13 Day War (4 page)

“Drop your shields,” urged the fairy.

“What?” barked the mage.

“Drop your shields,” repeated Thimble, “and keep the fog pouring out.”

Theos shook his head in confusion, but he did as the fairy requested. As soon as the shields were down, he felt his feet leave the ground. Seconds later he heard the impact of two groups of soldiers colliding into each other in the thick fog below him. He listened to their shouted questions, but the sounds diminished as the fairy levitated him higher. In moments, he was standing on the roof of a building.

“Can you fly” chirped the fairy. “Or should I summon Karl’s unicorn for you?”

“I can fly if I transform into a bird,” answered Theos, “but the black-cloaks will probably detect that.”

“They are expecting you to fly away?” questioned the little green man.

“I would if I were in their place,” reasoned Theos. “After abruptly ending my attack, they would assume that I am attempting to flee.”

“Would they still monitor for flying spells if they could see you?” asked the fairy.

“That would be a waste of energy.” Theos shook his head. “But I cannot afford to fly away if they are staring at me. I would be followed and destroyed.”

“Unless what they were staring at was not really you,” grinned Thimble. “You forget that I can cast images of my memories.”

“You would be attacked instantly,” frowned Theos. “I will not risk your life for my foolish actions.”

“I will not be harmed,” boasted the fairy. “I will keep your image just out of range, and I will move it quickly. If your flight is swift, we will both be at Sidney’s estate in moments.”

The mage held a doubtful expression on his face, but the fairy grinned boldly with an aura of confidence that swayed the mage’s decision.

“How long do you need to get outside the fog and set up the illusion?” asked Theos.

“Count to one hundred and then fly like a bird. I will meet you at the estate.”

The fairy leaped into the air, and Theos began counting. An eerie silence had fallen over the central part of the city, a silence broken only occasionally as a soldier’s armor clanged against some unseen obstacle. Before Theos reached one hundred, shouts erupted from the direction of the Old Keep. He clearly heard shouts of his sighting. Still, he waited a few more seconds before casting the spell that would transform him into a bird. Once he was committed to his avian form, Theos flew as fast as he was able. He soared upward through the cloud of fog and angled towards the Gulf of Ur. He did not want to lead them to the merchant’s estate if someone was tracking him. Once he was over the gulf, he dove towards the surface of the water and skimmed over the waves. When he felt he was far enough away from the city, he banked sharply to his right and headed for the coast north of the city. As soon as he was over land, he landed and transformed back into a man. He would have a decent walk ahead of him, but it was worth it to shorten his flight. Plus, if he had been tracked, his landing would take the followers away from Sidney’s estate rather than towards it. He definitely did not want to bring attention to that place. He had already caused too much of a ruckus for the patriots.

The walk to Sidney’s estate was uneventful, but Theos walked slowly and cautiously, always prepared for an ambush. By the time he reached the estate, dusk was upon him. Karl Gree, Captain Marez, and Althea were waiting on the porch for him. None of them spoke until they were all safely inside. Althea sent one of the patriots to cancel the search that had been initiated to find him.

“What took you so long?” asked Karl. “Thimble expected you to be here when he arrived. We thought we had lost you.”

“I flew north in case the black-cloaks were tracking me,” explained the mage. “I didn’t want to lead them here.”

Karl nodded understandingly, but Captain Marez glared at the mage.

“Do you have any idea what you have done today?” snapped the leader of the Tyronian Patriots. “You cost us three good men and stirred up a hornets nest that will keep us hiding for weeks. Mectin will have his men combing the entire city until he finds you.”

“I am truly sorry,” frowned Theos. “I knew that I should not get involved, but once I saw Artum being dragged into the Old Keep, I could not ignore it. His knowledge of the patriots would bring about many deaths of my countrymen. I am sorry, but I would do it again. My only disappointment was that Artum died in my attempt to free him. An archer shot him in the back as he was fleeing.”

“Your only disappointment?” huffed the captain. “You must learn to follow orders and nothing else. Were it not for you, Artum would be alive and well right now.”

A mask of deep sorrow fell over the mage’s face, but the mask was creased with confusion. “King Mectin would not allow Artum to live after he had the demonkin strip his mind. What you are saying makes no sense. And what did you mean by the loss of three men? Artum was the only one they had captured.”

“The two soldiers escorting Artum were our people,” Althea said softly. “Their task was to gain entrance to the Old Keep by dragging in a top-level patriot. Artum volunteered to be the captive. He held barrel weed in his shackled hands.”

A look of shock and pain fell over the mage’s face, and he slumped into the nearest chair and placed his head in his hands. “This is why you asked me for the barrel weed?” he asked with a broken voice. “They were to think he was dead? How would you ever get the body out to feed him the pit berries? Without the pit berries, he would truly die.”

“It was all worked out,” Althea explained. “The two soldiers would take Artum directly to a cell and then report to the king. From what we have been able to learn about the inside of the Old Keep, the cells are in the lowest level, while King Mectin is in one of the highest. The soldiers being unfamiliar with the layout of the keep would naturally get a little lost on the way to reporting to the king. They would eventually be promised their reward and be sent back to bring the prisoner before the king.”

“When it was discovered that the prisoner had died,” added Captain Marez, “the soldiers were to carry the corpse out for burial rather than take him to the king. It was the only feasible way to get Artum out of the keep once we got him inside.”

“Artum would then be fed the pit berries,” interjected Karl, “and the three men would be sent away from the city until after the rebellion.”

“Then I have caused more damage than I could have possibly imagined,” sighed the mage. “I curse this gift of mine. Why couldn’t you have just left me in the battle today? Why couldn’t you have let me die ignorant of my stupidity?”

“It is neither your gift nor your stupidity that is causing the problem,” scowled Captain Marez. “It is your anger. I thought you were making progress with that, but it is over now. We cannot afford to have you around here. If you had kept your head covered, we might have been able to hide you until things died down, but there are precious few mages with fiery hair in these parts. They know who you are, Theos. You have to go.”

“I agree that Theos must leave Tyronia,” Karl frowned, “but you are not being fair to him. What he did today had nothing to do with his rage. Had it been his rage, the confrontation would have taken place far from the city center. Theos made a conscious decision to save Artum from interrogation, and based on similar knowledge to what he had at the time, I would like to think that I would have reacted the same. It took tremendous courage to pit himself against the entire keep, and he put his life on the line to protect the Tyronian Patriots. I think a large part of the fault for today’s fiasco rests in the three of us for not letting Theos know what we were up to. While none of us expected him to get involved, we should have considered the possibility of him stumbling into our little act.”

Althea nodded. “Not rage, but mistaken valor. I agree with Karl. I certainly wish Theos had not gotten involved, but he was brave to do so. The question now is where do we send him? To Waxhaw? Calusa?”

“No,” Captain Marez shook his head. “While he is making great progress on his anger, I think it would be a mistake to place him in another country where the local patriots wear the uniform of the Federation. It is just asking for trouble.”

“That only leaves the horse countries,” frowned Althea. “There are no Federation troops there at all.”

“I will not go into exile and sit out this war,” scowled Theos. “You do not need to take it upon yourselves to plan my future. I started my plan for revenge alone, and I will return to that. Like it or not, I plan to take a lot of Federation soldiers with me on the way to my grave.”

“Leave us,” Karl said softly to Captain Marez and Althea.

Captain Marez looked Karl in the eye and nodded without argument, but Althea donned a hurt expression. Karl stared back with a steady resolve. Althea eventually smiled weakly and followed her brother out of the room.

“If you are going to try talking me out of attacking the Federation,” Theos said when he was alone with Karl, “save your breath. You may be able to teach me how to control my anger, but you cannot make the cause of that anger disappear entirely. I will have my revenge on the Federation for their attacks upon innocent people.”

Karl smiled. “From what I have heard, you got a fair start along that road today. At least one black-cloak is dead and over one hundred of King Mectin’s guard, and you walked away without a scratch. All-in-all, I would consider that impressive.”

“Don’t forget three patriots,” scowled Theos. “I certainly will never forget them.”

“Only two,” countered Karl. “You did not kill Artum, and he knew that he was risking his life for this mission. Theos, do not hold those deaths heavy in your heart. You had no way of knowing what we were doing. You should have been informed. The fault lies with us.”

“A trivial distinction,” sighed the mage. “You didn’t ask the others to leave so that we can commiserate on my failure. If you are planning on trying to get me to give up my path, save us both the time and effort. My mind is made up.”

“Actually,” smiled Karl, “I have something in mind for you. How would you like to be somewhere where everyone wearing a Federation uniform is truly your enemy?”

“You mean like inside a Federation prison?” chuckled Theos.

“No.” Karl shook his head. “I am thinking of Alcea.”

“Your homeland?” balked the mage. “What would I do there?”

“What you do best,” grinned the Knight of Alcea. “Think of it as the two of us changing places for a while. I will work with your people, and you will work with mine. There will soon be sixty thousand Federation soldiers converging on Tagaret, and the Royal Sorcerer was recently killed by a demonkin. King Arik could use your magical talents, and you will have far more targets in one place than anywhere in Zara.”

“And your king would agree to this? Does he know of my struggle?”

“You are doing quite well with that,” Karl smiled, “but I would never speak for King Arik without his authorization. I spoke to him while we were waiting for you to return here. If you find this task acceptable, they are already waiting for your arrival.”

“They?”

“King Arik and Queen Tanya. I think you will like them both.”

“I already have sixty thousand reasons for liking them,” smiled Theos. “I accept.”

Janay, wife of Emperor Jaar, stood on the balcony of Herinak Castle and gazed down at the group of people beyond the city walls. Hundreds of children and adults were sledding in the snow, but her eyes were drawn to a small group of seven. Each of the seven was a resident of the Lair, a special level in the castle that was isolated from the rest.

“Are they having fun?” asked a feminine voice from behind Janay.

Janay turned around and saw an elderly lady enter the balcony. Janay had seen the woman around the Lair ever since her arrival. She did not know who the lady was, but Janay recognized a woman of great culture when she saw one. The woman’s every movement spoke of grace, as if she had been groomed for a throne. Janay looked at her curiously.

“They are indeed having fun,” Janay stated. “I apologize, but I can not remember your name.”

“I have never mentioned it,” smiled the queen as she walked to the edge of the balcony and gazed below. “Names are seldom used here in the Lair. They are not important.”

“Not important, or too dangerous to mention?”

Queen Romani turned and glanced into Janay’s eyes and smiled. “These are perilous times that we live in. Do not be concerned. There is not a person here who seeks to harm you or your daughters. You were brought here for your safety.”

“So I have been told,” frowned Janay, “but I have learned to be skeptical of those who hide the truth from me. Do you know Forshire?”

Janay intentionally left off Forshire’s rank in the Federation army to gauge the response from the mysterious woman.

“I know him,” answered the queen. “He is a good man.” Queen Romani was perceptive enough to realize that Janay was getting too curious. She decided to drive the conversation towards the heirs. She turned away from Janay and focused on the group of seven far below. “They certainly do appear to be having a wonderful time. I am glad that they get along together.”

Janay was not deterred. “They get along quite well. Perhaps too well. Rynda and Billy are becoming quite attached to each other, and I do not feel comfortable when I do not know the true identity of the boys courting my girls.”

“They are hardly girls any more,” smiled the queen. “They have grown into wonderful young women. You should be proud of them.”

“I am proud of them, but I am also protective of them as a parent should be. Who is Billy?”

“It is not my place to speak of such things,” the queen responded cautiously. “Your daughters are not in any danger. Let them enjoy themselves. Spring is nearly here, and all will be revealed then.”

“Do you know the true identity of all the people in the Lair?” persisted Janay.

Queen Romani sighed and nodded. “I doubt that your daughters have had much in the way of companionship, Janay. Let them enjoy what little time they have here. Do not push against a wall that will not yield. You will only wear yourself out.”