Magician Prince (41 page)

“Thank you, your highness. I will not fail
you or Aurelia,” replied Alia, sounding a bit rehearsed, but still
passable.

The announcement wrapped up not long after
that with many people looking dissatisfied as they left, but Sane
noted a few faces in the crowd that looked notably relieved. Kellen
began to approach the queen, but Sane stopped him. “Not just yet.
We have one more stop.”

Southernstar left to speak with Alia and
Queen Wendi while Sane led Kellen down a side street and a few back
alleys before stopping at a building that the Kenzai knew very
well. “This is one of our safehouses,” he said.

Inside they found some familiar faces.
Donovan was looking rigidly uncomfortable as he attempted to play
cards and make small talk with Tomlin who also looked as if he
would rather be somewhere else. Between them sat a young boy of
about ten years.

Upon seeing his master, Donovan abandoned the
card game and rose to greet Kellen warmly. “Master Kellen, it is
good to see you well,” then he took a formal stance and added, “And
you as well, Master Sane.” He bristled at being near the sorcerer,
but Sane let it go and returned his greeting. Genuine trust would
take time.

The sorcerer looked from Donovan to Tomlin
and tried to imagine what it would be like to watch the two of them
working together. This would not be an easy road for any of them,
but it was only the first step on what would be a long journey.
“How is Kaleb?” he asked.

The boy popped up and said, “Bored.”

“As are we all,” agreed Tomlin. Donovan
snorted agreeably and Tomlin smiled at some secret joke.

“Who is this lad?” asked Kellen. “He looks
familiar.”

“He should,” agreed Sane, “You and Donovan
tied him to a chair and used him as bait to try and capture Byrn
not that long ago.”

Kellen winced at the memory and knelt down on
one knee so that he was eye-level with Kaleb. “I am deeply sorry
for that, Kaleb. I used to be a better man than that. I hope to be
one again someday.”

“You can spend your time making it up to him.
This boy is the adopted son of Alia Aurel and as such he is to be
treated as an Aurel himself though he obviously has no claim to the
throne. In addition, he is to be the protector of Avelice Aurel.
The queen wants you to train him in the ways of the Kenzai and more
importantly in the ways of the warrior so that he can better
fulfill his duties.”

“This lad is to be a royal protector?” asked
Kellen. “No offense, son, and I will happily train you if her
highness wills it, but surely there are grown men who could better
fill the task.”

“He is capable enough. You would be hard
pressed to find a boy with his bravery or who can think on his feet
so well,” Tomlin said protectively, “and he will not be alone. He
will have the three of us to help him out while he grows into the
boots he needs to fill.”

“The three of us?” Kellen wondered. Then he
turned to Sane.

“I will be leaving two mornings from now on a
boat bound for Ghant,” said Sane. “After everything that has
happened I am having trouble thinking of Aurelia as home any
longer. I have decided to spend my twilight years traveling the
world.”

“And will you perhaps journey to the elven
kingdom and seek out Sari in your travels?”

“Perhaps someday,” admitted Sane with a
slight smile forming at the corners of his mouth.

“Then I wish you luck and hope that one day
you find your way back to Aurelia.” Kellen offered his hand and
Sane hesitated before taking it. He could not yet forgive Kellen
for what he did, but Sane wanted this to be a day of new beginnings
for everyone.

The last time Alia went running through the
woods at night it was to escape her father’s magicians. She was
scared of what would happen that night. She feared for her safety,
but more than that she feared for the safety of Avelice and Kaleb.
It was a terror that she never hoped to experience again and so far
she had not. This time as she traveled under the veil of night
Kaleb slept peacefully in his palace room. Avelice was snuggled
into her mother’s arm and she did not fear for either of them. No
one chased her on this night. This time when Alia ran she was no
longer running away. She was running to something very special.

The cabin was in shabby condition, but was
far from the derelict that Alia had seen only two weeks prior. It
was originally an old Kenzai safehouse used for their members to
have some secluded downtime when operating outside of Mollifas. It
was one of the queen’s advisors, an old man by the name of Gaden
Mourninglight who served as head of the Kenzai within Aurelia, who
brought the location to their attention as a potential safe haven
where one could stay close to the city, but still live
undisturbed.

A single candle burned in the window as a
beacon calling her there. Her heart beat a little faster as she
drew closer, but she was not scared. She knew what awaited her
within those walls. As she turned the knob and opened the door Alia
caught herself holding her breath and let it go as the door swung
open and cast light out into the darkness.

It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to
the light as she walked in. Hands, gentle and strong, took Avelice
from her and then those arms wrapped around her in a warm
embrace.

“I have missed you,” Byrn whispered in her
ear before he let her go.

He pulled out a chair and offered Alia a seat
at his kitchen table. When she was seated he took one beside her.
The smell of stew simmering filled her nostrils, but she was not
terribly hungry. Byrn was not interested in eating at that moment
either. Instead, he spent some time playing with his daughter who
found his new scraggly beard absolutely fascinating and took
delight in yanking at the short hair on his chin.

“How did the pronouncement go?” he asked and
Alia noncommittally shrugged.

“There was nearly a riot, so it went about as
well as we could have hoped for. It is a new experience to walk the
streets of the capital openly as a magician.” Alia slipped off her
cloak and hung it on the back of her chair.

“It is a heavy burden you have taken on,”
Byrn told her. “Even Sane lived in the shadows for much of his time
as the royal magician, but you will be the preeminent
representative of what a magician can be. Compared to that, I am
almost glad that I have to pretend to be dead.”

Alia laughed at that. “I guess you did get
off easy when you put it like that. By the way, the queen sends you
her love and Sane hopes that ‘his old friend Baryn’ will be able to
see him off before he begins his journey across the Great Sea.”

“I would not miss it for anything. It will be
hard to see him go after everything we have been through.”

Alia went into the kitchen and filled two
bowls with stew before returning. “He will not be gone forever. I
personally put a dozen transportation runes in his pack- each one
leading back to Mollifas.

“Incidentally, your mother will begin looking
for a new court magician soon and we both agree that this ‘Baryn’
character would be a perfect candidate. Of course, I would prefer a
somewhat younger incarnation if you ever hope to find me on your
arm. I do have a certain image to maintain now.” Alia said with a
falsely snooty attitude.

“So picky!” Byrn teased. “But I think that
can be arranged.”

Thank you for reading the final volume of The
Magician Rebellion trilogy. It has been a labor of love in bringing
this all together and the words of encouragement from the fans have
helped to fuel me in completing this story so quickly. I really
tried to take your comments and suggestions into consideration as I
wrote this in an effort to make the finale the best chapter in the
series and hope that it shows in the end product.

This is the conclusion of The Magician
Rebellion, but that does not mean that it is the end of stories
that take place in this universe and of course there is still the
story of Avelice Aurel that is begging to be told one day as the
next generation of heroes reach maturity.

However, in the short term I have another
project that I am going to begin working on shortly that will apply
the lessons learned in the writing and construction of my first
series. The new project is still in the early phases of planning,
but it will include fantastic inventions and colorful characters in
a world that is very different from Aurelia. It will not only be
different from the world of The Magician Rebellion in terms of
setting, but will be told in a different fashion allowing for
greater character development while still retaining the action and
adventure aspects. The next project will also be done as fully
contained stories so there won’t be the usual cliffhangers I’ve
done with this series and allow me to work on multiple projects at
once.

As always I can be reached at
[email protected]
for anyone that wants to contact me directly.

Oh, I almost forgot. I have also included two
short stories that take place prior to the events in Rogue
Magician. The first takes place in the elven forests where Sari
grew up. The second takes place in Aurelia long before Byrn was
born. If you are familiar with my rarely updated blog, then this is
not new material for you, but for most people it will be their
first time reading these stories.

There is also a treatise on the various forms
of magic in Aurelia, since that was one of the things being asked
for as well. Sorry for all of the wand wiggling, I tried to refine
that a bit in this last book, but had to remain true to magic
system already established in the previous books.

It was a distant whine that tickled at the
edge of the elf’s hearing. He was known among the inhabitants of
the Red Tree Forest as their king and took his responsibility as
their chief protector very seriously so that he felt compelled to
personally investigate every disturbance in his realm. It was
through this desire that the elf’s feet began to glide across the
forest’s floor. His movements were swift, but light and precise so
that hardly a blade of grass or errant leaf could attest to his
passing as he rushed ever onward. The wind whipped past his ears as
he traveled faster and faster until the trees became a red-brown
blur around him.

A blue bird with a long feathered tail
squawked in protest at his passing when the King of the Red Trees
came too close and blew it off course forcing the bird to land
awkwardly in a bush or risk crashing into a tree. The King turned
his attention to his winged subject to make sure it had come to no
harm.
Forgive me my passing,
the King of the Red Trees
pushed the thought at the little bird, but did not slow his pace so
that if there was a response he did not hear it.

Then as suddenly as he started, the elf
stopped running and for a moment his dark, flowing hair shot past
his face as if it was still trying to continue on without him. The
King of the Red Trees knew he still had a great distance left to
travel, but now he recognized the sound for what it was and what it
implied gave him a chill down to the bone. The King drew his bow
and hurried once more redoubling his efforts. He now knew he was
following the sound of a babe crying… and the snarling of
beasts.

The King shimmied up a hardy red tree without
slowing his pace and began to leap from one branch to the next. His
feet unerringly found the strongest limbs and best footing as
befitted one born of the forest all in an effort to gain a vantage
point over the forest’s predators that were quickly surrounding the
youngling.

A grey wolf growled hungrily as it pulled at
the calf of a dead elf woman. From her dress, the King of the Red
Trees knew her to be a member of one of the city clans. The
elf-sister must have traveled a fantastic distance before finally
being run down, but this could not be the work of a lone wolf. Even
a city elf could avoid a single wolf.

The King moved closer being mindful of the
living shadows below him. A pack of wolves closed in all around the
elf’s corpse. The King notched an arrow and took aim at the one
worrying at the mother’s calf. The crying was much louder now that
he was so close to the source. His superior ears were nearly
deafened by the child’s wails. It was clear that the sound was
coming from underneath the dead elf and the wolf was determined to
reach the babe protected under its lifeless mother.

Let her go, the King whispered to the wolf,
and I will let you live.

The grey wolf looked up at the King of the
Red Trees, but did not let go of the leg he held tightly in his
maw. This is no concern of yours, elf. What is done is done. It is
the cycle of life that your kind values so much. Is it not? We have
our kill and there is nothing you can do to change that.

It was true. There was nothing he could do
for the city elf…

You misunderstand me, wolf. I do not seek to
take your kill. I only want the youngling.

The other wolves began skulking
surreptitiously in the King’s direction. He was safe from them in
the tree, but they could prevent him from reaching the babe if they
truly wished it.

Maybe we want the elf-cub too, the wolf
snarled, We will eat to our satisfaction.

Then be satisfied with the one that you have
already killed! I will not allow the elf-babe to die as well! The
King snapped.

At that the grey wolf did finally drop the
leg he had been holding so tightly. His gaze was malicious and for
a brief moment the King knew dread, but he did not fear for himself
so much as for the child.