Magician Prince (14 page)

The Council of Masters assembled as word
traveled fast that Byrn Firemas had returned to the Collective.
When Byrn was last a member of the Council there were only six
members including himself. Now as he looked at those members
assembled before him that would soon be passing judgment over him
he counted fourteen magicians. There were familiar faces: Alia,
Xander, Ryonus, Skynryd, Levak, and Riona, but the majority were
unknown to him. From his own experiences with the magicians that
once lived in domains, magician communities set up in areas where
magic could not be practiced and kept under the watchful eyes of
the Kenzai, he knew that they tended to be inexperienced in the
magical arts meaning that the nine new members were rescued
prisoners from Baj.

Byrn and Sane stood before the masters. Their
hands were bound behind their backs with rope. It was worth noting
that neither sorcerer was bound by the control collar that Byrn
knew was in the Collective’s possession giving him a ray of hope
that he was ultimately still trusted despite what the farmer-boy
had told him.

It was Xander who spoke on behalf of the
masters. Until this moment none of Byrn’s former friends had been
given a chance to speak with him either privately or before those
assembled now. Only two hours had passed since the sorcerers gave
themselves up, but Byrn had hoped to get a little individual time
to speak with Alia before the proceedings. He wanted to tell her of
all he saw and did on his trek back to Aurelia. The world was a
much larger place than most of the inhabitants of the kingdom
believed it to be, but above that he needed her reassurance that
she did not believe these false rumors that were born from his
disappearance. Instead he found a woman who was careful not to look
him in the eye.

“Byrn Firemas and Sorcerer Sane, you have
both been accused of colluding with the kingdom against your fellow
magicians,” Xander’s voice carried throughout the master’s council
hall giving it an imposing quality that it may have otherwise
lacked in his timeworn body, “What say you to this accusation?”

“It is true that I came here on behalf of the
kingdom,” Byrn told them with confidence. The masters whispered
among themselves at what they believed to be a confession of guilt.
“Do not misunderstand me. I have done nothing to betray the
Collective. My loyalty has ever been with you and your goal of
freedom for magicians. To be called a traitor without reason or
proof is an insult and one I do not take lightly. I would like to
hear just what exactly the claims are that have been placed against
me.”

Xander nodded approval as if to say, “Well
spoken.” The grandmaster turned his attention to Sane. “And what
say you?”

Sane was frank in his answer. “I cannot deny
that I faithfully served the kingdom for three decades,” again
several of the masters whispered at this. One began to pull magic
to his staff in the back, but someone else must have convinced him
to wait, because the energy dissipated safely almost as rapidly,
“but I have broken ties with them and got this as a result.” He
pointed to his eye patch. Then he looked to Xander and caught his
eye, “Last year my sister was killed in a Kenzai attack. After that
I could no longer serve the kingdom and spent my time since then as
a prisoner until Byrn rescued me only recently.”

The grandmaster gave a short nod and placed a
hand on Sane’s arm. In a voice low enough that only Sane and Byrn
who were standing within a foot of Xander could hear, he said,
“Family is the most important thing. I’m glad that you have finally
learned that, though the cost was too high.”

Then he spoke loud enough for all to hear.
“Byrn, let us start with you.” Xander rubbed his chin as he
contemplated the best line of questioning to press Byrn with. He
was unsure what Xander was playing at, but for now he had no choice
except to go along with it. “Just after your disappearance certain
information came to light that I was hoping you could expand upon.
Through our interrogations of Baj’s dungeon master shortly before
you disappeared with him we learned that you are a prince of the
kingdom. How are we supposed to think that your loyalty could
possibly lie with us?”

Byrn shrugged and said, “I am standing before
you when I do not have to be. I have allowed myself to be taken
captive when I could have fought for my freedom.” He caught Alia’s
eye this time if only for a second before she looked away. The fact
that she refused to meet his eyes worried him more than anything.
“This is my home as much as any place could be.”

“Then where have you been for the last year?
Why did you choose now to return?” Xander’s tone was measured, but
Byrn thought it sounded somehow standoffish.

“When I transported to Everec with Kellen,
the dungeon master, I was thrown into a war zone. The city was
overrun with orcs and I was taken prisoner.” Byrn considered how
much he would reveal at this… interview and decided to be vague
about just how much his magic had grown since his abrupt departure.
“I managed to escape with the use of some powerful magic, but was
so drained that I slept for days while Sane, who had also been
taken prisoner, and Kellen carried me through the forest toward a
human city.

“I awoke in Silvering, but was soon betrayed
by Kellen who sided with the kingdom. Sane was collared and I was
forced to flee. Among our company were my mother and an elf. My
mother… died in that battle, but the elf had a transportation rune
and we escaped to her homeland a half world away across the Great
Sea.

“Kellen took my own runes earlier and I had
no way to come back home except through more mundane, and lengthy,
means of travel. I only returned to Aurelia recently.”

Alia stood up and addressed the council. “I
would like a word with Byrn Firemas in private.”

Xander went to her and placed a comforting
hand on her shoulder. “Be patient, daughter, this will not take
much longer. We must be sure.” He turned to face Sane and took in
the measure of the one-eyed sorcerer. “It has been a long time,
Sane. The last time we saw one another was shortly after you became
the king’s magician. You were a much younger man then, as was
I.

“What did you do for the king that bought you
your freedom that these other men and women failed to do?” Xander
waved his arm to encompass the council behind him who would pass
judgment over the sorcerers. It was a leading question and there
was no truthful answer that Sane could give that would not evoke
some kind of ire from those sitting before them.

Sane opened his mouth repeatedly trying to
speak, but he could not find his voice. Finally he managed an
answer, but Byrn quickly found that Sane would have done better to
continue to hold his tongue. “The king had heard about my ability
to predict the future. It was a talent he greatly wished under his
employ and so he recruited me to that end. I swore allegiance to
the king and before long he began to make use of my other talents
as well. Working alongside the Kenzai, I would investigate rumors
of rogue magician activity and was responsible for the relocation
of many magicians to domains.”

“You rounded up other magicians and put them
in domains!” It was the burly magician with a long, red moustache,
Levak, who burst out.

“String him up!” shouted another master. This
one was a woman in a blue robe that Byrn was unfamiliar with.

“I thought I was doing the right thing,” Sane
pleaded, but sounded as if he was trying to justify his actions as
much to himself as to anyone else, “If I could show the king that
we could be trusted, then maybe he would loosen the restrictions
placed on magicians, but Prince Janus hates us for our power; power
that he does not possess.”

Xander nodded. “A noble goal, but a foolish
one as the situation has only gotten far worse since you took up
with the nobility and became their servant.”

“Enough of this. I bring a request from King
Kale to parley with a delegation of Collective magicians. He
understands that through this war we only ensure our mutual
destruction and wished to come to an agreement. One that would give
all magicians the freedom they desire,” Byrn announced, fed up with
this whole farce.

“And how are we to know that this offer is
genuine?” countered the grandmaster, eyes narrowing on his young
counterpart.

“Because I have never lied to you or because
I was the one who freed you from Baj and you owe me the benefit of
the doubt for that if nothing else. Take your pick. However, if you
do still believe that I have joined the kingdom and know that I am
a prince, then you must also admit that I have the backing to come
here and make this claim. Believe whatever you want, but it makes
my offer no less genuine.” Byrn started to sear through the rope
binding his hands with an absent thought, but resisted the urge. He
reminded himself that he needed Xander on his side.

Xander’s laugh was dark and humorless as he
said, “I tried to live at peace with the lessers for years and all
they did was show their cruelty. Don’t delude yourself, Byrn, this
will be a bloody fight. The kingdom will not simply lay down their
arms and parley with us so that we can beg for our own land and
freedom as a street urchin begs for some spare coin.”

“Father, if what Byrn says is true, then we
must consider this,” Alia spoke regally as she made her way to
stand between the two men and their egos, “Byrn is still a member
of the Collective and he will be treated as such until a final
decision has been made. For now he and his friend will be treated
as guests, unless anyone has another suggestion.” The last words
took an ominous tone that dared defiance.

“My child, you are often the voice of
reason,” Xander admitted, “Very well, Byrn and Sane will be allowed
to roam the castle grounds while we come to a decision, but for now
let us take a break. I would like the pleasure of speaking to each
of these men privately once they have had a chance to rest from
their trip.”

***

“This is my niece?” Sane asked looking over
the young woman before him, “I thought that all of Avelice’s
children had passed on. It does my old heart good to see that I was
mistaken.”

“Many thanks,
uncle,
but you will have
to forgive my surprise. Neither mother nor father ever mentioned
you.” Alia sat across from Sane and Byrn in the dining hall where
they ate an informal dinner. Xander took a seat next to Alia and
Kaleb, who sat beside Byrn, joined them for the meal of chicken,
bread, and an array of fruits in a basket.

“I can only assume that she was ashamed of
me,” Sane said looking at his hands. “If I had known then who you
were...” He shook his head. “It does not matter now.”

“You two have met before?” Byrn asked
curiously.

Sane exchanged a glance with Alia who stared
back at him blankly. She had no idea what he was referring to.

“What is going on?” Byrn asked. This time he
was more concerned with what he was not being told.

Sane looked from Byrn to Alia and back to
Byrn. “Perhaps that story is best left for another time once we
have all gotten settled in. This should be a time to celebrate. We
are on the verge of peace between magicians and the kingdom.” The
sorcerer held up his glass for a toast, but when no else raised
theirs, he set his mug back on the long table.

Byrn turned to Alia, “What is he talking
about?”

Alia started to shake her head, to deny
having ever met Sane, but stopped as the memory came to her and she
realized she and Sane had crossed paths once before. “It was a long
time ago,” was all she said.

“You do have some exciting news to tell him,”
suggested Xander. “Why don’t you start with that?”

“Tell me what?” Byrn asked knowing that he
was being excluded from some silent exchange.

Kaleb watched them all silently as he took in
the adults’ steadily tensing moods.

Alia caught Byrn’s stare and held it as she
told him what he wanted to know. “Six years ago I came up with a
plan to free my father from Baj. This was before the Collective. I
was on my own for the six years before that, getting by on my
magical talents to trick and manipulate people. Know that I wanted
to tell you this for a long time. I almost told you a half dozen
times, but feared your reaction.”

Byrn waited expectantly for what was to come
next.

“I was the one who enchanted the ogres and
sent them to Colum to attack the city. I did it in the hope that I
could use the confusion to sneak into Baj and rescue my father, but
Sane stopped me before I ever got close to the prison.”

“How is that possible? I was with Sane at the
time.”

“Not the whole time,” Sane explained, “You
rode after Kellen and Tannys just before Sari and I caught up to
Alia.”

Everyone could see the moment when Byrn came
to the full realization that everything that happened to him since
that day, the death of his father, his imprisonment in Baj, were
the results of Alia’s actions back then. A sudden fire that he
thought was long extinguished welled up from inside him. “Hundreds
of people died that die. How could you do that?” Byrn’s voice rose
in anger. He barely managed to stay in his seat.

“When I realized the connection- what I had
done to you- I wanted to tell you a dozen times, but was afraid of
how you might react.”

“You lied to me!” accused Byrn.

“No, I didn’t lie. I just- how was I supposed
to tell you in a way that wouldn’t make you hate me? What could I
have said or done that would make that right?” Byrn did not answer
immediately and Alia sought to fill the silence. “I was alone. It
was before the days of the Collective and I had been on my own
since I was fourteen. It seemed like there was nothing else I could
do. You don’t know what it was like to be alone like that. You had
a family that loved you and took care of you. What would you have
done in my place?”