WebMage (34 page)

"Me."

"Interesting proposal," said Lachesis. "But I don't know if it's adequate. We do want you, Ravirn. There is no doubt about that. But equally certain is that we'll eventually get you, no matter where you hide. Why should we give up Cerice just to hasten the inevitable? Do you have anything else we want? Anything that might sweeten the pot?"

"Oh, quit dancing around the edges of the thing," said another voice, and the picture suddenly expanded to include Atropos. "We want Eris's little spell, boy. I had Khemnos toss Castle Discord after the Furies left. He found some scraps of source code that were most suggestive, but he didn't find the spell master. If you can bring it to us, we may be able to come to an agreement. If not, you'll just have to wait until we catch you before you get to enjoy our hospitality."

"That might be a long wait, judging by past performance," I replied. Atropos's lips narrowed and tightened, and I knew I'd scored. Before she could speak again, I pulled the Orion crystal from my belt pouch. "Was this old thing what you wanted? It's really just a rag."

None of that was what I'd planned on saying, but they were interested. That meant we could probably come to an agreement, which in turn, meant I was about to sign my own death warrant. If I was going to die anyway, why not indulge my wit?

"If that's the spell, yes," said Lachesis, ignoring my sally. "Bring it in, and we'll let Cerice go."

"Knowing your sterling history for telling me the truth, I'm inclined to rush right out the door," I said. "Unfortunately, there's that incident in my youth where I was lost in the jungle and taken in by a band of wild lawyers to be raised as one of their own. Or was that Tarzan? I always get us confused. The point is that I've internalized the lessons taught by those crafty beasts, and I just can't bring myself to do this without some kind of binding contract."

"Let's just hunt him down and kill him," said Atropos. "Then at least we won't have to listen to him."

"You have no idea how tempting I find that suggestion," replied Lachesis. "But I want the spell now. Let's humor him." She turned her attention on me. "What did you have in mind? It's not as though there's a higher power to appeal to. We
are
causality, and you've already flouted our authority."

"You know, it's funny you should mention that. When I was talking to Eris the other day, she happened to mention that traditional mother of invention, Necessity." I had the pleasure of seeing both Fates twitch, all but acknowledging a hit on my part. "It gave me the seed of an idea which has since blossomed fully. I thought that we might invoke her attention as witness to our agreement. What do you think?"

"That I should have snipped your thread months ago," said Atropos. "Lachesis might have protested, but better that than our current dilemma."

"What a waste of talent you are," said Lachesis. "But I suppose it can't be fixed now. I want to see this finished, so I agree. Atropos?" she asked over her shoulder.

"No," came the reply. "We can always catch him later, and I don't want that interfering hag involved."

"It seems we have a tie," said Lachesis. "Clotho, yours is the deciding vote. What will it be?"

"That we should make a virtue of Necessity and draw her attention to what we do next. There will be much for her to see."

"Very well," continued Lachesis. "We will abide by your condition." She turned her attention a bit to the side. "Phalla, Split Screen; Realtime Message Mode. Execute."

"Executing," came the troll's reply.

A moment later the view supplied by Melchior divided itself. Half the viewing area was still filled by the Fates. The other half showed blank space.

"Phalla," said Lachesis, "Relay the following to Necessity @ somewhere.olympus. Execute."

"Executing."

"Necessity," declaimed the three Fates in perfect unison. "We invoke and abjure you to witness and enforce the agreement into which we are about to enter."

With no fanfare and no fuss, she was there. The half of the viewing area devoted to her changed not a whit. No sound issued from hidden lips. There was no signal of divine attention whatsoever, and yet there was not the slightest question in my mind that I was being watched by an outside power.

"Are we satisfied?" asked Atropos. Her voice was sarcastic and dismissive, but the visible tension around her mouth belied the tone.

"I can't speak for you," I replied. "But I'm content."

Terrified would have been a more accurate description, but I couldn't very well say so. And so we began to dicker. It was a strange feeling, bargaining away my freedom and with it my life. The negotiations seemed to stretch on forever. Like a man making a deal with the devil, I didn't want to leave any loopholes. Like the aforementioned devil, they kept trying to slide them in. In the end, we reached an agreement that freed Cerice and allowed Melchior to conduct her to a safe place, in exchange for me surrendering myself and Orion. I did manage to avoid the issue of copies of the spell, and I made no promises about what would happen after I gave myself up, which were small victories at least.

At that point, it was time to go. I ran a hand along Shara's ruined case in parting, gave Ahllan a hug, and thanked her for everything before saying good-bye.

Then I turned to Melchior and found myself incapable of speech. Tears filled the corners of my eyes, and my throat felt like I'd been gargling molten sulfur. I found that I'd resigned myself to dying, but not to saying good-bye. Of course, good-byes are one of life's most serious moments, and I've never done serious well. But there was more to it. I wasn't ready to leave Melchior behind, and fundamentally I never would be. Unfortunately, that's the way it works. Life is one long series of unexpected hellos and unwanted goodbyes, and nothing we do can change that. It wasn't a profound realization, nor even a particularly original one, but that didn't make it any less true or painful.

Bending down, I took Melchior in my arms and pulled him close, trying to burn every aspect of him indelibly into my memory. His skin was cool and faintly pebbled, like a worn leather jacket. He smelled dry and spicy. I marveled at how light he seemed. When I was carrying him around in my bag, he seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.

"I'm going to miss you, Mel."

"Not for long," he replied sourly. "Not if Atropos has her way." Then he relented. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. It's just that I'm going to miss you, too, and probably for a whole lot longer. Are you sure you don't have one last rabbit to pull out of your hat?"

"Afraid not, my friend. I've used up every trick I know. Besides, if I back out now, I'll be flouting Necessity, and I have a feeling that's a bad idea."

"We'd better get this over with then," said Melchior. I nodded my agreement.

"Melchior, Mtp://mweb.DecLocus.prime/templeoffate. Please."

"Opening ltp link to Mtp://mweb.DecLocus.prime/templeoffate," said Melchior.

Time is always fastest when you don't want it to pass at all. Long before I was ready for it, a hexagonal column of light stood waiting to take me to my meeting with the Fates. Ahllan's hideaway was warm and welcoming around me, homelike. It took every ounce of will I possessed to leave.

Stepping into the light, I said, "Melchior, Locus Transfer. Please."

The transfer from Ahllan's weird little bubble of probability to the Temple of Fate was a long one. The troll had placed her hideaway in the depths of the Primal Chaos, as far from the main flow of reality as she could get. The Temple
was
the main flow. You couldn't get any closer to the center of things than the physical home of the Fate Core. It rested at the base of Olympus, and though the gods who made their home above might quibble as to which was the true heart of the multiverse, those of us who'd been born into the family of Fate had no doubts.

Clotho was waiting for me when I arrived. That was a relief. Atropos and I had never felt anything but antipathy for each other, and my relationship with my grandmother wasn't much better at that point. Besides, Clotho was the only one of the three who had a vested interest in seeing Cerice come out of this in one piece. Her eyes scanned over me as I made a slow and painful climb up the stairs. Starting at my feet, they worked their way up to my face, at which point a very odd look passed across her features. In anyone other than a Fate, I'd have called it a double take.

"Ravirn," she said. "It's good to see you again." There was a warmth to her voice I'd never heard from either my grandmother or Atropos. It was strange but welcome, though I knew I had no allies among the Fates.

"I wish I could say the same," I replied. "But that is a fault of our circumstances, not of yours."

She smiled then. "Circumstances are what you make of them. That's true even for us. Will you give me Eris's spell?" I handed the crystal over. "Thank you. If you'll follow me, there are a few things yet to be seen to before we can draw the curtains on this episode in the great game."

She turned and walked into the Temple without a backward glance. For a moment, I considered bolting. After all, I'd technically fulfilled my side of the bargain. But I didn't dare try that with Cerice still firmly in the hands of Fate. Besides, a fast hobble was the best I could do. I took one last look at the sunlit fields below Olympus, then, leaning heavily on my cane, trailed after Clotho. The inside of the temple had been rearranged since they'd tried to cut my thread. The long boardroom table was gone. In its place was an arrangement that would have looked more at home in a court of law. A witness stand stood in the center. There were two judges' benches, one on either side of the room, each with three seats. The one on the left was empty. Atropos and Lachesis sat at the one on the right, with Lachesis in the outermost seat.

Cerice stood in a large wooden cage just behind her. She had a black eye and a cut lip, but no other apparent injuries. Her clothes were stained and bore more than a few rips, but her head was high. When I met her gaze, I felt the breath rush out of me as though I'd been punched in the gut. Though whether it was in anger at her imprisonment or relief that she was all right, I wasn't sure. It was the former that sent me storming across the floor to the place before my grandmother. Well, perhaps limping with intent would be closer to the truth, but storming is what I wanted to do.

"Let her out," I snarled. "Now!"

"Don't use that tone with me, boy," said my grandmother. "I won't tolerate it."

"What are you going to do? Kill me twice? I've fulfilled my part of the bargain. It's time you fulfill yours. Release her."

"All in good time," replied Lachesis. "As soon as we've determined to our satisfaction that you have acted as you promised, we'll see her on her way. Assume the stand." She pointed to the center of the room.

"Oh, can't we just kill him and let the girl go?" asked Atropos, throwing her arms wide in exasperation.

Ignoring both of them, I hobbled to the door of Cerice's cage and reached for the lock. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Atropos stand up, shears in hand. I didn't really care. The worst they could do to me was already on the program. I'm not sure what would have happened next, because the building drama was interrupted just then. With a rush of wind like the first breath of a hurricane, the temple doors slammed open.

"Sorry we're late," said the tripartite voice of the Furies, from outside. "We had a bit of trouble with the package."

"We'll deal with you later," Atropos said to me, her voice a harsh whisper. "In the meantime, since you're so eager to see your inamorata, why don't we accommodate you?" She whistled a couple of quick chords, and with a flash and a thump I found myself inside the cage with Cerice.

"We had an agreement," I snarled at Lachesis.

"We still do," she said. "But it's going to have to wait a bit."

"This wasn't part of our terms," I said. "Cerice was supposed to be released immediately."

"How sad for you," said Atropos. "Now, don't you know that children are meant to be seen and not heard?" She whistled again, and I found I couldn't speak. Then she cocked her head to one side as though thinking. "And better yet, not seen either. Yes, I think it would be for the best if no eye outside your cage could see you, either of you." A third time she whistled, though without any apparent results.

No sooner had she finished her spell than a goat's head peered in through the open doors. It was followed a moment later by those of a serpent and a lion. All three sat atop the same giant torso. And three sets of arms were wrapped tightly around a wildly thrashing cocoon of steel chains.

"Put her in the dock," said Lachesis.

For a few moments the Furies were wholly occupied with that task. As they had said, the package was a troublesome one, and it took all of their strength to hold it in check.

That was when Cerice hit me with something midway between a passionate embrace and a flying tackle. It sent a stabbing pain through my knee that made my eyes water, and nothing had ever felt better in my whole life. I dropped my cane and wrapped my good arm around her, squeezing hard enough to crack human ribs. We held that pose for several long moments before she whispered in my ear. "What in Hades's name is going on?"

I wanted to scream. The last time I'd seen her I'd still been under the influence of the Cassandra curse, and now I was silenced. In all probability I wasn't ever going to get the chance to speak to her without a curtain between us. I had to try. Opening my mouth as wide as I could, I attempted a yell. Nothing came out. Atropos had done something to my vocal cords so they wouldn't vibrate. I felt tears of frustration start in my eyes. I turned away from Cerice and very calmly and methodically began to bang my head on the bars of the cage.

"Ravirn," whispered a voice from somewhere near the level of my knees. "Where are you? I can feel the cage, but I can't see it." It was Melchior.

"He's right here," said Cerice, "with me. In addition to apparently making us invisible, Atropos put another spell on his speech. He's pounding his head against the bars."