"The orcs? They hadn't attacked the market before, but there have been stories of some homes attacked and robbed in the last week. Now they send enforcers to rob merchants? I don't know what is happening to Ensolus now," the older woman said worriedly.
"Uncle Poultus didn't believe me when we talked last time," the boy replied before brushing the hair back from his forehead absently. "I told him that you were all likely to be in danger here if no one truly powerful stepped in to lead the city."
They waited for a time that was long enough to make Renelley pull the chord a second time even though Poultus would likely have heard it the first time. When their uncle opened the door bundled up in a heavy winter coat, Holdy was slightly surprised. The last visit he had made there was another man working here who had done the work of walking to the gate to let them in for Poultus. Holdy wondered what it meant that the gray haired man was getting his own door now.
"Renelley, Holdy, what brings you here?" the old man asked before coughing due to the cold.
"Are you all right, uncle?" his mother asked with worry. "Where is Pheleus?"
Waving off her question, Poultus still answered as he turned back towards his front door. "Oh, Pheleus asked for a little time off. He was worried about the orcs for some reason."
"He has good reason," Renelley retorted as she followed her uncle. "A group of them just attacked the marketplace!"
That made the old man stop and turn quickly to look at his niece. "They attacked the market? Should I ask if you are alright instead?"
"I am fine, uncle, thanks to Holdy's timely arrival," she replied with a proud mother's smile. Renelley hadn't always been comfortable with having a son with magic, but a heroic wizard saving the marketplace would make the locals amazed by her boy for months or more.
Holdy spoke up and explained, "The orcs were robbing the merchants of their gold and whatever else they found valuable. When they didn't walk away peacefully and decided to attack, I was able to stop them with my magic."
"Magic," the old man grunted as he turned to lead the way back into the house. "I suppose it can be good for many things, but sometimes it just seems more dangerous than it's worth."
"So are orcs," Holdy quipped unintentionally getting the older man to laugh at the idea.
"I suppose that goes for all of the emperor's monsters too," Poultus replied as he closed the door behind them to keep out the cold. Holdy thought that it was a bit cold inside the home as well, colder than his last visit at least.
His mother noticed it too, he thought, but both held their tongues until they stood in a dark living room. A couple lamps were lit and a fire was burning low in the fireplace.
"Oh, uncle, is this how you are living now without Pheleus to keep an eye on you?" Renelley questioned with worry for the old man's health.
"Phah," he said waving off her worry. "I can keep it up fine. I was just taking a nap when you woke me, so the fire's a little low. Since I wasn't expecting visitors, I was conserving oil by using fewer lamps anyway."
Holdy cast a quick spell lighting three other lamps making the room brighten quickly. The boy took a pair of cut logs and put them in the fireplace. Ash of the slowly burning logs gave way under the weight proving that there was little good wood left to burn for heat. A second casting of fire made the new logs catch instantly to begin reheating the room.
"Hmm, well I guess magic can be handy after all," Poultus stated as he sat in a large stuffed chair. "So what brings you here anyway? Was it the orcs?"
Renelley glanced to her son, but Holdy ignored the look already beginning to answer his uncle, "The orcs are just the next symptom of the problems building in Ensolus, Uncle Poultus. I warned you something like this might happen and if things continue I would suspect it will get much worse. The outer walls are still broken and blocking the cave mouth. It's winter so fewer travelers would be coming or going now, but it just shows how those in charge are acting."
"And how are they acting, Holdy? You might be a wizard, but you're still just a kid. What do they call you kids?"
"Apprentices," he replied with a release of air. "I might be a kid, but I can see what is going on just fine. You're the one who seems oblivious to the fact that Ensolus could erupt in fighting any moment."
The gray haired man looked at him with blue eyes that were the same color as the apprentice's. His mother's green eyes were out of place, implying that they had skipped a generation perhaps. Holdy had other features that made it obvious to his relationship to her, while he looked little like the old man in any other way; even so they were all family and all they really had. His father had died years ago serving in the army. Poultus' wife had died when Holdy had been a toddler without giving his uncle any children. The three of them were all that remained at least in Ensolus.
"I am not some old man cooped up in this house that knows only what people tell him of the outside world, boy. I know those bastards from Southwall attacked the city. I also know that those two generals continue to stand in each other's way and rumor has it that your grand master might want to throw his hat into the ring as well. Then there is that orc who appears to want to become a warlord and take the throne. He's likely behind the ones in the market, I'm guessing."
The younger members of his family looked surprised by the added information. Holdy knew of the first three, but the orc warlord was news to him. As an apprentice, he was likely more sheltered from what was going on in the city than he would like to admit.
"Be that as it may," Holdy began again, "then we should really consider something to protect the people here."
A frown that inferred confusion crossed his uncle's face, though the boy had a feeling that it only pertained to figuring out the apprentice's mind. "We are surrounded by hundreds of feet of stone in every direction. The only escape is mostly blocked by stone, as well as we would have to go through the orcs besides. What exactly do you propose?"
Holdy had already considered an idea, but worried that it was an undertaking that would be beyond him. "How many properties do you own that touch the cave wall facing south?"
Frowning in thought, the old man aimed a look of skepticism at the boy in front of him, before Poultus replied, "Three counting this one. One is rented, but one is still vacant. I've used it to store some supplies, but other than that... What do you plan to do to my properties?"
Holdy chuckled and shook his head, "Nothing really... well, maybe I could make one of them larger. The added property value would be all yours, if you decide to stay here, I suppose."
Having gained their attention, the apprentice explained his idea further.
The older woman took Megan's long coat and hung it in a large closet holding dozens more. "Come on, you pretty girl, I was told that you will be replacing Heline for now. Word came that an illness in the family will keep her away for a time. It is surprising to hear though."
"Why is that so strange?" Megan asked trying to keep her level of inquisitiveness low enough not to draw too much attention to her. She didn't know what Grand Master Echolus had done to get the woman she was replacing to do this, and didn't want any inquisitive people checking on her predecessor if it was all part of the wizard's scheme.
"Well she is only sixty years old. For an elf, that is barely more than a child. At least she always looks young to me. She isn't quite as pretty as you, but the woman seemed healthy last I saw her. Even her closest family is young."
"Being young doesn't mean that you can't catch the flu," Megan reminded her.
The woman started at the thought and nodded, "Well, I suppose that is true enough. I've heard elves are pretty healthy though."
"I am a quarter elf. My relatives have been ill at times. This winter cold can bring down anyone if they aren't careful," the wizard replied and realized that maybe she was talking too much. What the happy medium would be as a spy had never been taught to her. She needed to be affable and able to speak to others to get information, however, while remaining unobtrusive enough to be
ignored by the ones she was spying on, Megan thought and nearly sighed.
Again the woman looked startled and said, "I am a quarter also. How strange, but I guess that I never noticed such things growing up."
As they began to walk through the halls and up flights of stairs, the servant woman known as Greta continued to chat about elves, the spire and soon arrived at her new duties as a servant girl. The concept of being a servant and having to clean up after the general and his people still didn't set well with her, but Megan knew that she needed to follow Echolus' plans for now. There was no sanctuary to flee to at the moment and she needed to appear willing to help him no matter what the task.
"General Amelyer doesn't seem too difficult to work for," Greta was saying. "Heline never complained as far as I know, though she was also one of his favorites, I hear. They were also about the same age, but she is a full elf unlike the general. He is still half elven, but I am not certain how much that affects a life span. Being a quarter elf, I guess we can't expect to live much beyond our human ancestors' life spans, can we?"
She was chattering away and caught herself going back to her duties, "Anyway, you'll clean and serve meals when the general is in. If he has meetings, sometimes he has the kitchen bring other snacks or drinks. You'll serve them, if he asks, of course."
"I just clean and bring him food when asked?" Megan asked, though it came out more like she didn't want to hear that the general would want more out of a servant woman like some of the stories she had heard. Wizards were a bit more secluded from that part of the world, but no matter where a woman went there always seemed to be men that would want to make them serve their other needs as well.
Confusion crossed the other woman's face for only a moment before she leaned back slightly as realization replaced the look. "As far as I know, General Amelyer is a gentleman, but I suppose that you are quite pretty. Some men have been known to... Well, I am certain you know how to handle yourself. If you don't desire that kind of attention, I believe he will listen."
Greta's cheeks had turned red at the thought.
"The general has meetings in his rooms regularly?"
The question went back to the offhand statement by the servant woman. Nodding, Greta replied, "When the emperor was alive, it was a rarity; but with his passing the general has been working to keep the peace. His men work in the spire and the city as well, I suppose. General Amelyer, and that Corven as well now, has many men working for him. I mean, he is a general after all and much of his army is in the city."
"And I will work at these meetings when he wants me to," Megan said thinking that was likely the place she would learn most of the general's plans. If he was planning to take over the spire and the city, these meetings would give her the information that Echolus would want. She just wondered if it was right for her to give the grand master everything, when Lesolas and the others were considering the sanctuary plan because they feared where his leadership would take them.
Greta just nodded and soon they were at a pair of doors guarded by four soldiers. They were elven or human in appearance. There were no orcs in sight and Megan assumed that was because General Corven was part orc. Amelyer probably couldn't trust any orc since he would assume that their loyalty might be to his rival being of the same race.
"This is the general's replacement for Heline," the established servant woman stated for the soldiers.
One of the elves held up his hand and said, "She will need to be checked for weapons first. Since we don't know her, we can hardly be too cautious."
The soldier placed his hands on Megan turning her towards the wall. Her hands caught her as the man patted her upper body. He squeezed her breasts and felt her form all the way down to the hem of the dress. When she felt his hand reach up to touch her, the wizard wanted to call up fire to burn his hands for the insulting touches.
"Was that truly necessary?" Greta asked with a frown as Megan was turned back to face the man. He smirked and the wizard had to work hard to keep her anger in check. "Her dress is too tight to hide anything, Velden."
"You would be surprised, Greta," the soldier replied with a satisfied smile. "I could be even more thorough, if you want. Things can be inserted in various places, though a sharp weapon would be rather unpleasant and dangerous to conceal there."
"Stop being disgusting," the servant woman ordered him and reached out for Megan to follow her inside. Two of the other soldiers opened the doors for the women, but she noticed a glimmer of amusement in their eyes even as they did their best to keep their looks from their faces. The wizard considered Greta's assurances and tossed them away no longer believing in them.
"I am sorry about that. Velden can be rather... unpleasant sometimes, but he won't push it too far. The others would keep him in check and the general as well, of course."
The older woman's face was red still, whether from anger or embarrassment, Megan wasn't certain. She didn't say much more and the two women found their walk passed through a large room with a few tables as well as couches for lounging. Another servant woman in a dress like hers was dusting and straightening the room, though she seemed to be keeping her distance from the tables cluttered with various papers and maps.
"This is Niadene," Greta said introducing her and in turn told the woman, "This is Megan. She is substituting for Heline until she returns."
Niadene was an attractive looking blonde haired woman, petite almost to elven standards, though Megan didn't see any of the race's obvious traits. She didn't have pointed ears or the slightly large eyes that many elves had. Their eyes could be slightly out of proportion to a human's, but they tended to be colorful and almond shaped. Somehow the looks of an elf's face still seemed to work and in fact had a strange beauty to most of them that men, both human and elf, found more attractive than a human woman's features.
"Heline might not get her job back. You're prettier than her, so if you can clean well the general might not want you to leave again," Niadene said laughing with a voice that sounded beautiful to the wizard's ears. She seemed charming as well as the woman smiled at her. Megan wondered if such a woman could insult a man with that smile on her face and make him not notice.
Megan was uncertain how to answer, but Greta replied, "Well, just show her what needs to be done today. You know what Heline's duties are."
The other maid nodded and continued to smile.
With her work done concerning the new servant girl, Greta waved her off and returned to the door before leaving the two alone.
Megan noted one thing different from her uniform to the other's, Niadene's feet were bare. Catching the wizard's eyes looking at her feet, the maid giggled, "Feel free to take your shoes off and be comfortable. I think the general actually prefers it. I've noticed him looking at my feet before. Maybe he has a thing for them. I've heard of men that obsess over a woman's feet."
Wrinkling her nose at the idea, the wizard asked, "Do I want to find out?"
Again the other woman laughed charmingly, "Oh, Amelyer isn't the type to molest the help. I've tried to entice him many times, but he's one of those types of men who prefer war to love, I think. He does seem to have a thing for Heline, but they've known each other for a long time from what I hear.
"She tends to work barefoot as well, by the way."
"I think that I'll keep them on for now," Megan replied warily.
Shrugging at her fears, Niadene waved for her to follow. "Come on, I'll show you the supply closets and things you'll need. The work isn't too hard. Just keep tidying up. There are enough rooms to keep busy throughout the day."
"Are we the only two here?"
The woman nodded. "I mean, the general might return at any time; but he's already eaten breakfast and left to do whatever it is that Amelyer does."
Again the maid shrugged. It wasn't her business, Megan gathered, so the girl merely tidied the rooms to earn her wages. The work seemed rather dull to the wizard, and she hoped that it wouldn't be as awful to pass the time as she believ
ed. She also did her best to look for any papers that might tell her what the general had in mind to try and become the next emperor, if that was indeed his goal.
Chapter 18- Passing the Test
Holdy sensed the signal stone had been crushed, but the apprentice waited to bring the hunters back. He had been walking with his mother and uncle from his mansion to the open building that wasn't rented. As Poultus had warned him, the second building was quite messy with supplies scattered throughout the building. Crates were stacked in a garage space under the house. More could be found in the rooms upstairs that were meant to be bedrooms. If his uncle ever planned to rent this house again, it would take some time to empty the heavily filled rooms.
His uncle hadn't said much when the boy left a pair of lodestones in the back room of his house. Holdy had said that they were markers for his magic and the older man had left it at that. Since Poultus knew nothing of magic, it was less important to explain; though the apprentice thought it was a simple enough concept even if the other man had no ability in magic.
Like he had done in the mansion, Holdy had dropped another pair of lodestones in the largest room of the second building. As a living room space, it was at the front of the house, while the crowded bedrooms would be in the way if he used them for his project. The stones would act as a beacon for him when he needed them, so Holdy performed another bit of magic and created a portal door.
"I'll see you both later. This will take a little while," the apprentice started forward and another idea came to mind. He reached into the pouch which had held the prepared lodestones before pulling out two of the soft kind. "Keep these with you. If there's trouble, I can return to where you break them. Try to not open it where I'd run into someone. This magic has actually killed people opening in the wrong place and I will likely be blinded for a few seconds as I come through also."
Battle Mage Broken Empire Page 23