"Perhaps a trip to the wall would prove that we are from Southwall?" Sebastian suggested. "He might not know what our cities look like, but it would be hard to explain away North Wall."
Again the man in front of him frowned. "I wouldn't trust one of your portals to walk through one. It could be a trap."
Sighing, Sebastian glanced to Elzen and gave him a nod. They had never worked out a plan for this and the owl realized that he had faced this problem without the wisdom of his new title. What he was about to do was risky as well and doubtless not the wisest thing, but the mage thought it the most expedient as a man of action.
"Door," he said mid leap. Ferland was over twenty feet away, but magic pushed into his runes propelling the mage across the distance in a blink of an eye. Archers and soldiers alike couldn't react before the golden glow of a portal appeared behind the son of their lord.
Barreling into Ferland before he could react more than to open his mouth and start to pull back, which moved him towards the portal he hadn't seen; Sebastian pushed the young lord into the golden glow. Silver light blinked past before they felt the cold assail them once more.
Sebastian was still wearing his winter coat, but the other young man was already hugging his arms with his hands before his vision recalibrated to the world around him.
"Where- where are we?" Ferland stammered looking around him in fright. The portal remained open behind Sebastian, but the mage was between the young lord and his doorway back to Interus.
Gesturing at the stone parapets around them, Sebastian stated, "We're standing on North Wall. You wanted proof that we aren't from Ensolus or the Dark One, so look around you."
A tower stood up from the top of the wall where they stood, but just beyond the glowing portal and below them a river passed under the wall through a reinforced gate. Water moved through, but the cold left ice on thick concrete shafts crisscrossing in a tight knit pattern that would allow most fish to pass through, but a full grown man or orc would be hard pressed to slither through ten feet of angled stone driven into the river bed under the ice. The thick stone wall was roughly twenty feet at the base and the stone covering metal poles recessed into the upper wall making the web of columns very strong. Magic fed the wall's strength also making it all much stronger than any other stone wall of the same thickness.
"Where are we?" Ferland asked again but in a different tone. He was merely confirming the exactness of the mage's claim.
"To be precise, we are standing on the remade wall of the Twins as we call it. The Cadhalla River passes through here to wind all the way to the North Sea."
More noise and movement could be heard as a doorway opened letting a flood of men and women out onto the wall behind Ferland. The man was rubbing his hands along his arms trying to get warm since he had no coat.
Weapons were drawn and wizards stood ready. Sebastian could feel the current in the air as magic built to defend the wall.
"Owl Sebastian?" the captain in charge asked stepping forward between the soldiers in front of him.
He couldn't remember the man's name and wasn't even sure that they had ever met.
"That's me. Do I know you?"
"Probably not, but I was here when you helped save the wall. What are you doing here now? Is there another attack coming in this weather?" the soldier asked worriedly glancing to the north beyond the stone defenses ringing the wall.
"I'm sorry to startle you. I was just showing a friend from Kardor the wall. He has never seen it before, and on impulse I chose to open a gate to show him," Sebastian replied playing off the full truth with a smile.
Turning his attention back to Ferland, he asked, "So what do you think of the wall that has held the Dark One's armies back for over a hundred years, Ferland?"
The Kardorian walked to the north side of the wall and looked out on a snow covered grassland. Trees devoid of leaves could be seen in the near distance, but they remained cleared closer to the wall by men brave enough to risk the work beyond the defensive stone work.
"I think it would be better to see it in the spring or summer," the man commented ruefully. He turned back to Sebastian and asked, "Well, I guess you have proved your point. Maybe we should get back to where it is warm?"
The man walked closer to the mage as he looked at the glowing portal as it stood waiting for them.
Nodding to the lord, Sebastian turned to the Southwall defenders and added, "Go try and keep warm everyone. Sorry for interrupting your day."
The two men walked back through the light returning to distant Interus in a blink once more. After the effects of the shift in space wore off, Ferland looked from Sebastian to his sister and those surrounded by his soldiers and wizards. A strong wind barrier swirled around them while orange runes extended from Elzen and Ashleen made sure that nothing else could slip through to harm the group while they waited in a stalemate surrounded by Kardorians uncertain of whether they should attack.
"Stand down. Owl Sebastian?" Ferland asked verifying what he had heard on the wall from the captain. "He has convinced me that they are from Southwall, though he has yet to explain anything of how he got here or why they are able to use portal magic."
"I told you that it could be a short story," Ashleen interjected frowning at her brother. "We've been fighting the Dark One's warlocks from islands in the North Sea to the Dark One's capitol city. One set of warlocks were forced to tell us how to use the magic. It took time, but Sebastian figured it out.
"High Wizard Darius used his magic to decipher gates from other warlocks that tried to infiltrate Windmeer as well. Between the two of them, dozens of wizards have learned the spells to create the doorways. Now we are here both to visit and to see if Kardor wants to join the rest of Southwall's allies in using this magic."
"So we're the last of Southwall's allies to receive this... gift?" Ferland questioned mulling over the thought that Kardor might be the least of Southwall's allies by comparison.
Sebastian took over the answering of this question hoping some of his sister's diplomatic abilities would cross over to him. "Not every major city in Southwall even has a portal or wizard capable of making one. We're new to this magic as well. Sileoth was the first that we shared gates with because of the attacks on their interests in western Litsarin. Staron is also significantly closer to Hala where much of the work on training wizards to create portals has been going on the last several months. Mar'kal happened because they had representatives in place that could get the lodestones to their city.
"When the battle for Litsarin came to a head and we needed more help to defend it while we took the battle to the Dark One in his city; Marianis was asked to help and used the magic also. In some ways Kardor is just the hardest of our allies to visit, especially during winter."
"Yet you are here now... in winter," Ferland replied with a skeptical tone.
"Which should show you how much Southwall wants to include Kardor," Ashleen stated crossing her arms defying her brother to dispute that point. "Sebastian is probably the only man capable of doing it this quickly as well. We've traveled from Ravenhurst to Interus in a matter of days using portal magic and a couple types of air magic that he has devised on this journey. Be glad that Kardor was included at all."
"Ah, yes, Kardor the ever grateful nation in the shadow of great Southwall; we will take your scraps while the world only sees the fight between them and the Dark One. Kardor has fought also with less. The rivers aren't the same as your North Wall, but we have never had the resources your nation has," the young lord replied sourly.
"Stop being so dramatic," his younger sister said with a shake of her head.
Sebastian tried to be the peacemaker as he quickly added, "Once we get gates set up throughout Kardor, you will be able to maximize your resources if the enemy decides to attack from now on. The Dark One attacked the wall at the end of summer last year. If it had happened only a month or two earlier, we wouldn't be having this discussion for another reason. The wall was breached. Only by
being able to send reinforcements from other cities were we able to drive them back and defeat those that their warlocks were able to place behind the wall with their gates.
"The sooner Kardor has wizards capable of using this spell, the safer your country will be."
Impatience made Ashleen take over the conversation as the girl began to look past her brother and around the edges of the room. "Where is father? When will he come to see us? You know that what we say is true now, so you can stop running interference for him."
"Ah, Spar..., I mean Ashleen, our father is a busy man, even in winter. You must remember that. Even your arrival isn't enough to be pushed to the front of the line," Ferland countered as his eyes glanced her way a moment before they began to stare at the mage. "So you are here now, what exactly can we do for you? There is rarely anything given for free."
Blinking at the man in surprise, Sebastian shook his head. "Ashleen wanted to return home for a visit. We've arrived and tomorrow I will push for Velius to make the offer to your king. If I want anything, I guess it would be for Ashleen to have time to visit with her family... and not just her brother, of course."
"And I am beginning to regret asking to come thanks to your cold hospitality, Ferland," Ashleen noted with a frown. "Is this really how you want to welcome your sister home? It has been a long time and it was a rather taxing year as well.
"My master and fellow apprentice were killed last summer and I have seen a lot of war," she finished with a sigh.
"Ask her if she plans to stay for dinner?" a man's voice spoke from above them.
Sebastian looked to one of the balconies to see an older man dressed like a noble standing with a handful of archers. The resemblance to Ashleen and her brother wasn't lost on the mage either.
"Daddy!" Ashleen exclaimed as the girl spotted her father. It was the first time that he had heard her speak of him without sounding more formal.
"Hello, Ashleen, I hope that you aren't too angry with me for sending Ferland to speak with you first. We have seen some unusual tactics from the enemy of late. A lord can't be too careful when unexpected visitors arrive, especially using one of the tears the wizards are always going on about in their briefings."
The lord looked down on the goings on below his perch with blue eyes like his daughter's. His graying hair still had a little brown remaining, but it served to tell the difference in the generations easily for the mage. Even his winter beard held more gray than color.
He looked at his son adding, "If this isn't a formal meeting, bring them to the main living room. There should be more than enough room for us there. I'll have the servants call the others there also."
Disappearing behind a curtain behind him, the duke disappeared once more leaving them with Ferland and the guards.
"Well, you heard him," Ferland said with a smile that still lacked the warmth one might expect from close family. "We should probably start our walk. I assume mother and the others will be there soon enough."
Turning on his heel, her elder brother moved towards a door set in the right side wall. Soldiers adjusted to move aside making an opening even as one of them pulled open the single door. Ashleen took Sebastian's hand pulling him forward even as she nodded for the others to follow. Weapons were still obvious among the Kardorian soldiers, but Sebastian and his mages had their swords sheathed. For Elzen and the owl, the steel weapons were more for show than necessity being well trained in the use of their magic. An air lance or fire sword could be created to fight with a durability that rivaled steel, even Xander likely could use his magic similarly; Sebastian thought to himself seeing the men eyeing the visitors warily.
If it came to a fight, even three mages might be enough to defeat their numbers. The owl was glad that it looked like it wouldn't come to that at least. His wizard friends would have been a liability in such close quarters and he wasn't positive if it was possible to protect the women at the same time.
Passing into a hallway beyond the entry, they were quickly led to a flight of stairs.
"No, need to be so tense," Ashleen said quietly to the man beside her. "If my father was willing to invite us to the living room, then he must have decided that we have told the truth. The meeting hall was the place to kill us otherwise, or at least to try to anyway."
He didn't immediately respond beyond a nod, but looking at Ferland walking ahead of them with their chamberlain Welfern at his side, Sebastian had a different question in mind. "Is there something between you and your brother? You never really spoke of anyone aside from your father, which wasn't that often either."
"I have two older brothers: Ferland and Daerdan. There is also my sister Tremara, named after my mother's favorite flower. My father is the king's cousin, but he was made duke after my grandfather passed. My mother comes from the royal line of Marianis.
"What else do you want to know?"
He remained silent noticing that she had managed to answer without telling him his first question. The little blonde sighed and added, "I am not sure why he is like that. No one in my family loves that I am a wizard though, so maybe it is that."
"You can't exactly change something that you are born with," Sebastian noted after they left the stairs to follow another hallway. A couple turns later would take them up another stairway. "It is like blaming you for being blonde when his hair is brown. The only way that might make sense would be where someone had an affair making a half sibling..." his voice trailed off realizing that he shouldn't say such things. Even in jest, casting aspersions on her mother like that could be considered an insult easily enough.
"My mother is blonde as well. Most people say that I look a lot like her, but I wouldn't say something like that to my parents, Bas," Ashleen replied without sounding angry, though her warning to caution when voicing his thoughts wasn't surprising. "No, we all have common features with both of them. Ferland and I were never close though. He was oldest and always being groomed by our father to become a lord. Even Daerdan was like that, though he prefers fighting more than Ferland, I think. Anyway, they treat me well enough normally, though since my powers came in they all put up a bit of a barrier between us." She chuckled and added, "Though some of that might be because I think I've shocked every last one of them when I was younger."
"Hence, the nickname," he added with a nod.
"It wasn't my first, but I'm not planning on sharing any of them with you anytime soon," she stated giving him a frown that only lasted a second before she broke into a demure smile.
When they finally passed through a set of double doors, Sebastian felt a bit of surprise for the distance traveled. Ashleen quickly explained, "The family quarters of the duke are purposely distant for protection."
A few servants moved about inside setting covered platters to the side beside bottled wines. They noted the entry of Ferland and quickly moved to the side nearly blending into the background letting the visitors see a petite, older woman of Ashleen's height standing beside the duke. Another young woman with brown hair closer in color to golden honey sat in a chair as if she refused to stand to greet their new visitors.
"Welcome home, Ashleen," the elder woman said with a smile for her daughter.
Chapter 18- Meet the Parents
An uncomfortable silence held the room until the door behind them closed. Duke Cerrus smiled and stepped towards his visitors gesturing towards several stuffed chairs and couches around the room. A fireplace with a healthy flame dominated the center of the wall behind the duke, but other smaller heaters sat along the opposite corners to help keep the common family room warm even in the long Kardorian winters.
"Please sit and tell us more of why you are here," the duke said as he might to a foreign ambassador. Though his daughter was among them, he was essentially meeting with a foreign delegation even so, which Sebastian thought might be making for much of the awkwardness. "It is still deep in winter, so we weren't exactly expecting visitors out here."
Sebastian nodded feeling like he should take the lead
, even if Ashleen was at home here. "I am Sebastian, a battle mage of Southwall. These are wizards Haylee and Serrena, apprentice Shaylene, Falcon Elzen and Xander one of our cadets. I admit that this visit hasn't been planned for long. A little bit of time opened up to try pushing into Kardor and to bring Ashleen home for a visit."
The duke's eyes moved from the speaker to his daughter's face as he spoke. When he asked, "She only plans to visit her home? I suppose, her wizard training continues as well, though I am not sure why she remains in Southwall."
Ashleen didn't let Sebastian try to explain her thoughts and spoke up. "When Deiclonus died, I admit that going home was my original thought; but..." the girl paused trying to sum up the things she wanted to say, yet she knew that not everything was something she was ready to tell her father. "Well, losing the master was hard on me. My friend, Wendle, another apprentice under Deiclonus died as well and I was close to death a couple times also; but Sebastian and his people saved me... more than once in fact," she added glancing at the mage beside her realizing that they had a history of him saving her when she was most in need; though Ashleen had saved him also along the way.
"What kind of danger did that wizard put you in?" Duke Cerrus asked leading the conversation for the rest of the family, though Sebastian thought the question was in their minds as well. "He was supposed to teach you to control your powers, not send you into battles or other dangers. I know wizards face danger battling the Dark One's armies, but I didn't have you train privately with Deiclonus to have you placed in the regular army. You might have magic, but you are still the daughter of a duke. Work for another lord in Velius or something, but not the army."
Frowning at her father, Ashleen retorted, "I don't mind fighting to help save others. Deiclonus didn't intend to put us in danger though. We took work in protecting an ambassador going to Hala. It was supposed to be relatively safe, though we were attacked by werewolves north of the wall.
Battle Mage Bonds (Tales of Alus Book 13) Page 23