The Making of a Mage King: White Star (44 page)

Unwilling to gate even to cross the river, it took them close to half the day to find a safe place to swim everyone across. As soon as they were on solid ground again, they rested long enough for rations to be passed out, then he led them on. They wouldn’t reach the city today or even the next, but they’d be able to make up some of the time lost crossing the river.

As soon as his feet touched the ground that evening, Mattie came up to him. “I don’t know what you did last night, but I want you to do it again tonight. A full night’s sleep did you good; I can only imagine what two in a row might do for you.”

“But Mattie…”

“You’re not going to find those kids the easy way, and we already know what’s up ahead. Give yourself a break.”

“I don’t snore, you know,” he said as she walked away.

“Yes you do,” Laon said as he passed by, leading his horse to the little trickle of a stream they had camped beside.

Sean sighed and smiled, and did as he was told. When he got back from seeing to his horse, he found his bedroll laid out and waiting for him. Alongside it was a sandwich of cold meat and cheese slices and a cup of tea. He held the cup up to Mattie.

“It’s just tea.” Her face went pink, but she wasn’t smiling; it had been a cruel reminder.

Sean ate his supper and stretched out on his bedroll to watch Laon light a fire. It’s what he had done the night before, and it worked the same too, though sleep didn’t creep up on him unawares. This time he made a conscious effort to sleep and succeeded, but this time his sleep wasn’t empty, this time he dreamed.

There was a boy of about ten, with olive skin and black, wavy hair down to his eyebrows. His eyebrows and lashes were coal black, but his eyes were blue. He was reaching out to Sean, but he couldn’t tell if the boy wanted his help or was warning him away. There was utterly no expression on his face, and he made no attempt to speak. It was almost as if there were no muscles under his smooth skin. A woman came up behind the boy. She was perhaps nineteen or twenty years old. She smiled and took the boy’s hand and led him away. There was something familiar about her that he couldn’t place. It bothered him, and even woke him, though he kept his eyes shut trying to puzzle the whole thing out.
Who were they?

On the second morning this side of the river, they came across a one-track path that led out of the riverbed they had been forced to follow for lack of such an avenue. A short time later, it widened to something a draft horse or ox-drawn cart might be able to use. They’d only traveled about an hour on that before they reached something that could be called a real road. Unlike the district of Besan which was speckled all over by ranchers and their herds, and sported only one main road that stretched from one end of the district to the other and not across the river, the people of this district used carts more than packhorses, so there was a web of roads and trails leading nearly everywhere. There was also a roving patrol, and as soon as the patrol caught sight of an army approaching the city, they took off to sound the warning.

Sean let them go, uncontested. He turned to Cordan. “Double the guard tonight and station some scouts farther out. We might have visitors by morning…possibly even during the night.”

“How much farther do you want to go?” he asked.

“I’d like to go as far as I can, but I’ll take a good campsite early if we find one.”

Cordan nodded and turned back to pass out orders. One man pelted past to scout ahead.

The scout found them a likely sight only another hour ahead where the road came up onto a new level above the river plane. Short bluffs crowded both sides of the road above where they stopped, as well as farther ahead where lookouts could be stationed among the trees and not be easily seen from the road.

Though it was still light, their camp was spare and quiet. Everyone concentrated on their gear, ensuring that there would be no surprises should events of the morning evolve into a battle. Sean did the same; after making sure there was an edge on each of his blades, he went over his armor, then checked over his riding gear. Feeling restless, but unwilling to test the limits of his warding, Sean was reluctant to work with his sword; if what Frei had said was true, even his workouts were magic of a sort and he couldn’t afford to be whisked away to the palace. He smiled.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Armelle more often…but no; I have to keep going. Seeing my wife will have to wait.

Sean stretched out on his cot when he couldn’t find anything else to do. Like Mattie said, he wasn’t going to find those kids the easy way, so he resisted the urge to look. He couldn’t afford to be so completely distracted either, not tonight. Quite by accident, he found himself enjoying yet another peaceful night, though this one was a bit more edgy.
So this is what it’s like to sleep light.

Cordan rested his hand on Sean’s shoulder. “We have company,” he said softly, and the contents of Sean’s dream vanished without a trace.

It was still dark, but dawn wasn’t too far away. Sean saddled his horse anyway. When Cordan finished quietly rousing the camp, he came back. “A scout was spotted about twenty minutes ago now. He’s keeping an eye on us, but not doing anything else yet.”

Sean looked around at their horizon and spotted the blue spark in the dark. “He’ll send word as soon as we move, so let’s make it look the best we can without appearing too threatening.”

“We’re an army, my lord. We’re supposed to be threatening,” Cordan pointed out, speaking softly.

“Yeah, well, try to make us look lazy,” said Sean.

Cordan smiled and moved off to make adjustments to the orders. Sean gazed up at the lookout again. “Come on down. You’re seen. You can ride into the city with us and we can talk.”

“Who are you? Why should I give myself over to you?”

“I am Seanad Éireann Barleduc-Ruhin. I am your king, and I come to speak with your commander and your district lord.”

“How do I know what you claim is true?”

“You cannot see any proof from there, not in the dark. I give you my word. Peace under white flag.”

The man broke the connection and Sean was surprised at his skill. After a short wait, he made his way down from his vantage point until he stood directly in front of Sean.

“You were ordered down here, weren’t you?” stated Sean when he saw the grim expression on the man’s face. He reminded him of Ferris in that regard.

“My name is Landaux. Your name says you’re from the royal family.”

“My bloodline is true as stated.”

“The Barleduc family was well known for their earth magic. Was that you who set that trap the other night?” asked Landaux.

“I can claim credit for that, though I could wish for something better,” admitted Sean. “I’m trying to catch a kidnapper; are you missing any children here?”

“I’ll not be discussing the happenings in this district. It’s my job to gather information, not give it out.”

Mattie and Jenny handed them flatbread and a sausage, and as soon as a hostler brought up a horse for Landaux, they were off toward the city. Landaux rode beside Sean, giving Punír as much clearance as he could without crowding into Laon’s horse on his other side.

They rode on like that in silence while Landaux did his best to look around without seeming to. Finally Sean said, “Come over here with me.” He guided them to the side of the road and waited until the end of his train was in sight, then he loped them forward to the head of the line again. “Did you get a good enough look?”

“I’m surprised you would trust me with that information,” said Landaux.

“What secret information do you think I’ve trusted you with? Do you believe this is all that I have?”

“If you are who you claim you are, why are you traveling like this? I’ve heard rumors from the valley – from this summer. I felt…” His words trailed off behind another glower.

“Why didn’t I come up here too?” asked Sean for him. “I wanted to get to my uncle as quickly as I could and still spread word of my presence as far as possible. I was still learning then too.” Sean wasn’t too happy with those memories, or the lack of them. “I might have done things differently if I had known then what I know now, and this…” He waved a hand at his army. “This is fitting, don’t you think?”

“You was just learning…this spring? Then you really must be a Ruhin, to radiate such power. You must have had the fever then too. Did you run a fever?”

“I don’t remember a fever, but I was…hallucinating. I had really bad headaches right at first. How would you know about that?”

“I never heard of the headaches, but the fever happens sometimes,” said Landaux. “Most kids start twiddling with their magic when they’re little. Occasionally there’s a little fever then, but mostly not. I only know that because my little brother ran a slight fever after he made the well overflow and flooded Mom’s garden. I remember he was all
funny
for about a day. Dad took him to the escole when he was better.”

“Took him…where?” asked Sean.

“To the escole, where he could learn how to use his magic. I went there, too. The kids don’t have to go, but they’re better equipped to handle the accidents there, especially if the parents don’t have much magic.”

“That is a really good idea. I’d like to see the place.”

“Yeah, well, first you’ll have to get into the city, and Cabot will have something to say about that.”

“And who is Cabot?” asked Sean.

“You’ll be meeting with him, Tones, and Brund. They run the city and the whole district. There’re others, but they couldn’t get here in time, not after you set your trap. They even shut the escole down yesterday morning.”

Sean groaned. “I just knew there’d be loopholes in that spell. Dad, can you hear me?”

“I hear you,”
answered Elias.

“Has anyone shown up there yet?”

“No, no one, not yet.”

“Good, I’ll get back with you later.”

“That spell is supposed to send people somewhere? Well, word is that it’s working just fine,” said Landaux. “We felt it. We just didn’t know what it was supposed to do, so as fast as possible, word was sent around to not do anything with magic.”

Sean faced Landaux directly. “You know, Landaux, you’ve been giving me a lot of information here. I thought you weren’t supposed to give out information. I thought you were only supposed to gather information.”

“What’s in a few names? So, you know who you’re going to meet before you meet them. There’s no harm in that.”

“You’ve told me about the school.”

“The what?” asked Landaux.

“The escole, where kids are taught about their magic. That tells me quite a lot about this district, and from that, I can assume a lot more.”

“If you manage that, my lord, I’ll go round us up an ass for you to ride…get you down off that high horse for a while.”

Sean roared out a laugh that brought tears to his eyes and Landaux joined him, leaving Laon to wonder what was so funny. Others behind them hadn’t heard the joke, but were grinning simply because, whatever it was, it must have been really funny.

Sean was still wiping tears from his face and giggling when the city of Castrum came into view. Draped over a hill and snuggled down in front of a single low, yet snow-capped mountain, Sean could see much of the inner contours in the early morning sunlight. Houses were whitewashed with red-tiled roofs, and most of the streets were wide, giving the impression of cleanliness. Just now, it looked like a postcard picture of some gingerbread houses all dusted with powdered sugar.

The city had apparently grown many times its original size. There were several walls inside the outer wall. Those walls wove around with little sense, except that they had to have been outer walls in their day. The effect was not unlike looking at a flower drawn in the snow. “It’s one of the prettier cities I’ve seen,” said Sean.

“We’re proud of that,” replied Landaux. “And here’s your reception party.”

Somewhere close to two hundred men filed out of the gate and spread themselves out before the walls, and Sean could see the sharp glitter of magic among their ranks of archers and pikemen. Another rank of men were lined up on top of the wall behind them.

“That’s an impressive show of force,” commented Sean. “But we won’t be able to do more than shoot arrows at each other, or we’ll be caught in my net.” Landaux looked sharply at Sean at that comment. Sean didn’t bother to mention that his net would only catch the mages on his side; let the man assume that it would affect any mage. “Why don’t you ride on ahead and make your report. We’ll have a parley in the middle ground whenever you’re ready.” Sean waved his men to a halt and Cordan signaled that they too display themselves, while Seth and his men took the packhorses and remounts back out of the way.

Face to face with no magic, Sean was outnumbered by more than two to one, but he had some advantages that would even the odds a bit. He had few mages, but every one of them was a fighter, except for Mattie, but he wasn’t counting her or the kids at all; they could fight if they wanted to. His men were also trail-hardened, if not battle-hardened. The men in front of him were almost a third mages, and none of them looked like they could stand up to a hand-to-hand fight for long. Neither did their archers. He put off further comparisons. He didn’t want a battle, and assumptions would only put him riding Landaux’s promised ass sooner rather than later.