By Christopher Leeson
Once we had entered the kingdom of Sulidir, it occurred to me to ask the Lady Elekta about Cawdour's medallion -- the one that he had swallowed before my astonished eyes.
"Did he ever talk to you about it?" she inquired.
"Only that it focused his magic, and also that he preferred it to a wand because it left his hands free. He said I was to have it; he wanted me to claim it once he was dead."
The lady nodded. "Yes, you will need Cawdour's mandala or something like it. An item of such power will resist any claimant who has not received it by gift from its former owner. You should get possession of it as soon as possible."
I stared into her still-handsome face. "It must have been buried with him!"
"I'm very sorry."
I realized what she was suggesting. I revolted at the thought of robbing a grave, especially that of a man whom I had honored on a level with my own father.
"It is ironic," Elekta added.
"What?"
"That the medallion should be emblazoned with the sun on one side and the moon on the other. One symbolizes the energies of the male, while the other acknowledges the energies of the female. He told me that the mandala could serve either a man or a woman, but I now wonder how it will perform when the user is both…."
She then frowned thoughtfully. "I wonder whether it is only accidental, this dual sexuality of both you and the medallion. Fate may have placed the thing into Cawdour's hands only that he should be its caretaker, abiding the time when...another would come into her own. An item so powerful will always seek out the spellcaster most worthy of it."
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A Name for the Goddess
