Children of Prophecy (10 page)

Car felt his anger begin to rise up again, but he forced it down. If things had gone that far, then he must respond as reasonably as possible. He took a deep breath and spoke again, quite softly. Only the magic he was using allowed it to be heard. “I am the Hawk Car’raen,” he informed the speaker softly. “You can either open those gates, or
replace
them!” To emphasize his point, he let a small flicker of fire flash from his hands, to fizzle out on the gates.

Silence was his only response, stretching out to the point where he was beginning to reach for the focus necessary to convert the gates to ashes when the gates slowly began to open.

Car nodded silently. He turned in his stirrups to face Tal. “Tal, I want you to find a Life Mage by the name of Kel’ijo,” he instructed the youth. “She’s the Communicator for the Kahir branch of the High Royal Bank, and a friend. Tell her that the Hawk Car’raen needs her services one more time.”

The youth, nodded turning his horse away. Car watched him ride down the street towards one of the towers, and then turned back to the gates.

They were fully open now, so he rode forward through them. A small party, headed by a Captain of Guards, waited just inside them for him.

“Who the hell do you think you are, riding up here and making threats like that?” the Captain demanded.

Car said nothing for a moment, merely sitting and looking at the man. When he spoke, his voice was pitched icy low. “I am the Hawk Car’raen,” he repeated flatly. “I will speak with the Earl Jyd’har immediately.”

The Captain stood his ground, even as his men wavered back. “The Earl does not take visitors at this time of night,” he said firmly.

He has guts, I’ll give him that
, Car thought. “He will see me,” he said aloud, “for I speak with the word of the High Law.” He lowered his gaze to meet the burly Captain of Guards’ eyes. “Summon him, or my Judgment will fall even more heavily upon him than it already will.”

The soldier met Car’s eyes with only the slightest hint of a quaver. “I will speak with him,” he said finally. “Wait here.” Leaving his men behind to watch Car, he strode into the interior of the Citadel.

Car shrugged and dismounted, holding the reins of his horse in his left hand. He settled back, leaning on the animal as he waited.

He didn’t have to wait long. The Captain must have started running as soon as he was out of sight, as he returned within twenty minutes.

The man inclined his head to Car, then spoke, “My lord the Earl Jyd’har will meet you in the main audience hall. Come,” he ordered, gesturing for Car to follow him and strode into the depths of the Citadel.

The Captain led him to the main audience hall, an immense chamber at the heart of the Citadel. On entering the room, Car had to stop and blink several times to adjust to the light. Dozens of lamps reflected off polished smooth marble walls and floor.

Guards lined the walls on each side of the room, flanking a carpeted path from the door to the raised dais at the other end of the room. A single chair, effectively a throne, was placed in the center of that dais, and held Earl Jyd’har of Kahir.

Car slowly walked across the room to the dais, taking in the man he’d come here to Judge. Jyd’har was a large man, his muscles showing the definition of a man who has spent his life at the sword. A simple golden circlet held back his silvering black hair, exposing features weathered by years of sun and wind.

As the Battlemage approached the dais, Jyd’har stood up from his chair and eyed Car. “Do men no longer bow in the presence of their betters?” he demanded.

Car ignored him for a moment, stepping up to the dais. He met the Earl’s eyes and silently arched an eyebrow. Turning back to face the room, he spoke in formal tones. “I am the Hawk Car’raen and I have come to speak Judgment,” he told the members of the court, his magic projecting his quiet words to every corner of the room.

Since he had entered the room, it had filled up slightly as the nobles of the Citadel heard what was going on and came to see it for themselves. Now those nobles recoiled in fear.

“Have you not heard, O almighty Hawk?” Jyd’har asked with a laugh. “The Earldom of Kahir no longer answers to the King’s Law.”

“I do not speak for the King’s Law, I speak for the High Law,” Car said flatly. “Your rebellion is over. Lik’nar is dead.” Car’s voice reverberated throughout the room.

The Earl’s mouth thinned. “I do not think so, my lord Hawk,” he replied, but his voice trembled as he did. “Even
you
cannot kill a Battlemage without repercussions.”

“He was Judged.” The three words fell into the room like stones, silencing everything. A Judgment of a Mage under the High Law had only one possible sentence. Car met Jyd’har’s eyes. “And now I give you my Judgment on you.”

“You are hereby stripped of your lands, titles and wealth,” Car told him harshly. “They will fall upon your cousin, the Lord Mayor of Kahir, Kirt’har.”

“You do not have the right to Judge me!” Jyd’har snapped.

“You allied yourself with the Fallen, Jyd’har,” Car snarled, fire flashing into being in his hands. “I have the right to strike you down where you stand!”

The nobles recoiled away from the man they’d sworn to obey. To ally oneself with the Fallen, with Chaos Magi, was the greatest crime a noble could commit. By doing so, he released anyone from any and all oaths or debts to him, and marked himself as a dead man. To merely strip him of land and wealth was mercy.

Car turned to the guards who’d brought him into the Citadel. “Take him away,” he ordered.

The Captain who had escorted Car up nodded, slowly, and drew his sword. Gesturing wordlessly for his men to follow him, he started up the dais.

“You would betray me?” Jyd’har demanded of them.

The Captain of Guards shook his head. “If what he says,” he said softly, nodding towards Car’raen, “is true, you have betrayed
us
. And he is the Hawk Car’raen.”

“I will
never
yield to this!” the former Earl yelled, drawing his sword and lunging at the young Guard.

Car saw him begin the motion. His hand snapped up and fire lanced out, catching the Earl before he was halfway to the young soldier. For a moment, the man’s form was silhouetted in the red flame. Then the silhouette was gone, and only ashes remained of the Earl Jyd’har.

Car wearily turned to face the crowd. “My Judgment is complete,” he said firmly, using magic to carry his harsh and formal words to every corner of the room. He allowed silence to descend, then slowly turned back to the Captain of Guards and spoke more quietly, “Captain, I will be in the Earl’s office. Bring Kirt’har to me as soon as you can.” He paused for a moment and then continued, “Also, my apprentice will be arriving with a Life Mage Communicator. See that they are brought there as well.”

The Captain bowed. “It will be done.”

Twenty minutes later, Car watched with a small grin as Tal led Kell’ijo into the spacious office. His apprentice bore a stunned look, like he’d been hit between the eyes with a rock. Kel’ijo clearly still tended to have that effect on men.

Car smiled and rose. He inclined his head towards the woman. The nine years since he’d last seen her, then an Adept framed for murder as part of a far-too-complex plot against the Crown and Councils, had done nothing to fade her dazzling looks. Her blonde hair was drawn back in braid that stretched down her neck, and her blue eyes still flashed the same intelligence and character that drew those with the sense to look beyond the, admittedly attractive, package they came in.

The woman, no longer a girl, returned his nod with a formal curtsey. Coming from a woman dressed in leather riding clothes who was taller than Car’raen himself, the gesture looked mildly ridiculous, but Car restrained his smile from expanding into a grin with ease, the aftereffects of his Judgment still affecting him.

Tal himself bowed and spoke, “Master Car’raen, the Horse Mage Kel’ijo.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about the formality, kid,” Kel told him, rolling her eyes at his words. “Car and I are old friends.” Car felt her eyes settle on him. “Now what have you done
this
time that you want me to pull you out of?”

This time, Car’s smile did expand. “I think it has been satisfactorily dealt with, actually,” he told her. “I need you to contact someone for me.”

“Who?” she asked simply.

“The Deoran Citadel Communicator,” he replied. “I want a message passed on to Kelt’ahrn.”

“You don’t play with bit players, do you?” Kel asked with a whistle.

“Have I ever?” Car responded.

“No.” She shook her head. “All right, what’s the message.”

“Jyd’har’s rebellion is over. He was supported by a group of the Fallen. The Fallen have been Judged and executed. Jyd’har refused my Judgment, and is dead. Request that a detachment of the Royal Army be deployed to assist the new Earl of Kahir in bringing the area back under control.”

Kel had acquired a slightly abstracted look. “That’s it?” she queried.

“Yes.” Car confirmed with a nod.

Her eyes closed, but still seemed to flicker behind her eyelids. Her lips began to move, silently mouthing words. She stopped and waited for a moment, then mouthed some more words that Car couldn’t make out. Another pause, then she mouthed some more words and opened her eyes.

“He says he’s informing the High King, and will contact me shortly,” she said quietly.

“Take a seat, then,” Car told her, gesturing to the chairs in front of the desk. As Kel sat, Car glanced over to where Tal was propping up a wall, his hand drifting next to his sword. “That includes you, Tal.”

The youth shrugged, and then removed himself from the wall to a chair, moving with the silent, catlike, grace he’d learned from the Rangers. He settled into the chair lightly, perched on the edge, ready to move.

“You never told me you had children, Car,” Kel said quietly, nodding towards Tal in the other chair.

Car shrugged and glanced over to Tal. Tal nodded slightly to him, so Car spoke. “Tal is adopted. He is my apprentice, and, in every way except by blood, he is my son.”

Kel nodded. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped suddenly. Her eyes clouded for a moment, and she quickly closed them. Once again, her lips formed silent words.

Her conversation continued for several minutes this time. When she finally opened her eyes again, Car was beginning to look at her worriedly. She smiled softly at him. “Kelt’ahrn thanks you for your assistance and says the troops will be dispatched immediately,” she told him. “He also reminds you that you have been too long away from Deoran, and
insists
– his word, not mine – that you bring your adopted son and come visit.” Her eyes twinkled. “From the sound of it, his wife was around as well and was the cause of that request.”

“Thank you, Kel,” Car said, then turned to Tal. “Tal, we’ll be leaving in the morning. On horses.” He grinned as he caught Tal’s quiet sigh of relief. “You should go get your things ready.”

His apprentice bowed his way out, and Car turned to Kel. “Once again, thank you,” he repeated. “The ordinary fee, I presume?”

She waved away the concern. “It was a favor for a friend,” she replied. “Besides, I wanted to see that arrogant bastard brought down myself.”

“Nonetheless,” Car interjected.

“No, Car,” she cut him off. “I won’t take a copper from you.”

He spread his hands in surrender. “As you wish,” he acceded.

“You bind yourself too tightly to your honor,” Kel told him quietly.

“I am a Battlemage,” Car replied, shrugging. “In a sense, I am
the
Battlemage. I have no choice but to do so.”

Kel inclined her head. “We all are what we are, I fear. Good night, Car’raen.”

Tal stood in the courtyard, holding the horses and waiting for Car to arrive. He watched the guards step their watches along the walls. He’d been here nearly an hour ago, early enough to observe them at the change of watch. The men going up and down the stairs leading to the immense walls had all watched him carefully, a mixture of fear and awe in their eyes.

I guess news got out about who killed those Fallen Magi.
Tal sighed. It was unlikely it would have stayed secret long, but the story of an
Initiate
who’d taken on and defeated ten of the Fallen was giving him a rather unexpected notoriety.
And respect. Some of these men have been with Battlemagi who have faced down Fallen Magi in the past, and
know
what I faced. They respect me.

Respect was something he was unused to. His achievements back home had given the people of the manor great pride, but there was little
respect
in how the Rangers and other men and women had treated their lord’s son. Care, affection, loyalty, pride, even love – but not respect. Not for a stripling boy who’d never fought.

The sound of boots on stone interrupted his thoughts. Seeing Car striding towards him, saddlebags in hand, Tal swung up onto his horse.