A Bitter Brew

by Greg Curtis

  “Maybe someday.” Hendrick tried to be supportive. He felt he owed her that.

  “No. Not for us I think. Everything you and Marnie and Tyrollan has done has been good for the afflicted. Our people walk around with a little more pride, and they receive a little more acceptance. Grudging acceptance perhaps, but still life is better. But for those of us of noble blood, it will always be a mark of shame.”

  “At least we're free,” he told her. Which after all he thought was what mattered most. He didn't owe any debt to anyone. Not to his family at least. The Guild of the Gifted was progressing well. He had played his part and now Marnie and Tyrollan were leading it toward a bright future. He also understood they were expecting their first child. His mother was running her family business and earning a fortune. Who would have thought that there would be such a market for wares from the Empire in Styrion?

  His father had finally stepped down – he'd had to after it had been revealed that he'd also wed Dibella – and was now living a quiet life while Andrian, Lady Terrinesse's eldest son had assumed the throne. Despite it being a station no one would ever have expected he would one day hold, he was doing a good job as king so far. And his first decree had been that their father would never be allowed to wed again. His second was to free Lady Recina from the dungeon. Most importantly he was keeping the promises to the afflicted their father had made. He had the makings of a good king.

  Meanwhile Marda and her sons were somewhere in the Empire. They'd been spotted fleeing through the portal system some months back. And since then they hadn't been heard from. Hendrick guessed they'd wouldn't be back. Not when their faces were still so well known. For the moment they were just fleeing. Probably from the noble families of the Empire as well as from all of Styrion. Whatever deal Marda had made with them to stand against Dibella and his mother in the negotiations, had come badly undone.

  As for the Queen of the Dragons herself, she was nowhere to be seen. Hendrick was glad of that. He didn't know how to face her. It was good that she had her clutch back he supposed, and that they were hopefully all still healthy despite spending nearly ten thousand years without a mother to watch over them. But she still wasn't the Simone he had known. Neither the clothes mad dullard, nor the motherly wife of his father. Simone was just a lie.

  “Have you seen her?” Sana obviously guessed the direction of his thoughts and asked the question that was uppermost on both their minds. It probably always would be.

  “No. Not since she took her eggs and vanished, hopefully never to return.” But he didn't know that. In five hundred years she might be back again with vengeance on her mind. “So what have you been doing these past six months?”

  “Travelling mostly. Exploring the Empire. Coming back every month though for a few days.”

  “Why?”

  “To pick up a few more spells. Ten at a time. I've been going to the monasteries and temples for the private ceremonies.”

  “By the gods, why?” That he truly didn't understand. The ceremonies were still happening, both in the Guild and the temples. People still came, and the Guild was full, though it wasn't bursting at the seams as it once had been. People weren't doing it out of fear anymore. These days if they accepted a spell it was more out of a desire to explore their magic and the hope of absorbing a spell that would be marketable. He assumed the same was true for those who visited the temples privately. And strangely, those of their people now living off world were also continuing to return to pick up a few spells. So were some of the other races who had joined them. It had now reduced to only a few hundred of them coming to each ceremony, but it hadn't died when the threat had passed. Was there more going on that he didn't know about?

  He also noticed there were still no any markings on Sana's hands, face or feet. Yet if she was doing what she said, she had to have fifty spells by now. They had to be all on her back, or under her clothes. She was remaining a witch for some reason.

  “I want to be ready for whatever comes.”

  “Stay in the Empire. You're safe there.”

  “You'd think so. But the Empire's in disarray. It has been for centuries. Some of the worlds are … rebellious. Others are becoming lawless. And the noble families are at war. It helps to have a few spells at hand.”

  And obviously concealed he realised. Just how lawless was the Empire becoming? Because if anyone would have been safe there, he would have thought it would have been her. She was the hero who had called the dragons and saved them after all.

  “And the voices? Do you hear them?”

  “A little,” she nodded. “But after what I've been through, they barely whisper.”

  That was true he realised. No one had likely suffered more than her. “Do the meditations. Every day. They help. They may help with the rest as well.”

  “I know. I do. And thank you. But that brings me to why I sought you out. You're the one in danger. The magic of the crystals is almost gone. The black rocks still work and keep things running, and the deal your mother made keeps things running. But they aren't what people want. They want their crystals back. And now they think they might be able to get them. And the only one who knows where the mine is, is you. Once Styrion joins the Empire you can bet that people from other worlds will be seeking you out. Some of those who come will want to talk to you. Others won't worry about such niceties. I needed to warn you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “No thanks are owed. I won't lie to you. When I look at you a part of me will always remember your creatures pulling my arm and leg off. I still have nightmares about that. But at the same time you saved my life. And from a fate far worse than just a quick death.”

  “Well if anyone should ask, you can tell them that there is no mine. Not anymore. That thing wrecked worlds. It was far too dangerous to remain in existence. So when I was done rebuilding my home, yet again, I spent a few weeks doing nothing more than chopping up the mine and scattering the pieces across ten thousand worlds.”

  “A whole mine?” Her eyes widened.

  “Most of a mountain actually. It's quite amazing how much I can chop out with a dimensional blade and then expel from the world. Now those crystals are at the bottom of great oceans, in swamps, chasms, deserts and on mountain tops. They're surrounded by deadly creatures and covered in poisonous vapours. They have been spread over a thousand worlds. Even I couldn't find them.” And suddenly he was very glad of that.

  “You are not going to be well liked!”

  Hendrick laughed a little bitterly. “I never was! This was already my last day in Styrion.” And wasn't that a cruel twist of fate he thought. To have finally rebuilt his home and grown comfortable in it, only to have to abandon it forever. It was truly a sour brew.

  “What?! Why?”

  “In the last five months seven assassins from the richest and oldest families in the Empire have come after me. They believe I've shamed their family names and cost them endless wealth. And though I've defeated them, more will come.”

  In fact he was certain that more were already on their way. They were persistent – and deadly. Several had come close to killing him. Even getting rid of his portal back to Styrion hadn't stopped them. They knew where his home was, and they had magic, stolen or otherwise. Magic of every type and the will to use it. They were also proving to be quite inventive. That was enough.

  “And when the deal is signed today, Styrion becomes subject to Empire law. And the new head of the Senate Judiciary, Darnial Marn, has already issued a writ for my arrest on charges of aiding an enemy combatant.”

  And how in all the hells had she escaped prosecution he kept wondering? But it didn't matter how. She had. Her position in the hierarchy of the Empire had even gone up. And now she was coming for him along with everyone else. Probably she missed her bracelet.

  “I might escape the charges, but I'd be unlikely to survive the months sitting in an Empire gaol, waiting for my trial. Food poisoning I expect! Or accidentally tripping and breaking my neck! Every
man and woman in Styrion would be required to assist the Empire in capturing me. And it's not as if I can hide who I am.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  “Don't be. It's not your fault. It's mine. I made a choice. And I always knew there would be consequences. But along the way I've helped our people find a new place in the world. A better place. I'm happy about that. I see this as a chance for me to explore my gifts and grow into a mage. Besides, in ten, twenty years, when hopefully the markings won't show any more, I'll be able to return.”

  And though he wasn't going to tell her or anyone else, he was going to spend the intervening years tracking down and destroying the seven ancient magical engines. It would be a challenge finding them. But he had the notes from the book his mother had shown him. He had his windows to the past. And he had time. That was enough.

  “You've lost your home?”

  “I don't have a home any more. I burnt it down this morning.”

  “What?!” Sana's eyes widened in disbelief.

  Hendrick guessed he could understand her reaction. He had scarcely been able to believe he was doing it himself at the time. But it had had to be done. There could be no place left where his enemies could find him. Where they could set traps for him. The bitter irony of it wasn't lost on him though. To burn down his own home after having spent so much time and effort repeatedly rebuilding it – that had been hard.

  “It was a trap. A place where my enemies always believed they could hunt me down. Now they have nowhere to start hunting. And soon they won't even know what I look like.”

  “Where will you go?” In time, Sana asked the obvious question.

  “I don't know.” Hendrick shrugged. “Probably everywhere. I am a world walker after all.”

  “It'll be hard. Especially on your own.”

  “True, but I've always been alone. And if there's anything that this past year has taught me it's that life is hard. And it should be hard. It's only when you truly test yourself that you discover who you are and who you can be.” Hendrick turned to face his visitor. “I think you understand that too.”

  “Maybe.” Sana let her gaze drop to the ground. “But I don't think I like who I was.”

  “Then become who you want to be,” he told her. “You're not a child any more. You're not bound to any path. You're free. Take that freedom and use it. You have a whole Empire you can explore. You have magic. Gifts that aren't despised there. You could become a healer or a farmer. A wife and a mother. Whatever you want.”

  “But not you?”

  “I have my own journey ahead, and while it may not be one that I would have chosen for myself, it's still one that I know I need to walk. It's time for Hendrick the Brewer to fade into the past as Prince Hendrick did before him. And for Hendrick the Mage to appear.” And the terrible thing was that as much as he hated saying it, he knew it was true.

  He would come back. Eventually. When he did he would be stronger. Free from the taint of the ancient wizard. Free from his past too. But more than that he promised himself, when he returned he would be the mage he should always have been.

  But first he thought as he turned his gaze back to the park, he'd sit and watch his family for a little longer.