Forgotten Mage (34 page)

“Have you give it much thought yet?”
Faye asked softly.

“No, I have a lot of other things that
come first. I am sure that when the time comes, I will be able to
find a suitable bride,” Bren replied, almost lazily.

Faye didn’t respond, but the strokes on
his back got harder suddenly, leaving deep red marks where the
cloth passed. “Ow…. I think it’s clean. Anymore, and my skin will
come off.”

“Sorry,” Faye said, laying the cloth
down back on the edge of the bath. “When it comes time to look, it
might be easier than you think to find a good wife,” Faye said
before rushing out of the door.

“What was that all about?” Bren asked
himself as he looked to the door of his room as Faye closed it
behind her.

I would be careful, that
girl is hunting and you seem to be her target. Nothing is more
devious, cunning, and dangerous than a female on the hunt. I would
suggest that you keep your distance if you want to keep your
sanity.

“Thuraman you hardly ever make any
sense. You act like females are nothing more than beasts looking
for their next meal,” Bren replied almost laughing. “I don’t see
why Faye would harm me. She is just trying to be a
friend.”

You are more blind than you
wish to admit. They are beasts. The one you call Faye feels
threated by the new female. She is after her prey, and it seems
that her prey is oblivious, even after being warned.

Thuraman’s words didn’t reach deaf
ears, but he didn’t think that Faye was really like that. She just
wanted Bren to know that she was his friend. There might be some
feelings there, but he doubted that they were anything like what
his staff was making them out to be. His mother always told of how
she was straightforward with his father and let him know without a
doubt that he had no other choice than marry her. Thinking back,
Thuraman might be comparing all women to his mother. She could be
very narrow sighted when there was something she wanted.

After washing off the rest of his body,
Bren exited the bath and dried off. There was still plenty of
things left to do for the day. Now that the gold had arrived from
the Elven Isle, he had plenty of bills that were long overdue for
payment.

Just as he was pulling on his
trousers, a loud booming voice echoed from outside of the inn.
“Bren Farlane, you are under arrest for crimes against the Tower!
Present yourself outside, unarmed, so that you may be presented to
the council for judgment.”

“Looks like things are starting to get
interesting,” Humanius said, sitting down beside Thad.

“This is only the start,” Thad replied,
almost bored. “The interesting part will come depending on how my
son answers their challenge,” Thad replied.

“You are as dense as your son,”
Humanius said, laughing. “There are always small wars and fights
going on…they do not interest me. What does interest me, is the two
young ladies that have set their sights on your son. I always find
it amusing too see how the females attack. I think Lillian is a
little bold and will push Faye to act rashly.”

“Is that how you spend your time in
this space between worlds?” Thad asked, surprised. “You watch the
reactions between men and women as if it is some play put on for
your amusement.”

“I have always found it fascinating,”
Humanius said, smiling. I often try to predict how the female and
male will react.”

“Do you normally get the right answer?”
Thad asked, slightly intrigued.

“I can almost always pinpoint exactly
how the male will react. The females on the other hand still amaze
me. I think they will be happy and they get mad. I think they will
get mad and they start crying.”

“So, not even you have figured out how
women think?” Thad asked, nearly laughing.

“I might be a god, but there are some
things in this world that are not meant to be known,” Humanius
said, turning back to the small window showing Bren as he talked to
his friend.

“I am just as confused by you as
women,” Thad said after a few moments. “One moment you wish for my
son’s death, and the next you are watching him and wishing for his
success.”

“I do not wish for your son’s death,”
Humanius said, his voice turning dark. “It is something that needs
to happen, but it is not my personal wish. My task is to protect
the balance. Sometimes, that means doing things that I do not like.
You have had duties that have asked such of you and yet you still
do not understand.”

CHAPTER XVIII

“My Lord, there are over a dozen tower
guards outside, along with a handful of mages,” Cass said, rushing
into the room as Bren strapped on his sword.

“We knew that this was coming, though
honestly, I thought it would have happened days ago. The council is
a lot slower than they should be.”

“You have to understand that they don’t
have a single individual making decisions,” Cass said with a smile.
“They must talk and discuss everything before coming to a decision
on how to handle a situation.”

“Sounds tedious to me,” Bren said as he
walked into the common room where the rest of his guards and
friends were waiting.

“What do you plan to do My Lord?” Cass
asked, once everyone was gathered.

“I plan to arrest the dissenters,” Bren
said with a sad smile. With Phena and Faye standing next to him and
his six guards surrounding them, Bren walked out of the
inn.

Outside, Bren found that Flynn was
already in position with his near thirty men standing around the
tower soldiers. No weapons had been drawn, but the atmosphere was
tense and Bren could tell that everyone was ready to fight within a
moment’s notice.

“Bren Farlane, tell your men to stand
aside and place their weapons on the ground. Otherwise, we will be
forced to resort to violence,” an older mage with a deep red robe
yelled, his voice booming loudly with the aid of magic.

“I offer you the same choice,” Bren
said loudly, though he didn’t force himself to yell. “I hereby
place you all under arrest for sedition.”

As soon as the last word left Bren’s
lips, every one of his guards as well as his soldiers drew their
weapons.

The mage who had ordered Bren to
surrender raised his hand. Bren was sure that he was getting ready
to cast, but his skill with magic was still so low that he couldn’t
be sure. Forlatiner, his alienear guard didn’t seem to have his
weakness though. As bright blue lines of energy shot from his
sword, encasing the mage, and forcing one of the most hideous
screams that Bren had ever heard from the man’s mouth.

The other three mages, as well as the
guards, started to move, but found that Flynn had them surrounded.
One of the mages threw up his hands and a large ball of flame
erupted in the air, but it was quickly engulfed as Phena countered
with an even larger globe of total darkness. When Phena
extinguished her spell, the mage was lying on the ground
unconscious.

“Does anyone else wish to contest?”
Bren asked, as loudly as he could without straining his voice. To
accent his point, each of the soldiers moved forward, placing the
tips on their swords against the guards.

As the sound of metal hitting the
ground filled the air, Bren felt a sense of relief fill him. He
knew that the Tower kept no more than three dozen guards and this
should significantly reduce their force. They had underestimated
him and it had cost them the first blow, but Bren didn’t intend to
make the same mistake.

“What do we do now?” Flynn asked as his
men tied up the prisoners with a thick rope. Three guards being
stationed next to the mages, who also were blindfolded.

“We hold a trial today,” Bren said
firmly, having made up his mind the second he had ordered their
arrest.

“Where do we hold the trial?” Cass
asked, looking slightly worried.

“We will hold it in front of the Tower
itself. Unless we want this to drag out, we have to make a firm
point,” As Bren spoke, his voice became cold and hard. His chest
hurt as he saw the looks his friends were giving him, but then
there was his sister, Phena, who gave him an encouraging
smile.

As they marched through the streets of
the non-human district with the host of tower guard’s and mages in
tow, many of the people living there started to gather around and
follow them. Bren could hear the jeers of the crowd, aimed at the
tower guards who had oppressed them for so long under the Tower’s
banner.

When they first looked for soldiers,
there were many who volunteered, but with the limited resources
Flynn had only chosen those who had some skill with a sword. Bren
quickly learned that the non-humans were able to fight, they were
just too separated in their own worlds and needed something to
bring them together. Had the town been left alone under the Tower’s
rule, one day it would explode like a volcano. All it would have
taken was one person to reach their limit and attack, and the rest
would had quickly followed. Bren tried to console himself that by
acting in this manner, he would save a lot of lives and grief in
the end, but it still did little to salve the pain that had begun
to grow in his chest as he thought about what would come
next.

By the time they reached the town
proper, there was more than three hundred non-humans following him.
Bren had made sure to make a close pass by the Katanaga fighter’s
academy. He noticed that shortly after that, Jacob and the trainees
had joined in their group of followers, though most of them were
spread out so they wouldn’t draw too much attention.

Before they reached the Tower, many
humans had joined in as well, though most of them hung back, more
curious about what was happening. Bren was happy to see that not
all the humans liked the outright oppression of their non-human
counterparts. It would have made things much more difficult, should
the bulk of the town take a stand against him.

Upon reaching the small open field in
front of the Tower, Bren had his army spread out as he lined the
tower guards up in a nice line so that anyone looking out from the
Tower could see them. “Do you know how to use that voice magic?”
Bren asked Phena, slightly embarrassed at his own
ineptitude.

“No, that uses wind magic and I have no
talent in that element,” Phena admitted.

Walking over to the mage with the dark
red robe, Bren grabbed him and pulled him to his feet. Pulling his
sword, Bren placed the blade against the man’s neck. “I need you to
make my voice as loud as yours was…If you try anything, even if I
think anything is amiss, I will permanently separate your head from
the rest of your body,” Bren said in the hardest tone he could
muster.

The mage didn’t say anything, but Bren
began to fill a tingling in his throat. Pressing the blade against
the mages neck, Bren waited to see if anything else would happen.
Once everything seemed okay, Bren took a deep breath.

“My name is Bren Farlane, son of
Thaddeus Torin. My father was given these lands by the queen of
Farlan and the King of Rane to use as he saw fit. Upon his death or
disappearance, the rights to the lands were passed down to me. Upon
inspection, I have learned that the Tower has overstretched their
authority and have taxed the people of this land without my or my
father’s consent. When I told them this must stop, they had me
thrown in the dungeon and I was nearly killed. After escaping, I
started to exert my rights over this land, and the Tower sent a
group of their men to subdue me. I have arrested these men on the
charge of sedition. I will give the members of the council half an
hour to come and combat these charges. Otherwise, I will start
carrying out the sentence for these crimes.”

Bren’s words came out so loud that he
feared his own ears would burst from the strain, but he continued
until he was sure that his point had been made. Once he was
finished, he relaxed his grip on the mage. “What is the sentence
for sedition?” The mage asked in a quivering voice, as he sunk back
to the ground.

“Death,” Bren responded, leaving the
mage to his three guards whose faces were set like stone, letting
Bren know that they were ready in case anything should
happen.

“Thirty minutes have passed My Lord,”
Cass said, when the time limit he had set came due. “I can see at
least three of the council members in the entrance of the Tower. I
think they are waiting to see if you will carry through on your
threat.

“Bring me something to rest the men’s
necks on,” Bren replied, his heart quickening and his stomach tying
in knots.

Cass returned quickly, along with
Crusher and another dwarf who he didn’t know, carrying a thick
wooden block with a thick fur cover on it. “No reason for their
last moments to be uncomfortable,” Crusher said with grim look on
his face.

After setting down the block, Crusher
grabbed Bren by the arm and pulled him to the side. “You want me to
do the honors boy?” Crusher asked in a whisper.

“No, I need to be the one who does it,”
Bren replied, his stomach lurching again.

Not having the courage to ask the mage
again to use his magic, Bren turned to the people behind him and
raised his voice as loud as he could. “The Tower has refused to
refute the charge of these men here before you, so I shall now
carry out the punishment for the crime of sedition.”