Battle Mage: The Lost King (Tales of Alus) (12 page)

The taller of the two men smiled and performed a partial bow, inclined just enough to pay his respect without overdoing it. Slightly taller than Sebastian, the brown haired man had a neatly trimmed goatee and held an air of lesser nobility. Though the mage was hardly an expert on nobles, he had been in their presence in most of the castles he had visited over the past year. Being from a farmer’s background in the country, Sebastian had never been one to comprehend their exact nature.

“Captain Drayden Escovar at your service with my companion, Sergeant Kulvayr Roltest,” he gestured to the shorter, stockier man at his side. With dark, scruffy, hair and beard, the sergeant was like night to the captain’s day in that they were so different. “The king sent us hoping that we might be of
service. I and my companion have much experience beyond the borders of Southwall. Perhaps such knowledge will be of use along the way. Otherwise we can sit back and allow the charming Wizard Tanney to lead the way, of course.”

The wizard scowled angrily revealing what she thought of the man. Sebastian, on the other hand, felt like the man put on a false persona just to aggravate the woman. He wondered if Drayden was more of a chameleon and not of the nobility after all. Such talents might be of use if the right situation came up, he supposed.

“Our hostess has already set aside extra rooms for additional members, if she hasn’t already told you. You could have gotten yourselves situated instead of standing in this cold air, if you had wanted,” the mage gestured towards the center cabin and the stairway hidden behind the closed wood door.

“She did inform us, but I told her that you should be called before we took any place aboard,” Maura replied stiffly. He could tell that she would have preferred being inside where it was warm, but that the woman had chosen to be uncomfortable just to spite Annalicia forcing her to summon Sebastian early. The wizard appeared to enjoy trying to upset people, though for what reason he had no idea.

“Lady Annalicia has more than enough authority to either accept arrivals on my behalf or turn them away,” the mage replied coolly as he avoided the woman’s continual gruffness. She wasn’t the first wizard to be stand offish with him during his years as a cadet and falcon. Most he had softened with time, but it was a common enough attitude. Wizards felt naturally superior to everyone around them and the rest of the world simply had to accept or ignore them.

“Be that as it may,” the woman continued with an attitude as cold as the air around them, “I have papers informing you of our intent and approval by the council.”

Idenlare, the fire wizard, handed a sealed envelope to Sebastian appearing a bit smug as well. Charming, Sebastian thought of their newest members sarcastically. Opening the envelope, the falcon half glanced at the paper giving them his view of its worth when all had already been aired anyway.

Captain Escovar handed an envelope to him with his orders as well, though with a bit of a shrug half apologizing for the effort. Men of action didn’t require such gestures, even if a piece of paper helped make things more official.

“Fine, then,” Sebastian declared and gestured once more to the cabin. “Nothing here says that I have been relieved of command, so that means that you are part of my team. Now accept our hostess’s hospitality and stow your gear in the rooms already provided for you.”

His dismissal brought frowns to two of the three wizards, even as he noted small smiles hidden by Annalicia and most of his team. He had put the wizards in their place without being truly rude. They were going to have to live together aboard ship for an unknown amount of time, so getting off to a bad start was to be avoided as best possible. Dealing with such attitudes had become commonplace over the last year, though the mage still wished that they could all get along without the drama so often brought to him.

Noting the dark skinned wizard in blue half smiling at Maura’s dismissal, he knew that even among wizards there was the constant strain between schools of magic. It was a wonder that Southwall ever managed to do anything with such attitudes.

Having dismissed the new arrivals, Sebastian smiled and bowed his head to Annalicia and asked, “If you could have someone show us to our rooms, my lady, it would be appreciated.”

Taking the lead herself, Annalicia and Reynolvan took Sebastian and his team down below ahead of the new arrivals. The young woman turned to Sebastian with bright green eyes virtually shining from her porcelain features. A warm smile preceded her words, “You arrived just in time. I was beginning to think we were going to need to throw them overboard. That,” Anna paused fighting the words she wanted to say and managed, “woman... was getting on my last nerve. She acts as if I must allow her aboard my ship.”

The silvery blond wizard looked about ready to work herself up just talking about the conversation Sebastian had missed. Not wanting his friend and benefactor to relive the moment, the mage replied, “It seems like every city I go to there is at least one wizard who wishes to flaunt their superiority over the rest of us. Unfortunately for us, this one will also be traveling along for now.

“I’ll work on her though, my lady. So far I have managed to soften even the hardest of them,” he assured her.

Blushing slightly, Annalicia waved off the title as she thanked him. “I hope that you do, Sebastian, but please, you do not have to keep calling me my lady, especially when it is just amongst us. We are friends and I owe you my life as well, so just call me Anna or Annalicia. Besides you are not one of my countrymen anyway.” She had a sudden inspiration and added, “Well, maybe a few times in front of our new guests wouldn’t hurt to remind them that it is by my wishes that they are even allowed onboard.”

He smiled in return to hers and let the wizards finish pointing out their rooms. Sebastian found that he was sharing a room with Collin, while Yara and Nara would renew their bonding time as well. He was beginning to think that the two couples had been separated from the others because of those relationships, but perhaps he was reading too much into the planning. Once situated, Sebastian joined the others on deck. Since everyone was already there, the Sea Dragon soon released its mooring lines and turned out in the manmade harbor. The break line was quickly behind them and the waves began to grow as the ship made its way southeast leaving Southwall behind them.

Lord Romonus looked frustrated. Repeated glances to the retreating Sea Dragon continued to work the lord up in a state.

“Do not worry, my lord,” Themenor stated as he watched the vessel slowly shrink into the distance. “We have at least an hour or more before I might have trouble finding them again.” A small bit of curiosity formed in the wizard’s eyes at the Kardorian’s continued fascination in the ship and its passengers. He was a Southwall wizard and his loyalty still remained with his country after all. As long as his potential new benefactor didn’t require him to compromise his loyalties, Themenor had no issues over following a ship.

The wizard’s assurance eased the plump lord letting him slow down. His ship was nearly ready to cast off as well. The Kardorian crew and his newest wizards were on the ship, many of the latter were even on deck watching the situation unfold. With no real preparations left undone, the Carnivore could pursue his quarry soon enough. Romonus calmed and thought the situation through.

If Themenor was as good as his word, then it would make sense to wait. It wouldn’t do to tip their hand by mirroring the Malaiy frigate so soon. Giving them space would allow those he was interested in to do as they needed to do. Romonus needed them relaxed that he might find out what they were truly up to with this voyage. There was no way that Southwall would just send away one of their most talented mages on a useless mission. He was up to something, and if it would benefit Kardor, then the lord wished to find out what it was.

“Should I have the captain cast off?” Deiclonus asked his lord ready to follow the command.

Running his fingers from his forehead along the bald skin to the surrounding receding hairline, Lord Romonus considered his options. With a shake of his head, he replied, “Have him make sure that we have everything ready to go. Once the Sea Dragon is completely out of sight, have him cast off. We will let Wizard Themenor use his magic to keep track of the frigate.”

Deiclonus nodded as he too wondered what his master had in mind. These were their allies after all, and saviors as well given that Sebastian had been the one to drive off a pack of wolves north of the wall weeks earlier with his battle mages. He doubted that the lord wished them any harm, but his motives had begun to worry the wizard for awhile. It was one thing to recruit wizards to help energize a weakening kingdom, but it was another matter entirely when they started chasing after allies in such a way.

Helena stood wrapped in her warm fur coat near the central cabin. The girl’s eyes betrayed no worry save for the cold and a little uncertainty of an ocean voyage.

Smiling at his daughter Lord Romonus added, “We’ll give them space to do whatever they need to do. I just wish to see what it is they plan to do.” With a last word to Deiclonus, “Tell the captain we leave in half an hour and will follow the wizard’s lead,” the lord opened the wooden door to head back below deck to avoid the cold breeze followed by Helena.

Chapter 9- A Passing Folly

Sebastian held the device with the large, green jewel looking once more to the two red dots on its face. The one to the northwest was beginning to dim as they moved in the opposite direction and the one to the southeast maintained its strong glow. If he understood Darius’s instruction on the device properly, the first dot would change to a dim orange until they found the first point on their course. Once found, the new point would replace the original as they chased after the immortal king.

It wasn’t a difficult thing to understand and as the mage looked to the horizon, he could make out the silhouette of a large island slowly growing in his sight. Folley Island was in their path, but he doubted that there was anything on the young island that would interest them. Though the king could very well have visited the island, Folley had become part of Southwall and had a fair population dedicated to enriching the earth to make it a habitable piece of land. It had not always had the lush farmland it had now. Generations of wizards and farmers had worked the land bringing good earth and removing the salt that had once littered most of the island.

Folley Island was just one of many such islands that been raised from the sea in the cataclysm less than two hundred years ago. There were many undiscovered and unnamed islands in the sea, while some countries that had once been part of the continent had broken free to become islands as well. With all those hiding places, Sebastian knew that only the device would have a prayer of finding evidence of Gerid let alone being able to find the lost king. His mission was considered impossible by many and even the mage had to consider the improbability of finding a man lost for nearly two centuries.

Glancing to Maura and Idenlare, who was riding the winds for the second time that day, he could see in their eyes that doubt of success. They were simply along to chaperone and see if he could actually produce any of what Darius had inferred that he could find. Sebastian also thought that Maura might even hope he would fail, though he wasn’t quite sure why. Perhaps the wizard merely didn’t want a battle mage to succeed where others had failed.

Rumors had abounded almost from the moment that he had disappeared. Some believed Gerid dead and some believed the Dark One held him somewhere beneath his mountain. Others had put out the idea that keeping the immortal too near the emperor’s lair was unlikely and had suggested perhaps he was actually on one of the islands that they were now going to search.

Sebastian had heard those and other ideas, but between the device and the thought that the king would in fact be a danger to the emperor held too near both the mountain and the people of Southwall, the mage considered an island prison a very good possibility. It would keep the immortal safely out of the way, while if the emperor was using him for experiments, as Sebastian had considered since the appearance of Garosh, he would also be available for such necessary involvement.

“What are you thinking about so hard?” Yara asked as she walked the deck from the cabin area. The sun was bright, but the breeze across the deck was still quite chill. Wrapped in a brown cloak pulled close by her fingers as she huddled within, the girl also wore more than one layer of wizard robes beneath it as well. Yara was born of the sturdy, northern stock, but it was still cold.

Within the warmth of his bubble of air formed by an air shield, the mage was almost surprised by her appearance. “Just looking at Folley and thinking about where this trip might lead us,” he answered frankly. Moving his gaze from the pretty girl nearly hidden within her layers, the mage once more watched the horizon and the first island.

Nodding caused a lock of blond hair to slip free onto her forehead to be left all but ignored as Yara kept hold of the protective cloak. “If the device is right, then there is a lot of unexplored territory in this direction. Locals, like the old pirates, won’t exactly be dropping off maps of hidden islands after all.

“At least the device Darius gave you will limit the search to a certain path,” the girl added and followed his look to the horizon where the gray form of Folley Island sitting in the sea rose directly before them. “Do you think we should stop at the island or just go around it?”