The First Confessor (28 page)

“We are left to wonder why,” Clay added.

“She can’t be faulted for being afraid,” Sadler said.

Magda sat quietly, refusing to allow herself to rise to the bait. There were more important things at stake than proving herself to these men. It was not only the lives of the people in the Keep that were at stake, but all the people of the New World. She didn’t know why the council had summoned her, but it wasn’t to get at the truth. There was no point in defending herself when they had already decided that it was more convenient to blame her than listen to her. They didn’t want the truth; she did.

Elder Cadell waved his hand again. “That’s not why we called you here, Magda. We called you in because Councilman Weston had a valuable suggestion.”

“And what would that be?” she asked without looking over at Weston’s smug expression.

“That we appoint you as a representative of the council for the people in outlying lands. It’s an important post. We value your experience with such distant lands. You would be our contact with these remote peoples of the Midlands, as you often were on an informal basis in the past. As Councilman Weston pointed out, there is simply no one better suited to the post.”

Magda frowned as she looked from one grim face to the next. “You want to appoint me to a post to advise you on the peoples of the smaller lands?”

“No, not advise us.” Weston leaned an elbow on the polished table. “You would travel to these far-flung lands and represent the views and decrees of the council to the peoples who inhabit those distant places. They are, after all, part of the Midlands. They need to know what is happening here at the Keep, what is being decided. They need to know about the war and such.”

“After all,” Sadler added, “should we lose this war, they, too, would fall under the merciless rule of Emperor Sulachan. You know as well as we do that if they win this struggle they will slaughter any who possess magic. The forces of the Old World are ruthless in their objective to wipe magic from the world.

“You would be the council’s roving ambassador, filling people in on what we’re doing in our effort to protect them from such a threat. Imparting such information, you would be helping to keep them safe. At the same time, you could also solicit their help with anything they might be able to contribute.”

Despite Sadler’s enthusiasm for the idea, Magda saw through the proposal. They wanted to get rid of her, or some of them did, anyway. The widow of the First Wizard was becoming an ever larger, ever sharper thorn in their side. They were trying to make the cause sound noble so that she would happily accept, or at least wouldn’t be able to refuse.

“I am honored that you think highly enough of my abilities to suggest such a post,” Magda said without committing to it. “You flatter me with your confidence, Councilman Weston.”

Though the smile spread on his lips, it didn’t make it to his eyes.

“There is also the matter of appointing a new First Wizard,” Elder Cadell said. “We need a First Wizard to lead us in our fight. Our very survival is at stake. Things are not going well. We dare not delay any longer in finding someone to replace Baraccus as First Wizard. We have large numbers of the gifted coming to the Keep to help. They need a First Wizard to direct them in how best to work to defend the New World. These new arrivals need quarters, as will the new First Wizard.

“I don’t mean to sound callous, but if you were to become our representative you would be traveling, and wouldn’t need the space. So, a side benefit of you taking up such a mission would be that the quarters belonging to the First Wizard would once again be free. We don’t want to push you from your home, but the new First Wizard will need a place to work and meet with his wizards, as Baraccus did.”

Magda bowed her head. “I understand, Elder. No need to feel you are pushing me from my home. My home, the home I have come to love, is the Keep and the city of Aydindril. It is the people here I have come to love, not the walls. I will of course vacate the First Wizard’s quarters. You are right that the new man will need the apartments.”

The elder brightened with a brief, relieved smile. For some reason it appeared that he thought it would have been more difficult. The council seemed to have formed an opinion of her that was based to some extent on accusations about her.

“Thank you for understanding, Magda. So you will take the appointment, then?”

Magda had no intention of taking such an appointment and leaving the Keep. There was something going on, something that threatened the Keep, threatened their very existence. She seemed to be the only one who understood that the threat was real. She was not going to abandon her search for answers just to make life convenient for the council.

That search for answers was a mission that Baraccus himself had given her, both as her husband and as First Wizard.

At the same time, she didn’t want to get into a battle with these men. That would only back them into a corner and make her search for answers all the more difficult.

“I appreciate the generous offer, Elder Cadell. I will certainly give it my most earnest consideration. But in the meantime, I would like to give over the First Wizard’s apartments. I have modest needs and will have no trouble finding a place. I know that there is space under the southern ramparts.”

The elder blinked. He was left momentarily speechless. The quarters under the southern ramparts were the least desirable in the Keep, so there was always room there. As much trouble as she was to them, even the council would think that such quarters were beneath the widow of the First Wizard. It reflected poorly on them that they would force her out of her apartments to live beneath the southern ramparts.

Magda didn’t really care where she slept. She was only concerned with finding answers before they were all killed the way she was nearly killed by a dream walker, or as Isidore had been killed by that walking nightmare.

Before Elder Cadell could say anything, she asked, “Have you selected the man to become First Wizard, then?”

Sadler leaned back in his chair. Hambrook and Clay shared a look. Weston and Guymer showed no reaction to the question.

Elder Cadell cleared his throat. “We have had discussions and have someone in mind.” He smoothed his bushy brow. “We will reveal our choice at the proper time and in the proper manner.”

In other words, he wasn’t about to tell Magda what they had decided. She hoped it was one of the men Baraccus had worked closely with. There were good men among them.

“Of course, Elder Cadell. I am sure that the council will choose wisely. They certainly did the last time.”

With the war going badly, they needed someone strong. Someone like Baraccus. Once the man was selected, she had important information to convey to him.

He would need to know what she knew, what she had dared tell no one.

It seemed to her like Baraccus was already just a figure in their history, lost to the advance of time.

The world was moving on. It was up to her to convey knowledge from that past history.

But only to the right person.

Magda dipped a quick bow and departed before they could insist that she accept the post they wanted her to take.

As she was pushing closed one of the heavy double oak doors to the council’s private chambers, she heard footsteps. Turning, she saw Prosecutor Lothain and a dozen men of his personal guard. Magda stepped to the side to make way for them.

“Lady Searus,” Lothain said with a smile. “I hear that you have been at the center of yet more trouble.”

“Shouldn’t you be down in the lower portions of the Keep searching for a killer to prosecute?”

The menacing smile remained in place. “I don’t believe that the threat to our security is confined to the lower portions of the Keep. I think dangers to our cause are closer than most people think.”

She knew what he was getting at, but she didn’t want to be distracted by Lothain any more than she had wished to be drawn into arguing with certain members of the council. She had to get back to her search.

“I’m afraid that you would know about such threats better than I would. If you will excuse me, I have things to do.”

His smile returned. “Such as finding new quarters?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

“Rather sad that with a new First Wizard soon to be named you have to give up such luxurious apartments.”

Magda wondered how he seemed to already know all about it.

“It’s not sad at all. It is just a place to sleep. I am joyous that a new First Wizard will soon be named. The people I care about are what really matter to me, not an apartment.”

“And which people are they, Lady Searus, that you really care about?”

“The innocent people of the New World who are being slaughtered in the name of a cause.”

Before he could say anything else, Magda started away. He caught her arm, stopping her. His grip was hurting her arm but she didn’t give him the satisfaction of showing it.

“No need to be in a hurry to move your things, Lady Searus. I may be able to help you out with an accommodation so that you can remain where you are comfortable.”

Magda’s only answer was a brief, noncommittal smile before she pulled her arm away and marched off. She kept her eyes straight ahead and didn’t slow for the wall of men in green tunics blocking her way. The prosecutor’s big personal guards stepped back at the last moment and just enough to let her pass.

She couldn’t imagine what Lothain was talking about and she wasn’t particularly interested in coaxing it out of the man. She was sure that was what he had wanted her to do. When she glanced back she saw him vanishing into the council chambers.

Magda wondered what business Lothain had with the council that he would be seeing them in a private session.

It was apparent to Magda that the city of Aydindril, though as busy and active as ever, was on edge. Concern weighed on every face. People in small groups eyed passing strangers as they talked in low, worried tones.

Every day brought new stories of enemy advances, of bloody battles, of the numbers of men lost, of cities that had fallen, of innocent civilians being slaughtered by the approaching forces of Emperor Sulachan. She knew that some of the stories were nothing more than rumors and gossip. She also knew that the truth was far more gruesome than most people knew.

Glancing up between spaces in the tightly packed, two-story buildings as she made her way down the crowded cobblestone street, Magda could see glimpses of the lush forests covering the foothills and lower sweep of the nearest mountain. Higher up, the pines and spruce thinned as they reached granite ledges at the base of sheer cliffs. Beyond a few passing wisps of clouds and flocks of birds that lived in the stone face of the mountain, the massive cliffs supported dark, soaring stone walls of the Keep. Above the walls, even at this distance, she could see ramparts, bastions, lofty spires, and towers joined by high bridges.

For as long back as Magda could remember, the dark shape of the Keep had loomed over the city, at once protector and threat, the magic it embodied both guardian and target.

Magda had always had mixed feelings about living in the Keep. She loved the vibrancy of Aydindril, so with a soon-to-be-appointed new First Wizard needing the apartments, she had given thought to moving back down to the city. But she couldn’t do that until she found out what was behind Baraccus’s death and the other things that were happening at the Keep.

While no one seemed to believe her, Magda was sure that everyone at the Keep was in danger. She couldn’t leave the Keep until she knew that the people living there were safe. While people were focused on the distant war, no one but her seemed aware that the enemy was already closer than anyone thought.

Magda knew, the enemy was already slipping in among them.

Even as Aydindril sweltered in the summer heat, there was talk that by winter the enemy troops might be within striking distance of the city. Magda feared to consider how devastating such a strike would be to the place where she’d grown up. If the city was overrun, that would also mean a siege of the Keep. The Keep could withstand a siege for a long time, but not forever.

Besides, it was impossible to win a war defensively. The forces from the Old World had made it clear that there would be no mercy. While some of Sulachan’s forces held the Keep under siege, others would lay waste to the New World. When the Keep finally fell, they would make examples of every last person.

That was what they did to every village, town, and city in their path. Either people surrendered, or they were made to suffer for refusing.

Simply hiding behind walls and iron doors would not eliminate the threat. Sooner or later even the Keep walls would fall. Evil had to be defeated or it would only grow stronger.

How they were going to destroy this evil, Magda didn’t know. All she knew for sure was that it was not only getting closer every day, it was already among them. She had felt the painful presence of the dream walker. She had seen the monster that had come out of the dark and killed Isidore. Those were not random events; they were connected. Magda had to find the truth behind those connections.

Making her way past crowds on the streets was at times like trying to move upriver. The peddlers shouting out the many benefits of their goods stood like rocks in that river as streams of people continually flowed around them.

Some of the street merchants tended carts with salted meats and fish, fresh vegetables, or a variety of ready-made goods. Other vendors carried trays stacked high with long loaves of bread. There were also hawkers draped with jangling strings of amulets prowling the crowds as they shouted out singsong warnings of curses and plagues. They attracted flocks of bouncing children wanting to hear about curses of magic as parents rushed in and pulled them away.

Magda sometimes crossed the street to avoid particularly aggressive hawkers she saw grabbing the arms of passing women, insisting that they listen to why they needed the protection of a magic charm. Potential customers were warned that when the enemy got closer, the supply of charms and talismans would all be gone and then it would be too late to get what was needed. Some people gave in to the warning or bought the least expensive of the amulets simply to free themselves from the hawker.