Call of the Kings (13 page)

Virgile nodded, then rolled the words ‘Destiny Stone’ and ‘Avebury’ around his tongue, and his opaque gray eyes shone.

‘I feel the history of your place by just mentioning the names. With your permission, when this is all over, I would like to visit.’

‘If this invasion by your Duke of Normandy is successful, you’ll control it,’ Tara said.

‘Never,’ replied Virgile. ‘It will always belong to the bones beneath the stones and the local venefici, eh, old master?’

Twilight nodded.

‘Do you have animals in ligamen to you?’ Tara asked, flashing him a picture of her beloved Eoghan and Feasa.

Virgile blinked and then nodded. ‘Nothing like as fearsome as those great hounds. Mine are peregrines, a swift, brave, and intelligent hawk. There are many pairs in Normandy and they have proved worthy companions to me in times of crisis.’

‘More birds.’ Tara smiled. ‘What is it with you male venefici and the feathered species?’

Virgile raised an eyebrow at Twilight. ‘Pica,’ he said softly. ‘I detected them immediately as you no doubt did with my peregrines.’

‘Gira and Desi are interesting names,’ the old enchanter said with a smile, naming Virgile’s lead pair of peregrines. ‘Did you bring any of them with you?’

It was a polite question to which they both knew the answer.

‘No. There are plenty of peregrines here if required.’

Twilight sighed. ‘There are many things to discuss, but we’d better get down to the business of this invasion and our parts in it. Unlike you, Virgile, we are not so enamoured of the antics of our king as to watch over him too closely. True, we have assisted him in the past, but only on the basis that he was the lesser of two evils. Our prime concern is for our own region, which is called Wessex and lies to the west of here, and maintaining the ways of the Celts who live there. Naturally we have secondary aims encompassing the entire country of England and how that impacts on Wessex, and it may even be that your Norman duke offers a better long-term solution than the current line of succession.’

‘Shall we just leave them to get on with it?’ Virgile’s deep bass rumbled. ‘Ignore their clarion calls for our magic to enhance their battle positions?’

Twilight and Tara considered this for a moment before the old enchanter spoke.

‘Provided the armies are evenly matched in manpower, as I believe they are, then it comes down to tactics. The one who employs the best battle plan and carries it out will emerge as the victor.’

He looked at Tara.

‘What say you, special one?’

‘Leave them to their own destiny,’ she said firmly.

‘I agree, my duke is on his own,’ responded Virgile.

‘So be it,’ replied Twilight. ‘The winner takes all.’

The battle raged all the next day. Harold moved his men to Senlac Hill near Hastings, and William marched his troops to meet him. The ebb and flow of the fighting saw the two armies come together with neither yielding. The boggy, hilly terrain made it difficult for the Norman knights to press home their mounted attack, so it was infantry against infantry. Gradually Harold’s soldiers began to gain the upper hand and press the invaders back. On the right-hand flank the Normans suddenly broke and ran back down the hill with Harold’s soldiers chasing them. It was a mistake and gave the Normans the opportunity they’d been waiting for. An opening for their mounted knights, who quickly surrounded the English soldiers who’d followed the fleeing Normans. The knights cut them down. Despite pleas from Harold and his senior soldiers to maintain the line, more English troops poured down the hill and were cut off. In a last, desperate attempt to save his isolated soldiers, Harold gave the command to charge. A black cloud of arrows from the Norman bowmen met them, with one piecing Harold’s eye. He died quickly on the field and his pennant was lowered.

No veneficus played any part in the battle.

William, Duke of Normandy, had won.

It is recorded that on this very day the great sky trail of lights that later became known as Haley’s Comet completed its seventy-year fly-past over the battle site near Hastings.

Two days after the Battle of Hastings, Twilight and Tara walked along the line of Destiny Stones at Avebury with Virgile. Stopping at each stone, one of them would recount the history of its veneficus for their Norman guest.

‘So many parallels, so many similarities,’ sighed Virgile. ‘When you come to Carnac and I return the favour, you will see that whilst each veneficus is unique, regardless of which country or region they came from, their unflinching actions in carrying out their duties are identical. Regardless of their mother tongue and unknown to each other, they were all imbued with the same spirit and trod the same paths. It is very humbling for me to see these great stones and to know that we represent a history of unchanging venefical actions and bardic customs stretching so far back in time. We belong to a very special band of brothers and sisters.’

Finally they came to Obelisk, the mighty sarsen of Merlin. In a quiet voice flecked with poignancy, Twilight traced his period with the long magus and some of the many obstructions they conquered together. There were many obvious parallels with Marsalis, Virgile’s mentor, including a love of the Greeks and the Latin tongue. In much the same way as Merlin had with his
scriptorium
, Marsalis had squirreled away a great body of written work by the Greeks and brought to Gaul by the Romans.

‘I keep it all in a cave on an island off the coast of Normandy,’ said Virgile. ‘It is a place known only to me. If the Confrerie ever find out about it they will destroy every word.’

‘Confrerie.’

Twilight mused over the strange word. ‘Brotherhood?’

Virgile’s lip curled in disdain.

‘Charlatans more like. There are three other venefici in Gaul and they have banded together against me and my duke in the belief that neither of us are worthy of the positions we hold. They call themselves ‘the Confrerie,’ which does mean ‘brotherhood.’ Their take is that venefici have been placed on earth in order to rule and that the enchantments are gifted to us in order to help with that aim. The written Greek works in my Brittany cave represent progress and learning, something the Confrerie are very keen to remove. They also . . .’ he went quiet for a moment, ‘want to replace me in my most important venefical duty . . .’

‘As guardian of your Equinoctial Mists?’ Tara finished for him quietly.

‘Yes. You are guardians as well?’

Twilight and Tara nodded.

‘Then you will understand the importance of the annual ceremony being conducted correctly.’

Twilight sighed, remembering Elelendise, the wolf woman, and her quest to remove the same duty from Merlin.

‘Now they want to rule as kings,’ he said partly to himself. ‘Why am I not surprised.’

‘Have you had a direct confrontation with them?’ Tara asked Virgile.

‘Only once when I placed my mentor, Marsalis, under his menhir. Believing me to be weakened with his passing, they tried to take over my home at Carnac, but I managed to scare them off with some very loud bangs. They will be back - their auras are everywhere around our menhirs. With Duke William living over here now as holder of the English throne, they’ll be even more eager to take over. That’s one of their obstacles removed. I can feel them now, back at home, sharpening their enchantments, getting ready to swoop.’

‘Do they all have full auras?’ Tara asked.

‘Yes.’

‘And their endgame is to rid Gaul, now known as Francia, of all credible human leaders and take over themselves?’

‘Yes.’

Twilight thought for a few moments. ‘It is a dangerous precedent. They must be stopped. Venefici should never rule. It concentrates too much power in one place. A lust for the throne will corrupt those who seek it and in so doing burnish the enchantments in shades of treachery.’

‘My sentiments exactly. However, until two days ago it was just me against three of them. Then, at our first meeting on Stack Hill, you mentioned that in the recent past you have both used your powers to dispatch a perverted venefica. That gave me hope that you would consider joining me to rid my country of these three. We will at least be their equal.’

‘We most certainly will join you,’ said Twilight. ‘Of all my hatreds, the one I reserve for the most bile is that of a veneficus gone wrong. Three of them gets all my juices flowing - that’s so much bile it makes me feel almost young again.’

Tara pulled a face at Virgile and they all burst out laughing.

Two months after he defeated Harold at Hastings, Duke William of Normandy, now to be known as William the Conqueror, was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

To mark the occasion he ordered that a great banquet was to be prepared, a sumptuous feast the like of which the English nobles had never seen before. Cooks, musicians, singers of madrigals, jesters, jugglers, and winemakers of every sort were brought from Normandy along with his wife, Matilda, who was the daughter of the King of Flanders, and his three daughters. Robert of Jumieges returned in quiet triumph but refused his old position as Archbishop of Canterbury. Once was enough; besides, he still had a liking for his head. Three places were reserved just along the top table from where William and Matilda would sit. They were for Twilight, Tara, and Virgile, and William referred to it as his magic table.

‘This,’ said Twilight as they waited in line to be introduced to the new king and his wife, ‘is the second time we have attended a royal banquet.’

‘Umm,’ said Tara, smiling sweetly at him. ‘Try not to choke anyone this time.’

As usual they were dressed in floor-length, clean linen habits of an indeterminate gray colour that were completely lacking in any form of style. Even so, Tara, who was blooming into an exceptionally beautiful woman, shone out like a star among the many bejewelled and upholstered ladies and men surrounding them.

Well known for his exceptional strength and appearance, William was a large man. His strength was illustrated by the story of how he could draw a bow that no other man could draw, whilst spurring his horse forward at full pace.

Standing behind the king Virgile kept an unnoticed but careful eye on the guests as they filed past. He beamed at Twilight and Tara as they approached, stepped out from behind the king, and offered Tara his arm.

‘Your majesty.’ He bowed, his deep voice rumbling like a distant herd of galloping horses. ‘These are the two magical people I told you about. Tara,’ he stepped back, ‘and the alpha master of us all, Twilight.’

The king’s eyes lit up as he turned to Tara, who, bold as ever, just looked at him directly with her bright green eyes and a half smile. Taking both of her hands William’s eyes danced as he spoke.

‘At last. A veneficus with vaunted beauty. Y’know, a king can get fed up with these old venefical graybeards at times, despite the magic of their undoubted abilities. It’s a great pleasure to meet you at last. Virgile has not stopped talking about you since we arrived here.’

He bowed over her hand and lightly brushed it with his lips. For the first time in her life, Tara didn’t quite know what to say or do.

So she blushed.

Having effused equally over Twilight, he turned to his wife, Matilda, a dour and rather ugly woman whose looks and demeanour the fine jewels and silks couldn’t hide.

‘I would like to make a case right here and now that these two enchanters are included, along with Virgile, whose place was already certain, in the great tapestry being prepared at Castle Bayeux. Can you see to it, Matilda?’

Matilda bowed her affirmation.

After a splendid meal in which boars’ heads seemed to predominate and none of which, together with the splendid flagons of wines on offer, was touched by the three wizards, the musicians and madrigal singers assembled in one corner and began to play and sing together. With tumblers and jugglers whirling around the outside of the floor, people began to dance.

Virgile stood up and offered Tara his hand.

‘Would you like to dance with me?’ he asked.

Tara’s lips stretched into a thin line.

‘No,’ she said emphatically. ‘I’ve never done it before and would fall over the heavy hem of this tunic.’

‘That can be altered in a moment,’ the handsome enchanter said with a wink. And suddenly they were both clad from head to toe in the correct and formal attire, with Tara resplendent in a white satin gown of exceptional beauty. Before she could demur further, Virgile whisked her out onto the open floor, where they whirled into the maelstrom of other dancers and were soon lost to view.

Chuckling to himself, Twilight soon shut up as he saw Matilda, the king’s dour and heavy wife, bearing down on him purposefully.

It was time for him to go.

Chapter 9

‘It is said that when he’s bored he roams the streets at night looking for homeless children to torture to death.’

The three of them were sitting on a log outside the small stone hovel Virgile called home on the side of the village of Carnac in Gaul. Twilight and Tara had just arrived, having transformed from Skellighaven, where they had been on one of their periodic inspection visits. The small Irish settlement was now a model of careful, normal subsistence, believers and nonbelievers alike living in harmony, and no one had been thrown into the Devil’s Pit since Leannan Sidhe had drowned. Tara was telling Virgile the story of the witch fairy’s perversions and subsequent demise.

‘And you joined your power together to hold her under the water?’ Virgile inquired.

‘Yes,’ replied Tara.

‘Do you think it’s possible to join all three of us together?’

Tara looked at Twilight for an answer.

The old astounder nodded. ‘Yes, but if that combined power is concentrated upon one other, each of the three will be extra vulnerable to an outside force. If, for instance, the three of us had one of your three rogue venefici in the helpless grip of our combined power, each of us would be defenseless against one of the other rogues. The answer would be to only use the power of two, leaving our third member free to protect the others against any unforeseen intrusions.’

Twilight then told Virgile of his battle with the two half-powered Viking venefici twins, Go-uan and Go-ian, and how he’d finally dispatched them.

‘Because they shared one complete power, I already had an advantage over each one. The trick was to separate them. Once apart they were at a disadvantage.’

‘So,’ Virgile reasoned, ‘fighting other venefici is all about power advantage.’

‘That’s right. Always try to split them up, preferably into singles where they are against at least two of us. These three rogue venefici are all fully powered?’

‘Yes, and strong examples. They are all at least an individual match for my own power.’

‘Perhaps the time has come for you to tell us all you know about them, Virgile. Then we can begin to plan their demise.’

Virgile settled back and began his story.

‘Gaul, my country, now known by the new name of Francia, meaning ‘Land of the Franks,’ consists of ten regions. Each one is run like a mini-kingdom or duchy. They are: Flanders, Burgundy, Provence, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Royal Domain, Anjou, Maine, Brittany, and this region which is Normandy. Royal Domain is the region centered on Paris, where the king himself rules from. Each state has its own warlord or nobleman in control, and all of them are loosely affiliated to the King of Francia, who at present is Philip I. I say ‘loosely affiliated’ because each region would only come together under the king if the entire nation were threatened. The bigger, countrywide picture is not really of interest to them. They will continue to engage in murderous rivalries among themselves and take every opportunity to rob and pillage their nearest neighbours in order to expand their current holdings.’

‘It is pretty much the same pattern in England - or was until Duke William came a calling,’ said Twilight. ‘Uniting the various regional warlords will be a priority.’

Virgile nodded, then continued in his deep bass rumble.

‘As regards the three rogue venefici, the first thing to tell is that they’re all men. Other than their greed and brutal treatment of anyone who gets in their way, that’s about the only common denominator. The first and eldest, and if they acknowledged such a title, the leader of the Confrerie, is called Teneo. They have all been named, or named themselves, after Latin names they see as reflecting their greatness or position in life. Therefore, Teneo, Latin
to possess
or
be master of
. He was born in Northern Gaul about forty years ago to a peasant couple and was picked up as tyro by an old scallywag of a veneficus called Dundas. It was Dundas who named him Teneo. My mentor, Marsalis, knew Dundas and always mistrusted him. The enchantments meant only one thing to Dundas and that was money. He’d provide any service for money or land or something he could sell on and wasn’t afraid to use the enchantments to kill for the right sum. Teneo sat with Dundas for twenty-two years. Trained for that length of time in that manner, it’s no wonder that Teneo turned out the way he has.’

‘Does Dundas have a menhir here at Carnac?’ Tara interrupted.

‘No. My master would not have him here. Said he was a disgrace to our code. Teneo would have put him somewhere else. There are several small sites in the north.

‘With the passing of Dundas, Teneo picked up where his master left off. He’d inherited Dundas Castle, named after his mentor and where they lived, and set out to acquire more wealth and lands. Even more than his old master, Teneo realized the value of his skills to regional warlords, the wealthy and ruling classes. They had the wherewithal to pay large sums for his deadly abilities and, because of their positions, the constant enemies requiring them. Teneo flourished and then began an association that added even more lustre to his abilities . . . ‘ Virgile paused.

‘He started to work for Henry I, the King of Francia. This relationship lasted for some time until Henry died six years ago and was replaced by his son, Philip I. Philip didn’t want a veneficus, and by now one with a reputation for carrying out the king’s dirty work, so he banished Teneo from the court. That came as a blow to Teneo, who had grown rather fond of the luxuries associated with someone as close to the king as he had been.’

Virgile paused to receive a beautifully plumaged hawk on his shoulder. Dark wing feathers flecked with browns and oranges, a chest of mottled white, and piercing brown eyes ringed in yellow.

‘This,’ he said, tenderly stroking the proud head of the hawk, ‘is Gira, partner of Desi. They are my leading pair of peregrines.’

Gira screeched at him, raised the sharp talons on her right leg, then flew away.

‘She’s just showing off and reports that all is quiet around the menhirs. Gira’s presence reminds me, none of the three rogue venefici has an animal in ligamen. They think them an encumbrance and unnecessary.’

‘Bigger fools them,’ snorted Twilight. ‘Your peregrines are closely related to the hawks of my mentor, Merlin. Without them and my pica we would have been severely disadvantaged in all our conflicts.’

‘Perhaps,’ said Tara, ‘they cannot find any animals prepared to tie themselves to such a bunch of villains.’

‘Could be,’ said Virgile. ‘To continue. The second Confrerie calls himself Evanesco, meaning to vanish. He chose the name because he likes to remain invisible for as much as possible. When visible he’s a big, muscular, dark-skinned man from the Africas and wears extrovert clothing in bright, loud colours. He arrived here about ten years ago with an invading army of Merovingians under Pippin the Younger and stayed when they were defeated by Henry’s army, assisted by Teneo, his now partner. His control of the enchantments is unsure, pointing to incomplete training, but his power output is huge. Bigger than Teneo’s and, I would guess, quite close to Tara’s. He gets a lot of the enchantments wrong and leaves all sorts of mess. His other claim to fame is cruelty. He likes nothing better than to see people suffer and has been known to torture folk for long periods for the joy of watching their pain. There is a touch of Leannan Sidhe about him in that he is also said to have a liking for drinking the blood of his victims, a vampire veneficus. He hooked up with Gerard, the Duke of Flanders, and did his dirty work for a while but left him under a cloud. Something to do with his wife’s sister. Now he lives and works with Teneo in an unlikely alliance . . .’

Tara shuddered. ‘What a pair. And there’s one more to come. Surely he can’t be as bad as these two?’

‘Worse, I think. I’ll leave you to judge. He’s the youngest of them, about my age, and his name is Quiritatio,
the shriek.
It’s such a ridiculous name - he must have adopted it himself, although it does have some bearing on his behaviour, for he is a mute. The only form of speech he is capable of is a high-pitched, whistling shriek. He can, of course, communicate by way of mind-speak. His black art is children. He hates children. All of them. The lives of many tens of innocent children are laid at his door. Before joining up with the other two, he was known as a wizard for hire to any man or woman who had a problem with children. It may have been waifs and strays begging for food, the children of a former wife, the children of an avowed enemy, or just children. It didn’t matter. If someone had a child problem they would call upon Quiritatio and the problem would disappear . . . permanently. It is said that when he’s bored he roams the streets at night looking for homeless children to torture to death.’

Twilight grimaced. ‘Him I can’t wait to meet,’ he said softly.

‘The strange thing about these three,’ continued Virgile, ‘is that they appear to have formed the Confrerie alliance to challenge the throne of Francia in the belief that they can actually do it. That three such odious creatures could work together at all suspends belief; that they could work toward a common purpose of any sort is incredulous, and that it should be to take over the highest position in the land is simply beyond comprehension.’

‘How do you know they want the throne?’ Twilight asked.

‘They told me. Moreover, they asked me to join them on the basis that if all four of the known venefici of the country challenged for its kingship, no one could possibly oppose it. None of the regional noblemen would want to take us on. We would be omnipotent, a quartet of rulers backed by the strongest possible sorcery. No army could oppose that, no ruler challenge such a gathering of shape-shifting killers, and the power of such an alliance would open up the throne of Francia without so much as a whimper.’

‘They will surely self-destruct,’ said Tara. ‘Three such evil egos couldn’t possibly exist in harmony on the throne. They’d tear each other apart with every decision.’

‘I’m not so sure,’ said Virgile. ‘They seemed to understand that. They said the very fear of them turning against each other is the bond that will hold them together.’

‘When did this meeting with them take place?’

‘A month ago. They came to ask me to stand aside in the matter of the annual Equinoctial Festival of the Dead. When I said that I couldn’t do that they outlined the rest of their plan to try and draw me in. They want to control the mists as well as the throne of Francia.’

‘From their warped perspective it makes sense. Having control over the throne and the mists reinforces their omnipotence. There is nothing out there that can possibly challenge them. Did you discuss them with Duke William?’

‘Yes, but there was nothing he could do, especially as he had his sights set on England and was preparing for that invasion. It actually suited the Confrerie that the strongest noble in Francia, for William was definitely that, would be otherwise occupied, out of their way when they struck. Philip, the king, won’t put up much resistance. He doesn’t have the soldiers or, I suspect, the will. That’s why I think their bid for the throne will start at any time now because William is now domiciled in England and does not look as if he will ever return. The way to the throne of Francia is relatively clear.’

‘Have you had any dealings with the king, Philip I?’

‘None at all. All venefici are the same in his eyes. When he banned Teneo from his court, he was banning all of us.’

Twilight considered this for a moment.

‘The king obviously understands where venefici fit within all this, which is definitely not alongside the seat of power. Although our reception will be frosty, to say the least, he should be our first stop. We ought to at least acquaint him with the threat to his throne, eh?’

Tara and Virgile nodded assent. Twilight looked closely at Virgile.

‘You said you managed to scare them off with the threat of some big bangs?’

‘After my refusal to join with them, they came back a few days later. Threatened to destroy Carnac and all it stands for if I refused to join them. There was a standoff and it was beginning to look a little ugly. They were priming their personal arsenals.’

‘I think I know what you did,’ Twilight said softly. ‘To drive such evil away you only had recourse to one action, the one final and absolute solution available to us all.’

Virgile nodded.

‘What was it?’ Tara asked.

‘A
terminus,
’ Twilight and Virgile breathed the word together. ‘The ultimate venefical weapon.’

For almost two hundred years the French court had been established in the city of Paris in the region known as Royal Domain. Familiar with the more sombre gray solidity of the English Court, Twilight and Tara were taken aback by the elegant furniture and fine ornaments and floor coverings of the French Royal Palace. Functional, thick English oak was replaced by spindly curved maple and walnut, heavy linen tapestries by fine silk wall hangings, and sturdy, woven jute floor coverings by beautifully crafted, brightly dyed Eastern carpets. The very size of the throne room, where they had just appeared, was bigger than the entire ground floor of the English Palace. Seated at one end on a high, towering throne at the top of a flight of steps under an enormous, if somewhat crude and out-of-place painting of Charlemagne, the great Frankish king, who had also been crowned Caesar in Rome before returning quickly to his beloved homeland, was Philip I of Francia.