by Guy Antibes
“You shouldn’t have come,” Ricky said. “What if King Wako wasn’t as friendly as you thought? Paranty and Fisttia were going to war with him not that long ago.”
“I have my own spells that I weave. They just aren’t sorcerous,” Pira said. “I couldn’t stay at Samira, not without you. I looked at the papers and the decisions and just couldn’t discipline myself to work on them. I needed you at my side. I need you at my side.” She took Ricky’s hand and grinned. “You were ready to attack, weren’t you?”
“And what if I did?”
“You wouldn’t. I’m sure your curiosity took over. You wanted to see if you knew the sorcerer.”
Ricky nodded and squeezed her hands. “I did. I haven’t taught you how to properly shield yourself.”
“You aren’t the only sorcerer in residence at Samira. Hemo said there were various shields, but he taught me how to make one before I left.”
There was nothing else Ricky could do but shrug his shoulders. “I’m glad to see you and glad to have met King Wako. He is the most personable monarch in Kerrothia.”
“You’ve met them all, now,” Pira said. “I agree. He and I are tricksters.”
A servant walked up to them. “Dinner is about to be served. I will escort you.”
They followed the woman into the castle and into a room about the size of the council chambers. It was decorated more like the palaces he had seen. The walls were painted white with gold trim. The furniture was made from dark dimani with white and gold upholstery.
King Wako entered at the end and told everyone to sit. He motioned Ricky and Pira to sit at the head of the table with him, Ricky at one side and Pira at the other.
“A gift from our relations in Vorria,” King Wako said, rapping his knuckles on the table. “We share common ancestry, but I’m sure both of you already know.”
“We do,” Pira said.
Servants placed large platters of food on the long table.
King Wako rose from his seat and bowed his head. The rest of the diners did the same. Pira made a face at Ricky and bowed her head. Ricky didn’t have a choice but to follow. The king prayed in what sounded like Vorrian.
He finished, and the diners began to chatter. Ricky lifted his head up and saw that there was no protocol regarding how to start eating. After the prayer, everything was up for grabs.
“You will be leaving us in the morning?” King Wako asked.
Ricky nodded. “I haven’t finalized my plans with Princess Pira. I was tempted to visit Duteria before I returned to Paranty, but now, I think I will visit Tossa, if that suits the sorceress who compelled you.”
King Wako laughed. “I would heed what she says. If you are ever in need, let me know. I would hope your visit has given us reason to be allies.”
“Despite being so ill-treated, I think it has,” Ricky said. Pira nodded at him from the other side of King Wako.
“I will endeavor to see if Pira’s spell worked.”
“Not mine?” Ricky said.
“That makes me even more confident. I have my nieces and nephews in the castle. I hope before long to add children of my own to the castle play yards. I may have to get married first, but that hasn’t stopped me from trying yet.”
Pira blushed, but she still smiled. Ricky sat back and counted Cralt as his favorite place to visit.
Ricky and Pira shared the same suite in the castle. They each had a bedroom, of course, Pira was quick to point out.
“Tossa?” Ricky said as he sat down.
“I’m not ready for the Rings,” Pira said. “I may be a sorceress, but I am poorly trained.”
“We will rectify that,” Ricky said. “Did Hemo really teach you a shield?”
Pira laughed. “Of course not, but I wasn’t about to have you scold me in front of King Wako’s council. Now, what did the king say about me?”
“Something about persuading the king through non-sorcerous means.”
Pira nodded and smiled. “Pleasurable means?”
“I would assume so. A bit of playful misdirection on King Wako’s part?”
“Of course,” Pira said. She swallowed. “Tossa, then?”
“Tossa,” Ricky said.
Pira was uncomfortable. Could it be spending the night in the same suite? He wondered. They had spent part of a night in the same tent on the way to the Fisttian capital. But Ricky had to admit this felt different. They weren’t exhausted from flying all day. He looked at her and smiled.
She yawned, but it wasn’t a real yawn. He could tell.
“Is something wrong?” Ricky asked.
“I’m tired,” she said.
“I’m not. How long did it take you to get from Samira to Hoksakel?”
Pira worked her closed lips. “I left Samira a day after you did and headed straight here.”
“Can you link with anyone else?”
She looked him in the eyes. “No. Just you, because we have an affinity.” She said. “A lot of affinity.”
“We do,” Ricky said.
Something was building up between them. Ricky felt his breath shorten and his face get a little flushed. Pira kept her eyes on him as the feeling continued to build. She broke eye contact and hit her leg with a fist. “No. Not now,” she said as she jumped up and retreated to her bedroom.
Ricky heard her jam the locking latch closed. He took a deep breath. He could easily unlatch her door from his side, but he didn’t. He sighed. Pira did the right thing, and she removed herself before Ricky, who was about to do the same.
It was easy to resist making their relationship more physical other than an errant kiss, but tonight was somehow different and more tempting. They had too much to do to get distracted quite like that. He sighed again and went into his own bedroom. He didn’t know what Pira would have done if he had walked out on her. He allowed himself a smile. She lost, but Ricky didn’t exactly win.
~~~
Chapter Seventeen
~
T ossa appeared on the horizon, rising up on the far side of the big bend in the River Lironi that defined three sides of the city. Ricky had never looked at Tossa from the east before. They waited for dusk to have dinner at an outside dining area of a little village inn that overlooked the River Lironi with a view of Tossa.
“You did well,” Ricky said. “Your speed has improved.”
“I’ve had a lot of practice in the last week,” she said.
“Has it only been a week?” Ricky asked.
She nodded. “Not much longer. The distraction is fading,” she said.
Ricky could understand. “I grew up on shantyboats that have disappeared from the river. It makes me melancholy. I’m sure Mistress Doubli’s academy isn’t back to life yet, although we will go there before we visit Baron Mansali.”
“The mysterious Baron Mansali. He has been a help to us, hasn’t he? I don’t know if he’s been told I killed his daughter.”
“He hasn’t heard such a thing from me,” Ricky said.
“I don’t want to spend much time in Tossa, even though most people won’t recognize me.”
“Just a quick visit,” Ricky nodded. “You can’t do everything by linking.”
Pira turned red. “No, you can’t.”
They ordered dinner. The food was surprisingly good.
“I enjoyed eating in different countries, except for the bland Fisttian food,” Ricky said. “To be honest, Duterian cuisine doesn’t exactly shine, but I guess it all depends on what you are used to.”
“I’m used to better food than this,” Pira said. “I can’t say this isn’t good food, but it isn’t as fancy.”
Ricky sat silent for a moment. “Are you being a bit picky?”
She smiled. “No, I’m just being Pira. The cooking here is exceptional for what I’ve experienced on the road and in Samira, if the truth be told. Maybe you could hire whoever is doing the cooking.”
“That wouldn’t be fair,” Ricky said. “We’d leave the village bereft of the cook’s
services if I did that. Besides, who knows how long we will be in Samira? I think we need to work with our cooks to make them better rather than bringing someone else in.”
Pira took Ricky’s hand. “That’s why I like you, Duke Valian. Your perspective is the better one.”
Ricky felt a little awkward since Pira seemed to be totally sincere. “Thank you. There have been, and will be, plenty of times when your perspective is better.”
Pira sat back and clapped her hands. She stopped when she noticed others in the inn looking at her, but she didn’t stop smiling. “See? Better.”
~
Doubli Academy wasn’t asleep like Ricky had thought. Lights were on, and there were students roaming about. Ricky and Pira walked through the unlocked Administration Building and climbed the steps to the third floor.
Ricky knocked on Merry’s door.
The Doubli Dean opened it herself. “Ricky!” She put her arms around him and winked at Pira. “Come in, both of you. Not even a link to warn a lady?” Merry said. “So, what have you been doing?”
“Saving Kerrothia,” Ricky said.
“I heard you returned to Dimani and made an agreement of some sort with Vorria.”
Ricky and Pira filled Merry in on their travels.
“So you have yet to save Hessilia’s city-states?”
Ricky nodded. “I think I may use my friends in Duteria for that.” He looked at Pira. “I need to spend more time in Samira.”
“You need to speak to Duke Noacci,” Merry said. “He may be ahead of you on that.”
“What’s new at Doubli? There are students again.”
“Did you take a good look at them?”
Ricky shook his head. “Are they younger? Older?”
“Older. We have two kinds of students at Doubli right now, soldiers and battle sorcerers. Saganet has returned to his cottage. He and Effie are training troops. Nemo Mattia is training troops in Samira. Duke Noacci has General Farlotti training troops in Applia.”
“And they will converge on Sealio,” Pira said. “Has everyone given up on King Leon?”
“As I said, speak to Duke Noacci. He is staying with Baron Mansali for a few days. Take advantage of him being here. I think it will save him a trip to Naparra,” Merry said.
Ricky linked with Baron Mansali and asked if he and Pira could visit him tonight.
The two of them took a carriage that had come from the Mansali residence, and soon Ricky found himself in the Baron’s study. Duke Noacci looked back at him, sitting in a chair facing the Baron’s desk.
“You aren’t at the palace?” Ricky asked.
Mansali shook his head. “I only go there when I need to. I’d rather entertain Duke Noacci at my house, anyway. How was Cralt? My son didn’t mention you arriving, but he knew you had come and gone.”
“King Wako is a bit of a trickster,” Ricky said. “I liked him best of all the monarchs.”
“He is the youngest,” Noacci said. “I’m sure that helps.”
Ricky looked at Pira. “I’m sure it does, but I’m also convinced that he was a victim of the Botoyans as much as any of the others. I assume you know what I’m doing in Samira.”
“Pretty much. You are training troops to defend yourself from King Leon.”
“Nemo Mattia does the training. We have just finished thwarting the Botoyans’ long-term strategy, so I would imagine we are pushing them into a corner.”
“It is a very large corner,” Duke Noacci said. “All of Hessilia plus Sealio.”
“But you will have Sealio surrounded by your troops,” Pira said.
“Are all my troops loyal to the Curled Fist, Princess? Not so. We won’t know until we declare our intentions.”
“Surely you don’t believe that,” Pira said.
“Between us in this room, I don’t, but I do believe that King Leon is not going to give up. If it appears that he is, the sorcerers will compel him. Won’t they?” Noacci said.
“They will,” Ricky said. “If there are key people in Sealio, should they come out? If we show signs of attacking, won’t they be put in peril?”
“Do you know of any?” Noacci said to Ricky.
“My Sealian friends are all out, but there must be others.”
“There are,” Pira said. “I will leave you a list, Duke Noacci. Some might be better left in place.”
“Thank you, Princess. I do know that King Leon is in the process of appointing one of his cronies to be Duke Bariani’s successor.”
“What will that do to the academy? They are training troops like I am,” Ricky said.
“We have talked to Mistress Doubli,” Mansali said. “We will simply ignore the man unless he brings his own guard with him. Don’t worry about what we are doing.”
“Just continue. General Farlotti has assigned new troops to Naparra. They are handpicked and yours to command in the event of a conflict. I do need a link to your group. I have sent four sorcerers to Naparra to learn for a few weeks from you and your battle sorcerer. Teach the leader to link and send him back to me. He is a former performance sorcerer whom I talked into retiring early.”
“I’ll be happy to help,” Ricky said.
“You are returning to Applia?”
Noacci shook his head. “I have to enter the lion’s den before I return to Applia. You might end up having to extract me if King Leon becomes suspicious.”
Ricky looked at Baron Mansali. “We should have someone who can link in Sealio then, at least as long as the duke is visiting.”
“I have already thought of that. I will notify you if that happens.”
Pira spoke up. “You shouldn’t go, Duke Noacci. It is too dangerous.”
“Your cousin has requested my presence. If I don’t go, my intentions will be confirmed to him. I have no choice. General Farlotti and the baron know what needs to be done if something happens to me.” Noacci looked at Ricky. “You may be the new duke sooner rather than later.”
“That won’t happen. Let’s assume you will return to Applia.”
“Good boy. Don’t think I’m not taking precautions. That is why there are some key people better left in place.”
“We will be going, then. I will visit my guardian before Pira and I leave for Samira.”
The baron’s coach still waited outside and returned Pira and Ricky to the academy. Ricky reunited with Saganet and confirmed that he had twelve-hundred fresh troops. Merry’s sorcery instructors were bringing along two-hundred sorcerers, teaching them aggressive spells. Dari Calasay had finally seen the need for a different approach. Saganet suggested that they meet her the next morning. Merry had arranged for Pira to stay with Merry and Ricky would stay at his still-vacant room in the dormitories. Dari would meet him at the commissary early in the morning.
Ricky spent a comfortable night and entered the commissary. Pira and Professor Calasay were already talking.
“Ricky,” Dari Calasay said standing up. “I approve of your traveling companion. You attract distinguished company.”
“How are you?” Ricky said. “It has been quite a while since we last talked.”
They spent a few minutes catching up. Ricky didn’t like the way Pira looked so interested.
“I spent some time at the University after Duke Bariani had his breakdown and closed the academy. Petrolo Garini tried to put a great deal of pressure on me to join his faith. It opened my eyes to the corruption in Sealio, I must admit. We face an awful enemy.”
“We do,” Pira said.
“Do I need to send Siria to Tossa?” Ricky said.
Dari shook her head. “No need. Duke Noacci has talked a few good performance sorcerers into coming here. Inspired by what you’ve done, we have worked on converting illusions into devastating spells. We are still working on them, but we are only a few months away. The duke doesn’t have any battle sorcerers. King Leon has them sequestered somewhere closer to Sealio.”
“Maybe that’s where we should go,” Ricky said.
Dari
shrugged. “I am impressed that you achieved Tower sorcerer status. I didn’t fully appreciate what that meant until I asked Baron Mansali. You were always my best student.”
“Thank you, Professor Calasay. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I’m sorry about Professor Garini.”
“Don’t be. I don’t know who killed him, but he was as fanatical as any of them. He was much more subtle when he taught at Doubli.” She shook her head. “Whoever killed him has my thanks.”
Ricky didn’t say another word.
“I have to prepare for my next class. The commissary food isn’t quite the same. Just a word of warning.”
“Have you had breakfast?” Ricky asked Pira after Dari had left.
“You didn’t tell her about your former teacher.”
Ricky felt grim. “It is better kept a closely-held secret. Let’s try the food and get going.”
After food that tasted little better than the slop he ate at the Juvenile Home, Ricky and Pira took off towards Samira.
Ricky looked down at the farms and fields that dotted the eastern part of Paranty. There were few towns. He wondered how loyal the people were. After half-a-day heading directly south, Ricky and Pira walked into a restaurant in a town. The place was much larger than a village, but other than being a crossroads didn’t seem to have any significance except for a large open square that must have held a robust market.
“What is good?” Pira asked the server.
She looked up at the ceiling. “We have trout caught this morning, pork butchered a few days ago, and chicken that will be cooked very fresh. Or there is mutton stew that is three days old.”
“I’ll have pork,” Ricky said.
“Trout.” Pira smiled at the server, probably about the same age that she was.
“You are mercenaries?” a man said walking up. He had shown them to their seats.
“No,” Ricky said. “We are attached to the Duke of Naparra on our way to Firali from Tossa.”
“Ah, scouts or something.”
“We are something,” Pira said.
The man smiled. “Is there anything else I can help you with? We can package a nice dinner for you to eat on the road. There isn’t much to the south or west of here.”
