by GJ Kelly
“I’m Master Eyan’s apprentice,” Garin said quietly. He didn’t think he could claim to be a wizard when he had no power to speak of.
“And I am here to protect him,” Drake added.
“And the young lady?” the king looked at Taya.
“She managed to upset Wizard Kazar by telling him magic was worthless,” Drake said bluntly.
“Really?” King Peiter asked in surprise. “And all he did was put you here? I’m surprised that he didn’t do something worse. Eyan is supposed to be the only wizard more powerful than him.”
Taya lifted her nose slightly in defiance and made no attempt to withdraw her opinion of wizards.
“I actually agree with your opinions,” the king told her. “But telling a wizard that face to face isn’t usually wise.”
“We should be going,” Garin interrupted them and pointed to the steps in the shadows beyond an archway. “Before someone comes to see what the noise was.”
“I’ve only ever seen one person,” the king said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “But I could do with a change of clothes. He turned his nose up as he picked at his dirty clothes.
“Where are we?” Taya asked as they headed up the stone steps.
“I have no idea, but it has to be a castle of sorts to have a dungeon,” the king explained as he took the steps two at time in the dim light that came from slow burning wicks in holders on the wall.
“So we’re not in your castle then?” Taya asked bluntly. “How far from Portsan are we? I need to get back to my family.”
King Peiter ignored her as they reached the top of the steps and hurried through deserted corridors. Whey they stopped to look out a window the king nodded and frowned.
“The pretender Jervais is in Kinlock which is about a two day ride from here,” the king said with a slightly annoyed tone. “This was a winter castle my father favoured in his early years, long since abandoned.”
They reached a level which looked like servant’s quarters. In a room that smelled strongly of ale a man lay on the floor with an empty jug in his hand. He was snoring loudly and probably wouldn’t have noticed if the ceiling fell in on him. King Peiter shut the door before heading down the corridor. With a few more twists and turns they arrived at another set of stairs. They went up again and finally arrived in a plush and ornately decorated set of rooms that were obviously royal quarters. Dust lay thick all around and leaves had blown in through a broken window.
“You can all wait here,” the king said imperiously, pointing at a low bench, also thick with dust, in the corridor. “Hopefully my father left clothes here. I’ll just get changed and then we’ll find some food and be off.”
King Peiter started to walk into the royal bedchamber and then paused at the doorway. He turned and looked at Garin with interest and after a few seconds he spoke.
“If you’re a wizard you can transport us directly to the castle and save us a two day ride,” he said with a positive tone that was just short of being a command.
“I….” Garin stared at the future king and wondered where to start explaining.
“That Wizard Kazar fellow took his twig, I mean his staff,” Drake said with an embarrassed expression. It was clear that the big youth was trying to cover up Garin’s lack of magic and all it did was make Garin feel even more useless.
“Well, we go by horseback then,” the king appeared to take the explanation as reason enough and turned back to his bedchamber. “You can all ride can’t you?”
It was clear, about two hours later, that Peiter was the only one who could. They were down at the local town’s stables and King Peiter had demanded the use of four horses.
The king saddled one of them and then handed the reins to Drake.
“How long would it take to walk there?” Drake asked hesitantly, holding the reins with a look of dismay and worry.
“Too long,” the king said, busy with the next horse.
“Is there a stage coach?” Garin asked.
“Not ‘til tomorrow evening,” the stable hand replied with a swift shake of his head.
Taya looked just as unsure of herself as she was handed reins next and for once Garin didn’t feel like a fool for being the only one unable to do something. He took the reins of a huge, brown horse without comment and looked at the beast. Just how hard could it be? Surely you just sat on it and the horse did all the work?
The king had filled Taya’s backpack with some food from the castle, obviously meant to feed the jailer, and he stood by her and held out his hand.
“Would you like a hand up?” he asked, ever the well-bred gentleman.
Taya gulped but took the offer of help, obviously unwilling to be the first to admit horses were almost unheard of in Portsan.
After an embarrassing few minutes they were all on their horses set off at an easy pace out of town. Drake looked the most ridiculous of them all as his huge frame made it look as if he were on a pony.
The horses walked slowly out of town, watched by every local who lined the streets. Garin tried to get into a rhythm with the horse but realised it was harder than it looked.
“See it’s not so hard,” the king said as he turned in his saddle to look back at them. “We’ll need to pick up the pace though or we might as well have walked.”
He nudged his horse with his knees and his mount took off at a gallop. Garin and Drake looked at each other with dismay but Taya followed the king’s action and her horse shot off as well.
“I’ve got a feeling we’re going to regret this,” Drake muttered thickly as he grasped the reins tighter.
“Me too,” Garin said and nudged his horse into a gallop.
They rode swiftly for most of the day and when they stopped in the early evening Garin was sure he would never sit down again. He had many muscles complaining about sudden use, including some he didn’t know he had before.
The king had stopped at a large hostel that catered for travellers and he demanded rooms without offering payment.
“Your Majesty!” the hostel owner exclaimed in surprise as he tried to reach for the key to a room at the same time as bowing. The result was a dropped key and a bumped head.
They were served a feast that almost took their attention away from their riding ailments but by morning Garin thought he might never walk again, no matter sit down.
“I can’t ride again today,” Garin whispered to Drake whose face said he was feeling the same.
“I will ride with you to Kinlock, but then our ways part,” Taya was saying as she mounted her horse without help. Garin was unimpressed to see that she didn’t appear to be suffering any discomfort at all.
The city of Kinlock came into view late that afternoon. They had ridden hard for most of the day and Garin was surprised to find that he wasn’t as sore as he thought he would be. Instead he felt numb but he didn’t like to think how he would feel when it wore off.
There were very few people out and about as they passed through the farms that surrounded the city. Those people they did see looked at the king with open-mouthed shock.
“We have to hurry,” the king said grimly. “The ceremony will take place at sunset.”
The sun was just tipping the edge of the horizon when they rode into the city. The guards at the gate took one look at the lead rider of their small, unusual group, and threw the gates wide.
“Has the Coronation begun?” the king demanded of the guard, holding his horse back firmly with the reins. After the pace they had been riding at the horse seemed unwilling to draw to a halt.
“It has… Your Majesty,” the guard replied hesitantly. His gaze flicked from the future king and up to the castle. “You rode through the city about an hour ago.”
The king didn’t comment on the guard’s confusion and he let the reins loose, allowing the horse to take off through the cobbled streets at a ground eating pace.
“And I guess you’ll be back off to Portsan, missy?” Drake asked Taya as the three of them sat just inside
the gate, watching King Peiter race off to claim his throne.
“I have no reason to stay here,” Taya agreed. “I’ll just take this horse to the king and be on my way.”
“Guess we’d better go with you,” Garin said with a sigh. “In case you insult the wizard again and get put back in the dungeon.”
Taya glared at Garin with barely concealed anger and kicked her horse into motion.
“I get the feeling she doesn’t really like you, wizard,” Drake commented as they followed her at a distance of a few dozen paces.
“Really?” Garin remarked dryly. “Whatever gave you that idea?”
Drake looked puzzled at the question but answering it was forgotten when they reached the castle and saw the commotion going on.
The coronation was being held in the gardens outside the castle and it looked as if the entire city had been invited. There were people as far as they could see and the guards at the gate were letting everyone in.
The king looked to have ridden straight in, forcing the crowd to part before him, and Garin could still hear him yelling as he warned people to get out of his way.
“Make way for the king!” he was shouting as people turned to see what was going on. They stared for a few seconds before hurrying out of his way and their mouths dropped open in surprise.
“Maybe we should just wait here,” Taya suggested as she pulled her horse to a stop, looking for all the world like she had been riding for years.
“He might need some help,” Drake said with a frown at the young man up ahead. “We should follow him.”
Drake rode off ahead and Garin exchanged a look with Taya. He would rather wait here as well but he knew that it was just cowardice on his part that was making him hesitate. The Wizard Kazar had dispensed with him so easily before, what was to stop him sending them all the way back to the dungeon in the blink of an eye? Or worse? Drake turned back and saw that Garin had not followed.
“Come on, wizard. Your feather may be needed,” he bellowed, causing confused glances from the surrounding crowd.
Garin sighed deeply. With any luck that rotten feather might have fallen out of his pocket on the long ride here. He nudged his horse forward and grabbed Taya’s reins as well. “If I’m going then so are you.”
They followed down the cleared path through the crowd. By the time Garin and the others reached the front line of the crowd, the king had dismounted and stormed over to the archway over the raised platform.
On platform was the impostor, looking very much like King Peiter, and the coronation looked to be almost over. Wizard Kazar, resplendent in white robes, trimmed with silver, stood before the crowd holding a golden crown. Jervais, dressed in red and gold, sat upon a throne beside the wizard and as he saw King Peiter approaching he leapt to his feet.
“Guards! Arrest him!” Jervais shouted, pointing a finger at the king who was only a dozen steps from the platform.
“You won’t get away with this, Jervais,” the king said loud enough for his cousin to hear. “The crown will strike you down.”
“I don’t think so,” Jervais smirked as the guards approached King Peiter cautiously. They looked from the king on the platform to the one they were to apprehend. The resemblance was too much for them and they stood several paces from their intended prisoner and looked at each other in confusion.
“Take hold of him!” Jervais ordered again and this time the guards stepped in and took the king in a firm hold.
“Get on with it, Wizard Kazar!” Jervais ordered bluntly as he returned to his seat. The wizard cast an irritated look at the king but stepped forward with the crown.
It was then that Garin noticed Eyan’s staff in Wizard Kazar’s hand. Now he knew what Wizard Kazar had meant back in the dungeon. He didn’t need Eyan to remove the spell on the crown, he just needed the staff. Garin remembered Eyan telling him that a spell could only be changed or undone by the power of the staff that created it. No doubt Wizard Kazar was going to make it so that crown would not reject the king’s cousin!
oOo
-8-
What was he going to do? Someone had to stop this false king from being crowned. Drake was striding over to free King Peiter from the guards and Taya didn’t even look interested. It was up to him and he reluctantly drew the feather from his pocket. He looked at it briefly, wondering how he was supposed to use it, and then thrust it forward at arm’s length. He started to weave the words of a spell to call up a wind to blast the crown from the wizard’s hand.
Wizard Kazar looked over at him and clutched the staff tighter before turning back to his task. He clearly didn’t see Garin as a threat without the staff. The crown was only inches from Jervais’ head and Garin tried to concentrate as hard as he could.
Garin’s words gathered speed as the wind whipped up around him and he thrust the feather in the direction of the staff. The wind flowed towards the platform but didn’t quite hit its target. Instead of hitting the staff it hit the arch above them, sending it crashing to the ground.
“You’re starting to annoy me, little wizard,” Wizard Kazar boomed, pausing in his placing of the crown and turning to stare at Garin.
“Give me back my master’s staff!” Garin shouted at the wizard, cursing the waver in his voice that betrayed his nervousness.
Drake had reached the guards and was attempting to fight them all at once to free the king.
“Do you need me, wizard?” Drake shouted as he threw yet another guard to the ground. “I’ll be finished here in a minute.”
Garin sighed at the big warrior’s confidence, if only he could have some of it! Wizard Kazar was advancing on Garin, having put the crown and Eyan’s staff down on the platform.
“I think I may just flatten the entire town of Portsan. Considering how many annoying people have come from it I don’t think anyone will miss it!” Wizard Kazar bellowed as he picked up his own staff at the edge of the platform and stepped down to Garin’s level.
“No!” Taya yelled. “You can’t destroy my home!”
She rushed forward and rained blows on the older wizard but Wizard Kazar brushed her aside with one hand. Garin tried to hold his ground but his legs betrayed him and he took a step back. He clutched the feather tightly, wondering if he dared to try using it again.
“You, girl! You can’t touch that!” Jervais yelled and Garin’s attention flicked beyond the wizard. His eyes went wide as he saw what Taya was doing. She had picked up Eyan’s staff and was running at Wizard Kazar with it. She reached him in a few strides and began to hit him about the head and shoulders with it.
Garin thrust out the feather again, frantically muttering, trying desperately to recall the wind he had summoned. Suddenly, there was a raucous scream from high above and behind him and a great whooshing sound. Garin blinked, believing he had summoned a mighty whirlwind, and then suddenly something very large and black and white, was flapping around his face, driving him backwards.
Garin instantly thrust up his arms to protect his face and eyes and stumbled and fell. Ignor, the Wizard Kazar’s vile winged servant, continued to shriek, claws ripping at the sleeves of Garin’s robe and its sharp beak pecking furiously at his hands and face.
Wizard Kazar turned and with an angry cry he shoved Taya away again and she fell heavily, crying out in pain. Eyan’s staff clattered out of her hands and rolled back towards the platform.
Garin could barely see as he struggled to his feet, waving his left arm frantically at the manic Ignor. The bird flapped angrily around his head while he tried to thrust the feather in his right hand towards Wizard Kazar. The wizard advanced menacingly on Taya with his staff raised to strike.
“Come on, by Cordak! I’ll eat the lot of ye for breakfast!” Drake was shouting from the platform as more guards advanced.
But Garin could see where the danger lay. Wizard Kazar was beginning a chant, levelling his staff at Taya. Ignor’s talons bit deep into Garin’s right arm, its evil beak pecking at the feather still clutched in t
he young wizard’s hand. With a cry, Garin struck the bird with his left hand and Ignor let go, flapping and screeching away into the sky.
Garin was angry now. His arm and face hurt where the bird had pecked so viciously. Taya had managed to regain Eyan’s staff and was struggling to her feet while Wizard Kazar’s voice rose higher and higher, coming to the end of a chant Garin vaguely recognised.
Once more Garin thrust out the feather. A bright blue light suddenly shot from Eyan’s staff as Taya tried to stand and swing the staff up to defend herself. The light burned a hands width of destruction as it swung around. It burned right through the edge of the platform, destroying what was left of the arch and if Jervais hadn’t leapt from his throne he would have gone up in flames along with the red padded chair.
Wizard Kazar yelled in pain and swept Taya off her feet with a single flowing motion. Her head hit the ground and she let go of the staff as she blacked out. The entire crowd had instinctively fallen on their faces, covering their heads while the blue light from Eyan’s staff wrought its destruction. Now, in the sudden silence, they dared to peer up, and seeing that the immediate danger was over, they all began to back away hastily. Garin stared at Taya as she lay unconscious. He felt fear in the pit of his stomach as he clutched the feather and gaped at the destruction his master’s staff had caused. A staff wielded by the red-headed girl who should not have been able to hold it.
“Look at the king!” A shout from the crowd brought a gasp from everyone and Garin turned to look at King Peiter. There was nothing unusual to see, apart from the fact Drake was standing over a pile of dazed and beaten guards. He held Felgardin poised and threatening in his hands making sure they didn’t want to get up and face him again.
“The other king,” Drake told him and pointed to the platform.
Garin looked and saw that the pretender to the throne appeared completely different. The long nose was still there but otherwise he looked nothing like King Peiter. Garin frowned. How had that happened? A groan from beside him told him the answer as he looked and saw that Wizard Kazar lay injured on the ground. The blast from the staff had clipped him on the arm and he was struggling to his feet. Obviously he could not hold the imaging spell when he was hurt.
