“Jonathan Thunder?” came a voice from behind Jonathan.
Jonathan turned around and saw a messenger wearing the colors of a noble household. The man held a letter that was fastened with a wax seal. Jonathan walked forward and took the letter. The man nodded and took off on his horse. Jonathan did not recognize the seal as he tore open the letter. It was from Bill and the man surprised him with the short letter. Bill was out of the Tower now and would be getting married in a few weeks and wanted Jonathan there. The letter was written in such a way that Jonathan was sure it was some kind of code. Bill knew what Jonathan was going through and offered to give him a place to stay, at least for a little while. Bill would not have been Jonathan’s first choice but a gift was a gift. Jonathan wished he could take up Bill on his gesture, the Queen wanted him back at the Tower and classes were close to letting back in for the year.
Jonathan had packed a small bag and left quickly after that. He didn't have much to take with him, it had all burned and his only solace was that he had a bit of money. He briefly thought about taking a horse and carriage but dismissed it. Anyone who wanted to follow him had to do it through the air. Jonathan had a magical well bigger than most and could be a good distance away from any mundanes who wished to spy on him or cause him harm. Mages who tried to follow him would be easily seen and would be a target easily hit by his lightning magic. Jonathan took off in the air traveling faster than he normally would. Jonathan thought only the Golads would be able to keep up with him. Monica Manchin could only cast one spell at a time and her style of flying involved multiple castings of a wind spell, she could get to where she was going but not as fast as Jonathan. Jonathan thought he pushed himself for about five minutes before he settled down into a more manageable pace. Jonathan could see there was no one behind him and took the time to land. Jonathan left wearing a pair of his father’s mage robes, Jonathan was lucky the shed it was in was left untouched. Jonathan quickly switched out to another pair of his father’s clothes, this outfit was simple but sturdy. Jonathan thought it was probably his traveling clothes. Jonathan started flying again but this time he stayed low to the road, anyone looking for him would have a hard time trying to follow him unless they took to the air.
Jonathan kept up a good pace for his first few hours of travel. Whenever he thought he had used half of his magical energy he would stop flying and walk. Jonathan did not want to be caught anywhere with less than half of his magic remaining. If he had to fight he wanted the energy to fight off his attackers or flee. When Jonathan thought he had traveled long enough he stopped in the town of Dulor.
Jonathan had been through Dulor before and it seemed like the town was always in a state of construction. In a few years Jonathan thought it could be called a legitimate city with all of the work he had seen done. Dulor used to be an out of the way town, that was before allspice was discovered in the forests around the town. Now many people had settled down in Dulor in an attempt to make a life collecting and selling the spice. Jonathan quickly found an inn, he had seen the building while passing through but never stayed there.
Jonathan walked inside and felt a bit uncomfortable. There were women there who wore their tops so low that he could see their breasts and drunken men who actively oogled them. The place was packed, Jonathan quickly surmised that the inn must have also acted as a tavern and restaurant. Jonathan moved through the crowd until he found an open seat at a table. Jonathan took a seat at the table and looked around him, the other men seated all smelled like the outside Jonathan thought. They probably had been digging in the dirt all day for various things and had a smell that was a mixture of earth and sweat. None of them paid Jonathan any attention, they were content to drink whatever they had in their cups. Jonathan was about to order when he noticed everyone had became quiet. Jonathan looked around and spotted a woman at the door dressed in the robes of a mage.
Jonathan had never seen this woman before, she was young, around Jonathan’s age and was followed by three more mages. All of them wore commoner mage robes, the outlined sleeves and white hood was easy to tell. The patrons in the inn were probably amazed at seeing a mage, let alone a group of them. The four mages didn’t surprise Jonathan at all. Jonathan was busy looking at the fifth mage who walked into the inn, a female who was obviously a noble. Mundanes wouldn't be able to tell too much of a difference in the five women, Jonathan thought none of it made sense.
The commoners wore mage robes that were not made as finely as what the noble girl wore. The commoner mages wore robes made out of wool, it was dark blue and probable dyed with woad, a type of flower. The noble wore a robe that was probably made out of linen, it just hung from her differently and was a slightly different color of blue than the others were, probably from the indigo plant. The five mages walked into the room and people parted for them, despite them being five young ladies not one man in the place attempted to talk to them and four men got up and cleared a table just so they could be away from them. The mages sat down as light whispers could be heard throughout the inn, Jonathan had questions as well. Why was a noble hanging around commoner mages? They looked comfortable in each other’s presence, Jonathan found that weird. The only noble mage he could stand longer than a second other than his former instructors was Farrah Golad and only because they were attracted to each other.
“You better stop looking over there boy,” one of the men at Jonathan’s table said. “Those ain't dresses, those are mage robes.”
“Mage robes?” Jonathan said feigning ignorance.
“Those mages will put a pox on your dangly bits,” the man replied. “You leave those mage women alone. They ain't like normal girls, they are quick to anger and quick to lash out. Tell him Carl.”
“I know a friend who saw a mage burn a thief using nothing but his hands,” the skinniest man at the table said who Jonathan assumed was named Carl. “You listen to Jake, if you want a girl go after one of these serving girls. Their prices have gone up since all of the spice money coming through here but they are safer than those mage women.”
“Why are they here?” Jonathan asked.
“Don't know, probably hunting Johnny Thunder,” the Jake spoke with a nod.
“Johnny Thunder?” Jonathan said surprised to hear his name.
“Some lad who found out he was a mage,” Carl said. “I heard he started killing evil mages and was so good at it the Queen sent him to fight in some war. The King was mad at him for doing so good and sent people out to kill him. Johnny Thunder though killed them all and forced the Queen to strip the King of his title. The King is still salty and probably sent these women to track Johnny Thunder down. You can't just send one mage, you have to send a group.”
“What does this Johnny Thunder look like?” Jonathan asked.
“He is as tall as a big plow horse and just as heavy,” Carl said.
“I heard he has hair like sun and the women can't help but be with him,” Jake said.
Jonathan could have laughed, it sounded like they were describing Russell Golad. Jonathan wondered how angry Russell would be if someone confused him for being a commoner and smiled. His smile was quickly replaced by an involuntary frown just by thinking of the King. The man had tried to kill Jonathan and Jonathan was sure that was the reason he had been stripped of his title. It wasn't phrased that way by the various criers Jonathan had come across but only an idiot wouldn't be able to make that inference. Jonathan frowned as he thought about dealing with Xalen and his crew back at the Tower, they would be angry.
“You look like you have a lot going on up there boy,” Carl said. “You better turn your head away, one of them is looking over here.”
“Damn it boy,” Jake said. “Walk out the door before they bring trouble here.”
“I got this,” Jonathan said as he stood up. One of the mages were looking his way and she had a frown on her thin face.
Jonathan wasn't worried about her frown, even without his robes on Jonathan knew he looked like the bad guy in every play
he had seen. He had long jet black hair that fell over his eyes. His face was thin and pale and anyone who had ever seen him said he had evil looking eyes. Jonathan thought it was because his eyes were so dark they looked black, he figured it could have also been because of how narrow they were as well. Two of the mages were now looking his way, Jonathan made his way over to their table and now had three sets of mage eyes on him.
“I couldn't help but notice a table filled with women and no company,” Jonathan said as he attempted to be what he thought was charming.
“Because we want to be alone,” one of the mages snapped, a heavy girl with short brown hair. “Did you think about that before you came over here?”
“I did,” Jonathan said.
“Then why are you here?” the mage snapped again.
“Because I would rather come over here and be rejected instead of wondering if I had a chance,” Jonathan said.
“Do you know what we are?” the noble mage said as she looked at Jonathan.
“Five women,” Jonathan replied.
“We are mages boy!” the heavier mage snapped. “Don't you see our robes? What do you think they are for?”
“To hide whatever is underneath there?” Jonathan said feigning ignorance. “I don't know why you would wear that thing as warm as it is.”
“We are mages you idiot!” the heavier mage said.
“Does that mean I can't buy you a drink?” Jonathan asked innocently. “I mean you are still a woman under there aren't you?”
“He does have a point Cassidy,” the noble mage said. “Let him sit down, we only have a few more days until we are there anyway.”
“You see, even your friends like me,” Jonathan said with a smile.
“You came over here for me?” Cassidy said. “I am the biggest woman at this table.”
“So what?” Jonathan said. “You don't want to leave here knowing you turned down a sure thing do you?”
“You are charming, I’ll give you that,” Cassidy said. “But you look like a criminal. If you are thinking about robbing one of us you have picked on the wrong group.”
Cassidy then held her hand out as a flame briefly appeared then extinguished itself. Loud gasps were heard in the inn and Jonathan could see people start heading towards the door. Jonathan wasn't impressed by the show, in fact he was even more confused than he started out. The fire went out so quickly Jonathan was sure it was because she was out of magical energy. The mage should have at least been sweating from the loss of all of her magic but she wasn't even winded. Jonathan looked at her hand, Cassidy put her palm up to Jonathan which made him step back a little.
“Come on boy,” Carl said as he yanked Jonathan by the arm. “You don't want to be here.”
Jonathan let himself be led away until they got outside. Carl said his goodbye and Jonathan just stared at the inn. Something really wasn't right about the group but figured it was none of his business. Maybe they were just different than any mages he had met before. Mage women were told from a young age that their place was with a noble male mage. There were so few female mages that there were very few exceptions to the rule, maybe if a female mage found a mundane Duke or something that wanted to marry her then she would be okay. In some mage circles Jonathan knew that even then some people would look down on the union. Any of those mages should have shut him down immediately, why would a mage even entertain the idea of talking to some lad in an inn? Jonathan was about to walk away when Cassidy came out of the inn and looked at him.
“You miss me already?” Jonathan asked. “I thought you were happy trying to burn the place down.”
“You aren't scared of my fire?” Cassidy asked.
“I can make fire,” Jonathan said. “Give me some flint and steel and I could make a fire bigger than your little flame.”
“You really aren't impressed,” Cassidy said. “Why don't you come in and sit down.”
Jonathan shrugged and went back inside. The women around the table had rearranged themselves and left a seat in the middle. Cassidy gestured for him to sit down, Jonathan took a seat and saw all of the mages were looking at him. Jonathan gave them a smile, Cassidy never set down but instead placed her hands on Jonathan’s shoulders. Cassidy gave them a little squeeze as the noble in the group started talking.
“Who are you?” the noble girl asked.
“None of your business, I don't answer to you,” Jonathan said as he then felt a stinging burn from Cassidy’s hands. Jonathan jumped in surprise and pain from the sensation. Jonathan went to get up but could feel Cassidy trying to push him back down in his seat. Jonathan wasn’t sure the girl was out of magic but that was definitely magic he had just felt.
“You will answer to me today,” the noble said. “I asked who you were. All of the people in this town were scared of us except for you. I also noticed that you stared at me a little longer than my friends. That would not have been noticed if you came over to talk to me but instead you came over to talk to Cassidy who had been giving you angry looks and snapping at you.”
“That really hurt,” Jonathan said as he reached over and grabbed one of Cassidy’s hands. Jonathan felt the pain rush through him again but was ready. Jonathan stood up and twisted his body behind Cassidy’s. Jonathan was much taller than the girl was and was also a lot stronger. Jonathan held her out in front of him as mage bolts slammed into Cassidy, causing her to scream and drop to the floor. Jonathan grabbed a chair from a nearby table and was about to throw it at the noble. The mage stood up and raised her hands as a signal for the other mages around her to stop.
“Answer my question,” the noble said as Cassidy moaned on the ground. “I know you aren't just some boy trying to flirt.”
“Who are you?” Jonathan retorted. “You must be someone important if you are worried about who I am.”
“You don't need to know who I am,” the noble mage said. “Did my father send you?”
“No,” Jonathan said truthfully. “I don't know who your father is. I just thought it was weird that you all were traveling together.”
“And what do you know about mages?” the noble said.
“I know a little bit,” Jonathan replied. “I know you should have told me to sod off when I came over here instead of entertaining me.”
“I am going to roast you alive!” Cassidy said moaning and she slowly got up off the floor.
“Stop Cassidy,” the noble said then looked at Jonathan. “I’ll buy you a drink if you can tell me what gave us away.”
“Dinner too,” Jonathan replied.
“You are pushing your luck,” the noble said.
“I am pushing my luck,” Jonathan said. “But what lad can say they got a group of women to buy him drinks and food? That is something I want to remember for a bit.”
“Sit down and talk,” the noble said.
“Well your first mistake was traveling together,” Jonathan said. “Noble mages are so stuck up that they wouldn't dare travel in a group like yours unless they were obviously in charge. You looked like friends, you were too comfortable in each other’s presence.”
“None of us were raised around mages,” the noble girl said.
“I can tell,” Jonathan replied. “The second mistake is that none of you are snobby enough. All of you should have told me to sod off, you entertained me for too long. That was the reason I went after the meanest among you.”
“So you came over here because you were curious?” the noble asked.
“I did,” Jonathan replied. “Mages are knobbers, you have to be a lot nastier if you are going to fit in. Are you going to the Tower of Magic?”
“I am,” the noble said. “Can I hire you to teach me all you know about mages while I travel there?. You probably have your own errands to get to but I will pay you what I have.”
“I am going in that direction,” Jonathan said. “You do not have to pay me anything.”
“Why would you be heading to the Tower?” Cassidy said angrily. “They only take mages
there.”
“You have answered your own question,” Jonathan said.
“That is why you were not scared,” the noble mage said. “We just need more practice. Did you notice anything about our magic?”
“Like what?” Jonathan asked.
“He knows something,” Cassidy said and held her hands out threateningly. “You can see it on his face.”
“How are you this good at reading me?” Jonathan said to himself, loud enough for the women to hear.
“Because you are easy to read,” the noble girl said.
“Yeah, something about your magic is a bit off,” Jonathan said. “At least something about Cassidy’s magic has me confused.”
“Like what?” Cassidy said gritting her teeth together.
“That flame you did was a fancy bit of magic,” Jonathan said. “But it did not slowly go out or die down. It winked out like you had exhausted all of the magic in your body. You should have been panting, sweating and exhausted. Every mage I have met does that except for you.”
“This is never going to work,” the noble girl said.
“You don't have to listen to this boy,” Cassidy said. “It will work, we just need more practice.”
“Let’s lay our cards on the table,” Jonathan said. “You have secrets that I am not sure I want to be a part of. I have secrets that I know you don't want to be a part of, at least I know you will not once we reach the Tower.”
“How do we even know that you are a mage?” the noble girl said.
The Queen's Champion Page 4