The Warlock Senator (Book 2) (24 page)

Master Orres sat at his desk, nursing a bottle of ale and trying to clear his head. A slew of books
were scattered in front of him. Two of them were histories of the southern border, which told of orc attacks and invasions over the last couple of centuries. Another was a chronology of House Finorel. He turned the roll of paper over in his hand, staring at the “G” at the bottom of the page.

“This is pointless,” Orres told himself. “There is no mention of anyone in House Finorel with a name starting with ‘g’ and I can’t find anything in the history books to make sense of why B’dargen would be interested in orcs.”

The sunlight coming through the window began to fade and turn colors, signaling the last few hours of the day before night would sweep in. He turned to look out the window and catch the sunset, but instead he saw a hawk descending to the perch outside Orres’ window. The bird quickly pulled on a red string with its sharp beak and the bell inside Orres’ office rang twice.

Master Orres stood and went to the window. By the red and black ribbons tied to the hawk’s legs, he knew this bird had come from
Drakai Glazei. He pressed the window open and reached out for the small paper rolled in a leather pouch on the hawk’s left leg. He unrolled the paper and his mouth fell open. He stumbled back and flopped into his chair, letting the paper drop to the ground. He sat silently, nervously tapping his fingers on his leg and looking back at the bird.

A knock came at the door.

“Come in,” Orres said.

Master Wendal walked in and shook his head. “I have finished searching Janik’s office, but I didn’t find anything
about orcs.”

“What about any letters with the same signature?” Orres asked.

Wendal shook his head. “No. I tossed the office very thoroughly too, looking in every nook and cranny, but there was nothing.”

Orres took the bottle of ale from his desk.
“I already figured we wouldn’t find anything,” Orres replied after a big gulp to finish off the bottle. “The man was clever enough to hide his true intentions for years. It was a long shot that he would have been careless enough to leave evidence in his office. I just wish I knew who he was working with.”

“Well, if he was working with Master B’dargen or House Finorel, I couldn’t find any proof
. What shall we do now?” Wendal asked.

Orres dropped the bottle into a waste basket and shrugged. “I think we should close the academy.”

Wendal’s mouth dropped open. “To what end?”

Orres took in a breath and turned to the window behind him. He rose from his chair and crossed his arms over his barrel of a chest and sighed. “
This hawk has just brought me a message from the king.” Orres bent over to pick up the note and read it again.

“What does it say?” Wendal asked.

“That I am to close the academy immediately, send the students back to their families and stand by for further instructions. All of the other masters are to remain here with me until further notice.”

Master Wendal crossed the floor and held out his hand for the note. Master Orres gave it to him and waited for Wendal to read it. As the mage finished, his mouth fell open and he looked up to Orres with a blank stare.

“That was my reaction too,” Orres said.

Wendal shook his head and handed the note back. “It doesn’t say who attacked the senate hall, or even how many senators were killed,” Wendal noted. “Maybe we are too late?”

Orres nodded and sighed. “That is possible, but we can’t know for sure. I need to send a response immediately. I will ask for more details, but I am not certain how long it will take for the king to respond.”

“
I can wait outside if you like,” Wendal said.

Orres nodded. “You can wait in here if you like. I will need to decide how to proceed closing the academy as well. It would be good to have you here for that.”
Wendal stepped back to take a seat on an old, yellow couch. Orres went back to his desk and pulled a small piece of paper out. He wrote a short response to the king’s message promising to do as the king instructed. He also asked for any additional details the king could offer.

When he finished the note he turned it sideways in his large paws and began tightly crimping the paper over into tight folds that would fit into the leather pouch the hawk wore. Orres held the note in place with a large thumb and reached out for his green wax stick. He stuck the end into a nearby candle, melting then end until a small bit dribbled on the desk. Then he moved it over and pressed the soft end onto the paper, swirling the stick around to ensure a good amount of wax stuck to the paper when he pulled away. Next he took his hand and pressed the ring on his middle finger into the wax. He let it sit in the wax for just a moment before pulling it back and blowing on the wax to cool it.

Satisfied that it was ready he stood and returned to the window. He reached over to a can and pulled a piece of dried rabbit meat out. He slid the note into the hawk’s pouch and looped the leather thong around a button to fasten the pouch closed. Then he gave the hawk the piece of meat and the bird flew off, bound for home.

Orres turned back to Wendal and shook his head. We need to call a general council. Go and gather all of the masters into the Bellwood auditorium. I can speak with them there.

Wendal rose from the couch and stopped just short of the door. “Have you heard from Lady Arkyn?”

Orres shook his head. “No word from her yet.”

Wendal nodded again and then exited the room, closing the door behind him. Orres went back to his chair and ran a hand through his hair. He leaned back lazily and stretched out, trying to make sense of what was happening. He sat for several minutes, guessing whether it might have been Lady Arkyn or Master Lepkin who had stirred up the senate hall. Or, perhaps it was someone else altogether? He let his eyes close as his mind walked through the various scenarios.

“Napping in the office?” a familiar voice said.

Orres jumped a bit and looked to the door, Lady Arkyn smiled and pushed the door open the rest of the way before slipping in and closing it behind her. “When did you return?” Orres asked.

“Only just a moment or two ago. I saw Master Wendal rushing down the hall, what was that about?”

Orres eyed her warily. “Perhaps you should tell me about the senate hall first,” he said.

Her smile vanished. “You heard about that?”

Orres nodded and pointed to the empty perch outside his window. “A little birdie told me all about it.”

“Right now I bet you are wondering whether I was too eager to use my bow,” she teased. Orres didn’t respond. “It wasn’t me,” she promised. “I didn’t even have my bow with me when I went to the senate hall.” She came in closer and stood in front of the desk.

“Well then, what happened?”

Lady Arkyn looked at Orres with sad eyes. “Let me start from the beginning. I think that will help you put it all into context.”

Orres agreed with a slight nod of his head.

“I went to the senate hall when I first arrived in
Drakai Glazei. I thought if Bracken had any secrets, he might hide them at his office there, but I didn’t find anything. So, I went to his house and snuck inside.”

“You broke into a senator’s house?” Orres asked.

Lady Arkyn grinned slyly. “I wasn’t able to stay long, I was almost caught by the guard, but I did find something peculiar. I watched Senator Bracken unlock magical barriers on a door in his house, then he went into the room and started talking with someone.

“Someone was locked inside the room?” Orres asked.

Lady Arkyn shook her head. “I am not entirely sure, but I think he was using magic to converse with the other person. He addressed the other man as his ‘master’ and the two of them discussed whether Lord Lokton had decided to join them.”

“Join who?”

Lady Arkyn held up her finger. “I am not sure, but that is not the most interesting part,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Orres asked.

“The other man called Senator Bracken by a different name.”

Orres leaned forward eagerly, planting both hands on his desk. “What did he call him?”

“It was a strange name,” Lady Arkyn commented. “He called him Gondok’hr.”

Orres sat back in his seat and stroked his chin. “Gondok’hr,” he repeated aloud.
He pulled out the note found in B’dargen’s office and looked at the signature again.

“Shortly after that, the guard came up the stairs and I had to make my escape or risk being caught,” Lady Arkyn continued. “So I thought I would attend the tribunal and see if I could figure out why they had been talking about Lord Lokton.”

“Did you?” Orres asked.

She shook her head. “Not really. I did ascertain that the tribunal was completely unfair though.”

“How do you know that?” Orres asked.

“I hid near the ceiling, on one of the beams that holds a chandelier. I could see and hear everything. I expected the tribunal to last for several hours while the evidence was presented and the parties involved gave testimony, but it wasn’t like that at all. Senator Bracken came out and presented
evidence along with his testimony and then tried to call for a verdict.”

“Without Lord Lokton being allowed to defend himself?” Orres asked.

Lady Arkyn nodded. “Senator Mickelson put up quite an argument though. Not only did he denounce the evidence, but he tore into Senator Bracken directly in an extremely vicious tirade. He accused him of tampering with the evidence and not following proper procedure during the investigation. He even called for a vote to have the matter reinvestigated by a team of senators he assumed would be impartial.”

“What happened then?” Orres asked.

Lady Arkyn sighed. “Senator Desepp brought out another prisoner. He announced the man as Braun, one of Lord Lokton’s men at arms. He explained that Braun had been caught trying to sneak into the senate hall during the night and that he was presumed to be trying to help Lord Lokton escape.”

Orres nodded. “So, because the senate believed Lord Lokton was trying to escape, he lost his right to defend himself.”

“Exactly,” Lady Arkyn affirmed. “Desepp ordered Mickelson to refrain from speaking while he presented the evidence against Braun. The senate was just about to call for a verdict when Master Lepkin walked in with a dwarf.”

“Al,” Orres corrected.

“Ah, you know him too?” Lady Arkyn asked.

Orres nodded. “I have met him before.”

“Well, I don’t remember all of the exact words. Everything started to move so quickly after they showed up. Lepkin argued with Senator Bracken over the protocol. Apparently the tribunal had started a day earlier than Lepkin was informed so he missed the proceedings. Lepkin said he would demand a review of the tribunal. Bracken pushed the senate to vote anyway and they reached a guilty verdict. Then Bracken insinuated that Lepkin was there not to fulfill his role in answering the summons, but to help Lord Lokton escape. He said the only way Lepkin could prove his honor was to execute Lord Lokton.”

“That is outrageous!” Orres shouted. He jumped to his feet and pounded a fist on his desk. “Had I been there I would hav
e given that senator a piece of…” he stopped and looked to Lady Arkyn. She stood there, looking at the floor and biting her lower lip. “Oh no,” Orres said. “Lepkin is the one?”

She nodded. “But it wasn’t without cause,” Lady Arkyn added quickly. “Senator Bracken was not really the senator. He was an imposter, a warlock deceiving everyone with magic so they thought he was Senator Bracken. When Master Lepkin realized the danger he shifted into a dragon and ripped the senate hall apart. Several senators died, as did the executioner.”

“And Bracken?” Orres asked.

Lady Arkyn nodded. “While Lepkin was in dragon form he ran his tail spikes through the imposter.”

“So what happened afterwards?”

“Next we went to the king. Master Lepkin and the dwarf told him all that had happened. Senator Mickelson was there with us as well. The king believed Lepkin. He wasn’t pleased with the situation, but once he found out that Bracken was really a warlock, he was a lot more understanding. Lepkin then went to investigate Senator Bracken’s house. I told them to check the library. They were going to see what other connections the warlock had and who he might have been working with. I came directly here to give you the report in person.”

Orres let himself fall back into his chair and he slapped a hand to his forehead. “By the gods, this is a mess.”

Someone rapped on the door and poked their head in. “Master Orres, the others are assembling in the auditorium.”

Orres flipped his head up to see Wendal. “Thank you,” he said.

“Hello Lady Arkyn, I didn’t realize you had returned,” Wendal said.

Lady Arkyn gave a half smile. “I have only been back for a few moments.”

“What news?” Wendal asked.

“You don’t want to know,” Orres said. He rose to his feet and waved for them to go into the hall. “Let’s go. This is going to be a long night,” he said.