The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah)

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  “Those are towers,” Tyree answered. “When the castle was first built, guards were stationed in them. Now the guards patrol the roof of the castle, but no one’s stationed in the towers themselves.”

  “Is one of those towers where Freddy has his roost?” Chris asked.

  Tyree pointed to the tower on the northern leg. “This is the one Freddy stays in. It’s over the sorcerer’s family’s living quarters.”

  Then he took the towers and roof off of the model to show them the layout of the second floor. He pointed to the two-story entrance hall that blocked the second floor off into two distinct and separate areas. “You could put a hundred people in that hall and still have room left over. It’s so big that it echoes, and there are a couple of places where you can stand and hear every word spoken in there. Be sure you keep that in mind whenever you’re in that room.”

  “Could come in handy,” Darrell said quietly.

  Tyree nodded and said, “I’ve often wondered if it was designed that way.”

  Then he pointed to the rooms on the northern side of the entrance hall. “This entire wing is the family quarters and is off limits to everyone else.” He pointed to the largest room. It was in the back corner of the building, with two outside walls. “This is the sorcerer’s room.” Then he pointed to a slightly smaller room that was located between the sorcerer’s room and the entrance hall. “This one belongs to his assistant or second. I’ve never been up there, but it seems like I heard that there’s a connecting door between them, and I know that both rooms open onto a balcony that runs the length of the two rooms.”

  “And you said there was a river and mountains out back?” Joan asked. When Tyree nodded, she added, “Nice view.”

  Then Tyree pointed to four smaller rooms that were located in the leg, “The rooms along here are for the sorcerer’s children. If Badec’s still alive when you reach Camden, Laryn will give you one of these.”

  “But I thought all of the sorcerer’s children were sent to foster parents,” Kevin said, frowning.

  Tyree smiled and said, “Only the ones born with magic in their blood are fostered, and that’s only until they reach their twenty-fifth birthday.”

  Then he pointed to the rooms on the south side of the entrance hall. There were eight rooms about the same size as the children’s rooms on the family wing. “These rooms are for guests.”

  “There are rooms for only eight guests?” Kevin asked. “I would have thought there’d be a lot more than that.”

  “Those rooms are only for family and close friends, like your advisors. I’m sure you’ll want them to stay there, at least for a while.” He looked around at Steve and the rest of Kevin’s companions and then turned back towards Kevin. “Also, Badec and Laryn have several brothers and sisters, your aunts and uncles. They always stay in the guest quarters whenever they’re at the castle. And you’ll probably want to invite close friends to stay there whenever they come for a visit, but other than that, I wouldn’t worry about it. I’d let official visitors, such as district officers or dignitaries from other provinces, stay at one of the inns in town. After all, this is your home, and you should be able to relax there.”

  Then Tyree lifted the second floor section of the castle off and placed it on Steve’s bed with the roof and towers. “This is the main floor, and again the entrance hall separates it into two sections.”

  Tyree pointed to the southern side of the model and said, “The business of running the castle is handled on this side.” Then he pointed to northern section and said, “And Camden is run from over here.”

  Kevin pointed to the northern side and said, “Let’s take this side first. Who works out of here?”

  Tyree pointed to the large room on the front side of the main hall. “The Governor of Camden works out of this office. He has a private office on one side and his assistant mans the reception area on the other.”

  “I thought the governor had his office in town,” Karl said.

  “He does have an office at his house in town, but it makes things simpler if he does most of his work at the castle.”

  “What about this one?” Chris asked, pointing to the largest room in the wing. It was on the back side of the castle and extended from the entrance hall all the way to the corner of the building.

  “That’s the sorcerer’s office,” Tyree answered. Then he looked at Kevin and said, “How you arrange it is up to you. Nolan liked to have his desk in front of the door so that he dealt directly with any and all who entered his office, but Badec preferred to work undisturbed, so he partitioned off a small office in the back for himself and left the front section as a reception area. Laryn has her desk out there and handles that area.”

  Then Tyree pointed to the wall that separated the sorcerer’s office from the entrance hall. “There’s a staircase here. We didn’t try to put it in the model, but it’s the only access to the family wing. The way the room is set up now, it’s behind Badec’s office. There’s a guard stationed at the foot of the stairs twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Not many people would dare try to go up those stairs uninvited.”

  “What about these offices over here? Who works there?” Kevin asked, pointing to some smaller rooms in the leg of the “U”.

  “This office,” Tyree said, pointing to the one next to the Sorcerer’s office, “belongs to the Captain of the Guard. There’s always a guard on duty at a desk directly in front of that door, and if the door is open, which it always is, he has a clear view of the hall in front of your office, the Governor’s office and the doorway to the Entrance Hall. That hall is monitored twenty-four hours a day.”

  Continuing down the leg, there were two more rooms, one on each side of the hall. Tyree pointed first to the one along the outer wall and said, “This was the provincial courtroom when I was there, and the other was the general’s office. Both of those rooms were divided into private offices and reception areas, but I’m not sure how they’re organized now.”

  Kevin nodded.

  Tyree moved over to the southern side of the model, which only contained four rooms: two small ones, and two huge ones. The small rooms were located next to the entrance hall, one on each side of a short hallway that led to the first large room. Tyree pointed to the small room that was on the back side of the castle and said, “This is the head groundskeeper’s office. There’s a door that leads from that office out to the stable area.”

  “Convenient,” Karl said with a nod.

  “The groundskeeper is in charge of the grounds, the gardens, the livestock, all the outside buildings, the walkways, the patios, and the driveways. Anything that’s connected with the outside is his responsibility.”

  Tyree pointed to the small room on the front side of the castle. “The head of housekeeping works out of here. She assigns duties to all the housekeeping staff, makes sure the kitchen staff has enough groceries for however many people are at the castle, handles all the storerooms, arranges for the clothes to be made for the sorcerer’s family as well as all the servants, sets up repairs, directs preparations for any of the special feasts or social events, and tends to anything else that comes up that involves either the castle or the people staying there.”

  “Quite a job,” Joan said quietly.

  Tyree nodded. “Just about anything that deals with the castle, its grounds, or its people is handled out of those two rooms.”

  Then he moved on to the large room that filled the rest of that side of the base of the “U”. “This is the dining room, but most of the time it’s set up as a combination dining room and sitting room. There’s usually one large table that seats about twenty people, and the rest of the room has couches and easy chairs scattered about. If you have more than twenty people invited for dinner, some of the sitting room furniture is removed and extra dining tables and chairs are brought in. You can seat a couple of hundred people in there if you have to but if you need to feed more than that, tables of food are set up out on the grounds.”

 
; “Does that happen often?” Kevin asked.

  “No. I only remember four times that the crowd was large enough to set tables up outside. The first time was when your parents got married, the second was for Nolan’s funeral, the third was for your birth, and the fourth time was for Yvonne’s funeral.”

  “Big social gatherings are not exactly my cup of tea,” Kevin said, frowning.

  “You won’t have to worry about it. The housekeeping staff will take care of everything. The only thing you have to do is approve their plans, and if I were you, I’d go along with whatever they want to do. They know what they’re doing, and if anything should come up that they don’t already know how to handle, they’ll make it up as they go. After all, who’s going to tell the Master Sorcerer’s staff that they’re doing it wrong?” Tyree said with a grin.

  “Is this other big room the kitchen?” Joan asked.

  “Yes, but most of the time, they only use a small section of it,” Tyree answered.

  Then he lifted the ground floor off and set it on Steve’s bed. The basement area consisted mainly of a series of small rooms on each side of a hall that extended the length of the main building and down one leg of the “U”. The other leg was one large room.

  “Most of the rooms in the basement are servant’s quarters. I’m not sure how many rooms there are, but when I was there, two of the small rooms were used for general supplies, the large room was for furniture and kitchen supplies, and the rest of the rooms were used by servants. Once in a while, a married couple with children might stay at the castle until they can get their own place, so a few of the rooms are set up as two adjoining rooms, one for the parents, one for the children.

  “Are they servants, or are they slaves?” Darrell asked.

  “Most were brought to the castle as slaves, but both Nolan and Badec always freed them as soon as they arrived and gave them the option of striking out on their own as free citizens of Camden, or remaining and working at the castle. The ones who work at the castle are there by choice.”

  Kevin nodded. “That’s one tradition that won’t change. Now, I have a question. The sorcerer has an office, and his assistant has an office. What type of business do they handle?”

  “First of all, you’re responsible for supervising the district sorcerers and handling any complaints that come in against them.”

  “What kind of complaints? Incompetence?” Chris asked.

  “Yes, and ethical complaints.”

  “Ethical complaints?” Kevin asked.

  Tyree nodded. “Suppose a sorcerer’s contract includes clearing farm lands in his district. The district is paying him to do it, so he shouldn’t charge any of the farmers extra when they ask for his help, and he also shouldn’t do a lousy job just because the farmer didn’t offer him something under the table. Or maybe the sorcerer figures that he’s entitled to the best of the crop since he helped clear the land, so after the farmer gets his harvest in, the sorcerer literally lifts what he wants. Most of the complaints will be that type of thing, but sometimes it’s a little more serious. Once in a while you might have a sorcerer who’s extorting money by threatening to harm someone or something. But no matter what the complaint’s about, you’ll have to investigate it and try to work out an agreeable settlement. Right now, with Badec out of commission, I imagine a few of the district sorcerers are taking advantage of the situation. You’ll probably find a few letters waiting for you.”

  “And what happens if an agreeable settlement can’t be reached?” Kevin asked.

  “Then it’s up to you to remove the sorcerer from that district. Most of the time, they’ll leave rather than challenge you, but every once in a while …” Tyree shook his head slowly. When Kevin nodded, he continued, “And if for some reason a vacancy opens up in one of the districts, the district minister will ask you to interview the applicants and assist in selecting a new sorcerer. On one hand, it’s like a professional courtesy. On the other hand, it’s politics. Since you’ll be responsible for supervising the sorcerer and tending to any complaints that the minister or captain lodge against him, you can’t blame them for making a bad choice if you had a part in the decision.”

  “The minister’s covering himself,” Steve mumbled.

  “Exactly,” Tyree nodded. “And the sorcerers will want you to be there when they get hired so that you can witness the contract. That way the minister can’t go back and add things later. Most of the sorcerers will consider you their advocate in dealing with the district government. By the way, I’d take detailed notes on every contract I witnessed if I were you.”

  “Sort of like a negotiator and mediator,” Karl commented.

  Tyree nodded again. “And you’ll also be responsible for hunting down and stopping any rogue sorcerers in the province.”

  “Sounds like your main duties are going to be as a policeman,” Chris said.

  “I’m not sure what a policeman is, but if it’s someone who goes after troublemakers, that’s right,” Tyree said. “And how often you have to go after them will depend on your reputation. If you’re known as powerful and relentless, the greedy sorcerers will steer clear of Camden, and the ones who do work there will be more likely to behave, and so will the ones on the council.”

  “What do you mean, ‘on the council’?” Chris asked. “Are you talking about seated sorcerers challenging him for the Master’s Chair?”

  “I wasn’t really thinking about that, but there’s always that possibility. What I was thinking about is the fact that as Master Sorcerer he’s responsible for investigating ethical complaints against seated sorcerers, too. Some of them can get really arrogant and start thinking they can do whatever they want, whenever they want.” Tyree turned to Kevin and continued. “You’re the only defense the citizens of a province have against an unscrupulous seated sorcerer. Once you’re seated, the other sorcerers on the council will have to decide whether they’re willing to risk facing you in battle. The stronger your reputation, the less likely they’ll be to cause you trouble.”

  “I understand what you’re saying,” Kevin said, “but I don’t like it.”

  “I don’t blame you. It’s not an easy life that you’re headed for,” Tyree sighed.

  “No, and probably not a very long one either,” Kevin mumbled.

  “We all hope you’re wrong on that count. We would like to see you live a nice long life and have plenty of heirs. For one thing, Camden has been lucky with the House of Nordin. The sorcerers in your family have all been very honorable people, and we have been spared the horrors that a lot of the other provinces have gone through. For one thing, none of Badec’s brothers or sisters tried to kill him before Nolan died just so that they could become the new heir. How could you trust someone like that to be fair?”

  “Does that type of thing really happen?” Chris asked.

  “Yes, I’m afraid it does. A lot of sorcerers dream of a council seat. If you’re a seated sorcerer, you have to watch your back.”

  “But killing your own brother or sister?” Joan asked. “Why not just challenge a sorcerer from another province?”

  “That happens sometimes and then we end up with two siblings on the same council, but some sorcerers would rather not risk death when a little treachery will accomplish the same result. That’s when it becomes the Master Sorcerer’s headache,” Tyree said as he looked over at Kevin. “You’ll also have to investigate any unexplained deaths among the council members, possibly beginning with Badec’s.”

  “Does anyone know what’s wrong yet?” Kevin asked.

  “No, but in her last letter, Laryn said that she has little hope that her brother will ever recover. He must be near death for her to make that statement. Sorry.”

  “Thanks.” Kevin nodded and then said, “Well, if there’s nothing else, I’m going to get some sleep. I have a dragon to fight in the morning.”

  Chapter 44

  Final Preparations

  The Christmas Eve party was fun, but Christmas Day was de
pressing. Memories of families and friends left behind resurrected the guilt they felt for the pain and anguish their supposed deaths must have caused. The melancholy mood was made even worse by the fact that it would soon be time to move on, time to leave their valley, their cave, Glendymere, and the giants. The only bright spot in the day was the snow that was quietly falling outside in the valley.

  Between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the temperature didn’t climb above freezing and more than two feet of snow fell over the area. Joan handed out the heavy sweaters and Karl showed Blalick how to make snowshoes. Soon they all had a pair, even the giants.

  During the night on New Year’s Eve, the wind blew the clouds out of the area and New Year’s Day dawned crisp and clear. When Kevin and Chris reached Willow Canyon that morning, Glendymere was nowhere to be found, so Kevin began to practice. Over the past few months, he and Chris had developed a “magical workout.” It started out as a way for Kevin to quickly run through his basic skills everyday, but Chris soon found ways to add grace and flair to the simple magical feats, turning Kevin’s practice routine into a major performance.

  Glendymere returned while Kevin was practicing and watched in silence until he was finished. “Not bad. And more impressive if someone just happens by.”

  “Thank you, but how do I arrange for someone to just ‘happen by’ while I’m going through my routine?” Kevin asked.

  “Leave that to me,” Chris said. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “The elves and dwarves are setting up their camp today, and will be joining us for a little while on Thursday to set out the ground rules. I thought we’d have our first battle Friday. Is that going to be all right with your friends?”

  “As far as I know. The only one who’s concerned about adding a dragon to the opposing army is Darrell. He’s afraid he’ll freeze up again,” Kevin answered.

  “Ask him to come over Thursday afternoon then. I’ll arrange for Jonquin to join us for a few minutes and we’ll see how Darrell reacts. I imagine he’ll be fine,” Glendymere said. “Now, do you have any questions?”