“I wouldn’t do that, pethet,” Myrddin warned, clucking his tongue.
Fallon straightened. “I’ve never seen its like. What is this?”
“So many questions. So many. Always questions. Bah. How do I know so much that everyone keeps asking me? I ask, seek, and knock. It’s simple. You could do the same, pethet. But I must get back to my work. So I will not answer you now. Eat it, little sister.
Taste it.”
Trynne realized she’d stopped with an apple midway to her mouth. She’d realized, at the last moment, that she recognized these particular apples. Many, many years ago, Myrddin had given an apple like that to her brother in the audience hall of Kingfountain.
The memory of how much little Gannon had enjoyed the fruit knifed into her, but she obeyed the Wizr and bit into the apple. The sweetness was muted by the memory.
Myrddin gave her a sympathetic look that revealed he was aware of her suffering. “You eat one too, pethet. It will give you strength for your journey.”
Trynne handed an apple to Fallon and he took it from her. He paused, smelling it first, and then bit into it. His face practically beamed with enjoyment. “Sweet and tart,” he said with approval.
“There. Now you are both eating and cannot pester me with questions. This is good. I will say what I can say. No more. No less. I am a Wayfarer. A traveler between worlds. I have advised kings and shepherdesses and many other folk for long and sundry years.
There are rules that separate the worlds from one another. And you are here now because your father was brought hostage here.” He gave Trynne an arch look.
“Do you know where he is?” she asked desperately.
“Eat! Let me speak! I will say what I can.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Always so many questions. Your father is in this world, but he is not nearby. He was taken far away and locked in a dungeon.
You will go there, little sister. You will see it. It was the Fountain’s will that he should come. He cannot remember your world, but he serves the Fountain’s purposes. There are rules, as I said. Rules that separate the worlds. You must acknowledge this or turn back at once.”
His gaze turned to Fallon.
“Ach. I see now. I see.”
Fallon’s eyes blazed with sudden anger.
“I will say nothing more on that. I see it clearly. I did not create the rules, mind. Even I must abide by them. I was trapped in this world for many centuries, little sister. I was trapped here because of a woman. The portal was shut until your father and the king returned to open it. It is not the only portal. There are others like it. The Black Wizr knew all about it. Yes, the Black. My enemy.”
“Rucrius?” Trynne asked.
Myrddin puckered his lips. “No. The Black Wizr has another name. An ancient one. Shirikant.” He said the name like a curse, his cheek muscles twitching with revulsion. “His power was bound to a book. You call it The Hidden Vulgate. It is an unholy and evil creation. This is the book that the king’s sister found. Always it hides in shadow. It cannot be destroyed. It is more ancient than this world.
It is the fullness of evil.”
Trynne shuddered. “Morwenna found it while studying in Pisan.”
“Yes, little sister. It is what has corrupted her. What has corrupted so many others from the beginning. If allowed, it will destroy Kingfountain just as it has destroyed this realm. It is the evil of pride. Of greed. Those emotions are what drive us to revenge, and revenge is never satisfied. There is no sating it.”
His words sparked a memory in her mind, something Rucrius had told her when she’d bound him in a cell in Ploemeur. You’ve shied away from the truth, but you’ll find that revenge endures forever.
Myrddin nodded to her. “The lips may be a man’s. The words may be a woman’s. But the thoughts belong to the one who sat on the forsaken throne. The one who gave up all wisdom and power because of ambition and revenge.” He shook his head. “Morwenna is but a tool. Her grief, her loss has driven her to hatred. The book was here in this world. I have watched it destroy other kingdoms. I am watching it destroy these last two. It was moved to your world, which will suffer the same fate unless you stop it.”
“What must we do?” Trynne asked in desperation.
“Save your father, lass,” Myrddin said. “This world is too far gone to survive, and he will perish with the others unless he leaves now. Take out the Wizr board and I will show you what it means.
Hurry, pethet! There are two kings clashing. Every inhabitant of their kingdoms will be destroyed in one great battle. All save one. One of the two kings will live. Your father is serving one of those kings. I must write the ending. It is my task. Yours is to take him away and return home before the end comes. Lo, it comes quickly!”