by Greg Curtis
Trouble struck without warning – and not from the quarter he'd expected. Half a dozen men from the audience stepped out, put their hands under their coats and pulled out pistols. Then they started firing at him.
Baen jumped as the thunder of the pistols caught him by surprise. For a shocked moment he even thought about throwing himself to the ground. But then he realised that none of the bullets had come anywhere near him. Because bullets were one of the first things he'd prepared wards against. They dropped to the street in front of him. Moments later several dozen guards ran out and jumped on the men, bringing them down to the ground in front of him.
Meanwhile he couldn't help but wonder how half a dozen armed men had entered the city. Had the guards not been doing their job? Had they been paid not to? And why were they shooting at him? He wasn't the Queen.
In short order the men were all secured and being led away, and Baen continued his walk. But he couldn't help but notice that the mood of the people had changed. There was tension in the air. This wasn't what they had expected to see. Baen had no idea who had hired them. Because he was sure it wasn't the Duke. Barnly had no reason to want him dead – unless of course he thought killing him might somehow stop the proceedings.
Baen carried on with his walk, trying to appear calm. But the attack had unsettled him. It reminded him that he wasn't safe. Safety would be in short supply for him today. He just had to rely on hope and cunning – and his plan.
The stage was soon in sight, only a hundred and fifty yards away. With thousands of people lined up along the sides of the road between him and it. He didn't like that. He would much rather be in his store reading a good book. But he kept walking. And wondered as he did so, how many others with gifts like his were out there, watching him, unleashing their magic and wondering why the enchantments they'd prepared weren't working.
Somehow he made the stage without giving into his fears or being attacked again. Then he turned to face the people. A hush fell over them, as they realised that he was about to say something and they wanted to hear it.
“Good people of Cedar Heights. Good people of Grenland,” he began using a minor enchantment to let his voice carry. “As you've already witnessed, there are some people who do not want this wedding to continue. Some who do not want a new King. These people will do anything to stop it.”
“Well they cannot! We have made sure of that!”
Baen raised his hand and released the enchantment of forgotten light, and immediately the empty stage had a huge window on top of it showing the roof of his home from the day before, and the guests all waiting for the new Royal couple to appear. The crowd could also see him in the image, but since he was standing in front of the crowds covered in flames, they would never know it was him.
It was a spectacular enchantment that he'd crafted. The window into the past stood surely seventy or eighty feet high and twice as wide. Everyone, even those right at the back of the crowd, could see it. And because he'd magnified the sound, they could hear it too. He was proud of that spell.
“The wedding will go ahead, and you will all be here to witness it. It is just that to protect the Royal Family it was decided not to hold it out here in the open.”
This was the moment! Baen held his breath as he realised that it was now that the Duke would have to strike if he was to have any hope of stopping things. Of course, since it had all happened the previous day, he had no hope.
“No!”
A man cried out in seeming pain, and because the silence that had fallen over the people was absolute everyone could hear him. It was not the Duke.
“I forbid it!” The King – the previous King actually – abruptly stepped forward and people parted before him, desperately trying to get out of the way. Decades of knowing him as their King had taught them well never to get in his way. “Stop it, immediately!”
He shouted the last in a way that spoke of thunder and command. It should have resonated in the very depths of every person standing there. And in that moment Baen knew, that King Richmond truly was of mixed blood. He had magic. His eyes were black. And he was presently trying to bend the entire will of the crowd to his will. Unfortunately for him, his magic wasn’t working as it should. But his voice was still powerful even without the helpful power of his magic; so much so that Baen feared that he might just do it. Already the people all standing close to the stage were looking as if they wanted to attack Baen.
Baen reached for his staff, and with a word brought it crashing down on the street, releasing a crack of thunder that shook the entire city. The sound was enough to shock everyone. It also broke the King's hold over them rather like a slap in the face might stop a woman's hysteria. Many of them stood there, blinking, shaking their heads and holding their ears. The entire audience’s focus was now entirely on him and not the former King. For the moment anyway.
“Black eyes and magic! You have Fae blood in you. I name you Richmond Featherstone, as not the son of King Raegan. I name you as a bastard!”
That was all he needed to say. Because a moment later people were pointing at the former King and staring. And then some of them began shouting. After that whatever power the King had was broken. He tried to use his voice, but he was shaken. He couldn't concentrate. And that robbed him of his magic.
Moments later guards were jumping on Richmond, and soon he was being dragged away kicking and screaming while the crowd was yelling and screaming. Slowly turning into a rabble. They had never had any love for King Richmond. And now they didn't have to pretend loyalty either. If things continued this way, the crowd would soon become a mob.
It was time Baen realised as he called for calm and it didn't come. The people were nervous. Some were angry. Others frightened. Baen released the first of his enchantments knowing that this was the right moment for it. He had expected things to go this way at some point. Immediately the enchantments he'd cast into the ground over the previous days activated, releasing a mild sense of euphoria to everyone around. It wasn't a powerful enchantment. He hadn't needed it to be. But it was enough to overcome the fear and calm the crowd.
The spell took time to work. Especially when it was being released among a crowd of so many thousands. But little by little the anger and fear of the people began to die away and some of them even started laughing. He was glad of that as he kept calling for calm. The people weren't being quiet, but at least the anger was fading. While it stopped the imminent threat of panic and rioting, he hadn’t cast it for that reason alone. He'd also done it to confuse the seers. Because from now on, the only memories they would have of this day would be those of happy drunks. Again, it would confuse their memories. And if the Duke was among the crowd, it would confuse him too.
That was the other part of his plan. Make certain that Duke Barnly had never had any clear memories of what had happened this day. He would remember no more of it than the village sop did of his night on the ale. So in the past when he'd been preparing for this day, the Duke could not have know exactly what he was preparing for.
Then, just as people were starting to sing and get merry, someone yelled out, pointing to the stage where he saw the image of J'bel taking his place in front of the priest.
“He's Fae!”
His cry started a riot as the entire city it seemed, started yelling out the exact same thing. The new King was Fae! There was cheering and yelling. Some people were crying out in shock, others in euphoria. Once again an edge of discord hit the crowd as they realised the implications of the marriage and worried about what would happen. But at least no one was rioting.
It was then that the Duke finally struck. Half a dozen Fae casters stepped out to destroy the enchantment on the stage, trying to stop anyone from seeing the wedding. But their spells were sloppy as they were already under the influence of the enchantments, and the enchantment was well protected. Their magic fizzled. The black smoke they tried to use to cover it, Baen easily blew away. And because there was no actual stage and everything was in fa
ct an illusion, the lightning bolts they threw at it also failed.
But he wasn't drunk and neither were the dozen or so other Fae enchanters he'd had standing ready for this moment. The battle was short, brief and spectacular. But it had always and ever only been going to end one way.
Unfortunately the Duke wasn't finished, Baen discovered when he saw the stampeding long horned cattle charging towards the stage even as he and the city guards were rounding up the rest of the Duke's drunk wizards.
“Shite!” He cursed when he saw them running towards him at frightening speed. Because he hadn't prepared for that. The Duke had prepared better than he'd guessed.
But someone else was ready for them and he watched as another of the Fae casters smashed his own staff into the ground and the street in front of the cattle opened up. After that chaos ruled. The cattle stampeded down into a gigantic rut and panicked along with hundreds of people who had been fleeing before them. Those cattle that escaped the rut scattered, and suddenly there were people and long horned cattle running in all directions. And all the while Baen’s enchantment continued to show the wedding.
Baen unleashed another thunder crack to try to bring some order to the chaos, but it did little. People stopped what they were doing for a moment, but then the chaos quickly returned.
From out of nowhere a dozen more Fae came flying in on clouds of spinning darkness and launched their own attack on the stage. They failed of course since there was no actual stage, but the explosions as their blasts smashed into everything in sight almost caught Baen. Soon he was cursing as he found himself having to spit dirt out of his mouth and rub it out of his face while the people nearby were running for their lives.
But still the image of the wedding continued, completely unaffected by what was happening and Baen knew that many of those further back in the crowd, unaffected by the battle, were still watching.
The new attackers were met head on by the wardens who struck back at them with hail storms and blasts of light. Three or four of the enemy Fae came tumbling out of the sky trailing fire and the rest tried to regroup. But even as they did they had a problem, though they didn't know it. They'd now entered the city and were getting close to his enchantments. Soon they too would be too drunk to fight.
Meanwhile the wedding continued in front of them all, and no matter how drunk people got, they would remember it. No one would forget seeing figures that were sixty feet high, or what they'd said when they were speaking at thunderous volumes.
Baen though didn't care about that. He cared that somewhere, out there among the confused and cowering masses, was the Duke. There was no way he could not be here. And the fact that he had sent out his Fae casters to try and stop the wedding or at least stop it being witnessed, proved it.
He was here!
A blast of something landed too close to him as he stood there, trying to spot the Duke in the horde of drunken revellers, and it sent him flying. But his wards protected him from being badly hurt and he quickly picked himself up again.
He thought for a moment about striking back at whoever had struck at him, but then quickly forgot about it. He hadn't seen who it had been, and he didn't really care. Baen could only concentrate on one thing. Catching the Duke. So into the midst of the chaos he summoned a pack of blood hounds.
In hindsight it probably wasn’t the best of decisions, particularly given the previous arrival of the stampeding, panicking and bleeding cattle. The last thing that was needed was a pack of blood hounds baying at the tops of their lungs. Half the people probably thought they were wolves. This royal wedding was quickly turning into a circus gone wrong! First the cattle had stampeded, and now the blood hounds were running amok.
Soon there were dogs, cattle and people running in all directions, and a battle between opposing Fae factions turning the sky into a stunning display of fire and lightning. There were overturned stalls and the occasional fire. People had even started throwing fruit for some reason. And right in the middle of it all there was a sixty foot high image of the Queen reading her vows out for all to hear. But despite all of that Baen only had eyes for the Duke.
The blood hounds were quick to find him. The pitch of their baying changed as they caught his scent and soon he could see a figure running through the confused crown with ever more dogs on his tail. A terrified old man, he guessed, wondering how despite all his plans everything had gone wrong as he tried to fight the vapours in his head and escape the dogs.
Baen went to meet him. It wasn't far and the casters seemed to have everything in hand. The Duke surely had no more tricks left. He had thrown all his dice and lost. And all the time Dariya was continuing with her vows for all to see. Given the chaos though, he did wonder if anyone in the crowd was paying attention any more.
A minute later he was standing face to face with the Duke. Seeing him for the first time he had to wonder why he'd ever feared him. The Duke wasn’t just old. He was ill. Weak. Frightened. And now finally, he had lost all hope. He was also surrounded by hounds baying for his blood. Still the man’s focus was entirely on him.
“You! You bastard! You did this!” He ranted at Baen.
As if he had some just cause to accuse him of anything, Baen thought. But still he nodded his agreement. “Of course.”
“Now why don't you walk with me and together we can watch as everything you've ever dreamed of having, is lost forever.”
“Never!” The Duke screamed and then charged him with a knife in hand, all he had left in the way of weapons. But before he made it more than a few steps a dozen blood hounds leapt on him and he began screaming with terror.
Baen commanded the hounds to stop before they started tearing the old man to pieces, though he wasn't quite sure why. It would have seemed a fitting end. But Nyri would have been upset with him he supposed. She wanted her prisoner. And the Lady wouldn't have been so pleased either. She was ever a merciful goddess.
So he had the hounds pull back a little and let the man crawl back to his feet. He was bleeding from dozens of cuts and tears. His face was filled with rage and pain. But he didn't have the knife in his hands. And most important of all, he knew he was beaten. Baen could see it in his eyes. Defeat.
“Are we done?” He asked the Duke when he was once more standing before him, and he got a tiny nod in return.
“Good! Then you can follow me.” Baen turned and walked slowly back to the stage while the Duke followed him, encouraged to do so by the bloodhounds snapping at his heels.
Unexpectedly as they walked, the atmosphere around them began to calm. The battles were almost over, the cattle had now largely escaped the confines of the crowd, and people were starting to forget their fear. Soon Baen guessed, they would be happy again. Many would start partying drunkenly as they celebrated the Royal wedding.
“Why?!” Barnly finally asked despairingly.
“Because it had to be done.” Baen answered him simply. “All this mindless cruelty. All the lies and murders. It had to end. And you attacked the people I loved.” And that was really the truth of it.
Up ahead he saw Nyri waiting for them by the stage, and he smiled. He didn't quite believe what he thought was happening between them, but he was looking forward to finding out. Especially now that he knew he would have that chance.
“I have coin,” the Duke told him, trying to escape his fate.
“And I have a gold mine.”
“I have power. I can see the future. Make you a Lord.”
“Actually you can't see the future at the moment. And you're going to be warded again shortly. This time though there'll be no one left to free you. But even if you somehow got free, there will no longer be a throne left for you to claim. You have nothing.”
Nothing was said after that. Not until they reached the stage and he walked up to Nyri, kissed her and held her tight once more. It was over. Meanwhile the would be King collapsed to the ground and stared at the images of the wedding in front of them.
“You’re bringing me
a present?” Nyri asked.
“If you want him you can have him. But first –.” He used his foot to push the Duke down into the street face first, then put the tip of his staff in his back and released his most recent enchantment – a spell of branding. A second or so later the Duke was screaming as the brand once more bit into his flesh while the material of his clothes burnt away. And this time, it really was the end for the Duke. He would never be a threat again. The Duke knew it too, judging from the wailing that followed.