Magician Prince (18 page)

“Because he has been taking his meals in the
tower. He gets them delivered to the base of the north tower and
takes them up himself.”

Ryonus shook his head dismissively, “That
doesn’t prove that what you say is true. He could just be hard at
work on some secret project and finds it convenient to eat his
meals there.”

Tomlin got that grin on his face that
reminded Alia of a cat that had just trapped a mouse. Whatever was
about to come next would prove why he was the best in the
Collective at finding out what others did not want anyone to know
and when he spoke he did not disappoint. “I might agree with you if
I had not observed him taking meals in the dining hall as well and
since he does not appear to be putting on weight, then someone else
in the tower must be eating the food he brings up.”

After a minute when he was able to find no
flaw with Tomlin’s reasoning, Ryonus admitted, “You might be right,
but we should remain cautious. There could be someone else in that
tower and for that reason we should proceed carefully, but what you
are suggesting is the most logical conclusion.”

“Then we must find a way into the tower,”
Alia decided, “and we should do so quickly. I don’t want to drag
this out.”

“There is more news,” Ryonus added, “and I
think it is of greater consequence than finding out what happened
to Byrn. Some of our men on the outer regions of our territory
reported seeing a kingdom army- perhaps the entire kingdom army-
headed this way. They estimated ten thousand troops including
Kenzai and what looked to be collared magicians. Tomorrow morning a
decree will come down from the council to call everyone in the town
and the outlying farmlands to the castle in preparation for a
siege.”

“How long do we have?” Alia asked in
surprise. The timeline didn’t make sense. To move such a large
army, they would have to have set out almost immediately after Byrn
left Mollifas.

“Less than a week.”

“What about the magicians? Can you de-collar
them?” Tomlin asked voicing genuine concern at the potential for a
massacre of magicians on either side.

“From a distance? Maybe I could deactivate
one or two with enough effort, but the spell is best applied at
close range. I would need to fight them hand-to-hand.”

Ryonus stood up suddenly, “That would be
suicide!”

“Agreed,” Alia assured him. Under other
circumstances it would be possible to deactivate the collars, but
not so many at one time while being harried by Kenzai and a vast
kingdom army.

“It is getting late. Perhaps we should all
sleep on this,” Ryonus suggested once more taking on a calm,
pragmatic guise, “However, the arrival of the kingdom army changes
things. Perhaps we should wait until that crisis has been dealt
with before trying to make contact with Byrn. If Xander is up to
something, he will put it on hold to deal with the kingdom army and
I think we should do the same thing. If Byrn is in league with the
kingdom, then it is in everyone’s best interest to stay away from
him and if he is not, then he is in the same ship as the rest of us
and it ultimately won’t matter.” Ryonus did not add, “because we
will all be dead.” He did not need to. They were all thinking
it.

Alia sighed in resignation. “We will deal
with the kingdom first as if nothing is amiss and gods willing we
are victorious, then we will deal with whatever concerns are
between my father and Byrn.”

“This could be for the best. If we defeat the
kingdom army, then Xander would have no reason to keep Byrn hidden
away, right?” Tomlin asked hopefully. He looked between Alia and
Ryonus waiting for agreement, but neither of them offered it.
Instead Alia shared the thought that the two masters probably
shared.

“And if he does not share his secrets at that
time, then it means that he does not trust us enough to know
them.”

Tomlin and Ryonus left Alia’s home before
Kaleb offered his opinion. “Byrn is my best friend. You have to
trust him.”

Such an easy thing for a child to
believe,
Alia mused,
that is the same conviction I once held
for my father.
“I would like to,” she told him and took a
sleepy Avelice from him. She motioned for Kaleb to follow him into
the nursery. “The kingdom is sending an army here, Kaleb. I can’t
guarantee your safety once they arrive. If you wish to leave I
wouldn’t blame you. I could take you anywhere in the kingdom in the
blink of an eye and be back before anyone noticed.”

Kaleb shook his head. “Byrn would not leave
me behind if I was in trouble.”
What could Kaleb do?
thought
Alia. He was just a boy. He could not fight or use magic, but he
refused to run away. He was either very brave or very foolish; or
maybe he was both.

***

Below the northern tower a hooded figure
dressed in black approached. Xander watched the man skulk about
outside and look over his shoulder more than once to make certain
that he was not followed. It was a wasted effort fore such
suspicious movements would surely alert any passersby that the man
in black was someplace that he was not supposed to be. If anyone
had been following him, then he would never know it.

“Is he coming?” asked Riona who sat near the
hearth that went unused since the end of winter. Riona was a
necromancer like Xander. However, unlike Xander she was only a
master. She was his servant now ever since learning that the
grandmaster was over four centuries old. All magicians at one time
or another dream of extending their life- of becoming immortal- but
few ever learned how to accomplish that lofty aspiration. She
longed for that secret too and would serve Xander in whatever way
he desired to become privy to it. That was good, because he needed
servants that he could trust without question especially when those
he should have been able to count on were conspiring against
him.

“He will be here shortly,” Xander told her,
but did not look away from the window. He would watch a little
longer to make sure that the man in black was not followed after
all. His plans were progressing smoothly, but he had not expected
to have an open confrontation with Byrn. It would have raised fewer
questions if Byrn had just mysteriously disappeared considering his
long absence.

Over the past year, he spent much of his time
looking for the proper candidate: A man that was young, but also
had great potential for magic. There were several likely candidates
among the Collective, but none of them really stood out. Never the
less he was dying and time was running out. A decision had to be
made and certain events needed to be manipulated to guarantee that
he maintained control of the Collective. So he took possession of
this tower to make his plans ready.

Then Byrn returned. He was like a gift from
the gods. When he tasted Byrn’s power, not just his potential, but
true fully realized power he knew that there was no better
candidate in all of Aurelia. There were complications to overcome.
Alia loved him and they had a child together. That relationship
would have to end and there was no way to do that without hurting
his daughter, but time has been known to heal matters of the heart
before and Xander was confident that given time she would forget
about Byrn. Still even knowing that Alia would be hurt was not
enough to dissuade Xander. The opportunity to have that much raw
magical energy at his command was too good to ignore.

Sane nearly ruined that when he tried to warn
Byrn. Xander had intended to make Byrn into a hero, but following
their altercation in the town pulling that bit of theater off would
have been impossible if not for the arrival of the kingdom’s
army.

The man in black ascended the stairs and
greeted the necromancers. Xander took the man’s hand in greeting,
“What have you learned?”

“Alia knows that Byrn is within this tower,”
Ryonus removed his hood and took a seat next to Riona. “Tomlin
figured it out.”

“He is a sly one,” Xander admitted irritably.
However, his frustration was with being found out at all rather
than that it being done by Tomlin, who held an unwavering loyalty
for Alia ever since she rescued him from the streets. He would have
encouraged that kind of genuine loyalty if it had not been turned
against him. “Does she intend to bring this information to me and
demand to see Byrn or will she try to circumvent me?”

“Neither for now. I told her of the kingdom
army approaching and convinced her to wait until after the battle
had been won, but if I had to guess her mood, then I’d say she
would try to go around you to hear the tale from Byrn’s lips. She
has not said what, but there is something about your description of
Byrn’s capture that does not ring true to her.”

Xander took the third seat by the hearth. To
hear that his child did not trust in him was discouraging. It may
be best that once this war was over he would never see her again.
“Excellent, you have done well in postponing her.”

“If I may make a suggestion, whatever you
intend to do with Byrn, you should do it and then get rid of the
body as soon as possible,” Ryonus proposed the idea politely. He
had just the right combination of loyalty and fear after witnessing
the destruction of Baj. “Then when Alia comes to the tower and
finds nothing she will have no further recourse but to accept your…
version of events.”

“Do not presume to know what I have planned,”
Xander snapped, “Byrn is not going to die. He is far too valuable
to simply be killed. Is there anything else I should know about
Alia’s plans?”

“No, sir.” Ryonus bowed his head in
submission.

“Good, then let us prepare for war.”

Ryonus and Riona left Xander alone in the
tower. Ryonus did not like being left in the dark, but he
understood the reason for it since he was working so closely with
such a skilled pair of enchanters and his own knowledge could be
turned against him. Perhaps Xander was too hard on Ryonus, but the
man should keep his opinions to himself on subjects he knew nothing
about. No, Byrn Firemas would not die anytime soon. Everything was
fitting together quite nicely. Even the kingdom had played a part
in that by sending their army here and win or lose it will be the
grand necromancer who sits on Aurelia’s throne when all is
done.

A heavy wind blew through the tower and the
magic-worked stone cage that Xander had imprisoned Byrn in. Then
another and another, as he slowly lurched awake. It was always
windy this high up and he wondered if Xander thought he was doing
Byrn a favor by leaving the shutters open during the day so that he
could get some natural sunlight in here. The view of the tower’s
uppermost ceiling greeted his still groggy eyes.

His fingers traced the outline of one of the
anti-magic runes that lined the stone cell. It had no door. Xander
said there was no need for one
yet.
Byrn conjured up ideas
to break free, but all of them were useless without magic. Xander
knew how difficult the cells in Baj were to escape from personal
experience and he clearly used that knowledge in the creation of
this room. How long had Byrn been held here? It was long enough for
him to lose track, but guessed it had been a month or more.

If they were going to kill him, then why not
do it already? The council of masters must have some reason for
keeping him alive up here. To Byrn it seemed that there were only
two viable options: Kill him or let him go. Keeping him imprisoned
served no one. Perhaps it was by Xander’s will that he was spared.
That would explain why the necromancer was the only person to visit
him since he woke up in here, but that didn’t seem right. Alia
would have come at some point by now either to console or condemn
him. She was not the type to sit idly by.

Sane said that Xander planned to control him
or steal his power. That was why he lived. It was an unsettling
thought, but again why wait? Why not just do whatever he was going
to do without hesitation?

The sudden sound of explosions could be heard
coming from all directions. Byrn wished that his cage extended out
to the windows on either side so that he could look out and see
what was happening. A second round of explosions soon followed. To
the south and west of Wolfsbane stood farmlands and forest. To the
north and east of Wolfsbane the sea rolled in.

The Collective was under attack by Aurelia’s
army and their navy.

***

Alia sat at her old workbench and held the
now useless collar in her hand. Hundreds of magicians were arriving
outside of the castle’s walls wearing these collars and there was
nothing she could do to help them. Many of them would die. Many of
the magicians inside the castle would die too.

The kingdom army was allowed entrance into
the town without a struggle. Everyone had already evacuated and was
now holed up in the easier to defend castle. Let them burn the town
if they desired. Everything of value had already been moved inside
the castle’s walls.

They knew the army was coming and had
prepared for that. There was ample warning, but the surprise was
the arrival of the navy coming from the eastern shore. Their
spotters had been watching to the north, but saw nothing. It was
clear now that the navy took a very circumspect course to keep well
out of view and approach from the side that they had not expected.
Perhaps if they knew that before, the council would not have been
so sure of the Collective’s superiority despite the disadvantage of
numbers. Then again maybe it would not have mattered. Her father
single-handedly killed ten thousand people in Colum. Maybe he could
do so again. Of course the circumstances were different. These were
soldiers ready for a fight and backed by Kenzai and other
magicians, not unprepared shopkeepers and city folk.