by Logan Jacobs
“The Duke of Edinburg would be personally insulted if we prevented his court wizard from participating in tonight’s event.” King Frederick shook his head. “No, if anything happens, we are more than prepared to handle it, Your Grace. Please, enjoy the festivities, and try to relax. You don’t have to save the world every moment, do you?”
While I didn’t appreciate his condescending tone, two could play at that game.
“Alright.” I shrugged. “I’ll let you handle the undead about to be set loose on your fancy banquet.”
Then, without another word, I turned and headed in the direction of the wizards lined up against the wall. I heard the king scoff, but I ignored him, and I continued to look for the man who had interfered during my previous run through.
I found the furry-eared man among the group to the left of the throne room entrance, and I scanned him over as I approached. He wore nondescript leather armor instead of the tunics and cloaks worn by the rest of the wizards, and a pouch hung from his belt where a sword would normally be. His boots were well-used, and dirty, but I had to respect a man who showed up to a royal banquet dressed comfortably.
I marched straight up to the man, and I struck out my hand for him to shake. I felt the thick pads on his palms and the pelt-like hair on the back when he placed his hand in mine, and I almost pulled his fist up for closer inspection. He wasn’t a new pet, he was a wizard, and I wasn’t sure if he was even human, so it would be smart to be cautious in my dealings with him.
“I’m Bash, the Archduke,” I said in a hurried tone. “I know you’re going to want to rush into action in a little bit, but I need you to stay put. Okay? I’ll take care of the undead dude.”
“I do not understand.” The man scrutinized me through narrowed eyes, and he pursed his lips together as he thought over my words. “I see no undead.”
“Not yet,” I huffed. “In a few moments. I’m just saying, no matter what happens, I want you to stay in this spot. Can you do that for me?”
“Who did you say you were again?” The cat-man sounded skeptical, and his tail flicked with an air of suspicion.
I lifted my chin and looked him square in the eyes. “I am Sir Sebastian, the God of Time, the Archduke of Bastianville, and the Dragon Slayer.”
“That’s a mouthful.” The man smirked, but there was no disrespect in his tone. “Can I just call you Bash? You said that earlier, and I think it would be easier to remember.”
“Sure.” I grinned. I had a good feeling about this guy, but I’d withhold judgement until I learned more about him. “So, what do you think? Can you promise me you won’t interfere with anything that happens next?”
“I guess.” The man shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I am prone to jumping into action when it’s required, so you could be on to something. Are you a diviner?”
“Something like that.” I matched his shrug with one of my own. “Enjoy the show, but from a distance, and everything will be fine.”
“Alright, Bash.” The man nodded, and he hooked his thumbs in his belt as he rocked back onto his heels. “I’ll stay put.”
“Thanks.” I waved over my shoulder as I headed back to my seat, and I noticed the king’s eyes following me from the mage to my table.
Viceroy had just finished introducing Edinburg’s court wizard when I regained my place at the head of my table, and I leaned back in a comfortable position while I waited for the chaos to unfold. With the cat-man standing down, it would be left up to Frederick to protect the people by taking command. The king was certain he could handle the situation without my help, so I was looking forward to seeing how he responded.
Then Dumas bowed before the nobles with a haughty smirk upon his face, and he began to intone about the dead man in the casket before us. His words made me wonder if the man in the glass box had been a servant to Edinburg’s court wizard. It was kind of fucked up if I thought about it too much, so I shook my head to dispel my thoughts and refocused on the presentation.
Once again, Dumas made eye contact with me from across the room as he dropped his own blood into the dead man’s forehead. This time, I frowned back at the necromancer, and a questioning look flashed across his eyes.
Then the dead man began to stir, and the glass casket was placed under immense pressure as the zombie rattled against his cage walls. The nobles gasped in shock, but then their reactions turned to horror as the glass shattered, and the undead man lunged from the cart. Dumas scurried backward, and he tripped over his own robes again. The necromancer fell to the floor with a cry of alarm, and the undead man turned his gaze toward the man who’d summoned him.
The sound of clattering dishes and scraping chairs joined the screams of fear, and everyone tried to press toward the door. I stayed where I was seated, and I even kicked my legs up onto the edge of the table while I waited for the king to do something. I noticed the cat-man hesitating near the doorway, and his gaze kept returning to the zombie in the center of the room.
“Please, calm yourselves!” King Frederick yelled, and a few of the escaping nobles halted in their path to the exits. “Dumas! Get to your feet and control your creature!”
The king had jumped to his feet, and he leaned over the table as he glared down at the necromancer. His face was flushed red, and his eyebrows were furrowed together. I’d never seen the king so pissed before, but his reaction was a relief. I was worried for a moment that he would be too weak-willed to do anything, but he’d proven me wrong.
All he had to do now was get the situation fully under control, and I would know what kind of leader the king was.
“Aren’t you going to do something, Bash?” my wife asked, and she gripped my arm with an anxious grasp.
“Permission to act, Great One,” Mahini requested in a clipped tone as she locked the undead in her piercing gaze.
“All you girls have are daggers if things get out of hand,” I pointed out. “But for now, stand down.”
“How did you kno--,” Eva started to say before she cut herself short with a shake of her head. “Never mind.”
I jerked my chin to signal for them to pay attention to the center of the room, and we all turned our gaze back to the undead lumbering toward the necromancer with obviously deadly intent.
“He’s going to kill him, Bash,” Elissa said as her eyes widened with concern.
“If he dies, I’ll fix it.” I scratched my stubble beard with a casual air, and the girls all looked at me like I’d grown a second head. “Trust me, alright?”
“I trust you with my life, Great One,” Mahini assured me instantly.
“Of course, we trust you,” Eva said in a soft voice, but she bit her lip with worry as her smoky-gray eyes flicked to the zombie and the necromancer. “You always know what you’re doing…”
Elissa frowned, but she didn’t argue any further, and she kept her emerald eyes on the scene unfolding before us.
The king also watched the necromancer and the zombie closely, and the longer the chaos continued to unfold, the angrier he became. He clenched the fancy table cloth in his fists, and his eyebrows were furrowed together into a straight line. His lips were set in a thin line, and he wore a hard expression upon his face.
Dumas scrambled to his feet, and he looked back and forth between the zombie and the king for a long while as the undead made slow progress toward him. Then the necromancer began to back up in the direction of the king’s table, and a worried murmur swept through the anxious crowd. Everyone was on their feet except for my women and me, and half the people in the room had already disappeared out the door, so the murmurs were easily audible in the echoey throne room.
“We’re all going to die!”
“Somebody do something!”
“Kill it!”
“What are we standing around for? Let’s get out of here!”
I ignored the other nobles while I watched to see what Dumas would do, but it seemed as though the necromancer was fighting an internal battle. Hi
s fingers twitched, but he didn’t move to stop the zombie as it drew steadily closer to him, and the court wizard slowly retreated toward the king’s table.
I looked for Edinburg among the audience remaining in the room, but I couldn’t find the impossibly old man anywhere, so I assumed he’d already left the audience chamber. The duke should be held responsible for whatever his wizard’s zombie did, but it looked like he was just as scared as the majority of the other nobles.
“Sir!” Riondale’s voice cut through the voices that surrounded me. “What are my orders?”
“Stand down,” I commanded. “Not our jurisdiction.”
“How can you say that?” Bellona shook her head, and her eyes were full of fear.
“The king instructed me to calm down and relax, so that’s exactly what I intend to do.” I shrugged, and I returned my gaze to the zombie crawl.
The undead man was less than two meters away from the necromancer, but Dumas was quickly adding distance between them as he progressed backward. Then the court wizard bumped up against the king’s table, and he climbed over the top to the other side.
Then Viceroy rose unsteadily to his feet, and the royal mage turned to face the zombie with a determined expression. The older wizard lifted the palms of his hands and aimed them at the undead man, and the next thing I knew, there were streaks of flames shooting from his hands toward the awakened corpse.
The smell of burning flesh filled the air, and the screech of pain the thing emitted made my ears hurt. I had to cover my eyes with my arm since the heat of the blaze was so strong, and when I looked again, there was nothing but the ashy pile of remains left in the center of the room.
Viceroy was a badass, and it was no surprise how he’d risen to the rank of royal mage. It was good to know there was a talented wizard among the king’s household since I wasn’t sure how many nobles were working against the throne.
Dumas certainly didn’t have any loyalty to the crown, and he stood behind the king with a smug look on his face while Viceroy straightened his robe and returned to his seat.
The king’s face had softened to a less intense rage, and he also returned to his seat at the head table, but he shot Dumas a scathing glare.
“Take your things and go,” the king instructed in a terse voice.
The necromancer frowned, but he didn’t argue. He didn’t bow, either, but he made his way toward the entrance of the audience chamber with his head held high. As Dumas departed, my gaze fell upon the cat-man, and the furry-eared man was shaking his head with disbelief.
I wondered who he was, and if the ghost-like swords were the only magic he could use. I supposed the only way to find out would be to wait and see, though, so I settled back down in my chair and waited for the next performance of magical prowess to begin.
Some of the nobles who’d left the room began to filter back in, and everyone returned to their seats. Servants scurried about to set straight the dishware knocked off by the people’s sudden motions, but soon the room was righted, and Viceroy rose from his chair.
The royal mage was met with a hushed silence after his own display of skill, and I had to admit, I had a lot more respect for the man after seeing what he was capable of.
I needed to get a fire spell as strong as his before my time in Vallenwood was over, that was for sure. I still had a lot to learn from the gathered wizards present at the summit of nobility, and I was ready for the chaos to be over so we could move on to more interesting things. Like all the weirdly dressed and odd-looking people lined up against the wall.
“Ladies and gentlemen.” Viceroy cleared his throat. “I apologize for the unplanned aspects of the previous display, but we are now moving on to the next set of presentations. All of you have already witnessed my power, so I will forfeit my turn to the next person to make up for lost time. Please, turn your attention to our next guest, and our final presenter from Sorreyal, Burnyolf.”
The enchanter joined Viceroy at the center of the room, but a small army of servants followed him with boxes and crates full of a variety of items, if the lumpy shapes of the fabric that covered them was any indication. I had a feeling the enchanter was presenting some of his magical weapons and gear, and I was eager to see if he had anything extra powerful.
Burnyolf bowed low to all of the nobles, starting with the king, and his lips twitched into a smile when his eyes fell upon me. The last time I’d seen the enchanter was after the dragon had attacked Castle Bullard, but he’d helped me save the town from the effects of the beast’s fire breath. He was a good man, and I was glad to see a familiar face among the crowd of strange wizards.
In the end, the enchanter didn’t bring anything I found very appealing, and I even recognized a few of the items from the last time I was in Burnyolf’s shop. While the older mage had been incredibly useful when I made my griffon feather boots, it seemed as though his skills were on a lower level than what I needed at this point.
“Why is there only one woman among the wizards?” my wife asked in a thoughtful tone. “Can’t we use magic, too?”
I didn’t want my wife to think I wasn’t the all-knowing god I professed to be, so I merely shrugged.
This was a medieval fantasy world, and while there were some exceptions to the patriarchal rules, like Mahini being a badass warrior woman, it did seem like women held a lower status than men, but I didn’t know the full answer to her question. I’d have to find out all the facts before my final run through, but for the moment, I decided to let it go so I could focus on the wizards.
Burnyolf finished his presentation of magical items, and Viceroy rejoined him in the center of the room while the enchanter busied himself repacking his boxes. The parade of servants returned to help him cart them away again, and then the royal mage shook his hand.
“Thank you, Master Burnyolf, for that calm display of your skills,” the royal mage said in a voice loud enough for all to hear, and I heard a few snickers from the nobles.
I clapped my hands pointedly, and soon everyone in the room had joined in with the applause, and the enchanter flashed me a grateful smile as he turned to leave.
“The next group of magic users have traveled from all over the world to be here this evening. They have come from as far as the Northern Reaches, the Zaborial Isles, and some from even further lands beyond the sea. Among our presenters we have mages from the Kotar Desert, and shamans from the Wild Lands to the south.” Viceroy fixed the line of magic users across the room with a hard stare, and his next words were primarily directed at the upcoming presenters. “I trust we will have no more incidents or lapses in control.”
With his fire power and high rank to back up his words, I had a feeling the mages were listening closely, but I would reinforce his instructions as well.
Viceroy announced the next mage, and then a hunch-backed old man wearing a thick fur coat trotted over to the center of the room. He was a wizard from the Northern Reaches, and he had graying blond hair, pale skin, and a scowl upon his face.
I leaned forward with anticipation, but I was slightly disappointed to discover he was a low-level ice wielder. My ice spell was comparable to his abilities, and I didn’t see anything I didn’t already know.
The ice wielder was followed by several other cold climate elemental wizards, and the temperature in the room dropped steadily during the course of the presentations from the Northern Reaches. All the wizards from the north wore heavy furs despite the heat in the room, and they all had paler skin and almond-shaped eyes.
I made a mental note about where the boundaries of Sorreyal laid, and I realized I’d been close to the Northern Reaches when I’d traveled to Arginold city. I’d have to return someday and explore the wintery realm above the kingdom’s northern boundary.
The display of magical prowess from all over the world was helping me get some ideas about where all I wanted to travel to in the future, and I was beginning to realize just how big this medieval fantasy world really was. The possibilities were endless
, my potential to kick ass was unlimited, and excitement began to course through my veins, but I reminded myself to be patient.
I was the God of Time, so I had all the time in the world.
My three women and my entourage watched closely as the magic users from the Northern Reaches showed off their skills, but I quickly grew bored of the icy spectacle. By the time Viceroy returned to the center of the room, icicles hung from the ceiling, and my women shivered in their thin clothing.
I ran through several chimes as I memorized the words of power and hand gestures I heard the mages use, and there was more than one time where I caused an uproar by casting the same spell as the presenter.
The next wizard Viceroy introduced was another enchanter, so the room had a chance to warm up a little bit while the mage showed off his enchanted weapons and armor. All the enchantments focused on frost and ice capabilities and would come in handy when I traveled to the north, but without the workshop and other tools required for the trade, I wouldn’t be able to learn how it was done, so I tucked it away for later consideration.
My appetite got a second wind while Viceroy was in between presenters, and I began to pick over the desserts that remained on the table, but then I heard Mahini gasp. My eyes shot up in search of what had startled the desert goddess, and I found a strange-looking man standing in the center of the room.
He wore black robes that covered his entire arms past his wrists, and his head was shaved bald. His scalp was covered in tribal-looking tattoos, and his skin was darkly tanned.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Mahini with a concerned look.
“He is from the Kotar Desert,” the desert goddess informed me with wide blue eyes.
“My name is Isik.” The mage bowed low to the king, and he repeated the motion for every table in the room.
Then, without hesitation or saying anything else, the mage began to spout huge flames from the palms of his hands up to the ceiling until the room was filled with melting droplets. A moment later, all the icicles were gone, and the temperature of the throne room had risen by a substantial amount.
