Gerry smiled and nodded. “Well, since I’m going to be your wife, that’s not going to be a problem, is it? It just means that your slaves won’t be scrubbing your back anymore. You’ll have to take care of that little task for yourself until I get there, but you should be able to handle it. You’re a big boy now.” Then she tapped his nose with her finger. “And as for anything else … well, you aren’t supposed to be doing anything with anyone else now that we’re engaged anyway, so that shouldn’t be a problem either. Now, where’s your chain. The stone needs to identify with your life force to be fully activated.”
Rolan took the chain that he had brought for the sister’s pendant out of his pocket. Gerry took the chain and pendant out of his hand, opened the clasp, and slipped the chain through the hook on the sister’s pendant. “There. Now put it on,” she said as she handed the chain to Rolan.
He slipped the chain over his head and let the pendant fall to the middle of his chest. After a couple of seconds, a soft fiery glow spread through the opal, and at the same time, Rolan felt a warmth spread inside his chest.
“Did you feel it?” Gerry asked. “A warmth?”
Rolan nodded.
“Then that’s it. The opal’s connected to your life force now.”
“You mean that’s all there is to it? It’ll work now? It’ll protect me from all kinds of attack? Even magic? Even another pendant?”
“It’ll protect you from anyone and anything but a sister,” Gerry said with a teasing grin. “I’ll be the only one around who can hit you and get away with it. The only reason I was able to hit Brena was that I was wearing a pendant, too. Otherwise the flame in her pendant would have destroyed me.”
“So they’re going to know that a sister attacked her once they figure out that it wasn’t an accident?”
“Yes,” Gerry said slowly. “That’s true. And they’ll figure out that it wasn’t an accident as soon as they realize that the lamp is missing. I shouldn’t have taken it. I should have just left.” Gerry was talking mainly to herself.
“But if you had done that, I wouldn’t have a pendant and we’d be right back where we started.”
Gerry picked up the lamp and started out of the cave.
“Wait a minute. Where are you going?”
“We need to get this back to Timera Valley. Come on. I’d rather be outside when you use your key.”
Rolan didn’t say anything, but there was no way he was going to take the chance of returning to Timera Valley that night or any other night. The lamp was his now. Period. He followed her out of the cave and once they were both outside, he held out his hand for the lamp. “Here, let me have it. I’m used to traveling through the energy flow. We wouldn’t want it to get broken or anything.”
Gerry handed him the lamp and then started to take his hand, but Rolan quickly stepped backwards a couple of steps and unleashed an energy bolt.
The shock of one hitting so close nearly caused him to drop the lamp. The air reeked of smoke and burning flesh, and there was a small pile of ashes on the forest floor where Gerry had stood a few minutes earlier. Lying in the ashes, almost hidden, was Gerry’s pendant.
Rolan slowly bent down, picked up the pendant, shook the ashes off, and watched the flame inside the opal flicker and finally fade out. He grinned as he slipped the pendant into his pocket. Then he took out his key, turned it, and vanished.
At no point did he notice the eyes peeking around a bush at the side of the clearing, watching it all.
Chapter 14
The Sorcerer of Zander
Saturday morning, Kevin woke up a couple of hours before daybreak. He tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. Once he was up and dressed, he noticed light coming from under the door to Chris’s room, so he opened the door and said, “I see you couldn’t sleep either.”
“No. I haven’t been this nervous since the first council meeting. Are you ready for coffee yet?”
Kevin shook his head. “I want to work out first. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Okay. I’ll wait until you’re about done and then I’ll go down.”
Kevin shut the door and headed downstairs.
While Kevin was making his way out to the meadow, Chris dressed and wandered out onto the balcony. After a couple of minutes, he saw the familiar aura of light begin to rise and fall in the grove of willow trees.
Kevin started out slowly, trying to relax both his mind and his body as he focused on each move, and as he settled into the familiar routine, his anxiety faded. By the time he finished, he felt almost normal, so he ran through his routine a second time.
When Kevin returned to his room, Chris was waiting with coffee and a platter of assorted pastries. He handed Kevin a mug and said, “That second time through looked stronger than usual. Glendymere said you had more power than you realized. Maybe you’re tapping into more of it now,”
“Maybe, or maybe I’m just getting better at controlling it.”
“Could be, but the end result’s the same.”
While they were eating, they heard a quiet knock on the door. When Chris opened it, Rigel was standing on the other side. He looked at Kevin and said, “I just wanted to be sure you were up, sir. Do you still want to leave a little before daybreak?”
Kevin nodded and motioned to the tray. “Would you like some coffee? Something to eat?”
“No thank you, sir. I’ve already eaten. I’ll wait for you in your office if that’s all right.”
“That’s fine. We’ll be down in a few minutes.”
After Rigel left, Chris commented, “I can’t remember which movie it was in, but the bodyguard said that he had to be careful not to get to know his subject too well, because if he did, he might not be willing to take a bullet for him. Rigel reminds me of the bodyguard in that movie. He seems to prefer keeping his distance.”
Kevin nodded. “I think both he and Alek are protecting the office, not the man. Maybe that’s for the best.”
“Have you figured out how you want to run the competition? What order you want for the events?”
“Actually, I’ve thought about that quite a bit. It seems to me that if people are going to bother to come watch this thing, we should put on a show that won’t bore them to tears.”
Chris frowned.
“You have to admit, most of what we do with magic is just plain boring to watch.”
“Well, some of it can get sort of intense.”
“Mainly when things go wrong,” Kevin said, wrinkling his nose at some of the memories from Willow Canyon. “We don’t want that kind of excitement today.”
Chris chuckled and agreed.
“Anyway, I was thinking of having three rounds of three events, with each round having at least one event that people might actually want to watch.”
“You were planning to have ten events. Which one are you leaving out?”
“Defense against energy bolts. I thought I’d run through a quick volley with each of them while the judges are making their decision. That event is purely for my own curiosity. I’m the only one who can tell how well they can defend against those anyway, and the only reason I’m doing it is to see if they need more training.”
“Okay. So which events are you going to group together?”
Kevin explained how he wanted to organize the three rounds and then he said, “If we limit each event to fifteen minutes, and allow five minutes for changing from one event to another, each round would last right at an hour.”
“Okay.”
“And after each round, I was thinking that we could take a thirty minute break and let the sorcerers meet people, talk with them, answer questions, and so on.”
“A meet and greet break?”
“I guess you could call it that. Now, if you’re ready, we need to get moving.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Dawn was just beginning to break when Kevin, Chris, and Rigel materialized on Wilhem’s front porch. The front door was open and Wilhem was pacing in the living r
oom. Kevin knocked quietly on the doorframe to get his attention before they entered his house.
“Come in, please come in,” Wilhem whispered. “I’m so nervous I can hardly stand it.”
“It’s going to be all right,” Kevin assured him. “Just relax. I’m going over to Gaynor’s house in a few minutes. Rigel and Chris will stay here with you. Nothing’s going to happen. And by this evening, you’ll have a new sorcerer.”
Wilhem nodded. “I told Gaynor that you were coming to meet him this morning.”
“Why?” Kevin asked apprehensively.
“He has a tendency to sort of disappear on the weekends, and I was afraid he’d take off,” Wilhem explained. “But he has no idea why. I just told him that I’d received a letter from your office stating that you were going to visit a few of the districts in this area today, starting with Zander.”
Kevin nodded. “That’s fine. I doubt he’ll be expecting me this early though. I’d like to catch him off guard if I can. I think I’ll head on over.”
“Good luck,” Chris said.
“Are you sure I can’t go with you?” Rigel asked.
“I’m sure. Just wait here,” Kevin said as he opened the front door to leave. Then he turned back to Wilhem and said, “I’ve told Chris how I want to run the competition. Let him go over it with you while I’m gone. You might want to put certain judges observing certain events. I doubt if anyone will be able to watch everything. Anyway, I’ll leave that part to you. I should be back around 11:00. We’ll head over to the field then.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Kevin walked up to Gaynor’s house and stood on the front porch, listening. After a while, he finally heard the sounds of someone stirring around inside. He knocked on the door.
“Go away!” someone roared from inside the house. “I’m busy this morning.”
Kevin knocked again.
“What’s the matter with you? You deaf or something?” Gaynor yelled as he jerked the door open.
Gaynor was a little over six feet tall, but he seemed taller, probably because he looked like a skeleton with a little skin draped over it. His scraggly black hair fell to his shoulders and needed washing. His long fingernails were jagged and dirty, but from neglect, not from working. The snarl on his face looked perfectly natural, like it was his normal expression.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” Kevin began.
Gaynor’s mouth dropped open as the tunic and sash registered. “Myron, I’m so sorry. I thought you were one of the peasants. They come here at all hours of the day and night, beating on the door, making demands.”
Kevin simply smiled.
“Please, come in,” Gaynor said as he opened the door. “And forgive my appearance. I wasn’t expecting you quite so early. I haven’t had time to dress yet.”
“That’s quite all right,” Kevin said as he stepped into Gaynor’s living room. It was as unkempt as the tenant. Kevin swept some dirty clothes out of a chair and sat down.
“Wilhem told me that you were coming by this morning. I was wondering when you were going to get around to meeting your sorcerers,” Gaynor said as he sat down on the couch. “I understand that you’re touring the southern districts today.”
“Not exactly. I have to admit that I made the trip especially to talk to you,” Kevin said, still smiling.
“I’m flattered,” Gaynor said. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m here to talk to you about a position in another district, but I’d like to keep this conversation between us.”
“I assure you that I don’t discuss my affairs with anyone.”
“I’m sure you don’t, but I’d like to use an energy dome to prevent anyone from overhearing us.”
“A sensitive situation then,” Gaynor said with a nod.
“So you don’t mind?”
Gaynor shook his head.
Kevin nodded and the air around them began to shimmer and a dome of bright light formed over their heads. “Have you ever worked with an energy dome before?”
Gaynor slowly shook his head no. He was staring at the dome, trying to figure out exactly how Kevin had constructed it.
“It’s like a shield. No magical energy can get in or out, so if you ever use one as a defense, remember not to throw an energy bolt while you’re under it.”
“Why not? What would happen?”
“There’s a chance that the bolt would be absorbed by the dome and disappear, but there’s an even better chance that the dome would deflect the bolt and it would bounce around inside until it hit something.”
Gaynor’s head jerked around toward Kevin. “But that means it would hit one of us.”
“Actually, it would probably hit both of us,” Kevin said. As Gaynor’s eyes darted around the dome, Kevin added, “Don’t worry. The dome is completely safe. Nothing can harm you while you’re under it, unless you forget and throw a bolt.”
“That’s not something I’d be likely to forget,” Gaynor mumbled. “How long did it take you to learn how to make one of these things?”
“I don’t really know. It’s made the same way a net shield is made. It just takes more energy and control. But now, if we can, I’d like to get back to the reason I came to see you.”
Then Kevin explained that Warren had wanted to retire for a couple of years, but the people of Ragenon really wanted him to stay. “Ryan, the minister of Ragenon, has offered to hire an assistant to take over some of his duties in hopes that Warren might stay on for a couple more years.”
“You mean an apprentice, don’t you?” Gaynor asked, turning his nose up.
“No. Ryan was very definite about that. He insisted that the assistant must be a practicing sorcerer with at least a year’s experience, not even a novice. Actually, they’re willing to pay a little more than what you’re making here. In addition, Ryan said that if the assistant works out, he would be considered for the position when Warren does decide to call it quits.”
“Are you offering me the job?”
“Yes, I am.”
Gaynor was quiet for a few minutes. Then he said, “I’m flattered by your offer, but I’m really not interested in being anyone’s assistant. I think I’ll stay where I am for now.”
Kevin allowed the dome to fade and disappear. “I’m afraid that’s not an option.”
“What do you mean, not an option? You can’t force me to move to Ragenon!” Gaynor stood up, raised his shoulders, and drew himself up to his full height so that he could look down his nose at Kevin.
“No, I won’t force you, but I will give you a chance to reconsider your decision.”
Gaynor started to sputter, but before he could say anything, Kevin stood up and said, “Be careful. You don’t want to do something you’ll regret. Don’t forget who I am,” his voice dripping with authority.
After the initial surge of anger subsided, Gaynor clenched his teeth and hissed, “Maybe you should tell me why staying in Zander is not an option.”
“You’ve abused your office here. I’m willing to chalk it up to inexperience this time, but only if you’re willing to work as Warren’s assistant and find a better way to relate to the people you serve. If you don’t want to do that, you’ll have to leave Camden. Those are your only two options.”
Gaynor glared at Kevin for a couple of minutes before he said anything. “So, how long do I have to make this decision?”
“I can give you about five minutes.”
“If I go to Ragenon, I’ll get that district when Warren’s gone?”
“I didn’t say that. I said Ryan hopes that Warren will stay at least a couple more years. As to whether or not you might get the position when he does decide to retire …” Kevin shrugged. “That depends on you and on what happens over the next couple of years.”
Gaynor’s eyes narrowed menacingly for a moment and then he gave a quick nod. “All right. I’ll do it, for a while anyway.”
“As long as you understand that the only way you can resign as Warren’s assistant is t
o leave Camden.”
“When do I have to be there?” Gaynor snarled.
“In about fifteen minutes,” Kevin answered. “So, I guess you’d better get packed.”
“Fifteen minutes?! Are you crazy? I can’t be ready by then!”
“Yes, you can. You have to be. Pack what you want to take with you and show me what else you’ll want and I’ll have it delivered to you.”
“That’s all right. I’ll just come back and pick up the rest of my things later,” Gaynor growled.
“No, you won’t. You are never to set foot in Zander again,” Kevin said sternly. “Is that understood?”
Gaynor’s lips curled in loathing, but he didn’t answer.
“Understood?” Kevin asked again, a little more harshly.
Gaynor narrowed his eyes and nodded exactly once.
“And while I’m thinking about it, I need to tell you something else,” Kevin said coolly. “Warren and his wife, Torrey, are two of the kindest, most generous souls I’ve ever met. They are good people, really good people. If Badec had survived, I would be the one taking the position as Warren’s assistant, but things didn’t work out that way. If anyone were to cause harm to either of them, directly or indirectly, I would take it ever so personally. Terah wouldn’t be large enough for that person to hide from my wrath.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Take it any way you want to, but I want you to know where things stand. If anyone does anything to either of them, I’ll hear about it, either from you or from someone else, and then I’ll take care of it, personally. Understood?”
Gaynor hesitated a moment and then snarled, “Understood.”
“Good. Now, what do you want to take with you?”
After Gaynor threw his clothes into a sack and gathered up the few personal possessions he had scattered around the house, Kevin enclosed Gaynor and his things in an energy sphere and took them through the energy field to Warren’s front yard. As soon as they materialized, Warren came bounding down the front steps to greet them.
“Welcome, Gaynor. I’m so glad you’ve come!” Warren said while Gaynor struggled to regain his equilibrium after traveling through the energy field. Once Gaynor was steady on his feet, Warren continued. “Torrey has some breakfast ready for us in the kitchen. Myron, will you join us? There’s fresh coffee.”
The Dragon's Flame (The Chronicles of Terah # 2) Page 18