Queen of Magic

by Susanne L. Lambdin

  Calista released Sertorius’ arm, turning on him so quickly it caught Taliesin, and the others, by surprise. “I can also testify my daughter, as well as Prince Almaric, are Wolfen,” she said. “However, before Sertorius says anything else, I would like to point out he killed his brother Konall at Dreskull Castle. Further, Sertorius has married the late Duke Richelieu de Boran’s daughter, Lenora, without the consent of his father.”

  “You are a fool, Sertorius,” Dinadan said. He stepped forward and pulled at his tunic, convinced he now had an advantage over his two brothers. “Konall’s mistake was to trust you, but you married Richelieu’s daughter to gain his wealth and his army, which now stands outside the walls of Padama. You and Almaric have also conspired against our father to take the throne.”

  “You poisoned our father, or so they say,” Sertorius replied. “Grandfather, you are right, this is Rosamond Mandrake; we were friends when we were children, and I am quite fond of her. Under the Old Laws, a prince is not accountable for his former actions, nor the princess. She is a sha’tar, true, but magic is no longer a crime of treason. Each of us has a clean slate, in a manner of speaking. The question is, my Lords and ladies, which deserves to sit on the throne?”

  “Everyone uses magic these days, Lord Ungus. In fact, despite the King’s Law, no one ever stopped,” Princess Calista said. She curtsied to Lord Ungus and gazed at Taliesin. “Both the marriage license and the birth certificate are locked inside the royal vault, placed there by my brother. These many years at Talbot Abbey have afforded me time to reflect, and my only regret is I was not allowed to raise my child.”

  Taliesin stepped back when Calista approached her. “Prince Galinn is not dead,” Taliesin said. “Almaric sold him into slavery to the Skardan king, and Galinn took his place; he is now known as Talas Kull. I recently met him, and asked him to hold back the Hellirins, who by order of Prince Almaric, were encroaching on our lands.”

  “The Old Laws stand. No son of King Frederick is without blame, but no past offense holds any merit in this court,” Lord Ungus said. “As soon as Almaric and the rest of the dukes arrive, the High Council will decide who will sit on the throne. I will accept all petitions and read them while we wait. The rest of you will clear this chamber.” He tapped his cane on the ground and finally removed his hand from Taliesin’s shoulder. “I would like to speak to you in private. You will come with us, Princess Calista.”

  The guards opened the doors, and the crowd departed in an excited flurry of voices. Roland, Bedwyn, and Landrake remained in the throne room, while a servant offered wine to the knights and dukes. Lord Ungus led Taliesin and Calista into an adjoining chamber. He ushered Taliesin to a chair, but she declined, unable to sit in the high-backed chair with the sword strapped across her shoulders. The old man sat on a couch with Calista as Sertorius and Dinadan entered the room; Taliesin had not expected them to join them. Sertorius poured wine from a crystal decanter into five glasses, while Dinadan eyed the crown where Ungus had placed it on a low table. A servant set a box filled with petitions at Ungus’ feet and quickly left.

  Taliesin found a chest to sit on and refused to look at Calista, feeling no love in her heart for the woman, though her mother had acknowledged her. Nor did she feel any love in return. Calista had an ulterior motive for claiming her as her daughter, and Taliesin had a sickening feeling it had to do with Lord Arundel. All those letters exchanged over the last twenty-five years had given the pair ample time to plot, and Arundel was far too clever to give up without a fight. A keen player in royal intrigue, Taliesin had no doubt Arundel was moves ahead of everyone else in the room, including her mother.

  “This is not fair,” Dinadan grumbled. “I did not poison our father. It wasn’t me; I have done nothing wrong. I am far more suitable to sit on the throne than Sertorius or Almaric. If it is a matter of marrying Rosamond to claim the throne, then I will marry her, Grandfather. I don’t care if she is Wolfen: everyone is Wolfen these days.”

  “You wanted to give her to Lykus like an old pair of socks,” Sertorius said as he handed out glasses of wine. A smile appeared on his handsome face as he handed a glass to Taliesin. “I wanted to marry Rosamond, only she is far too proud and stubborn to know what is good for her. Rosamond is involved with Sir Roland, Grandfather. Before you place her on the throne, consider who she will want to sit next to her; he is not a Draconus prince.”

  “Now, now,” Lord Ungus said. “Let’s not be crude, Sertorius. What any of you do in private is your own affair. Washing our dirty laundry before the court is not only uncivilized, it is harmful. You should not have accused Rosamond of being a Wolfen. And all of you seem to forget we see the legend of the Age of the Wolf pressed upon us as more and more are turned. We must be careful, very careful, or the very people we govern will rise against us and find someone else to sit on the throne.”

  “They would not dare,” Dinadan snapped. He gulped down his wine and held his cup out to Sertorius, expecting his brother to refill it. Sertorius merely laughed and took a seat close to where Calista and Ungus shared the couch.

  “Both you and Dinadan have shown me nothing but cruelty. It was Konall who showed me kindness, and Galinn, whom I consider a friend and ally,” Taliesin said. “Galinn would have escorted me to Padama, but he was the only one with an army strong enough to prevent the Hellirins from entering the northern pass. Almaric has offered General Folando and the Hellirins the kingdom of Skarda for their help. The darklings march on Caladonia, and now the Wolf Clan means to seize power. I may be newly made a princess, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know something about political intrigue and the consequences of doing the wrong thing. If the High Council does not select Almaric to sit on the throne, he will merely take it. Almaric has another powerful ally, the god Ragnal, who wants him to have the throne, so Varguld becomes a reality. It is not mere legend, and the gods are not whom they claim to be, for I have met them.”

  Sertorius spoke first. “I do not dispute Ragnal has visited you,” he said. “Nor do I care whether or not the gods of Mt. Helos are super beings or merely an ancient race of cronies. I am concerned the Magic Realms are now involved in our civil war. They have not stepped foot in Caladonia since the Magic Wars, two hundred years ago, when King Magnus drove them back behind the Stavehorn Mountains. Are you certain about this, Rosamond?”

  Everyone turned to stare at her. Taliesin found it strange she now sat in a room filled with Draconus royalty and a Cavell nobleman. Never in a thousand years would she have dreamed one day she would be a princess and seated among such illustrious and cunning individuals. This was her family. Her real family.

  “I was a guest of Ragnal’s at Wolf’s Den. I defeated him in battle and left the Red Cobras in charge of the castle,” Taliesin said. “I am related to General Folando of the Hellirin through Queen Madera, his younger sister, who married King Korax. General Folando, in turn, is the companion of Duchess Dolabra, who is King Boran and King Korax’s sister. I cannot be sure if the Hellirins will march on Caladonia, or if the Lorians will get involved. I have met all of these individuals in my recent travels, but I fear the war god Ragnal the most of all. Instead of fighting over who should sit on the throne, I think we should work together and plan the defense of Tantalon Castle.”

  “You have been busy,” Sertorius said in an accusatory fashion. “Pity you took Calaburn from me. I had the Draconus sword, Grandfather. You should have seen how it behaved in my grasp, but Rosamond took it from me and gave it to her wizard friend, I suppose.”

  “I would like the sword returned to the court,” Ungus said, though it was more of an order than a request.

  Taliesin nodded. “I have sent for Zarnoc,” she said. Ringerike warned her to be cautious and not to trust the old man any more than she trusted his grandsons or her mother. The sword did not want her to talk about the wizard, or reveal what she knew about Arundel or Lykus, for it trusted none of her current companions.

  “Allow me to apologize for taking yo
u captive, cousin,” Sertorius said with an upward twist of his lips. He lifted his glass in a toast and took a drink. “Our family does not know what you are capable of, so let me tell them without interruption. You see, before I took Rosamond captive and killed Konall, she destroyed Eagle’s Cliff and Lord Arundel’s magic guild, Grandfather. Now she has also taken Wolf’s Den from Chief Lykus; perhaps she is the one to defend this castle. It is obvious Rosamond has decided a bit tardily to side with the late king; nonetheless, she is here and offers her support. We cannot trust Almaric. I will not lift a finger to help him, and, with your permission, will order the Garridan army to enter Padama. But if you allow the High Council to name Almaric king, he will do whatever Ragnal asks of him, and that is to turn every last one of us into a beast that walks on four legs and eats its own offspring.”

  “You are disgusting,” Calista said. “If you had but told me this at Dreskull Castle, Sertorius, I would have insisted you ride to Padama in all haste to save my brother and his kingdom. Your maneuvering has placed us all in danger and has helped further estrange my daughter. Rosamond, please, forgive me for not being more understanding. To think about how I have treated you since we were reunited, and how you were forced to travel across Thule and Erindor in a gut wagon, is simply deplorable.”

  Ungus drained his glass. “Dinadan, refill our glasses,” he said. “I am ashamed of you, Sertorius. Your father was hurt when you left Padama without permission in your pursuit of Ringerike. Calista, any misunderstanding on your part is pardonable, for you have been gone from court a long time; I am sure Rosamond agrees with me. We must start acting like a family, or we will continue to be torn apart until nothing is left.”

  Sertorius nodded his head. “Rosamond, dearest, I apologize from the bottom of my heart,” he said. “Now you are here, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. So will Dinadan. Isn’t that right, Dinadan? One of us should be king and marry you. I can easily put my wife aside, or Dinadan can act like a man, for once.”

  “You all change sides so quickly it makes my head spin,” Taliesin said. She set her wine glass aside without drinking, while Dinadan fetched the decanter, placed it on the table for his grandfather, resumed his seat, and scowled. “Only a few days ago, you wanted to kill me, Sertorius. And Dinadan, you played right into the Eagle and Wolf Clans’ hands by turning me over to Chief Lykus. I agree Almaric cannot be trusted, and we should fear him and take precautions to keep the Age of the Wolf from occurring. While I admit I do not know much about the Old Laws, I fear no matter which of us sits on the throne, there will be war.”

  “She wants the crown. I knew it,” Dinadan muttered.

  “I will fight to keep the crown,” Sertorius said. “Think of it, Grandfather, we can align the Draconus house with the Lorians and Hellirins. Whoever is king must marry Rosamond, so yes, Dina-dummy, she must be our queen. But I remain concerned about Lord Arundel. You struck a hard blow, Rosamond, when you destroyed his castle; he will want revenge.”

  Dinadan lowered his eyes. Ungus drank his wine, absorbing what he had learned, while Calista wore a look of guile.

  “Yes, a treaty with the Magic Realms is precisely what is needed,” Calista said, and sipped her wine. “Dinadan can be controlled, but not you, or your brother. I think you have ruined your chance of marrying Rosamond, Sertorius; you have consummated your marriage with Lenora. To set her aside at this point, especially if she is with child, is intolerable. Nor can you simply do away with her.”

  The casual manner in which Calista spoke gave Taliesin goosebumps; her mother had actually suggested Sertorius murder his new wife in order to marry her. The two brothers started to argue, mostly regarding Dinadan’s lover, a royal knight, and his inability to produce an heir out of repugnance for the opposite sex. Her mother wore a sickly sweet smile, and Ungus turned bright red, furious his grandsons behaved like spoiled brats, not princes.

  Lord Ungus rapped his cane on the floor. “Be silent. All of you,” he said with a heavy sigh. “Once a new king is selected, the trivial matters you mention will be dealt with, and not before. Allow me to explain to Rosamond what the Old Laws mean, so she knows what to expect and is not blindsided by one of you whelps. You see, my dear, King Talas Draconus had three sons who died in battle against the Lorians, and each son had an illegitimate child. Talas created the Old Laws to help the High Council select a king if there was no official heir, and in this instance, he had three bastard grandsons to consider. He formed the High Council, selected a chancellor to oversee it, and allowed the dukes to vote on which bastard would be his heir. But the vote had to be unanimous. In case of an impasse, Talas decided a panel of eight nobles, called the Star Council, would assist the High Council to reach a decision, hence, the majority would then decide the outcome. There were other laws Talas put into effect to settle all manner of disputes, which often resulted in single combat under the old edict ‘might is right;’ however, King Magnus later set them aside after the Magic Wars and created the modified King’s Laws, which are strict and unyielding. Under his law, a royal heir had to be the king’s eldest son, and if the son died, then the next eldest. No child born out of matrimony could sit on the throne. And no daughter could rule as queen without a king.

  “Magnus’ eldest son had studied magic, and he rebelled against his father. The son brought the Lorians and Hellirins and strange creatures from the north into Caladonia, and the war lasted for seven months before Magnus vanquished his enemies. Not only did Magnus outlaw magic, he killed all magic users and ordered all magic weapons removed from his realm. He also made certain, ‘any prince who takes up arms against the king shall be considered a rebel, and thereby renounce all claim to the throne.’ Magnus ordered his eldest son beheaded after the war, and his second son became his heir. However, the Old Law includes a clause in case this were to happen, which states, ‘if at any time, the Old Laws are set aside, any noble or prince may demand they be reinstated,’ and in so doing, Talas’ laws supersede Magnus’ laws. This is because Talas was the first true Draconus king.”

  “Which bastard did the High Council pick?” Taliesin asked.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Lord Ungus replied. “Nor do we ever speak of it; this is one family skeleton that must remain in the closest. I know because I am chancellor and am privy to many secret tomes and documents written by Tarquin and Talas, as well as Korax. One day I might discuss them with you, Rosamond, for I can tell you are an educated woman, and you enjoy reading.”

  Taliesin nodded. “I would like that, Lord Ungus.”

  “So, Rosie, under the Old Laws it does not matter what any of us have done in the past,” Sertorius said with a leer. “My grandfather failed to recite the law on this, but in short, each prince, lawfully born of the king, can be his heir. And since you are a princess, it makes you the perfect choice for the next queen. The High Council will not reach a unanimous vote, Grandfather. Instead of reading that box filled with petitions, I suggest you spend the time until Almaric arrives, generating a list of eight names to form the Star Council.”

  “Very well,” Ungus said. “You boys go wait for your brother. Calista, I have no need for you to be here, so you may leave. Rosamond, you will remain.”

  “If I’m not wanted, I will leave,” Calista said, offended. She finished her wine and set the glass aside as she stood. “Someone must smooth Arundel’s ruffled feathers.” She stopped in front of Taliesin. “It is a shame you did not ask Galinn to come to court, Rosamond. He is already king of Skarda, and Caladonia has long wanted that realm. With two strokes, Kull might have been able to join both kingdoms, and we would have one king to rule them…but not him.”

  “Barbarian thug,” Dinadan muttered on his way out of the room.

  “Galinn wants nothing to do with the Draconus family,” Taliesin said. “I cannot blame him after what happened. All of you should hope the King of Skarda can hold back the Hellirins, for Almaric fails to realize the Hellirins mean to claim Caladonia. If that happens, we
will be darklings, not Wolfen.” She thought about the Moon Ring, given to her by Queen Madera, which would have allowed her to control General Folando and the Hellirin army. Taliesin had placed the ring on her friend Jaelle’s hand, who had died in the assault on Eagle’s Cliff, as it was the only way to resurrect her. Part of her regretted not keeping the ring, but her friend’s life was more valuable, and, after all, the Draconus family line did love to wage war.

  Sertorius finished his wine and stood. “Do not think too harshly of us, cousin,” he said. “But you must realize, I cannot leave you here with our grandfather without a chaperone. You are a sha’tar; you might put a spell on grandfather and convince him to advise the High Council to vote for someone other than me, or you might try to select the Star Council yourself. Of course, I cannot allow either to happen.”

  The door closed behind Calista. Sertorius glanced over and then held his hand out to Taliesin.

  “Almaric will arrive late, as usual,” he continued. “I suggest Rosamond retire to her room and put on a gown more suitable for a princess of Maldavia; cloaks are not in fashion, and you have worn one since you arrived. I know you do not want grandfather to see Ringerike, but she is armed, sir. Well-armed, in fact.”

  Taliesin had no intention of removing the cloak and allowing Ungus to see the Raven Sword. She thought about Zarnoc, wondering what he was doing, and hoped he would come to the castle instead of ignoring her. Lord Ungus was kind, but she did not want to confide in him too much, since she was not related by blood. What was more, she had noticed the old man did not like Calista, nor did her mother like him, and now Calista was off to conspire with Lord Arundel.

  “It has been a long day, and there is much to plan,” Ungus said. “I will arrange a room for you, Rosamond. I didn’t want to talk about the death of Frederick in front of Dinadan or Calista, for reasons I will refrain from mentioning. I have asked Duke Andre Rigelus to investigate the king’s death. The army from Thule was last to arrive, so Andre was not here when the king fell ill, which puts him above suspicion. I trust the two of you, and I want you both to cooperate with him. Also, Sertorius, send the dukes in to see me, and bring in Sir Roland, as well. A champion above reproach should guard Rosamond, and I trust Roland because Frederick trusted him above all other knights.”