The Queen of Mages

by Benjamin Clayborne

Calys found another arrow-slit to look through and stared down at the royal soldiers. “What are they going to do with us?”

  “Nothing. Nothing with you, at least.” Amira prayed that was true. “Edon is here for me.”

  The younger girl shifted her feet. “Why?”

  Amira met her eyes. She looked terrified, to tell the truth. Katin stood beyond her, her lips pursed into a white line, and she shook her head vigorously. But Amira felt that she had to say something. “Edon thinks I have some… magic power.” She grinned. “I don’t think he’s quite right in the head.” Katin let out a pent-up breath and looked away. Calys, eyes wide, stared out at Edon.

  A few minutes passed in relative silence. There was some commotion among Edon and his men, as the soldiers rearranged themselves, for—for what? Battle? Against two score men cooped up in an old keep, and three women? She looked down at the gate below. She could see Asmus and Dardan standing to one side of it. She could make out their voices, but not their words. The Tarian house guards and the other men of the search party had spread out along the entire length of the wall facing Edon’s little army.

  She felt terribly guilty about having caused all this—No, it is not my fault. Edon is mad, she told herself again and again, though she knew she did not quite believe it. She also knew that Dardan had more love for her than she did for him. How monstrous was she to have traded on that?

  Amira looked at Edon again. He turned about, addressing his men, and she saw a flash of silver light as he went into profile. She was reminded suddenly of the shock she’d felt in the throne room of Elibarran, seeing that molten silver light for the first time. She wondered how much Edon had learned about the power. Amira had been practicing for months, when she had the privacy. She could use her ember with accuracy, at least when lighting candles. There was not much other call for starting fires out here. She’d begun to learn that she could stretch the bead out into a line, like a silver thread, which let her heat a substance more evenly. Sometimes she’d just hold the bead in place for a while, feeding energy into it and feeling its warmth.

  Once, just once, she had killed a beetle with it. They’d been out on a picnic, and the little black bug crept across the blanket toward their plates of lamb. When no one else was looking, she pushed her bead into the thing and lit it. It popped and smoked and went still. Dardan looked around for the source of the noise, but Amira distracted him with idle chatter and brushed the dead beetle back into the grass.

  It had troubled her a little, even though squashing the insect would not have. But if it came down to a fight… if Edon tried to kidnap her again…

  She came back to herself as Edon and a pair of knights mounted up and rode toward the castle. They came to a stop quite close, within what would be an easy bowshot, had there been any archers in the keep.

  “Count Tarian,” Edon bellowed. “Why have you shut yourself up in that old keep?”

  Asmus shouted back, his voice booming even louder than Edon’s. “When armed men approach in force, I take precautions. Why have you ridden here?”

  Amira thought she could see Edon’s face turning red. She wondered how the burn she’d given him had healed, and wished once again that she’d given him worse. “I am here for Lady Amira Estaile. Send her out at once and I shall leave.”

  “I’m afraid the lady is a guest of House Tarian here in Hedenham County,” Asmus shouted back. “It would be most rude of me to simply hand her over as if she were a sack of grain, before she has taken her leave of us, of her own free will.” These last words he pronounced slowly and clearly. Edon would not miss his meaning.

  “I am your king and I order to you produce her at once!” Edon shouted.

  “A proper king does not randomly kidnap his subjects!”

  Edon did not reply to this. Instead his gaze lifted upward, until he was staring straight at Amira. She lurched away from the arrow slit; had he seen her? Had he seen her silver light?

  She risked a glance again after a minute of silence. Edon was speaking to the two knights by his side. One of them turned and cantered back to the main body of soldiers.

  “They’re going to attack,” Katin said, her voice breaking. “Can’t you…” She leaned in close to Amira. “Can’t you stop them?”

  “I’d be as likely to hit our men as theirs from this distance, even if they came over the walls. Besides, I think Edon’s too far away.”

  Despite their whispering, Calys overheard and butted in. “What are you talking about?”

  “Quiet,” Katin hissed at her, not even bothering with a m’lady to soften it. Her knuckles were white from gripping the edge of the parapet. Amira might be able to protect herself if it came to fighting, but how could she protect Katin, too? And Calys?

  The twilit sky gave everything a purplish cast. A few high, wispy clouds still glowed faintly orange. Torches had been lit along the keep’s wall, and Amira could hear restless muttering from below. They all sensed battle approaching. The back of her neck prickled.

  Several of Edon’s knights and attendants rode forward to him, and came into a circle as he said something, gesticulating. Then the other men all went back, save for the original two knights who had accompanied Edon forward. He called out again. “You brand yourself traitor, you who do not obey your lawful king. So be it.” He placed his hands on his knees and leaned forward.

  Amira’s breath caught when she saw the silver bead dart forth from Edon’s forehead. So he had learned to use the power. The bead floated steadily over the ground, toward the gate of the keep. Was he going to set it on fire? She needed a better view. She went around to an exposed part of the parapet and leaned over it.

  What could she do? Even if she shouted to the men below, they wouldn’t understand. There was enough water in the cistern to douse a few small fires, but if Edon had the same power she did, he could ignite blazes on every part of the gate, and kill anyone who came close enough to try to put them out. He—

  The bead stopped within the gate, and over the course of a few seconds it began to grow brighter and brighter. Amira had never seen her bead do this; even when she poured all the power she could into it, it had never shone with such intensity. “By the black spirits,” she breathed, squinting but unable to turn away.

  “What?” Katin said. She peered as if there might be something she could see.

  “It’s so—”

  A terrific crack clouted her in the face, and Amira fell back onto the hard stones of the keep’s roof. Her head throbbed, and everything was blurry. Katin was on her back as well; Calys had been farther from the parapet, but she had still fallen onto her rear.

  Amira blinked until her vision came back into focus. She wobbled to her feet and looked down over the battlements again. The gate was gone, reduced to splinters that hung in its frame. One of the Tarian guards had been knocked off the wall. He lay on the hard dirt, dying or maybe dead, impaled by shards of wood a foot long. The other men all shouted and screamed, and Count Asmus, who had been standing on the wall to the side of the gate, clung to a crenel, dazed and flailing. She could not tell which of the shapes below was Dardan.

  A second bead of light sped forth from Edon. This time it raced even faster than the first, to the tower at the northwest corner of the wall. When the bead went inside the tower, Amira could still see it just as clearly, as if the walls of the tower were glass to it. The bead grew bright again. She grabbed Katin, who had just managed to stand up, and pulled her away from the wall. “Get down!”

  Both women hit the stone just as a colossal whump shook the air, and when Amira stood and looked again the tower had collapsed into rubble, still too high for a man to climb easily, but useless for defense.

  By Terror, how is he so strong? I can barely start a fire, and he can annihilate an entire castle! She shook with fright, her mind racing. Chaos—Terror—Despair—help us—

  Edon still sat ahorse, illuminated by the torches his men carried. He had leaned back a bit and crossed his arms, as if surve
ying the damage done. The Tarian and Hedenham men down below ran about in a panic.

  Calys had crawled over to the far edge of the keep’s roof. Katin grabbed Amira’s arm and pulled her away from the parapet. She couldn’t have seen the silver light, but she might guess what had caused the explosions. “How is he doing that?” Katin said in a fierce whisper.

  “I don’t know! He’s… he’s different, somehow.”

  “We have to get out of here.” She turned and began to pull Amira toward the trap door.

  “I can’t leave them all to die,” Amira protested.

  Katin ignored her and dashed over to Calys. “M’lady, you find somewhere to hide in this keep, and you do not come out until everyone has gone. Then you make your way home when it’s safe.”

  “How—how will I know when it’s safe?” All of Calys’s brio had gone out of her, and she looked a terrified child under the light of the low moon.

  “When you hear nothing,” Katin said, and took Amira’s hand, dragging her toward the trap door again. When they reached the little room where they’d slept the night before, Katin stopped, looking around, keeping Amira behind her. How will she protect me from this?

  She can’t, foolish girl. You know what to do.

  But there’s no escape.

  Escape?

  Amira felt as if something were crushing her heart. Her breath came shallow, and she fell to one knee. She couldn’t make a decision like this. She couldn’t…

  “Amira! What’s wrong?” Katin grabbed her arm, but Amira yanked it away and stood on her own.

  “I’m… I’m all right.” Her breath steadied. She thought about the men down below, hurt, injured, dying, dragged into a battle, all because of her. She could not make them die for her. She would not.

  “Come on,” Amira said, making for the stairs. Katin rushed along after her.

  The horses that Dardan and Amira and the valai had brought were still hobbled behind the keep. Amira ordered Katin to help her unloose them at once, and when that was done, they led the beasts around to the gate.

  There had been no other explosions. The gate hung in tatters before them. The corner tower had collapsed even further. Bleeding bodies were strewn around both.

  She looked up to the wall. Someone had helped Count Asmus to his feet. Dardan and Liam stood beside him, swords drawn.

  “You have tested my patience,” Edon was shouting. “Send the girl out, and we will leave.”

  Amira ran up the stairs beside the gate. When she reached the top, puffing slightly, Asmus turned to look at her. His face was pale, his sweat glistening in the firelight. He was startled to see her, and all formality had been lost to him. “What in the black spirits are you doing here? Where’s Calys?”

  “Lady Calys is hiding in the keep,” Amira said. “But Edon is here for me. You’ve seen what he can do. You cannot fight him. All of us will die if I do not submit. I must surrender myself to him.” Katin gasped.

  Asmus bared his teeth. “No! I will not let this… this little boy do this! He may be our king now, but he is no good man!”

  “What good will dying do you? Submit, and live to see another day,” Amira pleaded with him.

  “No. I will not turn you over.” Asmus looked back out at Edon, who seemed to be waiting for a reply. Firelight glinted off the spears and swords and helms of the men behind him.

  “Then help us escape.” Katin bulled forward, grabbing Asmus by the tunic, heedless of his station. “If Amira is gone, he will chase us, not bother with you.”

  Old Ban chuffed. “They’d ride you down in seconds.”

  Amira stared at Katin. “But the keep—if I flee, then Edon might take revenge—”

  Katin whirled on her. “I will not be taken prisoner to soothe your conscience!” Amira was startled by her fierceness.

  Asmus eyed the two women, considering. “I cannot rightly countenance you going into his hands. We can make a sally to cover your escape.”

  Dardan gaped at him. He’d gotten a mail shirt from somewhere, Amira noticed. “It would be a massacre! You saw what he did to the walls. Imagine what that would do to a man!”

  “Not to mention that we have few weapons and even less armor,” Liam added.

  Amira could not think of what to say. If she fled, Edon might punish the rest of the men. But he might punish them anyway, even if she did surrender. The decision would not get any easier with time.

  “We will buy her time with our lives,” Asmus declared. He locked eyes with Dardan, nodding slightly, then looked over at the collapsed tower. “Horses could pick their way over that, but they could easily slip and break a leg, which would check the whole venture. But… if we rush out the gate and engage Edon’s men, you two could sneak out and go along the moat. It’s steep to escape, but the horses should be able to make it, if you go around to the side of the keep. In the dark, they will not see you. You can escape into the trees beyond. Do not tell us where you will go. If we are taken, we cannot betray you if we do not know your destination.”

  Dardan pushed forward. “I will go as well. I will not leave my lady to the wilderness in the night!”

  Amira bristled a little. She wished again she could have—would have—told him about her power. “I am not helpless, Dardan,” she said. “Katin will be with me. We can survive.” She realized with a start that she’d implicitly agreed to Asmus’s plan.

  Dardan’s mouth worked, and he looked to his father for support, but Asmus had decided. “My lady, you need a disguise.” He looked at his son. “Get two horses ready. Find a guardsman her size, and have her don his armor. Her vala, too. They will need every edge if they are to escape. And hurry! Edon will not let us tarry long.” He faced out at the king, and cupped his hands over his mouth. “How do we know you will let us alone if we send her out?” he shouted. “You’ve already killed some of my men with whatever black art you’ve used!”

  Dardan punched his fist into his hand angrily, then ran along the wall. He came back a moment later with two of the shorter Tarian house guards. The men both wore wool under leather and mail, with tabards that showed the Tarian house colors. Dardan led them and Amira and Katin down the stairs and out of Edon’s sight. “Out of your armor,” Dardan said to the men, and it took a few moments for them to realize that he was serious.

  Liam led two of the horses together to form a crude screen. Amira and Katin quickly stripped down to their underclothes. A few moments later, Dardan flopped the borrowed men’s armor over the saddles. “Hurry,” he muttered. “Father’s not getting anywhere with the king.”

  Each man had provided a leather vest, a mail shirt, leather leggings, and a tabard. Amira pulled on everything except the tabard. Being marked with Tarian colors seemed unwise. The leather fit reasonably well; the mail was heavy and cold, but she judged it worth the discomfort, for a little extra protection. Not that it would protect me against Edon.

  Katin managed to dress even faster than Amira did. Her borrowed clothes were a little bulkier than Amira’s, but in the dark, it would be disguise enough. Both guards had provided leather caps as well. Amira and Katin hurriedly pinned each others’ hair up tight; long hair swinging down their backs would be noticeable even at night.

  “Good enough,” Dardan said when they appeared from behind the horses. The two guardsmen now wore only their wool; they looked like ordinary townsmen. “Get mounted.” He gave Amira a sheathed dagger, which he jammed into a saddlebag where she could reach it if necessary. Liam came over to Katin and gave her his own dagger. She hesitated, then took it, murmuring thanks to the valo. He said something to her which Amira could not hear, but she thought she saw Katin stiffen and turn away abruptly.

  Dardan called up to Asmus, who waved back. “We are coming out now, your majesty,” he said, and went down the stairs. All the other men followed him, and mounted up in a mass.

  Amira and Katin were at the rear of the party. They would lag behind as the main body of men went out, and once clear of the gate, rid
e along the moat trench to the right, while the men broke left and made for the woods. The hope was that Edon’s men would follow the count’s party, leaving Amira and Katin to sneak around the side of the keep and escape.

  The whole plan seemed mad to her. Only Asmus, Old Ban, Luther, and the Tarian guards had swords, and they accounted for only half the men, if that. The others had nothing beyond the occasional dagger or working knife. How could they possibly fight hundreds of armed soldiers? She sidled her horse over to Katin. “They are all going to die,” she whispered, and could not keep fear out of her voice.

  “They are dying for us. Do not be ungrateful.” As harsh as her tone was, Amira was glad she could not see Katin’s expression.

  And then the mass of men were moving, hooves clopping in the darkness. Amira faced out past them, toward Edon. As long as she was looking in his direction, she thought, he would not be able to see her silver light.

  When the last man had cleared the gate, suddenly Asmus shouted “Yah!” and two score horses broke into a gallop, angling off to the south.

  “Go!” Katin hissed. Amira kicked her horse forward. It picked its way over the broken remnants of the gate, and then she turned it to the right to descend into the moat. It had been a steep trench in the distant past, but time and wind and rain had weathered the sides into slopes. Still, it was only several feet deep; Amira’s torso and head would be visible above its rim, if someone happened to be peering in that direction. She prayed to the Aspect of Chaos that they were not.

  A loud bang sounded out of the darkness, and she felt a pang of terror strike her. Edon had used his power again; to what effect, she did not know.

  It was dark enough here that the horses had to pick carefully along through the tall weeds that had grown up in the years since the keep had last been used. And when they reached the outer corner, they were stymied: the collapsed tower had partly fallen into the moat. They would have to go up the bank of the moat to go around it, exposing them more. She prayed that Edon was still distracted, and wished she’d gone the other way from the gate. But there was no time to turn back now.

  Amira nudged her horse upward. The beast had to scramble to make the top, but it found its footing. She brought it around, then realized there was a great racket to her left. She turned and saw that a mass of men had somehow moved back toward the castle—toward her and Katin. Horses wheeled about, only a stone’s throw away.

  She looked back to find Katin, and gasped as a mounted knight came toward her, his sword out. His full armor gleamed in the firelight, marking him as one of Edon’s. He had swung past another rider, and now seemed to fixate on the two of them. To him, Katin and Amira must seem two mounted soldiers—the enemy, to be slaughtered.

  “No!” shouted a voice, and Amira realized it was Dardan’s, as her betrothed rode up alongside the knight and crashed into him, sword swinging wildly. Both men briefly came unseated, but the knight quickly pulled himself back into position. Dardan, clinging to his saddle, hopped down deftly, and sprang up back into his seat.

  The knight came around toward Amira again. Her horse shied backward as several more mounted men came forward. Most of them seemed to be Edon’s, but there were at least two Tarian men. The whole mass of them were pressing toward Amira and Katin. Somehow, the Tarians’ escape had been thwarted, and Edon’s men now forced them completely in the opposite direction.

  “Go! Around them!” Katin yelled, but this drew their attention, and Amira knew she had to act or they would all die. She looked at the nearest of Edon’s knights, and flung her bead at his horse’s foreleg. But she missed, and a bright spark appeared on the ground, where some dry brush caught fire. If Edon had been looking in that direction, he could not have missed the sight of the silver bead flying through the air. She hoped fervently that he was distracted.

  Again she pushed, this time hitting the beast in the hoof. It didn’t collapse as she hoped, but leapt to the side, causing its rider to nearly tumble. She didn’t want to make things worse by killing someone, but part of her wanted nothing more than to slaughter the lot of them. She was horrified by her sudden bloodthirst, and tried to focus.

  She pushed her bead out again and this time hit the horse square in the chest. The beast screamed and reared. This time, the rider did fall off, and the horse bolted, weaving away through the madness.

  Two more riders rushed toward them, and Amira’s horse jumped forward, out of the way. She could not identify Katin in the melee. As she prepared to use her ember again, Dardan and another man intervened, matching swords with the knights. This time Amira aimed for the broad flank of one of the enemy horses, and hit it squarely. The horse’s skin sizzled and popped, and the beast collapsed onto its hindquarters, emitting a shriek. The knight fell off, dropping his sword, and Dardan’s own blade caught him square on the side of the helmet, knocking it off and causing the man to collapse. Dead or stunned, Amira could not tell.

  Dardan turned to see her, not ten feet away. “My lady! You must go! Where is Katin?”

  Amira could not tell. Beyond the nearest group of men fighting, Edon’s infantry seemed to be drawing closer. They had not yet encircled the keep, but soon there would be no escape. The only way out was back along the side wall and through the trees beyond.

  “I don’t know,” Amira replied. “I have to go, or this is for nothing! Protect her! Promise me!” She turned and kicked her horse viciously, and the beast sprang ahead.

  “I am not leaving you to go alone!” he shouted, chasing after her. He caught her within a few lengths, and kept up. Amira looked back, and saw the fighting recede quickly into the darkness. She hoped no one had seen them depart.

  They galloped past the debris of the collapsed tower and around the side wall of the keep, putting them completely out of sight of Edon’s force. Here they slowed to a trot; the ground was flat and the grasses short, but who knew what sinkholes or stones might be lurking in the darkness.

  Amira kept looking back, her heart in her throat. The sounds of fighting faded to a dull roar. Once they heard another crack. Soon they reached the tree line. The moon hung low on the horizon ahead of them, giving barely enough light to see in the open. In the trees, they’d be nearly blind.

  “Dismount. We’ll go on foot,” Dardan said. “It’ll be slow but we can feel our way along safely, and the horses will be at less risk.”

  Amira was shaking. She dismounted, nearly falling off, and pulled her horse forward by the reins. The beast snorted and resisted. Amira listened for Dardan’s movements ahead and followed him.

  Branches grabbed at her and rocks turned up underfoot. Twice she tripped and nearly fell, and once a sharp twig stabbed her in the cheek, causing her to cry out and drop the reins. Dardan came back to help, hacking at the branch with his sword so that her horse could pass. After that, she had to stop for several minutes when she started having a fit, crying and sobbing as terror and anguish washed over her. Dardan stood by, watching uneasily.

  Near an hour into the woods, she felt as profoundly lost as she imagined was possible. The terror had passed, and a sense of determination had settled on her. “Are we far enough in to risk light?”

  “We have no light,” Dardan called back softly. “I had a flint, but it was still in the keep.”

  Amira hesitated. Katin wasn’t here to argue. And Dardan had a right to know. Besides, Edon did not seem likely to give up simply because she had slipped off into the darkness. When morning came and neither Amira nor her corpse were found in or around the keep, he would know she had escaped. If she was to find any safety, she and Dardan would need to use every resource available. Her power was too important to keep to herself.

  “Stop,” Amira said. She knelt down, feeling for a dry branch or stick, and found one almost as thick around as her wrist. She touched all along its length, gauging its dimensions. Some damp grass was stuck to one end, but the other end was dry enough.

  Amira took a deep breath, held up the stick before her, and said, “We
do have light.” She pushed her bead into the tip of the stick, and stretched it into a broad line, feeding energy into it. In a moment the tip began to glow, and then it erupted into flame.

  Its light illuminated Dardan’s startled face, and Amira began to explain.

  CHAPTER 16

  LIAM