by A L Issett
“Healing is easy if you know what you are looking for” Jon said with a smile. “I can do other things besides healing though, I can make people lose weight and other things, the body is my play area”.
“I had heard about your small business in Magus and I admit it intrigued me” the Queen said before shaking her head. “But I am happy in my body, Jafe may wish it looked different than it does now but I am content. Jafe plans to keep you close in case he has anymore illnesses, he will show you off when the mood strikes him, having you heal various illnesses and injuries or make someone prettier. You will sing when he says sing and cry when he says cry. You will marry who he wants and that may grant you freedom from this place. My son Joff has found a good enough girl, she is a beauty with a firm head on her shoulders. Joff would be a king the people actually adored instead of feared like Jafe. Jafe did not get the moniker of Jafe the Damned from his good works. Geoff though, there are many girls around and I hate all of them. They are a perfect match for my son, snooty nobles who look down on the common people and care not for their suffering. Joff should have already been married off, I rejected all of the matches put forth and fought Jafe bitterly to see my son marries a girl as compassionate as he is. I want Geoff to find the same type of girl, one who could smooth his rough edges but I find it hard to sentence a girl to the type of life I have had. Geoff being a mage eliminates many who would make a good match and leaves only noble mage girls, every one of them rotten to the core. It is from this pool that you will be given a bride from. It all could be worse though, you could be like my poor Gwendolyn. She tries to be her father’s daughter but she has too much of my compassion in her. Old men have been trying for her hand, many to increase their fortune. She will be used, her body made to pump out at least one child practically as soon as the marriage is completed and her freedom will most likely be over. I want more for her so I reject any more than four years of age older than she, it isn’t hard for a man to bend a girl to his will, it is harder for a boy to do so however. Well Jon we had a good talk, other than what I have granted, is there anything else you need?”
“I would like to begin healing the poor and sick” Jon blurted out. “When the King returns it is unlikely he will let me do so, I would like to heal as many people as possible before that time happens. You can send with me however many guards you see fit, I will do nothing to bring the King’s wrath upon you like try to escape”.
“You can begin this tomorrow” the Queen said as Jon thought she looked lost for a moment. “Jafe sent a bird, he will be gone for at least two more weeks. Gwendolyn should be back in about a week and Geoff is going to stay on the campaign to see if he could learn anything from Joff. You have about four days at the most to heal the public then, I will set everything up, it is about time I ventured out of this castle. Jeebes sends his thanks also”.
Jon smiled and left the Queen, shocked at some of the stories he had heard. The Queen rarely showed her face, the only time Jon had even seen the woman was when there were guests at the palace, now he knew why. Jon walked to his room where he could see the door was open and yelling was heard from inside. He found Slit, he was missing a wing and dripping greenish blood all over the place and holding what looked like a table leg. Alura was behind him looking unimpressed at the situation while Wren along with another of Jon’s so called guards named Tern had their swords out and were closing the distance.
“We only want the demon” Tern said as he waved his sword. “We will give her back before your master comes”.
Jon shut off the blood supply to both of the men’s brains and they were so intent on getting at Alura they both passed out before they realized what was happening. Jon worked on Slit while Alura yawned, sending more of her pheromones throughout the air.
“Humans want Succubus” Slit said as Jon was patching him up. “Humans slash with swords, only exoskeleton save Slit, Slit fight to the death for master”.
“You have done a good job Slit” Jon said as he completed his work. “Your wing will be a little tender until you rest, go now to our cave and I will send for you when it is time to eat” Jon watched Slit blink out of existence then focused his gaze on Alura.
“Master I cannot help it if I am desireable” Alura said as she let her tail play across the stone floor. “You should let them have me, I’m so hungry and you don’t want to feed me anyone, at least let me have a little meal”.
“Go back into the pit” Jon said as he looked back at the men he had just disabled and wondered where the hell his other guards were. Jon checked them over to make sure they had no major injuries then woke them up. The men crawled to their feet then looked around the room as if searching for something, Jon knew they were looking for Alura. Wren couldn’t do much since Jon had messed with his anatomy but he thought Wren didn’t know about it. Jon did the same to Tern as both men’s eyes settled on Jon who was holding their swords.
“Get out of my room” Jon said angrily. “If you attack any of my demons again you will answer to the Queen if I do not kill you first”.
“I, I do not know what came over me” Wren said as he rubbed his head.
“I know the next time this happens you will be lucky if you live” Jon said gesturing to his room.
“My things are smashed and demon blood is everywhere, clean this mess up” Jon demanded as Tern set his face back into a soldier’s stare.
“We do not clean, no matter who it is for” Tern replied. “I can get one of the cleaning girls to come in and give this place a once over”.
“Then I will keep this mess and broken furniture the way it is and go tell the Queen of your inability to do your job” Jon said as he walked out the door.
“Now you wait just a minute” Wren said as he grabbed Jon’s shoulder and spun the healer around. Jon dropped one of the swords and brought the other one up so that the point was just under Wren’s chin.
“You were saying?” Jon asked as he pressed the point deeper into the man’s flesh drawing a small trickle of blood. Even Jon was amazed at what happened next as Wren placed both hands on Jon’s shoulders and pushed himself up, delivering a pretty solid kick to Jon’s groin on the way up. That was a debilitating shot even for a demon, but Jon was a healer, he shut off those nerve ending and before Wren could situate himself Jon was on him and delivered a solid backhand to the man’s face with enough force to send him on his ass and he turned round at held is sword out instantly stopping Tern’s advance. Jon could feel Wren give the back of his knee a solid kick, but instead of buckling like a normal human Jon stood fast and grabbed Wren by his cuff and slung him into Tern sending both men sprawling. Jon casually walked over to the men and kicked the other blade towards them daring them to draw steel. Wren was quick to grab the blade and went on the offensive as Jon cheated even more, he seized the muscles in Wren’s sword arm and stepped inside the blow while delivering a solid knee to Wren’s balls. The man went down in a heap as Jon looked towards Tern, this time the man showed fear on his face. Jon was going to advance towards him when he heard one of the Queen’s guards.
“What is happening here?” the woman demanded.
“We were just sparring and it got out of hand” Jon replied.
“Two grown men sparring with a boy is unlikely” the guard replied. “You two pick yourself up and act like professionals. Your racket could be heard by the Queen and any other in the palace who isn’t deaf”.
“You don’t rule us girl” Tern said as a strong wind blew by Jon and sent Tern on his ass. Tern shut up as Jon laughed a little’
“I think you shouldn’t say that anymore” Jon laughed. “I wonder how I can get some real guards instead of potential rapists who can even beat one boy at fighting. If I was attacked I would have to watch my own ass”.
Jon heard the guard behind him chuckle a little and then boot steps walking away. Jon dropped his weapon and walked inside of his room and ordered Wren to call up someone to clean up his mess. It wasn’t long before Jon’s door opene
d and a girl he knew was let inside.
“Who the fuck told you to open my door without knocking?” Jon said harshly as he got out of the chair he was sitting in.
“Who are you talking to boy?” Wren said apparently forgetting the beating he took earlier.
Jon smiled and gave the man a small headache combine with a toothache. It wasn’t debilitating but it definitely would make him visit a healer before the day was out if he was too proud to ask Jon. Jon walked over and shut his door as Wren glared at him. Jon looked back to the girl Mary who was cleaning his room. She was a slave like his mother was, she was born to a slave so that is how she got her indentured servitude. He and Mary were of the same age and often hung out together in their off time. Jon’s mother used to joke he would marry her one day, but he and Mary had been nothing but friends. Jon was certain he was the only one who knew Mary liked the company of other girls, well him and the baker’s daughter anyway. “So are you going to sit their scrubbing floors or are you going to at least pretend like you know me?”
“Jon it is good to see you back” Mary said as she stood up and gave Jon a small hug. “I heard you were some type of mage, that you can heal people or something?”
“Word travels quick around here” Jon smiled.
“That was the best thing for you, I had heard they horribly scarred your face” Mary said lighty touching Jon’s cheek.
“They did Mary and a whole lot worse” Jon said remembering when and how he had heard of his mother’s passing.
“I’m sorry about your Ma Jon” Mary said in a gentle tone. “We all tried to get the medicine from the Pothers, even got some money together and gave it to them. They pocketed it and kept an even tighter hold on the Apothecary, especially the medicine your Ma needed. They knew we couldn’t say anything because we were trying to undermine the King. In the end the slaves saw to it that you got out of Ket safely and saw to your Ma, we buried her ourselves”.
“Thank you Mary” Jon said sadly. “I don’t forget my friends and I certainly will not forget what I owe you but my debt will never be repaid”.
“You owe us nothing Jon” Mary said as she bent down and continued to scrub the floor. “We are your family, all the slaves are”.
“You know Mary I am a healer but I can do other things” Jon began as he got down on his knees and helped her with the chore. “I can give you a bigger bust or make you taller, leaner. If you ever decide you want a change of hair color or anything like that I can do that too”.
“You trying to call me ugly?” Mary teased.
“I definitely wouldn’t do that, I am just hoping you spread the word to all the slaves” Jon replied. Most of the other staff can either pay through the nose or suck it”.
ACT II
“I cannot wait for this to begin” Geoff said excitedly as he pet his familiar, a Ketian King Viper, it could outrun a man and had venom that could kill a man without the antidote within hours. Geoff’s was the biggest he had ever seen, longer than three tall men lying down end to end which enabled his familiar to act like one of the meatier constricting snakes, Geoff had personally witnessed his familiar Vemon kill two slaves in that manner. Geoff had wanted one ever since he found out he had magic and the High Mage Anna had taught him how to train a familiar. Since Vipers grow quickly it wasn’t difficult at all to dominate a hatchling and now he had a full grown viper that listened to him as obediently as any soldier would. It had been hard hiding him in his room in Magus or pretending he didn’t know the lessons being taught, even though he had done most of them twice over by the time he attended the Academy.
“This is going to be difficult Geoff” Joff said as he looked at his terrain model of Magus. “They were quiet up until a couple of hours ago, like they were warned or something. It doesn’t matter though, we just need the elves and the orcs to do their job”.
“I don’t see why I am not in charge of my own unit” Geoff complained. “You are not even a Mage, how come you get to lead this whole thing while I watch?”
“Because you are young and do not have any idea on how to lead men” Joff retorted not taking his eyes off the terrain model. “One day if you wish to learn it, you will be a powerful general in your own right brother, but I think father has a different path for you to take. Now come over here and learn somethings”.
“What do you mean I don’t know what I am doing?” Geoff replied angrily.
“Okay then little brother, tell me the elves part in this attack” Joff began but not letting Geoff answer as he quickly continued. “How about the orcs? What are our strengths, how are we going to be effective? How many men do we have ready to battle including Mages, Calvary, and infantry? How many supplies do we have to feed the troops and when do they need to be replenished?”
“Well I still think I should be in charge of something” Geoff pouted.
“Your job is to watch me and learn Geoff” Joff said as he pointed to a spot on the map. “You see this spot here, next to the water? This spot has less water between it and Magus, this is where we are going to ultimately attack from, everything else is a feint. The elves have earth magic but it is different than what the Orcs have. Elves can grow plants quickly, these plants can halt an army in its tracks, imagine miles of thorny bush appearing in less than week. There is a plant that grows quickly underwater; this underwater weed is what the elves will try to choke the lake with, making it difficult for the demons and other nasty things to see their way around. They are also going to try to build some type of vine bridge. The orcs earth magic involves the raising and displacing of earth. They are going to build entrenched positions to ward off any that might come to Magus, rescue as well as building an earth bridge. I think crossing the water is the hard part, once we are close to the walls we will try to use our air mages to either knock defenders off the wall, or to lift the orcs up”.
“And I have to just sit here and watch it all happen” Geoff complained.
“Well I certainly am not going to take the field, if I die then this whole plan falls apart” Joff said as he moved miniature versions of orcs and elves around on the map.
Geoff stormed angrily away from the conversation. He was the mage, he was special, there were not many male mages around. He should be the leader and Joff should be the follower, in a fight he could kill his older brother easily. He would speak to his father about this, he would still be around until just after the first big attack. Right now Geoff knew he was trying to get Gwendolyn to marry the Baron of Penbury, he was rich, a noble, a mage and more importantly was always a sickly looking man. Gwen could bear him a child and live luxuriously when the old crone died. Gwen was against this of course, she was too much like mother. Father knew what was best and Gwen should listen and obey. Geoff himself would marry whoever his father wanted even though he already had a girl in mind. Geoff walked up to his father’s tent where the guards parted and found his father reading a scroll along with Gwen.
“So the healer has gotten settled in at the palace” Jafe said as he rolled up the scroll. “That is one less headache to worry about, now we only have to get this damn war out of the way”.
“You gave that peasant too much father” Geoff said angrily. “To think he turned down your offer, that peasant should have been grateful”.
“Well he does have a reason to hate us Geoff” Gwen replied.
“Geoff is right Gwen” King Jafe replied. “His mother was some peasant woman who wasn’t worth the money. The healer though is invaluable to me; he is more of a status symbol if anything. My time with the Pox though made me realize my mortality. Long after I am dead you would be wise to ensure you have a healer, his children if by another mage stand a good chance in inheriting the trait. I feel like I am giving the peasant too much though, but then again if something like the pox ever strikes again, we would both regret not having him handy”.
“He sleeps with orcs father and I’m sure he is going to sleep with that demon of his, its unclean” Geoff complained.
“I don’t remember you complaining when you bedded down practically every female mage in our class” Gwendolyn replied.
“They should be honored I would lay with them” Geoff replied as the King snatched him up by his collar.
“Are you insane boy?” Jafe screamed. “Do not plow this land with your bastards, when the time comes they will have a claim to your wealth the same as your legitimate children. They would be strong enough to cause quite a bit damage if they seeked your future position as Duke Tinsley. Stay away from anyone you are not married to, consider that the best advice I can give”.
“Then when are you going to find me this wife father?” Geoff said crossing his arms. “You still haven’t married off Joff or Gwen”.
“We are in a middle of a battle” Gwen replied quickly. “Shouldn’t we focus on the attack instead of marriage?”
“I think this battle is already decided, Magus just doesn’t know yet” the King said with an evil smile.
~
“Mage Arian their as some kind of demon here to see you” Mage Gaea said as she stuck her head in the door.
“A demon?” Arian said with a bit of shock.
“It says it belongs to Jon and has an urgent message” Gaea replied as Arian walked around her desk to see what the fuss was about. Gaea had been telling the truth, in front of her was sometype of insect demon, it was only about the size of a 10 to 11 year old except for it obvious insect features lit the wings or the hard bony exoskeleton.
“The Ketians are going to attack with help from the elves and orcs” the demon said as it unraveled a small piece of paper and handed it over. Arian read the letter and went pale, if what was on this letter was true, then she had defectors that knew the layout of Magus as well as having to defend against three different armies. “Gaea, I want you to get with General Owens and have him send out a missive asking all countries for help, let the ones who answer the call know their citizens get free tuition for the next couple of years. I will put all of our mages on high alert, can you send your familiar over Ket just to make sure this missive is correct and to plan strategies”.