Free The Oathbound Wizard-Wiz Rhyme-2 by Christopher Stasheff Page B

react to her fiancé's defection. "The sentry on the topmost crag of Mount Damocles looked away, toward the other side of the range, then looked back--and saw him there. He says he will swear 'twas the Lord Wizard, an you wish him to, for he was in your army at Breden Plain, and stood near to his Lordship in the battle."
    "He must have extraordinarily keen eyesight, to be sure of him at such a distance."
    "Such clearness of sight he has, Majesty--'tis the cause of his being stationed at the mountain border." The messenger didn't mention the sentry's montagnard grandfather, who assured his descendent a warm welcome in the local villages, as well as keen eyesight.
    He didn't have to; Alisande had chosen the mountain sentries herself, and for exactly those reasons. "There is no need to swear; I credit his report."
    "He says also that he knew the Lord Wizard by his colors--his golden doublet and azure hose, and by the glinting symbols on his cape." Symbols in a wizard's cloak, one might expect--though why Matthew had chosen to have a block-capital M embroidered in place of the usual stars and crescents mystified Alisande. Monograms she could understand, but Matthew did not strike her as swollen with his own self-importance in any other way. It did, however, make him unmistakable. "I thank you, good courier." She sighed. "Now leave me, and take your refreshment in the kitchens." The messenger stared in surprise, then bowed and backed away the proper distance before turning on his heel and nearly sprinting out of the throne room. He knew the propensity of royalty to take out their vexation with bad news on him who bore it, and was amazed and tenfold more loyal to the queen who showed such self-restraint as to thank him instead!
    "He has done it," Alisande murmured to herself, wishing for the hundredth time for a chancellor with whom she could discuss such weighty matters--but that chancellor himself was now the subject of the discussion, and she would have to talk to herself in his absence. "You have done it, my love--you have stridden into the den of lions without care, and may shortly be without head." She shivered, feeling dread hollow her at the thought. "And what choice have I but to follow, and that with all my army, in some faint hope that I may bring you back alive." She shuddered and shook her head. "Ah, my Matthew! Wherefore could you not have thought before you swore?"
    But she knew the answer--in fact, she was the answer. She rose to call up her heralds and set the war in train.

CHAPTER 7
    Servant, Go Where I Send Thee

The night darkened around the camp fire, and the wind tore at its flames. Matt shivered as he sprinkled the white powder, closing the twenty-foot circle he'd drawn in the dust.
    "And just what good is that going to do, I'd like to know?" Narlh humphed.
    "A lot, if anything magical tries to get at us tonight." Matt stood up, dusting off his hands. "Or anything not-so-magical, for that matter."
    "What's the powder? Lime? Chalk?"
    "Talcum," Matt said, embarrassed "It's the only verse I could think of offhand."
    "How's it go?"
    "I'd like to tell you, but I hate singing commercials. Besides, I don't want another bottle of the stuff right now."
    Narlh frowned. "Doesn't seem like much, to keep out a sorcerer."
    "Remind me to tell you how to keep elephants away."
    "What's an elephant?"
    Matt started to answer, then thought better of it. "A mythical beast." He glanced up at the moon, then turned back to inscribing the pair of concentric circles, hurrying now.
    "Whatcha scared of?" Narlh demanded. "Something I oughta know about?"
    "I should think you would already. The closer we come to midnight, the greater the danger from sorcery."
    "Oh, yeah?" Narlh lifted his head, glaring. "So that's why the bum could always sneak up on me! Why didn'tcha tell me this before?"
    "Because I only met you today."
    "Oh." Narlh frowned, looking away. "Yeah, there is that. Right now, though, I don't see anything to worry about." He