Scholar of Magic

by Michael G. Manning

  “Stand up again, Miss Nerrow. Do you have a knife on you? Please show it to me.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” she answered, removing a small dagger from and ornamental sheath at her waist. Her eyes were bulging as she watched her hand moving, seemingly of its own accord.

  “Do you want a war right here in your palace?” growled Will. “Push this any further and that’s what you’ll have!”

  “It’s just a demonstration, William. Please relax. I would never hurt the daughter of one of my most loyal vassals.” Lifting one hand, he snapped his fingers, and the door at the opposite end of the room opened. “You may enter now,” said the king.

  Three of the Driven stepped in and moved to stand off to one side.

  Lognion pointed to the man on the right, then gestured at Will. “This is the man you saw?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” answered the sorcerer.

  “And do you know his name?”

  “William Cartwright, the husband of Princess Selene, Your Majesty.”

  Lognion nodded, then asked the others. “Do you agree with his account?”

  They both nodded and answered, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “So all three of you agree that my son-in-law was on the verge of destroying most of the city, along with its citizens?”

  The three men hesitated, then affirmed the statement.

  The king frowned. “That’s a terrible shame. It seems that if my son-in-law is to retain his reputation the three of you will have to be silenced.”

  “Order us to silence, Your Majesty. We would never betray your trust!” cried one of the sorcerers, suddenly fearful.

  “Kneel and stare at the ceiling so I can see your necks clearly,” ordered the king. “Make no other movement.” Then a delicious smile crept across his face as he turned to Laina. “Miss Nerrow, please cut their throats so that they don’t betray your brother to the public.”

  Horrified, she began to walk rapidly toward them, knife in hand.

  “No!” shouted Will. He moved to interpose himself while Laina tried to dodge around him.

  Lognion’s voice cut across the confusion with chilling clarity. “William, if you touch your sister, I will kill her instead.”

  Will froze and Laina darted past, tears already running from her eyes. As she approached the first victim, the king gave yet another order. “Slowly, Miss Nerrow. I want you to watch their expressions while they die.”

  Unable to stand it any longer, Will blocked Laina’s knife hand with a point-defense shield as she slashed at the first man’s throat, and then, when she drew her arm back to try again, he blew a hole through the soldier’s chest with a force-lance. Without pausing to think, he repeated the act, killing all three men in less than a second. Disgusted by his own action, he yelled at the king, “There! Are you satisfied?”

  Lognion began to laugh. Not some small chuckle, but a deep, hearty, bellowing boom that came from the diaphragm. From anyone else, at any other time, it might have been a comforting sound, but from the king it was disturbing in the extreme. Laina turned back to face them, dropping her knife on the rug. Will could see blood droplets on her face, neck, and chest, a perfect compliment to the look of horror in her eyes.

  Glaring at the king, Will began to form a spell in one hand, but the insane monarch seemed utterly without concern. When the spell was finished, he released it, targeting his sister. She struggled against the magic for a moment, but he said softly, “Relax, Laina. Trust me.”

  Her eyes met his for a moment, and then her lids drooped as she stopped fighting the sleep spell. A second later she was asleep and Will carried her to a nearby divan. Ignoring the king, he formed another construct, Selene’s signature spell, and used it to clean away the dirt, blood, and grime that coated himself and Laina. “We need to talk,” he informed the king, his tone dark.

  “That is why I summoned you, after all.”

  “A serious talk. No more games.”

  Lognion rubbed his chin. “Something tells me that you aren’t planning to tell me where my wayward daughter has gone.”

  “Is her absence such an inconvenience for you?”

  “More than you realize. Explaining her absence is becoming more difficult by the day and her body double isn’t good enough to rely on for social events, is she?”

  Will tried to imagine Tailtiu at a dinner party and his mind refused to attempt it. He shook his head. “The reason Selene can’t return is you. You realize that, don’t you?”

  “Does my control bother you so much? It isn’t as though I would ever exercise it. The day of the wedding was a stressful and understandable occasion. Can you blame me for that?”

  He stared at the man, trying to discern the sick humor behind the man’s statement, but it simply wasn’t there. He honestly believes himself. He doesn’t have a trace of real humanity, does he? “You have no moral boundaries. Whatever your motivations, I could never trust you.”

  Lognion walked over to look down at Laina as she slept. His gaze traveled slowly from her head, down her neck, torso, waist, and ended finally at her ankles. Then he smiled at Will, his eyes flashing. “But I have plenty of reason to trust you, William. We still have common ground to forge an agreement over.”

  Chapter 46

  He couldn’t stand seeing the king’s eyes on Laina, so Will moved to interpose himself once again, prompting a new laugh from Lognion. “We saved your city for you. I think you owe us a debt already.”

  “I never asked you to save it, William. In fact, I find myself in agreement with Linus Ethelgren. A complete purge is the only way to be sure of eliminating the vampiric scourge and ensuring that Terabinia is safe. I am still glad you stopped him, since I might have been killed as well, but I do see the sense in his logic. Nevertheless, I accept no debts with regards to unasked for actions on your part.”

  “You’re as mad as Ethelgren then.”

  Lognion’s lips compressed into a line. “I prefer to say that I am different. I am under no illusion about what humanity considers normal, but I was born this way.” His eyes looked heavenward for a moment. “I am merely as the Mother made me. Some may doubt that, but I am confident that if it weren’t for me and my peculiar differences, Terabinia would not have survived until the present.”

  “You aren’t really human, are you?”

  The king grinned. “Unfortunately, I am, though I have long lamented that fact. Cut me and I will bleed red, the same as you do. No, by some strange quirk of fate I was born without the same emotions that most of humanity are afflicted with. I feel very little, except in extreme moments, which is why I enjoy tormenting you, William. But I don’t let such pale pleasures control me.

  “Instead, I use my gift to rule this nation with wisdom and reason. If destroying my own capital is the only way to save the people of Terabinia, I will do so, without tears or regret. In fact, I was already moving in that direction, for I feel this city is already lost,” explained the king.

  Will’s eyes widened. “You can’t be serious!”

  “But I am. Under the guise of trying to bring the chaos in the streets under control, I have already begun positioning the Driven along the city wall. Tomorrow, while the vampires are driven back into their holes, I will instruct my sorcerers to empower a wide-scale ritual to reduce the entire city to ash, even unto its foundations and sewers.”

  Will stared at the floor, trying to think of a way to dissuade the mad king. It was obvious that an appeal to mercy wouldn’t work. Only one thing came to him. “If Cerria is destroyed, it will greatly weaken Terabinia. At the moment we have the advantage over Darrow, but they will be emboldened once more if the capital is lost.”

  Lognion nodded. “Do not think I haven’t considered that. In fact, I have good cause to think that this undead disaster is the result of their desperation to turn the tables. I am almost tempted to capture a few of these monsters and return the favor.”

  “You couldn’t possibly—”

  “Rest easy, Will
iam. Did I not just tell you that I am not afflicted with the frailty of emotion? Even revenge fails to motivate me to abandon reason. I am quite aware that the uncontrolled spread of these bloodthirsty creatures would spell doom for every nation. That is why I am forced to the desperate measure of razing my own capital. If there were any other option, I would take it.”

  “Let me do it,” said Will suddenly, his mouth moving before his brain could catch up.

  “You have a solution?”

  No. What the hell am I thinking? He stared at the king for several seconds as his mouth worked open and closed. Eventually he found his voice again. “Give me an extra day.”

  “To do what?”

  “Rituals can do more than destroy. I’ll find one that can cleanse the city without wiping out the populace or destroying their homes.”

  The king’s eyes narrowed. “I can see you aren’t lying, but though you’ve performed several miraculous feats in the past I have trouble envisioning you doing something that would require that level of expertise.”

  “I have help. Remember the signatory witnesses of my marriage?”

  Lognion was quick as always. “Aislinn?”

  Will nodded. Or Arrogan, I’d rather not bring my demented grandmother into this.

  The sovereign of Terabinia rubbed his chin, lost in thought for a few seconds. “The fae do not provide help without payment,” observed Lognion.

  The statement reminded Will of his own situation and he had another idea. “Neither do I.”

  “Oh?”

  “If you want me to do this, I’ll need something in return.”

  “You imply that you will let the citizens of this city die? I hardly believe that.” He paused, then his eyes lit up. “What do you want?”

  Free Selene! he wanted to scream, but he held himself back for a moment and his eyes fell on Laina. He needed more than one person released from the king’s enchantment. “Release them from the enchantment.”

  “Them?”

  “My family, Selene, Laina, Mark Nerrow, Agnes, and Tabitha if she’s been to Wurthaven.”

  “She hasn’t,” the king informed him. “Neither has Agnes, though I find it interesting that you choose to include her.”

  “Will you do it?”

  Lognion laughed. “Of course not! You won’t swear to me, lad. Why would I release the only leverage I have over such a wonderful and useful tool?” Then he leaned in. “Choose one.”

  “All or none.”

  “I don’t need this bargain, fool. Even if I lose my city, I can still outwit those fools in Darrow. It will be a tragic setback, but I’ll accept it rather than lose so many bargaining pieces. Choose one.”

  He wanted them all free, but narrowing the selection was relatively simple. Mark Nerrow was the simplest to give up, and while he was fond of Agnes, she didn’t rate as highly as Selene or Laina. It was those last two that tore at him. His first instinct was to choose Selene, but after the past few hours the choice wasn’t so simple. Either one would be a significant means for the king to control him, and he couldn’t bear to see either tortured or hurt.

  In the end it was pragmatism that made the choice for him. Selene was already safe, and even if she did return, she had already proven she couldn’t be controlled. If her father gave her a command, she refused to obey she would die. Such a limitation made her less useful for the king’s purpose.

  “Laina,” he said at last. “Free my sister.”

  Lognion’s face lit up with undisguised mirth. “Oh, I didn’t say I would give you what you asked for. I merely wanted to see who you would choose. It’s always an instructive exercise, and I’m sure you learned a few things about yourself.”

  Crestfallen, Will glared at the man. “Have you nothing better to do than torment me?”

  “Careful what you wish for, William. The day I no longer find you interesting enough to torment is the day you die.” Reaching up to his chest, he concentrated for a moment, and Will briefly saw the flicker of hundreds or perhaps even thousands of heart-stone enchantments. Eventually the king picked one and held it out, displaying it for Will’s inspection. “This is the control link for my daughter. Since her recent rebellion, she is of much less use to me. Take it.”

  “I don’t want you to transfer it. Just release her,” said Will sharply.

  “Take it or I will kill her now,” said Lognion.

  Will held out his hand and Lognion passed the enchantment to him. Careful not to let his body destroy it, Will accepted the link and felt it stitch itself to his soul. As soon as the process was done, he reached out and examined it, looking for the correct point to begin unraveling it. He had freed many elementals in the past, so the process was familiar to him already.

  “Before you make a mistake, William, let me give you some advice,” said the king, his tone suddenly paternal. “Do you know how I developed my ability to discern truth from lies?”

  Will met his gaze but said nothing.

  “It was the heart-stone enchantment. Over the years I’ve held the lives of tens of—” His voice stumbled for a moment. “Of thousands of men and women in my hands. I was always gifted at discerning lies, but with the heart-stone enchantment I was able to know with absolute certainty every time someone tried to deceive me. Over time, that feedback allowed me to train my natural intuition to perfection. By watching someone’s expressions, their body language, and even the turyn that flows around them, I know with absolute certainty whether they are lying.”

  “I’m never going to enslave people the way you have.”

  “I’m not suggesting you should, but think how useful it would be to have a wife whose loyalty you could be absolutely certain of, who could never betray you, who might obey orders that she was not even aware were orders?”

  That made him angrier than it should have. “I’ve always trusted Selene,” he declared, but inwardly he felt a sliver of doubt. The dream he had had—was it really a dream?

  “Liar,” said the king. “I can see your mistrust, and you are right to doubt her. No man or woman is completely trustworthy. People change over time. An honest oath, a sincere promise, they may be meant when they are given, but time will change the hearts of those who make promises. I’m offering you a refuge from such uncertainty. You can know she is yours. You can ensure that she never strays. The enchantment is subtler than you realize.

  “I made a mistake the day you drove me to order her explicitly to do something she was absolutely against. Yes, I admit you were clever that day. It’s one of the main reasons I decided to let you take her as your wife. But you don’t have to be foolish. The heart-stone enchantment will reinforce her own desire to never stray, to never lie to you. Let me give you this gift.”

  Will felt the older man’s words circling in his brain, and there was a certain logic to them. He didn’t have to necessarily use the enchantment to control Selene, but he could use it to always know whether her words were true or not. Would that be so wrong? For a minute he was sorely tempted, more than he wanted to admit.

  Before his heart could waver any further, he began plucking at the enchantment, carefully unravelling it. A few seconds later it dissolved, and he knew that Selene was finally free.

  Lognion shook his head. “Such a shame. I had high hopes for you, William.”

  “Even if I only used it for truth telling, it would be a violation.”

  “You suggest that lies are somehow a good thing?”

  He nodded. “Some are. Trust isn’t about truth or lies. Humans need their social deceptions. We wear them like clothes, to hide ourselves from the judgment of others, or even ourselves. To strip her of that would be to rob her of her privacy, her individuality. It would be a betrayal of love.”

  “In your world perhaps,” admitted the king. “Love has never existed in mine, so I have nothing to lose. Your argument is still lacking, though. Truth is the foundation of trust.”

  Will shook his head, feeling certain at last. “No, it isn’t. Trust is a
form of faith, faith in another human being. It isn’t founded in a cold reliance on absolute truth, but simply on the belief that the one you trust has your best interest at heart. That they can be relied on, even when they lie, to be on your side. I won’t sacrifice something so precious just for absolute truth.”

  “Suit yourself,” said Lognion. “You have tomorrow to do what you will. If the infestation persists then I will proceed with my plans on the next morning.” Turning away, the monarch left the room without even glancing at the dead bodies. Someone else would be along to deal with them.

  Will felt lost for a moment, and as he looked at Laina he couldn’t bear to wake her. The experience she had had was too fresh and he wanted her to be somewhere safe and pleasant when she opened her eyes. Anything to blunt the memory of the king’s savage cruelty. And my bloody response to it, he added mentally.

  The spell was fresh, so he didn’t fear waking her. Bending carefully, he slipped his arms behind her head and knees and cradled her against his chest before lifting and carrying her from the room. It was all he knew to do.

  Chapter 47

  Out in the hall, he was immediately approached by another servant, but before the man could speak, Will addressed him, “Are Princess Selene’s old quarters still unoccupied?”

  The man bowed. “The king has kept them maintained exactly as they were the day she left, sir.”

  “I’ll be using them until morning,” said Will, putting as much authority in his voice as he could manage. “Please show my friends up to join us.”

  “Should I get someone to carry her for you, sir?”

  The look in Will’s eyes turned fierce, causing the man to wilt away, though Will didn’t mean frighten him intentionally. “No. I know the way.” He set off without looking back. The one place in the palace he knew exactly how to find was Selene’s old room.

  Another servant fell into place a few steps behind, and when they came to the door, the man helpfully opened it for him. Will carried Laina inside and laid her gently on the bed. Then he went to the front room and looked out the window, remembering happier moments.