The Making of a Mage King: White Star

by Anna L. Walls

  In an effort to be sure of finding the right place, Sean traveled there…

  …like a bird. He skimmed over the moonlit landscape covering great chunks of miles in only moments. Dozens of farmsteads flashed by as did one small village; all of them were dark and asleep. He soon came upon a large river, so he soared high to get a larger view of it.

  He had headed too directly east, not north enough. There, on the horizon to his left, nestled in one of the bends of the river were two small villages, and on the other side of the river, spread out along that bend, was the biggest city he had yet seen other than Ruhin itself.

  Sean soared over the area. Two were smaller fishing villages and sported docks much like the one in Caen. It also looked like they each had a small guard post, but he could pick out no walled garrison compound.

  The city had a dock that accommodated large ocean-going sailing ships, several of which were in port now. Large warehouses lined the docks. Two barge companies had dock space too; it looked like river trade was thriving, though nothing was moving at this hour.

  As Sean flew close over the city, it didn’t take him long to spot the market square, which was a huge affair that apparently saw little sleep. The garrison was a sprawling compound buzzing with men, with and without their horses, even at this late hour. With a city this size, I suppose it’s understandable.

  His next goal was to check out the walls and the city gates. The walls were well manned and they twisted and wound their way around the city, but like at least one other town he had seen, the city was outgrowing them. Many residences, several of which boasted something between a barn and a warehouse, were located outside the walls, and a spiderweb of roads led off into the plateaus beyond.

  There were eight gates in the wall and each of them had what looked like a guardhouse that could hold several men, but it was impossible to tell how many were posted at each gate from his current vantage point.

  Sean next went to look for a place where he could hide his small army. He eventually settled on a small creek valley. They could ride up out of the end of it and directly onto a narrow road that led to one of the gates without going past too many of the homes. The little valley was narrow, but one place was flat enough to accommodate their camp if they used both sides of the creek, and the creek was shallow enough to cross without getting more than wet feet.

  Sean opened his eyes to look at the candle. It had burned down by half, and dripped wax had run onto the edge of his map. He looked over at the sleeping Charles and saw Hélène sitting quietly at his shoulder. “I’m glad to see you’re back finally. You’re very vulnerable when you do that, you know. You should always have a guard present.”

  “What are you talking about? I’m surrounded by guards. What are you doing in here at this hour?” She was really quite irritating and he regretted not sending her away the same night she arrived. Only her standing as a healer had stalled that decision.

  “I saw your light. When you didn’t answer, I let myself in.”

  He stood up and pulled her to her feet, her chair tipping over made very little noise on the carpet covering the dirt floor of his tent. “Not even my mother snuck into my room behind my back,” he whispered hotly.

  “You never knew your mother,” she reminded him.

  He sifted through her few belongings while he propelled her out of his tent and brought the stones to hover in front of them. He held them in two identical colorful balls. She’d had all of them. “Dad, can you hear me?”

  Seeing the stones, her eyebrows lifted as Sean heard the muzzy response from his father. “Seanad?”

  “I’m sending Hélène back. Keep her out of my hair.” Hélène winked out of existence leaving his hand empty. “Dad, hold your hand out. I’m sending you the stones. Hélène isn’t to touch them. I’d prefer she didn’t even know you had them, and Dad…I don’t trust her.” Sean sent him the copy set. He figured if Mattie ever really needed to use the stones, the originals might do her more good.

  “You two didn’t get along, I guess,” Elias commented.

  “I tried, Dad. I tried.”

  “I warned her to stay out of your way.”

  Sean chuckled. “So did I. Goodnight, Dad. Sorry to wake you.”

  “Goodnight, Son. Be safe.”

  Sean broke the connection, and after a glance at the black sky, stepped back into his tent. He righted the chair and blew out the candle, then climbed into bed. He tucked his feet around the warm spot that was Charles and pulled the blankets up to his ears. With Armelle’s scrunchie in his hand, he fell asleep quickly. His dreams were filled with the dancing, laughing form of his wife.

  Sean woke to the sounds of camp coming awake around him and Charles already gone from the foot of his bed. He’s a good kid. I wonder what led him to a life of a pickpocket. Maybe someday I’ll ask him. Maybe someday he’ll tell me. He dressed as quickly as armor would allow without undue hurry, and stepped out to see if anything was ready for breakfast, or if he’d missed it entirely. Instead, he found a search underway.

  As soon as Jenny saw Sean, she came running up, all out of breath. “Mattie went to wake Hélène this morning and found that she was gone. All her things are still here, but we can’t find her anywhere.”

  Sean rested a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. “Don’t worry. I sent her back to the palace last night.”

  “You did? Why? Why would you do that?”

  “First, because she came into my tent without permission while I was doing a viewing; you have no idea how vulnerable I am when I do that. And second, because she had all the stones. I looked, I figured she’d have one or perhaps two, but she had all of them. If she was so concerned with my heir, she should have left them with Dad. In fact, she should have stayed there herself for that reason alone, not tag along with me under the pretext of our need for a healer. I’m not too bad at that myself.”

  As Sean offered his explanation, he watched Jenny’s mouth drop open. “Why would she go into your tent in the middle of the night?”

  “She had no up-front explanation, and I didn’t ask outright. She said she saw my light and came in when I didn’t answer her call, but she didn’t wake up Charles, so she couldn’t have called very loud. I shouldn’t have to order a guard posted outside my tent at night.”

  “No, but perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have the watch commander keep an eye out,” she suggested.

  Sean shrugged; he was sure that if Jenny had her way, it would happen without his needing to order it. By now they had found Mattie, then Manuel, and informed them that Hélène was not going to be found. He told Mattie and Jenny to go through her things and pack up anything they didn’t need here. The rest, he would send to the palace as soon as it was ready. He caught Mattie alone and gave her the original set of stones. She immediately knew what it was that he was entrusting her with, but she also knew why, so with only a little hesitation, she dropped them into a pocket and didn’t question his decision. He could have given them to anyone, but in order for them to be used, the holder had to be able to use at least some magic.

  After they were packed up and in a loose formation, Sean opened a gate. It was the first time he had tried this without a physical door to use as a boundary, but the effort seemed to work well enough without it. At first, the interior of the ‘gate’ was an indistinct fog, but then he focused it in on the little valley he had found last night and it came into view like a huge photograph hanging in the air. He waved the men through and then followed.

  The magic didn’t give him a headache this time, but the effort left him feeling like he had after the battle that had introduced him to the demon whose real name was Manuel.

  Since Sean was in no condition to charge off and search for the Rotomas family, Charles slipped off and went into town himself. They were only about five miles from the walls, so he walked. Sean wouldn’t have let him go alone, but he wasn’t thinking clearly and Charles hadn’t asked.

  Sean had recovered by the tim
e the afternoon was half over, but he agreed that they would remain where they were until morning. Sean had never waited well and worrying about Charles had him pacing.

  Mattie and Cordan accosted him and pushed him into his tent then down onto his cot. “You’re tired, my lord,” said Mattie. “You need to sleep. If you want, I’ll try to help you.”

  “The pacing has the men all edgy,” said Cordan.

  Sean looked at the two of them; he trusted them. “Okay, I know, you’re right. You’re right about all of it, but I don’t think I can sleep, so I’ll need help. I’ll do my best to let it happen.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Cordan, as Sean kicked off his boots and stretched out on his cot.

  “It means that he knows that I’m not strong enough to make him do anything,” explained Mattie.

  Sean looked up at Cordan; he was tired, he could feel the weight of his eyelids. Maybe he wouldn’t have so much trouble sleeping after all.

  He recognized Mattie’s fluttery touch instantly, but it was obvious that she was making full use of the stones. It felt like an odd combination of both black and white magic. Even though she spoke no verbal command, she was pushing as well as letting him fall asleep. Any instinctive resistance he might have offered came too late. He was asleep before he had completely puzzled out her tactic.

  Searching for Royalty

  Charles still wasn’t back when Sean woke the next morning, so like he had done at Caen, he authorized a rotating leave to go through the city on a fact-finding mission. He couldn’t possibly be as lucky here as he had been in Caen, so he didn’t get his hopes up. Charles just might, but Sean didn’t think they would. Like before, Larry, Jenny, Mattie and Sean went into town together. This time Cordan came along, and this time they rode. Prince stayed in the camp; he would draw too much unwanted attention. Sean was certain he’d have to question quite a few people before he found even a drop of the information he needed.

  Though they were dressed like before, Mattie handed Sean his crown. He thought that might draw too much attention too, but she said that it also just might draw out the kind of attention they were looking for; at the very least, it might get him some answers he might not get otherwise. It was an unobtrusive thing designed so a helmet could be worn over it, so Sean conceded.

  They passed the north gate without being questioned, then they checked their horses into a stable not far from it and walked the rest of the way into the heart of the city. Jenny and Mattie almost instantly started shopping. It was the first real chance for Jenny to do so since the first tiny village they had come across where they had met Mattie, and Sean didn’t think Mattie had ever been to a city other than Ruhin, and she had taken over running the palace rather than go shopping.

  Sean thoroughly enjoyed following them from shop to shop as they progressed into the city. Watching the two of them giggling and conferring over the different things they found almost made him forget why they had come. Since he, Cordan and Larry hung in the background, few of the shop owners noticed that one of them wore a crown. They did, however, notice the emblem that was on the girls’ shoulders, and most of the time they were greeted warmly. Apparently, the White Star was popular with the people; they’d have to see about the constabulary when they met them.

  In the main market square, they stopped at the different stalls and bought the components of their lunch, then they bought a table at what might have been a café if they had served food. All they did was ‘rent’ a table. A person or persons would pay a fee and they could sit for as long as they wished. It was an ingenious idea, since there was more than enough food and drink available around the square.

  As they ate, Sean noticed several more of his men. They entered his range of view from different directions in groups of two to four, but they were dispersed enough that their overall number wasn’t readily noticeable. Though they made some effort to not converge, if they crossed paths, they acknowledged each other with no more than a nod.

  Men looking like constables also moved through the people, and it looked like they were keeping an eye on the strangers wandering around, but they had yet to question any of them, at least none that he could see.

  As they spent the afternoon exploring more of the shops, Sean pointed their steps toward the docks.

  “You’re not looking for someone else to bless, are you?” Larry teased.

  “Certainly not,” said Sean. “I just want to see what some of the ships are hauling. Plus, they’re sailing ships; the only sailing ships I’ve seen were the museum pieces you only saw on TV.”

  “They had some pretty cool ones in the movies too,” said Larry.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Cordan.

  “Sorry, Cordan, it would just take too long to explain,” said Sean. “Maybe I’ll tell you all about it someday when we don’t have anything else to do for a couple days.”

  Cordan cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. “Two days worth of explanations; I think I’ll make a point of remembering to ask you about it, it sounds interesting.”

  By now they could see the masts, and if it wasn’t for the smell of water, moss and wet wood, Sean might have been able to convince himself that they were coming up on a dead forest.

  The sun was high and shining hot, but the docks were buzzing with activity. Ships already tied up at the docks were being unloaded or loaded up again with all manner of boxes, crates and barrels, or people and their luggage. More ships waited at anchor farther out for their turn, and still more were making their way down river. Dockworkers pushed large trolleys back and forth, both empty and piled high, and other men of all shapes and sizes wove among them on other business.

  Sean’s party stopped at a bar and found it full of more men like those who filled the docks. Sean ordered beer for all of them and got something that looked so dark it could have been super strong coffee if it didn’t have a thick head of foam on top. He changed Jenny and Mattie’s beers into Cokes, which Jenny smiled over and Mattie choked over. Mattie had never had a Coke before and had been expecting beer.

  The beer was so strong that it was all Sean could do to swallow each sip. Cordan tasted it like a connoisseur; Sean was forced to smile at him. Larry took one sip, made a face and pointed at Jenny’s glass. Sean changed his beer to Coke, and after another sip of his own beer, he changed it too; it was just too strong for his taste.

  Sean was looking across the assorted faces of the other customers when his eye settled on a pair of men sitting in a shadowed corner. Something about the older man held his attention.

  Without offering any explanation, he went over and sat down at their table with them. “Afternoon, gentlemen. Pardon me, but you look familiar. My name is Seanad Ruhin, have we met somewhere before?” Sean was fairly certain he hadn’t, but then again, it really felt like he had.

  They stared at him in silence. When they continued to stare at him without saying anything, Sean shrugged. “I must be mistaken, pardon.” He went back to the bar.

  As they completed their tour of the docks, Sean could tell that the barge companies were indeed prosperous. For a price, of course, they were equipped to ship most anything both upriver and down. Even though they were much shallower in the draft, they still maneuvered under sail. Sean was starting to like hanging around the docks.

  His tour of the docks finished, they were heading back to the market square when they were ambushed, or perhaps bushwhacked might be a better word to use, since their attackers seemed to appear out of the woodwork. Their assailants fought about as dirty as anything Sean had ever seen. Sean immediately teleported the girls back to camp for their safety, which was probably the biggest reason the fight ended.

  About that same moment, Sean recognized the younger man he had seen in the bar; he was calling his men off. Those who could, pulled back at his command, but despite the brief clash, there were some casualties. Two of his men had been killed. Swords tend to outreach daggers face-to-face, and Cordan and Sean were both good with a sw
ord; they’d been able to keep their opponents from closing inside of their reach.

  Larry hadn’t been quite so lucky. He had been almost hamstrung before he could get his guard up and hadn’t been able to draw blood in return.

  “So, Dad said you looked like him, but he also said it was impossible.”

  “Looked like who, my father? Everyone keeps telling me that,” returned Sean as he fixed Larry’s knee. “They tell me that I look even more like my grandfather, those who knew him.”

  “Only the old king could send two people at once. What else can you do?” He didn’t realize that Sean had just healed Larry; all he saw was his helping him to his feet and leaning him against the wall.

  Sean stepped through the men and rested a hand on each one. He healed each of their wounds, though none of them had been life-threatening. One of them also had something wrong with his lungs. Sean was not a doctor, he had no idea what the problem was, but he detected it when he healed a cut on his forearm and was a couple steps past him before he realized it. He backed up and rested a hand on the man’s chest. By now, everyone was muttering and shifting, but none of them wavered or guarded against Sean’s touch.

  He cleared the man’s lungs and he took a deep breath in surprise. The man was suddenly the center of everyone’s attention. It looked like they were all waiting for him to start coughing, and when he didn’t, there was another wave of muttering. When Sean reached the man who had spoken and had healed the shallow cut he had across his chest, he said, “Does that answer your question well enough?”

  He studied Sean’s face then glanced across his men; his face held a hard expression that hid whatever went on behind his eyes. “I’ll let Dad decide. Come with me.” He waved his hand and the men filtered away as fast as they had appeared, then he led off down a narrow alley.

  This didn’t look too promising. Though the alley was deserted, and though the only man who had stayed with them was their guide, Sean didn’t feel comfortable sheathing his swords. He did, however, put one of them away so he could help Larry walk. His knee was healed, but it would be a while before it wouldn’t be tender anymore.