During his years as an apprentice, Byrn grew used to the hate that the normal people held for his kind. It was a common thing for most of them to spit insults without so much as a thought for what they were saying. The fact that most people had little to no contact with magicians only made it easier for them to feel comfortable in demonizing them, but those times, as bad as they were, were almost pleasant compared to the anti-magician sentiment that was now ever-present wherever they want.
They rode into the main street of the town, if it could be called that. It was a main street in that most of the shops and the lone inn were on this street, but was in truth not much more than a dirt road with a handful of buildings on each side.
Money in these smaller communities was tight compared to the coin that changed hands in the heavily populated cities. People who lived in small towns often bartered their goods and services rather than relying strictly on money to get what they needed. It was for this reason that Byrn was able to purchase fresh supplies and a large room at the inn for a handful of copper coins when similar purchases in Mollifas would have required coins of a golden hue.
When they sat down for the evening meal Kaleb ate like a ravenous wolf gulping whole chunks of meat with every rip and bite. At one point, he suddenly stopped eating, realizing that his steward sorcerers were staring at him in surprise as he fed his face. He smiled at them causing some meat juice to drip down his chin and said, “Mmssgood,” before going back to his rending and tearing of beef using only his hands and teeth.
Sane’s meal was eaten more purposefully, but with equal relish. Since being freed from the bonds of the control collar the sorcerer’s pallet took on a healthier pink tone and though he was still incredibly thin he started to put on a few pounds already. He swore that food tasted better since regaining his freedom and shared the same eating habits as Kaleb for the first week of their journey since they left the capital.
Byrn also noted that the food tasted less… stony, there was no other word for it, than the flavors he had grown accustomed to for much of his time in the largely underground kingdom of Ghant as he spent a little more than a year traveling the world to get back to Aurelia.
“Any luck finding a family that would be willing to take Kaleb in?” Sane asked in passing. At hearing his name, Kaleb stopped chewing and looked to Byrn for the answer.
“No luck, I’m afraid,” Byrn answered and noted that Kaleb had gone back to eating. Not for the first time, Byrn questioned if Kaleb truly wanted to leave them. The young boy seemed content to travel with the men, rarely uttering a word of complaint and he was always quick to help with cleaning up their campsites when they couldn’t find a town to stay in. Byrn had to admit that Kaleb had grown on him as well and he did not look forward to the boy’s leaving, but there was too much at risk to keep the boy with him for any longer than was necessary. Byrn was unsure of the reception that he would receive in Wolfsbane and knew there was a chance that they were riding into danger. They would need to find someplace for Kaleb to stay before they reached the home of the Collective, but it would not be in this little hamlet. “The people are too suspicious of strangers. They fear that anyone they don’t know could be a magician.”
Sane nodded, “It is obvious that we have been regarded with mistrust since coming here. Even now, I have caught more than a few gazes flickering to our table and away just as quickly. They like your coin and know that we are just passing through. Those are the only things keeping them from running us out of town.”
“This is harder than I thought it would be,” Byrn confessed, “Some families were willing to take in a stray child, but they weren’t the type of families I would feel good about leaving him with. They were the kinds that seemed not much different from his uncle.”
“I don’t mind traveling with you,” Kaleb chirped between mouthfuls. He took a long drink of ale to wash his food down. Marian would have said that he was all stomach and Tannys would have commented on his strong work ethic. They would have liked this boy… Byrn let the thought and the sudden sadness that accompanied it go as if it could be picked up by the wind and carried away like smoke. His parents would not want him to wallow in grief. He had done enough of that already.
Byrn poked at his beefsteak without thinking for a time. Eventually he looked up to see his companions staring at him, visibly concerned. “Nothing to be worried about,” he gave them a smile and hoped that they believed it, ”I was just lost in thought considering the rest of our journey. We should leave tomorrow morning.” He would say no more there. The people dining in the inn were more subdued than most tavern and inn goers and were clearly suspicious of the three travelers. It would be best to leave this place as soon as possible. Besides the uncomfortable feelings of this place, every moment that they lingered they increased the likelihood that a band of Kenzai would catch up to them looking for Sane or a courier would deliver a wanted poster with the old sorcerer’s face on it and Byrn wished to avoid any needless confrontations.
In another week they would be in Wolfsbane and Byrn was more worried about how he would be received there than he was about sneaking into the king and queen’s bedchamber. When he visited his royal parents, he half expected them to call the guards immediately, but if that had happened he would have been able to escape with ease and he personally wouldn’t have been any worse off than he was before.
However, now he was on a diplomatic mission to convince the Collective magicians to agree to journey to Mollifas to discuss peace. He should have been excited at the prospect of returning to Wolfsbane. He was well known and respected among the Collective before he left and he considered many of them to be friends, but it was Xander and Alia Necros that gave him pause.
What must Alia think of him to be gone for so long? Did she hate him for not coming back or did she even care at all? She might think him dead or that he had abandoned her. There could be another man in her life by now and where would that leave him?
Then there was the question of Xander Necros. When Byrn last saw him, he was taking over leadership of the Collective. Byrn considered him a friend at the time, but his brutality in Colum caused Byrn to reassess that summation. Xander killed more than ten thousand people and destroyed Byrn’s hometown. However, he would have to treat the necromancer with respect despite his personal feelings. As the most powerful member of the Collective, Xander would be integral to seeing that an agreement was reached with the kingdom. Not for the first time, Byrn wondered if he was up to the task of uniting these two groups.
Chapter 11
The enchantress cursed under her breath at the simple gold choker that sat on the worktable. The last few rays of sun shone in through her workshop’s window. She briefly wondered how long she had spent trying to break the enchantment with no success. Its clasp seemed to stare at her like an ever-present golden eye.
Ryonus had done his best to help. He tried explaining how paralysis magic worked and in theory Alia understood the concepts he presented, but there was something holding her back. Something that prevented her from being able to cast the spell in its basic form and without that knowledge she was unable to break the collar’s enchantment.
“It is frustrating, I know,” Ryonus placed his hand on her shoulder. His touch was gentle, but did not hide the strength that he commanded. Ryonus was a handsome man with a straight jaw and broad shoulders who commanded the attention of many of the ladies throughout the castle. His good looks were of no surprise considering that he was of noble birth even if his claim was unrecognized as the bastard son of some forgotten southern warlord. “You will get there,” he added confidently.
Alia turned away so that his hand would fall from her shoulder without her having to be so callous as to remove it herself and risk insulting the man. He was only here to help, she reminded herself. Ryonus came to her home at her request. It was easy to see that the master of manipulation magic was attracted to her. Most men were. It was common knowledge among magicians that with mastery of a magica
l discipline came inherent abilities. Just as Byrn was resistant to the elements and Ryonus, who was a master of manipulating the physical world, had enhanced senses, enchanters had a special talent all their own. People were naturally more attracted to them and liked them. It was a discovery she made years ago as a teenager and had proved to get her into trouble almost as often as it got her out of it.
In later years, she used that ability to draw the attentions of people of influence and to put herself in a position of power outright when she married Duke Astom Snakeshield of Wolfsbane and became the Lady of Wolfsbane. Astom was a not a very kind man to his people and was slow-witted to boot, but he treated Alia like she was a princess for the brief time they were together. It was believed that the duke died in a hunting accident, gored by a wild boar. There were witnesses to the tragic event, but it was all a lie. Alia had enchanted the minds of the duke’s hunting party and placed the memories in their heads. She had done that so that she would become the ruler of this land without a fight. Astom had no children and there was no other with a rightful claim. If there had been, Alia would have found another noble to make her husband.
The truth was that Duke Astom was not dead at all. Alia had altered his memories as well, so that he no longer knew who he was and left him in the care of priests several days’ travel away. He would awake with no memory of his former life and nothing except for the considerable coin in his pockets. It would have been easier to kill him outright, but he had been generous to her and it seemed wrong to repay that kindness with death.
Byrn fell victim to her inherent attractiveness as well, but Alia viewed their relationship as more of an equal partnership. She had cared for the elementalist, even loved him. At first it was the power that he wielded that drew her to him, but it did not take long for her to begin to care for him. He was full of passion and determination, and soon it was no longer his power that she coveted, but his heart. He gave her a child, but vanished in a misguided attempt to protect her before either of them even knew the seed had been planted.
“Controlling a man’s mind is easy,” she frowned at the memories of lost loves, “but controlling his body is a decidedly more difficult task.”
“It depends on your point of view, I guess,” Ryonus spoke dispassionately. Alia had a hard time imagining him as someone who would give in to his desires at a moment’s notice. He was too cold, too rigid to be motivated by pure passion. “The brain is as much a part of the body as an arm or leg.”
The enchantress clenched her fists, and then slowly released them before facing Ryonus again. “We should take a break for the night and try again tomorrow. Maybe a fresh perspective in the morning will make a difference.”
Ryonus collected the grimoire he had brought with him to help Alia learn about paralysis magic, but stood in her workshop for a minute without moving, lost in thought. Finally he said, “A different perspective may be just what you need.”
Alia was about to ask what he meant, but Ryonus had already reached out with his free hand and cast a spell on her. Her arms would not raise and her feet became rooted where she stood. She could not move! “What do you intend? I’ll personally castrate you if you so much as even touch me.” There was no fear in her voice, only a promise that chilled Ryonus to the bone and caused his expression to change from its normally stoic façade to one of utter shock.
He placed the book back on the table and held his hands as if he was the victim. “Do you think so little of me that you believe that I would try to take advantage of you? Gods, the thought of your father seeking vengeance is enough to keep most men away.” He did not wait for answer before trying to explain his action. “The spell you are under is a fairly simple paralysis spell. Focus on your body and feel it coursing through you. Try to wiggle your fingers or turn your head. It holds you from within and won’t let go.”
Alia tried to move her arms to strangle Ryonus, but could not. The spell held her firmly, but it was an internal feeling. She thought that it would be more external like invisible hands grabbing her and holding her in place, but it was more like her body was in a state of rest and her mind could not galvanize it to take any action.
“It feels like your mind is separated from your body, doesn’t it?”
She would have nodded if she could have. This feeling was similar to the descriptions given to her by the few magicians who had worn the collar briefly during her earlier attempts at disrupting its enchantment. Slowly, she calmed down and focused on the effects that the spell was having on her as Ryonus had instructed.
As Ryonus had promised the spell had worn off a minute later. She took Ryonus’ book from the table and made as if she was going to hand it to him, but used the opportunity to place her hand on his chest to cast a spell. She released a jolt of magic into the manipulation master’s body and caused him to stiffen.
“I think I have the handle of it,” she told him. Her voice sounded dire to his heightened ears.
Ryonus struggled against the spell and was able to move his arms, but it was a slow and difficult thing to accomplish. A moment later Ryonus regained control of his body. The spell had not lasted as long as Alia expected and had not been complete in its hold, but it had been successful on a basic level. “I think that you do,” admitted Ryonus who looked relieved that Alia did not take the opportunity to repay him for his momentary lapse in common judgment.
“You should leave me to my work.”
“That may be best,” agreed Ryonus and showed himself out of the workshop.
Alia went back to her examination of the collar and the magic bound to it with a better understanding of what she was looking at. Ryonus should have asked her before doing something like that, but she was forced to admit that his little stunt had helped her. She pushed a sliver of magic into the item and watched as the bound spell flared around it in a shifting of colors from red to purple to blue before becoming translucent again.
Hours passed like minutes and it was now moonlight that came through the window. A pair of candles, one in each corner was lit giving her light to see by though she could not recall taking any time away from her study to light them. It was only the crying of Avelice that started as a whimper, but soon grew into a full scream that would tax any adult’s lungs to reproduce with the same intensity and longevity that finally pulled her away from the collar. The enchantress suddenly realized how tired her body was and was surprised at how long she had been working without a break. With each moment she came closer to a breakthrough and was compelled to continue on, but now her daughter commanded that Alia take a break whether she wanted to or not.
She opened the door to find the crying baby being held to Ryonus’ chest as he gently bounced Avelice and whispered calming words to her. “That’s a good girl,” he told Avelice as she started to settle down, but he continued his routine of bouncing and holding her to him so that she could feel the beat of his heart. Then he seemed to take notice of Alia and smiled at her politely. The lines of tiredness were written on his face as much as Alia guessed they were apparent on her own.
“I thought I told you to leave,” her voice was somewhere between a threatening hiss and a low whisper while she tried to make up her mind whether or not to be angry with him.
“You said to leave your workshop. I thought you wanted me to stay close by in case you needed more help, so I stayed in the living room.” Ryonus told her sounding confused and maybe a little hurt.
“Ryonus,” Alia exhaled his name unpleasantly as if she were dealing with a child, “I know you have some… feelings for me, but now is not the time to be exploring such things.”
“Why don’t you come down off your high horse?” Ryonus scolded her, but stayed at a whisper so as not to disturb Avelice. The question was shocking enough to command silence from Alia for the moment- a feat rarely accomplished. “Yes, you are attractive. I won’t deny that, but what we are doing here is important. We could be deciding the fate of the kingdom right now, so yes, I decided to stick aroun
d to help in any way that I could even if that means doing something as simple as quieting a baby or lighting a few candles.”
The enchantress stammered as she tried to apologize, but finally settled on a short, “Thank you,” as she backed out of the nursery.
Ryonus stopped her on the way out. “How close are you to breaking the enchantment?” he asked once more using that almost clinical tone of his.
“Very close. I am on the verge of solving it.”
“So there is no more confusion: Do you want me to leave?”
Alia thought about it for a moment and shook her head. “You may stay. As you said may have need of you.”
***
The ripples of color faded with the last influx of Alia’s magic into the collar and the enchantress breathed a sigh of mixed relief and exhaustion. She was unsure of how much time had passed since her last break and it was becoming hard to maintain focus on anything, but she thought the enchantment was finally broken.
Another touch of her magic pulsed into the collar and the telltale kaleidoscope of color that indicated an enchantment failed to activate. Next she held the collar between her hands and pulsed a steady flow of magic through it. A slight touch of the collar’s enchantment should have pulsed into Alia’s hands allowing her to identify the spell bound to it by touch. There was nothing! The control collar was broken!
The desire to tell someone of her success was overwhelming. Before she knew what she was doing Alia was in her living room looking for Ryonus. He was asleep in a chair with his head tilted back. Avelice was sitting up against him and playing with his fingers. A low snore chortled from his nose and Alia had to suppress a smile. Maybe she misjudged him and Avelice liked him so he could not be all that bad.
Magician Prince Page 9
