Ascendant

by Craig Alanson

  Koren’s face burned with shame, he looked down, avoiding everyone’s eyes. He had been hoping, expecting, even, that Ariana would speak up for him. Instead, he had been dismissed. Koren pushed his chair back and stood up. Remembering his manners, he bowed to Duke Falco, then to the throne, although he couldn’t look at any of them. Taking extra care not to stumble over his own feet, he walked out of the hall with what little dignity he had left.

  Apparently, much indeed had happened while he had been away.

  Hours later, Kyre found Koren chopping wood, out behind the stables. Koren had changed into his grubby work clothes, and must have been chopping wood for a while, because he had a large pile of wood already cut, split and stacked. “Koren, I’m sorry. It’s my fault, I knew the law, but no one has enforced it for years. Bargann was being a jerk. Ariana should have told Bargann to be silent.”

  “She could do that?” Koren asked, so surprised that he almost sank the axe into his foot, instead of a log.

  Kyre shrugged. “She's the crown princess, and Carlana is the Regent. The law is the law, but sometimes the law is whatever the royal family says it is. Allowing only royalty into the Regency Council is more of a tradition than a law.”

  Koren acted like he didn’t care, while his teeth clenched in anger. Ariana could have saved him from being humiliated in front of the assembled royals, instead she had dismissed him? “It doesn’t matter, it was probably boring anyway.”

  “I think Carlana is mad at you for causing a scene.” Kyre placed a new log on the chopping block. “I’d stay out of her sight for a while, if I were you.”

  Koren took aim with the axe, and split the wood with one angry blow. “I haven’t been to the palace in a long time, and I’ve never seen the Regent while I’m doing laundry, or splitting wood."

  Koren slowly climbed the stairs of the tower, carrying dinner for Paedris. The scent of the roast beef and potatoes was making his mouth water, but he was so tired from chopping wood, that all he really wanted was to skip eating, and crawl into bed. The door was open, the wizard was looking at a pile of scrolls on the table, shifting them from one pile to another. “Ah, Koren, there you are. Set the food down over there, please. We have much to do tonight, and time is short.”

  “Tonight, sir?” Koren groaned. The sun was already setting when Koren had crossed the courtyard from the royal kitchens.

  “Yes.” Paedris said as he dug through a chest and pulled out a well-worn pair of traveling boots. “We are leaving tonight.”

  Koren’s shoulders slumped. “Leaving again, sir? So soon?”

  Paedris paused to stare at his servant. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Yes, the Regent has refused to send the army out this summer, despite my advice, and the advice of, well, we can discuss that later.” The wizard moved his lips like he had something sour in his mouth. “The point is, she has agreed I should visit one of our allies, to strengthen our alliance in advance of the summer. We are bringing an army troop with us, a full century of soldiers. Captain Raddick and I decided we would leave as soon as possible, before the Regent changes her mind. It is unfortunate that we'll miss the festival, but it cannot be helped. How soon can you be packed?”

  Now Koren regretted not getting dinner for himself. “Uh, how long will we be gone, sir?”

  “The journey to Hoffsta will be three weeks, better plan on four if we run into bad weather. Don’t worry about food, the army quartermaster will take care of that. I’ll need my best robes for when we are in Hoffsta, let’s see, um-“

  Koren bowed and started to back out of the room, before the wizard decided to pack the entire contents of the tower. “I will take care of it, sir. We should be ready in a turn of the glass?”

  “Very well, good, good. Send word to Captain Raddick to expect us then.”

  It was two turns of the glass before the army troop rode out the gates of the castle, amidst much cursing, shouting, and general complaining about the lateness of the hour. And at the prospect of missing the festival, where there was sure to be food and drink and much merriment. As they wound their way down through the streets of the city, Koren took a look back at the gray stone walls of the castle, and the white palace lit by torches. Despite being tired and hungry, Koren was glad to be getting away from the castle, away from the maids who barely knew his name, away from the royals and their stupid rules, away from being embarrassed in front of a hall full of people, away from fickle princesses who liked him one day and ignored him the next. As far as Koren was concerned that night, he didn’t care if he ever came back.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Ariana woke late, hiding her eyes from the bright sunshine as her maid pulled the curtains from her window. She had stayed up very late, with her mother and the Dukes, discussing boring affairs of state until she was barely able to keep her eyes open. What she had wanted to do last night, instead of listening to Dukes give speeches, was to find Koren and tell him how sorry she was that he had been cast out of the Regency Council meeting. Any rule that said a true hero like Koren could not attend such a meeting was a stupid rule, and she intended to change those rules when she wore the queen’s crown on her heard. And make Koren royalty anyway, by granting him the knighthood he should have already! This morning, she would start by inviting her hero to lunch, to apologize in person. And maybe tell him about his future knighthood that very day, if the moment seemed to be right. After all, there was no reason she had to wait for his birthday to give him a present. “Good morning, Suzanna, it looks like a fine day.” Ariana said as she sat up, stretched her arms and yawned.

  The maid curtsied. “Good morning, your Highness. It is indeed a fine day, will you be taking a ride before your lessons?”

  “I will have breakfast first. Bring me a pen and paper, I wish to send a note to invite Koren Bladewell to lunch with me today.”

  “But, my lady-“

  Ariana waved away her maid’s protest. “I know what my mother says about me having boys here in my chambers, so we will dine in the royal hall. And I don’t care what my mother thinks.” She added almost under her breath. Her mother should be the one to apologize to Koren, but since that would never happen, Ariana would do it herself.

  “But, my lady, the wizard and his servant rode out with Captain Raddick last night Going to Hoffsta, they are.”

  “Hoffsta?” Ariana exclaimed. She remembered her mother discussing Hoffsta with some of the dukes, she couldn’t remember what was said. “But that is so far away! Koren won’t be back for months?”

  “Yes, my lady. You won’t be needing the pen and paper, then?”

  “No!” Ariana shouted, and pulled the covers over her head, to hide her tears. Koren had left the castle before she could tell him she was sorry. “He must think I’m a horrible," she sobbed to herself. Sending Koren away again must have been her mother’s idea! She threw the covers off, and slid her feet onto the floor. “Get my dress, I will speak with my mother right away.”

  “No, I didn’t send Lord Salva away to get Koren out of the castle, whatever gave you that silly idea?” Carlana asked as she bit into a piece of buttered toast. “If you had been paying attention the past week, Paedris wants me to send the army out again this summer, and he persuaded more than half the Dukes to agree with him. I told them that I am not risking the army on another adventure, but what I did agree to was sending a troop of soldiers, and Lord Salva, to Hoffsta. King Perranin of Hoffsta is nervous about Acedor raiding his coast, and he was been wavering in his alliance with Tarador. Paedris and Captain Raddick are going there, to show our support for Hoffsta.”

  “But they left in the middle of the night! I didn’t get a chance to tell Koren I was sorry for throwing him out of the council meeting!”

  Carlana shrugged. “Departing in the night was Captain Raddick’s decision. And crown princesses do not apologize to servant boys. You did nothing wrong, Ariana, Koren should not have been there. If anyone is to blame, it is the Falco’s.”

  Ariana still had her arms acr
oss her chest, defiant. “You can’t blame-“

  “Why was Koren with the Falco’s?” Carlana interrupted. “He had no business being there. The wizard’s boy sitting with our political rivals?”

  “Kyre is Koren’s friend.” Ariana said with a frown.

  Carlana’s laugh was bitter. “Falco’s do not make friends with servant boys. What game is Regin playing? It disturbs me that a boy my daughter is so infatuated with is -“

  “I don’t have a crush on Koren.” Ariana protested weakly.

  Carlana appraised her daughter with a cool eye, then held out her hand. “Ariana, dear, sit down, please. You forget, I was your age one time, and I know what it is like to have a crush on a boy.” The Regent sighed. “Koren saved your life, and he discovered the Cornerstone, of course he’s a hero to you-“

  “He’s a hero to everyone! If everyone knew.”

  “If everyone knew, the enemy would know, and it would not be healthy for Koren to have the enemy’s eye fixed upon him.”

  “The enemy’s eye is fixed on us.”

  “Yes, and that is why we live in a castle, surrounded by soldiers, and you take a dozen guards with you whenever you ride outside these walls. Koren is under Lord Salva’s protection, that is why he was brought to live with Paedris. Ariana,” Carlana took her daughter’s hands in her own, “I also think Koren is an extraordinary boy, and I see why you admire him. But you do understand that you are a princess, and he is a commoner, and there can never be anything between you?”

  Ariana nodded reluctantly, defiant. “Yes, mother.”

  “Good. Someday, there will be the proper time to recognize Koren for his achievements, I promise you that. Until then, would you like to do something that might help Koren?”

  “Yes?” Ariana’s mood brightened.

  “Find out why Kyre brought Koren to sit with the Falco’s. Kyre must have known Koren would be humiliated, what we need to know is why. Why are the Falco’s interested in the wizard’s servant?”

  Koren found he greatly enjoyed riding with the army. The soldiers, except for those few who resented his wizard-spelled skill with the sword, liked him and treated him as one of their own. Koren ate his meals while sitting around a campfire with the soldiers. The soldiers were happy to have someone who had not already heard all their stories, lies and jokes; and Koren was happy to hear the stories, lies and jokes, even when he couldn’t tell the difference between them. When Captain Raddick decided it was time, at the end of a long day of riding, for drill with weapons, formations both on foot and horseback, and other training, Koren took his place with the soldiers, griping and complaining just as they did. Although he did not take a turn standing guard at night, he rose early to bring coffee and hot food to the soldiers who were up guarding the camp, in the wee hours of the morning.

  Carrying the pail of hot coffee, Koren carefully stepped around the sleeping forms of soldiers until he came to the edge of the campsite. Koren knew his vision at night was far better than most people, it had been that way ever since he could remember, so he didn't think it was the result of another spell Paedris had cast on him. He had no trouble following the faint trail of flattened grass up to where the sentries were posted. He also could move very quietly, so he took care to make noise as he approached the guards, lest he startle a guard, and be the target of an arrow in the darkness.

  “Halt! Who goes there?” A woman’s voice called out.

  “Koren Bladewell. The password is 'cornstalk'.”

  “Yes it is.” The woman chuckled. “Advance and be recognized. Did you bring something to eat?

  “Just coffee, the cooks don’t have breakfast ready yet.” Seeing the disappointment on the soldiers' faces, Koren reached into his pocket with a smile. “But I do have this sweetcake that Paedris didn’t eat last night.”

  “Ah, give it here, my good man.”

  Koren split the sweetcake into three pieces, and sat eating quietly with the two soldiers, looking off into the darkness. As they were still inside Tarador, no one expected an enemy attack, and the sentries were bored.

  “Let me see your face.” The woman named Blogel said, and studied Koren’s cheek in the dim moonlight. “Huh. You’ll have a bruise, nothing more. If they do that again, you call for me, we’ll teach them a lesson. They hit you hard.” Yesterday, Koren had been sparring with two soldiers who resented his wizard-spelled combat skills; Koren found he could usually hold off three soldiers, if they were only using practice swords. After getting whacked with Koren’s sword too many times, the men called three of their friends, and in the melee, Koren had taken a hard blow to the face, before an officer stepped in and broke up the fight. The five men were now on punishment duty, and Koren would try to avoid them when he could.

  “I hit them harder.” Koren said with a grin. And that was the truth, he had hit them hard, even with the padding wrapped around Koren's dwarf-made short sword, it still hurt to get whacked on the arm or in the belly.

  “And you did, you did!” Blogel agreed, patting Koren on the back. She liked the young servant boy, he reminded her of her brother, back on the family farm. With women making up only fourteen of the hundred soldiers in Raddick’s century, the women tended to stick together, and they had sort of adopted Koren, looking after the boy. “Tell me, that story I heard, about you rescuing the princess from a bear, or bandits, or something, was that true?”

  “Bah!” The other soldier, a man named Kreger, snorted. “Next you’ll be believing the boy pulled the Cornerstone out of his pocket, and gave it to the princess.”

  “Let the boy speak, Kreger. True or not, it’s a good story.”

  Koren took a deep breath, and repeated the story Paedris told him to use, if the subject ever came up. “There was a bear, a really big one, and the guards say they found bandits in the woods, later. The bear came out of the woods, it was being chased by a swarm of bees, and it knocked over the boat. I pulled the princess out of the river.”

  “Huh,” Blogel sounded disappointed, “she could have drowned, I guess, if you hadn’t been there.”

  Koren grinned and nodded vigorously. “Princesses can’t swim, with all those fancy clothes they wear.”

  Blogel laughed. “Wait ‘til she gets the crown on her head, she really won’t be able to swim then.”

  “I hear what you were doing in those woods was poaching Duke Yarron’s deer?” Kreger asked.

  “I didn’t see any signs against poaching.” Koren grumbled. “And mostly, it was fish, anyway.”

  “Lucky you saved the princess, then, before Yarron’s sheriff caught you.” Kreger looked at Koren sharply. “Dukes don’t take kindly to poachers.”

  Blogel slapped her fellow guard on the head. “Give the boy his due, Kreger! Besides, can you tell me you’ve never taken a deer or two, when you were hungry and the sheriff wasn’t looking?”

  “Well,” Kreger grunted, then smiled, “maybe. Got to keep them darned lazy sheriffs on their toes, right?”

  “Quite right, quite right.” Blogel took a sip of coffee. “So, Koren, you ever thought of being a soldier?”

  Koren looked down at the ground. Soldiers came from common folk, but the officers only took men from good families, who could vouch for their character. Without a family, Koren didn’t think being a soldier was an option for him. “I, uh, I work for Paedris, that’s what I do.”

  “Yes, of course, but what about your future?" Kreger asked. "You’re not going to live in a cubbyhole in the wizard’s tower forever, are you? A young man like yourself needs to think of the future. Do you have a girl? Women like men who have a future ahead of them. If you’re not going to be a soldier, are you going to learn a trade, or rent some land to farm? You come from farmers, don’t you?”

  Koren glumly admitted he had not thought much beyond being the wizard’s servant. He had saved almost every coin Paedris had paid to him, little as that was. “I do know farming, I suppose it would be nice to have land of my own, some day.”

  “Th
ere you go!" Kreger said encouragingly. "I have a little plot of land myself, a couple acres set aside, plan to live there someday when I’m done soldiering, and be lord o’ my own land.”

  “Ha! You, a lord?” Blogel laughed. “Your soldiering will be done when a orc splits you with an axe.”

  “Don’t listen to her, Koren. Be on your way, now, there’s more of us needing coffee this morn. You think on what we said about your future, hear?”

  “Paedris, how long do you, uh, think you want me to work for you?”

  The wizard’s eyebrows flew up, and set down the mug of coffee he had been drinking. “You don’t like being here?” It had never occurred to Paedris that a lowly peasant boy would not enjoy being the court wizard’s servant.

  “Um, yes, sir, I am very grateful, it’s great living in the castle, I mean, in your tower, sir. It’s just that, most boys my age would be learning a trade, for the future. If I’m ever to, to get married, someday, I would need a place of my own.”

  “Married?” Paedris exclaimed, astonished. Koren had been spending time with Ariana-

  No! It couldn’t be! Koren had rescued the princess, but surely he was not such a fool that he considered her a sweetheart? This could be a disaster! Paedris was so shocked by the unexpected conversation that his face took on a scowl that Koren mistook for anger. “You have a girl in mind?”

  “No! Sir. Not now. I don’t have a trade, or own any land, my mother would say I’m not a good catch? But, someday-“ Koren looked at the floor, embarrassed. Then he blurted out “I can’t live in a cubbyhole forever, sir.”

  Paedris felt a shiver of relief. There was no romance with the princess, Koren was nothing but a normal boy, wanting to know of his future. But what could Paedris say? That Koren would, in a short few years, replace Paedris as the most powerful wizard in Tarador, and have a castle of his own to live in? The wizard cleared his throat. “Koren, in your young life, you have already rescued a princess and found the lost Cornerstone. You may stay here as long as you like, personally I don’t know what I would do without you. But I can certainly understand that a young man like yourself needs to think of the future. Have you considered a trade you would like to be trained in?”