PANIX: Magician Spy

by Guy Antibes

Wilton had to change the subject, he didn’t want to accept defeat. “Back to this.” Wilton waved his own letter as a way to regain control of the meeting. “It’s not just the army that is amiss. Now we will talk about this anonymous communication. It talks about your bribery, Pokkan, of the Pentish Foreign Minister and his cousin, the Ambassador to the Gerellian Court. Which we all knew, except for Uven’s son in Gerell. This mentions, Pokkan, that their bodies have been found, tortured. What happed to their possessions, if all this is true?” Wilton tossed the letter over to Uven.

  “Why would someone want to propagate such lies? Of course you all knew that we had Blox in our pocket.” Pokkan’s forehead began to sweat from more than the sweltering heat in the room. Uven seemed ready to pounce and Wilton observed how he enjoyed every second of this.

  “Oh there are more of these ‘lies’,” Uven said. He pointed at the paper. “It seems that the bodies of Blox, his cousin and some other man and woman were found behind a Murgontian way station, very close to where you were at the very time of their death. Where is all of the wealth Blox undoubtedly took with him as they fled, in your pocket? Are you holding it in trust for the State?”

  “I can explain.” Pokkan would not be able to elude Uven’s claws at this point, Wilton thought.

  Uven sat back and smiled. Wilton had thought he might have sprung the trap a little prematurely, but, as he gauged the expressions of the other cabinet members, the results would be the same—this would be Pokkan’s last day alive.

  ~~~

  Chapter 24

  Panix and Harlan floated to the dock where, minutes before, two men had talked and then left. They took what remained of their belongings off the boat. Panix pushed the craft out into the current and released the floating spell. He didn’t care where it ended up at that point.

  Gerell looked different from the dockside with old warehouses, a few worn office buildings and cheap hotels and bars not exactly putting forward Gerell’s best. He tested his leg as he started up to the city proper. He could feel a little weakness in the leg, but then he hadn’t been using it for days. Walking to the embassy with their saddlebags would help him get some strength and get both of them used to the city.

  Gerell overlooked the river on an outcropping of rock. The castle had a view of the surrounding countryside and was high enough to be safe from any flood. They’d been walking, keeping the castle in view as a guide for half an hour when the streets began to look more presentable and sported gaslights just before entering the city’s market square.

  Harlan asked for directions to the Korvannan embassy. Before long they were at the gate standing while a guard dubiously at the two travel-worn men.

  “I’m here to meet Moshin Twent. Is he still here?”

  “He is. Who is it who seeks him?”

  “Panix Gavid.”

  It was only a few moments later that Moshin led Panix and Harlan through the gate himself. “I didn’t expect to see you two for another few days.” Moshin paused and looked more closely at his student. “What happened to you? I thought your hair would have started to grow by now,” he said pulling him closer to the light. “Come inside.”

  They met Corilla, her husband Tobet, and, surprisingly Lorna had joined their company.

  “Where did your hair go?” Lorna said.

  “I promise to tell all, but right now we could use something to eat.” Tobet left, to return quickly with a servant bearing a tray of food. They began to eat before they would answer any questions.

  “The Murgontian advance is stalled. There are two armies, the 3rd and the 7th. I managed to escape when those guarding me joined the rest of the 3rd Army to confront the 7th who evidently were trying to get past the 3rd. We left in all of the confusion. since the mud is still terrible. I made some magical traps to slow them down and we augmented those with washouts made by making some dams in the hills and breaking them after they filled up.”

  “Tell them about your escape, Panix,” Harlan said.

  “Hold up Panix,” Moshin said, “I suggest that you start right from the beginning, right after I left.”

  Panix looked embarrassed, but relayed the story in as much detail as he could muster, answering all of their questions. “I got up early one morning and thought I’d scout around. They captured me and roughed me up a little. Your message came while they were questioning me and that acted as confirmation that I was a spy. Harlan rescued me.” Panix shrugged. He was reluctant to talk about the details of his beating.

  “They broke his leg and cracked some ribs. The bruises still color his back,” Harlan said while Panix reddened.

  “We found a healer that fixed me up. Treller says he knows you. I’m fine, now.” Corilla nodded in confirmation.

  “How did you get all the way here in three days?” Lorna said.

  Panix gave Moshin a lop-sided grin. “I came by boat.”

  “Boat?”

  “I couldn’t ride a horse with Harlan, so I made a floater out of the boat they had tied me to and rowed my way across the sodden fields of Gerellia and then we reached the Green River and floated down to Gerell, rowing as we went.”

  Harlan laughed. “A float boat makes really good time down a river!”

  Panix smiled and then turned serious, “The army is still weeks away from Pent. These are not war games, the army is moving as fast as it possibly can. If there weren’t these damnable rains, they’d be in the capital city by now scourging the citizens.”

  “Amazing,” Corilla said. “You were right, Moshin.”

  Panix raised his eyebrows and looked at Moshin.

  “I told her you just needed some seasoning to make a great agent. I’m proud of you. And it looks like Harlan has done a creditable job watching your back.” Harlan gave Moshin a modest smile.

  “What’s happened here?” Panix said.

  Corilla and Lorna filled Panix in on the political situation in Gerell.

  “We’d be happy to look at the king’s phaeton tomorrow. Is there anything else?” When Panix asked, Lorna looked at Corilla with a worried expression on her face. “What?” Panix was bone tired, but he had to know.

  “I came to Gerell with Baston Blox and his mistress,” Lorna said.

  “Merra, here in the city?”

  “No. She was in the city. When Baston thought Pent would be blamed for King Tomlano’s death, he ran. He took Merra and Trell with him. They fled south to Murgontia and were killed there. I’m sorry.” Lorna had tears running down her face by the time she’d finished telling Panix his ex-wife was dead.

  Panix sat stunned. “It is done. My biggest failure. I brought her to Pent and now she’s dead.” Panix shut his eyes and the pain of her death washed all of the energy out of him. Perhaps it was time to put a few inner demons to bed.

  “Right now, I’d really like to sleep in a bed.” Panix found himself barely able to get up. The final confrontation with her played out again in his mind as a servant led him to a bedroom. The hurt and the anger fell apart as he reached back into his memory to when he first saw her golden hair, her eyes, her smile. She made his life wonderful for a time.

  It was different than his father’s death, for that rocked him to his very core and still did. No. He never loved the real Merra. The woman he loved never existed and his loss, his pain, was for the Merra in his mind.

  As soon as he entered his room, his eyes welled with tears. The constant loss of his father and now the loss of his own interpretation of Merra overcame him. He collapsed onto his bed and fell into a fitful sleep with dreams of them both.

  ~

  “Divvid, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with your unit?” Nirov had himself just returned from his rendezvous with Sovad.

  Divvid dragged himself into Nirov’s rooms. “I had to tell you, General Crissor set up a parallel column to Bollet’s. When Bollet found out, his army clashed with Crissor’s. I didn’t appreciate how much personal antagonism they shared and I don’t know how many are dead, but with sickne
ss and Crissor’s mutiny, probably a third of our original forces are fit to fight in Pent, making an invasion less of an easy task.”

  “Those fools.” Nirov paced from one side of the room to the other. First, Sovad’s near refusal to carry out his orders, now this. He could feel the operation unraveling. “I’ve ordered your father,” Nirov said —Divvid snorted at the term— “to kill the Westters in their embassy.”

  “Why do you think that will help?”

  “Not you complaining, too? I just want to keep everybody off balance.” Nirov had a flash of fear, but quashed it quickly. He felt Sovad resistance centered on exercising his ego.”

  “I’m not going back to the army just yet. I want things to cool down. The road, if anything, has gotten worse. We’ve lost horses and men to sinkholes opening up on them on the road and then everyone has to skate along these weird slick places. You can’t help but fall. The army has to move around them causing delays. The advance has slowed to a crawl. We’re still a long way from Pent City, and we thought this would be over by now.” Divvid sat, dirty clothes and all, on Nirov’s settee with a pillow clutched to his stomach. Nirov winced at thoughts of the grime on his furniture.

  “Get yourself cleaned up. Perhaps I can have you meet Jorlan Roccoa. We’re scheduled for a meeting tomorrow, mid-morning.”

  ~~~

  Chapter 25

  Sovad spent the rest of the next day looking over architectural plans for the Korvannan Embassy. Unlike the castle, both the entry points were monitored. Visitors had to sign in and sign out or were escorted.

  He knew he would have to plan thoroughly in order to slip in undetected and, more importantly, slip out.

  “What do you think these are?” Sovad looked down at the plans spread out on the table of his hideout.

  “I’m sure the empty spaces are passages in these walls,” Hera said. Sovad respected her insight and judgment as he put together his plan.

  “I believe you are right.”

  “What about here, near the fireplaces?” Sovad noticed a similar thickness in the walls.

  “No, those are probably walls to support the weight of the chimneys.” Hera looked down at the plans and bit her lower lip. “I wouldn’t do this Sovad, there’s too much expertise behind those walls who are likely waiting for you, making your probability of success low. It isn’t right that Nirov is disregarding your judgment.”

  “I know. I’ve been struggling with this one. I’ve never had to do something like this in less than two days. If Nirov wasn’t Uven Kyrod’s son, I’d tell him no. This assignment doesn’t do Murgontia any good that I can see. I’m having a tough time feeling that this is the right course.” Sovad rolled up the plans and put them in a large tubular case. “I’ll have to sleep on it.” He would never be put in this kind of situation again, absolutely no more. If the Council felt he needed babysitting, then his career had ended. His thoughts of retirement came to his head and when confronted with inactivity and a job, he still yearned for something to do.

  Hera put her hand on Sovad’s shoulder. “Abnar’s working on a batch of leather at our rendering yard outside of town. He won’t be back until late, late tonight.”

  “Perhaps sleep isn’t quite the right word.” He smiled at his hostess.

  ~

  Panix slept soundly and woke to find clean clothes, that nearly fit, laid out. A servant led him down the stairs and into the embassy dining room.

  Lorna still ate in the room. “I was hoping you’d finally make it down. So you think we could talk for a few minutes?” she said. “Harlan is outside with Moshin.”

  Panix walked over to the sideboard still stocked with enough food to fill him up for breakfast. He took his plate over to sit across from Lorna.

  “I hope you don’t mind if I eat while you talk.” Panix put a small sausage in his mouth. He was really hungry for something other than trail food.

  “No. I’ve thought a lot about our experiences together in South Pent. I want to apologize for what I’ve said and how I’ve treated you since you came to work for my father.”

  “No need to apologize,” Panix said putting more food in his mouth. He went on with his mouth a bit full, “I think I understand where you were on that. It wasn’t me, but what I represented. At least that’s how I always looked at it.”

  “But it was personal for me. I don’t hate you any longer, but I hated you, except when you were the cook.” She laughed. It was a genuine laugh. Panix found himself liking this part of Lorna.

  “I still don’t think you hated me personally. You really didn’t know me. We never interfaced much except for arguing when you came into the factory for your engineering lessons.” Panix smiled and stabbed at some potatoes with his fork. He shouldn’t have mentioned the factory.

  Lorna’s face turned red as the conversation progressed. Panix could see the old anger starting to appear. Then Lorna closed her eyes, became still and opened them. Her demeanor immediately calmed down.

  “Please don’t say another word. I don’t want to fight about who’s right and who’s wrong or have you analyze my thoughts. Just now you made me mad. I’m sure you noticed. Instead of losing control, I centered myself. I used the technique you taught me. I was able to do it, even though I have no magic. It’s just that certain things set me off, as you’ve undoubtedly noticed.

  Panix nodded, not wanting to say a word.

  “Don’t just look stupid. Help explain.” She looked anxious.

  “I’m not qualified. I think that there are some unresolved issues, Lorna. Hey, I’ve got my own. I obsess about my father’s death all the time. I even carried my picture of him while I was on my mission.” He shrugged. “I think I understand some of the anger, but we’re all complex when it comes to thinking.”

  “Well, how are you two doing?” Moshin walked into the room with Harlan and grabbed a sausage and popped it into his mouth. Panix felt grateful for Moshin breaking up the conversation after he might have said something really, really stupid. Moshin continued, “We need to look at the phaeton this morning, Panix. You about through with your breakfast?”

  Panix looked at Lorna. “Sorry, Lorna. We’ll have to talk of this later.” He smiled. She looked directly into his eyes, and then looked away.

  ~

  Crissor looked at the line of wagons, lined up along the road to Pent, all canted at different angles. “How could this happen? Every one of Bollet’s supply wagons has at least two broken wheels.”

  Reggor walked up to the group of officers inspecting the first wagon to fail. “Sir, it’s as if they had termites in them. The spokes turned to powder. Could it be magic?”

  “Magic?” Crissor was uneasy with the disaster as it was. “Do we have anyone who can detect magic?”

  A few minutes later, Reggor escorted a cowering lieutenant to the General. “Can you detect magic?” Crissor was in no mood for niceties. He glared at the officer.

  “Yes sir.”

  “What about the wheels? Magic?”

  The lieutenant crouched down and touched a broken wheel. “Yes sir.”

  “Hmmm.” Crissor put his hand to his chin feeling the stubble. “What about the sink holes and that slippery mud?”

  “I don’t know, sir. I haven’t looked.”

  “Then look. There’s a sinkhole just up the road.” Crissor stood as Reggor and the lieutenant mounted and slowly made their way up the muddy road. He saw the man lean over his horse, and then he straightened up and rode back.

  “Magic caused that sinkhole, sir. I’ve never seen anything like that before. Our men never passed along here.” The lieutenant unsuccessfully tried to hide his fear. A good soldier never wanted to give his commanding officer bad news.

  Crissor rode to the gaping hole in the ground himself and realized that they let a very powerful magician escape. He had never imagined that wizards could do such a thing and it gave him a chill, but that explained the sinkholes and the slippery mud. He looked up the road, probably filled with t
he things. The road was the only way he could get to Pent. A scout rode down from the hills.

  “More washouts along the road, sir. I came back when I saw the third one. Looks like something dammed up the runoff in a few places and then the water just ripped up trees and rocks. It looked like an avalanche, each one.”

  “Can we get by?” Crissor’s dream of an easy invasion of Pent was fading before his eyes.

  “Yes sir. Each washout will take a few days to clear.”

  “Reggor, ride with me.” Crissor mounted his horse and rode back along the column. “Tell me what you think?”

  Reggor looked up at the broken sky. Pockets of sunlight lit the fields to the west. “The weather seems to be turning, sir, but by now Pent will know your army no longer waits at the foot of the two passes in South Pent. They can get soldiers and perhaps magicians, seeing as how they’ve taken care of this road to the border before us.”

  “Damn,” Crissor said hitting his thigh with one of his fists. “Half of the wagons are out of commission. A third of the army dead or wounded with another third still sick. I’ll need our remaining wagons just to carry the injured home with just enough provisions to get us back to Murgontia.”

  “Shall we send a messenger to Nirov?”

  “Nirov,” Crissor snorted. “I know when we’ve lost the edge. I’m not so sure Nirov Kyrod does. Has his lackey, Mustak, shown his face?”

  “No sir. He hasn’t returned.”

  “Then we’re cutting our losses now. Nirov can roast me in the two gods’ hell after my army is back on Murgontian soil. If the road dries on our way, all the better. It will only hasten our retreat. We’re exposed to Pent and if the political situation in Gerell goes against us, we might have to fight our way back home. There’s no glory in a fighting retreat.”

  “I agree with you, sir. Shall I convey your orders?”

  General Crissor nodded. Failure stung him to the core, but he had made the proper choice. Crissor wanted to invade Pent in the worst way, but he wanted to preserve what was left of the Third and Seventh Armies. He just sat on his horse, upright and rigid, as Reggor’s orders flowed through the army. Instantly the haze of battling the elements lifted and the men moved smartly as they turned around and prepared to return home. He would have to face an inquiry over the battle with Bollet’s men and the general’s death, but that would wait for another day.