Trumpets sounded from atop the kingdom’s walls, announcing the arrival of the Prefect.
Hopefully Mason, too, Rendal thought with glee.
“Move us forward,” Rendal told Harold. “To the front.”
Orders were given, and the crowd of warriors moved. Sitting in the tent that covered his large wagon, he and Harold drew closer to the walls.
“This is nice.” Rendal grinned. He was enjoying it all, though the worry about Riley rested just beneath the surface.
The magnificently huge gates slowly opened outward, and Rendal looked upon those exiting.
Goland Ire was riding a horse in front, and yes, Mason was to his right.
Rendal did not see the big lug, William, nor did he see Riley, which was very curious.
An army spread behind Goland, moving at the pace he set.
Rendal’s camels stopped as he reached the front of his battle line.
“It’s kind of sad.” He looked at the army spilling across the sandy field. “They don’t have a chance.”
“I don’t see them, sir,” Harold responded. “Neither Riley nor William.”
“Neither do I. I don’t sense her either, but that might not mean anything.”
The army halted behind the Prefect, but he and his son continued riding forward. Even the Prefect’s personal guards did not come forward.
Rendal stood inside the tent, it being large enough for him to move around comfortably. He stretched as Harold got up too.
“All right, out we go.”
Workers were already scrambling, placing moveable steps at the tent’s opening. Rendal descended first, Harold coming next.
Rendal touched the ground and breathed in the air. “It’s been a long, long time since I was last here.”
Horses were brought to both men. Rendal mounted his and started forward, and they went a hundred feet before stopping in front of Goland and Mason Ire.
“You were a little boy the last time I saw you, Goland,” Rendal said.
“You were being chased out of New Perth the last time I saw you,” Goland responded.
“Times have changed, no?” Rendal looked to Mason. “You definitely appear healthier than when we were hanging out. Do you miss me?”
“Go fuck yourself, Rendal.”
Rendal’s eyes grew large in mock surprise, and he turned to Harold. “What kind of greeting is that? The mouth on that man!”
“They have no manners, sir. Especially Mason, given the hospitality you showed him.”
“I know.” Rendal nodded. “I gave him free room and board for like a month. Just shows the thanks you get for doing a good deed.” Rendal’s smile died away. “Where is she? Where is Riley?”
“You could have sent a pigeon,” Goland responded. “You didn’t have to come all this way to ask that question.”
“I came all this way to take your kingdom, which I’m not going to have much trouble doing, in case you haven’t noticed.” Rendal’s eyes focused on Mason. “Where is she? Is she here?”
“Why are you so worried, Rendal? You had your chance a little while ago, but you blew it. Now I’m free, and you have no idea where she is. Tell me, what’s got you worried?”
Rendal gritted his teeth, wanting to kill the bastard right then. He knew he couldn’t, though. Not until he was sure about Riley.
“If she’s inside, I’ll find her. We both know she’s not well.”
“I don’t know any such thing,” Mason shot back. “All I know is you came a long way to die.”
Rendal laughed at that and turned his attention back to Goland. “Okay, old Prefect, how are we going to do this? Do you want all those men behind you to die or are you going to let me come in?”
The Prefect was quiet for a moment, holding Rendal’s eyes.
“Turn away. Go back to where you came from. You have no home here.”
“Ha!” Rendal looked at Harold again. “The arrogance! How many years have I struggled to get here? To bring this army to these gates and to make him bow to me? And he thinks he can tell me to just leave?”
“They’re real assholes, sir.” Harold didn’t take his eyes off the two in front of him.
Rendal chuckled, losing his false expression of shock. “I’m not leaving, Goland. You have nothing to threaten me with. The military behind you is pathetic. It’s really your choice. You can watch me destroy everything you’ve built, including many of your citizens, or you can bow to me and let me take my rightful place as Prefect. It’s up to you.”
Again, Goland was quiet for long moments before finally saying, “You’ll have your answer by nightfall.”
“Okie-dokie.” Rendal grinned. “Just remember, at nightfall, either you let me in or that place burns.”
Mason spurred his horse forward a few feet. “I get why you’re worried, Rendal. You know Riley is going to heal, and you know you can’t beat her. She’s going to take your balls off, old man.”
Mason watched his father as the Prefect stood at the window of his chambers. He appeared calm, but there was nothing calm in this city. Outside, the people in the streets were staring up at the great castle, wanting to know what their Prefect would do.
“We can’t protect them,” Goland mused. “I want to. It’s my job. But I can’t, not against that force. I thought we did everything we could to ensure that he didn’t make it here. I thought every action we took was the very best I could make at the time. Yet, Rendal is still outside these walls.”
Mason shook his head. “I know.”
“And yet, here we are,” his father continued.
The two were alone, and both knew it very well. Their Right Hands should have been here with them, but they were gone. Maybe alive, maybe not.
“Do you think he’ll make us dress up and play jester at his court? Maybe make us wear women’s clothing or something?” Goland turned around, a grim grin on his face.
“It’ll be worse than that.”
“Not for me. You might actually look kind of nice in a dress,” Goland joked. “These old legs aren’t going to hold up to the scrutiny.”
Mason smiled.
“We’re going to have to let him in, son. I don’t see any other way.”
“There’s got to be another way. If we let him in, we’ve lost.”
Goland shook his head. “We can go out to our walls if you want. We can walk past with the archers and look at the force he’s brought. Perhaps my father was wrong. Perhaps I was wrong. Maybe we needed magic all along, but it’s too late now. We can’t win. All we’ll do is get our people killed.”
“So, what do we do? Bow down to him?” Mason asked.
“If that’s what he commands, yes.”
Mason stood up, unable to hold back his anger. “That’s bullshit, Father!”
“Calm yourself, Mason. What other choice do we have? He is here, and his army is vast. His mages can burn us alive with their spells. Our duty is to the people, and if we fight, they will be slaughtered. Plus, it isn’t as if we’re giving up. We’re still waiting for Riley. We don’t know what she’s going to do.”
Riley, Mason thought. It all hinges on her; on whether she’s going to live.
“Night’s almost here. Come on, we have to tell him,” Goland instructed.
“Everything we love is being taken from us.”
The old Prefect grinned, something Mason hadn’t seen him do much in his life. “Son, I may be ancient in your eyes, but I still have some tricks up my sleeve. We’ll wait for Riley, and in the meantime, we’ll make life a living hell for this sonofabitch.”
Chapter Three
William didn’t like the old witch. Not one fucking bit.
“I’m not even sure how you’re still alive,” he had told her when they first met. “A stiff wind would probably rip a limb off.”
The old lady, Linda, looked at him as if he were a nasty bug she wanted to stomp on, but simply couldn’t find the energy to do it. After that one look, she’d mainly ignored him.
“This won’t do,” she had said upon entering the broken shack Riley inhabited. “Come, come. We’re not staying here another moment.”
The old witch had made them pick Riley up, get the camels together, and move into the dead city.
“This place creeps me the hell out,” William grumbled.
“He scaredy-cat,” Worth quipped.
They walked through the dark, the old witch leading the way.
Finally, the group reached a squat building that was intact. The road was broken in front of it, of course, but the courtyard and the structure looked as well-kept as anything in New Perth.
“Bring her in here,” the old lady demanded. “Quickly, now.”
She stood to the side and watched as William and Eric carried the cot through the door.
“She’s the only pretty one out of all you,” Linda remarked with a sly grin on her face. “The rest of you look like you fell off the ugly tree and hit every damn branch on the way down.”
William looked at Alexandra, who was smiling. “This is what you brought me across the desert for? To hear some old biddy bark orders and insult my great looks?”
“He sensitive.” Worth laughed, following William inside.
“We’ll see how sensitive you are with my boot sticking out of your ass.”
They moved the cot to the back bedroom, Linda sniping at them the whole time with different comments.
“This one is far too big,” she said of William. “His ass alone is going to break at least half my furniture.”
“This old stuff? I could breathe on it and knock it down,” William fired back.
Alexandra and Eric were mostly quiet, although both wore grins on their faces.
Finally, William managed to get Riley to a back room. They removed her from the cot and placed her on a bed. William tested it with hands, and although he wouldn’t say it to the old witch, he thought it was much more comfortable than the cot.
“Now, move, you animal,” Linda commanded.
William stepped back, grumbling as he did. The old woman walked to the bed, her steps slow and deliberate. William didn’t see how this woman was going to be able to help anything. She could barely move across the floor, so how in the hell was she going to fix Riley?
The old woman didn’t touch Riley at first, only stared at her as she lay on the bed. Riley’s eyes were closed, and her skin was pale and cool to the touch. William hated touching her right now because it reminded him of death. That his friend might die.
Linda placed the back of her hand on Riley’s forehead.
“Who did this to her?”
“A man named Rendal Hemmons,” William told her.
The old lady turned her head slowly, although she kept her hand on Riley’s face. “Who?”
“Rendal Hemmons.” William hated even saying the mage’s damned name, and this old woman had now made him say it twice.
Linda turned back to the bed. “Do you know what is happening to her?”
“Hell, no. That’s why we came all the way up here!” William shouted.
Alexandra stepped forward, placing a hand on William’s shoulder as she did. “This is magic more powerful than anything I’ve ever seen. Worth doesn’t know how to stop it either. I’ve heard of you, Linda Carrington. I’ve heard you’re the one who taught people how to use their magic here, and that you learned it elsewhere, beyond the ocean. I’ve heard that you retreated to this deserted land a long time ago, and I thought if anyone could help Riley, it would be you.”
“Why would I help her?” Linda asked.
“Because if you don’t, I’m going to run my sword through your stomach,” William said.
“I have no use for the world outside this city anymore. Whether she lives or dies makes no difference to me.”
The woman completely ignored William’s threat.
“You know the name ‘Rendal Hemmons,’ don’t you?” Alexandra asked.
“I do. He was a student of mine long, long ago.”
“Do you know what your student is doing now?”
Linda sneered as she looked at Riley. “Clearly not what he was instructed.”
“He’s taking over this continent. He’s already taken the largest kingdom, Sidnie, and now he’s going after New Perth. After that, there will be no one left to stand against him.”
“How is that possible? He wasn’t my only student. There are others who will oppose him.”
“You’re looking at her, ya old bid—”
“William!” Alexandra interrupted. “Hush your big mouth. Linda, he’s developed technology I don’t understand. It allows him to drain people’s magic? Their magic potential? I don’t know, not truly. I think the woman lying in front of you understands it better. Regardless, he’s able to make himself even more powerful.”
“He most powerful mage in Irth, maybe,” Worth interjected.
“And this one here,” Linda whispered, “What’s her role in all this?”
“Surely you must be able to sense it,” William scoffed. “Someone as high and mighty as you?”
“I sense that a building may fall down on you before you leave here if you’re not quiet, young man,” the woman snapped back.
William could not remember the last time he’d been called a “young man.” He glanced at Worth, who was grinning from ear to ear.
“She’s powerful,” Linda continued. “I could tell that when she was still in the little wagon you brought. Or, she could be powerful, but something is off. Something’s not right. So tell me, one of you, what is her role in all of this?”
“She is our Savior,” Alexandra said. “She’s going to change the world in ways we can’t imagine.”
William spoke up. “Yeah, yeah. That’s what the queen here thinks. Her real role is, she’s going to kick Rendal’s fucking ass. She’s the only person on this continent who can stop him. Plain and simple.”
“And if I don’t save her, she will die. You all recognize that?”
“Can you?” Alexandra asked. “Can you save her?”
“I might be able to.” Linda removed her hand from Riley’s brow and turned around to face the group. “I don’t want to, though. I don’t want anything to do with this. Not her, not Rendal, not any of you. I want to be left alone to live out the rest of my life in solitude and peace.”
“That would be a nice thing to have, Linda,” Alexandra agreed. “But that’s not how life works. Rendal won’t stop at New Perth. He will come here. This place of tranquility and peace will be first razed to the ground, then rebuilt in his image. If Riley dies, you will too. It’s only a matter of time before Rendal comes here.”
William wanted to grab the old witch and throttle her. This was Riley they were talking about, and she was acting as if it were no big deal.
The woman grew quiet and looked down at her feet.
“I thought I could escape the world,” she finally said. “I’d done my part. I’d done what I said I would.”
“Sometimes the world needs you, Linda, and I’m telling you right now, we need you.”
The old woman looked up. “Go outside. I need to be alone with her.”
William’s eyes narrowed. “For what?”
“Did you purposefully find the dumbest brute in the land to bring with you, or did it happen by accident?” Linda asked.
Alexandra smiled. “He cares about Riley. We all do.”
“Look, lugnuts,” Linda quipped, “I need to be alone with her to understand if I can help. Now get the hell outta my house, and I’ll let you know when you can come back in.”
“Come, come.” Worth’s hand fell on William’s shoulder. “Leave her. Leave. Let’s go.”
He turned William, whose blood was just about to boil inside his veins, and the four left the bedroom.
They made their way through the house and back out onto the street.
“She’s lucky you were here.” William shook his head. “I would have ripped her limb from limb otherwise.”
&
nbsp; “Ha!” Worth laughed. “That old woman break you!”
“He’s right,” Alexandra agreed. “You wouldn’t stand a chance against her power. She would have made mincemeat out of the two of us without much problem.”
“You two are just wusses,” William said, although his anger was fading. The woman was inside with Riley, and that was really all he could ask for. “What do we do now?”
“We wait,” Alexandra responded. “And we hope.”
“How are things on the streets?” Rendal asked Harold.
His second-in-command stepped farther into the room.
“There’s been rioting.”
“How did we handle it?”
“We squashed it.”
“Good,” Rendal mused. “Good.”
The two of them were in Goland Ire’s chambers. Rendal had brought his military, which was comprised of mages and warriors, inside the gates last night. There had of course been some necessary deaths; those things couldn’t be avoided when sacking a city. Overall, though, Rendal thought it went pretty well.
“Now, this paint here? I can’t stand it,” he told one of the decorators. There were five of them in the room, and Rendal had been having a discussion with them before Harold arrived. “I want this to be red. Blood-red. The entire living room here, you understand?”
“Yes, sir. I do,” the young woman answered.
“Sir?” Rendal asked. “Am I some bar owner down on the street?”
“No… No,” the young woman stammered. “I-I-I’m so sorry.”
“What is my proper title?”
“Prefect.” The decorator’s face was pale.
“And what do you call me instead of sir?” Rendal asked.
“’Your Grace.’ I call you ‘Your Grace.’”
“That’s right, and don’t forget it. Now, leave me. I need to speak with Harold here.” Rendal smiled at her, a warm expression although it didn’t touch his eyes.
“Thank you, Your Grace.” The woman scampered away, looking very much like a terrified mouse.
Rendal turned to Harold. “Sorry about that. These people—they’re dumber than I remember. I’ve been the Prefect for nearly twenty-four hours, and none of them can seem to remember.” He rolled his eyes playfully, as if he hadn’t been about to burn the young lady alive. “Now, Harold, we need to discuss a few things. Thank you for coming.”
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