Watt-Evans, Lawrence - Annals of the Chosen 01 (96 page)

For
a
moment
an
awkward
silence
fell;
then
the
blue-robed
wizard
asked,
"Anyone
else?"

"I
feel
I
acquitted
myself
reasonably
well,"
Lore
said.

"I'm
not
ready
to
quit!"
Bow
snapped.

"Not
quite
yet,"
the
Beauty
added.

"I've
only
just
accepted
the
role,"
Breaker
said.

"The
ler
—no.
I'm
staying,"
Babble
said.

"All
right,
then,"
the
wizard
said.
"Tell
us
what
happened."

For
a
moment
no
one
spoke;
then
Breaker
told
the
Seer, "You
start.
Five
years
ago."
The
Seer
nodded,
and
began.

The
story,
such
as
it
was,
took
a
little
over
an
hour
to
tell;
the
Scholar
took
over
from
the
Seer,
the
Speaker
from
the Scholar,
the
Leader
from
the
Speaker,
and
finally
the Swordsman
from
the
Leader.
The
last
two
lied,
telling
the
story
they
had
agreed
upon
rather
than
the
truth,
but
no
one
seemed
to
notice.

When
the
tale
was
done
there
was
a
brief
silence;
then
a
wizard
called,
"Very
well,
then,
I
think
that
was
all
in
order,
and
we've
agreed
that
three
of
the
Chosen
are
to
be
replaced
and
the
other
five
to
continue.
The
next
order
of
business, then,
is
to
choose
the
new
Wizard
Lord."

"Wait,"
Breaker
said.
"Before
you
go
any
further,
I
must ask—do
we
still
need
a
Wizard
Lord?"

"Of
course
we
do!"
someone
called,
and
a
murmur
of
agreement
ran
through
the
little
crowd.

"Why?"
Breaker
insisted.
"There
haven't
been
any
rogue wizards
in
centuries!"

"But
there
would
be,
without
a
Wizard
Lord,"
the
Red
Wizard
replied.
"Just
as
more
Wizard
Lords
would
become Dark
Lords
were
it
not
for
the
Chosen."

"Would
there?
How
many
wizards
are
there?
A
few
hundred?
Surely
..."

Breaker's
planned
speech
was
cut
short
by
startled
laughter.
He
blinked,
and
looked
around,
trying
to
see
what
was funny.

"A
few
hundred?"
a
wizard
called.
"Are
you
blind, Swordsman?"

"Perhaps
he
can't
count
that
high,"
another
suggested.
"After
all,
you
don't
need
numbers
to
use
a
blade."

"I
don't
understand,"
Breaker
said.

"Swordsman,
how
many
of
us
are
here?"

"Nineteen.
But
this
is
the
Council
of
Immortals
..."

"The
Council
of
Immortals
is
made
up
of
all
the
wizards there
are,
Swordsman,"
the
blue-robed
leader
explained
gently.
"This
is
all
of
us."

"But
that's
not
..."
Breaker
looked
for
the
female
wizard who
had
accompanied
the
Old
Swordsman
to
Mad
Oak,
and
spotted
her
standing
by
one
of
the
torches.
"She
said
..."

She
held
up
a
hand.
"I
know,
that's
not
what
I
told
you.
We
were
talking
about
centuries
ago,
though,
when
the
Council was
first
formed,
and
back
then
it
did
not
include
every
wizard.
It's
only
in
the
past
hundred
and
fifty
years
that
we
have
all
been
members."