A cheer went up and attendants hurried heavily laden plates to the tables. Keeper Q’yer sat at an empty place, and they were about to start eating when a page entered the hall. Valam took the roll of parchment the boy held. After reading the message, Valam whispered something to the page then the boy hurried off.
With his eyes, Vilmos followed the departing page until the boy disappeared into an adjacent corridor. A few seconds later, the page returned. Behind him were three men. One was a burly man dressed in a captain’s uniform. The other two by their attire and poise seemed to be nobility, but their hair was fair and not dark as Adrina’s or Valam’s.
Vilmos turned back to regard Valam. Valam was grinning.
“One last thing,” Valam said. “Please welcome, King’s Captain Brodst and the guests he brings from Klaive. The Baron of Klaive, and his son, Rudden, conveyed a supply caravan of lumber from their hardwood forests and metal for nails from their mines to Quashan’.”
Adrina, who was apparently shocked, seemed about to try to slip under the table.
“Greetings, My Lord Valam,” said the Baron of Klaive and his son.
“Please join us,” Valam said. He clapped his hands and attendants rushed forward to seat the newcomers.
Rudden was seated directly across from Adrina, and Vilmos was now positive that she would at any moment slip under the table. Then she seemed to notice Emel, as Vilmos did just then. Emel was clearly jealous of the tall, good-looking southerner. Emel also seemed about ready to pull the arms off the high-backed chair he sat in.
Adrina’s pout relaxed, faded, then she burst into laughter. Valam was quick to join in, as did most everyone else around the table, even Rudden who seemed a good sport.
“Let us eat!” Valam said.
And the meal began.
Vilmos ate and joined in the laughter filling the hall. In the years afterward, he wouldn’t remember much of what was said or done that eve, but he would remember the laughter and the joy forever.
After Vilmos left the hall, he returned to his room. He stood in front of the chamber mirror and regarded his stomach. He smiled a boyish smile and whispered to himself, “Imagine me, a hero of the realm.”
His mind still spun with the wonder of the hall. So much had happened. He had never seen so much splendor, never eaten so much food and never drank so much. His belly felt as if it were about to burst. This evening’s events had certainly lived up to his expectations.
Still, he felt uncomfortable in the finery he wore. In the reflection of the mirror, Vilmos saw Xith changing into his customary robe. His eyes darted to a neatly folded pile of clothes. He picked them up and laid them out on the bed. He found that the chambermaid had darned his socks, patched the knees on his pants, and mended his shirt just as she had promised.
Without a second thought, Vilmos changed into his old clothes, and, while they weren’t silk, they felt just as good. He turned back to face the mirror and found Xith standing in front of it. Xith was grinning.
“You look a fine young man,” Xith said. “Those are clothes befitting one who is about to begin an education.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready,” Vilmos said.
Xith looked Vilmos up and down. “You are right, you aren’t ready.”
Vilmos frowned and a flood of disappointment swept over him.
Xith maintained his grin. “First I must—” Someone knocked on the door. Xith went over and opened it. Vilmos heard him say, “Your Highness, please come in.”
Prince Valam stepped into the room. “I trust I am not disturbing you?”
Xith glanced to Vilmos then said, “Certainly not. Please come in.”
“Adrina told me you planned to leave early tomorrow, so I slipped out of the hall for a moment to give you this.” Valam handed Xith a rolled parchment. “It is something Father Jacob, Keeper Martin and I discussed at length—a writ, signed and closed with my seal. It is not as good as changing the King’s law regarding magic, but I think it a close substitute. It guarantees safe passage for you and Vilmos through Great Kingdom and proclaims you lawful magicians.”
The prince looked directly at Vilmos for a moment, then back to Xith. “I truly wish you would reconsider undertaking the journey to Imtal. I would rest easier knowing you were with Princess Adrina and the others as they return north. You would then be able to talk to my father, for only the King can change a law. But you would have my backing and that of Father Jacob and Keeper Martin.”
Xith took the writ. “You are most gracious. This is much more than I had expected, and it is a first step. Yet centuries of superstition and fear cannot be erased with the wave of a hand. Let us not forget the reason magic is forbidden in the first place. Perhaps the day will come when the Magus may again walk free and without fear. That day is not today nor tomorrow, but tomorrow’s tomorrow.”
Prince Valam’s face lit up with mirth. “Father Jacob said you would say something like that, but I had to try… I will let you two get back to whatever it was you were doing before I arrived.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Xith said and he closed the door behind the prince.
When Xith turned back to Vilmos, some of the concern that had been in his eyes earlier had lifted. Vilmos started to say something, Xith hushed him and just then Xith revealed what he had been hiding behind the mirror. It was the staff Xith had been whittling, what seemed to Vilmos forever ago.
Xith asked, “Do you remember when I first showed you this?”
Vilmos knew all right, it had been the night before he and Xith entered Vangar Forest for the first time.
“Well, I have finally finished it and you have proven yourself worthy. What I was going to say earlier was that, first I must give you this before you are ready to begin. The staff is an extension of you.”
Vilmos reached out for the staff, Xith pulled it back.
“Take it,” Xith said, “and you will set your feet irreversibly upon the path to becoming the first Human Magus in five hundred years. What you have learned so far are simple cantrips to a true Mage. But be warned, you, Vilmos, are different. Just as I did not know if your dreams were truly gone, I do not know where the end of this path will take us.”
Vilmos’ heart was racing. His eyes were wide. He reached out and took the staff from Xith. Never had he been so sure of anything as he was right then when he touched the strange soft wood. His place was with Xith and wherever the path took him, he would follow.
Xith crossed to his bed and laid down on it. “Tomorrow will be a long day, there is so much we have to do.”
Vilmos faced the mirror, grinned, then turned back to Xith. He asked, “Is Imtal truly as grand as Princess Adrina claims?”
Xith smiled, but didn’t reply.
The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches III
Keeper Martin’s Tales
BOOK THREE
ROBERT STANEK
Table Of Contents
Book 3
CHAPTER ONE: UNTO THE WINDS
CHAPTER TWO: THE LONG ROAD
CHAPTER THREE: AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY
CHAPTER FOUR: RETURN TO IMTAL
CHAPTER FIVE: UNEXPECTED COMPETITIONS
CHAPTER SIX: A FITFUL TRANSITION
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE AWAKENING
CHAPTER EIGHT: PHANTOMS OF THE PAST
CHAPTER NINE: AGAINST THE ODDS
CHAPTER TEN: A STRANGENESS IN THE AIR
CHAPTER ELEVEN: GALAN’S WORLD
CHAPTER TWELVE: KING’S MATE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE HIGH COUNCIL
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A LONELY PATH
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE FINAL GAME
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: ACROSS THE DISTANCE
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE FINAL TRUTH
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: DREAMS OF TOMORROW
Chapter One:
Unto the Winds
Adrina shivered uncontrollably, and the more she shivered, the more she cried. She cried because she felt so desperately alone and because she felt utterl
y responsible for all that had happened. She, after all, had been the one who longed for change, and change had come in the form of a dark storm that threatened to sweep away everything she cared for and everything her family had worked so hard to maintain over these many past years.
As she looked on, the carriage master turned onto the main thoroughfare of the East–West Road and for a fleeting moment as the carriage mounted a small hill, she caught a last glimpse of the West Deep off in the distance. The waters, deep blue and ever tranquil, seemed to be calling out to her, “Don’t leave. Stay.”
She did long to stay but she couldn’t have made and kept her promise to Rudden Klaiveson even if she had wanted. Her heart and thoughts were miles away, lost in secret thoughts of the elves Seth and Galan. And though Rudden and his family had opened their hearts to her, she could not open her heart to them. Klaive was not Imtal, and it was not, nor would it ever be, her home. She was confident of this as she was of no other thing.
Still, the past two weeks in Klaive hadn’t been all bad, and she had Valam to thank for urging her to change her mind and temporarily postpone her return to Imtal. Just as the baron, baroness and their son had been, the people of Klaive had been kind to her. They came to the streets to greet her and Rudden whenever they left Klaive Keep. Gentlemen would remove their hats and bow. Ladies in the flowing dress of the day would offer flowers and children would chase after them laughing through the streets.
Adrina smiled, and wiped tears from her eyes. She leaned her head out the window, turning to look back at Klaive, half expecting to see Rudden chasing the carriage and her entourage. But Rudden was nowhere to be seen along the long dusty road, and it was just as well for Adrina had broken his heart, though it had not been her intent.
She switched to the carriage seat opposite her and removed the cover from the painting the Baron had commissioned of her and Rudden. In the picture, Rudden had a broad smile and he held her hand. She remembered the warmth of his hands in hers and smiled. It had taken several days for the painter to complete his work and many long, quiet hours of standing and holding hands.
Her leaving Klaive without allowing the Baron to publicly announce the betrothal had been a betrayal of the unspoken promise her presence spoke of. She disgraced Rudden’s family to be sure, but the thing she couldn’t forget or forgive herself for was the hurt she caused Rudden. She could see the anguish and pain in his eyes clearly, even now, and unexpectedly, her heart and eyes mirrored that anguish and that pain, and it was the source of the emptiness she felt.
In her mind’s eye, she saw her mother, Queen Alexandria, nodding, giving silent approval to the idea that swept in from the corners of her mind. She laughed, and the laughter was almost healing. She moved the curtains aside from the coachman’s window, speaking quietly to the waiting attendant.
The coached turned. The riders in her entourage followed. She smiled.
“Ahoy, the Mouth of the World!” screamed the lookout.
The call was quickly relayed throughout the whole of the Scarlet Hawk, followed by a call of “Down the main sails! Oarsmen to the ready!” from the ship’s captain.
Vilmos avoided the tangle of sailors amidships and raced to the bow. He and Xith had left the seaside town of Eragol the previous day and the Mouth of the World, a natural river cave that cut under the Rift Range near Jrenn, was their destination.
He swallowed a heart-sized lump in his throat when ahead in the distance he saw only ice-capped mountains on both sides of the river. As he looked on, a small dark space within the gray stone of the mountain seemed to grow and grow until the darkness was a thing that seemed would swallow the whole of the ship, and indeed it did, just as the captain called out, “Lanterns, fore and aft!”
Lanterns soon cast a dull glow into the darkness. No light reflected back to say that the rocks were close around them—or to say that anything was close around them for that matter. Everything seemed dead calm and just as the ship seemed to stand still in space and time, Vilmos heard the low thumping of the pacekeeper’s drum. The oarsmen struck their oars. The Scarlet Hawk lurched forward. Soon the rowing became a smooth seesaw that hinted of movement and progress through the darkness.
“Vilmos, come away from the bow!” yelled Xith. “You don’t want to be standing there.”
Vilmos gripped the staff Xith had given him in Quashan’. “Is it always this dark here?”
“Sometimes darker,” replied Xith. “Sometimes it is a place that resembles its namesake more so than any would like.” Xith didn’t give Vilmos a chance to reply as he led the boy below deck. “Gather your belongings quickly. We won’t have much time once the ship is docked to get passage across the river to Jrenn.”
Vilmos took to the task of packing without complaint. He wouldn’t miss the Scarlet Hawk or the bucket that had been a constant companion during the journey. He knew he didn’t have sea legs. Still, the voyage was his first and the open river was truly a remarkable place.
He and Xith had made many stops on their journey north to Eragol. He had seen Mir, Veter, Klaive, Heman and many sights in between. The shaman had been secretive of most of his activities and he was learning not to ask too many questions. Still his mind filled with questions—oh so many questions—and it seemed he would never get answers.
As he packed he thought about Efryadde, whose path Xith said he followed as a human mage in training. He knew of Efryadde from the Great Book, and what little he knew troubled him. The darkness had overtaken Efryadde, and in the end those he trusted most had betrayed him.
Calls went up from the crew as the Scarlet Hawk came to a full stop. He looked up from his task to find Xith regarding him. “To Jrenn and then to Solntse?” he asked.
Xith nodded and led the way to the top deck. “Stand close now, we have to move fast if we are to get across the river today.”
As the two emerged from below, Vilmos’ eyes lit with wonder at the sight of lanterns spreading out in every direction, revealing the outline of enormous docks and many ships in the port. He shouldered his bags and gripped his staff tightly. Lanterns overhead, suspended in the darkness by unseen ropes, lit their way along the docks.
All around them sailors, merchants and travelers hurried about their business. Everyone, Xith included, moved with a sense of purpose, seemingly oblivious to the fact that just beyond the shrouded yellow of the lanterns lay absolute darkness. Vilmos practically had to run to keep up with the shaman, and he did so with a sense of urgency because he didn’t want to lose Xith in this crowd, in this place.
As they reached the long straight run that led to the innermost section of the docks, Vilmos stopped. Ahead of him, no more than a hundred paces away, was open water, and across the open water was a city in the center of the docks. This journey with Xith had opened his eyes to the wonders of the world, but none was as grand as the sight of the floating city ahead.
From this distance he could see the gentle swaying of the water as it rippled beneath the city, and in the dark waters ahead, rowboats, whose paths were lit by a single lantern suspended from a tall pole aft, moved back and forth like carriages following unseen roads.
Xith hurried toward a line of rowboats at the end of one of the docks and Vilmos truly did have to run to catch up. For the sum of two coppers an oarsman took Xith and Vilmos to the inner docks of Jrenn.
The inner docks were very different from those used by the large sailing boats. They were low to the water and lined with tiny piers that made it easy to dock small boats, such as the rowboat they were in, anywhere along the floating circle of the city. The trick, however, was to find a section of pier that was unoccupied, and this turned out to be more of a problem than Vilmos imagined.
Xith solved the problem by giving the oarsman two more pieces of copper, immediately after which the oarsman docked and bid the two farewell.
“Until spring then,” said Adrina turning back to the carriage.
Rudden smiled and kissed her hand before he let go. “Until spr
ing.”
She regarded Rudden, saying nothing more. Behind him, on the balcony overlooking the keep’s courtyard, she saw the baron and baroness.
The baron stood still and there was a slight smile playing on the corners of his lips. The baroness’s right hand was touched to her cheek and there was delight in her eyes. But it was Rudden that she was focusing on.
It was as if she was seeing him for the first time as the man he was and not as the man everyone else wanted her to see. He was tall with fair hair that showed his heritage and bright eyes that seemed to ask questions of her even now. He was the same man that had traveled all the way to Imtal just to meet her and then rushed to Quashan’ to bring supplies to the beleaguered city after the battle Great Kingdom had nearly lost, but yet he wasn’t. Things had changed and her heart had changed—and it had all happened in space of a few heartbeats.
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