Son of Soron (24 page)

After a few minutes of focusing on the rock Nathan felt the rock getting heavier. He looked up at Amaden who took the rock out of his hand. It took Amaden two hands to remove it. “Oof, next time think of a lighter rock. That is the basics of imbuing. Different types of materials have different abilities to help create magic. Stones are excellent for weight or heat. Gems are particularly good as a storage device. You can transfer some of your magical energy into gems to use later or with other materials like steel or gold. You can make an iron sword stronger by imbuing it with your blood. But make an iron sword with a blood stone gem in it and you will have a much superior weapon. The ability to imbue relies on your imagination as much as it does the energy within you and the stones. And remember magic takes a toll on the body. You can’t go endlessly imbuing every rock and jewel you see. Always try to have energy left for an emergency.”

For the next couple days, while Verin continued to heal, Amaden had Nathan work on imbuing. There were more areas of magic that could be explored but mastering a few was better than spreading oneself too thin. Although Amaden had much that he could still Nathan he was satisfied that the boy had enough training to control his powers. Nathan had strong magic and the sooner he left for Balta the better. 

After almost two weeks of living in the cave with the wise old ingla mage, Nathan was ready to go make the journey through the mountains once more. Before they could do that they still needed to find the grove of witch oak trees. It seemed forever since they had defeated the bandit chief and hiked over the mountain pass into the north. But in actual fact, they had been gone for barely over a month

Chapter thirty two

DUKE EVOLLAN WAS LIVID. His face was red.  His nostrils were flared and the deep furrow in his brow was a sure sign to those around him they had best not cross him, question him, or even speak unless spoken to.  Not only was his wilderness campaign to gain favor with the king a failure, but there was actually talk that the king was recalling him to Progoh for a trial.

The idea of being imprisoned for killing a bunch of low bred rabble that were not even part of the kingdom was beyond the duke’s comprehension. It wasn’t his fault a southern princess fell in love with some northern tribal leader’s son and decided to live incognito in the woods like peasants. Living life like a peasant was as bad as going to prison and neither option was acceptable to the duke.

Bailmont, the duke’s captain, walked into the library where he found the duke staring out a window while playing with a dagger. “You summoned me, my lord.”

“Tell me Bailmont, how many of our men are going to disappear into the forest and become bandits when they find out that the king is calling us to Progoh for a trial.” Bailmont thought about it for a few seconds before replying, “I would say of the hundred men under your command that about a dozen will disappear. The rest consider themselves loyal subjects of the king and will show up at the trial declaring their loyalty to the king. They will beg forgiveness and remind the king that they were following your orders.”

The duke had thought the number would be close to that. That would give him a dozen men similar to Bailmont. Men that enjoyed killing and pillaging, but found it prudent to do so in the name of the king instead as outlaws. They were exactly the sort he would use. Men smart enough to see the value of serving under a lord but still ruthless enough to do whatever was asked of them.

“Okay then, inform the men of the king's decision to hold a trial. Assure them that it is only a formality. Also let them know that the only one likely to receive any punishment is me, and that I am fully confident that our actions were justified and will be proven so. I intend to show the king that the village was indeed a gathering point of bandit” said Duke Evollan.

“Yes, my lord. I will give the order. May I ask how you intend to prove this to the king?” said Bailmont with a bit of a smirk on his face.

The duke gave Bailmont a hard look, “I don’t intend to. When you inform the men send them at a slow march towards Progoh. Have them stop half way and wait for me to arrive so I can lead my men into Progoh. Let the men know that I am waiting upon vital news that will prove our innocence and will make towards the capital with all haste once my messengers return. I will keep a small number of men here as a personal guard, about a dozen will do.”

Bailmont saw where this was leading, “When the main troops are gone what are the orders for the dozen that remain?”

“Ransack the estate. Take all the gold and anything else small enough to worth taking. Then send one of the men to Salma to tell Count Mavane that the king has found out that I am leading my army towards Progoh and intend to lead a rebellion against the king. The king wants Count Mavane and all his men to ride to Progoh immediately. Once Count Mavane has left Salma, we will enter the city. We shall ransack the king’s coffers and make our way south. By the time Mavane reaches Progoh, we will be half way to Venecia and then Morthon.”

“Morthon?” Bailmont had no issue with betraying the king of Progoh, nor with leaving the kingdom for new lands. He was simply curious towards the direction the duke intended to lead them.

“Morthon and Balta have been at war for years. In Morthon killing a Baltan princess does not make me a criminal it makes me a hero.  Morthon is far enough away from Progoh that the king can’t waste time or men to chase us down. Once we are in Morthon, I will be able to buy land with the king’s gold. Then we will find some use for your particular skill sets.”

Bailmont was pleased to hear this. “Oh and what skill set is that my lord?”

“Raping, pillaging and murder of course. Speaking of which, we will be making a stop in a certain village on our way south. We have unfinished business in Elderwood.”

Days later, when Duke Evollan walked his men into Count Mavane’s estate it was unguarded and practically empty. As he had arranged with his misleading message the count and all his men at arms had left to help thwart off the false attack on Progoh. Besides a few cooks, servants and stable hands that remained the only person of interest to the duke was Bannah the count’s main steward. When the duke entered the estate he had his men gather up all the servants, cooks and stable hands. Bailmont was sent to find Bannah.

Bailmont soon returned to the main hall of the castle with Bannah in tow. The duke wasted no time setting the tone for this encounter. “Ah, Bannah, there you are. We have been waiting on you. Now shhh, please don’t talk. Just listen carefully. Before you stand nine men and woman.” The duke pointed to the lineup of servants against the wall of the room, hands tied behind their backs with a gag over their mouths. “How many of them live to see the morning is completely up to you. But to prove how serious this situation is might I provide a small demonstration."

At this point, the duke gave a signal to one of the men standing beside the group of prisoners. The man without a word pulled out his knife walked up to the nearest hostage, an older male cook, and slit his throat. The man wiped his blade clean on the fallen cook’s housecoat and returned to his previous position. Bannah stood rigid, appalled by this senseless act of violence.

“Right then” the duke continued his speech “now there was nothing you could do Bannah, to save that poor soul. He was going to die regardless of your actions. Now the other eight, if they live or die completely relies on how you answer my questions. If you answer truthfully and are co-operative, then you and these fine people will all live to see the morning. If you lie to me then everyone here will wish they had died as quickly as that poor soul.”

Bannah was terrified and his eyes showed it. Yet he managed to keep his composure and answer in a strong voice “I understand completely your lordship, how may I assist you?” said Bannah.

“Excellent Bannah, that is just excellent. I was hoping you would take that approach to this situation. Now what I need from you is all the tax money that you store on the kings behalf put in a large chest and brought to this room as soon as possible. Oh and while you are at it bring any gold or jewels that the count might have with you as well.” The duke’s smile and pleasant tone did little to hide his traitorous, evil intentions.

Bannah could not believe his ears. The duke, the very man who the king sent to rid them of robbers, murders, and thieves, was now murdering and robbing from the king. But again Bannah held his facial expressions and simply replied “would it be possible for you to spare two men. I’m afraid the chest is going to be quite heavy.”

With a large grin that Bannah would later describe as that of a mad man the duke replied, “That my good sir is absolutely possible. Almod, Marthin please assist the good steward in retrieving our gold.”

Once Bannah and the duke’s men returned to the hall with the large chest filled with gold and an assortment of jewelry the duke was most pleased. “Bannah, you are a man of your word, and so shall I be. You and these fine people deserve to live. Now I have one last condition that must be met for this to happen. I am confident you will see the wisdom of agreeing to it. When my men and I leave, I will be leaving one man behind. If even one soul tries to leave this room before morning he will kill you all.” With that final warning Duke Evollan left the estate of Count Mavane, having committed murder, treason, and robbery. It also made the duke very rich, which was the only fact that mattered in his mind.

After the theft of the kings gold, Duke Evollan wanted to get south as quick as possible to escape any attempt by the king the retrieve his gold. He also needed some time for his intended stop in Elderwood. Elderwood was where his plans for becoming king of Progoh had come burning to the ground. It was only fair that Elderwood burned with them.

When the duke entered the village, he did it at the break of dawn. He had his men break down every house door and had the villagers gathered in the center of the village. When his men finish gathering the scared and confused villagers, the duke spoke to them. “Greetings villagers of Elderwood, I am Duke Evollan. I apologize for getting you all out of bed so early on this fine morning but I am in urgent need of your assistance. Among you is a child of a north man and a woman from Balta. I need to speak to this child. Someone please point the child out so we can all move along in our lives."

The villagers all looked around at each other. Everyone knew who he was looking for, but the boy had been gone for nearly a month, if not longer.

The duke paused and waited for someone to point the boy out, but no one moved or spoke. “Come now, does no one know who I am speaking of? Big man, a blacksmith, with a Baltan woman and a child? Does this not sound familiar?”

Tomas spoke up. “Sir I believe you are speaking of the Stoneblood family. Nathan Stoneblood is the boy you seek.”

The duke clapped his hands together and smiled “There we go. Nathan Stoneblood, alright, now we are getting somewhere. So which of you is this Nathan Stoneblood?”

Again Tomas was the only one to speak up, “I’m afraid he has been gone for weeks. He left with uncle to hunt bandits." The duke was not pleased by this bit of information. Having the boy alive was a loose end that he did not want to have to deal with.

“Okay, so the boy is hunting bandits. That is rather bad timing. I was looking forward to meeting the young man. I don’t suppose you know a way I can get his attention?”

The duke and the sadistic looking Bailmont terrified Tomas. He recognized that these were the men that had raided the village before.  He did not want to die. Far better for Tomas to try gain the favor of the fearsome duke. Join them, rather than gamble that the duke would not finish what he had started before. Tomas had no problem giving up Nathan to the duke. It would serve two purposes, save his life and get rid of Nathan. The prospect of doing harm to Nathan outweighed any fear of the duke.  Tomas spoke up, “The girls. If you took the girls, he would come to you."

“And what girls would that be my lad?” said the duke, pleased this young man was so willingly giving up the information. “Ava and Rose,” spoke Tomas as he point to the two girls. Sharon could be silent no longer.

“Tomas, you sniveling little coward. How could you? Nathan is our friend,” cried out Sharon.

The duke looked at the attractive girl who had spoken out. “Another friend of Nathan Stoneblood? Bailmont, we will be taking these three girls with us.” As Bailmont and two of the duke’s men grabbed the girls and tied them up Tomas spoke once more. “What about me my lord, I mean what about the rest of us my lord. I have answered all your questions?”

“Oh forgive my rudeness. I thank you all for your assistance, especially you boy, most helpful. But I am afraid that it is time for us to part ways.Bailmont burn everything, kill them all, starting with him.”

Tomas shivered and cowered on his knees sobbing, “But I told you everything.”

The duke gave Tomas one last look before giving the signal to destroy Elderwood. “Nobody likes a traitor or a coward, boy, at least die like a man.”

Ava, Rose and Sharon could only watch in horror as their families, and the rest of the villagers died before their eyes. The bodies were thrown into the Inn to burn like the rest of the village. The girls screamed and sobbed for mercy, but none was to be found.

The next day, while travelling south Bailmont had a thought, he asked the duke how he intended to find Nathan now.

“Oh when he finds out we kidnapped his girlfriends I am sure he will come to us” the duke replied.

Bailmont wasn’t so sure, “But we killed all the villagers, who is going to tell him?” The duke thought about this for a moment, he had almost made a grievous tactical error, “It would appear that killing everyone wasn’t as prudent as it seemed at the moment. Perhaps we should have let the coward live after all” mused the duke. ”Oh well, nothing we can do about that now. The count seems to like involving himself in the affairs of the boy, so send a note to the meddlesome count that we have taken the girls with us. And If Nathan Stoneblood would like to see them again then he should come to Venecia to rescue them.”