Jake's Women (Wizards) (14 page)

“All my best plans are,” I said; admittedly, a little smugly.

[He has a point.] Fluffy acknowledged. [When he goes, I shall go with him.]

25.
      
Decisions

Morgana was smiling at me. Her mother would dismiss it as wind, but a father knows these things. I smiled back and gently tickled her tummy. She gave me a gurgling laugh in response.

“Daddy’s going away for a short while to get a very important knife. Now I want you to be a good girl and don’t get upset when mummy shouts. She doesn’t mean it.”

“Unless I’m shouting at you, Lord Wizard.”

I hadn’t heard Esmeralda enter the room. I never did when I was about to say something I would regret.

“You used to call me Jake.”

“That was before you started acting like a moron.”

I could almost hear the wheels in her head grinding to an inevitable conclusion.

“I retract that, Lord Wizard. You have always acted the fool, but your current plans need a new word to cover them. Even fools show some sense.”

Putting Morgana back in her cot I turned to face my wife. As I expected she had her arms folded across her beautiful bosom and her left foot was busy tapping.

“The knife is important. Betty has…”

“Betty!” If a word can be shredded as it is spoken then that word was. “A eighth breed Norn, not even a proper elf. Why pray, do you let her words rule your world while ignoring mine and Jennifer’s?”

Dangerous territory this. I had to watch where I put my mouth in case my foot ended up in the same place at the same time.
‘Do not hint of sex’
kept repeating in my brain.

“Betty is an excellent lay… Norn.” Disaster, what was I thinking? “She may not be a professional soothsayer, but she has never led me wrong.”

Esmeralda’s eyes were unreadable, but to my surprise she relaxed and the foot stopped tapping.

“Would My Lord Wizard care to explain the logic of taking a blind dragon on such a dangerous mission? Perhaps the
professional
woman you associate with has suggested it?”

Hmm, maybe I wasn’t fully out of the woods yet.

“That was my idea. Well, after Fluffy suggested it. He needs to realize he’s still needed, still of value to fight at my side.”

Esmeralda moved to Morgana’s cot and stroked our baby’s face.

“Listen to him, darling, and learn to do the opposite. This fighting dragon of his is reliant on Urda to bring him sheep because he can no longer fly to hunt. Your Father isn’t very clever, is he? Silly Daddy.”

“There shouldn’t be any danger. The knife is probably in a store room or in the garbage. It should be a quick in and out mission.”

“Have any of Daddy’s mission ever been quick and safe, little one? He does talk such nonsense.”

“Fluffy is going and that’s the end of it.” It was time the wizardly foot was put firmly down. The effect was somewhat ruined by a gurgling fit from my daughter.

“Yes, Daddy is funny, isn’t he?” Esmeralda liked to rub it in.

“I’m going.”

“Not yet, My Lord Wizard. For one thing you have not kissed me goodbye, and secondly, I wish to discuss the matter of Urda going to Barren.”

“She’s not. We don’t need to scout out what’s going on in Barren and the risk is far too great. It might prompt the Cult to make a pre-emptive strike on us.”

“And by going, in disguise, to the very world they were born in, they might discover the timing of the attack we both know is overdue. My kingdom is under threat and we need to know what our enemy is up to.”

I could see Esmeralda’s point, but my gut was telling me that spying on Barren would be a mistake. It was not something that could be explained.

“They? You plan to send Anna as well?”

Esmeralda dismissed my concern with a wave of her hand. “They are inseparable at the moment, so there was no choice.”

‘Was?’ Past tense?

“You’ve already sent them haven’t you? Against my orders.”

Esmeralda’s face hardened and she seemed to grow in stature. “You may be my husband, Jake Morrissey, though you are neither attentive or reliable at it. But I am the Heir and you do not rule this Kingdom. The King and I have made the best decision we can while you are too busy on a fool’s errand to pay attention to the crisis we face. Salice is in trouble. Our soldiers are busy distributing food to the people and we are not ready to fight. Our people are on the verge of starvation and need those supplies. Winter is still upon us, Jake.”

“I got you the food.”

“And minstrels sing your praises every night,” Esmeralda said in a harsh voice. Then she smiled. “And we are personally grateful to you for saving our nation. But we still have to do what is best for Salice.”

I wasn’t happy about it, but in the end she was right. I had married into the royal family, but it was their country, not mine.

 
“It will all end in tears.”

 
“Perhaps. But I will have my goodbye kiss.”

As we hugged after kissing, Esmeralda whispered in my ear. “Come back safely, my love.”

The Bat Cave was strangely empty when I hopped in. A few sheep were penned into a corner, not looking the least bit happy about their confinement. I didn’t blame them. But there was no sign of Fluffy or Jenny and Merlin, and all three of them should have been here.

A flapping of leathery wings and a cry of delight made me turn to the massive entrance in the side of the cliff. As I looked on in astonishment, Fluffy made a belly flop landing, sliding across the room with my wife and child on his back. He slid into the wall where he bounced to a halt.

Jenny got off. Merlin was in one of those papoose type things across her chest.

“It’s great, Jake. Retnor can see though my eyes when I’m riding him. It’s the same as if he could see.”

I nodded to where Fluffy was digging himself out from the wall.

“Wonderful coordination with it.”

[To be fair, Jake. My usual landings have never been that good.]

He had a point and I laughed.

“I see Urda has left you a few meals.”

[Yes, but they are stinking out the cave.]

I wisely said nothing. The scent of a dragon’s lair takes some time to get used to, even without added sheep.

Jenny kissed me. “You have Esmeralda’s perfume all over you. Are we going to have to catch up in the bedroom?”

“Nothing happened.” I raised my arms in surrender. “She was just saying goodbye.”

“She only wears that scent because she knows it sticks to you. She likes to mark her conquests and rub it in my face.”

“Peace. I have not fired any shots in her so there is no need for retaliation.”

Jenny gave me a salacious smile. “Nothing to stop you firing a few shots in my direction. Assuming your cannon is in fully working order.”

[NOT IN FRONT OF THE DRAGON.]

That made us laugh and I reached to stroke my son’s cheek.

“He’s looking happy.”

“He likes to fly. I suspect he is a dragon rider in the making.”

“Time for Fluffy and I to go in search of my knife.”

Jenny looked anxious. “You will be careful won’t you, especially with Retnor?”

[I need no one to look after me.]

“Looked what happened the last time he took you with him.”

[I got a cool pair of sunglasses?]

“You’re both impossible.” Jenny pushed me away, though she was smiling.

I walked purposely towards Fluffy, but Jenny called me back.

“You need to take us home first,” Jenny said. “Urda said she’d be gone for a while.”

“Your parents’ house?”

When she nodded I waved a hand.

“Collect up your stuff then.” The cave was strewn with baby stuff.

Half an hour later I hopped my wife and child back to her parents. Then, after a tearful goodbye on her part I hopped back to the Bat Cave.

 
“Are you sure you are up to this?” I asked my dragon.

[Certain. I need to get out more, in any case.]

Sitting on my dragon’s back I conjured up my memories of the knife. The essence of what it was, the connection I had with it.

Then I hopped.

When I looked around at where we had arrived I was plain astonished.

26.
      
Dealings

We were in a tent, a tent that would not have been out of place in a small circus. The floor was strewn with delicate rugs, overlapping so it was impossible to tell if the floor beneath was earth or whether we were in a gigantic room with a tent in it. Light defused through the silk and if we were outside it must be a still day because the tent sides were still. It was hot and dry, but not unpleasantly so.

“How lovely to see you, Jake. And you too, Retnor.”

A woman’s voice, soft and seductive. One I knew all too well. Alisandra.

Fluffy shuffled round to face our unexpected host. We had done a deal where he was using my eyes to see, but wasn’t in control of them. It still felt itchy, but I could live with it. We turned to face a throne, which was raised on a dais against the wall. Alisandra was sitting on the throne with her legs crossed, dressed as usual in nothing much, transparent silks draped over her body to reveal as much as they concealed. She looked delighted to see us.

Not so her husbands. Josa, Elis and Tam. The first two flanked her, each with a hand touching hers. Tam stood behind her combing her hair. If you can imagine a look of envy mixed with jealousy with a healthy dollop of anger that was pretty much how they looked.

I dismounted, still too confused to say anything sensible. Fluffy recovered first.

[Lady Alisandra, Queen of the Tridon Zone and Representative of the Conference Between the Worlds. How delightful to find you here, not to mention unexpected.]

“However you find me, you are always welcome, Retnor, Prince of Dragons. I shall long remember our tryst. Dragons have such exceptional staying power.”

Now that was a surprise. I was shocked.

“You... And Alisandra?” You think you know your dragon and then something like this turns up. “You never mentioned it.”

Fluffy turned his elegant head towards me and I could swear he was smirking,

[A gentleman never tells.]

“I tell you.” It was an accusation.

[But you have never been a gentleman, Jake.]

Alisandra had been following our exchange with amused interest.

“And neither am I a Lady, Lord Retnor. We had at it until I could no longer walk as I remember. Long and hard, just the way I like it”

I looked away and tried to hide my blush.

Alisandra laughed in delight.

“I have made the Great Wizard Morrissey blush like a schoolgirl. How could this encounter possibly be improved upon?” She looked again at Fluffy. Her eyes narrowed. “Those eye shades do not suit you.”

[I think they make me look cool.]

I saw a tendril of magic flow from Alisandra and bounce against the dark lenses. Fluffy was stopping her finding out about his eyes. That was when I saw what was behind us against the far wall. There was a full sized waxwork of me standing on a plinth inside a glass case. It was wearing the clothes I had worn when taken to the conference.

Magically enhancing my sight so I could zoom in to see if the knife was there, I found myself blushing instead.

Alisandra had followed my gaze. “Do you like it? The artist consulted with me to ensure the most intimate detail was captured.”

Given that the waxwork’s flies were undone and something large was sticking out of my jeans, I was in no doubt that one part of me had been accurately modelled. The women of Malevon have a way of making me feel like a prude.

[Do you show that off to all your guests?]

Alisandra laughed so hard I thought she might injure herself.

“I keep him zipped up in polite company. And I do not want my fellow Malevon Queens getting any ideas.”

The lightning bolts came from all directions and bounced off the shield I’d placed around my body before we hopped. Some bounced onto Fluffy and met a similar shield before ricocheting off him onto the floor and into the sides of the tent.

The bolts that bounced up set the tent blazing. Those that hit the floor started the rugs smoldering. The energy that bounced off me and hit Alisandra turned her dress to ash and vaporized the top layers of her skin.

She screamed and I ran to catch her as she fell. I applied healing magic paying particular attention to her eyes and eyelids. A shield that a nuclear bomb would fail to penetrate sprang up in a hemisphere around us. I added light as none could get in from outside. Alisandra was badly injured and I had to heal her quickly before shock set in. Somewhere in the distance I heard men wailing.

The medical stuff I’d picked up for Fluffy turned out to be really useful. My mind ran along her veins and commanded cells to regenerate. I placed a sterilized cushion of air around her injuries so that nothing could touch her. White blood cells and plasma flowed from her to cover the burns. I accelerated growth, reusing dead cells as food for those that could multiply. Magic compressed months of healing into minutes.

Alisandra’s eyes flickered and tendrils of her magic flowed around us, taking in the situation.

“And here I am, naked in your arms again. I think the gods are trying to tell us something, don’t you?”

“Can you stand?”

“Well enough.”

I helped her to her feet. She brushed the ash and dead skin from her body and I saw her magic try to penetrate the shield I’d placed around us. She failed.

“If you would be so kind?”

I made the shield transparent and looked into a scene of destruction. The fires were out, but the tent was in tatters revealing we were inside a room with large plate glass windows. The smoke was gone and Fluffy was by the throne with Alisandra’s husbands sitting on the floor in front of him. I could only see their backs, but their postures were ones of profound despair.

Everything looked safe so I dropped the shield.

Alisandra removed the remaining ash from her body with a flickering thought and then she was dressed again. Every bit the queen she had been before, though the silks she wore were colored in somber hues

[Impressive, my lady. It is good to see you are well]

“Thank you, Retnor. I hope whatever Jake is doing to restore your eyes is equally effective.”

[We can but hope.]

So much for keeping secrets from her.

Alisandra walked over to Fluffy and turned to face her husbands.

“In your attempts to hurt Lord Morrissey you very nearly killed me. You are divorced and banished. Go far from this place and never return.”

That raised a big question.

“Hold on a minute. I thought the men in Malevon couldn’t use magic. How did they attack me?”

Alisandra kicked Josa. “Show him.”

Josa stumbled to his feet and took a small rectangular box from his pocket. He handed it to me without speaking a word. The box had a single button on it. Having seen what it could do, I probed it with magic rather than pressing the button. That’s a step up for me; a year ago I would have pressed it without thinking.

The insides consisted of nine tubes. Seven were sealed and two were broken open at the end. A cunning mechanism moved a striker over a tube and when the button was pressed the tube was breached and the striker would move on to the next tube.

The tubes contained raw magic and a seed spell that would covert the magic into lightning. This was similar to how the Cult staffs worked, though this mechanism was much smaller and had a multi shot capability. However, when I probed the tubes I couldn’t figure out how they held the magic in. They just did.

“I’ve never seen anything this clever before.”

Alisandra shrugged. “They are not easy to obtain as they are made for military use and rationed. Our army has equal numbers of men and women. We have to give our men the means to fight.”

“Did you know your husbands had them?”

“Even I have enemies, Jake. They were for my husbands’ self-protection.”

I gave the box back to Josa and he put it in his pocket. The three men slouched out of the room without looking back.

Alisandra made her way to her throne. She waved a hand and the tent remade itself. Another gesture restored the carpets. When she finished, the room looked very much the way it had before the blasts, but all the joy and happiness had somehow leached out of it.

She sighed. “You have a way of tiring me out, Jake. I am exhausted and we must conclude our meeting faster than I would like. You have come for the knife and I want something in return. Shall we deal?”

[How did you obtain it?]

That was typical Fluffy. He fretted when he didn’t know all the answers.

“You made some kind of deal with the Progenitors?” It wasn’t really a question on my part.

A frown flittered across Alisandra’s face. “You remember the misunderstanding between us?”

I nodded. It wasn’t the kind of
misunderstanding
you forgot.

“I made strong protest to the Progenitors and when they acknowledged the harm they had done me, I asked for your clothes in recompense.”

“And you knew about the knife…?”

“Because Farolan talks too much in the bedroom.”

[It showed great presence of mind to turn your dishonor into an advantage.]

Alisandra gave a wan smile. “Women have been doing that throughout the ages, regardless of wizardry.”

This was a truly dangerous woman. I had to keep reminding myself of that. She looked so sweet and sexy, but when the chips were down she could be cold as ice. Her explanation left only one question to ask.

“What do you want for the knife?”

“An alliance between Malevon and yourself. I speak for all my people because this is something we have already agreed upon. We will stand by your side if you will stand by ours, should circumstances require it.”

“Done.”

“This alliance must be sealed in the traditional Malevon way.”

I had no doubts at all of what that would involve. It would be another secret to keep from my wives. But I would have made the deal whatever it involved. It just felt right.