Wizard's Alley

by James Haddock

  I opened a gap in the wall. “Move out when you are ready, head south for one hour, and then hold for further instructions.” They headed out.

  As they passed through the gap, I collared each of them. When the last man went through, I sank the walls back into the earth from where they had risen.

  A magnificent black stallion had stayed behind from the rest of the army. He stood by one of the fallen wizards. His saddle and tack was covered in wards and charms.

  “He should have fought from your back, and he would have fared better. He still would have lost, but...” I stepped toward the dead wizard the horse was guarding. He pawed the ground, throwing his head.

  “Hold, be at peace; your master is no more. I will take over your care and companionship.”

  He looked at the dead wizard and nudged him with his muzzle. He waited a moment as if considering his options. His head came up, and he relaxed. I looked at the wards and charms on the horse's tack. It was all to take care of the horse, to keep him safe.

  “At least he cared for you,” I said. The horse nodded his head, and I chuckled.

  I searched all the wizards’ bodies and took everything except their robes. Their bodies sank into the earth to their final rest, and I turned to look at the pass. I raised the same garrison and mountains from the ground as I had for the South Pass and installed lightning bolt ballistas and signal mirrors. I then signaled Colonel Lewis to send a detachment to man the North Pass Garrison; it was to be the same size as the South Pass Garrison. I left the gates closed and dropped the rock wall I had raised across the pass.

  The horse had been watching me intently. I approached him and looked him over. “You are a beautiful thing; I'd like for us to be friends.”

  I took his reins, mounted him, and we started off after the army. Apparently, he accepted the new situation and gave me no trouble. He had a smooth gait and plenty of speed and stamina.

  I caught up with the head of the North Landing Army and rode beside the command element. “What were your orders, General?”

  “To take Midway, capture the Queen, and install Prince Harold as its new ruler and King by marrying the Queen.”

  “Very neat. Ambitious, but neat.” We rode on for a while. “When you reach the river, set up camp on the north side and await instructions.”

  “Yes, Sir Wizard,” he replied.

  I turned Bold out from the formation and rode west.

  "Bold?" The name had come unbidden to me. It fit, so I kept it.

  As I rode, I opened a portal to my Master Herder's village, and Bold entered, never breaking stride. Upon our arrival, a young herder greeted me and bowed.

  “Welcome, Sire. The Master will be here momentarily.” I nodded and dismounted.

  “Magnificent,” I heard from behind me.

  “Yes, he is, Master Herder. This is Bold, my Royal Mount. Bold, this is my Master Herder; he will care for you while I am away.”

  Bold looked at the Master Herder and nodded his head. “Master Herder, let's start a Royal bloodline, with Bold as the sire. Let him cover only the best of our herd.”

  “Yes, Sire, a wise choice.”

  I handed him the reins. “I have pressing matters to attend to.” He bowed, and I ported to Fort Midway.

  “How many more are there?” Colonel Lewis asked.

  “Ten thousand, give or take.”

  “What are we going to do with them?”

  “They will build our stone road to North Pass Garrison,” I said, smiling. “Have the rankers do the labor and the officers supervise. No one eats for free.” He laughed. “Where is the admiral?”

  “I'll take you to him.”

  I followed the Colonel, “Admiral, what were your orders?”

  “To take the harbor, the city, and capture the Queen. Then we were to install Prince Harold as the new ruler through marriage to the Queen.”

  “North Landing's King must be crackers if he thinks we would have gone along with that,” Colonel Lewis said.

  “He did send fifteen thousand men to make sure we did,” I said.

  “There is that. Instead, they build our new roads, and I like it!” Colonel Lewis said, smiling.

  It was now past midday, and I knew Pam would be antsy, so I ported to the Palace. “My Queen,” I bowed.

  “You are well?” she asked.

  “Um, yes...” I said, frowning.

  She flew into my arms. “Don't you, ‘My Queen me!’ I was beginning to worry about you.”

  “I'm sorry; I was juggling torches.”

  “So, tell me what happened!”

  I told her all the events of the day—well most—I left out the part about my new horse.

  “So that old fool thought I would marry his sniveling brat and hand over my Kingdom? He's gone senile. We have fifteen thousand of his people, ten ships, and a Royal Prince—any suggestions?”

  “Send the King a message, and tell him we'll sell him his people and son back to him. See what he says.”

  “And the Prince?”

  “Leave that little snot in the dungeon,” I said.

  “You have a mean streak,” she said.

  “Only where it concerns people I care about.”

  The Queen sent the message. We put the prisoners to work on the road. I built a three-wagon-wide bridge over the rivers and set stone out along the way to be used on the road. I got the rock by partially hollowing out a mountain around Mountain Hold. While I was taking out rocks for the roads, I found a vein of gold. I left the gold in the newly hollowed-out vault. I had a feeling I would need some storage space.

  I started inspecting our new ships, and I must admit, they build fine ships. Now we have some fine ships. I ported all the supplies and weapons from the ten ships into our navy warehouses. I found all their logs and papers, and they confirmed their orders. They also had orders to take our ships and cargos. So, this was pretty much war with North Landing. Five of the ships could put to sea now; the other five need a good bit of work because of our ballista bolts.

  Chapter 24

  At the Harbor Garrison, I added a great chain across its mouth that could be raised when we wanted to seal the harbor. I also added more lights so nothing could slip into the harbor in the darkness. It is surprising how fast fifteen thousand men can lay a stone road. It had only been two weeks, and they were over halfway to the North Pass.

  Three weeks after, we had sent the King of North Landing a message, and an envoy arrived under a flag of truce. I met the envoy at dockside and ported us out to where the fifteen thousand were working. I amplified our voices.

  “We will sell your King back all his people for ten golds per person.”

  “The King is not interested in buying these people. They were soldiers and sailors and knew the risk. We have thousands to replace them,” came the response.

  “What about one gold per person?”

  “We are not interested at any price.”

  I nodded; all work on the road had stopped. “We'll sell you the Prince for one hundred times his weight in gold.”

  “Done, take me to the Prince.”

  “You don't want your people back?”

  “Not at any price.”

  “What about their families?” I continued.

  “They will find other men to support them; their kind always does.”

  I nodded. “I'll make you a deal. You send us these men's families, and we'll give you the Prince for free.”

  He looked at me. “We send you these men's families, and you'll give us the Prince at no charge?”

  “All fifteen thousand families and he's yours.”

  He was grinning: “Done. Take me to him.”

  I ported us to the Throne Room. He looked around, and shouted, “I demand to see the Prince!”

  The Queen pointed down. I ported him down into the Prince's cell and viewed into the cell with a smile.

  “I take it he is not happy,” the Queen said.

  “You could say that, yes.”
r />   “Bring him back up,” she said, and I did.

  He was pale. “You have the Prince in a dungeon?”

  “Yes, we do. He is a prisoner of war and very disrespectful.”

  “But He is a Prince.”

  “So I hear,” the Queen said.

  The envoy shook his head. “I will be back in two weeks with their families—all fifteen thousand—but you must take him out of that dungeon.”

  °What fifteen thousand families?°

  °Agree to it; I'll explain later.°

  She nodded. “All fifteen thousand families, and I do mean all of them.” He nodded.

  “Have the Prince join us, Sir Wizard.” I ported him up, and he started screaming at her as soon as he saw her. I ported him back.

  “Perhaps you should talk to him and explain his freedom from that cell is contingent on his good behavior and manners,” the Queen said.

  “I will.” He nodded, and I ported him down to the Prince.

  It took quite a while to calm the Prince down and explain what was happening. When I brought them back up, the he was gritting his teeth, but he was at least quiet.

  I ported the envoy back to his ship, and they left immediately. We put the Prince into the smallest quarters we had—something his servants would stay in. I explained about the families, what had happened to the Queen, and why I had done it. She loved the idea.

  The Prince always stayed under guard, and I ported his food into him. I'm sure it was the longest two weeks of his life. Thirteen days later, twelve troop transports arrived under flags of truce and started unloading families. Once all of them were accounted for, we released the Prince, and all of the ships sailed as soon as he was onboard.

  On the other side of the harbor, away from the city beyond the Navy Yards, I grew two sets of apartments from the earth. One set had five thousand and the other ten thousand. I sent the navy families to the set of five thousand and the army families to the other set, which was five miles further away. I delivered food by the wagonloads to both places.

  The next afternoon, I met with the navy families. I amplified my voice: “I'll come straight to the point. Your King has thrown you and your families away, and you heard his envoy say they did not want you at any price. They would not pay any gold for you, but he would pay one hundred times his weight for the Prince. You served him loyally, and he abandoned you and your families. We paid to get your families here so you could be together.”

  I continued, “You know that no one lives anywhere for free. Even in prison, you must work to eat. Midway needs sailors, as we have ten new ships that need manning. We will not ask you to invade North Landing, only to defend Midway ships and yourselves. You will carry cargo and defend yourselves and your cargo, nothing more.”

  “We know that North Landing was taking, or trying to take, our ships and cargo. We don't hold that against you, but rather against your former King. If you swear fealty to Midway and Queen Pam, we will welcome you as citizens. As sailors in the Midway Navy you will receive monthly pay and a portion of any prizes taken by the ship you serve on. I know some of you are thinking that you don't want to be in the navy. We need other skills too, but make no mistake, if you don't work, you don't eat. If you will swear fealty to Midway and Queen Pam, bend the knee.”

  Everyone, families included, knelt. I nodded, and their collars disappeared.

  “If you would join our navy, raise and see the clerks over to your left.” About two-thirds rose and moved to see the clerks. That would be a nasty surprise for North Landing.

  “The rest of you move over to your right and see the clerks. They will see where we can find work for you.” The rest of them moved over.

  In the end, we had full rosters for all ten ships. We also added one hundred experienced shipyard workers to the rolls, as well as farmers, merchants, carpenters, blacksmiths, all trades. They took me at my word, and everyone worked.

  That night over dinner, I caught Pam up on the progress we were making and told her everything was going smoothly. “I'm worried about the army and their families; that's thirty thousand more people. I'm not sure if our economy can handle that many new people all at once,” she said.

  “I'll think of something,” I assured.

  I already knew of a kingdom that needed people.

  I had sent word for all the army people and families to gather outside their apartments the next afternoon, and I ported to Mountain Hold early the next morning. I went to the largest southern lake and chose a site to grow a city with room for ten thousand households and thirty thousand people. I chose the south because my herders were in the north.

  I gathered my power, picturing what I wanted in my mind.

  “Build it.” The city grew with the river running through the middle of it.

  It sat on the banks of the big lake, with a wharf for fishing. Outside the city, I grew Fort Magenta, which was a copy of Fort Midway. I furnished ten thousand houses with furniture, cookware, dishes, beds, bedding, rugs, curtains, and anything else I could think of to get my city and new subjects started. When I was finished, I went down into the earth to restore my energy.

  Now, all I had to do was convince them to come with me. When my strength was restored, I ported to the former North Landing Army's apartment buildings in the guise of Midway's Royal Wizard. They were gathered and waiting for me.

  I gave them the same talking points as the navy. They had been used and thrown away by their King, but we had paid to have them reunited with their families.

  “But we have a problem; Midway cannot absorb thirty thousand people into our economy.” People started shuffling their feet; you could feel the anxiety level rising. “But we also have a solution. Our ally to the west, Mountain Hold, needs people and is willing to give you all a home.” I pointed west over the Mountains: “He arrives.”

  I left an image of the Royal Wizard in place and ported over the west mountain. I flew back toward the North Landing army, gathering in my guise as King Hue, the Wizard King of Mountain Hold. The image of the Royal Wizard faded out, but no one noticed.

  “Good people, I'm King Hue of Mountain Hold. My friend, the Royal Wizard of Midway, has told me of the problem you face. It is not that Midway doesn't want you; your numbers would simply overwhelm them. I, on the other hand, need and have room for you. I have built a place for you and will provide for you until we get everything up and running.”

  “But if you come with me, everyone serves or works. If you don't work, you don't eat. Nothing is free. I know not all of you are professional military men; some of you were called up to serve. You would probably like to go back to your chosen profession. That's fine with me. I don't need a ten-thousand-man army right now. I also need other trades, so we'll figure it out.”

  I opened a portal so they could see the city I had built for them. “If you would come with me, serve me, and become my subjects, bend the knee and swear fealty to me as your King.” Everyone knelt, and their collars disappeared. “Welcome home people of Mountain Hold.”

  A cheer went up: “Long live King Hue; long live Mountain Hold.” They chanted it over and over.

  “Gather your things and move to you new home. General, gather your army and supplies; there is a fort on the other side of the city awaiting you and your men. We will talk disposition later, but first, we take care of our families.”

  “Yes, Your Highness.” Ten thousand soldiers and twenty thousand family members moved through the portal into Magenta City, Mountain Hold.

  The General took charge and got everyone moved and assigned housing. No house was any better than another, so there was no fighting about the house one was assigned.

  “Everything is already supplied, as well as I could think of. Get everyone settled in, and I'll be back in a few days. If you have a list of anything I have overlooked or you need, I'll get it. I also have other subjects on the north end of the valley, my Master Herder’s Village. They care for my herds. You probably won't see them, but just so you are a
ware of them.”

  “Yes, Your Highness,” he said and saluted. I ported to my Master Herder’s Village.

  I met the Master Herder, coming out of his house. “Welcome, Sire,” he said, bowing.

  “I wanted to tell you I have built a small city at the south end of the valley and moved some of my subjects in there. You should not see them for a while, but I wanted you to be aware of them,” I explained.

  He nodded. “Do they know about us?”

  “They do.”

  “Then we will have no trouble?”

  “You will not.” He bowed, and I ported back to the old North Landing army apartments. They were empty and had left no one behind.

  “Return to the mountain.” The whole building complex sank back into the mountain and was gone. I ported to the palace and danced with my Queen.

  Over dinner, she asked, “What of the North Landing Army refugees?”

  “I found them a home—a Kingdom out west needed an army. He took them.”

  “All of them?”

  “Yes, all of them, so we won't have to feed them.”

  “Great, I was worried about that.”

  ***

  Our new navy personnel were on their ships getting them repaired and updated with our new lightning bolt ballistas. I'd add the ship stones after everything else was done. The North Landing group, which did not go to the navy, opened two hundred new farms and put five hundred to work. They helped get all the farms up and running. It was late in the planting season, so I had them plant their seeds. I came back when they were done and commanded the seeds to grow. All our farms across the Kingdom would be ready for harvest at the same time.

  I had requests from them for shops, stores, and buildings of all kinds. North Midway was becoming its own town. I raised all the shops, stores, and buildings they asked for, and Hue Magenta financed the opening of all the new shops and stores.

  More sunburst stones were needed, so I ported over to Crystal Lake. I viewed below the lake; it was on a quartz deposit. All of it was underwater, but I still didn't want everyone knowing about it.