Samuel climbed out from the pit and went back to where Jess was waiting. It seemed Ash was not here, so he would have to search elsewhere for the man. After Ash was good and dead, Samuel would be able to study the mysterious object at his leisure. He mounted Jess and made for the Count’s estate through the chill evening mist.
Entering the banquet hall, Samuel found the room filled with most of the same men and women he had seen the evening before, all talking gregariously and quite obviously all as drunk as ever. None of them paid him any attention as he made across the room to the Count.
‘Rudderford. I need your help,’ Samuel told the drunken man.
‘What are you talking about? Who are you?’ Rudderford slurred. ‘Oh, it’s that Samuel fellow. Come. Join us.’
‘I just want to know where I can find Mr Cervantes,’ Samuel said, speaking slowly and clearly to the befuddled man. ‘Do you know where he is?’
‘There’s still some wine and ale and liqueur I think and there’s plenty of meat left as well,’ Rudderford continued, throwing his hand out towards the table to demonstrate.
Samuel was getting frustrated. He tried entering the old fool’s mind, but Rudderford’s thoughts were all turned to slurry from the wine and could not be brought into focus. Forcing himself to calm for a moment, Samuel asked the man once more:
‘Where…is…Mr Cervantes?’ he asked carefully.
There was a loud noise as the great entry doors slammed shut behind him. Samuel spun around to find Ash standing there with a score of armed men at his side. ‘Am I too late for dinner?’ the tall magician asked of the room.
‘Mr Cervantes!’ Rudderford called out, standing and holding up his mug, spilling wine all over. ‘At last you’ve come! Come! Eat! Bring your men. There’s plenty for all!’ Rudderford then fell back into his seat and continued chewing on a slab of beef.
‘Ah, my good friend, you’re here!’ Ash said as he strode forward, spying Samuel. ‘It’s wonderful to see you again. That was a pleasant surprise you sent me. Then again, I do suppose that one good turn does deserve another, doesn’t it? I suppose we must be even, then.’ Ash came over and took a seat at the table, leaning over and casually filling his plate while a servant filled his cup.
Ash’s men also began helping themselves to everything on the table, filling their plates noisily and going back to sit against the wall while they ate. They had swords by their sides and some of them eyed Samuel carefully as they dug their teeth into their meals.
‘Come, now,’ Ash called out towards Samuel. ‘Don’t just stand there pouting like a fish out of water. Won’t you join us for dinner?’
Samuel gave the man a dark look. ‘I will not,’ he replied firmly.
Ash stood up and came over to Samuel with his plate held in one hand. He stood painfully close and looked down at Samuel as he picked at some of the morsels in his hand.
‘You’d think I’d be angry that you sent one of my own men back to kill me, wouldn’t you?’ Ash said softly. ‘I’m assuming that Bardick is dead, too? Actually, it doesn’t matter to me in the least. What’s important is that I get my work here done. I admit, perhaps I was a tad hasty in ordering your death, but my task here is nearly finished, and I didn’t want anything ruining it at the last moment.’ He pushed some flesh into his mouth and continued talking while he chewed down upon it. Samuel remained silent and continued glaring at the tall man all the while. ‘Very well, I regret that I tried to kill you. I’m sorry. Are you happy? My mission here requires complete secrecy and is of the utmost importance. I’m under instructions not to take any chances, for the good of the Empire and all that—I’m sure you understand.’ He stuck a few cherry tomatoes into his mouth and smiled as they popped inside his overstuffed cheeks, letting red juice and tiny seeds spill between his lips and down his chin, which he then mopped up with his sleeve. ‘I’ll tell you what,’ he managed to say. ‘You go back to your little village and continue doing whatever you are doing there. In a few days, I’ll be gone. How about that?’
Samuel glowered at the man. ‘Actually, Soddan sent me to find you,’ he stated factually.
Ash stopped chewing and raised his eyebrows. ‘Ah,’ he said and made a slight chuckle. ‘Then I guess I did overreact. If you’d just said so at the start then none of this would have happened.’
‘I’m afraid I can’t quite forget so easily what you’ve done ,’ Samuel stated, squeezing his fists by his sides.
Ash seemed surprised by this and retaliated ferociously, holding his plate in one hand and shaking a finger of the other at Samuel’s nose. ‘Then listen to me, you little upstart!’ he said, now hissing with anger, spittle and pieces of half-chewed food flying free. ‘One word from me, and my men will cut you to pieces! I’m offering you a truce from the goodness of my black heart and if you don’t want to accept, I guarantee that you will be the one who comes out worse for wear!’
Ash’s men began setting their meals aside on hearing his raised voice. They put their hands to their weapons and stood, watching closely. Samuel eyed them warily. He began readying his magic, summoning it into himself with a long silent breath. He felt he could take care of Ash here and now, but the armed men were another thing. They were not lazy and dishevelled like Rudderford’s sorry lot. Their boots were polished, their armour was firmly strapped, and their swords looked clean and sharp. They were Empire-trained and could probably cut him down before he had dealt with even half of them. He eyed them all, desperate for some solution to come to mind. Finally, with a great exhalation, Samuel released his power once again.
‘Very well,’ Samuel finally decided, raising his hands before him. ‘I will go.’ There was little else he could do.
He carefully began moving back towards the door, which a pair of Rudderford’s servants began opening for him. Rudderford and his guests were all still drinking and talking merrily, as if they had not even noticed a thing. As Samuel edged his way outside into the hall, Ash gave him a wry smile.
Full of bitter disappointment, Samuel sped back towards Lenham atop Jess. He damned himself once more for not killing Ash and he damned himself for running like a fool. He kept running over in his mind what would have happened if he had just killed Ash when he first had the chance, and what could have happened if he were not such a coward.
Samuel was bothered little by people needing cures or advice over the next few days and so he spent as much time with Leila as he could, enjoying every moment with her. They had taken to sitting in an isolated glade much further up in the hills, even though the days were frosty and chilly, where they were less likely to be bothered by friends or strangers alike. Here the river was only a narrow stream, which coursed quick and shallow along its pebbly bed.
Ash would, no doubt, be finished with his work in Gilgarry by now and have headed back to Cintar. Samuel had abandoned any fantasies of riding back there to try and kill the man. Every time he had tried to avenge his past, it had only brought him more trouble. Now, he had a future to think of. He had a chance to forget about all the woes of his past and begin anew, forging a new life here with Leila.
As they sat arm in arm, the thought came to him that he would like to marry her as soon as possible. He would devise a plan to present to her father in order to gain his blessing. Manfred was the type who would only accept such an offer if it ensured his daughter and himself a prosperous and wealthy future. Samuel’s skills should not make that too difficult.
‘Do you love me, Samuel?’ Leila asked, interrupting his thoughts.
Samuel looked deep into her eyes and took in every detail of her beautiful, perfect face. They sat like that, looking into each other, until Samuel had to pull her close and hug her fiercely.
‘Yes, of course. I do love you, Leila,’ he whispered to her, his eyes now closed tight. He could feel her soft body pressed against his and smell her hair in his face. ‘I love you so much. I could never be happier than I am at this moment with you. I can’t believe I have you, that I have found you
at last.’
Her arms pulled tighter and he ran his fingers over her head and through her long, dark hair. He kissed her ear, gently, and she pulled away, again looking into his face with tears in her eyes. Samuel was about to open his mouth to speak when she pressed a finger against his lips to keep him quiet. Then, she leaned forwards and replaced her finger with her lips and they fell back, kissing in a tight embrace upon the soft grass.
‘Would you marry me if you could?’ he asked her.
‘Yes, of course—if I could,’ she replied, looking up at him. Her full lips revealed a heavenly smile. Her raven hair caught beams of the sun.
‘But your father will only let you marry someone rich…someone influential…someone with powerful friends—with a house and a considerable estate. Isn’t that so?’
‘So he always says.’
‘What if I became that man? I could get some money very easily and we could buy some land. We could start a farm or any kind of business he pleases. What do you think of that?’
Leila’s smile dropped away as she contemplated his suggestion. ‘I’m sure it would impress my father if you were all those things, but he also wants his daughter to marry into an influential family and you cannot create one of those with your magic. Can you?’
Samuel made a sly smile. ‘Actually, it would take a little planning, but…’ then he laughed. ‘Seriously, I’m sure your father would overlook that if I could provide everything else he wanted. He’s been waiting long enough and he hasn’t found anyone suitable for you yet. You’re almost eighteen now. Soon, there’ll be only old men to marry. I’m sure we can convince him to our way. He must want you to be happy, after all.’
‘He’s been thinking of a few old merchants’ sons in Gilgarry and York. I’m sure they’re ghastly. I want to marry you.’
‘Next week—’ Samuel began, when something at the corner of his vision caught his eye. It had seemed like a murky shadow, lurking at the edge of Leila’s aura, but it fled immediately as he tried to focus upon it, dissolving like cleansed oil. Rubbing his eyes and blinking, he dismissed it as a figment of his imagination and returned to his previous thoughts. ‘Next week, I shall go to Merriwell,’ he continued. ‘I hear that there’s a silver mine there. If I can find a few new deposits for them, I’m sure they’ll pay me handsomely, and then we’ll have easily enough money to buy some land of our own.’
‘You can do that?’ she asked, moving around behind him. She circled her arms around his waist and leant her chin upon his warm shoulder.
‘Yes,’ Samuel replied. ‘Easily.’
‘What’s it like being a magician? Do you feel special?’
Samuel thought for a moment. ‘Not really. It’s just what I do; what I am. It’s my skill—as a blacksmith or a baker has their skills, but I know I couldn’t be either of those. Instead, my skills are with magic. I can use it to do all sorts of things, but I accept it like anything else. It’s even rather mundane now. As I learn new things it is exciting, but once you’ve done anything enough times, it becomes matter-of-fact. It’s all I’ve practised for so long, I don’t know what else I could do with myself. I’d probably have to beg, or go back to being a stableboy.’
‘You were a stableboy!’ she laughed, but stopped herself abruptly. ‘What can you do with magic, Samuel?’ she asked, trying to undo her lack of tact. ‘Can you do anything you want?’
‘Who knows?’ Samuel responded. ‘We now know only a tiny fragment of the magic that was once known, but new discoveries are always being made. We have the power to heal; we can influence the rocks and the waters and the skies. Some can move objects. Perhaps in the future, we can make ourselves fly, or eradicate all disease and hardship, or even learn to live forever.’
‘But should you discover such things, Samuel?’
‘What do you mean?’ he asked, drawing her around to face him. The stream continued gurgling and washing by on its way.
‘Well, for all the power that the ancient peoples once had, for all the magic things they could do and for all the knowledge they once knew, what has happened to them? Where are they now? It cannot have served them too well.’
Samuel thought about this for the first time and realised that there was more than a speck of truth to her reasoning.
‘Do you know,’ Samuel began, musing half to himself, ‘someone once told me that I was going to kill the Emperor? Can you imagine that? Me?’
Leila laughed softly. ‘That doesn’t sound like you, Samuel. How could you kill anyone?’
‘I guess we never know quite what we are capable of until the situation arises.’
‘I have another idea!’ she announced, changing the topic altogether. ‘If my father does not take your offer to marry me, we can simply run away together. We’ll see how he likes that!’
‘Do you mean it?’ Samuel asked. ‘I thought you wouldn’t dare upset your father?’
‘Of course! He can’t run my life forever. We’ve a wedding to plan and a family to begin! He’ll forgive us eventually. He’ll have to!’
‘There’s just one more thing. When I first became a magician they told me I wouldn’t be able to have children—even that I wouldn’t be able to fall in love.’
‘I’m sure that’s not true, Samuel,’ she told him. ‘You can see it’s not.’
‘Me, too. I mean, I’m sure it is true for everyone else, but just not me. For some reason, I can still feel everything just the same as I did before. Being a magician hasn’t changed me the way it should have at all.’
‘Then that’s wonderful, Samuel. Don’t question such fortune. It’s a wonderful gift you have, and I have you—what more could either of us ask for?’
Samuel laughed and they hugged each other tightly once more. It was perhaps the happiest moment he had felt in all his life.
Evening found Samuel sitting at the table, reading over his notes yet again as Mrs Down sewed and absent-mindedly hummed a soft tune. Simpson was out on the hill, watching for dogs that had been prowling these recent nights. Samuel had been unable to keep his mind away from the strange artefact Ash had unearthed—the Argum Stone—and he scoured through all his notes from top to bottom and back again, desperate for any further hint as to the object.
‘Spring of clarity,’ he read from his tiny jottings, damning himself for making such brief and cryptic comments.
He kept flipping back to the diagram he had copied. He was sure it was the same object from Ash’s pit. Why else would the man work so hard at unearthing it? The Staff of Elders was the only known remaining artefact from the Age of the Ancients. Another such relic, whatever its power, would gain its owner considerable fortune or power. Whether Ash was working for Lord Jarrod or for the Circle or merely for himself, Samuel did not know, but any way it still smelt of a conspiracy. Shaking his head, Samuel finally closed his journal and thanked his stars he would not be returning to Cintar to involve himself in such a mess.
A knock came at the door and Samuel looked up, suddenly aware of another magician standing just outside the house. He should have felt the presence earlier, but he had been consumed in his notes and he damned himself for his mistake. A magician at his door in this part of the world could only signal misfortune.
Mrs Down put her bundle carefully on the table and pushed back her chair. ‘How strange for someone to call at such an hour.’
‘Don’t move,’ Samuel ordered and Mrs Down was stopped by the tone in his voice. ‘Go into your room and don’t make a sound unless I call for you,’ he instructed as he stood and carefully approached the door. Mrs Down hurried into her room and closed the door softy behind her without question.
There was definitely a magician standing just outside the door. Whoever it was, he was scanning the room with magic. Samuel could see the spell come floating across the room heedless of his presence. He crept up to the door and opened it wide.
‘Yes?’ he asked.
The mage was dressed in all black in the manner of the Order, with a thin cloak
that hung down to his knees wrapped tightly around him. He appeared somewhat startled to have Samuel suddenly standing before him and had obviously been absorbed in his spell work.
‘I’m looking for the magician,’ he said humourlessly, quickly recovering his wits. ‘Where is he?’
Samuel felt a spell form. He recognised the spell from his own short experience with mind control, and quickly blocked it before it could take hold. The magician’s face showed puzzlement, then realisation and, lightning fast, a blade came up from under his cloak.
It was now Samuel’s turn to be surprised and he fell onto his backside as he desperately evaded the attack. The magician stepped into the house after him and Samuel spelled a barrier between them that ran from wall to wall.
The mage stopped short and put his hands up to feel the invisible barrier. He was thoughtful for a moment; then he stepped back and began channelling power with his hands held forth in the way of the Fourth Matrix. Magic burst forth and Samuel could feel the weaves of his barrier screaming as they were torn apart. He clambered to his feet before too much damage could be done and hurled himself at the mage, dropping his spell at the last instant and crashing into the man. Glinting steel skittered across the floor as they both tumbled outside and onto the ground. Before either could act, they both sprang away from each other and onto their feet, each surrounding themselves with a flurry of shielding spells and protections. Samuel could see at once that the magician’s defences were powerful and expertly constructed, making his own efforts seem outright amateurish in comparison. The spells would protect him from almost all direct magical assault and Samuel took quick mental note as to their design.
The Young Magician (The Legacy Trilogy) Page 42