Doom of the Darksword - Margaret Weis [82]
“Of course! And you must do it quickly. Before that wretched catalyst says somethig to ruin us all! Poor man is none too bright, if you know what I mean.”
“But I can’t! Not without asking Mama and Papa. What would they say —”
“If you brought Simkin to your house? Simkin, the darling of the court? My dear,” the tulip continued in bored tones, “I could stay at the homes of twenty Princes, just like that! To say nothing of the Dukes and Earls and Counts who have literally gone down on their knees to beg me to be their houseguest. The Earl of Essac was devastated when I said no. Threatened to off himself. But really, twenty Pekingese? They yap, you know, to say nothing of nipping at the ankles.” The tulip flicked a leaf. “And of course I can introduce you into court, once this little matter is set right.”
“Court!” Gwen repeated softly. Visions of the Crystal Palace came to her mind. She saw herself being presented to His Royal Highness, curtsying, her hand on the strong arm of the dark young man.
“I’ll do it!” she said in sudden conviction.
“Sweet child!” responded the tulip in heartfelt tones. “Now, carry me with you. Don’t mind the Duuk-tsarith They’ll never penetrate this disguise. I say, though, it would certainly add to the overall effect if you would just tuck me into your bosom —”
“My … where? Oh … no!” Gwen murmured, blushing. “I don’t think so …” Placing the tulip among the other blossoms, she hastily gathered up the remainder of the bouquet from the ground.
“Ah, well,” the tulip reflected philosophically, “you can’t win them all, as the Baron Baumgarten said when his wife ran off with the croquet master … and the Baron so fond of the game.”
“I am going to ask you again, what are your names and what are your doing in Merilon?” The Kan-Hanar glared at them suspiciously.
“And I am going to tell you again, sir,” said Joram, his voice taut with the visible effort it was taking him to control his temper, “he is Father Dunstable, he is Mosiah, and I am Joram. We are illusionists — traveling actors — who met Simkin by chance. We agreed to form a troupe and we are here at the invitation of one of Simkin’s patrons …”
Saryon bowed his head, ceasing in his despair to listen. This was a story Prince Garald had suggested and it had sounded plausible at the time. Those born to the Mystery of Shadow, known as illusionists, are — by and large — a classless society. They are the artists of Thimhallan, traveling extensively throughout the world to entertain the populace with their skills and talents. Illusionists entered Merilon constantly, their skills being in great demand among the nobility.
But this was the third time Joram had told the Kan-Hanar his story and it was obvious to Saryon, at least, that the man wasn’t having any part of it.
It’s all over, Saryon said to himself bleakly.
The guilty secret he carried had burned such a huge hole in his mind that he was convinced it must be visible to all who looked at him — marked on his forehead, perhaps, like a Guild stamp upon a silver butter dish. When the Kan-Hanar arrested Simkin, the catalyst immediately jumped to the conclusion that Vanya had caught them. He prevented Joram from using the Darksword in their defense more out of fear for the young man’s life than from fear of discovery. To Saryon, the end had come, and he intended, in just a few seconds, to counsel Joram to tell the Kan-Hanar the truth. He was just thinking, with a kind of wistful relief, that his bitter suffering would soon be over, when the catalyst felt a gentle hand upon his arm.
Turning, he found himself confronted by a young woman of sixteen or seventeen perhaps (Saryon was not much in the habit of guessing the ages of young women) who was greeting him like a long-lost uncle.
“Father Dungstable! How good to see you! Please accept my apologies for arriving late. I hope you are not angry, but it was such a lovely day that my cousins and I lingered far too long in the Grove. See the bouquet I gathered? Isn’t it lovely. There is one flower, Father, that I picked especially for you.”