In Treachery Forged (The Law of Swords) (35 page)

She was very good at avoiding people, as she was able to sense people around corners, and so managed to stay out of sight from everyone until she ran into that familiar sense again – only now she could identify it.

“Wangdu!” she called. “Is that you?”

“Hello?” the Elf said, startled, coming through what must have been a closed door. “Ah! It’s Euleilla, it is! Welcome. How may I serve you, may I?”

“Hm,” Euleilla hummed. “I was just about to enter my private chambers when I discovered there were four individuals with the same unusual magical signature as you have. I didn’t go in, but I’ve been trying to identify it ever since.”

Wangdu’s own magical aura flared at those words, startling Euleilla slightly. She hadn’t detected any trace of Human magic in him, but apparently he could wield some... albeit at only a fraction of what she or Maelgyn could manage, and likely even weaker than Wodtke.

“You sensed others like me here, you did?” he said, sounding quite agitated. “You say there were
four
like me, you said?”

Euleilla, still a bit rattled at having never detected his magical abilities before, nodded. “Yes, four.”

“You are very lucky you did not go in there, you are,” he growled. Euleilla was a bit startled when one of his hands clasped on her arm, and he started dragging her away. “You must come with me at once, you must! You may be a powerful mage in human terms, you may, but even you would be quickly overwhelmed in a fight against just one of my kind, you would.”

“Your kind?” Euleilla said, somewhat discomfited as she stumbled along after him. Even as she asked it, however, she realized what he was saying.

“The Elves, girl, the Elves, they are! Even a relatively young, untrained nobody like myself can match a first class mage, I can. If those four Elves are warriors....”

Euleilla pulled to a halt, stopping Wangdu in the process. “They weren’t after me,” she said.

“Yes they were after you, they were,” he answered. “To bargain, to negotiate, to blackmail, perhaps, but they were definitely after you, they were.”

“No,” she stated firmly. “They were not after me. I’m not important enough. We have got to find Maelgyn. Now!”

“They will not strike at him directly, they w—” Wangdu began.

“Now!” she commanded.

“But—”

Without waiting for him, Euleilla spun and pulled her arm out of his grasp, twisting his arm around and pinning him against the wall until he released her. “Come with me or not, but I am going to find him.”

“They will not kill him, they won’t,” the Elf pleaded desperately, rubbing his bruised wrist. “It would defeat their purpose if he—”

“Maybe not,” she answered, storming back down the hall to where she believed Maelgyn to be. “But that’s not a chance I’m prepared to take.”

She heard him snap an interesting expletive that may have been in Elvish, but he quickly acquiesced and started running after her.

She only hoped they’d arrive before it was too late.

Maelgyn sighed. Wherever he went he could hear the muttering of nobles discussing his recent speech; some supportive, most angry. He really wanted to escape them like Euleilla managed to, but unfortunately he had to remain available for his aides... and consequently for the barons, as well. While the barons were obsessing over the reforms to the nobility, everyone else was working twice as hard to prepare for the war. Which meant, even though he had already assigned people to handle the logistics, he still had to be consulted on several of the major decision.

Which meant he was being constantly bombarded with inane questions by just about everyone.

“You know, when it was just me, or even just Euleilla and me, there weren’t these kinds of problems,” he muttered to no-one in particular after the fifth person asking about the number of horses he wanted provided for each cavalry officer approached him. “Shortly after I left the Royal Castle, I lost my one spare horse. It didn’t stop me, and I got all the way to Largo without another. An army, however, would not be able to deal with all the stops I had to make on the journey. I never trained with the cavalry, yet I’m supposed to make decisions for them? I don’t think that’s a good idea. Shouldn’t there be others helping to direct all of this, as I ordered? Who is the head of our cavalry?”

“Lord Terekalo, your highness. He has been ill, however, and is unable to handle these affairs,” the yeoman who had been taking notes from him said.

“Then who is his second?” Maelgyn snapped.

“Lord Mathrid is the highest ranking cavalry officer available. I believe you’ve met?” The yeoman did not exactly sound thrilled, and Maelgyn couldn’t blame him.

Maelgyn sighed. “Yes, I’ve met him. Hates me, hates my wife, but seems competent nonetheless. Direct all questions on the cavalry to him. If there is anything he cannot handle, tell him to summarize it and include it in a report the day after tomorrow. Issue similar instructions to everyone else, letting them know to go through the heads of the infantry, archers, or whatever other military unit they have questions about.”

“Yes, your highness,” the yeoman said, stifling a grin as he heard the description of Mathrid. “Anything else?”

“Yes. Anyone who isn’t covered by that, explain to them that I’m eating lunch in private and won’t be available for another hour,” he sighed. “I need a break.”

“Very well, your highness.”

With that, Maelgyn turned and stormed off. His first stop was to the kitchens, where he quietly snatched some bread, cheese, and a small bottle of wine, leaving a note explaining their absence so that no-one on the cooking staff would be blamed. It was somewhat difficult balancing all three in his hands, as there were no easily accessible platters, but he managed it.

Arms full of his lunch, he quietly made his way down to his suite in the castle. He knew it was silly, childish, and likely impolitic to “escape” like this, but he needed the time to himself. Using the tricks Euleilla had taught him, he managed to avoid meeting anybody until he had the door closed behind him.

Sighing, he removed his sword belt and dragonhide armor, changing his clothes into something more comfortable. Leaving the bedroom, he went to the study of his suite and settled down at a desk to eat.

“Sword Prince Maelgyn,” an unexpected voice began a few minutes into his meal. He looked up to see not one, but four people standing between him and the only door out of the study. All four of them wore hooded cloaks, only allowing heavily shadowed faces to peer out at him.

Slowly, Maelgyn stood from his desk and turned to face them. He hadn’t thought to use his magic to see if anyone would intrude on him in his private offices, since those were usually off limits except by certain specific individuals at certain times of the day. Now, he was beginning to realize that he should always have his defenses up, regardless of the situation he was in.

“Gentlemen,” he replied slowly. He took quick stock of his situation – his sword and armor were behind the now closed door between the study and the bedroom, there were four unknown men standing in between him and the only exit, and there was not much chance of someone else coming in to help him. If these people were planning to attack him, he would be in serious trouble. All he could hope was that they just wanted to talk. “How may I be of service?”

The four lowered their hoods and dropped their cloaks, revealing their faces, pointed ears, and sets of a bizarre armor Maelgyn had never seen the make of before.
Elves!
he thought, alarmed.
What are they doing here?

“You have discovered something recently, you have,” the lead Elf replied. “Others have seen it before, they have, and others will again, they will. Usually we have some warning before the discoverer announces it, we do, and can stop them.”

“We had no warning this time, we didn’t,” a second Elf said sadly. “And so centuries of work are in danger of being unraveled, they are. Your decision to respond so radically cannot easily be repaired, it can’t.”

“You leave us with little choice, you do,” the third sighed. “So we must leave you with little choice as well, we must.”

The fourth said nothing, but revealed a very Elven weapon: Two wooden spikes – or rather two foot-long thorns, growing as an extension of his fist out of some unusual vine wrapped around his arm. Other wooden thorns and roots formed some sort of thin, flexible shield, all part of the same thing. Maelgyn realized it was some sort of plant, actually growing around the Elf’s arm itself. He had never seen Wangdu or any other living being wear one, but he’d heard of this elite Elven-bred creature before. It was a
schlipf
plant, a living weapon. Elves were the only beings which could use them effectively without danger, though other races could use them at great cost. If a non-Elf tried to wield one, it could, if they were lucky, just prove to be somewhat uncontrollable... or, if they were unlucky, the
schlipf
could bind its roots deep within the wielder’s musculature and prevent any non-elf from controlling it without great pain. Regardless, the
schlipf
severely lowered the life-span of most non-Elves who tried to bind with them, and the binding process often left the wielder in severe pain even in ideal cases, but nevertheless many assassins sought it out for three reasons.

It was powerful, versatile... and immune to both Human and additional Elven magic.

Maelgyn frowned. “Are you planning on killing me?”

“Perhaps,” the lead Elf admitted. “However, there is a more effective – and far less intrusive – alternative, there is. And you would not be killed, you wouldn’t, if you agree to our demands, you did.”

“I appreciate the not being killed part,” Maelgyn answered wryly. “Tell me something before I answer you. How is it that you’ve been able to avoid having this information get out before? I mean, you say this isn’t the first time you’ve been discovered. Surely the public knew about it when it happened... or were all those other discoverers killed?”

“We have only had to kill three of the seventy-four others, we have. Most people see reason, they do, when we explain it.”

“And no-one has ever gone back on their word?” Maelgyn asked. “Some might see the honor of revealing a plot like this as greater than the loss of honor involved in breaking an oath.”

“Perhaps,” the lead Elf agreed, nodding slightly. “Yet none have. We can be quite... convincing, we can.”

Maelgyn grinned wryly. “Yes, I bet you can. I suppose the fact that I’m working against Hrabak the Mad Elf doesn’t help my stand, does it?”

“You would be surprised, you would,” the Elf said, giving a sad smile. “We have no more love for Hrabak than you do, we haven’t. But if you are not here, you aren’t, your nation will nevertheless fight on, it will. But we are not your enemy, we aren’t.”

“No?” the Sword Prince snorted. “You’re just trying to steal the nation I have sworn to protect out from under me.”

“We are not, we aren’t,” the lead Elf declared. “What we are trying to do, we are, is what should be done. We are trying to unify the Human race under one banner, we are – whether that nation is Poros, or Svieda, or the Oregal Republic, or even Sho’Curlas does not matter, it doesn’t. It is unity we are after, we are. Sopan Province is an easy place to start, it is, due to its unusual connection with Svieda. It will be centuries still before we can institute our plan, it will, so you do not have anything to fear, you don’t.”

Maelgyn’s bravado left him as he heard that. “You... what? Unite the Human race? Just how are you planning to do that? And more importantly,
why?
”

“You have already found the how, you have – Poros, which was once the center of Humanity, will be it again, it will,” the Elf answered him. “As for why... our reasons are our own, they are, but you may know this much, you may. The Nekoji are only in Caseificio, they are, the Dwarves in Mar’Tok, the Merfolk in the sea, and the Dragons in the air. We Elves are a dying breed, we are, and before we go we wish to see balance restored to the world, we do. Outside of the Ancient Elves’ works, our Child races will not survive without us, they won’t. We destroyed the Dwarves’ great strength, we did, and we were largely responsible for the barbarism against the Nekoji, we were. We have killed more Dragons than any other race, we have, and drove the Merfolk from the few coastal towns where they might meet with the land-borne races, we did. We were the ones who made all the other races vulnerable to Humans, we were, and so we will restore balance to the world, we will.”

Maelgyn pressed his lips into a tight line, restraining himself from saying something that might provoke his captors. Picking his words carefully, he finally responded. “So, you decided that part of ‘balancing’ the world was uniting the Human race. Interesting. But there’s a flaw in that, or possibly just a missing part of the plan. When we’re all one single happy Human nation, what happens to us? We’ll still be the largest, and most dominant, race on the planet. Or is there more to it than that?”

“We Elves live a long time, we do. We shall still be around, we shall, to foster the weaker races and to let them grow again – they will become your equals again, they will.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll try that,” Maelgyn said, drawing into the mental state to do magic. He didn’t have much to work his magic on other than himself, but he was pretty sure a fight was coming soon and he needed whatever help he could find. “But somehow, I doubt that you’ll be able to ‘balance’ the world, as you claim, without... displacing... the humans who now ‘control’ it.”