The Lady Tower

Elsa Frohman Part 6

Baron Emos Olivio Guivardo deZors had reached a critical decision. Water from the leaking window had revived his men to some extent. Marco slept restlessly. The burns that covered his arm and shoulder might not be fatal, but if they stayed where they were, there was no chance for him.

The Baron had seen the deadly bolts of lightning and knew no one could prevail against them. But the choice seemed to be between instant death and slow, lingering death.

So, he called his men to order and laid out the plan.

"I'll be honest with you," he said, his eyes scanning the eight faces turned toward him. "We have little chance of success. So, if any of you don't want to be part of this assault, I'll not hold it against you. Any who wish may stay here and wait for their end in any manner they see fit."

"No!" Iali said, heartily. "We'll not cower here. If death takes us, it will be in battle."

"Aye, we're with you," someone else said. There were nods around the circle.

"Then we are one," the Baron said.

He laid out the plan based on what he had seen of the creature's fighting style. If it had a weakness, it had to be the spindly legs that held it suspended above the floor. The squad would leave the barricades and go out into the hallway and spread out, hoping that as the creature fired its lightning at one man, another could get close enough to strike at a leg with his sword. If more than one leg could be cleaved from its body on one side, the creature might be disabled, the Baron reasoned.

They were steeling themselves for this final desperate assault, when they heard sounds in the corridor.

"Ready, comrades," deZors said in a low voice. "The creature comes to us."

Iali climbed over the barricade and went to the door, pressing himself against the wall to get behind the creature when it entered. His sword was drawn back ready to strike.

"Father!"

Iali had started into his stroke and nearly fell over himself stopping his arm before the weapon struck his sister.

The young man blinked, distrusting his eyes as Elora ran to their father and embraced him. Behind her, the tall, gangly figure of Todo, the town handyman, entered the room. There was a hole burnt in the front of his already tattered shirt, and a red patch of skin underneath.

The Baron hugged his daughter, then pulled away from her to look at the girl and her companion.

"How can this be?" he asked in wonder. "Is this the afterlife? Has my entire family been stricken from the world?"

"It's all right now, father. We've come to bring you back."

The Baron looked at Todo, who stood aside from the reunion. "Master Todo, why are you here? And how did you get past the creature?"

"The creature won't be any more trouble, m'lord. Not since Miss Elora slew it," Todo said.

Elora looked surprised.

"But it was Todo ..." she stammered.

"I didn't do that much, miss. I only pulled some of its guts out after you got it over on its back."

The Baron looked at his daughter in wonder. "How?" he asked.

Elora was about to speak, but Todo beat her too it.

"It was about to shoot me, when she flung that sword she found at it. It sort of stood up to aim at the sword and got unbalanced," he said quickly. "Only took a little push to get it over then.

"That was real quick thinking, miss, throwing the sword at it and getting it all distracted."

"Is this what happened?" the Baron asked, looking at Elora.

"Um... yes... I think. It all happened so fast," she said, her eyes on Todo. She thought she saw the shadow of a smile flicker across his face.

"But Master Todo, you haven't answered my first question. Why are you here?"

"Well, sir, I was just out walking, when I saw Miss Elora going into this tower. I've heard all the stories about how dangerous it is, so I followed her in to tell her to be careful, and this is no place for a young lady, and all that.

"Well, she wasn't going to be talked out of coming up here after you, so I tagged along, thinking someone ought to look after the little lady."

The Baron turned to his daughter.

"Is this true?" he asked incredulously.

Elora looked at Todo again. His expression was unreadable now.

"Um, yes," she stammered.

It was a critical moment. The Baron looked at his daughter, then his sons. The story was unbelievable, but what could be believed in this hellish place? Could Baron Emos Olivio Guivardo deZors, the warrior leader of the proudest city on Arganfi, have been rescued from the worst peril he had ever faced by his teen-aged daughter?

The Baron struggled with conflicting and confused emotions. He looked again at his daughter, dressed as a boy and smeared with the dust of millennia, her red curls a tangled mop around her face.

Then he looked again at his sons. Iali still stood by with his sword drawn, unable to grasp what was happening. Perhaps his wit wasn't the quickest, but he was possessed of a courage and stamina that nothing could shake.

Marco slept fitfully, his arm a ruin of burned flesh. The Baron remembered the moment when his eldest son had turned to face their attacker and cover the party's escape.

"Has any man ever had three such children?" he said slowly. "I am surely blessed beyond all reason."

Todo organized the effort to lash together a litter to carry Marco out of the tower. Elora watched him take charge while remaining absolutely deferential. She marveled at his ability to give orders, making them sound like humble suggestions.

When the others were occupied with getting Marco onto the litter, she found a moment to go out in the hall to speak to him without being overheard.

"How are you going to explain the lift?" she whispered.

"I'm not going to," he said softly. "They'll be glad enough to have it, hopefully they won't question how you know about it."

"Don't you ever want to take credit?"

Todo smiled. "Credit? What's that good for?"

Then his expression turned serious.

"Are you going to give me away?"

Elora thought for a moment. She remembered how certain she had felt that everyone should know what Todo knew. But having seen the power of the guard dog, and realizing that Todo considered it a minor threat compared to other secrets of the Ancients, she wasn't so sure now.

She looked up at Todo and thought of him forced out of his home because she had given away his secret.

"There might be a solution," she said slowly. "I know a secret about you. If you knew something about me that I wouldn't want you to ever tell, we'd be even. We could never tell on each other."

Todo looked puzzled.

Elora stood up on her tiptoes and put her arms around his neck. It seemed for a moment that she was going to whisper in his ear; but instead, she kissed him squarely on the mouth.

She pulled away and smiled at him mischievously.

"There," she said. "Since I'm engaged to be married to Vandon deCorentha in less than a month, I certainly shouldn't have done that."

Todo was blushing, and Elora was afraid for a moment that he was going to be angry with her again. But rather than chiding her, he began to laugh. He shook his head.

"I seriously pity anyone who stands between you and what you want, Elora."

"Then it's settled," Elora replied.

Todo looked like he was about to speak, but was having trouble finding the words.

He cleared his throat. "If you really don't want to go through with your marriage, I think I can offer you a choice," he said finally. "You wouldn't be able to stay here with your family, but you wouldn't have to marry someone you've never met."

"What sort of choice?"

"I could arrange for you to go to a school. A school where you would learn the sort of things I know."

"Would you trust me to learn those things when I've said I think everyone should know?"

"You're a very bright person, Elora, and I think when you see the truth, you'll also see why we keep it secret."

"So, if I take your offer, I'll simply disappear. My family will never know what happened to me?"

"Yes, that's how it works."

"Would you be my teacher?"

"I would sponsor you. And we would probably see one another again, from time to time, but you would be assigned a teacher at the school."

"Do I have to decide right now?"

Todo smiled.

"Not this minute. Any time before your wedding. Just get a message to me, and I'll arrange everything."

EPILOGUE

Elora's wedding feast was held on the last night of the Harvest Festival.

The market square was cleared of vendors and long trestle tables set up -- heavily laid with food and drink provided by Baron deZors and the Marquis deCorentha.

For many of Fiorenza's poorer residents, it was the finest meal they would eat in a lifetime. There were the old ones, of course, who compared the feast to that given when Baron deZors married his lady, and a few arguments broke out over whether this was the greater feast or that, but on whole, it was an occasion for pure enjoyment.

The two noble families were seated on a platform at one end of the square, flanking the newlyweds. Elora wore the gift dress brought to her by the groom's mother. It was purple satin covered with intricate golden embroidery. The skirt was gathered beneath her bust and fell in shining pleats to her feet. Her red hair was elaborately coifed, interwoven with braided gold and pearls.

The groom, Vandon deCorentha, wore a doublet and hose of purple that matched the color of Elora's dress. The tunic was embroidered with a similar, but larger, pattern of golden thread. He was a tall, slender, but broad-shouldered young man with dark hair cut to shoulder length and bright blue eyes. He moved with aristocratic grace and confidence.

The groom was regarded far and wide as an authority on breeding fine hunting dogs, and Vandon's hounds were very much in evidence at the head table. A sleek pair of brown scent-hounds reclined at the couple's feet, and the tiny, longhaired pup, the groom's gift to his bride, was curled up on Elora's lap. It was a tan ball of fluff, looking up at her with its foxy face and huge, adoring dark eyes.

Throughout the crowed, the comments echoed: "Has there ever been so beautiful a couple?"

"Vandon deCorentha is so handsome!"

"A match made in heaven!"

"She is absolutely radiant!"

The old women wept for happiness and the young women seethed in envy. The guildsmen talked of a bright future of trade with deCorentha's guilds. The farmers talked of a new market for their produce.

There was toast after toast, and the Baron stood up and told the story of Elora's adventure, ending with the admonition that Fiorenza was ceding to deCorentha its greatest treasure, his beautiful and courageous daughter.

Marco was seated near the head table in a special chair that several servants could carry from one place to the next. He was propped up on feather pillows, his injured arm heavily bandaged. He was making a slow recovery, and was still too weak to walk unassisted.

Josaf wandered through the crowds with an alms bucket, collecting donations for the abbey, as was the tradition on such occasions. He had an eye out for Todo, and was puzzled that his teacher was not out in the center of things.

Normally, Todo would be working the crowd -- talking to as many people as possible, finding out what needed to be repaired and who might need his services. But it was quite a while before the young monk spotted the Custodian, sitting at a table far off to the edge of the gathering, nursing a tankard of ale.

"A fine wedding feast, is it not?" the boy said, seating himself beside his teacher.

"Hmm? Oh yes. A fine spread."

"Elora looks really beautiful, doesn't she?"

"Yes, I supposed so," Todo said glumly.

"Is something the matter, teacher?"

Todo didn't answer right away. He seemed completely engrossed in studying the head on his ale.

"No, nothing's wrong. Everything is exactly as it should be." But he followed the statement with a deep sigh.

Josaf looked at him, trying to puzzle out what was weighing on his teacher so heavily.

"You look at me as if you think I'm about to fall dead, Josaf. I assure you I'm in perfect health."

"If you don't mind my saying, teacher, you don't look as well as you claim."

"Did you ever know Brother Jassik?"

"Yes, I know who you mean. The old fellow who used to tend the abbey meditation garden. He died last year."

Todo nodded. "I was just thinking about Brother Jassik. He was Master of Novices when I was a boy at the abbey. He'd never just tell you 'You must do this,' or, 'You must do that.' He'd tell you a story and make you figure it out for yourself. I was just thinking of one of his stories."

"Yes?"

"A wise man was traveling along the road when he met a pauper and invited him to walk alongside as long as their paths were the same.

"'I would, wise one, but I'm sure I could never keep up with you. My pack is much to heavy,' said the pauper.

"The wise man was puzzled by this because the pauper had hardly any possessions at all. His burden was nothing but a small sack.

"'But it is still too heavy,' the pauper said, 'because I have not eaten, and I am weak.'

"The wise man shared his food with the pauper, then invited him to walk with him again.

"'I will still not keep up because I am still too weak,' the pauper said. 'I have no warm cloak, and the cold saps my strength.'

"The wise man gave the pauper his cloak, and invited him again.

"'I will still not be able to keep up with you, for I am still too weak,' the pauper said. 'I have no lands and no home, and this saps my strength.'

"The wise man took the pauper's sack from him and weighed it in his hands.

"'You are right. This is a heavy burden, indeed,' the wise man said. 'But not because of what you're carrying. What burdens you is desire for the things that you do not have. Take the things you do not have from your pack, and you will find it is light as air.'

"With that, the wise man gave the pauper back his burden, and continued along the road alone."

Todo fell silent.

"I've heard that story," Josaf said. He watched Todo for a while longer. "So what does that have to do with this mood you're in?"

"Hmmm? Oh nothing, I suppose. I was just thinking of Brother Jassik."

He picked up his tankard and drained it.

"Well, I think I'm going to go home now and go to bed. Winter's coming and there are many roofs that need thatching. I'm starting with the Widow Nebon tomorrow."

Todo rose and gave his apprentice a smile.

A breeze blew across the market square and ruffled the collar of Todo's shirt -- which now had a new patch mending the spot that had been burnt. When the collar moved, Josaf had a quick glimpse of a piece of turquoise ribbon tied around Todo's neck.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Just need to take some things out of my pack.

Josaf looked up at his teacher, who was looking up toward the platform and the newlyweds. It occurred to the boy that Todo had been avoiding looking at the couple until now. His hand came up and touched the ribbon around his neck absently.

"Work's the best thing for that," Todo said, snapping out of his reverie. He turned to Josaf and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Don't stay out too late. And don't drink too much ale. I'll need you fit and ready to climb ladders tomorrow."

The End