powders were placed inside. Next, he took the pouch with him to one corner of the chamber and there, turned away from the others, performed some kind of ritual. There was a flash of pale green radiance. Brand was surprised by it, and for a moment wondered if he had imagined it.
Telyn gasped and looked entranced. “The Eye of Vaul,” she whispered to him. “He has caused it to blink.”
“A witch he is! Sorcery, he works! Kill thee all, he will!” screeched the manling suddenly. They all turned to it, and saw that it had untied the first knot and was working on the second and third. There was a sudden desperation in its manner that belied its earlier lack of concern. “Devil! Tomkin will be no bond-servant to a half-man hedge-wizard!”
Corbin reached out and grabbed the thing around its midsection. In a flash, the manling bit him, seeming to open the whole of its head to sink in a row of sharp white teeth. Instantly, Corbin withdrew the hand. Blood welled up and dripped to the floor of the chamber.
Modi stepped forward with a gruff sound of decision.
“Hold!” said Myrrdin, coming forward with the packet he had been laboring over. The creature’s struggles increased. Myrrdin stood over it, glowering down at the tiny spy. “I have captured you and made you captive, fairly and doubtless,” he chanted to it, as if reading from a book of laws. “If you wish your freedom, you must grant me a boon, or your life is forfeit.”
Glaring, the manling stilled. It replied in a similar, lawful tone. “Tomkin disagrees. There was no thing fair in my capture. No man could move with such speed and stealth. Thou art no man, but a foreign creature that walks in the lands of men. I call thee a cheat.”
“It is all the same to me,” shrugged Myrrdin. “A cheat such as myself has no difficulty in committing another crime—that of base murder.”
The manling growled in its throat, the sound a small animal makes when its food is threatened. “I wish my freedom, and will grant thee thy boon, witch. But I demand a smaller boon in return, as is my right.”
“Name it.”
“I cannot, until I’ve heard of thy—no doubt grossly unjust—demands.”
Myrrdin shrugged again. He held aloft the pouch he had prepared. “You, Tomkin of the Wee Folk, must swear to wear this pouch, night and day, dusk and dawn, for a year and a day. Ever you must hide it, and in no way shall you communicate its existence to your fellows or your masters.”
The creature gave another cat’s growl of unease. “Surely you jest! Two pieces of faerie gold would be too great a boon for such-like as thee, cheating witch!”
Myrrdin raised his walking-stick meaningfully. “Freedom or death? Choose now!”
“‘Tis a geas, plain as the moon in a marsh pool at midnight!”
Myrrdin sighed. “I have no more time to waste upon you.” He nodded significantly to Modi, who grimly took his axe from his belt.
“But what of my boon?” demanded the manling.
“Let us hear it,” said Myrrdin impatiently.
A crafty look came over the creature’s doll-like face. Its eyes slid to Corbin’s hand, which was being worked on by Gudrin and Telyn now. The white strip of cloth they used for a bandage was stained the bright red of blood.
“I’ve tasted of River Folk tonight, and I always know best what I taste. Tonight I wish to taste of thee, cheating witch, so I may know what it is that flows in thy veins that makes thee as quick as an adder.”
Modi snorted. Telyn and Brand looked concerned. Corbin rubbed at his bandage. A muscle in his cheek jumped.
As quickly as a snake, Myrrdin bared his left arm and thrust it out toward the tiny creature. For the first time since its capture, it smiled.
“The wound will be unclean,” admonished Gudrin.
Myrrdin locked gazes with the manling as it sidled forward, beginning to grin now. “Get on with your boon, servant,” he said.
Again, the whole top of the thing’s head seemed to come unhinged and it
Telyn gasped and looked entranced. “The Eye of Vaul,” she whispered to him. “He has caused it to blink.”
“A witch he is! Sorcery, he works! Kill thee all, he will!” screeched the manling suddenly. They all turned to it, and saw that it had untied the first knot and was working on the second and third. There was a sudden desperation in its manner that belied its earlier lack of concern. “Devil! Tomkin will be no bond-servant to a half-man hedge-wizard!”
Corbin reached out and grabbed the thing around its midsection. In a flash, the manling bit him, seeming to open the whole of its head to sink in a row of sharp white teeth. Instantly, Corbin withdrew the hand. Blood welled up and dripped to the floor of the chamber.
Modi stepped forward with a gruff sound of decision.
“Hold!” said Myrrdin, coming forward with the packet he had been laboring over. The creature’s struggles increased. Myrrdin stood over it, glowering down at the tiny spy. “I have captured you and made you captive, fairly and doubtless,” he chanted to it, as if reading from a book of laws. “If you wish your freedom, you must grant me a boon, or your life is forfeit.”
Glaring, the manling stilled. It replied in a similar, lawful tone. “Tomkin disagrees. There was no thing fair in my capture. No man could move with such speed and stealth. Thou art no man, but a foreign creature that walks in the lands of men. I call thee a cheat.”
“It is all the same to me,” shrugged Myrrdin. “A cheat such as myself has no difficulty in committing another crime—that of base murder.”
The manling growled in its throat, the sound a small animal makes when its food is threatened. “I wish my freedom, and will grant thee thy boon, witch. But I demand a smaller boon in return, as is my right.”
“Name it.”
“I cannot, until I’ve heard of thy—no doubt grossly unjust—demands.”
Myrrdin shrugged again. He held aloft the pouch he had prepared. “You, Tomkin of the Wee Folk, must swear to wear this pouch, night and day, dusk and dawn, for a year and a day. Ever you must hide it, and in no way shall you communicate its existence to your fellows or your masters.”
The creature gave another cat’s growl of unease. “Surely you jest! Two pieces of faerie gold would be too great a boon for such-like as thee, cheating witch!”
Myrrdin raised his walking-stick meaningfully. “Freedom or death? Choose now!”
“‘Tis a geas, plain as the moon in a marsh pool at midnight!”
Myrrdin sighed. “I have no more time to waste upon you.” He nodded significantly to Modi, who grimly took his axe from his belt.
“But what of my boon?” demanded the manling.
“Let us hear it,” said Myrrdin impatiently.
A crafty look came over the creature’s doll-like face. Its eyes slid to Corbin’s hand, which was being worked on by Gudrin and Telyn now. The white strip of cloth they used for a bandage was stained the bright red of blood.
“I’ve tasted of River Folk tonight, and I always know best what I taste. Tonight I wish to taste of thee, cheating witch, so I may know what it is that flows in thy veins that makes thee as quick as an adder.”
Modi snorted. Telyn and Brand looked concerned. Corbin rubbed at his bandage. A muscle in his cheek jumped.
As quickly as a snake, Myrrdin bared his left arm and thrust it out toward the tiny creature. For the first time since its capture, it smiled.
“The wound will be unclean,” admonished Gudrin.
Myrrdin locked gazes with the manling as it sidled forward, beginning to grin now. “Get on with your boon, servant,” he said.
Again, the whole top of the thing’s head seemed to come unhinged and it
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