The Trials (Assassin's Intent Book 1)

by Lanford, K. W.

  Aram laughed and so did Yantis as he walked in behind Rix. Yantis looked around the room and nodded with satisfaction. "This should do splendidly." He walked over to the rug in the center of the floor and sat down. He motioned for Aram to sit down before him. Aram took a seat and looked at Yantis. "I am told you know a crude means of exercising your power."

  Aram nodded, so Yantis continued. "Okay, I have done extensive research into your ability and how it should be properly used. The only problem is; I am told your power can work both ways. This is most unusual and has never before been documented. My plan is to confer upon you my knowledge of what I know about your ability. I hope it will give you more insight regarding how to manipulate the other aspect."

  Again, Aram nodded and could see by the look on Yantis’ face that he was waiting for him to get ready. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind. The information started coming to him as it usually did, but this time it was way more ordered. Where usually he couldn’t fully understand the information until he had all of it to piece together, this came in a precise order that built upon itself as it grew. Yantis had included portions of what he needed to know about magery itself in order to keep from over exerting himself in the future. The information he had just received on how to use his mimic abilities also seemed to fit with what he did to transfer information to others.

  He looked at Yantis with clear, focused eyes. "Now may I show you something?"

  Yantis nodded. Being no novice, he cleared his mind and Aram found it simple to begin. He not only transferred his newfound knowledge of making a listening window, but also what he and Arlaina had seen. Yantis’ eyes came back into focus and he smiled. "That is amazing! Not only the portal, but the whole transfer process! Your mind is an orderly masterpiece. I had been expecting to receive a jumbled mess, but it was all clear and concise. That is what I was hoping you could do for Rix. Help him to organize his mind, to help open him up to his potential. Do you think you could try and transfer, say, the candle lighting spell to him?"

  Aram smiled. "It would be a pleasure. After all, I can’t be walking everywhere. I will need him casting portals soon." Rix beamed with pride at his soon-to-be prowess. Yantis and Aram just laughed.

  Rix took Yantis’ spot before Aram and Yantis instructed him in an exercise they had been working on to clear his mind. Rix looked to be in a deep trance. Yantis looked at Aram and gave him a nod. Aram tried to touch Rix’s mind as he had done with Yantis. There seemed to be something blocking him. He focused a little harder and moved his awareness all around Rix’s mind, looking for an opening in the wall. He was about to give up, when he found a small crack.

  He tried to force his thoughts through, but it was no use. So instead, he tried sending the information a little at a time. He was able to get some through, but found he had to mentally push rather hard. He was focusing with all of his mental prowess; bearing down on the crack, force feeding the information through the shell when it happened. Without warning, the shell shattered. Everything Aram new about magery, slammed into Rix in a thought. The candle lighting, the light spell, the portals, the windows and the disguise; all of it ripped from his mind and slammed into Rix. Both of them passed out.

  Chapter Twelve

  The Request

  Aram woke up in his bed beside Rix who was snoring blissfully. He looked around and saw Yantis reading a book. "Can I expect to find you reading every time I wake from doing something stupid?"

  Yantis smiled and closed his book. "This time you weren’t doing something stupid. You were under the supervision of a master mage. So what do you think happened?"

  Aram sat up and rubbed his head. "Well, it was like there was a wall. I found a crack and was forcing the information through, when it suddenly wasn’t there. Then everything was pulled from my mind at once. I couldn’t stop it!"

  Yantis smiled a sad smile. "I was afraid of something like that. It was why I wanted you to try now, before you had so much information that the instant transfer would have killed you both. I am glad though, that I had imparted to you the basics of magery beforehand. I am afraid when your brother wakes and figures out what he can do, we will be forever trying to corner him for a moment's lesson."

  Aram laughed at that thought. A teleporting Rix… The world is no longer safe. "How long have I been out? A month?"

  Yantis chuckled. "Only an hour. What happened here was just a mental shock, not exhaustion."

  Aram got out of bed, sat in a chair beside Yantis and took out his father’s journal. Yantis nodded his agreement and opened his own book. The two of them read in silence for about an hour before Rix woke up. "What are you two doing hovering over my bed like vultures?"

  Aram looked up at him. "Actually, you’re in my bed and I am not hovering. I am waiting for you to get out of it so I can sleep in peace."

  Rix looked around and shrugged. "Oh, well did you fix me?"

  Aram laughed. "Yes, I think I did, if such a thing is possible."

  Yantis pulled a candle out of one of his many pockets and set it on the table. Then he looked at Rix and gestured towards it. Rix screwed up his face in concentration and then his eyes popped wide open. "I can feel it! I can feel the power sitting inside me! Just like you said. it’s sitting there waiting for direction." Rix waved his hand towards the candle and it sprang to life. So did Rix. As soon as the flame sprang up from the wick, he sprang up from the bed and started dancing a little jig.

  Yantis started clapping a slow, bored clap. "Good for you. Now, calm down and try to focus. I need you to open a portal back to my chambers in the Order. After that, do no more magic until we can meet again for more training."

  Rix laughed. "Yeah right. I finally light the damned candle and now he thinks I can just picture his room in my mind, draw a circle in the air like this and poof there’s . . ." The portal opened. Rix stared at it dumfounded. He played the whole process over in his mind; as he did, he understood for the first time what he had done and how.

  Yantis walked past him and pushed his bottom jaw up closing his mouth. "A competent mage doesn’t drool on himself after casting a spell. Now, after I am in my room; close the portal and go find your own room. I will expect to see you in my office just after breakfast." Yantis turned to Aram. "Good night nephew. I shall check the coins in the vault personally to find the marked ones."

  Aram nodded and said goodnight. Yantis stepped through the portal. Rix stood there looking through the portal at Yantis for a few seconds and just before Yantis could start to complain it closed. Rix looked at Aram with awe. "Did you just see what I can do? I am a powerful mage now. So don’t start getting all uppity on me or I will turn you into a toad!"

  Aram barked a quick laugh. "You couldn’t turn a toad into a toad if you had a mirror. Now come on, I know where your room is I’ll show you."

  Rix shrugged. "Maybe I can’t yet, but keep in mind that someday I will be powerful and you would do well to stay on my good side."

  Aram laughed again. "I have always thought it a good idea to be on your good side. Why would I change now?" Rix nodded and applauded his wisdom.

  Aram opened his door just as a pretty woman was about to knock on it. Both of them were slightly startled. "Excuse me my lady; I didn’t know you were there."

  The lady smiled sheepishly and curtsied to Aram. "You are too kind my Prince. I am Lady Sandra Blackenwood, wife of Jerald and mother of Tollis. I have come to beg a favor of you my Prince."

  Aram smiled a warm smile and then took her in his arms in a great hug. "That shall be enough of this 'my prince' stuff. You are mother to one of my best friends in the world and that alone would grant you a dear place in my heart. But we are in fact family and I will accept nothing more than 'Aram' from you." Aram pushed her back to arms-length and saw her pretty, yet slightly damp smile. "Now, what can I do for my aunt Sandra?"

  She looked a little ashamed. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t trouble you with my pettiness, but when Jerald told me how you all had gotten here, I couldn
’t help but come and ask."

  Aram led her over to one of the chairs and let her sit. She was trembling like a frightened girl. "Don’t worry about it. Ask and if it is within my power you shall have it."

  Sandra nodded, dabbing at her moist eyes with a kerchief. "It’s just that, well, I haven’t seen my Tollis in so long. Then he was back for only a day it seemed, before he rode out again with his father. If you could travel so easily, I just thought . . ."

  Aram smiled. "Say no more. Did Jerald happen to say where Tollis is staying at the moment? "

  Sandra looked up with hope in her eyes. "Only that he was holed up at an inn in Warrington with a blacksmith. Do you think you could find him and bring him home for me?"

  Aram smiled. "I shall do my best. Go back to your chambers and if I am successful, I will insist he come and wake you."

  Sandra stood up with a beaming smile and hugged him tightly. Aram thought to himself, no wonder Tollis is so tough and strong. Growing up with the crushing hugs his mother and father deliver he would have to be. Sandra wished him luck and then left his room.

  When Aram turned around Rix was standing there, arms crossed over his chest, tapping his foot. "So you can make portals too?"

  Aram shrugged. "Not nearly as nice as your own."

  Rix smiled. "Nice answer. You always were good at staying on my good side."

  Aram laughed. "It’s a gift, or a curse; I have yet to decide. So, want me to show you to your room, or do you want to take a little jaunt into Warrington with me?"

  Rix looked stunned. "You would ask me such a question? You, who have known me for five years, have to ask if I would rather go to bed or take a side trip into town?" Rix stood there for a moment and then started twirling his hand around in circles. "Come on already, cast the damn portal."

  Aram shook his head. "Even after Yantis told you to go to bed?"

  Rix rolled his eyes and kept circling his hand. Aram focused on the spot behind the inn where he had landed the first time he ever rode the wind, a spot forever ingrained in his memory and opened a portal.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Cat and Mouse

  Aram and Rix were standing in the shadows behind the inn. They were about to walk into the alley when they heard voices in the darkness. Aram motioned for Rix to stay where he was and stepped into the shadows. He cast the light spell upon himself and then stayed in the moon's shadows as he crept up on two men in the alley next to the inn’s wall.

  "I am telling you, it has to be her. She was seen in the common room with that giant oaf. They are in that room directly above on the fourth floor. Stolly says he will pay good for the blacksmith's fingers."

  The second man harrumphed. "He also said he would pay well for the farmer we ran into that gully, but he didn’t pay a dime."

  The first man sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you, that was your fault? We had no proof it was the Browman chap, because you sent him down that ravine. This time we will take proof."

  Aram was stunned. Stolly had hired these idiots to kill Rianna. These same two had killed Rix’s father, but why? Aram was trying to work it all out in his mind, when he noticed they were climbing the wall towards Tollis' window. He gauged their progress and decided he had time so he went back to Rix."They are assassins intending to kill Rianna and Tollis. I will follow them up; you go around and get the innkeeper." Aram didn’t wait for Rix to reply. He turned and melted back into the shadows.

  The second assassin was just slipping through the window when Aram reached the wall. Aram practically ran up the wall and was through the window in the span of two heartbeats. He scanned the room and found one of the assassins off to his left, circling the room towards the door, while the other crept up to the bed. The one circling the room had a crossbow, so Aram went after him. He drew the dagger from his boot and walked right up to the would-be assassin. Then he cut the string on the crossbow and yelled. "Tollis! Assassins!"

  Tollis rolled across the bed and off the far side. He pulled a startled Rianna with him. The assassin had a dagger in his hand and jumped upon the bed in pursuit. Aram tossed his dagger towards Tollis with a warning. That was all Tollis needed. He deftly caught the dagger and met the assassin atop the bed, blade for blade.

  The assassin next to Aram took the opportunity to drop the useless crossbow and pull a dagger of his own. He thought Aram was too distracted to be aware of the movement. He was wrong. As Aram’s arm extended towards Tollis when he tossed his dagger, he locked his first two fingers out stiff. His right arm came back in with lightning speed and poked the assassin three times in rapid succession; once on the right shoulder, causing the dagger to fall to the floor from numb fingers. The second was to the left shoulder, leaving the man with both arms hanging useless at his sides. The last strike hit him in the throat, where he gasped once, then slipped to the floor. Aram turned back towards Tollis afraid his friend would be at a disadvantage since he was completely naked with nothing but a dagger in his hand.

  Since his trial, Tollis had spent hour after hour training his body to respond to the martial training he had in his mind. The training was paying off. Tollis was a huge man with the bulging muscles one would expect on a warrior trained with swords in full plate armor, but he moved with the fluid grace you would expect from a dancer.

  The assassin’s dagger never got close to his skin. The assassin however, was bleeding from several deep slashes and was looking for a means of escape. Tollis offered him one in the form of a solid kick to his chest. The force of the kick sent the assassin flying off of the bed and backwards through the still opened window. Aram raced back to the window and looked out. The assassin had landed neck first and lay sprawled in the alley at an awkward angle.

  Aram waved his hand and the lamps in the room flared to life. Tollis had Aram’s dagger in a death grip and was stalking towards the unconscious assassin Aram left by the door. "Tollis, no!"

  Tollis stopped and looked at Aram, a hot glare of hatred displayed on his face. Aram had never imagined a look that cold, could exist on the usually jovial Tollis. "He will die for his mistake." Tollis said.

  Aram nodded his agreement. "Yes, but first let’s find out what he knows. Why was he sent after you and by whom?"

  About that time, Rianna walked up behind Tollis and slipped her hands around his chest. "Aram is right my love. Perhaps you should check on the woman you threw bodily across the room?"

  Tollis’ eyes opened wide as he realized what he had done in the heat of the moment to keep her safe. With the rage suddenly dissipated, the Tollis Aram knew and loved resurfaced. He looked down at his naked form and blushed. "Umm, Aram, could you give us a moment?"

  Aram laughed and walked to the door. Rix burst into the room just as Aram was about open it. "Nobody move! I am a mage of great power and I . . ." Tollis, Aram and Rianna were all looking at him with amused smiles. "Well, I would have saved you."

  Aram motioned to the assassin by the door. "Help me get him secured somewhere."

  Rix and Aram dragged the unconscious assassin out of the room and closed the door. Rix looked up bewildered. "I don’t get it. Did you happen to get a look at Rianna? That is an image that will hinder my sleep for days to come. Tollis has her. You have Arlaina. I am better looking than the both of you, so where is my sexy woman?"

  Aram just laughed. "Perhaps you are spending too much time with Yantis and not enough out searching for her?"

  Rix thought about it for a moment. "You're right. I just have my priorities in order. First I’ll become the greatest mage the world has ever known, then I can pick and choose the woman I want."

  The proprietor came running up in his night clothes, carrying a small cudgel. "Oh dear, there truly were assassins." He quickly opened a door across the hall. "Please, drag him in here before someone sees!" Rix and Aram complied and then asked him to fetch a length of rope to secure him. The innkeeper nodded and half jogged, half waddled out of the room.

  Aram grabbed Rix by the shoulders and he
ld him at arm’s length. "When we start to question this man, you’re going to hear some hard news. I want your word that you will do nothing until we have gotten everything out of him we can." Rix looked at Aram like he was unsure if he could make unknown promises, but he finally agreed.

  They had the assassin secured in a chair and Aram had told the proprietor about the second one lying in the alley. The man had nodded, saying he would see to it before daylight could expose the deed. Tollis and Rianna had dressed and joined them in the empty room. Tollis gestured towards the assassin. "Okay, wake him up. I want answers." Aram nodded a slapped the assassin hard.

  The assassin woke with a start from the stinging slap and quickly assessed his situation. He looked at Rianna and sneered. "You don’t think by stopping me you have avoided the wrath of the prince do you; whore?" Tollis punched him hard, then looked at Aram and shrugged his apology. The assassin spit blood and perhaps a tooth and then leered at Tollis. "Oh, your time is numbered too. You can’t run off with the prince’s whore and not expect to receive attention."

  Tollis leaned in close to the assassin. "Call her a whore once more and I will show you how we castrate sheep out on the range."

  Rianna placed a hand on Tollis’ shoulder and gently pulled him back. "So the little prick Stolly has sent his assassins after me because I refused his advances. Wasn’t he also the one who told the royal guard I was a traitor and had my shop turned upside down while they looked for proof? Does the little gelding actually think that is how you win a woman's heart?" She laughed out loud.

  Tollis looked at her. "Stolly is behind all of this? I always hated that little bastard, but I never thought he was this bad."