A Bitter Brew

by Greg Curtis

  “Soldiers!” The King leapt up from his throne, panic written all over his face.

  Immediately the soldiers tossed aside their ceremonial pikes and grabbed for the muskets, she noticed lying against the wall behind them and a hail of shots rang out, followed by a second cannon blast that shook the entire room once more.

  But again everything stopped. Musket balls and cannon shot hung suspended in mid-air. And the smoke from the cannon once more froze into a column extending from its snout.

  What in all the hells was happening, Marnie wondered? Because this was madness. Arse backwards madness! Was the King insane or just high on the mists of Vitanna?

  But in time more questions began to make themselves heard. Like why were people shooting at them? Why weren’t they all dead? And how had it come to be that all the pieces of shot and musket balls seemed to have frozen in mid-air? What sort of magic was that? Why were people shooting at them? And why wasn't she dead? Suddenly she knew she wanted answers to all of those questions too. Just as she knew she wasn't going to get them.

  “Charge!”

  Marnie looked up when she heard the cry, and then froze again. The King had drawn a sword from somewhere, and was yelling at his men like a demented mumblecrust. The soldiers in turn desperately picked up the pikes they'd just thrown away, only to see all of the weapons turn to dust. In an instant both the king and his soldiers had been disarmed.

  The King stopped dead, his hand still raised high above his head, but holding only a sword hilt and stared at the visitors it in disbelief. His cry had died on his lips. And by the looks of things any thought of further attack had died with it. He just stood there, looking as though he'd been hit too hard.

  At that point their other world visitors stepped forward, and she like everyone else cringed a little as a hush fell over the entire chamber. Everyone had the same thought on their minds. If these people could do this, what else could they do? They could be very dangerous indeed.

  “We came to offer our help.” The man spoke for them, and though he was calm, the anger in his voice was clear. “Your world was attacked by an ancient enemy of ours, and we thought to assist you in battling him.”

  “For us, the highest calling for the strong is always to help and protect the weak. The highest calling for the wise is to help and guide the foolish. The highest calling for the magical is to help and serve those without magic.”

  “For a time we thought we had found others who believed as we do. We saw a young mage, poorly trained and weak, doing his best to help his people. He did so even at the risk of his own life. And in him we saw hope. Hope that we had finally found another people who believed as we do that the greatest failure a people could make was not to protect their weakest. To let the innocent fall.”

  “And so we came.”

  “But then you do this?!” He raised his voice in outrage. “You attack us without warning or cause?! Without asking a single question of us or learning of our intent?! And you do this knowing that it will mean the sacrifice of your own people who escorted us here?! You didn’t even think to protect them?!”

  No one answered him. But then Marnie guessed, he wasn't expecting an answer. Because that answer had already been given in cannon fire.

  “It is regrettable, and we are truly sorry for the innocents who will suffer. But we will not help you to protect yourself against the beast. Whatever help we gave you, you would use against your own.”

  There was a sudden clatter in the room as hundreds of pieces of metal suddenly crashed down on to the hardwood floors and bounced, and then a slight rush of air as the three visitors vanished. Which left Tyrellan, Marnie and Lady Peri lying on the floor, surrounded by confused, unarmed soldiers. Lady Peri though, quickly regained her feet.

  She was pale faced and for the first time since Marnie had known her seemed uncertain. But considering what had just happened Marnie thought, that was only natural. Maybe the only natural thing in this entire arse backwards nightmare. And despite what had just happened she was standing tall. Straight of back and in control.

  “Husband.” The Lady raised her voice a little, though she needn’t have. The room was deathly silent. “I had no thought that you were so unhappy with our marriage that you would seek my death. And I humbly apologise for my failings as a wife. But since you are so unhappy, I as your dutiful wife must accept that I have no choice but to grant you the divorce you ask for.”

  The silence in the chamber was abruptly broken by gasps. Everyone realised that the King had just been divorced by his wife, however she worded it. Heads turned, people stared at one another in disbelief. Mouths opened and closed without any words coming out of them. The King had just been divorced! Discarded as unworthy by his own wife! And in the throne room!

  It was shocking. No king had ever been divorced! Not in over a thousand years of history. It was an insult. Calculated and public. Something that even the King surely realised, judging from the way his mouth had suddenly dropped open. Marnie had no doubt though that they had to leave quickly as shock would soon give way to anger.

  And yet Marnie slowly realised, he had been caught in his own ambush. No matter the reason he had tried to kill the visitors, he had also just tried to kill his wife. If she had died no doubt it would have been called a noble sacrifice. But she hadn't died, and it had just been called what it was – attempted murder. No one could ask a woman to remain with a husband who had tried to kill her. That was the law. The King's own law.

  Marnie looked into Lady Peri's eyes and saw only determination. Maybe there was still a deathly pallor in her face, even shock, but her eyes spoke of a woman who knew what she had to do and would not be turned aside from it.

  “Come people. On your feet.” Lady Peri turned and spoke to Marnie and Tyrollan who were still lying on the floor. “We should leave the King and his courtiers to their work. No doubt they have plenty to keep them busy in the wake of this unfortunate event. And I must immediately find new quarters.”

  Marnie got to her feet hurriedly, worried that not only the King would retaliate, but also his guard. A terrible calamity had occurred. It wouldn’t be long before the blame would be put on the heads of the afflicted who had been present. They needed to get out before that happened.

  Lady Peri gathered up her dignity and all but marched out of the chamber, Marnie and Tyrollan close on her heels. No one spoke. This was the wrong place to speak. Here the walls had ears. And so they followed her out of the throne room and then out of the building in silence.

  Once out in the sunlight, Marnie felt the warmth of the sun on her skin and it helped her find a little calm again. And then unexpectedly, she saw Lady Marda also out in the concourse. She appeared to be waiting. But she wasn't waiting for them Marnie suddenly understood. She was waiting to hear the news of their deaths.

  “Shite!” Marnie cursed out loud. The thrice damned First Wife had known! In that moment Marnie hated the woman. The First Wife had known they were walking to their deaths and had said nothing! The trap had been intended to kill everyone. Including the two afflicted with them. And the First Wife doubtless didn't care. It was of no matter to her whether they lived or died.

  But when she saw Lady Peri striding out it was the First Wife's turn for her face to fall. She'd obviously expected Lady Peri to be in a million bloody pieces. And that told Marni everything else that she should already have known about what the First Wife had done. What she must have said to the King.

  The poxy whore hadn't just known they were walking to their deaths – she'd actually arranged it! What was it that Lady Peri had said to her so long ago about how power worked? A quiet word spoken in the right ear? Well that word was the same one that had the King had spoken before the cannons opened fire. Assassins! Now she knew who had whispered that word in his ear.

  The treacherous whore! She made the accursed dragons look honourable!

  Lady Peri unexpectedly marched up to the First Wife, surprising Marnie. And she wondered if it wa
s the smart thing to do or the act of someone under the spell of Vitanna's mist. But she and Tyrollan still followed her. They didn't know what else to do.

  “Marda, still here? I'm surprised you haven't packed yet!” Lady Peri calmly told her. The pallor in her face had gone, and the icy self-control had returned.

  “Packed?” If Lady Peri was calm, Lady Marda wasn't. In fact she looked worried. But then her plan had just come undone and she didn't know yet what had gone wrong.

  “Well I should think you'd be fleeing. After all, whatever you said to the King caused him to attack the very people who could have saved us from the beast. Understandably they were very upset. They voiced their unhappiness – to the entire Court. I should think he'll be looking for someone to blame for this latest mistake.”

  “He would not –.”

  “You underestimate the desperation of the cornered rodent. He's lost his city. Wedded a monster. And now he’s attacked his potential allies, accusing them of crimes they had no intention of committing. They were very convincing as they explained that to the Court. He also failed somewhat spectacularly in trying to kill them, allowing them to show his weakness to the entire Court. Oster's grip on the throne has just become very tenuous and he knows it. I suspect he very much needs a scapegoat. Someone who perhaps uttered falsehoods to him about certain visitors who had come to kill him? A most trusted confidante. Trusted that is until she so publicly betrayed him. Him and the realm.”

  “You do not speak of Our Husband like that! You do not besmirch Our Name!” Lady Marda tried to bluster. To pretend indignation. But she had gone very pale.

  “Our Name? Our Husband? No, no Marda dear. You mean Your Husband,” Lady Peri told her. “The King just tried to have me killed, and accordingly I had no choice but to offer him the divorce he so wanted – in front of the entire Court so that it was properly witnessed.”

  “What?!” Lady Marda paled even more when Lady Peri added the last. She understood what she was being told. That the King had in one moment of fecklessness, not just made a mistake that could cost the lives of many in his Kingdom, but that he had then been humiliated by his own wife. His rule was at an end.

  “No! You wouldn't! You didn't!” She desperately tried to deny it.

  “Of course I did.” Lady Peri smiled somewhat cruelly at her. “But please don't concern yourself about me. As you can see my son will ensure that my family and I are well taken care of.” Lady Peri, brandished the gold nugget pendant in front of her once more. “Who would have thought that there was so much gold out there for the taking?”

  “It's just a pity really that none of that gold will go to prop up the worthless old goat's throne since he no longer has a claim to my property. But who knows, perhaps I shall give some of it to those less fortunate than myself? Those who perhaps have lost loved ones to these foul creatures because of the King's mistake. His latest mistake that is. Wouldn't you think that a worthy cause?”

  Lady Marda's response was a sort of strangled noise which only made Lady Peri's smile broaden.

  “You remember I told you many years ago that your malice was so sharp it would cut you one day? It would seem that that day has arrived.”

  “Now I cannot be certain of course. But my guess is that the dim witted little toad already has his new Chief Magistrate drawing up charges of treason against you. How else can he save his throne? Someone has to answer for this latest mistake, and it certainly won’t be him!”

  “I wonder how they'll do it,” she mused her smile growing even broader. “Noose or headsman? They both have so much to offer – don't you think?”

  Lady Marda didn't think. Marnie could see that in her eyes. If Lady Peri had grown in confidence, Lady Marda had turned into a panicking wretch. This battle was over.

  “Now, it's been lovely speaking with you. And I will so miss our conversations in the household. But I have a sick son to tend to. A hero injured in battle. Oh, and a new home to purchase with my family's new wealth. Something suitably grand I think. You I imagine have some fleeing to do. So I won't keep you.”

  With that the Lady farewelled the First Wife, and Marnie and Tyrollan once more found themselves having to hurry to keep up with her. And yet as they gave chase Marnie couldn't help but wonder just who she was following. A noble woman or a blood thirsty warrior? Maybe the two were the same thing. It was just that instead of muskets and swords they used words and artifice.

  Meanwhile when she looked back it was to see Lady Marda still standing there on the concourse, ashen faced and with a look of horror growing in her eyes as befitted the loser. No doubt she was frantically considering her options, almost all of which looked bad. And maybe Lady Peri was right. Maybe she was about to lose her head. Marnie found herself remarkably comfortable with that thought.

  But she had to wonde; if it had gone badly for the First Wife, could it truly be said to have gone much better for anyone else? For the realm? The answer was surely no. The kingdom, she feared, might have just fallen.

  Chapter Twenty Six

  “Balls!”

  Moving hurt. Hendrick rediscovered that fact the hard way once again as he staggered out of his sick bed. The bandages holding his wounded arm tight against his side helped to stop it moving, but they simply weren't tight enough. He needed his arm to be bound properly so that nothing moved at all. But the physicians had said that they were satisfied with what they'd done and with his progress, and then they'd left. They had other patients to deal with. How they could be satisfied with a patient who had more skin that was black and blue than anything else and one shoulder that was twice the size of the other, he didn't know. He was certain that none of the other patients could be in as much pain as him.

  Once he was up, he tried to pull on his vest. With one hand it was difficult. And though it was loose, the vest still grabbed at his arm when he tried to pull it down. That led to a lot more swearing – and some grumbling from the patients in the other beds who were trying to sleep.

  Who would have thought a man could suffer so much pain from the flick of a tail. At least that was what they said she'd hit him with. How, he wasn't sure when she'd been standing in front of him. But he remembered that tail. It was big and solid. It would pack a wallop. So much so that even three days later he still couldn't move his arm. His entire side from his kidney up throbbed angrily, and both his knees felt as though someone had rammed metal spikes into them. Apparently he'd bounced on them at some point and was lucky that they hadn't been broken as well.

  One hit! What in all the hells had she become that she could do him so much damage with such ease? She was just a slip of a girl. Eighteen years old and small of build. Small that was, save for the ghostly creature that now resided within her. And how was she even alive?

  Except that it wasn't a dragon he realised. The bronze people had said that. Which obviously meant that they knew what dragons looked like. Which in turn meant that dragons really existed. Not in Styrion obviously. But in their world. By the gods would he have like a chance to speak with them about that!

  He’d wanted to talk to them about so many things actually. Like whether dragons had a Queen. Or whether Dibella was actually real? And what about rocs and griffins? Unicorns and basilisks? Were they all real too?

  But of course they'd only arrived as he had come to the end of his strength, and now that he'd woken up it was to find that they were gone. It was like a bad jest. They either offered to speak with him when he couldn’t, or they weren't around when he could. Dragons might not exist, but he was beginning to suspect that dragons’ choices were real – and that the bronze people were masters of them!

  “You should be resting.”

  Marnie's voice came from behind him unexpectedly, making him jump. A heartbeat later he cursed as pain lanced through him. No sudden movements, he reminded himself!

  “I will be soon. But I have things to do first,” he told her.

  “What things? The city isn't under attack. Our people don't need y
our help at the moment. And you're in no shape to go travelling again. Now get back in that bed before I put you in it!”

  She could do that he realised. One of her new spells was something the books called lockjaw. It stiffened all the joints and turned a man into a living statue. But to be honest she didn't need to use her magic. He was so infirm a child could have knocked him over.

  “And when did you become my mother?” Then he thought about what he'd said and corrected himself. “A mother.” His mother after all had never done any of the normal things that mothers did for their children. And she never would. It simply wasn't who she was.

  “I'm simply doing what the physicians and healers told me to. You need rest. You're lucky to be alive.”

  “And I'm doing what I need to do to stay that way.” He turned – slowly – to face her.

  “If what you told me is right, my mother's gone and started some sort of war between the King and the First Wife. Now the King's fighting for his throne, the First Wife has fled, her sons are either now or soon to be at war with the King as they look to take the throne, and the Court is in complete chaos. There will no doubt be assassins in the streets shortly. I have no doubt I will be one of the targets.”