by Kris A Hiatt
“You may not have it perfectly mastered, but both you and Heral have earned the title, I assure you,” Drevic told him. “But there’s something Kint and I have just stumbled upon that we want you both to consider.”
“He does deserve it,” Treace said, thinking of Heral. He wasn’t so certain of himself. “But what’s new?”
“Kint and I were comparing our thoughts for each magic,” Drevic explained. “More precisely, what exactly we thought about while we used each magic.”
“And?”
“He said that when he uses a distant barrier, he focuses on the calculating portion of his mind and memories. The ones where he anticipates outcomes.”
Treace considered Drevic’s words.
“And you haven’t been successful yet have you?”
“No,” Treace replied. “He told me to anticipate where my magic would be needed. I just thought he was giving general instructions, not telling me an emotion to use. Anticipation? Is that even an emotion? I thought it was more a state of mind.”
“Aren’t all emotions a state of mind?” Drevic asked. “It’s a rudimentary way of saying it, but you get my point.”
Treace thought about it and decided that the Archbishop was right. “We know fear is a barrier over oneself, now you’re saying anticipation is a distant barrier. So if there are emotions we haven’t tapped into, does that mean there are other magics?”
“My question exactly,” Drevic replied. “I know you, don’t try anything new, but ponder it while you’re away. Get Kiril’s thoughts too, she’s quite strong. I’ll get Emiah’s thoughts, and Heral’s too of course, and we’ll discuss our findings when you return. List out what exactly you think of while you use your magic. There may be something there.”
Treace didn’t know why that wasn’t already being done. They were told to think of love, and fear, and others, but no one ever truly defined exactly what that was in their minds. He found it interesting to say the least.
“But you should go,” Drevic told him. “They’ve been out in the cold for a while now. You shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
He pictured Kiril in the cold, shivering. He did need to go. He didn’t want the woman he cared for to freeze to death waiting for him. Thinking of her reminded him of something else. “There’s something between you two, isn’t there?” Treace asked. He didn’t think it was entirely his business, but for some reason he was inclined to ask.
“You’re not speaking of Kiril are you?”
“No, Emiah,” Treace clarified. He wondered if she was someone that Drevic cared about.
“I’d like to think so,” Drevic said warmly. “I didn’t know her before her recent adventures, but I think she’s getting back to who she truly is. But, I am gently moving forward, I assure you. I know her experience with men hasn’t been the best.”
“With you, that will change,” Treace assured him.
“Go now,” Drevic bade him, his blushing cheeks visible in the meager light.
Treace nodded and walked away. He was glad that Drevic had found someone that he connected with. He was happier to know that Emiah was finally with a man of quality. Drevic would treat her the way she deserved to be treated.
~~~
Treace pulled the cloak from his head and shook off the snow as he entered. The halls were dark and quiet as he made his way to his destination. He wasn’t entirely certain as to why he was so adamant on this. He knew what he was about to do was a crime, yet he couldn’t help but feel as if it was the right thing to do. This was a big step for someone whose crimes to date consisted of a handful of lies. He pictured Raythien hanging from a noose. His mind was set.
As he rounded the last corner the guard came into view. The man, about Treace’s age, had his chair on its rear legs leaned against the wall. His head was down and his chin was nearly touching his chest.
Treace detected a faint growling sound. He nearly paused to look around but then realized the guard had his eyes closed and was snoring. He smiled knowing this just got much, much easier.
“Guard!” Treace barked.
The man started and nearly fell out of his chair. He jumped to his feet and stared at Treace in wild surprise. His hand reflexively went to the hilt of his sword, but he didn’t unsheathe it.
“Sleeping on the job and now you want to draw a sword on me?” Treace bellowed. “Are you trying to lose your job and your head?”
“No, sir,” the man stammered out, shaking his head.
“Good! Now get that prisoner ready,” Treace instructed.
“But, sir, I’ve got orders to keep him in there.”
“And now you’ve got orders to let him out. This isn’t difficult. Just do as you’re told.”
“Do you have the papers, sir?” he asked with little confidence.
Must be Exodin instructed that no one release him unless they had orders directly from him. “Of course I do,” Treace told him. He pretended to look through his pockets and under his armor.
“You don’t have them do you?” the man asked, seeming a little more confident.
“I’ll tell you what. You let me take him without having to trudge all the way back to my quarters to get the papers, and I’ll won’t tell anyone that you were sleeping on the job.”
The man considered Treace’s words. It didn’t take him long to come to a conclusion.
“Get up, prisoner!” the guard barked.
Treace knew the guard didn’t really have an option. If the man didn’t release the prisoner, he would lose his job for sleeping while on duty. If he let Treace take him without orders, he could claim that a superior ordered him to do so. He’d probably be disciplined, but not dismissed.
“Couldn’t sleep anyway,” Raythien told him.
Treace didn’t think about what Raythien would be wearing right now. He had Moff secure heavy clothes, armor, and a bow for the man, but those were outside of town. In the cell he was only wearing clothes fit for spring or fall, not blowing snow. “Your cloak,” Treace told the guard, pointing to the fabric hanging over the back of the chair. “I forgot to bring one for him.”
The guard frowned but backed away from the door and pulled the cloak from the chair. He held it out to Raythien, who took it.
Treace motioned for Raythien to join him.
“Thanks,” Raythien told the guard.
“Keep up the good work,” Treace told the man before pushing Raythien in front of him.
“Keep up the good work?” Raythien asked quietly as they traversed the dark hallways to the exit.
“It’s all I could think of,” Treace replied.
“Good thing he was sleeping or else that never would have worked.”
“It made it easier.”
“Well it’s the only reason we got out of there. Hell, I didn’t believe your story at all. You’re a horrible liar,” Raythien informed him.
“So I’m told. Now come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” Treace replied. It was all he wanted to tell him right then.
“And that patting of your armor? I could see that was fake with my eyes closed.”
“Do you want to go back?” Treace asked.
“Now that you mention it, that was some superior acting. When this is all said and done, you should do it full-time. I mean, I was blown away by your level of talent. Who knew?”
“I’m already regretting this,” Treace moaned as he exited the building and out into the cold night air.
“Lead on young actor,” Raythien told him. “Maybe we should change your stage name to Jailbreak.”
Treace ignored him.
“You know, since this was your second time breaking someone out?”
Treace shook his head but didn’t reply.
Chapter 10
“My spy has made a connection within Liernin’s ranks. According to the last letter, he has inside information on Liernin’s pet dog,” Brental told him. Shamir had somehow found out about his spy, so
he had come clean a few days ago. Whether or not it was Vrindel who let the news slip, he couldn’t be certain. But the King wasn’t nearly as angry about it as Brental thought he would be. Unless he was waiting for the right time to punish him, which wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for the man.
“If your spy can be trusted, it will help with the assault,” King Shamir conceded. “But, as I said before, with the amount of men we have at our disposal, I doubt it will matter in the long run.”
“My source is reliable. Besides, this information could help save soldiers’ lives. For every life we save, you’ll make more in taxes,” Brental pointed out.
“And every life we save is another life I have to feed,” Shamir replied testily.
Brental knew that Shamir had already paid huge sums of money for this campaign. It was a colder and longer winter than most, and the extra expenses were adding up. Even with the bad winter, had Shamir listened to Brental instead of Drokier, he wouldn’t be running out of money. But Drokier convinced him that Liernin wouldn’t surrender willingly and would need to be threatened with a large force. The extra men and supplies were not originally accounted for and the coffers were beginning to thin and it was driving Shamir mad. He was getting angrier by the day. When the timing was right, Brental would offer up the vast coffers of the College. The King couldn’t know that he held a fortune in the bowels there, and Brental wasn’t going to let on that he knew either. At least not until the time was right to serve his purpose. He needed to make sure the King knew just how valuable he was. Literally this time, it would seem. “Is this campaign more costly than you thought?” he dared to ask.
“You know damn well that it is,” Shamir spouted. “Who would have thought men would eat so damn much?”
“The food, the wages, the armor, weapons, wagons, horses—” Brental listed off.
“Yes, yes, and every other damn thing,” Shamir said, interrupting him. “Make yourself useful and find a way to save money or else we likely won’t have enough to keep paying the men through the spring.”
“Yes, my King,” Brental replied, offering a bow.
He smiled as he walked away. Any frustration the King may have was not shared by him. He was more than happy to see the man agitated. He only hoped it would get worse. It wouldn’t last, he knew. Eventually, he would most likely offer up the money he held in storage at the College, but until then, he’d enjoy the King’s frustration.
~~~
Brental neared the door and realized from the voices inside that he wasn’t the first to arrive to Shamir’s meeting. “You’re asking us to move north now?” Brental heard Drokier ask from inside the room.
He opened the door to not only find that he wasn’t the first to arrive, but he was the last. Shamir stood in his usual spot at the head of the table, Disdane on his right, and Drokier on his left. They were looking over what appeared to be a map on the table.
“I’m not asking,” Shamir replied. “You will move north with the army.”
“Didn’t you give Liernin until spring?” Brental asked as he approached the table. Granted, this winter was worse than usual, which could have played into it. Originally, he thought Shamir a fool for giving Liernin so much time. It would allow the enemy time to fortify their defenses. But then he realized that at the time, Shamir simply didn’t have the forces needed to march into Haven and take it over. He had a small force, but not one near to the size required to take over a city. But by the time their forces would be ready, it would be winter. Those conditions made it much easier for those on the defensive.
“I’ve changed my mind,” an angry Shamir replied.
“May I?” Disdane asked, gesturing to the table.
As Brental got closer he confirmed that it was indeed a map they were intently gazing upon. It wasn’t the most accurate map he’d seen, but it would suffice for simple battle plans.
Shamir didn’t reply, but nodded his agreement to the large man.
“If we were to split the army in two,” Disdane explained. “I’ll take half to Kilindric as you suggest. The other half Drokier could sail to the north of Haven and put in near Bear Isle.”
The large man moved wooden pieces on the map that certainly were representations of their forces.
“I want Liernin to tremble at the full size of our force gathered at his front door,” Shamir argued.
“He’ll tremble more when we have troops at both his front and back doors,” Disdane countered. “When he has nowhere to run, he’ll have to surrender.”
“If we sail anywhere near Haven, won’t their ships spot us?” Brental asked. Haven sat at the end of a long bay, but it wasn’t so long that they couldn’t see sailing ships in the distance.
“I’m sure they’ll be either in the bay, or close by,” Drokier offered. “But I doubt they’ll sail far enough out to see where we’ll be coming from.”
“And you’re sure of that?” the King asked.
“I’m not aware of any trade ships sailing up there,” Drokier replied. “During my time there nearly all goods were delivered by wagon.”
“What’s up there?” Brental asked, not familiar with the area.
“Hassir, a small village that used to be known for mining, but hasn’t produced much in years. There’s some stubborn families that stayed there living a pathetic existence,” Drokier explained. “They’ll pose little resistance.”
“They’ll surrender in no time,” Disdane boasted.
“So they won’t be able to see the ships?” Brental asked.
“No,” Drokier replied. “We’ll be far too far east of them for them to spot us.”
“It will work,” Disdane promised.
“No,” Shamir told them.
“You don’t like the plan?” Drokier asked.
“Not in its entirety,” Shamir clarified. “You’ll take a majority of the forces through Kilindric as originally planned. Then when you have them distracted, Disdane and his force will sweep in from the north and crush them.”
“But I’m much more familiar with the layout than him,” Drokier argued.
“You don’t want them to surrender, do you?” Brental asked.
“I want them all destroyed,” Shamir replied coldly.
“And they will be,” Disdane promised.
Brental didn’t oppose the idea. He just thought it was much better to allow Liernin to surrender and forfeit his life to save his precious city. It would send quite the message to anyone who supported Liernin. Granted, destroying everyone who opposed them also sent a powerful message, but Brental preferred the subtle approach in this instance.
“Then it’s settled,” Shamir announced.
“We’ll be ready when the snow melts,” Drokier assured him.
“We aren’t waiting until then,” Shamir corrected, looking at Drokier unblinkingly. “Make preparations. We are leaving by the end of the week.”
Drokier opened his mouth to speak but snapped it shut, apparently thinking better of it. Brental didn’t blame him. The way the King gave the order left no room for argument. He had already made up his mind.
“I’ll see to it,” Disdane said, offering a bow before walking away.
“My King,” Drokier offered before he also bowed and left.
“And where do you feel I’ll be most useful?” Brental asked when they were alone.
“At my side, of course,” Shamir replied.
Brental tried to hide his excitement. He had hoped for just that response. As much as his barrier was a demonstration of how he might protect the fighting men, he didn’t want to be on the front lines with them while they were doing so.
“I wouldn’t be so happy if I were you,” Shamir informed him. “We’ll both be out there with the men.”
Unsuccessful at hiding his excitement, Brental took care to hide his disappointment. “As you wish.”
“Let’s be clear on something,” Shamir began. “Feel free to use your magic to help the men, that’s fine. Make a show of it. But if there�
��s even a hint that I may be in danger, a barrier better be shimmering over me in an instant. That’s how you can remain useful.”
“Of course,” Brental replied. The King was going to put himself in harm’s way? Brental may be at risk too, but it was better than staying behind. The front lines would bring forth new possibilities, if one was smart enough and so inclined to prepare for them, which Brental most certainly was. “If I may go make preparations?”
Shamir shooed him away.
He bowed and left the room. For the second time in as many days he left the King’s side with a smile on his face. That didn’t happen often.
Chapter 11
“I can’t believe it worked!” Moff exclaimed as they neared.
“Keep your voice down!” Kiril berated in a loud, yet insistent whisper.
“It’s not as if anyone knows what’s going on,” Moffred replied.
“I can’t believe you’re excited to see me,” Raythien said to Moff.
“Quite the opposite, actually,” Moff countered. “I wish you were still in that cell. But I’m very happy that my friend isn’t sitting in there next to you.”
“Just give him his pack and horse and let’s be on our way,” Treace instructed.
Moffred tossed Raythien his newly procured gear which the man caught easily.
Treace hopped on his horse and waited for Raythien to climb atop his.
“I’m good,” Raythien informed him a short time later.
“Hold on,” Treace instructed them. “Kiril, Moff, if you want to back out, now’s the time. If you want to turn back, best do it now. I’ll understand.”
Moff and Kiril exchanged a quick glance.
“From here on out you’ll be accomplices to my crime. I could probably convince them that it wasn’t treason and that I was just doing right by someone under my supervision, but I doubt it. This is serious.”
“I’m your accomplice for life,” Kiril told him, urging her horse forward.
“You’re an idiot,” Moff told him with a shake of his head as he moved his own horse into action.
“I’m just looking out for my friends,” Treace argued.