But maybe she could get a message to them, even if she couldn’t get there herself. If she could find a wizard and talk him into doing a spell on credit, and if Hanner was still asleep, there might be a way. She turned east, as Vond had, but instead of flying she simply ran up High Street, headed for the Wizards’ Quarter.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Hanner opened his eyes to see a completely unfamiliar ceiling overhead, and bright midday sun outside the room’s only window. He blinked, and sat up. Only then did he remember where he was. He was in the refuge, the village beyond the tapestry, and Vond had sent him here to chase everyone out.
“Feeling better?” Rudhira asked.
His head snapped around. She was sitting quietly on the floor in one corner. “I didn’t know you were here,” he said.
“Where else would I be?” she asked. “You’re in my bed.”
“I am?” He looked down at the collection of rags that had served as his mattress, and realized they were all either nightclothes or warlock black.
“When I brought people new clothes, I took the old ones,” Rudhira said. “Some of them might be wearable again, with a little care, but why bother? They’re all thirty years out of style. So I brought them in here and used them as bedding.”
Hanner nodded. “Sensible,” he said.
“So why are you here? I didn’t really expect you to come through the tapestry. In fact, I came here myself partly to get out of your way.”
“Vond sent me,” Hanner told her. “He wants everyone cleared out. He’s claimed my house, and he doesn’t like the idea of having dozens of people who could get into the attic without his knowledge.”
“It would be easy enough to block the exit, wouldn’t it?”
Hanner frowned at her. “It probably would, yes,” he said, “but I wasn’t about to tell him that! Then you’d all be trapped here.”
“That wouldn’t really be so dreadful,” Rudhira said. “I mean, look around – it’s pleasant here. Warm and sunny, and there are nuts and fish, and the water’s good.”
“Fine, but I wanted to make it your choice, not Vond’s.”
She smiled. “Generous as always,” she said. The smile vanished. “I’ll go tell everyone you’re awake, and when you’re ready you can come tell us all about it. We’ll meet in the village square.”
“There’s a village square?”
“Well, there’s an open area we call the village square, though I guess it’s really more of an irregular hexagon. You’ll see.”
“Thank you. Could you please try to get everyone?”
“I’ll try.” With that she clambered to her feet, and ambled out of the room, leaving Hanner alone.
He watched her go, then yawned, stretched, and stood up. He ran his fingers through his hair, straightened his clothes, and otherwise did his best to make himself presentable and ready to face the day – or the next few hours; he supposed “day” wasn’t really the right word in this place where the sun never moved.
He realized he was ravenously hungry, but he did not see any handy food, and decided he could wait a little longer. Poking around the place seemed rude; it was Rudhira’s home, not his, even though in a way it was inside his own place.
He made his way out of the house, and found half a dozen people waiting for him. He recognized their faces, but could only put a name to one of them, Bardec of Cut Street. “Hello,” he said.
“Hello, Lord Hanner,” Bardec replied.
“I’m not a lord anymore,” Hanner protested. “I had to give up my title when I became a warlock.”
“Well, you aren’t a warlock any more, are you?” Bardec said. “Seems to me you should get your title back.”
“Maybe I will someday, but that’s up to the overlord, and it hasn’t happened yet. So it’s just Hanner.”
Bardec turned up a palm. “If you insist. Whoever you are, Rudhira and some of the others are out gathering everyone they can find, to hear what you have to tell us.”
“Good,” Hanner said. “How long will that take?”
“Who knows?” Bardec pointed at the sky. “They’ll be back before the sun’s moved an inch.” He grinned.
Hanner was in no mood to grin back. “Vond must be getting impatient by now. We need to get started before he loses his temper.”
One of the other men, who had been leaning against a wall, straightened up. “Correct me if I’m wrong, no-longer-a-lord Hanner, but isn’t this the one place in Ethshar where the emperor can’t hurt us?”
“Well, he can’t touch us here directly, but he can make things difficult. We won’t be able to bring in any more food or clothing, or tools.”
The people exchanged glances. “That could be inconvenient,” a woman admitted.
“We could manage,” the man who had been leaning on the wall said.
“Could you?” Hanner said.
“Oh, I think so. We’ve already brought in copper and iron cook-pots, and there’s clay to make pottery once we can build a kiln. Of course some of us have knives, so we can probably get by without any more tools. We have wood and reeds and grass – you must have seen the basket-makers when you first arrived.”
“I did,” Hanner admitted.
“They’re up there as much to watch for new arrivals as to make baskets, but they are making baskets. We can make fish traps, too. We can manage.”
“I hope you’re right – and I must ask, whoever you are, if you’re so eager for self-sufficiency, why didn’t you settle on that land up near Aldagmor?”
“Out on the edge of the wilderness, with mizagars in the woods, and snow likely to fall any minute?” He shook his head. “It’s warm and sunny here, and these houses were already built, and if there’s anything dangerous around, we haven’t seen it yet.”
Hanner had to admit that the man had a point.
“Besides,” Bardec said, “we’re just a few steps from the city here, rather than dozens of leagues.”
“When the magic is working and the emperor allows it,” Hanner said.
“Why wouldn’t he allow it?” Bardec asked.
“Well, that’s what I came to tell you,” Hanner said. “He wants everyone out of here.”
As he said that another handful of people came around the corner of a neighboring house. “Who wants us out of here?” one of them asked.
“Emperor Vond,” answered one of the women in the original group.
“Why?”
“I’ll explain that when everyone’s here,” Hanner called.
“Rudhira said to gather in the square,” someone said.
“Where is that?” Hanner asked.
Several fingers pointed, and several voices said, “Over there,” or “That way.”
Hanner walked in the direction indicated, and found the vaguely-hexagonal space that Rudhira had mentioned, a pleasant area surrounding a stretch of stream, shaded by four large trees and equipped with some boulders of suitable size and shape to serve as crude benches. Hanner settled on one of the rocks to wait, and chatted idly with some of the others, asking questions about the refuge.
There was, he learned, much more to it than the grassy slope and the village. There was a broad beach below the village, where a fairly calm sea extended to the horizon. At the top of the slope, on the far side of where the tapestry delivered new arrivals, there was a fair-sized meadow, and beyond that was a forest of unknown size – as yet, no one had ventured more than a mile or so into its interior. One boy had climbed the highest tree he could find, and reported that he could see mountains in the distance – two peaks for certain, and possibly a third. There were several groves of nut-bearing trees; as yet the only variety anyone had gathered in any quantity appeared to be walnuts of a tasty but unfamiliar sort, but people were optimistic about others that had been seen in passing.
As yet no fruit had been found, but there were trees in blossom that looked as if they would bear fruit in time. No one knew whether this place had any seasons, let alone which season it was at present, so they could only guess when that might happen.