Nicholas Raven and the Wizards' Web (The Complete Epic Fantasy)

by Thomas J. Prestopnik

  “He blackmailed you,” Katherine said, noting the anguish in his eyes yet unable to feel sorry for him.

  “He did, though not saying so directly,” Dooley admitted. “Zachary convinced me that if he could contact Caldurian, we could return the key to him for a price, pretending that I had won it in a game of dice from some locals. I had my doubts, but Zachary insisted on trying and so I let him, though I had little choice.”

  Katherine scowled. “What did the wizard pay you in exchange for the key? Money? Power?” She shook her head with disgust.

  “It was more complicated than you think,” Dooley said. “Not everything went according to plan.”

  “Meaning?” Lewis asked.

  Dooley sighed, prepared to reveal the worst of his crimes. “Meaning that Zachary and I made our deal with the wizard, but a few things went awry.”

  “Such as?” Katherine asked, her gaze fixed upon him with an intensity that both intimidated and flustered him.

  “Mind you, it took Zachary four years to track down the wizard through a long line of intermediaries before finally meeting him,” he replied, as if that was somehow an excuse for his behavior. “Then it was another year before Caldurian arrived in Kanesbury to meet Zachary and retrieve the key.”

  “When was that second meeting?” Lewis asked.

  “On the first night of the Harvest Festival. Caldurian went to Zachary’s house to pick up the key. Only thing is, by the time their meeting took place, the key had been stolen a few hours earlier.”

  “Stolen?” Katherine cast a disbelieving eye upon him. “You had the key for twenty years, only to have it stolen just before the wizard was about to take possession of it?”

  “It’s true. Zachary had convinced me to give him the key so he could make his deal with the wizard, but I had my reservations all along. I wanted a guarantee that we would climb the ladder of power in Kanesbury before Caldurian got his prize, or at least receive some advance payment for our trouble.”

  “So it was all about power,” she said with a frown. “And it seems to have worked seeing that Zachary is now the acting mayor.”

  “It worked all right–for him!” Dooley shook his head with resentment. “But the deal almost went sour because the key had been stolen. You see, while Zachary attended the party at the Stewarts’ house that evening, I broke into his home and took the key back before his meeting with Caldurian. Unfortunately…” Dooley went silent, his face ashen as painful memories returned. Katherine and Lewis waited for a response, seeing that he was on the verge of speaking while gathering his troubled thoughts. “Unfortunately, the key was stolen again that very night, only this time from my house, though I wasn’t there at the time.” Dooley looked up guiltily. “But Arthur Weeks was. The individual who stole the key killed Arthur during the robbery.”

  Katherine gasped. “You lied from the start, Dooley, accusing Nicholas Raven of Arthur’s murder. But I could never understand why. I thought you might have killed him and were pointing a finger at Nicholas to save yourself. But it was all about the key, wasn’t it? You didn’t tell the truth to Constable Brindle because that would have revealed how you and Zachary were plotting with Caldurian.”

  Dooley nodded as he wiped away a few tears streaming down his face in the darkness. “I know! I know! And poor Arthur, he knew nothing about the key at all. Zachary hired him simply to lie about Nicholas, to tell Constable Brindle that Nicholas had returned to the gristmill later that evening on the night of the robbery.”

  “You and Farnsworth had your dirty hands in a lot of affairs that night,” Lewis said. “Dealings with a mad wizard and framing a man for robbery and murder. Did you do the latter to get Nicholas’ job, or was their some connection between the two?”

  “Very perceptive,” Dooley replied. “Getting rid of Nicholas was part of our deal with Caldurian, but it was all about your Uncle Otto in the end, Katherine. He was at the center of everything.”

  “What are you talking about?” she fearfully asked.

  Dooley stared at her as if the reason was obvious. “Caldurian hated your uncle with a passion after what Otto did to him twenty years ago. He had sent for King Justin’s soldiers who then arrested Caldurian and his apprentice, Madeline,” he explained, “driving them from the village like common criminals.”

  “Because that’s what they were!” Katherine said.

  “But powerful criminals,” he cautioned. “And a bit crazed, if you understand me. From what Zachary and I had gathered from our few meetings with Caldurian, and by studying his subsequent actions, that wizard was obsessed with having his revenge upon Otto, and believe me, nothing was going to get in his way.”

  “And he hired you to help?”

  Dooley squirmed with guilt. “At first we only planned to negotiate with the wizard to get a fair price for the key, allowing him to save Vellan’s prized Enâri creatures. That’s all! I swear! But Zachary handled the particulars, so as part of the deal, Caldurian also hired us to help him get his vengeance upon your uncle.” Dooley appeared mentally exhausted. “I just wanted some money, that’s all.”

  Katherine stared at him, a white-hot hatred burning inside her. “You must be so proud of yourself, Dooley.”

  “No, not at the moment,” he flatly replied. “Not for that or a good many other things.”

  Lewis gently rubbed a hand upon Katherine’s back, sensing how upset she was yet knowing that they both needed to hear everything no matter how painful it might be. He glared at Dooley in the pale light. “What did you and Farnsworth agree to do?”

  “Our main task was to get rid of Nicholas Raven.”

  Katherine shuddered. “Get rid of him? You mean kill him?”

  “No! Caldurian just wanted him removed from his home, leaving the manner of doing so to us. The wizard knew that Nicholas lived on Maynard Kurtz’ property. He needed him out of the way in order to enact his plan.”

  “So you framed Nicholas for the robbery,” Lewis said, “whereupon Constable Brindle had him arrested.”

  “Until he escaped.”

  “You’re lucky Nicholas didn’t go after you before he fled the village,” Katherine remarked, “though part of me wishes he had.”

  Lewis smirked understandingly in the shadows. “Explain something, Dooley. It was common knowledge that Nicholas planned to travel to Morrenwood and join up with King Justin’s guard. So why did you and Farnsworth create such an elaborate ruse to frame him in the first place? It seems he was already doing the job that you two were hired for for you.”

  Dooley nodded. “I agree, but Farnsworth thought we could sweeten the deal to curry favor with the wizard. Getting rid of Nicholas would be the easy part, but Zachary hoped if we removed him in such a way that allowed me to take over Nicholas’ job at the gristmill, then we would be able to offer Caldurian a–” He suddenly caught himself, reluctant to reveal that his list of crimes included treason against Arrondale.

  “Offer Caldurian a what?” Katherine echoed apprehensively, wondering just how deep Dooley’s treachery ran.

  Dooley looked down as he ground the tip of his boot into the dirt, not wanting to answer. Though aware of all the wrongs he had committed, only now was the severity of his crimes fully registering with his conscience. His shame and embarrassment were fully on display when he looked up with trembling lips.

  “Zachary informed the wizard that maybe I could act as, well, sort of a spy for him if Ned Adams hired me to take Nicholas’ place.” Dooley exhaled as some of the mental and moral burden slipped from his shoulders. “Since Nicholas made occasional deliveries to the Blue Citadel throughout the year, maybe it was possible that…”

  “That you could weasel your way in there somehow and serve as Caldurian’s eyes and ears?” Lewis coolly remarked.

  “I never thought it would come to that!” Dooley exclaimed. “Or that it would even be possible, but by dumb luck…”

  “Oh, Dooley…” Merely by studying his furrowed brow and faraway look, Kather
ine guessed that he had infiltrated the chambers of the Citadel, wondering with horror what damage he had inflicted upon the kingdom. “Though I’m afraid to ask, I must know what you did after Ned Adams sent you to the capital with his trust.”

  After a fair amount of hemming and hawing, Dooley broke down. He told them how he had rather easily made his way into King Justin’s chamber and hid among the rafters before a meeting of the war council convened–all with the unwitting help of Len Harold.

  “But in my defense, I didn’t hear anything that went on during that first meeting–the war council itself–as I accidentally, well–” Dooley swallowed, his embarrassment obvious. “I sort of fell asleep. It was rather warm up there as the fires were blazing and I was exhausted from days of traveling.”

  Katherine and Lewis glanced at each other, unable to conceal faint grins. Both were happy that Dooley’s first attempt at spying had been a disaster.

  “You said you didn’t hear anything at the first meeting. What did you mean by that?” Lewis asked. “Was there a second council?”

  “No,” he replied. “After I woke up and most of the delegates had drifted off into the hallway, four new arrivals showed up in the King’s chamber. Hearing the voice of one of those visitors was a shock, to say the least, as he was the last person in Laparia I would have expected to see there.”

  “Who?” Katherine asked, wondering how Dooley Kramer could possibly know anyone paying a visit to the Blue Citadel.

  Dooley shrugged. “Believe me or not, it was Nicholas Raven in the flesh. Our Nicholas, meeting with King Justin and a handful of others left in the room. Soon they closed the doors and had another private meeting.”

  “Nicholas?” Katherine, though pleasantly surprised to hear his name and to learn that he was safe, was not totally convinced that Dooley was telling the truth.

  Lewis, noting how Katherine’s eyes lit up upon hearing the news, decided to attribute her reaction as being relived that Nicholas was safe rather than as a sign of any lingering affection for him. Still, he was astounded by the news, eager to hear more.

  “Nicholas had always said he wanted to join the King’s Guard, but are you sure it was him?” Lewis asked. “And who were the three people with him?”

  “From what I could gather on my perch, Nicholas was accompanied by another man about his age named Leo Marsh, an older, somewhat eccentric lady named Carmella, and, believe me again or not, the King’s granddaughter herself, Princess Megan.”

  Katherine, her arms akimbo, cast a skeptical gaze upon him. “Are you simply making up stories to buy yourself time? Because if you are, Lewis and I will drag you to Clay Brindle’s doorstep right now–and don’t think we won’t!”

  “I swear I’m telling the truth!” Dooley extended his hands with childlike innocence, pleading for them to believe him. “Zachary Farnsworth just tried to have me killed, and frankly, you two people are my only allies right now. So what reason do I have to lie?”

  Lewis smirked. “He does have a legitimate point–amazingly.”

  “I suppose he does,” Katherine agreed. “Continue.”

  Dooley nodded appreciatively as he gathered his thoughts, wondering how much about the meeting he should reveal. While most of it wouldn’t get him into any deeper trouble than he already was, there was a nugget of information he didn’t want to divulge. Thinking about it only reminded him how easily he was becoming a person the likes of Caldurian and Vellan–cold, heartless entities who viewed others as things to be used or as inconsequential as the fallen leaves of autumn that they treaded upon without thought or notice.

  Dooley briefly talked about some of the high points discussed at that second meeting as best he could remember, recounting how Nicholas had met Princess Megan, and then later, Leo, on his travels to Morrenwood and the seaside village of Boros.

  “It was on their way to Boros that the princess was nearly kidnapped,” he continued. Dooley said that Nicholas spoke fondly about a young woman named Ivy who was kidnapped in Boros after being mistaken for the princess. “She was nearly rescued later along the shores of the Trillium Sea. But whoever Ivy was, Nicholas was heartbroken by her absence and vowed to find her again.”

  “I hope he does,” Katherine said with a heavy heart, worried for both of them. “Nicholas seems to have had quite an adventure. But why did he go back to the capital city?” she asked, eager for more information. “And who is Carmella?”

  “That’s the most interesting tidbit of the story,” Dooley said, “as it helps explain some of the mysterious events in Kanesbury during the Harvest Festival.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lewis asked. “How are they possibly connected?”

  “Carmella, in her travels, had befriended one of the Enâri creatures awakened from the Spirit Caves,” he said. “The creature, named Jagga, presented her with a small medallion as a gift. Nicholas and his new friends happened to meet up with Carmella and Jagga somewhere on the road and then traveled to Morrenwood together.”

  “Why is that so interesting?” he asked.

  “That medallion, as I overheard, was actually the key to the Spirit Box. Can you believe it? Jagga had stolen the key and subsequently melted it down to secure his freedom.” Dooley noted the disbelief on Lewis and Katherine’s faces. “Carmella told King Justin and the others that Jagga admitted to stealing the key from a man named Arthur Weeks. He admitted only to stealing it, though logic tells me that it was Jagga who killed Arthur in my house after I had stepped out to talk to Zachary. Had I been there, I might have been lying in a pool of blood on my floor as well.” Dooley exhaled exhaustedly, considering how fortunate he had been. “How Jagga found out that I had the key, I’ll never know, but this story proves my innocence. I didn’t kill Arthur Weeks!”

  “Fine,” Katherine said. “We believe you on that point, but it doesn’t excuse all the other horrible deeds you’ve done.”

  “No, I suppose not,” he replied, his brief moment of triumph deflating. “I have committed some awful crimes and am willing to face the consequences if I can bring down Zachary Farnsworth with me. But most of this is his fault,” he muttered. “If I hadn’t listened to him in the first place, a lot of people wouldn’t have been hurt.”

  “Nicholas for starters,” Lewis said, though Dooley barely heard his words.

  His mind drifted to the meeting that he and Farnsworth had attended in the gristmill with Caldurian and his associates. It was then that Dooley learned how Arileez had tracked down two young men from Morrenwood to a cabin in the Ebrean Forest, killing one of the unwitting decoys in a fruitless search for the medallion. He guessed that the two travelers must have been the sibling princes of Montavia who were in King Justin’s chamber during the second meeting. Dooley felt responsible for the one boy’s death, having given instructions to Gavin to follow the pair and alert Caldurian as to their destination. It was only a matter of time until Arileez pursued and confronted them, shattering their lives forever. Dooley’s spirit had slowly withered with this stark realization in the back of his mind, but he didn’t have the heart to tell Katherine and Lewis. He had confessed to enough transgressions already. One more probably wouldn’t lower their already low opinion of him.

  “Like Nicholas for starters?” Lewis repeated a little louder, noting that Dooley had drifted off. “Are you listening?”

  “Hmmm?” Dooley looked up, realizing he was still standing among the shadowy trees near the swamp as the horrible memories faded from his mind. “Yes. Like Nicholas. What I helped do to him is unforgivable.”

  “That would be up to Nicholas to decide,” Katherine said, “if you ever see him again. I don’t know if he would dare step foot in Kanesbury after what so many people put him through.”

  “I expect he has more important matters on his mind now,” Dooley said, piquing their interest. “While meeting with King Justin, Nicholas and that other fellow, Leo, volunteered to seek out a wizard named Frist, the one who cast a sleeping spell upon the Enâri twenty
years ago. He created that thing growing inside the Spirit Box.”

  “I recall Frist’s name,” Katherine replied. “But why would Nicholas and Leo need to find him?”

  “To remake the key, of course, and the magic within it,” he said, briefly explaining what he had learned from the wizard Tolapari. “But I don’t know where Nicholas and Leo were going since the meeting ended before that was discussed.”

  “You still never told us why Caldurian wanted you to get rid of him in the first place,” Lewis said. “What threat could Nicholas Raven pose to such a powerful wizard?”

  “Nicholas wasn’t a threat,” Dooley clarified. “More of an inconvenience.”

  “How so?”

  “Everything revolved around Caldurian’s desire for revenge upon your Uncle Otto,” Dooley explained, eyeing Katherine uneasily. “But in order to implement his plan, he needed more help.”

  “Besides you and Farnsworth?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Caldurian needed help from someone who didn’t actually know he was providing the help, namely, Maynard Kurtz.”

  “Maynard!” Katherine was flabbergasted. “I cannot believe that someone as honorable and decent as Maynard Kurtz would be tangled up with a vile wizard like Caldurian.”

  “He wasn’t,” Dooley replied, resting an elbow on the side of the cart. “Like I said, Maynard didn’t know he was helping the wizard. In fact, Maynard hasn’t been aware of anything for about the past two months or so.”

  Katherine felt a cold stab to her heart, fearing the worst. “What have you done to him? If you’ve hurt him in any way…”

  “I didn’t do anything to Maynard,” he assured her. “Another wizard named Arileez did–a strange yet clever wizard who is in the employ of both Caldurian and Vellan.” Dooley noted the strain and impatience upon Katherine’s face, sensing that she wasn’t in the mood to interrupt and ask questions. “At Caldurian’s command, Arileez cast a sleeping spell upon Maynard and then, well, he simply took his place.”