The Unexpected Heir: A Tale of Alus (17 page)

"We aren't children," Reynolvan grumbled at the rebuke.

Ivanor nodded, but she could see the look of expectation in both of their eyes. The girl managed not to roll hers in response.

The inner city consisted of only a couple curved streets within the tall inner walls that could be shut off should an enemy ever break the outer gates of the city. No army had managed to ever break through the walls of Hala whether it was these inner walls a millennia ago or the secondary walls which had been built several hundred years later. They were so strong that instead of knocking them down and unifying the city as one, the builders decided that they should remain while the remainder of Hala had its own wall.

Both inns were inside the inner walls, which meant no matter where the two resided, it was a fairly easy walk to find the other. Annalicia had received the information from the concierge who looked slightly worried that they might switch inns canceling much of their reservation. Paying a premium for the rooms, she supposed losing both suites would be quite a blow; if that had been anything to truly worry about.

With the upcoming tournament, inns throughout the city and in the lower harbor, were booked up to full with perhaps a few that might cancel or that might have been withheld just in case they could ask for more from someone who hadn't planned ahead. Annalicia doubted the Black Smith Inn or any inner city inn would have the rooms needed to move their group even if they wanted to switch from the richly furnished Two Circles Inn.

Those thoughts were easily pushed aside as the girl found the smaller inn a few blocks away from the Two Circles. She had made the men wait while she shopped in a couple of the finer clothing stores in the city. Both catered to noble ladies and the rich of Hala. Luxury wasn't exactly Annalicia's worry though, since she also had the more practical tastes of someone who had chosen the life of a wizard.

Wizards were almost as prestigious in Malaiy as a lord, but few were as rich. With a long career, it was possible; but wizards were rarely capable of earning the money of someone running a profitable trade business. Still there were certainly perks to being a wizard and Anna didn't have any complaints now that she was no longer an apprentice working to master her craft.

The girl's eyes took a moment to adjust to the change in light as they entered the inn. Like the Two Circles, the Black Smith's main entry led into a dining room. A small raised floor in one corner would single out one of the differences from the inn where she stayed to this smaller one. It was the place where musicians came to play. Annalicia would come to find out that the Black Smith was a center of entertainment for much of the inner city; while the Two Circles only served fancy, expensive dinners.

It didn't take her long to spy the person she was hoping to find here. A silver haired man, at first taken to be old, sat with a small group dressed for warmth. Their clothing didn't match the local flavor of dress, however, which helped set them apart from the other guests relaxing before lunch. The cold kept many inside these kinds of places since it was uncomfortable and even dangerous to remain outside for long periods.

Unlike most common folks wandering in and out of the inn, Annalicia could also see the auras marking them as wizards. Her senses were almost on overload in a city suddenly inundated with magic wielders; but focused on the single room, it was easy for her to find his familiar aura even if the young woman had only seen him a few times in her life.

Walking up to the table of wizards made the men look up. Those who didn't know her still smiled at the beautiful, young woman.

"Annalicia, I am glad to see that you got my message," the silver haired man greeted the girl standing quickly. She looked at him seeing what the gray beard and hair masked from even a short distance, he had blue eyes that were unlined with age, yet his eyes also held centuries in them as well. "You didn't necessarily have to rush over and visit so soon, though I am glad that you have."

"With a few days left before we can register, I have extra time on my hands. A girl can only waste so much time in the local shops," she added gesturing to the men behind her. Most held at least one bag or box for the clothing she had managed to purchase in a relatively short amount of time.

Reynolvan and Ivanor in particular looked to dispute her answer, though they also hoped that it was the truth since none of the men had looked very happy while she had shopped.

Chuckling at his granddaughter, Darius replied, "I suppose that we are similarly bored. There are places to practice for the tournament, but no one wants to risk displaying the skills and spells that they have brought along. At least it gives us time to catch up and for you to meet your cousins," he added gesturing to two men that seemed to reflect their elder's features.

"This is Darterian and Elias," Darius introduced two younger looking men. Both had brown hair, though their eye color differed from each other with blue and brown. Elias, though shorter, had blue eyes like their grandfather. Both men had their differences, but to someone observant, their distinctive pointed ears gave away their elven ancestry as well. They had a full elf parent along with the mixed blood of Darius' human bloodline.

Annalicia held less of his traits being both female and having a fully human mother. Her green eyes were like none of the men, though her hair seemed rather close to Darius' color. The warmth of yellow was lightly reflected in her strands, however.

Both men smiled and said a brief hello. Annalicia looked at the two having never met them before, but she returned their smiles and said, "It seems strange meeting you for the first time, but having met grandfather a few times, there is a familiarity that I see in you."

A throat cleared behind her causing Anna to roll her eyes before she could catch herself. "These are my teammates Wizard Reynolvan and Wizard Ivanor. Both think I need babysitting, even though I have my guards here as well."

Ignoring the girl's complaint, Reynolvan stepped forward with a look of adulation on the man's face. "It is a great honor meeting you, High Wizard!"

Ivanor nodded looking almost as overwhelmed meeting the immortal wizard from Eirdhen. Both men quickly exchanged vigorous shakes of the hands with Darius. Annalicia wondered if they would dare wash their hands now, but asked the two wizards. "Can you give us a moment, gentlemen? I would appreciate a little time to speak with my family. Why don't you get to know the others? You all have magic for common ground after all. I am sure that can keep you occupied for a few minutes."

Having been rebuffed by the girl, and unable to deny a family a little time together; the two wizards joined four other wizards from Eirdhen while Annalicia sat beside Darius. Her guardsmen were used to being close by without being directly in her way, so they managed to choose an unoccupied table where they ordered drinks and kept an eye on the room.

It didn't take Darius long to figure out that the girl had something on her mind. He asked, "Is everything all right with you, Anna?"

Greetings and pleasantries dispensed with already, the petite beauty leaned closer while resting her hands on her crossed legs. "I am quite alright in particular, though I am ready to get this tournament started already after nearly a month at sea. The trip was actually shorter than sometimes with favorable winds filling our sails, but it was still too long," she replied making a face of displeasure emphasizing her words.

"Yalan, on the other hand, has been getting a little strange of late."

"How so?" Darius questioned with interest.

"Have you heard of the Brothers of the Blood?"

"They were once considered a cult that wanted to change the way Taltan operated, but they grew powerful enough to influence some of the countries to the point that civil wars erupted over their beliefs. Enswere broke in two thanks in part to them."

Annalicia looked at her grandfather only slightly surprised. The breakup of the country near the center of the continent was history to the twenty-two year old, but Darius had lived through the events he spoke of in a brisk way. It was strange to think that the man sitting beside her had watched the last several centuries and knew her world's history simply as his past.

"I've heard that they worship a storm god named Sordrian. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call him a weather god since they profess to only wish to do good works for the people."

Darius frowned. "Sordrian was no more a god than I am."

"He was another immortal?" the girl asked in surprise.

Nodding, the elder wizard replied, "He did help form a sort of cult. I don't recall if they worshipped him as a living god back then as well, but whatever he and his men were doing drew the discontented of the land to him. The original brothers were the cause of several wars and Sordrian was the one who hoped to profit from getting countries to fight."

Elias and Darterian had been listening just as closely and it was Elias who had the next question. "If they were the instigators of those wars, how did he manage to start more than one? You would think someone would have a grudge against the brothers and wipe them out."

"He was too clever for it to be well known at first. When his men took over a few towns claiming to be there to protect the people, most believed him. The next thing they knew, they were paying them tribute like mercenaries for that protection.

"The money helped them grow and soon some of the affected lords sent assassins to try and kill the head of the order. When rumors began that a few of the attempts should have succeeded, others began to suspect that he was an immortal also. That was when requests for help went to those of us already known to be immortal as well.

"They wanted to know if he could be killed," Darius said with a sigh. "I sent word to a few friends, who I knew to be immortal. We didn't tell those who requested help how to kill him, but we managed to get to him ourselves and put a stop to him."

A dark look flit across the wizard's face at the thought.

"So if you killed him," Annalicia said cutting through the gentler wording her grandfather had chosen, "how did this cult survive?"

Darius looked up a moment as if in search of guidance from some other source before he shrugged his shoulders. "Their basic word of doing good works and helping the poor prevented all of their followers from setting the mission aside. Those involved with creating the wars and making a small army to benefit from them were dead or in prison. Someone else must have been able to pull the rest together and made sure to guide them towards the more beneficial side of their message."

"These brothers came to Yalan and have been calling for the king to be removed. If you are poor or struggling in any way, they blame the king for not looking after those who have fallen on hard times," Anna said wondering if the current leaders of the Brothers of the Blood might be using their influence in a similar way to their past.

Darius thought on her words a moment, but was forced to shrug. "I can't say if they're back to their old ways or just have someone in charge with a bit of a grudge. Either way, Orlaan will need to be cautious with how he deals them. Religious fervor and martyrs can drive the people to join them very quickly, if he isn't careful. It was how the early version of the brothers managed to even cause Enswere to split."

Shaking her head, the girl asked, "How did the brothers manage to split a country?"

"The river splits it in two like a few other countries along the Taltan River, but those on the side which became Alwere mostly consisted of people with different speech patterns and even some religious differences. Not everyone chooses to follow the same gods and that was what Sordrian played up in their minds. Different family lines made up the two sides and eventually they decided that they didn't want to pay tribute to a king that wasn't considered one of them.

"A civil war began, but the river helped make the split less bloody than it could have been. It would be like trying to keep land here on North when those living here no longer could see why they were still bound to a foreign king."

Darterian clarified, "The ocean is hardly the same as a river. The distance is much greater."

Nodding, their grandfather replied, "True, but the Taltan River is wide and deep along much of it. Alwere destroyed most of the bridges making it nearly impossible to move large armies to and fro. The king eventually cut his losses or he would have likely lost his hold over both halves of his kingdom. People just wanted peace, so it was hard to make them fight against the other side.

"Alwere was more willing to fight and Enswere had to deal with the other nobles wanting to protect their own interests, which had little to do with those across the river."

A moment passed before Annalicia had another question. "You are sure that Sordrian was killed? He wasn't able to cling to life in some way since he was an immortal?"

Leaning closer to the petite, young woman; Darius said quietly, "There is one way to make sure anyone remains dead, even immortals. He wasn't the first to become evil and dangerous enough for us to step in and help those that an immortal was persecuting.

"Trust me. We made sure, so there is no way that it could be Sordrian. Some of the church's leaders were never accounted for back then; but unless one of them was another immortal, it is more likely that someone who has risen to power more recently is behind the crusade against your uncle."