Ascendant

by Craig Alanson

  When they finally reached the castle gate, with much shouting, cursing and pushing by Lenner, the young soldier pulled out the pass signed by Captain MacKurt, and the oil-skin pouch of dispatches. "Trooper Lenner Smith, with dispatches from Captain MacKurt to General Magrane."

  The lead guard, tired from long hours of mostly turning people away from the gate, held Lenner's pass up to the torchlight. "Looks real, but if you've been in the field, you won't know today's password."

  "Lenner! I recognize you." Said another guard. "Your father is a scribe here. He's all right, let him through."

  "Wait!" The lead guard snapped. "Who's this with you?"

  "The wizard's servant, Koren Bladewell, come here from the battle at Longshire." Lenner answered.

  "Koren Bladewell?" The lead guard held the lantern up to shine light on Koren's face. "Why, it is you!" This caused surprised muttering amongst the guards. "Didn't expect to see you here." What the guard said next shocked both Koren and Lenner. "Seize the prisoner," the man said, almost reluctantly.

  "What?" Koren gulped, and Thunderbolt danced backwards, away from the approaching guards. Koren's hand reflexively went to the hilt of his sword, which caused the guards to draw their swords.

  "Whoa, whoa! What are you talking about?" Lenner moved his horse between Koren and the guards, keeping his own sword in its sheath.

  "Captain Raddick sent back word from Longshire, about the battle, and his dispatches said Koren here is a coward and a deserter. That he left the wizard at the start of the battle, and later left his post, to run off. Sorry about this, Koren, lad."

  "What? I am not a coward, and I didn't desert, I went to rescue-" Koren stopped, seething with anger. No words from him were going to convince the guards, who had orders. He looked behind him, then at the guards, at the open gate behind them. Koren knew, and so did the guards who had watched him riding, and sparring with the weapons master, that if Koren rode away, they couldn't catch him, and if he fought, it would be a bloody battle.

  "Where is the wizard?" Lenner asked sharply. "What has he said?"

  "In the hospital, delirious with fever. He hasn't spoken about Koren, or the battle, or much of anything." The lead guard admitted. "Koren, lad, I have to take you in. Don't make this difficult on everyone."

  "I'll take him in," Lenner offered the break the stalemate, "but first Koren is going to attend to the wizard. Koren knows where Lord Salva keeps his potions and things, he may be able to help the healers."

  The lead guard considered for a moment. "All right, then, it's on you to watch him, Lenner. But Koren, you can't keep your sword. Can't bring it into the hospital, anyway. We'll see to your horses."

  Koren silently handed his precious, dwarf-made short sword to Lenner. Prisoner. He was to be locked in the dungeon, unless Paedris could tell the truth to the guards. Koren felt a chill go down his spine, If the wizard would tell the truth. He'd lied about so many things, why should Koren expect the wizard to tell the truth now? There was nothing else he could do, so he let Lenner lead the way through the gate. Instead of ducking his head in shame, Koren met the guard's eyes with anger and defiance. Anger and determination.

  Her Highness Ariana Trehayme, crown princess of Tarador, soon to be queen of the realm, maitress of the church, protector of the weak, commander-in-chief of the royal army and navy, and etcetera, also was quite angry that very moment. Furious, in fact. Since word reached the palace of the wholly unexpected battle in Longshire, followed by the arrival of the seriously ill court wizard, she had been consumed with preparing her country against invasion. Or, rather, watching her mother frantically make one decision after another, sometimes changing her mind twice in the space of an hour. Carlana was doing the best she could, but she was in a panic over the raid and near death of her court wizard, and she wasn't thinking clearly. She was driving her army commanders crazy, to the point where General Magrane in a weak moment confessed to Ariana that, as soon as Captain Raddick returned to the palace, Magrane was going into the field to assume command of the defense forces on the eastern border. At the very least, in the field, he would not get contradictory orders from the Regent every hour.

  What had made Ariana absolutely furious is that she just learned, a few minutes before, that Captain Raddick's hurriedly written account of the battle had declared Koren Bladewell to be a coward and a deserter, and that the servant boy was to be arrested on sight. That her mother had not known of the army's orders didn't matter, what mattered was that Ariana insisted her mother come with her, as soon as they were done reviewing the evening changing of the guard, to see General Magrane, and rescind the awful, untrue charges against Koren. And that Magrane immediately send out a patrol of soldiers to find Koren. When the wizard had come back, delirious with fever and without Koren, Ariana had assumed Koren was still with Captain Raddick. Safe, with Raddick's men. Now, apparently, no one knew where he was!

  Ariana burst out of the doorway into the courtyard, her mother and guards trailing behind. Carlana was forced to hike up her skirts to keep up, an uncomfortable and undignified action that had her red in the face. "Young lady, you slow down-"

  Ariana spun on her heels, oblivious to the royal guards who were lined up, waiting for the Regent and crown princess to watch their ceremonial evening changing of the guard, as they did most evenings. "No, mother." She said in a harsh whisper, loud enough to scandalize the servants. "Koren has been missing for days, and the army has orders to arrest him, as a coward? And no one thought it was important to tell me?" She stomped over the raised dais where she usually stood to review the guards, and was about to signal for the ceremony to begin without her mother, when she saw a familiar person emerge from a doorway on the opposite side of the courtyard. "Koren!" She shouted in delight.

  Koren had been biting his lip, looking at the ground, lost in thought about what he would say to Paedris, if the wizard was capable of listening. As he and Lenner came into the torchlit courtyard, he heard a familiar girl's voice cry out "Koren!" He was so startled that he stumbled, and bumped into Lenner.

  And right then, it happened. As Ariana shouted in delight, she dashed forward, and a heavy stone gargoyle crashed to the dais right where she had been only an eyeblink before. A large piece of stone that had been the gargoyle's right arm broke off, and struck the crown princess hard on her back, smashing her to the hard flagstones of the courtyard. She lay stunned, the breath knocked out of her, stars swimming in her eyes, her ears ringing.

  Koren's feet got tangled up with Lenner's, and the two fell hard to the stone surface of the courtyard, with Koren bumping his head on the flagstones. He was on his knees, shaking his head, when he saw, heard, and felt the stone strike Ariana.

  Carlana had been behind her daughter, far enough that she was only pelted with a few pebbles broken off the gargoyle, close enough that she was at her daughter's side, cradling her bloodied head, before Koren had run more than a few steps toward Ariana. Guards had moved to surround the stricken princess, to protect her against further danger, with swords drawn, eyes peering up at the roof where the gargoyle had come from. The Regent was not looking upward. Her weapon was the daggers in her eyes, eyes fixed on the unexpected, and unwelcome, sight of Koren Bladewell. The boy had been gone for weeks, and the instant Carlana saw him again, her daughter was struck down? Koren had been in LeVanne when that province was invaded. Koren was at the river when a bear attacked her daughter. Koren was at Longshire with Paedris when the wizard was attacked by the enemy. Carlana had sent Paedris there because that area of Tarador was one of the least likely places the wizard could find trouble! But, oh, no, every time Koren is there, terrible trouble follows! She knew it was a bad idea to let the boy into the castle, she knew it!

  "Get away from my daughter, you jinx!" The Regent screamed, pointing at Koren, and he stopped in his tracks. "Look what you did to my daughter, you cursed jinx, get out!" Ariana groaned and Carlana cradled her daughter's head. "Get out of here, and don't ever come back! Get out!"

/>   Koren froze, hands up to show he had no weapons, listening to the Regent's voice echoing off the stone walls of the courtyard, burning into his ears. One of the guards, assuming the Regent meant that Koren had somehow caused the gargoyle to fall, took a hesitant step forward, and Koren ran. Ran, blindly, pushing the stunned Lenner out of his way, down a corridor, up another, around a corner, running, running, running until he was out of breath and out of places to run. He stopped, huffing and puffing, bent over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. And trying to collect his wits.

  Jinx.

  He was a jinx, he knew it. Bad luck to everyone around him. With Paedris ill, the wizard had been unable to counter the power of Koren's curse. Now his curse had hurt Ariana, hurt her badly. His curse struck everyone he cared about.

  The wizard abruptly sat upright in his hospital bed, startling the healer who had been sitting by his side, cooling his feverish forehead with damp cloths. Something had awakened him from his fitful sleep. Magic! Dark, foul magic, here in the castle! "What is happening?" Paedris demanded.

  "I, uh, uh, I don't-" The healer stammered.

  "Find someone who does, then!" His head swimming, Paedris' initial burst of energy was fading quickly. Knowing he would soon be slipping back into feverish delirium, he reached into the spirit realm and pulled power into himself. It was a temporary surge of power, a dangerous surge he would pay terribly for later, especially in his weakened condition. If he did not feel the need so dire, he would not have done it.

  Impatient, the wizard swept aside the bed sheet, looking in dismay at the thin, sweat-soaked robe he was wearing. "A robe! Get me a decent robe! Oh, forget it." Sweeping past the paralyzed healer, Paedris grabbed a cloak off a hook and threw it around him, storming out past the guards. He strode quickly down the hallway and out of the hospital building, where he saw the chief guard rushing across the courtyard. "Temmas! Temmas!" He shouted in a powerful voice to get the man's attention. "Come here! What has happened?"

  The man named Temmas hurried over to the wizard, out of breath. "Begging your pardon, my lord, a gargoyle fell off the roof, and struck the princess, she may have broken ribs. The Regent blamed your servant-"

  "My servant?" Paedris grabbed the man's shoulders and shook him. "Koren is here? When did he get here?"

  "I think he just got here recently, my lord." The chief guard actually didn't know, the comings and goings of servants was not something his guards were instructed to inform him about. "He was in the courtyard when the gargoyle fell, the Regent believes he had something to do with it, she said he is a jinx? I suspect this was an accident-"

  "Fool! That idiot woman!" Paedris raged, not caring who heard him railing against the Regent. "Koren had nothing to do it with it, and this was no accident, this was the act of an assassin. I can sense the foulness of dark magic, this is the work of the enemy. There is an assassin in the castle, perhaps more than one!"

  The chief guard, who was responsible for the safety of the royal family within the confines of the castle walls, tried to swallow with a throat that suddenly was dry as a desert. He had already been dealing with increased security because of the battle at Longshire, dealing with the constant demands of the Regent, and on this perfectly ordinary evening, with an old piece of masonry falling off the roof. An unfortunate accident, that. He would, he had thought, have a long night making sure the princess had the best of medical care, calming down her mother, and sending a crew onto the roof to inspect the hundreds of other gargoyles and other decorative stone objects attached to the top of the walls.

  But, an assassin? An assassin, that he had let inside the walls of the castle, the capital of Tarador, the very seat of power? Such a failure could not be borne, he would have to resign in disgrace. If he survived the night. He knew better than to question the court wizard's pronouncement; if Lord Salva said he felt dark magic, then foul deeds were afoot tonight. And Temmas would trust the judgment of a feverish wizard over the flighty and emotional Regent any day. Especially this day. "What are your orders, my lord?"

  "Seal off the castle, no one in or out." Paedris paused, for that order was so obvious it didn't warrant speaking aloud. Think, he told himself. What was most important? "Koren! My servant," he said, as his right hand squeezed the chief guard's shoulder in a magic-powered crushing grip, and the man grunted in pain, "you must get my servant to safety. Bring him to the fortress, and post guards there, do it now! You must protect him. Oh, and bring the princess there also," Paedris said it as an afterthought, "I will be there as soon as I can to tend to her injuries."

  Temmas thought he should ask the wizard to tend to his shoulder, which he rotated to make sure it still worked, after the wizard released his iron grip. Why did the wizard care so much about a lowly servant, who no assassin would think twice about? It wasn't his place to question the mighty, not on a night when dark magic stalked the castle walls. "Yes, my lord. Do you need assistance, to deal with the assassin?"

  Paedris blinked slowly to clear his vision. He was already feeling the effects of the artificial energy coursing throughout his mortal body. "Yes, lend me two of your guards. I need to go up on the roof."

  The chief guard turned to bark orders at his men, and that was where the night truly began to spiral out of control, and the future path of Koren's life was decided. Because, when an unwritten order is repeated enough times, from one person to the next, the original intent is often lost in a confusion of misunderstandings, rumors and embellishments. That explains how 'protect Koren' and 'bring him to the fortress' changed into what guards throughout the castle heard.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  When Koren recovered his wits, he angrily wiped away his tears, and considered what he should do. Nothing, he thought, had changed from his original purpose of coming to the castle. He needed to attend to the wizard, although now it seemed best that he first go to the tower and collect a sample of healing potions to bring to the hospital with him. The courtyard was in an uproar, with guards running this way and that, although no one seemed to know what they were doing, and no one yet called out for him to stop. He ran up into the tower, and pressed the locked door to the potion room in exactly the place Paedris had instructed him to, to avoid the wards from releasing banshees and blasting his ears. He had collected a sample of healing potions in a leather satchel, when he heard several sets of boots tramping across the courtyard to stop at the doorway below. Koren froze in place to listen, holding his breath.

  "What're we here for?" One guard's voice asked.

  "The wizard's brat, we're to take him to the dungeon, is my orders."

  "The dungeon?" The first guard exclaimed, surprised. "I didn't even know he'd returned. He's a coward and a deserter, but-"

  "And he made that gargoyle fall on the princess, I heard the Regent say it myself. The wizard told the captain of the guards, find Koren Bladewell, and bring the boy to the dungeon."

  "The wizard is up from his sickbed?"

  "Aye, an attack on the princess is enough to make the dead rise."

  Koren's ears didn't register the next words of the guards, for all he could hear was that the wizard ordered the guards to bring Koren to the dungeon. The dungeon. The word sent chills down Koren's spine, for the dungeon held only the worst of Linden's criminals.

  Slowly, he set the leather satchel on the floor. He would not need potions this night. This was the moment Kyre Falco had predicted. Koren needed to run, to run far away, and never come back. Sought by the army as a coward and a deserter. Declared by the Regent to be a dangerous jinx who had injured the crown princess. He was not a coward, not a deserter. But he was a jinx, he knew it. He would always be a jinx, always bring nothing but trouble to the people around him, and the worst trouble was for the people he cared about most, for the people-

  A horrible thought struck Koren like a lightning bolt. He had not rescued Ariana from the bear after all! She had been attacked by the bear because Koren was there. Koren the jinx, who brought misfortune and
disaster everywhere he went, to everyone around him. Ariana’s life had been in danger because of him. He was no hero, far from it. He was a curse. If there had not been a bear in the forest, Ariana would have fallen from the boat and drowned, or sat down in the forest and been bitten by a serpent, or maybe been struck by lightning. As long as Koren was nearby, something bad was bound to happen to the princess. And he had not rescued Paedris from the enemy, the enemy had attacked the wizard in a peaceful village, because Koren was there. Koren had brought the attack down on the wizard and Raddick's men! That was why Paedris had ordered him thrown into the dungeon, why the wizard would use as a excuse the charges of cowardice and desertion to get rid of Koren Bladewell. Because Koren's curse was so strong, so dangerous, that Paedris realized by now that even a powerful wizard could not stop it. For the security of the nation, Koren Bladewell belonged in a dungeon.

  Or in a grave.

  Koren sat on the floor of the potion room back against the stone wall of the tower, hearing guards' feet pounding on the stairs, up, then down. No one had tried the door to the potion rooms, they must have recognized the ward symbols. From the window, he heard the second guard's voice say "He's not here. Leave two men at the door, and follow me, we'll search the west wing of the palace next."

  A few minutes later, Koren risked a glance out the window; there were only two guards, waiting by the door. No matter, Koren knew a secret way out of the tower. The trouble would not be getting out of the tower, the trouble would be getting out of the castle walls. And he might know how to do that, too.

  Moving slowly and carefully, he stepped out of the potion room, and down the stairs to his bed chamber. The guards had searched his small room, things were strewn all over the floor and his bed was laying on its side. Quickly, Koren went directly to a particular stone in the wall behind the bed, and wriggled it out of the wall. Behind the stone was a hole, with a cloth-wrapped package, which Koren pulled out. Inside there were two knives, fishing line and hooks, string, flint and steel for starting fires, the money he had saved from his pay, and most importantly, the money Kyre Falco gave him. Koren had changed those gold coins for smaller coins, for servants running away should not attract attention by trying to use gold coins. He paused to look around the small room that had been his home. He realized that he would miss it, even though it could be cold, damp and drafty. Heading out the door, he stepped over items the guards had scattered on the floor, and saw one of the items was a quill pen and inkpot that Paedris had given to him. Back when the wizard was pretending to care about his servant. A note. He couldn't leave without writing a note, at least to apologize to Ariana for nearly killing her, he would never get another chance. It was important that Ariana know he hadn't meant for his curse to hurt her, and that he was leaving so his curse couldn't hurt anyone else.