“Sir . . . there is one more thing . . .”
He looked down at her hands and smiled at her. “Are you about to ask me about Justan?”
“I am sorry, sir?” she asked in bewilderment.
“Whenever you are about to ask me about Justan, you fiddle with that ring on your forefinger.”
Jhonate looked down and saw that he was indeed right. Ever since Justan had left for the MageSchool, she thought about him constantly. She told herself that it was just concern for her past pupil and friend. She had trained him for an entire year after all. But why then did his face interrupt her studies? Why did his infuriating way of joking around come up in her dreams? She dropped her hands to her side in embarrassment.
“I am just concerned for his well being, sir.”
“Of course you are,” he said, the smile still on his face. He patted her shoulder. “The last I heard from him, he was studying hard, but still determined to get out of there as soon as he could so that he could start at the academy. That was several weeks ago. I did however, receive a message just before we left from Ambassador Valtrek saying that the High Council was considering raising him to the rank of Apprentice. That is astounding for a student in their first year.”
Jhonate was pleased. “You should be proud of your son, Faldon the Fierce. He pushes himself even though he is there against his wishes.”
“Oh, I am. I am.” He chuckled, then looked back at her hand. “I still can’t believe that he gave you that ring.”
“It was a sign of respect for my tutoring him, sir,” she replied, her cheeks turning a bit red.
“Of course it is. It’s just that it is an heirloom of sorts. His mother had been hiding it from him for years. She didn’t let him have it until the morning he left.” He opened his mouth as if about to say more, but stopped.
“I-I am sorry, sir. Does she want it back?”
Faldon raised his hands in front of him. “Oh no, no. He wanted you to have it, I’m sure of that. I just wanted you to know how important that ring was to him.”
“I see . . .” She began twisting the ring on her finger again.
“He asks about you in each letter you know. I think he is just too embarrassed to write you directly.” The smile hadn’t left his face once during the entire conversation.
She cleared her throat. “I am glad to know that he is concerned with my well being. Please send him my regards . . . I . . . am going to go help the others bury the trolls,” she said and walked away.
A smile came unbidden to her face and she clasped the hand with the ring close to her chest. She still didn’t understand why she cared so much about him, but it was nice to know that with everything Justan was going through, he was still thinking of her.
* * *
Far away in the darkest and most foul section of the Tinny Woods, the mother of the moonrats felt the passing of one of her children. This was not an uncommon occurrence. Her children were quite numerous and always getting into trouble. However, this was one of the children she had sent to help her control her master’s army.
She concentrated on its memories. Its last thoughts had been of an attack by humans.
This was not desirable. Her assistance with her master’s army was a secret that must not get out. Until the BattleAcademy and the MageSchool were destroyed, she was still vulnerable. The wizards knew who she was. Their predecessors had confined her in these woods centuries ago. If they knew how much her powers had grown . . .
She alerted all the forces near the place of her child’s death that there were enemies in the area and reached out to her current master, the wizard Ewzad Vriil. He did not answer. The fool had locked the eye in his desk again despite her pleas.
Anger rippled across her vast thoughts and moonrats everywhere snarled in unison. As soon as the Dark Voice allowed it, she would see that the wizard was punished for his ignorance.
She calmed herself. It did not matter. She would see that the human forces in the mountains were dealt with. Their secret would be safe. The next time Ewzad contacted her she would tell him about the danger.
Her infiltration within the wizard’s army was too widespread to be kept secret for long. Sooner or later the wizards would find out. They needed to advance their plans.
The BattleAcademy would be destroyed first.
Chapter Twenty Four
Hamford and Kenn Dollie moved to the side of the road and watched as fifty of the king’s finest soldiers marched by with battle banners waving. Unlike the duke’s rowdy bunch of soldiers, these soldiers marched in unison with armor polished, a singular purpose in their eyes.
“You didn’t tell me that your master happened to be Duke Ewzad Vriil himself!” Kenn accused after the last soldier had passed by.
“Well, I didn’t know until just no-.” Hamford coughed a few times and spat into the mud. “Why didn’t you tell me who the new duke was?”
“I didn’t think it mattered. I sure hadn’t heard of him before he took over!”
“How could you not have heard of the Vriils? They are the closest noble family to Five Hills. Even though they have never really been in charge of the town, they visited the merchants all the time.”
“Never cared much about the nobility I guess,” Kenn stated.
“You used to love them! Don’t you remember when we were kids and we’d all crowd into the street for a man to come who threw coins at us? That was Ewzad’s father. They’re all dead now, though. He’s the only one left.”
The two brothers continued their squabbling as they moved back onto the road and trudged towards the duke’s new castle. Their journey had been a rough one.
It started the day after Hamford had arrived at Five Hills. Kenn had awoken his brother with an accusatory yell, pointing at a red-lined cut on his arm. Later that day, Hamford set out from Five Hills to travel to the old family keep of his master, hoping to get his curse lifted. Kenn had insisted on coming along to make sure that he wouldn’t be left alone at home with Hamford’s demon.
Each morning they awoke with fresh cuts and scrapes that quickly became infected. They tried several things to keep the demon from touching them. They took turns taking watch at night, but no matter how alert they tried to be, the beast seemed to take delight in waiting until just the right moment and cutting the brother standing guard while his back was turned.
One night, they found an abandoned shelter by the side of the road and boarded up the entrance. They finally thought they could sleep easy, but in the morning, they found a section of the roof gone and both of them had new lacerations.
The journey took well over a week, with each brother getting progressively weaker from the demon’s poison. They trudged through rain and mud and increasingly cooler temperatures as the road took them into higher elevations. By the time they approached the duke’s castle, their feet dragged and their bodies swayed with each step. Still, they kept moving for their goal was in sight. Half completed spires rose above the horizon and they could hear the sounds of men at work.
The castle was quite a way from being finished. Everywhere buildings were being raised and excavations were underway. The duke had decided not to tear down the old family keep but to build on to it. The new parts of the castle stood out in brightness against the dingy rocks of the noticeably older central keep.
The closer the brothers got, the busier the road became. There were people everywhere. Craftsmen, builders and laborers were all working together to complete the duke's plans. The sound of chisels against rock rang out, and the smell of sweat and dust hung thick in the afternoon air.
The pattern of the construction made little sense. Considering the heightened tension in the kingdom and the way that the duke was building his own army with such speed, he should have been building the place with more caution.
This close to the TrafalganMountains, the outer walls surrounding a castle would normally be constructed first. This way, the craftsmen could work on the main part of the castle without fear
of attack. But the duke had ordered his favorite parts built first, making him either a fool or a man who simply knew that he had nothing to fear.
Hamford stopped his brother before they reached the steps at the foot of the keep.
“Kenn, there is something you must know about my master. You understand that he is a powerful wizard, but you need to realize that he is also a dangerous one. He has quite a temper.”
Kenn snorted. “Is there such a thing as a wizard that isn't dangerous?”
“No, I mean it, Kenn. You be careful. You have a tendency to be disrespectful and my master does not tolerate disrespect.”
“I can take care of myself, big brother,” Kenn said and started forward, but Hamford pulled him back again.
His eyes were feverish and sweat dripped from his brow. “I have seen Ewzad Vriil . . . change the bodies of people that displease him. I was there once when a guard made a face at him behind his back. My master made the guard’s guts grow until they exploded out of him.”
Kenn gulped. “And why are we here, again?”
“Believe me, if that demon hadn't been following me, I never would have come back to this place.”
Ewzad Vriil looked down on the brothers from a window in the keep, and clapped his writhing hands together in glee.
“My, my. I hadn't expected to see that one again. Had you, Rudfen?” The large man with the scarred face didn't respond, but Ewzad hadn't expected him to. “I wonder who the little rat with him is . . . Yes, do make sure that they are let in, Rudfen. Oh, but this should be fun!”
The wizard rushed to his throne room and collapsed into the cushions of his throne, draping one leg over the arm. He muttered impatiently while he waited for his old servant to arrive, nearly overcome with curiosity as to how the man had survived the WhitebridgeDesert.
Soon Rudfen entered with the two ragged brothers in tow. They knelt on the rough floor and waited to be recognized. Ewzad Vriil immediately noticed their ill state. Hamford had always been a large and strapping man, but now he looked as if his frame was barely being held together. The smaller man beside him looked much worse, with a thin frame and pale skin.
“Hamford! Oh my. You are back! Please stand!” Ewzad exclaimed. The two men stood shakily to their feet. “Ooh, you don't look good now do you?”
Kenn, not used to the way that the wizard spoke, thought he was actually expecting an answer to the question. “We-,” Hamford elbowed him in the ribs to silence him. “Ow.”
“Who is this . . . thing?” Ewzad Vriil demanded, frowning down at Kenn with suspicion.
“Master, this is my brother, Kenn. He asked to come with me.”
“He did, did he?” The wizard came down from his throne and walked up to Hamford. “You know it's a good thing for you that I promised not to kill you if you came back. I still have not regained all of the resources I used that day,” Ewzad lied. “But I am willing to overlook your past faults. Isn’t that nice of me? Oh, yes it is. Now tell me, Hamford, just how did you make it back?”
Hamford stood with mouth half open. He had expected a more painful reunion. He cleared his throat and gathered his thoughts. Ewzad had that impatient look in his eyes. “Well Master, after you left me there, I wandered the desert for awhile. M-my BattleAcademy training helped, but I still barely got out aliv-,”
Hamford was doubled over by a series of wracking coughs. When he had regained his composure, he hacked and almost spit onto the floor, but he looked up at Ewzad at the last moment. He wisely swallowed instead. Hamford grimaced.
“But getting out of the desert was when the worst of it started. M-master . . . I have been cursed!”
“Oh my, a curse?” Ewzad laughed. “I wish I had thought of it myself. Yes that would have been quite amusing, don’t you think?”
Kenn started to laugh in response, but Hamford gripped his arm so tightly that he knew to stop. He then saw the glare the wizard had fixed on him and stared at the ground.
“Yes Master, y-you see a demon followed me out of the desert. It has been torturing me. Cutting me in my sleep with poisonous claws, and . . . Master I saw it once. I-it has sharp teeth and scales . . .” He shuddered at the memory.
“A demon you say? How interesting. Tell me more. Yes, describe it again won’t you?” As Hamford filled in the details, the wizard grinned, excited by what he was hearing.
“Oh my, could it possibly be . . .?” Ewzad giggled. “Perhaps you have redeemed yourself after all. I just may let you have your job back. But first, let me see what it is that ails you.” With a wild grin he ran his hands around the brothers, sending probing magical energies into their bodies.
The leering wizard made Kenn’s skin crawl. As the duke made a circuit around Hamford, Kenn noticed the way that the man’s fingers waved around as if boneless, moving independently of one another and when the duke passed behind him those fingers slithered lightly along his shoulders. Magical energies sent tingling chills through his body and Kenn couldn’t help but shudder.
Ewzad Vriil noticed Kenn’s discomfort and giggled again. “Ooh! If I am right, Hamford, you get a raise.” He turned and strode toward a door in the back of the throne room. “Come along, come along! There is one last test and then we will see.”
Rudfen urged them forward and the brothers complied. The door led to a dank curving stairwell that Kenn could tell was part of the old keep because of the moldy smell. He looked uneasily up at Hamford who just shrugged in response and descended the steps behind the duke.
Torches lined the walls of the stairwell, filling it with flickering light. The walls and steps were covered in a greenish mildew. This made them more than a little slippery, and forced Kenn to concentrate on his footing. His weakened leg muscles ached in protest at the exertion and as the stairwell curved deeper and deeper into the ground, Kenn wondered how he was going to be able to make it back up. Meanwhile Ewzad Vriil practically skipped down the stairs, mumbling and muttering to himself in an excited manner.
They passed several doorways and Kenn was pretty sure he heard cries of pain and misery. As they left them behind, he breathed a sigh of relief that their destination didn't seem to be at any of those doors.
The duke finally came to a stop at a door that was different than the others. While the other doors they had passed were made of stout wood and reinforced with iron, this one was made entirely of solid iron with arcane runes etched into it.
“Master, you're taking us to your inner sanctum?” Hamford asked, terror in his eyes.
Ewzad laughed. “No, no, Hamford. My sanctum has been moved elsewhere. This place has been turned to other purposes. You see this is where I keep my best work. Exciting isn’t it? Yes!” He touched the door as if to open it, but stopped and turned back to the two brothers.
“My, I almost forgot. Before I let you in here I must be sure of your loyalty. Hamford, I know that you wouldn’t dare cross me. But you,” He stared at Kenn intensely, causing the skinny man's blood to run cold. “I don't know you.”
“I, I . . .” Kenn stammered.
“He is my brother, Master,” Hamford put in.
“Silence!” The wizard snarled. Hamford recoiled in terror and cowered against the damp stone wall.
Ewzad slid up to Kenn. Though they were of about the same height and build, the sheer power that radiated from the wizard made him seem to tower over the man. “Why are you here?”
Kenn tried to exert control over himself, but his voice still quavered. “I-I am here to get this curse removed.”
“Is that so?” Ewzad shook his head. “No-no. You are scared of this demon that hunts you, that much is true, yes. But there is more . . .” The wizard looked puzzled for a moment, but then a contended smile crossed his face. “Yes, I know why you came with your brother. I know your type.”
“Sir?” Kenn gulped.
“I look at your ragged clothes and the stink of despair around you and it doesn't suit you. No, no it doesn't. I see you as a man who craves more than a simple lif
e. You are no farmer, no laborer. You need more. Don’t you?”
Kenn nodded. “Yes sir.”
“You are tired of living a poor life, a useless life,” The wizard crooned. “Yes-yes. That is why you came with your brother. Isn’t it? You knew his master was great, but when you found out that I was the duke, I bet your mouth watered. Yes, you needed to be where the power was, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Kenn replied. The fear was muted by hunger. His voice was strong and steady now.
“Well, the power is here!” Ewzad Vriil raised his hands. The torchlight glittered off of the rings he wore as his fingers twisted about. “I have much to offer a man with ambition. Money, yes. Power, yes . . . But in return . . . In return you must swear fealty to me.”
Messenger of the Dark Prophet (The Bowl of Souls: Book Two) Page 26