Horus shook his head. “Not very impressive, is it?” the mage asked and looked at the display of magic before them.
It’s almost like they’re scared of their own magic. I can feel their tentativeness as they pull it in and mold it.
“No, it’s not,” Thad replied, looking around. “Have none of them ever used their magic before?”
“Everyone here has used their magic, just not against other humans. In Sanctuary, people with magical abilities only left when it was needed. Even on the occasion a new mage was found, in most cases, only the nonmagical people went to retrieve them. It reduced the chances of the Brotherhood finding us, but I fear it might be crippling us now.”
“Would you mind forming them up so that I could share a few words with them?” Thad asked, his mind deep in thought. The “battle mages” were of all ages, ranging from the midteens to early fifties, none of whom seemed to truly understand what would be required of them.
Horus called for all the training to stop. In a matter of moments, everything ceased, and the small group of mages stood silently in front of Thad. Some of them were smiling, while others had grim looks plastered on their faces, showing that they at least understood the gravity of what was coming.
What you’re planning is reckless. Too many things could go wrong, and with your history, they most likely will.
“I need three of your best fighters to help me for a moment,” Thad said, ignoring Thuraman’s warnings. Thad waited until three mages were selected from the group. When the three men stood in front of him, he studied them appraisingly, not only with his normal vision but with his mage sight as well. “I want you three to attack me with everything you have,” Thad said, placing his staff defensively in front of him.
The three mages looked at Horus worriedly. When the large elder nodded, they turned back and steeled their faces. The first two threw weak fireballs that hit Thad’s shield so lightly it didn’t even flicker. The third mage attacked from below using one of Thad’s own spells against him. As the spike started to jut up below him, Thad was simply lifted into the air.
The three mages continued to attack. Thanks to their slow rate of gathering and molding magical energies, Thad was easily able to tell what kind of magic they were going to hurl at him. The mages tired long before Thad had to tap into his own magical reserves, only needing to rely on his staff for protection. When the first mage staggered as his spell broke apart on him, Thad decided it was time to end the charade.
Thad quickly pulled in the magical energy and focused it into his palm. Three pulsing light blue orbs of pure energy shot forward, striking the three mages soundly in the chest. The spell had been weak with only enough strength to singe the hair of his opponents, but he hoped it carried his message.
“All of you need a great deal of practice!” Thad shouted loudly, turning back toward the rest of the group. “When fighting, you need to focus not only on attacking but defense as well. You will need to be fast and accurate with your attacks. They will also have to carry enough strength to kill or at least wound your enemies. This will take not only training but strength of will. Remember this as you continue to train and maybe after the first day of a real battle, and you might still be breathing.”
Don’t you think that might be a little harsh? The first time you used magic in a fight, you didn’t do it so well either.
“You are right. I bumbled, and had I not been lucky, I would have died in the back allies of Farlan, but even then, I was not as ill-equipped as these men,” Thad replied to his staff mentally.
Thad stayed and watched as the mages continued to practice. Every so often, one of the mages would ask for his advice. It wasn’t until Thad’s third mock battle that other mages began to pair up and try their spells out. Thad knew that it was a dangerous way to train, but it was also the most effective.
That night, as he rode back the palace, Thad didn’t feel good about his actions. He had been overbearing, insulting, and downright mean to many of the mages. He told himself it was needed, but that didn’t make the weight that bore down on his conscience any lighter. How many times had he read about tyrants who used the same excuse to perform the most evil of deeds? For the greater good—was it truly?
I think that as long as you can still ask yourself that question, then you haven’t gone too far. Now if you start killing soldiers who don’t please you, I might start to doubt your sanity, Thuraman said lightly.
Once he was back on palace grounds, Thad wanted nothing more than to crawl underneath his covers and sleep, but he still had other duties. Thad walked slowly through the palace grounds toward the far corner, where a small tower stretched toward the sky. Years ago, when the tower had been started, Thad had thought that his struggles were at an end. Maria’s mother, the queen at the time, had released him from the dungeon, and he had been given free rein to go where he pleased. She had offered to build the tower as a way to apologize for his treatment, but Thad had always figured it was also so that she could keep a close eye on him while he worked. Back then, it mattered little to him, but that was before the war at Southpass, when he still held only the last sliver of his innocence.
Inside the tower, Thad found Marcus, a cantankerous old mage with a sharp tongue and even sharper wit, as well as his younger apprentice, Roger, hard at work enchanting. Thad didn’t care much for Marcus, but he respected the older mage. Roger, on the other hand, had become as close to Thad as a brother in the short time they had known each other.
“Thad,” Roger said happily when he looked up from his current project. “I would ask how your meeting with the elders went, but the look on your face tells it all.”
“I told you those worthless dung heaps ain’t good fer nothing outside of heating a cold room with their hot air,” Marcus said gruffly.
“I should have listened to you, Marcus,” Thad replied, laughing. “I guess it was just something I had to learn on my own.”
“Dang kids never listen to wisdom,” Marcus spat. “Tell ’em not to jump into the water during winter, they don’t listen. When they come down with the chills, they come crying, though. What’s the point of having someone around who knows better if you don’t wanna listen to them?” the old man grumbled as he went back to work on the steel ring in front of him.
Every night, when he had free time, Thad joined Marcus and Roger to work on enchanted items for the upcoming war. The main priority was shield rings. Unlike the rings he had made in the past, the new rings activated when any piece of fast-moving steel or wood came within two inches of the wearer and turned off once the item was removed. That made the ring not only last longer, but it also meant that it didn’t have to be consciously activated. Thad had made countless rings and found the work boring, but that made it no less important.
Sitting down at his workbench, Thad missed his other friends. Crusher and Reeve were headed back to their homelands to seek aid. Avalanche and Parson went to the mines west of Southpass in search of gems for the enchantments. Arianna was still around, but she was often busy finding way to aggravate the palace guards, much to Maria’s enjoyment.
The young queen had loved the little fairy from the moment she had met her. Their new friendship made Thad uneasy as he was sure the queen often sent Arianna to pester him.
“Thad, what do you think?” Roger asked, holding out a thin steel bracelet for Thad to inspect.
“What?” Thad asked, looking confused.
Roger held out the bracelet again. “I was asking what you thought of my new idea. I have been talking about it for near a quarter hour.”
“I have a lot of things on my mind,” Thad replied apologetically. “How does it work?”
“You know those rings you use to talk with Tuck? I tried copying it. I know that just being able to communicate with one person wouldn’t be very useful on the battlefield, so I expanded on the idea. I have linked this bracelet with five others, but the links are still weak. I believe if we give them the proper attention, then by the
end of winter, we could have them working correctly.”
“That long? Seems like a lot of work for little gain,” Thad replied.
“I think it is still worth the effort,” Roger said strongly.
“If you believe they will be of use, then I won’t try and stop you,” Thad said, his focus still on the ring in his hand.
After finishing two rings, Thad decided it was time to retire to his own quarters for some much-needed rest. When he reached the stairs leading up to his room, he was stopped by one of the servants. “Master Thad, Her Majesty was looking for you earlier,” the man said, looking Thad in the eyes.
“Where is she?” Thad asked tiredly.
“Last I saw, she was on the balcony overlooking the palace gardens.”
As the servant rushed off, Thad nearly laughed. Every branded person within the capital seemed to view Thad as their personal knight. He was not only considered the queen’s slave but also treated as a near equal as far as they could see. They had seen the changes that had come with him, and though minor, they had greatly changed their lives. They could now buy their freedom, among other things.
Thad found the princess still on the balcony, staring worriedly at a moon lily that had been placed in a small pot. “What seems to be bothering you today, Maria?” Thad asked, walking up behind the petite queen. She wore a dark burgundy gown that accented her bright red hair and deep green eyes. Thad tried not to look too closely at her, his emotions still raw from the loss of Brianna.
“When I told one of the gardeners the other day how much I enjoyed the moon lilies, he put one in a pot, but it has not done well. Already, the leaves have started to wilt, and it has started to lose its glow,” Maria replied sadly.
Thad leaned close, trying to see if he could hear the plant’s thoughts. Cold. Why is it so cold?
“It is winter. Everything is cold,” Thad replied to the small flower.
The ground is cold and shallow. My roots can’t feel any warmth, the moon lily replied sadly.
A few feet of snow fell around Southpass and near the Rane border, but in the center of the queendom, it rarely garnered more than an inch. The warm air, drifting in from the ocean, pushed the worst of the cold weather toward Rane and away from the capital.
“I think it needs a bigger pot and maybe something to keep the dirt warm,” Thad told Maria after a brief moment of thought.
“Do you really think that will help?” Maria asked, her downcast face suddenly brightening. “I will talk to the gardener first thing in the morning, then.”
“Don’t tell me you were looking for me just to cry to me about your flower?”
“What if I was?” Maria asked, raising her voice slightly. When Thad didn’t respond, Maria huffed and turned around. “You’re no fun. I was looking for you because I haven’t seen you in days. I would like to know what has been so important you couldn’t visit me.”
“Things have just been hectic, my queen,” Thad replied as his mind fished for anything that might stay her anger.
“Don’t you ‘my queen’ me. I told you I want you to report to me at least every other day, not every fortnight,” Maria said commandingly. “Now what has been going on with the war effort?”
Thad sighed inwardly as he thought. “The elders of Mage’s Roost are still giving me trouble, though more than a few mages have started to train in preparation for the war. The enchanting is going slow, but Roger and Marcus are doing their best to get what they can get done. I still haven’t received word from Tuck, Crusher, or Reeve.”
“That’s it? That is all that is happening that would keep you from my company?” Maria asked, her anger starting to flare.
“No, that’s just the most important,” Thad replied hotly, his patience with the spoiled queen starting to run thin. “We also have a shortage of proper weapons and armor, and the blacksmiths want to charge outrageous prices to fill the order. A few of the nobles have been slow to respond to my summons and have done everything short of physically harming me when I mention conscription or taxes. Food stores are low thanks to the influx of people, which means if we can’t solve that problem, then come spring, we are going to have a very hungry army. Should I go on?”
Maria’s face blanched. “I see,” she replied weakly. “I think that will be enough. You are dismissed.”
“Thad,” Maria said as Thad turned to leave. “I am glad you are home.”
Thad could almost hear the pleading in her voice. He cared for the queen, but his heart was still sore and not ready to move on. “So am I, Maria,” Thad replied gently before he quickly headed back to his chambers. Thad knew it wasn’t Maria’s fault that he was irritable and in a bad mood. Most of that belonged to the elders of Mage’s Roost and the vast number of other people who seemed to like to get under his skin.
It’s good for her to have someone talk back to her. Someone needs to tell her what she needs to hear and not just what she wants. I am sure that given the choice, she would say the same.
“Coming from you, I don’t know if I can trust the advice. You have made it clear that you don’t care much for women, Thuraman.”
I don’t hate women. I just don’t trust them. All I have seen them do is twist their words and use you for their own gains. Brianna was the only one who never seemed to want anything from you other than yourself. The rest see you as a tool, an object.
“I think I let too many of my bad experiences color your view,” Thad said, shaking his head.
I don’t think you have paid enough attention to your own experiences.
“You might be right, but I think no matter what sex a person is, none of them are perfect. There is good and evil in each of us.”
It is your life. Just don’t go back to breaking your back to bend over for them again. The more you do that, the more they will get used to the notion of using you.
Thad decided it was best to end the argument. Thuraman’s views were not going to change, and neither were his. He knew that he was too forgiving where women were concerned, but he didn’t see it as a fault. He believed that if more people in the world let the smaller things go, then it would be a much more peaceful place.
Thad looked longingly at his bed, then to his desk, where the large stack of papers called him. Knowing that putting off the work would only make it that much worse come morning, Thad shambled over to the desk and sat down.
Three new missives awaited him, two from lesser nobles and one from the local blacksmith guild. Opening the one from the blacksmiths, Thad was pleased to find that his late talk with them had garnered some results. They would keep the prices the same under the condition that the queen reduced their taxes by a small margin. In the end, it would still mean less money coming into the queendom, though not by much.
Talk if I remember correctly—you walked in there and threatened to have them all clasped in iron and tried for treason during wartime. They had to either agree or face the headsman.
The other two missives were along the same lines. Thad had quickly grown tired of all the arguing and political meandering. Thad had quickly decided to use the authority the queen had given him and started threatening force. Luckily, none of them had called his bluff yet because if push came to shove, Thad wasn’t sure if the queen would back up his threats.
After signing a few documents and preparing his own missives to be taken out the next day, Thad was finally able to crawl into his bed. The covers were soft, warm, and inviting, almost like a balm for his tired soul. Closing his eyes, Thad quickly drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER III
“Thad, are you awake yet?” Thad heard Tuck’s voice say loudly.
Opening his eyes, Thad sat up and looked at the window. “The sun isn’t even up yet, Tuck.”
“You told me to contact you as soon as I reached Southpass and met with General Foreman.”
“Yes, I did say that, but I thought common sense would dictate that you do so at a rational hour,” Thad replied sleepily. “Well, I’m awake. Wha
t did Trent have to say?”
“Not much more than we have already heard. Abla had gone through its own civil war, and things have started to settle down. A few merchants have started to come through the pass again, and a few of the soldiers have heard them use the name Eloen.”
Thad rubbed his head. He had hoped that Eloen was still alive, but he never would have guessed that she would take over the rival kingdom while he was gone. He knew there was a chance that it was another woman called Eloen, but he highly doubted it. “Tuck, I want you to ride through Southpass and try to gain an audience with the queen. If she is who I think she is, then we might find more aid or at least be able to remove some of the soldiers still manning Southpass.”
“You don’t give an elf a break, do you? Very well, but when I return, I expect a large banquet in my honor.”
“Done,” Thad replied, laughing.
Knowing that it would be useless to try and return to sleep, Thad grudgingly shimmied out of the covers.
The cold air hit Thad like a punch, causing a shiver to run up his spine. Thad quickly pulled on his tunic and leather armor and britches, the cold metal clasps stinging as they touched his skin. Thad was thankful winter was coming as it kept the Rane army at bay, at least for a short time, but he could have done without the cold.
After he was dressed, Thad headed to the kitchens, where he found the bakers already hard at work. Very little was prepared, but Thad was able to grab a couple of loaves of fresh bread and some leftover meat from the night before. After he had his belly full, Thad walked down to his tower to grab a few things.
The tower was empty and felt lonely. Normally, by the time Thad had a chance to arrive, Roger and Marcus were already at work. After picking up a bag of the rings, Thad headed for the stables.
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