Magician In Captivity: Power of Poses - Book Three
Page 33
Valanna’s nascent resolve crumbled under the sheer malevolent force of her new husband. She could only nod her head.
“Go back to Asem’s tower and wait. I will send servants to pack your clothes, since you will be changing rooms in the palace. Leave me through that door.” Marom pointed to another door leading out. She only now noticed that this was the same study where she had met with King Marom before.
Without wasting any time, she fled from her husband’s presence, and found her bearings soon enough to rush to the tower.
What an awful man. She never did like the King, and now her regard bordered on hate. The guards now bowed to her as she passed, something they had never done before. Such courtesy only made Valanna hurt even more.
Valanna felt a great sense of relief when she reached her rooms in the tower, and she sat down on her bed, finally able to let her eyes water. She buried her head in the pillow, and began to wail.
A knock on the door made her sit up and wipe away some of the tears that stained her face. Kulara poked her head in the door and entered. She bowed quickly to Valanna, and sat down beside her, putting out her arms and letting Valanna collapse again into tears.
Valanna senses returned and finally broke her embrace with Kulara. “What happened to Trak? Did anyone see him leave? How must he felt!”
“Asem talked to him briefly before he left. One moment he was in his room, and the next he was gone. King Marom has set out a search party for Trak, but he’s gone, to Kizru I imagine.”
Valanna nodded. “How could this happen?”
“Trak is an enemy in King Marom’s eyes. You know that. With that treasure, Marom paid Trak back for saving his kingdom, and now thinks he is an enemy that he can kill at his will again.”
Valanna stood. “His will. I…”
Kulara put her finger to her lips. People could be listening. Valanna sat back down, and clutched her hands, feeling as miserable as she ever had. With her new status, she would have to be more careful than ever. She took a number of deep breaths to get back into control.
“I wonder where Trak headed?” Valanna said, trying to control her thoughts and her words.
“Towards Amorim and then to Torya. That’s what he told you before he left. I doubt he would want to linger in Balbaam, considering what just happened.”
“I suppose not. I wouldn’t.”
Kulara’s eye grew angry.
“If I were Trak.” Valanna amended her sentence. “I wish him well, whatever happens.”
“Yes,” Kulara said. “Whatever happens.” They hugged, still sitting on the bed.
Their conversation was interrupted by another knock. A man poked his head through a crack in the door he had opened. If Valanna could, she would have locks installed on the doors of her new quarters.
“We are here to gather your things,” the man said. He opened the door wider, and let in four servants, two men and two women.
Valanna stood up. “Leave until I summon you. I won’t be more than a few minutes.”
“But the King…” the man said.
“What is your name?” Valanna said in as commanding a voice as she could muster at the moment.
The servant sputtered, and he nodded his head, shooing the servants behind him out of the room. “We will be outside waiting for you to let us in.” He bowed and scraped a few more times before he shut the door.
Valanna turned red with anger. “Is this the way my life is going to be?”
“Get used to it, my dear Valanna,” Kulara said. “Take your personal belongings with you, like the reading you’ve been doing.”
Kulara meant Trak’s portfolio, of course. She nodded. “Will I be able to visit?”
“I’m not sure about the protocol. Asem knows more about these things than I do. Since he is now your cousin-in-law, there are some restrictions, but it may be that his wife will have to accompany him to any audiences with Princess Valanna.” Kulara rose. “I will hope to see you as often as I can,” she said, and then left the room, leaving Valanna by herself.
Valanna sniffed a bit and quickly wondered what she wanted to carry on her own. She decided she would put the portfolio in with a bag containing a nightgown, a change in underclothes and her jewelry. After getting all of that together, she opened the door back up. The man who had intruded on her before leaned against the wall on the other side of the tiny corridor.
“Will someone show me to my new rooms?”
The man puffed up his chest. “I will do that. Let me take your bag.”
Valanna didn’t want to put Trak’s portfolio in the hands of a stranger, but she couldn’t think of a reason to carry it herself. The man snapped his fingers, and directed the servants into Valanna’s former rooms.
While Valanna walked the hallways of the palace, it already seemed empty without Trak at her side.
~~~
Table of Contents
Map of Trak’s World: Pestle, Bennin and Cokasan Continents
Characters, Countries, Locations
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter thirty-three
Excerpt from Magician In Anguish
Copyright Page
Author’s Note
A Bit About Guy
Books by Guy Antibes
Characters, Locations, Countries
in Magician in Captivity
Characters
Pestlans
Able Bluntwithe - Innkeeper of the shabby, out-of-the-way inn, The Blunted Sword. Trak’s adoptive father
Trak Bluntwithe - Son of Able and biological son of Neel Cardswallow.
Neel Cardswallow – Known publically as a ne’er do well. Has always come and gone from The Blunted Sword.
Honor Fidelia - Mage. Black hair with a coppery strand. Served as a spy for Santasia in Pestledown and fled with Trak to Santasia where she was a double spy for Colcan.
Galinda Youngblood - Trak’s Mother and Neel’s wife. Daughter of the magician that made the mistake, banishing magic from Pestle, leading to the Warish insinuation. Not a character in the books
Esmera Walkalot - innkeeper of The Looking Inn.
Valanna Sleekbottle (Almond) – A Pestlan living in Balbaam, Warish. Spy for Warish in Pestledown.
Harl Crustwillow, King of Pestle.
Lord Puddingfan – Close advisor to King Harl
Snively – Lawyer’s clerk, member of the spy underground in Pestledown
Leaf Gougepenny – Colcan spy living in Pestledown (see Colcanans)
Coffun Cricket – member of the spy underground in Pestledown
Santasians
Misson Dalistro - Geography and History Tutor for Trak and Val. Spy for Santasia.
Sereni Barazzi - Madame Barazzi, a courtesan hired by Misson Dalistro in Espozia to give Trak manners lessons as well as lessons on how to be comfortable in Court.
Senior Garono Dalistro - head of Santasian Council. Father of Misson. Senior is the title of the Council leader.
Mistress Nullia - A high Purple Master, instrumental in
Trak’s first escape from the Magicians Guild. A double spy like Honor.
Adolphus Niamo - Military leader of the Loyalist Santasian forces
Warishians
Nez Ferez - A prince of Warish, killed in book one by Neel’s machinations.
Asem Ferez - A third cousin to the king and one of his tribe. Former fighter and now spy for King Marom
Marom Ferez - King of the Warish - Leader of the Warish Tribes.
Ferezan - Tribe of Nez of whom Asem and the King are members.
Kulara - Asem’s second and most favorite wife. She is adept in magic and ends up mentoring Valanna.
Captain Mizor – soldier in Balbaam’s palace guard loyal to Asem Ferez
Rumanna – Asem Ferez’s first wife who stays in the Arid Lands
Colcanans
Berin Titrius - Friend of Asem
Service Nomia (Benium or Ben) – Willing Nomia’s father and a retired Innovator, the highest level of magic in Colcan.
Leaf Gougepenny – Spy in Pestledown. Married and linked with Berin Titrius.
Toryans
Tembul - Toryan scout leader
Lenis - Toryan noble. Has relationship with abducted Princess. Antagonist
Sirul - Young Toryan officer. Assigned as army liaison and becomes friends w/Trak
King Basiul - Elected king of the Eastern Toryans.
Hana - Maid to Princess Pullia
Princess Pullia – West Toryan princess sold to Emperor of Bennin
Benninese
Paka (Hokono) – Instructor of Benninese language joining Trak’s party in Amorim
Mori – Female merchant who hires Trak as caravan guard
Jomio (Jojo) – Former high-level bureaucrat and prisoner
Kanoki – Associate of Jomio
Naroki – Chief Guard at Mining Camp
Shinowa – Court Magician to Benninese Emperor
Vashtans
Derit – female member of the Blue Swan clan
Henrig – Blue Swan in Warish
Canwog – Blue Swan in Warish
Bestik – Blue Swan in Warish
Ferikan – Blue Swan in Bennin
Markik – Blue Swan in Bennin
Boriak – Blue Swan in Bennin
Countries
Torya
Small Indigenous race to the Covansian continent. Reclusive and confined to the Mountainous forests that cling to the borders of Colcan, Santasia and Kandanna. Stronger in magic, not perceived as civilized. Horrid reputation, but looked on as bogeymen. Natural culture, not aggressive, but will defend their lives and families.
Santasia
Large fertile country. The culture is like a Spanish-Italian mix with people with that kind of appearance. Warm, more hot-blooded. Less magical, but its guild will absorb any magician. Ruled by a Council, appointed from aristocracy and elected headed by the Senior.
Colcan
Emotionally controlled, rigid, land with many magicians. Ruled by a Board of Deans from Bitrium, it’s capital and learning center. Very democratic, but paranoid about invasion from the Santasians. People are slightly lighter complected than the Santasians, but from the same basic stock.
Kandanna
Outside of the forests on the mountains separating Kandanna from Santasia, an arid land. Much less farming, but more livestock. The country is ruled by an aristocratic bureaucracy.
Pestle
Kingdom. Is deteriorating due to a very weak king and the increasingly subversive activities of the Warishians. Magic is outlawed and its practice merits a sentence of death. Once a place of strong magicians.
Warish
A kingdom recently taken over by desert people (the Ferezan being the ruling tribe). Arid land, mostly desert except along the Pusuun River which is like the Nile in Egypt. More of a middle-eastern style civilization. Not much magic among the people.
Torya - Continent of Colcan, Santasia Kandanna, also the region that the Toryans claim as their own territory
Cokasan- current name of the Toryan continent.
Norland - Country to the north of Santasia. Not highly civilized, but not fans of the Warishians. Magic is permitted, but very few magicians are willing to live in the harsh conditions.
Bennin- Asian style country below the equator.
Vashta– Continent far to the east of Cokasan
Locations
Pestle
Herring’s Bone - A small port by the sea, a day’s walk from Trak’s village.
Greenbrook - Trak’s very small home village
Pestledown - Capital city of Trak’s country
Warish
Balbaam - Capital city of Warish built at the side of a great river.
The Pusuun River - That runs from the southern mountains up towards the middle sea. It passes Balbaam on its way.
Amorim - Warish Town at mouth of Pusuun River
Colcan
Tachium - Port city in Colcan
Bitrium - Seat of the Magician’s College in Colcan
Santasia
Espozia - Capital city of Santasia.
Nikia - Southernmost port city in Santasia
Torya
Kizru – Hidden capital of the Toryans
Dianza - Southern Pass through Torya from Kandanna to Santasia
Lazanti - Northern Pass through Torya from Kandanna to Santasia/Espozia
Bennin
Homika –Closest port to Amorim
Peskoa – City midway from Homika to capital
Beniko – Capital of Bennin
Lalalo – Pokoan port, closest to the continent of Pestle
Magician In Captivity
Copyright ©2016 Guy Antibes. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the permission of the author.
~
This is a work of fiction. There are no real locations used in the book, the people, settings and specific places are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual persons, locations, or places are purely coincidental.
Published by CasiePress LLC in Salt Lake City, UT, April, 2016.
www.casiepress.com
Cover & Book Design: Kenneth Cassell
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ISBN-13: 978-
ISBN-10:
AUTHOR’S NOTE
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I’d like to thank Judy for her editing and Keith and Justin for their opinions to help get this book into shape.
— Guy Antibes
A BIT ABOUT GUY
~
With a lifelong passion for speculative fiction, Guy Antibes found that he rather enjoyed writing fantasy as well as reading it. So a career was born and Guy anxiously engaged in adding his own flavor of writing to the world. Guy lives in the western part of the United States and is happily married with enough children to meet or exceed the human replacement rate.
You can contact Guy at his website: www.guyantibes.com.
†
BOOKS BY GUY ANTIBES
POWER OF POSES
Book One: Magician in Training
Trak Bluntwithe, an illiterate stableboy, is bequeathed an education by an estranged uncle. In the process of learning his letters, Trak finds out that he is a magician. So his adventures begin that will take him to foreign countries, fleeing from his home country, who seeks to execute him for the crime of being able to perform magic. The problem is that no country is safe for the boy while he undergoes training. Can he stay ahead of those who want to control him or keep his enemies from killing him?
Book Two: Magician in Exile
Trak Bluntwithe is a young man possessing so much magical power that he is a target for governments. Some want to control him and others want to eliminate the threat of his potential. He finds himself embroiled in the middle of a civil war. He must fight in order to save his imprisoned father, yet he finds that he has little taste for warfare. Trak carries this conflict onto the battlefield and finds he must use his abilities to stop the war in order to protect the ones he loves.
; FANTASY - EPIC / SWORD & SORCERY / YOUNG ADULT
~
THE WARSTONE QUARTET
An ancient emperor creates four magical gems to take over and rule the entire world. The ancient empire crumbles and over millennia. Three stones are lost and one remains as an inert symbol for a single kingdom among many. The force that created the Warstones, now awakened, seeks to unite them all, bringing in a new reign of world domination—a rule of terror.
Four Warstones, four stories. The Warstone Quartet tells of heroism, magic, romance and war as the world must rise to fight the dark force that would enslave them all.
FANTASY - SWORD & SORCERY/EPIC
Book One: Moonstone | Magic That Binds
A jewel, found in the muck of a small village pond, transforms Lotto, the village fool, into an eager young man who is now linked to a princess through the Moonstone. The princess fights against the link while Lotto seeks to learn more about what happened to him. He finds a legacy and she finds the home in her father’s army that she has so desperately sought. As Lotto finds aptitude in magical and physical power, a dark force has risen from another land to sow the seeds of rebellion. It’s up to Lotto to save the princess and the kingdom amidst stunning betrayal fomented by the foreign enemy.
Book Two: Sunstone | Dishonor’s Bane
Shiro, a simple farmer, is discovered to possess stunning magical power and is involuntarily drafted into the Ropponi Sorcerer’s Guild. He attracts more enemies than friends and escapes with his life only to end up on a remote prison island. He flees with an enchanted sword containing the lost Sunstone. Trying to create a simple refuge for an outlawed band of women sorcerers, he is betrayed by the very women he has worked to save and exiled to a foreign land. There, he must battle for his freedom as he and his band become embroiled in a continent-wide conflict.