The Making of a Mage King: White Star (11 page)

Sean sent him back to his cell without passing judgment and called for the next man. He wanted to hear more about what exactly had happened and he wanted to think carefully about what he would do. His word could end these men’s lives and he wanted to make sure that they deserved it first.

By lunchtime, Sean had a fairly clear picture of what had happened, but also by lunch, he had the bright idea to ask how many men there were for him to hear. He almost groaned at the number. If he spent about half an hour on each man, and he had already listened to about a dozen men; if he could manage to squeeze thirty men into a day, he had well over ten days worth of work to do here. He didn’t have that much time to spare.

He made a few changes; he saw each man only long enough to determine whether they were an officer or an enlisted man. If they were nothing more than a level-one field-flunky, he turned them loose with one year of community service followed by two years of probation where they weren’t allowed to touch a weapon. A level two flunkey, meaning they were in charge of at least five men, was given a one-year prison sentence counting time served, then the community service and two years of probation. He considered everyone above that to be an officer.

Under Ludwyn, there was no give and take. Under Ludwyn, you did what he said, or you died, or perhaps your family died. Ludwyn could be very cruel, and personally, Sean would not have killed a valuable officer.
God, I hate thinking like my uncle.

By the third morning, he had the officers arrayed in front of the table in a military formation. There were four commanders, each claiming the rank of captain commander; one had been in charge of each guardhouse. There were three shift commanders for each guardhouse and five company commanders in each shift. Each commander had been in charge of a dozen squads during their shift.

Each of the company commanders were to receive one stripe of the whip for every person they’d killed, and under Sean’s compulsion, they had to own up to each one. They might not have been able to remember that kind of detail on their own, but the magic made it all very clear. After they recovered, they were to get two years of military hard labor, then never touch a weapon again for as long as they lived.

When the company commanders had been taken away, Sean turned to the last sixteen men left in the room. He knew the kind of pressure they had been under; he had seen a sample of it himself. It’s difficult to punish someone in that kind of position. “Under my grandfather,” he started and watched more than one of those men take a deep breath, “actions as you have been forced to undertake would have been cause for life imprisonment at the very least.”

One of the commanders fainted, so Sean waited until guards brought him around and stood him up again. Sean waited a few minutes longer until he was steadier. “I have seen how my uncle ran his military. So, since none of you were directly responsible for any deaths, you will be coming with me.” Sean felt every eye in the room rivet on him as he slowly stood. He had never cast a compulsion over more than one person at a time. “
You will follow my orders and the orders of my commanders without question. You will never desert my service. Your loyalty to me will be pristine and unbreakable
.” He let them go and more than one of them sank to a knee. “Go home and pack what you need. Say your farewells to any family or friends you have; we will be departing the city before dark.” He stood watching as they filed out of the amphitheater.

The men moved slowly. They were in shock both from Sean’s compulsion and from the simple fact that they still breathed. They had expected to die today.

When the doors boomed closed behind them, the chamber came alive with the buzzing of hundreds of whispers and the elders turned on Sean. “What do you think you’re doing?” asked the man farthest to his left.

Sean ignored the question and asked one of his own. “Do you have any demons here?”

“We did, but we couldn’t send them to the…palace as you recommended, so we had them destroyed,” he replied, then he continued with his original subject. “What are you going to do with sixteen military criminals?”

Sean sighed; the man would not be dissuaded. “I am solving at least some of both of our problems. I am relieving you of men who would never be more than criminals in the eyes of these people and therefore a burden upon this city, and I am gaining some much-needed experience. I am, after all, only eighteen years old.” They didn’t need to know that he hadn’t reached eighteen yet, but it was close enough; they could understand ‘young’. Sean turned and whispered to Hugh so that no one else, except perhaps Laon, could hear. “I want you to go stand out there in front of the table.”

He stiffened with indignation. He didn’t want to be treated like a criminal, but he went anyway if only to preserve his dignity.

“Now, gentlemen,” said Sean, “on to our next order of business. I set out on this tour of the country to reestablish the noble families and their connections to me. I find that my uncle was almost successful in eliminating that bloodline from this district, and because of that and recent events, a strong council of elders has evolved. I like this council, but I still want to reestablish the nobility, so I’m going to combine the two. I’m charging you with Hugh’s education and safety. It’s your responsibility to make Hugh into the kind of noble we both need here.” Sean turned to Hugh and saw his mouth open. “Hugh, you now have something no other man can claim; you have eight fathers to learn from. I strongly suggest that you learn everything they have to teach, even if they don’t really know how to teach it.”

Hugh looked around at the eight gray-hairs around the table then took a half step forward. He was going to protest, but he clamped his mouth shut on his words and bowed.

Sean had to smile. He looked up at the human mass in the room. “This council meeting is concluded,” he announced and the doors opened. As everyone filed out, the elders converged on Hugh, then on Sean. They wanted details and explanations, but Sean didn’t have any and refused to try. “The city is yours,” he said. “I’ll be in touch.” He left them amidst their unanswered questions.

For their three-day stay, Sean and his men had been housed throughout the city taking up almost every available bed. When he came out of the council chamber/amphitheater, he dispersed some of his men to find the rest of them. They were running short of supplies, so he decided to take the rest of the day to restock. He had Seth bring up the packhorses to be loaded, though he had him wait outside the gates. He still felt like he was walking around in a trap, so he made the women stay in camp under guard.

While the men were doing their ‘shopping’, orders from the council went around to the different merchants that there was to be no charge for their purchases. They were being treated with all possible deference, but Sean was still edgy. He went to the room he had been provided with, ostensibly to pack his belongings, but under heavy guard, he did a little unorthodox exploring.

Sean walked through each of the guardhouses, going from room to room. He found no more than he expected: barracks, armory, training and practice rooms, a small infirmary, a cafeteria, the quartermaster’s office. There were no jail cells or rooms that looked like places were judging took place, so he went back to the amphitheater.

…he opened his eyes. Back in his room, he did indeed pack the little he had here with him, then after waiting for his men to do the same, he went out to saddle his horse. Sean took his time. He was waiting for a messenger, or at least some sign of trouble.

Sean’s signal didn’t come until he was almost ready to leave the city. He was sure they’d tried every other avenue they could think of before they sent for him.

The messenger was breathless when he found him. Sean was just assembling his men around the wagons they had hired to take their supplies out to the horses. “My lord, my lord, the council of elders has sent me to retrieve you. They…they beg an audience with you before you leave. Will you come with me, please?” Sean knew what this was all about, but he was curious how they would handle it. He hesitated longer than the messenger was comfortable with. “My lord, please.” The man looked like he was about ready to get down on his knees and beg.

Sean nodded; he left Manuel and Leo with about twenty men to guard the supplies, and still mounted, followed the messenger. The poor man was disconcerted at being followed by someone on a creature he saw as a destrier, but it kept him in line and moving quickly; it also kept people at a distance. With the excitement of his arrival having worn off, they weren’t crushed by humanity so much anymore, but there were still the ‘paparazzi’, though they didn’t carry cameras.

The messenger led them directly to the amphitheater and down into its depths, to a certain cell. Sean, however, wanted to make a point. As soon as their location became obvious, he said, “What is the meaning of this? Why are you bringing me here?” Laon drew his sword and stepped closer, as did the rest of the men who were within hearing. Like before, Cordan had been leaving men at entryways along their path, but he still had over forty men with him.

The man quailed. “Please, lord, just a little farther.”

Cordan touched Sean’s elbow, but Sean simply nodded to the messenger and they continued forward. Another floor down and they were confronted by a contingent of ten guards standing in front of the cell that contained the council members. Sean didn’t give them a chance to state whatever excuse they had agreed on. “Have you figured out why you are here?” he asked, making it obvious he already knew exactly what had happened.

The speaker, one Seshan, said, “My lord,
you
brought us here? Why would you do such a thing? I don’t understand.”

“Gentlemen,” said Sean, with ill-concealed anger. “I spent most of three days judging the crimes of your entire military. If you weren’t going to obey my decrees, why did you ever bother to welcome me inside your walls?”

“But my lord, there has been no time…” replied Seshan.

“No time was required,” barked Sean, causing all the men to jump. “You may be guilty of treason, gentlemen; I haven’t decided yet. What have you to say for yourselves?”

It took them a moment to assimilate Sean’s words and understand their implications, then they laboriously knelt down. They weren’t young men and it had been a long time since they had to do any such movement, but they made it. “Forgive us, lord,” said another councilman. “We have been presumptuous.”

“Yes, you have,” agreed Sean. “In order for me to let you keep the position you have carved for yourselves,
your integrity must be impeccable
.” Sean made the last a compulsion that set them back onto the floor, then he made the door to their cell vanish. “It would be a mistake to make me doubt you again. I might be young, but I am
not
stupid.” Sean left the place feeling dirty; he was not a bully and he didn’t like acting like one.

When they returned to the wagons, their new members had assembled. With them were their families, or at least some of them. There were nine women old enough to be someone’s wife and at least a dozen children ranging in age from around three to somewhere close to twelve. “No,” said Sean, almost before he had pulled Prince to a halt. “This is not a pleasure trip. Go home, ladies.” He was in a foul mood and this wasn’t helping any.

When more than one of the women started crying, Sean groaned. One glance told him that their lives had been no easier than their men’s lives had been. “Dad, I’m sending you some people. They’re families of military men; find them appropriate housing.” He cut the connection before Elias could respond, then the gathering of women and children vanished. There was an audible gasp from everyone around the square, and murmurs washed out from there like a wave.

The men started to protest, but the expression on Sean’s face quelled most of it. The fact that none of Sean’s men were alarmed or upset by the disappearance quieted the rest of them.

As soon as they were out of sight of the walls of the city, Sean gated them back to camp then ordered it packed up; he wouldn’t feel comfortable until they were well away from this place. While the camp was being packed, he looked for another campsite. According to his map, Calais was northeast of their present location and not too far from the coast. As soon as he located the city, he immediately searched out a likely campsite. The landscape was flat for the most part; there wasn’t another little ravine anywhere near, though there were plenty of small creeks to choose from. He finally settled on a spot that was out of sight of homes and roads.

Holding the ‘sight’, he opened his eyes and sorted through the double view to see if they were ready to go. The men had moved quickly; everything was stowed well enough for this short journey. He opened the gate and felt even more divided. When all of his perceptions were finally in one place, he felt drained and dizzy. He almost fell off his horse when he got down.

Laon, who was always within a few feet of him, caught his arm, steadying him. “You need to rest,” he said. “You’ve been edgy for days.”

He’s right; I never felt comfortable in Ambiani and I have no idea why. Perhaps it was because it was such a fortification, perhaps it was because the people were so eager, maybe it was only the long hours. I hope I won’t have trouble with them in the future
.

Sean’s tent was the first one to be set up, so by the time he had his saddle pulled off, he had somewhere to go. Laon and Charles managed to pull him out of his armor and most of his clothes before his cot was erected and he fell into bed. No one woke him for supper; he wasn’t even sure if anyone had tried.

When Sean showed up for breakfast, he must have been a sight because Jenny descended on him soon after. “You need to go back to the palace. Spend the day with your wife. You can’t keep driving yourself like this.”

“Sure I can,” he said. “Men do it all the time.”

“Sure they do. Men work; some even work all the time, but men who drive themselves the way you have been doing, break, and I’m afraid you’re going to shatter. You need to relax. If you don’t go and spend some time with Armelle, I’ll…I’ll do something to make sure that you do
nothing
all day.”

Sean had to smile. Little Jenny, she barely came up to his armpit. What could she do to stop him? Then he smiled even wider; she’d already done it. Then again,
what
she’d asked him to do had a lot to do with it. He picked her up in a bear hug and swung her around just to hear her squeak, then he set her down and was gone.

All day long with his lovely wife, and all night long too, he was in heaven. He scarcely remembered the contents of the papers he signed, though he did remember reading each one carefully; Elias made sure of that. Then there were some negotiations to talk over, some petitioners to hear, and a few things that Elias and Ferris simply wanted his opinion on, but all-in-all, the mere proximity to Armelle and the promise of future play was enough to keep him walking on air throughout the day, and the night…

He was a new man when he returned to camp with the dawn, though his absence had been little relief for those who had been left behind. Laon had taken on an abysmal attitude while Sean had been gone. And, to top off everyone’s fun, it had started to rain during the night.

When Larry handed him his cloak, he said, “Laon was fit to be tied when he couldn’t find you yesterday, then when he’d found out where you’d gone, he was just plain growly all day long.”

When they met Cordan, the first thing he said was, “Laon scarcely slept last night. If you don’t take him with you next time, I’ll personally put him out of his misery.”

Sean had to laugh. He was sorry for doing so, but he was still suffering the aftereffects of a delightful wakeup with his wife, and he found the situation humorous. A walk through the camp, which found Laon and glued him to his tail, was enough to settle him down so he could get back to work.

Leaving Laon at the entrance of his tent, Sean stepped through the tent-flap…

…and out onto the muddy road leading to the city gate. There were people on foot and with carts coming and going from the city regardless of the rain, a few people were even mounted, and because of the rain, the sudden appearance of one more traveler in a cloak went unnoticed.

As he was passing the gate, he noticed that everyone entering and leaving was lightly searched, and when it was his turn, he found out that they looked for weapons.

“Two swords,” said the man who spread his cloak. “Why you wearing two; can you use them?”

Sean never went anywhere these days without his swords. “Yeah, I can. Why do you ask?”

“I been a gate guard for six years and I never seen anyone with two swords. You a mercenary?” He was tying a fine wire around the hilt and sheaths of both swords.

“I hadn’t given it much thought; are you hiring? What are you doing?”

“You must not be from around here,” he commented. “Drawing weapons in the city is against the law,” he explained. “When you leave, if the wire has been disturbed, you’ll be arrested and an investigation will commence to find out what crime you committed. We always find out, so just keep your swords where they are.”

“What if someone attacks me and I need to defend myself?”

The man looked Sean directly in the eyes. “If you’ve managed to get yourself into some such encounter then you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing in the first place. You ain’t planning any trouble, are you?”

“I wasn’t planning on any, no, but I do prefer to end it when it finds me. I’m not too partial to running from a fight.”

“You better get used to it while you’re here. Move along and stay out of trouble.” He passed Sean on into the city and went to the next person.

Interesting, no swords drawn in the city. I wonder how such a law worked under my uncle’s rule?

There wasn’t much of a central market bazaar here, though a wide assortment of little shops was arrayed around the central square.
I suppose it’s only practical; being on the coast, it probably rains a lot
. What he saw in the square froze his feet. He had seen this before, but it took him a few minutes to place it. There was a gibbet and half a dozen stocks. This time only one man hung, bedraggled and still, from the gibbet, while four men and a woman were locked in the stocks.

As his memory fell into place, so did the rest of what he saw. Just like in his very first vision only without the rain, the people hurried from shop to shop. What he had originally attributed to the rain might be something else entirely. No one spoke to each other in the street and no children were visible. He knew to his bones that nothing would change when the rain let up.

He spent the morning moving from bar to bar to inn to café around the city with no apparent rhyme or reason. He stayed long enough to have a beer or two and simply watch the people, listening to their conversations if there were any. He was eating a hot stew in a dark tavern when Mattie called.
“My lord, where are you?”
Her anger and her deference to his rank were warring with each other audibly.

When Sean didn’t answer right away, he really couldn’t, she called again.
“My lord, can you hear me; where are you? Laon has gone into the city to find you.”

Sean rose abruptly. Dropping a coin by his empty bowl, and drawing stares from everyone in the place with his haste, he hurried outside into the rain again. “Keep him there,” he said into the folds of his cloak. “If he rides in here on that horse of his, they’ll kill him just for breathing.”

“It’s too late, he’s already gone.”

Sean headed for the gate, cussing under his breath. The man was almost fanatical. Then again, he wasn’t being very cooperative; the poor man couldn’t be much of a bodyguard if he never took him anywhere.

Sean arrived at the gate to see that Laon had been much more practical than he had feared. He strode up to the gate guard leading both his horse and Prince, who looked as though they were carrying packs under an oilcloth. Sean wasn’t close enough to hear everything that was being said, but he heard Laon say something about horseshoes and trading. After fixing his sword in its sheath, the guard passed him on through without glancing at the horses or what they might be carrying.

As Sean leaned against a wall to watch him come closer, he called Mattie to tell her, so she wouldn’t be worried and send someone else. “He’s here, Mattie, everything’s all right.”

Laon nearly passed Sean right by, and he was tempted to let him, but he had Prince. “You’ve just made my job four times harder,” he said.

Laon turned his head sharply to find the source of the voice; if he jumped, it didn’t show. With a glance back at the gate, he moved on with no further reaction and Sean fell in beside him.

“I’m sorry,” said Sean. “I should have told you, but this was just a ‘look around’. I need to know what’s here before I come blasting in with an army.”

“You need someone to watch your back,” Laon said, with a growl in his voice. He shifted his shoulders then handed over Prince’s reins.

“Not really,” said Sean.

“You’re a mage. You don’t see what’s around you when you’re using magic and this place is dangerous.”

“You’re a mage too,” he returned, and realized that he needed watching over too, though Sean hadn’t seen him use much magic yet.

Sean wanted to continue his meander through the city, but they now were much more noticeable, especially with the two very large horses, even though they looked placid enough, they weren’t plow horses. “So, tell me…you knew about the gate guard, what else do you know about the city?”

“Not much really. Dad didn’t like trading here. They are really strict with their laws and they are especially careful of mages.”

“Are they?” The little disk Laon’s sister had given him showed him mages and their magic, even their strength to a certain degree, but he hadn’t seen much here, only a few sparks dim enough to need scrutiny in order to determine the element. Ambiani had fairly glittered, though few had been notably strong.
Maybe that’s what gave me the willies about that city: too much magic.

“I’m surprised someone hasn’t questioned you about it yet. Dad and I were always questioned within an hour or two of arriving when we came here,” continued Laon.

Sean was about ready to reply when a thin wiry man approached them from an alley. “Please sirs, are your swords for hire? My mistress would like a word with you, if they are.” The man spoke with a clipped lilt that was a little difficult to follow.

“Who is your mistress?” asked Sean.

“I have to be careful with names, sir,” he replied with a bow that seemed a little too anxious. “Please sirs, my mistress will pay fair for your time.” He looking decidedly uncomfortable about the horses they led.

Sean looked at Laon; he looked as curious as Sean felt. He waved the man to lead on.

The little man led them down an alley that was almost too narrow for both horses to walk side by side. Sean and Laon would have been brushing knees with each other and with the walls if they had been mounted.

Sean checked the horses’ progress again after the second jig in the alley and had to ask, “What have you packed them with anyway?”

“What do you think?” his reply was as soft as the question had been.

Sean raised an eyebrow.
Did he really pack our armor
?
Good god, what if the horses had been searched
?

Laon chuckled as Sean heaved a big sigh. “They never used to check the goods. They’re only looking for the weapons you’re carrying; they don’t care about what you might have with your goods. If they caused too much trouble about what was brought into the city, it would hurt trade.”

Sean looked back at the horses again.

“Yeah, it’s all there. You don’t really think I’d leave anything behind, do you?”

Eventually, the little man led them up to a window that had an iron grate on it. “You can tie the horses here, but if they pull the grate off, you’ll have to pay for it.”

“Where is your mistress?” asked Sean.

“Around the corner and down a way still, there just ain’t anyplace closer to tie up the horses.”

“You let us worry about our horses,” said Laon. “Lead on.”

Around the corner, the alley became even narrower and Laon pulled ahead. Sean dropped back to walk beside Prince and felt around under the oilcloth. He eventually found what he was looking for. Carefully arranged for fairly quick access was his ancestor’s great sword. He undid his cloak enough to sling the baldric over his shoulder, then continued.

When the little man finally led them up to a door, Sean thought he heard him let a tiny squeak escape when both he and Laon looped the reins over their horses’ necks and said “stay,” before following him into the building.

The apartment building was a shabby little place with what looked like three floors, though they didn’t go up any stairs. The little man led them to another door only a few feet inside the building. He tapped lightly on the door and spoke softly into the wood. “Milady, he came. He brought a…a friend.”