The Chronicles of Amberdrake

by Loren K. Jones

  Standral went on the attack as soon as Shobart faltered. A swirling blue nimbus of magical energy swept out of the inn doors and began circling Shobart. It was a technique that required a powerful Mage who was in complete control of himself and his environment. Shobart began to fear he had met his match. The only Mage he had ever seen who could control the Vortex was his Master. He built up a store of energy and finally let it go, striking the Vortex in its center. It should have broken apart, but it absorbed the energy and got stronger instead. Then it expanded and engulfed him.

  Standral walked out of the Unicorn to find the body of the other Mage twisted about and lying in the street. The Vortex could twist rock or steel. A human body was nothing to it, and it had wrung the blood out of Shobart like water from a towel. Standral shook his head slowly and said, “That was unfortunate. I had hoped not to kill many people while I was here.”

  The City Guard, responding to the magical duel, came running up and stopped short. “Who are you?” the leader demanded. He had become used to finding Shobart standing over some poor fool who had dared to defy Grandine. Finding one of those fools standing over Shobart was a shock.

  Chanbern hurried forward and said, “This is my new partner, Sergeant Granlef. He is a Laird, and an Adept. Laird Standral Emverson, this is Sergeant Renlor Granlef of the City Guard. Renlor used to be a regular,” he turned a look on the man, who blushed, “but the trouble with Grandine drove him away.”

  Standral smiled. “I am pleased to meet you, Sergeant. Do you know this pitiful fool?”

  Hearing someone call Shobart “pitiful” was a shock to the sergeant and his men. “He is Adept Shobart. He got hooked on Ice, and Grandine grabbed him. He’s been Grandine’s enforcer for over two years. It is quite a surprise to find him dead in the street for a change. Laird Emverson, was it?” When Standral nodded, he continued. “Welcome to Westport.”

  Standral laughed. “Thank you. I will warn you that there is likely to be trouble concerning Grandine and his thugs. I have a very low tolerance for being attacked. Grandine is going to find me an exceptionally dangerous enemy.”

  “So I see. Well, men, pick him up and let’s go. I can’t wait until Captain Derantis sees this.” The Guards walked away laughing and joking with Shobart’s body slung in a blanket between them.

  Standral turned to Chanbern, who was laughing as well. “What was that all about?”

  “Captain Derantis lost his family to a fire that Shobart set to punish an innkeeper who’d defied Grandine. The fire almost gutted the entire square because Shobart canceled all the Anti-Fire spells and kept the fire crew away. I suspect that you have just made a very powerful friend in the Captain.”

  Chanbern led the way back inside and closed the door. “There doesn’t seem to be much damage to the inn. Tomorrow, I will pay off all our debts and arrange for some carpenters to come and fix things up. Now that I don’t have to worry about Grandine, I am going to do some things that have needed doing for a long time.”

  * * *

  Captain Derantis sat in his chair after hearing the news, weeping with joy. “Dead. Finally dead. After all this time, and so many dead bodies, he met his match. Who did you say this Mage is?”

  Sergeant Granlef handed his captain a mug of ale. The captain had lost a part of his heart when his children had died, and had not laughed or smiled since. Now, he was going to make up for lost time. Grandine’s immunity had been in a large part based on Shobart’s abilities.

  “Standral Emverson. He is a Laird from someplace. I didn’t ask where. He’s staying at the Silver Unicorn, and Chanbern said he was his new partner. Laird Emverson also said that we could expect trouble between him and Grandine.” The sergeant paused to smile. “I don’t think Grandine is going to like what is coming his way.”

  The captain started laughing, softly at first, but he was soon rolling about in his chair. Grandine was indeed not going to like what was coming his way. Not in the least.

  * * *

  The trouble for Grandine began early the next morning. News of Shobart’s defeat and death had spread, as well as news of Chanbern’s refusal to pay the drug laird protection money. Men who had already started paying decided that without the Mage, Grandine was nothing but a minor threat.

  The City Guard made the biggest inroads into Grandine’s empire. They had, one and all, been frightened by the power Grandine was wielding in the city. Even the Lairds, High and Low, were frightened of the consequences of opposing such a powerful and remorseless enemy. But not any longer.

  Captain Derantis had been told the location of Grandine’s headquarters long ago, but fear of Shobart had kept his men away. Now they planned an attack. Armor was distributed, and each man was armed with a sword or ax, along with five daggers that could be used and left in the bodies of the dead and dying. A battering ram was brought out of storage and carefully rebound.

  The guards at Grandine’s headquarters had never faced any real opposition before, and the sight of fifty armed and armored men marching down the street toward them left many of them weak with fear. No one stood up to Grandine. No one dared.

  The men carrying the battering ram broke into a run when they were thirty feet from the door. They needn’t have bothered. No one had thought to bar the doors, and they flew open at the first impact of the ram. Dropping the ram, they joined their comrades in subduing those inside while the captain and sergeants searched for Grandine. He had fled, but he had no one to turn to.

  Captain Derantis found Grandine cowering behind a heap of trash in the alley behind his “fortress”. “Well, Grandine, it would seem that you are out of business.” Captain Derantis said as he smiled, and the look in his eyes warned Grandine that he was in real trouble.

  “I can make you rich. I have money, and friends. I can give you anything you want.” Grandine was trying desperately to find a way out, but he didn’t know who he was dealing with.

  “Anything? And what would you get in return?”

  “My freedom. Say you couldn’t find me. If you arrest me, they’ll hang me. I know it, and you know it. Just think of how much I can give you.” Grandine thought that he saw a glimmer in the captain’s eyes. “Yes, just think of it.”

  “Can you give me back my wife and children?” At the look of incomprehension that crossed Grandine’s face, he swung his sword, beheading the Ice Laird like a common thief.

  Sergeant Granlef and two others found their captain calmly dismembering the corpse. Common superstition held that if all your body parts were not burned together, then you would never be whole the afterlife. They waited until the body was rendered into ten parts, then led their captain back to the barracks while others took the parts and threw them into the harbor with the sewage.

  * * *

  Word of Grandine’s death spread quickly. The next day, Prince Tambert called for a day of celebration, though not all were happy about Grandine’s demise. Hundreds of Ice addicts were already feeling the pinch of withdrawal. Hundreds more would soon join them. While withdrawal was not often fatal, it was always painful.

  At the Silver Unicorn, Standral and Chanbern greeted the news with amusement. “Well, he got what he deserved. Three cheers to the captain and his guards. And to you, Standral.” Chanbern raised a glass to his partner, and Standral bowed in his seat.

  “Thank you. Now, to business. If I am going to be a partner, then I need to know how to run an inn. And you, my friend, are going to have to teach me.”

  Chanbern took Standral at his word and began teaching him the trade of innkeeper. “The first thing you have to remember is that the customer is always right. The second thing to remember is that if the customer is wrong, refer to the first thing.”

  “Don’t make them mad. Right.” Standral was nodding as Chanbern went over the operation of the inn point by point.

  “This is, or was, a very upscale inn. The lairds were our main guests, with major traders making up the rest. Now that the threat from Grandine is gone, I expect ou
r customers to come back. We have to be ready for them. The first thing we have to do is start brewing. I brew all our beer and ale, and a cousin is the vintner. And by cousin, I mean a member of the clan. I will be teaching you the family recipes, so pay attention. They are not written down anyplace. Every recipe is passed down, father to son or daughter, generation upon generation.”

  Standral was surprised by that revelation, though not greatly so. After all, these were Amber’s descendants. “Very well. The secret will be safe with me. I have a few of my own to keep as well.” Standral smiled, and Chanbern laughed.

  “I imagine you do. I imagine that you do indeed. I will also teach you our accounting method. It is a little different from what most inns use, and much different than most Trading Houses, but it is used by all our clan. Any of my cousins could walk in here and look over our books and know exactly what we have, but to most it just looks sloppy. That is to keep thieves out of our business. And not just the thieves that come in through the window late at night. We have more than our share of crooked tax collectors here.” Chanbern had retrieved a book and proceeded to show Standral the intricacies of keeping what was theirs.

  * * *

  Weeks passed as Standral learned the innkeeper’s trade. Chanbern was patient with him, and he soon began to see the reason behind many of the things that Chanbern did. Nothing was left to chance, though some things did not work out the way they were supposed to. An example of Fate sticking its nose into their business came when Prince Tambert visited.

  A liveried guard had flung the doors wide and shouted over the noise that filled the main room, “All rise for His Highness, Prince Tambert.” Prince Tambert entered and waved a limp hand at the crowd.

  “You may be seated.” He spoke in a bored tone and looked lazily around the room. Standral was serving a customer when the guard had burst in, and had almost blasted the man. Now he returned to his business, ignoring the disturbance.

  The guard approached Standral and tapped him on the shoulder. “You, fetch your master.”

  Standral looked at him, then calmly walked to the kitchen and summoned Chanbern. Chanbern came into the main room and immediately approached the prince. “How may I be of service, Prince Tambert?” he asked as he went to his knees.

  “You are the Mage?” The prince’s disbelief was clear in his voice and the look on his face.

  “No, Prince Tambert.” He turned to Standral and motioned him forward. “This is Laird Adept Standral Emverson.” He stepped aside to clear the way for the prince to examine Standral closely.

  “You? A servant?” the prince snorted derisively. “You are no Mage.”

  Drake Standralson had never liked being spoken down to or lightly dismissed, and Amberdrake absolutely wouldn’t stand for it. Standral simply raised an eyebrow, then flared into bright golden light. The prince and everyone present covered their eyes and ducked away, fearing the worst. When the light faded, Standral was standing exactly where he had been, only he was dressed in flowing robes of shimmering gold and amber.

  “Is this what you expected, Prince Tambert?” he asked as a polite smile curved his lips.

  The prince stared in disbelief. “You really are the Mage. Well, you certainly make a show of it when you choose to. I wish to retain you as my Court Mage.”

  Standral continued to smile as he shook his head. “Thank you, Prince Tambert, but I must decline. I have held such a position before, in Cambric, and found it not to my liking. I am too much a free spirit to be happy as a servant, even a high placed servant.”

  “You misunderstand. You have no choice. You will be my Court Mage. Present yourself at my palace in the morning.” The prince was looking down his nose at Standral, clearly expecting him to submit quietly.

  “I decline the offer, Prince Tambert. You will find me very hard to coerce, and it will be to your sorrow if you should try. As I said, I am very much a free spirit. If it becomes necessary, I will simply leave your city.” Standral was enjoying himself. Princes like Tambert always annoy me.

  The leader of the guards stepped forward and drew his sword. “You will do as you are commanded, or pay the price of disobedience.”

  Standral simply looked at the man, then burst into light again. When the light faded the guard was not facing Standral Emverson. Eight cubits of glistening black chitin covered a nightmare of teeth and claws. The daemon stood balanced on its hind legs, looking the guard’s captain in the eye. Screams erupted throughout the room as patrons scrambled to escape. The guard stood transfixed as the daemon grasped him by the throat and lifted him from the floor with one clawed hand.

  “Do not try me, little man. I have destroyed armies with joy. Your sword is nothing to me, as are your threats.” Dropping the man, he again transformed, this time back to the robed Mage. “I will do as I please.”

  Prince Tambert had staggered back against the wall when Standral had transformed into the daemon. He didn’t know what it was, but there is an instinctual terror of daemons deep in the heart of all humans. He had never been truly frightened before, but facing such a being was almost more than he could bear.

  “Out! Quickly!” he shouted as he ran for the door. Once clear of the building, he turned to his guards. “Post a notice to all guards. That man, or whatever he is, is not to be molested.” The prince’s wide, frightened eyes were mirrored by the leader of the guards.

  “Laird Prince, what was that?”

  “I don’t want to know. But that must be the most powerful Mage in the Empire. Don’t do anything to disturb him. I don’t want him angered.” Prince Tambert boarded his coach and told the driver to leave as fast as the horses would go. He wanted as much space between himself and the Mage as he could get.

  In the Silver Unicorn, Chanbern was looking at Standral with concern. “Was that an illusion, or the real thing?”

  “The real thing. I can, and occasionally do, become a daemon. Some thieves, like the prince, need more convincing than others.”

  “Yes. Very well. You certainly are full of surprises.” He looked about the main room and sighed. “I just hope you didn’t scare all of our customers away.”

  “I think most will be back. Most of them knew I was a Mage. It was just a surprise to see a daemon at supper.” Standral laughed, and that, more than his words, set Chanbern at ease.

  The next night the main room was packed with more people than it would hold. “See. What did I tell you?” Standral asked. He was slightly out of breath after running orders for half of the night.

  “We have never had this many people here. Where did they all come from?” Chanbern was as tired as Standral. Heather and Athanta had not sat down all night, and each had had to turn down a dozen propositions because they could not get away.

  Standral laughed. “I suspect they are here to see if I get into any more trouble. That scene with Prince Tambert was an attention getter.” Standral went to see to another customer, and Chanbern watched him go with a puzzled frown. How long will this last?

  Over the next two weeks the crowd continued. Chanbern decided, with Standral concurring, that they needed more help.

  “The problem is where to get the price of a few decent indentured servants.”

  Standral laughed. “Chan, I didn’t give you all of my gold. We have the resources.”

  Standral and Chanbern interviewed a number of young women, and a few young men, who had been seized or offered to cover debts. They settled on three young women who had been seized for relatively minor amounts.

  E’tha was from the Kingdom of Zammar. Her deep blue eyes and platinum blond hair were so striking that Standral was momentarily taken back by her beauty. She had been a slave of a trader who had run afoul of Grandine. When Grandine killed her master, she was freed. But being free and having the means to live are two different things. People were free to starve in the Darendian Empire. She had been seized for the price of two meals. She was sold off because she was totally unmanageable, according to the man who had made the mi
stake of seizing her. She cost them three silver crowns, to cover the damage she had done.

  Morana was a plain, average girl from the surrounding countryside. Her father had offered her as collateral for a bison cow. She was a good hand in the kitchen, and had a very strong aversion to bed games and beer. Strange for a country girl, but good for the inn. She cost a gold crown.

  The third was Sinsa. She was young, only thirteen, and had been taken from her family by a trader who had sold them an iron stove. When they could not make payment, the girl was deemed to be of equal worth. Five silver crowns secured her, and Standral suggested to the trader that it would be a good idea if he stayed away from the Unicorn. The girl reminded him of Lissett, and that memory was fresh in the dragon’s mind.

  The Silver Unicorn became a much more popular place with the addition of the extra girls. Standral liked it better as well. E’tha was exotic, even to someone as well traveled as he was. She was also skilled in a number of ways.

  The most exotic of her skills came to light when a drunken merchant grabbed Sinsa. Before Standral or Chanbern could act, E’tha had removed the man’s hands from the girl and thrown him over her shoulder. When he landed, she was on him, holding her hand to his throat.

  She said, “Do not do that again,” in a cold, inflectionless voice that silenced the man and his friends. Standral walked up beside her and motioned for her to let him up.

  Merchant Perit came up from the floor cursing and sputtering. “That wench assaulted me! I demand to know what sort of punishment she’s going to receive,” he almost shouted.

  Standral looked him in the eye and said softly, “None.”

  “But she assaulted me! You saw it.” The merchant was indignant that Standral was not going to flay the girl.

  “You will leave, and not return, Merchant. It is not the policy of the Unicorn to allow men to rape our servers.” He looked up and addressed the rest of the crowd. “The girls are not to be abused. Any who cause harm or seek to cause harm to one of our staff, will face me.” His stance and voice, plus the memory of what had happened to Prince Tambert, caused several of the men in the room to suddenly remember that they had to be elsewhere. Others, including the few ladies present, nodded their approval.