Alliance for Antrim

by Thomas Lombard

  ***

  They finished eating and went their separate ways: Orris to the armory, Anson to the markets, and Nevin to the halls of the northeast tower. After an hour of aimless wandering, he heard a voice from behind him.

  “You seem lost, Sir Nevin. Can I assist you?” Corissa came up to him with her hands folded delicately, not clenched from anxiety like the night before. She had a look of mild perplexity that possibly hinted at a smile. She was wearing a more comfortable-looking, less formal dress, light yellow in color with lines of multicolored glass beads brocaded into intricate floral designs. Her hair was also less formally styled; it was simply brushed down, well past shoulder length, making her seem a little shorter in height but still taller than everyone else he had met. Arranged on her head like a tiara, she had a delicate silver chain made of tiny links. This adornment offered a striking contrast with her dark hair and made for a pleasing visual effect.

  “Well, hello. I guess I am lost.”

  “One would think a High Mage could divine a map or some means to find his way.”

  “Maybe I did just that. Perhaps I conjured a way to find you to be my guide again.”

  Corissa showed the first true slip of a smile. “What would you like to see today, Sir?”

  “Can we leave the city and look around the grounds outside the walls? And will you call me Nevin, without the ‘Sir’?”

  “If you wish, Sir.”

  They left the castle and went straight to the city’s front gate. They walked around the outside perimeter of the wall and visited the stables, the army’s training grounds, and the foundry where metal implements were forged and pipes were made of clay. At the upriver confluence of the two small streams, they looked at the old houses of the original settlement that predated the walled city. Corissa seemed very knowledgeable about the history of Sartell and was willing to answer any questions, except the few times when Nevin asked about her personal life. He chose not to press her.

  As the day wore on, Corissa started picking up the conversation. Her questions and comments always seemed to get around to Nevin’s alliance with Orris and Anson. Nevin was completely open with her, though he started getting suspicious about her persistence. By the time they returned to the front gate, Nevin was certain that Corissa was gleaning information about them for the King, or possibly the Chancellor. At Nevin’s suggestion, they walked to the Hogshead inn for a light lunch.

  Grogan was glad to see Nevin again and waited on them solicitously. The innkeeper seemed honored that the King’s celebrated guest was staying at his inn, but he was also a bit fearful from the rumors about Nevin’s magic skills. This business about him being a High Mage was probably nonsense, but it certainly had people shook up. Other seated patrons in the inn gave anxious glances at Nevin, their nervousness brought about by the rumors of his magic as well as his handy dispatch of a local ruffian the night before. Nevin noticed these looks and found it amusing that he, of all people, should inspire fear.