by Guy Antibes
He smiled. Trak wasn’t as weary as he thought he might be. “I will attend awake.” He squeezed Valanna’s hand. “I can’t believe I’m here with you.”
“I like the ‘with you’ part,” she said. “I can’t believe what you did in the Throne Room,” she parroted. “You astounded everyone except for possibly King Marom.”
“Leave Warish,” Trak said. “Come with me to Torya. We can live wherever you like. I can carve out a place in Torya or even Bennin. I have influence there.”
Valanna laughed at him. “Do you think anyone would be content to leave us alone, now?”
Trak pushed his closed lips around. “Truthfully? No.”
“Let me get you something to eat. I’ll send Asem in to help you with your clothes.”
How could he be so fortunate? Trak thought as he watched Valanna leave the room.
Asem walked in with his arms full. “I brought clothes both suitable for Court and for travel.” Trak’s bound shoulder gave him some trouble, but he finally made it into his clothes and felt he could be presented to King Marom.
“I wouldn’t trust King Marom,” Asem said as he helped Trak dress. “He is not exactly ebullient that you showed so much power while you saved his Kingdom. Expect a trick or two.”
Trak leaned back in the chair he sat in, as he pulled on boots that fit surprisingly well. “I don’t need to use poses anymore, Asem. If the King thinks the wound has stopped me, he will be mistaken.”
“Do you intend something?”
Trak shook his head. “And put Kulara, Valanna, and you at risk? No. I think we understand each other well enough, don’t you think? I’m not a threat to Warish. King Harl rules Pestle, and,” Trak shook his head again, “those I really care about live in Warish, Torya, and Santasia.” He thought of Honor, Misson, Ben, and Nullia when he said Santasia.
“A man without a country?”
Trak nodded. “Still something like that. I have business in Torya. I want to take Valanna with me, but I promise to return her when I’m done.”
Asem narrowed his eyes and nodded. “Perhaps that can be arranged. I would support it, since you both more than deserve a boon from the King. Valanna and you have been through enough. There would be certain commitments in regards to Warish. She is still embedded in King Marom’s strategy, more than you know.”
“I won’t fight Pestlans, but I have no need to fight Warishians,” Trak said. “Do you have to ask the King?”
“I will, but as I said, he is not your friend.”
Trak stood. “I promise I won’t just take her. Tell King Marom that.”
“I will.”
Valanna entered the room bearing a tray. She returned wearing the Benninese dress that Trak had brought. He thought she looked better in it than any Benninese woman could. Her hair had been pulled back and cascaded down her back. Trak’s heart beat faster.
“I have to leave.” Asem nodded significantly to Trak and left them alone.
She watched Asem go through the door and gently shut it.
“What was that about?”
Trak took Valanna’s hands in his. “I still want you to come to Torya with me. We can return with Neel and Able. It’s time we spent some time together. Asem says you are still bound to your King, but he thinks he might be able to talk Marom into letting us be together for a bit.
Valanna grinned and put her arms around him. “I am all for that. I don’t look forward to a voyage across the sea, but with you, I can bear anything.”
She lifted up her chin and closed her eyes. Trak kissed her and felt her damp cheeks. He wiped the tears away with his thumbs as he held her face in his hands.
Valanna disengaged, her face red with embarrassment. “You must eat.”
Trak sat at the small table in the room and ate what Valanna brought. She cupped her chin in her hands, with her elbows on the table, and just watched.
“I was a spy, you know, in Pestle and in the Arid Lands. That’s where I met Derit and the other Blue Swans,” she said.
“Derit?” Trak said.
“The exotic-looking woman who asked after Ferikan. They aren’t really cousins, you know, but former lovers. She might want to accompany us to Torya.”
Trak couldn’t help but beam when he heard Valanna include her in his trip. His shoulder still hurt, but he could bear any pain to be close to Valanna.
They talked about their adventures with the Vashtans until Kulara knocked on the door. “It’s time for your audience.”
Asem stood outside the door and took Kulara’s hand and led Trak and Valanna to the throne room where Trak had saved Warish for King Marom. He looked at the scorch marks on the walls high above them in the entry corridor, and the smell of burning still filled the air. The throne room was full of desert people and the less-dark features of those native to Balbaam.
“King Marom arrives!” a voice yelled in Warishian. Valanna interpreted the words for Trak. The audience quieted as the King stormed out of a door behind the unique throne. He sat on the throne blackened by the sheet of fire that had consumed Marom’s enemies and assumed a pose that brought a smile to Trak’s face, since it was a non-magical pose, but it’s intent to intimidate the audience was unmistakable.
Trak didn’t understand anything else said until he heard his name spoken.
“Approach the King,” Valanna said, releasing his hand.
Trak walked through the crowd, who parted for him. He saw a variety of emotions on the faces; admiration, fear, and anger. Reactions to his magical antics didn’t surprise him anymore, not since General Adolphus Niamo essentially banished him from Santasia after personally defeating Riotro, head of the Santasian rebellion.
The king spoke in his broken Pestlan, while one of his aides translated for the crowd.
“In recognition of service to the country of Warish and to the Crown of the Ferezan, I hereby award a treasure to Trak Bluntwithe, formerly of Pestle.”
Trak caught the ‘formerly’ and wondered if that was to save face. Another courtier thrust a fat purse into the hands of the King who held it out for Trak.
For the first time, Trak had actually been paid for his efforts. He accepted the money, not really caring about it, and returned to Valanna. He let her heft the bag, and she opened it to show him a combination of jewels and gold coins. Trak had no idea how much wealth she carried in her hands.
“Valanna Almond,” the King said, standing from his throne. The rest of the King’s words were in Warishian. Asem slipped over to translate.
Trak didn’t like the look on Asem’s face.
“He says for recognition of services to the Crown of the Ferezan, King Marom has agreed…” Asem’s face turned red. He looked shocked by Marom’s words and had a hard time composing his translation.
Trak looked up at the King and saw tears welling in Valanna’s eyes.
~
Valanna hadn’t done anything more than accompany Trak during the defeat of the palace traitors. Why would the King ask her to come forward? She put the purse back into Trak’s hands and gave him a nervous smile and walked the to Throne.
“Valanna Almond,” he said in Warishian, “by the power of the office that I hold, both as the King of Warish and as the leader of the Ferezan, I formally seize your hand in marriage as my fifth wife.”
King Marom gave her a vicious look. “I’ll not have you out of my service,” he said quietly in her ear.
Valanna’s life seemed to crumble before her face. She could feel her face flush and her eyes water. She blinked the tears away and looked over the audience at Trak, who had just received the translation from Asem. The three of them stood stone-faced. Valanna turned back to look at the gloating King and then returned her gaze to Trak, but he had disappeared. On the ground where he had stood, lay the King’s purse.
~~~~~
An Excerpt of the Fourth Book in the Poses of Power Series follows.
If you like what you have just read please leave a review at the place where you pu
rchased Magician in Captivity.
AN EXCERPT OF MAGICIAN IN ANGUISH
Poses of Power – Book Four
Chapter One
~
“I HOPED TO CATCH YOU HERE,” Asem said, opening the door, while Trak shoved his few possessions into a bag in the same rooms where Trak had recently been with Valanna.
Trak had to grind his teeth. He had no desire to talk to anyone in this darkest hour of his life, and he didn’t trust himself to respond to Asem. All Trak could do was shake his head. He had hoped the clothes he had brought with him to the palace were presentable, but the battle for Marom’s throne had rendered them unwearable. Trak didn’t want to take anything away that reminded him of Balbaam, but he’d have to dress in Warish clothes, and he didn’t like it.
“Don’t you have anything to say?”
Trak turned on Asem. “I hate your king. Marom is…” Trak couldn’t finish the sentence. A red haze of anger filled his vision. How could such a man steal Valanna? He had only hours with her after they had met and realized that they really did love one another, and now? He gritted his teeth again, and finished tying up his things.
“…is not your king, but he is Valanna’s,” Asem said, finishing Trak’s sentence.
“So, she is his love slave?”
Asem barked out a mirthless laugh. “Marom is impotent. There is no possibility of any kind of love from that man, but he leads Warish, and has made it what it is today.”
Trak turned on Asem. “And what is that? A country filled with traitors? A country of slaves? How much a slave are you, Asem? If King Marom told you to become his sixth wife would you don a dress and divorce Kulara?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Asem said.
“Ridiculous?” Trak could feel the anger build. “Ridiculous?” His vision began to cloud. His emotions had drained him of strength, so he took a deep breath, and sat down on the bed. He pleaded with Asem. “I loved her, and she loved me. You know that.”
Asem folded his arms. “And I warned you not to trust King Marom.”
Trak snorted. “You did, but I had no idea he would do something so uncaring, so cold-hearted. He just made an enemy out of the same person who saved his life. I had no political position, and didn’t really care about Pestle and King Harl, but now?” Trak shook his head.
“Are we enemies?” Asem said narrowing his eyes.
“Not until you and I are forced otherwise.” Trak stood up and let his frustration drain a bit. “I’m not angry at you.”
“I know,” Asem said and put his hands on Trak’s shoulders. “The story has not ended. Be patient, and you might be surprised how events unfold. You will be part of those events.”
“And you?” Trak said. He took another deep breath, and gently shrugged off Asem’s hands.
Asem looked directly into Trak’s eyes. “I will tell you this, and you must tell no other now that Valanna is a Princess of Warish, my allegiance is to her first and foremost, and only after that am I King Marom’s man.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“Do.” Asem said. He pulled out the purse that King Marom and held it out to Trak. “Take this, even if you hate doing it. If you must, use it to defeat King Marom, as long as you forgive Valanna.”
“Forgive?” Trak looked at Asem, confused about the concept of forgiving Valanna.
“She is not your enemy.”
The meaning finally sunk through the roiling emotions playing in Trak’s mind. “How could she be? I know that. I looked at her face when Marom…” Trak couldn’t bear to remember any more about the scene. “Tell her that I still love her, and I will support what she does, not under Marom’s orders.”
Asem nodded.
Trak took the heavy bag of gold and jewels and looked inside. Gold pieces and finely cut jewels might have astounded him, had he not felt so thoroughly defeated. He wanted to leave them again in the palace, but realized what kind of an empty gesture that would be to King Marom. “I’ll use these to help those that need it.”
“You do that,” Asem said. “I must go. I hope to meet you again under better circumstances.”
“No more than I do,” Trak said. He struggled, but he ended up hugging the Ferezan Prince, and shoved the treasure into his bag. “Tell Valanna that I will continue to think of her, despite the marriage. Please leave me now.” Before the door had shut behind Asem, Trak had teleported outside the city.
~
The city looked nearly peaceful in the early afternoon sun across from the wide River Pusuun. Trak pulled up the hood of his Benninese cloak and sighed. Had it been less than one day when he stood on the very ground just before he rescued his friends?
He tightened his fists so hard that he could feel his fingernails biting into the palm of his hand. How easily it would be to have killed King Marom. He still had the capability to forcibly take Valanna from Balbaam, but then what would she think of him? What would he think of himself if he assassinated Marom for his own personal purposes.
Was he that weak? Trak shook his head. He didn’t really know how he felt, but this retreat was much different from the time he stalked out from Valanna’s presence in anger and hurt. Oh, he still hurt, but this time he had left out of restraint. He had friends to protect. Was that rationalization? Trak had to admit that he didn’t know.
An order for Trak to leave wouldn’t have been any less effective than the cruel act by the Warish king. He sat on the ground, and put his head in his hands. He had to pull himself together. As he stared out at the river, he watched a flock of birds fly up from the reeds on the other side of the river. He looked at the birds fly to the south, and began to think of his next steps. Trak had to move north towards Amorim to catch up with Tembul and Princess Pullia. Neel and Able still waited in Kizru.
Trak stood back up and brushed off his cloak. He sighed again and realized he would have to stop doing that. He straightened his shoulders, and took a deep breath, knowing that he now faced a new stage in his life. Hope of reuniting with Valanna had gone and a kind of bleakness took its place. Trak would keep going and…what did Asem say? …Patience, patience for something unseen in the future would have to take its place.
His thoughts turned towards the north, as he began his rapid journey towards Amorim. He found that he couldn’t go from horizon to horizon in his weakened state, but he found that shorter jumps did little to sap his strength. Onward he traveled, heading along the paved road that went from Balbaam to this particular journey’s end. Would he catch up to his friends before they reached Amorim?
~
Valanna squeezed Trak’s hand before she walked up to King Marom’s throne. She couldn’t believe how happy she was until Marom announced their marriage. Her emotions had fled. She stood cold and isolated, looking at the empty space where Trak had just been.
Marom jerked on her arm. “Follow me,” he said, but then he nearly dragged her out of the Throne Room. She looked back at the audience and saw Asem run out of the rear door before Marom wrenched her arm again, propelling her into his side. She nearly fell on the stone floor, but managed to stumble to an upright position,
He pushed her through a door in the back of the room, and she tumbled to the floor. Valanna tried to rise, but felt the tip of a sword prick her neck. “I know what kind of witch you are, Valanna Almond. No, not Almond, but Princess Valanna of the Ferezan.” Marom chuckled, but Valanna couldn’t share in his mirth.
“Why did you…”
Marom slapped her across the face. “I said I have plans for you. What kind of person dares to violate her King’s wishes?”
“I would have returned to serve.”
Marom put his face close to hers. “And leave your lover?” He shook his head. “That wouldn’t have happened, and I would have had to change my plans all because of a Pestlan’s wishes. Unacceptable, my fifth wife.”
“But we haven’t married,” Valanna said.
Marom dragged her to a low divan and threw her on it. Would he rape her h
ere and now? Valanna put her hand to her mouth. Could she dare make a pose before he ran her through with the sword still in his hand? Her entire body shook with fear.
“I am the King and leader of my tribe, the Ferezan. Marriage only takes my declaration and I’ve already done that, wife. Now you will have to follow my orders, or I will kill you.”
Valanna could hear the falsity in Marom’s words. The King didn’t need anyone’s permission to kill her, married or not. Rumanna had been a thorn in Asem’s side for years, and he had never once mentioned ending the burden of their marriage with death.
“You can kill me at any time, and have had that ability all of my life,” Valanna said. She sat up, trying to get as far away from Marom as she could when he sat on the other side of the divan.
The comment made Marom’s eyes narrow. “So now you can think a little.” The man laughed. “Never forget what kind of man I am,” he said. He just looked at her for a moment.
“What am I to do, join your wives?”
Marom laughed again. “For a little while, you will be restricted to your rooms in the Royal Tower. You are a Princess twice over, Valanna of the Ferezan. Only the first wife is Queen, but you know that. Princess of Warish and Princess of Pestle. I now have a legitimate claim on the Pestle throne, don’t I?” Valanna shrunk from his grin.
“King Harl has destroyed all evidence of my father’s relationship. All he has to do is reject my claim.” This was a topic that Valanna could use to gather her wits. Change the subject from her new relationship with the King to politics, where she had some knowledge.
The King didn’t say a word for a few moments, while stroking his beard. “My father gathered sufficient documentation when he spirited you away from Pestle. There is also additional proof that Asem secured in Pestledown some time ago. When the time comes, I will take the throne of Pestle, and you will sit on it for me.”
Marom moved closer to her and took her hand, not too gently. He squeezed it hard, nearly bringing tears to her eyes. “Even though I am incapable of consummating our marriage, don’t think for a minute that changes the fact that you are mine to do with as I wish. Be careful whom you count as friends. Prince Asem is my cousin, but if you are imprudent in your actions, he will be crushed under my foot like a cockroach. Am I understood?”