‘Sir Cyril, thank you for joining us on such short notice,’ Casper said. ‘How familiar are you with what has been going on just over the border in the east?’
‘Are you referring to the new wizard, who I believe has settled in Edmoston?’ Casper nodded. ‘Ah. I’ve only really heard what has been rumoured. I haven’t met the man myself.’
‘Actually I have,’ Casper responded. ‘What you might not be aware of is that a few years ago, my troops captured him and detained him for a couple of weeks as a spy.’
Cyril’s brows rose. ‘Rumours are that he helped you win a major battle. Is that not true?’
‘Yes, but it’s a little more complicated than that.’
‘I don’t doubt it,’ Cyril murmured.
‘One of my banner men, Lord Dirk, gained his assistance prior to the battle. He did some kind of spell to show us where the enemy had hidden, even those in the forest. Using that information we avoided being ambushed.’
‘Did he say what kind of spell he was doing?’
‘Scrying, I think he said. He had us look into a bowl of water. Is that a difficult spell? He seemed pretty tired afterwards.’
‘Without a merge, it can be difficult yes,’ Cyril admitted absently, more focused on not being noticed watching the scene unfold as Casper remembered it.
‘But he had helpers,’ Casper remarked.
‘Inadequate ones. I’m surprised he was able to draw any strength from latent people. So he helped scouting. What about during the battle itself?’
‘He decided to use our divided attention to escape. What he did, carving a ditch across the battlefield, was purely to enable his own escape. It was not something I ordered or, to be quite honest, would ever have thought of. His action stopped the enemy advance and enabled us to rally our troops. By the time we’d realised what had happened he’d made good his escape.’
‘Who is the woman with him?’ Cyril asked. ‘Sorry, you were projecting the image of what you saw from across the field.’
‘We believe her to be his wife. If rumours are to be believed, my Lord Dirk discovered her to be animus and disguised as a horse. Indeed Dirk rode her into battle. She saved Dirk’s life.’
‘An animus woman was able to carry an armoured knight into battle?’ Cyril couldn’t hide his astonishment. Casper had seen Dirk galloping into battle but had not been concentrating on the black horse he’d been riding, thus the memory was not detailed enough for Cyril to discern if that had been an animus or a regular horse.
‘There are numerous eyewitness reports of Jim running into the middle of heavy fighting unscathed and carrying a woman out.’
‘But they escaped. So how did Jim save your life?’
‘I took a crossbow bolt in the battle and it broke off inside my arm. We returned to base but despite our best healers, it went bad. I was dying of blood poisoning. Meanwhile Lord Dirk managed to recapture Jim and his companion at the border. I’m not entirely sure why, but Lord Dirk brought him to see me while I was sick. I’m told Jim began negotiating my healing in return for safe passage across the border.’
‘Is he medically trained then?’
‘He said he wasn’t. Yet, however he managed it, he removed the crossbow bolt and cured the blood sickness. I remember him telling me, prior to the battle, that he was merely a Sensitive and not particularly powerful. Yet we all know what he later achieved. I must admit, I was most put out to discover he had managed to disappear once more, while I was recuperating. I have been following the reports of his exploits in Edmoston ever since. He has proven to be remarkably versatile in his defensive capabilities. He is one resource we do not want to lose.’
‘All this fuss over a Sensitive?’ Cyril asked Mathias in confusion. Sensitives were rarely dangerous, usually possessing compassionate and gentle natures.
‘We believe he is actually a Leach,’ Mathias said heavily and watched Cyril’s immediate frown. ‘His guild had not fully completed his training before he came here. We suspect that they were keeping the correct identification of his abilities from him.’
‘If he is a Leach, especially a potentially strong one, then yes, they’d be taking steps to slow down his development until he matured,’ Cyril agreed absently, stroking his thick white moustache into its winged points. Trying to hide the defection of a Leach did indeed explain the fuss by his guild. Such a wizard would indeed be a sore loss to any guild. Surely they had tried to retrieve him?
‘You’re saying he truly believed he wasn’t strong?’ Casper asked glancing between the two wizards.
‘Yes. His ability is rare. Few would be able to identify it before it began to develop and manifest,’ Mathias explained, aware Cyril was deep in thought and the council members were talking privately amongst themselves at this moment.
‘Why would anyone wish to limit his growth? I’d have thought another strong wizard would be an asset that could be made use of. What’s so special about his ability?’
‘A Leach is the only type of wizard who can grow in strength beyond what he was born with,’ Councillor Thomas replied. ‘Records are sketchy on what we can expect from this leach however, because the very nature of their ability makes each unique.’
‘In what way?’
‘In essence a leach grows through magical contact with other wizards. He can leach part of someone else’s ability, not just their strength. So, it depends on who they have contact with, what type of ability that person naturally has, which shapes what the leach becomes.’
‘That’s weird, but ok, multiple abilities. So what’s the big deal?’
‘Each ability bestows strength and so when he acquires a new one, he adds it to his own magical resources. If he takes on too many too quickly he could lose control, with catastrophic results.’
‘What are you not saying?’ Cyril asked the councillors. ‘Clearly when Prince Casper met him he had not grown overly. What else has happened?’
‘Did you hear about wizard Jared?’ Thomas asked.
‘Wizard Jared? I heard some fantastic tale about his leading a battle squad in a raid that went horribly wrong. The squad was defeated by a single man. Is there some truth in that?’
‘Unfortunately, yes. That single man was the leach.’
‘Damn. How?’
‘He has settled at the wizard training academy of White Haven. Wizard Jim is the new headmaster.’
Cyril winced. An untutored leach was residing in tempting proximity to the magic of dozens of wizard students? There was no telling how he’d grown. No wonder Mathias looked so uncomfortable. He was not a strong wizard and Jared may have irreversibly antagonised this leach. With Jared removed from his position heading the military wing, and under house arrest, it left a void in the Eastern Guild’s power structure. Mathias was no military man or strategist. He’d risen into a deputy position because he was good at managing guild resources and finances behind the scenes. Mathias was not a front man and certainly wasn’t up to opening negotiations with a potentially angry leach.
Whilst the extent of the mess was still to be determined, Cyril understood why he’d been brought in. Whenever there was a tricky situation, or dangerous mess, he was called on to clean it up. It was now up to him to step into the breach. Only this time he felt ill prepared. What was he stepping into? How dangerous was this leach? He had no clue of the wizard’s temperament, to help him decide what approach to take. Getting wizard Jared’s opinion, on someone who’d thrashed him so decisively, probably wasn’t going to be too impartial but it was a starting point. Cyril was definitely curious to see a replay of how the leach had beaten a squad of battle prepared wizards. Had he gone straight for their throats or merely defended himself once an attack began?
***
A single councillor remained in his seat, shuffling paper as his colleagues departed and as the last one left the room, a door at the other end of the room opened. A finely dressed man entered.
‘I think they bought it,’ the councillor advised him. ‘Sir
Cyril will be thorough in his investigations remember, you’ll need to cover your trail at all times. He can’t know of our plans.’
‘That’s fine. While he fumbles about, pacifying everyone with pointless investigations into Jared’s blunders, our plans can quietly proceed.’
‘We just have to make sure no one knows until everything is in place and we’re ready.’
‘Agreed. Until next we meet, Councillor.’
6. Holly
Daniel woke to the sound of little Holly crying. The sound quickly ceased but he was now fully awake. Ailsa still slept; he suspected she hadn’t truly slept so deeply in months. He eased away from her and went downstairs. He heard water running in the bathroom so he lit the kitchen fire and put a kettle on it to boil. He busied himself washing some slightly dusty cups and teapot. Rummaging in his pack for the tea he found some dried strips of meat. He took his tea and the chew and sat outside on the veranda.
‘Hi Drew. How are you feeling?’ Daniel asked when she appeared.
‘Much better. Is Ailsa awake too?’
‘No. I thought it best to let her sleep. There’s tea in the pot.’
‘Don’t get up,’ Drew said handing him Holly before taking his empty cup. ‘You look far too comfortable. Want a refill?’
‘Please.’ He sat Holly on his lap and she grabbed the finger he was tickling her with. ‘So, little one, what have you got to tell me today?’ Daniel asked his niece, aware she was sitting looking around them then back at him intently. Sometimes he was sure she was trying to speak mentally. As had been the case when he’d been talking with Jim back at Lord Dirk’s estate, a casual comment had explained something Daniel had been wrestling with for months, instinctively feeling but not knowing what was possible.
‘I think she likes it here and especially sitting in the sun watching the world go by,’ Daniel remarked as his sister rejoined him.
‘You hear her?’
‘Yes, I suppose I always have. She sends me her emotions rather than words though, so it can be difficult to decipher what she wants. I wasn’t sure it was from her some of the time, but Jim said she was calling to us with magic.’
‘Like a wizard? Like him?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘You’ve always been good with her. She relaxes with you,’ Drew commented.
Daniel prudently said nothing, knowing it rankled with his sister that, when her daughter was wide awake, she seemed to prefer his company.
‘I wonder what’s going on,’ Daniel commented, aware of the constant flow of people coming from and going to the house on the hill; Commander Drako’s home.
A man jogged past, one of those that had been with Freddie the alpha. He was obviously on his way up the hill but saw Daniel on the veranda and stopped.
‘Hi there, I’m Rupert. Do you have everything you need at the moment?’
‘Yes. Thank you for asking,’ Daniel responded. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Oh, we’ve just had some interesting news. Nothing to worry about,’ Rupert added.
‘Ah, you can’t tell me,’ Daniel surmised. ‘Are you wolf?’
‘Yes. I’m in Freddie’s pack. We are the clan’s guardians,’ he added proudly. ‘Excuse me I must run, but I’m sure I’ll see you later,’ Rupert said. He nodded to acknowledge the silent young woman and hurried off.
‘I wonder what he meant by that?’ Daniel mused watching the man jogging effortlessly up the lane. He hated being on the outside, not privy to what was truly going on. He had been accustomed to not only being Lord Dirk’s confidante, but also being answerable to him alone. Here he would be much lower down the rankings and answerable to a hierarchy. Rupert was part of the wolf pack. If they decided to ask to stay here, then he would have to discover who all the members were and the existing hierarchy. It was by no means certain that they would want or even allow him to join them. A wolf pack became a close-knit family. Being accepted into their family was an honour that he would have to earn and perhaps even fight for. As a stranger they would probably test him to decide if he was worthy. Likewise he would need to decide whether he wanted to join them, or create a pack of his own.
Rupert glanced his way several times, clearly well aware he was watching. Rupert spoke to another man then went to the cottage nearest the leader’s house. Daniel recognised Freddie the alpha come out on the veranda to meet him. Rupert’s comment about being one of the guardians took on a new light. It was clear they held considerable rank in the Clan Green Bear hierarchy if the positioning of their living spaces were anything to go by. Maybe it would not necessarily be such a step down fitting in here. The sanctuary they had created here was precious to a lot of people. They would need many able guardians to defend its security. Would they welcome another?
‘What is it Holly?’ Daniel asked. She sat on his lap suddenly giggling at something and then fell silent as though listening. She burst into a fresh set of giggles then started wriggling out of his lap. Perplexed, Daniel helped her down, setting her on her feet. Holly immediately started walking for the railing edging the veranda. But instead of stopping she started to squeeze between the railings. Alarmed, Daniel rushed over and pulled her back before she fell. Whilst it was only a four foot drop from the veranda to the ground, it was plenty high enough for a toddler to sustain injury. He was very glad Drew was in the kitchen at that moment so hadn’t seen the near accident.
‘What are you doing?’ he asked her, even as she struggled to get down out of his arms again. ‘You can’t get down that way; you’ll hurt yourself.’ She reached out a hand back towards the railing, but he now sensed it wasn’t the railing she was interested in, but something beyond the house. ‘I’m taking Holly for a walk,’ he called to his sister and carried Holly safely down the steps before setting her back on her feet.
‘You’re doing what?’ Drew asked, coming out. She stared as her daughter began walking purposefully away from the house, hands out in front of her. Curious, Drew joined her equally perplexed brother in following her. ‘What’s she up to? Shouldn’t we stop her?’ Drew wondered, aware they were leaving the cottage and heading into the village without permission.
‘I think she was talking to someone and is now going to find them,’ Daniel said. ‘That was the impression I was getting from her anyway. I just hope it’s not far.’ They turned right at the foot of the Hunter’s lane, following a determined looking Holly deeper into the village.
‘What’s going on?’ Freddie asked.
Daniel turned hastily to find Freddie, Rupert and another man following them. ‘I apologise for leaving the cottage. Little Holly seems determined to go somewhere,’ Daniel explained whilst scooping up his niece.
‘I noticed that,’ Freddie smiled. It was clear Daniel was devoted to the child.
‘Have we wandered into a restricted area?’ Daniel asked, the thought just occurring.
‘No, well Lord Trent’s area is down this end and he doesn’t know about you yet.’
‘Ah, so there is a boundary somewhere,’ Daniel commented. Holly still reached out her hand in the direction she’d been headed. ‘Sorry Holly love, I don’t think we can go any farther,’ Daniel told her and she pouted up at him confirming she understood.
‘Actually, I suspect your destination is in reach, two houses down,’ Freddie suggested and followed curiously as Daniel walked on but carrying Holly. The child’s outstretched arm didn’t waver until they reached the house Freddie had mentioned. She wriggled then, determined to get down and walk again. Without hesitation she turned off the main lane onto the house’s path. She didn’t go up to the front door however but headed confidently down the side to the rear. They followed her along the path and found a big sunny veranda at the back of the house.
Daniel snatched up the child before she could climb the steps to the veranda, his heart in his mouth. There, partially hidden from view by furniture, lay an enormous lion watching them with intent yellow eyes. A baby lay cradled between the massive front paws, but the
child was unharmed and also looking at them.
‘Holly; what the hell?’ Daniel muttered clasping her protectively to his chest. Then he caught a scent, one he knew. Were his senses playing tricks on him? He turned to Freddie, ‘is that lion Jim?’
‘Yes. You didn’t know?’ Freddie asked. ‘Oh, of course you wouldn’t. He changed after he got here.’
‘Is he safe to approach in lion form?’ Daniel asked anxiously. Some animus people let their animal’s character dominate more than others and a lion wasn’t something to mess with.
‘I’m still me, Daniel,’ Jim said, letting them know he could hear their quiet words. ‘Come on up, now you’re here,’ he invited. He brought Daisy here each morning, to put distance between her and the students trying to concentrate on their lessons. Her mental outbursts could be quite distracting and not only for Amelie. As Daisy slept most afternoons, he could then return to his office and actually do some work.
Holly immediately started wriggling to get down but Daniel was a little dubious. She suddenly turned back, met Daniel’s eyes and placed her hand on his cheek. Daniel let her reassure him, although his every protective instinct told him to keep a small child away from such a serious predator. But an even younger child was already in the lion’s arms. Someone who knew him trusted him with a baby. Then he realised that this must be Amelie’s child and therefore be Jim’s other daughter. That and the fact he was sure Jim knew Holly was his own daughter reassured Daniel he was unlikely to hurt her. He put Holly down on the top step and watched her confidently walk towards the lion. She stared up at the lion, meeting his yellow eyes curiously, but she was also very interested in the baby.
‘I wondered who Daisy was calling,’ Jim remarked to Daniel. ‘Sorry. I didn’t think it would be Holly.’
‘I thought she was coming to find you,’ Daniel admitted, watching Holly go to the baby and plonk herself down beside her. ‘But it’s Daisy she was looking for? Are they talking to each other mentally?’
Forging Alliances: Wizards of White Haven Page 7
