Magician (13 page)

Pug stood near the door of the Duke’s
council chamber. Several feet away a concerned group sat at Duke
Borric’s round council table. Besides the Duke and his sons,
Father Tully, Kulgan, who had returned only an hour before,
Swordmaster Fannon, and Horsemaster Algon sat in assembly. The tone
was serious, for the arrival of the alien ship was viewed as
potentially dangerous to the Kingdom.

Pug threw a quick glance at Tomas,
standing on the opposite side of the door Tomas had never been in the
presence of nobility, other than serving in the dining hall, and
being in the Duke’s council chamber was making him nervous.
Master Fannon spoke, and Pug returned his attention to the table.

“Reviewing what we know,”
said the old Swordmaster, “it is obvious that these people are
completely alien to us.” He picked up the bowl Tomas had taken
from the ship. “This bowl is fashioned in a way unknown to our
Masterpotter. At first he thought it was simply a fired and glazed
clay, but upon closer inspection it proved otherwise. It is fashioned
from some sort of hide, parchment-thin strips being wound around a
mold—perhaps wood—then laminated with resins of some
type. It is much stronger than anything we know.”

To demonstrate, he struck the bowl hard
against the table. Instead of shattering, as a clay bowl would have,
it made a dull sound. “Now, even more perplexing are these
weapons and armor.” He pointed to the blue breastplate, helmet,
sword, and dagger. “They appear to be fashioned in a similar
manner.” He lifted the dagger and let it drop. It made the same
dull sound as the bowl. “For all its lightness, it is nearly as
strong as our best steel.”

Borric nodded. “Tully, you’ve
been around longer than any of us. Have you heard of any ship
constructed like that?”

“No.” Tully absently
stroked his beardless chin. “Not from the Bitter Sea, the
Kingdom Sea, or even from Great Kesh have I heard of such a ship I
might send word to the Temple of Ishap in Krondor. They have records
that go further back than any others. Perhaps they have some
knowledge of these people.”

The Duke nodded “Please do. Also
we must send word to the elves and dwarves. They have abided here
longer than we by ages, and we would do well to seek their wisdom.”

Tully indicated agreement. “Queen
Aglaranna might have knowledge of these people if they are travelers
from across the Endless Sea. Perhaps they have visited these shores
before.”

“Preposterous,” snorted
Horsemaster Algon. “There are no nations across the Endless
Sea. Otherwise it wouldn’t be endless.”

Kulgan took on an indulgent expression.
“There are theories that other lands exist across the Endless
Sea. It is only that we have no ships capable of making such a long
journey.”

“Theories,” was all Algon
said.

“Whoever these strangers are,”
said Arutha, “we had best make sure we can find out as much as
possible about them.”

Algon and Lyam gave him a questioning
look, while Kulgan and Tully looked on without expression. Borric and
Fannon nodded as Arutha continued. “From the boys’
description, the ship was obviously a warship. The heavy prow with
bowsprit is designed for ramming, and the high foredeck is a perfect
place for bowmen, as the low middle deck is suitable for boarding
other vessels when they have been grappled. I would imagine the rear
deck was also high If more of the hull had survived, I would guess we
would have found rowers’ benches as well.”

“A war galley?” asked
Algon.

Fannon looked impatient. “Of
course, you simpleton.” There was a friendly rivalry between
the two masters, which at times degenerated to some unfriendly
bickering. “Take a look at our guest’s weapon.” He
indicated the broadsword. “How would you like to ride at a
determined man wheeling that toy? He’d cut your horse right out
from under you. That armor is light, and efficiently constructed for
all its gaudy coloring. I would guess that he was infantry. As
powerfully built as he is, he probably could run half a day and still
fight.” He stroked his mustache absently. “These people
have some warriors among them.”

Algon nodded slowly. Arutha sat back in
his chair, making a tent of his hands, fingertips flexing. “What
I can’t understand,” said the Duke’s younger son,
“is why he tried to run We had no weapons drawn and were not
charging. There was no reason for him to run.”

Borric looked at the old priest. “Will
we ever know?”

Tully looked concerned, his brow
furrowed. “He had a long piece of wood embedded in his right
side, under the breastplate, as well as a bad blow to the head. That
helmet saved his skull. He has a high fever and has lost a great deal
of blood. He may not survive. I may have to resort to a mind contact,
if he regains enough consciousness to establish it.” Pug knew
of the mind contact; Tully had explained it to him before. It was a
method only a few clerics could employ, and it was extremely
dangerous for both the subject and the caster. The old priest must
feel a strong need to gain information from the injured man to risk
it.

Borric turned his attention to Kulgan.
“What of the scroll the boys found?”

Kulgan waved a hand absently. “I
have given a preliminary, and brief, inspection. It has magical
properties without a doubt. That is why Pug felt some compulsion to
inspect the cabin and that chest, I think. Anyone as sensitive to
magic as he is would feel it.” He looked directly at the Duke.
“I am, however, unwilling to break the seal until I have made a
more involved study of it, to better determine its purpose. Breaking
enchanted seals can be dangerous if not handled properly. If the seal
was tampered with, the scroll might destroy itself, or worse, those
trying to break it It wouldn’t be the first such trap I’ve
seen for a scroll of great power.”

The Duke drummed his fingers on the
table for a moment. “All right. We will adjourn this meeting.
As soon as something new has been learned, either from the scroll or
from the wounded man, we will reconvene.” He turned to Tully.
“See how the man is, and if he should wake, use your arts to
glean whatever you can.” He stood, and the others rose also
“Lyam, send word to the Elf Queen and the dwarves at Stone
Mountain and the Grey Towers of what has happened. Ask for their
counsel.”

Pug opened the door. The Duke went
through and the others followed Pug and Tomas were the last to leave,
and as they walked down the hall, Tomas leaned over toward Pug.

“We really started something.”

Pug shook his head. “We were
simply the first to find the man. If not us, then someone else.”

Tomas looked relieved to be out of the
chamber and the Duke’s scrutiny “If this turns out badly,
I hope they remember that.”

Kulgan went up the stairs to his tower
room as Tully moved off toward his own quarters, where the wounded
man was being tended by Tully’s acolytes. The Duke and his sons
turned through a door to their private quarters, leaving the boys
alone in the hallway.

Pug and Tomas cut through a storage
room, and into the kitchen Megar stood supervising the kitchen
workers, several of whom waved greetings to the boys. When he saw his
son and fosterling, he smiled and said, “Well, what have you
two gotten yourselves into, now?” Megar was a loose-jointed
man, with sandy hair and an open countenance. He resembled Tomas, as
a rough sketch resembled a finished drawing. He was a fair-looking
man of middle years, but lacked the fine features that set Tomas
apart.

Grinning, Megar said, “Everyone
is hushed up about that man in Tully’s quarters, and messengers
are dashing from here to there, one place to another. I haven’t
seen such a to-do since the Prince of Krondor visited seven years
ago!”

Tomas grabbed an apple from a platter
and jumped up to sit on a table. Between bites he recounted to his
father what had taken place.

Pug leaned on the counter while
listening. Tomas told the story with a minimum of embellishment. When
he was done, Megar shook his head. “Well, well. Aliens, is it?
I hope they’re not marauding pirates. We have had peaceful
enough times lately. Ten years since the time the Brotherhood of the
Dark Path”—he gestured spitting—”curse their
murderous souls, stirred up that trouble with the goblins. Can’t
say as I’d welcome that sort of mess again, sending all those
stores to the outlying villages. Having to cook based on what will
spoil first and what will last longest. I couldn’t make a
decent meal for a month.”

Pug smiled. Megar had the ability to
take even the most difficult possibilities and break them down to
basics: how much inconvenience they were likely to cause the scullery
staff.

Tomas jumped down from the counter. “I
had best return to the soldiers’ commons and wait for Master
Fannon. I’ll see you soon.” He ran from the kitchen.

Megar said, “Is it serious, Pug?”

Pug shook his head. “I really
can’t say I don’t know. I know that Tully and Kulgan are
worried, and the Duke thinks enough of the problem to want to talk to
the elves and dwarves. It could be.”

Megar looked out the door that Tomas
had used. “It would be a bad time for war and killing.”
Pug could see the poorly hidden worry in Megar’s face and could
think of nothing to say to a father of a son who had just become a
soldier.

Pug pushed himself away from the
counter. “I’d better be off, as well, Megar.” He
waved good-bye to the others in the kitchen and walked out of the
kitchen and into the courtyard. He had little temper for study, being
alarmed by the serious tone of the meeting in the Duke’s
chambers. No one had come out and said as much, but it was obvious
they were considering the possibility that the alien ship was the
vanguard of an invasion fleet.

Pug wandered around to the side of the
keep and climbed the three steps to the Princess’s small flower
garden. He sat on a stone bench, the hedges and rows of rosebushes
masking most of the courtyard from sight. He could still see the top
of the high walks, with the guards patrolling the parapets. He
wondered if it was his imagination, or were the guards looking
especially watchful today?

The sound of a delicate cough made him
turn. Standing on the other side of the garden was Princess Carline,
with Squire Roland and two of her younger ladies-in-waiting. The
girls hid their smiles, for Pug was still something of a celebrity in
the keep. Carline shooed them off, saying, “I would like to
speak with Squire Pug in private.” Roland hesitated, then bowed
stiffly. Pug was irritated by the dark look Roland gave him as he
left with the young ladies.

The two young ladies looked over their
shoulder at Pug and Carline, giggling, which seemed only to add to
Roland’s irritation.

Pug stood as Carline approached and
made an awkward bow She said, in short tones, “Oh, sit down. I
find that rubbish tiring and get all I need from Roland.”

Pug sat. The girl took her place next
to him, and they were both silent for a moment. Finally she said, “I
haven’t seen you for more than a week. Have you been busy?

Pug felt uncomfortable, still confused
by the girl and her mercurial moods She had been only warm to him
since the day, three weeks ago, when he had saved her from the
trolls, stirring up a storm of gossip among the staff of the castle.
She remained short-tempered with others, however, especially Squire
Roland.

“I have been busy with my
studies.”

“Oh, pooh. You spend too much
time in that awful tower.”

Pug didn’t consider the tower
room the least bit awful—except for being a bit drafty. It was
his own, and he felt comfortable there.

“We could go riding, Your
Highness, if you would like.”

The girl smiled. “I would like
that. But I’m afraid Lady Mama won’t allow it.”

Pug was surprised. He thought that
after the way he had protected the Princess, even the girl’s
surrogate mother would allow that he was proper company. “Why
not?”

Carline sighed. “She says that
when you were a commoner, you would keep your place. Now that you are
a courtier, she suspects you of having aspirations.” A slight
smile played across her lips.

“Aspirations?” Pug said,
not understanding.

Carline said shyly, “She thinks
that you have ambitions to rise to higher station. She thinks you
seek to influence me in certain ways.”

Pug stared at Carline. Abruptly
comprehension dawned on him, and he said, “Oh,” then,
“Oh! Your Highness.” He stood up “I never would do
such a thing. I mean, I would never think to . . . I mean . . .”

Carline abruptly stood and threw Pug an
exasperated look. “Boys! You’re all idiots.”
Lifting the hem of her long green gown, she stormed off.

Pug sat down, more perplexed than
before by the girl. It was almost as if . . . He let the thought
trail away. The more it seemed possible that she could care for him,
the more anxious the prospect made him. Carline was quite a bit more
than the fairy-tale Princess he had imagined a short time back. With
the stamp of one little foot, she could raise a storm in a
saltcellar, one that could shake the keep. A girl of complex mind was
the Princess, with a contradictory nature tossed into the bargain.

Further musing was interrupted by
Tomas, dashing by. Catching a glimpse of his friend, he leapt up the
three steps and halted breathlessly before him. “The Duke wants
us. The man from the ship has died.”

They hastily assembled in the Duke’s
council chamber, except Kulgan, who had not answered when a messenger
knocked at his door. It was supposed he was too deeply engrossed in
the problem of the magic scroll.

Father Tully looked pale and drawn Pug
was shocked by his appearance. Only a little more than an hour had
passed, yet the old cleric looked as if he had spent several
sleepless nights. His eyes were red-rimmed and deep-set in dark
circles. His face was ashen, and a light sheen of perspiration showed
across his brow.