Mageborn 05 The Final Redemption

by Michael G. Manning

  I didn’t bother talking to his subordinates. They died without ever knowing why.

  Chapter 33

  The small gate keep in Lancaster was in perfect condition, but it was the only thing that Penny and her companions found in such good shape. Castle Lancaster itself, little more than a half-mile away, was a burned ruin. Some of it had fallen, collapsing as the timbers that supported it went up in flames, other parts were standing, a stone husk surrounding an empty charred interior.

  They found no sign of anyone, though there were quite a few corpses in the courtyard. Most of those were too far gone to identify, if they weren’t burned beyond recognition then scavengers and carrion eaters had removed all the soft tissues. It was a grisly scene by any measure.

  Penny looked on the destruction but her heart was numb. She had lost too much to feel any more sorrow. The one thought that seemed to bubble up from the mire within her found her lips before she realized it, “If Cameron is like this, then we’ve lost it all.”

  Ariadne looked at her fiercely, “I’ve already lost everything.” Lancaster Castle had been her home.

  “Where next for us?” asked Sir Egan. The man seemed smaller now, as if losing his mentor and teacher had diminished him in some way.

  “We need to discover what’s happened in Cameron and Arundel,” suggested Penny.

  Ariadne nodded, “Mordecai’s advice to us was sound. We must find the Prathions.”

  “The only thing we know for certain is that they won’t be at either Cameron Castle or Arundel,” offered Peter Tucker suddenly.

  Stephen Balistair seemed confused. “How do we know that?”

  “Walter had access to a number of message boxes at his home in Arundel. He also was intimately familiar with Castle Cameron, where many others were located. If he or his children, were currently at either place, they’d have been sending messages all along,” explained Peter. His work as the head chamberlain for Castle Cameron showed in his thinking.

  Penny shook her head in agreement. Over the years she had come to expect such keen wit from Peter. “That should have occurred to me sooner, but you’re absolutely right Peter.”

  “Then how will we find the other wizards?” asked the princess.

  Elise Thornbear gestured at the unconscious Matthew and Moira. “We are not without resources. We have two wizards with us now. When they awake their senses will tell us far more than our eyes can.”

  “It won’t matter,” said Cyhan interrupting abruptly. “The ones we seek are Prathions. If they are hiding, we won’t be able to find them. Even Mordecai couldn’t manage that.”

  The Princess looked at him thoughtfully, “Then what is your counsel, Sir Knight?”

  “There are two possibilities that I can see. Either they’re dead, caught by whatever surprise was sprung here in Lancaster or at their home, or they’re alive and hiding. If it’s the former, there’s nothing we can do, and if it’s the latter we’ll never find them, but we don’t have to, Your Highness,” said Cyhan.

  Ariadne had gotten an inkling of his meaning already. “You imply that they will find us?”

  The old veteran nodded. “They will be watching, and there are three high priority places to observe in this area, the gate-keep in Lancaster, the gate-keep in Arundel, and possibly Castle Cameron itself.”

  “No one finds a Prathion, if they don’t wish to be found,” said Elaine Prathion from beside him. She was leaning in close to his ear.

  The older veteran didn’t flinch, instead he gave Elaine a bored stare.

  Ariadne looked sharply at Cyhan, sensing a ruse. “Your logic is too perfect. It has the ring of something crafted to explain facts that are already known. You knew Elaine was here. Do you care to explain?”

  “Begging your pardon, Highness, I would rather not,” replied the heavyset warrior. It was uncharacteristic of him to show such reluctance.

  “For what reason?” asked the Princess.

  “It would be embarrassing.”

  She was taken aback, as was everyone else. It was unheard of for the taciturn knight to show embarrassment of any sort. “For you?” she questioned.

  Cyhan cast his eyes downward, “No, Your Highness, for you and the other ladies present.”

  Penny was thinking hard as he spoke and her mind, with some help from her enhanced senses, had given her cause for suspicion.

  “Do explain anyway, Sir Cyhan,” commanded Ariadne.

  Taking a deep breath Cyhan began his explanation. “As you are aware, those of us with the earth-bond are possessed of more acute senses, as well as strength and speed. In particular, my nose is several times more sensitive than a normal man’s nose. It still isn’t nearly as good as a hound’s, but it does provide a lot of information.”

  Ariadne frowned, “You’re saying you identified her merely by her scent?”

  “No, Your Highness. I could never make such a bold claim, but we have been traveling together for quite a few hours and not long ago I caught the scent of a woman whom I knew was not one of the ladies in our group,” answered Cyhan carefully.

  Penny’s suspicion was confirmed now, both by his words and her own nose.

  “You could tell us apart so simply?” questioned the Princess.

  Cyhan shook his head negatively, “No, Your Highness, but at certain times women are given to different odors. I already knew that this was not your time, nor that of any of the other…”

  “Enough!” interrupted Penny, hoping to save him from a more complete explanation, but Ariadne had already caught on to his meaning, and her cheeks were turning a deep shade of red.

  Nodding her head vigorously Ariadne agreed, “Thank you, Sir Cyhan. That will be sufficient.”

  Her discomfort and the awkward silence that followed were broken suddenly when Elise Thornbear began to chuckle, and soon the rest of the women were laughing. The men in the group joined in cautiously, except for Cyhan, who kept his stern demeanor. Rose was the only woman to abstain from the mirth. She knew that even a simple laugh would only lead to a new outpouring of tears.

  Conall Illeniel was still confused, and he tugged on his mother’s sleeve. “Momma, I don’t understand. Why is everyone laughing?”

  “Me either,” agreed Gram.

  Penny stopped laughing for a moment to stare at the children in dismay. She had no idea what to answer, not just because of the nature of the question, but also because everyone in the group was watching with intense curiosity to see what her answer might be. She looked at Moira Centyr for ideas.

  The former lady of stone shrugged, “How should I know what to say?”

  Lady Rose’s shell finally cracked, and she began to cackle in a manner most unladylike. Her usual laughter was far more composed, but this was the sudden and slightly hysterical laughter of a woman under too much stress for far too long. The others joined her for a few minutes, until the inevitable happened and her emotions shifted. Her sobbing laughter then became something more sorrowful.

  Rose’s mother-in-law led her aside while the others watched helplessly. Many of their eyes were damp as well. Grieving is always a painful thing, in that nothing can be done for it. It is an illness that cannot be cured, merely shared.

  Elaine witnessed the entire cycle of events without understanding the cause, but her intuition was working full time. “I’m certain you all have a lot of questions for me, but I can tell there are many things I need to hear from you as well,” she suggested.

  Ariadne undertook the task of relaying the news from the capital, though her voice failed her when she began to relate the tale of her father and mother. The Countess took over for her then, though she suffered a similar problem when the story of Sir Dorian’s end came. At the end, it was left to Cyhan to finish their tale.

  Elaine Prathion took a small amount of time to assimilate what she had just learned. She was understandably distraught at much of the news, particularly that which concerned the King and Queen, as well as the news of Dorian’s death. When she
finally was ready to reciprocate with her own story, she looked regretful.

  “I had hoped your news would be better than mine,” began Elaine, “for I fear my news will not cheer you. On the same day that Tremont murdered our sovereign, Lancaster went up in flames.”

  She took a deep breath and then continued, “My father and I were in Arundel, and George was in Cameron, so we didn’t witness any of the events there directly. There weren’t many survivors, and those who did emerge were mostly servants who lived outside of the keep itself. From what we can put together, it seems that several groups were involved. A number of men were guesting with Roland under the pretense of being an envoy from King Nicholas in Gododdin.”

  Elaine closed her eyes. “Those who pretended at nobility were inside, while their retainers barricaded the main doors to the keep from the outside. Those inside set fire to the interior and we think they died along with the rest of the occupants. Some of the bodies we found belonged to those who threw themselves from the towers and upper windows in desperation.”

  The Princess could wait no longer. “And my brother?”

  The wizard looked at the ground, unwilling to meet her gaze. “We have found no sign of him, and we can only believe that he died with the others when the castle burned. Please forgive me, Your—Majesty.” Her use of the sovereign’s honorific reinforced her words.

  Ariadne started to object to her use of ‘Majesty’, but she stopped herself. “Very well, though you have given me sad news, I must finally accept this fate. I will no longer argue the use of that title, even though ceremony and custom must wait before I fully claim it as mine.”

  Though, if she lived, the historians would later claim the date of her coronation as the day Ariadne became Queen, those who were there knew that that was when it happened. That was the moment a young girl accepted the change, and went from princess to Queen of Lothion, or as the people had already begun to call her, the ‘Iron Queen’.

  Silence stretched out for a long moment, as everyone considered whether they should offer obeisance, until at last Ariadne broke the spell. “Not now,” she said, “I know where your hearts lie. We can worry about deference and oaths of fealty later. Elaine, please finish relaying your news.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” offered the wizard. “In Arundel we received no word of the black doings in Lancaster, but that same night we received an attack by strange beings that defy simple description. Having heard the news of your escape through the World Road, I feel certain that these were more of the same fallen gods. They attacked us, along with a lesser number of ordinary humans, the Shaddoth Krys. Father sent word to George in Cameron to come and assist us, but it was to no avail.”

  “While we could have protected ourselves, in the end we were unable to protect our people. For as long as we remained in an easily located place, our attackers were able to overwhelm our defenses. After less than a day, Father ordered us to abandon Arundel. Taking everyone still with us, we fled into the forests and used our magic to hide them,” finished Elaine.

  “And what of Castle Cameron?” asked Ariadne.

  “It fell in our absence,” admitted Elaine. “While we were struggling to fend off the attackers in Arundel, Castle Cameron came under attack of its own. The remaining knights worked for its defense, but in the end they were forced to do as we had.”

  “How many of my brothers remain?” asked Cyhan, referring to the other Knights of Stone.

  “Three are with us now, Sir William, Sir Thomas, and Sir Harold,” said Elaine. “We met the refugees in the forest between Arundel and Cameron. They are in hiding with the rest of our survivors now.”

  “And what of Sir Edward?” questioned Cyhan, referring to the last knight unaccounted for.

  “Dead,” answered Elaine. “Sir William told me he died bravely defending their retreat.”

  “Give us an accounting of how many remain,” ordered Ariadne calmly, “that we can number our resources.”

  “Seven hundred men women and children, Your Majesty,” said Elaine promptly. “They are from various parts of the valley—few from Lancaster, some from Arundel, and some from Cameron. There are many others, scattered and hiding on their own, but I have no count of them for you. Among those I have already named, there are two hundred men-at-arms, three wizards, and the three Knights of Stone I mentioned.”

  “It seems a small number, compared to what we have lost,” said the Queen sadly.

  Elaine spoke quickly to reassure her, “Do not let the number cause you despair. The bulk of the people survive. That is only what we have managed to gather and shelter personally.”

  “Our course shall be to meet with your father and the others,” said Ariadne. “After we have taken counsel with him and seen for ourselves the situation, then we can plot our future course.” The choice was obvious, but as Ariadne was their leader, it was important that she make it clear.

  Penny found herself watching Stephen Balistair, to gauge his reaction, and when he looked back at her she was pleased at what she saw. Determination and the will to follow our new Queen. Perhaps I have judged him too harshly, thought Penny.

  Of them all, only Rose Thornbear seemed disinterested in the outcome of the discussion. She remained silent, focusing on her daughter, Carissa. She seemed to have completely withdrawn from the present, and Penny could only wonder how long it would be before her friend recovered her spirit.

  Chapter 34

  It was one of the best nights I could remember. I had spent hours walking from place to place in the city that was now frozen in time. By my own reckoning it was probably already morning again in the outside world, but the sun’s light couldn’t touch the eternal night that now cloaked Albamarl.

  That was the nature of stasis fields: nothing enters and nothing leaves. Even I could not exit until I canceled the enchantment, but for now I was content to move within it, the one active agent in a timeless moment. I had spent a lot of time scouring the city, searching out every guard, soldier and watchman, anyone who served the usurper. Thankfully, Tremont had made my job easier by having them replace their colors with his own. That saved me the tough moral choice of whether to kill someone in Hightower’s livery.

  I knew intellectually, that most of his men were simple mercenaries, or in some cases even loyal servants of the rightful king, seeking to preserve their lives and protect their families, but I didn’t care. Anyone wearing Tremont’s colors of burgundy and black—I slew. I passed through the walls, the towers and every gate house and bailey. Everywhere I went, I chose and killed, leaving a trail of dead men behind me. My power swelled as I drained them by the hundreds, but the euphoria was just as potent each time.

  Humans were a drug for me now. The pleasure was so great that at times I erred on the side of ‘caution’ rather than let someone questionable live. It was a glorious night.

  I wondered what the people who remained alive would think. In many places I killed ten or twenty people while leaving one or two alive who were obviously not in Tremont’s service. When the enchantment was eventually dispelled, they would find themselves surrounded by dead men, who, to them, had just been breathing a moment before. The overall effect would be, that it would seem as though every single person serving Tremont had died within a single instant.

  I found myself giggling whenever I thought about it.

  The city jail in particular would be interesting. I slew the jailors and left the keys in one of the cells. What would they think when time resumed? How long would they hide within their cells before venturing out?

  Even with the possibility of an eternity within the city to do my work, I knew that there were practical constraints on the time that I had. Eventually Mal’goroth would wonder at the lack of communication from his underlings and come to check on them. Whether that was a matter of hours or days or longer, I couldn’t be sure. I had decided to give myself only twenty-four hours, one day, before ending the effect and moving on to my next target.

  That meant m
y deadline was sunset. I intended to end the enchantment at the same time I had begun it. That would make it even more difficult for them to realize what had happened. I laughed even more when I thought of the confusion this would create for those who charted the year and marked the phases of the moon. Someone would figure it out—eventually, but I wouldn’t be the one to tell them.

  I laughed again and began to skip. Death does not come to us solemnly, but rather with a smile and a spring in his step. Or at least, that day in Albamarl, he did. If Death didn’t like my stylistic interpretation of his job, he was welcome to come and discuss his differences with me.

  While I concerned myself primarily with official buildings and places where the usurper’s men would be, I encountered numerous interesting doings on the streets themselves. Here and there I found people fighting, and each time I chose one to slay. I couldn’t be certain of the reason for each of the fights, but since I was representing the underdog today, I always slew the person who seemed to have the upper-hand, unless I had some way of telling if one of them served Tremont.

  It was a night full of delightful choices, and by the time I reached the palace itself I had already slain thousands. My inner voice argued and railed against some of my choices, but I didn’t care. The euphoria of so many lives taken made it impossible for me to feel down. Most of the time, if they were clearly in the service of the usurper, my conscience kept his damn mouth shut.

  The palace was full of surprises. Along with the expected soldiers, I found ten of the ‘god-seeds’. The weakened Dark Gods were no more trouble for me than the others. I drained each one of its power, and then, when they were reduced to virtually nothing, I trapped the remainder of each one within a spell. I stored them as small glowing spheres within one of my pouches. I had no way of destroying the spellweaving that sustained each one, but I could imprison them indefinitely. Later I planned to create a permanent enchantment to hold each one, similar to the one that had created the God-Stone.

  I saved the best for last.