Lizz Baldwin - Realms of Shadow

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Realms of Shadow

Edited by Lizz Baldwin

Scanned, formatted and proofed by Dreamcity

Ebook version 1.1

Release Date: January, 30th, 2004

Contents

Lisa Smedman

.................................................................................................................................... Trial by Ordeal

Jess Lebow

.............................................................................................................................. Assassin’s Shadow

Paul S. Kemp

........................................................................................................................... Too Long in the Dark

Troy Denning

.......................................................................................................................................... Darksword

Jessica Beaven

......................................................................................................................................... Liar’s Game

R.A.Salvatore

............................................................................................................................. That Curious Sword

Elaine Cunningham

.............................................................................................................................. A Little Knowledge

Philip Athans

.................................................................................................................................. Astride the Wind

Murray J.D. Leeder

................................................................................................................................. The Fallen Lands

Ed Greenwood

............................................................................................... When Shadow Come Seeking a Throne

Richard Lee Byers

....................................................................................................................................... King Shadow

Peter Archer

............................................................................................................................... The Shifting Sands

Trial by Ordeal

Lisa Smedman

Netheril Year 3389

(The Year of Perdition's Flame, -470 DR)

Hands clasped behind his back, Andoris Derathar stared out the warded window at the drifting

clouds that veiled the farmland so far below. The city was currently floating over a lush checkerboard of

leaf-greens, wheat-yellows and loamy browns, but in the distance he could see a ridge of sun-bleached

white that should not have been there: the low dunes of the encroaching desert.

He had just come from the Hall of Judgment and was still wearing his robes of office: a starched and

pleated black kilt that hung to the floor and a long-sleeved black shirt with a pair of scales, embroidered

in gold thread, on its left breast. A gold cord was knotted around his waist. Suspended from it was a

mask-a smooth circle of ivory with holes for eyes and nostrils, and a slit for the mouth. Its color matched

that of Andoris's white-blond hair, which was receding on either side of a high-swept forehead. The face

of the mask was as bland as Andoris's own his beardless cheeks were smooth-unmarred by lines of age

or worry.

Turning away from the window, Andoris regarded the gem he had been holding behind his back: an

enormous blood-red ruby, faceted at such odd angles that the sides of the gem seemed to turn in upon

themselves. Drifting at the center of it was a ghostlike essence that twisted slightly-the soul of the man

Andoris had just found guilty of murder. Two holes that might have been eyes stared mournfully out

through the walls of the crystal prison.

"Death," Andoris said, repeating the sentence he had just imposed, "without possibility of

resurrection for fifty years."

He placed the ruby in a niche on the wall beside a dozen others.

Behind Andoris, a homunculus-a vaguely humanlike creature with green, leathery skin, enormous

batlike ears, and glistening black eyes-gave a faint snort. Folding its leathery wings around itself like a

cloak, it made a disdainful gesture with webbed fingers.

Horbal was a cruel bastard, it said in a voice that was part squeak, part croak-a voice that only

Andoris could hear. He killed that cat slowly-and enjoyed watching it suffer. You should have given

him five hundred years, not fifty.

Andoris stared down at the homunculus. Even standing fully upright, the creature was no taller than

his knee. Created through an alchemical process with a pint of Andoris's own blood, it was in constant

telepathic contact with its master. In the years since its creation, it had served as an invaluable tool in

Andoris's climb up the ranks of the judiciary.

"Fifty years is the punishment proscribed by law for the killing of a familiar," Andoris told it.

He spoke the words aloud-something he only did when he and the homunculus were alone.

It isn't fair! the homunculus whined. That bastard Horbal will be free in fifty years, while poor

Jelal-

The homunculus had been reaching for the ruby, intending to give it a furious shake. Even though this

wouldn't damage the gem or its contents, decorum had to be maintained. Andoris forced his will into the

homunculus's mind and wrenched its arm down. Sulking, the creature huddled into itself, nursing a

dislocated shoulder.

Andoris, his mind shielded from the pain, stared down at the homunculus with a face as

dispassionate as the mask that hung at his belt. With a flick of his fingers, he cast a healing spell.

A moment later, he heard sharp raps at the door. His finger pointed in silent command, and the

homunculus stiffened, then scurried under a table. It watched with large, luminous eyes as Andoris first

cast an illusion spell to mask its presence, then flicked a sparkle of magical energy in the door's direction,

unlocking it. "Enter."

The door swung open, revealing Justice Vlourir, a woman with long black hair and deep frown lines

across her forehead. She wore a judge's black kilt and shirt, with an ivory mask at her belt.

"Lord High Justice Derathar," she said, "I am sorry to trouble you so soon after your sentencing, but

there is a case requiring your judgment."

A small fist thumped in irritation under the table, but went unheard.

"What is the charge?" Andoris asked in an expressionless voice.

"Espionage-specifically, the theft of state secrets. The arcanist Algar Ptack was, under direct

commission from Lord Karsus, researching a way to reverse one of his spells. Lord Karsus hoped the

reversed spell might be used to further decipher the Nether Scrolls. Ptack's research notes from that

project, however, were stolen."

Andoris nodded. Lord Karsus had confided in him, some time ago, the details of this particular

research project. Ptack was trying to reverse his secret script spell, an incantation that made even

magical text indecipherable to anyone who didn't know the command word that would negate the

encryption. If he succeeded in reversing the spell-assuming the Nether Scrolls were ever found again-the

enclave that possessed that spell would be the first to read the scrolls' secrets and would become the

most powerful in all the land. The case was certainly an important one, but did that mean Andoris had to

hear it?

From under the table came a small sigh, audible only to Andoris.

"High Justice Emilus Wentar is qualified to hear evidence in capital cases," he said.

The frown lines on Justice Vlourir's face deepened. "He has heard the case, but he finds it

impossible to reach a judgment. He says the trial invokes questions about legal procedure that only the

Lord High Justice can answer- and that the testimony itself presents an insoluble puzzle."

Visible only to Andoris, the homunculus sat up, ears erect and a gleam in its eye. A puzzle?

As if she had heard the echoed question, Justice Vlourir continued, "There are two defendants. High

Justice Wentar said deciding which is guilty is like trying to choose between a reflection and a mirror."

What do we suppose he meant by that?

Andoris merely inclined his head. "Where is the case being heard?"

"In the Spiral Court. It has been adjourned temporarily, and High Justice Wentar awaits you there."

Andoris nodded. "Inform High Justice Wentar that I'll join him at once."

* * * * *

The Spiral Court had been named for its dominant feature: a flat inlay of white ivory, about two

paces wide, that spiraled up the wall of the circular chamber. As voices echoed up from the floor of the

deep, well-like chamber, ebony-black letters flowed up the spiral: a transcription of the testimony being

given below.

The force of gravity had been twisted during the construction of the Spiral Court, allowing its walls

to serve as floors, and these walls were crowded with the citizens of Karsus Enclave-arcanists and lay

casters alike-who stood at a right angle to the floor below, affording them an excellent view of both the

proceedings and the transcription that flowed past their feet.

At the bottom of the Spiral Court, Andoris sat on an ornately carved chair of solid silver that floated

a hand-span above the floor. He wore his judge's mask-but pushed up onto his head, leaving his face

bare. A few paces behind him, High Justice Wentar sat in a similar chair, listening quietly as portions of

the testimony given earlier were repeated, his face hidden behind his judge's mask. His body appeared

young and trim and his hair was still thick and dark, thanks to age-resisting magic, but his shoulders

slumped with the heaviness of decades of difficult decisions, betraying his true age.

On the opposite side of the room, the stone floor had been marked with two intricate circles,

painted with a brush made from three braided hairs from a minotaur's tail. Each maze-circle was perhaps

two paces wide, and inside each stood a woman with a proud, narrow face and long red hair. One

woman had pulled her hair back with a gold cord and dusted her lips and eyelids with powdered ruby

and was dressed in a silver-gray gown dotted with tiny flecks of black that whorled across its surface like

shifting smoke. The other wore her hair loose over her shoulders and was dressed in gray tights, a loose

gray shirt, and thigh-high boots that were scuffed at the heel and knee.

Though the two women had chosen dramatically different clothes in which to appear before the

court-one looking as though she were ready for a celebration at Lord Karsus's tower, the other as if she

were about to set out on an adventure-their faces were as identical as those of twins. Even their

expressions were the same. Each stood rigidly, glaring haughtily out at the other through the shimmering

circle of latent magic that would cause her to become lost inside the maze-circle were she to try to cross

it, either bodily or with magic. The two women even expressed their tension in the same way: a narrowing

of her pale green eyes and the occasional restless drumming of the fingers of her right hand against her

thigh.One of the women, according to the testimony, was a shadow double-but so cunning was the magic

that had brought it into being that it was impossible to tell which was the arcanist and which the magical

construct. High Justice Wentar had already tried all of the standard tests, but none had shed any light on

the question. Each of the women had a heavy aura of magical dweomer surrounding her-but it was well

known that Blamira, like most arcanists, had prolonged her life span using powerful magic. Wentar had

exhausted himself trying to determine precisely which spells had created this aura, and he failed. Blamira's

magic was too powerful.

He had next ordered the women stripped of all clothing and possessions and had analyzed each of

these objects for any traces of nonfunctionality. Had they been created at the same time as the double, as

part of Blamira's spell, that magic should have been unable to fully sustain them, once they were no longer

in contact with the double. But all of the objects proved to be completely devoid of dweomer-mundane

items acquired by the shadow double after its creation.

In his final test, Wentar had teleported one of the women briefly to another plane, in the hope that

the other would dissipate-something that normally happened when the magical bind between alchemist

and construct was severed by such a distance. Like the other tests, it hadn't worked.

Staring at the women now, Andoris noted that each of them moved independently of the other and

appeared to be fully in control of her own actions. There were none of the usual signs of a shadow

double being commanded by its creator: no hesitancy of speech, no mirroring of movement.

The magic that was sustaining the shadow double was durable. Wentar had already spent the better

part of a day hearing testimony, and the shadow double had not faded in the slightest. Its creator

appeared to have cast a permanency spell upon it.

Prom Andoris's bedchamber-where the homunculus was safely locked away-came a nervous,

worried voice.

We don't like this case, it said, wringing its hands. It reminds us of-

The similarities are superficial, Andoris told it. Be quiet.

He stared expressionlessly at the arcanist who was giving testimony. Algar Ptack, a man with a high

forehead and thinning blond hair that hung to his shoulders, was pacing back and forth in front of the

chairs in which the two judges sat. He wore an alchemist's leather apron over his trousers and a loose

white shirt. The cuffs of his sleeves were dusted with yellow, and the smell of burned sulfur clung to his

clothes, suggesting he'd come straight from his laboratory to give testimony. His eyes were enormous

behind clear glass lenses that floated just in front of his face. As he gave his testimony, he peered

nervously at the two women held inside the magic circles.

Every now and then he glanced to the judges, as if for encouragement, but failed to find it in

Wentar's blank mask or Andoris's emotionless expression. The mantle Ptack had been ordered to wear

while giving testimony- a cape of fine-spun gold-billowed out behind him as he paced, humming like the

strings of a melodious harp with each word he spoke.

"You know I can't lie-not with this thing on," Ptack groused. "I'm telling you the truth. Shiris Blamira

is the thief. I'd engaged her as a consultant for my, ah ... my latest research. I needed her expertise on

magic that reaches into other planes and demiplanes. She guessed what my research notes contained and

figured out how I'd ... where I'd hidden them." He grimaced. "To think I trusted her! I'll never work with

another wizard again- especially one from the Shadow Consortium."

From the walls above came a rustle of subdued voices as Ptack's words spiraled up the ivory inlay.

The crowd of spectators had been growing throughout the day, as whispers spread that a disciple of

Shadow was on trial for stealing state secrets.

Into Andoris's head came a malicious giggle: Shadow had better tread carefully! If his disciple is

found guilty, Karsus may withdraw his favor.

Andoris ignored the homunculus's tittering. "This is a j serious matter," he cautioned Ptack. "You're

accusing a fellow arcanist-a member of the Shadow Consortium- of a capital offence, and yet you have

provided no proof, other than your own testimony, that magical research was stolen from you late

yesterday afternoon, or that it was Shiris Blamira who committed the theft."

Ptack's eyes gleamed behind the floating lenses of his spectacles. "There was a witness," he said.

"One of my servants. It saw the whole thing-but High Justice Wentar refused to hear its testimony."

Wentar, who had been listening quietly, sat up sharply. His blank white mask hid his expression, but

the tone of his voice gave away his irritation.

"He wanted to summon an elemental!" Wentar protested. "It's too dangerous. This court doesn't

have the proper magical containment to-"

Andoris motioned his fellow judge to silence and said, "If there is a witness, its testimony must be

heard."

"If Ptack loses control of it, the elemental could kill us all!" Wentar sputtered.

Back in Andoris's bedchamber, the homunculus rocked back and forth nervously, chewing one of

its finger talons.

What if it does get free? What if it kills someone? We could be blamed. Are we sure we want

to risk-

"This court will hear the testimony," Andoris announced.

Above him, the crowd began to thin as the spectators looked at one another, shook then* heads,

and teleported away.

Andoris turned to Ptack and said, "Summon your witness."

Nodding, Ptack reached into a pocket of his trousers and pulled out a lump of wet clay. Dropping

to his knees, he used it to smear thick gray lines on the floor. When he was done, he rubbed the

remainder of the clay on his palms, then stepped back and curled his hands over the patterns on the floor,

making digging motions as he chanted.

After a moment, the stone at his feet began to bulge. A moment more, and the bulges took on the

shape of a face. Eyes slowly turned in Ptack's direction with a sound like boulders being dragged across

hard ground, and a crack formed and ruptured into a mouth, emitting a dank, earthen smell. The floor

trembled underfoot as the lips slowly began to move.

When the words at last came they were as heavy and slow as a grindstone. "Maaasterrr."

A ripple of relief came from the walls as those spectators who had been brave enough to remain

realized the elemental had indeed successfully been held in thrall. Some of them teleported out to spread

the news, and the hall gradually began to fill again. An excited buzz of voices grew as they realized what

they were seeing.

Ptack had just summoned an earth elemental-a creature that none had suspected existed within

Karsus Enclave. When Lord Karsus had sheared the top off a mountain and used it as the foundation for

his floating city, he must have inadvertently taken the elemental up with it, condemning the creature to an

existence forever severed from the ground below. And yet the thing still lived-and was under Ptack's

control. Equally amazing was the fact that the normally secretive Ptack had revealed this fact.

Ptack concentrated on his spell, his palms pressing down with invisible force, holding the earth

elemental in place.

Tell the Lord High Justice what you saw," he commanded. "Describe the thief who stole my scrolls."

"Humaaan. With... great... maaagic. She... waaalks ... in ... shaaadows."

Andoris nodded. A shadow-walk spell would explain how the thief-if it was indeed Blamira-was

able to enter Ptack's laboratory, protected as it was by numerous magical locks and wards.

"Was it one of these two humans?" he asked, pointing simultaneously at both of the accused.

The elemental's unblinking eyes rolled in their sockets to stare at the closest of the red-haired

women. The ground under her feet bulged then subsided.

"Thaaat... one."

Slowly, the eyes ground in the other direction, and the ground bulged under the second imprisoned

woman.

"And ... thaaat... one."

"Just as I said!" Ptack exclaimed.

Behind the floating lenses, his eyes swiveled briefly to gauge Andoris's reaction to the testimony-but

only briefly. Sweat was running down his temples from the strain of holding the massive elemental inside

the earth.

Andoris leaned forward on his chair. The elemental's eyes were slowly rolling back and forth,

grinding softly in their sockets.

"Which one is the thief?" he asked.

A heat haze shimmered in the air above the elemental's mouth as it licked its lips with a tongue of

molten lava.

"They... taste... saaame."

"Did both of them enter your master's laboratory?"

The floor trembled, forcing Ptack to catch his balance, as the elemental slowly shook its head. On

the walls above, some of the spectators who had been drawn back by curiosity disappeared again.

"Juuust... one."

"Can you tell which one?" Andoris asked. "Nooo."

Ptack, sweating more profusely now, shrugged a shoulder to wipe a trickle of sweat from his

temple, but kept his palms motionless over the elemental.

"Blamira knew about the elemental," he said, "yet she had the audacity to steal my notes, despite the

fact that she was being watched. She must have counted on Went- on this court being too timid to hear

its testimony."

"When did the elemental alert you to the theft?" Andoris asked.

"Immediately," Ptack said. "Unfortunately, Blamira had already fled with my notes." Andoris glanced

at the two accused-both of whom

Were watching the elemental with rapt, silent frowns- then sat back in his chair, considering. It was

possible the elemental was lying, but unlikely. Ptack could control it and force it to carry out his orders,

but he couldn't control its thoughts. It was an independent creature, with a mind of its own-a mind filled

with fury at being forced to serve a mere human. If the elemental did lie, it would do so out of malice, to

damage Ptack's testimony.

We would never do anything like that. We would never, ever tell a lie about our master if we

were ever called to testify. But we wouldn't ever be called to testify, would we? If people knew the

truth about us, it would ruin our reputation.

Andoris ignored the homunculus's words, which were sent in a fawning tone, but with a slight edge.

"The testimony of the witness is deemed valid," he announced. "The witness may be dismissed."

Taking a deep breath, Ptack leaned forward, forcing his hands ever closer to the floor. The

elemental grimaced, causing the floor and walls to tremble violently. It slowly sank back into the floor.

Ptack moved his hands back and forth, as if erasing a picture. A heartbeat later, the floor was smooth,

flat, and featureless, as if the elemental had never been.

As High Justice Wentar let out an audible sigh of relief, Andoris turned to the two accused and said,

"You have heard the testimony given against you. You now have an opportunity to plead guilty or to-"

Both interrupted at once.

"But I'm innocent!" they cried. Each pointed at the other and spoke, their words fitting together like

heartbeats. "She must be-" "She's the one who's-" and came together on the final word, "guilty!"

They continued to protest, each trying to shout the other down. Andoris, noting that the testimony

was becoming jumbled on the ivory spiral-even the Spiral Court was having a hard time telling the two

apart- forked the fingers of his right hand, simultaneously casting a holding spell upon them both. Each

woman froze in place, unable to do more than breathe or blink, but still capable of hearing any testimony

given against her.

"They're both guilty," Ptack muttered, peering back and forth at the frozen figures. "One's the

arcanist, and the other's her shadow double. One directed the crime, the other committed it. Execute

them both-but force them to say what they've done with my research notes, first."

Andoris crooked his finger. "The mantle."

Ptack plucked it from his shoulders with a grateful shudder, as if removing a leech. Andoris

gestured, and the mantle floated across the circle that held the Blamira claimant with the gown and

gem-dusted face. As soon as she was released from her spell she flung the mantle across her shoulders

with a haughty expression and stood poised and expectant, waiting for Andoris's questions.

"Are you Shiris Blamira?" he asked.

"I am," she began, then winced as the mantle struck a slightly sour note. "That is, I believe that I am.

There is a chance, of course, that I am wrong. If I am the shadow double, I wouldn't know it. I have all

of Shiris Blamira's physical and mental attributes, including her spellcasting abilities-even the same

memories."

"And the same motivations to commit theft?" Wentar asked.

Ha! Got her!

Andoris held up a hand. "The accused is not required to speculate on whether she might have

committed the crime," he cautioned. "Only to testify as to whether or not she did commit the crime."

Wentar considered a moment, then said, "Assume, for now, that you are the original Shiris Blamira,

and answer my questions accordingly." He pointed at the woman in the other maze-circle. "Did you

create this shadow double?"

"I must have. It wouldn't be possible for another arcanist to have created so exact a duplicate." "Do

you remember casting the spell?" "No. I know only that the shadow double must have been created

yesterday-and that somehow, my memory of yesterday has vanished."

"What do you remember?" Andoris asked.

"One moment I was sitting in the library of the Shadow Consortium, reading and enjoying my

morning tea, and the next, I found myself in my laboratory, face-to-face with this . . . creature. I thought it

was a doppelganger at first, and only realized what it must be after I tried to magically bind it-and it

dismissed the binding as if it had cast the spell itself. That's when I realized it must be a shadow double."

"Did you try to command it?"

Blamira nodded vigorously. "Immediately-but it didn't work. Somehow, the thing must have become

free willed."

Free willed?

Back in the bedchamber, the homunculus was sitting on the edge of Andoris's four-poster bed,

riveted by the testimony.

"Did you try to dismiss the shadow double?" Andoris asked.

Blamira nodded. "That didn't work either."

"Did you try dispelling the magic that sustained it?"

"Of course I did," Blamira said, curling her lip disdainfully. "I'm not some newly initiated apprentice,

you know."

Andoris thought for a moment, then asked, "When did the constabulary arrest you?"

"At shadowfall-dusk," Blamira answered. "That was the first I heard of the missing research notes."

"Did you steal Ptack's research?" Andoris asked bluntly.

Blamira looked pointedly at her double and said, "One of us did. It may or may not have been me."

"Do you know where the stolen research notes are now?"

"No."

Throughout Blamira's testimony, the mantle of truth echoed her words with a continuous harmony,

without striking a single off note. Blamira was telling the truth.

Andoris tried a different line of questioning. "When your memory returned, what was the shadow

double doing?"

"What do you mean?" Blamira asked, frowning.

"Did it appear to be casting a spell?"

"No. It was just standing there, staring at me."

Andoris sat quietly a moment, considering. "Shadow doubles normally have only a limited duration,

yet this one appears to have been made permanent. A simple permanency spell should have collapsed

under the dispellation spells High Justice Wentar subjected you both to, but this one did not. How do you

explain that?"

"How can I explain anything?" Blamira cried, throwing her hands in the air. "You obviously weren't

listening to what I just said. I have no memory of anything that happened yesterday-including casting the

spell that created the shadow double."

Bitch! Of course we were listening.

Andoris sat on his silver chair, motionless and impassive. He would not allow his judgment to be

swayed by the expression or tone of voice of the accused.

"The court will hear the defense of the second accused," he announced. He pointed at the mantle on

Blamira's shoulder. "Remove the mantle of truth."

As soon as she complied, Andoris froze her in place and floated it to the second woman, dispelling

the magic that prevented her from moving. He posed the same questions-and received almost identical

replies. The second Blamira also swore she had no memory of the shadow double's creation and said her

first clear recollection after the gap in her memories was of she and the shadow double standing in her

laboratory, blinking at each other in confusion. All the while, the mantle hummed in perfect harmony with

her words.

Wentar leaned toward Andoris, his eyes troubled behind his ivory mask. He spoke in a low voice,

but even so, the spiral of ivory picked up his words. "By law, an arcanist is legally responsible for the

actions of any creatures created by his or her magic," he began, "but in this case..."

"In this case, it's obviously not an ordinary shadow double," Blamira interjected, tossing her long red

hair. "It's free willed, with a mind of its own. It could have committed the crime entirely of its own accord,

using my spells and my knowledge of Ptack's research to steal his notes. If that's what happened-and if

you find us both guilty and sentence both of us to die-you’ll be killing an innocent woman. You have no

other option but to find us both innocent, and let us go."

Found innocent. If only we'd had that option with Jelal.

Choking back a sob, the homunculus sank needle-sharp teeth into one of its fingers.

Andoris ignored the mental image of blood dripping from the homunculus's punctured finger. He sat

in silent contemplation as a murmur of voices drifted down from the spectators. Now that the defense of

the two accused-slight though it was-had been heard, all attention was focused on the judges. On

Andoris, in particular. The spectators, the two accused, Ptack, and Wentar all watched his face closely,

looking for the slightest of frowns or the twitch of a mile, hoping to interpret it in their favor. As usual, he

disappointed them.

This court will temporarily adjourn," he announced. "High Justice Wentar and I need to discuss this

case in chambers." He glanced at his fellow judge. "Shall we retire to the Crystal Chamber?"

Wentar nodded behind his mask and spoke the words of the spell that would take them there.

* * * * *

An instant later, both men were standing in a room whose oddly angled walls and ceiling were made

of a clear, glasslike material. Perched on one of the enclave's highest towers, with nothing but air

surrounding it on all sides, the chamber caught the light from all angles. Beams of sunlight slanted in

through walls and ceiling, erupting into thousands of tiny blue and red sparkles, revealing the chamber to

be an enormous, hollow diamond. Wards etched by magic into each facet of the gem prevented those

outside from scrying on those within.

Far below the tower that supported the Crystal Chamber, the rooftops and spires of Karsus

Enclave could be seen, clustered like barnacles on the inverted mountaintop from which the enclave had

been formed. Two buildings stood out from the rest: the cagelike enclosures that housed the enclave's

two mythallars-enormous spheres, more than one hundred and fifty paces in diameter, that channeled raw

magical energy from the Weave. Energy pulsed out of each mythallar, sustaining the magic that kept the

enclave afloat, and powering all quasimagical devices within the energy field's one-mile radius. That

energy was visible to the eye as a light colder than ice and brighter than the hottest flame-and like a flame,

it drew its moths. Those bent upon self-destruction had only to touch one of those brightly glowing

spheres to be instantly killed, without any possibility of resurrection.

Back in the bedchamber, the homunculus shuddered. Horrible, it moaned. A horrible way to die.

Andoris, however, merely turned away from the view. He snapped his fingers, causing a decanter and

two tiny glasses to hover in the air in front of him. He glanced at Wentar, who nodded, then caused the

decanter to tip, filling one glass with a yellow liquid, then nudged it through the air to Wentar. He then

filled the second glass and took a sip. The honey wine was delicious, warm and sweet.

"I'd like to hear your thoughts on the case," Andoris said.

Wentar pushed his mask onto the top of his head and took a sip of wine. He gently swirled the

liquid in his glass, considering it with a slight frown.

"The accused has a point," he began. "If the shadow double was an independent creature that

committed the theft of its own volition-even if the original motivation sprang from its creator's psyche-then

Blamira must be found innocent. Whichever one she is." "Quite so," Andoris agreed.

"It all comes down to the question of when the thing gained free will," Wentar continued. "If the

shadow double was commanded by Blamira at the time of the theft, and only gained or was granted free

will afterward, then Blamira is guilty-and only Blamira. Enclave law states quite clearly that any 'person or

creature' that is magically compelled to commit a crime is innocent of that crime. This shadow double can

indeed be classed as a 'person or creature.' Since it displays permanence combined with independent

thought, it is no longer a 'spell effect' in the eyes of the law. That entitles it to be judged an independent,

sentient being."

Am I a spell effect?

Of course you are, Andoris answered.

"I wish we had some way of telling arcanist and shadow double apart," Wentar continued, "but even

that wouldn't be much help, since we don't know which one committed the crime. I can't just sentence

both of the accused to death, since there is a strong possibility that one of them might be innocent. That's

why I asked that you try the case. I thought you'd discover the truth of the matter-as you always do-but it

looks as though there's no solution to this puzzle. Which means," he sighed again, "that they both must be

set free, I suppose."

The homunculus slammed a fist against the bed. No! We mustn't let her get the better of us!

"That would equally be a miscarriage of justice," Andoris noted, "since one of them is indeed guilty."

"It's the memory loss that perplexes me most," said Wentar. "Not the mechanics-the erased

memories obviously the result of a forgetfulness spell, with its potential for erasure extended well beyond

the few moments of oblivion that were all that Keonid was ever able to achieve. I wonder, though ... did

Blamira try to cast a forgetfulness spell on the shadow double for some reason- perhaps so it couldn't

testify against her-only to unwittingly also cast the spell upon herself?"

"A spell cast upon a shadow double doesn't affect its master," Andoris reminded his fellow judge.

"Even if the shadow double is killed, the arcanist is unharmed-and vice versa."

"Maybe there was another arcanist involved," Wentar mused. "One who cast the spell on Blamira

and her double to cover up any knowledge of his or her involvement in-"

"There's no evidence to support that conclusion," Andoris interrupted. "A forgetfulness spell requires

a line of sight to its target-and according to the second Blamira's testimony, the laboratory in which she

found herself facing the shadow double had a door that was locked from the inside, and wards against

teleportation. If someone else had cast the spell, she would have seen that person in the room. It would

have been her first clear memory. No, logically, Blamira must have been the one who cast the spell on the

shadow double, and on herself at the same time, since neither one remembers seeing the other performing

the spell."

"But why?" Wentar sputtered. "It's hardly logical to commit a crime and erase all memory of the

object you plotted so carefully to steal. How did she ever hope to remember she had Ptack's research

notes, let alone find where she'd hidden them?"

"She'd probably already sold them or traded them for some other consideration," Andoris said.

"Both we-and she-will probably never know who she gave them to." "Making this the perfect crime,"

Wentar groaned. He's right, you know. We may never solve this one. We must.

"The extent of the memory loss is what I find significant," Andoris continued, ignoring the

homunculus's fretting. "Blamira didn't just erase her memories of the crime itself, she erased an entire

day's memories. She has no recollection of the creation of the shadow double or of the exact moment she

made the spell effect permanent." "But why?" Wentar asked.

"There's only one logical reason," Andoris answered. "Blamira wanted to raise the question of

whether the shadow double was free willed from the moment it was created. If she'd conjured up a

normal shadow double, it would have faded into nonexistence long ago-taking with it her clever alibi."

"So she is guilty," Wentar exclaimed, an excited gleam in his eye.

Is she? Then she must pay for her crime, even if she is Shadow's disciple. No favoritism-isn't

that what we say? the homunculus asked bitterly. Not even for our own-

"Not necessarily," Andoris countered. "There's a possibility you're overlooking. The shadow double

has all of Blamira's magical capabilities-and her cunning. There is a possibility that it got the better of

her-that it really did act of its own accord to steal the research notes. The shadow double could have

been the one who cast the forgetfulness spell on Blamira-and on itself-to ensure its own alibi."

Wentar*s shoulders sagged. "So we're back where we started," he groaned.

Back in his bedchamber, the homunculus was pacing, its clawed toes clicking against the hardwood

floor, but Andoris remained calm, in complete self-control. He knew that logic wouldn't fail him-it never

had. Wentar drained his glass, then released it and snapped his fingers, teleporting it away.

"I'm glad you're judging this one, Andoris. This case just gets more and more confusing the more I

try to decipher it. We may just as well be trying to read one of the Nether Scrolls with Ptack's

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RealmsofShadowEditedbyLizzBaldwinScanned,formattedandproofedbyDreamcityEbookversion1.1ReleaseDate:January,30th,2004ContentsLisaSmedman....................................................................................................................................TrialbyOrdealJessLebow...............

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