Draggah

by Toby Neighbors

  “Repperi Amnis,” he said.

  He felt a tug, almost like someone was pulling on him with an invisible rope. He could feel the magic moving around him. He was almost always aware of magic now, but having cast the spell to find water, he was even more aware of the magic moving, almost coaxing him forward. He quickly saddled the horses.

  “What are you doing?” croaked a familiar voice.

  Tiberius turned and found Lexi sitting up on the blanket they had slept on. Her short hair was disheveled and her eyes were puffy, but he thought she looked beautiful.

  “We have to find water or we’re going to lose the horses.”

  “I’ll help,” Lexi said, getting to her feet and stretching.

  “Does that mean you’ve forgiven me?” Tiberius asked hopefully.

  The look she shot him was fierce. It said that she wasn’t taking what happened lightly. He realized her feelings weren’t a joking matter.

  “Sorry,” he said. “That was careless of me. Let’s go.”

  They walked the horses. Tiberius flexed his hand, but the soreness lingered. He could move it, but it still felt weak. Lexi sipped water from the skin and they both ate some of the mealy bread that the Hoskali had made.

  “How do you know where you’re going?” she asked.

  “Magic,” Tiberius told her. “I cast a spell to help us find water.”

  “So, the magic told you where to go?” she inquired skeptically.

  “It’s pulling me, almost the same way we’re leading the horses.”

  Lexi didn’t respond to that. He could tell she was still angry with him, but he was determined to make it up to her. He’d courted girls in the past and even had secret romances in the palace where he had lived all his life in Avondale. They were more like games compared to his feelings for Lexi. She was almost all he could think about. He wanted to be with her all the time, to see her smile and make her laugh. He didn’t like that she was angry with him, even though he could understand why she was.

  “So,” she said, finally breaking the silence, “do you know how far from the water we are?”

  “No,” Tiberius said.

  “That’s too bad. We could walk for days and never know if your magic is leading us any closer to water.”

  “It’s working, that’s all I can say,” Tiberius said.

  “And when we find water, then what?” Lexi said. “Do you have another spell to help you find friends?”

  “No,” Tiberius said, refusing to rise to the bait that Lexi was dangling in front of him. “I’m not sure what we’ll do next.”

  Casting the spell to find water had been easy enough, but the trek to find the water was long and tiresome. It was hot and Tiberius felt sluggish. The horses walked with their heads down. It was late in the day when they finally saw what looked like a clump of bush scrub ahead of them.

  “Do you think that’s the water?” Lexi asked hopefully.

  She had sipped water from the water skin throughout the day and was in better shape than even Tiberius by that point. Her main concern was for the horses. She had developed a fondness for them and Tiberius thought it was another part of her that he loved.

  “I hope so,” he said.

  It took almost an hour to reach the small oasis. At one point, the horses smelled the water and moved more quickly. They even raised their heads and neighed a little.

  “That’s a good sign, right?” Tiberius said.

  “At least there’s hope,” Lexi agreed.

  The oasis was little more than a small spring that fed what looked like little more than a large puddle of water. A rock had been set on top of the spring, which trickled down a slight incline and into the puddle. The horses immediately dropped their muzzles into the water and slurped eagerly.

  Tiberius went around to the other side of the oasis, which was only about four feet across, and knelt down. He cupped his hands together and scooped up some of the water. It was warm, but clean. He drank it down, then splashed water on his face.

  Lexi was gathering some of the sticks from the bush scrub. There was plenty of them under the bushes or nearby that had died and fallen to litter the ground around the spring. She formed a little pile and then set about laying out their blanket. It was late in the day and they all needed rest.

  “Go ahead and sleep,” she told Tiberius. “I’ll take the first watch.”

  “Are you going to be here when I wake up?” he asked.

  She frowned.

  “Look, I’m not trying to start a fight,” he said. “I’m sorry I said that. I just want to know things are going to be okay between us.”

  “I don’t know,” Lexi said. “You have no idea what it feels like to be abandoned.”

  “I didn’t abandoned you,” Tiberius said.

  “But you might. I just don’t know if I can trust you, Tiberius.”

  “You can trust me, I swear it,” he pleaded. “Please, you have to know that I would die before I would ever hurt you again.”

  Lexi thought about what he was saying. Tiberius could see that she wasn’t comfortable. She was the type of person who would rather be on her own than risk being hurt by sticking around.

  “I know this is hard for you,” Tiberius said. “But we’re not in Avondale anymore. Things are different out here. We need to stick together. I care about you, Lexi; more than you’ll ever know. But if you don’t want that, I can back off. I’m not going to betray you and I won’t smother you either, but we’re safer together.”

  “I know that,” she said softly.

  “Okay then, just don’t leave me. I need you.”

  There were tears in her eyes, but Tiberius decided not to push things. He wanted to give her the time and the space she needed. He stretched out on the blanket. It felt good to be off his feet. It was still hot and the sky was bright with amber light, but he draped one arm over his eyes and was soon asleep.

  Chapter 6

  Leonosis

  He had recruited a group of men he felt were up to the challenge he would set for them. They were all capable men, although spies weren’t common in the Nine Cities, since travel between the cities was severely limited. The men all came from different backgrounds. Some were Paladins, others were soldiers, and some were criminals. What they all had in common was a strict loyalty to money. Leonosis had plenty of money to spend and so he’d bought the best mercenaries that were available.

  “You’ve all been chosen for a special task,” Leonosis told them. “I need information. I want you to sweep the city. Leave no stone unturned. Report to me even the most insignificant fact. Do I make myself clear?”

  The men all nodded.

  “I’m paying for results, gentlemen. I do not care what methods you employ to get them. No one but me knows what you are doing and if I hear that any of you are talking with anyone but me about what you find, well, let’s just say that you won’t be talking to anyone ever again.”

  Leonosis let his threat sink in. Then he went to the small group of soldiers.

  “As you all know, my brother was banished from Avondale,” Leonosis said. “What you may not know is that someone from the city, a girl, brought him horses and supplies. Someone let her out of the city and that means soldiers. I want you to find those soldiers and bring them to me.”

  The men saluted and then hurried away. Leonosis then turned to the Paladins.

  “My brother spent a lot of time at the temple,” he said. “He was close to becoming one of you, yet he willingly left the city. I want to know what he was up to. I want to know everything. No detail is insignificant. I need to know why he wanted to leave.”

  The Paladins bowed, then hurried away. Leonosis turned to the group that remained. They were criminals, some with reputations for more than just stealing or strong arming merchants. He looked at the group. They were like ravenous wolves and he thought he related more to this group than the others.

  “I want to know who the girl was,” he said. “I want to know how they met, wha
t they were planning, and why she left. The first of you to bring me what I need to know will never want for money again.”

  The men smiled and Leonosis waved them away. He had important business to attend to in the Earl’s audience chamber, but first he wanted to check in on another group that was busy gleaning information. He had to go down to the lowest levels of the palace, far underground. The palace dungeons were carved into the bedrock beneath the huge structure. At one time, those dungeons had been full of the city’s most unsavory citizens, but Leonosis’ great grandfather had built a more humane detainment center further away from the palace. For nearly sixty years, the palace dungeons had been empty, at least until recently.

  He heard the screams as he slowly descended the narrow circular staircase. Robere, his brother’s manservant, was not enjoying his new accommodations. That was part of Leonosis’ plan. He had found a man who had once been a physician in the city, before his thirst for knowledge had led to him becoming a grave robber. The poor soul had been languishing in drunken squalor, but Leonosis had lifted him from the mire and given him a new purpose in life. The man’s knowledge of the human body was very useful when it came to inflicting pain.

  Leonosis passed by the grimy cell where Robere was being tortured. He chuckled at the hoarse screams that echoed off the stone walls. The elderly servant was weak, Leonosis thought. He wasn’t in danger—nothing the torturer was doing would kill him—yet he wailed as if he were in his death throes. Leonosis then opened another door. The heavy door was made of oak, which was rare in Avondale, and banded with rusty strips of iron. The hinges squealed almost as loudly as Robere.

  In the center of the room, tied to a small wooden chair, was Hellen, Lady Olyva’s maidservant. They had come to Avondale from Hamill Keep together. Hellen was wide eyed, and tears ran down her fat cheeks. A rag had been stuffed into her mouth and held there by another rag that was tied around her head.

  “You hear what awaits you if you do not cooperate?” Leonosis warned.

  The servant nodded, her neck bulging as her chin dipped down toward her chest.

  “Remove the gag,” Leonosis ordered the soldier guarding her.

  He wasn’t sure if the soldier, or any soldier for that matter, would have obeyed him if he had ordered the lady’s maid tortured. But he didn’t need to find out. Just hearing Robere’s agony was enough to loosen the maid’s tongue.

  “How long was your lady fooling about with Rafe Grentzson?”

  “I, I, I don’t know, your lordship. I know he came to her a few days before they were banished, but I had no idea before that.”

  “Attentive, aren’t you?” Leonosis chided.

  “Lady Olyva was never open with me,” she said. “She’s spoiled, that one, selfish, but not rebellious, my lord. I had no knowledge that she was unfaithful to Lord Brutas.”

  “How did she spend her time here?”

  “Fretting mostly. She was unhappy, but I always thought it was a matter of youth. They always seem bored and unable to sit still for even an hour.”

  “So what did she do?” Leonosis asked, letting his ill temper show.

  “She walked in the gardens mostly. She liked the gardens; it was a welcome change from Hamill’s Keep. She toured the city when we first arrived. She had dinner with your family, my lord. That was all.”

  “And you were with her all the time?”

  “Almost always. She did occasionally send me out for things. Fruit, flowers, occasionally even books.”

  “Did you take care of her laundry?”

  “No, my lord. Your palace servants did that for us.”

  “I see. Did you ever see her with Tiberius?”

  “No, my lord.”

  “What about women from the city?”

  “No, she kept to herself. She spoke with people when she went to the market, but that wasn’t often and I was always with her. I never her saw her speak to anyone about anything other than the price of goods or how something was made.”

  “Very well,” Leonosis sighed.

  He had known that getting any useful information from the servant was a longshot, but it had been worth the effort anyway. Lady Olyva had acted exactly the way he’d expected her to when he banished her. If Tiberius was planning something, he doubted that Lady Olyva had been privy to his plans.

  “Keep her here until I decide differently,” Leonosis said.

  “Please, my lord,” Hellen said. “I’ll serve you well. I’ll do anything for you, but don’t leave me here.”

  Leonosis ignored her. He left the cell and walked back down the hall. He opened the door to Robere’s cell and found his torturer on the poor man’s chest. He had a metal device in Robere’s mouth and there were blood and bits of teeth on the elderly servant’s chin and cheeks.

  “Sit him up,” Leonosis ordered.

  The torturer looked disappointed, but he got up and set the wooden chair that Robere was tied to back in an upright position. Robere was sobbing. His hands were lashed to his sides and the rough ropes were cutting into his pale flesh. He’d been stripped naked before being tied to the chair. His thin gray hair was sticking out from his head and his lips were split open and swollen.

  “I told you not to hamper his ability to talk,” Leonosis said angrily.

  “He can talk,” the torturer said. “I’m a professional.”

  “Robere,” Leonosis said. “I have to say I’m very disappointed.”

  “I’m sorry,” Robere said, his words muffled by his missing teeth and swollen lips.

  “Sorry for what?”

  “I took Master Tiberius his whip. I felt sorry for him.”

  “You gave my brother his whip?” Leonosis said in surprise. “Robere, Robere, Robere.”

  He backhanded the elderly servant. The savage blow snapped Robere’s head to the side and split open the thin skin on his cheekbone.

  “Forgive me,” Robere cried, drawing out the word in a long sob.

  “I want to know what Tiberius was planning. Surely he confided in you.”

  “He was angry,” Robere said. “But I didn’t know why. He spent all his time at the temple.”

  “He wanted to leave the city, that much is certain,” Leonosis said. “I had his room searched, a good deal of his personal belongings were missing. Did you deliver those to my brother as well?”

  “No, my lord. I asked him about them and he told me he moved them to the temple. I had no reason not to believe him.”

  “You were helping him!” Leonosis shouted. “Admit it! Tell me what he was planning!”

  “I do not know,” cried Robere.

  Leonosis turned and picked up a mace. It was a cruel looking weapon, very plain with just a wooden handle and a rusty spiked ball fixed on the end. Leonosis held it in front of Robere’s face.

  “No, no,” cried the servant.

  Leonosis let the weapon’s heavy spiked end drop. There wasn’t much force in the blow, but the weight of the weapon was enough to break the skin on Robere’s shaking legs. Blood welled up between the spikes.

  “Tell me what he was doing,” Leonosis said calmly, but loud enough to be heard over Robere’s wail of pain.

  “I don’t know.”

  Leonosis pressed down on the weapon. The spikes dug into the servant’s leg. Robere was not a big man. In fact, his legs were rather thin, but the mace dug into the thick thigh muscles. The rusty spikes weren’t sharpened, and they tore through the flesh rather than cutting. Robere screamed in agony.

  “Tell me what you know!” Leonosis shouted.

  “I saw something,” Robere howled. “I saw a book.”

  Leonosis lifted the weapon and the torturer quickly placed a clean rag over the wound and pressed down. Robere moaned in agony.

  “What kind of book?” Leonosis demanded.

  “I’m not certain, my lord. I cannot say exactly what it was. But the day after you slew the Graypees, I came in and found Master Tiberius asleep. There was a trunk pulled out from under his bed and on
the table was a book. It looked very old and in fact it was only a fragment of a book.”

  “What was it?”

  “I asked Master Tiberius and he said it was from the temple. I had no reason not to believe him, but I distinctly saw the word magic on the page. I only saw it for a moment before Master Tiberius swept it away from me. I swear I’m telling you the truth.”

  Leonosis leaned back. He had expected to learn something of his brother’s plans, but magic had never entered his mind. He considered the possibility that Tiberius had been telling the truth. Magic was forbidden by the holy writings. It could have been a text from the temple describing various abominable practices and the penalties for such infractions, but why would the book only be a fragment? All books on magic had been destroyed in the great purge following the cataclysm, but perhaps it was possible that a few had survived. They would be very old indeed and quite possibly only in fragmented forms.

  “You never saw the book before that?” Leonosis asked.

  “Never before, never after,” panted Robere.

  “We didn’t find it his room,” Leonosis said.

  He hadn’t meant to voice his thoughts out loud, but he quickly decided that it didn’t matter. They had found the trunk under Tiberius’ bed. It was full of keepsakes, mostly junk. There had been no book, no writing of any kind. He would have to confirm that the book wasn’t actually from the temple. But if it wasn’t, could it mean that Tiberius was actually practicing magic? That would explain why he wanted out of the city. If it was discovered, he would never be allowed to live, not in any of the Nine Cities of Valana.

  The lingering question was why. Tiberius was smart, Leonosis knew that for a fact. Tiberius understood the dangers of magic as much as anyone, so why would he have a book about it in his room? If he was a wizard, that would certainly explain how he managed to save Rafe and kill a Graypee. Leonosis had been skeptical that Tiberius could hold off a pack of vicious animals with only his whip. Still, it didn’t make sense. Learning magic wouldn’t get Tiberius ahead in the family; it wouldn’t earn him a place in the palace.