To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6

by John Buttrick

  Bella gave the customary nod of respect due a fellow Accomplished. “I would be delighted to dine with the Maestro of the Atlantan Guild.”

  Daniel nodded in return. “And, I look forward to dining with a Scholar and Senior Soarer of Aakadon.”

  He and his escorts walked on while Bella went wherever he had been headed. A little father along they entered the area where some of the foreign royals were situated. Thirteen year-old Prince Lauren Van Efery of Taracopa and eight year-old Prince Rorie KaTaar of Cenkataar were standing together. The boys looked up as Daniel and his escorts approached. Rorie’s eyes with a slight upward slant were the color of amber and his skin, the hue of peaches blended in cream.

  Lauren had dark hair and eyes, but his skin, while being darker than that of Rorie, was still light in comparison with the people born in the southern parts of Taracopa. He also stood head and shoulders taller than the prince of Cenkataar.

  “Maestro Benhannon,” Rorie shouted so loud many of the nobles glanced at him as if annoyed, until they realized what name he had hollered at nearly the top of his lungs.

  That started off a session of greetings that lasted a quarter of a mark. By the time it was over, the boys were walking backwards in front of Daniel, who had been slowly moving on in the hopes he might get to the Health Department before the time allocated to him by his Chief Aid elapsed. There was still hope.

  “Maestro, Accomplished Meado brought me and Briella here along with Mother. Father went to Bethel days ago, but thought we would be safer in Ducanton,” Rorie explained his presence.

  As it turned out, the capitol had not been so safe, Daniel thought, but chose not to mention.

  “I was ordered to remain at the palace and represent my country, but I think my father is keeping me here for the same reason Rorie and his sister are here,” Lauren spoke in a voice common to a young man beginning puberty. “My brothers get to lead battles and I get to be whisked away from them.” He sounded a little disappointed at being conveyed to safety. “Although I will admit, it was pretty wicked being swallowed into darkness and then suddenly ending up in this mountain city. Light glows from the walls or from balls of light hovering near the ceilings and I actually touched gems that caused water flow into a bathtub. I have never seen the like.”

  Rorie frowned at the mention of a bathtub but had nodded vigorously at the Prince’s description of being conveyed and the forms of lighting.

  Both boys suddenly spun around, moving to the right and left of Daniel, and began walking normally while talking. They continued chattering at him all the way into the area where the residents of Cana had been settled. Some of them were wearing buckskins, but most of them were dressed in wool and silk like the folks living in Lanta. How safe is that town? Daniel wondered. Has the spy learned about the families of the Sentinels and Benhannon Guardsmen who live there?

  Ten year-old Jessie Dusavil ran out of the crowd and straight to Daniel. “Do you remember me?” he asked. His buckskins had grass stains on the knees.

  Daniel fixed his gaze upon the young man. “How could I forget my youngest scout? Surely you have been working on that reputation we spoke of when last we met.”

  Jessie’s eyes widened. “You do remember me. I haven’t played a prank since, honest,” he replied and then began rubbing his hands in distress. “I didn’t see them Serpents coming until they just appeared. I sat up in my tree on Holly’s hill every day watching for them or the Pentrosans, but they got by me.”

  Daniel bent down on one knee. “None of us saw the attack coming before it happened, so it was not your fault. I am just glad Accomplisheds arrived in time to bring you all here where we can keep everyone safe. Even here we have to be on the alert, so I still need my scouts.”

  Jessie puffed out his chest. “I’ll keep my eyes open and let the Accomplisheds know when I see anything suspicious,” he promised.

  Daniel stood up. “Jessie Dusavil, this is Prince Lauren Van Efery, and the young man standing beside him is Prince Rorie KaTaar. They are here under my special protection and I would appreciate it if you would keep a good watch to be sure nothing bad happens to them.”

  Jessie looked at the two princes and they in turn fixed their gazes upon him. It was probably the first time either of them came into contact with a commoner that was not a soldier, functionary, or servant. “I will keep them safe,” Jessie promised, which meant the youngsters would stick together and hopefully have something more to do than worry about what might happen next.

  “We do not need looking after,” Lauren announced his royal displeasure at the mere suggestion, with Rorie nodding in agreement.

  Daniel fixed the gaze of the Chosen Vessel upon them and they shuffled their feet a bit and started to perspire just a little. “Perhaps not, but the three of you would make a great team, and the way I figure it, we will need young men like yourselves who know how to work together to help us defeat Tarin Conn.”

  At that point all three boys assured him they would help him defeat the Dark Maestro and Daniel left them huddled together, no doubt planning what they might do to bring about the demise of Tarin Conn. Giving them something to do seemed to be a good notion. Besides, where he was going next was no place for them to wander into.

  He entered the Health Department and was met by Jennel Obenport. Her hood was down, revealing long saffron-colored hair. Her hazel eyes focused tightly on him as she gave the traditional nod of respect without breaking eye contact. “Maestro, the maimed are on the right side of the hall and the Condemneds and Aakademneds are to the left. The latter group is still unconscious in an effort to ease their suffering until you have time to restore them. The first group of patients is all awake. Obviously they do not live in this wing; I gave them appointments after reviewing the schedule published by Simon Trenca.”

  Everything she said made sense, although Daniel did not really need to know who lived where or how they came to be in the Health Department. “I understand we have many more people who need my healing since last we spoke. It is probably best if I begin in that first room on the right.”

  “That is, of course, acceptable,” she replied and then started off down the hall, no doubt to perform some healings of her own.

  It was a large sterile white area containing twenty smaller rooms; each with a patient waiting to have Daniel replace whichever parts of their bodies had been lost. Also in each compartment was a bucket of water. It took him half a mark to heal all twenty people, some needed hands, others a pair of legs, two needed an ear, eight needed fingers, six needed toes, and one Sentinel needed a nose after the first one had been burnt off from the nostrils out. The injuries had to be the result of the specific targeting of the vulnerable points created in the shield amulets. Carn Bencain was one of the original Sentinels and he sat fingering his new nose. “I think Jana will like it,” Daniel told him.

  Carn’s cross-eyed stare at his nose ended as he focused his brown eyes on the man he swore to serve. “My wife managed to send a lance of light right through the nose of the Serpent who targeted me,” he replied. “Yes, she will be pleased, but she wasn’t worried about the loss of my nose. We both knew you could give me a new one. What worries her is how every spell went to the few gaps in our protection. We have to hear and we have to breathe and our fingers must be able to touch the gems or our weapons will be useless, unless we actually use them as crossbows and daggers.” An old report revealed the man had once used his daggerlance to stab and kill a Pentrosan.

  Daniel understood the problem. “We, finding and sealing the leaks of information, will not solve the problem or get back what has already gotten out; doing so will only stop new information from reaching our enemies. The solution is for the Accomplisheds who fight alongside the squads of Sentinels to extend extra protection, but that will require those under the shield to be close to the spell-caster.”

  Lieutenant Bencain nodded his understanding. “It also means we will be slower and less mobile as a unit.”

  D
aniel was glad the man knew the limitation. “Exactly, and yet the benefit to cost ratio suggests we must make the change.”

  About the last thing Daniel wanted to do was to go slower in the marathon race against Tarin Conn, but his people dying would slow the pace to the point where there was no chance to win. “Carn, I have a couple more rooms full of people to heal, so I will go now. Please give my regards to Jana. I would do so personally but I am not sure our paths will cross again this day.”

  “Certainly, Sir Daniel, and congratulations on your victory on the Taltin Sea,” the Sentinel replied.

  Daniel went on and healed forty more people. One thing he did differently. In the past, once he summoned all the necessary spells and placed the Da Capos, he allowed the spells, Fashioning and Hunger, to follow the pattern called for by the recipe strands of the individual without consciously directing the potential. He simply maintained the spells until the patient was whole again. This time he summoned the potential for Hearts Beat As One, even when the spell was not necessary, so he could feel the actual forming of the lost extremity, which meant he felt their pain while the patients had all slept through the process. He could have cast the spell, Pain Relief, upon himself, but powerful emotions, desperation, pain, love, these were feelings that seemed to drive his creative process faster than stringing notes together until they finally produced the desired effect. Healing sixty people hurt more than a little, but something was definitely stirring in his soul.

  It was time for the meeting with Ginnie and one more healing. The Health Department chose to have white ceilings, walls, and floors, and all were immaculate, but Daniel would have liked it if they added some contrast. The choice had been theirs and he accepted it without comment. He and his escorts walked into the larger outer room that was empty except for Ginnie, a Serinian boy, and a petite young woman lying on the bed in the first compartment to the left. Her light brown hair was drawn back into a tight braid that lay like a rope over her left shoulder. She was asleep and wearing a blue silk robe. To her left was a bucket of water and to her right, the clothing she must have been wearing when Ginnie found her. A mottled-green head piece that would have been considered a helmet, except that it resembled toughened leather or more accurately, gator hide, was on top of a jacket and trousers made of the same skin. The clothing appeared to be suppler than the boots, which looked to be as tough as the headgear.

  Accomplished Cree looked up as Daniel entered the compartment, his entourage remained in the outer room, but Silvia was staring at the young woman without blinking. The boy instantly took hold of Ginnie’s hand. “Greetings Maestro, I am thankful you were able to meet with me,” the Seeker said, and then looked down at the boy. “This is Blake DuRitter. He is seven years-old and I found him on the west coast of Serinia. His parents owned a residence in the town of Blassproof and a beach house, which is where I found him. Blake, this is Daniel Benhannon, Maestro of the Atlantan Guild, a Seven-bolt Accomplished.”

  Daniel noted her reference to the DuRitter’s having owned property and knew the past tense meant bad news was forth coming.

  Ginnie, of Demfilian birth, had white-silky hair. She was a compact, young-appearing, woman with a skin tone that would make her difficult to spot in the snow. Her iridescent blue eyes held compassion for the boy.

  Daniel bent down onto one knee and extended his hand, shield removed. “I am pleased to meet you Blake,”

  The boy’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he reached out and shook the hand of the man Daniel knew many Serinians believed to be only slight less frightening than Tarin Conn. Blake’s left hand remained latched onto Ginnie’s.

  “His parents were murdered by Grom Fermin, Two-bolt Accomplished of the Serpent Guild. If I had arrived half a mark sooner,” the Seeker began to explain and then paused, taking a breath. “I arrived after Fermin burned them to death, but in time to rescue Blake from the vicious Serpent.”

  “We must be content with the fact that you arrived in time to rescue Blake,” Daniel told her while looking up at her from bended knee. He then fixed his gaze on the boy. “I don’t like people who murder decent folks and steal their children. I hope Seeker Cree made the evil spell-caster pay for what he did.”

  “Oh, she did,” Blake’s eyes seemed to light up and he even released her hand. “There was fire and bright lights and freezing fog and then she burned him in fire so hot he crumbled into ashes. He got all mixed up in the sand while it was turning into glass. My Momma told me sand could be melted into glass but I never saw it happen before.” His voice trailed off at the mention of his mother and tears flowed down his cheeks.

  Daniel opened his arms and the boy flew into them and the crying began in earnest. He stood up with Blake clinging to him. “What is her story?” he asked while glancing at the sleeping young woman.

  “When I sent Alfie, my osprey, ahead to establish a visual for conveyance, I saw this young lady on the same cliff Alfie had chosen,” Ginnie began.

  “Daniel,” Silvia interrupted. “For some reason, looking at this girl brings forth my vision of a giant winged-lizard laying eggs on a beach in Serinia.”

  Ginnie nodded her head. “That is what I was about to say. Through the eyes of my scout, I saw this young woman lying along the back of a giant winged-lizard. But it was like no lizard I have ever seen before. After my battle with Fermin, I sensed the presence of another Aakacarn, sure it had to be the female I had seen through the eyes of Alfie, and so Blake and I went up and found her unconscious. It was clear she was injured during the duel and as you can see, she managed to cauterize what was left of her hand before passing out. I cast Sleep Time on her so she would continue to sleep and then conveyed here.”

  When Blake cried himself out, Daniel told him, “We are your family now and when you are ready you will learn how to cast spells.”

  The boy hiccupped and wiped his red eyes. He fixed a determined stare on the man holding him. “I want to rescue people like Ginnie does and duel the Serpents to death. Will you let me?”

  Daniel placed his hand on the boy’s forehead, cast the spell, What Is This, and focused inward until Blake’s little vat of life-force energy came into view. The reservoir was about the size the average seven year-old would have, perhaps slightly larger, and contained fluid energy the color of cranberry juice. “Most of the spells would kill you if you were to cast them, but the few you can safely summon the potential for will be taught to you. But for now, you have to spend a lot of time in our Department of Education where they will teach you how to play musical instruments and continue your regular education. I know you must have started attending a learning circle a couple of years ago.”

  Blake nodded his head. “I did, but I was hoping we could skip all that stuff I don’t really need to know and go straight to casting spells.”

  Daniel placed the boy back on his own two feet. “We all need to learn stuff. I learn new stuff every day. I am certain a person who chooses not to learn stuff is likely to get hurt or get fooled by people who know stuff that he does not. You need to learn a lot of stuff before learning to cast spells because casting spells is dangerous. When my potential was discovered, I was more dangerous than a big bear in a small room full of children. I would have died years ago if someone had not taken the time to teach me stuff.”

  The boy blinked and then stood up straighter. “I want to learn stuff.”

  “Good man,” Daniel replied and then stepped over to the sleeping Aakacarn.

  He noticed the rings on her left hand. A quick focus of Find All revealed them to be similar to amulets, in that they each contained life-force energy, although he could not determine what spells might have been locked into the gemstones. On her forehead was a jade trident, its function was unclear, could be ornamental, or possibly something to do with rank. He lifted her robe enough to expose her abdomen while Ginnie stepped out of the compartment and began introducing Blake to Sero, Carlos, David, and Silvia.

  Daniel placed one hand on th
e tummy over the navel and the other on her forehead. He summoned the potential for, What Is This, and topaz blue energy radiated from his hand. At that point he added a Da Capo and cast, Pain Relief, deciding he had experienced enough pain to stimulate his creative juices. He chose not to use Hearts Beat As One, seeing as her body was perfectly fine except for what had been cut off. What Is This showed him her vat, which equaled that of a One-bolt Accomplished and was nearly filled with a rose-colored liquid, and then delved deeper until he could see her recipe strands. Within each strand was a picture of what she should look like at this point in her development, and that included the rest of her right hand. He had never encountered an adult female so slight in stature, but he could do nothing to give her more height, being restricted to following what her recipe called for. The spell, Hunger, came next and would be drawing the little worlds with their tiny moons from the water in the bucket rather than allowing Restoration to feed off her body. Daniel played the music for the spell, Restoration, in his mind, summoning the potential, and then focused it in conjunction with Hunger and What Is This. With all of the Da Capos in place, he could concentrate fully on his patient.

  He opened his eyes and watched as the appendage grew, knuckles formed and then fingers sprouted and grew longer. At reaching the length called for in her recipe, fingernails grew and the task was nearly complete. One more essential step had to be taken. He bent close to her ear and said, “Friend, your brain and will are one. Your body is yours to command.”

  Had she been and Aakademned, he would have added a little more to the instructions, but she was not, and he knew so little about her that he did not want to tamper further with her mind. “Seeker Cree, take her to the Department of Seekers, Blake can go with you,” the boy was clearly not ready to be parted from Ginnie, “and get him some copper silks to wear while you are at it. I want this young woman to awaken naturally and it might be easier for her if she sees him, perhaps she will feel less threatened. Inform me when she does wake up. Somehow, she is connected with Silvia’s revelation and I want to know more.”