The Wizards' War

by Angela Holder

  Josiah followed willingly as he strode to the rail and stepped across to the other ship. Benarre approached the Matriarch, saluted, and knelt before her. She nodded graciously and signaled for him to rise. “Commodore Benarre. You’ve assumed command?”

  “Yes, your majesty. Admiral Madanna died when his ship was destroyed during the initial engagement with the Tevenarans, leaving me the senior officer of the expedition.”

  “I’ll want a comprehensive report of everything that’s happened since you left Ramunna. But first, what is the current situation?”

  Benarre stood at attention, looking straight ahead. His voice was formal and emotionless. “We captured their capital city when we first arrived and have held it since. This morning the Tevenarans attacked. After several hours of battle we were forced to make a strategic retreat. My men fought valiantly, but the enemy outnumbered us more than five to one. And…” Benarre swallowed. Josiah could see beads of sweat forming on his forehead. “They were armed with weapons identical to ours in form and function. My sources indicate they call their explosive ‘blasting powder,’ but its action is indistinguishable from that of the Secret.”

  The Matriarch froze, staring at him. When she spoke again, her voice was so cold Josiah shivered. “You allowed the Secret to fall into enemy hands?”

  Benarre’s face was deathly pale, but his back was rigidly straight. “Yes, your majesty. Those under my command did, for which I take full responsibility.”

  “As you should. But you are not a Secrets officer.” She looked pointedly at his right wrist. “You haven’t sworn your life and the lives of those you love to protect it. Those who have will pay the price of their betrayal.”

  “Your majesty, every Secrets officer captured by the enemy carried out his final duty. Save one.” Benarre took a deep breath. “Lieutenant Tenorran Fovarre.”

  Josiah jerked his gaze to the Matriarch to see her reaction. She blinked, once, twice, three times. Her brow furrowed, and she gave a short, baffled laugh. “My son?”

  “Yes, your majesty. Lieutenant Fovarre was chosen to join the Secrets Division during our journey. He signed the oath as every Secrets officer must and accepted his insignia. His commander reported that his training was going well. But during the initial engagement his ship was destroyed. He was pulled from the water by the Tevenarans. When those captured with him ended their lives in fulfillment of their oaths, he did not.”

  The Matriarch wore too much face paint for Josiah to see whether she blanched, but he would have bet money she did. Her eyes were empty and her voice leaden. “I see.”

  “Later Lieutenant Fovarre escaped and reported to me. He swore he revealed nothing about the Secret to the Tevenarans. He insisted they discovered the Secret and become adept at its use prior to our arrival. He claimed the wizards looked at our weapons with their powers and copied them. He said he attempted to sabotage their efforts by giving them false information, but that they discovered his lie. I don’t know whether any of this is true, or whether Lieutenant Fovarre told them everything he knew. I only know that the Tevenarans have ten weapons the equal of ours in every way.”

  All during Benarre’s report, the Matriarch drew long, slow breaths deep into her abdomen and released them equally slowly. Josiah watched her, fascinated. Clearly she was consumed by some extreme emotion, and just as clearly she was controlling her reaction masterfully.

  When he finished she nodded curtly. “You will turn Lieutenant Fovarre over to me,” she said in a perfectly flat tone.

  Josiah almost felt sorry for Benarre. The commodore kept his tone steady. “During the battle he was recaptured by the Tevenarans. But I have a plan to reclaim him. The Tevenarans are led by a wizard named Elkan—”

  “I’m well acquainted with Master Elkan.” The Matriarch’s gaze traveled past Benarre and fell on Josiah. “And his apprentice.”

  “A Tevenaran collaborator brought him to us.” Benarre put his hand on Josiah’s shoulder and propelled him forward. Josiah gave the Matriarch a sheepish grin.

  She didn’t respond. “What about the boy’s donkey?”

  “It wasn’t with him. He claims to have left it behind.”

  The Matriarch eyed him thoughtfully. “Careless of you.”

  “The boat wasn’t big enough to bring him,” Josiah said. He wished everyone would quit criticizing him for that. Yes, it had been a stupid mistake. He got it.

  Benarre continued. “Elkan has offered to trade Tenorran for Josiah. If you give the word, I can send a someone to arrange the exchange.”

  The Matriarch’s eyes bored into Josiah’s. “No. I will send my own messenger, after I give him a full briefing. There are additional terms I wish to negotiate with Master Elkan.” She turned back to Benarre. “How do matters stand now?”

  Benarre flushed, but kept his voice dispassionate. “The Tevenarans accepted our offer of a truce. I withdrew our remaining men to the ships and sailed beyond range of their powers and weapons.”

  “You did well, Commodore Benarre.” The Matriarch waved dismissively in the direction of Elathir. “Circumstances have changed drastically since I sent you on this mission. The conquest of Tevenar is no longer my priority. I require your ships and men for a far more important purpose. Marvannan forces have invaded Ramunna. We must return and drive them out.”

  Benarre’s eyes widened, then abruptly narrowed. He scanned the Matriarch’s retinue. “You have a Tevenaran spy aboard, your majesty.” He pointed at Vigorre and Tharanirre. “Your news comes as no surprise to me, because this boy”—his hand fell heavily on Josiah’s shoulder—“informed me of the same thing less than a quarter hour ago. He said a wizard sent his familiar, an eagle, to warn Elkan of your approach.” Anger sharpened his voice. “They timed their attack to avoid fighting your forces along with mine. Hundreds of men died today who would otherwise have strengthened our strike against Marvanna.”

  Horror flooded Josiah. He’d put Vigorre and the other wizards in danger by his careless boasting.

  The Matriarch whirled to face Vigorre. “Is this true?”

  Vigorre drew Tharanirre close to his body, lightly setting his hand on her back. “My allegiance is to the Mother, not to you, as you’ve known all along. You bargained for our cooperation against Marvanna, not Tevenar. As a member of the Wizards’ Guild, it was my duty to warn Master Elkan you were coming.”

  The Matriarch studied him, then raked her gaze over Borlen and Kevessa, who also stood poised, hands on their familiars. The Girodan healer clutched her cat in a way that made Josiah certain she must be a wizard, too. “All of you knew about this.”

  Borlen nodded unhappily. Kevessa curtsied without breaking contact with Nina. “Yes, your majesty.”

  Josiah looked from the tense wizards to the Matriarch and around at the Armada soldiers. It looked like an impasse to him. If the Matriarch ordered her men to attack, the Mother’s power could hold them off. But there were a great many soldiers on the two ships. Eventually they might subdue the wizards and their familiars. It was far from a sure thing, though.

  Apparently the Matriarch reached the same conclusion. “All of you will answer for this later. Right now I have more important concerns.” She turned back to Benarre. “Leave the boy here and come to my stateroom. We need to plan our return to Ramunna.” To one of her attending officers, she said, “You will carry my message to Master Elkan. Come with me.”

  The man saluted and followed as she strode away. They disappeared into the room inside the ship’s high stern. Benarre barked a few orders to his men and hastened after.

  Kevessa hurried toward Josiah, Borlen and Vigorre close behind. The Girodan healer hesitated until Vigorre beckoned to her, then lagged a few steps back.

  To Josiah’s delighted surprise, Kevessa threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. He returned the embrace enthusiastically. Nina chittered in his ear.

  Kevessa’s body pressing against his aroused an intense response. Josiah’s recent experience gave him a who
le new understanding of exactly what those feelings meant. The longings that had been vague and general before were now clear and specific. It was difficult to think of anything else with her warm and solid in his arms.

  She pulled away, flushed and smiling. He smiled back, trying to keep his expression only cheerful and welcoming. Kevessa wasn’t Ledah. She meant far more to him. He wasn’t going to risk alienating her by rushing things or trying to pressure her into a physical relationship she might not be ready for. In Ramunna people their age, particularly girls, faced far more restrictions on what they were allowed to do than they did in Tevenar. He supposed that made sense, because without the Mother’s power they had no way to prevent conception.

  But then again, they weren’t required to wait until they were twenty to marry, either. Kevessa was seventeen. If she hadn’t become a wizard she probably would have been betrothed to some Ramunnan by now. So she might be ready, after all, or close to it.

  Still, he needed to take things slowly and carefully. He spread his arms to include all the wizards in his greeting. “It’s great to see you again!”

  Vigorre clasped his hand and Borlen thumped him on the back. “It’s good to see you alive and unharmed,” Vigorre said. “We were worried.”

  “Thank the Mother they didn’t capture Sar, too,” Kevessa said. “Do you think he’s all right?”

  “He ought to be. He was fine when I left, there were lots of other wizards around, and all the Ramunnans on the north shore were dead or taken prisoner. It was only going to be for a few minutes. I never dreamed I’d be in danger from a Tevenaran!”

  “Of course not,” Kevessa said, although Josiah suspected Vigorre and Borlen’s sympathetic grimaces might contain a trace of disgust at his naivety. “Obviously Sar didn’t anticipate a problem, either.”

  “No, and he’s much too smart to try to rescue me on his own. He’s probably waiting for Elkan to ransom me. Much more patiently than I am, I expect.” He shrugged. “I’d really rather talk about something else. You can fill me in on what you’ve been up to, and I can tell you about what’s been happening here.”

  “I want to hear about the battles,” Borlen said. “Do you really have the Secret?” He sounded both horrified and impressed.

  “We do,” Josiah boasted. “One of our miners invented it. I saw him use it once, so when the Armada ships showed up I recognized it right away. And I helped design and build a mill so we could grind and mix enough of it to be useful.”

  Kevessa beamed at him. “Father will want to hear all about it.”

  He’d rather tell her about it, in long and intimate detail. She’d probably be interested, too. While she didn’t have the type of innovative spirit he and Gevan shared, she valued her father’s inventions and enjoyed discussing them intelligently and in depth. “I hope I get the chance to tell him.” He turned to Vigorre. “Thanks for sending Nirre with that message. It made a huge difference.”

  “That’s what I hoped.” Vigorre drew the Girodan forward. “Did you meet Tesi while you were in Ramunna?”

  “I saw you in Ozor’s show. You could do amazing thing with those needles.”

  She folded her hands and bowed over them. “I am but a novice in the Art.”

  Vigorre put an arm around her shoulders. “The Mother chose her a few months after you left. This is her familiar, Mimi.”

  Josiah held out his hand for the white cat to sniff. She pushed her head under his hand with the same motion Tobi used. He scratched her ears, and she seemed to enjoy it just as much as the mountain cat always did. “Welcome to the Wizards’ Guild.”

  Tesi’s eyes remained downcast. “I am honored to work together with those who do so much good.”

  Josiah addressed all of them. “Now that you’re here, maybe you can get masters of your own. I mean, I don’t mind sharing Elkan, but lately he’s been so busy he hasn’t even had time to teach me, let alone four more of you. And from what the Matriarch said, she’s not going to try to take over Tevenar any more, so that means—” He blinked, realizing for the first time. “I guess that means the war is over.”

  “For Tevenar, maybe,” Vigorre said grimly. “Not for Ramunna.”

  Josiah’s shoulders sagged. “The Marvannans really beat the Armada and took control of the city?”

  “We saw the battle.” Kevessa shuddered. “They have new weapons that make their ships a match for ours.”

  “Not the Secret,” Borlen added. “Some sort of sticky, clinging fire, and big catapults to throw it. Once it splashes onto a ship, it’s nearly impossible to extinguish the flames. They keep burning until they reach the room where the Secret is stored, and then…” He shrugged.

  “Ouch.” Josiah grimaced. “That’s kind of what we did, in the first battle. We got close enough to a few of their ships to reach in with the Mother’s power and trigger an explosion.”

  Borlen pressed him for more details. It wasn’t like they had anything better to do, so Josiah gave him the full story. Then he spent a while regaling the Ravanethan wizards with the tale of his exploits since returning to Tevenar. They told him all about how they had learned of the planned assassination of the Matriarch and foiled the Marvannan’s attempt. Josiah was horrified and impressed by turns. When they finished with an account of their agreement to help the Matriarch reclaim Ramunna in exchange for renewed acceptance of the Wizards’ Guild, he sighed in wonder. “Thank the Mother. She was right. We really will be able to take her power to the whole world.”

  “Only if we win Ramunna back.” Kevessa played with the fur on Nina’s tail until the squirrel whisked it out of her grasp. “Marvanna is very strong.”

  “With our help, the Armada will be stronger,” Josiah said, though he didn’t feel quite as confident as he tried to sound. “Elkan can bargain with the Matriarch. We can provide her ships with food and water.” Inspiration hit. “And blasting powder. They’ve used so much, they’ve got to be running low, and it’s not like they can get more from Ramunna.”

  Vigorre’s eyes widened. “I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right. That’s a powerful bargaining point.”

  “And the Matriarch is pregnant again, you said? No sign of rejection this time, either?”

  “No,” Kevessa said. “I think it’s got to have something to do with the father of the child. Both of her pregnancies with Lord Renarre have been unaffected.”

  “How would that work, though?” Josiah’s thoughts started to wander, considering the cases of rejection he’d seen. He snatched them back. “Maybe Gevan and Nalini and I can make that our next project.” If he ever got the chance to work with Gevan and Nalini again. He hated to think he might not. “So, is it a boy or a girl?”

  The others exchanged cautious glances. Vigorre cleared his throat. “Master Elkan warned us not to say.”

  “You know, though, right? You’ve been accelerating her pregnancy, so the baby’s got to be what, five or six months, now?” He hadn’t noticed the Matriarch’s condition because her voluminous bell skirt hid her growing belly.

  “More than seven, we think. Probably less than a month until it’s born if we keep speeding it up.” Kevessa looked around and lowered her voice. “If everything goes well and the child remains healthy, the Matriarch won’t need our help any more.”

  Josiah nodded in understanding. “Except I bet she’ll want to keep a wizard close. Every little sniffle, every bump or bruise, she’ll demand we heal it.”

  Vigorre grimaced. “And of course, she’ll need us when she tries to take Ramunna back. Will Master Elkan be willing to send more wizards to fight with us?”

  “Maybe.” Josiah turned to study the door the Matriarch and Benarre had entered. “I wish I could hear what they’re planning in there. Can we open a window?”

  All four of the others looked distant for a moment. Kevessa shook her head. “Nina says it’s private, and we have no compelling reason to intrude.” The others all nodded confirmation.

  That’s what Josiah had figured th
e familiars would say, but it was worth a try. He took a few steps toward the stern. “I wonder if I could hear through the door.”

  Kevessa caught his arm and pulled him back. “Don’t. They’re not being obvious about it, but the guards are watching you. They’ll stop you if you try anything.”

  He resisted a little, just to make her grip him more firmly and hold on longer. But eventually he let her draw him close. She kept her hand on his arm for several seconds longer than necessary and released it reluctantly. Josiah groaned silently. As much as he wanted to get back to Sar, he hated the thought of leaving Kevessa on this ship while he went ashore. He hoped Elkan would make peace with the Matriarch quickly, so the ships could dock and the Ramunnan wizards could come to the Mother’s Hall.

  Forty

  Elkan waited until the last of the Ramunnans had vacated the plaza to order his people forward. They poured into the big rectangular space, filling it with excited chatter. Jaron and Meira’s crews stationed the weapons on either side of the fountain, pointed outward to defy any enemy who dared approach.

  When Elkan mounted the steps of the Mother’s Hall, Tobi pacing beside him, a spontaneous cheer erupted. “Elkan! Elkan! Elkan!”

  His face grew hot, but he didn’t try to stop it. The people needed to celebrate. Instead he called the other leaders forward to share the accolades. As one by one they joined him, he shouted their names. The crowd picked up name after name and sent them echoing among the buildings.

  Jaron was one of the first to come up, but Meira hung back by her weapon. Elkan knew she must be avoiding him. He didn’t want to force his presence on her, but she deserved this acclaim as much as any of the rest. Far more, in truth.

  He forced himself to seek her eyes. She met his briefly and looked away. But when he beckoned forcefully and the other leaders added their encouragement, she took a deep breath, put her shoulders back, and trudged across the square and up the steps. The crowd’s cheers redoubled. “Meira! Meira! Meira!”