Mages at Large (Wine of the Gods Book 18)

by Pam Uphoff

"And their families." Falco said. "You shouldn't split them up."

  Marcus eyed the boy, but he was right. Mages and families.

  His Compass was just as ruthless as he was. "Seabaugh, for starters. Christopher Hatch, Lee Nelson, and Jesse Burke. They're all physically tough. We'll bring out more once we have established ourselves in Havwee or Karista." The four were manhandled outside and then the crowded basement levels searched. Barbara looked damn good after all this time with nothing but old whores.

  "What the bloody hell?" John Seabaugh staggered and looked around. Took in the museum, eyed Marcus with raised eyebrows.

  "Art and Mercy bubbled us, turned us into their damned statues. It's been a thousand years, and the world has changed, a lot."

  "Where the hell . . . "

  Marcus turned around. Falco had freed Nelson and was scratching at the bronze on Christopher Hatch.

  "Well, I suppose I might as well just explain it all once." Marcus glanced back at Seabaugh. "Apparently Falco Newton, being half wizard, can pop these god bubbles."

  "Get my wife out right now! And where are my kids?"

  Max stepped in. "Dennis is right over there and I think that's Howie . . ."

  Hatch staggered back and landed on his rear. Cursing.

  Falco started scratching at Burke's trap and Marcus turned back to Seabaugh.

  "The short and sweet of it is that we're on the frontier of a kingdom. Hereditary nobility and a king. This area is just north of a really hot gold rush. Perfect place for strangers to get a start, but . . . " He suddenly looked down at himself. "Hard on the clothes. Get used to it. We're going to have to work, and finesse our way back to the top. But there's not a lot of magic around, so it ought to be doable in a couple of more years."

  The old man flicked a speck off the sleeve of his beautifully tailored suit. "I see."

  Marcus turned back to the other mages. "Please, please, just relax. Falco got us out a year ago, and we've figured out how things work here, and got ourselves established. You four, and your families are next. Then as soon as we can, we'll expand again.

  Nelson crossed his arms and glared. "I'm delighted that you are getting Sylvia and Opal out, but what about my sisters?"

  Marcus smiled. "Of course. They're, what? Sixteen and seventeen? Can't leave them behind." That'll help the gender imbalance. I ought to get one more young woman out, though, to replace Dobs. Seabaugh's a confirmed bachelor, but he'll be wanting sex . . .

  "And Aunt Veronica." Hatch looked over his shoulder where Falco was working on the women. "She's a great help with the children."

  Marcus sighed. Stuck up old biddy. "Certainly. Let's go find them." What I do for peace! He summoned Paul with a gesture and led the way back inside.

  Seabaugh snorted, and walked over to where Max and Dobs were trying to explain the situation to three hysterical women.

  Manhandling three statues out of Art's basement was much more pleasurable.

  When he got back Barbara, frowning but silent, was taking in the kids' rather incoherent tale. She looked thoughtfully his direction but left him to retrieving the other women.

  Then Falco popped them out and there were three more idiots screeching and emoting. Barbara, thank the Old Gods, was emotionally cold and analytical. She retreated from the mob and circled around to him. "So how bad is it?"

  "I've already accumulated funds. We'll be out of the howling wilderness by next winter, and rich in two years. The . . . wild west aspects of the New Lands can cover up a whole lot of . . . somewhat questionable money making opportunities."

  "Good. Working with your hands is low class. Do be clever with the other . . . work." She walked off toward the children.

  It's nice to be understood.

  Over the general outrage, Marcus informed them that the rest would be safe until they had the resources to support them. The grumbling died down as they all got an eyeful of the desolate rock plain.

  Falco was talking to Max, who had his arm around the witch's waist. Marcus considered how to remove the poison of the witch's influence. He'd have to check with the others, see if they knew of a counterspell for infatuations. But he didn't want to get into any discussions about who else just had to be brought along.

  He chivvied them into the wagons and they headed south again, despite the late hour.

  "We'll tour about a bit, and we can decide where to set up a permanent residence. Don't worry about the desolation here. Havwee's a beautiful city, and the capital, Karista, is rather a lot like Scandia."

  Barbara eyed him, no doubt reading more into what he'd said than he would like. "Well, we'll just have to treat this little trip like a vacation. Veronica, do come sit with me."

  Marcus handed the women up into the bed of the wagon. The three wives with their four children took over the second wagon. He let Paul drive their wagon, showing off to the Nelson girls. Lee and Jesse joined their families, and Marcus pulled up a subtle privacy shield and started filling Seabaugh and Hatch in on the local situation and his plans.

  They approved, of course. A couple of years of hard work and they could be on top of this society.

  They camped at twilight, for a campfire dinner of grilled rabbit. Of course they found it new and exotic. Give them a month . . . Paul and the Nelson girls were at the other campfire with Falco and Max. Excellent.

  Lots of coming and going between groups, no split evident.

  We're all back together, now. That witch will be the outsider. If she doesn't leave on her own, I'll arrange something. Marcus sat back, content. With a full Compass we can do so much more. Get rich on gold, of course. But we can start influencing people. Question people in depth, and then make them forget about the odd people who were so clueless. We'll make ourselves into the nobility of the New Lands, and start getting into the government.

  Things are different, here. Perhaps we should start thinking about marrying into the nobility . . . I should check out the royal family as well. Paul would make an excellent prince.

  But it was nice to get private with Barbara, to pass on the gossip he'd picked up about the local high society. And for a few other things he'd been missing.

  "We'll buy a Land Grant, when you find a spot that's suitable. That makes us Lord and Lady, and we'll work up from there."

  Barbara tended to hang around with the other women, and he was amused to see her subtly maneuvering them into doing what she wanted them to do. The widow was being coy. Pretending indifference to old Seabaugh, but just happening to be the one who fetched food and drink for him. That will work out well.

  After four days on the road, the complaints about the people left behind had stopped altogether.

  "I can't believe how desolate this place is." Barbara tucked a tress back into place. "So, how long do you think we'll be out here?"

  "I have a good sized nest egg, already, but we'll need to set up for a constant stream of income. I think we need to spend this summer here, mining and trading. Then we'll move to Havwee for the winter, and then Karista the following year." Marcus shrugged. "We'll see how things play out. Earlier wouldn't be bad."

  Paul, a girl on either side, looked over his shoulder. "Tomorrow we'll be in Gemstone. It's a nice little town, they're talking about making the leader there, the land grant holder, the governor of the whole Territory."

  The campgrounds at Gemstone were very welcome, as was the restaurant in the town.

  "I'm so glad to see that the entire territory isn't a howling waste." Barbara was chatting up a local woman, a fellow shopper at the farmer's market.

  Marcus left her to it. No point in rushing to get on the road again. A day and a half to Lucky Strike. And now that he thought about it, fresh fruit and vegetables sounded pretty good.

  ***

  Two days later, he was demonstrating corridors to the others, and by cutting through Havwee to Two Trees, they cut their travel time to just another week.

  ***

  Marcus reveled in the power of a full compass.

>   He could feel Falco holding his position as Southeast as firmly as he could. A very strong young mage. Only eighteen and he's as strong as Max who's turned twenty. The eight mages, working together, were breathtakingly more powerful than any other group he'd ever worked with. The Archmage's compass. They lifted sediments out of a lesser hole in the riverbed, controlling the volume, not also bringing up the water above it, and no crocs. They brought the mud, sand and boulders ashore. Set it down in a controlled fashion and softened the shield they held around it enough that the water streamed out, again controlled, so that when they finally released the shields, a long heap of muddy detritus slumped outward. Rather nice to not repeat the avalanche of water, mud, gravel, and crocs of their first dredging..

  Jesse Burke whistled as he stepped into the thin mud, and picked out three small nuggets. "I think we've fallen into an ideal situation."

  Seabaugh nodded. "We'll want a company office in this Southern Hell. Possibly live in Havwee, but since the aristocracy is based on Land Grants, and they're selling them out here, we may need to live out here. One of these boom towns that is losing population, but still with a corridor might be handy."

  Lee Nelson nodded. "With money and magic, anything can be made livable."

  And by the middle of summer, they had a great deal of money. Mostly honestly.

  In Southern Hell they found a lawyer and incorporated as Far East Mining. Opened new bank accounts. Placed mining claims on all sixteen quarters of a two mile square, one corner up out of the Rip, so they could build homes for the families.

  Marcus sent off an inquiry about how to go about purchasing a Land Grant. Two hundred miles by two hundred miles. We can go from the bottom of the Rip to at least one ashstone ridge, probably two.

  Most of it would be useless for mining purposes, but that wasn't all bad. He'd have more control over who moved in.

  But for now, they needed to prove the new claims, and set up some better contacts with that damned bandit gang. With a full compass he could deal with that wizard woman, get some solid information about their other contacts.

  The new claims were just ten miles northeast of Southern Hell, in an area that had been well checked and judged useless. But no one had dredged the canyon. The southwest corner was halfway up on a nice flat tier of rock. A good spot to build. He should make it the center of his Land Grant . . . but then they'd need four more Land Grants for the other Mages . . . as well as one for Falco . . . except eventually they'd get his father out, and Hawkin Newton ought to be the Land Grant Holder, not the son. In fact, they were going to need a lot more grants than that. I had a hundred and twenty-eight mages. Sixteen linked compasses. All obeying me. And I will again. We can take over a corner of this wasteland, work our way into the aristocracy—so nice to see that has returned—and eventually into the government.

  Pleased with the results so far, he took all the families to Havwee for a shopping spree. He wound up buying a large house that the ladies could retreat to, whenever the rigors of the frontier got too much for them.

  He left them there, with Barbara in charge of furnishing what she called their "vacation home." Not a bad plan. It will be a bit crowded if we all stay all winter, but I for one, want to keep an eye on my new claims. Chris, Lee, and Jesse decided to stay for a few days. Paul eyed the two young women and opted to stay as well. So only Seabaugh, Max, Falco, and that damned witch followed him back to Southern Hell.

  Seabaugh had spotted the problem as well. Hard not to. It had been getting worse lately. Max wasn't even hiding his infatuation any longer. Seabaugh stepped aside with Marcus and nodded at the kids as they strolled away. "You need to get rid of the witch."

  "Yes." Marcus glanced the other way and spotted Henry, frowning at him in puzzlement. An experienced, murdering bandit. His memory is still fogged . . . and I'll have to wipe it altogether when it's done. "And I think an opportunity just fell into my lap. Excuse me a moment."

  ***

  Marcus walked back around the corner and spotted the kids. Perfect. He stopped and waved them in. "This town really does have everything. There's even a new dress shop around the corner." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

  Dobs perked up. "Really? I'm going to take a look."

  Marcus eyed the boys. Just a few minutes distraction . . . "Max, Falco, I need to talk to you. I think we need to get back to Art's museum and get out enough men for two Compasses. Then I won't have to worry about threats from that wizard woman we met . . . "

  An ear splitting shriek from around the corner. "Help! Someone!"

  Max bolted for the corner, Falco on his heels. Marcus cursed. He'd told the men to knock her out completely first thing . . . He stalked after them. They'd better not kill either of the boys. Max was his, and he needed Falco to release more mages.

  Yelling and swearing, another scream. Henry nearly knocked him down as he turned the corner. Running in terror. The dozen men he'd hired were sprawled all over the road, half limp, half whimpering and bleeding. Max and Falco were hovering over Dobs, who had blood running over her face from her scalp. A man all in black, sword in hand was glaring around at the men on the ground. A big bay stallion behind him lashed out and kicked a man who was trying to get away.

  "It's not our fault," one of the miners whimpered. "He paid us to kill the girl." He pointed a shaky hand and everyone looked at Marcus.

  The dark stranger studied him thoughtfully for a minute. Then he stooped and picked up a bottle of cheap liquor one of the miners must have dropped. He pulled the cork and added something from his hip flask. "Share this around, then all of you get lost. Hunt for gold or get a job. You start murdering for money, I'll come back and kill you all. Understand?" The man he handed the bottle to nodded and shrank away.

  The dark stranger walked over to Dobs. "Take a swallow of this. And if you two are going to start rescuing maidens, you need to learn to fight. And to do what you have to do, despite your ages." He eyed Falco. "If you want to reach your full abilities, you need to have your hormones suppressed. Want it?" The boy nodded as if mesmerized, and the man touched his forehead for a moment. "There are magic users in Ash and Rip Crossing who can assist in your further training. For all of you." He stepped back and mounted the stallion. Looked thoughtfully at Marcus. "This can be your home, your country, now. But you must obey the laws. You are not above them." The horse trotted past him, and Marcus blinked, lost track of them in the setting sun.

  When he looked back, the kids were gone as well.

  Marcus ground his teeth and stalked back to the main street. Baking hot, shabby fast construction. The hotel where they stayed when they were in town was as close to substantial as anything in town. A good stable and plenty of room for the ubiquitous wagons . . . He stalked down to the hotel in time to see the backs of the kids as they drove out of the yard. They had gone straight for the stable and taken a wagon and team. The ones they'd bought so he couldn't even call it theft. They were gone and he was going to have to . . . deal with it.

  Damn it all. Now I've only got five other mages. I'll have to find Falco to get more people out. And at the first opportunity, I'll kill that witch personally.

  Chapter Nine

  Summer 1394

  Gold Rush Territory

  Falco breathed the free air, and choked a bit on the sulfur fumes from below.

  "We need to set up our camp a bit further back from the Rip."

  Dobs was sitting cross legged, meditating. She'd been getting better all the time at finding gold. This time they were tracing a deep vein, hoping it would come to surface somewhere. Or close enough to the surface for practical matters. Forty feet . . . they could do it, if they really needed to. Bit by bit. They had mined their own claim for a month, but it was only ten miles from Marcus. Not nearly far enough. They'd sold their gold in Lucky Strike and prospected north from Two Trees and that casino hotel place on the Rip.

  If only I was better trained. If only I knew some spells that were more useful for digging. Or
if Max and I, together, could dredge up sediments.

  "It's dipped again." Dob sighed and flopped back on the hard black rocks.

  Falco frowned at her, then looked over at Max. Dropped his voice to a whisper. "Is Dobs getting fat or is she preggers?"

  "What!"

  "What!"

  Not quiet enough. "Sorry, I was just . . . "

  Dobs was looking down at her belly. And where she wasn't too sunburned, she was getting pale. "Oh no. I was suppressing . . . I shouldn't have . . . "

  Max whooped and hauled her to her feet so he could hug her properly. "I know it's mad, I don't care. Oh Dobs, I'll build you a proper house. I'll . . . I'll . . . find a midwife?" He sounded suddenly frightened.

  Falco cleared his throat. "We should keep tracing this vein north, stake a claim, then go to this Rip Crossing place. Val and Drei's buddies had babies, and from what I've heard, it's a pretty wild place. They won't care about our checkered past."

  "Oh! The farmer girls. Nile, Kile, and, and . . ." Dobs huffed out a breath. "Sooner or later I need to find a pyramid. For lessons. I'll be a Halfmoon witch by winter?" She looked dubiously down at her belly. "I don't know anything about babies!"

  Falco rolled his eyes. "We've got months, right? Plenty of time to find a good claim, make some money and then head for Rip Crossing. Right?"

  "Yeah." Dobs squinted. "Umm, five months, at least."

  Chapter Ten

  Late Fall 1394

  Karista

  Marcus read over the application for a Land Grant with climbing eyebrows. As usual, Barbara's political savvy had come through.

  The financial section bore a speaking resemblance to their life in New Tokyo. Other than the dates being changed, and Marcus being the head of a small guild dealing with running the regional irrigation system. In Scoone.