The Magic Council (The Herezoth Trilogy)
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THE MAGIC COUNCIL
Book II of the Herezoth Trilogy
Victoria Grefer
Copyright © 2012 Victoria Grefer
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1475132492
ISBN-13: 97814751324
Cover Design by Brad Covey
http://designer.bradcovey.com/
https://twitter.com/bradcovey
https://www.facebook.com/bradcoveyofficial
DEDICATION
For Ethan James, the most precious nephew an aunt could ask for. Your sweet smile and boundless energy inspire me always. Aunt Vic wrote a fair bit of this novel when we were on vacation together with your parents at the beach! Also, for Lily and Caroline: even your tag teaming couldn’t stop me getting writing done on vacation with you at Omie and Opie’s, and I loved every minute of having you around. You’re such beautiful and fearless nieces. Love all three of you! Always follow your dreams, and don’t be afraid if, like Vane, they lead you to try new things.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Greg and Rachel, I hope you always remain my fabulous first readers. Your comments and confusions helped so much to work the kinks out of the novel. You helped me cut down some things that simply weren’t needed and just slowed the pace down. Thanks!!! (PS: Rachel, you got the character list you wanted. That was a great suggestion.)
Olivia, your experiences with a growing Svea provided me a lot of inspiration, as you’ll see when you read the novel. A lot of the book is due to you, I think: influences of real life and all that! Hope you enjoy this installment of the trilogy!
Dad and Brenda, thanks for your love and support. You’ve always encouraged me to be who I am and pursue my dreams. I appreciate all you’ve done and continue to do.
Loren and Erin, you guys are the best sisters I could ask for. You’ve always been there for me and supported me. What I’ve learned about family from the two of you had no small influence on my writing. Erica and Jeffrey, the same goes for you. Love you guys!
Laura R. and Katrina, thanks for letting me rant and rave and talk through issues relating to the novel with you as the first draft came together. Appreciate it much! Thanks especially for proofreading, Laura. You’re as awesome as Andy’s awesomesauce.
Thanks to all the fans and reviewers of “The Crimson League.” Your positive response helped give me the courage to put this next work out there. I appreciate you all!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BOOK ONE
Chapter One: Kidnapped
Chapter Two: Rexson and Gracia
Chapter Three: The Brothers
Chapter Four: The King’s Spy
Chapter Five: Of Knights and Negotiations
Chapter Six: Mistaken Identity
Chapter Seven: Of Spies and Specters
Chapter Eight: The Diary
Chapter Nine: Treel Warrell
Chapter Ten: The Next Move
Chapter Eleven: Of Babies and Blankets
Chapter Twelve: The League Reunited
Chapter Thirteen: Nasty Surprises
Chapter Fourteen: Gambling on the Past
Chapter Fifteen: Of Guidance and Geese
Chapter Sixteen: Of Magic Bound
Chapter Seventeen: Sunset
Chapter Eighteen: Of Rings
Chapter Nineteen: Family Affairs
Chapter Twenty: Dorane’s Demand
Chapter Twenty-One: To Face the Future
Chapter Twenty-Two: Of Jobs and Jails
BOOK TWO
Chapter One: Carson Amison
Chapter Two: Of Elopement and Intrigue
Chapter Three: Of Traigland and Tarts
Chapter Four: Of Necklaces and Newspapers
Chapter Five: Of Motherhood and Marriage
Chapter Six: Visiting Ursa
Chapter Seven: Of Infants and Interviews
Chapter Eight: Jorne Warrell
Chapter Nine: Amison’s Intentions
Chapter Ten: Race to Bendelof’s
Chapter Eleven: The Trial
Chapter Twelve: Return to Podrar
Chapter Thirteen: The Court
Chapter Fourteen: To Swear on a Chicken
Chapter Fifteen: New Beginnings
CHARACTER LIST
Carson Amison: the Duke of Yangerton
Rayla Amison: the younger of Carson Amison’s two sisters
Arbora Anders: foundress of the Enchanted Fist
Brianna Bellis: Rexson’s first love and late wife of Carson Amison, whom she married while Rexson was with the Crimson League and presumed dead
Crale Bendit: firestarter, Arbora’s mentor and surrogate father, officer of the Enchanted Fist
Kansten Carder: deceased, grew up with Bendelof in the farmlands west of Podrar. She was in the Crimson League
Kora Cason: married name of Kora Porteg. Sorceress and former member of the Crimson League exiled to Traigland
Parker Cason: Kora’s husband, a blacksmith from Yangerton residing in Traigland
Johann Clee: secretary of the Magic Council, a banker with the ability to read (or absorb written information) by touching a book or piece of paper
Samson Denwood: a warden at the Partsvale prison
Neslan Dormenor: Rexson’s former best friend, should have been Duke of Crescenton but died in the days of the Crimson League
Bendelof Esper: inn worker, former member of the Crimson League
Sedder Foden: deceased. Kora’s childhood friend, Crimson League
Malzin Forzythe: Zalski Forzythe’s wife, killed the day of his fall
Zalski Forzythe: former dictator of Herezoth and Vane Unsten’s uncle, son of the last Duke of Lanceton
Byron Gent: scribe who writes occasionally for the local Partsvale paper
Rich Goodly: one of Carson Amison’s servants
Gilbert Greller: eldest son of the Duke of Podrar
Mason Greller: Duke of Podrar and Rexson’s Chief Adviser
Tanya Greller: Carson Amison’s sister, married to Gilbert Greller
Thad Greller: youngest son of the Duke of Podrar
Bidd Grissner: deceased. Hayden’s cousin, was in the Crimson League
Hayden Grissner: the current Duke of Crescenton, though of common birth, and former member of the Crimson League
Tara Grissner: Hayden’s wife, Duchess of Crescenton. Of common birth
Alten Grombach: first general of Zalski Forzythe’s army
Hal Halt: deceased, friend of Hayden and Bidd Grissner and former member of the Crimson League
Hansrelto: ancient sorcerer rebel, crafter of a famous, evil spellbook
August Hincken: Ursa Hincken’s half-sister
Ursa Hincken: can control animals with magic. Officer of the Enchanted Fist with Dorane Polve and Arbora Anders
Lanokas: Rexson Phinnean’s alias with the Crimson League
Mayven: Ancient sorceress who helped defeat Hansrelto, ancestor of the Portegs who removed the sorcerer’s mark from her descendants
Menikas: the former crown prince, deceased. Rexson’s older brother, Hune Phinnean, used this name as an alias with the Crimson League
Laskenay Heathdon: former Duchess of Ingleton and Zalski Forzythe’s twin
Valkin Heathdon: former Duke of Ingleton and Vane’s father, after whom Vane was officially named
Carlina Lant: the Count of Fontferry’s daughter, engaged to Thad Greller
Petroc: a sorcerer in the days of Zalski who aided the Crimson League
Gracia Phinnean: Queen of Herezoth
Rexson Phinnean: King of Herezoth
Dorane Polve: a sorcerer, officer of the Enchanted Fist
Drea Polve: Dorane’s wife
Zate Polve: Dorane and Drea’s young son
Ilana Porteg: Kora and Zacry’s mother
Joslyn Porteg: Zacry’s wife, Traiglandian
Zacry Porteg: Kora’s younger brother, sorcerer and academic
Casandra Quin: Crale Bendit’s great-niece. She is a fire-starter and member of the Magic Council as well as the Enchanted Fist. Hart’s wife
Hart Quin: member of the Enchanted Fist and Magic Council. He has the power to shape glass with touch
Francie Rafe: Vane’s Unsten’s childhood friend, raised in the village of Fontferry
Mouser Rone: deceased, spy who betrayed the Crimson League
Teena Unsten: an innkeeper who raised Vane as her son
Vane Unsten: sorcerer, son of the former Duke and Duchess of Ingleton
Ranler Voldrone: deceased. He was the Crimson League’s thief and Bendelof’s teacher and protector
Jorne Warrell: former butler to the late Duke of Ingleton
Treel Warrell: childhood friend of Dorane Polve, kitchen hand in the Palace
Gratton Welder: a royal guardsman
Argint Wicker: Zalski’s second general, he was promoted after Alten Grombach’s untimely death and was responsible for Zalski’s murder
Gretta Yastly: Bendelof Esper’s alias with the Enchanted Fist
KORA’S CHILDREN:
Kansten, female
Walten, male
Wilhem, male
Laskenay, female
Tressa, female
REXSON’S CHILDREN:
Valkin (“Tommy”), male
Neslan (“Ryne”), male
Hune (“Brant”), male
Melinda, female
ZACRY’S CHILDREN:
Viola, female
Foden, male
BOOK I
CHAPTER ONE
Kidnapped
Vane Unsten, at age seventeen, was no ignorant boy. He not only could read and write; he had a passion for history, and his mentor Zacry had taught him the ways of magic. Both men were sorcerers, and after four years of study a fair number of spells had become second nature to Vane, almost commonplace. Ironically, Vane’s education was the cause of the stupid expression that had come over him as he stood in Zacry Porteg’s study with his auburn hair in his face and a letter in his hand. That letter was what had startled him; had he not been able to decipher its contents, he would not have appeared so muddled in his thoughts.
The emergency’s unexpectedness intensified the haunted air that Vane’s eyes, deep brown and too large for his face, customarily evoked. Some daunted-looking individuals get swallowed up by their surroundings, but Vane was not one of those people. First of all, he could not be called timid, though neither was he particularly bold; that first impression of him being overwhelmed was a lie of his physiognomy. Second, his apparent introversion was not one that pleaded, “Don’t consider me. Pass me over, please; I would rather be ignored.” Quite in contrast, the eyes Vane had never grown into drew attention when he was with others (he was alone just now). They screamed in silence to be noted. The strength of his voice, not as deep as some but resounding in tone, came as a surprise when one first heard him talk. One rather expected him to squeak, like a mouse.
“It can’t be. It just can’t be.”
Vane dropped into his mentor’s armchair. In the moonlight that filtered through the window and by the lamp he had set on the desk, Vane stared at the parchment in his hand. The letter was from the king of Herezoth, his home country, and quite short.
Zacry,
I need you in Podrar. At the Palace. Come discreetly, come quickly, and in the name of God, leave your sister behind—she’d be conspicuous, far too conspicuous.
One of my guards will be waiting for you at the servants’ entrance, on the west side. I hate to ask this of you, but I have nowhere else to turn. Please, come in haste. Transport if you can, but be discreet at all costs, even that of time—a rogue faction of the magicked has my children, and will kill them if it learns I sent for you.
Vane respected the king. Loved the king. It had been Rexson Phinnean to bring Vane to the small, quiet nation of Traigland in the first place, in order to learn from Zacry. Vane’s parents had been a duke and duchess in Herezoth and faithful to the royal family, even after Vane’s sorcerer uncle, his mother’s twin, executed a coup d’état mere months after Vane was born. Valkin, Vane’s father, had died in the initial scuffle for the Crystal Palace. Vane’s sorceress mother had met her end in a later battle, the final battle to reinstate the legitimate monarch, who still ruled, a father who had now lost his three sons and perhaps young daughter with them. So Vane gathered from that letter.
Herezoth’s ruler was an honest man, with a streak of selflessness that Vane personally could confirm. “Selfless” was the word Vane thought, but “loyal,” perhaps, would have been more accurate; Vane’s parents had lost their lives for Rexson’s sake, and Rexson repaid them by watching over their orphan son. Admittedly, “watching over” meant little more than sending clothes, books, and tutors, and arranging for Vane to visit the Palace every third year when he had still been living in Herezoth with the woman who had raised him, an innkeeper named Teena whom the boy called his aunt. But then, Vane’s situation was delicate. Not only was he a sorcerer, a dangerous thing to be at any time across the ocean; he was also the dead dictator’s nephew. Vane’s visits to Rexson’s home had never been publicized.
Rexson could have involved himself to a greater degree in Vane’s upbringing, should have done more to make Herezoth safer for those with magic powers: these were Vane’s principal criticisms of the monarch, especially the last. The king had never reached out to the empowered, a community that felt persecuted in general and even personally by Rexson, for Rexson had torn down Zalski’s rule. Zalski was Vane’s uncle, and he had proposed that the magicked not be persecuted. In fact, he had thought sorcerers should rule the kingdom.
Rexson was wrong to ignore the magic problem, but he did the best he could. He had suffered much to reclaim the throne as the only surviving member of the Phinnean line. Vane’s heart broke to learn the king was suffering again, and shame filled him to think how the pains came, as before, at the hands of people with powers like Vane’s own.
Zacry had already left home. He had probably gone to his sister, the sister referenced in the king’s letter. She was older than her brother and had been a major player in Rexson’s bid to retake power.
Vane turned invisible with a whispered magic word. He forgot his lamp, leaving it alight, and a second phrase transported him to Kora Cason’s family room. The place was all aclutter: dolls, whittled toys, and wooden swords covered nearly all the space that Kora’s mother’s loom left free. A shelf on the wall held a small collection of books, most of them grammars for the children.
As straight and strong of body as any man of twenty-six, Zacry was there with his dark hair and gray-green eyes. His rugged face looked more severe than usual. His brother-in-law Parker, red-faced from the fires of the smithy where he passed his days working, had taken to pacing the floor, as much as that was possible with all the mess. Only the house’s mistress looked pale, though the ruby that had spent the last fifteen years fixed to her forehead provided even her a splotch of scarlet. Her chestnut curls were pulled in a loose bun, and her skin had a gray tinge. The baby’s dress she was stitching shook in her hand.
“I’m going with you,” Kora told her brother.
Zacry protested, “You have five children.”
She shook the dress in his face. “You have an infant of your own! This is for your daughter, not mine. Tressa wouldn’t fit in this.”
Parker stopped his roaming to put a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Zacry has to go. The king sent for him.”
“And specifically wants you to stay here,” said Zacry. Kora’s grayness deepened.
“I don’t believe you. Where’s the letter? Why didn’t you bring it?”
“You shouldn’t go,” said Park
er. “You belong here, and I don’t say that for the kids. It’s because of who you are, because the king had to banish you last time just to save your life. After those papers printed your letter, the whole kingdom knows about your ruby. They know you’re the Marked One.”
Kora swore. “That ridiculous legend. I don’t care if it’s about me. I still say it’s absurd. A hero to save Herezoth with a mark on his face…. I didn’t put the ruby there, and if I did save Herezoth, I most certainly had help.”
Parker told her, “If anyone over there caught the gem glinting, well, this time Rexson would have to kill you. You know that, Kora. He wouldn’t have a choice, and you wouldn’t be the only victim. If people saw that ruby, word would get around and the king’s own sons would die. The magic folk would kill them. That’s what Zac said. You want to be responsible for that?”
Kora threw an empty glass against the wall, where it shattered dangerously close to Vane’s head. He ducked to avoid it, but did not blame her. It must be hard to live in exile, to see your brother going home when you yourself never could. Kora had already spent fourteen years in Traigland, and she was young, thirty-two or thirty-three. Traigland was far from horrible, but it was quaint. Vane could not imagine spending a lifetime here.