“I guess we’ll have to do it the old fashion way then.” In one motion I drew my sword and cut off his hand. His hand and the bracelet fell to the floor. I flicked my finger, and the bracelet came to me. I dropped it in my pouch. I set the bloody stump of a wrist on fire cauterizing it. He dropped to his knees screaming, trying to put the fire out. He fell face forward into the dirt unconscious, I put the fire out.
I searched through my joined memories to see if there was a way to take memories that didn’t need me to stick my hand into his brains. There was, it was extremely painful for them, unless they were unconscious. At this point, for this person, I really didn’t care. I waited for him to wake.
“Are you ready to talk?” He said nothing cradling his burned stump. “Round two then.” I levitated him bringing him to me. Of course, I had to give him a show. I held my glowing red hand up before his face. “Tell me what I want to know, or I will pull your brains out through your eyes.” He started thrashing about. I cast my spell, “Tell me all I want to know.’’ He started screaming and convulsing. After a few seconds he passed out, I took all the information he had. He was not a nice guy. I lay him on the ground. I sifted through the gained information while I waited for him to wake.
When he woke, he rolled over and puked until his stomach was empty. He held his head groaning.
“You and General Shakes have been naughty, Commander.” He groaned, and dry-heaved. “Let’s go talk to the King, shall we?” I grabbed his collar and took us up to his tent. I walked him out and toward the King’s pavilion. There were now guards outside it I stopped, pointed at the ground, “sit.” The Commander sat.
It was now mid-morning, so I was sure the King was up. I entered the Pavilion, and the King and Queen were there, at their table. I bowed, “Sire, M’lady.”
“Come in, tea?” The King asked.
“Please.” I came forward taking the offered seat. The Queen poured my cup and handed it to me. “Thank you.”
“You have news?” The Kind asked.
I took a swallow at the tea nodding. “I have. The person behind this little mess is General Shakes."
“What?! Are you sure?”
I nodded, “there is no doubt. He has also subverted half of the commanders in your army, although I don’t have all their names yet.”
“Is the Commander still alive?”
“Oh yes, he’s right outside.”
“Guards.” one of the guards came in.
“Yes, Sire.”
“Bring the prisoner in.”
He bowed, “Yes Sire.”
They brought the Commander in. He stood before the King cradling his burned stump.
“Why?” The King asked. The Commander said nothing.
I levitated him off the floor. “Round three?” I asked.
“For gold. For riches, and power.” He answered. I dropped him. He hit the floor, groaning holding his stump.
“Tell him the rest.” I said
He looked at me, then the King. “General Stakes promised us riches and has been paying us double our pay for the last year. Your time is over, we decided since the Kingdom was going to fall anyway, we might as well profit from it. We’ll be part of the new ruling class.”
“Who else is involved?”
“I only knew of my four captains. Only the General Stakes knows everyone.”
“Tell him where your pay was coming from.” I said.
He laughed, “The Royal treasury, The General is carrying more troops on the rolls than actually exist.”
“How many more?” The King asked leaning forward.
“At least six battalions, maybe more.” The King leaned back. The King’s eyes became hard. “You have been found guilty of treason and are sentenced to death. Do you have any last words?”
The Commander’s shoulders slumped, “No.”
The King looked at me and nodded. I flicked my wrist, and the Commander’s neck snapped, he fell over dead. The guard took his body and left.
I poured myself more hot tea. “According to the Commander, Volwick’s Army has pulled out, and are heading home. There are no other enemies between us and Port City.”
“We just have to clean out a nest of vipers. This will be messy.”
“Maybe not too messy. I have the information on General Shakes. Let me go ahead of you and cut off the heads of the vipers, the bodies will wither and die.”
“You’re suggesting I stay here while you go ahead?”
I shook my head, “No, we head for Port City in the morning, you should be there, in what? The day after?” He nodded. “By then I’ll have General Shakes, and his commanders is a dungeon. When you arrive, we’ll finish cleaning house.”
“How long will it take you to get there?”
“I’m not sure, six hours I’m guessing.”
“You can fly that long at one time?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know I’ve never tried. If you approve, I’ll leave tonight, to give myself plenty of time to get there, and to do my part.”
He sat thinking; I drank my tea, waiting. After a time, he shook his head. “I don’t like it, but of the options we have, it’s the least bad one.”
The Queen set listening, “what of Reggie?”
“She stays with you, that way I can concentrate on what I have to do without worrying about her safety.”
“She won’t like it.” The Queen said.
I nodded, “I don’t like it, but I think it’s our best option to end this with the least amount of bloodshed.”
“Well, don’t get killed, if you do, I’ll never hear the end of it.” The King said smiling.
I laughed, “I’ll do my best.”
“And you have to tell Reggie,” He said. I stopped laughing, and he started.
REGGIE WAS NOT HAPPY, “father agreed to this idea?” I nodded. “Was the Queen there?”
I nodded, “yes.”
She nodded, “when do you leave?”
“In a few hours. Everyone else leaves at sunrise.”
“Promise me you will be in full armor at all times.” I nodded. “All right, it sounds like you have thought this through. Let’s eat and enjoy dinner before you go.”
“A bath first.” I said. She smiled and took my hand.
I HAD BEEN LEVITATING flying for an hour. I could tell I was using a lot of energy. I landed and sank into the earth. I could feel the earth recharging me as I rested. I started moving underground toward Port City and found I could recharge on the move.
I went deeper into the earth to swim or fly under rivers, and crags. I kept going faster and still able to recharge. I concentrated and flew faster. I reached Port City in three hours. I went under the castle and rested for a while. While I rested, I sent my Mage Sense out and learned the lay-out of the castle.
I went to the dungeon; it was empty. I concentrated on the wall and sealed off the door to the dungeon. I found the keys to the cells and made sure they were all locked. I put the keys inside a wall for safe keeping.
The General Stakes’ quarters were here in the castle, I went up through the walls to his room. He was asleep. I cast a deep sleeping spell on him and took him down to one of the cells in the dungeon. I lay him on the floor and cast the information taking spell. I stayed with it, taking everything, I thought I might need. He and his group had been busy. I now knew who all his people were and where all the gold and supplies he had stolen were.
I also found out who the General was working for. Well the person, not the Kingdom. He was a Master Merchant named Nee-Carr. He represented an overseas nation that had promised to make General Shakes the Governor of the Kingdom. Giving them a toehold to expand into the North and South Kingdoms, Of course the Other kingdoms didn’t know about that part of the deal.
I went back to his quarters and put his adjutant in a deep sleep. He was his second in command of this little operation. I took his information. It was much the same as the generals, but the adjutant had been skimming, fattening his purse.
“It’s hard to get good help these days. The dungeon is going to get crowded.”
I started down the list. There were ten Battalion Commanders, fifty Captains, various officers in procurement, supply and finance. Some of those had sergeants working for them. I had to expand the dungeon.
By the time I was finished, I had 116 prisoners in the dungeon. I left them all sleeping. It had taken me most of the day to gather them all. I had to wait until they were alone before I took them. I wanted this to be a complete secret, or at least a complete surprise.
I went down under the castle and opened a cavern. I made it big enough to open my pavilion book, as I now thought of it. I pulled the pavilion book out of my leg," Open." The book jumped out of my hand and opened.
I went inside, “Welcome Your Highness.” she said.
I smiled, “Not yet, Captain will do for now.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Seal the doors.” The ceiling flashed green. I was underground in a cavern I made, but some habits you don’t want to get out of. I sat down at the table. “Beef stew, hot buttered rolls, cherry pie, and cold sweet tea.” I loved these tables.
After dinner I looked around to see what the previous owner, the king, had left me. I looked through his wardrobe; he was a bit of a clotheshorse. On the upside I now had plenty of clothes, shoes, and boots to wear. And since he had been a King, they were all made of the finest materials.
He also liked to indulge himself. His bathroom was more of a small heated pool, and steam room. Don’t get me wrong I used and enjoyed it. After my bath I went to the sitting area. “Are there any books?”
“Yes, in the library on the second floor.”
“What?”
“Yes, in the library on the second floor?” I thought a moment,
“How many floors are there?”
“At the present, there are only two.”
“Where are the stairs?” A green light came on over a certain, I opened the curtain to a staircase and followed them up. Sure enough, there was a library. Larger than the one back at home. Well, Aaron’s home. There was a large table as well as a sitting area.
“It’s nice to be King.”
AFTER RESTING A WHILE, I went back to the offices, and homes of the leaders who had kept records of what they had done and were doing. I gathered all the records to give to the King, as evidence. Next, I recovered the gold, gems, and jewels they had stored in various vaults, and chest. I teleported the valuables to the Royal treasury. The King would be happy about that.
I had saved Nee-Carr for last. He was on a cargo ship in the harbor. Which I suspected was not a cargo ship at all, at least not only a cargo ship. I travelled underground when I got to the harbor; I opened an underground cavern to serve as a temp holding cell. I went up through the water to the cargo ship. I stopped below the ship looking up at it. It was strange hovering here underwater breathing like standing on dry land.
I sent out my Mage Sense and looked the ship over. It was heavily warded, but only from the top there was nothing stopping me from coming up from underneath. I went up into the wood of the ship. It was strange, as long as I stayed “in the wood”, no matter how thick, I was completely hidden.
I searched the ship from inside the wood. It was a spy ship. It carried cargo to maintain its cover. I found Nee-Carr in his quarters. He was asleep. I cast the deep sleep spell, but nothing happened. I looked closer he was wearing warded jewelry.
“Ok, we do it the hard way.” I reached up and grabbed him and pulled him under. He struggled, but I was able to take him down and drop him in the cavern. I punched him in the temple, knocking him out. I used his hand to take off the warded bracelet. I put it in my pouch, to study later.
I cast the deep sleep spell, then the info spell. He was in fact a military spy for Kingdom of Dunwich, one of this kingdom’s biggest trading partners. Their King was getting greedy. There were also two other ships in port right now awaiting the attack orders. They would attack when the rest of the fleet arrived. All their crews were active duty Navy. It was going to be a long night.
I went back up to the ship, to crew berthing and cast the beguiling spell. “The traitors are trying to kill you. Kill them all.” It was like a match to gas. In less than an hour no one was left alive on the spy ship. I told the ship’s wood to get the bodies and blood off the ship. The bodies, and blood sank into the wood to be expelled into the harbor. Fish needed to eat too.
I went under to the next ship. This ship was different there were men in cages, or more like jail cells throughout the ship. I went to the captain's quarters, put him under, and took his info. The ship’s cargo was, for lack of a better word, gladiator mercenaries. They fought for their freedom. Once the attack started, they would be loosed to cause havoc and chaos. If they survived, they would be freed... Supposedly... They were all Navy, or former Navy under a death penalty. I might be able to work with this.
I broke the captain’s neck and left him where he lay. I did the same to the rest of the crew that were not mercenaries. I went down into the hold and got a keg of rum. I opened the main cell door and went into the holding area. With a wave at my hand I unlocked all the cell door.
“All right men bring your cups get your ration of rum.” They came out and lined up. They were watching me and looking around for the rest of the crew. I waited until they all had all filled their cups.
“I have a proposition for you. Hear me out before you do or say anything. I want you to fight for me. Not just for your freedom, but for gold. Dunwich wanted you to fight and die. I want you to fight and live. I’ve taken this ship. I want you to man it and sail her out to find Dunwich ships and take them. We’ll split the spoils; I’ll buy the captured ship from you. I’ll resupply you and out you go again.”
“Once we sail out what do we need you for?”
“You don’t. You could do all those things on your own. But, if you do them for me, you’ll have a safe port to resupply and a place to sell all your captured booty. And, it will all be legal. You’ll be sailing for the crown, you’re not pirates.”
“You’ll be the captain?”
I shook my head, “No, that will be one of you. You’ve fought together, know each other. I’m not a sailor, I’d be in the way.”
“You said we’ll be free, after we take how many ships?”
“None, if you agree you’re free right now. If you need resupply, we’ll do that, if not you’ll leave tomorrow. I’ll tell you what, you think about it. I’ve got to go take another ship over there and make them the same offer. I’ll be back for you answer,” I teleported down to the cavern. “That’ll give them something to think about.” I smiled.
The other ship turned out to be a supply ship for the incoming fleet and was crewed by active duty Navy. Well, as I said, fish must eat too. I now owned Two ships... that the King world probably take, unless I didn’t tell him. “I have to make a living too.” I laughed.
I teleported all the gold from the third ship to the pavilion cavern. I teleported to the spy ship and teleported half of all the gold, gems, and jewels to the pavilion cavern.
I teleported back to the deck of the merc-ship and walked down to see the mercs. “So, what have you decided?”
A man stepped forward, “We’ll take your deal, my name is Wilks, the men have chosen me as their Captain. We don’t need resupplying We can leave now, if you’re agreeable.”
“I’m agreeable Captain Wilks. Good hunting.” I shook his hand.
“And your name Sir Mage?”
“Prince Aaron, Princess Regina’s husband and Consort. I’ve left the gold on board for you to resupply in foreign ports when needed.”
He bowed “Thank you, M’lord.”
They sailed with-in the hour.
I teleported down to my pavilion, put my spoils in my vault, and went to bed.
Chapter 14
I woke early, worked out, had breakfast, and started writing reports on all the prisoners. I didn’t want to have to si
t and recite everything I knew about them. The good news was I just laid my hand on my notebooks page and it transcribed everything.
Most everyone only took a page, the General took three. Master Merchant Nee-Carr took three pages as well. I fudged a little on the amount of gold recovered and the two additional ships I took. That was a need to know line item, and he didn’t need to know. With that complete, I closed my pavilion and travelled under to meet the King’s Company.
I emerged well ahead of them and waited beside the road. Reggie had told them to expect me and Gray was saddled and ready for me.
We talked as we rode. “Any trouble?” The King asked.
“None worth mentioning Sire, I did have to expand your dungeon. We had more guests that anticipated.” I said smiling.
“They won’t be staying long, I think.”
“We also have a foreign spy from Dunwich. He is the one buying off your General.”
“Dunwich? You’re sure?”
“Yes, Sire. I have it all documented.” I handed him the briefing book I made. “He was on his spy ship in the harbor. We now own it and its cargo. Master Merchant Nee-Carr awaits your pleasure as well.”
The King took the book and thumbed through it. “You recovered the gold from the treasury?”
I nodded,” The totals are on the last page, well as close as I could tell on short notice anyway." He flipped to the last pages.
“I will skin him alive, then hang him. How many had he turned?”
“116, all are in the dungeon.”
“I’m not even going to ask. On another subject, the spoils you took, specifically the arms, armor, and horses. The Crown will buy them from you. I will levy a fifty percent tax against the amount. You will receive the difference. The coach and pavilion are yours with my thanks for your service. What of the special arms, and equipment you issued the company?”
“The equipment remains with the company to be used by the troops of the company from now on. We would probably have survived, but it would have been ugly. They are now the elite of your army.”
Mage Throne Prophecy Page 13
