Ascendant (25 page)

Finally, the
ambassador arrived, walking slowly, his head held high. He wore a costume
covered in gold braid, and a tall hat with tassels. When he reached the bottom
of the steps up to where Carlana sat, he bowed, and presented a sealed scroll
to a guard, who carried it up the steps to the Regent. Carlana broke the seal,
opened the scroll, read it carefully, and handed it to Paedris, who also read
it, then nodded.

“
I am Carlana Trehayme, Regent
of Tarador, and this is Lord Paedris don Salva, master wizard. Your credentials
from His Majesty the Raj appear to be in order. We recognize you as the
official ambassador from the Indus empire.
”

The ambassador
bowed twice, to the Regent and to the wizard, it might have been Ariana
’
s imagination but it
seemed that he bowed more deeply to the wizard.
“
I am Usay Ulligrapat, the Bey of Begal, and I
have the honor of being the representative of His Most Gracious Majesty the Raj
.
”

Koren leaned
over to whisper to Ariana.
“
What
did he say his name is?
”

“
I think he said Oopsy
Underpants.
”
She whispered back with a wink.

Koren could
not help snickering, and the maids who were standing behind Ariana burst into
laughter.

“
Oopsy underpants!
”
One of the maids repeated,
loud enough to be heard by the ambassador. Ariana tried to shush them into
silence, but it was too late. The ambassador looked up at them, his face red.
His warriors, angry at the insult to their ambassador, moved to surround him.
Carlana was staring daggers at her daughter.

“
Uh oh.
”
Koren saw the wizard
looking at him, and tried to put on his best innocent face. He knew Ariana was
in big trouble. Before the ceremony, Carlana had told her daughter how
important it was for Tarador to have friendly relations and support from the
powerful Raj of Indus.

Carlana rose
from her throne.
“
Ambassador,
please excuse my daughter the crown princess, she is still a very silly young
girl sometimes.
”

The ambassador
was not satisfied by the Regent
’
s
apology.
“
What
was the crown princess laughing at?
”

Ariana knew
she had to do something, or risk insulting the Raj. With Tarador at war, she
could not afford to lose such an important ally. She stepped forward, and the
crowd parted as she walked toward the ambassador.
“
Bey of Begal, I apologize
to you, and to His Majesty the Raj. My servants were laughing because I could
not pronounce your name correctly.
”

“
My name?
”

“
Oo-say Ull-ig-ra-pat?
”
Ariana said very slowly.
“
Is that correct?
”

“
Yes. What is funny about
my name? It is honored in my land!
”

“
And well it should be. It
was Trypan Ulligrapat who led the army of Indus to victory against the Kuhlan
Horde, are you related to him?
”

The ambassador
nodded.
“
Trypan
was my ancestor.
”

Ariana bowed.
“
I am honored to speak to
his descendant. If the Kuhlan Horde had not been stopped, they would have
overrun Tarador, for we were at war with Acedor then, as we are now.
”
Ariana put her arm
through the ambassador
’
s
arm, and steered him toward the dining room, where a feast awaited.
“
Tell me, please, when the
Horde came through the mountain passes, how did your ancestor get the idea to
trap them by flooding the river valley?
”

“
You have read your
history, young lady. Are you familiar with-
“

The ambassador
accepted Ariana
’
s
apology, and the dinner feast was very successful. Ariana smiled and laughed at
the ambassador
’
s
jokes, and Carlana
’
s
army commanders talked about the great long-ago battle between Indus and the
Kuhlan Horde. That was a subject about which the ambassador could speak for
hour on end. After the dinner, a tired Ariana walked up to her chambers to
collapse into bed. Carlana was waiting for her. Ariana hung her head.
“
I
’
m sorry, mommy. I was
stupid and childish.
”

Carlana swept
her daughter into her arms and kissed the top of her head.
“
No, you were wonderful.
Yes, you shouldn
’
t
have laughed at him, what was so funny anyway?
”

“
Koren asked me the Bey
’
s name, and I called him
Oopsy Underpants.
”

“
Oopsy-
“
Carlana burst into
laughter.
“
That
is funny. I would have laughed too.
”

“
You
’
re not mad at me?
”

“
I was. Don
’
t do that again, we need
our allies. Ariana, when you are the queen, you are going to make many
mistakes. What you showed me tonight is that you can take responsibility, and
fix your mistakes, by yourself.
”
Carlana stepped back and looked at her daughter.
“
If you can stop being a silly girl, I think
you might become a very good queen, someday.
”

“
Yes, Mother.
”

On the day
when the first significant snow of the season fell on the castle, the wizards
arrived. When he discovered Koren
’
s
power, Paedris had sent word far and wide to other wizards, asking them for
advice and help. One wizard Paedris had not invited was Dragotil, for that man
had earned the displeasure of Lord Salva by failing to discover Koren's magical
power, and thus Dragotil was on his way to a new assignment in a land far to
the south of Tarador. The first wizard to enter the castle was a woman,
slender, with dark hair and green eyes. She might have been young, or old,
Koren couldn
’
t
tell, there was something very mysterious about her. Paedris whispered to Koren
that her name was Chu Wing, and she was from Ching-Do, a very large empire far
to the east. She had been visiting a wizard in the east of Tarador when the
message from Paedris reached her, or she could not have arrived so soon. The
wizard she rode in with was a man Koren would never have guessed was a wizard;
he was of average height, with a round belly, curly red hair, and red freckles
across his face. He looked like an innkeeper, not a wizard. Shomas Feany was
his name, and he greeted Paedris with a ferocious hug which knocked Paedris
’
breath away.

Paedris
instructed Koren to show the wizards to their rooms, which Koren had prepared a
week before. Shomas quickly dropped his bundle on the bed, and set off for the
royal kitchens. The woman let Koren carry her saddlebags for her, and he set
them down carefully on the floor of her room.

“
Madam Wing-
“
Koren began.

“
Madam Chu.
”
She corrected him.
“
In Ching-Do, our family
name comes first.
”

“
Oh.
”
Koren blushed with
embarrassment.
“
Madam
Chu. Is there anything I can get for you?
”

“
No, I will dine later,
with Lord Salva. Come here, boy, let me look at you.
”

Koren inched
carefully forward, still wary of wizards. She held his chin in her hand,
looking into his eyes and turning his head back and forth. Then she pressed a
palm to Koren
’
s
forehead and closed her eyes. He felt suddenly very warm.

“
Aay-ya!
”
Madam Chu exclaimed, and
she released Koren, her eyes open wide, and she gasped to catch her breath,
clutching her hands to her chest.

“
Are you all right, Madam
Chu?
”

“
I am- I am fine, Koren.
Foolish, but fine. Leave me, please, we will speak later.
”
She looked troubled, and
her face was pale.

“
Did I do something wrong?
”
Koren asked as he paused
in the doorway.

“
No. I was, you could say,
I was testing Lord Salva.
”

The last of
the three wizards arrived well after midnight, and raised a fuss because the
castle gate was closed. Paedris roused Koren out of bed to fetch the man from
the gate, stable his horse, carry up his bags, and bring whatever hot food was
available from the royal kitchens. This man was tall, and thin, with very dark
brown skin, and he was not friendly at all. Koren didn't blame the man for
being grumpy, having travelled far and then kept waiting in the cold. Something
about him reminded Koren of a bird, one of those tall, thin birds which stands
at the water
’
s
edge, peering down into the water, waiting for fish. He too insisted on
examining Koren, but only grunted, and remarked that Lord Salva had better know
what he was talking about, to make a man ride many leagues in the cold weather.
It was well after two in the morning before Koren collapsed into bed.

Over the next
week, as the snow fell, and then melted, the four wizards met behind closed
doors in the laboratory chamber on the fifth floor of the tower. Long into the
night the wizards talked, and cast spells, and strange lights coming through
the windows had people all over the castle talking. What was going on in there,
people asked Koren, even Ariana asked him. But other than bringing food, and
herbs and plants needed for potions, and cleaning up, Koren really didn
’
t know what was going on.
Of course, what Koren told people was that he
couldn
’
t
say,
but he hinted that of course he
knew
, he just wasn
’
t
allowed
to say.
It was all secret wizard things, dangerous for other people to know about. To
Ariana, he told only the truth; he didn
’
t
know, but he was scared being around so many wizards, and not sleeping well.

On the ninth
day after the wizards arrived, it was relatively warm, and sunny, and Paedris
called for a break. Paedris, Madam Chu, and the late-arriving wizard who called
himself Lord Mwazo rode out of the castle gate, to examine a ruined ancient
city that lay across the river to the east. Shomas, who insisted Koren call him
Shomas instead of Lord Feany, actually helped straighten up the tower a bit,
then rode out with Koren to collect roots in the forest.

“
That
’
s a fine horse,
”
Shomas said admiringly.
His own horse looked like it should be pulling a heavy plow across a field,
instead of carrying a wizard.
“
Is
that the devil horse you tamed?
”

“
No sir,
”
Koren replied, patting
Thunderbolt on the neck,
“
he
was never a devil, and I didn
’
t
tame him. He allows me to ride him.
”

“
Ah. Yes, I understand,
very good.
”
Shomas said, with a wink.
“
How
do you like living with a wizard, Koren?
”

“
Truly, sir, it
’
s kind of frightening. I
know you wizards mean well and all, but you
’
re so powerful that I
’
m afraid Paedris will turn
me into a frog by accident.
”

“
Ha!
”
Shomas laughed.
“
Not all wizards are
powerful, young Koren. Paedris is stronger than the three of us combined, by
far. And Madam Chu is much stronger than either me or Mwazo. Of course, there
are different kinds of strengths in magic. I am probably the best healer of us
four, and I'm good with plants and animals, anything to do with nature, but I
’
m not so good at throwing
fireballs.
”
Shomas held his palm up, and only a feeble, flickering glow hovered above his
hand.
“
Mwazo
can
’
t even do
that. Uh, don
’
t
tell him I told you that.
”