by Guy Antibes
Isa snorted. “And I thought I knew the true version. I suppose you killed the pattern-master? Landon concocted some story about how he defeated the Captain of the Guard who had forced Bythia to drink poison. How did you do it?”
“Not in a duel. He was much more accomplished than I. I used my magic to place a knife in his heart. From behind, I’m afraid.”
“I’m not,” Queen Isa leaned over and took Pol’s face in her hands and kissed him on the lips. “You did the Empire a service.”
Pol could hear Shro snicker. The kiss left him speechless. He looked over at Kelso who grinned, but looked away.
The carriages stopped.
General Onkar opened the door to the carriage, surprised to see Pol and Shro sitting with the Queen. “Who rescued whom?” he said.
“Those two rescued me, and the Queen took us out of Covial,” Kelso said.
“And Captain Horker?”
Queen Isa smiled at Onkar. “The other gentleman is undoubtedly having a good time in the last coach.”
“To each their own,” Onkar said. “Hurry and get out. We are sending these coaches, unoccupied, to your sister’s manor.”
~
Onkar sat in his large tent with Queen Isa. Pol, Shro, a slightly disheveled Captain Horker, and a few of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting all stood.
The General rubbed his hands together. “That worked out acceptably,” he said. “I had a backup plan in case Captain Horker failed, which I expected.” Onkar looked at Horker and waved off any objection. “I had no idea your two assistants were so accomplished.”
Pol looked at Queen Isa, hoping that she had kept her mouth shut. That Onkar had ‘encouraged’ her departure with a touch of mind-control meant he might do something similar with a truth spell on the Queen if he suspected Pol was someone other than Nater Grainell. Now that she knew his identity, Pol felt very exposed, and Shro might feel just the same way after being outed by the unexpectedly shrewd woman.
“You may say goodbye to the Queen,” Onkar said. “She is moving on to my personal estate—”
“Not so fast, Lord Onkar. I am traveling with you north. I intend to walk in the lovely gardens of Borstall Castle once more.”
“But we are heading into battle, My Queen,” Onkar said. “Borstall will not be a safe place for you.
“I’ll take the risk. I can always escape by sea. Do you think I would escape Astor’s clutches only to stay at your manor? That would be the first place my husband would look once he knows I have met with your forces.”
Onkar’s face turned a little red. “And how would your husband know?”
“Oh, let me see, castle guards, gate guards, whoever else saw three carriages travel the Northwestern Road. Manda is not without intelligence. What do you think?”
Onkar pursed his lips and bowed his head. “Perhaps I can reconsider my plans—”
“My plans, not yours. I am not one of your soldiers, and I definitely am not one of your subjects.”
“But you are under the protection of the Tesnan Guardians.”
“Your Guardians or the Abbot’s?” Queen Isa narrowed her eyes.
“My Guardians. The Abbot may well be one of the King’s men.”
“You wish, Onkar,” she said. “The Abbot is as tied to Tesnan domination as you are.”
Onkar’s expression darkened. “And who are you tied to?”
“No one,” Queen Isa said. “I merely want to walk in gardens like I once did with a dearly departed friend.” Her eyes drifted to Pol, and then they turned to Onkar. “You have my promise to be neutral in all of this.”
“Very well. Neutral, for now. You travel with Horker and his acolytes. Beastwell will, too, in different conveyances, unfortunately.”
“I appreciate your indulgence.” The Queen nodded her head.
A soldier entered the tent. “The Queen’s tents are ready, and her ladies have finished preparing her bed, General.”
“Your lodgings, such as they are, will be rough, like a common soldier’s. Any time you wish to improve your sleeping accommodations, I can have you escorted to my estate. Enjoy your evening, what is left of it.”
Isa clapped her hands with feigned joy. “What an adventure this will be!” She rose from her chair and crooked her finger for her ladies to follow.
Onkar looked at the four remaining. “I’ll be leaving just after breakfast. I am instructing you, Captain, to restrain Beastwell in a covered wagon. It’s for his own good in case one of King Astor’s men come round.” Onkar stepped over to Kelso. “You may well be used as a bargaining chip in Borstall, so I will keep you fed and comfortable. That may change if you misbehave. Riding in the back of a wagon is better than sitting in a dungeon cell waiting for your next beating or for a beheading.”
“Is that all?” Horker asked.
Onkar barely nodded his head. “Be on guard at all times. I will send over some of our recent converts as an additional escort for the Queen. My eyes are on you, Horker.” He looked at Pol and Shro standing together. “You are Horker’s assistants, still. Make sure the Queen is safe and Beastwell secure. It is time for you to find your tents.” The General yawned. “Dismissed.”
~~~
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
~
HORKER’S TENT HAD BEEN SET UP, but Pol and Shro had to run to the Captain’s cart to find their own.
Horker had his uniform on when captured, but Pol would have to find another, and so would Shro. Perhaps Horker would promote Shro to a monk-level uniform. She certainly had proven her worth during their short stay at Castle Covial.
After finally spreading out his bedroll, Pol looked down at Shro. “I don’t know how safe your secret is, or mine.”
She turned away from him. “I thought I had wrung the feminine gestures out of my role as Shro. It must have been the dress.”
“It was how you wore the dress and how you held your hands. Kelso is a very observant man, and the Queen…she is something else, isn’t she?”
That brought Shro turning over to face him. She propped up her head with her hand. “I had to keep from laughing a number of times. There is something about someone in power that separates them from you and me.”
Pol had to think about that. “It’s not just royal blood, is it? She and Onkar aren’t intimidated by anyone. My stepfather, when he wasn’t angry, could be like them. Emperor Hazett might not seem that way at first, but he is, as well. Supreme confidence.” Pol shook his head. “That’s something I don’t have.” He felt just sixteen at that moment.
“You grow into it, I think. I’ve seen it at the capital. Our own Queen has the same presence, but definitely not the sense of humor,” Shro said giggling. “I hope Queen Isa doesn’t betray us, if she hasn’t already.”
Pol sighed. “We will have to be ready to cut Kelso loose of whatever bonds Horker demands and leave.
“I thought you were going to bring Horker?”
The tent was silent for a moment. “If he still wants to. Once he is back in command and among the monks, he might feel differently than he did in the castle. We were all under a lot of stress in Covial.”
“And for good reason. We were nearly killed by King Astor’s men. All I could discern was a lot of irrational behavior.”
Pol shook his head. “My Seeker mentor told me that sometimes the simplest pattern turns out to be the right one. A jealous husband.”
“A jealous powerful husband. I wonder if Manda even knows,” Shro said.
“Probably. I don’t care now that we are out of there. We are back to our original plan, except we will have others fleeing with us.”
“You know Kelso that well?”
Pol nodded. “I wouldn’t call him completely trustworthy, but he was my first sword master. He knows about my anticipation magic. He also is very good with a sword and won’t be a hindrance, unlike Horker, who was exceptional at the monastery, but he had little competition.”
“Horker is a good man, I think,” Shro said.
The compliment surprised Pol. Shro generally kept her opinions close.
She continued, “He needs some seasoning, out in the world, but he was totally out of his element, and I could see him struggle with it all.”
Pol smiled. “We give him a chance, then.”
She nodded in the dark. “Go to sleep. You’ll need it.”
Pol got under two thin blankets. “We’ll see what surprises tomorrow brings.” He went to sleep thinking of how Shro had folded her hands and placed them on the lap of her dress.
~
Morning arrived much too quickly for Pol. He turned to see that Shro was already up. After stretching, he crawled out of his tent and found her adjusting a monk’s tabard. She held a heavy bag and threw it at him.
“Good timing,” she said. “I suggest you get that chainmail on. Who knows, Astor might send a company of archers to kill us before noon.”
“And a good morning to you,” Pol said. He rubbed his eyes and focused on Shro. “I like the look.” He crept back into his tent and donned his uniform. Unfortunately, Shro might be correct in warning him, so he came out of the tent fully armed.
“Have you seen the Captain?”
She shook her head. “I think Onkar called him to his tent for final instructions before he left.”
“Have you eaten?”
“No. Perhaps we can do so. I don’t know where the meal line is.”
“Let’s find out,” Pol said.
They walked through the camp. It had a very different feel from the army camp. Perhaps without Horker in command, the acolytes weren’t pushed as hard.
“Poldon.”
Pol looked around to see Kelso sitting in the back of an empty covered wagon. His hands were tied and one end the rope led to a knot on a hook in one of the support posts.
“Surely they don’t think…”
Kelso chuckled. “They do. I should be chained.” He showed Pol his bonds. “Do you have any idea how quickly I could throw this off?”
Pol smiled. “All you have to do is unhook the knot. Just be patient and call me ‘Nater’.”
Kelso saluted Pol with both his hands.
“Have you eaten?” Pol said.
“I have. It beats the food King Astor had me eating, barely.”
Pol nodded. “I’ll check back with you later.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
They began to walk towards the meal line after asking a passing acolyte for directions. Off on the side Pol noticed a copse of trees that surrounded four tents guarded by uniformed troops, none of whom looked like monks.
Shro and Pol were a bit late to breakfast, but agreed with Kelso’s description of the food being edible and not much else.
“General Onkar told us to mind the Queen’s protection. Let’s see what kind of troops are her guards,” Pol said. “I wonder what their orders are and if they are under Captain Horker’s command.”
Pol noticed something odd about the men. They acted stiff and emotionless. He walked up close and found what he had suspected. One of the men had the patch of purple on his brain.
“Compulsion,” Shro said. “I don’t need to see their brains to notice.” She walked up to another of the guards. “Whom do you report to?”
“Colonel Harian.”
“What are your orders?” Pol said.
“Protect Queen Isa from outsiders.”
Pol looked up into the dead eyes. “Am I an outsider?”
The man shook his head. “You are a Guardian.”
Shro put a hand to her chin. “What is your name?”
Confusion flitted over his face. “I don’t know.”
“Compulsion certainly overlays the subject’s memory,” Pol said. “Nasty.”
He walked around the tents and abruptly stopped, looking at two of the guards.
“What is it?’ Shro asked, bumping into Pol.
“I’d like to introduce you to Darrol Netherfield and Valiso Gasibli,” Pol said. He walked up to both of them and asked them for their names. Neither recognized Pol.
Pol walked off a bit and sat on a fallen log. Shro joined him.
“Who are those two men?”
“My contacts. Valiso is my Seeker mentor and the other is a friend.” He still wondered what had become of Demeron. Pol lowered his head. He feared that his Shinkyan stallion was lost to him.
“So you’re going to remove their compulsion?”
Pol nodded. “I hadn’t expected to see them as loyal members of the Guardians.” He looked at his friends. Their eyes scanned the woods, occasionally stopping at Pol and Shro, but then moved on.
The Tesnans were creating an involuntary army of mind-controlled and compelled soldiers. Pol didn’t know how well they would fight, but this was totally immoral to his way of thinking. He had no doubt that Deftnis monks would feel the same way he did.
Pol walked over to Darrol and put his hand on Darrol’s head. “Bear with me soldier. I’ve been commanded by General Onkar to protect the Queen of South Salvan as you have. I am a monk and need to see if our training has set in your mind.”
Darrol nodded with his impassive face.
His friend’s patch wasn’t very large, smaller than Menkin’s. Pol removed it, as well as a film of mind-control.
Darrol staggered and fell to the ground, holding his head. He looked up. “Pol?”
“Nater is my name, soldier. Are you all right? You must have fainted standing guard.”
Looking at his surroundings, Darrol stood up. “I must have.” He rubbed his head. “I’ve got quite a headache.”
“I’m sure you do. This is Shro. She is an ally.”
Darrol still looked confused. “What happened? The last thing I remembered was hearing someone poking around our camp. Did Val and I fight them?” He looked at Val.
Pol frowned. “He doesn’t even know his name, and neither did you. Just stand there while I work on Val.”
“I helped your friend,” Pol said to Val.
Pol realized that he now stood as tall as his mentor. He must have grown in the last month. Val looked at him suspiciously.
“Don’t worry. Nater is just checking the training spells,” Shro said.
Val nodded.
Pol put his hand on Val’s head. Unlike Darrol, Val’s patch was huge. Pol removed a thicker film of mind-control and attempted to pull off the purple mass that covered a third of Val’s brain.
Pol now knew that it was all a mental picture, just like the colored dots that he imagined when he located. The mass didn’t budge. Pol tried more magic and pulled hard. Part of the patch ripped. Some of it came off and dissipated, but over half of it stayed on his brain.
Val blinked, and then his body began to shake with some kind of seizure. He fell to the ground and lay still.
“Darrol, help me take him to the wagon where we have Kelso.”
“Kelso? As in Kelso Beastwell? What is he doing here?”
“You’ll know soon enough.”
They picked up Val, and Shro led the way back to Kelso’s wagon.
“Val. What’s happened to him?” Kelso said.
Pol looked at his mentor. “I did this,” he said. “He was compelled, but since he’s a powerful magician, the monk who applied the compulsion had to use a lot of power.” He shook his head again. “I couldn’t get all of the compulsion out.”
“What are you going to do?” Darrol asked.
“Keep him here while Shro and I figure something out. You’ll have to go back and guard the Queen’s tent.”
“I’ll go with him,” Shro said. “You get a blanket or something to cover the body. Your friend needs to hide.”
“Yes, sir,” Pol said.
Shro gave him a dirty look. For a moment it looked like she might stick her tongue out at him or do something worse, but she nodded. “Do it quickly. That is an order.” She smiled at her command. “Sorry,” she whispered, her lips brushing his ear.
Pol blushed and turned away. “Get goin
g,” he said.
A couple of older acolytes passed by. “I need blankets for the prisoners,” Pol said.
The pair looked at Kelso and glanced at the prone form of Val. “Come this way.”
~
Pol sat next to Val inside the covered wagon. He put his hand on Val’s head and tried to pull off the rest of the patch. It didn’t want to come off. Pol noticed a tendril sticking underneath the area of the portion that had broken off.
Pol gingerly pulled out the tendril.
Val began to shiver again, but finally stopped.
“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Kelso said.
Pol had to shake his head. “I can remove compulsion from a non-magician or a neophyte, but Val’s affliction is much different. I might have damaged him.” Pol felt awful. Searl had told him that healing had a lot more aspects than working on wounds. Evidently removing the patch was one of them.
“I don’t think I should do any more.” Pol looked down at Val. “I’m sorry, Val.”
“He can’t hear you, lad,” Kelso said.
“I know,” Pol said, but it made him feel a little better. “I’m going to talk to Darrol.”
Pol walked through the camp, watching a few quartermasters of King Astor teach the acolytes in smaller groups. He paused to listen in and found that he had already picked up those lessons, traveling with the supply train two summers ago when he accompanied his stepfather’s troops on a trip the Taridan border with North Salvan.
“Nater!” Horker called.
Pol had to turn around to find the Captain.
“What are you doing?”
“I just checked on Beastwell and am heading to the Queen’s tent.”
“Good. When you are done, come see me. I’ll be in my tent filling out paperwork.”
“Yes, sir,” Pol said.
Horker narrowed his eyes at Pol. What did that glare mean? He continued to wonder when he found Darrol.
“Anything happening?” Pol asked.
Darrol shook his head. “There is a lead guard at the front who orders us around. I just follow. I told him that Val was sick. He asked me who Val was, but honestly, he’s as thick as he looks. I told him I made up a name for Val so I could distinguish him from the other guards. He thought that was a good idea.” Darrol chuckled.