Bronze Magic (Book 1) (70 page)

“Much better pay than the palace offers its guards. You should think
about it,” added Andoran.
“And who is this great philanthropist with the finance?”
Andoran and Sargon looked at each other. Andoran shrugged, “We
know his name. It’s Davorad, Lord of Stansbeck but we don’t know him
personally. He’s obviously very wealthy but that’s about all we know.”
Sargon grinned, “From our point of view, that’s all we need to know.”
“You do realise, I suppose,” added Andoran laconically, “that Prince
Tarkyn’s erstwhile entourage is not exactly flavour of the month back
in Tormadell at the moment? So it suits us to be well away for the time
being, while feelings calm down and events are forgotten.”
Danton shook his head, “I had no idea. That seems a bit rough; to tar
us all with the prince’s brush. After all, we didn’t put him up to any of it.”
“Guilt by association,” said Andoran.
“Hmm. Maybe I’ll stay away a bit longer than I had planned,” mused
Danton thoughtfully. “I’ll see. Perhaps I’ll come back here and join you
after I’ve been to see my grandmother.”
“That would be great,” enthused Andoran, “Just like old times. Same
friends. New location. Couldn’t be better.”
Danton was struggling to keep his smile in place at the complete
dismissal of Tarkyn as one of the friends. He put down his glass and
stood up, wiping his hand across his forehead. “I’m sorry. I’m a bit tired
after all this travelling. I might have a bit of a rest before dinner. If you’ll
excuse me? I’ll catch up with you later.”
s soon as Danton was out of sight and earshot, Stormaway appeared
at his side. His eyes were glittering with anger. “Neither with that
family we met before nor with Andoran and Sargon, have you said
a word to support your liege. So your loyalty doesn’t extend as far as
standing up for the prince when he’s not around to hear you, then? ”
“What on earth are you talking about, Stormaway? Of course it
doesn’t. Not if that doesn’t serve his best interests.”
“You could have said something to support him.”
“Yes, I could have. Then I would have had those two watching my
every move and making sure I was followed when I left.” Danton turned
his intense purple eyes on the wizard. Stormaway reeled back before the
depth of implacable hatred in the sorcerer’s stare. The wizard experienced
a sense of relief that it wasn’t directed at him. Danton spoke with cutting
control. “Instead of ranting at me, you might like to consider how much
effort it cost me to produce that little charade when I was nearly beside
myself with rage.”
Stormaway let out a breath. “I apologise, Danton. I should have
realised how hard it was for you. It is very difficult for both of us to hear
Tarkyn being spoken of like that. I’m afraid I misdirected my anger.”
The sorcerer gave short bitter laugh. “Don’t be sorry. I’m becoming
used to not being trusted. It’s a salutary lesson for me. You, Tarkyn, the
woodfolk, everyone I am loyal to, mistrust me. And yet people I don’t
care about are willing to trust me almost on sight.” He kicked a pebble
along the ground. “It’s bloody annoying.”
The wizard smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re such a
consummate actor, my boy. I know it’s harder but I’m glad you haven’t
turned your acting skills on us and are allowing things to take their
course.”
Danton looked at him through narrowed eyes. “I would have no
qualms about acting a part amongst you if I could figure out what
would convince you all. Unfortunately, I suspect nothing but time and
experience of me will do it.” He shrugged and gave a tight smile. “Oh
well, on the other hand, I couldn’t ask for better protection for the prince
than his ring of doubters. I’d just rather be inside than outside the ring.”
“You’re getting there, Danton. Give it time. It will come.”
Danton eyed the wizard, his gaze still cloudy with anger. “Anyway, you
may yet have cause to be angry with me.” His voice vibrated with passion,
“No matter what the cost, no matter what the disruption to our plans, I
will make those two pay before we leave here. I don’t know how yet, but
they will pay.”
The wizard tilted his head sideways and considered the irate sorcerer,
“But Danton, much as I hate to admit it, I can understand their point of
view, especially if Tarkyn killed their friends. And they don’t know that
the fatalities were not deliberate acts of aggression by the prince.”
Danton snorted in derision, “They had their chance to ask him and
didn’t. They kept out of his line of vision and were brutal instead. What
sort of friendship evaporates without being given any chance to redeem
itself?” Danton stopped walking and put his hands on his hips, “If they
had killed him in righteous anger, I might have understood. But this
wasn’t revenge. Those friends Sargon spoke of were barely acquaintances
and in case you hadn’t notice, they forgot to mention to me that they
had already had a run in with the prince.” He shook his head. “Don’t be
fooled by their charm. Andoran and Sargon are only interested in the
money. They couldn’t lie straight in bed, either of them.”
“Hmm.” The wizard was thoughtful for a minute or two. “My first
instinct was to try to dissuade you. But on reflection, I would have to
admit that our feelings are very much in agreement on this issue. So
instead, I think I had better help you concoct some form of revenge that
doesn’t interfere too much with our other plans.”
At last Danton’s face relaxed. “Oh good. This should be fun then.”
Stormaway raised his eyebrows, “You weren’t thinking of killing them,
were you?”
Danton waved a hand casually, “Oh no, no. That would give us
away. I was thinking of something much worse than that. I don’t know.
Something exquisitely embarrassing or humiliating, preferably painful as
well.”
“Ah, excellent. That sounds just the thing. I’ll give it some thought.”
Just then the wolves set up a din of whining and howling. Stormaway
and Danton looked over to see a scrawny young man feeding them the
contents of the wooden bucket. A few people were drawn to the noise
but no one went too close. All eyes were on the wolves. Stormaway’s eyes
were on the wolf trainer.
“That man is familiar, even from the back.” The wizard waited until
the scrawny man straightened up and turned around. “Oh my stars!
That’s Journeyman Cloudmaker, my old apprentice from the days when
I worked in the castle for Tarkyn’s father.” He frowned, “What’s he doing
here, I wonder?”
“He must be the sorcerer who is hunting the woodfolk. I wonder how
many others know about the woodfolk?”
“He is not only a sorcerer,” said Stormaway tetchily, “Think man! If he
was my apprentice, he must be a wizard.”
“Sorry. No offence meant, I’m sure. After all, you have also taught many
sorcerers from what I’ve heard, Tarkyn and Markazon among them.”
“None of them has been my apprentice. It’s not the same thing at all.”
Stormaway waved a hand dismissively. “Anyway, let’s concentrate on our
plan for the moment.” He glanced around him, “I think we could do it
while they are being fed. The wolves’ howls would cover the noise and no
one is looking that way.”
Danton frowned, “We would be in full view if anyone looked around.”
“True. Well, what do you think? Risk doing it at the wolves’ dinnertime
or wait for Tarkyn to create a disturbance with the horses?”
“How will he know whether to create a diversion or not?”
Stormaway glanced up at the raven that had flown down out of the
tree and was now sitting on top of the tent nearest to them. He leant
forward and said quietly in Danton’s ear, “Because, unless I’m much
mistaken, Tarkyn is watching our every move.”
Danton started and looked around. Then he followed the direction of the
wizard’s finger and saw the raven watching them. Danton’s eyes narrowed
and he put his head on one side as he considered the large black bird.
The raven copied his head movement. Then it launched itself off the tent
pole straight at Danton. As the young sorcerer ducked in alarm, the bird
changed its trajectory and swooped to land neatly on Danton’s shoulder.
Danton, who was not particularly enamoured of birds, especially at
close quarters, steeled himself to stand slowly upright with the raven
ruffling its feathers inches from his left cheek, its sharp menacing beak
and beady black eye clear in the peripheral vision of his left eye.
He produced a wavering smile. “Ooh good. Up close and personal,
then. Does he have to watch from this close?”
“Does Tarkyn know that you don’t like birds, by any chance?” asked
the wizard, smiling broadly.
Eyeing the raven, Danton said carefully, “It’s not that I don’t like them,
so much as they make me nervous. All those feathers and beaks and
claws.” He frowned, “And yes, he does know.”
“I thought he might,” laughed Stormaway. “Come on. Let’s show our
raven friend the perimeter guards’ lay out. Tarkyn can transmit all the
information to the woodfolk.”
“The raven was in the tree earlier on. I just didn’t realise then, that it
was being Tarkyn’s eyes. So I expect he already knows.” Danton winced as
the raven’s sharp claws dug into him. “Anyway, I can’t help thinking I’m a
little conspicuous with this raven perched on my shoulder.”
“I couldn’t agree more but until Tarkyn stops mucking around, I can’t
see that there is much we can do about it.”
Just as the wizard finished speaking, the raven launched itself into the
air, leaving several scratches in Danton’s shoulder, and landed back on the
nearest tent pole.
“Very funny,” mouthed Danton at Tarkyn via the raven. A thought
struck him and he looked at the wizard in exasperation. “Please tell me
that Tarkyn is not checking up on me.”
Stormaway shook his head, “You’re not thinking straight. If Tarkyn
were checking up on you, he would hardly let you know he was watching,
would he?”
Danton smiled perfunctorily, “No. Good point. Hmm. I wonder what
he made of my conversation with Sargon and Andoran. Pity he couldn’t
hear it. Still, just watching it would have been enough to condemn me if
he didn’t trust me.”
“Only if I hadn’t been lurking in the background. It wasn’t as if you
met them on the quiet.”
Danton rubbed a hand across his face, “Oh well. I hope he remembers
I can act. Saying that, I don’t know that I could have said all those things
if I’d known he was watching.”
“Then it’s just as well you didn’t know, isn’t it?” The wizard patted the
sorcerer on the back. “Stop fretting, Danton. Tarkyn wouldn’t be playing
games with you if he were angry with you.”
“True,” Danton realised his hands were shaking and took a deep breath
to steady himself.
“You do get yourself in a tangle sometimes, don’t you? Is this what
Tarkyn meant about you being overly sensitive?” When Danton nodded,
Stormaway continued bracingly. “Come on. Let’s plot our revenge on Sargon
and Andoran so that no doubt is left in Tarkyn’s mind about your loyalties.”
At dusk, the raven lifted itself out of the tree and winged its way slowly
against the setting sun back into the forest.
Danton and Stormaway spent the early part of the evening listening
into and joining in conversations around the campfires. Danton was
borne off by Andoran and Sargon to spend the evening with them,
drinking and reminiscing. Stormaway was less conspicuous and therefore
more fortunate, moving quietly from one conversation to the next as the
mood took him.
At the end of a long night, Danton finally escaped the attentions of his
enthusiastic companions, pleading a headache and resisting invitations
for him to join Andoran and Sargon in their tent. He wove his way back
to the tent he had been allocated and flopped down on his back beside
Stormaway in the darkness. Even in the gloom, Danton’s face stood out
stark and white, lined with strain.
Stormaway did not make the same mistake twice. He rolled over, took
one look at the guardsman’s face and whispered, “Rough evening?”
“I don’t know when I’ve endured a harder one.” He sighed. “I feel sick
to my stomach with the things I’ve said this evening.” He turned his head
to look at the wizard, “And even more so with the things they have said.
How much longer are we going to have to stay here?”
Stormaway extricated a hand from within his bedding and placed it
on Danton’s shoulder. “I’m afraid we’ll have to stay for at least a day or
two afterwards, especially with your known association with the prince.
Otherwise, suspicion may fall on you, and consequently, on Tarkyn and
alert everyone to the prince’s presence in the area.”
“Oh my stars!” groaned Danton. “I don’t know that I can do it.”
“You can, because you must,” whispered Stormaway, not unkindly.
“But let’s see if we can incapacitate the terrible two before you have to
spend too much more time with them, shall we?”
Danton’s teeth flashed in the dark in a brief smile. He sighed, “I still
can’t retrieve all those things I’ve said, even if it would have been pointless
to say anything else.”
“Danton, look at me!” The wizard’s voice, even though only a whisper,
sounded harsh in the darkness. “That wasn’t you who said those things. It
was the person you were playing. Across the country there are hundreds
of people saying things like that about Tarkyn. I’ve been listening to some
of them tonight. Think of it as one of them. Not you. Leave it behind
you, outside with the other two.”
Some of the strain left the sorcerer’s eyes. He smiled tiredly. “Thanks
Stormaway. I’ll try.” So saying, he rolled over and settled down to sleep.
All through the night, a succession of large rats doggedly gnawed their
way through the ropes tying the horses. By morning, only one strand of
each rope was still in place. Despite the dislike some of the horses had for
rats, none of them had done more than roll their eyes and stamp their
feet occasionally.
In the forest, just as the first rays of sunlight hit the top of the trees,
Tarkyn released his connection with the last of the rats and sank into bed.
ot long afterwards, Stormaway rose and, sitting in the corner of the
tent, began to work his way through a couple of ancient tomes he
had brought with him in his satchel. The wolves presented no
problem to him. Summer Rain and he had already devised a
concoction to put them safely to sleep for the duration of the night. It
was the exquisite revenge that occupied his attention.