Devan Chronicles Series: Books 1-3

by Mark E. Cooper

  Julia shrugged him off. “I said I was fine! God! It just happened when they touched me. I didn’t make it happen!”

  “You could have overreached. Your magic was multiplying!”

  “Multiplying?” she whispered in puzzlement.

  “Now do you see? You were healing five people there at the end. Five times your usual amount was flowing through you… you… you idiot!” Lucius was frothing in anger… no it was fear. Fear for her.

  “I’m sorry!” she wailed. “But it was easy! I wasn’t near my limit… was I?”

  She was suddenly unsure.

  “If you have a limit, I don’t know what it is. I would have wagered anything you care to name that you surpassed it today, but you’re still alive, so I must be mistaken.”

  Still alive.

  Julia shuddered at Lucius’s matter of fact way of naming her stupidity. “I think that’s enough magic for today,” she said weakly.

  Lucius and Mathius nodded emphatically.

  Julia made her way back to the palace escorted by Brian and Udall. Moriz and Halbert were helping Jihan with his students. They were helping him demonstrate how the legions fight in formation. They had fought the Hasians at Athione just last year and were the most experienced men Keverin had here. Jihan had been approached by a number of the younger lords about teaching. While their fathers spent the time between council meetings politicking and making deals, they spent theirs with Jihan listening to tales of his adventures and trying to learn his skill with a sword. She had encouraged them in this. Those young men were the future lords of the realm. If Jihan could inspire them to become like him it would be no bad thing.

  Her thoughts returned to her close call at the warehouse. Why had her magic decided to heal those people when they touched her? She snorted. Magic wasn’t alive, it couldn’t make decisions… at least she didn’t think it could. She had to consciously direct healing, but strengthening people was different. All she had to do was flood them with magic. Her magic must have responded to her unconscious desire to help everyone quickly. That must have been it.

  Julia scowled and put the matter to one side.

  She had other things to think about, Lord Ascol for instance. Ascol came across as a man who thought the world owed him favours. He thought he was untouchable, worse even than Meagan did. Julia knew she had let her dislike of him ruin their meeting, and she was angry at herself for that lapse, but she also knew that claiming his vote had been a lost cause from the beginning. Rowton had accepted her invitation for his own reasons. Whatever they were, he had never intended to vote for anyone but himself. He had listened to her proposals in silence with that irritating smirk on his face, and then he left—still smirking.

  I know a spell that would fix that for him.

  Gylaren currently held roughly forty percent of the lords, while Ascol had about thirty percent—a smaller group but one more powerful in the real world. Ascol was buying votes right and left. If things continued as they were, he just might have enough to force another vote through at Council. That was something she couldn’t allow. Not yet. Gylaren’s majority was narrowing by the day, and he would never stoop to buying votes. It didn’t matter really. Any lord willing to sell his vote wouldn’t sell it to Gy. They knew he was an honest man, and they didn’t want an honest king. They wanted a man on the throne that they could control, or failing that, one who could be relied upon to do them favours. No, Gy was an honourable lord and a good man, that’s why she was taking care of certain things for him—things that would probably have distressed him to learn. Oh, not favours. She had nothing to offer the lords and no way to bind him to her word even if she had. No, her persuasions lay in the other direction. Firstly, she threatened them with exposure as traitors, and then she used Jihan’s letters to pummel them into submission, but occasionally that failed, like it had with poor Robsort. Lucius won his bet with Jihan when Robsort failed to return for a pardon. That had surprised her, but what was even more surprising was seeing Robsort courting Lord Ascol as if they had never discussed Gylaren. It seemed that her threats had pushed poor Robsort deeper into Ascol’s clutches. She regretted that.

  Why did she only succeed when she used her magic to hurt people? Shouldn’t she be able to persuade them with reasoned talk instead of threatening them?

  One thing that was going right was Jihan’s friendship with the heirs. He had learned a lot about their fathers plans over the time spent teaching them his skill with the sword. Many of them were discontented and wanted adventures like he’d had. They would listen avidly to his tales of fighting his way to Athione, all the while imagining themselves in his place. Jihan was something of a hero to them. It was funny, but he’d been taken completely off-guard by their attitude. He didn’t really understand why they stood in awe of him. He had done what had to be done, and that was that as far as he was concerned. Still, his friendships with Deva’s future lords could only spell good things for the future.

  The future, Julia mused, was uncertain. She hadn’t been here long, but it was already obvious to her that Deva needed a government. A Chancellor was simply insufficient. Deva needed something to ensure that no matter who sat the throne, the people would be cared for and safe. She would never have believed herself capable of singing the praises of bureaucracy, but it was an unpleasant fact that without one, a country the size of Deva would grind to a halt when the head of state died. Gylaren would need an organisation to run his armies, another to look after trade and the treasury, a third to police the city, a fourth to re-build the roads and keep them in good repair. Dozens of other appointments needed to be made to set the kingdom on a path to equal the empire being built by the Hasians.

  The sorcerers had a strong system, one that would continue to produce a Mortain and Godwinson forever unless stopped. Although the sorcerers were harsh, their country was strong and their people were happy and protected, but Deva’s lords would never accept a system of governors to oversee the towns and cities like those the Protectorate used. She was sure the Hasian and Bandarian lords didn’t like it either, but they had no choice, not unless they wanted to face an angry legion with sorcerers in support. Deva needed a system that the lords would accept. One that would continue running the kingdom even during periods of transition such as the one occurring now.

  The King would need mages to watch the political situation and help him anticipate what the neighbours were up to. They could ill afford armies moving without his knowledge. Travel was slow, and even with good roads it would continue to be slow. He needed to know about enemy troop movements ahead of time so that he could meet them with his own forces before they crossed the border. All this would take years to build, but if Ascol became King, it would be utter disaster. All he wanted was power, and damn everything and everyone else.

  The first thing Gy needed to—

  “Down!” Udall shouted desperately and shoved Julia to the side.

  Julia sprawled onto the dirty cobbles skinning her palms, and crying out in shock.

  “Ughh!”

  Julia looked back at her guards. Udall was falling with an arrow standing out of his chest, an arrow meant for her. Brian was moving as if in a dream charging a group of rough men, but all Julia could see was her old friend falling… falling… and down. The clash of swords and the grunting of straining men snapped her head around in time to see Brian cutting one man nearly in two with a mighty swing of his sword. The scream of agony was short lived. With a snarl of hate, Brian spun to attack again, but the three remaining brigands were ready. They struck, and Brian fell beneath rising and falling daggers.

  “Noooo!” she screamed reaching out as if to stay those wickedly sharp blades.

  Craaaack!

  Lightning smashed down and struck the raised dagger of a large bearded man. The brigand was blasted up the street blackened and smoking. The other two men turned to run, but before she could strike them down, yet another figure stepped out of the shadows and into the street. She watched as he expe
rtly tripped one of the escaping brigands while stabbing the other in the kidneys. Before the first one could clamber back to his feet and run, Julia’s rescuer bent and cut the brigand’s throat with an economical and practised movement.

  Udall gasped as Julia unbuckled his useless armour. The arrow was close to his heart. How was she to pull the horrid thing out with his armour on?

  “You’re safe…” Udall whispered with a little smile.

  Oh, God help me!

  “You saved me Udall, you both did. I’m going to heal you, don’t worry,” she panted in fear for his life, but he didn’t hear her. “Udall, Udall!”

  She threw herself into the healing realm, but it was too late. The tattered remains of his aura winked out even as she reached out to it. The spark she had come to believe was the soul shot into the distance and was gone.

  Julia came back to the real world clutching her friend in her arms and sobbing her heart out. She shook him, and prayed for him, and cursed him for leaving her. She prayed for him to come back, but he was gone like the others. How many could she lose before going insane with grief?

  “—still be alive. He won’t be for much longer I be thinking.”

  “What?” sahe said choking back her tears. “What?”

  “Your man, he be alive,” the scruffy urchin said nodding up the street.

  Julia ran to Brian’s side and threw herself down next to him. He was unconscious, and she thanked God for it. There was a dagger in his stomach, and dozens of stab wounds. His cheek was ripped open, and she could see the skull like gin of his teeth.

  “Boy!”

  The urchin spun toward her angrily. “I ain’t no boy!”

  “Come here!” she yelled, and he came a little closer. “When you see a golden light spring up around us, pull this dagger out as gently as you can.”

  The boy stepped hastily back shaking his head. “I ain’t having nothing to do with witchcraft!”

  “I’ll pay you!”

  The boy stopped. “How much?”

  “Ten silver? No don’t go!” she cried desperately. “Ten gold, anything! Just don’t go for God’s sake!”

  A sly look came over the boy’s face. “You swear on your life to pay me?”

  God, I don’t have time for this!

  Maybe if she pulled the dagger out really quick… but what if she wasn’t fast enough? She didn’t dare risk it. “I swear on my life and by God to pay you what you ask, now hurry!”

  The urchin came forward and knelt opposite her. He put his hand on the dagger and looked at her waiting for her to do something. She entered the healing realm and erected a ward. She couldn’t see the blade while healing. She had to hope the boy was honest enough to perform the task. She lost all sense of time as she healed one wound after another without pause.

  * * *

  Lorcan tried not to let the stares of the guardsmen unsettle him. Although his mother used to say that if he wasn’t good, a witch would come and get him, this witch hadn’t hurt him. He wasn’t so sure about the guardsmen though.

  Lorcan had been stuck inside this… this thing, for ages. The witch hadn’t told him that would happen. He had pulled the dagger out carefully like she wanted and wiped it clean on her man’s shirtsleeve. It was a good blade, so he slipped it into his tunic, but when he tried to walk through the light, he found he couldn’t. It was just gold coloured light, but it was as solid as a wall! When he realised that he was stuck until she was finished, he had amused himself by drawing on the wall-that-was-not-a-wall with his dagger. He thought his horse was the best. The tail seemed to wave in the wind as the sparkles of golden light shimmered and moved. His banner was all right too. He had started to draw his mother, but he couldn’t finish. He had stopped halfway through. Her single eye was staring at him making him feel guilty. She looked as if she had pushed her face halfway through the not wall to scold him.

  Why had he gotten involved with the witch? The fight had been none of his concern, but without thinking he had stepped out of his hidey-hole to help her. Killing wasn’t hard for him, he had done it enough times over the years that he no longer felt anything when he searched the bodies. It was survival. The guardsmen wouldn’t understand that, he was certain. They would hang him for sure. That’s what you did with murderers—hang them. He had until the witch finished whatever she was doing to plan his escape.

  How long was that?

  Her man hadn’t died as Lorcan thought he should have done, and she was glowing far brighter than she had at the beginning—did that mean she was nearly done or just starting? Did it mean anything at all? Probably it did, he decided remembering the same thing happening when she killed the brigand. One moment she had been an ordinary woman walking along a deserted city street—if any noble could be called ordinary—the next, there had been an intense flash of light surrounding her, or maybe coming out of her, he wasn’t sure which it was. That was when the lightning had struck. She made it happen. Witches could do that stuff and a lot more besides. She was a healer too. Maybe that made her a good witch, though he had never heard of such a thing. Everyone knew witches were evil, but she had promised to pay him. Maybe she would make the guardsmen let him go, but…

  Lorcan sighed glumly when he realised that he couldn’t believe anything she had said. Ten golds she promised him, but then she said he could have anything he wanted. Maybe if she was a good witch, he could ask for a new pair of boots—a pair never worn by anyone else, and all for him. A pair made to fit him perfectly, and not taken from a dead boy. His old ones were too small and hurt his toes. Were boots worth more than ten golds? He had bought a sausage for two silvers once. That meant he had fifty sausages coming! Was a pair of boots worth more than fifty sausages? They couldn’t be. That many would feed him for nearly a season if he were careful. His feet were small, maybe he could ask for a pair of boots and ten sausages.

  Lorcan was so caught up with the fantasy of eating huge sausages while strutting in his new boots, that he didn’t notice the ward collapse until a guardsman grabbed him. He stamped the man’s instep and pulled a dagger.

  “Don’t hurt him!”

  “AEiiiiiiiiii!”

  Blood gushed over Lorcan’s shirt and the hand holding him withdrew, but before he could take advantage and run, another guardsman smashed him to the ground.

  Everything went black.

  * * *

  “Don’t hurt him!” Julia cried.

  “Don’t hurt him? What about my hand?” Sergeant Burke said holding up his hand where a dagger thrust completely through it.

  Julia stood tiredly and examined the sergeant’s hand. “Brace yourself,” she said and yanked the blade out in one hard pull. Burke’s eyes popped wide, but he didn’t utter a sound. He was trying to be brave in front of her and his men.

  “Ooh! I bet that hurt!” someone said and the others laughed.

  “Hurts something fierce, eh sergeant?”

  “Mind yer business,” Burke growled through gritted teeth.

  “You reckon we might get the rest of the day off?” another man said and was answered. “I could do with a day in barracks.”

  “You’ll get a tenday in the stables if yer don’t shut yer holes!” Burke hissed.

  Julia ignored the catcalls and whistles from Burke’s men. They were only trying to take his mind off the pain. Besides, his wound wasn’t life threatening and she healed it very quickly.

  One of Burke’s men lifted the unconscious boy, and another picked up Brian. Udall, poor dear friend, had already been taken away it seemed.

  “Were they simple toughs, or were they paid do you think?”

  “Both, Lady. They were brigands, but they all had five golds in their pouches. I sent everything back to the palace. The bow was good quality, so were the swords. I’m thinking you need a bigger bodyguard if you want to come out onto the streets, Lady.”

  She pushed her hair back from her eyes and sighed tiredly. “I have to, Burke. They need a healer more now than ever.”r />
  She took a quick look at the boy, but he didn’t seem badly injured. She would make certain later. They made their way toward the palace as if moving through enemy territory. They were in a way. Burke and two others stayed back with her while half of his men moved in front with heads swinging left and right looking for assassins. The other half did likewise behind her, but for the most part, they were walking backwards. Julia felt like the President walking through New York. Every corner might be hiding a man with a gun or in this case a bow.

  Who wanted her dead? Ha! Stupid question. Nearly every powerful lord had a grudge against her, and would see her dead if they could. Those she had forced into supporting Gylaren would want revenge, and those supporting Ascol would want her dead because she opposed him. Then there was emperor Vexin who, it seemed, blamed her for his defeat last year even though she had been in Camorin at the time. His men had nearly done her in at Dirlston.

  And now this. What a mess.

  Brian awoke just as they entered the palace grounds and insisted he take his post at her side. She agreed to keep him happy. Brian took charge of the boy, and together they entered her rooms. Burke insisted on stationing a guardsman on the balcony and two outside the door. This was going to be impossible. She had become used to Moriz and Halbert following her around and standing guard at her door, but she wouldn’t be able to move without tripping over guardsmen if Burke had his way. She would be glad to get back home to Athione where she was safe and didn’t need bodyguards within the walls of the fortress.

  Julia snorted at the thought. When she had first arrived at Athione, having any guards at all was annoying, but now she was half way to accepting them all the time!

  She gestured to her couch. “On the couch Brian.”

  Brian dumped the filthy boy on her couch, and started searching him!

  “What are you…” she broke off as Brian found another dagger.

  She watched as Brian thoroughly searched the boy. In all he found three daggers secreted in little pockets sown into the urchin’s clothes. There was a gold ring and a few coins as well. In one pocket, he found a mouldy sausage. Julia hoped the boy hadn’t intended to eat it, but he probably had. While Brian took the boy’s weapons away, Julia asked one of her men outside to find a selection of clothes for him.