The Power and the Glory

Book 2 Chapter II: In the Crypt

Mike said nothing, which was a good deal better than saying what he would have liked to have said. -- P. G. Wodehouse, Mike and Psmith

Once again Abihira stared at the corpse. Once again she felt sure the corpse wasn't actually staring at her. Never once did she turn her head to look at her. Now that she'd raised her hand she kept it up, as if she'd forgotten it lower it again.

How very strange, Abihira thought. "Can you talk?"

Silence. Perhaps this needed some more necromancy. She pictured a voice box -- she knew what one looked like from her experiments in dissecting fresh corpses back in Seroyawa -- and tried to imagine how it would work as someone spoke. That was something cutting open bodies hadn't taught her. Any medical professional would have shook their heads in despair at the picture she conjured up. Then she gathered her magic and reached out with it towards the corpse.

Speak, she ordered it.

It opened its mouth. Then it closed it again. It repeated this over and over until it looked like nothing so much as one of Mirio's pet fish. No sound came from its mouth. Abihira scratched her head. This necromancy business was turning out far more complicated than she'd expected.

"Can you still understand me?" she asked.

The corpse froze with its mouth still hanging open. Its veil, still covered in mud, had gotten stuck together so that it no longer covered all of its face. The left side of its face was almost completely bare, while the right side was still behind the veil. All things considered it was not a sight that would strike terror into anyone's heart -- except perhaps someone with an intense dislike of mud. Slowly it nodded. If it was possible for a not-quite-sentient walking corpse to be wary of answering, that one was then. It was almost as if it knew it wouldn't like whatever she said next. 

"Good. Now listen closely. There is a woman named Haliran--" Abihira stopped abruptly as she realised she didn't know Haliran's matronymic. "Er, Haliran-rúdaun. She lives in Kastlán Manor."

Never before had a corpse worn such an air of sheepish non-comprehension. None of Abihira's creations were exactly alive, but all of them were capable of feeling and displaying emotion. Even the skeletons had managed to convey confusion and helplessness. It was very strange. Just how much did they understand of the world around them? Did they know they were dead? Perhaps they still had some memory of being alive. Or perhaps emotions somehow lingered after death. Whatever the reason, it needed investigation. Abihira made a mental note to look into that later.

Now, where was she? Oh yes. Explaining where Haliran lived. It seemed she needed to give more thorough directions than just naming the house.

"Do you know where Kastlán Manor is?"

The corpse shook her head.

"Ever heard of Ialimu Avenue?"

The corpse continued to shake her head. It was hard to tell if she was answering the second question or hadn't yet stopped answering the first one.

Using necromancy as a weapon had sounded like such a good idea in the immediate aftermath of Haliran's unwanted visit. Now that she was confronted with the actual drawbacks of such a scheme, Abihira had to admit it wasn't quite as good an idea as it had seemed. Perhaps it would be easier if she was a more experienced necromancer. But she had to sort this out tonight, before Ilaran went to her grandmother when court opened tomorrow. She didn't have time to practice.

Giving the corpse directions would obviously not work. So there was only one possible course of action left open to her. She would have to lead the corpse directly to Haliran herself.