The Making of a Mage King: White Star

by Anna L. Walls

  Charles came in just then. “Where are you going? Mattie says lunch is ready.”

  Sean ruffled his hair. “Save some for me; I’ll be back in an hour or two.” He looked disappointed. “Don’t worry; I’m only going far enough to be out of sight for a while. I’ll be back soon.” He slung his baldric with its big sword over his shoulder and buckled his other sword belt around his waist then headed toward the edge of camp. He found a shallow depression just over the hill that edged the creek valley that held his camp. It suited his purpose perfectly.

  He started a simple set with the big sword then he found his mind drifting to his recent problems. Suddenly he had two men who wanted and needed his help for very different reasons. How can I let strangers into my core of trusted men? How do you make decisions like that? “What do I do?” he muttered to himself.

  He felt a stirring. Some memories surfaced. Memories of a boy dressed in rough leather and fur looking over a fertile valley. Memories of a man who had taught him things, things no shepherd had any business knowing. Memories of magic lessons were mixed with memories of history and astronomy and sheep. There were other memories too, memories of a great destruction long ago. Through those memories, Sean saw first a dark satellite, then an indeterminate time later, a few months perhaps, or maybe some years, a white satellite came into the skies. Using all of his power as well as all of the power he could gather from all of the people around him, he bound the satellites, one to the other, in the sky. The memories halted abruptly after that point.

  After a moment’s hesitation, Sean’s thoughts went back to sword lessons, he was hashing through some of the things Master Mushovic had started to teach him when a big man in a white silk shirt crossed his sword with Sean’s. They sparred until they were both covered with sweat, then the other man faltered. At first, Sean thought he might be letting him win, but then, a few exchanges later, he knew that he was the better swordsman and not just the younger one. When Sean succeeded knocking the big sword from his opponent’s hand, Soran laughed.

  Shaking his numbed hand, Soran said, “You must trust. You must also be cautious. Even friends can betray you, but those who need you are less likely to betray you.”

  “Are you saying that I have friends who will betray me?”

  “Some already have. You still must trust.” He faded and Sean was left standing there sweating in the rain. He tried to tie Soran to the memories that had dredged their way to the surface of his mind but Soran had been no sheepherder and according to the story, the moons had come first, bringing the magic with them somehow. So how had that led to the Soran he had just fought?

  He sheathed his sword and turned back to camp and lunch to see Hugh Picardy watching him. A few feet away, watching him, was Laon. As soon as he was certain that Sean had seen his watcher, Laon too sheathed his sword. Looks like I have my bodyguard whether I want him or not; Jenny will be thrilled.

  Hugh started to talk as soon as he felt that Sean was within hearing without shouting. “I overheard the boy telling the woman who was doing the cooking that you had come here. I got the impression that you were going to do some exercises. I didn’t expect to see you fighting some ghost.”

  Sean turned him around to walk with him. “I have my ghosts. Did you hear anything?”

  “Just the clash of swords. It sounded like it was coming from some place far away, but I did hear it, I swear I did.”

  As they passed Laon, Sean pulled him along with them. “How is your sister?” he asked.

  “She is well, my lord. She is relieved that I have recovered. She has brought you a gift.”

  “A gift; I don’t need a gift for helping you,” said Sean, though he was very pleased at the sentiment; it’d been a while since someone gave him a gift other than at some holiday. It reminded him that he had a birthday coming in a few months, but he had no idea when. The seasons were off here from what they were on Earth and he wasn’t even sure if the length of the year was the same.

  As they walked toward camp, Sean noticed that Cordan had watched his back, too. He didn’t interfere in the movements of their guests, but no less than four archers were casually stationed at four different points, supposedly doing some other task, but with their bows strung and arrows handy, if either one of his spectators had done anything suspicious, they would have been pin-cushioned.

  Demon Come Human

  There was a cluster of people in the center of camp. In the middle was a smartly dressed, obviously affluent young couple. This time, it was daytime, but Sean had no trouble recognizing them.

  As soon as the young woman noticed them, she curtsied deeply and her companion bowed low. The rest, even Sean’s men, followed suit, though he had never required it of them. He wanted to stop it all, but he didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t sound weird, so he just kept his mouth shut, and it was over soon enough.

  “My lord, this is my sister, Simone, and her husband, Fabian,” said Laon as he indicated the lovely young woman and then the man who stood beside her.

  Sean pulled his gloves off and tucked them under his arm before he took their hands in turn and said, “I’m pleased to meet you. I’m glad it was your brother that found you the other night and not one of the others.”

  The woman shuddered at the memory and gracefully moved beyond the painful subject. “Laon tells me he will be going with you now. As much as I would like to keep him home, I’m glad it’s you he’s going with.” She fumbled in a tiny purse she had clutched in her hand and produced a small white disk about the size of her palm. It looked like a combination of the perfect skipping stone and a sand dollar, but Sean knew that it had to be much more valuable than either. “Our father was a horse breeder and trader. This was his.” She pressed it into Sean’s hand and everything around him was suddenly much more colorful. “As you can see, it must be touching the skin to be of use.

  “Whoa!” Sean was astonished. Simone was glowing with a thin light blue and a thinner dark blue aura. Beside her, Fabian glowed with a dark blue aura that was only a little stronger than hers, with traces of green. At the same time, he noticed that Laon glowed fiercely red with strong accents of light blue, and Hugh virtually screamed green with a fair amount of black around the edges. If they hadn’t been standing one on either side of him, he would have stepped away from them.

  “The stone allowed father to see the magic potential of the men he did business with. It helped him know what to say, or perhaps what not to say, when he negotiated with buyers. Father died five years ago and his wish was that I find someone deserving to give it to.” She gently pushed Sean’s hand closer to him until their hands touched his chest.

  The stone vanished from his hand and he had to gasp and clutch at his chest. She had imbedded the disk behind his sternum much as he had done himself when he had imbedded the stones inside his belly to hide them from Ferris and Cisco.

  Both Cordan and Larry had stepped forward at Sean’s gasp, but a signal from him halted them. “Why did you do that?”

  “That is where father kept it. You cannot keep it safe enough anywhere else and still be able to use it.”

  Sean could see that what she said was true. He couldn’t hold it in his hand whenever he met with someone and he couldn’t string it on a chain and wear it under his clothes. It was far too fragile for anything like that; it would be too easy for it to become lost or broken. His uncle Clayton had kept a stone under his breastplate. Sean kept his wife’s scrunchie there, but those stones didn’t need to be touching the skin in order to be of use. He nodded. “Thank you,” he said, with a little bow. “I am honored that you would entrust such a treasure to me. I will keep it safe.”

  She smiled demurely and stepped back beside her husband who put his arm around her shoulders. “I also give you my brother, though I had little say there. He will guard your life with his own. It is the least he could do in return for what you have done for us.”

  Sean looked at Laon, squinting as he sought to focus past the red glow. T
his will take some getting used to.

  Laon suddenly took a knee. “By my honor, I will stand between you and any danger.” He took Sean’s hand and touched it to his brow.

  What could he do? Sean lifted Laon to his feet again. “I accept, but you can’t guard me if your eyes are on the ground.”

  The man squared his shoulders and his face took on an eagle-like expression.

  Sean saw Manuel standing a few paces away and he too had an odd expression on his face. He looked like a father who had just watched his son take his first steps. “Manuel, we have a horse to train, don’t we?” Sean called to him breaking the spell.

  “That we do, my lord,” he replied.

  Sean turned back to Simone and her husband. “We still have Laon’s horse and he needs some reeducation. Would you like to watch?”

  As they all made their way toward the horses, Simone pulled Sean a little away from her brother, who had become immersed in conversation with Manuel. “Laon used to be afraid of horses,” she whispered. “He had a very bad experience when he was little. Father tried for years, but he could never get him past it.”

  “Things have changed, I think. Best not to remind him of old fears,” said Sean. He patted her hand where it had hooked his elbow. “Everything will be fine.”

  Sean took Laon through the healing of his horse much like he had done for Manuel, then he turned the two of them over to the waiting Manuel. Laon only needed a few reminders here and there. In the end, the greatest thing Laon needed was knowledge on how to take care of a horse; ‘care’ had not been important in the making of a demon or a destrier.

  As Laon and Manuel went through their paces with the new warhorse, Sean took the rest of them back to the center of camp where he saw Simone and her husband into their carriage and on their way back to the city. Mattie, who glowed with a soft white cloud that pulsed as if it had a heartbeat of its own, handed Sean a thick slice of bread that was piled with cheese and cold meat. He wished for some mayonnaise, but he didn’t know how to make it, so rather than shoplifting a jar from a store in New York City, he did without.

  As he ate, Hugh stepped up beside him. “How can you trust him? He’s a demon regardless of what he said, and you’re giving him back his horse as well. They should be destroyed.”

  Sean turned to him, licking the last of his sandwich from his fingers. “How can I trust you? You’re a trained assassin who thinks you could have turned Ludwyn into a pumpkin.”

  His mouth gaped then closed abruptly. He might not know what a pumpkin was, but he got the gist of the remark. With only a slight twitch of an eyebrow, he turned back to watching Manuel and Laon work with the big horse.

  As Sean watched them, his thoughts leapt ahead. My business here is done; it’s time to move on. If Rotomas had needed any further help, he would have found some way to get word to me. Sean had still kept a presence in the city, though it was just the occasional soldier or two on personal business.

  After Manuel and Laon took their horses out of camp for further lessons, Sean searched out the watch commander of the day. “We’ll be moving on in the morning. See to it everyone’s ready.”

  “Yes sir. Will it be the same as last time?” he asked.

  “Perhaps, I’m going to my tent now. I’m not to be disturbed. Mattie can come in with a supper tray if I haven’t come out by then, but she’s to be warned to silence, and Charles can come in too. Where is he anyway?”

  “He’s with Seth, sir,” replied the commander.

  Sean nodded and headed toward his tent, leaving Hugh standing with the watch commander looking forlorn.

  As Sean flew northeast in search of Ambiani, he saw fields spreading to the horizons on either side of his route until he crossed a low rocky ridge. On the other side of that ridge, the fields were much smaller and farther apart. Large flocks of sheep and goats, as well as some small herds of horses and cattle made up the difference.

  When the rocky landscape dropped down into a wide river valley, Sean knew that he was close to his goal. Now all he had to do was find the city. Since, according to his map, it was located well away from the coast, he turned right.

  He found Ambiani; the city was on the south side of the river, and though it was smaller than Ruhin, the two cities had many similarities. Ocean-going ships didn’t reach this far inland, but a thriving barge business was based here and many of the barges looked large enough to make coastal runs in good weather. Judging from the number of smaller vessels scattered up and down the river, fishing season was in full swing.

  Sean moved through the city like a ghost to gauge their readiness for something such as his arrival. What he found was another reminder of Ruhin when he’d first walked through that nighttime city like this. Though it was day this time, Guards still paced the streets and walls.

  The city climbed up the side of a bluff in four different levels, each level was divided from the next by a heavy wall. The rocky foot of the cliff poked out toward the river and offered secure anchor and protection for the fishing and barging fleets. Like Ruhin, each section had a market square, and each level seemed to indicate a step up in lifestyle. Unlike Ruhin at the time, no grizzly displays decorated the markets. Each section also seemed to have a small guardhouse compound.

  If there was a central garrison compound responsible for the entire city, Sean couldn’t find it. There also wasn’t much along the line of a central government house, though there were several large homes on top of the bluff. This is interesting. I wonder if these people succeeded in throwing off Ludwyn’s control. It would have been impossible to avoid his attention, but maybe they had refused to be cowed.

  Sean turned his attention to finding them another campsite. He succeeded in finding one much like their current one southwest of town, then he…

  …opened his eyes to find that Mattie had come and gone, though Charles had yet to return, or if he had, he didn’t stay. He sat back and thought about what he had seen as he ate his supper.

  The city could be reached by land through only two gates, one to the east and the other to the west. The only roads that led to the city followed the river for miles in both directions before branching off elsewhere. The only other way to get inside the city walls was from the river by barge or fishing boat. The place was a fortress, but Sean was confident that he could get them in if he had to. What puzzled him most was the strength of the military, and yet it seemed lack of a central command post. Even more puzzling was the apparent lack of government. If there was a governor, he conducted city business out of his home.

  His plate was empty and he had scarcely noticed it. He stepped out with his empty tray to find Laon standing stiffly guarding his tent. “Relax, man, that looks totally uncomfortable.” He went over to Mattie. “Is there anything left? I’m still hungry.”

  She smiled. “There’s plenty. You only missed supper by about half an hour.” She ladled him up another plate full of stew and filled his mug with apple wine. He had emptied his mug without tasting it. “Would you find Picardy? I’d like to talk to him.”

  “Sure thing, I’ll send Charles for him as soon as he gets back.”

  “You must be keeping him busy.”

  “Seth is teaching him about horses.”

  “Good, he needs to know something besides picking pockets.” Sean turned to go back to his tent and found Laon only about two paces away from him. “Relax, man,” Sean said again. “These people are my friends, and I’m not all that keen on formalities if they can be avoided.”

  The man tried to relax, but it didn’t seem like he really knew how.

  When Hugh arrived, Sean questioned him about Ambiani, their next destination, only to find out that he knew very little. His father had been killed and his mother had fled. He had been born in a small village several months later and his mother had taken them from one small village to another, wherever she could find enough work to support them or, as he became older, some disgruntled warrior or another to teach him.

  Some
hours later, their talk was interrupted by a commotion just outside his tent. First, something was thrown against the wall of the tent near the door then someone, probably Mattie, let out a brief scream.

  Sean was at his tent flap with a sword in his hand in a split second to find Laon sprawled on the ground at his feet. At first, he thought Laon had been attacked, but there was no blood, no wound that he could see at a glance; no one was near, or far for that matter, who held a weapon ready and no one with the right kind of magic was anywhere close.

  Mattie explained. She was only about a dozen yards away and saw the whole thing. “He fainted, Sean. I swear; I’ve never seen anything like it…he just fainted.”

  Sean had to laugh; Laon had held himself so stiff and still for so long that he had keeled over. He had heard of that happening, but had never quite believed it.

  Laon was waking up after only a few moments, but Sean pushed him back down. “You take no less than ten deep breaths before you try to sit up,” he said, still chuckling.

  Someone produced a chair and Sean made Laon sit in it. “Listen, Laon, if you want to be my bodyguard, that’s fine, I’m honored, but you’re not much good if you faint. Guard me all you want. Watch me all you want, but do something else at the same time. Polish your armor, sharpen your sword, tie your bootlaces, talk to the people around you, get to know us. Get to know us well; how else will you know who to watch? What I’m getting at is, do something, do anything, never just stand in one place for a long time. You present too much of a target that way.”

  The man looked shaken by his fainting and he couldn’t seem to understand what Sean found so funny about it, but he nodded and hung his head. “I’m a failure. I don’t deserve to be your guard.”

  “Nonsense,” said Sean. “You just forgot one of the first things you learn in basic training.”

  Laon looked at Sean, confusion written all over his face. “What’s ‘basic training’?”

  Sean looked at Cordan, who shrugged and shook his head. He was more accustomed to Sean saying odd things. There must be no such thing as ‘basic training’ here.