Ascendant

by Craig Alanson

  Ariana giggled at the thought of Koren wearing her frilly dress, and that brought a nasty look from her mother. Ariana bit her lip to stop laughing. “I hate this ceremony stuff, it’s so boring.”

  The ceremony was to welcome a new ambassador from the Indus empire, a powerful land far to the southeast. The tall door at the end of the chamber swung open, and chief of protocol Charl Fusting thumped his staff on the stone floor. In a loud and squeaky voice, he announced “Your Highness, Lord Salva, assembled guests, please welcome the representative from His Most Gracious Majesty, the Raj of Indus.”

  It was like a small parade. First, two tall warriors, wearing brightly polished armor, carrying poles with banners with the symbol of Indus; a golden tiger. Next, four girls, adorned with many layers of silk gowns that trailed on the floor behind them. The girls had small bells on the fingers, and danced and jingled the bells as they came into the chamber. The girls were followed by eight warriors, who carried large curved ceremonial swords, stomping their feet in rhythm on the stone floor. When the warriors stopped and backed away from each other, two tall women came through the doorway, put trumpets to their lips, and blew a loud salute.

  Finally, the ambassador arrived, walking slowly, his head held high. He wore a costume covered in gold braid, and a tall hat with tassels. When he reached the bottom of the steps up to where Carlana sat, he bowed, and presented a sealed scroll to a guard, who carried it up the steps to the Regent. Carlana broke the seal, opened the scroll, read it carefully, and handed it to Paedris, who also read it, then nodded.

  “I am Carlana Trehayme, Regent of Tarador, and this is Lord Paedris don Salva, master wizard. Your credentials from His Majesty the Raj appear to be in order. We recognize you as the official ambassador from the Indus empire.”

  The ambassador bowed twice, to the Regent and to the wizard, it might have been Ariana’s imagination but it seemed that he bowed more deeply to the wizard. “I am Usay Ulligrapat, the Bey of Begal, and I have the honor of being the representative of His Most Gracious Majesty the Raj .”

  Koren leaned over to whisper to Ariana. “What did he say his name is?”

  “I think he said Oopsy Underpants.” She whispered back with a wink.

  Koren could not help snickering, and the maids who were standing behind Ariana burst into laughter.

  “Oopsy underpants!” One of the maids repeated, loud enough to be heard by the ambassador. Ariana tried to shush them into silence, but it was too late. The ambassador looked up at them, his face red. His warriors, angry at the insult to their ambassador, moved to surround him. Carlana was staring daggers at her daughter.

  “Uh oh.” Koren saw the wizard looking at him, and tried to put on his best innocent face. He knew Ariana was in big trouble. Before the ceremony, Carlana had told her daughter how important it was for Tarador to have friendly relations and support from the powerful Raj of Indus.

  Carlana rose from her throne. “Ambassador, please excuse my daughter the crown princess, she is still a very silly young girl sometimes.”

  The ambassador was not satisfied by the Regent’s apology. “What was the crown princess laughing at?”

  Ariana knew she had to do something, or risk insulting the Raj. With Tarador at war, she could not afford to lose such an important ally. She stepped forward, and the crowd parted as she walked toward the ambassador. “Bey of Begal, I apologize to you, and to His Majesty the Raj. My servants were laughing because I could not pronounce your name correctly.”

  “My name?”

  “Oo-say Ull-ig-ra-pat?”Ariana said very slowly. “Is that correct?”

  “Yes. What is funny about my name? It is honored in my land!”

  “And well it should be. It was Trypan Ulligrapat who led the army of Indus to victory against the Kuhlan Horde, are you related to him?”

  The ambassador nodded. “Trypan was my ancestor.”

  Ariana bowed. “I am honored to speak to his descendant. If the Kuhlan Horde had not been stopped, they would have overrun Tarador, for we were at war with Acedor then, as we are now.” Ariana put her arm through the ambassador’s arm, and steered him toward the dining room, where a feast awaited. “Tell me, please, when the Horde came through the mountain passes, how did your ancestor get the idea to trap them by flooding the river valley?”

  “You have read your history, young lady. Are you familiar with-“

  The ambassador accepted Ariana’s apology, and the dinner feast was very successful. Ariana smiled and laughed at the ambassador’s jokes, and Carlana’s army commanders talked about the great long-ago battle between Indus and the Kuhlan Horde. That was a subject about which the ambassador could speak for hour on end. After the dinner, a tired Ariana walked up to her chambers to collapse into bed. Carlana was waiting for her. Ariana hung her head. “I’m sorry, mommy. I was stupid and childish.”

  Carlana swept her daughter into her arms and kissed the top of her head. “No, you were wonderful. Yes, you shouldn’t have laughed at him, what was so funny anyway?”

  “Koren asked me the Bey’s name, and I called him Oopsy Underpants.”

  “Oopsy-“ Carlana burst into laughter. “That is funny. I would have laughed too.”

  “You’re not mad at me?”

  “I was. Don’t do that again, we need our allies. Ariana, when you are the queen, you are going to make many mistakes. What you showed me tonight is that you can take responsibility, and fix your mistakes, by yourself.” Carlana stepped back and looked at her daughter. “If you can stop being a silly girl, I think you might become a very good queen, someday.”

  “Yes, Mother.”

  On the day when the first significant snow of the season fell on the castle, the wizards arrived. When he discovered Koren’s power, Paedris had sent word far and wide to other wizards, asking them for advice and help. One wizard Paedris had not invited was Dragotil, for that man had earned the displeasure of Lord Salva by failing to discover Koren's magical power, and thus Dragotil was on his way to a new assignment in a land far to the south of Tarador. The first wizard to enter the castle was a woman, slender, with dark hair and green eyes. She might have been young, or old, Koren couldn’t tell, there was something very mysterious about her. Paedris whispered to Koren that her name was Chu Wing, and she was from Ching-Do, a very large empire far to the east. She had been visiting a wizard in the east of Tarador when the message from Paedris reached her, or she could not have arrived so soon. The wizard she rode in with was a man Koren would never have guessed was a wizard; he was of average height, with a round belly, curly red hair, and red freckles across his face. He looked like an innkeeper, not a wizard. Shomas Feany was his name, and he greeted Paedris with a ferocious hug which knocked Paedris’ breath away.

  Paedris instructed Koren to show the wizards to their rooms, which Koren had prepared a week before. Shomas quickly dropped his bundle on the bed, and set off for the royal kitchens. The woman let Koren carry her saddlebags for her, and he set them down carefully on the floor of her room.

  “Madam Wing-“ Koren began.

  “Madam Chu.” She corrected him. “In Ching-Do, our family name comes first.”

  “Oh.” Koren blushed with embarrassment. “Madam Chu. Is there anything I can get for you?”

  “No, I will dine later, with Lord Salva. Come here, boy, let me look at you.”

  Koren inched carefully forward, still wary of wizards. She held his chin in her hand, looking into his eyes and turning his head back and forth. Then she pressed a palm to Koren’s forehead and closed her eyes. He felt suddenly very warm.

  “Aay-ya!” Madam Chu exclaimed, and she released Koren, her eyes open wide, and she gasped to catch her breath, clutching her hands to her chest.

  “Are you all right, Madam Chu?”

  “I am- I am fine, Koren. Foolish, but fine. Leave me, please, we will speak later.” She looked troubled, and her face was pale.

  “Did I do something wrong?” Koren asked as he paused in the doorway. />
  “No. I was, you could say, I was testing Lord Salva.”

  The last of the three wizards arrived well after midnight, and raised a fuss because the castle gate was closed. Paedris roused Koren out of bed to fetch the man from the gate, stable his horse, carry up his bags, and bring whatever hot food was available from the royal kitchens. This man was tall, and thin, with very dark brown skin, and he was not friendly at all. Koren didn't blame the man for being grumpy, having travelled far and then kept waiting in the cold. Something about him reminded Koren of a bird, one of those tall, thin birds which stands at the water’s edge, peering down into the water, waiting for fish. He too insisted on examining Koren, but only grunted, and remarked that Lord Salva had better know what he was talking about, to make a man ride many leagues in the cold weather. It was well after two in the morning before Koren collapsed into bed.

  Over the next week, as the snow fell, and then melted, the four wizards met behind closed doors in the laboratory chamber on the fifth floor of the tower. Long into the night the wizards talked, and cast spells, and strange lights coming through the windows had people all over the castle talking. What was going on in there, people asked Koren, even Ariana asked him. But other than bringing food, and herbs and plants needed for potions, and cleaning up, Koren really didn’t know what was going on. Of course, what Koren told people was that he couldn’t say, but he hinted that of course he knew, he just wasn’t allowed to say. It was all secret wizard things, dangerous for other people to know about. To Ariana, he told only the truth; he didn’t know, but he was scared being around so many wizards, and not sleeping well.

  On the ninth day after the wizards arrived, it was relatively warm, and sunny, and Paedris called for a break. Paedris, Madam Chu, and the late-arriving wizard who called himself Lord Mwazo rode out of the castle gate, to examine a ruined ancient city that lay across the river to the east. Shomas, who insisted Koren call him Shomas instead of Lord Feany, actually helped straighten up the tower a bit, then rode out with Koren to collect roots in the forest.

  “That’s a fine horse,” Shomas said admiringly. His own horse looked like it should be pulling a heavy plow across a field, instead of carrying a wizard. “Is that the devil horse you tamed?”

  “No sir,” Koren replied, patting Thunderbolt on the neck, “he was never a devil, and I didn’t tame him. He allows me to ride him.”

  “Ah. Yes, I understand, very good.” Shomas said, with a wink. “How do you like living with a wizard, Koren?”

  “Truly, sir, it’s kind of frightening. I know you wizards mean well and all, but you’re so powerful that I’m afraid Paedris will turn me into a frog by accident.”

  “Ha!” Shomas laughed. “Not all wizards are powerful, young Koren. Paedris is stronger than the three of us combined, by far. And Madam Chu is much stronger than either me or Mwazo. Of course, there are different kinds of strengths in magic. I am probably the best healer of us four, and I'm good with plants and animals, anything to do with nature, but I’m not so good at throwing fireballs.” Shomas held his palm up, and only a feeble, flickering glow hovered above his hand. “Mwazo can’t even do that. Uh, don’t tell him I told you that.”

  “I won’t, sir,” Koren said, surprised. It had never occurred to him that there were different types of wizards, and that not all of them could throw fireballs.

  “Mwazo has his own kind of strength, he is our expert on potions, and the arcane arts. There probably isn’t a scroll about wizardry that old Mwazo hasn’t read. And, he has looked deeper into the enemy’s dark heart than anyone else dares.” Shomas shivered at that thought, and waved his index finger in a circle, as if to ward off unseen evil. "That takes a special kind of strength that I do not have."

  “And Madam Chu?

  “Madam Chuuuu,” Shomas drew the name out, “she is a mysterious one, isn’t she? One of the court wizards of the emperor of Ching-Do, she is, and we’re fortunate she was visiting my homeland when the message from Paedris arrived.”

  “There are more wizards that you four, sir?”

  “Oh, yes, but there aren’t many of us, that’s for certain. No, the three of us are the only senior members of the Wizard's Council who could get here, before winter snows close the roads. There are other wizards, but not many, not many. Too few of us, compared to the ranks of the enemy.” Shomas’ voice trailed off, and he stared at the ground. Suddenly, he brightened, stopped his horse, and dropped to the ground. “Here, look, around this old tree, I think we’ll find the roots Mwazo wants. Bring your shovel.”

  Koren brought a late supper to the four wizards, who were engrossed in reading. The supper was late, because the wizards had risen from bed late, eaten a late breakfast, then an early lunch, then a second lunch around the hour Shomas Feany called 'tea time'. There were books and scrolls covering every table, every shelf, and stacked four deep on the floor. Koren had to set the food tray in the hallway, and clean off a table, before he could set the plates and bowls out for the wizards.

  Koren studied the four wizards, who were all lost in thought, their noses buried deep in books or scrolls, absent-mindedly sipping cups of tea. There was Paedris, with his dark hair and beard, from the land of Estada in the south. Madame Chu, from Ching-Do, so far to the east that Koren could scarcely imagine anything so far away. Shomas Feany, with the red hair and freckles of many people from his northern land. And Lord Mwazo, who had the dark skin and tightly curled black hair of his land far, far to the south even of Estada. Four wizards, from different lands, all together here in Linden, all for a common cause, whatever that was. Koren marveled that he, a boy from a simple farm in poor village of an unimportant county of Tarador, could be here, now, with four powerful and mysterious wizards. He was on his way out of the room, treading a narrow path through the scrolls, when Lord Mwazo cleared his throat. “Boy.”

  “Yes, sir.” Koren bowed to the wizard. Lord Mwazo was a stickler for formality, and quick to take offense when he thought he was not being given proper respect as a powerful master wizard.

  “Paedris,” Mwazo said, without looking at Koren, “It is time. Nowhere do the scrolls tell us what we need to know.”

  “No,” Paedris shook his head, “it is almost dark, and we dare not act while in the enemy’s element. Tomorrow, in the sunshine, we shall find the answers you seek.”

  “That we all seek.” Madam Chu added.

  Paedris nodded. “That we all seek, yes.”

  Mwazo waved his hand dismissively at Koren. “Away with you, boy.”

  Koren bowed again and backed out the door, burning with curiosity. Lord Mwazo had wanted Koren to stay for something, something Paedris thought too dangerous to attempt in darkness. What wizardly act would need Koren to be involved? He shuddered. That night, Koren did not sleep well at all.

  The next day dawned cloudy, with a chilly drizzle. The wizards had, for a change, gone to bed early, and so they were up early, and hungry. Koren fetched breakfast, then a mid-morning snack, then lunch. Still, the sun did not shine, and Paedris counseled patience, for he predicted sunshine in the afternoon. And to Koren’s surprise, while he was clearing away dishes, the rain lifted, the clouds parted, and within an hour there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Paedris summoned Koren to follow, and the four wizards led the way to the platform on top of the wizard’s tower, under the sunny sky. The top of the tower was one of Koren’s favorite places to be, for it commanded a great view over the castle, the royal palace and the city, far out into the countryside.

  The wizards sat on the benches which were built into the stone wall around the top of the tower, and Paedris told Koren to stand in the center. “Koren, don’t be afraid, we only need to ask you some questions.”

  “Yes,” Shomas added with a friendly smile, a few simple questions. “Sometimes, a wizard needs to work with, well, with-“

  “With a person who doesn’t have any magical power.” Paedris suggested.

  “Yes, someone without any magical powers, to compare,
you understand?” Shomas finished with a questioning glance at the master wizard.

  “I understand, Shomas, I mean, Lord Feany, sir.”

  “Tell us about your family.” Madam Chu spoke up abruptly. Since the day she had touched Koren’s forehead, she had hardly spoken to him.

  Koren looked at the floor, his face burning red with shame. “I'm sorry, ma'am, but I don’t have a family.”

  Chu’s stern expression softened, as did her voice. “Koren, tell us about your parents, your mother and father, and their parents, and brothers and sisters. Everything you can remember; their names, where they came from. Everything you can remember. The good and the bad. There was good, wasn’t there, Koren?”

  Koren blinked away a tear. Yes, before he caused his family to be exiled from their village, there had been good times, much more than bad. “My mother’s family I never met, they were from far away, I think. Her parents were traders, she met my father when the traders stopped in our village to repair their wagon. My mother has relatives, that’s where my parents were going when they, they left, “ Koren was about to say when they left me. “le-left our village. They never told me where they were going.” So I could never find them, Koren added to himself. Koren told them everything he could remember, about his uncle Ander, and his father’s parents, who died when he was very young.

  “Your family were farmers and traveling merchants, then.” Shomas said. “No family stories of, oh, say, wizards, or knights, that sort of thing? Bladewell, hmm, there was a Sir Bladewell, a knight a long time ago, are you related to him?”

  “No, sir. I don’t think so. No knights, and no wizards. My father’s uncle supposedly had a horse who could count to ten, but I think that was just a story.” Why were four wizards interested in his family history?

  “Hmmmf.” Lord Mwazo looked down his long nose at Koren. “Common peasants, then.”

  “You were also born a common peasant, Cecil.” Madam Chu admonished the proud wizard.