Stars Riddle
Once, long ago, the winds blew across a savage plain. Cracks pitted the ground where no plants could grow. The land was desolate but the wind still blew strong. Wind brought change and change brought hope. The desolate world needed something new and every one watched and waited to see what the wind would bring.
Caidan of Anbar met the man who would change his life on the docks of Taim. The ships' sails bellowed in the wind and gulls called from the sky. The day looked peaceful and harmonious when Caidan sat down to breakfast.
Caidan had his head in his hands. He had spent the night celebrating his sister's marriage and his head still rang from too much beer and wine. Caidan felt the cooling breazes from the docks ruffle his hair. The wind made his feel margonally better. Trella's cooking would have made his feel better still but the house was not a blaze with life yet.
Caidan was glad for a few hours to get his barings before the questions started... He knew they were coming but he wanted to enjoy this peaceful breaze for as long as he could. His hangover was fading as the minutes passed. The headaches were gone and the day seemed promising.
"Ah, my lord," a woman's high-pitched voice called from the stareway. "There you be. I'll be up right with rolls and eggs, my lord."
"Thank you, Trella," Caidan called back.
He was already beginning to miss the quiet peace but he was looking foreward to Trella's cooking. She had been with his family as long as he would remember. She had practically helped raise Caidan and his sister, Elsbeth. Trella used her many years of service to her advantage and took as many liberaties as she could. Still, she was a good cook!
"So sorry that it took so long, my lord," Trella said, placing dishes of food before him. "You must eat up and keep your strength, my lord. The traders will be hear later today to hear your offers."
"Tallon will take care of that," Caidan assured her.
If Trella was Caidan's other mother, than Donal Tallon was the father. The man had taught Caidan how to hunt and fish. Caidan knew that Master Tallon was always ready to listen if Caidan needed to talk. Tallon took even more liberaties than Trella did.
"You'll ecuse my sayin, my lord, but Donal Tallon is too forward," Trella decided. "He does not behave propper-like."
Caidan smiled before saying, "I don't think any member of my household behaves in a proper fashion."
"Ohh," Trella moaned. "How you tease, my lord. Things would be perfect proper if you would find a wife."
Caidan had heared this arguement before. Trella had seen Caidan's sister find happiness in marriage and she invisioned the same for Caidan. Trella knew that nobles married other nobles and lived happily ever after. Trella figured that life was as simple as that but Caidan knew better.
Caidan's parents had shown him what love brought: a second of happiness and a lifetime of worries. Caidan had different plans for himself. He would not end up hating everyone and everything in the end as his parents had! Trella, in a world of her own making, had plans of her own for the young lord of Anbar.
"No proper woman would have me, Trella. Surely you must know that," Caidan told her in a mild, joking tone.
"If a wife do be out of your reach, my lord, you should go to the school at Caithnard. Learn to be a wizard like your father's grandfather."
"Lord Mathom learned to be a wizard because the landrule was not meant to be passed to him. Mathom was the second son and he needed to make a place for himself. Mathom learned wizardry at Caithnard. He was ready to start a new life when everything changed. Mathom's older brother met with a terrible accident out at sea. Mathom gave up the life of a wizard and had to learn the life of a lord instead."
"You do be thinking that you do not need education because you will be a lord?" Trella stopped setting out food. Her hands flew to her hips in an indigant pose.
Caidan put his hands out in front of him in a guester of surrender. "Lords need a different education than wizards do. Caithnard is where wizards get their knowledge but the land is where a lord learns what he needs to know."
"I do be glad that you think so highly of our home, my lord but no one can learn all there is to know." Trella came to Caidan then and put her arm around him as if he were still a child. "It is alright to ask for help now and then. Promise me that you will ask for help when you need it."
Trella's eyes shone with tears. Her saddness confused Caidan.
"Tell me what troubles you, Trella."
Trella opened her mouth to answer but the bang of the hall door stopped her.
"My lord, there is a traveler at Taim docks, a most unusual traveler," one of the land tenants told the young lord.
"I saw the ships dock, Devon." Caidan pointed to the window as he spoke. "Travelers are not so unusual here in Anbar. The ships bring them each season."
"This traveler is unusual, my lord. And he is asking for you," Devon told him in a whispered voice.
"Invite this traveler to dine with me," Caidan ordered. "I will have Trella prepare her rosemary chicken, stuffed with citrus and honey."
Caidan could see that both Trella and Devon were as nervous as rabbits in a fox den.
"You must dine with us as well, Devon," Caidan declared, trying to put them both at ease. "You could always spot a lie quicker than I could."
"You are most gracious, my lord, but I fear that they traveler would not take kindly to that. I believe he means to speek with you alone."
"All the more reason to have you with us." Caidan could not see why either of them were so nervious. Who could this mysterious traveler be?
"Your pardon, my lord but I disagree. I would not want to anger the traveler."
"Did this traveler tell you their name, Devon?"
"She did not need to, my lord. I could see what she was by just looking at her."
"And what is she?" Caidan was getting even more confused now.
"She is a sorceress of Caithnard, my lord."
Caidan did not have to wait long for the sorceress to arrive. She blew in like a whirlwind. Drapes, clothes, plates and even chairs spun about the room; following the sorceress's arch. The sorceress stopped directly in front of Caidan. Every drape, cloth and plate stopped with her. A chair almost landed on top of Caiden!
"Well met, lord of Anbar. I greet you on the journey." The sorceress spoke with a clear, unruffled voice, as if whirlwinds and falling chairs were normal for her.
"I greet you, sorceress of Caithnard. You truely are a great sorceress and a daughter of knowledge."
The proper forms of speech had been drilled into him by his father. Caidan knew he would need to know all forms of address for the day he took his father's place. Caidan did not know the exact form for a sorceress so he used the royalty form. An address suited for a princess should fit the sorceress well.
"You do not seem surprised to see me," the sorceress declared.
"One of my tenants saw you and told me you were coming."
"You must introduce me to this tenant. It is a rare man who can recognise me for what I am when I do not reveal myself."
"I already know that I am lucky to have him," Caidan told her.
"He is not the reason for my visit." The sorceress paued in thought with her finger on her chin. "I will need to plan a visit to observe his talents. For now, you and I must talk. I have come here because you have a talent I have seen before. You have a talent that I know how to use."
"I'm sure that you are generous," Caidan said slowly, "but I cannot stand still to be used."
"You turn my words against me. The meaning behind my words is not what you think. You will not be coerced or forced into doing anything," the sorceress promised.
"My father told me that the magic oath taken at Caithnard forces its users to speak nothing but truth."
"Your father spoke correctly."
"What is it that you want me to do?" Caidan asked with suspecion.
"I want you to find something for me. Something powerful and magical. Something that can change the world."
"Why would I give it to you if it's that powerful?" Caidan asked with suspicion.
"Let's just say that I have something that you want too."
Caidan's mouth dropped open with a wave of the sorceress's hand. Anbar appeared before him. Everyone in Anbar seemed to fit into the room behind the sorceress. Every farmer, craftsman, goodwife and healer in Anbar was there and sorrow etched each face. Caidan had to bite his tongue to hold in his dread. His jaw began to ache with the need to moan.
"What have you done?" He ground out.
"I had to make sure you were motivated."
"What do you want me to do?" Anger and heat flooded Caidan's face. He fought to keep his voice cool.
"We're looking at this the wrong way. I'm not forcing you to do anything."
Caidan wanted to jump at the sorceress as soon as the words left her lips but one glance at the people behind her steadied his feet. His people couldn't be saved with anger. He needed a plan. He needed to hear the woman out.
"If that's true," Caidan said slowly. "If you really don't need to force me into anything, than let my people go."
"They must stay here with me as a sign of good faith," the sorceress insisted. "We're going to help each other, you and I."
"I'll help you after you return all of them to Anbar." Caidan was proud that his voice did not shake as he spoke.
"You came to me with courage. Do not loose it now. You must see that others will recognise your gifts. They will take your tenants, your neighbors and friends. They will use them to take your gifts from themselves. I am merely keeping your people safe. They will be well cared for here."
"They do not look happy and cared for to me. They looked fearful and in pain!"
"Some mortals fear change but they will come to accpet it in the end."
"I have your word that they will be released in the end?" Caidan could not hide the quaver in his voice as he spoke this time.
"I will be able to protect your land without holding your people after you bring me my treasure. I will release them as soon as you bring it to me. You have my solom oath on this."
"I have no choice but to trust you. What do you need me to find?"
"There are things that only you can see: a shadow that should not be there or a curtain that moves without a breeze. Follow these things until you see a stone that glows green in the moonlight."
"This stone is the treasure you need?"
"The stone will lead me to the treasure."
"Will you free my people even before you have your treasure?"
"The stone is the only treasure you need to worry about!" The sorceress snapped.
"Can you really protect my people?"
"I can do all that I have said. You heared me sware yourself and you know the value of a vow from Caithnard."
"I know that the truth you say is not always equal to the truth I hear."
Color rose to the sorceress's face with anger. "I have never allowed a mortal to insult me so but then you are not entirely mortal. I understand that you are upset. You need time. I will ignore your comments until you're calm."