The Weapon Bearer (Book 1) (59 page)

King Atmos continued to read over reports with Brandon as they arrived at the great hall. The Fire Realm’s King Rekkan had assembled a small army and was headed for the borders of the Earth Realm. Specifically, he was headed for the Towers of Maltchet, the Earth Realm’s first defense against attack. Wind bearers had been flying day and night to report movement, army size, and weapon reports. Rekkan’s army grew in size every day it was marching. Atmos knew by the time he reached the last of the Fire Realm’s towns his force would be quite formidable.

The doors at the far end of the great hall swung open. Captain Lorusk and Champion Chit entered carrying an unconscious Kilen. He hung limply while they carried him. His feet drug on the ground while they walked. Lorusk carried Kilen’s sword and rings on a chain in his other hand. The king smiled at the sight of the men, but wondered where Jace was. He probably didn’t want to spend any more time with the boy after having to kill him. With Kilen out of the way the king could now spend time with the threatening Fire Realms forces.

They stopped at the king’s feet and dropped Kilen to the ground, who landed with a thud. “Where is Jace?”

Captain Lorusk saluted before answering, “Jace is dead at his hands my lord. He dropped into the courtyard with your scout dead in his arms. I stripped him of his sword and rings.”

The King rounded the table to look Kilen over, “Did he fight you?”

“My lord, he was exhausted of his energy. I pulled his armor from him and he went unconscious without magic to keep him alive. Twilix interfered and she gave him energy enough to keep him alive.”

“Good work. Take him to the dungeon. He will be executed in the morning for his treachery. I’ll say that this has worked out better than it should have.” They picked up Kilen and started to carry him away when the great hall doors swung open again.

Twilix rushed through the doors. Her cheeks were flushed as though she had been running. Her brow was sweaty and her hair was sticking to her face. Even though her features looked frazzled she looked agitated. A few seconds later Mary, Calvin, Brent, and Alexander entered the doors looking slightly rushed. Obviously Twilix had brought them all to the great hall to observe the king’s orders.

Atmos took a step towards the group of wizards entering the room and spoke in a commanding voice. “I summoned no council meeting. I need no assistance here.”

It was Calvin that spoke back to the king,” If it involves a weapon bearer then it is a wizard matter and we need to be included in the dealings.”

The king’s face grew red with frustration that his own advisor would talk back to him. “He is a traitor to this realm not to you. It is a matter for the King of the Realm. I am that king. Now depart.”

Calvin stroked his beard and spoke back with wisdom and authority, “How is this man a traitor my king? Did he admit it to you himself? Did you witness his treachery?”

The captain drew his sword and pointed it at the First Wizard’s throat. “Watch the way you speak to your king, wizard!” Calvin’s eyes narrowed as he eyes moved along the sword to the captains arms then his eyes. He stared in silence into the captain’s eyes when a small pebble dropped from the ceiling and made a distinct sound as it hit the captain’s helmet.

“As an advisor to the king I would give you some advice. Do not point your sword at me unless you want to be as flat as the blade you hold.” The captain’s eyes shifted between the gray bearded wizard and the rest of the council standing behind him. Atmos pushed in between them and lowered the captain’s sword.

“Wait over there, captain. I will consider what my advisor has to say.” The captain re-sheathed his sword and moved as the King commanded. Chit, with dark circles under his eyes followed like a trained puppy. He always stood a pace behind and to the left of the captain. “I have the captain and the trainee here as a witness to his treachery.” Calvin looked back at Twilix who was turning redder in the face as she was not named a witness. The king drew his attention to her and spoke, “Wizard Twilix, I believe this to be a matter for my advisor and council. I’m afraid that I am going to have to ask you to leave.”

Twilix shouted, “I HAVE TO LEAVE BUT YOUR CAPTAIN CAN STAY?!” She didn’t intend for her question to be answered and she should have been punished by the wizard council for interceding but she didn’t care. Captain Lorusk had almost killed Kilen only moments before by ripping the magic from his body. The event was fresh in her mind.

Mary smiled wryly, “I think that she had better stay, my king. I have had a pretty bad day and if this meeting is as unimportant as you say, well…if it turns badly, you had better keep her around. Unless you want your beard singed off.” Mary winked at the captain, daring him to come after her. After a second she added, “Of course with the way you are talking to your council it wouldn’t surprise me if she did nothing to stop me.” Mary arched one eyebrow and waited for the king to respond.

“Very well, it doesn’t matter whether she goes or stays. I’m sure my chatty council would probably tell her as soon as the meeting was over anyway. Kilen is to be executed at first light tomorrow. There is enough evidence to see that he is guilty of this treasonous act.”

Calvin stepped in again, “You must have a trial in which you stand as judge. That is what the wizard law states.”

The king ground his teeth, “The traitor is under my command and he will be tried as such. Besides, he is not a weapon bearer yet and that means he does not fall under the wizard law needing a trial by your standards.” Brandon nodded to the King to tell him that he had it right.

Calvin answered back coolly, “The blade was made by me. That means I am responsible for its owner until such owner dies in battle. Only at that point will the wizard lose responsibility for what he has created. The sword in Kilen’s care was created by me, and passed from father to son, making Kilen my responsibility. He IS under wizard law my king, and he deserves a proper trial.”

Alexander, chiming up in the back, “That is absolutely correct. The law also states that if the realm’s king denies the trial that the employed wizard’s and council may depart the land with any and all weapon and armor bearers in their care to protect the magic from such king.” The wind wizard chuckled as if he had said a joke. He muttered something under his breath when no one else laughed.

Frustrated, the king gave in to the wizards, “Fine, we will have your trial. It will only delay what is coming to him. You have two days to gather your witnesses, and his execution will follow the day after.”

Brent stepped forward, “Two weeks is the customary length of time stated in the wizard laws, my king.” Atmos looked at Brandon who still stood at the reports table, reluctantly giving a nod verifying his brother’s words.

Frustrated, Atmos growled a response, “Two weeks time to present him before the council. Captain, move him to the dungeons and let us be on with this day.” Twilix ran to help Kilen as they lifted him from the floor. “No! You all will stay away from him. I am finished with your games and wizard rules. He is my prisoner and will be kept as such. You all will stay away from him.”

Calvin spoke coolly to the King, “I think that it would be prudent to allow your advisor to speak to him. I should also be able to question him on the events today without taking a side to this matter.”

“Briefly, once and only once. You will explain his charges and hear his story. That is it.” Calvin bowed his head in acceptance and the Captain and Chit left the room carrying Kilen.

Once in the hallway, Twilix, Mary, and Alexander gathered around Brent to see what they could do to help. “We all know what the king’s motive here is. He wants to eliminate every potential person from gaining another mark to become king of the Water Realm. His earth magic misleads him in his plans. Use that to help us.” First Wizard Calvin walked by the group and placed a hand on his son’s shoulder.

“Well played my son. I hope you will advise this council well, to protect the boy.” Brent stood straighter at the pride in his father’s voice. He had never been the son to receive this from his father. “I have to stay neutral in this matter so be sure that you do. He was brought here by your mistake and by that mistake you have placed his life on the line. Use every resource you can.” Brent nodded and gathered the council in closely.

“I need you all to work together to protect this boy. None of this is his fault and we as wizards painted him as a target for the king by accident. Mary, the king’s men fear you the most. I need you to interfere with their investigation at all costs. Find their witnesses and intimidate them. Burn any evidence found and delay their progress by standing in the way. Twilix, I know your emotions for this boy. I need you to focus your effort in the books. Find anything in the law books that will help to prove his innocence. You will be representing him at the trial. I cannot because I am on the king’s council. My brother will provide the king with this knowledge so we must think ahead. Alexander, I need you to try and find Kilen’s path where all this took place. It ended in the noble’s courtyard so start your investigation there. Let us hope that the boy did not learn his lessons in stealth too well.” They all nodded as Brent handed out assignments and looked at the situation from every angle. “I will provide for Kilen’s safety. Gortus and Leroy seemed to be our only hope in keeping him safe from plots of the King. Keep each other informed of what you find and speak to no one, including my father, about our doings. Go now and do what you can to save the boy.” They nodded as Mary and Twilix started to chat about where to look for the proper books and how best to interfere. Brent and Alexander went about their missions in separate directions. A small white bird flew down the hallway and turned the corner after the captain and champion.

***

Gortus and Leroy sat at an empty table in the kitchen tents. Gortus was going into great detail about all the types of food that he had not eaten lately. He gave the most vivid descriptions that he could of the food, although he wasn’t a cook. He was born a warrior of his race. Most of the Kapal recipes consisted of raw meat. Leroy adapted each meal as most of the meat in this realm was not as fresh as what the Kapal race would eat. He described tastes and smells so that Leroy would get his attempts to make it correctly.

Brent sat down next to the two men and they sat silent. He did not come near them unless he had something important to do. “Something has happened and I need your help.” Gortus stood to leave the two to talk, but Brent caught his hand, “I need you also, Gortus.” They looked into each other’s eyes, wizard and wizard assassin. Slowly Gortus sat back down and waited for Brent to speak. “Kilen has been taken captive for treason against the king.”

Gortus growled, “What did he do?” His lips pulled back, displaying brilliantly white pointed teeth.

Quickly Brent answered, “Nothing!” He then motioned with his hands that they should all be quiet. He whispered just loud enough that they could hear him. “The king has made it look as though Kilen killed Jace.”

“I just saw them leaving for training in the city not two hours ago. He couldn’t have killed him that fast,” Leroy was frantic. It was his one job to protect Kilen and now he was being held prisoner as a traitor to the Earth Realm. “What can we do? I will help however I can.”

“First things first, Leroy. We are gathering evidence to prove his innocence in this matter. I need you to quickly gather all his belongings and get them out of the castle grounds. If the King’s men get ahold of his things they will make it look as though he was plotting this for a long time. Clear out his room and get his gold out. I need you to take his things and stay in the city until the trial is over. Do not come back to the castle grounds until the trial is over.” Leroy nodded his head and jumped up to get started with the task. “Gortus, your only task is to keep Kilen alive. We are certain that the king will use whatever means necessary to kill him before the trial begins.”

“Why do you think that I should perform this task?”

“Because he is your trainee and you made an agreement to see his training through.” Gortus nodded, grabbed the plate of food he was eating, and left for the castle doors.

***

Kilen noticed the intense pain first. The pain in his head made the room swim and kept him on the brink of consciousness. He kept his eyes shut at first, trying to keep from passing out again. He didn’t know how many times he had come to consciousness and black again. The room was cold, wet, and silent. He would have liked to have something so peaceful in other circumstances. It reminded him of sitting on the bank of the river outside of Humbridge listening to the autumn breeze.

He opened his eyes but it did him no good. The room was black as the darkest part of night. He started to wonder if he was alone in the room or not. He began moving his fingers and his arms, and then Max spoke,
Oh good. You are alive. We had been sitting in total darkness for so long that I thought we had all died. I can feel you moving your fingers. It’s almost as good as being an elemental.
Kilen smiled at the thought and felt pain in his face, as though it had been it been scrubbed with a wash board.

Hello, is someone there?
Kilen recognized the voice, but didn’t understand. He had made it to Twilix.
Hello, why can’t I feel anything? What kind of poison did you give me?

Kilen hurt too much to try and verify that it was indeed him, or to explain what had happened. “Max.” He said pleadingly.