstrel.

"Of course, old man," Berak said. "Kevin, bardling,
we leave at sunrise tomorrow!"

Whether I like it or not. the boy thought drily.

That night, the troop of minstrels sang for their sup-
per, standing to one side of the open fireplace, the
gaudy colors of their dothing turned muted and glow-
ing by the flickering firelight. Kevin listened to their
music for a long time, trying to figure out exactly what
they were doing. No two singers seemed to be follow-
ing the same tune, and the two harpers, three fiddlers
and one flutist all seemed to be playing their own

12 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sfierman

melodies as well. And yet somehow all that wild sound
managed to blend into one whole, intricate song. He
couldn't say whether or not it was a beautiful song, he
couldn't even say whether or not he liked it, but the
bardling had to admit it certainly was interestingr

The innkeeper and his wife didn't seem to know
what to make of the music, either, nor did their guests.
When the troop had finished, there was a fair amount
of applause, and everyone agreed they had earned
their dinners, but Kevin suspected from their uncer-
tain glances that the rest of the audience was as
confused as he.

"How did you like it?" The old Bard had appeared
so suddenly at Kevin's shoulder that the bardling had
tobitebackayell-

Tm not sure... I mean, it was music, all right, not
just sound, but... well... it was wild. Like something
the forest would sing, if trees could only  --  I mean  -- 
I'm sounding stupid, aren't I?"

His Master chuckled. "No. Not at all. You sound like
a youngster who's suddenly realized that the world's a
good deal wider, with a good deal more strangeness in
it, than he ever suspected." He patted Kevin's
shoulder. "Come along, bardling. The night's growing
late, and you must be up eariy in the morning."

Kevin stood in the courtyard of the inn, dad in good,
serviceable tunic, breeches and boots, the whole thing
covered by a woollen doak, its warmth welcome in the
chilly morning air. His lute was in its waterproof
travelling case, slung across his back, because no Bard,
not even a bardling, ever travelled without his instru-
ment.

All around the bardling, the minstrels were chatter-
ing and scuttling about, somehow never getting in each
other's way, reloading their wagons, scooping up gig-
gling children, tightening a saddle girth here,

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          13

readjusting a pack there. But Kevin didn't really notice
all the bustle. He was too busy staring at the animal
placidly looking back at him. His heart sank.

A mule! The Master hadn't even trusted him with a
horse. An adventurer needed a stallion, a destrier, a
war horse  --  not a stupid old long-eared mule!

"Eh, bardling!" Berak called from his wagon seat.
"Mount up, boy! We have a long way to travel."

"My name is Kevin, not 'bardling,' " Kevin mut-
tered, but Berak didn't seem to hear him-

"That's a wise old mule, bardling. He'll carry you
safe and sound to Count Volmar's castle. If he doesn't
dedde to dump you in the mud instead!"

The minstrels all burst into laughter. His cheeks
flaming, Kevin made sure the saddle pack with his
spare dothes was secure, then climbed into the saddle.
As he did, the lute whacked him painfully across the
back. The mule wiggled a long ear back at him as
though it coo was laughing at him.

"If you bray at me, I'll whack you\" Kevin warned it,
but the mule only shook its head, ears flapping.

As the minstrels rode out of the inn's courtyard,
hoofs dopping and wagon wheels rattling against cob-
blestones, Kevin glanced up at his Master's window.
But if the old Bard was watching, the bardling couldn't
see him.

Feeling abandoned and very sorry for himself, Kevin
kicked the mule's sides to get it moving. The mule
rolled a reproachful eye back at him, but started
grudgingly forward.

"Hey-ho, off to adventure!" Berak laughed, and
burst into song.

Some adventure, Kevin thought bitterly.

Chapter II

As the minstrel troop rode and rattled along the wide
dirt road, the day was as bright and cheery as something
out of a story, full ofbird song and pleasant Htde breezes.

Kevin hardly noticed. He was too busy struggling
with his mule to keep it from lagging lazily behind.

"Here, boy." One of the musicians, a red-dad fiddler
with instrument case strapped to his back like Kevin,
handed the bardling a switch broken from a bush.
"Wave this at him. He'll keep moving."

The fiddler's eyes were kind enough, but it seemed
to Kevin that his voice practically dripped with conde-
scension. Tkmfss Fve never ridden be/ors, Kevin thought,
but he managed a tight smile and a "Thanks." It didn't
help that the man was right; as long as the mule could
see the switch out of the comer of an eye, it kept up a
nice, brisk pace.

The North Road cut through brushland for a time,
then through stands of saplings, then at last through
true forest, green and lush in the springtime. This was
royal land, not ceded to any of the nobles, and the road
was kept clear, Kevin knew, by the spells of royal
magicians. But those nice, neat spells hardly applied to
the wildness on either side. The bardling, trying to
pretend he'd travelled this way a hundred times,
couldn't help wondering if bandits or even dark crea-
tures, ores or worse, were hiding in there.

Oh, nonsense! He was letting his Master's fussing
get to him. It was forest, only forest. No one could see
anything sinister in that tranquil greenery.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          15

He'd let the switch drop and the mule was lagging
again. Kevin waved it at the beast yet again- When that
didn't seem to do any good, he gave it a good whack on
the rump. The mule grunted in surprise and broke
into a bone-jarring trot, overtaking the wagons and
most of the riders. The equally surprised bardling
jounced painfully in the saddle, lute banging against
his back. For a moment Kevin wished he'd kept it in its
case rather than out for quick playing. Struggling to
keep his stirrups and his balance, he was sure he heard
snickers from the troop.

Then, just as suddenly, the mule dropped back into
its easygoing walk. Kevin nearly slammed his face into
the animal's neck. This time, as he straightened himself
in the saddle, he knew he'd heard muffled laughter.
Without a word, he pulled the mule back into the
troop.

Although the minstrels kept up a steady patter of
cheerful conversation and song all around him, Kevin
damped his lips resolutely together after that. He had
given them enough entertainment already!

It wasn't helping his increasingly sour mood that
every time someone looked his way, he could practical-
ly hear that someone thinking. Poor little boy, out on his
own!

*Tmno( a baby!" he muttered under his breath.
"What's that?" A plump, motherly woman, bright
yellow robes making her look like a buttercup, brought
her mare up next to his mule. "Is something wrong,
chfld?"

**I am not a child." Kevin said the words very careful-
ly. "I am not a full Bard yet, I admit it, but I am the
apprentice to  --  "

"Oh, well, bardling, then!" Her smile was so amused
that Kevin wanted to shout at her. Leave me alone!
Instead, he asked, as levelly as he could:

"|ust how far away is Count Volmar's castle?"

16 Mercedes Lackey S^Josepha Skerman

"Oh, two days' ride or so, weather permitting, not
more."

"And we're going to stay on this road?"

"Well, of course! We can hardly go cross-country
through the woods with the wagon! Besides, that
would be a silly thing to do: the North Road leads right
to the castle. Very convenient."

"Very," Kevin agreed, mind busy. He hadn't dared
hope that the casde would be so easy to find, even far
someone who'd never been there before. Even for
someone who just might happen to be travelling alone.

That night, the minstrels made camp in a drde of
song and firelight that forced back the forest's shadow.
Dinner had been cheese and only slighdy stale bread
from the inn, water from a nearby stream, and rabbits
the older children had brought down with their slings.
Now Kevin, sitting on a dead log to one side, nearly in
darkness, watched the happy, noisy circle with a touch
of envy. What must it be like to be part of a group like
that? They were probably all related, one big, wild,
merry family.

But then the bardling reminded himself that these
were only minstrels, wandering folk whose musical
talents just weren't good enough to let them ever be
Bards. He should be pitying them, not envying them.
Maybe they even envied him... ?

No. Two of the women were gossiping about him, he
was sure of it, glancing his way every now and then,
hiding giggles behind their hands. Kevin straightened.
trying to turn his face into a regal mask. Unfortunately,
the log on which he sat picked that moment to fall
apart, dumping him on the ground in a cloud of moiety
dust,

Predictably, every one of the troop was looking his
way just then. Predictably, they all burst into laughter
Kevin scrambled to his feet, face burning. He'd had it

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          17

with being babied and laughed at and made to feel a
fool!

"Hey, bardling!" Berak called. "Where are you
going?"

"To sleep," Kevin said shortly.

"Out there in the dark? You'll be warmer  --  and
safer  --  here with us."

Kevin pretended he hadn't heard. Wrapping himself
in his cloak, he settled down as best he could. The ground
was harder and far colder than he'd expected. He really
would have been more comfortable with the minstrels.

But then, he didn't really intend to sleep .. . not
really.... It was just that he was weary from the day's
riding....

Kevin woke with a start, almost too cold and stiff to
move. What  --  where  --  AH around him was forest, sdll
dark with night, but overhead he could see patches of
pale, blue-gray sky through the canopy of leaves and
realized it wasn't too far from morning. He struggled to
his feet, jogging in place to warm himself up, wincing
as his body complained, then picked up his lute. Safe
and dry in its case, it hadn't suffered any harm.

Stop stalling! he told himself,

Any moment now, one of the minstrels was bound to
wake up, and then it would be too late. Kevin ducked
behind a tree to answer his chilly body's demands, then
tiptoed over to where the horses and his mule were
tied. One horse whuffled at him, but to his relief, none
of them whinnied. Although his hands were sdll stiff
with cold, the bardling managed to get his mule bridled
and saddled. He hesitated an uncertain moment, look-
ing back at the sleeping camp, wondering if he really
was doing the right thing.

Of course I am! I don't want the count to think I'm a baby
who can't take care of himself.

Kevin led the mule as silently as he could down the

18 Af encodes Lackey ^Josepba Shennan

road till the camp was out of sight, then swung up into
the saddle.

"Come on, mule," he whispered. "We have a lot of
ground to cover."

The minstrels would be discovering his absence any
moment now. But, encumbered with their wagons and
children as they were, they would never be able to
overtake him. Kevin kicked the mule; frisky from the
still chilly air, it actually broke into a prance. The bard-
ling straightened proudly in the saddle.

At last! He finally felt like a hero riding off into
adventure.

By nightfall, Kevin wasn't so sure of that. He was
tired and sore from being in the saddle all day, and
hungry as well. If only he had thought to take some
food with him! The mule wasn't too happy with its
snatches of grass and leaves, but at least it could
manage, but the few mouthfuls of whatever berries
Kevin had been able to recognize hadn't done much to
fill his stomach.

Overhead, the sky was still clear blue, but the forest
on either side was already nearly black, and a chill was
starting up from the cooling earth. Kevin shivered, lis-
tening to the twitter of birds settling down for the night
and the faint, mysterious rusdings and stirrings that
could have been made by small animals or... other
things. He shivered again, and told himself not to be
stupid. He was probably already on Count Volmar's
lands, and there wasn't going to be anything
dangerous this close to a casrie.

He hoped.

"We're not going to be able to go much further
today," he told the mule reluctantly. "We'd better find a
place to camp for the night."

At least he had flint and steel in his pouch. After
stumbling about in the dim light for a time, Kevin

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          19

managed to find enough dead branches to build him-
self a decent little fire in the middle of a small, rocky
clearing. The firelight danced off the surrounding
trees as the bardling sat huddling before the flames,
feeling the welcome warmth steal through him.

The fire took off the edge of his chill. But it couldn't
help the fact that he was still tired and so hungry his
stomach ached. The bardling tried to ignore his dis-
comfort by taking out his lute and working his way
through a series of practice scales.

As soon as he stopped, the nightflowed in around him,
Iris small fire not enough to hold back the darkness, the
tittle forest chirpings and rusdings not enough to break
the heavy silence. Kevin struck out bravely into the
bouncy strains of "The Miller's Boy." But the melody that
had sounded so bright and sprightly with the inn around
it seemed chin and lonely here. Kevin's fingers faltered,
then stopped. He sat listening to the night for a moment,
feeling the weight of the forest's indifference pressing
down on him. He roused himself with an effort and put
his lute back in its case, safe from the night's gathering
mist- Those nice, dull, safe days back at the inn didn't
seem quite so unattractive right now....

Oh, nonsense! What sort of hero are you, afraid of a little
hnelmess9

He'd never, Kevin realized, been alone before, really
alone, in his life. Battling with homesickness, the bard-
ling banked the fire and curled up once more in his
doak.

After what seemed an age, weariness overcame
misery, and he slipped into uneasy sleep,

Scornful laughter woke him. Kevin sat bolt upright,
staring up into eyes that glowed an eerie green in the
darkness. Demons!

No, no, whatever these beings were, they weren't
demonic. After that first terrified moment, he could
make out the faces that belonged with those eyes, and

20 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

gasped in wonder. The folk surrounding him were tafl
and graceful, a touch too graceful, too slender, to be
human. Pale golden hair framed fair, fine-boned,
coldly beautiful faces set with those glowing, slanted
eyes, and Kevin whispered in wonder:

"Elves..."

He had heard about them of course, everyone had.
They were even supposed to share some of King
Amber's lands with humans  --  though every now and
then bitter feelings surfaced between the two races. But
Kevin had never seen any of the elf-folk. White or
Dark, good or evil, never even dreamed he might.

"Why, how dever the child is!" The elvish voice was
dear as crystal, cold with mockery.

"Clever in one way, at least!" said another.

"So stupid in all other ways!" a third mocked. "Look
at the way he sleeps on the ground, like a poor litde
animal."

"Look at the trail he left, so that anyone, anything
could track him."

"Look at the way he sleeps like a babe, without a care
in the world."

"A human child."

"A careless child!"

The elf man who*d first spoken laughed sofdy. "A
foolish child that anyone can trick!"

So alien a light glinted in the slanted eyes that
Kevin's breath caught in his throat. Everyone knew
elvish whims were unpredictable; it was one of the
reasons there could never be total ease between elf and
human. If these folk decided to loose their magic on
him, he wouldn't have a chance of defending himself.
"My lords," he began, very, very carefully, "if I have
somehow offended you, pray forgive me."

"Offended!" the elf echoed coldly. "As ifanythinga
child such as you could do would be strong enough to
offend us!"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         21

That stung. "My lord, I  --  I know I may not look like
much to someone like you." To his intense mortifica-
tion, his empty stomach chose that moment to
complain with a loud gurgle. Kevin bit his tip, sure that
those keen, pointed elf ears had picked up the sound.
AH he could do was continue as best he could, "But  -- 
but that doesn*t give you the right to insult me.**

**0h, how brave it is!" The elf man rested one foot
lightly on a rock and leaned forward, fierce green gaze
flicking over Kevin head to foot "Bah, look at yourselfl
Sleeping on bare ground when there are soft pine
boughs to make you a bed. Aching with hunger when
the forest holds more than enough to feed one scrawny
human. Leaving a trail anyone could follow and carry-
ing no useful weapon at all. How could we not insult
such ignorance?"

The elf straightened, murmuring a short phrase in
the elvish tongue to the others. They laughed and
faded soundlessly into the night, but not before one of
them had tossed a small sack at Kevin's feet.

"Our gift, human," the elf man said. "Inside is food
enough to keep you alive. And no, it is not bespelled.
We would not waste magic on you."

With that, the elf turned to leave, then paused, look-
ing back over his shoulder at the bardling. With
inhuman bluntness, he said, "I hope, child, for your
sake that you are simply naive and not stupid. In dme,
either flaw will get you killed, but at least the first can be
corrected."

The alien eyes blazed into Kevin's own for a moment
longer. Then the elf was gone, and the bardling was left
alone in the night, more frightened than he would ever
have admitted.

He's wrong! Kevin told himself defiantly once his
heart had stopped radng./urt because Fm a bardling, not
a,  --  Q, woodsman who's never known anything but the forest
doesn't make me nawe or stupid!

22        Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Shenmn

Deciding that didn't stop him from rummaging in
the little sack. The elvish idea of food that would keep
him alive seemed to be nothing more exciting than flat
wafers of bread. But when he managed to choke one of
the dry things down, it calmed his complaining
stomach so nicely that the bardling sighed with relief
and actually slipped back into sleep.

Kevin stood with head craned back, sunlight warm
on his face, feeling the last of last night's fears melting
away. How could he possibly hold onto fear when it was
bright, dear morning and all around him the air was
filled with bird song?

Maybe the whole thing had been only a dream?

No. The sack of wafers was quite real. Kevin gnawed
thoughtfully on one, then gave another to his mule,
which lipped it up with apparent delight. He saddled
and bridled the animal, then climbed aboard, still
trying to figure out what the purpose of that midnight
meeting had been.

A. last he shook his head in dismissal. All the stories said
the elf folk, being the nonhuman race they were, had truly
bizarre senses of humor, sometimes outright cruel by
human standards. What had happened last night must
surely have beenjust another nasty elvishidea ofajoke.

"Come on, mule. Let's get going." At least he wasn't
hungry.

The road sloped up, first gently then more steeply,
much to the mule's distaste. When it grew too steep,
Kevin dismounted now and again to give the animal a
rest, climbing beside it.

But at last, after a quiet day of riding and walking, they
reached the crest. Kevin stared out in awe at a wild
mountain range of tall gray crags, some of them high
enough to be snowcapped even in spring. They towered
over rolling green fields neatly sectioned into farms. On
the nearest crag, surrounded by open space stood:

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          23

"Count Volmar's castle!" Kevin cried triumphantly.
"It has to be!"

The casde hadn't been built for beauty. Heavy and
squat, it seemed to crouch possessively on its crag like
some ancient grey beast of war staring down at the
count's lands. But Kevin didn't care. It was the first
casde he had ever seen, and he thought it was wonder-
ful, a true war casde dating from the days when heroes
held back the forces of Darkness. Bright banners flew
from the many towers, softening some of the harsh-
ness, and the bardling could see from here that the
castle's gates were open. By squinting he could make
out the devices on those banners: the count's black
boar on an azure field.

"We've done it," he told the mule. "That is definitely
the casde of Count Volmar."

He forgot about elves and hunger, loneliness and
mocking minstrels. Excitement shivering through him,
the bardling kicked his mule forward. Soon, soon, the
real adventure was going to begin!

Chapter III

The closer Kevin got to Count Volmar's castle, the
more impressive it seemed, looming up over him till he
had to crane his head back to see the tops of the towers.
The North Road ran right past the base of the crag, but
the count's own road led its winding way up and up to
the castle gates. Just when the bardling had almost
reached the top (riding all the way this time, in case
someone in the castle was watching him), the mule
stopped short, long ears shooting up. In the next
moment, two knights in gleaming mail, faces hidden by
their helms, came plunging skillfully down the steep
road on their powerful destriers, trailed by two
younger, more cautious, riders  --  squires, Kevin
guessed  --  on smaller horses.

"Get out of the way, boy!" they shouted.

Kevin hastily kneed his mule aside. With a shout of
"Peasant fool!" the riders were past him, showering
him with dirt and pebbles, and gone.

"Peasant fool, is it?" Kevin muttered, brushing him-
self off. "At least I know better than to force a horse
down a steep hill at full speed!"

The bardling glanced down at himself. He had saved
his best tunic and breeches for now; the neat red tunic
and brown breeches and cloak might not be of the most
noble quality, but they were, he thought, quite suitable.
Definitely not what a peasant would wear. Not even a
rich one who owned his farm; the doth might in such a
case be finer, but there was such a thing as style and
taste.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          25

Feeling better about the whole thing, Kevin prodded
his mule up the last few feet to the open gates, huge,
heavy brass-sheathed things  -- 

Which were slowly shut in his face.

"Hey!" he yelled indignandy.

"Servants use the postern gate," an officious voice
called down from one of the narrow tower windows.

"But I'm not -- "

"Use the postern gate," the voice repeated.

Kevin sighed. He was hardly about to shout out his
business here for everyone to hear. Tfas is just someone's
imstak^ he told himself. They'll correct it once Tm inside.

He rode around the massive base of the castle to the
humble little servants* entrance, which was sealed by a
heavy, brass-bound oaken door. Standing in the stirrups,
Kevin gave it a solid rap with his fist, then, when that got
no results, managed a more satisfying thump with a foot

"Hey! Anybody in there?"

A tiny window creaked open high in the door. "State
your business," a voice demanded. This one, Kevin
thought, sounded more bored than officious,

"My business," he said firmly, "is with Count Volmar.
I have a message here from my Master."

The bardling drew out the sealed parchment the old
Bard had given him and held it up so whoever was
behind die door could see it There was a long moment
of silence. Then Kevin heard the sound of a heavy bolt
being drawn. The door creaked open.

"Enter."

"At lasti" the bardling muttered, and kicked his mule
through the doorway.

As he'd expected, he was faced by a long stone tun-
nel; the outer walls of a war castle could hardly be
anything but thick!

FU never get the nude in there.

But the animal, after a brief hesitation about enter-
ing this narrow, shadowy cave, sniffed the air and

26 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepfw Sherman

moved eagerly forward, so eagerly Kevin suspected it
must have smelled oats.

As they came out from the tunnel, the bardling
Found himself in what looked almost like a small town,
tucked into the outer ward, the space between the ring
of the outer walls and the inner walls of the count's
keep. To one side was the casde stables, and the mule
did its best to get Kevin to let it head off that way. But
the bardling kept a dght hold on the reins, trying to see
everything without making it look like he was gawking.

Sonumy people!

He'd never seen so many crowded into so small a
space, not even on market day. Here was the blacksmith's
forge, the smith hard at work shoeing a restless gray
destrier, calmly avoiding the war horse's attempts to bite;

there, the carpenter's workshop echoed with hammer-
ing; and next to that, the armorer sat in the sunlight
before his shop, mending the links in a mail shirt. A
tangled crowd of casde folk chattered away as they did
their tasks, while their children ran squealing and laugh-
ing all around the ward. Maybe the whole place did smell
a hit too strongly of horse and dung and humanity, but it
was still such a lively place that it took Kevin's breath
away. He drank it all in, only to come back to himself with
a shock when someone asked shortly:

"Name and business?"

Kevin glanced down to see a guard watching him
warily. Mail glinted under a surcoat embroidered with
the count's crest, and the weather-worn face held not a
trace of warmth.

"Uh, yes. My  --  my name is Kevin, I'm a bardling,
and my Master has sent me here with a message for
Count Volmar."

He showed the guard the sealed parchment. To his
dismay, the man snatched it from his hand. "Heyi"

"Leave your mule with the stablehands. Your bags
wifl be brought to you  -- Am!"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          27

A small boy, a page clad in the count's blue livery,
came running. "Sir?"

"Take this bardling to the squires' quarters."

"But my message!" Kevin protested-

"It will be given to Count Volmar." The guard's con-
temptuous stare said without words, Did you really
think a mere bardling would be allowed to bother a
count? "Go get your mule stabled."

With that, the man turned and disappeared into the
keep. Kevin hesitated, toying with the idea of hurrying
after the guard and insisting he be admitted to the
oowxt-atoncel

Oh no. Not only would something like that destroy
what little was left of his dignity, it would probably get
him thrown out of the casde!

Kevin's shoulders sagged. So much for being able to
rub elbows with nobility!

"I'm supposed to wait hereV

"That's what I was told," little Am answered. "In the
squires' quarters."

"But here?" the bardling repeated. "There's nobody
 -- Am! Wait!"

The boy had already scurried away. Kevin, feeling
helpless, stood looking uneasily about. The squires'
quarters was nothing more than this long, dark, chilly
hall broken up by a row of cots and clothes chests. The
high roof was supported by thick columns, and the
only light came from narrow windows set high in the
walls. The silence was heavier than anything back in
the forest.

The bardling sat down on (he edge of one of the cots
to wait. And wait. And wait.

Kevin had just about decided he'd been abandoned,
and was wondering what would happen if he went
hunting for Count Volmar himself when he heard a
sudden rush of cheerful voices and sprang to his feet. A

28 Mercedes lackey f^Josepha Sherman

crowd of boys in their late teens came ambling into the
hall, all of them in blue livery.

These must surely be the missing squires. Kevin
watched them in sudden uneasiness, painfully aware
that his sedudcd musician's life hadn't given him many
chances to spend time with anyone his own age.

A stocky blond boy stopped short, staring at Kevin
with bright blue eyes. "Holla! Who*sthis?"

"My name is Kevin," the bardling began, "and I  --  "

"You've got a lute. You a minstrel?**

"No!"

"You seem kinda young to be a Bard."

The boy's voice was brusque, but a hint of respect
shone in his eyes. For a moment Kevin toyed with the
idea of claiming that yes, he was a Bard. But he could
picture his Master's disapproval only too well. A Bard,
after all, was always supposed to be truthful. With a
sigh. Kevin admitted:

"I'm not. Not yet. I'm apprenticed to a Bard, but  --  "

"Abardling," someone said in a scornful voice. "He's
nobody."

The squires turned away. Blatantly ignoring him,
they set about changing their clothes or cleaning then-
boots, chattering and joking as though he wasn't even
there.

"Did you see me in the didng yard?"

"Sure did. Saw you fall off, too!"

"The saddle slipped!"

"S-u-r-e it did! Uke this!"

He pounced on the other boy and they wrestled,
laughing. Watching them, totally excluded, Kevin
ached with a loneliness more painful even than what
he'd felt in the forest. As the horseplay broke off, he
heard the squires argue over which of them was most
skilled with sword or lance, or who would be the first to
be knighted. A great surge of resentment swelled up
within him.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         29

Listen to them boast! I bet there isn't one of them who knows
anything but weaponry and fighting, the empty-headed idiots.

But as the squires began to boast instead about the
exploits of the knights they served, ofSirAlamar who'd
taken on an enure bandit band and bested them, or Sir
Theomard, who might be aging but who had sdll
managed to slay three enemy knights in battle, one
right after the other, Kevin's heart sank. These boys
who were his own age had already done more than
he'd even imagined. As squires to their knights, they
had almost certainly shared in those mighty deeds.
They would probably soon be heroes themselves.

Kevin bit his lip as resentment turned to envy. No
wonder the squires scorned him! Here he was, a bard-
ling, a mere music apprentice, someone who hadn't
done anythmg\ He must seem like a weakling to them, a
coward, no better than a peasant.

Asmall hand shook his sleeve and he started. "Bard-
ling?" It was little Arn. "Follow me, if you would.
Master D'Krikas, Count Volmar's seneschal, wishes to
speak with you."

D'Krikas? What an odd name!

Who cares how odd it is! At least I haven't been forgotten.

The bardling followed Am through a maze of cor-
ridors, across the rush-strewn stretch of the Great Hall,
and up a winding stairway, stopping before a dosed door.
"Here we are," Am said, and scurried away once more.
Kevin took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Enter!" a scratchy voice commanded.

Within was a cozy room, hung with thick hangings of
deep red velvet and furnished with a scroll-filled book-
case and a massive desk, behind which sat a truly
bizarre figure. Although it sat upright and had the
right number of arms and head, it most definitely was
not human. Kevin stared at the shiny, chitinous green
skin, set off by a glittering golden gorget, and the large,
segmented eyes and gasped out:

30 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

"You're an Arachnia!"

"The boy is a marvel of cleverness," the insectoid
being chittered. "If he has satisfied his curiosity?**

"Oh, uh, of course- I'm sorry, I  --  I didn't mean to
stare."

"Why not? You have plainly never seen one of my
kind before. Why should you not stare?"

"I..."

Kevin blinked. The Arachnia had snatched what
looked like a handful of sugar cubes from a small bovd
on the desk and popped them into its beaked mouth.
The crunching sound reminded him uncomfortably of
praying mandses devouring beetles. In fact, now that
he thought of it, the being did look a good deal like a
giant mantis....

"Now you wonder anew." The dry chitter might
have been a laugh. "Have you never heard that my
kind are always hungry? For logic as well as food. Boy,
dme is a precious thing, and we have already wasted
enough of it. I am, as I am sure you have already real-
ized, D'Krikas, seneschal, major-domo if you wish, to
Count Volmar."

"My lord." Belatedly, Kevin bowed, but D'Krikas,
writing busily in a huge open ledger, hardly seemed to
notice.

"Here are the arrangements that have been made
for you. Yes, yes, I know why you are here. You are to
be housed and fed with the squires, and you will be
permitted to copy the manuscript in the library
between dawn and dusk. You are not to intrude upon
the count's private quarters. You are not to bother any
of the knights. You are not to interfere with any of the
castle personnel. You are not to handle any weapons.
You arc not to enter the tilting grounds. You are not to
interfere with any of the servants. You are not to steal
food from the kitchen..."

As the list of prohibitions went on and on. Kevin

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         31

thought wryly he could almost wish he was back with
his Master  --  at least there'd been fewer rules!

/ can't stand this place! he decided suddenly. The sooner
I finish the stupid job, the better.

"Master D'Krikas," Kevin asked as soon as the being
fell silent, "is there any reason I can't continue my
copying after dark? I mean," he added cajolingly, "it
would save predous rime."

"No, no, no!" the seneschal snapped. "Have you no
idea of how expensive candles are? Have you? No!
Burning candles so a human can do some copy work
would be a waste of good wax." D'Krikas stood, gray
cloak swirling, tall, thin body towering over Kevin.
"And no one your age, boy, can be trusted with open
flame around so many fragile manuscripts!"

The seneschal folded himself back behind the desk.
Once more writing in the huge ledger, D'Krikas said
curdy, "That is all. You may leave."

Kevin hardly wanted to return to the squires*
quarters. But where else was there? By now, it was too
late to start copying the manuscript. And after
D'Krikas' never-ending list of prohibitions, he hardly
dared go exploring! Since Am didn't seem to be
anywhere around, Kevin retraced his steps as best he
could, and didn't get lost more than once or twice.

Dinner, he suspected, wasn't going to be any brighter
than anything else that had happened this day.

It wasn't. Dinner was a miserable affair served on
rough trestle tables set up in the squires* quarters.
Even though the bardling had been assigned a seat
among the squires, he'd might as well have been in the
middle of a desert, because no one would talk to him.
Kevin busied himself in trying to chew the stringy beef,
and in trying to convince himself the squires* coldness
didn't matter; as soon as he'd finished copying that
cursed manuscript, he would never have to see any of
these idiots again.

32 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

Once they had finished eating-and the food scraps
and trestle tables had been cleared away, the squires
disappeared, still without a word to Kevin. He
gathered, from the bits of their conversations he over-
heard, that they were going off to wait on their knights.

Who areprobably just as brainless.

Left alone in the now empty hall, the bardling
shivered, grabbing for his cloak. The place seemed
even more silent than before, and twice as chilly. Evi-
dently Count Volmar didn't believe in pampering
youngsters, because there wasn't a fireplace anywhere
in the hall.

Never •mind, Kevin told himself. A true hero doesn't nand
a Uttle discomfort.

Or a litde loneliness.

The silence was getting on his nerves. The bardling
took out his lute and practiced for a long, long while,
trying to ignore everything but his music. At last,
warmed a litde by his own exertions, Kevin put die in-
strument back in its case and stretched out on the
lumpy cot he'd been assigned. The hour, he thought,
was probably still fairly early  --  not that there was any
way to tell in here, without so much as a water dock or
hourglass. But there wasn't anything else to do but
sleep. The pillow was so thin it felt as though the
feathers had been taken from a very scrawny bird. "He
one blanket was too thin for real comfort, but by
adding his doak to it, the bardling was almost warm.

He had nearly drifted off to sleep when the squires
returned. Kevin heard their whispers and muffled
laughter, and felt his face redden in the darkness. They
were laughing at him. He knew they were laughing at
him.

Miserable all over again, Kevin turned over, and
buried his face in the pillow.

INTERLUDE THE FIRST

Count Volmar, tall, lean and graying of brown hair
and beard, sat seemingly at ease in his private solar
before a blazing fireplace, a wine-filled goblet ofpre-
cious glass in his hand. He looked across the small
room at the woman who sat there, and raised the
goblet in appreciation. She nodded at the courtesy, her
dark green eyes flickering with cold amusement in the
firelight.

Cariotta, princess, half-sister to King Amber himself,
could not, Volmar knew, be much younger than his
own mid-forties, and yet she could easily have passed
for a far younger woman. Not the slightest trace of age
marred the pale, flawless skin or the glorious masses of
deep red hair turned to bright flame by the firelight

Sorcery, he thought, and then snickered at his own
vapid musings so that he nearly choked on his own
wine. Of course it was sorcery! Cariotta was an
accomplished sorceress, and about as safe. for all her
beauty, as a snake.

About as honorable, too.

Not that he was one to worry overmuch about
honor.

**The boy is safely ensconced, I take it?" Carlotta's
smfle was as chill as her lovely eyes.

"Yes. He has a place among the squires. Who, I
might add, have been given to understand that he's so
far beneath them they needn't bother even to acknow-
ledge his presence  --  that to do so, in fact, would
demean their own status. By now, the boy is surely

34 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Shannon

thoroughly disillusioned about nobility and question-
ing his own worth."

"He suspects nothing, then? Good. We don't want
him showing any awkward sparks of initiative." Carlot-
ta sipped delicately from her goblet. "We don't want
him copying his Master."

Volmar's mouth tightened. Oh, yes, the Bard, that
cursed Bard. He could remember so clearly, even
though it was over thirty years ago, how it had been,
himself just barely an adult and Carlotta only ... how
old? Only thirteen? Maybe so, but she had already
been as ambitious as he- More so. Already mistress of
the Dark Arts despite her youth, the princess had
attempted to seize the throne from her half-brother.

And almost made it, Volmar thought, then corrected
that to: We almost made it.

Amber had been only a prince back then, on the
verge of the succession. His father had been old, and
there hadn't been any other legal heir; Cariotta, as the
court had been so eager to gossip, was only Amber's
half-sister, her mother quite unknown.

But there were always ways around such awkward
litde facts. Once Amber had been declared dead  --  or
so it had been believed  --  in heroic battle (when actual-
ly, Volmar thought wryly, Carlotta's magics had turned
him to stone), the poor old king would surely have...
pined away. Volmar grinned sharply. Why, the shock
alone would have finished him; Carlotta wouldn't have
needed to waste a spell. The people, even if they had,
by some bizarre chance, come to suspect her of wrong-
doing, would have had no choice but to accept
Carlotta, with her half-share of the Blood Royal, as
queen.

Ambitious Uttlegvri... Volmar thought with approval.
What a pity she didn't succeed. Sorceress or no, she would have
been too wise to try ndmg alone. She would have taken a consort.

And who better than one of her loyal supporters?

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          35

Even one whose role in the attempted usurpation had
never become public.

Volmar suddenly realized he was grimacing, and
forced himself to relax. His late father had been an avid
supporter of the old king, and if he had ever found out
his own son was a traitor...

But he hadn't. And of course if only Carlotta had
safely become queen, it wouldn't have mattered. The
only traitors then would have been those who failed to
acknowledge her!

If only... Bah!

Carlotta would have become queen if it hadn't been for
die bo/s Master, chat accursed Bard and his allies....

"Forget the past, Volmar."

The count started, thrown abruptly back into the
present "You -.. have learned to read minds... ?" If the
sorceress suspected he planned to use her to place a
crown on his own head, he was dead. Worse than dead.

"You must leam to guard your expressions, my lord.
Your thoughts were there for anyone with half an eye
to read."

Not all my thoughts, the count thought, giddy with relief.

Cariotta got restlessly to her feet, dark green gown
swniing about her elegant form. Volmar, since she was,
after all, a princess and he only a count, stood as well:

politic courtesy.

She never noticed. "Enough of the past," the sor-
ceress repeated, staring into the flames. "We must
think of what can be done now."

Volmar moved warily to stand beside her, and caught
a flicker of alien movement in the flames. Faces... ah.
Carlotta was absently creating images of the boy, the
bardling. "Why do you suppose he sent the boy here?"
the princess murmured- "And why just now? What
purpose could the old man possibly have? You've con-
vinced me the manuscript is merely a treatise on lute
music." She glanced sharply at Volmar. "It is, isn't it?"

36 Mercedes Lackey S^Josepha Sherman

"Of course," Volmar said easily, hiding the fact that
he wasn't really sure which of the many manuscripts
stored in tfae library it might be; his father had been the
scholar, not he. "My father collected such things.**

**Yes, yes, but why send the boy now? Why is it sud-
denly so urgent that the thing be copied?"

"Ah... it could be merely coincidence."

"No, it couldn't!" The flames roared up as Cariotta
whirled, eyes blazing. Volmar shrank back from her
unexpected surge of rage, half expecting a sorcerous
attack, but the princess ignored him, returning to her
chair and dropping into it with an angry flounce.
"You're the only one who knows how I've been in
hiding all these years, lulling suspicions, making
everyone think I was dead."

"Of course." Though Volmar never had puzzled out
why Cariotta had hidden for quite so many years. Oh.
granted, she had been totally drained after the break-
ing other stone-spell on Amber, but even so...

"Maybe that's it." Carlotta's musings broke into
Volmar's wonderings. "Maybe now that I've come out
of hiding, begun moving again, the Bard has somehow
sensed I'm still around. He is a Master of that
ridiculous Bardic Magic, after all."

Volmar was too wise to remind her it was the Bardic
Magic she so despised that had blocked her path so far.
"Eh, well, the bardling is safe among the squires," he
soothed. "I've been debating simply telling him the
manuscript isn't here and sending him away."

"Don't be a fool!" Sorcery crackled in the air around
Cariotta, her hair stirring where there was no breeze.
"The boy was sent here for a purpose, and we wffl both
be better off when we find out just what that purpose
might bei"

"But how can we learn the truth? If the boy becomes
suspicious, he'll never say a thing. And I can hardly
order the imprisonment or torment of an innocent

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         37

bardling. My people," Volmar added with a touch of
contempt, "wouldn't stand for it."

"Don't be so dramatic. The boy is already quite
miserable, you say. No one will talk to him, no one will
treat him kindly, and he's faced with a long, boring,
lonely task." Cariotta smiled slowly. *Just think how
delighted he would be if someone was race to him! How
eager he would be to confide in that someone!"

"I don't understand. An adult --  "

"No, you idiot! Don't you remember what it's like
being that young? The boy is only going to confide in
someone his own age."

As usual, Volmar forced down his rage at her casual
insults. Ah, Cariotta, you superior little witch, if ever I gain
the throne beside you, you had better guard your back! As
innocuously as he could, he asked, "Who are you sug-
gesting? One of the squires?"

"Oh, hardly that"

Her shape blurred, altered ... Volmar rubbed a
hand over his eyes- He'd known from the start that
Cariotta was as much a master of shape-shifting as any
fairy, but watching her in action always made him dizzy.

"You can look now, poor Volmar." Her voice was an
octave higher than before, and so filled with sugar he
dropped his hand to stare.

Where the adult Cariotta had sat was now a coyingly
sweet little blonde girl of, Volmar guessed, the
bardling's own age, though it was difficult to tell age
amid all the golden ringlets and alabaster skin and
large, shining blue eyes.

"How do I look?" she cooed.

Honest words came to his lips before he could stop
them. "Sweet enough to rot my teeth."

She merely threw back her head and laughed. Her
teeth, of course, were flawless. "I am a bit sickening,
aren't I? Let me try a more plausible form."

The sickening coyness faded. The girl remained the

38 Mercedes Lackey ^josepha Sherman

same age, but the blonde hair was now less perfectly
golden, the big blue eyes a bit less glowing, the pale
skin just a touch less smooth. As Volmar grit his teeth,
determinedly watching despite a new surge of dizzi-
ness, he saw the perfect oval other face broaden ever so
slightly at the forehead, narrow at the chin, undl she
looked just like...

"Charina!" the count gasped.

"Charina," the princess agreed. "Your darling little
niece."

Too amazed to remember propriety, Volmar got to
his feet and slowly circled her. "Marvelous!" he
breathed at last. "Simply marvelous! I would never
know you weren't the real  --  But what do we do with
the real Charina?"

Her voice was deceptively light. "I'm sure you'll
think of something."

"Ah, yes." Volmar smiled thinly. "Poor Charina. She
always has been a bit of a nuisance, wandering about
the castle like a lonely wraith. How unfortunate that
my sister and her fool of a husband had the bad taste to
die. Poor little creature: too far from the main line of
descent to be of any use as a marriage pawn. No politi-
cal value at all. Just another useless girl."

"Not so useless now." Carlotta/Charina dimpled
prettily.

"Poor Charina," Volmar repeated without any
warmth at all. "So easily disposed of. She never will be
missed."

Chapter IV

Kevin woke with a jolt as something smothering
landed smack across his face, molding itself over his
nose and mouth- Gasping, he clawed the monster aside
 -- and found himself holding a damp towel.

"Very funny!" he began angrily, only to find himself
talking to empty space. The last of the squires was just
leaving the hall, laughing with the others.

Fuming, Kevin got to his feet and found the garde-
robe facilities, grateful that at least the count didn't
insist his underlings use lowly chamber pots. Going to
the communal washing trough, he discovered the
squires hadn't left him more than a few inches of water,
barely enough to splash on his face.

I should just be glad the water's clean1

Grumbling, he dressed, pulling his clothes from the
chest at the foot of his bed, and sat down to a solitary
breakfast  --  at least they'd left him something to eat!  -- 
of a roll and some scraps of cheese, washed down with a
lukewarm goblet ofkhafe.

Now, all he had to do was find the count's library.

Easily said. Kevin wandered helplessly through the
castle corridors for a time, sure he was going to be
shouted at by D'Krikas for being where he shouldn't
be. At last, to his relief, he intercepted a page, a wide-
eyed boy even younger than Am, who shyly gave him
directions, then hurried away.

At last, the bardling thought wryly. Someone whose
status here is even lower than mine.

The library was a large, dusty room lined with tall

40 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

shelves piled high with scrolls and books of all sizes. It
was so redolent with the scent of dusty old parchment
and leather that Kevin sneezed. Obviously scholarship
wasn't high on the count's list of priorities!

As he glanced about the crowded room, the bardling
shook his head in gloom. The room faced onto an
inner courtyard, safely away from attack, so at least the
windows were large enough to let him see what he was
doing. But there wasn't a title anywhere, not on books
or scroll cases. There wasn't any sign of a librarian,
either. There probably wasn't one, judging from the
dusdness of the room.

All right The sooner he started looking, the sooner
he'd get this whole stupid job finished.

By mid-afternoon, Kevin was dusty, weary of climb-
ing up and down the rickety library ladder and sick to
death of the whole room. Ha, by now he probably
knew more about the contents of the count's library
than anyone, including the count! And what a weird
collection it was, without any logic to it! Why in the
world would anyone want to keep not one but three
copies of The Agricultural Summaries ofKendall County for
the First Twenty Years of King Sendak's Reign? And what
was a treatise on politics doing tucked in between two
volumes of rather bad love poetry?

How can the Master even know for sure the manuscript's in
here?

By Bardic Magic, of course. Kevin started to sigh,
then coughed instead. Blast this dust!

The bardling stopped his hunt long enough to snag
some lunch from a startled page, then dove into the
library once more. A book about farm tools. Another. A
catalog of cattle diseases. One on swine, wild and
domestic. A book on  -- 

"Ow!"

Kevin nearly fell off the ladder, just barely managing

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          41

to catch his balance in time. Something in the shelves
had bit him!

No, no, it hadn't been a bite at all, more of a weird
tingling in his fingertips. Kevin looked warily at the last
book he'd touched  --  and let out a whoop of joy. Yes,
yes,yes, he'd found the manuscript he needed at last!

The bardling scurried down the ladder clutching his
prize, and took it over to the library's one desk, wiping off
dust from the manuscripts leather binding as he went. A
good chunk of the day was already gone, but at least he
could get the copying started. Someone, presumably at
D'Krikas' command, had left him supplies. Kevin found
an inkwell and two quill pens on the desk, and a nice
stack of parchment in a drawer. Sitting with the
manuscript open before him, the bardling paused for
one anticipatory moment, then dove into his work.

But after a moment, Kevin straightened again,
blinking in confusion. He could have sworn the whole
manuscript had been written in the common script
used by most of the human lands here in the West  -- 
yet now some of the words seemed to be in a different
language completely.

The bardling rubbed his eyes. He'd spent too much
time in this dusty place, peering at old books.
Manuscripts did not change themselves from one lan-
guage to another.

Yet when Kevin took a second look, he saw, without any
doubtabout it, that some of the letters were actually, slowly
and gracefully, changing before his eyes, altering from the
human scriptintoelaborate, beautiful, alien figures.

Elvish, he realized with a shock, recognizing the
script from some of his Master's music books.

Kevin bit back a groan as he realized what lay ahead.
He could only read a few words in elvish. That meant
he'd have to copy the symbols line for line, much more
slowly and carefully than he would the script of a lair-
guage that meant something to him.

42 Mercedes Lackey f^Josepha Shermcm

Ohf wonderful. More tine wasted.

But as the bardling started copying the manuscript
word by word and symbol by symbol, a sudden little
shiver of wonder raced through him. Even though the
elvish wasn't miraculously translating itself for him,
even though he had no idea what he was copying, the
very fact that he'd been able to see the letters transform
could only mean one thing: his long-sleeping gift for
Bardic Magic had finally started to wake up! His
fingers fairly itched to try his lute and see if the magical
songs finally had some Power to them!

First things first There was sdll the manuscript to finish.

Maybe his magic was starting to wake, but his eyes were
beginning Go ache. It was getting more and more difficult
to see the pages. Kevin looked up, mildly surprised to real-
ize how dark the library had become; he hadn't been
aware of the passing hours, butbynowitwas very obvious-
ly too latetodo any more copying. Srifl, he'd made a good
start. And. ..magic, he thought with a renewed thrill of
wonder. Bardic Magic was going to be his.

Kevin got slowly to his feet. But in the middle of
stretching stiff muscles, he froze. Acting on an impulse
he didn't quite understand, the bardling warily hid the
manuscript behind a shelf of books.

There. That should keep it safe till tomorrow.

He scooped up his copy. Returning to the squires'
quarters, the bardling followed his Master's orders
(though they seemed unnecessarily wary) and hid the
copy in a secret pocket in his saddlebags, which in turn he
hid under his dothes in the chest- Withadredsigh, he sat
down on the cot and picked up his lute. Warily, he tried
one of the magical songs. Nothing much happened  -- 
except for a faint, yet very real ringing in his fingers.

It was true. Grinning, Kevin knew he really did have
the gift for Bardic Magic. And who knew where that
might lead?

"Bard," Kevin whispered joyously.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         43

In the morning, not even noticing how the squires con-
tinued to snub him, Kevin ate and dressed in a rush and
hurried to the library, eager to start the day's copying. Lef^s
see, he'd hidden the manuscriptbehind this row...

"No, oh no!"

The manuscript was gone.

That's impossible. I --  Imust have just mistaken which row
it was.

The bardling started searching in the next row and
then the next, carefully at first, then more and more
frantically- Ithad to be here! Elvish words or no,
manuscripts just didn't get up and walk!

Kevin was on his knees, facing denuded shelves and
surrounded by piles of books when a gentle cough made
him start. He whirled so sharply he lost his balance, sitting
downhardonsomeofthebooks.andstaredupat...

At one of the loveliest giris he'd ever seen. Her long
plaits of hair were such a beautiful gold, her eyes were
the clearest blue, the same shade as her silky gown,
while her face and figure were... were...

Reddening, Kevin scrambled to his feet, trying to
brush off as much dust as possible. "I... uh ... was
working in the library." Oh, you idiot! She can see that for
herself." I mean, I was copying out a manuscript For my
Master. He's a Bard. And I  --  I'm Kevin, I mean his
apprentice, I mean, a bardling."

The lovely eyes widened. "How wonderful! I've
never met anyone studying to be a Bard before. You
must be very wise."

"Uh ... well, I don't know about that It's not easy
being a bardling, though."

"I can imagine! All that musk to leam  --  I never could
manage to do more than pick out me simplest tunes on die
harp, no matter how my tutors insisted. Arc you a harper,
too? No? Whatinstrumentdo you play?"

For a moment, staring into those warm blue depths,

44 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepfu Shennan

Kevin couldn't remember to save his life. "The  --  the
lute," he stammered out at last.

"My goodness," she said respectfully. "Tnat's a very
difficult instrument, isn't it?"

"Not for me." Wonderful. Now, instead of an idiot I
sound like a braggart.

"I'd love it if you'd play for me. If you want to, that is."

"Oh. I do!" Kevin exdaimed.

The girl gave the most delightful litde giggle. "But
I'm forgetting my manners! Here I'm asking you to
play for me, and you don't even know who I am. My
name is Charina, and I am Count Vohnar's niece."

Kevin hastily bowed. "My lady."

"Please!" Her sweet laugh sent a litde shiver through
him. "I hear enough formalities at my uncle's court.
But I didn't mean to startle you, or interrupt you
in..." Her glance took in the empty shelves and pfles
of books. "In whatever it is you're doing. Please,
continue."

How could he, with such a wonderful creature
watching him? One eye on Charina, Kevin did his best
to look for the missing manuscript, but at last sank back
on his heels with a groan. "I can't find it."

To his wonder, she knelt by his side in a feint, sweet
cloud of perfume. He heard himself say, "YouTlget
your gown all dusty," even as he was hoping she
wouldn't listen-

Charina shrugged impatiently. "Gowns can be
cleaned. Now, if you'll tell me what the manuscript
looks like, I'll help you look."

He couldn't concentrate with her face so dose to his,
her eyes so earnest, her lips...

To his horrified embarrassment, his body was
responding. Kevin turned hastily away, praying she
hadn't noticed. "It's c-called The Study of Ancient Song,
but I don't think that's its real name, and it's about so
big, so wide, in a worn brown leather binding."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          45

"You don't think that's its real name?" Charina
echoed softly. "Why ever not?"

Kevin felt her warmth like a fire against his arm. He
hastily moved that arm away, and the giri laughed-

"Why, bardling, are you afraid of me?"

She made it sound so ridiculous that Kevin found
himself starting to laugh, too. "No, of course not," he
Hed. "But I... you ..." Quickly he changed to a safer
subject- "The manuscript's too weird to be just a study.
I mean, part of it's in elvish."

"How odd! But I said I'd help you look, and I will."

It was, Kevin thought, as they searched together,
easily turning out to be both the worst and the most
wonderful day of his life-

Aday that ended all too soon.

"I'm sorry we couldn't find the manuscript,"
Charina said. A smudge of dirt covered the very tip of
her nose, and Kevin had to fight down the impulse to
brush it away, to touch her soft cheek  --  No! He didn't
dare. If he touched her once, he wouldn't be able to
stop. And she was the count's niece, after all.

"Yes, uh, right," he got out. "Blast the thing! It has to
be here somewhere^

"I know what you need," Charina told him with a
smile. "You need a day away from this dusty old place."

"I can't --  "

"You can! You'll be more likely to find the
manuscript if you get out in the nice, fresh air. I know!
I'm going riding tomorrow. Why don't you join me?
You... do ride, don't you?"

Hewasn'tabout to tell her aboutthe mule. "Ofcourse."

"Well, then! Meet me by the stables tomorrow morn-
ing, and we'll make a whole day of it."

I shouldn't. I should stay here and find the manuscript and
finish copyvngtt,and -- and -- 

And a day away from it couldn't possibly matter.

46        Mercedes Lackey &fJosephs Sherman
"I'll be there," Kevin promised, and smiled.

Of course they weren't allowed to ride out alone. A
dull-faced groom went with them, several tactful
strides behind so they could at least pretend to be
alone.

Kevin hardly noticed the man. Charina sat her pret-
ty white palfrey with graceful ease, her deep blue
riding gown matching the little mare's blue-dyed bridle
and saddle, her hair tucked neatly up under a
feathered cap. As for the bardling, well, he was
mounted not on a mule but on a horse, a real, spirited
horse! Maybe it wasn't so easy to keep his seat, maybe
he nearly fell a dozen times, but at last he was riding a
proper hero's mount

They didn't ride very far, only as far as a flowery
hillside.

"I thought this would make a lovely picnic site,"
Charina said, jumping lighdy down before the embar-
rassed Kevin could help her. As they munched on
fresh, buttery bread and the first peaches of
springtime, the girl coaxed, eyes bright, "But there's so
much more in my uncle's demesne! Tomorrow is
market day. We can ride down into the town and see all
the sights."

"Well..."

"Oh, you can't say no! Please! It'll be such fun.
Besides, I see so few people my own age!"

"There are the squires," Kevin said, hating himself
for reminding her.

To his delight, she dismissed them all with a con-
temptuous wave of the hand. "Mere boys. Servants no
better than their masters. While you are almost a Bard.
You are going to be somebody. You are somebody!
Besides," she added shyly, "I like you."

Another day away from the library can't hurt, either, Kevin
told himself.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         47

But two days stretched into three, then four. A full
week passed, then another without him noting it, a
rime out of time during which Kevin and Charina rode
together all over the count's lands, hunting out pretty
glades and awesome mountain vistas. He played his
lute for her, searching for the most romantic songs he
knew, half amazed to hear how wonderfully alive his
music sounded, how full of strength. This was the true
dawning of his Bardic Magic, Kevin realized with a
touch of awe. And surely Charina, just by being her
own sweet, wonderful self, was helping it awaken.
Surely he wouldn't have long to wait before it woke
completely. When it did. -.

Kevin smiled, seeing himself released from appren-
ticeship, seeing himself returning in triumph to
Charina, no longer a mere bardling but a full Bard, the
equal of almost any rank of nobility.

"KevmuHis Master wasfacmgfmn, looking so reproachful
the bardUng asked warily:

"What'swrong? What have I done?"

"It's what you haven't done, Kevin. Where is the
'manuscript, boy? Where is the copy I asked you to make?"

"ravaake it. Master, don't/ear!"

^Vbufiwst. Your Ufe depends on it. Do you hearme, Kevin?
$6w Ufe depends on it."

^o,! -- "

W

Kevin's eyes shot open, staring up at a stone ceiling
high overhead. What  --  Where  -- 

A dream, he realized, sinking back in relief. He was
in the squires' quarters in Count Volmar's casde, and
he'd merely had a bad dream.

And yet, Kevin thought uneasily, there had been a
germ of truth to it. He really had been neglecting his
duty for... how long had it been? Mentally adding up
the days, the bardling gasped to realized he hadn't
even thought of the manuscript for nearly two weeks.

48 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepka Sherman

Overwhelmed by guilt, he sprang to his feet  --  and
gasped anew.

Someone in the night had most thoroughly gone
through his belongings-

Mylute!

To his immense relief, though its case had been
opened, the lute hadn't been harmed.

But what about the copy of the manuscript? I/anyone's
takenit...

The bardling hastily knelt by the clothes chest. His
clothes were strewn all about, but nothing at all seemed
to have been taken. Suddenly wary, Kevin deliberately
didn't grab at the saddlebags. Instead, he slipped his
hand casually into the hidden pocket, just in case he
was being watched, as though he was merely rummag-
ing through the clothing.

Ah! The copy was still in there, undisturbed.

The bardling straightened, glaring about at the
squires. "All right, whose idea of a joke was (his?"

"Look at the poor little boy!" someone jeered.
"Musta been sleepwalking."

"Sleep rummaging, you mean!" someone else
yelled, "rustlike some ragpicking peasant!"

The squires all burst into raucous laughter, and
Kevin turned away in disgust. He wasn't going to learn
which one of them was the jester, not without fighting
the whole pack. Which would be truly stupid; every
one of these buffoons practiced combat daily. Besides,
although he burned to wipe some of those grins off a
few of those jeering faces, he'd been a bardling too long
to risk damaging his hands in a fight, particularly not
now, when his magic was starting to blossom.

I wish I cmdd really use it! Then vw'd see v)ho had the final
lavgh!

No. A true Bard never used his talents for harm.

Blast it to Darkness!

Clenching his jaws in frustration, Kevin set about

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          49

putting his belongings back in place. By the time he
was done, he was alone in the hall, and by the time he
had eaten and dressed, he'd gotten his emotions under
control.

After all, he had been spending his time with Count
Volmar's niece, equal to equal. Nothing these silly boys,
these... mere servants could do was worth his notice!

At least Kevin thought he believed all that

As he was on his way to the library, determined once
and for all to find the missing manuscript and copy it, a
sweet voice called to him, "Where are you going in
such a hurry?"

Why did he suddenly feel so guilty? "Charina, I  --  "

"The weather's so nice and warm today! And I have
a wonderful idea for a picnic, just the two of us.**

Oh, how could he resist those lovely blue eyes?
Grimly, Kevin reminded himself of the dream and his
neglected duty. "I'm sorry, Charina," he said with very
real regret. "I can't. I really would love to go riding or
picnicking or anything else with you, truly. But, well, I
have a job to do, and I'd better do it."

Charina stared at him as though he'd just told her
something obscene. "You'd turn me down?" she
gasped.

"Please, I didn't mean  --  "

"You would! No, no, don't try to argue. I quite un-
derstand. You're bored with me."

"No!"

"Yes, you are." She tossed her head. "If you don't
want to come with me, you don't have to. I can do very
well without you, you  --  you boy\"

With that, Charina flounced angrily away, leaving
Kevin standing lost and unhappy behind her.

INTERLUDE THE SECOND

Count Volmar looked up in surprise as Cariotta
stormed into the solar, shedding the persona of
Charina like a cloak and throwing herself down in a
chair, eyes wild, red hair crackling about her.

"I cannot bear being that simpering litde fool of a giri
a moment longer!" she raged.

She looked so totally inhuman in her sorcerous fury
that Volmar shuddered. "I can't say I blame you," he said
soothingly, and sawjusta touch of that fury fade. "I never
did like litde girls. All sweetness and cuteness --  Bah." He
moved to the small table by the wall that held decanters of
wine. Without asking her, Volmar filled a goblet and
handed it to her. As Cariotta sipped, he took his seatagain
and asked, "Do you really need to be her any longer?"

The princess glared at him over the goblet's rim in
suddenly renewed anger, sorcerous hair like wildfire
about her. "/don't know!" she snapped. "I feel as
though I don't know anything any more!"

Warily, like a man tiptoeing on the edge of a fiery pit,
Volmar asked, "You haven't been able to find the
manuscript, I take it?"

"Curse the thing, noi You either, obviously."

"Obviously." Ambitious though he was, Volmar ad-
mitted to himself, he was not about to do anything as
reckless as trying to hide a probably magical artifact
from a sorceress- Particularly one who right now was
ablaze with rage and frustration. "You're sure the boy
isn't deliberately hiding it somewhere in the library."

Cariotta shook her head. "He may have tried to do

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         51

so at first, but he was quite definitely on the verge of
panic while hunting for the thing when I entered as
Charina. No ..." she added thoughtfully, "he has
nothing to do with its disappearance. There is almost
certainly a spell surrounding the manuscript."

"A spell! I thought you could detect such things."

"Oh, it's a very subtle one if even my sorceries
haven't been able to sense it. And, since the manuscript
seems to be designed to deliberately hide itself, even
from me, it must be a very powerful spell indeed."

Volmar fought down a new shudder. Bad enough to
have a sorcerous ally; he understood Cariotta and the
dangers she represented after all these years. Or at
least he hoped he did. But the thought that there
might be some new, unknown, alien magic lurking in
his castle as well, magic even Cariotta couldn't identify,
Just waiting to strike...

"What about the boy?" That came out more sharply
than he'd intended; he was struggling to keep his voice
from shaking- "You told me he has the rudiments of
Bardic Magic about him. Could he have somehow  --  "

"The rudiments. It's a nuisance that it should have
begun waking now, but the boy hasn't yet mastered
even the least Powerful of magic songs."

"He still might know more than he admits."

"I doubt it." Cariotta sighed impatiently. "I've seen
more of him in the past two weeks than I ever want to
see of anyone. Still, he is the only due we have to the
manuscript."

"But what if his magic does come to life?" Volmar
stirred uneasily in his chair. "I don't like the boy. He's
too... too..."

"Honest?" Carlotta's voice was sly.

"Unpredictable," the count countered. "I think we
should be rid of him now, while we still can."

"Not yet." Her glance held a disconcerting hint of
contempt. "Volmar, you always were a nervous sort.

52 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

Let me try to explain this to you as dearly as I can: the
boy is not a threat to us."

"Not yet,** the count echoed darkly.

Carlotta's eyes flashed. "Challenging my wisdom?**
she asked, ever so softly. "Volmar, dear little Volmar,
don't try to cross me. I could destroy you, little man,
with a glance.**

The count froze, all at once very much aware of how
dose Death could be. One wrong word... "Why, Prin-
cess!" He forced the words from a mouth that suddenly
seemed too dry for speech. "Havel ever been anything
but your loyal ally?"

"To serve your own goals."

"Well, yes, I won't lie about that. But in doing so I
serve yours as well, for both our sakes! Someday, my
princess, you will wrest the throne from that fool --  "

" *That fool,* as you so charmingly put it, is my
brother."

"Your half-brother only. Carlotta, we both know you
aren't bound by any misguided sisterly love. Someday
you will take the throne- And when you do, my dear
princess, I know you will remember your friends."

"Friends." Carlotta's glance flicked over him. the
contempt now only just barely hidden. But then she
shrugged. "We shall watch the boy a bit longer. I will
make one last effort to win him, body and mind. And if
I still cannot subvert him to my side, I give you permis-
sion to rid us of him." She paused. "Even as you did
our poor, sweet Charina."

Volmar waved that off. A giri hadn't any business being
up on the ramparts anyhow, not without even a guard
for company, let alone doing something as foolish as
leaning over the edge of the crenelladons to watdi birds
fly by. It had almost been too easy to help her join that
flight. However briefly. And not a soul could say it had
been anything but an accident. "We shouldn't wait," the
count insisted. "I havea feeling -- **

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         53

"Come now! Leave presdence to me. We can't be rid
of him just yet. We still may need him to find the
manuscript if we cannot." She shuddered delicately.
" Even if it means I must once more take on the persona
of that pretty little fool of a  --  No, wait..." The prin-
cess straightened in her chair, eyes fierce. "That may
not be necessary. The boy has a head full of wild
romance. What if...? Ha, yes, of course! I already laid
the groundwork without realizing it when I told him I
would go riding alone."

"My princess, whataw? you talking about?**

"You'll leam, soon enough. Yes, I do believe that I
shall go riding alone again tomorrow." Her smile was
all at once so alien, so full of dark, sorcerous promise,
that Volmar's heart turned chill. "And then," Carlotta
added softly, "we... shall see what we shall see."

More than that, she would not say, leaving Count
Volmar cold with nameless dread.

Chapter V

Kevin sat: on a wobbly pile of books, head in hands.
He'd searched the library from end to end; the
manuscript just wasn't here!

No one could have taken it. Not even the count knew which
manuscript I was copying!

Right. No one had taken the thing. The dust that
covered much of the floor showed pretty deariy that, save
for that one brief visit by Charina, no one other than he
had even been in the library recently: her neat footprints
were in a direct line in and out of the room, his were all
over the place, but had a distinctive deft in one sole. If
anyone else had entered, they'd done soin mid-air.

This was insane! Nobody around here could fly  -- 
but manuscripts didn't up and vanish all by them-
selves!

I should have gone riding with Charina, Kevin thought
in misery.

He had passed her in the hall  --  or, rather, she had
passed him, on her way for another solitary ride,
sweeping regally by with her head in the air as if he
hadn't even existed. Kevin winced, wondering if she
would ever even speak to him again. He had been
right, of course, painful though it was; he was here to
do a job, not enjoy himself with a beautiful young
woman -- 

A job he couldn't do because the cursed manuscript
was gone!

A sudden frantic pounding on the library door
brought Kevin to his feet in alarm.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          55

ft

"Bardling!" a voice shouted. "Count Volmar wishes
to see you!"

The count! The bardling stiffened in sudden panic.
Why did Count Volmar want to see him now? Was it
something about the manuscript  --  or about Charina?
Kevin hastily smoothed his hair with his hands and
brushed the dust off himself as best he could, wishing
he had time to make himself more presentable, then
hurried out of the library.

His first impression was of an anthill someone had kick-
ed. The usually quiet corridors were packed with people
rushingbackand forth, panic in their eyes and voices.

"What is it?" he asked. "Are  --  are we under attack?"

"No, no." The servant who'd knocked on the door
was in a frenzy of impatience. "No dme to talk, bard-
ling. Hurry!"

Kevin had expected Count Volmar to be holding court
in the Great Hall, as was usual for the lord of a castle.
Instead, to thebardling's surprise, he wasbusded up to the
count's private solar and pracdcally shoved inside. A tall,
lean, richly dressed man who could only be Count Volmar
was padngresdessly back and forth.

He stopped short as Kevin entered, staring at the
bardling with frantic eyes. "Good, good, you're here.
Bardling, I know you and my niece have become
friends. No, no, don't look so guilty! I know you haven't
done anything dishonorable."

The count resumed his nervous pacing. "It's
Charina." The words were choked out. "She's gone."

"Gone! What  --  how  --  "

"Charina went riding this morning," Count Volmar
said softly, "with only her groom to protect her. I  --  I
never should have let her go, but..." He held up a
helpless hand- "Charina can be so very persuasive. And
I never really believed she could come to any harm,
never! Not on my lands!"

"My lord, please!" Kevin cried. "What happened?"

56 Me/cedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

"Her horse returned without her, its coat all sweaty
with fright. I thought there had been an accident, that
Charina had been thrown and the groom was staying
with her. But when I sent men out to hunt for my niece,
they returned white-faced and trembling. They had
found the groom, all right. Dead. Killed by sorcery  -- 
elvish sorcery." The count shuddered. "There was no
sign at all of Charina."

"Elvish?" Kevin protested, remembering the elves
who'd appeared to him back in the forest. He never
doubted those so-superior beings could have been
capable of great cruelty if the fancy moved them. But
surely they never would have committed murder!
They were alien, not evil! "Are you sure? I mean, why
would elves  --  **

"Don't you know anything?" Count Volmar
snapped. "Don't you have the slightest idea of what the
world is like out there? Bardhngs! All wound up in
your music  --  Did you think that everyone in the land is
loyal to the King?"

"I... suppose not. But  --  "

"There are rebel elves throughout the king's realm
 --  yes, and not just White Elves, either! At least those
have a code of honor, even if a man can't understand it.
But there are others far worse!"

"Dark Elves, you mean?" Kevin wanted desperately
to show he knew something about the world.

"Of course Dark Elves! Necromancers, the lot of
them!" The count shook his head in disgust. "Should
have been exterminated years ago!"

"I don't understand? I always thought the elf-folk,
even the  --  the Dark Elves, kept pretty much to them-
selves. Why would they  --  "

"They aren't human!" the count exploded. "These
are Others; who can comprehend anything they do?
They hate humans, bardling, every one of them, par-
ticularly any who try to rule 'their' country. And they

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          57

have Powers we can't hope to understand. The Dark
Elves, with their foul, foul sorceries ..." He shud-
dered. "Yes, and even the White Elves wield magic
strong enough to twist human minds! They can turn
child against parent, friend against friend  --  They can
even destroy a human mind and soul, leaving nothing
behind but an empty shell to be filled with whatever
they will"

Volmar broke onabruptly, turning sharply away.
After a moment, he muttered, "Forgive me. I didn't
mean to shout at you, bardling. It's simply that I  --  I
am so very worried about Charina.... **

"They wouldn't dare harm her!" Kevin said inanely.

"You think not? Look you, at first I hoped she had
simply been kidnapped. But there have been no ran-
som demands, no messages at all! I fear they hate
humans so much they're not going to even try to get
anything from me. No, ah no, they'll hurt her just
because she is who she is!"

"They can't!" Kevin cried in anguish- "I  --  uh, we
won't let them!"

The count let out a long, shuddering sigh. "No," he
said, "we won't Bardling., - Kevin, is it? Kevin, I plan
to mount several expeditions to find her. And I want
you to lead one."

"Me?"

"Yes. You and Charina became such good friends in
so short a time that there must be some psychic link
between you. And that will certainly help you use
Bardic Magic to find her."

Somehow Kevin forgot that whatmagic he happened to
possess was only now starting to wake, its range still
unknown. "I'll do it!" he cried, "When do weleave?"

"Tomorrow." The count smiled faintly. "Thank you,
Kevin. I'm sure a talented young man like yourself will
succeed where knights, with all their brainless heroics,
would only fail."

58 Mercedes Lackey S^Josefiha Sherman

A small part of Kevin's mind wasn't so sure of that.
What, he, an untrained bardling, succeed over batde-
proven warriors? But he didn't dare let himself start to
doubt, for Charina's lovely sake. "Your niece will be
safely returned to you, Count Volmar," the bardling
said somberly, and bowed his most courdy bow.

That night, Kevin slept not at all. His mind kept
insisting on conjuring dreadful images ofCharina in
her captors' hands. He couldn't shake the count's dark
words: "They can destroy a human mind and soul!" The
thought ofCharina left so hopelessly ... empty bit at
his soul. "No! I won't let that happen to you! I'll save
you, I swear it!" Or die trying...

He wanted to shout it, but such hysteria would only
bring the casde folk rushing around him, wanting to
know why he was making so much noise. So Kevin lay
still, aching with impatience, and waited as the slow,
slow hours passed.

As soon as the sun was just barely lightening the sky,
he was down in the courtyard, so wild with excitement
he couldn't stand still, eager to meet his fellow
searchers and get going. His lute was slung across his
back, since no Bard could work Bardic Magic without
the aid of an instrument, and the few pages he'd
managed to copy from the missing manuscript were
safely tucked into the case as well. But now a mail shirt
burdened Kevin's shoulders with unaccustomed
weight  --  though fortunately it was dwarven work,
lighter than human-made armor  --  and a sword from
the casde armory hung at his side. Kevin closed his
hand about the hilt, trying to feel like a seasoned war-
rior but guiltily remembering his Master's warning: a
musician must always be careful of his hands.

/ will, he promised the old Bard silently. But...
weS. ..this is something that I-must do.

Odd. He had expected the courtyard to be full of

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          59

knights and squires preparing to set out on their own
rescue missions. Yet there didn't seem to be anyone
around but himself. Suddenly panicky, Kevin
wondered if, early though the morning was, he was
already too late. Had everyone left without him?

No. That was ridiculous. Even the boldest knight wasn't
going to try riding down the castle's steep hill in the dark.
Evidently the count meant to send die different parries out
atdifferent times during the day. His mustbe the first-And
that had to mean the count truly trusted him!

Yes, but where were his  -- 

"You?" the bardling said in dismay. "You're my
troop?"

"You?** a throaty voice echoed in wry humor. "You're
our leader?"

The woman who'd spoken was tall and rangy, a
hunter and warrior, quiver on her back, sword at her
side. Her short, curly black hair was held back from her
face by a leather thong, and her dark eyes were the
most devilish Kevin had ever seen. Her olive skin was
deeply tanned  --  and a good deal of that skin was
revealed, because her leather armor and breeches
didn't seem to be hiding very much other lithe form-
Kevin realized how (and where) he was staring, and
reddened. The woman only laughed.

"Never mind, boy. Nothing to be ashamed of; not you,
not me." She held out a rough hand for him to shake; for
all her undeniably feminine shape, there was nothing
fragile abouthergrip. "I'm Lydianalanthis, butlet's make
things easier on you: Call me Lydia."

"I'm Kevin." He added with reluctant honesty, "A
bardling."

"A bardling, huh? Count couldn't afford a full
Bard?" She grinned at his look of dismay, teeth daz-
zlingly white against her skin. "Don't look so hot and
heavy, boy! I'm only teasing."

"I knew that," he muttered.

60 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

"He is paying you, isn't he?" Lydia asked with a note
of genuine concern in her voice. "I mean, a kid like you
 --  he isn't trying to cheat you?"

The bardling straightened indignantly. Yes, the
count had given him a purse of coins, but it had been
for travelling expenses, not payment! "I'm not a  --  a
kid! Or a mercenary!"

Lydia shrugged. "In other words, he's not paying
you. Powers save me from idealistic youngsters!"

"The count's niece is in terrible danger! How can
you possibly be worried about money!"

"Because," the woman drawled, "I've gotten into the
habit of eating regularly. Can't do that very well
without coin in the purse."

"You're not one of Count Volmar's subjects?"

"Powers, no! I'm subject to me, boy, not to any count!
I was making my way across the world  --  never did it
before, that's why!" she added before he could ask.
"Anyhow, I got as far as this castle when I heard the
news about the count's niece and a reward for her safe
return."

"Oh."

Lydia grinned again, but this dme Kevin thought it
looked more like a snarl than a smile. "Let's set things
straight from the start. Yes, I'm a mercenary. But don't
you look down your nose at me, boy! I earn my own
way, give good value for service bought, honor my
agreements, and sleep nice and sound at night. You
find anything wrong with that, or with me, best get it
outin the open now."

"I don't. And I didn't mean to insult you. It's just
that... well, I've never met anyone like you before."

She gave a bark of a laugh. "1 bet you haven't! Look,
Kevin, I'm not angry at you. It's just I've seen too many
men  --  and boys like you  --  try to take advantage of
any woman who isn't under some man's protection.
I'm lucky; my people believe in letting a girl grow up

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          61

knowing how to defend herself. But I've travelled
enough to know it sure as hell isn't an easy world for
most of my sex."

"And so you're trying to protect other women?"

"Hell, no! I'm trying to protect any helpless soul!
Damned if I'm going to let anyone, male, female or
whatever, be turned into a  --  a thing to be used, not if I
can do something to stop it- Besides," she added, her
quick grin back so suddenly Kevin wondered if she was
ashamed of having been serious for even a moment,
"the pay is good!"

"But what -- "

"Look," she interrupted brusquely, "here comes the
rest of our party."

The bardling watched them leaving the keep, first
one, then another, then ... two? Only two? Staring in
dismay, Kevin realized that despite all those encourag-
ing words, the count couldn't have trusted him that
much after all.

Ah well, what was, as the saying went, was. Trying to
keep the disappointment out of his voice, he waited till
they were within earshot, then began as firmly as he
could, "Welcome. I am Kevin, a bardling, and this war-
rior is Lydia."

As the first figure shook back the hood of its gray-
green cloak, revealing slanted green eyes, pale, silken
hair and fair-skinned, ageless features so fine-boned
and elegant they never could have been human, the
bardling added with a gasp, "You're an elfi"

The elf-man looked at him without expression.
Except, Kevin thought glumly, for a hint of contempt
in those slanted eyes. "You are observant."

Oh yes, this was an elf, all right. The sarcasm in the
cool voice reminded Kevin all too well of that night in
the forest. "I'm sorry," the bardling said as courteously
as he could. "I didn't mean to be rude. I was just
surprised."

62

Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sheyman

That earned him the barest dip of the head from the
elf. "Understandably. I am Eliathanis, of the
Moonspirit dan of White Elves." He was also obviously
a warrior, his lithe figure dad in silvery scales of elvish
armor, a straight sword with an intricately wrought sil-
ver hilt at his side. "My people do not enjoy being
accused by humans of harm. I was here at court when
the girl was stolen  --  and I intend to prove those ac-
cusations wrong."

/ bet you haven't got a crumb of humor in your whole body,
Kevin thought, eyeing that rigidly controlled face.
Stealing from one of the old ballads, the bardling said
formally, "We shall be glad of your help, good warrior,"
and gave a formal little bow.

"But will you be so glad of my help?" the second figure
wondered softly. Slowly, with a fine sense of drama, it
drew back the hood of its black doak. revealing a face just
as inhumanly fine-boned and elegant as that of
Eliathanis, framed by a fall of straight, silvery-btond hair
 -- but this face was so dark of skin it was nearly as black as
the doak. The elf was dressed entirely in black as well,
tunic, hose, boots, all save for a chin silver belt. The dasp,
Kevin noted uneasily, was worked in the shape of a skull.
Blue eyes, eerie against so much darkness, glinted coldly.

"A Dark Elfl" Lydia yelped, hand flying to the hilt of
her sword.

"Nithatlttir the White Elf hissed, eyes blazing.

The Dark Elf bowed, so very graciously it was an in-
sult. "Yes," he said in his soft voice, "Nithatfiil, Dark Elf;

indeed." The blue glance flicked lighdy over Kevin and
Lydia, then back to the odier elf. "Call me Naitachal if
you must have a specific name for me."

**I have a name for you!" Eliathanis snapped.
"Necromancer!"

Kevin stepped hastily between the angry elves, hoping
he wasn't about to get blasted by either side. "Uh... might
we ask what you wish, my... uh... my lord Nahachal?**

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          63

"Why, I am here to help you return the lost human
girl to her unde, even as you," the Dark Elf purred.

But Kevin, being as dose to the elf as he was, caught
the barest glint of pain in the eerie blue eyes. He
expects us to hate hnn! the bardling realized in surprise.
And the idea hurts him. f didn't think Dark Elves cared what
anyone thought of them!

As Kevin hesitated, uncertain, Naitachal drew back
the barest step, drawing his doak about his lean form.
"I do not wish to force myself on you," he murmured to
Kevin. "But even as you. White Elf, I will not see my
people accused of a crime that is not theirs."

"Since when did your kind worry about what others
thought?" Eliathanis challenged.

"Since the humans have become so numerous," the
Dark Elf answered. "Even the mightiest of dragons can
be brought down by a large enough pack of hounds."

"Ah. Well. Yes," Kevin said. Great, here was his first
big decision as a leader, and he was stammering like an
idiot! "Lydia, Eliathanis, we can hardly deny a man the
right to defend the honor of his people."

"They have no  --  "

"Of his people," Kevin repeated hastily, before the
White Elf could finish his insult. "Whatever we may
think of each other, we've been thrown together on the
orders of Count Volmar. Do any of you wish to back out
now? Well? Do you? You'd better speak now, because I
don't want to find myself in the middle of --  " Of what?
Thinking frantically, the bardling continued, almost
smoothly  --  "of some heroic battle only to see my sup-
posed comrades battling each other instead. Or
running away like little boys yelling, 'I don't wanna
play with him!*"

"How dare you!" Eliathanis began in outrage, but
Kevin continued, using his trained musidan's voice to
swell over the White Elf's words, "Look at you two
elves! You think yourself superior to us humans? Well,

64 Mervedes Ladey ^Josepha Sherman

maybe you are  -- but I haven't seen any sign of that
superiority yet!"

"Bravo," murmured Lydia, but the bardling ignored
her. continuing hotly, "While you two waste precious
time by bickering, an innocent girl may be suffering,
may even be dying! We all want the same thing, and
that's to free her! I ask you, all three of you: will you or
will you not stay with me?"

There was a long, tense silence. Then:

"Hell, I'm willing," Lydia said with a shrug-

"And I," murmured Naitachal.

Eliathanis hesitated a moment longer, glaring at the
Dark Elf, then shrugged. "No one has spoken of aban-
doning you. human. Besides, I would not have it said 1
was less brave than a Nithathil.w

Kevin nearly laughed aloud, all at once so shaky with
relief he wasn't sure he could move. "Good! And
together we shall stay  --  until the Lady Charina is
returned safely to her uncle!"

Chapter VI

"What do you mean, this is all we get?" Lydia
thundered at the starded stable hand.

"But  --  but my lady, there are four of you. The
count's offering you four horses  --  "

"And what about grain for those horses? And sup-
plies for us? Hell, I can hunt down enough meat to
keep us going, and I'm sure the boy or one of these
elves knows how to find nuts and berries, but I am not
going to sleep on bare ground or go without a change
of clothes! You throw in at least one pack horse, fully
provisioned, mind you  --  and do it now!"

As the terrified servant scurried off, Lydia winked at
Kevin. "That's the way to do it," she murmured. "Act as
if you know what you're doing, keep *em off balance,
and they'll give you anything you want"

"I  --  I see." The bardling struggled to imitate
Eliathanis and keep his face an impassive mask. But
he was sure everyone knew exactly how inept he
felt! Here he was supposed to be the leader of the
group and it hadn't even occurred to him to ask for
grain!

"Don't worry, kid." The woman gave his shoulder a
light punch. "1*11 look out for you."

Wonderful. Just what he wanted: a babysitter. Kevin
tried not to scowl as he watched Lydia prowl up and
down the rows of stalls. "Which is Lady Charina's
horse?" she called out. "This? Should have known.
Dainty little creature. A real lady's palfrey. Couldn't
stand a day on the trail... Hold still, horse."

66 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Shennan

She lifted a foreleg, examining the hoof and shoe,
then waved the others to her side-

"Disdncdve shoeing. See the slight ridging here, and
here? If this beast left hoofprints, I can follow them."

"My... uh... lady?"

Lydia glanced up and grinned. "Ah, here we go!"

As she had ordered, the stable hand had brought them
not only their horses, but a laden pack horse as well

As they rode down from the casde and out over the
fields, Lydia crouched low over the neck other horse,
studying the ground, finally dismounting to study
what looked like a perfectly unremarkable patch of
earth to Kevin.

"This is where the girl was seized, all right," she said.
"See how the grass has been torn up?"

Elialhanis dismounted as well, then drew back in dis-
taste. "It sdnks of sorcery."

"It does," Naitachal agreed softly, joining him. "Sor-
cery cold enough to slay a man." Wrapped in his black
cloak, hood up against the sun (which must be uncom-
fortably bright, Kevin thought, to someone used to
darker lands), the Dark Elf was a sinister, faceless fig-
ure. "Do you not feel the echo of his death?" Naitachal
sighed in regret. "Were it only a tiny bit stronger, I
could call his spirit to us and learn the truth."

"Necromancy!" Eliathanis spat,

"Oh, indeed." Kevin thought he caught the barest
hint of a sardonic smile from under that black hood.
"What was worked here." the Dark Elf continued soft-
ly, "was not the magic of my folk, nor yours, nor even
that of the humans. Not... quite, at any rate. Intrigu-
ing. But I can't pick up a clear enough trace for it to be
very helpful. What of you. White Elf?"

Eliathanis shook his head. "Whoever it was took
great pains to cover his tracks."

"His?"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         67

"Or hers. Or even theirs. I can't be sure."

Lydia glanced from one elf to the other, then
shrugged. "We didn't expect things to be easy, did we?"
Bending to examine the ground, the woman gave a
soft laugh of triumph. "Maybe there aren't any clear
magical traces, but at least there is a physical track. See,
here's where Charina's palfrey bolted back to its stable.
But here... these are the tracks of a different horse.
Bigger... heavier ... maybe a destrier?" She swung
Uthely back into the saddle. "It has to be the horse the
kidnapper was riding. Look, the tracks are faint
enough as they are. Let's get going before something
destroys them altogether."

As the small party rode on out of field into scrubland
then forest, following an overgrown trail that must
originally have been cut by woodsmen, Kevin
wondered bitterly if he really mas the leader. Lydia was
doing the tracking, and the two elves had their magic to
help them, while he  --  he was nodung but an untried
bardling who didn't even know about  -- 

Hey, wait a minute! "Naitachal?"

The Dark Elf had pushed back his hood as soon as
the first trees had screened off the sun- His fair hair
gleamed, startling bright against the darkness of skin
and clothing, as he brought his horse up beside
Kevin's. "Yes?"

Naitachal's eyes, disconcertingly, glinted red in the
dim light, sending echoes of every eerie tale he'd ever
heard flashing through Kevin's mind. Don't be stupid! he
scolded himself. He's an ally. For now, anyhow. "Were
you in the casde when the groom's body was brought

in?*"

**1 was," Naitachal said softly. "And yes, I did ask to be
allowed to examine it"

Eliathanis' keen elf ears caught that murmur. "To
work your spells on it, you mean!"

The Dark Elf smiled widiout rancor. "Exactly. I have

68 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Shennan

been well trained in the sorceries that can draw back
the dead. One would think Count Volmar would have
been anxious to learn anything that might have helped
him recover his niece. And yet I was refused."

"Not surprising,** the White Elf snapped. "He didn't
want anything tainted by Darkness in his castle."

"Ah, my touchy cousin-elf, you don't understand.
One would also think the groom would have been
buried with honor, having died defending his lady. But
there was no public burial, and even I have no idea
what became of his body."

Odd, Kevin admitted to himself uneasily, very odd.

But before he could continue chat thought, a small,
shrill voice called out:

"Here you are! It cook you long enough!"

With a laugh, Lydia reined in her horse. "Well, for-
give me, Tich'ki! You knew it was going to take some
dme! I went as fast as I could."

"A fairy!" Kevin cried.

"A human!" the fairy mocked in return. "My, my,
what a clever little boy!"

The bardling tried in vain not to stare. As with all her
kind, Tich'ki was small, barely coming up to his horse's
knee. She was undeniably female, an adult woman other
kind, almost beaudful in a sharp-edged, predatory wild
creature way. Her bright, sharply slanted eyes, green as
those of a White Elf, seemed enormous m her triangular
face, her hair was caught up in a tangle of auburn braids,
and even her irridescent wings seemed to have a
predatory glint to them, like those of a dragonfly.

She was, if half the stories about her kind were true,
just as likely to stab a human with that gleaming little
spear she bore as talk to one-

That didn't seem to bother Lydia. / never heard of any
human making friends with a fairy, Kevin thought. But
friends they did seem to be, or at least acquaintances.
"We're off on an adventure," the warrior woman said.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          69

"No-0," Tich'ki drawled, "really? I drought you were
just out for a ride in the woodland." Her green gaze
sharpened. "With a White and Dark Elf together, no
less. So, Lydia? Are you going to give me a hand up?"

"You  --  you're going with us?" Kevin asked, then
had to hold fast to his startled horse's reins as Tich'ki
darted upward in a blur and buzz of wings, landing
lightly behind the warrior woman-

"You going to stop me?"

" No, no, of course not It's just... well... I never knew
one of your people to be friendly with one of mine."

"No, and you're not likely to again."

Lydia laughed. "Tich'ki and me, we're a lot alike. Don't
like staying cooped up in one place too long. I first met her
when she was pinned down by a hunting hound."

"And I saved you later from the angry hunters."
Tich'ki gave the woman a sharp little pinch. "So don*t go
getting all superior." She squirmed about to stare at
Kevin with her hard green gaze- "That's it, boy. Lydia
and me, we sometimes travel together. But don't think
because I tolerate her, I have a love for all you humans."

"Ah." For a fairy to be out on her own like this, travellust
or no, could only mean she'd been cast out from her
people  --  possibly for associating with a mere human. Not
knowing what else to say, Kevin stammered, "Uh, wel-
come to our group. We're searching for die nieceof -- **

"I know all that!" Tich'ki said impatiently, wings stir-
ring. "I have every bit as strong a scrying talent as those
hulking elf-men. The only reason I wasn't up there in
that castle with you is because I didn't want to get
stepped on by some clumsy lout of a human."

More likely, Kevin thought, the humans wouldn't let
such a perilous litde creature in!

Tich'ki settled herself more comfortably sidesaddle
behind Lydia, folding her wings, too small to ride
astride. "I want to find out what happened to that
simpering little girl, too."

70 Mercedes Lackey ^Jasepha Shennan

"She doesn't simper!" Kevin said hody, then stopped
shon at Tich'ki's sly grin. Too late, he remembered
another nasty litde trait about fairies: they delighted in
tormenting humans, one way or another. And I fell right
mtofiertrap.

"Now we are five," Naitachal murmured wryly.
Tich'ki glared. "And you'll be glad of it. Dark Elf! All
right, enough of this. Let's go!"

As they rode deeper into the forest, dense brush all
but engulfed the trail, forcing them to ride single file.
Thick canopies ofleaves shut out more and more of the
tight. At last, surrounded by dim green twilight, Lydia
swore under her breath and dismounted, peering at
the ground in disgust "Damn.*"

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked. "You've lost the
track?"

"No, no, the track's still there  --  I just can't see it in
all this gloom."

"Acorch -- "

"Torches flicker too much, create too many distort-
ing shadows." She glanced up at the elves. "One of you
give me some nice, steady light"

Eliathanis hesitated, then admitted reluctandy, "I
can't I'm a warrior, not a magician. The only magic I
possess is that innate to my race."

"No light-spells, eh? Tich'ki, I know you don't have
any, either."

The fairy shrugged. "Can't know everything. Better
things to do with my time than waste it studying spells."

A fairy who wasn't too much of a magician? Kevin
had never heard of such a thing. Maybe that was why
she'd been cast out by her people.

Lydia was turning to Naitachal. "What about you,
Dark Elf?"

Naitachal's eyes glinted eerily in the darkness. "My
people have no need for tight-spells."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          71

"Oh, great." Lydia got to her feet. "Might as well
make camp, then. We're not going anywhere."

"Wait" Heart radng, Kevin took out his lute, tuning
it carefully. One of the magical songs his Master had
taught him was known as the Watchwood Melody, and
its purpose was to create tight "I don't know if this is
going to work, but..."

He cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and
started to sing.

At first nothing happened. But halfway through the
melody, Kevin felt a tingle run through him, head to
foot Magic, he prayed, let it be magic...

And it was. For the first dme in all the weary years of
study hefeU the song, felt each syllable, each note, as a
separate wonder ringing in his mind. Listening to that
wonder, he slid more and more deeply into his
music... though he was vaguely aware of something
outside himself being different... the darkness... ?
Surely it wasn't quite as dark... ?

Powers! He and his lute were  -- glawmgl They were
actually glowing with a pale, steady light!

"Terrific!" Lydia yelled- "Keep it going, just like

that"

But all at once Kevin was terrified of what he had
done. A childish part of his mind jibbered that he
should stay what he'd been, ordinary, unimportant,
safe. The bardting's concentration slipped. His fingers
stumbled on the strings, breaking the spell. As the pale
light began to fade, his voice faltered to a stop. Kevin
slumped, suddenly so weary from (he energy loss of a
failed spell he could barely stay in the saddle.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Sorry!" Lydia echoed. "Thatwasamflzw^!"

"No, it wasn't. If I'd done it right, the light would
have lasted even after I stopped singing."

"Well, never mind," the woman said cheerfully.
"You'll get it right next dme."

72 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

Kevin clenched his jaws before he could say something
he'd regret The last thing he wanted right now was to be
patronized, even by someone who meant weB.

What VMS Ilrymg to provef I couldn't hold onto even the
simplest song-spell. Fin not a Bard. Maybe I never will be.

At least the two elves weren't trying to be kind. But it
didn't help to hear Tich'ki chortling to herself, "Just like a
human! Disappointed because he's been de-lighted!"

Once the party had fed and watered the horses, and
picketed them in a line, and eaten a dinner of cold meat
and bread, there wasn't much else to do. Kevin tried to
start a conversation with the others, but nobody else
seemed to want to talk. He sat back, disgrunded. This
camp was hardly like those in the old songs: those
songs in which a cheery group of comrades on the road
gathered beneath the stars. If there were stars, they
were totally hidden by the roof of leaves. And except
for Lydia and Tich'ki, the comrades were strangers to
each other, and not in a very cheery mood.

Naitachal sat as silendy as a black-wrapped statue, a
darker part of the night just outside the ring of
firelight. Eliathanis, polishing his silvery elf-sword with
slow, methodical strokes, light glinting off the blade
with each upstroke, was almost as silent, though he
kept shooting wary, hostile glances at the Dark Elf.
Kevin attempted a few practice scales on his lute, not
daring to try any magic lest it fail, just keeping his
fingers limber. But he gave up after Tich'ki sneered
every time he missed a note. And Lydia prowled round
and round their camp like some cautious wild thing
until the bardling couldn't stand it any longer.

"Whatan? you doing?"

"Checking," came the short answer, "just checking.
Don't like the idea of something sneaking up on us
without us having some way out"

"Nothing lurks out there." Naitachal's soft voice

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         73

made everyone start. "Nothing living." With superb
timing, the Dark Elf waited till the others had a chance
to imagine undead horrors before adding lightly,
"Except, of course, for the small, normal creatures of
the forest."

"Oh, thank you," Lydia muttered.

Naitachal glanced up as the woman passed him in
her drclings. "There is a rather large skeleton under
the leaves just to your left. It was a wolf, I believe, and it
is still in fairiy good condition. If you wish, Lydia, I can
summon it up to stand guard."

She gave him a look of sheer horror. **Uh, no, that
won't be necessary. I  --  "

"We will have none of your foul sorceries!"
Eliathanis' sword glinted in his hand.

"You melodramatic fool." Naitachal's voice was
quiedy deadly. "Don't ever point a weapon at me. Not
unless you intend to use it."

"Push me too far, Dark Elf, and I will."

"Go ahead, White Elf- Try."

«I_"

"Stop that!" Kevin snapped, and both elves turned
to him in surprise. "You sound like little boys daring
each other to fight! Look, I know you two don't like
each other, but we're stuck with each other. For the
sake of our mission, can't you declare a truce?"

Eliathanis frowned sternly.' 41 is not in elf natures to lie."

"Well then at least pivtend\ And you, Lydia, will you
please stop paring? Naitachal told you there's nothing
dangerous out there. We have three Faerie-kin here
and five horses; surely one of them will be able to warn
us ifanything's approaching." He glared at them all.
"Is that all right with everyone? Yes? Fine! And now,
goodnight!"

There was startled silence. Amazed at his own bold-
ness, Kevin wrapped himself in a blanket, turned away,
and curled up to sleep.

74 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherrnan

I didn't mean to explode like that. But I couldn't stand lis-
tening to that stupid bickering any longer! Charina would
have laughed and said  -- 

Charina, who might not even still be alive. Kevin
swallowed hard. You are alwe. I  --  7 know it, Charina. You
areaiwe. And we'll/ind you, I promise.

Bit by bit, he managed to relax. All around him was
quiet, save for the peaceful chirpings and rustlings of a
forest at night, soothing sounds...

But just as the bardling was drifting off, timed to
exactly the right moment to annoy him the most,
Tich'ki murmured, "Cute little puppy dog. Thinks he
has fangs!"

Kevin sat bolt upright. The fairy was watching him
from beyond the banked campfire, her green eyes the
eyes of a sly predator. As he stared, she smiled. "Sleep
well," Tich'ki whispered, and blew him a kiss.

Kevin woke, disoriented, somewhere in the small
hours of the night There, just barely visible in the dark-
ness, were Naitachal and Tich'ki, talking softly together
in the elvish tongue as though they were old friends.

But as though they felt him watching them, they
turned as one- Two pairs of alien eyes, glowing eerily,
looked at him, sending a shiver through the bardling at
the thought that the darkness was no barrier to them.
Why had they been whispering together? The Dark Elf
and the perilous fairy: what could they be plotting?
Kevin swallowed drily, trying to find an innocuous way
to ask them, but before he could open his mouth,
Naitachal murmured:

"Go back to sleep, Kevin."

A trace of sorcery must have hidden behind the
simple words, because for all his sudden worry, Kevin
found himself sliding helplessly back into slumber.

Chapter VII

"Oh, hell," Lydia said.

For two full days they had been riding through
forest so dense Kevin thought that any one of them
could have followed the track- The trail had been so
overgrown a horse's body could hardly have kept from
breaking telltale branches; there had been no way for
the kidnapper to avoid leaving a track, let alone to
leave the trail. But the forest had been thinning for
some dme as the land grew increasingly more rocky.

And now they had broken out of forest altogether.
The trail melted into a series of paths and one true road
winding their way through a limestone wilderness, a
time-eroded maze of tall, gray-white stone walls.

"Are we out of luck?" Kevin asked.

Lydia shrugged. "Can't follow a trace over solid rock!
Still, it's notall rock...."

She dismounted, searching with her face so dose to
the ground that the bardling was reminded of a hunt-
ing hound searching for an elusive scent.

"Yes..." the woman said at last. "This way. I think.**

They rode on, following the road, the only sounds
the creak of saddle leather and the dick of their horses'
hoofs against stone. Kevin glanced at Lydia, not at all
happy about the uncertainty he saw on her face.

The walls of the gorge towered over them as they
rode, weighing down his spirit. Staring up at the nar-
row slash of sky, Kevin couldn't shake the sense of
being a very small, insignificant creature in the middle
of a very small, insignificant party- Now that he wasn't

76 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

so overwhelmed by the mere thought of adventure, he
had to admit that five... ah... beings hardly seemed a
big enough group to have any hope of success. Yet if
the count had sent out any larger expeditions, the
bardling hadn't seen any sign of them.

I don't understand thai. 1 don't understand any oftfas! We
don't even know/or sure that whoever -we'refollowing actually
hasCharma!

Kevin sighed. None of his doubts were going to mat-
ter if he couldn't hold his team together long enough to
accomplish something.

Team, ha! The last thing they were was a team. Oh,
everyone was nicely polite to each other  --  if you
ignored the subtle snipings of White and Dark Elf at
each other, or the jibes ofLydia at these silly males, or
the nasty little jokes of the fairy.

The bardling gritted his teeth. Tich'ki seemed to have
decided he was the best butt for her humor she'd ever
seen. She never said anything out-and-out hostile. Oh
no, that would have been too simple! Instead, the fairy
would wait till he'd finished practicing a particularly dif-
ficult melody on his lute, then ask innocently, "Are you
going to actually play something now?" Or worse:

"When are you going to work some Bardic Magic?"
knowing he was too scared of failure to risk trying
another spell- Or perhaps she would simply wonder
aloud what it was like co be a leader when he hadn't really
had a chance to be one. Anything, Kevin thought, to
undermine what litde self-confidence he had left!

The only two who did seem to be getting along were
Naitachal and Tich'ki. After that first night, Kevin was
still keeping a wary eye on those two, but so far they
hadn't done anything even remotely suspicious.

Except... last night, there had been that bizarre
whatever-it-had-been. Kevin frowned, remembering
how he had caught the Dark Elf and the fairy huddling
together mysteriously, so involved in what they were

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          77

doing they hadn't even noticed him. The bardling had
gotten close enough to hear Tich'ki urge, "Try it
again." And Naitachal had actually responded with,
"Pick a card, any card."

At that moment, they'd spotted him. The Dark Elf
had suddenly straightened, looking important and
mysterious, but Kevin could have sworn Naitachat was
embarrassed. And hadn't he caught a glimpse of
Tich'ki hastily hiding a fairy-size deck of cards?

Card tricks? A necromancer learning card tricks?

It made about as much sense as anything else so far.

"We're not still on Count Volmar's lands, are we?"
Kevin asked warily-

"Hardly." Lydia glanced up at the sky, judging direc-
tion. "I'm pretty sure we're on the outskirts of crown
lands. If we keep riding east like this, we'll probably
wind up in the dty ofWesterin."

"If we get that far." Eliathanis glanced up at the
steep, brooding walls on either side, his usually
unreadable eyes glittering with uneasiness." I don't like
this place. Anyone could be lurking up there."

"Claustrophobic el0" Tich'ki taunted. "Scared of the
shadows in his mind!"

The White Elf glared at her. "I'm not imagining
things! Westerin is an important trading city, is it not?
Thanks to the rocks, this must surely be one of the only
roads available for anyone who wishes to reach the city
from the west. What better place for an ambush?"

"Don't say something like that!" Lydia snapped. "It's
bad -- "

A savage shout from overhead cut into her words.

"  --  luck," she finished ironically, whipping out her
sword.

Kevin didn't have a chance to act, to think, before a
heavy body hurtled into him, hurting him from his horse.

My lute!

The bardling twisted frantically sideways to save it as

78 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

he fell, by luck slamming into earth rather than rock,
mail shirt bruising his ribs. Aching and breathless, Kevin
struggled to draw his sword, handicapped by the lute
case's strap. The bandit's face leered into his own, foul-
smelling and ugly as an ogre -- and as deadly. Kevin saw
the man raise the dub that was going to bash out his
brains, but he couldn't get the stupid sword free  -- 

So the bardling did the only thing he could, smash-
ing his fist up into the ugly face.

Ow!0h -- damn!

He hadn't been able to get much force into the blow,
not tying sprawled on the ground, but it was enough to
send pain flaming up his arm, because he'd connected
with the man's battered helmet, not his face. The ban-
dit grunted in surprise, falling back just enough for the
bardling to wriggle free. He squirmed out of the lute
case, leaving the instrument safe  --  please, let it be safe!
 -- behind a rock.

As Kevin frantically tugged at the hilt of his sword,
the weapon came free of its scabbard so suddenly he
nearly dropped it Hearing the bandit rushing him, the
bardling whirled  --  and the man impaled himself on
the blade.

For what seemed like an eternity Kevin stared help-
lessly into his foe's disbelieving eyes, too horrified to
move. Then those eyes glazed and the bandit slowly
sagged, nearly dragging the sword from Kevin's hand.
The bardling swallowed hard and pulled the blade
free, trying not to look at the blood darkening it, trying
not to think about how dreadfully easily metal had slid
into flesh. His hand still throbbed with pain, and part of
his mind was yammering, It's broken, it has to be broken!
But it wasn't, not if he could grip the Sword hilt so tight-
ly, and there wasn't any time to worry about what other
damage he might have done.

Panting, Kevin glanced wildly about. For one con-
fused moment he was reminded of a dog pack

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         79

dragging down its prey. But these dogs were armed
with clubs, knives, and homemade spears  --  and this
prey was fighting back. Lydia, swearing fiercely, sword
Hashing, still sat her horse, caking advantage of its
greater height, or trying to: the confused, frightened
animal, unused to batde, was more of a hindrance than
a help. At least its frantic whirling and kicking kept
anyone from closing with the woman- Tich'ki, her
wings a blur, darted in and out of the battle with
waspish speed, her spear jabbing savagely at bandit
eyes. The two elves had given up their mounts and
stood fighting back to back. White and Dark forgetting
their differences for the moment- Eliathanis' blade
shone dear silver, mere human blood unable to stain it,
while Naitachal  -- 

Kevin stared. Naitachal was wielding a night-black
sword that seemed to swallow up the light and that
laughed softly every time it struck a foe. After the first
few blows, the bandits, understandably, cringed away,
putting themselves within Lydia's reach.

He didn't have that sword before, I know he didn 't!

But the sight of that eerie sorcery reminded the bar-
dling that he, too, had some combat magic. Granted,
the song-spell wasn't strong enough to hurt anyone.
All it could do was confuse a foe's attack. But surely that
would help  --  if the magic would only work for him-

No, no, there wasn't time to doubt! Kevin dove for
his lute, for a moment terrified that his bruised hand
wasn't going to let him play. Forcing his stiff fingers
over the strings, he started at full speed into the open-
ing bars. His voice was almost too dry for song, rasping
out desperately, and he knew that even if he did sum-
mon his Bardic Magic, it wasn't going to last long. It
didn't even seem to be coming out right! But some-
thing was happening, because the whole battle was
beginning to glow a faint but very real blue.

Oh, great. AH I'm domg is makingpretty colors!

80 Mavedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

"Damned sorcerer!" a voice muttered. Before Kevin
could turn, a harsh arm was about his throat, choking
him. The bardling lost his grip on the lute, heard it hit
the ground  -- 

Please, please, don't let it break!

He kicked back and felt his boot hit bone. The bandit
swore, losing his strangling grip. Kevin felt a jolt
against his already sore ribs as the man tried to stab him
but hit the mail shirt instead. The bardling pulled free,
lunging for his sword, then cried out in pain as che ban-
dit kicked it viciously away, tearing the hilt from Kevin*s
aching hand. The sword came to rest wedged between
two rocks. Kevin and the bandit both scuffled after it,
but the bandit got there first, stomping down hard. Tb
the bardling's horror, the sword snapped halfway up
the blade.

For a moment. Kevin and his foe stared at each
other, frozen. Then the bandit slowly grinned, reveal-
ing a mouthful of ugly Eeech.

"Too bad, boy. I win, you lose!"

With that, the man leaped at him. Kevin scrambled
to his feet, looking frantically about for another
weapon. Out of the corner of his eye, the bardling saw
the bandit's knife flash again, this time aimed at his
unprotected neck. He twisted about, just barely
managing to catch the man's wrist in dme.

But I... can't... hold fwn... he's just ...too strong...

The bandit continued to grin. Slowly he began
bending the bardling's wrists back and back... Kevin
gasped as renewed pain shot through his bruised
hand, and lost his grip. The knife began its plunge  -- 

But then the bandit froze as a dark-skinned hand
dosed on his neck. The man's eyes widened, gaping in
sudden blind horror. As Kevin stared in sheer disbelief,
he saw the man's hair fade from black to gray to white.
The leathery skin sagged, wrinkled. The bandit let the
bardling go so suddenly Kevin fell, dragging himself

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         81

frantically away as what had been a living man a
moment before crumbled to ancient dust

Naitachal stood revealed, eyes still blazing red from
the force of his spell. But in those eerie eyes, Kevin saw
such bitter despair that for a moment the bardling
could do nothing but stare in helpless fascination.
Then, with a quick flip of his wrist, me Dark Elf pulled
up the hood of his black cloak, hiding his face.

Only then did Kevin realize what was happening
around them. That last horrific sorcery had been coo
much for what was left of the bandit gang. Yelling in
terror, they fled back down the gorge. Lydia started to
knee her horse after them, then reined the animal in
again.

"Nah," she muttered. "Not worth it. Everyone all
right?"

Tich'ki fluttered to a landing behind Lydia. Cleaning
her spear with a scrap of cloth from a bandit's tunic, she
grinned fiercely. "No problems here."

"I am unhurt." Eliathanis was disheveled, golden
hair wild, cloak gashed and elven mail darkly stained,
but his voice was as calmly formal as ever.

"And I," added Naitachal softly. "What of you,
Kevin?"

The bardling snatched up his fallen lute, examining
it carefully, then let out a sigh of relief. "It's only
scratched a little."

"Yes, bardling, but what of you? I saw how carefully
you moved your hand."

Reaction set in, as abrupdy as though the words had
been a spell. Kevin clutched the lute to him. trying to
hide his sudden trembling, realizing only now how
narrowly he'd escaped permanently damaging his
fingers. Powers, oh Powers, Master Aidan had been
right to warn him. He'd come so close to ending his
Bardic career before it had started....

"It's nothing," the bardling said gruffly. 'Just a

82 Mercedes Lackey WJosepha Sherman

bruise." He retrieved what was left of his sword, glanc-
ing ruefully at the fragments, then slipping them back
into their scabbard. "C-come on, let's get out of here
before the bandits recover."

"They're not going to recover so quickly!" Tich'ki
jeered, pointing with her spear at crumpled bodies.
"But the boy's right. Let's go."

"Wait," Eliathanis said softly, approaching the Dark
Elf. Naitachal stiffened, murmuring something in the
elvish tongue that was plainly a wary question, but the
White Elf shook his head. "No. Let the humans under-
stand this as well. Naitachal, I have always believed that
theNithatkUi, the Dark Elves, hated life, that they cared
nothing for any but themselves."

"Well?"

"You had no need to risk yourself guarding my back.
Yet you did. You had no need to risk yourself saving the
bardling. Yet you did."

"What are you laying to say, Eliathanis?"

"Just that I..." The fair skin reddened. "I may have
been too hasty in judging you."

He held out a hand. The Dark Elf hesitated for a
long moment, then raised his own hand. As they
pressed palm to palm in the elvish version of a hand-
shake, Tich'ki snickered.

"Touching," she said. "Now. can we please get going?"

A lilting call in the elvish language coaxed the
strayed horses back to them. As they rode off, Kevin
resolutely refused to look at the dissipating mound of
dust that had been a hvmg man.

To the bardling's relief, the gorge widened again
after a short time of uneasy riding, the stone walls
dropping off into a tangle of greenery. Dazed by shock
and exhaustion, he sank into a weary stupor, clinging
bhndly to the saddle, barely aware of the world around
him.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          83

"Hey, Kevin! Kevin!"

Lydia was calling him. The bardling roused himself,
realizing with a start that night had stolen up on them.
They were stopped in the middle of a small meadow,
their horses grabbing greedily at the lush weeds and
grass. "We're stopping for the night?"

**I think that's a good idea, boy, don't you?"

Oh, he did, indeed.

Lydia, experienced traveller and adventurer that
she was, carried a pouch of healing herbs with which
she treated everyone's cuts and bruises, including the
bardling's sore hand.

"Now let's try to get some sleep," she ordered after
they'd finished a brief meal of cold rabbit and stale
bread. "It's been one hell of a tiring day!"

But for all his weariness, Kevin couldn't sleep. He
kept seeing death, and blood, and a man dying on the
point of his sword, another man withering to dust....
At last he moved away from the others to sit wrapped in
darkness without and within.

After a time a shadow stirred: Naicachal, moving
silently to join him.

"What's wrong, Kevin?" the Dark Elf asked softly.

"Nothing. I just can't sleep."

"You're still thinking of the battle, aren't you?"

"No  --  Yes  --  " The bardling broke off with a choked
little gasp. "Naitachal, t-this isn't going to mean much to
you, I mean you're a Dark Elf and a necromancer, you're
used to death and all that, but I... killed a man today."

"So you did."

Kevin stiffened at the casual reply. "That really
doesn't mean anything to you, does it?"

"Oh, it does." It was the barest whisper. " I cannot
remember the first time I was forced to take a life. But 1
have never totally forgotten the horror of it"

"You c-can't remember? How could you not
remember -- "

84 Mercedes Lackey S^Josepha Shenwcn

"Kevin, I don't know how much you know of my
people. Humans tell some truly bizarre stories about
the NitfwthiK, those you call the Dark Elves. But one
thing they say of us is quite true: we are indeed raised
without love, without anything that might weaken us. I
was singled out eariy in my childhood as one who held
sorcerous promise. That means only one thing to the
NithatfaU. For all the years of my life I have studied dark
magic, the magic of death. Necromancy, as you call it-
But ... ah. Powers, I am so very weary of it!"

Kevin glanced at the Dark Elfin surprise. "Then I
was right, wasn*t I? You were every bit as horrified as I
was when that bandit died from  --  from age."

"When I killed him, you mean? That life-draining
spell is called Archahai Necrawch, Spectre Touch in your
language." Naitachal shuddered, ever so faintly. "It is a
very dark thing, indeed. But there wasn't much time to
act, not with that knife about to slay you, and I couldn't
think of any other way to save you."

"You had a... sword."

"A Death Sword, Kevin, a temporary thing drawn
from sorcery's heart. You heard its joy in taking life, did
you not? That soft and empty laughter? I couldn't run
the risk of even scratching you with it."

Hearing the bitter self-loathing in the Dark Elf's
voice, the bardling cried, "I don't understand! If you
don't want to work death-spells, why do it? Why not try
something else?"

"There is nothing else, not for one of my kind. Not
yet, at any rate," the Dark Elf added softly. "I meant it
when I told you 1 intended to prove my people had
nothing to do with the stealing of Count Volmar's
niece- Love or hate, they are my people. But I have no
intention of ever returning to them."

"What will you do?"

"Aye, bardling! I don't know, not yet." Naitachal
paused. "You don't know how I envy you."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         85

"Me?"

"You know what you want from life. You have the joy
that is your music, and with it, the promise of bright,
happy, living magic."

"I don't understand! Surely your people have music,
too? I mean, they're elves, and I thought all elves  --  **

"We are not like the other elven races. We alone have
no music."

"No music! B-but that's terrible!"

"Oh, it is. Listening to your songs, bardling, has been
untold delight for me." The Dark Elf gave a soft, rueful
laugh. "Ay me. Here I try to help you, and end up tell-
ing you my problems instead 1"

Kevin blinked, all at once realizing that somewhere
during this strange conversation, the specter of the
bandit he'd killed had ceased to haunt him. "You haw
helped."

"Misery loving company, eh?" Whatever else he
might be, Naicachal was still Dark Elf enough to be
ashamed of showing weakness. "Ah, enough of this!"
he said abrupdy, getting to his feet. "The night is late,
boy. Go get some sleep."

But then Naitachal paused, teeth flashing in a sud-
den grin. "And if you tell anyone about this
conversation," he said, a touch too lightly, "I shall deny
it all!"

Chapter Vin

Something damp was hitting his face. For a sleepy
moment, Kevin thought he was bade in the castle, with
the squires playing one of their pranks on him. He
opened his eyes with a cry of:

"Will you stop --  "

"The rain?" Lydia cut in wryly. "Don't think any of us
can manage that**

Kevin sat up in dismay, clutching his cloak about
him. It wasn't much of a rain, more of a light but
persistent drizzle. "But it's going to wash away the
tracks!"

"Probably. Let's get going, boy. I want to get as far as
we can before that happens."

Gathering up his damp belongings, the bardling
muttered, "It never rains in the songs." At least the day
wasn't cold, but the ride was still going to be an
unpleasant one.

He hadn't guessed just how unpleasant As though
the previous day had never happened, the two elves
began bristling towards each other once more. And
Naitachal showed not the slightest sign of the lonely,
music-hungry soul of the night before.

I give up! Kevin thought. I just give up!

Of course the weather had a good deal to do with
deteriorating tempers. Kevin knew that. Not that such
wisdom helped him any. Discovering that even a rela-
tively lightweight mail shirt became incredibly
uncomfortable when wet, the bardling had to keep a

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         87

tight rein on anything he said, particularly when
Tich'ki made some waspish remark.

She can't help u, he forced himself to accept

The fairy, after all, had to be the most uncomfortable of
them all, constandy fluttering her wings in a vain attempt
to keep them dry- No wonder she was snapping at elf and
human indiscriminately! Too waterlogged for flight, she
must fed frighteningly helpless.

Lydia, meanwhile, fairly radiated angry frustration,
bent nearly double over her horse, muttering under
her breath as she hunted for the rapidly fading trail

It didn't help uncertain tempers to realize that they
were almost out of supplies for people and horses both.
Granted, the animals would probably be able to find
enough forage to keep them going, but it wasn't going
to be much fun hunting for game in this weather.

At least, Kevin thought, struggling for any sign of
good humor, the drizzle did seem to be letting up. Who
knew? Maybe the sun would even deign to put in an
appearance and dry everybody off.

But even as the first feeble rays did at last break
through the clouds, Lydia threw up her hands in dis-
gust "That does it"

"I take it the rain washed away the cracks?" Naitachal
asked.

"Hell, no! They aren't washed away, they simply dis-
appear, just like that! As though horse and rider, up
and vanished into the air." Lydia let out her breath in
an angry hiss. "I've had trails go cold on me before, but
I've never had onejust  --  stop!"

"Wonderful," Tich'ki said flatly. "Now what?"

What, indeed? After a moment, Kevin began, "I
think -- "

"We're going to have to go on to Westerin," Lydia
said, just as if he wasn't there.

Eliathanis shook his head. "There's no evidence they
rode that way."

88 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Shennan

"There's no evidence they didn't! Besides, the horses
need grain, and a hot meal and a bath wouldn't hurt
any of us, either."

"Ah, I think  --  " Kevin began again, but Naitachal
cut in:

"Lydia has a point. We would be more likely to leam
something important in a dty than out here in the mid-
dle of open country."

"That's a human city!" Eliathanis snapped. "How
willingly do you think they're going to admit a Dark
Elf?"

Naitachal shrugged. "About as willingly as they
would a White Elfin these uncertain days. But our
cloaks are hooded, after all. No one need know our
races, as long as we're careful."

"Huh! No one's going to bother a fairy!" Tich'ki
boasted.

"No one's going to bother vfith a fairy!" Lydia cor-
rected with a grin. "Not a little thing like you!"

"Little, is it?" Tich'ki pinched Lydia so hard the
woman jumped. "Little, is it?"

"Well, you ore little  -- Aie, stop that! I apologize!"

"Hey. remember me?" the bardling asked. "I've got
some say in this, too, and I -- "

"This is nonsense." Eliathanis shook his head again,
stubbornly. "I think we should continue to search out
here."

"Search what?" Lydia exploded. "I tell you, there isn't
the slightest due. There isn't even the slightest trace of a
clue! In the city, it'll be a different matter. Give *em
enough money, and we'll be able to bribe nearly
anyone to tell us whatever we need to know."

The White Elf straightened, staring at her as though
she'd uttered an obscenity. "Humans lie," he said
shordy." How much truth do you think you will get out
of anyone who can be bought?"

"He's scared," Tich'ki taunted. "Poor elfis scared the

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          89

humans will throw things at him. Dirty his pretty face."

Eliathanis took a furious swipe at her, but the fairy,
fluttering heavily because of her still-damp wings, soil
managed to evade him, mocking him with, "Temper,
temper!"

"Stop that, Tich'ki!" Lydia caught one small foot and
pulled the fairy back down behind her on the horse. "I
say we go to Westerin."

"And I," Naitachal voted.

"Me, too." Tich'ki grinned sharply. "I lake human
dues. So many folks careless with their belongings. So
many... opportunities."

"Huh," Lydia muttered. "Just don't get us thrown
into prison."

"Have I ever?"

"Yes!"

The fairy ruffled her wings. "Thought you'd forgot-
ten all about that- It wasn't wy fault the gems fell into
your pouch!"

"Oh no. The pouch just happened to come open at
just the right time,"

"Well... it might have had a litde help..."

"And it's not going to have any more help! If I find
your fingers anywhere near that pouch, Tich'ki, I
swear I'll cut 'cm off!"

"Spoilsport."

"I sure hope so! What about you, Eliathanis? Are
you with us or not?"

After a reluctant moment, the White Elf nodded.
"Not that it will do any good."

"Hey!" Kevin shouted with all his breath, and the
others stared at him as though seeing him for the first
time- "Remember me? I get some say in this, too!"

"All right, Kevin," Lydia said, a litde too cheerfully. As
though she's hwnormg a chM! Kevin fumed. "What do you
say?"

What could he say? No matter what Count Volmar

90 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

had said, Kevin knew he certainly wasn't the leader of
this group! "I say," the bardling grumbled, "we go to
Westerin."

Kevin reined in his horse without even being aware
he'd done it, staring in sheer wonder.

"Westerin," he breathed.

Oh, he had been taught his geography as a child. He
knew that the walled city lay at the junction of two trad-
ing routes, on a wide, fertile plain fed by a tranquil
river. But hearing about it and actually seeing it were
two very different things! Westerm was a beautifully
picturesque sight beneath the dramatically cloudy sky,
the thick, crenellated wall that girded it broken at
regular intervals by pointed towers topped in bronze
that gleamed like gold in the shifting rays of sunlight.

The city was also much larger than the bardling had
ever imagined  -- no, no, he thought, it wasn't merely
iarge, it was enormoits\

Particularly, Kevin added wryly to himself, com-
pared to quiet little Bracklin.

The others were riding on. The bardling urged his
horse after them. trying to ignore Tich'ki's mocking,
"Boy acts like he's never seen a dty before."

Well, all right, maybe he hadn't! What of it?

With an indignant sniff, Kevin straightened in the
saddle, doing his best to pretend there was nothing at
all amazing about those thick stone walls towering over
them as they approached, nothing at all amazing about
the mass of buildings he glimpsed through the open
gates.

But for all his attempts at keeping calm, the
bardling's heart had begun pounding wildly.

Westerm. Westerin!

Why, the very name rang with adventure!

Chapter IX

Despite Eliathanis' worries, they had no trouble at an
getting into Westerin. In fact, the dty guards hardly
glanced their way, waving the party inside with bored
indifference.

Kevin struggled to copy that indifference. But how
could he possibly keep from gawking? The street up
which they were riding was wide enough to hold them
easily even if they had been riding abreast And it was
paved with cobblestones! Only the innkeeper of the
Blue Swan back in Bracklin had been able to afford
those expensive things.

And how could Kevin not stare at all the buildings?
He'd never seen so many in one place. He'd never
dreamed so many could exist! They seemed to have
been set out helter-skelter, as though each owner had
put his house wherever he wanted it, without worrying
about how the whole thing was going to look. The
casual jumble of buildings created a maze of smaller
streets branching out in all directions.

Kevin shook his head in confusion. Not only was
there no pattern to the way the buildings were laid out,
no two houses looked alike. Some of those he glimpsed
were small, low to the ground, looking somehow meek
amid all ihe busde, of the homey, watde-and-daub sort
familiar to him from Bracklin, even if their roofs here
were of red tile rather than thatch. Other houses were
eccentrically painted half-timbered buildings, their
upper stories leaning drunkenly together over their
narrow streets, only wooden props keeping them

92 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sfwnnan

apart. Kevin gave up trying to be aloof and stared
openly when he saw a row of out and out mansions of
beautifully worked stone, some of them, amazingly,
three or four stories high.

And the people! There must be thousands here
inside the encircling city walls, all of them speaking a
jumble of languages. Their tunics and gowns and
cloaks were a dazzling confusion of colors: red, blue,
gold, even some hues he couldn't name.

And despite the White Elf's uneasiness, not all those
folks were human. In one block alone. Kevin saw two
haughty, elegant White Elves stride arrogantly by,
acting as though humans didn*t even exist, a couple of
more relaxed people whose not-quite human features
and ever so slightly pointed ears revealed them as half-
elven, three hulking guards who almost certainly were
nearly full-blooded ogres, even a pair ofArachnia
dressed in priestly robes, chittering together in a lan-
guage that seemed made up only of consonants.

Rows of shops lined the street, and the air rang with
the cries of merchants bawling out their wares in half a
dozen dialects. The bardling ached to examine the pile
of scrolls one dealer offered, or the harps and lutes
hanging in another booth, but he didn't dare let the
rest of his party get too far ahead. He'd never be able to
find them again in this crowd!

"It stinks," Eliathanis muttered.

Well, maybe it did, of animal and cooking oil and too
many people of all sorts crowded in together, but over-
whelmed by wonder as he was, Kevin hardly minded.

Lydia unerringly led the way to a livery stable, a well-
kept place warm with the friendly smells of horses and
hay.

"Smells better than the city," the White Elf muttered.

"Stop complaining." As Kevin dismounted, the
woman asked in an undertone, "Before we start spend-
ing: you do have the bribe money with you, don't you?"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          93

The bardling started to pat the purse Count Volmar
had given him, but Lydia caught his hand in an angry
grip. "Don't be a fool! You want to bring every thief in
town down on us?"

Stung, he straightened. "I am not a fool."

But Lydia, bargaining with the stablekeep, ignored
him. Only after she was finished, and she and the stolid
man had shaken on the deal. did she turn back to
Kevin.

"I don't like the idea of you wandering around
without a weapon. The first thing we do, kid, is get you
a new sword." She glanced at the elves. "We'll be back
as soon as we can, okay?"

They nodded. Lydia grinned.

"Come on, Kevin."

As they stepped back out onto the streets of
Westerin, the bardling was overwhelmed  --  and this
time not by wonder- While he'd been up on a horse's
back, he'd been raised up out of the worst of it, but now
the crowd surrounded him like a noisy, smelly ocean
trying to drown him.

"This way," Lydia called, and he struggled after her.
After the first few "Excuse me's" and "Pardon me*s,"
Kevin gave up and pushed and shoved his way like
everybody else, elbows jabbing his ribs and feet tromp-
ing on his toes- City life might be exciting, but he
guessed it wasn't so glamorous after all!

"Looks like a likely place," Lydia noted.

Kevin frowned, puzzled. The only indication that
this might be a weaponry shop was the sign creaking
back and forth over the door, roughly painted with a
weather-worn picture of crossed swords. Ah, of course!
With all the different races in Westerin, who knew how
many of them could actually read the common tongue
 --  or read at all? But anyone could figure out what a
simple picture meant!

He followed Lydia inside, and found himself in a

94

Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sfierman

small, crowded room, facing a counter piled with a
staggering variety of knives. Behind the counter a cur-
tained doorway presumably led to a storeroom, and
axes and swords and the occasional shield  --  its surface
left blank so it could be painted with a customer's coat-
of-arms  --  covered most of the walls.

"What can I do for ya?" a rough but undeniably
female voice asked.

Kevin jumped. He could have sworn the room was
empty except for Lydia and himself.

"Down here, boy."

He looked. The look became a stare.

A woman she most certainly was, but one who barely
came to his waist  -- and who was definitely not of
human-kind. Buxom and brawny, she was almost as
wide around as she was tall, but Kevin suspected that
little of that roundness was fat. Her flat, high-cheek-
boned face was no longer young, and gray streaked the
red braids coiled in an intricate knot on her head, but
she looked about as fragile as a boulder.

"I'm Grakka, owner of this place." The woman
stopped with an amused snort. "What's the matter,
boy? Never seen a dwarfbefore?"

"I... uh... no. I mean, yes. I mean, one of your race
stopped in Bracklin once, my  --  my village. But he was
a/^! And all the songs say -- "

"That dwarves only come in one kind: male?" She
gave a sharp bark of a laugh. "Where'd ya think we
came from? Jumped up outa rocks all full-grown? Bah,
humans! Va come to gawk, boy, or to buy?"

"To buy," Lydia said. "The kid needs a new weapon."

Kevin shook the fragments of the broken sword out
of the scabbard. "Can you fix this?"

"What d'ya take me for, a miracle-worker?** Grakka
lifted the broken blade to the light, squinting along its
length. "Piece a* junk."

"A count gave it to me!"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          95

"Then his armorer's been cheating him." She pulled
aside the curtain, yelling into the back of the store,
"Elli! Yo, EUi\ Wake up, girl, we got customers! Get me
the rack ofone-handers  --  Yeah, that's the one."

A slightly smaller figure staggered out with an
armload of swords, which she dropped on the counter
with a clatter. Kevin stared all over again, but this time
in appreciation.

Elli was almost certainly Grakka's daughter, but even
though the bardling couldn't deny she was almost as
squat and powerfully built as her mother, she was still
as pretty in her own nonhuman way as any girl in
Bracklin. Her eyes were big and blue, sparkling with
mischief as she looked at him, her nose was pertly up-
turned, and her long yellow braids curved smoothly
down her simple blue tunic and skirt and the curves of
her buxom young body in a way that made Kevin swal-
low hard.

He froze in panic as she swayed that curvy body to
his side.

"I'm Elli. But you already know that. What's your
name?"

"I  --  I  --  I'm... uh... Kevin."

"Uh-Kevin?" she teased.

"N-no.Just Kevin."

"That's a nice name." She fixed her big blue eyes on
his face. "Do you think my name is nice, too?"

ttT ___ »

"Elli!" her mother snapped, "Stop bothering the boy.
You, boy, come here."

Elli flounced away, pouting deliriously. Sheepishly,
Kevin went up to the counter. "Here," Grakka said
shortly. "Try this."

Kevin looked at the sword in dismay. "It's so..."

"Plain?" Grakka finished. "Pretty never won battles.
Go ahead. Try it out."

Kevin took a few practice swings, then tried an

96 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

experimental pass or two. He straightened, smiling. "I
like it. It feels... right."

"Good. Because from what your warrior buddy here
tells me, there's no dme to design a sword specially for
you." She gave him a speculative glance. "Too bad. It's
always a challenge to make a sword that'll be useful for
a reasonable while for you younglings who are still
changing build almost every day." Grakka shrugged.
"Ah well, some other time. That'll be five gold crowns."

"Five..."

"Go wait outside," Lydia murmured to him. "1*11 take
care of this."

Kevin knew that an adventurer as professional as
Lydia would know how to bargain much better than
someone from a small town. But that didn't stop him
from feeling a surge of annoyance at being sent away
like a little boy.

"Hi, Kevin," a voice purred.

"Uh,hi,EllL"

She smiled up at him as brightly as a sunny day. "I
have to spend all my time in this dull old place. I never
get to go anywhere. But an adventurer like you must
have seen all ants of wonderful things."

Westerinrfaff?

"I, uh ... " Kevin wasn't about to confess the truth
about Bracklin and his drab life to this lovely creature.
"Sure. Why don't we sit down "  --  he patted a bench
along the wall  --  " and I'll tell you all about them."

Maybe this wasn't going to be such a painful wait
after all. Kevin began weaving a tale of Bardic wonder
about his adventures in Count Volmar's casde and on
the road to Westerin. As Elli stared at him adoringly, he
turned the skirmish with the bandits into epic adven-
ture, spinning it out until he and his party had
overcome a whole army of outlaws.

"Why, that's wonderfull" Elli breathed, edging closer
to him.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION          97

She was, he discovered, wearing some sort of sweet,
flowery perfume, a heady scent Warily, he let his hand
slide towards her, and felt a shock race through him
when her own small hand, rough with work but deli-
cate all the same, dosed about his fingers. Breathless,
the bardling sat frozen, not daring to move, wondering
what would happen if he tried to put an arm around
her. About him the bustle ofWesterin seemed as distant
and remote as a dream.

Kevin nearly yelped when Lydia tapped him on the
shoulder. "Wake up, lover boy. Here's your sword."

Blushing, Kevin released EUi's hand and scrambled
to his feet

"You owe Grakka two gold crowns, four silver,"
Lydia continued blandly. "And you, Erii  --  "

"That's Elli!" the dwarf girl said indignantly.

"Whatever. Your mother's calling you. Here's the
money we owe her. Now, scoot!"

Elli scuttled into the shop. But she paused just long
enough in the doorway to blow Kevin a kiss.

Lydia chuckled. "Pretty, isn'tshe? Can't be a day over
fifty."

"Fifty!"

"Young for a dwarf. Momma Grakka has to be push-
ing a hundred, if not more. Yup, little EUi's got to be
fifty, all right, just about the dwarven age of puberty.
Hot for marriage, too, or ... ah ... whatever. Grakka
has her hands full!"

She glanced at Kevin, who was still staring towards
the weapons shop, and chuckled anew. "Forget it, kid.
These human-Other romances never work out. Be-
sides, in a few more years, sweet little Elli is gonna be all
grown up and look just like her tough old momma."

Oh. Well. The bardling sighed, disillusioned.

"Come on, Kevin. The elves must be bored out of
their minds. And who knows what mischief Tich'ki's
working!"

98 MercedesLackey S^Josef)ha Sherman

What Tich'ki had been doing was trying to teach the
two elves how to play cards. She had already, it turned
out, won one night's free lodging for their horses from
the stablekeep.

"Never even noticed the cards were marked, eh?**
Lydia murmured wryly. "And don't give me that 'in-
nocent litde me* look, either, my dear. I know you far
too well! Let's get out of here before we wind up in
prison."

If anything, the crowds seemed to have gotten worse
as the day progressed. Kevin, one hand on his new
sword, the other on his purse, struggled his way along,
beginning to long for the nice, peaceful, open
countryside.

All at once, a particularly rough body barrelled into
him.

"Hey!" the bardling yelled. "Why don't you watch
where -- "

A second man hurded into him, nearly sending the
bardling sprawling. For one horrifying moment he was
sure he was going to go down, and be trampled by the
heedless crowd, but then Naitachal's hand closed about
his arm, pulling him back to his feet. The Dark Elf ges-
tured the whole party into an alcove where they could
be out of the stream of traffic,

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, I  --  " Kevin broke off abruptly. Something
didn't feel quite right... "Wait a minute." Oh no, oh
no, this couldn't be! The bardling searched himself
frantically, then cried in panic, "It's gone! The purse
Count Volmar gave me is gone!"

Chapter X

"Oh hell," Lydia muttered. "I knew this was going to
happen."

"That man  --  " Kevin gasped out, "the one who
josded me  --  he must have stolen my money! We have
to -- "

"Have to what? Do you see him anywhere?"

"No, but the guard  --  "

"Did you see his face? No? Can you tell them any-
thing about what he looks like?"

"No..."

Lydia let out her breath in a gusty sigh. "Give it up,
boy. The money's gone."

"But..." Kevin struggled to keep his voice from
shaking from sheer panic.

All about him, the city continued its busy life, not
caring whether he lived or died, and he had nothing
left but the few small coins in his own purse. They
weren't enough to let him survive, let alone bribe
anyone. He'd failed the count. Worse, he'd failed
Charina!

Hopelessly the bardling asked, "What are we going
todo.-.?"

"Well, we can't do anything without money, that's for
sure," Lydia said brusquely.

"Then it's foolish to remain here." Eliathanis pulled
his cloak about himself, adjusting his hood with fas-
tidious care. "I said we should never have come to
Westerin."

"But -- "

100 Mercedes Lackey ^Sjosepha Sherman

"We've wasted enough time, I am going to do what I
should have done from the start, and explore on my
own."

"No!" Kevin cried. "You can't abandon  --  " But the
White Elf had already vanished into the crowds. "  -- 
the team," the bardling finished helplessly. "Naitachal!
You can't leave, too!"

"No?11 The Dark Elf's eyes glinted from beneath his
hood, cool and unreadable as blue ice. "'There is more

to be learned here if I'm not burdened with... anyone
else."

"But  --  wait  --  ** Kevin whirled to Lydia. " I suppose
you're going to go offon your own, too!"

"Hell, no. I don'tabandon the helpless, remember?"
All at once she grinned. "Hey, cheer up, kid. It's not so
bad."

"Not so bad! We don't have any money!"

"I've been stuck penniless in cides before, some of
them a lot nastier to strangers than this one, and I've al-
ways managed to land on my feet. Let me think a
minute... Ha, yes. Tich'ki, what do you think of this?"

She murmured in the fairy's ear- Tich'ki laughed
and yanked a lock of the woman's hair- "Ah yes, of
course!"

"All right, then. Come on, Kevin."

"Where are we going?"

She didn't answer. Kevin, struggling to keep up with
the woman, who was knifing her way skillfully through
the crowd, hardly noticed the buzz of fairy wings in his
ear. But he did notice tough little fingers snatching the
pouch holding his last few coins.

"Hey! Tich'ki, give that back!"

The fairy ignored him, dropping the pouch into
Lydia's hands. Kevin hurried after her.

"Lydia! Come back here' Where are you going?
What are you  --  Lydia!"

He stopped, staring up at the building blocking his

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         101

path. Where in the world ... ? A temple? Oh yes, such
an overblown stone and plaster monstrosity couldn't
be anything but a temple! Kevin glanced briefly up at
the busy, brighdy painted facade. Over the door was an
ornately carved and gilded relief of a very smug group
of merchants kneeling in prayer. Praying to whom? In
this city, the bardling thought drily, it could only be the
Great God Money!

Ach, no, that wasn't nice. Besides, the last thing he
could afford right now was getting Heavenly Powers
angry at him!

Tich'ki didn't have any such qualms. She vanished
into the temple with such an evil titter that Kevin stared
after her, particularly when Lydia chuckled and fol-
lowed.

Oh Powers, the/re going to rob the temple, I know it. How
can /possibly stop them before  -- 

But Lydia strode boldly down the length of the vast
inner chamber without pause, her boot heels clicking
on the smooth stone floor Ignoring the busy religious
murals on walls and columns (at least Kevin assumed
they were religious murals), ignoring the few worship-
pers and the gaudy gilded shrine (the bardling still
couldn't figure out to whom the temple was sacred),
she pulled aside a curtain shrouding the far wall.
revealing a tiny door. The woman rapped on it three
times, then two, then three again, and Kevin cried in
sudden comprehension:

"You've been here before!"

Lydia grinned. "The boy's a genius! How do you
think I found the livery stable and Grakka's shop so
easily?"

"Oh." Feeling exceedingly stupid, the bardling mut-
tered, "Of course."

The door swung open soundlessly. "Come on, kid,"
Lydia said- "Churches are always where the money is.
Let's go."

102 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

Kevin warily followed her down a short flight of
stairs. He paused halfway down, glancing about

The room at the bottom of the seeps was small and
windowless, but elegant enough, with walls and tables
of sleekly polished wood. It was full of people sitting at
or standing around those tables, some of them so richly
 --  or gaudily  --  clad the bardling's eyebrows rose in
surprise. The only sounds were the faint rustle of
cards, the clink of coins, and an occasional sigh or
smothered oath.

"This is a gambling house!" Kevin exclaimed, feeling
a wicked little thrill of excitement run through him.
They hardly had this sort of thing back in Bracklin!
"Lydia, what do you think you're doing?"

"Earning us some funds."

"B-but those are the only coins we've got left! If you
lose them..."

Lydia shrugged. "Whatever the Fates decree." As a
man threw down his hand and stalked off in disgust,
the woman flopped down onto the vacant chair.
"What's the game?"

No one even glanced up. "Five-card Tarot," some-
one muttered. "Pentades wild."

"Fine." To Kevin's horror, she dumped all his coins
out on the table in front other. "I'm in."

The bardling had no idea what the rules of Five-card
Tarot might be. He'd never even heard of the game
before! Chewing anxiously on his lower lip, he watched
as Lydia thoughtfully kept or discarded the brightly
colored cards, or glanced every now and then at her
equally pensive fellow players: three middle-aged
human men and an elven half-blood of indeterminate
age and gender. With each round, the bardling saw
with a shudder, more and more of his precious coins
were added to the pot.

"I'm out," one of the humans muttered suddenly,
throwing down his cards and leaving.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         103

The others never even noticed. After another hand:

"Me, too," said the half-elf with a shrug, vanishing
into the crowd.

Lydia and the two remaining men never flickered an
eyelash. One of the men, Kevin noted, was a bushy-
bearded fellow in somber red robes, while the other
was a thin, clean-shaven man, smooth of skin and
dressed in an elegant tunic ofblue velvet, but they were
alike in their impassive concentration. The game went
on, cards being selected, discarded. The pile of coins in
the center of the table grew ever larger.

If she loses now, the bardling thought with a shudder,
we'll have nothing left!

But without warning, Lydia threw down her hand
with a cry of triumph.

"There! Beatthat!"

Kevin saw that the cards she'd been holding were
the King, Queen, Knight and Page of Swords, and the
Five of Wands. It was obviously a good hand, because
Bushy Beard and Smooth Skin threw down their cards
in disgust. Smiling sweedy, Lydia raked in the pot

"Come on!" Kevin whispered. "We've got our
money back. Let's get out of here!"

"Are you joking?" she whispered back. "That's not
enough to bribe anyone! Besides, I've just begun."

"What do you mean? Lydia, if you lose --  "

"I'm not going to lose- All right, gentlemen," the
woman added in a bright voice. "Shall we try one more
time?"

Bushy Beard and Smooth Skin grumbled. But to
Kevin's horror, they agreed. This time, as the winner of
the last round, Lydia was the dealer, sending the cards
flashing out in neat, colorful piles to the other players.
"Same stakes?"

"Same stakes," they muttered, almost as one.

She's going to lose. I know she's going to lose. Wewon'thave
a coin Ie ft and -- Oh,fknewit!

104 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Shennan

Bushy Beard impassively raked in his winnings.

"Lydia!" Kevin whispered frantically. "That's
enough! Let's get out of here while we still have some-
thing left!"

"Hush. One more round, gentlemen?"

Smooth Skin nodded. Bushy Beard, fingering his
winnings, was slower to agree.

"All right," he muttered at last

Lydia smiled. "But we've been playing a kid's game
so far. How about some real risks, eh? Major Arcana
and double stakes, this rime? And winner takes all?"

Both men hesitated this time. Then Bushy Beard
shrugged. "Why not?"

"What about you, my friend?" Lydia crooned.

Smooth Skin sighed. "All right. Butjust this one
hand. I have... other engagements."

"We'll try not to keep you too long," Lydia said drily.

Fuming and terrified, Kevin watched Bushy Beard
shuffle the entire deck this time, Major and Minor
Arcana together, and deal out the bright-hued cards.
Fists denched, he watched Lydia thoughtfully pick up
then discard card after card, her face a studious blank.

"Raise," she said after a while, pushing a few coins
towards the center of the table.

"Raise," echoed Smooth Skin, doing the same.

Bushy Beard hesitated a long time, but at last added
his share of coins.

The game went on. And on. Each time it was Lydia's
turn, she studied her cards for a time, then called out:

"Raise."

That's the last of our winnings! Kevin realized. If she loses
this hand, we'll be beggared!

It was Smooth Skin who hesitated this time, hand
toying with the coins in front of him. "Raise," he said at
last.

Bushy Beard swore under hisbrcath. "Too rich forme,"
he muttered, throwing down his cards and stalking away.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         105

Lydia smiled. "Show 'em," she said.

Smooth Skin showed his teeth in a sharp grin. "Beat
this."

He held The Emperor. The Empress, The Fool, The
Knight of Swords and The Five of Wands.

"Interesting." Lydia's voice was grim.

She's lost, I know she's lost. We're lost.

But then the woman's gloomy face broke into a grin.
"What a shame you didn't have another Major Arcana
card! BeatAis/"

Her hand held The Magician, The Hanged Man,
The Sun, The Tower, and The Lovers.

All Major Arcana cards. Does that mean...?

it did. With a snarl. Smooth Skin got to his feet and
stormed off, leaving Lydia to rake in the entire pot.

"Now can we please get out of here?" Kevin asked,
sure Smooth Skin was going to return with thugs.

"Hey, kid, 1 know when to quit!" Lydia paused just
long enough to make the bardling's heart race, then
grinned. "And now, my friend, is definitely the timel"

Only when they were outside and halfway down the
block did it occur to Kevin that he hadn't seen Tich'ki
since they'd entered the temple. As though just diinking
other was enough to coryure her up, the fairy suddenly
appeared at his side, wings fluttering, grinning her feral
grin and waving a colorful piece of parchment

"Wait a minute," Kevin said. "That's a tarot card!"

"Two points to the clever lad with the lute!"

"But  --  Let me see that!" The bardling snatched the
card from Tich'ki's hand before she could dart away.
"This is one of the cards from the deck Lydia was using!
It's The High Priestess, one of the Major Ar -- Ha! No
wonder that man couldn't get all the Major Arcana
cards! Lydia, you were cheating}"

"Shh! You want the guards after us?"

"But  --  but  --  you were! You and Tich'ki were in it
together, weren't you? What did you do, Tich'ki? Use

106 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

fairy magic so no one would notice you? That's it, isn't
it? You looked at the other players' hands and slipped
Lydia the right cards  --  You were both cheating!"

Lydia stopped. Placing her hands firmly on the
bardling's shoulders, she told him, "My naive young
friend, what did you think the others were doing? Hell,
boy, we were all cheating, I realized that from the first
hand! ljust cheated better, that's all." Grinning, she
released him. "You know who those two men were?
The fellow with the beard  --  well, I don't remember his
name; it's been a while. But he is a very successful gem
merchant. The other one, the beardless guy, hasn't
changed much at all. His name is Selden, and he sits on
the dty council. Neither one of them are going to miss
what we took from them!"

"You Stole from a city official!"

"He's not going to let anyone know he was  --  let's
see, how does the formal term go?  --  participating in
an illicit gambling operation* Come on, Kevin: smile!
We've got our funding back, and more. Now let's go
bribe ourselves somebody useful."

But just then an angry voice shouted, "There she is!
That's the woman who robbed me! Guards, after her!"

"Oh, right," Kevin said sarcastically. "He's not going
to let anyone know."

And then he and Lydia were running for their lives.

Chapter XI

As the guards charged, Tich*ki leaped straight up
into the air, wings a blur. "See you later!"

She darted offat top speed as Kevin and Lydia raced
through the crowded streets ofWesterin, weaving in
and out of knots of people, the guards' heavy footsteps
pounding behind them. The air rang with cries of
"Thieves! Stop them!" But no one even tried to block
their path.

Of course not! Kevin realized. Nobody wants to risk get-
ting involved!

"This way!" Lydia gasped, pointing to a narrow alley.

But Kevin stumbled to a stop, staring. In there^ The
place stank! It was filthy with piles of garbage and who
knew what else. Worse, it also looked like a dead end!

He almost hesitated too long. "Got him!" a guard
yelled. A rough hand grabbed at the bardling*s arm,
nearly pulling the lute from his back. Kevin kicked out
savagely and heard a grunt of pain. The guard lost his
hold, and the bardling dove inco the alley.

Wonderfrd.NowrveassatiUedacitygtwrd.Ju^wcmder^

Trying not to breathe too deeply, he raced after
Lydia, struggling to keep his footing on the slippery,
muddy earth, telling himself the puddles he couldn't
help splashing through were water, only water.

None of it seemed to bother the guards. They came
pounding after him, swearing, armor and weapons
dashing as they ran.

"Kevin!" Lydia whispered, snatdiing at him.

Where did she think she was going? That didn't even

108 Mercedes Lackey ^josepha Sherman

qualify as an alley! It was only a  --  a crevice, a space
where the backs of two buildings didn't quite meet.

"Come on, Kevin!"

Well, if she could fit...

The bardling hurried in after her, trying not to let his
lute bang against a wall. How weird! None of the houses
in this area seemed to meet exactly, and as a result there
was a whole little maze ofnot-quite alleys back here. He
hoped the woman knew where she was going, because if
she didn't, they were going to wind up good and lost  -- 

Lydia stopped so suddenly Kevin nearly crashed
into her. She held up a hand, listening. "Damn!"

"They're sdll after us."

"Right. They don't usually follow anyone in here.
Must be an election year." The woman shrugged-
"We'U have to try something else.**

She started off again. Kevin, who had just barely
caught his breath, groaned and followed. They sud-
denly came out into a wider way, the back alley of a
street of shops. The bardling noticed the rickety piles of
storage crates and barrels and thought in sudden in-
spiration, What if...?

"Lydia, wait!"

He pointed. She stared, then grinned in com-
prehension. "You're catching on fast, kid!"

As the guards charged out into the alley, they yelled
to see their prey standing as if winded, leaning help-
lessly against a wail. "There they are! Take them!"

But the boy kicked at a crate and the woman at a bar-
rel, and a whole avalanche of crates and barrels came
thundering down, nearly burying the guards and
totally blocking the alley.

"That does it!" Lydia crowed. "Let's get out of here
before they can dig themselves out."

The small, open square might have been grand at
one rime, but Westerin had grown out and away from it

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         109

long years back. Now it was a shabby little place, cob-
blestones cracked and broken where they hadn't been
stolen outright. In the center of the square stood a
fountain so chipped and worn Kevin guessed water
hadn't flowed in it since Westerin had been founded.

Its rim made a fine place for two fugitives to sit and
catch their breach. "No sign of the guards," Lydia said
after a time, "Guess they finally lost us."

"What do you suppose happened to Tich'ki?"

Lydia shrugged. "She can take care of herself. No
one's going to find a fairy who doesn't want to be
found!" She glanced at Kevin. "That idea with the bar-
rels was pretty clever. How*d you think of it?**

"I didn't," the bardling confessed. "I remembered it
from an adventure ballad."

"Ha! Looks like music's good for something more
than just pretty notes!"

Oh no, he wasn't going to fall into her trap. Biting
back his indignant reply, Kevin asked instead, "Where
are we, Lydia?"

The woman glanced about. "Pretty much where we
want to be. In the.. -shall we say... less elegant section of
town. The section that every dty has, where the guards
don't go too often and never alone, and where no one asks
too many questions." At his raised eyebrow, the woman
addedjauntily, "Just trying t& talk like a proper Bard!"

/ will not let her bait me! " In other words, we're in the
slums."

"Exactly. Just the spot for a few carefully placed
bribes."

"Merer

"Of course here. You don't find the weasels and rats
we need in palaces!"

"What's to keep those rats from calling the guards?"

Lydia laughed. "The kind of folks we're going to
meet are hardly going to be on the best of terms with
guards. They're not going to call 'em down on us."

110 MercedesLackey ^Josepha Sherman

"Sure. Just like that city official wouldn't."
"Huh! This adventure's turning you too cynical, kid!
Come on, let's go rat-hunting."

The first tavern was small and crowded, and stank of
stale beer and staler humanity. But at least, Kevin
thought warily, the men inside looked reasonably nor-
mal: sweaty, thick-set laborers and dock workers who'd
stopped in for a quick drink.

Lydia shook her head in disapproval. "This won't
do. Too honest Come on."

The second tavern hid in the basement of a half-
collapsed tenement It was so dark in there that for one
nervous moment Kevin, poised on the top of a short, rick-
ety stairway, couldn't see anything at all. As his eyes
adjusted to the gloom, he swallowed drily. This duster of
men and... not-quite humans lurking down there in the
shadows coukm'thave had anything honest to thematalL

"Better," muttered Lydia, her busy eyes checking
out the dientel and scouring out possible escape routes
at the same time. "Stay here."

She moved easily through the crowd, stopping a
moment here to ask a question or two, slapping away a
roving hand there, never losing her smile or her padence.

After what seemed an eternity to the bardling, Lydia
returned to Kevin's side. "Three invitations to ...
ah ... bed, two to sic and party a while, one to buy
you  --  " she grinned at his outrage  --  " but no useful
information. Besides," the woman added teasingly,
"the price for you wasn't nearly high enough!"

She scurried out before he could find an answer.

The third tavern was almost as murky. The furnish-
ings consisted only of a few splintery tables and chairs,
and the thin layer of sawdust covering the floor was
sticky with what Kevin prayed was only beer. The cus-
tomers were an ugly lot, quite literally, hunched over
their drinks like so many bitter predators, making the

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         111

crowd in the last place look almost wholesome.

Not a one of them showed the slightest interest in
kidnappers or a missing noblewoman. But before
Lydia and Kevin could leave, a hulk of a man, big and
ugly enough to be almost all ogre  --  lurched to his feet
and staggered towards Lydia.

"H'Uo, b'oot'ful. Come 'n have uh drink."

"Some other time, handsome."

"I said, have uh drink!"

"And I said, some other time."

As she turned to leave, the man caught her arm in a
meaty hand. "You ain't goin' nowhere, b'oot'ful."

Lydia sighed. "They never learn," she murmured.

Before the bardling could even start to move, the
woman whirled on her captor, knee shooting up with
devastating force and deadly accuracy. As the man
doubled over in speechless agony, Lydia pulled free and
smiled sweetly at Kevin, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"Shall we leave?" she asked.

The bardling glanced warily around the room. No
one seemed to have noticed what had just happened.
Even so, he had to fight the urge to back out of there,
hand on sword hilt. Once they were safely outside on
the street, Kevin exploded:

"What in the name of all the Powers did you think
you were doing?"

"Avoiding an unwanted drink."

"But  --  but he might have been armed! He might
have killed you!"

"And the roof might have caved in on us all. It didn't
He didn't. Kevin, credit me with enough wit to know
when someone's carrying weapons. Or is sober
enough to be dangerous. The poor idiot had it coming
to him, and I just hope his less-than-friends back there
don't slit his throat while he's helpless."

"But -- you -- "

"Look, kid, this son of thing happens all the time

112 Mercedes Lackey ^josepha Sherwan

when you happen no be both a warrior and a woman. **

"Well, maybe it wouldn't happen so often if you just
didn't dress so  -- so  --  "

"So what, Kevin?"

He shook his head, miserably embarrassed, wishing
he'd kept his mouth shut "You know."

"Ah, our litde bardling is a prude!"

"I am nod But you  --  "

"Go around asking for it? Is that what you're trying
to say? Listen to me, and listen well: I am a woman in a
man's world. I'm not complaining; that's just the way
things are. And as a woman, sure, I could wear a nice,
proper gown that restricted every step I took, the sort
of thing a lady wears  --  and get killed the first time I
needed to move quickly. I could wear full armor, too,
always assuming I could afford the expensive stun* -- 
but I spend a lot of my life on board ships. People who
wear full armor on ships tend to have really short lives
if they fall overboard!"

"I... uh... never thought of that..."

"I realize that!" All at once, Lydia grinned. "Besides,
when I do have trouble, the fools are generally so busy
looking at my ... ah... endowments that they never
see my knee or fist coming. So now, enough lecturing.
We sdll have some rat-hundng to do!"

She strode boldly away. Kevin gulped and followed,
deciding that Lydia wasn't as dumb as she looked. She
might be rough in manners and language  -- but she
certainly wasn't dumb at all.

Kevin sank wearily to a bench, hardly caring that the
cheaply made thing creaked alarmingly and
threatened to collapse. How many taverns had it been
now? Ten? Fifty? A hundred? By this point he'd seen so
many roughnecks, so many weird, ugly humans and
Others, so much emptiness or depravity in so many
eyes, that he didn't think anything could shock him any

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         113

more. If Death Itself came up to this table, the bardling
mused listlessly, he'd probably just tell It to go have a
nice day somewhere else.

Lydia, who in the course of their hunt had dealt with
a half-dozen would-be suitors, showed not the slightest
sign of weariness.

Well, sure. She's probably ttsed to tavern-hopping. This is
probably tame to her!

He looked down in dismay at the warm, watery beer
in the flagon before him. At least he wasn't expected to
finish the stuff. How anyone could actually want to  -- 

"Hey, kid, look who I've found."

Lydia was returning, pulling someone with her.
Kevin stared. An Arachnia! But clearly one that had
fallen on hard times. Where D*Krikas had been an
elegant figure, spotlessly dean, dark chitin shining
with health, this being was downright shoddy, its com-
pound eyes lacking any trace of animation, its tall body
folded into a weary stoop chat left it no taller than the
woman. The gray cloak that seemed to be an Arachnia
trademark was worn and ragged, so filthy it looked as
though it had never been washed, and the being's
chitin was so dull and scaly Kevin wondered if it was
possible for an Arachnia to have the mange.

Lydia didn't seem to care. Slapping the Arachnia on
its back, making the thin being stagger, she said heart-
ily, "This is... what did you say your name was, pal?"

"D'Riksin," the being murmured.

"D'Riksin," Lydia echoed. "Sit you down here,
D'Riksin, my friend, and have a drink with us."

She pushed. The Arachnia sat with a thump, as
though already too far gone to resist. Kevin glanced
sharply at the woman, wondering what was going on,
but she was busy flagging down a barmaid. "A bottle of
Mereot for my friends and me."

Mereot turned out to be a dark red wine, so sweet
that Kevin nearly gagged on his first sip. He noticed

114 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Shennan

that Lydia wasn't drinking much other flagon, either.
But D'Riksin guzzled down the sweet stuff with undis-
guised delight.

"Good," the being murmured.

"Have another, pal, on Kevin here."

D'Riksin dicked its beak in what was presumably an
Arachniad smile. "Thank you, friend." It swilled down
the second flagon almost as quickly as it had the first
and dicked its beak with more abandon. "Good stuff.
Good friends. Not like some others."

"Someone betrayed you, huh?" Lydia leaned for-
ward, elbows on the table, resting her head on her fists.
"That's tough."

"Betrayed me," the being echoed.

"Why don't you tell us all about it, pal?" Lydia's voice
oozed concern. "Troubles are a lot lighter to bear when
they're shared."

TheArachnia helped itself to more Mereot "It's the
king's fault," D'Riksin whined. "All his fault."

"How so?"

"Shouldn'ta supported him- Big mistake. No one'U
hire me, 'cause they know I backed King Amber."

Htth? That doesn't 'make sense! They won't fwe a supporter
of the kmg? But Westerm is a crown city! There can't be that
many foes of King Amber here!

Lydia didn't seem to be bothered by the weird logic, or
lack of logic. "I know how it is," she purred. "Can't trust
anybody, can you? Here, pal, have some more MereoL"

"Don* min' if I do." D'Riksin chittered anArachnia
giggle. "Show *em. Show 'em all. Know something they
don't know, any of them, none of the fine humans."

"Sure you do."

TheArachnia straightened slightly. "1 do\" it insisted.
"Know all about the girl."

Kevin tensed. "What girl?"

"Hee hee! The girl! The one who was swiped,
'course, the daughter of that fool of a count."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         115

"Charina!"

D'Riksin tried to shrug, hampered by the lack of true
shoulders. "Eck, whatever. Know who took her?" It
paused, staring at them with the idiot slyness of the
truly drunk. "It was Princess Cariotta, that's who!"

"That's impossible!" Kevin snapped. "Carlotta's
been dead for over thirty years.**

"No, no, no, no! That's what she wants everyone ta
think! Dead, dead, dead... whee! Sorceresses don't
die, not so easy, not she!" D'Riksin took another long
swig of Mereot, then leaned forward as much as stiff
chitin would allow, whispering confidentially, "It was
rebels took the girl, rebels led by Princess Cariotta."

"But why?

The Arachnia chittered to itself, then tried to pour it-
self another drink. Nothing happened. It upended the
bottle, looking blearily inside. "Empty," it said sadly.
"No more Mereot for poor D'Rikish  --  D'Rishkin  -- 
DTfffaw."

But Lydia had already ordered a new bottle. "Here,
pal. Drink up. Tell us why Princess Cariotta stole the
giri."

D'Riksin chittered and drank, "^heeee!" it laughed.
"She wants to use the girl against King Amber!"

"That's ridiculous!" Kevin said. "Charina may be
Count Volmar's niece, but she's not all that important."

The Arachnia blinked and leaned forward again,
studying the bardling dosely. Kevin stared back, trying
not to flinch at this close-up view of the being's com-
pound eyes. "You're the one was copyin' the manshu
 --  manshi  --  the book."

"How would you know  --  Ow!"

Lydia had kicked him under the table. She glared at
the bardling, warning him to keep quiet. D'Riksin con-
tinued, heedless, "Wanna know a secret? Bet you don'
know the stuff you were copyin* had a spell hid in it"
The being nodded, pleased with itself. "Yup, did!"

116 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

It fell silent, staring moodily into its flagon. Lydia
asked, very gently, "What kind of a spell, pal?"

chidden spell!"

"Well, yes," she said with more patience than Kevin
would ever have believed, "we gathered that. What
fund of a hidden spell?"

"Don* think I should tell ya."

"Maybe you don't know. Maybe you're making this
all up." Lydia folded her arms in pretend indignation.
"A fine thing when you can't even trust a drinking
buddy to tell the truth."

"I am. tellin' the truth," D'Riksin whined. "Not sure,
y'unnerstand. But rumor is, it's a spell to keep Princess
Carlotta from changin' shape- 'Cause if she did, if the
spell works, she'd be stuck in her true self forever 'n*
ever."

"Her -.. true self," Kevin said warily.

"Sure! Din'cha know? She's not human, not al-
together. Naw, she's more fairy 'n' anythin' else. And
she'd be stuck as a fairy!" The Arachnia chittered in
laughter. "No way a fairy can sit the throne. Not legal!
Gotta be a human."

"You sure about that spell?" Lydia asked.

"Eck, who knows? Thing's never been tried, never
been tested. Might work. Might blow up in the user's
face!"

The Arachnia swayed in its seat. "I was there," it said
confidentally. "I was in the guard, you know, guard of
Count Volmar's daddy. Yup, his daddy, that's who it
was, Count Dalant-1 saw the elves give the book to him,
to ole Count Dalant. Told him to keep it safe. Guess
they figured if Princess Carlotta went lookin' for the
thing, she'd think the elves had it"

"But why leave it with the count's father?" Kevin
asked.

D'Riksin started to pour itself another flagon full,
then stopped, blinking thoughtfully. "I 'member they

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         117

said something 'bout it bein' too dangerous to leave
with anyone who could act'ly use the thing. Yeah. Just
in case Princess Carlotta did think ID look there. Yeah,
s'right. It's keyed so only two folks can see it. One of
*em a Bard. Ardan, Aydan, somethin' like that"

The bardling tensed, heart racing- "Aidan?"

"Yeah! That's it! It'll only appear to him, or to his
suchsec  --  shuchessor  --  successor!" the Arachnia
finished triumphantly. "Wheeeee!" it added in glee,
and fell flat across the table.

"So much for that," Lydia muttered. She glanced up.
"Uh, Kevin, I think we'd better get out of here."

"Yes, but -- "

"Now, Kevin."

Startled at the urgency in her voice, the bardling
looked up. "Oh."

Six ugly... things were peering through the gloomy
tavern, looking for something.

Things, Kevin decided, was definitely the word.
None of the six was truly human, or a member of any
other recognizable race, except for their leader, who
was the most depraved-looking elf the bardling could
ever have imagined. Pasty-skinned and gaunt, the
man's fair White Elf hair hung lankly to his shoulders.
and his green White Elf eyes were flat and cold and
empty. Kevin wondered what depravities could have so
corrupted a creature of Light, and shuddered.

"Guess not everyone liked the idea of D'Riksin talk-
ing to us," Lydia murmured.

"You don't know they're looking for us," Kevin
whispered back.

Just then, the empty-eyed elf pointed their way and
yelled something at the others. All six started stalking
forward, radiating menace, sending customers scram-
bling out of their way.

"Hell I don't," Lydia said drily.

Chapter XII

"All right," Lydia said under her breath. "I've been in
tighter fixes than this. Gotten out of them, too. Follow
my lead. Kevin. Ready? Here we go!"

She stood up, grabbed a customer at random, and
flattened him with one mighty punch. The man stag-
gered back into another table, which collapsed, spilling
their drinks all over the men who'd been sitting there.

"Hey, watch it, you stupid£rticA!"

"frttcft, is it?" growled an ogre at the next table- "7'm
an£rricA, you idiot humans!"

He dove into the humans, swinging wildly, sending
men and chairs flying. For one shocked moment,
Kevin froze. Then he realized exacdy what Lydia was
doing and grabbed another man, about to imitate her.

No, no, I nearly wrecked my hand the last time I tried to
punch someone! Can't risk that agam!

What to do? The bardling snatched up a half-empty
flagon instead, and whapped the man soundly over the
head. Mereot splashed all over a heavy-set, scaly
whatever-it-was at the next table. The creature sprang
up with a furious hiss, only to collide with one of the
men from the first table, who was blindly throwing
punches right and left. The creature flattened him,
and went looking for other prey. Those customers who
hadn't already taken cover found themselves caught in
the middle of an ever-growing melee  --  and joined in
with savage glee. The empty-eyed elf and his men
swore helplessly as the brawl engulfed them in a
whirlwind of fists and botdes.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         119

Lydia, standing safely out of the way, gave a sharp
laugh. "Nothing like a good old-fashioned tavern
brawl for a diversioni Come on, Kevin, let's get out of
here."

She slipped out through the tiny kitchen, Kevin
dose behind her, struggling past harried servants who
were heading out into the brawl armed with dubs and
broom handles.

Hey, where had Lydia gone?

"Out here!" the woman called, and the bardling
scrambled out the narrow window after her. "Now you
know why I'm always scouting for ways out of places!
Come on, let's put some distance between ourselves
and those guys.**

More rwmmg, Kevin thought wearily.

They made it all the way back to the shabby square.
The bardling sank gladly to the lip of the dry fountain,
panting, the lute an awkward weight on his back. He
shifted it around in front of him, leaning on it. "Think
we're safe?**

Lydia straightened, listening to nothing but silence.
She shrugged. "For the moment. By the time old
Empty Eyes fights his way out of that tavern, our trail's
going to be cold."

We hope. "Now what do we do?"

"Look for the others, I guess, and  --  '*

"There you are!" a shrill voice snapped.

Kevin glanced up to see the fairy fluttering fiercely
overhead. "Hello, Tich'ki!"

"Never mind 'hello, Tich'ki!' I've been flying all over
the dty. Where the hell were you two?"

"Hunting rats." Lydia grinned. "Learned a lot from
them, too."

The fairy landed lightly beside her. "And nearly got
bit by them, I see. Oh yes, I heard all the fuss. What's
the matter, the guards weren't good enough for you?
Robbing a councilman wasn't exciting enough?"

120 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

"Ah, you're a fine one to scold! It wasn't me who set
that inn on fire back in Elegian  --  "

"An accident. I never knew the spell would backfire
like that."

"  --  or dropped the chamber pot on the mayor's
head in Smithian."

The fairy grinned. "Nearly tore a wing lifting the
thing. Worth it, though."

"Besides," Lydia added, "you know I didn't rob Sel-
den. Not exactly. Look, Tich'ki, you were there! It was
a game of cards, that's all. He wasn't any more honest
than me."

"Tell that to the guards." The fairy glanced sharply
from one human to the other- "You reek ofexdtement-
Haven'tjust been eluding guards, have you?"

"Uh, no," Lydia admitted. "We seem to have gotten
somebody's gang after us, too."

"Huh. And you tell me to keep out of trouble? Tell
me, just how do you plan to get out ofWesterin?"

Lydia shrugged. "We'll think of something."

"We can't leave without the rest of our party," Kevin
cut in.

"Sure, but they could be anywhere."

"They're both still in the city." Tich'ki restlessly
folded and refolded her wings. "Wouldn't have left
without their horses. And those horses are still here. I
checked."

Kevin straightened, hands tightening on the lute
case- "Tich'ki, you're friends with Naitachal."

-Well..."

"All right, all right, maybe you're not friends. But at
least you two must have something in common. I saw
you doing those card tricks together."

"What's this?" Lydia asked, eyebrow raised.

Tich'ki's dusky skin flushed. "He asked me. What
was I supposed to do? Tell him he wasn't bright
enough to leam?"

CASTLE OF DECEmON        121

"Teaching him tricks, eh?"

"Card tricks!"

"Of course."

"It's true!"

"And was that all you were doing, hmm?"

"Lydia, that's ridiculous! Look at the size of me! He's
more than twice my height!"

"Why, Tichid! Aren't your people wonderful shape-
changers? I should think you could be any size you
want to be."

Kevin stared from Lydia to Tich'ki. "I don't under-
stand you two! We've got all sorts of people out to get
us- How can you possibly waste time in  -- in banter?"

They both looked at him in surprise. Lydia shook
her head. "Would anything be changed if we acted like
scared little kids?"

"No, but -- "

"Morale, Kevin, got to keep up morale. Just as," she
added slyly, "Tich'ki was keeping Naitachal's morale
up."

Cornered, the fairy took to the air. Still blushing, she
yelled down,

"You know I don't date outside my species!"

"Since when are elves and fairies separate  --  "

"All right! All right! I'll go look for him. You stay
here."

As the fairy darted up and away. Lydia murmured a
bemused, "Card tricks?"

"That^s all it was, really," Kevin said.

"Oh, I figured that But how often do I get a chance
to rib a fairy?" All at once she frowned. "Eh, I know I
said something about keeping up morale, but this
hardly seems the time for a song! Why are you taking
out your lute?"

"I'm going to try something." Kevin paused, one
hand caressing the polished wood. "I only hope it
works."

122 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

"What are you talking about?"

"There's a song that's supposed to draw someone
you know to you. I'm going to try it on Eliathanis."

"You don't exactly know him."

"Well, no. But he's an elf after all. Even if I can't
manage the whole force of Bardic Magic, he should
have enough innate magic to sense something."

"Always assuming he wants to listen."

"If the song works properly, he... uh... won't have
a choice."

Lydia raised an eyebrow. "Only hope you don't call
up Empty Eye from the gang as well. He's an elf, too.
More or less," she added in distaste.

"Oh. Well." Kevin hadn't thought of that. "It. . .
should work only on Eliathanis." I hope.

Bending over the lute, the bardling tuned it careful-
ly, then took a deep breach and began his song, trying
to picture the White Elf and only the White Elf, hear-
ing the coaxing strains soar out and out....

The bardling came back to himself with a start,
startled to realize he didn't know how much time had
passed. It must have been quite a while, because his
fingers were weary and his throat was dry. "What  -- 
Naitachal!"

The Dark Elf bowed wryly. "Surprised to see me?
Returning was the only way I could get that fairy to
stop pestering me!"

"Huh!" Tich'ki said indignandy. "You were the one
who kept asking me questions!"

"And you were the one who wouldn't answer any of
them." Naitachal grinned. "I confess; Tich'ki keptafter
me till she'd roused my curiosity."

"I'm sure," Lydia murmured.

Kevin nearly choked. But then the urge to laugh
faded as he realized: "I guess my song didn't work."

"Oh, it did!" an angry voice snapped, and the
bardling shot to his feet. "It did, indeed!"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         123

"EUathanisI"

"You just would not stop pulling at my mind! I was in
the middle of learning some important information,
and you -- **

"What's this?" Tich'ki wondered, fluttering around
the White Elf. "You're such a fair-haired fellow. What
are red hairs doing on your shoulder?"

"Never mind that!" Eliathanis hastily brushed them
from him.

"Mmm, and what's this?** She sniffed audibly. "You
taken to wearing perfume, elf?"

"No!" His fair skin reddened. "It -- I -- "

"Oh, you were learning something, all right!" the
fairy taunted. "And I'm sure it was pretty important,
too! Maybe nothing to do with the stolen giri, but --  "

"I was talking to a troop of dancing girls," the White
Elf said with immense dignity. Struggling to ignore
Lydia's delighted whoop, he continued, "They travel
all over the country. I thought they might know
Charina's whereabouts."

"And they really hated talking to such a pretty fellow,"
Tich'ki teased, then darted sideways in the air as
Eliathanis, his face a fiery red by now, took a swipe at
her. "You never will catch me like that, elfl" she mock-
ed.

"Can't you be serious for even a moment?"

"Now, now. Eliathanis." Naitachal's voice was
studiously serious, but his eyes glinted under the black
hood. "Seems to me you're hardly the one to accuse
anyone else of frivolity. Tsk, should have known there
was something warmer than ice under that grim
facadel"

"Don't you dare criticize me, necromancer!"

"Oh for Powers' safces!" Lydia cried. "You two aren't
going to start that again, are you?"

"What do you expect of elves?" Tich'ki laughed.
They're almost as bad as humans!"

124 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

"Hey, whose side are you on, fairy!"

"My own, of course!"

Ehathanis frowned at Lydia. "Woman, I don't need
to be defended from the likes of her!"

Tfw is getting out of hand, Kevin knew. If we don't work
everything out now, we're going to wind up m prison. Ordead.

Kevin licked his dry lips, thinking feverishly. Maybe
he hadn't acted like a leader up to now. Maybe diat was
because he had been trying too hard to imitate the
leaders in the heroic songs, those miracles of bravery
who were gifted with unfailing charisma. Well, that was
nonsense! The boy who had left Bracklin might never
have accepted it, but he was no longer so naive. Such
marvelous, infallible heroes like that could never have
existed  --  but those like Master Aidan most certainly
did. Master Aidan and those other good, sensible,
down-to-earth people who'd saved King Amber.
People who tried to understand those they were sup-
posed to lead, who brought them together and got
them to concentrate only on their goall

"All right," Kevin began.

Nobody noticed.

"Isaid^r^!"

As the others turned to him, he added sternly,
"Aren't you ashamed of yourselves? Did you really
mean to rob Count Volmar?"

Ha, that made them start. "What do you mean?"
Ehathanis asked coldly. "I am not a thief."

"No? You certainly aren't earning your keep! You
were hired to rescue the Lady Charina  -- not to fight
with each other! But bickering seems to be all you can
do!"

"Now, Kevin," Lydia began, "that's hardly fair  --  "

"Let me finish!" He glared at them all. "You,
Eliathanis and you, Naitachal: I know there are long
hatreds between White and Dark Elves. 1 know those
hatreds go back for generations. I don't expect either

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         125

one of you to settle such andent grudges overnight. I
don't even ask you to try! But I don't think elves of
either race had anything to do with the kidnapping  -- 
and if you really mean to show your peoples' in-
nocence the way you boasted, you had better stop
fighting and show some of that famous elvish self-
control! Or is that just a myth to make humans respect
you?"

"It's not," Naitachal said shortly. "And you do have a
point, bardling."

Tich'ki snickered. "Such a daring boy  --  "

"Andyoul" Kevin's finger stabbed at her with such
fervor that she flinched. "You've done nothing so far
but snipe at everyone else- I don't care about your
background, I don't care what unhappiness you're
trying to hide  --  "

"I'm not!" she protested.

"  --  but I 'm beginning to wonder if you're in the pay
of the enemy!"

The fairy froze in mid-air. "I most certainly am not!"

"Then stop acting like it!"

Lydia cleared her throat. "Don't you think that's
going a bit far, kid?"

Kevin whirled to her. "And as for you, Lydia: look, I
know I'm young, I know that compared to you I'm as
ignorant of the world as they come. But one thing I am
not is an idiot!"

"Oh, I never said  --  "

"But you think it. And as long as you go on thinking
it, you're not letting me do my job."

"Which is?"

"The same as all of us: freeing Charina!"

They were getting restless. These weren't naughty
children, after all. If he didn't change his tone, Kevin
realized, he was going to lose them.

"Listen to me." The bardling pitched his voice as
smoothly as ever he'd been taught. "Lydia and I

126 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

learned something truly alarming, something that
makes all our quarrelling the petty thing it is. Cariotta
is alive."

"The sorceress?" Eliathanis exclaimed. "But that's
impossible! Everyone knows she died years ago!"

"So we were led to think. Cariotta, I repeat, is very
much alive. And you and I know there is nothing she
would like better than to discredit King Amber's
reign." Kevin look a deep breath, stalling, trying to fig-
ure out what he was going to say next. "Look you, we
all know there's always been an undercurrent of un-
easiness, of mistrust, between the different races in the
realm. That's not so surprising. It may not be logical,
but elf or human, we fear the unknown. And if that un-
known takes the form of someone with a different
shade of skin "  --  he glanced at Naitachal  --  " or a dif-
ferent way of life  --  " this dme his glance took in Lydia
"  --  well, it's all too easy to let fear turn to hate."

"True enough," muttered the Dark Elf, and
Eliathanis nodded.

"But for thirty years," the bardling continued,
"those different races have managed to live in peace.
And why is that? Because King Amber has been such a
just, impartial ruler."

This time it was Lydia who nodded-

"Well, Cariotta doesn't like that!" Kevin said. "The
more popular a ruler her brother becomes, the more
difficult it's going to be for her to replace him. She tried
to kill him once before. We all know that. We also know
how she failed. But Cariotta has had thirty years to
think things over. I guess she's decided to be more
devious."

The bardling paused to catch his breath, glancing at
the others. They were watching him quite seriously;

even Tich'ki showed no sign other usual mockery.

"Cariotta has to know exactly how things stand
between the races," Kevin continued. "What better

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         127

way for her to destroy King Amber's reign than to use a
kidnapping to stir up all that latent hatred? Once the
land is torn by strife, what better way for her to seize
control?"

"Could be," Tich'ki muttered.

"Not 'could be,' " Kevin corrected. "Will be, if we
don't do something to stop her."

"Why us?" Lydia asked.

Why, indeed? He couldn't blame the woman  -- who,
after all was a mercenary, not a subject of the king  -- 
for asking. But before Kevin could find a good argu-
ment, Naitachal said thoughtfully, "I believe I can
guess why Cariotta would choose Count Volmar's
niece to kidnap. His father was a true diplomat"

"He was," Eliathanis agreed. "Someone who tried
his best to reconcile grievances among the races."

"But Count Volmar," the Dark Elf continued, "is ...
shall we say, a bit less friendly towards both our races."

The White Elf nodded wryly.

"That's just it!" Kevin exclaimed. "Cariotta knows
about him, she must! That's why she kidnapped
Charina, and that's why she made it look as if elves
were to blame. Ha, yes, and she probably plans to plant
hints in the count's ear  --  you know, that his handpick-
ed team isn't having any success because the elves in
the party are deliberately hindering the hunt, because
they don't really want to find Charina!"

**Yes," Lydia agreed. "But you're sdll not giving me a
good reason to risk my neck. These aren't my people or
my land, after all."

"No," Kevin admitted. "But if Cariotta wins here, do
you think she's really going to stop with one realm?
She's a sorceress, Lydia, who can muster the forces of
Darkness to her side."

"But why us, Kevin? How can we possibly make a
difference?"

"Ah. Well. Because of the manuscript." I'm sorry,

128 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

MasterAidan, but Idon't darekeep it a secret any longer. Has-
tily, Kevin told the others the reason he'd come to
Count Volmar's castle  --  and what he'd learned about
that manuscript

"You mean Carlotta is partfairy'?" Tich'ki yelped.
"Her mother mated with a human'?"

"So it seems."

"B-but that's disgusting!"

"Thank you." Lydia gave the fairy a sarcastic bow.
"Kevin, go on. Tell us more about this manuscript."

"My Master must have realized Carlotta had
returned.1'

"Then why didn't he go straight to die king?"

"He didn't dare!" Thinking it out as he spoke, Kevin
added, "Not while Carlotta had her full powers,
anyhow. No, that would be putting King Amber in
direct danger. So he sent me after the spell."

"You being expendable, eh?" Naitachal asked.

"Uh, well, I wouldn't put it quite that way, but the
king's life is more important."

"Of course," Eiiathanis agreed, a little more
emphatically than Kevin would have liked. "Kevin,
what do you want us to do?"

What  --  Hey, they're listening to •me! They realty are! Fve
won!

Sure, but what was he going to do about it? "I think
we're going to have to return to Count Volmar's
casde," the bardling said slowly. "We have to retrieve
that manuscript. IfCarlotta's people really do have
Charina, they might be willing to trade her for it"

"What! No!" the White Elf cried. "That's insane!"

"I'm not going to give them the real manuscript! No,
no, I'll work up a forgery."

"They'll surely know the difference," Naitachal aigued.

"They won't. You see, I had already started copying
the manuscript before Charina was kidnapped. I'll put
a few pages of the real copy in with the fake, and only

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         129

Carlotta will be able to tell the difference. But by the
dme she leams the truth, Charina will be free! Yes, and
while we're in the castle, we can tell Count Volmar what
we've learned. Who knows? It just might force him to
rethink how he feels about elves!"

"Sooner force a stone to walk," the Dark Elf mur-
mured. "But it's worth the attempt."

"I agree," Eiiathanis said-

Lydia shrugged. "Me, too- Hey, Tich'ki, you in?"

The fairy shrugged. "Why not? Now all we have to
do is get out of the dcy- Easy. There's only one gang out
to get us, and guards watching for us at every gate."
She grinned sharply. "If we can escape all that, why,
anything else will be a laugh!"

"Ha," Lydia said dourly,

INTERLUDE THE THIRD

Count Volmar sat brooding before the fireplace in
his solar, chin resting on fisted hand-
How could things have gone so wrong so quickly? As
soon as that stupid bardling, that Kevin, was safely
gone from the castle, the count had ordered the library
emptied down to the bare stone walls, under the guise
of giving the place a good cleaning. He had personally
examined every volume, no matter how useless or
bizarre the contents. By now the newly cleaned books
gleamed in the newly cleaned library. But Volmar was
willing to swear on every sacred relic that not one of the
whole lot was the missing manuscript.

Nobody took it. It didn't walk out of there by itself. There is no
place in that Ubrwyfor the thing to be hiding. Then where is it?

Not that it mattered. None of his plans mattered, not
now, not when Carlotta was  -- 

"You idiot! You utter idiot!"

Count Volmar leaped back from his chair with a
startled yell, flattening himself against a wall, staring in
horror at this sudden apparition. "In  --  in the Seven
Holy Names," he began, tracing holy signs in the air
with a hand that shook, "I bid you begone  --  "

"Oh, stop that! I'm not a ghost! You can't exorcise
me!"

"Carlotta ... ? Are you ... real?"

"Of course I'm real!" The sorceress threw herself
down in a chair in a swirl of green silk, flaming red hair
crackiing in a cloud about her. "What nonsense are you
spouting now?"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         131

"I th-chought you were dead." Volmar took a deep,
steadying breath. "Carlotta, I really did think you were
dead." Returning to his chair, he sat, a little more
abruptly than he'd intended. "When your horse
returned without you, when the court sages all swore
something terrible had happened, something
sorcerous  --  "

"Bah."

"Well, what did you exfxct me to think? You're a sor-
ceress, dammit! Anything powerful enough to overcome
you wasn't going to be content at stopping at a mere kid-
napping. I was sure you'd been killed by a demon!"
Struggling for control, the count continued, "If you had
only deigned to share your plans with me  --  "

"You never would have been able to play your role
so convincingly." Carlotta's eyes glinted with scorn.
"The boy never would have believed you. This way
there was genuine terror in your voice when you told
him of poor little Charina's disappearance."

"But you were gone so long!"

"Poor frightened litue boy!"

"Carlotta -- "

"I didn't have time to hold your hand! Do you
imagine it was easy to leave a false track halfway to
Westerin?"

"Uh, no, I would think not."

"Ha! You don't think, there's the truth ofit!" Cariotta
sprang to her feet, green gown rippling about her as
she paced. "How could you be so hopelessly, totally
stupid?"

Volmar nearly choked himself in the battle to keep
from shouting back at her- "What do you mean?" he
managed.

"How could you choose thatArachnia!"

What Arachnia? Surely the woman couldn't be refer-
ring to his seneschal. "D'Riksin?" the count asked
warily.

132 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Shernvan

Carlotta waved an impadent hand. "Whatever it calls
itself. The Arachnia in Westerin!"

"Ah- Yes." Coldness settled in Volmar's stomach. Choos-
ing his words very carefully, he began, "Granted, D'Riksin
isn'talways themostreliableofmy agents, but --  "

"Reliable! D'Riksin isadrunken.Mrf!"

"Well, yes, the creature does drink too much. It's a
shame that alcohol affects the Arachniad system as it
does our own. But D'Riksin has never failed me before.
Besides, it was already in place in Westerin, it had its
orders, and -- "

"And it ignored them completely! Yes, yes," Cariotta
added impatiently. "I was watching the whole thing
with my magic. That stupid drunken insect was sup-
posed to lead the boy and his party away from this castle,
not towards it! And it was not supposed to tell them any-
thing about the manuscript!"

Volmar stared in disbelief. Was that a glint of uneasi-
ness he saw in Carlotta's eyes? Or could it possibly even
be ... fear? Just what strange magic was in that
manuscript? Frustrating, to have to rely only on one litde
scrying crystal! Oh yes, the count knew it was as potent an
artifact as someone with no innate magical ability could
use, but it was still such a maddeningly inferior thing!
He'd only been able to guess at what D'Riksin had been
babbling. Something about a spell... a fairy -..

A fairy?

The count stiffened in sudden comprehension-
Struggling to keep the shock from his face, he thought,
Ofcourse! No wonder Carlotta had been in hiding for so
many years! Once she had recovered her strength
after the failed attempt on Amber's life, she would have
sensed the existence of the magical manuscript. Ha,
how that must have alarmed her! Volmar supposed
Carlotta had been struggling to control the thing from
afar, terrified that if she came too close she would spark
the magic into life and end everything for her.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         133

Andthen nasty old Master Aidan decided to up the stakes, as
the gamblers say, and send forthe manuscript. Thatforcedyou
out of hiding, Cariotta, didn't it?

Imagine that. All these years he had been wondering
at Carlotta's uncanny, precocious gift for sorcery when
the answer had been so very obvious! Her mysterious,
unknown mother hadn't been human at alii

Volmar only barely stiOed a triumphant laugh- If news
ever got out that the high and mighty princess-sorceress
wasn't truly human, that she was half fairy.... The law
stated quite firmly that no one of fairy blood could ever
wear the crown. If she were unmasked, it would turn a
sure thing into a very dicey proposition.

Well now, isn't that interesting? I'll keep your little secret,
Carlotta. After all, if you fail, I fail, too.

But once she gained the throne, once he sat beside
her, why then some changes would be made. They
would, indeed!

Cariotta was still pacing so restlessly Volmar ached to
order her to stand still. "You still haven't found the
manuscript," she said without warning, and he started.
"Don't look so surprised, man. I was watching you, too."

All at once the sorceress did stop, staring into the flames,
eyes fierce with impatience." 11 has to be somewhere in the
library, of course it does, even if we can't see it There are
such things as Spells of Hiding, after all. But what can be
enchanted can be disenchanted. With time. And without
interference. Such as that fool of a bardling will provide!
Damn him! We must keep him away from the casde!"

"But he's stuck in Westerin," Volmar soothed. "My
hirelings are hunting for him."

"Ha! That gang of failures! If they're anything like
your Arachnia, they probably can't find their own feet!"

"There's no way the boy can get out of that city," the
count said flady. "If my men don't catch him, he'll wind
up in prison or  --  "

"I don't believe that for a moment! So far the boy's

134 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Shennan

had uncanny luck, and there's no reason for things to
be different now."

"Can't you... ah... remove him -- "

"Kffl him, you mean? From this far away?" Carlotta gave
a fierce litde laugh. "I'm not a goddess, man! No mortal
can throw a death-spell that far! Besides," she added
thoughtfully, "I'm not sure I want him dead... not quite
yet... not till I have rime to lay a proper trap for him. One
tocatchboth the boy and the manuscript... "tes!"

She whirled to stare at the count, eyes wide and
radiant with a cold, alien light. "You may watch this,
Volmar. But do not move from that spot. Do not utter
one word. On your life, do not seek to interfere."

Interfere with sorcery? Did she think him insane?
"Of course not," the count said fervendy.

What it was Carlotta murmured, Volmar had no
idea. He wasn't even sure of the language. But each
precisely uttered syllable seemed to ring in his ears
long after it was spoken, seemed to prickle along his
arms and ache in his bones till he longed to turn and
run. But that, Volmar knew, would be the end of him,
so he stood and watched and endured. And just barely
kept from crying out his shock when the firelight all at
once went hard and slick as ice. Or a mirror.

A mirror, indeed, though what it reflected ... Not
daring to move from where he stood, Volmar peered
over Carlotta's shoulder to see a the figure of a man
suddenly come into sharp focus, seen as clearly as
though through an open window.

Now, who... ?

No youngster, this- He was a fully human man  --  or
at least appeared to be  --  somewhere in late middle
age, his thick-set, powerful form half-hidden by the
folds of a black cloak. Its hood nearly hid the severe,
harshly planed face and its graying beard. The
stranger's eyes were gray, too, blazing out from the
hood's shadow with sorcerous force. But an ageless

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         135

weariness was there as well. As though. Volmar
thought uneasily, their owner had tried and been
bored by every depravity known to humanity.

Whoever, whatever he was, the man plainly knew
Carlotta. No warmth lightened the terrible eyes, but he
dipped his head, almost reluctantly, in reverence.

"Princess." The words were faint but clear. "What
would you?"

"You have not forgotten, have you, Alatan? You have
not forgotten your debt to me?"

The gray eyes flickered angrily. "No. I have not. The
fools would have burned me as a sorcerer had you not
intervened. Name what you would of me, Princess
Carlotta. It shall be done."

"It shall, indeed," the sorceress purred. "Listen,
then." She slipped back into the alien language with
which she'd created the flame-mirror. The language of
sorcery, Volmar thought, and wished with all his heart
he was somewhere else.

But he didn't dare be squeamish. Not if he meant to
sit beside Carlotta on the throne.

As the sorceress continued to give her orders to the
reluctantly obedient Alatan, Count Volmar forced him-
self to stand proudly as any king.

But once Carlotta had banished the mirror-spell,
and the flames were nothing more than flames, he let
himself sag-

"Who is this Alatan?" he dared ask.

"Anally, willy-nilly."

"He said you saved him from burning as a sorcerer."
Volmar said it doubtfully; charity hardly seemed pan of
Carlofcta's character- "Someone falsely accused him, I
take it?"

Carlotta's smile was deceptively sweet. "Oh no.
Alatan a a sorcerer, indeed. A most powerful, most
unpleasant one. Poor Kevin!" she added. "I Find I
almost... pity him!"

Chapter XIII

Kevin sighed. He and the rest of his group had been
trying for what seemed like an age to find a gate out of
Westerin: a gate that wasn't watched over either by the
gang or the guards. So far they hadn't succeeded. After
all this hunting, his feet hurt, his lute seemed to have
picked up extra weight, his stomach was clamoring for
food  --  and now the night was coming on.

"I think all we can do," he said wearily as they
regrouped in the small, ruined square, "is find a place
to spend the night and try to see if we can't figure out a
way to get out of here in the morning."

"Good idea." Lydia grinned ruefully. "I can go all
day on sea or land, but these cobblestones are cursed
hard on the feet!"

"It is going to look rather suspicious if we all march
into an inn together," Naitachal pointed out. "We're
not exactly an ordinary mix of people."

"That's no problem to me." Tich'ki laughed, flutter-
ing her wings. "All I need is a window, and I'm in!"

"The same is true of Naitachal and me," Eliathanis
added. "We are elves, not clumsy humans."

"Ill remind you of that the next time you trip over
something," Lydia muttered.

"I never -- "

The bardling held up a warning hand. "First we find
an inn. Then we quarrel!"

That got grudging chuckles from everyone.

Well, what do you know? the pleased Kevin told him-
self. Maybe I am starting to get the knack a/being a leader!

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         137

But before he could congratulate himself too much,
a shout from the far side of the square made them all
start and whirl.

Oh-no, not now.

"Well, well," murmured Lydia. "Look who found us.
It's the Gang of Things."

"Ugly, aren't they?" Tich'ki mocked. "Bet they make
even uglier corpses."

Kevin couldn't be so casual about it. Somewhere
along the way. Empty Eyes had picked up a few more
supporters. "There are ten of them," he pointed out to
Lydia and Tich'ki, "and only five of us."

"They are also," the warrior woman reminded
Kevin, "nicely within bowshot." She nocked arrow to
bow in one swift, fluid movement. "Come on," Lydia
taunted the enemy. "Come and die."

"You have only the one bow, woman," Empty Eyes
purred. "And I have some tricks of my own."

Faster than a striking snake, he thrust out his hand,
shouting out a savage Word of Power. Lydia cried out
in shock as her bowstring snapped in two.

"That's better," Empty Eyes said. "Take them!"

Kevin had barely enough time to whip out his sword
before the gang was upon them. They've got swords! a
startled part of his mind noted. What's a street gang doing
with something as expensive as swords?

They had to be in someone's pay. Selden? No, he
had the guards at his beck and call. Then who... ?

No time to worry about it. Ten against five was ter-
rible odds, no matter what Lydia and Tich'ki thought.

Naitachal had summoned up his sorcerous black
blade again  --  but Empty Eyes only laughed, moving
to counter its attack with a dead gray blade of his own.
Naitachal's eyes widened in surprise and the other elf
laughed anew.

"That's right. Dark Elf. Some of us have played with
sorcery, too."

138 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

Kevin lost the rest of chat conversation as a sinuous
being that seemed some unholy cross of man and
snake lunged at him, sword in scaly hand. The
bardling parried, two-handed, just in time, the shock of
impact shivering all the way up to his shoulders. He
staggered back, closely followed by his foe, who moved
every bit as fluidly and unpredictably as a serpent

I don't know what style of fencing he's using! I  --  I've never
seen it before and I don't know how  -- 

Kevin's frantic thought ended in a gasp as he came up
hard against the rim of the fountain. The being grinned
at him, a flash of alarmingly sharp fangs, and lunged yet
again. Trapped, Kevin did the only thing he could, and
leaped up onto the rim, slashing down at the being, who
was cutting savagely at his legs. Suddenly inspired, Kevin
sprang aside and down, into (he wide basin of the foun-
tain, just as the being lunged. The creature's blade
danged harshly against stone, and Kevin, remembering
the bandit back in the rocky gorge, hastily brought his
foot down on the flat of the blade as hard as he could.

There was a gratifying snap. The being hissed  --  his
tongue narrow and forked as that of a snake  --  and
hurled the broken sword at Kevin's head. The bardling
ducked, tripped over rubble in the basin, and went flat,
narrowly missing cracking his skull against stone.
Before he could catch his breath, the being came hurl-
ing down at him. The bardling grabbed a sinuous
wrist, slippery with scales, and kicked upward. The
being went flying over Kevin's head, landing with a
crash on the cobblestones. The bardling scrambled out
of the fountain, thinking in delighted wonder. Hey, that
really does work!

He wound up just behind the grim Naitachal and
Empty Eyes, even as the Dark Elf countered a vicious
cut at his head. As sorcerous black and gray blades
clashed together, fountains ofblood red sparks flew up,
casting an eerie, fiery glow over the square.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         139

"Sorcerous games," Naitachal panted. "Some of us
haven't let those games destroy our souls."

"Souls?" Empty Eyes taunted. "What are human
things like souls for such as we?"

"You are not like me, you pathetic thing! You.
who've forgotten your own kind!"

"No more than you. Dark ElfT Empty Eyes retorted,
and lunged.

Once more, fiery sparks lit up the square. Kevin
glanced up at the surrounding houses. Didn't anyone
hear or see what was going on? Didn't anyone care?

Someone did. From one side came the sound of
running footsteps and the dashing of mail.

"Oh hell," Lydia said. "Just what we needed: the
guards. Come on, guys, no time for heroics now. Let's
get out of here!"

The gang, equally illegal, thought the same thing,
scattering in all directions. Empty Eyes, panting,
paused long enough to hurl his gray sword at
Naitachal, but the Dark Elf struck it cleanly with his
black blade. Both sorcerous things blazed up in a blind-
ing surge of bloody light and were gone. Oh, blast,
Kevin thought, why was I looking that way just then ?

Vision dazzled, afterimages dancing before his eyes,
Kevin staggered away as best he could, stumbling over
the broken cobblestones. He gasped when someone
grabbed his arm and tried to strike out, but a familiar
voice said:

"It's me. Lydia. It's all right, kid, I had my head
turned away. I can still see where I'm going."

Unfortunately, so could the guards. And a whole
troop of them was flooding into the square, weapons
drawn, far too many to fight.

"Damn," Lydia muttered. "Selden really is out for
blood. No worse damage to a politician than injured
pride." She looked over the grim, well-armed troop
and sighed. "I hate to simply surrender, particularly

140 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

since Selden isn't going to make things comfortable for
us, but..."

"Then don't," Tich'ki snapped.

Hovering in mid-air, wings a blur, she stared at the
guards, shouting out twisting, intricate, commanding
Words in the fairy tongue, her eyes blazing green fire.

And to Kevin's amazement, the guards stopped in
their tracks, blinking in confusion.

"Where'dtheygo...?"

"Coulda sworn they were here a minute ago..."

"Who... ? Who are we looking for... ?"

"Don't know ... can't remember .. - Hey, come on,
guys! Day's not getting any younger, and we have a city
to cover!"

With that, the guards turned and marched away.

"I don't believe it," the bardling gasped. "Tich'ki,
what did you  --  Tich'ki!"

She came tumbling down into his arms, panting- For
a moment Kevin gingerly held her small body,
astonished at how light she was, even for her small size.
Of course she's light! he realized. Tich'fd's a winged creature;

she has to be lightweight if she's going to get off the ground.
Probably has hollow bones, like a bird or -- 

A sudden sharp stab in his arm made Kevin gasp and
drop her. The fairy, who'd pinched him with her hard
little fingers, fluttered away, grinning in mischief even
though her eyes were weary. "Whoo-oo! That, I don't
mind telling you, was hard work."

"What was that?" Lydia asked. "That 'influence-
their-minds' spell of yours?"

Tich'ki nodded. "You know it. And you know the
thing works."

"Sure. If you can get enough force into it."

For once, Tich'ki didn't argue. "Right. It's not the
sort of thing I want to do too often." But then her sharp
grin returned. "It'sw much easier lifting purses!"

"I'm sure that's true," Eliathanis cut in coolly. "But

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         141

rather than discuss thieving triumphs, don't you think
we had best find shelter before one or another of our
enemies returns?"

"Excellent idea," Lydia said with a wry little bow. "I
need to repair my bowstring anyhow, curse that filthy
excuse for an elf."

Eliathanis stiffened indignantly, plainly torn be-
tween the evidence of his own eyes and his refusal to
accept that one of his people could sink so low. "Have
you any idea where we should be heading?"

"Yup." Lydia pointed. "North, guys- The inn's called
the Flying Swan. You'll know it by the sign. Innkeeper
doesn't ask awkward questions of his guests and keeps
the beds vermin-free."

"What more could we possibly want?" Naitachal
asked wryly.

Lydia shrugged. "Kevin and I will register as ..."
She glanced the bardling's way, mischief in her eyes.
"As friends. Good friends. Very good friends. Right, my
lover boy?" She grinned as he reddened, and took his
arm. "See you later, everyone!"

Ah well, the bardling told himself resolutely. Let her
have her fun. Not much you can do to stop her, anyhow.

Lydia's teasing aside, it would be wonderful to be in a
nice dean room again, with a nice hot meal and maybe
even  --  oh miracle of miracles  --  a soft bed'

Chapter XIV

A half-turn of the hourglass later, Kevin wasn't feeling
quite so smug. Lydia, the bardling's doak draped not quite
conceahngly about herself and her scanty garb, was ding-
ing to his arm, giggling all too convincingly as he signed
the register and tried to act as though "Estban Eitar"
checked into inns with attractive older women all the time.

He was still blushing even after they had settled into
their room  --  particularly when he saw that the fur-
nishings consisted mosdy of one large bed.

"You could hardly have asked for two beds, sweetie,"
Lydia cooed. "Not and keep up this cuddly-wuddly
pretense." To his utter mortification, she snuggled up
against him, fluttering her eyelashes elaborately, and
pinched his cheek. "Cute li'I* lover boy!"

"Stop that!''

"My, my, you do blush prettily!

"Aw, don't -- "

A sharp rap on the closed shutters of the single win-
dow interrupted him. With a silent sigh of relief, Kevin
unlatched the shutters and let; in the rest of their party.
Lydia might be a warrior, but she was far too attractive
for his nerves!

"And you complain about clumsy humans, do you?"
Naitachal was murmuring to Eliathanis as they
climbed into the room.

The White Elf glared." How was I to know the drain-
pipe wasn't secure?"

"You did make a most convincing spider, clinging to
the wall with every digit,"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         143

"You could have helped me!"

"What, and spoil your acrobatic demonstration?" As
Naitachal removed and neatly shook out the folds of
his black doak, he gave Kevin a secret but undeniable
wink. "Apretty thingitwas, too."

Eliathanis straightened. "I don't think  --  "

"Apity."

"Uh, fellows?" the bardling cut in. "I know you're
enjoying this bickering, but can we please leave it for
some other time? We've had a rather busy day,
agreed?"

"Oh, agreed." Naitachal raised an eyebrow. "I think
we'd best keep watch tonight. If Eliathanis and I could
dimb up here, so could someone else."

"Empty Eyes?" Kevin asked. "Ah, I mean, that elf,
the leader of the gang." The bardiing paused.
"Whatever he is."

"Empty Eyes," Naitachal echoed darkly. "Well put,
Kevin. Empty, he most surely is. I don't know what his
problems might be, what he's doing here, why he's an
exile from ha dan  --  Oh, don't give me thathaughty stare,
White Elf, you know I'm right about that And frankly, I
don'tcare about those problems. Ifelt Death hovering over
him. Between drugs and alcohol and botched attempts at
sorcery, he hasn't much longer to live."

"Botched!"

The Dark Elf shrugged. "You've seen my conjured
blade. His should have been just as impressive. But it
was as dull and nearly dead as the fading life force
within him." Naitachal shrugged. "Enough about
him."

"I'd just like to know who hired him," Kevin cut in.

Eliathanis glanced at the bardling in respect. "The
swords those thugs were carrying bothered you, too?
Swords are expensive things; most brigands just can't
afford them, or the time needed to learn how to use
them."

144 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

"Great," Lydia muttered. "Just what we need:

another enemy. The sooner we get out of here, the bet-
ter we're going to sleep,"

"Exactly. And," Kevin added sternly, "that's why we
can't waste any more time. We have to start working on
exacdy how we're going to manage to escape."

"Bossy human," Tich'ki ceased, but for once there
wasn't much sting in her voice. "Ai-yi, I'm getting pretty
tired ofWesterin myself," she confessed. "Too many
touchy guards for my taste. Let's see, now... I can not
control every blasted guard that's going to be watching
the dty gates. Anyone else here able to work invisibility
spells?"

Silence.

"I guess not," the fairy said with a sigh.

"What about illusions, though?" Lydia asked. "What
if we cast some really terrifying illusion, something that
would scare the guards away from one of the gates  --  "

"By *we' you mean me, I take it?" Naitachal said drily-
He shook his head. "Oh, I probably could work up
something to frighten a human mind, even if illusion-
casting is a bit outside the scope of my... art But these
are trained warriors, not children. Some of them might
run, yes  --  but the rest would almost certainly attack. I
don't care to test my body against their spears."

"We need something more tangible than illusion,"
Kevin mused. "Shape-shifting... except only one of us
can shape-shift." He glanced at the Dark Elf. "What
about disguising us by magic?"

Naitachal held up a helpless hand. "Now that really
is out of the scope of my sorcery. Anyone else?"

"Hey, don't look at me!" Tich'ki said. "I can't change
anyone but myself."

"I have no such talent," Eliathanis admitted.

"Well, / certainly don't!" Lydia added. "Besides, I've
heard those spells are just as easy to break as illusions.
The last thing we'd want is to suddenly change back

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         145

right in the middle of the guards- And you know. Fate
being the fickle lady she is, that's just what would hap-
pen! No, we need some more mundane disguises.
Something that doesn't depend on magic... Naw, any
ordinary disguises would be too easy to penetrate."

"Would they?" Kevin wondered- "Go on, Lydia.
Whatofroid physical disguises?"

She gave him a doubtful glance, but continued,
"Well, let's see ... By now both the gang and the
guards know they're looking for three men and a
woman: two humans and two elves, one Dark, one
White. Don't have to worry about disguising Tich'ki."

The fairy stretched her wings. "Right. I can always
shrink and hide in your hair, the way we did when we
were getting out ofSmithian."

"But it's hard to hide elves...."

"Not too easy to disguise such a ... charmingly
endowed woman, either," Naitachal added gallandy.

Lydia raised a brow. "Flattery from a Dark Elf?"

His smile was wry. "ltdoes happen."
""Yes, yes, I know you're full of surprises," Kevin in-
terrupted. "But can we please get back to the subject?"

'Jealous?" Tich'ki prodded.

"No! I just don't want to spend the rest of my life in a
Westerin prison. Or a Westerin graveyard, either'"

"Right." Lydia returned to her musing. "All right.
We agree that it's hard to disguise elves."

Naitachal held up a hand. "To disguise male
elves ..." he corrected slowly. "Particularly serious,
combative types." He turned to look at Eliachanis, who
narrowed his eyes.

"I don't think I like what you're thinking."

Naitachal shrugged. "You're the one who was ..,
interrogating the dancing girls. I'm sure they'd be
happy to help their dear elfy-welty."

"They didn't call me that! And I can't  --  I won't..."

The Dark Elf smiled alarmingly. "You can. You will.

146 Mercedes Lackey (^Josepha Sherman

They did. Listen to me, my friends. I think we're about
to find a way out ofWesterin!"

Kevin squirmed uncomfortably in the saddle of the
riding mule, trying to get the yards and yards of gauzy,
gaudy skirts to spread out properly, grimly trying to
ignore the pretty chiming of little silver bells every dme
he moved.

"Don't squirm, dear," Lydia cooed. "It tears threads."

Kevin glared at her. The warrior was a sugar-sweet
confection, her tanned face softened with powder and
paint, her lithe, muscular form disguised by a frilly
bodice and layer after layer of gauzy skirts in a dozen
shades of pink. A silky cloak of dusty rose shot through
with gold threads was thrown over the whole thing, her
black curls  --  and Tich'ki  --  hidden under its cowl. Yes,
but at least she's a woman! I feel like an idiot.

What made it worse was that he knew he looked
rather alarmingly like a girl in all this frippery: a slight-
ly scrawny one, perhaps, a bit too athletic even for a
dancer, but a girl nevertheless. The bardling rubbed a
reflexive hand over his chin, not sure whether to be
discouraged or glad right now that at almost sixteen he
still didn't need to shave very often. Smooth cheeks
would help the illusion.

If only the illusion wasn't quite so good!

Eliathanis, riding beside Naitachal, was plainly feel-
ing the same way, sitting his mule in silent misery.
Kevin bit back a laugh. What a pretty girl the White Elf
made!

Both elves were, of course, slim and beardless as all
their kind, and despite Eliathanis' martial calling, their
long, silky hair and elegant, fine-boned faces made it
quite easy for them to pass as women. Naitachal's dark
skin had been lightened to a more nondescript tan with
judicious use of powder, making him look more like a
half-elven hybrid than a perilous Dark Elf.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         147

Unlike the unhappy Eliathanis, he seemed to be
having a wonderful time.

After <tU, Kevin mused, how often does a necromancer get
a chance to act silly?

It had been Eliathanis' dancing girls, of course, who
had lent them all this gear, with the understanding that
it would be left for the dancers to gather up again out-
side the walls. The dancers, the bardling decided, were
definitely getting the better of the deal, winding up
with what was left of Lydia's not quite honesdy gained
coins as well as getting their gear back.

Well, actually, it was Councilman Selden who was
paying for the whole thing. In a manner of speaking,
anyhow.

Kevin censed suddenly. There to one side stood
Empty Eyes, the elven leader of the street gang.

"Gently," Naitachal murmured. "You're a harmless
dancing girl, that's all you are." The Dark Elf
straightened slightly, startled, then chuckled. "Well
now, what do you know?" he continued softly. "Our
disguises really do work! Did you feel that slight tin-
glingjust now?"

"Yes."

"That dissipated shame of an elf tried casting a Dis-
pel Magic spell on us!"

Naitachal leaned sideways in the saddle to give
Empty Eyes a flirtatious wink and a blown kiss- Kevin
exploded into laughter, just in time managing to turn it
into girlish titterings.

"L-look at his face! He  --  he  --  he doesn't know
what hit him!"

Naitachal swept back his silky hair with a toss of his
head. "loo skinny for my taste!" he declared in a light
tenor so unlike his usual baritone that Kevin burst into
laughter all over again.

Eliathanis shot the Dark Elf a dour glance. "Stop
that! Show some  --  some self-control!"

148 Mercedes Lackey ^SJosepha Sherman

Naitachal grinned. "Loosen up, dear! You look
ravishing."

"Leave me alone, will you? Or are you really enjoy-
ing this?"

The Dark Elf's grin widened. "Of course I am!
Come now, cousin-elf, where's the harm in it? It's
rather fun to play pretend!"

Eliathanis only growled. Kevin wiped his eyes, trying
not to smear his makeup, hearing Tich'ki, there in
Lydia's hair, tittering so hard she was having trouble
catching her breath.

"Straighten up, dears," Lydia cooed. "Here are the
guards. Look pretty, now!"

Kevin tensed all over again, seeing the men's grim-
faced competence, the weapons never far from their
hands, hearing the guards muttering something about
"Selden" and "Those thieves aren't going to get past
us." Sure, their disguise had been good enough Co fool
Empty Eyes, who had probably been drunk or half-
drugged anyhow. But these were sharp-eyed
professionals. Could it possibly fool them as well?

Apparendy it could. "Look at the girl in pink," one
said, nudging another. "Bet she'd warm a cold night!"

"Warm it, hell, she'd set it on fire!"

"The one next to her's not bad, either." Mortified,
Kevin realized they were discussing him now.

"Awfully stringy," someone muttered.

"But there's something to be said for those acrobatic
types!" The guard who'd first spoken leered up at the
bardling. "Come on, sweetie, give us a kiss for the
road."

Feeling tike a prize idiot, Kevin managed to work his
lips into what he hoped was a flirtatious smile. To his
horror, the guard reached up, trying to pull his head
down. Before the bardling could panic, Naitachal
leaned down to whisper conspiratorially:

"You don't want to kiss her."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         149

"Oh, I don't, do I?"

"Heavens, no! The last man she kissed got so hot and
worked up he followed her for days. We finally had to
throw him in a lake to cool him off. You would not have
believed thesteam\"

All the guards laughed. "Hetyou could raise some
steam," one of them shouted.

"Oh, darling, you wouldn't believe what 1 can do!"
Naitachal gave them all a dazzling smile- "My, my, my,
what handsome fellows you all are! What a shame we have
to leave just now." The very essence of a delighted
dancing girl, the Dark Elf laughed and simpered and
blew kisses at them all- Only Kevin caught the faint hint
of contempt flickering in the kohl-rimmed blue eyes.
"Now, we really must say good-bye," Naitachal said,
pretending to pout- "We have sitch a long way to go!"

"Stay here, then!"

"Oh, darlings, Vdadors that. But..." He waved a help-
less hand. "What wauM the troop do without me? They
would be simply lest, the poor dears. Ta-ta, darlings!"

Fun was fun, but once they were safely out of sight of
the city walls, the party was of one mind, searching
until they'd found a small pool screened by a grove of
trees. Kevin practically threw himself from his mule
and gladly stripped off his girlish finery, scrubbing and
scrubbing till he'd washed every last trace of paint and
powder from his face.

"Ugh. Can't see how women can stand wearing all
that stuff."

"Frankly, neither can I!" Lydia straightened, shaking
out her damp black hair and tousling the curls dry with
her hands. "I mean, I like looking nice as much as any
other woman." She winked at Kevin. "You should see
me when I dress up pretty! But all thatstuff I was wear-
ing just now made me feel like I was carrying a prison
around with me!"

150 Mercedes Lackey ^josepha Sherman

In the middle of strapping on her sword, she
paused, looking out over the lake, eyebrows raised.
"My, isn't that a pleasant sight!"

Naitachal, some distance away, had stripped to the
waist to wash off the last of the disguising powder. His
body was inhumanly slim and graceful but undeniably
male, smooth musdes rippling and dark skin gleaming
with every move. Realizing the others were watching
him, he disappeared into the bushes, emerging
shrouded once more in his black cloak. And now every
trace of frivolity was gone.

It's almost as though he was drunk before, and now he's sober
again, Kevin thought.

Maybe that wasn't so bizarre an idea. After all, for a
Dark Elf, a necromancer used to a grim world of sor-
cery and death, being suddenly thrown into the middle
of so much vibrant, busy life really must have been
intoxicating!

As the bardling retrieved his lute from the pile of
dancing girls' gear, he heard Naitachal mutter:

"Powers, I'm glad that's over."

"I thought you were enjoying yourself." Eliathanis'
voice was cool with disapproval.

Naitachal glanced sharply at the White Elf- "Up to a
point. One moment more, though, and I think I would
have thrown up."

"From fright?" Kevin asked in disbelief.

"Hardly!" The Dark Elf gave him a fierce Bttle grin.
"From a surfeit of sugar!"

Chapter XV

As the party rode up the gentle slope from the river
plain in which Westerin lay, Kevin suddenly reined in
his mule. "Lydia, if we have to retrace all our steps back
to Count Volmar's castle, we're going to waste too
much time."

"Agreed. Besides, I don't want to risk going through
that gorge again, either; one ambush is more than
enough, thank you." The woman hesitated, chewing
thoughtfully on her lip. "I do know a much shorter
route. The only thing is... well -.. let's put it this way:

anybody have any objections about riding through a
battlefield?"

"Awhat?"

"An ancient one. I'm not even sure what the whole
thing was all about, it happened so long ago. Shouldn't
be anything left to bother us." She shot an uneasy
glance at the Dark Elf. "Unless, of course, someone
tries to disturb things."

Naitachal's eyes glinted coldly. " I am not in the habit
of rousing that which should not be roused. Lead on."

Kevin struggled against the urge to keep looking
over his shoulder. This was ridiculous! An easy ride, a
nice, bright, sunny day, a smooth, grassy meadow
stretching out before him without any obstructions at
all and a splendid array of mountains in the distance  -- 
there was not the slightest thing to fear.

Then why oh why was his mind insisting on sending
these constant thrills of nervousness through him?

152 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

"Naitachal," the bardling asked uneasily. "Is this. ..
was this..."

"The battlefield?" The Dark Elf's voice sounded
strained and distant. "Yes... you would sense that, too,
wouldn't you. Bard-to-be that you are? So many lives
lost, human and Other ... I can feel their auras even
now, calling to me...."

"Well, don't answer them!" Lydia snapped, and
Naitachal blinked like someone suddenly shaken from
a dream.

"No," he said, and then more confidently, "no!"

But as they rode on across the meadow, the others
could see shudders racking his slender frame. The
Dark Elf was plainly fighting some terrible inner battle
of his own, struggling against all the long, cruel years of
childhood conditioning screaming at him, You are a crea-
twe of the Darkness! Leave the light behind you!

Unexpectedly, Eliathanis brought his mule
alongside. "Take my hand," he said softly.

"What -- "

"Take it. Hold fast. Yes, like that. Think of sunlight,
Naitachal. Think of life and joy. They are the only
realities here."

Kevin saw the White Elf wince with the force of
Naitachal's desperate grasp- But Eliathanis refused to
let go, as though willing peace into the Dark Elf
through that link.

And little by little the tension left Naitachal's body.
He shuddered one last time, then released the White
Elf's hand, looking at Eliathanis in confusion.

"Thank you," the Dark Elf said after a moment. "I hard-
ly expected you to wish to help me, but --  thank you."

"Ah. Well." Eliathanis flushed, embarrassed by his
own kindness. "I... didn't want you rousing anything
undead against us."

"I wouldn't willingly." Then Naitachal added, very
softly, "But it was a near thing."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         153

Alatan, sorcerer, necromancer, paced impatiently
back and forth on the ramparts of his small, square
keep, glancing now and then out over the smooth,
treeless expanse of meadow without really seeing it.
He was alone up there, the only living being in all the
keep, alone save for a few silent, soulless aides.

"Damn her!" he hissed.

And damn him for a fool for ever letting himself be
forced to be responsible to her! So much time had
passed without a word from her. He'd almost let him-
self believe the rumors that the sorceress was dead, or
so far from here that she'd forgotten all about him and
the debt he owed her: the debt of his life.

Oh no. She hadn't forgotten. All at once there had
come that summons, and with it the infuriating
knowledge that he still wasn't free, any more than he'd
been free so many years ago... when the peasants had
caught him weak from the aftereffects of a failed spell,
had caught him and condemned him to death by
fire-- -.

The sorcerer stopped short, black cloak swirling
about him. Unbidden, his mind conjured up the
hardwood stake as clearly as though it were with him
now instead of far in the past, the stake and the chains
pressing him cruelly back against it, his hands bound
so he couldn't gesture, his mouth sealed with a wooden
gag so he couldn't call out the slightest spell, and the
flames crackling at the wood beneath him, the heat
already starting to eat at his feet, his legs...

Alatan spat out a savage curse, forcing his mind back
to the present. It was done, he was safe, and he should
have banished such ridiculous memories long ago!

The sorcerer resumed his angry padng. What non-
sense this was! He had seen and done and summoned
horrors enough during his career, horrors that would
have sent any other man screaming  --  aye, and he'd

154 Mercedes Lackey ^josepha Sheman

seen many of those horrors do him homage, too. He
would not act like some raw boy haunted by his own
mind!

Ah, no. Fear wasn't the problem. What truly rankled,
what stayed in his mind after all this rime was having to
admit chat for all his Power, he hadn't been able to do a
thing to save himself. Oh no, ifCarlotta hadn't chanced to
see what was happening, chose stupid, fearful peasants
would have won and he would be ashes in the wind, spirit
lost in the Outer Dark. If she hadn't seen, and thought,
and realized what a fine tool was about to be lost  -- 

"Damn her," Alatan repeated aloud, but by now
most of the anger was gone from his voice. A tool he
was, and a tool he would remain till the debt of his life
was repaid. No successful sorcerer survived by denying
What Must Be. And he dare not fail.

Grimly resigned, Alatan went down from the ram-
parts to his private chambers, to a dark room crowded
with sorcerous implements. A few careful Words of
Power sparked a silver-rimmed scrying mirror into life.

Alatan focused his will, bringing into sharp focus an
image of the boy, the bardling, and those with whom he
rode- A woman... a warrior by the lithe look other...
and quite human. He smiled coldly. No threat there.
The others .. . The sorcerer's mouth tightened. A
White Elf, that one, but again, a warrior, not a mage.
And again, no threat to him. But that other Figure,
draped all in black ... Alatan frowned and leaned for-
ward, staring. Whoever, whatever was shrouded under
that cloak knew at least enough to block anything more
than this casual scan.

You may yet be trouble, rny mysterious friend.

And then again, there might not be any trouble at all.
For look at the direction in which they rode! Tensing in
sudden predatory delight, hardly believing his good
fortune, the sorcerer urged them. Further, ridejttst a Uule
further....

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

155

With a sharp crack! the mirror shattered. Alatan
sprang back in shock, dodging shards of glass. No
doubt about it: that black-dad figure was another sor-
cerer! No, no, more than that: the stranger could only
be a necromancer. No one else could have forced his
spell back on itself so powerfully.

Alatan's laugh was sharp as the glass. So, now! It had
been long and long rill he'd found an enemy worthy of
combat! Burning with eagerness,'the sorcerer sprang
to his feet. calling for his undead servants, and hurried
down to the meadow below, to the field of battle-once-
was and battle-yet-to-be.

Naitachal straightened as sharply in the saddle as
though he'd been slapped. Eyes blazing with sudden
sorcerous force, he gestured imperiously, shouting out
savage, alien Words that tore at Kevin's ears and sent
the mules shying wildly.

"Naitachal!" Lydia yelped, struggling to keep her
seat. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Reining in his own panicky, curvetting mule, the
Dark Elf said shortly, "Someone was spying on us.
Through sorcery. I turned his spell back upon him."

Eliathanis tensed. "Then it wasn't my imagination
just now. I really did sense ... something." His hand
tightened on the hilt of his sword. "Do you know who
the sorcerer is, or where?"

"Who, no. Where: nearby. But I've shattered his
scrying tool."

"That's not going to be the end of it."

"I doubt it." Naitachal glanced sharply about, a
predator hunting elusive prey. "The sooner we are
dear of this batdefield-that-was, the bettor."

And then the earth shook. Kevin's mule screamed in
terror, rearing up so violently the bardling went flying.
He twisted frantically in mid-air, landing with a jolt on
his feet, lute smacking him in the side, noting out of the

156 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

corner of his eye that only Naitachal had managed to
keep his seat and staring as the meadow writhed, tear-
ing itself apart. Out of the shattered earth rose:

No. That's notpossible, his mind insisted, over and over.

Climbing up into the land of the living were the
long-dead, the skeletons of humans and Others, the
fallen victims of that now-forgotten battle returned,
fleshless skulls grinning, fleshless hands gripping
swords and axes. Sightless sockets stared blankly at the
horrified living.

Behind them, wrapped in a cloak as black as that
worn by Naitachal stood a figure who could only be the
necromancer who'd dragged them forth. All Kevin
could see of the face under the dark hood were a gray
beard  --  proof the man at least was human  --  and
fierce, pitiless gray eyes: sorcerous eyes. In the man's
hand a wooden staff topped with a serpentine carving
crackled with blue-white force.

To his right, the bardling heard Naitachal let out his
breath in a long hiss. "So..." the Dark Elf said softly. "I
thought as much."

He flung himself from his frantic mule, slapping it
out of the way of his magic. "Get out of here, all of you."

Eliathanis' sword glinted in his hand. "Are you mad?
We can't leave you here alone!"

"You can't fight what isn't alive! Get out of here!"

But it was already loo late. The other sorcerer thrust
out his staff, and the undead army charged.

"You shall no;!" With that, Naitachal shouted out
fierce, ugly, commanding Words in the harsh language
of sorcery, hurling his arms up in denial. The skeletal
enemy stumbled back from the force of his will  --  but
behind them,'the human necromancer cast up his own
arms, staff raised, shouting out his own dark spell.
Kevin, near-Bard that he was, saw the psychic flames of
sorcery that blazed out from both foes, crashing
together in a shower ofblinding, blue-white sparks. He

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         157

heard Naitachal gasp at the impact, but the Dark Elf's
will held firm.

So, unfortunately, did that of the human foe.

But as the sorcerers stood locked in their savage,
silent battle, both lost their hold on the skeletal war-
riors. They, empty things that they were, followed the
only command they had received, and resumed their
interrupted charge.

"Look out!" Lydia cried. "Here they come!"

Kevin gripped his sword as tightly as he could, trying
not to let it shake in his hand. Powers, Powers, how do you
hurt a skeleton?

All at once, the arch of sorcery vanished with a roar
of whirling air. Naitachal shouted out new Words of
command, the sound alien, hating, the essence of Dark
Elf necromancy. The Words enfolding the undead
bending them to his will. For a moment the deadly
things hesitated, caught, quivering with the strain.

Then, slowly, they turned to threaten the human
necromancer instead. His eyes widened in shock, and
for a moment Kevin thought the man was going to
break from sheer surprise. But after that startled
moment, the gray eyes blazed up in renewed fury. The
necromancer thrust out his staff with such force the
undead reeled and fell back  --  only to be caught anew
in the net ofNaitachaI's Power.

"Th-the/re fighdngeach other!" the bardling gasped.
"They're fighting their own battle all over again!"

Well and good, but not all the skeletal army had found
foes. Some of them came spilling up towards the living.
Lydia loosed an arrow  --  but it passed harmlessly
through a fleshless rib cage.

"Damn!"

"Try for their joints," Eliathanis said grimly. "Cut
those apart, and the creatures cannot move."

Kevin didn't have time to worry about it. He just
barely had a chance to put his lute aside before a

158 Mercedes Lackey ^josepha Sherman

skeleton headed right towards him, axe raised. The
bardling could have sworn that fieshless grin had sen-
dent malice behind it-

Can't parry an axe with a sword. But an axeman can't be as
quick as a swordsman; once he's swung, it has to take him a
moment to recover, and  --  Now!

As the axe came whistling down, Kevin threw him-
self to one side, slashing out sideways with his sword.
He missed the knee joint, the blade clanging harmless-
ly off bone. But at least the impact staggered the
skeleton slightly; it might be an undead thing, but it
was still subject to the force of gravity! Kevin swung
again, hoping to knock it over completely, but to his
horror, a skeletal hand shot out and closed on the
blade.

Of course, of course, he  --  it  --  doesn't have any fingers to
get cut!

The thing was far, far stronger than anything mor-
tal. Kevin struggled helplessly with it, clutching the
sword hilt with both hands  --  only to have the skeleton,
still grinning its inane grin, begin reeling him in, bony
hand over hand up the blade. If he kept holding onto
the hilt, Kevin realized, he was going to be dragged
into the skeleton's reach.

So he suddenly let go. To his relief, the skeleton,
which had been braced against his weight, went right
over backwards. Kevin kicked it as hard as he could,
and heard ribs crack, but the thing was already climb-
ing back to its feet, apparendy unhurt.

And it's still got my sword and its axe!

Now, what?

The bardling backed away, looking about for a
branch, a rock, anything he could use as a weapon. He
found a rock, all right: he stepped on it, and the
treacherous thing turned under his foot, sending him
sprawling.

As the skeleton lunged down at him, Kevin did the

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         159

only thing he could think of: he caught the bony arms,
and kicked his legs up with all his force, just as he had
with the swordsman back in Westerin. To his amazed
wonder, he sent the skeleton sailing neady over his
head, to land with a satisfying crash. It lost his sword in
the fall, and the bardling snatched up the weapon,
hacking and hacking at the undead thing before it
could rise till he'd cut right through its skeletal neck.
The skeleton collapsed in a bony heap.

/ -- laid it! I won!

Fierce with triumph, die bardling looked about to see
how everyone else was faring. Lydia and Eliathanis were
surrounded, fighting back to back, skeletal hands snatch-
ing at them fi-om all sides, while Tich'ki, swearing savagely,
tried in vain to ward offthe undead with her spear.

I've got to help them before  -- 

A bony hand closed with painful force about his
ankle. Headless or not, the skeleton was still very much
animated.

"No! Curse you, no' No!" Nearly sobbing with
panicky strain, Kevin hacked and hacked and hacked
at the hand till it shattered, releasing him. But the
headless horror was getting to its feet once more.

This is impossible! The thing is never going to gwe up!

No, it wouldn't, the bardling realized. None of the
undead would. Not while the human necromancer's
spell bound them.

Panting, Kevin glanced to where the Dark Elf stood.
Naitachal was still battling his foe as fiercely as ever,
eyes blazing with will. But to the bardling's alarm, signs
of strain showed all too clearly on the elegant face. Of
course! Determined though he was, strong magician
though he was, the Dark Elf had no sorcerous staff to
feed him extra Power, nothing but the strength within
his own slim body.

He c-can't hold out much longer, Kevin realized, not
without help! But I don't know any spell-songs to help him!

160 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

Wait a minute. .. Maybe he didn't know any useful
Bardic Magic  --  but maybe he wouldn't need it! Didn't
all the old ballads claim when magic failed, plain com-
mon sense would save the day? There was one very
practical thing he could do.

Before the headless monstrosity could grab him
again, Kevin snatched up the rock that had tripped
him, hefting its weight experimentally in his hand as
he ran, radng past the battle ofundead against undead
till nothing stood between him and the enemy sorcerer.

If he sees me now, I'm dead.

But the necromancer, absorbed in his magical
trance, showed not the slightest sign he knew the
bardling was there.

Please, ohplease, let this work....

Kevin threw the rock with all his strength- Ha, yes! It
hit the necromancer smartly on the side of the head!
The man staggered helplessly back, trance shattered,
and from the other side of the field, Naitachal gave a
hoarse cry of triumph as his magic blazed free. A blue-
white bolt of magic slashed through the air, engulfing
his human foe in flame. Frozen with shock, Kevin
heard the necromancer give one wild scream of pain
and terror. Then that sorcerous flame flared up so fier-
cely the bardling flung his arms protectively up over
his eyes.

It took no more than a few heartbeats' rime. The fire
vanished as swiftly as it had begun. Kevin warily
lowered his arms, fearful of what he might see. But
there was nothing, not man, not cloak, not staff, noth-
ing but a small swirling ofash-

The necromancer's death shattered the binding
spell. As simply as puppets with cut strings, the undead
fell where they'd stood, the jumble of their bones melt-
ing quietly back into the earth. In only a few moments,
the meadow had returned to grassy serenity, and noth-
ing at all remained of the horror that had just been.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         161

I don't believe... IcouUn't have seen...

Kevin hurried back to Ehathanis, Lydia, and Tich'ld,
suddenly wanting nothing so much as to be near other
warm, living, mortal beings. Ah, he was glad to clasp
their hands, glad to let Lydia hug him and to hug her
back, glad even to feel Tich'ki tousle his hair with
rough affection. All three started at the same dme:

"Are you hurt? I'm  --  "

'Tm not, not -- "

"  --  really. Just bruised and  --  "

" -- tired and -- "

They broke off at the same time, too, then burst into
laughter.

"Hey, Naitachal!" Lydia called. "Don't you  -- 
Naitachal?"

Arigid figure swarthed in his somber cloak, the Dark
Elf never moved from where he stood.

"Naitachal?" Eliathanis echoed hesitantly. "Are
you ... ?"

Without a sound, the Dark Elf crumpled to the
ground and lay still.

INTERLUDE THE FOURTH

"My lord. My Lord Count."

Volmar, hurrying down the corridors of his castle,
grit his teeth, trying to ignore that dry, precise voice,
but it. continued relentlessly:

"Count Volmar. Please stop for a moment."

The count sighed silently. When D'Krikas got an
idea m its insecloid head, nothing would do but to hear
the Arachnia out. Reluctantly, he turned to ask, "Yes-
Whatisit?"

"You told me yesterday that you would read and sign
these scrolls today."

Curse it! An Arachnia never forgot anything^.

I don't have time for this nonsense now!

Carlotta was hidden in the count's solar, studying
her scrying mirror, and if he wasn't there when she
learned whatever she learned  --  He didn't dare let the
sorceress gain any advantages over him.

"These are nothing," Volmar said, glancing at the
scrolls. "Small matters. Sign them yourself."

D'Krikas1 silence held a world of disapproval.

"All right, all right!" The count held up a helpless
hand. "I'll sign them later. I don't have time now."

"No. I can see that."

Something in the dry voice made Volmar stare up at
the Arachnia. And all at once, the count felt the smallest
prickle of unease run through him. Usually he
managed to ignore the fact that his seneschal wasn't
human; D'Krikas kept pretty much to itself, after all, so
quietly efficient Volmar could almost forget the being

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         163

was there. Efficient, yes, meticulously so. The castle was
never going to be short so much as a single copper coin
or a loaf of bread as long as the Arachnia was in charge.

But in this narrow, dose corridor, D'Krikas seemed
Co loom over him. Volmar had never stopped to realize
just how tall an adult Arachnia grew, how tall and thin
and alien, so alien .. . The great, compound eyes
studied him without blinking, the shiny chidn, half hid-
den by the being's cloak, gave off a faint, spicy scent
that was never a human scent, and Volmar, all at once
overwhelmed, forced out a brash:

"You don't like me, do you?"

D'Krikas drew back slightly in surprise. "What has
'like' or 'dislike' to do with matters? When my home
hive grew overcrowded, I left co ease the burden of
feeding all. I swore the proper oath to your father. You
know that. I keep my oaths. You know that, too. I
served your father the count and I serve you, as I will
continue to serve the master of this castle, whomever
that may be. As long as honor is not compromised."

Was there a hint of warning in the precise voice? Vol-
mar fought down a shudder. He had once seen
D'Krikas save a servant's child from a rabid dog by
calmly tearing the beast in two with those segmented,
fragile-seeming arms, neatly and effortlessly as a man
would tear a piece of parchment. And that precise
Arachnia beak could sever bone. Everyone knew the
one thing no Arachnia could endure was a loss of
honor. If D'Krikas somehow suspected  --  No, no, that
was ridiculous! No Arachnia wielded magic, and
without magic, even clever D'Krikas would never be
able to learn how his master was aiding the crown's
worse foe.

"Your honor will not be compromised," Volmar said
shortly.

He sent a page for pen and ink and signed the scrolls
one after another, hardly bothering to read them, and

164       Mercedes Lackey ^fJosepha Sherman
hurried off, D'Krikas' speculative gaze hot on his back.

Carlotta never looked up from her scrying mirror as
he entered, but Votmar knew she could tell perfectly
well by her arcane senses who he was.

"I don't believe it." The sorceress straightened in her
chair, voice sharp with disbelief." I simply don'tbelieve it"

"Don't believe what?" Volmar craned his neck, trying
his best to see past the woman to the mirror. But to his
frustration, what he could see of the images looked, to
his non-sorcerous sight, like nothing more than blurs
of color swirling on the smooth surface. "What's hap-
pening? What's wrong?"

"That ridiculous nuisance of a boy just killed
Alatan!"

"The sorcerer?" Volmar gasped. "But that's impos-
sible! The boy is just a bardling, a nothing! Come now,
Carlotta, from what I've seen of him, he couldn't have
managed enough Bardic Magic, or any other kind of
magic strong enough to  --  "

"He threw a rock." Each word was savagely bitten
off. "It was the Dark Elf who did the rest. Ann, damn
him, damn them both!" She glanced sharply up at Vol-
mar. "You wovM include a Dark Elfin the party!"

"Hey now, don't blame me!" the count exclaimed. "It
wasn't my idea. Not mine alone, anyhow. We both
agreed having one of that cursed breed in the group
would help discredit the unholy elven lot."

"Unholy, is it?" Carlotta purred, her eyes narrowing
to green slits. "In all the years I've known you, Volmar,
you've never yet been able to shed this obsessive hatred
of the elf-kind. It is beginning to grow quite . - -
wearisome."

Oh Powers. He'd forgotten all about her being half
of fairy blood. Horrified, Volmar remembered the
woman's quick temper, and realized he might just have
doomed himself.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         165

"I d-don't," he stammered, struggling to find the
words to soothe her, "I didn't --  I  --  I mean..."

Ignoring his helpless attempts at placation, she
returned to studying her mirror.

"Poor Alatan," Carlotta murmured after a moment,
without a hint of softness in her voice. "Poor fool. For
all your Power, you never could control the weaknesses
within your own mind. You let yourself be haunted all
these many years by the memory of flame. And now the
fire has snared you after all." Her chuckle was soft and
chillingly cold. "What a pity."

She was silent for a moment longer, staring into the
mirror. Volmar stood frozen, hardly daring to breathe,
wondering what other bad news the woman was going
to announce.

He jumped when Carlotta straightened with a sharp
little cry. "So-o! Is that the way of it?" She glanced quick-
ly up at the count again, one eyebrow raised in
surprise- "It appears that at least the late Alatan
managed to take die Dark Elf with him."

"Did he, now?" Volmar breathed an inner sigh of
relief. "One less would-be hero to concern us."

With a wave other hand and a commanding Word,
Carlotta banished the images, and got resdessly to her feet
"Yes, one dead elf, but the others remain. And with that
cursed hunter, that warrior-woman, to guide them, such a
small party is going to be able to elude almost anything."

Well now, wasn't this interesting! For once the mighty
Carlotta seemed to actually be at a loss! Her pet
necromancer's death must have shaken her more than
she'd admitted.

Volmar straightened in dour delight. Good. Let her
know for a change what it felt like to be uneasy and un-
sure. And in the meantime, let him at last take charge of
the situation!

"Never mind," the count said, his voice gende with
false concern. "Let them come."

166 Mercedes lackey ^Josefsha Shennan

She glared at him. "Have you gone mad?"

"Please. Hear me out Don't, hinder them, I say." Vol-
mar smiled at her, enjoying her confusion. "Who
knows? While the boy is here, perhaps he'll find that
elusive manuscript for us."

"Yes. but -- "

"Carlotta, my dear princess, you worry too much."

"Don't patronize me." It was all the more alarming
for having been quiedy said.

"I didn't mean  --  "

"Ah, but you did."

He could have sworn she hadn't done anything
more than raise a hand. But suddenly Volmar was - -.
nowhere, floating helplessly in empty grayness with no
sense of up, no down, no light; or dark or life... Chok-
ing, the count fought in vain to breathe, but oh gods,
there was no air here, either. His lungs were aching, his
heart was pounding painfully, he was dying....

Carlotta, no! Please, no!

All at once there was a real world about him once
more. All at once he was fallen to hands and knees on a
hard stone floor, able to think of nothing but drawing
air into his lungs.

After a time, Volmar realized he was back in his
casde, with Cariotta standing over him, face impassive.
"Never underestimate me, either," she murmured.

The count dragged himself to his feet, collapsing
into a chair, bathed in cold perspiration. "Never," he
echoed weakly.

Illusion. It had to have been illusion. He couldn't
have actually left this realm. He couldn't really have
just been trapped in  --  in that deadly emptiness.

Volmar took a deep breath. "You misunderstand
me." He forced a ghost of sincerity into his voice. "I
never meant to belittle you. Nor," the count added
honesdy, "to deny your powers."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow, then smiled sweetly.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         167

"No. You wouldn't dare, would you? All right.

Continue."

"This is my castle, these are my people. What, did
you think I'd been idle all this while?" Little by little,
Volmar felt self-confidence stealing back into him. Of
course it had been illusion. "Once the boy and his
misguided comrades are actually here, I have a few
surprises of my own to spring on them. And I don't
believe," the count added with dark humor, "that
they will enjoy them."

Chapter XVI

"Naitachal!"

Eliathanis raced to the fallen elf's side, dosely followed
by the others. Kevin got there an instant before Lydia and
the fluttering Tich'ki, dropping to his knees beside
Naitachal's still form. The White Elf glanced across at the
bardlmg,gi-eeneyeswide."Id-don'tt.hmkhe'sbreathing."

"Oh no, that can't be right, he has to be!"

Kevin hastily snatched up a dark wrist. For a panic-
stricken, seemingly endless while, he couldn't find any
pulse at all.

Come on, come on, you can't he dead, not now.

All at once the bardling felt... yes. Kevin released
Naitachal's wrist with a sigh of relief. "He's alive. I...
think he's just asleep. Deeply asleep. That sorcerous
duel must really have worn him out."

Eliathanis shuddered faintly. "Yes." He straightened
slowly, fussing with the set of his now sadly tattered
cloak, plainly struggling to regain his composure. "Of
course it did. I should have realized that."

Well, what do you, know? Kevin stared at the White Elf
in surprise. You really were worried about him!

Not that such revelations mattered right now. Kevin
glanced doubtfully down at Naicachal. Sleeping like
this on bare ground couldn't be doing the Dark Elf any
good. Particularly not on this ground. Everybody else
seemed to be too battle-dazed to suggest anything, so
the bardling said as firmly as he could:

"Eliathanis, why don't you see if you can coax our
mules back here?"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         169

"Ah. Yes."

"And, Lydia, can you help me lift Naitachal? The
sooner we get him  --  and us  --  away from here, the
better."

"Right."

For all his worry and ever-growing weariness, the
bardling couldn't help but feel a little thrill of wonder at
the way they were obeying him without question.

Maybe I am o leader after all. Sort of, anyway, he added
wryly. For now, anyhow.

Naitachal slept without stirring all during Eliathanis'
finally successful efforts to persuade the snorting, still-
trembling mules to return. He slept during that entire
day's ride through field and forest, alternately sup-
ported in the saddle by Kevin, Lydia and Eliathanis- He
continued to sleep while they set up camp for the
night, lost in so deep and still a slumber that Kevin
began to worry.

He'il wake up soon enough. Of course he will.

But Naitachal continued to sleep. And at last Kevin's
worry grew to the point where the bardling couldn't
stand it any longer. Glancing uneasily at the others, he
burst out with the question he suspected they were all
thinking:

"What are we going to do if Naitachal doesn't wake
up?"

"He'll wake." Eliathanis, tending the campfire,
didn't sound quite sure about that.

"But what if he doesn't?"

"He will," Tich'ki said firmly. "Look, I'm the only
other one of us who has any real magic, and believe
me, this isn't the first nme I've seen a magidan overtax
himself to-the point of collapse. There's only so much
strength in a body, you know."

"Yes, but -- "

"Very true."

170 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

It was little more than a whisper, so unexpected a
sound that they all started.

"Naitachal!"

"So I am."

The Dark Elf sat up, very slowly and carefully, as
though he wasn't quite sure his body would obey him.
Lydia made an abortive little move towards him, then
stopped with a cautious, "How do you feel?"

"Like something dragged up by one of my own
spells," Naitachal admitted wryly.

"But you'll be all right?" Eliathanis' eyes were oddly
wary.

"Indeed."

This is ridiculous! This is Naitachal, the comrade who's been
rid&ng with us all along. He hasn't turned into a monster.

But even as he thought that, Kevin knew they were
all a little leery of Naitachal now, this Dark Elf who had
suddenly revealed himself as a fearful necromancer
who could destroy a foe with one blast ofsorcerous
flame-

/ will not be afraid of him!

After all, how could he forget how the Dark Elf had
comforted him after he'd killed that bandit? Whatever
else Naitachal might be, that hadn't been the act of a
cruel being, or an evil one.

The bardling deliberately moved to the Dark Elf's
side, and received a faint smile in return.

"That was a marvelously clever thing you did, Kevin,
hurling the rock at the sorcerer to break his concentra-
tion."

"Oh, well. It was the only thing I could think to do."
The bardling couldn't stop himself from adding in a
rush, "Even if I didn't expect what was going to hap-
pen after that."

"Don't shed any tears for him." Naitachal's voice was
suddenly cold. "I touched his mind during our battle,
and it was... foul. The man had deliberately killed all

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         171

goodness within himself, all hope of joy, deliberately
turned himself into a being almost as empty as those
poor dead ones he conjured. So it can be," he added,
almost reluctantly, "with many necromancers."

"Not with you! Anyone who could enjoy being silly
with those guards the way you did hasn't given up on
life!"

That earned him a chuckle. "No. I haven't. Nor will I,
Powers willing." The Dark Elf paused, eyes glinting. "He
was strong, though, that stupid, evil man. So strong, with
nothing but hatred left within him to drive him, with that
hellish staff of his to aid him. Without your help, Kevin,
I... don't think I would have survived."

He glanced at the bardling. "But the memory of that
fire is still shocking you, isn't it? Ha, yes, you others, it
shocks you all."

"Well, hell, yes!" Lydia exclaimed after a moment "I
never thought you could  --  "

"1 didn't. Not deliberately."

"What do you mean? I saw what I saw!"

"You don't understand." Naitachal hesitated, then
sighed. "I don't know if I can put this so easily into
human terms. Look you, our Power was trapped, his
and mine, stalemated, each against each. What hap-
pens when a dam breaks?"

Lydia shrugged. "The water bursts free and  --  Oh."

"Exacdy. When his sorcery all at once gave way, mine
 --  yes  --  burst free. Even I didn't expect it to explode
quite so fiercely, though. A pity it did," Naitachal added
grimly. "I meant only to stun the man."

"In the name of all the Powers, why?"

The Dark Elf's eyes glinted in the gloom. "Why do
you think?"

Kevin straightened. "You don't believe he was work-
ing on his own, do you?"

"Hardly. Even a necromancer such as that isn't
chaotic enough to attack at random."

172 Mercedes Lackey ^fJosepha Sherman

"Then... do you think he was in Carlotta's pay?"

"Something like that." The Dark Elf stretched
wearily. "But we seem to have drawn the lady's fangs."

At least for now, Kevin thought, and fought down a
shudder. "I bet you're hungry."

A hint of returning humor danced in the Dark Elf's
eyes. "Ravenous. As, 1 would think, we all are. It's been
a... shall we say... rather strenuous day."

"It has indeed." Eliathanis was rummaging in their
packs, coming up with a fair amount of smoked meat
and some rather squashed bread. He looked ruefully at
his catch. "It's not going to be an elegant meal."

Lydia rubbed sore muscles in her arms. "I've had
worse. Worse days, too. Though I have to admit, I can't
remember when. Most of the guys I've fought," she
added with a wry grin, "had more flesh to *em!"

They rode all the next day, still sore and weary from
the battle, nerves dght. But what they rode into was noth-
ing more alarming than a mild, sweet spring day. The
land sloped gently up and up towards the mountains, so
gradually that the mules climbed it without complaint. A
gentle breeze played with hair and clothes, birds darted
cheerfully all about them, and there was not the slightest
sign of trouble anywhere.

It was so very uneventful a day that by nightfall
Kevin was amazed to find himself almost disappointed.

What's the matter with you, you idiot? Do you want to be
attacked?

No, of course he didn't. What he was feeling, Kevin
knew, wasn't anything so foolish. After all they had
gone through so far. this sudden peacefulness simply
seemed too... anticlimacdc to be believable.

Now that was silly. Maybe it was true, maybe
Cariotta's fangs had been drawn. Maybe she couldn't
attack them herself for some arcane reason. Maybe
she'd had nothing to do with the attack at all!

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         173

Ah well, Kevin told himself, he would try to enjoy
anticlimax.

Or an almost anddimax. The only thing chat was jar-
ringly wrong in all this quiet was the way Lydia,
Eliathanis and even Tich'ki still radiated uneasiness
every dme they glanced Naitachal's way.

ICan't let that go on. IfCarlotiadoes attack us again, wehad
better beabletopresentaunitedfront, or she's going to destroy us!

But Kevin admitted reluctantly that he just didn't
know what to do about it.

Sitting by the campfire that night, the bardling
sighed, overwhelmed by a surge of guilt that had noth-
ing to do with their quest: what with all the excitement
of the past few days, he had pretty much forgotten
about his music. Now, imagining Master Aidan's
reproachful stare for his neglect, Kevin took out his
lute and tuned it, gendy since it hadn't been played for
a while, then tried a few practice scales.

Ugh. His fingers v/erestijf. Butashekeptafterthem,
they finally limbered up and remembered what they
were supposed to be doing. Kevin ran through his
scales, from the simplest to the most complex and back
again several times, till he heard Lydia give a not so
subtle yawn. With a grin, the bardling switched over
instead to a cheerful little springtime song common to
almost all the human lands, "The Maiden's Garland."

As he played, Kevin felt eyes on him- He glanced up
and caught Naitachal in the ace of staring at the lute. The
slanted blue eyes were, for the moment, unguarded, so
full of yearning that a pang of pity shot through the
bardling. He remembered Naitachal admitting that the
Dark Elves had no music of their own.

What a horrible thing! What a horrible, lonely thing!

Naitachal suddenly realized Kevin had noticed him,
and turned sharply away, pretending to be fixing some
bit of his gear-

174 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Shemum

"Oh no, you don't," the bardling murmured, and
scrambled over to sit beside the Dark Elf. Moved by an
impulse he didn't quite understand, Kevin held out the
lute. "Here. Take it."

"I  --  I can't. I mean, I wouldn't know how..."

"I'll show you. Take it."

Naitachal took the lute as gingerly as though it was a
baby. Kevin sighed.

"Not like that. It's not that fragile, honest. You hold it
like this, here, and here. Right! Now, give it back to me
for a minute and I'll show you something. This is how
you get single notes." He strummed a single string,
running his finger up from fret to fret. "See? The pitch
gets lower the further my finger gets from the body of
the lute. You try it."

Warily, Naitachal touched a string. When it twanged,
he almost dropped the lute in shock, then gave a rueful
grin at his own reaction. But then, to Kevin's surprise,
the Dark Elf ran up and down through the notes
without missing a one.

"You have a good ear! Now, shall we try a chord or
two?"

Naitachal shrugged uneasily. "Whatever you say."

Showing the Dark Elf the proper fingering, Kevin
strummed the basic chords, then handed the lute back.
Naitachal stumbled over the strings the first dme, then
echoed Kevin flawlessly.

"Hey, terrific!" the bardling said.

The Dark Elf grinned, this time in self-conscious
delight. And to the bardling's amazement, Naitachal
began to pick out, very slowly and carefully, the melody
to "The Maiden's Garland."

"That --  that's wonderful! And you only heard me
play it once!" Kevin fought down the faint, irrational
little touch of jealousy that didn't like anyone else being
able to play Ais lute, and added honestly, "Do you know
how long it took me to figure out what you're doing in

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         175

one tiny lesson  --  " The bardling stopped, mind
racing.

"Naitachal, listen to me, you can't stop here." The
words came tumbling out of Kevin in his eagerness. **I
mean it, when this is all over you've got to get musical
training, you must! No, no, don't shake your head at
me. Music would be such a wonderful comfort for you
 -- and you've got talent, true musical talent!"

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

But for all his protest, Naitachal didn't surrender the
lute. As though driven by some inner demon, he bent
over it once more, playing "The Maiden's Garland**
again and yet again, gradually bringing it up to proper
speed.

Suddenly the Dark Elf stopped. With an embar-
rassed, delighted litde laugh, he tried to give the lute
back to Kevin. But Kevin was aware of how the others
were staring at them in sheer confusion. The terrible
necromancer wasn't supposed to be acting like this!

Oh yes, this was too good a chance to waste! The
bardling waved Naitachal on. The Dark Elf frowned,
but obligingly played "The Maiden's Garland" yet
again. And this time Kevin sang the light, silly, happy
words along with the music:

"As I was walking one spring day,

I saw a maiden fair,

Come gathering the fragrant may,

The lilac and the roses-o,

The daisies and the violets-o,

To make a pretty posy-o,

To wear upon her hair."

At first Naitachal stumbled, distracted by trying to lis-
ten to what Kevin was singing. But all at once he
caught the performer's knack of hearing but not really
listening to the words, and played on, smiling faindy.

As the bardling had hoped, the bouncy, cheerful
melody and lyrics quickly reached out to snare the

176 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Shennan

others. First Lydia, hardly aware of what she was doing,
started tapping her foot in time to the music. Then
Tich'ki began humming along, fairy voice high and
sweet as birdsong. Eliathanis fought it for a dme, but at
last gave up, murmuring the words in his dear, elven
tenor.

"Oh, come on!" Kevin teased. "You all can do better
than that!"

They could. They did. Pushed on by the bardling's
taunts, they laughed and set the echoes ringing with
their singing. And Kevin, leading them on, grinned as
he sang, watching the walls of suspicion come crum-
bling down, dissolved by the sheer joy that was music.

At last, breathless, they had to stop. Eliathanis
coughed nervously, made a few abortive movements,
then got to his feet and moved to the Dark Elf's side.

"I seem to be forever begging your pardon," he told
Naitachal, "but... I must do it yet again." The White
Elf shook his head. "I'm a warrior, not a magician, but
that's no real excuse. Even so, 1 should have recog-
nized liathama safainias when I saw it."

Naitachal glanced at the bewildered Kevin. "That
doesn't translate very well into your human tongue. It
means ... mmm ... 'explosion of pent-up Power* is as
close as I can get, with the implication that the
explosion wasn't the magician's fault."

"Exactly!" Eliathanis cut in. "Naitachal, we've fought
enough foes together  --  and each other as well  --  for
me to know something of who and what you are."

"A Dark Elf," Naitachal said drily. "A necromancer."

"Bah, forget that!" The White Elf waved a dismissive
hand. "You had no choice in either." He paused, and
Kevin could see his fair skin reddening even in the dim
light. "Prejudice isn't a logical thing," Eliathanis began
anew, "but it's damnably difficult to forget- As I've been
proving so far."

"We are as we are."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         177

"Don't mock me. This is difficult enough to say as it
is. Naitachal, I... well... look you, I admit I've had
things fairly easy all my life. I was raised with love and
Light. I never had a moment's doubt about who I was
or about the career I chose- But you  --  1 can only guess
at the struggle you had to be you, to be your own free
soul."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Ah... I don't know. Maybe that theyou you're creat-
ing is a being of whom you should be proud. Maybe
that no matter what my people think of yours, or yours
of mine, I know you, Naitachal, are not, you cannot be,
my enemy. Agreed?"

The Dark Elf's teeth flashed in a sudden smile.
"Agreed."

"Great," came Lydia's wry voice from the darkness.
"Now can we all kiss and make up, and get some
sleep?"

That created such a silly picture in Kevin's mind that
he started to chuckle. The bardling was still chuckling
as he settled down for the night, but mixed in with the
humor was sheer relief.

Peace at last, he thought, and added a silent TJumkyou
to whatever Spirit of Music might be listening-

Chapter XVII

By the second day of peaceful riding through peace-
ful fields and forest, climbing ever higher into the
mountains, with nothing to be seen but countryside,
Kevin felt his tight nerves beginning to unwind. He
started to relax in the saddle, enjoying the quiet beauty
of the scene around him, almost daring to hope:

Maybe Carlotta really hadn't had anything to do
with the necromancer's attack. Maybe she wasn't after
them after all.

The rest of the party were obviously feeling just as
relaxed as he. Naitachal and Tich'ki were busily mur-
muring together as they rode; from what scraps the
bardling could make out, they were trying to figure
out a way to combine fairy magic with the Dark Elf's
own to trace the missing Charina and enjoying the
challenge. Lydia and Eliathanis were trading war
stories, arguing good-naturedly over the compara-
tive merits of sword and bow. Kevin smiled, and let
his mind wander over various bits of music, puzzling
out how he would transcribe this piece for lute or add
counterpoint to that piece. It would be nice to show
offsome new musical skills once they were back in the
casde.

All at once the inanity of his thoughts hit him like a
blow. Kevin sat bolt upright. What in the name of all
the Powers did everyone think they were doing?

"This is ridiculous!"

"Kevin?"

"Look at us! We're all acting as though we'd been out

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

179

for a  --  a pleasant little ride in the country, without a
care in the world!"

"Well, yes," Lydia admitted. "But  --  "

"But we know Carlotta is alive. We know she had
something to do with Charina's disappearance. What
do you think we're going to find when we get back to
Count Volmar, eh? Look you, all of you, we're talking
about a sorceress who thought nothing of trying to
murder her own brother! She's not going to stick at
getting rid of nothings like us!"

"Nothings!" Tich'ki said indignantly.

Kevin ignored her, glaring at the others. "Think
about it. For all we know, Carlotta's already figured out
where we're going. Ha, for all we know, she already has
agents in place in the castle!"

"Oh, you're not saying the count's in her employ!"
Lydia protested. "Hepaid us to go on our hunt, for
Powers' sake!"

"I'm not saying anything. Except that we don't know
what we're going to be fadng. So let's not be so  --  so  --  "

"So fat and lazy," Lydia drawled. She straightened in
the saddle, adjusting the angle other quiver. "You have
a point, kid. Much as I hate to admit it, you do have a
point."

Tich'ki came fluttering down to land, panting, on
Lydia's saddle. "All right, I scouted ahead as best I
could."

"And...?"

She shrugged. "And all I could see was a perfectly
normal casde full of perfectly ordinary humans. From
what I could overhear, no one seemed to be talking
about anything interesting."

"But you can'tbe sure," Kevin prodded-

"No, I can'tbe sure!" Tich'ki snapped. "I'm a fairy,
not one of your heavy, earthbound breed! I don't know
how you think!"

180 Mercedes Lackey ^josepha Sherman

Kevin sighed. "Never mind- Just sic and get your
strength back." He looked at the others. "I guess all we
can do is go on."

They rode up the steep road to the castle in renewed
tension, all of them wondering just how accurate
Tich'ki's report might be. Could a fairy's judgment be
trusted? Was this to be a refuge  --  or a trap?

"You're on your own," Tich'ki told them. "Once in
that castle was enough. I'm not going to risk being
trampled underfoot by some hulking human. See you
later!"

She took wing, darting off without another word.

"Eh well, here we are," Lydia said, staring up at the
watchtowers guarding the main gates.

Here they were, indeed. Kevin licked suddenly dry
lips and called out their names to the tower guards.
There was a brief pause, during which he had far too
much time to wonder if they'd have time to get away if
someone threw spears down at them. Or boiling oil.
The gates creaked open....

And a storm of shouting castle folk came rushing out
to meet them- For one panicky moment, the bardling
fumbled for his sword, sure he and his party were
under attack. But before he could do anything to
defend himself, Kevin made out some individual
shouts amid the sea of noise:

"They're here!"

"They made it!"

"Oh, you brave, brave heroes!"

Kevin glanced at the rest of his party, seeing on their
faces the same shocked disbelief he felt. "Uh, yes," the
bardling began warily. "We're here, all right. But why
are you  --  "

The rest of his question was drowned out in a storm
of cheers. Eager hands reached out to grab his mule's
bridle and lead it through the entryway into the
crowded outer bailey.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         181

"If it will please you to dismount, my lords, lady?"

No, it doesn't please me, Kevin thought. This is all just too
wevrd.

But he couldn't think of any convincing argument
that would let him turn around and ride out of here.
Exchanging uneasy looks with the rest of the party, he
dismounted and followed their guides.

They were led into the shadowy depths of the
count's Great Hall, the sound of their footsteps muffled
by the carpeting rushes. The vast, torchlit room was
fairly stuffed with courtiers and servants alike. At the
sight of Kevin and (he others, they all burst into a fren-
zy ofmurmuring-

At the far end of the Hall sat Count Volmar himself,
splendid in robes of somber blue, there on his red-
canopied chair of state on its dais. And beside him was;

"Charina!" the bardling gasped.

"Kevin!" She came scurrying down the steps to
Kevin's side in a wild swirling of blue velvet and long
golden hair, and caught the startled bardling in a pas-
sionate hug. "Oh, you brave, brave hero! You saved
me!"

"Ch-Charina," Kevin stammered, too shocked and
embarrassed for anything else, overwhelmed by the
soft sweetness other. At last he managed to disengage
himself, gasping out, "I'm delighted to see you're free,
and I  --  I wish I  --  we  --  could take credit for it, but we
didn't -- "

"Don't be so modest, young man." Count Volmar
stepped down from his chair to shake Kevin's hand.
"The elven traitors who'd captured my niece released
her as soon as they learned just who I had sent out to
track them down." The count smiled heartily. "If it
hadn't been for your reputation, all of you, and the
dihgent search I know you undertook, my poor dear
Charina would still be a captive."

If it hadn't been for their reputation? What

182 Mercedes Lackey dfJosepha Shennan

reputation? Unless Lydia and the elves had been
holding out on him ... ?

But they looked every bit as baffled as he.

Before any of them could say or do anything, though,
the count's servants swarmed down on the party.

"Hey, wait!" Kevin cried.

The last thing he wanted was to be separated from
the others. But he didn't have much of a choice. Still
trying to protest, Kevin was almost dragged away by
the flock of eager servitors.

Chapter XVIII

To Kevin's momentary surprise, the servants
deposited him not back in the chilly, barren squires'
hall, but in a luxurious suite of rooms whose expensive
die floors and tapestry-hung walls marked them as the
count's prized guest quarters.

"But I don't  --  I'm not  --  You can't  --  Hey! Isn't
anybody listening to me?"

The servants, who were busy dragging out a hip
bath and hanging the room round with heavy linen
draperies "so the hero will not be bothered by drafts,"
stopped to stare at him.

"My lord?" one asked, glancing at Kevin's well-worn
clothing and mule-scented self. "Do you notwish to
bathe before meeting with Count Volmar again?"

"Uh, yes, of course I do! But  --  "

Too late. They were already off in a new flurry of
excitement. Almost before Kevin could catch his
breath, he was bathed and hustled into the most
elegant silken hose and velvet tunic he could ever have
imagined, a rich sky biue trimmed with gold thread.
Somewhat to the overwhelmed bardling's relief, the
whole thing was ever so slightly too big for him, espe-
cially in the shoulders: at least something wasn't totally
bizarre  --  at least the clothing hadn't been conjured up
specifically for him! A gold chain was draped about his
neck, an ornamental dagger was fastened at his side,
and Kevin was hurried back down to the Great Hall.

The rest of his party was already down there,
arrayed in similar splendor. Lydia was truly beautiful in

184 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

an amber-dark gown (Kevin could imagine what she'd
had to say about having her legs hindered by skirts),
her curly dark hair caught up in a net of gold thread,
while the two elves looked inhumanly elegant, like
some princely brothers, light and dark, out of the dawn
of magic. Eliathanis* pale coloring was exquisitely set
off by the softest of blue silk robes, while Naitachal's
dark complexion was made yet more exotic by the
deep red of his velvet robes.

Not one of the party looked any more comfortable in
all that borrowed finery than Kevin felt.

**Ah, here you are!" Count Votmar cried heartily.

He, coo, was more richly dressed than before, a rich
blue robe trimmed with costly ermine about his
shoulders, the gold chains of his office glinting across
his shoulders, a jewel-encrusted velvet cap glittering
on his head. At his side, in a chair only slightly lower
than the count's own, sat Charina, her eyes modesdy
downcast, her hair caught back by a crystal drclet, and
an elegantly outfitted semicircle of the count's warriors
stood behind the dais.

"Now," the count announced, "we may begin the
ceremony!"

"Ceremony... ?"

"You don't mind swearing fealty to me, my boy, do
you? Just a formality, of course, but appearances must
be kept up."

"Uh, yes, I mean no, I mean  --  "

"Good! I'm glad that's setded. Now, come along. We
must do this thing properly!"

" What thing? What are you  --  "

"No, no, questions later! Now, if you "  --  Volmar's
sweep of arm included Lydia and the elves  --  " will go
back to the head of the Hall and reenter at the
trumpeters' signal..."

Kevin glanced at the others in confusion. Lydia
shrugged.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         185

"Why not? The sooner we get this over with,
whatever 'this' is, the sooner we can ask questions."

"Exactly," Nailachal agreed. "Come, my friends."

The trumpets blared. The blasts of sound certainly
did fill the Hall, Kevin acknowledged, even if, he noted
painfully, the instruments were all ever so slighdy off-
key. Feeling like an idiot, the bardling marched
solemnly back towards Count Volmar, stopping at the
foot of the dais, uneasily eyeing that semicircle ofmen-
at-arms. One of them, he noticed, held a small, gilded
lance, a ceremonial thing topped by a glittering pen-
non ofdoth-of-gold.

Now, what?

Count Volmar stood. "Don't look so worried, lad,"
he murmured. "Just follow my lead. Come up here and
kneel."

Sure he was going to do something stupid, like
tumble over backwards down the steps, Kevin climbed
the steps and carefully went down on one knee. The
count extended both hands.

"Go on, lad, take them."

The bardling obeyed, feeling Volmar's palms as soft
as those of any pampered nobleman but so cold he had
to wonder if the count was really as at ease as he looked.
Following Volmar's prompting, wondering if he was
getting himself into some binding oath he might regret
later, Kevin parroted:

"My Lord Count, I herein enter into your homage,
and become your man by mouth and hands. I swear to
keep faith and loyalty to you, saving only the just rights
of His Majesty King Amber. And I swear to guard your
rights with all my strength."

There. That didn't sound so bad. Nothing in there to
compromise his honor or his loyalty to King Amber.

Count Volmar was returning his own part of the
vow. "We do promise to you, our friend and vassal,
Kevin, that we and our heirs will guarantee to you with

186 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

all our power, ail the rights due to you. Let there be
peace between us."

"Let there be peace," Kevin echoed, then tried not to
start in surprise as Volmar kissed him on the cheeks.

"Get up," the count whispered. "Take the lance."

Kevin obeyed, and everyone cheered.

"There, now!" Volmar exclaimed. "That's finished!
Sorry I can't cede you any lands, my boy, but that, un-
fortunately, is the way of things. But from here on in,
you may sign yourself as a court-baron!"

"I, uh, thank you," Kevin said helplessly. "Now, can

we-

"Now, my boy," the count cut in, slapping him so
heartily on the shoulder the bardling staggered, "we
celebrate!"

And celebrate they did, even if Kevin and his party
still had no clear idea what they were celebrating. So
quickly it seemed positively magical, the Great Hall was
filled with long trestle tables spread with fine white
linen and covered with elegant gold ewers, drinking
cups and plates.

Plates, too! Kevin was used to the far more common
thick bread trenchers. Count Volmar really was trying
to impress them!

As guests of honor  --  for whatever reason, the
bardling thought --  Kevin and his party were seated at
the High Table with Count Volmar. To the bardling's
embarrassment, he found himself seated beside
Channa, so close to her that he could smell the faint,
flowery scent she wore (cosdy stuff, imported from the
lands far to the east) and feel the warmth other. When-
ever she reached for food or drink, somehow their
hands always managed to brush. Each contact seemed
to burn through Kevin like flame, pleasant flame that
sent heat surging through his whole body. He knew the
count, sitting on Charina's other side, was asking him
questions, he knew he must be answering, but Kevin,

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         187

dazed by Charina's presence, was hardly aware of what
he was saying, any more than he was aware of what,
out of the interminable courses offish and meat and
poultry, he was eating.

The air in the Great Hall rapidly grew heavy with
the varied smells of food, torch smoke and too many
people crowded into one place (Kevin was vaguely
aware of Eliathanis' fastidious distaste), and for all
Charina's allure, the bardling found himself struggling
not to yawn.

Ah, at last! Here came the subtleties, the spun sugar
confections  --  at this dinner, a castle upon a marzipan
hall and a swan swimming through a marzipan sea  -- 
that marked the end of a feast. Soon, Kevin thought
with longing, he would be able to escape and get some
rest.

No, he wouldn't. Dinner was followed by a seem-
ingly endless procession of jugglers, acrobats,
dancers, and an illusionist mediocre enough to make
Naitachal snort in contempt. Charina oohed and
ahhed over each performer, applauding vigorously,
jarring Kevin awake every time he started to drift off.
Powers, if this interminable celebration didn't end
pretty soon, he was going to end up snoring away
with his head in the crumbs.

Atlast, though, the ordeal did come to an end. The last
of the performers bowed his way out of the Hall, and
Count Volmar got to his feet, looking as crisp as ever.

"The hour is lace. And so, my friends. I bid you good
night" Beaming, he held up both arms in benediction.
"1 declare a week of celebration!"

As all the courders cheered, Kevin bit back a groan.

/ don't know if I can survive a week of this!

Struggling not to stagger, the bardling followed a
bevy of obsequious servants back to the guest quarters,
blinking wearily as they fussed over him and removed
his borrowed finery. As they finally left him alone,

188 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

Kevin yawned mightily, sure he was going to fall asleep
the moment he fell into bed.

But of course as soon as he was settled comfortably in
the big, canopied bed, his mind and body, perversely,
woke up. After a time of restlessly tossing about, Kevin
gave up trying to sleep altogether. Pulling back the
canopies so he could get some fresh air, the bardling sat
alone in the dark, puzzling over the weird events of the
day.

Charina free? Himself a hero?

But I haven't done anything!

Nothing made sense. Oh sure, there had been the
fight with the bandits and that necromancer. But
everything else about their quest had been so  --  so
easy, so ridiculously, frustratingly easy that  -- 

Kevin froze, listening to the sudden faint creak of
wood. That was the door! Someone was sneaking into
his room.

The bardling shot off the bed, groping blindly for a
weapon. His hand dosed about a heavy candlestick, and
he hefted it experimentally, heart pounding, trying to
figure out exacdy where the intruder might  -- 

"Kid? Hey, kid?"

Lydia!

"Come on, Kevin," added a high, shrill voice. "We
know you're in there!"

Wings buzzed in the darkness. Now that had to be
Tich'ki!

Kevin put the candlestick back on the bedside table
from which he'd snatched it and fumbled with flint and
steel till he'd gotten the chick, expensive, beeswax
candle burning. By its flickering light, he saw Lydia
grin and Tich'ki come to a graceful landing on the bed.
Two more figures moved silently out of the shadows:

Eliathanis and Naitachal, the latter nearly invisible,
shrouded once more in his cloak of necromantic black.

"We must talk," the Dark Elf said softly.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         189

"We certainly must!" Kevin agreed. "I don't know
about you, but I feel like all this glittery splendor is
going to explode in my face."

Eliathanis grimaced. "Oh, indeed. The whole affair
stinks, as you humans would say, like old boots.*'

Kevin nodded eagerly. "What it is, is that they're all
trying their best to dazzle us."

"But just who are *they'?" the White Elf wondered.
"And why are 'they' doing this?"

"Why, indeed?" Naitachal mused. "I wonder ...
could someone have deceived Count Volmar? Perhaps
told him of heroics we simply didn't do?"

"Why would anyone bother?" Lydia asked. "That
doesn't make sense."

Tich'ki shrugged. "A weird sort of human joke?"

Kevin shook his head. "Not with Charina here. Her
disappearance was hardly ajoke!"

"The only other possibility." Naitachal said slowly, "is
that the count himself is involved."

Lydia stirred impatiently. "Involved in what? All we
know is, he hired us to find his niece. We returned to
find said niece already free. Everyone thinks we're
heroes. Yeah, it's a weird situation, but where's the
crime in it?"

"Oh, Powers..."

"Kevin? What is it?"

He stared at them all. "I just had a horrible thought
Remember what the Arachnia back in Westerin told us?
About Cariotta? Well, what if... what if that isn't Charina
after all. I know she's no illusion, I sat next to her at din-
ner and all, but..." He shook his head in misery.

"You mean," the Dark Elf murmured, "that she
might be no one else but Cariotta in disguise?"

"I d-don't want to believe it, but what if that's the
truth? Then this whole thing, all this ridiculous, empty
celebrating, starts making sense. It could all be part of
her plot."

190 Mewedes Lackey ^Josepha Shernwn

Naitachal swore under his breath. "Could be, no. It
ttl And here I thought I sensed something odd about
that girl, a hint of sorcery hovering about her. But I
told myself no, that couldn't be, I had to be mistaken. 1
let myself get just as bedazzled as the rest of you."

The Dark Elf straightened resolutely. "What hap-
pened. happened. If that really is Cariotta, the count is
almost certainly under her sway."

"And that means they're both probably waiting for
me to find the manuscript again," Kevin added. "After
all, I'm still supposed to be copying it so I can bring the
spell back to Master Aldan."

"Well, you can forget about all that!" Lydia
exclaimed. "The last thing we want to do is play into
Carlotta's hands. We've got to get out of here before it's
too late. Yes, and warn King Amber, too!"

"No, wait." Eliathanis' voice was thoughtful. "If this
really is Cariotta, we can't risk her finding the
manuscript. That means we can't Just go running off
fike so many frightened children."

"She probably wouldn't let us go anywhere
anyhow," Kevin added, "particularly not in the direc-
tion of her brother." He hesitated, biting his lip
nervously. "I  --  I think we have to go along with the
deception, let Charina  --  or whoever she really is  -- 
get dose to me again. And then... well... I guess then
well see what happens."

For all his brave words, the bardling was half hoping
someone would talk him out of it But to his dismay, the
White Elf only nodded. "That seems like thebest idea. But
since you're going to be playing the bait in what could be a
most complicated trap, someone bad best armor you
against the weapons you're likely toencounter.**

" "Someone,"" Naitachal muttered. "That 'someone,'
of course, is going to be me. Unless one of you has
miraculously gained some useful protection spells?
No? I didn't think so."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         191

Tich'ki grinned, unabashed. "Now why would a
fairy deign toprotect someone?"

"Why, indeed?" The Dark Elf's voice dripped sar-
casm- "Let the weak get what they deserve, eh?"

"Ha!" the fairy exploded. "Never knew your folks to
be concerned with protecting anyone, either!"

"Point taken."

"Tich'ki," Lydia cut in, "couldn't you use fairy magic,
though, against Cariotta?"

"How? By influencing her mind, the way I did to
those guards?" Tich'ki shivered, wrapping her wings
about her. "Not a chance. Look you, I know my limita-
tions- If that really is Cariotta, she'd shrivel me like a
moth in a flame."

"Never mind." Naitachal glanced at Kevin. "I'm sure
you realize that when our White Elf friend mentioned
armor, he didn't mean armor against anything as
simple as swords."

"Uh.-.no."

"I admit I'm not the most experienced of magicians
when it comes to protective spells, as our dear Tich'ki
so kindly reminded me."

She Uttered.

"But I shall do my best," the Dark Elf continued.
"And," he added wryly, "I promise not to damage you
in the process." Naitachal paused, then gave a heartfelt
sigh. "It's not going to be an easy thing; if I make the
spells too obvious, Charina/Carlotta will be sure to
sense them. Hey-ho, who needs sleep?" He glanced at
the others- "But those spells are for defensive pur-
poses. Now let's plan what we're going to do about
fighting back."

"Kevin shouldn't be left alone for a moment,"
Eliathanis suggested.

"That's easy to say," Lydia retorted. "I have a feeling
that if Charina 01- Cariotta or whatever she wants to call
herself really is worried about that manuscript, she's

192 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

some to concentrate all her attention on Kevin."

"All we can do is our best," the White Elf said simply,
and Tichid snickered.

"Might have known you'd say something ail fine and
noble and useless. Never mind the pretty words, elfl
We've got some concrete plans to make: what we're
going to do if the... ah. ..witch tries to isolate our boy
here; what we're going to do if she asks him about the
manuscript or makes him go get it  --  that sort of thing.
All the nice, practical details."

Kevin nodded in fervent approval. "By all means,
let's be practical!"

He and the others sat and plotted for some time. At
last, satisfied with the results, Naitachal straightened in
his chair.

"All right, enough of this. We all know our roles.
Now, I have work to do. Lydia, Eliathanis, Tich'ki, if
you can't help me cast spells, you can at least raid the
kitchen and castle gardens and get me the components
111 need."

The Dark Elf rattled offa list of ingredients. Some of
them, like rosemary, Kevin recognized; it was a com-
mon element of the protective amulets people wore
back in Bracklin. Other items bewildered him totally.

"Naitachal? I didn't knowAAo/i? had any magical
properties."

Naitachal's smile was wry. "That's for me, boy, not
for you. This is going to be one long night's work, and I
don't want to risk falling asleep in the middle of it Oh,
and by the way," he added sharply, catching the others
in a warning stare, "once I begin that work, I do not
wish to be interrupted. Understood?"

"Totally." Lydia grinned. "After all, some of us have to
look pretty in the morning!"

She dodged as Naitachal threw a pillow at her, and scur-
ried out of the room, her laughter trailing behind her.

INTERLUDE THE FIFTH

The night was late, at the very witching hour, and very
dark, moonless and still, without the faintest breath of
wind. Not a sound was to be heard without Count
Volmar's casde save for the faint footsteps and chinking
of mail of the guards wearily trudging back and forth up
on the ramparts. Their torches were small, flickering
things barely cutting through the vast mass of darkness.

Within the casde, silence reigned as well. All slept  -- 

Or almost all. Cloistered in Count Volmar's solar, two
people sat in secret conference, sharing a midnight
flagon of mulled wine.

Hands cupped about his warm goblet, Volmar
chuckled suddenly. "Now you have to admit," he said,
glancing over at Carlotta, "that things are going nicely.
Very nicely, indeed."

The sorceress, in her rightful form once more, red
hair pouring over her shoulders and green gown like a
stream of flame, stared broodingly down into her own
goblet. "So far."

"Oh my dear princess, don't be so wary! Kevin may
bear the seeds of Bardic Magic as you say, but he is still
only a boy. So far it's been ridiculously easy for me to
quite overwhelm him with riches and the trappings of
power, you must admit."

Carlotta glanced up at that, her smile wry, "Granted.
Between the two of us, he hasn't even had a chance to
think."

"Exactly. And I intend to go right on overwhelming
him."

194 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Shennan

The sorceress stretched wearily, graceful as a
predator. "Ay me, and I will endure being simpering lit-
tle Charina a bit longer, and continue casting my
beguilements and love-spells on the boy."

Volmar pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Now that's
something I don't understand. Carlotta, you know
there's such a thing as too much caution. Why don't
you just enthrall the boy in one quick burst of sorcery
and be done with it?"

Her eyes flashed in sudden angry warning. "Don't be
ridiculous. The only spells I dare use are subtle ones."

"But why? Surely you can  --  "

"Surely I can tell you not to meddle! Have you for-
gotten about that Dark Elf?"

The one you thought dead? Volmar thought but didn't
dare say aloud- "No, of course not But  --  "

Carlotta's hands tightened about her goblet "Magic
leaves a disdncuve/ee/, if one has sufficient training to
identify it. One magidan can almost always recognize
another in action, no matter which sorcerous dis-
ciplines are involved, no matter how many cloaking
spells are used. I had a nervous enough moment when
that elf first saw me; I swear he nearly sensed who and
what I am on the spot. I only just managed to project
enough girlish innocence to distract him."

The sorceress paused. staring at Volmar." I don't have to
remind you that I don't want my true identity discovered
yet, not by anyone. The elf is a skillful necromancer, no
doubt about it And that makes him Talented enough to
detect the working of any strong magksby anyone. And so
I mustlimit myself to subtle spells."

"I see."

"Oh, don't misjudge me!" Carlotta smiled without
humor. "The spells may be subtle, but that doesn't
mean they aren't powerful. And their effect, I might
add, is nicely accumulative."

"Ah, clever. Between the two of us, we should have

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         195

the boy beautifully cooperative before the week is out.**

The woman's smile thinned ever so slightly. "I
should think so. Assuming, of course, that you don't
make some mistake."

"I won't," Volmar said as casually as he could. "And
once he's under our control, of course he'll go fetch us
his manuscript"

"Ah, yes. That's going to be the true test of his
enthrallment Rather than doing the copying himself
the boy must be persuaded to surrender the
manuscript to one of your scribes, then let our mes-
senger carry that copy off to his cursed Master"

The count frowned. "That's not going to be easy.
He's such a disgustingly honorable boy." He raised a
hopeful brow. "That isn't something that's going to
change once he's enthralled, is it?"

"No. Such spells delude and lull the will, but they can't
change a person's inner self." Cariotta paused. "But the
boy is, as you say, still very young. If we're careful, we
should be able to so beguile him that he forgets duty. Then
hell be quite willing to let the messenger have the copy of
the manuscript --  so that he, himself, can continue enjoy-
ing this so very flattering noble hospitality."

Volmar sat bolt upright "Ha, I have it! If he seems
reluctant, all we need to do is propose that he marry
Charina."

"Hewfwtr

Volmar laughed. "The poor fool is too unworldly to
realize I'd never let my ward marry a mere nothing. He'll
take the whole thing quite seriously. And then, of course,
there will be no way he can take the copy of the manuscript
back to his Master, he'll be toobusy with wedding prepara-
tions even to consider doing the copy himself!"

Carlotta raised her goblet in a wry toast "I like it A
maximum of result from a minimum of effort Oh yes,
I like it. Ah, poor Kevin," she crooned, "poor little
bardling. You don't stand a chance!"

Chapter XVIX

Something that sounded like a giant mosquito was
droning away in his ears. Kevin came awake with a
start, ready to swat whatever. But then he sank back in
his chair, realizing it was just the residue of yet another
spell.

The bardling rubbed a tired hand over his face.
Naitachal had been right: it was turning into a long,
weary night's work, even if it was the Dark Elf who had
to do most of that work.

Whatever it is that he's doing.

There had been a confusing barrage of spells so far,
some of them briefly entangling Kevin in a whispery
net of sound, some of them blanketing him in comfort-
ing warmth, some of them  --  the bardling shook his
head. He couldn't even interpret how some of them
had felt

"Naitachal?"

"Stay still." The Dark Elf's voice was thick with
fatigue. "Only a few more to go.**

"Can't you stop and rest? I mean, I know I've been
asleep half the time, but you haven't had a chance to so
much as dose your eyes."

Naitachal smiled wryly. "Thank you for your con-
cern, but the sooner I finish the lot, the happier I'll
fed."

He began murmuring incomprehensible spell-
words once more, and Kevin sighed, feeling a new
tingling travelling all through him, a soothing sort of
sensation, odd, but not at aD alarming... not at all...

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         197

As the bardling relaxed, his eyes slid closed once
more....

This time it was the total absence of strange sensa-
dons that woke him. Kevin straightened in his chair,
blinking in confusion at the faint gray light ofnot-quite
morning.

Morning! Powers, had the Dark Elf been working
through the whole night without a pause? He glanced
towards where Naitachal was slumped in his own chair,
eyes shut.

Wish I could just let hsm sleep; he's certainly earned it!

But they'd both agreed it wasn't such a good idea for
anyone to think they'd been conspiring together.

"Naitachal?" Kevin whispered, then repeated, a little
more forcefully: "Naitachal!"

The Dark Elf opened his eyes with a groan. "Yes. I'm
awake." He staggered up from the chair, straightening
carefully, adding with wry humor, "So weary I could
sleep on my feet like a horse, but awake,"

"You look terrible. I wish you didn't have to wear
yourself out like this."

"Ae-ye, no one ever said magic was easy. At least this
way the sorceress isn't going to be able to turn you into
her love slave."

Kevin assumed that was meant to be a joke.

Naitachal stretched every muscle, plainly trying to
force some energy back into himself, then ran his fingers
through his pale, tangled mane. "Remember, though,
that these are only faint copies of true protective spells
I've cast over you. Don't expect too much of them. I don't
dare put too blatantly powerful magics upon you. Car-
lotta would be sure to sense them. But what may be
lacking in force, I'm making up in volume." The weary
blue eyes suddenly darkened with worry," I hope.**

"I can do it," the bardling assured him, trying to
sound more certain than he felt.

"Again, I hope." Naitachal hit back a third yawn. "Ay

198      MercedesLufwy^JosephaSherman

me, I'd best get back to my own room before I fall over.
Or before the servants start wondering what's going
on. Till later, Kevin."

"Till later," the bardling echoed uneasily.

"What's wrong with Naitachal?" Lydia, who'd shed
her finery for more comfortable tunic and breeches,
whispered that to Kevin as they stood on a wide casde
balcony pretending to be engrossed in an archery con-
test taking place in the courtyard below.

Kevin stole a wary glance back to where the Dark Elf
sat in as much concealing shadow as he could find up
here on this sunny morning. Naitachal's black cloak
was wrapped dghtly about his slender form, the hood
pulled forward to hide his face, making him look like a
truly sinister figure, a sliver of Darkness amid the Light
 -- but Kevin suspected the Dark Elf was actually just
asleep with his eyes open.

"What do you think?" the bardling retorted softly.
He applauded politely as one of the archers down in
the courtyard below scored a near bull's-eye. "He was
up all night casting spells on me."

"Ah. Right Of course. Feel any different?"

"No, but -- "

"Oh, nice shot!" the woman called out She added so
softly only Kevin could hear, "Not a decent archer in
the lot. Huh, and look at die way Charina's eying you
from the doorway, like a cat watching a tasty little fish."

This fish has some surprises m store, Kevin thought, or at
least I hope I do.

The idea that the pretty young woman approaching
him might really be a murderous sorceress seemed
impossible on such a bright, sunny day. And yet... A
sudden nervous prickle racing up his spine, Kevin got
courteously to his feet to bow to Charina. Or whoever
she really was.

"My lady."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         199

"My! So formal!" Charina's glance at Lydia was ever
so subtly edged with contempt as she took in the
woman's warrior garb. "What's this? I should think you
would be down there, too. Lady Lydia. Are you not an
archer?"

To Kevin's ears, she made that occupation sound as
unsuitable for a lady as pig-farming. Lydia couldn't
have missed the snub, but she only laughed. "Oh, I
hardly thought it fair to compete. I mean, I'm not one
of the count's people."

"But surely you would like a chance to demonstrate
your skills." It was a very thinly veiled command.

Lydia only shrugged. "Nope! Much nicer just to sit
and watch. Besides, at such a short distance how could
I miss? Right, Kevin?"

Thank you, Lydia! he thought gratefully. The last
thing he wanted was to be left alone with Charina. "Uh,
right."

"Ah, but I think you really should go down there," a
suave voice purred. Kevin saw Lydia tense as Count
Volmar stepped forward to take her arm. "My dear
young lady, you would hardly wish to deprive us of the
pleasure of watching a true professional at work, now,
would you?"

She shrugged free of the count's grip. "I'll say the
same thing I told the Lady Charina: it doesn't seem fair.
I mean, how is it going to look if a mere mercenary like
myselfbeats your guys?"

"That hardly seems likely," the count muttered,
miffed. "My archers are not exactly children. But
please," he added, urbane smile returning, "do give us
a chance to judge your skill for ourselves."

It wasn't a request. With a sigh and a glance at Kevin,
Lydia shouldered her bow and went down to join the
other archers. Charina moved closer to the bardling
with a pleased little coo. But before she could take his
arm, a cheerful voice called out:

200 Mercedes Lackey S^Josepha Sherman

"How goes it, my lords, my lady?"

"Eliathanisi" Kevin cried in relief.

The White Elf swept down into a bow far more
graceful than any human could have managed.
Slanted eyes glinting with wry amusement, he said,
"What a fine day for an archery contest! Ah, I see our
own Lydia is among the contestants."

"You would have a better view of them down there,"
Charina suggested, but Etiathanis only smiled.

"Why, no, lady, if you will forgive me for correcting
you. I have a much better view from up here. A better
view of... everything." Fair face impassive, the elf
crossed his arms with the air of someone who has no
intention of moving or being moved.

That's all well and good, Kevin thought uneasily,
seeing the anger flickering in Charina's eyes.
Apparently she and the count thought more forceful
measures would be out of character just now. Butyou,
and Lydia and Naitachal can't keep watching over me forever.

Sooner or later, danger or no, the bardling knew he
was going to have to face the sorceress all by himself.

It was sooner. That night Kevin found a guard at his
door "to protect him from unwelcome disturbances."

In the days that passed, the bardling caught no more
than distant glimpses of his friends. But, he tried to
convince himself, there was something comforting in
knowing that they were taking turns watching over
him, even from afar.

Not that mere watching was going to do any good if
the sorceress decided to attack.

Ah, yes, but Charina wasn't showing any more interest
in the bardling than a properly brought-up young lady
might show in a young man she fancied. In fact, if it
hadn't been for the undercurrent of uneasiness running
through his mind, Kevin knew he probably would have
enjoyed her attention. Or even, amazing thought, to
have become a little surfeited by it Somehow Charina

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         201

was managing to almost always be at his side, the very
image of a slightly spoiled but charming niece to a count,
cooing and fluttering until the bardling found himself
wondering just why he'd been foolish enough to be
attracted to her in the first place-
But then, I didn't really have a choice about it. It -wasn't real-
ty Owrina I was attracted to after all. Or at least f don't think
it was.

Or -- 

Ach, he didn't know what to think any more! Kevin
wandered blindly through the castle gardens, for the
moment blessedly alone, the gravel path crunching
under his shoes, sweet, spicy herbal scents filling his
nose, and puzzled over the fact that the girl or woman
or whatever she was hadn't tried anything blatantly
sorcerous on him.

Or had she? Now chat he thought about it, Kevin
could have sworn that from time to time during the
week he'd felt the eeriest tingling, as though
Naitachal's protective armor of spells was being tested
again and again. So far that armor had held up.

Oh, nonsense! The whole thing was probably the
product of his own overwrought imagination. How
could Charina be anyone but Charina?

She couldn't.

But then again, maybe...

Kevin shook his head impatiently. Enough waver-
ing! Whatever was happening or not happening, he
didn't dare let his guard down. The week of celebration
was over today, and if Charina really was Carlotta, this
would be her last chance to try ensnaring him. And if
she couldn't get the manuscript from him, then she
would surely try to  -- 

The bardling nearly jumped straight into the air
when a soft hand brushed his arm. "Kevin?" Charina's
sweet voice asked. "Is anything wrong?"

**Uh, n-no, no, of course not." Trying to get his

204 Mercedes Lackey ^josepha Sherman

to shout to her that he wasn't under her power as she
believed. Thank the Powers that Naitachal's anti-
beguilement spells had worked  --  and that they'd been
too subtle for Carlotta to detect Thank the Powers as
well that Cariotta too had been constrained to subdety;

otherwise even his feigned cooperation would have
been transparently false.

I only hope EUathams can let the others know I might be m
trouble. The bardling glanced at Carlotta and caught,
just for an instant, a suspicious glint of hardness in
those lovely blue eyes, a hardness all out of place for
one other supposed youth and innocence. A hardness
that smacked of sorcery.

Really big trouble, Kevin amended unhappily.

Chapter XX

"Comeon, Kevin!**

Carlotta batted her eyelashes at him in a way the
bardling might have found adorable  --  if it wasn't such
an incongruous gesture on the part of a sorceress
who'd kill him if he made one wrong move.

"Why, if I didn't know better," she chirped, "I'd think
you were trying to avoid being alone with me." Cariotta
giggled girlishly. "That's not true, now, is it?"

"Uh... no- Of course not." Yes, dear Powers, yes! How
am Igoing to get out of this alwe?

Not by letting Cariotta think there was something
wrong with her beguilement spells, that was sure! But
what else could he do? There wasn't much time to
waste, yet his thoughts seemed to be racing around and
around his mind like so many terrified wild things. The
only thing Kevin could decide to do was play the befud-
died bumpkin. Ha, that shouldn't be so difficult! Right
now it was going to be far easier to fake stupidity and
bedazzlement than to say or do anything clever!

Aren't there any servants around? Anyone who might suggest
that the niece of a count shouldn't bealone with ayoungman?

No, of course not That would be far too simple. The
casde corridors were as empty as though there wasn't
anyone else alive in the whole place. Besides, Kevin
thought wearily, all the servants were probably under
Cariotta's control, anyhow.

All too soon, they reached the library.

Kevin tried the handle. "The door seems to be
locked," he said, stalling desperately for time.

206 Mercedes Lackey &fJosephs Sherman

"No, it's not It's never locked. Here, let me see."

Carlotta tried the handle, which turned with
treacherous ease. She glanced sharply at Kevin, and
the bardling gave her a weak smile.

"Must have been stuck."

**Well, it isn't stuck now. Come on."

But Kevin stopped short in the doorway, hunting
frantically for some other excuse.

"Ca-Charina." Gods, he'd almost called her by her
real name! "Charina, I... uh... I chink I'm getting a
headache. Maybe tomorrow really would be a better
rime to -- "

"Don't be siily\ The sooner we take care of the
manuscript  --  Oh, don't look at me with such horror,
Kevin! I meant to a scribe!" She smiled teasingly.
"What did you think 1 meant?"

"I...uh..."

"Anyhow, the sooner we get rid of the manuscript,
the sooner we can do what we want. Whatever we
want. Like this."

Without warning, Carlotta threw her arms around
his neck, her lips all at once temptingly dose to his.

Temptingly? the bardling thought in panic. Her body
pressed against his, the sweet scent other perfume filled
his nose. At any other time he would have done almost
anything to be embraced like this by a lovely young
woman, but now -- Powers, Fd be saferfussinga spider! Bvtif
1doa'tfass her, shellknow something'swrong....

Just before he forced himself to choose the lesser
peril, Charina pushed him away, giggling. "You
haven't got a headache. Or if you do, it will go away
now that we're out of the garden. It's just the result of
breathing in the smells of all those herbs." Her smile
was a marvel of fake innocence. "Some of them make
me sneeze every dme I go near them! If the cook didn't
need them for his recipes... Never mind. Let's find
that silly old manuscript and get out of here."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

207

Oh please, Kevin told the manuscript, hide from me the
way you did before!

He couldn't pretend not to search, not with Carlotta
watching his every move. Oh no, even chough Kevin
realized she didn't really know what the manuscript
looked like, she certainly could tell what it didn't look
like; he couldn't try to fool her with the wrong tide. And
so the bardling did the only thing he could, and
examined each and every item in the library as slowly
and carefully as possible.

Delaying like this was a dangerous game. Kevin was
all too well aware that Carlotta's sweet expression hid
barely restrained impatience. If he pushed her too
far...

An age passed, or so it seemed, while he searched the
library, then a second age, this one surely long enough
to wear away rock. But at last, to Kevin's despair, he
realized he had gone through every manuscript in the
library save one.

As though his hand had a life all its own, the bardling
watched with fascinated horror as it pulled the
manuscript from the shelf, feeling the strange, magical
tingling that told him what he held even before he read
the title:

The Study of Ancient Magic.

Of course. You pick a wonderful time to come out of hiding,
he told the manuscript with bitter sarcasm.

"Kevin!" Carlotta snapped, "What do you chink
you're doing? Why are you staring like that at an
empty shelf?"

"But it's not -- "

"Oh, stop clowning!" There was very little of the
innocent young girl in that sharp command. *'I don't
want to spend all day here. Get on with your search!"

Bewildered, Kevin turned to face her, the
manuscript in his hands.

Carlotta's eyes widened in shock. "You  --  you<&

208 Mercedes Lackey ^josepha Sherman

have it!" she gasped. In the next moment, the sorceress
had hersdfback under control. "Here, let me have it"

She hadn't been able to see the manuscript until he
took it off the shelfl Stunned by this new bit of magic,
the bardling couldn't find a thing to say except an
awkward, "Uh... sorry, Charina."

"Kevin? I'm not in the mood for games. Give it to me."

"I...uh...can't."

"Kevin! Give it to me!"

The bardling backed away towards the door, stam-
mering the first words that came into his head. "I  --  I
have to keep it, to  --  to  --  to take it to my room and  --  "

**I don't think so." Suspicion flickered in her eyes.
"You've figured out the truth, litde boy, haven't you?"

"Id-don't -- "

"Oh, but you do. A pity."

There wasn't the slightest trace of youth or
innocence in her voice now. As Kevin watched in fas-
cinated terror, he saw Charina's form grow and alter in
a swift, dizzying blur of shape and color. The woman
who stood before him now looked nothing like the girl
she'd been a few moments before: she was tall and
coldly exquisite efface and form, her long hair flaming
red, her green eyes hard and chill and  -- 

Of course she doesn't look anything like Charma, his mind
gibbered, Charina -was Cariotta all along!

What had Naitachal said? Aiee, yes: if she changed to
her right shape it was probably the prelude to her cast-
ing some major spell, because powerful spell-casting
shattered illusions  -- 

No time to think. But in that last midnight session,
the bardling and the others had worked out every
detail of what they were going to do. And oh, he was
glad of that preparation now' If he stood staring at her
like a fear-paralyzed fool, she'd strike him down. If he
tried to run with the manuscript, like the naive boy
who'd first left Bracklin, she'd strike him down.

CASTLE. OF DECEPTION

209

Instead, Kevin simply tossed the manuscript out the
library's open window, praying Tich'ki had had time to
get into place.

That was obviously the last thing Cariotta had
expected. She let out a shriek of disbelieving rage, her
sorcerous concentration broken by shock.

Now's my chance!

Kevin broke into a run, praying he could get away
before she regained control and blasted him. Behind
him, the bardling heard her scream again, this time in
sheer frustration, and felt his skin prickle as she
gathered Power to her. Before she could blast him,
Kevin darted out the door, slamming it behind him,
knowing that wasn't going to stop her for more than a
moment. He wasn't a fighter, he wasn't a magician  -- 
Powers, Powers, the others had better be ready to help
out!

They were. As Cariotta tore the door open,
Eliathanis appeared, seemingly from nowhere.
Moving with inhuman speed, he pounced, pinning
Cariotta in his arms, muffling her attempts to scream
wilh a hand. But of course he couldn't hope to hold her
for long.

"Get out of here, Kevin!" the White Elf shouted.

Then he gasped in pain as the sorceress bit him.
Kevin glanced back over his shoulder and saw with a
chill of horror that now her mouth was free for spell-
casting. A shouted Word sent Eliathanis flying. The
bardling stumbled to an anguished stop, sure he was
about to see Cariotta slay the White Elf. She spat out a
short, twisting sentence  --  and a bolt of dark fire
flashed from her hand.

But before it could strike the fallen elf, Naitachal
sprang forward out of the shadows, cloak swirling
dramatically behind him, arms raised in denial. The
sorcerous fire recoiled from a sudden, unseen wall of
force, smashing instead into a wall with a roar like

210 Mevcedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

thunder, sending broken stone crashing down in a wild
doud of dust that forced Carlotta back into the shelter
of the library. Before she could recover, Eliathanis had
scrambled to his feet. The two elves slapped palms in a
quick moment of triumph, then took to their heels,
catching up with Kevin.

"That noise is going to rouse the whole castle!"
Naitachal cried. "Hurry to the gates! Lydia should have
fast horses ready."

"She'd better." Eliathanis added. "If we don't get
away now  --  "

Too late. Carlotta had left her refuge  --  but she'd left
it as Charina, dusty and dishevelled, pathetically calling
for help.

"She  --  she's saying we assaulted her!" Kevin
gasped. "And used sorcery to boot!"

"Wonderful," Naitachal muttered. "Just what we
need."

As they came out into a courtyard, beneath a dramati-
cally overcast sky, Eliathanis stopped short "Here come
the guards. No one's going to believe us against poor,
sweet litde Charina. We've got to split up." He gave
Kevin a shove. "Up that stairway, hurry! Naitachal, you
go that way, I'll go this. See you outside!"

We hope. Kevin scrambled up the steep stone stair-
way, a stone wall on his left, open space on the right,
hearing a troop of guards clattering up behind him,
and wound up on a narrow rampart between two
towers. Which way, which way ... ?

He turned left at random, and dove through the
narrow door into the tower, staggering to a walk, half
blinded by the sudden darkness. His foot found the lip
of a narrow staircase spiralling down.

But then Kevin stopped so sharply he nearly went
tumbling down the stairs. Guards were climbing up
this way, too! The bardling raced back out across the
rampart, blinking frantically in the sudden return to

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         211

daylight  --  and nearly ran into the arms of the guards
who'd followed him up the first stairway. He kicked
and squirmed and twisted, wriggling his way through
so swiftly none of them had a chance to grab him, and
dove into the second tower.

Oh dawn, oh damn, they're among up this stairway, too!

He wasn't going to surrender. He didn't dare, not
with Carlotta awaiting him! So Kevin took the only
option open and raced up the spiralling stairway,
stumbling on the narrow steps, banging knees and
elbows, struggling up and up till at last, gasping, he
burst out into the open on the tower's fiat top.

Powers, now what do I do ?

The bardlingglanced wildly this way and that, a surge of
verdgo overwhelming him as he realizedjust how high up
he was. The tower top suddenly felt impossibly narrow
and insecure, while the casde was spread out in a dizzying
panorama far below him, swarming with frenetic life.

Kevin tensed as he recognized two people out of that
swarm: Naitachal and Eliathanis, two doll-size figures
from up here, looked like they were having a wonder-
ful time. They moved with elven speed and grace.
almost like a matched pair of dancers, one dark, one
fair, far swifter than the merely human guards trying to
catch them. The bardling could have sworn he saw
Eliathanis grin, heard Naitachal's laugh come trailing
thinly up to him. The elves took a moment to slap
palms yet again, then scurried offin opposite direc-
tions. Kevin didn't have a moment's doubt that they
were going to escape, and enjoy doing it.

Sure, great, now they can admit they're friends. Fm glad
they're having fun  --  but meanwhile Fm trapped up here!

Here came the guards. Kevin turned to face them,
back against the low balustrade, bracing himself, sick at
heart, knowing that throwing himself to his death
would be a kinder fate than letting himself fall into
Carlotta's hands.

212 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Shennan

"Jump!"

Wonderful. Now he was hearing voices.

"Kevin! Jump!"

Strong little Fingers pinched his arm so hard he
yelped. -Tich'ki!"

"Come on, you idiot bardling, trust me\jumpr

Powers, what if this was some truly sadistic form of a
fairy joke  --  see the trusting human go splat! But the
bardling knew he had to trust her. What other choice
was there?

AH at once dreadfully calm, Kevin climbed up onto
the tower's narrow balustrade, the world a dizzy blur
around him. As the guards cried out in sudden shock,
the bardlingjumped blindly into space.

Chapter XXI

Kevin jumped as far out and away from the casde as
he could. For one wild, terrifying, thrilling moment, he
was falling free, the earth surging up to meet him, and
was sure he was dead.

Then Tich'ki was beside him, shape-changed to
human size, catching him in her arms, her wings back-
watering frantically. Those wings didn't have the
strength to actually carry her weight and his together,
but slowly, painfully slowly, the fairy began to check his
fall. But it wasn't going to work, Kevin thought in
panic, they were running out of time and space!

Tich'ki cried, "Go limp! It's not going to be a soft
landing!"

Kevin hit, not as hard as he had feared, and started
helplessly rolling down the steep hill from the castle,
sky and ground whirling in a dizzy drde. The bardling
frantically snatched at grass and rock. trying to slow his
fall, only to end up with a jolt against a tough little
patch of bushes.

Aching, trying to remember how to breathe, deeply
afraid of what he would find when he tried to move,
Kevin rolled over onto his back, eyes shut, wanting
nothing but to be left alone to die. But strong hands
were about his shoulders, fordng him to his feet. He
opened his eyes to find himself supported by Eliathanis
and clutching the manuscript that had somehow
wound up in his hands again during his fall.

"Are you all right?" the White Elf asked worriedly,
then added, without waiting for his reply: "Come on.

214 Mercedes Lackey f^Josepha Sherman

Lydia has our horses, down there where the hill
levels out- We've got to get away before the guards
have a chance to mount and come after us!"

"Before Carioita comes after us," Naitachal corrected
wryly- "As good a team as we make, cousin-elf --  w he
flashed a quick grin at Eliathanis, who grinned back
"  --  I'd justas soon not tackle her again."

Kevin let all that pass without really listening to it. At
least, he realized, trying to muster his stunned
thoughts, he'd landed on grass, not rock. And nothing
seemed to be broken after all. Tucking the hard weight
of the manuscript securely inside his tunic, the
bardling struggled down the hill to where Lydia waited
and pulled himself into a saddle, wincing as strained
muscles complained. "Tich'ki..."

"Here." Shrunken back to her normal size, she was
draped wearily in front of Lydia. "We're all here."

"I've got your lute," the warrior woman added. As
the bardling quickly slung it over his back. Lydia added
sharply, "Now, let's ride!"

They went down the rest of that steep hill at
breakneck speed, Kevin praying none of the horses
slipped or caught a hoof. Behind him, he could hear
alarm gongs starting to tear the air apart.

But we've got a good head start, we should make it mto the
forest's shelter before  -- 

Abrilliant flash of light made him start so violently he
almost lost his seat, thinking. Sorcery! But when the
flash was followed by a vicious dap of thunder, he real-
ized the threatening storm was upon them. A wild, wet
gust of wind slammed into the horses, making them
stagger-

"We're saved!" Lydia shouted gleefully.

"No," Eliathanis cried, his eyes all at once wide and
unseeing, "there is no safety. Except in the grave."

"Don't say that!" Naitachal snapped. "I've seen quite
enough of graves, thank you!"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         215

Eliathanis seemed to come back to himself with a
rush. "I fear you may see yet another, my friend."

"What are you saying?" Naitachal laughed. "I've
never yet seen a White Elf who was worth a copper coin
at prophesy!"

But to Kevin's surprise, he thought he caught a trace
of fear behind the mockery. And the very real hint of
otherworldly sorrow lingering in Eliathanis' eyes sent a
chill through the bardling and made him add in a
panicky rush, "It's all right, really, you'll see. We'll be
able to hide out from anyone, even an army, in the
forest."

"Will you?" The sudden sharp voice made the
horses shy, whinnying in fright. "Or will you die?"

With beautifully dramatic timing, a second bolt of
lightning split the sky. Deafened by the following crack
of thunder, Kevin stared at this sudden apparition in
stunned disbelief. There was no doubt at all who it was:

her elegant face was set in its cold, sorcerous lines. Her
green gown whipped about her in the ever-rising
storm wind that made the locks other long hair writhe
like flame.

"Carlotta! B-but how  --  "

"She is a sorceress," Naitachal reminded the
bardling drily. The Dark Elf's blue eyes were flickering
with their own sorcerous red embers. "I thought we
were escaping just a bit too easily."

"Listen to me," Lydia murmured. "When I give the
signal, kick your horses into a gallop."

"Don't be silly," Naitachal began, but Lydia was
already shoudng:

"And... now/"

The starded horses shot forward as one. But before
they could reach Carlotta, she shouted out savage
Words of Power  --  and a huge wall of flame roared up.
The horses screamed in terror, shying wildly, fighting
their riders. Kevin lost a stirrup, nearly smashed his

216 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

nose against his animal's neck, hanging on for all he
was worth-

"Told you." NaitachaTs words were chopped off as his
horse reared, making him look like a dark legend against
the dark sky, his cloak billowing out like bat wings.

"Where's Carlotta?" Lydia shouted, clinging to her
plunging horse like a burr.

"Who knows?" Tich'ki, wings beating frenetically,
couldn't quite dimb high enough to see over the magi-
cal Hame, thermals from the suddenly heated air
pushing her away every dme she tried. "Somewhere
behind all that."

"Illusion!** the bardling yelled, even though he could
feel the fire's heat and smell its smoke. Struggling with
his hysterical horse, "It's got to be illusion!"

"No illusion." The Dark Elf finally managed to bring
his mount back to all four feet. "She doesn't care if she
bums down the whole forest, as long as she stops us
long enough for  --  Yes, curse her, here they come."

A new bolt of lightning blazed out over what looked
like every one of the count's men-at-arms, knights and
common guards alike. The wall of flame didn't seem to
be giving them pause; not having seen it created, they
probably just thought it lightning-strike.

"We can't fight all of them," Lydia cried over the
crash of thunder. "Naitachal, how far does this fire
extend?"

The Dark Elf shrugged angrily. "I don't know the
spell Carlotta used. It could extend for leagues."

"Then we'll ride for leagues, dammit!"

The woman kicked her horse into a run, riding
parallel to the fire. and the others followed. But a new
wall of flame roared up before them, cutting off their
escape. Kevin's horse screamed in panic, and the
bardling nearly lost his seat all over again. Struggling to
stay in the saddle, he shot an anxious glance up at the
cloud-heavy sky.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

217

The mm, curse it, where's the ram? It wouldput out this fire
and give us a fighting chance to get out ofthas trap before  -- 

"Hey, no!"

His horse had suddenly decided it had quite enough
of flames. The animal whirled before Kevin could stop
it, and bolted blindly back towards the castle  --  and the
waiting enemy. The bardling frantically sawed at the
reins. Wait, wait, he'd heard somewhere that if a horse
ran away with you, you were supposed to pull it
around in one big drcle.

Oh, sure, easily said! But the animal had the bit in its
teeth and a neck like iron, and in another moment
horse and rider were going to be within bowshot. He
was already dose enough to see the fiat madness in the
soldiers' eyes, to wonder with a quick thrill of horror
how Carlotta had managed to subvert a whole casde.
Sorcery? Something as simple as drugs in the com-
munal water supply? Oh, Powers, it didn't matter now,
because this idiot of a horse was going to get him killed!

Kevin was all set to jump from the animal's back and
hope he didn't break his neck when the drumming of
hoofs sounded behind him and a second horse came
rushing up beside his. The bardling caught a quick
glimpse of an elegant profile, silky golden hair:

Eliathanis!

But then the bardling got a better look at the White
Elf's face, and nearly gasped- Eliathanis' eyes were
blank green flame and his teeth were bared in a fierce,
inhuman grin-

He's gone fey, just like a hero in an old ballad, he's gone
death^mad fey and doesn't care what happens to him....

No, no, that was ridiculous, because being fey meant
being doomed, and surely Eliathanis wasn't --  none of
them were  -- 

The White Elf flattened himself along his horse's
neck, hand snaking out to catch Kevin's mount by the
bridle. Eliathanis sat back in the saddle, forcing both

218 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

animals out of their frantic run, turning them in a half
circle back towards the fire.

He never had tfas strength before, never!

And the ill-omened word "fey" returned to the
bardling's mind. No! He would not accept that!

Still grinning that strange, fierce, alien grin,
Eliathanis released Kevin's mount with a slap on the
side of its neck. Both horses raced as one as the enemy
gave chase, and ahead of them, Kevin saw Naitachal's
lips move in what was surely the beginning of a spell.
They were almost out of range of the archers, almost -- 

Without warning, lightning flashed and thunder
rumbled, directly overhead. As Kevin and Eliathanis
rejoined the others, the skies at last opened. A heavy
curtain of rain plunged down, and the walls of fire
hissed under the impact, sending up vast clouds of
steam.

"But there's still too much flame!" Lydia cried.
"Naitachal, can't you do something?"

The sharpness other voice made the Dark Elf start
"I was doing something," he said, biting off each word.
"Till you broke my concentration." Naitachal glanced
back at the dying flames, forward at the charging
enemy, and swore in his native tongue. "We need more
dme  --  but they're not going to give us any!" Suddenly
his dark, sorcerous sword was in his hand. "Terrible
odds, my friends, but they're not going to get any bet-
ter, so..."

"Aren't they?"

"What --  Eliathanis, no!" Kevin gasped. "Oh no,
don't, you can't!"

With a wild shout in the elven tongue, Eliathanis
charged the foe. His hair flamed out behind him, blaz-
ing gold against the darkness, his mail and outthrust
sword and the hide of his rain-slick horse were molten
silver.

And dme seemed to stop. There was nothing living

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

219

save for that one shining rider on a shining horse. So
stunned was the enemy that they made no effective
move to defend themselves. Eliathanis' sword was a
brand, sweeping through their ranks, and wherever it
struck, a soldier fell.

"The fire's low enough to cross," Naitachal mut-
tered, hands denched on the hilt of his sword. "Come
back, you idiot. You've bought us enough rime. Come
back before they realize you're only flesh-and-blood.**

As ifhe'd heard, Eliathanis turned and forced his
horse back into a gallop. But the horse was weary from
fright and effort. It stumbled on the slick grass, caught
itself, stumbled again-

"He's still within bowshot." Naitachal's voice was
tight with alarm. "He's not going to make it."

"Yes, he is!" Kevin heard his own voice come out
high and shrill, like the voice of a child begging for a
happy ending.

"No," the Dark Elf murmured, and then, in wild
anguish, "Eliathanis, no!"

Even as Naitachal forced his horse forward, Kevin
saw an arrow flash, saw Eliathanis fall. Heartsick, he
watched the Dark Elf lean low over his horse's neck,
urging the animal to greater speed. Naitachal dropped
the knotted reins on the horse's neck, then bent out
and down, catching the fallen elf and pulling him up
across his saddle bow. As Kevin watched, breath caught
in his throat, the Dark Elf came thundering back in a
storm of arrows. To the bardling's horror, he saw
Naitachal suddenly seem to falter in the saddle. .

He's been hit, too! Dear Powers  -- 

Almost directly before them, the Dark Elf's horse
went down. Naitachal fell free, Eliathanis in his arms.

Lydia was first to reach their side, kneeling in the
mud, staring at the White Elf. Kevin heard her sharp
inhalation and saw her face pale beneath its tan.
"Naitachal, come on. We've got to get out of here."

220 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

The Dark Elf glared up at her. "We can't leave
Eliathanis!"

"We must"

"No!"

"Naitachal, look at him." Her voice quivered with
pity. "Look. More than one arrow caught him. He's
dead, Naitachal. Eliathanis is dead. He must have died
almost instantly."

The Dark Elf was too well acquainted with death to
deny its presence now. "Damn them." It was so low a
growl Kevin almost didn't hear it "Ann, damn them!"

Very carefully, Naitachal let Eliathanis' body sag to the
ground, then looked up. And for once his eyes were the
terrible, cruel, empty eyes of a true Dark Elf. "If they want
death," he murmured, "then death they shall have."

"Oh, don't!" the bardling cried in sudden panic, ter-
rified that they were about to lose Naitachal forever Bo
Darkness, terrified of what evil he might release.

But the elf was already on his feet, striding boldly
forward into the open. Heedless of the arrows raining
about him, he called out harsh, ugly, commanding
Words, catching the storm winds, twisting them to his
use, heightening them. focusing them, turning them to
a savage, terrible frenzy. The attacking army was swept
back by the whirlwind, horses screaming, men shout-
ing as they were hurled off their feet. And still the
wind's fury grew until  -- 

"No! Naitachal, stop it!" Struggling beneath the
weight of wind tearing at him, whipping the hair pain-
fully into his face, dragging the very air from his lungs,
Kevin fought his way to Naitachal's side. "You've got to
stop this!"

The Dark Elf's eyes were blazing with sorcerous
Power, totally wild, totally without mercy. He showed
not the slightest sign he'd heard Kevin.

"Naitachal, listen to me!" Kevin shouted with all his
might to be heard above the roar of the storm. "Those

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

221

men aren't evil! They don't have any choice in what
they're doing! Cariotta enslaved them!"

"They slew my friend." The Dark Elf's voice was
inhumanly chill. "I shall slay them."

"And me?" Kevin grabbed Naitachal's arm, only to
be flung aside as if he was weightless. Gasping, the
bardling forced his way back to face the Dark Elf direct-
ly. "Are you going to kill me, too? Are you going to kill
Lydia and Tich'ki? You will, if you don't stop this storm.
Do you want us to die? Well? D-dammit, answer me!
Do you want to kill us?"

A glimmer of life flickered in the terrible eyes. "No,"
Naitachal said, and all at once his voice was his own
again, and infinitely weary. "No. Of course not."

As he removed his will from them, the unnaturally
fierce winds faded... faded... were gone. In the sud-
den stillness, Naitachal staggered, and Kevin cried out;

"You're hurt!"

"Not badly. Not as badly as... as..."

"H-he can't be hurt now," Kevin said awkwardly.
"But we can." He put a tentative hand on NaitachaTs
arm and when the Dark Elf didn't push him away,
began to pull Naitachal with him. "It's going to take
some time for the soldiers to regroup, but we've got to
get into the forest's shelter before they do."

"Yes." The Dark Elf's voice was dull with exhaus-
tion. But he stopped by Eliathanis' body. "We cannot
leave him here."

Lydia tried to take Naitachal's free arm, only to let go
when he hissed with pain. "There's no time to bury
him," she said gently. "We don't have a choice."

"Naitachal, come on!" Tich'ki added. "I don't think
Cariotta hung around to watch, but she could be
anywhere! And her guys are going to come after us.
We've got to get out of here!"

"We cannot leave him here! Not like this!"

"But what -- "

222 Me/cedes Lackey ^Josephs Shenwn

"Stand back." The Dark Elf's eyes were wild with
anguish. "Stand back, I say."

So fierce was that command that Lydia and Kevin
hurried aside, and even Tich'ki kept sdll. Naitachal
began his harsh spell once more, but this time the
bardling could have sworn some of the Words were
different.

He was right. Lightning lanced down out of the stor-
my sky, enfolding Eliathanis' body in blinding
blue-white fire.

Naitachal gave a long, shaken sigh. "I don't know the
burial customs of his clan. But surely they would find
no shame in a funeral pyre of sky-born flame."

"Surely not," the bardling murmured.

This dme when Kevin hesitantly pulled at his arm,
the Dark Elf went willingly.

Chapter XXII

This was not, Kevin mused wearily, the type of adven-
ture of which the Bards sang. Oh, Carlotta wasn't making
any further move to stop them, at least there was that.
For all the bardling knew, she had been blown aside by
the whirlwind like her soldiers, or so exhausted by her
magics she needed to rest But that hardly made matters
easy. They had only two horses left, tired horses, one of
them burdened with both Kevin and Naitachal. And as
the animals forced their way into the dense underbrush
of the forest, Lydia said suddenly:

"This isn't working. We've got to let the horses go."

"No!" Kevin protested.

"Yes. They can barely keep their feet as it is. And this
is pretty dense forest: a horse can't get through without
leaving a trail any child could follow. Besides, we can
hide better on foot."

"But Naitachal's too dred!"

"I can manage," the Dark Elf muttered, slipping off
his mount

Reluctantly, Kevin followed. Lydia slapped the
horses on their rumps, and the animals trotted wearily
away. Watching them go, the bardling thought with a
flash of wry humor:

It's not fair! Heroes aren't supposed to scutile through the
underbrush!

Yes, and by any rights at all, Naitachal's sorceries
should have torn the storm apart, too. Instead, the rain
continued to pour unrelentingly down, and the stub-
bornly stormy sky turned the forest into a nearly

224 Mercedes Lackey S^Josepha Sherman

night-black maze of roots and thorns, all of which
seemed determined to trip up the intruders or tear
their flesh.

"I'll scout ahead," Tich'ki said shortly. "I'm not
night-blind like you humans."

As she flew, though, she trailed behind her a steady
stream of what Kevin assumed could only be curses in
her native tongue: even though the thick curtain of
leaves cut off the worst of the rain, her wings were
plainly still sodden enough to hamper her flying.

"Come on," she shot back. "No laggards,"

"SucA a caring, gentle friend," Lydia muttered.

She and Kevin followed after as best they could.
Naitachal, dazed and exhausted, somehow managed to
keep pace with them-

But if we don't find shelter soon, Kevin realized, he's
going to collapse -- and w with him.

But just when the bardling had decided they must
have died and been condemned to an eternity of dark
and wet and endless, thorny paths, Tich'ki came flut-
tering back. She landed on Lydia's shoulder, panting,
wings drooping wearily. But Kevin saw her sharp little
teeth flash in a grin.

"ShelterF she crowed. 'Just up ahead: a big old shell
ofa tree. Hurry up, you'U see."

She was right The oak must have been truly andent,
incredibly vast in girth and all but dead. Time and age
had worn a deep hollow in the base, a natural cave just
big enough for two humans, one elf and a fairy to fit in-
side. It smelled strongly of animals and decaying wood,
but it was blessedly dry and carpeted with a thick layer of
crumbled leaves. Kevin, sure he was soaked to the very
bone, couldn't make up his mind whether to remove his
doak and freeze or keep die soggy thing wrapped about
him and stay wet. Hopefully, he thought, the combined
body warmth of four living beings would warm the tree-
cave soon enough.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

225

"Naitachal -- "

The Dark Elf had fallen to his knees with a faint
groan. Lydia hastily dropped to his side. "All right, I
know you're hurt. Let me see that arm."

"In here?" Tich'ki cut in. "Thought you humans
couldn^t see in the dark." She added in sudden alarm,
"You're not going to try lighting a fire?"

"In a tree? D'you think I'm mad?"

"I  --  No. That's too easy a jest"

Kevin bit his lip nervously, just barely able to make
out NaitachaTs crumpled form in the darkness. "I'll try
the Watchwood Melody again," he said in sudden
inspiration. "You know, the light-spell. I... think I can
get it to last longer this time."

There wasn't much room to take the lute out of its
case, let alone play it, but by squirming his way back
into the tree-cave, Kevin managed to hit the proper
notes and chords. He began to sing, hesitantly at first,
his singing voice feeling rusty from disuse, then more
strongly, secure that the storm outside would drown
out the sound and praying that his small magics
wouldn't be noticeable to Carlotta.

And Bardic Magic stirred within him- The tree-cave
began to glow with a feint, steady light, and Lydia
nodded in satisfaction.

"Now," she told Naitachal, "you will let me see that
arm."

The Dark Elf, eyes dosed, made no move to stop her.
Kevin winced at the sight of the long slash running
halfway down Naitachal's upper arm, but Lydia didn't
seem particularly worried.

"Arrow just grazed you. That arm's going to be sore
for a time, but hopefully that'll be about the worst of it."
She paused. "You aren't hiding any other wounds, are
you?"

"No." It was a weary whisper of sound. "My cloak
cook most of the damage.'*

226 Mercedes Lackey S^Josepha Sherman

**Ah, so it did. Look at those holes." The woman held
up a fold of black fabric and gave a soft whisde. "You
were lucky, my friend."

Naitachal winced. "Another was not," he murmured
faintly.

"Ah. Well. I  --  uh  --  don't think Eliathanis would
begrudge us a^Aiance to take care of the living before
the  --  before we  --  *'

"Before we mourn the dead. Lydia, do what you
think necessary to this slash, then let me rest"

She blinked at his suddenly cold tone. "Sure." The
woman hunted through the pouches hanging from
her belt for a time. "Oh damn. My healing herbs are all
back in the castle. Some oh so helpful lady's maid must
have tried to 'neaten up' my stuff when I wasn't watch-
ing." Lydia paused, holding up a small flask. "I do still
have this, though."

"Water?" Tich'ki piped up. "Should think you'd had
enough of water by now."

"It's not water, believe me."

"Ah, the brandy! How'd the maid miss that?"

"I don't know, but it's a good thing she did.
Naitachal, you want to take a good swig of this, then
bite down on something. This is going to hurt like hell,
but at least it should ward off wound-sickness."

Kevin winced in sympathy, nearly losing his hold on the
light-spell, as she poured the brandy on the arrow-gash.

Naitachal never made a sound. Instead, endurance
finally exhausted, he simply fainted.

"There, now," Lydia said after a moment. "That's
bandaged as best 1 can manage, what with nothing
really dry. You can stop singing now, Kevin."

The light was already fading, because the bardling's
voice was quavering so much he could barely hold the
tune. He broke off abruptly, and the tree-cave was
plunged back into darkness.

"Kevin? What is it, boy? What's wrong?"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         227

"I d-don't... I... Eliathanis..."

"Oh hell, kid, don't be embarrassed. Nothing wrong
with grieving, be you woman or man."

But Kevin battled with himself till he'd fought back
the tears. "I  --  I don't understand him!"

"Who? Naitachal?"

"How can he suddenly turn so ... cold? Eliathanis
was his friend! Why isn't he grieving?"

"Ach, Kevin." Lydia's voice was very gende. "He is.
That coldness was to hide his real feelings. Look you,
I've seen a lot of people die. Too many," she added soft-
ly. "That's part of being a warrior. I've mourned a lot of
them, too, and that's also part of being a warrior. True
grief isn't something you can command. It comes out
when and where it will."

All at once Lydia gave a long, tired sigh. "You know
something? I enjoy travelling and all that but, times like
this, I really wish I had a place to come home to."

She stopped for a thoughtful moment, then added
with an embarrassed little laugh, "Like diat castle we
just left. If it wasn't already inhabited by that bitch-
witch and her buddy, it might make a good place to
settle. Despite all the hassle, the place itself had a nice
homey feel to it. Or do you think that's too crazy?"

"Not at all." Kevin straightened, staring in her direc-
tion in the darkness. "There were times in that casde
when I was really miserable; I admit it. But underneath
it all, even with those two running things and those
spoiled brats of squires, there really is something there
that could make it a good place to live!"

Working by touch, he fit the lute back into its case.
"Ah well. Let's not dream about catching the moon, as
Master Aidan would say."

Lydia chuckled softly. "Oh, I don't know about that
Dreams aren't such a bad thing to have. And some-
times  --  who knows? Sometimes you do catch that
moon." Kevin heard the dried leaves rustle as she

228 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

stirred. "Come on, kid, enough talk. 1 have a suspicion
we're going to be leading an active life in the next few
days, so let's try to get some sleep while we can. If we
huddle together with Naitachal, we should be warm
enough. Hungry, bruised and battered," Lydia added
wryly, "but warm enough."

"Kevin!"

The fierce hiss brought the bardling awake with a
start. "Naitachal?" The tree-cave wasn't as totally dark
as it had been, but even so, the Dark Elf's eyes still
glinted with their eerie red light. "What  --  " Kevin sat
bolt upright. "Carlotta! Has she  --  "

"She hasn't found us. Not yet. But I felt her sorcery
brush us just now. And she has set loose her hunters."

"Not human hunters," Tich'ki added, perching
beside Kevin for a moment, "not all of them. I sensed
that, too."

"And I don't think we care to meet any of them," the
Dark Elf added wryly, "so come! We must hurry."

At least it had stopped raining; they were given that
much of a boon. But the day was a waking nightmare
of being forever on the run, slipping on mud and wet
leaves, struggling through underbrush so dense it
seemed impassible, with hardly a chance to snatch a sip
from a stream, hardly a chance to swallow a handful of
berries. Lydia, experienced hunter that she was, led
the way, showing them how to throw off anything that
might be following by scent by crossing and recrossing
streams, how to avoid leaving footprints by running
along rock or fallen trees.

"Ha, why didn't I think of this before?" Tich'ki sud-
denly exclaimed during one of their brief pauses to
rest. "I can help! I'll hide our trail altogether!"

"Not by magic," Naitachal warned sharply, gashed
arm cradled against his chest. "Carlotta will surely
sense the use of any spells."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         229

"No, no, you don't understand! You know the trick I
have of influencing minds? The way I did with the guards
back in Westerin? Well, that's not magic, stricdy speaking,
not really; it's a  --  a skill of die mind, sort of an unmagk to
make people unthink." She shook her head impatiendy. "I
can't put it more dearly in human terms. But I should be
able to make the trackers unthink the trail  --  and there
won'tbe a trace of magic for Cariotta to find!"

"Carlotta," Lydia reminded her dourly, "is part fairy.
I'm not taking bets on anything she can or can't do. Go
ahead, Tich'ki. Try your unthinking unmagic. The rest
of us are going to keep right on watching our steps."

Tich'ki grinned and darted off.

"Eh, all right, Kevin, Naitachal," Lydia snapped, get-
ting to her feet. "Rest time's over. We have some more
hiking to do!"

By the time darkness began to fall, Kevin was only
too glad to sink to the ground in the rocky litde grove
Lydia had found. Beside him, Naitachal sat in weary
silence, shrouded in his cloak, but the woman paced
restlessly about, checking the lay of the land in her
usual wary fashion.

"We're not likely to find a better place." The Dark
Elf's voice rose eerily out of the shadow of his hood.

"No," she agreed, hands on hips. "It's a pretty good
spot for camping. Easily defended, too, what with the
rocks making a natural wall on one side."

"And there is a stream nearby," Naitachal added.
"Possibly with edible water plants."

Kevin hadn't thought anything could have gotten
him to his feet, but the thought of something to eat
made him scramble up. "I'll go."

"No, kid. You wouldn't know what's safe to eat. Fll
go." She glanced around at the ever-darkening forest
"You think you can manage some sort of smokeless lit-
de fire, Naitachal?"

230 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs. Sherman

"Of course."

When Lydia returned with double armfuls of
vegetation, it was to a rabbit cooking over the barely
visible campfire the Dark Elf had concocted, "Where
did that come from?'* the woman asked.

"It popped its head up to look at us," Kevin said. He
added modesdy, "I threw a rock at it I was lucky."

"So-o!" Lydia's teeth Sashed in her indomitable grin.
"Tonight, we feast!"

A whir of wings marked Tich'ki's return. "Just in
time! I'm starved."

But it was a strangely somber meal. Now that he had a
moment to relax even a little, Kevin found himself con-
standy expecting to see Eliathanis. He caught himself
thinking. We must remember to tell him about -- orlwonder
what he would thankabout -- and had to force himself not to
keep looking over his shoulder for the White EI£

At last, after their scanty dinner was done and the
fire had been banked to coals, the bardling couldn't
stand it any more. Hardly aware of the others, he took
out his lute and let his fingers move across the strings.
At the back of his mind Kevin was vaguely aware that
he wasn't trying for Bardic Music: he wasn't even
trying for any music worthy of a Bard at all. But some-
how music took form beneath his fingers and here was
Eliathanis stopping in surprise, the sun turning his
hair to molten gold, and here was Eliathanis bending in
worry over the fallen Naitachal, and here was Eliathanis
grinning at the Dark Elfin sudden friendship...

And here was Eliathanis freely, joyously, giving his life
so his friends might live.

All at once Kevin's vision was blurring and his hands
were shaking so much he couldn't play any more. Face
wet, he stilled the strings to silence with a palm, then
took a deep, shaken breath and dried his eyes, drained
and a little awed by what his mind and hands had
evoked.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         231

He glanced up, aware of the others only now, and
slighdy embarrassed at their regard. Lydia, too, was
wiping her eyes, and even Tich'ki was sitting still, wines
wrapped about her like an irridescent cape. Naitachal
had his back to them all, huddled nearly double in his
black cloak, so silent that the bardling wondered if he
had even heard the music. But then Kevin heard the
Dark Elf murmur fiercely, as though angry with
himself:

"There is no time for this!"

''There never is," Lydia retorted.

The shrouded figure straightened slightly at that,
and Kevin caught a Hash of anguished eyes. But
instead of the sharp reply the bardling was expecting,
Naitachal asked simply, "Does it always hurt like this?"

"Always." Lydia paused, frowning slightly. "What,
have you never lost a friend before?"

Naitachal glared. "Have you forgotten who and
what I am? I have never Aarf a friend before."

"You have some now," Kevin reminded him softly.

But the Dark Elf, plainly embarrassed by his own
grief, pulled his hood savagely forward, hiding his face
once more. "I intend to sleep," Naitachal said shortly.
"1 advise you to do the same."

Kevin and Lydia exchanged wry glances. The
woman shrugged. "He's got a point." She hesitated for
a long, awkward while, then added quiedy, "Kevin, for
the music and all that, I... Ah, hell. What I'm trying to
say is, thank you."

The huddle of black cloak stirred faintly. "So am I,"
Naitachal admitted softly, then was silent once more-

Chapter XXIII

Night passed into day, and day into night, and the
fugitives continued to flee through the forest. Tich'ki's
"unmagic" did seem to be throwing offCarlotta's aim
when it came to any direct sorcery, but her trackers
remained grimly on the trail. Once Kevin, hiding flat in
the underbrush, not even daring to breathe, caught a
glimpse of them: squat, powerful, sharp-fanged
beings, monstrous human-ogre hybrids that sniffed
the ground like so many deadly hounds. If he fell into
their ugly hands, the bardling was pretty sure he
wouldn't have to worry about Carlotta any longer.

That dme, the trackers missed their prey completely.
But no place was safe for long. Kevin thanked the
Powers for Tich'ki, who confused those trackers as best
one fairy could, and for Lydia, who somehow kept
moving her friends from concealment to concealment
without their getting caught, skillfully doubling back
and forth on their tracks like some hunted wild thing.

Which she is, Kevin thought wearily. Which we aUare. I
can't remember the last time Ihad, a good meal, oraftiUmghl's
sleep. Ha, andif I don't getabcUhpretty soon, those trackers WB
going to be able to just nose me out!

What was truly frustrating was knowing he bore the
manuscript hokiingthe spdl to destroy Cariotta  -- and yet
not being able to do anything about it. When they came to
a temporary hiding place, a crushed-down thicket that
deer had used for a bed, Kevin pulled the manuscript out
in desperation and showed itto Naitachal.

"What do you make of that?"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         233

The Dark Elf had grown almost haggard during the
chase, skin drawn tightly over the high cheekbones
and eyes glittering eerily from under the shadow of his
hood. "Let me see."

He barely moved the arm the arrow had grazed, and
Kevin felt a little pang of worry shoot through him.
"Naitachal..."

"It's nothing," the Dark Elf insisted, as he had every
time one of the others had tried to examine the wound.
"Give me the manuscript"

He studied it for a long, puzzled moment, then
raised his head, frowning.

"I can't make anything of the text, Kevin. And I mean
that quite literally. There's magic here, all right, but it's
keyed stricdy to you. The glyphs won't hold still long
enough for me to read them. Only if you can copy the
spell out for me can I hope to do something with it." The
Dark Elf's eyes glittered with a sudden cold rage. "And
once the spell is deciphered, I shall be the one to deliver
it" His words were made all the more chilling by being
delivered in a quiet, totally controlled voice. "We owe
Eliathanis this much; his death shall be avenged in full
upon Cariotta and the traitor count her ally."

"Uh,y-yes. It shall."

Kevin was almost positive that the weird, unex-
pected words in elfish had to be the components of the
spell. He could copy those out, all right. But on what?
And with what?

Wait... when I was making the copy back in the library, I
tucked the parchment into my lute case for safekeeping.

Ha, yes, it was still there, in the pocket meant for
music scores, and with it a small flask of ink as well. A
twig should make a decent enough brush.

And so, every dme Lydia deemed it safe to stop,
Kevin worked feverishly to extract the spell from the
manuscript,, making as many copies as he could, hiding
one each time the party had to move on-

234 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

The trackers can't possibly discover all our shelters. And
hopefuily someone wUlfmd the spell and be abk to complete it if
we're caught or  --  or failed.

But what a weird spell it seemed to be! Kevin,
curious, showed Naitachal one elfish glyph, and wasn't
really surprised when the Dark Elf shook his head.

"It looks something like elfish, yes, but you must
have made some mistake. That odd notation just to the
left of the glyph doesn't belong to any dialect of elfish I
know!"

"That's just the way it's written in the manuscript!"
Kevin protested. "See  --  Ah, never mind, I forgot I'm
the only one who can see it"

Just what he needed; another worry, this one that
somehow he was copying the whole thing wrong,
making the spell useless! But there wasn't anything to
do but continue.

And at last, at their next brief sanctuary, Kevin
breathed a great sigh of relief. "It's done. I've got the
whole spell copied out. Naitachal, now you can  -- 
Naitachal?"

The Dark Elf was sagging against a tree, as though
all at once coo weak to move. "It's nothing ... a
moment's dizziness."

"Nothing, hell!" Lydia erupted. "It's that arm of
yours, isn't k?"

She made a move towards it, but Naitachal waved
her away. "We don't have the time for this." He stepped
away from the tree, now quite steady on his feet "Let
me see the spell," Taking the scrap of parchment from
the bardling, he added, "Once I have it memorized  --  "

The Dark Elf stopped dead. "What in the name of all
the Powers is this thing? This matches no spell I've ever
seen! All these weird notations..."

Kevin straightened so suddenly he nearly rapped
his head on a low branch. "Notations," he echoed.
"Regular notations in front of every word -.. what

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         235

if...?" Suddenly wild with suspense, the bardling
cried, "Let me see that again! Yes ... yes ... Dear
Powers.yes! I never stopped to really think about what I
was copying but: do you know what these notations
are? They're music notes'. This isn't elfish at all. No, no,
it's Bardic Magic, and this spell is meant to be svngi"

Naitachal's eyes flashed with excitement. **0f course
it isl I should have realized  --  But it's also untried. You
realize what that means, don't you?"

"That it's dangerous... ?"

"Oh, indeed. You will have to get very dose to Car-
lotta to even try it. And then, if it backlashes, as some
spells do, it could kill you. If it doesn't work at all, Car-
lotta certainly will kill you!"

After all that had happened so far, Kevin knew he no
longer thought of himself as a hero. not even as being
very brave. But bravery had very litde to do with this.
Carlotta had killed a friend, and would surely kill
many, many more people if she made her bid for
power.

"I'll deliver the spell," the bardling said quietly, "no
matter what it costs."

"Sure, but how?" Lydia asked. "We're stuck here in
the forest, and even though we haven't seen a trace of
(hose damned persistent trackers  --  "

"We've shaken them," Tich'ki interrupted-

"You dunk. I'm pretty sure they're srill after us."

"And we cannot risk letting ourselves be captured."
Naitachal's voice was all at once so thick with strain that
Kevin stared at him in alarm.

"Are you -- "

"Yes, yes," the Dark Elf said impatiently. "I'm fine. As
fine as one can be without enough to eat or enough
time to rest." Naitachal made what was obviously a
mighty effort to rouse himself. "If we are taken, there is
a good chance none of us will live long enough to even
seeCariotta."

236 Mercedes Lackey ^josepha Sherman

"True." Lydia shrugged. "What will be, as the saying
goes, will be. It looks like the only thing we can do is just
go on, and hope we meet up with someone along the
way who can help us."

"Time for scouting duty!" Tich'ki said wryly, and
darted ahead.

As Kevin and Lydia followed on foot, Lydia
whispered in the bardling's ear, "I don't like the looks
ofNaitachal. If he isn't ill, I'll trade my sword fora
loom."

"I know," Kevin murmured. "Even his eyes look
tunny."

"Yeah. Fever-glazed."

"Lydia! We've got to do something!"

"Got any suggestions? He denies there's anything
wrong, and he won't even let me look at his arm." The
woman gave a wry little shrug. "It's that damned
sorcerer's pride."

And as the day progressed, it was surely only a
sorcerer's will that kept Naitachal going. But all at once
a fallen branch twisted under the Dark Elf's foot. As he
struggled to catch his balance, his wounded arm struck
against a tree trunk. With a choked cry, the Dark Elf
collapsed to one knee.

"Oh hell." Lydia tore at the makeshift bandage even
as Naitachal weakly tried to fend her off. "Stop fighting
me! You're burning up with fever and  --  Oh hell," she
repeated helplessly, staring.

Naitachal's dark skin hid any sign of inflammation,
but the swelling around the sdll raw-looking gash was
obvious even to the untrained Kevin.

"Wound-fever," Lydia murmured. "Why didn't you
say something?"

"What could I say? What could you do?"

"I could have done something'. I knew the brandy
wasn't enough. Why didn't I  --  "

"No. This is not your fault, Lydia." Naitachal sighed.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

237

"My people have somewhat more immunity to iron-
wounds than do the White Elves, possibly from living
as close as we do to the inner Earth Dark. But such
things are sdll perilous to us."

"You still should have said  --  "

"No." Naitachal struggled to his feet. "To stop is to
die, as simply as that Come. I will keep up."

"I doubt it." Lydia muttered under her breath.
"There's a limit even to a sorcerer's will."

"I will keep up," the Dark Elf repeated flatly.

Just then, Tich'ki came whirring back. "Strangers! A
whole troop of people and wagons up ahead!"

"Wagons!" Lydia shook her head, puzzled. "Can't be
soldiers or those cursed trackers. Tich'ki  --  "

"I know. Find out more about them. I'm gone."

She was back within a short dme. "Forget any help
from them. They're nothing but some travelling
minstrels."

"Bah." Lydia turned awayindisgust "They're useless."

But Kevin, moved by a sudden wild hope, told
Tich'ki, "Go on. What else can you tell us about them?"

The fairy shrugged in mid-air. "What can I say?
They're a colorful lot, and their leader's a sharp-faced
fellow with bright green eyes."

Kevin started. It couldn't be, could it... ?"D-didyou
happen Co catch his name?"

"Ber-something, I think."

"Berak?"

"That's it!" The fairy stared at him. "You know him?"

"In a way." Scumbling over his words in sudden
'eagerness. Kevin stammered, "L-listen, everyone:

Berak and his troupe is  --  are  --  friends of Master
Aidan. We can hide with them for a while!"

"Look," Lydia said shortly, "we've been lied to and
tricked along every step of this tittle adventure of ours.
Do you really think we can trust them?"

"We can! I can be fooled, even you can be fooled  -- 

238       Mercedes Lackey^'Josephs Sherman

but my Master's a full Bard. No one's going to fool him.
Come on! Maybe we can actually beg a hot meal out of
Berak- And he and the troupe might even have some
valuable news to share!"

Lydia shrugged. "On your head be it, kidi"

For one brief, startling moment, Kevin could have
sworn no time at all had passed since he'd first left
Bracklin. There were the same gaudy red and blue
wagons, the same cluster of brightly dressed men,
women and children gathered around a communal
campfire, and the bardling was overwhelmed by such a
sudden surge of homesickness he nearly staggered.
There was Berak, exuberant and arrogant as ever,
pacing restlessly back and forth, as though he bore too
much pent-up energy to be still.

He stopped short, staring at Kevin. "Ha! So there you
are!"

"You... were expecting me?"

"Oh, eventually! At least I was hoping you'd show
up! You've been stirring up enough excitement in
recent days for a dozen bardlings." The sharp green
eyes noted Naitachal  --  completely hidden in his by
now tattered black cloak  --  and came to rest on Lydia.
Berak swept down in a theatrical bow. **I had no idea
you were travelling in the company of such a lovely
lady."

"Ha," Lydia said, but to Kevin's astonishment, she
reddened slightly anyhow.

"Ah, but from the looks of the lot of you," Berak con-
tinued without missing a beat, "you could use a good
meal. Come, join us."

But Naitachal never moved. "Kevin," he said faintly,
"Remember when I boasted I could keep up? I can't.
In fact," the Dark Elf added, swaying slightly, "if I don't
sit down, right now, I think I may do something foolish.
Like faint."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

239

Kevin and Lydia caught him just in time. In the next
moment, they were surrounded by the minstrel
troupe, helping hands reaching out. Berak wormed
his way through the crowd and slipped a supporting
arm around the Dark El£

"Back offl" he shouted to the others. "Give the man
room to breathe! You and you, drag that bench over
here. Someone go get Seritha. And you..."

Berak's voice faltered for an instant as Naitachal's
hood slipped back, revealing his unmistakably Dark Elf
features. But then the minstrel shrugged and shouted,
"Seritha! Seritha, hurry!" He added to Naitachal, help-
ing him to the bench, "She's our Healer. Have you up
and well in no time."

To Kevin's surprise, Seritha turned out to be the
plump, motherly woman he'd first seen in buttercup
yellow: hardly the sort, he thought, to harbor any sort
of Power. But she laid bare the arrow gash with quiet
skill. And as soon as she placed her hands on the
wound, Kevin saw Power well up about her, endrcle
her in a pale blue cloud, brightening to dazzling blue-
white where her hands touched Naitachal's arm. The
bardling thought he saw unhealthy flesh slough away
under that touch, and felt his too-empty stomach lurch
in protest. He hastily turned away, but after a time
sheer curiosity made him look once more.

Seritha, looking worn but satisfied, was straighten-
ing- Naitachal, eyes wild with relief, was getting to his
feet --  and not a mark marred the smooth skin of his
arm. At Seritha's wave, a little boy brought them
flagons of something that smelled sharply herbal and
was presumably strength-restoring. Both Healer and
Dark Elf drank thirstily then smiled at each other.
Nakachal bowed.

"I am forever in your debt, lady."

She beamed. "I'm hardly a lady. And I only did what
any Healer should do." Seritha made a shooing

240 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Stwnwn

gesture with both hands. "Off with you now. Go reas-
sure your friends."

Naitachal grinned. "I hear and obey!**

As the Dark Elf approached, Kevin asked breath-
lessly, "How  --  how do you feel?"

"Healed. Absolutely, totally healed."

"Now that's truly amazing," Lydia said. "I never
thought an ordinary human could wield that type of
Power."

"No," the Dark Elf murmured thoughtfully,
"neither did I." His glance locked with that ofBerak.
But then Naitachal shrugged. "So be it," he said, so
meaningfully Kevin could have sworn he'd meant to
say, I'll keep your secret.

What secret? What was going on between those two?

But then the wonderful aroma of roasting meat hit
his nostrils, and Kevin forgot all about secrets for the
moment

"Don't gobble," Lydia warned him. "Your stomach's
shrunk. You'll make yourself ill."

Oh, but it was a struggle not to wolf down the meat
and bread and cheese, the wine and sweetmeats. At
last, feeling alive again for the first time in he didn't
know how many days, Kevin sat back with a contented
sigh.

"My friends," he told the minstrels, "we can't pos-
sibly repay this."

They laughed. "No need! No need!"

"But," the bardling added, as casually as he could,
"we... ah... separated a good many days ago."

"Separated!" someone teased. "You ran off, is what
happened!"

"Uh, well, yes," Kevin admitted reluctantly, aware of
Lydia's amused glance. "But now, what have you been
doing since then? Have any news?"

Berak shrugged. "Old news by now. Count Volmar is
going to be hosting a major fair at his castle shortly."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         241

"And we're to perform at it," a boy piped up. "Before
the count himselfl"

Berak grinned. "That's right, Riki. Before the count
himself." His grin faded slightly as he turned back to
Kevin- "You know, there are odd rumors these days.
Rumors that Count Volmar is going to make some sort of
major announcement- You know anything about that?"

"N-no. Not really."

"Indeed. Well, rumor or no, the truth is that cer-
tainly every liegeman and ally the count has is
streaming in for the grand event. Whatever it may be."

Kevin met Berak's inquisitive stare as innocently as
he could. Forcing a grin, the bardling said, "Well, it's
been a long day. If you don't mind, we'll spend the
night here with your people."

Berak was plainly disappointed not to have learned
any deep secrets from his guests, but he bowed from
the waist. "Our camp is, of course, your camp. Make
yourselves at home."

As soon as they were alone in the shelter of a wagon,
Tich'ki popped out of hiding. "You could have slipped
me more food!" she complained to Lydia.

"And have everyone wonder why I was feeding my
hair?"

Naitachal ignored them. "What of Berak's news?
That sounded truly ominous to me."

"Me, too," Kevin agreed. "This isn't just some litde
tourney the count decided to throw, not if he's calling
in all his allies to hear some grand declaration."

"Exactly." The Dark Elf frowned. "It just might be
that Volmar is gambling on Carlotta's behalf, staking
all, as the saying goes, on one throw of the dice."

"If that's true," Lydia mused, "then losing one Hole
bardling  --  sorry, Kevin  --  and one spell isn't going to
stop them. They must have had this plan in motion for
months."

"Sure," the bardling added, "and I'm one very small

242 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sfierman

fly in the ointment- One they think they can afford to
remove at their leisure." He fought down the surge of
indignant pride: he was small and insignificant  --  so far.
"This could be just the chance we need to deliver the
spefl."

"If we can take these folk into our confidence,"
Naitachal said.

"If we dare," Lydia muttered.

"If we can," Kevin added quietly, "in good con-
science expose them to our own danger."

"Ah. Well. There is that."

The bardling glanced at the others. "I think the best
thing is for you to split up and go into hiding, first off."

"That's ridiculous," Lydia said. "We're not going
to -- "

"Please, let me finish. There's no point in you going
into danger because  --  well, even if this spell works,
even ifCarlotia is disabled. Count Volmar won't be.
And anyone who's with me is going to be in big
trouble."

"For a change," Lydia said drily.

"Youll be in that trouble, too," Naitachal reminded
thebardling. "I've already... lost... one friend. I don't
want to lose another."

"I don't want to be lost, either' But..." Kevin shook
his head. "To put it bluntly, I'm going to be worried
enough as it is. I don't want to have to worry about
anyone else. Particularly not those I care about. Or
those who've helped us, either."

"The minstrels."

"Exactly. I'd like to travel to the castle with them; it
does seem to be the obvious way back in. But I really
want to keep their involvement in all this to an absolute
minimum." Kevin gave a shaky sigh. "There's not
enough time for anything other than what I think
knights call desperation moves. There won't be any
heroes coming out of this."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

243

"Sounds like you've gained some sense at least," said
a sardonic voice. "Maybe even enough to keep you
from being killed."

Kevin nearly sprained his neck twisting about in
shock. That voice ... It was only Berak who stood
there, and yet...

"Don't you think the masquerade has gone far
enough?" Naitachal asked the minstrel.

Berak grinned. "You knew what I was right away,
didn't you?"

The Dark Elf grinned in return. "Even as you recog-
nized me."

Lydia looked from one to the other. "What are you
talking about?"

"[ust this." Berak murmured a quiet Word. And... it
wasn't so much that his face and form changed as it was
that a masking glamor seemed to fall away. Kevin
stared. How could he ever have missed how high those
cheekbones were» how sharply slanted those eyes? And
that hair was surely far too silky to be human hair -- 

"You're an elfi" Kevin gasped in alarm. "You're all
elves!"

Chapter XXIV

Berak chuckled, "We're all elves," he agreed, "all my
troupe." The minstrel gestured to where they, laugh-
ing, had also shed their glamor of humanity.

Tich'ki wriggled out of hiding. "So that's it!" she
exclaimed. "Clever disguises! So obvious, right under
the humans' noses and not one of them ever noticed!"

Berak's eyes widened ever so slightly at the fairy's
sudden appearance, but all he did was dip his head in
polite acknowledgement and say smoothly, "Humans
do tend to see what they expect to see.**

Lydia snoned. "No wonder Seritha's Power was so
much more than anything a human could master!"

"Exactly."

But Kevin was still staring. "1 know you! You're the
group who surrounded me in the forest that night!
Yes, and scared the life out of me, too!"

"We were trying to scare the life into you, young-
ling," Berak corrected drily. "You were much too cocky
then for your own survival."

"I don't understand something," Naitachal cut in.
"You are very obviously White Elves, aD of you, and yet
you never hesitated to help an enemy."

"A Dark Elf, you mean?" Berak raised a brow. "And
are you our enemy?"

"No, of course not. But  --  " Naitachal gave a small
sigh of confusion. "I really don't understand. What
dan are you? What clan can you possibly be that you
don't share the usual prejudice against my kind?"

"No dan at all, or one of our own imagining."

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

245

"And what does that mean?"

Berak smiled. "Simply that we are the bits and tatters
of many dans, the outcasts, the ones who couldn't fit in
with all the staid and somber old traditions. We like to
laugh, to rove, to sing and play our songs for others, elf
or human, and share our joy with them. It amuses us,
just as it amuses us to disguise ourselves as humans."

"My Master knew, though, didn't he?" Kevin asked.
"What and who you really are, I mean.**

"Of course." The green eyes narrowed slightly. "And
it's past time you started thinking about that Master.
We've been crying all this time to track you down!" He
shook his head. "We woke, and you were gone. We
reached Count Volmar's castle, and you were gone
from there, too. We went back to Bracklin, only to leam
you had never returned. Master Aidan has been frantic
with worry. Why, he even considered going after you
and the spell himself, despite his too-sudden age and ill
health."

Ill health? Master Aidan? It was the first Kevin had
heard of that. And yet... with a sudden surge of guilt
he remembered all the times he'd thought the old Bard
lazy or afraid, remembered how he'd seen his Master's
pallor and shrugged it off as the result of too much of
an indoor life. The signs of carefully concealed illness
had been there all along. He'd simply failed, in his
impatience and arrogance, to notice them.

Wait, now, what else had Berak said? "Too-sudden
age?" the bardling asked hesitantly. "I don't -- "

"Think, boy!" Berak snapped. "Aidan was a young-
ling when he rescued the king, not all that much older
than you. Only some thirty years have passed. Even for
you short-lived humans that's not such a vast span."

"But -- but he's old!" Kevin insisted. "He's been old
ever since I've known him!"

"Ai-yi, Kevin! Who do you think created that spell to
destroy Cariotta? Bardic Magic is a Powerful, perilous

246 MercedesLackey ^Josephs Sherm&n

thing: it created the spell, yes, but in the processAidan was
forced to de up his age and health within the thing until he
notonger had thestrength to do anythingaboutit"

"Then speaking the speB -- "

"May restore him.** Berak shrugged with true elven
fatalism. "Or it may not. But either way, you must
make his sacrifice worth it"

"I will," Kevin said softly. And I'll make it up to you,
Master Aidan. "But there's something I must do, here
and now. Take these, please." He gave Berak all but
one of the remaining copies he'd made of the spell. "At
least this way it won't be lost with me."

"What... is this thing?" Berak peered at the parch-
ment. " Elfish, yet not quite elfish...."

"It is, we pray, the spell that shall put an end to Car-
iotta," Naitachal said. "Berak, if you will permit it, we
will ride with you. And together you and I and Kevin
can set about deciphering the thing."

"Why?" the minstrel asked suspiciously. "Why
Kevin?"

The bardling sighed. "Because the spell's Bardic
Magic. But I can't read elfish. And unless you and
Naitachal can tell me how to pronounce the glyphs
properly, I'll never be able to sing them."

"You!" Berak glanced sharply from Kevin to
Naitachal, then began speaking very rapidly in the
elven tongue.

Naitachal held up a hand. "Kevin and I have gone
over all the dangers. I agree, it's an incredibly risky
thing for him to try. But neither you nor I are qualified
to handle Bardic Magic. Kevin is."

"But he's not a Bard! The boy is just a bardling!"

"Still, I'm as dose to a Bard as we're going to find in
such a short time- And we've wasted enough of that
time already. Will you help us, Berak?"

"So-o! The cub grows fangs! Yes, youngling, I will
help you. And pray for you as well," he added wryly.

CASTLE. OF DECEPTION

247

It wasn't an easy decipherment. As the wagons rolled
and ratded their way toward Count Volmar's castle, the
two elves spent much of the next day bent over the
parchment, arguing "It says teatal" or "No, no, that has
to read sentaila, not sentailach \"

When they were satisfied with each glyph, they
made Kevin recite it till they were sure he had the in-
tonation correct, then sing it to the corresponding
note.

"When do I get to put the whole thing together?"

"You don't!" Naitachal said in alarm. "Do you want
to trigger the spell here and now?"

"Uh... no. But if I can't rehearse the spell now, how
am I going to know I've got it right?"

The Dark Elf grinned without humor. "Therein," he
said drily, "lies the adventure."

"But I think you do have the component glyphs
properly memorized," Berak added in what was
presumably meant to be a comforting tone. "Naitachal,
there is one unwoven thread to all this that bothers me."

"Eh?"

"You say Cariotta is disguising herself as the count's
niece. Well then, what happened to the real Charina?
There was one, after all..."

The Dark Elf shuddered as though a sudden cold
draft had hit him- "I think I know what happened," he
said at last. "I.. .just could not bear to..." Naitachal
turned sharply away. "I was afraid to cast this spell.
Afraid that I might find myself instead tempted to drag
Eliathanis back from  --  I didn't dare, do you under-
stand?"

"I do," Kevin murmured. "But Naitachal, what are
you saying? That  -- that the real Charina is ... that
Cariotta... that Charina... Powers, what if her spirit's
enslaved?"

"I thought of chat." The Dark Elf slumped in

248       Mercedes Lackey^JosephaSherman

resignadon. "So be it I will do what I must- Berak, I
will need a clear, sheltered place this evening, and as
few distractions as possible."
The White Elf nodded. "You shall have that"

The night there in the forest grove was very dark,
the only hght coming from the single small campfire
built between the vee formed by the two wagons. The
troupe was hidden in those wagons, or out in the
forest, but when Kevin and Lydia would have gone
with them, Naitachal called out:

"Wait You, as well, Berak. Say nothing, do nothing,
only sit where you are until I signal you to leave. I will
need your presences as an anchor."

An anchor to what? To life? Kevin felt a cold chill
steal through him. What if Naitachal was dragged over
the border into death? How could they possibly pull
him back?

But the Dark Elf didn't seem particularly worried,
though his face, picked out in stark relief by the danc-
ing flames, was grim and his stance tense. Without
warning, he began a chant, so softly Kevin almost
couldn't hear him. Berak heard, though; the bardling
could feel him shudder.

Somehow, soft though the words were, they weren't
quite obeying natural law. They weren't fading.
Instead, like so many layers of woven doth, each new
phrase fell atop the one before it, never fading, slowly
filling up the night, slowly filling up the very air, call-
ing, demanding, summoning...

And suddenly they were no longer alone in the
clearing. Kevin was only dimly aware ofLydia's gasp,
only dimly heard his own sharply drawn in breath.
Lost in a mix of amazement and terror, he stared rill his
eyes ached at a pale glow all at once there above the
fire, slowly condensing into the figure of a girl...

Charma's ghost...

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         249

She wasn't as extravagantly lovely as her counterfeit
Her hair was pale yellow, not spun gold, her face
merely pretty rather than beautiful. And yet she was so
much the more charming for not being perfect that
Kevin felt his heart ache as though it would break, felt
his cheeks suddenly wet with the loss of What Might
Have Been.

"Who are you?" Naitachal said in the human
tongue, his voice the essence of gentleness.

*T . . . was ... I am ..." The ghostly blue eyes
widened in fright. "] don't remember . . . Why am I
here? Where am I?"

"You must remember. Who are you?"

"I...I...can't..."

"You must- Who are you?"

"I can't'"

Kevin ached to shout out, "Leave her alone! Can't
you see she really doesn't know?" But somehow he
managed to keep from making a sound, and Naitachal
continued relentlessly:

**Whoareyou?"

"Charina!" the ghost screamed all at once. "I am
Charina!"

The Dark Elf's head drooped, and Kevin could hear
him gasp for breach. After a moment, Naitachal con-
tinued, his voice gentle once more:

"Where are you, Charina?"

"I... don't know... It's so dark... dark and cold...
so cold ... I don't want to know!"

"Never mind," the Dark Elf crooned. "Go back.
Back. See the day as it was. The day before the dark-
ness. Do you see it?"

Her frightened face seemed to tighten. "Yes."

"Where are you, Charina?"

"The castle. My uncle's castle. I am up on the ram-
parts and  --  oh, look at the pretty thing!"

"What are you doing, Charina?"

250 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

"Leaning forward to see the  --  No! No! Please,
don't! No!"

The sheer terror of that scream cut Kevin to the
heart. Oh, Naitachal don't'Lei her be!

But the Dark Elf continued softly, "Who is it,
Charina? What is he doing?"

"Uncle! Uncle, please! I won't tell anyone! You don't
have to kill me!"

"Who killed you, Charina?"

"No, no, there's been a mistake, it's all a mistake. I'm
alive and  --  "

"Who killed you, Charina?"

"I  --  My uncle killed me! He pushed me from the
ramparts when none could see! He murdered me and
threw my body down a refuse shaft!"

She burst into an anguished keening, rocking back
and forth in mid-air. Without taking his glance from
her, Naitachal fiercely waved the watchers away. They
scrambled up and behind the wagons without any
argument.

"Oh, that poor kid!" Lydia whispered. "She didn't
even get a chance to live before that bastard  -- "

Berak waved her to silence. "Now comes the most
difficult part." His voice was so soft it barely disturbed
the air. "Now he must help her deal with her own death
and at last find rest."

They waited in silence as the time crept slowly by.
And at last Naitachal staggered out to meet them. He
said not a word, but sank to the ground, head in hands.
Berak moved to his side, murmuring in elfish, and
Naitachal nodded. The White Eif nodded as well, and
returned to Kevin and Lydia-

"It's done," he said softly. "That poor lost child is
gone."

Naitachal continued to sit where he was, black cloak
like a shroud about him, and all at once Kevin couldn't
stand it. Seritha was already brewing one other herbal

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

251

teas, and the bardling took a flagon from her and hur-
ried to the Dark Elf's side.

"Naitachal? Naitachal, it's me. Kevin."
The Dark Elf slowly raised his head, his eyes empty.
"H-here," the bardling insisted. "Drink."
For a moment he wasn't sure Naitachal was going to
obey, but then a hand cold as the grave took the flagon
from him. The Dark Elf held it for a moment in both
bands, gratefully absorbing its heat, then drank. For a
dme he sat with dosed eyes. Then Naitachal turned to
look at Kevin again. And this time life glinted in the sor-
cerouseyes.

"Thank you. I was wise to name you an anchor."
"And... Charina is..."

"Gone. Though gone where I can't say. And no," the
Dark Elf added with a hint of returning humor, *Tm
not being metaphysical. She was a gende girl, but she
did, after all, come of warrior stock. I dare say we've not
seen the last of her just yet.**
"What... ? "
But more Naitachal wouldn't say.

"The best way to be invisible," Berak said with his
usual dramatic flair, "is to be obvious. If we try to sneak
into Count Vomiar's castle like thieves with something
to hide, Carlotta is sure to notice."

Naitachal nodded. *5ust as she'd be sure to notice
any manner of magic-working." He glanced at Kevin
and Lydia. "Now, those two should make convincing
enough members of your troupe."

"With a little judicious dying of hair," Seritha added,
eying Lydia's curly black locks, "and some nice,
minstrelly recostuming. But as for you," she added,
studying Naitachal, "hmm..."

"I am no(," the Dark Elf said flatly, "dressing up as a
dandng girl- Once was quite enough, thank you."

Berak gave a shout of laughter. "AaAo<?"

252 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Shennan

"You heard me. We made a pretty group, the lot of
us, Kevin here and Lydia and Eliathanis  --  "

Naitachal broke offin mid-sentence, pain flashing in
his eyes. Kevin winced, remembering the White Elf's
embarrassment and the Dark Elf's teasing, remember-
ing that silly, happy dme that seemed so long ago.

Berak's sharp, clever gaze shot from the bardling to
Naitachal. "Never mind," he said gendy. "We won't
need anything quite so ... ah ... drastic. Hey-o.
everyone! Prepare to ride!"

The elven minstrel troupe paraded into Count
Volmar's casde with cymbals clashing and trumpets
blaring, and sec up camp, along with all the other
groups of minstrels, acrobats and stage-magicians, in
the increasingly crowded outer bailey.

"How do you think I look?" Lydia, grinning, tossed
her newly dyed, brazen hair, and Naitachal shook his
head wryly-

"About as elven as Count Volmar. But definitely not
like that wanton warrior woman."

"Wanton!" She tapped him with her fan. "I'll give
you wanton, you stage-magician, you!"

The Dark Elf looked down at himself and laughed.
"Stage-magidan," he said ruefully. They had decided
to play up Naitachal's dramatic coloring by dressing
him in the gaudiest of red robes, a gold-threaded scarf
draped theatrically about his head and face.

Kevin, who was dressed in fairly gaudy yellow and
purple himself, wasn't really listening to their nervous
banter, instead, he stared thoughtfully up at the
various casde towers. "There," he murmured sudden-
ly, "beside the Great Hall."

"The chapel?" Berak asked. "What about it?"

"Not the chapel. The bell tower next to it."

"Whatareyou -- Ah. You're thinking of acoustics."

"Exactly." Kevin studied the tower for a long

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

253

moment. It was plain and square-sided, with no win-
dows save for the great arches at the very top. "The bell
can't be rung. I remember someone saying it had
cracked and they hadn't gotten around to getting it
down and recast"

"But that's still a pretty-looking sound chamber it's
hanging in." Berak smiled faintly. "Quite nicely
designed. Anyone standing in it who decided to start
singing would be heard all over the casde."

"He would," Kevin agreed. "And if I have any say in
things, he will be."

"That officious servant told me my troupe isn't to
perform until some time tomorrow. And of course the
site of the performance, of all the performances, is
going to be in the courtyard. Coincidentally, right in
front of that chapel. With its oh so pretty bell tower."

Berak and Kevin exchanged conspiratorial grins.

But even as he tried to act the role of a minstrel
without a care in the world, calmly helping the others
prepare for tomorrow's show, Kevin's hands shook.
His heart pounded so fiercely he was sure the casually
watching guards were going to hear it and drag him
away for questioning. Berak had sent messengers off to
King Amber and Master Aidan with word of what had
happened, but the bardling knew he couldn't count on
them to get here in time to do anything.

It -- it's all up to vs. To me.

Gods, gods. he couldn't make a move until after
dark, and here it was only afternoon! How was he ever
going to get through this day? And even after the night
came, if it ever did, what if he couldn't get into that bell
tower? What if Count Volmar had locked it, or set a
guard, or -- 

Kevin battled widi his growing panic. This was stupid.
After all, the whole thing came down simply to this:

Tomorrow he, Naitachal and Lydia would be heroes  -- 

Or they would be dead.

Chapter XXV

There was some mercy, Kevin thought: at least there
was no moon this night. It wasn't difficult, thanks to
Naitachal's elven night-vision, for three people to steal
across the crowded courtyard to the bell tower without
waking anyone  --  and without any merely human
guard being able to spot them.

The bardling paused at the base of the bell tower to
look nervously up and up its height: a starkly black
mass against the star-filled sky. The tower hadn't
seemed quite so tall from the outer bailey...

Don't be silly, he scolded himself. You -were higher than
that when you were up on the castle tower

Sure, he answered himself. And look how that turned
out!

Naitachal, who was quietly testing the cower door,
drew back with a sudden hiss. "Curse the man and his
suspicious mind!" It was a savage whisper. "I know
bronze is expensive, but does he really think someone's
going to try stealing a heavy bell?"

"Wh-what's the matter?" Kevin asked.

"He's bolted the cursed door!"

Lydia gave a frustrated sigh. "Can't you cast some
sort of spell -- "

"I'm a necromancer," the Dark Elf said flady, "not a
lockpick. Besides, you know any use of magic would
bring Cartotta down on our heads."

"Wonderful," Lydia repeated. "Now what do we do?**

A snicker cut the sudden silence. "Helpless
creatures!"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

255

"Tich'ki! What -- "

"Here, help me. This thing is cursed heavy!"

The fairy had stolen a whole coil of rope. "Tich'ki,
this is great!" Lydia whispered. She craned her head
back to study the tower. "Now, how are we going to get
it up there?"

Tich'ki sighed in mock exasperation. "Do I have to
do everything around here?"

She snatched up one end of the rope and started
flapping her way up, struggling against its weight.
Naitachal, watching closely so he wouldn't entangle
her or destroy her balance, played the rope out, coil by
coil.

"She's at the top," he murmured. "Ah! She has it!"

Tich'ki came spiralling down. "That's that- I've tied
the thing strongly enough to hold even your weights!
Now it's up to you."

Lydia's teeth flashed in the darkness. "All right, let's
go! Me first, I chink, then Kevin, then you, Naitachal in
case the kid has trouble."

"I won't  --  " the bardling started, but Naitachal cut
in calmly:

"Agreed."

Before Kevin could say anything more, Lydia was
swarming up the rope with, he thought, disgusting
ease.

"She made it," Naitachal whispered after a few
moments. "Your turn, Kevin."

Just what I need: another chance to ruin my hands, this tine
with rope bums. Ah well, better my hands than our lives!

He took a firm grip on the rope, braced his feet
against the side of the tower, and started to climb. To his
relief, the rope was knotted, giving him something to
grasp. But he'd never done anything like this. Powers,
he hadn't even climbed trees when he was a child, not
once he'd started studying music and had to be con-
cerned about his hands! He could feel the ache in his

256 Mercedes Lackey ^josepha Shernvm

arms and thighs already, and even the familiar weight
of the lute on his back was threatening to pull him over
backwards.

Cone on! Don't be a baby! IfLydia can do it, so can you!

Hey, he had made it! Kevin scrambled up over the
rim of one of the arches and stood aside so Naitachal  -- 
who also swarmed up the rope with disgusting ease  -- 
could join them.

"It's about time!" Tich'ki jibed. "Watch your footing.
There's only this narrow strip of stone and the stairway
down." She fluttered in mid-air. "The whole tower's
hollow!"

Kevin shrugged. "Of course it is. They never
expected anyone to stay here for very long. The bell
would deafen anyone caught up here."

"That is, if it wasn't cracked so badly it couldn't be
rung," Lydia said with a grin. "Lucky us!" She glanced
around. "Naitachal, you don't need a dear view of the
courtyard, do you?"

"No. 1 sense cast magic and shield Kevin from it
wherever I stand."

"Fine. Then you take the left side, over here. I'll be
on the right, where I can get a dear shot at any would-
be snipers. And you, of course, Kevin, get the place of
honor here in the center." She grinned. "Now all we
have to do is wait."

Tich'ki tittered. "Nighty night, everybody! Try not to
fall off the ledge in your sleep!"

"Thank you, Tich'ki," Naitachal muttered. "Thank
you very much,"

"You're welcome!" the fairy laughed, and darted
away before he could hit her.

It might not have been the single most miserable
dme he'd spent; there certainly had been worse during
their advemurings. But Kevin, blinking blearily in the
chill light of early morning, not at all rested and not

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

257

quite daring to stretch lest he lose his balance decided
he had to rate this cold, hard, precarious night just past
right up there with the worst

Naitachal was already on his feet, gaudy finery
replaced some dme in the night by his usual somber
black, and Lydia, stripped down to her preferred war-
rior garb, bow and quiver within easy reach, was
limbering up her muscles as best she could in that nar-
row space.

/ wish we had something to eat other than a flask of water
and some bread and cheese, something warm, Kevin thought
wistfully. Ha, he added, looking gingerly down into the
depths of the tower, and I wish we had... ah... more
refined sanitary facilities, too!

Ah well, at least it was morning, and the sun would
soon be warming things up. The morning he would
win or die  --  No, curse it, he wasn't even going to think
about that, not yet!

"Good morning," he said.

Lydia snorted. "More or less!" She leaned daringly
out to study the courtyard far below. "At least we're
going to get a splendid view of the whole event. That's
got to be the count's chair, there on that dais, under the
canopy- Now, if only Carlotta will just cooperate by
showing up with him...."

She did. Kevin tensed as the false Charina, pretty in
blue silk, simpered out to take her place beside Count
Volmar, who was dad in rich robes of dark red-violeL

That's almost royal purple! Kevin thought indignantly.
They really are planning to make a move towards the throne!
Well, not if I have anything to say about it!

Then he had to laugh at his own bravado.

Not if I'm allowed to have anything to say about it, the
bardling corrected wryly.

Lydia was right They really did have a splendid view
of the whole event- And an endless event it was, too,
with minstrels being replaced by acrobats being

258 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

replaced by more minstrels being replaced by  --  Kevin
fought back a yawn, astonished that he could feel
bored even while he ached with tension. And had he
really been cold before? Now it was hot in this tower,
baking as it was directly in the sun, so hot the bardling
envied Lydia her scanty garb.

Powers, would Berak's troupe never get to perform?
Kevin took yet another small sip of water, trying to
keep his throat moist. Were they going to be stuck up
here undl they starved or died of thirst? Would they
never get to even try the spell that had cost them so
much already and  -- 

"There they are." Naitachal's voice was right with
tension. "Be ready, Kevin."

"I -- lam."

Between the hopefully fine acoustics of this sound
chamber and with  -- again, hopefully  --  his own Bar-
dic Magic to provide the rest, there should be no way
for Carlotta to escape the sound of his voice till the spell
was cast

Oh please, he prayed to all the Powers, let it be so!

In order to make the best use of the chamber's
acoustics, Kevin realized, there was only one place he
could stand: squarely in front of the bell, in plain view
 --  and bowshot  --  of the crowd. If Lydia or Naitachal
failed to protect him...

No. They'd been through so much together already;

he wouldn't doubt them now.

Berak's troupe were performing with all uieir elven
skill, "carrying the crowd," as Berak would put it,
taking them through rousing heroic ballads and songs
so light and humorous that waves of laughter surged to
Kevin's ears.

Come on, he begged them. You don't have to put on
quite so good a show, do you? Or so long?

But Berak was a true showman, after all. No matter
how tense the situation, he wasn't going to leave an

CASTLE OF DECEPTION

259

audience unsatisfied. By the time he finally sang the
opening notes of the ballad he and Kevin had agreed
upon, the ancient, tragic "Song of Ellian and Tens "
that tale of doomed young love, the bardling was al-
most too numb from tension to recognize it.

Berak and his troupe sang with exquisite simplicity,
barely ornamenting each line, tracing the words deli-
cately with harp and flute, their every word filled with
quiet grief and tenderness. And the noisy, restless
crowd, bit by bit, fell still. The ballad came to its bit-
tersweet ending- The lovers sank into each others'
arms, their lives slowly, peacefully ebbing away....

It was done. The stunned audience paid Berak's
troupe that rarest, greatest of tributes: absolute silence.

They'll start cheering in a moment, Kevin knew. It's got to
be now!

Oh gods, the bardling thought in a surge of panic, he
wasn't ready, he couldn't remember the words, his
voice wasn't going to cooperate  -- 

But then Kevin realized he was doing it, he was sing-
ing out his spell, the sound chamber amplifying his
voice so it rang out over the courtyard.

Yet even in that moment he knew, from the heart of
his musician's being, that what he was doing wasn't
enough. Oh, Powers, why hadn't he realized this
before? The spell needed more than bare recitation to
work! It needed heart, it needed belief, it needed a
Power he simply didn't possess. The very soul of the
music was missing, and without it Carlotta would still
triumph  -- 

No, ah no! All those poor people will die!

And all at once something seemed to tear loose
within Kevin's heart. All at once he couldn't be afraid,
not for himself. Wild with this sudden flame of hope, of
pity, he sang for Eliathanis, he sang for Charina, he
sang for all the good, kind, ordinary people whose lives
Cariotta would destroy.

260

Mercedes Lackey ^josepha Sherman

And magic, true, strong Bardic Magic fully grown at
last roused within him. Feeling nothing but the fire suig-
ing through him, hearing nothing but the sound of the
spell-song, Kevin was hardly aware ofCarlotta's shriek of
disbelieving rage or the count's shouts to his archers. A
few arrows cut the air about him, but then Lydia and
Naitachal were retaliating, fending off attack.

Suddenly the spell-song was done. Kevin sagged,
drained and gasping for breath, only Naitachal's firm
grip on his arm keeping him from falling as he stared,
as they all stared....

TTie silence that followed was the worse thing Kevin
had ever heard  --  because nothing at all happened to
Cariotta.

Itfailed after all. The spell failed.

All at once Kevin was too weary to care. He stood
passively waiting to die, either from sorcery or the
spell's own backlash. Dimly, he heard Cariotta's scorn-
ful laugh....

But then diat laugh went wrong, too shriB, too high
in pitch! Kevin came back to himself with a jolt, shout-
ing, "Look! Dear Powers, look!"

Despite all her frantically shrieked-out spells, Carlot-
ta was shrinking. Within moments, though she still
struggled to ding to Charma's form, she had shrunk to
the size and shape of a fairy.

Stunned silence fell, through which Count Volmar's
voice cut like a whip. "Guards'" Pointing up at the bell
tower, he shouted, "Those foul sorcerers have attacked
my niece! Stop them!"

"Have to admire his presence of mind," Naitachal
muttered.

But Berak and his troupe were ready. As the guards
rushed forward, the White Elves swung tent poles like
quarterstaffs across unprotected shins. The first rush
of men went hurtling to the ground, and the next wave
fell over them.

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         261

"Come onl" Lydia yelled. "Let's get out ofhere while
we can!"

The three of them scrambled down the rope, Kevin
not even stopping to worry about his hands, and set off
across the crowded courtyard at a dead run, people
squealing and scrabbling away from the "foul
sorcerers."

We're gomg to make it, we're really going to -- 

"Oh hell," Lydia murmured. "Well, we gave it our
best"

A long line of the count's men had broken through
the crowd, standing between the three and safety, eyes
cold, pikes at the ready. Count Volmar strode forward,
pushing his men aside, face so florid with rage a comer
of Kevin's mind wondered if he meant to kill his foes
himself.

-Logic would have insisted there was no way out.
Kevin, still caught in the power of his own music,
wasn't ready to listen to logic. Instead, he did the only
thing he could do:

He sang. He sang with all the force of his newly born
magic of an innocent girl most foully slain, of a sweet
young life that was the price of a man's ambition  --  of
Charina murdered by her uncle, by the count himself!

The long, gleaming line of pikes swayed as the men
murmured uneasily among themselves.

"Don't listen to him!" Count Volmar blustered. "He's
a  --  a sorcerer trying to trick you!"

But then one of the guards cried out in shock,
"Look! Look!"

The ghost of Charina, a pale glimmer in the
daylight, was slowly forming, as if called by the song.
But this time there was nothing soft or weak about the
specter.

"Behold the murderer!" Her voice rang out, fierce
as a hawk's cry, echoing in the suddenly still air.
"Behold my uncle who slew me so he might steal a

262 Mercedes Lackey ^Josephs Sherman

throne! My curse upon you, Uncle! I have come for
you  --  and I shall have my revenge!"

She thrust out her hand as though casting a spear.
Count Volmar gasped, clutching his chest, eyes wild
with sudden agony. For one long moment he stood
helplessly convulsed in pain, trying without breath to
cry out for aid. But before any could move, he
crumpled to the cobblestones and lay srill.

"I am avenged}" the specter shrilled m savage joy, and
vanished in a dazzling flash of light.

By the time Kevin's sight had cleared, one of the
guards was kneeling by Count Volmar's side.

"He  --  he's dead," the man gasped. "Count Volmar
is dead."

Kevin and Lydia stared at Naitachal. The Dark Elf
shrugged. "Wasn't my doing. I told you Charina came
from warrior stock!"

"Well now, would you look at this?" Lydia mur-
mured.

The guards were all staggering back like men
waking from a foul dream.

"I was right," Kevin said, "Carlotta really did have
them all under her control. Her spell must have Just
about worn off." He stiffened in sudden alarm. "Yes,
but where is she? If she got away  --  "

"Ha, don't worry about her!" Tich'ki suddenly tit-
tered in his ear.

"But -- but she escaped!"

"For what good that'll do her!"

"What -- "

Tich'ki pinched his cheek. "Kevin, lad, I may not be
on the best of terms with my fairy kin, but they vnQ, still
heed my messages. I sent out a spell-call to them, to all
of them. Every hill, every dun, every fairy cairn is dosed
to Carlotta. No one will shelter her, none give her aid.
She is powerless, bound in fairy shape forever  --  and
forever shall be in exile!"

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         263

"Uh, that's all well and good," one of the guards said
hesitantly. "And we're not exactly sorry to see the end
of Count Volmar, either, the murdering traitor. We're
loyal to King Amber, we are!"

"We know that," Kevin said reassuringly.

"But... well... what do we do now? I mean, who's
in charge and  --  "He seemed to notice Lydia's warrior
garb for the first time. "Lady, you're the dosest thing
we've got to a commander right now. Will you accept
our surrender?'*

Lydia straightened, despite her gaudy, dyed hair
looking every inch the military figure. "I will, indeed,
and hold your trust in safety till King Amber does ap-
point a new overlord."

But then she whispered to Kevin, "How's that?
Sound properly high and noble?"

He almost spoiled the whole thing by bursting into
helpless laughter. "Oh, it  --  it does, indeed!"

"This is all well and good," Naitachal murmured.
"But what happens now?"

"We get the crowd out of here, for one thing," Lydia
said, and snapped out commands to the guards, who,
only too glad to obey someone, began to make order.

"And someone has to take care of Count Volmar's
body," Kevin added.

"That, I shall do," a precise voice said.

"D'Krikas!"

The seneschal bowed as best an Arachnia could. "I
let myself refuse to see what was truly happening. I
stained my own honor by sheer blindness. You have
deansed that honor, and won my gratitude."

"Uh... yes," Kevin said uncertainly. "But --  "

Ablare of trumpets cut into his words. Acolumn of
horsemen came riding into the courtyard beneath
King Amber's gold and crimson banner.

"Well, what do you know?" Lydia said drily. "Looks
like the cavalry has arrived."

264 Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Sherman

The Great Hall was crowded with royal guards,
casde folk  --  and of course, Berak's troupe, all wide-
eyed with excitement. At the High Table, Kevin sat
with the captain of the royal troop, a strong-faced,
fierce-eyed man who explained:

"... and so, when my royal master received your
message, he knew no man could reach this casde by
normal means. The court wizards, working all as one.
cast a spell to transport us, men and horses, here as
swiftly as they could."

"They transported someone else," a familiar voice
added.

Kevin sprang to his feet so suddenly his chair over-
turned with a crash. "Master Aidan!"

He raced to the Bard's side, then staggered to a stop,
staring. This was still plainly Master Aidan  --  but he was
now a man of middle years, his hair and beard only
slighdy streaked with gray. "Itworked/'Kevinbreadied.
"Casting the spell really did restore your years."

"It did."

Kevin couldn't stand on ceremony a moment longer.
He caught the Bard in a fierce hug. Master Aidan
chuckled. "Lad, lad, you're cracking my ribs!"

"Oh! S-sorry! But Berak told me you were ill. How
do you feel?"

"Ah, Kevin." Master Aidan touched Kevin's cheek
tenderly. "Amazingly well, now. When I sent you to
retrieve the spell," he added with a laugh, "I never
expected you to be the one to cast it! And you cast it so
successfully, my young Bard."

"Wh-what did you  --  what  --  "

"I called you Bard, Kevin, and Bard you most
assuredly are."

"He's more than that," the captain of the royal
guards called out. "If you would. Bard Kevin?"

Bard Kevin! Struggling not to grin like an idiot,

CASTLE OF DECEPTION         265

Kevin returned to his place at the High Table. The cap-
tain continued:

"My royal master suspected that even with the spell
of magical transport, we might well arrive after dungs
were... ah... settled, one way or another. And since
you have proven yourself a loyal subject of the Crown,
a most brave and worthy subject from all we've been
told, I have orders from the King himself, may the gods
favor him."

"Want to cut through all the courtly talk?" Lydia
asked. "Kevin's brave, all right, and worthy as they
come. Get on with it, man!"

To Kevin's surprise, the captain grinned. "Anydiing to
oblige a lovely lady," he said so urbanely diat Lydia actually
looked flustered. "Of course. Bard Kevin," the captain
continued, "you'll have to go to the royal palace to get this
all done properly, but King Amber, in gratitude for service
rendered, hereby cedes to you (he rank and all the lands
and honors pertaining to the late traitor, Volmar"

Kevin stared. "Wh-what are you saying?"

"He's saying that you're a count now, kid!" Lydia
told him. "Looks like this castle really is going to be
your home."

"But what about you?"

"Oh, I guess I'll just go on travelling." But a hint of
loneliness was in her voice.

"The hell you will!" Kevin exploded. "Look you, I'm
going to need someone I can trust to oversee the casde
guards. What do you say, Lydia: do you want to be my
commander-in-chief?"

She broke into a slow, happy grin. "Sure, kid!
Someone's got to keep an eye on you."

"And I, Bard Kevin," D'Krikas added, "will serve you as
well." The being paused uneasily." If you will have me."

"I can't see myself running a casde without you."

"Oh, I shall have help." Humor glinted in D'Krikas'
great eyes.

266       Mercedes Lackey ^Josepha Shenmn

"He means me!" Tich'ki piped up.

"Exactly." D'Krikas gave a short chitter, almost a
chuckle. "I was fooled once by a count who feigned
nobility and by you  --  a natural noble who feigned
commonness. With this little one by my side, I shall not
dare slip into complacency again."

Kevin laughed. "Agreed!"

"But what about Naitachal?" Lydia wondered.

Kevin glanced down the cable to where the Dark Elf
and Master Aidan were deep in discussion. The young
Bard could have sworn he heard Naitachal murmur,
"But I won't fetch your laundry. I'm a bit too old to be
an errand boy." And surely Master Aidan was chuck-
ling and agreeing?

"Naitachal?" Kevin called, and the Dark Elf looked
up. And for the first time since the young Bard had
known him, true, peaceful joy shone in his blue eyes.

"Kevin, Master Aidan and I have come to an agree-
ment I am going offwith him to nice, tranquil Bracklin
 --  as his apprentice. I shall take your advice, my friend,
and study to become a Bard." His smile was a beautiful
thing. "I've had quite enough of Death," Naitachal
said. "I want to try the magic of Life for a change."

Kevin smiled in return. "And may you enjoy it, my
friend."

"That's that," Tich'ki said in satisfaction. "All the
loose ends are nicely tied up. All right, everyone,
enough talk. We've some heavy celebrating to do!"

THE END