The Unexpected Demon

by Simon Waldock

  "Please, come this way." I ushered Dragovar upstairs to the sitting room.

  "Tower, tea and refreshments for three in the sitting room," said Chessina, imperiously.

  When Dragovar and I were seated, Chessina elegantly poured tea. I was curious as to why; she normally let the servant forces do it. Perhaps she wished to be seen as the mistress of the household of the Master of the Tower.

  "I will come straight to the point," said Dragovar. "As I see it Pennover has become ungovernable. I am going to take back the family parure and entrust another family member with it."

  "Pennover's howl of anguish will be heard in the capital," I laughed.

  "That's as may be," Dragovar continued. "From what I understand he's the apple of his mother's eye and has never been gainsaid. When confronted with something that he wants and can't have, you as his servant Castamir, he's reacting in an unbalanced way. Another reason I'm here is to assess the state of his sanity or otherwise. If, after I've gone, Pennover gets violent again, take whatever action you need to restrain him and inform me. He may have to be confined."

  "When you go to confront Pennover, may I come sir?" Chessina asked, "Humans seem to turn such amusing colours when they are enraged."

  Her face went red and then white as her hand shot to cover her mouth as she realised what she'd just said. Dragovar proved his mastery of the analytica name, that of revealing truths, as he looked intently for a moment at Chessina and said.

  "Ah!" He paused for a moment and then added, "I do not believe you were born a demon young lady, you have the marks of a curse on you. I believe you are the outcome of some unscrupulous wizard's virgin sacrifice."

  I looked Dragovar full in the face and asked,

  "What are you going to do about it?"

  "Do? Nothing," he replied, "Had I not discovered what I did about Chessina, I might have felt the need to do a great deal about it. However, I do not believe that your soul is in danger, and there is no law against having a demon as an apprentice. Indeed, I believe that Chessina might be able to help me."

  "How?" said Chessina and I simultaneously.

  "I believe that some of the court ladies are dabbling in demonology." Dragovar said.

  "What!" I yelled, jumping up, "Do they have the slightest idea what they're doing, what they're risking, the consequences of their insanity?"

  "Breathe master, breathe," said Chessina in some concern, "You've gone a funny colour, and I don’t mean amusing."

  "In answer to your questions, Castamir; no, no and no," said Dragovar dryly. He went on, "I have some vague uneasiness about several of the court ladies, particularly Renilla, Pennover's mother. Her youthful appearance is a bit more than can be explained by the diet and exercise regimen I advised and the potions of the Ducal wizard. Indeed, I will now check my nephew most carefully."

  "Do you think he may be part demon?" I asked anxiously.

  "No, not necessarily," Dragovar replied, "Although her womb might have been, tainted. I will find out."

  At that point, the sharp chime sounded, that indicated the arrival of another user of magic.

  "That's probably the priestess. I'll go and see what she wants." I rose and headed down the stairs towards the tower door.

  Using the scrying mirror by the front door, I discovered that my guess was correct.

  "Good day, priestess Oakheart, what may I do for you?"

  As well as the staff Priestess Oakheart habitually carried, she carried a bundle in the crook of the other arm. There was only one thing that women carried in that way, and the wriggling and slight noises that it made confirmed my suspicions.

  "You'd better come inside," I stood back and ushered her in.

  When we entered the sitting room, Dragovar stood, took in the bundle in the Priestess' arms and said,

  "Good Day, Priestess Oakheart. Are congratulations in order?"

  "No Dragovar, the child is not mine," she said, "Your nephew sired her, her mother does not want her and I believe the child will be magical."

  Dragovar stiffened slightly at that, looked intently at the child, then relaxed slightly and gave me a quick austere smile.

  "What do you wish me to do?" Dragovar asked.

  "Do you acknowledge or repudiate this child?" the Priestess asked, with a formal tone to her voice.

  "I acknowledge this child as my great-niece," Dragovar replied formally. "I will modify my question. What do you want me to do with her?"

  "Will you see to her upbringing and her magical education?" the Priestess asked again.

  "I will, and I ask that Castamir bring her up and educate her, here in the Tower," he replied again.

  "What me!" I yelped, yes I'm afraid I actually yelped, "I don’t know anything about children, I don't even remember being one. Well, not that young anyway. I'm an only child, my mother died in child-bed," I babbled on like a loon.

  That earned me a brief smile of amusement from the Priestess. Oh good I thought, I'm glad someone is happy.

  "Well don't look at me," Chessina expostulated, "I know nothing about children either, I'm not even maternal."

  "I will arrange for a wet-nurse and someone to see to her physical well-being, but I need to know who will provide for her upkeep." Chessina was the recipient of her own smile from the Priestess. What a fun day the Priestess was having. Glad someone was.

  "I will fund the child's upbringing," Dragovar said. He turned to me, "Castamir, I have no right to ask this favour of you, but I don't want this child brought up at court. I don't want this child exposed to unhealthy influences there."

  He gave me a meaningful look and continued. "I cannot spare the time from my other, my primary duties, to watch out for her properly," he said, giving the Priestess a sharp look, "My brother the Duke, even though he is her grandfather, wouldn't know what to look for. And I would not trust any child in the same building as my brother's wife, let alone the same room."

  "Oh, er, well, that seems to be settled then," I burbled on. I had to do something, it wasn't the child's fault that her father was such a . . . I couldn't think of a suitable one-word epithet and fell back on offal-brained degenerate wastrel. She did need someone around who was magical . . . and it seemed Chessina and I had a foster daughter.

  "What's her name," Chessina asked.

  "That is for her kin and foster-parents to decide," replied the Priestess.

  "She'll live in the tower," said Chessina, "It's impractical to go traipsing back and forth to the village."

  "There is a slight problem," said the Priestess.

  There would be, I thought.

  "Oh?" I said interrogatively, giving the Priestess a jaundiced look.

  "None of the villagers will live within the Tower," explained the Priestess. That's true, most of the villagers who came to see Harmon, and lately myself, would only come as far as the door. Even the venturesome would only come into the vestibule.

  "I will provide stone and other materials for the construction of a dwelling next to the tower," said Dragovar, "Indeed I am most interested to see how the tower integrates such a structure into itself."

  "With respect, Dragovar," a polite phrase for 'over your dead, or at least seriously traumatised body'. "I have sufficient enemies that I don't want anything built onto the tower, particularly something as short as a cottage, that could be a weak point. I will have the servants build it well within the Tower's zone of protection. If there are any problems, I will bring the inmates into the Tower. Under sedation, if necessary."

  Dragovar went forward, kissed the infant on her forehead and said,

  "Elizelle, I am your great-uncle. I name you for my mother, your great-grandmother." By the gods, it seemed that Dragovar did have a heart somewhere inside.

  "I really ought to see my nephew now," said Dragovar determinedly. "To save time, I will fly there."

  "With respect, sir." Good, Chessina was getting a dig in to Dragovar too. "As Elizelle is to grow up at the Tower, both you and the Wizard of the Tower need to
be seen to be in complete amity. It's important, politically. If there were rumours of bad blood between you, factions at court might seize on them and cause problems. Walk together to the village and then back when you have . . . dealt with Pennover. If you talk quietly to each other, the villagers will assume you are discussing grave matters of wizardry. Even if all you are talking about are the charms of the local milkmaids. Although you'd better not," Chessina glared at me here.

  "We'd better do it Dragovar, Chessina's very good at that sort of thing," I said. Dragovar nodded.

  Chessina continued, "Perhaps I'd better come along with you to make sure you don't. I know nothing about babies anyway."

  "Then, Chessina, it is high time you did." said the Priestess with finality.

  I gave Chessina a look of sympathy, then shrugged and nodded at the priestess. Dragovar and I left the Tower, Chessina looking daggers at both of us.

  Chapter 8

  Dragovar and I walked towards the village, in an amity that, if not perfect, was at least better than I ever thought I would have with him. As we walked, we did talk about grave matters of magic; actually we talked about grave matters of demonology, which are much graver than ordinary magic. I had no desire to discuss the dubious charms of milkmaids, local or otherwise. Chessina's charms were superior to those of all the milkmaids in the kingdom put together. By the gods that would be one big milkmaid. You know the old saying, "If all the milkmaids in the kingdom were laid end to end, I wouldn't be a bit surprised."

  Dragovar had told me all he knew, surmised, suspected and even wildly speculated about the outbreak of demonology at court. In return, I told him everything I knew about Chessina's origins and history.

  When we reached the village, Dragovar said,

  "I will not take you with me to see Pennover, your presence might rouse him to frenzy."

  "I agree," I responded. "I know you are distressed, but take this thought with you. Chessina thinks his name most descriptive. It's only half a penis, and then it's over."

  Dragovar gave a bark of laughter, and I thought his posture relaxed slightly.

  As he walked off Goody Mattile approached me and said,

  "Master Castamir, another wizard being here, does it herald problems?" she sounded worried.

  "Hopefully the reverse, Mistress Mattile. That is the Royal Wizard, he is Lord Pennover's uncle. Word of Pennover's behaviour has reached the King, and the Royal Wizard is here to tell Pennover that if he does not moderate his behaviour I have been given leave to deal with it. I have taken the village formally under my protection, and if Pennover, his bravos or any outsider causes trouble here, I will deal with them. I am sorry Mistress Mattile, Master Harmon's death affected me more than I cared to admit. I have let my duties to you slide."

  "Things will be better now, Master Castamir," Mattile said, smiling at me and laying a motherly hand on my arm.

  I passed the time while waiting for Dragovar by strolling around the village, chatting to the people and making a few purchases. One thing I made sure to purchase was some cakes sweetened with honey from Frottor the baker. I thought I had better have a peace offering to pacify Chessina and she loved honey. I watched the blacksmith, Garrzlan and his apprentice working to mend some large piece of agricultural equipment that I didn't recognise. As I have mentioned I really know very little about farming.

  It was very useful to have one's purchases carried by the invisible servant. The spell lasts for several hours and can carry about twenty pounds. If the caster is taking notice there is a warning sign that you are getting close to the weight limit, but if you ignore that and the weight limit is exceeded everything the servant was holding drops on the ground. I've only let that happen once. Harmon made me clear up the mess by hand. The flour went everywhere.

  There was no sign of Dragovar, still neither had there been an enormous detonation accompanied by chunks of house flying through the air, so that had to be good. Ah, there he was. I'd caught sight of Dragovar's beak of a nose coming round the corner followed shortly by the rest of him. Dragovar's invisible servant was carrying a scabarded sword and a bag, so the magical parure had obviously been retrieved. In case you were wondering, no the sword wouldn't overload the servant, even the large two handed swords weigh well under ten pounds. I fell into step beside Dragovar and we walked silently out of the village with our packages following behind us.

  "Distressing?" I asked when we were out of earshot of the villagers.

  "Moderately," Dragovar replied, "I had to glue Pennover to his chair and use magical silence to get him to listen."

  "He may have listened perforce, but do you think he will take any notice?" I asked cynically.

  "I don't know," Dragovar admitted, "However, I made it as plain as I could, that if he didn't behave you had my full permission to complete the transformation and turn him into an ass."

  Dragovar paused before adding viciously, "A hinny ass so that he could feed his bastard children and be of some use. I also let his bodyguards know that in case of a confrontation, your orders supersede Pennover's."

  "Thank you, I'd rather not have to harm the bodyguards if I can help it," I said, "Did you find any . . . taint on Pennover?"

  "No, not that I thought I would," said Dragovar, "I believe that Renilla, his mother, didn't get involved with demonology until a few years ago. Pennover is just a very ordinary, if a very nasty human."

  As we neared the tower I asked Dragovar, "Would you like more tea or will you be going?"

  "I must be getting back," he said, "I will just take my leave of Chessina and the Priestess. What is her name by the way?"

  "I have no idea. She might have told Harmon, but he never mentioned it and she's never told me. She doesn't like wizards."

  When we re-entered the sitting room it was to find Chessina alone.

  "I must return to the Capital, so I have come to say farewell Chessina. Where is the Priestess? Dragovar asked.

  "She's gone, with Elizelle, who needed feeding." said Chessina, who continued with a definitive tone to her voice, "I don't like babies, they smell."

  oOo

  After Dragovar's departure, and consolation with a fresh pot of tea and honeyed cakes Chessina asked,

  "Did Dragovar sort Pennover out?"

  "I hope so," I said, "In any case I've been given carte blanche to do whatever I need to Pennover short of killing him unless absolutely necessary. Which it won't be. Also the bodyguards are to obey me in any conflict. And no, we didn't talk about milkmaids, we were far too busy."

  oOo

  Later that night, as we were lying in bed, Chessina turned to me and asked, in a rather worried voice,

  "What did Dragovar mean that I might be the result of someone's virgin sacrifice?"

  "It's a theory of his, that virgin sacrifices might be transformed into, or reborn as, demons," I answered her, "It's only a theory, so Dragovar is going to do some more research. We can research too, in the tower library."

  "I don't really remember much of my early life. I remember coming to Langoralia's place and doing my . . . my apprenticeship, but really nothing before." Chessina said.

  "How long were you there?" I asked.

  "I don't really know," said Chessina. "Demons don't think of time in the same way as mortals. There are no regular seasons, no predictable day or night. Such things happen only on the whim of the Demon Prince who controls that layer."

  "Sounds horrible," I said.

  "It's all I've known until a few days ago," Chessina said, "Your world is taking some getting used to. I like the smell of growing things, well, apart from babies."

  Chessina was quiet for a moment then looked at me with a confused expression.

  "Castamir, I really don't know what I am," she said, "Human, demon, half-way or what."

  I cupped her face in my hands, brushed her lips lightly with a kiss, and said,

  "It doesn't really matter Chessina, whoever and whatever you are, I love you." And I did.

  "I do
n't know how to love, Castamir," Chessina said in a very small voice.

  "You don't have to, just accept it," I replied.

  oOo

  Next day, Chessina and I spent some time deciding on a site to build the cottage, clearing and levelling the site and digging the foundation trenches. Fortunately, this could be accomplished almost entirely with spells. It was not until the afternoon that the stone Dragovar had promised with which to build the cottage, turned up being teleported by the Royal Wizard. The fact that he could teleport such a large weight demonstrated his magical power and ability. Although he had had to teleport the stone outside the tower's defensive zone, the invisible servants could reach the stone and bring it back to start construction. With several servants working simultaneously the building was soon starting to take shape. Things were going well and therefore the village lad running panting up to the tower with a frightened look on his face was not too surprising. I thought it was Crond, son of Frottor the baker. As the boy reached me, I cast a quick spell to help his breathing and asked,

  "What has Lord Pennover done now?" I smiled enigmatically at the boy.

  "How did you know Master Wizard?" the boy looked amazed. Who else was it likely to be after all? "He's grabbed Norva, the carpenter's daughter," Crond continued, "He said if you don't get his stuff back, he used a word we don't understand, that he'd kill Norva and the rest of us. His men have got swords and armour and all. Mattile sent me, please help us Master Wizard."

  "It would take too long to find the rug of travel," I muttered to myself, "Crond, you're going to have to trust me, I'm going to cast a spell on each of us including you, it will get us there faster."

  I cast the spell run and spoke the words of the spell three times, using my staff as a focus, the crystal at the top glowing white.

  "Now run, Crond," I said, "You too Chessina."

  We set off for the village at the run but we were running faster than a galloping horse. A very useful spell to get somewhere close by in a hurry. Just don't trip and fall under the influence of the spell, it will hurt.