Lia gasped and shook her head in disbelief. Father waited and I explained, “When I first got here, I healed a girl. The word got out and I healed many, many more people. Then women started throwing themselves at me and I was given special treatment everywhere. If I suggested people plant crops, a huge field would appear. I saw things starting to take a turn and the Elders took more and more power in the city government. I didn’t stop it and I should have, so I’m to blame.”
Davie looked at me and mouthed, ‘I’m sorry’; Celina and I felt a slight bump in our altitude but stayed level with Father.
Father took a deep breath. “Emory is in charge of the Governor’s position. The gold that was held for you as a wedding present from the King, which we were told you never touched, has been given to him to help the townspeople recover. Tabitha and Tamia are at Wizard’s Castle, along with your Halfling consort. I know you have other consorts that are with you, and Tabitha pleaded that we send them to her when we caught up with you. We also know about Warin and he’ll go there, too. I hope that these people can recover from the harm you inadvertently caused, and I hope the men in the black robes will be smart when the King arrives to set things right. Now, please point out the people that we need to take with us.”
I sighed. “That’s simple enough, due to the robes. Mine are the girls in the pink robes in the back and the two men in black robes. One of them is Warin and the other is my Valet and best friend. If possible, I’d like to locate his wife. She is a maid at the mansion, last name of Spiro. So, where are we to be banished to?”
Father nodded to Lia who ported out, I assumed to locate Noam’s wife. James and Alec were levitating the indicated people up to meet us in the air. He then turned back to me. “You’re going to be sent to a scary land that is crawling with orcs and all kinds of dangerous critters. Or it was a couple decades ago. Now it’s a pretty safe place, with only the occasional call to arms. We’re taking you and your sister back to Eredwynn, Son. You showed poor judgment by letting those men and women gain power by taking advantage of your abilities. I know you’ve built a life here, but something had to be done and this was the gentlest thing that I could think of. We’ll monitor you and your sister for a while to make sure you don’t want to try coming back here. Once we’re sure of that, we’ll return your magic to you.”
I shook my head so I could hear more clearly. “What do you mean, you’ll return our magic? We’re born to magic; we’re the Sibs! You can’t strip our magic!”
Father nodded. “You may very well be right, but your magic can be bound. Davie is so gentle that you didn’t even know he was holding you up. Your magic is bound now and will be returned when we feel it’s time.”
I was sputtering incoherently. “What are we supposed to do without magic? We barely breathe without magic! How will we take care of those who depend on us?”
Father smiled sadly. “Son, I was barely eighteen when I came into this land. Until that time, I thought magic was only in games and movies. I survived just fine and you will, too. I know that it will take some adjusting, so were going to discuss where to take you when we return. I’ve considered Wizard’s Castle, but after seeing your reaction, I realize it might be cruel to make you witness magic every day and not be able to do it yourself. Or you could accept the appointment to Starford Stronghold. Now I have to address the misguided people below.”
He flew above me and amplified his voice again. “Good people, you’ve been misled by the people that you respected. Seth appointed Elders in the hopes that they would guide you into a happier way of life. They’ve twisted that dream into something that only they’d gain from, and from what I’ve seen, they don’t care who they hurt to get it. Return to your homes and your old way of life and don’t blindly follow these men. Your king has troops in route and they are instructed to disband any militia-type organization in this district. I would suggest that you do it yourselves, before they get here. Because of the crimes that I’ve heard took place in the last town you were in, you should burn those black robes and lie low. The king will execute anyone found guilty of rape, and my family has reported many.”
The people at the back cheered and turned for home. There was general confusion among the black robed men, but the men and women in yellow stripped off their robes and headed out in all directions. We all returned to the ground and waited for Lia to arrive. Father moved through the crowd of wizards and a couple dozen left together. I could only guess that they were going to assist Aunts Chloe and Isabel with the mess that my ‘loving followers’ had left in our wake.
Lia returned with Noam’s wife, whose name I finally learned was Avis. There was a happy reunion between the three members of my Valet’s family. Father told us that we’d be left to talk to everyone for a few minutes, so they could decide if they wanted to leave their homeland or stay with Celina and me. I waved everyone over into a group and took a deep breath. My heart was full of dread, knowing that any or all of the people that I’d grown to love over the months could now choose to be left behind.
“Everyone, listen up. What has happened is that the group I was responsible for starting has gone bad. The raid on the last town hurt many, many people. Since these things were done in my name, my family had assumed that it was done with my blessing. You all know that I’d never willingly allow people to be hurt like that. Now my magic and my sister’s magic has been bound. We are to be returned to Eredwynn, where it would be much harder to make the mistakes that were made here. This whole thing began because the people of this country had never seen magic, but that isn’t the case in Eredwynn. I’m giving you all the choice now to either return to your lives here or to come with me. I won’t blame any of you if you choose to stay.”
Warin was instantly at Celina’s side. “The choice is easy for me. I’m not leaving this young lady; I intend on making her my wife. I guess her country will be my country now.”
I smiled. “I’m glad that you love her and will be with her. I know she loves you, too. Now there are choices for you lovely ladies in pink robes. I can arrange for you to be given money and you can slip off to some town and make a new life, or you can come with me. It’s up to you and I’ll try not to pressure you one way or the other.”
Raven looked at her father, who looked at his wife. She nodded and the three of them came to stand beside me. Tina was the next to begin moving my way, with the other three girls on her heels. There was a large group hug and I saw Father smiling and nodding.
He said something to Lia, who ported out again. My sister was sure to get the ‘miles traveled record’ today. He came over to us with my brothers in tow. “Since it seems that everyone has decided to stay with your family, it’s time to go. All the rooms at the mansion are being packed and all of your personal items will be returned to you shortly.” He joined hands with my brothers, and without any sensation of movement, we were surrounded by high castle walls.
I looked at Father with confusion. “I thought you were sending us to Wizard’s Castle. Has there been a change of plan?”
Father shrugged. “I’ve been thinking about it, and it seems that your only crime would be trust. You had an idea of how things could be made better and gave it to people to handle for you. You trusted them to do things the right way and they twisted your goals. You should have seen it happening, and I’m sure that you did, from time to time. You might have thought it was ok at the time because… fill in whatever reason would justify. Now I’ll introduce you to the Regent here and then show you to your room. Starford will be yours and the Regent will help you get settled in. Lia should be here soon with your wife and daughter.
“Father, may I show you something while we have this chance? Just remember that I love this young lady and no one can have her. Since I can’t see, is your magic below maximum? With all the spellwork, I thought it might be.”
He nodded questioningly. “My magic is about halfway down, why?”
I smiled and called Davie and Raven to me. “Davie, keep a
n eye on Father’s magic and watch the mind of this fascinating young lady.” I whispered for Raven to take Father’s hand, which she hesitantly did. I watched as Davie’s and Father’s faces lit up with surprise.
Father grinned and kept her hands. “Would this young lady like to stay with us at Wizard’s Castle or has she sworn to you?”
Raven yanked her hands away and dropped to her knees. “Please, Mister King, don’t make me leave Seth. Our oaths may not mean so much in your land, but I ain’t wantin’ to be anywhere he ain’t.”
Father chuckled, “I guess that answers that question! Miss, you have an incredible gift that I’d like my son Davie to look in to. You’ve made it clear that you’d want Seth there while he examined your mind, and I’ll respect that.” He smiled at me. “Son, at least you have love in your life and that is more powerful than magic. I’ll have Star, who is friends with Tabitha already, work with her to get your concubines sworn in as consorts.”
Raven whispered, “What did I do?”
I laughed. “My love, you have the ability to recharge a wizard’s magic by holding his or her hand. Of course, it wasn’t my hand you were holding when I learned of this ability. We’ll work on it later tonight when everyone leaves.”
She raised her eyebrows and winked, prompting me to add, “And we might work on the magic thing, too.”
Father led us inside and introduced us to the Regent Rostand. Davie commented that he was quite jealous that I had a Regent who knew his head from his posterior. The family could remember what had happened with him and the regent of Perlsea Castle.
I asked if he would be willing to stay on for an extended period while I learned the ropes, and he happily agreed.
As we started upstairs to the third floor, Father let us in on an observation. “This castle was built after the same floor plan as the three other old castles you’ve been in. It has the master suite with the four rooms coming from them. Something I’m sure that your wife will appreciate, instead of a balcony door at the top of the stairs, there is a very nice nursery. From what I hear, you’ll be adding another person to that nursery to keep my little Tamia company very soon. And there’s one more thing that you may or may not be interested in: every room in this castle has been plumbed and has hot and cold running water.”
I grinned, because I had thought that Father was actually going to make it through a building description without mentioning plumbing. We walked into the master suite and I made my normal gesture for lighting the candles and lamps. Nothing happened and the pain from mind-shattering loss hit me. My eyes teared up and I blinked rapidly. I saw Father looking at me with compassion while Davie lit the room.
Fighting any tremor in my voice, I asked, “Davie, would you please light up the rooms that will belong to the girls and the guest suite for Noam and Avis?” Talking about their own rooms released a lot of the tension that was keeping the girls quiet. Tina looked at me and the huge double king bed. I winked and nodded and she landed near the middle in one flying leap. She was quickly joined by the others. I got Tina and Raven’s attention and asked, “Would you two mind sharing a room?”
They were all smiles when I led them to the room closest to my side of the bed. I left them there and paired up the other girls. Anne declared that she’d like sharing with Feyna, because she was so small she couldn’t take up much of that giant king-size bed.
Father and Davie hugged me goodbye, shook Warin and Noam’s hands and departed. Tears were streaming down Celina’s cheeks. “I didn’t know that was happening! Seth, you couldn’t have known either! All we were trying to do was help and it went all wrong.”
I hugged her. “Sis, it didn’t go all wrong. Look into Warin’s eyes and say our time there was wasted. You’ll notice that I left one of the rooms empty. Since Noam and his wife will be in the guest suite, I thought you could take that one. I could put Warin on the other side of the stairs if you don’t want to share a room.”
She smiled through her tears and rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure that he’d be willing to share a room with me. I won’t even insist he stays on his side of the bed.”
I chuckled. “That’s all I want to know. You two can get settled and I’m sure our things will show up soon. I’ll take Noam to his room and then wait for my wife.”
Noam and Avis were thrilled with their room and the running water, of course. Avis spoke to me for the first time. “Seth, since Raven will be a consort and Noam your Valet, what would you like for me to do? I’d be willing to work on the staff as a maid, or in the kitchen. I also know how to read and write, if those skills were needed.”
I smiled. “You could stay here as my guest and my Valet’s wife. You could help with my girls and any problems they may have, or I could find you a job with the staff. I’ll leave it up to you, since you were kind enough to relocate your family for me.”
Avis nodded. “I’ve worked my entire life and I’m sure that I can do my job, take care of my husband and assist with the girls. I just wouldn’t want to feel that I wasn’t doing my share.”
“You just let me know what you want to do. Noam, when my sister returns, I’ll have her port some money to me. Then you and your wife can get some new clothes and whatever else you need. The closest city is only five miles away, and is the city of Ohana. I’m sure that there are horses or a wagon available, if you’d like. I would just take you, but…” I couldn’t finish my sentence, so just nodded and returned to my room.
The girls were milling around and Celina had disappeared with Warin. I got the girls’ attention and spoke softly, “Those robes would be nice to wear around the castle or if we have company. Right now, we don’t have any, and seeing your regular ‘at home’ uniforms might cheer me up.”
Grins lit the room and they stripped off the robes, leaving the pink, modified wizards’ uniforms underneath. They then came and hugged me and I did feel much more cheerful. Suddenly there came a voice from behind me that made me feel very cheerful.
“Husband of mine, would you please assist us with situating this stuff? You too, girls; we brought everything that we had in Krose. There wasn’t that much, but it wiped poor Lia out. She’ll be spending the night so her magic can build up and she doesn’t pull a Seth on us.”
I laughed and went to help carry bundles, after getting a hug from my lovely wife. I winked and nodded to Raven, who went up to Lia and asked to hold her hands. I loved the confused look on my sister’s face, but she took my little consort’s hands and her face lit up like a torch. “Seth! Do you know what this extraordinary young lady just did to me?”
I nodded, chuckling. “It’s quite a handy skill when she’s around overworked wizards. Judging from what I’ve seen, she should be able to do magic like ours. I was going to see if I could teach her, but I seem to have gotten sidetracked.”
Lia looked at Raven, whom she wouldn’t release. “Miss, would you allow me to go to your room with you and see if I can teach you magic the way we sibs teach? If you can learn, it would be a great help to Seth and Celina to have a magical person living here with them. I haven’t heard how long their sentence is going to be, but you could lessen the impact.”
Raven smiled sweetly. “If there is some way I can ‘elp Seth, then I’ll try. These is some upright folks an’ it breaks my ‘eart to see ‘um ‘urting like they is. My room’s right this way.”
As Lia was being led off to Raven and Tina’s room, I heard her say, “While we’re in here, we might have a lesson on the usage of the letter ‘H’.” I couldn’t help but laugh.
Chapter Nineteen
Tabitha kissed me and turned to Karly. “I am so glad you came with us! I hate to put you to work right away, but things are crazy. This bundle is Tamia’s and I was told there is a nursery. Would you mind getting her things squared away and show her the room?”
Karly hugged Tabitha. “That is one of the main reasons I came. I love you and Seth very much, but Tamia and I have become very good friends. I couldn’t imagine staying in
Krose, or anywhere else, without her. Of course I’ll take her over. The king pointed out the nursery on our way up.” She gathered one fairly heavy bundle and one wiggling one and wobbled out the door.
Tabitha kissed me again. “I think we can handle this, now, and it looks like you need some alone time. I can tell you’re putting on a happy, brave front for everyone, but you’re hurting. Go for a walk outside, clear your head and I’ll make sure the girls know that our first night here, you’re all mine. We’ll just have to practice Tina’s lessons, since my belly is becoming quite an obstacle!”
“Have I told you that I love you? Thank you, beautiful lady, and I’m sorry for all of this.”
“You have never made me doubt that you love me. On the bright side, this room is nicer than the last one and the castle is much larger than the house. I’ll get with some of the Halflings and learn what I can about hemp, since it seems to be this province’s staple. Now get out of here before I start rambling like a farmer.”
I hugged her once again, looked at the red robe that I’d tossed over a chair with disgust, and went out the door. I left the castle and went into the courtyard. The layout was similar to every other castle I’d been to, only the shops were in different places. I was sure that, since I was to call this place home, I would learn everything I needed to and would be comfortable here. Since there was nothing new for me to see inside the walls, I made my way out the gate. The guards just watched me walk by and went back to their own business. To them, I was probably just some shopkeeper’s kid that was out wandering.
There was no city or village around Starford Stronghold, as it had been built ages ago as a military base. The huge walls and the fortified gates still showed its history, but it was mainly a symbolic seat of power these days. There were farm houses and fields scattered around, but for the most part, it was a lonely place. Coming from Krose, where there were hundreds of people at every turn, it was a drastic change.
Seth, A Naiad's Son (Generations of Eredwynn Book 3) Page 19