Rogue Magician (The Magician Rebellion) (7 page)

“
Now
you listen to me,” said the guardsman poking the young man forcefully in the
chest to accentuate his point, “I will not be letting you in there. At first it
was just because the knight-captain asked not to be disturbed, but now I am
refusing you just because I do not like you. Now back off before I either throw
you in the dungeon or cleave you outright with Demona.” The man patted the butt
of his sword resting in its scabbard.

“
Dammit,
you fool! I have a very important message for Knight-Captain Kellen!” Byrn
shouted. He was now convinced that the only way to get in was to cause such a
scene that they'd have to let him in to shut him up. Of course, the guard could
make good on his threat, but having just faced an ogre earlier in the morning
he felt little threat from the upstart guardsman.

It
was unconscionable to Byrn that such a half-wit could become a city guardsman.
He was raised to believe that the guards had the people's best interest at
heart, but this man was unbelievable. He wanted to tell the guard that he was
the apprentice of a powerful sorcerer in service to the king just to put him in
his place, but thought better of it. Sane did not want Byrn to draw undue
attention to himself and such a display would be just as likely to cause the
young man to loose his head from his shoulders as get him in to see the
knight-captain.

“
Boy,
I-”

The
guard was cut off as Byrn interrupted him changing tactics. He could not say
that he was a sorcerer's apprentice, but he could still be a courier's
apprentice for a little while longer. “I am THE courier apprentice to Master
Tannys Lightfoot and bring an urgent message on behalf of a member of the royal
court.” That was close enough to the truth for Byrn’s liking. “If you do not
let me through right here and now I will see to it that you are dismissed from
your position if not thrown in your very own dungeon as a matter of course.

“
As
you may recall interfering with the king's business can get one imprisoned or
worse.”

The
man's face was covered in surprise at being talked to in such a way by a lowly
commoner, but shock quickly turned to anger and the guard drew his sword. “As
can making false claims about being on king's business,” sneered the guard.
Byrn did not know if the guard intended to kill him or arrest him, but luckily
he did not have to find out.

“
Rallen,
sheathe your weapon!” bellowed a loud man from behind the gate who had come to
see what all of the commotion was about. “Do you know who this boy is? He is
the one that helped the captain kill that ogre. At the very least I think we
can hear what he has to say.”

“
Sorry,
sir, I did not know-” the obstinate guard began, but Byrn wasn't about to give
the man an inch.

“
You
did know,” Byrn said making sure the other guard could hear, “I told you that I
was the one that helped with that ogre. It chased me halfway across the blasted
city and you called me a liar!”

“
Enough,
lad,” said the wiser guardsman, “Know when you have won and leave it at that.”
He unlocked the gate from the inside allowing Byrn to enter who quickly hurried
past the outer guard, Rallen.

“
Come
with me. I will take you to the knight-captain,” said the wiser guard. He was a
middle-aged man with some girth to him that was every bit muscle as fat. “I am
Lieutenant Mikael Hawkscrest. It sounds like the end of the world from your
carrying on. What is this about?” He led Byrn inside into the central hall of
the keep leading to a spiraling stone staircase.

“
I
am Byrn Lightfoot... apprentice courier to Master Tannys Lightfoot. I was
directed to ensure that Knight-Captain Kellen received this request... and no
one else. Sorry, I can not say more.”

“
No
need to apologize. It is not the first time the captain has received a secret
message since joining the guard.”

The
two ascended the spiral staircase. Four flights up the pair left the stairs and
Mikael led Byrn to a door at the end of the hall. Mikael banged on the door.
“Knight-Captain Kellen, it is Mikael Hawkscrest. There is a young man out here
with a message for you.”

“
Send
him in,” Kellen's voice was muted from behind the door, but Byrn could still
hear him clearly. Gods, this day has taken him surprising places. Not for the
first time he wondered what he had gotten involved in.

Kellen
was sitting at a desk looking over a ledger when Byrn entered. His iconic armor
hung up against a nearby wall. The warrior was visibly surprised to see Byrn,
but that surprise was quickly replaced by a warm smile and a friendly greeting,
“I certainly did not expect to see you so soon. Byrn, is it?”

“
Yes,
knight-captain,” Byrn nodded.

The
captain motioned for Byrn to sit in a chair opposite his desk and the boy
complied. “Now, what brings you to see me? Have you come to join the guard or
is this just a social visit?”

“
Unfortunately,
neither. I have come to deliver a message and make a request... on behalf of my
new master, Sane.”

Kellen
was startled a little and sat up straight in his seat, but his smile did not
falter at all. The courier now had his full attention. “Mikael, please leave
us. I wish to speak to this young man alone.” The lieutenant did as he was
asked closing the door behind him leaving the two alone. “So you are Sane's
apprentice. I was unaware he had taken one.”

“
Until
a few hours ago he had not. He said my apprenticeship was a reward... for
saving your life,” said Byrn. Kellen cocked an eyebrow at this statement
obviously not remembering the fight going that way, but he grinned as if amused
and Byrn continued, “To be honest, I am a little relieved that you know him. I
half thought that he was some crazy priest who took me along for the ride.”

“
Far
from it,” said Kellen, “He is one of only a few magicians that can walk freely
in the kingdom. We fought together against the magi rebellion years ago before
he became an adviser to the king and I settled down here.

“
But
you did not come here to listen to me reminisce about days gone by...”

“
Sane
asked me to tell you that he saw something- a vision of the future,” Byrn
paused to see if Kellen would balk or show some sign of surprise. When there
was none he continued, “This morning he saw our battle. Actually he saw your
battle, because I was not there. In his vision you died.”

The
knight-captain was surprisingly nonplussed at being told that he should be dead
right now. “And when Sane put you in the middle of things he altered certain
events that saved my life.” Kellen laughed a big belly laugh. “That is typical
of him. Sane is one of the most powerful magicians in the kingdom and he sends
an untested boy to be my protector.” Kellen laughed again though Byrn failed to
see the humor. “Is Sane around? It is not like him to come to Colum and not
tell me.”

“
That
is why I am here.” Byrn handed Kellen a sealed message from his new master and
the knight promptly tore off the seal and began reading.

Kellen
read the message, but his face did not betray his thoughts. Once he finished he
looked up at Byrn sitting across from him. “Well it seems you need an
introduction to the Kenzai.”

The
meal was lavish for tavern fare. The large table had a roasted goose with a
selection of fruits, pies, and flagons of wine and ale. At the head of the
table sat an elf maiden who looked to be in her mid twenties with luxurious
dark hair. Soldiers sat on either side of her hanging on her every word as she
entertained them with a tale of how she vanquished a gang of bandits intent on
ransoming some duchess or other back to her well-to-do husband.

“
So
the bandit was running down the hill chasing after his horse and he such a
promising target that I could not stop myself. I notched an arrow and let it
fly catching the bandit squarely in his right butt cheek. He jumped five feet
if he jumped an inch,” the elf jumped from a sitting position to a crouch on
her seat in one fluid motion to mimic the bandit in her story, “but he kept
running reaching awkwardly behind him as he tried to yank out the arrow for
fear that the next one would be through his scrawny head.” The men laughed
uncontrollably half from the picture she described and half because they were
drunk to the point of nearly falling out of their seats.

Seeing
that the pitcher of ale was nearly empty and it was her turn to buy the next
round Sari decided it was time to leave. “Fun was fun and all,” she said
wrapping up her story, “but I had a job to do.” She grabbed several pieces of
fruit and stuffed them into her backpack. “After watching him lope like a three
legged dog until he got near the tree line I readied another shot which hit him
in the back killing him outright.”

With
that she was up from her seat and halfway across the room before any of her
companions was even aware that she left. Her hand was on the tavern door when
she heard one of the men say, “She dinot leave again. Did she?”

Sari
was outside with the door swinging closed behind her when another complained,
“I thought she was gonna cover the tab this time!” promptly followed by a loud
thump that the elf thought might have been the man slamming his fist on the
table, but was just as likely that of someone passing out and their head
crashing on the table or floor.

It
was midday and the sky was a bright blue with the sun high overhead. Sari was a
bit surprised to see the sun and wondered how long she had been in that tavern.
It was not like her to lose track of the time, but it was a great celebration.
Being an elf she had an absurdly hardy constitution for alcohol. It surprised
her that humans did not seem to understand that liquor and alcohol were poisons
though not life threatening except in extremely high amounts, but elves tended
to have a higher tolerance for the stuff with their natural immunities to
poisons and diseases allowing an elf to almost uniformly drink any of the other
high races “under the table” as they put it. Of course not many people in
Aurelia were aware of that fact since the kingdom was largely made up of humans.

Shielding
her eyes Sari walked to The Broken Boar, the inn that she was staying at, a few
blocks away. Most of the townspeople hardly took notice of her except for a few
small children that seemed to find the pointy-eared folk a highly fascinating curiosity.

The
elf frequented this area quite often when in the capital and had become
somewhat of a regular or a local celebrity when not out chasing bandits through
the forests. There were few in the district- in the city for that matter- that
had not heard a tale or two of Sari the elven ranger. She was a skilled tracker
and hunter whether her prey was man or beast and only her talents with a bow
exceeded her skill with a dagger or short blade.

When
Sari got in sight of The Broken Boar she saw someone who looked like a priest
wearing a green robe leaning against the wall of the inn by the entrance. As
one accustomed to moving without being seen Sari found Sane's disregard for
subtlety off-putting, but she could not doubt that the man got results when he had
a need to.

“
Good
evening, sorcerer,” she said with an excessively deep bow that was equal parts
sincere and teasing. If Sane had asked, Sari would have told him that of course
she was being sincere, but she knew the sorcerer well enough that she did not
fear teasing her old friend. “What brings you to such a seedy area?” She smiled
her most charming smile and lightly touched his arm causing him to blush a
little. “Looking for love in all the wrong places?”

To
Sane working with the elf was a double-edged sword that Sari knew he tried to
avoid wielding when he could. They were both in their late fifties and knew
each other for four decades, but while Sane was now an aging sorcerer showing
his years proudly Sari looked to be in her mid twenties and acted the part
well. Normally Sane was a very reserved gentleman, but when he got around the
elf he could become like a school boy with a crush, leaving him as often as not
feeling very foolish. Sari felt a little guilty for teasing him, but thought
that it was worth it if it made Sane feel like a young man again… or at least
that is how she would justify it if asked.

Sane
brushed off her advance showing an uncommon resolve not to fall for her trap
this time. “This morning Kellen was attacked by an ogre.”

“
A
common trait that ogres tend to exhibit,” interrupted Sari a little
disappointed that Sane managed to resist her charm.

“
Not
like this,” the sorcerer corrected her, “This one attacked him in the middle of
Colum.”

“
I
always said that city needed to erect an outer ring of walls,” Sari declared
nonchalantly. She began stretching her legs as if she were about to go for a
run. “How can I be of service?”

Sane
tried to ignore her stretching. “I am putting together a party to follow the
ogre's trail back to wherever it came from and find the person who set the
thing upon Colum.”

“
An
enchanter? It could be,” she conceded, “but that's not exactly high caliber
magic stuff. Enraging or pacifying simple-minded creatures is a beginner's
trick and begs the question: why do you need me?