Soul of the Sorcerer - Part Three: Daughter of the Dragon (30 page)

The great meeting was being held in the largest of the school’s teaching areas on the second floor of one of the buildings. Rows of cane chairs had been arranged in a square, facing inwards, so that all parties could see each other.

The first part of the meeting had been a fairly polite, almost studious affair. First Bethany and Lloyd had told the story of the memory gift, from the male and female ebony Daemen, describing the battle with the Bremethren...up to a point at least; they had agreed to describe in their version that all of them perished at the hand of the Bremethren, not as actually happened by the hand of the Sorcerer. They also did not relay anything about Edala’s death during labour, or the warning to deliver the child to the Mae.

After this, it was Horace Burnaby and Ziron who took the floor, to tell those present everything they knew about the desires and capabilities of the albino mages and their warriors.

“I promise you your Majesties, they will be coming! I can’t tell you if it will be six months or six years, but they have seen the wealth we have and they think our magic inferior, they will come!” Horace Burnaby had concluded.

Lloyd had listened intently and would try and catch Ziron alone or at least with Bethany, to find out the intricacies of using the soul portal as a wielder font, as Ziron had described; it sounded very alien to what he was used to.

Finally, after the story was concluded, with parts filled in or enhanced by the stories or messages of others, the floor was open to debate.

It was the Emperor, Celeon, or at least a member of his entourage, who was the first to invite challenge. Although many considered the Emperor to be weak, he was not a stupid man. Although he was convinced that aiding the Sorcerer against these Bremethren was the best thing to do, having a weasel of a man, totally devoid of any big picture, other than his own personal gain, was a handy tool to locate any weak spots in one’s own personal thoughts and opinions…
Ealdorman Trevainian stood from the cane chair he had been provided with, crumb’s from a bread roll he had been eating, dropping to the floor.

“My Imperial Majesty, the Empire has withstood the desires of magicians and their like for centuries. Our ward stones have kept them at bay and even if they did circumvent the walls, the alarm stones always helped us hunt them down...why should we fear these Bremethren?”

Before the Emperor could respond from his own cane chair, which had been placed by imperial tradition, on a hastily constructed wooden platform, to lift him above all others present in the room. A sharp voice interrupted;

“We of the crocodile clan also see no point of involvement...our territories to the northwest are unpleasant and inhospitable for those who do not know them.” All eyes turned to the short stocky man who had spoken; his eyes were a hard green and on his head he wore a crown of crocodile teeth. Kelsakhan, King of the Crocodile Clan, looked like he could rip the teeth out of a crocodile, single handedly, to make a new crown whenever he wanted. Up his right arm were a number of scars, possibly bite marks indicating that he had done just that!

Behind him, stood a man of similar stature; but probably a good sixteen years younger. Over his head he wore the skin of a crocodile in similar fashion to the way Beith did with the wolf skin.

It was surprisingly Hegan who then rose to speak.

“With respect, Kelsakhan, from what Horace Burnaby and the others are saying, these Bremethren…if they see something they want be it treasure, gold or even the seed of a powerful human…they will get it. What makes you think a few swamps will stop them, if a whole sea will not?”

Hegan meant no insult, but there are just some people in the world who read ill intent into everything, especially for the opportunity to strike back.

“HUSH WHELP! You Kalanans are an illness in the north, for ever afflicting yourself upon the clan’s people. You and your friends, the wizards and monks of Arrenloft have abused the clans for centuries, enslaving us to build your great cities and schools! I wonder how you can sit there Orakhan and say nothing against those who have afflicted us, are you a weak fool to join them without protest?”

Boadaiska’s father, Clan King Orakhan, sat opposite Kelsakhan, and with reactions quicker than a man of half his age, he threw out his arms to stop both Beith and Boadaiska, who were already halfway out of their seats, ready to defend their father’s honour. Hegan too, although a little shocked at the outburst, managed to prevent Lord Penrod leaping across the room.

The man behind Kelsakhan, who was his son, also started to make his way forward, until the crocodile clan king raised a hand to stop him. Clan King Orakhan took the opportunity to talk.

“No my children, this is not a matter worth defending my honour over. I have been a hate filled man, a man that thought forgiveness was a sign of weakness... Yes it is true; our history with the Kalanans and those who inhabit Arrenloft has been one which has resulted in much death, on both sides. But we all learnt, over a hundred years ago; that revenge just begets revenge, hatred breeds hatred and living a life in fear is a life not worth living.” The Wolf Clan King paused, causing many murmurs of agreement in the room.

“If Kelsakhan cannot let go of his hatred and cannot forgive the Kalanans and others for their past, then let him go. If the time comes and he wishes our help; we must listen with open hearts.”

Kelsakhan rose with his son, a look of bewilderment on his face, “please arrange for your wizards to transport us to the wolf clan circle.”

The recalcitrant man and his son then left the group to much murmuring.

“I would just like to point out that all of the problems he mentioned with Kalanans, all happened before the Kaladine family came to reign!” Hegan offered with a smile and a shrug.

Fortunately Boadaiska’s father appreciated the joke, he then turned to his right where the Bear Clan King Jedrakhan sat. At first Lloyd thought it was a huge man sitting there, but on closer inspection he realised that, partially concealed under the bearskin cloak, was the bulk of a huge woman. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat and her short dark curly fringe made the maw of her bears head look like it had a frilly beard.

Lloyd then realised that the woman was probably only five or six years older than he. Behind her sat a very skinny but pretty girl, in a much smaller bear skin; this it turned out was the Clan King’s younger sister.

This was another example of the weirdness of this world; whereas in Kalana monarchs were known as King or Queen, in both the Clan hierarchy and also the Schools of Magic, they only used the masculine word to denote one in overall authority. For example, female mages in the schools were not called witches, as they might have been on Earth, but were mages, wizards and even Masters. Here Master meant someone who was good at something, so it kind of made sense.

Jedrakhan fidgeted in her seat for a moment, it looked a little uncomfortable for her.

“The bear clan will side with you Orakhan; we sit too close to the empire to ignore the risks. Plus there is that issue of marriage to discuss!”

Lloyd noticed Beith go a particular shade of grey. Orakhan too looked a little uneasy.

“Yes I remember the message you sent enquiring about eligible men in my family. When was you thinking of getting married?”

Jedrakhan then laughed a deep laugh that made the floor of the building rattle.

“Me, I am already married! No I mean my sister here Lidera.”

Lloyd restrained a laugh as Beith quickly eyed the younger woman up and down; he obviously found her attractive enough and nodded quickly to the Wolf Clan King.

“I offer you my son Beith, who will be Clan King after me, may their bond bring our clans and families strength and unity.”

A spontaneous round of applause went up from many.

“Errm, excuse me everyone, is anyone going to bother responding to my Emperor’s challenges?” Ealdorman Trevainian shouted above the clapping and chatter.

“I will, for one, your Imperial Majesty, especially as I think they are the Ealdorman’s challenges and not necessarily yours” Allen said standing to address the study hall.

“You already know that at least three mages have made it past the wall, and have used magic, even within the Imperial Palace, and no alarm sounded. From what we have heard the Bremethren use a different type of magic, there is no guarantee that the protections will work” Allen concluded.

Ealdorman Trevainian, his face getting ever redder as his temper increased, responded; “Ambassador Allen, son of Frank, a little while ago you were merely a boy and just about a soldier...I on the other hand am Trevainian, Ealdorman of Oldwealth, second in line to the imperial throne, and I say that your little escapade back in the palace with your magical friends was only achievable because of the help of the dragon. We know our history, Ingemar helped build our defences, therefore he would know how to circumvent them.”

Emperor Celeon, sitting in the audience, looked fed up with his cousin and was just going to speak when Arden’s deep voice filled the room.

“Ealdorman Trevainian, your knowledge of your history sounds impressive, and I expect and hope you may be correct; but do not forget that these Bremethren, were not just mages, in the vision that was given, there were also thousands, if not tens of thousands of powerful soldiers. I doubt your walls will keep those out for long.”

“And who are you sir to be such an expert?” Trevainian sneered.

“I sir was introduced to you as Arden, Clan Mate of Princess Boadaiska, this however is only a name I choose to use when it suits me. You may know me better by my other titles; the Carrier of the Word, First of the Twelve, Lord of Dragonmight or just plain Ingemar King of the Dragons.”

Trevainian swallowed nervously, he obviously wished he had known this prior to events, when did dragons learn to change their form!

“Sit down Trevainian. But thank you for your thoughts” said the Emperor in a firm voice;

“As Ambassador Allen has suggested, these are Trevainian’s own protests and opinions, not mine and also therefore, not those of the Empire. But they were challenges, nonetheless, worth airing. But my question is; what do we do next? Our magical friends from this Island and Arrenloft have been very quiet so far.”

Lloyd looked, along with everyone else in the room, at those whom the Emperor had referred. Although they all sat in one of the front rows of the square, there was a clear division between the two schools; this quite clearly being demarcated by the monk Brother Kenneth. To his right sat a very stern looking High Master Rhodalie; she wore new brown robes, almost regal looking in stature. Her hair was, as usual, pulled back in its ponytail. Next to her, on her left, sat an air master, who had been introduced as Brion. He had his fair hair in a ponytail and looked to be in his twenties, possibly newly promoted to the role after the recent tragedy at Arrenloft. He had no doubt been brought along to cast the transmigration spell. On the other side of Brother Kenneth sat Kenelm, the two monks were old friends and, despite the nature of Kenelm’s departure after Darrion’s trial, had chatted happily before the meeting had started.

Lloyd was a little surprised that Kenelm was not in his monk’s habit, but instead just a comfortable cream coloured cotton robe. Next to Kenelm, were Masters Roff and Nosji. Since the slaughter of Master Sheu at the battle of Southgate, Roff had been nominated as the head of the school and it was he who responded to the Emperor first.

“Your Imperial Majesty, I am grateful for your wisdom and foresight. And I will add to your statement and thank Ealdorman Trevainian for his concerns, it is better they are shared and countered, rather than withheld and festered.”

Ealdorman Trevainian decided to accept the compliment and returned to his seat, his face still slightly flushed with anger.

Master Roff continued; “For me at least I see one priority, recruitment. I understand from my esteemed colleagues here, that Arrenloft School has also recently lost a lot of masters and students. We at the battle of Southgate also lost many, including most of our Air Masters. We therefore need to test as many for the ability as possible… I would even like to request permission to test the clan people, well the bear and wolf clans at least.”

Clanking Orakhan looked to Jedrakhan of the bear clan.

“I will follow your judgement brother” she responded.

“And what say you Rhodalie, you had to run away to pursue your dream, no doubt you would welcome this?” Orakhan asked.

For the first time that day a slight smile crossed Rhodalie’s lips, “I was hoping; when you talked about forgiveness, that this also extended to me. Yes, my esteemed colleague, Roff, is right to ask, dare I add that we can somehow arrange for residents of the empire to also be tested?”

“Short of moving entire populations to the south of the wall what would you suggest?” Celeon asked.

“Perhaps we could sail close to your major cities and towns and people could visit us for testing?” the young air Master Brion suggested.

“I have a better idea!” Bethany piped in from where she sat next to Lloyd and Allen.

“The wards no longer prevent me from entering, nor do they sound when I cast magic. If you let the people know that we are looking for signs of severe headaches or nose bleeds, when I am visiting, then I can cast a Mother of a spell to root out all candidates” she finished excitedly.