“From the time we left Kalen’s, our focus was on getting here in time for the April meeting of the Council of Sorcerers,” Kevin said as he sipped his coffee. “Well, we did it. Mission accomplished.”
Chris was quiet for a moment. “I’m not sure I agree with you about that. If our only goal was to make it to that meeting, then yes, I guess you could say mission accomplished. But that wasn’t all of it. The reason you had to get to that meeting was to prevent a magic war from breaking out and destroying Terah. That was the main goal. And we aren’t out of danger on that one yet. If anything happens to you before you have an heir, a magic war will still break out and everything we’ve done over the past year will have been for nothing. So I don’t think we can call it mission accomplished at this point. We have to make sure you stay alive.”
Kevin nodded. “And that brings me to what I was thinking about while you were gone to the kitchen. There are a lot of people out there who would like to see me dead, and now they know what I look like and where I am. You can’t exactly hide out when you live in a castle.” Kevin paused for a second. “Things could get rather dangerous around here. Now that I have the key to the Gate Between the Worlds, I can take everyone back home. I’ve been thinking that maybe I should do that.”
Chris frowned. “Has anyone asked you to take them back to Earth?”
Kevin shook his head no.
“I didn’t think so,” Chris said with a nod. Then he held up one finger. “Theresa’s happy here. She fits in. She’s a healer. Her skills are valued and people respect her for what she can do. She didn’t have anything like that back on Earth. If she went back, what would she go back to? Marriage to some man her father picks out? If you were to ask her if she wants to go back, what do you think she’d say?”
“Okay. Granted. Theresa belongs here almost as much as I do,” Kevin conceded.
“All right,” Chris said as he held up a second finger. “Steve. He was retired with no close friends, and after his wife died, no family. He was bored and he was lonely. Here, he’s living a history teacher’s dream and he’s surrounded by people who care about him. And on top of that, he’s developing some strong feelings for your aunt, and if I’m not mistaken, I think Laryn’s interested in him, too. Do you honestly think he would want to return to Earth?”
“All right. Chances are he’d probably rather stay here, but…”
“And then there’s Joan and Karl. This life suits them. I can’t see either of them wanting to go back, especially not to the life they had in Omaha.”
“But they don’t have to go back to Omaha. I can take them anywhere. They could have a farm again. I know that’s what Karl really wants.”
“Maybe, maybe not. I’m not so sure. I think he likes what he’s doing now. But if you were to ask him if he wanted a farm and he said yes, I think he’d mean that he wanted one here, on Terah. He and Joan are comfortable here. They like Terah. They like this way of life.”
Kevin didn’t say anything, so Chris continued. “And Darrell was looking at the end of his football career before it even had a chance to start. There wasn’t anything else he wanted to do. His knee is fine over here. I know he was afraid that he didn’t know enough to handle the guard, but it’s only been three weeks and the job’s a perfect fit. What could he find to do on Earth that would suit him as well?”
“I don’t know,” Kevin said with a sigh. “But that’s the problem, Chris. I don’t really know about any of them.”
“All right. Do you want to talk to them today?”
Kevin nodded. “I owe it to all of them to at least make the offer, even if no one takes me up on it. Do you know where Theresa is?”
“She’s at the Chapel of Light in Milhaven.”
“Would you ask Darrell to send one of the guards to tell her that I really need to talk to all of the Tellurians today? Do you think you can round everyone up by 2:00?”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. Where do you want to meet?” Chris asked.
“Let’s meet in the garden. I can set up a dome shield there. I don’t want anyone to overhear what I’m going to say.”
Chris nodded, left Kevin’s room, and gently closed the door behind him.
~ ~ ~ ~
That afternoon when Kevin went out to the gardens, he was pleased to see that Darrell had stationed a couple of guards at the entrance. In the center of the gardens there was a small circular clearing, bordered by four benches and backed by a wall about three feet high. Kevin sat down on the bench along the north wall and waited for the others.
Steve was the first to arrive. For a man in his mid-fifty’s he was in very good shape. His brown hair might have been speckled with gray, but there was a spring in his step and a sparkle in his eyes. He sat down opposite Kevin.
Karl and Joan arrived next. They were both in their early forties, but neither of them looked like it. Karl was a little over six feet tall, had thick black hair, dark eyes, and skin that looked suntanned all year long. Joan was several inches shorter than her husband with sandy blond hair and blue eyes that seemed even lighter when she was standing next to him. They spoke to Kevin and Steve and then sat on the bench on the east side of the clearing.
Darrell and Theresa were the next to arrive. They were the youngest of the group, both having turned twenty-one during the past year. Darrell was tall, dark, and handsome, with an athlete’s build. Theresa was slender with dark brown hair that fell to her waist. Her features were deceptively fragile, but her chocolate-colored eyes were full of strength and determination.
Chris was the last to arrive. He had waited outside until everyone else had gone in, and then he’d told the guards that no one else was to be allowed to enter. He followed the pathway to the clearing and sat down beside Steve.
As soon as everyone was seated, the wall around the clearing began to glow, and the air above the wall shimmered as electrical sparks danced along the top. Then a dome of intense light formed over their heads.
Darrell looked up and asked, “Is there someone around here that I need to know about?”
“No, but I want to keep this meeting private, just between us. While we’re under this dome, no one can see us, hear us, or read our thoughts,” Kevin answered. “A lot of things have happened since we arrived in Milhaven three weeks ago, and most of you only know bits and pieces. I think it’s time to fill you in.” He glanced around the clearing at his friends. “First of all, about my father. Laryn and Sister Agnes are pretty sure that he was poisoned but they don’t know how.”
After a minute, Darrell asked, “Do you have any ideas about who might have been responsible?”
“Nothing that comes close to proof, but Rolan was in the area a few days before he got sick.”
“Officially?” Steve asked.
Kevin shook his head.
“It could be a coincidence,” Karl said, “but I doubt it.”
“I doubt it, too,” Kevin said. “But regardless of the reason, he was here, and he knows that I know it.”
“And if he is the one behind Badec’s death, that gives him a good reason to want to see you dead,” Darrell said with a long drawn out sigh.
“There’s more, Darrell. Do you remember Rolan’s half sister, Landis? The one Taelor told Karl about? Tsareth’s youngest daughter?” Kevin glanced around. The others were all nodding. “Taelor was afraid that Rolan would see her as a threat and try to find her so that he could kill her. So Taelor decided to try to find her himself. That’s why he left.”
The others nodded again.
“Well, he found her, last fall. She’s living in North Amden with her foster parents, Hayden and Gwynn.”
“Hayden? Do you mean Duane’s father?” Joan asked with a frown. “Landis is living with Duane’s parents?”
Kevin nodded.
“Small world,” Theresa said softly.
“It gets even smaller,” Kevin said. “It turns out that Taelor’s mother was also Landis’s mother.”
“So he’s
her half brother,” Karl said with a frown. “Why didn’t he tell us?”
“I don’t think he knew it until Hayden told him. From what I gathered, he was trying to find Landis just so he could warn her about Rolan. Anyway, now that Tsareth is dead, Hayden is responsible for making the arrangements for Landis to study sorcery. Before the elves left to go back home after Badec’s funeral, he asked me to accept Landis as an apprentice. She’s going to work with Glendymere for a while first, but she and Taelor should both be here in about a year.”
“If she’s going to work with Glendymere for a year, why does she need to apprentice with you?” Joan asked. “You didn’t even have a year with Glendymere and from what everyone says you’re definitely past the apprentice stage.”
“I’m part elf. It’s going to be tougher for her,” Kevin explained. “She’s got to learn how to gather magic, store it inside, and then replenish it as needed. That’s something I do naturally. I don’t have any idea how to do it, so Glendymere volunteered to teach her that part if I would handle everything else.”
“When do you plan to break that news to Rolan?” Karl asked.
Kevin looked a little sheepish. “Well, I sort of mentioned it yesterday while Rolan and I were talking after the council meeting. I also told him that I had promised Landis and Taelor my protection, and would consider any move against them as a personal attack on me. And then I told him to call off the bounty hunters he had sent out after Taelor.”
Darrell groaned and shook his head.
“No wonder Chris and Laryn looked a little sick when you got back yesterday,” Joan said. “Is there anything else we need to know?”
“Just one more thing, but it’s relatively minor. Rolan’s brother, Robyn, sent a letter to Badec a little over a year ago. We found it in the bottom of one of the desk drawers. He asked my father to investigate Tsareth’s death. He thinks Rolan was responsible, and he thinks that Taelor might have witnessed it. Badec didn’t have a chance to follow up on it before he got sick, so now it’s up to me.”
“From what Taelor said, Tsareth died about six years ago. Why did Robyn wait so long to write to Badec?” Karl asked.
“I don’t know,” Kevin answered. “That’s one of the things I plan to ask him.”
“What are you supposed to do if Rolan is responsible for Tsareth’s death?” Steve asked.
“I have no idea. I haven’t had time to get into that. I’m sure Laryn knows what I need to do if I get some hard evidence against him.”
“You might want to find out before you do too much investigating. After all, he is a seated sorcerer. If there’s nothing you can do …” Steve shrugged.
“Good point,” Chris agreed.
“Does Rolan know that his brother asked for an investigation?” Karl asked.
“I don’t know,” Kevin answered.
“If he does …,” Darrell said, shaking his head again.
“Now, we’re getting to the reason that I asked all of you to meet with me today.” Kevin looked around at his friends. “I’m sure you’ve already figured out that things could get rather dicey around here before long. There’s no way I can thank you for everything you’ve done over the past year, and before you say anything, I know you would all say that it was your decision, but it wasn’t. From the day we got here, we were all led to believe that there was no way we could go back to Earth. Well, now there is.”
Kevin fingered the smaller of the two chains that he wore around his neck and pulled it out from under his tunic. Two keys hung from the chain, one a light silvery color, and the other a dark gray, nearly black. They had a loop at one end, were about four inches long, and had teeth on about the last inch, just like old-fashioned door keys. He held up the lighter key and said, “I have to stay here. But you don’t. I can take any of you to any place on Earth that you want to go. You can get out of all of this. You can go back home.”
No one spoke for a couple of minutes. Then Theresa said, “I don’t know about anyone else, but as for me, no thanks. I’m happy right where I am. I belong here.”
Steve nodded. “Same here. Everybody I care about is here. I have no desire to go back to Earth, but thanks for the offer.”
Kevin nodded and asked, “What about the rest of you?”
Chris shook his head and said, “I’d love to see my parents and let them know that I’m alive and well, but after everything I’ve seen and done over the past year, there’s no way I could go back to my old life, and if I’m not willing to stay on Earth, it’s better to just let them think I’m dead. I’ll pass. My life is here now.”
“I feel the same way,” Darrell said. “But thanks anyway.”
Kevin looked over at Karl and Joan. “What about you?”
Joan smiled and said, “Go back to Omaha? I don’t think so. We fit in here a lot better than we did in the city.”
“I can take you anywhere you want to go. It doesn’t have to be Omaha.”
Karl shook his head. “We’re happy here, Kevin. There’s nothing that we need to go back for. We’ll take our chances right here.”
“Okay,” Kevin said with a nod as the dome of shimmering light slowly dissolved. “But if any of you change your mind, just let me know.”
Chapter 2
Loose Ends
When Kevin had first started training to be a sorcerer, he’d been so focused on learning to control his magic that he’d given little thought as to what his role might entail. Then he’d found out that he had an office, which implied he had responsibilities beyond performing magic.
The more he’d found out about his duties, the more overwhelmed he had felt. The only thing that had kept him from running for the hills was the fact that his father’s office had apparently functioned just fine for the past year without a sorcerer in residence. He’d figured that once he arrived in Milhaven he would have plenty of time to watch and learn as Laryn continued to run things, at least for a while. Then, once he felt comfortable with everything, he’d slowly take over more and more of the duties and responsibilities.
What he hadn’t counted on was his father dying within twenty-four hours of his arrival. He had known that he’d have to take over after his father’s death, but no one had told him that it would be the very next morning. During the early morning hours following Badec’s death, Laryn had cleared all of her stuff out of the office, and right after breakfast that morning, she had broken the bad news. Kevin was in charge.
He would have panicked, but there wasn’t time. He just did what had to be done and kept on doing it. He didn’t feel comfortable with his role, but he’d been the Seated Sorcerer of Camden for three weeks and the Master Sorcerer of Terah for two days, and so far he’d managed to avert disaster. He just wasn’t sure how long that would last.
Monday morning, after Kevin’s workout, he and Chris joined the others in the dining room for breakfast and then headed for the office to discuss the plans for the week.
The sorcerer’s office consisted of two rooms, the reception area and Kevin’s private office. As Kevin’s assistant, Chris was in charge of the reception area. A long couch, a few armchairs, a coffee table, and some lamp tables had been set up as a visitors’ waiting area near the far wall, next to the large window that looked out over the back gardens. The main work area included several small secretarial desks, a large conference table, and a couple of smaller tables. Chris’s desk, which was larger than any other desk in the work area, was located close to the door to Kevin’s private office.
Chris was also in charge of the four pages who manned the reception area. Ariel, the chief page, was seventeen and had worked as a page for the past four years. He was almost six feet tall, and his muscles were only just beginning to catch up with his last growth spurt. He wore his blond hair shoulder length, with bangs that nearly hid his eyes.
Elin was only fifteen and had worked as a page for about a year and a half. She was small and dainty with thick auburn hair and big brown eyes. On weekends, when only two pages wo
rked in the office, she worked as Ariel’s partner.
The other two pages, Isak and Cameryn, were both sixteen and had worked in the office for a little over two years. They looked enough alike that most people thought they were brother and sister, but as far as they knew, they weren’t related. Both had medium frames, strong features, curly black hair, and dark gray eyes that were full of life and fun.
When Kevin and Chris walked into the main office, Kevin greeted the pages and told them that he and Chris would be working in his office for a while.
Ariel nodded. “Would you like some coffee?”
“Not right now. Maybe later,” Kevin answered as he opened the door to his office.
Kevin’s office was smaller than the reception area, but was still quite large. His desk was about the size of most executive desks and the chair that went with it was an upholstered high-back captain’s chair. Three armchairs and two small secretarial desks complete with straight back chairs faced Kevin’s desk. The only other pieces of furniture in the room were a couple of small tables and a fairly large conference table.
Kevin settled in the chair behind his desk and Chris sat down at one of the small secretarial desks.
“What do we need to focus on this week?” Chris asked.
“I think our top priority is going to be the federation meeting. It’s in less than two weeks and I don’t know anything about it. I’ll need to talk to Laryn.”
“When?”
“How about after lunch. Will you see if that’s all right with her?”
Chris nodded.
“How are we coming with the complaints about the district sorcerers?”
“We’ve done about all we can for now. I pulled the relevant contracts and most of the sorcerers we had letters about had overcharged, but not by all that much. I wrote to each of the district ministers involved and asked him to negotiate a settlement and let us know what they worked out. A few of the sorcerers had really taken advantage of the situation, so I sent them letters telling them to refund the money.”
The Dragon's Flame (The Chronicles of Terah # 2) Page 2