by Guy Antibes
“I have a few things to discuss with you, Lord Wamia.”
“Ducri, call me Ducri, and I’ll call you Ricky. Insippa Baldico said you prefer a more casual relationship.”
The man was warmer than Ricky had expected.
“Before we eat, I have one matter of business between you and me. I want to buy Minnie’s contract.”
“She comes dear, young Valian…Ricky.” He nodded when he corrected his address. “She has been a trusted servant, especially after my wife died.”
“I am not without funds,” Ricky said. In his mind, he completed the sentence ‘…which might be impounded soon.’
They haggled.
“Is this your wish Minnie?”
She dazzled them all with a smile. “It is, Lord Wamia. Until Ricky leaves Dimani, I can still work for you, but at a considerably higher wage.”
“You might be worth it,” he said. “I’ve been thinking of terminating your contract sooner since you have been the best servant I’ve ever had. I can’t say the same for Tobia.” He looked at Tobia with a severe face but smiled. He looked at Ricky. “We can make the transaction tomorrow?”
“As soon as the Bank of Sealio opens,” Ricky said. “Minnie is still under contract to me, but she can continue to manage your house until further notice.”
Ducri sighed. “Then we can enjoy our dinner, the four of us? I can share in the celebration?”
“You can.”
They ate. Ducri was a charmer. Even naive Ricky could tell the man was a talker. He was quite open about Sippa’s true loyalties. The time had come to find out about Ducri’s true loyalties.
He told Ducri about the entrapment he barely escaped on Otta’s Isle and the revelation of the faked gold discovery. “Did you know about that?”
“Dimani may be a small country, but it is not without its factions. Since I am linked to Vorria, I was not included in the circle that decided to bring Paranty in. If there was gold to keep King Leon occupied, then Vorria would be content to farm the South. They faithfully pay taxes on what they produce, you know. I’ve always made sure of that.”
Ducri rose from his chair and paced the dining room a few times. “I’ll admit Sippa misled me more than a friend should have. I will also admit that there are Vorrian troops assembled on Dimani soil to defend their southern interests. One can only trust King Leon a little. King Courer is not the strongest man to lead Dimani. The Parantians have been pressuring me to join them in their call for abdication. I can’t support that with this new information about faked deposits and Prince Ticco’s collusion. I can easily see him wanting to sweep us from the south out of his family’s lands, should he prevail.”
“I have an idea,” Ricky said.
“But you, you are a Parantian. You commit treason supporting King Courer over King Leon.”
Ricky nodded. “I have a different allegiance than Sippa,” Ricky said. “I consider myself a citizen of Paranty, but not a subject of King Leon or his dynasty.”
“Because you are a sorcerer?”
Ricky sighed. “Because I am a sorcerer and am incensed that the King has turned sorcerers into pets.” Ricky pulled out his wand and pointed it at Lord Wamia. Ducri’s eyes widened a bit. “This is a Vorrian wand. I show you this not because I am going to use it, but I show it to you because if I were to try to recreate this in Paranty, I would be jailed or exiled.”
“Or killed,” Ducri said. “I see your point.” He pushed the tip of the wand away.
“What will you do?”
Ricky’s path unfolded before his eyes. “I’m taking Minnie and Tobia with me to Duteria,” Ricky said.
“You are?” husband and wife said together.
“They are still contracted to me. I want them to settle whatever differences that forced them out of the country and help me get settled as I enter the Rings.”
“You flatter yourself. You need an invitation, plus you’re only a youth,” Ducri said.
“I’ve been invited numerous times,” Ricky said. He looked at Minnie and Tobia. “Mirano.”
“If you need transport, just ask. I can get you discreetly on any ship.”
Minnie grinned. “I’m the one that gets you ships, my lord. We can be on a ship tomorrow, if that is what you want,” she said to Ricky.
“No. Get your affairs settled. We will leave just after the performance. I won’t let Princess Pira down.” Ricky turned to Ducri. “If you want to trust me to help pull Dimani out of this mess, I’d be happy for a little help…”
~~~
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
~
R ICKY’S HANDS DRIPPED WITH PERSPIRATION. His breaking voice had gotten worse in the past week, and some practices had gone badly, but he had succeeded in making the fireball into an illusion, with the help of Minnie’s coaching. Although she hadn’t used sorcery for quite some time, she had forgotten little of what she’d learned.
The ship was loading up the possessions of Tobia and Minnie. Ricky barely filled up his trunk. His bag was in the dressing room, just behind him. They would sail for the Hessilian port of Torak at the end of the performance.
King Courer was finishing up his talks with General Farlotti and the Vorrian ambassador.
In a private meeting the previous night, Ricky had expected the ambassador to be an awful man, but like Ducri, he answered all Ricky’s questions, including the way Vana Rasso and her father administered contract labor in the South. The Vorrians weren’t aware of the extent of the practice, and that was an embarrassing moment for Ducri, but Jac had stepped in and soothed the feathers Ricky had ruffled.
Are you ready? Princess Pira said. They had linked many times over the past few days as the performance approached.
Am I allowed to be nervous? I am crossing a burning bridge, never to return. Ricky said.
He detected a giggle in the link. At least never to return by that bridge. I’ll say it again, are you ready?
I am if you are. In some ways, you’ll be in greater peril tonight than I will.
As fortune would have it, Pira was now leaving for Sealio on General Farlotti’s ship at the same time Ricky departed for Torak.
My bridge isn’t burning, yet, Princess Pira said. Although there are rumors…
We will see about that, Ricky said. That is enough for now. I have to concentrate on my performance.
I will happily withdraw to let you do that.
Of all Ricky was leaving behind on Dimani, he would miss Princess Pira the most. He had friends he might never see again in Paranty, but he’d find a way to communicate with them. Pira might or might not link again. She was at risk if she did.
His title never did mean anything to him, although he had put his money to good use, Ricky felt a bit guilty about buying contract servants, but Tobia and Minnie looked forward to a return to Duteria, a return home.
The music rose in the hall, and Ricky could hear sorcerers singing around him and felt a certain pressure from the spells. He read the script again and changed into his costume. He drifted towards the backstage and stood with the other performers. They had had a dress rehearsal that Ricky had to miss, due to a ‘momentary illness,’ so Princess Pira announced. According to her, the real competitors all pulled their spells back, so Ricky was interested to see what the highest level sorcerers performed. There were six performances, including his own, that were in the running, according to the princess. She had withdrawn as a judge at the last minute. Another strategic move, suggested by herself.
Ricky’s stomach rebelled for a few minutes before he was to go on.
“Are you all right?” Mirano Bespa said, standing next to him.
“I’m all nerves,” Ricky said.
“Just let everything unfold,” Mirano said. “Your invitation to the Rings is in your bag, I am thrilled to say.”
He put his hand on Ricky’s, and a warm flow filled him.
After being stunned by the level of expertise in the previous two Parantian performances, Ricky walked on
to the stage alone. Bespa’s warmth treatment quickly evaporated in the tense atmosphere.
Finally, he stood by himself in the bright light of center stage, wearing a white uniform trimmed with Dimani purple. He did not wear a white wig.
“I am Hendrico Valian. Princess Pira called me the Hero of the Applian Uprising. General Farlotti, who sits in the audience with King Courer and the Vorrian Ambassador, knows the true story. Those who were there called it the Battle of the Barracks. My role was important, but my presence would probably not have changed the outcome.
“For many, it’s old news. I was going to give you a rendition of the past, but instead, I will give you a glimpse of the present and the future.”
Ricky sang, pulling out his wand and projected a green circle of light that flew out of his wand and expanded to fill the theater before dissipating in a shower of silver sparkles. The effect went over well, by the reaction of the audience.
“We are a few days into the future. What has happened since you attended this grand performance? I will show you.” Ricky flew above the crowd for the entire length of the theater with his wand trailing red and gold fire.
Paper soldiers wearing Parantian blue were paraded on the stage, carried by black-clothed extras. They were set in a row. Ricky landed and walked to the very front of the stage.
“Paranty has invaded Dimani, which many of you know. It has been taking place in the past few weeks. Let me show you what sorcery can do to the invaders.” Ricky bathed the soldiers in flames of Dimani purple until they fell as ashes to the floor.
The crowd murmured, and General Farlotti turned red in the face.
“Why did they come to your land?” Ricky asked rhetorically.
Ricky spelled an illusion of a circle of light with Ticco’s face in the center. “The Crown Prince invited them himself.”
Ticco stood up in his seat. “That is preposterous.”
“Why?” Ricky said. He sang and imaged golden sparkles that dropped from the ceiling. The princess had never seen the illusion before, and it met with a suitable response. “False reports of gold deposits. Fool’s gold, as it turns out,” Ricky said. The sparkles suddenly popped into dull yellow circles that faded to brown and disappeared. “Ticco and his supporters decided to falsify a gold discovery to entice King Leon to invade Paranty.”
General Farlotti stood and stared at Ticco. “Is this true? Have you played a game with King Leon?”
Ticco raised his chin. “He lies.” He pointed at Ricky and yelled. “He lies!”
“In the meantime, your Vorrian friends, who have been busy in the south of Dimani being good trading partners, had to bring troops of their own to protect their lumber interests. What will happen when Parantian troops, with permission of a newly crowned King Ticco, attempts to re-capture those resources?”
A paper forest unrolled from the ceiling. Ricky sang again and unleashed his fireball illusion, bathing the theater in a blast of sound and blinding light. The forest fell to the floor in a pile of paper.
“What happens to the taxes the Vorrian’s paid when Paranty razes the forests?”
Ricky could hear indignant shouts coming from the crowd.
“I would not…” General Farlotti said.
“You would if King Leon ordered you to. Right? Even now, Princess Pira conducts this performance to distract all Dimani from the invasion.”
“I, I…” Princess Pira said, holding her hand to her neck. “How can you think such a thing after all I’ve done for you!”
General Farlotti took the princess by the shoulders and made her sit down.
Ticco’s face turned beet red. He shuffled out of the row. Ricky thought he would flee. Boos came from the audience as Ticco ran up the stairs to the stage and drew his sword.
“How dare you!” Ticco said.
Ricky backed up. He hadn’t expected this. He only had his magic and his wand. Ticco brandished his weapon. “I proclaim a duel here and now, in front of these witnesses!”
Ricky looked at King Courer for guidance. “You will have to fight,” King Courer said.
“Fight! Fight! Kill the traitor!” Shouts came from the audience. Ricky didn’t know which of them was the traitor. He had no choice but to wield his wand.
A few nervous laughs in the audience sprouted up, thinking this was part of the act, but they distracted Ricky enough for Ticco to slash and score a hit on Ricky’s left arm. It hung uselessly as his blood began to dot the stage floor. He struggled to tuck his left hand in the waistband of his uniform.
Ricky snapped into focusing on the continued attacks. Ticco was a better swordsman than his brother. Most people would not last long fighting a metal sword with a wooden stick even if it was made out of the hardest hardwood, but Ricky knew how to handle a switch, and although this wand was a bit shorter than the ones he had used before, he could stall the inevitable. Ricky couldn’t use his special trick in front of hundreds of people. He could easily defeat Ticco with magic, but that would put King Courer in a bind, and he didn’t know how any of this would affect his relationship with Jac.
Relying on what he had learned wielding switches, Ricky thrust with the wand at Ticco’s neck, causing the man to retreat for a few seconds.
Ricky knew what he would do.
“I warn you. This is a special wand. It has a bite. Stop now.”
“To the death,” Ticco said, loudly enough to draw gasps as the audience finally understood the reality of what played out in front of them. The fitght was not part of the performance.
Ticco thrust into Ricky’s side to cries from the audience. Ricky ignored the pain as he always had, but his strength was beginning to fade. He touched the point of the wand on Ticco’s left breast and sang to invoke the blade to appear. Ricky fought through it all and pushed as hard as he was able against Ticco’s chest. His opponent’s face took on a look of surprise and then relaxed as Ricky twisted and pulled out the sharp blade from the side of his ribs cutting through tissue, skin, and clothing.
Ricky staggered on the stage. Marino Bespa placed his hands on Ricky’s wounds as stagehands lifted him off the floor and took him off the stage. Ricky glanced back, his vision nearly white from the pain. No one tried to save Ticco Griama.
~~~
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
~
R ICKY WOKE. THE LANTERN ABOVE HIS HEAD SWAYED with the gentle swells of a ship, just underway. He sat up, feeling his wounds complain. Evidently, Ticco had scored more times than Ricky remembered.
“Mirano said you’d be awake in time. Tobia will help you to the deck. We are being followed.”
Ricky staggered up to the deck and took in the fresh sea air. He felt a bit revived. “I need something to eat,” he said.
Tobia shoved a buttered roll in his hand.
“Are they gaining?” Ricky asked, looking at the big ship approaching them with lanterns blazing.
“Farlotti proclaimed you a traitor for revealing Paranty’s plans and portraying his army as invaders, even though that’s exactly what they are,” Tobia said. “I stood in the back. You were magnificent, although Ticco was the better swordsman. The crowd was with you. Your effects were superb. Superior!”
“Don’t get too excited. I nearly died.”
“That you did, Ricky,” Tobia said
“Princess Pira is on board Farlotti’s ship?”
“She is. The general rushed to the dock to direct the pursuit once a friend of mine notified General Farlotti that we’d be sailing tonight. Minnie had someone set up a light signal from shore to let us know.”
Ricky nodded. The ship came closer. A spear launched from an onboard ballista on Farlotti’s ship. Ricky deflected it with a song and with a flick of his wand. He looked at the wand’s shaft, sad that the wood had been so chewed up by Ticco’s sword.
His ship slowed as the big Parantian ship came within hailing distance.
“Give up the fugitive!” General Farlotti said through a horn.
“There is no f
ugitive here. We are a Hessilian ship headed for Torak. Come no closer, or you will suffer the consequences,” the captain said.
“You won’t attack us. Princess Pira is on board. We know the boy won’t let her come to harm.”
“Won’t I?” Ricky yelled as he took his ship’s horn from the captain “She was part of your ruse, as was the abduction of Mara Torris. I’m through being betrayed, even by you! I’m not returning to Paranty! I say stop, or suffer the consequences. You know what I can do. I’m giving you the same warning I gave Ticco.”
“And you won’t do it,” Farlotti said. “I have archers trained on the ship. Try to fly away like you did at Otta’s Bay, and you’ll die. Damn it all, give up, boy! We can work something out.” Ricky could hear reluctance in the general’s voice.
Ricky nodded to Tobia, who took the bullhorn. Ricky sang. It took much longer than he had hoped to get the power than he needed without risking losing all the resonance to his cracking voice. The Paranty ship came closer. A flight of arrows thudded into masts above their heads.
It was past time, Ricky thought. He stared at Farlotti’s ship and pointed his wand at the tallest sail. He fired a thick winding rope of fire into the rigging. Ricky cut the stream and watched the fireball grow.
“Take cover!” he said. Ricky ducked down and saw sailors crouched below the railing with buckets in their hands.
The sky filled with light, and the explosion shook both ships. Ricky covered his forehead and chanced to look at the destruction, as the trailing ship lost way, its sails looking like ragged embers.
“Pira,” Ricky said, staring at the bright fire behind them. It appeared to be diminishing as the Parantian fire crews did their job.
~
Too bad you couldn’t have used the real version of that fireball in the competition. You would have astounded the audience, even more, Pira said through the link.
Are you all right?
