The (sort of) Dark Mage (Waldo Rabbit)

by Nelson Chereta

  Carin quirked an eyebrow.

  “Darling, you might want to get off this topic now.”

  “So what would be the price for the ogre?”

  “Fifteen ducats and not a trak less.”

  The wife paled.

  “Fifteen? That’s all?” Waldo exclaimed. He turned to his wife. “I really overpaid for you didn’t I?”

  Smack!

  Carin was amazed to see the White Mage slapped on the back of his head. They were usually figures of immense dignity and self-respect. You didn’t expect to see one getting knocked about in public.

  “Ow.” He rubbed the rear of his skull. “Well in any case, that sounds reasonable.” Waldo nodded to his wife. “Pay her.”

  “Darling, a word in private please?” She grabbed her husband’s arm and physically began dragging him away. “Excuse us.”

  XXX

  “What are you doing?” Waldo demanded when she finally let go.

  “That is what I wanted to ask you.”

  “Isn’t it obvious? Since you can’t Charm her I will just pay her price. I was expecting it to be near what I paid for you. Having it be just fifteen is a bargain.”

  “Just fifteen? You can buy an estate for that! Darling, I know you come from money, but you really need to understand just how much gold is worth. Most folk never even touch a gold coin in their lifetime! They deal with silver and copper. If they have saved up enough to have the value of just one ducat they’ve done very well for themselves. The hundred gold coins you gave Elsa was a small fortune! A lot of noble families aren’t even worth that much!”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “I really overpaid.”

  Alice narrowed her eyes.

  “Not that I regret it even slightly.”

  “Keep that in mind.”

  “So how much do we have?”

  Instinctively she put a hand to the fat purse tied to her waist. Their money was always with her, and she always kept a careful track of just how much there was.

  “We have a bit more than eight and a half ducats worth in coin.”

  “That’s all?”

  “That’s all?!” Alice screeched. “We could buy a nice house and a large farm with that, and have enough left over for some pigs and chickens and a couple cows.”

  He motioned for her to calm down. “All right, I understand, it’s a vast sum. But we need more.”

  “Maybe not, maybe I can bargain her down some. I have always been good with dealing with people.”

  “I know, but that is usually with men who are staring at your breasts.”

  “Well I admit that helps, but I am good at bargaining. Just don’t say anything and let me handle things.”

  XXX

  Carin watched as Alice strode back, her husband trailing behind. The girl smiled brightly and brought both hands together.

  “Is there any possibility you could lower your price just a bit?”

  “No.”

  “Not even for a White Mage?” Alice asked sweetly.

  Carin crossed her arms over her chest. “White Mages always have lots of gold; I would think he would have no trouble at all with my price.”

  Alice spread her hands out before her. “Well even if that is true it doesn’t mean he should pay such an extravagant amount.”

  Carin frowned. She was suddenly reminded of her many dealings with the, ‘smith wives’ at the market. They were the wives of the blacksmiths and iron workers. While their husbands concentrated on working their forges, it was the women who handled the money and all the transactions for the family. They were fierce negotiators who acted as though every trak they spent was taking food from their children’s mouths.

  “Iron costs,” Carin quoted one of her favorite sayings. “So do healthy monsters. I have quoted you a fair price.”

  “Fair?” Alice sounded as if she were choking. “Fifteen is an absolute fortune! I would think five…”

  “Five!” Carin barked. “That is an insult! A healthy, strong goblin would cost you at least three ducats. And an ogre is worth at least five goblins. Plus, I happen to know I have the only ogre in this city, maybe this country. They are very fierce in the wild and almost impossible to take alive. What is rare is always precious.”

  “I’ve seen him; he doesn’t look that precious.”

  “If you want something pretty to gaze at I can direct you to a painter I know, he does lovely portraits. If you want raw muscle you can’t do better than an ogre.”

  “Actually that’s not true,” Waldo put in. “Giants, vampires, and dragons are all stronger.”

  Carin gave a rude snort. “Good luck finding any of those. Better luck trying to buy them if you can’t even afford an ogre.” She peered at him more closely. “Why do you want this ogre anyway? I know you believe all monsters need to be gotten rid of.”

  “The reason doesn’t concern you. We have our little conspiracies and plots that don’t involve you common folk.”

  Alice sighed and put her hand to her face.

  Carin felt insulted, but also a little bit unnerved. Some people claimed the whites had their own secret agenda. The ones she had met always declared they had nothing to hide. Meeting a white who was arrogant enough to actually admit to it worried her.

  “Are you really a White Mage?” Carin asked.

  In reply Waldo held out his hand. “Pyro.” Fire burst to life on his palm.

  Carin took a step back from him.

  Seeing the reaction made Waldo grin. He deliberately held his hand out towards her and took a stride in her direction. “We White Mages do not like to be questioned. Do you have any further doubt of what I am?”

  “No! None, I apologize for questioning you Master Rabbit!” She quickly jumped back to keep the flames well away from her.

  Waldo nodded. “Nunc.” The flames died away instantly.

  To Carin, and to all the guards who had been watching, there was no doubt at all that he was a White Mage. They never even thought to wonder if he might be a different sort of magic user.

  “So might we get a slight discount?” Alice asked. “I know my husband would appreciate it.”

  “I would.”

  Carin was torn between her desire to turn a profit and her inclination not to upset a White Mage. “Out of my great respect for your noble order I will lower the price to twelve. That is absolutely my best offer.”

  Alice held out her hand with index finger and thumb just barely apart. “Any chance you could drop it just a bit more?”

  “No, that is already much less than I would normally accept. If he does not have twelve ducats then he cannot afford an ogre. If you like I could sell you some strong goblins at a good price instead.”

  Alice looked hopefully over to Waldo.

  “I don’t want any weak monsters, I want the ogre.”

  “Then the price is twelve.”

  “Could we work a trade?” Waldo suggested. “Would you like some soulwood? I could make it rain for you. If you have any people who are sick or injured I could see about healing them.”

  Carin shook her head. “I don’t want or need any magic. If you have any gems or precious metals I would consider taking those. Magical weapons or armor are always valuable.”

  “I have none of that.”

  “Then we are back to gold. Twelve ducats and he is yours.”

  Alice came over to her husband’s side. “Could we have a few days to try and work something out?”

  “You can have all the time you wish. I don’t expect to have any other buyers suddenly appear. Please feel free to contact me should you have the necessary funds.” She gave Master Rabbit a respectful curtsy. “Good day to you.”

  At his nod she withdrew and hurried back to her home. Her guards would all have quite a story to share.

  Chapter 39

  Alice’s Great Idea

  “So what do we do now?” Alice asked.

  They were on their way back to the Inn.

 
; “We only need four more ducats. Then the ogre will be legally mine and we can leave.”

  “Right, with a monster that likes to eat human skin. Sounds perfect darling.”

  “I’ve already told you, I will definitely get the contract right next time.”

  “I hope so. I really don’t want to wake up one night and find myself being spitted and over an open fire.”

  “I’m sure if you were spitted you would die almost immediately.”

  “That doesn’t really make me feel better.”

  “I’ll control the ogre, the problem is acquiring him.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “If you were willing, there’s a very easy way we could get the money we need.”

  He was not surprised when he saw her glare or felt anger through their bond.

  “Don’t even suggest that or I am going to kick you again. I wouldn’t do it for Elsa when I was single. I certainly won’t do it now that I am properly married.”

  “That’s not what I meant. If you would just agree to use your Charm we could raise the funds easily. I’ll bet you could get it in a day or two.”

  She shook her head. “I’ve already told you I am not going to do that. It would be wrong.”

  “You said you would do it to help me get the ogre.”

  “As a one-time thing, I am not going to steal from dozens of men.”

  “So if we find one who is wealthy enough you’ll agree?”

  “I am not doing it. It would be wrong.”

  “That’s not how a typical succubus would view it.”

  “Well it’s how I see it.”

  “This would be so much simpler if you didn’t have these ridiculous morals of yours.”

  “Its how I was brought up. If you have no problem with stealing why don’t you do it?”

  “I would if I could get away with it, unlike with Roger though we can’t simply leave the area afterwards. Given the limits of my spells it wouldn’t be safe in a city crawling with armed guardsmen. I also lack mind altering magics, so I would have to resort to force.”

  As he said this a squad of six guards went past on the other side of the street.

  “No,” Alice agreed. “That wouldn’t be a good idea.”

  “If only she had been a man.”

  Alice nodded and gently patted his shoulder. “Yes, but she’s not. Too bad you can’t make her fall in love with you or something.”

  Waldo came to sudden halt. He stood there with his eyes staring out into empty space.

  “Is something wrong darling?”

  Through their bond she could feel him being filled with exhilaration.

  “Alice you are brilliant! That’s the answer.”

  “What is?”

  “I’ll make Carin fall in love with me and just give me the ogre!”

  “Uh, darling, while I absolutely love you and think you’re the best, you may not be her type.”

  Laughing he hurried down the street. “That won’t matter.”

  When they arrived at the Inn Waldo ignored Tyrone’s greeting and went straight to the back kitchen. Looking about he snatched a small iron cauldron, a measuring cup, an iron pan, a spoon, a bowl, and a wooden pestle.

  “Bring me some flowers,” he told Alice as he piled everything into his arms. “Roses would be best, but at this point I’ll settle for whatever you can find.”

  “Darling, what are you up to?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” He headed toward the door. “I am going to make love potion.”

  XXX

  John Varlos sat back in his chair and listened as Jonas rambled on about what he had seen. The man smelled of alcohol and swayed a bit as he stood there.

  “You know Jonas that I do not pay you to get drunk when you are supposed to be working.”

  He held his hands up. “Weren’t like that mister Varlos, I swear. I didn’t go drinking ‘til after they was back at the Inn. An then I only did it to find out what one of them guards heard. Were just doing my job sir.”

  “So you just had to get drunk to gather information?”

  “It take more than two, three mugs to do me in.” Jonas said proudly. “I had to buy this guard some brew to loosen up his tongue. It look downright strange if I not drink right along with him.”

  “Yes, I see you very diligent in maintaining your hidden identity.” Jonas smiled widely as though it were a real complement. “So this Waldo Rabbit really was trying to purchase an ogre? Not only that but he had his wife try to haggle the price, and didn’t seem to have enough coin?”

  Jonas bobbed his head up and down. “Not just that now, he was threatening her. He did it real polite now, but Miss Carin went all white when he done it. It sound like he want to get the ogre real bad it does.”

  “Just not badly enough to actually pay for the creature.”

  Jonas gave an indifferent shrug. “That what the guard say. His wife ask for a few days, and Miss Carin say that be fine.”

  “I hope you are not making any of this up or exaggerating. It would be easy enough for me to confirm by asking directly.”

  “I know better than to be making up things. If anything be a lie it be on the guard, not me.” He placed two fingers over his right eye. “May Wotal strike me blind.”

  Varlos gradually nodded. His agents knew not to bring false reports. He also doubted that Jonas had enough imagination to come up with such a bizarre tale. Varlos opened one of his desk drawers and took out a silver coin. Thinking about it, he took out a second and held them out.

  “You’ve done very well. I want you to get a friend to watch the White Horse when you cannot. I want to be sure to know when Waldo Rabbit leaves, no matter the time day or night.”

  The man eagerly accepted the two guilders. “I do that sir, no worries.” Bowing his head Jonas shambled out of the study.

  As soon as he was gone Varlos began to drum his fingers upon his desk and consider the information.

  A White Mage purchasing a monster, and a Great Monster at that, was contrary to their entire philosophy. They preached absolutes, in their view there was no moral middle ground. Everything was white or black, good or evil, they did not preach compromise. They moderated their actions only as much as circumstances required, and even then they never bent when it came to their principles.

  All monsters were evil. There could be no co-existence. The world belonged to humanity and there was no place in it for any other sentient beings. In the lands they controlled all monsters were exterminated without exception. That one of their order would actually want to purchase an ogre simply did not make sense.

  That he was apparently lacking funds was another discrepancy. As a rule, White Mages travelled with a good amount of money. They were expected to not only to pay for their own needs, but to be able to provide charity and assistance when it was called for. It was almost unheard of for one to be short of coin.

  And he was staying at an Inn in the poor part of town.

  And he was traveling with his wife, a wife who was actually working as a barmaid.

  The man was one incongruity after another.

  Is he really a White Mage? Varlos wondered.

  Normally you would never think anyone would dare to impersonate a white. That was an excellent way to make an enemy of one of the greatest powers in the world. Only a complete fool would do something like that. On the face of it, it seemed most unlikely. Yet if it were so it would explain all of the odd behavior.

  How would I go about finding out? What would I do if he really were an imposter? Do I even want to know?

  There was a knock on his study door.

  “Come.”

  The door opened and his loyal servant stepped inside. “Pardon sir, but I just got a messenger from the south gate.”

  Varlos had eyes at each of the city gates, and standing orders that a messenger be sent to him as soon as anyone of importance entered the city. That was how he had originally found out about master Rabbit.

  “Who has a
rrived Martin?”

  Martin told him.

  “Well now, isn’t that interesting?” He rose to his feet. “Get my cloak and my best clothes ready. I need to go.”