Siege of Macindaw Read Online Free PDF

rounded lead weight, screwed onto the end to seal it.
    "You put the written message in here?" he guessed.
    Will nodded again. He leaned back to ease his cramped shoulder and neck muscles. He had been hunched at the table for some time, initially writing out a chart of the code, then the message, then the code itself. As he moved, the dog stirred. Her tail thumped the floor.
    " That's right. I could use the lamp message to warn Alyss to get out of the way, then fire the arrow through her window."
    "Easy as that?" Malcolm smiled.
    Will raised one eyebrow. "Easy as that. If you've spent five years learning to put arrows exactly where you want them."
    "And the stone?" Malcolm said. "Could you put that inside as well?"
    Will picked up the little black pebble and weighed it experimentally in his hand.
    "I don't see why not. I'll have to reduce the lead to compensate for the extra weight and make sure the arrow remains balanced. I assume you have some scales I could use?"
    "Of course. They're basic tools of a healer's trade."
    "The question is," Will continued, "why am I shooting a stone through her window in the first place?"
    "Aaah, yes," said the healer, placing one finger alongside his nose. "I wondered when you'd ask that. It's to help her if Keren tries to mesmerize her again."
    That gained Will's interest immediately. He looked at the stone again, examining it more carefully. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary about it. He frowned.
    "What does it do?" he asked.
    Malcolm gently took the stone from his hand and held it up, admiring its deep sheen.
    "It will neutralize the blue gemstone that she said Keren is using," he said."You see, mesmerism, or hypnotism, as some people call it, is a matter of mental focus. Keren has created a situation where the blue gemstone focuses Alyss's mind on his commands. But if she can hold this little pebble in her palm and concentrate on some kind of strong alternative image, she can resist that focus and remain in control of her own mind. If she's smart, Keren will never know she has broken his grip on her, and that could be useful. She might be able to tell him all sorts of misinformation."
    He handed the stone back to Will, who turned it over, looking to see if there was something about it that he'd missed. Other than its glossy black surface, he couldn't see anything special.
    "How does it do that?" he asked. It seemed a little like hocus-pocus to him, but Alyss had been very definite about the effect of Keren's blue gemstone, and when he had related the story to Malcolm, the old healer had grasped the significance of the blue stone at once.
    Malcolm shrugged now, in reply to Will's question.
    "Nobody really knows. It's stellatite, you see," he said, as if that explained everything. Then, seeing the question on Will's lips, he continued,"Star stone. It's all that remains of a falling star. I found it years ago. Stellatite is exceedingly valuable, probably because it has otherworldly properties. Anyway," he concluded, "I don't really know how it works. I just know it does." He smiled. "It's galling for a man of science to have to admit something like that, but what can I do?"
    Will nodded, convinced. He looked at the sheet of paper Malcolm had placed on the table. It contained a description of the stone and outlined its use. But the sheet was too bulky for the message arrow. He reached into his pack and produced a flimsy sheet of thin message paper.
    " Then I'd best start rewriting your message," he said. "While I'm doing that, perhaps you could weigh the pebble and the lead weight on the arrow?"
    Malcolm picked up the arrow and the pebble.
    "Consider it done," he said, turning toward his little workroom at the back of the house.

 

     
5
     

     
     
    In the tower, Alyss began her nightly ritual with the lamp, holding it high in one corner of the window, then moving it progressively to the other three corners.
    She did this five times, then stopped, setting the lamp on the floor