“My King!” Another noble stepped forward, “You trust a single sentence out of his mouth after all that?”
I looked at the King, “I promise I won’t hurt anyone, so may I show them why?”
Nathan’s eyebrow crooked up, “Asking permission? Rare. You may.”
For a full ten seconds I didn’t hold back, and the weaker members fell to their knees as breath left their body and my presence weighed on them. The Experts struggled to keep calm faces, but Nathan still didn’t move an inch. After the time was up, I veiled myself again.
“I am a Master Mage of all Major Disciplines, and Apprentice of Charon. My word is my life.” I took a breath, “Any more questions?”
There was silence, and Nathan stood, “We will speak further in private. The audiences for the day are done.”
A moment of confusion made everyone hesitate before the guards ushered everyone but the two Experts standing by the King out of the room. Yulia and I were the only other exemptions, and with a gesture we followed Nathan to a small chamber off to the side. He sat in one of the chairs, taking off the crown and placing it on the pillow next to him. “Sit.”
Yulia and I sat. Servants brought us a tray of food and hot drinks.
“It’s been awhile, Gantz.” Nathan sipped his drink. “A decade or so.”
“I remember.” I took a sip, “This is good. You’re an Expert now?”
“I’m still a Journeyman,” he smiled. “You know the rules, not even a King is above certain truths.”
“I guess it helps to be underestimated when facing assassins. You’ve done well as a King.”
“But not your King?”
I smiled sadly, “I’ll never have a King, but we will always be friends.”
“That’s good to hear.” Nathan rubbed his temples, “I suppose you’re here for a reason other than to test me?”
“Tracking down Charon. He told me there was only one person who knows where he went, and I need to find whoever it is.”
“My mother.” Nathan looked up from his plate. “They were together after my father was killed.”
My hand smacked my forehead, “Of course!”
Nathan got up and opened the door, “Send word for my mother. She has guests.”
As he sat back down, Yulia spoke up. “My King…”
“Nathan when we’re among friends. I see you finally convinced Gantz to come in, Yulia.”
“Nathan,” she hesitated, “I’m sorry.”
“For?”
“Not coming back sooner.”
He chuckled, “Gantz wasn’t going to come back here unless he felt like it. We both know he’s as stubborn as a colt.”
I snacked from the tray, ignoring them. After a few minutes of catching up, there was a shallow knock before Nathan’s mother entered. She looked much younger than I knew her to be, and carried herself like she owned everything.
Her first words left a chill in the air, “If it isn’t Gantz.”
“Layla. You haven’t aged since I’ve seen you last.” I gave a smile, “How are you?”
“Missing most of my family, whatever their flaws.” She sat in the empty chair. “How are you?”
“I’m wondering why Charon did it. Can you shed any light?”
She snorted, “I’m not telling you how Charon and I met, and I promised him I wouldn’t tell you why my family had to die. He is on the other side of ocean, in the care of the Zey clan.”
“That was easy.”
Layla laughed at me, “If you hadn’t become a Master, I would never have told you. Charon was very specific that you needed to be strong enough to survive there. Now go and find him.”
“Mother,” Nathan looked over at her, “You know why Charon killed our relatives?”
“I know everything, but you aren’t ready yet. You will be soon, just please be patient.” She looked at her son pleadingly.
“Fine.” He bowed his head, “I know you wouldn’t be holding onto this without good reason.”
“Thank you.” She looked over at Yulia and myself, “Your ship leaves in a week, with the cover as husband and wife adventurers on the King’s payroll to explore ancient ruins.”
“You’ve got it all wrapped up nice and pretty.” I glanced at Yulia, “Even putting us as a couple.”
“I am the Matron.” Layla smiled, but there was no warmth in it. “Is there anything else you need?”
We all declined, and she left the same way she came in. I stood first, “Nathan, I’m one of the strongest Mages alive and even I’m scared of your mother.”
He laughed, “She’s been the Matron for the last decade or so. No one else has been able to take her place. It’s a good thing she supports my place on the throne or I’d be worried for my life.”
Yulia stood, “Apologies, but we need to go prepare for the trip.”
“Of course,” Nathan stood, “It’s a month on a ship to the port closest to the Zey clan’s land.”
We were dismissed and escorted by a servant to the armory where my weapons hadn’t moved. Some of the guards were still attempting to lift the blades or the rack to no effect. I laughed at them, and with no visible effort strapped the weapons to my body. As Yulia and I left, I had the urge to look behind and saw Layla staring out of a window at both of us. She didn’t move, other than to raise her hand in farewell.
Chapter 28
During the final week of the year, Yulia and I proceeded with getting all of our affairs in order. I sent a letter to Ash and Talkide giving a rough outline of what had happened. Olivia passed her examination to becoming a Journeyman just before the week-long celebrations began. I gave her leave as my student, declaring via Talkide that she had graduated from my teachings and must now find her own way.
The Bank had branches across the ocean, and I made sure my account was accessible. Despite my brusque attitude, the representative almost bent himself in half to accommodate me. Being a Master Mage, and having a substantial amount of money went a long way in a banker’s mind. Nathan apparently believed me to be serious as half the reward money for my capture went into my account while the other half went to Yulia. That night the crowd at our inn drank for free, after all we could be dead soon and money spent for a smile was always worth it.
Not everything was fun. In order to keep the cover story intact, Layla sent piles of information about the lands the Zey occupied. The historical texts had me nodding off to the point that Yulia kept a good supply of objects handy to throw at me whenever my head started bobbing. Whenever the words got too boring, we would find another minor task that needed to be done and prioritized it. Wardrobes changed as the other continent was farther south and much warmer. We also began to eat the food commonly found as a way to train our stomachs against any surprising developments.
It was the day before we were to leave, when the knock at the door stopped us from packing the sea chest. I opened it to see both Layla and her son in cognito. His Experts were placed around the inn, but none joined us inside the rooms.
“You’ve been busy.” Nathan looked around at the mess. “No year-end celebrations?”
“Not for the traditional length of five days.” I started putting clothes into the chest. “Is it safe for the two most powerful people to be outside the Palace?”
“It might be safer than inside the Palace with a Master such as yourself here with the excellent protections you provide yourself.” He looked around at the flowing script visible in the ether. “Genius.”
“It’s years of practice and habit.” I looked at Laya. “Are you ready to share your story about Charon like the others did?”
“No.” She walked over to Yulia who was also packing her own essentials. “These are for you, for services rendered.”
Curious, I glanced over to see two Hel-forged short swords that matched perfectly in length to what Yulia traditionally carried. They carried a different smith’s mark, but were no less impressive than what Ash had forged for me.
“Matron…”
Yulia took them reverently. “These are beautiful.”
“Hmmm. Hopefully they serve you well when you need them. You are released from your Oath, and are now free to live your life as you see fit.”
That was a shock. I looked over at the King to see him shrug at the statement. Only two things ever freed an agent of the Matron from their Oath. Death in service or rendering such a monumental service to the crown that there was no question as to their loyalty. To my knowledge less than a dozen men and women were released from their Oath while still drawing breath.
“Matron…” Now Yulia was rendered speechless a second time for as many reasons. She decided to bow, holding it until Layla touched her lightly on the shoulder.
The look on Layla’s face was a storm of struggling emotion that barely peeked out, which meant on anyone else they would be struck with tears. “You’ve done well. No one can tell you different.”
Yulia nodded, struggling to keep herself in check. After a brief second, Layla turned to me and all emotion was gone from her face.
I got in first, “There’s no Oath to release me from, and I have my own Hel-forged blades.”
“If my disciple loses her life because of you, I’ll make it so you wish you died.”
“If Olivia dies it will be after I’m dead.” I looked at her, “I swear it.”
Satisfied, Layla left and Nathan ran his hand over his face. “My mother…” He stopped and looked at us, “Good luck.”
“You too.” I shook hands with him, and Yulia gave him a hug and kiss. With no ceremony, he left us to finish our packing.
Yulia stopped in the middle of placing a lightly woven shirt in her sea chest, “Where’s the proof of bond?”
“Here,” I tossed her a bracer made from Titan’s Bone. “We’ll both wear one.”
She turned it over in her hands, “What did you do to it?”
“It’s both a guide and signaling device. Ask it to find me and the bracer will glow in the direction I’m in. If I’m in danger it will flash to let you know. It should work across any distance, because it sends the message through the ether.” I slipped on my bracer, where it molded to fit perfectly without cutting off circulation or potentially slipping off.
Yulia looked inside, “It’s engraved.”
“Just one of my favorite sayings.” I turned back to packing, and was ambushed from behind. Her bracer filled my vision, “Looks good on you.”
“Thank you.”
Our night was spent checking and rechecking all our supplies. We carried our weapons, and everything else went either into a pack or the sea chest. A hired cart followed us from the inn to the ship in the morning. To my surprise, a member of the Messenger’s Guild was waiting.
“Master Gantz.” He bowed to me and presented the letter. After I took it he waited to be dismissed.
“Thank you,” I handed him a silver, which he accepted before going back to his headquarters to report in. The letter was on thick paper, with my name on it. The lack of family name was glaringly obvious, but I had never met another Gantz so it worked well. I broke the seal, the image of the Warrior’s Guild on the wax. “Zeysho is apparently giving us some help.”
“How?” Yulia was paying the boys with the cart a gold coin apiece. It would be enough to buy them food for a week if they were wise.
I handed her the letter, “When we reach the area controlled by the Zey, we are to show them the seal and letter. It should get us an audience with the current head of the clan, or at least a meeting with an Elder.”
“That’s one problem solved,” Yulia handed me the letter. “The bigger problem now is what to do when we find Charon.”
“I ask him a question.” I grinned, “Come on, the capitan looks like he’s going to try and kill us if he misses the tide.”
Yulia smiled at me, and held out her hand. I entwined our fingers, climbing the gangplank to the ship that would take us far from our home. There was only a year left before Yulia would die if we didn’t find Charon, but we would make every day count.
The Crimson Road Page 14