TMOHD Chapter 7: The Dungeons of Orison
Posted: Sat May 03, 2003 7:55 pm
When we rejoin Lady Terisa, she had just survived an assassination attempt with the help of Adept Havelock, who had blinded her attacker with a bright light, causing him to flee. Havelock himself vanishes, and following an impulse, Terisa hides all evidence of him and the secret door in the back of her wardrobe.
Though she is so afraid that she wishes to flee herself, Terisa follows the instructions of the guards and calls for help. More guards eventually arrive, followed by a short, intense, commanding man named Castellan Lebbick. Lebbick seems to know that Terisa is holding something back from him, and just as terisa is about to start babbling from panic, another guard comes, who tells Lebbick that the King has called off the search for terisa'a attacker, and that the King wants Terisa left alone. This infuriates the already angry Lebbick further.
Terisa decides to trust Geraden and tells him of what actually occurrred the previous night, including Havelock's part in the events, and shows him the door in the back of the wardrobe. the two talk for a time, then he offers to take her to visit the old dungeons, where the Congery now has its rooms. the Masters are having a meeting, so he feels he can safely show her about without their getting caught. he says that it might also be the only chance he might ever have to send her home, as he feels that the Masters feel that she's too important to allow her to leave.
So off to the dungeons they go. he shows her a room where apprentices are making mirrors, then takes her to rooms where mirrors are stored. One mirror he shows her is a Glass that only shows falling rain, which can be used to water crops in a drought. Another showed a sea scape, and yet another a monster.
Geraden finds the mirrors that show the Champion, and offers to take Terisa home. he offers to go first, to make sure that everything is safe, and ends up in the world of the Champion rather tha nterisa's apartment. he is shot at, and Terisa jerks him back. Then she insists on trying, but she ends up neither in her apartment nor the Champion's world -- she ends up in a lovely place, all grassy and filled with wildflowers. When she returns, the glass still shows the Champion. But when she looks at a nearby glass, the picture has shifted to an autumn scene of the place she had just visited, a place that is near Geraden's boyhood home.
Geraden takes this all to mean that she is an Imager of great power. Terisa takes it all to mean that she is a mere Image and doesn't exist.
Though she is so afraid that she wishes to flee herself, Terisa follows the instructions of the guards and calls for help. More guards eventually arrive, followed by a short, intense, commanding man named Castellan Lebbick. Lebbick seems to know that Terisa is holding something back from him, and just as terisa is about to start babbling from panic, another guard comes, who tells Lebbick that the King has called off the search for terisa'a attacker, and that the King wants Terisa left alone. This infuriates the already angry Lebbick further.
That night Terisa spends much time in thought."My lady be warned," he said. "I'm the Castellan of Orison. I'm responsible for many things, but above all else for the King's safety. He suffers from an unnatural faith in his own immortality. I'm not similarly afflicted." His jaws chewed the words like gristle. "I'll obey him as much as I can. Then I'll take matters into my own hands." Turning on his heel, he stamped away.
In the morning, Terisa finally looked outside her window, and found herself in a tower room. Saddith brought her some breakfast and the news that she had not been there the previous night because she had been in the bed of a Master. She then helps Terisa dress in a lovely gown. And then a knock on the door proves to be Geraden, who is rendered speechless for a bit at the sight of terisa in her finery....she felt an odd upswelling of joy. Apparently, Geraden had brought her to a place where she mattered. the fact that she was here made a difference. Castellan Lebbick took her seriously enough to get angry at her. Master Eremis had looked at her. It was even conceivable that he thought she was lovely. That had never happened to her before.
Terisa decides to trust Geraden and tells him of what actually occurrred the previous night, including Havelock's part in the events, and shows him the door in the back of the wardrobe. the two talk for a time, then he offers to take her to visit the old dungeons, where the Congery now has its rooms. the Masters are having a meeting, so he feels he can safely show her about without their getting caught. he says that it might also be the only chance he might ever have to send her home, as he feels that the Masters feel that she's too important to allow her to leave.
So off to the dungeons they go. he shows her a room where apprentices are making mirrors, then takes her to rooms where mirrors are stored. One mirror he shows her is a Glass that only shows falling rain, which can be used to water crops in a drought. Another showed a sea scape, and yet another a monster.
Geraden finds the mirrors that show the Champion, and offers to take Terisa home. he offers to go first, to make sure that everything is safe, and ends up in the world of the Champion rather tha nterisa's apartment. he is shot at, and Terisa jerks him back. Then she insists on trying, but she ends up neither in her apartment nor the Champion's world -- she ends up in a lovely place, all grassy and filled with wildflowers. When she returns, the glass still shows the Champion. But when she looks at a nearby glass, the picture has shifted to an autumn scene of the place she had just visited, a place that is near Geraden's boyhood home.
Geraden takes this all to mean that she is an Imager of great power. Terisa takes it all to mean that she is a mere Image and doesn't exist.
When she realized tha tshe was also an Image that didn't exist, she nearly collapsed to her knees again.
