Astute, Rendal thought, unable to keep from grinning.
“I do. Much like what I’ve heard of Sidnie, where I come from, magic is freely practiced.”
“Yes, that’s true. We encourage it here, and even allow local practitioners to set up shop and teach it. Sidnie is a free place, and most magic is welcome.” The Prefect moved out from behind his large desk. “It all depends on the user’s intent.”
“I’ve used no magic here, nor do I intend to, your Majesty. I only wish to grow a profitable relationship.”
The Prefect wasn’t a trusting man. “Then why do you keep the ships with your goods so far from our shores. Why not bring them with you?”
Rendal gave a sly smile. “And what if your intentions weren’t as pure as mine, Prefect? I’d have lost all of my goods as well as my life.”
The Prefect grinned back. “Come and sit with me, Rendal. Let’s talk about your terms.”
“Of course, your Majesty.”
They made their way to the middle of the room, where two large couches sat opposite each other. Rendal waited for the Prefect, then sat down himself.
“Where are you from, Rendal?” Slidell asked.
Rendal pulled a coin from his pocket and began to flip it back and forth between his first two fingers. “Oh, you know, here and there.”
The Prefect’s eyes went to the coin. “Well, where do you hail from now?”
Rendal watched the man, his own eyes growing narrow. “A bit farther north than this.”
The coin kept flipping. Back and forth. Back and forth.
“What kind…” the Prefect’s speech slowed a bit. “What kind of terms are you looking for, Rendal? I wouldn’t have agreed to see you if not for the ships outside.”
Rendal started flipping the coin across four fingers.
Flip, flip, flip, flip.
Brief pause.
And then the return.
Flip, flip, flip, flip.
“If I can be honest with you, Prefect Slidell, I was thinking about a partnership between you and me.”
The Prefect’s eyes were growing wider, and Rendal started grinning.
“I…like…that…idea,” the Prefect said extremely slowly.
It was hard to use magic when you weren’t in complete control of your mind.
“You and I should talk much longer than the thirty minutes you gave me, wouldn’t you agree?”
The Prefect nodded.
“Finding it hard to talk, Prefect Slidell?”
Another nod.
Rendal nodded right back. “Good. That’s how we want it.”
The door opened, and Harold looked up. He had no sword, no weapon at all, and would have to try brawling his way out of here if shit went south.
A guard stood in the doorway.
“The Prefect would like to see you.”
Harold showed no sign of fear or excitement. He simply stood.
Internally, he thought the master was either dead or in charge of the fucking place by now.
He didn’t know which. Either was possible.
Harold looked at the guard, hoping to see a tell, but got nothing.
“All right,” Harold responded. “Let’s go, then.”
They went up the many steps in silence, Harold’s senses on high alert.
They reached the door, and the guard knocked three times.
“Send him in,” someone called. “Stay outside, guard.”
The voice sounded sleepy, and for the first time, Harold could feel the guard’s unease.
“You may enter,” the guard told him.
Harold pulled the door open and stepped inside.
A young man stood ten feet in front of him. He didn’t see the master anywhere.
“Please…shut the…door,” the man instructed.
Harold did as he was told.
“Ah! Harold, so glad you could make it!” Rendal called. He stepped out of the corner, his eyes turning from red to their normal color. “Sorry about that, Harold. I had to make sure the guard didn’t see me. We have to keep up appearances right now.”
“Sir,” Harold spoke, “I don’t think I understand.” He kept staring at the man in front of him.
“Ohhh, sorry.” Rendal smiled and walked across the room. He placed his arm over the man’s shoulders. “This here is Prefect Lawrence Slidell.” He looked at the Prefect, who stared forward blankly. “Prefect Slidell, meet my main man Harold!”
The Prefect didn’t move.
“He’s so bad with manners.” Rendal smiled wider and released the Prefect.
“Sir, what’s happening?” Harold asked.
The mage walked to the large wooden desk, sat down in the chair, and propped his feet on the desk. “How ya like my new digs, Harold?”
Harold only swallowed.
Rendal laughed. “Lighten up! The Prefect over there is ours now. We got the run of the place, just like I said we would!”
“I don’t mean to question you, sir, but how?”
“Prefect Slidell, can you come here for a second?”
Harold watched the man turn from staring at the door and walk over to the desk. He looked straight ahead blankly.
“Pick your nose, Prefect,” the mage commanded.
Sure enough, the Prefect put his pointer finger in his nose and started rooting around.
“He’s digging for gold!” Rendal shouted, laughing.
“How… How are you doing that?” Harold asked.
“Harold, for all the skill you’ve got with a sword, you sure don’t know much about persuasion. I hypnotized the bastard. All the magic in this kingdom, why would I attack them? I don’t need to. I just need to control this single man and the rest of the place is mine.”
Harold’s eyes narrowed.
“I know, you’re wondering why I didn’t do that with New Perth. They know me there. Wouldn’t work. Plus, I don’t want to hide in the shadows there, you know? I want my face to be seen.”
Harold was starting to understand.
“I’ve got a pretty face, Harold. You know this.” The mage couldn’t stop smiling.
“So, you’ve already taken the city…just like that?” Harold asked.
“Yes, Harold. You’re seeing it now. The city is ours. I’ll have to re-hypnotize this little fella every twelve hours or so, but he’s going to do everything I say from now on.”
Rendal stood from the chair and walked over to the zombie-like Prefect.
“We’ll start slowly,” he continued with a devilish grin. “Warm these people up. What’s that saying? ‘You can put a frog into a pot of water and slowly turn the heat up until they boil to death?’ They won’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late.”
He glanced at Harold.
“That’s what we’re going to do here, and when Riley sees how bad it gets, she’ll break. Now, go bring the rest of the ships in, then bring Mason to me.” He clapped the Prefect on the back. “Welcome to the team!”
“Hear ye, hear ye! Gather ‘round, everyone!”
Brighten and Kris stood at the back of the crowd, although it was growing thicker by the moment and pushing them farther back. Brighten was fine with that; he would be able to hear and see fine.
“I swear, when I get older and bigger, I’mma bust these people in the lip for thinkin’ they can push me this way and that,” Kris growled.
She was less content with the situation.
“By Royal Proclamation, Prefect Lawrence Slidell is creating a Royal School of Magic Training. While the Prefect is appreciative of everything that the local practitioners have done to teach magic, the Royal Proclamation hereby commands the shutting down of all individual magic teachers. This Proclamation will be posted throughout the Kingdom. Long live the Prefect!”
The crowd was silent, almost spookily so. Brighten watched and listened as people turned to each other and whispered, not understanding what exactly was happening—or why.
“William’s gonna wanna hear this,” Bri
ghten said.
“For bein’ so smart, you sure say the dumbest things. Looks like he’s done, aye?”
Brighten nodded. The guard who’d read the proclamation was nailing the paper to a wooden pole behind him.
“Let’s get back to base,” Brighten whispered.
“Base, huh? That what you’re callin’ the shack these rabble-rousers are livin’ in? They’re in Shantyville, for goodness’ sake.” Kris smiled. “Come on. Race you!”
She took off and Brighten wanted to slug her in the shoulder. It wasn’t fair to begin with, but certainly not when she got a head start.
He bolted forward, trying to keep up but knowing it was hopeless. They wound through the streets they both knew like the backs of their hands.
It took about fifteen minutes to get from the center of town to the shanty on the edge.
Kris walked in first and Brighten followed.
“Hey, fatso,” she said as she passed William.
“All that talk, little lady, but you won’t pick up a sword and face me, will you?” the big man asked from his chair on the other side of the room.
“I would, but I’d simply run around in circles until you tired out and keeled over. Prolly take ‘bout thirty seconds,” Kris shot back.
“Enough.” Lucie stepped in from the kitchen.
Brighten liked having these people here, and he thought Kris did too. He especially liked their cooking. This might be a shanty in the poorest part of the kingdom, but Lucie knew her way around a fire.
Even now the place smelled of roasted rabbit. Something was going on in the back, although Lucie would shoo Brighten away if he tried to get to it.
“You’s right,” Kris answered. “Somethin’ is most definitely going on in the tower. Prefect just put out a notice that all the magic shops are to be shut down—”
“What’s that mean?” William interrupted.
“If you’d shut yer trap, I could tell ya,” Kris quipped. “The proclamation said the Prefect was startin’ a magic school or somethin’. I don’t know. What do you think, Brighten?”
Brighten had been quiet since entering. He liked the banter between William and Kris, although he didn’t feel completely comfortable yet.
“The magic school don’t make sense,” he answered. He’d been thinking about it during their run here. “Sidnie supports as many people learnin’ magic as it can. I know not everybody can, but I’d be willin’ to bet a higher percentage practices magic here than anywhere else because of how strong it’s supported. Shuttin’ down the magic shops and then creatin’ a school? That goes against everything.”
Kris was nodding along.
“Tell us more, Brighten,” Lucie prodded.
She could tell he’d been thinking.
“Could be what ya said. Could be those two men got control over the Prefect,” he answered.
“Ain’t none of that true, Brighten,” Kris interjected. “I done told ya. These people lyin’, and the only reason I’m stickin’ around is because this lady can cook.”
He knew she was joking.
They both were starting to believe.
Lucie had broken down the story for them last night. Some mage from miles and miles away had been kidnapping people from Sidnie for years and holding them captive while he sucked their magic from them.
It sounded crazy.
“Sure does,” Kris had said.
Yet there had been kidnappings. Everybody knew about them. They were sporadic, but the kingdom would wake up one morning, and ten or twenty people would simply be missing.
It’d been happening for years.
There wasn’t any official doctrine on it from the Prefect, but the townspeople knew it. Everyone, and Brighten meant everyone, knew of someone who’d simply gone missing.
“Aye.” William glanced at Kris. “I hope you get taken next, sure ‘nuff.”
“Would you two please focus?” Lucie asked. “You two are at least as bad as Riley when she’s around. Now, this makes sense, if ya think about it. He’s been stealing magic forever from this place, but if he has control over it, why not just bring them all right to him?”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Erin said.
Brighten thought the woman was beautiful, and he knew William did too. Every single time she spoke, the big man straightened up a bit. Brighten didn’t think William even noticed; it was simply automatic.
Lucie turned to the redhaired beauty. “Go on.”
“By all means,” William added.
Kris rolled her eyes but said nothing, noticing that Brighten did too.
“Well, maybe he doesn’t need to make himself more powerful—not if he can get the magic folks here to simply serve him. Wouldn’t that be easier? Use a lot less energy?”
“That’s really smart.” William nodded.
“Oh, give it a rest.” Kris looked like she might roll her eyes so hard, they’d fall out of her head.
“The Prefect is calling for everyone who can use magic? There’s no other requirement?” Lucie asked.
“That’s what the Proclamation said,” Brighten answered.
Lucie nodded, then looked at the ground. “It’s too early to tell what he’s going to do. The Prefect remains in that tower, right?”
“I’ve been askin’ ‘round,” Kris answered. “The Prefect has his meetings up there and makes decisions from up there, but most people like him. Even those from our side of town, because he makes a point of showin’ his face outside of the tower. He ain’t done that since the ships showed up, though. He’s stayed locked up at the top.”
“And no one has seen the two men who went up?”
Kris shook her head.
“The other ships came in. They’re at the docks now,” Brighten volunteered.
“Has anyone gotten off?” William asked.
Brighten shook his head. “Not that I’ve seen. No one has gone on either.”
“That is interesting. You’d think they’d at least be checked out,” Erin said.
“Don’t agree with her, William,” Kris got out before anyone else could talk, and grinned.
William’s face turned red.
Lucie ignored Kris. “The Prefect is under Rendal’s control. I suppose he could have put a necklace on him, but that would be too obvious. He must be using some other method.”
“Like what?” William asked.
“I’m not sure, but Erin is right. They’d be searchin’ those ships if the Prefect ordered them to come to the docks.” Lucie looked at Brighten and Kris. “How close can you two get to that tower?”
Kris grinned. “Depends on whatcha have to offer.”
Brighten shook his head. “No. No, Kris. We ain’t doin’ that again. We’re not goin’ near that tower. I don’t care what they have, and I don’t care what you say. We’re not goin’.”
“He’s a wimp.” Kris grinned, ignoring Brighten’s protests. “We can get all the way to the top of the tower. We did it before on a dare—”
“We almost died!” Brighten shouted.
“But did we?” Kris whipped around to him, still grinning. “Nope. We lived.” She looked back at Lucie. “We can get up there and see what’s goin’ on, but it’s gonna cost ya, lady, and more than the rabbit stew you’re makin’. What can ya offer?”
William stood. “I could offer not to pummel you until you’re nothing but a puddle.”
“Oh, please, fatso.” Kris laughed, taking none of it seriously—as she did her entire life. “You’d have to catch me first. Now, seriously. You want to know what’s happening, you’re gonna have to cough up something. We’ll be able to move ‘round the whole castle and pick up a ton of information.”
Verith spoke from the other side of the shanty. “If you help us and we live, I can guarantee you that you’ll never have to steal bread from the market again. You’ll have enough wealth to live wherever you want in luxury.”
“How can he guarantee that, Kris?” Brighten stressed.
“Because I’
m the top general in New Perth, and our Assistant Prefect was kidnapped and is on those ships. If you help us, our Prefect will reward you handsomely.”
Kris’ eyes narrowed as she considered Verith’s offer.
“You know it’s dangerous, Kris. It’s not worth it.”
Kris quit staring and smiled again. “I believe ‘em, and you don’t have to come, Brighten, but you ain’t gonna get none of my gold if you stay here.”
Kris spat on her hand and extended it to Verith. “Shake on it. Make it official.”
The general stared at the dirty hand for a second, then shrugged. “When in Sidnie, I suppose.” He spat on his own hand and shook the girl’s.
“All right, we’ll be back in a couple of days. Try not to get yourselves killed.” Kris turned to Brighten. “Come on, wuss. I don’t want all this gold to myself.”
She grabbed Brighten firmly and yanked him out of the shanty.
Chapter Twelve
“Who told you how to find us?”
Riley stood inside the room—the queen’s room, although Riley wasn’t sure exactly what she was queen of.
“The man outside the door,” Riley answered. “His name is Worth.”
The woman in front of her had long blonde hair and the same color gray eyes as the people Riley had already met. She was pretty, although not beautiful like Erin.
She sat on a couch with her arms spread across the back.
“What did he say to you?” she asked.
The queen was just as serious as the other strangers had been.
“Well...” Riley thought for a second. “Worth speaks a bit differently from other people. He said your people needed big magic. He said that was the only way you’d come out.”
“Big magic? That’s what he called it?” the queen asked.
Riley nodded.
“And you’re the one who made the big magic?”
Again, she nodded.
“What else did he say?” The queen was clearly judging Riley before having even properly introduced herself.
“Not a lot. He calls you underground people.”
The queen nodded. “Sit down.” She gestured toward a chair facing her.
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