The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) (68 page)

Kevin’s fixation wasn’t quite so obvious. He managed to tear his eyes away from her and look at each of the men as he said, “I’m so glad to see you. Are you going to come to dinner tonight? I know everyone else would like to see you, too.”

“We’ll come by to say hello, but we won’t stay for dinner,” Duane answered. “We’ll be staying near Milhaven for a few days. We’ll have time to catch up after the funeral.”

Kalen nodded and said, “We just wanted to stop by for a moment, say hello, and offer our condolences. Laryn, I am so very sorry. I really don’t know what else to say to you.”

“Thank you, Kalen. It’s hard, but it was time.”

Kalen nodded. “Well, we know how much work you have to do, so we’ll be on our way. See you tonight.”

~ ~ ~ ~

After dinner that night, Kevin slipped out the back door and wandered down towards the river.
“Xantha, are you around?”

“Of course.”

“Where are you?”

“Look up,”
Xantha said.
“Come on up. We’ll roam around the sky for a bit.”

Kevin flew up to Xantha and floated beside the pegasus, stroking his neck.
“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve been around, if not physically, mentally. I couldn’t help but notice that you had a nice reaction to Shelandra. Unfortunately she’s taken, but I’ll be happy to be on the look out for someone for you.”

“Don’t start that again! I’m not ready yet,”
Kevin said with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

“Why don’t you climb on board and let me do the work? You could use a bit of relaxation tonight.”

Kevin climbed on Xantha’s back, settled in, and enjoyed the feeling of soaring through the night sky. He hadn’t had a chance to fly just for pleasure since he’d left Willow Canyon.

After about an hour, Xantha landed gently in the garden behind the castle.

“You seem more comfortable with your role on Terah now,”
Xantha said after Kevin dismounted.

“I guess I am. I still don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m about to get used to that. I just hope I can do some good and don’t end up a grease spot too soon,”
Kevin answered mentally.

“You’ll be fine. Glendymere wouldn’t have let you leave when you did otherwise.”

“He didn’t have much choice. I had to be here before the April meeting,”
Kevin pointed out.

Xantha shook his head.
“When we were there in November, he told me that if he decided that you needed more time, he’d keep you there and fly you out here right before the April meeting, so, since he let you leave in January, he must have decided that you were ready.”

“He didn’t tell me that,”
Kevin answered slowly.
“All along, right up to the time that we left, he kept telling me that I wasn’t ready for a challenge, that my only hope was to be just that bit more ready than the other guy.”

“Well, in a way, that’ll always be true. I doubt if any sorcerer is ever really ready for a duel to the death, but with the reputation you’ve got, I doubt you’ll have to worry about challenges for a while. Was that Glendymere’s idea?”

“I don’t know whether Glendymere had anything to do with it or not, but I know none of us did,”
Kevin answered. Then after a minute, he added,
“Or at least, I know I didn’t. Do you think Chris might have been behind that one?”

“I can find out for you if you really want to know.”

“No, let it go for now. Maybe later. I guess I should go back inside. I have some more work to do tonight. Will I see you later?”

“Sure. We’ll be here for a while yet. I’ll be around, especially in the evening. Any time you want to take some time off, just call. See you later,”
Xantha said as he leapt up into the night sky.

~ ~ ~ ~

Saturday morning, Kevin woke up an hour before daybreak. Today would be his first public appearance as the Sorcerer of Camden and he was nervous. After he finished his exercise routine, he dressed in the dark green tunic with the red sash that signified his position. For the first time, he pulled his red opal pendant out from under his tunic.

While he was getting dressed, he heard a knock on the door. When he answered it, one of his guards told him that Freddy had a message for him, one that could not wait until the day was over. Kevin finished dressing and followed the guard up the steps to Freddy’s tower. After they reached Freddy’s roost, the guard quietly withdrew, leaving Kevin alone with the phoenix.

“Myron, I feel the presence of an evil heart nearby.”

“How close by? In the castle?”

“It’s not on the castle grounds, but it’s close by, watching, waiting,’
Freddy said, ruffling his feathers.
“I felt this same presence once before, the day before Badec was stricken ill.”

“Did you mention it to anyone?”

“No. By the time I realized that the evil presence might be responsible, it was long gone. There was no point.”

“Do you have any idea who it is?”

“Today I opened my mind to his just enough to get a name. He calls himself Rolan. Beware of him, Myron. He means you harm.”

“Thank you, Freddy,” Kevin said quietly. “If you ever feel him close by again, please find a way to let me know.”

Freddy gave one slow, deep nod in answer.

Kevin went back to his room. He wasn’t sure what to make of it. No one had ever actually said that Badec was poisoned, not even his mother, but it was the only thing that made sense if Rolan was involved, and why else would he be slinking around the castle?

 Kevin decided that he would have to think about it later, after he had gotten through the day. He didn’t think he was in any immediate danger, and he felt fairly sure that no one would try anything during the procession, especially not with Glendymere around.

Another knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, but before he could answer, the door opened and Chris walked in with a mug of coffee in each hand.

“Today’s going to be a long one,” Chris said as he handed one to Kevin.

Kevin nodded as he took a sip.

“Kevin, today’s going to be the first time the other sorcerers actually see you.” Chris paused and sipped his own drink. “Actually, you’re pretty much going to be the center of attention.”

“I know,” Kevin answered.

“They’ll be watching your every move, especially at the waterfall.”

Kevin frowned. “I know, Chris.”

“I guess what I’m trying to say is, well, this is important Kevin. Don’t screw it up.”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “You and Laryn. She’s already given me the ‘don’t mess it up’ speech, the other day while we were in the burial cave. Believe me, I do realize how important today is.”

Chris nodded. “Good. Just remember to make it look easy. And stay loose. As long as you’re relaxed, I’m sure you’ll do fine”

“Yeah, relax. No pressure at all. Right.”

~ ~ ~ ~

After a solemn breakfast, everyone at the castle began preparing for the trip into Milhaven. The senior castle staff would attend the procession as it passed by the castle, and then they would move Karl and Joan’s belongings to the governor’s house and Darrell’s things to the guard house. The staff at the Governor’s house would take care of moving Wrenn and Jana’s things to their new home, and Captain Lawrence had asked one of the guards to move his few possessions to the guest room that Darrell had been using in the castle.

By the time the procession returned from the burial site, tables of refreshments would line the road between the castle and Milhaven. The castle staff would handle the area around the castle, but the people of Milhaven would take care of the rest.

Kevin knew he wouldn’t get a chance to meet any of the council members or Federation representatives that day, but before they left for Milhaven, he asked Laryn to point out Rolan. When they reached the Chapel of Light, Laryn saw Rolan standing off to the side, watching them as they rode up to the front door. She waited until they dismounted to tell Kevin where he was.

Kevin managed to look back at him without being obvious, turning as if to speak to Chris, but Rolan could hardly miss the look of shock on Kevin’s face as their eyes met. Rolan was the man who had faced the young woman in Kevin’s dream.

Chris saw Kevin’s eyes open a little wider and his jaw drop a touch. Then a light flush crept up Kevin’s neck and his cheeks reddened as he clenched his teeth and turned back towards the chapel.

Chris stepped up to walk beside him and whispered, “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Just thought I recognized someone in the crowd, that’s all.”

Chris looked at him with raised eyebrows, but he let it go.

A little before noon, the coffin was placed on the wagon, and one of Laryn’s brothers climbed up on the wagon seat. Then Laryn and Corin moved to the front to lead the procession while Kevin and Chris moved their horses behind the wagon. The rest of Badec’s family lined up behind them, followed by the council sorcerers and Federation representatives, with the local officials and emissaries from the various districts of Camden bringing up the rear.

After everyone was in place, a shadow fell over the wagon and coffin. Kevin looked up to see Glendymere slowly lowering his massive body until he floated about fifty feet above the wagon. Some of the horses pranced nervously, and a few of the mourners standing along the side of the road froze at the sight of the gold dragon, but for the most part, people took his appearance in stride. At precisely noon, Laryn began the slow ride out to the burial site.

Once they reached the glade, the family members dismounted and gathered around the wagon. Kevin stopped the waterfall, moved the boulder, and lifted the coffin. He floated the coffin to the entrance of the cave and held it there until Laryn climbed the steps and joined her brother’s body on the ledge. Then Kevin slowly rose up to the ledge and stood on the other side of the coffin. Laryn and Kevin entered the cave, with the coffin floating between them, while the rest of their relatives followed.

Once they were all gathered around the platform where Yvonne’s body had been laid to rest twenty-four years earlier, Kevin floated his father’s body over to its final resting place. The family stood around the platform silently for a few moments, and then began to head back down to the glade.

Laryn and Kevin were the last to leave. While she walked down the steps, Kevin floated to a point over the center of the splash pool. As soon as she was down, he rolled the boulder back into place across the cave entrance and gently released the water, letting the waterfall cover all signs of the steps and cave entrance. During the entire time that the waterfall had been stopped, no one in the glade had spoken.

As the procession left the forest and approached the road that led to the castle, Glendymere spoke privately with Kevin.
“Sorry you had to step in so quickly, but you knew you wouldn’t have a lot of time to spare. How are things going?”

“All right, I guess, thanks to Laryn. I do have a question though. Can another sorcerer block my seeing eye? I hadn’t thought about that until we rode out to the burial site earlier this week I didn’t see anyone around, but I had the feeling that we were being watched.”

“I imagine there were some brownies in the area and those were the eyes you felt. I’ve never heard of any way to block the seeing eye other than to cast a net, and you would have seen that,”
Glendymere answered.
“Now, unless you need me to hang around here, I’m going to head back towards Willow Canyon.”

“Wish I could go with you,”
Kevin said wistfully. Then he added,
“Would you ask Tyree if he would mind joining us as soon as possible? I know he said he’d come next fall, but we could use his expertise now.”

“I thought you might feel that way. I dropped him off at his home on my way here. He should be here in a couple of weeks.”

“Thanks, and have a good trip home,”
Kevin said as the dragon began to climb into the sky.

Right before he vanished into the clouds, Glendymere said,
“Myron, the power flows strong within you, probably stronger than you realize, and the stronger the power, the greater the danger of treachery. Be careful. Watch your back.”

Chapter 51

Saturday Night, March 23

Earlier that morning, while Rolan was waiting for the funeral procession to begin, he observed the other seated sorcerers’ reactions as they watched the young man who was to be the next Master Sorcerer take his place behind his father’s coffin. Damien looked intensely relieved, Gwendolyn looked apoplectic, and the others fell somewhere in between. Rolan wondered what their reactions would have been had they seen what he saw earlier that morning.

Around daybreak, Rolan had made his way through the woods to a vantage point across the river from the back of the castle. His intention had been to find his source and pump him for details about Myron, but he’d ended up having a ringside seat for the sorcerer’s morning exercises. At first Rolan laughed to himself that the Master Sorcerer of Terah was such a novice that he was still doing drills, but the laughter died in his throat when he realized that Myron was every bit as powerful as the stories claimed, if not more so.

Later, on the way back from the burial site, Rolan lingered around the refreshment tables near the castle and eavesdropped as the castle staff answered questions about the new Seated Sorcerer of Camden. He sneered when he heard the obstacle to his plans described as considerate, polite, and kind. Hardly the qualities needed by a ruler.

After a few minutes, Rolan figured he’d heard all he was going to hear, so he used his key to return to his office in Trendon.

He was annoyed to find Captain Yardner waiting for him.

“Sir, I hate to bother you, but you had a visitor a few minutes ago and I promised her that I would deliver her message at the earliest possible moment,” Captain Yardner said.

“Oh? And who was this visitor?”

“Gwendolyn of Landoryn.”

“Gwendolyn came here? Why?!” Rolan’s frown was so deep that his eyebrows met.

“I’m not sure, sir, but she definitely wasn’t happy. She wants to see you, today.”

“Who does that woman think she is?!” Rolan said, sitting down behind his desk. He drummed his fingers on the desk for a few moments. “She didn’t give you any idea what she wants?”

“None, sir. All she said was, and I quote, ‘Tell him I want to see him, and I mean today,’ and she was gone.”

Rolan frowned. “Strange. I’d ignore it except that I am rather curious. Well, you’ve delivered the message. Was there anything else you wanted?”

“No, sir.”

“Then you may go,” Rolan said as he settled back in his chair to think. “And tell my pages that I want my dinner brought here, and I do not want to be disturbed until it arrives.”

“Very good, sir,” Captain Yardner said as he let himself out the door.

As soon as he was alone, Rolan got up and started pacing. He knew exactly what Gwendolyn wanted and he needed to figure out how to handle her before he went to Landoryn. He had all but guaranteed her that Myron would not show up at the April council meeting, and now that she’d actually seen him, she was furious that he was still alive, and for that she blamed Rolan.

It wasn’t that she particularly wanted Damien to become the new Master Sorcerer, or even the five slaves a month that Rolan had promised to deliver once Damien did. She was angry because she hated Badec and everything connected with the House of Nordin. Rolan wasn’t sure what was behind the animosity; it was possible that it went back several generations and was simply passed from one sorcerer of the House of Cornet to the next, along with Landoryn’s seat, but no matter what its source, it was a powerful hatred. And one that he didn’t want channeled in his direction.

He was going to have to convince Gwendolyn that this did not mean that he had failed; it was just a minor setback. There were other options, and he’d be quick to point those out to her, as soon as he could figure out what they were.

He was still pacing and trying to come up with a way to pacify her when his page knocked on the door to let him know his dinner had arrived. While he was eating, it hit him that the situation hadn’t really changed. Whether Myron took his seat at the April meeting or not, his death would still leave the chair vacant. There was no other heir. Everything could proceed as planned.

All Gwendolyn had to do was be patient and give him time to arrange Myron’s death. That should be simple enough to accomplish now that he knew where Myron was, especially with Captain Garen already in the area.

After he finished eating, he wrote a quick note to Captain Garen reminding him that he and his men were still responsible for Myron’s death and emphasizing the price of failure. Then he sent for Captain Yardner.

“Send this to Captain Garen at once. At least now he can’t tell me that he doesn’t know where Myron is. He should be able to take care of his assignment within the next two weeks,” Rolan said as he handed the note to Captain Yardner.

“Yes, sir. Anything else?”

“I’m going to Landoryn now. It’s been a long day, and when I get back I want company waiting for me in my chambers. See to it.”

“Any particular company? Or would you like someone new?”

“Someone new, I think,” Rolan said with a smirk. “And pick her out yourself. The last one was a little hard on the eyes, if you know what I mean.”

“Yes, sir,” Captain Yardner said as he walked out and shut the door.

~ ~ ~ ~

Five minutes later Rolan was standing in Gwendolyn’s office, listening to her rant and rave about Myron. Finally, after she’d pretty much exhausted her anger, he said, “You know, nothing’s changed, Gwendolyn. He hasn’t taken the seat yet.”

“What do you mean, nothing’s changed? Of course it’s changed! He’s the heir!”

“But if anything happens to him, the chair will still be vacant. He has no heirs.”

Gwendolyn paused and thought about that for a moment. “You’re right. All we have to do is get rid of him.”

Rolan nodded. “And I have some men in Milhaven right now ready to do just that. They’ve been waiting until after the funeral to make their move.”

“Good,” she said as she sat down and motioned him to a seat. “When do you expect to hear that it’s been done? Before the next council meeting, I hope.”

Rolan nodded.

“And just how sure are you that these men you have in place are going to be able to kill him? Are they sorcerers?”

“No,” Rolan answered, “but he’s at home now. His guard is down. And I know that he goes outside by himself every morning to practice his magic. They can get him there, when he’s alone. All the magic in the world won’t stop an arrow if you don’t see it coming.”

Gwendolyn nodded. “That’s true.” Then she smiled a wicked smile. “Practicing his magic you say. Like drills?”

Rolan grinned. “Just like the novice he is. But at the same time, his power really is strong, stronger than I’d expected at this point.”

“That elven blood!” she spit out. “He should not be allowed on the council, and he wouldn’t be if it were up to the sorcerers today, but those fools hundreds of years ago decided to mark race by the father.”

Rolan nodded and wondered if her hatred of everything that wasn’t human might be behind her feelings for the House of Nordin, or possibly it was the other way around. Her hatred for Badec’s family had led to her prejudices. Never mind. It didn’t really matter.

“So, what’s your backup plan?”

Rolan frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well, there’s no guarantee that your men will succeed. What are you going to do if they don’t? If Myron makes it to the next meeting?”

Rolan hesitated. He hadn’t thought that far.

“Oh, I see. You don’t have one,” Gwendolyn said with a frown. “I guess I could challenge him.”

Rolan considered letting her do that. He’d seen Myron’s magic. Unless he balked at the idea of killing, there was no way Gwendolyn or any of the other seated sorcerers could defeat him. But if Myron did freeze, and if Gwendolyn did become the Master Sorcerer, she’d find out about Earth and the key to the Gate would be in her hands. There would be no way he’d ever get his hands on it. No, that wouldn’t do at all.

He shook his head and said, “You could, and I feel sure you’d win, but I thought you didn’t want to have to deal with the hassle of being Master Sorcerer.”

“I don’t,” she admitted. “I just don’t want the House of Nordin to keep that chair.” She drummed her fingers on her desk and then broke into a wide grin. “I’ve got it. I won’t challenge him. I’ll trick him into attacking me!” She stood up and started pacing around her office. “Yes, that would do the trick.”

“What?”

“He’s Badec’s son. I bet he has all those same soppy notions about slavery that his father does. And I bet he’s got a soft spot for the sisters, too, and if I went after their pendants, I imagine he’d jump to their defense. After all, it’s Glendymere’s flame that burns inside them, and everyone knows how the House of Nordin feels towards that dragon. I’ll use that, too.”

“To do what?” Rolan asked, frustrated that he didn’t know what was going on in her head.

“Make him lose his temper, of course.”

“What good will that do?”

Gwendolyn sat down and folded her hands on top of her desk. “If I can make him angry enough, I bet he’ll throw an energy bolt in the council chamber.”

Rolan narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment. Then he slowly smiled. “And before he even realized what he’d done, half a dozen energy bolts would be back flying at him. Do you really think you could do it?”

“No problem. I’ve had a lot of experience with young men and their tempers. My sons couldn’t stand to be yelled at or ordered around when they were that age, and they hadn’t been under anywhere near the pressure he’s been under. It’ll be easy to push him over the edge, and that’ll be the end of the House of Nordin. Even if he does manage to defend himself, he’ll be finished. No one could possibly object when we demand that he resign.” Gwendolyn leaned back in her chair and smiled. “That would be even better than his death. The House of Nordin forced out of the council in disgrace. I love it!”

“Of course, he might not lose his temper,” Rolan cautioned. “I think I’ll still have my men kill him before the meeting.”

Gwendolyn considered for a moment and then agreed. “But if he shows up at the meeting, he’s mine.”