“I would say figure to add four or five more to your counts and make sure you have food enough for that many more. If I am wrong, your first launch will simply have a little more food than you need and beds ready,” Darius smiled slightly at the idea.
“They haven’t said anything,” Sebastian began.
“Trust me, falcon, I know how these people work. Well, I think that settles everything that I have. You set sail tomorrow and I’ll be off to Windmeer and White Hall after I finish tidying up in Hala.”
Sebastian gave him a last nod and gathered up his men and sister. With a last farewell to Annalicia and Darius, the mage led them back up the stone stairs leading up from the harbor to Hala and the city’s center.
His mind worried over many things and he was quiet as he led the way. He worried over Katya and how her time with Darius would be. The high wizard obviously had the ability to train her if his ability to restrain her magic was any evidence. Seven centuries of skill and training backed the wizard. Sebastian wondered just how much the man must know with so many lifetimes to learn. His ability to use the darkness cloak and simply pushing through his shield were things that the mage had never seen nor even heard of before or read in his books.
Worry for what lay ahead on this trip was suddenly tied to wondering if Darius were correct about his superiors. If they were going to spring any additions to his party, they were waiting to the last minute to tell him. Would they really wait so long to send extra people with him?
Inwardly shrugging, Sebastian decided to stop worrying as much as he could. Anything his superiors chose now was pretty much beyond his control anyway.
With most of his preparations completed, the mage was looking forward to the evening to enjoy and relax. Over the last week’s training sessions, and before that the tournament, Sebastian had truly worn himself down physically. If things went well, the time spent aboard ship was likely to be a vacation compared to the last several weeks.
Evening and the darkness of a late winter’s night encompassed the city of Hala. Sebastian and his team were able to ignore the chill of the night air by remaining inside the Black Smith’s Inn. After a short nap and later dinner, the mage felt more himself as his strength continued to return.
The tables were still set for the meal as dozens ate their supper, when Sebastian noted a pair of friendly faces letting in a cold breeze from the front door of the inn. He was spotted in turn which was easier when sitting with his wizards in their brightly colored robes. Ashleen’s face lit up with a smile as she hurried towards her friends with Wendle following in her wake.
“Good evening everyone,” the wilder greeted happily. Wendle drew a chair from a nearby table and offered it to the young woman before getting another for himself.
“Good evening strangers,” Sebastian returned with a smile of his own as Ashleen slid in beside him on the left. Turned away from Yara on his right, the mage missed a less enthusiastic smile from the healer, which was echoed by Serrena’s slight frown. “We haven’t seen much of you since the king’s gala.”
Spreading her hands expressing her inability to change things, Ashleen replied, “It has been a busy time since then. Deiclonus and Lord Romonus have kept us occupied as they’ve been meeting with wizards and lords. We have also been preparing for our long trip back to Kardor, of course. It should be a little more comfortable aboard ship than a long cold ride in a carriage, though we’ll be covering more miles going around Southwall.” Catching her words, the wilder added, “No offense to our gracious guides and saviors. You can’t control the weather after all.”
With a chuckle, Sebastian shook his head, “I can cast an air shield around myself to keep warm and dry, but I am afraid changing the weather is well beyond my control.
“So you are traveling by ship this time? That seems odd. I guess that Lord Romonus tired of his carriage like you said.”
Wendle interjected from his seat by Liam and Nara, “The rumor is that you are about to take to the sea also. Did you get tired of your horse as well? Over two weeks away from the saddle wasn’t long enough for you?”
Spreading his hands helplessly in mirror to Ashleen’s earlier gesture, Sebastian replied frankly, “It’s just part of another mission. For the mages of Southwall, that is the way of life. They say, ‘Go’, and we go.”
Forehead crinkling in confusion, Ashleen asked curiously, “What kind of mission would force a battle mage to go on a voyage? Southwall has little to worry about at sea. The Dark One has been land locked for quite some time now and that has been the country’s focus for centuries. What would require you to go? Will you be led by a falcondi or wizard as well?”
Feeling a little uncomfortable discussing the secrets of his mission, Sebastian did what he could to mitigate hurting his friends’ feelings as he said, “Southwall still has political and social interests beyond fighting the emperor and his armies to the north. I would think the Winter’s Edge tournament is proof of that. Look at how many countries participated this year.”
“Oh, so it is a diplomatic mission much like ours?” Ashleen continued to dig, though she leaned back a little appearing casual enough in her questioning.
Not wanting to say more than he should, the owl in him tactfully locked onto her words and gave the answer, “We will be working with friends from Malaiy and Eremia, but since it is an official mission I really am not at liberty to give details even to my good friends.”
As if to save him from their questions, the entertainment took to their little stage, essentially a five foot square set aside for them by the inn. A musician with his mandolin began a tune that was quickly joined by a man with a lute and their drummer with his single drum. A woman of middle age stepped in front of them and sang the melody as the other three accompanied her. With the extra noise making it harder to speak anyway, Sebastian used the excuse to pull Yara away for a dance as the remainder of his table decided whether they would join the other couples already taking to the floor.
“That was good timing,” Sebastian breathed in Yara’s ear as they danced close with the medium speed song.
Yara shrugged as she reflected, “It’s not completely unusual to talk about a friend’s leaving, but I wonder why there was a ‘rumor’ about our particular trip. Who would have spread a rumor to those two anyway?”
“If the information came from Deiclonus or Lord Romonus, as they inferred, is that the source or just one more link a chain that has been informed of our impending voyage? Surely, a group of mages and wizards getting on a ship isn’t that uncommon. Even during the winter, there can be shift changes in the various cities and forts which require a sea voyage.
“Do you think some of our mission has slipped from loose tongues in the castle?”
Again Yara shrugged. “Perhaps,” she replied non-commitally, “though you did have the incident with your sister on Annalicia’s ship today as well. That may have drawn extra eyes and ears alone, but something seems to have brought attention to our trip apparently.”
Nodding, Sebastian agreed and added thankfully, “Well, the questions can continue, but by noon tomorrow it won’t matter. We’ll be on our way anyway.”
“True and at least we can be fairly sure that these two are unlikely to have ulterior purposes for asking about the trip. Ashleen and Wendle aren’t exactly important enough to pull any strings or work in politics that might question our mission.
“Anyway, let’s not worry over such things too much. We’re on the dance floor after all and I would like my boy friend to pay me at least a little attention,” she giggled.
The two simple words pulled him from his worries over the trip in surprise. Yara had never truly expressed that she considered him as her boy friend aloud before and Sebastian couldn’t believe how hearing the words could excite him. “Your boy friend, huh? So it is official then?”
Rolling her eyes, the blond haired wizard shook her head at him in mock disappointment. “I think that’s been obvious for quite awhile now. We ma
y still need to respect the boundaries set by the wizards and mages, but when this trip is over maybe we can request to remain together.”
“You mean I would have my own personal healer?” he grinned.
“Pfft,” she scoffed, “no you’ll be my personal bodyguard and dance partner, of course.”
Laughing at her joke, the couple stayed on the dance floor for several songs before returning to the table. Sebastian hoped that Ashleen and Wendle would have moved onto a new topic in the meantime. He had seen both of them dancing briefly. Wendle’s partner, a woman from the city had limped off by the end of the second song leaving the wizard to sit sadly at the table. Ashleen may have noticed and come to make him feel better because she was also sitting when the couple returned.
“Another woman crippled for life?” the mage joked as he grabbed for his glass and a quick drink. Despite the cold outside, Sebastian was beginning to perspire as the room continued to warm with the heat of moving bodies.
Wendle groaned and covered his eyes with his hands in shame. Smiling sympathetically, Ashleen replied, “Unfortunately Rilena’s lessons still haven’t done much for his two left feet, I’m afraid. He is still a hazard to his partners.”
“There are some things that even magic can’t fix,” Serrena stated dourly as she drank from her tankard of ale. The redhead had rosy cheeks and a red nose now as the wizard had apparently indulged a little more than she should and was close to being fully drunk.
Another mournful groan from Wendle proved that the fire wizard was getting painfully candid.
Katya giggled as she sat near the conversation. “Well, I am young and willing to give it a try. Come on Wendle. Maybe you just need someone with small enough feet to avoid yours,” she laughed and pulled at the wizard’s hands as they covered his face.
Sebastian looked to the heavens imploring help for his sister. The girl might be a bit more nimble and a little smaller than some of Wendle’s partners, but the mage had little faith that her feet would remain safe for long. At least with both Yara and Sebastian around to heal, he knew that they could nurse her back to health.
Shaking her head, Ashleen glanced to Sebastian and admitted, “Brave girl. Of course, I don’t think that she truly knows what she is getting into when dealing with Wendle’s dancing.”
“Well, we have healers to save her at least,” he stated his earlier thought aloud.
“So are you taking your sister with you also?” the wilder asked seeming to be of one mind tonight.
Caught a little aback, Sebastian took a moment to answer. “Master Darius and Brenner have been so kind as to escort her to White Hall to begin her lessons.”
Looking a little sad, the platinum haired beauty turned her blue eyes on him questioning. “How soon?”
“We leave tomorrow and Darius believes the day after for them. He’ll watch out for her and has the experience to deal with any of her potential outbursts.”
“Outbursts? You mean that she’s on the verge of being a wilder too?” those blue eyes looked to Katya as she danced with Wendle, whose forehead glistened with drops of sweat as he attempted to concentrate on avoiding the girl’s feet.
Both Yara and he nodded in unison at that question. It was Sebastian who answered, “There have been a couple incidents since I first visited my family. Her ability to compel people with her magic may have been there longer than I think, but Master Darius seems to believe that she will be fine.”
“Compelling magic besides? That is a dangerous and sometimes subtle skill. I don’t know as many wizards who can handle that kind of magic. It is much easier to create something more visible like fire, ice or lightning.”
Nodding again, the mage replied, “Most wizards can’t even prepare a defense for that kind of magic. That is why it was one of those banned from the tournament. It would also be a little hard to measure those kinds of wins.”
With a shrug, Serrena put in, “Not really. When a wizard stops fighting and steps out of the circle without being hit, you know that a diplomat wizard has won the fight. The biggest problem is if that is all they can do, the fights are going to be one sided. Either the diplomat gets their spell to work first or they’ll get driven from the ring by the faster magic of say,” she pointed to her red covered chest, “a fire wizard.”
Ashleen countered, “I would think that most of your diplomat wizards know basic combat magic as well. Don’t most apprentices start off by learning what they are good at by trying out different basic spells?
“Though I agree with you that beyond that such a battle would be fairly boring. Few can protect their minds against those spells, so any diplomat quick enough could end a fight in short fashion.” Flicking back a stray lock of platinum blond, glistening hair, the wilder asked, “You said that your sister had a few outbursts. Were you able to protect yourself, Sebastian?”
Nodding, the mage nicknamed owl responded candidly, “When she had a particularly large release of her magic, I was able to shift my mind to the winds fast enough to avoid being taken over. With my mind on the winds, a diplomat wizard can’t affect me with their spells. Luckily, I knew that from previous dealings with their kind.”
They sat watching the dancers for awhile talking only occasionally and simply listened to the music while enjoying the entertainment. For Sebastian, he was just waiting for the inevitable end of most of Wendle’s dances. As expected, the wizard stepped on Katya’s foot and the girl looked at him admonishingly.
Even from where he sat, Sebastian could feel the girl’s magic suddenly spike. “Be more careful, Wendle,” she admonished and the power was gone once more. It had been a mere trickle of her power compared to her out of control spell earlier that day, but Darius had warned that he had not completely stifled her magic. Such a complete cut off from her power would hurt her too much he had said. This trickle must be what he had meant.
Interestingly enough, the girl didn’t stop dancing with the clumsy wizard and, in fact, Sebastian thought that the man actually improved. He wondered if her words paired with her magic had actually managed to make Wendle a safer dancer. When they returned to the table several dances later, the man was actually smiling and his sister wasn’t crippled.
“See?” Katya asked smiling. “I told you that you could do it. You only stepped on me that one time and then you were fine. You just had to be more careful. That was all.”
Sebastian tried to hold back from laughing. He had felt the spell and the mage doubted that Katya even knew that she had cast the magic. For her skill level and power, magic was more like wishing things to happen. Wilders tended to never learn as many spells as those better trained, but the power came quickly and effortlessly. Both Ashleen and Katya, if she remained untrained, were perfect examples of that.
Ashleen looked at Wendle and said sadly, “Well, we should probably get back to our own inn, Wendle. Deiclonus said we have a lot to do tomorrow morning before we go.” Looking at their Southwall friends, she added, “Well, my friends, I guess that this is goodbye. We leave early in the afternoon if everything remains on schedule.”
Sebastian and the others rose to hug their friends as they readied to leave. “We need to get to bed pretty soon ourselves. We’re leaving tomorrow also and I still have a few things to do before we launch as well.”
Standing on her tip toes, Ashleen pulled his head down enough to kiss him on the cheek despite a frown from Yara. “It is too bad that we live so far from one another. If you ever visit Kardor, I would love to see you all again,” she said without taking her eyes off of Sebastian. Again, the man thought that if he had never met Yara, Ashleen might have made for a good match. Life was strange that way. For some, love was hard to find and for him he had known at least two women that he could fall in love with already in his young life.
As the two from Kardor left, Sebastian let out a breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding. His focus wandered to Yara’s emerald green eyes framed by her flowing golden blond hair. He was very happy that f
ate had brought Yara to him first, the man decided. There was both comfort and excitement brought by her presence. No one could ask for more in the one they loved.
Chapter 8- Guests
The early morning air moved in a chill wind generated from the land above the cliffs, while the water still held a little warmth carried by the currents from the south it did little to change the winter weather holding Hala. At least the docks set so far below the city blocked the wind coming from the northwest a bit as Romonus watched Deiclonus and his new wizard, Themenor, while they contemplated the Malaiy frigate, the Sea Dragon. Little traffic wandered the docks at this early hour and had he not needed to see this thing done, Lord Romonus would have remained in bed himself.
Deiclonus had spoken with his apprentices and found that they were planning on leaving this day as well. They had guessed as much from previous movement and activity around the Malaiy ship, but their unsuspecting words had affirmed it. Now the question was whether it was worth their attention to find out what the battle mage was up to for themselves by following the frigate.
For that, Themenor had a plan. The lord had been a little surprised at the wizard of Southwall being so willing to help with such a scheme, but he guessed that the idea of money and power in Kardor was strong enough to allow him to do this much.
The wizard wore a jacket of light blue and brown pants, being unwilling to completely conceal his school colors. An incantation began revealing his magic as much as the jacket ever could and gestured with his hands for several seconds before thrusting them towards the waiting ship. To the wizard’s eyes, a glowing blue mark formed just below the rail of the deck closest to them. To anyone else looking without a wizard’s eye, there was nothing new to see and even wizards like Deiclonus would have to scry for it with their own magic before they would discover such a brand.
Nodding upon completion, Themenor turned to face Lord Romonus and Deiclonus.
Battle Mage: The Lost King (Tales of Alus) Page 8