Five Kingdoms: Books 01, 02 & 03

by Toby Neighbors

  Outside the city, most people did their business behind their shops or homes. Privacy was in short supply but so was modesty. Zollin wandered around for a while until his need overcame his desire for privacy. He saw two other men in an alley relieving themselves, and he decided to join them. He tried to ignore what was going on around him, and when he finished he found that the first two men had been joined by three others. They wore threadbare clothes that were in desperate need of washing. Their faces were streaked with grime and their hair hung in greasy cords.

  “Well, well,” said one of the men. “Haven’t seen you before. Think you can just come do your business in our alley, do you?”

  “I didn’t mean to trespass. I’m from out of town, and I didn’t mean to intrude,” Zollin explained.

  “But you did intrude, didn’t ya? And now, I’m thinking that I need satisfaction. Perhaps a pound of your flesh would make me feel better about you walking in here and doing your business in my alley.”

  “I didn’t realize this was your area. I apologize.”

  “Yeah? Well I don’t accept. Now, if you were to offer to pay for your privileges, I might decide to look the other way, so to speak.”

  “I can pay,” Zollin said. “How does a silver sound?”

  “It sounds light,” said the man. “I think I’ll just kill you and take your whole purse. That might satisfy me.”

  Zollin felt his face flush with anger. He had meant to apologize to the men sincerely. The last thing he wanted was to start a brawl that would attract the soldiers who were looking for Brianna, but he was sick of dealing with arrogant men who tried to bully him. He felt the wind of his magic stirring inside him, hot and volatile.

  “You can try,” Zollin said, holding his hands up.

  “You’re a cool cucumber, that’s for sure,” said the man. “But I ain’t the kind to bluff with, sonny. You give us that purse and we might let you crawl out of here alive.”

  Zollin had heard enough. He clapped his hands together and slammed an invisible wall of magic into the ruffians. Four of the men were knocked off their feet, but at the first sign of movement, the talker lunged forward, producing a knife from somewhere in his filthy clothing. It was longer than his hand from palm to fingertips. A narrow, curving blade, intended for close quarters. He slashed at Zollin with the knife. Zollin tried to dodge to the side and escape the blade, but he was only partially successful. The blade’s tip sliced through his vest and shirt and carved a fiery line across his ribs. Zollin reacted to the pain without any conscious thought. Energy, so brilliant it caused Zollin to close his eyes, flashed from his hand and hit the man in the chest. It lasted only a second, but the crack of the energy splitting the air was as loud as thunder from a storm. The man was knocked backwards by the force of the strike, and he landed in the mud with a blackened hole where his chest once was. His face was frozen in look of pure horror, and every hair on his body stood out straight.

  The other men were just getting back to their feet, and it took all of Zollin’s self control not to blast them with the same intense spell that had slain their leader. They looked at their friend in horror then looked back at Zollin, who was holding his side. Blood was seeping out of the wound, hot and slick. He grimaced in pain as the other men fled the alley.

  Zollin knew he needed to get as far away from the dead man as possible, but he also knew wandering through the streets bleeding was no way to blend in. He sent his mind magically into the wound. It was dirty; he could feel the foreign matter, so tiny yet absolutely deadly, clinging to his flesh. He pushed the filth out of the wound then, as quickly as he could, he knit the flesh back together. He was just moving out of the alley when a squad of soldiers arrived and blocked his escape.

  Chapter 37

  Zollin froze, just looking at the soldiers. They had pikes, long spears with a blade on one side and a spike on the other. They were used for pulling riders off of horses, but were just as effective for killing a man on foot. Zollin was just about to try his luck pretending the killer had run from the scene when one of the ruffians appeared and pointed at Zollin.

  “That’s him there, a sorcerer by the looks of him,” the man said.

  Zollin felt panic begin to sink in. The last thing he wanted was a pitched battle that would give away his position, but it was too late for that. He had been careless, and now he had to deal with the consequences.

  “I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Zollin said. “I just came back here to relieve myself and I saw that man’s body.” He pointed to the dead man in the mud, whose chest was still smoking from Zollin’s spell.

  “What’s your name?” one of the soldiers asked.

  “Hans,” Zollin said.

  “Where are you from?”

  “Felson,” Zollin lied again. “I’m here looking for work.”

  “Take him,” the soldier said.

  Three of the men raised their weapons and moved forward. Two took hold of Zollin’s arms, the third took a position behind him. They followed the other soldiers out of the alley and turned toward the city. Zollin wasn’t sure what to do. He knew he could free himself, but that would result in a pitched battle and the need to flee. He wouldn’t be able to find Brianna by hiding. On the other hand, revealing himself publicly might allow her to find him, but then what? He would have to fight the King’s army, and most likely Branock, to escape. Neither option seemed profitable. So, for now, he just followed the soldiers.

  They went through the city gate and then down the cobblestone streets toward the castle. Normally people who were arrested were carried out of the city, but with everyone looking for the missing girl and on guard in case a wizard showed up in the city, everyone was being brought to the guardhouse in the castle complex.

  Zollin used the time he was being moved to look around the city. He was looking frantically for Brianna but saw no sign of her. At the castle gates they were stopped and then Zollin was pushed forward. He didn’t resist. The guard at the gate looked him over and then nodded. It was obvious that the guard thought the he was just a grifter or con man, but he was taken into the castle courtyard. Outside the guardhouse, he was placed in chains and then taken inside and locked in a cell. He guessed that no one believed he was a wizard. In the guard house, he sat on a plain, wooden bench in a small cell and looked around. There were a few other prisoners, all chained and sitting on their own benches inside cells of barred steel. Zollin pondered his situation. He wasn’t sure what to do. He could escape, but he thought that if he waited, he might be able to slip out after dark and no one would be any wiser. He tried to imagine what his father would tell him to do. If Quinn had been with him, he wouldn’t be in this mess, he thought. He couldn’t decide if he was angry at his father or just lonely.

  * * *

  Mansel came out of the inn with a half a dozen sweet barley cakes. He munched on them merrily as he climbed back into his saddle. It was early afternoon, and he felt that he had accomplished what he came for. He’d left the serving maid with promises that he would return, although he had no idea when he would or even if he would be able to. For now, he needed to get out of the city and find Zollin again. The news that Brianna had escaped was the best he had heard since leaving Tranaugh Shire. He was sure that Zollin would be thrilled, but uncertain what they needed to do to find her. He thought, perhaps, that Zollin could find her using magic.

  He was lost in his own thoughts, eating the last of the sweet cakes, when three guards stepped out in front of his horse. They had pikes and wore the jerkins of the King’s army. They lowered their weapons menacingly.

  “State your business,” said one of the soldiers.

  “I’m here on pleasure,” Mansel said.

  “From where?”

  “Uh,” Mansel wasn’t sure what to say. He was quick with a sword, but not with words. “Tran, I mean Brighton’s Gate.”

  The soldiers looked suspicious and didn’t move aside.

  “You need to dismount,” said the so
ldier.

  Mansel wanted to argue, but he decided, that in this case, that would be a mistake.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “Where’d you get that horse?”

  “He’s mine. I bought him when he was just a colt,” Mansel lied again.

  He wasn’t sure what to say, but he wasn’t going to admit he had taken the horse from the King’s army in the Great Valley.

  “This is a cavalry horse and gear,” said the soldier. “You’ll be detained for horse theft and crimes against the crown.”

  Mansel didn’t want to hurt the soldiers, but he wasn’t sure what to do. He could make a run for it, but he had no idea how he would get out of the city. And if he fought them, most likely someone would get killed, perhaps even himself. He raised his hands and watched with anguish as they took his sword. Of all his possessions, he loved the sword that Zollin had made for him, not just because it seemed like such a fine weapon, but because it had been made before his eyes from the links of a chain the army had used to confine him to the mud. One soldier led his horse away, while two more took hold of his arms.

  The long walk through the city was humiliating, even though it seemed to hold very little interest to the citizens of Orrock. They went about their business after only a single glance at Mansel. When they reached the castle, he was once again chained and led into the guard house. He was surprised to see Zollin sitting there, his face a mask that hid his own surprise quite well. Mansel was locked in the cell adjacent to Zollin’s, and the guards seemed to have no interest in either of them.

  Both the wizard and the warrior tried to stay nonchalant as they slowly slid toward each other on their benches. After a while, Zollin guessed that it was okay to talk; the other prisoners certainly were, and the guards paid no attention to any of them. Still, he kept his voice pitched low.

  “Fancy meeting you here,” he said.

  “I got nailed for horse theft,” Mansel said. “I’m getting tired of being chained up and thrown in jail. I’m not sure if hanging out with you is good for me. I think you’re a bad influence.”

  “Very funny,” Zollin said, but he was smiling.

  “So what’s the plan?”

  “I don’t know. I found out that Brianna has escaped.”

  “I heard that, too.”

  “Any luck finding her?”

  “No, I was busy getting information.”

  “I found out about Brianna in less than two hours, what have you been doing all this time?”

  “I was building a relationship with a key person in the city.”

  “You were with another tavern maid, weren’t you,” Zollin accused.

  “No, she was a serving maid at a very reputable inn here in the city. It’s not my fault that women don’t want my silver.”

  “Silver doesn’t take as long as the payment you provide.”

  “True, but I’m saving you money.”

  “What else did you learn?”

  “That this isn’t Brianna’s first escape attempt. No one really knows what happened, but somehow she climbed out of the castle using a rope, cold cocked a guard, and hasn’t been seen since.”

  “I wish we knew what she was planning,” Zollin said.

  “Well, she must be here in the city,” Mansel explained. “She was found in an inn on the riverside the first time. Patrols were sent out of the city to search for her. The fact that they haven’t found her yet is a good indication she went to ground here. She had help, that’s obvious. They’re probably still hiding together, waiting for things to cool down before they make their next move.”

  Zollin felt his heart rise up in his throat. He couldn’t imagine how Brianna must have felt. Trapped, alone, and abandoned by him, she probably turned to the first man who gave her hope. Now she was hiding with that person, and the jealousy he felt was like an itch he couldn’t reach. He knew he should just be happy that she was out of Branock’s clutches, but instead he was angry. He shouldn’t have waited so long. He should have ridden after her from the start. He should have blasted the army soldiers in the Great Valley and ridden Branock down.

  “Speaking of next moves, what’s ours?” Mansel asked.

  “Well, apparently the search for Brianna has distracted everyone from their search for me. I was told that the army and city guard had been preparing for us to storm the castle. I got picked up after being attacked by brigands outside the city walls.”

  He lifted his arm and showed Mansel where the knife had sliced through the vest and shirt underneath.

  “I would have escaped, but I had to heal the wound first.”

  “Well, how are we going to get out of this one?”

  “I was thinking we wait until nightfall, and then we can make a break for it.”

  “It worked for Brianna,” Mansel said with a smile.

  “Then we need to find her,” Zollin said. “I’m not sure how to do that.”

  “You may not have to. Word will get out the wizard everyone was waiting for escaped, and she’ll know you’re here. We can start a few rumors ourselves, and she can come to us.”

  “That might work,” Zollin said, but the thought of waiting while Brianna was with another man was a painful thought.

  “Well, if something changes wake me up; otherwise I’m getting some sleep. I’m exhausted.”

  “You should be, after spending all the day gathering information,” Zollin said.

  “You’re welcome by the way.”

  “Shut up,” Zollin said, but he couldn’t keep from smiling when he said it.

  * * *

  Branock was pacing. He would have to find more competent help once he was King. The castle was filled with disloyal servants, and the officers of the King’s army appeared to be useless at doing anything other than marching and polishing their armor. He had sent out the very guards who should be preparing for Zollin’s arrival to find Brianna. He could feel the boy; his bright spark of magic was so close it was a distraction. Until he had Zollin under his thumb, he wouldn’t feel safe, he thought to himself.

  Then he felt the pulse of magic as Zollin blasted the ruffian in the alley outside the city. The raw power had been like a thunder clap that shakes an entire house and leaves you feeling unsettled. It was in that moment that he knew he had to prepare. He would have no help from the army, no better chance to bring Zollin under his control. If the boy didn’t know that Brianna had escaped, he could still use her to convince Zollin to join him. His mission was to win the powerful young wizard over, but he had to be prepared for battle. He spent over an hour, thinking though the list of spells he had prepared in case he had to fight. It was always a temptation when fighting another wizard to simply throw raw power at one another until someone’s defenses broke, but that was not wise. Zollin was stronger than Branock, but he still did not have the knowledge that made his power efficient. Still, Zollin had shown that he could think on his feet. When he had battled Whytlethane, he had shown initiative and awareness of his surroundings. The boy was smart, but Branock had years of experience to rely on. He would not make the same mistakes he had made in the forest, when his fire spell had rebounded and almost consumed him. He would be prepared this time.

  “My lord,” said a guard coming in to make his daily report. “We have two men who match the descriptions you gave us. One was picked up after allegedly killing a vagrant outside the city. The other was detained for being in possession of a cavalry horse and gear. Both have been placed in the guard house.”

  Branock’s pace quickened, but he did not speak. His mind was turning. This was his chance and he knew it, but it might be his only chance and he needed it to be perfect.

  “Assemble the Royal Guard,” Branock said. “I want them here, all of them.”

  “But, sir, they’re guarding the King and the Prince. They’re stationed all around the castle.”

  “Do it!” Branock spat. “Or I’ll have your head for a piss pot.”

  The guard hurried away, but Branock knew tha
t his order would come with strings attached. The Prince would want to know what was happening. He still needed the greedy royal heir; unfortunately, Simmeron had proved to be a self-absorbed puppet. He served a purpose, but his constant demands and inflated sense of self importance were a burden.

  It took the Prince twenty minutes to finally arrive, by that time most of the Royal Guard had assembled. They were talented fighters, each trained not only with sword and shield, but with an array of weapons, as well as tactics, strategy, horsemanship, and stealth.

  “What is it?” Simmeron asked. “Have you found my wandering flower?”

  “No, she is still missing. What I have found, or rather the city guard has found, is Zollin.”