by Blink, Bob
The path they were following was contained within an enclosed space, protected by a continuation of the outer wall of the castle ahead. The space joined the cluster of buildings he was leaving with the castle ahead. Few people were moving around inside the walls as compared to the far greater number on the outside. Obviously, this was a private connection between Sedfair’s wizards and the royalty that commanded this land. It suggested an intimacy between the two groups that was far more formalized than anything that existed back in the Three Kingdoms.
The hillside was steeply slanted in places, and as they walked down the middle of the pathway, Rigo could see over the lower set of walls toward the city and harbor beyond. This place was far larger than the capital of Branid. Rigo guessed the city was home to almost three times the number who lived in Sulen. He knew he couldn’t judge the population of the land based solely on the capital city, but it was an interesting fact to tuck away. The harbor beyond contained a number of ships. It appeared to be a very large natural harbor, but was only marginally developed. The shipping here was far less extensive than in the Three Kingdoms. He didn’t know that much about ships, but something about the designs and the sails he could see suggested even to his untrained mind a less effective design than he had observed and ridden on back home.
“Keep moving,” the female wizard on his right commanded, although he hadn’t really been falling behind. Rigo decided she didn’t like his studying the area as carefully as he was. He’d heard one of the guards refer to her as Specialist Kimm. Rigo didn’t know what a Specialist was, but he was certain she was in control by the way the guards deferred to her, and by the way she addressed the other wizard. Twice she’d instructed the other what she wanted done, referring to the woman as Suline, without a title. Rigo didn’t know if she lacked a title and what that might mean, or whether she was simply far enough beneath the other that no recognition of her title was felt important. It was a matter of some interest to Rigo, as the one called Suline had demonstrated an effective familiarity with magic, and if she were a low level Caster, then the more senior woman might be quite formidable. It was something to consider if he ever again regained access to his powers.
Now that they were approaching the outer wall, Rigo could see how impressive it was. It stood just over three times his height, and as they passed through a double gate backed by a vertically raised metal grillwork, he saw that the walls were two paces thick. The fortifications were in surprising contrast to the rest of the city spread out open and unprotected below. Rigo assumed that the castle had been built in a time where such strength was required, but either through careful maintenance or the proper application of magic, the walls appeared almost new.
As they passed into the inner courtyard, they entered the shadow of the large structure immediately before them. Scowling, Specialist Kimm instructed the guards to bear to the right, heading for a smaller door in the back of the building as opposed to the large heavily trafficked area toward the front. Clearly she wasn’t pleased with bringing Rigo here, and he was beginning to believe it wasn’t because she felt herself above such duty. Rigo was beginning to believe that despite the apparent closeness of the Casters and the Royalty, there might be a rift that could be useful to him.
They were briefly detained at the heavy door in the back, the guard there clearly recognizing Kimm and the guards who had come with them as being from the Caster’s Guild. He sent his partner inside, and after a few moments a number of additional guards appeared. After some heated discussion, Specialist Kimm ordered the six guards who had come with them to wait, and then they proceeded into the building, now escorted by nearly a dozen armed men from the castle. If anything. Kimm’s expression was even more sour than before. Rigo noted that Suline wasn’t particularly bothered by events, and was almost as interested in the sights as he was.
Inside, the footsteps of the group echoed off the stone walls as they made their way down a long, marginally lit hallway. They had gone about half the length of the hall when the guards leading them made an abrupt turn. A short distance after the turn, they stepped into a second hallway, this one far wider and more ornate. Tapestries hung on the walls, and the stone floor was now a carefully inlaid geometric pattern of colored stones. The hallway was lit by frequent balls of glowing light, clearly magical in origin. Swords were hung from the walls, and a number of huge paintings depicted battles and scenes that Rigo guessed were other cities in Sedfair.
Finally they came to a pair of large and ornately carved wooden doors. Half of their escort took up positions along the wall adjacent to the door, and the others filed in ahead of Rigo and the two women Casters.
“Let’s get this over with,” Kimm grumbled, and gave Rigo a bit of a push toward the door.
Rigo stepped through the doorway ahead of the two Casters and preceeded them into the room, noting the richness of the carpet on which he walked. In here his footsteps were completely muffled, and the sounds he heard were quiet murmuring of the four people seated in the raised chairs at the back of the room. Large galleries occupied either side of the room, with seating for perhaps fifty, but no one else was present today. Instead, the guards who had guided them had taken up positions on either side of the four seated individuals. Off to either side, Rigo noted a score of archers standing ready. All had crossbows charged, but not currently pointed toward him. He knew it would only take a moment for them to raise and fire if needed.
The room was marked in the now familiar symbols that indicated his magic would be of no use in here even if he hadn’t been banded. He detected the blocking came as a surprise to the two Casters, as Suline gasped a little as she entered, and Kimm shot a glance of frustration at the markings displayed openly on the walls. Rigo noted that the crystals on top of their staffs were now dull and dark. Clearly, their magic was cut off as well. Another interesting development. If the people here were closely linked with the Guild Casters, wouldn’t they want the two Casters to have full access to their powers just in case the need arose?
Rigo studied those ahead of him as he walked forward as directed. Three women and one man. Rigo had been in the presence of enough royalty to detect the subtle signs provided by the arrangement of the seating and the posture of the participants. The older woman in the front was the one in charge. The others must be some kind of advisors.
“Halt,” Specialist Kimm muttered in his ear.
Rigo came to a stop and waited to see how this would proceed.
“Your Majesty, Queen Rosul, I have brought the intruder as you have requested. This place is unacceptable. I cannot guarantee the prisoner will be properly behaved, nor can I protect you here.”
“I do not require your protection,” the Queen snapped. “You do not think two score armed guardsmen are capable of defeating a lone man? We both can see that he is doubly banded, and if the bands had not cut off his magic, he would have long ago escaped when you moved him from the special cell.”
“I still must object . . .”
“Your objections are irrelevant. You may leave if you wish. I do not require your presence.”
Kimm cursed softly and shook her head. “I will stay and hear what the prisoner has to say.” It was not like she had any say in the matter. Carif had made it quite clear she was to be present for all discussions. They must know what the stranger told the Queen.
“Then you may do so. However, you and your associate are to step aside. You may wait in the back of the room until we are finished here.”
The breath hissed softly from Kimm as she endured the insult, but then nodded to Suline toward the back and they walked quickly to stand on either side of the large door through which the group had entered.
Rigo had watched and listened to the exchange with growing satisfaction. There clearly was an opportunity here. The Casters, especially the woman named Carif, were his enemies. Anything he could do to make these people his allies he believed would be useful.
The Queen turned her attention back to Rigo. The t
wo other women had been studying him the whole time. The man had shifted his interest between Rigo and Specialist Kimm.
“I am Queen Rosul. I am the ruler of Sedfair. I am told your name is Rigo and that you understand a little of our language. Is this true? Do you understand what I just said?”
“I understand you very well,” Rigo answered fluently. “My understanding of your language has grown significantly in the past few days.”
“That is remarkable,” The Queen said upon hearing his response. “Where did you receive instruction in our language? I have been led to believe you come from outside Sedfair.”
“I cannot explain how this has come to be,” Rigo said. “I have never been tutored in the language, yet after arriving here I find it known to me.”
“There is no reason to lie. That you planned to come here and obtained instruction is obvious. We are not going to progress if you choose to withhold such simple facts.”
“I have no reason to lie to you,” Rigo replied.
“One always has reasons to lie,” she countered. “It’s often a matter of finding out what the intentions really are. I had hopes we might be able to come to an understanding and exchange information.”
“That would suit me as well,” Rigo said honestly. “I find my current situation to be undesirable and not one that I would like to see continue. If I can enlighten you about matters in a way that would change this, then I am eager to do so.”
“We will see. A lot depends on how truthful I sense your answers to be.”
Rigo nodded. Then he looked at the three others sitting alongside the Queen. She noted his look.
“Sitting beside me is my consort, King Kall. On either side are my most trusted advisors, Lady Alani and Lady Kalli.”
Rigo bowed toward the King respectfully. If the King was secondary to the Queen in a situation like this, then women were clearly in charge here. It was an interesting insight and one he’d look forward to discussing with Ash’urn. He now understood why they might have taken Orna earlier.
“Are there more of you?” the Queen asked suddenly. “Can Sedfair expect to be invaded by a number of your countrymen, or friends looking for you?”
Rigo smiled. “Is there any answer I can give you that you would believe? There is no way to verify what I tell you. Having said that, no one else from my homeland has plans to come here. Until our arrival, we had no knowledge of your existence. The way is long and difficult, and requires an ability that very few possess.”
Rigo had to decide what he would reveal. Giving up too much would weaken his position, yet these were the people most likely to help him and he might never have another chance. If something didn’t put the Three Kingdoms at risk, then it might be to his advantage to be truthful.
“You walked into the trap that had been prepared for you? You had been here the night before and engaged our Army, so had to be aware of our ability with magic. Why would you do that?”
Once again a smile flashed across his face, this time one almost of embarrassment. “Your magic is different than our own. We had hoped to sneak into the village quietly, then make our way elsewhere where we might find someone to talk with. We did not realize it was possible to block one’s magic in the manner you do.”
“You cannot block magic where you come from?”
“It can be done, but in a different way.” Rigo wasn’t prepared to reveal that only a few wizards had that ability and nothing as effective as the symbols existed there.
“I’m not sure I believe your motives. You attacked our Army, then claim you wanted to find someone to talk with. If talk is what you wished, why did you not do so initially?”
Rigo explained that his ability with the language didn’t exist at that time and they found themselves unable to communicate. While he was talking, the King whispered something in the Queen’s ear. He also explained that they had not attacked the Army, but merely defended themselves, making every effort to see no one was harmed.
“After the altercation, why did you come back? You could have gone back where you came from. What brought you here in the first place?”
Rigo hadn’t decided how to respond to the Queen’s first question, but he’d learned enough to address the second safely.
“We came because of the Hoplani, the beasts you call the Chulls.”
“You are responsible for them?” the Queen asked aghast.
“Quite the contrary. Our land is in grave danger from the beasts, and we set out seeking an answer to the creatures. We needed to know where they came from and who was behind them.”
“And have you had any success? The creatures are a growing problem for Sedfair as well.”
“So I have learned since coming here, which more than anything suggests we could become allies. We found where the creatures originate. They are unnatural, and there is a vast factory deep in the Wastelands. Unfortunately, like much of the Wastelands, magic fails to function properly in that region, and there is nothing we have discovered that will destroy the factory.” Rigo explained how they decided it would be necessary to learn more, and had continued on in their explorations in hopes of finding answers.
The Queen noted that the Casters had long known that magic failed in the Wastelands, yet somehow Rigo and his friends had crossed despite that. They had also been discovered in a small patch of land that somehow was immune to the effects of the Wastelands.
“An oasis,” Rigo agreed. “There are many of them spread throughout the Wastelands, but often separated by vast distances. My scholarly friend believes they are regions where the Wastelands are losing their grip upon the land.”
“You travel between these patches where magic works?” the Queen asked.
Rigo could see no reason to deny this. He could sense the topic was making the two Casters in the back of the room uncomfortable, and since they already knew the truth of the matter, there was nothing to gain by pretending otherwise.
“That is so. Once one knows where they are, it is possible to move between them by creating the portals. I believe you call them Doorways.”
“And how do you locate them?” Queen Rosul asked.
“That is what makes it difficult. They are often widely spaced in regions of hostile desert where magic fails.”
“Since you obviously know of them, why wouldn’t others be coming here the same way you did?” she asked.
Rigo decided. “Some of them are separated by such a large expanse of the blocked desert, that making the Doorway is only possible when aided by a special talisman. Without the talisman, the way is blocked, something that is not usual with Doorways. Your Casters know of this. They have explored deep into the desert visiting the places we used to get here. They only stopped when they found they could not progress any farther.”
The Queen shot a glance at the two Casters. “I did not know of this. Our Casters have penetrated far into the Wastelands, not just to the one location where your friends were captured? I was not told of this.”
“They stripped the information used to make their Doorways from the mind of our friend Orna, who died as a result of their probing,” Rigo said angrily.
“That was how the woman died?” Queen Rosul said not as surprised as she might have been given that Carif was involved. She recalled having doubts about the story the day she’d raised the matter with the Saltique when she’d cornered her about the prisoners. “I was told she died as a result of wounds she had acquired resisting capture. The Reading didn’t have anything to do with her death.” Even as she said this, Queen Rosul sensed she was about to learn otherwise.
“She was without injury when we were brought to this city,” Rigo said, his anger still showing. “They came and dragged her out of the cell and we never saw her again. Later, when I was interrogated by the woman named Carif, she let me know that they had tried to follow back to my homeland, only to find the way barred.”
“You said you crossed through because of a talisman. The reports indicated you performed your magic
without any aids. That is very different than the approach common here. Now you are telling me our observation was wrong?”
“Generally we create magic without the use of any outside object or without the symbols that are so common here. This was a special case where an artifact was able to augment our magic, increase its effectiveness, and allow us to perform actions that were otherwise denied.”
“Do you still have this talisman?”
Rigo smiled. “Would I reveal its existence if I did? No, the talisman that allowed us to come here was destroyed. That was why we couldn’t go home.”
“Clearly you could build another?”
“No, we can’t. It was created more than two thousand years ago, before the plagues caused the fall of civilization. The means of doing so is long lost. It is also why no one will follow. There are no more.”
“The plagues,” the Queen said thoughtfully. “You endured them as well. That is something else I would like to discuss at a later time.” Then she returned to the topic at hand. “So you claim you are trapped here?”
“It seems so, unless you have the means to overcome the Wastelands and help us get home. From what I have learned, I don’t believe that to be the case.”
“What is your hope then?”
“We hoped to make contact with those in power here. I guess that is you. We saw your Army fighting the Hoplani near the border, indicating you have a similar problem with the beasts. There are alternate means of dealing with them we can help with. Perhaps, since our magic is different, a way to overcome them entirely could be found. Even if we never were able to go home, if a means could be found to destroy them, our goal would be accomplished.”
