by P. S. Power
Anders, dreading the conversation to come, took a deep breath.
“Natan. Yes. He died while I was off at the front of the war we had with Yanse. I... You saw that I can pass messages from a distance? I had to meet with some generals and their people, so that I could do that with them, so had traveled away from the castle there. Before that I was acting as a room servant, for several people, including your brother.”
The man stood straighter, a bit of banana in his mouth. He spoke in his shock, without swallowing first.
“You knew Natan?”
“I did. He was a friend of mine. When I returned the King there, Matheus, put me in charge of the investigation into his death. I found that it was a man, a servant there, Agorn Stergis. His cousin Alice had been gotten with child by Natan, and he wasn’t allowed to marry her, due to his orders from the Sulat, which is a great insult there. So he poisoned him. Agorn was also a great friend of the man Alice was supposed to marry, so it was a dark thing in that way as well.”
Warid teared up then, his face going ashen.
“I understand. A man has needs and desires, but Natan wouldn’t have been allowed to do the right thing, when a child came, being on a diplomatic mission as he was, even if it was the part of right. The friends of the wronged parties would have no choice but to act. This man, Stergis... Did he travel with you here?”
That made no sense to Anders at all. He nearly said that, in shock, but managed to be softer than that, in his words.
“No. He was put to death for the murder. He knew that would happen when he acted and went to his death bravely enough. He wasn’t a kind man, but he didn’t hate Natan, truly. His death was offered to balance things. I hope that is enough?”
That had nothing to do with what had actually happened, but it seemed to be what Warid wanted to hear.
“Ah? That is for the best, perhaps. I am a man of soft intent, myself. My primary God being the way of peace... Not all of my family follows the same path. The passing of this man should appease them, I think. Your King Matheus, he ordered this death? You said that you were the investigator?”
He nodded, slightly.
“He’s my grandfather and knew that I’d see to the truth, no matter what it took to reach it. At least that was what he said. I took Agorn’s life for him. The man asked for it to be done, so that we could right the wrong, without war. He would have died, anyway. Istlan does not allow murder. Not without just cause.”
Again, he was lying. Hopefully not so much that Warid would find out about it.
“That... Yes. I shall send word of this to my family. Thank you, for your work. It was a dark thing, and death is to be avoided, but my way is not followed by all.” Then, in a way that seemed a little off, and thoughtful, the man ate another banana.
As he finished that, a blue energy being came into the room, floating through a wall. It hovered about five feet up and hung back, once it realized Anders was there. So he waved.
“Hello! I’m Anders Brolly. Pleased to meet you.”
That, the soft and friendly words, had the being moving forward. It had a nice tenor, but being blue, had probably never been a human at all. So far all of those types had been green, at least in his experience.
“I’m Goland of the Waters, Anders Brolly. I have a message to deliver, about the bargain we made, Shaman?”
Anders nodded.
“Which is my signal to take my leave? Understood. Goland... We have a small entertainment being presented in a few days. Two, I think? Some music and illusion? You’re invited to attend, if you’d like? If not, please feel free to come and find me, and we can talk or share stories, sometime?”
The being rotated, to face him. At least that was the feeling Anders had from the whole thing.
“Thank you, Anders. I will consider it.”
Then, with a wave to both of the people, Anders left and tried to work his way back to the room he was being stored in. The palace was a bit of a maze, so, naturally, he ended up down the wrong hallway. One that was highly decorated, but not special in any specific fashion. That led to a different hallway, and him getting ready to run back, not having seen anyone, when an older man in a simple blue wrapped bit of clothing came out of a room, holding a tray with an empty plate and cup on it.
The fellow had an aged face, with a tidy gray beard, and a full head of short hair that matched in color. He was a large man, being very tall, and slightly heavy, but only enough to show he enjoyed food, not more than that.
The man smiled at him, which seemed a bit strained.
“Are you looking for me?”
Anders shook his head.
“No, sir. I’m a bit turned around. I was visiting with Shaman Smidt, and now can’t find my room at all. One of the Devica, Kines, led me there and I’d thought I’d paid attention to the path from my room, but... Clearly not well enough.”
The man nodded.
“You’re Anders? Sweyn was telling me about you, earlier. Are you well? I’d planned to let you rest for some time, given the wounds that you’d taken and the heroic actions of magic you undertook. You look fine, however?”
He nodded, getting the idea of who he was speaking to.
“You’re Sweyn’s father, then? Sulat Mondeth?”
The man grinned then, laughing a bit.
“You know, people normally put the Sulat portion first, but yes, I’m Sweyn’s father, indeed. You’re well enough to visit now, however? Remarkable. I’d heard that you might be crippled for a long while. The guards cried, speaking of how you healed people, risking your own life to do so. That’s not easy to make happen.”
Anders was able to smile himself, even if the meeting was a bit odd.
“It will take some days for me to recover from the magic used, I fear. I can do some small things, such as caring for my clothing or small illusions. We, the men traveling with Sweyn and Erold, and myself, we managed some pictures of the assassins. From memory, but they should be fairly accurate. I was able to make illusions of them, which the pictures were taken from. Kines the Devica is taking copies to various people. King Matheus and his Heir, Robarts. Sula Darian and Prince Naveed. I have copies of them and the report of what I saw and heard for you as well, of course. In my room, since I hadn’t expected to run into you, in the hallway like this. Truly, I wasn’t certain I was allowed to leave my room. I rather snuck out, to see that work done.”
There was a sage look then, instead of anger at the rules having been broken.
“You may come and go as you please, of course. Anywhere in the land. Here, I should go and greet the others with you anyway, so I can pick those papers up now, if that works?”
Anders thought for a second and smiled.
“It does, really, if that isn’t a hardship? Oh, I’ve been promising the Devica a show soon. In two or three days? So I can recover a bit of my energy first. Is there a place where I can do such a thing?” He held his breath, since it had to be a strange thing to request.
The Sulat seemed taken aback, as well.
“For... Devica? You can use the large hall for that, if you wish, of course, but... Is that... Won’t such a thing anger them?”
Anders cleared his throat, fighting a grin.
“Only if I’m not very good? Given that thought, I should probably practice first. Not that I wouldn’t anyway, but...”
The old man slapped him on the shoulder, reaching down a bit to do that.
“Good thinking, then! Here, this way, I think. I need to drop this tray off. I could leave it to the servants, but I’ve been so busy that it seemed unfair to have someone standing in the hallway, to wait on me. Strange hours, of late, you understand.”
Anders did, actually.
“I do, truly.”
As they walked, some minutes later, having traveled in silence, the fellow, the ruler of the land they were in, spoke again.
“Now, you can use magic to speak at a distance? How does that work?”
“If I know a person wel
l enough, I can pass my voice to their ears, even in the distance. I needed help with the papers being passed, since I can’t pass physical things that way.”
The man tilted his head.
“Useful. You can do this with anyone you’ve met?”
“There’s more to it than that, really, since I have to know them fairly well and then form a link to them, that can be used, but many people, yes.” He wasn’t certain where the conversation was going, exactly.
The Sulat took a deep breath.
“So, you can do this with me, now?”
He wrinkled his nose and then shook his head in response.
“From a chance meeting in a hallway? Probably not, to be honest. I’d have to be around you for some hours, for it to really work. I can do the Sula and King Matheus, both the Heirs from those lands. Princess Sweyn, and Prince Erold... But not every person I’ve run into over the years.”
The man didn’t seem upset to hear that, just considering.
“You can learn this though? So that, when you leave, you can pass messages from where you are to me, say? Or another here? You know Shaman Smidt?”
“That would work. If I meet with both of you again, a few times, at least. I tend to try not to contact the leaders directly, of course. I don’t want them to realize that I could use the same trick to cast other spells on them. Not that I would, but being able to means that they have to trust in my good will.”
The Sulat stopped then.
“That... you could kill them, at a distance, you think?”
Anders shrugged.
“In theory. I have spells that can harm and kill, and other magics that might work that way, but I don’t really have the ability to kill at a great distance. It could be possible to do, I guess, but the energy requirements to act in the distance are incredible. Making a sound, directly in an ear, doesn’t tax one that much. Making things move past a mile or so away would probably kill me. I nearly died yesterday, moving a few people less than a quarter mile from me, to give you a guide that way.”
Walking again, the man tapped his fingers on the tray. That was made of polished wood, the cup and plate on the top made of what seemed to be silver.
“You could make an image hit an eye then? Or is an image of greater power than a sound?”
Blinking, Anders did his own stopping then.
“It isn’t that simple, but... You know, it shouldn’t take any more power, really. A new and different way of doing it, to make a picture at a distance... I need to think about this. No one has ever done that before, that I know of. Or... well... I need to consider this one.” It was fascinating as an idea, really. One that tried to capture his mind, as they moved. He didn’t let that happen, since he was with the man in charge of the entire land there.
“Do that? It will be interesting to see. Also, even if a risk, we should open communications between the lands you can reach with your voice. Just Istlan and Barquea?”
“Yanse as well. My... Father, Prince Alpert, is the Regent there. Holding it for his baby son, Leopold. My baby half-brother.”
The words had him slapped on the back, as they reached a now familiar door. The serving woman for their room went wide eyed, and froze, seeing who was there. Anders smiled at her and waved.
“Could you take this tray for us? I’d walk it to the scullery, but I can barely find myself here, much less an entire room.”
The words got the woman to sneer at him a bit.
“Oh, certainly... Until you learn where to take them yourself, at least.”
That sounded fair enough, but for some reason the interplay had the Sulat laughing. Then he knocked on the door, which had Conrath opening it, almost instantly. Everyone in the room went silent, seeing who’d come to visit.
Anders, once in the space, noticed the lack of bowing. He hadn’t, himself, which apparently was correct for the place they were in. At least in unofficial situations. Heading to his bed, where there was a package of documents set aside, he passed that to the Sulat, nodding.
“Those pictures? Here are the fellows that did the real work on things. I just gave them an illusion to draw from. There was some writing work and other things as well.” He elaborated on that part, and talking the men up a bit, since they were, after a fashion, friends of his.
The Sulat, very obviously, understood what he was doing toward that end. The man didn’t get frustrated with it though, smiling instead. Pleased, it seemed, or at least pretending to be well enough that everyone was left happy with the man. Honored that he’d come to meet them. He got their names, as well, and touched hands and arms, as he did that.
It was personal and personable, all at the same time.
Then, when he headed back to the door, holding his new burden of document, he turned to Anders.
“We’ll meet again soon? Please also spend that time with Shaman Smidt, if that works for you? Also, I’d love to see your work on that new idea you had, with the pictures at a distance?”
Ander snorted.
“You mean the idea you had? Let me see what I can manage that way. It’s a good concept, if I can pull it off at all. It was nice meeting you, Sulat Mondeth. I hope to do so again, soon.”
That had him patted again, on the shoulder, as the man left the room.
Then, after some few moments, the other men started to gush, pleased.
“The Sulat came to meet with us? I hadn’t expected that. He was very kind, too, wasn’t he?”
The other men kept talking about that, for a good long while, So Anders settled on his bed, cross legged, and started to think about what might be needed to make a person see an illusion at a distance.
That wasn’t going to be a simple illusion, of course. Doing it that way would take far too much energy to make happen. No, it needed to be a thing placed on the eyes of one individual at a time, providing enough light to be seen, without blinding or harming the person. At the same time, he wasn’t going to be able to easily build a picture, as he did with words. Not that it was simple to do that, truly.
No, he needed to form that image like he did an illusion, but at the same time focus it only on the right spot, so that it would show to the one person needing to see it.
As a project, it was enough to keep him distracted, for a good long while. What he came up with meant learning twenty-seven new phrases, as well, or did at first. Some of those would be constant, so he could run the ideas into a single phrase... In the end it was put down to a tidier fifteen words, each of them meaning something new. It would, if done correctly, show anyone he indicated a single image. One that he had to produce as an illusion in front of him, at the same time.
Technically, he realized, he could also show anything he was looking at that way, with only a few changes in the words used. It would leave the person seeing things blind to what was in front of them, of course, but could still be useful, in certain situations.
Then, after going over all of that several times, he set to work on the new concepts he needed to learn. It went fast, but he had to eat and sleep, so wasn’t really ready for any testing, until the next day. His target for that, was of course, Depak Sona. The man was awake for the day, and Anders was able to warn him first, that he was going to try something, that might not work.
The reason for choosing him was twofold. First the man was brave and willing to notice where improvements were needed. Second, if Anders left him blind, he knew how to heal himself. At least he should have that down. Anders didn’t, totally, but he knew it was possible, in theory. Depak probably knew how to do that sort of thing, without even thinking too hard about it.
Anders hoped that was the case, at least. Not that he told the man exactly what was planned. He did wait though, for the man to respond to him.
“Ready.” The single word played in his ear, five times.
Then, carefully, taking his time to make a small, harmless seeming image of a floating red ball, Anders spoke the complex spell, focusing on the image in front of him. He wasn’t ab
le to do much else at the moment, so had to wait for Depak Sona to get back to him.
“A red ball? It seems to be a fine illusion.”
He changed that then, showing first an image of Depak Sona himself, and then each of the would-be assassins they had a face for. After the first three, Depak spoke in his ear again.
“Wait. I need to find some people. Hold there.”
That, whatever was happening, took about two hours to put together, before the voice came back.
“Now, do that again? I’m attempting to make illusions on this end. Go slowly.”
It wasn’t easy and he started to breathe hard as he did the work, though part of that was him being a bit tired, as far as magic went. Slowly though, over time, five of the images were called out. Three of them were guards from the Palace of Sula Darian. One was Liasa, as expected. The last one, a man of about thirty, caused a stir.
“Prince Rollo. We’re checking his whereabouts now. Also, Anders... This is incredible. You’ll show me how to do this?”
He nodded, and dropped the visuals. Then sent a message back.
“I’ll show you how to do this, on the next meeting. If we can meet. Please keep me updated on the search for that prince.” It was horrible that there had been guards in the mix, as it was. Each of them fanatical enough to kill themselves, for some reason.
It was shocking that Liasa had done that, of course. Worse, really, the princess hadn’t even done it in revenge for her brother. Not openly, at least. Anders could have understood that, after a fashion. It wasn’t a fair thing to say, but blaming Anders for Lassa’s passing was possible. He’d failed to help change the boy, after all.
It seemed that he’d failed to help a lot of people that way.
To the best of his knowledge, he’d never even met a Prince Rollo, if the assassin had been that man at all, and not just someone made to look like him. It was daunting to imagine, all of those people dying, in an attempt to get rid of him. It also didn’t make any sense. Even if they didn’t want him to be the Sula someday, doing something like undermining him would probably work just as well. Making it seem like he was a lover of men, perhaps, would probably do it. That would take no more than a few lies and a naked man being seen fleeing from his room, most likely. Then a few well-placed rumors...
