by Dave Higgins
As Imperatis passed a bench, Rauger leapt onto it and slashed down. The mind mage danced around the blade.
Rauger pressed hard, but Imperatis remained always one step ahead. The mage was on the defensive, but even with the charm, Rauger wasn’t good enough to land a blow.
Imperatis began to favour his left side.
For a breath, Peony thought Rauger was wearing him down. She realised he was shifting the fight toward her; aiming to take her hostage. There was no way for her to avoid his grapple. Dropping her shield, she drew her knife.
Imperatis darted back from Rauger, then whirled around. One arm grabbed her shoulder as he spun, pulling her forward as he continued his turn.
A dull ache ran up her neck as his forearm clamped around her jaw. Her head was twisted painfully, as if the slightest twitch would break her neck.
“Back off,” Imperatis said. “Throw down your sword, or your true love dies.”
Rauger paused, the struggle clear in his eyes.
Not giving him time to surrender, Peony drove her knife backward
Imperatis twisted aside, avoiding the knife. But as he did, his body moved from behind Peony for a moment. Long enough for Rauger to lunge forward and drive his sword home.
Imperatis’ arm tightened for a moment. She tensed for the pain.
But it never came. Arms slipping over her shoulders, Imperatis collapsed.
She spun away, putting distance between her and the man.
The mage lay on the floor, a scarlet stain on his robes bubbling in time with his stuttering breath. Eyes dull against his pallid skin, he gazed back at her. “It’s not possible. I was so close.”
The bubbling stopped.
She sighed. The old man had turned a whole continent upside down trying to extend his days. He seemed so small and sad, now. A real hero would make some comment about him being an empty shell, but that didn’t feel right.
“We’re glowing again,” Rauger said.
She glanced at her arms. Somehow the aura of light made victory feel real. Which was odd, because adventurers wanted to level up to do quests not the other way around. “What was that he said about true love?”
“Who knows?” Rauger shrugged. “He was crazy enough to say anything.”
“That’s a pity.” Peony moved closer. “Because my true love would get a kiss for completing a quest.”
Rauger twirled his moustache. “Crazy people say sane things sometimes. If I admit I love you, can you not hold it over me for the next week?”
“I’m not making any promises.” She stood on tiptoes to kiss him.
Then did it again. After sneaking off as she did, her parents would lock her in a tower for months, so she needed to make the most of the opportunity.
Chapter 31
Re-reunion
They found Edmond and Daffodil in Amberwick, along with Gus and Grew.
As they stumbled through the gate, her mother ran toward Peony. But, instead of the barely suppressed anger she was used to, Daffodil was grinning. “The ghosts faded away earlier. So we knew you’d succeeded.”
“Then the army scattered,” Edmond said. “Even the giants left.”
“Except one.” Peony waved at Gus.
Gus nodded back.
“Congratulations,” Edmond said. “Your first quest.”
“I know,” Peony said. “Disappointed you didn’t turn me into a scholar?”
“Not at all.” Like changed people everywhere, Edmond overdid the sincerity slightly. “You succeeded in spite of me turning you into a scholar. Level ten now, I see?”
Peony nodded. “Defeating an evil mind mage is worth a few levels.”
“We’ve been talking.” Daffodil gazed up at Edmond. “That army will cause havoc around here. There are a dozen more Orpeds on the loose, with enough henchmen to take control of a town or two.”
Edmond pulled Daffodil close. “So we’re staying here. We’re not going back to Green Moss. We signed a scroll confirming our abdication.” His words came out faster and faster, as if getting to the end would mean people couldn’t object. “If you could take that back with you… We’ll stay here and wipe out the last of Imperatis’ soldiers before heading west.”
Peony raised an eyebrow. “You don’t want to go back and face people’s disappointment when you say you’re abdicating.”
Edmond and Daffodil shuffled, blushing a little.
“I’ll tell them,” Peony said. “I even know who’d make the best replacements for you.”
Then it hit her. Her parents were leaving. If they were off to the other side of the world, she might never see them again. Tears trickled down her face.
“What’s that for?” Daffodil asked.
“You’re leaving. When will I see you again?”
Edmond snorted. “Don’t worry about that. Your mother’s unstoppable; and Grew’s the greatest wizard in the world. They’ll keep me safe. And we’ll be able to find you again by following the tales of your adventures. We’ll be back before you know it. Five years, or ten at the most, you’ll turn around and we’ll be there.”
Peony hugged both of them. “Be careful, won’t you? Who knows what’s out there on the other side of the world.”
Edmond nodded, then turned to Rauger. “And you. Are you going to make sure our daughter’s still here when we get back?”
Rauger shrugged. “She’s not very fast. And if she wanders off, I’ll hear her—”
Peony poked him in the ribs again for good measure.
“Maybe there’ll even be a few grandchildren to play with when we return,” Daffodil said.
“Mum!” Peony glared at her mother, blushes ruining what composure the tears had left. Fighting mages was one thing, but she didn’t think she could face having a baby.
She walked over to Gus. “Your giants fought for us.”
“For ourselves, too. Imperatis was taking our people for his army. We’re few enough without losing more.”
“Now he’s dead, what will you do?”
“I promised to help your parents take care of any rogue giants. Once that’s done, my tribe agreed to make me leader. There aren’t many of us left, and more women than men. For a while, the men may take multiple wives to repopulate our lands.”
“Lucky you.” Rauger’s grin collapsed as Peony shot him a glance.
“Good,” Peony said. “You should have as many children as possible, Gus. Your people need to get past running away from things on instinct.”
“A fact we’re now more than aware,” Gus said. “In twenty years, you may regret your actions today. When giants can drive humans from their lands whenever they wish, people may curse your names.”
“Or they’ll learn to live with you,” Rauger said. “Rather than just taking what you have.”
“Stranger things have happened,” Edmond said. “But few.”
Gus nodded, his shoulders rounding the way Daffodil’s used to. Peony didn’t envy him. He’d have many responsibilities now.
Epilogue
It seemed strange to approach Blackcrest Castle. It had only been a few weeks since she’d been kidnapped, but returning to Green Moss had felt like returning to a children’s book as an adult.
The guards stiffened in surprise as she rode up, Rauger at her side.
“Peony!” A melodic shout echoed across the courtyard.
Vaulting from her saddle, Peony braced herself in time to hug the onrushing Stephanie.
“I thought you were dead,” Stephanie said.
“And I thought the same about you. The last time I saw you, that thug was attacking you.”
“Happie saved me.” Stephanie beckoned to Duke Hapbert. “He tried to save you too, but he was too late.”
“I appreciate that,” Peony said.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t have done better, Your Highness.” Hapbert swept a medium bow.
“It’s Your Majesty now.” Peony retrieved the scroll from her saddlebags and handed it to Hapbert.
&nb
sp; Eyes flicking down it, the Duke fell to one knee on the muddy courtyard floor.
“Your Majesty?” Stephanie tugged the scroll from Hapbert’s fingers and read it, then giggled. “You’re queen? Hendrix will be delighted! Please, can I tell him?”
“I’m not queen for long,” Peony said. “You know I never wanted to be.”
“Sure,” Stephanie said. “But if you won’t rule, who will?”
* * *
Stephanie floated up the aisle in her white dress, so full of joy she might burst. Standing at the altar, Hapbert looked every bit the honourable duke he was.
Lost in how happy her best friend was, Peony barely noticed the priest start the ceremony. After a while, she saw Rauger staring at her from across the aisle. He looked equally handsome in his new doublet and hose, although not as comfortable as Hapbert seemed.
“Do you, Stephanie Praed, take Duke Nillius Hapbert to be your wedded husband?”
Peony tore her eyes away from Rauger. She didn’t want to miss the best bit.
“I do.”
“And do you, Duke Nillius Hapbert, take Stephanie Praed, to be your wedded wife?”
“I do.”
“I now pronounce you forever joined. The bonds of true love may never break.” The priest looked toward Peony.
She realised it was her turn. Nodding, she processed to the scroll laid out on the altar. She’d checked the wording with Chamberlain Hendrix again this morning. It was binding. Taking a quill, she signed her full name and titles at the bottom, then sealed it with her father’s ring.
Taking a big gulp of freedom, she turned to face the congregation. She’d abdicated from Green Moss, nominating Hapbert and Stephanie in her place.
“Long live the king and queen!” Rauger called.
“Long live the king and queen,” the room echoed and cheers erupted.
Peony strode to Stephanie and hugged her, unable to speak through the joy that welled up inside her. When she released her friend, she was blurry.
“Now,” Stephanie said. “Polish my boots and fetch my dinner.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” Peony curtsied, then hugged her friend again.
“Are you ready?” the priest prompted.
“I don’t know,” Peony turned to Rauger. “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” Rauger said. “Although how I’ll put up with your posh ways, I don’t know.”
“About as well as I’ll put up with your sarcasm.” Peony took his hand and lead him to the altar again.
The priest talked about honour, duty, and commitment, but Peony didn’t hear the words. She only had eyes for her soon to be husband, Rauger.
When it came time, she stumbled over the ‘I do’. But his words in return were clear and true.
Their life wouldn’t be easy. Going from one adventure to another, they’d be in constant danger. But she wouldn’t have it any other way.
In the mood for more humourous fantasy? Try The Bite on the End of the Line, the first book in Simon’s Bytarend series.
Clinging to the bar running along the front of the platform, Sergeant Osric has a lot of time to think about how he got there. About how he’s shooting through a forest on a rocket powered railcar. About how a grinning thief is clinging to the same bar beside him. Most of all, though, about how he’s heading for Bytarend; a town no-one has heard from in almost a hundred years. There has to be a reasonable explanation for their silence, after all. Osric tries to think of a reason that doesn’t end in his horrible death…
…he can’t come up with one.
Pick up your copy today: simoncantan.com/the-bite-on-the-line/
Fancy something a little darker? How about Seven Stones: Alone No More, the first volume of Dave’s gritty swords-and-sorcery serial.
Plagued by nightmares of shifting stone and ancient evil, Absolution Kobb, Reverend Militant of the Order of the Maker, journeys to the northern edge of civilisation.
From the moment he arrives in the village of Morth, he is treated with disdain and ill-trust. A disdain that turns to violence and accusations of grievous assault.
But not all the villagers wish Kobb gone. Anessa Tanton, more at home in the woods than among decent people, refuses to let her neighbours lynch someone; even if they are a religious fanatic.
Together, they are more than a match for a few prejudiced youths, but how will they defeat an evil powerful enough to reshape the land itself?
Pick up your copy today: davidjhiggins.wordpress.com/opus/seven-stones-alone-no-more/
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Simon’s Afterword
Teenagers and parents don’t get along as well as children and parents. Which is, I’m sure, no revelation to anyone out there. Even those who haven’t been parents, have been teenagers. I, for one, was a horrendous person as a teen.
Some people have said it may be down to evolution. That teens are meant to want their own space, to push them toward independence. It still doesn’t make it a pleasant experience from either side.
As I write this, my twin sons are eighteen, and we’re running into the same problems every other parent in history has encountered. Apparently we’re bad parents and everything we do is selfish. I just keep reminding myself that it’s just a phase they’re going through.
So you may have seen some influence of that experience on Peony, who is a brat in the start of the book. She wouldn’t see herself as one, just as she can’t put herself in either of her parents’ shoes. And it’s not really her fault. Empathy isn’t something teenagers are good at.
But the upside of all of it is that things get better. Teenagers may be self-absorbed, but it doesn’t last forever. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
In a video I watched recently from the show Adam Ruins Everything, he showed that parents and teenagers have been having the same conflicts forever. Parents have always called the younger generation lazy. The younger generation has always looked for something to rebel against. And the grandparents have always bemoaned that society isn’t as good as it was when they were young.
In a way, we’re all victims of our circumstance. Just like Peony, we’re locked in our own worlds, not able to see easily someone else’s point of view.
As authors, it’s something Dave and I try to do on a regular basis. We have to put ourselves into other people’s heads, and I think it benefits us. When you look at something with all of the messy background that other people bring to it, things can make more sense.
Even teenagers.
Simon Cantan, 12th October 2016
Dave’s Afterword
The first session of a roleplaying game starts with a shiny new character that the player’s never met before; and over the course of the story, the player learns more about the character, and the character (usually) gets better at whatever the player thinks they should be good at. Sometimes that story only lasts an afternoon; sometimes it lasts many weekly sessions; and sometimes it’s followed by another story featuring some or all of the same characters.
But in the end, a character either dies or becomes too successful to be interesting. So, the player creates a new character that fits whatever they feel like playing at the time.
Theoretically, characters that survived to achieve immense power rule kingdoms, settle down with the love of their life, or—very occasionally—make a cameo in another game set in the same world.
What they almost never do is get to be played through all the years that come after. All the years of meetings about optimising taxation, remembering of nephews’ birthdays, and fixing all the things adventurers break when they g
o racing across your lands in pursuit of a mythical beast. Because most of that doesn’t make for the sort of game most groups of players find interesting.
But Simon and I are writers. And, while dungeon-crawling is great fun, a second story about it risked parodying ourselves. So, we decided to make the third volume of Dragons & Magic a family affair.
Dave Higgins, 14th October 2016
About Simon Cantan
An avid reader from an early age, Simon Cantan loved to get lost in the worlds that Piers Anthony, Douglas Adams, and others created. When he read Harry Harrison’s The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted at the age of thirteen, he knew he wanted to write, and has been pestering people about it ever since.
Two decades later, Simon has published several books, including the Bytarend series, Shiny New Swindle, and Hard Vacuum. He continues to write science-fiction and fantasy, usually with a humorous slant to it.
More details about Simon and his books can be found at SimonCantan.com.
About Dave Higgins
Dave Higgins has worked in law and IT for both public and private sector organisations. When not pursuing these hobbies, he writes poetry and speculative fiction.
He was born in Wiltshire, England. Raised by a librarian, he started reading shortly after birth and has not stopped since. He currently lives in Bristol with his wife, Nicola, his cats, Jasper and Una, and many shelves of books.
More details about Dave and his books can be found at davidjhiggins.wordpress.com.