The Magelands Box Set

by Christopher Mitchell

The Rakanese man let out a loud cry. They turned to face him. He was staring at Bridget, hatred twisting his features.

  ‘What did you do, Bridget?’ Dyam said.

  The Brig woman said nothing.

  ‘She punched her,’ said Laodoc.

  Tears were rolling down the face of the Rakanese man.

  Laodoc saw figures run from the forest. They surrounded the small group, crossbows pointed at them. All were Rakanese.

  Dyam dropped the crossbow, and put an arm out to touch Bridget.

  ‘Don’t move,’ she whispered.

  The Rakanese man cried out to the new group, and Laodoc could see rage grow in their wide eyes. They gestured with their crossbows, and Bridget and Dyam raised their arms. Several approached, and threw hoods over their heads. Crossbows were shoved into their backs, and they were marched off into the forest. Others came to where Laodoc lay. They took an arm or leg each, and lifted him.

  Laodoc cried out in agony as the splint on his leg buckled under the strain. He closed his eyes.

  When he came to his leg was on fire. Pain seared up from his foot to his hip. He opened his eyes. He was lying inside a cold wooden hut. Dyam and Bridget were sitting on one side of him, Agang and Dean on the other.

  As soon as the Sanang man heard his cry, he placed his hands onto Laodoc’s leg, and the pain faded to a dull ache. Laodoc shivered, shaking on the packed earth floor of the hut. Dyam pulled off her cloak and laid it over him, while Agang took his hand.

  ‘Once again,’ Laodoc said, ‘I owe you all my thanks. Why on earth you ever agreed to travel with such a feeble old man is beyond me.’

  ‘You’re a tough old bastard,’ Bridget said.

  Laodoc gazed at her. ‘Did you kill that woman?’

  Bridget nodded. ‘Aye. I didn’t mean to, but. I was just so angry. I had no idea I could kill someone with one punch. I tried to say sorry, but they didn’t understand me.’

  ‘The Rakanese are frail creatures next to the Kellach Brigdomin,’ Agang said. ‘To them you must appear like ferocious giants.’

  ‘And the cry we heard?’

  Agang nudged Dean.

  ‘That wasn’t my fault,’ said the young mage. ‘I thought they were going to shoot me.’

  Dyam raised an eyebrow. ‘It was you that let out that howl?’

  Dean glowered.

  ‘I found him surrounded by Rakanese,’ Agang said. ‘I tried to communicate with them, tell them who we were looking for, but they weren’t in the mood for a discussion.’

  ‘Where are Lola and Tara?’ asked Laodoc.

  ‘We were hooded all the way here,’ said Dyam. ‘Didn’t see anyone.’

  ‘Same with Dean and I,’ said Agang. ‘Hopefully they’ll come along soon, and get us out of here.’

  ‘Where is here, do ye think?’ said Dyam. ‘Are we in Silverstream?’

  Agang leaned over to the wall, and put his eye up to a narrow gap in the slats.

  ‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘I can see other huts.’

  There was a sound from outside, of people approaching. The wooden door opened, and a Rakanese man entered, followed by more with crossbows. The small group of captives edged back.

  ‘Is Shella here?’ said Agang. ‘Shella?’

  A hooded figure came through the door.

  ‘Who are you and what the fuck do you want?’ said a woman’s voice from under the hood. ‘Holy shit. Laodoc?’

  She pulled back her hood.

  ‘A pleasure to meet you again, princess,’ Laodoc said, trying to raise his head.

  She stared at him, then at Agang and the others.

  ‘How did you find me?’

  Agang stood. The Rakanese guards in the room tensed.

  Shella turned to them and yelled something. The guards nodded, then filed out of the hut, leaving Shella alone with the captives.

  ‘You were going to say something, Agang?’ she said.

  ‘How do you know my name?’

  ‘We’ve met,’ she smirked. ‘Do you not remember? Outside the walls of Plateau City, while your army was besieging it.’

  ‘You were there?’ Agang said. ‘With the Emperor?’

  ‘He was only a king at the time. Anyway, don’t get distracted. How did you find me?’

  ‘We met a young woman, called Tara. We saved her from some Rahain bandits, and she led us here.’

  ‘Tara? Thought she was dead. The border guards told me you killed one of them. If you hadn’t been mentioning my name, they would have executed you all by now.’

  ‘That was me,’ said Bridget. ‘I did it.’

  ‘It was an accident,’ said Laodoc. ‘I saw it happen. Bridget didn’t intend to kill her.’

  Shella frowned.

  ‘Laodoc needs help,’ Agang said. ‘He’s hurt.’

  Shella approached the old man.

  ‘Don’t bullshit me, you fork-tongued old bastard,’ she said. ‘Why are you here?’

  ‘To tell you something,’ Laodoc said. ‘We’re here because of a prophecy made by the Kellach mage Kalayne, in which he saw you and Fire Mage Keira together. We beseech you to help us fulfil this prophecy, so that the Emperor’s hold over this world can end.’

  Shella starting laughing.

  ‘Kalayne’s dead.’

  ‘What?’ said Agang, his face greying.

  ‘Yip. He didn’t see that coming. I know all about his prophecies.’

  ‘Then you’ll help us?’ said Laodoc.

  ‘Nope,’ she said. ‘I want you to fuck off, and forget you were ever in Silverstream. Here’s the deal. I’ll stop the militia from executing you for murder, and you can say thank you and leave.’

  ‘I’m afraid my leg is broken,’ Laodoc said. He caught Agang’s eye. ‘I’m not able to walk at the moment.’

  ‘He can’t be moved,’ said the Sanang man. ‘Not until his leg’s properly healed. At his age, that might take some time.’

  Shella frowned. ‘How bad is it?’

  ‘Fractured in two places.’

  ‘Fucksake,’ Shella muttered. ‘Okay, you can stay until it heals, but not a day longer.’

  The door opened, and Tara walked in, followed by Lola. Shella glanced at the tall Lach woman.

  ‘Fuck me, another one.’ She shook her head. ‘I suppose you’ll want housed and fed. What a ball-ache.’

  ‘It’ll give us time to catch up,’ said Laodoc.

  Shella smirked. ‘Oh yeah, professor snake-eyes? I bet my story blows the shit out of yours.’

  Chapter 20

  Weighing the Odds

  Outside Royston, Imperial Holdings – 12th Day, Last Third Autumn 507

  ‘This is insanity,’ Kylon muttered, as Daphne lit another cigarette. ‘Four days we’ve been camped here. At any moment of the Emperor’s choosing, his forces could wipe out every trooper that survived the battle. What the fuck are your leaders thinking?’

  Daphne said nothing, her gaze scanning the long lines of tents by the main road outside the town of Royston. She knew Kylon was right. Troopers had been arriving in small groups every day since the defeat at the Red Hills. Most were unarmed, and many were injured. They had been refused access to Royston, and had been left to look after themselves, while the remainder of the rebel leadership were safe behind the high walls of the town. Daphne had been the highest ranking rebel to stay outside with the soldiers, where she could keep an eye on the remnant of the Hold Fast company that had made it off the battlefield.

  ‘It’ll end today,’ she said, ‘one way or another.’

  Kylon frowned as they sat on the low bank overlooking the fields of tents.

  ‘That’s if they listen to you.’

  ‘I hope they do,’ she said, ‘but I’m not completely out of ideas about what to do if they don’t.’

  ‘The Emperor’s laughing at us,’ he said. ‘He’s picking off the rebel Holds one at a time, while the only force in the country large enough to stand up to him sits here and festers. Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t Roysto
n supply the steel that makes your weapons? Why haven’t these troopers been re-armed? Why is no one training and drilling them? Why are none of their officers out here? Why…?’

  ‘Enough, Kylon,’ she said. ‘You know the answer.’

  ‘Aye, but I can hardly believe it. All it took was your father and Faden to be killed, and the entire rebellion crumbles into ash and dust.’

  ‘The other Holders are still in shock after seeing our cavalry annihilated,’ she said, ‘but that’s not why I wanted to talk to you.’

  ‘It’s because you don’t trust me.’

  She took a draw of the cigarette. ‘A judgement I’ve arrived at based on the evidence of your own actions. I explicitly forbade you from bringing Karalyn onto the battlefield, and you disobeyed me.’

  ‘If I’d obeyed you, dear Lady Holdfast, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Your corpse would be rotting with the others in the shadow of the Red Hills. As would Killop’s. I took a calculated risk.’

  Daphne frowned.

  ‘Your daughter put a vision of the future into my mind,’ Kylon went on, ‘seen from your eyes. In it, the Emperor was about to kill you, so I knew what would happen if I did nothing. She also demanded that I take her out there, to save you.’

  ‘So you listen to the word of a one-year-old, but not me?’

  ‘I do when that one-year-old happens to be the most important person in the world. Remember that my oath is to her, not to you, or Killop. Karalyn is my mistress and I am her servant.’

  ‘Then your primary duty is to protect her, even if she asks you to put her in danger. If a similar situation occurs again, Kylon, I want you to remember that duty, and say no. It’s alright to say no to her, she’s one. If I gave in to her every request, she’d eat nothing but cake and biscuits. Do you want her to eat nothing but cake and biscuits?’

  Kylon frowned, and looked away. Daphne sighed. Compared to Kylon, Killop was an open book, and she struggled to understand what he was thinking most of the time.

  ‘You Kell,’ she muttered. ‘I miss Bedig and Bridget, they’re so straightforward in comparison. Tell me, are the Kell known for their brooding bloody-mindedness?’

  ‘Maybe if the Brig had been invaded first,’ Kylon said, ‘they’d have a greater understanding of the price we paid. Tell me, Lady Holdfast, apart from Killop, how many Kell did you see when you lived in Slateford? I’ll bet it wasn’t many.’

  Daphne paused. She remembered Kalden, but he had died. There were others, weren’t there?

  ‘Conal,’ she said. ‘He was there. He knew Killop from before.’

  Kylon smirked. ‘So, one? Among how many Brig and Domm?’

  ‘Damn,’ she said. ‘I hadn’t really thought of it that way. The Rahain attacked Kell first.’

  ‘And our folk took the brunt of it. So, forgive us if we are melancholy, for few of us remain. The haven at Domm, if it survives, will end up an amalgam of the other three clans. The Kell songs and stories, they’ll be the ones forgotten first.’

  Daphne nodded. ‘Then you know how it feels to see your country trampled underfoot, by an invader who cares nothing for the lives of your people, who burns, destroys and kills his way across the land you love. For that is now the fate of the Holdings.’

  ‘I sympathise,’ he said, ‘which is why I’m still arguing with you about strategy. This war is not lost yet. The rebels still have four high mages sheltering in Royston. If they scattered into the mountains, with supplies and soldiers to protect them, then the Emperor’s army will have to hunt them. If you take up guerrilla tactics, and harass the Rahain forces constantly, they’ll run out of supplies, and have to head back to the Plateau before winter comes along to starve them.’

  Daphne shook her head. ‘And then what? He comes back next year?’

  ‘Ultimately, we need to strike, we need to kill him. But for now, I just want the survival of those who are prepared to resist him.’

  ‘Then our aims are aligned. You know, if the situation were different, I might offer you a place on my command.’

  ‘I have your ear,’ he said. ‘I just hope you listen to my words.’

  She glanced at him, his dark eyes hiding whatever schemes were going through his mind.

  ‘If only I could trust you,’ she said.

  He said nothing, turning his glance back to the lines of tents.

  ‘Here you are,’ said Killop, walking along the low ridge towards them. ‘A messenger’s arrived from Queen Mirren for you.’

  ‘Yeah?’ Daphne said. ‘Have I been summoned?’

  Killop sat next to them.

  ‘Aye,’ he said, ‘looks like it.’

  His gaze wandered over the tents. He shook his head.

  ‘Are you going along?’ said Kylon.

  Killop shrugged. ‘Doubt I’m invited.’

  ‘I want you to stay here,’ Daphne said, ‘but not because I care about what the other Holders think. I want you here so you’re ready.’

  He nodded.

  ‘We’ll be ready,’ said Kylon.

  Daphne glanced at the two men. ‘Don’t you want to know what for?’

  ‘We’re Kell,’ said Kylon. ‘We’re ready for anything.’

  Daphne took Commander Annifrid with her, and they accompanied the messenger into the town of Royston. The town’s wealth was based on the rich iron seams in the hills to the north, and the walled settlement lay piled up the side of a mountain. The entrance gates were on the level of the plains, while the aristocratic quarters were reached by steep paths up the hillside. Mirren Blackhold’s temporary accommodation was located in the heart of the noble district, in an old, stone mansion across a square from the town hall, where the rebel command was based.

  The streets of the town were quiet, with most shops closed, and many houses boarded up. Much of the population had already fled into the hills. Those with mining connections had journeyed up to the large communities nestled by the iron seams, while others had simply run.

  Daphne, Annifrid and their small honour guard ascended the paths to the upper quarter. The square where the town hall lay was guarded, with militia wearing the insignia of Hold Smith, the most powerful noble house of Royston. They were waved through, the soldiers saluting her as they passed.

  The square was deserted, and they crossed to Mirren’s mansion. More guards let them enter, and a courtier escorted them to a private reception chamber, where the queen sat, drinking tea.

  ‘My dear Daphne Holdfast,’ she said, ‘thank you for coming. Tea?’

  ‘Please.’ She nodded to her guard, and they took up positions outside the chamber. She walked forward, Annifrid by her side, and they sat by the low table across from Mirren. The queen poured three hot cups of golden liquid.

  ‘Are you hungry?’

  ‘No, ma’am,’ Daphne said, opening her cigarette case and offering it to the others.

  ‘Thank you,’ said Mirren. They lit their cigarettes and drank tea.

  ‘The meeting due to be held this evening,’ Mirren said, ‘will be attended by every Hold in the rebellion. I thought it might be in our interests if we were to go over a few salient points before we attend.’

  Daphne shook her head. ‘I harbour some doubt as to whether anything we say will have any influence with what remains of the leadership.’

  ‘You and I have been frozen out by the others since the battle,’ Mirren said. ‘I trust you know why that is? We two were the only ones mentioned by name in the Emperor’s letter.’

  Annifrid looked up. ‘The Emperor sent a letter?’ she said. ‘Why? He could destroy us all if he wanted to.’

  ‘He wants our mages,’ Daphne said. ‘He knows we’re hiding them, and doesn’t want to risk killing them if he attacks.’

  ‘Indeed,’ said Mirren. ‘However, with Faden’s death you and I have been relegated from leadership to bargaining chips.’

  ‘Do you think the others wish to trade us? For what?’

  ‘For a promise that the Emperor will spare
their lands. He has already scoured Holds Cane and Clement, and he is currently employed in burning Hold Vale to the ground. Holders Terras, Wain and Smith naturally feel that their turn is next. If you’re asking if I think they would sell us out if the Emperor promised to spare them, then I would have to say yes, of course they would.’

  ‘The Emperor’s promises are worth nothing.’

  ‘I know that, you know that, but a whisper of water to a man dying of thirst can do wonders for changing his mind. Tell me, how many troopers of Hold Fast do you have battle-ready?’

  ‘Three hundred.’

  Mirren nodded.

  Daphne sat back in her chair. ‘Not tempted to go running back to Guilliam?’

  Mirren put down her teacup, and swept a stray hair from her face. Daphne smoked, watching her.

  ‘I know you don’t like me,’ Mirren said. ‘I can see why. I was having an affair with your sister’s husband after all.’ She shook her head. ‘Faden was weak. It should have been your father who led the rebellion…’

  ‘Did you want to screw him as well?’ Daphne said. ‘Two queens might have been too much, even for him.’

  Annifrid made a choking sound, and put a hand to her face.

  Mirren glanced at Daphne, raising an eyebrow.

  Daphne shrugged. ‘Probably.’

  ‘Godfrey was a good man,’ sobbed Annifrid.

  ‘I’m sure he was,’ Mirren said, offering her a hankie. ‘Now, Lady Daphne, what I meant earlier by referencing your father, was that the Hold Fast name remains the only one capable of uniting any resistance to the Emperor. I am a patriot. Above all else I love this country, and will fight to my last breath to protect it.’

  Daphne nodded, sipping her tea.

  ‘To this end,’ Mirren went on, ‘I pledge my support to you, Holder Fast. I am willing to kneel to you, as leader of whatever rabble we have to cobble together to defend this land. Do you understand? So long as you don’t submit to any notion of surrender, then I’m your woman. Lead us.’

  ‘I accept your pledge, ma’am,’ Daphne said, stubbing out her cigarette. ‘My trust is never given out lightly, but I believe you love the Holdings, and will fight for it. I have orders for you, that I want you to carry out tonight, but before I tell you them, I wanted to say that you were right all along.’