After the banquet, Ben took Polly and Jenny to a small antechamber near the Great Hall.
“Tell Vince ’n’ Amos ’n’ the others to git ready to leave tonight,” he told them. “The dukes want to keep me here, any way they kin.”
“How do you know this, Ben?” asked Jenny. “Can you read minds now, too?”
“No, a servant told me. He was s’posed to help guard me after they locked me up. But he was so impressed by meetin’ a real wizard that he felt he should warn me. I’m s’posed to meet with ’em in the duke’s study, near the garden he says. Be outside the garden wall later on. I don’t know how long it’ll take to git away, but I will. Have all of our stuff ’n’ be ready to ride. I’m so excited! It’s just like the time Scarnigaro escaped from the evil Prince of Danzilor!”
They parted and Ben went to the grand duke’s private lounge looking onto the gardens. As he entered the room two guards closed the door behind him and stood watch to keep others out. He saw two more guards standing outside the open doors to the gardens. The room was lit by a large chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling. The wooden panels of the walls were intricately carved in an ancient style. Chairs and settees were scattered randomly about the room. The grand duke and the three dukes were seated in comfortable chairs around a table, and indicated to Ben that he should take the empty seat at the table.
“Ben, let us have no formality between us now,” suggested Gasparillo. “Titles, honorifics, and such things are nothing compared to what you have. You may call me simply Gasparillo, as Mittanolo, Dismerana, and Sonddor do when we’re alone together. We should all be friends and be open and honest with each other. Help yourself to this brandy. It’s specially made for me and the best anywhere.
“Your friends have been given large rewards for ridding the world of Scarface and his gang, one of the worst villains we’ve ever encountered. They will be leaving in the morning, questing as ever for new adventures. But we would like to ask you to stay on with us. We can not only honor you, but reward you with large sums of money, beyond anyone’s dreams of avarice. You are a wizard, and we’d like you to use your knowledge of magic to assist us in securing peace within our realms.
“There is no need for you to take to the dusty roads, facing the dangers of constant fighting. A quiet, peaceful life awaits you here in our four realms. You will be our highest adviser, with political power to match your wizardly power. We will protect you from all those who would harm you.”
“Ben, you are a blessing from the Gods to us,” continued Dismerana of Irith, pouring himself another goblet of brandy. “We’re friendly to each other, but we have external enemies. Especially Sonddor, he is worried about his neighbors. They are greedy and Ilo is easily invaded. But with your magic, we can protect all of our lands. We can create a new kingdom out of our realms. We will share power between us, and of course with you. Sonddor’s enemies will be beaten and absorbed into our new kingdom.”
“Yes, Ben, think of the glory and fame waiting for you,” added Mittanolo of Phada, polishing his coronet. “Think of the riches. Think of the high born wife you can have. My own daughter is old enough to marry you, and she is a very attractive lady. Much more attractive than that wench fawning over you at dinner tonight. She has sent this token of her affection for you, a ribbon for you to carry on your belt as a favor to remind you of her. You are a great wizard, and should have only the very best of everything. All you have to do is agree to work with us.”
“My goodness, Your Graces, I had no idea what sort of future I could have,” Ben remarked. “This is all so sudden ’n’ yet so glamorous. I’d like to accept your proposal, but I need to think about it. It’s late ’n’ I’m tired. I know I slept for two whole days, but magic is tirin’. I’m really tired, ’n’ need to git to sleep. Sleep is so nice when you’re tired. I could just sleep all day ’n’ all night.”
He kept talking about sleep the way he had with the watchman in Grangus. Gasparillo, old and tired himself after several busy days, found it hard to keep his eyes open. Soon his head dropped to his chest and he began to snore softly.
Mittanolo sneered discreetly to see old Grand Duke Gasparillo nodding off. He’ll be a nice figurehead king, then I can take over. Sleeping already, how will he beat me? Sleep. Why can’t the kid talk about something else? Sleep, sleep, sleep. His eyes closed too.
Dismerana and Sonddor lasted a little longer, then fell fast asleep, brandy having helped Ben. He looked out the door into the garden and saw the two guards were still awake. He went over to the door and continued his quiet tribute to the glory of sleep. In a few minutes the two guards tumbled to the ground.
Ben sighed, smiled, and went to work. He took the money pouches from each nobleman, their gold chains of office, their rings and other jewelry, and piled it in a heap on a round cloth covering one of the tables. He added Mittanolo’s coronet to the pile and gathered the edges together to form a sack. He used Mittanolo’s daughter’s favor to tie it up. He flung it over his back and stepped out into the garden.
This was Gasparillo’s palace in Ongar, not the heavily fortified citadel on the high bluff overlooking the river. It was a pleasant and quite livable palace with luxurious rooms and fragrant gardens. The gardens were full of flowers still blooming late in the summer, trees bearing several delicious types of fruit, and fountains spraying in the night breeze. Because it was a palace and not a castle, the wall around the garden was no higher or stronger than that around any rich man’s garden. It even had a gate at the back.
Ben found the gate and unlatched it. He opened it carefully, not knowing whether a guard might be posted outside. There had been a guard. He was lying, tied and gagged, on the dirt road that ran behind the palace. A large party of armed and mounted rogues waited for Ben. Polly led a horse to him and gave him a hug. He mounted and they rode off.
The tournament had been over for a few days but some merchants were still loading their belongings onto boats along the docks. This meant the dock gate was open, and the rogues had no trouble leaving the city and riding down along the river from the docks. They rode past the hilltop where they had camped, and where Jenny had lost her head. She still remembered nothing of the incident, but the others shivered at the memory. They stopped on the far side of the hill and dismounted to talk.
“I’m glad to see you again, Ben,” admitted Vince. “How did you manage to get away from ’em?”
“I put ’em to sleep, like I did that watchman in Grangus. I don’t know how long that spell will last though, it’s only the second time I’ve tried it. I, um, well, we’re all rogues, aren’t we? So I helped myself to some things before I left.”
He opened the improvised sack and pulled something out. “Amos, this is for you. You said you wanted it to sell to some merchant.”
“Mittanolo’s coronet! Ben, you’re wonderful! He was still wearin’ it that late at night? Serves him right to lose it, then.”
“More so because he said unpleasant things about Polly. You deserve that for helpin’ defeat Scarface’s gang. I was busy ’n’ didn’t see your part, but everyone tells me you saved us all.”
“Every time I turn around someone is givin’ me a pot of gold for saving ’em,” complained Amos with a laugh. “Not that I mind, it’s been a long time since we made any big money. But it’s gittin’ embarrassin’. You gave us Scarface’s horses and all their gear. We sold that stuff quickly for about five thousand moons. We might have got more but I didn’t want to waste time hagglin’. His gang had nearly another three thousand moons in cash in their saddlebags.
“The rewards the dukes gave us amounted to another four thousand moons, cheap if you ask me. So we made about twelve thousand moons so far. This will give us another ten thousand if I kin still find Jeremy, the merchant, and make a deal. We lost three of John’s men in the fight. They had lousy armor, but none of ’em held back. So we have about fifteen hundred moons each, pretty damn good after all that starving. I still think you shouldn’t give us so much of the cash from this fracas. You’re the one who killed Scarface after all, Vince.”
“Don’t feel too sorry for us,” corrected Ben, patting his improvised sack. “We’re keeping the rest of the loot from the dukes.”
“All right, Amos, I’ll offer you my suggestion,” said Vince. “You’ve got a very hot coronet and need to get as far away from Ongar as possible, as soon as possible. We’ve got an even hotter wizard and need to get just as far away just as fast. Since four dukes are going to be looking for us, with all the soldiers that implies, we should probably stick together for a while for safety. Which way is Jeremy going? Did he tell you where he wanted to sell the coronet?”
“He said ‘up north’ or ‘the far side of the continent’ when I first talked to him. He waited until yesterday to leave, hopin’ I could git the coronet. When he left, he said he was goin’ to go into Ilo and catch a boat at Wilmslow. He was goin’ to go down the Hartle River to the sea at Earley in Tidan. He wants to take a big ship there and head to Ethe, somewhere way up north. He says I got five days tops to follow him if I kin steal the coronet.”
“If he’s going to Wilmslow, he has lots of possible routes. We have fewer real choices. We can’t go through Adallo because the grand duke will have his men searching for us all over the place. You might be able to go that way maybe, but the dukes may be looking for you because you helped us.
“I suggest we all go through northern Irith to Ilo. It’s about a hundred miles to the border, a little less from the border to Wilmslow. Duke Dismerana of Irith works tightly with Gasparillo, but may not expect us to go north through his lands. Duke Sonddor of Ilo wants to be left alone. He did not look happy at the banquets this week. Jeremy has only a day’s lead on us, and he has baggage.
“We can catch up with him before he reaches Wilmslow and join his party. That gives us some camouflage on the road. Now here’s the real suggestion. Tell him you’d like to go north with him. Maybe say you want to help him get a good price, or you’re worried you’re selling too cheaply. Whatever. You go with him, we go with you, and you can make up any excess we may have given you by paying our travel expenses.”
“Do you know anything about Ethe? Where it’s at? What sort of loot we kin git there? Anything?”
“I’ve seen a map that showed it. It’s way up north, not too big, not too small, lots of other counties and duchies around. I was up there once, years ago. There’s trade, so there’s work for us, and loot. Besides, Mittanolo won’t come looking for you and his coronet up there. And Gasparillo won’t come looking for Ben up there either.”
“This sounds good to me, Amos,” agreed Jeff. “We cain’t stay anywhere near here with that coronet, and I cain’t see throwing it away. The bridge over the Burrit at Ongar is closed at night, but there’s a ferry north of the city at the big bend in the river. Fifteen or twenty miles, we kin do it by mornin’ if we ride hard. If the dukes sleep all night they won’t be lookin’ for us until dawn. From there we should be able to find Jeremy after a day or two.”
“All right, head back around Ongar and then north to the ferry,” directed Vince. They mounted again and rode off to the west, passing through the empty campsites of the nobles. A couple of Amos’ men stopped to look for forgotten valuables before realizing rich people weren’t that forgetful. They reached the ferry just at dawn, as the ferryman was coming out of his house.
***
“Finally leaving the tournament, are you?” he asked with a grin. “Well, almost all the others have gone already, so there’s no line to wait for the ferry. That’s the good part. But all the inns along the way will be out of anything to eat or drink. That’s the bad part. I suppose you knew that anyway, didn’t you? All one to me. I get paid whether your future travel is easy or hard.
“All mounted? A moon each for man and horse. In advance, if you please. If you say a friend has your money on the other side, I’ll tell you I’ve heard that one before. You look like rogues, but you also look like you can pay a moon. How many are you?”
“Fifteen,” said Amos.
“Six,” said Vince.
“Fifteen? Six? Can’t you make up your minds? That’s all right, I can count. Two parties traveling together and ignoring each other. Twenty-one total, and four pack animals. That’s twenty-five moons, and I don’t care who pays as long as I get twenty-five moons. It’ll take four trips, the ferry only holds six men and horses. I think I can squeeze the last pack animal on with the rest.”
On the far side of the river, Amos led them all to a large copse along the bank. Dense undergrowth among the trees made it hard for anyone to see people camped inside. They dismounted and unsaddled their horses, giving them a good rubdown. Horace and three of Amos’ men then gave them water and food. The rogues spread their blankets out on the ground, close together, but still keeping a little distance between the two bands. A quick meal of yesterday’s leftovers, and they went to sleep.
***
“There’s twenty-five horses, standing there, ripe for the takin’,” stated Trace, the first bandit. “That’s a lot of money, Noel.”
“I know it’s a lot of money, but look at ’em. There are shields leanin’ up against those trees, and helmets sittin’ on the ground. That means these guys are warriors of some sort, with serious weapons, not our puny little clubs. If they wake up they’ll kill us without even thinkin’ about it. It’s too risky.”
“They’re asleep. There’s no risk at all, Noel.”
“I say there is! And I don’t want to git murdered just because you’re too stupid to see the danger!”
“Stupid! I’ll show you who’s stupid!”
By this point in their argument, their voices had risen from modest whispers to full yells. Horace stirred, raised his head, and looked at the two bandits.
“You’re both stupid,” he shouted. “Now git out of here. It’s bad enough you woke me up; if Ah gotta git up, Ah’ll cut you into little bits and use you for fish bait.”
There was no one to hear his last words, except Fred.
“What was that?”
“Oh, just some two-mug bandits thinking about robbing us. It’s probably time to git up anyway.”
“Yeah, the sun looks about two hours past the zenith. Let’s start gettin’ everybody up. If we can do a quick breakfast, we can still make a lot of distance today by travelin’ until full dark.”
Jeff, Slim, and Betsy had raided the palace’s kitchen pantry while they were waiting for Ben the night before. Bread and thick slabs of pork from a half pig made a tasty and fast meal. They wasted no time in getting packed and saddled.
“Um, I’m, we’re not goin’ with you guys,” began Ben, apologetically. “I know that’s the plan, ’n’ it’s a good plan to keep out of the dukes’ hands. But I want to see my family. My mother must be worried about what happened to me. My father, too, though he won’t say so. I want to tell ’em that I’m all right, ’n’ introduce ’em to Polly. It’s goin’ to be a long time until I see ’em again, ’n’, well, I don’t want ’em to fret none about me.”
“Ben, you live somewhere north of Grangus, right?” asked Amos. “That’s way up north, and we’re goin’ east. I’ve got to catch up with Jeremy or your gift of Mittanolo’s coronet is worthless. We need to turn this thing into money, so I cain’t go with you, my band cain’t go with you. You’ll be on your own, chased after by the duke’s men all the way home. He probably knows where you came from. There’ll be troops waitin’ for you when you git home.”
“It’s true that they know where I’m from,” admitted Polly. “I told them that, but not that Barnabas was my father. And they don’t know which village Ben is from, or that it’s somewhere near Grangus. And his village is actually a long way from Grangus.”
“Ben, before Jenny says it, I will,” Vince announced. “We’ll go with you wherever you want to go. Now. Always. Not because you’re a wizard, though that helps. Not because you saved Jenny’s life, though that helps an awful lot. But because Jenny was right when we first met you. She said she had a hunch about you and we should take you along. I don’t ever want to lose your company. If you want to lead the whole band....”
“What! Are you crazy?” yelled Ben. “How kin I lead this band? What do I know about adventurin’? Old grampa tales, that’s what I know. I’d git us all killed in a hurry, ’n’ where’s the fun in that?
“I just want to go home ’n’ see my family. They thought I was simple minded, but they always treated me well. I was just a shepherd. Useless at farmin’, really. I admit it. But my father was tryin’ to git the other sheep farmers to let me herd all their sheep, so their sons could do more useful work. ’N’ it would git me a bit of an income. He cared about me. So did my mother. I don’t want ’em thinkin’ I’m lyin’ dead in a ditch somewhere.”
“Ben, darling, Vince just said they’ll come with us,” Polly pointed out. “Didn’t you hear him? Vince, thank you. Ben thanks you, too, and he’ll say so once it sinks in that he’s already won the argument.”
***
“Well, Amos, I guess we part here,” declared Vince. “Take care of yourselves, and good luck with selling that coronet. If we go north to visit Ben’s folks, we may keep on going north. Ben’s proved he’s a wizard, but he needs more training. I only just now remembered there’s a fence in the city of Lugau, in Ethe, who calls himself an antiquarian.
“He used to have a grimoire he was trying to sell to the Temple of Grasilos. Most of those Temples of Knowledge already have grimoires and don’t want another, so he may still have it. Ben could use it and become an even better wizard. So we may yet meet up with you in Ethe.”
Amos and his men shook hands with Vince’s band and then rode off to the east. They rode fast to catch up with Jeremy before he took ship in Wilmslow. Vince and his band turned north, leaving the river as it bent to the west.
“How much harder is this goin’ to make it to hide from the duke’s men?” asked Ben.
“Not much, actually, I think,” remarked Vince. “Grand Duke Gasparillo knows what you look like, and so do a lot of the people at the palace. But most of the people in the duchy don’t know you. He knows what all of us look like, of course, and some of us are known around the duchy. But he didn’t have anyone paint your portrait, so he can’t tell anyone else what you look like. We have a lead on ’em, even if he didn’t sleep all night.
“He might send some of the palace servants or others who saw you with the search parties. I would in his place. But they still have to find us. Any town they come to, they’ll have to go to every inn, look at every face to find us. That takes time, and every hour they spend is an extra hour for us to get farther away.”
“Vince, I want us to go to the Temple of Death in Filton,” requested Jenny. “We were just in a big, serious fight and we need to pray. Polly needs to go, especially. This was her first time killing people. She has to learn how to deal with death. We need to pray properly for Petey, too. And for me, too. How does Death feel about my coming back to life? I’m worried.”
“Filton, where Gasparillo has his capital, his main palace, his castle with his dungeons,” observed Vince. “Sure, what I said before is still good. Some of us are known there, but not Ben. And you’re right about needing to pray at the Temple. It’ll take about six days to get there, but any of the duke’s people who can identify Ben will take at least as long, maybe longer.”
***
Six days after leaving Ongar the rogues passed through the gates of Filton, Grand Duke Gasparillo’s main city and preferred residence. The trip had been uneventful, with no pursuing horsemen, no farmers gawking at the strange wizard, no news of the tournament at all. Ben had spent the long hours in the saddle rubbing the daggers the others carried. By the time they reached Filton, each had a blade that would cut through anything, to go with their swords.
The city was surrounded by tall walls, and even the docks along the river were fortified. The towers along the walls were tall and imposing, and men were visible atop every one. The gatehouse at the end of the bridge over the Hartle River was larger than the other towers, with more men keeping watch. Four men were posted just inside the gate, watching those who came in.
“Don’t worry about these guards,” Betsy reassured the two youngsters. “They’re looking for known local criminals, or beggars who will harass the townsfolk. The real beggars should know the duke has a shelter for them in the woods behind us. The fake beggars, who are just lazy and probably thieves, should get real jobs. Even jobs as rogues if they want to steal.”
“There’s a nice quiet inn down this way,” remembered Vince. “It’s called the Rose Bush, because they have one in front of the door. I’ve stayed there once or twice in my younger days. And it’s not far from the Temple of Death.”
After dinner at the inn, Polly asked the others why they had to visit the Temple of Death.
“It sounds scary. It was scary in Burslem, but that may just have been all the men Vince killed lying about. Do you worship Death? I never see you going into any Temples. Why this one?”
“The Temple of Death is a very important place, in many ways,” Vince explained. “It handles all funerals. Prayers offered on behalf of a dead friend can help that friend in the afterlife. Those prayers help the ones praying, too, to deal with their friend’s death. It trains special warriors who fight grave robbers and undead monsters, something most people don’t know about. It helps those who have killed people to rid themselves of guilt for necessary killings. Guilt for unnecessary killings must be atoned for in other ways, in other places, if at all.
“We go to the Temple after a big fight. We don’t feel guilt over the deaths of Scarface’s men, how could we? But there’s a mark on our consciences because we have killed people. Even evil people are human beings and we are not Gods that we can kill people at will. So we ask forgiveness, or maybe retroactive permission, for what we’ve done.
“We do not worship Death, but we acknowledge Him. He’s present at every fight. We hope that He will be on our side, but we know He has no favorites. He takes those He wants, and spares the others. I guess you could say we’re apologizing to Him for doin’ His work. He may not have favorites, but we don’t want to offend Him either.”
The next morning they went into the Temple of Death and Polly stopped in amazement. The exterior was completely black blocks of basalt, inset with decorations in black obsidian. It was all black inside as well, lit by tall thin windows in the walls and by candles and torches. The priests and other attendants were dressed in all black, but did not seem somber. In fact, they seemed cheerful, happy to serve Death.
A smiling priest came up to them and asked what he could do for them. Jenny said they wanted to offer prayers for a dead friend. That some had killed several people in self-defense and wanted to clear themselves. And she pointed to Polly, telling the priest that she had killed her first humans. And that she herself needed to speak to a priest privately.
An old priest came forward, smiled politely, and led Polly away to a side room, open to the rest of the Temple. He called it a chapel, a private place where they could talk or pray with only the God listening to them.
“My name is Ramiro, I am a priest of Death. Your friend said this was your first battle, the first time you’ve killed anyone. Is that right?” he asked.
“Yes, it was exciting and I enjoyed it immensely, but she said I shouldn’t take pleasure in killing people. Vince, her husband, says we shouldn’t keep grudges or seek revenge. I can understand that, but these men attacked us. They cut off Jenny’s head. They wanted to kill all of us. They deserved to die. Why shouldn’t I rejoice in killing them?”
“Ah, yes, self-defense. Death allows it, of course. You seem confused. Have you ever visited one of our Temples before?”
“No, not really. I was in one briefly in Burslem. I’ve heard of them.”
“Death is different from other Gods. The God of Knowledge is not called Knowledge, but Grasilos. The God of Commerce is not named Commerce, but Pronustio. Only Death has no other name. He has no disguise, no outward identity to hide who and what He is. Death is waiting for all of us who live. He is in no hurry, for we all enter His house in the end. We have no pretty name for Him to mask His function. He is just Death.
“The Temple of Death is black, inside and out. We priests and our acolytes wear black. It is the color of Death. But you should notice that we smile and are happy. We see Death as a blessing to those who are old and suffering, a healer of life’s pains, a hope and reward for those who get no other reward in life. We servants of Death are privileged to help people with their sorrows and pain. This is a great and necessary duty, easing the agony and grief in others’ hearts. This is such a great honor for us, we’re as happy as any rich man looking over his treasures.
“We handle funerals, to help introduce the newly dead to Him. We help the living deal with the deaths of their friends and kin. We help people who are very ill face their coming death. The end of a very sick person’s life is both sad and happy. He’s no longer suffering, so we are glad. But he’s no longer with us, which saddens us. Death’s sister is Palliarna, Goddess of Mercy, because even Death can be a mercy to some.
“You are happy to have killed evil people, but you should also be sorry for having killed any people. We counsel people like you who have killed someone. If you killed for a good reason, we can help you accept this as a good thing, but not one you want to do frivolously in the future. If you had done this for an evil purpose, we might not be able to help you. Death is a jealous God, as all Gods are, and He does not like humans taking His prerogatives unto themselves without good reason.
“Self-defense is a good reason. And here is where the matter gets tricky. Death doesn’t mind someone killing in self-defense. We here debate whether He is using the killer as a deputy, or is just allowing the killing to happen. But you have usurped His rights, and that is wrong. You may be happy to have saved your life, or the life of someone else. But you must not be happy about trespassing on the powers of Death. You must show Him you’re sorry about that, even as you’re happy about what happened.
“It is a complex thing. You are young and may respond to this explanation. Many younger people do. If your mother had baked small tarts for dinner and you were hungry and ate one, she would be very upset. Being hungry might justify eating one of those tarts, but it doesn’t justify defying your mother. Do you understand this?”
“Yes, I see. The deed was permissible, but I didn’t have permission. It is very complex. But I see it now. I understand now why Jenny wanted me to come here and talk to you.”
“Jenny? I thought you said her head was cut off. Is this another woman named Jenny?”
“No, there’s just the one Jenny. My husband Ben healed her. But she was dead for several hours. She’s in that chapel over there with those other priests. I think they’re waiting for me to join them.”
***
Ben said they should wait for Polly and Ramiro and the other priests to join them. Jenny had to be there because her head had been cut off. Vince had to be there, but Ben wouldn’t say why. He wanted the others there so he wouldn’t have to explain everything to them later.
“You should tell ’em about Burslem, first, Vince,” suggested Ben. “That’ll make the rest easier for ’em to understand.”
Vince told the priests of his exploits in Burslem, how Death had spoken to him directly, and how Death had promised him a favor, without saying what the favor might be.
“We was attacked in Ongar after the tournament by the same villain ’n’ the rest of his gang,” continued Ben. “He cut off Jenny’s head. I don’t know how the fight went, because I was busy tryin’ to heal Jenny. I never even thought about it bein’ impossible. I guess I knew I couldn’t do it, but I was gonna try anyway. I had healed other, less serious wounds. I love these people, all of ’em, just as much as I love my wife Polly. I couldn’t not try to save her life.
“I picked up her head ’n’ put it in place on top of her neck. I tried to think of all the things that connected the neck ’n’ head, ’n’ put ’em together again properly. At times, I was a little unsure about somethin’, but the answer came to me from somewhere. It took a long while, I guess, but I finally thought all the parts were put back the right way.
“Then I seemed to see a great fog that hid everything around me. Three figures were there, a man ’n’ two women. I didn’t know who they were at the time. I do now. I passed out from exhaustion after healin’ Jenny ’n’ I slept for two days. I slept so long because of my dream. This dream told me what I had done, ’n’ what had happened, ’n’ how Jenny was restored to life.
“In my dream Humoparmia, Goddess of Magic, came to me to talk about what I had done. I had never seen her before, even though I want to be a wizard. She told me that no other wizard had ever healed a severed head. None. Ever. None had ever tried, because a beheaded person was dead, ’n’ only Death could restore that person’s life. ’N’ that never happened, so why larn how to heal a severed head? But I had healed it perfectly. Jenny was still dead, of course.
“Humoparmia was one of the women I had seen in that fog. The other was Lesopatia, Goddess of Healin’, who had dropped hints to me about the anatomy of the human neck. She was there because I was tryin’ to heal Jenny, ’n’ She appreciated the help I ’n’ my magic had done healin’ Vince. But She hadn’t healed the head either. What good would it do to heal a severed head? The person would still be dead.
“The man was Death. He asked if They had helped me, if They had done the work. They said no, They had only given support. Then He gave Lesopatia a small glowin’ thing, ’n’ She gave it to Humoparmia Who gave it to me. She told me to feed it to Jenny, ’n’ I did. My hands were still ’round Jenny’s throat, but I seemed to have another pair of hands. I took the glowin’ thing in one hand ’n’ opened her mouth with the other. I could feel her swallow it ’n’ then she turned her head ’n’ I passed out.
“In the dream Humoparmia said that was Jenny’s life force, returned by Death as the favor He owed Vince. She said that Death would have done this anyway to repay Vince, but He was impressed by my efforts to do the impossible. She emphasized that I had only healed Jenny’s wound, that Death had voluntarily restored Jenny to life. I had not done that. I could not do that. No wizard ever could.
“I had reached for somethin’ beyond human reach. In my immense self-confidence I had thought that mebbe I could restore life to someone without a head. Such inordinate pride! Humoparmia gave me a long lecture on the limits of magic, ’n’ how I ’n’ other wizards should not try to challenge the Gods. She told me that She had magical abilities She had never shared with humans, but even She could not restore someone to life. That was reserved for Death, ’n’ Death alone.”
“Tell me, Jenny, how did it feel to be dead?” asked Ramiro. “I’ve never been able to ask anyone this question, but you were dead and are once again alive. What was it like? Did you speak to Death? Did He speak to you? What do the Halls of Death look like? Did you see other dead people? Anyone you knew? Anyone famous?”
“So many questions!” exclaimed Jenny, with a laugh. “How did it feel to be dead? I don’t know. I blacked out when Scarface beheaded me. I didn’t even know he had done that. I didn’t feel any pain or anything, I wasn’t aware of anything. I saw nothing, dreamt nothing, just a total blank. Like a deep sleep without dreams. I can fall asleep and wake up hours later, feeling only a minute has passed. This was just the same.
“Death must have been there, but I was aware of nothing. No sense of place, no sense of anything. I spoke to no one, saw no one, saw nothing. One minute I was standing next to my horse, the next I was sitting on the ground with a sore neck. I’m not aware of anything until I felt Ben taking his hands from my throat.”
“Let me try to understand this,” wondered Horace. “Jenny had her head cut off, entirely off from her body. Ben put it back in place, and healed the damage. And now Jenny is alive again. But Ben didn’t do that? If he healed the wound, how is he not responsible for her being alive?”
“Let me try to explain this,” corrected Vince. “When my arm was slashed, Ben healed it. My arm was still attached to my body, and mending the torn flesh was all that was necessary to heal me. But suppose my arm had been completely cut off and slashed. Mending the slash would’ve made no difference to the arm being cut off, the arm would still have been severed.
“Ben healed the damage to Jenny’s head and neck, but that wasn’t enough to bring her back to life. Only Death could do that. He had her spirit, and it was up to Him to keep it or give it back to her. If He had restored her spirit into a headless body, it wouldn’t have been helpful. Ben did what was necessary to prepare her for coming back to life. But the last part wasn’t done by Ben, it was Death. Now I finally know what Death’s favor is. And I thank Him deeply for it.
“Ben’s a great wizard. If Humoparmia says no one ever tried to restore a severed head, if She says She never taught that skill, then if Ben could figure it out and do it, that must make him the greatest wizard ever. Of course, I’m prejudiced.”
“My friends, I appreciate your praise,” answered Ben. “I wish you would moderate it, though. I wasn’t thinkin’ that I could be the greatest wizard ever, that I could bring someone back from the dead. I wasn’t thinkin’ about stealin’ her from Death. That blasphemy never occurred to me. I just didn’t want Jenny to die. It was presumptuous of me, though I didn’t realize it at the time.
“Humoparmia has been very strict with me about that. She lectured me a long time in that dream about the responsibilities of being a wizard. She has no priests, no followers now, since there are no wizards anymore. She wants me to work hard, larn as much as I kin, ’n’ become a true wizard, so I kin worship her, ’n’ lead others to worship her as well. I’m humbled.”
***
There was a tavern across the street from the Temple of Death, named the Wandering Bull after an old local legend. It was large and the only tavern along the street. It’s regular customers made jokes of its location: the Near Death Pub, the Black Bier Hall, the Dead Drunk Inn. The humor was crude, but the beer was good and Vince and his friends relaxed.
“That took longer than I woulda thought,” complained Ben.
“How quickly can they deal with a headless woman being brought back to life?” asked Jenny. “I’m surprised they’re not still hounding us with questions.”
“They accepted my story about Burslem,” commented Vince. “Death said He’d do me a favor. That explains everything. No priest can, or will, question what his God does. I’m immensely grateful to Death for this favor.”
“Ben, did your Goddess give you any more magic to use?” asked Betsy. “Since you’re now Her only priest, did She give you any new talents?”
“I’m not really Her priest, not yet. She says I must larn how to worship Her properly. Vince, were you serious about helpin’ me get a grimoire? A book that’ll teach me ’bout magic? Humoparmia told me that a grimoire will teach me how to worship Her, as well as how to do magic. She said She won’t just give me magical abilities. If I truly want to be a wizard, I will do the work to become one. She doesn’t want a lazy priest.”
“Of course I was serious. I want you to be a great wizard. It would be good for all of us to have a great wizard on our side. And, more important, it would be great for you to develop your skills as much as possible. I always trained to become a better swordsman, no matter how good I was. You want this, and we want this because you want it.”
“I don’t doubt you, Vince, but there’s a problem. I cain’t read. I know numbers ’n’ countin’. I told you I had to count the sheep. But my folks didn’t think it would do any good if I could read. I think they were afraid I’d find books full of the old legends ’n’ waste my time with ’em. Don’t matter. I cain’t read, so what good is a book on magic goin’ to do me?”
“I can teach you to read, Ben,” offered Polly. “I’m younger than the rest of the gang, and it’s not so long since I learned to read. I remember some of how my tutor taught me. This is a big city, with book stores. I can look for the simple books she used to teach me. And I can find some of the old legends, too. You’ll learn faster if you have something you want to read. We ride side by side already. I can teach you as we ride along.”
“It’s already well past noon,” noted Horace. “We should have some food, some more of this here good beer, then go to bed early. We rode hard the first day out of Ongar before slowing down. We kin take it more leisurely this next stage. It’s fifteen days of easy travel to Tindle but we’re in no hurry. Gasparillo will probably hear about our visit to the Temple of Death, but we didn’t tell anyone there where we were going next. Bartender! More beer here, please!”
***
“That’s my folks’ farm over there, on the left side of the road,” Ben pointed out eagerly. “That’s my pa ’n’ brothers in the field with the scythes.”
“Are we going to interfere with the harvest by visiting right now?” asked Betsy.
“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that. I was so happy to see ’em again, I forgot what season it was. I told you I was a terrible farmer.”
“If they have extra tools, we kin give ’em a hand,” suggested Horace. “We may be rogues and rovers now, but Vince and Ah started out on farms, too. Looks like there ain’t a lot left to do anyway.”
“What’s your father’s name?” asked Vince.
“Ralph.”
“Haloo, Ralph! Look who’s come home to visit!” yelled Vince. The gray haired man in the field turned to the sound and looked, then dropped his scythe. He shouted “Ben” and came running toward the road. The other three men followed him and gathered around Ben, hugging him tightly and pounding him on the back.
“Ben, I never thought I’d see you again, not ever. I’m so happy to have you home again. Your mother will be overjoyed, too. She’s inside fixin’ lunch for us. Joe, go in and bring her out. No, we’ll bring Ben in to her. Come on, all of you, whoever you are, and meet Marge.”
The farmhouse was spacious inside, big enough for Ben, his five brothers, two sisters, and their parents. Two brothers and both sisters were married and lived nearby, so five strangers did not overcrowd the rooms. Ben’s mother cried when she saw her son, holding on to him as if he might float away like some will-of-the-wisp.
Eventually she let go of him, dried her eyes, and looked at the others.
“I remember you. You were the riff-raff, I mean, adventurers who came by the day Ben left. I knew he left to go with you, and I cursed you so badly for stealin’ him from me. I know you didn’t ask him to go with you, but you musta been such a temptation for him. You musta taken good care of him, he looks healthy and well-fed. I hope he warn’t too much trouble for you. Thank you for bringin’ him back to us.”
“Ma, they didn’t exactly bring me back. I wanted to see you ’n’ the rest of the family before we leave Adallo. We’re goin’ north ’n’ may not be back this way for some time. I wanted to let you know I was all right ’n’ safe. ’N’ I wanted to introduce you to Polly, my wife.”
“Your wife! Oh, my goodness!” shrieked Marge. “You’re married? You’re married! Come here, Polly, and let me hug you! Oh, Ben I’m so happy for you. How did you meet her, where is she from, when did you get married?”
While Ben and Polly explained their adventures, Vince and Horace offered Ralph their help in finishing the harvest. He accepted their offer and all the men went out to the field. Jenny and Betsy took over the kitchen and picked up where Marge had left off in making lunch. Fearless went off in search of his own meal near the grain bins.
After lunch, they sat around and listened to Ben’s story of his life on the road. Polly told how they had rescued her and how she had joined them. Jenny told how Ben had put her head back on after it had been cut off. The room went quiet.
“Ben, you really did that? Of course you did. You were always full of tales, but you’ve never lied to me. Kin you really heal people like that? It’s so hard to believe.”
“It’s true, Ma, I’m a wizard. Here, look at my arm. I kin cut it a little, like this. Don’t worry, it’s okay. Now I just hold the edges of the wound together ’n’ think about it being healed, ’n’ presto! It’s fixed, not even a scar. I don’t know how I kin do it, but I kin do it. It was a lot harder healin’ Jenny, but it worked. ’N’ I didn’t restore her to life, I just healed the damage. Death let her come back to life. Vince, tell her your story, at least the last part.”
Vince told them, leaving out many of the details of his feelings of guilt, skipping ahead to his redemption, and Death’s offer of a favor. The room went silent again.
“This is just like the stories my pa told you,” said Marge. “I believe you, but it seems so unlikely, all of it.”
“I know you laughed at grampa’s stories,” countered Ben, “but some of ’em must have had some truth to ’em. Not all of ’em, but some. I remember one story about a flyin’ rug, ’n’ I cain’t even make a scrap of cloth float in the air. I guess that one was just a story. But some of the stories told about magic weapons that were always sharp ’n’ could cut through anythin’. I kin do that.
“Here, I made these for all of you. These knives never go dull, ’n’ they will cut through anythin’ short of iron armor. I got two more for Ira ’n’ Peter. These are valuable, some like this exist from the old days, but they’re rare. So keep ’em close to you.”
“Ben, do you really have to move on?” asked Ralph. “Your mother would like you to remain with us. She worried so much about you. She’ll worry again if you leave. Won’t you stay with us now?”
“Pa, ma, I love you so very much. You treated me well, even when you thought I was just a simple-minded fool. You didn’t yell at me, well, not much. But you know that I have no talent for farmin’. I kin only tend the sheep, ’n’ you kin get any other boy in the village to do that. Ira’s son ought to be old enough soon.
“’N’ I do have a talent for magic. I want to develop that talent, ’n’ use it to do great things. I don’t know what, but a wizard ought to be able to do some sort of great thing. ’N’ I’ve angered the grand duke ’n’ his friends, ’n’ they may come lookin’ for me. ’N’ I like the adventurin’ life. I know it sounds selfish that way. It’s not really all about me. Just, uh, mostly.
“Look I kin help you. I gave you those knives that never go dull. I kin make other magic items mebbe, ’n’ send some to you. You could use ’em or sell ’em for a lot of money. ’N’ I kin give you this bag of money from Polly ’n’ me. It’s a thousand moons. Think of it as the money I’da made for you watchin’ the sheep for the next twenty years or more.
“I don’t want to go away ’n’ make you sad again, but I cain’t stay here anymore. Grampa’s stories are callin’ me to new adventures, even if they’re not true. I want to learn to be a great wizard. I cain’t do that here. I’ll be miserable, even with Polly here. It’ll break your heart to see me go again, I know that. But it would break your heart just as much to see me mopin’ around here, unhappy. I’m sorry, ma.”
“Why did I ever think you were simple-minded? If you kin think like that, you kin do what you want, Ben. I wouldn’t want to keep you in a cage, not even to see you every day. Stay tonight, so we kin talk some more. Then go tomorrow, or when you want. I’ll cry. But you’re right, I’d cry to see you here miserable. And Polly seems to be a very lovin’ wife for you. I’m so happy for the two of you.”
***
They stayed for five days, half a week, and met the rest of Ben’s family, his neighbors, and most of the people within ten miles of Tindle. The male rogues helped with farm chores, so everyone would have time to party. Their last day was a feast for everyone. The female adventurers helped with the cooking and baking. Marge was surprised, and pleased, to find the rich man’s daughter leading the cleaning crew. The food and drink was provided by the strangers, to the amazement of people who thought of rogues as worthless riff-raff.
Ben entertained the guests with his burning finger and stories of some of his adventures. He let the others tell about how he healed Jenny. He was too modest to talk about it, and couldn’t remember any details of it. So Polly told them of Ben’s great triumph. Vince, Betsy, and Horace joined her to tell of the fierce battle against Scarface.
After tearful farewells the party set off on the road again. Chasing after Amos to rescue Polly, they had gone east from Tindle. Now they turned west, going toward a pass through the mountains that would lead them north to Padiham, a city in the duchy of Biri.