The Making of a Mage King: White Star

by Anna L. Walls

  After the second volley, several of Sean’s men had swarmed into the building and up onto the roof. By the time two more volleys had flown, they had reached two of the men shooting at them; they weren’t too gentle with them, but they were still alive when they were brought down.

  Of the fifty some-odd arrows that had rained down on them, surprisingly little damage had been done. One man had been killed because the arrow had found the gap next to his neck and the arrow had traveled directly down several inches. He died very quickly.

  Mostly the damage consisted of cuts, though several horses had arrows lodged in their rump or shoulder. In some cases, if the arrow had been turned, it would have merely sliced the skin.

  The wounded horses had done some damage of their own. Six men other than Larry had been thrown from their saddles, and not all of them made it out from under hooves. Aside from those few who had caught an arrow, there were a couple concussions, one badly broken nose and a crushed shoulder.

  As soon as the roofs were declared safe, Sean turned his attention to his wounded. When he got to the dead man, he closed his surprised eyes and called Elias, “Dad, can you hear me?”

  “Seanad, is that you? What happened?”

  “We’ve just had a minor skirmish and we lost a man. I’m sending him to the stable yard. See to it that he gets a decent burial and tell his family I’m sorry.”

  “I will. Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” replied Sean, and he broke the connection. He was disheartened. He sent the man home then handed the reins of the now riderless horse to the nearest man. He was getting mad. By the time he mounted again, he was more than a little pissed and the men held in front of them could see it. “March or be trampled,” he said to them, as he dropped them to the street. They marched. Sean didn’t give them the option to dodge to the side or run too far ahead.

  When they came in sight of the garrison, Sean saw that a small revolution was already in progress, but without knowing which side was which, they really couldn’t participate. They did, however, block all the exits from the compound and fought anyone who was inclined to take them on, and there were several such attacks.

  When the fighting was over and the prisoners were locked up, a man came and presented himself to Sean; everything about him identified him as an officer. “My lord, Captain General Basse was wounded in the first surprise attack, but he wishes to see you. If you will, follow me please.”

  Sean followed with Larry at his side. Cordan remained in charge of the rest of the men and he sent a handful of men after them. Larry was getting better with a sword, but he wasn’t a bodyguard yet.

  Inside the garrison house, their guide led them toward the small infirmary. A stream of wounded was heading in the same direction, either being carried on a stretcher or making it on their own. Shortly before they went through the same door the wounded were going through, their guide led them through a side door and into a small bedroom.

  The tall frame of Captain General Basse was laid out on the narrow bed and a significantly older man was sitting beside him. He was dressed in light armor, but its poor fit said that it was more for his protection than it was for him to fight in.

  The older man turned to look at the arrivals as their guide quietly rested a hand on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. He rose and came to stand directly in front of Sean. Sean removed his helmet and the old man studied him closely before speaking in a quiet voice, “I knew your father and I knew something of his father as well. They were both honorable men. Are you an honorable man too?”

  Sean dipped his head in greeting. “Ruihano Basse, I never knew my father or my grandfather, but in a way, you could say that I have met them.”

  The old man’s eyebrows climbed at Sean’s address, but he didn’t let it interfere with his train of thought. “So, you have been accepted. I’m glad to hear it. The crown sits well on your brow, unlike your uncle who, I understand, couldn’t bring himself to touch it. I watched you dance the Dance. I was impressed; few men finish the Dance, and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anyone use two swords, though I’ve heard that your father did.”

  “You were at that gathering? I don’t believe I saw you there.”

  He smiled. “We met, but you were somewhat less than coherent at the time. I was honored to turn my pavilion over to you and your men,” he smiled wider, “and your knife brides.”

  “That was your tent? That was very generous of you, thank you.”

  “It was nothing.” Then he returned to the current subject. “My son tells me you intend to turn back the hands of time. Is that true?”

  “I don’t know about ‘turning back the hands of time’, but I do want to undo my uncle’s evil work.”

  A cough sounded from the bed, and the younger Basse raised a hand. Both Sean and the elder Basse moved to his side and the old man took the hand as he coughed again. Sean rested a hand on his chest and found the imbedded arrowhead deep inside; it had broken from the shaft, either upon entry, or when they had tried to remove it. Sean made it go away and healed the bleeding that was slowly killing him. He had been bleeding to death for hours, so he wasn’t going to jump up out of bed immediately, but he was no longer going to die.

  He gasped and coughed in response to Sean’s actions, but then he inhaled and smiled weakly. “That’s better,” he whispered. “The arrowhead was designed to break away, and it did. I had my men make them for use against demons; I didn’t expect they would be used against me.”

  “Do you think you have weeded out all those who were still loyal to my uncle?” asked Sean.

  “That is difficult to tell, but we sure took a sizable chunk out of them today. What do you want from us now?”

  “You are in charge now, commander. You know the borders of your district and you know the laws my grandfather enforced. I suggest you start enforcing those edicts immediately.”

  “What are you going to do?” asked the old man.

  “This is only my first stop; I have nineteen more districts to visit. Can you handle this?”

  The old man grasped the hand that still rested on his son’s chest. “My name is Orne Basse and in the name of your grandfather, you have my allegiance.”

  “By order of your uncle, we have demons and destriers stabled here. What would you have us do with them?” asked the commander.

  “They are victims in this and likely your own citizens, but I don’t have time to deal with all of them and they are very dangerous. If you think they can be redeemed, then by all means do so, but if not then they should be destroyed. It might be a mercy to them. They were good men once upon a time, so follow your conscience.” He handed Basse the arrowhead and backed away. “Be safe,” he said, and strode across the room toward Larry.

  Larry opened the door for him and they left. As they strode down the hall side by side surrounded by the other five men, Sean said, “You’re really getting into this ‘king’ stuff, aren’t you?”

  “I’m learning,” said Larry with a grin. “I think it’s kind of cool being able to call a real live king my best friend. I can honestly say ‘I knew you when…’”

  Sean smiled as he put his helmet back on. “What, are you writing a book or something?”

  Larry laughed outright. “I just might, but Jenny will have to be the one to do the actual writing, my English sucks.”

  News of who they were had made it through the compound while they were inside, and as they strode across the courtyard, those who saw them pass bowed deeply. Sean felt obligated to regulate his pace in order to maintain his dignity. He was learning to dislike being on display, and every move he made was for display.

  As they moved away from the garrison, Sean turned toward the docks; he had some unfinished business to see to.

  He dismounted in front of the rickety little net shop and handed his helmet to Larry. Cordan spread the men out up and down the docks in an effort to cover every possible avenue of attack as Sean knocked on the door.

>   When the old woman opened the door a few minutes later, he said, “Mrs. Calvados, I believe I have found your daughter and I would like to reunite her with her family. She’s very ill, are you prepared to care for her here, or would you prefer to join her at the palace?”

  “Calvados was my son-in-law’s name, White Star. How can you have found my daughter? She was taken by the sea along with her husband.”

  “No, a’ma, your daughter, and I suspect, her husband as well, were taken by my uncle. He didn’t know or care that your daughter was pregnant, so the baby was left behind in the boat to be found by your friends.”

  The old woman looked beyond Sean as if hoping to see her daughter among his men. “I don’t understand,” she said. Her voice trembled with threatening tears.

  Sean touched her cheek; he felt so sorry for her. “May we come inside? I think seeing familiar surroundings might help your daughter a lot.”

  “Yes, yes of course.” She led him inside and Larry came too. Cordan directed two more men to follow them and Sean had them wait at the bottom of the stairs. Upstairs, inside the little apartment above the shop, he saw the little boy, Shim, sitting in a rocking chair by the window enjoying the warmth from the afternoon sun. “Danio Shim. How is your shumutàlē today?”

  “It is warm today,” replied the boy as he came from his place in the sun to grasp his grandmother’s skirts.

  Sean knelt in front of him. “I think I found your mother, but she’s very ill. I would like to bring her home, but it might be frightening.”

  “I never knew my mother,” said Shim.

  “I know,” said Sean. He stood and reached for Franklin. “Franklin, are you where I told you to be?”

  “I am, my lord.”

  “Open the door, please.” Sean nodded for Larry to do the same. With a twist that stabbed into his head, rather than the head of the rickety stairs that led to the lower floor, a clean and well-appointed room appeared on the other side of the door Larry opened.

  He saw Franklin holding the door open inside the room, then on a chair in the far corner sat a rail-thin woman. She had been washed and combed and clothed in a clean dress, but she seemed completely unaware. As Sean looked at her, he remembered her and now understood the profound loss that had filled her soul.

  “Marcia, Marcia, oh my lord, Marcia,” said the old woman, as she wavered near collapse.

  Sean would have steadied her, but he was having his own problems.

  The woman in the palace room slowly looked up at the sound of the old woman’s voice. She took a deep breath, “Mama?” Her voice was thin as she wavered to her feet and tottered unsteadily toward them.

  Sean felt a small hand slip into his as the old woman rushed forward to help her daughter the rest of the way into the room. As soon as they cleared the door, Sean let the spell go and felt Larry’s strong hands keep him on his feet.

  As Larry guided him to a seat on the end of a small cot, Sean looked up to see mother and daughter becoming reacquainted in a confusion of tears, then he looked down at Shim who was at his knee.

  “You do something wrong when you do that,” he said. He looked at Sean as if he could see where he sat; he cocked his head as if he was puzzled by what he saw then he reached up and rested his small hand over Sean’s ear. Something fell into place and his headache was reduced to a residue. “There,” he said matter-of-factly. “It shouldn’t hurt so much anymore.” He looked toward the door as if he could see it. “What was it that you did anyway?”

  Sean raked his fingers through his hair, dislodging his crown. “I opened a door directly to the room in the palace where your mother was staying,” he said, as he replaced the silver circlet. “I’ve done it once before, just not nearly so far.”

  “Magic doesn’t understand distance,” said the little boy, sounding like his aunt when she had helped him bring Elias from New York City.

  “I’ll have to remember that.” Sean ruffled the boy’s hair. “You should go meet your mother. Mothers are very important, you know.”

  The boy cocked his head at him again then turned to find his way across the floor to the two women. They included him in their tears and hugs, so Larry and Sean let themselves out quietly.

  As they rode out of town, Larry asked, “What did that kid do? Can he use magic too?”

  “Yes he can, as a matter of fact; he’s pretty strong in white and green magic. I’m not sure what he did, but it was right; I’ll have to test it.”

  The Gate

  It didn’t take them long to come across Seth’s trail, but they didn’t catch up with him until almost sundown. As they made camp, Sean watched first Larry, then a little later, Cordan get greeted by their respective mates. He handed his helmet to Charles and strode to the edge of their forming camp. “Armelle, can you hear me?”

  “I hear you, Sean,” she said.

  Her voice washed through him and he choked up. “I miss you,” he said, after a long pause.

  “I love you,” she said back.

  “Tell me I’m doing the right thing. Tell me…”

  “You are doing the right thing and you are the only man who can do it right.”

  “God, I miss you so much.” He dug out the little plastic bag and crushed her scrunchie to his nose.

  “Dance for me,” she said, and it occurred to him that he always got background impressions through a link. He shed his shoulder piece and plate and added his sword belts to the pile. He ignored the smaller metal pieces and drew his grandfather’s swords. Taking a few steps away from the pile, he wrapped her scrunchie around his right hand.

  He began to dance and felt Armelle begin as well. Then his mind was flooded with the memories of a dozen women, all of them were superimposed together with his Armelle and all of them were dancing with the many of him. They danced until they reached the point where he would have carried her upstairs to bed, but when he reached for her, she wasn’t there. The loss left him wilting and tired, and feeling even more alone.

  “Dream of me,” she said.

  He broke the connection before she could feel all of his wrenching loss. After this, he would indeed dream of her. He turned around to find the entire camp in utter silence. Everyone had been watching him. Someone had removed his armor, so all he could do was walk through camp to his tent. Once inside, he methodically put his swords in their sheaths, then he just stood there in the middle of his tent.

  He was aware that Charles slipped out, but he still didn’t move. A few minutes later Larry came in. “That looked painful,” he said quietly.

  “More than I was prepared for,” said Sean, without turning around. He put the scrunchie back in its plastic bag and tossed it onto his cot.

  “We all saw it, you know,” continued Larry.

  “I wasn’t hiding.”

  “No, I mean, we all saw her. It was like watching you dance with a ghost. I almost feel haunted.”

  “You don’t know the half of it.” Sean took a deep breath and turned to face him. “What’s for supper? I couldn’t eat much this morning.”

  “Stew, just like last night. What did you expect, porterhouse steaks?”

  “That sounds nice.” He was recovering. They went out to the central fire, and Jenny came up to them with their bowls. After handing them to Larry, she pulled Sean down and gave him a motherly hug and a peck on the cheek. “That was beautiful,” she whispered in his ear, then in a more normal voice after she let him go. “I never knew you were the dancing type. I wish you could teach us how to dance like that.”

  That was an idea. It would be nice if someone could finish the Dance. “I never was a dancer until the Dance found me.” Sean took the bowls from Larry and set them down. Then he took each of their hands and led them a few steps away from the fire.

  At first, their steps were hesitant and clumsy. There were some snickers and a few guffaws both from Jenny and Larry, as well as from their audience. “Relax, follow my lead. Pay attention,” said Sean encouragingly, as he led them in a c
ircle around him while softly humming the tune.

  After a few more minutes and several more snickers, Sean created the sound of a flute. The music helped and he allowed a tendril of magic to complete the spell. A few of the others joined to complete the cast of the Dance and fifteen minutes later, Larry and Jenny were totally immersed in it. Keeping the music and the spell going took some concentration, but this was their dance, so Sean was able to watch without falling under the spell himself. It really was quite beautiful. After they had retired to their tent, the rest of their impromptu audience was again left speechless.

  In an effort to break the ice, Sean said, “Anyone else want to dance?” He looked directly at Cordan who held up his hand as if to ward him off.

  “Oh no you don’t,” he said. “I have no desire to learn how to dance.”

  Everyone burst out laughing when Mattie punched her husband in the shoulder. “Speak for yourself,” she said.

  Sean had to chuckle too, then he picked up his bowl. “Maybe next time.” He handed the other one back to Mattie. “Larry will be hungry come morning.”

  She looked at the tent where Larry and Jenny had gone in some confusion, but Cordan understood. No one was likely to see either of them before dawn.

  Sean watched as the men sorted themselves out and went to their posts or their tents, then he too went to bed, but sleep was a distant thing. Even the desire to dream of his Armelle didn’t help.

  Eventually, he got up and lit a candle. He pulled out his map and traced his finger across it from Caen slightly north of directly east to the town of Rouen in the neighboring district of Rotomas. It was one of the towns that had been along his original whirlwind route to the capital, but he had lost touch with reality long before reaching it, so he had no idea whether he really went through the town or not. He probably did; he had to have crossed the river somewhere, though he didn’t think rivers had been an obstacle. He decided to see if he could find the city, see if the sight sparked a memory.