"Blakel was furious. It seems Lorit tricked him into believing he was winning the fight, while Chihon released the boy. They left Blakel standing there wondering what had gone awry."
"Someday, I may have to deal with Lorit myself." Tass had never encountered Lorit directly, only Chihon, but she was confident that she could handle him. After all, she was almost able to subdue the High Priest of Ran himself. What could one wizard do?
"Lorit's too powerful for a direct attack," Ghall said. "I still think Chihon is the key. If we can separate them. He'll be vulnerable."
Tass cringed. She'd spent time trying to turn Chihon. She'd been so close when Lorit broke the spell Tass had used on the girl. Tass wasn't sure she wanted to get enmeshed in another plan like that.
"Do you have a plan?" Tass asked.
Ghall laughed. "It's already working."
The next morning, Tass sat on the balcony enjoying her breakfast when Ghall rushed in, out of breath. She gestured to the chair. "Please join me."
Ghall ignored her invitation. "They've captured her. I fear they may have already secured the talisman." Ghall panted.
"Captured who?" Tass set down her cup of tea and shoved the chair out in invitation. The boy made her nervous standing there like that.
"Ukina," Ghall continued. "My spies tell me that the talisman was a dragon's egg, and that Ukina ran off with it last night. Jaurn captured her. He must already have the egg."
"Slow down. What happened?"
"Ukina left last night in her coach. It was almost midnight, but Jaurn ambushed her. He's holding her in the castle."
"How do you know that he has this talisman? You say it's a dragon's egg?"
"That is what my spies tell me. It was a dragon's egg. Ukina took it and ran, but Jaurn has her...and he probably has the egg, too. We have to do something."
"Calm down." Tass motioned Ghall to sit. She poured him a chalice of water and handed it to him.
"There's nothing we can do at the moment," Tass said. "Catch your breath and let's see if we can figure out what to do about this."
Ghall took the chalice and drank deeply from it. He flopped into the chair and pulled one leg up beneath him. "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know yet. Are you sure she had the egg with her?"
"Why else would she run?"
"Why indeed."
Chapter 12
Lorit sat on the edge of the well as Chihon admitted to drinking the water. Sond had offered her tea while she worked on Ril and she had never given it a thought. Kimt had declined the offer as she never drank tea. She said it was unhealthy.
Lorit had a sinking feeling. He wasn't convinced that the spell only affected children. If it showed up later in Chihon, what would he do? He had not been able to cure Ril; maybe he wouldn't be able to cure Chihon, either.
Chihon tried to reassure him. "I don't think it will harm me. Everyone is drinking the water, and the adults are fine."
"Let me have a look." Lorit reached out with his magical senses to examine her. There was nothing he could see, but that didn't mean it wasn't there. He reached into his pocket and touched the vial he had taken from the priest in Talus. He would study it when they returned to Amedon. For now, Chihon looked fine, but it did little to calm his worry.
"Let's get back to Amedon. I want to see if they can figure out anything about that green fluid the priest was carrying in Talus. It may be related."
Lorit reached out and took Chihon and Kimt's hands. He visualized the study they shared and pulled them across the void to Amedon.
When they materialized, a messenger stood just inside the doorway. The youth stood straight and still as if at attention. He must have been waiting there all day for them.
"What is it?" Lorit asked.
The boy reached into his robe pulling out a folded piece of parchment. "Urgent news for you. The Head Master told me to wait for you and give this to you as soon as you returned."
He handed the parchment to Lorit.
"Thank you. You may go." Lorit didn't even look up as the boy left. He unfolded the parchment. On it was a note written in the careful hand of the Head Master.
"What's it say?" Chihon asked.
"It says Queen Ukina is in trouble. She invoked the spell I left her in case of emergencies. The Head Master received her message while we were away."
"Does it say what happened to her?"
"No. Just that she needs our help." Lorit crumpled up the parchment and tossed it into the fireplace.
"You should go," Chihon said.
"What about you? I need to find out what's going on. Maybe the water does affect adults. I can't run off until I know more about this."
"And if you don't go help the queen, you'll regret it. Go. I'll be fine."
"I'll go," Lorit said. "But if anything happens, call me and I'll be right back."
Lorit prepared himself for the travel spell that would take him to Veldwaite. He would appear in the center of the throne room. He raised his power but felt Chihon restrain him.
"Wait. Be careful, you don't know what you're getting into. Don't go straight to the castle. See what you can find out in town first."
"That's a good idea." Lorit visualized the square where he and Chihon had first entered Veldwaite. He reached for it and pulled himself across the void.
Lorit appeared off to the side of the market square. It was abuzz with patrons and merchants. The sounds and smells of everyday life were much the same everywhere; roast meat and nuts off to one side, baked goods and breads on another, and merchants calling out to the crowd of patrons from every stall in the square. Lorit had learned from Chihon that the market square was the best place to catch up on the local gossip. He found a likely candidate who sold ironware, ladles, spoons, and utensils. Lorit approached the man and casually looked over his wares. "I'm passing through, thinking of settling down here. What can you tell me of the local gossip that might make me want to stay, or should I be moving on?"
"Veldwaite is a nice place, but there's been a bit of an uproar lately," the man said, leaning against the rough wooden post that formed his stall. "I heard the nobility was all up in arms against the queen."
"What for?" Lorit asked.
"Not sure. You never know with them royals. They could be fighting over some piece of land or something." He waved it away as if it were nothing.
"Surely it's more than just land?" Lorit hoped the man would open up. He clearly had a line on all the local gossip.
The man looked around as if checking for spies, then leaned toward Lorit. "One gal said they're fighting over something in the treasury. One of the serving women said the queen had this dragon's egg." He slapped the post. "You ever hear such a thing? A dragon's egg?"
"You don't say?" Lorit handed the man a silver for his troubles. "Thanks for your time."
Lorit needed a plan to enter the castle. He couldn't just appear in the throne room with all the trouble the queen was having. The nobility had a strict prohibition of magic and royalty mixing, and if she was already in trouble his appearance would only make things worse. He needed a way to sneak in.
He observed the castle folk and watched for a pattern of coming and going that he could take advantage of. He noticed that the washing women came out of the castle carrying heavy baskets filled with laundry. They navigated the twisting path to the river, where they washed and dried their burdens before they returned to the castle.
The women struggled back up the path under the load of the large baskets and paid little attention to anything but their burdens. Lorit prepared a spell to mask his image. He carefully created the outward appearance of a woman, tired and scorched by the sun, with a haggard look. He turned his hands red from the soap and cold water and created a large basket for himself.
As the women trudged up the path back to the castle, Lorit quietly joined the trail. No one seemed to notice the addition of one extra washing woman at the end of the line, and he wasn't challenged by the guard as he ent
ered the castle.
Once inside, Lorit probed around with his magic and quickly located the queen. She was alone in her bedchamber up on the third floor of the castle. He carefully made his way there, avoiding the guards, but as he turned the last corner, he found two stationed outside the queen's door. Lorit stepped behind a pillar hoping they hadn't seen him and raised a shield that would make him invisible.
Soon a woman came along carrying a tray laden with bread, meat, cheese, and a pot of wine. Lorit cast a spell on the woman, halting her before she turned the corner to the queen's chamber. He took the tray and cast a spell on himself to make the guards think he was the woman delivering the food. He raised his magic and started for the queen's door but stopped himself. He turned to the woman who had brought the tray and spoke quietly. "You delivered the food to the queen and she was grateful for your service. Go back to the kitchen and tell the cook."
"I delivered the food." The woman turned and walked back the way she had come.
Lorit turned the corner and the guards stood up. They readied their spears, barring his way.
"Dinner for the queen," Lorit said.
"Let me see that." One of the guards poked and prodded the food with his knife. "This is too good for her." He skewered a hunk of the meat and lifted it off the tray. "You can go in now."
"That's for the queen," Lorit said.
The guard raised his hand to strike Lorit. Lorit remembered, almost too late, that he was portraying the delivery woman. He lowered his eyes and cowered before the guard. "Sorry, sir."
"You better be sorry. Once you're done, you come back and see me. We can have a little fun later."
"Yes, sir." Lorit kept his eyes lowered.
The guard opened the door and let Lorit enter. As Lorit passed, the guard reached out and grabbed him. Lorit smirked. His disguise was purely visual.
Queen Ukina sat on the bed, looking out the window. Her hair was its usual mess, and her clothes were disarrayed, as if she had slept in them. She couldn't be getting much rest.
"Just put it down and leave." Ukina waved to the table beside her bed but didn't turn around to see who it was.
Lorit dropped the disguise. "I've come a long way to see you. I'd rather not leave so soon."
Ukina spun around. Her face was bruised and her lip split and bloodied. One of her eyes was blackened, and she had two gouges on her face.
She jumped up from the bed and raced into Lorit's arms, almost knocking him over in her enthusiasm. "You came."
"What happened to you?" Lorit asked.
Ukina held him tight and cried. Lorit held her and tried to sooth her with his magic until she was calm enough to speak.
"I had a disagreement with one of my noblemen." She sniffed. "He wanted something I couldn't provide, so he took his frustrations out on me."
Lorit touched her cheek. He raised power, preparing to heal her, but she pulled back. "Don't."
"Do you want to suffer?" Lorit asked.
"No, but if you heal me, they'll know that I've had contact with a wizard. They'll hang me."
"Surely it's not that bad?" The kingdom had rules against wizards ruling, but hanging the monarch just for having contact with a wizard was extreme. They had never acted this way before.
"It's that bad. It's not that they don't want magic. What they seek is supposed to have great magical power."
"What do they seek?"
"A dragon's egg." She studied him. "You don't look surprised."
"I stopped in the market on my way here. Rumor has it you had a dragon's egg." Lorit extricated himself from her embrace and sat. "You really did?"
Ukina nodded. "It was in the treasury. Deep in the old vaults. I didn't know it was there until the nobles sent someone for it. I made an excuse and sent it off with Sir Adane. Then I ran in the other direction to put them off his trail."
"It looks like it didn't work out so well." Lorit reached for her again. "Let me heal that a little. I won't make it obvious, but I can stop the pain."
"Just a little," she said hesitantly.
Lorit felt her injuries. Those that were strictly internal, he healed completely. He was certain that Ukina didn't know that she had been beaten so badly that she might have died from her injuries. He flowed magical energy into her, mending her bruised and battered body, but leaving the split lip and facial bruises.
"Feel better?" he asked.
"I do feel better. Thank you." She sat on the bed, facing him. "They didn't get the egg, and I didn't tell them where Sir Adane went."
"Where did you send him?"
"To you...I sent him to Amedon and told him to ask for you or Chihon."
"Sir Adane is a good man. He should be safe. Does he still carry the protection I placed on him?" Chihon had healed Sir Adane after a particularly savage battle, and Lorit had placed a spell of protection on the knight, so he would be resistant to magical interference.
"He does. That's why I sent the egg with him. I trust him with my life."
"Is it really a dragon's egg?" Lorit had read what little there was in Amedon about the dragons. Whenever he'd asked his mentor, Zhimosom, about it, the wizard had avoided the question.
"That's what I understand, but it looked a lot like a field stone with a thin gold lace covering and some jewels embedded in it. It looked old and almost as if it was falling apart, crumbling."
"Why do the nobles want it?"
"I don't know. The nobles are divided. Some of them back me, some back my brother, and some are in it for themselves. I don't know which ones these are."
"If they are backing your brother, then the temple is involved."
"That would make sense. Lorit, they're tearing the kingdom apart. If we can't stop them, this will lead to a civil war."
"I'm afraid it's worse than that. The temple has stepped up its infiltration into some of the smaller cities and towns. They are actively trying to expand all across the land. Something is going on."
"Lorit, what am I going to do?"
Queen Ukina put her head in her hands and cried.
Lorit moved to sit beside her and put his arm around her. When she felt him, she let out heavy sobs and collapsed into his arms.
"I'll think of something," Lorit said. He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt.
Chapter 13
Tass enjoyed the quiet of the morning, sipping a brew of bark and herbs, pondering her options. She often climbed the spire of the temple with her morning tea to look down on the faithful and today was no exception.
Tass wondered about Ghall. He was confident that the nobles had the egg, but she wasn't so sure. She gave Ukina a little more credit than that. Besides, if the nobles had what they wanted, why was the queen still alive? You don't capture the monarch and then let her go free.
That meant that they hadn't found the dragon's egg. She would have to do something about that, and one of these days she would have to do something about Ghall, too. But until she had the egg in her possession, she needed him. She would have to spare his life for a little longer.
She was almost finished with her tea and steeling herself for the day when an under priest stormed onto the balcony without knocking.
"Mother! You must come quickly," the man panted. "It's Father Ghall."
The under priest didn't wait for a response but fled the room as suddenly as he'd arrived.
"Wait for me!" Tass called after him. What had befallen the lad now? Ghall was always getting into something he should have kept out of. He was barely strong enough as a wizard to qualify for the priesthood. Had it not been for his royal blood, she would have killed him and taken his power long ago.
The under priest led Tass to Ghall's room and ran off without a word. Ghall lay on the bed, sweating. Pain distorted his face. A great deal of pain, by the looks of it. Tass smiled. Maybe she wasn't going to have to do anything about Ghall herself. Maybe someone had beaten her to the boy.
She drew a chair and sat next to Ghall. "What happened?"
&
nbsp; "Poison...they...poisoned me," Ghall said through gritted teeth.
"Who?" Tass asked.
"I...don't know." Ghall groaned. He reached for Tass, grabbed a hold of her robe, and pulled her close. "Do something..."
Tass pulled his fingers from her robe and sat straight. She looked back at Ghall and snorted. "Why should I help you?"
"The throne..." Ghall muttered.
"Yes. The throne." Tass waved her hand in the air. "That's your dream, not mine."
"You...need me." Ghall winced in pain.
Tass considered her recent predicament. She had been exiled by Sulrad in a fit of anger. Perhaps it was time she did something other than running back to him and apologizing. Sulrad had grown weak over the last summer, even though he wouldn't admit it. He still acted as if he was at full strength, but she knew better. Perhaps Ghall could help her hurry Sulrad's demise along.
"Oh, all right." Tass stood over Ghall and reached out her hand. She felt the poison in his system. It was nasty. Not only was there poison, but it was tailored to resist wizard's magic. No wonder Ghall was unable to rid himself of it.
Tass frowned at the thought. Whoever had done this was knowledgeable. The formula for the poison in Ghall's body was a carefully guarded secret. Only a few of the temple's highly placed assassins knew of it.
Fortunately for Ghall, Tass had enough field experience to be trusted with just such a formula, and she knew what to do to counteract it.
Tass looked down at the boy. He was in a lot of pain, but the poison was designed to work slowly so that the victim would have plenty of time to ponder his deeds before death came to his relief. She smiled. Ghall's predicament was going to provide her with some badly needed entertainment.
"I have to get some herbs to make a counter-spell. This is part magic, part medicine. I'll be back." She stood to leave.
"Hurry!" Ghall cried.
Tass stopped. Maybe it was time to get a few concessions from the young priest. "Before I go, there's something we need to discuss."
Master Wizard Page 8
