Magician Prince (13 page)

“I thought I told you to leave,” her voice
was somewhere between a threatening hiss and a low whisper while
she tried to make up her mind whether or not to be angry with
him.

“You said to leave your workshop. I thought
you wanted me to stay close by in case you needed more help, so I
stayed in the living room.” Ryonus told her sounding confused and
maybe a little hurt.

“Ryonus,” Alia exhaled his name unpleasantly
as if she were dealing with a child, “I know you have some…
feelings for me, but now is not the time to be exploring such
things.”

“Why don’t you come down off your high
horse?” Ryonus scolded her, but stayed at a whisper so as not to
disturb Avelice. The question was shocking enough to command
silence from Alia for the moment- a feat rarely accomplished. “Yes,
you are attractive. I won’t deny that, but what
we
are doing
here is important. We could be deciding the fate of the kingdom
right now, so yes, I decided to stick around to help in any way
that I could even if that means doing something as simple as
quieting a baby or lighting a few candles.”

The enchantress stammered as she tried to
apologize, but finally settled on a short, “Thank you,” as she
backed out of the nursery.

Ryonus stopped her on the way out. “How close
are you to breaking the enchantment?” he asked once more using that
almost clinical tone of his.

“Very close. I am on the verge of solving
it.”

“So there is no more confusion: Do you want
me to leave?”

Alia thought about it for a moment and shook
her head. “You may stay. As you said may have need of you.”

***

The ripples of color faded with the last
influx of Alia’s magic into the collar and the enchantress breathed
a sigh of mixed relief and exhaustion. She was unsure of how much
time had passed since her last break and it was becoming hard to
maintain focus on anything, but she thought the enchantment was
finally broken.

Another touch of her magic pulsed into the
collar and the telltale kaleidoscope of color that indicated an
enchantment failed to activate. Next she held the collar between
her hands and pulsed a steady flow of magic through it. A slight
touch of the collar’s enchantment should have pulsed into Alia’s
hands allowing her to identify the spell bound to it by touch.
There was nothing! The control collar was broken!

The desire to tell someone of her success was
overwhelming. Before she knew what she was doing Alia was in her
living room looking for Ryonus. He was asleep in a chair with his
head tilted back. Avelice was sitting up against him and playing
with his fingers. A low snore chortled from his nose and Alia had
to suppress a smile. Maybe she misjudged him and Avelice liked him
so he could not be all that bad.

She carefully took Avelice from the sleeping
magician. The baby pulled at Alia’s hair and smiled that goofy grin
that was all her own. Alia went into her bedroom and lay down with
Avelice against her.

She could tell Ryonus the good news in the
morning.

Byrn reined his horse in shy of the outskirts
of Wolfsbane.

“Why are we stopping?” asked Sane. The last
leg of their journey was a swift one as the magicians along with
their young companion decided to continue on to the Collective
without further delay. It became clear that they were not going to
find a suitable home for Kaleb in any of towns they passed through.
People were just too scared to trust strangers, even young boys
since any child could be a magician and after some conversations
with both Kaleb and Sane, Byrn decided to take Kaleb with them to
Wolfsbane, believing that he could protect the boy if things did
not go as planned.

Sane’s coloring improved dramatically since
their journey began thanks in part to the rests in inns and hearty
meals along the way. His skin was still sagging, but it was a
remarkable improvement from the state Byrn found him in. In another
few months he would be back to his old self, excluding his missing
eye. That would always be a reminder of his time as a prisoner to
Prince Janus.

“Kaleb, can you ride ahead a short way? I
need to speak privately with Sane.” Byrn’s serious expression was
enough to convince Kaleb to do as he asked without question.

“Before we go any further, I have to be
completely honest with you about something.” Byrn exhaled heavily.
He had thought long about what he wanted to tell the senior
magician and just how he wanted to say it. “When I was unconscious
after our escape from Everec I dreamt that I was having a
discussion with a boy called Warrior and an old man called Wise. In
my dream, Wise showed me a vision of the destruction of Colum-
possibly as it was happening. It is no secret that that was done by
the Collective and you may have heard the stories that it was done
by a single magician. You need to know that is true. A very
powerful necromancer called Xander Necros did it. He may be the
most powerful magician in the world.

“He is also one of the leaders of the
Collective and we will need his support if we are to make this
alliance happen.”

Sane hung his head and shook it, “I know
Xander. He was married to my sister after all.” Byrn looked
surprised for a second, but he did his best to cover it. Avelice
said once that she had a brother and he knew that she knew Sane,
but he never guessed that they were related. That also explained
why the massacre at Avelice’s school affected Sane so deeply that
he would turn against the kingdom that he had served faithfully for
decades. Sane continued once that revelation had a minute to sink
in, “My experience with them was limited, but Xander was a loving
husband and father to his family. However, he had a darker side. He
was driven and zealous in his beliefs and his desire to protect
them. Simply put, once his mind was made up there was little that
could be done to change it. We must tread carefully around him.

“There is one other thing as long as we are
being completely honest. First, you need to know that I never told
you this before, because I did not believe it was true.” Sane’s
hands twisted the reins tightly. “In Everec, the orcs could have
killed me, but chose not to, because their lead magikan had a
vision of Kellen, myself, and several other humans standing against
an encroaching darkness that threatened to overwhelm the continent.
When you were captured and they tried to burn you at the stake it
was because that magikan recognized you as being the master of that
dark power.”

Before Byrn could respond, Sane held his hand
up asking for silence. “There is more,” warned Sane, “A few months
before you rescued me I had a vision of that same darkness
enveloping the continent. You were not a part of my vision, but the
source of that darkness came from Wolfsbane and the imagery was not
that different from what the magikan described. It may be that some
challenge awaits you there and if you fail to act or act too
rashly, then you could lose yourself to that darkness.”

“That is incredibly vague,” Byrn told him, “I
thought visions of the future are supposed to be helpful.”

“They rarely are,” Sane admitted wryly,
“Setting this possible future off course may be as simple as
passing on this warning to you, but I doubt that is the case. We
better head to the castle. Your destiny awaits and it appears that
Kaleb does too.” The sorcerer urged his horse forward toward the
town ahead and the castle looming in the distance. Byrn kicked his
horse into a run to catch up to the older rider.

Soon they were on the outskirts of Wolfsbane
where farmers were planting crops for the coming spring when they
saw a most amazing sight. It was a subtle sensation, but Byrn felt
the pull of magic around him as a dark haired young man with an
equally dark tan was turning soil as he walked his field using
earth magic. He was followed behind by a young woman of about the
same age and likeness who was planting seeds and covering them by
causing the dirt to shift back into place.

The three travelers pulled up their horses to
watch the farmers at work.

“This is what magic was meant for,” said Sane
in awe of the straightforwardness of the scene before them, “not
for the fighting and death dealing that it has evolved into over
the centuries. This is the ideal. Magic being used to make people’s
lives better.” Kaleb stared in fascination. It was his first sight
of magic in use.

Just then the young people noticed the three
riders watching them and ran back to their farmhouse.

“That is amazing,” said Kaleb. Any discomfort
he may have felt about seeing or traveling among magicians was a
thing of the past thanks to his present company.

“Let’s make sure they understand that we are
magicians too,” Byrn suggested. “This could be a valuable
opportunity to learn about how things have developed with the
Collective since the rebellion began.”

They rode up to the farmhouse slowly to show
the farmers that they meant no harm if they were looking out their
windows, but it also allowed the travelers a more cautious arrival.
Byrn knocked at the farm door with Sane at his side and Kaleb not
far behind them. There was no answer, but Byrn could sense them in
there.

“You have nothing to fear from us,” Byrn told
them through the door, “We only wish to speak with you.”

A sudden flare of magic was all the warning
Byrn had and it was all of the warning that he needed to erect a
shield before the barn door exploded outward toward the sorcerers.
The broken shards of wood spread out across the shield leaving them
unharmed.

“Sane, stay with Kaleb.” Byrn entered into
the farmhouse without waiting for an answer. He was confident that
these young magicians could do him no harm, but Kaleb was another
matter.

“As I said, ‘we only wish to speak with
you.’” He held his hand at eye level and summoned forth a flame
from his fingers in an attempt to convey with actions what worlds
failed to do.

“You are magicians?” asked the young man in
surprise. “I-I am sorry. We are not supposed to use our magic when
travelers are nearby, but we did not think you were close enough to
tell and then we saw you staring at us…”

“If we were not magic wielders, then I doubt
we would have been able to tell what you were up to from so far
away.” The young sorcerer extended his hand in greeting. “I am Byrn
Firemas,” he waved for the others to come in, “and this is Sane and
Kaleb.”

“Byrn Firemas? I’ve heard that name before.”
The young farmer thought for a minute before he remembered what he
knew of someone named Byrn. “Are you the same fire master that
saved Lord Xander from Baj?” the young man asked warily.

“I am,” Byrn answered both surprised that he
was known by the farmer and a bit cautious at his cagey
attitude.

“Please leave this place,” the dark haired
young man said firmly. “I don’t know if the rumors about you
betraying the Collective are true, but I don’t want to be seen
speaking with you all the same.”

“I never betrayed the Collective,” Byrn
assured him, “Who is spreading these rumors?”

The farmer shrugged. “It is common knowledge
passed on by the magicians that were here before I arrived. Now go…
Please.” The teens could not hope to make Byrn or Sane leave if
they decided that they wanted to stay, but the sorcerers agreed to
leave willingly on the condition that Byrn’s arrival was kept
secret so that he could clear his name willingly and the young
farmers gladly agreed.

Sane told Byrn as they mounted their horses,
“This does not bode well for us.”

Byrn shook his head unable to believe that
anyone would think him a traitor. Surely Alia knew where his heart
lied if no one else did.

“It certainly does not,” Byrn admitted to
himself as much as his companion, “Keep that magic wand handy.”

Sane patted the thin wooden wand that rested
within his cloak’s pocket. It was remarkable in its simplicity and
small size, but with testing Sane learned that the small wand was
as effective as a grimoire, but far easier to conceal.

To Kaleb, he offered, “If you want to turn
back, now would be the time to do so. I will send Sane along with
you for protection until you can find someplace safe.”

“There hasn’t been much luck with that so
far,” the boy admitted.

The sun would be setting soon causing shadows
to grow long and stretch towards the group as they drew ever nearer
to Castle Wolfsbane. Byrn’s stomach was twisted in knots as they
passed through the town and arrived at the castle’s main gates,
because if anyone truly believed that he betrayed the Collective,
then the success of this mission may be nothing more than wishful
thinking on his part.

“Halt!” boomed the voice of a gate guard
brandishing a long staff with a sharp blade. “Who seeks entry to
Castle Wolfsbane?”

“I am the sorcerer, Byrn Firemas of the
Council of Masters.”

The second guard gasped involuntarily at the
admission, but with a nod from the first guard both magicians aimed
their staffs at Byrn. “You will come with us,” the second guard
stated hesitantly. Whatever else these men had heard about Byrn it
was clear that they feared him and they did not even know about
what he was truly capable of doing.

Sane looked to Byrn with an expression that
indicated that he would follow Byrn’s lead whatever that may be. It
was not the first time since they started their journey that Byrn
realized that Sane was relying on him heavily to lead the way.
Whatever torture he experienced at the hands of the prince and his
men carried scars far deeper than the ones on his back and
chest.

“That is what I intended,” Byrn agreed
holding up both hands to show that he was not touching a staff or
cleverly concealed grimoire. These men did not know that Byrn had
transcended the need to use such devices and relaxed at the sign of
the unarmed sorcerer who followed them into the castle as their
prisoner.