by Guy Antibes
Magician In Battle
Power of Poses
Book Four
(Last of the Series)
By
Guy Antibes
Map of Pestle, Bennin, and Cokasan
For Characters, Locations, and Countries click here
Magician in Battle
Chapter One
~
“I hoped to catch you here,” Asem Ferez said, opening the door in the same rooms where Trak Bluntwithe had recently been with Valanna in Asem’s tower. Trak shoved his few possessions into a bag.
Trak had to grind his teeth. He had no desire to talk to anyone in this darkest hour of his life, and he didn’t trust himself to respond to Asem. All Trak could do was shake his head. He had hoped the clothes he had brought with him to the palace were presentable, but the battle for Marom’s throne had rendered them unfit. Trak didn’t want to take anything away that reminded him of Balbaam, but he’d have to dress in Warish clothes, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like any of it.
“Don’t you have anything to say?”
Trak turned on Asem. “I hate your king. Marom is…” Trak couldn’t finish the sentence. A red haze of anger filled his vision. How could such a man steal Valanna? He had only hours with her after they had met, and he finally realized that they really did love one another, and now? He gritted his teeth again and finished tying up his things.
“…is not your king, but he is Valanna’s,” Asem said, finishing Trak’s sentence.
“So, she is his love slave?” The words were bitter in Trak’s mouth.
Asem barked out a mirthless laugh. “I’ll share a state secret with you. Marom is impotent. There is no possibility of any kind of love from that man, but he leads Warish and has made it what it is today.”
Trak turned on Asem. “And what is that? A country filled with traitors, a country of slaves? How much of a slave are you, Asem? If King Marom told you to become his sixth wife would you don a dress and divorce Kulara?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Asem said.
“Ridiculous?” Trak could feel the anger build. “Ridiculous?” His vision began to cloud. His emotions had drained him of strength, so he took a deep breath, and sat down on the bed. He pleaded with Asem. “I loved her, and she loved me. You know that.”
Asem nodded and folded his arms. “And I warned you not to trust King Marom.”
Trak snorted and looked at the floor, not wanting to meet Asem’s eyes. “You did, but I had no idea he would do something so uncaring, so cold-hearted. He just made an enemy out of the same person who saved his life. I had no political position and didn’t really care about Pestle and King Harl, but now?” Trak shook his head.
“Are we enemies?” Asem said narrowing his eyes.
“Not until you and I are forced to think otherwise.” Trak stood up and finally made eye contact, but he let his frustration drain a bit. “I’m not angry at you.”
“I know,” Asem said and put his hands on Trak’s shoulders. “The story has not ended, in my opinion. Be patient, and you might be surprised how events unfold. You will be part of those events.”
“And you?” Trak said. He took another deep breath, and gently shrugged off Asem’s hands.
Asem looked directly into Trak’s eyes. “I will tell you this, and you must tell no other, now that Valanna is a Princess of Warish, my allegiance is to her first and foremost, and only after that am I King Marom’s man.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“Do.” Asem said. He took the purse from King Marom and forced it on Trak. “Take this, even if you hate doing it. If you must, use it to defeat King Marom, as long as you forgive Valanna.”
“Forgive?” Trak looked at Asem, confused about the concept of forgiving Valanna.
“She is not your enemy.”
The meaning finally sunk through the roiling emotions playing out in Trak’s mind. “How could she be? I know that. I looked at her face when Marom…” Trak couldn’t bear to remember any more about the scene. “Tell her that I still love her, and I will support what she does when not under Marom’s orders.”
Asem nodded.
Trak took the heavy bag of gold and jewels and looked inside. Gold pieces and finely cut jewels might have astounded him, had he not felt so thoroughly defeated. He wanted to leave them again in the palace, but realized that would end up as an empty gesture to King Marom. There was no way he could hurt the man, no matter how much he wanted to do so. “I’ll use these to help those that need it.”
“You do that,” Asem said. “I must go. I hope to meet you again under better circumstances.”
“No more than I do,” Trak said. He struggled, but he ended up hugging the Ferezan Prince, and then shoved the treasure into his bag and re-tied it. Before the door had shut behind Asem, Trak had teleported out of the city.
~
Balbaam looked nearly peaceful in the early afternoon sun across from the wide River Pusuun. Trak pulled up the hood of his Benninese cloak and sighed. Had it really been less than one day since he stood on this very ground just before he rescued his friends?
He tightened his fists so hard that he could feel his fingernails biting into the palm of his hand. How easily it would have been to kill King Marom. He still had the capability to forcibly take Valanna from Balbaam, but then what would she think of him? What would he think of himself if he assassinated Marom for his own personal purposes?
Could he be that weak? Trak shook his head. He didn’t really know how he felt, but this retreat was much different from the time he stalked out of Valanna’s presence in Amorim angry and hurt. Oh, he still hurt, but this time he had left out of restraint, not out of frustration. He had friends to protect. Was that a rationalization? Trak had to admit that he didn’t know.
An order for Trak to leave wouldn’t have been any less effective than the cruel act by the Warish king. He sat on the ground and put his head in his hands. He had to pull himself together. As he stared out at the river, he watched a flock of birds fly up from the reeds on the other side. He looked at the birds flying to the south and began to think of his next steps. Trak had to move north towards Amorim to catch up with Tembul and Princess Pullia. Neel and Able still waited in Kizru.
Trak stood back up and brushed off his cloak. He sighed again, and he realized he would have to stop doing that. He straightened his shoulders, and took a deep breath, knowing that he now faced a new stage in his life. His hope of reuniting with Valanna had vanished, and a kind of bleakness took its place. Trak would keep going and…what did Asem say? …Patience. Patience for something unseen in the future.
His thoughts turned to the north as he began his rapid journey toward Amorim. He found that he couldn’t go from horizon to horizon in his weakened state, but he found that shorter jumps did little to sap his strength. Onward he traveled, heading along the paved road that went from Balbaam to this particular journey’s end. Would he catch up to his friends before they reached Amorim?
~
Valanna had squeezed Trak’s hand before she walked up to King Marom’s throne. She couldn’t believe how happy she felt until Marom announced their marriage. Her emotions had deserted her. She stood cold and isolated, looking at the empty space where Trak had just been. Her mind had suddenly gone blank.
Marom jerked on her arm, startling her back to the present. “Follow me,” he said, but then he nearly dragged her out of the Throne Room. She looked back at the audience and saw Asem run out of the rear door before Marom wrenched her arm again, propelling her into his side. She nearly fell, but managed to stumble to an upright position against him.
He pushed her through a doo
r in the back of the Throne Room and she tumbled to the floor. Valanna tried to rise but felt the tip of a sword prick her neck. “I know what kind of witch you are, Valanna Almond. No, not Almond, but Princess Valanna of the Ferezan. You won’t leave Balbaam until I want you to,” Marom chuckled, but Valanna couldn’t share in his mirth.
“Why did you?”
Marom slapped her across the face. “I said I have plans for you. What kind of person thinks to violate the King’s wishes?”
“I would have returned to serve.”
Marom put his face close to hers. “And leave your lover?” He shook his head. “That wouldn’t have happened, and I would have had to change my plans all because of a Pestlan’s wishes. Unacceptable, my fifth wife.”
“But we haven’t married,” Valanna said.
Marom dragged her to a low divan and threw her on it. Would he rape her here and now? Valanna put her hand to her mouth. Could she dare make a pose before he ran her through with the sword still in his hand? Her entire body shook with fear.
“I am the King and leader of my tribe, the Ferezan. In the Arid Lands, marriage only takes a declaration, and I’ve already done that, wife. Now you will have to follow my orders, or I will kill you.”
Valanna could hear the falsity in Marom’s words. The King didn’t need anyone’s permission to kill her, married or not. Rumanna had been a thorn in Asem’s side for years, and he had never once mentioned ending the burden of their marriage with death.
“You can kill me at any time, and you have had that ability all of my life,” Valanna said. She sat up, trying to get as far away from Marom as she could when he sat on the other side of the divan.
The comment made Marom’s eyes narrow. “So, now you can think a little.” The man laughed. “Never forget what kind of man I am,” he said. He just glared at her for a moment.
“What am I to do, join your wives?”
Marom laughed again. “For a little while, you will be restricted to assigned rooms in the Royal Tower. You are a Princess twice over, Valanna of the Ferezan. Only the first wife is Queen, but you know that. Princess of Warish and Princess of Pestle. I now have a legitimate claim on the Pestle throne, don’t I?” Valanna shrunk from his grin.
“King Harl has destroyed all evidence of my father’s relationship. All he has to do is reject my claim.” This was a topic that Valanna could use to gather her wits. Change the subject from her new relationship with the King to politics.
The King didn’t say a word for a few moments, while stroking his beard. “My father gathered sufficient documentation when he spirited you away from Pestle. There is also additional proof that Asem secured in Pestledown some time ago. When the time comes, I will take the throne of Pestle, and you will sit on it for me.”
Marom moved closer to her and took her hand, not too gently. He squeezed it hard, nearly bringing tears to her eyes. “Even though I am incapable of consummating our marriage, don’t think for a minute that changes the fact that you are mine to do with as I wish. Be careful whom you count as friends. Prince Asem is my cousin, but if you are imprudent in your actions, he will be crushed under my foot like a cockroach. Am I understood?”
Valanna’s nascent resolve crumbled under the sheer malevolent force of her new husband. She could only nod her head.
“Go back to Asem’s tower and prepare to leave. I will send servants to pack your clothes, since you will be changing rooms in the palace. Go through that door.” Marom pointed to another door leading out. She only now noticed that this was the same study where she had met with King Marom before.
Without wasting any time, she fled from her new husband’s presence and found her bearings soon enough to rush to the tower.
What an awful man! She never did like the King, and now her regard bordered on hate. The guards bowed to her as she passed, something they had never done before. Such courtesy only made Valanna hurt inside even more.
Valanna felt a great sense of relief when she reached her rooms in the tower. She sat down on her bed and cried, finally able to let her eyes water. She buried her head in the pillow and began to wail.
A knock on the door made her sit up and wipe away some of the tears that stained her face. Kulara poked her head in the door and entered. She bowed quickly to Valanna, and sat down beside her, putting out her arms and letting Valanna collapse again into tears.
Valanna’s senses returned, and she finally broke her embrace with Kulara. “What happened to Trak? Did anyone see him leave? How awful he must feel!”
“Asem talked to him briefly before he left. One moment he was in his room, and the next he was gone. King Marom has sent out a search party for Trak, but he’s gone, to Kizru I imagine.”
Valanna nodded. “How could this happen?”
“Trak is an enemy in King Marom’s eyes. You know that. With that treasure, Marom paid Trak back for saving his kingdom and now thinks they are even, and Trak is an enemy that he can kill at his will, if they ever cross paths again.”
Valanna stood. “His will. I…”
Kulara put her finger to her lips. People could be listening. Valanna sat back down, and clutched her hands, feeling as miserable as she ever had. With her new status, she would have to be more careful than ever. She took a number of deep breaths to get back into control, but they still turned into sobs.
“I wonder where Trak headed?” Valanna said, trying to control her thoughts and her words.
“Towards Amorim and then to Torya. That’s what he told you before he left. I doubt he would want to linger in Balbaam, considering what just happened.”
“I suppose not. I wouldn’t.”
Kulara’s eyes grew angry, trying to signal to Valanna.
“If I were Trak.” Valanna amended her sentence. “I wish him well, whatever happens.”
“Yes,” Kulara said. “Whatever happens.” They hugged, still sitting on the bed.
Their conversation was interrupted by another knock. A well-dressed servant poked his head through a crack in the door he had opened. If Valanna could, she would have locks installed on the doors of her new quarters.
“We are here to gather your things,” the man said. He opened the door wider and let in four servants, two men and two women.
Valanna stood up. “Leave until I summon you. I won’t be more than a few minutes.”
“But the King…” the man said.
“What is your name?” Valanna said in as commanding a voice as she could muster at the moment.
The servant sputtered, and he nodded his head, shooing the servants behind him out of the room. “We will be outside waiting for you to let us in.” He bowed and scraped a few more times before he shut the door.
Valanna turned red with anger. “Is this the way my life is going to be?”
“Get used to it, my dear Valanna,” Kulara said. “Take your personal belongings with you, like the reading you’ve been doing.”
Kulara meant Trak’s portfolio, of course. She nodded. “Will I be able to visit?”
“I’m not sure about the protocol. Asem knows more about these things than I do. Since he is now your cousin-in-law, there might be some restrictions, but it may be that his wife will have to accompany him to any audiences with Princess Valanna.” Kulara rose. “I will hope to see you as often as I can,” she said, and then left the room, leaving Valanna by herself.
Valanna sniffed a bit and quickly wondered what she wanted to carry on her own. She decided she would put the portfolio in with a bag containing a nightgown, a change in underclothes and her jewelry. After getting all of that together, she opened the door back up. The man who had intruded on her before leaned against the wall on the other side of the tiny corridor, but he quickly moved to attention.
“Will someone show me to my new rooms?”
The man puffed up his chest. “I will do that. Let me take your bag.”
Valanna didn’t want to put Trak’s portfolio in the hands of a stranger, but she couldn’t think of a reason
to carry it. The man snapped his fingers and directed the servants into Valanna’s former rooms.
While Valanna walked the hallways of the palace, they already seemed hollow without Trak at her side.
~~~
Chapter Two
~
Far away, Trak could see something in the sky, lit up by the setting sun. It didn’t move like a bird. He began teleporting towards the speck, and in a few jumps it resolved into a large flyer. He dreaded telling his friends what had just happened in Balbaam, but he made the last jump and appeared next to Ferikan, a Vashtan of the Blue Swan clan. The magician broke his wind pose.
“Did you make your delivery?” he said.
Trak nodded. “It wasn’t quite the reunion that I thought it would be.”
Tembul gave him an inquiring gaze. Trak continued, “I’ll tell you later, if you don’t mind. I’m pretty exhausted.”
“By all means, rest,” said Ferikan.
Trak could feel a change in the group as he sat down. He was exhausted and his wound continued to ache. Perhaps their attitude was a reflection of his misery. Tembul sat down beside him.
“I expected two of you,” Tembul said.
“There were complications. I saved another country from the Vashtans and lost Valanna, all within a day.”
Tembul put his arm on Trak’s shoulder, but that caused Trak to wince. “There is an adventure there. Care to talk to me about it? As usual, you’ve been a busy boy. Pick up another injury?”
“An arrow in the shoulder.”
Tembul looked at a tear in his Benninese cloak. “From behind?”
Trak nodded. Ferikan joined them. Trak looked up to see the Toryan princess, Pullia, assume a wind pose.
“She’s helping?”
“Only for short periods,” Ferikan said. “Did I hear you say you destroyed Vashtans in Warish?”
Trak took a drink from a wineskin that Mori, the Benninese merchant woman, offered to him. “Why don’t you stop for the day, and I’ll give you all a complete account of my adventure, if you want to call it that, in front of a fire.”