The King's Man

by Christopher G. Nuttall

  “Do any of you,” he asked, “think her condition is natural?”

  “No, sir,” I said. No one disagreed.

  “No,” Sir Muldoon agreed. “Cooper - who is currently serving his time on Skullbreaker Island - fed her an advanced love potion. It has bonded with her, creating a permanent effect that we have not - so far - been able to remove or refocus on something a little less harmful. If Cooper called for her, she’d go.”

  “She sounds stupid,” Archie commented.

  “She isn’t.” Sir Muldoon nodded at the dark glass. “She’s actually quite intelligent, as long as Cooper isn’t mentioned. Bring him into the picture and she becomes ... well, what you see. A love-sick girl who will do anything, no matter how degrading, for her lover.”

  Jean made a retching noise. “Why can’t you tell her that her feelings aren’t real?”

  “We’ve tried, obviously.” Sir Muldoon shook his head. “She doesn’t believe it. The feelings appear to be completely natural, from the inside. She thinks we’re lying to her. And no matter what the healers do, they can’t burn the potion out of her. The obsession is so all-consuming that we’ve been unable to even get her fixated on something harmless.”

  “Shit.” Caroline sounded stunned. “Can she live a normal life?”

  “Not really.” Sir Muldoon looked from face to face. “This is why we’re necessary. This is why we exist. There will always be people who will use magic - dark magic - to get what they want. Our job is to stop them. When the next Cooper comes along, you’re going to be ready.”

  I stuck up my hand. “How do you tell the difference between someone under a love potion and someone who’s just madly in love?”

  “There are signs,” Sir Muldoon said. “The majority of love spells have an unpleasant effect on the victim’s ability to think. They’ll start having problems adding two plus two without getting five. Most people know to watch for friends and family members becoming grinning idiots. Love potions can be far more insidious. There are tests you can perform - which we will teach you how to perform - to check if someone is under the influence. If they are, you hold them and wait for the potion to wear off. If not, you have to let them go. There’s no law against making a fool of yourself in public.”

  “And if it won’t wear off?” Caroline waved a hand at the glass. “What do we do with cases like her?”

  “Like I said, the vast majority of such victims can be refocused on something else, something harmless,” Sir Muldoon said, patiently. “There are brute-force ways to reprogram the potion. You’ll cover those later on, although you’ll hopefully never have to actually do it. For those who can’t ... there are asylums. They’re well-treated, if their family has the cash, but they can never be let free. They cannot live a normal life.”

  He scowled. “That’s why we’re necessary,” he said, again. He tapped the glass, lightening it. The poor girl was telling the healer, in great detail, about what a wonderful person Cooper was and how he was waiting for her. It made me sick. “Do you understand, now?”

  I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  Chapter Seven

  “We’re moving onto more important matters now,” Sir Muldoon said, after breakfast. “I trust you’re ready to try something new?”

  I nodded, blearily, as we lined up in front of him. I’d lost track of time over the past few weeks. I honestly wasn’t sure how long it had been since I’d entered Haddon Hall and started my training. My life before the Kingsmen was starting to seem like a dream. Did I have a father? Sisters? I was no longer prepared to swear to anything. My world seemed to have shrunk to the four corners of the estate. I wasn’t even sure there was anything beyond the brick walls.

  “This is something new,” Sir Muldoon said. He held up a strange device. “What do you think it is?”

  I frowned. The device was nothing more than a strip of silver metal. It didn’t look anything like as exciting as the spellcasters we’d learnt to use, or the wardcrackers, or the skeleton keys or even the protected armour that was supposed to ward off anything that might threaten us with death. The Kingsmen had all the best toys. And yet, the device didn’t seem important. I couldn’t understand what I saw.

  “Let me have a volunteer,” Sir Muldoon said. “Who wants to give it a try?”

  We glanced at each other, silently coming to the conclusion that it was my turn to volunteer. It probably was. Sir Muldoon made sure we all got a chance to volunteer, even if we didn’t want to. I didn’t mind it that much, not really. It was always interesting, although it was almost always hair-raising as well. I supposed being on the streets would be even more hair-raising. Sir Muldoon had regaled us with countless tales of Kingsmen who’d died in the line of duty.

  “I will, sir,” I said.

  “Very good,” Sir Muldoon said, as I stepped forward. “Hold out your hand.”

  I did as I was told and watched, alarmed, as he folded the metal strip around my wrist. The moment it snapped closed, I felt oddly heavy. My magic crumbled into nothingness, as if it no longer existed. The world felt dull and old and ... I stumbled back in shock, my free hand scrabbling at the strip. It refused to come free. I was deaf and blind and ... and on the verge of panic. I bit my lip, hard. My thoughts steadied, but the magic refused to come. I wondered, numbly, if this was what Caitlyn Aguirre felt like all the time.

  “The cuff is designed to make it impossible to use magic, as long as it’s wrapped around your wrist,” Sir Muldoon said, calmly. “The unlocking spell is actually quite easy to cast, but - as long as you have the cuff on - quite beyond you. There are more complicated designs that are harder to remove, magic or no magic, but we won’t be looking at those now.”

  He took a step back. “Once you put the cuffs on someone, you are placing them under arrest,” he continued. “They have the same rights as every other prisoner. They are in your custody until you turn them over to the City Guard or let them go. You are, amongst other things, required to defend them against attack. They won’t be defending themselves without magic.”

  I looked down at the metal strip. “Can you take it off?”

  “Of course.” Sir Muldoon removed the strip and passed it to me. “You’ll be wearing them again, later. There are sections of the exams where magic is forbidden.”

  I swallowed, hard. I’d had magic all my life. I’d never tried to live without it. I only knew one person who didn’t have magic at all. And ... I stared at the cuff, feeling an odd frisson of fear. The cuff wasn’t as dangerous as the spellcasters, or so easy to misuse as the wardcrackers, but it could cripple me. I felt as if I was holding a poisonous spider. I wanted to toss it away, or slice it up for potion ingredients, or do something - anything - other than holding it in my hand.

  “Today, we will be running a set of different exercises,” Sir Muldoon informed us. He passed out five more cuffs, ensuring we each had one. “One at a time, this time. Adam? Do you want to go first?”

  No, I thought.

  I didn’t bother to say it out loud. Sir Muldoon had already made up his mind. I was going to go first and that was that. It probably wasn’t going to be bad, merely ... a learning experience. Sir Muldoon passed me a spellcaster, which I checked automatically. He’d handed out push-ups like candy every time we failed to check the spellcaster to see what it was designed to do. This one was designed to kill.

  “Your mission is simple,” Sir Muldoon said, once he’d dispatched the others to the backroom. “The wards have detected someone sneaking into the estate. Your job is to catch them, put the cuffs on them and get them back up here for interrogation. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, sir.” I knew what was happening. Someone - one of the Kingsmen or their auxiliaries - would be sneaking across the wall, trying to get to the hall before I caught him. I’d be in real trouble if they made it to the hall. Or if they saw something sensitive and got out before it was too late. “I won’t let you down.”

  “Use the compass to track them down,” Sir Muldoon
told me. He clapped my shoulder. “Good luck, Adam.”

  I felt my heart start to pound as I picked up a ward-attuned compass and headed outside. The compass needle swung around, seemingly at random, before finally coming to a halt pointing west. I scowled. The western side of the estate was crammed with ancient trees, each one providing more than enough cover for someone to sneak up to the hall. The intruder could get pretty close before they had to come into the open. I started to walk down the path, keeping the spellcaster raised. I’d have to be careful not to accidentally use the weapon on the intruder. Sir Muldoon would be furious if I killed one of his comrades.

  The compass kept twitching as I made my way through the abandoned hamlet - it had been enclosed generations ago, as far as we’d been able to tell - and down towards the trees. It crossed my mind that the intruder might be waiting for me, ready to attack the moment I came into view ... I stayed low, wishing I could get a sense of just how far away the intruder actually was. They had to be on the near side of the wall, but ... the forest was big enough to hide a small army of intruders. I stared into the gloom, wondering if I dared go into the shadows. Whatever advantages I’d have would fade once I was within the gloom.

  Something moved by the edge of the forest. I dropped down, staring as a figure emerged from the shadows. A young girl, no older than myself. She glanced from side to side, but didn’t seem to see me. I stared, unable to believe my eyes. She didn’t look like a Kingsman. Caroline and Jean were both far more muscular than the intruder. I was sure a graduated Kingsman would be even tougher. Sir Muldoon was tough enough to kick me around the training field with one hand trapped behind his back. He’d done it too. For a moment, I was sure there’d been a mistake. The girl couldn’t be dangerous ...

  She could have powerful magic, I reminded myself, sharply. Alana hadn’t looked that tough, but she could turn me into a frog with a snap of her fingers. Or worse. She might have enough magic to stop me in my tracks.

  I crawled forward as the intruder started to sneak away from the forest, heading up towards the hall. She had to be my target, unless we had a real intruder. I braced myself, clutching the spellcaster in one hand, then stood and fired a single spell. She jumped as a fireball rocketed over her head and slammed into a tree. The trunk exploded, sending the remnants of the tree crashing to the ground.

  “HANDS UP!” I shouted as loud as I could. “TURN AROUND! KEEP YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!”

  The girl looked terrified as she spun around, dropping something on the ground as she put her hands in the air. I felt a pang of guilt, which I ruthlessly suppressed as I ran forward, cuff in hand. She yelped as I grabbed her arm and wrapped the cuff around her wrist. She was helpless now. Without her magic, she was helpless. I started to search her ...

  ... And she swung around and punched me in the chest. Hard.

  I doubled over, coughing and retching. Sir Muldoon had taught me how to take a punch, but the girl had caught me completely by surprise. She didn’t give me any time to recover, either. She brought her foot up, kneeing me in the nose. I felt bones break as I stumbled and hit the ground, in too much pain to put up a fight. She grabbed my hands, yanked them behind my back and wrapped a cuff around them. My magic faded, again. I struggled, but the cuff was unbreakable. I couldn’t get free.

  “Well,” a very familiar voice said. Sir Muldoon was standing right behind me. “Did you learn anything useful from this experience?”

  I coughed, trying to roll over so I could see him. Had he followed me, cloaked behind an illusion spell? Or had he worn one of the invisibility cloaks he’d taught us how to use? Or ... I felt a wave of shame as the girl helped me to my feet. I’d made a complete and total fool of myself. The girl had kicked my ass as effortlessly as ... as Sir Muldoon himself. Whoever she was, she was clearly someone to take seriously.

  “Yes, sir,” I managed. It hurt when I tried to breath. “Don’t assume she’s helpless because she doesn’t have magic.”

  “A useful lesson, to be sure.” Sir Muldoon smiled. “What did you do wrong?”

  “I should have stunned her, rather than relying on the spellcaster to intimidate her,” I said. I knew plenty of spells that could have stunned her, if only for a few seconds. She was no common-born student, unable to counter a spell most aristos learnt from their parents. It would still have kept her out of it long enough to keep her from battering me into submission. “And I shouldn’t have gotten so close to her. I just thought ...”

  “That an absence of magic renders someone powerless,” Sir Muldoon finished. He cast a stasis spell on my nose, then patted my shoulder. “I trust we’ve cured you of that little mistake?”

  “Yes, sir,” I said. “What now?”

  “You go back to the hall.” Sir Muldoon removed the cuff and passed it back to the girl. “Go straight to the Blue Room and work on the exercise there. Do not speak to any of your comrades. Let them have their chance to make the same mistake.”

  Or see how many of them realise the danger and take more care, I thought. My cheeks burned with humiliation. I’d been bested before, but this was terrible. In a sense, I’d bested myself. Caroline will spot it, won’t she?

  I put the thought aside as I turned and forced myself to walk back to the hall. My chest hurt, despite the effort. I had a feeling I was going to be covered in bruises by the time I got a shower. It was all I could do to get into the hall, find the stairs and stumble my way up to the Blue Room. Someone had already laid out an exercise and a small bottle of potion. I was in so much pain that I had to force myself to check it was safe to drink before I took a swig. Sir Muldoon had told us that people had tried to poison Kingsmen in the past, even though it was an automatic life sentence. They’d been too desperate to care.

  The exercise itself looked simple, but - the more I worked through it - the more I realised it was nothing of the sort. I had to get a body of troops from Point One to Point Two within a short space of time, without losing any along the way. I rubbed my eyes as I contemplated the map. The shortest route was actually the most treacherous, the most likely to cause an entire string of delays. They’d have to take the longest route if they wanted to reach their destination in any kind of fighting order. I felt a flicker of pity for the soldiers, mingled with gratitude Sir Muldoon had forced us to study the land by marching us over it. I wouldn’t make that mistake in a hurry. Better to take the longer route and arrive without any trouble.

  Caroline joined me an hour or so later, looking faintly put out. “That guy zapped me,” she said, as if she was personally offended. “I had him and he zapped me.”

  “I got beaten halfway to death,” I said. The pain had faded to a dull ache, but it hadn’t vanished. “At least you didn’t get clobbered.”

  “I got cuffed with my own cuff,” Caroline said. “I still don’t understand how he zapped me. I got the cuff on him.”

  “He probably had a spellcaster concealed up his sleeve,” I guessed. Did a cuff block a spellcaster from being triggered? I didn’t know. I could think of a couple of ways around it, if so. It would be relatively simple to build one that didn’t need magic to trigger the spell. “It could have been worse.”

  “I wound up looking a bloody fool,” Caroline insisted. Her gaze sharpened. “I should have seen that coming.”

  “So should I.” I snorted. My sister was certainly strong enough to break my nose. I knew better than to think girls were weak and harmless. “I guess we’re both fools.”

  Archie staggered into the room, gasping. “Drink, drink.”

  “Three fools,” Caroline said, as she picked up a glass of water and waved it under his nose. “I guess it’ll be six fools, soon enough.”

  “Well,” Sir Muldoon said, an hour later. “I guess Jean was the only one of you who thought to be careful.”

  Jean looked smug. I didn’t really blame her. The rest of us had been battered or enchanted into submission. We’d all thought we’d had the edge. Jean had been the only one practical enough to
stun her intruder and keep stunning him until she’d slapped the cuff on his wrist and dragged him back to the hall. The rest of us ... I shook my head. My nose was starting to hurt again.

  “Five fools,” Caroline muttered. “I guess we all could have done better.”

  “You can spend the next hour practicing your healing spells,” Sir Muldoon said, coolly. “Caroline, why don’t you fix Adam’s nose?”

  “He looks so much better with a battered nose,” Archie put in. “Doesn’t he?”

  “I must say the black eye really suits you,” I told him. “Do you want a matching pair?”

  I leaned back as Caroline carefully pressed her fingertips against my nose and cast a healing spell. My bones seemed to scrape against each other, sending shivers down my spine, before finally returning to normal. I felt a surge of magic running through me, a flash of attraction I knew I must ignore as our magics blurred together. Caroline licked her lips, then removed her hand and stepped back. I did my best to dismiss her. There was no point in getting into trouble.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “Good work,” Sir Muldoon said. “Jean, why don’t you fix Archie’s eye?”

  I stood shakily and brushed myself down. “I ... how many people know how to fight without magic?”

  “You might be surprised.” Sir Muldoon watched Jean, never taking his eyes off her as she cast the spell. “The average longshoreman is far more likely to settle things with his fists than his spells. The Great Houses are the only ones that discourage physical violence, and that’s only because they think that gives them the edge.”

  “It does,” Caroline said. “Doesn’t it?”

  “Matter of opinion,” Sir Muldoon said. “And don’t forget the Zero. She has no magic. But that didn’t stop her escaping an inescapable prison and finding her way back to Shallot. By the time we found her and her friends, they were already well on their way home.”

  “So I heard,” I muttered. I’d heard the stories. I just wasn’t sure how many of them I believed. “She’s supposed to be tough.”