Gerath considered that, turned up his empty hand, and raised his sword. “Well, even if he can’t, we can, and we have our orders. Everyone out!”
Hanner stared at him, groping for some response. He instinctively resisted simply doing as he was told – this was his place, no matter what Vond might say. The people of the refuge outnumbered the swordsmen four or five to one; they could resist, refuse to go…
But many of the refugees were women, children, and men too old to fight, and they were unarmed, while those swordsmen looked like they knew their trade. The refugees were completely unprepared, with no leaders or organization. If it came to an actual fight several people would be hurt, maybe killed, and it was not at all clear who would win.
For that matter, maybe some of the refugees wouldn’t want to fight; they might be happy to go back to Ethshar. That would further weaken any opposition the emperor’s swordsmen might face.
Immediate open resistance was not the way to go, then.
“You, Hanner,” Gerath called. “How do people get out of here and back to Warlock House?”
“Ah?” Hanner blinked. “Oh, yes. Of course. This way.” He turned toward the house where the tapestry hung.
“Wait a minute!” Gerath said. “Where are you taking us? Don’t we need to go back up the hill, where we arrived?”
Hanner glanced up the slope to where two men were guarding the hilltop. “No, no,” he said. “That tapestry only works in one direction. Come this way, and I’ll show you the way out.”
“Hanner, are you sure…?” someone muttered by his ear.
“They’d find out soon enough. If we try to trick them, someone will get hurt,” Hanner murmured in reply.
“It’s not a spell?” Gerath called.
“Of course it’s a spell!” Hanner shouted back. “And it’s over there.” He pointed.
Gerath muttered some instructions to his companions, but Hanner could not make them out. Then Gerath and three others came marching into the village, following Hanner, while the other swordsmen remained on the open ground of the grassy hillside.
It occurred to Hanner that he had seen more of these soldiers appear while several were on that slope, and that some of them would have been in the area shown in the tapestry image. There were no swordsmen in the picture, but there had been swordsmen in the place depicted; weren’t such things supposed to block a tapestry from functioning? Didn’t the recent arrivals need to move out of the way before more could come through?
Arvagan had said that tapestries varied in how they behaved; apparently the one that led to this world wasn’t as finicky as some. In fact, it didn’t seem finicky at all. That was interesting. Hanner wondered how picky the one leading to the attic really was.
He looked around at the crowd of refugees, and realized that it was smaller than it had been, and that he was by no means the only one heading for the house where the Transporting Tapestry hung. It would seem that some people were not waiting to be forced to return to Ethshar.
Then he was at the door of the house. He stepped inside, from bright sunlight into pleasant shade, and stopped for a moment to let his eyes adjust. As he did, he saw a woman vanish – he had barely registered her presence when she touched the tapestry and disappeared.
Yes, some people were cooperating. Hanner grimaced.
Gerath and his three companions arrived close behind him; Hanner stepped aside to let them into the house, where they could see the enchanted hanging.
Gerath stopped and stared at it. “Another tapestry,” he said.
“That’s right,” Hanner replied.
“I should have guessed.”
Hanner turned up a palm.
Gerath frowned. “Well, that’s simple enough, then,” he said. He stepped backed out into the street and called, “All right, all of you, go through it. Starting now.”
Hanner could not see the crowd’s reaction, but he leaned over and called out the door, “If you have any belongings, fetch them. I don’t think you’ll have a chance to come back.”
“Sidor,” Gerath said, addressing one of the three who had accompanied him to the house, “Go tell the others to get everyone into this house at once. Tesra, grab someone and throw him at the tapestry – let’s get this started.”
Sidor raised his sword in salute, then marched back out of the house, while Tesra grabbed the arm of a girl who had gotten too close, and dragged her into the room where the tapestry waited. She struggled in his grip, trying to dig her heels into the tile floor, but Tesra was too strong for her; he flung her at the tapestry. She instinctively reached out to catch herself, and was gone.
Hanner watched, horrified. He knew she probably wasn’t hurt, but the swordsman’s crude violence was appalling.
Then Tesra grabbed someone else and shoved him toward the tapestry.
“No need,” the man said. “I’ll go quietly.” He pulled away from the swordsman and marched into the room, head high.
As he approached the tapestry he turned and grinned at Hanner. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered.
Hanner had not thought of that, but in fact there was nothing he knew of to stop any of these people from simply stepping back through the tapestry on the fourth floor. He glanced at Tesra, who was looking for a third victim, and at Gerath, who was standing just outside the open door on the village street.
If everyone waited on the fourth floor, and then rushed back through the tapestry as soon as Vond emerged from the attic, he might never know it had happened; he would assume that they had simply left Warlock House, as instructed.
But there would be no way to maintain contact between Ethshar and the refuge, with Vond occupying Warlock House. In fact, Vond might well destroy the tapestry.
If Hanner were to take the tapestry down and take it somewhere else – Nerra’s house, perhaps, since the palace was displaced and he was not welcome in Mavi’s home – then it would no longer be any of Vond’s business…
Except that the return tapestry came out in the attic of Warlock House. Hanner frowned. There had to be some way to keep the refuge functioning, despite Vond’s soldiers. It seemed more urgent than ever not just to have someplace former warlocks could go, but to have somewhere Vond and his hirelings couldn’t.
Hanner stepped aside, trying to think what he could do, as the soldiers began marching refugees through the tapestry into the attic.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Kolar the Large hung back in the hallway, and did not follow the others into the fourth-floor bedroom. He did not trust that magical wall hanging. Yes, the warlock said it would transport them safely into another world, and that there was an easy way back, but even if Kolar entirely trusted the warlock – which he did not – how did the warlock know? By his own admission, he had never been through there.
This whole mercenary-soldier business was beginning to look like a bad idea, and Kolar wished he had stuck to working the docks. It had sounded good when that fellow with the strange eyes had talked about it in Shiphaven Market, but no one had said anything about walking through enchanted tapestries. Standing around with a sword looking dangerous was no problem; Kolar was big enough that he often looked dangerous whether he wanted to or not. Getting involved with magicians, though, really was dangerous, whether it looked it or not, and this Great Vond character was obviously even more dangerous than most. Hanging the overlord’s palace up in the sky that way – that was crazy.
Now the crazy warlock had marched about half his men through the tapestry, and none had come back. That was not what Kolar had thought he was being hired to do.
The warlock seemed to be thoroughly focused on the tapestry, so he might not notice if Kolar slipped away – but then again, he might. Magicians didn’t necessarily need to use their eyes to see things. Vond did not seem like the sort who would take desertion lightly, either. True, Kolar had not signed anything, or sworn an oath, or even been paid, but he had been given the nice uniform and the good sword, and had made no protest when Vond announced what he wanted.