Secrets and Spellcraft

by Michael G. Manning

  It screamed as the flames ate into it, emitting an unearthly wail. Will gave it a bloody smile. “That’s right, you bastard. Burn!” With its master dead, the demon attempted to flee, but Will dropped his sword and wrapped flaming arms around it. It writhed and tore at him, shredding his clothes and tearing the flesh on his arms and legs, but it couldn’t escape. Will felt his turyn pour out as his spell and the demon’s essences destroyed each other.

  The sizzling carnage went on for almost thirty seconds before the demon finally sagged, collapsing as its body fell apart into black blood and loose claws. Will got to his feet and drank another elixir of turyn to replenish his strength. Then he surveyed the damage to himself and the shop.

  He was in surprisingly good shape. His arms and legs had numerous cuts and scrapes, but nothing serious. The wound in his belly was shallow and didn’t seem to be bleeding much. His clothes were ruined, and the brigandine would need serious repair, but overall, he was functional. The same could not be said of poor Bryan Branstowe. The tailor would never produce another garment.

  Will tried to think. It wouldn’t be long before either the remaining soldiers came to get him, or the city guard appeared. He needed to be gone. Taking several long strides, he crossed the room and went behind the small counter. Bryan had put the gold he had received back there, and Will was rewarded when he spotted a heavy iron cash box. He stored it within the limnthal with a touch. No point in not making the best of a bad situation, he thought. Bryan wouldn’t be needing the money anymore.

  He considered the back door, but decided it was too risky. There might be more men waiting outside. He already knew the situation on the street in front. Walking boldly, he exited the front door. The street was still empty, and he waved at the men blocking the intersections. They stared at him in confusion. Before they could react, he crossed the road and went between the two closest buildings, then he cast his climb spell and made his way to the roof.

  He moved until he was safe from observation and then worked his way over so he could observe the scene of his recent calamity. Several minutes passed, and then the men who had been blocking the intersection moved in. A cart and horse came soon after, and the bodies were loaded and covered with a tarp. Sand was thrown over the blood on the street, and then the men and the cart left. Their actions were calm and unhurried as though they were doing nothing out of the ordinary. Not long after that, pedestrians and foot traffic began to traverse the street. Will wondered how long it would be before someone tried to pay a visit to the deceased tailor. The entire thing was surreal. They didn’t even bother searching for me. They just cleaned up once the plan was an obvious failure.

  The calm professionalism and complete lack of regard for the law or other repercussions chilled him to the bone. The men who had attacked him had operated with confidence that no one would interfere. They’d already had a plan to dispose of the bodies, whether his or their own. It was obvious that someone with considerable power was behind the entire thing. Someone who had connections with the Priests of Madrok.

  Was it Duke Arenata acting on behalf of his sister, or Count Spry? It was even possible that Selene was behind it, though Will refused to believe it. Otherwise why would she have warned me? Could there even be a third party after me, one I have no knowledge of?

  Will removed his torn tunic and used it to wipe away the blood. He tore off a large piece and made a ball out of it, which he stuffed between his brigandine and the wound on his abdomen. He used more strips torn from it to bandage the worst cuts on his arms and legs, then summoned one of his new tunics and put it on.

  Confident that he no longer looked like a war refugee, he descended to the ground of one of the side alleys then confidently walked out, heading for the armorer’s shop.

  Chapter 35

  Will commissioned two more of his peculiar innerwear brigandines and promised he would bring his damaged one in for repair when they were done. He had no intention of surrendering it until he had a replacement. Then he returned to Wurthaven. He didn’t bother with the wall, but entered through the main gate since it was only when leaving that he felt he needed to conceal his movements.

  He was tempted to go to the Healing and Psyche building for treatment of his cuts and bruises but decided against it. The only people who knew he had been at the tailor’s shop were either dead or unlikely to talk about it. Seeking medical assistance would only serve to build a case against him if someone did accuse him of being involved in the fight.

  He ran into Seth in the hallway as he headed for his room. The other boy greeted him warmly. “Hi, Will.” His eyes narrowed as he noted the haggard look in Will’s eyes. “Are you all right?”

  Will nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.”

  Seth studied his face. “Is that blood?” he asked hesitantly.

  Will smiled nonchalantly. “Probably. I fell during saber practice a bit ago.”

  “Isn’t your saber practice in the morning?”

  He brushed past his friend. “I’ll see you later. I need to get cleaned up.” He unlocked his door and shut it quickly behind him before Seth could ask any more questions. It wouldn’t help his newly rekindled friendship if Seth found out he’d massacred another group of would-be assassins.

  Finally alone, he stripped completely, then braced himself before using a spell to clean his body. As before, the pain was intense as the spell stripped away both dirt and scabs, and an involuntary grunt of pain escaped his lips. “Damn! That hurts!”

  He used another spell to clean his impromptu linen bandages and then set about properly binding his wounds. For good measure, he drank one of the extra blood-cleanse potions he had saved. He wasn’t sure if it would work if used prophylactically, but he wanted to avoid another bad fever. He had more if the wound in his belly still turned septic.

  Studying his brigandine, he discovered that several of the rivets had popped loose and some of the plates were badly bent. He used the hilt of one of his daggers to pound them roughly back into shape so they wouldn’t poke into him while wearing it. He’d have to continue using it until the new ones were ready. As long as he didn’t get shot again in the same places, it would protect him. “Better than nothing,” he muttered.

  He cleaned and re-sharpened his sword, reloaded his crossbow, and then put them both back in storage. “It’s a good thing my sleeves are long, otherwise everyone would be wondering about the cuts and bruises on Monday,” he observed.

  The combat had left his muscles sore and his body tired in a way that only happened after a fight. It felt as though he’d strained his back too. Probably when I picked up the dead man, or maybe when that spell threw me against the wall.

  He lay down for a nap, even though it was still afternoon. Normally he would dismiss the spell he was holding before getting into bed, but this time he decided to see if he could maintain it while asleep. It was worth a try at least.

  Will awoke a few hours later, and while his body was stiff and sore, his mind was clear. He called up the limnthal and addressed his ring. “Something happened today,” he began.

  “You’re going to tell me about it, aren’t you? What did I ever do to you?” said Arrogan.

  He ignored the remarks. “I went to a tailor to pay for some clothes and I was ambushed.”

  “Before you go any further, let me ask you a question. Were you ambushed by people you annoyed by continually talking to them about things in which they had absolutely no interest? If so, I’d like to say that I empathize with their suffering.”

  Will found himself smirking. “Stop trying to cheer me up.”

  “I truly and honestly am not trying to cheer you up,” insisted the ring. When Will didn’t respond the ring spoke again. “Well, go ahead. Don’t drag this out. Punish me with your story.”

  He explained what had happened, including some pertinent past information about how he had dealt with Remi and seeing Selene leaving Count Spry’s city home. He also mentioned the note he had received. When he fi
nished, he asked, “What do you think?”

  “Are you expecting praise for surviving such an elaborate ambush?”

  Will frowned. That hadn’t been his purpose, but he did feel somewhat proud of his tenacity. He’d not only survived a surprise attack with five armed attackers, a spell caster, and a demon, but he had soundly beaten them. “I only wanted your advice about what to do next, but since you mention it, I did do rather well, didn’t I?”

  “Fucking idiot!” swore Arrogan. “You do something stupid then expect a compliment? If this keeps happening, you will die. You won’t get many chances to learn from mistakes like this, because the final lesson is getting your life snuffed out.”

  “I did the best I could with what I had!”

  “That isn’t the point, you wooden-headed dolt!”

  “Then what is?”

  “The first thing you should realize is that if you’ve been ambushed, you screwed up. The whole point of an ambush is catching you in a situation where you aren’t prepared and eliminating you with an attack you can’t defend against. They very nearly succeeded this time, even if you did survive. If they get another chance, they’ll do their best to make damn sure there’s no way you can get out of it alive. What you should be thinking about now is how not to be ambushed again.”

  Frustrated, Will said the first thing that came to mind, “Is there a spell for that?” There was a long pause, during which he realized how silly the question was.

  But then Arrogan replied, “You’ll find it in Practical Magic on the page titled ‘Of course not, idiot!’ It’s right after the one titled, ‘How could anyone ask such a dumb question?’ and right before the page titled, ‘How to arrange your own funeral if you’re too stupid to live.’”

  For the first time in a while, Arrogan’s words found their mark and Will felt his cheeks color. “Professor Dulaney says there are no stupid questions,” he replied sourly.

  “Until you come along and infect a perfectly innocent question with your idiocy,” said Arrogan. “You need to stop massaging your Professor Dulaney’s feet, or sucking his toes, or whatever the hell it is you’re doing, and learn to think for yourself. Stop asking questions you know the answers to and start figuring out what the important questions are. Knowing the right questions is the biggest part of not being stupid.”

  “Are you done?” asked Will sourly.

  “Maybe. I think I have one more.” After a pause, he went on, “No, that was it.”

  “How do I keep from being ambushed again?”

  “Finally,” said the ring. “The first thing to do is stop being predictable. As overwhelming as it is having so many people trying to kill you, you have to think about it from their perspective. Setting an ambush isn’t easy. You have to know where your target is going to be and get there first. You have to have enough time to set up for him. That means that whenever possible, you have to make sure no one knows where you’re going to be at any given time.”

  That made sense to Will, though he thought he’d been doing that much of the time anyway. “I’ve been leaving unobserved by climbing the wall, and I was supposed to pick up those clothes two weeks ago. They couldn’t have known when I was coming.”

  “That shows just how badly they want to get you,” said Arrogan. “They only knew the place, but they were willing to set up and wait for weeks until you arrived. In the future you need to think about any place that someone knows you have to appear at, particularly if there’s a specific time.”

  “I’m a student,” said Will. “I have a set schedule of classes every week.”

  “You should drop out of this crappy school anyway.”

  “I’m not doing that. Not yet, anyway. Is there anything else?”

  “Obviously there are times when you can’t avoid being predictable. Like your class schedule, or this dance you mentioned a while back—”

  “I also have to pick up some armor I commissioned in a few weeks,” Will interrupted.

  “Or that,” agreed the ring. “When you’re faced with something unavoidable, you have to work under the assumption that someone is going to try again. Think about how they’ll do it. Depending on the place, there are usually only a few good options for ambushing someone. Let’s use your armorer as an example. They can’t be sure what direction you’ll come from, which limits your enemy. He has to choose the shop itself for his ambush, either when you enter or leave. He can kill the armorer and wait inside, or plan on taking you in the street.”

  “All I can think to do is try to be more aware of the surroundings when I go, but I’ve been doing that anyway.”

  Arrogan sighed. “You’ve missed the simplest answer.”

  “Which is?”

  “Send someone else to fetch it for you.”

  Will’s chin dropped, but a moment later he recovered. “Wait, I can’t send a friend into danger.”

  “Then send a stranger. It’s unlikely they’ll attack someone other than you anyway. Just don’t send someone they could use to gain leverage.”

  He frowned. “Even if it was a complete stranger, I’d feel compelled to help if they were kidnapped.”

  “Your enemies don’t know that. They assume everyone is just as cold hearted as they are,” said the ring.

  “How about my classes then? I can’t send someone in my place.”

  “The best solution would be to drop out, but if you’re unwilling to do that then you need to at least plan an exit strategy for every class in advance. The school is probably safe, but there’s always a chance they’ll find a way. You should also pick a safe haven to retreat to in the event that they try something really over the top, like invading the campus with an army.”

  “That’s not possible.”

  “Don’t be too sure. You won’t live to be six hundred years old if you don’t assume that you’ll see something at least that crazy every hundred years or so. Trust me.”

  “Is that why you lived in a shack in the woods with a bolt hole in the basement and a cat keeping the fae away?” asked Will.

  “You figured that out, eh?”

  “I know its name now too,” said Will. “But I still don’t understand what it is or why it was protecting you.”

  “The goddamn cat is a demigod,” Arrogan replied. “And he helped me mainly because we had the same enemies.”

  “And those were?”

  “Demons, the fae, and sorcerers,” answered the ring. “At least those were the ones that the cat hates as much as I did.”

  “He’s still helping me,” said Will suddenly. “At least, he’s still protecting the house.”

  “Really? That’s surprising. Does the house need protecting, though? Barrowden is secure now and the fae aren’t a problem for normal people.”

  “What are you suggesting?”

  “If you know his name, you can call him. If you can offer him something he wants, he might agree to relocate. He can be a valuable ally, particularly if you’ve got demons hunting you.”

  Will scratched his head. “You think he’d move just to get fresh eggs?”

  “Idiot! The eggs were just a courtesy! Demigods don’t help anyone for something that stupid.”

  “If I make a bargain with him, wouldn’t that make me a warlock?”

  “I thought you’d figured that part out already. Are you a warlock because of your dealings with the fae?”

  “Oh, right.” Will felt dumb. Don’t deal in things that shouldn’t be sold and I’ll be fine. “But what could I possibly offer him?”

  “You’ve already killed several sorcerers and two demons,” pointed out Arrogan, “so he’s likely kindly disposed toward you. That will make it easier, but as to what he wants? You’ll have to ask.”

  “What if he wants me to do something bad? Or asks for favors in the future?”

  “If he asks you to kill sorcerers, that’s easy. Just say yes.” Arrogan’s voice was cold and unfeeling.

  “I won’t be ordered to kill, not even sorcerers,” said Will
stubbornly.

  “Talk to him and see. He’s more reasonable than you might expect. Just make sure you tell him that elves are off the table before you bargain,” suggested the ring.

  “Elves?”

  “Yeah, he hates them too. I think he originally lived in their realm, but you don’t want to get involved in that feud. Humans and elves are still on somewhat amicable terms, at least in Trendham. You don’t want to mess that up.”

  “Fine, I’ll do it.”

  “Make sure you have an egg ready when you call him.”

  “I thought you said—”

  “Courtesy? Remember?” interrupted Arrogan.

  “All right. I won’t forget,” said Will. “There’s something else I want to ask you about.” He explained how he had seen Selene leaving Count Spry’s city home.

  “This is the girl you’ve been moaning about, right?” asked Arrogan. “I don’t know. You haven’t told me enough about her, other than that she’s a sorceress and the king’s daughter, and frankly that’s enough to avoid her like the plague.”

  Will thought back on their past conversations and realized that he hadn’t really said much. He’d left Selene out of most of his past descriptions, partly because he didn’t want to hear Arrogan bitching about sorcerers, and partly because he was embarrassed. With that in mind, he braced himself for criticism and started at the beginning, explaining everything he knew. Arrogan listened quietly until Will got close to the end of his adventure in Barrowden.

  The ring exploded in a furious stream of expletives when Will mentioned Selene being pulled away by some strange magic of the king’s making. Will’s ears turned red and his cheeks colored as he heard phrases that would have shocked a sailor. Arrogan ended with, “You need to kill him! Him and the girl both! Then you need to find out if he has any friends and kill them too.” The last line was laden with such cold malice that Will knew it wasn’t a joke.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You said you saw it when she was talking to him outside your house too, didn’t you?”

  “Saw what?”