The four of them went to bed that night a little surer about their jobs, and what actions to take during various possible attacks.
It was a little disturbing for him to sleep with anyone in the same bedroom, much less three attractive women one of which he as insanely in love with. Despite that, he used his disciplined mind to shut down any temptations or distracting thoughts, which was ironically made easier with Carolynn and Karina in the room acting as a foil to any temptations he and Lia may have held.
It also helped to remind himself he was still on duty, even in that moment, and they had to stay focused on keeping Princess Vida safe.
Chapter Three
The morning sky was a warm blue, but the sun wasn’t even visible yet as they woke up, cast a few hasty hygiene spells, and followed the young princess out of the suite with still waking minds. He cast an extra spell that morning, once he’d been able to focus enough to find the right rod in his pockets, which cleared his mind of sleepiness and let him focus on their surroundings, the rest of the team, and his charge.
He’d made a bad assumption last night given breakfast time for the royal family yesterday, and so had the three ladies on his team. The princess started her day at the crack of dawn, they should’ve sought sleep sooner themselves, but instead had spoken late into the night about group tactics during scenarios, and to get to know each other a little better. It’d never occurred even once to them to ask the royal guards about the princess’s wake up time last night, which in hindsight was stupid.
Still, it was hard to regret the time spent. He was a lot more confident they wouldn’t be contributing to the confusion of a surprise attack of some kind if or when one took place. He was just… tired. He’d live.
The princess herself wasn’t in one of her court dresses. She was dressed in riding leathers. She looked good, and was perhaps surprisingly in shape, which was why it wasn’t all that shocking when she led the four mages to the royal guard courtyard behind the castle, and she picked out a practice sword.
With the sun on the horizon, all they saw on the ground were shadows from the walls and the vast castle itself, but the lighting was still more than good enough to spar.
He was curious, but held his tongue, his questions would be answered in the long term if he just watched.
So, for the first hour of the day he was amazed at the prowess of the young princess as she stood head to head with the blade masters of the royal guard. She moved fast, with authority, grace, confidence, and seemed to enjoy the activity given the smiling raptor’s gaze she wore on her face as she disarmed her opponent.
They must’ve put a sword in her hand before she could walk. That, superb training, and the obvious hard work on her part, all led him to the estimation that she was much better than he was, and that without magic he’d lose. He was experienced enough to know the royal guardsmen and guard-women she sparred with weren’t giving her any slack at all due to her station.
That was true for any of the blade masters in the courtyard, that he’d lose without magic. He was just surprised to see it from the princess, and he tried to adjust his thoughts to this new reality. It wasn’t about her being a woman, it was about her being royal, he’d expected her to be a bit spoiled, but that clearly wasn’t the case.
Entitled perhaps, maybe a little self-important, but not lazy or spoiled at all. He also had to admit the royal family made good rulers, they weren’t hard on the commoners at all, while lawbreakers were dealt with firmly and quickly, and they were well liked. At least in Reton itself, outside of the fire, death, and air mage towers at any rate. He suspected she would follow in her parent’s footsteps in that way. Over the last day, he’d seen her not overly notice servants, but neither was she cruel or indifferent to those below her station, which said a lot about her, didn’t it?
Her martial competence would also make her easier to guard. The first few moments in any surprise encounter were critical, and he felt it was a lot more likely she’d react like a warrior in those first few split-seconds, and preserve her own life for that first moment affording the guard and his team the time to put down the threat.
Hell, if the princess wore a sword with her court dresses, she’d probably do a good job of that last herself. In retrospect, it made a lot of sense, she’d be facing assassins for the rest of her life, much like any leader would. He wished he could join the practice, and knew he’d miss his sword practices over the next month, but for him he was on duty for the next twenty-seven days.
That was another part of his training that was inconvenienced with his sudden rise to mage, there’d be more missions after that. His sword training would suffer. Still, he could at least do his sword forms, most missions weren’t guarding missions, and he could afford an hour to himself a day for that kind of thing. As for that moment, he’d have to be happy that there was an alternate magical training method to grow his magic, at least that growth wouldn’t suffer.
Speaking of which, he got started on that. Five minutes every hour, for twelve hours, each day.
Vida was flush, covered in sweat, and smiling widely as they headed back up to her suite. After Lia and Karina checked her inner suite, the princess disappeared inside with a couple of ladies’ maids, and then came back out transformed into the soft princess he’d met yesterday in about an hour, just in time for that late breakfast. She had on an elaborate court dress that was quite voluminous in the skirts, the color somewhere between purple and rose pink that had subtle gradations, getting slightly darker from neckline to ankle.
He suddenly suspected she had a weapon or two stashed in those layers of flowing skirt, and then had to suppress a chuckle. That was something to get used to as well, even the last few months of his mostly solitary existence, he was far from used to holding his tongue all the time.
In fact, he wasn’t quite sure why this job was so coveted, and if he’d ever want to win another competition again. Oh, it was interesting enough, he was sure, getting to hear all the latest news of Reton in the royal court, and a safer job than most, but the limitations of speech and movement were stifling.
He got his first interesting news later that morning.
He couldn’t imagine approaching the throne wasn’t intimidating for people. The prince was off somewhere getting lessons, but both the queen and princess were on the thrones, which were large, golden, and looked quite uncomfortable as they sat upon a dais. There were four royal guards stationed at the public entrance of the room, as well as two more at the back entrance to the private parts of the castle.
Then there were four more royal guards along each of the adjacent walls. If that wasn’t enough, there were also seven mages fairly close to the dais. They were on the princess’s side, while Sienna, Justin, and Amanda were on the queen’s. They weren’t on the dais, but they were close.
The seneschal announced, “Master mage Tanner, your majesty.”
Mage Tanner, in his red robes, swept into the room and walked boldly up to the dais, stopping just fifteen feet away or so. The tower mage he disliked the most had a smarmy smile on his face, and it was at that point he wondered if he might not like this job after all. Firsthand information on the enemy and all that, and he hardly knew the man that seemed to dislike him so much, for some reason he couldn’t quite grasp, even if he knew the source of it.
Queen Delphine nodded regally in greeting, “Master Tanner, to what do we owe the pleasure?”
Mage Tanner said, “Your Majesty. I wished to inform you that we plan to open a gate to Sleekfalls in two days. If you have reinforcements or supplies you can move quickly, we can get it there. Mages Garen and Talia will also ensure any maimed soldiers from the fighting will be sent back through to our side as well.”
Mages Garen and Talia were Lia’s parents, and the ones in charge of the mage efforts down there. He was both eager and a little intimidated to meet them. As far as he was concerned, his mind was decided, and he thought Lia’s was as well, but if Garen disapproved of their courting
and eventual handfasting in the future, it would make things a lot more difficult.
By tradition, the father had the right of first refusal, but there was some leeway in that. The last thing he’d ever do is disrespect Lia’s permission to court her since he already had it. Sure, there was a little self interest in that, he loved her to distraction, but there was also respect.
As for the last part, life mages could do miracles, and heal even mortal wounds if not immediately deadly, but they couldn’t regrow limbs. He suspected he could do that, if he put his mind to creating a spell for it. But… it was too risky, he couldn’t save everyone as hard as that was, and he couldn’t help anyone at all, if revealing he was a mystic got him killed. Maybe that was sophistry, or cowardice, but he didn’t think so, not when Cassandra so assiduously avoided the subject.
The queen replied, “That is welcome news, I’ll send word after discussing it with my generals. I am curious however, it’s only been two days since the battle started?”
He suppressed a smile, as he realized she was essentially asking him why he was opening a gate at all, since they’d done so three days ago to send all the masters and half the other mages down there. They shouldn’t need relief or supplies for at least a month, maybe two. Since it was a week trip to the border, that seemed to mean normal transportation would suffice.
Then he saw something he’d have sworn he’d never see, Tanner smiled charmingly at the queen. Or at least, the master mage tried, but it came out more like a grimace.
Tanner replied, “The situation just days past was an emergency of sorts, your majesty, and I regret to say that in our haste to comply with your wishes and secure Sleek pass, we sent all our masters and our choices of the other mages were determined by who was on the top of the current duty list. While expedient, it was perhaps hasty and a mistake to do it that way.
“Some mage disciplines are better for war than others, and some personalities are more suited. We are recalling some of those poor choices, and we’re sending replacements, so the overall number of a hundred mages on duty at the pass will stay the same. All will serve the effort of course, if in different ways.”
It sounded reasonable, but all his alarms were going off, Tanner was lying. Or perhaps Tanner was just hiding other truths. That didn’t make the man’s true plans evil either, just secret.
Was he not guilty of the same thing, keeping his true abilities hidden from all but Lia and Cassandra, all while he served faithfully and stood behind his oath to the royal family?
He wasn’t the only one, it seemed the queen wasn’t wholly satisfied with that answer given her expression, but she didn’t press the matter either. Politics at work, that he perhaps didn’t entirely understand. She could order the full truth, but perhaps it wasn’t worth antagonizing Tanner over, considering she was already in charge. Or it could be simple respect for her subject’s right to some privacy? In short, maybe it was just the queen wasn’t a tyrant.
“The location of the portal?” she asked.
Tanner replied diffidently, “I’ll leave that up to you, your majesty. If you have no supplies or relief, we can do it on our ground and make arrangements to move the maimed, if there’s a lot to be sent, we can do it in the back courtyard of your castle. That might be easier than ferrying the supplies, weapons, and troops to the tower first.”
She nodded, “Very well, we are grateful. Was there anything else, Master Tanner?”
The twitch of annoyance in Tanner’s cheek for the queen’s dismissive tone was worth every hour of boredom he’d had so far, and quite likely for the rest of the assignment. Maybe guarding the royal family wasn’t such a bad gig after all, and he began to see the appeal.
He never claimed he didn’t have moments of pettiness, and Tanner’s intense dislike of him was returned in kind. Mostly because of the injustice of it. He really hadn’t done anything wrong, and even if he had meant the picnic as mocking, which he hadn’t, it wasn’t worth all the angst Tanner had managed to send his way the last four months. Nor was it worth the way Tanner had gotten him promoted early like the bastard had.
Tanner bowed low, then said, “No, your majesty. Thanks for your consideration.”
The queen waved her hand by the wrist only, “You have my leave to go.”
Tanner turned and marched out.
Princess Vida even looked a bit startled at her mother’s casual dismissal of such an important man, but she cleared her face quickly into a mask of royalty.
The morning court continued until lunchtime. There were a few judgements for nobles that had crossed some lines, generally coin fines, and then they broke for lunch. He already knew from yesterday, that the afternoon would be spent in the war room.
Chapter Four
He ate his lunch, his focus a little scattered, though he did retain enough to pay attention to who was coming in and out of the room. He also kept casting detect poison, as new goblets of wine and other food and drink seemed to continually stream into the room. He knew it wasn’t really like that, but it felt like it.
He also shared a few looks with Lia. It didn’t seem she was any happier being in his presence and forced to treat each other so professionally all the time either. He was barely even paying attention to the conversation at the table, it felt too much like eavesdropping, even if his oaths would ensure his silence on whatever he heard.
At least, until his subconscious heard Vida’s next words, and he did start to listen.
Vida asked, “Why were you so dismissive of Tanner, mother.”
Delphine sighed, “He’s up to something. When have you ever known him to come alone to court, to speak to us?”
There was silence for a moment, as Vida actually thought it through.
Vida replied, “Never. He is always attended by another mage, usually one of the other tower masters, but at the very least two of his own master fire mages. Of course, all the latter would be in Sleekpass right now.”
Delphine nodded, “It smacks of chicanery. His excuse for opening another gate so soon while possible, could’ve waited. The mages hate opening portals, because it drains them for hours, to do so twice in the span of nine days is suspicious.”
Vida frowned, “Do you think he intends trouble for us?”
The queen paused for a moment, then shook her head, “Doubtful, though we shouldn’t rule it out or make assumptions. Tanner does have aspirations that way, but he’s held in check by the four towers loyal toward us. We’ll have them make the portal here, with a lot of extra guards around, and maybe we can sniff out his true purpose. At the same time, one of us should be present, it will be good for morale with maimed coming back from the front lines, to show we do care.
“I suspect whatever he’s up to, it’s some internal bickering, the mage tower masters are always at each other’s throats. I was just letting him know I didn’t appreciate being used in whatever scheme he has cooked up. At the same time, I do suspect it will be useful to us, even if the pass isn’t in imminent danger of falling to the enemy, which is why I went along with it anyway.”
Vida tilted her head, “You think he came alone, so when we send the note, he can tell the other masters the portal was your idea? That’s childish.”
Delphine laughed in amusement, and then replied in an almost self-mocking tone of voice, “Children, nobles, and mages, very much alike. We all want to get our way.”
He made a strangled noise to control his own laugh as the princess giggled, fortunately no one called him on it, but Lia did grin at him and roll her eyes.
The queen continued, “But yes, that’s exactly what I think, like a small child playing his parents against one another. He probably wants that portal for reasons of his own, that only benefits him, and he simply didn’t want to get outvoted bringing it up in mage council, so he used me to make it compulsory.”
Vida nodded, “I will attend mother, and I’ll make sure those families are taken care of.”
Delphine nodded approvingly, “Be careful
, if you notice anything odd that could be a threat, I want you to leave immediately. While it’s the obvious explanation, that could be a red herring.”
“Yes, mother.”
He managed to finish his lunch without any more incidents of outburst, though it was a struggle for a while there.
That afternoon, as he’d suspected, the queen and princess went to the war room, while the young prince went his own way for more training and education. The war room was large enough to accommodate close to forty people. There was a very large table covered with papers, and maps hanging on three of the four walls.
The map getting the most attention that afternoon was of the Caincea Range, which were the mountains creating the natural border between the Vemor Empire, and the kingdom of Reton. There were six known passes, four of them suitable for moving wagon trains and armies. Although Sleekpass, the village named for Sleek pass, the actual pass, was the location of the enemy’s main thrust that could change to any of the other three. So far, for the last few months anyway, there hadn’t been more than small skirmishes between small scouting companies at the other three.
The current losses were horrifying to him, but at the same time he knew intellectually they were an acceptable number of losses in war. Both armies were at a stalemate, as Reton’s forces and mages held the enemy at the bottleneck of the pass. Should the enemy win through and gain a foothold, the face of the war would change and become much worse.
So far, it was going well enough, but the generals were arguing while the queen listened, and he found military theory as fascinating as he found it disturbing.
The main thrust of the argument was they could hold the pass indefinitely, but they couldn’t end the war defensively. While agreeing partially, the other general believed that Vemor hadn’t fully committed to war and was just testing their defenses. As long as they held, the emperor of Vemor would eventually call off the war altogether if they were patient, deciding that Reton was too prepared for them to win with acceptable losses.
Rune Mage: The Rune Mystic: Book Two Page 3