Madness and Magic- The Seers' War

by Greg Curtis

  But she put her irritations aside. Instead she studied herself in the mirror one more time. Though she wasn’t a woman inclined to wear dresses, she decided she really did look good in this one. The heavy silk dress should be a scandal to wear given how much skin it revealed. The low-cut front showing off much more cleavage than she was used to while her shoulders were also exposed almost like a bar maid. And yet the full-length skirt somehow transformed a barmaid into royalty. And her hair looked good tied up and with lots of sparkling gold and precious stones woven through it. She might not feel like a Queen, but she looked elegant enough to be one.

  Dariya turned and headed for the stairs leading to the rooftop garden. They proved difficult to navigate in the floor length dress with her feet garbed in expensive healed slippers; two items she wasn’t used to wearing. She had to grab on to the railing with one hand, lift the front of her dress with the other, and focus on the stairs if she was to avoid a nasty fall. Dariya cursed under her breath. She hoped that tomorrow, when she had to walk down the aisle for real in front of the City Hall she wouldn’t have the same problems. Or especially when she had to step up onto the stage. It would just be too embarrassing to fall flat on her face in front of hundreds or thousands of people!

  By the time she reached the top of the stairs and was on the roof, she was practically exhausted, and wanted to curse everyone in sight. But of course she couldn't do that. Not when Master Thyman was already standing there, waiting for her. At his signal the band started up and he came over and offered his arm to escort her down the aisle, and she simply had to grin and bear it.

  But at least he had come. She had no one else to give her away. No father. No mother any more. Not even a brother. And while the entire idea of being given away made her feel like a piece of property, she would have been even more unhappy if on her wedding day she had to walk down the aisle alone.

  The aisle had been created by pushing aside some furniture to create a path and then lining it with flowering plants. It was a simple option but for all that surprisingly pretty. At the end of it and up a couple of steps to a small stage stood J'bel and the priest. A few other officials from the local Council stood to one side to act as witnesses. Stand ins for the Mayor who she gathered would be present at the actual event. There were even a few of her and J’bel’s friends who had come along to witness the rehearsal.

  For some reason there was also a small audience seated on the pews on both sides of the makeshift aisle. Twenty or thirty people all dressed in their finery as if this was the actual day. It seemed unnecessary to her for a rehearsal. But she guessed that the wizard was just being thorough. Making sure that there would be no surprises tomorrow like people forgetting their scripts in front of thousands of people. Though of course tomorrow she knew, there would be hundreds or thousands of people watching and the aisle would be much longer. Baen really had gone to great lengths to make this feel real she thought.

  But at least J'bel was there, standing tall and proud in his ceremonial robes, and she had to admit that while she didn't feel like a Queen he definitely looked like a King. More than that, he looked like a man she would quite like to marry. Had she been interested in getting married of course! And as Master Thyman released her arm and let her walk up the two small steps to stand beside him, Dariya found herself feeling almost happy. It had also stopped raining she noticed – a minor blessing after two solid days of it.

  He was a good man. He would be a good husband. Honourable and decent. And if one day things between them became more than a mere show for the world, she could live with that she thought. His hand felt good in hers as he took it.

  “You look lovely,” he whispered to her in a voice that almost made her feel weak. And then they both turned to face the priest.

  “Good people,” the priest began. “We are gathered here today to witness the hand fasting of these two people in the sight of the Lady.”

  Dariya ignored the rest of his speech. She'd heard it already. She knew every word. And instead she turned her thoughts to the idea of being married to J'bel. What would that be like? Would they live together? And if they did, where? And for how long? There were just so many questions that hadn’t yet been discussed. Until this moment she hadn't even thought about them. Now though she had to.

  Dariya sneaked a peak at J’bel. How did he feel about this marriage? She hadn't actually thought about that she realised. Just allowed herself to wallow in her own sorrows. After this was over she'd have to talk to him about that. About going through the marriage ceremony and then actually being husband and wife.

  But for the moment she had to concentrate on playing her part, and so she stood there, doing her best to look regal, and gave her answers to the questions as she needed to each time the priest stopped for them. As J'bel did too.

  Dariya sneaked another sideways glance at him as he stood there beside her, and wondered if he was as relaxed about this as he appeared to be. She couldn't imagine that he was. Did he want to be married? To her? She doubted it. He had been given no more choice in the matter than her. That said, he was clearly determined to go through with this. Or at least not to show any doubts. He was a man of great strength, and that leant her a little strength in turn. If he could do this, then she could do it too.

  So they went through the ceremony together, hand in hand as was customary, and neither of them blinked. She didn't even blink when it was time to read her speech. It had been written for her by a group of advisers the wizard had found in the city hall so she understood. People who understood all the laws of Grenland and what was needed. One that very carefully referenced all the laws of the Realm. It had to, since what she was about to Decree had no weight. She was a Queen which accorded her great honour and a title but no actual power other than what the Court decided to allow. Then once married she would have no power at all to issue a decree. But in her wedding vows to her husband she could make a proclamation and it would be heard. It would also be acted on, in part because few would dare to disobey it even if she was only a Queen. But mostly the decree would be followed because those who benefited from it, would make sure of it.

  As part of her vows Dariya announced that in the absence of a Royal Family, the Realm should be ruled over by a Grand Court comprised of the thirty most powerful noble houses in the land. That part she was sure, the nobility would be happy to carry out. It was what they'd always wanted. The Court would give their assent in a heartbeat. The rest of it – the stuff about ruling the Realm wisely and with care for the people, they would argue about forever. But then the Featherstones had never done that either. Nothing ever really changed. Nothing ever would.

  Her speech given and their vows made, Dariya and J'bel's held out their hands and let the priest formally tie them together with the ribbon. And to her surprise it actually felt good. She didn't want to pull her hand away. Neither did J'bel as far as she could see. And then they raised their hands to the audience and listened to the applause.

  She breathed a sigh of relief then. The ceremony was complete. And it had gone smoothly.

  Maybe the wizard was right, damn him! Maybe it had been good to practice this. To make sure there were no mistakes tomorrow when they had to repeat this in front of thousands. And maybe, she thought, when J'bel suddenly gathered her up in his arms and kissed her, she could even enjoy it a little. He was a good kisser. Good enough that she forgot for a moment about everything else.

  “Are you alright?” he asked after he'd let her go.

  “Yes.” She smiled at him, and for the first time she actually meant it. “I can do this again tomorrow. If you can.”

  “As can I.” He returned her smile. “I will look forward to it.”

  “Actually you can't,” Baen suddenly appeared at their side.

  “What?” Dariya turned to him, a little annoyed that he was disturbing them just when she was starting to feel good about things.

  “Well as far as I know, you can't get married twice. Congratulations by the wa
y.”

  “What?!” She cried out in disbelief. J'bel did too.

  “Well you went through the ceremony, you gave your vows and the priest tied the ribbon in the sight of the Lady. Congratulations – you're married.” He smiled smugly at them.

  “But … but …” She stuttered. “This was a rehearsal!”

  “No … ?” Baen did his best to look confused – but he wasn't convincing. “Did I say that? I'm sorry, I must have got things wrong. Things have been so busy lately. Hectic. But we didn't have time for a rehearsal. I had to change things a little. I was sure I told you!”

  But his face told her the truth. He was a lying little bastard! He hadn't told them and he'd never intended to. He'd tricked them!

  “You bastard!” Dariya yelled at him. And then she reached for her pistol – only to remember as her hand found empty air, that she wasn't carrying it.

  “Come now!” The wizard continued to try and pretend innocence. That he hadn't done something shocking and despicable to them. “You two agreed to this. You knew it was what had to be. All I did was move things up a day so you could do it safely. Are you now saying you didn't intend to get married?” He arched an eyebrow at her.

  Dariya started to swear at him and protest. She even thought about leaping on the miserable bastard and strangling him. But then she stopped as she realised he had a point. She hated it, but he was right. She and J'bel had agreed to get married. It didn't actually matter if it was today or tomorrow. It was just the shock of it that had caught her out. And when she stared at J'bel she knew it was the same for him as well.

  “Baen?” Nyri spoke up, starting to look worried.

  “Oh relax! It had to be done. The moment we caught Astor and her mother, I realised that. Because tomorrow is when Barnly is going to strike. And unfortunately for him, now he's going to be just too damned late! It's all over, and that's going to ruin all his plans.”

  Nyri didn't look convinced. Dariya didn't feel convinced either. And none of it made sense when her uncle was a seer and should have predicted this. She pointed that out.

  “It's simple really. Nothing more than a trick. Barnly is a seer. He remembers the future. His future. And he's been desperately trying to change it. And right now and for some time he's been remembering a future tomorrow when you two get married in front of thousands of witnesses including all the noble houses of Grenland. And he's still going to remember that because tomorrow that's exactly what's going to happen in front of him. It’s just that you won't be there. He won't be able to change it. The ceremony will already be over and done with. I'll be using an enchantment to replay what happened here just now and forget to mention that it happened the day before.”

  “But –?”

  “It's just a simple misdirection, the same as street magicians do using sleight of hand. Tomorrow he's going to see things happening exactly as he remembers them and he will try to change them. So he will have his people out, desperately hunting for the actual wedding never knowing that the enchantment I'll be showing them isn't just showing them what's happening elsewhere. It's an enchantment of forgotten light. It will show them what happened the day before. Today. So he'll never be able to find the wedding to stop it. He'll never know that everything happened the day before. Because nobody's going to mention it to him.”

  “As far as the world is aware everything will happen tomorrow. And as far as the Duke is concerned, having gone to enormous effort to stop this wedding, his forces will fail and he won't know why. He will never know what went wrong.”

  “You can't know that.”

  “Actually I can. If at some stage in the future Duke Barnly became aware of the deception, then his past self would have remembered it, and he would have known where and when to strike. He would have been here already. He isn't. The misdirection worked.”

  “But then, can't you just announce to the world that the marriage has happened and end this before it begins?” Nyri asked. She didn't look convinced by his logic.

  “No. I don't think so.” But the wizard sounded uncertain for once. “If we did that, then Barnly would already know. His future memories would have told him that the wedding had happened a day early. And he’d already have tried to storm either my home or the Cedar Heights Mission. He didn't, so we clearly didn't. And we didn't do it for a very simple reason. We want to catch him. And we know where and when he's going to try and strike – tomorrow. That's how we catch him.”

  Was that right? Dariya looked at J'bel and the others and saw the same questions in their eyes. They didn't know. It sounded right if a little mad. But it could also be completely wrong. She simply wasn't sure. Maybe her uncle simply hadn't come here because he realised it was already too late. Perhaps he'd given up on his dreams of claiming the throne? Except that that didn't sound like him.

  Except that she knew he could never give up on that dream. It was the only dream he had. The only thing he had ever wanted. If there was any way at all he could claim the throne he would have been here. He would have abducted her by now, probably be busy arranging some horrid sham wedding, and then after it was done, be planning on killing her. Whatever it took for him to be King.

  The wizard was right – it was too late. But not everyone was convinced.

  “Baen?” Nyri asked hesitantly. “Are you sure?”

  “Mostly,” he replied. “But there is one other step I took to make sure he couldn't see through my ruse. But I can't tell you what it was. I don't want it ever being made known.”

  Dariya thought about asking, but then decided there was no point. He wasn't going to tell her. And did it really matter anyway? Then the other part of what he'd done struck her. She was married!

  She looked at J'bel and he looked at her, and the truth of that washed over them both. They were husband and wife, and neither of them were prepared for that. Not just yet.

  “Ah …?” she stammered, not knowing what to say. He looked no more certain than her.

  “Of course,” said Baen, clearly deducing the newly-weds’ thoughts. “Time for you two to be on your way.”

  “On our way?” J'bel asked.

  “Naturally. Barnly is still going to strike at you tomorrow, so you can't be here. The wheelers are already warmed up and waiting for you at the Mission. They're packed with the supplies you need and a map to take you to my family's new estate. They're already expecting you by the way. And you've just got time to change your clothes before you leave. Don't forget the amulets. They'll keep you safe even from someone who can remember the future. He can't remember what he will never notice.”

  With that she and J'bel abruptly found themselves being almost pushed towards the stairs while a bunch of people appeared from nowhere to start taking down the stage and anything else that might indicate a wedding had taken place. Tomorrow, she guessed, if and when her uncle came looking for a wedding, there would be nothing left for him to find. Not even if he found the building.

  “Well this was unexpected.” J'bel announced as he helped her to walk down the stairs in her clumsy shoes.

  “It was,” she agreed, “Husband.” She added the last because it seemed right. They were after all, husband and wife. Just a little sooner than expected. “So what do we do now?”

  “What we were told to do I suppose. The wizard has a plan. And no one else does. I certainly don't.” They reached the landing and headed toward her chambers. But when they got to her door, he stopped her, pulled her into his arms and looked into her eyes.

  “This is strange, for both of us. But despite it all I am not unhappy with my choice of wife.” And with that he kissed her, telling her all that was in his heart.

  “I'm not unhappy either,” she said once she came up for air. And that was the truth. It suddenly surged through her heart like the hottest of blood. And though it made her cheeks turn red, she admitted the other truth to him. Something she had never imagined she would.

  “I think I'll be very happy when we finally begin our honeymoon.”
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br />   Chapter Forty Five

  The morning of the wedding finally arrived and Baen was a bundle of nerves from the moment he opened his eyes. This was the day when everything would happen – he assumed.

  But at least, no matter what happened today, the wedding was done. The Duke would never get his filthy hands on the throne. Grenland was safe from him. He just didn't know it yet. With a little luck he wouldn't know what was coming either.

  The first thing Baen did when he got up was check the weather, and just as he'd hoped it was still raining. He thanked the Lady for that. He hadn't been sure the magic would last as long as it had to, but it had. Now every seer in the region had been rendered largely helpless. From now until the ceremony was complete, not one of them would know the future. And more importantly, they wouldn't know why their gifts weren't working. All the memories they had from this day would come true exactly as he wanted them to. And they would never know that they were being deceived. That was the key to fighting a seer. Deception.