The First Spark

by T J Trapp

  Lord Rawl nodded. “Yes. I need royal children to protect my interests.”

  “If you do misbehave,” Brun added, “don’t expect help. The people of Gott do not know you, and are not interested in your kind. All the riders loyal to your Queen are back at our camp. Those manacles you are wearing are the kind used here on runaway consorts, so no one here in Gott City will be surprised to see that you are wearing chains. Even if you are recognized, if the Gott authorities check, they will see that with the Consorting Agreement the Lord will be well within his rights to carry you back to his home.” Brun shrugged and smiled at her. “And, if you make a fuss, people here will expect him to give you a public whipping.”

  “Yes,” Lord Rawl said, nodding in agreement. “I did have to thrash my second consort many times. She was brazen and would not obey.” He wiped his nose. “But that’s why I need a new consort. She died after her last thrashing.”

  “You beat her to death?!” said Erin, astonished.

  “Not only are you giving me a skinny one, but you are also giving me a stupid one,” said Lord Rawl to Brun. Then to Erin, “No, I didn’t beat her to death. I thrashed her, and her constitution wasn’t strong enough to handle the discipline.” He again gave Erin an appraising look. “Is she good in bed?” he asked Brun.

  “I have no idea. Ask her,” Brun said.

  “Are you good in bed?” Lord Rawl asked Erin.

  “You’ll never know,” she hissed.

  “Oh good – a little spirit when we speak of sex,” Lord Rawl said with a bit of enthusiasm. “The spirited ones can be trained to be good in bed.” He gave a faint leer. “If they’re not too impertinent.” He turned back to Brun. Erin sensed that the Lord was ready to complete the deal. “If you throw in another ten gold so that I can get her out of these peasant rags and two gold for the cost of hobbling, I guess I will take her. Let’s finish the Consort Agreement.”

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” a voice in the back of the room said. All turned to see who had entered; the guardsmen snapped to attention, horrified that they had not noticed an intruder entering the chamber.

  “Who are you and why are you intruding on my private consorting ceremony?” Lord Rawls said with annoyance.

  “I am Princess Erin’s true Consort, and where I come from there cannot be a new consort while the current one is standing here,” the figure said, stepping forward where they could all see him.

  It was all Erin could do to keep from squealing in delight.

  Lord Rawls looked at the tall man and recognized him from last night’s festivities.

  “You … You are Lord Alec! The Great Wizard Demon who destroyed the Alder enemy troops with one fire-breath, and ate their entrails for breakfast!” The nobleman cringed backwards, jaw agape, eyes wide open in mortal terror. Alec could see that his reputation was growing faster than a fish story.

  “That’s correct. I am Alec. Royal Consort. But I did not eat the breakfast entrails raw.”

  “I am so sorry, my Great Lord Alec! My humblest apologies!” The short man bowed deeply to Alec, doffing his hat in a show of humility and respect – and fear.

  “My Lord Alec – I was told you were dead! I would never have bargained for your Consort – your Princess – knowing that you are alive.” Lord Rawls looked at Alec nervously, then at Brun, then back at Alec. “Actually, I did not want your Consort at all, but I needed the coins, and Brun offered a goodly sum for her, even though she is not so pretty … I mean, she is beautiful, of course, and of a lovely disposition, I am sure, but I really did not want to consort with your Consort, as you can see …” the Lord babbled. “But times are hard here in Gott, and I have fallen on a string of bad luck, and I needed some coins and Brun offered her ... Please excuse my actions! I am so very sorry, Prince Alec! So very sorry …” he muttered, as he backed out of the consorting chamber in obvious fright. As soon as the nobleman reached the entry, Alec could hear him turn and run, clattering down the entry hall.

  “Alec,” said Brun, showing his teeth.

  Is that supposed to be a smile? wondered Alec.

  “What a surprise. So glad to see you. So sorry for this … misunderstanding. We all heard that you were dead.” Brun spread his arms amicably.

  “You poisoned me,” said Alec flatly.

  “Of course, I did, but I suspected it wouldn’t work. I was just … testing you. I thought you might be tougher than the Gott lords anticipated.”

  “You tried to kill me,” Alec said.

  Brun looked a little nervous, but made no answer to the accusation. He clearly had not anticipated this turn of events.

  “If you hurt Erin, I will make sure you suffer for a long time,” Alec said, prominently grasping his staff. Brun’s eyes darted from Alec’s face to the staff, and back again. Brun did not know the source of Alec’s power. Was the staff-that-glowed the source of his magic?

  “I know you will,” Brun said, still smiling, “as a good Consort would, and I have no intention of hurting her.” He gestured over his shoulder at his men, never taking eyes off of Alec. “Let her go, boys.”

  One of the guardsmen unlocked the manacles, released Erin, and backed away. Erin scrambled beside Alec and slipped her hand on his arm.

  “Also,” continued Brun, still assessing Alec, “I have no intention of trying to harm you. If the blue thorn poison couldn’t do it, I assume you are ready to stop anything I might try! Such a Great Wizard!”

  Alec nodded in affirmation.

  “I am willing to negotiate,” said Brun, licking his lips.

  For what? thought Alec, slightly surprised.

  “I don’t see you have much to bargain with,” he said.

  “Oooh, but you are wrong! I have much that Erin wants, that I can use to bargain.” Brun’s eyes narrowed and his false smile disappeared. “We both know that you could take my life right now if you wanted – but if you do – both the Queen and Erin’s brother will die!”

  He speaks truth, Erin thought softly.

  “So. What is this ‘bargain’?” Alec asked.

  “Simple,” said Brun, sensing that he was regaining control of the situation. “I will not hurt the Queen and Prince Colin if you agree to leave me alone.”

  “Why should we trust you?”

  “Because I have every reason to keep them healthy.” Brun smiled broadly. “If they are alive and well you won’t hurt me. If they die, then I have no protection. I suspect all the soldiers in Theland couldn’t keep you away from me if you really wanted to harm me!”

  “True,” said Alec. Then, “I guess we will deal.”

  “Ahh. There is one more little detail to the deal,” said Brun. “I was going to announce tomorrow morning that Queen Therin had fallen ill and had to be taken home to Theland. Then I was going to tell Gott and our allies that we support them, but only the Queen has the power to pick the exact support level, and I would get back to them with how many troops and the other details.”

  “And eventually send none,” said Alec.

  “No, no, I would have sent a few. The troublemakers and the Queen’s loyalists who I wanted to get rid of.” Brun beamed, pleased at his own cleverness. “Now I have a better answer!

  “I will tell everyone here that we are fully supportive of Gott’s war! So supportive that we will immediately commit our Grand Wizard, Alec, who has great powers in battle, along with our Princess and the two hundred or so riders we have here, as a show of our good faith. Then, I will tell them, we will send another thousand riders as soon as we can get them ready!

  “I will say that the Queen is so concerned, that she is already hurrying home to her Residence to start the process! To top it off, I will say we have left Princess Erin, our Little Warrior, here in Gott to lead our riders to the battle, and that she thinks the war is so important that she has abdicated her place in the Theland succession line to her dear sister, Amelia,” Brun reached into his pouch and pulled out a scroll, dangling it in front of Alec.

  �
�Here is a copy of the agreement that makes the abdication official, signed in blood this very morning by our favorite Princess!” Brun’s smile disappeared. “Oh – and the final part of the bargain is that the whole deal is off if you ever return to Theland.”

  Alec looked at the document and almost said something, but held his tongue.

  Is he correct? he thought to Erin. Did you sign an abdication?

  I had to do it to save Mother and Colin, she thought back to him.

  Alec patted Erin’s hand and nodded in understanding, compassion, and agreement.

  “When will you send the other thousand riders?” he asked Brun.

  “As soon as they are ready, of course – but, our mounts are limited. We might have to raise more trogus before our riders would be ready.

  “So – you will never send them?”

  “I didn’t say that,” Brun shrugged, “but the war might have been over for years before we are ready.”

  We have little choice, thought Erin.

  I know, thought Alec, but I don’t have to like it.

  “We will take your deal,” Erin said to her step-father. “Your life for the other two.”

  With that, Brun motioned to his henchmen and they quickly departed the chapel.

  ✽✽✽

  Alec sagged, leaning his weight against Erin.

  “Are you all right?” she said.

  “No,” he sighed. “I can hardly stand. I don’t think I could have done anything if Brun or his buddies had tried to cause trouble. Fortunately, my reputation as a giant-killer has gotten big enough that they didn’t want to test me. Let’s get back to our wagon – but you’re going to have to control me. I don’t know if I can keep from killing Brun if I see him in camp.”

  They walked outside into the bright sunlight and fresh air, with Alec using his staff for support on one side and Erin for support on the other side. It was a long way back to camp; Erin tried to hail a carriage to give them a ride. The first two refused to take them without payment in advance; the promise of coins at the camp was a common ruse that had been used to stiff drivers many times in the past few days. Finally, Alec relented and diverted some of the energy he was using for healing to create a few coins. That was enough to persuade the third driver to give them a ride back to camp.

  By the time they arrived at their camp, things were in an uproar. Ferd, the Queen’s lead rider, came up to them, breathless.

  “Princess! I am so glad to see you! Consort Brun came through here a little while ago, packed up his belongings, and the Queen’s, and said he was heading back home with Queen Therin. He said you would be here shortly, and would explain everything.”

  “How is my Mother?” asked Erin.

  “We never saw the Queen.” Ferd handed a message to Erin. “Brun left this message for you.”

  “The seal is broken,” she said, examining the capsule.

  “Yes,” Ferd said. “As you know, I have been with your family for many years, and your father, Consort Derrin, often told me he did not trust Chief Councilman Brun. Even though Brun is now Consort, with all the strangeness going on in Gott, I took the liberty to read the message in case I needed to act for my Queen to protect her against her Consort.”

  The message was simple.

  “‘I have departed from Gott, for Theland.’” Erin read aloud to Alec. “‘I left a sealed message at the Gott Palace to be read tomorrow. I am with the Queen. Honor our deal and she will be fine.’”

  21 – Raner Pass

  The next day Erin, Alec, and Ferd went to the War Council. The abrupt departure of Queen Therin and her Consort Brun had stirred up a lot of concerns. The riders from Theland were widely acknowledged as the best cavalry forces among the allies, and if they were not participating in the battle, it would severely limit the ability of the allied mounted troops.

  The Head Scribe read the order of events to the assembly. The message from Brun and the Queen would be the first topic after the introductions and opening comments. Alec thought it was an interminable time before the opening portion was complete, but he could see from the reactions around him that the other delegates were surprised at the brevity of the opening.

  Brun’s message brought no surprises, although Alec half-expected that Brun would announce something different than he had promised Erin. Brun’s commitment of the two hundred riders already in Gott was expected by the War Council, although some leaders grumbled that it was really a commitment of one hundred and twenty riders because eighty of the original number were women. The promise of another thousand riders was a heartening surprise to the War Council, as was the commitment of royalty to lead the riders. However, even though Alec’s prowess as a fearsome wizard had spread through Gott City, the war-hardened leaders were not as superstitious as their people and viewed ‘wizards’ as quacks. They had never seen a wizard change the outcome of a battle, and Alec’s performance the other night, now rumored to be a drunken fight did not raise their confidence. Brun’s comments on the internal governing affairs of Theland – Erin’s abdication and Amelia’s rise to Heiress Presumptive – were of little interest to the allies and not even noted. Overall, however, Theland’s commitment was well-received and the War Council leaders nodded approvingly.

  The next order of business was to ascertain the commitments from Gott’s other allies. Some were better than expected, and others were worse. On balance, Gott and its allies had a reasonable force to contest the Alder army, even after discounting for the inevitable under-delivering of promises.

  No lord at the War Council was willing to cede control of his troops to another lord; consequently, the allied fighting force was organized with seven different divisions, one for each of the supporting allies. The difficulty of running this type of organization was apparent from the first. The only real decision arising from the War Council meeting was that any forces that were present and ready should immediately start the trip to Ramen Pass to engage with the Alder. A column of Gott troops, the force from Theland, and one other band were ready. It was decided that this joint force would leave in two days.

  All the next day was spent in obtaining supplies, checking equipment, and preparing for the trip. Alec spent his time helping as he could. Fixing a broken yoke on one of Theland’s wagons was one chore he took on. Usually, a replacement yoke could be obtained from the stable. With this many wagons in town, all the replacements had been used and there was a four-week waiting list. Alec circumvented the process and created a replacement part using dark energy and watched as it was installed.

  Erin was consumed with the details of her new command. The Queen’s lead rider, Ferd, and Erin’s lead rider, Thom, were both a great help to her, organizing the Theland force and providing experience and insights. On schedule, and with great fanfare, the massed troops left Gott City, headed moonward to Raner Pass. It took the better part of a week to reach the mountains around the pass. After two days on the road, Alec decided that they were lucky to be an early group. It was already difficult to obtain sufficient feed and supplies during their passage, and it was going to be increasingly difficult for the later groups.

  Alec and Erin spent the evenings talking about how they could use their unique abilities to change the outcome of the battle. One evening as they sat by their little campfire, Alec mused about these societies, and how different they were from his homeland.

  “So here we are, possibly riding into a battle that will see our death,” he said to Erin, tracing scribbles in the ashes on the firestones with a stick. “We are part of a force that is defending the way of life in Gott – a society that mistreats people and heavily oppresses women.”

  “Yes,” agreed Erin. “The only thing that seems worse than Gott is the behavior of the Aldermen. We are helping to defend the bad against the worst.” She stared into the dying flames. “We have a better life in Theland. But, if Gott loses to the Alder, we will eventually lose Theland, so we are defending our way of life also. The good against the worst.” With tha
t, Alec felt a little more satisfied with their participation.

  The land around Raner Pass was not like the other passes Alec had seen. On either side of the pass were high peaks, but the pass area was a rolling vale between the peaks, a little over two els wide. There was a well-traveled road along the center of the pass, but troops and wagons could make their way across much of the broad area.

  The Gott fort at Raner Pass was not the walled fortress that Alec had been envisioning. Instead it was a collection of run-down buildings and stables with open areas for maneuvers. The fort was not located on the pass itself – it had been built as a staging area for troops and was never intended to be a defensible fortress. “The pass here is too wide for a hardened fortress,” Ferd explained. “Any invading army could skirt around the edge of a fortress built up there.”

  The Raner Pass Fort was quite old, probably built several hundred years ago, Alec estimated. Originally it had been designed to handle about five hundred people, counting both soldiers and the support staff, but in recent years it had never seen more than a hundred troops and their main role had dwindled from military exercises to pursuing bandits and escorting convoys. The last major battle in this region had been fought on the Grasslands a generation ago, and in that battle, apparently the fort served merely as a staging and logistical base.

  When they arrived, Raner Fort was already overflowing. The base commander had decided to stage the additional troops in camps located some distance from the main area of the fort. Erin received their camp assignment and directed Ferd to set things up. It took some time to get the camp established. Since they were anticipating that it would be semi-permanent, there were lots of issues to resolve, such as ensuring their water source was upstream of other troops’ latrines and that they had adequate space for tethering, feeding, and exercising their animals.