The Path Of Peace (The Cremelino Prophecy Book 3) (19 page)

WIZARD POWER

R
app sat hunkered down behind some crates
close to the docks of Mar. Through the slats in the wooden boxes, he watched
the sailors and deckhands loading and unloading goods from the ships. Trade
between Mar and Gildan, and even farther south, were conducted through this
port. It wasn’t uncommon to see a few elves from Elvyn or ships from the
eastern kingdoms, or Southern Territories.

The early winter sun barely
touched Rapp through the wet fog. He pulled a wool coat more protectively
around his small body and tugged his black cap down tighter over his ears. His
legs were getting stiff, but he was used to these kinds of assignments from the
governor, and now from the ambassador, and he learned long ago how to relax and
tighten his muscles to keep the circulation going.

Earlier in the day, he had
followed Mr. El’Lan—or the Preacher, as the ambassador called him—down to the
docks. His orders from the ambassador were to keep the Preacher in sight at all
times and occupied as long as possible. The ambassador, on the other hand, was
going to try and bring Alessandra’s mother to her without the Preacher finding
out.

The Preacher had gone silently to
one of the larger ships at the dock. By the look of the colors and riggings,
Rapp concluded it was from one of the eastern kingdoms. The Preacher had been
inside for almost an hour, and Rapp was getting bored. Looking around, he
pulled himself out from behind the crates and walked in a haphazard manner
around the docks, trying to blend in. He wanted to know what was happening
inside the ship.

Three sailors, who he surmised
were in actuality guards, stood outside the ship. Their skin was darker, and
tattoos adorned their arms. Glancing around for ideas, he spied a few jugs of
wine sitting outside another ship, waiting to be loaded. The sailors of that
ship seemed to be preoccupied. With a swift move, Rapp grabbed a few jugs and
continued walking back toward the ship where the Preacher had gone inside.
Coming up to the sailor guards he changed his persona and put on his dumb but
happy face.

“Hey, blokes.” He grabbed their
attentions. “Got some drink here from the harbor master as a thanks for your
business.”

The men, wet and cold, smiled at
the possibility of some wine warming their bellies. They reached out for one of
the jugs.

Rapp gave them one, and with
smiles, they passed it around between the three of them. “Cold night standing
guard out here.”

One of the men mumbled in agreement.
They continued sharing the wine.

Rapp moved in closer and
whispered, “Guarding something important in there?”

Another man laughed. “Wouldn’t
you like to know, harbor boy?”

Rapp continued to play the
simpleton. “You sailors must be important to guard something in such a big
ship.” He handed them another jug of wine.

The third sailor, loosened up by
the wine, began to talk more, though Rapp had to concentrate real hard to
understand the accent.

“There are important men in the
ship discussing important business. They don’t want to be disturbed.” The man
began slurring his words rather quickly. He was obviously someone who couldn’t
hold his drink well. Rapp latched on to him for more information.

Rapp looked surprised and
envious. “I’ve never seen a ship this big before. They must be important.”

 “Magic users,” one of the other
men whispered, then laughed.

All three sailors put their hands
in the air and moved their fingers around as if imitating a wizard. Rapp joined
in, laughing.

Two of the men sat down and took
the last jug of wine. They began grabbing it from each other and almost came to
blows, when the third man took the wine jug from them and put it up to his
lips, taking a long drink. The two others jumped up and grabbed the third man
back down.

Rapp smiled and skirted around
the three drunken sailors onto the large ship. Hearing voices from an inside
cabin, he ducked down some stairs and into an empty storage room. He listened
to the discussion on the other side of the thin wooden walls.

“You overstepped your boundaries,
Preacher,” came a deep voice with a strong foreign accent. “You are not in a
position to give orders.”

“I am preparing the land for your
people. I deserve some credit,” came the familiar voice of the Preacher.

“You failed in Belor. That was
your assignment. You allowed a wizard to become King of the Realm, and from
what I can tell, you have done nothing else to secure this land. We have had to
turn our attention to Gildan now and see if they can take the Realm since you
have not been able to do so.”

There was silence for a moment.

“I am sowing discord around the
Realm. I have contacts in Sur and Arc that are starting a war there, I am
disturbing the hierarchy in Mar, and I will take down the young wizard who
thinks of himself as a King. I do not need the Gildanians’ help.”

A third voice spoke for the first
time. Rapp wished he could see who was talking. “The discussion is ended, my
old pupil.” The voice was old and raspy. “We had high hopes for you in the
east. You were to be our eyes and ears in this land. It was time for us to
expand, but that time is now passed. Current events have changed things. There
are more wizards in the western kingdoms than we were led to believe. We have
found another in Gildan to help us in our task. You are no longer in our
employ.”

Rapp moved around the storage
room and tried to find a crack in the wall. Finally, he was successful. He
could now glimpse the back of the Preacher. Two other men of brown skin stood
opposite him, one very old with white hair. Necklaces, charms, and earrings
adorned their heads and necks, and tattoos seemed to cover their arms and
necks. Their eyes were slightly tilted and their bodies much shorter than the
Preacher’s.

The Preacher abruptly jumped
toward the older man. Wizard’s fire flew from his fingers, flashing green and
blue. The older man swatted it away as an irritant with a calm turn of his
hand. The man’s eyes glowed, and the Preacher fell backward on his back.

“How dare you attack your master.
Have you not learned control yet, you insolent pup?”

The Preacher sat stunned on the
floor, gasping for breath. With only a look, the eastern wizard continued
squeezing the air out of his old pupil. The man’s tattoos seemed to swim around
his skin, as if they were alive. Rapp gaped in horror. The old man was going to
kill the Preacher right here on the ship.

Somehow the Preacher raised his
hand in an effort to stop the attack. The third man in the room motioned for
the eastern wizard to stop. It seemed the Preacher had something else to say.
The Preacher sat up, still struggling for breath. His eyes were bulged and
watery.

In a raspy voice, he croaked.
“The Cremelinos. I’ve found them.”

The eastern wizard looked shocked
but pleased. His demeanor changed, and he motioned for his former pupil to
stand and report. “Why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

“There is one in the city now.”
The Preacher’s voice grew stronger. “A gift to a young wizard, the daughter of
the governor. And the rest are on an island a short distance from here.”

The two eastern men grinned.

The wizard said, “You may redeem
yourself after all. The Cremelinos could increase our power at home and here in
the west. Your new assignment is to kill the girl and take the Cremelino. Bring
it to me, and I will force it to bond to me.”

Rapp almost let out an audible
sound. He had to warn Tali. Without waiting to hear more, he turned to sneak
back out of the room. Upon doing so, his foot knocked over a bucket. The
ensuing sound of the bucket rolling around caused the neighboring conversation
between the wizards to stop. Without any other stealth, Rapp quickly ran up the
stairs and hopped over the railing to another ship close by on the docks. He
noticed the three guards, still half-drunken in front of the eastern ship.

* * *

A short time earlier, Kelln was
following and watching Alessandra. When he knew she was alone, he approached.
She was in a room above an inn that was known for being used by the Guild of
Thieves for some transactions. He entered the inn alone, but Taliana and Radiance
stood outside, ready to assist if necessary.

Rapp had earlier informed Kelln
and Sean where he had seen Alessandra’s mother, Berlain. Since Kelln was too
well known in the city in his status as ambassador, Sean took the assignment to
confront the woman and convince her to meet with Alessandra. Kelln took upon
him the assignment to talk to Alessandra and arrange a meeting with her and her
mother.

Walking up the steps to the
second floor, Kelln knocked on the door. He heard sounds of movement within, but
no one answered.

“Alessandra,” h
e
whispered at the door. He thought he heard a gasp. “Open the door. It’s Kelln.”
He hoped she would respond for old time’s sake. This would be his last ditch
effort to get her away from the Preacher’s influence so he could take the man
down.

She did. The door opened, and she
stood looking at him. Her dark-colored auburn hair still fell in beautiful
layers past her shoulders. Her large almond-shaped eyes pulled him in once
again. She smiled a melancholy smile.

“Hello, Kelln.”

He asked if he could come in, and
she opened the door wider. She moved over and sat on the edge of a bed while
Kelln closed the door behind him.

“How are you?” He didn’t know how
to start the conversation.

“Why are you here?” she answered.
“My father is looking for you, you know. “

Kelln shrugged. “As are you. I
heard you bargained away my life for the chance to visit your mother again.”

The statement seemed to catch
Alessandra off guard. She looked panicked.

Kelln stood in front of her.
“Come with me?’ He offered his hand.

Her hand came up as if without
thinking, but then she pulled it back in an abrupt move. “My father will be
back here soon. You need to leave.”

“That is why we need to leave
together. I found your mother, Alessandra.”

Jumping off the bed, her eyes
opened wide in shock. “Is this a trick, Kelln? After all I have done against
you, why would you do something nice for me?”

“That’s a good question, one I
have been asking myself over and over again, Alessandra. I harbor no more
notions that we can be together after what you have done. My job is to take in
the Preacher, but for the feelings I had once for you, I am willing to help you
see your mother before I take both you and your father in to custody.”

Tears filled Alessandra’s eyes.
“Why? Why are you so good to people? I saw the way you never gave up on your
friend Darius. You are loyal to a fault, Kelln. I am not worthy of your help.”

“Look, Alessandra. I know your
father can be manipulating. I know he can be hard to resist, but you can leave
him right now and see your mother.”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want to see her?”

Indecision and pain played across
Alessandra’s face. After a long silence, she whispered, “Yes.”

They left the inn by a back door
and met up with Tali outside. Kelln was trusting Sean to bring Alessandra’s
mother to the rendezvous point but still wasn’t fully convinced of Sean’s
motives.

They had chosen an old courtyard
on the eastern outskirts of Mar. It was enclosed on three sides by old
dilapidated homes, which over time had been worn down by the harsh salted sea
air. The paint had peeled off years ago, and part of the walls and roofs had
collapsed. At the center of the courtyard stood a large ruined water fountain
and small swimming pool, signifying the wealth the past inhabitants had once
enjoyed. Weeds and old scrub bushes sat in cracks of brick, while a thick layer
of sand covered it all.

Kelln, Alessandra, Tali, and
Radiance stood at one end of the courtyard. Nothing was said as they waited.
The sound and smell of the ocean wafted over them in their stillness.

Kelln’s hearing picked out the
sounds of someone approaching. He felt Alessandra stiffen next two him as two
people entered the courtyard opposite them. Sean stood there with Berlain. He
nodded his head toward Kelln, and Kelln ushered Alessandra toward her mother.

Berlain whipped her head toward
Sean. “You did not tell me she would be here.”

Sean just shrugged.

“You told me it was a meeting
with my father.” Berlain wore brown leather pants with a brown jerkin over a shirt.
A blue cloak moved in a slight breeze around her.

Kelln looked at the two women and
noticed the similarities. The almond-shaped eyes of both mother and daughter
held a firm resolve.

Both ladies stood looking at each
other for a moment, then Alessandra rushed into her mother’s arms with a cry.
Berlain stiffened at first, but then relaxed. She held her daughter and stroked
the back of her head.

“You are so beautiful, my dear,”
her mother said. “I have missed you for so long.”

“Why?” Alessandra could hardly
speak. “Why did you leave us?”

Berlain backed away from
Alessandra an arm’s length. Sadness and regret filled her face. “It’s
complicated. I can’t explain it all. Your father, however, was part of it.”

The rest of the group backed away
to give some privacy to the reunion. Sean stood next to Taliana. “How are you
today, sweetheart?” He tried to break the serious tension in the air.

Tali squinted her eyes at him in
a mock glare but didn’t move away.

Kelln took up the silence. “Sean,
thanks for bringing her. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Alessandra,
but it was important for her to see her mother.”

Sean nodded his head in
acknowledgement and said under his breath, “It actually feels good to do
something decent.”