Rogue Magician (The Magician Rebellion) (34 page)

“
If
I may ask a question,” Byrn's voice lowered almost to a whisper, “You two are
the only non-magicians in the kingdom that I fully trust. Do you perceive any
possibility that this is all some sort of scheme to harm me or that they may be
using me to find other rogue magicians?”

Sari
thought on it for a moment, but before she could answer Sevu had returned and
bid them to enter the chamber. They did and found Lord Nightwind in attendance
with his wife and daughter. A handful of guards were stationed around the
chamber, but no more than would otherwise be expected.

They
exchanged pleasantries and before long the warlord began to speak to his two
newest vassals' duties. To Marian he said, “You will be placed as the
dame-ranger of Everec. It is a small mining city in the mountains near the
border with the Dread Marsh. We have been experiencing orc raids of late in the
region and I think you would make an excellent captain for our ranger garrison
established there.

“
There
is also a keep in the city that you will be given ownership of along with the
nearby land holdings in the region to do with as you see fit.”

To
Byrn, he said, “I understand that you have been separated from your family for
quite some time. As a magician, I expect you to travel throughout my province
as the need arises, but you will also be established in Everec with some
property and servants of your own during your downtime to be near your mother.
In addition you will have quarters within my own castle as I expect that we
will see each other often.”

“
Thank
you, my lord, but I was hoping I might ask you for a boon,” Byrn said with some
hesitation not wishing to sound ungrateful.

The
warlord regarded him with an intense gaze, “Indeed? I make no promises, but
will hear you out. What is it that you wish?”

“
Understood,”
Byrn agreed, “Before I came to Mollifas to rescue my mother... and Lady Tian I
was planning to start a small school for magicians to help others learn to
control their powers. I would like to still do so, but under your supervision,
of course.”

“
That
is a difficult thing you ask,” Nightwind told him. The warlord shifted to a
more upright position in his seat making him look a little taller. “Taking in
one rogue magician, even one who saved the life of my only child, is no small
feat. His highness understands my reasoning and has chosen to support me in
this decision, but there have been those who have opposed your ascension behind
closed doors. If I were any less than a warlord and trusted friend to the king,
I dare say you would have found yourself back in Baj or worse by now.

“
Allowing
you to start a school would be tantamount to treason. It would never be allowed
by the kingdom or its people.”

Marian
squeezed Byrn's arm fearing that he might say or do something that he would
come to regret, but no outburst came. Byrn's heart sank at the warlord's words,
but he knew Ethiel Nightwind believed himself to be working in the best
interest of the kingdom and did not hold that against him. “Perhaps it was
foolish of me to even consider the idea,” Byrn admitted with some sadness.
“Your offer is very generous, but I have made a commitment to my master before
all this began. May I seek counsel before making my decision?”

“
I
am accustomed to getting what I want,” Lord Nightwind sounded harsh, but took a
breath and relented a little, “but I understand your desire to fulfill your
obligation to your former master. That is the same kind of loyalty I like to
see in my vassals, but know that if you choose to renounce your knighthood you
will no longer be under my protection or that of King Kale. You will go back to
being a rogue magician. I do not know what kind of life you lived before, but
any anonymity you possessed will be gone now that you are well known in the
kingdom. It will be a harder life.

“
How
long will it take you to reach your former master and make your decision?”

Byrn
thought for a moment and told him, “No more than two days.”

Lord
Nightwind seemed surprised by this and said, “Indeed? It is fitting that you
spent the last few days staying in the castle. You must have been living right
under the king's nose for much longer.” Byrn did not bother to correct him. It
was not truly a secret, but most people were unaware that many magicians could
travel vast distances in an instant. The general populace feared magic enough
without having to worry about magicians transporting into their homes while
they slept.

The
knight-magician thanked the warlord again for his generosity and left the
estate with his companions. As they walked toward the inn where Sari stayed
while in Mollifas, Byrn began talking, “I will go back to my school for a bit
and return in two days, but before then I have a task to complete so that I can
return here quickly.” To his mother he said, “Can you take me back to where
Mantellus held you captive?”

Marian
said that she could and led them back to the warehouse where she and Tian had
been held. When they entered the building she asked, “Why did you need to come
here? Did you forget something?”

“
I
needed someplace with little or no foot traffic and this warehouse is the best
place I know of in the city. Mantellus chose this place for its seclusion,
after all,” he told them.

“
You
plan to make a transportation rune?” Sari asked.

Byrn
smiled knowingly, “You have an impressive knowledge of magic.”

“
The
stories I could tell,” Sari waved him off dismissing the comment. “Sane and I
traveled together for a long time when we were your age.”

The
magician reached into his backpack and pushed his cloak out of the way to find
a small pouch containing some blank rune carvings. Taking one out, he held it
against the front interior wall and began to chant in a melodic voice.

The
dungeon under the royal castle was damp and smelled of a nauseating mixture of
mold, excrement, and blood. A single brazier lit the hallway leading to the
cell where Mantellus Firekin laid chained to the wall. His body was bruised and
bloody from long days of interrogation at the hands of the king's inquisitors
until they were sure that he acted alone and that none within the temple knew
of his true nature.

By
all accounts Mantellus had the ability to heal. It was difficult enough to
accept that magicians could use healing magic which was previously thought to
be a gift reserved for Ashura's chosen, but to admit that a serial murderer
like Mantellus could practice the healing arts could throw the kingdom into
chaos as the once faithful commoners would turn against their priests and
destroy their own temples. Nearly all of the healing arts in the kingdom were
performed by Ashura's priests and if they were suddenly gone medical care would
be set back a thousand years.

The
official word being passed around by the rumormongers under the crown’s employ
was that Mantellus Firekin was a rogue magician who was merely disguising
himself as a priest and as long as Mantellus disappeared there would never be
another question on the matter. He would have to be disposed of... or be put to
good use.

A
pair of bodyguards followed closely behind by Gilkame Axebeard and Prince Janus
entered the cell. It was a large chamber built to house a dozen prisoners, but
Mantellus was alone except for his Kenzai guards who were preventing him from
working magic. They stood at attention with glowing blades drawn ensuring that
the area was free of magical energy. The other prisoners were moved to a nearby
cell leading to overcrowding, but there were few complaints since none of the
thieves or murderers wanted to be confined with a magician.

The
dwarf carried a dull, wooden box and Mantellus eyed it warily, saying nothing.
Nor did Gilkame care to explain as he opened the box in the battered magician's
presence. He removed a simple collar of gold with a joint allowing it to open
and latch in the front.

It
was the prince who spoke first. “Have you tried this before?” he asked the
dwarf hoping for some reassurance that everything would go smoothly.

Gilkame
shook his head in the negative. “This is my first attempt with an actual
magician although my trials involving criminals have been very favorable in
making them domesticated,” and added, “I had the first prototype moved to
Lion's Landing along with some of my other goods and someone stole it. All of the
guards protecting it were killed too.”

“
It
must have been a very powerful magician to do such a thing,” the prince offered
in consolation. “The notion that there are renegade magicians loose in the
kingdom who know what we are up to is very unsettling.”

Gilkame
made his way to the prisoner, who seeing the dwarf approach with the necklace
began to squirm and tried in vain to free himself from his chains. “What are
you going to do?” Mantellus' voice quivered fearing another beating.

“
Hold
him still!” Prince Janus commanded and his two bodyguards jumped to obey. Each
one grabbed one of Mantellus' arms and roughly pinned him to the wall refusing
to let him move as Gilkame fit the collar around his neck and snapped it shut.

Mantellus
kept squirming, with the collar, on until Gilkame told him to stop and the
killer much to his own surprise listened. He looked at the dwarf fearfully and
found he was unable to utter a single word, but fear turned to anger, as did
Mantellus' stare fore that was all he could muster without the dwarf's
permission.

It
was then that Mantellus noticed a small golden rod in the dwarf’s hand and he
handed it to the prince. “With this necklace you can command the magician to do
whatever you desire of him.”

“
Slave,
sit,” ordered Janus and he loosed a dark laugh when the magician obeyed,
dropping his butt to the damp, stone floor. The prince put Mantellus through a
few more paces until he was certain that the magician would obey his every
command even going so far as giving the magician a knife and telling him to
slit his own wrist. Seeing his new toy about to make good on the command,
Prince Janus hastily told him to stop.

“
The
collar appears to be a resounding success!” Gilkame declared. “With your
approval and financial backing I will begin seeing that these devices are
produced in large quantities. There will be enough to collar every magician in
the kingdom in a few months’ time.”

“
Yes,
of course, master dwarf,” the prince answered with a growing spark in his eye,
“With this we will finally have the power to put every magician in the kingdom
to heel, finally ensuring the safety of the people of Aurelia from the
magicians' threat.

“
The
only question now is what to do with this one?” Janus gestured to Mantellus.

“
I
believe I have an idea,” Gilkame told the prince grinning from ear to ear.

Turshyn
whistled at Byrn's fine clothes, teasing his friend. Mere days ago Byrn left
for Mollifas to find his mother and when he returned with news of his success
he did so as a noble dressed in the finery of a person of rank in the kingdom.

At
first, the necromancer thought his friend was telling a tall tale of dining
with royalty and being made a knight. It was the thing of childhood fantasies,
but once the initial shock wore off and he saw the sincerity on his friend’s
face, Turshyn accepted that Byrn was not playing a joke on him.

“
Do
not be jealous,” Byrn told him pretending to take a snobbish tone. “I will be
happy to share my hand me downs with you.”

Rex,
one of the teen elementalists, sat at the opposite end of the table and laughed
unexpectedly. The joke was doubly funny to him since Byrn was the larger of the
two men standing a half a head higher than Turshyn. “You better get Mellani to
sew those fine threads up for you, Turshyn, or you will be tripping over your
own feet.”

Byrn
looked at the necromancer in disbelief. He did not ask the question, but
Turshyn knew him well enough to guess at what he was thinking. “After the
incident with that collar, Mellani has really warmed to me recently,” Turshyn
explained. “I do not understand what happened to make her change her opinion of
me. Maybe it was the fear of death, but since then she has been loath to leave
my side and while you were gone she professed her love to me.”

For
all the years Byrn knew him Turshyn had pined over Mellani from a distance.
Byrn reached across the table and cuffed Turshyn on the shoulder playfully.
“See! Something more absurd than my dining with the king did occur.” In
response the necromancer leaned over the table and punched Byrn in the arm.
“Ow!” Byrn exclaimed. As he rubbed his mildly throbbing shoulder he said to
Turshyn, “But you do know I am happy for you? In truth I knew it was bound to
happen eventually.”

“
Sometimes
I can not figure you two out,” said Avelice Necros coming into the room, “At
times you behave like the closest of friends- almost like brothers- and at
others you fight like bitter enemies.” She sat beside Byrn taking in his new
tunic and trousers without comment.