Ascendant (39 page)

Koren shook
his head. He wasn't buying the sword, the money would come from the wizard's
pockets. The sword would be Koren's to use while he served the wizard, but it
would not be his property, any more than the brooms, mops or other tools around
the tower. "No, sir, it's fine the way it is. Thank you, sir, this is a
fine blade."

"None
finer." Hedurmur beamed with pride, as he held the sword up and sighted
down its length. "People think the strength of our metal comes from the
way we work the metal in our forges, or the mixture of oil we use in the
quench, or the quality of the ores we mine up in the mountains. The truth is,
it's all that combined, plus more." He winked. "And that's all I'll
say about it now. Give my regards to the wizard, please."

The Lady
Carlana Trehayme, Regent of Tarador and mother of the crown princess, closed
the heavy accounts book with a loud thump and rubbed her tired eyes.
"Enough of these accounts for tonight, I am weary of keeping track of
grain storage-"

"Forgive
me, your Highness," Chancellor Kallron interrupted gently, "we
must-"

"Enough!"
Carlana fairly shouted, and emphatically slapped the leather cover of the
accounts book. She picked up her half-empty wine glass and drained it in one
long drink, then waved away the servant who was coming to refill the glass.
"Yes, we need to look at this, but not tonight. Not tonight. Tomorrow
morning, then we can look at this again, after I have breakfast, and perhaps a
ride into the countryside. The wizard promised the weather will be better
tomorrow; these cloudy, chilly days have me down. I do so need a ride."

Kallron rose
from his chair, gathered up his books and scrolls, and bowed slightly to the Regent.
"Certainly, your Highness." He would be up late, again, reviewing the
royal accounts by himself, only royalty could decide when they wanted to work,
or not. The rest of the world worked when they had to, which was all the time.
"I shall wait upon you in the morning."

"Wait,
Chancellor, before you go, how is my daughter able to maintain her personal
guard in the Thrallren? I received a report from my captain there," she
absent-mindedly searched for the particular scroll amongst the disorderly pile
on her table before giving up, "and her troops are still there, with no
sign they are preparing to leave anytime soon. In fact, the commander of her
guard ordered new pack mules. Surely she has run out of money by now."
Carlana had expected her daughter to raise the subject, and apologize, but the
princess had not mentioned it once.

"Oh,
that." Kallron had been dreading this question from the Regent. "Your
daughter has been able to obtain a loan, from a merchant banker, a substantial
loan. She will be able to fund her personal guard until she becomes
queen."

"My
daughter dealt with a banker? When? How did she-" Her eyes narrowed.
"She didn't,
you
did, didn't you?"

"Not
personally, I had it handled with extreme discretion. The banking house does
not know the loan was to your daughter."

"Those
tight-fisted merchants don't loan money to strangers. What did you do?"
She asked suspiciously.

The chancellor
felt like a fish on the end of a hook, dangling in front of the Regent.
"The princess gave me an emerald ring, to use as surety for the loan. The
merchant was led to believe the loan is to an unnamed baroness. Your daughter said
she rarely wore this ring, so it is unlikely to be recognized?"

Carlana didn't
know whether to be angry, proud or amused. "I know that ring. It's ugly,
it's been in the family for years, but I don't think anyone has ever liked
it." She smiled, with only one side of her mouth. "My daughter has
out maneuvered me, I suppose I should be proud."

"She is a
very determined young woman, your Highness. And clever."

"Determined
and clever may also be viewed as stubborn and sneaky, chancellor. It does not
help that my chancellor went behind my back."

"Please
understand, I am in a very difficult position, your Highness. Legally, I am
your daughter's chancellor, and I am responsible to her for personal matters.
This did not affect state funds or property, and your daughter ordered me not
to tell you."

"Don't
make this a habit, chancellor."

Koren stored
his tools in a closet on the second level of the wizard
’
s tower, it was a cramped,
dark room with no window. He was putting his tools back, one day after cleaning
up after one of the wizard
’
s
explosive potion experiments, when he knocked a chisel off the shelf. It struck
the floor, cutting a chip out of the stone. Koren wasn
’
t concerned about damage
to the floor, it was already scarred from centuries of hard use. He picked up
the chisel, the same chisel he had used to break the iron gate in his failed
search for the Cornerstone.  The chisel was unharmed by its fall. He was
about to place it back on the shelf, when the deep scratch in the floor caught
his eye.

Getting down
on his knees, Koren inspected the mark the chisel had made in the stone floor.
It looked familiar. Without thinking what he was doing, he picked up a hammer,
and used the chisel to make the gouge in the stone longer.

"Son of
a-" He exclaimed.

The marks made
by the chisel looked exactly like the scrape marks in the floor of the
Cornerstone chamber! Everyone assumed the marks had been caused by the enemy
dragging the Cornerstone across the floor. But, if those marks had been made by
a chisel, the enemy must have carved the marks to make the people of Tarador
think
the Cornerstone had been hauled away. The scrolls Koren had read all said those
scrape marks proved the Cornerstone had been dragged off its platform, and
across the floor. Could he be the first person to see the truth?

But if the
Cornerstone had not been dragged away, what had happened to it?

"Ho,
young master Bladewell, are you ready?" The weapons master asked, as he
wiped down the sword he had been using to spar against one of the royal brats he
had to train. Or, had to waste his time with, since most of them were not
serious about learning weapons craft. His time with Koren was, by contrast,
pure delight, for the wizard's servant was diligent and never complained. And,
having never used weapons other than a bow before, Koren had no bad habits the
weapons master needed to correct.

"Yes,
sir. I have a new sword, sir, Paedris bought it for me to use."

"The
wizard bought it for you?" The man said with a frown. "A soldier
should choose his own weapons."

"Oh, I
did, sir, I chose this blade, I should say that Paedris paid for it.
Hedurmur-"

"Hedurmur?
You have a dwarvish blade? Give it here, let me see it." The man demanded
eagerly. "Hmm, yes, a fine blade," he cut the air with it, and tested
its balance, "a fine blade indeed!
I
don't have such a blade. This
is true dwarvish make, not one of the human-made blades the dwarves only
finish, this comes from the forges of Kzod itself." He sighted down the
blade suspiciously, and tested the sharpness of the edge by lightly running it
along one of the thick, heavy leather armor vests which hung on the wall of the
weapons storeroom. Even with very light pressure, the blade sliced right
through the leather, as if it were passing through water. The weapons master whistled
admiringly. "Koren, try something for me," he asked as he handed the
sword back to the boy, "test the edge by running your thumb along it.
Carefully, go lightly!"

Koren did as
he was asked, and was disappointed to feel the edge was dull. "Sir, I'm
sorry, I only got this blade two days ago, I don't know why it isn't
sharp." He said with shame. A soldier cares for his weapons, he should
have honed it that morning.

"Ha! It
is sharp," the weaponsmaster held up the sliced-open vest to demonstrate,
"that you have there is a magic-spelled blade. Dwarvish magic. It can't
cut you. And it will almost never go dull, so don't you bother trying to
sharpen it. Paedris himself has such a blade, yes, him and the old king,
Ariana's father. Our wizard paid a handsome sum for a blade like that, I
reckon. Don't you let anyone monkey with that blade, they'd slice themselves
open to the bone before they knew it. Now, let's put a brass guard on your new
blade, and see how you use it."

"Yes,
sir," Koren said while gazing in awe at his sword. Hedurmur nor Paedris
had mentioned anything special about the blade. "Uh, sir, could you teach
me to fight against an axe?"

"Hedurmur
thumped you good, then?" The weapons master smiled. "All right, it's
time you learned to fight against our foul orc enemy."

“
Hello, Kyre!
”
Koren shouted across the
courtyard, waving at his friend.

Kyre was still
sore from his own sparring session with the weapons master the day before, and
in a foul mood. It was late, and the early Spring night was cold, he wanted to
hurry across the courtyard and relax in front of a warm fire, not waste time
chatting with the wizard
’
s
servant. And Niles Forne had again scolded Kyre for going out riding with
Koren, rather than attending to his duties. Riding horses with the wizard's
servant was one of the few times in a week that Kyre could relax and forget
about rank and protocol for a while, for Koren knew nothing about either.
“
Koren, when we
’
re in public, it is proper
for you to call me
‘
your
Grace
’
. I
’
m not a kitchen servant
you can shout at.
”
Forne
’
s suggestion that Kyre was
not loyal to his father had stung him, and Kyre had been avoiding Koren for a
week.

“
Oh, sorry, your Grace.
”
Koren bowed slightly, the
smile falling away from his face.
“
Good
evening to you.
”

Kyre grunted
and was about to walk away, when Koren spoke again. He had spent most of the
day cooped up in the tower by himself, and was eager to talk to someone,
anyone. And, being a teenage boy, he couldn't resist teasing his friend.
“
Full moon tonight, your
Grace.
”

Kyre spun
around, angry to be delayed in the cold by stupid small talk, when he had an
idea.
“
Yes,
”
he agreed with a wicked
smile,
“
it is
a full moon. Koren, you
’
ve
been here in the castle a while now, have you ever climbed the old bell tower
on the night of a full moon?
”

Koren looked
up at the bell tower, part of the original fortress. It was no longer part of
the outer wall, so no guards patrolled on top of it.
“
No, why? I
’
ve been up there in
daylight.
”

“
It
’
s a tradition. Young royal
men do it to prove they are brave. But don
’
t
worry about it, you
’
re
just a servant.
”
Kyre
turned as if to leave.

Koren was
hooked.
“
I can
do it! What
’
s
so scary about an old tower?
”
Koren looked up at the stone spire. It wasn
’
t even very tall, as
towers go.

“
The tower isn't scary, it
’
s the full moon. When the
enemy captured the castle, they were let inside by traitors, and one of the
traitors killed the guards on top of that tower, before they could warn of the
attack. The ghosts of those guards still patrol that tower, and you can only
see them in the light of a full moon.
”

“
Really?
”
Paedris had never
mentioned that there was anything special about the light of a full moon.

“
Really.
”
Kyre said, as if he were
a wizard himself.
“
I
’
ve been up there, you can
hear them and see them.
”
Kyre
’
s felt butterflies in his
stomach when he remembered being paralyzed by fear on the stairs of the tower,
he had not actually gone all the way to the top, although he
’
d never admit that to
anyone.
“
Of
course,
”
he
said haughtily,
“
I
wasn
’
t scared.
Koren, you don
’
t
have to do this.
”

And so, of
course, Koren had to do it.