Battle Mage: A Hero's Welcome (A Tale of Alus Book 8)

by Donald Wigboldy

  Noting the buoys revealing the near gap in the harbor wall, much of the conversation quieted as calls from the crow’s nest and rigging helped the helmsman navigate the ship into the harbor. Lowering the anchor, they waited as the Carnivore joined them to remain until morning to check in with Sardon’s harbormaster.

  Chapter 14- Pretty Bait

  Sebastian glanced over to Annalicia guarded by Reynolvan and her other wizards as the lady stood arguing with the customs officer on the pier.

  The man had appeared with a team of eight guards shortly after the sun had crested the eastern horizon. It was surprisingly early to see an official out of his bed let alone already bearing down on the two ships which had arrived in the night. The man was serious about his job, but that was about the only thing Sebastian could take seriously about him.

  Dressed in his blue dress uniform, a dark blue jacket over a white shirt with a red bow tie; the appearance faltered as he wore brown silk pants cut and bound at the knee. The only other place Sebastian had seen such foppish pants had been a girl’s bloomers he had seen once back in Mara when the young woman had clumsily fell over revealing them in the process. With that memory, Sebastian noted the man’s slipper like shoes with their silver buckles ornamenting the black tops.

  Worse, the man somehow managed to look both fat and skinny at the same time making his outfit seem even more comical on his frame. Thin legs and arms, and a thin chest were offset by a round paunch making the man look like a pregnant woman. Lastly, he wore a white wig that shook white powder free during nods and shakes of his head.

  Annalicia had already sneezed half a dozen times trying to speak with the man. Sebastian noted how well she hid her disdain for the pompous little man, who was shorter than the mage by a few inches though he still dwarfed the petite wizard.

  Having already negotiated a place to dock, for a small fee placed in the man’s coat pocket; she was still trying to explain their business to the man. It appeared to be an important part of his job, to discover other people’s business in port, and Anna was having difficulty explaining to him that they had no official contacts but would like the opportunity to shop the local craftsmen in an effort to open trade between Sardon and Malaiy. A similar discussion had been used in Banosh, but that was between the lady and the governor of the east side of Litsarin.

  Moving to help in spite of having determined to leave the matter in her hands, Sebastian couldn’t help trying to come to the girl’s rescue. “You told him that we wished to check with their local jewelers to buy gems, right, my lady?”

  The man turned even as he received a look of relief momentarily from Annalicia.

  “What?” the bureaucrat asked at the interruption.

  “We have heard that Sardon is an excellent place to find gems, since it is the harbor servicing Parik and its mines. Gold is fine to have, but if we could convert some to precious gems it could be advantageous to both us and our new contact here. Maybe a finder’s fee for someone pointing us in the right direction would also be in order.”

  The man’s greed flooded his eyes, but he managed to coolly reply, “Narhorn’s and Mathalus would be the two likely candidates...”

  Understanding the unasked question, he supplied his name, “Sebastian Trillon, assistant to Lady Annalicia de Malef Eremia of Malaiy, we are here to see if we can establish business between our two countries. Malaiy is a nation built on trade and has many contacts in Taltan, and Ch’Thal, as well as North Continent. Do you think Sardon could use someone who could bring in our other partners to help increase your business?”

  “Governor Etrarias in Banosh might be a better one to talk to about setting up commerce between countries since he is essentially ruler of the towns east of the mountains,” the man started trying to decide if he should be more cooperative.

  Annalicia held out her hand to Reynolvan who placed a rolled document in her hand. “I met with him three days ago. This is his seal. If that is all it takes to let us into Sardon, then maybe this scroll will permit us to enter freely.”

  The man’s face paled slightly, but he managed to maintain some grace under fire as he replied with a partial bow of his head, “If you have already spoken with the governor, then I suppose you should see what Sardon has to offer you as well. The mayor might appreciate a visit also to introduce the lady.”

  Turning the knife now that she had the upper hand, Anna added, “I will make sure to do that. Whom shall I say held us up at the dock? Officer Cuspin, I believe you said?”

  Swallowing hard, the man nodded and stated, “The mayor’s office is the first block on your left. It has a sign. The jewelers you might like to visit are two blocks in and to the right. Much of our commerce can be found on that side of town actually.”

  Sebastian spoke causing the man to turn to face him and the mage noted sweat beading his forehead suddenly. “And what do we owe you, Officer Cuspin, for your added service?”

  “Not a thing, have a good day, sir, my lady,” he finished quickly with bows to each before retreating.

  After the man had run off with his men in tow, Anna held the parchment between them and stated with a grin, “I forgot I had this until he mentioned the governor. I guess that it was a good thing that we stopped in Banosh first, even if Etrarias was mostly uncooperative beyond the sealed permission to solicit the towns he governs.”

  Smiling back in turn the mage nodded and added, “Checking the jewelers might not be a bad idea in truth. We have extra gold from the black ships and the merchants in Banosh did say that they bought their gems from Sardon first.”

  With a sigh, the silver haired girl retorted, “And I guess that means I need to visit the mayor and these jewelers for you?”

  “Well, I am just a mage, and not even sure that I can admit that in Litsarin; so perhaps a member of Malaiy’s royal family would have better luck getting an interview with the mayor,” he laughed.

  “You are lucky that I owe you my life, Sebastian,” Anna said with a shake of her head.

  Grinning, Sebastian gave her a wave as he gathered up his small group and said, “We’ll follow Darterian to see if it is here and meet you later for lunch or something. Thanks, Anna.”

  Reynolvan ground his teeth saying something under his breath that not even Annalicia caught, but those from Southwall were already walking down the pier towards shore.

  Sardon, like Banosh before it, felt new and was much smaller than Hala the only port city he had ever visited in Southwall. Unlike his nation’s capitol, these were simple towns in a much younger country. They were also much less known and less visited compared to the towns on the west side of the island, which had been settled by Sileoth.

  The stone used in the buildings was different from Banosh giving the town a different look and Sardon sprawled less than the other town as well. Houses and farms could be seen above the main settlement on the nearby hills which rose less aggressively than the land to the north. Even so, the distant haze revealed mountains much closer to the eastern shore of Litsarin.

  “It isn’t in Sardon,” Darterian stated with a frown as the group from Southwall followed the wizard and the device in his hand.

  Most of his Southwall team of wizards had joined them for the walk as well as the other battle mages. If they ran into an enemy warlock or anything from the emperor’s army, Darterian would be well protected even if the man was a powerful wizard in his own right.

  “Will the compass reveal anyone who has come through the portal?” Yara asked as she walked beside Sebastian. The pretty blond haired healer was in her yellow sundress which didn’t give away her wizard nature, but she was hardly blending into the background either. Sebastian had worried that wizards walking in the foreign town would be unable to blend, but the rest had picked more common gear. Only Serrena wearing her bright red blouse and brown skirt might stand out half as much as the healer.

  “The compass can find traces of the gate magic on those who passed through it, but they have to be rather close. O
nly large items like a black ship will register for long at a distance,” the wizard replied glancing between the compass and the path he was walking.

  Sebastian nodded and added, “So if there are any of his operatives in Sardon, we might discover them before they would know we were here.”

  Shaking his head, Darterian countered, “If there are any in town, the compass can’t find them. My grandfather used to warn that living creatures passing through the gates don’t carry the residual magic for long or in large doses. One of his first missions involving gates had a troll nearly on top of him before the compass told him it was there, so we might have to be nearly on top of someone for them to register.”

  “Well, that’s great,” Serrena complained. “We can’t see them coming, but we can find the gate. If there are warlocks on the way, we’ll spot them as easily without waiting for Darterian to do his checks. A wizard can sense another magic user better than this compass.”

  Looking smugly at the girl, Darterian replied, “But the compass can sense creatures that don’t have magic in them. Your senses won’t help you if there are no wizards among the ones who come to town.”

  Serrena frowned at being corrected, but having been put in her place by the Eirdhen wizard the young woman stopped her complaints. “Fine, does that mean we keep looking around Sardon or move on again?”

  Thinking on the matter beforehand, Sebastian stated, “Nara and Collin can head into the hills to check out the land and vegetation, if she still wants to look into what has made Litsarin as healthy a land as it is. Olan and Frell can go with in case you find trouble, though I doubt we have much to fear here.

  “I’ll take Darterian and the rest towards the merchant district. Maybe we’ll find something that will shed some light on how much influence the emperor might have here. The gem sellers and others who work with the mines in Parik might know more, since the gate appears to be located near the mines.”

  With brief goodbyes, the two groups separated to go their own ways. Sebastian soon found the streets growing more cluttered with people. The morning was waning and the sleepy seaside population was finally about their day. As they moved towards the main market area of the town, the mage was quickly noticing how different it was from Hala or even the towns around Windmeer or White Hall.

  First, was the lack of peddlers in the streets. Hala during the Winter’s Edge tournament was a city packed with people beyond even the norm. Hawkers called out from the entry gates almost to the castle on the far side of the town overlooking a cliff side. Market areas had stands pushing into the streets making paths cramped for carriages or horses, so most simply walked or avoided those areas completely.

  In Sardon, there were almost no stands in the street. Though the weather was beautiful and warm, the merchants stayed within their buildings save for a few vegetable and fruit growers displaying their wares beside their open doors.

  There was the second major difference as well. Buildings were more ornamented and painted a variety of colors almost dazzling one’s eyes as they walked the streets of Sardon. Buildings made of similar stone or simple wood were painted to stand out from each other and were easily distinguished. It seemed like no two were painted the same. To give directions to a purple or green building with certain color highlights would probably be one way to send them business, but Sebastian had to wonder how practical it would be to find so many different colors.

  “A paint store, that figures,” Serrena stated squinting at the wood building painted blue with yellow shutters open to let in the breezes swirling through Sardon’s streets. Its double door was wide open inviting patrons to visit, but the Southwall visitors didn’t need any paint to carry back to the Sea Dragon.

  Yara nodded and added, “I have never seen such a colorful street in my life. All the paint looks fresh as well, so they must repaint regularly. You don’t see things like this in Southwall.”

  It was Mecklin, the eldest of his team who had been stationed in more cities that reminded them, “The ice and snow tear paint from stone too easily. Even shop signs painted on wood or metal have to be changed regularly or at least be repainted in the cities closest to the wall.”

  Darterian who came from the southern nation of Eirdhen added, “Even in Taltan, I can’t say that I remember such a colorful street. The summer heat and sun can make paint fade there, though I would hazard your northern storms take a greater toll in a shorter time.”

  “There’s a jeweler,” Yara said pointing to a lighter blue building. It had a white sign with a large, blue gem stone made from simple lines in the center of the white. Her hand grabbed Sebastian’s without thinking as the girl started to drag him towards the first target in sight.

  With no name on the sign, they were unsure if this jeweler was one of those mentioned by the customs officer, so they entered figuring they had time to check either way.

  The shop was filled with a large number of glass cases. Wooden frames and bases stained nearly black held a pane of glass both on top and in front of the jewels. There were cases of just precious stones and others held jewelry from the most basic to dazzling pieces that even the uninitiated could tell were well beyond the income of a falcon or wizard.

  A middle aged man with thinning brown hair noticed the small group as they entered. Noting their clothing, the man’s lips pursed into a tight frown for a moment before plastering a cool smile on to greet the potential customers.

  While Sebastian had caught the man’s face in transition, there were no apologies and the shopkeeper merely greeted, “Good morning to you. You must be visitors to Sardon from a long way off.”

  “We come from up north originally,” the mage replied noting the man’s eyes moving towards Mecklin, the eldest in their group by appearance though Darterian was much older, but looked younger thanks to his elven heritage.

  The merchant nodded though his eyes never revealed anything but cool contempt for the men. His eyes did warm slightly for the girls and he asked Mecklin with his eyes on the older mage. “Is there anything that you were looking for? I notice that these young ladies are nearly bare of jewelry and even those rings look simple to someone who works with gems for a living.”

  Nudging Mecklin with his elbow in a way that was missed by the shopkeeper, Sebastian urged the man to answer as the shopkeeper expected. It was a possibility they had discussed before finding the market. Not everyone would believe that a twenty year old young man like Sebastian could be in charge or have access to the kind of coin he had aboard the Sea Dragon.

  “The customs officer, Cuspin, said that the most likely merchants to be of use to us would be either someone called Narhorn or Mathalus. We are looking to buy gems and other precious metals. Perhaps someone with contacts with the mines of Parik would be best.”

  Though the question remained unasked, the merchant looked at the mage a little more appraisingly as he tried to figure out if the man was telling the truth. A shrewd business man, who didn’t like wasting time on peasants, the merchant finally stated, “I am Wilhelm Narhorn. Though I do some business with those mines, you would hardly find this variety just from their mountain. Diamonds, garnets, sapphires and even a small vein of rubies have been pulled from the mountain so far.”

  Serrena noted, “Isn’t that a bit of a strange variety from just one area?”

  Noting the curly, auburn haired young woman with her bright red blouse and brown skirt over brown short boots; Wilhelm stated, “The Cataclysm lifted and twisted stones that were probably spread over larger areas in the past. Even a single mountain might reveal different colored stone or gems on Litsarin. Other mines have revealed emeralds, sapphires and other gems from this island. In time, we could become one of the richest lands in the north.”

  His greed was in his eyes, but Mecklin, doing his best to lead the discussion, asked, “If your contacts are just casually formed with Parik, then I guess we can finish looking at what you have before checking with this Mathalus, he mentioned.”

  Concern
for a lost sale finally overrode whatever prejudices the gem seller had, “I run the store, but my brother and nephew tend to handle buying from Parik. Why do you need a gem seller with more than gems to sell? A casual acquaintance or not, if you have gold to buy, I have gems to sell.”

  Mecklin nodded as if he had heard without listening.

  Wilhelm tried again, “Are either of these your daughter? Perhaps a ring or necklace would be of interest?”

  Mecklin’s eyes looked to the man with a dark look, “I would have been nine to have Serrena, and it would have been a stretch to create Yara. I am not that old, sir.”

  Barely containing their laughter, Serrena couldn’t stop a snort at the man’s look of indignity. The shopkeeper looked shocked and probably feared losing whatever funds the mage had to purchase from him. Trying to smooth things over, Wilhelm finally looked a little shaken as he said, “I’m sorry if I offended you. You would be surprised how many men come in trying to pass off women as their daughters, though perhaps a niece is more common. Many a man has come in to buy their mistresses jewelry without revealing their true relationship.”

  Turning red with anger at the new slights to his reputation, Mecklin looked at his leader and decided, “You can keep talking with him, if you like, but I think that I had better get some air... now.”

  The older mage walked outside followed by Darterian, who pulled the compass from its pouch as they stepped outside.

  “I didn’t...” the merchant started until Sebastian half smiled.

  Indifferent to Mecklin’s annoyance and still a bit amused, the girls moved towards the jewelry displays as the younger mage took over the discussion. “Luckily, Mecklin isn’t the one who controls the coin at my disposal and you haven’t completely offended me as of yet, Wilhelm. Let’s discuss what kind of discount you might have for me to use that coin on.”

  Blinking in surprise, the man nodded, “Well, it is good that the young master is still willing to work with me. Mathalus is nothing but a hack. He gets more of the metal like silver and gold, but my brother gets the first look at Parik’s best gems.”