by Jaxon Reed
Bartimo - a young merchant from the Ageless Isles, twin brother to Bellasondra.
Beet - from an old and respected merchant family, Beet is a lancer in the traveling guard protecting Princess Margwen of Coral.
Bellasondra - a young merchant from the Ageless Isles, twin to Bartimo, and Stin the Thief’s love interest.
Borrel - Assistant Captain of the traveling guard for Princess Margwen of Coral.
Breen - a duke, serves as High Councilor to King Aldwald of Crystal.
Brightstone - a wizard. His specialties include light of all kinds.
Cook - a generic nickname given to those serving as cooks. Stin and Kirt met one working with a caravan at the crossroads outside Ruby City. Stin traded a “tasty stone” for food with Cook, who is something of a simpleton.
Cookie - a facsimile servant for Oldstone, working in the kitchen of his flying castle.
Cutie - a facsimile servant for Oldstone, working in his flying castle.
Darkstone - one of the twelve wizards, he has gone rogue from the Council of Magic.
Deedles - a wizard’s cat, she chooses to accompany Princess Margwen, mostly.
Dirt - a simpleton thief who lives in the Hidden Forest.
Dudge - a dwarf, son of Nudge of the Clan Ore, Prince of Norweg. Dudge is the second born son of King Nudge and Queen Frum, and second in line to Norweg’s throne.
Dunken - butler to the Duke and Duchess of Windthorn, serving in their townhome in Ruby City.
Endrick - usurper of the throne of Emerald, Endrick murdered his cousin King Tren and all the royal family save for young Prince Trant, who was rescued along with his nanny Isabeth by Wizard Greystone.
Etta - Queen of Crystal, wife to King Aldwald, mother of Princess Mita, Princess Atta, and Crown Prince Aldwald II.
Felway - known as “Felway the Fence,” a pawnbroker in Ruby City.
Fret - a dwarf, son of Barley, of the Clan Nugget.
Fulton - a painter of great repute, he was murdered at the Battle of Hest.
Greystone - one of the twelve wizards, the creator of Greystone Village. He is generally more concerned with royal affairs and people in general than the other wizards. His specialties include area manipulation.
Isabeth - nanny to Prince Trant of Emerald, she was saved along with the prince by Greystone before Endrick’s men could murder them.
Jeskins - foreman of the Emerald Royal Iron Works.
Jostin - a prophet in Kathar, Emerald Kingdom, he was martyred after prophesying against Endrick and Darkstone.
Keel - King of Coral and the Ageless Isles, married to Queen Kita, father of Princess Margwen.
Kirt - an urchin from the streets of Ruby City, he joins Stin after the thief stole the Forlorn Dagger.
Kita - Queen of Coral and the Ageless Isles, wife of King Keel, mother of Princess Margwen.
Lancet - a captain in the Battle of Hest who betrayed the wizards and murdered Theena.
Lemmeck - a rogue court mage from Sapphire.
Loadstone - a wizard. His specialties include manipulating the weather. He is capable of producing powerful storms which can last indefinitely as long as he can stay in one place.
Malterry - Queen of Sapphire.
Margwen - Princess of Coral, fifth born to King Keel and Queen Kita of Coral.
Mita - Princess of Crystal, fifth born of King Aldwald and Queen Etta. She serves under Wizard Oldstone as a battlemaiden-in-training.
Nessa - niece to the Duke and Duchess of Windthorn in the Ruby Kingdom.
Oldstone - the oldest wizard, chair of the Magic Council, he makes his home in a flying castle. His specialties include advanced facsimiles and levitation.
Otwa - nanny to Princess Mita of Crystal.
Redstone - a wizard. His specialties include nature magic. He is particularly interested in manipulating the ground, as well as mines, shafts, caves and tunnels.
Robrigo - a priest, originally from the Ageless Isles. After an affair in Coral, he escaped to Greystone Village where he earned a second chance serving as priest for the community.
Stella - daughter of Felway the Fence in Ruby City.
Stin - originally from Coral, Stin is a thief. He has used several aliases including Hemphnor and Diebster. As a child, he apprenticed under the master criminal Syphon in the Royal Dungeon under Coral Castle. Wanted for stealing the Forlorn Dagger from the Duke and Duchess of Windthorn.
Stumpy - the leader of a caravan and its guards, on the road from Kathar. He wears a wooden peg leg.
Sullio - a powerful court magician in the Coral Kingdom.
Syphon - a master criminal purportedly in the dungeons beneath Coral Kingdom.
Theena - reputed to be the greatest battlemaiden of all time, Theena died in the Battle of Hest.
Tomlin - Captain of the traveling guard for Princess Margwen of Coral.
Trant - firstborn son of King Tren and Queen Karla of Emerald. The “Lost Prince,” Trant and his nanny Isabeth are the sole survivors of Endrick’s coup, in which King Tren’s family and loyal nobles were murdered.
Volden - widely considered the greatest swordsman in the Crystal Kingdom. Served as one of Mita’s early tutors.
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Pirates and Wizards
Copyright
Pirates and Wizards
Copyright © 2017 Jaxon Reed
Editing and formatting by edbok.com
Cover art by JH Illustration, jeaninehenning.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
jaxonreed.com
Dedication
For George
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Prologue
Prince Dudge, second son of King Nudge of the Clan Ore, stared up high on the back wall of the crypts behind Ore Stad Cathedral.
There in a far corner near the top, all alone, he could faintly make out the inscription for a fresh entombment: “Barley, Son of Wort, Clan Nugget, 3157.”
Deep inside, anger and resentment for the location of Barley’s remains simmered within him.
He heard feet shuffling behind him. He turned and noted High Priest Nubby walking toward him in the gloom of the crypts, a candle lamp in one hand and a walking stick in the other. Gold-trimmed white robes enveloped the high priest, who stood short even among dwarves. His grey beard stretched almost to the floor.
Dudge bowed his head, greeting the high priest. Almost all dwarves honored and respected their spiritual leaders. Despite his status as a member of the ruling household, Dudge followed his father’s example and gave priests their proper respect, even though technically the royal household stood higher in the social order.
Such considerations were necessary, his father had told him. “If we dinna respec’ th’ priesthood, nobody else will. Th’ people follow th’ example o’ their leaders, Dudge. So, show ’em th’ way y’ wish ’em t’ behave an’ they will do likewise. Always honor an’ respect th’ priests.”
It had become an ingrained habit. And Dudge realized over the years that actions dictated feelings. After venerating the priests for so long, he felt genuine reverence toward them. Especially the old high priest.
Nubby also hailed from Clan Ore. Nubby’s grandfather and Dudge’s great-grandfather had been brothers.
Nubby pulled up along
side Dudge and paused to catch his breath, leaning on the staff. Then he looked up into the gloom, and held his candle lamp high so he could make out the fresh inscription on the wall far above them.
The space had been carved out of the mountain. Barley’s remains had been placed inside, then solid rock, expertly fitted with no cracks or crevices, sealed the tomb. Over time, Barley’s bones would disintegrate and join the mountain under which Ore Stad had been built.
Nubby said, “I ken wha’ yer thinkin’, Highness.”
Dudge remained silent, but the anger flared up inside him again.
“Aye, yer upset wi’ th’ Council fer goin’ agin’ yer wishes. An’ I kinna blame ye. Barley was a true hero o’ th’ realm, an’ at firs’ they refused t’ e’en consider buryin’ him here. But ye held firm, dinna ye lad? Yer arguments were convincin’. So, at las’ they agreed. But, they said t’ put him here in th’ back, far away fro’ more recent heroes, some o’ whom died lesser deaths.”
Dudge nodded. As usual, the old priest cut to the chase. Politics had indeed been involved with Barley’s funeral and place of interment. Politics were involved with everything in Ore Stad.
Like Nubby said, the Council at first refused to bury Barley in the Tomb of Honor. It had taken Dudge an entire day of arguing with them before they finally relented and agreed to his request.
The royal family always had a say in who got buried here. But some members of the Council hinted, although nobody had been bold or crass enough to come right out and say it, that the King (or at least the Crown Prince) usually made those suggestions. Dudge was merely Nudge’s second son, and not so high in rank to normally hold the privilege of nominating a hero to the realm. Especially not for a battle initially fought without direct sanction from the Crown.
Dudge held down his anger and calmly answered all the Council’s concerns, deftly deflecting the veiled criticisms. The battle directly affected the realm, even though it was fought in a foreign land. There had been no time to gain preapproval from his father for fighting, only barely enough time to come back and ask for reinforcements. The opposing side faced a rogue wizard wielding the Starfallen Blade, one of Lok’s greatest weapons. The humans called it the Forlorn Dagger, but it was one and the same. Most of Lok’s weapons had disappeared following his death, but the Forlorn Dagger was the worse of the lot.
At the mention of Lok’s name, a majority on the Council came around to Dudge’s way of thinking. Barley was a dwarf who had fought against forces drawing on memories of legendary evil. Surely he deserved to be honored in death, a few suggested. Most were eventually swayed to that line of reasoning.
However, following another three and a half hours of debate amongst themselves, the Council decreed Barley’s remains would be interred in the newest addition to the Tomb of Honor. The one in the very back. The one far away from other heroes of the realm, like those who had died facing Lok. The one in the section least likely to be seen by visitors.
Barley’s family had not noticed or cared about the difference. They attended the funeral. Dudge held Barley’s crying widow, and gripped arms with his son Fret. Then the family returned home, oblivious to the political machinations churning back in Ore Stad.
Dudge burned in anger at the memory of it all. It seemed like a deliberate slight against the honorable dwarf he had fought beside, and all because Dudge was merely the king’s second son who had engaged in what was deemed to likely be a relatively inconsequential battle despite its association with Lok and his weapon.
Nubby raised a frail old arm, and placed it gently across Dudge’s shoulders. It distracted the prince from his dark thoughts. He looked down into the short old dwarf’s wizened eyes.
How old was Nubby? Dudge could not say. He knew the priest must be well into his sixth century.
“Dinna worry, lad. Th’ Council makes their decrees, an’ we follow ’em here in th’ cathedral’s crypt. But broad dictates be subject t’ finer details.
“Aye, Barley be buried in th’ back o’ th’ tomb, in th’ newest section. But I decided where t’ place ’im. Th’ upper left corners be th’ positions o’ highest honor. Mostly they be reserved fer kings or others who proved outstandin’ loyalty an’ offered exceptional service t’ th’ realm.
“I ken wha’ Barley did. And I ken th’ Council sought t’ belittle ’is recognition fer political reasons. But I honored ’im wi’ th’ greatest measure I could. As th’ centuries pass an’ more heroes be entombed here, Barley will always hold th’ highest position of honor in this place.”
Dudge’s eyes grew wide as he looked at the old priest, his anger dissipating as he realized the significance of Nubby’s actions. Indeed, as the first interment in this newest section of the Tomb of Honor, Barley had been placed in the highest, most honorable position. And there he would stay, because almost certainly future priests would not dare to move the bones placed by a previous high priest, no matter what outside pressures they faced.
While the Council had meant to slight Dudge by dictating Barley be buried in the very back of the crypts, Nubby had turned things around and given the slain dwarf a much higher honor than he otherwise would have received.
“Thank ye, High Priest. I dinna ken wha’ t’ say.”
Nubby patted Dudge on the shoulders and smiled, causing his many wrinkles to scrunch up in a complex and comical pattern across his face.
“Y’ dinna ha’ t’ say anythin’, lad. I ken yer heart be in th’ righ’ place.”
Chapter 1
Stin stumbled down steep wooden steps into the stables aboard Dream of the Isles, seeking in vain a motionless part of the ship.
In the center hold with the livestock, the ship moved the least. But it still moved. Up and down seemed bad enough. The other movements from the combination of wind and water tossing the vessel to one side at the top of a wave, then another at the bottom, were even worse. The constant motion played havoc with his inner ear.
He stumbled over to Horse’s stall, oblivious to the stench of manure and the cattle lowing in the dark from nearby pens.
Horse poked his head out and regarded his master. Since stealing him and liberating him from a life of drudgery on the streets, Horse seemed to emote a modicum of equine affection for the man before him.
Stin looked back at the creature, his face darkening, tinged with green. He leaned over the boards of Horse’s stall and puked out what little breakfast he had left.
He stayed bent over the railing, groaning softly, his stomach protesting the constant movement of the ship.
Horse snorted, annoyed at the putrid mess on the straw in his stall. Stin ignored him.
“Stin, are you down here?”
Horse’s ears twitched in the direction of the narrow stairs. Bellasondra’s slim figure gracefully glided down the steep steps, her skirt slightly pulled up to give her feet free reign. A budding romance had blossomed between the two, but Horse cared little for human drama that did not affect him personally.
Bellasondra said, “There you are! Oh my.”
She gently pulled Stin upright, then found a cloth in her skirt pocket and cleaned up his face.
“Come along. The ship’s healer has a cure for your seasickness.”
“Quarl, that old spellbinder?” Stin muttered weakly. But he let her guide him up and out of the livestock hold.
In the sunlight and sea breeze, the stench of manure blew away and Stin had to admit the top deck felt like a better place to be, although the higher level seemed to accentuate more of the vessel’s motion.
She said, “There he is!”
The healer approached wearing a traditional brown cassock, his hood shading sandy blonde hair and matching beard, neatly trimmed.
Together he and Bellasondra bustled Stin to the healer’s quarters near the rear of the ship. Stin groaned again as he realized they’d be leaving the relatively stable middle section.
A moment later they entered the healer’s room, Stin leaning heavily on Bellasondra.
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Quarl pulled his hood off, revealing shoulder-length hair.
“Lay down on the table.”
Bellasondra helped Stin climb up on the table. He felt like puking again, but doubted anything remained in his belly to throw up.
“Help him get his tunic off, please.”
Bellasondra reached down to Stin’s waist and pulled the tunic over his neck. Stin felt too sick to be embarrassed about disrobing in front of her.