Thread Slivers (Golden Threads Trilogy) (7 page)

Taking the cue, he walked straight down the middle of the chamber. He heard the Magi who had waited outside fall in behind him.
What are they all about?
he wondered. Ahead, at the end of the aisle, were the five seats of the council set in a semi-circle on a raised dais. The council members stood before four of the seats. The fifth seat was always mysteriously empty. It had a large Guild sigil at the center of its backrest, and was really more of a throne.
I don’t think I should kneel; only foreign trade ambassadors have done that.
So he stood tall and looked at the council members.

“Apprentice Lebuin,” Councilor Nillo said in his deep baritone. “We have reviewed the reports of all your trainers, your mentor, and the trial coordinators.” The councilor’s eyes locked onto his. “In all cases you have been deemed ready and worthy of the badge of Journeyman to the Guild. The council itself has reviewed and inspected your works through the Journeyman trials and found your craftsmanship to be of a worthy level.” Breaking the eye contact, Lebuin could swear something slightly more than ritual words and a hard stare had just happened. Councilor Nillo looked around the room. “Do any Guild Magi have cause or concern with advancing Apprentice Lebuin to the rank of Journeyman?” When no one answered, Councilor Nillo gestured to his right. “Magus Cune, you were the final trial judge; do you approve the advancement of this Apprentice?”

What!
The trial judge has direct approval of advancement? So that was his game. I should have guessed he wouldn’t simply stand by and let me advance.
A shuffling sound came from his left, and Lebuin looked over. Magus Cune stepped down from the platform where he had been standing and approached Lebuin, where he stood shoulder to shoulder with him, facing the council.

Cune smiled and gave a slight bow to the council members. He then turned and faced Lebuin directly. “Council of the Guild, I wish only to publicly acknowledge Apprentice Lebuin’s achievements here, and I am pleased to report he is ready to hold the badge of Journeyman.”

There go my chances for another year.
Lebuin sighed in acceptance of defeat.

“Apprentice Lebuin, you are found ready, worthy, and recommended for the badge of Journeyman. You will now deposit with the Guild a token of your own creation.”

Wait, what just happened?
Lebuin’s thoughts raced in circles.
Cune didn’t veto my advancement? But that means I am going to be a Journeyman. Why wouldn’t he stop it?
Looking at Cune, he saw the same evil smirk the Magus had worn during the test. This was another moment of extreme pleasure for Cune, at Lebuin’s expense. But Lebuin couldn’t figure out why.

Realizing the ceremony would be stopped until he produced a token, he pulled the ship out of his pocket and held it out. Two of the council members, Nillo and Crawstu, smiled at it. After a moment it floated from his hand and hovered between him and the council. Cune moved back to his position in the crowd, as all four of the council members held up their right hands and an aura of power enveloped the ship. It reached out then to all the assembled Magi. At last, it reached out for Lebuin. When it touched him he felt it lightly resting on his shields, which he dropped, then it connected with his skin at the center of his torso. The energies filled his whole being. His vision shifted involuntarily to Magi sight and his little ship was enveloped in a sphere of energies with tendrils floating out to all the Magi present, himself, and one extra, almost invisibly thin, which went straight up. Glancing up, he noted that it went up through the ceiling and beyond his ability to perceive.

Councilor Crawstu spoke first, her voice bouncing off the walls with a resonance Lebuin had not heard before. “Do you, Lebuin, voluntarily accept to abide by, support, and if necessary enforce the Laws of Magic of the Guild of Argos Magi, from this day until the end of your days?”

“Yes, I do,” Lebuin said, and he felt a vibration in the magical connection through the token.

Councilor Dicha’s light tenor voice also vibrated off the walls. “Do you, Lebuin, voluntarily accept the duties, badge and rank of Journeyman to the Guild of Argos Magi?”

“Yes, I do,” Lebuin said, and felt another vibration.

Councilor Mica’s normally silky-soft voice practically shook Lebuin to the floor. “Do you, Lebuin, voluntarily accept the rule of Lord Argos and this, the Guild of Argos Magi, in the name of Lord Argos, from this day until the end of your days?”

“Yes, I do.” This time something almost tangible was pulled from Lebuin, passed through the connection to each Magi, and as it came back to him, a small fragment broke off and went up the tendril through the ceiling. The remainder returned to Lebuin. Lebuin was shocked to have a general feeling for where every Magi in the area was. It wasn’t like being able to see them, but more a general feeling that someone was close and a sense of their direction.

Councilor Nillo’s deep baritone voice practically shook the foundation of the building. “In so accepting the Laws of Magic, the rule of the Guild, and the duties and rank of Journeyman of the Guild of Argos Magi, you are so made Journeyman to the Guild of Argos Magi.”

The connection swelled with power and then all of the threads snapped into the small geode ship like a frog’s tongue. For a moment the ship and geode glowed with a faint white radiance. Then everything returned to normal.

The Council Magi each stepped down in turn, touching their right hand to the small ship still floating in front of Lebuin. They then each touched Lebuin and offered congratulations or wise-sounding advice.

Councilor Nillo was last, and he plucked the ship from the air. “Congratulations, boy! You finally managed to get out of this place. You’d think after more than twenty years you’d be stark raving mad. I look forward to hearing what you’re planning for your Journeyman quest. You can tell me in the morning. I expect you’ll be leaving tomorrow or the day after at the latest.” He laughed and moved on as the procession of other Magi lined up to congratulate him.

Lebuin stood there, trying to recover from the final pull of whatever that incantation had been. It wasn’t until the half Magi had congratulated him that Nillo’s words sank in.
I have to leave on a quest by tomorrow! What quest? What was he talking about?
Lebuin wondered if he had misheard it; then he realized many of the Magi congratulating him on the badge were also wishing him a safe journey.

Then Magus Cune was before him, with that smirk. He congratulated Lebuin quite loudly, then leaned in close and said softly, “To make things more interesting, I placed a rather large bet with a less-than-upstanding but influential friend of mine that you could complete the quest.” Then he turned, laughing, and walked away.

As the rest of the Magi and apprentices congratulated him, he realized that he didn’t know a single Journeyman Magi who had ever stayed at the Guildhouse before being made a Magus. As he realized he would have to go out into the world for something as yet unknown, Cune’s parting words fully registered.
Lords of Light, what just happened?

Chapter 3

Forest for the Trees

B
IRDS SANG IN THE DISTANCE as Ticca moved carefully along the game trail. The traps needed to be checked every day to prevent any accidental miss causing unneeded grief. The next trap came into view; it had been tripped, yet was empty. Ticca paused, listening to the sounds of the forest for anything out of place. Her hearing identified many animals living and dying in the pattern of the woods. Sensing nothing out of place, she approached the trap cautiously.

Scrapes on the tree bark told the story. Laughing, her bell-like voice moved off through the forest. Most animals didn’t even bother to pause to listen. She moved in more confidently. A bear had helped itself to the bait meant to attract the large red squirrels she needed to harvest. Examining the marks on the tree told her it was a half-grown cub.
Well now I have a saboteur. Not the first bear to learn it’s a tasty treat.

Enjoying the late afternoon warmth and filtered sun, she went about moving, fixing, and resetting the trap. From her large pouch she pulled a leaf-wrapped package containing the squirrel bait made of sweet nuts mixed with seeds and sweet resin. Putting the remaining bait away she jumped the twenty feet to the forest floor. Looking around a second time for bear’s signs, she fished in her pouch for the small vial of grizzly musk. Her hand didn’t find it so she was forced to pull the pouch around, holding it open with one hand while peering in and looking more vigorously. Finally she found it wedged at the bottom under her notebook.
I don’t use this too often but is sure is handy to have
. Opening the vial, she carefully applied a few dabs of the musk on the base of the traps’ new tree and rubbed it into the tree bark hard using the bearskin leather cloth she carried for this purpose.
That should warn off my little friend from climbing.

Running through the trapping checklist in her head, she reassured herself she had done everything needed.
Of course I need to note where I put it; not that I have ever lost a trap.
She smiled to herself.
Well, at least none that I remember.
She sat down as she pulled out the notebook. The book was a beautiful traveling journal, bound in fine leather. It was lightly engraved with her sign on the front and back. The paper was of a strong fiber plant that made it impervious to moisture and which gave the trader’s ink a perfect surface to adhere to. Both the paper and ink were made by their respective families in town. She had made the leather cover and sewn the book together herself. She lovingly caressed it, remembering how making such a book had been used as training on strong stitching and leather preparation by her mother. Now, of course, she made them much better — this was her tenth such journal and the best she had made yet.

Sitting and dreaming of the past is not going to finish the day’s work.
Opening the journal, she flipped through the pages, a combination of journal, accounting log, and map book. Identifying the page for this trap, she marked out the trap’s prior position and recorded a fresh entry. She was surprised to note that this was the third time she had to move this particular trap.
I have a real stubborn bear cub hereabouts, or at least one with a serious taste for sweet nuts.
Reading some of her entries for the last few cycles’ work, she smiled.
At least this is the only one for this season, so far.

She went back to the original tree and climbed up to the old location. Pulling the sweet nut bait back out she left a small portion in the nook of the limb and tied a leaf over it to protect it from the rain.
There. I hope that will stop him from hunting down the new location.
With the small offering ready she said a small prayer to the Goddess Dalpha to thank her for the challenge, and ask that the bear not harm itself in the trap should it still find it. She jumped to the forest floor, jogged back to the game trail and followed it to the next location. If she moved fast enough she could complete the trap circuit today.

Her energy increased in anticipation of coming home after running the two-day trap circuit. The soft red pelts were tied into a tight bundle that bounced on her hips as she moved through the woods. The shadows were already very long as she approached the edge between the deep forest and the open lake glade near her home. Sitting by the lake in a suspiciously leisurely pose was the man her heart and soul agreed should be her life mate. She paused to observe him. Her heart was already racing, as it always did when she saw him. He was very tall, even sitting. His long, silky black hair flowed in the soft breeze. He wore the simple green leggings he preferred. He sat with his legs pulled under him so she couldn’t see if he was barefoot or not, although it was likely he was in those horrible old boots he loved so much. His figure was striking in the brown tunic with long tapered cuffs she had made for him for Midwinter’s Night.

He was gazing across the lake to the southeast.
Always thinking and planning, as if he can alter the future to meet his desires
. He hadn’t noticed her and was sitting such that she could pass only a few dozen feet to the left and come up directly behind him. Smiling deviously, she cautiously moved to a better location for a stealthy approach. Softly setting down the satchel of squirrel carcasses and her pouch in a spot just behind a tree, she edged out of the forest. Her devious smile and her forward motion froze as she registered that he wasn’t where he had been a moment before.

“My lady needs a bath after such a work-filled day. Allow me to assist.”

She screamed as strong hands grasped her hips from behind. Lifting her as if she was a leaf, he crossed the thirty feet to the edge of the lake in a couple of heartbeats at a dead run. She kicked and squirmed wildly, hoping to throw his balance off. Their speed did not abate on reaching the lake; instead, holding her high, he jumped, carrying both of them far out over the water. Midflight she managed to twist around and grab hold of him with both arms and legs. They held on to each other tightly, laughing together as the cold water welcomed them into its embrace.