Siege of Pailtar (12 page)

“I see them,” said Captain Singleton.

“Have the archers target the mages first,” said Captain Singleton to his first mate. Captain Singleton then turned the ship wheel so that they started to head even closer to the enemy ship.

“We’re in firing range now, Captain,” said the first mate.

“Thank you, Geoff. Prepare the archers,” said Captain Singleton.

Quinton watched as the archers stood up and took aim. They waited for the captain’s signal. On board the Darcarion ship, the mages were starting to talk to each other and point in an animated way. They were starting to realize they were watching an illusion.

Captain Singleton gave the signal. Arrows streaked across the bow of the Lady Hawk and struck the sailors and mages of the Darcarion ship. Captain Singleton again turned the ship’s wheel, this time he brought them even closer. So close that the two ships were going to touch!

Quinton watched in fascination as Sharon and the members of the boarding party crouched at the rail of the Lady Hawk and waited until the two ships were mere inches apart. They leapt up and over the rail, landing on the deck of the Darcarion vessel. Havoc ensued as the Darcarions tried to fend off the boarding party. But the archers had done their jobs well, striking the mages and the armed Darcarions first. The sailors scrambled to grab their weapons and stop the boarding party, but Sharon and the other sailors moved like ghosts fighting their way through the Darcarions. The Darcarions refused to surrender despite several yells from Geoff, the first mate. They fought viciously and several of the Lady Hawk’s sailors died, but between the carefully placed arrows of the Lady Hawk’s archers, and element of surprise giving the boarding party all the advantage they needed, the fight was soon over. Only a few Darcarions survived.  The rest fought until death. A few jumped off the ship, choosing to take their chances in the shark-infested waters over becoming prisoners. The boarding party quickly rounded up the few survivors and chained them up. A physician would tend to their wounds and then the captain would question them. Once the ship was searched, for hiding warriors, Quinton joined Sharon aboard the Darcarion vessel. He would search the mages' quarters for clues of their plans.

In the first of the mages' quarters they found nothing of use. A few spell books and robes, nothing that tied them to the attacks on Balta. In the second cabin, they found what they were looking for, a note instructing the mages.

The mission failed. Baltan fleet at sea, lead them away from Balta. Do not engage them, simply keep them at sea as long as possible.

G.

Quinton showed Sharon the note. “You think G. stands for Ganus?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me.”

“That means they wanted us to leave Balta. They have something else planned. Hurry, let’s show this to Captain Singleton,” said Quinton. He took the note and the Darcarion spell books and returned to the Lady Hawk. They handed the note to Captain Singleton.

The captain read the note and turned to the first mate. “Geoff, you take ten men and sail the Darcarion ship back to Balta. We are returning, immediately. I don’t know why, but we have been lead on a wild good chase.…”

13

Balta

“NATHAN, I NEED YOU TO IMBUE this gem for me.”

“Of course, Aunt Avera, is this for you?”

Avera shook her head. “No, this is for a thief.”

Nathan looked carefully at his Aunt. This was an interesting development. “You want me to imbue a gem for a thief?”

Avera smiled. “It’s a long story. I maintain some business interests in Pailtar. And in order to do business in Pailtar one must be on good terms with the Thieves’ Guild. I’ve made a few friends among them over the years. Some of them I actually trust more than I do honest citizens from Balta.”

Nathan nodded. He remembered the dusty streets of Pailtar. The Guild ran that town and had helped, under threat from Ashuna, to make sure Ava and the girls were safe.  “Why would a thief want a gem imbued and how did they know to send you one?”

“The Thieves Guild knows everything that goes on in Pailtar and most of what goes on in the entire continent. Information is one of their most valuable commodities and you are somewhat famous these days. Word of your magic has obvious reached Pailtar.”

“I’m not sure giving a thief a magic gem is a good idea,” said Nathan. “Won’t they use it for something that breaks the law?”

“I already know what the gem is going to be used for. It is going into a ring. One that will help the thief use her magic. It will most assuredly involve breaking the law. However, the thief in question is young, about your age actually and she, until now, hasn’t practiced magic. She will not have much power and giving her the ring will not be a bad thing.”

“She is your friend?” asked Nathan, curious but not yet sure that this was something he should agree to do.

“No, her mother is my friend. Nathan, I understand your hesitance and I applaud it. You have a gift, a powerful gift, and in the wrong hands, one of your gems could be very dangerous. What you need to know is that Pailtar faces the same danger that we face here in Balta.”

“King Ganus,” said Nathan.

“Yes. King Ganus wants to rule all of Mithbea, and that means every city and place on the continent is in danger. That means that the Thieves’ Guild is now among our allies. My friend and her family are in the same danger that we are. She wants her daughter to learn magic so that she can better help in the coming war. The girl is already an accomplished thief, but she has strong magic blood like our family and with your stone will learn that magic much faster.”

Nathan inspected the diamond. It was small but high quality. It would be able to absorb a great deal of power. The idea of giving to a thief did not sit well with Nathan, but Pailtar was different, they treated thieves differently there, as if they were almost trades people. Moreover, Nathan knew well enough the damage that King Ganus could cause. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Thank you, Nathan, I trust the girl’s mother and we will need allies against King Ganus. The Guild can be a powerful ally, and I believe we are going to need all we can get.”

Morthon

“I WANT TO ATTACK PAILTAR,” SAID King Ganus. Looking down from his throne, King Ganus studied his commanders. Each had risen to power through treachery, deceit, and ambition. The blood spilled by this collective group was worthy of his admiration.

“My army is prepared to march,” said Hassan Tulur.

King Ganus nodded, of course Hassan would have his army prepared. He was by far the most bloodthirsty of his commanders. Hassan took as a personal insult when any troops other than his own were used. “Good. Togla, Tunc, what of your mercenaries?” Tolga and Tunc Oyal were bandits, mercenaries for hire who would fight for anyone as long as the price was right.

“We are prepared,” said Tolga.

“How many do you command?” asked King Ganus?

“Just under a hundred,” replied Tolga.

“Last time we spoke you had almost three hundred blades under your command.”

Tolga, a tall, thin man with a crooked nose, nodded. “Our last venture to the East was more challenging than anticipated.”

“How unfortunate,” said King Ganus.

Tolga shrugged, “Only for those who died. For the rest of us it was a rather profitable excursion.”

“Just have your men ready.” King Ganus turned to Balar Arfa. He trusted Balar least of all his commanders. Balar was from the city of Conta in the far southern regions of Morthon, and his army was the largest outside of his own troops. “How long before you can attack?”

“Two weeks. Three, if you want a full battalion,” replied Balar Arfa.

“Two weeks. I want this done.” In truth, King Ganus would have waited three weeks if necessary, but Pailtar was not a difficult target and giving Balar Arfa reason to bring that many troops so close to Meron made King Ganus nervous. It was best if Balar only had a small army with him.

Balar Arfa smiled. He understood what Ganus was thinking. “As you wish, My Lord.”

“Hassan, wait one week and then begin marching across the desert. Send scouts up the coast so that you can time your arrival at Pailtar with Balar Arfa’s ships. Tolga, you and Tunc leave now. I want you in Pailtar as soon as possible. You know your target.”

Tolga smiled nervously. “About our target—”

“You will be well rewarded,” interrupted King Ganus. “I don’t care if you go from a hundred warriors down to two. I want you to attack the Thieves’ Guild. They are not well organized, or as large as Pailtar’s Army, but they are the most dangerous.”

“
They are very dangerous,” said Tolga, in agreement with King Ganus. “It very well may require that we do end up with only the two of us.”

King Ganus frowned and stared coolly at the mercenary. “Is that a problem?”

Tunc, Tolga’s brother, spoke up. “No, it would just mean less sharing of the profits. We will deal with the Guild.”

“Very well,” said King Ganus. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the commanders. Two weeks, two weeks for the attack on Pailtar and then he would have two bases from which to attack Balta. He wasn’t ready for that yet, but if all went well with his remaining Darcarion mages it would soon be the perfect time to attack. After the failure of the Darcarions to secure the tomes, Ganus had the leverage to get the deadly mages to commit to his new plan, one that had little chance of the mages surviving. However, there were worse things than dying and Ganus would make them regret being born if they failed him twice. Finally, all of Mithbea would be within his grasp.

Once Mithbea was under his total control, King Ganus would build an army like the world had never seen before. He would conquer Solotine, the Western Isles, and then make his way east. He would build an empire. Kings would grovel and kiss his feet and beg for his mercy. But they would find, like all those before them, that mercy was not in King Ganus’s vocabulary.

14

Pailtar

KIANA SAT ON her bed, reading the letter from the Guild.

Welcome to the Thieves’ Guild

First-year students will be assigned two courses, and given the option of choosing two courses from the options list provided. Each list gives the courses available to you. Certain classes are limited enrollment and selection will be at the discretion of course instructor. Please select your two options and an alternative; if your selections and alternative are unavailable courses will be selected for you based on previous test scores and instructor input.

Kiana Clairmont course selection list

Pickpocket: Level Four

Sneak: Level Four

Guild Law: Level Two

Applied Magic: Level One

Hand to Hand: Level Three

Cat Burglar: Level Four

Weapons: Level Two

Surveillance: Level Three

Illusions: Level One

Telekinesis: Level One

Runes and Wards: Level One

Kiana sighed.
What a waste
, she thought to herself,
ignoring magic for so long had severely limited her options
. Imagine if she had applied herself to Illusions or Telekinesis the way she had her pickpocket and cat burglar studies. She would have been able to pick the fun and interesting courses, and not have to worry about the basics. And it wasn’t like she had an excuse, her mom tried to start teaching her about illusions and telekinesis, heck she had even tried teaching her about runes.
Oh well,
she thought,
no point worrying about the past any longer
. She would sign up for two magic courses with a third one as her backup, just to make sure she got a good start on catching up. No point risking the Guild giving her other subjects.

Kiana wrote down her selections.

Applied Magic

Illusions

(Alternative Selection) Runes and Wards

Kiana had gone back and forth on which magic classes to take, originally she had been hoping to take Sneak, but after the Guild tests she realized the value of magic, and realized she should improve those areas. Her mother had told her so, but Kiana had to learn the hard way. After two days of encountering scorpions, lions and trolls, her position on the virtues of magical studies had changed dramatically. Kiana now saw the wisdom of her mother’s words. Once the decision to study magic was made, the problem became what courses to choose. Since she was level one in all magic areas, she had plenty of choices to make. Kiana automatically selected Illusions for her course list, having seen the value of illusions when dealing with trolls. The tough decision was going with Applied Magic versus Runes and Wards. Telekinesis, she planned on studying at home with her mother for the first year. But Runes were so confusing and Applied Magic gave a little of everything, something she really needed. Unless she didn’t get into Illusions, Runes would have to wait a year, unless of course the Guild selected it for her, but she wasn’t going to chance it.

Having finally made up her mind, Kiana went into the kitchen to find her mother. “I’ve decided,” she said, as she handed her mother her selection sheet.

Lilliana looked at the list. “Applied Magic and Illusions, those are sensible choices. We can work on some of the others at home. Next year, if you do okay on your tests, you can apply for second year courses or focus on others. But it will be good to improve your magic. The sooner you can get it caught up with the rest of your skills the better. I will take your sheet to Duncan later. Here, I have a present for you.” Lilliana pulled a ring out of her pocket, “I stole your diamond last night and had it made into ring.”

Kiana smiled. She had been so caught up in deciding her course selections, she hadn’t even noticed that her mom had lifted her precious jewel, the reward for breaking into the Trollope safe. Kiana accepted the ring from her mother. The ring was bronze with a large setting that almost entirely covered the little diamond. In fact, the ring was rather ugly. It looked like something that would give you gangrene just touching it, let alone wearing it. Kiana gave her mother a questioning look.