Mr. Praeger shook his head, “Whether ye’ll have us or no, I fear ye are stuck with us now; we are for ye, thick and thin.”
Tvrdik put an arm around each of them and hugged them close.
“Goodnight, Sir.”
“Goodnight, friends,” Tvrdik replied, and watched them retire to their quarters in the rear of the house. Only Stewart remained. “My good companion,” Tvrdik stroked his furry head, “it was a lucky hour when I met you as well.” Stewart’s eyes closed while he enjoyed the mage’s touch. Then he licked Tvrdik’s hand and said, “A very happy birthday to ye, sir, and many more years to celebrate. I am proud to be a friend to ye, and ready to fight beside ye if there is need.”
“You have always been there for me, Stewart.”
“Would ye mind if I slept outdoors tonight, Master Wizard? There’s a fair cool breeze in the yard, and the house feels stuffy to me after so much eatin’ and drinkin’.”
“Of course, wherever you are comfortable, friend. I will be chasing after dreams myself in a few moments. There will be much to do tomorrow, so sleep well.” Stewart padded out toward the garden, while Tvrdik took the torch back into the house, and shut the door behind him.
And now, night fully upon him, Tvrdik stood once more alone in the big house. He made his way to Xaarus’ old bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed, rehearsing in his mind some of the highlights of the day. So many wonderful people gathering to help him celebrate, and all the effort and thoughtfulness they had put into the planning, the food, and the gifts. So many well-wishes, along with all the music, laughter, and good fellowship spun about in his brain. But, then, even as he was beginning to feel valued, like he belonged somewhere at last, Jorelial Rey, of all people, as much as tells him outright that she can’t wait to be rid of him, so that she might return to her former normal life.
All right. That wasn’t precisely accurate. But he had come to think of her as something more than just his partner in a grand enterprise. They had saved each other’s lives, laughed and joked together, shared intimate details of their awkward youths, their hopes and dreams, private sorrows. He had begun to see her as a kind of kindred spirit – a lone wolf reaching out for some connection. She was, in fact, his best friend. He had learned to cope with the thornier side of her personality: her impatience and occasional barbed tongue. He had admired her as a courageous and charismatic leader, well-suited to the role she had inherited. He adored her keen intelligence, her dry wit and unerring sense of right, and underneath it all, her vulnerability and good heart. He well understood how difficult it had been for her to assume so much responsibility during a time of danger and uncertainty. It was a lot for her slight shoulders to carry. Of course there might be times when one might want to just run away and return to a simpler, unburdened time. She could have confided that to him as a friend, and he would have listened, even sympathized. But instead, she had lashed out at him as if he were the source of all her woes. If all he was to her was a symbol of the moment when things changed for the worse – a jinx, a harbinger of bad news, a constant reminder of how unpleasant everything was, well, then, he had misjudged their relationship indeed. That made him feel foolish, and exposed. How could he have so misread their time together, thinking they were growing closer? He should never have forgotten her superior rank and position, which put her far out of his league.
And why did any of this matter, anyway? He knew they would continue to work well together. They knew how to do that. They respected one another’s skills, and were both committed to the Legions of Light, and to securing the kingdom for its rightful heir. With a war so nearly upon them, wasn’t that all that was important now? And why could he not end this day warmed by the hundreds of loving, affirming gestures, and happy moments he had enjoyed, instead of perturbed by one enigmatic person’s single petulant outburst? Tvrdik sighed, and began to undress for sleep, although he doubted it would come to give him peace anytime soon.
At Theriole, in her own bed, a somewhat unusual occurrence stemming from Tashroth’s involvement with Candelinda this night, Jorelial Rey was tossing and turning. Weary beyond exhaustion, she should have fallen asleep as soon as she laid her head on the pillow. Certainly, worries over Candelinda’s report and the looming reality of imminent battle disturbed her rest. It assaulted her mind with a thousand questions, a thousand more tasks to address, and preparations to initiate. This was to be expected. But, what surprised her was that every few moments, her rebellious brain would replay that brief, but awful conversation in the parlor with Tvrdik. Not the lovely events of the day – the feast, the sunshine, the playfulness and celebration, the laughter that buoyed everyone up all afternoon. No. Only the last five minutes, which had spoiled everything. Each time she went over the scenario in her head, she tried to stop herself from letting the ugly words tumble from her mouth unchecked. But, there was no return. They had been said, and heard, and they cut like a knife. Tvrdik had been so happy before she ruined it all with her childish remark. She had tried to explain, tried to tell him that it was only what one little disgruntled part of her felt, that she knew events would have turned as they had regardless of his arrival, and that he had only come to help her face them.
Oh, why couldn’t she have chosen to communicate the other truths that were equally clear to her: that she never could have made it this far, or confronted the struggle ahead without him; that she found it strangely new and refreshing to have had a human friend in whom to confide; that she had truly enjoyed their playful banter, their sharing of depths of themselves long hidden, even their easy working relationship. In so many ways, life was much better for her since the young mage had come along. And yet, she had as much as told him that she couldn’t wait for him to go back where he came from, or worse, that she wished she had never met him. A fine thing to say to a friend on his birthday! Sometimes, I just can’t stand myself, she thought, then sighed and turned over again. But why am I so stuck on this? With so many life-and-death issues to consider, and so much at stake, why am I obsessing over one unfortunate conversation? And why do I care what he thinks, anyway? Clear as starshine through her window, the answer came back to her, because I do care what he thinks. I care about him far more than I am ready to admit.
Candelinda gave her report the following day in the Hall of Audience, in front of the Lady Regent, the Court Wizard, Brendelle,Verger, Lord Corbin Maygrew, and General Boone. Smaller than Tashroth, she could just fit her head through one of the side windows while everyone else sat inside. Warlowe manned the door, as always. Tvrdik and Jorelial Rey maintained their cordial, but awkward formality with each other, as neither wished to be the first to re-open a painful subject. This approach was probably a mistake. The longer their awkwardness went on, the more firmly it became locked in. Those who knew them well could not help but notice the sudden chill, but felt it was not their place to question, especially with other matters of great importance on the table.
Candelinda let them know that Drogue boasted of having up to ten thousand troops at his disposal – a harrowing figure, to say the least. He might have exaggerated somewhat for effect, but not by a lot. The mountain lord had proudly showed her exercises in progress, and with a shrewd eye, she had noted the composition of his armies. Some seemed to be foreign mercenaries, lured by gold or the promise of land. Some were conscripted farmers and peasants from Drogue’s own realm and some of the neighboring ones. These were not seasoned warriors, and were probably paid, coerced, bullied, or seduced into service, along the lines of Praeger’s story. A small portion of his force were the original standing armies of the mountain states, and there was a contingent of magical creatures…
“Magical creatures?” Tvrdik exploded, “They fight for their own doom! If Drogue is victorious, it will seal the fate of all magical creatures; they will eventually cease to exist.”
“We may know that, with the benefit of Xaarus’ hindsight, but they do not.” Candelinda responded
calmly, “It is a sad thing, but many of us are just as gullible and easily turned by greed or glamour as humans are. In any event, he has a small company of mountain gnomes, perhaps half-dozen or so griffins to fly for him, and some of the winged horses. Among them is Valour, one of the most powerful and respected among them.”
There was a silence, everyone’s eyebrows knitted together in thoughtful frowns. Jorelial Rey shook her head as if to clear it, and ventured to comment first, “Alright. So he has numbers. But with this intelligence of his obvious intentions, coupled with the news of his recent naval attack, I feel sure we can drum up more recruits from the countryside. It is time to send out a royal decree to all parts of the kingdom calling for volunteers. There’s a lot of positive sentiment out there for King Darian on the heels of his coronation. Many regional lords saw Drogue’s behavior at the Grand Council, and will not be surprised. The catch, of course, is getting them all on board with the philosophy of the Legions of Light; I will not impose it on any who are unwilling. But for those who will join us and embrace our methods, we still have time to equip and train them.”
Tvrdik jumped in, “Those of Drogue’s soldiers that are bound to him by promise of wealth or by intimidation, perhaps we can seduce or sabotage away from him with our own hijinks. At the very least, they will be confused. With all the dragons on our side, we still have some advantage, and we have the assistance of the water sprites and the trees….”
Candelinda added, “It is always possible that some of the magical creatures have not heard both sides of the story, and might yet be persuaded that changing sides would be in their own best interests. With your permission, my lady, I will try to arrange a quiet meeting with the winged horses and griffins. Not sure we would have much luck with the gnomes. They can be stubborn and greedy.”
“We’ll have to rely on the blue shields for them, and for the rest. But do what you can with diplomacy.” Jorelial Rey was pacing now, hands clasped behind her back and forehead down, as she always did while brainstorming. “What say you, General?” Boone had looked as though he wanted to add something, but was reluctant to interrupt. Now, he cleared his throat.
“I wish to remind Lady Rey that numbers are of far less consequence than strategy and wise preparation in a pitched battle. A key factor now is for us to control where the major battle will be fought, and to have all our surprises in place before he arrives.”
“How do we do that?” Brendelle spoke for the first time.
Candelinda interjected, “I told you, Drogue is conceited and over-confident. He believes he will beat you any day of the week, under any circumstances. We could deploy almost anywhere we choose and expect him to come and meet us. If we wait too long, however, he will beat us to the punch.”
Boone jumped back in, “That’s my precise point. We do know a little of how his mind works. He will want to march straight for Theriole, having failed to take it by sea. Eliminating the true King…and yourself, my lady….will be his prime objective, and seeing himself crowned and enthroned at the palace will be a close second. These being his goals, he will not care how much chaos and devastation he might cause in the surrounding farms and villages. That is flawed thinking on his part, since all the infrastructure he would destroy would be his to repair, should he win…”
“Heavens forbid!” Lord Maygrew shouted, horrified at the suggestion. But General Boone continued, energized to be allowed to hold forth at last on one subject in which he excelled.
“Yes, yes. I apologize for my digression, but we must understand his thinking. As we are a professed people of peace, he will expect us to hide behind the castle’s defensive fortifications, and force him to lay siege. He is confident of succeeding at that, even if it is long and destructive. He will not expect us to be courageous enough to ride out and meet his forces in pitched battle somewhere on an open field.”
“And why would we do that?” Maygrew asked.
“That, sir, is exactly what we must do. It is what we have been training to do. We must not let him get anywhere near the palace at all. We must protect the king…as well as everything in the surrounding area that Drogue would put to the torch. It is for us to plant ourselves on his way where he cannot avoid us, and force a pitched battle, winner take all.”
“Will he take the bait?” the Lady Regent asked.
“Drogue is proud. He will not care where he meets us. He will expect to run roughshod over us and continue on to Theriole unimpeded. But our strategy will be to choose our location wisely – a place where we are removed from civilian activities that could be a worry, where we are somewhat hemmed in, but cannot be backed into a corner, where the trees and the waters are easily available to do their part, and there is room for our aerial forces to maneuver. An ideal spot would also have some sort of elevated positions where our generals could observe and direct the game. In a place like that, we would be ready for him. We could have every advantage set up in advance and a few surprise snares he could not begin to imagine. Only as a last resort, if things did not go in our favor, we could still fall back to the castle fortifications.”
Tvrdik smiled, “General Boone, you are a genius. This is what I meant when I suggested that intellect should triumph over brute force.”
The Lady Regent was also excited, “Welcome back, General. There is indeed a reason you are Minister of Defense.”
“Thank you, my lady, but it is my job to understand these things…”
There was a bit of a commotion at the door. Warlowe seemed to be arguing with someone in low tones that gradually became too intrusive to ignore. Every head turned toward the entrance, to see Mark standing there, Warlowe trying to urge him back. The Lady Regent held up a hand and called out, “It’s alright, Warlowe.” She strode over to the doorway.
“Mark, what are you doing here? Is anything wrong?”
Mark stood tall and met her gaze. “No, my lady. I hope you will forgive my presumption. I realize that under normal circumstances, a bard would not be privy to what goes on in these chambers. But, as a founding member of the Legions of Light, I felt I should have some idea of our adversary’s strengths. I’m afraid I was listening at the window and heard all that General Boone said about a perfect site for the battle. I believe I could be of some service here.”
Corbin Maygrew rolled his eyes and made a helpless gesture of frustration, but Boone said, “In what way, lad?” At this point, Jorelial Rey gestured for Mark to enter the room, Warlowe relaxed and shrugged, and Mark approached the General.
“Sir, I am a mountain boy, born and raised. I know well the terrain that Lord Drogue, and his forces, would have to traverse to get here. And, I believe I know a place very like what you were describing. I think it might suit our purposes.”
“Go on, boy.”
“It is a pleasant valley, larger than it seems at first glance, just this side of the mountains, in the foothills. It is uninhabited at this time of year, carpeted in meadow and wildflowers, and rimmed on three sides with rocky escarpments where one can look down and take in the bigger picture below. These heights are accessible by goat path. We often pasture our flocks in this place. The river runs right through the valley, along the rock face on one side. But there are also wooded areas and copses of trees scattered about.”
Everyone present exchanged glances, eyebrows raised. Boone grasped Mark’s arm, “Young bard, are you free tomorrow to take me on a little tour of this promising place?”
“I will arrange to be free.”
“We can ride out at first light.”
Jorelial Rey shook her head, “Might I suggest that Tashroth could take you? It would be quicker and easier. Mark, could you find the place by air?”
“Of course, but wouldn’t a dragon arouse suspicion?”
Candelinda replied, “Drogue will have no reason to turn his eyes in that direction. But I will go along, if it please my lady. To any stray glance, it will
look like two hungry dragons hunting game in a likely spot.”
“Go, with my blessing, Candelinda. All of you report back to me on your return. Thank you, Mark, for your…most helpful intrusion.”
Mark bowed to her with a smile and Tvrdik winked at him. Candelinda caught the gesture and added, “One thing the great Lord Drogue does not have in his service is a real Wizard. He fancies himself to be somewhat versed in the black arts, and enjoys showing off his conversance with magic. But it is, for all I can tell, superficial and sloppy. In this, my friends, we are obviously at a clear advantage,” and she swung her great head around to regard Tvrdik with an enormous, unblinking eye. The mage, both startled and flattered, felt his face redden as he bowed to her.
“You are most kind, Candelinda, and you all know I will do everything in my power to stop this usurper in his tracks – everything short of inflicting deliberate harm on him or any of his followers. I know we can beat him without becoming like him.”
Corbin Maygrew put a hand on Tvrdik’s shoulder, “I hope you are right, Master Wizard. I have great confidence in you, and lord knows I have experienced your talents firsthand. But there is much riding on these shoulders, lad. Our lives, our hopes, our futures all depend in large part on your gifts, and on your being right about all this.”
Tvrdik paused a moment, feeling the weight of that assertion. “Lord Maygrew,” he responded at last, “I know I am right about our methods, because I have been told by my Master, and because I feel its certainty in the very core of my being. With Xaarus guiding us, you will have not one, but two wizards at your service until the matter is settled. But when, and I say, when we triumph, it will not be his or my triumph alone, but that of so many gifted and dedicated folks that will win the day – all of us here and yourself included. The beauty of our plan is that we all play a part in its success.”
The Last Wizard of Eneri Clare Page 63