Archon's Hope: Book III of 'The Magician's Brother' Series

by HDA Roberts

  Cassandra started shouting, the Crows started shouting, the Archons were on their feet and a couple of them were practically roaring in near apoplectic rage, apart from Kron, who was trying to restore some semblance of order. Everybody else started shouting, too. It was a mess.

  And it was my fault.

  Oops.

  They were bellowing like that for a solid twenty minutes before Killian thumped his hand down on a nearby chair, and the whole thing simply rotted down into a black and smoking puddle within a fraction of a second.

  That shut everyone up good and proper. When the Lord of Death tells you to do something, it's not generally wise to ignore him...

  "I believe the honourable gentleman had a rebuttal?" Killian said, retaking his former chair. Everybody apart from Thorne sat back down, looking distinctly cowed. I was too, truth be told. I did not need this sort of stress in my life; I had quite enough to be going on with, thank you very much.

  Thorne cleared his throat and gathered himself back together.

  "I want that creature imprisoned. I want him locked away where he can do no harm. I want his 'friends' interrogated, and I want his insane brother put in a prison where he belongs!"

  The gallery around me went dark as my shadows came in response to my anger. Cassandra smacked me hard in the arm, and I gave her an apologetic look as I sent them away again.

  "Any rebuttal from the gallery?" Kron asked, looking towards me.

  I took an all too brief moment to control my temper and stood up again, knowing that I should just keep my big mouth shut, but the little bastard was going after my friends and my homicidal brother. And, of course, me. And I'm rather fond of me.

  "Simply this, I've committed no crimes and I've never been violent except in the defence of myself or others," not strictly true, but good oratory rarely is, "If you intend to lock me up simply for being, then you are no better than the creatures you so clearly hate. Because that's what they do. They take that which we treasure, and they take our right to live in peace. I can't promise never to become a monster, all I can say is that every time I look into the eyes of a member of my family, or spend time with a friend, I am reminded of the price of that path, because it's them that would suffer first, and I would die before I hurt them, any one of them."

  I looked over at Cassandra, a friend I was desperate not to disappoint, someone I'd almost died to protect, actually. Not intentionally, you understand. I mean, I meant to save her, I just didn't mean to nearly die. I looked at her and I knew that as long as I had her and Bill, Tethys, Kandi, Hopkins, Belle, Mother, Father, Des and Cathy, especially Cathy, I'd never turn to the Black. Apart from anything else, Cathy would silent-treatment me into a new millennium.

  "I'm doing my very best to be the person that can look them in the eye, that's all I can hope to do," I said, "that's the best I can aspire to be."

  I looked over the assembled magicians and sat down in my seat. The room was quiet, utterly silent in fact.

  "Will anyone support the false imprisonment of a fellow Magician?" Kron asked the assembly, many of whom were looking embarrassed. The Crows were looking smug, and Cassandra looked proud from the little glance of her I got as I sat down.

  "No?" Kron continued, "Good, then this discussion is tabled."

  From there it was a drawn-out bit of nonsense, I waited long enough to make sure that nobody was going to advocate killing me again, and then I got up to leave. Cassandra followed, close on my heels.

  We walked down the various stairs and out into the late August sunshine. I stopped at the edge of the pavement and breathed in the relatively fresh air. Cassandra walked out in front of me.

  "I don't know whether to beat the hell out of you or hug you," she said.

  "Going by our previous interactions, I'm fairly certain I know where this is goi- Ow!" I said with a yelp, rubbing the arm she'd just bashed.

  She put her arms around my neck and hugged me tight.

  "Have you ever been diagnosed with something that might explain this?" I asked.

  "Shut up, Shadowborn," she said, pulling back to look me over again, "You are... you really aren't like the others, Mathew."

  "That has to be the nicest thing you've ever said to me, did it hurt at all?" I asked with a smirk, which got me another thump for my trouble.

  "Seriously, use your words!"

  "Maybe I like having a Shadowborn I can beat up on," she said, hitting me again, lighter this time.

  "I am a Sorcerer, you know," I said, rubbing what was now a growing bruise.

  "Yeah? And how does that make a difference," she asked, cocking her fist back again.

  "You'd think it would make you cautious, I know magic and stuff," I said, trying to sound threatening and failing badly.

  "You will stand there, and you will take the hits that you richly deserve so I can work out my issues over Shadowborn, and you will like it," she said, smacking the other arm.

  "I think I preferred it when you were afraid of me, you hit me less," I said, now having to rub two arms at the same time.

  "Yes, but I tried to kill you more often, are you sure you want to go back to that?" she said.

  I sighed, presenting my arm, "Fine," I said.

  "Aw, it's no fun when you're willing," she said with a glare.

  "Good to know," I said, grinning.

  "Shut up, Shadowborn," she repeated, walking away, "come on, I will allow you to buy me a late lunch."

  "How generous of you," I said, following her into town.

  We were still at a little cafe near the modern part of the town when Hopkins turned up, back in her non-Archon clothes. She pulled off a pair of sunglasses and sat in a spare seat next to a small pile of plates that had contained the two full-English breakfasts with extra toast that Cassandra had put away.

  Hopkins rubbed her eyes and then glared at me.

  "What?" I asked after a few long moments of this.

  "You caused a riot. In the Conclave," she said.

  "Riot is a bit strong. It was really more of an excessive yelling," I replied.

  Cassandra snorted and looked away when Hopkins turned her glare on the Keeper.

  "The Conclave as a whole seems to think that you can be left to your own devices, for now," Hopkins said.

  "That's a bit of a horrific qualifier," I said, noting the 'for now'.

  "You convinced quite a few people today, but not everyone. A lot of people think that you're simply manipulating them, but most think you're just a kid trying to keep out of the Farm. They're willing to wait until you prove otherwise."

  "How magnanimous of them," I said dryly.

  "Wasn't it, though?" she said with a small smile, "Good news, though, you should probably stay away from here for a while."

  "That is good news!" I agreed with a grin.

  "I thought you'd like that," she said, patting my shoulder, "I believed what you said in there, Mathew. And I'm proud of you."

  "Oh don't start, you know the Captain's a crier," I said, dodging a grease-covered fist and darting up.

  "Come back here and take it like a man," she said with a glare.

  "Have we met?" I asked, "You know I don't do pain."

  "Enough of this, you two, there's another issue."

  "Not another one," I said, sitting back down, inching my seat out of thumping range.

  "You need to be careful," Hopkins said, "there have been a number of attacks lately in three cities, all on Magicians. Shadowborn, all."

  "Anyone dead?" Cassandra asked.

  "No, but every one of the victims had a pentacle carved into their left cheek with Life Magic. The wounds can't be healed. They'll scar, badly."

  "Life Magic?" I asked, "How does somebody make Life Magic do that?"

  "Probably a dispel built into the attack, something that saturates the flesh and blocks healing magic," Hopkins said.

  "That's perverted," I said with a grimace.

  "Yes, which is why I'd rather you didn't go down any dark alleys. The
victims remember getting hit, going down, and waking up with a carved face. Even an Archon is vulnerable to a surprise attack, and you have a certain naive trusting nature that can only end in tears for everyone. So I want you paranoid and I want you watchful until we catch these bastards, because I'm very worried about what they are, what this sort of power represents."

  "Alright," I said, "I guess I'll just have to stay home for the rest of the holidays, oh no, what awful luck, et cetera."

  "You just have to be as much of a prick as you possibly can, don't you?" Cassandra asked.

  "Don't you have a book you could be guarding?"

  "Alright, that's it, I take it all back, you're just as bad as all the others, prepare to die," she said, brandishing her butter knife.

  "And that's my cue," I said, shaking Cassandra's hand, giving her a smile.

  "See you in a couple of weeks, Miss Hopkins," I said.

  "You'd better have done the reading this time," she said.

  "Of course I did," I said confidently.

  And bugger, I knew I'd forgotten to do something...

  Chapter 2

  My family home was in Sussex, a little over a hundred miles from Stonebridge. It was a Victorian house set in the middle of a small wood, a little ways off the beaten track. We had a small pond connected to a tiny river and a couple of outbuildings. The house had yellow painted walls where there wasn't red brick, and grey slate roofs. It had character and history, and I'd lived there my whole life.

  I awoke on the morning of my birthday, comfortable and warm, if a little maudlin. Mother and Father were up North, spending our birthday with Des, who was doing a little better these days. They'd felt bad about leaving me alone, but the doctors had insisted that it would do him the power of good to have them with him, and I wanted what was best for him.

  Cathy and Bill called almost before I had my eyes open, and I had them both on my mobile for a solid hour as we caught up on all the news since we'd last spoken. It hadn't been long, just a couple of days, but we still managed to fill a lot of time.

  My room was comfortable, with a wide bed, filled with book shelves and technology. There was a fireplace, which I rarely lit, and wide bay windows looking over the back lawn up to the tree line. Once I'd finished talking to my friends, and they'd finished massacring 'Happy Birthday', I got dressed and opened my door, only to be floored by the dog, a massive, nearly two hundred pound, black Newfoundland by the name of Burglar (as in 'Cat-Burglar' not my idea, my father has a sick sense of humour; now you know where I get it from).

  He was supposed to have been both Des' and mine, but he'd rather bonded with me, which made sense seeing as how I'd been the one to raise him, clean him, walk him and feed him. I think Des walked him once or twice a year, but I couldn't tell you for sure. We'd got him as a tiny ball of black fluff about four years ago, and he'd grown into the most gentle monster you ever saw, huge and completely loyal, with big gentle eyes and the kind of fur coat that would keep a Yeti warm. And yet, in spite of his size, he was the worst guard dog you could ever hope to have. I once saw him run from a mouse. He used to sleep in with me, but after he nearly suffocated me a few times, my father put a stop to it. He'd just roll over onto my chest, and I'd nearly die, it would be sweet if the end result wouldn't have been so final.

  I laughed as he snuffled my neck and licked my face good morning. Normally I'm quick enough to avoid being floored, but he caught me unawares that day. I grabbed his ears and scratched. He made a strange groaning-barking sound and rolled over onto his back so I could scratch his belly while his feet galloped and scratched at the air.

  "Ridiculous dog," I said affectionately as he sneezed and rolled back onto his feet before galloping away down to the kitchen, barking fit to wake the dead, not that there was anyone there. We had a housekeeper, but she was out in one of the cottages; the groundskeeper had another. They were great people, kind and patient; they looked after Burglar while I was at school and my parents were off digging.

  I followed him down the back stairs from the second floor and straight through to the kitchen. It was warming slowly, but was comfortable enough already. I piled a tin of dog food into a bowl for Burglar before getting some cereal for myself, perching on the counter in front of the TV, which I switched to the news.

  The house was so quiet. There should be Des shouting, insisting on bacon, Mother arguing with Father about his sodium levels, Father trying to enlist me in sneaking him sausages...

  I missed it, and suddenly felt very alone. I'd told them I was alright with being by myself on my birthday, but I regretted it.

  Burglar put his meaty front paws up on the counter and eyed the rest of my cereal meaningfully. He made me feel better about the whole thing, and I handed over the remains of my breakfast with something resembling good grace. I used my Will, and it gently floated onto the floor for him to lap up. He'd rapidly become used to my magic way back when we'd got him. He was a little nervous at first, but then he seemed to just accept it. The regular bribery helped, that dog ate more of my food than I did.

  I took him for his walk, throwing whatever small log he brought for the task. He never came back with the same stick, but he tried. Once, he managed to come back dragging a small sapling, and when I used magic to throw it, he came back with a twig. These dogs are supposed to be smart. It is rather adorable, though.

  So, my birthday was spent in a somewhat solitary way, I even did some of the reading I'd been assigned, and isn't that just sad? It was about midday when the doorbell rang. I was napping soundly, and Burglar woke me with his usual bellowing bark that acted as a sort of doorbell-repeater. I stretched and made my way through with a yawn.

  I opened the door and my face broke out in a wide smile as I took in the sight.

  "Happy Birthday, Mathew!" said Tethys.

  Tethys was tall, with ivory skin, a beautiful, heart shaped face, violet eyes and soft, full lips. She wore a conservative outfit (which was unusual), a dark business suit with a calf-length skirt. She pulled me into her usual sexually charged version of a hello hug, wrapping her arms around me, and one leg. She kissed my cheek before pulling back.

  I should mention; Tethys was a Succubus. She enjoyed domination games and kept trying to corrupt me. So far I'm winning, but we're not telling her that; she'd just try harder.

  Kandi was next, a beautiful little redhead with a cute spread of freckles over her nose, wearing a much less conservative outfit. She was Tethys' girlfriend (I think; this has never been very well explained to me. At the very least, she's Tethys' favourite plaything of the moment). She pulled me into an even tighter hug and planted a kiss on my lips.

  I blushed hard and backed into the house, "Come in, come in!" I said, "What brings you two by?"

  "Your birthday, of course, silly!" Kandi said, following her boss in and then emitting a very high pitched 'squee' type sound when she laid eyes on Burglar, who immediately rolled over to present his belly. Kandi dropped to the ground next to him and made a fuss.

  "It's true what they say," Tethys said, "dogs do start to resemble their masters."

  I turned to glare and she stuck her tongue out at me.

  "He was supposed to be a guard dog, and this is how he greets strangers," I said, shaking my head as the big lummox started snuffling at Kandi, knocking her onto her bottom and nuzzling into her neck, which made her squeal and laugh.

  I led them through to the kitchen and made tea for Kandi and coffee for Tethys, who then poured so much sugar in, it may as well have been syrup. Burglar positioned himself next to Kandi, wagging his tail while she slipped him biscuits.

  "If he gets any bigger, the vet's going to yell at me," I said as she fed him another custard cream.

  "There's just more of him to love," Kandi said, and I decided to abandon the cause as lost. Burglar is too good at persuading gullible visitors that he's hungry.

  "Thanks for coming," I said, turning back to Tethys, "How long can you stay?"

  "Not too long, ma
ybe an hour or two. We're heading off to see if we can't pinch a couple of new recruits from the Royal Ballet School," Tethys said with an evil smirk.

  "That is so wrong," I said.

  "Trust me, we're saving them," Kandi said with an equally evil look on her pretty face.

  Tethys' business was in things like Gentleman's Clubs, enough said really; I don't pry.

  "Can I take him for a walk?" Kandi asked, "Can I, Matty, please?"

  I laughed, "Sure, his favourite sticks are towards the back, he'll show you."

  She kissed my cheek and patted her hip at Burglar, who followed dutifully as she led him out the door.

  "Funny, that's almost the same way I get you to do things," Tethys said when they were gone.

  She offered her hand and I took it.

  "How are you, Matty? I heard about the Conclave," she said.

  "Nothing new there," I said, "Hopkins said it's fine."

  "Well, she would know," Tethys said. Aside from Bill and Cathy, Tethys was the only person I'd told about Hopkins' identity (and everything else for that matter), "But I can't say I like what those Archons are doing to you."

  "I don't especially like it myself, but orders is orders, I guess, and they're bigger than I am."

  She snorted, "As long as you keep your eyes open, alright?" she said.

  "Please," I said, "if you look up paranoid in the dictionary, you'll see a little picture of me."

  She laughed and brought my hand up to kiss my fingers.

  "Okay, enough of the serious stuff, you wouldn't believe the conversation Kandi had with your mother when she asked if we could come see you today."

  "Oh no, what did you do?" I asked, my eyes going wide.

  "Oh, nothing much, she may have mentioned a gift involving whipped cream, Harrods lingerie and enough chocolate sauce to cover an elephant."

  I groaned, rubbing my eyes.

  "You realise I have enough trouble explaining you as it is without that sort of complication?"

  "Oh no," she said, deadpan, "it's almost as if someone's trying to get you booted out of the family home so you have to come live with her."