Mindbender

by David A. Wells

  “What?” Isabel said with shock and alarm. “Alexander would never have you.”

  Gabriella shrugged. “That is his choice, but I will have my vengeance.” There was a hint of madness glittering in her wild eyes.

  Silence fell on the assembly as the magnitude of the situation sank in. Magda turned to Gabriella with a look of terrible resolve.

  “If you choose to challenge Isabel, then I choose to fight in her stead,” Magda said with a steel edge to her voice.

  Gabriella’s eyes flared with rage. “We’ve been sisters for more than a hundred years and you would choose this pretender over me?”

  “If I must,” Magda said firmly.

  “So be it,” Gabriella shot back.

  “No,” Isabel said. “Gabriella has challenged me. I will stand against her and for the same reason. She is behind the attempted murder of my sister Abigail. I will have my vengeance for her treachery.”

  Magda and Cassandra both looked alarmed. Gabriella laughed out loud and the rest of the assembly stood in stunned silence.

  “You are newly ordained,” Cassandra said, ignoring the charge of attempted murder. “Gabriella has been a witch for five times longer than you have been alive. Consider your choice here very carefully. You are well within your rights to choose a champion to fight on your behalf.”

  “What are the rules of the challenge?” Isabel asked.

  Gabriella chuckled.

  “There are none,” Cassandra said. “You may bring any power or weapon at your disposal to the battlefield. The challenge ends with the death or surrender of one and the victory of the other.”

  “So be it,” Isabel said with a clear voice. “I accept the challenge.”

  Chapter 21

  General Gord’s wizard started to turn the corner at the end of the hall and looked over at Alexander and his companions with smug satisfaction that suddenly turned to shocked horror as Jack flickered into view and stabbed him in the heart with his dagger. The wizard tried to say something with his last breath but all he could manage was a gurgle. Jack let him down quietly and rushed to Alexander.

  He gently rolled him onto his back. “Can you speak?” he asked quietly.

  Alexander was paralyzed but he could still talk to Chloe in his mind.

  She buzzed into existence in a ball of light and hovered in front of Jack. “He’s under the effects of the spell but otherwise he’s not seriously injured,” she said. “He says you should keep watch and wait for the spell to wear off.”

  Jack nodded. “That was too close. One more step and I would have been around the corner and in the area of the spell’s effect along with the rest of you.”

  Jack and Chloe kept watch for the better part of an hour before the spell wore off. Fortunately, it was the middle of the night and they were in the lower parts of the keep, so no one came down the hall while Jack nervously waited for his companions to regain the ability to move. Control of their bodies returned to them gradually, starting with a twitch here and a jerk there. Once the spell broke, they were able to regain full control within a few minutes by working their muscles and stretching to restore full range of motion.

  “Well done, Master Colton,” Anatoly said. “You might have to work yourself into one of your stories if you keep it up.”

  Jack shook his head solemnly. “A bard is supposed to be a chronicler of events, not a participant.”

  “Don’t be so humble, Jack,” Lucky said. “You saved us all, and not for the first time, I might add.”

  “Be that as it may, my deeds have no place in my songs and stories,” Jack said. “My role in history is in the telling of it.”

  “Either way, I’m glad you’re with us, Jack,” Alexander said.

  “Your gratitude is all the recognition I could hope for,” he said with a formal bow.

  They dragged the wizard into his little study, snuffed out the lamps, and propped the pieces of the door into the doorframe as best they could. After cleaning the bloodstain on the floor and dimming the lamps in the hall, it was hard to tell from a cursory inspection that anything had happened at all.

  Alexander led them up through the keep toward the Governor’s living quarters. They nearly encountered a few servants going about their tasks in the night but were able to avoid them without a confrontation. They moved slowly through the cold stone passageways taking great care to remain silent and leave no trace of their presence.

  Alexander stopped before rounding a corner and closed his eyes to focus his all around sight. He saw two men standing outside the guard room that stood between the Governor’s quarters and the rest of the keep. His biggest concern was avoiding an alarm. He almost reconsidered the attack but then he remembered a lesson from his father about battle: More often than not, victory goes to the bold. Those who strike when they have the opportunity, succeed, while those who hesitate and wait for perfect circumstances lose the chance to act and are forced to meet the enemy on their terms.

  Alexander was tired of facing the enemy on their terms. He had a chance to strike a blow and he meant to make it a good one.

  He unslung his bow, then turned to his companions and signed that there were two guards about forty feet away. He pointed to Boaberous and motioned like he was throwing a javelin. The giant nodded. They moved as one, gliding out from behind the corner and loosing their respective weapons at nearly the same time. Both guards turned when they saw the movement but were silenced a moment later without so much as a groan.

  Alexander placed his hand on the door, sending his all around sight into the room. The door was barred from the other side and there were six men sitting around a table playing cards. He signed that there were six men and then drew the Thinblade. Carefully and quietly he slipped the Thinblade between the door and frame, then drew down through the bar and lock. The door opened noiselessly as he rushed into the room followed closely by Jataan and Anatoly. The six men were caught completely by surprise. Within seconds they were surrounded, still sitting at the table holding their cards. Jack and Lucky dragged the dead guards into the room from the hallway and then Jack refitted the bar to close the door behind them while Lucky went to the small barracks room off to the side of the guard room.

  “Remain silent and keep your hands on the table,” Alexander said quietly. “If you resist or raise the alarm, I’ll kill you all.”

  The six men nodded nervously.

  Lucky returned from the room filled with sleeping guards. “They won’t wake for several hours.”

  “My friend here is going to give you something to put you to sleep,” Alexander said. “Cooperate and you’ll wake up in a few hours alive and well. Do you understand?”

  All six of the guards looked at one another, then nodded. Lucky blew a small amount of powder into each man’s face in turn. Within seconds they fell unconscious and slumped over on the table.

  Alexander put his hand on the door leading to the Governor’s quarters and sent his all around sight to the other side. Two sleepy-looking guards stood on the landing at the base of a long staircase leading up to the level above.

  “Two guards on the other side of the door,” Alexander said.

  Anatoly stood by the wall nearest the door hinges, Jataan stood directly in front of the door with his knife in hand, and Alexander stood just to the side of the door so he could cut the bar and bolt in one stroke.

  He sliced downward through the edge of the door and Anatoly pushed the door open. Jataan was through it like a blur. He cut the throat of the guard to the left of the door, spun and lashed out at the guard to the right, cutting his throat as well in one clean slice. Both slumped to the floor in shocked surprise but neither was able to make a sound.

  Alexander was momentarily sickened by the sudden violence and death but he steeled himself to his task. The enemy had brought war to the Seven Isles and it fell to him to make war against them in return.

  “The reason you are worthy of the Sovereign Stone is because it hurts you when you kill, even wh
en it’s necessary,” Chloe said silently in his mind.

  “Thank you, Little One,” Alexander replied without speaking, “but, honestly, I wish I could have just been a rancher.”

  “Perhaps someday, if you succeed against Phane, you will be,” she thought to him.

  Alexander smiled at the thought for only a moment before he brought himself back to the present and the two warm corpses lying in pools of their own blood. The staircase leading to the next level was long with a landing about halfway to the top. Alexander knew there were probably four guards in the hall above. They would be the most difficult to eliminate silently, although it was doubtful that they would be able to do more than alert the Governor and General Gord.

  They crept up the stairs with Alexander in the lead. As they neared the top, he sent his all around sight down the hall and saw the four men standing on either side of the hall beside each of the two doors facing each other. They were about forty feet from the top of the stairs. He communicated the enemy numbers and distance with hand signs and motioned for Anatoly, Boaberous, and Conner to take the Governor’s chambers. He knew from experience that Jataan would follow him without question or command.

  On his signal, they raced up the remaining stairs and charged down the hallway with weapons drawn. The guard who saw them first turned and looked at them with unbelieving surprise for a moment before he tried to shout a warning. A moment later, he fell back with a knife buried to the hilt in his eye socket. Jataan slipped his second knife free as he closed the distance.

  The three remaining guards turned as one, raising their spears and shouting a warning. Alexander and Jataan reached them a moment later. Alexander slashed the haft of the middle guard’s spear and stepped into the space it created as he stabbed forward into the guard on his left, driving the Thinblade through his breastplate and into his heart. Jataan trapped the spear of the soldier on the right and slipped inside his guard, stabbing him in the throat with precision and blinding speed, then slipped past and rolled behind him in a fluid motion, bringing his blade around and neatly cutting the throat of the center guard from behind. The battle lasted only seconds.

  Alexander slashed down through the bar and bolt of the Governor’s door, then turned to the guest quarters where General Gord was quartered, cut through the door and kicked it open.

  He entered a well-appointed and lavishly furnished main room with Jataan right behind him. Two men emerged almost simultaneously from different doors. The one on the right was armed with a sword and wore a pair of unlaced boots and a hastily strapped on breastplate over a nightshirt. The one from the left was armed with a short sword and wore a chainmail shirt.

  The one in chainmail attacked Jataan without hesitation, apparently thinking he was an easy foe armed with only a knife. Jataan slipped past the sword thrust and sliced the inside of his upper arm to the bone. The short sword clattered to the floor and the man stumbled to his knees, staring at the battle mage in disbelief. He struggled to regain his feet as his life’s blood drained away, then he slumped over and rolled onto his side, groaning softly.

  General Gord assessed the situation quickly and lowered his blade slightly as he faced Alexander. He was a big man with a barrel chest and greying hair. A scar stood out on his left cheek from a wound sustained long ago.

  “You must be the pretender Phane wants dead so badly,” Gord said. “It seems you have me at a disadvantage.” He had the demeanor of an old soldier who’d always known he would die on the end of a blade.

  Alexander looked closely at the man’s colors and saw an opportunist who was comfortable killing for the power it gave him. He knew in a second that Gord was not to be trusted or underestimated.

  He felt slightly sick to his stomach as he advanced. General Gord was no match for Alexander. His death would be more an execution than a fight, but then he was the commander of the enemy forces that had taken Grafton by bribery and were preparing to invade Ithilian.

  Gord’s eyes grew wider as he saw the look of resolve settle on Alexander’s face. “I’ll give you the girl. I’ll tell you Phane’s plan,” he said as he took a step back. “I’ll turn on Phane and swear loyalty to you. My men will follow me.”

  Alexander might have been persuaded by his offers if he couldn’t see the flare of dishonesty in his colors as the doomed general tried to bargain for his life. The instant Alexander reached striking range, General Gord thrust with surprising speed but Alexander was ready for the attack. He spun to his left avoiding the blade and brought the Thinblade around in a high arc, slicing cleanly through General Gord’s neck. He remained standing for a just moment with his head still in place before a line of blood began to show around his neck and then he crumpled, his head toppling off his body and rolling several feet across the floor to stop at the feet of the Governor of Grafton.

  The Governor fell to his knees with a sob, “Please don’t kill me. I didn’t have any choice. They threatened to kill me if I didn’t help them. I don’t want to die.”

  Alexander felt the heaviness of his burden once again. The Governor was lying. His colors were as dishonest as a thief’s.

  For a moment, Alexander wished he hadn’t decided to come here. Killing in battle was one thing. Executing a defenseless man was quite another. It turned his stomach, but he knew his duty demanded it. Some people were just too dangerous to be permitted to live. Allowing them to survive was tantamount to passing sentence on all of their future victims.

  Alexander turned to the Governor’s wife and sighed with resignation. “Are you part of his plan to betray Ithilian?”

  Her face went white and she shook her head without saying a word. Alexander examined her colors and saw that she was telling the truth.

  “Do you share power with him?” he asked next.

  Again she shook her head.

  Alexander nodded. “Anatoly, take her to the other room and tie her up, please. Jack, see if there’s a woman in the general’s sleeping quarters and bring her here.” He turned to Conner. “The Governor has betrayed your House, he’s thrown his lot in with Phane, and he’s an accomplice to the abduction of your sister.”

  The Governor interrupted, “No! I’m innocent. I’m a victim here as much as anyone. I’ve been a hostage in my own home.”

  “Enough!” Alexander said. “You’re lying. You’ve made your choice and it’s time for you to face the consequences of your decisions. Having power does not make you immune from justice. Desire for power does not exempt you from the duty to respect the lives and liberty of others. The Old Law is clear.”

  Jack brought a terrified young woman into the main room. She was trying unsuccessfully to keep from sobbing at the sight of death all around her.

  “Why were you in General Gord’s bed?” Alexander asked her.

  “My madam sent me,” she said. “The Governor requested a girl for one of his guests.”

  Alexander nodded. “Jack, take her in the other room and tie her up with the Governor’s wife.”

  Jack nodded and they left.

  Alexander turned back to Conner. “He’s yours to kill if you wish.”

  Conner blinked and nodded. The Governor sobbed. Conner raised his sword over the kneeling man and held it high in the air for a long moment before lowering it with a look of tortured anguish.

  “I know he deserves to die,” Conner said, shaking his head. A tear slipped from his eye as he looked up at Alexander. “I just can’t bring myself to kill him.”

  Alexander smiled sadly. “You’re a good man, Conner. Killing’s not supposed to be easy, killing like this least of all. Unfortunately, sometimes the alternative is worse. If we let him live, he’ll continue to give safe harbor to enemies of Ithilian and the Old Law. Eventually, they’ll make war on the innocent people of Ithilian.

  “No, I won’t,” the Governor said. “I’m innocent. You can’t kill me without a trial. The law of Ithilian is clear. I’m entitled to defend myself before an impartial jury.”

  Alexander regarded t
he self-centered little man for a moment.

  “Did you make an alliance with Phane?” he asked.

  “No,” the Governor lied. Alexander was watching his colors closely.

  “Did you assist in the abduction of Princess Evelyn?”

  “No,” he lied again.

  “Are you working with the soldiers of Phane’s army to help them gain a foothold on Ithilian in preparation for an invasion?”

  “No,” he lied yet again.

  “You’ve lied with every breath since my friends brought you into this room,” Alexander said. “What’s more, I can tell when you lie to me.”

  The Governor’s eyes went wide and his face became suddenly very pale.

  Alexander took the Sovereign Stone from under his armor and let it fall against his tunic. “This is the heaviest burden I’ve ever had to carry.” The Governor’s eyes grew wider still with recognition of the Stone. “The most important duty this Stone confers upon me is the obligation to defend the Old Law. The things I have to do to live up to that responsibility often turn my stomach but they must be done. In this case, I claim your life as punishment for making war on Ithilian and for abducting Princess Evelyn.”

  The Governor shook his head violently. “No! You can’t kill me. I don’t want to die. I’m the Governor of Grafton. I deserve consideration for my rank and station.”

  Alexander shook his head slowly. “No, you don’t. If anything, your rank and station only add to your guilt. You have a duty to uphold the Old Law, not deliberately betray it.”

  “Lord Reishi,” Jataan said, “I will execute him, if you wish.”

  “No, Jataan, this is my duty and I intend to live up to it.” He paused for a moment as a thought occurred to him. “Sometimes I wonder if the worst crime evil people ever commit is forcing good people to kill them in defense of life and liberty.”

  Alexander took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh, then turned back to the Governor. The self-important little man started to protest but stopped suddenly when Alexander took his head off with a flick of the Thinblade.