Path of the Magi (Tales of Tiberius)

by Stuart, Richard J

  Tiberius made no close friends that year. He was too involved with his work, and most of the other students he found rather frivolous. They had not spoken with a dragon.

  At the end of the following spring, Dallen decided they would take another change of scene, just for the summer. They took rooms in a seaside city called Novilium.

  Of all the cities in the Stewardship, Novilium was the oldest and richest in history, by far. Most of the Stewardship had been founded by Elizabethan settlers, the first arriving in 1600 A.D. Novilium was much older, having been founded by Roman settlers sometime after the birth of Christ. Apparently the first magi had come with them.

  Novilium had merged with the Stewardship some time ago, but it still had its Roman roots which were evident in the architecture of the city. Indeed, had it been known to the Old World, Novilium would have been a city of great renown as it showed the very best of Roman architecture. By now the temples had been converted to the worship of the God of Abraham and Isaac, but the old statues here had been preserved. New statues of Saint Peter speaking on Mars Hill had simply been added.

  They checked into a place called the Hotel Maximus, which was a beautiful, grand building. It was a giant three story mansion that had been converted into a hotel at some point. It had beautiful gardens in the back and a seaside view in the front. It was big enough to get lost in.

  “This must cost a fortune, even to rent!” Ian pondered to Tiberius as they handed over their trunks to the staff. Tiberius just shrugged in response. He’d gotten used to the fact that money was not one of Dallen’s concerns.

  Tiberius was ready for dinner after the journey, but Dallen simply brought them to the lobby.

  “We’re waiting on an old friend,” he explained.

  A short time later a carriage pulled up to the front of the hotel and a woman stepped out. She was dressed in a blue robes with gold trim, well-made but simply styled. She bounded up towards Dallen with surprising energy, considering that her short cut hair was mostly grey. She gave Dallen an enthusiastic hug and kiss on the cheek.

  “Hello, Dallen, it’s about time you came around for a visit. Decided to marry me yet?” she said. Tanyia had a few wrinkles but youthful eyes.

  “Not this evening,” Dallen answered. Tiberius had the feeling he was missing some inside joke, but neither of them ever chose to explain. Dallen just proceeded with the introductions.

  “You’ve met Ian; allow me to present Master Tiberius Fuller, my new student.”

  Tanyia gave him a firm handshake. “The one who charged the dragon? If we manage to give you wisdom and skill to match your raw courage you might amount to something. I presume he’s told you nothing at all about me. Come on then, young men shouldn’t be standing around when supper’s ready.”

  Dallen did explain that Tanyia was another magi. She was a specialist in elemental magic, and she made her home in Novilium.

  The first few days in town Dallen went off on some walks with Tanyia and left them to explore the hotel and settle in. He promised to give them a more thorough tour of the city in a few days. For now they were just to try and relax and enjoy the sea air.

  Tiberius quickly concluded that relaxing was not something he was good at. He enjoyed the sea air, and the view, but he had little interest in sitting around on a beach. He felt he was behind on his reading and ever the danger of the dragon loomed ahead of him. So after a day or so of exploring the hotel, he found a comfortable bench on the boardwalk and tried to get back to work.

  One day, though, he sensed a presence he’d not felt in a while. When he first sensed her, he wasn’t sure. But something told him he was not alone. He looked up from a book and she was there standing a few feet away from him. She wore a long white summer dress and carried a matching white parasol.

  “La, I wondered when you would look up. Can you really learn anything reading so fast?”

  He looked over at Salina. “I can. Dallen is a good teacher.”

  “Is this the way he tells you to see the sights of the city?” she asked smiling.

  “I was a little behind on my reading. Anyway, we just got here; Dallen’s taking us to the museums later.”

  She sat down beside him and thumbed though one of his books. “Geology. La, how do you stay awake reading this?”

  He ignored her question. “What are you doing here anyway?”

  “Even I get a holiday now and then. One of our trade ships was headed this way. I thought it would be nice to visit,” she said.

  “Me or the city?”

  “A bit of both. I have not been here in a very long time. The last time I was here, it was not so pleasant. It was a terrible war,” she said, her voice trailing off into some dark memory.

  Tiberius looked at her. “War? What war? There hasn’t been a war near Novilium in hundreds of years. How old are you anyway?”

  “La! A gentleman should know better than to ask a lady that question. I do not even know how to answer you. My years are not your years.” She turned to meet his intense glance. “Why do you stare at me so? You don’t blame me for your little schoolgirl leaving you, do you? I only foresaw. Her foolish decision was her own.”

  “I know. She’s a sweet girl, but the life I’ve chosen is not for her,” he answered.

  “You need toys of higher quality. But why do you stare then?” she asked.

  “I thought you were very beautiful when I first saw you. Then I thought perhaps it was an illusion. You are so beautiful that I thought you must be using a glamour spell. I’ve been taught to see through them. Out here, in the noon sun, I thought you would look your age. But I see no sign of glamour magic and you’re just as beautiful as I remember.”

  “Dallen teaches you flattery, I see. I will let you sit and study for now. I’m off to see the museum and the statue of Aphrodite. I want to be in the proper mood when you dance with me tonight,” she said.

  “Dance? I’m not going to a dance,” he said.

  “But of course you are. Dallen has more sense than to let you sit in a cell for years as you study your art. No one of any importance misses the dances here. You’ll have no excuse for not going as I see you’ve been working on your homework. I’d make you take me to the museum, but I think you’ll look better by moonlight. So farewell for now.”

  Tiberius rose and bowed politely as she left. Dallen hadn’t said anything about a dance, but Tiberius had not asked about the evening plans. He’d thought they would probably visit the ancient amphitheater, still in use after all these centuries. But he hadn’t known there were other things to do in town at night. Salina was at least right about one thing: Dallen did try and get him out among the public as much as possible. It was little surprise then, when one of Dallen’s little mechanical birds popped down next to him on the bench a while later.

  “Come back to the rooms to change. There is a …”

  “Dance tonight, yes I know.”

  “How did you know?” the miniature wind-up bird asked.

  “Another sort of little bird told me.”

  Although Tiberius didn’t feel like socializing, the knowledge that Singh would be even more uncomfortable gave him some satisfaction. Ian and Tiberius could manage with a dance, but Singh wasn’t the socializing sort. The four of them managed to dress presentably and arrive at the castle.

  The dance had been called in the great hall of the grand seaside castle of Novilium. Tanyia had secured invitations for them, which wasn’t easy, according to her. Apparently this was THE social event of the season. The seating was traditionally a hodgepodge, with no main table. The governor was seated at one table and the mayor the next.

  The tables were arranged in a sort of horseshoe shape around a large spacious dance floor. Beyond that were magnificent windows that opened out onto the sea. Ti thought it a poor arrangement to have such windows in a castle, but apparently they had iron shutters they used at need.

  Tiberius was the first of his table to arrive. He noted the place card beside him was mar
ked, “The Lady Salina.”

  A moment later he looked up and there was the lady herself.

  She was wearing a beautiful black and deep red evening gown, embroidered with gold. She wore matching red slippers, also embroidered with gold. High heels had evidently never caught on with the elves, but their embroidery was unmatched. Tiberius suspected that was real gold she was wearing too. He thought his own rather simple black waistcoat and knickers were overpriced, but the outfit she was wearing he felt sure could purchase a small kingdom somewhere. Especially if you counted that emerald necklace she was wearing.

  Ti rose and helped her with her chair. She flashed him a smile which would have melted far sterner hearts than his own.

  She motioned for him to sit beside her. “I trust your studies have left you with an appetite. What will they feed us, I wonder?”

  “There is a menu, M’lady,” he answered, indicating a small printed card at the center of the table. The tables had all been set in high style, with white china plates with gold rims and matching gold silverware. The glassware was fine crystal and the napkins white lace. Tiberius was still a bit out of place at these sort of functions, but Dallen had told him that a magus should be at home at any situation. It was just as likely they would be assisting a prince as a peasant. Each table had a centerpiece of summer flowers. The menus had been placed discreetly to the side of these.

  Salina showed no sign of discomfort at her surroundings, but she did take an interest in the menu. “Chicken. It’s always the same at these things.”

  “Can you eat chicken? I’d heard elves were all vegetarian.”

  “And I’ve heard all humans are cannibals,” she laughed. “But I can eat what you can eat. We are not so different as all that. We could even have healthy children together,” she said with a coy smile.

  Tiberius ignored her diversion into country matters. “I know so little about you,” he said. “Who are you anyway?”

  “Don’t you know?” she said with a smile.

  “I don’t know any elves socially. Except maybe Gillyian. There’s a Countess Salina who sort of runs one of the border provinces, but I assume that isn’t you.”

  “Oh? What makes you so sure?” she smiled.

  “I assume that a countess has better things to do than throwing herself at some schoolboy,” Tiberius said.

  “Who says I’m throwing myself at you?” Salina said.

  “You kissed me.”

  “La, I held your hand. I touched your soul. It was perfectly sensible. Especially since I did not expect you would have such beautiful eyes. It isn’t my custom to go about kissing young men. If you had the gift of sight and could see a man was to become a Da Vinci or Monet, would you act otherwise?”

  “Now who is a flatterer?”

  “We will see. You are still in school. Your art will grow in time. But it's best to get to know the great before they are well known.”

  “You’re not the Countess are you?” Tiberius asked.

  “We’re acquainted, but she doesn’t like me hanging around court,” Salina said.

  Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of other guests and the soup course. It was a lobster bisque, made with lobsters fresh from the nearby waters. Lobster bisque wasn’t Ti’s personal favorite, but he had to admit this one was well done. The other people at their table were mostly respectable local merchants. It was not until the soup was being cleared away that Tiberius was able to turn his attention back to Salina.

  She called his attention back to her with a touch of her hand on his. “Dallen has you studying the classics, yes? What do you think of the judgment of Paris?”

  At least Tiberius knew the answer to that question. Salina was right; he’d been studying the ancient Trojan war recently. He knew the judgment of Paris referred to the famous incident where Paris, a prince of Troy, was forced to choose which of three goddesses was the most fair. He chose Venus and her offered bribe of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Troy.

  “He’s a bit of an idiot,” Tiberius said, giving his own opinion. “But I feel sorry for him in a way. I don’t think Aphrodite played very fairly with him. You didn’t know him, by the way?”

  “Me? La, I am not so old as that,” Salina said, laughing. “I don’t know that he was cheated, though. She gave him the most beautiful woman in the world, as she promised.”

  “But she didn’t really give her to him did she? She wasn’t hers to give; she was bound to Menelaus,” Tiberius answered.

  “Do you think Paris cared? They were together for nine years. I doubt if Paris had other loves that lasted nine weeks. You think too nobly. If Paris had wanted a wife he would have picked Juno. He got what he wanted. A legendary beauty. He got all the beauty that he could see. Sad. Nine years into the war, Venus still had to bring Helen to him with all her arts. It’s clear he never possessed her soul. The first year or two when the first blush of love is upon you, love can be blind. But after a time lovers should know to look into one another’s souls. I doubt if Paris ever saw Helen’s soul, much less possessed it. How easily she went back to Menelaus after the war.”

  “I would have picked Athena. Wisdom is more precious than gold or a romantic whim. I wouldn’t like to give up on romance altogether though,” Tiberius said.

  “Odysseus had the better wife, did he not? And he was the favorite of Athena. Gold and good company are needed, but I think you are right to put wisdom first.”

  The music started and Salina’s eyes flashed with joy, but she stayed seated. Tiberius rose and held a hand to her. “Would you like to dance?” he asked.

  Salina practically leapt out of her chair. “I thought you would never ask,” she said.

  They moved out onto the dance floor. The candlelight mixed with the light from the rising moon to bathe the room in magical light that even Dallen could never hope to match. The band was excellent and set an easy pace for them, a fact which Ti appreciated as some of these dances were complicated and he hadn’t had that many lessons. The band warmed up the crowd with a simple branle, an easy dance which got the company moving about in a circle. Afterwards, he found himself dancing up and down the dance lanes to a reel. Salina was a wonderful dancer. She’d obviously had more lessons than he had, but she let him lead and laughed off his mistakes. She seemed happy just to be with him.

  He didn’t quite know what to make of her. It was long enough since Marybeth had left him that he no longer felt the pain of her absence, but he wasn’t sure he was ready for a new romance. Some crazy elf lady wasn’t exactly what he would have ordered either. But Salina was beautiful and charming, and, if not what he expected, was certainly interesting.

  The band shifted to a waltz and now they were close together.

  “You are not what I expected,” she said, echoing his thoughts as he circled around her.

  “What did you expect?” he asked.

  “I thought you would be more scholarly. Like Dallen or Singh. They are great men but not great dancers. And they don’t have such broad shoulders.”

  “My brother kept me in shape as a boy. He’s a little more physical and worldly than I am. If it had been up to me, I could have spent all day in the print shop reading the wonderful books we printed in my father’s shop,” he said. “But Marcus would usually take time to drag me out to something physical. Staves, archery, wrestling, ballgames, and so on. It kept me in shape.”

  “The All-Father prepares you,” she said. “He moves while we sleep. We need a champion.”

  She gripped his arm earnestly. “There is more than just a dragon you know. Goblins are growing bold, the dwarf king is old, and there are other more terrible enemies. An ancient sleeper, a mad professor, a jade prince, an aristocrat. They are coming to face you. They are coming for us all. They torture my dreams at night sometimes. The worst was when I saw your namesake, one of the other two Tiberiuses born the same time as you. He could not protect us.”

  “Your people have great champions,” Tiberiu
s said.

  “We are not defenseless, no. Yet there is something about the Sons of Adam. You seem to be the best and the worst of all the awakened souls. The wars for us are so terribly costly.” Salina seemed to shudder in his arms.

  “Whatever dangers you see ahead of you, Salina, God won’t let you face them alone. He will help you.”

  “He already has,” Salina said. “I knew that the minute I saw you.”

  The dances ended for the main course.

  Later on in the evening, Salina led him out for a walk in the castle garden.

  “This is more to my taste,” she said. “I can only stand castle walls for so long.”

  Ti wasn’t sure he believed that. But he was willing to follow her into the garden all the same. Salina’s eyes seemed to sparkle in the moonlight. The scent of her perfume mixed with the fragrance of the garden’s roses.

  They came across a secluded bench.

  “Let me sit a moment,” she said. “Your wine is too strong for me. Don’t you drink?”

  “Sometimes,” he said. “I took a glass of wine now and then, but I’m giving it up. Singh says alcohol and magic are a bad combination.”

  “Are you mad that I kissed you?”

  “No.”

  “Good,” she said. Tiberius was only slightly surprised when she kissed him again.

  “Do you ever kiss back?” she asked.

  He only had to look in her eyes for an instant before he did. An indescribable warmth seemed to flow though his whole body as their lips pressed together. He felt her body press against him as if gripped by some mad passion. A moment later he had to steady her when they parted. She seemed to melt from relief being at last in his arms.

  “Are you all right?” he had to ask. Marybeth had never been quite like this. Was this normal for elves?

  She steadied herself against his arm and nodded. “I’m well. We....” She looked up to him again, a dangerous thing to do by moonlight. “We just need more practice.”