The Black Raven - Katharine Kerr [105]
Lilli did as she was told. In a moment she could see, hovering just above the surface, tiny five-pointed stars that seemed to be woven of strands of golden light, about as thick as straws. She let her normal vision, with all its expectations of how the world should look, focus on the far wall and waited, merely waited, to see what more might show up. All at once she realized that the casket lay in the center of a six-pointed star—no, many such stars, shimmering and floating until it seemed they formed a sphere of light around and over the casket.
“Oh! I do see them!”
Her delight, however, lost her the vision.
“Don’t worry,” Nevyn said, “you’re doing well. One of these days you’ll be able to concentrate on such things. But did you see any trace that struck you as evil? Any sign that someone had tampered with the seal?”
“I’m not sure what that would be. A demon face or suchlike?”
“Nothing so spectacular. Now, the emanations we’re looking for are very strange. They don’t exist in the physical world, but they send shadows onto the physical. Think of a fire burning in a room—it sends light through the window, and if some object is standing in that light, its shadow will fall upon the ground. So, the curse exists on the astral and radiates evil onto the lead tablet.”
“And the shadow on the ground is what I see or feel here, like the way the casket hurts my hands?”
“Exactly! Now, these astral shadows are so cloudy and tenuous that your mind has to cloak them in images before you can be aware of them at all. You’d think you were seeing smoke, perhaps, or dust in the air, or perhaps mould or slime on the surface.”
“I saw none of that.” Lilli held her hand over the casket. “But I don’t even need to touch it. It feels cold and horrid even when I hold my hand this far away.”
“That’s how your mind represents the shadow, then. It doesn’t have to be an image. A sensation will do as well. Well, Otho, I was thinking. Shall we have that curse tablet out?”
“Have you gone daft?” Otho snapped.
“Not so as I’ve noticed. I thought if we removed the tablet, the princess could have her casket back, and I could get another good look at the wretched thing.”
“You’re the sorcerer, not me,” Otho said. “I can dig out the tablet right here, but I’ll have to take the casket to my forge to repair the damage, and I’m not so sure I want it anywhere near my place of working.”
“With the tablet out, it’ll just be an ordinary bit of silver.”
“Imph.” Otho stroked his beard whilst he studied the casket. “Do I have your sworn word on that, my lord?”
“You do.”
“Well and good, then. Let’s see what we can do.”
Otho opened his leather sack, peered inside, then brought out, one after the other, little hammers and tiny chisels. He laid them in a row on the table, then spent some time examining the base of the casket. Finally he picked up a chisel and hammer. Lilli watched fascinated while he tapped round the edge of the base. What had seemed so solid began to split apart along a seam, as neatly as if the smith ran a knife through leather. Otho laid the tools down, took the casket and deftly twirled it right side up with a little shake. The entire bottom dropped out, and with it came a strip of lead, hammered into a narrow sheet as thin as parchment.
Lilli nearly screamed. She stuffed the side of her hand into her mouth and took two fast steps back from the table.
“What do you see?” Nevyn said softly.
“Maggots. The whole thing is crawling with them!”
“Those are just the shadows.”
The moment she heard his words, the maggots disappeared.
“Ye gods,” she whispered. “That’s horrible.”
“Isn’t it?” Nevyn took one of the sacks that had hidden the crate, wrapped it around his hand, and only then picked up the lead strip. He dropped it into the symbol-decorated wood box.
“I’ll seal this up again and hide it,” Nevyn said. “You leave with Otho, though. You’re not quite ready to witness this working. But before you do, try touching the silver casket again.”
When Lilli laid her fingers on the lid, she felt nothing