Wizard Of Rentoro

Haymi Razence looked as if some of the rats in his cellars were his relatives. He was barely five feet tall with a narrow face that seemed all nose and eyes. Lank black hair, thi

«Grasso has sent you?» Razence said. His voice was surprisingly deep for a man his size.

«Yes,» said Blade, and Serana nodded.

«You know that Grasso has given way in favor of Teodarn?»

«I did not,» said Blade.

«I think you had better tell me why you did not know this,» said Haymi. He backed away until he was just outside Blade's striking range, and his hand fell to his dagger hilt.

Serana slammed both hands down on the table, startling Razence into drawing his dagger. He was opening his mouth to call in the men outside when Serana stood up, stepped out from behind the table, and pulled the hood of her robe back from her face. Her hair had grown several inches since Blade began visiting her. Now she pulled it back, took a ribbon from her pouch, and tied her hair in a ragged pile on top of her head.

Razence's mouth opened wider and wider, but no sound came out. His fingers went limp and the dagger clattered to the floor.

Blade was tempted to pick it up, but instead said quietly, «Yes. It is the Lady Serana Zotair, back from the castle of the Wizard. She is not a ghost, and neither am I. Together we have escaped from the castle, and we bear with us all the Wizard's secrets.»

«You are-«Razence finally got his mouth closed long enough to get out a couple of words.

«I am Richard Blade, a traveler, warrior, and learned man. I am also an enemy of the Wizard, and wish to see Rentoro free of his power. I believe this can be done.»

Razence was now looking from Blade to Serana to the door and back to Blade. He was obviously wondering who in this room was mad-the man, the woman, himself, or all of them? Then Serana laughed.

«Haymi Razence, you doubt that I am Serana? Do not doubt it. I am the same Serana who helped your brother Murga bury the hunting dog Silver, just east of the three willows at the north bend of the River Oti, opposite the manor of Lord Figua.»

At this point Haymi Razence gave a remarkably good imitation of a man about to fall down in a fit. Blade started forward to help him, then stopped as Serana burst out laughing.

«Poor Haymi,» she said, when she caught her breath. «He will get over his shock soon enough. What I told him proves that I am indeed Serana. Murga Razence was one of my few playmates when I was a girl. Once we took out a hunting dog of my father's without his permission, and the poor beast was bitten by a snake. So we buried him secretly and said he ran off. Haymi is the only one we told the truth. No one could know exactly where we buried Silver except Murga and I, and Murga is dead.» The laughter died out of her face and voice. «He was poisoned by the Wizard's spies.» Then she sat down again, waiting with a queen's dignity for Haymi to get his voice back and put his thoughts in order. Her impatience showed in a foot that tapped steadily and a hand that clenched and unclenched itself.

She seemed very much in command and that was her right. This was her city, these were her people, and the dream of being free of the Wizard really belonged to the Rentorans. Blade had given them the key to victory, but from now on the fight was bound to be mostly in their hands.

Eventually Razence regained both his wits and his voice, sent his guards away, and drew up a chair. «Now, my lady, and Lord Blade-what secrets of the Wizard's magic do you bring from his castle?»

«All of them,» said Blade simply, and Serana nodded.

«If we act swiftly on what Blade has learned,» she said, «Morina can be free of the Wizard's power within weeks. All of Rentoro can be free before the snow falls. The Wizard may survive for a time, shut up in his castle. But it will have become his prison, not the seat of his power.»

«The Lady Serana speaks the truth,» said Blade. He fixed the i

Razence took a deep breath. «If you can tell us how to break the power of the Wizard's magic, we will listen. We will do more than listen-we will strike. As long as we have some hope of victory, you may command us and we will obey.»

«It will still be dangerous,» said Serana quietly.

Razence's thin shoulders straightened. «That is doubtless true. But we are prepared to die under the swords of the Wolves, as long as we know that our children will not.» He turned to Blade. «Do not think that the men of Morina have ever been cowards, Lord Blade. It is easy enough to be brave when you risk no life but your own. It is less easy, when you know that you will see your father gelded, your wife ravished, your children flung from walls or spitted on swords, and then be burned yourself by slow fire.»

«I understand,» said Blade. «But that is at an end. First of all, the Wizard is not truly a magician. All his knowledge and arts are of this world, although many are not within the grasp of ordinary men. He is a very wise man, who has turned all his wisdom to evil.»

Blade went on from there, explaining everything he could about the Wizard without mentioning the man's origins. He didn't need to. The strategy they'd be using against the Wizard would be the same whether he'd come from Renaissance Italy or fallen from the sky as the legends said.

Razence managed to keep up with Blade's explanations, although he was obviously having to make an enormous mental effort to do so. Several times he asked Blade to repeat something and twice he asked Blade to stop entirely. Finally he rose, shaking his head like a man waking from a particularly vivid dream.

«I ca

«Seven?» Serana frowned. «Isn't that letting too many know too much?»

Razence shrugged. «It might be, except that we ca

«The Wizard's mental powers, Haymi,» said Serana gently.

«The Wizard's powers, then,» said the little man. «Even they ca

«I understand,» said Blade. «Very well. Have the other six come here tomorrow, and I will tell them what I've told you. Then we can-«

«But the danger!» exploded Razence. «The Wizard's magic eye can fall on us, and he will then know-!»

Blade and Serana broke into roars of laughter. After a moment Razence blushed and sheepishly joined the laughter. Finally he shook his head. «I am sorry, my lady, my lord. My wits have never been the fastest in Morina, and what you have told me has not made them any faster. I forgot that the Wizard can no longer see anything in Morina, except through the eyes of his hired dogs.» His face became a grim mask that made Blade very glad he was not one of the Wizard's spies. «But how shall I protect them when they come?»

«The same way you were going to protect yourself against us,» said Blade. «Call your guards and post them at the doors to the Fountain. Let no one in or out until the men have gone.»

«Yes, yes, I can do that,» said Razence. He seemed to be eager to show that he understood Blade, whether he really did or not.

«Also do not send anyone out to kill the Wizard's spies until you can kill them all at once,» said Blade gently. «Otherwise some will get away.»

«Yes, yes, that also is true,» said Razence. With a visible effort he straightened up. «Now, is there-?»