by Guy Antibes
THEY HAD TAKEN THE WAGON AS FAR AS THEY COULD along one of the many feeder trails before they abandoned it. Rasia led them to the one that would lead them through the pass. Trak had not yet regained all of his strength, but assisted the injured Malena in mounting a horse and helped spread the wagon’s supplies among them for the rest of their trip to Bitrium. They left plenty behind, bundled up from the elements as best as they could.
Asem found a tiny clearing and Kulara, Honor and he pushed the wagon into it and covered the opening with brush and debris. They had been sweeping up their tracks for a few miles.
Trak refused to talk to him about Valanna, but Asem hoped that Trak was intelligent enough to understand.
“We had to let her go. If they turn her into a guild member, we all know how to bring back her memories. Right now, getting you out of Santasia is our primary goal. It always has been.”
Trak’s face looked pathetic. He had been crying and wailing as if he had been injured. Perhaps his final deed had weakened his resolve and loosened up his emotions. Asem had to admit that Valanna’s capture made him feel like someone had ripped his arm off, but he had felt a similar feeling too many times in his life. When he first heard of Trak, the boy had been a curiosity, to compare to legendary magicians, but his power astounded Asem. He tried to speak to Honor about it, but she had no relevant words for what Trak had done. She didn’t even know of any records of a magician who had used a sword as a focus like Trak had instinctively done. It turned what magic Asem practiced into parlor tricks.
“It’s time to revive Sunbeam,” Honor said. “Unbind her feet, but not her hands.”
“Vintner will likely be long gone by the time we get there,” Rasia said, looking down at Sunbeam.
Honor put her hand to her chin. “Maybe not.” She concentrated on Sunbeam and said, “ Worry.”
“With a little luck, the reverse spell will unbind any forced allegiance to the guild, but it might remove the link with Vintner as well.”
“I should have thought of that,” Rasia said. The guide looked at Trak and then at the rest of their group. “Being the only non-magician here, I suggest that none of us talk about how Trak defeated the Santasians.” She looked at Trak. “I am afraid of your power, and I think it is for your own good that we not talk about it in Bitrium. If others know about it, they’ll come looking for you so they can keep you from using that kind of power.”
Asem nodded and put his arm around Trak’s shoulders. “I agree with Rasia. It is a secret for us to hold close. Trak?”
“I’d be the last to call attention to myself. So I’m fine with not talking about it.” He looked at Honor. “I need to learn how to control it, though. Can we still work on that?”
“Of course. Since it will be our secret, we all must agree.”
They all committed to keep the extent of Trak’s power a secret.
Rasia sighed. “Secrets, I hate them, but what would life be like without them?”
Honor put her arm around the woman’s shoulders. “You’ve been through enough.”
Asem kept his eyes on Sunbeam, but he wanted to look at Rasia. Honor had said something significant about Rasia and he would have liked to know her story. He loved to understand people and Rasia didn’t provide him with much understanding from her point of view. He knew Kulara well enough not to enlist her to find out. His second wife was nosy and there were limits when it came to women sharing secrets.
Sunbeam struggled. Her back twisted into an arch as if she was in great pain. Perhaps the spells caused physical discomfort. He’d have to ask Trak. Then she relaxed and opened her eyes.
“I am free, aren’t I?”
Honor knelt down and held Sunbeam’s hand. “Do you remember everything?”
Sunbeam shook her head. “The link is gone, I know that, blessed day! I am finally rid of that renegade.”
“Vintner?”
She nodded and made a face. “You must think awful things of me, but Vintner was turned by the guild and the link made me follow his will. I tried to fight it, but…” Sunbeam broke down into tears, but then stopped as she looked around her. “Where are we? This isn’t anywhere around Gorinza. We are heading to Bitrium, but this isn’t the way.”
Rasia took Asem aside. “She’s never used this pass before. Spies go on the main road in case they are caught and tortured.”
“Yet you trusted us?”
Rasia looked Asem in the eye. “We had no time to lose. I would appreciate your telling the others.”
“Even Honor?” Asem said.
Rasia nodded her head. “If it were up to me they would all ascend blindfolded.”
“We can still do that,” Asem said. “We haven’t reached the actual track yet. We will need four riders. One to lead, and three to hold the reins for the horses of Honor, Malena and Sunbeam.”
“Trak?” Rasia said. No one else could do it. “Why him?”
“He will soon regain his strength. He is a good swordsman and he needs distractions,” Asem said.
Rasia gazed into Asem’s eyes. “You are a better man than I thought.”
Asem smiled. “Don’t ever tell Kulara that.”
“I won’t,” Rasia actually returned his smile and soon they were on their way. “But I will tell you that she said you put me out of action at the restaurant.”
Asem kept control of his expression. One day Kulara’s loose lips would get him in real trouble. “I didn’t want you hurt. There were bolts and fireballs being slung with abandon. Even Valanna couldn’t avoid injury.”
“I was angry at first, but then I realized I would have done the same, if I could, for one of my fellow scouts.” She nodded to Asem and hurried to get everyone going.
Two hours later, Rasia found the trail that would take them to Colcan. Asem wouldn’t have been able to find it, but she did, amazingly.
They camped in a little clearing and took the blindfolds off of the others. After a night of tossing and turning and dreaming of Prince Nez yanking Valanna off from the wagon, Asem gratefully woke to a clear dawn sky.
Their trip back took them an extra day, but soon Asem saw the towers of Bitrium.
“I’ll ride ahead and make sure that Vintner doesn’t get away, if he hasn’t already,” Rasia said.
Asem waved to her as she stopped to wave goodbye to them. He knew she wouldn’t have thought to do something so ‘nice’ just a few days previous.
~
Bitrium is a creepy city, Trak thought. The tall towers and dark gray stone gave the city too much of a brooding presence. He had visions of the towers turning into stone giants and stomping on them all. The people matched the architecture. The entire place was filled with prickly Honors.
He nearly smiled, as he looked out from his window nineteen floors above the ground. It was like looking from the pass to the lands below. A knock on the door of his rooms made him turn away from the view.
“We are meeting in the dining room,” Asem said after he poked his head through the door.
Val’s abduction still stung. If he had the strength, he would have saved her, but he couldn’t even stand and no one else could do anything about the abduction either. He had to stop feeling guilty, Trak knew that, but the pain of letting her down still stung him.
Trak had been very angry at Asem for stopping him from staggering after Valanna, but now he realized that the Warishian had it right. Valanna was lost after Kulara and Honor had done all they could to stop the men. It didn’t stop the frustration and the unexpected pain.
He hadn’t had the chance to say he forgave her for deserting him like she did in Pestle, but did she even think she had done anything wrong? Trak was still shy around women and perhaps if he were more seasoned, he could have let their relationship go, but losing her only made him think of her more often. He had broken down on the ride back and still felt embarrassed about it, but all of these people had put their lives at risk to save him and Trak found that he had a hard time accepting it.
&nbs
p; Perhaps he could send a message to Dalistro. Trak had no idea what he would think of his adventures. It seemed so long ago since his tutor departed Espozia and left Trak on his own, if he really had. Maybe Dalistro didn’t expect the Magicians Guild would move when he was gone.
In retrospect, Trak thought that seemed too naive of a move on his tutor’s part. Maybe a letter wouldn’t be a good thing.
He sighed and left his room. It was nicer than any room he had ever used except for Dalistro’s mansion. Despite the simplicity of everything, Trak knew quality when he saw it and the people of Bitrium knew how to furnish a room.
The food was a different story. The magicians obviously liked to inflict punishment on themselves and the principal way they did that was through their diet. Trak merely ate the tasteless food to gain physical and magical strength back. No wonder they all walked around with pinched faces.
He put some of the dreadful fare on his plate and sat next to Rasia.
“I’m surprised they haven’t put me back out in the field,” she said. She took a bite and savored the savorless. Trak took a bit of the same thing and couldn’t figure out what made it tasty to her.
“But you did capture Vintner.”
She nodded with her mouth still full. She gulped. “He was getting ready to flee and when he saw me, he ran for the back door. One of my scouts greeted him.” She smashed a fist into her hand.
“So what will happen to him?”
“I wouldn’t ‘worry’ about it.” She gave Trak a ferocious smile and took another bite.
Others entered the room just as the rest of them finished their meal. Trak had thought he had asked all of their questions, but evidently there would be more.
The man named Berin, who seemed to be a friend of Asem’s, spoke. “I don’t suppose you’ll be heading north again?”
“There is my ward to rescue, Berin,” Asem said.
“You’ll be too well known, now, and you have enough magic in you that the Magicians Guild can convert you if captured.”
“If they do that, all of my knowledge leaves, isn’t that right, Honor?”
“Except for Trak’s case, that is my experience. Valanna is safe among them for now. She’ll be fed and has sufficient power to progress to a comfortable level. I think Berin is right.”
Asem played with his lower lip. “Then I am a man without a purpose.”
Kulara gave Honor a meaningful look and nodded. Trak realized that the signal was out of Asem’s line of sight.
“Not so,” Honor said. “Trak is still in need of an education. Perhaps a season or two among us teaching Trak political things and facts about Warish would be productive.”
Berin raised his eyebrows. “I’m amenable. We can find you suitable quarters in a house in town. I know you don’t like being cooped up in this tower.”
Asem narrowed his eyes as he processed the offer. “It’s not a matter of being cooped up—“
“Yes, it is, my dear,” Kulara said. “We will take you up on the offer, if Honor joins us.”
“I am willing,” Honor said. “There should be a house or two that can comfortably house us all including a practice studio and a stone maze.”
“There is,” Berin said.
“Are you willing to cook for me?” Asem said.
Kulara blushed. “Of course.”
Any food would be better than this. Trak added, “I’m agreeable. Anything to further my education.”
Berin slapped both of his hands on the table. “It’s settled. I’d like to have you around anyway, Asem. There is trouble brewing all around us and I’d like for Colcan to be prepared.”
~~~
Chapter Thirty-One
VALANNA COULDN’T COMMUNICATE much more than her name. Everyone around her spoke Santasian so she had no idea what they were talking about. She sat in a cell a few floors underneath the Magicians Guild in Mozira and wondered why they hadn’t just erased her memory. Perhaps that might be a blessing, she thought. They hadn’t provided her with a light, so she made one of her own, to dispel the gloom.
At least Trak and the others had survived the attack She couldn’t believe Trak’s trick of using the sword like a massive wand. Valanna had never seen such power. Trak had an affinity with the earth’s power that might be legendary one day, but who would make the act a legend? Asem wouldn’t speak about such a thing and she hoped that the Colcanans wouldn’t either.
She heard someone walking down the steps.
“You are the Colcan woman?” A man said as he opened the door.
“I come from Pestle, by way of Warish,” Valanna said.
“Enemies and here you sit in a Santasian cell fleeing to Colcan. You are an international spy, yes?”
Valanna was glad she sat in shadows or he would see the blush on her face. “A spy? Hardly, I came from Colcan to bring an old friend out of captivity.”
“Your ‘old friend’ had already escaped from the Magician’s Guild in Espozia.” He looked at her magician’s light. “I see that you have talent yourself.”
What a mistake! She should never have shown any magic. Would they obliterate her mind like they had Trak and Malena? “A little, enough to make that.” She pointed to the light. “I am mostly unschooled.”
“I would very much like to change that, but unfortunately, I have been told to keep your mind intact. We wait for a Council representative to interview you. He is coming from Nikia. Aren’t birds wonderful for speedy communication?” His smile seemed genuine.
The man stopped talking, but remained in the room. Valanna wondered why. The cell smelled of her and the bucket in the corner didn’t add any perfume to the air. She wasn’t about to tell him about linked couples, but they probably already knew with Sunbeam’s betrayal.
“Why were you with the Colcanans?” He leaned over and twisted a loose strand of her blonde hair.
“The two friends that accompanied me into Santasia intended to journey to Espozia, until we found out about my friend.”
Another pause. “Come with me. We will put you in a better room and let you freshen up a bit. We aren’t really enemies. Santasia isn’t at war with Pestle or Warish.”
“What about Colcan?”
“I’d describe it as an uneasy peace and since Bluntwithe is Pestlan, as are you, there is no need to be antagonistic.”
Valanna had to bite her tongue not to say anything about the kidnappers or the men that Trak had killed or even her own abduction. But she had no leverage of any kind sitting in a cell and had no chance of escape.
~
Having a bath and a place to relieve herself in something other than the bucket in her room did help make her abduction less painful. Valanna had no idea what kind of value she would have to the Santasians and once they found that out, she resigned herself to losing her memories and becoming a member of the Santasian Magicians Guild.
She reminded herself that Asem no longer needed her. She couldn’t look to him for help at this point. Trak just left Santasia and had no reason to return. Honor. Valanna shrugged her shoulders as she thought about her former teacher. She finally decided that Honor Fidelia had many layers and she had only been exposed to a few of them. Honor would do as she wished.
But she had been the source of the ‘worry’ spell reversal word. That gave her an idea. Trak had scratched it on his wrist. She would do the same, but on something less visible. What to use? She went to a little desk in the room and found paper, pencil and an old iron-bibbed pen. The point was sharp on the pen.
She drew up her dress and scratched two words, ’Say Worry’ on the inside of her upper thigh. The wound hurt and began to bleed. She took off the bandage still wrapped around her arm for the burn at Sunbeam’s restaurant and washed it out and laid it on the hot tiles on the window sill that jutted from her room.
Who would come while it dried? she thought. It didn’t take very long and then she washed the blood from the scratches and wrapped her thigh with most of it and re-wound two layers on her
burn. Now if they obliterated her mind, she had the means to save herself, if she remembered to use power to say it.
What else could she do to prepare? If she escaped she would have to wear a hat. There were some fair-skinned Santasians, but no blondes. She would have to think about it some more.
The next day, a man unlocked the door, carrying her midday meal. She didn’t bother to look at him, but he was the first man to deliver her food. She left the room to use the adjacent facility and when she came back, he sat at her table, with his back to her, eating.
“I beg your pardon. Are you eating my food?”
The man turned around and grinned. “I thought it better to bring my own since we have a lot to discuss,” the man said in lightly accented Pestlan.
Her mouth dropped open when she recognized the face of Misson Dalistro.
“You are my interrogator?”
“The one and the same. How have you been Valanna?”
“Captured.” The word had popped into her mind.
“I am aware of that. I am still a friend, by the way. The men who sought to re-capture Trak were not sent by the Council but by the Magicians Guild.”
Valanna furrowed her brow. “But we are sitting in the Magicians Guild.”
“There is a difference between the guild in Espozia and the one in Mozira. Here they are more… practical? In Espozia, the guild believes they are prime over the Council, not so here. I am on assignment from the council and we have people in the Moziran guild who keep us informed. Actually, they keep us better informed about the Espozia guild than from the Espozians. I imagine it may seem complicated to you.”
Valanna shook her head. “Not if you’ve spent much time in Balbaam. It is worse, if you can believe it.” She finally sat and ripped off a morsel from a small loaf of bread. She continued after swallowing. “Am I to be alarmed or relieved? Are you a worse person than Trak described?”
Dalistro grinned and leaned forward with his chin resting on his fist. “What did happen with Trak?”
She had always liked Dalistro, although she hadn’t really spent much time learning from him in Pestledown. She didn’t have anything to lose so she gave him what information she gleaned from Honor and Trak, but didn’t say very much about the help that Berin gave them and didn’t name Asem or Kulara.