by Guy Antibes
“Administering the laws. Through Payare Bellet, they have the power to tax. The queen rarely objects.”
“She is a WWS?”
Ari shook his head. “She must support the Royalists since she is their head. In her heart, she is a preservationist, but where the Double P is pragmatic, the APS is not. Bellet acts as a mediator between both. He has to make sure the country functions or it will explode.”
Jack snorted. “They are well on their way to having that happen.”
Ari nodded. “Ever since the WWS rose in popularity, the Double P has become increasingly overbearing. Tolerance has become a thin thread binding civility in Antibeaux.”
“Does Fasher know this?”
Ari nodded. “In my opinion, there will be a serious breakdown in Antibeaux this winter. His thinking is that it will make it easier for you to find and recover Adoree’s Mask.”
“Do you agree with his thinking?”
Ari smiled. “Not entirely. Our lives will be in danger either way. We will have to be creative.”
“Where does Yvessa fit into all this?”
“The cause of the unrest is hers. She has meddled with her devout followers and inspired them to create the White Way Society. Yvessa made the WWS popular. It is similar to the Black Finger Society if you haven’t noticed.”
“I have,” Jack said, “but it isn’t as militant at this point.”
“At this point,” Ari said. “She shouldn’t be tampering so directly with humans. It is against the rules.”
“You know the rules?” Jack asked.
Ari looked away. “Some of them.”
“And are their punishments?”
Ari nodded. “There are. Gods can lose their godhead.”
“Who can do that? Is there a higher god?”
Ari laughed. “There are always higher gods, but that is something we won’t speak of.”
“What happens to a god who is no longer a god. Do they disappear?”
Ari’s face took on a painful look. “No. They become human.”
Jack’s eyebrows rose. “Is Fasher a punished god?”
“You aren’t the dullest blade in the barrel, but the answer is emphatically no.”
Jack pressed his lips together. He didn’t know if he was going to get an answer to the next question. “Are you a fallen god?”
“I am forbidden to admit it, but you are a special case. I am the former god of Bornan.”
“They worship a lost god, and that is you?”
Ari sighed. “I just admitted I was. Don’t ask a bunch of questions. I won’t answer.”
“Then you know that Penny and I have been transformed into something else. What I don’t know, but we have more powers than most humans.”
Ari nodded. “Don’t get delusional about it. You aren’t a god, and she isn’t a goddess. You can both be killed, quite easily I might add, but you, in particular, have protections and abilities that only those who have been touched can possess.”
“Whatever happened hasn’t made me any smarter,” Jack said.
His comment made Ari laugh. “No, but you can learn more about magic, and you can observe. You learned that you are affected by alcohol and drugs.”
“And you can keep from getting drunk?” Jack said. “Now, I know why.”
“And I can be killed as easily as you. We are more alike right now than we are different. I have been observing for a long, long, long time, and I hope I had gained more wisdom than when I went over the line.”
“Is Borigore going over the line?” Jack asked.
Ari nodded. “He is trying to convince other deities to join him to make this world his own. He is no different from a usurper promising high positions and power to those who would follow him. Some are persuaded, and others aren’t.”
“Yvessa is on his side?”
Ari laughed. “Yvessa is on her own side, but if there is a schism, she will likely stand with Borigore.”
“And Grishel?” Jack asked.
“I won’t give you a rundown. I’ve already said too much. Just tuck all this new information into your brain and keep it there. The more an angry god is aware of you, the more perilous your life will be. Yvessa is not your friend.”
“Nor is she Penny’s, and that is why you gave us the charms.” Jack lifted his arm. Beneath the armguard was the bracelet, Ari told him not to take off.
“I thought that was obvious. Obvious to me, anyway,” Ari said with a half smile.
“I suspected you were like me, a helper—”
“And right now, that is as good a description of my powers as any. I am still restricted from taking a human life, and you are not.”
“And that is why Fasher sends me out on these errands?”
Ari nodded. “Fasher’s position is more complicated than mine, and I will reiterate, he is not a fallen god, but don’t speak of his possible divinity anymore. Do you understand? I won’t answer any more of your questions. It will only distract us from obtaining Adoree’s Mask.”
“I promise I won’t. I’m more comfortable with fewer restrictions,” Jack said. “I suppose with increased capability comes greater responsibility.”
“Well said,” Ari said, “but just like the human condition, the gods are not perfect, even though their worshippers may think otherwise. I refuse to talk to you anymore about it. Promise me, you won’t press me any further.”
“I can do that. I promise that is all the questions for now until you want to say more,” Jack said. “Tell me about the lord we will meet in Mont Alyse?”
“He is unaligned. That is all I will say. Listen more than talk, and you will learn more,” Ari said.
Chapter Twenty-Six
~
M ont Alyse had more of the Antibeaux character, to Jack’s way of thinking, than Chancey and Bristone. More of the male residents dressed in the leather shorts, but that was when the cloaks they wore blew open to reveal bare knees. It was nestled in a higher valley, still surrounded by farms in the flatter areas and herder villages in the upper levels.
Jack spotted a castle perched on an outcropping a few miles from the city surrounded by forest. “The lord’s residence?” Jack asked.
“We will visit Lord Delancey tomorrow morning. You should find the craftsmen in Mont Alyse to be a bit more unique.”
Jack woke up early and found Ari and Pol already eating breakfast from a buffet set up in the inn’s dining room.
“Join us. I was just letting Pol know of our plans,” Ari said.
“Spend a good day with us, and then I will give you all day tomorrow with Lord Delancey.”
“You know him?” Jack asked.
Pol nodded. “By reputation more than by interaction. He isn’t welcome in Bristone—”
“And that is all you will tell him of the lord,” Ari said. “I want the boy to hear it firsthand.”
Pol grinned. “And I think you are right.” He held up his hand, palm toward Jack. “I promise I won’t spoil anything for you.”
“Ari said the Mont Alyse craftsmen more unique.”
Pol raised his eyebrows and looked at Ari. “More traditional. This is a town where the APS has a following, and the craftsmen are all in. They mostly work in traditional ways on time-honored patterns. In my opinion, they make the best decorative belts that are worn outside the shorts, even though most leather shorts are held up by suspenders. You are in luck that we will be inspecting that craft today.”
The shorts Jack had brought with him had suspenders, but no belt.
“Do women wear belts?” Jack asked, thinking of a gift possibility for Penny.
“There are large purses secured by a belt arrangement. The belts have a repeating decoration, and the leather purse, which is worn in front, is decorated similarly. They are generally called girtles,” Pol said. “They are out of fashion in Bristone, as is the traditional men’s costume. The only ancient designs are expressed by the knit hats worn by men all over Antibeaux.”
“I have
a hat. If we can observe you inspect a leatherworker, I’d like to learn more.”
“I can do that. There are six we will be visiting this morning. This afternoon will be dedicated to tile makers.”
“For the furnaces?”
Pol nodded. “And for roofs. You will note that most roofs are made of tile that looks like stone.”
Jack hadn’t noticed, but then he had seen tile roofs in all the countries he had visited, even Masukai.
Pol’s two companions came down and ate a quick breakfast.
“We will be leaving before the agricultural boys come down. They tend to stay up later and get up later,” Pol said.
Jack was impressed with the leather workers. They didn’t make their own leather like Winara Nantez, the Lajian cobbler did. The belts were dyed in the workshops, however. The girtles were often worked with beads and metal studs, that weren’t as prolific on the men’s wide belts.
Before they entered the fourth shop, Pol admitted this was the best shop and charged the highest prices. Jack would agree after being educated in the previous three establishments. He saw a white girtle finished with light blue and dark blue beads with golden studs. The purse wasn’t as large as some, but it would look better on Penny.
He examined it. “I can buy this?” he asked.
The craftsman frowned. “It is intended for a WWS woman in a nearby village, but I can make another for her if you like it.”
Jack looked it over. “I need you to make a few modifications. I need a thin pocket about eight inches long on either side of the belt that hangs down and a pocket about seven or eight inches in diameter on the back of the purse.”
“I can glue and tack it with white thread. Will that do?”
Jack nodded. “Have you got a black man’s belt?”
“Black? I don’t get many requests, but I have a few, I will bring them.” The belt buckled at the side with a wide band in the middle of the stomach.
Jack found one he liked. “I’d like a circular pouch behind the wide part.” Jack pulled out one of his throwing stars. “I’d like to hide a few of these,” he said.
“Is that what will be put into the ladies’ girtle?”
Jack nodded. “We are both good knife throwers.”
“I can do that, too. Write your name and her name—”
“No name on Penny’s,” Jack said. “She is a lady but goes by Penny to her friends. I think she would rather it be plain.”
The man nodded. “I can put a few more embellishments on, then. It will look good, but I will need a day to make the modifications if you pay me in advance.”
Ari pulled out his purse. “Consider them a gift from me, Jack.” He turned to the craftsman. “We can pick them up in the morning day after tomorrow. Will that work?”
~
The castle looked even more impressive as Jack rode closer. The castle sat on a prow of rock that stuck out from the mountain. They took a road alongside the cliff, looking up at the stone edifice towering above. It looked very defensible to Jack.
When they reached the top, the castle looked out from a plateau that held a village and a large field empty of crops. Pyramidal stacks of wooden poles were spaced along the edges of the empty field.
“An army camp?” Jack asked Ari.
“Could be. You’ll be able to ask Lord Delancey yourself,” the wizard said.
They stopped at a stone wall with an open gate. They rode over a wooden bridge that spanned a chasm that separated the castle from the plateau. Jack looked down at the bottom. “This is just as defensible as the cliffs.”
Ari smiled. “It is.”
Two guards stood up when they approached a closed gate leading into the castle.
“Ari Gasheaux and Jack Winder to see Lord Delancey.”
The guard pulled out a portfolio and marked an entry. “You can proceed.” He nodded to his partner, and they pushed the thick, iron-bound gate open.
The living part of the castle was on the valley side across a large courtyard. Two-story stone buildings with stone roofs lined the courtyard. Ari rode to the steps leading to the living area. The castle stood six stories high with five towers, three on the cliffside, and one on either end facing the courtyard.
Ari and Jack walked up the steps and entered a foyer three stories tall. An older man in civilian dress approached them.
“Ari, it is good to see you again. Tom has been summoned,” the man said.
“This is Arnold Tambien, Lord Delancey’s chamberlain.”
“You brought a boy?” a fit man of middle years said, descending the stairway leading to the third floor.
“More than a boy,” Ari said. “Thomas Delancey, this is Jack Winder.”
“I thought Fasher’s protege would be older…wiser looking.”
“Test him all you want, Tom,” Ari said.
“I will.” He looked at Arnold. “Fetch our champion.”
Thomas Delancey peered at Jack. “What arms are you good at?”
“You can choose.”
“Swords, that is proof enough.” Tom nodded to Arnold, who rushed out of the foyer. “You can show me some proficiency here.”
Jack looked at carpets covering the floor. “I would suggest you roll up some of these carpets. We wouldn’t want them soiled.”
“With blood?” Tom laughed. “Your blood or your opponents?”
“In a duel, one never knows,” Jack said, but that wasn’t the answer in his mind. Antibeaux swordsmen did not touch the void.
A huge man with blond hair and ice-blue eyes entered the room and peered at Jack, who matched him with the hair, but Jack’s eyes were darker. He wore traditional garb without armor. He carried a sword to match his brawny physique. It wasn’t the first time Jack’s opponent had a much heavier weapon.
“Your rules of the duel?” Jack asked. “I don’t want to shed blood unnecessarily.”
The man didn’t appear to lack confidence. “I am indifferent. First blood will hardly be a contest,” he said. “What about fighting until there is a disability.”
Ari looked over at Jack’s opponent. “What is your definition of a disability?”
“Death is one,” the man said, smiling, “but I will accept surrender or the inability to continue the fight.”
“I will accept. I am allowing you to surrender now,” Jack said. “I am not arrogant. I have learned fighting techniques that you have not seen before, and I believe I have a significant advantage.”
The man swiped the air with his sword. “No man can have an advantage over me.”
“That is arrogance,” Ari said. He turned to Lord Delancey. “My friend is an adept. I don’t want a defeat of your champion to damage our relationship.”
Delancey laughed. “No worries about that. My man has been warned, and he has accepted the challenge. Let’s see them fight.” He looked at his champion, who nodded to his lord.
Jack whipped out his Masukaian sword and did a few warmups. He was tempted to touch the void to show how fast he could be, but he decided the time for doing that was during the duel.
The two combatants stared at each other. Jack was tall, but the champion was taller by half a head and probably carried double Jack’s weight. Jack nodded to the man and assumed a classic Masukaian address. That brought an expected sneer from Jack’s opponent.
Jack touched the void, and the match was over in seconds, with the champion’s leather shorts around his ankles and a thin, red edge bleeding from a shallow wound from one side of his chest the other.
“Do you surrender?” Jack said as he exited from the void.
The champion’s eyes grew wide as he rubbed his chest, bloodying his own hand. “You could have killed me.”
Jack grinned. “Isn’t it a wonderful day that I didn’t? I warned you.”
Lord Delancey’s mouth was still open. “I could hardly see you move.”
Jack nodded. “I had to leave a mark to make you both understand that my warning meant something.”
The champion bent over to pull up his shorts. “Did you make fun of me on purpose?”
Ari moved in front of Jack with his arms out. “Do you think it was an accident? Jack wanted to show you that if he were serious, the results would have not been to your advantage. He did the same thing in Bristone to another swordsman. He isn’t one to waste blood with his advantage.”
“You call this an advantage?” the defeated man said.
Ari smiled. “I would call it a warning and a demonstration. Once we have a talk with your lord, I think you’ll find that Jack is on your side.”
Jack didn’t know what side that was at that moment, so he was quite interested in listening to what Ari and Lord Delancey had to say to each other. Thomas Delancey took them to a private study that included part of one of the towers. It contained a round table and chairs. Multipaned windows showed the view of the town of Mont Alyse sitting in the valley below.
The champion, now cleaned up and with leather shorts that stayed up, sat in one of the chairs with two others. Lord Delancey faced the window with Jack and Ari sitting at his right side.
“What news do you bring from Bristone?” Delancey asked.
Ari smiled. “First of all, I would like to know how you are doing?”
Delancey chuckled. “My wife is expecting this winter. That will make the fifth Delancey I have spawned.”
“Congratulations. And you had a good harvest?”
“As always. Are you finished yet?”
Ari smiled. “I wanted to make sure you are well before we speak of more serious matters.”
Delancey’s face darkened. “What is wrong?”
“It is my opinion that Bristone will shatter before winter is over.”
The lord pressed his lips together. He wasn’t happy about the news. “I can’t go to Bristone with my wife in the condition she is.”
“I know,” Ari said. “I have a proposition, but first, let us discuss the current situation.” The wizard launched into a description of the state of the capital and of the factions, going over the situation much as he had already with Jack. “I’ll need your army.”
Jack was shocked by the request. Ari had succeeded in surprising everyone at the table.
“I won’t let them go unless I am convinced they will make a difference.”