Tuesday morning, right after breakfast, Kevin went to his office to begin receiving ministers. After three hours, he was feeling addled. He had come to the conclusion that half the ministers who requested conferences simply wanted to meet him one on one. They used the guise of wanting to add some trifle to the sorcerer’s contract or some little grievance as an excuse, but only a couple of the ministers had serious concerns that would require his attention.
His first appointment after lunch was a refreshing change. Ryan, the minister of Ragenon, walked into his office and said, “I don’t have any complaints or problems. I just wanted a chance to meet you. Warren speaks quite highly of you.”
“Thank you. I think a lot of him, too. Tell me, how is Gaynor working out?”
Ryan frowned. “I really don’t know. He’s hard to get to know. He doesn’t seem to want to be friends with any of the people of Walnut Springs. I don’t know if he’s just shy or what, but they really have tried.”
Kevin sighed. “I don’t think he’s shy. I think he’s just standoffish. Has he caused any problems that you know of? I don’t want this to turn out to be a headache for Warren.”
“Not that I know of,” Ryan said, “but I’ll keep an eye out and let you know.”
“Thanks. I’m not sure Warren will.”
“No. He’d just handle things on his own and go on. Myron, I really don’t want to lose him. If Gaynor doesn’t work out, do you know of any other sorcerer who might be interested in the position?”
“Actually, I know of two. Either one of them would be an excellent choice. One is in Timera Valley staying with Brena right now, and the other is down in Prosidian on an errand for the Sisterhood. They’re well trained, but neither of them has held a district position before. If things don’t work out with Gaynor, I’m sure one of them would be willing to help out for a while.”
Ryan nodded. “Thank you. I’ve been a little concerned about that. Now I guess I should get out of here and let you get on with your conferences. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me.” Ryan stood up to go.
“Thank you for stopping by, and I seriously want you to let me know about any problems Gaynor manages to stir up,” Kevin said as he escorted Ryan to the door. “I don’t want any of you to put up with any junk from him.”
~ ~ ~ ~
The next morning, Warren and Torrey were just finishing breakfast in Walnut Springs when they heard a knock on their front door.
“Come on in,” Warren called out. “We’re in the kitchen. Join us for coffee.”
Their neighbor, Remos, walked into the kitchen with a scowl on his face. He was an older man, somewhere around seventy, heavy-set, and usually easygoing.
Warren had known the man for thirty years and had never seen him look so upset. “Remos? What’s wrong?”
Torrey got up to get Remos a cup, poured him some coffee, and set it down in front of one of the chairs at the table. She motioned towards the chair and said, “Come on. Sit down and have your coffee. I’ll leave you two and let you talk.” She picked up her cup and left the room.
Remos sat down and drummed his fingers on the table. Finally he said, “I hate botherin’ you with this, Warren. I just don’t know what else to do. I’m not a wealthy man.”
Warren waited for Remos to continue. When he didn’t, Warren asked, “Is there something you need? I can let you have some money if that’ll help. What’s going on?”
“I can’t afford to pay double rates for a protection ward. I can barely afford the regular ones,” Remos said as he stared down at his coffee.
“Double rates? What are you talking about? Wait a minute. Why do you need a protection ward anyway?”
“You know. The gang of burglars who are goin’ around the area breakin’ into homes and stealin’ stuff. I know I don’t have much worth stealin’, but I don’t want it stolen.”
“What gang of burglars?” Warren asked, dumbfounded.
“The ones who hit Timera Valley three weeks ago and have been workin’ their way towards us.”
“Oh, those burglars,” Warren said slowly. “What did you want to protect?”
“I got a loose board in the floor near my bed and I keep our valuables in a bag under it. I just want a ward over that board.”
“Is it out of the way? Where you won’t be stepping on it?”
Remos nodded. “After I get a ward over it, I’m goin’ to move the bed so that it’s under the bed.”
“Good idea, but have you checked with Aileen? Is it going to be all right with her for you to rearrange the bedroom? Wives get funny about things like that.”
Again, Remos nodded. “She said it’d be all right.”
Warren nodded. “Tell you what, after we have another cup of coffee, we’ll go over to your place and I’ll put a ward on it for you. How’s that?”
“But I still can’t afford to pay you double rates,” Remos argued.
“No charge,” Warren said. “All I want is a little information.”
Remos screwed up his face and looked hard at Warren. “No foolin’? No charge?”
“No charge. Now, how about telling me about this double rate you keep talking about. And why do you think the burglars are headed this way?” Warren got up, walked over to the stove, picked up the coffee pot, and filled both their cups.
“You need to get out more, Warren,” Remos said.
“What?” Warren asked as he sat back down.
“If you went to the tavern more, you’d know. Gaynor has a big map tacked up on the wall near the kitchen. He marks each place that gets hit. All you got to do is look at it to see they’re headin’ this way.”
“I see,” Warren said with a frown. “What about the double rates?”
“Gaynor said that you’re pretty much retired, and we’re not supposed to bother you no more. He has to handle all the stuff like this by himself, and by the time I got around to askin’ him to make the ward, he was booked solid for two weeks,” Remos grumbled. “Those burglars’ll be here before then. He said he’d move me up in the list if I really wanted him to, but I’d have to pay double because he’d be givin’ up his sleepin’ time to do it.”
“When did you ask him?”
“Last weekend.”
“And he was already booked solid?”
Remos nodded.
“I see. Why did you wait so long before you said something to me about it?” Warren asked.
“I didn’t want to impose. I’ve been tryin’ to figure out what I could sell to come up with the money to pay him, but I’m not the only one in this fix. Jacob’s hurtin’, too. He makes a bit of money at the tavern, but he has to pay his help. Tobin tried to sell me one of his foals yesterday. He was tryin’ to get the money together for Gaynor, too. I thought maybe if I came to you myself, you could talk to Gaynor for us.”
“Good thinking. I’m glad you did. Now, here’s what we’re going to do. First of all, we’re going to go over to your house and fix that ward. Then you and I are going to the tavern. I want to take a good long look at this map.”
“Sure, but like I said, you’ll see which way they’re headin’ as soon as you look at it.”
“You know, I bet you’re right. Hang on just a minute and let me tell Torrey where I’m going. Wait for me on the front porch.”
~ ~ ~ ~
By the time Warren got back home, he was boiling. Not only had Gaynor hung a map up with a bunch of fake burglaries, he’d even posted a sign next to it warning the people of Walnut Springs that they needed to purchase protection wards or risk losing everything they owned.
Torrey was in the kitchen mixing a cake when Warren slammed the front door and stomped through the living room. “If you had waited about fifteen minutes, my cake would have been in the oven and you could have knocked the air right out of it,” she said, without losing a beat. “Do you want me to ask what’s wrong or shall I just ignore you?”
“Sorry,” Warren said gruffly. “I’m just irritated.”
&nb
sp; “Really? Want to try that again?”
“All right. I’m angry. Happy now?”
“Does this have anything to do with Remos?”
“Yes, but it’s not his fault.” Warren sat down at the table and told Torrey what was going on.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to go see that scoundrel. We’re going to take down that map and say that the burglars have been chased out of the area. And for the people who don’t believe it, we’re going to do protection wards for half-price.”
“What’s this ‘we’?” Torrey asked with a frown. “He caused the problem.”
“I know, but the people around here believed him because I vouched for him, so it’s as much my problem as it is his. But if he pulls another stunt like this, I’m going to tell Myron to get rid of him,” Warren growled.
“Why not go ahead and get rid of him now? He knew you wouldn’t approve. That’s why he told everyone to leave you out of it.”
Warren shrugged. “Maybe I should, but I don’t feel like we’ve given him enough of a chance.”
“What more can we do, Warren? Everyone around here has gone out of their way to try to make friends with that man, to make him feel like he’s part of the community, but he turns his back on every gesture of friendship, unless if involves a free meal or free drinks. Those he accepts. He’s a selfish, egotistical cheat.”
Warren’s eyes opened wide and he looked hard at his wife. “Who are you? And what have you done with my wife?”
Torrey laughed. Then she got serious again. “I know it’s not like me to be so outspoken, but Warren, I don’t like that man, and I don’t trust him. And I don’t like the idea that he’s supposed to back you up.”
“Point taken. Let’s give him one more chance, but if he does anything like this again, I’ll contact Myron and tell him that Gaynor has got to go. All right?”
Torrey hesitated and then nodded. “Now, are you through stomping through the house? I’d like to put the cake in the oven.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Warren waited until late afternoon to go see Gaynor. When Warren confronted him with the scam he’d been running, Gaynor just laughed and said that if the townspeople were foolish enough to accept everything he said without checking it out, they deserved to lose their money. Warren argued that Gaynor had a position of trust only because Warren had vouched for him, and now, because of what he’d done, both of their good names were at risk.
“Then I guess you’re just going to have to back me up, aren’t you, old man,” Gaynor said with a smirk.
“Not exactly. I’m going to tell them that the burglars have been chased out of the district.”
“They won’t believe you. They want to believe the worst,” Gaynor said with a grin. “That’s why things like this always work.”
“True, and a lot of them are not going to feel safe until they have a protection ward over their valuables, so we’re going to offer protection wards at half the regular fee because it’s such an unusual circumstance.”
“Half the fee? I don’t think so. You can do them if you want to, but I’m not,” Gaynor snarled.
“Oh, yes, you are.”
Fire flashed in Gaynor’s eyes, but before he could even think of forming an energy bolt, Warren had him surrounded by an energy dome.
After Gaynor held his hands up in surrender, Warren slowly allowed the dome to dissolve.
“And you’re going to refund all but half the regular price to those who have already paid you,” Warren added, his eyes never leaving Gaynor’s.
“Why not just do it for free then? Want to be sure you get your cut?” Gaynor sneered.
“No,” Warren hissed. “If we did the wards for free, we would be doing the people who want one a favor, which would put them in the unwelcome position of owing us, and I don’t want anyone in this district to feel indebted to you for anything.”
Gaynor didn’t say anything for a minute. This was a side of Warren he’d never seen before and he wasn’t sure how far he could safely push the man. “All right, if I agree to do this, what’s in it for me?”
“You get to stay here,” Warren growled, “at least for tonight. But I warn you, if you ever do anything like this again, and I mean anything dishonest to cheat these people out of their money, you won’t be able to get out of this town fast enough.” Then Warren walked out the door and slammed it shut.
Chapter 24
Beginning of July
Kevin finished taking the ministers back to their districts about mid-afternoon Friday. Food was still spread out on the conference table in his reception area when he got back, so he fixed himself a small plate and took it to his office. He sat down at his desk, sighed in relief, and began to eat his lunch.
Most of the castle staff had been dismissed after the closing brunch. Only a skeleton crew would be operating for the rest of the weekend, and about the only things they would be taking care of were the kitchen and the animals. After a week of strangers tramping around, an eerie quiet settled over the castle.
Before Kevin finished eating, Chris walked in and sat down. “Are you ready for the council meeting tomorrow morning?”
Kevin shrugged. “I’m really tired, but other than that, I guess I’m about as ready as I ever am.”
“Are you still planning to bring up the lack of heirs?”
“Yes, but I’m not going to mention it until the end.”
“Why?”
“Whoever made those chairs out of granite was either a sadist or a genius,” Kevin said between mouthfuls of sandwich. “You can’t get comfortable, and the longer you sit there, the worse it gets. If I wait until the end, all of the sorcerers are going to be ready to get up, and when they figure out that we’re not going anywhere until I get my committee, they’ll shut up and let me get on with it.”
Chris chuckled. “Not a bad plan.”
“Now, do we have anything else that we have to do today?” Kevin asked after he finished the last of his sandwich.
“Not as far as I know. There’s a whole list of things that we need to tackle next week, but there’s nothing that has to be done today.”
“Good. As soon as I thank the pages for all the work they’ve done this week, we’re going to give them the rest of the day off and shut this office down. Then I’m heading upstairs, and I really don’t plan to come back down until tomorrow morning.”
~ ~ ~ ~
The council meeting had started precisely at noon, Camden time, and so far it had been relatively calm. No one had any old business to bring up and the only new business so far had concerned a little bartering for some surplus crops.
After arrangements for exchanging the crops for other goods had been made, Kevin asked if anyone else had any new business to bring before the council. He looked around, hoping that someone would bring up something that would inspire a heated debate. Up to this point, there had been nothing for the sorcerers to get worked up about, and they did love to argue. Unfortunately, his proposal might give them just the opportunity a lot of them seemed to be waiting for.
Finally, when it was obvious that no one else was going to say anything, he cleared his throat and began. “Several of us don’t have heirs, and I’m not sure it’s fair to ask one of our relatives to step into the position should one of us die or wish to retire.”
“Do you want to retire already?” Gwendolyn of Landoryn sneered.
“No, nothing like that. I was just thinking about how we could fill the chairs,” Kevin said in a relaxed tone.
“That’s easy. Closest magical relative,” Starvos of Jardin said.
“I know that’s what’s been done in the past, but what if the closest relative is happy with his or her life as it is?” Kevin asked.
“Too bad,” Geoffrey of Havernia said. “It’s his duty.”
“But should it be?” Kevin asked in a wondering tone.
“What do you mean?” Trivera of Wyndsor asked.
“You don’t have
to concern yourself, Myron,” Malcolm of Glyndal smirked. “I’m sure we’ll figure out something to do with your chair.”
“I’m not talking about the Master’s Chair, Malcolm. I’m talking about the seat for a province. Who would take over Silvan’s seat if Regan were to die, or Dresland’s seat if something were to happen to Bianca, or Brendolanth’s seat?”
“Or Camden’s,” Rolan snipped.
“Yes, or Camden’s,” Kevin said with a nod.
“Or mine,” Edwin of Farragon said. “I agree with the boy. We need some kind of procedure in place before one of us dies with no heirs.”
Rolan shrugged. “Why not just go with the closest magical relative?”
“You’ve got several brothers and sisters. Which one is the closest?” Jason asked.
“All right. Go with the strongest,” Rolan said.
“Strongest brother or sister, or do we move on to cousins?” Regan of Silva asked with a frown.
Edwin looked around the room. “None of my relatives could take over. All of the ones with magic in their blood are gone.”
“Just let the sorcerer name his own successor,” Gwendolyn said with an air of finality. “As long as it’s registered with the council, what does it matter?”
“What if there’s some kind of natural disaster, like a tornado, a flood, or an earthquake that gets you and the person you named?” Geoffrey asked.
“What about some kind of competition then?” Regan asked.
“Open to whom?” Bianca of Dresland asked.
“Residents of that province,” Damien of Nandelia suggested.
“Why not open it to anyone on Terah if you aren’t going to stay with family members?” Malcolm asked.
“No,” Edwin said, slowly shaking his head. “The seat should be filled by someone from that province. If someone else wants it later, let him challenge for it.”
“This competition … are you talking about a duel?” Judith of Riordan asked.
“Why not?” Malcolm demanded. “That’s how we got our seats.”
The Dragon's Flame (The Chronicles of Terah # 2) Page 33