The Wizard Book

by Radu Aldea

  “Under the circumstances I think she would understand. That’s if she’s still alive…”

  Humans truly didn’t know when senators used their power to establish a connection. They knew when they were ordered around. Otherwise they had no way of telling when senators used their power. Aleyna thought she knew. She had spent so much time with Kara she was sure she could tell when her friend did. Aleyna sensed Marcia was using her power on her. A wave of crippling sadness rushed through her. Marcia had established contact with her and she shouldn’t have been able to do that if Aleyna was still linked with Kara. And the only ways to break a link between a senator as powerful as Kara and a human was either by choice by Kara or if at least one of them died.

  It took Marcia seconds to sort out what happened by rummaging through her mind. Kara had explained it to her, time seemed to flow slower and the mind was the fastest thing there was. Aleyna didn’t completely understand, she couldn’t, only a senator could. When Marcia was finished orders were given. Scouting parties were sent in all directions, but especially to the lake and to Kara’s villa. Birds would be sent to every senator in a fifty-mile radius. If the men who attacked them thought they would get away, they were mistaken. A hunt for them was launched. There would be no escape. The senators were natural hunters. It was what they did. There would be no mercy. As Aleyna thought of this she also wanted to rest. She felt someone was tending to her wound, but her eyes were already closed. Night would come soon, unfortunately. It would delay the hunt. Aleyna was so damn tired…

  Chapter seven

  Kara and her party were ascending on the first slopes of the Serelian Mountains. Until then all they had encountered were hills. Two hours ago they could catch glimpses of the highest peaks of the Serelians. Now they were blocked from view. The Serelian Mountains crossed the continent ending in the Southern Sea. They were the northern and eastern border that separated Suttland from the other provinces of the empire. To the west the other border was the river Arais and to the south there was only the sea. The Serelians were treacherous and their passes very difficult to cross. That made them very easy to defend, which was fortunate for the Suttland senators who were charged with the task. Only two roads crossed them, one to Western Suttland, and the other to Eastern Suttland.

  The small party was relatively close to the road that crossed the Serelian Mountains and connected the capital of Western Suttland, Hilderfort, to the imperial capital, but they chose not to use it. If they had used the road they would’ve been seen, which was not what Kara wanted. So they pushed their horses through forests and over hills, taking only small breaks. They covered more than sixty miles in five hours. It was getting dark, but they were an hour away from their destination. An hour up the mountain during the night. It was not a pleasant thought, but Kara didn’t want to make camp when she was so close.

  “Perhaps we should stop and make camp here,” Michael told her.

  “No! We are really close now. I want to get there today and then we can rest.”

  “How close are we?” Michael asked.

  “We are an hour away, maybe less,” Kara answered.

  That could mean a lot more than one hour if they got lost and there was a good chance it would happen during the night. Michael snorted. He knew the same thing she did.

  “At least tell me you know these parts well,” Michael said to her.

  “I know them well enough,” Kara answered. That was another way of saying, yes, I’ve been here, but I’m not sure I could find the place during the night.

  “I assume there is no clear, obvious path to where we’re going,” Michael said.

  “Where are we going?” Cecilia jumped in the discussion.

  “We are going to see Matilda. It was the only thing I could think of,” Kara explained when she saw the expressions on Cecilia’s and Amelia’s faces demanded it.

  “This is not confidence inspiring,” Michael told them. “Who is Matilda?”

  “Matilda is a recluse,” Amelia answered. “And she is a crazy old woman. She is also a senator and that only makes her so much crazier.”

  “We should’ve gone to Marcia,” Cecilia concluded. “At least she could’ve helped us. She has soldiers, while Matilda doesn’t have any.”

  Yes, Marcia was closer and she could help. Yet Kara remembered that when Michael asked who gained from her death Marcia was one of the answers. She didn’t really think Marcia betrayed her, but going to her and asking for help would make Kara look weak. The look on Michael's face told her he understood the reasoning. A crazy, old recluse was a very unlikely choice when you thought of a person capable of orchestrating an attack against Kara.

  “I don’t think we need protection. Everyone who attacked me is dead and whoever killed my father is probably on the other side of the Serelians by now.”

  “Can you get us there?” Michael asked her.

  “Lady Kara has only been there a few times and finding the path to Matilda’s house, if you could call it a path, is difficult enough even during the day,” Cecilia answered for Kara.

  “I will find it because I have to. I need to rest and think about what I’m going to do.”

  “Do you have a plan?”

  Michael’s question didn’t catch her by surprise. The whole five hours while they rode here all she did was think of a plan. Kara didn’t have one as such; all she had was the beginning of an idea. It was either a crazy idea, or a brilliant one. If it worked the idea was brilliant, if it didn’t … well, she would be past caring at that particular moment.

  “Sure I do! My plan was to get to Matilda’s house tonight,” Kara told them.

  “Then we should get going. There is no reason to waste any more time.”

  Michael supported her decision. She didn’t expect that. In fact, she was preparing herself for an argument with him. They lighted torches and continued to climb. Michael didn’t need a torch. He had created and orb of light that hovered in front of him. They practically didn’t need the torches with that orb, but Kara decided to be on the safe side and not give the show-off any more reason to gloat. Because she was pretty sure she had seen a conceited smile on his face.

  “You better not get us lost on the mountain,” Michael whispered in her ear.

  “I shall try my best,” she retorted acidly.

  “This woman senator, Marcia, you don’t trust her?” Michael asked.

  “I trust everyone, as I have told you. And that is the problem.”

  “That can be a problem, to be sure, but you will have to decide and trust someone.”

  “I did decide. I decided to trust you!”

  Kara’s reply left him speechless. She didn’t know why she said it, but when she did she realized it was true. She did trust him, maybe more than she trusted Marcia.

  “This Marcia, is she one of your clients?” Kara’s answer was a nod. “And if you and your father died she would…”

  “She would get to be the leader of the family, our clients and a place in the Council. At least for a while because there is no way she would keep all of our clients.”

  “Does she know that?”

  “Of course she does. This is common sense for senators; it doesn’t require a brilliant mind. Getting something is usually much easier than keeping it.”

  “Do you have time for another lesson on senators?”

  “What do you want to know?” Kara asked. “Although you shouldn’t distract me or I will miss the beginning of the path.” She was clearly joking.

  She didn’t miss the path. Michael’s orb gave enough light and finding it was easier than she had thought. Cecilia was right, it was not much of a path and keeping to it was just as problematic as finding it. The path was more camouflaged than Kara remembered.

  “The senators have a hierarchy, don’t they?” Michael began.

  “Yes, the Order is the ultimate hierarchical organization. The sorceresses and the wizards don’t have a hierarchy per se. The humans have one, with the emperor at the top,
followed by the counts and dukes and at the bottom are the peasants, artisans, merchants and so on. However, the hierarchy is not clear, a merchant could be richer or more powerful than a lord for example, and they lack the control because there are simply too many of them. The Order is led by the Council. The Council is formed by the fifteen most powerful senatorial families. Every family has a vote and a decision is taken with two thirds of the votes. You can imagine not many decisions are made. There is usually a unanimous vote when it happens. The two-thirds majority was a very clever gimmick because if decisions were made with a simple majority there would’ve been too many conflicts. Anyway, the families have clients, and the clients have clients of their own and in this hierarchy are included practically all the senators in the empire. So the answer is yes, we have a hierarchy.”

  “How does it change?”

  “Well, it hasn’t in the last twenty years. There was always a hierarchy and a Council, but the war clarified the situation. Alliances were made and they remained in place even after the war ended. As I said, the fifteen families are the same as twenty years ago and the hierarchy is virtually unchanged. Theoretically, however, clients could jump from one patron to another, or clients could lose their confidence in their patron and abandon him, or families could be forced to become clients. All this happened before the war and it hasn’t happened since.”

  “You seem to have lost your taste for war.”

  Kara frowned at him. When you are taught since you could walk how to wage war you don’t lose your taste for it. You wait for the right moment to prove yourself.

  “Believe me, we have not!”

  “I was always curious how can a hierarchy be established when there is no significant difference? Let’s say the patron controls 260 humans and the client controls 255.”

  “I see what you mean. Considering your example there isn’t a significant difference and they would be both members of the council or part of one of the fifteen families. Usually, powerful senators have powerful children, and the plebs have pleb children. There may be an increase or decrease in power, but it isn’t significant.”

  “So one of the powerful clients could have a child more powerful than his patron?” Kara nodded. “What happens then?”

  “I am not sure! The head of a family has to be powerful, but it is not necessary for him to be the most powerful senator in the family. So if the clients are pleased with their current patron the hierarchy would remain the same. If the child of the client is not content with that he can try to establish a new family. That is not an easy thing to do. There is always the possibility he will undermine the head of the family and take his place.”

  “So there is no guarantee a child of a head of the family will take his place.”

  “No, there is no guarantee!”

  Kara looked down the path. They had climbed for half an hour and had another half an hour to go. She was confident they were still on the right path, although she would be sure when they found Matilda’s house. It was better for her to focus on the things she had to do and not dwell on what might happen. She knew what Michael was asking. Will your father’s clients follow you? She had no idea, but the most important thing she had to do now was to get to Matilda and rest. Then she would decide what to do next.

  “You didn’t want to go to Marcia not because you didn’t trust her, but because you didn’t want to seem weak, didn’t you?” Michael asked.

  “That’s part of it. She practically raised me, Michael, so she is like a mother to me. Just as Julia is like a sister. I am not at my full strength, yet, I would need to rest. I don’t care that much if I seem weak to Marcia. But if I went to her within two weeks I would be leading ten thousand soldiers into Essland and trampling all over its senators. Believe me, I wouldn’t have a choice and right now I don’t want to lead ten thousand soldiers into Essland.”

  “Why not? Those men came from Essland and someone from there sent them, so chances are senators from Essland at least must’ve known about them.”

  “You are right, but what would the senators who actually killed my father do in that situation? I think they would be very happy to see me fighting someone else.”

  “You are assuming they didn’t come from there as well, which would be logical.”

  “I am not assuming anything right now!”

  “But you do not agree with me that the senators are from Essland as well.”

  “There are two possibilities. Either the senators came from Essland, just like the soldiers, or they didn’t. Now I’m asking myself what if they didn’t come from Essland.”

  That was another thing she had been considering for the last five and a half hours. What seemed logical to Michael was not that logical to her. If it looks like a fish, smells like a fish and tastes like a fish… Well sometimes, maybe, just maybe, it is a chicken.

  “Tell me what doesn’t make sense to you?” Michael asked. Either he was reading her mind, which was impossible, or she had made her doubts clear somehow.

  “Frankly, nothing makes sense. Take the motive for instance.”

  “What about the motive for the attack?”

  “We assumed it was political and I have little doubt it is. Yes, Lucian hates me, but he hates Julia even more. The relationship with the other senators from Essland is neutral. So if they attacked me it is for a political reason. But the same goal could be achieved in two ways. And killing me is not a better outcome than killing Julia as we are so evenly matched. Considering the purpose would be served either way it would be easier for someone in Essland to kill Julia. It is a matter of logistics. All they have to do is cross the mountains and they are there. The distance is shorter and there is less possibility of discovery.”

  “Maybe Julia is better protected than you are?”

  “Well, she has more guards, but if you managed to get a thousand soldiers that close to her there would be the same outcome. I could’ve had two hundred guards with me, but then I could’ve taken over only one hundred and fifty archers before I was drained of power. Same result, more dead. Getting the soldiers in place without being discovered is the problem.”

  Kara looked at Michael as he was silently considering her analysis. It wasn’t the only thing that didn’t make sense. Her reasoning was correct and the conclusion was a fact. She had been attacked by men from Essland, who were ordered by a count from there. If the reasoning was correct, and it was, and the conclusion was set in stone, then her premise was wrong. That meant there wasn’t a political motive for the attack. There must’ve been a personal reason. It was crazy, there wasn’t a personal reason. There wasn’t.

  “A thousand soldiers came from Essland,” Michael said.

  “The horsemen came from Essland; the archers were picked up on the road.”

  “How do you find that many people ready to attack a senator?”

  “Well, the archers were desperate, fallen on hard times. A few coins would make the difference between life and death for them and their families anyway. The horsemen were promised protection, although they were surprisingly ready to attack senators. They don’t have families and I got the feeling they were part of some sort of brotherhood.”

  “A brotherhood of soldiers without families ready to sacrifice their lives if they got to kill a senator? It is more difficult to find two or three hundred people like that.”

  “I’ve only taken over a few of them, but they were all like that.”

  “What are the odds that out of two hundred and fifty soldiers they were the only ones who fit that description?”

  “You are right. They are all like this, a brotherhood of sorts.”

  Kara still had control of those men she had sent away. It was an easy task to look in their memories and find out. Then, they were again a muted voice in her mind she ignored. She knew they had reached the Serelians and were following the same route they had taken coming to Suttland. They would follow remote paths on the mountains and cross into Cuttland for a while then return to the
mountains again to avoid Ornulf’s Gap and arrive in Essland.

  “The soldiers came from Essland. The reason must be personal,” Michael said. “So if this isn’t personal for a senator in Essland, for whom is it personal?”

  “I don’t know. I have not annoyed anyone more than Julia did. Our views are known and they coincide. And as I said, I haven’t done anything to anyone yet.”

  “It’s odd,” Cecilia spoke. “Two senators killed your father and they sent almost a thousand soldiers to kill you. I mean, if they had a sorceress, they could’ve killed you easily. All they had to do is send those balls of fire and you were done.”

  Kara and Michael looked at each other. Cecilia said something interesting, something they haven’t considered until then and it was staring them in the face.

  “Well there is a reason why a sorceress who is not resistant to senatorial power would not attack Kara. The sorceress would lose. I don’t know any sorceresses who can use their powers at a distance greater than four hundred paces. I have no idea why a senator, if he controlled a sorceress, wouldn’t just send her to deal with Kara considering her protection.”

  “It seemed like a test,” Kara answered. “I think they wanted to see how many people I can take over and at what distance. And I fell for it.”

  “There is nobody alive to tell them the result of their experiment.”

  “That’s the second thing that bothers me. My clients, the powerful ones, are aware of the extent of my abilities and so is Julia or Lucian. It was like they believed three hundred people and three hundred paces are my limit and they got it wrong.”

  “Who would think that and why?”

  “Well, the distance is relative. We didn’t advertise the extent of our abilities, but we fought the war with the wizards, and there were enough people who observed us. The highest distance achieved during the war was two hundred and fifty paces. They added fifty paces, just to be safe. Truth is, all senators who can control more than two hundred people can reach that distance. It was like they thought I am more powerful than that, but only a little more.”