The Archmage Unbound (27 page)

Without realizing it Dorian had begun to
run again. Energy he knew he did not possess was flowing into him and his
battered body responded by running faster. Droplets of blood flew from his
hands as his arms and legs churned with increasing speed. He raced forward and
his pain receded into the back of his mind.

“Cut me loose!” he heard Penny shout.
“I can help. At least let me defend myself!”

He knew he was close now and then he saw
the forms of people ahead of him on the trail, a lot of people. They were heading
along the path in the same direction he was, so most of their backs were to
him. As he approached some of them turned and their emotionless stares brought
the truth to his mind.
Shiggreth!

Memories of that night over a year past,
when he had fought a mob of them outside of Washbrook, came flooding into his
head. Everything about them seemed familiar, from the strange unnatural
movements to the expressionless faces. He drew his sword in a fluid motion and
without slowing he drove through them, cutting aside anything that blocked his
path.

The throng of shiggreth seemed endless
until suddenly he broke through and found himself standing in a small clearing
in the forest. Penny and Ruth stood in the center of it, next to a crippled
horse. At a glance it appeared the poor beast had stepped into a shallow
concealed trench, breaking both of its forelegs. Beyond the two women were
more of the undead, and looking to the sides he could see them there as well…
they were completely surrounded.

This is bad, really, really
bad,
he thought to himself. He reached the
two women in seconds and wordlessly the three of them formed a triangle, each
of them facing outward. Ruth had already cut Penny’s bonds and given her a
sword to use. Apparently she knew enough about the shiggreth to realize their
personal issues were no longer the priority.

Dorian estimated their enemy numbered at
least a couple of hundred strong, which wasn’t encouraging. “I get the feeling
this wasn’t part of your plan,” he said loudly over his shoulder.

“No,” Ruth answered, “it appears to be a
deliberate ambush though.”

“They’ve never shown signs of being able
to plan ahead like this before,” Penny interjected.

“According to the histories they were
just as intelligent as men,” Ruth replied. “At least that’s what my teacher
said,” she added.

“Who was your teacher?” Penny asked.

“Cyhan,” was Ruth’s reply.

“That explains a few things,” muttered
Dorian, but he had barely finished speaking before the shiggreth closed in on
them. None of them had time to talk after that.

The battle, if it could be called such,
was short and bitter. In the open, surrounded by foes and with plenty of room
Dorian wished he had the great sword he had talked to Mort about. It would
have been the perfect situation for such a weapon. Instead he made do with his
long sword, though he had no shield or dagger to complement it.

Of the three of them he was the only one
protected from their foes weakening touch. Despite their best efforts Penny
and Ruth were overcome almost immediately. He saw them dragging Ruth away
while she struggled uselessly, her sword cutting flesh that could not feel its
bite. Penny grew faint after being touched several times and collapsed to the
ground. She might have been drawn away as well, but for the fact that he stood
over her, cutting away arms and legs as they reached for her.

Standing alone he fought for an unknown
time. It certainly seemed like an eternity. Despite their numbers they could
not drag him down, as they once had, though they mobbed him in droves. Hands
gripped his arms and legs yet he moved anyway, dragging them along as he hewed
their fellows into pieces. Cutting and cursing he fought under the weight of
their numbers until at the last he felt Penny dragged from beneath him as his
own legs were lifted up.

He fought on, though he knew he had
already failed. She was dead already and his best friend’s child with her.
Tears appeared in his eyes and he wept with sorrow and rage even as the mob
bore him up. The sun and sky seemed to mock his tragedy as the countless
numbers of his foes tried to strip the armor from his limbs. His struggle went
on hopelessly and it was a long time before the trees were cloaked in silence
again.

It took me several jumps to get my
entire entourage to my house in Albamarl. I took Sir Harold and my honor guard
first before bringing Lady Rose on the final trip. Including Harold I had ten
men with me, all of them armed and well acquainted with battle. Unlike most of
the nobility in Albamarl I had a large number of veteran warriors now, men who
had already faced death once and were ready to do so again.

Dorian and Harold had spent an excessive
amount of time worrying over which men to send with me and I had no doubts that
some of them were being considered for eventual induction into the Knights of
Stone.

Marc took a long look at Sir Harold,
resplendent in his enchanted plate, and the other armed and armored men that
had come with me. “You’ve decided to invade the capital?” he asked.

I laughed. “Not yet, I think the king
can be trusted to hold to his end of the agreement.”

“Ten men won’t be enough if he doesn’t,
not even with that one,” he replied, pointing to Harold. “Where did you get
that armor?”

“I’ll explain that later, for now
suffice to say that Sir Harold here is much more of a threat than he appears,”
I said.

“Glad to make your acquaintance my
lord,” Harold said politely with a small bow in Marcus’ direction.

Marc gave him his full attention, “I’m
not a lord anymore. I surrendered those rights already. Still I am happy to
have met you as well, though we were not properly introduced.” He gave me a
pointed stare as he said that last part. “If you’re going to start knighting
people you need to learn better etiquette Mort,” he added for my benefit.

“Actually, since you ‘surrendered your
rights’ as you put it, he isn’t required to introduce anyone to you,” Rose
informed him with a wicked smile.

Marc winced visibly, “Ouch Rose! I see
you haven’t lost your sharp wit.” He waved us all down the corridor toward the
stairs leading to the first floor. “Would you like some wine? I took the
trouble of restocking Mort’s cellar while I’ve been here.”

I gave him a sharp glance.

“Don’t worry I haven’t been over doing
it. Our promise still stands,” he reassured me quietly.

Several minutes later we were all seated
in the front parlor on the ground floor, sipping at our wine. I tried to have
the honor guard join us but Harold explained that would only make them more
uncomfortable. Instead he set them the task of figuring out their sleeping
arrangements in the guest bedrooms.

“We’ve had a lot of excitement here
since you left,” Marc began.

“It’s only been two weeks, I wouldn’t
think a shut in would see much in that period of time,” I commented with a
grin.

He gave me a somber look, “It wasn’t
necessarily good excitement if you take my meaning.”

“How about we stop talking and you fill
us in,” I answered.

Lady Rose snorted with suppressed
laughter at that but she held her tongue and we let Marc give us the news.
“The Baron of Arundel has been executed,” Marc said bluntly. I gaped but Rose
leaned over and put her hand over my mouth before I could speak. I
unconsciously noted that she smelled pleasantly of lavender.

Marc continued, “Two weeks ago,
immediately after you met with the king, he announced that the Baron had
entered the royal palace and attempted to assassinate him during a personal
meeting. Apparently this was Baron Arundel’s reaction to being notified that he
would be stripped of his lands for his cowardly behavior during the recent war
with Gododdin.”

“That’s bullshit!” I exclaimed.

Rose looked at me crossly, “Would you
just let him finish?”

I closed my mouth and Marc looked back
and forth between us a few times, trying not to smile. Finally he went on, “He
was apprehended red handed inside the palace. According to his majesty he slew
four priests, one of each of the various churches, before then attempting to
take the king’s life. Several guards stopped him and by their accounts the
blood and violence in and near the king’s chambers was something remarkable to
behold. I’m sure you wouldn’t know anything about that would you Mordecai?”

“You know damn well what happened in
there, I told you myself,” I said.

Rose broke in, “Don’t goad him Marcus.
What else happened?”

“Poor Sheldon was taken into custody,
clapped in irons and the next day he was marched to the gallows. He was kept
bound and gagged and was hanged without preamble, pretext, or even being
allowed last words,” he said smugly. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer fellow
if you ask me.”

Sheldon was the baron’s first name as I
recalled from our brief and unpleasant meetings half a year ago. “But he was a
lord!” I protested. “Isn’t there some sort of rule about executing nobility?”
I didn’t bother bringing up the matter of his actual innocence. I had been in
the circles of the powerful long enough to know that guilt or innocence were
tools of convenience for those in control.

“The king retains the right of high
justice,” Rose informed us. High justice, in case you were wondering was what
the courts called cases involving the death penalty. She continued, “In a case
involving treason or a direct assault upon his person he is well within his
right to bypass the Lord High Justicer and pass sentence directly upon the
offender without trial.”

In a moment of exceptional wisdom I
closed my mouth and tried to think things through. Obviously Sheldon had been
innocent of the charge, but that was irrelevant. What really mattered was
why
the king had chosen to execute him after our conversation.

Marc spoke first, “You were a real
inconvenience to his majesty, but after your meeting with him your
circumstances changed. Now, assuming he can capitalize upon your heroic
efforts in the war, you could be a great asset to him.”

“Which would tend to make Lord Arundel’s
position a complete reversal of that,” Rose added.

Marc nodded, “On top of that, Edward had
a rather large mess that needed an explanation…”

“And he decided to kill two birds with
one stone,” she finished for him. “Though it might be better to say he killed
one bird to take care of two problems.” The two of them were nodding and
smiling smugly at each other, seemingly satisfied with their mutual cleverness.

I put up a hand as though I were in
class, trying to get the tutor’s attention. Neither of them noticed. “What is
truly amazing,” said Marc “is how quickly he came to a decision after Mort
left.”

“Excuse me…” I said.

They both ignored me as Rose spoke
again, “He’s been the monarch for a long time, but it really is frightening how
quickly he came to such an effective choice. Most men would have blundered or
hesitated.”

“Hey!” I said loudly, waving a hand
between the two of them. They paused to grace me with curious looks. “Would
either of you political masterminds care to explain this to me in terms an
ex-commoner can understand?”

“I’ve never thought of you as a
commoner,” Marc objected.

Rose pursed her lips thoughtfully.
“Well he is a little common you have to admit Marcus.”

Marc chuckled, “True, but I’d never have
said it.”

“You just did!” I complained. “Besides,
the last time I checked being a commoner was nothing to be ashamed of, and
after meeting Sheldon, being a noble certainly isn’t always something to brag
about.”

Rose patted my shoulder, “Don’t act so
wounded, we were just teasing. After all, you still hold the highest station
here, and Marcus is the commoner these days.”

Marc winced visibly at the reminder. “What
her ladyship is trying to tell you is that the king decided to simplify his
situation after making peace with you,” he said, returning the conversation
back to its intended course. “Returning you to the fold and rewarding you for
defeating Gododdin makes you a hero and would have put Sheldon in a very
awkward position. At the very least it would have created division and
in-fighting amongst the nobility. Many of the other lords would have felt a
lot of sympathy for Arundel after the way you abused him.”

“He abandoned his own people,” I
reminded him.

“I understand that, but what you have to
understand is that for many of the lords that is a small matter beside
humiliating the man, abusing him in front of his servants, taking his
possessions, and then sending him packing with nothing but the clothes on his
back. Especially since the man that did all that was seen as a ‘commoner’ as
you just mentioned,” Marc explained.

“And executing him will make them feel
better about me?” I asked sarcastically.

Rose spoke up, “Not exactly. What it
does is send an immediate message that the king is very serious about rewarding
you. It eliminates your most prominent enemies at the outset and also neatly
clears up the matter of several violent deaths that occurred within the royal
palace. That will give pause to anyone that might think to create trouble, for
they will know quite clearly which side of the matter the king is on.”