‘So we wait for the Lions to return?’ Lomar asked.
‘That’s right, but they should only be a day or two behind me at the most. Now, why don’t you tell me everything that has been happening since I left this miserable city?’
Samuel absentmindedly rubbed the deep scar on his left arm and listened carefully as Lomar told the old Grand Master of all they had done up until that time. He was not at all sure about the old man’s plan to kill the Emperor, but these days, he was not really sure about too much of anything.
That night, while the Erics had sneaked out into the markets to fetch them some hot dinner and Lomar had gone out to meet with Master Glim, Samuel talked idly with Grand Master Anthem as they both browsed over their piles of stolen books. The patrols searching for them had somewhat thinned. Still, Anthem warned them all to be wary of agents of the Empire.
‘Pah!’ the old magician spat, reading over some pages. ‘Half these books are nonsense! This one is clearly written by a lunatic!’
‘It seems many of them were,’ Samuel agreed.
With that, Anthem tossed the book over his shoulder onto the carefully placed pile of unwanted books. Then, the old man sat opposite Samuel and gave him a level look that made Samuel sit up and pay attention.
‘So tell me,’ Anthem began. ‘I feel you have changed much since you left Cintar. I remember you as a happy and enthusiastic young man and yet you return with a thunderstorm over your head. What happened to you in Tindal to make you so dark and troubled?’
Samuel swallowed nervously as he prepared to tell his tale. ‘I learned many hard lessons. I fell in love…I lost my love. I felt a magic inside me that seemed able to tear the stars from the sky and throw worlds to their ruin-when it felt the compulsion to actually come when I called it. I learned many great new spells, but I also learned to fear my own power. I killed men with such an untempered rage that I felt some unholy beast had taken hold of my mind. All these things I learned and I would give them up in a moment for the return of my beautiful Leila for, since she has gone, I have become a hollow and empty shell and my life has no meaning beyond avenging her death.’
Anthem nodded solemnly. ‘You are still young, yet you have already learned some of the harder lessons of life. These things of which you speak are the costs of becoming a man. Do not think you are alone in your misery, Samuel. Life is truly hard and we have all experienced loss and suffering. I would not be here at all if not for the death of everyone I loved at the hands of the Empire. My entire family-my mother and father, my sisters and brothers, all my uncles and aunts and cousins; my entire town, in fact-was slaughtered by the Emperor’s forces. Only my brother and I were spared, simply because we were in Qaldar at the time learning to be magicians. Everyone you meet has a tale of tragedy to tell, for these are hard times, Samuel.
‘Remember that you alone have a rare talent that can bring about a time of restoration to the world. Keep hold of your fears and your anger, for they are a passion which you can use to drive you, but don’t let them overwhelm you. Don’t obsess over the darkness in your life-remember the love you felt on those warm sunny days on the grass, lying in the sun with your woman in your arms.’ Samuel looked to the old man with surprise. ‘Yes, I too have felt love, long before I was a magician. I have not always been such a tired old man, and she, too, was taken away by the Empire, defiled and murdered like so many others. Yes, use your passions. Use them before they fade.’ The old man then looked up to the corner of the room with reddened eyes.
Samuel was thoughtful in the quiet, for the old man’s words rang true in his mind. He had been obsessed by his own desire for revenge, while Anthem had spent nearly all his life seeking his. The Empire was probably filled with such stories. After long moments, the old man’s words broke the silence one more.
‘Sometimes, as you say, our magic can feel so powerful that it begins to control us. When we lose control, we are not our own masters, but slaves to our primitive instincts. Only intelligence and intellect are pure and free from the stains of emotion. You must practise and learn to control yourself when you most want to let go. There is a time for such intense feelings as love and hate, as much as we magicians are capable of feeling them, but it is not when you are spelling. You should be free of these feelings and be a channel for the energies of the ether to accomplish the task at hand. When overcome by your emotions, magic can flow through you at a greater strength than you can control, dangerously so. Your spells can be incredibly powerful at times like this, but you cannot control them as you may think and it may damage you irrevocably. Do not overtax yourself, for the price of doing so must eventually be paid-as you well know. If you exert your body too much, you will simply die, for magic is by far stronger than any mortal flesh.’
Samuel nodded his head. ‘I understand.’
‘Really? Perhaps you do, but mastering oneself is one of the greatest challenges we can face. This is the true goal of any magician and one very few of us will actually reach.’
‘Do you think I will feel better once I kill Ash?’ Samuel asked.
‘I cannot say. I have always blamed the Emperor himself for my woes and when he is dead, I am sure I will feel a great weight lifted from my chest; but I do not think all the scars of such emotional burden can ever be entirely removed.’
‘And what of Ash? Do you think he is just another pawn of Lord Jarrod’s or is the Emperor or the Archmage ultimately in control?’
‘I cannot say. I am sure all of them have their own agendas, but who is to say which of them will end up on top? But if Ash’s aura is, indeed, tainted, as you say, then the dark arts may have already begun to foul him. If he has already been taken too far then he must be killed, lest he becomes a conduit for dangerous things.’
‘Do not fear, Grand Master,’ Samuel stated. ‘I will soon kill him whether he is tainted or not.’
The old man nodded. ‘It will be better when you have put your vengeance behind you. It sends shivers up my spine to hear you talk like that.’
‘It keeps me going,’ Samuel replied as way of explanation. ‘I have a question for you, Grand Master,’ he then announced. ‘I saw you challenge the other Grand Masters one time in the Great Hall. You cast a spell that drained their strength into your own. How do you work such a spell?’
‘So you know about it? Ha, ha! Of course you do! I forget you can see magic as I can see this table…or this chair,’ and he tapped on each to illustrate his point.
‘I’ve tried to emulate the spell many times, but I cannot.’
Anthem laughed aloud as the Erics were coming in through the door with a steaming hamper full of sweet-smelling food between them. ‘Ah my boy,’ Anthem said, still filled with mirth, ‘you cannot be master of everything! Allow me to have my one little secret, please! Perhaps I can teach you another time. Now, I’m starving to death. Let us feast.’
Samuel nodded solemnly as the old man snatched up the food that Goodfellow had set down and began to wolf it down like a ravenous hound.
Old Anthem sneaked in and out several times the next day, and he finally announced that the five other Lions had arrived. A meeting had been arranged for the next morning. All their trusted contacts within the Order would gather, and their plan to assassinate the Emperor would be made.
They awoke early and went to one of the many inns down near the docks, in a private room on the second floor. It was quite a tidy inn, not nearly as stinking and rancid as most of the establishments for this part of the city, stuck at the end of a winding alleyway without any sign or notice as to its name, called only after its owner-Stocky Tom’s. It was a place where merchants would meet, sailors got drunk, and harlots lingered in the smoke haze; a place where, for the right fee, your secrets could remain secret and so it was just right for the kind of meeting they were planning. At this early time of day, it was also completely empty, which was exactly what they needed for such a meeting.
Grand Master Anthem, Samuel, Lomar and Eric waited at the long
beer-stained table, while Goodfellow stood out across the street, keeping watch. Goodfellow had remained in his commoner’s clothes, but the others had changed back into their black garb to give them some credibility for the meeting. Master Glim was the only one not to attend, as his presence was still required at the School for Magic and he had found no excuse to slip away unnoticed.
One by one, the men came in, various mages who had each received word from Anthem, all long time friends of his and known empathisers to his cause. All wore their long robes and each black hem was personalised with a little coloured braiding.
Tulan Goodwin came in and seated himself last, nodding to Samuel and the others, making thirteen men crowded around the table. Samuel and Eric were easily the youngest, with nearly all the men showing a good deal of grey in their hair.
They waited a fair length of time and the five Lions had still not appeared. Anthem kept glancing towards the door, but the room was getting restless.
‘Where are the Lions?’ Samuel whispered beside Anthem.
‘I’m not sure, lad,’ Anthem replied, ‘but I don’t like the feel of it. I was counting on their presence to add weight to our argument. We may have to play this by ear. Anyway, we need to start this meeting now or these old codgers will start falling asleep. I’m sure the Lions have their reasons for being delayed.’
Samuel nodded in response and sat back against the back his chair.
‘Welcome, friends,’ Anthem began and the men all became quiet and turned their attention to him. ‘It is a pleasure to see you all again. Know firstly that your lives are in danger just by being here. Such a fact represents just one of the terrible injustices the Empire has imposed upon us and, indeed, all the peoples of Amandia. At last, the time has come, after many, many years, when we can move to action.’
There was murmuring among the men, and they all looked at each other.
‘All his life,’ Anthem continued, ‘the Emperor has been set on drawing every square of Amandia into his Empire and he has nearly succeeded several times. We have spent our lives living beneath the Emperor’s tyrannical gaze, and now we have the opportunity to finally end his accursed reign.’
‘You had better explain yourself quickly, Janus,’ one old magician spoke out. ‘I’ve better things to do than listen to more fairytales of freedom and equality. And you have some nerve summoning us here at a time like this! Palace agents are all though the city. It was no trivial task for us all to get here unnoticed. When we do get back, there’ll be some answering to do.’
‘All in good time, Master Quimbus,’ Anthem responded. ‘Suffice to know that this time, things are different. We now have an assured means of circumventing the Emperor’s magical defences.’
At that, there was a good deal of murmuring amongst the old men.
‘We’ve been searching most of our lives for a way to get past those spells, and you are telling us that you have now finally stumbled upon one?’ one withered old magician asked.
‘That’s right, Beanald,’ Anthem responded. ‘We now have a method of doing just that and believe me when I say it is remarkably reliable. I am confident of its abilities.’
‘Then what are we waiting for?’ a third Master called out. ‘Let’s go kill the bugger now!’
Anthem held up his hands to calm the man’s enthusiasm. ‘Eager as always, Master Vomer, but we need a slightly more sophisticated plan than that. We still need to take care of the Archmage and the Emperor’s bodyguards. We should also be careful to avoid the Royal Guards.’
‘And his armies, too, Grand Master?’ Master Quimbus asked sarcastically.
‘No, not his armies,’ Anthem replied slowly. ‘I understand that the task still has its challenges, but that is why we are magicians, so that we can use our intellects to overcome our problems. We need to find a way to take care of these obstacles and it should not be too difficult if we put our heads to it.’
Just then, there was a noise from outside-people shouting and calling out. Everyone stiffened and looked about nervously, but after another moment, the ruckus quietened down again and the men relaxed back into their seats. Samuel took the opportunity to whisper to Anthem.
‘What of the Argum Stone?’
‘Not here, lad,’ Anthem whispered back. ‘We don’t want to complicate matters any further. Let us continue,’ he then called aloud to the gathering. ‘To take care of the Archmage, a simple diversion should be enough-just something to keep him away from the Emperor while we begin our work. The Emperor’s bodyguards will need to be dispatched quickly and quietly. If the palace is alerted, the Royal Guards will be upon us like ants at a picnic, and I don’t need to tell you how bad that would be. The best place would be somewhere small and quiet, with four square walls around us to prevent his escape.’
‘We could call a meeting,’ one man suggested.
‘Or a demonstration,’ another called out, ‘to show him some of those spells he has always been pestering us about.’
Anthem nodded to them. ‘Good, good. This is what we want-some decent ideas to throw around. We just have one more tiny obstacle. I must personally find my way to the Emperor to use the new dispelling magic; however, as I’m a wanted man, I cannot allow myself to be seen. I also need young Samuel here to assist me, but he, too, is wanted on sight.’
‘Argh!’ Master Vomer called out, throwing his hands up in frustration. ‘You bring before us an infallible plan that is fouled from the start! How are we to manage all these things you speak of?’
‘I do have a plan,’ Anthem replied patiently, ‘but it requires all of you to assist me. I don’t mean to start sounding rude, but all you old fools have spent your lives complaining about the Emperor and how much you’d like to see the end of him, and when I bring you one good chance to be rid of him, all you do is moan! Listen to what I have prepared. I am suggesting that we call a meeting in the Great Hall, to show the Emperor what we have learned to help with his war. Some of his bodyguards will be there, but most of his soldiers will be forced to wait outside. Samuel and I will be secreted away, under the floorboards or some such where they will not be able to find us. The main problem, of course, is that the Council will insist on attending any such meeting and there are other details we will need to predict and account for, such as how we will explain whatever happens to the guards in the room. We don’t want to be cut to pieces immediately following our great success.’
The old men were all quiet and looked to each apologetically.
‘Yes, yes, you are right,’ another old Master admitted. ‘It does sound like the makings of a reasonable plan. What about if we meet again next week and see what we can think up by then?’
‘That is also a problem, Master Sandringham,’ Anthem stated. ‘You see, we do not have so long. For reasons I don’t want to get into just now, time is of the very essence. We may only have a few days at most to act before our chance is gone forever.’
The men again began murmuring their frustrations to each other.
‘Very well, Grand Master,’ the wiry Master Vomer spoke up. ‘We all like a challenge. I’m sure that between us we can find a way to perfect your idea. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I really had nothing else planned for today, except growing another day older towards my grave. Let’s put our heads together and think of something!’
It was then that the door burst inwards and a sea of soldiers came pushing in, shouting and brandishing swords and spears. The room was small, and the magicians had spear-tips pressed up against them as the soldiers pushed into the room. Behind the men came a handful of black-cloaked magicians. The room was full of shouting and confusion as everyone jostled to move away from the raised and pointed weapons.
‘Hold where you are!’ cried a tall man as he pushed through the soldiers and into the room. It was High Lord Rimus. He held his arms up, so that his black sleeves, sewn with silver circles, hung around his elbows. ‘At first sign of a spell you will all be run through.’
Anthem raised
his hand to make his presence known. ‘What is the meaning of this, Rimus?’
‘I should ask you the same. There is obviously some kind of plot taking place here and you are all colluding with some of the Empire’s most dangerous foes. You will all come peacefully to the palace and await the Emperor’s questioning, under guard. Refuse and I will instruct these men to kill you all. You are all to be tried for treason against the Empire.’
The old magicians looked at each other with dread on their faces. Samuel thought that the room of experienced magicians could easily defeat a few other magicians and guards, but not one of them began to ready any power. They seemed too afraid to dare anything.
Anthem must have come to the same conclusion as he, too, looked around the room at his worried fellows. ‘We will come,’ he accepted with a sigh.
‘Take them away,’ Rimus instructed and the soldiers began to prod with their spear points. As the old magicians were herded out the narrow doorway and down the stairs, Samuel began to tense-angered and readying to throw out his magic. A hand on his shoulder made him look around. It was Tulan and he spoke softly at Samuel’s side.
‘Go with them, Samuel,’ he said quietly. ‘Your plan was doomed from the start. They knew all along. Please forgive me.’
‘You bastard!’ Eric said, obviously having overheard and he launched himself forward, punching Tulan full on the chin. They all nearly fell down the stairs and would have if not for the sheer number of people crammed onto them.
The soldiers became agitated and raised their spears as best they could, but Tulan held up his palm to calm them, while the other hand rubbed at his reddened jaw.
‘Don’t worry,’ Tulan said, quietly to Samuel. ‘This is the best way. I will take care of everything. Just go with them.’
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