Call of the Kings

by Chris Page

  Virgile stood up and offered Tara his hand.

  ‘Would you like to dance with me?’ he asked.

  Tara’s lips stretched into a thin line.

  ‘No,’ she said emphatically. ‘I’ve never done it before and would fall over the heavy hem of this tunic.’

  ‘That can be altered in a moment,’ the handsome enchanter said with a wink. And suddenly they were both clad from head to toe in the correct and formal attire, with Tara resplendent in a white satin gown of exceptional beauty. Before she could demur further, Virgile whisked her out onto the open floor, where they whirled into the maelstrom of other dancers and were soon lost to view.

  Chuckling to himself, Twilight soon shut up as he saw Matilda, the king’s dour and heavy wife, bearing down on him purposefully.

  It was time for him to go.

  Chapter 9

  ‘It is said that when he’s bored he roams the streets at night looking for homeless children to torture to death.’

  The three of them were sitting on a log outside the small stone hovel Virgile called home on the side of the village of Carnac in Gaul. Twilight and Tara had just arrived, having transformed from Skellighaven, where they had been on one of their periodic inspection visits. The small Irish settlement was now a model of careful, normal subsistence, believers and nonbelievers alike living in harmony, and no one had been thrown into the Devil’s Pit since Leannan Sidhe had drowned. Tara was telling Virgile the story of the witch fairy’s perversions and subsequent demise.

  ‘And you joined your power together to hold her under the water?’ Virgile inquired.

  ‘Yes,’ replied Tara.

  ‘Do you think it’s possible to join all three of us together?’

  Tara looked at Twilight for an answer.

  The old astounder nodded. ‘Yes, but if that combined power is concentrated upon one other, each of the three will be extra vulnerable to an outside force. If, for instance, the three of us had one of your three rogue venefici in the helpless grip of our combined power, each of us would be defenseless against one of the other rogues. The answer would be to only use the power of two, leaving our third member free to protect the others against any unforeseen intrusions.’

  Twilight then told Virgile of his battle with the two half-powered Viking venefici twins, Go-uan and Go-ian, and how he’d finally dispatched them.

  ‘Because they shared one complete power, I already had an advantage over each one. The trick was to separate them. Once apart they were at a disadvantage.’

  ‘So,’ Virgile reasoned, ‘fighting other venefici is all about power advantage.’

  ‘That’s right. Always try to split them up, preferably into singles where they are against at least two of us. These three rogue venefici are all fully powered?’

  ‘Yes, and strong examples. They are all at least an individual match for my own power.’

  ‘Perhaps the time has come for you to tell us all you know about them, Virgile. Then we can begin to plan their demise.’

  Virgile settled back and began his story.

  ‘Gaul, my country, now known by the new name of Francia, meaning ‘Land of the Franks,’ consists of ten regions. Each one is run like a mini-kingdom or duchy. They are: Flanders, Burgundy, Provence, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Royal Domain, Anjou, Maine, Brittany, and this region which is Normandy. Royal Domain is the region centered on Paris, where the king himself rules from. Each state has its own warlord or nobleman in control, and all of them are loosely affiliated to the King of Francia, who at present is Philip I. I say ‘loosely affiliated’ because each region would only come together under the king if the entire nation were threatened. The bigger, countrywide picture is not really of interest to them. They will continue to engage in murderous rivalries among themselves and take every opportunity to rob and pillage their nearest neighbours in order to expand their current holdings.’

  ‘It is pretty much the same pattern in England - or was until Duke William came a calling,’ said Twilight. ‘Uniting the various regional warlords will be a priority.’

  Virgile nodded, then continued in his deep bass rumble.

  ‘As regards the three rogue venefici, the first thing to tell is that they’re all men. Other than their greed and brutal treatment of anyone who gets in their way, that’s about the only common denominator. The first and eldest, and if they acknowledged such a title, the leader of the Confrerie, is called Teneo. They have all been named, or named themselves, after Latin names they see as reflecting their greatness or position in life. Therefore, Teneo, Latin to possess or be master of. He was born in Northern Gaul about forty years ago to a peasant couple and was picked up as tyro by an old scallywag of a veneficus called Dundas. It was Dundas who named him Teneo. My mentor, Marsalis, knew Dundas and always mistrusted him. The enchantments meant only one thing to Dundas and that was money. He’d provide any service for money or land or something he could sell on and wasn’t afraid to use the enchantments to kill for the right sum. Teneo sat with Dundas for twenty-two years. Trained for that length of time in that manner, it’s no wonder that Teneo turned out the way he has.’

  ‘Does Dundas have a menhir here at Carnac?’ Tara interrupted.

  ‘No. My master would not have him here. Said he was a disgrace to our code. Teneo would have put him somewhere else. There are several small sites in the north.

  ‘With the passing of Dundas, Teneo picked up where his master left off. He’d inherited Dundas Castle, named after his mentor and where they lived, and set out to acquire more wealth and lands. Even more than his old master, Teneo realized the value of his skills to regional warlords, the wealthy and ruling classes. They had the wherewithal to pay large sums for his deadly abilities and, because of their positions, the constant enemies requiring them. Teneo flourished and then began an association that added even more lustre to his abilities . . . ‘ Virgile paused.

  ‘He started to work for Henry I, the King of Francia. This relationship lasted for some time until Henry died six years ago and was replaced by his son, Philip I. Philip didn’t want a veneficus, and by now one with a reputation for carrying out the king’s dirty work, so he banished Teneo from the court. That came as a blow to Teneo, who had grown rather fond of the luxuries associated with someone as close to the king as he had been.’

  Virgile paused to receive a beautifully plumaged hawk on his shoulder. Dark wing feathers flecked with browns and oranges, a chest of mottled white, and piercing brown eyes ringed in yellow.

  ‘This,’ he said, tenderly stroking the proud head of the hawk, ‘is Gira, partner of Desi. They are my leading pair of peregrines.’

  Gira screeched at him, raised the sharp talons on her right leg, then flew away.

  ‘She’s just showing off and reports that all is quiet around the menhirs. Gira’s presence reminds me, none of the three rogue venefici has an animal in ligamen. They think them an encumbrance and unnecessary.’

  ‘Bigger fools them,’ snorted Twilight. ‘Your peregrines are closely related to the hawks of my mentor, Merlin. Without them and my pica we would have been severely disadvantaged in all our conflicts.’

  ‘Perhaps,’ said Tara, ‘they cannot find any animals prepared to tie themselves to such a bunch of villains.’

  ‘Could be,’ said Virgile. ‘To continue. The second Confrerie calls himself Evanesco, meaning to vanish. He chose the name because he likes to remain invisible for as much as possible. When visible he’s a big, muscular, dark-skinned man from the Africas and wears extrovert clothing in bright, loud colours. He arrived here about ten years ago with an invading army of Merovingians under Pippin the Younger and stayed when they were defeated by Henry’s army, assisted by Teneo, his now partner. His control of the enchantments is unsure, pointing to incomplete training, but his power output is huge. Bigger than Teneo’s and, I would guess, quite close to Tara’s. He gets a lot of the enchantments wrong and leaves all sorts of mess. His other claim to fame is cruelty. He likes nothing better than to see
people suffer and has been known to torture folk for long periods for the joy of watching their pain. There is a touch of Leannan Sidhe about him in that he is also said to have a liking for drinking the blood of his victims, a vampire veneficus. He hooked up with Gerard, the Duke of Flanders, and did his dirty work for a while but left him under a cloud. Something to do with his wife’s sister. Now he lives and works with Teneo in an unlikely alliance . . .’

  Tara shuddered. ‘What a pair. And there’s one more to come. Surely he can’t be as bad as these two?’

  ‘Worse, I think. I’ll leave you to judge. He’s the youngest of them, about my age, and his name is Quiritatio, the shriek. It’s such a ridiculous name - he must have adopted it himself, although it does have some bearing on his behaviour, for he is a mute. The only form of speech he is capable of is a high-pitched, whistling shriek. He can, of course, communicate by way of mind-speak. His black art is children. He hates children. All of them. The lives of many tens of innocent children are laid at his door. Before joining up with the other two, he was known as a wizard for hire to any man or woman who had a problem with children. It may have been waifs and strays begging for food, the children of a former wife, the children of an avowed enemy, or just children. It didn’t matter. If someone had a child problem they would call upon Quiritatio and the problem would disappear . . . permanently. It is said that when he’s bored he roams the streets at night looking for homeless children to torture to death.’

  Twilight grimaced. ‘Him I can’t wait to meet,’ he said softly.

  ‘The strange thing about these three,’ continued Virgile, ‘is that they appear to have formed the Confrerie alliance to challenge the throne of Francia in the belief that they can actually do it. That three such odious creatures could work together at all suspends belief; that they could work toward a common purpose of any sort is incredulous, and that it should be to take over the highest position in the land is simply beyond comprehension.’

  ‘How do you know they want the throne?’ Twilight asked.

  ‘They told me. Moreover, they asked me to join them on the basis that if all four of the known venefici of the country challenged for its kingship, no one could possibly oppose it. None of the regional noblemen would want to take us on. We would be omnipotent, a quartet of rulers backed by the strongest possible sorcery. No army could oppose that, no ruler challenge such a gathering of shape-shifting killers, and the power of such an alliance would open up the throne of Francia without so much as a whimper.’

  ‘They will surely self-destruct,’ said Tara. ‘Three such evil egos couldn’t possibly exist in harmony on the throne. They’d tear each other apart with every decision.’

  ‘I’m not so sure,’ said Virgile. ‘They seemed to understand that. They said the very fear of them turning against each other is the bond that will hold them together.’

  ‘When did this meeting with them take place?’

  ‘A month ago. They came to ask me to stand aside in the matter of the annual Equinoctial Festival of the Dead. When I said that I couldn’t do that they outlined the rest of their plan to try and draw me in. They want to control the mists as well as the throne of Francia.’

  ‘From their warped perspective it makes sense. Having control over the throne and the mists reinforces their omnipotence. There is nothing out there that can possibly challenge them. Did you discuss them with Duke William?’

  ‘Yes, but there was nothing he could do, especially as he had his sights set on England and was preparing for that invasion. It actually suited the Confrerie that the strongest noble in Francia, for William was definitely that, would be otherwise occupied, out of their way when they struck. Philip, the king, won’t put up much resistance. He doesn’t have the soldiers or, I suspect, the will. That’s why I think their bid for the throne will start at any time now because William is now domiciled in England and does not look as if he will ever return. The way to the throne of Francia is relatively clear.’

  ‘Have you had any dealings with the king, Philip I?’

  ‘None at all. All venefici are the same in his eyes. When he banned Teneo from his court, he was banning all of us.’

  Twilight considered this for a moment.

  ‘The king obviously understands where venefici fit within all this, which is definitely not alongside the seat of power. Although our reception will be frosty, to say the least, he should be our first stop. We ought to at least acquaint him with the threat to his throne, eh?’

  Tara and Virgile nodded assent. Twilight looked closely at Virgile.

  ‘You said you managed to scare them off with the threat of some big bangs?’

  ‘After my refusal to join with them, they came back a few days later. Threatened to destroy Carnac and all it stands for if I refused to join them. There was a standoff and it was beginning to look a little ugly. They were priming their personal arsenals.’

  ‘I think I know what you did,’ Twilight said softly. ‘To drive such evil away you only had recourse to one action, the one final and absolute solution available to us all.’

  Virgile nodded.

  ‘What was it?’ Tara asked.

  ‘A terminus,’ Twilight and Virgile breathed the word together. ‘The ultimate venefical weapon.’

  For almost two hundred years the French court had been established in the city of Paris in the region known as Royal Domain. Familiar with the more sombre gray solidity of the English Court, Twilight and Tara were taken aback by the elegant furniture and fine ornaments and floor coverings of the French Royal Palace. Functional, thick English oak was replaced by spindly curved maple and walnut, heavy linen tapestries by fine silk wall hangings, and sturdy, woven jute floor coverings by beautifully crafted, brightly dyed Eastern carpets. The very size of the throne room, where they had just appeared, was bigger than the entire ground floor of the English Palace. Seated at one end on a high, towering throne at the top of a flight of steps under an enormous, if somewhat crude and out-of-place painting of Charlemagne, the great Frankish king, who had also been crowned Caesar in Rome before returning quickly to his beloved homeland, was Philip I of Francia.

  As is usual when venefici suddenly arrive without warning in such heavily guarded surroundings, the many guards around the room began to immediately clutch at their weapons. Frozen instantly in mid-grab, their immobile, panicky faces stuck in the surprise and suddenness of the moment, they could only stare in vacuous, sightless shock as Tara, Twilight, and Virgile elevated themselves to the same height as the equally surprised king and, hovering just off the throne dais, smiled a beaming hello.

  ‘Your majesty,’ Virgile said with a small bow. ‘Please excuse the suddenness of our unheralded arrival, but we needed to talk with you as a matter of urgency.’ He gestured toward Tara and Twilight. ‘This is Tara and her mentor, Twilight. They are English venefici. I am Virgile from Carnac, where I look after the mighty menhirs of my ancestors.’

  The king, mouth agape in stunned surprise, turned to Tara and Twilight. They smiled at him.

  ‘Although we have frozen your soldiers, we do not mean them harm. It is purely precautionary in order that we can talk to you in peace,’ Virgile continued. ‘Upon your word that you will hear what we have to say, we will release them from their immobile condition.’

  Philip nodded dumbly and with a sudden clattering of dropped swords and spears the surrounding soldiers were released. He held his hand up and spoke shakily.

  ‘It is alright. Do not be alarmed. They come in peace.’

  The soldiers looked on in utter amazement at the three figures hovering in the air on a level with their king. Some crossed themselves.

  ‘They should all leave,’ said Twilight, speaking for the first time. ‘What we have to say, your majesty, is not for their ears.’

  In a slightly more confident tone Philip dismissed all his guards. The huge room was empty apart from the three hovering venefici and the seated king.

  ‘Before you say anything,’ Philip
said, a little kingly arrogance creeping into his tone, ‘you should know that I do not like your kind and will certainly have you arrested and hung for this unannounced intrusion, if it’s at all possible.’

  ‘It’s not possible,’ said Tara dismissively. ‘And we’re well aware of your attitude to venefici, and, in certain circumstances, we’re in complete agreement with you. Throwing that crooked shape-shifter Teneo out of your court was the best thing you could have done. His work in the service of your father was entirely self-serving and did the monarchy no favours at all.’

  The king couldn’t disguise his surprise at this. He turned to Virgile.

  ‘I’ve heard of you and the mighty menhirs at Carnac. It’s a burial ground for venefici?’

  ‘It is and I have also worked with William, the Duke of Normandy.’

  ‘Ah yes, the Duke of Normandy, or should I now call him the King of England?’

  ‘As you wish, my lord. It is of no consequence to us and does not inform our visit here today.’

  ‘Then what does inform your unheralded visit, veneficus?’

  ‘Teneo, the veneficus you threw out of this court, and two powerful venefical companions called Evanesco and Quiritatio have formed a group called the Confrerie. Their aim is to remove you from the throne of Francia and rule themselves.’ The king looked at Virgile for a long time before replying scathingly.

  ‘Three lowly wizards will take my throne and rule the country? This is not possible. Where are their soldiers, their fighting men, their weapons?’

  ‘They probably won’t need them,’ said Twilight softly. ‘Look how easy it was for us to get in here next to you.’ He waved his arm around the vast emptiness of the throne room. ‘You had fifty-two men armed to the teeth in here when we arrived, and all were instantly struck to stone by our powers. With respect, killing you, my lord, would have been very easy for us. The Confrerie have exactly the same powers as we do, only they won’t release you or your soldiers afterwards. They’ll put everyone in a big pile and set you on fire . . . with you on the top.’