Fixing one problem created a new one. If he sent all excess energy to the passive receptors, the central stone might have nothing available when wizards needed energy. A central reservoir, large enough to meet the needs of several master wizards, would leave enough energy for daily use before fueling the shield stones. If the demand of the wizards proved too great, nothing would go to the outer stones. Darius and Aderic could work out how to distribute the energy between powering the shield and leaving enough for Belsport’s wizards.
When he’d completed all the threads, Farrell bound them together, made himself the default for any excess energy, and sealed the spell.
“The first step is complete. All power collected will flow here and then be distributed as we discussed. Now we need to lay the collection spell.” Farrell paused, waiting for the inevitable request. Darius did not disappoint him.
“Prince Farrell, it would be much easier if you would teach us the main spell rather than just the extension spell.” Darius looked uncomfortable making his prince’s request.
Stifling a chuckle, Farrell still smiled. “Still trying to gain the upper hand, Wilhelm?”
The prince feigned confusion. “I’m innocent in the request, Farrell. My chief wizard has an incurable thirst for knowledge. I’m certain not knowing how something works keeps him awake at nights.”
Farrell rolled his eyes as others snickered behind him. “My apologies, Master Darius, but I fear you shall have many sleepless nights. The spell is something of a state secret that I’m unwilling to part with. With the ability to extend the spell to all of Belsport and its environs, you’ll have ample ability to achieve a well-powered shield.”
“Until you turn off the collection spell,” Darius noted.
“True.” Wilhelm had bargained hard to have control of the collection spell, but Farrell held firm in opposition. He also knew that, at his core, Darius agreed with Farrell’s decision. “That day, however, is decades, maybe centuries off in the future. By then, you won’t need it, and it will allow wizards direct access to power without asking you or the crown.”
“To satisfy my own curiosity, I had to try.” Darius gave him the barest of nods. “And Belsport thanks you for arranging to have three of Haven’s most gifted wizards assist us in extending the spell.”
“Bah,” Wesfazial grumbled. “We had to force him to let us help. First time anything like this has been attempted, and he forgets to invite us along.”
Farrell rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored the remark. “Once I lay the spell on this room, I’ll link you five and show you how to extend it. After that, you can teach whoever is able. There’s no limit that I know of to how large an area you can expand the spell.”
With all eyes on him, Farrell pushed out his will to cover the small room. As he cast the spell, he wove it around the end of his staff and circled the stone, staff moving as he walked, extending the spell to cover every inch of the floor. Linking his work to the stone, he felt the few ergs of energy captured by his grid flow into the storage reservoir.
“As we knew, there’s little energy in this room.” Farrell turned to Darius and Aderic. “But if you extend the grid as you leave, it will connect the link to the stone as you expand your area throughout Belsport and beyond.”
Farrell released a bit of his stored energy into the grid, and the other wizards watched it funnel into the stone. “Right now, there isn’t enough energy to trigger a push, but as you extend the grid it will fill fairly quickly, at least at first. Until I set up the outer stones, I’ll draw any excess power to myself and use it to finish the shield.”
“That was quite an amazing bit of magic you just pulled off.” Darius had a hand on the stone, and through his link Farrell could feel the older wizard’s mind probing it. “I can’t say I followed half of what you just did. I’d wager you’d impress even your old masters with this.”
“Doubtful, Master Darius.” Farrell checked the spells a last time. Satisfied, he turned toward the door. “I did nothing more than copy their work.”
“Our young wizard is being modest,” Erstad said. “Sanduval created this spell only after he and Farrell had a lengthy discussion on this topic. It was Farrell’s idea that Sanduval used to solve the problem.”
“Yes, and I also suggested we kill Meglar, but such has us no closer to his death.” The need to defend his deceased master surprised him with its strength. It also felt wrong getting credit for Sanduval’s work. “His was the skill and talent that led to this advancement.”
No one spoke, and when the silence got awkward, Farrell cleared his throat. “Darius, let me show you and Aderic how to extend the grid. Then you five can get to work.”
“I’ll do that,” Erstad said. “Go work on the rest.”
Feeling a bit guilty he’d forgotten Erstad could handle this, Farrell nodded his agreement. “If you wouldn’t mind, Darius, could you leave the Door open between this room and the warehouse?”
“Of course.”
“So what’s next?” Wilhelm asked as he and the other nonwizards followed Farrell to the warehouse.
“I need to set the spells in these.” He gestured toward the stones lined up against the wall. “That will take a while. Some parts of the spell I can do en masse. The rest need to be done one at a time.”
“A hundred times?” Miceral asked.
“Afraid so.” Farrell shrugged. “Can’t be helped. I need to set the stone, link it to the central reservoir, and keep the end of the spell open until everything is complete. You didn’t think we were charging Wilhelm that much gold for a simple off-the-shelf spell, did you?”
Wilhelm laughed. “For all I know, you may be dragging this out to justify the price. Even Darius has no idea what you’re doing.”
“Good thing you’re not paying us until after the shield is up and running.” Farrell flashed his host a smile, then turned his attention to his task.
He spent several minutes hovering over the stones. From the middle of the rows, he prepared the group for the next step. When he stepped down, he scanned the lot and nodded to himself.
“This stage is complete.” He searched the dimly lit building and found a good place to open a new Door. “Wilhelm, you and Peter might as well go back to the palace. This next phase will take many hours, so Miceral and I will be poor company during that time.”
“I’d like to stay.” All eyes turned to Peter. “If it’s not a problem.”
Wilhelm turned to Farrell. “So long as you don’t mind, Farrell, he has my permission. For what I’m paying you, I need someone to make sure you don’t cut corners.”
“Looks like you’re my new foreman,” he told the smiling prince.
Nodding to his son and guests, Wilhelm led his guards from the building. When only the three of them remained, Farrell turned to Peter. “It’s good of you to stay. It’ll give Miceral someone to talk to during the day.”
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Miceral asked.
“I’ll be fine. It might be one of the bigger spells I’ve worked, but I’m confident. Fortunately, I can feel power flowing into the reservoir. Adding that to what I brought with me, I won’t have to stop to collect more energy during the day.”
“Okay, but if you’re tired, don’t push yourself.” Miceral picked up the first stone. “You can finish this tomorrow.”
Farrell shook his head. “Finishing tomorrow would mean doing extra work. I’d have to tie up some things tonight that I’d have to undo tomorrow.”
Miceral shook his head. “I get it. You want to finish today.”
“To make things go quicker, so we can finish today—” He smirked at Miceral. “—let me explain how this will work. First, I’ll open a Door that’ll take us outside the city walls. On that side, the Door will follow me as I move around the city, but this side will remain right here. After you set down a stone, come back and get the next one. Wait until I move before you bring it through. Otherwise you’ll have to carry it from one site to the
next. Questions?”
Hearing none, Farrell called up an image of a spot outside the walls he had memorized yesterday. “Wait here until I get where I want to start. We’ll start on the south side of the bluffs and work our way around, and then the last stone will be the one we drop in the harbor.”
Yesterday, he’d been lazy and picked a spot far from the southern bluffs. He raised his legs and flew west, hugging close to the walls. When he reached a point near the cliff, he released the spell he’d prepared last night. Dozens of colored balls the size of oranges flew around Belsport. Wilhelm had instructed his guards to ignore Farrell, but he still heard shouts from the walls as the markers flew into position.
“Okay, bring me the first stone.” Farrell made a mental count of how many balls he’d created. “Only eighty-three sites.”
Stone in hand, Miceral moved through the Door and placed it on top of the ball of energy. The globe expanded until it engulfed the stone, leaving a faint bluish hue.
“Go ahead and get the next one. I won’t be too long here.” Focused on the job, Farrell didn’t look up to see Peter and Miceral head back to the warehouse.
Careful to shield his work, Farrell linked the stone to the central reservoir, set the wavelength, and opened a line that he tethered to himself. Once all eighty-three stones were set, he’d tie the lines together to form the shield.
Before he left Haven, Farrell had filled his staff and a few objects capable of storing large amounts of power. By the time he was a quarter finished, he felt the first push of energy from the central stone. Rather than get a continuous trickle of power, he nearly drained the stone, storing it in one of his now-empty vessels. Given how fast the wizards expanded the grid, he might need a few more storage units to handle the influx of energy.
Each stone took about three minutes to complete. By the time he finished number forty-one, the sun had crested the halfway mark to the horizon. Even this far north, daylight ended quicker than he’d like. That made it a race to see if he could finish before nightfall.
At the seventieth site, he pulled five new storage vessels to hold the energy the central stone sent him. He’d forgotten to account for the greater rate of collection with the addition of a new area to the grid. When he finished for the day, he’d release the energy into the grid so it could be reabsorbed and channeled to the outer stones.
The sun had started to disappear over the western sea, and nine stones remained. It might be dusk before he finished, but at least it wouldn’t be completely dark. Just as he set the seventy-fifth stone, Peter appeared with a plate of food.
“Miceral said to eat this or he won’t bring out another stone.” Peter shrugged as if to say, Don’t blame me, I’m just the messenger but held the plate steady until Farrell took it.
“I really appreciate you keeping us company,” Farrell said between mouthfuls. “Especially for staying with Miceral. I’ve got enough to keep me occupied. It would have been deathly boring for him without you.”
Peter flashed him a smile. “I’m happy to help. Besides, Miceral promised to take me to Haven to meet unicorns. He said I might even be allowed to ride one.”
Swallowing the last bit of food, he handed Peter the empty plate. “I’ll ask Nerti to find someone willing to let you ride as a thank-you for all your help.”
The sun had almost entirely dipped below the sea when Farrell finished the second-to-last stone. Hovering at the edge of the northern cliff face, he waited for Miceral to bring him the last one. Farrell floated it over the water until he reached the last marker. The pale orange ball sat atop the gentle current, keeping the position it had held all day. Completing his work, he dropped the stone, letting it sink to the ocean floor.
Having drawn steadily on the reservoir, the central stone didn’t have enough power built up again to test the flow to his eighty-three points. It didn’t matter. Once he emptied the excess energy into the central stone, he could adjust the flow from inside the city. If any problems occurred, he’d deal with them tomorrow.
Satisfied with the day’s work, he stepped down for the first time in hours. Raising his arms over his head, he pulled his body tight, stretching his tired muscles.
“So?” Miceral asked. “Does it work?”
“We’ll know tomorrow. I can’t bind everything until after energy has been added to the outer stones. Hopefully the night will prove long enough. If not, I can deal with that in the morning as well.” He twisted left, then right to further loosen up. “As for tonight, I believe you promised there’d be time for that.”
SITTING IN the small room off the audience chamber, Farrell rolled his head to stretch his neck muscles. Telling everyone he’d worn himself out setting up the shield had let him avoid dinner last night. That allowed him a nap before he’d kept Miceral up half the night. Or had Miceral kept him up? Didn’t matter, just thinking about it made him smile.
He glanced to his right and noted Miceral looked equally happy. “Had a good night as well?”
Miceral laughed. “What gave it away?”
“What has you two so pleased at this hour?” Wilhelm asked.
They both turned red. How had Farrell not noticed the arrival of Wilhelm and his children?
“Father, they’re still newlyjoined.” Alicia didn’t hide her amusement. “There are some questions that don’t need answering.”
A week of her sharp wit had made Farrell somewhat more immune to the effects. Rather than blush, he shook his head and turned to Miceral. “To think we were going to invite her to come to Haven with her brother. Do you think Nerti will be offended if we only bring one guest?”
“No.” Miceral shrugged. “I don’t think it will matter. The second unicorn can still run with us.”
“Unicorn?” Peter’s eyes lit up. “Did she agree?”
“What’s he talking about?” Alicia turned serious. “Who’s riding a unicorn?”
“Your brother asked me if he could meet Nerti and Klissmor.” Miceral smiled at Peter. “He was so helpful yesterday, I did him one better and asked Klissmor if he could find someone willing to give him a ride.”
Peter looked about to burst.
“Of course, Peter asked if you could come along too, but after this last remark….” Farrell left off the rest.
“You wouldn’t.” First she glared at Farrell, then turned to Miceral. “Lord Miceral, you’d let him do this?”
“My lady, as you pointed out, we’re still newlyjoined. Farrell’s happiness is my first thought.”
Wilhelm laughed, putting his arm around his daughter. “I’ve warned you that your wit might cause you grief. I suggest you make your most sincere apology, or else I’ll only be asked to permit your brother to go to Haven.”
Shifting her gaze from Farrell to Miceral to her father and back to Farrell, Alicia looked lost. “Prince Farrell, my apologies for making light of your marital affairs. It was unbecoming.”
“Yes, it was.” Farrell kept a straight face for a heartbeat before laughing. “But it was worth it to see your expression when we threatened to leave you behind.”
“Why… you—”
As she sputtered for a retort, Miceral cut her off. “Princess, trust me when I say you want to come with us today. I’d wager after this you’ll want to avoid embarrassing Farrell in the future. Once you ride a unicorn, you won’t want to risk losing any future opportunities.”
Alicia snapped her mouth shut and nodded meekly.
“Great Arritisa.” Wilhelm shook his head, looking between his daughter and his guest. “Had I known it would be this easy to curb her tongue, I’d have paid you twice the value of the shield to take her for a ride.”
“You could always pay us anyway.” Miceral looked hopeful.
“Never pay for what you already own.” Wilhelm smiled, then turned to his children. “I suggest you two go get ready.”
“Wait.” Farrell’s voice stopped the pair. “Sorry, but before you go, we’re planning to stay the night in Haven. The shield
needs more time to charge, and I have some matters I can attend to while we wait. If it’s acceptable to you, Prince Wilhelm, they’re welcome to stay in Haven and return in the morning.”
Wilhelm nodded. “Pack appropriate clothing for a visit.”
Farrell doubted either heard him as they’d quickly left the moment he nodded.
Wilhelm turned back to his guest. “That should keep them busy while we discuss matters. It’s as if you wanted it that way.”
“Your Majesty gives me far too much credit.” Farrell hadn’t planned anything, much less to get rid of the prince’s children.
“No, I think I’ve given far too little.” The smile Wilhelm gave him lost some of its mirth. “But it does give us some privacy.”
The prince led them to a small room filled with comfortable furniture and refreshments set out. “I’ve spoken at length with Darius and my other advisors, and I’m not prepared to evict Meglar’s people.”
Farrell felt his face tighten as he exhaled loudly.
“Before you respond, hear me out.” Despite the polite words, Wilhelm’s voice held a hint of annoyance. When Farrell nodded, he continued. “Tossing out his people would do little to keep what you do a secret. There are merchants from the other free cities and other nations, some of whom at the very least sell Meglar information, if they’re working for him already. Unless I’m prepared to remove all agents, from all nations—something I won’t do—I’ll achieve nothing except annoy Meglar for no gain.”
“What about Arritisa’s warning that Meglar must be stopped?” Though he saw the logic in Wilhelm’s argument, Farrell knew he missed the bigger picture. “Allowing his wizards to remain does not serve Belsport’s interests.”
A wry grin appeared on Wilhelm’s face. “Your plan to bind Belsport’s energy might achieve what you desire without formal state action. Already two of Meglar’s agents have complained to Aderic that something bars their ability to collect energy. Captain Aderic advised said wizards that, on order of the crown, wizard constables collected all free energy for storage and use by the crown.”
Champion of the Gods, Books 1-2 Page 32
