by D. H. Aire
“Um, yeah, though, I’m not sure Nessa realizes it yet.”
“They are your responsibility.”
“What will you do?”
“I must discuss that with my Sisters for a moment, though I have no intention of accepting your fate,” the woman said, turning and walking away.
#
Lawson heard the women muttering, “Accept their fate, die, or…”
“I’m not involving myself in this.”
“Nor I, which leaves die or… and they’ve made it this far without us.”
They nodded. “The man in brown has been following you for some time. We do not like the way he looks at the girls, Milord.”
Lawson frowned. “That is good to know. What do you plan to do?”
“We cannot go home, and deciding not to accompany you, we cannot rejoin our family. So, we will go to the Borderland, a place we know well and will make a life for ourselves somehow.”
Nessa said, “You never know who you’ll meet there.”
The women nodded, stepped back and left them to their fate.
Yel’ane shook her head, “With any luck, perhaps they’ll find that Keep…”
With any luck, the breeze seemed to whisper to her. Yel’ane turned her head and saw the jewel about Casber’s throat gleam for a moment.
The unicorn’s horn flickered and Casber overheard,‘There are worse fates. Go with my blessings, ladies of the Shattered House, and build anew.’
#
The troupe left the town behind and followed the brown robed man, who offered to guide them to the Towers.
Chapter 46 – The Towers
The Commander of the North Tower looked out his window and saw the six draft horses hitched in pairs, pulling the unconventional double wagons and what looked like a rather ugly hairy giant in tow. He leaned forward, rubbed his eyes, muttering, “Is someone riding that thing?”
The Sergeant peered out, “Well, if that’s a practically half-naked bowman on its back, I’ve had too much of your liquor.”
“Well, Erki’il says he’s bored, so Hynrik’s outdone himself.”
“Say this for that greedy pig; he’s definitely bringing Lord Rian entertainment.”
“Which we will need to see for ourselves to properly play out this farce,” the commander muttered.
“Will you look at that?” the Sergeant said.
He had half-turned away. “What? By the Empress, those are little girls, dressed no better than the one riding the ugly giant’s back… Erki’il is going to want to take his pick or worse. I’m going to be sick.”
“Sir?”
His commander trembled. “Bring me the entire bottle…”
#
The Towers were built of brick, far wider at the base than at the top. Walls spread from them, creating a ring with defensive battlements. Its courtyard was league across, offering use as training ground or home to a marketplace where Crescent Landers and Imperial traders could mix and bargain for wares.
The –– what the Commander was told was a troll –– giant –– had to stoop to pass through the Tower’s gate. Rather old looking legionnaires stood guard; not a single man did not have gray in his hair, Lawson realized.
Their Commander had the pointed ears of an elfblood, but to Lawson’s eyes he doubted the man was anything less than a pureblood elflord.
Yel’ane tried not to stare, having never seen one before, though something about his ears reminded her of the goblins she had unfortunately met. “Welcome to the North Tower of the Great Way.”
Their brown robed guide dismounted, “Commander, it is my pleasure to present, the Magician and his Lady, Yelane.”
“Pardon our curiosity, but ‘Magician’ is not a term spoken positively in the Empire.”
Lawson spread out his hand, “I am not of your blood, Commander. I am merely a master of charms of enchantment.”
“Do say,” the Commander replied. “And these enchantments glamor the ugly giant?”
“The troll, yes.”
#
Inside the second wagon, Ani’ya muttered, “Did you hear that? Not only does he think Papa’s a fake, but that Greth’s ugly.”
Vi’ya frowned, “Well…”
“Fine, neither Greth or Papa are handsome, but Papa’s as much a mage as I’ve ever heard in the legends.”
En’sta whispered, “Ani’ya, keep it down. This could be trouble.”
Ani’ya glanced up, pointed, whispered, “Always watching, you going to help or what?”
The dragon scale lowered a tendril to her.
She blinked and stood up.
The tendril wrapped around her hand as the other girls turned to stare. It led her to the fiddle case. Frowning, she opened it. The dragon scale floated out the back window, the other dragon scales in scanning mode.
Ani’ya looked out the window, saw no one was watching, and the scale was positioning it for her to… She stared. The tendril tugged.
#
“Pardon me for saying, but I’ve never heard of charm that could do such a thing.”
“I understand that, Elflord,” he replied.
The Commander was not the only one to jerk.
Hynrik frowned, “Uh, Magician, you need to be careful of your words. The Commander is an elfblood. The only Elflord you are likely to meet is Lord Rian, should your performance here warrant it.”
“Pardon, I meant no offense. Just politeness,” Lawson said, briefly meeting the Commander’s slightly hooded gaze.
The Commander frowned, believing it more than politeness. Have I somehow misjudged this self-proclaimed Magician? he wondered. “I believe it my insult, which led to your mistake. I have not seen your little show to judge the power of your charms of magery. Perhaps, you can show me a trick?”
“A trick?” Lawson said, frowning.
Yel’ane elbowed him. “Show him something we don’t feature in the show.”
He blinked, thinking, Like what?
:.:
Lawson’s cheek twitched. He canted his head, heard Ani’ya let out the beginning of a melody on her fiddle. He closed his eyes, reached into his pocket and drew out one of the drained Hellcat wards. He tossed it into the air, “Give flight to thy music, Sprite.”
Ani’ya rose into the air, eyes closed, playing on the fiddle a song unlike any had ever heard. She floated over the top of the wagon, seeming to stand on an oval of darkness.
The ward Lawson tossed fell back to his hand. He clasped it time, never taking his eyes off the gaping Commander as the fiddler floated behind him. Lawson opened his hand, the girl and the black thin oval moved to hover above it. He spread his fingers wide and she stepped into his hand, continuing to play the haunting tune, her eyes closed.
He carefully knelt lowering his hand to the ground. When she finished, Ani’ya stepped forward and bowed to the Commander, “Milord, we hope you will enjoy our show as much as we do performing at the Magician’s call.”
The Commander frowned, uncertainly, as the dragon scale banded around Lawson’s black robe, then chameleoned, creating the illusion it had vanished.
Hynrik muttered, “I’ve never seen such magery! Lord Rian will be so pleased!” as the Imperial guardsmen applauded long and loud.
The Commander looked at the scantily clad so-called Sprite, barefooted, as she stood so poised with the fiddle at her side and its bow in her other hand. “That was exquisite. What is it called?”
“It is adapted from the Fifth Symphony. Based on… the Erlkoenig of… the Northlands.”
The Commander frowned, thinking she had said, ‘Elfking.’ “There are more such songs as that?”
She blinked, smiling, “Apparently.”
“You are a true songbird,” he said.
She bowed, turned to the Magician. “Am I released for your call, Magician?”
“You did very well for flying for the first time.”
The Commander’s eyes widened.
“Thank you,” Ani’ya ran back to
the wagon.
“I felt no magery, Magician.”
“Of course, not, as I told you I am merely a master of charms… May we refresh ourselves before our full performance?”
The Commander ordered food and drink brought, “Would an evening performance be possible? Lord Rian rarely leaves the inside of the palace.”
“This Courtyard can be well-lit?” the Magician asked.
“Yes.”
The Magician nodded, “This evening, then.”
#
“Ani’ya, what were you thinking?” Yel’ane demanded as the girls crowded around her telling her how wonderful both the music and what she had done was.
“I wanted to help and so did the dragon scale, so we did.”
“Can I try that?” one of the girls asked.
“NO!” Nessa shouted behind them. “Ani’ya, I nearly fainted when you floated above the wagon. And… Greth, I had to practically strangle him to keep him still!”
Casber climbed over the back gate, “Ani’ya, that was wonderful!”
Lawson peered in through a curtain window, “Ani’ya, come here.”
She hesitated. “Papa? Are you mad?”
“Come here, Ani’ya.”
The girls stood aside as she went over to him. He reached in with his right arm, “Get him off me.”
She grinned and stroked his slightly gleaming sleeve, “You were amazing! Thank you!”
The scale uncoiled, returning to its flat shape and floated up to the ceiling.
Lawson’s arm then snaked around Ani’ya’s waist, bringing her close. He kissed her cheek. “You did beautifully.”
“And that Fifth, it was like nothing I’ve heard you play before.”
Ani’ya shook her head, “It’s about fate… fate coming to claim us.”
“Well, fate’s certainly laid claim on the lot of us… So, no one is to eat too much, we’ll have plenty to enough after the performance.”
Yel’ane said, “And that Hynrik, be sure he pays us those golds he promised.”
“Yel’ane, about those golds.”
“Lawson, I’m handling this family’s finances and do you have any idea how much it costs to feed and…”
“I’ll get our down payment, dear.”
“And, believe, me once we get the chance, I’m having a money belt made for you and one for Greth. You two are better than any strongbox.”
“Yes, dear.”
“And no more free shows like you just did for the Commander and the whole troop here.”
“Yes, dear.
“Why do you keep smiling at me like that?”
“You remind me of Mendra, back home.”
“You calling me a troll?”
“No, Yel’ane, because I’m not a troll. I’m human. Remember that when I take you home one day and introduce you.”
She swallowed, “Take me home.”
“If you’re going to be my wife one day, you’ll be living with… a lot of trolls.”
She looked pale.
He nodded, what that Cathartan woman had said hadn’t got through to her, but that looked like it had.
#
Hynrik was sitting beside the Commander during the show, “Aren’t they marvelous?”
“How much did it cost you?”
“Every gold I had… two hundred pieces of Imperial, as their promised down payment.”
“You expect Lord Rian to pay you double that?”
The soldiers were applauding Nessa’s troll mounted archery.
“He’s scrying the Courtyard this very moment.”
The old Commander had no doubt of that, which is why the wards here were double checked twice a day to obscure him and why he now appreciated the Magician’s wagon, which he had taken great pains to examine before nightfall. The floating fiddler had to be a trick, but if so it was fiendishly clever. When he looked closely at the painted designs on the wagons, he was surprised to see the concealed sigils, warding runes, which would blur any scrying. Master of more than Charms alone, he had thought.
“Triple it –– I’ll get more as soon as I figure a way of broaching a change in costume for the girls.”
“Oh, that should go over well.”
“I am not going to ask the Magician to do anything the girls are uncomfortable with.”
“Really? Didn’t you recruit that lovely young dancer last year?”
“She didn’t mind in the least performing privately, naked.”
“How’s she doing, anyway?”
“Wouldn’t know.”
The Commander nodded. “I’d like to be there when you make a similar proposition to the Magician.”
“Oh, I don’t want the girls performing naked. They are too young for that.”
“Hmm, I was under the impression that Lord Rian’s tastes…”
“Yes, well, that’s why they’re so perfect an answer to Lord Rian’s bordom. I want them to simply not wear anything under those lovely skirts for their private performance.”
“And you think the Magician will be amendable to that?”
“He’s a Master of Charms. He can make them think they are wearing their small clothes, so they’ll have no need of embarrassment.”
“Really?”
Hynrik said, “For the amount of gold Lord Rian’s going to offer for that one, there, he’ll charm them.”
The Commander sat back, frowning and saw the Magician standing, hand on edge of the lead wagon, completely warded from the Sight in that moment, looking across the courtyard directly at him, when neither Hynrik or anyone else was looking.
The Magician smiled at him.
The old elf’s heart skipped a beat as everyone applauded. He whispered ever so faintly, “You heard that?”
The Magician nodded, no longer smiling.
The elflord, hidden for years in plain sight, knew in that moment the Lord Rian had met his match at last and things were about to change… He would have his revenge at long last.
Chapter 47 – Rian
“Oh, did you see them?!” Erkiil, Lord of Rian, cried in delight.
The scryer nodded, hastily stepping back from the pool of still water.
“Those girls are wondrous! And they will perform for me, privately.”
“The bareback rider?”
“Oh, the boy’s lovely enough in his way, but boys can be so difficult… I hate having to remove all their teeth for trying to bite.”
The scryer paled.
“Now that horse of his. It’s a beauty and I can almost imagine what trick I can get it to perform…”
The scryer made not a sound.
“Now, those girls, they are charming, hah? Did you like my joke?”
“Yes, Lord, a lovely play on words.”
“I can take them Underhill and make them perform and perform for me, as one of them fulfills my every whim… that white horse, too, I should think. Oh, dear, yes. Such fun I can have.”
“And, uh, the troll?”
“Oh, him I have plans for. We’ll make the Magician tell us how he controls it before I have him killed, then it will serve as a bodyguard… There are so few people I can truly trust, you know.”
The scryer nodded, leaned forward, “I have found so many for you…”
“Yes, every traitor. You are a most excellent scryer for a mage. Then again, I pay you very well and give you all the women you could want.”
The mage nodded, “I live to serve.”
“You know, I sometimes miss my brother.”
The scryer simply listened.
“And even some of my cousins I had killed. But I’d not be Lord of Rian and the elflord I am today if I had been in the least squeamish,” he smiled, knowing had not been, he would have been strangled in his sleep.
“Lord Rian is the most powerful lord in the entire Empire,” the scryer simpered.
“You know, they expected me to attend the Conclave as if he who is the next Highmage even matters… I control the Great Way. I can withdraw a
ll the bridgings, cut off all the trade, if it pleases me.”
The mage nodded.
“Send word to the North Tower, scryer, I want the entertainers brought to me at noon. I have some much to consider and prepare. Noon!”
“Yes, My Lord.”
Lord Rian left the chamber and the mage began to tremble; he went back to the still pool, waved his hand across it and looked once more. The Magician was not what he seemed, he had vanished for moment, while Erkiil had been enthralled by the show.
How had he done that? How had he made the fiddler girl float up into the air, when magery did not even make the waters ripple? The Mage wished he could espy on the Tower’s commander, but the old man was too canny, and the mage, unbeknownst to the aged elflord in hiding had spent years now keeping his secret for Erkiil, who now coveted those performing girls, who seemed more sprites than human to his scrying.
#
The troupe proceeded up the Great Way to stares from those leading carts of Imperial goods down the ramping wide lane, and those looking out from the walls of the security towers at the joinings of the bridgings beneath their feet. The higher they ascended the quieter people seemed.
Yel’ane whispered, “I don’t like this one bit.”
“Well, it’s our only way into the Empire.”
“Perhaps, coming to the Empire really wasn’t a good idea,” Ani’ya whispered behind them.
“What are you doing there?” Yel’ane demanded, then blinked, “All of you?”
“Well, it’s a bit crowded, Mother, but…” Ani’ya admitted.
Lawson glanced back, “I didn’t hear a thing… You girls are getting too good at this.”
“Thank you, Papa,” Jen’yan said as the other girls smiled.
“Why are you angry, Papa?” Ani’ya asked.
“Me? I’m not angry.”
“Yes, you are, I can feel it.”
“You can?”
“Papa, I really can… Just like I know I’m going to marry you one day.”
“Uh huh, Papas don’t marry their daughters, Ani’ya.”
“When they aren’t your Sire, they can,” she said.
Yel’ane scolded her.
“I’m not afraid to have troll babies one day. I’ll love my children, no matter how ugly they are.”
Lawson nearly choked. “Mother, I know you’re behind this.”
