In Defence of the Crown (The Aielund Saga Book 2)

by Stephen L. Nowland

  “Alan’s upstairs in his room, studying,” Patricia replied.

  “Was he here yesterday?” Aiden continued, and received only silence as his reply. The students looked at each other, not one of them able to account for Alan’s time.

  “I think we should speak with him before we talk further,” Maggie stated. “Just remain here until we get back, if you please. Valennia, could you guard the door?”

  “I can,” she replied. “Shall I permit no-one to pass, on pain of death?”

  “Yes, something like that,” Maggie murmured. At the other end of the room, a spiral staircase, similar to the one in the main tower could be seen, leading up. “Which room is Alan’s?”

  “Second floor, room three,” Maxwell supplied. “You don’t think he had something to do with this, do you?”

  “I’ll let you know after we talk with him,” the druid replied, leading them through the common room towards the stairs.

  “Just one more thing,” Patricia called to them. “Alan has a bit of a gambling habit, and it’s frowned upon by the faculty. Please don’t tell them!”

  “I won’t make any promises, but thanks for the information,” Maggie replied, pondering this little piece of news with interest.

  “What was that?” Aiden asked Pacian in hushed tones, while looking back at the students staring timidly at Valennia’s imposing presence.

  “I put him on the spot to see how he’d react,” Pacian explained. “His response seemed pretty authentic to me.”

  “Since when are you an expert on subtlety?”

  “I know fear when I see it,” Pacian assured him as they climbed the stairs. “That was genuine fear, but not of being caught.”

  “He’s right, though it pains me to say so,” Maggie sighed, walking twice as fast to keep up with them. “Just don’t do that again, because if Alan is the culprit, he’s likely to do something rash when confronted with the prospect of discovery.”

  When they reached the first floor, they almost stumbled into another student, a young man who seemed to be in a hurry. Instantly suspicious, Aiden stepped in front of him to block his passage.

  “Are you Alan Leonson?” he asked.

  “Yes?” Alan replied hesitantly. He was a heavy-set youth dressed in the same grey robe as the other students.

  “We need to ask you a few questions about the explosion that blew out part of the pavement yesterday afternoon,” Maggie stated.

  “Oh, that,” Alan replied, somewhat relieved. “I heard one of our teachers, Dean Foster, had something to do with it. You should probably go talk with him.”

  “We already have, and he’s pointed the finger at you,” Pacian responded calmly. Aiden could see that the student’s brow was covered in a fine film of sweat beneath his hat.

  “Why are you sweating so much, Alan?” he asked suspiciously. “It isn’t exactly hot in here.”

  “I just finished a rather spicy meal. You ask anyone, I love my cumin but I break out into a sweat every time.”

  “Bollocks!” Pacian scoffed. “You know something, and we’re not leaving ‘til we get some answers!” This set Alan on edge immediately, and Aiden groaned inwardly at his friend’s singular lack of finesse.

  “Alan, if you’re in trouble, talk to us - we can help,” Maggie said, hoping to calm the agitated student.

  “Let me think about that for a moment,” Alan replied, his lips moving silently for a few seconds as he seemed to be weighing the options. His hands fidgeted, but in a very rhythmic way, almost as if…

  “Stop him, he’s -” Sayana cried, a moment too late. Alan gave them a little smile of triumph and then ran across the room toward another stairwell leading up. Pacian bolted after him.

  “That was an incantation,” Sayana blurted as she rushed forward, with Aiden and Maggie in pursuit. They dashed up the stairs, leaving poor Maggie far behind as they caught up to Pacian, who was standing on the second floor staring at another tarnished suit of armour which had come to life. It stepped forward and awkwardly moved towards them, its long sword raised high.

  “Step aside!” Sayana ordered, to which Pacian responded to instantly. As soon as he’d moved, a column of fire burst forth from the sorceress’ outstretched hand, bathing the armour in flames. Unfortunately, this had no effect upon the animated suit, which stepped in and swung its huge sword with both ‘hands’.

  It missed Sayana but caught Pacian across the chest when he found his back to the wall. Fortunately, the metal plates of his chest armour kept the sword from piercing his skin.

  Aiden summoned his force shield and drew his sword, hoping the animated suit wasn’t a particularly good fighter. There was no flesh and blood person inside the suit to hurt – if they were to defeat this contraption, it was very likely they would have to find a way to cut it into pieces. By then, Alan would probably be long gone.

  The armoured suit continued to attack, focusing mainly on Aiden. Despite its lack of finesse, the suit was incredibly strong, and was able to bash through most of his attempts to block.

  “Keep it busy, I have an idea!” Maggie called from the top of the stairs behind Aiden. Able to do nothing else but keep it busy, they kept slashing ineffectually against the suit for a few more moments until he noticed a heavy dampness in the air.

  Moisture formed on his arms and also covered the suit of armour before him. The raelani druid poked her head around Aiden’s right leg, and made stabbing gesture with her right hand.

  Whatever she did had no immediate effect, but with each swing, a grinding, metallic sound grew in volume. The metal, tarnished with age, rapidly began to show signs of rust forming across its entire body until it crumbled to the floor.

  They seized the opportunity to dash past the crippled monster to another set of stairs leading up and shortly thereafter emerged on the next floor. Across the other side of the room stood Alan, holding a dart in one hand. He threw it towards them but before it came close, Sayana deflected its path with one sweep of her arm. The dart altered course and instead struck the wall, detonating with concussive force.

  The entire tower shook from the blast, tossing them to the floor as they were showered with debris. Smoke blanketed the chamber, obscuring their sight and filling their lungs. As Aiden coughed and struggled to get back on his feet, Maggie held a green gemstone above her head and channelled a gust of air from outside.

  The smoke rapidly cleared, allowing them to breathe again but Alan had vanished. This small fact didn’t stop Sayana from charging straight for where he’d been standing before the blast, with Aiden back on his feet and following as fast as he could.

  As the column of air pushed aside more of the smoke, he saw Sayana head through a previously obscured door. When Aiden dashed through, Sayana was rushing to tackle Alan, who stood next to an open window. Before she could reach him, the renegade student gestured with both hands. To Aiden’s horror, Sayana was lifted from her feet and thrown through the air.

  She squealed in terror as she plummeted through the window. Alan, carrying a pack laden with his belongings, caught a glimpse of Aiden bearing down on him and climbed onto a desk with the clear intent of leaping out the same window. He began incanting another spell that would probably allow him to survive the fall and escape.

  His sights upon the student, Aiden missed seeing a large chunk of rock on the floor before him and suddenly tripped, sprawling face-first upon the floor and skidding to a halt. Looking up, he saw Alan’s smirk of triumph as his spell was just about to finish, when a pair of daggers lodged into his back. He staggered forward, choking on the final words of the incantation right before he fell through the window.

  Picking himself up, Aiden looked behind him to see Pacian approaching with a look of grim satisfaction on his face. Aiden rushed to the window and looked out, expecting to see the grisly remains of two people on the pavement below. Indeed, the broken remains of Alan could be seen within a pool of blood spreading over the snow-covered cobblestones.

  To his s
urprise and relief, he saw Sayana gently floating to the ground with a small gathering of people watching her descent.

  “Nice throwing there Pace,” Aiden muttered at his friend as he paused to catch his breath. “Did you have to kill him?”

  “I didn’t see any other option,” Pacian shrugged.

  “It would have been better to take him alive, I think,” Maggie remarked, jumping onto a desk so that she could peer out through the window. “Now we may never know what motivated him.”

  “Maybe there’s something in his desk that might help,” Aiden suggested, opening the drawers and going through whatever belongings were left. Alan had clearly been in a hurry, for a great deal of material was remaining.

  Buried under a pile of socks he found three rolled up parchments, all of which glowed in Aiden’s enhanced sight, indicating the presence of arcane power. He carefully retrieved all of them and kept looking, but the most prominent item they found was sitting right on top of the desk under Maggie’s boots. When she moved, Aiden quickly read its contents.

  “Listen to this. ‘Alan, arrange for an explosion tomorrow afternoon on Renown Street, just off Foundation Circle, something big enough to block the street. Do this right and I might forget about how much money you owe me.’ The note is unsigned, but that’s a pretty big clue right there.”

  “He left it on the desk, right where people could see it,” Pacian remarked. “He must have wanted someone to know why he did it.”

  “The question is, where do we go from here?” Maggie asked.

  “Ronan might know more about the sort of people who loan money,” Aiden mused thoughtfully. All they had to do now was deal with the ramifications of having the entire top floor of the tower completely destroyed, and from the crowd of wizards gathering around Sayana, they were about to find out why Nellise had warned them against using sorcery.

  Chapter Eight

  Once they’d reached the ground floor, Aiden and the others noticed the unconscious forms of two students at Valennia’s feet, and a heavy closet that had been moved in front of the doorway. The sounds of urgent thumping could be heard on the other side and the remaining students in the room cowered against the far wall, trying to keep as much space between them and the akoran warrior as they could.

  “What’s going on down here?” Aiden asked of his newest associate.

  “These two tried to flee when the tower shook with fire,” Val explained. “Then others tried to come in through the front door, so I blocked it. I want you to know I made a conscious effort to not kill anyone.”

  Maggie crouched to check on them, while Aiden motioned for the other students to relax. They didn’t appear to share his optimistic assessment however, and continued to cower.

  “Well…” Aiden began, addressing Valennia, “you did what you were told to do. I’ll just have to put some more thought into what I tell you, in future. You can unblock the door now.”

  “As you wish,” Val replied, stepping to one side of the closet and pushing it back into place against the nearby wall. Aiden suddenly realised that the furniture was made from thick hardwood, quite possibly weighing a hundred pounds. He idly wondered what sort of muscles the akoran warrior had hidden underneath her tunic. Another part of his mind rebelled at the mere thought of finding out.

  Once clear, Aiden unlocked and unbarred the doors, which immediately burst inwards as a dozen robed men and women rushed forward. Some of them were students and others were, in fact, members of the City Watch.

  Nearly all of them had questions for Aiden and his associates, demanding to know what had happened. Peering through the crowd, Aiden could see Sayana dealing with a similar mob of inquisitive wizards and guards, and she was clearly not handling the situation well.

  “Gentlemen, please, one at a time,” Aiden asked patiently. Valennia crossed her arms and refused to budge, and there didn’t seem to be anyone interested in tackling her for the moment. After taking the time to explain to the guardsmen the cause of the explosion, the crowd calmed down.

  As to how the student had obtained such a powerful device, well, that was something they’d have to take up with the Arch-Chancellor. Aiden was unwilling to tell the Watchmen any more than they needed to know, as he didn’t want word getting around that a separate investigation was going on. Any spies or traitors in the City Watch would be quick to take advantage of that information.

  Eager to be done with this, Aiden deflected all further questions to the University staff and flashed the duke’s seal at them to lend further weight to his words. Their co-operation was immediate and Aiden was starting to enjoy having this sort of authority. Sayana seemed to have gained the attention of the Arch-Chancellor himself, along with Dean Foster and another senior faculty member as Aiden approached.

  “Is there a problem here, ladies and gentlemen?” he asked, gaining their attention.

  “The question is sir, in what order do we attempt to deal with the many problems that have suddenly appeared,” the Arch-Chancellor replied caustically. “Yet another detonation within city limits, this time on University grounds, the death of a student - the son of a noble no less – and the appearance of a sorcerer in our midst. I find it hard to believe that these events are unrelated.”

  “I told you, I wasn’t responsible for that explosion,” Sayana said in exasperation. “One of those darts that I saw in this man’s chambers,” – she pointed at Desmond – “was thrown at us as we pursued Alan Leonson. The dart erupted in an explosion which destroyed part of the tower.”

  “Dean Foster,” Arch-Chancellor Zachariah asked of the old wizard next to him, “could this student have taken one of those darts from your laboratory without you knowing of the theft?”

  “They were all accounted for, last time I checked,” Desmond replied gruffly. “But I do recall her hand straying very closely to the devices during their visit, not ten minutes ago. My eyesight isn’t what it used to be, Arch-Chancellor. It is possible she managed to steal one without my knowledge.”

  “She’s telling you the truth,” Aiden informed them through gritted teeth. “I was present when Alan threw the dart, and if it wasn’t for her reflexes, it would be our bodies lying in the snow over there.”

  “May I suggest, Dean Foster that you go and thoroughly check your collection to ensure all is present and accounted for?” Zach requested of his counterpart. Desmond nodded, and reluctantly turned to head back into the main tower. During this time, the other wizard had been scrutinizing Sayana closely, making the wild girl more than uncomfortable. The wizard appeared to be middle-aged, with a receding hairline partially covered by the hood of his frayed blue robe.

  “What’s your problem?” Aiden asked him bluntly.

  “My ’problem’, as you put it, is this young lady seems to have the ability to channel magical energies without the use of incantations or any other form of magic practiced by sane people. Furthermore, Arch-Chancellor, I have no recollection of her attending the University, so I must conclude she is a ‘wild talent’.”

  “Are you saying you can recall the faces and names of anyone that studied here with total veracity?” Maggie asked suspiciously, standing almost unnoticed down to Aiden’s right.

  “I can indeed, my little friend,” the wizard answered pleasantly, peering down at her. “Sir, I think we should take her inside for further questioning while you deal with this debacle.”

  “Do as you see fit, Dean Webber,” Zachariah instructed, drawing a concerned look from Sayana, who had watched silently as decisions about her life were made around her.

  “She’s done nothing wrong,” Aiden protested as Webber started to lead her away with one hand firmly upon her arm.

  “My boy, you don’t seem to understand,” the balding wizard explained. “The simple fact of her existence should not be, and we here at the University are charged with trying to determine the exact nature of such… aberrations.”

  “I have the authority of the duke, and I demand you release her at once
,” Aiden instructed, retrieving the letter with the seal upon it.

  “As it happens, so do we,” the Arch-Chancellor countered. “If you have an issue with our mandate, I suggest you take it up with His Grace. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must attend to this mess.”

  “At least allow me to be present during her questioning,” Aiden asked, trying one last time to gain some control over the situation.

  “For your own safety, I must deny your request. Only those familiar with the intricacies and dangers of the magic arts should be present at this time, in case she turns out to be as dangerous as we suspect.” Aiden was about to protest further when he noticed Sayana shaking her head at him ever so slightly.

  Reluctantly acceding to her silent request, Aiden allowed her to be taken away with the realisation that if they knew he was capable of some of the things she had demonstrated, he’d be carted away too.

  “Should we attempt to rescue our comrade from the clutches of these weak old men?” Valennia asked as the crowd of curious students, city watchmen and wizards began to disperse, “I could kill them all with a loud sneeze.”

  “They may look weak, but they make up for it in other ways,” Aiden mused aloud.

  “I have yet to meet anyone able to withstand an axe to their face, Aiden. However, as my employer, I will accede to your wishes,” Valennia finished.

  “I’d love an explanation of what gives them the right to haul people away like that,” Pacian remarked, approaching from the nearby scene of Alan Leonson’s abrupt death.

  “Where have you been?” Aiden asked, receiving a nonchalant shrug from his blond friend.

  “Investigating Alan’s body, in case there was something important on there,” Pace explained.

  “Was there?” Maggie asked curiously.

  “Not really. He had a nice ring that he won’t need anymore, though,” Pacian winked.

  “Stealing from the dead, lovely,” Maggie griped.

  “Considering his connections, I imagine he got this beauty with ill-gotten gains, so in a way, I’m stealing from the scoundrels that gave him the money to buy this in the first place.”