Fletcher

by P. S. Power

“The carrier is local. From the castle grounds, out front, inside three hours of walking. It was captured in a snare. One without magic to it. When released after… Three nights… It walked under the control of the caster from the far south. Seeing for that one.”

  Then the room went silent, except for the scraping of pen on paper. Two sheets were needed, since the ink was still too damp to risk turning the thing over. Even after the words were all down on the page, Anders sat there, ready to write again. Instead the man shook himself slightly, standing up.

  Looking around the dim room he nodded.

  “Sorry there… I lose myself in such things at times. It’s the teachings of my youth… What’s been happening?”

  Anders understood that as well, if not the specifics of what had just been done there. Magic, but not how it worked. When you went into a very deep trance, it was possible to miss certain things, including what you were saying at the time. That was rare and the man would, most likely, know most of what he was doing. Rather than go over everything, he pointed with the pen at the pages in front of him.

  “You told me to make a note of what you found on the cage. Then spoke again, so I wrote it all down. It should be dry in a moment.” He waved at the pages again, which had the man come over to stare at them. The single lamp just providing enough light to make out the letters and words.

  It was moved closer to the small flame, the bubbled glass held close, as if the man might have weak eyes. After a moment, he went to the second sheet. Then he went over both again.

  “Thank you for your assistance, Master Brolly. I normally try to recall what was said. Half of this is already gone from my mind. We need to take this to the King, at once. Come.”

  Why it was important to drag him along, Anders didn’t know. Not until they were actually in the room with the King in it. That was a space that had almost everyone else, at least the higher born people, of the castle in it. Including his Mother and Master Belford.

  At the door, the Wizard was announced by the herald.

  “Wizard Bruna Tolan, and…” The man simply stopped then, looking at Anders closely.

  From his expression, everything there confused him. “One to be announced!”

  The room stirred then, as if him being there was of any importance at all. The King himself waved them forward, which was casual seeming. Off to the side, Master Belford tensed and made a small hand gesture. The same one he used when telling people to bow, if a small and truncated version. There was a line formed by the absence of red carpet on the floor, with two stanchions on either side, the head and body of a wolf on both of them, at the top. Made of stone that was highly polished. He stopped there, about ten feet from the King, who sat upon a very large, well decorated wooden chair. The thing was huge.

  He bowed, going very low, recalling everything he could about doing that sort of thing correctly. The second courtly bow was used, since Master Belford had mentioned to several people that the only truly incorrect bow in front of the King would be one that seemed lazy or lacking in respect. To that end, he went low and stayed there, even as his left leg began to shake a bit. Part of that was tiredness. Part was hunger.

  Depak Sona had told him, more than once, that using magic drained the body, much as physical work did. He’d cast nearly a hundred spells that day if not twice that. It hadn’t left him breathless as it was done but clearly it took a toll, over time.

  Next to him, he was matched by the Wizard, who held out the papers in his hand.

  “Your majesty, I have news. Information about the origin of the attack on the front gate this day.” They weren’t told to stand up, the papers being taken by a man in bright red and purple, with a rather strange cloth hat on his head. There was a gold tassel that hung off the top of the lumpy thing.

  As the papers were handed to the King, he waved.

  “Who is your companion?”

  “Young Magician and guard, Master Anders Brolly, Your Majesty.”

  The man on the throne looked at him closely, probably finding him wanting, since he wasn’t truly dressed to be there at the moment. Neither was Tolan, so at least he had company that way. That the man should recognize him was simply the truth. Even if he saw a lot of people in a day, Farad had to figure the man would know who his grandchildren were. Even if it couldn’t be admitted openly. Meaning his pretense of not knowing Anders was for some other reason. Possibly asking simply so the rest of the court would be able to learn who he was, if they didn’t already know that kind of thing.

  “Rise, Master Brolly. Well met. Now, let me see here…” No one shifted much or spoke as the papers were read. There was a look of surprise, then a grim smile from the bare faced, slightly round man up front.

  “Quite well done, Master Tolan. This doesn’t give us a name but we can certainly take much from what is said here. There is an agent or agents of this being in the area. Else the carrier could not have been released as it was. That could be a hired position or a traveler. In the morning we will send out word of what to look for. The ports need to be checked at well. Are we well protected for the night, do you think, Master Brolly?” The man locked eyes with him, his face bland.

  It was clear that there was only one correct answer. Saying anything else would panic the people around them.

  “Yes, Your Majesty. The guard is working at double their standard, and there is no trace of magic in the area. When daylight comes the plan is to do a more active search in the surrounding area. Given the information from Master Tolan, there should be no renewed magical attack.” Then, in a way that would mark him as foolish, he went on. “That can’t account for magics left dormant currently. It makes sense that casting illusions at the front of the castle wouldn’t be the goal here.”

  There was another stir in the room, Master Tolan bowing again. He didn’t speak until waved at.

  When that happened, the man didn’t refute the claim at all.

  “There is wisdom to that thought. What can be done is and I can confirm that there is no magical attack at present.”

  The man on the throne, who had a circle of gold on his head, a crown, looked away, thinking.

  “That is all we could ask for, gentlemen. Would you gentlemen like to join us here, or have you duties to attend to?”

  Master Tolan moved to the side, leaving Anders to bow alone, he went low again.

  “I was instructed to see to the safety and comfort of the Ambassadors? They were placed in their rooms, to guard them, Your Majesty.”

  There was a blink then, and a large nod that threatened to have the circle of heavy gold falling off.

  “Please, see to that at once. Give Master Brolly anything he requests toward that duty.”

  The man waved for him to go, smiling gently, since it was clear he was supposed to and didn't understand the timing correctly. There was a soft snicker from the back of the room about it. That ended as he turned and left the room directly, the way that he’d came.

  Then, because he was disoriented, it took him half an hour to find the ambassadors’ hallway. Each room had a door guard on it. When he walked up to Depak Sona’s space, the man directly in front of the door nodded to him.

  “The ambassador hasn’t left since being placed inside, nor asked for anything. Should I announce you?”

  He started to nod, then stopped.

  “Has anyone eaten?”

  That got a head shake, and while the man didn’t complain about it for himself, there was a glance at the other men there.

  “No. Duty first for us out here. The dignitaries haven’t either. The servants are all in hiding for now. We told them to, since we didn’t know if an attack was coming. Any word on that?”

  He had some.

  “Captain Ford is ordering a double guard tonight, with searches of the area as soon as light comes in the morning. There is no magic at play for the moment, though the attack earlier is thought to be a distraction, so we have to be ready. I’ll get the servants first.” Their hiding space was
the back pantry in the servant’s hall. The thick door could be locked and the whole thing was designed to lock up the good silver and fine liquors. Emergencies were the only time that most of them were allowed in there.

  It had happened before, when Anders was about seven. He’d been packed off with Estella, since word had gone up that there might be an attack. Nothing had happened, thankfully. They’d spent most of a day in there, packed shoulder to shoulder with over a hundred other people.

  Knocking on the very heavy oak door, attempting to make the patter of it light sounding, he called out.

  “Clear for now! Clear for now! It should be safe to come out!” There was no gray clad guard for them. Servants wouldn’t rate that kind of protection. Then, they wouldn’t be targets in particular, either. He had to call out several times before the door opened, an old man, the head Butler, Steven, opening the thing with trembling fingers.

  That didn’t mean fear. The man just shook, all the time.

  “Anders? We’ve the all clear?”

  “Right. The guard is doubled and we need to see to the late meal for everyone. The guards haven’t eaten either, they have their own kitchen but can’t leave their posts. We should take them something.”

  That wasn’t an order, since he didn't have that kind of power. No one except the King really did. The guard didn’t control the servants, other than to tell them to get back or die. Everyone inside the space started to come out, with Senna Grace grabbing him into a hug when she came out.

  “We’re in your lesson time! Only… I should help with the kitchen work. I don’t know, we have orders from Prince Robarts, direct like.” She looked around, worried about it.

  “I’ll come to you then, in about half an hour? I need to see to the Ambassadors first, so could be delayed. Then I’ll come back here and you can tell me about cooking.”

  That was a different type of food making, being done indoors as it was. Still, some things would overlap.

  Taking a moment to jog outside, he cleaned himself of the worst of the day’s mess. Removing the salt from his clothing, calling it earth which really seemed to work well enough, then taking the wrinkles out. That part really did tickle, even if he didn't feel like laughing at the moment.

  After that, he ran again, to see to his duties with the dignitaries.

  Not that having their room boy seeing to them would be a great comfort to anyone.

  Chapter seventeen

  Depak Sona was simply reviewing one of his many books, when Anders entered the space. The man had called out to him to enter, in Scara, showing that he was distracted. When he looked up from the work in front of him, which was opened flat on the reading and work table, he nodded. One hand waved at the thing in front of him.

  “So far this tells me little. There is a section on blood patches, as well as how to use the blood of a person to control a mind. Nothing about what we saw today. It was clever in its complexity. Illusion at a distance, carried by a controlled animal like that.”

  Since the man was on their side, Anders went next, getting right to the heart.

  “The caster, one person, human, neither male nor female, from the east and far south. They seem to still be down there. On the other continent, if I have that right. Master Tolan found that for us. So far, he seems to work mainly in information. Very well, it seems. There’s a full report.”

  Speaking quickly, he repeated the whole thing. Not perfectly, since it hadn’t been entered into the halls of memory as it should have. Still, the text was written by him, which helped recall most of the facts that had been involved. Depak nodded in his direction.

  “That is… Helpful. I can narrow my search. It’s no pleasure to hear that it comes from so close to my own homeland. That could also be in the Modroc lands, which I’m certain will thrill them to learn as well. Regardless of their culpability.” He went back to reading then.

  “A meal is coming. It might not be up to what you are used to. Some bread crusts with cheese on it and a stack of bitters and herbs to keep you healthy? The servants were locked in the back pantry for hours, not knowing if an attack was taking place or not.”

  “Sounds perfect. In such times as these it would not pay to complain. Thank you for the information.” He bowed then, getting one back as Anders hedged out of the room.

  Only to go one door down.

  The knocking there had a single person to opening it, Duma Sett touching his arm first thing.

  “All is well?”

  “For now. It was an illusion. Blood magic carried on a rabbit. We have the guard out and doubled for the night. There will be searching in the morning. It would be best if you and your friends could stay to their rooms for the night?”

  The woman went hard faced then and nodded.

  “They suspect myself? I don’t work in blood. Illusion, which to many is the same, not understanding the differences.”

  Smiling he got to shake his head.

  “Not that I was told. No one even mentioned any of you here. Well, other than that a simple meal will be coming shortly. Forgive the lateness of that, please.”

  She nodded and closed her door. The men he bothered then, speaking to them in their own language, if an old version of it, seemed worried. Especially the Ambassador. They asked for wine as well, which would be coming with the meal anyway. That was just how it was served in the evening.

  At the door of the Princess, he was grabbed and pulled into the space. Eltha did the work there, holding him while Sandra and Sweyn both took turns embracing him. Tightly but with a sense of urgency, instead of just saying hello to him.

  Eltha turned him around by the shoulders and stared into his blue eyes. Hers were a nice brown, that seemed scared enough to express true fright.

  “We’ve been told nothing. Must we flee?” She spoke in Istlan, scared or not. Her accent was thicker than it normally was, which was forgivable, given everything.

  Going over the whole report again, since the Princess was going to need to know that kind of thing got him another hug. From Sandra.

  “Thanks be unto you, Brolly. If told we are, this thing you say, then guilty not, must we be thought.”

  The syntax was garbled, being correct for Modroc and backwards for both Scara and Istlan. From his studies, Farad had always thought that their way, which seemed naturally wrong to him, was how most languages formed originally. Over time that pattern shifted around, naturally.

  Regardless she was easily understood, so he bowed.

  “I have to run to the kitchen now. I’m taking lessons in how to cook.”

  Sandra smiled at him, locking eyes.

  “Cook, too? We should, boy of magic, take home with us.”

  That got a weak chuckle, as he waved then backed out the door. Then, standing there and looking all of his twelve years, he spoke in a voice loud enough to be heard down the hallway.

  “If anyone wishes to leave, for any reason, please send for me to accompany them. I’ll be either in the low kitchen or my room, west wing, first floor, door five.” Not that he had any call to give any sort of order to men at all.

  The one closest him snorted a bit, getting that part of things easily enough.

  “Got it. If they want to leave, we dump that on Brolly here. With a guard detail. We can use collecting you up to buy time, in order to make certain they’re allowed their freedom. Good plan.”

  Earnestly, he nodded and made his way to the kitchen as promised. Inside the door, Senna Grace grabbed him by the shoulders.

  “All the kitchens are working late, to catch up. We had more than half a meal ready, some of it was lost in the waiting. We have four boys with baskets set to collect and deliver food to the guards on their late watches. They need someone to walk with them out to the guard kitchen. They’re afraid of attack. Who could blame them? We’re servants, not men at arms!”

  She started to wave him away, then stopped, her face conflicted.

  “Season food to taste. You’ll want a base of salt, pepp
er and some kind of sweet, if it’s available at all, out on the road. Sugar or honey. How many will you be making food for?”

  He blinked. It was a good question.

  “Up to twenty. That’s a guess, so best we double that.” Really, he’d been told only that he should learn the basic skill. A thing that he could do. It was clear that Senna was better at making plans for such things though, since she nodded at him.

  “You can do that. We’ll practice the skills tomorrow, if we can. Meet me out at the summer kitchen and if I’m not there, started a seven-log fire and burn it toward coals. We’ll need coin to pay for spices, both to make a kit for you and a cooking herbal… We have one here, which has to stay…”

  Smiling, he bowed to her, using the first courtly version.

  “If I can read it, that would help. A book that valuable can’t be risked to the conditions of a trip like I’ve been told to prepare for.”

  She patted him, as if he’d said something trivial and cute.

  “Good. I’ll ask after that. In the morning. Now, scoot. Go and make sure nothing eats our serving boys.”

  The men and not a single one of them was a boy at all, were all dressed in rust brown tunics that matched one another with light tan trousers. They held large baskets that were ready to be loaded with food. Inside of the things something clanked a bit.

  One of the men, Ricard, swallowed.

  “Anders. Well met. Are you carrying food around with us?”

  “That’s the plan. We don’t have lanterns?” Carrying an indoor lamp outside was asking for it to be broken. Metal lanterns were a far better idea that way.

  Even if having him there couldn’t be comforting for the grown men, they followed him, Ricard shaking his head.

  “Those are all kept in outer storage. We don’t have any in the kitchens or pantries, since we work inside the castle.” The words were a bit slow. Not as if the man was foolish.

  No, it was as if he thought Anders might be. A thing that annoyed the boy enough that he nearly marched off in anger, leaving the men to their own devices. It was a sudden thing and hot. Rage, probably bought and paid for by the stress of the day actually made his stomach roil.