Quest of the Wizardess

by Guy Antibes

“You personally?” Bellia asked. Her heart beat a little faster and she felt a shortness of breath. She put the feelings down to fear.

  “Of course.” He smiled at her.

  “We’ll talk more on the road. Benoli, Dotho and I will be ready when you are.” He looked at the group. “Say in two hours? I promised Belle, here, that she should buy some traditional Griannan attire. Perhaps Fillia, you might join us?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Lurini said.

  Fillia looked at Karan with an appraising glare and then at Bellia. “I’d be happy. Perhaps I can buy something a little less travelworn for myself.

  “Great.” Karan rubbed his hands. “Then let’s be off.” He looked again at Bellia. “No swords.”

  She couldn’t bear to be defenseless, but if things turned ugly, she had her fingerless magic. She gave her weapons to Ulu. “Take good care of these.”

  “Time to load up,” Ulu said, looking at Lurini.

  ~~~

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Capture & Death

  ~

  Grian, the capital city of Grianna, appeared far in the distance as they travelled over a hill. Bellia rode by herself. Ulu and Karan had ridden together for the last two days. Lurini sat with Fillia and Corl, driving the wagon. Karan had found a suitable pad for the seat and had won Fillia’s devotion. Karan’s men assumed the role of scouts and only joined the party when they camped on the road. It was up to Bellia to bring up the rear in her new riding outfit.

  She wore a thick wool coat with a red vest and a thick white blouse. At least Griannan women could wear split skirts when riding. Hers was black wool with a black leather insert around the crotch and down her thighs. The inserts disappeared when she stood. She hadn’t worn anything so feminine since before her family died. It actually felt rather nice to think of herself as a woman rather than a soldier.

  Riding alone gave her more time to wonder what she was to do in Grian. She always thought she’d find the wizard who murdered her parents and challenge him to a duel on the streets of capital city. That goal evaporated when she met the dog named Lurini. Bellia didn’t feel cheated in any way. Lurini had, unexpectedly, become a friend.

  Did she have it in her to murder her uncle? Did King Cressian have a wife and children? That was something she’d have to ask one of the Griannans. At least there was a rebel movement. Karan led a faction of them and they were ready to revolt. Cressian’s lords were ruining the country. It seemed the King didn’t care as long as he had money in his coffers. What was enough? Maybe Bellia could buy him out? That was a novel thought.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by Karan approaching. “What are your plans when you get to Grian?” He smiled, but a bit of his charm was lost to Bellia when he took over the leadership. It wasn’t a matter of skill of arms, like with Yezza. Her attraction to him complicated everything. When he was around, Karan always made her shiver. The excitement and energy of her evening talking with Karan was still a fresh memory. They hadn’t had a similar chance along the road.

  Did his taking over rob her of her chance to lead? She wondered if she could be so petty. Perhaps she could, however most of her thoughts seem confused when it came to Karan.

  “I’m yours to command. I’m rather handy with my swords.”

  “A two sword woman, so Ulu told me. And you wear the tokens of two tribal chiefs of the plainsmen. How unusual.” He grinned.

  Bellia managed a crooked smile, although she didn’t feel like smiling. “Perhaps. I do whatever I need to do. I’ve have some tricks up my sleeve that I’ll play when I choose.” Now why did she say that in such a snippy way? She mentally slapped herself.

  “I don’t own you, my dear.”

  “You certainly don’t.” Bellia didn’t mean to say those words. Karan colored, but kept under control.

  “And you don’t own me, I’m sure.” He looked at her with lidded eyes. “Trust me, lass. I am sure we have the same goal in mind, but may the better person win.”

  What did he mean by that? Bellia didn’t know she played a game with him. Perhaps she did. She looked at his back as he rode back up the past the wagon to rejoin Ulu. She watched through blurry eyes. Why did they suddenly water up after their little argument? Argument? She didn’t want it to turn out that way, but she realized that it did.

  She realized that her thoughts were not serving her well. Look where it got her with Karan. What kind of a Queen would she make in a strange land if she became a prickly ruler? Did she have the knowledge or the majesty? No majesty that Bellia could think of. Blacksmith apprentice to Queen? What a ridiculous notion. Her eyes rimmed with tears from feeling so inadequate. She would have to set her doubts aside for another time. Bellia took a deep breath and pressed her heels in Nudge’s flanks and decided she had to apologize. Ulu passed her on the way back and gave Bellia a funny look.

  .

  “I’m sorry if I said anything to offend you back there, Karan.” She had rubbed her eyes before she showed up and there were still a few streaks of tears. “I didn’t mean it to come out that way. I’m nervous about what’s to happen in Grian. There’s something you need to know. Agents of the King killed my parents. They didn’t die of any disease. And of all people, Lurini back there was the one who did it.”

  Karan looked at Bellia in astonishment. “Lurini killed your parents and yet you travel with him? His throat would have been slit long ago if he did that to my parents.”

  “I thought the same way, once. He told me the story before he knew who I was. However, the King held his wife and child hostage and forced him to do it. When he came back, his family was already dead. He’s as much a victim of King Cressian as the rest of us.” More so, thought Bellia, but Lurini would have to finish his own tale.Tail, she thought. She looked back at Lurini driving the wagon and couldn’t help smile at the infectious humor that man had. Fillia was in stitches at something Lurini was telling her.

  “What’s so funny?” Karan now became the touchy one.

  “Lurini. He makes me laugh and feel good.” It felt right to have him along. “Look. Let’s be friends, eh? I guess I’m a bit put out that you’ve taken over my little band and it’s gotten me out of sorts.” There, she admitted it.

  Karan opened his mouth to talk, but Bellia continued. “I don’t know Grian at all. I don’t have a plan other than to charge up the castle steps. But I don’t know if there is a castle or if it even has steps. So I’ll be a good soldier. If you wish to talk or whatever, I’m here. Okay?” Bellia put out her hand.

  Karan ignored it and stood up on his stirrups and pulled Bellia over and kissed her. “I like you, Bellia. I’m always here for you too. When this is over we could do worse than to get together. But for now,” he took her hand, “we are fighting comrades.”

  Bellia squeezed it out of reaction, still astonished that he had stolen a kiss from her.

  “You can go back and guard my rear.” Karan raised his eyebrows waiting for a response.

  “As a privilege. It is for me, sir.” Bellia grinned and saluted. She felt much better when she fell in beside Ulu at the end of their little column until she caught the full meaning of Karan’s joke and gasped.

  “I am glad I am again by your side, Mistress Bellia,” Ulu said with relief in his voice. “Karan has been asking me about you. I have had to tell him all that we have done since we left Helevat, but I did not tell him of what I know about before.”

  “Does he know about my magic?”

  “I have found myself adequate to changing the story to suit the listener. You have taught me well. Your flute play is magical for all who hear. Your generosity is well documented, but the level of your wealth is not.” Ulu smiled as he sang. “He is very interested in you. It is more than just finding out about your background. But even with my adequacy of changing the story, I still find it tires me to do so. We Reberrants always try to be truthful.” He gave Bellia a sly smile.

  They both laughed until Karan’s men converged on him up front and en
gaged in excited conversation.

  Karan waved his arms to get Bellia up front. He no longer laughed.

  “The King has retained a wizard. I thought he was through with them. The wizard he had by his side long ago has returned from Kokota.”

  “Shibito?” Bellia asked.

  “How did you know?” one of Karan’s men said.

  Another nudge. For a moment, her shoulder drooped. “He is the only prominent Kokotan wizard that I know of. He was responsible for the destruction of King Rollack’s North Wansua army. I marched for the King.” She had known one other, Astun, but he would have been too young to work for King Cressian.

  “Another score to settle?” Karan looked at Bellia as if the answer was the most important thing in his mind. “Go back up ahead and see if there’s any evidence of the wizard’s work in the city.” They bowed to Karan and rode away.

  “He’s a great wizard. How can we fight him? Lurini would love to, but Shibito took away his powers.”

  “Lurini is a wizard?” There was hope in his voice.

  Bellia shook her head. “No longer. But wizards can be killed, I know.”

  “Your parents were wizards, weren’t they? King Cressian would only send a wizard to kill a wizard.”

  “And it worked. My father left Grianna because he didn’t want to fight King Cressian.”

  “And you do?” Karan looked into Bellia’s eyes.

  She couldn’t handle his gaze. “I know how to fight, as I’m sure Ulu told you.”

  Karan colored at being caught asking about her.

  “But I’m not sure what I want. The King is evil. He and Shibito have caused thousands of innocent citizens, a great deal of pain. We can’t let it continue. I will do what it takes to rid Grianna of both of them. Then we’ll see about the future.” Bellia warmed to her cause.

  “That’s what I wanted to hear.” Karan said.

  They rode on in silence. Perhaps her quest ended with the wizard’s death, as well as the King’s. She could easily fight Shibito without remorse and let the others deal with her uncle. She remembered Shibito’s cold, dead eyes and vowed to make them truly cold and truly dead.

  They approached the city gates.

  Karan decided that Bellia be their spokesman. “We are travelers from Togolath,” she said. “The lady on the wagon used to live in Grian and she and her son decided that they would like to visit the old family home. My friends and I wish to see Grian and drink its ales and return to Togolath by ship.”

  “Entrance to the city is a silver guinea.” The guard sneered as he said it.

  Bellia tossed him three coins. “And a copper penny for you and your friend.” She winked at the guard and rode through. The party didn’t stop. Bellia knew none of coins would go any further than the guards’ pockets.

  Karan led them to an inn close to the Grian docks. “We will be safe here.”

  The inn was a ramshackle place. The paint had worn off generations ago leaving the bare wood to crack and turn gray. The stables were just as bad, but Bellia noticed fresh hay and plenty of extra feed in the buckets. The inn was not what it seemed.

  Inside, the inn resembled a barracks. Men and a few women wore swords and walked purposefully in front of them.

  “We have taken over this entire block. The warehouses have goods stacked up close to the walls and then we have built a barracks and command centers in five other such places in Grian.”

  “You must be close to revolution.”

  Karan quietly smiled and flashed his eyes. “We have all lost friends and relatives to the depredations of the King and his Court. If it wasn’t for the wizard, we would be rising within the week.”

  Fillia walked up. “Can I go past my old house? I’d like to show Corl where his mother grew up.”

  “The streets aren’t safe,” Karan said.

  “Lurini, Ulu and I can guard them. We can make sure we get there and back.”

  “I’ll want you to return to a baker’s shop on the other end of this block rather than the inn. Can you do that? I’d like to keep the King’s spies guessing.”

  Fillia nodded.

  ~

  The day barely dawned through heavy mist rolling into the streets from the Inner Sea. Bellia felt a little down because of it. She wore the long coat over her swords that now hung at her side. It didn’t matter to Fillia. She couldn’t hold back her excitement.

  The five of them, Bellia’s original group, walked out of the Inn and up the hill towards the palace that stood on the highest ground of the city.

  As they moved up the hill, the streets began to twist and turn, narrow and expand.

  “The King doesn’t have a castle except for the houses that lead up to the palace. The King’s great-grandfather rebuilt all the houses to act as a barrier to attack. That’s why the streets all go this way and that way,” Fillia said.

  Bellia thought her great-great-grandfather was a crafty King. The sun began to poke through the thinning mist as they walked up the hill. Fillia walked to her old house. It wore the disheveled look of an abandoned mansion. The windows were cloudy with dirt and the door paint had peeled off to show the naked wood below.

  Fillia leaned over and removed a cobble next to the step, holding up a key. “It’s still here,” she said as she turned the lock and walked into the house. The three followed. Bellia noticed a tingle of magic as she walked past the threshold. Perhaps a magical lock might have been used on the house in the past.

  Bellia and Ulu stood in the front room looking out through the haze in the window to the street outside. Ulu sneezed and they both laughed.

  “You’re not meant to be inside of a house for long, are you?”

  Ulu shook his head. “I’m just about ready to return to Helevat, Bellia. Your journey is nearly finished and once we take care of the wizard and the King, I think it’s time to return.”

  “Perhaps we can get back to Rullon and he can transport you to Helevat. You should be a father by now.”

  “That is why I am ready, Mistress Bellia.” Ulu grinned.

  The little man had been as faithful a companion as Bellia could have desired. He had saved Bellia’s life and Bellia had saved his. Bellia would be sad to have him leave her side. She thought if she were Queen, she would ask Ulu to bring his wife and child and live with her in the Palace.

  They heard a commotion in the back of the house. They ran to the back as the front door fell open. King’s Guards rushed in. Just behind, Shibito worked his magic codes. Bellia found her eyes blur. Ulu’s eyes lit blue as he seemed unaffected by the magic and then he, too, froze. Guards surrounded him and others plunged their swords into Ulu’s body. As Bellia sank under the spell, she groaned inside as she saw the light extinguish itself in her friend’s fixed gaze.

  ~

  Bellia blinked. Her eyes barely registered light. She rose from mildewed straw. The stench in her cell almost overpowered her.

  “Bellia?” Lurini said. “You’re alive. Shibito’s spell was so strong. I could feel him put a layer on your magic. I don’t think they recognized me. Ulu’s dead.” Bellia could feel the distress in his voice.

  There could not have been an emptier feeling inside Bellia at Lurini’s words. “I know,” Bellia said quietly and couldn’t stop her tears. “I saw him freeze and the guards kill him. I’ve traveled a thousand leagues with him and now?” She shuddered. “A better friend...” Her voice quivered. “A better friend one could not wish for,” Bellia sang in Ulu’s tongue.

  “He left a wife and a child he was anxious to meet for the first time.” Bellia could say nothing more but weep for Ulu and as she sobbed, she cried for her mother and for Menna, Yezza and, perhaps Astun, and those others who no longer lived. She wept uncontrollably for a long while as she sat in stinking straw.

  Was this what all the nudges were about? To perish in a dark prison? All of her adventures, deeds to be sung among the Middab, all of her time with the army of King Rollack and her learning at the temple? Were they all f
or naught? She feared it so and the futility of her life crushed her. What kind of quest ended as ignominiously as their capture?

  And Karan? Finally she meets a man that interests her and she so obviously interested him. Would she die before they even had a chance? The tears continued to fall. She couldn’t feel more miserable. She put her hand to her belt to find her swords removed. Weaponless and without her closest friend.

  Lurini looked at Bellia and put his hand on Bellia’s shoulder. “They’ve taken Fillia and Corl as well. The house must have had a ward on it.”

  “I guess I felt it and ignored it as a warning.” Bellia wiped her eyes. “I thought it was an old magical lock. Are there even magical locks?” How could she overcome such loss, such stupidity? She felt useless and impotent to help her friends. She sobbed. How could she even think to defeat Shibito if the man could make her faint with a few gestures of his fingers? She felt the stubs on her hand.

  Look within yourself. Bellia wiped her face. The sending made her sit straight up. Within herself? She knew what that nudge meant.

  If Shibito thinks her powerless, then perhaps her thought magic might work. She looked at Lurini as another powerless wizard—or was he?

  “I’m going to try to restore your magic. I don’t know if I can do it, but we are dead if we do nothing.” Bellia felt fear in the pit of her stomach, but fear was better than despair. Perhaps their lives were saved for a little bit of gloating by her captors. From what she’d heard of King Cressian, that would fit. As long as they were alive, they had a chance.

  “Try as you might. It worked to make me human.” Lurini said. “No matter what happens, I thank you for that as well as for not killing me out of hand. It would have been very inconvenient.”

  “I’m going to try to remove Shibito’s spell.” Bellia found she could pull the lines of force through what she perceived as a haze surrounding her.

  First she assembled earth, layer and sky and let them coalesce in her mind and then she pictured a cleansing cloud inside the haze. The haze began to dissipate as the cloud worked on it from the inside and Bellia could sense the lines of force increasing in power until the haze disappeared.