The Spirit Stone - Katharine Kerr [82]
‘Oh, I’m not saying you didn’t, lad. The question is, how did it get there?’ Aderyn frowned down at the box for a moment, then shrugged and opened the lid. His expression changed to something like awe. ‘Now this,’ he said softly, ‘must be very old indeed.’
Nevyn leaned forward to look. Inside the box lay a scroll written not on parchment but on Bardekian pabrus, a thin, flexible material made from reeds. Pale brown stains and small rips disfigured this particular example, but Nevyn could distinguish a line of faded writing in the elven syllabary.
‘I think I’ll wait to try unrolling this,’ Aderyn said. ‘But Jav, you have my heart-felt thanks.’
Javanateriel grinned in sheer pride. Albaral kept quiet.
Aderyn put the lid back on the box. ‘Well, bring out the gem you found.’ he said. ‘We’ve made Val wait long enough.’
Jav rummaged through the saddlebag and came out with an object wrapped in a scrap of Deverry-made linen tied up with blue ribands. ‘It was sitting on top of the box in a shred of rotting cloth. I wrapped it in fresh,’ he said to Val. ‘I only wish I had fine Bardek silks, all tied with a cord of the purest gold, for you deserve naught but the beautiful.’
Everyone leaned forward to watch while Valandario unwrapped the bit of rough linen. She gasped, let the scrap fall, and held up a truncated pyramid of obsidian, about six inches high, with a base that fit neatly on the palm of her hand. Nevyn had often seen obsidian before—dwarven traders regularly brought pieces to northern Deverry—but he had never seen a cut stone like this. In the bright sun it glittered with reflected light, but it seemed that the light itself turned black as it recoiled from the touch of the gem—an impossible effect, of course, but more witnesses than Nevyn vouched for it.
‘The Black Sun,’ Aderyn whispered. ‘I think I finally understand what that oath means, “by the Black Sun herself”. This thing shines with one of her rays.’
Valandario nodded, staring into the depths. ‘Master Nevyn, is this an evil thing? I feel no harm coming from it, but still, it glows with darkness!’
‘Give it to me.’ Nevyn held out his hand. ‘I’ll test it out.’
‘My thanks.’ Valandario put it on his palm. ‘I am very glad you’re here.’
‘Then it’s passed the first test.’ Nevyn smiled at her. ‘If you’d been unable to part with it, even for a moment—well, that would have been a sign of great evil.’ He paused, shutting his eyes to let his impressions of the obsidian pyramid fill his mind. ‘I feel no harm, either, but I do feel dweomer, sure enough.’ He opened his eyes, then handed the stone back to her. ‘I don’t have the slightest idea of what kind of dweomer, mind. Finding out is going to be your task, not mine, I think, and it won’t be an easy one.’
‘I can’t think of a better way to spend a few years.’ Valandario turned to Jav and gave him a smile so warm and soft that he leaned towards her, seemingly without realizing he was doing so. ‘Thank you, I thank you. I am overwhelmed. This is the most beautiful gift that anyone has ever given me.’
‘Then every moment it took me to find it was worth the trouble, ten times over.’ Jav glanced at Albaral. ‘Oh just hold your tongue! I know you’re thinking it wasn’t worth yours, but didn’t I promise you that golden colt from my herd?’
‘I’m glad to see you remember,’ Albaral said. ‘Saves me the trouble of badgering you for it.’
‘Huh.’ Javanateriel stood up. ‘Let’s go get him now, then. I suppose you expect me to give you a halter, too.’
Albaral got up and followed him out of the tent. For a moment Valandario smiled after him, then with a sigh she brought her attention back to the two dweomermasters.
‘I traded for scraps of Bardekian silk last year,’ Valandario said. ‘It’s lucky I have them. A stone like this deserves a beautiful wrapping. They are lavender. Is that an appropriate colour, Master Aderyn?’
‘It is indeed,’ Aderyn said. ‘May I have a closer look at the stone?’
‘But of course!’
For a long while that afternoon the three dweomerworkers puzzled over the obsidian pyramid.