Merchants and Mages (Highmage's Plight Book 2)

by D. H. Aire

  Keeping Up Appearances

  Chapter 17

  After delivering the fifth and final tapestry, Dustin looked wane and pale. George urged him to sit and catch his breath. “Farrel, bring that cup and pitcher of water, please.”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but I must be going,” Dustin rasped as the man pushed him back onto the divan.

  “You have exhausted yourself with your little tricks.”

  “Oh, it wasn’t so difficult. Faeryn training…”

  “Although, I am very curious about your training, please sit, at least for as long as it takes for Se’and to get you your pay. Ah, thank you, Farrel. Now drink this down – it’s only water.” George put his hand on the young man’s wrist and sensed his vital signs.

  :Malnourished,: the computer staff whispered, increasing their rapport.

  Se’and shook her head, telling herself she would not let herself be taken in by the elfblood. She would not pay him a penny more than agreed. She counted out the fee she had promised and handed it to the young mage. He gratefully accepted it.

  “Thank you, my lady. You have been very generous.” George smiled at him and sent a pulse of energy into him. Color suddenly returned to his cheeks. Dustin blinked and sighed, inexplicably feeling better. “I had best be going. My Master will be expecting me.”

  “What’s the rush?” George asked. “Join us for dinner.”

  He stared in surprised. “Dinner?”

  “Farrel, let our host know to set an extra place. We have a guest.”

  “Uh, certainly, Milord.” Fri’il rushed out as Raven padded close to the mage and sniffed him. Dustin gently stroked her mane.

  “I’m sorry, but I really must be going.”

  “No, young mage,” George said as his staff began flashed out of the

  corner of his eye. Dustin grew still, seemingly frozen in place as the light played across his gaze. “You have graciously accepted our hospitality. You know you need the meal and you very much want to save the coin you earned today. Don’t you?”

  “Yes,” he answered woodenly. “But I cannot let anyone know that.”

  “Of course not. Appearances are important.”

  “No one must know,” the young elfblood muttered nodding sleepily.

  “You are tired. Nap now. You will remember only keeping up appearances and accepting my invitation because you were so very hungry. Now sleep.”

  Dustin’s head lolled forward.

  “Je’orj, what are you doing?” Se’and rasped, incredulous.

  He smiled, “I think making friends with mages who vocalize no spells and are both underpaid and unappreciated.”

  Raven shimmered, “Father, that sounds… like you.”

  “Minus the magic spells. Now get dressed, I want you to eat properly with knife and fork tonight. After all, we have a guest.”

  “Aw, bother…”

  The food was absolutely delicious. Dustin tried his best not to wolf it down; although, bad manners seemed to be permitted at table. The young lad ate voraciously enough. He was just glad that they had not brought their guard beast to dine as well.

  George coughed, hearing that thought clearly in his mind. The lad had a strong mind touch. “Dustin, I must say I am impressed by your talent for magery. However, I have never before seen an elvin mage not vocalize a spell before. It is quite, uh, unsettling.”

  The young mage laughed, “It is the Faeryn technique. We think the incantations, do the proper gestures, but we do not vocalize the spells. Highmage Faeryn learned the technique by accident some say. The Faeryn School of Magery arose from his teachings.”

  “Highmage Faeryn... I’m afraid having grown up far away from here, I know little of Imperial history. How long ago was he Highmage?”

  Dustin smiled, “Three to four hundred years ago. The schism took place upon his death.”

  “Schism?”

  “The Traditionalists, the next Highmage among them, barred his

  techniques from being taught at the Academy. His foremost students left the Capital and began teaching and taking apprentices wherever they might.”

  “You mean after centuries of magery being taught only one way, they founded their own Academies throughout the Empire, teaching the new techniques?”

  “Well, not Academies, precisely. We train under Masters, like the Guilds. We are not recognized members of the Mage Guild. They will not accept anyone who does not cast traditional mageries. We work where we may. The Mage Guild has exclusive contracts with many of the crafters. We work on the fringes.”

  George sat back. “I would think that Academy trained mages would be your chief rivals for all such tasks.”

  He laughed, “They say that such work is beneath their talents, which leaves the market to us.”

  “Incredible,” George mused aloud. “Are there many Faeryn mages throughout the Empire?”

  He shrugged, “Hundreds,” then admitted, “well, perhaps, thousands.”

  “Each trained by a single Master, I take it?” At Dustin’s nod, he asked, “How many apprentices might a Master train at once?”

  “It depends... Sometimes only one; other times as many as three.”

  “Depending on what?”

  Dustin shook his head, “How many are stubborn enough to want to learn the Faeryn techniques and not seek the glory of the Academy, or dreams of rising to be a Court mage.”

  “Oh,” George replied ruefully, hearing and feeling Dustin’s anger. “Eat up. There is plenty more.”

  Fri’il and Se’and glanced at each other, mystified by the exchange until he asked Dustin, “Tomorrow we plan to visit the Guilds in the Merchant District. Would you know if any of them are allied with Faeryn mages?”

  Dustin looked at him sharply. “I’m sorry, I wouldn’t know, sir.”

  George sat back, “Let me get right to it then. I would like you to guide Se’and and myself, tomorrow, to those Guilds which have been innovative enough to utilize Faeryn skills. I am a businessman, lad. I think I may very well want to do a great deal of business with certain of the local Guilds.

  But quality of manufacture is key; and in the Crescent Lands mage––

  wrought fetches good prices.”

  Dustin slowly smiled. “Guides do not come cheap, my good sir.”

  “Of course not.”

  Se’and shook her head, now he was enjoying the role. She just hoped this would not lead to trouble. She wanted to hit herself. Of course, it would. Her lord, Je’orj Bradlei, always found trouble.

  The Faeryn

  Chapter 18

  After Dustin had left and the hotel staff had cleared dinner, Se’and locked the door and unrolled the tapestries. “Fri’il, Raven, help me with these.”

  The young woman loosened her confining jerkin as Raven unabashedly removed her trousers and left them where they fell. The half––dressed girl began helping Se’and unroll one of the tapestries. George shook his head, “Can’t this wait until tomorrow?”

  “No time like the present, milord.”

  With a sigh he helped Fri’il drag another tapestry, and unrolled it. The young woman stared at the scene which had graced the old house’s dining room. Se’and and Raven unrolled another, overlaying it across their first.

  “Se’and,” Fri’il rasped. “You know what this is?”

  She grunted with a nod and began unrolling and overlaying the next.

  George stared at her and frowned, “You know what this depicts?”

  The woman replied, “Those Cathartans are the ‘Black Swords.’” She looked at Fri’il, “That is the famous legendary charge.” She pointed at the tapestry before her. “This one here, I believe, is the depiction of the treachery. That one there the mage battle…” dragging forth the last one, “oh, and that would make this one ‘The Fall of Night.’”

  Fri’il hurried over and stared. “This isn’t right. This is not the Fall, although, it is close. Look… that is obviously a unicorn being ridden by a young Sister. This does
not look like the end of the world.”

  George looked from one image to the other, “So, someone depicted a Cathartan legend hundreds of years ago. So what?”

  Shaking her head, Se’and replied, “You do not understand, Milord... The legend is about humanities’ end. The Black Swords will one day fight alongside Imperial mages, dwarves, and men from many lands. The Black Swords will be led by the last unicorn: a stallion, who dies before the

  battle.”

  “Fine. So what’s the issue?”

  Fri’il knelt and stared at the unicorn in the scene. She blanched, “That is a mare.”

  “That can happen with legends,” George stated.

  Se’and shook her head, then met Fri’il’s gaze. “No... They got it right. The end of the world happened. But, I think, we somehow won...”

  Se’and had slept badly. She had refused to explain further. Fri’il seemed shaken as well, which made Raven restless. When George woke the next morning, he found both Se’and and Fri’il awake and studying the tapestries.

  “Well, good morning, ladies.”

  They ignored him as Fri’il pointed. “Look, here is a Cathartan lord among the mages.”

  “That cannot be right,” Se’and averred. “There is only one lord in the legend and he should be depicted in vanguard of the charge.”

  George shook his head, “And I thought I had a one track mind.”

  :Actually two track, George... Fascinating dilemma they face, though. Should I try to resolve it for them?:

  “I don’t know if they would appreciate it,” he muttered in reply.

  Raven entered the room, yawned, “Prophecy?”

  :Oh, you have gone and spoiled it, Raven.:

  “A prophecy?” Se’and gasped. “No, I think it is something else, entirely. I think this happened long ago.”

  “But no Sisters ever came to the Empire in such numbers, Se’and,” Fri’il asserted.

  “Not that we know of, Fri’il, but the Mother Shamans teach the history. They may have felt it best kept secret.”

  “Then why continue to teach the Legend of the Black Swords?”

  “Get dressed, ladies... I feel like breakfast,” George commented.

  Fri’il touched her shortened hair and looked down at herself. “Must I really?”

  Se’and glared at her and noticed how much sunlight was streaming in the windows. “Get dressed in your role again. We can puzzle this out, later.”

  George said, “I look forward to hearing more about this legend.”

  Se’and frowned, but did not answer as Fri’il walked to the bedroom and said, “Come on, Raven. If I have to, you have to.”

  The girl sullenly followed. They helped each other dress in servant garb. George and Se’and had finished setting out breakfast as they returned. There was a knock at the door. Drawing her robe more tightly about her, Se’and nodded to George, who enrapport with his computer staff collapsed the ward, which no longer glowed. The computer now once more seemed simply to be a wooden staff.

  George smiled as he opened the door, seeing Dustin. “Farrel, would you set another place for breakfast?”

  “As you wish, Master.”

  “You will join us, of course, Dustin?”

  “Uh, I did have something before…”

  “No matter, a snack won’t hurt you. You are practically skin and bones, after all. What does that Master of yours feed you, anyway? Oh, come in, come in. I’m interested in discussing our explorations today. Tell me of the work the Faeryn mages do for the local Guilds.”

  Dustin swallowed hard as the merchant relaxed.

  Hanrahan thought he had done well yesterday. He had made a tidy profit for the Empire, but now he was none too sure with one of the mage’s of the Lyai Guild glaring at him.

  “You fool! You have known we have been searching for a particular tapestry for years. Why did you not send for a member of the Guild?”

  “My Lord, you refer to a twenty–year–old decree!”

  Angrily, the mage raised his hand and uttered a few words. A ball of fire abruptly burned above the elfblood’s fingertips. “You think time matters to my ilk? Is that your defense?”

  “Do not threaten me, my Lord! I brought in a mage to seek out any enchantments among the old woman’s affects. He found nothing. There was nothing remarkable about any of the tapestries I sold!”

  The ball of fire instantly seemed to burn hotter as the elflord demanded, “You are a fool!”

  “It is you, who are playing the fool! Harm me, and the Debtors will fall on not just your Guild, but your house!”

  Shaking his head, the ball of energy faded. “What mage?”

  “Dustin! He’s a journeyman Faeryn, highly recommended!”

  “And cheap you mean! You sought out a Faeryn mage? You think that this improves your case with me?”

  “He is competent! He found nothing out of the ordinary!”

  “The tapestry’s Guild business. A Faeryn mage would have no idea what to look for! To whom did you sell those tapestries?”

  Hanrahan glared at the mage, then told him.

  As the mage left Hanrahan’s building a nondescript figure watched him leave. He signaled to a second person, who followed the Guild mage. The man then entered the building and went to the Office of Debtors.

  He found Hanrahan pouring himself another glass of wine with shaky hands. He looked up at the intrusion and paled.

  “Tell me all the mage asked of you.”

  Hanrahan swallowed. “You have no right! I’m a government official!”

  Smiling thinly, the man before him replied, “So am I. Now, tell me what he was after!”

  It was just too much for the normally feared Debtor’s Man. He answered, fearing he had somehow involved himself in the Great Game, when all he had thought was that he had made a tidy profit for the Empire. Instead, he knew he had been a fool.

  Se’and and Raven remained in the apartment. George had never seen Se’and so distracted or intrigued. He hoped she enjoyed her puzzle and that she would explain her obvious concern.

  All thought about the tapestries was soon forgotten as Dustin led him through the District and pointed out a new house’s foundations being laid. Smiling, Dustin pointed out how Faeryn mages would be used by the Masons Guild in a few more days. However, Fri’il, in her role as servant lad, could see that George was paying the young mage little attention. He was staring at what the masons were doing.

  A master builder was directing the masons’ work. A deep trench had been dug clear of the foundations, but leading into them. Piping was being laid in the trench. George walked to the left and saw that sewage lines had already been laid and a clay––like piping was also being laid out. He asked Dustin a few questions that seemed quite odd to Fri’il.

  “Those pipes will connect to the city’s water supply. There is a special Guild which produces strewn items only from those clays, although, they are most known for the piping, which is actually a bit flexible and quite durable.”

  “Dustin, that trench they are digging there. What are they doing?”

  The elfblood frowned. “I’m not supposed to tell actually. It is part of the reason that a Faeryn master will be brought here in a few more days; and why we are tolerated.”

  George frowned and Dustin grinned, “We are too useful. The Guild mages say they do not have time for such nonsense. Those pipes will be filled with water and the trenches filled in. One of the Faeryn masters will set an enchantment, which will make the water flow into the house to cool it in summer and heat it in the winter, somehow. That’s all I really know, but setting this enchantment earns us a great deal of good will with the populace.”

  :Geothermal heating and cooling, George,: Staff whispered in his mind. :Simple, easily renewable energy extraction for the cooler earth strata in the summer and energy replacement in the summer to diffuse the heat. They have made it work without the technology necessary for the pump.:

  “Fascinating,” George mutt
ered as Fri’il realized he was speaking both to Dustin and some unheard commentary from the staff, which had seemed to gleam ever so faintly. She coughed loudly, which appeared to distract Dustin enough that he did not notice.

  George looked at her gratefully, apologizing for delaying them. He was clearly even more excited to see the Faeryn in action.

  Felled by a Spell

  Chapter 19

  The mage was cowled and wore a long cloak. He entered the hotel lobby and spoke briefly to the manager as people averted their gazes. He soon walked up the stairs. The manager feared for what might happen next, knowing a mage’s presence boded ill.

  The mage proceded to the merchant’s room. He muttered a spell as he turned the doorknob. The door instantly unbarred silently and opened. He glimpsed a woman standing over one of the tapestries. She looked at him in surprise.

  He uttered a second spell. She would never know what hit her. It was a pity that the merchant and his servants had found themselves in the way of magely affairs. But they would learn never to be in that position again.

  They were touring the Craft Guild. Furniture was hand–made here, and Faeryn added artistry and enchantment where they might. George was amazed at their skill. Magic merged with basic technology, replacing the advanced technology that the early human colonists had brought with them.

  There was rippling all around him. He gripped his staff hard, willing it to remain passive, then heard Se’and’s distant scream in his mind. His eyes widened; there was no sign that anyone else noticed anything amiss. “Dustin, we must return home immediately.”