The Last Wizard of Eneri Clare (9 page)

“You are mistaken, as I have spoken with him this very evening, and he asked to be commended to you.”

“If you have spoken with him, then you must take me to him, that I might plead for his return, since there has never been a time that this realm needed his good guidance more.”

“That, I regret, cannot be, as he is not in a place we may come to.”

“But you just said you spoke to him this very evening.”

“I did.”

“You speak in riddles, sir. Is it your intention to confuse me, or try my temper?”

“No, Jorelial Rey. It is my intention to tell you nothing but the truth, and if you will hear me out, all will be made plain.”

There was a pause. She found it interesting that he called her by name without any of the respectful titles that everyone else used. She tried a new tactic.

“Who
are
you?”

“I am Tvrdik.”

“That’s an odd name. What kind of a name is that?”

He shrugged, “It is my name.”

Another pause. How to come to the meat of the matter with this odd stranger? And what had he to do with Xaarus? At that moment, the man shrugged and took a step to shift all his packs about and redistribute their weight. Jorelial realized he must be weary of them. She stood. “Sir, will you lay down your burdens for the moment, and then try to start from the beginning?”

Grateful, Tvrdik divested himself of all his parcels and packs, laying them in a careful pile on the floor. Only a single water skin he kept close to his chest, a detail that did not escape Lady Rey’s trained eye. He seemed at first uncertain as to how to begin, and then made a decision.

“Jorelial Rey, if you search the recesses of your memory, you might find that you know me, or at least have met me before. Long ago, I lived near this palace, and was an eager student of Master Wizard Xaarus. There were three of us apprenticed to him at the time. Perhaps I did not stand out to you from among the group. But I remember you, coming and going on the great green dragon. You were barely fifteen when I last saw you, I would guess, and something of a lone wolf. No disrespect intended…” He paused as she came down the stairs and walked right up to him, circling once, and then staring directly into his face while he held very still…

“Tvrdik!” she shouted, making him flinch, “The Wizard School. Of course…I
do
remember you. Not that we’d ever really spoken to each other back then, mind you, but I do remember the three of you hanging around Xaarus all the time. The hair…the glasses…why, you were only a teenager yourself when I last saw you.” The flooding back of memories seemed to re-energize her, wipe away the aura of suspicion and weariness that had clung to her a moment before. “You know my father was very close to Xaarus; they were often together. And you three seemed always to be sort of slouching around in the background, waiting for something, or following him off somewhere in a little train.” A chuckle escaped her at the recollection.

Tvrdik’s throat tightened, and he could feel his ears getting hot. “Xaarus was a very great teacher,” he stammered, “we all felt so fortunate to be learning from him…we would have followed him into the depths of the underworld…”

But Jorelial Rey was lost in her own memories. Her face changed. “And then, suddenly you were all gone. All of you. Overnight, it seemed. No more wizards. What happened?” The blond man closed his eyes at that, and sighed in a way that nearly broke her heart. Clearly, this was not going to be an easy or brief story to relate. She made a snap decision. “Tvrdik, come sit down here at this table. If I am at last to hear the resolution of the greatest mystery in the entire history of our kingdom, we ought to make ourselves comfortable and do it right. Warlowe!” She sprang back toward the door, summoning the doorman once again, as Tvrdik sank into a chair. Warlowe was there in an instant, fearing some problem with the stranger.

“Here, my lady. Is anything wrong?”

She clapped him on the back. “All is well, friend – you were right. This is Tvrdik, one of the original students in Master Xaarus’ Wizard School. We are just getting re-acquainted. Could you arrange for rooms for him at the palace, and send over a carafe of wine and something to eat, please? We may be here a while, and I am positively famished.” Warlowe, startled, stood stock still, staring first at one, then the other. Tvrdik gave a little wave. Speechless, the doorman bowed and disappeared behind the large oak doors. Jorelial, feeling newly invigorated and truly curious, strode back to sit at the conference table. Looking Tvrdik in the eye, she said, “All right, then…go on. I’m all ears.”

SEVEN
The Heart of the Matter

T
HEY SAT THERE TOGETHER AT
the conference table for the better part of two hours, sipping wine and picking at a variety of pastries, fruits, and more cheese. Tvrdik told her as much as he thought prudent, about the terrible thing that Benjin and Ailianne did that had cost them their lives, about how a distraught Xaarus tried to go back in time to prevent the awful event from occurring, but ended up instead trapped in a dismal future. He recounted the story of his own retreat to the ancient woods, and of Xaarus’ recent appearance there on his doorstep in order to enlist his aid on a special mission. He explained how Xaarus had been pulled back in to the future, but that he could be communicated with through a special bond that had been forged between the two wizard’s minds, and how this had helped him gain access to her that very evening. He left out many of the details of his own history, and did not think it yet wise to introduce Ondine, who at the moment was sleeping quite soundly in her water skin, close to his chest. But about everything else, he was as truthful and as thorough as possible. Perhaps the wine helped his story to flow more easily, but, then, so did a rapt and attentive audience, asking pertinent questions and devouring every word. It had been a very long time since Tvrdik had had a meaningful conversation with another mature human being, excluding his two weeks with Xaarus. And those seemed like more of a dream now.

“So, let me get this right,” Jorelial queried, munching a grape, and waving a stem of them in her hand, “when you have these long-distance conversations with Xaarus, no one can see or hear him except you?”

“Correct.”

“He is only present in your mind?”

“Yes.”

“Shame. I should have liked to talk to him again. You know, this is the strangest story I have ever heard. It’s pretty unbelievable, I have to say. How do I know you didn’t make the whole thing up?”

“I can’t think why I would do that. And besides, you have the coin.”

She opened her other hand and examined the familiar old face again, “I suppose you will be wanting this back?”

“I might have need of it sometime,” he apologized. She flipped it up and caught it as it tumbled back down, spinning in mid-air. Warm with wine and feeling nostalgic, she said, “When I was a very small girl, Xaarus used to come and visit my father and me. He would announce every visit with one of these coins, and then later on, after dinner, he would play games with me, pulling the coin from behind my ear, or finding it in my pocket where it hadn’t been before…simple sleight of hand, nothing really worthy of his skill. But I adored him, and cherished those visits. And I think that was the last time I remember laughing with complete and utter abandon…”

Tvrdik was silent, but was thinking that he knew just what she meant. Jorelial was still talking, “Seeing this coin tonight brought back a flood of memories. It really took me by surprise. It was, in fact, the one thing that could have turned me from my purpose, and gotten my attention tonight.”

“There is your proof. Xaarus said it would work.”

“So, am I also to learn what this ‘special mission’ of yours is? Is it something I can help you with?” She chased the sentence with a rather over-large piece of sweet cake, and crumbs fell all over the table.

Abruptly sober, Tvrdik sat up very straight, and looked her right in the eyes. “Jorelial Rey, I was sent here to find you, to warn you.”

She swallowed, “To warn me of what?”

“That you, the boy king you protect, and indeed the entire realm are in grave danger.”

“Well, it has been an awful year, and everything is in chaos now. But we have good people all doing their best to right things. I’m sure eventually we will pull it together.”

Tvrdik’s mouth was dry as he forged on with his difficult message, “No, you will not. Xaarus has combed over the timelines of history in exacting detail, and he sent me with word of your most probable future. There is more trouble ahead.”

“Tell me,” she replied.

“Do you know someone by the name of Drogue?”

Jorelial turned white, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. “Lord Drogue. He is one of the more powerful nobles at court, from a very old family. I spoke with him today; he is ambitious to be named regent, but he will never get the job if I have anything to say about it.”

“You will be named regent. There is no doubt of that in any timeline. It is correct.”

“Wait a moment; I am not even sure if I want to be considered…”

“You
will
be named, and you will do it because you feel called to duty. Lord Drogue will not accept the situation. He will wage war against you and the infant king, and will try to wrest the throne from you by force.”

Jorelial leapt up, overturning her chair and a wine cup, “That miserable traitor! We will crush him.” she shouted.

“No, you will not.” Tvrdik kept his voice calm and even, his eyes fixed on the tabletop, and his hands splayed out on the surface before him. Only the white knuckles showed his own tension at being the unwanted messenger. “Drogue is a ruthless, determined man, and he will rally and equip a large army. This realm is not prepared to meet him on his terms. You will lose. Drogue will take the throne and become the tyrant you feared he would. But worse is to come. Xaarus told me that, starting with Drogue’s ascent, the timeline moves irrevocably toward the grim future in which he now resides. Balances shift, likelihoods tip, millennia pass, and human beings become fearful and soulless. There are no wizards, no magic, no talking beasts, no nature sprites, and people question if they ever existed at all. The dragons and unicorns are harried and hunted mercilessly until the last survivors simply depart for other, safer dimensions. Wars wrack the world: nation against nation and factions within nations fighting over petty differences and scarce resources. The ancient forests are all cut down and burned. The air and waters are poisoned with noxious fumes so that they are no longer fit support for the birds and fish and sea creatures. The scenario I bring you is dark, indeed…”

“Stop, I will hear no more!” Jorelial Rey was standing stock still with her hands over her face. When she finally dropped them to look at him, her features were drawn and ashen, “And all of this is to be laid upon me? All of this is my fault? Not only do I lose a kingdom, allow the end of an entire royal dynasty, and cause countless deaths in a fruitless war, but I am to be held accountable for the miseries of the future as well? And, now, I suppose, I am to thank you and Xaarus for going to all this special trouble to come and apprise me of my nightmarish destiny?
This
is your mission? Tell me, what satisfaction can you possibly glean from seeing me crumble helplessly before you in agony? Why would you
do
such a thing?” She was shaking violently and deadly pale.

Tvrdik winced, but kept his voice low and soothing, “There is another timeline. Another possible future. It is this that I was sent to lay before you. There is still time to set it in motion, but it will take courage, resourcefulness, faith…”

“Tell me now, in this other future, do we win?”

He gave her a curt nod, “One possible road leads to victory, the restoration of order to Eneri Clare, and the beginning of a new path into the far distant future where all good and worthy things are preserved.”

“Tvrdik, what must I do?”

“You must remain true to your ideals.”

“What sort of an answer is that? I am always true to my ideals…”

“You believe that violence is abhorrent, that war is futile and wasteful, and that taking life is wrong.”

“Well, yes, but I’m not the one starting the war.”

“But you must at all costs avoid being seduced into fighting it on his terms. You must find a way to fight this war with your own weapons: intelligence, truth, faith, creativity, magic. And…and you must strive not to shed blood on either side.” There was a silence as the Lady Regent took in what the ragged stranger had just said. She stared at him, eyes wide.

“Drogue’s forces will be fully armed, and equipped…”

“And ruthless…correct.”

“And you are suggesting that I meet him with the forces of this kingdom unarmed and unwilling to harm anyone?”

“Exactly.”

“But this isn’t principle, or ideals, it’s suicide! Tvrdik, I am responsible for the welfare of my people. I can’t just send them out unprotected. And how would that stop Drogue from taking what he wants anyway?”

“We must protect them in new and different ways. Xaarus searched exhaustively and he found that the fork in the road is here and now. Someone must set an example of a way to triumph over Darkness, not with more Darkness, but with Light. He believed that someone might be you. You cannot win by fighting Drogue’s way, and even if you could, you lose anyway, because you become what you despise in your enemy. And on and on into the future until there is no more Light, no hope – only fear, self-interest, and violence. Violence, even in the cause of good, only begets more violence. It can never preserve Light.”

She stood frozen, horrified, staring at him, her voice a hoarse whisper, “You are insane. This can never work.”

For the first time in his long litany, he raised his eyes from the table, those ice-blue, piercing, searching eyes, and met hers, “Oh, so we were mistaken? You
do
believe that might makes right, and that truth, compassion, resourcefulness, and intellect have no true power in the real world?”

“I didn’t
say
that!”

He was up in a flash, beside her now, holding her eyes and urging his case with his entire being, “Then put them to the test. Invoke their power. Believe in them.”

“Tvrdik, be reasonable. What exactly are we supposed to fight with?”

“With the certainty that we fight for what is right. With ideas, and of course, with a little magic.”

She let out a wail, “I have no magic!”

He stood firm and kept his voice even, “You do now. Xaarus sent me here to help you. I am committed to doing everything in my power to see this succeed. Someone
has
to make a stand for a new way. Xaarus was sure it would be you. If we put our heads together, we can do this.” He held her gaze and tried to sound more confident than he actually felt.

She searched his face, and whispered, “Can we win?”

He shrugged and dropped his eyes, “There are no guarantees. In one timeline, we make our stand, and fail, which might do the trick for the far future, but might not be so pleasant for all of us in the present. But, in the one Xaarus is counting on, we take it all, on our own terms.”

“We?”

“I told you, if you decide to do this, I am here to help you, come what may. Right to the end. We’ll need a lot of support from other quarters as well, of course…”

“Yes, and there it is. Even if you could convince
me
of the merits of this harebrained scheme, how would I ever sell the idea to the rest of the Council, the army, the ministers and generals? They will all think that I have been out in the sun too long.”

“One step at a time, Jorelial Rey, one step at a time. I know all of this is a lot to digest, and time is short. But sleep on it, and see what your heart tells you. I have faith that you will know what to do.” He sounded remarkably like her father in that moment, and it startled her. She paused, trying to comprehend all that had passed between them.

“I do not know what to do. I am overwhelmed. But I do know someone who will help me to find the truth in all of this. I will speak to Tashroth tonight and see what he thinks. He is ancient and wise, and always sees things much more clearly than I do on my own. I beg you, stay close in the chambers which I will give you. Rest, and speak to no one else about any of this. If Tashroth will consent to see you tomorrow, I will send for you. You will have our answer by sundown.”

Tvrdik took a step back and bowed his head in respectful assent. He then moved to collect his packs and possessions. Jorelial Rey stopped him with a surprisingly childlike tone, “Tvrdik? Can you really do magic?”

He frowned. “I
am
a wizard, still learning my craft, but capable enough…”

“Show me something…anything. Help me to believe.”

He understood her need, and smiled. Wrinkling his brow a moment in concentration, he spun around once, and suddenly stood before her in robes of velvet and cloth of gold, elegant and expensive. A fashionable poof of a hat was perched on his golden locks.

“Better?” He raised his pale eyebrows and peered at her with his intense blue eyes behind their spectacles. Jorelial Rey began to laugh. And laugh. She laughed so hard, it seemed she might not be able to stop. His face fell.

“What? What is so funny?” he demanded.

Finally catching her breath, she gasped, “Oh, Tvrdik, if you could do that, why did you come to me for an official audience in rags and patches? Did it not occur to you that your chances might have been better dressed like a proper courtier?”

She watched as his face mirrored a parade of emotions, seeming to consider her rebuke, and at first revealing that such a precaution had never crossed his mind. But at last, an odd expression of clarity came into his features as he turned his gaze back to her, eye to eye, and the corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly, “Jorelial Rey, this is nothing but illusion. Illusion has its uses, as you will soon see. But I came before you as I am. I wished to present myself to you honestly, in truth, as you have every right to expect from me. How could I ask you to believe anything I told you if I started out with a falsehood? Do you understand?”

She nodded, the laughter fading from her eyes as respect began to dawn in them. There was more to this lanky, pale, myopic dreamer than one would imagine. He had walked in uninvited and thrown what was left of her ordered life into chaos, but somehow she felt oddly safe in his presence.

She clapped a summons, “Warlowe!” The doorman appeared. “Warlowe, please take Tvrdik to the rooms you have arranged for him. Treat him like an honored guest. Make sure he has everything he needs – a bath, new clothing, food, whatever he asks of you. But tell no one that he is in the palace or that you know anything of his existence for the moment. It is to be a close secret for now, and thank you.”