by B. T. Narro
Remi, surprisingly, appeared indifferent to it all as she kept on eating, sparing a few glances at Charlie. Eventually, Eden stopped backing away as Charlie seemed to be telling her something.
The four of us boys hurried over to listen.
“That’s why it has to be now,” Charlie was explaining. “I know you can do it. I’ve seen you use enchantments that are easier than this one.”
“God above, fine. If it means you will stop harassing us.”
Charlie nodded. He looked back and seemed glad to find me behind him.
“Come here, Jon.”
He grabbed my hand at the wrist and set my hand down on the long table near the side wall, the one clear of everyone’s plates. He put his hand down on the table next to mine, our two rings close.
Eden put the dead bat on the table near our hands. Then she squeezed in the space between us, her shoulders touching ours.
“Shut up and don’t move while I do this,” she said, even though no one was speaking.
She centered her hand over the bat and our two rings. The dead animal started to shift back and forth. Her breathing became loud. Her fingers bent and straightened.
A couple long minutes of this went by as I wondered what enchantment she was putting on the rings. More importantly, I wanted to know how long this would take. When Greda was going to enchant my ward of dteria, she said it would take an hour. I did not plan to stand here that long, no matter how much of a fit Charlie would throw.
However, after just a few minutes, Eden let down her hand. “It’s done.”
“That was fast,” I commented. “The girl at the Enchanted Devices shop said it took her an hour.”
“You mean Greda?” Eden asked me.
“Yeah, you know her?”
“I’ve known her for years. She’s the one who first taught me about ordia. Unfortunately, she’s a little slow at enchanting.”
“Your enchant took minutes.”
“All right, she’s very slow. But she’s my friend, and she’s very smart. Oh, also I’ve been a lot faster ever since we came back from the forest.”
“Quiet,” Charlie said. “We need to test.” He smiled as he looked at his ring. “How do I go about…? Oh, I know.”
He made a fist and started slamming it against the table rapidly. “Hey, Jon! Hey!” He started laughing hysterically as I jumped back and looked at my hand. “I’m calling you, Jon! Hey!”
“Stop that!” The ring was shaking uncontrollably. It felt like my finger was violently spasming.
“Get it? It’s a ring of calling!” Charlie was laughing hysterically for some reason. “It works! Now we just need a proper name. Ring of calling is too long. I know. Callring. I made us two callrings!”
I didn’t know Charlie could get this excited.
I still didn’t see why it was such a remarkable achievement as I massaged my sore finger.
“You’d better hope you don’t feel that callring when Charlie is alone in his room at night,” Michael teased.
Eden laughed quite hard, prompting Michael to chuckle as well.
I promptly took the ring off my finger at that. “Why did you fit it to my finger and not someone else’s?” I asked Charlie.
He looked perplexed. “Oh I…um.” He scratched his head. “I remember now. Because you’re the most likely to be in a dangerous situation. Now we just have to figure out a signal. Put on the ring again and try tapping on it. I’m going to stand over here.” Charlie ran all the way to the other side of the great hall.
Everyone had gathered around now except for the queen and the princess, who must have left during the commotion.
I was starting to see the purpose behind this as I tapped on my ring.
“Harder!” Charlie yelled. “I can barely feel it!”
I started flicking the ring with my nail.
“There!” He ran back to us. “What did you do?”
I showed him how I’d flicked it.
“This is marvelous!” Charlie said with a huge grin.
I did agree this had potential, but there was a problem…similar to the one Michael had mentioned.
“What happens if I’m using my hand to swing a sword? You’re going to feel everything.”
“No. It has to be violent jolts to the ring. Moving your hand won’t do it. See?” He started swinging his hand around to fight with an invisible weapon.
It was true, I didn’t feel anything.
This actually could be incredibly useful. That Charlie, full of surprises.
“How far will it reach?” I asked.
“It should work for up to ten miles.”
“Ten miles?” I nearly shouted.
“Isn’t it marvelous? We will have to test it later to be sure, though.”
“Wow,” Michael said. “That’s actually very useful, Charlie.”
“That’s not all!” he said with a lift of his finger. “I’m also going to make two tracking rings. Tracker rings? Track rings? I’ll figure out the name later. One person with one ring will be able to track the other person with their ring.”
“How does any of this work?” I asked.
Eden explained, “Everything is susceptible to enchantments to some degree, but birlabright works very well for things like this. Callrings require the essence of bat. For the tracker rings, Charlie, we’ll need the essence of a dog.” She lowered her eyelids at him. “I hope you know I would never speak to you again if you kill a dog for this.”
“Of course I wouldn’t ever kill a dog! I will use one already dead from the dead animal shop in the city.”
“What dead animal shop?” Eden asked.
“The one just south of here.”
“You mean the fur shop?” Eden asked incredulously.
“Yes, the owner pays people for their deceased pets or other found animals before turning them into fur. Will you come with me tomorrow to enchant the birlabright there? I don’t want to carry the dog all the way back here.”
“Ugh. Fine.”
“Jon, you don’t have to come.”
“That’s good news.”
“The tracker works differently than the rings,” Charlie explained. “First the square of metal is enchanted before I separate it and make the rings. That way, it knows to only track itself and won’t track other metal that has been enchanted in the same way.”
I looked over at the bat on the table. It was gray and a little more deflated than usual. “So this is what happens after an animal’s essence is used?”
“Why yes,” Eden said as she brushed her hand as if presenting it. “Today’s dinner was pork with a side of de-essenced bat. Thank you, Charlie, for this delightful experience that just had to happen while I was still eating.”
“You’re welcome!” Charlie said, utterly oblivious.
Eden sighed.
CHAPTER TWENTY
There was a guard outside the keep, but he opened the door for me. I thanked him and walked in. My breath was taken away by yet another stunning room. I guess I had expected the keep to be more of a military barricade than a place so artistically decorated, with elegant furniture and a wooden floor tinted gold. There were enormous stone pillars that reached all the way to the roof three tall stories above. Twin staircases rose to meet each level, a square balcony wrapping around each new floor. Although the floor was wood, the walls were stone. There were many doors on each floor, only a few shut. Three enormous fireplaces were built into the wall across from the entrance. All were lit. It was almost too warm within the keep.
I was honored to be let inside without a word. I figured the king had told his guards we could go anywhere we wanted within the castle. I was inclined to check out the dungeon, as I noticed a portcullis and stairs leading down, but it was already late. I needed to see the king.
I heard faintly the sounds of shouting. I followed my ear up to the second floor and peered through an open doorway into a hall. I saw Callie, the princess, with her ear next to a door in the hall. The shout
ing came from within.
She turned to me and put her finger over her lips as I approached. I recognized the king’s stern voice past the door, but he was too quiet for me to make out his words.
The king had specifically told me that his daughter needs to be told what to do when she acts inappropriately, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her to stop eavesdropping, especially when I wanted to know what was being said.
“What’s going on?” I whispered.
“I sent the guard away so I could listen. Leon came back drunk and screaming. My father put him in the dungeon until he calmed down. I don’t think it worked.”
She motioned for me to put my ear against the door.
I tried to turn around and walk away, but I just couldn’t overpower my curiosity. I leaned against the door near the princess.
Leon shouted, “You saw them! It’s hopeless.”
“Do you wish to go back into the dungeon?” the king challenged. “Is that what you’re telling me?”
Leon scoffed. “You are putting a lot of faith in a man who would rather die than go back to the dungeon. The same man could easily kill you right now.”
“So could many of the sorcerers you’re training, and you’ll never hear any of them threatening me. Think about what that says about you.”
“It says I’m not an idiot like they are. Half of them are too dumb to learn more than one spell. The other half are too arrogant to realize that they still know so little.”
“So teach them!”
“How am I supposed to do that when a girl knows how to hold a sword better than two of the men?”
“Do you ever listen to yourself?” the king snapped. It was startling to hear such unrestricted anger in his tone. “You are the arrogant one. You told me you could teach anyone, and now you complain that it’s impossible!”
“You had to have known I would say anything!”
There was a pause.
“Yes, I did know that. But I also decided to trust you just as you should trust your students.” The king sounded calm again. “Leon, there’s no reason for you to complain about this. We only have one option. We must fight.”
“There’s always another option. You can give up your kingdom to Rohaer.”
“That’s not an option,” the king said firmly. His voice became quieter when he spoke again. “You should know something.”
I pressed my ear harder against the door. I knew I was violating the king’s trust by listening, but the princess was here as well. Perhaps my punishment wouldn’t be quite as severe if we were caught, and this seemed too important to miss.
“Dteria is sweeping through Rohaer as many of Rohaer’s people, not just sorcerers, look to arm themselves,” the king said. “Normally, this would be a sure sign of a revolt. Dark mages would usually risk their lives for immediate power and fight against their own king, and the people would sooner turn on their king than be forced to march for war. However, there is no rebellion in Rohaer, not in any of the cities. It doesn’t make sense except for one thing. The dark mages and the commoners must know they cannot stand against their own ruling government. The army loyal to King Frederick must be that strong. We’re looking at the worst possible scenario. These dark mages and commoners might have joined with King Frederick and, when the snow clears, they will wreak havoc on all of Lycast.”
Leon didn’t reply for some time.
“Your scouts are telling you this?” he asked eventually.
“Yes, we just received another missive by bird. Do you see now what would happen if we let them win?”
Leon was silent for a little while. “I don’t understand. Why now is dteria spreading across Rohaer? It has always been contained before.”
“It doesn’t matter. It needs to be stopped.”
“It does matter! Finding out how or why it’s spreading could help us stop it.”
“You will get a different answer depending on who you ask.”
“Don’t tell me you believe the demigods are warring with each other,” Leon said.
“You have to accept there is a possibility they exist after what Grufaeragar has reported. There is no better explanation for how a woman claiming to be Souriff made her way to Hammashar and convinced the krepps, in their own language, not to attack us.”
“Sire, really—”
“Explain it!” Nykal interrupted. “Because no one else can.”
“Grufaeragar could have lied about someone visiting.”
“Then how else did he learn common tongue?”
It was silent for a little while.
“Just because no one can explain something doesn’t mean it has to be the gods,” Leon argued. “No one can explain where the sun came from. That doesn’t mean it has to be the gods. No one can explain where the first man came from. That doesn’t mean it has to be the gods.”
“Those are very different topics than a human visiting Hammashar and teaching the krepps common tongue in order to stop a war. It doesn’t require a difficult explanation. It happened. Someone did that recently. Now it was either a woman or a demigod, and I’ve never heard of a woman, or a man for that matter, who has learned the language of the krepps. There has been no contact between them and us until recently. And I certainly haven’t heard of a single person going to Hammashar and coming back alive. You have to at least admit that the chances of this being a demigod are just as strong, if not stronger, than it being a common woman.”
“I don’t want to discuss this.”
“No, you came here to yell, which seems to be the only thing you’re good at.”
“I came here to change your mind!”
“Fine. You wish to leave?” The king was shouting now, too. “You wish to give up? You win! Go ahead and leave.”
It was silent for a moment.
“I will not be dragged back into the dungeon?” Leon asked.
Hold on. Why would Leon be dragged back into the dungeon…unless he was in the dungeon before all of this began? My heart trilled. That would explain a lot.
“No,” the king answered. “An edict will be made. You will have broken your agreement, but you will be free.”
Another silence.
“I will stay until you find someone to replace me,” Leon said.
“I’m not going to find anyone.”
“There must be at least a few other sorcerers in your kingdom as strong as I am.”
“Don’t you realize that they would already be here if I could afford to purchase their loyalty? You were the last resort.”
“Tax your people! You are the king, after all.”
“The last time a king tried to tax his people so he could go to war, I organized the rebellion that led to his death. What do you think is going to happen…you know what? Never mind. I’m growing tired of this. Go to the great hall and have your free meal, then sleep in your warm bed. If you wish to leave, I expect you to do so at sunrise when the drawbridge is lifted. No one will look for you. You will be forgotten.”
It was silent yet again.
“But if you choose to stay,” Nykal intoned, “then I want your full commitment. You will stay with us until the end, no matter what happens.”
This time, the silence lasted a long while.
“I’ll make you another deal,” Leon said. “I’ll stay if you try to find someone you can afford to help me teach your fools out there.”
“Very well. I agree to those terms.”
I whispered to Callie, “Come on. We’re lucky we haven’t been caught so far. No reason to risk it any longer.”
But she shook her head, then pressed her ear against the door again.
“It’s about over,” I whispered. I gestured for her to follow me as I quickly walked away.
She listened for another breath, then looked at me and nodded. “All right.”
We were just starting to walk away when a voice called out, “Hold right there!”
I looked over my shoulder at Barrett coming down the hall from
the other side.
“Oh no,” Callie whispered.
I swore inwardly as Barrett hurried toward us with heavy footsteps.
Leon opened the door to the throne room before Barrett made it. He spotted us standing there, frozen, and glared at me as if he was thinking about slugging me in the face. He opened the door wider and gestured for the king to look at us.
My heart dropped when I saw the ruler’s disappointed face.
“How long have you been listening, Jon?” Nykal asked.
“It’s my fault!” Callie said to my surprise. “I sent the guard away so I could listen. Jon just arrived recently. He told me to stop.”
Leon and Nykal came out into the hall. The king glanced at his councilman. “Is what my daughter says true?”
“Father!” Callie said, insulted.
“I just arrived myself, sire,” Barrett said.
“Jon, look at me,” the king pointed at his eyes. “What did you hear?”
“A lot,” I admitted.
I was shocked when Leon pushed me hard against the wall and held me there.
“The hell is wrong with you?” he growled.
“Easy, Leon,” Nykal warned.
Leon didn’t seem to hear, his heavy arm across my chest. “Don’t you know that eavesdropping on the king’s private conversation can be considered treason? He could have you hanged for this!”
My eyes darted over to Nykal. “I’m sorry, sire. I wasn’t planning on eavesdropping. I came here to speak to you about something that happened in the city, but I heard shouting and didn’t want to interrupt. Callie is honorable for trying to cover for me, but it’s my fault. I knew I shouldn’t have listened, but I couldn’t help it when I overheard the kind of conversation you were having.” I swallowed as I prepared to say something either brave or idiotic. “I think all of us deserve to know what was said.”
Leon stepped back from me. “He’s too stupid to be scared. You’ll need to punish him to get the message across.”
I was surprised by Leon’s sudden calm attitude. I could smell ale on him, but he didn’t sound drunk.