Magician’s End (43 page)

Jim nodded. ‘He’ll go. Make him your fourth, after your brother and the Earl of LaMut.’

‘Captain Hawkins it is, then,’ said Hal.

‘I’ll send word to the Earl of LaMut,’ said the Duke of Yabon.

‘I thank my lord,’ said Hal. He said to Prince Edward, ‘I’d like to leave my youngest brother, Brendan, here …’ He paused. ‘I’d like one of us away from the fight for the moment, if you’ve no objections?’

‘Of course.’ The prince understood that the loss of his father was still fresh in Hal’s memory and that having both brothers at risk with him was asking too much.

‘If I may withdraw, I will start preparing a plan.’

‘Permission,’ said Edward. Hal hurried out and the prince said, ‘If my lords will permit, I need to speak in private with Lord Jamison.’

The dukes and their attending officers bowed, as did Lady Franciezka, but the prince said, ‘Stay, my lady.’ He signalled for a handful of his most trusted advisors – the Knight-Marshal of Krondor, the Duke of Krondor, his own adjutant – and beckoned for wine to be poured as he sat in his canvas-and-wood chair. Once the wine had been served, he ordered the servants outside and said, ‘See that we are not disturbed.’ When he was satisfied he only had his most trusted advisors around him, he said, ‘Are we going to survive this?’

Jim Dasher said, ‘Probably not all of us, Highness. Oliver has some of the toughest soldiers from the Eastern Kingdoms under his banner, and Chadwick has the frontier, so his men are their equal. If young Lord Crydee doesn’t slow Chadwick, you’re going to have to defend your northern flank against some of the hardest troops north of Kesh.’

‘If you’ll permit, Highness,’ said Richard Jamison, ‘I’d like command of the north.’

Edward glanced at the Duke of Krondor, who nodded, and the prince said, ‘You have it, sir.’

‘So now we wait,’ said Jim.

‘We still have numbers,’ said the Duke of Krondor.

‘Yes,’ said Jim, ‘but only by a slim margin if Chadwick arrives in anything like good order. And even without Chadwick, Oliver’s army is a tough nut to crack.’

‘Very well,’ said Edward. ‘When young Henry and his command depart, I’d like a screening patrol to follow, to set up pickets along the way, so as soon as the issue in Sethanon is resolved, we know.’

‘Yes, Highness,’ said the Duke of Krondor. He motioned to Richard, who said, ‘I’ll see to it,’ and departed.

They sipped wine for half an hour and chatted, and then Edward said, ‘I’m feeling my years. If you wouldn’t mind, I need a moment alone with the Lady Franciezka.’

The others excused themselves and as Jim turned to leave, Edward said, ‘Lord Jamison, linger for a moment.’

When the three of them were alone, Prince Edward’s pose of fatigue dropped away and he said, ‘You two bear more responsibility for everything that’s about to happen, and perhaps there are four people in this world who know this.’ With a smile he added, ‘Damned spies.’

Franciezka remained expressionless, but Jim laughed. ‘What do you need now, Your Highness?’

‘Your ability to see the future, Jim.’ Edward looked at Lady Franciezka. ‘You’re a rare prize, lady, and Carole is fortunate to have you. You serve your nation well.’

‘I thank His Highness.’

‘Pull over a chair for the lady,’ Edward instructed Jim, and motioned for him to bring one for himself as well.

When they were sitting, Jim poured the last of the wine and Edward said, ‘Roldem will save the Isles from chaos, but we plot a bold course.’ He looked at Franciezka. ‘I have had nothing but respect for your king since we both were boys and he used to bully me at university.’

‘I never heard that story,’ said Franciezka.

‘Carole was a rambunctious youth,’ said Edward. ‘He would bully me because he was Crown Prince of Roldem and I was then the son of a court duke, but he would never let the other boys bully me. After a while the bullying stopped, but we still spent time together. I believe that because no one ever said no to the Crown Prince of Roldem, his bullying was his way of testing my mettle. There are two kinds of strength,’ he added, reflecting on years gone by. ‘Power and the ability to wield it is obvious, but resilience, the ability to resist power, is the other. Carole once told me my willingness to put up with his nonsense taught him that. We have been close friends since university. Your monarch is a fine man.’

‘As are you, Highness,’ returned Franciezka.

‘I’m a place-holder,’ said Edward. ‘I’m the fitting dummy for the groom at a royal wedding, standing motionless and not complaining when stuck with a pin, while the real groom is out hunting or in court or doing whatever it is that princes or kings do before a wedding. I will be king or I will be a dead prince, but no pretender from the Eastern Kingdoms will sit on the throne of the Isles.’ He sighed. ‘I am a conDoin by my mother’s side of the family, and not by much. That would be enough had I been blessed enough to have sons, but I wasn’t.’ He grew wistful for a moment. ‘That young Hal … he’s so very much like his father.’

Franciezka said, ‘I’ve spent time with him. He’s … unusual.’

‘Should he survive his encounter with Chadwick, I want him close to me when I face Oliver.’

‘I’ll tell him,’ said Jim.

‘You realize,’ said Edward to Franciezka, ‘that your king’s generosity has put both our nations at risk.’

‘Not by much,’ answered Franciezka. ‘While our nations suffered because of those murderous impostors, it was Kesh that was harmed the most. Half her army was sent to the Far Coast and the Free Cities, the other half sent to reinforce the northern borders, and now the usual bloody Keshian politics has commenced. Now legions are hurrying south to deal with chaos south of the Girdle, as those who remained in the Confederacy seek to seize land left by those sent to the Far Coast. It is turmoil piled upon confusion.’

Jim added, ‘They’ll be looking inward for a few years, I’m certain. Expect nothing more than a disapproving note from the Keshian ambassador when all this is finished. As long as we stand solid with Roldem, Kesh will do little more than complain.’

‘Then let us speak of things political, marriages of state and all the other issues that may prove moot should Oliver prevail and my head end up on a pike.’ Edward sighed. ‘This may be a long night. Send for some more wine, please.’

Jim nodded, rose and moved toward the tent opening. The finest thing about Edward, Prince of Krondor, was that he was the only claimant to the throne who didn’t want the Crown. Which was why he was the perfect man for it.

•
CHAPTER NINETEEN
•

Magic

T
ANDERAE SWUNG HIS SWORD.

It had been years since he had actively been trained, as all young taredhel were, but he was attempting to make every blow count. The creature opposite him was a chill thing of darkness. Twice it had come close to touching him, and the near misses felt as if the life was being sucked out of his body as its claw sped past.

Tanderae had managed to organize those attempting to keep the city sealed, but he was now convinced they were on the brink of a collapse. Magicians were falling unconscious from exhaustion; too many Sentinels lay dead, and even though every able-bodied adult and not a few older children stood stalwart against the creatures, too many breaches, and too many escaping monsters, made it clear to him that the existence of the taredhel was now to be measured in hours, perhaps even minutes.

He swung hard and the creature recoiled; they hated the touch of steel, and enough blows caused them to explode in a shower of dull, metallic-looking shards that evaporated before touching the ground.

Suddenly a shaft of searing white-hot energy struck the shadow creature and it vanished with a puff of acrid smoke. Two more bursts, and two other creatures nearby vanished.

Tanderae turned and saw a group of humans striding down from the upper staging meadow, in their lead a tall man with a neatly trimmed beard and long, black hair. ‘I am Ruffio,’ he said. ‘We are members of the Conclave of Shadows, and we are here to help.’

Tanderae almost collapsed in relief. He watched in amazement as a dozen magicians hurried past, casting spells at every dark shadow that emerged from the ruby dome. A few others were hurrying to see if they could aid the fallen.

A young man hurried by carrying skins of water and paused to offer a drink to the prostrate loremaster, who took a long drink and nodded his thanks before the youngster ran off to help someone else.

‘How did you know?’ Tanderae asked Ruffio.

‘Word reached us from Brendan conDoin. We were delayed by a nasty storm, but once that problem was solved, we came straight here.’

The sound of flying arrows caused Tanderae to look up and he saw a blonde-haired eledhel and a dark-haired moredhel moving with purpose toward the ruby dome, firing arrows with deadly accuracy at any shadow that emerged from within. Calis and Arkan had discovered that if they could place a steel broadhead in the very centre of a creature’s chest, it vanished.

After them came a young woman in heavy armour, her shield bearing the symbol of Dala. She moved like a practised warrior. He watched as she dropped her visor over her face and accelerated in a slow trot towards the battle line.

Sandreena might not have faced many of these so-called ‘children of the void’, but she’d tangled with a wraith and a couple of wights over the years, and knew how to avoid their touch as she bashed them back into whatever universe they had sprung from.

Amirantha had stayed on the island to facilitate communications, and because his particular magic was useless against anything but demons. He had made Ruffio promise to fetch him to the field of conflict if he could be useful. Ruffio could tell he was not happy being left behind, but had understood the wisdom behind the decision.

‘How many have you brought?’ Tanderae asked Ruffio.

‘In this group, a dozen. It’s the most I could handle.’ The magician glanced around. ‘I need to fix my bearing. I could only get us to a place I know west of Ylith and then we had to do line-of-sight jumping, which is very slow with a large group. That took us half the afternoon and most of this day. Once I fix a spot … ah!’ He pointed. ‘That rock outcrop is perfect. Allow me a moment.’ He stared at it, fixing it in his memory, then vanished.

In less than a minute, he was back, another half-dozen robed figures with him. They quickly turned, assessed the situation and started attacking more of the shadow creatures.

Tanderae said, ‘I feared we would be overwhelmed.’

‘From what I hear, if E’bar falls, we’ll all be overwhelmed. What can you tell me about that dome?’

‘Little. I am not gifted in the arcane arts. But I can take you to one who is.’

‘Wait a moment,’ said Ruffio, and vanished again.

Another minute later, he was back with another half a dozen magicians. ‘Joshua, Cullen, stay with me. The rest of you know what to do.’

Two young magicians waited while the other four hurried off to bolster the defences mounted by the beleaguered taredhel. Tanderae motioned for them to follow and they walked up the incline to the upper meadow. There a few humans were organizing food and helping to tend wounds. Uninjured taredhel who had been taking care of the wounded and dying were collapsed on the ground, simply numb with exhaustion.

Tanderae led the three human magicians to a place under a tree, now clothed in shadows as the evening approached, and there they found an elderly Star Elf whose face was ashen and drawn. He seemed to be asleep, but when Tanderae said ‘Asleum,’ his eyes opened.

‘I live,’ said the old man. ‘If barely,’ he added. ‘Who are these?’

‘Human magicians, come to help.’

Ruffio took a knee and said, ‘We see your barrier is tested. May we know what it is we may do to bolster it until more help comes?’

‘More help is on the way,’ said Tanderae.

‘We are from a small island in the Bitter Sea,’ explained Ruffio. ‘There were but two dozen of us with mature skills, and another dozen students in residence when news of your plight reached us.’

‘Where are the others coming from?’ asked the old spell-caster.

‘Stardock. From the Academy of Magicians.’

‘We need more than another dozen, I fear,’ said Asleum. ‘It took every magic-user among my people to fight back those horrors while a handful of us contrived this barrier. We lost more than a dozen of our best until we understood how we could turn the invaders’ own magic beacon against themselves. We have taken that ruby magic and turned it into a containing dome. It will only fail if we fail, or if the invaders cease trying to enter our realm.’

‘Clever,’ said Ruffio. ‘My young students here are among the most adept I have when it comes to understanding energy fields, magical traps, and the like. Your elven magic is alien to us, so if you could guide them in how best to help, they will in turn pass that on to the others when they arrive.’

‘How many are arriving?’ asked Asleum.

Ruffio smiled. ‘Hundreds.’

The old elf studied Ruffio’s face for a moment, then began to weep.

It was a savage night. All the human magicians could do was to stand by and destroy the dark creatures that emerged from the dome. Ruffio’s two students asked many questions of Asleum, and occasionally one would venture down the hillside to probe the shell and see for himself which magic signatures and hallmarks bore out what they were being told.

Finally, the young magician named Cullen said, ‘I think it would be years before I knew enough about this to be useful in keeping the dome intact. Perhaps Pug or Magnus could recognize how to best help, but I think I may have a temporary solution.’

Ruffio looked intrigued. ‘Say on.’

‘Maybe we should aid these elven magicians directly, instead of concentrating on the dome.’

‘Feed energy to the magician, so that he can use it?’ asked Ruffio.

‘More or less. It’s one of those things that Magnus does without thought, but tries to teach the rest of us. At some profound level, he believes, there’s this core of magic that can be tapped, as one taps a keg of ale, I guess, and that what spills out of the core can be passed along to someone else.’