Hero Wanted
Page 27
“May I meet him? The original Champion? There is much I would like to ask him if I could.”
“Impossible,” said Great Whoosh. “Have you further questions?”
“The Superwand,” I said. “Do you really not know where it is?”
“We do not,” said Arkayne. “The Mighty Champion hid it well, and we have made it our law that no god or mortal shall seek that talisman. If pressed, I would speculate that the Mighty Champion took it somewhere beyond our power.”
“Beyond the power of The Gods?”
“We are The Gods of this world, but there are a multitude of others where we hold no sway. Perhaps the Champion took the Superwand to such a place. I do not know. Inquire no further of this matter.”
“As you will. Thank you for your indulgence.” I bowed.
“We shall leave you with your patron,” said Great Whoosh. He and Arkayne departed.
Rae gathered me in for a warm, summery hug. “You are the most marvelous mortal I’ve known in centuries! You should have seen the look on Lucinda Everfair’s face when she found out I was your patron. She was positively green! Especially after you destroyed Marn and bested Erimandras. No Champion of hers has ever performed such feats!”
“Merc did most of that.”
“Whatever.” She caressed my cheek. “Your tan looks good. Be sure get plenty of sun. That way I can keep an eye on you.”
“I’ll do that.”
“When you get back to Caratha, be sure to visit my temple there. Though it is far too small. Carathans don’t appreciate me the way they should. They more honor Amex and Surflord. As if commerce or the sea would exist without the sun! Though I have neglected my worshipers for a few centuries. But you’d think they would remember me anyway. Which reminds me, I must schedule another eclipse soon. That always gets their attention! I haven’t done one in ages and they are such fun. I wonder if Lune is busy today? We have to coordinate these things.”
“Goddess?”
“Yes, dear?”
“Could I get on with my life now?”
“Oh, yes! Silly of me to ramble on so.” She kissed me lightly on the cheek. “Return now to your waiting body, Jason. Return to the world of the living! Return to life—now!”
*****
Chapter 26
I opened my eyes. I lay abed in a well appointed chamber filled with flowers. Gathered around me were Mercury, Queen Raella, Rubis—and Sapphrina!
“He’s awake!” said Sapphrina. She bestowed a joyful kiss upon my grateful lips.
“Glad you could join us,” said Merc. His beard and hair were still white as snow. “You’ve hovered somewhere betwixt life and death these three days.”
“You don’t know the half of it. Where am I?”
“At my embassy in Caratha,” said Queen Raella.
“I dragged your carcass here and sent word to Raella. She brought Sapphrina and Rubis. We’ve been at your side ever since. Raella’s healers say you were in a Paradise Coma, conferring with The Gods.”
“How would they know that?”
“The usual signs. Slow steady pulse. Shallow breathing. Tendency to levitate.”
“Really?”
“But the nimbus of divine light around your body was the clincher. Let’s just say we’re pretty sure it wasn’t typhoid fever.”
“I read it in your aura,” said Raella. “Which, by the by, has reverted to Standard Auric, with no nonconforming content or tags. You are, at this moment, a hale and healthy hero.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Now we can tie up a few loose ends before Raella and I return to Rae City,” said Merc. “I presume you’ll tarry in Caratha for a time.” He glanced meaningfully at the twins.
I followed his gaze and traded smiles with Sapphrina as I squeezed her hand. “Yes. I believe I will. But what loose ends?”
“You must be wondering how the war in Raelna turned out?”
“It wasn’t at the top of my list, but now that you mention it, yes, I am wondering.”
“Raella?”
“Once my forces took Halogen captive, the Orphalians accepted a truce and withdrew from my domains. Moreover, the Orphalian barons deposed Halogen in absentia and elected his cousin Stron Astatine as their new king.”
“What of Halogen?”
“He is my prisoner. He will be held in the Bronze Tower until Orphalia chooses to ransom him back. Which could be a long while. Halogen has earned little love from his people.”
“What of the war with Brythalia?”
Raella frowned. “Brythalia trampled upon longstanding custom by enlisting mercenaries in our Annual War. I have me no doubt some agent of the Society whispered in King Rubric’s ear that this would be to his advantage. No matter. With Orphalia checked, the full might of my armies drove Brythalia out and moved the boundary stakes a full league in Raelna’s favor. What further repercussions Rubric will suffer I have not yet decided.”
“That is good news.”
“Indeed. But I have better tidings still.” The queen’s smile lit the room like the breaking of a sudden dawn. “Mercury and I are to be wed at long last!”
“That is the best news of all!”
“Indeed,” said Mercury, taking Raella’s hand.
She explained. “Goddess Rae personally nullified the ancient canons obstructing our union. The nobles can no longer demand my abdication if I wed the man I love.”
“No one deserves such a blessing more. I’m happy for you both!”
“You will be an honored guest at our wedding,” said Queen Raella.
“I wouldn’t miss it! Just tell me when!”
Raella sighed. “Not until High Summer Day. I dread the delay, but this will needs be a great affair of state and require much preparation. Yet we have waited this long to be together. A little longer is tolerable.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Good,” said Merc. “Now up from your bed! We’ve an important errand to perform before I depart for Rae City.”
“What errand?”
“I’ll explain on the way.”
***
I strode into the office of the attorney Periglio. It was tastefully decorated with red leather walls, statues of nude nymphs in rude poses and a glossy ebonwood floor. Mercury casually rendered the lawyer’s two bodyguards unconscious as we swept past the wide eyed receptionist to the inner office.
Periglio was seated at his desk, with a pixyish pink-haired young woman in his lap holding a pen and steno pad. Periglio himself was a small, furtive man with rodent eyes and greasy, slicked back hair. He wore a purple pinstripe sharkskin doublet and tunic. Gold and diamond rings glittered on his fingers.
“Who are you?” he demanded, pushing the girl from his lap. She tumbled to the floor. He reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a Cruger mini crossbow, cocked and loaded. “How did you get in here?”
Ignoring the weapon, I dropped one of the Society’s wanted posters on the desk. “Are you the same Periglio designated as agent for collection of this bounty?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Now get out of here before I summon my guards!”
“They are indisposed,” said Merc. “Put away that toy before someone gets hurt.”
“How about you get hurt?”
Periglio fired at point blank range. Merc caught the arrow with one hand and jammed it into the lawyer’s desk.
The assistant bolted from the office. Periglio, wide-eyed, carefully set the crossbow on the desk.
“So what is it I can do for you gentlemen?” he asked.
“I am here to claim the bounty.”
“What?”
“I’m Jason Cosmo. I’m presenting myself to you as per the bounty offer. Ten million carats, please!”
“You’re no more Jason Cosmo than I am.”
I drew Overwhelm, mentally commanding the sword to flare its admittedly pink light as I sliced Periglio’s desk in twain like a watermelon, scattering his papers across the floor.“This is
the enchanted sword Overwhelm once wielded by the Mighty Champion. Now it is mine.”
“So? That proves nothing. And desks cost money, you know.”
Merc grabbed the lawyer by the collar and yanked him to his feet. “Let me make things clearer for you. We know that you handle affairs for the Dark Magic Society in Caratha. We know the Society posted the reward on my friend here. We also know that we just returned from killing the Overmaster and many of his minions. One more won’t make much difference to me.”
Periglio squinted at me. “As I take another look, he does appear to be Jason Cosmo. The idea was that he be delivered as a prisoner, but technically speaking, he has fulfilled the terms of the bounty offer. He, er, has fair claim to the money.”
“Good,” said Merc, releasing him.
The attorney opened a small safe and produced a letter of credit for ten million carats, payable by the Bank of Caratha. He signed the document over to me.
“Thank you,” I said. “Have a wonderful day!”
***
Having ten million in gold to my name made me one of the richest men in Caratha. Claiming the price on my own head would only add to my notoriety. But it should also, Merc explained, free me from worrying about bounty hunters. They would lose interest in me as the news spread. Thieves, robbers, grifters, swindlers, gamblers, and gold diggers were another matter.
“Enjoy your good fortune while you can,” said Merc.
“While I can? What does that mean?”
“Happy endings never last.”
“You’re a sourpuss, Merc.”
“I speak from experience. Like it or not, Cosmo, you are a new power in the world. You have enemies you haven’t even met. The Society will want their revenge. The Demon Lords may yet cast their baleful eyes once more upon you. The League will pester you to run their errands. Ambitious swordslingers will challenge you to make a name for themselves. Caratha, moreover, is a city of deadly intrigues all its own. I give you two weeks tops before you’re up to your eyebrows in danger once again.”
“Gee, thanks.”
The wizard clapped my shoulder. “So I say again, my friend—enjoy it while you can!”
***
Soon Mercury and Queen Raella returned to her realm. I would follow when the happy day of their wedding arrived. Meantime, I meant to explore the Shining City by the Sea.
Sapphrina and Rubis were my enthusiastic guides. Together, we toured the awe-inspiring Alcazara Palace and its Shining Tower. We made devotions at the Consolidated Temple of The Gods. We visited the ivy-covered halls of Caratha University. We hunted bargains amid the endless booths and shops and winding lanes of the Grand Bazaar. On sunny days, we lounged on the pleasure barges in the Old Canals or strolled arm in arm in arm through the botanical splendor of Pantheon Park. After dark, they led me through the maze of Carathan nightlife, taking me to the best parties, the hottest clubs, and most fashionable dining establishments. Truly, it would take years to experience all that the City at the Center of the World had to offer.
But years I had. My quest was done. I had no reason to go back to Lower Hicksnittle. What was there for me now? All my life, Caratha had called to me in dreams. As vast and bewildering as the great city was, I felt strangely at home here. Resolving to remain, I used my newfound wealth to purchase a well-appointed villa.
As the lazy days passed, I enjoyed my growing bond with Sapphrina. For a time, we did not allude to our exchange of tender words in Rae City all those weeks ago. Yet they colored all we did together, like the shadow of a hovering dove. Both of us savored the anticipation until, finally, we could no longer contain our feelings.
On a midnight stroll in the garden of my villa, I took Sapphrina’s hand.
“Let us do this properly,” I said, whirling her about to face me. I enfolded her in my arms.
“As you will.”
“Sapphrina.”
“Jason.”
“I love you.”
“And I love you, my darling hero, with all my heart!”
“I cannot tell you how happy that makes me.”
“Oh, Jason!”
“Oh, Sapphrina!”
“Kiss me!”
“I will!”
“And take me now!”
“Take you...now?”
“Yes! Take me! Take me inside—the needleflies are biting me something awful!”
“I hadn’t noticed. I should send for Pest-Be-Dead.”
“Norkin is good too,” said Sapphrina. “You should get a quote from both, actually.”
“I shall. Tomorrow.”
“Yes,” she murmured, snuggling closer. “Tomorrow.”
Our lips met. For long moments we were oblivious to everything except our mutual bliss. But we could not long ignore the cloud of bloodsucking insects buzzing around us. Swatting furiously, I led Sapphrina into the house and up the stairs.
The hero business was tough. But after all the foes were laid low, the dangers surpassed, and the obstacles overcome, the rewards were sweet indeed.
*****
Greetings, Loyal Reader!
Our story ends here for now. I hope you enjoyed Hero Wanted. Thanks for reading. While you wait to get your hands on the next Jason Cosmo adventure, I invite you to visit JasonCosmo.com, where you can further explore the world of Arden, meet other Loyal Readers, and get the latest news about upcoming books. I hope to see you there!
Best regards,
Dan McGirt
*****
DAN McGIRT is completely lacking in ninja training of any kind. He is a hiker, whitewater kayaker, occasional world traveler, sometime speechwriter, futurist, and amateur bioethicist. He likes cats, horses, and ducks. He is indifferent to warthogs. He dislikes rabid weasels. He is not a neurosurgeon, has not climbed Mt. Everest, and does not currently own a Bunsen burner. When he was little he had a pony. It’s true. You probably wanted a pony, didn’t you? Life is unfair.