“I see, so the price for my apprenticeship and joining the main family is not only my freedom, but eventually my life as well. That seems rather high.”
“Oh it’s higher than that still. The sort of power you seek always demands a very heavy cost. If it is more than you are willing to pay say so. You can return home and learn how to be a merchant or a common mage for hire.”
As Lilith was speaking Hera noticed the fingers on her aunt’s left hand were trembling slightly.
“The kind of power you are offering is worth any cost.”
“I thought the same once.”
“Are you trying to tell me it’s not?”
“What I am telling you is that you are very young. The day may come when you regret some of your choices.”
A smug grin blossomed beneath Hera’s nose. “I doubt it Aunt Lilith. So long as I get what I want I don’t care what it costs me.”
The words called up a memory.
XXX
For an instant Lilith imagined she could taste the salt air and could feel the warmth of Gawayne’s arms wrapped around her.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” He’d said to her so tenderly.
“Yes, I don’t care what it costs.”
She could still remember how he’d looked at her with those mournful, honey colored eyes. She’d understood that it had never been for his own fate, but for hers. He really had loved her.
As she had loved him.
XXX
“May you always feel that way.” Lilith said. “Now come with me and I will begin your instruction. There is much you need to learn and time is short.”
XXX
Hera was striding through the halls as though she owned them.
The Dark Powers smile upon me. She had just had her initial lesson and was filled to bursting with excitement. Hera had only just glimpsed the possibilities and they were whirling through her head. Teleportation, transfiguration, polymorphication, transference, material evocation, and all the other deeper magics; Lilith knew about all of them! The power to twist the universe and bend it to your will. How marvelous it was, how exciting! With such knowledge anything was possible.
Aunt Lilith was all that Hera had imagined her to be and more. She had met Lilith twice during the summer solstice celebrations. Hera had just been one in a long line of relatives to greet her and exchange a few words. How she had longed for more, but it had not been possible. She’d wanted to confess how she admired her and yearned to be the same. Hera recalled eating the ginger cakes and having a vision of being Lilith; of having the power to make everyone kneel before her. The power to condemn with just a word and to have the living and the dead obey her.
It had been such a vivid dream. She hadn’t been able to get it out of her head. Now here she was, apprenticed to her beloved Aunt Lilith, about to learn all of her secrets and become like her.
In Alteroth power was what mattered most, and women could have quite a lot of it. Even here though they were not quite equal to men. Lilith had never married because her husband would have immediately become head of the family. In an enlightened society like theirs, a husband’s penis still trumped all the intelligence and ability a woman possessed. Women could learn magic, have careers, and earn their own money; but having children was still seen as their primary duty. Men came first, and they wanted their women to be beautiful and obedient.
In Hera’s eyes Lilith was everything a strong woman should be. She ruled the Corpselover family with absolute authority. The council readily acknowledged her as their strongest member. While she was a stunning beauty Lilith used her looks to her own advantage, she went through lovers like a fox through a hen house, and was not above turning a man’s passions against him. She had expanded the wealth and influence of an already great house, and was as ruthless in business as she was in politics. Lilith really was everything Hera wanted to be.
The only thing that kept this from being a dream come true was the fact she was going to have to marry Waldo.
Thinking about that soured her mood, but only slightly. She had seen Waldo at the festivals and been anything but impressed. Whether dressed or undressed he had looked timid. To look at him one would certainly never guess he was heir to the richest and most powerful family in Alteroth.
Within the extended family there had always been talk about Waldo. He was the disgrace of the main line. Weak, with abilities that centered around healing and defensive spells. Within his veins was the blood of Avalon, and the color of his eyes proclaimed he was no true Dark Mage. Growing up she’d heard whispers questioning why someone like him was allowed to exist. The talk was always kept very quiet though, no one wanted rumors reaching Lilith.
When Walter died, the unthinkable happened, and the talk grew noticeably louder. No one wanted Waldo to be the next head of Corpselover. For the only time, there were doubts as to Lilith’s leadership. People wondered if she were somehow blind to all her son’s glaring faults or if it were just a simple matter of pride.
Again, no one in any of the branch families dared speak their doubts aloud. None of them would risk her wrath. They all feared Waldo becoming family head, but the general consensus was that Lilith would remain in power for many years yet. Waldo was unlikely to ever actually inherit. Even if she refused to arrange an accident, six of her children had already died, every one of them a respected magic user. What were the chances of an incompetent surviving?
During this time Hera had been upset. The idea of a fool man one day succeeding the great Lilith and ruining all she had built was infuriating. The sheer injustice of it was sickening, but of course there’d been nothing she could do.
When the news of the Council imposing their First Quest had come out there had been a unanimous sigh of relief. The Council had stepped in and done what Lilith should have done years before. Everyone assumed Waldo would never return and that Lilith would now select a proper heir.
“Instead we have this.” Hera said to herself. “Well it doesn’t matter.”
No one besides Lilith believed Waldo was coming back. For even a skilled Dark Mage the conditions would have been near impossible. What chance did the idiot stand? As brilliant as she was, her aunt clearly had a blind spot where her own children were concerned. Well it didn’t matter; Hera was willing to do anything for this opportunity. For the sake of entering the main family, and learning the deeper magics, she would even agree to be permanently chained to an incompetent and unworthy male.
Now that she’d had time to think about it though, she realized the terms were not near as bad as they appeared. Regardless of what Aunt Lilith believed Waldo was not coming back. Even if Lilith held onto her delusions for years, so what? She would be groomed to be the heir. Hera would master the necessary spells and learn everything else she needed to, to run the Corpselover family every bit as well as her aunt had. Sooner or later her aunt would accept the fact her son was not returning home and name her the heir.
Once that happened she could either wait for her time to come, or arrange an accident for her aunt. Either way, Hera was never going to be married or have children. She would rule with unquestioned authority and make her house even mightier than it was now, and when the time came she would find the best female candidate from among the branch families and adopt her as heir.
A wonderful future with unlimited possibilities awaited. Hera was headed towards the slave quarters, to pick out a couple young girls to help her celebrate her first night in the castle. As she was going a figure came across a corner up ahead. It was dressed in faded and tattered black robes with grey skin and jaundiced eyes. One look was enough to confirm the being was undead.
Seeing this did not concern Hera. Castle Corpselover was filled with undead; squads of them patrolled the halls and the outer courtyard. As a necromancer it was no more terrifying than a roach skittering across the floor. She barely even noticed until it deliberately moved to block her path and addressed her.
“Who are you?” It demande
d.
Hera came to a halt about ten feet from the undead. “Oh, a zombie, I thought you were just another walking corpse.”
Her lack of concern made it scowl. “I asked you who you were. You have robes so you must be a mage. What are you doing here?”
“You have independent thought? You can feel anger? That’s astounding. Most zombies have limited mental capacity and can’t feel emotions. You are a wonderful piece of work. I can’t wait for Aunt Lilith to show me how she made you.”
“You had better watch that mouth of yours you ugly scab or you’re going to die.” The zombie growled. “Now tell me who you are.”
“Ugly scab?” Hera’s left hand came up with three fingers bent. “Mixataros.”
The zombie’s body suddenly went rigid and could not move.
“I take back what I said, a zombie insulting a necromancer is about as stupid as stupid can be, and if you think I’m ugly you need to look in a mirror. Now, shall I rip you apart or burn you?”
“Do you know who I am?”
“You are a defective undead soldier who is about to be unmade. I think I’ll just tear you to pieces. Maybe my aunt and I can look you over and figure out what went wrong. It might make a good lesson.”
“You can’t destroy me! I am Walter Corpselover! The family heir!”
“Oh, yes, I’ve heard about you. You were the one killed by your grandfather inside the castle and Aunt Lilith brought you back. I can see she put a great deal of effort into it too.”
“That’s right! I am her son and the family heir! Now release me immediately!”
“Despite the obvious quality of her work you don’t have a strong grasp of reality or of logic do you? Well that’s not surprising, even with someone as skilled as Aunt Lilith there are limits to what you can do with dead flesh. Still, you are a magnificent zombie. I really hope I am able to make something as good.”
“Stop talking to me like I was just a servant! I am the family heir and if you do not release me right now I will see that you suffer a slow and painful death!”
A similar threat would have left any of the human servants shaking in terror.
Hera laughed at it.
“You are going to kill me? Really? I never imagined a zombie could tell jokes.” She continued laughing.
“Stop mocking me! I am the heir! Do you understand what that means?”
She let out a couple more guffaws before speaking again. She had to make an effort to keep from giggling. His anger was just too amusing.
“You are not the heir. The dead cannot rule the living. Whatever you were in life all you are now is a zombie. Perhaps you can give orders to the slaves and the other undead, but not to me.”
“Just who are you?”
“Hera Corpselover, daughter of Andris Corpselover and his wife Bianca. I am Lilith Corpselover’s new apprentice.”
“You lie! My mother would never take an apprentice! Never!”
“Yet here I am.”
“My mother would have told me if she were planning to bring a new mage into the castle!”
“Why? Does she need your permission?”
Walter glared at her hatefully and she had to struggle to keep from laughing again.
“Well, as fun as this has been I think I’ll be going now.” She slashed her left hand through the air.
There was a sound of meat and bone being chopped. His right arm was torn from its socket and landed on the floor with a thud. Black blood dripped down from his open wound.
“That’s for calling me ugly.” Hera said as she walked right past him. The severed arm was in her way so she gave it a light kick. “Don’t ever do it again or I will unmake you. The only reason I don’t do it now is because there’s a chance Aunt Lilith would be unhappy with me.”
“You will die for this! Mother will never forgive you for attacking me!”
“The only person I was forbidden to harm was Waldo. Aunt Lilith never even mentioned you, and anyway, you’re just a zombie.”
Hera left him there, still unable to move, without a second thought.
XXX
In an empty corridor of her castle Lilith stood before a mirror with no reflection.
She felt a tremor run through her left hand and it shook just slightly.
Lilith grabbed it with her other hand and forced it to stop. It’s all right, I still have time. When the tremor passed she let both hands fall to the side.
“Daughter, will you come and talk to me?”
Lilith waited patiently as colors swirled about and an image slowly took form. Gwendolyn appeared before her, throat cut and leaking fresh blood.
“Hello mother,” she rasped.
“Hello dear, how are you?”
“Still dead.”
“Yes I know, I mean has anything changed since the last time we talked?”
“Nothing ever changes on this side. It’s very boring. That’s why I would like to pass on.”
Lilith felt a twinge of guilt at those words. When she had originally bound her daughter’s soul to the mirror she had believed she was doing Gwendolyn a great service. Instead all she had done was consign her to a different sort of purgatory. Neither alive nor dead, she was a spirit trapped here between two worlds, unable to enjoy life but unable to move on to whatever awaited her.
“I am sorry my precious daughter, but I can’t let you pass on yet.”
“I know mother, you need my gifts for Waldo’s sake. You must make one child suffer for the benefit of the other.”
“Do you hate me for that?”
“No, I love my little brother and want to save him too. Besides, I am dead, I can wait.”
“All I wanted was for all my children to be happy.”
“No. What you wanted was power, we were an afterthought. You only started to care when most of us were gone.”
I had too many enemies. Everyone on the council was trying to control me. The branch families were trying to pressure me into taking a husband. They all feared my father and brother and thought I was nothing back then. I had to fight! I had to get power! I did what I had to!
It was true, but saying so would sound like a pathetic excuse. “Is my plan still on its course?”
“Plans within plans, wheels within wheels, you travel down the road that will bring you to your chosen end.”
“In other words yes.”
Gwen chuckled. “I see everything that I told you before, but as I have warned you, things can be changed. I see what will be, but also shadows of what still can be. Life is filled with choices and with possibilities; it’s so very different from death.”
“So even with your help nothing is guaranteed?”
“It will rain tomorrow, the sun will rise and set without being seen, and lava will flow around the Forge. Those things I will guarantee.”
“Wonderful, can you tell me anything I can use?”
Gwendolyn sang in her gasping voice. “Three wives he will have, one painted with fire, one of gold, and one of night. One who loves him, one who follows him, and one who hates him. Each shall be bound to him, by marriage and by magic.”
Lilith’s eyes widened. This was new. “I see. Well I can already guess who is going to love and hate him, but who exactly is this third one?”
Gwen smiled playfully. “You will find out.”
Lilith knew that Gwendolyn’s prophesies always came true, just as she knew her daughter never revealed everything. “I really wish you could just tell me what you know without obscuring it.”
“You must let me have my fun mother; it’s very boring where I am.”
“Well, I thank you for this knowledge.”
Gwen nodded as her image began to fade away. “For what it’s worth mother, all your children loved you, even Walter.”
Lilith waited until the mirror was once again empty, then turned and walked away.
Chapter 28
A Matter Of Justice
It was a bright and sunny day as Melissa Cornwall strolled into B
ittford. The last time she had been here was a couple years ago. She had returned to have another go at trying to recruit Roger.
The last couple of years had been spent tramping all over the north. She had visited several nations, preaching about unity, justice, and peace. Melissa had been received by royal courts and spoken directly to various rulers and noble families. She had used her magic to carry out requests from various lords and wealthy merchants. There had also been charitable acts for the common folk, all done without any sort of reward or payment.
People needed to understand that the Order was different from the Independent Mages, who were out for themselves, or the Dark Mages who were simply evil. The White Mages served a higher cause. They wanted to restore the Shattered Lands and bring peace and order to them. To bring back the tranquility the world had known in ancient days under the Amoran Empire. Her order sought to purify the world and rid it of all its corrupt elements. White Mages could be counted on to help the weak and to always keep their promises. It was the duty of every single one of them to represent the ideals of Avalon and make all people, high or low, know they could be trusted.
The (sort of) Dark Mage (Waldo Rabbit) Page 26
